Why Weren’t The Other Turtles The Last Ronin? [TMNT:TLR ANALYSIS]

I think Mikey was the best choice to be the last ronin. It's been mentioned and implied multiple times how incredibly gifted Mikey was in the TMNT series. Some of the shows supported this by showcasing is instinctive nature during spars with his brothers and battling the Foot clan. In one particular episode, Splinter demonstrated to Donnie how Mikey was capable of defending himself without second thought. Mind you, Mikey was distracted with music he had on his walkman when Splinter tried to strike him a few times (Only to catch him with his tail in the end). Splinter mentioned in other sources how Mikey had the most potential to be a phenomenal warrior if he took his training seriously. The Last Ronin series definitely showcased that potential in its purest form. Even though many wondered how this transition happened, I for one can say that it's fairly simple: Maturity. From day one, Mikey had the three brothers and Splinter to rely on no matter what. Which in turn didn't give Mikey much room to grow separately from his brothers. Most of the adventures were shared with all four turtles and not just one. Since he had Donnie, Raph and Leo there for support he didn't really worry too much. When each of them fell, Mikey carried a sense of helplessness in him that forged that survivor's guilt. One issue where Leo sacrifices himself to get Mikey and the others out, Mikey felt somewhat responsible even though Leo insisted that Mikey went with the others to safety. TLR gave us a more mature version of Mikey. The other thing I think Mikey was a good fit for this was in fact how emotionally driven Mikey was. Mikey carried his heart on his sleeve. Some Comic book issues delve into that portion of him (Recommended reading: "The Path") This does go along with the maturity and sense of helplessness Mikey felt during TLR. Although keeping it a mystery would have been interesting, some of the hints were apparent. Plus, if they really wanted to, they could draw out his eye color to provide another hint as to who it is. Either way, I really loved how they wrote it out. Nice job with this what if. :)

If Donnie was the last ronin he’d be the saw killer of the tmnt

The funny thing is everyone I asked who they think would be the last ronin all picked Mikey. The reasoning was always the same "You wouldn't have asked this question if it was leo so its gotta be mikey."

Mikey was the best choice, but I think that Donnie would have been second best. Both Raph and Leo would have been too obvious. Keeping it ambiguous for the entire story would have been interesting, but it would have made it impossible to show the backstory of what happened to the other 3, which is a big part of the story.

Sounds like we need a "what-if" the other brothers became the Last Ronin, maybe.

The only thing I would change in this masterpiece would have been to have Donnie stay back in NYC during the peace treaty. He could have monitored the tech and have Leo go with Master Splinter to Japan to confront Oroku Hiroto. That would have made more sense to me. Donnie dying in a tech explosion with Baxter to blame. Leo dying trying to save Splinter in a martial arts fight in Japan. Other than that, it’s perfect the way it is.

I think if Leo would have been last he would have turned into a monster. Not being able to sacrifice himself to save his brothers would have caused a psychotic break and with his skill set and preferred weapons he would not have been stopped.

I'd argue that there was never any chance of the Last Ronin being Raphael, and in fact, we find out to no one's surprise Raphael is fittingly the first turtle to die

mikey is pretty well known to be the most gifted turtle with the most natural talent as well as mastering the most free thinking out of all the weapons due to how straight forward the others are i think he survived purely because when everything went down he just had the most instincts,he survived out of dumb luck and used that natural talent to become the best of the best

Leonardo just wouldn't work as The Last Ronin because he is so mission-oriented and honor focused. If he was in the same situation as Mikey, he would've either committed Seppuku or gone underground to train the resistance to The Foot, becoming the next Splinter. If Donatello was the sole survivor, he would've abandoned the way of the ninja and go head first into tech, probably hacking into a Triceraton Battleship and bombarding The Foot's HQ (And half of New York) to the ground. Raphael cares too much for his brothers to think about revenge. He'd give in completely into his rage and charge straight into Foot HQ. He'd kill a third of the Foot Ninja and traumatize another third, but wouldn't have completed the mission

I think an important thing to note here is that I don't think Ralpheal, Leo would factually be able to live with themselves if all their brothers died. Leo would likely just give up and become some sort of washed up sensei type character for a new generation, and Ralpheal would likely end himself after he did what he needed to do. Don, I think, would become a little crazy with the way his character has been set up, but he at least be able to live and be functional.

If it was Donnie then the possibility to find a way to time travel back and save his brothers would be there. He could still lose himself but imagine towards the end he finds some interstellar tech that may give him a chance to save his brothers

I thought it was be Donny because in the preview we saw the ghost and I thought they were holograms of Donny’s Brothers with share memories but Mikey was was shocking because he is the baby of the family

Last Ronin is definitely a 10/10 story, but could be 11/10. I think it would be a good call to reveal identity of the last ronin on the very last page in the end of a story. Projecting such a drammatic events on any turtle would be extremely painful for all of them. Despite different personal struggles, ultimately not a single turtle gonna have easier time dealing with all this brutality, so it wouldn't make the story less impactful. On the contrary, it would add a new layer of depth since the character consistently demonstrates traits of different turtles at different times. Tactical approach of Leonardo, creativity of Michelangelo, technological savviness of Donatello, ferociousness of Raphael - all of it is present, yet not enough to be sure who exactly this is. So we keep theorising and guessing how these events are impacting each turtle individually instead of focusing only on one. As the story wraps up, in addition to completing the character arc via fulfilling his mission, identity reveal would be a cherry on top, putting all events happened to a new perspective. Mike is the best choice i agree, i just wish the reveal would not be that "free".

If yall wanna see the closest thing we get to Donnie being the last ronin just search up “ tmnt same as it never was “ . This definitely one of my favorite episodes of any tmnt show

Donatello was the last ninja turtle in mirage continuity

I thought it would be most obvious to be Mikey and then Raph as Raph is most commonly known to be the most violent and Mikey would be the 360 character change. I think about if it was Leo he would’ve been completely crippled believing everything he’s done and all the time he was able to get them out of sticky situations would be for nothing and even if he would die like Mikey in the end he would still wonder if he was truly able to avenge them and then when he meets them he’s crying apologizing to them for falling them and they all lift him up consoling him ( still think everything about this masterpiece is perfect )

I knew from jump that it was Michaelangelo. For how the story was described, it made the most sense. It was a great story. I loved every moment of the graphic novel

I think Mikey was the best choice for Last Ronin, but I could see Donnie becoming the Last Ronin. I'd imagine his story if he became Last Ronin would put the "Ninja" in TMNT front stage. He'd want justice for the deaths of his family, but knowing he wouldn't win physically like Leo or Raph would, he'd opt for the sneaky approach using elaborate traps and ironclad deception. I'd describe this transformation akin to Batman, you'd never know he's there unless he wanted you to know he was there and by that point it'd be too late. Oddly enough, I wouldn't see Raph being the Last Ronin. He does get angry at others, but we often look over that he gets angry at himself too, he blames himself is something goes wrong, how intense would that feeling get if he was the lone survivor of his family? He'd blame himself day in and day out that he was the cause of his family's death and that he isn't worthy of calling himself a ninja turtle, he'd hang up his sai and disappear, declaring all of the ninja turtles forever dead.

All narrative aspects aside, Michaelangelo as Last Ronin would seem to be primarily a function of logistics. Throughout many of the TMNT spin-offs, Michaelangelo is unorthodox and unpredictable as compared to his brothers' more traditional personas (passionate vs. disciplined vs. intellectual). They can all be anticipated and/or manipulated, but he wins through by doing what is least expected. Paraphrasing a friend of mine, for a fighter who knows all the right moves and can see all the outcomes it's the "wrong" move they don't see coming that is lethal.