Leonardo

Leonardo Sturges (レオナルド・スタージェス, Reonarudo Sutājesu), known simply as Leonardo or Leo, is a character in Taiso Samurai. He is a self-proclaimed ninja who is living in the Aragaki household.

Appearance
Leo is a young man with pale skin and bright blue eyes. He has black hair reaching his shoulders that fades to dark green at the tips.

Leo is frequently seen wearing a navy blue ninja- style hood with a metal plate at the front.

During the epilogue, set two years after the ending of Taisou Zamurai, Leo has much shorter hair.

Personality
Leo is a friendly and cheerful young man who seems to be wholly unaware of social norms and subtext. Because of this, he can come off as childish and naive. Despite being thick- headed, Leo can be very sensitive to the emotions of others, and can be negatively and positively effected by them. Leo makes friends easily.

Leo has a passion for gymnastics and seems to be a decent gymnast himself. For unknown reasons, he idolizes Jotaro Aragaki and even follows the man to his home. Leo’s true passion seems to be for ballet, but after suffering from anxiety and intense pressure as a dancer Leo ran away from the sport and devotes himself to his ninja persona instead.

History
Leo was raised in Europe and was primarily based in London prior to joining the Aragaki family, As a young child, Leo truly loved ballet. He was called a genius and praised by those around him. At some point during this time period, Leonardo went to a gymnastics competition where he first saw Jotaro Aragaki perform. Leo, despite being a young child at the time, was moved by Jotaro’s intensity and passion.

As time went on, Leo began to feel the strain of his “genius” title. His supporters would compare him to others and describe him as insufficient, believing that as a “genius” Leo was always easily capable of more. Fellow ballet dancers became jealous of Leo, isolating themselves from him and leaving him completely alone with the expectations of what felt like everyone around him.

Leo’s mental state went into a tailspin as he felt the mounting expectations of those watching him as he performed, his anxieties and fears becoming worse with each performance. Eventually, Leo retreated to his room and ran away from ballet. His dance instructor told others that he was taking a break due to illness while sending out agents to find Leo and bring him back to London.

Leo, desperate to run away from everything, decided to work as a ninja at a Japanese theme park. There, he eventually met Jotaro and Rei Aragaki.

Jotaro Aragaki
Jotaro and Leo are friends. Leo seems to idolize Jotaro, particularly his gymnastics, and is unable to stop shaking while watching Jotaro perform.

Leo has given Jotaro the nickname “Joe”.

Rei Aragaki
Leo treats Rei like a younger sister. The two have a shared passion for Western movies and support Jotaro together during his competitions. When Leo learns that Rei is unhappy in school, he decides to stalk her during her school day and even shows up to her school’s Parent Day. His misguided efforts to help Rei have fun in class end up infuriating her, but he ultimately helps her connect with her classmates.

Leo invented the nickname “Rachel” for Rei, presumably because “Rei- chan” and “Rachel” sound similar. He is currently the only one allowed to call Rei “Rachel”.