April O'Neil

"Okay, those guys in the black pajamas, they jumped me, and, and that rat... I saw *you* in the parking lot. That explains you. And you guys... Um... I have no idea where you came from."

- April O'Neil (when meeting the Turtles in the first film)

Mirage Comics


April O'Neil started out as an assistant for Baxter Stockman. When she discovered that Baxter was using his 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 and brought back to their lair, where she would meet Splinter and find out about their origin. With her new friends, she returned to Baxter's hideout and defeated him. As the series went on, she became a closer friend to the Turtles and their link to the outside world. She also decided to reopen her father's antique store 'Second Time Around'. During the Shredder 's sudden return (What Goes Around... Comes Around!/Silent Partner/Return to New York story arcs) April, the Turtles and their new friend Casey Jones had to escape to Casey's farm house in Northampton Massachusetts where she later had dreams about the Foot Clan's attack. During these events she would know Casey better and in time take a liking to him. April would live with her sister Robyn O'Neil for a while during the events of City at War and find out their father died. Looking for a new place to live, she just happened to find the apartment Casey was living in. Eventually she'd marry Casey and they'd raise his adopted daughter Shadow Jones.

In TMNT Volume 2 of the series, April would be attacked by Baxter Stockman, now a brain inside a killer robot (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). She would be injected with something, and though the Turtles defeated Baxter, it was never revealed what exactly April was injected with.

This would be somewhat revealed in TMNT Volume 4, as April and Casey wondered why they couldn't have children and discovered deadly nanorobots within her system, threatening her life. With help of the Utroms, the Turtles made TMNT-style Nanobots that saved April's life before Baxter's nanobots could reach her brainstem. Time would pass and April still couldn't have children. 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.

Fan reaction 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.

Image Comics


April, on the eve of a party to commemorate Casey’s promotion at a local supermarket, had Michaelangelo babysit Shadow. After going to sleep, the Foot kidnapped Shadow, giving her to her paternal grandfather, Antoine Puzorelli. Raphael made a deal with the Ruling Council of the New York Foot to get her back, one that called for him to personally assassinate Puzorelli, though it failed. Michaelangelo, after being confronted by a drunken Casey Jones, went on a solo mission and recovered Shadow from the cathedral she was being baptised at, returning her to April and Casey at the hospital after Casey had been shot (TMNT Vol. 3, #6 - 8). Antoine Puzorelli then had his thugs put his apartment on surveillance in an attempt to locate his granddaughter. When April caught on to this and told Casey, April, Casey, and Shadow went into hiding in the Turtles’ current hideout in the mausoleum of Westwood Cemetery. April was present when Casey accidentally clubbed Raphael when he returned to the hideout, thinking him an intruder. She, Casey, and Shadow met back up with Leonardo and Michaelangelo when they brought brought Donatello to their mausoleum hideout, where he was then revived (TMNT Vol. 3, #11, 12 & 15).

1987 cartoon
Main Article: April O'Neil (1987 TV series)

In the television series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, April O'Neil is a journalist from Channel 6, she was employed by Burne Thompson. She meets the Ninja Turtles, after a group of criminals attacked. April is always looking for a scoop, and often tend to put themselves in dangerous situations (it was often bound and gagged.) Against which the Turtles must cope. This process eventually turn internal gag in the series (in Turtles Forever, Leonardo said they have already saved several times a day).

2003 cartoon
Main Article: April O'Neil (2003 TV Series)

2012 cartoon
Main Article: April O'Neil (2012 TV Series) In the new 3D CGI cartoon show being made by Nickelodeon, April is 16 years old. The reason for this is that Nickelodeon thought it would be odd for a woman to be hanging out with teenagers (the Turtles). She is voiced by Mae Whitman.

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, however, and 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.

In Monkey Brains, she demonstrates traits of an empath when she is able to track down and identify the escaped monkey as the mutated Dr. Rockwell. This prompts Splinter to invite her to train as a Kuno-ichi, a female ninja, at the end of the episode. Indeed, unlike previous incarnations, this April has a bit more spunk and fight to her. In Metalhead, she is shown investigating a Kraang-infested warehouse on her own and even outwits and takes out a Kraang bot with a crow-bar.

While she is friends with all the Turtles and frequently hangs out with them in their lair after school, April seems to have the closest friendship with Donatello. He has a crush on her, and although its unclear what her thoughts are on the matter, Donnie's brothers do enjoy teasing him about it.

The Kraang apparently did not want her father, but instead wanted April herself. The reason for this is still unknown.

Playmates produced an action figure of her for the new line of figures. Nickelodeon also leaked a bio of her.

Summary

 * The new April is a smart, strange 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. When Splinter realizes that she is "sensitive" to the same "universal vibrations" that he is, he takes it upon himself to train her. Splinter knows that the Kuno-ichi (the female ninjas) were actually considered the most powerful and, over time, he will help her develop her abilities.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (March 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 after first making a joke to them about being behide on her Sony payments, then trying to fight them off with her purse is knocked unconscious by one of them with one punch. Unsure what to do with her, he carried her unconscious form to their sewer lair. Though her fearful reaction upon seeing the Turtles and Splinter initially got the better of her, she e

ventually 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 didn't 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 (1991) and third (1993) movies
In the second and third movies, April was played by Paige Turco. In TMNT III, April was temporarily transported to feudal Japan.

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)
Megan Fox will be portraying April in the 2014 reboot.

Coming Out of Their Shells (August 1990 musical)
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.

Quotes
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (first movie)
 * You know what, I wouldn't ask for your help if you were the last... thing on the face of this planet. [ to Casey]
 * Am I behind on my Sony payments again? Ha ha ha.[to the foot Ninja]
 * I think you know just as much as I do about this Foot Clan and I don't think you're doing anything about it.
 * Why don't I ever dream of Harrison Ford?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze
 * The rat is the cleanest one.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III
 * This is the worst rescue I've ever had.
 * Why don't you get a *real* job, cue ball?
 * You don't mean - you're not seriously suggesting that Donatello is going to make an incredibly arcane time travel machine, are you?

TMNT

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 cartoon)
 * I'll be okay... the Turtles always rescue me at the LAST MINUTE...

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 cartoon)
 * April: Wo ho ho. Michelangelo, you're telling me that you ran into my shop my new just after it was blown by a bunch of foot ninja because you're being chased by a bunch of foot ninja?!
 * You guys, you've all been, well... great. And by guys, I guess I mean four big, green, talking turtles and a giant talking rat.

Toys

 * List of April toys

Etymology
April was not taken up as a name until the 20th century, possibly inspired by the French Avril, seen as a variant of Averil.
 * Gender:Girl
 * Origin:Latin
 * Meaning:Open
 * Origin:English
 * Meaning:April
 * Pronunciation:(AY pril)

April 1 is April Fool's Day, when people play light-hearted jokes and hoaxes on one another.

Appearances in Video Games
April has appeared in several video games mostly as the damsel in distress.

May 1989 home game
April was captured by the Foot. Once rescued, she gives you her support as the TMNT must now deactivate bombs the Foot set to blow up a dam. Though April sends her support.. it really doesn't do anything in the game.

1989 arcade game

 * Released for Arcade/Commodore 64/DOS/PC/ZX Spectrum/Amstrad/CPC/Amiga. On the NES it was renumbered as 2 (II).

April is trapped in her burning apartment and must be saved. But before you can do that, Shredder nabs her. Later on she's being held by Bebop and Rocksteady (In the NES Remake she is being held by Baxter Stockman in his Mutant Fly form). After being rescued, she kisses the Turtle that saved her (the one with the highest score up to that point) on the forehead and drives them around the Turtle Van, before she crashes it onto a ledge. Um.. while the Turtles jump right out in pursuit of a kidnapped Splinter.. they never do show what happened to April...

Fall of the Foot Clan (August 1990)

 * For Game Boy.

April is once again captured by the Foot, and the TMNT must rescue her.

Manhattan Missions (June 1991)

 * A PC game.

She informs the turtles of the current state of crime in the city and helps the turtles find out what's going down in the city.

Turtles in Time (September 1991)

 * In Arcades and for the SNES. Renumbered as game 4 (IV).

This time April isn't captured (GASP!) but is present when Krang appears to steal the Statue of Liberty. In the SNES version, staying still too long makes April appear to remind the player he has to move. In the arcade version, Splinter did this. She also appears during the game's ending, reporting the return of the Statue of Liberty courtesy of the Turtle Blimp.

Back from the Sewers (November 1991)
In the Game Boy sequel to Fall of the Foot Clan, the Turtles must again rescue April.

Manhattan Project (December 1991)

 * Released on the NES, it was numbered as the third game after the Arcade game (which was numbered 2 on home release).

April is again captured, as well as all of Manhattan Island as Shredder managed to make it levitate off the ocean. She is rescued after defeating Shredder's first form in the Technodrome level. She stays behind while the turtles chase Shredder to the top of a skyscraper and onto Krang's spaceship.

Hyperstone Heist (December 1992)

 * Released for the Sega Genesis

Again, April escapes Shredder's clutches. She only bears witness as Shredder shrinks down the city of New York.

Tournament Fighters (1993)

 * In the NES release, April has a cameo, appearing on the high scores table.
 * In the SNES release, April appears to report the events and ask the fighters their victory quotes. Though I doubt she'd wanna ask Shredder or Rat King any questions. She also gets captured during the story mode.
 * In the Sega Genesis release, April appears as an actual fighter in this game. Though based on her appearance and clothing, she most closely resembles Blaze from the Streets of Rage games wearing a bandanna.

2003 games
Main Article: April O'Neil (2003 video games)
 * Released on PS2, Game Cube, X Box and PC

April appears mostly in cinemas and cutscenes, though she's an actual fighter in TMNT: Mutant Melee. Mutant Nightmare features a mission in which the turtles must escort April off the Triceraton prison ship, and she briefly becomes playable in a shooter level, taking the place of Michelangelo in the Player 3 position. In Mutant Melee, she has a unique storyline in which she must earn the respect of the turtles and get revenge on Hun for destroying her apartment and antique store. In each game, her appearance mirrors her initial 4Kids appearance (prior to the Back to the Sewers redesign); alternate seasonal (summer and winter) outfits are unlockable in Mutant Melee.

GBA (2007)
Unlike the console games, April does appear in the Game Boy Advance version of the movie game. She (along with Splinter and Casey) gives the player mini-games, as well as appearing throughout the cutscenes based on the movie.

Smash-Up (2009)
April is a fully-playable base character, with her appearance from the 2007 movie but voiced by Veronica Taylor. She wields a single katana sword and is designed as an "Agile" character with above average speed but low attack power.