April O'Neil (2012 TV series)

"April, it seems you have a rare gift: A Sensitivity I have trained my entire live to develop...
 * -Splinter"

April O'Neil is a ally to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

History
April met the Turtles when she and her father (Kirby O'Neil) were attacked by the Kraang. She was afraid of the mutants at first, but started to trust them thanks to Donatello. The group was unable to fight effectively as a team, which resulted with the Kraang succeeded in kidnapping April and her father. While she was trapped in their hideout, April tried to trick the Kraang into letting her escape, but her plan failed. Later the Turtles came to her rescue. Eventually, they succeeded in saving April, but the Kraang got away with her father. Later, the Turtles met April at her aunt's apartment, where she would now be staying. April was safe, but upset over the loss of her father and determined to find him. The Turtles promised to help her get him back.

Since then April has become good friends with the Turtles and cooperated with the them on various missions. In Turtle Temper she gave them information about the Kraang's plans to break into a lab. In New Friend, Old Enemy she showed Michelangelo how to use the Internet to make friends online. In Metalhead, she played a very active role by infiltrating a Kraang hideout and learning their plans to put mutagen in the city's water supply. She was also able to defeat one of their guards on her own and escape to inform the Turtles of the enemy plans.

As of Monkey Brains, April has begun training with Splinter in the ways of the ninja. While she is not on the level of the Turtles in terms of fighting skills, she has shown improvement in matters of stealth and spying.

In Panic in the Sewers, she refuses to let the turtles give up, and volunters to spy on Shredder to find out his

plan, at first, everyone rejects, but seeing they have no other way, they allow her to do it. She finds out Shredder's

plan: To destroy the sewers with chorosflunic acid. After getting out of the building, April says she's gonna hitch a

hide and see where they go, but Leo objects. Because of Dogpound's acute hearing, he hears them over the

phone and captures April. Later on, after Raph and Donnie stop Fong and the Foot Clan, she kicks the door on the van open, knocking him out.

In TCRI, April has found out that the Kraang are really after her, not her father. The reason for this is still unknown.

In "Baxter's Gambit", April asks Splinter to give her a weapon. After trying out several different weapons ending in horrible failures, Splinter settles on giving her a tessen he had hoped to give to his long lost daughter. It looks like an ordinary fan, but it is in fact made of metal and has a razor-sharp edge.

In Karai's Vendetta, she becomes a target for the Foot Clan. Karai, dressed in casual clothing, comes up to her, and quickly befriends her. However, April realizes who she is, and tries to run, aided by Mr. Murakami. However, while being good at running away, she is cornered, and pulls out her tessen. Karai compliments the weapon, yet quickly disarms April and utterly overpowers her. April fights back, but Karai toys with her and injures her. Karai questions what makes her so special, trapping her in an arm lock, and April angrily proclaims what has changed, including the death of her mother. This touches a nerve in Karai, lowering her guard and allowing April to send her tubmling down a subway staircase, and allowing her to escape. Despite her escape, Splinters states she should stay with them. With the Foot now after her along with the Kraang, and likely thanks to her very narrow escape, she is not safe out in the open. She reluctantly accepts, wanting the enemies of the turtles defeated so she can return to her normal life.

Personality
April is a smart, strange, tomboyish, and shy sixteen year-old girl with an indie rock vibe. The fact that April feels more comfortable with four mutant reptiles than with her high-school peers should tell you a lot. She is also feisty, determined and resourceful. She is a fiercely loyal to her mutant friends, as seen in Panic in the Sewers. When the turtles were ready to give up, April volunteered to find out Shredder's plot. She is also somewhat reckless too.

Relationships
While she is friends with all the Turtles, April seems to have the closest friendship with Donatello. He has a crush on her, but she seems to be either oblivious, or indifferent about it. However In "Enemy Of My Enemy" April showed some jealousy when Donnie said Karai was a better kunoichi than her. Also In "Metalhead" she seemd a little annoyed by Donnie's attempts to flirt with her. So it is unclear if she has feelings for Donnie or not. She is a really close friend to Donatello, since he risked his life saving her and complimenting her. But, still, not really clear. The other turtles do care about her, especially Mikey and Leo. When she was upset, Mikey tried to comfort her by offering her a tissue, which she declined. When Leo didn't know what to do about Karai, he went to April for advice. The only one she doesn't seem close to or have a relationship with is Raph, as they rarely have conversation. However, they do seem to have a similar mindset, both warning Leo about Karai. Raph also seems to look after April in a way like all the turtles do, such as when they all opposed her spying on the meeting with the Shredder.

April seems to be on good terms with Splinter, despite knowing very little about him. They share the student-teacher relationship that he has with the turtles. He decided to teach her when he realized that she has empathy and decided to teach her to be a kunoichi. She seems to respect and care for him, especially when she was forced to fight him.

While April's relationship with her father has not yet been explored very deeply, her determination to rescue him shows that she cares for him very much. Her only other known relative is her aunt, whom she is used to live with, after Master Splinter asked to stay and live in the sewer after Shredder and the Kraang are stopped and quit looking for her. April's mother, Mrs. O'Neil, has been said to be deceased.

Appearance
April appears as a young-looking shy 16 year old. She has ginger hair that appears to be tied up on a small ponytail and curved bangs that go to the right. She also has a yellow headband. April wears a elbow-length black shirt with a yellow and white sport shirt with the number "5" over it, blue denim shorts, black leggings, brown bandages/bracelets around her wrists, white high socks with two blue stripes on them, and black low-heeled boots. Though you may not notice it, April has a clip on her right back pocket of her shorts. The clip is colored gold and has a little ball with a heart. There also appears to be keys that we are guessing to be house keys. April is very slim and has blue eyes with one eyelash. Donnie finds all of these features "attractive", leading to his crush on her.

Trivia

 * April's name comes from the Latin "aprīlis", meaning "of the month of the goddess, Venus". April's surname, O'Neil, is of Irish origin; derived from Irish Gaelic, it means "descendant of Niall". Her surname implies that April has family roots in Ireland, making her ethnicity/nationality Irish-American.
 * April is called "April-chan" by Mr. Murakami, who she likewise addresses as "Murakami-san".
 * In Japanese, April's name would be 四月 (しがつ, shigatsu), meaning "the 4th Moon"; (moon = month and April is the 4th month) or 卯月 (うづき, uzuki), meaning "Moon of the Rabbit". In Katakana, April's name is spelt: アプリル (Apuriru).
 * In this incarnation, April is 16 years old: The reason for this is that Nickelodeon thought it would be odd for an adult woman to be hanging out with teenagers, (the Turtles). In this incarnation, she is an only child, whereas in other incarnations of April in the franchise shows her with an older sister, Robyn.
 * The number five on April's shirt may be a reference to her role as "The Fifth Turtle".
 * After the events of "Rise of the Turtles, Part 2", April is curently staying with her Aunt, (though it as yet to be specified whether she is the sister of April's father, Dr. Kirby O'Neil's, or of April's mother). April's Aunt is herself currently living in the same building as an antique store called "Second Time About". This is likely a reference to some of April's previous incarnations working in an antique store with a similar name, "Second Time Around". After the events of "Karai's Vendetta", April has to stay in the Lair with Splinter and the Turtles until they can defeat both the Foot and the Kraang.
 * April currently attends Roosevelt High School, (named after one of the American Presidents, and the school mascot is the "Roosevelt Viking"). After the events of "Karai's Vendetta", April cannot go back to school until both the Foot and the Kraang are defeated. According to her picture on her student ID, shown in "Panic in the Sewers", April used to have glasses and braces.
 * As of the events of "Baxter's Gambit", April is now armed with a Tessen, (lit. a "Iron Fan", better known as a Japanese war fan), a weapon that Splinter had one day hoped to give to his daughter, Miwa, who April reminds him of. April will now be focusing her fighting style around the real-life Japanese martial art of Tessenjutsu. The Tessen has a sharp edge when spread open, and can also be used as a throwing weapon.
 * Before settling on the Tessen, the weapons April went through are a Chigiriki, (a staff with chain), a Mace, (a club), a pair of Kama, (small scythes), and a Manriki (a length of chain with weights on both ends).
 * So far there are five episodes in the series that April has not appeared: "Turtle Temper", "I Think His Name is Baxter Stockman", "It Came From The Depths", "The Pulverizer", and "Cockroach Terminator".
 * In "Karai's Vendetta", she comes in contact with the toxic water from the Kraang's home dimension is unharmed, despite it dissolving a piece of innoccent pizza moments earlier. It is unknown why.
 * April's caller ID for Donnie is "Donny Boy". It should also be noted that flowers and stars surround his picture as well as a bow or butterfly on his mask and a silhouette of a cat.
 * April knows how to ride a motorcycle.

Gallery
See: April O'Neil (2012 TV Series) / Gallery