Raphael (2012 TV series)

"Raphael's got the most attitude on the team."
— His introductory line in the theme song

Raphael or Raph is the "hot-headed muscle" of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He often lets his impulsiveness get in the way instead of using rational thinking. He has a soft side, but only reveals it to his pet turtle Spike (however, he occasionally does so to his brothers and Splinter). Like all his other appearances in the past, Raphael's weapon of choice is his twin Sai. Raphael is voiced by Sean Astin.

Personality

Always acting before he thinks things through, Raphael is the muscle of the team. He is sarcastic, tough, and at times, mean; but he is known to have a soft side when caring for his pet turtle. It is also shown that he loves his brothers very much, and shows his nurturing side at times, mostly to his younger brother Michelangelo. However, he often feels that his family doesn't understand him so he doesn't usually open up to them.

As seen in New Girl in Town, Leonardo and Raphael begin to argue. When this happens, Leonardo decides that Raphael should lead the team, if he can do better, to which Raphael agrees. During this, they battled Snakeweed, and Michelangelo ended up injured. Raphael said he 'froze up seeing Michelangelo like that'. He told Splinter he needs Leonardo. He also said, "I don't mind risking my own life, but risking my brothers'..." This shows us how much he cares about his brothers.

As far as humour goes, Raphael (like most of his incarnations) is very cynical and sarcastic, sometimes making jokes at the others' expense, but usually just making 'witty remarks'. He also deadpans a lot - for example, when Donatello sees April for the first time, and says "she's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen" Raphael then asks "isn't she the only girl you've ever seen?" Humour is generally when he is most amiable to his brothers too. For example; he will tease one, and another will usually agree or join in - these jokes are often at Michelangelo's expense, (but he rarely minds) or at Donatello's if April is mentioned (occasionally, Raphael and Michelangelo make kissing noises when Donatello mentions her).

Abilities

Raphael is the strongest and toughest among his brothers, being able to take on much larger opponents quicker and more easily. If used correctly, his temper can boost his strength and increase his fighting prowess. Like his brothers, Raphael is stealthy, can hide in the shadows, sneak around without being detected, and use hand-to-hand combat, Taijutsu. His exceptional skills in battle may be partially due to the fact that he does not mind risking himself in a fight (this is also shown by his appearance - his mask is very tattered and worn, and he has several chips and scratches on his shell and body). His selflessness is most likely due to the fact that he may have a slight inferiority complex, and his fierce protectiveness of his brothers means he will put himself in the line of fire to protect them.

Raphael is also seen to be quite intelligent when he thinks clearly, and often takes the role of second-in-command. He has also demonstrated the ability to take control of, or influence animals (mainly pigeons) to help out. The extent of this ability has not yet been fully explored and it is unknown whether or not it will be shown again. It is also shown in Slash and Destroy that Raphael is able to use the famous Pressure Point technique which he uses to defeat Slash.

As far as Raphael's flaws go, the biggest, and most obvious would be his temper. He starts to deal with his anger issues in Turtle Temper, after being told by Master Splinter that anger can be very destructive (via a story that explained why the Shredder killed Tang Shen). Throughout the rest of the series, he is slightly less impulsive; however he is still the most aggressive of his brothers, and always becomes extremely angry when one or more of his brothers are hurt. Raphael is less vicious to his brothers after this, but still hits them when they are being annoying.

Weapons

During most of the series, Raphael wields twin Sai, with which, like his brothers and their chosen weapons, he is highly skilled. In Pulverizer Returns, Master Splinter says that the boys are relying too heavily on their own weapons and makes them swap. After this process, Raphael is left with Michelangelo's Nunchucks. His Sai are given to Donatello. Despite their best efforts, none of them are particularly successful (mostly Donatello, who manages to prick himself with the Sai) however, Raphael only hits himself twice with the nunchucks, meaning he is at least somewhat competent with them (most likely because they are of a similar design, ie: two, small handheld weapons).

However, during a more difficult fight, the turtles are still uncooperative with their new weapons and swap back. When Splinter finds out, he confiscates all weapons, stating that anything can be useful. When he and his brothers are trying to save Timothy, Raphael uses two planks of wood, holding and fighting with them in a style similar to his Sai. In The Gauntlet, he used a Yumi bow and like his other brothers wielded Shuriken (throwing stars). In Booyaka-Showdown, Part 1, Raphael armed himself with Kama scythes, Shuriken, Kunai, Tonfa and Brass Knuckles.

Biography

While down in the sewers, Raphael beat Donatello and then he fought Leonardo, (who beat Michelangelo in a fight before) and then won the training tournament by throwing Leonardo with his Sai. However, when Splinter congratulated them, Raphael bragged about his win, which caused Splinter to hit a pressure point on his neck and forced him to compliment his brothers. The Turtles are later seen eating a dish Michelangelo prepared called "Algae and Worms." After the meal, Splinter relays the story of how they were transformed (which is fairly different from the other origin stories told in the other series).

Fifteen years before the Rise of the Turtles, Part 1, the benevolent Hamato Yoshi purchased the four turtles. Yoshi came into contact with a rat and had to fight against a couple of Kraang. The aliens dropped their mutagen, causing the mutation of Yoshi and the Turtles. Yoshi raised the Turtles as his own children and continues to train them in ninjutsu. Splinter agrees after some begging to let the Turtles go to the surface. It is here that Raphael scares a Pizza delivery guy who speeds away on his motorcycle. The four of them, curious, open the box, and, after Michelangelo tries it, eat (and very much enjoy) the pizza.

Appearence

Raphael's character design was updated, giving him green eyes as well as a small, lightning shaped chip cut out of his plastron across his left shoulder. His shell shows distinct battle damage, and the tails of his mask are tattered and worn. On the new ninjaturtles.com, Raphael says that he usually uses his Sai as a pair of pizza forks.

Relationships

Family

Leonardo - Raphael's only older brother. He and Leonardo tend to fight about who would be a better leader of the Turtles, but Leonardo always comes first, making Raphael jealous. They seem to fight the most out of all their brothers, but they still care about each other. The two are shown to trust each other more in the family as they are often discussing things privately away from the others such as Leonardo's relationship with Karai. Raphael often expresses annoyance at Leonardo's constant attempts at 'hero speak'. However, Raphael does gain some sort of respect for Leonardo after being the leader himself for a while, and finding it very difficult. After the Kraang Invasion of New York, Leonardo was severely injured to the point he was in a temporary coma. Raphael was the one who watched over Leonardo day and night until he got better. It seems that since Leonardo is still healing from his wounds, Raphael appears to have become the de facto leader as he is the one to lead the training sessions with his brothers and the one giving orders with Leonardo watching over.

Donatello - Raphael's second-youngest brother. He fights with Donatello the least, in physical terms, but in verbal terms, he makes fun of Donatello's intelligence and his huge crush on April a great deal. As far as Raphael's treatment of his brothers goes, his behaviour to Donatello is the closest he comes to full on bullying. However, like all his brothers, Raphael cares for Donatello deeply and is incredibly protective of him. In "A Foot Too Big", he tried to console Donatello about his feelings for April, telling Donatello to give up because he was a mutant and she was human and that he should get used to it sooner so the pain would be less.

Michelangelo - Raphael's youngest brother. Michelangelo teases Raphael the most of the four brothers, and Raphael often retaliates physically (usually by a slap or punch). However, when other people start beating up Michelangelo, Raphael stands up for his little brother. Raphael seems to be the most protective of Michelangelo - probably because Michelangelo is the youngest. Though he doesn't show it very often, Raphael deeply cares about him. Raphael seems closest to Michelangelo out of all his brothers, sometimes joking with him (usually at Donatello or Leonardo's expense). For example, in Panic in the Sewers, Donatello starts rattling on about frost, and Michelangelo asks Raphael if "He [Donnie] maybe has an off switch somewhere]" Raphael slaps Donatello on the back of the head, causing Donatello to yell "OW!" and shut up. Raphael then turns back to Michelangelo and says "Found it!" and the two share a laugh.

Splinter - Raphael's adoptive father. He tends to show a lot of stubbornness towards Splinter's advice, but Raphael still listens to his sensei and trains well under him. He is almost certainly the most rebellious of Splinter's sons, and Splinter's guidance is usually to show restraint or mercy in combat, as well as force and power. Despite this, he loves Splinter as much as his brothers and will rush to his help if Splinter is in danger.

Allies

April O'Neil - Raphael's first human friend. He and April don't interact that much. He got a little defensive when the Purple Dragons tried to mug her, but he also laughed at her when she was attacked by a giant pigeon. He was also impressed that she escaped Karai. He and April are good friends.
Leatherhead - Raphael never interacted with Leatherhead, but he did disagree with Michelangelo about befriending him.
Spike/Slash - Originally Raphael's beloved pet tortoise Spike, who he cared deeply for, and told all of his deepest secrets to. Though he cares for his brothers, Raphael is rarely 'soft' around them, usually going with 'tough love' or sarcasm and cynicism. Spike was the only character he was always kind around. However, Spike mutates into a large mutant tortoise and renames himself Slash in the episode Slash and Destroy. At first Slash and Raphael decide to work together and become a team, free from the bonds of the other turtles, but Raphael soon discovers Slash's violent personal vendetta against Raphael's brothers. Raphael demonstrated a mixed bag of emotions, angrily fighting Slash and even calling him a freak for his behavior, but then desperately trying to save Slash when he lost his balance and fell off the edge of a rooftop. Slash quickly disappeared, leaving Raphael in deep sorrow about the collapse of their relationship, until Splinter advised Raphael that the pain of losing a loved one can be eased by spending time with friends. Every subsequent time Raphael encountered Slash, Raphael sought to protect Slash from captivity and harm. After the events in Newtralized!, Slash amicably reconciled with Raphael and became a new friend to Casey and the Turtles, but Slash decided he needed to be on his own for a while, and they parted ways. In The Invasion, Part 2, when the Turtles arrived at their partially-destroyed sewer lair for the last time and Donatello told his brothers they could bring one precious possession with them, Raphael recovered his picture of unmutated Spike, hoping Slash was still alright amidst the chaos unfolding in the city.
Pulverizer - Raphael finds him plain annoying and didn't really care about his safety, but he did try to help save him in The Pulverizer Returns!.
Casey Jones - Raphael initially fought Casey the first time they met, and then became close friends and rivals, having a lot in common. They are both shown patrolling together frequently.

Enemies

Shredder - Due to Shredder being Splinter's arch nemesis, Raphael hates the Shredder as well.
The Kraang - Raphael dislikes the Kraang, and will do anything he can to stop their invasion plots. The Kraang also hate the Turtles due to them being the only force powerful enough to stop them. This rivalry is far more personal to the Turtles than their rivalry with the Foot Clan.
Spider Bytez - Raphael and Spider Bytez really hated each other from the moment they first met. Raphael despises him because he insulted him, while Spider Bytez, as Vic, took pleasure in tormenting and insulting Raphael. When he caught the Turtles on tape, Raphael wanted to really break his face. Vic hates them, because he and his brothers broke his phone and satellite dish. Vic also blames Raphael and his brothers for turning him into a mutant spider, and attempted to kill Raphael's brothers, but Raphael managed to control his temper and defeat him. For some reason, Spider Bytez calls them "kung-fu frogs". Spider Bytez is one of the three villains that Raphael hates the most; The others are Chong and Fishface.
Baxter Stockman - Raphael dislikes him, and takes pleasure in throwing him in the trash.
Fishface - One of Raphael's archenemies. He fights him every chance he gets, and the two seem evenly matched, as they were the most powerful fighters in their groups (besides their masters). However, unlike Spider Bytez and Chong, Raphael and Fishface share a mutual respect for each other, and share many similarities. In Baxter's Gambit, they work together really well, and seem to be alike due to their aggression and willingness to fight until the end. Fishface even tells Raphael about his past. Raphael and Fishface also saved each other once during this episode and later Raphael was able to detect an attack on Leonardo from Fishface before it caused any damage. Despite them being alike in many ways, Raphael and Fishface are fierce enemies.
Rahzar - One of Raphael's enemies. He dislikes him, but their rivalry is far less aggressive than that of Raphael and Fishface.
Spy-roach - Due to his fear of cockroaches, Raphael both hates and fears Chong. Chong also hates Raphael because Raphael tried to kill him when he was a normal cockroach. During the whole episode Cockroach Terminator, Chong stopped at nothing to kill Raphael using Raphael's fear of him to his advantage, along with his mutation. Raphael spent the whole episode trying to get away from him, but was forced to confront his fear when Chong kidnapped Michelangelo. Raphael managed to save Michelangelo with the Stealth Bike and faced his fear, fighting the mutant roach, and flattened his face with the Stealth Bike wheel. Chong came back for round two, but Raphael beat him in hand to hand combat and destroyed him with the Kraang's drill, though he doesn't know about the eggs Chong had laid with the mutant cockroaches, shortly after Chong was defeated.
Snakeweed - He made his debut in the first episode of the series Rise of the Turtles, Part 1, before he mutates into a mutated weed, he was a henchman for the Kraang. His name was previously Snake, so Michelangelo renamed him Snakeweed after his mutation.
Rat King - Raphael really hates the Rat King, but his rivalry with him isn't as big compared to most of his other enemies.
Newtralizer - Another of Raphael's enemies.
Ivan Steranko / Rocksteady -

Quotes

See: Raphael (2012 TV series) / Quotes

Gallery

See: Raphael (2012 TV series)/Gallery

Trivia

Raphael's Sais — Raphael's pair of twin Sai

Raphael is named for the famous Renaissance master, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino.
- Raphael's name is Hebrew, meaning "God has Healed". Raphael is also the only brother to have a Hebrew name, whilst all three of his brothers' names are Italian. He is the only turtle to not have an o sound at the end of his name. These things are because the Turtles were named after the common English names for the four Renaissance artists, and unlike the others, the artist Raphael is not usually called by his Italian name Raffaello.
- In Katakana, Raphael's name is spelled: ラファエル (Rafaeru).
- Given the fact that he was adopted by Hamato Yoshi/Splinter, Raphael's full name would be "Hamato Raphael".
His mastery of Ninjutsu includes: Taijustu, Shurikenjustu, Kobudō, Kayajustu, Shinobi-iri, Boyaku, Sui-ren, Archery, and Intonjustu.
Raphael is the second oldest of his brothers; Leonardo, Donatello & Michelangelo.
Raphael has a bolt-shaped chip missing at the upper, left side of his plastron. His shell, and body in general are by far the most damaged of his brothers'.
His mask has the longest tails, and by far the most tattered.
Raphael is often called "meat-head" by Donatello.
In Cockroach Terminator, Raphael is (irrationally) revealed to have katsaridaphobia (fear of cockroaches), and is terrified of Donatello's pet SpyRoach (or called "Chong"). The origins of his katsaridaphobia has yet to be explored, but apparently Raphael was able to keep it quiet, as his brothers never knew of his phobia until that episode.
It is revealed in Parasitica that Raphael gets nausea after seeing body parts from bugs.
Raphael had a pet turtle named Spike, who later turns into Slash.
Raphael is shown to care a lot about his youngest brother Michelangelo, as he didn't know what to do anymore when Michelangelo got hurt.
Raphael also cares about his other brothers as he said: "I don't mind risking my own life, but my brothers'..."
It is seen in New Girl in Town, when Raphael gets under so much pressure being the leader for a short time, that he froze up with anxiety.
Though he the is second oldest, Raphael is the third tallest/second shortest of the turtles. However, his stocky build often makes him seem shorter.
In the first season of the show he has three big rivals - Fishface, Spider Bytez and Spy-roach.
Raphael is the second Turtle to hide completely in his shell as seen in The Good, The Bad and Casey Jones.
Raphael's personality has traits of a Tsundere, in Japan a tsundere is a person that acts hostile and cold towards others but has a much more softer side to them that they reveal over time.