19 No Cure For the Broken Shell

In 2014's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Raphael suffers the unfortunate fate of having his shell cracked by the Shredder. While the rest of the turtles are being held captive, and amidst a bold rescue effort carried out by April and Vern, Raphael attempts to take on Shredder himself, a campaign that obviously should not be entered into lightly. The results are... not great. Shedder pins Raph to the ground and steps on his shell, cracking it and causing him permanent damage.  If you watch this scene with the subtitles, you'll even see the words "cracking noises" displayed on the screen during this portion of the film.

The solution to a cracked shell? Well, according to science wiz Donatello, it's duct tape. It really can fix everything.

18 Bite Me, Dude

In one of Raphael's more bizarre storylines, in volume 4 of the Turtles' Mirage Comics run, he once got bit by a vampire-like creature. The bite somehow furthered his mutation, turning Raph from the friendly neighborhood Ninja Turtle we all know and love, into a sort of large, dinosaur type...thing. As if he wasn't angry enough already, this sent Raphael into a total even more animalistic rage. The only thing that eventually calmed him down was, you guessed it, Master Splinter, who manifested in his mind to bring him back to his original, still angry, but way less angry, form. With the help of Leonardo and Casey Jones, Raphael was able to track down the biter-in-question and punish them for their crimes.

Sure, because a comic book about giant turtles who know karate wasn't weird enough already.

17 Sibling Rivalry

Look, not all brothers get along all the time. Most of the time, brothers gotta hug. But sometimes, brothers gotta fight. Enter the relationship between Raphael and Leonardo. There's so much to unpack here. Leonardo is the oldest of the turtles, but Raphael is the second oldest, which, while nobody's fault, is already pretty fertile ground for a sibling rivalry. In addition, Leonardo is cool, calm, and collected under pressure. He's the leader of the Ninja Turtles, and while not everyone always agrees with him, he's the best fit for the job without question. Raphael believes with every fiber of his being that HE should instead lead the turtles, but undoubtedly doesn't have the disposition or temperament for it. Poor Raph. Always a Wolverine, never a Cyclops (when you put it like that, I suppose it could be worse).

16 His...Face...

I'm sure a lot of people get that the title for this installment on this list was taken from The Secret of the Ooze, right? When Shredder takes off his mask? Look, if you didn't get that, stop reading now. I'm kidding. Please keep reading, then share this with a friend. Boy, that took a quick turn, huh?

During the Turtles' Image Comics run, Raph once had most of his face blown off. True story. To cover it up, he first wore one of Casey Jones' iconic hockey masks, then switched to just an eyepatch. At one point. Raphael even started wearing a version of Shredder's armor to get a one up on the New York Mob. Oh, Raphael. Always jumping from "Plan A" to "Plan Crazy McInsane."

By the way, the plan totally worked.

15 Headed For Disaster

The Ninja Turtle costumes in the original 1990s movies were groundbreaking in so many ways. Not only did they allow the entire film to be shot in live action, something that you rarely see how with CGI being so big, but they also gave the films a sort of gritty realism. When you looked at the Turtles on screen, it really felt like that's what they'd look like if you ran into them in real life. In fact, the costumes were so intense, actor Josh Pais, who played Raphael, actually had to remove the head after each shot. Pais suffered from claustrophobia, and leaving the costume on for long periods of time was extremely difficult for him.

Kind of seems like maybe he should have passed on the role, but hey, I get it. Getting the opportunity to play Raph in some of the greatest superhero movies ever made is a tough gig to pass up.

14 Ninja Vanish!

When it comes to costuming, The Ninja Turtles generally like to keep things pretty simple. A bandana around the eyes, maybe a few handkerchiefs around the arms, you know, just enough so we can tell which one is which. But for a while, bad boy Raphael totally bucked that trend, and donned a fully black, more traditional ninja costume.

After coming out victorious from an alien wrestling match (and really, who can't relate to that), Raphael won the costume and proceeded to wear it for most of the run.

This really fits with Raphael's character. He constantly is trying to set himself apart from his brothers, while at the same time bares a level of internal shame because he's different from everyone else. Changing up his look covers both those bases.

13 Soft Spot For The Party Dude

While Raphael may clash heads with his eldest brother from time to time, that doesn't mean he doesn't get along with all his siblings. Take, for example, his relationship with goofy younger brother Michelangelo, which gets expanded upon in their Mirage comics line.

Raphael makes it clear that Mikey is the brother he feels closest to, and the reader gets a look at a softer, more caring version of Raphael when the two of them are together. But, of course, this is Raphael, so it's not all sunshine and roses. Raphael also makes sure to stay close to his youngest sibling in battle so he can protect him, as just the idea of any injury coming to Michelangelo causes him to go into a violent rage.

So yeah, if you're attacking the turtles, maybe take a swing at Donny first.

12 Hello Ladies

Everybody knows the ladies love a rebel, and Raphael is no exception. In fact, he was the first of his four brothers to have a girlfriend (take that, Leo). Raphael met his main squeeze, Ninjara, during the Archie Comics run in issue #28. They had a long and passionate romance, that sadly ended with Raphael calling it off towards the end of comic's 75 issue run. Which brings to me to my question: what are you thinking, Raphael? That girl is stunning like a fox (you know, for obvious reasons). How did you just let that one go? You find somebody in this world who can tolerate your garbage, you gotta hang onto them, ESPECIALLY if they're a super jaw-dropping ninja fox. I guess this is why I'd never cut it as a Ninja Turtle. Too easily distracted...by mega humanoid foxes. What? I'm fine. Stop asking. Next entry.

11 Raph...Are you Pondering What I'm Pondering?

Ever listen to Raphael's voice in the classic, 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated TV series (you know, the one that was on in the background for probably most of your childhood) and think, "wait, isn't that Pinky from Pinky and The Brain?" Well, if you did, first of all, you have some weird ESP because Animaniacs didn't come out until 1993, so that's just weird. But, if you said this sentence post 1993, yeah, I mean, I think you see where I'm going with this.

Acclaimed voice actor Rob Paulsen, also known for his work as beloved characters like Pinky and Yakko from Animaniacs, voiced Raphael for the first nine seasons of the show. Too bad we never saw a Warners/Turtles crossover.

10 Cool But What?

Everyone remembers the theme song to the classic 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, especially if you, like me, shoved every quarter you could get your hands on into the classic arcade game. Ever notice how on the cabinet of that game, there was a drawn picture of the Turtles with an actual actor playing April in the middle of it? That was weird, right? Why not just use the cartoon character? Moving on.

In the theme song, each turtle gets a little fact about their personality. Leonardo leads, Donatello does machines. And Raphael is cool but...crude (Michelangelo is a party dude, for anyone who was wondering)! As a kid, I always thought this line was "cool but rude!" But it's not! Crazy, right? This was more of a fact for me, I guess. But I hope it helped some of you out there, too.

9 The Kids TV Show Totally Neutered Him

Fans of the dark, brooding, comics version of Raphael were likely fairly disappointed with this iteration in the 1987 animated TV show, which took a lighter, more humorous look at the Turtles. It's always kind of remarkable to look at the animated series next to the comics and see how stark the differences are, also fairly remarkable a series that followed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles somehow started off having a tone close to, say Spawn rather than Betty and Veronica. 

Raphael was drastically changed for the cartoon, and his issues with anger and loneliness were replaced with sarcasm, wit, and jokes. In another drastic different, Michelangelo is often the butt of Raph's jokes, which represents a stark departure from the comic books.

It should be noted that these changes definitely made Raphael more palatable to children, so while these changes may have bugged purists, they let a new demographic fall in love with the Turtles at the same time.

8 Hotheaded Rule Breaker

In 1992's The Secret of the Ooze (arguably the finest Ninja Turtle movie of all time), Raphael's hothead, angry persona is back, and while he definitely uses comedy, it feels like it has much more of an edge. Raphael butts heads with Leonardo, as well as Master Splinter, even choosing to enact his own plan to get pizza boy and ninja master Keno to join the Foot Clan against his sensei's wishes.

Shocker: the plan doesn't work and Raph ends up captured trying to protect Keno from harm. However, his capture does lead to the classic lines: "It's Raph!" "Yeah, a little too Raph."

True fans get it. And if you don't, see this movie! It's the best of the original three and the Vanilla Ice scene is 90s filmmaking at its absolute best.

7 The End Is Near

In the aptly titled 1987 animated series season five installment Raph Versus the Volcano (Tom Hanks, anyone?), Raphael actually briefly thought he was close to the end of his life.

A brief synopsis of the episode: Donatello (who, as you may recall, does machines), creates something called a "Healthometer," which tells you how much life you have left. Due to a malfunction, it tells Raphael he's pretty close to end. As you can imagine, this makes him a little nuts, and he responds to the news by donning a new alter ego, the "Green Defender," who goes out and fights crime on his own. When Raph finds out he's actually got lots of time left, he goes back to...fighting crime with three other turtles. All's well that ends well.

6 Is That A Tear I See?

This guy is such a softie. In the 2003 animated series (it's so hard to keep track of these when they all have the same name, right?) Raphael's sarcastic, joke-cracking character is back, but with a bit of a gentler side. For example, when it seems like Leonard may have met his end at the hands of the Foot Clan, Raphael is the first one to shed tears over the potential loss of his brother. Not what you might expect from a loudmouth who seems to get into fights at the drop of a hat. When Leonardo does pull through, Raphael has his back more than any of the other turtles, to the point of even helping him forge new katana swords.

Don't worry though, he's still Raphael, and constantly questions his brother's leadership and decisions for the foursome's actions. Raphael's like that dog that always barks at you when you walk past it but then licks your face for hours after you give it a doggie treat. We all know that dog. Don't lie.

5 Get It Away From Me!

Question: what do Raphael and Pokémon's Misty have in common? The answer may surprise you. In fact, both of them detest and are scared of insects. While it's never said outright, it certainly seems like 2003 animated series Raphael suffers from entomophobia, which is a big word I just learned that means being afraid of bugs. What's great is how he reacts to seeing insects. Whereas Misty will throw up her hands and do everything she can to put space between her and the offending bug, Raphael instead reacts with anger and displays an increased level of violence when he sees a creepy crawler in his vicinity. Take that, minuscule insects who pose a threat to no one.

4 Comatose In A Half Shell

1990s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a cinematic masterpiece. An arguably perfect blend of the dark comic books and a kid-friendly TV show, the movie follows the Turtles as they face their biggest challenge yet, The Shredder. What's great about this movie is that the Turtles are still new to this crimefighting thing, and frequently make mistakes. In one particular battle, Raph gets thrown through a skylight window and goes into a coma.

In one of the film's most iconic shots, Leonardo sits by Raphael's comatose body in a bathtub, just waiting and praying for his brother to wake up. It's a really beautiful image, and even though the movie is really for kids, the level of seriousness the filmmakers brought to the characters and their development really set a high bar for any Turtle movies that followed.

3 Raph-Wise?

In addition to being voiced by animation powerhouse Rob Paulsen, Raphael also has the distinction of being voiced by Samwise himself, Sean Astin. Astin voiced Raphael in the 2012 Nickelodeon animated series, where he was described in the theme song as having "the most attitude on the team.

Astin is an extremely accomplished actor, and in addition to appearing in Lord of the Rings, he's also known for his role as the ultimate underdog in the football movie Rudy. Rudy and Raphael actually have a lot in common. Aside from their names being similar, they're both scrappy underdogs who refuse to let the world tell them what they can or cannot accomplish. Raphael would also be one heck of a football player. You know, because he'd be two times bigger than everyone on the field and all.

2 Unbalanced Gamer

While overwhelmingly popular among fans for his appearances in the comic and TV adaptations, for a long time, Raphael was a pretty unpopular character for gamers. Why? His sais have the worst range of any of the Turtles' signature weapons, having a much shorter reach than Leonardo's katanas, Donatello's staff, or Mikey's nunchucks.

Developers did try to make up for this by having Raphael be the fastest of the characters, but also gave him the lowest stamina, meaning every hit he took resulted in more damage than his brothers took.

If you think about it, these stats make perfect sense for Raphael, fastest to act, and fastest to pay the biggest price for it. I'll still take him over Donatello any day though. His weapon is basically a stick. I mean, come on.

1 Putting Down The Sais?

Speaking of Raphael's sais, even though it's hard to imagine him without them, he did actually put them down for the 2007 movie, which, to set it apart from its predecessors, was called simply TMNT. In the film, Raphael has taken on the moniker of The Nightwatcher, and uses a weapon called the manriki, a long chain with weights on either end. This weapon could not be more different from the sai, and for the first time in history, makes Raphael a long-distance threat.

It's hard to imagine Raph without the sais, but it's also hard to imagine him wearing full body armor. Too bad they never gave Raphael the manriki in video games, or he probably would have been a way more popular character.