Why Donatello vs Shuri is peak fiction

 Why Donatello vs Shuri is peak fiction

"An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge."

-King Solomon

So, ballots will be reopening soon, and I've been going back and forth on which matchups I wanted to submit this time. But after giving it some thought, I decided I'm going with Donatello vs. Shuri. Now I know what you're thinking: "MJSONIC234, there are already tons of Donnie matchups, and when it comes to Marvel, we already have our friendly neighborhood web-head! Why would you prefer Shuri over Spider-Man himself?"

I hear you, my friend. I think Peter vs. Donnie is a perfectly fine choice myself, and I won't fault you for preferring it. It's a good alternative, in my opinion. However, I think Shuri offers a unique perspective to Donatello that our friendly neighborhood web-head simply doesn't. So, sit back, relax, and let me break down why Donatello vs. Shuri is, in my opinion, Donatello's best matchup.

BOOYAKASHA!

Connections

For the connections, let's begin with the fact that both Donnie and Shuri were born into lives that kept them hidden from the rest of the world, albeit for different reasons (Wakanda isolated itself to protect its people and advanced technology from the outside world, while Splinter raised Donnie and his brothers in the sewers to protect them from a world that would never understand or accept them).

Secondly, especially if you go the composite route for this matchup, both are the brains and scientists of their families. While they're more than capable fighters in their own right, they prefer to use their intelligence in combat, combining their scientific knowledge and advanced technology with their fighting prowess. Even cooler, both are highly proficient with long-ranged melee weapons (Donnie's Bo Staff and Shuri's Spear), using them with incredible skill alongside their advanced technology. Not exactly unique for comic book characters, but both have died at some point during their adventures.

But the best part of this matchup, and what makes it the most thematic to me, is the fact that both struggle with the spiritual side of their upbringing because of their intelligence and logical mindsets (For example, in IDW and Rise, Donnie struggles to believe in the mystical side of ninjutsu. In Rise especially, he has a hard time accepting mysticism because it challenges everything he believes about science and technology, making him feel insecure that his intellect and inventions are no longer enough. Fearing he'll be replaced, he initially rejects mysticism altogether. Meanwhile, in the comics, Shuri was rejected by Bast from becoming the Black Panther due to her arrogance and jealousy, and in Wakanda Forever, after losing nearly her entire family, she begins to lose her faith because of all the pain she endured before ultimately rediscovering it).

However, both eventually overcome these struggles and embrace the spiritual side of their worlds, gaining powerful mystical abilities that they seamlessly combine with their technology and fighting skills.

This might not have a wall of text's worth of connections, but the themes it does have are simple, meaningful, and just hit right for me. That's what makes this matchup special to me.

What could make this cool

Originally, when creating this matchup, I was only leaning toward the comics, specifically IDW Donatello and Earth-616 Shuri. In fact, that was originally how I planned to approach the blog.

However, as many of you know, the TMNT franchise has a fair amount of canon cross-scaling. Now, exactly how far that cross-scaling goes, and especially how high it gets the verse is certainly debatable. But for the most part, outside of a few specific matchups, the community generally composites the Turtles, giving them everything within reason ( no Dragon Forms for example).

To be honest, especially when it comes to Donnie, I think this is the right approach. I know a lot of people have been itching for matchups where his technology is allowed to take center stage. Heck, I think that's the biggest reason Donnie has more matchup potential than all of his brothers.

Getting to see all the awesome inventions Don has built over the years finally getting their chance to shine is what makes him feel more unique from both a powerscaling and visual standpoint than his brothers.

That's why characters like Tails, Coco, and, of course, Peter are usually suggested. However, I think Shuri fits this niche just as well. While Spider-Man has used technology throughout his history, it's generally more situational than it is for Donnie or Shuri. Sure, Donnie doesn't rely on gadgets every single fight either, but more often than not, especially in modern incarnations like Rise, he's bringing his tech into battle. Heck, entire adventures revolve around his inventions. That's not to say Pete doesn't have cool gadgets, tho.

But man, Donnie and Shuri have so many pieces of equipment that complement each other beautifully. Donnie's tech backpack in Rise gives him the ability to fly, while in the comics, Shuri has Vibranium wings that let her do the exact same thing! Of course, both wield iconic long-ranged weapons as well, the Bo Staff and the Spear, respectively.

What's also really cool is that both have cool gauntlets. I'm sure you know Shuri's iconic gauntlets from the movies and comics, which let her fire powerful sonic blasts. Meanwhile, Donnie has a gauntlet capable of manipulating gravity, allowing him to lift objects and even launch himself through the air.

They have plenty of other gadgets as well, and I'm sure I'm still missing some of Shuri's coolest tech simply because I haven't researched everything she has. But that's another reason I think a composite approach works so well, it gives both of their most iconic inventions and gadgets a chance to shine.

Heck, Tokon is even giving Shuri a panther armored with Vibranium technology that she can command, and that's just awesome. On top of that, she has her own Black Panther suit, complete with all the abilities and equipment that come with it.

One thing I’m very interested in learning is whether Donnie has a reliable way of getting past Vibranium's durability, because that's definitely going to be one of the biggest questions when it comes to the actual debate.

As for how the fight could start, given where they both live, it's actually pretty easy to set up. Shuri has traveled to America and New York specifically multiple times throughout the comics, as well as in projects like the MCU, so her being there wouldn't be out of place at all.

Part of the setup I've envisioned is that Shuri is in New York tracking down a group that's stolen a supply of Vibranium. At the same time, Donnie just so happens to be investigating the incident himself. The fight could begin because of a misunderstanding, or perhaps Donnie wants to study the Vibranium himself and, not knowing who Shuri is, doesn't trust her claim that she's taking it back to Wakanda. Believing she's another person after the metal, Donnie intervenes, and the misunderstanding escalates into a full-blown fight.

The Spiritual

Bet you didn't know that was Shuri on the right, huh? Yeah, before her MCU debut, Shuri was a very different character in the comics. However, after the MCU's take on the character became so popular, the comics eventually reworked her to more closely align with that portrayal, including redesigning her appearance. That said, her powers never disappeared because of this change. Even in more recent stories, she accidentally projected her consciousness into Groot's body.

Thanks to her connection to the Djalia, Shuri can do some pretty wild things. She can raise an army of the dead, transform into a bird (including a gigantic one), and even turn herself to stone. From what I can gather, she can also freely enter the Wakandan Plane of Memory and even pull other people into it against their will.

Donnie, on the other hand, also has mystical powers in both Rise and IDW. In Rise, his mystic abilities allow him to create a wide variety of energy-based manifestations from his Bo Staff, forming all kinds of technological weaponry, including, of course, his iconic drill.

Meanwhile, in IDW, funnily enough, Donnie also has his consciousness projected into another body, Metalhead. From what I've gathered, he eventually learns astral projection from Venus and even discovers how to channel his mystic abilities to travel through time.I believe there's even more to it. Something called the Gofu Talisman keeps coming up whenever I'm researching IDW Donnie, so I'm definitely curious to learn more about it. 

Overall, I'm really interested in seeing how Donnie and Shuri's mystical abilities would bounce off one another, especially since both of them eventually learn to balance their scientific minds with the spiritual side of their worlds.

In Conclusion

I've been trying to get this matchup off the ground since 2021. As an African American, Shuri and Black Panther have always meant a lot to me, and with the recent surge in Shuri's popularity thanks to the movies, and now Marvel Tokon, I feel like I finally have the opportunity to fully express what I love about both her and this matchup.

And this wasn't just about Shuri, either. Donnie has always been my favorite Turtle. Growing up, the 2012 version in particular was my Donatello, and I think this matchup plays to both characters' strengths almost perfectly. A Wakandan warrior versus a ninja, that’s just so peak dawg.

Thanks for reading, God Bless.