Character Analysis: 2012 Season 5: Mikey
Literally Mikey
Ok but seriously, as a person with ADHD, watching Mikey in this series is hard. Like wow! Ableism and stereotypes! Fun!/sar. In the first 2 seasons Mikey was a interesting character! He was fun and make pranks but he wasn’t reduced to a annoying character. He was empathetic and help take care of Leatherhead. While he was a bit of a “ditz” he’s also very smart. He has a night emotional intelligence, and can do chemistry. Heck, he was trapped in the Dimension X and became a survivalist. That would have been so cool to see a bit of what Mikey had to go through, or some of his adventures.
As the seasons progresses, Mikey was placed in the background. And he became less and less important to the show. He became more “immature”, and more of a jokester. The shiw even says that Mikey has the maturity of a 6 year old. Which, if you didn’t know, is ableist.
The whole family going into Mikey mind, is could have been a way to explore Mikey’s character. Because while Mikey is the joker and was place in the background, there was elements of him growing. Him having anger issues, which his anger being the biggest persona he has. Him being the best at mooning without thinking, him taming a crocodile! His negative traits could have been a way to explore his character. His eating habit, can be seen as both an eating disorder and a symptom of his ADHD. (Since people with ADHD have a higher change of binge eating disorder). His prankster and jokers can be seen as a way to him cope with the stress and his family problems. Heck, that was an actual episode!
For Mikey, he is a mix of a scrapgoat; a person who is blamed for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others, especially for reasons of expediency and The Mascot. A Mascot’s role in the dysfunctional family is to distract from problematic behavior, usually through humor or social skill.
Mikey also is implied to have Maladaptive Daydreaming. Or some type of Dissociation disorder since he “goes into his mind when things get rough” or something along those lines. Maladaptive Daydreaming symptoms are
Intense, vivid daydreams that present as a story, with characters, settings, and plotlines
Daydreams that are triggered by real-world events or sensory stimuli
Unconscious facial expressions, repetitive body movements, or talking or whispering that accompany daydreams
Daydreams that last for several minutes to hours
A strong or addictive desire to keep daydreaming
Trouble focusing and completing daily tasks due to daydreams
Trouble sleeping
Maladaptive daydreaming may develop as a coping strategy in response to trauma. The inner world may feel safer than the experience happening outside. For example, people with maladaptive daydreaming found themselves engaging in the behavior more frequently.
Dissociation is a mental process of disconnecting from one’s thoughts, feelings, memories or sense of identity.
Some symptoms are;
Feeling disconnected from yourself
Problems with handling intense emotions
Sudden and unexpected shifts in mood – for example, feeling very sad for no reason
Depression or anxiety problems, or both
Feeling as though the world is distorted or not real (called ‘derealisation’)
Like Raph, Leo, and Donnie. Mikey also died. His was murder was well. He was killed by Newtralizer ( season 5 episode 5 + 6) and came back and gain temporarily Electrokinesis. Personality I think he should have keep it, and have his powers act like a heart monitor. (Since Bishop didn’t want him to overuse his powers or it might kill him.)
As for his family, Mikey seem closer to Leo and sometimes Donnie. With Leo he and Mikey have a more sweet older brother and little brother dynamics and the two talk about cartoons. With Donnie, Mikey try’s to hype up when the two are on mission. And he try’s do chemistry with him. With Raph, while Mikey does get verbally and physically abused by him, Mikey is the one that jokes or picks on Raph.
With Splinter, there wasn’t any one on one scene they had. But the way Splinter talks about Mikey, while mostly positive, it seems like splinter doesn’t know how to dealt with Mikey’s ADHD and sees Mikey in a negative way some times.
For me, Mikey is my second favorite turtle in this series. While I don’t like that he was shoved to the side in the later season, and he did get on my nerves from time to time. I do think he’s a good character, i just want more characterization from him.