Who is your favorite TMNT.

[NightwatchersOnlygirl]

My fave Is Raphael

[Rooish]

We know.

[Mr._Mutant_Man]

My favorite would be Raphael as well. Used to be Michelangelo but I think as the turtle that has conflicts between his anger and his loyalty Raphael is the most interesting.

[triplexxx]

Originally Posted by Aignatius

After thinking about this for a bit, it comes across that Leo is taking on a really tough position. He has to lead a clan that is actually very difficult to manage. I'm thinking that Leo is trying really hard to find a good balance between being a strong, decisive leader and being diplomatic. Plus, when his brothers express resentment of him, it seems to hurt him. He really cares what they think of him.
And it looks like he has had to struggle with his own self-importance as a kid in order to deal effectively with the hard knocks of life, and leave behind his childhood naivete on how the world is supposed to be. How many 15-18 (or thereabouts) year olds can truly handle the responsibilities and the challenges he's taking on?
At the same time, Leo seems to want to fit in with his brothers. If he's too legalistic, he will alienate them. If he's too much of a softie, they won't take him seriously enough. I'm just wondering how much of his leadership skills are natural talent and how much of it is learned from the school of hard knocks... okay, I'm rambling, time for a cup of tea.

Originally Posted by Sage Ninja

You are absolutely right about this Aignatius, Leonardo's cross to bear is that he is a warrior that takes on the role of big brother, leader, and peer. It must be pretty hard to juggle all those aspects of his life with one of them causing some conflict. In the New series I think Leo handles this very well while still staying in a good postion with his brothers that lets him be a peer. In the old toon Leonardo seemed to have much harder time balancing these aspects of his life. he was the leader and the other turtles seemed to resent his authority every once in a while, and sarcastically refered to him as "fearless leader" on a regular basis. He was obviously the one that Splinter left in charge and counted on when ever he was away (doing rat stuff supposedly) which ment he had to be a hardass every once in a while, and it seemed like when ever he tried to settle in and just be a teenager with the other guys the other turtles couldn't help but rag on him about it.
If there was anything that made old toon Leonardo an indepth character it was probably his struggle to be a competent leader and maintain his edge while trying not to be to much a goody-two-shoes...gee, did use that saying correctly?

It's no doubt at all that Leonardo's position on the team is a tough one. But the fact is, just being a TMNT, period, is tough.
It is true that the team is difficult for him to manage, but I think this is because his own individual responsibilities for the team sometimes clash with those of his brothers. And yes, they all have certain individual responsibilities to contribute to the team:

Leonardo=strategy/cunning
Donatello=cutting-edge intellect
Raphael=brute force with no fear
Michaealngelo=spiritual enlightenment

The way I see it, good leadership/strategy is just one of many things it takes to create a team and keep it functioning; everything listed here is a vital part of what makes up a team and makes a team successful.

Sometimes, these responsibilities clash and contradict one another:
*Michaelangelo has to keep the others spirits up while they insist on remaining stiff and serious
*Raphael has to be willing to strike without fear while the others know that sometimes, being afraid helps you know your limitations and keeps you from getting involved in things you shouldn't
*Donatello has to use scientific rationale and logic while the others sometimes believe you need to trust instinct more than science
*Leonardo has to be willing to call the shots for himself and for his brothers while they sometimes believe it is better if they each call their own shots)

It's really a challenge for all of them to manage making their own contributions to the team and to make the others take them seriously. They all have to be willing to negotiate with each other; and they all have to know when they need to stand above the others, and when they need to submit to the others. I say Leonardo fits in with his brothers only as much as any one of the others do.

[Spitfire]

Not that there hasn't been a million topics about this. And not that anyone doesn't know but my favorite is Don.

Yes they all bring something to the team but Don is one of the TMNT where you take him away and their screwed.

You take away Mikey the TMNT can still function, take away Raph they can too. Raph and Mikey don't really DO anything. Their extra fighters but Leo leads and Don comes up with plans and figures everything out. Mikey makes jokes and Raph gets mad and storms off.

If you take out Leo you have no leadership and while Don is smart he's no leader. You take out Don the turtles wouldn't know what to do half the time. And they would have been killed many times. All the tech stuff they could have never figured out without Don. So many places they would have never broken into or people they would have never saved.

I just liked Don because he was the quite one who was intelligent but could still put up a fight. He would rather fight with his inventions but if he had to he could take you down with his bo. He also hardly ever loses his temper and keeps his cool. Even when he is mad he doesn't act like the other TMNT.

Mikey gets like a baby and throws hissy fits, Leo*We all saw what he's like in the 2K3 series* Leo also gets all emo, and Raph gets pissed and breaks stuff. Don is also the only turtle who listens to Splinter. The others in their own ways have all disobeyed Splinter but Don always listens.

[triplexxx]

Remember when Leonardo said in Grudge Match: "If one of us goes down, we all go down."

*Leonardo goes down=no leadership, lack of strategy for the others, they lose direction in battle, which would enable the enemy to take them down.
*Donatello goes down=the others couldn't deal with the technological advances of their enemies, and there would also be a lack of strategy, and the enemy could take them down. Not to mention they wouldn't have many of the comforts of home that he contributed.
*Raphael goes down=without his strength, vigilance, passion and willingness to jump in front of the bullet (metaphorically speaking) the enemy would overpower the others while their backs are turned.
*Michaelangelo goes down=without his spiritual enlightenment, the others' spirits would fall apart, and either it'll hurt their skills and enable the enemy to take them down, or they may end up coming close to killing each other.

The fact is: The turtles couldn't function without any one of them. None of the turtles are replacable or expendable. They'd be screwed if any one of them was gone.

[Unicron the Agitator]

I have grown to like all the turtles in some facet. It's funny, because in each version (film, comic, cartoon) I have a favorite. Raphael is my favorite from the original cartoon because I loved his sarcastic quips. Donatello was my favorite turtle from the first movie beacsue he was voiced by Cory Feldman and had some of the film's funniest lines. In the 2K3 series as well as the Mirage comic, Leonardo is my favorte because he takes on the "big brother" role which really resonates with who I am. But if I have to pick one, it'd be Leo.

[SpiderHulkThing]

from the old toons, my favorite was mikey for a long time. then it became raph.


from the new toons (not counting fast forward cause i haven't kept up with it), i'd have to say still raph.

[Hitsuji]

I don't know...

When I was little Leo was the whole world to me (I was reeeeeally obsessed with him... -__-U), but now... I love them all! I can't choose, but... maybe Leo would be my favourite, but.... noooooo, I can't choooooose....!!! Them four are SO special!!

I agree with triplexxx!

[theredgnome]

Leo may be the leader, but Raph is the star.

[Jester]

*scratches head*
Mikey's spiritually enlightened?

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

My favourite of the TMNT was/is Leonardo.

[Warhorse]

Originally Posted by theredgnome

Leo may be the leader, but Raph is the star.

I have to agree with you here. That's why he sticks out in the movies so much!

[theredgnome]

Thank you, Warhorse. I'm glad others can see it. The movies focus on Raphael's relationships with Splinter, April, Casey, Keno, and Yoshi. Also, Raph was the first turtle to have an entire comic book volume devoted solely to him. Raphael's character is the most complex and developed of the turtles.

[Aignatius]

Hm. I always thought Don was more spiritually enlightened.
OTOH, if anyone has read Rick McCollum's TMNT story The Ring, it would seem Don was the shamanic one, but it turns out Leo is the one who finishes the spiritual journey.
Don seems to like stuff the others think is weird, it's one of the things I like about that character. He's different!

[Sage Ninja]

Originally Posted by Warhorse

And he pulled pranks on his brothers, but he did it in a way in the movies that came off clever.

yeah maybe, but if you where subject to this brand of pranks in larger doses, would you still find them clever and funny or would you eventually find his antics annoying. I notice that in the movie his brothers take his joking and pranks in stride, and other than a little grunt of aggrevation they don't seem to mind. In the toon when Mikey starts with his antics, the other turtles react with something almost like disgust, or a perplexed "what the hell are you doing" sort of reaction. AndI'm wondering if how the the turtles react to Mikey affects how the viewer reacts to him as well. If it is shown that his brothers react like he is being bothersome than the viewer may think so too. If Mikey's brothers reacted to his pranks in the movie as they do in the New toon, would you also think "God, what the heck is wrong with him" as well?

he has his moments, like in the Jurassic Park episode, he had me in stitches. But most of the time, he seems to be like the filler Turtle in between fights. And his filler is to be the out of this world annoying brother. And I made that assumption after about three episodes of the new toon, and that equals about the same as just one of TMNT movies.

I kind of agree with you on this one. I blame the writters on this one because sometimes I feel that they distance Mikey to much from the other turtles to mAKE HIM THE LIGHT HEARTED TURTLE. You are right I don't like how he is sometimes just filler. Mikey has alot of potentical to be important to the plot given his "out of the box" thinking and personality but the writters genrally just make him the comic relief. And it sucks because i've hints of more to his character than just that. Also I think they could portray his teenager younger bother like qualites in a diffrent way that doesn't make him look so...obnoxious.

In the new movie it appears Mikey will have an obsession for Raphael's alter idenity and keep a scrap book of him and his exploits like if he was a super hero. Would that bother you at all if he does?

[triplexxx]

What I said about Michaelangelo is true. As Sage Ninja just said, he is the "most light-hearted turtle". He doesn't let things so easily annoy him like Raphael. He doesn't make a workaholic out of himself like Donatello. And he doesn't take things too personally and create sometimes useless burdens for himself like Leonardo. Hence, he is the most harmonious and has the most enlightened spirit.
Without him, the other turtles would be eventually swallowed by the darkness of their ninja lifestyle.

[Warhorse]

Originally Posted by Sage Ninja

yeah maybe, but if you where subject to this brand of pranks in larger doses, would you still find them clever and funny or would you eventually find his antics annoying. I notice that in the movie his brothers take his joking and pranks in stride, and other than a little grunt of aggrevation they don't seem to mind. In the toon when Mikey starts with his antics, the other turtles react with something almost like disgust, or a perplexed "what the hell are you doing" sort of reaction. AndI'm wondering if how the the turtles react to Mikey affects how the viewer reacts to him as well. If it is shown that his brothers react like he is being bothersome than the viewer may think so too. If Mikey's brothers reacted to his pranks in the movie as they do in the New toon, would you also think "God, what the heck is wrong with him" as well?



I kind of agree with you on this one. I blame the writters on this one because sometimes I feel that they distance Mikey to much from the other turtles to mAKE HIM THE LIGHT HEARTED TURTLE. You are right I don't like how he is sometimes just filler. Mikey has alot of potentical to be important to the plot given his "out of the box" thinking and personality but the writters genrally just make him the comic relief. And it sucks because i've hints of more to his character than just that. Also I think they could portray his teenager younger bother like qualites in a diffrent way that doesn't make him look so...obnoxious.

In the new movie it appears Mikey will have an obsession for Raphael's alter idenity and keep a scrap book of him and his exploits like if he was a super hero. Would that bother you at all if he does?

People having collages of superheroes and the such don't bother me. And I think it's going to be kind of cute to watch Mikey have this secret admiration for his brother's alter ego.

I am also going to take another stab at this. My first introduction to the Turtles was the first cartoon. I never knew about the cartoon, or the movies being based on comics till about 5 years ago. (I am not a comic book person, so know nothing of that world.)

But I loved watching the Turtles nonetheless. Then the big movie came out, and while I already had Raph as my favorite from the cartoon carrying into this movie, but Mikey's great personality immedietely had him my second favorite (it was usually Donny in the cartoon that ended up my second favorite)

After the years passed, and I found out about the new toon, after watching such a great character, even though Mikey's bit was small in the movie, I realized that the cartoon was a major let down for me in my attitude towards Mikey. I know he can be better written than as he is now in the new toon. Like I said, he has his moments, but there are no where near enough of them. He was great in (I think it was April's Artifact or Time Trevails) and he was also great in the BattleNexus storylines, and I also give kudos to the writers for Mikey to come up with a plan for Leo and Raph in a spaceship when they were trying to save Donny when he was kidnapped. The writers can do a great Mikey once in a while, they should make the rule instead of the exception.

But I can't wait to see Mikey's Cowabunga Carl! I think that's going to be a trip! Wonder if he get's kicked in the groin at a party by some brat kid like you see happen to the Disney Charactures on America's Funniest Home Videos.

[Rooish]

Um... Donny or Mikey is the most spiritually enlightened?

I think Leonardo's basic reason for existing is for spiritual enlightenment. That and being an awesome fighter.

What I would say Mikey has is childlike wonder and optimism, and that's why the team needs him so much. Without him they'd all turn into killing machines. Don has serenity and stability and compassion and independence, but I wouldn't call him "spiritually enlightened." Maybe "emotionally mature." I think the team needs his soothing nature and his inventions. But he's a scientist, and I think he's less likely to be "spiritual" than Leo.

[triplexxx]

I believe what you say Rooish. However, I'm just curious: why was it that in "Invasion of the Bodyjacker", Leonardo told Michaelangelo he's best at redirecting chi, aka spiritual energy?