April O'Neil

This article is about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles character. For the pornographic actress, see April O'Neil (pornographic actress).

April O'Neil
Publication information
Publisher	Mirage Studios
First appearance	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #2 (October 1984)
Created by	Kevin Eastman Peter Laird
In-story information
Full name	April O'Neil
Team affiliations	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Notable aliases	Miss O'Neil

April O'Neil is a character from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and all related media. In each of the many TMNT continuities, she is a good friend of the Turtles: Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo.

Comics

In the original Mirage Comics storyline, April O'Neil (who originally sported a jumpsuit) was a skilled computer programmer and worked as an assistant for Baxter Stockman, helping to program his Mouser robots and demonstrating their operation. After she discovered that Baxter was using the Mousers to burrow into bank vaults and steal from them, she attempted to flee Baxter's workshop and found herself in the sewers running for her life, with several Mousers in pursuit. Three of the Turtles happened to come across her and save her; they later successfully fended off a Mouser invasion after Baxter programmed them to attack the Turtles.

April began to run an antique shop, which came under attack by The Shredder and the Foot Clan (who had come for the Turtles), and which was destroyed in the ensuing battle. She and the Turtles retreated to a farm house in Northampton, Massachusetts where she later had dreams about the Foot Clan's attack. During the mid-90s, April became romantically involved with Casey Jones and the two eventually adopted a child named Shadow.

In Volume 2 of the TMNT comics, April was attacked and injected by a huge robot controlled by Baxter Stockman's brain (apparently, Baxter having escaped capture, had placed his brain in the body of a robot and sought them out in order to get revenge on April). It wasn't revealed until Volume 4 that April was injected by nanobots that seemed to have caused sterility as well as nearly killing her from the inside. With the help of the Utroms, the turtles sent turtle versions of nanobots to stop Baxter's versions and saved April before they would reach her brainstem. Despite this, April remained sterile.

This put an emotional strain on April, and she became a female version of Nobody until she was discovered by Casey Jones. It was with the help of Renet taking her back in time that revealed that April was really a living drawing, brought to life with the help of Kirby's crystal, drawn by her father, who at the time really wanted a daughter. This was before their own biological daughter Robyn O'Neil would be born. Unlike Kirby's drawings drawn with pencil that would vanish after a while, April's father used a pen, so it might explain why April lived past thirty without vanishing so far. Questions such as if she was real or not, whether she could live or die, or when she would eventually vanish were too much for her to handle. April bid farewell to Shadow and Casey and went to be alone with her thoughts in Alaska. Whilst it was shown the trip was helping April cope with her demons, her eventual return to New York and her family would go unexplored as the Mirage continuity was eventually rested and the TMNT rights sold to Nickelodeon.

Fan reaction to April's origin was mixed, as many believed her normality served as a good contrast to the fantastic nature of the Turtles. No other incarnation of April has shared this origin to date.

Unlike some of the other versions of her character, the Mirage Comics version of April has dark brown/black hair (though early color reprints of Volume 1 depicted her hair color as red/light brown). Most future incarnations of April that came afterwards are redheads.

April also appeared in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comic produced by Archie Comics, which began as re-tellings of cartoon episodes but were eventually spun off into original stories. In this series, she began as a carbon copy of her animated counterpart, but the writers developed her into a competent warrior after training with Splinter. Years earlier in the September, 1985 re-printing of issue one, Mirage Studios artist Ryan Brown depicts April as a katana wielding ninja warrior in his back cover pin-up. Because of her frequent adventures with the Turtles, she lost her job at Channel 6 and became a freelance reporter. Archie also published 2 sets of 3-part April O'Neil mini-series. In the Winter 1994 Archie Special, April was mutated into a turtle herself. This made April become the first official female turtle introduced to the series, three years before Venus de Milo's debut.

The second issue of the Dreamwave Productions series (based on the 2003 animated series) focused entirely on April, consisting of a dream sequence showing how she had been pressured into a scientific career by her family despite having interest in journalism, an obvious homage to the 1987 cartoon.

Animated series (1987–1996)

In the 1987 TMNT animated series, April O'Neil was a television reporter for Channel 6 News. She was employed by Burne Thompson, though she expressed frequent disagreement with his assignments for her due to her headstrong nature and passion for her work. She also butted heads on a regular basis with Vernon Fenwick, the director/camera operator whose enormous ego compelled him to scoop April on her stories whenever possible. April was best friends with Irma, the receptionist at Channel 6. Her Channel 6 News Van was a blue van that had classic headlights and the Channel 6 News logo on each side. April could usually be found wearing a distinctive yellow jumpsuit with white boots. She lived in an apartment in New York City, though during the course of the series, she was forced to relocate several times due to a variety of indirect Turtle-related mishaps.

In the 1987 series, April was reporting a series of thefts of high-tech scientific equipment, apparently by a ninja, when she came under attack by a gang of street punks. Thinking quickly, she managed to squeeze into a storm drain and ran from the mob until she hit a dead end. The Turtles were nearby and defeated the punks for her. She was taken back to their sewer lair, where they explained their origins to her. At first, she believed them to be responsible for the equipment thefts, but they agreed to provide her with the true culprits if she provided her assistance and didn't tell people about them. April quickly became the Turtles' major link to the outside world, since their unusual appearance effectively precluded them from functioning above ground without some sort of disguise.

April's friendship with the Turtles resulted in the opportunity to film exclusive footage of their encounters with Shredder, but despite her intimate knowledge of the details of their lives, she tended to keep her professional news reports about them impersonal and mysterious. She was a vocal champion of their cause, despite the opinion of Burne Thompson that the Turtles were a menace to the city, and most episodes generally showed her attempting to convince Burne and the New Yorkers that the Turtles are not the criminals he is convinced they are; by the episode "Doomquest," she finally succeeds by exposing Lord Dregg's propaganda campaign and plans to take over the Earth to the public. April was frequently kidnapped by Shredder, quite often as bait in order to lure the Turtles out of hiding in order to unleash his latest attempt at destruction upon them.

April revealed her age in the Season 3 episode, "Leather Head - Terror of The Swamp". While in Florida for vacation, the Turtles meet with her, and join forces with the Punk Frogs. They find a body of water contaminated with mutagen, which makes mutants feel youthful, while physically de-aging humans into 4 year old versions of themselves. Donatello does not allow April to enter the water, to which April laments, "Oh, great! I'm doomed to be a decrepit twenty-eight-year-old hag!"

Her Aunt Agatha ("Aggie"), who appeared in the episodes ("Case of the Hot Kimono" and "Sleuth on the Loose"), is a detective.

April was normally portrayed as a capable independent woman. Her most important contribution to the Turtles was her experience in doing research on the Channel 6 computers and alerting the Turtles to trouble and possible case leads. Following the destruction of the Channel 6 building in the eighth season April continued to work for Channel 6, but by the ninth season, April worked freelance for reasons never specified. During these three seasons, she exchanged her yellow jumpsuit for a brown leather jacket. She continued to help the Turtles, even after the defeat of Shredder and his subsequent exile to Dimension X.

April was voiced by Renae Jacobs. There was also a two-part OVA series in Japan, in which April was voiced by Emi Shinohara. In the 25th Anniversary crossover movie, Turtles Forever, she was voiced by Rebecca Soler.

Motion pictures

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990 film)

In the first TMNT motion picture, April (played by Judith Hoag) was a television reporter (though she worked for Channel 3 news in this case) working for Charles "Chuck" Pennington, and did a series of stories on mysterious thefts in New York City whose culprits vanished without a trace. One night when leaving work, she was accosted by teenage thieves in league with the Foot Clan, but the Turtles appeared and saved her by knocking out and tying up the teens under the cover of darkness. In the aftermath April discovered and grabbed Raphael's lost sai, but Raphael soon followed her and took back the weapon and saved her again when she was attacked by a group of Foot Ninja in the Subway and punched unconscious while trying to fight them off with her purse. Unsure what to do with her, he carried her unconscious to their sewer lair. Though her fearful reaction upon seeing the Turtles and Splinter initially got the better of her, she eventually came to regard the Turtles as friends, and even allowed them to live in her apartment after the Foot Clan discovered and destroyed their sewer dwellings. Chuck fired April for a while. Also, Casey Jones develops a romantic interest in her but at first she did not feel the same for him. By the end of the film, she realizes she loves him and then kisses him.

Mirroring the Mirage Comics storyline, the Foot once again attacked the Turtles in the antique shop, prompting April, the Turtles (including a wounded Raphael), and Casey Jones to retreat to her family's farmhouse in Northampton, Massachusetts. She kept a journal documenting their forced sabbatical in addition to drawing sketches of the Turtles. During their respite, April also developed a kind of love-hate relationship with Casey Jones. She grew extremely close to the four brothers as well; Michaelangelo, who initially confessed to having a crush on April, later addressed her as "Sis," indicating the role she had come to occupy in the Turtles' family.

Second and third movies

In the second and third movies, April was played by Paige Turco. In the second movie, she provided the Turtles and Splinter with a place to stay after the destruction of their lair in the previous film, subsequently helping them research the company that created the ooze that transformed the Turtles into their present state. In TMNT III, April was temporarily transported to feudal Japan, forcing the Turtles to travel back in time to rescue her.

TMNT: Coming Out of Their Shells

April also made a live-action appearance in the TMNT: Coming Out of Their Shells musical tour, during which her role was to incite the live audience to interact with the stage performers and encourage the Turtles when needed. She was played by Sherie Rene Scott.

TMNT (2007 film)

April appears in the 2007 film voiced by Sarah Michelle Gellar; following the continuity from the previous films, it appears that she and Casey Jones are living and working together in a shipping firm, engaged in a relationship. It is she who finds Leonardo in Central America at the start of the film, having been in the area seeking an artifact for Max Winters. No mention is made of her past as a journalist, but it is instead implied that she has taken up archaeology as a career.

She has taken up martial arts training from Splinter, purchasing a suit and armor from Japan and becoming skilled in the use of katana, apparently leaving behind her past as a 'damsel in distress'. This is demonstrated as April and Karai fight it out while Casey, Splinter and the turtles battle the Foot in order to save Leonardo. This appears to be corroborated in a collectible booklet packed in with her action figure for the film, which implies that she has become a master of the katana. The figure itself includes a katana, tonfa, and two shoulder armor pads; this outfit would be replicated for the film. It is also noted that in the beginning of the film, she wears something similar to Lara Croft's normal outfit.

Ninja Turtles (2014 film)

April will appear in the upcoming reboot Ninja Turtles with Megan Fox playing the role.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 TV series)

April got a costume change for the new incarnation of the animated series produced by 4Kids Entertainment, but her role was similar to that of the Mirage Comics character. Again, she served as an assistant to Baxter Stockman until his Mouser experiments got out of control, and after the Turtles saved her, she became a faithful friend, ally, and "big sister" to them. April makes much more use of her scientific expertise and she often uses her computer skills to aid the Turtles. This has also meant that she has developed a closer relationship to Donatello, who shares many of her interests. In TMNT: Back to the Sewer she sometimes helps Don in collecting Splinter's data bits. April is also shown to have an attraction to Casey Jones, though their contrasting personalities often make them bicker. By the third season, the two are shown to be dating and seem to have a serious relationship. In "wedding bells and bytes" she and Casey get married. April also has developed a modest knowledge of combat skills after training with Splinter. She is also a strong boxer. Her quick thinking is often a key to the Turtles' survival. In the series TMNT: Back to the Sewers, her look is slightly changed to resemble the 2007 movie. She is voiced by Veronica Taylor.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012 TV series)

April is voiced by Mae Whitman in this new series. The tomboyish daughter and only child of scientist, Dr. Kirby O'Neil. April is 16-years-old, one-year-older than the Turtles, but younger than in most versions, she likes to play video games and eat pizza. In this series, April befriends the Ninja Turtles after the Kraang kidnap her father. In this series, Donatello has a crush on April. In "Monkey Brains," Splinter discerns that April naturally has a special spiritual sensitivity and offers to train her to be a kunoichi, (a female ninja), so that she may learn to harness this spiritual sensitivity and be able to look after herself if she gets into trouble.

She lives with her aunt in the city. She wants to be re-united with her father. She is very gentle with animals as shown in episode "Monkey Brains."

Video games

April has appeared in most of the TMNT video games, usually as the damsel in distress who has been captured by the Shredder. In TMNT IV: Turtles in Time for SNES, she kicks the story off with a brief report where Krang steals the Statue of Liberty and appears onscreen in the SNES version to encourage the Turtles to fight when the player characters are idle. She also appears as a playable character in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters for Sega Genesis, where her game character bears no resemblance to the 1987 cartoon likeness.

In Konami's series of TMNT games based on the 2003 animated series, April resembles her cartoon counterpart. Like in the new show, she is no longer a mere damsel-in-distress but often shows up in various cutscenes to give advice and advance the plot of the game. In TMNT: Mutant Melee, April is once again a playable character and participates in multi-player battles. April is a playable character in Ubisoft's TMNT: Smash-Up.

Action figures

In the TMNT toy lines produced by Playmates Toys, April O'Neil has appeared in several action figure incarnations. The first of these had a limited production run, notable for the lack of a blue stripe running along the side of her jumpsuit, and is considered valuable to collectors. The more common yellow-striped version quickly replaced it and had much greater circulation. (One item of note is that the badge above her breast pocket that read "PRESS" was removed after Playmates became concerned that children would interpret the text as directions for a gimmick and expect a reaction after following those instructions.) An alternate version of April was released in 1990, with a different head sculpt (closer to her cartoon incarnation) and orange boots and details was a further modification made to the original figure. Another April variation was released in 1993 packaged exclusively with the Channel 6 Newsvan vehicle, this April had the same sculpt of the '90 release although her jumpsuit is green and the boots yellow. At one stage, a 13" version was slated for production to accompany the other similar-sized figures, but was never produced. Other notable April figures include the 1992 version, dubbed simply "April," with purple accents on her jumpsuit; "April, the Ravishing Reporter," which was the first such figure to feature rooted hair; "April, the Ninja Newscaster," who came with one of each of the Turtles' signature weapons; and "Mutatin' April," part of the Mutations assortment in which April could transform into a humanoid cat (inspired by the original series episode "The Cat Woman from Channel Six").

For the new TV series, Playmates introduced two April figures, a standard sized April with bonus Mouser robots and a miniature April. There was also an April figure based on her appearance in the CGI TMNT movie, wearing her yellow ninja outfit. NECA is also stated to release an April figure based on her original Mirage comics appearance.

External links

• April's profile on Official TMNT website