| Leonardo |
| (Some information is taken from the official TMNT website: www.ninjaturtles.com) Height: 5' 2" Weight: 180 lbs. Eyes: Brown Weapon: Katanas Favourite Colour: Blue Hobbies: He doesn't have many because he has no time! But he does like candles... if that counts! Favourite Music: Traditional Japanese, New Age (for meditation) Nicknames: Leo, Leon, 'Fearless' Leader, Ginsu Master (that's not exactly his favourite!) Favourite Food: Rice, fish, salads, apples, pizza. Favourite Book: 'On the Art of War', Sun Tzu. My Thoughts: Leonardo is a hard working and dedicated ninjitsu student. It is these qualities which most likely made Splinter choose him to be the leader over his brother's, much to Raphael's disgust. He rarely acts on impulse and usually does what he's told, making him the most uninteresting and least favourite amongst the fans. When they were little, it is often thought that Raph and Leo were always in contention on who was going to be the leader. Although it was a great honour to be picked to guide his family, I can't help but feel that Leo didn't have much of a choice in the matter. Being the leader, Leo had to train harder, causing him to spend more time with Master Splinter and less with his fellow playful turtles. Had Leo been brought up differently, he might of turned into a character similar to Raphael. At any rate, Leonardo is very close to Splinter; he has to be. Whether or not he resents that is another matter entirely. Yet whatever the case, Leo is very protetive of his Master and sometimes takes everything his says a bit too seriously. What really worries me though, is what Leonardo is going to be like when Splinter dies. Because of the amount of pressure leadership brought, Leonardo became a perfectionist, putting his family before himself and wanting nothing but the best for them and of them. It is this protectiveness and train of thought which creates tension between himself and Raphael, as Raph allows anger to cloud his mind and emotions to overtake his fighting, causing Leo to continuously comment critically on Raph's technique which in turn makes Raph jealous and envious of Leo. Personally, I don't think either of them will ever change to suit the other in order to end the circle of conflict. Yet Raphael plays an important role in that he is Leo's only obstacle, as Mike and Don simply don't question Leo's authority. Without Raph keeping Leonardo in line, it is thought that Leo would go out of line with the power he's got. Leonardo usually looks to Donatello as a friend, mainly because Raph will disagree on everything he says, and because he speaks to Master Splinter on a more formal level. Leo confides in Don probably because Don sees the group in a different light, and is the least likely to pass anything incriminating on to the rest of his family when Leo does finally open up his true feelings. Leo respects Don for all the things he's invented and shows this by rarely bothering him when he's making something, even though Leo is 'old school' and prefers traditional ways of fighting and living. Leonardo and Mikey however, I feel, are rather far apart as they rarely have a conversation together. Yet I think Leonardo values Mike as a good fighter and a handy guy to have around due to his natural talent and high morale, shown by the fact that Leo never teases Mike like Raph, Don, and to some extent, Splinter. In turn, Mike looks up to Leo and sees him as a big brother. Even though Mike finds Leo quite boring, I feel that Mike still highly respects him and puts forward what he sees in him when he is calming Raph down from a fight with the blue-bandanna reptile. On TMNT:TNM In the live action show, Leonardo uses only one katana which can open up, much like a large pair of scissors, to deflect nets and other large heavy projectiles. Not only does his bandanna cover his eyes, but it also completely covers the top of his head. His character is a lot more bossy and easier to anger compared to the other 'universes'. He is also more carefree as Splinter doesn't hold as much authority over him. When battles arrive, Leo is always the one driving the beefed up Hummer. Out of all of the turtles, Leo is the only one who accepts Venus' training and recognises her as a valuable part of the team (well she did defeat the Shredder after all!). Although sometimes he disagrees on a Shinobi's customs, shown when he, and the others, go behind her back to deliver Vam Mi her heart so that they could move on, even though Venus had sworn to destroy the vampire. When it comes to enemies, Leo probably feels the most threatened by Bonesteel, proven by the fact that he went out of his way to learn about the psycho hunter. At first he thought Dragon Lord and the Rank were undefeatable, but as the show progressed, him, and the rest of the turtles, became more relaxed and confident fighting them, yet the dragons are still the highest priority to destroy first. Leo also holds a personal grudge on Silver who degraded him and called Leo the derogatory name 'Greenie/Greeny'. |
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