Is Donnie a different type of warrior then the rest of his bros?

[victory_angel]

Don't get me wrong all the Turtles are Ninja, I'm not challenging that. However Donnie is often classified as the least effective in battle by villains, fans, and even his own by his own bros.


But maybe it isn't so much that he's a bad/weak fighter, it's more that he is a different type of fighter then the rest of his brothers. And he holds himself back because he's trying to be exactly like everyone else.


Leo and Raph are the top tiered students. Mikey is a skilled warrior but he is held back from his full potential because he doesn't focus. But Donnie is often the one struggles in battle.

In the interactive comic book prequel to this series there is a moment that sort of implies that Donnie doesn't follow the same path as his brothers.
I know this prequel isn't considered cannon by fans as it is somewhat contradictory to what goes on in the show. But in away it is cannon to the series simply because it focuses on each of the Turtles earning the right to be ninja (and by that regard being ranked as Genin).

In Donnie's ninja trial, he is trapped on ledge and the only way he can escape is through an air vent several feet above him on the opposite wall.

It's here he flashes back to a time when his brothers and himself are going over an obstacle course. One of the obstacles is a climbing wall. All the turtles succeed in climbing it, except for Donnie.

Donnie gets frustrated about it. Splinter then approaches him and asks if it is truly the obstacle that distresses him. Donnie then admittedly says it feels that no matter how much he trains, he just can't keep up with his brothers.

Splinter then asks Donnie an anecdotal question "If a tree falls in a stream...does the water stop flowing."

Donnie correctly answers by saying "The water doesn't stop flowing, but creates a new path by flowing around the tree."

Splinter then tells his son he's very intelligent but he does at times take things to literally. The point of the Wall climb was to get to the top of it. Nothing was officially said about climbing it.

Another good example is that Leo's approach in the first two seasons has been "This is the way Splinter taught us, and that's the what he expects"
And yet in Monkey Brains you do have Splinter telling Donnie to focus on the situation at hand, not what must be done within the situation.

The fights where Donnie excels the most is are the situations where he is able to assess what is around him in order to gain victory. So it is possible that Splinter is imparting to Donnie that he doesn't need to follow exactly what his brothers are as fighters. But still leaves the type of warrior Donnie is as something for him to discover and embrace in his own time.