Michelangelo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

Michelangelo
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles character
Michelangelo
Textless Planet Awesome exclusive cover variant of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #80.
Art by series co-creator Kevin Eastman
First appearanceTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (May 1984)
Created byKevin Eastman
Peter Laird
Portrayed by
Others:
  • David Homb (Operation Blue Line)
  • David Shatraw (The Coming Out of Their Shells Tour)
  • Danyol Leon (understudy in The Coming Out of Their Shells Tour)
  • Mark Barrett (The Mystery of the Cliffs)
  • Alfredo Miller (We Wish You a Turtle Christmas and Turtle Tunes)
Voiced by
Others:
In-universe information
SpeciesMutant turtle
AffiliationTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
WeaponDual nunchakus
Family
HomeNew York Sewers, United States
Abilities

Michelangelo, nicknamed Mikey, is a superhero and one of the four main characters of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and all related media.[1] Characterized as the most naturally gifted of the four brothers, Michelangelo prefers leisure to training martial arts. The most jocular and energetic of the team, he is shown to be rather immature; he is known for his wisecracks, quick-wit, optimism, and love of skateboarding and pizza. He is usually depicted wearing an orange eye mask. His signature weapons are a single or dual nunchaku, though he has also been portrayed using other weapons, such as a grappling hook, manriki-gusari, kusarigama, tonfa, and a three-section staff (in some action figures). He is commonly portrayed in media as speaking with a California accent and is most associated with the "Cowabunga" expression that became a pop culture phenomenon.

Michelangelo was given a much bigger role in the 1987 cartoon series and subsequent series and films, directed at a younger audience, than in the more serious Mirage comic books,[2] which were aimed at an older audience. He often coins most of their catchphrases, such as "Cowabunga!" and "Booyakasha!" in the 2012 series.

Like all of the brothers, he is named after an Italian Renaissance artist; in this case, he is named after Michelangelo. His name was originally spelled "Michaelangelo" by the original creators, possibly spelling his namesake's name wrong by confusion with "Michael". In the Mirage comics, all four of the Turtles wear red masks, but to tell them apart, he was given an orange mask in subsequent media.

  1. ^ Greenberg, Harvey R. (1990-04-15). "Just How Powerful Are Those Turtles?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2010-08-07.
  2. ^ Simpson, Janice C. (1990-04-02). "Show Business: Lean, Green and on the Screen". Time. Archived from the original on November 6, 2006. Retrieved 2010-03-03.