Michelangelo

Michelangelo (or "Michaelangelo" as his name was originally spelled) is the laid back "Party Dude" of the TMNT. He often makes attempts to lighten the situations that the Turtles are in by making wisecracks or otherwise fooling around. He personally describes being a ninja as "AWESOME!" But when it comes down to it all he is capable of taking care of himself in a time of need.

Origin
See Origin.

Childhood
Michelangelo is definitely the baby of the bunch, even from childhood. Mikey had a love for pizza (pizza being his first word) and playing with his brothers; even though Raphael would pick on him for being the most innocent of the four turtles. He is often considered the "little brother", or "the baby" by Leonardo (the oldest/"fearless leader"), Raphael (1st middle child/ "hot head") and Donatello (2nd middle child/ "tech-geek"). This may be because is actually younger or because of his immature/ bubbly personality. Mikey hasn't changed much from his turtle-tot days to his teen years. Out of all of the turtles, Mikey has had the innocence, the purest and most childlike heart out of all his brothers, and the most naive views on the world he lives in. Even as a youngin', little Mikey always saw the glass half full; just as long as he had a toy in one hand, a slice of pizza in the other, and his big brothers at his side.

Mirage Comics
In the Mirage Comics Michelangelo didn't joke and gag as much as he did later on in the first cartoon series. In the original comic books, Michelangelo was initially depicted as fun-loving, carefree, and, while not as aggressive as Raphael, always ready to fight. He is much more seriously natured than in the film incarnations, which have unfortunately labeled his character a permanent "dude" talking pre-teen. It was Michelangelo's one-shot in this series that fleshed out most of the traits that have become synonymous with the character, such as his playfulness, empathy, and easygoing nature. In the story, Michelangelo adopts a stray cat (which he names Klunk) and also stops thieves from stealing toys meant for orphaned children.

After their defeat at the hands of the Foot Clan the Turtles, Splinter, April O'Neil, and Casey Jones retreat to a farm house in Northampton, Massachusetts which used to belong to Casey's grandmother. While there, April is worried to note that Michelangelo is not himself. He spends his days in the barn taking out his aggression on a punching bag. A scene shows him lashing out at his surroundings and repeatedly punching the wall of the barn until it breaks, then collapsing on it despondently, anger spent. The end of the story implies that Michelangelo's sorrow and frustration have been resolved, as subsequent issues reunite Michelangelo with his more relaxed, optimistic personality.

It is during this time at the farm we learn that Michelangelo also has an interest in comic books, specifically ones involving superheroes such as "The Justice Force" (comic book heroes based on The Justice League and The Fantastic Four). He also found solace in writing fiction and produced a story depicting himself a ronin in Feudal Japan.

In the issue "City at War", Michelangelo instantly bonds with Casey Jones' adopted daughter Shadow, who nicknames him "Rooish". In the second volume, the Turtles decide to try to live apart from one another. Michelangelo, social creature that he is, moves in with April and Casey so that he can be close to Shadow. Throughout the first two volumes, Michelangelo seemed to act as peacemaker of the team. These stories also laid the foundations which demonstrated his closeness with Donatello; their laid-back natures separating them from the more contentious Leonardo and Raphael.

In Volume 4, Michelangelo gets a job as a tour guide showing alien visitors around Earth. His first (and only) tourist is the Regenta (or "princess") Seri of the Styracodon race. Michelangelo convinced Seri to sneak away from her bodyguards so that he could take her on a tour of the northwest coast of the U.S. Unfortunately, his plan landed him in trouble when Seri's bodyguards became aware of his machinations. They attacked Michelangelo and transported him back to their home world, were he was placed in prison. With the help of a Triceraton prisoner named Azokk, he managed to escape, and was rescued by a group of Triceratons who had come to rescue Azokk. Michelangelo was not given an especially large role in Volumes 1 and 2, did little to advance the plot, and was often not portrayed as an especially skilled fighter. His relatively small role was probably due to the need to establish Leonardo's role as "leader" along with the fact that Donatello was Peter Laird's favorite Turtle, and Raphael was Kevin Eastman's favorite.

1987 series
Michelangelo (spelled "Michaelangelo" in this series) is known for his love of pizza and innocent comic relief. He loves to skateboard, surf and party party party. Michelangelo has a free-spirited character, with a hopelessly innocent and romantic heart. When he meets Kala, the Neutrino girl from Dimension X, he develops a crush on her which is reciprocated.

Michaelangelo was well known for the catchphrase "cowabunga". With his love for pizza and skateboarding, Mikey was the turtle a lot of kids related to, what with his innocence and careless personality, which gave most fanfiction writers the impression of him being the youngest turtle of the team, although he would occasionally show glimpses of maturity, particularly in episodes such as "Adventures in Turtlesitting" and "The Power of Three." The 1987 version of Michelangelo later appears with a few recognizable cartoon characters in Cartoon All-Stars To The Rescue.

Archie Comics
In the Archie Comics series, Michaelangelo is initially presented very similarly to his 1987 cartoon portrayal-understandable considering the comic started as an adaption of the popular animated series. As the series progressed, Archie's Michaelangelo was presented as more mature than the cartoon version. This version developed an interest in poetry. During a battle, he was temporarily blinded and later captured by the U.S. Military, whereupon he was interrogated and tortured. He was eventually rescued by his family and saved the life of the man who tortured him.

One of his many skills in the Archie comics was also to communicate with animals. In a storyline set in the future, Michaelangelo is shown to have become an artist whose main job is running an orphanage.

Comin Out of Our Shells
Mikey's the lead vocals & guitarist of the band in their stage show.

Movies


Michaelangelo is depicted in the live-action movies as the easy-going, free-spirited turtle. One of his movie catch phrases is, "I love being a turtle!" Owing to his popularity with children, he is given many lines and comes up with several (slightly outrageous) plans to advance plots. In the 1990 movie, April O'Neil does her evening report on TV as Michaelangelo expresses "Shes a babe!" Be it pizza, partying, skateboarding or love, Michelangelo is a fun loving turtle, but when is comes to fighting, he gets right down to the "chucks"! In the first movie, he and Donatello were regularly paired together while Leonardo and Raphael were arguing. In the first movie and the first sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, he was portrayed by Michelan Sisti; in the second sequel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, he was portrayed by David Fraser. In all three movies, he was voiced by Robbie Rist.

Fourth Movie
In the 2007 TMNT film, Mikey has taken to performing at children's birthday parties as "Cowabunga Carl" in order to make ends meet to support his family. It becomes apparent early in the film that the physical and emotional absence of his older brothers has finally begun to affect the outgoing Michelangelo. Unlike his other incarnations, the 2007 Mikey seems to draw the most emotional support from Donatello instead of his oldest brothers, Leonardo and Raphael.

Upon Leonardo's return from Central America, Mikey gives his oldest brother an enthusiastic hug, falling over the couch and tripping over furniture in his excitement. Mikey's lively and innocent demeanor returns in full force when he is in the protective presence of his three brothers again, his good-natured jokes and brief commentaries lightening even in hard situations. Clearly, despite the hardship that his family has recently experienced, Michelangelo has retained much of his usual goofy, laid-back personality and still remains the main form of comic relief. He is voiced by Mikey Kelley. Comparing all four brothers in the 2007 movie; it is shown that he has blue eyes where the other three have brown. According to the film's director, this was done to make Michelangelo seem a bit more innocent and younger than the other turtles. In all other film incarnations, Mikey has brown eyes. He is a fantastic skateboarder in this movie, able to complete many tricks underground.

Image Comics
In the comics published by Image Michelangelo's interest in writing is expanded upon and he's established as a writer of fiction and poetry. An early issue has him selling his first poem to poetry digest. As the comic continued, Michelangelo's career as a writer gradually expanded. In the final issue, he has published his first novel, a romance called "A Rose Among the Thorns". April mentions that the book was already going back for a second printing and that she'd heard that Oprah Winfrey loved it which, "practically guarantees that it will be a best-seller." It should be noted that in this series, Michelangelo is the only turtle to not have anything bad happen to him (Leonardo became an amputee, Donatello became a cyborg, and Raphael had his face scarred).

The Next Mutation
Mikey's the only turtle who continued to like pizza. Besides being the wisecracking turtle, he also drives their jeep along the streets of New York, hosting his own pirate radio show, The Sewer Hour. He was also shown to have very odd eating habits (i.e. chicken feet, pouring soda on his cereal, etc.).

2003 series
In the 2003 series, Michelangelo is voiced by Wayne Grayson. Known as 'Mikey' to his brothers, his personality is more akin to the Mirage comics than the 1987 show. Still the comic relief, he often makes statements that spoof pop culture, although he uses less surfer slang than in the 1987 cartoon. His trademark nunchaku are once again his primary weapons, but he has used other weapons such as grappling hooks and those of his brothers.

Michelangelo is slightly more immature than in the 1987 series and likes to tease and annoy his older brothers, especially Raphael, for whom Michelangelo is the foil. In fact, a running gag is that whenever Michelangelo says or does something excessively outrageous, usually involving a catch-phrase from the 1987 show, one of his brothers (usually Raphael) will slap him on the head. Other characters such as Master Splinter and the Ancient One have picked up on this habit but usually use it only whenever he disobeys. In the Fast Forward episode "Time is Everything," when Michelangelo was talking too much, Splinter flipped over his seat he was sitting on causing him to fall on the ground, replying afterwards that "somebody had to do it. It was...time."

Raphael and Michelangelo mostly have a love-hate relationship in which Michelangelo frequently antagonizes Raphael (it especially hurts Raphael's pride that Michelangelo has bested him more than once, both times because Raphael's anger got in the way), but Raphael shows that he cares about him whenever he's in danger. He also seems to be very close with Donatello. When Mikey was a kid, he and his brothers went with Master Splinter to Japan to bury Master Yoshi's ashes next to his beloved. While there, they helped Master Splinter and the Ancient One win a fight against a ghost and that is when they gain their ninja masks ("Fathers & Sons").

Michelangelo is regularly treated as the youngest brother and little is expected of him, although he has shown to have superior speed and agility over his brothers. He has shown innocent empathy for others, as shown in particular by his adoption of Klunk the stray kitten, to whom he is very close, and also by his relationship with Leatherhead. It is his initial awareness of Leatherhead's humanity which ends up forging the bond between the crocodile and the other Turtles. He enjoys Leatherhead's company, although he does tease him on occasion, against his better judgment. However, he cares greatly for the crocodile and is quick and willing to forgive and reassure him when a rampaging Leatherhead injures him in a blind, nightmarish rage in the episode "Hunted." Leatherhead also appears to care greatly for Michelangelo and is distraught when he believes he has fatally injured him.

In some episodes, Michelangelo takes on the role of a costumed super hero called "Turtle Titan" and befriends other superheroes such as the "Silver Sentry" and the "Justice Force". As Turtle Titan, Michelangelo uses grappling hooks as both a weapon and a mode of transportation.

Although not shown as particularly focused on ninjutsu, preferring to spend his time reading comics or watching movies, he is quite an effective fighter. In the Season 2 finale, he became the Battle Nexus Champion, the best fighter in the multiverse. Although his victory was due in part to some very lucky breaks, Michelangelo later won a rematch against the last finalist and earned a medal of honor for his behavior during the battle.

In early profiles of the 2003 animated series, Michelangelo is regarded as being the most athletic of the four, although unfocused on training mentally (though those are admittedly old profiles and may have been early plans for the character, he has certainly proven he is an effective fighter when need be). This profile statement has since been repeated in the profile of Michelangelo in the lead-up to the debut of the Fast Forward season, which began airing on July 29, 2006.

Ninja Tribunal
Michelangelo became one of the Ninja Tribunal's Acolytes along with his brothers. It should be noted that although Michelangelo tends to goof off, his spiritual avatar is that of a dragon along with his brothers as seen in the episode "New World Order pt. 2"



Fast Forward
In this series, Michelangelo, along with his brothers, travels into the year 2105 and meets the great-grandson of April and Casey, named Cody Jones. Mikey continues his videogaming in the future, completely awestruck by the new video games, especially since most of the games are virtual reality pieces. When the Turtles and Master Splinter reach the future, they are provided with tech-upgraded weapons, curteusy of O' Neil Tech (which Cody owns). Michelangelo first chooses a giant power armor suit, which keeps Mikey happy for five seconds before he finds out it's too cumbersome for him to operate; so he returns to his (though upgraded) nunchaku standards.

Overall, Michelangelo continues being the obnoxiously annoying little brother. He kept his addiction for videogames and it even increased, which proved to be a hazard during Graduation Day: Class of 2105 which almost got him to not graduate as he missed a month worth of traning just for playing video games. He made up for it, however, when he passed the three tests to graduate and get back his nunchucks: Invisibilty (where the first handle bar was guarded by Leonardo), Strength (where the second handle bar was guarded by Rapahel), and Insight (where the chain was guarded by Donatello).



Back to the Sewers
In this series, Mikey continues to be obnoxious and pestering as he always has been in the 2k3 series. Michelangelo still loves his video gaming, and this becomes an important factor in an episode where the turtles must enter one of Mikey's video games to collect more of Master Splinter's data bits that were lost in the beginning of the series. Towards the end of the series, Michelangelo plays an important role in the wedding of April O' Neil and Casey Jones as the Maid of Honor.

(4kids TMNT Blog post with concept art of Michelangelo's various outfits here.)