Phoenix is the name and overthought analyses are my game...apparently; I also make gifs because it’s super fun; They/them; ROTTMNT is no longer a hyperfixation - it’s basically my personality. Oh, and I post about LMK too (although it’s pretty much all Tang focused). Welcome to my hell.
ROTTMNT Character Fight Style Analysis - Part 1: Leonardo
Eeeeyyyy it's finally here. This is my analysis of each character's fight style and role post that I teased about a week ago. This turned out to be a hell of a thing, so this will be split into many posts focusing on each character since I have quite a bit to say (and I think Tumblr might break if I put it all into one post). I plan to release one a day, but we'll see how it works out with school.
If there's one thing Rise is known for, it is the show's stellar action animation - it's the reason most people started the show to begin with. The visuals are so strong in these scenes, in fact, that Rise could have easily gotten away with having pointless fights each episode (if the budget allowed that) and still be regarded as a fairly decent show. However, Rise doesn't do that, instead chooses to give its action scenes depth by putting thought into the personality of each character and implementing that into how each of them fights, showing the growth of the protagonists over the course of the show.
After rewatching the show multiple times (seriously, so many times) I began to notice patterns in many of the show's big fights, particularly in how the turtles and April fight and how they cooperate with each other as a team.
I thought it might be fun to categorize and examine how Leo, Raph, Mikey, Donnie, and April fight by breaking it down into their unique fighting styles, their roles and strengths in battle, how they apply those roles, and how all of these demonstrate different parts of their character.
BTW: There's a reason for the order in which I examine each character - it will all make sense by the last post. There's also a bit of a TL;DR at the end, but I encourage you read the full thing (or at least skim it)
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Let's start with Leo.
Leonardo: The Strategist/Initiator
Leo was one of the easiest characters to analyze since a major focus of his character arc is the development of his fighting skills and his ability to cooperate with his team and act as a leader.
Fight Style:
Balanced/Well-rounded Fighter
Leo is the most balanced fighter on the team. He is a capable offensive and defensive fighter and has enough physical strength and acrobatics to handle many types of fighting styles. We see him fight everything from paper ninjas to the large Foot Brute and Draxum's hired goons (the dog guys) without seeming to be weak against one type of enemy. He may not necessarily be stronger than them but he is very versatile. However, this means that Leo doesn’t have a specific ability that makes him stand out in a fight (mystic and ninpo powers aside) the way his brothers do, and won’t have any inherent advantages that he can utilize when fighting a particular enemy.
Strengths and Roles in a Fight:
The Strategist:
Leo’s role as the team’s strategist is pretty obvious. He may not be given the title of “Leader” until the end of season 2, but we see throughout the show that he is a very quick thinker and is skilled at coming up with clever and effective plans. Of course, each member of the Mad Dogs supplies ideas and plans, but Leo is especially good at developing and implementing them. The most obvious example of this is his fight in the Battle Nexus in 'Many Unhappy Returns, but there are other times when he is the one to put all the pieces together (think of the big attack against Draxum in the Shredder armor in 'End Game').'
The Initiator:
Leo acts as the initiator in battle as he is either one of the first into battle or is the one to start a coordinated attack. This doesn't mean he necessarily has to attack first, but that he is usually the one to put the plan into action. This role relies the most on his mystic powers as his portal and teleportation powers give him the maneuverability needed to accommodate any plan. His abilities allow him to enter and disorient the enemy, or he can portal allies into the fight and create opportunities for a follow-up attack. This plays into his strengths as the Strategist as being the initiator can help him begin a strategic attack by maneuvering people or objects into their needed positions.
Utility:
Leo’s skills truly shine in a fight against a few number of enemies as he can better focus his strategies on a specific enemy and direct the battle in his favor. With less pieces in play, he can properly utilize his mystic powers and act as the initiator instead of bouncing around a battle with no real objective in mind. It becomes easier to coordinate attacks with his brothers and allies since they don't have to spend time fighting different enemies.
However, in a fight with multiple enemies, Leo’s skills can be easily overlooked. Sure, he can direct the fight as the Strategist, but there’s only so much he can do in the middle of the chaos. His role as the initiator isn’t all that effective in a fight with many enemies as well as he and his brothers tend to just rush into battle in those situations. However, Leo’s balanced fighting style means he could theoretically go up against every type of enemy and won’t be at a noticeable disadvantage, which is very useful in a chaotic battle.
How it Plays into His Character:
Admittedly, the show is probably the most direct in using fights to show some of Leo's character traits, since so much of his arc is centered on his fighting and use of mystic powers. However, Rise does use this in enough interesting ways to make it worth mentioning.
While his role as the Strategist plays into Leo’s strengths as a character, it also highlights Leo’s problems with team communication. When Leo plans a strategy, he often fails to inform his allies of his plans, which can result in losing the battle or frustrating those around him. The show demonstrates this by having him make strategies in a fight but leaves his allies in the dark and confusing them. Leo does this, in part, to show off, but also because the plan simply makes sense in his head, so it would be easier for him to just do it instead of having to take the time to tell everybody his plan.
The initiator is a good role for Leo’s powers and fighting style, but also feeds into his cockiness and overconfidence in a fight. Leo has a tendency to play the hero and either overestimate his abilities or underestimate his opponent. He may be the best fit for going first in a fight but Rise uses some fights to show how this can conflict with some of his character flaws. When he goes into battle first overconfident and cocky, it only conflicts with the team, but with his own role as the Strategist. He could, theoretically, bring his teammates into the fight after him, but if he thinks he has an easy win in front of him, all strategy goes out the window.
His status as a balanced fighter and lack of specialization in battle is a likely source of some of Leo’s insecurities about his place in the group. We see in 'Portal Jacked!' how Leo doesn't feel like he has a proper role on the team - that he's just the face man - which is reinforced by the way he fights in comparison to his team. Leo is well suited to fight a wide range of enemies, but when his brothers have easily identifiable skills that can give them a distinct advantage, it becomes difficult to recognize the advantages he brings to the team as a well-rounded fighter.
Working as a Team:
As mentioned earlier, Leo's strengths as a fighter make him the one best suited for the first attack in a coordinated team strike as it highlights his skills as the Initiator and the Strategist. It shows how well he can fit those roles when he plays to his strengths and overcomes the character flaws that stand in his way. While the others do have skills that may allow them to start the first attack, Leo's abilities and strengths as a fighter give him (and his team) a much stronger advantage in this position.
Leo also does well when he goes second to last in a team attack, as he can finalize a strategy and prepare for a final blow by putting all the pieces into position. However, this is more situational as there are other characters just as well suited for that second-to-last position and can fill that role when Leo needs to be the one to start a team attack.
Leo’s fighting style, however, does make him a poor fit for a follow-up attack or the final attack in a fight. His balanced fighting style means he isn’t suited for a strong final attack. While he is technically fine acting as a follow-up attacker, it doesn’t really play into his strengths and isn’t that effective when fighting with others who are more suited to that role. His balanced fighting style also prevents him from effectively dealing that final blow to an enemy since he doesn't have a specialized strength in this regard. Again, he can do it, he just isn't well suited for it.
The way Rise develops and explores Leo's fight style demonstrates one of my favorite things the show does with his character (in fact, all of its characters). At first glance, he may seem pretty one-note and predictable, but as we go through the show, we see how both his character is actually more complex than we were first led to believe. The fights Leo participates in reflect that, as not only do his skills develop over the course of the show, but we begin to see how it all ties into his personality and growth as a character - making his fights more meaningful than what they may seem.
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[Little bit of a TL;DR: Leo is the team's strategist and initiator in fights, supported by his balanced fight style and mystic powers. These roles play into his greatest strengths but they also expose some of his character flaws and insecurities. In team fights Leo is most effective as the first or second to last attacker but isn't well suited for a follow-up or final attack]
Thanks for bearing with me on this stupid long post. They're all going to be like this btw. Next up will be Raph. I plan to get that done and posted tomorrow.
FINAL EDIT HOPEFULLY: ALL DRIVES ARE UP, ALL EPISODES ARE 1080P! ENJOY!!!!!!!!
edit again: not a requirement or anything but if anyone can spare some cash as a thanks then here’s my kofi! i’ve got a car payment now so I appreciate any and everything :D
We have 30 days until the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) laws are rescinded. This is the 50-year bedrock of American conservation. Normally, these actions take years but the administration has provided 30 days for public comment gutting clean water and clean air. Drop what you’re doing, before you make any more calls or read any more social media posts, please populate the Federal Register with dissent.
A. Go to https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/02/25/2025-03014/removal-of-national-environmental-policy-act-implementing-regulations
B. Click on the green rectangle in the upper right corner ("SUBMIT A PUBLIC COMMENT") .
C. Fill in your comment, and info at the bottom, and SUBMIT COMMENT.
Anyone want another Tang screenshot redraw? No? Too bad, you’re getting one anyway.
(Minor S4 Special Spoilers under the cut)
Now that the season 4 special has officially released in English I finally get to share this. I’ve had this in my back pocket since I was spoiled from the China release and I’m happy to finally share it. I just love our resident nerd boy so much. I’m obsessed with his new fluffy hair and, I swear to god, if they don’t let him keep it I’m going to riot.
I know most everyone saw it when Happy Kids f-ed the release the first time, but for those who were waiting, now’s your chance!! Please watch it officially, if you can, so we can do our best to support the show!
Rewatching Season 4 and Talking About Tang to Avoid Losing My Mind Over the Special
Welp, now that I have some free time and I'm finally back home, it's the perfect time for me to obsess over LMK again. That being said, I'm not going to talk about the Chinese release of the special as I'm waiting for the full English release (I've been spoiled on things, but I still haven't seen it).
Instead, I'm going to watch through season 4 again since it's been a while. It’s just a silly little thing I like to do during hiatus and such. Oh, and I really only talk about Tang because he doesn’t get enough love and, well, I have a brand to maintain.
So, let's start with Episode 2 - New Adventures:
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Getting a bit full of yourself there, aren’t ya, glowy boy? Geez, you make an insanely strong power-up sigil that covers half the globe one time, and suddenly, you think you're all that.
...Okay, maybe his overconfidence is a little bit justified. Only a little bit, though, since the last time he was this full of himself was, well… *looks at Dumpling Destruction*
On a side note, it's interesting how Sandy says "newfound powers" since that implies a relatively short timespan between seasons 3 and 4. My guess is around 1-2 months, but I honestly don't know.
At least Tang has Pigsy to bring him down to Earth. Nice to see a bit of their salty/sassy banter back again.
I've mentioned this gif before but Idk I still love it. Mei totally goes full Ash Ketchem and just throws him out there. I asked a while back which Pokemon Tang would be and some people replied with Ninjask, a Cicada inspired Pokemon, which yeah. 10/10, A+ pick.
Oh nooooooo Tang... I love you, but noooooooo *More Dumpling Destruction Flashbacks*
Told ya. Hubris gets you nowhere.
Talk about being in the shadow of your former self, am I right?
I never turned on subtitles for this scene before so I had no idea what ink Tang Sanzang said up until this rewatch. Now that I know what he says, this line is SUPER interesting if you ask me.
This line stands out as it doesn't seem to be feeding directly into his insecurities, as is the case with every other ink creature encounter we see. Instead, it seems like a confirmation of Tang's arc throughout the season. Tang can't use his powers here because he has more to learn, both with his powers and as a character, and this is the writers deliberately saying as much. Yeah, Tang's journey isn't complete, and the audience, and perhaps, Tang himself, knows it.
Yeah, I'm cheating here since it doesn't really have Tang in it, but it doesn't matter because it's still Tang's glasses -plus this is just a darn good shot. It's so quick, but it does a great job of establishing a feeling of dread and tension in this scene. It definitely got me the first time I saw it. It's on-screen for only a second, but damn if it isn't effective.
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Not a ton of Tang in this episode, but that's okay because it still does a TON of legwork in setting the foundation for his character arc this season.
To be honest, I didn't mean to mention Dumpling Destruction that much in this post but that's really what came to mind the first time I saw this episode. And honestly? I think that was completely intentional on the writers' part.
Tang was horrendously overconfident and, one could argue, arrogant in Dumpling Destruction. He was undeniably annoying at times (to put it in the kindest way possible) and even I, who absolutely adores his character, has a hard time watching Dumpling Destruction because of that. I get a similar feeling watching Tang in this episode, but that isn't a bad thing this time.
Despite my dislike of Tang's arrogance and his (often) unfounded overconfidence, I'm glad it came back in full force this episode. After season 3, I was a little worried that was all we'd get for Tang's character development. We saw almost none of his arrogance in season 3, which, along with the exploration of his insecurities, made it seem that they just wanted to ignore those character flaws tat were more prevalent in earlier episodes. It seems silly in hindsight, as it's clear that season 3 merely kickstarted his arc and wasn't a completion of it.
This episode was precisely what Tang needed for his character development. Despite expanding his character in season 3, his character flaws are still very much there at the start of season 4. He has yet to overcome his flaws and shortcomings at this point in the show, but without a reason to change, he never will. So how do you develop a character rife with overconfident and occasionally arrogant tendencies? Humble the hell out of them, of course. Unfortunately, he needed to be brought down to Earth before he could build himself back up, and that's just what the writers did in this episode.
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Ha! Didn't expect a rant at the end of this, did ya? Yeah, neither did I. Sorry about that.
I'll do the rest of the season soon, especially with how Tang-heavy the next couple episodes are.
In honor of the recent LMK set leaks, I finally finished this screenshot redraw I’ve been working on the last few days. I was hoping to do more with it but now I want to draw Tang with his fluffy hair, so I kind of rushed to get this in a semi-completed state. I wanted to try some new brushes and techniques with this one. I’m not sure how I feel about it since it took SO FUCKING LONG, but I kind of liked how it turned out regardless.
Hey, out of curiosity, did anyone establish how much time passed between LMK seasons 3 and 4? I don't think it's said in the show, and I haven't seen anyone in the cast or crew say anything definitive about it (I could have missed a tweet, though).
If I had to make a guess, I'd say 1-2 months. Based on various bits of dialogue and MK's state of mind at the start of the season, I'm inclined to think that it's closer to a month. Idk, what's the fandom's general consensus?
I am not quite sure if I’m doing this right, but I wanted to make a Master Post to all the Aftermath goodies! I will update it if I miss anyone or anything along the way; I’ve been trying to gather them all back up again! Anyway, we’ll start with a link to the fic as a whole.
The Aftermath on AO3
Individual Chapter Updates Under the Cut! I'll add new links as each chapter updates.
I'm bored, so have some of my favorite Tang gifs from season 4.
Mei really threw him out there like a Pokemon. What type of Pokemon would he be? (Idk I'm not really familiar with the franchise).
I might have to make a collection of Tang tumbling because the poor guy does it at least once a season (I think; he may not do it in season 1).
He doesn't really do anything special here, but idk, I just really like this shot and I needed an excuse to share it.
*Cue angry squeaking*
Once again, I would say this is a completely reasonable reaction to the crazy s*** these guys constantly face. Idc what anyone says, Tang is not as much of a coward as everyone seems to think. He may be scared here, but there's a difference between being scared and being a coward. Also, give the man a break; he's the only human there. A magic, glowy human as of season three, but a human nonetheless.
HE'S SO F-ING CUTE THOUGH! LOOK HOW HAPPY HE IS!! GIVE THIS MAN MORE NOODLES! I WANT TO SEE HIM HAPPY!
