Leonardo (2012 TV series)

Leonardo, or often referred to as Leo, is the leader of the Ninja Turtles and the oldest of the brothers. Leonardo is a mutant turtle who lives in the sewers of New York City and belongs to a diverse family; which consist of three other mutant turtles, which are his brothers, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael, and the ratlike Splinter, who serves as the turtles' sensei and 'father'. Due to his excessive dedication towards ninjutsu, (and partly because he asked for it), Splinter chose him to be the leader of the turtles. He wields twin katana, indicated in the series as Niten Ryu.

Personality
Leonardo is the most serious and focused of the team. Being the designated leader of the group, Leonardo is very enthusiastic about his role. He is also a big science-fiction fan (or "nerd" as referred to by Raphael). His favorite series is Space Heroes while his favorite character from the show is Captain Ryan. Leo has a habit of memorizing Captain Ryan's best lines from the show and repeating them during battle. Leo is so caught up with Space Heroes that he relies on Ryan's character traits more than on his own intuition which often causes his brothers (especially Raphael) to question his leadership.

For the most part, he tries to be the mature and responsible sibling, but there are times where he can be as childish as his brothers, such as teasing Donnie for losing to a mutant monkey and trying to be like an unrealistic TV character, although Leonardo often tries to comfort his brothers when they are scared or upset, mostly Mikey. He comes up with most of the plans and strategies while he and his brothers are fighting bad-guys or training in their Lair. It is also shown that he has a crush on Karai, but loves his brothers more. In one episode, Leo told Karai if she wanted to fight, she should fight him. He also said if she went after his brothers he'd go after her and kill her himself.

Leonardo is shown to be quite selfless when it counts. Especially shown in Booyaka-showdown Part 1 and 2. During these episodes he almost sacrifices himself twice to save his brothers and the world.

Biography
Fifteen years before the Rise of the Turtles, Part 1, the benevolent Hamato Yoshi purchased four turtles. Yoshi came into contact with a rat and had to fight again a couple of Kraang. The aliens dropped their mutagen causing the mutation of Yoshi and the turtles. Yoshi raised the turtles as his own children and continues to train them in ninjutsu.

Abilities
Leo's bravery, determination, and will-power makes him a great leader. He often tends to fight in a more traditional Japanese martial art style, and is good at countering attacks from opponents. Leo is stealthy like all his brothers, and like them he can hide in the shadows, sneak around without being detected, and use hand to hand combat. Leo's more balanced though, being agile like Mikey, strong like Raph and smart like Donnie. He is highly skilled in the fighting style Niten Ichi-ryū.

To date, his only real flaws as a leader are lack of experience and his teenager status - causing him to occasionally make impulsive decisions that might make the situation worse, as well as his brothers sometimes not obeying his orders, and a desire to be cool that results in him making rather poor taunts in battle, such as introducing the team as the 'Mighty Mutants' or 'Turtles of Justice', or telling a scientist experimenting with a monkey that they'd had enough of him 'monkeying around'.

Weapons
During most of the series, Leonardo wields a pair of twin katanas which, like his brothers with their chosen weapons, he is highly skilled with. In Pulverizer Returns, Splinter (2012 TV series) says that the boys are getting too reliable on their own weapons are makes them swap. After this process, Leo is left with Donnie's staff. During a fight, the turtles become uncooperative with their new weapons and swap back. When Splinter finds out, he take away all weapons, stating that anything can be useful. When he and his brothers are trying to save Timothy, Leo uses a pipe and holds and fights with it in a style similar to his Katanas . In Turtle Temper and The Gauntlet, he also used a Yumi bow and like the rest of his brothers wields shurikens.

Relatives

 * Raphael - Leonardo has a love-hate relationship with his brother Raphael. He and Raph argue the most amongst all of the turtles, especially concerning who should lead the pack. However, they share deep respect for one another. In the episode showdown, it is shown Raphael is very protective about Leonardo.
 * Donatello - Leo's third youngest brother. He and Donnie rarely fight, but occasionally tease each other throughout the series. He usually gets anxious whenever Donnie completes an invention; one after the other, fearing that Donnie's technology might go wrong at one point. Donnie always outsmarts him, but never in leading purposes, annoying Leo in the process. Overall, they share a wonderful relationship as brothers and  best friends.


 * Michelangelo - Leo's youngest brother. He and Mikey don't fight, unless Mikey's slight dimwittedness irritates Leo, causing him to criticize Mikey's idiocy. Whenever Leo goes through a plan, he occasionally questions Mikey to see if he's really listening. Overall, their brotherly-best-friend bond is unbreakable.


 * Splinter - Leo's adoptive father and sensei. Leo always takes Splinter's advice seriously, even though at times, his stubbornness starts to annoy Splinter. Also, Leo gets confused whenever Splinter uses difficult phrases and quotes while giving away his wisdom, but he always takes it under consideration.

Friends/Allies

 * April O'Neil - Leo's first human friend. He saves April from the Kraang as seen in the first two episodes of the first season: Rise of the Turtles, Part 1 & Rise of the Turtles, Part 2. They are very good friends, and they get along well, but they don't interact much.


 * Leatherhead - Though they are allies, Leo and Leatherhead almost never interact, apart from fighting the Kraang. Leatherhead seems to interact more with Donnie and Mikey.


 * Pulverizer - Leo's most trusted ally. Leo never interacted with Pulverizer (Timothy) as much, but he always gets annoyed whenever the Pulverizer tries taking too many risks that could get him injured or even killed (see Pulverizer Returns!).

Enemies

 * Shredder  - Leo's archnemesis. Leo is most aware of Shredder's moves amongst all his brothers, but still fails to fight him well. Shredder is much more experienced at ninjitsu and has more skills that Leo almost always fails to recognize, but Shredder only fails to kill Leo and his brothers, as they keep on escaping to the Sewers of Manhattan, NYC.


 * Kraang - Leo's targeted archenemy. Relationship is unknown.


 * Baxter Stockman - One of Leo's archnemesis. Leo tends to forget Baxter's name (examples: "Dexter Backsman", "Daxter Boxman", "Raxter Mackman" etc.).


 * Fishface - One of Leo's archenemies. Relationship is unknown.


 * Dogpound - One of Leo's archenemies. It is a thought that is worried about Mikey battling him. When they find out that Mikey's in danger, he says that they have to save him. He was the one who cut the ropes off Mikey and then pats him on the head.
 * Snakeweed -  He made his debut in the first episode of the series  Rise of the Turtles. before he mutates into a mutated weed, he was a henchman for the Kraang. his name snake so Michelangelo named him Snakeweed after he mutated.

Quotes
See: Leonardo (2012 TV series) / Quotes 

Gallery
See: Leonardo (2012 TV series) / Gallery

Trivia

 * Leonardo's name is Italian, meaning "Strong as the Lion/Lion-Bold". Given the fact that he was adopted by Hamato Yoshi/Splinter, Leonardo's full name would be "Hamato  Leonardo".
 * In Katakana, Leonardo's name is spelt: レオナルド (Reonarudo).
 * Niten Ryu is described as Leonardo's weapons, but it is in fact a fighting style, and not a weapon. A two-sword setup is properly known as a daisho. Niten Ryu, instead, is short for Niten-ichi Ryu (二天一流), a two-sword style developed by legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi.
 * Leo's swords, whilst being referred to as "Katana", are actually "Ninjatō" (忍者刀 ninjatō), (also known as ninjaken (忍者剣) or shinobigatana (忍刀).
 * Leo seems to be the most educated (out of the four brothers) about Japanese culture and etiquette:
 * He understands Japanese when spoken to and is able to speak in this language to some extend, so he may understand what Booyakasha means (Blassing and love to the veary moment).
 * He knows, at least basics, of Japanese etiquette (i.e. he bows to master Splinter)
 * He uses chopsticks correctly and deftly
 * He is depicted as having blue eyes, like his brother, Mikey, but Leo's eyes are a darker shade of blue.
 * His caller ID on April's phone is "ichiban turtle", which means "number one turtle".
 * He develops an obvious crush on Karai in the episode New Girl in Town. He talks about her to April who is supportive; that is, until she finds out Karai is a part of the Foot Clan. He's the second Turtle to develop feelings for a 'human' girl, the first being Donatello (of course).
 * Of all four turtles, Leonardo seems to be the most loyal and respectful to Splinter.
 * He is the oldest of his brothers; Raphael, Donatello & Michelangelo.
 * He is the only Turtle who has not yet said, "Booyakasha".
 * It's shown in Enemy of My Enemy that Leo can put things before his own brothers.
 * He is the second tallest of his brothers, the first surprisingly being Donatello.
 * Of all the turtles, he's the most mature one:
 * He was made leader by Splinter's choice.
 * He sometimes acts like a parent to Michelangelo.
 * He argues with Raph, and eventually finds logical reasons to win the argument.
 * Donatello and Michelangelo tend to listen to Leonardo instead of Raphael, because he thinks first before taking action.
 * Unlike his brothers, Leonardo always takes Splinter's advice seriously.
 * Leo is the first turtle to refer to Master Splinter as their father.
 * Leo is the first of his brothers to learn that Karai is actually Miwa, Splinter's daughter.