Leo (2012 TMNT)

# Leo

**Leonardo** or **Leo** is one of the four main protagonists in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and a member of the TMNT. He is the Karai's younger adoptive brother, and older brother of Raph, Donnie, and Mikey, and the eldest Male child to Master Splinter. He is *"The Leader"* of the team.

**The Fearless Leader of the Group**

## Official Description

*"My name's Leo. I've got 3 rowdy brothers who always give me a hard time. But I keep them in line... usually. Master Splinter picked me to lead because I eat, sleep and breath Ninjustu. Not that my brothers aren't good, I'm just better. But nothing can get in my way in protecting my family."*

**- Leo**

## Description

The leader of the Turtles, Leonardo aspires to be a brave, decisive, perfect hero. Unfortunately, he's an inexperienced teen (for the moment at least) with three smart-aleck brothers. It's the gap between his aspiration and current situation that is the greatest source of frustration in Leo's life. He's the most driven of the four Turtles, training and studying relentlessly. He tends to be hard on himself, but his diligence does not go unnoticed; he is the favored student of Splinter, whose approval he very much craves.

## History

Leonardo and his brothers were once ordinary turtles: when they were infants, they were adopted from a pet store by Hamato Yoshi. When their soon to be father walked passed a strange man, a Kraangdroid, he felt something odd about him and followed. Unfortunately, Yoshi gave away his position when he accidentally stepped on a brown rat's tail. The Kraang found him and attempted to kill him, but Yoshi fought back hard. In the end, the Kraang dropped the canister of Mutagen they were holding, causing the turtles and Yoshi to mutate. Yoshi, having to have stepped on that rat, thus mutated into a humanoid brown rat by the name of "Splinter", while Leo and his brothers, after coming in contact with Splinter when he was human, mutated into humanoid turtles. Splinter knew they would never be accepted in their urban society, so he took them to the sewers, made a home down there, and made the four turtles his children. Knowing the world would be dangerous and there would be a time where they want to explore the outside world, Splinter trained the boys in the art of Ninjitsu. Leo and his brothers were named after great Renaissance artists from a book Splinter fished out of the storm drain.

## Appearance

Leo is an emerald green colored mutant turtle with sapphire blue eyes. He wears a blue mask where the tails length range between Donnie and Mikey's. Like Raph, Leo doesn't have much changes to his physical appearance like all his previous incarnations, except for the fact that his green skin is slightly darker than the others. His height ranges between Raph and Donnie's.

## Personality

Like the intro states he is the leader and makes the commands which sometimes bothers his brothers especially Raph. Leo is the most serious and disciplined out of all the turtles and is of course their leader. He has a lot of responsibility on his hands, which can sometimes overwhelm him. He watches a T.V. Show called "***Space Heroes***" and wants to be just like the captain he sees on T.V. Overall, Leo acts as a big brother to the turtles and as a teacher's pet to Master Splinter. He was chosen to be the leader because of his willingness not by his skill. Leo is the most mature out of all his brothers, aside from Donnie, always acting like a guide and sometimes even a parent to his brothers. He is very protective of his siblings and is willing to do anything for them. Unlike all his incarnations, Leo is somewhat a sci-fi geek, aside from Donnie. Though Donnie is more of a techy geek. Leo loves "Space Heroes" and tends to try to be like the hero on there, much to the annoyance of his brothers. He also tries too hard to act like a hero and says cheesy lines, which annoy Mikey, Donnie and Raph. He is the wisest, most experienced and balanced of the team and demonstrates many important qualities needed in a leader. Leo does his best to lead the team, but he sometimes second-guesses himself and his constant sibling rivalry with Raphael can cause problems for the team and puts a strain on his relationship with Raph. He often tries to compare himself to the main character of "Space Heroes", Captain Ryan, which annoys his brothers. Like other incarnations, Leo is a perfectionist. He developed a crush on Miwa/Karai.

## Bio

Hardworking, honorable and respectful, Leonardo is the Turtle's fearless leader. Driven to be the perfect hero, Leo's inexperience and often rowdy brothers sometimes get in the way of his goal.

## Crossover Appearances

Trans-Dimensional Turtles

Wanted Bebop & Rocksteady

## Trivia

* Leo was voiced by actor Jason Biggs, best known for his role as Jim in *American Pie*.
	+ Now, Leo is voiced by Seth Green, best known for the voice of Chris Griffin in *Family Guy* and the creator of *Robot Chicken*.
* Leonardo's name is Italian, meaning "Strong as the Lion/Lion-Bold".
	+ His name in Kanji is レオナルド (*Reona​rudo*)
* Niten Ryu is described as Leonardo's weapons, but it is in fact a fighting style, and not a weapon. A two-sword setup is properly known as a *daisho*. Niten Ryu, instead, is short for Niten-ichi Ryu (二天一流), a two-sword style developed by legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi.
* Leo's swords, whilst being referred to as "Katana", are actually "Ninjatō" (忍者刀 ninjatō), (also known as ninjaken (忍者剣) or shinobigatana (忍刀)).