Raphael Splinterson (2003 TV series)

The 2003 incarnation of Raphael is voiced by Frank Frankson. In the 2003 series ( like the other eras) Raphael is also known as 'Raph'.

Personality
In the 2003 TV show, Raphael's personality is more akin to his original incarnation—he is angrier and more sardonic, but not quite as violent (although he is still impulsive). One incident where he almost smashed Michelangelo's head in with a pipe is shown here, as it did in Raphael. He also talks with a similar Brooklyn accent used in the movies. He often argues with Leonardo and Michelangelo, although he is depicted as being very close with both at times. His angry personality may be a cover up for his true feelings towards his brothers. His relationship with Donatello consists of poking fun at his intellect or annoyance at his long-winded explanations, more or less thinking of him as somewhat of a dork, yet still his brother. His best friend is generally regarded as Casey Jones. In all incarnations of the turtles except for the 1987 cartoon, Raphael appears to live in the shadow of Leonardo and resents his brother's social position in the group; however, his rivalry with his brother is heavily toned down in comparison to the comic books and rarely shows a deep hatred towards him as the series progresses. He is shown to be a skilled motorcyclist and has his own motorcycle, the "Shell Cycle," which Donatello designed and created for him.

It is implied in this series that Raphael has entomophobia, the fear of insects; at the worst of it, he has shown on many occasions to possess an unrivaled hatred of bugs.

Raphael's relationship with Michelangelo is unique in this series. Michelangelo has a tendency to severely annoy his brother, from playing pranks, to taunting, gloating, and overall rubbing his accomplishments in Raphael's face (which leads him to knock Michelangelo down a peg and Raphael would often slap Michelangelo upside the head). Though it has been shown that he deeply cares for him. He has also been driven to tears for fear of losing  Leonardo when he was nearly killed by the Foot. As Leonardo recovered, Raphael was also the one who supported Leonardo the most, even helping him to create new swords and paying the greatest attention to the care of his brother. In the episode The Ultimate Ninja Raph attempted to protect Leo from the Ultimate Ninja when he challenged him and lashed out in anger and fear when Leo was nearly hurt. Raphael continues to challenge Leonardo's decisions in this incarnation as well, as he and Leo often argue over what to do in certain situations, Raph usually favoring a direct and confrontational approach. Despite differences, Leo and Raph arguably have the closest relationship of the Turtles emphasized in the series, as their conflicting views and care for one another is a key point in many episodes throughout the entire series. Raphael will often put the security of his family and sometimes friends in danger as far as disobeying Splinter and Leonardo, but will react immediately if they are in danger.

Raphael is shown to be intensely loyal, and is often the first to react when another of his brothers is in trouble. This happens on numerous occasions, like when he stops a blow from hitting Donatello using only his sais or kicks the Shredder away from Leonardo when the latter is about to attack.

Biography
Raphael and his brothers were bought by a young boy from a pet store. A blind man was walking the street not seeing a truck. A teenager ran to save the man while inadvertenly pushed the boy who dropped them and a container that had mutagen. The container broke and spilled muatgen on them. Splinter saw the turtles and decided to raise them. After waking Splinter up, Spliner sees the change and decides to trian them in ninjitsu. Raphael and the other three turtles trained with Splinter. The objective was to get the candle Splinter was holding in his hand. Raphael came closest to getting the candle, before he was seen by Splinter and the candle was taken by Leonardo. Raph and Leo quickly traded insults at each other, while Michelangelo and Donatello watched. When their home was attacked by a group of robots, Raphael fought alongside his brothers and Splinter. After their home was destroyed, Raphael and his brothers separated from Splinter and went into New York. Raphael ended up being trapped in a van. Luckily, he was saved by Donatello and regrouped with Splinter.

Ninja Tribunal
Raphael became one of the Ninja Tribunal Acolytes along with his brothers. He is the second of the ninja to focus his spiritual energy through the Amulet of the Acolytes and his spiritual avatar is that of a dragon. Although his friends and family (especially Leo) often bear the brunt of his anger, Juto-Shisho thinks that indignant rage suits him when he boldly steps into the spirit forge and is granted Banrai.

Fast Forward
In TMNT: Fast Forward, Raph was the only one who was unhappy with the future. In many episodes you can hear him quote "I Hate The Future." Mainly his anger was aimed at the technique used in 2105, which was highly developed.

Back To The Sewer
In Back To The Sewer, the turtles return to the past (the time where they were suposed to be), and even still Raphael is the short-tempered turtle he's always been. However, in this series there is explicit facts that show that Casey and Raph are true best friends because in certain episodes, Raphael and Casey talk about the future wedding of O' Neil/ Jones (April O' Neil/ Casey Jones), and Raphael always seems to be there for Casey and actually quotes "So, ya think I'm best man material, or what?" Thus, in the series finale episode, Wedding Bells and Bytes, Raphael stars as the best man in the wedding; actually catching Casey just as he's about to faint from nervousness twice. Raphael also helps defeat the Cyber Shredder. Raphael is happy to leave the future and be back in his own time (even though he'll never admit it!). Raphael also seems to be the tallest turtle brother in this series.

Turtles Forever
In Turtles Forever, where in the film he would comment that he sees the 1987 Turtles as "clowns, not ninjas" but later would jump in and save 1987 Leonardo, Raphael and Michelangelo from being crushed by a giant 2003 Shredder. He did, however, immeditately take a liking to the Original "hard core" Turtles, yelling "I love these guys!" He even considered retiring to their world.

Trivia

 * Like his brothers, Raph is a practitioner of Chi Gong, as shown in Turtles in Space, Part 3: The Big House.
 * Raphael's spirit totem is the dragon, the same as his brothers.
 * Raphael is the first turtle to cry in the series when Leonardo was badly injured after they found out that the Shredder returned.
 * He has a soft spot for children as shown in the episode Raph and Cub.
 * Raphael sings in the shower as shown in the episode The King.
 * Raphael loves his Shell-cycle so much that when Hun stole and wrecked it he stopped at nothing to get even with him.
 * In the episode Same As It Never Was, after Karai stabbed the older Raphael in a different dimension, he crawled toward a dead Leonardo, calling his name, and hoping to amend the years past of resenting him.
 * There are similarities in Same As It Never Was and the Exodus, Part 2, in which Raphael charges and attacks Karai after hurting his brother, Leonardo, although Raph only won once.
 * Raphael loves to slap Mikey when he says or does something stupid or annoying.
 * Raphael has never defeated one of the Shredders in this series.
 * His tone of voice seems to be a wrestlers type
 * In the episode "Tales of Leo" when he mentioned on how he was going to be the leader implies that he wants to be the best to impress either Splinter or his brothers