Leonardo?

[heretic888]

even if they did declare who was the best fighter etc... that would limit the action, story and everything else

no, it would force the writers to be more realistic and true to the characters. it would greatly IMPROVE the story!

I would never consider Mikey the best fighter out of all 4 tmnt. Michelangelo is always getting captured and beaten by the simplest of enemies... Splinter even says in Snakes Alive! that Leonardo was the most gifted.

First off, thats the cartoon and that is not what we are talking about. They are all bad fighters in the cartoon, no one really being better than another. Secondly Mike is 'always getting captured and beaten' in fanfictions not any mirage stories (raph gets beat up on much more occassions due to his lack of foresight). The only reason that Mike is not considered the 'best fighter' out of the four is because he (and Don) are the only ones that arent concerned with walking around and showing everyone else how tough they are and what a great ninja student they are. In ninjutsu, we Mike's attitude humility. It is the attititude any ninja should have.

Well, define "best fighter". Is it the most skilled? The most talented? One who puts in the most effort? The one who wins the most battles? The one who avoids them all together? What? And in which universe: cartoon, Mirage, movie, Image?

Everything considered, the turtles are a team, and a family, and thus, do their best when working together.

Well, personally i am talking about the Mirage universe (specifically the stories written by Eastman and/or Laird). The 'best fighter' is the one that can deliver the most appropriate damage to one's enemies will avoiding their attempts to damage him/her. Among the tmnt, that's mike due to his agility and creativity.

Leo was is and always will be the best of the turtles.

I guess it depends on what you consider to be 'best'.

If any of you learn anything from this thread, it's that Leo is better than Mike.

Uninformed opinions hardly constitute objective reality, even when dealing with fictitious characters. Like I said, everyone thinks Leo and/or Raph are the best fighter because of their macho, pushy, egocentered attitudes. Mike doesnt go around trying to make everyone think he's a great ninja because he knows it himself.

Remember how horribly pissed off Raph got that Mike beat him with almost no effort??? And what was it Mike said to him at the end?? Oh yeah: "Pride goeth before a fall, buddy". That sums things up very well.