Raphael

One of four turtles mutated by a mysterious ooze in the sewers of New York City, Raphael was raised and trained in ninjutsu by the rat sensei Splinter. Hot-headed and aggressive, he wields twin sai as the most fierce of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Fierce, hotheaded, and impossible to ignore, this is IDW's Raphael — introduced in 2011's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Microseries #1 by Brian Lynch and Franco Urru, a Modern Age incarnation built for a publisher that clearly had big plans for the whole crew. Over fourteen years of IDW storytelling, he's carved out a place across landmark collections and prestige projects alike, from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection to the emotionally charged The Last Ronin – Lost Years and the dimension-hopping TMNT / Usagi Yojimbo: Wherewhen. He shares those pages with Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Splinter — the full family, as it should be — in stories that have made IDW's turtle mythology one of the richest in modern comics. If you're diving into this era of shell-and-shadow storytelling, Raphael is absolutely essential company.