Is Michelangelo eternally doomed?

[Vegita-San]

keep in mind, in the first five eps, mike was the raph of the series. quick to anger and impatient. trashing a robot long after it was 'dead'. then they decided to lighten it up a little.

Movie mike is probably my favorite, with 2k3 mike next.

[TheLabRat]

It would be an improvement if Mikey's personality is closer to DMC1/DMC2 Dante or Hellboy. Although that would make him look like a eldest brother, not a younger brother.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by Prowler

Ever since the Fred Wolf series days, Michelangelo has become the designated catchphrase spewing machine and the face of the family friendly versions of TMNT.

While in the OT he was a chill surfer slang speaking dude, in 2k3 the writers decided to turn him into the comedian of the group and made him annoying and stupid as hell.

The last time a version of Michelangelo was tolerable was in the FW series days. Sure that was when the trend of turning Mikey into a joke began, but he still wasn't as annoying at the time. Although he was already known for being the least intelligent of the group.

TMNT is a property for kids. And Mikey is the face of such property and the most popular turtle for some reason. And kids love goofy humour and characters.

So yeah, I don't see that ever changing. All turtles have had a bad characterization or two, but Mikey clearly has gotten the short end of the stick.

I think the problem was Mikey didn't have much of a personality in the early Mirage comics. I think it was a bit later on when he'd become 'the heart of the team'.

Leo was shown calling the shots. Don was shown at least curious about technology and stuff. Raph was definitely the anger management one, which the cartoon toned down and made him a rude smartass. But Mikey was just.... there. So I guess someone (prob David Wise) came up with the surfer stereotype. Or maybe the suits felt they needed one of the Turtles to be particularly likeable and a catchphrase machine and whatnot and since Mikey was pretty much a clean slate, he was the chosen one.

In other words, I feel like if Mikey had a personality in the early Mirage comics, the cartoon would have gone with some variation of that,

[CyberCubed]

Michelangelo's personality in Mirage started with his one-shot Christmas issue with Klunk. I think that cemented Michelangelo's personality as, "the fun one" even in Mirage. The whole issue is a fun Christmas story with Michelangelo taking care of a stray cat.

Obviously the whole, "pizza cowabunga dude' personality started with the original cartoon, but I think it's likely David Wise read that Mirage issue and spun it off from there.

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

Michelangelo's personality in Mirage started with his one-shot Christmas issue with Klunk. I think that cemented Michelangelo's personality as, "the fun one" even in Mirage. The whole issue is a fun Christmas story with Michelangelo taking care of a stray cat.

Well that and... Then there is this as well:

Spoiler:

[Shark_Blade]

From the looks of it, Mikey won’t be an idiot moron in Mutants Mayhem too. What a blessing.

[Andrew NDB]

No, he is very doomed. There isn't anything post-Mirage where he isn't OOC. All there is is varying degrees of the least levels of abrasion. But there is always abrasion. Whether he has some degree of apparent retardation or a general sense of surfer/vacuous jokey dude, it's always there.

[Cowabung-Gal]

Originally Posted by Shark_Blade

From the looks of it, Mikey won’t be an idiot moron in Mutants Mayhem too. What a blessing.

Nope. They will all be idiot morons.

[Monty Mole]

Originally Posted by Shark_Blade

From the looks of it, Mikey won’t be an idiot moron in Mutants Mayhem too. What a blessing.

Are you joking?

[Jephael]

I thought Rise did a pretty decent job with him, showing his more creative side, not to mention his love for his brothers. I know everyone has their hang ups and issues with that interpretation, but that had to be my favorite version of Michelangelo!

[Poweranimals]

Originally Posted by Prowler

Ever since the Fred Wolf series days, Michelangelo has become the designated catchphrase spewing machine and the face of the family friendly versions of TMNT.

While in the OT he was a chill surfer slang speaking dude, in 2k3 the writers decided to turn him into the comedian of the group and made him annoying and stupid as hell.

The last time a version of Michelangelo was tolerable was in the FW series days. Sure that was when the trend of turning Mikey into a joke began, but he still wasn't as annoying at the time. Although he was already known for being the least intelligent of the group.

TMNT is a property for kids. And Mikey is the face of such property and the most popular turtle for some reason. And kids love goofy humour and characters.

So yeah, I don't see that ever changing. All turtles have had a bad characterization or two, but Mikey clearly has gotten the short end of the stick.

I don't understand the issue with making him the comic relief character. I've always found him to be amusing and one of the most enjoyable characters. I didn't enjoy the Rise version as much since that version took more of a backseat in terms of comedy.

[miru]

I wonder if Baxter is also eternally doomed? Outside of the Mirage series and the Last Ronin (maybe IDW and 2k3 but those versions still make him sympathetic) he’s always a borderline joke villain best known for the sheer misfortune handled upon him and being pushed around by others.

[TheLabRat]

Originally Posted by miru

I wonder if Baxter is also eternally doomed? Outside of the Mirage series and the Last Ronin (maybe IDW and 2k3 but those versions still make him sympathetic) he’s always a borderline joke villain best known for the sheer misfortune handled upon him and being pushed around by others.

I think IDW Stockman might be an archenemy for Old Hob and Mighty Mutanimals. But they screwed up a lot of potential story development. In Mutant Town arc, he just build a giant wall and stole some mutant fish's egg. Even in Armageddon Game arc, he actually just sits and does nothing.

[Anarchistguy]

You guys are kidding yourselves if you think Mike is going to be anything more than the goofy party dude/immature baby brother. Especially in this Nickelodeon era. 80% of fan art today has Leo, Don and Raph looking badass while Mike is stuffing his face with pizza. It's ingrained in pop culture.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Anarchistguy

You guys are kidding yourselves if you think Mike is going to be anything more than the goofy party dude/immature baby brother. Especially in this Nickelodeon era. It's ingrained in pop culture.

True. But we just don't have to like it. Or even really accept it.

[Anarchistguy]

Oh don't get it twisted. I don't care for it at all. But such is the state of things.