How do people feel about Donnie being the doormat of the family?

[victory_angel]

Donatello is obviously my favorite turtle, but it sort of bugs me that he is the doormat of the ninja turtles family. He even admits to being the team doormat it in Enemy of My Enemy.

Yes he's had his moments to shine and really prove himself. But there are also lots of other times where he has been electrocuted, injured, ignored, forgotten, abused, insulted, taken advantage of, teased, tormented, and no one (with the exception of April) seems to care.

Raph being a prime offender here but Leo and Mikey have some faults too. (Yes I'm aware a lot of this is meant to be for laughs, but there are moments that are just too cruel to be considered funny)

Some glaring examples:

Rise of the Turtles: Raph breaks Donnie's staff in two and beats Donnie's shell like a taiko drum.

Metal Head:

• Raph calls Donnie a girl
• Raph makes a snide remark to Spike about Donnie's weapon while Splinter is in ear shot.
• After Donnie saves their lives, both Leo and Mikey congratulate him for coming to his senses and destroying metal head. Raph in the meantime proceeds to rub the fact he was also the reason they were nearly killed in the first place in Donnie's face. (Mikey is the only person who seems to take some concern with that)
• And after returning to the lair the other guys are playing a video game leaving Donnie to mope by himself.

Monkey Brains: Comes home injured, his brothers laugh and crack jokes about the fact it was a monkey that had beaten him up.

The Gauntlet: Donnie being pressured by Leo to dismantle the Kraang Mutagen bomb (yes they had only five minutes to dismantle the bomb, but this sort of still counts in some degree)

Mousers Attack: Donnie and Mikey are essentially told by their older brothers they are more or less the red shirts of the team. (In the Star Trek universe, to be a red shirt is equal to cannon fodder)

It came from the Depths:

• Leatherhead grabs Donnie by the face and shakes him like a rag doll not once but twice in the same episode. No one does anything to help (Yes there is that one flash back still that looks like Raph and Leo are trying to save Donnie, but if you watch the actual fight they don't anything to help him)
• Leo also electrocutes Donnie when he uses Donnie's stun gun on leatherhead. No one notices.
• Leo tells Donnie to jump in the water first even though Donnie isn't sure the power cell could be carried through the water without electrocution.
• Raph stresses Donnie out further by jokingly making Donnie think was being electrocuted before slapping him into the water.

I Monster

• When Donnie expresses that he doesn't want to be the first to attack Splinter because he'll be beaten up. Raph comments that being pounded is his specialty.
• When Leo is tossed against one wall, he looks up to see Donnie flying in his direction and moves out of the way so Donnie hits a pipe face first.

TCRI: Donatello's face is once again grabbed by Leatherhead. Leo explains how they lost the power cell to the Kraang before jumping into the water leaving poor Donnie to suffer at Leatherhead's hands yet again.

Pulverizer returns: Donnie's views on the situation are pretty much disregarded the whole episode.
No one notices that Donnie doesn't even join in the High three moment.

Operation: Breakout- (according to a recently released video clip) Donnie is humiliated by Raph in front of April and his entire family.
(Obviously meant to be an episode where Donnie proves himself as a member of the team and fulfill his goal in rescuing April's dad. )

Still it feels with brothers like Raph at least, who needs enemies. So I want to know how you guys feel about this aspect of his character?

[Konchadunga]

I don't think it's done for laughs so much as for the character to become relatable. They want to appeal to Nerds who yearn for girls who seem out of reach, and who get beat up by non-nerds, by giving them a nerd who goes through all that but is also a ninja.

All that makes it potentially fine, but I do argue that if they make an episode where he snaps, wins a fight, and proves himself (and they will), after that, there should be less scenes of him being a doormat from there-on.

[Powder]

I think you're over-analyzing things (probably due to a bias for loving the character). A better argument to make would be that Raph is a dick considering most of these things have happened to each turtle to some extent courtesy his bad attitude. Mikey has been just as much of a punching bag as Don, so to speak.

[Gin Rummy]

I don't think Don is that much of a doormat. None of them are perfect. Leo's a naive geek, Raph's bi-polar, And Mikey is treated like a complete dope. All four of them are just a bunch of awkward Teenagers.

[JH24]

I understand what you're saying but I also feel you're overanalyzing this. The turtles are still young, they're brothers, they're teenagers and they've all developed/established a kind of relationship with each other.

Also Raph is like this to everyone, have you seen the "abuse" Mikey has gotten from him over time? Yet how much it affected Raph when Mikey got injured by Snakeweed? It's just the way they interact with each other as a family. They all care deeply for each other, but don't always have to show it every time.



Also, in Monkey Brains they first checked if Donatello was okay, when they knew he was only then they started laughing at him. They're still brothers after all, it's just the way how it works.

They respect Donny's skills and intelligence, and when needed they would listen to him and follow his orders without question. Like when saving Timothy at the end in "Pulverizer Returns."

[Teddy]

I totally feel you and think they do get a little harsh with Donnie on this show, but I also think you're over-analyzing a little. This is pretty much the same niche Donnie always takes in the family, that's just how his character was created.

And yeah, Raph is just as rash with Mikey and sometimes even Leo, so it's not like Donnie's being singled out in that respect.

[Shark_Blade]

Donnie the doormat? Where can I get one?

[Karai Samurai]

Donnie being a doormat is a running gag, sort of like Leatherhead constantly grabbing his head. I like it because it's hilarious and Rob Paulsen's voice acting is top notch in those situations and adds to his awkward/adorably nerdy persona. In "TCRI" you see that the turtles do take Donnie seriously if necessary.

[Davin]

Mikey would be my first thought as the doormat of the team. But they all tease each other, even Raph gets it regularly. It doesn't really bother me, it's just comedy and meant to reinforce their personalities/role in the group.

[TigerClaw]

I don't think Donatello is the doormat, He's always been portrayed as the nerdy geeky type, Without him, We wouldn't have the Shellraiser or any Gadgets the Turtles would have. Plus the fact he has this crush on April is what distracting him when hes training.

[Electric]

i understand what you're saying, but honestly, if you look back, hes no more the doormat then leo is. The guys, especially raph, give leo crap about as much as donnie, just this donnie is a little more high strung and reacts, making it seem worse than it is.

[Captain PunchYouHard]

The rest of it is really subjective, and I agree with you at points, but I don't see Donnie getting beaten on as abuse per se. Normal teenage boys are really physical with each other already, and these ones have been trained in martial arts all their lives. I really think it's all they know, and that it's affectionate even when it looks angry.

If anything, I think Raph is a jerk *to all his brothers* far, far more than would be acceptable IRL. Someone definitely would have decisively kicked his ass by now. I enjoy the show because it's cathartic to see someone else say the things I'd say if I could cheerfully burn all my bridges and then pee on the cinders.

[BabyTurtles]

to me Raph messes around with all of his brothers, if he sees the opportunity he takes it XD even Leo is not protected from Raph's quips

Don just has the habit of making a fool of himself (especially in front of April)....Raph just adds to it sometimes.. (alot)

besides you wanna talk doormat? I'd say Mikey has the short end of the stick! his own brothers think he's only good for distracting an enemy!! XD...thats sad..

[Raphaeline]

I prefer the 2003 Donatello, but I think the Nick one will have his moments of glory in the next episode ^^

And Raph is critisized by his brothers too, they consider him like being only muscles without brain.

I just wonder how Donnie will react when Casey arrives, poor Donnie

[TigerClaw]

Originally Posted by Raphaeline

I prefer the 2003 Donatello, but I think the Nick one will have his moments of glory in the next episode ^^

And Raph is critisized by his brothers too, they consider him like being only muscles without brain.

I just wonder how Donnie will react when Casey arrives, poor Donnie

I can picture Donatello when he sees Casey Jones and saying. "What is he doing with my April?"

[Shark_Blade]

Originally Posted by TigerClaw

I can picture Donatello when he sees Casey Jones and saying. "What is he doing with my April?"

I can see his cheek wet with painful tears already.

[Refractive Reflections]

First of all, I have to commend you victory angel for putting in this much effort and examples into your argument. Half the people who try to make a point just put down 2 sentences and expect everyone to understand where they are coming from.

I think one could make an argument about Leo and Mikey are teased just as harshly. With Leo being seen as somewhat overly proud/geeky of his position being leader (and how his brothers treat him), with Mikey being dumb and even priding himself in it (and how his brothers get constantly annoyed by it), or Raph being too much of a "tough guy" (i.e. the episode "Cockroach Terminator").

As Gin Rummy is pointing out...

Originally Posted by Gin Rummy

I don't think Don is that much of a doormat. None of them are perfect. Leo's a naive geek, Raph's bi-polar, And Mikey is treated like a complete dope. All four of them are just a bunch of awkward Teenagers.

This pretty much fits my opinion. Because of the Nick Turtles obvious immaturity, I still call them Tweenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. At first I was confused why the writers would want them to immature and kiddish despite encountering the brutality of fighting, but then I realized that it gives the series a much greater opportunity to see the longer journey these characters grow and develop than compared to the OT or 4Kids.

But I will argue that Donnie seems to be slightly more mature than the other Turtles, especially in the episode "Pulverizer Returns" when he shows his immense guilt and sympathy toward Timothy. (Yes Timothy was an idiot in the episode, but his good-hearted intentions at the time at least prevent his character from being completely annoying.)

Also I'll argue that Raph does have a few "jerk" moments to his brothers, and Splinter should discipline that out of him with him being a strict disciplinarian as a ninja master and all.

[gobo]

Originally Posted by victory_angel

How do people feel about Donnie being the doormat of the family?

It's absolutely absurd! Confusius say, "He who dwells in sewers only wastes his time by putting out a doormat."

[Knight_man]

I'm waiting for splinter to have Donnie and April spar. that is going to be hilarious if she beats him. He would never be able to live it down with the guys.

[Gwydion]

To be honest, I don't have a problem with most of the examples in the first post (Leo pressuring Donnie about the bomb, Leo moving out of the way so Donnie won't crash into him, Leatherhead grabbing Donnie's face, etc). Some things are just reactions to stressful situations, and others are just siblings being siblings. Maybe it's because I have both an older and younger sibling (so I'm familiar with both the giving and the receiving, lol), but a lot of the time I find they act like we did, which I really like.

Do they sometimes go a bit overboard? Yeah, but again, so do real siblings. The point is that at the end of the day, they still clearly show that they all care about each other. Raph keeps Donnie from making a (bigger) fool of himself in Enemy of My Enemy. Leo praises Donnie's work on the go carts ("Patrol buggies!") in Panic in the Sewers. Mikey almost can't even bring himself to knock Donnie out - despite being told by Donnie to do so - even though he knows all of their lives could be over if he got bit in Parasitica.

Besides, I agree with the others - Mikey is the bigger doormat. XD Heck, in one episode they even argue in front of his face about how no one wants to team up with him, and that's not counting the times he gets called on to do things the other 3 don't want to do.