I'm sorry for the state of my journal I'll make it look better at some point

Undead - Ghost

Corpse-like Pallor (triggered)
Incorporeal Form (not triggered)
Weakness to Sunlight (not triggered)
Urge to Consume Life-Essence (not triggered)
Grave Touch (not triggered)
Emaciated Form (triggered)


(Art ref drawn by boxfullaturtles/fundeadasylum on tumblr)

Player: Dandy
Contact: dandywonderous or PMs to this journal
Age: 18+
Other Characters: N/A

Name: Leonardo Hamato
Canon: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Canon Point: towards the end of the movie, after Leo is trapped in the Prison Dimension but before his rescue
Age: 16

Backstory: In-depth bullet points available in Leo's journal

Leo - along with his three brothers Raph, Donnie, and Mikey - was mutated as a baby turtle by the yokai alchemist Baron Draxum, with the intention of being used as a weapon against humanity. However, his human DNA donor, Yoshi Hamato aka Lou Jitsu aka Splinter, stole the children and hid with them in secret. Splinter was determined for the kids to have as normal of a life as possible, and did not raise them to be weapons, but only taught them martial arts for fun and as a way to blow off steam. This backfired when his clan's ancient enemy, the Foot Clan, resurrected the Shredder, a demon possessed suit of armor. The brothers, determined to be heroes, speedran their martial arts training, and were eventually able to tap into their clan's mystic powers and defeat the Shredder. Afterwards, Splinter named Leo the new leader, a responsibility he ran full tilt away from.

Months later, Leo goofed around on a mission and ended up losing an artifact called the Key. This turned out to be a costly mistake, as a boy arrived from the future, warning them that the Key would be used to free the Krang - a dangerous species of space aliens bent on conquering Earth and eradicating all life on the planet - from the Prison Dimension they've been locked in for over a millennia. Leo rushed into danger, and his recklessness caused Raph to be captured. After learning that if he couldn't stop the Krang now, his entire family would die, Leo finally stepped up as the leader his brothers need, saving Raph. However, the boys couldn't stop the Krang by fighting, so Leo teleported himself and the Krang back into the Prison Dimension and ordered the door shut - trapping himself inside with a very angry, very homicidal alien.

Personality: On the outside, Leo seems like an unserious jokester. He drops one-liners and puns in the middle of battle, he plays pranks on his brothers, and he rarely shows up for training. He's often cocky and self-congratulatory, and is an obnoxiously sore loser and an even sorer winner. He projects an outward air of confidence that can quickly tip into arrogance, and he always wants to look cool and in control.

All of this is a mask that Leo wears to hide his many insecurities; he even outright admits that jokes are his way of coping with scary situations (though he, of course, says it like he's kidding). Leo often expresses that he feels useless, and he worries that he isn't as capable as his brothers and can't earn his place on the team. He feels like no one trusts him, and has a hard time trusting in return. He's often trying to subtly steer his brothers away from danger, and will panic when they're in trouble. He clings to his class clown persona by the skin of his teeth, hoping that no one will see that underneath it he's a raw bundle of exposed nerves.

Still, Leo is a good kid at heart, and he's driven by a deep well of love - not only for his family (though that is extremely deep), but also for the world at large. Leo is often the first of his brothers to notice when civilians are in danger and will readily jump in to help someone in need. He's wary of those he thinks might be up to no good, but once he's accepted someone as sincere, he'll welcome them as a dear friend very quickly. While he may scoff at the title of "hero", that's what Leo is at his core: someone who wants to help, even at severe costs to himself.

This is heightened in his current state: full of regret for losing the Key and inadvertently starting the war that lead to the death of everyone on Earth. Leo is bound and determined to make up for his mistakes, and he doesn't think sacrificing his own life for everyone else is enough penance. Leo will be driven even more than usual to protect others at the expense of himself, as a way of fixing everything he feels like he's done wrong. There's also a drive in Leo to prove himself; a terminal middle child, Leo is always looking for validation from others. He craves praise and affection.

Even though he wants to fix the mistakes of his past, Leo still avoids showing vulnerability. Leo is terrified of being alone, and, especially without his family around, he'll be doing everything he can to endear himself to others so he won't be abandoned. And no one wants to deal with someone who's a burden! So Leo will be doing all he can not to let anyone know he's breaking apart on the inside - because it's really not important.

Leo, of course, can be pushed to the point of showing real emotion, but it often takes a lot. He only truly flies into a rage in defense of his family, those he truly cares about. Outside of those instances, Leo doesn't like being mad, and will try to swallow bad feelings when he can, hidden behind his jokes. He can and will be petty, and will take revenge on perceived sleights when he can, often with a prank of some kind. But he's rarely angry.

Leo showing sadness is even more rare, and often takes a life or death situation. When Leo is sad, or truly afraid, he's more likely to shut down rather than cry. The sign that Leo's emotions have gotten too big for him to deal with is that he goes totally silent, not making any jokes or chattering away as he's want to do. When Leo is like this, he's reached his breaking point.

Leo's jokes and puns are often pretty terrible, and at first glance he seems not very bright. Leo doesn't have a very large vocabulary and only knows the basics of math and science; he's never been to school and he has no interest in fixing that! However, this lack of book smarts hides that Leo is actually quite sharp, and very perceptive, a skill he used as the team's "face man" before becoming the leader. Leo can usually tell when someone's lying to him and is pretty good at lying himself - though he has a way to go before he's a true conman. Leo is also extremely good at reading a combat situation, finding his enemy's weak points and getting his allies where they need to go to be the most effective. These are some of the skills that make him a good leader, when he stops being scared of the role and starts embracing it.

Leo is also good at encouraging those around them, inspiring hope in his team even when things seem bad. Leo uses his perceptiveness to learn exactly what makes his allies' tick, and then pumps them up to win the fight. He's great at a rousing speech, when the situation calls for it. And he never gives up on anyone he cares about, unwilling to leave anyone behind.

But he's still a kid. His first instinct when things are bad is to run to his dad, or a trusted adult. He's inexperienced, even with two world-saving battles behind him. He worries about his image and avoids doing anything he considers embarrassing. And he's still going through puberty. It's a lot on his plate!

While the trauma of all he's experienced has pushed him to take things seriously and embrace his strengths as a leader, it's also left him with a mountain of guilt and a deep desire for atonement. Whether this will develop into a strength or a weakness remains to be seen.

Powers/Abilities:

Teleportation: Leo's ninpo (his family's innate mystic abilities) gives him the ability to teleport in two ways:

• Portals: Leo can open two portals, and transfer himself and other people/objects through one and out the other. Momentum is preserved through the portals, and Leo can change their trajectory, meaning he can do things like let an object fall until it reaches terminal velocity and then launch it like a cannon. If the portal closes while something (or someone) is midway through, they will get cut in half (portal-chopped!).
  Though Leo can theoretically portal anywhere, he's terrible at aiming at places he can't see, unless he's been there many times before. Leo can portal to his bedroom from anywhere, but he can't portal to anywhere from his bedroom. In game, this will mean that Leo can portal to certain parts of the convoy from anywhere, but will otherwise be limited to his immediate location. I'm open to any other limitations that need to be set on this, though!
  As far as size, Leo's portals can handle something roughly the size of a truck.


• Direct Teleportation: This happens between Leo's twin katana, a direct transfer from one to the other. To do this, Leo can throw one of his katana and then teleport between them, or he can leave one of them somewhere, move somewhere else, then zap back to the original sword. While in theory this has no range limitations, in practice Leo typically does this for short range teleportation, since he leaves whatever sword he's teleporting away from behind.
  Leo can also teleport other people this way, though they have to be touching the katana to do it. If Leo and the other person are touching the same katana, they'll both teleport together; if Leo is touching one and the other person is touching the other, they'll trade places. Leo often uses this to get close to an enemy, then swap in a slower, heavier hitter, but it has other uses (like locking himself and a homicidal alien in a prison dimension together!).

Sword Creation: Leo can use his ninpo to turn a small blade (like a butter knife or a garden trowel) into one of his katana, which he can then use for teleporting. To put limits on this, I headcanon that it's very difficult for him to do this without the full strength of the rest of his family backing him up, so while he might be able to do this to replace his missing katana and maybe once or twice more in the future, it's not like he can just spawn weaponry whenever he wants it. And again, it can't be something out of nothing, he has to start with some kind of bladed object.

Turtle: He has a hard shell. He can hold his breath for about half an hour. Turtle stuff.

Mutant: Because of his mutant physiology, Leo is very fast and strong. Not to superhuman levels, but more than any human teenager could realistically be.

Inventory:

• One katana


• His ninja pouch (contains a few throwing stars, some Jupiter Jim bandaids, and a fidget spinner)


• One much-loved photograph of his family


• His wrist-communicator (dead)

Game Plans: I want Leo to think he's dead, and I want him to think he's never going to see his home again, and I want him to grapple with that fact, all while trying to convince his new friends that he's totally fine!

Leo is a very social character, despite it all, and as a busybody hero type he can't help but get into everyone's business. Even if he thinks he's dead, his drive to make up for his mistakes will push him to try and help everyone here, if that means getting them to Nirvana in one piece or just helping them to survive the wilderness. If he's trapped here, might as well make the best of it!

Also being a busybody hero type, some of the negative effects of turning into a monster (like wanting to feed on other creatures) is going to be rough on him to deal with. There's a lot to explore there, especially starting with a character that in some ways is already seen by the world as a monster.

But also I just love traumatizing the blue turtle. ^^

Monster Choice: Just going to note at the start that I am trying to avoid any monsters that would make Leo a Reptile Squared, if you get what I'm saying.
1. Undead (Ghost species, wraith or poltergeist subspecies): as mentioned, I want Leo to think he's dead, so this is the obvious choice. Leo thinks he has both feet in the grave, and this will only confirm his suspicions and plague on his fears. Also, Leo vocally believes ghosts don't exist, so there's some irony to this.
2. Celestial (either Angel or Unicorn): keeping with the "thinks he's dead" theme, Leo would also think he's dead if he started turning into an angel - at least it's not the bad place! Leo is a protector at heart, but one who explicitly protects via fighting, fitting the theme. Also there's more than one episode where he's shown to like unicorns.
3. Yokai (Raiju species): a bit of a swerve here, but Leo's own nature leans towards the trickster archetype, with his focus on being the face-man and his penchant for winning through tricks rather than outright strength. Leo's powers also bare a strong resemblance to lightning. And he was mutated by a yokai, so in a way he's returning to his roots.
Vehicle Choice: Motorcycle, specifically one that resembles his shell hog from canon. Speed attribute.
Sample: here's his top level!

OOC PREFERENCES
CONTACT METHOD: dandywonderous, dandywonderous on discord
THREAD-JACKING: Yes, unless it's a plot important/closed thread (then ask first)
FOURTH WALLING / CANON PUNCTURE: No
BACKTAGGING: Yes
AVOIDED TOPICS: I'm good with whatever
PREFERRED GENDER PRONOUN: she/her

IC CHARACTERISTICS
CURRENT CANON POINT: Post-season 2, pre-movie
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Leo is a mutant turtle, specifically a red-eared slider. At this point in his life he's standing around 5'6" and has a slender but noticeably muscular build. He has prominent red markings on his face (his eye bananas) and yellow markings on his arms. Leo is rarely seen without his blue ninja mask and opts for blue clothing whenever possible. His shell is also blue-tinted.
DEMEANOR: Leo has a very easy-going, class clown type demeanor. He's always cracking jokes and rarely takes anything seriously. He's also always trying to be the best in the room at everything he does, and is self-aggrandizing to an obnoxious degree. A lot of this is an act to cover up his insecurities, but unless you get particularly close to him he'll never let you see that.
ABILITIES: Leo has the ability to teleport, and can also use portals to teleport himself or other people/objects. If you're familiar with the video game Portal, Leo's portals work exactly the same way. He also has various physical enhancements from being a mutant turtle intended as a super soldier in a war against humanity. And he can do turtle things, like hold his breath a long time or pull his limbs and head inside his shell.
MEDICAL INFORMATION: Leo is very healthy currently! (I was nice to him this time.) Despite being a turtle, he lives off a human diet, so he's pretty flexible in what he can eat.
OFFENSIVE SUBJECTS: Leo's a mutant turtle and he's pretty open about the process that made him this way (or at least open about his pretty simplistic understanding of it), so conversations about animal/human experimentation are possible. Otherwise it's unlikely Leo will bring up much that might offend others. Leo may get offended by people who are rude about the whole turtle situation, but otherwise he's pretty easygoing (other than the standard phobias and -isms).
Sometimes Leo will act offended when he isn't actually offended, for the bit. I'll make it clear when he's just messing with someone in those cases.
As a general rule I ask that no one have their character discuss explicit sexual topics with Leo.
OTHER: He can't sing and he can't play the guitar. Don't let him trick you by saying he can, it's a lie.

IC PERMISSIONS
MENTAL: General mind reading is always allowed! Any other mental stuff can be plotted out.
MIMICRY: He grew up with three brothers, there's no way one of them hasn't played the copying him game. He'll just act mildly annoyed for the most part, but if he senses there are nefarious intentions at play he'll be suspicious or even paranoid.
VIOLENCE: Leo is pretty strong, especially since he's fully awakened his ninpo powers (assuming he has his swords back). That said, he's still a teenager who only has a few years experience. Leo could easily beat the average human and would likely be on equal footing with other similarly experienced super-powered beings, but those with more experience and/or training could easily have the upper hand. I'm up for plotting out fights if anyone would like!
MAGIC: Magic is fine, just plot with me if it would severely injure him first.
DEBATE: Yeah sure, just keep in mind he'll act as obnoxiously as possible lol
OTHER / NOTES: I mentioned this above but I'd rather not engage with any explicit sexual topics with Leo. I'd also rather not engage in romance plotlines unless it's been plotted out first. Thanks!

Because the wiki leaves something to be desired.

• Created in a lab by Baron Draxum, a yokai who wanted to create invincible warriors who could help him destroy humankind, in a bid to head off a prophecy he interpreted as meaning that humans would eventually destroy all yokai. He used the DNA of the human Lou Jitsu (real name Hamato Yoshi) to mutate Leo and his three brothers (who are all different species of turtle).


• Lou Jitsu, not wanting to see four adorable turtles get turned into living weapons, fought Draxum to escape with the turtles after their mutation. He was hit with the mutation ooze during the chaos and mutated with rat DNA, becoming a human-rat mutant.


• Lou Jitsu changed his name to Splinter and named the boys Raphael, Leonardo, Donatello, and Michelangelo, and moved them into the sewers where he would raise them. He was supposed to raise his kids in the way of the Hamato clan, teaching them how to fight in case they would ever need to face his family's ancient enemy the Shredder, but he didn't want to so the kids got no real traning.


• At some point between this and the start of canon, the boys met a human girl named April who became their best friend.


• One day the boys and April saw a cute dog-like creature getting kidnapped and tried to save it, leading to them meeting Draxum and learning he was the one who mutated them to be soldiers. In the chaos they accidentally let loose Draxum's "oozesquitos," which can mutate humans into animal-human hybrids. The boys decide to form a vigilante team called the Mad Dogs, with Raph as leader.


• During their adventures they have run-ins with the Foot Clan, a group of cultists who unbeknownst to the boys are trying to gather pieces of the Dark Armor so they can resurrect the Shredder. Eventually, Draxum joins with the Foot Clan in order to use the Dark Armor for his own purposes.


• Eventually Splinter came clean to his sons that he is Lou Jitsu, and explained the Dark Armor to them. The boys tried to stop Draxum from finishing the armor but were captured, and, trying to save them, Splinter gave over the last piece of the armor to Draxum: the armor's helmet, which he had been using as a teapot.


• Draxum used the armor to become powerful, but the boys remembered that they had broken the teapot when they were kids, and used a toy to fill a hole where a piece was missing. The boys hit the toy, which effectively stops Draxum, but also allows the spirit of the Shredder inside the armor to partially awaken. The Shredder is alive but in a feral state.


• Leo gets help from Big Mama, a yokai mafia boss, to stop the Shredder. He uses a collar Big Mama gave him to subdue the Shredder, turning him into a mindless slave, and Big Mama took the armor and locked it away.


• The boys continue their life fighting crime and hanging out until Big Mama traps them all in a "game" that she is broadcasting for money. The boys fight their way through, but then Big Mama sets the collared Shredder on them. Shredder is then taken by the Foot Clan so they can try to fully resurrect him.


• Needing a way to beat the Shredder, the boys travel into Splinter's memory and find a repressed memory about a weapon that has been locked away in a spiritual realm. The boys travel inside to get the weapon and learn it is actually one of their ancestors named Karai, who is also the daughter of the man who became Shredder many generations ago.


• The kids bond quickly with their ancestor (who they call Gram-gram), but by pulling her out of her prison they have also accidentally awakened Shredder's true nature. Their home is attacked by Shredder and the Foot Clan, and Splinter is captured while Karai is killed. Karai's spirit possess April so she can help the boys defeat the Shredder.


• The boys learn to unlock their mystic Hamato ninpo, allowing them to fight at their full potential.


• They beat up the Shredder in a wicked fight scene and everyone works together to defeat him and send his soul to the afterlife.


• Afterwards, with the day saved, Splinter abruptly announces that Leo is now the leader of the team, a position Leo did not ask for or want.


• Some months later, Leo is not taking his job as leader seriously, leading him to fight with Raph. During a mission he tries to show Raph up and ends up losing an artifact known only as "the key," which is taken by the Foot Clan.


• A boy named Casey comes back in time from the year 2044 and warns the boys that because they lost the key, the Foot Clan will open a portal and allow in an evil race of aliens known as the Krang, who were sealed away many years ago and if let out will destroy earth. In Casey's future, the brothers failed to stop the invasion and are dead, and Casey was sent back to hopefully cause a different outcome.


• The boys go to try and get the key, but everything goes to hell quickly and Raph orders a retreat. Leo tries to stay behind and get the key himself but is almost killed; Raph spares him at the last moment and is subsequently captured and zombified by the Krang.


• Angry at himself and the Krang, Leo tries to bruteforce his way back to Raph. This goes terribly and he realizes he needs to shape up and start taking this leader thing seriously, and stop trying to be the best and coolest.


• Leo sends Casey to get to the key (which he does) while he, Mikey, and Donnie go to the Krang ship to try and pilot it back through the portal it came from, while also getting Raph back. Leo fights with the zombified Raph and manages to break through to him, pulling him back to his true self. Together again, the four brothers try to fight the Krang but the Krang is too strong.


• Out of options, Leo teleports himself and the Krang through the portal into the prison dimension the Krang was sealed away in and then tells Casey to close the portal with the key, which destroys the Krang's ship and seals the Krang away, but also locks Leo inside with the alien.


• His brothers save him but for Meta Heroes I'm taking him from before that happens :)