The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a team of iconic heroes who have been able to beat practically every villain they’ve come across, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room to improve, and Donatello got a massive upgrade that essentially turned him into TMNT’s Transformer, though it did cost him his life–sort of.
Donatello is one of four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles which also includes Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Originally, he and his brothers were mutated turtles who were raised by martial arts master (and mutated rat) Splinter with the mission of using ninjutsu to protect the innocent from the evil Foot Clan and any other villainous team that popped up in New York City. However, during one mission where the Turtles were trying to take down both Shredder and Krang in one brilliant maneuver, it seemed the villains they were going up against were a bit too much for them to handle, and Donatello was effectively killed as a result.
In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #48 by Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, and Cory Smith, the Turtles are being attacked by an army of Baxter Stockman’s mousers, though Donatello proves that the deadly robots are nothing compared to his technological upgrades. In a previous issue, Donatello was beaten to death by Bebop and Rocksteady after Shredder found out that the Turtles used him to battle Krang–a maneuver that ended with Krang’s defeat and Shredder being detrimentally weakened. When Donatello’s body was discovered, the Turtles and their scientist friends–Harold and Fugitoid–were able to save his consciousness and input it into the android Metalhead. While Donatello’s body healed, his mind was able to live on through the robot–and it came with a lot of perks.
How Donatello’s Robo-Upgrade Makes Him TMNT’s Transformer
As shown in TMNT #48 during the Turtles’ battle against Stockman’s mousers, Donatello gained a number of deadly abilities upon his possession of Metalhead. With this upgrade, Donatello was able to turn his arms into cannons while the visor that acted as his eyes had laser capabilities. Plus, Donatello was able to literally transform into a number of different vehicles including a four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle and a speedboat. Not only that, but Donatello was able to take in and comprehend vast amounts of information which only made the already brilliant Ninja Turtle even more intelligent.
Since Donatello was able to transform into more than one vehicle while having a number of incredibly deadly attack options built into his robot body as well as possessing the intellect of a sentient supercomputer, it may even be fair to say that Donatello was more than just TMNT’s version of a Transformer, but a warrior whose power and intellect surpasses that of an average Transformer. While that claim is one that can be argued, what isn’t in dispute are the specifics of Donatello’s upgrade itself, and how his death (temporary or otherwise) turned him into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ version of a Transformer.
