All About Michelangelo
Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
Mike's short, standing at around 5' tall. He's muscular from years of hard training, but compared to his brothers he's always been a little shorter and a little less bulky.
2. How old is he?
Around 19, though he can appear younger.
3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch?
Mike has great posture -- it's hard not to with a shell holding your spine so straight. He does love to try and slouch and slump against a beanbag or couch when he's reading or playing games though, as much as he can.
4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
He's incredibly fit and healthy, despite his poor diet and habit of ducking out of training. Even when he gets sick or injured, Mike has a tendency to heal and bounce back a little faster than his bros.
5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
Mikey moves with the grace of someone raised in the practice of ninjutsu. As such, he has a bad habit of sneaking up on people without meaning to, though let's be honest, sometimes he does it just to mess with them.
6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror?
He's a turtle. :|
Though encouraged by being the spoiled youngest brother, Mike proudly proclaims himself to be "the cute one."
7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
His complexion doesn't vary much from that of his brothers, though he has less far less scars and nicks on his shell. He also has some interesting calluses from wielding his nunchaku. If you look closely, you can see facial markings that almost look like freckles over his beak and face.
8. Describe his hair: color, texture, style.
Turtle. Bald.
9. What color are his eyes?
While his brothers all have varying shades of brown, Mike has wide, bright, baby blue eyes (yes this changed between movies, shush). It only makes him look cuter and more innocent, which he uses to his advantage. His brothers also used this to get April's pity when Splinter was kidnapped, by putting Mikey right up in front with his puppy dog eyes.
10. Does the character have any other noteworthy features?
He's the one with the orange bandanna.
11. What are his chief tension centers?
Cliché as it is, his heart; he's a lover and a dreamer.
Mike's pretty good at laughing things off and keeping spirits up, but he loves the world and the people in it, and when the world doesn't love him back -- as it frequently doesn't because hey, giant mutated turtle -- it does hurt him. It's often subtle and not obvious enough to make him realize it's happening, but it does make him quieter than usual for a while until he bounces back.
12. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit?
It's a pain in the ass finding clothes to fit around a giant shell, so Mike can usually be found wearing little more than his orange mask, and his elbow and kneepads.
On the boat, he'll occasionally don his bright pink shutter shades, or find some other embarrassing costume monstrosity from deck 12 to obsess over for a few days.
13. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them?
There's very little there to be uncomfortable in. But yes, he's worn the same thing his entire life, it's like a second skin to him now.
14. Does he dress the same on the job as he does in his free time? If not, what are the differences?
Most of his "work" at night is running around New York City with his brothers and beating up criminals and thugs. But Mike also picked up a day job to help with living expenses as children's party entertainer Cowabunga Carl, for which he had a ridiculous grinning turtle mascot head, and a stick-on zipper to make it look like he was wearing a suit.
He really didn't like wearing that turtle head. :|
15. You knew it was coming: Boxers, briefs or commando?
He's a giant naked turtle. What do you think.
Speech
1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
Mike speaks like a teenager, fairly even with unintentional rises and falls in pitch now and then. His voice is definitely higher and more childish than his brothers.
2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate?
Mike can be irritatingly loud at times, usually getting his mask tails yanked or a clip on the top of the head from his brothers in order to shut him up. He often speaks without thinking, and can be sometimes brutally honest in a childish, naive way.
3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
Despite living in the sewers of New York City his entire life, Mike has a distinct Westside Californian accent. He uses the outdated 80s and 90s vocabulary of a surfer dude, and overuses the word "like" whenever he speaks. He calls almost everyone dude, bro, or brah.
4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency?
American English first and foremost, as a native speaker. When he's writing stories, his grammar and sentence structure is actually pretty good; with a proofreader he would be an excellent storyteller. When he types on the failboat's communicators though, he uses chat speak and lazy shortcuts because, "it's not like it's real writing ".
He also speaks a little Japanese thanks to lessons with Master Splinter. Kanji are the bane of his existence, so he writes everything in katakana. His Japanese is heavily accented, and very limited to the kind of basic sentence structure a first tier student might know. He also grammarfails. A lot.
5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
Not at all. Even when talking to his Sensei, Mike uses the same old casual slang (though he does refrain from calling Splinter "dude").
6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words?
Well, "good" is pretty subjective. Mike can speak without hesitation or thought, it's just that without filtering, what he says is often painfully honest. He's just so friendly about it that it's hard to be angry at him.
7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change?
Somewhere in the middle. He's definitely not eloquent, but he's not stupid either.
Mental and Emotional
1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart?
On the surface, Mikey's childishness and innocence can make him look as dumb as a rock. However, he's been through the same schooling and training as his brothers (even if his habit of skipping out whenever he could left him a few lessons short), and he's got some good intuition.
He's just not that good at putting A and B together when it comes to logic, and there's been no real need for him to work at it since his brothers fill in the gaps for him. He does have moments of brilliant insight though, suggesting that it's probably laziness and lack of effort as opposed to genuine stupidity that holds him back.
His naivety and his brothers' attempts to shelter and protect him have left him with a somewhat sketchy worldview though, particularly when it comes to distressing, violent or dangerous situations. While he has decent street smarts, there's only so much his brothers have "allowed" him to be exposed to, so his knowledge is slightly wonky in places.
2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate?
Mike always thinks on his feet; he usually hits the ground running and flies by the seat of his figurative pants.
3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?
Intuitive and idealistic. Mike's better at understanding feelings than logic, and he likes to think the best of people, even if it ends up biting him in the ass. If there's any benefit of the doubt to be given, Mike'll be the one giving it.
4. What kind of education has the character had?
Decent, rudimentary basics. Math, English, science, history, biology, etc. All the brothers have had rigorous training in ninjutsu and the history of ninjas, and basic first aid in case one of them gets hurt while out on the street.
Essentially, Mike knows enough to get by. The rest he fakes.
5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about?
His personal areas of expertise include knowledge of pop culture, monster movies, video games and comic books. He's also a fairly talented artist and his imagination lends itself well to creating and writing stories.
As far as battle technique goes, he's predominantly skilled in the use of nunchaku, or his "chucks" as he calls them. He's also proficient in the use of projectile weapons such as shuriken and kunai, and can also use his brother's weapons (bô, sai, and katana) in a pinch. Trained in ninjutsu, he's incredibly skilled at hand to hand combat (taijutsu, jujutsu, etc), and was taught early on that anything can be used as a weapon.
It should be noted that it's suggested that Mike has a natural talent for combat, possibly even more so than his brothers. However, due to his laziness and lack of application, this is debatable.
6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert?
A definite extrovert; in fact, Mike is an extrovert in a family of introverts, which would be lonely if Mikey wasn't shameless in interrupting his brothers for attention. He likes to show off and be the center of attention, and sometimes embarrasses himself (and those around him) in order to get there.
7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?
Almost constantly cheery and upbeat, Mike is pretty good at lifting the moods of those around him. He often stays happy-go-lucky when everyone else is losing faith, though sometimes it seems like he does it precisely to keep spirits up.
8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?
Very enthusiastic, he'll run right in there and introduce himself in the hope of making new friends. Arriving on the failboat was just a new adventure to him, and an exciting one where he could walk around without hiding in the shadows, where he could make actual friends of his own.
9. Is he more likely to act, or to react?
Though it depends on the situation, 9 times out of 10 Mikey will act if he's by himself. However if his brothers are there, he'll default to whatever they suggest. "They" being Leo or Raph usually, depending on who's playing Leader at the time.
10. Which is his default: fight or flight?
Fight, for obvious reasons, though he's not afraid to back off and retreat if things go wrong; Mike's got a natural cowardly streak, and he's not quite as gung ho about danger as his older brothers can be.
11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?
Mikey is almost always cracking jokes. Every other line out of his mouth is a quip or an amusing observation. Most often his jokes involve pop culture or are relative to his audience.
Pranking however, is an art form to Mike. Covering Leo's belongings in tinfoil, replacing Don's science tomes with picture books, setting up booby traps for when Raph comes home drunk; there's no end to his imagination or creativity when it comes to setting people up.
12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them?
Unlike the rest of his brothers, no. Mike's fairly well adjusted, being the spoiled, sheltered one.
13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person?
The day when he and his brothers got covered in the TCRI TGRI ooze was probably the most important moment in Mike's life. It began his mutation and enabled him to develop from a pet shop turtle into someone who could make a difference in the world, even if it's only a small change in one city.
When he and his brothers found themselves transported through time to ancient Japan, Mike found himself with a strong crush on a young woman named Mitsu. Saving her younger brother from a house fire, he found himself thinking about settling down with her and remaining in Japan. Unfortunately, Mitsu already had a fiancé and gently rebuffed Mikey's advances. His brothers convinced him to return home to his own time, but the entire event clearly affected him deeply.
The last big event to really define Mikey was when his eldest brother went on a yearlong pilgrimage at the advice of their Sensei. Setting up a business with Don to help pay for the household's expenses, Mike found the tedium of such a predictable day to day schedule stifling, and when Leo didn't come home and his brothers began to withdraw, even Mike found his cheeriness and enthusiasm waning.
Despite the doom and gloom, Mike hasn't let these events change his personality drastically. Out of the four brothers, he is the one that came out the least scathed; perhaps a little clingier, but still cheerful, and childishly optimistic that things will work out and all be okay.
Many things have happened to him on the boat, though the only ones to change him at all were Raph's death at the hands of the crew, and Don's severe injuries caused by Bass. Mike keeps his brothers firmly on a pedestal; they are perfect and strong and infallible. But Raph died, and Don was only just saved. It shook Mike to his core and made him realize that they are mortal and can be killed.
14. What does he fear?
Being alone; primarily, being away from his family and having no way to get to them.
He's also mildly afraid of the dark, and prefers to sleep with some kind of light source, or with one of his brothers. He still sleeps with Pandaman, his teddy bear.
15. What are his hopes or aspirations?
Being able to walk the streets without hiding in the shadows, being able to interact with people without being screamed at or called a monster. If he could have that, he'd be truly happy.
16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him?
There really isn't anything that Mike keeps a secret. His brothers are very, very good at seeing right through him, and even when they don't call him on it, they still know. Though he does still have a teensy bit of a crush on April, and he'd rather she didn't know that.
While he's not exactly ashamed of Pandaman, Mikey wouldn't exactly like it known to the ship just how important the bear is to him. As a kid, he had an old teddy bear salvaged from a dumpster. Dragging it everywhere with him, it eventually needed repairs for ripped seams, lack of stuff stuffing, fur wearing off and buttons going missing. Splinter would dutifully patch it with pieces cut from other stuffed animals until it resembled some strange Frankenstein's bear.
Mike still adored Pandaman, and when Raphael's death had begun to really affect Mike on the boat, Leo presented him with a brand new Pandaman, stitched up to resemble the old one as much as possible. Even at 19 years old, Mikey loves that bear, and now sleeps with it every night.
Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents.
Mikey adores Splinter. The old rat is his daddy, and he's not afraid to drop the honorifics and just call him "Dad". Splinter tolerates a lot of his childishness, and Mike knows he can get away with a lot, like ordering pizza on the phone during an important lesson. But he's also good at pulling Mike back in line and disciplining him (like throwing a book at his head), and even though he might hate it at the time and complain loudly out of earshot, Mike knows his Sensei has done good by him and his brothers.
Even if he doesn't "get" all the emphasis on philosophy and meditation, he trusts that Splinter knows best, and almost losing his father when the Shredder kidnapped him really broke him up.
2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?
Oh boy, here we go. Mikey has three older brothers; Leonardo, Raphael and Donatello, in order of age. They're all very close, but Mike has totally different relationships with all three of them.
Leo is Mike's idol. His oldest brother can do no wrong in Mike's eyes, he's perfect and smart and talented and Mike would sit on his coattails forever and adore him. This also means that when Leo inevitably shows his humanity and trips up, Mike either steadfastly ignores it or waits awkwardly until things are resolved. Of course, this also means that Mike hasn't really given thought to how he feels about Leo's extended stay away from the lair; ignoring it and living in the present is far less uncomfortable. And while he loves pranking and hassling his older brother, Mike always sleeps best when he hijacks Leo's bed, especially with the new Pandaman bear that Leo made for him on the boat.
Raph is who Mikey fanboys. Raph has always been the cool, rebellious one in Mike's eyes, and though he'll tease and annoy Raph possibly more than any of the brothers, it's mostly just for the reaction. Although Mike doesn't know what to do with Raph's impressive anger -- and is often a little afraid of his hair-trigger temper -- he loves him, and loves winding him up because the reactions are so entertaining. When he found out Raph was the Nightwatcher, Mikey's respect for his brother increased tenfold. Despite having a harder time hassling his older brother for attention than the others, Mike also knows Raph is more forgiving when it comes to making irresponsible mistakes, and believes that he won't judge his little brother quite so harshly.
Don is Mike's best friend in the whole world. Even though Mike is all about slacking and having fun and his brother is far more interested in science and technology, they're both pacifists at the end of the day. When Leo and Raph argue, Mike and Don sneak away to comfort one another and take shelter until their older brothers are done. Don puts up with Mike to a startling degree, and Mikey clings to that compassion and tolerance like nothing else. Even if he mocks him endlessly, calls him a nerd and distracts him from his experiments, Mike would be absolutely heartbroken if anything happened to his best bud.
3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand?
Nope.
4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them?
Pandaman is the best bear.
April O'Neil is a babe.
Casey Jones is a hobo. A claustrophobic hobo.
5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?
Donatello, his youngest older brother, as mentioned above.
6. Does he have other close friends?
On the failboat he does. Ironhide, Ratchet and Mikaela are his adoptive fambly, a weird mix of dysfunctional cybertronians and their pets "children". Ironhide is probably Mike's closest friend on the Elegante; despite being old, grumpy, and having no appreciation or understanding of Mike's hobbies, he also tolerates him endlessly, and works hard to cheer him up when he's hurt or having a rare emo moment. Ratchet is eccentric and reminds Mike of Don, and Mikaela gets pop culture. Plus she's pretty. :3
Toph is years younger than Mikey, but about on par with him in terms of maturity. They can attempt to out-brat and out-prank each other, have food fights and "no u" arguments and generally be obnoxious, but it's all in good fun.
Thom is Mikey's pet puppy. Even if he understands that Thom is sentient and that it's probably kind of weird and frowned upon to consider him a pet, Mike still runs with it. He loves Thom, especially digging with him on the beach of Isle des Saphir, playing fetch down the hallways, and tousling with him like a big old doggie.
Jazz [unintentionally] assists Mike in coming up with ways to prank the other Transformers, Gideon makes awesome pizzas (especially at 3am), and Herz is stuttery and a bit weird but fun to hang around even just to tease.
7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people?
Very easily. Surprisingly easy considering living in the sewer left him with somewhat questionable social skills. Often he's just so cute and endearing that people put up with the obnoxious jokes and boundless energy.
8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends?
Family. It's always been about his family.
But if he had to make a choice between saving a brother or saving a friend, he would be torn. He knows his brothers are capable of handling themselves in dangerous situations and would have a better chance of survival than most, but at the same time it'd be something he'd struggle with internally, even though it's a reasonable assumption to say he'd save the unskilled friend.
9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once?
... what no he's a goddamn turtle.
10. Is he currently in a romantic relationship with someone other than a spouse?
B|
11. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest?
Oh boy. April was his first crush. It's lessened over the years, but it's still there.
Mitsu followed about two years later, and despite their meeting being short lived, he still thinks about her now and again.
12. What does he look for in a romantic partner?
He's a teenager. What do you expect.
Considering his crushes though, it's safe to say that Mikey has a thing for strong, independent women with little regard for gender roles.
13. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any?
Being one of the only four known of his species (with the others also being male and his brothers), there's very little chance Mikey will ever have kids of his own. But Mikey LOVES children; while it's not directly addressed in movie canon, it's clear that he takes a shining to Mitsu's younger brother, Yoshi, and his other canons all depict him as having a surprising paternal streak.
14. Does he have any rivals or enemies?
The Shredder (deceased, via collapsing dock), Tatsu, and their army of ninja called the Foot clan. While the Foot now seems to be under the orders of a young woman named Karai, exactly who she works for or where her allegiance lies is unclear.
Norinaga Daimyô and the man trading arms with him, Lieutenant Walker (deceased, via implosion).
The ancient stone generals (deceased, via swirling vortex to another world) of Yoatl (deceased, via removal of immortality curse).
The general criminal populace of the streets of New York, and probably the Mayor and Chief of Police too if they were aware of him and his brothers.
On the boat, Bass. The robot seemingly takes a delight in terrorizing Mikey, both for the fear response from the turtle and from the backlash from the rest of the ship. As of now, Mikey is unaware of Bass's responsibility for Don's near-fatal injuries.
15. What is the character's sexual orientation? Where does he fall on the Kinsey scale?
Mike's straight. That's as much detail as I'm prepared to look into.
16. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him?
WHAT DID I JUST SAY.
17. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
Ew.
Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type?
No, and I can't be bothered to make one up.
2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life?
Mike's not religious per se. Not to say he's an atheist, more that he doesn't devote much spare thought to things like gods and an afterlife. Splinter has taught the boys some Buddhist and Shinto influenced beliefs, educating them about mindfulness, the five-fold path and the benefits of meditation; unfortunately Mike thinks meditation is boring, and worms his way out of it as often as he can.
His true "religion" is comic books, crossed with a healthy sample of video games and crappy B movies.
3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it?
Mike would protect his family and his friends to the very end, and unless one of his brothers intervened, nothing would make him compromise that. As for it being a personal code? I'm not so sure. More like a strong ethical compass along with Splinter's teachings about compassion and honor.
4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?
Incredibly curious. That curiosity might result in some blunt, offensive or just cringe-worthy questions, but it's all innocent inquisitiveness. When those beliefs turn to murder, torture or harm towards others though, his reaction is confusion, horror, and just a complete inability to understand.
5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them?
Mike doesn't have prejudices. He's about as open-minded and easygoing as you can get.
Daily Life
1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
Mike and his family manage well enough. The part time jobs and lack of disgust at scavenging from dumpsters and sewage water help. Considering the equipment, store of replacement weapons, technology, computers and entertainment systems they've amassed, it can't be that bad.
Of course on the failboat, that's irrelevant.
2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him?
Sewer dwelling mutant turtles don't have a social status.
3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others?
In a lair deep in the New York sewer system. It's either an empty dry space, or an abandoned subway station depending on which movie you look at. It's about as clean and tidy as a sewer home can be with four teenagers living in it.
4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on?
Comic books, candy, video games, art supplies and movies.
5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else?
The whole ninja thing he's pretty good at.
Cowabunga Carl he is excellent at, though mostly because he's capable of laying on the ground in the fetal position while having the shit kicked out of him by five year olds with a sugar rush.
6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time?
He loves skating. Mike skates all over the sewer system, and now all over the failboat. It was Donnie who taught him, and now Mikey's the one with the wheels.
When he's not popping tricks, he might be found working on his video game scores, utterly engrossed in his latest comic book releases, or working out some creative energy through art or writing.
7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
Mike has terrible dietary habits. He basically survives on pizza, which is supplemented by junk food, candy and ice-cream, with soda to wash it all down. Vegetables are his mortal enemy, and sushi is just gross.
He did try booze once on the boat, and has sworn off it for good after getting falling down drunk and reaping the consequences the next day (both the hangover and the lecture).
Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favorite:
1. Color? Orange
2. Smell? Freshly baked pizza
3. Time of day? Midday
4. Season? Summer
5. Book? "The Silver Sentry Flies Again"
6. Music? Usually upbeat rock and alternative, the kind of thing he can skate to
7. Place? Wherever his brothers are
8. Substance? Pop Rocks
9. Plant? Plants in New York City are a lie
10. Animal? Cats
END
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