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The, at first self-proclaimed, leader and also oldest brother of the turtles. The most responsible one and at times he often thinks the only responsible one, and this belief has led to some unsavory fights with his brothers, as they believe Leo doesn't think they would go too far without him. The truth however is that Leonardo is deeply conscious about his decisions, which leads him to train tirelessly to prevent any perceived failure on his part, he's actually pretty proud of his brothers and knows he'd be more lost without them, he just often wishes they would take things as seriously as he does
Leonardo is a Mutant Painted Turtle, and, although he is the oldest and not the smallest species out of the bunch, he is the shortest something for which his brothers mock relentlessly for. For the most part his size does not bother him, as it allows him to be faster and access places his bigger brothers are unnable to. His body is a light green color, with lighter green marks in his face that resemble spikes, and spiraling stripes in his collarbone and arms, he does not present any stripes in his legs. His plastron is flat, resembling a male chest, with a wood orange color, and his shell is dark brown with markings in the form of circles encasing smaller circles that range from orange to green to brown, he also presents a wavy design in the center of the shell
Leo can be quite perfeccionist, things have to go perfect or else they are not done right, this drives his brothers insane and causes many fights between them, especially with Raphael. He can seem very bitter and cold, but that's usually because he has 10 different preocupations on his head (eldest daughter syndrome). He's ready to defend and even kill for his family, but barely realizes his brothers would do the same for him
He has the biggest sense of honor out of all of his brothers, something that pisses Raph off, as he believes Leo honors his code more than he does his own family (this family has communication issues, but they love each other. I love drama)
From before their mutation, Leonardo and his brothers were kept in a Laboratory, where tests where done on them, and although he claims he doesn't have any memories of the time before his mutation, this statement is partly a lie. He does remember lots of laboratory equipments around him, as well as many people handling him, being kept in the same enclosure as his brothers, and, for some reason, seeing four other turtles apart from him. Leo doesn't share these memories with his family, they're confusing and upsetting, so it's easier to feign ignorance over this part of his life
He and his brothers were rescues from this facility by Hamato Yoshi, before he got murdered by Oroku Saki. Splinter then raised them as his own children in the sewers of New York City, where he trained them in Ninjutsu so they'd be able to protect themselves. Barely ever ventured on his own, and always in charge whenever Splinter left to find food, Leo quickly developed a sense of responsability, one that as they grew older would turn into a sort of helicopter parent anxiety over his brothers
Due to being the one that spent the longest time as a turtle by virtue of being the oldest, Leonardo has quite many traits he doesnt seem to share with his brothers, such as getting bitey when picked up, being the least fuzzy at bath time, being the most likely to eat live bugs and other small animals (cue horrified Splinter saving many rats from small Leo's clutches), having a tendency to excavate, and needing a heat lamp the most
He was the last of his brothers to speak, and Splinter at first thought he was mute, once he started speaking he did prefer communicating with his brothers rather than with his father, but with age this trait was mostly lost
Splinter started training Leonardo first, as he was the oldest, but it wasn't long until the twins joined in on the training
10 years of age. First time on the surface very much behind Splinter's back, of course everything had to go wrong when Mikey was left behind in an alleyway, moment in wich a little girl, not much older than Leo himself, appeared and found Michelangelo. She doesn't scream, which is good, but she's also not leaving, and she seems to be speaking to his little brother, and Michelangelo seems to be answering, and didn't Splinter tell them not to speak with strangers? AND WHY IS NO ONE ELSE HAVING A PANICK ATTACK??
Leonardo, quickly ignoring the twins remark on being three brothers now, leaves the roof and decides to confront this stranger that is now dangerously close to his baby brother. She, again, doesn't seem bothered by Leo, in fact she seems very excited and giddy, as she excitedly exclaims that her name is April, the twins behind him exclaim their names, and Leo decides, well, we're already in trouble, and maybe this isn't going to be so bad, so he also introduces himself to this girl. They exchange some more words, and Leo decides is better to leave before Splinter wakes up and realizes the boys have left the lair, but he finds himself promising this girl that they'll see her again, and as they all get back into the sewers Donnie asks him if he actually meant it. He did.
Sneaking off topside with his brothers more and more, just for a few minutes with a new friend, nothing can last forever and one day Splinter discovers them speaking with a human, and although he did ground them for disobeying him, he did let them keep their friend, as he found April to be trustworthy
Regularly goes topside with his brothers, be it to visit April, or to just enjoy other things that the human world has to offer, while still fighting crime and the ocasional Foot Clan and Karai, which one day he will be able to defeat
15 years of age.
Leonardo notices that Raph is starting to get obsessed with one of the kids they regularly watch play hockey in the park, and like a good older brother tells him not to do something stupid like stalk him... Good thing that Leonardo is universally listened to, especially by Raph.
As he finds out that Raph has done something stupid like get involved in this kid's life, who's name is Casey, Leonardo decides that he can at least make sure that he doesn't say a word to anyone, but he quickly reassures him telling him that even if he said anything, no one would believe him.
Leo is distrustful of Casey at first, the kid is loud, he has an attitude, he is the poster child of bad influence on your children, but the more he gets to know him, the more he watches him interact with the rest of his brothers, Leo starts to get attached to Casey, in the same way he started to get attached to April. So he makes an effort to bond with the boy. But Casey is still Casey, so this is a relationship that takes its due effort to cultivate...
17 years of age.The turtles know that Shredder is aware of their existance, Splinter has told them the truth of their origins (see Splinter's bio for more info), so they know they are in danger. Leonardo and Raphael fight extensively over how to handle the situation, with Raph believing that they need to attack the Shredder and Leo trying to follow in Splinter's steps and just hiding until they are ready to face the Shredder. One night, one of their fights escalate to the point of turning physical, so Splinter separates them and tells Raph to go cool off, when Raphael doesn't return for the following night, the rest of the brothers start to worry. Leo and his brothers ask April and Casey if they have heard of him and they say no, so before Leo can start a search party one of Donnie's machines start beeping, showing a map. Donnie explains that, yes, he may have chipped his brothers without their knowledge but the machine is only supposed to beep if there is a massive spike in heart rate, which means that Raphael is in trouble. Leonardo agrees that this is one hundred percent a trap by the Foot Clan, but they need to get their brother back, so they all set to go (Splinter, April and Casey also joining in on the search).
As they arrive they realize the place is massive, so Leonardo orders them all to separate, Leo and Splinter go to the roof, April and Casey go to a warehouse and Donnie and Mikey go to a building that looks like a laboratory.
Once on the roof, they both notice that the place is deserted, but suddenly they are confronted by Karai, who is in company of a rat that Splinter inmediatly recognizes as Twig, his old rat companion. Karai and Leo argue, with the first one basically just beggin them to leave with Leo refusing as they're looking for their brother. Suddenly Shredder appears, Leonardo is inmediatly taken aback, as he was expecting the Foot Clan, and even Karai, but by what he had heard of the Shredder, he thought he wasn't going to get his own hands dirt. He notices Splinter beginning to panic, and Leo knows they are not ready to face this man, as he still hadn't been able to defeat his daughter, but the Shredder feels... off, he's never met this man and yet there is something uncanny about him, something that makes him feel... inhuman, even Karai seems afraid of her own father, and Leonardo's anxiety and panic grows. Shredder orders Karai to attack Leo, and she complies, as they fight Leonardo notices that Splinter and the other rat are also fighting.
Karai quickly gains the upperhand on Leo, managing to cut his face leaving a scar on his left eye, blinding him, but she is unnable to kill him, Shredder notices Karai's doubt and shoves her to the side, deciding to put an end to the turtle himself, Leonardo is trying to get away, with little strenght left when suddenly the one who shields him is the unknown rat, who is now pleading with Shredder, Splinter quickly get Leonardo away from the Shredder, as they see he's about to kill the rat in front of him, but this time is Karai who gets in between them and receives Shredder's strike. Leonardo is shocked as he watches his father and the other rat try to subdue Shredder, but the man is too strong. Suddenly in a split second when there is an explosion in the distance and Shredder seems to shift his attention to that, all four of them retreat from the roof, to a safer location.
Now on the ground and closer to the Battle Shell, Leonardo finds April and Casey, unconscious and bleeding out, Raphael bleeding from a wound in the neck on the verge of passing out, Donatello with a nasty stab wound in his right leg, unresponsive, and Michelangelo with a sai imbedded in his right arm, fully crying. Splinter quickly hurries his children into the truck, signaling at the same time to Twig and Karai to get inside, Leonardo goes to get April and Casey, but before he can move them (and oh god, they look like they're dead...) sounds of an ambulance are heard coming closer, Splinter tells Leo that is best to leave them there, that the ambulance will be able to give them more proper care that they can. Leave them behind, Leo knows and understands is for the best, but he is horrified as he climbs into the van and they drive away. Praying to everything that Shredder doesn't follow them...
Back at the lair, Leonardo makes sure all of his brothers are taken care of before he lets Splinter take a look at the damage on his eye. Everyone is sulking, unresponsive or crying, and Leonardo is unnable to even look his brothers in the eye, feeling responsible for everything that happened this night. As soon as his wound is dressed, he goes out into the night, searching in the local hospitals for April and Casey, task that takes him quite a few hours, but will not stop until it's done. When he finds them he spies them from the neighboring rooftops, making sure they're in stable enough condition before going back to his family with the news.
Back at the lair Twig announces that in their current condition they will be unnable to defeat the Shredder, but that he is going to personally train them, and as she says this he opens up a portal that will take them to a different dimention, one where they will be able to train without interruption... (yes, magic is real in this universe, just like in every other tmnt universe)
WIP Depression arc. Leo quits being leader
WIP Nearly dies defeating Shredder
WIP Now that the Shredder is defeated I guess we can go back to doing small deeds to save the- IS THAT ANOTHER MUTANT?
WIP I'm off on a bonding adventure with Casey, I'm sure you guys are going to be okay
WIP What do you mean you almost died while I was out? WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE HAVE ANOTHER SISTER?