Raphael

**Raphael** is one of the four main characters of the 1987 animated series and is considered to be "cool but rude". He wields a pair of sai and has a red bandana.

## Character Information

### Family

Hamato Yoshi/Splinter (father)
Leonardo (older brother)
Donatello (younger brother)
Michelangelo (youngest brother)

## Other

### Latest Apperance

Divide and Conquer (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

## Background

Raphael's personality is a bit different from his incarnations. Raphael is still rude, tough, and a sarcastic character, but he’s more of a wise guy with a smart aleck attitude than a hot head with anger issues. However, Raphael can become cranky and can even lose his temper when annoyed or upset, but he doesn’t get into a violent rage like his other incarnations. However Raphael became a bit more grumpy and sardonic in the Red Sky Seasons.

Raphael gets along with the other turtles better than his later incarnations, but he sometimes can mock them or butt heads with them.

In the 1987 series, Raphael is happy that Leonardo is the leader of the team. Sometimes when Leonardo shouts a heroic line, Raphael would quickly mock and get sarcastic. Sometimes if Leonardo's plan failed, he would challenge Leonardo to reconsider and re-evaluate the plan by saying "Now what, fearless leader?”. However, Raphael did challenge Leonardo's leadership once in season 8's "Turtle Trek", when he suggested that they might need a new leader and nearly provoked Leonardo into a fight.

Raphael was voiced by Rob Paulsen throughout the series and for two episodes in Season 3, he was replaced by Thom Pinto in Episode "The Ninja Sword of Nowhere" and "The Turtle Terminator". In thirteen episode side season called “Vacation in Europe”, Raphael was voiced by Hal Rayle. In the final season, Raphael was voiced by Michael Gough.

In Turtles Forever, like the other voice actors for the 1987 turtles, Rob Paulsen did not reprise his role as Raphael because 4Kids was in NYC and Paulsen is in California, and was replaced by Sebastian Arcelus. One of his memorable lines was "A mind like a steel trap" which he says to April O'Neil in the very first episode "Turtle Tracks" and again in Turtles Forever to Hun.

Raphael and the other turtles appear in the 2012 series, first making a brief cameo in "Wormquake!" and "The Wrath of Tiger Claw". Unlike Turtles Forever, he and the other characters are voiced by their original voice actors. He and the others also appear in "Trans-Dimensional Turtles" and in the three parter, "Wanted: Bebop & Rocksteady".

## Skills, Powers and Abilities

* **Okinawan** **Kobudō (Sai) :** Raphael was trained by Splinter in the use of sais. Although Raph can use his sais for their intentional purpose of trapping his enemies weapons within their prongs, he also uses them in a manner akin to daggers, stabbing and piercing his opponents. He can also twirl sais in a similar manner to Donnie's bo-staff twirling abilities, allowing him to deflect shuriken and lasers. When holding them in a reverse grip between his fingers, Raph can use the pommel of his sais to increase the effect of his punches. However, it is highly noticeable that as great as Raphael's skills may be, it is nowhere near to the superior level of skills his 2012 counterpart has demonstrated. For instance, in Wanted: Bebop & Rocksteady, Raphael has been trained by his 2012 counterpart in both armed and unarmed combat during his basic training.
* **Shurikenjutsu:** Raphael can throw shuriken with remarkable accuracy.
* **Enhanced Strength:** Raphael possesses considerable enhanced strength, due to his mutation and his training with Splinter amplifying his strength in the process. He can kick a Foot soldier hard enough to send it hurling through a rock wall, break a locked high-strength steel door open with a kick and carry April for a long time without strain. Additionally, Raphael can easily overpower humans and send them flying with his attacks, as he once lifted a full-grown man over his head with one hand and throw him several meters, knock out average criminals with a single hit, knock back many foot-bots at once, and send enemies flying.
* **Enhanced Speed:** Raphael 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 from Kraang's blasters and attacks from several opponents with ease. He can also spin his sais at incredible speed.
* **Enhanced Agility:** Raphael's agility, balance, and dexterity are enhanced. Raphael is seemingly skilled at parkour movements and can perform astonishing acrobatic maneuvers with ease.
* **Enhanced Endurance:** Raphael's body possesses an extraordinary metabolism which, combined with his intense training with Splinter, and as a result of his mutation which further enhanced his tenacity, has given him physical endurance which is far greater than ordinary beings. He could survive getting caught in the crossfire from all angles from Bebop and Rocksteady's blasts, as well as withstanding a collision with Rocksteady's indestructible horn (which only knocked him out cold briefly), being pummeled with swords, and take hits from the combined efforts of Krang and Shredder.
* **Enhanced Stamina:** Raphael's body creates far fewer fatigue producing chemical toxins in his muscles than ordinary beings, and thus he can exert himself at his peak performance for an hour without stopping or slowing down. And as a turtle, Raphael possesses extraordinary lung capacity, which lets him hold his breath underwater for longer periods of time.
* **Stealth:** As a ninja, Raphael could freely move about New York City while remaining undetected, as well as watch the extremely vigilant 2012 Turtles without them noticing. Additionally, Raphael is able to be one with darkness and hide and move within the shadows without being noticed.
* **Retractable limbs into shell:** Though rarely (if ever) depicted, he has the normal ability of a turtle to retract his limbs into the safety of his shell.
* **Expert of Ninjutsu:** Raphael is highly skilled in the art of Ninjutsu, and thus he can easily take down thugs and foot soldiers.

## Trivia

* This version of Raphael has a more sarcastic, Wise guy personality compare to his other incarnations.
* It is shown in "Turtle Tracks" and "Hot Rodding Teenagers from Dimension X" that Raph sleeps with one of his sai in his hand.
* Raphael hates his birthday as shown in the Season 6 episode Mr. Nice Guy.