Am I the only one who does not like 80's Leo?

[Leo656]

C'moooon, I liiiike Cudley... though he seemed to have a boy-crush on Mikey for some reason, which seemed odd.

And c'mon, Cryin' Houn'? GOLDEN. "Mah first name... that bein' the name before mah second name... is Cryin'... Mah SECOND name..." Etc. etc.

True story, that wrestling issue of TMNTA was the very first TMNT comic I ever owned. Ironically enough, NOT b/c it had to do with wrestling, it just happened to be the first one I ever saw on the shelf by some cosmic twist of fate.

[ProactiveMan]

OT Leo is OK by me. He's like He-Man; sort of a straight down the line hero who says corny, motivational lines. People say he has no character, but I never questioned his position as leader when I was a kid, even though I liked Raphael better, so the writers must have done something right.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Yeah- the first five episodes. After that? Maybe not so much. But still pretty "leader-ish".

[ryukenden]

He was more or less the standardized leader and he was my favorite because I liked how he used swords. I never did like him condoning Raph picking on Mikey but I did like it when he stood up for Mikey against Clone Don.

[Lisardo]

Originally Posted by neatoman

The Fred Wolf Leo was... Not as quirky as the other FW turtles...

A lot of people thinks he's devoid of any personality because does not have as many quirks the others, Don speaks in technobabble, Mikey is a surfer dude and Raph is a smartass. I think Leo's quirk was meant to be that he was the most serious about his training but the writers seemed to not be able to write such a character in a way that (at the time) seemed to appeal to kids, to them appealing to kids was all "Cowabunga!" and "Time for sourkraut and marshmallow pizza, dudes!", having a cool headed and ambitious character just didn't seem to fit into their idea of a kids' show.

So as a result Leo often came across as either the basic personality on which they added quirks for the other three, or as a whiny buzzkill out to ruin the other's fun, which is shame. Granted, I bet that if was written as the straight man to other turtles antics a lot more people would have liked him in that series.

On the positive side, all the versions of TMNT that are not straight up comedy do find ways to make Leo a much more compelling character, even the ones for kids! In the Mirage, IDW, 4Kids and Nickelodeon versions he's ambitious, calm, honorable, courageous, passionate and always strives towards doing good. Maybe these aren't the qualities that guarantees him to be the most popular or "fun" turtle, but it does make him the most respectable and admirable one.

It irritates me when Leo's referred to as "bland" or a "generic guy" or "generic leader". I don't think there's anything generic about him. He's just really well-balanced as you said, but kids can't relate to that so they favor Raph and Mikey. I always saw Leo as the best fighter, and was able to work well alone when needed. I don't see the other turtles having the maturity and levelheadedness to be able to function on their own quite as well as he does. As for the OT Leo, I always loved how courageous he was, on top of being such a good leader/fighter. The only thing I didn't care for was how whiny and high-pitched he sounded in later seasons (same for Rocksteady). I preferred how deep and mature he sounded in the first two seasons. Tho Cam Clarke did an awesome job with him either way and he's most definitely my favorite Leo voice actor. As for the poll question, I picked "no", because my least favorite Leo was in The Next Mutation. Grrr...I dunno what it was about that version, but I just didn't care for it at all! That is literally the ONLY version of TMNT where I did NOT like Leonardo the best!

[Shark_Blade]

He's one dimensional but I don't dislike him.

[shuriken]

^^ I disagree. One dimensional how exactly? I think he was the most realistic and well balanced character in the OT. Although his whininess really got to me. At times I felt Donnie shoulda just pushed Leo aside and be like "Bro I got this." Funny thing is he totally did it on a few occasions.
My fave Leo is probably 2k3 Leo, confident, a bit arrogant at times, strong willed and well meaning. Even if at times "Super Leo" just owned all for no reason. It was better than the alternative of Raph taking up the spotlight.

[Garfield]

Oh I love OT Leo. Not my fav of the bunch, probably my least fav actually, but I still love him anyway.

[Andrew NDB]

80s Leo? That's my favorite version of the character.

[Redeemer]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

80s Leo? That's my favorite version of the character.

Sarcasm is strong within this one.

[Powder]

Originally Posted by Redeemer

Sarcasm is strong within this one.

Not even 0000.1% considering 80's Leo could very well, & in order of release/significance does, mean Mirage Leo.

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

80s Leo? That's my favorite version of the character.

By the very gods! The man who I have seen nothing but negativity from in the 9 months since I joined, has posted something positive? Have the heavenly kings granted such a miracle?

[Kingoji]

Cam Clarke for the win. Although I do agree that his season 1 performances for both Leo and Rocksteady were better than the rest. but you could pretty much argue that about every other aspect of the show as well.

[ssjup81]

As a kid, OT Leo was my least favorite. I didn't dislike him or anything, though. Like Donny, he was just there for me. I saw him as the goody-goody who was always serious. He wasn't a smartass like Raph or fun like Mikey. In comparison, he was a stick in the mud.

Of course rewatching as an adult, I definitely see that there was way more to him and OT Leo wasn't that bad...although, despite being the leader, Donny seemed to give orders a lot.

[IndigoErth]

Ah well, the world still needs its sticks in the mud. Who else is going to play designated driver and whatnot to make sure others get home safe when everyone else's craziness takes them too far? lol

[Wesley]

Originally Posted by ryukenden

He was more or less the standardized leader and he was my favorite because I liked how he used swords. I never did like him condoning Raph picking on Mikey but I did like it when he stood up for Mikey against Clone Don.

OT Leo was my favourite as well and I also liked that he used swords. I thought he was funny at times in episodes like Return of the Turtleoid, in which he was protrayed as the straight man to the other Turtles.

[alliance]

80's Leonardo is one of the Greatest Cartoon characters in history

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by alliance

80's TURTLES MUCH COOLER THAN FORGOTTEN 4KIDS

Screw you, it's not forgotten.

[Jester]

Even Cam will speak to the blandness of Fred Wolf's Leo. I didn't mind him much, but he was my least favorite growing up, since Raph was so sarcastic, Mikey was fun loving, and Donnie was the "brain." Leo was just there...leader or no.