Michelangelo Splinterson (2003 TV series)

The 2003 incarnation of 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 language than in the 1987 cartoon series. His trademark nunchaku are once again his primary weapons, but he has used other weapons such as grappling hooks and those of his brothers.

Personality
Michelangelo is slightly more immature than in the 1987 series and likes to tease and annoy his older brothers, especially Raphael, to 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 actively disobeys.

Raphael and Michelangelo mostly have a love-hate relationship in which Michelangelo frequently antagonizes Raphael, but Raphael shows that he cares about him whenever he's in danger. With Raphael's attitude, and Leonardo's extreme discipline, Mikey seems to be closest to Donatello (however, he is still very close to his other brothers).

Michelangelo is regularly treated as the youngest brother and little is expected of him, although he has proven to have exceptional speed and agility. He has shown empathy for others, as proven in particular by his adoption of Klunk, a stray kitten and his friendship with Leatherhead.

In some episodes, Michelangelo takes on the role of a costumed superhero called "Turtle Titan." While having no superpowers and gadgets, he proves himself quite effective in his own right and even 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, and a small shield used for protection and as a throwing weapon.

Although not shown as particularly focused on ninjutsu, preferring to spend his time reading comics or watching movies, Michelangelo is quite an effective fighter. In the Season 2 finale "The Big Brawl," he became the Battle Nexus Champion, the best fighter in the multiverse. However, when fighting in the Tournament, he only actually won one fight properly. His first was against Splinter, who surrendered, his second was against Raphael, whom Mikey 'beat' by just being annoying and causing Raphael to charge into a wall by accident. Michelangelo actually won his third, but his fourth was won out of pure luck.

On the other hand, Michelangelo later won a rematch against the last finalist completely fairly, and earned a medal of honor for his behavior during the battle. In some episodes - particularly Return of the Justice Force, Touch and Go, Reality Check, Membership Drive and The Unconvincing Turtle Titan -, Mikey even demonstrates quick wits and intelligence, aiding his allies and brothers with decisive ideas. While this proves he is actually more intelligent than he lets on, it is implied that he has very little interest in seriously focusing his intellectual development.

We are told by Splinter that Michelangelo has the most raw talent of the four, but because of his incredibly limited attention span, it's very unlikely he will ever meet his true potential. In Same As It Never Was, the dystopian version of Michelangelo has devoted his whole life to surviving without the Shredder's detection - so it is very possible that the Michelangelo we see in this episode is the Michelangelo who has reached his full potential.

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.

As far as this incarnation of the Turtles goes, Michelangelo is so far the best (possibly the only) cook in the group. In The Shredder Strikes Back (Part One), Mikey is shown cooking breakfast. Though he does mess up the fried eggs and asked "Hey, scrambled's okay with everybody, right?" (this is met with a chorus of "Again?") Raphael later comments "Say what you will about Mikey; the guy knows how to scramble an egg."

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. It was seen that he was advanced when it came to the stealth training with Hisomi.

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 demon and that was when they gained their ninja masks ("Fathers & Sons").

Fast Forward
In this series, Michelangelo, along with his brothers, traveled into the year 2105 and met the great-grandson of April and Casey, Cody Jones. Mikey continued his videogaming in the future, completely awestruck by the new video games, especially since most of the games were virtual reality pieces. When the Turtles and Master Splinter reached the future, they were provided with tech-upgraded weapons, courtesy of O'Neil Tech (which Cody owns). Michelangelo first chose a giant power armor suit, which kept Mikey happy for five seconds before he found out that it was too cumbersome for him to operate; so he returned to his (though upgraded) nunchaku standards.

Overall, Michelangelo continued being the obnoxiously annoying little brother. He kept his addiction for video games and it even increased and he became even more obsessed with them, which proved to be a hazard during Graduation Day: Class of 2105 which almost got him to not graduate as he missed a month's worth of training just for playing video games. He made up for it, however, when he passed the three tests to graduate and got back his nunchucks: Invisibility (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). He also passed the hidden test of humility after admitting that he did not deserve to graduate just because he passed three tests after missing so much training.

Back to the Sewer
In this series, Mikey continues to be obnoxious and pestering as he always has been in the 2003 series. Mikey was sad to leave behind all of his stuff in the future, including his video games and weapons. Michelangelo still loves his video gaming, and this becomes an important factor in the episode 'SuperQuest' 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. In "City Under Siege", Mikey defeats the Cyber Shredder by destroying the platform they were on and burning Shredder to a crisp. Mikey also goes to Casey and April's wedding at the end of the series where he battles Foot ninjas and helps beat the Cyber Shredder. Afterwards he sees Casey and April getting married. By this point he seems to have matured a little bit.

Turtles Forever
In Turtles Forever, Mikey gets along just perfectly with the 1987 turtles and often remarks "I love these guys!" - in complete contrast to Raphael, who calls them clowns, and greatly prefers the turtles from the Mirage Comics.

However, when the 1987 turtles go too far with playing around, even Michelangelo yells at them, proof that even he can be serious...sometimes. The 1987 turtles also give him noogies. Michelangelo is fond of the 1987 turtles belt buckles, at first entranced with the monograms on them. Mikey was in the final battle with the Shredder in Turtle Prime and was happy to see Shredder destroyed for good.

Trivia

 * Like his brothers, Mikey is a practitioner of Chi Gong..
 * Mikey defeats the Shredder in City Under Siege.
 * The Unconvincing Turtle Titan was the first episode to focus on Mikey.
 * Unlike his other incarnations, this Michelangelo screams effeminately (like a girl)
 * He is said to be the one with the most raw talent at ninjitsu.
 * It was revealed in Graduation Day: Class of 2105 that Mikey named his nunchaku in Fast Forward 'Chuck' and 'Chuck 2: The Sequel'.

Gallery
See Michelangelo (2003 TV series)/Gallery