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5 Characters The 2012 Writers Could Have Shipped 2012 Leo With Instead of His Sister

Because as much as I love TMNT 2012, it’s biggest flaw (in my opinion) was the awkward uncomfortable forced romance between Leonardo and Karai.

I’m gonna start this list with two characters from other TMNT incarnations that the 2012 writers could’ve added to their show and make them the love interest for Leo, then I will give a list of current 2012 characters that could have been good potential love interests for Leo (with some rewriting of course) that I feel would be better than him being shipped with and crushing on his sister.

Lotus Blossom

Originally from the 1987 series, Lotus Blossom was a female ninja Kraang hired to replace Shredder. Lotus was given the task to capture Splinter and defeat the Turtles and when first meeting her Leo was entranced by her beauty and skills as a swordsman.

Lotus only made two appearances in the 87 cartoon and never reappeared in other versions of TMNT (as of now), which is a shame because her and Leo have a cute dynamic and played off each other very well as both friends and romantic interests, so the 2012 writers could’ve brought this classic 87 character back like they did with so many others like Mona Lisa and Mondo Gecko.

I personally have two ideas for 2012 Lotus, one being she’s a warrior from the past that the Turtles meet while on another time travel adventure with Renet, OR she’s Mr. Murakami’s niece and she comes to New York to visits her uncle to help him with his restaurant and befriends the Turtles.

Koya

Bare with me, I don’t read the comics so I’m using knowledge from Wikipedia

Similar to 2012 Alopex, the writers could’ve brought another famous and beloved character from the IDW comics into the 2012 series. in the IDW comics Koya was Shredder’s pet falcon who eventually got mutated and became a scout and bounty hunter for The Foot Clan.

It is hinted that their is a romance between Koya and Leo, mostly from the character Lita who says that Koya has feelings for Leo (something Koya claims is a lie) and Lita even says that the two are together romantically in the future.

2012 Shredder already was growing his own army by recruiting mutants like Tiger Claw, I’m surprised he didn’t continue this by finding or creating Koya for his army.

Casey Jones

Could’ve ended the dumb capriltello love triangle. And who doesn’t love the reckless bad boy jock x nerdy responsible popular boy trope?

I’ve been getting really into Caseynardo lately and I think this would’ve been a fun pair to see in the show. The two rarely had moments together and its a shame cause even as buddies they are fun to watch.

I’d imagine that this romance would start to blossom by season 3. Casey is getting over April and starts spending more time with Leo while everyone else trains, keeping Leo company since he can’t join in because of his injury. Casey would offer to Raph for him watch over and take care of Leo while Raph continues to train his brothers and April, as a way to get some stress/responsibilities off Raph’s shoulders. During the farm house arc Casey would hang with Leo and the two would bond and learn they have more in common then they think (both are the older siblings of their families and would do anything to keep them safe). This would start their growing friendship and later blossoming romance that would develop more during the rest of the series.

Shinigami

Even though I headcanon Shinigami as a lesbian and I ship Shinirai hardcore, let’s consider Leogami so a moment. Leo would still get himself a goth kunoichi from the Foot Clan as a gf, but this time with the bonus of her knowing magic, and hands down being one of the most beautiful female characters in the show fight me

I mean seriously, they could’ve held off on Leo getting a love interest until Shinigami comes along. Also why give Mikey a second love interest when he already has Renet, creating a random love triangle, and never acknowledge/do anything with it??

Just replace all of Mikey’s scenes/moments of him showing attraction towards Shini and replace him with Leo and then BOOM, both problems are fixed! No pointless Mikey love triangle and no Leo simping for his sis.

Miyamoto Usagi

Hear me out! 2003 fans are probably already on board, but 2012 Usagi would need some rewriting if this were to happen if the 2012 writers consider this instead of leor*i.

Though his age is never confirmed in the 2012 series, it is speculated Usagi is a young adult in this version. Here’s what the 2012 writers should have done, rewrite Usagi as a teenager like they did with so many other classic characters for the 2012 series and have him and Leo build a friendship during the Samurai Turtles arc in season 5, with there being hints of a romance blooming between the young samurai and ninja by the end. But again, this would only work if Usagi was rewritten.

If they can turn April into a teenager and ship her with Donnie then they could’ve done the same thing with Usagi!

reformedhumanist

“Leo, then I will give a list of current 2012 characters that could have been good potential love interests for Leo (with some rewriting of course) that I feel would be better than him being shipped with and crushing on his sister.”

I never saw Karai as Leo’s sister, she was portrayed as her biological sister nor was, she or Leo raised as brother/sister. And yes, I do think that matters, do we consider Catra to be Adora’s “sister”? I mean, they were raised together, and you could see Catra and Adora’s relaionship as adoptive sisters? But no, hardly anyone consider their relationship to be incest because context matters. The same with Leo/Karai, context matters. Just because Karai is the biological daughter of Hamato Yoshi doesn’t mean she’s Leo’s sister. As far Karai is the biolgoical daughter of Hamato Yoshi not Splinter.