Raphael (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

Raphael (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

Raphael (or Raph), a fictional character and one of the four main characters of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and all related media.

In the Mirage/Image comics all four turtles wear red bandanas over their eyes, but unlike his brothers in other versions, he is the only one who keeps the red bandana. Raphael wields twin sai as his primary weapon, although historically, sai were never used by ninja as the sai is a Kobudo weapon originating in Okinawa. (In the Next Mutation series, his sai stick together to make a staff-like weapon.) He is generally the most likely to experience extremes of emotion, and is usually depicted as being aggressive, sullen and rebellious. According to his creators he is the second oldest of the four. 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. He also has a somewhat turbulent relationship with his older brother Leonardo because he is the group leader. He is named after the 16th century Italian painter Raphael.