Raphael is the team leader in the 2018 animated series Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Rise deliberately changes the traditional character arrangement. Raphael, the oldest brother, leads the team and uses twin tonfa. Leonardo is initially characterized as a less responsible trickster, Donatello is a technology-focused inventor, and Michelangelo is the youngest and most artistic member.
This reversal is one of the clearest ways the series distinguishes itself from earlier TMNT adaptations. In many other versions, Leonardo is the established leader, so viewers familiar with the franchise can easily carry that expectation into Rise.
The series premiered on Nickelodeon in 2018 and uses a highly stylized visual design, supernatural mythology, and a different approach to the turtles’ origins. Its leadership arrangement is therefore specific to this continuity, not a universal change to every TMNT version.