Leonardo

*"I don't want to fight anymore. I was fighting you because I didn't understand you, but now I get it. I always figured you were mad because you didn't like the way I did things. But when I see what's happening to you and what's happening to them, I realized it wasn't about me. You didn't yell because you were mad, you yelled because you were scared. It's scary to be responsible for the lives you protect. Your team… your family. But we do it anyway because that's what it means to be a hero. If this is it, I want you to know I finally understand. And I'm sorry."*

―Leo to his brother, Raph

**Leonardo**, or **Leo** for short, is a red-eared slider who was mutated to become part human from mutant alchemist Baron Draxum, before being taken in with three other turtles from a man named Hamato Yoshi. He's the former member-turned-current leader of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He's also a very unmatured teenager with him usually seen not taking many things seriously, although he has the talent of being the greatest ninja out of his three brothers. He is one of the two main protagonists (alongside his older brother, Raph) of the *Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles* franchise, serving as one of the three deuteragonists (alongside Splinter and April) of the series, and the main protagonist of the film.

## Physical appearance

Leo is a mutant red-eared slider with lime green skin, a mustard yellow plastron, and a green-blue carapace with a teal (or sky-blue) pattern. He has two red crescent-like stripes over his eyes, yellow stripes on his upper arms and thighs, black eyes, three fingers on each hand, and two toes on each foot. He wears a blue bandana with long bandana tails, grey fingerless gloves with blue trim that extend nearly to his elbows, and matching knee-high socks. He also wears a blue belt with a strap that goes over his right shoulder. Attached to his belt are a pair of blue pouches (one on the side and one on the back) and the Turtle emblem placed on the left.

When his Hamato Ninpō is unlocked and since the film, his fingerless gloves, knee-high socks, and belt with the strap are black, and one pouch remains on the back.

## Personality

Leo is prone to make jokes and sarcastic remarks, often during inappropriate times, which can sometimes leave his brothers annoyed and frustrated towards him. Leo has a tough time taking things seriously, especially during the times he puts his full faith on himself rather than his team.

Leo has confidence that usually turns into arrogance and his brothers are often annoyed by his lack of humility, making him difficult to play games with such as in "Lair Games".

Leo is at times rational and skeptical, denying the existence of things like ghosts and wanting to search for a logical answer as opposed to accrediting it to unexplainable phenomena. Despite this, he is delighted by magic and mystic powers as seen in “Hypno! Part Deux”. He also seems to be the least naïve out of the Mad Dogs as his brothers trust Big Mama almost instantly, though Leo has his doubts about her intentions. However, Leo's tendency to be easily impressed and incessant need for attention can hamper his caution.

Leo is very strategic with his plans and formulating ideas, noticing when Raph's leadership fails, he comes from the background to show everyone how its really done. While Leo has merit, his utilization of his skills often needs to be spurred by a dire situation or a lack of options as opposed to Leo trying his best when he can. When he does decide to be serious and sensible, as in the events of "Origami Tsunami", he uses his charisma and relaxed, flexible nature to sway his brothers into listening to him.

Leo is irresponsible and known to be generally unreliable among his family due to how flippant he can be even in grave situations and finds it very difficult to take responsibility for his actions while also being boastful about his positive or impressive actions. Although he has been shown to try to reconcile his mistakes and be sympathetic towards others’ plights such as in “Bullhop” by inviting Bullhop to live with his family and trying to gather the Mad Dogs' continued support for him despite their own reservations for accidentally causing his mutation.

Leo demonstrates forte in analytical thinking as shown in “Many Unhappy Returns”, able to plan several steps ahead of Big Mama, but he can be so determined to successfully execute his plans while also having glory that he uses his allies instead of working with them and is comfortable misleading his allies and opponents alike to his achieve goals such as in “Air Turtle”.

Upon Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie, Leo's character flaws are put to the test where his overall immaturity and self-doubt had allowed the Foot Clan to steal the Mystic Key and unleashed the Krang. This lead him to be berated by Raph for his misunderstood ego, and his student-from-the-future, Casey Jones for failing to be the responsible master he always looked up to. Leo finally accepts his own faults with humility when he confronts a zombified-Raph and acknowledges the true meaning of teamwork, responsibility of a leader, and family.

It's also revealed in *Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie* that this arrogant personality may be a façade to hide Leo's deeper insecurities. This was lightly foreshadowed before in episodes like *Portal Jacked!*, where he states that he is nothing without his brothers, *Minotaur Maze*, where he calls himself useless, and when he asks Splinter why no one seems to trust him in *Many Unhappy Returns*.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

* **Hamato Ninpō:** As a member of the Hamato Clan, Leonardo has the ability to tap into his clan's energy to unleash his own mystic powers.
	+ **Weapon generation:** Leonardo can use ordinary objects to form his own weapons, specifically katana.
	+ **Blade teleportation:** Using his swords, Leonardo can teleport himself or anyone holding one of his swords to location of the other.
	+ **Power Portal Jitsu:** Leonardo wields a mystic ōdachi that can create portals when swiped through the air to teleport.

### Abilities

* **Kenjutsu:** Leonardo is trained in wielding katana and the ōdachi in battle, often using both for offense and defense against enemies.
* **Ōdachi Bomb:** A technique where Leonardo falls from his own portal at high elevation, using his momentum to knock enemies down.
* **Ninjutsu:** Leonardo is skilled in ninjutsu, making him a competent foe to fight against.
	+ **Stealth:** Leonardo is able to slip in and out of areas, unnoticed. He also posses the ability to blend in with the objects around him.
	+ **Speed:** Leo is able to move quickly without being seen.
	+ **Strength:** Leo posses greater strength than the average human.

* **Ninja Mind Meld:** Leonardo is able to telepathically exchange strategies and ideas to his brothers.
* **Strategy Adaption:** Leo is able to alter is strategies depending on what situation he's in, acknowledging his allies strengths and weaknesses, including his enemies.
* **Durability:** Due to his mutation, Leo is able to handle increased levels of pain and physical trauma.
* **Shell Retraction:** Leo is able fully retreat inside his shell.

## Relationships

### Family

* Hamato Yoshi - Father
* Baron Draxum - Creator
* Raphael - Older Brother, Temporary Enemy, Friend
* Donatello - Brother and Friend
* Michelangelo - Younger Brother and Friend
* April O'Neil - Best Friend and Sister-figure
* Casey Jones - Protégé, Friend and Son-figure
* Piebald - Adopted Sister
* Hamato Karai - Ancestral "Gram-Gram"

### Allies

* Todd Capybara - Second Best Friend
* Franken-Foot - Friend
* S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N. - Friend
* Señor Hueso - Friend
* DIGG - Temporary Enemy
* Marcus Moncrief - Temporary Enemy, Idol, Friend
* Red Fox
* Capitán Piel - Temporary Enemy
* Bullhop - Friend
* Sunita - Friend
* Cassandra Jones - Temporary Enemy, Friend

### Enemies

* The Foot Clan
	+ The Shredder - Ancestral Grandfather, Attempted Killer
	+ Foot Lieutenant
	+ Foot Brute

* Krang
	+ Krang One - Arch-nemesis, Attempted Killer
	+ Krang Two - Attempted Killer
	+ Krang Three

* Meat Sweats - Attempted Killer
* Hypno-Potamus - Situational Enemies
* Repo Mantis
* Warren Stone - Situational Enemies
* Big Mama - Situational Enemies
* Baxter Stockboy
* Albearto - Attempted Killer
* Ghostbear
* Sando Brothers

## Quotes

* "Dude, you gotta make it to rehearsal." - After Donatello's failed masquerade.
* "Oh-ho-ho yeah!" - Repeated catchphrase in the series
* "So... You guys from Jersey?" - When faced with the just-transformed Jogger Guys.
* "You had to ruin Cannonball Day." - Before his Katanas were destroyed.
* "I can't believe we're getting blamed for this! Virtually, everything in there is somebody else's fault! I think." - The Mutant Menace
* "Get me off this ride!" - Falling into the portal created by his sword.
* "And who doesn't love my one-liners- they fire up the team, right guys?" - During Donnie's Gifts.
* "You'd think as a birthday bot- you'd be a little more chill at a birthday party." - While fighting Albearto
* "Okay which one of you made Raph angry?" - Shell in a Cell
* "Time to go to obedience school." - Mascot Melee
* "*¡Vamonos, hermanos!*" - Hot Soup: The Game
* "Why do you always make us dress up as old ladies?" - To Donnie during Operation: Normal
* "Wow you guys are handsome." - To Don Suave in The Hidden City Job
* "Tell us if you got grounded in your next video, OK?" - Leo to Stockboy during The Gumbus
* "You've been portal-chopped!" - Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie
* "And what you fail to understand is, I missed on purpose!" - Leo to Krang One
* "My ōdachi!" - Leo as Shredder brakes his ōdachi sword
* "Relax, Raph, we've got this hero thing wired. I mean, our ninjocity is off the charts. We got some kicking mystic weapons. And do I need to remind you who has 4 shells and defeated the Shredder?" - Leo to Raph
* "Look, I'm done thinking I have all the answers. I don't how to beat the Krang, but I do know our future isn't written until we write it as a team." - Leo to the Mad Dogs

## Trivia

* Unlike previous incarnations, this version of Leonardo is rebellious and the self-proclaimed coolest Turtle as opposed to Raphael, who takes over as both the eldest Turtle and the leader of the team, with Leo being the second oldest.
	+ Leonardo does not become the Mad Dogs leader until the last part of the season 2 finale, a deviation which was a deliberate attempt by the writers to explore Leonardo's character without a leadership role, which is furthered in the 2022 Netflix movie.
	+ Writers have elaborated Leonardo is difficult to write for, which contributed to the decision to heavily tweak his character for this version.
* Leonardo's red and yellow stripes are also found on real-life red-eared sliders and is part of where the species' name originates.
* According to a behind the scenes video, Leonardo's main flaw as a potential leader is lacking maturity as he is more interested in enjoying life, a trait he ironically shares with this iteration's version of Splinter, and compared to Raphael who is generally more mature than Leonardo in this iteration.
* Leonardo's favorite music genre is glam rock.
* A running gag with Leonardo is that he is regularly seen dabbing.
* As said by Raphael in "Bug Busters", whenever Leonardo says "indubitably" he is scheming.
* Leonardo has an interest in basketball as seen in "Hypno! Part Deux" and "Late Fee". This is confirmed in "Air Turtle".
* Leonardo can be heard speaking Spanish occasionally throughout the series.
	+ It was revealed in December 2019 in a Tweet that this incarnation of Leonardo speaking basic Spanish was ideated by *Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles* writer Russ Carney.
	+ Leonardo learned Spanish from the Nuyorican (portmanteau of "New York" and "Puerto Rico") population in New York City.
* Leonardo has been the Lair Games champion for five consecutive years.
* Leonardo does not care for the team name "Mad Dogs" that is suggested by Raphael in "Mystic Mayhem", but has not made a serious attempt to change it.
* Despite them being the same age, writers have claimed that Leo is officially six months older than Donnie, meaning they are not twins. But that doesn't matter to the fandom, they're twins in our heart.
* Both Leonardo and Michelangelo sport a stylized square-shaped pattern on their carapaces, but Leonardo has three and Michelangelo has two.

## Gallery

* Leonardo Gallery
* Leonardo Appearances