Raphael (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
Raphael, nicknamed Raph, is a superhero and one of the four main characters of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and all related media.[1] In most iterations, he's usually depicted as the second oldest/mid-middle-child of the turtle brothers, often at odds with his older brother, Leonardo.[1]
 | This article needs to be updated. (October 2021) |
 | This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards. (October 2021) |
| Raphael | |
|---|---|
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles character | |
.jpg) Textless Planet Awesome exclusive cover variant of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #84. Art by series co-creator Kevin Eastman | |
| First appearance | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (May 1984) |
| Created by | |
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Mutant Turtle |
| Affiliation | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles |
| Weapon | Twin Sai |
| Family |
|
| Home | New York Sewers, United States |
| Abilities | |
He is usually depicted wearing a red eye mask; in this regard, he is the only turtle to retain this color since the original incarnation of the characters, as the remaining turtles received different colors at a later time. Raphael wields twin sai as his primary weapon. He is commonly portrayed in media as speaking with a Brooklyn accent. Raphael is known for his temperamental and cynical personality, being short-tempered, aggressive, sullen, maddened, sarcastic, and rebellious.[2] The origin of Raphael's anger is not always fully explored, but in some incarnations appears to stem partly from the realization that they are the only creatures of their kind and ultimately alone, while also bothered by the injustice the helpless and innocent suffer.
Raphael has a frequent rivalry with his only older brother Leonardo because the latter is seen as the group's leader. He is the second eldest of the turtles and serves as the team's enforcer. These two concepts has been altered in one of the most recent versions of the franchise, with Raph being the oldest and opposing Leonardo due to his irresponsible attitude, not taking the role as leader seriously. Like all of the brothers, he is named after a Renaissance artist; in this case, he is named after the 16th-century Italian painter Raphael.[3] In 2011, Raphael placed 23rd on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes,[4] a list that did not feature any of his brothers. He is the only Teenage Turtle brother whose name does not end in the letter "O", even though the artist he got his name from is "Raffaello".