Giant Character Survey of DOOM

[meanandgreen]

Body and Appearance
1. Describe the character's height and build. Is he heavyset, thin, short, rangy?
Just under 5’3”, but extremely heavy for his size mostly due to the weight of his shell and muscle mass. He’s the most well-muscled of his brothers, but also seems to have the highest percentage body fat, since he lacks the lean, well-toned definition of his brothers.

For my headcanon, I use this scale drawn by one of the Mirage Tales of the TMNT Vol. 2 comic artists, Paul Harmon, who used this as a reference to differentiate the guys for his issues.

Though Raph is in excellent fighting shape, his bulkiness does earn him a few cracks about his weight from his idiot brothers from time to time.

2. How old is he?
Roughly 18, but it’s hard to tell for sure. He doesn’t have an actual birthday, and his Master never thought of keeping track of their ages until years after the mutation. Their assumed age is more of an estimate. The Turtles don’t celebrate birthdays, and it’s not something Raph’s ever been particularly interested in doing.

3. Describe his posture. Does he carry himself well or does he slouch?
He has a habit of crossing his arms over his chest. It betrays his insecurities even when he’s trying to be menacing.

During battle or whenever he’s feeling cocky, he carries himself proudly with an obvious swagger, and paired with his attitude, it can be very intimidating. Whenever he’s in deep thought, he’ll hunch his shoulders in typical brooding fashion.

4. How is his health? Is he fit or out of shape? Any illnesses or conditions? Any physical disabilities?
He’s in peak form. Raphael relies on his workouts to vent his frustrations and pent-up energy. He’s extremely well-muscled and the picture of health.

5. How does he move? Is he clumsy, graceful, tense, fluid?
His bulk makes him kind of a lumbering brute outside of battle. He has a tendency of breaking things wherever he goes (furniture, dishware, walls...). During battle or training, his movements are much more fluid, though compared to his brothers, his form is the sloppiest and the slowest.

6. How attractive is this character physically? How does he perceive himself in the mirror?
His unique anatomy makes it difficult to judge how other people would perceive his attractiveness, so that’s all relative. When I play him, I try to think about what he'd look like in real life, rather than what he looks in his icons. This is a good representation. Seeing that, it's pretty understandable why people in his canon are so afraid of his appearance.

As far as Raph’s own perception of himself, he’s pretty proud of what he is physically. He takes great pains to keep the muscle mass he’s gained, and he enjoys how it intimidates other people. And even though he’s so badly scarred from past battles, he wears that damage with pride.

7. Describe his complexion. Dark, light, clear, scarred?
Compared to his brothers, Raph’s the darkest of the four. And he is, of course, green.

Also, he's a scrapper and a street fighter through-and-through, preferring the blood and thrills of close combat far more than any of his brothers. It’s earned him his fair share of cuts and scrapes, which stand out on his skin as grayish scars. His shell is gouged and cracked in places, but compared to the massive scar on his brother Leo’s carapace, his imperfections are minor.

8. What color are his eyes? Brown

9. What are his chief tension centers? Jaw, neck and shoulders.

10. What is the character's wardrobe like? Casual, dressy, utilitarian? Bright colors, pastels, neutrals? Is it varied, or does he have six of the same suit?
He only has one favorite suit—his birthday suit. He does wear the occasional jacket, baggy pants, and sweatshirt, but only for the purpose of disguise or warmth. Otherwise he’s happy to go around in just his mask, belt, and pads.

11. Do his clothes fit well? Does he seem comfortable in them?
Raph hates wearing clothes. It makes him feel restricted to the point of near strangulation. Whenever he’s forced to wear them, the sooner he can take it all off, the better.


Speech

1. What does this character's voice sound like? High-pitched, deep, hoarse?
Deep and somewhat raspy; almost oddly so, especially for his age.

2. How does he normally speak? Loud, soft, fast, evenly? Does he talk easily, or does he hesitate?
He’s not exactly the eloquent type, but that doesn’t stop him from opening his mouth when he’s got something to say. Sarcasm is his friend and arguments are his hobby. But when it comes to personal matters or talking casually to people outside his family, he’s a guy of few words and tends to get frustrated because he can’t put things right.

Sometimes things come out sounding totally wrong, too. He doesn’t always mean to sound so nasty. It just turns out that way.

Raph’s speech is the worst when he’s talking about himself. He doesn’t like to dwell on the stuff that goes on inside his head—or, at least not with other people around. There’s a lot of thoughts and ideas swimming in there that he just can’t (or doesn’t want to) put into words.

The more uncomfortable he gets, the more he stumbles and halts, which can lead to anger and frustration.

3. Does the character have a distinct accent or dialect? Any individual quirks of pronunciation? Any, like, you know, verbal tics?
Most noticeably is his thick Brooklyn accent, which he adopted for himself as a kid to sound “tough” in front of his brothers. But eventually it became second-nature.

He’s also got quite a colorful vocabulary. Along with mainstream swears, Raph likes to use made-up versions of more familiar curses such as “crud” or “friggin’”. It’s a method of self-preservation used more often around his friends and family than with strangers. He’s been beaten over the head with a walking stick far too many times to not learn to censor himself around the people he cares about.

In front of strangers, he’ll be more likely to use the real stuff, especially if he doesn’t like the person he’s talking to. In battle, he’ll also use the real-deal often.

The more angry or insecure he gets, the more colorful and offensive his speech will become.

Raph also has a thing for making up nicknames for people. These are usually offensive in nature, but should actually be seen as terms of endearment and a somewhat harmless method of teasing.

He’s also fond of making up odd and uncomfortable-sounding threats, but whether he’s serious or just joking is up for debate.

4. What language/s does he speak, and with how much fluency?
He speaks and reads English well enough, but writes poorly. He and his brothers have never had any kind of formal schooling, but while his other three brothers caught on very quickly, Raph, being the slowest learner of the group, was left pretty far behind.

At the age of 18, he functions around a 5th grade reading level.

He can also understand and speak Japanese, though it’s poorer than his English.

5. Does he switch languages or dialects in certain situations?
Raph’s default is English, but he’ll speak Japanese when he needs to. Dojo etiquette demands all speech be in his father’s native tongue, so he’ll use it more often during training sessions, or opt not to speak at all.

He does use Japanese terms while talking about weapons or fighting, which comes from his vast knowledge of martial arts.

6. Is he a good impromptu speaker, or does he have to think about his words?
If he has something bitingly sarcastic to say, he’ll throw a quick jab in just for the hell of it. Usually he tends to speak without thinking first, which often lands him in a heap of trouble.

When he’s in a more uncomfortable situation, he tends to stumble over his words and will speak more halting and slowly, or choose not to speak at all.

7. Is he eloquent or inarticulate? Under what circumstances might this change? (See questions 2-6)

Mental and Emotional

1. How intelligent is this character? Is he book-smart or street-smart?
(See Speech question 4)

As a reject of society, Raphael’s childhood was sheltered and an example of the basest form of poverty. Out of the four turtles, Raphael expresses the adverse effects of his upbringing most apparently.

His knowledge of the world outside his family is based almost solely on experience, leaving him ignorant to a lot of what people may consider basic knowledge, logic, or opinions. But lucky for Raph, his young life has been wildly eventful, sending him all over the world, universe, and multiverse.

So he doesn’t always understand everything about a given situation, but he has enough base knowledge to think on his toes. His hobby as a vigilante and his lifestyle as a ninja has granted him a keen sense of danger and the ability to predict outcomes. This, plus all the battle and street experience such a violent life has granted him, makes Raphael quite knowledgeable about The Way of Things, even though said knowledge is limited to a very narrow way of thinking.

2. Does he think on his feet, or does he need time to deliberate?
Raph is impulsive to a fault. He almost always acts before doing, and sometimes it pans out, often times it doesn’t. Luckily his brothers always have his back.

3. Describe the character's thought process. Is he more logical, or more intuitive? Idealistic or practical?
More than anything, Raph thinks with his gut. He’s a highly emotional person to an unhealthy degree, and it often clouds his judgment. He tends to act more out of anger than logic, and will eagerly throw a battle plan out the window for no apparent reason.

Luckily he has good, strong instincts and things occasionally pan out for the better, though the likelihood of things going right is directly correlated with the presence of his brothers.

4. What kind of education has the character had?
(See Mental and Emotional question 1, Speech question 4)

Aside from his limited mainstream education, Raphael is practically an expert on fighting styles, techniques, and weaponry. Eighteen years of ridiculously strict and intensive martial arts training has earned Raph an almost boundless pool of knowledge and skill in these areas.

Out of his three brothers, Raphael’s knowledge of ninjitsu is rivaled only by that of his brother Leonardo’s. But though his brother may know more in the way of battle tactics, form, history, meditation and kata, Raphael is passionate about the more intensely aggressive aspects of the art.

5. What are his areas of expertise? What, if anything, is he interested in learning more about?
He’s a weapons expert, and the most versatile of the four when it comes to variety of mastered weapons. He’s the most dexterous turtle with the best aim and the largest strength threshold, making him unrivaled in that aspect.

Though he prefers close-range combat weapons such as the tonfa, he also can handle mid-range and long-distance weapons such as the manriki, bo staff, and a wide assortment of throwing weapons.

His weapon of choice, the sai, is a testament to his impressive and well-rounded skill. It’s both bladed and non-bladed, defensive and offensive, with the versatility of a close-range combat weapon crossed with a throwing weapon. It’s unexpectedly heavy and requires an obscene amount of dexterity to handle, requiring the handler to change his grip on the weapon constantly.

Along with his interest for weapons is his love for body building, which borders on obsession. Not only is working out an excellent way to release pent-up frustration, but it’s his passion and probably the only saving grace for Raph’s pathetically low self-esteem.

Lastly, he knows everything and anything to do with motorcycles.

6. Is he an introvert or an extrovert?
Many see Raph as an introvert, but that’s not necessarily true. Whenever he isolates himself, it’s more out of shame, confusion, and his unwillingness to unintentionally hurt others. And though he doesn’t always voice his thoughts and feelings, that’s more out of inability than unwillingness.

One of Raphael’s biggest fears is loneliness and the thought of becoming separated from his family in any way. Not only is he fiercely loyal and protective of his sensei and brothers, Raphael depends on them to pull him out of his moods, ease his temper, and distract him from the darker places of his mind. Without them, he’d surely fall into a pit of depression and self-loathing he wouldn’t be able to climb out of.

7. Describe the character's temperament. Is he even-tempered or does he have mood swings? Cheerful or melancholy? Laid-back or driven?
Raph’s brothers call him a “hothead” for a very good reason. His moods change like the weather, but whenever he becomes confused or frustrated by this constant ebb and flow of emotion, it almost always translates to anger.

Despite being a chronic pessimist, Raph can be quite cheerful around his brothers. He loves to horse around and generally act like the teenage boy he is. He loves action movies, motorcycles, takeout food, and wrestling.

Whenever Raphael is in a good mood, it’s easy for him to become somewhat manic, acting on his chronic impulsivity to land him in the oddest situations, just for the fun of it. Out of all of his brothers, he’s the most likely to climb a tree for no reason or try to execute some kind of stupid, show-off stunt just to prove he can.

He’s an adrenaline junkie and a speed demon, but also greatly enjoys the smell and sight of blood. He gets a savage sense of joy and entertainment from battle, which can often cloud his better judgment. Some would say Raph likes fighting, and sometimes killing, to an unhealthy degree. And if he psyches himself up into a rage, his blood lust can become almost terrifying.

But as with all things, his brothers help him tremendously by forcing him to keep it in check. His father has also made him undergo intensive amounts of meditation to try to curb his impulses.

8. How does he respond to new people or situations? Is he suspicious, relaxed, timid, enthusiastic?
Raphael is extremely slow to trust due to past experience. The only people he will ever truly trust are his brothers, sensei, and his friends April O’Neil and Casey Jones.

In unfamiliar situations, he is always on his guard, ready to spring into battle at any moment. He will be suspicious, tense, and will become dangerously aggressive if he feels cornered or threatened.

9. Is he more likely to act, or to react?
In battle, Raph will almost always play the offense and will always be eager to throw the first punch.

In more causal situations, he will react to his surroundings more often than taking initiative himself unless he feels that something about the situation goes against his personal code of beliefs.

10. Which is his default: fight or flight? Fight. Hands down.

11. Describe the character's sense of humor. Does he appreciate jokes? Puns? Gallows humor? Bathroom humor? Pranks?
He loves teasing and humiliating others, and he finds pranks hilarious as long as he’s not the victim. His sense of humor is often dark, sarcastic, and offensive. And even though he does more than his fair share of teasing, he can get really pissed if someone decides to pick on him.

If you happen to make a complex pun or joke, chances are he won't get it.

12. Does the character have any diagnosable mental disorders? If yes, how does he deal with them?

Borderline Personality Disorder

Many would say he has anger issues. If only it was that simple. For Raph, anger is more of a protective maneuver than the root of the problem. The true issue is the constant ebb and flow of emotion that’s so muddled and intense, he can’t make sense of it. That leads to frustration which turns into anger that can escalate to seismic proportions.

His moods can change at the drop of a hat, and because he’s so impulsive, he tends to act upon these feelings before ever thinking things through. This lands him in plenty of unfavorable and dangerous situations.

Luckily, his sensei and brothers are always there to bail him out when he gets in trouble or calm him down before things get out of hand.

13. What moments in this character's life have defined him as a person?
Oi… He’s had so many life-changing experiences, I’d rather not get into them in full and avoid ranting for eons.

14. What does he fear?
1. One of his brothers or his sensei dying.
2. Going too far, like he did with Mikey and the pipe.
3. Getting sick or injured to the point where he can’t fight anymore
4. Being helpless
5. Being dissected
6. Cages of any kind
7. Failing his family to the point of them hating him, even though he knows it’s impossible.
8. Kind of trivial, but bugs. He’s not so much afraid of them as just hating them with a passion, mostly because of a childhood experience he’d rather not remember.

15. What are his hopes or aspirations?
To be a better person, friend, and brother. Also to learn to control his temper better.

16. What is something he doesn't want anyone to find out about him?
1. That he’s not as tough as he pretends to be
2. That he always wished they had a mom
3. That he thinks he’s unlovable and doesn’t understand how his family puts up with him
4. That he’s thinks about killing himself, but he knows he couldn’t ‘cause he has to be there for his family
5. Sometimes girlie movies make him (almost) cry.
6. The reason he likes his hammock so much is because it’s easier to check for bugs than a regular bed.

Relationships
1. Describe this character's relationship with his parents.
He has a very strong sense of love and respect for his sensei. Without him, he would be dead.

2. Does the character have any siblings? What is/was their relationship like?
He has three brothers who he loves more than life itself.

3. Are there other blood relatives to whom he is close? Are there ones he can't stand?
He has no blood relatives to speak of. His family is more of a patchwork quilt in that way, but that doesn’t mean he loves them any less.

4. Are there other, unrelated people whom he considers part of his family? What are his relationships with them?

April O’Neil – A sister/mother figure

Casey Jones – Like his second older brother, or one of those “cool” uncles. He’s also his best friend and the only human he’d ever trust to such an extent.

5. Who is/was the character's best friend? How did they meet?
Casey Jones. They kinda met on accident one night, bumping into each other while they were both looking for a way to vent their anger. It turned out that they had a common cause and common emotional complexes.

6. Does he have other close friends? Other than Casey and his brothers, not really.

7. Does he make friends easily, or does he have trouble getting along with people?
He has a VERY hard time getting along with other people outside his immediate family.

8. Which does he consider more important: family or friends? Family, without a doubt.

9. Is the character single, married, divorced, widowed? Has he been married more than once?
Free as a bird, and with his luck and situation, it’ll probably stay that way.

10. Who was his first crush? Who is his latest?
He’s never had a crush, only the occasional twinge of attraction to random girls on TV or in magazines, but he tends not to dwell on it.

11. What does he look for in a romantic partner?
Probably someone who knows what he’s going through. Somebody who understands what it’s like to be the underdog. He’d want someone with a thick skin, too. He’s no good at walking on eggshells. Also someone who doesn't mind when he can’t put stuff into words.

12. Does the character have children? Grandchildren? If yes, how does he relate to them? If no, does he want any?
No, and probably never will. Donnie once told him most mutants can’t anyways, especially with all the funky chemicals in their blood.

13. Does he have any rivals or enemies?
More enemies than friends. More enemies than I could name in one sitting, but primarily the Shredder and the Foot Clan.

14. What is the character's sexual orientation?
Straight, but it’s nothing he’s put much thought into.

15. How does he feel about sex? How important is it to him?
Being a typical eighteen year old boy, sex is important, and it creeps into his mind regularly. But it’s also a depressing and confusing subject. He knows no one will probably ever touch him in that way, and that saddens him, but also relieves him somewhat. He’s also pretty confused about what he should be attracted to. Sometimes he thinks human females are hot, sometimes he’s attracted to more alien body types. Mostly girls are just weird to him.

16. What are his turn-ons? Turn-offs? Weird bedroom habits?
Pretty much everything about his sexuality would be weird by human standards.

Beliefs
1. Do you know your character's astrological (zodiac of choice) sign? How well does he fit type?
Without an actual birthday to go by, no one can say for sure.

2. Is this character religious, spiritual, both, or neither? How important are these elements in his life?
He’s an atheist through and through. He’s one of those “believe what you see” kind of people, and he hasn’t seen some glowing dude in white robes walking down 5th Avenue yet.

3. Does this character have a personal code of morals or ethics? If so, how did that begin? What would it take to compromise it?
For the most part, he’ll leave you alone to your ideas and intentions if they don’t concern him. But if it involves picking on the weak, he’s all over it. He cannot stand an unfair fight, and will kick some ass and take some names wherever the strong take advantage of the weak. Raph’s been the underdog long enough to know he’s worth fighting for.

4. How does he regard beliefs that differ from his? Is he tolerant, intolerant, curious, indifferent?
He usually just lets people think what they want to think unless people are directly hurting or attacking something he holds close to his heart. Or they’re just an idiot. Then, he’ll tell them they’re an idiot.

5. What prejudices does he hold? Are they irrational or does he have a good reason for them?
Because of the constant warnings and horror stories about the evils of humanity and the surface world he’d been spoon fed since childhood, Raph has a rigid and nearly unshakable distrust toward humans. Sometimes this can escalate to loathing, disgust, or even hatred.

This is partly due to a fierce jealousy toward everything humans take for granted. Above all, Raph craves for freedom and respect within society. For him, this is just a dream, but humans treat it like their birthright.

He sees most humans as gluttonous, spoiled, and narrow-minded. There are of course some exceptions, but they’re few and far between.


Daily Life

1. What is the character's financial situation? Is he rich, poor, comfortable, in debt?
His family lives in the sewers without a penny to their name. They often depend on the charity of their human allies Casey and April for handouts. Most of their belongings are acquired from junkyards, and they’re not against stealing food or eating straight out of dumpsters when necessary.

2. What is his social status? Has this changed over time, and if so, how has the change affected him?
Most of society doesn’t know he exists, so nothing much has changed. Within his family he has become a bit better with keeping his patience, though.

3. Where does he live? House, apartment, trailer? Is his home his castle or just a place to crash? What condition is it in? Does he share it with others?
He lives deep in the sewers of NYC with his three brothers and elderly sensei, hidden from the eye of man. It’s a filthy, rat and bug-infested existence, but they manage.

4. Besides the basic necessities, what does he spend his money on?
He doesn’t have any money, but if he did, he’d spend it on something his entire family would enjoy. He just doesn't have it in him to be frivolous.

5. What does he do for a living? Is he good at it? Does he enjoy it, or would he rather be doing something else?
He’s a ninja. If he wasn’t good at it, he’d be long dead by now. He knows there’s no chance he’ll ever get the opportunity to be anything else, so he tries not to think about it. But he has imagined that if he didn’t have to worry about all the things he does now, he’d either teach martial arts or work on motorcycles.

6. What are his interests or hobbies? How does he spend his free time?
Weightlifting, sparring, and working on his bike are his usual modes of entertainment. He also watches a hell of a lot of TV, especially MTV. A lot of times he’ll join Mikey in one of his late night movie marathons.

If he gets a chance, he’ll hang out with his friend Casey and raise some hell scaring the gangs shitless for fun, or they’ll just sit around and do nothing.

When he wants to be alone, Raph will go out for a run either through the sewers or jumping rooftops, or he’ll go out for a ride on his motorcycle.

If he’s being antisocial and stuck indoors, he’ll busy himself with music. Music is a great outlet for him because it helps him sort out his emotions. Whenever he’s stuck in the Lair (most likely grounded) or just needs a distraction, he’ll blast music and work out for hours straight.

If he’s really bored, he’ll do some target practice with shuriken or anything he can get his hands on.

Fave bands: Tool, Rage Against the Machine

Fave TV shows: Anything about blowing shit up/wrestling/sports (mostly football, but only if he’s bored and there’s nothing else on). He watches the news, but mostly just to bitch about how much the stuff they talk about pisses him off.

7. What are his eating habits? Does he skip meals, eat out, drink alcohol, avoid certain foods?
Raph might make a jab at Mikey’s eating habits every now and then, but his aren’t much better. He works out a lot and he’s a big guy, so he could easily eat you out of house and home whenever he pleases. The only difference between Raph and Mike is Raph doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth. He tends to crave a good, hot meal with something like pasta or a big, juicy hamburger over the chips and sweets Mike usually munches on.

Raph would never skip a meal by choice unless he was sick or upset over something, and he’ll eat pretty much anything you put in front of him. As a kid, he remembers crying himself to sleep ‘cause of hunger pains, so wasting food is like a mortal sin.

Associations
Which of the following do you associate with the character, or which is his favorite:

1. Color?
Red
2. Smell?
Spray paint, motor oil
3. Time of day?
Midnight
4. Season?
Midsummer
5. Book?
Catcher in the Rye
6. Music?
Hard Rock / Rap
7. Place?
New York City rooftops
8. Substance?
Gasoline
9. Plant?
Cactus B|
10. Animal?
Pitbull / Bengal Tiger

END
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