Hamato Miwa (2012 TV series)

The 2012 animated series version of Karai is a rebellious member of the Foot Clan, a master kunoichi and the teenage (16-year-old) daughter of the Shredder. She is voiced by Kelly Hu. According to IGN, "while Karai does seem to be fairly loyal to Shredder, there's no doubt that she's at least somewhat open to walking the line with Leo and the others."

She was confirmed to be Hamato Yoshi's missing daughter, Miwa, in Showdown, Part 2.

History
In her debut episode, "New Girl In Town", she and Leonardo have a similar relationship to that of Batman and Catwoman; as she tries tempting him to be more like her, while Leo wants her to see she's as not as bad as she appears. Karai confronts Leo, who is separated from his brothers when he and Raph have a heated argument over who should be their leader. During their first battle, she blinds him before attacking him. However, she leaves him alive. She later runs into him again in an alley and fights him again. They both exchange some banter and some blows until Karai holds a sword against Leo's throat, trying to convince him that he's not as good as he appears. She also notes during her fight with Leonardo that while she understands the Shredder's revenge, but she's uninterested. And that, she jokingly stated, he (the Shredder) should get a hobby. She tells Leo to meet her a top of a building without giving him any more information other than she wants to show him something.

Karai meets with the Shredder, who is not happy that she let Leo live. She tries to lie and say that he escaped, but the Shredder doesn't believe her. He tells her that she must kill him or else. Their scene ends with Karai calling him "Father". Her relationship with her "father" may be somewhat abusive, as she intensely becomes frightened after making the Shredder angry at a comment.

At midnight, Leo meets Karai on top of the building she informed him about earlier. She tells him that they're there to steal a famous katana in a museum. Leo refuses to help her, which upsets her. Before she takes out her dagger, Leo stops her and tells her that he believes that there's good inside her. Raphael comes in, and is angry at him for "holding hands with the Foot". Upon Snakeweed's attack, she stands there smiling until Leo asks for her help. She throws a knife above the wall near his head and leaves. Whether this was to help him or not is undetermined.

In "The Alien Agenda", Karai finds the turtles fighting the Kraang. She becomes somewhat concerned over the Kraang. When she tells the Shredder, she tries to convince him to take some concern over them due to the mutations that happened to the turtles, Xever and Chris Bradford, he believes that this is all nonsense, and ignores her. She'd become disappointed that Shredder has no interests or concern over the Kraang. Shredder then reminds his daughter his reason for his ongoing vendetta against Splinter. To find out more she questioned Leonardo when they next fought, during which she flirts with him. But he refused to tell her anything, and also said for her to leave his brothers alone. Raphael asks Leonardo about her, and if they should tell the other two brothers, but Leonardo said that she was going to leave them alone. Raphael thought that that was a stupid idea. She keeps it to a point, as she followed the 4 brothers into the Kraang lair, seemingly undetected. However, when the turtles realized Raph was missing, he had found Karai and pinned her down. The two fought, and while Raphael was a more worthy opponent for her, Leonardo broke them up. Leonardo argued that Karai was good, both Raphael and Karai said that she was evil, while Michelangelo and Donatello were perplexed by who she even was. The fight gathers the Kraang's attention who attempt to subdue them. Karai makes the fight worse by releasing the mutagen and unleashing a monster. She then takes a Kraang droid and brings it to her father as evidence. She also offers it as technology for Baxter Stockman to use against the battle against the turtles.

In "Enemy of My Enemy", Karai appears out of nowhere. She immediately pulls her blade and attacks Leo. Raph, Donnie, and Mikey all join in to fight her. She mentions that she overheard Donnie talking about the Kraang. At first they don't want to let her in on the situation but Raph lets slip that they are trying to stop a full-scale invasion.Suddenly, a flash of purple light comes from the T.C.R.I. building. A door opens in the side of the skyscraper and a strange craft floats out. It is resembles a jellyfish, with a round body, three short, stubby tentacles and a single purple "eye". It is piloted by two Kraang who spot the turtles and Karai and move in to attack. The ninja run across the rooftops, narrowly avoiding the ship's energy beam weapon. Karai ducks into an alley while the ship pursues the turtles. Leo runs out to draw the ship's fire while the other three make it to the sewers. Leo joins them and they watch the ship from a storm drain. The ship activates a cloaking device and vanishes to avoid detection by a passing Police helicopter. Karai returns to the Foot's headquarters and reports what she has seen to Shredder. He ignores the Kraang threat and tells her that they will soon receive a shipment of new weapons to end their war with the turtles and Splinter.

After a brief spar, she tells him that she wants to help them fight the Kraang. She is afraid that Shredder's stubborn refusal to see anything passed his revenge will get them all in trouble. She asks to work together but Leo refuses and leaves. spots them and opens fire. The ship chases the van down the street. Leo asks Mikey for an escape route and Mikey accidentally leads them into a dead end. The ship starts to blast through the Shell Raiser, when Karai appears on a motorcycle. She jumps it onto the Kraang ship and plunges her blade into its hull. Leo drives the Stealth Bike back to the others on the Shell Raiser and reveals that he brought Karai with him. Raph is less than thrilled but Leo tells him to hear her out. Karai tells them that they need her help and that the only way to take that ship down is with a missile launcher from the Foot shipment. Raph smells a trap so Karai says she will get the launcher herself. Leo agrees that if she gets the weapon, the turtles will team up with her to stop the ship. As Karai retrieves the missile launcher, she spots the turtles. She tackles the Shredder out of the way so that the grenade electrocutes the Foot Soldiers and the man with the diamond eye and fires the missile at the turtles. Leo makes it to the box of missile launchers but is confronted by Karai. She tells him that she feels betrayed and that he is just as short-sighted and obsessed as Shredder. She then reveals to Leo that Shredder is her father. Leo is shocked by this news. Karai says that the deal is off and attacks Leo. After a short fight the ship returns and Karai hides from it. When she emerges, she finds that Leo has already taken a missile launcher and gone after the ship. Meanwhile, the other three turtles fight a losing battle against Shredder. Leo takes aim and fires his missile at the ship. It crashes into the wharf, knocking Shredder into the water. Karai dives in after him while the turtles retreat. Karai helps the Shredder out of the water. He thanks her and tells her that he has found a pet for her and holds up a captured Kraang.

In "Karai's Vendetta", Shredder's interrogation of the captive Kraang proves futile, as it does nothing but senseless squealing. Karai suggests putting the Kraang into the limbless exo-suit they possess. Upon hearing it speaking relatively sensible english, the Kraang stated that they hunt the turtles because the latters protect April O'Neil, who is crucial to their plans. Thus, Shredder dispatches Karai to capture April to draw the turtles out. She meets April under the alias "Harmony". She then reveals her identity when trying to feed April turtle soup. April forces Karai to pursue her on foot, but she traps herself in an alley. She pulls out her weapon and Karai compliments on it before disarming her. April tries attacking her directly, but Karai dodges her attacks and starts attacking her, easily overpowering her. She knocks her into the street and demands to know why she's so important as she continues attacking her. April is able to defend herself and provide her own questions. However, just when Karai has her pinned, she mentions losing her mother, causing Karai to hesitate which distracts her long enough to throw her down the subway stairs and escape.

In "Booyaka-Showdown, Part 1", Karai leads a squad of foot soldiers into the sewers, where they abduct April after she is led away from the Turtles' lair by her brainwashed father, Kirby O'Neil.

Later in "Booyaka-Showdown, Part 2", Karai intervenes in Shredder and Splinter's battle just as Splinter is about to kill her adopted father. Prior to this, Shredder had revealed to Splinter that after their last battle, fifteen years ago, he had taken Splinter's infant daughter Miwa and raised her as his own. Splinter recognized Karai as Miwa during their brief confrontation, and when Shredder informed her that Splinter was Hamato Yoshi, Karai accused Splinter of murdering her mother, another lie told to her by the Shredder. She attacked Splinter, but her true father refused to engage her in combat and left.

In "Follow the Leader", Karai abducts Leo using her robotic foot ninjas, and takes him to Bradford's dojo. When his brothers rescue him and escape, Karai catches up with Leo and nearly pushes him off of a building. However, Leo avoids falling by sticking his katana into the ledge, and he jumps behind Karai, catching her unawares. She falls to the street, where Leo holds a sword to her head and tells her that Splinter did not kill her mother, while also ordering her to stay away from his brothers. Karai doesn't nod, implying that she will probably persist in hunting them.

Personality
When Karai makes her first appearance in the episode New Girl in Town, airing February 1, 2013. She is described as a rebellious teenager and expert martial artist, who stirs up trouble.

Karai is typically an evil character. She revels in the freedom that The Foot Clan gives her, and takes advantage of it at every turn, choosing to toy with the turtles. She still operates on a more complex code than her clan or her father, and seems to have a greater concern over the community around them than her father does. For example, she once tried to convince Leonardo to steal a precious katana, and in another instance, she left them to deal with a violent aberration mutant, yet she grows worried about the intentions of the Kraang and even attempts to aid the turtles in fighting them on one occasion. She was at first rather intolerant of the grudge her father has for Hamato Yoshi and the turtles, but she later turned out to be as vindictive as her father is, after being decieved by him into thinking that Hamato killed her mother. Her rebellion has made her dangerously unpredictable with the turtles.

Quotes
"Not bad, you might actually be a challenge. (knocks Leonardo to the ground) Guess not. My name is Karai. See you around."

"You always talk to yourself?"

"I'll listen, when you beg for your life! Let's see how well you do against someone who's better than you."

"I understand... Father."

"Stop being responsible, Leo. Stop waiting for others to tell you the life that you want. Go out and take it."

-New Girl in Town

"They're fighting robots?"

" Oh you were there? I didn't notice. I did see a bunch of robots though, what's their deal?"

"I like your brother, Leo. He's almost as entertaining as you."

. -The Alien Agenda

"Yeah, because if Shredder finds out you have an ice cream lamp, it is over!"

"You guys need my help. You really think you can shoot down an alien warship with garbage? My point is to take down a ship like that, you need a real weapon. What if I get you a shoulder fire missile launcher? Shredder won't know about it. He's buying a big ship full of weapons down on the docks tomorrow night. All we need to do is sneak in and help ourselves. And why would I trap you? You're the only ones who know what The Kraang are up to."

Later...(to Leo, who attempts to assassinate her father) "You're just as short-sighted and obsessed as Shredder! You want a feud? You've got one!"

"I'm not really that good about saying thank you...That was it."

- Enemy of My Enemy

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"So this April O'Neil is at the center of everything?"

"What's your name? ... My name's Harmony."

"Now you try mine... Supon nabe... Turtle soup."

"A Tessen. Beautiful, unassuming... But very powerful. In the right hands."

"What makes you so special? You're the center of an alien conspiracy, protected by mutants, and trained by a great ninja master... Why?"

"What...? You lost your mother?"

- Karai's Vendetta

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"Hey there princess. Miss me?"

"You've done well. Now take the message to Splinter."

"I know! Pretty cool right?"

"NO! Father! My name is Karai! Father told me what you did to my mother. And now I'm going to return the favor. Why won't you fight? COWARD!"

- Showdown

Appearance
She is shown to be taller than Leo (and April). Karai has dark brown hair that is probably dyed blonde in the back, also two strands of her hair falls over her ears. She wears several black earrings, and red eyeliner on her brown eyes. Karai wears silver armor, black material worn under her armor, traditional Japanese shoes, and a purple belt with design on it. She does have a civilian outfit, with a punk-esque design with worn jeans and a leather biker jacket with metal studs..

Shredder
Karai's relationship with her father is complicated. She seems to fear The Shredder just like Bradford and Xever do and she obeys him, but she doesn't appear to respect him as much. It's possible that she wants him to respect her when she mentions The Kraang and shows him the droid she picked up. In Enemy of My Enemy, a little more insight is given to Karai's relationship with her "father". Twice in the episode Karai saves her father from getting zapped by a laser ball and drowning.

Leonardo
Leonardo is the first of the Turtles that Karai meets. While she attacks and fights with him often, she never does him any serious harm and just enjoys sparring with a worthy opponent. Leonardo, in turn, is both confused by and attracted to Karai (as shown in "New Girl In Town"). She is dangerous, but Leo believes there's some good in her. She seems to be deceitful and manipulative in The Alien Agenda, using Leo's feelings for her against him, especially in his time of need. In Enemy of My Enemy, she returns, seeking information about the Kraang from the turtles. This time, instead of wanting to fight the turtles, she decides to make a truce with the turtles in order to defeat the Kraang ship. She goes against the Shredder's orders because she knows they'll all die if they don't set aside their differences and take down the ship. At first, the turtles, mainly Leo, are very skeptical of her and decline her request for a truce, but after she leads it away from the Shellraiser, they comply. Because Leo saved her and allowed her to speak to all of Turtles, Karai develops some feelings and friendship for him. However, because he and his brothers tried to attack her father, the truce was called off and her feelings were hurt. Now she's vengeful towards the turtles and is willing to do whatever it takes to take them down. Whether or not her relationship will heal in future episodes is unknown. It was revealed in the Season 1 finale that Karai is Splinter's lost daughter (Miwa), who was raised by the Shredder. But seeing as Leonardo or any of the turtles are not biologically related to Splinter, and are not adopted by him as there is no paperwork for them, Karai is not Leonardo's sibling, Therefore, their flirty dynamic can still build, However when Splinter mutated into a rat their's a chance that Splinter's DNA may have been mixed with the Leo's DNA theirfor macking Leo Splinter's biological son macking Leonardo and Karai biological brother and sister.

Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo
Raphael is the second of the Turtles that Karai meets, and Raph is the first to find out about Leonardo's "friendship" with her. Unlike his brother, Raphael immediately distrusts her. He tries to warn Leo that she is the enemy and not to trust her. Raph came up with the idea of setting a trap for Shredder and (like the rest of his brothers) attempted to assassinate the Shredder. He still does not trust her when she wants to help defeat the Kraang. Donatello does not know too much about her mainly because Leo never mentioned her until after they revealed her in The Worldwide Genome Project headquarters. Based on Donnie’s observations of her, he does not like her because of her need to cause trouble. He is wary of Karai's tactics and does not trust her at all, not even when she offerd to help him and his brothers fight the Kraang. Donnie also was a part of the attempted assassination of the Shredder. Michelangelo also did not trust her and was surprised that Leo trusted her. When she wanted to help fight the Kraang, Mikey was wary of her. Mikey also participated in the attempted assassination. They see her as an enemy working for the Foot, but she sees them more as play toys for her amusement. In Booyaka-Showdown, it is revealed that Karai is Splinter's daughter Miwa who the Shredder took and raised her as his own daughter after the events of their final battle.

Chris Bradford
Relationship unknown, but Karai did stand up for him and Xever in a way when she told the Shredder that his own men got turned into hideous freaks when she wanted Shredder to help her figure out what was going on.

Xever
Relationship unknown, but Karai did stand up for him and Chris Bradford in a way when she told the Shredder that his own men got turned into hideous freaks when she wanted Shredder to help her figure out what was going on.

April O'Neil
April is the first female human she's met in the series. Based on their brief encounter, they seem to have a lot in common. They both know Japanese, both know how to drive a motorized vehicle, they're kunoichis, they are the romantic "interests" of one of turtles. They later on became enemies in "Karai's Vendetta". It is also suggested that Karai dislikes April and is jealous of her, due to the fact that she is very special and important to the Kraang. At the end of the episode, however, Karai shows signs of empathy and feeling sorry for April when the other girl mentions that she's lost her mother. If they weren't on different sides, they could be good friends. it is suggested that karai may care about April and finds her very interesting.

Tang Shen
Karai is Tang Shen's daughter, along with Master Splinter's. When she was an infant, her mother perished in the house set fire by the Shredder and was taken in by him. He raised Karai as his own and fed her lies about how her mother died. Karai hopes to avenge her mother's death by killing her father.

Even though she doesn't know what her mother was like, she carries a torn photo of her mother with her. It's likely it was part of a family photo like the one Splinter has, but the Shredder ripped Tang Shen's part off to conceal his lie.

Splinter
Karai is Splinter's biological daughter. In Booyaka-Showdown Part 2, Splinter discovers this after the Shredder reveals that he took his daughter Miwa and raised her as his own. He then turned Splinter's daughter against him by telling her that he killed her mother, Tang Shen. She tries to fight him, but Splinter avoids her attacks and escapes. She then demands to know why he won't fight her and calls him a coward. He then leaves, heartbroken at what the Shredder has done to his daughter. In Follow The Leader, she shows how truly spiteful and vengeful she has become towards him. She hates him to the point where she wanted to kill the turtles in front of his eyes and ruin his life.

It's clear that Splinter knows his daughter is alive and working with the Shredder, but it's unclear if Karai knowing the truth will change her opinion of the Shredder and her take on life.

Trivia

 * In "Booyaka-Showdown, Part 2", it is revealed that she is in fact Splinter's lost daughter, Miwa. She was presumed dead after Splinter and Shredder's duel and the destruction of Splinter's home. In reality, she was found by the Shredder and raised as his daughter.
 * The false name that Karai gave April in Karai's Vendetta, Harmony, can be written in Japanese as "Miwa".
 * Splinter had originally planned to give Karai the tessen, which April uses as her weapon. Karai doesn't see it until Karai's Vendetta when she takes it away from April.

Gallery
See: Karai (2012 TV Series) / Gallery.