Should Donatello have upgraded from a bo-staff to a naginata?
 

http://www.angelfire.com/dragon/swords/naginata.html

http://www.thesworddepot.net/images/VW-SH1020.gif

And he did, in #20 of TMNT Vol. 1 (Mirage) for a pagae or two. I don't see why he wouldn't long term, though.

No he shouldn't because Ben wields a naginata....

In all seriousness though, Donatello's use of the simple bo is a great contrast to his analytical and technological mind.

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... Are you trying to call me out? :P

Everybody tends to label Donatello as the 'pacifist' Turtle. I don't think that him using a nagi would suit his style or personality.

BTW, beautiful pic! Pure awesomeness. 8) 8)

Nope, I cannot imagine that.

Other than Issue 9 of Volume 1, they do not show earlier weapons for any of the Turtles.

Leo is the only Turtle with a blade. It should be kept that way. Raphael can stab, but cannot really cut or slice.

Yeah, and maybe Mike should upgrade to a grappling hook.

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:P

That pacifist stuff is a real overstatement I think, he can use sharp weapons if he had to and he's been very vicious on numerous occasions.

Night of the Dark Turtle, anyone?

That I agree with, although, I thought it would be cool to see Donatello with a sansetsukon or three-section staff:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...onal-staff.jpg

I've always seen the sansetsukon nunchaku to, perhaps, being an alternate weapon for Michelangelo, or the next step up. He's used them before, too, in Return to New York. I think. One of those comics.

And Don as a pacifist? He's killed plenty of times, even ramming his broken bo into a Triceraton's neck.

A ninja pacifist... yeah, that's a good one. Tell me another.

In the 2k3 cartoon Michelangelo does use this type of weapon:

http://www.4kids.tv/images/uploads/tmnt_wk10-02.jpg

Another good weapon for Don would be a getsugasan or Monk's spade.

http://cooksden.com/wp-content/uploa...B0000C87VE.jpg


For Donatello, even though we're moving out of the realm of real life weapons, I could see him using a metal collapsible bo staff like Robin or a three-section staff that locks into a Bo Staff, like Billy Kane from the Fatal Fury video games, effectively giving him two weapons.

Didn't he essentially use that as his weapon in the Lost Season?

Yeah, let me rephrase my earlier statement.

Donatello (next to Michelangelo) is the Turtle with the least desire to take a life, which is obviously why he and Mikey have weapons with no blades.

I'm not saying they WOULD'NT kill, but only if they had no choice. It all goes down to the 'kill or be killed' phrase, which is just about everytime the Turtles do battle.

The type weapon Don used in the lost season was closer to a spear or yari:

http://www.4kids.tv/images/uploads/tmnt_wk08-02.jpg

I was about to post that myself. I guess I though the curved end was on the bottom not the top.

That doesn't jive with what a ninja is, or what they were trained from adolescence to do. If there's a threat I don't see Don holding back at all.

Not that he would use unwarranted force for a threat that could just be subdued rather than killed.

Donatello has always been the most pacifistic of the Turtles - as much as you can for a ninja. He'd rather not take a life whenever the deed could have been avoided, and this has been shown multiple times throughout the series. Killed Shredder? Because ol' Saki was about to eradicate them all with a thermal grenade. That Elite Foot he capped with a machine gun? If he didn't kill him, he would have slew Karai. Heck, he kept Stockman alive for over a decade just because he didn't want to eradicate a genius.

The bo suits him well, relative pacifism or not. A big, thick piece of oak that can break bones and bash skulls? Who wouldn't want one o' those?

Yeah, but what makes being a ninja any different than being in the Army, or something similiar to that degree?

I don't care what you train in or what your combat beliefs are, not everybody has the urge to take a life. Donatello using a bo instead of a naginata has the possibility of being a example, but I'm not saying that it is.

It all comes down to the thought process and your own conscience. 'Am I a killer, or just trying to protect myself and my family?'

A ninja is a killer. By definition.

You won't find many pacifists enlisting in the Army. Though you might find an equivalent in something like Marine Special Forces, the frogmen, or Navy SEALS in the regimene and mindset. Get in, kill the targets, and get out... swiftly and quietly as possible.

By definition, yes. But I still say it all comes down to whether or not you actually have the instinct to do it.

Besides, dealing with the Turtles, you happen to forget about their code of bushido. And it's kinda tricky to have a logic of honor when you're constantly taking lives.

Basically, my point is this: The TMNT are trained as killers, but that's not their belief. Splinter simply wouldn't condone it. It's all about survival.

Pacifism is pretty much the antithesis of bushido/the Way of the Warrior. bushido is just a code of conduct -- actually, a samurai thing by root -- that Splinter probably just instilled in them to keep them from going too batsh*t insane on the streets of New York.

Not only did Splinter condone it, he encouraged and insisted on it.