Donatello Hamato (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
techyturtle) wrote2012-10-11 02:44 am
techyturtle) wrote2012-10-11 02:44 am
Revised revised application for ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
theinstitute
PLAYER INFORMATION
PLAYER: Ni
ARE YOU AT LEAST 14 YEARS OLD?: Yes
IF UNDER 18 YEARS OLD, PLEASE STATE YOUR AGE: n/a
CONTACT: papirini (AIM/plurk)
PERSONAL JOURNAL:papirini
CHARACTERS PLAYED: None!
CHARACTER INFORMATION
NAME: Donatello Hamato
CANON: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 series)
CANON REFERENCE:
AGE: 17...ish
GENDER: Male
YEAR IN SCHOOL/FACULTY POSITION: HS3 (for the moment)
APPEARANCE: Donatello is an olive-green-skined, 5'0'' turtle man, generally wearing a purple bandana to obscure his black eyes, shin and elbow guards, a ninja belt and a sling for his bo. He does not look any different in this AU than he does in canon.
PERSONALITY: I am stealing and altering this from another application of mine. I think its the best personality I've written of him so. Yeah. Its sadly not as goofy as other parts of this application. >:
On first impression, Donatello, in comparison to his brothers, might seem to fall short. In between Leonardo's take-charge attitude and sense of honor, Raphael's short temper, and Michelangelo's...being Michelangelo, Donatello's own personal qualities may not seem as noticeable. Indeed, on the surface its easy to dismiss him as just another tech-obsessed nerd, given that he seems to prefer spending time tinkering with technology rather than perfecting his ninja skills or going out and doing things like his two go-getter older brothers and his sometimesannoying rambuctious younger brother.
This type of assessment, however, completely ignores many of the things that make Donatello who he is. Donatello, while a more than capable fighter, simply does not find the same kind of fulfillment that his brothers get from fighting of any kind - he finds his passion in making and studying things. He is the turtle closest to being a pacifist out of the four. Among his brothers, he rarely gets into any major arguments. In many cases, he doesn't even fight his enemies if it isn't necessary, looking instead to find other solutions to problems that his brothers would normally resort to fists for. If fighting is the only solution, or must be part of the solution, Donatello tends to try to take into account a way where the least amount of hurt, though he will stand with and defend his brothers without question if they are in danger, regardless of the situation. His tendancy towards more peaceful solutions is even seemingly reflected in his weapon, the bo. His is a weapon that lacks the lethality that the sai, nunchaku or katana can potentially offer to an opponent, but nevertheless can be used with greater tactical purpose by shifting an opponent's strengths against them.
He is what his friend Leatherhead calls a 'kind and gentle soul', intelligent, easygoing, contemplative and inquisitive, always fascinated by everything around him (even at times when his brothers are utterly freaked out by things they see), and always looking to understand and solve a problem no matter how long it takes. He can be quite optimistic, excited and even exhibit child-like awe about some of his projects and theories, and believes that every problem has a solution. Though his brothers sometimes make fun of his propensity to focus so often on machines and technology and science, they are well aware of how much they owe to his inventions and his work, and how his work has helped improve their lives in the sewers, as well as improve their odds in battle. On his end, Donatello almost never lets his work go to his head, as by the time he's finished one invention or fixed one thing, he's already off and starting on something else.
Not that Donatello is perfect or completely without darker impulses or secrets. He can become obsessive, impatient and frustrated easily over problems he cannot solve, especially problems that, in his opinion, require an immediate resolution. When this happens, he tends to shut himself in and spend days on a problem with little sleep or food, letting his desire to figure out the solution to whatever is bothering him control him and ignoring everyone and everything happening around him until its solved - or until said solution or problem has gone beyond his control and he can do nothing more. And while he rarely gets enraged, pushing him all the way to that point is a particularly bad idea - to give an example, at this point in his canon, he is the only character who has been able to permanently kill any version of Shredder due to said anger. He's also surprisingly naive, though all of his brothers suffer this to some extent, and is ignorant of a lot of the more complicated problems in society; he's only begun to learn that stopping one problem can cause other problems to rise in the grand scheme of things, and that there are people out there outside of the Shredder and the Foot who have no compunction about killing or harming him simply for existing.
Most troubling is Donatello is far less inclined to speak up about anything bothering him. Unlike his brothers, if its not a project he is working on or a threat that the brothers are facing, he is least likely to voice any personal problems, doing his best to keep an optimistic disposition, deeming his own problems and struggles as unimportant in comparison and devaluing his own worth on the team and to his family as a result. In particular, while Raphael's anger issues, Michelangelo's tendancy towards immaturity, and Leonardo's struggles with his own shortcomings (imagined or otherwise) are known to the family, most of Donatello's true insecurities, feelings of guilt and fears are implied to not even be known to his brothers. Events such as the Triceratons ripping his mind open - and the resulting trauma from it, which almost killed him - he only shared with Master Splinter, and only because he cried out to him through their psychic bond. Even after finding out just how important he truly is to his family due to a certain time-traveling event, after he is reunited with his family (and save for one remark that is almost immediately dismissed by the others), he is never shown talking about what happened to him, even to Master Splinter. Whether he is worried about being judged (not unlike how many in the outside world would - and already have - judged him based on his appearance), or whether he feels he failed his friends and family and is too ashamed or scared to talk of it, isn't entirely certain. However, it would not be a surprise if both points turned out to be the truth.
POWERS/ABILITIES: Again taking parts of this from another app:
~Mutant powers~
Turtle Physiology/Peak Human State: Both a strength and a weakness. Even if he has humanoid features and was born human, he pretty much considers himself a turtle and has many many many turtle features - several of which are decidedly advantageous. His plastron/front torso is incredibly tough, as is his skin. His carapace/back shell is even moreso, and it is difficult for much to penetrate it. Donatello also has the ability to survive in water much more easily than mammals, as he is able to breathe underwater. He's also much less susceptible to most human diseases. On the other hand, it also has its disadvantages. He's now cold-blooded, so he lacks the mechanisms that regulate body warmth. His spinal structure is basically outside of his body, so breaking his carapace or managing to rip open his plastron could seriously injure or even kill him.
Still, because of his mutation, Donatello possesses peak human/borderline superhuman agility, speed, stamina, and strength. In terms of strength, he is able to throw around several hundred pounds with ease, and can, with some effort, possibly lift close to 1 ton, though this upper-limit is not commonly attained by him.
Intuitive Aptitude/Mechanical Intuition/ Enhanced Inventing/Medical Intuition/Enhanced Intelligence: Donatello is an expert at building advanced technology, and learning and applying various advanced theories from multiple fields of science into practice, usually from scratch and with just using junk taken from sewers and dumpsters. To give examples from canon for an idea of what he is capable of: with the junk he collects, he built a cell network/electric system/computer security system for his family, can outfit cars with hi-tech weaponry and computer systems, has hacked into various high=class computer systems, has shown the capability to defuse a nuclear device with little to no practice beforehand, is able to decipher some forms of alien technology without aid, and has devised a vaccine for certain types of diseases and even other mutations similar to his own. This in spite of the fact he's had no formal training and, at least in this AU, he is self-taught. Then again, most of the time people can't understand what he's doing until its actually finished, and sometimes Don can get a bit...obsessive and frustrated over solving problems/inventions, especially when he can't figure out the solution to one.
Related to this is his incredibly high intelligence. While Raphael's canon claim of his IQ being 637 is likely an exaggeration (we hope), there's no denying that Donatello is insanely intelligent in several different fields.
Overall, on the Mutation Level Scale, Donatello's powers, abilities and mutation(s) ranks him as a mutant at the Gamma Level.
~Non-mutant powers~ (or at least "powers"/abilities that were developed mostly independently of his mutation)
Ninja/ninjutsu: He isn't called a 'ninja' turtle for nothing, after all. Donatello is skilled in the ways of the ninja due to his training since childhood. Said training involved not only physical training to hone his body for battle, but also an understanding of a combination of philosophies and fighting and schools, military and esoteric, from various Asian writers (predominantly Japanese), as well as the Japanese code of Bushido and aspects of Zen. As such he is not only an expert in martial arts, but also in a variety of different techniques for infiltration, sabotage, camoflaugue, evasion and stealth, as well as the art of battle both with and without a variety of weapons. In terms of ninja weaponry, Donatello is most comfortable with a bo.
Also important to his training were methods of perfecting control over the body and mind. Among those Donatello is shown performing include a form of meditation and psychic and spiritual bond which allows him some contact with his loved ones, even at a distance (though his ability in this area is the weakest due to his more rational approach to things and the fact he doesn't know his full biological family in this AU), and the ability to harness a method of internal breathing, which, in a vacuum situation, allows him to survive for a period of time without needing to breathe. With training and focus, it is very possible that Donatello can achieve the level of ability to manipulate his own chi to further empower himself, manipulate time and space, and transform into his spiritual animal. Of course, this particular possibility would be a difficult one at best, especially since Don has little to no awareness that he can even manipulate his chi this way. Also in terms of his brothers, Donatello is perhaps the weakest of the four when it comes to pure ninjutsu prowess, due to his preference towards his scientific pursuits over his ninjutsu training. His psychic and spiritual defenses, such as they are, can also be invaded and - one of Don's biggest fears - his thoughts and spirit can be manipulated, his memories opened up, his mind invaded.
Sleep Deprivation: Donatello can go for up to a week without sleep, only needing coffee to sustain him. However, he will eventually crash and be close to impossible to wake for several days after when he pushes himself like this.
AU HISTORY: Before we get any further into this...this is all Daredevil's fault. No. Really. Once upon a time there was an accident where Matt Murdock pushed a blind guy out of the way of a speeding truck, got hit by a canister from said truck in the noggin, and lost his eyesight as a result. Only the radiation emanating from the goop that was in the canister also gave him superhuman senses and turned him into the crime-fighting (albeit blind) lawyer he is today. Except for some reason, Matt Murdock never once is shown to wonder where exactly that incredibly serendipitous can of goop came from or where it went after.
Well, the answer is this: The bottle was mutagen waste from Oscorp. After smacking Matt Murdock in the head, it landed right in a box in a nearby alley, smashing all over four abandoned baby kids. By the next morning, all four children had had their X-genes triggered by the mutagen inside the bottle, turning into four giant baby turtles. It just so happened that the box was found by a group of Morlocks foraging for food, and the babies were immediately brought down into the tunnels underneath New York City and raised in various places in the tunnels. Thus from the very beginning Donatello, the second youngest of these babies, was raised within the Morlock world and learned the ways of the outcast mutants. From an early age was to put to work scavenging and stealing for the collective underground, and was taught the basics of life: namely, that loyalty to his family (mainly, the Morlocks as opposed to his actual brothers, who he barely knew even existed due to them being separated) was important, that one had to fight for everything they had, and that outsiders and humans were dangerous and not to be trusted.
Unlike many of the Morlocks, however, who became embittered, despised and fought humans, and claimed that the only place for deformed mutants is in the tunnels, Donatello grew up curious about the surface world and developed a desire to learn more about it and everything else, as well as a pacifism unusual in his environment. He rarely fought with the other kids during their rumbles, even when they asked him to. He would steal books along with food, reading for days on end, teaching himself how to read and write. Using his developing technical ingenuity, he would fix up computers and TVs and set up lightning and plumbing systems for his neighbors and friends. And when he had free time - which he had a great deal of even with his foraging duties - he would use one of his fixed televisions to watch recovered VHSes -and later DVDs as his intelligence and technical ability increased. His favorite movies were martial arts and fighting movies, and he would copy all of the moves and techniques he saw, and then read everything he could about ninjas, incorporating their skills into his rapidly expanding repertoire. Donatello eventually realized he was far smarter than most of the people in his tunnel, even if he was not necessarily faster or stronger; thus he could put his rapidly expanding intelligence and knowledge to work for the good of his people.
Soon enough, he was using his improvised ninjutsu to gather more supplies for the collective, becoming the most efficient forager in his tunnel. That he was so efficient and also using his abilities to improve the standard of living of the mutants around him was something that earned him a degree of respect among other Morlocks in neighboring tunnels, though he was ridiculed by some for being a bookworm. More innocuously, at least it seemed at the time, he was also ridiculed because of rumors that he had a crush on a Morlock female they considered to be out of his league. Generally, Donatello ignored the jabs, since he enjoyed tinkering and learning; his incredible intelligence allowed him to learn to help the people out. Plus, what was the harm in admiring a female from afar?
Unfortunately, someone went a bit too far in their insults towards him, and Donatello, around 16 at the time, ultimately ended up challenging him to a combat duel as a matter of pride and honor. It was a watershed moment in Donatello's life, because it was the first time he saw just how cruel, and even hypocritical, mutants could be to one another. It was also the first time his mind was psychically opened and invaded. The shock and force of the psychic attack nearly killed Donatello where he stood, and he would have died had his opponent had a stronger control over his power. But once the attack was over, Donatello's own innate rage took over at the fact his very mind, his most prized piece of himself was violated so grossly. Within seconds, it would also become the first time he killed someone, using the skills he'd learned over the years.
This resulted in Donatello's banishment to the surface by his tunnel-kin, as the opponent he'd killed in combat had friends who wished to punish the turtle-man for his impertinence. To Donatello's Morlock neighbors, it was a fate worse than death for anyone to be banished to the surface; surely after one night a Morlock would return begging for a swift death than to be made to go back topside. To Donatello, it was an unexpected boon and curse. For it was the first time he had ever been to the surface, not just to forage briefly, but to stay for a prolonged period of time. He could literally expand his horizons for the first time, which he'd only dreamed about. see how normal humans really were, not just how the Morlocks and he were taught to see them. Not only that, but he could travel and see all of the wonderful places, experience all of the amazing things in the outside world, which he'd only before read about. And maybe - just maybe - he could even befriend humans and make a home on the surface.
For that first year of his banishment, it was paradise. Well, as much of a paradise as it could be for a mutant turtle-man. Plenty of people screamed and ran from him, calling him a freak or a monster, when he tried to swoop down and help them undisguised. And he lived in abandoned buildings, hobo alleys and cardboard boxes on alternating days and weeks, only going underground when he needed to, and always avoiding the Morlocks when he did. Then again, Don knew he wasn't exactly the most handsome mutant; not the worst-looking, but not really a human face, either. Besides, there were just as many people who didn't run away, who were thankful that there was someone out there who helped them against the gangs and hoodlums who preyed on their fellow humans. It also helped that he was adept at building and fixing things - many of his rooftop runs at night involved stealthily fixing a building's transformer when no one was looking, which was always a welcome event to keep his mind and hands sharp.
Of course, the fact Donatello found himself saving people, and doing things that a hero would do, made him wonder where the real heroes were. Namely, the Avengers and SHIELD, which he learned of from his TV; they were seemingly absent in the areas of the city that needed their help the most. He began to wonder, as time went by, why the government-supported groups, chock-full of powerful fighters and thinkers, didn't even think to help citizens that were mere blocks away from Avengers' Tower, even though they claimed they were (and yet also had no problem with hunting down mutants on ocassion, at least from what he could tell).
Eventually, and sadly, he was captured by...well, he's not sure who he was captured by to this day. But captured he was, and trundled off deep into the Adirondack Mountains by group of some kind. They claimed he was a terrorist due to the fact he was "one of them". And then they tortured him and tried to open his mind, this time with a machine, for information they claimed he had about "the enemy". Donatello nearly died again from the mental intrusion, and when...whoever they were decided he had outlived his usefulness, they tossed him into a cage with several others they had kidnapped, locked the door to the silo basement where the cage was kept, and abandoned the building they had set their base in. Once Donatello came to, he found to his horror that the other "terrorists" he was imprisoned with were both human and mutant, all of them innocents who had been kidnapped and similarly tortured.
Even worse was the realization that there was a nuclear warhead rigged in the basement alongside them, set to explode in twenty minutes. He managed to get free of the cage - somehow - and just barely managed to de-activate the bomb. However, the worst revelation in Donatello's mind was that the warhead had a SHIELD insignia on it - meaning it was government property.
Suddenly, in Donatello's mind, things began to make sense that day. The Morlocks had been right - there were people out to get them, but it was not simply the human race. No, it was SHIELD and other government-sponsored groups like them who were considered by the populace to be protectors of the downtrodden and defenders of truth. The truth was that SHIELD and other groups like them were liars. They were far from the benevolent, helpful groups they claimed to be; in fact, if anything, they were an enemy, trying to stir humans and mutants against one another with deceit and misinformation. At least, that was when they weren't sitting back letting the two groups attack each other, or using heavy-handed tactics to suppress those who tried to protest against their more secretive, more egregious actions. The teenager's shocking point of view seemed to be confirmed when he saw that SHIELD was blaming mutants for their missing warhead on the news - and those who had been captured with him warned him not to say anything about what really happened, lest he or they get in "trouble" with the law. And, of course, who else could possibly have technological capacities on par with a mutant's power but SHIELD?
It was soon after he returned to New York from his unfortunate "vacation" (as he was forced to call it) that he first heard of the Mutant Registration Act - and of a school called the Xavier Institute. Armed with his new experiences, however, Donatello couldn't - wouldn't - take the school at face value. It's reputation seemed too good to be true, especially in this day and age. The comfortable log cabin in the Adirondacks had kept hidden a silo and a cage filled with tortured prisoners. Who knew what secret horrors such a large compound held - and what would it take to expose the truth to the world? After all, despite everything, Donatello knew he had to do something - not just for the good of mutants, but for everyone, if the Xavier Institute turned out to be what he feared it was.
And so, Donatello arrives at the Xavier Institute, not as a bright-eyed student simply looking to improve himself and the world, but as a master ninja infiltrator, paranoid and determined to uncover the school's secrets in the shadow of night...
SAMPLE
1ST PERSON SAMPLE:"Brotherhood of Mutants". "What happened last weekend in NYC." Really? Really?
THIRD PERSON SAMPLE: Who'd have thought Don would actually meet someone who carried toothpaste around with him?!
PLAYER: Ni
ARE YOU AT LEAST 14 YEARS OLD?: Yes
IF UNDER 18 YEARS OLD, PLEASE STATE YOUR AGE: n/a
CONTACT: papirini (AIM/plurk)
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
papiriniCHARACTERS PLAYED: None!
CHARACTER INFORMATION
NAME: Donatello Hamato
CANON: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 series)
CANON REFERENCE:
AGE: 17...ish
GENDER: Male
YEAR IN SCHOOL/FACULTY POSITION: HS3 (for the moment)
APPEARANCE: Donatello is an olive-green-skined, 5'0'' turtle man, generally wearing a purple bandana to obscure his black eyes, shin and elbow guards, a ninja belt and a sling for his bo. He does not look any different in this AU than he does in canon.
PERSONALITY: I am stealing and altering this from another application of mine. I think its the best personality I've written of him so. Yeah. Its sadly not as goofy as other parts of this application. >:
On first impression, Donatello, in comparison to his brothers, might seem to fall short. In between Leonardo's take-charge attitude and sense of honor, Raphael's short temper, and Michelangelo's...being Michelangelo, Donatello's own personal qualities may not seem as noticeable. Indeed, on the surface its easy to dismiss him as just another tech-obsessed nerd, given that he seems to prefer spending time tinkering with technology rather than perfecting his ninja skills or going out and doing things like his two go-getter older brothers and his sometimes
This type of assessment, however, completely ignores many of the things that make Donatello who he is. Donatello, while a more than capable fighter, simply does not find the same kind of fulfillment that his brothers get from fighting of any kind - he finds his passion in making and studying things. He is the turtle closest to being a pacifist out of the four. Among his brothers, he rarely gets into any major arguments. In many cases, he doesn't even fight his enemies if it isn't necessary, looking instead to find other solutions to problems that his brothers would normally resort to fists for. If fighting is the only solution, or must be part of the solution, Donatello tends to try to take into account a way where the least amount of hurt, though he will stand with and defend his brothers without question if they are in danger, regardless of the situation. His tendancy towards more peaceful solutions is even seemingly reflected in his weapon, the bo. His is a weapon that lacks the lethality that the sai, nunchaku or katana can potentially offer to an opponent, but nevertheless can be used with greater tactical purpose by shifting an opponent's strengths against them.
He is what his friend Leatherhead calls a 'kind and gentle soul', intelligent, easygoing, contemplative and inquisitive, always fascinated by everything around him (even at times when his brothers are utterly freaked out by things they see), and always looking to understand and solve a problem no matter how long it takes. He can be quite optimistic, excited and even exhibit child-like awe about some of his projects and theories, and believes that every problem has a solution. Though his brothers sometimes make fun of his propensity to focus so often on machines and technology and science, they are well aware of how much they owe to his inventions and his work, and how his work has helped improve their lives in the sewers, as well as improve their odds in battle. On his end, Donatello almost never lets his work go to his head, as by the time he's finished one invention or fixed one thing, he's already off and starting on something else.
Not that Donatello is perfect or completely without darker impulses or secrets. He can become obsessive, impatient and frustrated easily over problems he cannot solve, especially problems that, in his opinion, require an immediate resolution. When this happens, he tends to shut himself in and spend days on a problem with little sleep or food, letting his desire to figure out the solution to whatever is bothering him control him and ignoring everyone and everything happening around him until its solved - or until said solution or problem has gone beyond his control and he can do nothing more. And while he rarely gets enraged, pushing him all the way to that point is a particularly bad idea - to give an example, at this point in his canon, he is the only character who has been able to permanently kill any version of Shredder due to said anger. He's also surprisingly naive, though all of his brothers suffer this to some extent, and is ignorant of a lot of the more complicated problems in society; he's only begun to learn that stopping one problem can cause other problems to rise in the grand scheme of things, and that there are people out there outside of the Shredder and the Foot who have no compunction about killing or harming him simply for existing.
Most troubling is Donatello is far less inclined to speak up about anything bothering him. Unlike his brothers, if its not a project he is working on or a threat that the brothers are facing, he is least likely to voice any personal problems, doing his best to keep an optimistic disposition, deeming his own problems and struggles as unimportant in comparison and devaluing his own worth on the team and to his family as a result. In particular, while Raphael's anger issues, Michelangelo's tendancy towards immaturity, and Leonardo's struggles with his own shortcomings (imagined or otherwise) are known to the family, most of Donatello's true insecurities, feelings of guilt and fears are implied to not even be known to his brothers. Events such as the Triceratons ripping his mind open - and the resulting trauma from it, which almost killed him - he only shared with Master Splinter, and only because he cried out to him through their psychic bond. Even after finding out just how important he truly is to his family due to a certain time-traveling event, after he is reunited with his family (and save for one remark that is almost immediately dismissed by the others), he is never shown talking about what happened to him, even to Master Splinter. Whether he is worried about being judged (not unlike how many in the outside world would - and already have - judged him based on his appearance), or whether he feels he failed his friends and family and is too ashamed or scared to talk of it, isn't entirely certain. However, it would not be a surprise if both points turned out to be the truth.
POWERS/ABILITIES: Again taking parts of this from another app:
~Mutant powers~
Turtle Physiology/Peak Human State: Both a strength and a weakness. Even if he has humanoid features and was born human, he pretty much considers himself a turtle and has many many many turtle features - several of which are decidedly advantageous. His plastron/front torso is incredibly tough, as is his skin. His carapace/back shell is even moreso, and it is difficult for much to penetrate it. Donatello also has the ability to survive in water much more easily than mammals, as he is able to breathe underwater. He's also much less susceptible to most human diseases. On the other hand, it also has its disadvantages. He's now cold-blooded, so he lacks the mechanisms that regulate body warmth. His spinal structure is basically outside of his body, so breaking his carapace or managing to rip open his plastron could seriously injure or even kill him.
Still, because of his mutation, Donatello possesses peak human/borderline superhuman agility, speed, stamina, and strength. In terms of strength, he is able to throw around several hundred pounds with ease, and can, with some effort, possibly lift close to 1 ton, though this upper-limit is not commonly attained by him.
Intuitive Aptitude/Mechanical Intuition/ Enhanced Inventing/Medical Intuition/Enhanced Intelligence: Donatello is an expert at building advanced technology, and learning and applying various advanced theories from multiple fields of science into practice, usually from scratch and with just using junk taken from sewers and dumpsters. To give examples from canon for an idea of what he is capable of: with the junk he collects, he built a cell network/electric system/computer security system for his family, can outfit cars with hi-tech weaponry and computer systems, has hacked into various high=class computer systems, has shown the capability to defuse a nuclear device with little to no practice beforehand, is able to decipher some forms of alien technology without aid, and has devised a vaccine for certain types of diseases and even other mutations similar to his own. This in spite of the fact he's had no formal training and, at least in this AU, he is self-taught. Then again, most of the time people can't understand what he's doing until its actually finished, and sometimes Don can get a bit...obsessive and frustrated over solving problems/inventions, especially when he can't figure out the solution to one.
Related to this is his incredibly high intelligence. While Raphael's canon claim of his IQ being 637 is likely an exaggeration (we hope), there's no denying that Donatello is insanely intelligent in several different fields.
Overall, on the Mutation Level Scale, Donatello's powers, abilities and mutation(s) ranks him as a mutant at the Gamma Level.
~Non-mutant powers~ (or at least "powers"/abilities that were developed mostly independently of his mutation)
Ninja/ninjutsu: He isn't called a 'ninja' turtle for nothing, after all. Donatello is skilled in the ways of the ninja due to his training since childhood. Said training involved not only physical training to hone his body for battle, but also an understanding of a combination of philosophies and fighting and schools, military and esoteric, from various Asian writers (predominantly Japanese), as well as the Japanese code of Bushido and aspects of Zen. As such he is not only an expert in martial arts, but also in a variety of different techniques for infiltration, sabotage, camoflaugue, evasion and stealth, as well as the art of battle both with and without a variety of weapons. In terms of ninja weaponry, Donatello is most comfortable with a bo.
Also important to his training were methods of perfecting control over the body and mind. Among those Donatello is shown performing include a form of meditation and psychic and spiritual bond which allows him some contact with his loved ones, even at a distance (though his ability in this area is the weakest due to his more rational approach to things and the fact he doesn't know his full biological family in this AU), and the ability to harness a method of internal breathing, which, in a vacuum situation, allows him to survive for a period of time without needing to breathe. With training and focus, it is very possible that Donatello can achieve the level of ability to manipulate his own chi to further empower himself, manipulate time and space, and transform into his spiritual animal. Of course, this particular possibility would be a difficult one at best, especially since Don has little to no awareness that he can even manipulate his chi this way. Also in terms of his brothers, Donatello is perhaps the weakest of the four when it comes to pure ninjutsu prowess, due to his preference towards his scientific pursuits over his ninjutsu training. His psychic and spiritual defenses, such as they are, can also be invaded and - one of Don's biggest fears - his thoughts and spirit can be manipulated, his memories opened up, his mind invaded.
Sleep Deprivation: Donatello can go for up to a week without sleep, only needing coffee to sustain him. However, he will eventually crash and be close to impossible to wake for several days after when he pushes himself like this.
AU HISTORY: Before we get any further into this...this is all Daredevil's fault. No. Really. Once upon a time there was an accident where Matt Murdock pushed a blind guy out of the way of a speeding truck, got hit by a canister from said truck in the noggin, and lost his eyesight as a result. Only the radiation emanating from the goop that was in the canister also gave him superhuman senses and turned him into the crime-fighting (albeit blind) lawyer he is today. Except for some reason, Matt Murdock never once is shown to wonder where exactly that incredibly serendipitous can of goop came from or where it went after.
Well, the answer is this: The bottle was mutagen waste from Oscorp. After smacking Matt Murdock in the head, it landed right in a box in a nearby alley, smashing all over four abandoned baby kids. By the next morning, all four children had had their X-genes triggered by the mutagen inside the bottle, turning into four giant baby turtles. It just so happened that the box was found by a group of Morlocks foraging for food, and the babies were immediately brought down into the tunnels underneath New York City and raised in various places in the tunnels. Thus from the very beginning Donatello, the second youngest of these babies, was raised within the Morlock world and learned the ways of the outcast mutants. From an early age was to put to work scavenging and stealing for the collective underground, and was taught the basics of life: namely, that loyalty to his family (mainly, the Morlocks as opposed to his actual brothers, who he barely knew even existed due to them being separated) was important, that one had to fight for everything they had, and that outsiders and humans were dangerous and not to be trusted.
Unlike many of the Morlocks, however, who became embittered, despised and fought humans, and claimed that the only place for deformed mutants is in the tunnels, Donatello grew up curious about the surface world and developed a desire to learn more about it and everything else, as well as a pacifism unusual in his environment. He rarely fought with the other kids during their rumbles, even when they asked him to. He would steal books along with food, reading for days on end, teaching himself how to read and write. Using his developing technical ingenuity, he would fix up computers and TVs and set up lightning and plumbing systems for his neighbors and friends. And when he had free time - which he had a great deal of even with his foraging duties - he would use one of his fixed televisions to watch recovered VHSes -and later DVDs as his intelligence and technical ability increased. His favorite movies were martial arts and fighting movies, and he would copy all of the moves and techniques he saw, and then read everything he could about ninjas, incorporating their skills into his rapidly expanding repertoire. Donatello eventually realized he was far smarter than most of the people in his tunnel, even if he was not necessarily faster or stronger; thus he could put his rapidly expanding intelligence and knowledge to work for the good of his people.
Soon enough, he was using his improvised ninjutsu to gather more supplies for the collective, becoming the most efficient forager in his tunnel. That he was so efficient and also using his abilities to improve the standard of living of the mutants around him was something that earned him a degree of respect among other Morlocks in neighboring tunnels, though he was ridiculed by some for being a bookworm. More innocuously, at least it seemed at the time, he was also ridiculed because of rumors that he had a crush on a Morlock female they considered to be out of his league. Generally, Donatello ignored the jabs, since he enjoyed tinkering and learning; his incredible intelligence allowed him to learn to help the people out. Plus, what was the harm in admiring a female from afar?
Unfortunately, someone went a bit too far in their insults towards him, and Donatello, around 16 at the time, ultimately ended up challenging him to a combat duel as a matter of pride and honor. It was a watershed moment in Donatello's life, because it was the first time he saw just how cruel, and even hypocritical, mutants could be to one another. It was also the first time his mind was psychically opened and invaded. The shock and force of the psychic attack nearly killed Donatello where he stood, and he would have died had his opponent had a stronger control over his power. But once the attack was over, Donatello's own innate rage took over at the fact his very mind, his most prized piece of himself was violated so grossly. Within seconds, it would also become the first time he killed someone, using the skills he'd learned over the years.
This resulted in Donatello's banishment to the surface by his tunnel-kin, as the opponent he'd killed in combat had friends who wished to punish the turtle-man for his impertinence. To Donatello's Morlock neighbors, it was a fate worse than death for anyone to be banished to the surface; surely after one night a Morlock would return begging for a swift death than to be made to go back topside. To Donatello, it was an unexpected boon and curse. For it was the first time he had ever been to the surface, not just to forage briefly, but to stay for a prolonged period of time. He could literally expand his horizons for the first time, which he'd only dreamed about. see how normal humans really were, not just how the Morlocks and he were taught to see them. Not only that, but he could travel and see all of the wonderful places, experience all of the amazing things in the outside world, which he'd only before read about. And maybe - just maybe - he could even befriend humans and make a home on the surface.
For that first year of his banishment, it was paradise. Well, as much of a paradise as it could be for a mutant turtle-man. Plenty of people screamed and ran from him, calling him a freak or a monster, when he tried to swoop down and help them undisguised. And he lived in abandoned buildings, hobo alleys and cardboard boxes on alternating days and weeks, only going underground when he needed to, and always avoiding the Morlocks when he did. Then again, Don knew he wasn't exactly the most handsome mutant; not the worst-looking, but not really a human face, either. Besides, there were just as many people who didn't run away, who were thankful that there was someone out there who helped them against the gangs and hoodlums who preyed on their fellow humans. It also helped that he was adept at building and fixing things - many of his rooftop runs at night involved stealthily fixing a building's transformer when no one was looking, which was always a welcome event to keep his mind and hands sharp.
Of course, the fact Donatello found himself saving people, and doing things that a hero would do, made him wonder where the real heroes were. Namely, the Avengers and SHIELD, which he learned of from his TV; they were seemingly absent in the areas of the city that needed their help the most. He began to wonder, as time went by, why the government-supported groups, chock-full of powerful fighters and thinkers, didn't even think to help citizens that were mere blocks away from Avengers' Tower, even though they claimed they were (and yet also had no problem with hunting down mutants on ocassion, at least from what he could tell).
Eventually, and sadly, he was captured by...well, he's not sure who he was captured by to this day. But captured he was, and trundled off deep into the Adirondack Mountains by group of some kind. They claimed he was a terrorist due to the fact he was "one of them". And then they tortured him and tried to open his mind, this time with a machine, for information they claimed he had about "the enemy". Donatello nearly died again from the mental intrusion, and when...whoever they were decided he had outlived his usefulness, they tossed him into a cage with several others they had kidnapped, locked the door to the silo basement where the cage was kept, and abandoned the building they had set their base in. Once Donatello came to, he found to his horror that the other "terrorists" he was imprisoned with were both human and mutant, all of them innocents who had been kidnapped and similarly tortured.
Even worse was the realization that there was a nuclear warhead rigged in the basement alongside them, set to explode in twenty minutes. He managed to get free of the cage - somehow - and just barely managed to de-activate the bomb. However, the worst revelation in Donatello's mind was that the warhead had a SHIELD insignia on it - meaning it was government property.
Suddenly, in Donatello's mind, things began to make sense that day. The Morlocks had been right - there were people out to get them, but it was not simply the human race. No, it was SHIELD and other government-sponsored groups like them who were considered by the populace to be protectors of the downtrodden and defenders of truth. The truth was that SHIELD and other groups like them were liars. They were far from the benevolent, helpful groups they claimed to be; in fact, if anything, they were an enemy, trying to stir humans and mutants against one another with deceit and misinformation. At least, that was when they weren't sitting back letting the two groups attack each other, or using heavy-handed tactics to suppress those who tried to protest against their more secretive, more egregious actions. The teenager's shocking point of view seemed to be confirmed when he saw that SHIELD was blaming mutants for their missing warhead on the news - and those who had been captured with him warned him not to say anything about what really happened, lest he or they get in "trouble" with the law. And, of course, who else could possibly have technological capacities on par with a mutant's power but SHIELD?
It was soon after he returned to New York from his unfortunate "vacation" (as he was forced to call it) that he first heard of the Mutant Registration Act - and of a school called the Xavier Institute. Armed with his new experiences, however, Donatello couldn't - wouldn't - take the school at face value. It's reputation seemed too good to be true, especially in this day and age. The comfortable log cabin in the Adirondacks had kept hidden a silo and a cage filled with tortured prisoners. Who knew what secret horrors such a large compound held - and what would it take to expose the truth to the world? After all, despite everything, Donatello knew he had to do something - not just for the good of mutants, but for everyone, if the Xavier Institute turned out to be what he feared it was.
And so, Donatello arrives at the Xavier Institute, not as a bright-eyed student simply looking to improve himself and the world, but as a master ninja infiltrator, paranoid and determined to uncover the school's secrets in the shadow of night...
SAMPLE
1ST PERSON SAMPLE:"Brotherhood of Mutants". "What happened last weekend in NYC." Really? Really?
THIRD PERSON SAMPLE: Who'd have thought Don would actually meet someone who carried toothpaste around with him?!