DONATELLO- 1980s Cartoon
Created By: Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird
First Appearance: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 (May 1984)
Role: Does Machines
Other Roles: The Smart Guy
Played By: Barry Gordon
Group Affiliations: The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
PL 8 (152)
STRENGTH 3
STAMINA 4
AGILITY 5
FIGHTING 10
DEXTERITY 2
INTELLIGENCE 9
AWARENESS 3
PRESENCE 2
Bodacious Skills:
Acrobatics 6 (+11)
Athletics 5 (+8)
Close Combat (Unarmed) 2 (+12)
Close Combat (Bo) 2 (+12)
Deception 3 (+5)
Expertise (Ninja) 1 (+10)
Expertise (Pop Culture) 1 (+10)
Expertise (Science) 8 (+17)
Insight 3 (+6)
Investigation 8 (+10)
Perception 2 (+5)
Persuasion 3 (+5)
Sleight of Hand 4 (+6)
Stealth 2 (+7)
Technology 9 (+18)
Vehicles 5 (+7)
Gnarly Advantages:
Equipment 2 (Staff, Trenchcoat), Improved Critical (Bo), Improved Critical (Unarmed), Improved Defense, Improved Disarm, Improved Initiative, Inventor, Quick Draw, Ranged Attack 5, Set-Up, Takedown 2, Teamwork
Radical Equipment:
"Bo Staff" Strength-Damage +1 (Feats: Split, Reach) (3)
"Trenchcoat" Morph 1 (Looks Human To Everyone, Despite Being Barefoot and Having a Green Face) (5)
Tubular Powers:
"Turtle Physiology"
Movement 1 (Environmental Adaptation- Aquatic) [2]
Swimming 2 (2 mph) [2]
"Half-Shell"
Enhanced Dodge & Parry 1 [2]
Features 1: May Stick Limbs Inside of Shell [1]
Power-Lifting 1 (800 lbs.) [1]
"Kicks Things To Make Them Work" Healing 8 (Flaws: Limited to Others, Limited to Machines) [4]
Righteous Offense:
Unarmed +12 (+3 Damage, DC 18)
Bo Staff +12 (+4 Damage, DC 19)
Initiative +9
Awesome Defenses:
Dodge +11 (DC 21), Parry +11 (DC 21), Toughness +4, Fortitude +5, Will +7
Bummer Complications:
Responsibility (Master Splinter)- The Turtles deeply respect their sensei, though often disregard his advice.
Secret (Must Remain Hidden From Public View)
Prejudice (Monster)
Addiction (Pizza)
Accident (Explosions)- Donnie may be brilliant, but his Rube Goldberg-esque contraptions also have a tendency to blow up in his face. Hell, the figgin' THEME SONG has one of these with his eight-foot-tall coffeemaker taking off into the air.
Total: Abilities: 78 / Skills: 64--32 / Advantages: 18 / Powers: 12 / Defenses: 12 (152)
-Donnie, like I've said before, was my favorite Turtle- he wears purple and has the coolest weapon! PLUS he's the best guy to play in the video games! With his nasal voice and flair for the scientific, he probably stood out the most of the four- after all, since they were ALL party-animal Deadpan Snarkers, the SMART GUY was the only one with major character traits outside of the norm! Donnie was also an amateur detective of sorts, getting some mileage out of putting on his Humphrey Bogart-ish trenchcoat and acting like a gumshoe (the show is where I learned that term, actually). Like, this was the focus of TONS of episodes. Donnie's bad-ass "Detective" toy was also one of my favorites as a kid, though later in the line they would come out with CLOTH trenchcoat figures (as usual, because they came out late, and are easily-lost or damaged, these figures are worth a FORTUNE today). He honestly got more focus episodes than anyone else, at least from what I remember- there was an episode where he had to send Irma in his place to a scientist convention because they mistook his invitation for a "Donna Tello", episodes where he fought Evil Mafiosi who inspired shitloads of DeviantArt people to get into foot fetishes (his trademark interrogation technique was to tie people up and tickle their feet with a feather), and more.
-Donatello is probably the most USEFUL Turtle in the show- without his random-ass inventions like the Party Wagon, Turtle Blimp (given a MAJOR "Buy Me!" push in the fight against Krang's Android Body) and even INTERDIMENSIONAL PORTAL GENERATORS, the team would have died an early and painful death. In one episode, he's annoyed by his brothers' constant requests to fix things, so he just decides to MAKE A CLONE OF HIMSELF to do the work for him- and that's not even the crux of the episode! The clone turns out evil and ten times more skilled and intelligent than Donnie, so the episode is actually about the clone nearly taking over the world! Like, Donnie CASUALLY made this clone! Only an "algebraic miscalculation" makes him extra-smart and evil (Don defeats him by daring him to create a reversal to the Cloning Ray, which of course immediately kills all the clones). Scientifically, the guy is a straight-up SUPER-GENIUS, with powers bordering on the superhuman (in
Turtles Forever, the genius 2000s-Donnie is frequently shocked that ANY of '80s-Donnie's stuff actually works. Sometimes he just KICKS THINGS into working!).
-He's slightly less-skilled than his comrades, with a few less Advantages, but makes up for it with his genius. And honestly... Donnie isn't even that much worse of a fighter in the '80s cartoon- they're all treated pretty equally. He seems a full PL lower in the 2000s toon, but here I kind of just have to make him less-skilled so that he doesn't overwhelm everyone else's abilities. In situations where Leo is away or incapacitated, Donnie even takes over as team leader!
Other Donatello Toys: Sewer Swimmin', w/ Storage Shell, Undercover Turtle, Giant Turtle, Hose 'Em Down, Movie Star, Talkin', Punkin', Pro Pilot, Slam Dunkin', Crazy Cowboy, Delta Team, Head Droppin', Movie III Samurai, Powerliftin', Toon, Spike 'n' Volley, Turtle Troll, Mutatin', Cartwheelin' Karate, Don as Dracula, Cave Turtle Don & his Trippy Tyrannosaurus, Giant Movie III Samurai Don, Giant Movie Star, Giant Mutatin', Giant Turtle Troll, Night Ninja, Super Don, Airforce Mutation, Arctic, Construction Mutation, Cyber Samurai, Farmer Don w/ Modern Mutant Tractor, First Officer (Star Trek), Dwarf Don, Eggsplodin', Pizza Tossin', Undercover, Supermutant, Shogun, The Mutant Military Combo (Mini-Mutant Military Turtle Copter and Turtle Cycle with Mini-Mutant Pro Pilot Donatello Figure!), Sewer Wars Playset (Modular Battleset with Mini-Mutant Toon Turtle Donatello Figure!), Kung Fu, Touchdown, Jim Lee Sculpt, Next Mutation, Camo-Armor Turtleflage (NM), Camo-Bandana Turtleflage (NM), Turtleflage Don's Camo Hydro Skimmer (NM), Demolition Specialist Donatello, Firefightin' Frenzy Combo (Mini-Mutant Fire Command Helicopter with Fire Response Cycle and Mini-Mutant Donatello Figure!), Mighty Muscle Combo (Mini-Mutant Classic Convertible, American Convertible and Mini-Mutant Original Movie Donatello!), Shooter Donatello, Warrior Winged Donatello, Stretch Donatello, Coil Cool Donatello, Dynatronic Donatello, Donatello Water Warrior, Pterano Don, Metal Mutant Donatello with Lion Spirit Armor, Shoot the Curl Don (Next Mutation)