[dc]I[/dc]f someone told teenager me, “One day, you’ll marry a women who will ask ‘Who is your favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle?”, I woulda cried. The tears would be tears of joy, and of terror, because talking to strangers was Scary. Especially strangers bearing Cassandra like news of my Future self.
Good times. Image via Amazon.
Stephanie, bless her, did ask such a question over the weekend. She brought forth The Great Question on the name of my favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle while we worked on wedding invitations.
And by ‘we worked on,’ I mean I drew in my sketchbook while Stephanie cut the invitations at the local Print-Copy-Ship.¹
Stephanie: So, who is your favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle?
Me: Hmm. That is a difficult question to answer.
Stephanie: ::cut:: Why?
Me: Well, one must weigh several factors. Some folks might say Leonardo, because he is the leader, and it is easy to say the leader is a favorite, because everyone likes being in charge. But, from a story telling standpoint, most ‘leader characters’ are boring.
Stephanie: ::slice:: Huh?
Me: Leonardo is a goody-goody. He’s a boy scout who plays by the rules. Now, Raphael however, he’s a much more interesting character. As the theme teaches us, “Raphael is cool, but rude.” He doesn’t always follow orders, as witnessed in the first film, where his flashes of anger and loss of control give him much more depth. Michelangelo is similar—he’s the “party dude,” and has a sense of humor.
Stephanie: ::snip snip:: So. It is between Raphael or Michelangelo for your favorite?
Me: Not really. Those two are just more interesting. You have the bad boy in Raphael and the joker in Michelangelo—both rank higher than Leonardo in my book. But, you need that straight-laced person in a group—to balance the dynamic. The ‘hero’ or the ‘good guy’ isn’t always the most interesting character in a story. Star Wars taught us that—just look at the popularity of Han Solo and Darth Vader–
Stephanie: ::kerrrang::: SO. Who, then?
Me: Donatello.
Stephanie: ::snikt:: Why?
Me: I liked how, at least in the cartoon, he was the brains. He solved problems and built cool gadgets.
Stephanie: ::dice:: Makes sense.
Me: Plus, I liked his weapon the staff best. There’s something satisfying about the idea of beating a bad guy with a thick piece of wood.
Stephanie: …
Me: What?
Stephanie: …Nothing…
Comment Crew (mutant or otherwise): Who is your favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle?
Support Clattertron: Gold Box/Lightning Deals on Amazon and My Wish List
–
¹. I did all the drawing and design work though.
