April O'Neil

*"April O'Neil!"*

―April's catchphrase while yelling her name

**April O'Neil** is the adventurous best friend of the Mad Dogs and is a member of the Hamato Clan. She serves as one of the two deuteragonists (alongside Splinter) of the *Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles* franchise, serving as one of the three deuteragonists (alongside her friend, Leo, and his father, Splinter) of the series and one of the two major protagonists (alongside Splinter) of the film.

## Physical appearance

April is a teenage black girl with curly burgundy hair styled in two high buns with bangs, black eyes, dark brown skin, and a thin figure. She wears a long yellow t-shirt and a cropped green varsity jacket with ¾ sleeves and a button closure (typically found on the right side). Her jacket has light green trim and a '5' print over its heart and back. She wears black capri leggings, yellow high-top sneakers, a black choker around her neck, and a pair of red cat-eye glasses with yellow lenses. She also wears two yellow hair ties.

## Personality

April is upbeat, quick-witted, and adventurous. She tends to be a more go-with-the-flow type spirit in the way that she is adaptable and often matches her energy with those around her.

April is shown to be incredibly brave as seen in "The Gumbus" when she enjoys the fiasco in the Stock & Shop while Michelangelo and Leonardo are terrified. She is quick to jump into action. However, while she doesn't like waiting around, April isn't known to be detrimentally impulsive.

April has a selfless and heroic streak such as in "Warren & Hypno, Sitting in a Tree" when she frees Warren Stone from a mystic gauntlet Baron Draxum is trying to collect to ensure he and Hypno-Potamus could remain together. April also has a forgiving nature, befriending and learning to care for Draxum despite all he has done even before most of the Turtles. Although she can be rude at times like in "The Fast and the Furriest" when Donatello accuses her of stealing the Turtle Tank and, being annoyed by him and his brothers breaking in and being accused of something she didn't do, kicks the Turtles out via her window.

April has insecurities as seen when she is trying to sell cookies, but is unable to get customers due to her passive-aggressive approach in "Always Be Brownies". She can be discouraged by repeated failures, but her capacity to self-motivate allows her pick herself up. Even so, April isn't too shy or proud to ask for and accept support from others and regularly leans on those she trusts.

April tends to be more responsible compared to the rest of the Mad Dogs, taking accountability for her actions and trying to heal harm she may have caused more often than them, but is still plenty immature.

## Powers and Abilities

### Powers

* **Hamato Ninpō:** As a member of the Hamato Clan, April is capable of tapping into her clan's energy to unleash her own mystic might.
* **Mystic energy manipulation:** April wields a baseball bat imbued with mystic energy, magnifying the power behind her strikes when activated.

### Abilities

* **Exceptional accuracy:** April is able to strike targets with keen precision, rarely missing, even when the selected target is small and/or distant.
* **Improvisation intuition:** April excels in extemporaneous thinking in combat and using her surrounding environment to its potential to defeat opponents such as when she used a walnut from inside a cookie as a cutting tool to free herself from her binds in "Always Be Brownies".
	+ **Weapon improvisation:** April is adept at using objects in her environment offensively and defensively against opponents.

* **Ninjutsu:** While April largely uses her own organic style in combat, Splinter taught her some formal techniques of his own creation so she could defend the Lou Jitsu School of Ninjutsu.
* **Seven Deadly Vipers:** Labeled as a "secret secret" by Splinter, the Seven Deadly Vipers move immediately makes opponents yield upon merely hearing its name. April is the only person other than Splinter who knows how to use it.
* **Lazy Llama:** A blocking technique where April moves her arms loosely and wildly to defend a wide area of her body against attacks.
* **Tiger Claw:** A technique where April tackles her opponent in a manner reminiscent of a pouncing tiger.

### Weapons

* **Club:** Used in "Mystic Mayhem" to attack Huginn and Muninn.
* **Giant spatula:** Used in an online motion comic to attack Meat Sweats.
* **Smack-a-Vole mallet:** Used in "War and Pizza" to attack animatronic voles animated by Albearto.
* **Makeshift "bow and arrows":** Used in "The Gumbus" to attack the robotic Gumbus; they are made out of a rolling pin and sausages, respectively.
* **Razor Ring:** "Borrowed" from Hypno in "Warren & Hypno, Sitting in a Tree" and used to cut off Warren's arm which contained a gauntlet.
* **Mop:** Used in "Always Be Brownies" while fighting the Brownie Clan.
* **Tray:** Used in "Always Be Brownies" during her battle against Julia.
* **Herbicide:** Used in *Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie* against the Krang and Krang Zombies.

## Relationships

### Family

* Carol O'Neil - Mother
* Mr. O'Neil - Father
* The Hamato Clan
	+ Leonardo - Friend and Brother-figure
	+ Raphael - Friend and Brother-figure
	+ Donatello - Friend and Brother-figure
	+ Michelangelo - Friend and Brother-figure
	+ Hamato Yoshi - Friend and Father-figure
	+ Hamato Karai - Friend and "Gram-Gram"-figure
	+ Casey Jones - Friend and Cousin-figure

* Mayhem - Pet

### Allies

* Todd Capybara - Friend
* Baron Draxum - Former Enemy, Friend
* Sunita - Friend
* Franken-Foot
* S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N.
* Gentry - Friend
* Bullhop
* Vivian Slopworth
* Cassandra Jones - Former Enemy, Friend

### Enemies

* Albearto - Attempted Killer
* Guardsmen
* Mrs. Cuddles - Attempted Killer
* Big Mama - Situational Enemies
* Huginn & Muninn
* Meat Sweats
* The Foot Clan
	+ The Shredder - Attempted Victim
	+ Foot Lieutenant
	+ Foot Brute

* The Purple Dragons
	+ Kendra

* Hypno-Potamus - Situational Enemies
* Mayor Mira
* Warren Stone - Situational Enemies, Idol
* Tim Dunkman
* Sloppy Joseph
* The Brownie Clan
	+ Julia

* Frank
* Kristoff Van Bradford

## Quotes

* "I don't care how long you've been working here. I'm a vertebrate, so I'm in charge." - Mystery Meat
* "How did you even get in there?" - War and Pizza
* "Give me back my money...and the rat." - Always Be Brownies
* "Not that I don't like old ladies. My grammy's an old lady." - Operation: Normal
* "Just like you planned, right, Rodel?" - Shadow of Evil
* "You guys crushed it! Give me five—or three." - Mystic Mayhem
* "Usually it's just a lot of clip-clopping, but lately it sounds like a dinosaur on a trampoline." - Repairin' the Baron
* "Raph. You were looking *right* at us." - Snow Day
* "♪ If a robot bear comes to life or mystic monster's causing you strife just run to the door lickity-split and it's 10% off your next visit ♪" - Many Unhappy Returns
* "Ooh, you're gonna wish you were a ghost, Gumbus." - The Gumbus

## Trivia

* This version of April marks the first time she is designed as black (and non-white in general) in a *TMNT* TV series or film and the second time she is unambiguously black in a licensed *TMNT* work overall.
	+ The original version of April in the Mirage continuity was inspired by *TMNT* co-creator Kevin Eastman's former wife, the late April Fisher, who was biracial. The fictional April O'Neil's earliest appearances were in a state of flux. She was designed as a white character in her first and second appearances in "TMNT vs. the Mousers" and "The Great Chase", but her third appearance in the 1985 Mirage comic "Rescuing Master Splinter" portrayed her more closely resembling the real-life April Fisher with a racially ambiguous appearance. April's character design then stabilized into a white woman with black hair (with the exception of the colorized version of the Guest Era story "Egyptian Adventure" where she was portrayed as a black woman in the second printing) and would remain white through her redesigns in many different iterations until her character in 2018's *Rise of the TMNT.*

April Fisher with Kevin Eastman.April O'Neil in "Rescuing Master Splinter" from the Mirage continuity.April O'Neil in the colorized second printing of "Egyptian Adventure" from the Mirage Guest Era.April O'Neil from Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
* This is the second teenage incarnation of April in *TMNT* after the the 2012 incarnation of her.
* April's catchphrase is "Aprillllll O'Neil!", often said while charging into battle.
* A running gag in this series is April having a different job almost every time she appears with her period of employment usually ending by, or before, the end of an episode.
	+ According to one of her official character bios, April worked at a pizza shop, which is how the Turtles get their pizzas in this series.
	+ The Turtles also get a friends and family discount because of their connection to April.
	+ It is unclear, however, if this is actually the case in the series itself, she is never shown delivering pizza except in the comics.
	+ She gets fired from her job at a restaurant called Albearto's after the events of "War and Pizza".
	+ In "Mrs. Cuddles", April works as an actress on Mrs. Cuddles' television program.
	+ In "Shadow of Evil", April works at a shoe store called the Foot Shack.
* According to one of her official bios, April loves the Turtles like brothers.
	+ Though introduced as the Turtles' best friend, in this iteration, April and the Turtles share a brother-sister relationship with one another.
* According to the Junior Novel *Ninja Power*, April has known the Turtles for five years.
	+ It was revealed in August 2020 from *Rise of the TMNT* writer Russ Carney in a Tweet that, "TMNT and April met before they were all teens.".
* As mentioned by Donnie in "Operation: Normal", April seems to have a fear of cosplay wizards.
* It is shown in "The Purple Game" that April lives with her mother.
	+ It was revealed in January 2020 by *Rise of the TMNT* writer Carney in a Tweet that, "All the writers feel April has two parents--we've talked about this. Splinter even addresses this in a S2 ep.".
* April tends to act as second-in-command to Raph before the ending of the season 2 finale "Rise", where Splinter makes Leo the new leader.
* April presumably has pierced ears as she wears a pair of hoop earrings in "Hypno! Part Deux".
* April uses "This whole situation" in more situations than the other Mad Dogs do, who usually only use it as a way to refer to their mutation.

## Gallery

* April O'Neil Gallery
* April O'Neil Appearances