Michelangelo

Michelangelo, Mike or Mikey (which they usually call him), is a fictional character and one of the four protagonists of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and all related media.[1] His mask is typically portrayed as orange outside of the Mirage/Image Comics and his weapons are dual nunchucks, though he has also been portrayed using other weapons, such as a grappling hook, manriki-gusari, tonfa, and a three section staff (in some action figures).

More fun-loving than his brothers, Michelangelo was given a much bigger role in the 1987 cartoon series, directed at a younger audience, than in the more serious original comic books[2] which was aimed at an older audience. He came to epitomize the late 1980s and early 1990s popular culture incarnation of the TMNT. He often coins most of their catchphrases, such as "Cowabunga!". Like all of the brothers, he is named after a famous Renaissance artist; in this case, he is named after Michelangelo Buonarroti. The spelling of the character's name varies from source to source, and he has been alternately shown as both Michelangelo and Michaelangelo.[3]

Because Kevin Eastman's original "ninja turtle" concept drawing (1983) portrayed an unnamed turtle with nunchucks strapped to its arms, some consider Michelangelo to be the first Ninja Turtle created.