Is April a peer or a mother figure to the Turtles?

[Spike Spiegel]

I was thinking about the family dynamic of TMNT across the incarnations and this thought crossed my mind.

I think in Mirage/the 2003 show/the 1990s movies especially, it's a little of both. But if they met, say, Casey first, or they never met her at all, would the story and relationship dynamics be all that different?

They're starting their lives as she is starting her career, so they can be seen as peers in that way. But at the same time, she is technically older than them.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

I always saw her as a peer or even as a sort of mentor figure since she is older and often less immature than them.

I can't see her as a mother figure though, since the turtles have hit on her quite alot

[plastroncafe]

I never really saw her as motherly, more along the lines of either a peer or a sibling.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

The only time I saw her as motherly in the old cartoon is when the turtles were transformed into babies.

[CyberCubed]

Even though the Turtles are meant to be teenagers and April's age ranged from early 20's to 30's prior to Nick, she never really felt much older than them because the Turtles all acted like adults.

The Nick series is the first time the Turtles felt like actual 15 year olds, but April was de-aged too to make her their sibling as well so once again she felt the same age as them.

In the original cartoon April is 28, she's like double the age of the Turtles but it doesn't feel like it. Same for Mirage.

[Powder]

She's all of it, a mother, sister, friend, peer, team-mate, just depends on the circumstance or iteration.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

In the original cartoon April is 28, she's like double the age of the Turtles but it doesn't feel like it. Same for Mirage.

She's 28 during season 3.

[Utrommaniac]

Originally Posted by FredWolfLeonardo

The only time I saw her as motherly in the old cartoon is when the turtles were transformed into babies.

And even then, they referred to her as an aunt.

[sdp]

As a kid April looked like my Mother, she was this way older girl, I associated her in the same age group as Thompson and Vernon, I probably thought she was in the "mother" age even if she wasn't married if that makes any sense.

As a kid anyone who isn't a kid or a teenager feel like really old, so I always associated April as someone really old but I guess it would've meant around in her 30s.

This is also why I found it so weird when I saw the internet having this fetish for OT April when I got online, to me when I was an early teen I associated that towards "milf" category and found it odd.

[Wesley]

I saw April as a big sister figure in the 2003 series and Fred Wolf toon. Never saw her as a mentor or mother figure, tbh.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

I always liked April's driving skills in the original series.

[cammy85]

I thought it was pretty cool when April firmly told them she hoped they learned their lesson in "Beneath The Streets" when they took the night off and Splinter almost died from a reverse med-Laser blast.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

Originally Posted by cammy85

I thought it was pretty cool when April firmly told them she hoped they learned their lesson in "Beneath The Streets" when they took the night off and Splinter almost died from a reverse med-Laser blast.

"Beneath These Streets" and "Turtles on Trial" are among the best season 3 episodes, together with the "Big Trilogy".

[cammy85]

Amen to that!!! I love The Maltese Hamster and Enter The Rat King as well!!