Donatello

**Donatello** is a character from the animated series *Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles*.

## Canon

Donatello was confirmed to be autistic by the show’s writer and creator Ron Corcillo.

> As far as whether he is on the spectrum, I certainly think he's on it somewhere. - Ron Corcillo, August 2, 2022, via Twitter
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## Autistic Traits

### Special Interests

Donnie is the team’s self-proclaimed tech genius. He has a passion for technology and all things science, thus maintaining a dislike for mystic powers and the concept of magic, manifesting in annoyance at others’ use of such powers which reveals itself to be a deep insecurity about his technological abilities and his place as ‘the science guy’ on the team (*Donnie vs. Witch Town*). Donnie feels at home in libraries and educational settings, expresses a strong desire to attend formal school (“You don’t know how lucky you are to go to school, April!” -Donnie, *The Purple Jacket*), and has stated that he is a fan of experiential learning. In a scrapped episode, he declared that his true passion is botany.

Donnie is an avid video-game player (*The Purple Game*) and enjoys action and sci-fi movies, like Lou Jitsu and Jupiter Jim, respectively. He is commonly seen on his phone, though it is never made clear what exactly he is doing on it. Donnie has a dislike for geology.

### Speech and Tone

Throughout the series, Donnie speaks in a generally flat tone, using large words and technobabble to flaunt his high IQ. However, he intentionally mispronounces simple words.

> “Ah, so in this case, a game of ‘basque-ball’.”
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> - Donnie
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> “Donnie, I know you know how to say it. We’re all onto you.”
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> - Raph, Air Turtle
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Donnie verbally announces his use of sarcasm, and uses it quite often. He speaks very literally, often adding literature-like descriptions of how he speaks (“He said, without sarcasm” is a common one.) Additionally, Donnie’s voice rarely inflects to show emotion, even when he is upset or frightened (*Mrs. Cuddles*).

### Sensory Issues

Donatello is a very touch-adverse turtle. He is often shown to be distressed and uncomfortable with any affection that he does not initiate, such as hugs.

> “Uncomfortable! With! Emotion!”
> - Donnie, in response to being hugged in Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie
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Donnie is also very avoidant of slimy textures, such as Big Mama’s spiderwebs (in which, upon contact, he begins to retch) or any Krang life, shown in the movie when he attempts to manually connect to the Technodrome through its tentacles attaching to his soft shell, causing him to shiver and gag.

Donnie prefers soft textures, and they seem to calm him down. In *The Purple Jacket,* Donnie unknowingly joins a criminal tech club called The Purple Dragons in hopes of earning a satin jacket that he admires for its ‘shimmering sheen, exquisite violet hue, [and] the silkiness of the fabric’. When startled awake later in the episode by a nightmare and a phone call, Donnie immediately snuggles up to his jacket and calms down. He is even reluctant to part with it in order to stop The Purple Dragons from hacking Nakamura, the world’s most widely-used computer chip company.

Donnie is also portrayed to be auditory sensory-seeking, primarily through loud techno music (*Smart Lair*).

### Low Empathy

Commonly in media, low empathy in autistic characters is portrayed as an inherent evil or a personality flaw. Donnie is not portrayed this way. Instead, his character is widely praised for an accurate representation of low empathy in media.

Donnie is often more concerned with his own interests than those of others. In *Man Vs Sewer*, when Raph is separated, Donnie is reluctant to help find him due to its interruption of his promised day off. In *Jupiter Jim Ahoy!*, Donnie is very upset to have to remove his mint-condition comic book from its packaging to save his brothers from Marcus Montcrief.

> “Can’t we just get new brothers?!”
> - Donnie, Jupiter Jim Ahoy!
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However, Donnie is not portrayed as selfish or emotionless. He apologizes for his mistakes and realizes how he has hurt people in the past, often even accompanying it with a hug (*Breaking Purple; The Purple Game*).

### Stims

One autistic trait commonly noted about Donatello is his stimming behaviors. When agitated, he tends to grind his teeth or twitch. When excited or happy, he spins, kicks his legs, dances, and occasionally vocally stims. Donnie is often dancing, and has most of his usernames/passwords set as ‘Bootyyyshaker9000’.

> “What?? You know I love to dance! Not going to apologize for that.”
> - Donnie, Stuck On You
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## The Autism Battle 2023

Donatello was a participant in the Autism Battle 2023 and took second place after the most powerful finale between three characters

## See Also

Donatello (Rise of the TMNT) on the TurtlePedia: The TMNT Wiki