Is Raph Really a Loner?
 

It seems odd to me that Raphael is always portrayed in conflicting lights. He's typically the one Turtle least likely to trust mankind, he distances himself from his brothers and Splinter, he's angry and moody...

And yet he always connects with others, and typically is the one Turtle to have any relationship outside of his family. And also romantic relationships...

IDW
Casey Jones
Alopex

Mirage
Casey Jones
Lucindra
Shadow Jones

Image
Casey Jones
Oroku Pimiko

4Kids
Casey Jones
Joi

Archie
Ninjara
Moka? (can't remember Ninjara's daughter's name)

Nick
Casey Jones
Spike/Slash

The only version I don't remember him having a close friendship with is Fred Wolf...

I find Raph rather tough to label. If not a true loner if he does seem to like being around those that suit him, I'd still consider him emotionally lonely because he seems so guarded in that way.

Did they ever explain why he's often angry and a loner? I haven't seen any issues explaining why he's the way he is.

hmm
 

Because.. Anger clouds the mind. Turned inward, it is an unconquerable enemy.

Raph is unique among his brothers, for he chooses to face this enemy alone. :tgrin::tcool:

I see my post in the "What I Want From IDW" thread inspired you! :twink:

As I said, he's not as much of a loner as Leo & Don can be at times.

Yeah, as such I find him such a tough one in the introvert/extrovert discussions. Raph is just his own unique kind of mess. lol Like paint on a canvas thrown there in anger and a piece of art made in anger and frustration, yet there is beauty in it. Actually, maybe Raph should try that as an outlet. :twink: He'd make the perfect moody artist sort.

(My guess is either ambivert or simply an extrovert with emotional issues.)

It totally got me thinking!

And yeah, I think Donatello is the loner from the comics. In both Volume 1 and Volume 2... oh, and Volume 4.

In Shades of Gray, Don is doing his own thing while his brothers train; in City at War, he's the one to go off to Northampton; in Volume 2, he's still alone in Northampton; and in Volume 4, he's keeping secrets like Baxter Stockman's robotic remains in his hidden sewer lair, plus he goes off with the Utroms. He's also always off with the Utroms in Tales of the TMNT Volume 2.

Raph's not a loner, he's just a fireball. Donnie is the intellectual and the loner. I now want to see more of this. :teek:

In fact, I just realized, it can be said that he's the true loner in IDW. He goes off to form a pact with the Foot Clan against the Technodrome, he's the one always pissed off at Splinter and his vendetta... Raph was only a loner 'cause he was lost. Since then, he's always in the middle of things, pissed off, and hanging with Mikey. :tlol:

Yes, he is a Loner type character, but. Loner characters are boring and way too brooding when they actually are alone, case in point: Marvel's Wolverine and why he is often teamed up with Kitty Pryde, Jubilee, Spider-man or Nightcrawler.

Lara croft is alone and she's not boring. Her latest reboot game is proof of that. ;)

Anyway, yes Raph is a loner. That's why we got to see him alone in his bedroom.

Well yeah I know his anger can come in handy but why is he angry and a loner? What made him that way to begin with? Was there ever a reason, or was he just always like that?

Shark- that made NO freaking sense.


Yabu- I don't think they've ever explained it- it's just sort of left to the reader/viewer to come up with a reason, I guess. But yeah, he's pretty much always been that way.

I had heard from others and some movies hint that the reason Raphael is always that way is because he and the Turtles are the only ones of their kind and are alone, or he feels like he isn't good enough to be on the team or that Splinter doesn't respect him as much because he isn't the leader, which is why he is more hostile towards Leo than the others. Low self esteem might have something to do with it.

hahahaha
 

glad you edited that, man.

Most versions is because since he's the strongest he feels he should be the leader instead of Leo, but my personal favorite is from the Mirage comics, when he realizes that he's angry because he never met his mother and kinda feels like there's a huge hole in his life he can't close up, until he figures out that April is like a mother to him and his brothers and cries on her lap.

I don't think Raph is a loner because he is hardly portrayed as a loner in any TMNT variations. Instead Raphael has anger issues or an insatiable bloodlust as his dominant characteristic. If anything I believe Raphael only becomes a loner because of his uncontrollable anger/bloodlust. Leo/Splinter/whoever is in power usually tells Raph to leave because he is too dangerous to keep around.

In the original comic book series, Raphael has done more than enough to prove he is quite insane; In the first ever Raphael Micro- Series, he nearly killed Mikey during a sparring match and later confessed his urge to kill. In Bodycount he goes berserk and starts to murder everyone around him, Casey sees his insanity and tries to calm him. Raphael's tendency to go berserk is more showcased than him wanting to be a loner.

Although Raph does want to be a loner because of his tendency to go berserk. The uncontrollable rage is the main cause of people rejecting Raphael from their social group. Basically the rage makes Raphael alone.

Edit: I mean come on, you wouldn't keep someone around who is likely to go berserk and murder you. Raphael is cool but the type of person you want to watch from a distance like how a tourist watches a lion. However, the other Raphaels are push-overs except for the behemoth from the movie. Cheesus, if Raphael was a Game of Thrones character he would be the Mountain,not as evil as the Mountain though but close.

Hmm... Ya know, if he was still just a pet, he'd no doubt be the finger biter. :P Have a group of critters and you're almost bound to end up with one that's a bit of a biter, huh? Here's what happens when the biter turns humanoid. :trazz:

Possibly, but his rage seems more like an emotional instabilty. I blame the mutation. We know fron variis incarnations that it can have strange psychological effects, sio maybe it affected his brain a little differently than the others. Throw that into a "biter" like you said, and you're bound to get a very angry, unstable mind.

Beautifully put.

In the Bloodsucker issue of Mirage Vol 1, Raph has reverted back to a normal turtle and does indeed prove to be a biter. Leo says "he may be a normal turtle, but he's still Raphael".

As for the question at hand... my feeling is that he is a loner, but maybe not instinctually. He's become a loner through being alienated by his temper because his brothers don't want to be around him when he's in a mood, and also he separates himself from them because he recognises that he can be a danger to them when he flies off the handle. But it is evident from the nature of his relationships that actually he is quite emotionally needy - he is so easily wounded by rejection. I think he has become a loner over the years and definitely lonely.

Of course, having said all that, I'm not entirely sure that Raph doesn't have a massochistic impulse that quietly indulges and craves the pain of loneliness.