Whats up with Mikey?

[Konchadunga]

Originally Posted by Luckyday

I know that I'm going get flank for this, but the 2k3 to me was kind of a man child so when they made him to look younger in this series my reaction was instead "Ahh god! Mikey!" face palm. to "Oh I can't stay mad at you, you crazy kid. Come here!"

Yeah; I'm with you on this, or at least the first part. Mirage and Fred Wolf Michelangelo were just fun guys who had a greater appreciation for human culture than the rest of the turtles, but 4-Kids Michelangelo was outright dumb, had little sense of priorities, and seemed to forget any lessons he learned within one episode. Another issue is that it seems like they never wanted anyone to have any humor except for him, which meant that they just made him a massively obnoxious caricature of himself.

Nickelodeon Mikey is naive, but then, so are all of the Nickelodeon Turtles, in their own way, and the new show isn't afraid to give them all their own humorous moments.

[sirroscoe]

If you think 2k12 Mikey is dumb, then you need to rewatch the fight with Shredder. As many have said, he just lacks focus. But when he IS focused, he is at his most dangerous. We've seen it then. We've seen this when they cornered Bradford and Xever in the sewers. We've seen it when he was protecting Raphael after he was poisoned by Fishface.

[BabyTurtles]

Originally Posted by sirroscoe

If you think 2k12 Mikey is dumb, then you need to rewatch the fight with Shredder. As many have said, he just lacks focus. But when he IS focused, he is at his most dangerous. We've seen it then. We've seen this when they cornered Bradford and Xever in the sewers. We've seen it when he was protecting Raphael after he was poisoned by Fishface.

thats what I like about this Mikey the most~

he doesn't need to brag about being awesome, he just shows it unexpectedly

being underestimated only gives him the upper hand in a fight.

[Refractive Reflections]

Originally Posted by Konchadunga

Yeah; I'm with you on this, or at least the first part. Mirage and Fred Wolf Michelangelo were just fun guys who had a greater appreciation for human culture than the rest of the turtles, but 4-Kids Michelangelo was outright dumb, had little sense of priorities, and seemed to forget any lessons he learned within one episode. Another issue is that it seems like they never wanted anyone to have any humor except for him, which meant that they just made him a massively obnoxious caricature of himself.

That I can definitely agree with.

Originally Posted by sirroscoe

If you think 2k12 Mikey is dumb, then you need to rewatch the fight with Shredder. As many have said, he just lacks focus.

It's one thing to lack focus, but its something else for Nick Mikey to state Raphael again during the "color game" and that Donatello is "good" at it, and to pride himself "in not thinking" seems to imply something is cognitively problematic here. (Again, I wasn't insinuating he was an incompetent fighter.)


My position with Michelangelo in general, is that Michelangelo in the TMNT franchise generally has a personality of being cheerfully optimistic and fun-loving. And I believe that Mirage and the OT depicted him well while being normally intelligent. But it seems that ever since 2K3, the 2007 movie, and the Nick versions, he has been depicted as being mentally deficient...and why is that?
It seems to support the notion that some believe that cheerfully optimistic people are either immature or mentally deficient. (Which is ridiculous since Michelangelo has experienced a similar level of fighting and brutality with his brothers.) These three versions shortchange Michelangelo's personality tremendously in which his ordinary, personality quirks have been "Flanderized" to a point in which his optimism and fun-loving qualities are not a conscious effort, but rather a "side effect" of being mentally off.

...And that I believe is shallow treatment to Michelangelo's character.

[BabyTurtles]

Mikey is a very relatable to kids :3

I mean what kid is as smart as Donnie? as disciplined as Leo? and as strong as Raph?

not much XD I know I wasn't. it's hard enough to be a ninja!

Mikey is what most kids are like: impulsive, average smarts, lacking focus, and most of all loving fun!

but that doesn't mean he can't kick butt!

thats probably why he's a favorite for kids :3 he can be a goofball and still manage to be awesome~

[Timmetry]

There's been many times on long trips that I'll play I spy with my fiancé. For long stretches of the trip all there is to see are fields and trees so many of our games turn in to picking trees repeatedly. Apparently this makes us both "cognitively problematic" and not joking when we say how good the other is at playing.

[Coola Yagami]

Mikey is naive and easily distracted. But he does need to be a wee bit smarter. More 'normal smart' and not 'below normal smart'. The part when they explained to him how their trick with the van worked in the first 2 episodes and he's like 'but we weren't in the van' just made me facepalm at how they treated his character.

There are a lot of scenes I can forgive or laugh with, since one can chalk it up to being naive and innocent. Some scenes just make him look dumb, with no other excuse than... well he's dumb.

I still like the character though. I do kinda with OT Mikey would return though. Just modernize the slang, lower the pizza obessession a little, but don't dumb him down.

[NinjaMan]

I love this version of Mikey and he's my wife favorite turtle in this series. I remember reading an early bio that also said he was the most naturally gifted of the Turtles but doesn't focus like he should. Dude has shown he can hold his own in a fight (Beating Bradford, protecting Raph when he was poisoned etc..).

[Goon]

Originally Posted by JYX

My position with Michelangelo in general, is that Michelangelo in the TMNT franchise generally has a personality of being cheerfully optimistic and fun-loving. And I believe that Mirage and the OT depicted him well while being normally intelligent. But it seems that ever since 2K3, the 2007 movie, and the Nick versions, he has been depicted as being mentally deficient...and why is that?
It seems to support the notion that some believe that cheerfully optimistic people are either immature or mentally deficient. (Which is ridiculous since Michelangelo has experienced a similar level of fighting and brutality with his brothers.) These three versions shortchange Michelangelo's personality tremendously in which his ordinary, personality quirks have been "Flanderized" to a point in which his optimism and fun-loving qualities are not a conscious effort, but rather a "side effect" of being mentally off.

...And that I believe is shallow treatment to Michelangelo's character.

This.. All of the other characters in the show haven't been completely consumed by their quirks like Mikey has.. Doesn't mean I don't like him, I just think they have done him a disservice.

Also I don't think anybody questions his fighting ability. He is just not very smart in the show.. The perfect example was given above when they tried to explain the idea behind the car to him. I don't think that was him just "joking around".. He just didn't get it.

[snake]

I like this Mikey.

I relate to him. I'm usually picked as the fun-loving stupid one out of my group and I hate that.

I like having a fun attitude like Mikey, but, like him, I hate being called stupid.
I'm also constantly in and out of focus.

So I really like this Mikey, I'm sure he'll mature as the series goes along.

[Bossa Nova]

Originally Posted by JYX

Apparently your response supports that too since you are taking that Mikey example way out of context.

Not really.Timmetry just wrote an example showing exactly what I was trying to demonstrate, that it is perhaps you that is taking everything Mikey does out of context and way too serious when he is, in all likelihood, purely joking around. Laughing at your own jokes even when no one else does and being distracted easily does not a stupid person make.

[kelligrafie]

Perhaps Mikey doesn't think sometimes because he assumes Donnie or Leo will do the thinking for the group as is usually the case?

I sense a life lesson from Splinter approaches!

Or another A/B team episode.

Let's have Donnie & Leo (the thinkers) and Raph & Mikey (the do-ers).

[HeroTurtlesFan]

I love the new Mikey. The first time I've really warmed to his character.