Michelangelo, also known as Mikey, is one of the tritagonists (alongside Donatello) of the Paramount Teenage Muntant Ninja Turtles film franchise.
He is one of the Ninja Turtles. As the youngest and most free spirited of his brothers, he is a mutant turtle that wears an orange bandanna and uses nunchucks as his signature weapons. As the jokester of the Ninja Turtles, he is the comic-relief and free spirited one of his brothers, who loves skating, reading comics, and pizza. Michelangelo debuts in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Origins[]
Films[]
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles[]
Like his brothers, Michelangelo started out as a small turtle hatchling being used for scientific research in the laboratory of . He was regularly injected with mutagen that gave him increased strength and healing.
After April O'Neil freed the Turtles and Splinter, they began to rapidly grow in size and intelligence, both of which were comparable or greater than that of humans. For the next fifteen years Michelangelo spent most of his life in the sewers with his brothers and adoptive father, where he was taught the art of ninjutsu. His preferred weapon was a pair of nunchaku, which he was adept at using.
Along with his brothers, Michelangelo fought and defeated a squad of Foot Clan warriors who were about to execute hostages at a subway. Afterwards they were found by April, now grown and a TV reporter, whom Michelangelo shocked with his appearance (although he believed it was his mask that disturbed her). He developed an intense crush on her from this point onward, much to the irritation of his brothers.
Michelangelo was the one who revealed their encounter with April to Splinter, and was quite pleased when the Turtles were sent to fetch her. However, they were interrupted by an attack from the Foot Clan, which April had unwittingly led there, and Michelangelo was charged with hiding her from them. Afterwards he fought to defend his home and his family, but was forced to surrender when the Shredder threatened Splinter's life. From there, he was captured along with Donatello and Leonardo and taken to Sacks' mansion.
Along with Donatello and Leonardo, Michelangelo nearly died when the blood was drained from his body in order to harvest the mutagen, but he was able to break out of his cage when April administered a massive dose of adrenaline to all three Turtles. Newly energized, they rejoined Raphael and set out to stop Shredder from detonating a chemical weapon in the heart of New York.
Like his brothers, Michelangelo had limited success fighting against Shredder, but showed a streak of ingenuity when he suggested they "play buck-buck," tag-teaming Shredder in the style of a game they had played as children. This proved to be an effective tactic against the armored villain, and gained them the time they needed for Donatello to disarm the chemical weapon. At the end of the battle, believing that they were all about to die, Michelangelo's confession to his brothers was that he had never understood the ending of the TV show Lost.
Having reclaimed some of the mutagen, he and the other Turtles headed back home and were able to heal Splinter. Upon seeing April again, Michelangelo attended to serenade her with the song "Happy Together" by the Turtles, much to Raphael's annoyance.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows[]
As the most social and outgoing of the Turtles, Michelangelo was the most affected by their inability to live normal lives. Two years after the defeat of Shredder, he briefly sneaked out into the street when a Halloween parade was passing by, and expressed a desire to watch a basketball game down in the public seats rather than hiding in the Jumbotron.
When the brothers set out to stop Shredder from escaping from a prison convoy, Michelangelo was put in charge of the "Nunchucks Giganticus," giant defensive nunchucks that he accidentally destroyed when driving under an underpass. When Shredder emerged from the prison truck, Michelangelo was put in charge of firing a net to capture the escaping villain, but Shredder was teleported away just as the net was fired.
When Leonardo learned of the properties of the purple ooze, which had the potential to turn the Turtles human, Michelangelo was eavesdropping on the conversation, and experienced mixed emotions as he contemplated his own three-fingered hand. He secretly informed Raphael of this development, and seemed distressed when his older brother went to confront Leonardo about keeping the purple ooze's qualities a secret from them.
When Leonardo pointedly excluded Raphael and Michelangelo from their next mission, Michelangelo became part of Raphael's plan to get more purple ooze and make the decision for themselves whether they wished to be human or not. Unfortunately the plan was wrecked by the theft of the ooze by the Foot Clan. Though Raphael was able to recover the substance, the Turtles' existence was revealed to the police, and Michelangelo was deeply hurt when he saw the hate and fear that the police exhibited when they saw the Turtles for the first time.
Before anything could be done about this, the Turtles had to leave for Brazil to prevent Bebop and Rocksteady from reclaiming an alien device. Michelangelo repeatedly attempted to claim the device, but they eventually lost it.
Upon returning to New York, Michelangelo and his brothers were presented with the choice of whether to appear human for the rest of their lives. Now that he actually had to choose, Michelangelo appeared strongly apprehensive about the idea, and seemed to accept his Turtle nature when Raphael smashed the purple ooze.
Instead the Turtles offered an alliance to Chief Rebecca Vincent, in order to stop Krang from assembling the Technodrome over New York and taking over the world. Michelangelo played a key part in this battle, using his rocket-powered skateboard to reach the beacon that was drawing the pieces of the Technodrome to Earth, but Krang nearly crushed him to death before Donatello could send the beacon and Krang back through the dimensional portal.
Along with his brothers, Michelangelo was given a key to the city in front of the NYPD. Upon being asked what their last name was, he expressed displeasure that they didn't have one like everyone else.
Nickelodeon's Description[]
- Named after the Italian Renaissance painter and sculptor, Michelangelo
- Easy-going, fun-loving jokester and free-spirited being
- Youngest of the 4 Turtles
- Light green with freckles and light blue eyes
- Shorter than the other Turtles and seems pudgier
- Least mature and very social
- Often provides the comic relief, a practical joker and class-clown
- Loves to relax and eat pizza
Appearance[]
Michelangelo is the shortest of his brothers, he has shades hanging on his bead necklaces and wears wet-suit pants, all according to his sewer surfer personality. One of the legs of his pants is shorter than the other. He also wears a gray hoodie tied around his waist and sneakers, which have the front cut open for his turtle toes.On the back of his shell Mikey has some yellow, orange and pink Japanese graffiti writing. He and Leo are the only Turtles with blue eyes. Mikey has a tattoo on his shoulder.
Personality[]
Michelangelo is the jokester of the group, He loves playing video games and skateboarding. But don't be fooled by his laid-back demeanor. He's all fun and games, until you mess with him and his brothers.
Powers, Abilities, and Weaponry[]
Immense Speed : Enhanced by the Mutagen and intense training in Ninjutsu. He could freely leap and climb about the complex environment of New York City.
Armored Mutated Shell: Like his brothers, Michelangelo has his shell mutated by the Mutagen,gaining immense density and great size,able to block off multiple bullets from machine guns.
Master Nunchuck Expert: Michelangelo is a masterful ninja who is highly proficient in using his dual nunchucks.
Stealth: Thanks to his ninjutsu training, Michelangelo is able hide in the shadows and move through them without being seen or detected.
Nunchucks: Mikey uses two nunchucks ashis signature weapons. In the first film he uses two nunchucks both with tan handles with black dragons on them and connected together with silver steel chains. In the second film he uses the same pair of nunchucks.
Folding up in shell: Like the rest of the turtles, he is able to fold up in his shell.
Indomitable will: Like the rest of his brothers, Mikey possess a high will, being able to withstand being in the Ha-shi for a full 11 hours, while being upside down on a swivel chair, while spinning around on it. It wasn't until Master Splinter listed the ingredients of the 99 cheese pizza, that managed to get Mikey to break, and tell Splinter why he and his brothers left the lair.
Skateboarding: Mikey possess master skateboarding skills, being able to skateboard with his rocket skateboard, while jumping and flipping around on roof tops, while skydiving from a plane, and off the room of a moving big rig roof and onto a moving truck.
Equipment[]
2014 film:
- nunchucks
- rocket skateboard
2016 film:
- nunchucks
- rocket skateboard
- shoulder walkie-talkie
Gallery[]
Mikey in the 2014 film
Mikey without mask
Mikey at age 5
Mikey as a baby
Trivia[]
- Michelangelo is named after the Italian Renaissance artist named Michelangelo.
- He is the youngest of the four turtles.
- His favorite color is orange.
- His favorite type of soda is "Orange Crush".
- He keeps a secret stash behind the fridge in the kitchen, which for some reason he doesn't want Raph to know about.
- This incarnation of Mikey uses a rocket skateboard.
- He watches the show "Lost", and he has also stated that he does not understand the ending of it.
- Mikey is left-handed, as when he is seen eating four slices of pizza all at once, he uses his left hand to do it. When he takes his mask off when they meet April, he holds it in his left hand. He can also be seen on the "TMNT Out of the Shadows" DVD spray painting, with the can in his left hand.
- He is also the only one of the four turtles to be left-handed.
- He wrote "Mikey was here" on the back of Raphael's shell.
- He used to say "cowabunga" when he was a kid, but Raphael made him stop
- Mikey appears without the hoodie tied around his waist in the lyric video for "Shell Shocked" made by Atlantic Records.
- Michelangelo hits on April O'Neil, much like the first two live-action movies.
- Splinter and the Turtles were laboratory experiments, much like in the IDW comics origin story.
- The younger version of April says the mutagen came from outer space as a hint to the Utroms.
- Michelangelo mentions a "Hip Hop Christmas Album" as a reference to the "We Wish You a Turtle Christmas" special.
- During one of April's video tape reviews Mikey's tank is incorrectly labeled "Michaelangelo". This is a reference to the creators misspelling it.
- His face is based on Bill Murray.
- In the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Out of the Shadows Movie novelization", he states "We'll never get to see how The Simpsons ends." Implying that he might watch The Simpsons and that he might also be a fan of them.
- He doesn't like being bored.
- He has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD-1), which explains his tendency to lack concentrated focus, to be distracted and not listen, to be hyperactive and fidgety, to be impulsive or forgetful, to not follow directions and to talk excessively or out of turn.
- In the 2016 film, he claims that he is a vegan (someone who doesn't eat meat or any food products from animals), except for meat, cheese, and eggs. However, it is unknown if he was serious about being a vegan or if he doesn't fully understand what a vegan is; as meat, cheese, and eggs are all foods vegans don't eat.
- When he and the rest of the turtles are punished by Splinter and sent to the Ha-Shai, his punishment is to hold onto the handles of a swivel chair upside down while the chair twists around.
- He along with the rest of his brothers, are all Knicks basketball fans.
- In the 2014 film, he can be seen wearing a band aid on his left arm near his elbow.
- He prefers fun over ninja training.
- He likes the music rap, rock, and techno.
- He likes watching funny videos on Youtube.
- He likes watching popular movies like Star Wars and Batman.
- He is the only turtle not to curse in either of the two films.
- Mikey seems to dislike the fact that he and the rest of the turtles don't have last names.
Quotes[]
- "I'm a vegan, except for meat and cheese and eggs."
- "I'm Michelangelo, supporting my signature orange. I'm a triple threat: brains, brawn, and, obviously, a dazzling personality."
- "Cowabunga!"