April O'Neil (2012 TV series)

April O'Neil
Biographical information
Home	New York City
Weapon of choice	Tessen
Affiliation	TMNT
Physical description
Species	Human
Gender	Female
Eye color	Blue
Hair color	Red
Out of universe information
Era(s)	2012 TV series
Voiced by	Mae Whitman
Teachers and Students
Teacher(s)	Splinter

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

April O'Neil is an 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 resuted 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 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 without success, Splinter settles on giving her a war fan 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.

Personality

April is a smart, strange, tomboyish 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.

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 Karia was a better kunoichi than her. Also In Metal Head she semmend a little annoyed by Donnie's attempts to flirt with her. So it is unclear if she has feelings for Donnie or not. 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 currently living with. April's mother, Mrs. O'Neil, has yet to be mentioned. 

Appearance

April appears as a young-looking 16 year old. She has red 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

A Hamato Clan Tessen

• April's name comes from the Latin "aprīlis", meaning "of the month of the goddess, Venus".
• 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).
• The number five on April's shirt may be a reference to her role as "The Fifth Turtle".
• As of 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".
• April currently attends Roosevelt High School, (named after one of the American Presidents, and the school mascot is the "Roosevelt Viking"): 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 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).

Gallery

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