Donatello (TMNT 2003)

Donatello is one of the main characters of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Animated Series. He is the brother of Leonard, Raphael, Michelangelo and adoptive son of Splinter.

He is voiced by Sam Riegel who also voices Mephisto Pheles from Blue Exorcist series, Shino Aburame from Naruto Episodes 23-24 and Tristan Taylor from Yu-Gi-Oh! Episodes 1-10.

Appearance
He wears a purple mask and favors a traditional bo staff as his weapon.

Personality
Several episodes concentrate on him, as well as his emotional and intellectual struggles. As in his other incarnations, he is intelligent, good with his hands, and very introspective, frequently becoming pensive over things he doesn't understand. He typically has a very close, however platonic, relationship with April. He also displays closeness with his younger brother Michelangelo akin to that seen in the original movie. Even more pacifistic than his other incarnations, Donatello shows a greater interest in technology than his ninjutsu training. Even so, Donatello will defend his brothers at any cost, and he frequently assists the team in many ways through the technology he develops, mostly vehicles and communication devices.

History
Donatello is generally well liked by all of his brothers, never engaging in major confrontations with them. In fact, Donatello was the one to reunite his brothers against the Shredder in the episode, "Same As It Never Was", having been sent to an alternate future where the team fell apart after he vanished. His skin color is a medium olive green color; this particular color is only used for him in the 2003 animation. In the fourth season, he was infected by a monster, and in the episode "Adventures in Turtlesitting", he mutates into a monster himself, which happened to Raphael in the comics. In the seventh season, also called "Back to the Sewer", Donatello blamed himself for Master Splinter's decompiling and vowed to restore his bits from cyberspace. This obsession caused him to disregard anything else, such as the war between the Purple Dragons and the Foot clan, as unimportant. It wasn't until seeing his brothers in danger from the Cyber Shredder did he realize he was ignoring his responsibilities to help them and promised not to let his obsession with saving Master Splinter take control again.

In Turtles Forever, the 2003 Donatello is in total disbelief over the scientific aptitude of his 1987 counterpart, in which the alternate Donatello replied, "Science isn't all just facts and figures", although the two still manage to work together to track their enemies.

Trivia

 * Like the Mirage comics, Donatello has a complex personality in the 2003 animated series.