Raphael

Hamato "Raph" Raphael was shown to be the most aggressive, tempered, violent, and competitive of the Ninja Turtles. You could almost call him a typical teenager, he often feels misunderstood and believes that he is alone in the world.

It is Raphael who is sent to issue a challenge to the Shredder by Splinter, and as he infiltrates Oroku Saki's security business, he kills several thugs. It is clear that he is the most aggressive. The Turtles return to their sewer home after the Shredder is killed.

When the Turtles rescue April O'Neil, who is an assistant to Mouser developer Baxter Stockman, it is Raphael who knocks him unconscious. After Stockman has the Mousers destroy his building, the Turtles return home to find destroyed Mousers and Splinter missing, April invites them back to her house.

In the earliest black-and-white Mirage Comics, Raphael was the most violent turtle and had a tendency for going berserk either in battle or when his temper flared up. His anger often brings out the worst in him, as one time he almost smashed Michelangelo's skull in a sparring match. His anger and stubbornness also causes him to repeatedly collide with Leonardo. He has a somewhat cynical and sarcastic sense of humor. In later issues, it's shown that he is not particularly fond of "Supernatural," stating it up front in Tales of Raphael: Bad Moon Rising.

Raphael mellowed somewhat as the series went on. Possibly a key moment for his character development was when he allowed Leonardo to go in alone to defeat the Shredder after nearly being killed by the Foot Elite in issue #21 of Volume 1. Since then, he has been less likely to challenge Leonardo's leadership, and on the whole is more friendly towards his family and allies.

Of his three brothers, Raphael is closest to Michelangelo, even having stated it in the fourth issue of the original TMNT comics. Raphael often shows a caring, more laid-back, side of himself when around his brother, even if he often annoys him, frequently indulging the younger turtle emotionally when at home and ferociously protecting him from harm when in battle. Raphael openly admits that the mere thought of his youngest brother being grievously injured causes him to experience violent rage. In his self-titled one-shot micro series, Raphael met human vigilante Casey Jones, his foil, who was even more violent and unstable than he was. Despite their brutal first meeting, the two have since formed a close bond and friendship.

In the comic book series' Volume 4, he is still the most violent turtle, but is more sociable. After having been bitten by a vampire-like creature in issue #12, he experienced a further mutation, and became a large, dinosaur-like version of himself. He went into a state of berserk animal rage because of it, but with some guidance by an inner manifestation of Master Splinter, he regained his original mentality and later assisted Leonardo and Casey Jones in tracking down the vampires who attacked him. This is also somewhat similar to an earlier storyline during Volume 1, where Raphael was attacked by a leech-like creature who, when sucking his blood, also drained him of the mutagen in his body and reverted him to a small turtle. The leech itself mutated and vanished, prompting the remaining turtles to follow it. Finally, after tracking down the creature, Raphael manages to bite it and pierce its skin, thereby drinking its blood and mutating back.

This incarnation of Raphael appeared in the crossover special Turtles Forevervoiced by Sean Schemmel.

The Raph briefly appears in Trans-Dimensional Turtles.

Personality
One could use several words to describe the Ninja Turtle named Raphael. Some of them are: argumentative, impulsive, hot-tempered, rebellious, volatile, and violent.

Perhaps the most telling description of Raphael can be found within April O’Neil’s journal. She once wrote that Raphael scared her, and that he was very “unbalanced” and “unpredictable.”

Generally speaking, Raphael is a loose cannon. He doesn’t respond well to authority (with the sole exception of ) and does whatever feels right to him at the time.

His temper is legendary. Like many other characters in fiction he seems to suffer from a form of Intermittent Explosive Disorder which causes him to break out into a murderous rage whenever he is frustrated or in combat. He has turned this anger on his friends and foe in turn, but usually shows true regret when he has done so on the latter.

It is this single aspect of his personality, and his unusual energy levels, that make Raphael the deadliest of the 4 turtle brothers. Despite the explosiveness of his temper (and utter brutality in battle), Raphael is loyal to a fault and quick to forgive his friends.

Raphael’s relationship with his brothers and extended family is quite simple. He has a particular soft spot for both (who is often his playmate) and  (who he considers the fifth Turtle brother). He deeply loves and respects Splinter and enjoys teasing. And then, there’s.

As time has passed, Raphael’s impatient and volatile nature has chaffed at the relationship that he shares with his older brother Leonardo. Leo’s calm and steady nature often exists in stark contrast to Raphael’s, and like most siblings the two have exchanged heated words and blows over differences of opinion.

It is clear though that Raphael does love his “older” brother and even has a grudging respect for him.

Description
Raphael appears to be a large bipedal turtle-like being. His body is hairless and his skin is deep green colour. Both his hands and feet are three fingered/toed, had his eyes are a jet black colour.

Unlike a regular turtle, his eyes point directly forward and are distinctly human in appearance (if not unusually large).

Raphael has a large and pronounced shell situated in the centre of his back. It is clearly a part of his body, and extends across the entirety of his torso. The portion of the shell that covers his chest, stomach and crotch area is a light brown in colour.

With his shell protecting his modesty as well as his vitals, Raphael doesn’t normally wear clothes unless he is attempting to hide his mutated features from humans.

The only clothing that he wears is a battered leathern belt that he utilizes as a harness/holster for his weapons, strips of cloths around his joints (wrists, elbows, knees, and ankles) and a red strip of cloth that he wears around his eyes when expecting combat.

The cloth resembles a domino mask while on, but in truth does little to protect his identity. Presumably, he wears the cloth for symbolic effect.

Known Superhuman Powers
While Raphael has no true superhuman powers, his mutation into a bipedal form did not remove any of the species wide adaptation that one would find in reptiles classified as turtles (chelonians).

He still: Though it has yet to be confirmed, Raphael’s mutation has most likely converted him into a warm-blooded organism (unlike normal turtles).
 * possesses a durable bony shell that originates from his ribs and protects his chest and back
 * can hold his breath underwater for approximately 10 minutes
 * can draw his neck down into his shell
 * can operate for extended periods in below-freezing conditions with little or no protection from the elements

Abilities
Through intensive life long training, Raphael has become a formidable hand to hand combatant. He is a practitioner of both the kobudō and qigong martial arts styles and has displayed a level of skill in both that one can only find in cinematic martial artists.

In addition, he is a superb athlete and world-class acrobat.

Finally, Raphael has mastered the art of ninjutsu; his skills of stealth and deception are so polished that he can virtually hide in plain sight.

Quotes
“Damn these Mousers !!! I knew I should have killed that BAXTER when I had the chance ! Grrr — I’ll go kill ’im NOW !”

“You just made you last mistake, bug-eyes, ’cuz nobody cuts up my best buddy an’ get’s away with it — NOBODY !”

“I’ve had just about as much as I’ll take from these pre-historic pukes ! Push us around — GRRRRR ! I’m gonna kill them all myself !!!”

Donatello: “Just cover us Buckwheat — no heroics ! Got it ?!” Raphael: “No prob, kemo sabe ! Heh Heh…”

“Wugga wugga, gaijin — IT’s GO TIME !”

“Are you deaf —?! This place is driving me crazy — understand ?!!!”

“Leo’s lost it… he’s scared. He can no longer lead us…”

(To Leonardo) “You are a coward. I’m going back … alone.”

“ — Saki is mine !”

(After having his life saved by Leonardo) Leonardo: “You are a FOOL ! “ Raphael: “I know… almost a dead one. Can’t help it… don’t think… have no control. Splinter always said so…”

Trivia
 * He is the second oldest of the four turtles.
 * His favorite color is red.
 * His bandanna color is red, making him the only turtle to have a bandanna that is the same color as his favorite color.
 * His weapon of choice are the sais.
 * It is revealed in "the Donatello micro series issue" that Raph hates cold showers, and likes hot showers.
 * Ralph is right-handed in the mirage comics, as revealed in "Tales of the TMNT issue #55" when Raph is seen holding a screw driver in his right hand to fix a robot implying he is right-handed.
 * In the early days before the turtles battle with Shredder, Raph used to normally wake up at 7:00am.
 * He used to have a teddy bear named "Brown Bear".
 * In issue #3, he asks April if she has an beer, however he is 15 in this issue, and the minimum age to drink beer is 21, making him under age, however he fell asleep before he had any beer.