Splintered Fate: Hamato Leonardo

[springsodas]

“The oldest brother and the soul of the family. His focus is on high damage and mobility, with low ability cooldowns.” (Illustration Source: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate Digital Artbook)

 

Profile

Like his brothers, Leonardo follows what one might consider his "traditional" characterization in Splintered Fate. As the oldest of the four turtles, he displays the most maturity and sense of responsibility of the four with his key personality traits including patience, sensitivity, and determination. He also acts as a guiding hand for Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo, offering them encouragement and reassurance while also keeping them in check and making sure that they don't get into trouble. Despite being fairly serious, he does show a more relaxed, playful side here and there, sometimes engaging in playful banter with his brothers and even teasing them from time to time. Most important, however, is his devotion to his family and ability to keep a cool head even when faced with immeasurable odds, a boon invaluable when faced with the unrelenting forces of the Foot or other malicious forces such as Stockman's robots and the Punk Frogs.

At the time Splintered Fate begins, Leonardo has already been firmly established as the leader of the turtles, although he still somewhat new to his role and shows concerns in his ability to lead his brothers without Splinter's guidance. He is incredibly hard on himself when he perceives himself as having failed those he loves, with Splinter even having to assert in a conversation with him that his apologies for failing to defeat the Shredder on the rooftops are unnecessary. As the game continues, Leonardo slowly but surely manages to adapt to his position as the leader and becomes less and less prone to second-guessing himself. By the time of the final battles with the Shredder, he is able to approach their situation with confidence while also not becoming too cocky in the process, and expresses relief once Splinter is back home in the Lair at the end of the main story.

In-Game

As mentioned in his in-game blurb, Leonardo focuses on high damage and is one of the speedier turtles. His two inspirations allow for for every Final Strike to deliver a Master Strike by default, and he also has an additional Special charge. He also has the Shuriken as his default tool.

Notes and Trivia

• Leonardo is voiced by Dominic Catrambone. This is not Catrambone's first time voicing the character; after Jason Biggs was fired from the role in the 2012 series, he served as a substitute VA for Leo for the final seven episodes of season 2 before Seth Green permanently took over the following season. He also voiced Leonardo in the video games based on the 2012 series and has provided his voice in a number of collabs.
• During the first instance where Splinter spiritually communicates with his sons and April, he refers to Leonardo as "Chūnin," or "Middle Ninja." It's not clear if all four turtles are also Chūnin or if this is a title specifically held by Leonardo.
• Leonardo mentions in a dialogue that Splinter was the one who taught him how to boil tea.
• During one scene in the game, Leonardo quotes Sun Tzu—this may be a nod to one of his old online profiles from the late 1990s/2000s, which mentions that his favorite book is "The Art of War."

Comments

[raisedbymoogles]

i wasn't going to play this game (brawlers are not my thing) but man i might need to track down a Let's Play, this looks like Good Lore

[springsodas]

The game has some VERY good lore. Heavily inspired by the TMNT IDW comics, but still very much within its own unique universe. (I also just love how everyone is characterized. Can't say there's a single character in the game I genuinely dislike, and it features one of my favorite versions of Donatello second only to the 2003 version.)