Characters / Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003): Turtles and Splinter

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003) characters:
The Turtles and Splinter | Allies | The Foot Clan (The Shredder) | Other Characters | The Battle Nexus | The Ninja Tribunal Arc | Fast Forward

The Turtles and Splinter

The main heroes group. The TMNT with their master, Splinter.

As a whole

• All Work vs. All Play: Leo focuses on business and Mike likes to goof around.
• Almighty Janitor: It's not until the sixth season episode Graduation Day: Class of 2105 where the Turtles finally attained the middle ninja rank of Chunin. Before all that, they were able to fight on par with long-lived warriors like Ch'rell and Agent Bishop who have at least centuries of experience on them, defeat some of the greatest warriors of the multiverse with Michelangelo himself winning the tournament in the Battle Nexus, play a huge role in stopping a Triceraton invasion of Earth, bring down an Eldritch Abomination in The Darkness Within, and ultimately become mystically powerful enough that they could transform into dragons and manhandle the Demon Shredder, stated to be the greatest evil who ever walked the earth. So in retrospect, the greatest accomplishments of the Turtles were achieved while they were still lower ranked ninja.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: While Michelangelo is the biggest one, all three of the younger Turtles can be this to Leonardo sometimes. And in turn, due to their lack of manners and etiquettes, they all act like this to April, when they live in her apartment, including Leo, who, at one point starts arguing with Raph while standing in front of the TV, blocking her view.
• Badass Family: Undeniably so, as they regularly fight off hordes of aliens, monsters, and maniacal humans.
• Big Brother Instinct: Each turtle knows his brothers can take care of themselves in a fight. Make no mistake, though, they won't hesitate to jump to each others' defense if needed. The biggest example is how protective Raph is of Donnie and Mikey. This is especially noticeable when the other turtles struck a deal with Bishop and infiltrated Foot Headquarters to save Donnie's life during the Outbreak Arc.
• Brains and Brawn: Don and Raph
• Color-Coded Characters: In the Mirage comics, the Turtles all wore red bandanas (not that it mattered much in a black-and-white comic), leaving their distinct weapons as usually the best way to tell them apart. The series follows the 1987 choice of give Leonardo blue, Donatello purple and Michaelangelo orange, while Raphael kept red. Lampshaded in Turtles Forever when the Mirage Turtle call "silly" both the 1987 and 2003 versions for this. For the first time, their weapons as well as their bandanas have their individual colors.
• Divergent Character Evolution: While not as extreme as subsequent adaptations (which give them more overtly different body types and design quirks), the show follows the earlier 1987 toys and 1990s videogames in having each turtle in different shades of green with Don in particular getting a more olive or brown skin tone than the others.
  • In the final two seasons they're given slightly different body types in line with their counterparts in the 2007 movie. Their heights are each an inch apart. Mikey is the shortest, followed by Leo, then Don, and then Raph (from 5'4" to 5'7" respectively). Raph also has a bulkier frame than his brothers.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble: Leonardo the melancholic, Donatello the phlegmatic, Raphael the choleric and Michaelangelo the sanguine.
• Good Is Not Soft: Downplayed, they try not to kill anyone if they can help it, but are willing to do so if the need arises, such as when Leonardo fully believed he decapitated Shredder, or when Donnie ''actually' killed Ch'Rell in one Bad Future.
• Happily Adopted: The Turtles love and respect Splinter as if he were their real father and outright call him "father" sometimes. This bemuses the 1987 Turtles, who do not see Splinter as a father figure in the same sense that these Turtles do.
• Heroic Build: The Turtles are Heroes in a half-shell with the physiques to go with it.
• Know When to Fold Them: The Turtles sometimes invoke this, with Raph on one occasion settling on a "tactical retreat". This is also the Ancient One's first lesson, when a bitter Leo faces a losing battle against intangible demons.
  Leo: To surrender is not the warrior's way!
  The Ancient One: You won't be much of a warrior without a head!
• Metamorphosis: From turtles to humanoid turtles, and from a rat to a humanoid rat.
• Named After Somebody Famous: They are all named after iconic Renaissance artists.
• Ninja: They are a clan of ninjas.
• Le Parkour: And roof hopping as they are real urban ninjas.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Raph and Mikey are Red, Leo and Don are Blue^note Their color-coding helps on this, even with Mikey (orange, which is close to red in the color spectrum) and Don (purple, which is closer to blue) This often shifts with their personalities as Raph is Hot-Blooded and has a bad temper while Leo keeps a cool head and is serious about keeping things in order. Mikey likes to fool around a lot and is a prankster while Don is more into technological advancements and is way more focused on his duties than Mikey.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Averted in this series. Direct references to pizza are intentionally few and far between across the seven seasons, and they often mention eating ice cream, Chinese food, hot dogs, and various other foods. However, pizza is still the most potent health item in most video games based in this continuity.
• Undying Loyalty: To each other.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Mikey, Raph, and Leo stealing the pendant from Karai to give to Bishop to save Donatello's life during the Outbreak Arc kickstarts what could have ended with a global apocalypse. To be fair, the turtles didn't know this about the pendant when they stole it, but it is a moot point, because even if they knew, they still would have stolen it to save Donatello.
• Unusual Euphemism: "Shell" is their go to "profanity," getting a lot of mileage as a portmanteau of "shit" and "hell" and due to being turtles, can also substitute for "ass." Often leads to some pretty corny one-liners.
  "Aw, shell!"
  "What the shell are those things?!"
  "I got my shell kicked!"
• Weirdness Magnet: Noted several times:
  Michelangelo: How come all the weird stuff always happens to us? I mean, we were just minding our own business, when WHAM, that time lady fell out of the sky, right on top of us! Now we're stuck here AND we've gotta go to that creepy-looking place! It just doesn't seem fair!!!
• Would Hit a Girl: The Turtles have no problems with attacking Karai, although to be fair, she is more than capable of holding her own in a fight.

Leonardo

Leonardo

Voiced by: Michael Sinterniklaas ^{Foreign VAs}Bruno Mullenaerts (FR)

The leader, always in control. In this version, he is more well-balanced and serious than in the 1987 TV series and first three films. He spends the most time training and takes the Bushido code of honor to heart, mentioning it several times within the show. As the responsible one, he usually tries to stop his brothers from going on crazy missions (without Splinter's permission) before getting dragged into it himself. Like the Mirage comics and the film series, Leo and Raphael have disagreements frequently, though it is less about Raph wanting to lead and more about disagreements over moral stances. He fights with dual katanas.

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• The Ace: Becomes arguably the most skilled of the four brothers due to also spending a lengthy amount of time training under the Ancient One, and was the first of the Tribunal's warriors to manifest a dragon avatar.
• Adaptational Badass: To date, this is one of the most skilled, powerful, and competent incarnations of Leonardo in any media format. Even now, there aren't many other versions of Leo who can boast that they've been able to casually defeat all of their brothers at once in sparring matches and even out-fight Splinter later on. And while ironically, 2003 Leo was defeated by his Mirage counterpart in Turtles Forever, it can still be argued that the sheer volume and quality of his accomplishments (such as the aforementioned cases of being able to defeat his brothers and Splinter, in addition to unlocking a powerful One-Winged Angel dragon form in the fifth season) still surpass that of the original Mirage Leo by a good amount. For reference, Tales of the TMNT revealed that in the future, Mirage Leo achieved enlightenment and gained a small degree of mystical powers only during his elderly years, whereas in this show, 2003 Leo unlocked his mystical potential under the Ninja Tribunal while he was still a teenager.
• Badass Longcoat: In Same As It Never Was.
• Big Brother Instinct: Even though he's never officially stated to be the oldest he definitely acts like The Leader which makes him fiercely protective over his family. He later displays this to Cody, April and Casey's great-grandson, in Fast Forward.
• Bloodless Carnage: He's typically the most common character to deliver this. Leo cutting down an opponent with his swords usually results in a flash of white, but never any blood.
• Broken Ace: By season 4 after nearly being killed by the Shredder and only winning by external intervention, Leo becomes more aggressive and short tempered.
• The Chains of Commanding: Michelangelo notes this in Samurai Tourist, that Leo takes the burden of being the leader so his brothers can do what they want: Donatello's free to pursue his scientific and technological aspirations, Raphael's free to not think, let loose and fight, and Mikey's free to just slack off because their brother's the one in control.
• Character Development:
  • In season 1, he is quite naïve and believes his weapons are what make him superior to his brothers. When Master Splinter demonstrates that in the hands of a skilled warrior, anything can be a deadly weapon and until he has learned that, he has learned nothing, Leo gets angry and doesn't understand what exactly he hasn't learned and thinks Splinter just doesn't understand him. This is followed by Oroku Saki manipulating Leo into believing that they are both on the same side (while none of the other turtles actually believe Saki). Once Splinter explains what kind of man Saki is, Leo realizes he has much to learn and that Master Splinter was right.
  • In season 4 he becomes the best fighter of the bunch while trying and failing to master his anger and fear after being defeated and stabbed in season 3 before finally reverting to his original personality.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Has it the worst of all the brothers. Leo feels responsible for any suffering he sees, even if the turtles are only minimally involved. During the City At War trilogy, he feels responsible for the collateral damage caused by the warring gangs because the turtles took out the Shredder, leaving the criminal throne open for the taking. This is despite the fact leaving the Shredder in power was still causing people to suffer. Leo wants to solve every problem and believes by creating a new one, he has failed.
• Cultured Warrior: If one of the turtles is going to be in touch with Japanese traditions, it's gonna be Leo.
• Deadpan Snarker: Occasionally.
  [Leo gets beaten up by some Foot Tech Ninjas]
  Casey: Hey, did I mention that these guys are really strong too?
  Leo: [groan] Might've been useful info.
• Deconstruction: In Samurai Tourist, Mikey — yes, Mikey — gives an accurate analysis as to why Leo takes on the burden of being the leader: so that he lets his brothers be themselves.
  Mikey: I think you all [Donatello, Raphael and Casey] should just lay off the poor guy [Leonardo]. I mean, it can't be fun always being the responsible one. And we're the ones who really benefit: Raph's free not to think 'cause Leo does all the thinking for him, Don's free to dream, and I'm free to take it easy - all 'cause Leo's busy being responsible enough for all of us.
• Determinator: Even when he's up against an impossibly powerful enemy, Leo won't give up until he's unconscious or worse.
• Dual Wielding: He always wields two swords, and if one is broken he still fights with the other one.
• Emotions vs. Stoicism: A lot of what he puts up with has him wondering if he should fight or remain still.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Surprisingly, Leonardo has a difficult time controlling his temper over issues very important to him. He's aware enough to maintain his cool most of the time, but he does have a tendency to be passive-aggressive. Thanks to his patience, he manages to avoid this trope until Season 4, after he and his family almost die against the Shredder. He is so overwhelmed with guilt that he ends up lashing out towards everyone at the drop of a hat, including his brothers and Splinter.
• Heroes Prefer Swords: As the leader of the group, Leo gets the shiny swords.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • After being ambushed by the entire Foot Clan and being easily defeated by the Foot Elite, and his family being forced to evacuate New York after April's home is destroyed, Leo falls into a state of depression. Raph is able to help him get out of it by training him to get back into fighting shape, and by forging a new pair of swords.
  • After the Turtles and Splinter are forced to commit suicide to stop Shredder in Exodus, Leo is traumatized, feeling that because he wasn't good enough, his family had to kill itself. He remains in this funk for most of Season 4, before training with the Ancient One helps him learn that he isn't at fault for not being able to do anything else.
• Heroic Spirit: A big reason why he's a Determinator. He's the first to lecture someone about the importance of a strong spirit as well.
• He's Back!: Happens to Leo twice: First during Return to New York, when he confronts the Foot Elite which nearly killed him during their first encounter, and again in Prodigal Son, the conclusion to his season 4 character arc.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Miyamoto Usagi.
• Katanas Are Just Better: Obviously. Although Leonardo's swords are often much more closely modeled around the ninjato.
• Knight Templar: Leonardo's story arc in the 4th season have him nearly cross over into Knight Templar territory. His rage gets so bad he actually wounds Splinter and has to be sent away to Japan to learn from Splinter's master.
• The Leader: Has been a born leader ever since he was a child showing great skills as one. The opening explains it perfectly: "Leonardo's always in control."
• Master Swordsman: He uses his katana very skillfully.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Leonardo has an example of this in The Ancient One, when he loses control and injures Master Splinter. The look on his face after it happens and his subsequent remorse show he was clearly shocked, and deeply regretted his actions.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: He gets into quite a few of these. If he's not on the receiving end, he's usually administering it.
• Not So Above It All: Despite being the serious one, Leo's not above having fun and joking with his brother's when he gets the chance.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: Consistently the most skilled Turtle, he falls into the leadership role by default.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Raphael's red, in terms of their headbands and in personality.
• Samurai: Leonardo is technically a ninja, but a lot of the tenets he quotes are in line with samurai. It's no surprise he and Usagi got along swimmingly.
• Sanity Slippage: After his devastating injuries when he fought the Shredder, Leo is increasingly losing his cool by the minute and is pushing himself way too far and goes as far as to almost harm his family. He does this to Splinter when he is frustrated during his training in an Unstoppable Rage.
• Scars Are Forever: To an extent. In the Season 3 finale, the Shredder breaks off part of his upper shell. All throughout Season 4 the crack in his shell remains as he descends into Knight Templar territory, and even after he recovers it refuses to heal. Not until the Fast Forward reboot, anyway.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: He starts out at the very end of the Idealism scale, even believing the best of the Shredder and then his daughter Karai. As the seasons progress he shows signs of being capable of sliding down the other way — he does this in the fourth season — though he remains mostly rooted in idealism.
• The Spartan Way: Leonardo as a child was suffering from a fear of heights. Splinter brings him to the top of a gigantic reservoir and pretends to be in danger of falling. Leonardo forces himself to crawl out and save him, and apparently conquers his fear in the process.
• Strong and Skilled: By far Leo is the most seasoned warrior out of all of his brothers who are either Skilled, but Naive (Mikey), Unskilled, but Strong (Raph), or Weak, but Skilled (Don).
• Took a Level in Badass: In the first season he can barely handle fighting one of the Foot Elite, and is nearly killed trying to take on all four. By the end of the fourth season, he not only takes on all four without apparent difficulty, but also bests Karai, the incumbent Shredder, in the process.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: During the first half of the fourth season, combined with Heroic BSoD from his devastating failure and his now present Hair-Trigger Temper. He gets over it after training with the Ancient One.
• Unstoppable Rage: During the fourth season when he wounds Splinter while he is overcome with grief and anger. He continues this when he is sent to train with the Ancient One and during his travels he succumbs to his wrath once more against a pair of giants.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: They're brothers, but generally this with Raph. Both are short-tempered in this series, leading to frequent arguments, but they frequently show genuine care and respect for each other, and seem to be emotionally closer to each other than to their younger brothers.
• What the Hell, Hero?: In a reverse from usual situation, Raph calls Leo out in The Ancient One for injuring Master Splinter when Leo loses control in a fit of rage.
  Raphael: Leo, what the shell is your problem?!
• With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: Leonardo feels responsible for everything. In City at War, Splinter has to tell him not to try to take the weight of the world on his shoulders, because all it'll do is crush him.
• Wrecked Weapon: Done to Leonardo's swords in the episode The Shredder Strikes Back, Part 1, as the climax to the ass-kicking the character gets in that episode. And again in Big Brawl, part 1 by a Gom-Tai.

Raphael

Raphael

Voiced by: Greg Abbey (credited as "Frank Frankson" and "John Campbell" before using his real name) ^{Foreign VAs}Benjamin Jungers (FR)

Raphael's personality in this adaptation is more like his Mirage counterpart; he is angrier and more sardonic, but not quite as violent (although he is still impulsive, and can be counted on to throw the first punch). However, he doesn't enjoy having such a short temper and is always quick to apologize after going too far. He's actually quite emotional underneath his anger and is the first turtle to be seen crying. He has a lot of teenage angst over being a mutant and being treated like a freak everywhere he goes. In this adaptation, Raphael speaks with a similar Brooklyn accent used in the movies. He fights with twin sais.

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• Aloof Big Brother: Partially inverted. He's younger than Leonardo making him an aloof little brother, but older than Michelangelo, playing it straight for him, as he has a harsher personality and lone wolf mentality whenever he is feeling pressured. Whether he is older or younger than Don is left ambiguous (though Kevin Eastman says Don is older).
• Annoying Younger Sibling: To Leo. He often defies Leo's instructions and makes fun of him. Given Leo is the most skilled, who often unintentionally makes the others look bad, he would make sure to remember the few times he has made mistakes and continue to rub them in his face whenever he feels like it. Leo is not afraid to express how he feels about them either,
  (While Raph and Mike argue with each other)
  Adam: Sheesh, they always this way to each other?
  Leo: No, usually they're a lot more annoying.
• Badass Biker: He is shown to be a skilled motorcyclist and has his own motorcycle, the "Shell Cycle."
• Baritone of Strength: He has the most deepest voice out of all his brothers, and he's the EPITOME of strength.
• Bash Brothers: With the rest of his brothers. Along with Casey as well.
• Berserk Button:
  • Raphael does not like the idea of being weak. Whereas the rest of his brothers are usually able to recognize and admit their faults, Raph can't stand admitting where he falls short.
  • He loves his bike and quickly turns to rage if anyone messes with it.
  • Did we mention how much Raph hates bugs? In April's Artifact, he gets pushed too far after recovering from the paralysis given to him by one of the hornets, declaring in a Punctuated! For! Emphasis! fashion that bugs must pay.
• Big Brother Bully: To Mikey, especially when his younger brother annoys him. He won't hesitate to teach him a lesson. Flashbacks to their childhood show he was even meaner to Mike as a child, usually for no good reason. The episode Fathers and Sons shows Mikey doodling with a crayon, when Raph snatches it away from him and snaps it in two, just to make his poor little brother cry. The Lesson also shows Raph declaring himself "the King of the Trash" and shoving and kicking Mike and Don away when they try to join him, until Leo beats him up, making Mike cheer for Leo.
• Big Brother Instinct: While typically considered the younger of the two, when a beaten and battered Leo is tossed through the window, Raph's first instinct is to go hunt down who did this to his brother. Played straight for Mikey. Somewhat ambiguous for Don as whether he is older or younger than Don is unclear ^note Kevin Eastman thinks Raph is younger, possibly because Raph is Eastman's Author Avatar, while Don is Laird's and Laird is older than Eastman. When Don is kidnapped by the last surviving Y'lintian, Raph is the first to go after him and threatens to level all of Y'lintus (an underground city that inspired the myth Atlantis) just to get him back. In Fast Forward, the Turtles and Splinter time travel to the year 2105. In the first episode, Mike becomes separated from his family while the others are rescued by a robot named Serling. Raph threatens to turn him into scrap metal if he doesn't help him find Mikey. Leo and Don even have to hold Raph back from attacking Serling. He also displays this to Cody, April and Casey's great-grandson.
• Big Damn Heroes: In the City At War arc (with some help from Splinter).
• The Big Guy: The most aggressive and physically strongest member.
• Big Little Brother: While never officially stated, Leo is usually the oldest among the four and Don may or may not be older than Raph as well. Raph, however, is the tallest in the final two seasons, much like the 1990 film.
• Blood Knight: Raphael definitely loves to brawl and is always eager to step into the fight.
  Count on Raphael to throw the first punch!
• Boisterous Bruiser: Raph is definitely the loudest and most daring of his brothers as he's always ready for extreme action.
• Brooklyn Rage: He has a gruff, Brooklyn drawl.
• Character Catchphrase: "I got your X right here." and also "You and me are having words." And whenever he is having a bad day he tends to say "The old turtle luck running true to form." In the Fast Forward season, he often said "I hate the future!"
• Deadpan Snarker: He is pretty sardonic and often makes snide remarks.
• Driven by Envy: Downplayed. Raphael appears to live in the shadow of Leonardo and resent his brother's social position in the group. However, Raphael's rivalry with him is heavily toned down in comparison to the comic books and he never shows a deep hatred towards Leo. In fact, he admits outright that Leo makes a better leader; he just gets annoyed taking orders sometimes. In this series, their frequent arguments are less about resentment over Leo's leadership role, and more a combination of both their short tempers and keeping each other accountable.
• Fire-Forged Friends: With Casey, as they originally came to blows numerous times when they first met. However, facing off with the Purple Dragons not only integrated Casey into the Turtles' family, but solidified their friendship.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Especially early on in the series. It's one of the biggest things he struggles with.
• Hot-Blooded: Raphael has a very fiery temper and will often be the most impulsive of the turtles. He's so dedicated to being this way that he will often go out on his own.
• Hypocritical Humor: He generally hates when Mike says "Cowabunga", but unironically uses it as a Battle Cry in Headlock Prime. He also tends to get annoyed when Leo gets too angry, generally remarking that he hates when Leo "acts like me".
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's more abrasive than most others, but is still as noble as his brothers and is willing to do good when the situation calls for it. He's also the first one who jumps into action whenever someone threatens his family or friends and even helps out random citizens.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Raph's attitude during the City at War trilogy. What the Hell, Hero? stems from the fact that he refuses to believe that the Turtles were responsible for New York's gang war between the Foot Clan, Purple Dragons, and the Mob and he sounds like he doesn't care about the innocent people who have been caught in the crossfire. This stems from his statement that the Turtles' involvement would only "add fuel to the fire," in other words, make the situation worse and to be honest, Raph wasn't wrong; apart from Leo saving a gang of mobsters from an exploding warehouse and evacuating a man trapped in a bus, the Turtles weren't making much progress to end the war until Karai showed up and offered a truce.
• Jerkass Realization: Spends the "City at War" three-parter repeatedly insisting they not get involved, saying it's not their fault and getting into it with Leonardo for saying otherwise. He goes as far as to walk out on his brothers and Casey rather than take part in Karai's plan to restore order. He comes back in time for the final fight, saying (with Splinter's help) he cooled off and reassessed what was important.
• The Lancer: Raphael will throw the first punch. His rivalry with Leo is played with in this series. He is often the first one to question Leonardo's plans and often butts heads with him in the process.
• Middle Child Syndrome: Played with. Raphael isn't the middle turtle, but he feels as if no one understands him. Being a mutant does not help.
• Odd Friendship: He is the jock of the group and Don is the nerd, but the two of them generally get along really well. Given his rivalry with Leo and his vitriolic relationship with Mike, he and Don are generally less likely to bicker. The fact that Don made him the Shell cycle also helps.
• Red Is Heroic: He's always a hero but typically in on-going series he plays The Lancer to Leo, while in one-off stories he is the main protagonist who usually has to overcome his anger.
• They Really Do Love Each Other: Despite sometimes being a jerk to his brothers, Raphael is very protective of them.
  • Particularly noticeable with Leo in this series. As much as they argue, there are a number of moments showing how much they actually respect and care for each other, and they seem to be closer to each other than they are to Donnie and Mikey.
  • Raph will poke fun of Don’s intelligence, calling him a brainiac or putting down his love of museums as boring, but when Don found the cure for their mutated friends in Y’Lintius, he constantly praised him for his ingenuity.
  • Raph frequently puts down Mikey and even slaps him upside the head, but as soon as Mikey is in danger, Raph rushes to his defense. Despite Raph’s constant exasperation with his little brother’s antics, he admits that he had the most fun with Mikey.
• The Resenter: There are several occasions in season 1 where Raphael expresses irritation over Leonardo's skills, particularly when Leo outdoes him at training exercises. "Tales of Leo" suggests this stems from Raph's disappointment over being passed over for leader, even though he had been the strongest of the four when they were kids. Leo's near death experience causes him to fully get over it.
• This Is Unforgivable!: Raph doesn't take too well to having been paralyzed by one of the hornets in the episode "April's Artifact".
  Raphael: Bugs... must... PAY!
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Raph throws his sai a lot.
• Took a Level in Kindness: It's more so "losing a level in jerkass," but by Back to the Sewers, Raph was no longer beating up Mikey or challenging Leo's authority, though he still flung a few insults here and there — but even those were reduced.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Raphael has immense strength and great ability, but his temper often clouds his judgement.
• Unstoppable Rage: You had better hope you never catch Raph on a bad day where he is extremely angry. Very little can stand in his way.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: They're brothers, but generally this with Leo. Both are short-tempered in this series, leading to frequent arguments, but they frequently show genuine care and respect for each other, and seem to be emotionally closer to each other than to their younger brothers.
• What the Hell, Hero?: In Meet Casey Jones, Leo and Don call Raph out when he loses his temper and almost attacks Mikey with a metal pipe.
  Leonardo: Raphael! Have you lost your mind?!
  Donatello: You OK, Mikey? What were you thinking, Raph?!
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: A running gag throughout the series is Raphael's fear of bugs (entomophobia). However, in this adaptation it is less a phobia and more an intense hatred.

Donatello

Donatello

Voiced by: Sam Riegel ^{Foreign VAs}Baptiste Hupin (FR)

The brains of the bunch. Don is still the smartest turtle, like the other versions, and is more pacifistic compared to his brothers. Due to this and his preoccupation with tech, he is the weakest fighter, but his inventions and ideas make him an invaluable part of the team. He gets easily excited over new technology or fascinating creatures, causing him to be distracted even during bad situations. Despite seeing things such as time travel, other dimensions, and aliens, he still maintains a scientific view of the world and disbelieves any wild fantasies not seen in person. He fights with a bo staff.

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• Badass Bookworm: He's an Omnidisciplinary Scientist par excellence as well as a skilled warrior.
• Badass in Distress: The time he was captured by the Triceratons, and the end of the outbreak arc after being mutated a second time. Less dramatic instances are scattered throughout the series, too, usually when it would be easy for him to solve a problem/end an episode before its time.
• Badass Pacifist: Overlapping with Martial Badass, he would prefer not to use his weapons and fists to solve a problem. Emphasis on prefer.
• Beware the Nice Ones: He may be the most gentle of the Turtles, but you don't want to earn his genuine wrath. An alternate timeline version of the Shredder learned this the hard way in "Same As It Never Was". In "Dragons Rising", Hun knocks Leo off the top of a moving truck, leaving him hanging onto the back door and as Don and Mike come zooming up in the Battle Shell to rescue him, one of the Purple Dragon's trucks rams them from behind. Don retaliates by firing a missile at them. The vehicle they were on explodes, but fortunately for the thugs, they manage to escape (barely).
• Beware the Quiet Ones: Usually the quietest, most thoughtful member of the team, but also one of their most crucial assets and leaders.
• Big Brother Instinct: To Mikey and later Cody, April and Casey's great-grandson, in Fast Forward. Inverted with Leo, who's older than Don. When Leo was poisoned during the Battle Nexus Tournament, Don jumped to defend Leo against Usagi, whom Don thought was the culprit. It wasn't until Leo reassured him that Don allowed Usagi to help. However, Don still remained suspicious and maintained a constant vigil over Leo, especially when Usagi treated him. When an army of ninja assassins threaten to frame Leo for the murder of The Damaiyo, Don with the help of Usagi fight them all to protect Leo and The Damaiyo.
• Big Little Brother: In the final two seasons, he is taller than Leo, but just barely shorter than Raph, though in some early Fast Forward season episodes, Leo appears to be taller than Don. ^note Whether Don is older than Raph is never officially stated, but Kevin Eastman stated that he believes Don to be older, which makes sense, as Raph's personality is based on Eastman's while Don's is based on Laird's and Laird is older than Eastman.
• Bond Breaker: Donatello was warped into an alternate future where he had disappeared for 30 years. Without his resourceful, tech savviness, the Turtles were disbanded and the Shredder had succeeded in world domination. The supporting cast made up the last rebel resistance.
• Crazy-Prepared: Though downplayed, he usually has something for every situation that the Turtles find themselves in. Gets lampshaded in The Search for Splinter, Part 1, where he distracts a security camera using a pigeon puppet.
  Mikey: I don't know what bothers me more. That this thing actually works or that Don carries a pigeon puppet.
• Fatal Flaw: Part of the reason Donnie was vulnerable to the outbreak mutants was that before the brothers (or likely, Donnie himself) developed better weapons to deal with them, his bo staff and Mikey's nunchucks were mostly ineffective against them and could only be used to block attacks. Leo and Raph could use their katanas and sais offensively to slice off the mutants' limbs and pincers, but Donnie and Mikey were both more or less stuck until Raph could get to them. (Then it was just Donnie's poor luck to leap away in the wrong direction and catch a mutant claw to his leg.)
• Fighting from the Inside: A variant while he was prisoner on board the Triceraton mother ship, resisting against borderline Mind Rape. He held out for awhile, but needed help to fend the assault off.
• First-Person Smartass: Whenever he's the one voicing the opening narration.
• Future Me Scares Me: One episode of the Fast Forward season has a future journal suggesting that robot butler Serling might be Donatello's future self. Donnie and his brothers are grossed out by the idea. Fortunately, the journal is a fake set to discourage the turtles from trying to learn too much about the future.
• Gadgeteer Genius: Considering that he's self-taught, living in a sewer, and working mostly with scavenged junk, Don's inventing abilities are downright super-reptilian.
• Gentleman Snarker: He's second only to Splinter where polite snarking is concerned, but still retaining his smart qualities.
• The Heart: Doubles as a Bond Breaker. If Same As It Never Was is anything to go by. In the the absence of both Donnie and Splinter, the three remaining brothers essentially experience a relationship breakdown and part ways.
  Future Mikey: When you never came back, Donnie, well... everything just fell apart. We were a team. Without you, it just didn't work. Guess we really needed that level head of yours.
• Heroic BSoD: He suffers one in the last season up until the end of episode 5. The turtles and Splinter make it back to the present, but due to some interference from Viral, Splinter is vaporized and it's later revealed that he's trapped in cyberspace. Donnie blames himself for not preventing this.
• Intelligence Equals Isolation: Not often, but on occasion he's sequestered off in his lab. Most noticeable in 'Return to the Underground'.
• The Klutz: A trait that doesn't come up often — but if/when it does, it's always in the middle of a fight or stealth mission.
• Lovable Nerd: Ever so much, when he geeks out about his projects.
• Metamorphosis: Suffers a second one during Season 4. At around the midpoint of the season, he leg gets cut by a mutated bug. In his next several appearances, he's seen sneezing a lot, which is surprising since the turtles are never shown being sick. All of this culminates in Adventures in Turtle Sitting, where his sneezing is revealed to be a symptom of his second mutation. At the end of the episode, he has mutated from a mutant turtle into a feral beast.
• Morality Pet: To the older versions of his brothers in the SAINW timeline.
• Mr. Fixit: Generally can be counted on to fix most anything.
• Nice Guy: A gentle, sweet soul.
• Number Two: While not explicitly stated, Donnie tends to play the role of the second-in-command in the series. He tends to be the one to take charge in times when Leonardo isn't able to. In addition, Leonardo often turns to him when things go south, looking for a solution to a problem whenever he himself isn't able to do so.
• Odd Friendship:
  • While he's a nerd and Mikey's more of a class clown, as the two youngest brothers and both having laid-back personalities, Donnie and Mikey are actually pretty close in this series. Arguably, they are their own version of Red Oni, Blue Oni, with Donatello's methodical nature balancing out Michelangelo's impulsive nature, and Mikey's fun-loving personality balancing out Donnie's industriousness. They team up together on missions quite well, and their easygoing relationship is also something of a Foil to Raph and Leo's separate close-but-fractious relationship.
  • He gets along surprisingly well with Raph, despite him being the nerd to Raph's Jerk Jock. The two are generally very comfortable around each other, unless they are angry or grumpy, which happened only on a few rare occasions. Raph is especially grateful to Don for making him the shell-cycle and when Don blames himself for the events of Bad Day, Raph actually comforts him and tells him that it is not his fault. Don being The Heart of the team also means that in the grim altenrate reality of Same As it Never was, the jaded and angry Raph welcomes him with a big warm hug when he sees him.
• Omnidisciplinary Scientist: He grows into this. Initially, Donnie is a genius engineer with some basic knowledge in first aid. Beyond that, Don knows very little about medicine, toxicology, or even biology. When Leo is poisoned in "The Big Brawl, Part 2," Don can only watch over him and even admits he's "an engineer not a doctor." By season 4, Don is well-versed in biology, especially in genetics, and uses that knowledge stop Bishop's mutant outbreak.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • Don absolutely slaughters Ch'rell at the end of SaiNW, a far cry from his usually pacifistic actions. Understandable, of course, given the circumstances. Although, he is not above taking violent actions when his loved ones are threatened, so this is still sort of in character for him.
  • In the final season (Back to the Sewer), Don blames himself for the disappearance of Master Splinter. He stops having fun with his brothers, he gets snippy with all the chatter around him, while he's trying to work to the point that Mike says he's more of a grump than Raph and later, he gets so intense later that he ignores a call for help from his brothers when they are outnumbered by the Purple Dragons, and forwards the message to April instead. When the brothers tell him that the Purple Dragons and the Foot are fighting each other, Don simply ignores it, saying it is not his problem. Earlier, in the City at War arc, he ultimately understood that these gang wars could be a problem, but at this point, his sole goal is to find and rescue Master Splinter.
• The Reliable One: He's the one that builds most of their supplies and support items that his brothers rely on him for.
• Resist the Beast: Happens to Donatello in Adventures in Turtle Sitting. His transformation into a mindless beast is obviously painful, yet he's able to resist it for long enough to beg April and Casey to "stay away from" him as he runs from the room, only to turn into a monster and start attacking them.
• Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Donatello, being the smart turtle, is particularly fond of this. A notable example is in "The Shredder Strikes Back, Part 1", when he and Raphael are watching a football match on television.
  Raphael: 'Panthers', 'Rams', 'Bears', they even got 'Dolphins'. You'd think they'd have room for something a little more...reptilian.
  Donatello: The 'Turtles'? My friend, unfortunately the lowly turtle has been saddled by society with the stereotype of being velocity challenged.
  Raphael: Say what?
• The Smart Guy: In terms of science and technology he outclasses his brothers with his intellectual brain and often comes up with their most valuable resources
  "Donatello, he's the brains of the bunch."
• Teen Genius: He is technically a teenager and over the course of the series, he has designed heat-vision goggles, the Battle Shell, the Turtle Tunneler, as well as developed the antidote that ultimately cures the Underground Mutants.
• This Is Unforgivable!: In Same as it Never Was, after stating a Big "NO!" upon watching the Karai Legions kill Future Mike to his horror, Don gets pushed too far. His response? "You'll pay for this, Shredder! If it's the last thing I do, YOU WILL PAY!"
• Weak, but Skilled: Unlike his brothers, Don isn't the strongest of them, but he makes up for it with his skill, a long range weapon, his genius-level intellect and his technological knowledge.
• Weirdness Magnet: Even amongst his brothers as he nerds out over the littlest of technology.
• Wrong Genre Savvy: Demonstrated a couple of times — like trying something he saw in a movie during a fight with the Foot. It doesn't work.

Michelangelo

Michelangelo

Voiced by: Wayne Grayson ^{Foreign VAs}Ilyas Mettioui (FR)

The wise guy and most "teenage" of the brothers. Mikey's personality is more akin to the Mirage comics than the 1987 TV series. Still the comic relief, he often makes statements that spoof pop culture, although he uses less surfer language than in the 1987 cartoon series. The designated youngest brother, he enjoys teasing and getting under his brothers' skin no matter the situation. Thanks to this, he's often at the receiving end of Raph's frustrations. However, he still acts as The Heart of the group, being the most emotional and wanting to keep the peace between his brothers. He fights with nunchakus.

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• Adaptational Jerkass: Not the most jerkish of jerks, but this Michelangelo is a lot slower to show the warm, emotional side that characterizes most of his other versions. In the other continuities, Mikey is an unquestioned Nice Guy, but he's more a Jerk with a Heart of Gold in this adaptation. Although, it should be noted that he is mostly a jerk to Raph, who has been a Big Brother Bully to Mike since childhood. He is far nicer to Leo (even telling Raph, Don and Casey to leave the poor guy alone, while he is going through PTSD in the fourth season) and Don (he does annoy Don, but the two of them get along quite well).
• Adaptational Name Change: Downplayed, but he goes primarily by the nickname "Mikey" instead of "Mike" like in the comics. He is referred to as "Mike" occassionally^note April calls him "Mike" in Nano, Leo refers to him as "Mike" in The Way of Invisibility, What a Croc and in a Nightmare Sequence in The Darkness Within, Leo and Raph both call him "Mike" in A Better Mousetrap while Michelangelo tries to reintroduce himself to Professor Honeycutt as "The Mikester" among his other nicknames in Mission of Gravity, but it is especially notable in the episodes that directly adapt the stories from the original comics, where the dialogues that are almost identical to the comic word-for-word would still change his name from "Mike" to "Mikey", like in Meet Casey Jones.
  Mirage Raph: You've had it, Mike! Friend or no, you've got to go!
  2003 Raph: You've had it, Mikey! Bro or no, you got to go!
• Adaptational Personality Change: Downplayed. In the original Mirage comics, he was Hot-Blooded like Raph. In the Turtles in Space arc, he actively antagonized the Triceratons, pointing out that since the Prime Leader told them he needed the Turtles alive, they can't technically retaliate. Here, he is more of a Cowardly Lion and his scenes of antagonizing the Triceraton captors are given to Raph instead. This is downplayed because when he and his brothers are trapped in a video game, where any wrong move might mean death, Mike is clearly enjoying the situation far more than his brothers are.
• Always Someone Better: Michelangelo generally gets pushed around a lot by Raph in general, but in a straight up martial arts duel, he is consistently shown to be capable of defeating Raph, from the first season's episode "Meet Casey Jones", where Raph loses his temper after Mike keeps defeating him in a sparring session. In "The Shredder Strikes, Part 1", he beats Raph during their weapons practice session in the beginning. And this is before he defeats him fair and square in the Battle Nexus tournament. This is justified as Mikey is Skilled, but Naive while Raph is Unskilled, but Strong.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: He often annoys his brothers, especially Raphael (usually intentionally), particularly whenever he brags about being a Battle Nexus champion.
• Arbitrary Skepticism: Michelangelo is the first to encounter Leatherhead, and when he tells them, the rest of the Turtles disbelieve him. At this point in the series, they have already encountered/know the existence of ninjas, criminal organizations, superheroes, cryptids, aliens, and mystical forces, yet a giant crocodile (mutated in the same way they were) is unbelievable. Leo does admit to remembering the giant alligator he encountered with Raph in the sewers when they were young, however.
• Attention Whore: Especially after he wins the Battle Nexus tournament as he brags about being a multiverse champion.
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Mikey is very arrogant and often underestimates his opponents with his childlike personality. Especially after he won the Battle Nexus Tournament and claims that he doesn't need training.
• Ascended Fanboy: As an avid comic book reader, he is positively thrilled to have teamed up with Silver Sentry and the original Justice Force on separate occasions.
• Badass Adorable: Silly, loves him some comic books, childish, always willing to crack a joke and and can kick tons of asses with his nunchucks.
• Berserk Button:
  • Threatening his friends and family will generally result in Mike proving that he is not only a trained Ninja, he is also a very gifted and strong athlete and he will put his training, skills and strength to good use, as Kluh finds out the hard way,
  • On a more lighter note, he is generally either nice or just a childish snarky prankster, but insulting the things he likes can make him very angry. Generally he and Raph just insult each other and Raph often physically beats him up, but whenever Raph snatches away his action figures (like in The Journal and The Cosmic Completist) Mike straight up attacks Raph to get his stuff back. Dark Michelangelo also insulted the Justice Force comics once that made Mike declare that he can't be his clone.
• Beware the Nice Ones: He's the friendliest and silliest of the Turtles, but he can be downright dangerous when he wants to be.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Raph thought he was in for a cakewalk when they were matched up in the Battle Nexus. Unfortunately, years of joking on Raph means that Mikey knows exactly how to push his buttons and make him come undone. Mikey wins the fight with almost nothing but his mouth.
• Big Brother Instinct: To Cody, April and Casey's great-grandson, in Fast Forward
• Big Brother Worship: His relationship with Leo particular has shades of this.
• Big Eater: He'd often annoy his brothers by eating all the pizza and is almost always hungry.
• Boisterous Bruiser: He loves to throw his weight around.
• Brilliant, but Lazy:
  • He's usually portrayed as having great potential, but because of his more laidback personality, he'll focus on something more fun instead. Despite training the least, he's usually seen as at least being a better fighter than Don and Raph, whom he defeats in every fair fight they had even before the Battle Nexus tournament, where he managed to beat Raph, (and win the tournament overall via fluke at first, but later legitimately defended his title in a rematch that was rigged against him). Splinter notes that if he trained as seriously as the others, he would probably be consistently the best turtle.
  • This is enforced with his signature weapon (the chucks, see below). The laziest of the turtles is the one wielding pairs of the most complex and difficult weapon. That's not something one can do without a gift for it.
  • Reinforced when he finally gets completely serious in "Same As It Never Was" and shows he can wipe out entire teams of mooks on his own with only one arm, effectively being a One-Man Army.
  • Graduation Day: Class of 2105 has him nearly fail to graduate to the next rank of ninjutsu because he's been slacking off too much, but he's able to make it up in one night or so.
• Butt-Monkey: If any of the Turtles klutzes out or has something bad happen to them for comic effect, it's Michelangelo.
• Character Catchphrase: The most famous "Cowabunga!", even though Raphael hates it.
• Character Development:
  • Michelangelo finally grows up, begins to use his innate skills to his full potential, and proves his worth as a thoughtful member of the team.
  • After accidentally winning the Battle Nexus Tournament, he becomes a bit arrogant and starts boasting about his victory constantly, to the point that he tried to wear his trophy around his neck. After he goes on to win the Tournament in a rematch, fair and square, he becomes a lot more humble, to the point of never gloating about being the champion again, until the 5th season finale. Even after Karai destroyed his championship medal, he rarely brings it up, even when he complains about losing their old home, he only mentions his comic book collection and his room instead of his trophy and medal.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Generally the most whimsical of the turtles. He also believes in a lot of stuff he sees on TV.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass:
  • In Michelangelo's first centric episode, he becomes a superhero, saves another superhero, and during all this learns a lesson on why he's a ninja: because it's what he does best.
  • In Touch and Go, Splinter tells him that he is the most naturally athletic of his brothers and he is crowned the winner of the Battle Nexus on a technicality (although with Leo's training, he wins outright in Grudge Match).
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Moron: Thought it was a good idea to try to serve his mutated-and-feral brother cereal and juice, and nearly had his leg torn off for it. Though admittedly, his intentions were good and seeing how he nearly lost his leg for essentially trying to feed his brother, Leo decided to make a Deal with the Devil.
• Deadpan Snarker: To the point that he can rival Raph sometimes.
  [Casey Jones has been breaking their stuff throughout the episode when he is upset, finally Don manages to track Raph]
  Don: It's Raph!
  Casey: Woohoo! [accidentally smashes a lamp]
  Mike: This guy is bad news even when there's good news!
• Fire-Forged Friends: With Silver Sentry. The two first met when Mikey was trying out his Turtle Titan alias, and Silver Sentry considered him at best a Heroic Wannabe constantly blundering into situations. However, Mikey saved him from being mind controlled by Dr. Malignus and helped take the villain down, thus earning the superhero's respect.
• Fun Personified: The most consistent source of laughs and fun in the series, even during its darker moments.
• The Gadfly: He loves to rile up his brothers, especially Raphael, by annoying them with puns, jokes and chatter at inappropriate moments. Sometimes he's not annoying them on purpose, but other times he definitely is. Fathers & Sons shows that as kids, Raph was quite mean to Mike for no reason, so him annoying Raph, in retaliation, makes sense.
• Genre Savvy: He has cited his knowledge of comic book stories when discussing the Shredder's Joker Immunity or when helping the original Justice Force overcome Ananda's revenge plot. He also puts his knowledge of video game tropes to good use when he and his brothers get trapped in a video game console by Viral.
• The Heart: Although he exasperates his three brothers on a constant level, when a serious rift between their bond takes place, he usually is the one to try and patch things up... usually via humor. Mikey is also the heart to their friends. Mikey was the first one to befriend Leatherhead by recognizing that he's a genuinely good person with anger issues and convinces his brothers to cease their attack. When Stockman destroys Leatherhead's home, Leo, Don, and Raph immediately run out of the collapsing lair, but Mikey stays back to convince Leatherhead to come with him. He fails, and Leatherhead seemingly dies. When the brothers find him alive at Bishop's lab, Mikey is the first one to rescue Leatherhead and brings him back home. He aids his brothers in helping Leatherhead deal with his temper and is quick to comfort and forgive him when Leatherhead injures Mikey. In "Return to the Underground," Mikey and his brothers return to Y'Lintius to cure their friends Quarry, Stone Biter, and Razor Fist only to find the Crystal Moon gone and their friends turned feral with no memory of them. Quarry attacks the brothers, but instead of fighting her, Mikey tries to get her to remember him. For a brief moment, it even worked. He is the only Turtle to even try this method.
• Hidden Depths: In spite of being the laziest of the Turtles, he's the one with two of the weapon that's the most difficult to master. He's also surprisingly introspective and sometimes analyzes the nature of his brothers, as shown in "Samurai Tourist".
• It's All About Me: He has frequent moments like this, and can be extremely self-centered and selfish at times. Luckily, this doesn't stop him from wanting to do the right thing when the chips are down.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Perhaps unintentionally from the creator's perspective, but he can be a pretty big jerk in this series, partly due to his frequent Innocently Insensitive and It's All About Me moments, as well as his role as The Gadfly. However, he's never malicious or intentionally cruel and, when it comes down to it, he really is a good guy who wants everyone to get along.
• Jumped at the Call: He's usually the most nonchalant about all the weird and out-there places the Turtles are taken to — especially when it involves superheroes.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: Just like in the comics, Mikey adopts a stray kitten he names "Klunk," who sticks around for the rest of the series.
• Keet: Extremely energetic and has a childlike persona whenever he goofs off.
• The Knights Who Say "Squee!": When he meets the Justice Force, he's ecstatic.
• Large Ham: Especially as the Turtle Titan.
• Legacy Character: Not himself, but his superhero persona, the "Turtle Titan," inspires Silver Sentry's descendant around the year 2105 and he begins work under the title. Mikey is initially enraged and tries to undermine him until he learns how much his old persona meant to the kid, and relents.
• Lovable Coward: This version of Michelangelo is a bit of a scaredy-cat compared to other versions, at least early on. He's by far the most easily spooked of the Turtles and the one most likely to scream in fear or suggest giving up in the face of overwhelming adversary. Over the course of the series, he gradually becomes more of a Cowardly Lion, and at the end of the cartoon, his cowardice has pretty much vanished.
• Leeroy Jenkins: He doesn't usually think of a strategy before heading into battle.
• Odd Friendship: With Donatello, see above.
  • Particularly noticeable during Same as it Never Was. Future!Mikey is the only one of the three remaining brothers who still seems to be pretty raw about Donnie's absence, confronting him angrily about "abandoning" them, and while he grieves for Splinter, attributes their family's estrangement to not being able to function without Donatello. Leo and Raph, on the other hand, appear to mostly be estranged due to the circumstances of Splinter's death (Raph blames Leo - interestingly, Mikey doesn't seem to, but doesn't speak directly to either of them), but are both happily surprised to see Don, suggesting Don's death or absence affected Mikey far more deeply than the others.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: In the Bad Future Same as it Never Was episode, older Michelangelo is angry, dour, and hopeless, to Donnie's dismay. The Crapsack World, loss of Donnie and Splinter, and estrangement from Leo and Raph - not to mention whatever happened to his arm - took their toll on him.
• Papa Wolf: To his kitten, Klunk. When Karai attacks the lair in Season 4, he pulls out all the stops to escape with Klunk unharmed, and the kitten is better taken care of then he is.
• Plucky Comic Relief: Per usual. As the theme song says: "The wise guy is, Michaelangelo."
• Pungeon Master: Much to his brothers' continued annoyance. His constant puns almost always trigger negative reactions from his brothers — ranging from groans, Facepalms, and pointed looks, to outright physical punishment such as head-slaps, flicks, and pulling the ties of his ninja mask. However, his brothers aren't immune to it either: on the rare occasions when one of them says a bad pun they'll almost always get a similar Lame Pun Reaction from another turtle, though it's typically not as aggressive as the reactions dished out on Mikey.
• Real Men Wear Pink: In Back to the Sewers, he was positively delighted when April asked him to be her Maid of Honor and when people tried to call him the more gender-neutral "Turtle of Honor", he would correct them.
• Screams Like a Little Girl: Does he ever have the most high pitched scream.
• Secret Identity: Turtle Titan, a superhero he drafted up in The Unconvincing Turtle Titan.
• Skilled, but Naive: Mikey has very great potential to be a good ninja with his strength and skill but he's just way too lazy and arrogant to improve his abilities.
• Skewed Priorities: He is generally afraid of challenging situations, but his fear takes a backseat if he is distracted somehow, like being offended at being called "odd" by Raph in "Notes from the Underground, Part 2" or being excited to face off his Evil clone like one of the heroes in Justice Force or being trapped in a video game.
• The Slacker: Splinter even calls attention to the fact that he's the most naturally talented, but trains the least.
• Unsportsmanlike Gloating: Michelangelo's preferred method of handling victory is to brag and boast about how he beat someone. Especially after he won the Battle Nexus Tournament.

Splinter

Splinter

Voiced by: Darren Dunstan ^{Foreign VAs}Thierry Janssen (FR)

Splinter is the adoptive father of Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo. He raised them and taught them in the art of Ninjutsu. He is portrayed as a dark gray rat in monk's robes and is stated to weigh 90 lbs.

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• Adaptation Dye-Job: Splinter's fur is turned gray for this series.
• Adaptational Heroism: The comic Splinter made no bones about the fact that he was training the turtles to avenge Hamato Yoshi's death. This version trained the turtles so they could defend themselves from any threat that would inevitably come as a result of them being mutant turtles and avoided telling the turtles about the Shredder so that they wouldn't get a desire for vengeance like he did.
• Adventure Rebuff: Splinter tries this several times, unsuccessfully.
  Splinter: How many times have I told you not to sneak out to the surface?
  Michelangelo: This month?
  Donatello: Five hundred and twelve, actually.
• Amplified Animal Aptitude: Even before his mutation, he was remarkably intelligent for a rat, mimicking Yoshi’s movements to the level that he became just as good a martial artist as him after mutating.
• Big Good: He and the Ancient One take up the role in the back half of the fifth season.
• Blood Knight: Entered into a tournament of the Nexus multiverse to prove his strength and fight many skillfull warriors.
• Bow and Sword in Accord: Splinter is armed in this manner in the first episode of the "Exodus" two-parter.
• Cool Old Guy: Sometimes joins the Turtles in their pastimes of fun and their jokes.
• Deadpan Snarker: He makes a lot of pointed comments towards his sons' antics that shows off his sarcasm.
• Handicapped Badass: During his final match as a gladiator, he suffered a broken leg, but rather than yield, he splinted his leg with two wooden boards and continued the fight...and beat his opponent.
• Hopeless with Tech: As the first episode demonstrates, Splinter may be a master in the art of ninjutsu, but he doesn't really understand how a phone works, pressing buttons without realizing he has already started a call. He later has trouble working with the remote to summon the Battle Shell, nearly firing some missiles instead at one point in The Shredder Strikes Part 2.
• I'm a Doctor, Not a Placeholder: In one of the clip show episodes, the Turtles and Casey get into a play fighting scuffle. April jokingly asks Splinter if he'll teach the Turtles manners next. However, he's a teacher of ninjutsu, not a teacher of proper etiquette.
  Splinter: Miss O'Neil, teaching them the ancient art of ninjutsu is hard enough. I am afraid even I can't work miracles.
• Koan: Splinter is fond of these. Subverted on one occasion when he had to explain what he was saying.
  Splinter: Remember, my sons, even the mighty oak bows before the raging storm winds.
  Mikey: Huh?
  Splinter: Be careful and do not become overconfident!
• Leitmotif: A tranquil theme played on a flute.
• Not So Above It All: He loves his soap operas, beats out Casey and Raph in poker several times, snarks periodically about his sons' antics, and even cracks a joke here and there.
• Old Master: An elderly master of ninjutsu. He's much older than the Turtles, but is still a capable fighter when he needs to be.
• Offhand Backhand: When the Shredder and the Foot ninja attack April's antique shop, Master Splinter smacked a Foot Soldier with his stick without even turning back. He does this again to another Foot ninja when Karai invades the Lair and maybe once more at one point in between.
• Papa Wolf: He will not take kindly to anyone who harms the turtles.
  Splinter: No one touches my sons while there is breath in this body.
• Parents in Distress: For all of the times Splinter has rescued his sons, he has to be rescued by them often as well.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Short and skinny but a force to reckoned with.
• Rodents of Unusual Size: While he's still the shortest of the main cast, he's much larger than any normal rat.
• Sophisticated as Hell: He has moments of this.
  Splinter: As the great sage Sakamoto once said, 'Read 'em and weep (...) If one cannot afford to pay, one should not play, suckers.
• Sword Cane: His cane unsheathes a hidden blade.
• Team Dad: To the Turtles and eventually to Casey and April, helping the latter two deal with their training and even relationship problems.
• Truer to the Text: As of 2023, he's the only animated TV^note There's also TMNT, but that was both a film and a loose sequel to the 1990-1993 live-action films Splinter who's true to the original character in that he's the late Hamato Yoshi's pet rat, not a still-living and mutated Yoshi himself.^note Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem also has Splinter originally starting out as a rat before mutating and it is set to have an animated TV series continuation, but that version of Splinter is an American rat with no connection to Hamato Yoshi whatsoever.
• Unknown Rival: Downplayed, as the Shredder does hate Splinter as the mentor of the turtles and ally of the Utroms, but he has no idea at first about the reason of Splinter's grudge and why he's fighting so hard to prevent him from getting revenge on the Utroms, until Splinter tells him directly that he's Yamato Yoshi's rat in Exodus, and their rivalry is more subdued in this series compared to other adaptations where Splinter and Shredder are truly Arch-Enemies with Shredder hating Splinter even more than the turtles.
• The Worf Effect: As the grand-master who taught the Turtles all they know, he can sometimes be on the receiving end of this to emphasize how dangerous a villain really is, whether it's at the hands of the Shredder, Karai, or an enhanced Jammerhead.

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