Why __________ is my favorite Turtle.

[Jester]

Hey all, Jester here.
I wasn't sure if I should make this a game (as "Why _______ is my favorite ________." where you answer that about any thing you want) or here, so I decided here, as the "Why ________ is my favorite Turtle". I was thinking about it at work and here's why Raph is my favorite Turtle.

Raphael is my favorite Turtle because of Rob Paulsen. I got into TMNT because of the old toon, and Raphael was my favorite Turtle because was the the most funny. Thought Michaelangelo was the "party dude" Raphael was the one who had me in stitches. Then I watched the first movie and I saw a darker raph, but a Raph I could relate too as well. Raphael's scene with Splinter is one of my favorite scenes in all of TMNT, and Splinter said in the new movie he's "strong, passionate and loyal to a fault, and those are the merits of a great leader as well." Raphael is my favorite Turtle because he may seem like a sarcastic sardonic outsider, but he's really a softy underneath, a true "protector of others."

[Nightwatcher]

Raphael is my favorite Turtle because of the old cartoon. He was sarcastic which fit in to my style of humor. Also he said "damn" a lot in the first movie which was cool to me at the time because I was so young. I didn't really appreciate the darkness until later. He was probably the least popular turtle between me and my friends which was another reason I liked him (I could use him in all the video games; I could be him while playing with action figures). Also for some reason I thought Sai were the coolest weapons. Swords were too generic, and nunchucks and a boe staff were made of wood and therefor less cool in my eyes.

I can relate to him more now that I'm older (to be fair I can relate to most all of them in some way). I can understand not wanting to be told what to do by an older sibling and I have my loner moments. I tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve and I have the tendency to bear the emotional weight of people around me on my shoulders.

Plus he was the one who met up with Casey Jones and is arguably his best friend out of the turtles and Casey is an awesome character.

[Revan]

I actually made a turtle switch when the first live action movie came out. Leonardo was my favorite when I was a little guy. What child doesn't love swords? However when the movie came out, Leo was portrayed as somewhat soft and I just didn't like him. Raph caught my fancy because he felt that fighting is the best way (just like me. ha!)

Now I am a die hard Raph fan because when I went to the movie, Raph always wanted to fight. He wanted to get down to business. "Oh that's the plan from our great leader. Just sit here on our buts!" I distinctly remember how much I wanted to watch the turtles fight and I suppose watching Raph in his numerous fight scenes is what waranted the switch from leo to raph.

P.S. Good topic

[Raph]

My favorite turtle is Raphael. When I started my fandon at 9 years of age, it was normal on the school playgrounds to have 2 fav's so mine were Don and Raph. But I had several corny reasons why Raph was and still is my favorite.

- First of all, his name starts with an R, so does mine (Rutger)
- His bandana is red: My favorite colour is red.
- Raph's a loner, so was I.
- I though and still think that the Sai is the coolest looking ninja weapon.

Only in later years I grew more into his actual characteristics and style then just the references of name and color.

[Ballerninja]

Woo! First non-Raph fan.

While I do love Raph dearly, Leo will always be the best in my eyes.

Of course, it started because of his swords. He was my inspiration to get involved in the martial arts (been training over 17 years now) and to choose the katana as my main weapon for competition. He also has my attitude toward training. He's a no nonsense, get down to business kindof guy. While I do feel like Raph sometimes and think that there are more important things than ceremony, Leo will always be the one I relate to the best.

[Jester]

How could I forget the sai...I love the sai, always have liked it as a ninja weapon, thus my love for Raph.

[TheAnimatedSeries]

I cant remember if orange is my favorite color because of Michelangelo, or if I was bought Michelangelo because orange is my favorite color, but either way Mikey was my first figure when the toys first came out. I dont just like him for that though, he was also my favorite personality in the shows and I especially related to him with the added depth he had in the first and third movies. Also, whenever we would use fake weapons when we were playing, nunchucks were the most fun because you'd end up hitting people for real.

[Buslady]

Why Raph is my number one turtle love:

Raph is my man cause of Josh Pais and the first movie. He was real, he sounded real, he was portrayed accurately. I liked him in the old toon but it was TMNT1 that did it. (watching the new movie was like fallin in love with Raph all over again!)

• us Loners gotta stick together (how ya like that oxymoron!)
• he has strong feelings of an outcasted reject, I know the feeling
• he feels his emotions quite strongly, as I do, we both try to hide them
• often feels the solution is to kick butt cause words don't mean a thing
• actions speak louder than words
• he *is* quite attractive for being a mutation of a turtle
• despite his seemingly slower ability to learn, he is a good student of saijutsu and sai are just plain cool.....*snap*
• Raph needs love.
• He's just plain cool. Acts tough and fearless even when he's scared
• I mean come on, lookit those beautiful brown eyes, how could you say no to those?

[Ramboraph4life aka Matt]

Raphael is also my favorite because...well this is going to sound strange. I think it may be because when I was a kid I loved (and still do) the character Rambo which I saw before the turtles..lol let me explain.

I first saw the character Rambo and just instantly became a hero to me(i guess like some did with Hercules, Tarzan etc.)Then I saw the TMNT cartoon, but it was the first movie in which I saw this turtle named Raphael. And especially where in my small child brain I just put those two characters together.

Both have red bandannas, tough attitudes, are loners, small hand-held yet deadly weapons (Raph's sais and Rambo's knives), a lot of physical strength, both had scars, and both names begin with R and A. I know weird but I guess when you're a kid, the weirdest things can draw you to something.

Then once I got to know more about the character through the other films (and fanfiction especially) I could put him into my own Rambo-type stories. I also agree with Buslady's reasons wholeheartedly

[Ra]

Raphael fans, UNITE!

Raph is my favorite turtle because of the fact that he's been my favorite ever since I was a kid. I loved the color red, so it was only natural for me to love "the red one". He also had the coolest weapons I had ever seen. But when I grew older and met Raphael again...I loved again for different reasons. He was the lone wolf of the pack, the one who saw himself as a loose cannon and at times harmed the ones he cared about. For me, each time I look at Raph, I see a reflection of myself. I see quite a bit of myself in him, and I would give anything to be with someone who had an idea of how you view the world.

And I am totally with Buslady on the eyes. Look at them! Just look at them! How can you say you don't love them?!

[cyberfox007]

Don is my fave turtle.

The reason being is that i find me and him very much alike. both him and me are tech junkies, make al kinds of gadgets, very analitical of the situation at hand and so forth.

i must say i do have a little bit of Mikey in me too. i can get lazy some times and do like to party

[Daunt]

Growing up, Mikey was my favorite. He was so adorable. His cute idiocy and goofyness was totally endearing. My affection for him skyrocketed in the movie because his voice actor was cuteness x100. Mikey will always hold a special place in my heart.

Now that I'm older I find myself more interested in Leo & Raph. Dunno what it is but I suspect that Raphael has that same mystique that Wolverine did for me...his volitile nature and repressed anger makes him dynamic. Leo, for similar reasons actually, it seems like they both hate themselves for not being 'good enough' in their own estimation while being jealous and angry at each other. It's a great combination.

[Jo Dawn]

Hmm.. this may take a few posts and hours to completely finish...

Don has always been my favorite turtle, from the beginning. I always felt some kind of kinship with him. I understood him. I was always more into reading and science and all that than almost anything. I was quiet, shy. Pacifistic. I am that now.

It almost helped me to see who I was better, if that makes sense.

Though, in almost a similar vein, Leo was my least favorite when I was younger, but he is now in close second. I think we are all in some way alike to all the turtles, but for me, I am most like Don and Leo. It's just my personality. Ask my mom. She said I was 40 by the time I was 4. I completely see Leo being that, also.

I sympathise with each of them (in a non feeling-bad-for-them way). I just 'get' it. With all of them, but with those two most especially. I don't think one can fully explain something that they just 'get' naturally.

I hold intelligence in high regard, along with discipline and responsibility.


In a nutshell, that's what I can give you. Though I will never be able to explain it fully, I suppose a beginning is good.

...More later, as it comes.

[Time Mistress]

Tie: Mike and Raph

Mike because:
Back during the old toon Mike was my favorite, I thought he had the coolest weapon of the four (having since had a few chuking classes though I'm better suited to swords and Splinter's handbo)
He's impatient, I can really relate
He's a consumate optimist and a force for harmony in the household, like me
He has a good sense of humor that I find funny (most of the time)
He's a creative writer and wants to be an author, like me
He has a cat, like me (Mirage Klunk who is gray with white feet even looked like my Socks)
He does character voices, like me (I've always wanted to be a VA too)
He loves comics and superheroes, so do I
He loves martial arts, but he isn't consumed by it and has other interests too

Raph because:
I never really "got" old toon Raph, but movie Raph blew me away and became my fave for a long while
Raph is the TMNT's answer to the X-Men's Wolverine, it's because I love Raph so much that I've also become a big Wolverine fan. So basically Raph's cool for all the same reasons Wolvie is, but even moreso, cause it's Raph
His passion - Raph, as Mike says, is the TMNT's secret weapon. All of them would fight to the death to protect each other, but Raph just has that "extra" protector role somehow, I love seeing him lay the smackdown on any that would hurt his bros
Raph's a loner, something I can relate to
He's also an introvert, something else I can relate too

The Mike/Raph relationship is easily my favorite. Mike is the one who can reach Raph when no one else can, and Raph is especially protective of Mike. I honestly can't pick a favorite between them anymore.

[Jester]

Donnie's become my close (almost tied) second to Raph, because Donnie is everything that Raphie isn't. Now I know in the TMNT mythos Raph and Leo are supposed to be foils, but to me Donnie seems to be more of Raph's exact opposite than Leo. Donnie uses his mind to defeat his foes, Raph his body. Donatello relies on intuition and investigation to make a move, Raphael relies on his emotions and instincts. Donnie has grown on me, mainly because of the 2k3 series, where he is the most sensitive and thoughtful of the TMNT, again the complete opposite of Raph.

So I guess that's why Donnie is my (very very very close second) favorite Turtle.

[Zog the Equalizer]

Don has always been my favorite. At first because of his purple bandana, but mostly because of his love of science. As a child I was sometimes mocked for my love of science so I looked up to don. Tales of the TMNT only reafirmed my favoritism because he states his love of all animals and i plan on becoming a zoologist. its also the reason I chose to learn the way of the bo-staff, but my sensai moved away.

[Warhorse]

Raphael is not only my favorite Turtle, but my favorite hero in all mediums.

Why?
First, in the old cartoon, it started with his color. But then I also grew fond of his witty, sarcastic humor, something that I have myself. It's a born talent, and can't be learned!

But like everyone on here, when I saw the big flick (with my mind racing to as why are the ninja turtles PG?) I found out that Raph was the particular reason for that PG rating. But he had everything going for him. His attitude was like in your face. His weapon is the most chilling out of all the Turtles (in that it's quite unique, not too many ninja films portray the use of a sai)

It would be a few years later after the last installment of the Turtles movies, due to college. But I then stumbled across the 2k3 series, which led me to the technodrome, and it was reading other fans thoughts on the red clad Turtle, I realized what a great thing he was. I do feel he is down played heavily in the 2k3 series, but he still has some of the best fight scenes, in my opinion, to all the Turtles. Like in one episode, Mikey was unconscience, and Raph heaved Mikey onto his shoulders, and did a backflip into the woods. How cool was that.

It's true that Leo and Raph fans will be at a distress with eachother, since these two Turtles seem to be the opposition of eachother. But in my opinion, I think Leo may be a great leader and all, but he would be no where in his skill and expertise if it wasn't for Raph's constant challenges. I believe Raph made what Leo is today.

Even in this new movie, Raph was not afraid of Splinter. He said "wassup!" to Splinter during the breakfast. That Turtle has no fear, and I think it's an admirable quality.

Also, he's the only Turtle that has a name that doesn't end in O. Another little thing that sets him apart from the others. I like him because he so differrent from the others.

[Jo Dawn]

Originally Posted by Jester

but to me Donnie seems to be more of Raph's exact opposite than Leo.

I completely agree. I actually think that Leo and Raph are very much alike; they just handle things in different ways (I thought this was said somewhere, too... But I can't remember.)

[JetsAndHeels]

Leo is my favorite turtle because he is the glue that holds the team together. He is the leader, the one who makes decisions that affect the 4 of them.

It was in the original toon that Leo first became my character of choice, and it has been that way since. Of course the swords and all are cool (back in the old toon that was always a big plus), but his personality and character are what drew me into him. He values family and honor above everything else, and would do whatever he could for those he loves.

[triplexxx]

They are all the glue that holds the team together, and they'd all do everything they could to protect their family.