| “ | Like a Boss! | „ |
| ~ Raph's catchphrase. |
Raphael, or Raph for short, is one of the four titular main protagonists of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and its feature film sequel.
He is voiced by Omar Miller.
Appearance[]
Raph is a mutant alligator snapping turtle with bright green skin, an orange plastron with forked top edges, a dark green carapace with three dorsal ridges, and a large, muscular figure. He has spikes on his shoulders and elbows, black eyes with yellow sclera and matching teeth, but with a sharp tooth protruding from the right side of his upper jaw, three fingers on each hand, and two toes on each foot. He wears a red bandana that covers the top of his head with long, torn bandana tails, red cloth around his elbows, white bandages around his hands and ankles, and red shorts. There are white adhesive bandages on his plastron (in the shape of an X), left forearm and right calf, and he wears a red belt with the Turtle emblem placed on the left.
When his Hamato Ninpō is unlocked and since the film, his belt and shorts are black and he dons matching fingerless gloves and knee-high socks. One of the white adhesive bandages remains on his plastron.
Personality[]
Unlike in previous incarnations, where he is short-tempered, reckless and serious, Raph is considerably more kind, sympathetic and even goofy. He also possesses a strong sense of responsibility, often taking a lot upon himself and is willing to take the hits so his family won't have to. Although, he is still eager to get into fights, which could jeopardize his and his brothers' missions.
Raphael is also very protective of his loved ones, as he often worries when his brothers do missions alone and will at times get paranoid. This in turn causes him to act impulsive, as he often acts before he thinks which often gets the other turtles in trouble. However, he is arguably the most mature of his brothers, likely due to him being the oldest, as he takes Splinter's words and guiding to heart the most after he calls the four of them out for their childishness and immaturity in “Insane in the Mama Train”.
While notably more calm than past incarnations as mentioned above, Raph does still have moments where he can lose his temper. Although it is usually for justified reasons and he deals with them in a mature manner (most of the time). Such as when Leo took over as leader of the team, Raph was upset with how he arrogant he was and how handled things instead of being jealous of his position. Because of this, he would often be the one who gives orders to Donnie and Mikey.
Despite Raph's reckless and impulsive behavior, he knows when to back down from a fight, as he ordered Donnie to call in the escape pod when they were being beaten by the Krang. When Leo instead successfully retrieves the key that brought them to earth, Raph selflessly took the hit from a Krang tendril that would have killed him and sends Leo away with his pod, resulting in his capture. This shows that, in spite of his and Leo's feuds, Raph still loves him just as much as the rest of his family.
History[]
Raph began life as a juvenile turtle in Baron Draxum's laboratory. Wishing to create a mutant army with formidable combat capabilities, Draxum used Lou Jitsu's DNA paired with his ooze to turn Raph from an ordinary turtle into a mutant. He and his brothers were then stolen from Draxum's laboratory by Lou Jitsu promptly after their mutation and Raph went on to be raised in the sewers of New York City alongside his brothers by Splinter. Eventually, Raph and his brothers met a human girl named April O'Neil and forged a strong bond with her through the years.
He is now the leader and his enthusiasm and bravado puts him front and center for most of their bizarre adventures.
Trivia[]
- Unlike his previous incarnations, Raphael is the leader of the TMNT until the series finale.
- He is a snapping turtle, hence his large size.
- Unlike his past versions and since the second part of the finale, he does not use his trademarked Sai's, but rather he uses Tonfa, until they were destroyed.
Gallery[]
External Links[]
- Raphael on TurtlePedia.
