Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Characters: Leonardo

Hey everyone! Now it's on to my Characters section. This will probably be my biggest section so I'm going to do it by character and analyze each incarnation of that character. I will be looking at Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, Master Splinter, April O'Neil, and the Shredder. These characters appear in all three versions of TMNT. Keep in mind that there wasn't much character development in the 1987 series compared to the 2003 and 2012 series. 

Leonardo 

Leonardo (Leo) is the eldest of the four brothers and generally the leader. He wears a blue mask and fights with twin katanas. He has stayed fairly consistent as a character in each series. 

TMNT 1987 

Source: turtlepedia.wikia.com

This Leo is the hero archetype. He is always looking to help people in danger and wants to be the big hero. He follows the samurai code and is heroic to a fault. He is likely the most serious out of the four turtles, and is always wanting to help others.

Leo's usually the one who tells the other turtles what they should be doing, and generally helps them to stay on task. He does everything he can to keep his family fighting together, even if it means annoying his brothers. 

TMNT 2003

Source: freewebs.com

This Leo is more dynamic with his character developing quite a bit throughout the series. This makes sense since this series follows the comics more closely and the comics pay a lot of attention to Leo. Leo is still considered the leader of the group. He's pretty wise beyond his years and he is always trying to keep his brothers focused on the task. He has a natural ability for leadership and he's all for having a plan. He likes to observe closely the situation before diving into it.

This Leo understands his brother's strengths and weaknesses and knows how to utilize them in battle, making him the ideal leader. He also knows how to keep a cool head during battle. Out of all of the brothers, Leo is the one who is most dedicated to the art of ninjutsu and code of bushido. He probably has the strongest spiritual connection of the four turtle brothers.

Leo is also a perfectionist and has a failure complex going on in this series. He's constantly training to better his techniques and his focus. For Leo, coming short of anything but perfection is very frustrating. This probably comes from the fact that he feels the pressure of being a leader and taking on the weight of responsibility for his brothers by himself. He knows that one mistake on his part can mean the destruction of his family, and while he usually shoulders the burden just fine, it occasionally gets to him. He can also be a bit bossy, which comes from trying to lead his rowdy brothers and keeping them on task.

During season four, Leo suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, resulting from the final battle with the Shredder, in which all the turtle brothers were injured seriously and almost killed. Leo feels guilty and responsible for his "failure" to protect his brothers and becomes darker and more angry. In this case, Leo shows that he can be very hot-headed and short tempered when he is distressed. His darker side tends to show through more during this period. It escalates until the only way Leo can overcome himself is through the help of another ninjutsu master.

Leo is constantly butting heads with Raph due to the fact that the two are usually polar opposites. Leo is always telling Raph to cool it or to not rush into a fight, which annoys his hot-headed brother. Leo is also thinking about the greater good or the distant future, while Raph is often more focused on the situation right now. However, the two brothers are best friends, despite their constant fighting. 

TMNT 2012

Source: turtlepedia.wikia.com

Leo in this series is very similar to the 2003 Leo, but for the fact that he demonstrates more teenage qualities of inexperience and rash decisions. This Leo is more prone to making mistakes due to his lack of experience. He's less sure of himself, but he's quickly learning to become a leader.

Leo is definitely the calmest out of the four turtles and the one that they generally look to for help and guidance. He's also willing to (eventually) admit his mistakes and correct them. Unfortunately, he can be pretty bossy, which annoys his brothers. He's also often focusing on them being heroes and helping the public.

There are times when Leo shows a bit of reluctance to be the leader. Those come when he and his brothers aren't getting along, or he's frustrated with them and doesn't want to deal with them anymore. He gets annoyed when his brothers don't listen to him and he usually feels that he is always right, which of course ticks Raph off, causing them to fight. However, Leo is very good at thinking quickly and coming up with a plan in tense situations, making him an ideal leader. Leo also follows the code of bushido and is very dedicated to being ethical and practicing mercy.

Leo and Raph still butt heads for similar reasons in that they are polar opposites. In this series, Raph can shake Leo up more and make him question his decisions, probably due to Leo's uncertainty. It even escalates to the point in one episode where Leo storms off and leaves Raph in charge of the group. In this show, Leo is a tad bit more hot-headed, at least when dealing with Raph.

Leo has a fascination with this dorky show, Space Heroes, which is a spoof of Star Trek. He idolizes the main hero and often takes elements from the show to help him out. Raph always makes fun of him for this. Leo likes to think of himself as a hero and often says cheesy hero lines, which almost never sound cool. Leo is average height and muscle, with dark blue eyes.

Overall, it seems that with each incarnation, Leo gets a little more personality with each series. Going from a hero archetype to an inexperienced leader who's obsessed with a dorky cartoon displays how Leo's character has changed. However, he still remains consistent throughout each series in his role as the leader of his brothers.  Anyway, that's my take on our boy in blue, so that's it for today. Until later, folks!