I love being a child of the 80s. And consider this said with rose-colored glasses, but we had some awesome cartoons growing up. Granted, now as an adult I know they were all glorified toy commercials, but they were just amazing when I was a kid! Transformers, G.I. Joe, the Teenage Mutant Ninja  Turtles! There’s just no denying that my generation had it made.

And considering my life now, with the nerd blog, a love of comics and an action figure collection, I think it’s safe to say those early cartoons and TV shows definitely started me down this road of geekery.

Behold greatness!

So let’s play everyone’s favorite game from those old shows and ask: who’s your favorite? You all know you have a favorite. Who’s your favorite Thundercat? Who’s your favorite G.I. Joe? And the big one: who’s your favorite Ninja Turtle? Join me after the jump to see my answers to those life-defining questions from my childhood, and find out who my favorite pop culture heroes were when I was a little kid – and I’d love to hear yours in the comments.

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6. My Favorite Transformer: Silverbolt

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Image courtesy of KrisSmithDW.

I may have watched a few episodes of Transformers Generation 1 back in the day, but the real transforming robots cartoon for me was Beast Wars! The CGI was in the early stages of not sucking, but the characters, adventures and drama were simply fantastic. This was a cartoon that dealt with real issues of war, loyalty, heroism and all the ways that a Tyrannosaurus Rex could turn into a rocket ship. And boy, oh boy, was it meant to sell toys. All the characters kept getting new looks and new transformations every time a new toy variant line was released. But credit to the writers, who managed to make all these changes part of the story.

Silverbolt was one such change. The Beast Wars were about transformers who changed from animals into robots, similar to how the Transformers change from motor vehicles into robots. Well about halfway through the show, the toys started combining animals to make new characters. Like the scorpion with a cobra for a tail. Silverbolt was one of these ‘Fuzors’, he was a wolf with a pair of wings. He should have just been a walking, talking commercial. Instead, Silverbolt was an examination of the ‘white knight’ type of hero. He was chivalrous to a fault and so heroic it was almost cartoony, but his heroism wasn’t a joke. His beliefs and attitude were often challenged, and he had a lot to learn about the gray shades of war.

Plus he was a freakin’ wolf with wings! How cool is that?

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5. My Favorite Dinosaur: Littlefoot

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My favorite movie as a kid was, without a doubt, The Land Before Time. It had dinosaurs, it had adorableness and it had drama. I’m talking about the original, of course. To Hell with those namby-pamby sequels! The Land Before Time, even though it was for kids, dealt with real problems of growing up, finding your way in the world and fighting a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Littlefoot was the star, a young ‘Longneck’ who not only gets orphaned within the first few minutes of the movie, but then spends the rest of it getting chased by the scariest dinosaur to ever walk the Earth! It’s like Bambi’s mom meets Jurassic Park!  Though The Land Before Time was probably much scarier than Jurassic Park. Littlefoot was one cool little dude. He wasn’t automatically heroic or even a boy scout. He could be petty, selfish and stubborn. How often do you see children’s cartoon characters with such depth? Though I’m sure they washed all of that away in the various sequels and follow-ups, none of which I ever saw, thank you very much.

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4. My Favorite Duck Superhero: Gizmoduck

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Image courtesy of theCHAMBA.

Darkwing Dark can go be dangerous somewhere else, my favorite duck superhero was always Gizmoduck! When Fenton Crackshell utters those famous words “Blathering Blatherskite!” he is transformed into the mighty and heroic Gizmoduck, complete with the sort of technological badassery that would make Inspector Gadget’s digestive system jealous. Gizmoduck was just a neat superhero, with his unicycle wheel and fancy white armor. He was my favorite part of Ducktales, and I loved his cameos in Darkwing Duck. But Ducktales was already awesome. It’s such a strange idea, between comics and the cartoon, that Scrooge McDuck makes for such a fascinating protagonist. And he was already steeped in adventure and characters when they decided to add a superhero. My young, comic book-loving self couldn’t have been happier than if I’d had my own Gizmoduck armor.

Blathering Blatherskite indeed.

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3. My Favorite G.I. Joe: Snake Eyes

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Ninjas are cool now

This one is pretty damn obvious. If Snake Eyes, the badass ninja operative with the heart of gold, wasn’t your favorite G.I. Joe, there was something wrong with you. In a team full of super soldiers, Snake Eyes was a freakin’ ninja commando! He used swords and guns, with an all-black costume that definitely stood out among the greens and browns of the other Joes. Plus he was mute for some reason. That just added to his mystique, and we loved him even more for it. And that name, ‘Snake Eyes’? What does it even mean in the context of a ninja warrior? Who cares! It was badass, just like him! I loved the cartoon, and an episode wasn’t any good at all unless Snake Eyes had a role. And I was an even bigger fan of the G.I. Joe action figures…but I don’t remember ever owning a really good Snake Eyes. Possibly one of the sadder regrets of my childhood. I’m pretty sure I had his trading card, though, so it all balances out.

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2. My Favorite Power Ranger: Green Ranger

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Best. Ranger. Ever.

There have been many imitators and many wannabes, but there is only one, true Green Power Ranger. In every new season of Power Rangers – though they’re not always called that – you get your main cast of characters, and then there’s always an extra Ranger that comes along as a bonus character. They’ve been repeating this process in season after season after season; yet they got it absolutely right the very first time. Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers was a phenomenon when I was a kid. Remember all those stories about kids beating up other kids because they saw it on Power Rangers? That wasn’t me, of course, but those were some wild stories. Anyway, you had this team of goody two-shoes teenage heroes, morphin’ into Rangers to stop the bad guys. Then along comes the Green Ranger, all badass with his golden shield and his villainous origins. He was the bad boy you love to love, especially when he was freed from the bad guy’s control and became one of the Power Rangers! Those were exciting times to be a young Sean.

It’s just too bad the giant Green Ranger action figure only came packaged with the full Dragonzord. That was way too expensive for a kid like me. Damn you, toy companies! How dare you deny me what could have been the perfect childhood!?

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1. My Favorite Ninja Turtle: Leonardo

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A choice that defines a generation

The big one. The decider. The most important pop culture decision of every kid’s life: and mine is Leonardo. As Cracked.com has pointed out, your choice of favorite Ninja Turtle defines you as a person. Are you smart and nerdy like Donatello? A party animal like Michaelangelo? A tough rebel like Raphael? Or, like me, are you drawn to the noble and heroic Leonardo, with his judicious Katana blades and cool blue mask. Leonardo was the king of my childhood. I won’t try and claim that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was any sort of groundbreaking show with deep themes and complex characters. But that hardly mattered to a kid like me. I just loved the turtles being ninjas and fighting the bad guys! I was so enamored that I never even noticed that the turtles never actually used their weapons. Or when they did, it was only against the robotic Foot soldiers. Of course, killing your foes in cold blood probably lacks honor, and Leo was always about  honor.

You can keep your Cowabungas. Go off and do machines. And don’t bring that cool but rude attitude in here. Leonardo is the best Ninja Turtle. That’s just a fact, dudes.