Michaelangelo? Smart? Boy has he got the wrong turtle...

[Sage Ninja]

In nearly every medium Michaelangelo has had the reputation as being the dumb one of the group. And why not, in a group of hero's there has always got to be the dumb person in the group to ask the obvious questions for eighther comic relief or to have one of the intelligent characters spell it out to him as an excuse to inform the audiance step by step on what they are going to do and why, with it it looking like the plot is being patronizing to the veiwers. I don't know why Michaelangelo has always been viewed as the dumb one or where it started but almost all universes portray him as being on the "duh" side. Maybe it started in the orginal comics, or maybe it was the classic toon, but in most cases Michaelangelo is at worst the idiot and at best mearly the least intelligent of the bunch. Some universes emphasis this more than others and show im with have more gray matter between his ears than others. Eighther that or maybe much of his "dumb" behavior is misinterpurted for stupidty when he's really not not. So in your opiniuon which is the smartes version of michaelangelo where he is shown to actually be more clever than moronic?

I think where Michaelangelo's repuation of being dumb orginated in the classic cartoon. He is forever getting picked on by Raphael for being kind of an air head and the others don't seem to have much faith in his smarts. But since i've been rewatching the old show I've been noticing that Michaelangelo isn't as dumb as as i rememer him being. He actually seem rather quick on the up take in several situations and clever/imaginative with dealing with adversaries. And actually seemed pretty capable at solving or figuring out a problem when one was laid on him. He could actually pretty perceptive on occasion and ushaully can see that something is wrong or amiss pretty early on before it really starts making trouble. In the old toon it seemed you where told that Michaelangelo was dumb more often than he genuanly was.

In the New toon there have been alot of complaints that mikey is just an moron, and even though he is at times I think there is more mystery to his intellectual prowess than what is seen on the surface. He seems like he can stratigize when he has to, and whether he is just pulling scenarios comic book plots or if he is coming up with it himself his plans can work. Amybe mikey pretends to be dumber than he is because he doesn't think any one will take him seriously, since most of thetime his brothers think he's an idiot. But it's not as concrete that he is a moron as he lets on to be.

Mirage comics, I haven't read the comics so but it seems he took a back seat when it came to plans or giving input on stratigy and sometimes asked obvious questions. But seemed to enjoy reading. Now I don't know if liking books is a sign of being smart but it least that shows he akes the inciative to learn.

Live ation movie Mikey, he seemed he had an out side the box way of thinking. He seemed to come up with wacky ideas on how to reach a goal like putting an antidote into a bunch of donuts to feed to two monsters, that almost worked.

CGI Mikey seems to be regared as the least intelligent version of Michaelangelo so far due to his over all flightiness.

which Michaelangelo is the smartest version of him?

[Jelly bean]

like what I said on the drome I voted for 80's toon Mikey (even though I've seen only two seasons) because from what I saw I was rather impressed with his awareness of what was going on around him and being able to figure things out on his own. In one episode in the 80's toon there is a robot that goes beserk and starts shrinking and growing at random and causing damage and Michaelangelo was able to figure out just by watching it that it was being controlled by a video game chip and took his own game boy and hooked it up to it and gained control of it through his game and stopped the destruction. I was like  this really suprised me because I would normally expect Don to notice something like that and think to use a video game to take control of it. I could never see Mikey from any other version pull something like that and I was impressed. 

[Aignatius]

 

Now then! Anyone who believes Mikey is an idiot has been duped by the Angelo's mastery of causing one's enemies to vastly underestimate him, so that they get blindsided by what is coming at them out of left field.

I've seen as many brilliant moments by him as anyone else. In basically every universe of TMNT. It's just he gets bored easily and likes to mess about. He has an extraordinarily well developed sense of optimism in nearly every situation, but when seriousness is needed, serious he is.

If Mikey was as much an idiot as some universes seem to want to imply, Splinter would not have allowed him to use nunchaku, much less, allowed him out of the lair at all, as he would be too much of a liability for his brothers.

Enough said.

[Danceingfae]

Very, very good point Aig and so very well put.

I think that it's sad a lot of times that Mikey is seen as the dumb turtle of the group when he so is not. None of them I think are dumb really, they just all have their own strength and weakness. (Just like a real person! OMG!)

So there, it's been stated enough that I'm not going to repeat a lot of it but Mikey is not dumb. Some one has to wonder actually weather in how own way he is a smarter turtle for trying to keep the lighter things in the light. That way things don't wiegh too heavily on him and his brothers.

[Jelly bean]

I'm not to surprised that 2k3 series mikey hasn't gotten any votes yet. Alot of people seem to feel that he is a stupider interpertation of Michaelagelo, but I'm glad some of you see some his antics as stratigy rather than complete stupidy. What I don't get is why there is so much dissatisfaction and debate when it comes to Mikey in the fandom. I see such mixed reactions when it comes to Mikey's intelligence and the over all delivery of his character in the 2k3 series; alot of people seem to be upset about him. A few times I've asked why there is so many complaints and most of them say that he's not being written to his potencial, and that Fast Forward made him dumber than he's ever been. 

Personly even though I voted for 80's cartoon Mikey, I think fans tend to be a little harsh on Mikey in the curent cartoon and focus to much on his flaws. Sometimes I don't think he's not give his due credit in writting but I think he has redeeming qualites. I mentioned this on the drome but I think with Mikey in the current toon the reason he comes across as dumb is because his brothers act so shocked when he comes up with a good idea. 

[Buslady]

I'm tired of Mikey being portrayed on the toon as an idiot! he's not.

[Mindy]

I saw him as having more smarts in the Image comics - and he seemed to be very aware of himself.

I haven't read Archie or the Mirage comics very much, but I think Archie had some excellent Mikey coverage, too, hmm?

[Michaelangelo]

I don't understand why all these topics are popping up about Michelangelo... I mean each of the Turtles have their flaws but it seems like Mike is being picked on the most right now.

Michelangelo is far from dumb, he's a lot smarter than he seems to get credit for.  He's never been dumb in any of the series.  The worse series for him was the Next Mutation and Fast Forward, but even those he's shown he's not stupid.  He's my favorite Turtle because of the way he works his smarts, and the only time he was not my favorite Turtle was in the Next Mutation cause I felt they took a lot of his real character away from him.

4Kids series has not made Mikey dumb at all, go back and count all the times he has saved the day.  All the times it was his idea that got them what they needed, where he's the one who spoke up, where he's the one who had to fight the final length of the battle.  From taking on super villains to just space creatures his ideas has helped keep his brothers and himself alive and going strong.  In "Same as it never was", he's the one in the future who's still got a level head as Raph and Leo are at each other's throats.  In "Return of the Justice Force" he came up with the idea of how end the fight.  In "Space Invaders" Part 1 it's Michelangelo who comes up with the distraction needed. 

People just feel that a free spirit, someone who jokes around a lot, someone who is hyper active, and a prankster isn't the smart one.  But to pull off half of the stuff he is able to do, he has to be smart!  He's pulling pranks on a brainy turtle (Don), a smart and thought full Turtle (Leo), and a strong turtle (Raph).  He's even able to play pranks on a Ninja Master (Splinter).   How can someone who does this, even get seen as dumb?

From the original comics series to the newest movie, Michelangelo is a strong and very smart Turtle.  Who knows how to keep his cool and have fun even when things are dangerous.  He's able to make people laugh or annoy the hell out of them.  But he always comes through for his brother.

[sadboy]

(wonders which versions have the smartest Donatello, the most serious Leonardo, or the most defiant Raphael) Just kidding!

[Mindy]

(wonders which versions have the smartest Donatello, the most serious Leonardo, or the most defiant Raphael) Just kidding!

Actually, I think those would make great topics. From the comics to the current toon, there are different variations of the characters. I know we have topics like "which Donatello is your favorite?" so it would just add a little bit more to the discussions.