Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

**Donatello** or **Don/Donnie** is one of the four main protagonists in *Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles* franchise.

The brains of the bunch, Donatello is the Turtles' go-to Turtle for gadgets and new vehicles, and his tech savvy is never out of demand during their conflict with the Foot Clan and the Kraang. His love for April is what drives him, though how much she may reciprocate is up for debate, especially when Casey arrives on the scene.

In the AWA fics, Donatello is set to appear in a future AWA storyline.

## **Appearance**

Donnie is a mutated turtle with brownish green skin. Unlike all his previous incarnations, Donnie has a gap in between his teeth. Like most incarnations, he wears a purple mask where the tails of the mask are longer than any of his brothers, except for Raph's. Unlike previous incarnations, he is tall and thin with brown/red eyes. His quiet and shy nature gives him a more professional look, which comes across as the strong silent type. He is good with machines and has a talent for making new technology for his brothers. But there's one thing he hasn't gotten right... getting April to notice him.

## **Personality**

Donatello is incredibly book smart. He is incredibly skilled, having "a way with machines". He is a pro scientist, mechanist and mathematician. He devoted more of his time to study technology, biology, physics, calculus, chemistry, mathematics, and metallurgy. He invents lots of machines and gadgets that could be helpful in battles.

Although he is a skilled martial artist, he often puts more faith in his high-tech gadgets and machinery than listen to more spiritual advice with traditional ninjutsu methods taught to him by Master Splinter. Despite his genius-IQ level, Donnie often tends to over-analyze, overthink, and over-complicate things (especially Splinter's advice), ultimately putting too much of a burden on himself and making bad decisions. However he believes science and over-reliant on modern tech-gadgets than spiritual and religious tactics.

Donatello is loving and romantic. He has a crush on April and it’s very hard to talk to her at times. April could kiss him at times. His friend and rival, Casey also has a crush on April and it could cause tension between the pair of them.

Donnie is also very nerdy and socially awkward which causes his brothers especially Raphael and his friend Casey to mock him. He sometimes gets nervous in social situations. Communication could also cause problems. When he tries to explain his invention or part of a plan to the team, the team would not understand what he’s saying which could get frustrating at times.

Despite Donnie’s smarts, he can be high strung. He hates to be rushed by his brothers especially by Leo and Raph in situations. This would get him easily annoyed and he would snap at Leo and Raph when they nag him to go faster.

Donnie is tense under pressure. When something goes wrong especially with his gadgets and technology, he will snap. Donnie has picked up some of Raph’s bad temper, although Donnie is not as angry and violent as Raph. Donnie can frustrated a lot and argumentative. Donnie would lash out at Mikey when he messes with his inventions and technology the way Raph lashes out at Mikey. Despite this, Donnie is overall a compassionate character and would support either way.

## **DreamTheater Intermix: The World Within**

Donatello, going by the full name of **Donatello Yoshi**, is a student in the City Saints Academy.

### **Biography**

Chapter 23, Donatello is seen inside the building of the the Science Community and Creative Inventions Society when Eddward "Edd & Double D" Marion Vicente made his presence. After introducing themselves to each other, Donatello and everyone had a conversation and later welcomed Double D as a new member of their club.

## **Abilities**

* **Super Intelligence and Communication:**Donatello is a extreme scientific genius in multiple fields. He is able to invent impressive machines, including, but not limited to, the Shellraiser, T-Phone, Metalhead, Ninja Smoke Bombs, Turtle Racer, and Turtle Blimp, all out of trash found in junkyards, garbage dumps, etc. He is also an master biologist, chemist, and geneticist, as he was able to create the first ever successful Retro-Mutagen and has often been seen in his lab experimenting with chemicals. Additionally, Donatello is able to plan out strategies, as well as build, fix, take apart, and hack into machines. His super intelligence is also his greatest advantage in battle. In Follow the Leader, it is revealed that Donatello is able to use impressively quick logical thinking and mathematical calculations while in combat. For example, he is able throw shuriken at nearby objects and/or surfaces, in order to make them bounce off objects again and again in the exact directions he predicted and calculated previously. He is incredibly intelligent able to calculate complex equations in his head, create different machines and handle the creation of medicines and other chemical compounds. He enjoys tinkering with items he finds in the junkyards and in the abandoned part of the sewers, which have allowed him to make the Shellraiser, the T-phone and Tpod. Although Donatello is not a great tactician like his brother, Leonardo; however, he can assist Leonardo in difficult situations and complex missions. Touched by his father as human given the power to speak and understand perfectly human English. Furthermore, Donatello's super intelligence is so great that he created many tech machines throughout his career, such as Turtle Mech, Turtle Flyers, Metalhead, Patrol Buggy, Turtle Sub, Shellraiser, and many others.

* **Bōjutsu:**Donatello was trained by Splinter in the use of the bō staff, in which he twirls, swings and stabs like a spear. As Donnie's fighting relies more on defense than offense, he makes use of his bō's versatile nature to block as well as counter attack. Despite this, he also able to deliver powerful strikes that can send enemies flying, and combine it with his physical combat skills.
* **Naginatajutsu:** Donatello skills with his bō staff translate to his proficiency with the naginata. His staff possesses a retractable blade that is mostly used in cases when he is fighting robots.
* **Shurikenjutsu:**Donatello can throw shuriken with remarkable accuracy and even make calculations to have them bounce off surfaces and strikes multiple enemies.
* **Master Weaponry:** In The Pulverizer Returns!, Donatello learned to adapt his surroundings and shown to use other non-weapons, such as a broom to fight Dogpound and the Foot Clan.
* **Expert Combatant:** Donatello is an excellent fighter. In Monkey Brains, he was taught by Splinter to fight without using his head, as he defeated Victor Falco without thinking in unarmed combat.
* **Teaching:** Donatello is skilled in teaching others. In Wanted: Bebop & Rocksteady, he shown his 1987 counterpart the accurate way of fighting in armed combat during the basic training.
* **Enhanced Strength:** Donatello possesses an adequate level of strength. He and his brothers have been mutated and have had years of training under a grand master of martial arts, so their strength has been amplified as a result. In The Pulverizer Returns!, Donatello overpowered the Foot Clan humans with no difficulty.
* **Enhanced Speed and Reflexes:** Donatello is able to move at great speed, able to free run on rooftops without losing momentum. He also possesses great reaction speed, allowing him to dodge projectiles such as lasers the Kraang's blasters, and enemy attacks. He can also spin his staff at incredible speed to momentum to his strikes. Despite being a turtle, he is not slow. He can run fast enough to avoid laser fire from a Kraang weapon. He can also move things at enhanced speeds too, such as twirling his bo-staff. In Rise of the Turtles, Donatello was able to dodge laser fire from Snake's weapon designed by Kraang at very close-range.
* **Enhanced Agility:** Donatello can coordinate his bodily to levels that are beyond than the finest human athlete. In New Friend, Old Enemy, he has shown to acrobatic flips from one building to another building at further distance.
* **Master of** **Stealth:**Being taught by Splinter, Donatello, as well as his brothers, are able to be one with darkness and hide and move within the shadows without being noticed. Like his brothers, he is stealthy, can hide in the shadows, sneak around without being detected, and use hand to hand combat.
* **Enhanced Healing:**Donatello can heal faster than normal humans. He was able to take numerous hits from mutants like Dr. Tyler Rockwell, Dogpound and Slash, seriously injuring himself and was still able to fight. He also was able to fight Shredder, but was hurt by him. In Slash and Destroy, Donatello healed from severe injuries including his broken arm from Slash's brute attacks in several days.
* **Enhanced** **Stamina and Endurance:**Due to his ninjutsu training, Donatello has high-level stamina and endurance, which allows him to keep up with his training. A good exhibition of his enhanced stamina is when Donatello is training the Pulverizer. He able to take hits better then Mikey can take, but not as good when compared to Leo and Raph.
* **Retractable limbs into Shell:** He has the normal ability of a turtle to get into his shell.

### **Weapons**

Donatello wields a wooden 6-foot long Bo Staff (rokushakubo) which, like his brothers with their individually chosen weapons, he is highly skilled with, twirling it like a spear and swinging it like a baseball bat. His bo staff can also convert into a Naginata spear via a switchblade inside one end of the staff.

However, in battle, his wooden staff is often broken, snapped in half, or destroyed (disintegrated by lasers), which implies he has stashed several identical bostaffs at the lair. Several examples occur in Metalhead - and a great deal of the episode being dedicated to Donatello's annoyance with this. i.e: Donatello hits a Kraang robot with his staff, which does absolutely nothing. Donatello exclaims in frustration at his staff (furious at how useless it seems to be against the robots) just before Raphael destroys the same robot by throwing and stabbing one of his sai through its head. Donnie watches helplessly as Leo (with his katanas), Raph (with his sais) and Mikey (with his nunchucku) deflect the Kraang droid's laser blaster (since their weapons have metallic stainless steel while Donnie's bo-staff is made out of wood). Raphael then turns to Donatello and says that "When we're done here, there's a matching band who needs a majorette." implying that *he* isn't particularly impressed with Donatello's bo staff either. Soon after this, half of Donatello's staff is burnt away by an energy canon, once again causing him to exclaim angrily at the apparent ineffectiveness of his weapon. Donatello dives behind a crate to avoid the canon, and screams, "How am I supposed to fight advanced alien technology, with a stupid ***stick***?!" Later in the episode, Raphael is tending to Spike and says, "Look Spike, Donatello got another stick to break." just as Master Splinter is handing Donatello *another* bo staff. (Donatello then tells the Sensei that he wishes to upgrade it with modern technology, to make it more effective, and the rest of the episode follows his endeavors, and eventually, he *does* fight alien technology - and win - by using the so-called "stupid stick".) Despite this, he later upgraded his staff by equipping it with a rocket launcher, though it malfunctions and backfires.

In The Pulverizer Returns!, Splinter says that the boys are getting too reliant on their own weapons, telling them to swap for once. After this exercise, Donatello is left with Raphael's sai. During a later, more serious fight, the turtles become way too uncooperative with their new weapons and in the end decides to swap back. Afterwards, when Splinter finds out, he confiscate all their weapons, stating that anything can be useful for true fighters. When Donatello and his brothers are trying to save Timothy, he uses a broomstick, holding and fighting with it in a style similar style to his regular bo staff. In Turtle Temper and The Gauntlet, he also used a Yumi bow and like the rest of his brothers wields shurikens.

From Beyond the Known Universe until Bat in the Belfry, Donatello used a space bo-staff and a laser blaster created by Fugitoid.

Throughout much of the fifth and final season, Donnie continues using his regular bo staff. In the 4-episode Monsters and Mutants story arc, his staff has a mystical seal of protection, capable of shining a bright white light when held at the correct angle, and as long as he has faith in it.

## **Trivia**

* Donatello is named for the famous Renaissance master, Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi, (better known simply as "Donatello".
	+ Donatello's name is Italian, a diminutive form of the name Donato, from Latin Donatus, which means "Gift from God".
	+ In Katakana, Donatello's name is spelt: (*Donaterro*).
	+ Given the fact that he was adopted by Hamato Yoshi/Splinter, Donatello's full name would be "Hamato Donatello". In Western order for Japanese names, it would be "Donatello Hamato".
* Donatello is the tallest amongst his brothers, presumably at around 6 ft tall as seen on concept art of the Pulverizer scale refers to the Turtles' maximum height.
* Donatello has Diastema, (a noticeable gap between two of his front teeth).
* Donatello has OCD: According to J.R. Ventimilia (executive producer) Donatello is "*(...)a little fussy, nervous and obsessive-compulsive*.
* In this incarnation, Donatello has a crush on April O'Neil, having fallen for her at first sight.
* While Donatello still fights with his weapons of choice, a Rokushakubo, (a Bō staff), in this incarnation his staff can be converted into naginata, (a "pole-blade"), via a retractable blade inside one end of the staff. It has been seen as early as the events of I Think His Name is Baxter Stockman. The other episode being The Alien Agenda
	+ In the third season episode, *Vision Quest*, Donatello arms himself with a weapon which is a combination of Stone Hammer & Ono Axe.
* His mastery of Ninjutsu includes: Taijustu, Qigong, Bōjutsu, Sōjutsu, Naginatajutsu, Bōryaku, Intonjutsu, Tenmon, Chi-mon, Shinobi-iri, Shurikenjutsu, Archery, computer hacking, and building machines.
* His eye color tends to refract between red and brown.
* He's the third oldest/second youngest of his brothers; Leonardo, Raphael & Michelangelo.
* Donatello is an expert in fields of metallurgy.
* Rob Paulsen, Donatello's VA, voiced Raphael in the 1987 TV series.
* It is revealed at the New York 2012 Comic Con that Donatello has a pet cockroach named Chong, who has already been through one of two mutations and will become a villain.
* He is the only Turtle that does not have an archenemy that he personally dislikes as Leonardo's archenemy is Karai, Raphael's archenemies are Xever, Spider Bytez, and Chong, the Spy-Roach, and Michelangelo's archenemy is Chris Bradford.
* Donatello is the first turtle other than Michelangelo to use the catchphrase "Booyakasha!"
* In Leatherhead's first two appearances, he repeatedly grabs Donatello by the face and shakes him around "like a rag doll."
* Due to his behavior in I Think His Name is Baxter Stockman (and other episodes), he is the second to Raphael in temper and anger.
* Donatello has picked up some of Raphael’s aggressive behavior despite him thinking that Raphael’s behavior is ridiculous.
* Despite being opposites, Donatello has been shown being really close to Michelangelo.
* When Donatello's T-Phone rings, it has the tune of the intro of the 1987 series.
* In this incarnation, he has a strap over his ninja belt, while in the other incarnations besides the 90s films, he does not; this is the second incarnation other than the 90s films that Donatello has a strap over his ninja belt.
* The first two humans who have entered the lair (April and Timothy) have been closer to Donnie out of the four turtles.
* Donatello appears for the first time without his mask in Slash and Destroy.
	+ He is also the first turtle to be seen maskless.
* He is the third Turtle to hide completely in his shell as seen in The Lonely Mutation of Baxter Stockman.
* He is right-handed.
* Donnie did challenge Leo’s leadership in two episodes. In The Invasion, Part 1, after Leo stated that the Turtle Mech would harm more than help the situation, Donnie and Leo almost got into a fight. In The Fourfold Trap, he lost his patience with Leonardo and told him that as the leader, Leo should find the solution to their problems.

## **External Links**

* Donatello (2012 TV series) at TMNTPedia