Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
Donatello is a male character who features in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
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Biography
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Donatello
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Donatello began his new life in the present as a water turtle hatchling which was to be used as an experimental guinea pig in the laboratory of StockGen Research, Inc., Baxter Stockman's genetics laboratory for an experiment to create naturally armored super soldiers. Some ninja tried to seize the Turtles and various other research results from the laboratory, including a super solider mutagen. The intervention of his also-reborn father, now a lab rat, led to the Turtles and Splinter being wetted with a chemical cocktail that made them ultimately mutants, with more human-like bodies, cognition and speech.
In the fifteen months that followed, Donatello was extensively trained by Splinter in ninjutsu, with the bō as his personal weapon. Along with Michelangelo and Leonardo, he searched the alleys and rooftops of New York for their fourth brother, Raphael, who had been separated from them during the mutation process. Shortly after the trio found him, Donatello was given a purple mask as a sign of his individuality.
Donatello made another important connection that would change his life, with scientist Harold Lilja. Though Lilja was his online nemesis, Donatello managed to convince him not to work with the morally corrupt Baxter Stockman. He later also befriended Professor Zayton Honeycutt, a Neutrino scientist whose advanced knowledge and kind spirit were of great interest to Donatello.
He suffered a terrible personal blow when he and his brothers visited a possible future in which Shredder reigned. In this possible future, Donatello was the only surviving brother, having only lived because he gave up the fight against their enemies. Donatello was contemptuous and fearful of his possible future self, later confessing that he had sometimes considered giving up just as that future self had done.
Donatello's anxiety over Krang and the Technodrome reached a fever peak in the Attack on Technodrome storyline, in which his actions diverged from his father's plans, due to Splinter's shortsighted fixation on the Shredder to the exclusion of all other threats. He contacted Shredder through the Metalhead robot, claiming to be willing to ally himself with the Foot in order to eradicate Krang and the Technodrome. Unbeknownst to Shredder, Donatello was actually enacting a plan he had concocted with Leonardo, with the goal of getting Krang and Shredder to kill one another.
However, the plan backfired, with both parties discovering they had been tricked, and Shredder ordered Donatello to be killed. Donatello was savagely beaten and his shell was broken by the mutants Bebop and Rocksteady, who left him for dead. While his family grieved for him, Honeycutt discovered a faint pulse and managed to stabilize Donatello's badly broken body, even as he transferred the Turtle's soul into the Metalhead robot. Donatello struggled to get used to his strange new existence, even as Honeycutt and Lilja worked to heal his body and reunite body and soul.
Donatello joined his family in escaping the flyborgs and M.O.U.S.E.R. robots, transforming into a boat to carry his father away. He also participated in the Gauntlet ritual that pitted him against the mutant shark Bludgeon, whom he succeeded in permanently blinding. However, he received a transmission during the battle and initiated the robot's self-destruct, only to reappear in the arena as a newly-healed, flesh-and-blood Donatello. He then participated in the fight against Shredder, and witnessed his father's acceptance of the Foot Clan leadership.
Donatello then traveled to Burnow Island to assist Honeycutt in bringing the surviving Utroms out of stasis. He was horrified when the robot scientist was smashed by Leatherhead, and desperately tried to save him.
Overview
Personality and attributes
Among his siblings, he was commonly shown wearing a purple eye mask.
Powers and abilities
Notes
- Donatello was created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird where he made his first appearance in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles v1 #1 (May, 1984).
In other media
Television
- In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Donatello appeared in the 1987 animated television series where he was voiced by actor Barry Gordon. He was depicted as the genius of the group who invents many of the turtles' vehicles and equipment including the Turtle Van, the Turtle Blimp and the Turtle Com. He was the calmer turtle out of the 4 turtles. Donatello made many revolutionary inventions, the most notable being the portable portal capable of opening gateways to other dimensions as well as an early warning system which warns of impending attacks from other dimensions or from Krang and Shredder.
- In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Donatello appeared in the 2003 animated television series where he was voiced by actor Sam Riegel.
- In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Donatello appeared in the 2012 animated television series where he was voiced by actor Rob Paulsen. In this version, Donatello had a crush on April O'Neil who was a teenager like him. Despite Donatello being quiet, sensitive, and friendly, and a genius he also can be sarcastic and is here more prone to panicking and losing his temper. Donatello is active and purpose-driven, but at times does not understand and/or has a hard time grasping the lectures of Master Splinter. A running gag is Raphael scolding or hitting him whenever he explains something in scientific terms. His character design was also updated, giving him a gap in his teeth and a taller, leaner appearance than his brothers. This version wielded a bō staff that converts to a naginata. Donatello also shows to have a heart as big as his intelligence as he, like his brother Michelangelo, care for humans and creatures that others find a nuisance like The Pulverizer and Bigfoot. His passion to help others is most demonstrated when he creates a retro-mutagen to undo mutations that happen throughout the series.
- In Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Donatello appeared in the setting of the 2018 animated television series where he was voiced by actor Josh Brener. This version was described as "an unflappable mechanical genius and tech wizard whose ninja skills are second only to his coding." This incarnation of Donatello was more confident, level-headed, avoidant of physical contact, and sarcastic. He wields a high-tech bō staff modified by rocket boosters.
Films
Video games
- In Injustice 2, Donatello appeared as a playable guest fighter introduced in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles DLC where he was voiced by actor Joe Brogie. While Leonardo was the default turtle outside the gear loadout, he, Michelangelo, and Raphael can only be picked through the said loadout selection similar to the premier skin characters.
Appearances
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: (1984)
External Links
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