Leonardo (TMNT)
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| Leonardo | |
 Leonardo, the leader of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles |
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| Publication information | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Mirage Studios |
| First appearance | Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (October, 1984) |
| Created by | Kevin Eastman Peter Laird |
| In story information | |
| Full name | Leonardo |
| Team affiliations | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles |
| Notable aliases | Leo Fearless Leader Ghost of the Jungle |
| Abilities | Highly skilled in Ninjutsu. Olympic-level agility, speed and strength. Keen strategist. Master of stealth. Mastery of kenjutsu and iaidō. Master swordsman. |
Leonardo (or Leo), a fictional character, is one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT). His bandana is blue (although originally all four Turtles had red bandanas) and his weapons are two ninjaken (literally "ninja sword"). Leonardo takes after his sensei, Splinter, in taking Ninjutsu very seriously. As the eldest of the four turtles, he is the closest to Splinter and spends much of his free time in practice and meditation. He has a strong sense of honor, and is a strict follower of the Bushido code. He tries to keep his brothers in line and often has the leading role in the characters' adventures.
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[edit] Television
[edit] 1987 animated series
In the 1987 TV series' theme song lyrics, Leonardo is said outright to be the leader of the TMNT, and there is little disputing this; as such, his orders are usually followed, and he is a very serious do-gooder who hardly ever makes wise cracks, unlike his brothers (in one episode, his brothers actually hypnotized him to make him lighten up, only to find that he was too hyper and too much of a practical joker in his "relaxed" state and returned him to normal). In one episode, he suffered a crisis of confidence and left the group to do some soul searching; his brothers all tried their hands at being the leader in his stead, only to find that none of them could match his leadership skills, and he came back to them. He is often shown as the primary driver of the Turtles' van. He was attracted to a mercenary young woman named Lotus, a swordswoman prodigy from Japan who was hired by Krang to replace Shredder, whom she easily defeated (along with Rocksteady and Bebop). She and Leonardo dueled to a standstill before she resorted to a trick sword to knock him out. When they met the second time, she tried to convince him to join her as "ninjas for hire", but he refused. She turned on Krang and escaped to continue her mercenary lifestyle, telling Leonardo that there was little good in goodness, though she hoped that they would one day be on the same side. This is the only version of the TMNT mythos where Leonardo does not have his sibling rivalry with Raphael.
When the cartoon series starts out, he is shown with having a very level head, akin to his leadership qualities in the comic. However, as the series carried on, he became more reactionary and at times would screech in the very high pitched voice, which was very different from the original, deeper pitch in the first season.
Leonardo also seems to enjoy reading. For example, many times when the Turtles are at home, Leo is reading a book. In the episode Four Musketurtles, he is the only Turtle that read The Three Musketeers. Another good example is in "Leonardo is Missing"; while the other Turtles go to an arcade, Leonardo stays at the lair and reads a book.
In the episode "Snakes Alive", it is revealed that Leonardo has a big fear of snakes, but confronted it later.
This is seemingly the only incarnation of the TMNT in which Leonardo's swords are curved, possibly due to problems with animation, thus the term katana could be used.
In the original North American version of the 1987 cartoon show, Leonardo's voice actor is Cam Clarke (who also voiced Rocksteady). -
[edit] Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation
In 1998, Leonardo along with the other Ninja Turtles were featured in a short-lived live-action series. He also carried one double bladed ninjaken instead of two.
[edit] 2003 series and Fast Forward
In the new Mirage Studios and 4Kids Entertainment 2003 animated TV series, Leonardo is voiced by Mike Sinterniklaas. He is the de facto leader of the group and the most "spiritual" of the four TMNT. He has a very close bond with Splinter, and has a strong sense of honor, ethics and Bushido. Leonardo's twin swords are slung across his back ninjaken are not curved. Episodes that deal with the Shredder and honor usually also focus on Leonardo, and he is often the Turtle who "saves the day." Leonardo is a more sensitive, self-doubting character than in previous incarnations. Raphael often quarrels with him and resents his leadership, sarcastically calling Leonardo "Fearless Leader", although the two are shown to be very close at times. Though Leonardo's relationships with his other brothers Michelangelo and Donatello are not as volatile, both have made comments alluding to the high standards the former has set, and his tendency to make them look bad. Despite this, his brothers view him as a pillar of strength and are at a loss when he is injured or absent. One of Leonardo's most prominent qualities is his determination to believe the best in people, even potential enemies (i.e., Karai, Traximus, Quarry). In the Japanese version, Leonardo is voiced by Tetsuya Kakihara, best known for voicing Lævatein and Graf Eisen of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.
At times, Leonardo is shown to be very hard on himself, as he feels that a lot is expected of him. As in the comics, Leonardo is ambushed and seriously injured by the Foot Clan and he feels he let his family and himself down. He has the same feelings after the final battle with the Shredder - his anger and self-doubt was caused by Karai, whom he believed was an honorable ally, but she was unable to go against her master's evil orders, eventually causing her to stab Leonardo (albeit unintentionally). Leonardo also feels extremely inadequate, as he believes that again, he let himself and his family down, this time by finding no other way to destroy the Shredder than to blow up the spaceship that both the Shredder and the Turtles were on; the Turtles and Splinter would have perished if they had not been rescued by Utroms. Eventually, Leonardo finds inner peace under the guidance of the Ancient One, who trained Splinter's sensei, Hamato Yoshi. From their final battle with the Shredder, Leonardo was the only turtle to sustain truly lasting damage; part of his shell on his upper left shoulder had its edge shorn off. Nevertheless, he is arguably the most skilled of the Turtles, being the only one trained by two senseis and is capable of facing and defeating Karai, the new Shredder, in a one-on-one fight. In addition, he bested and very nearly caused serious injury to Splinter when he lost his temper after the final battle with the original Shredder (it was in the same episode that Raphael stated "I hate it when he reminds me of me.").
In the fifth season, of the eight acolytes under the Tribunal's training, Leonardo is the only one who doesn't receive a weapon from the Spirit Forge. No real explanation is given for this, although it is possible that because his swords were reforged in the Battle Nexus, he already possessed a weapon capable of fighting the Demon Shredder, thus he didn't need one from the Spirit Forge. His otherworldly form is that of a dragon, a rare form, unheard of in someone his age. It is shown destroying all the evil guarding the second artifact. This avatar is first shown in "More Worlds Than One". His brothers later exhibit dragon avatars as well. In the fifth episode "Beginning of the End", he is given the sword "Gunshin" (one of the Fangs of the Dragon that commands the "White Flame of the Dragon King") by the dying Feragi. He returns Gunshin in episode 12 "Enter the Dragons" when Feragi returns to help battle the Shredder.
In the Fast Forward season, the damage that occurred to Leonardo's shell as stated above has somehow been repaired.
[edit] Film
In the first three TMNT movies, Leonardo was fairly modest and sensitive, rarely issuing direct commands; he also joked around with his brothers much more than in other versions of the TMNT. It was he who first communicated telepathically with a kidnapped Splinter in the first movie, but he was not ambushed by the Foot Clan (Raphael was), nor did he kill the Shredder. However, he is the only one of the four turtles to successfully injure Shredder during their climactic battle. He was acted by David Forman and voiced by Brian Tochi.
In both Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, his actor was Mark Caso and he was voiced again by Brian Tochi.
In the Fourth TMNT film, Leo was sent away by Master Splinter to hone his skills in becoming a more efficient leader after Shredder's defeat. April finds him in Central America, and while he was hesitant to return to New York, he does at the right time to take on the dangerous new force of evil. His relationship with Raphael is strained due to Raphael feeling abandoned by Leo as well as feeling less loved by Splinter. Leonardo's vision of the world is perhaps also wider than Raphael's; in the first movie prequel comic, Leo becomes angry with Raphael for trying to leave them in order to save a man from being mugged, because there are four heavily armed Triceratons in the sewers who could cause devastation to the city. He becomes further angered when Raphael deserts them mid-battle to help the old man get home safely. This conflict suggests that the two brothers operate on different levels of morality, though neither is necessarily wrong. Raphael states in the comic that he was tired of waiting for disaster to fall on his family, and tired of fighting aliens while people in their own neighborhood are being mugged and murdered. Leonardo, on the other hand, believes that the world of men is the responsibility of the police, while Utroms and Triceratons are their domain, and that they should fight only when there is no one else who could solve the problem. This also engages Leo in a contradiction when he stays in Central America, using violence to fight local lawlessness and effectively deserting his brothers because he believes, as Raphael believes, that others need him more. Such parallels suggest that the two brothers are experiencing the same dedication to justice but in different mentality, albeit in very different locales and using different tactics. In the TMNT CGI movie, Raphael challenges Leonardo after arguing of their own individual sense of justice and the reasons for their actions, Leo also discovers that Raphael is the Nightwatcher, and they engage in a fight. Distracted when Raphael breaks his swords he is pinned to the floor. Raphael almost kills Leo, then retreats due to his bothers deep and confused stare. Leonardo is captured by the War Generals and Foot Clan but is rescued by his family later before the final battle where Leonardo and Raphael finally resolve their differences, Raphael accepting Leo as their leader while Leonardo confesses to needing Raphael. Leonardo is voiced by James Arnold Taylor in this film.
[edit] Video games
In the video games, Leonardo is the first turtle of choice. He is popular especially for beginner players of the TMNT games. Leonardo is portrayed as the well-balanced fighter, having, in all areas, strong but not extreme abilities and no glaring weaknesses. His range is rather long, but not as long as Donatello's; however, Leonardo can usually inflict more damage. In the Tournament Fighters games, his moves are the closest to the Ansatsuken-using fighters of the Street Fighter games, such as Ryu and Ken Masters, a fighting game archetype.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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