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In the IDW continuity, Alopex is a female mutant arctic fox first appearing in the Micro-Series issue for Raphael. Originally mutated to serve the Shredder, she eventually rebelled and became an ally of the Turtles. After moving to Mutant Town she opened up her own shelter. Six months later after Splinter's death, the Turtles founded the Splinter clan and built their dōjō right next to her shelter. Alopex bonded with Raphael which eventually led them to becoming a couple. However, after the Turtles willingly agreed to a truce and began to work with Shredder, she left, putting a stain on her relationship with them. She eventually decided to start her own clan; however, after Jasper Barlow was arrested she decide to follow her path instead of following in other people's footsteps for once in her life and so after she mended her relationship with the turtles and she left New York to help the weasels find a more peaceful life.
Alopex was written by Brian Lynch and designed by Kevin Eastman. Alopex is the first new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles character designed by Kevin Eastman in over 15 years.
History[]
Alopex was born an ordinary arctic fox outside of Fairbanks, Alaska. She proved herself deadly from an early age, serving as her pack's main hunter. She was both feared and respected by all other creatures in the area, save for a polar bear (who was the only being Alopex feared). This life continued until she was captured by a group of scientists attempting an experiment to bring other animals to human-level intelligence. In Alopex's case, the experiment was a success, first granting her human intelligence and then a human-like body. She was rescued from the laboratory by the Foot Clan's leader the Shredder and became an agent of the Foot Clan, believing it gave her life a purpose again.
In her first appearance, she attempted to trick Raphael into showing her where their lair was so that the Foot Clan could find them and kill them. Fortunately, Raphael caught onto her scheme and fought her. She escaped the fight, and later clashed with the Turtles several times from the Shredder's side.
Although Alopex served the Foot Clan faithfully, she still had some attachment to her old home and family. Seemingly aware of this, the Shredder sent her back to Fairbanks while he had the forest burned down as a test of loyalty. Alopex attacked the Shredder, although she quickly surrendered and professed her ultimate loyalty to the Foot Clan. However, comparing the Shredder to the bear that had been the bane of her existence in her earlier life, she secretly swore that she would one day kill him.
During a fight between the Shredder and Splinter, Alopex finally attacked her master. She did not succeed in killing him, however, and was shot in the arm by the Shredder's granddaughter Oroku Karai, who up to that point had considered Alopex an ally and friend.
Although injured, Alopex managed to survive and escape. She followed the Turtles, accompanied by April O'Neil and Casey Jones, to the home of April's parents, as they believed they were no longer safe in New York after the Foot had taken over the city's criminal underworld. Raphael was the first to notice her and attacked her, believing her to still be allied with the Foot. Leonardo intervened, and a fight broke out between the brothers. After Alopex explained her situation, Splinter offered a truce with her. Alopex declined saying she did not need his or his sons' help, but she remained close to their new home. Alopex would later change her mind and joined the Turtles as a resident of the O'Neil Farm. She even became friendly with Raphael, but this quickly changed when a group of Foot Assassins attacked the Turtles. Believing Alopex to still be loyal to the Foot Clan, Raphael attacked her. However, after she saved Raphael from being attacked by one of the Foot Assassins, he realized she was telling the truth.
Returning to New York thanks to a subliminal suggestion from Kitsune, she observed Angel Bridge, a.k.a. Nobody, from a distance, until she enlisted her help in fighting Bebop and Rocksteady, who were getting into a fight with the Turtles and the Mutanimals. After Bebop and Rocksteady were defeated, Old Hob offered her a place in his army, but she refused, instead teaming up with Nobody to help keep the streets clean of crime.
After Splinter became the leader of the Foot Clan, Alopex helped Leonardo train the new recruits in various martial arts. At the same time, she was helping Nobody and Harold investigate the Street Phantoms. However, Alopex was unaware that Kitsune had been manipulating her mind for a long while, and was forced to fight for the witch without being aware of what she was doing. In the aftermath of Kitsune's attempted assassination of Splinter, Alopex panicked and fled New York City, going straight back to Alaska where she originally came from.
Kitsune's presence followed her, tormenting her, saying that she can never escape her rule. But Raphael and Nobody arrived to help their mutual friend, to the point of Raphael actually establishing a psychic link with her just as Kitsune was about to break her spirit completely. Raphael helped the mutant fox regain her mental strength by reminding her that she's "a mutant ninja fox from New York City" and that she "kicks serious ass".
Alopex found renewed strength from this, and came back to her senses. The purple markings on her face faded to a blue color, signifying the break from Kitsune's control. Delighted to be back with her friends, she accompanied Raphael and Angel back to New York.
On one occasion, she's with the Turtles enjoying the sight of Pepperoni sleeping, and later watching a Gamera movie with Raph as Pepperoni wakes up and runs off with one of Raph's sais.
While recuperating from her experiences with Kitsune in Northampton, she and Angel were swept away by the Toad Baron to his Den of Delights. While briefly having fun and considering staying, Angel manages to snap her out of it, and they successfully cause enough damage and chaos that the Toad Baron angrily throws them out. Angel's tracker manages to pick up the location of the Den of Delights, and they later use that information to give the turtles a chance to spy on the Pantheon.
Alopex and Raphael infiltrated a Null Industries lab, intending to free a bunch of stolen pet store animals before they could be mutated. During the infiltration, she got into a fight with Zodi and Krisa. She managed to convinced Krisa to choose for herself, and she chose to keep Zodi contained while Raphael and Alopex finished their mission. They managed to escape with the animals, but she was frustrated that they had to leave Krisa behind.
Alopex is briefly seen beating up thugs with Angel and Raphael before Raphael is called away to help protect Burnow Island from the Earth Protection Force's invasion. She would then be seen hanging out with Raphael and Woody Dirkins while Splinter was having his vision of "The Time That Is," and would accept Splinter's invitation to a Christmas Party.
When Raphael is captured by the Earth Protection Force for "Project R," Alopex participated in the rescue mission. She would then attend Slash's memorial service, and hear Old Hob's "us versus them" speech.
She took part in the events of City at War, first helping to save Jennika's life when she was stabbed by Karai. She would then try to retrieve Raphael from the Mighty Mutanimals, and witnessed the detonation of Old Hob's mutagen bomb, and the subsequent mutation of its human victims. She would then join the battle at the Foot Compound, stopping Kitsune from sacrificing Karai to free her Dragon father back into the world. She then witnessed Splinter's sacrifice to stop the Dragon's return.
With Baxter Stockman's Mutant Town wall being established, Alopex remained in the newly christened Mutant Town, hanging up her ninja gear and working on setting up a shelter for homeless mutants, or mutants who haven't yet adapted to the change. Raphael, who also remained in Mutant Town as a vigilante, would occasionally stop in, demand food, then leave again. She would join her friend Angel for one last mission, to destroy the Turtle Van to prevent its technology from falling into the wrong hands, and would encounter LeatherKrang, though she would have her memories of him erased by the Rat King.
Six months later, the Turtles would reunite, establishing the Splinter Clan and a dōjō in Mutant Town. Alopex would accept their offer to join them.
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Relationships[]
Allies[]
- Angel Bridge — Alopex's comrade and best friend.
- Harold Lilja — Formerly partnered with Alopex and Angel Bridge, providing a non-combatant role of mission and support as well as creator of Angel's Nobody suit. Harold's trust in the allied characters was damaged beyond repair after Splinter secretly used Harold as bait to lure Foot Clan foe Darius Dun into a vulnerable position. Dun was captured and executed and Harold was freed, but Harold cut ties with every mutant he knew, including Alopex, as well as their human allies.
- Hamato Yoshi / Splinter — From the time Alopex defected from the Foot Clan and allied herself with the turtles, she also allied herself with Splinter. After Splinter killed the Shredder and took over the Foot Clan for his own, Alopex helped Splinter train new Foot Clan recruits. Alopex's second involvement in the Foot Clan ended after she became mind-controlled and abducted by Kitsune. By the time Alopex was rescued by Angel Bridge and Raphael, Splinter's sons had already left the Foot Clan and their father's leadership, and Alopex never rejoined the organization. Splinter did, however, provide Raph and Angel with Foot Clan transportation during their mission to rescue Alopex.
- Raphael — Raphael bonded with Alopex early in the series, when Alopex was still part of the Foot Clan and an enemy of Raph's family. After defecting from the Foot Clan, she became closer to Raph in particular. During the trip to Alaska to find Alopex, Raphael admitted to Angel that he does love Alopex seeing as how "Even when she's a pain in my shell, I just get her" and explaining how he doesn't feel as lonely and lost when she's around. It remained unclear whether the feelings shared between them were romantic until they shared a kiss after Raphael apologized for his behavior since his father's death.
- Splinter Clan — Alopex also became good friends with the other turtles, and accepted their invitation to the Splinter Clan when they established it in Mutant Town. However, when Oroku Saki returned to train them in lost arts of the Foot Clan to prepare them for their battle against the Rat King’s Armageddon Game, Alopex refused and quit the clan.
Enemies[]
- Kitsune — The ancient witch has proven to be Alopex's most insidious enemy, using her powers to brainwash Alopex into subservience to her, without Alopex's awareness of that fact.
- Oroku Saki — Alopex was initially faithful to Saki and the Foot Clan. However, his destruction of her fox family and the forest she had once lived in caused her to turn against him, and vow to kill him when she had the chance. She actively turned against him in the City Fall arc, when she tried to kill her former master but was thwarted by Karai. Her hatred for Saki caused her to quit the Splinter Clan when he offered to train the members of the Splinter Clan in preparation for the Rat King’s Armageddon Game.
Appearances[]
Quotes[]
My name... is Alopex. I... Don´t remember much else. |
I have flickering memories of another life... Before... they came. They took me. They wanted to change me... I wasn´t the only animal there. But I was the first animal... to understand what the humans were saying. |
I´ll be his greatest warrior. I will fight my way back to his side. But I know who he is. He´s the bear. And this time... I´m going to kill the bear. |
Raphael: I feel like I´ve been kinda ignoring you even before we lost my dad. And I´m sorry. |
Trivia[]
- Alopex comes from a now-defunct taxonomic name for the arctic fox, alopex lagopus, which in turn comes from alópix (ἀλώπηξ), the Ancient Greek word for 'fox'.
- The meaning of Alopex LAGOPUS is a thickly-furred fox of Arctic regions; brownish in summer and white in winter.
- The blue color on the Alopex face called ( War-paint ) around the eyes, the native Americans use it to intimidate their enemies. It started as a dark blue, then became a light blue after breaking free from Kitsune. After leaving the Splinter Clan, it is now pink.
- Alopex' nickname, Al, was previously used in Sophie Campbell's Secrets of the Ooze webcomic. The nickname started being used in IDW TMNT issue #101 when Campbell became the lead writer.