Who Do You Believe Is The Most Popular Turtle?

[Shadow Leonardo]

I think it's a toss up between Mikey and Raph.Though I am a Leo fan.

[azure turtle]

That's a hard question to answer, since each turtle has a loyal following.

[Seurat]

Though Raph's my personal fave, I'm probably betting that either Mike or Leo's the most popular. Generally, I believe that Mike and Raph are mostly liked for their comedic value (Raph's sarcastic quips and Mike's goofy antics), while Leo and Don are mostly liked for getting to "play with all the cool toys" (Leo's got his advanced ninjitsu and weapons, Don has his technology), and thus each duo represents half of the equation that made Turtles a hit - comedy and action. But why Mike and Leo as the bigger representatives? First of all, their faces are plastered almost everywhere you see turtle stuff (With Raph close behind and Donnie, sadly, dead last). Second, while Mike and Raph both represent the comedic portion of the show, Raph's jokes may be a bit over younger kids' heads, while Mike's humor has a broader/younger range (Visual gags, constant talk of pizza, and a humorous surfer voice). Similarly, although Don has some pretty cool tech, if a kid likes the action portion of the show better than the humor portion, odds are he'll go for the most action-oriented and least funny turtle around - Leo.

[remain in light]

Mikey's always been a favorite amongst the youngsters. I'd say he's the most marketable turtle if not the most popular.

Oddly enough, several of my gay male friends cited Donnie as being their favorite when they were growing up.

[LionO]

Poor Donny , I'd say Leo, Ralph and Mikey.

[TheShowstoppa]

Originally Posted by Seurat

Though Raph's my personal fave, I'm probably betting that either Mike or Leo's the most popular. Generally, I believe that Mike and Raph are mostly liked for their comedic value (Raph's sarcastic quips and Mike's goofy antics), while Leo and Don are mostly liked for getting to "play with all the cool toys" (Leo's got his advanced ninjitsu and weapons, Don has his technology), and thus each duo represents half of the equation that made Turtles a hit - comedy and action. But why Mike and Leo as the bigger representatives? First of all, their faces are plastered almost everywhere you see turtle stuff (With Raph close behind and Donnie, sadly, dead last). Second, while Mike and Raph both represent the comedic portion of the show, Raph's jokes may be a bit over younger kids' heads, while Mike's humor has a broader/younger range (Visual gags, constant talk of pizza, and a humorous surfer voice). Similarly, although Don has some pretty cool tech, if a kid likes the action portion of the show better than the humor portion, odds are he'll go for the most action-oriented and least funny turtle around - Leo.

Unfortunately, when you're a youngin, kinda like I was when the turtles were around back in the day, you want one thing preferred over another. Most adolescent kids will choose either Leo or Mikey. They will quip with Mikey because he's the fun-loving, wise-cracking turtle. They don Leo's colours because every child wants to be the "leader." Raph, most older kids prefer because he's the hot-head. He acts before he thinks, and most teens understand exactly where that comes from. The outsiders of the groups tend to choose Donny because it shows them that even the geek can make a big impact. Unfortunately, the first two are directly most aquainted with 6 - 11 kids, and the latter half tend to be associated with the 12 and above. For a while, when I was younger, I loved Donny because I tended to be the geek and no one liked me. Then, I started to take my own leadership and began to understand why I liked Leo. (Though, ages 7 - 11 I dressed as EACH ninja turtle for Halloween!)

Personally, now, from an artist's viewpoint, I understand now why I love all of them. They work perfectly together. I won't go too far into it, because this is a post for another thread!

[Zachatello00]

Raph and Leo seem to be the ones with most merchandise after them. Which really suprises me because You'd just think it would be mike.

[OA]

Well Leo doesnt surprise me cuz hes the "leader"..raph i can agree with..but maybe its more of a preference for the color red over orange...?

[Mr. Stay Puft]

Mikey and Leo. Almost everyone I know loves either Mikey or Leo. That, and just look at the classic TMNT: Season 2 cover. Who's on it? Mikey and Leo. And Mikey's on the actual disc for season 1. Doesn't bother me because Mikey's been my favorite since I was 3, and I turn 21 on the 27th.

Originally Posted by remain in light

Oddly enough, several of my gay male friends cited Donnie as being their favorite when they were growing up.

I always joke around with my gay friends about Don being the gay turtle just because of his bandana color (purple) and his choice in weapons (a bo staff, or as I put it, a big, long, wooden shaft). It's kind of similar to the whole Tinky-Winky thing with the Teletubbies.

[TheShowstoppa]

Originally Posted by Mikeys_in_tha_hizouse

I always joke around with my gay friends about Don being the gay turtle just because of his bandana color (purple) and his choice in weapons (a bo staff, or as I put it, a big, long, wooden shaft). It's kind of similar to the whole Tinky-Winky thing with the Teletubbies.

*Falls over laughing!* You know Peter Laird would have rolled over in his grave if he were dead now, wouldn't you? FOR SHAME!!!!!

[darthsmozers]

Dang it, I thought it came out THIS week. oh well, i can wait another week.

[Coola Yagami]

Of the classic series, Michealangelo. Every thing Ninja Turtle-ish from the surfer speak, the pizza, the Cowabunga!! and all that is what most people remembered from the older TMNT series, and all that came from Mike. Hell, Mike even appeared in that Cartoon All-Star to the rescue anti-drug special.

[PizzaPower]

I think it is Mike. And I have a feeling that Donatello is hardly popular at all.

[aramconbrat]

I absolutely loved Donatello as a kid (was a bit of a science-y kid) but followed closely by Mikey. Mikey just has an appeal with his humour that the kids related with...

Overall Mikey is probably the definate favorite but you kinda need all the Turtles to get a rounded set of characters. But I will forever be loyal to my love of Donatello... Loved him, loved purple, loved his cool inventions... Donatello overall has the potential to come with some pretty darn cool accessories!

[Spitfire]

Mikey....virtually everyone I have ever talked to about turtles besides people here name Mikey or "The orange one" as their favorite turtle. I guess because he jokes around alot. If I ever hear Raph hes a 2nd favorite

Definetly Mikey in the old series. With out a doubt. Mikey was the symbol and icon of the TMNT back then. Kids just love him, and why not? He's so adorable.


In general though, speeking for all the TMNT universes, It's quite clear that Leo is the main turtle.
I'm not sure if it has something to do with him being the leader and weilding the ninja trade-mark weapon, the katana... but I do know that he's always in front of the boys in about 90% of the comics and merchandising.

[Lioness-Goddess]

Well, I dunno about the old series, I never got a chance to see it.

In my opinion, among li'l kiddies nowadays who watch TMNT, it's probably Leo.

But among everyone else, I have to say Raph. Even though he's not my favorite, I believe he's the most popular. I mean, I can't even go for one day without seeing Raph angst fanfiction or something.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

In terms of people's most favourite turtles, i think it's between Raph & Mike, closely followed by Leonardo. In reference to someone who said that Raphael's humor some kids might not get, he has always been my favourite turtle because of the voice, cracking jokes to ease the tension, and i may not of got all his jokes.

Michaelangelo is probably the most influential turtle on popular culture. For example, people who know little about the TMNT, but have heard of it or lived through that time when they were popular. The things to come to mind is "cowabunga" which is Mike's catchphrase, pizza where Mike is more obsessed by it than the others and the surfer talk "hey dudes" and stuff. Proof of that is Bart Simpson has used cowabunga, which you know is borrowed from the TMNT.

[Lioness-Goddess]

Also Michelangelo is easiest to remember for some reason. I mean, everybody knows they're named after artists. But I had a hard time remembering Don's and Raph's names when I started to get into the turtles.

[Seurat]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

Of the classic series, Michealangelo. Every thing Ninja Turtle-ish from the surfer speak, the pizza, the Cowabunga!! and all that is what most people remembered from the older TMNT series, and all that came from Mike. Hell, Mike even appeared in that Cartoon All-Star to the rescue anti-drug special.

Oh yeah... I remember that... *Happily drifts off into memory lane* I'm a sucker for both nostalgia and crossovers...