#Make April O'Neil white again!

[CyberCubed]

As we all know, Rise of the TMNT was our first official black April:

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/8e/f9/58/8ef958a9400bc76210412cd783c0e6ba.jpg

Unfortunately she was nothing like the April fans knew and loved, and her personality gave the impression of a completely different character rather than April. If her name was Tanya O'Neil instead of April it might as well have been the character in "name only."

The evolution of April in media has been a simple thing:

https://64.media.tumblr.com/10dbde2466a230704d299a4179238d4a/10f30bf794bdd3ea-4b/s640x960/0fa6adb3060a103d77b073a9dc7735945a01cc24.jpg

She was known for being a white woman/girl with reddish hair, and she also had it in the 2007 movie and IDW's April who are also both white red heads. There's also the live action movie versions of April played by Judith Hoag and Paige Turco.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/67/a9/c7/67a9c7d2ab17c5e285235edcb01e6d56.jpg

IDW April:

https://res.cloudinary.com/teepublic/image/private/s--6rAVbwem--/t_Resized%20Artwork/c_fit,g_north_west,h_1054,w_1054/co_ffffff,e_outline:53/co_ffffff,e_outline:inner_fill:53/co_bbbbbb,e_outline:3:1000/c_mpad,g_center,h_1260,w_1260/b_rgb:eeeeee/t_watermark_lock/c_limit,f_jpg,h_630,q_90,w_630/v1572466899/production/designs/6527408_0.jpg

Notice how April's design has always had a lot in common before Rise?

Since Nick is probably in pre-production of whatever the next TMNT cartoon is, or even the CG movie that's apparently coming up, I wonder if there's a chance there will be a "back to basics" approach with April and she'll be white again.

If #Make April O'Neil white again trends on twitter maybe the Viacom execs will take notice of it. Let's get it trending, people. Oorah, oorah. Can I get a w00t w00t?

Make April O'Neil white again!

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

I really don't care what skin color April O'Neil is. She's never been particularly interesting anyway; she's the house mom, the big sister, the normal one stuck with four mutant Turtles, a mutant rat, a nutcase vigilante with probable brain damage, and an adopted baby.

As long as she's not fvcking roaches or a magic pen drawing, I'll probably be fine with her.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

You're so bad at trying to parody Right wingers.

[oldmanwinters]

Slow day, Cubed?

[IndigoErth]

While I'd rather get back to an April more like the adult one we used to know, and it's probably inevitable at some point and hopefully in the near future, hashtags like that only make people look like unlikeable asshats. I'll pass.

[Shark_Blade]

Since Casey Jones is a girl in the Rise of TMNT, next series April should be a boy.

[shredder orokusaki]

It is not casey jones her name is Casandra not Casey and has nothing to do with Casey Jones .

[oldmanwinters]

Since Casey Jones is a girl in the Rise of TMNT, next series April should be a boy.

Anybody remember "Neil O’Malley" ?
http://tmntentity.blogspot.com/2014/12/tales-of-tmnt-vol-2-47.html

[ABrown]

Not really a huge deal to me if she's black or white. Though I definitely wouldn't mind her being a hot adult again.

[neatoman]

As we all know, Rise of the TMNT was our first official black April:

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/8e/f9/58/8ef958a9400bc76210412cd783c0e6ba.jpg

Unfortunately she was nothing like the April fans knew and loved, and her personality gave the impression of a completely different character rather than April. If her name was Tanya O'Neil instead of April it might as well have been the character in "name only."

The evolution of April in media has been a simple thing:

https://64.media.tumblr.com/10dbde2466a230704d299a4179238d4a/10f30bf794bdd3ea-4b/s640x960/0fa6adb3060a103d77b073a9dc7735945a01cc24.jpg

She was known for being a white woman/girl with reddish hair, and she also had it in the 2007 movie and IDW's April who are also both white red heads. There's also the live action movie versions of April played by Judith Hoag and Paige Turco.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/67/a9/c7/67a9c7d2ab17c5e285235edcb01e6d56.jpg

IDW April:

https://res.cloudinary.com/teepublic/image/private/s--6rAVbwem--/t_Resized%20Artwork/c_fit,g_north_west,h_1054,w_1054/co_ffffff,e_outline:53/co_ffffff,e_outline:inner_fill:53/co_bbbbbb,e_outline:3:1000/c_mpad,g_center,h_1260,w_1260/b_rgb:eeeeee/t_watermark_lock/c_limit,f_jpg,h_630,q_90,w_630/v1572466899/production/designs/6527408_0.jpg

Notice how April's design has always had a lot in common before Rise?

Since Nick is probably in pre-production of whatever the next TMNT cartoon is, or even the CG movie that's apparently coming up, I wonder if there's a chance there will be a "back to basics" approach with April and she'll be white again.

If #Make April O'Neil white again trends on twitter maybe the Viacom execs will take notice of it. Let's get it trending, people. Oorah, oorah. Can I get a w00t w00t?

Make April O'Neil white again!

Cubed, don't do this kind of horseshit. It could get you banned.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Cubed, don't do this kind of horseshit. It could get you banned.

Shhhh, shhhh! Shut it, you!

We've got a pool running, and I'm in for $50 that THIS is the thread that gets Cubed a 2-week mandatory vacation.

[CyberCubed]

Nothing in this thread is out of line, April was white for 30 years until Rise, thinking she should be white again in the next incarnation is perfectly natural.

As they say, "it is what it is."

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

I'd like to increase my current bet, please? Make it $100.

Tell us more about how you hate black April, Cubed. :tsmile:

[frank_one]

We all know the next April will have either asian or middle eastern origins.

[Cryomancer]

why would you think this was a cool idea to post at all

[IMJ]

why would you think this was a cool idea to post at all

Just as a point of discussion, why are we so far gone that a thread like this - which to be honest I don't understand it - but that a thread like this is frowned upon, but if someone started a "It's TIME that we talk about April O'Neil's heritage" and that thread made a case for her being black it would be different?

[CyberCubed]

We actually had a thread like that:

http://forums.thetechnodrome.com/showthread.php?t=48130

That thread was about if Kevin Eastman intended April to be black in the Mirage comics. This thread is about April being white again in whatever the next cartoon or movie is.

[Coola Yagami]

So is this the part where you tell us you're not racist cause you have black friends, right Cubed?

[neatoman]

We actually had a thread like that:

http://forums.thetechnodrome.com/showthread.php?t=48130

That thread was about if Kevin Eastman intended April to be black in the Mirage comics. This thread is about April being white again in whatever the next cartoon or movie is.

I made that thread and you missed the point. Wheter or not Eastman intended for April to be black, be it originally or down the line, was not what it was about. It was about how April had indeed been depicted as black before (as demonstrated by the image in the OP) and how there are people who denied that it ever happened. Admittedly I regret making that thread, given how awkward the conversation ended up getting.

I don't give a crap if April black or white or anything else in the next cartoon, the explicit attempt to lobby for her being white again (in jest or not) just comes across as needlessly inflammatory.

[Cryomancer]

Just as a point of discussion, why are we so far gone that a thread like this - which to be honest I don't understand it - but that a thread like this is frowned upon, but if someone started a "It's TIME that we talk about April O'Neil's heritage" and that thread made a case for her being black it would be different?

you don't see any difference in tone between these threads? really?

[Leo656]

I wasn't gonna bite. But alright.

Frankly, as a Mick myself, I'm super annoyed at the constant and ever-growing trend in recent pop culture to simply overwrite "my" people and their heritage for reasons of "making the numbers even."

"O'Neil". C'mon. She couldn't possibly get any more Irish if she painted herself green and carried a shillelagh. The fewer logical leaps a person has to make, the better.

Just let things be what they are.

[Jester]

https://ftw.usatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/90/2020/02/gty-1158137761-e1581080521788.jpg?w=1000&h=600&crop=1
I mean it is spelled differently, but still.

Also as a person of some degree if Irish blood, no skin off my nose one way or the other, BUT I do wish she'd be a "Mother Figure" again.

[neatoman]

https://ftw.usatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/90/2020/02/gty-1158137761-e1581080521788.jpg?w=1000&h=600&crop=1
I mean it is spelled differently, but still.

Also as a person of some degree if Irish blood, no skin off my nose one way or the other, BUT I do wish she'd be a "Mother Figure" again.

Wow, I know he probably hasn't been active in decades but Shaq let himself go! I thought that was Kevin Michael Richardson for a moment.

[Coola Yagami]

I wasn't gonna bite. But alright.

Frankly, as a Mick myself, I'm super annoyed at the constant and ever-growing trend in recent pop culture to simply overwrite "my" people and their heritage for reasons of "making the numbers even."

"O'Neil". C'mon. She couldn't possibly get any more Irish if she painted herself green and carried a shillelagh. The fewer logical leaps a person has to make, the better.

Just let things be what they are.

Also, make her old enough to shag. No more of these kids, please.

[Powder]

Also, make her old enough to shag.

Posts like these are why Viacom doesn't cater to our generation of TMNT fans.

[IndigoErth]

I'd welcome the happy medium of sending April back to the age and look of what is by the general public recognizable as being April and give the Turtles a new younger friend, who might be something else besides white. Or better yet, MIXED.


Spoiler since I just started thinking up too much and going too far off the direct topic...
Just no Carter reboot, okay? lol He's kind of annoying, yet bland. Just need a friend who is a normal and un-annoying kid... no annoying-teen tropes, no Mary/Gary Sue/Stu, no mutation or powers. Just a normal friend. Maybe also consider other ethnic groups that are often even more underrepresented in typical media.

Though if they want to tie together an interesting story with him/her... I suggest a young North Korean refugee alone in the U.S. and weave in some kind of ties with foes from Japan and evil dealing between the Foot in Japan and nearby North Korea. (Yes, I know, but Asians aren't all the same and few in TMNT are actually good guys.)

[IMJ]

So is this the part where you tell us you're not racist cause you have black friends, right Cubed?

See, I think posts like this are the real problem. When you say stuff like this and automatically drive the shallow assumption home that someone is racist on any immediate opinion then you shut down all real discourse. And more and more this is happening.

What I'm saying is that when most people talk about color coming from the white perspective it's become a knee jerk cliche - either out of ignorance or even fear - to assign "racist values".

You can't just go and do this, man. Not unless you are actually trying to be part of the problem or you are terrified to take a solid stand and say "yeah let's be open to different races and cultures, but there's still a real conversation to be had here about what's going on and having that conversation doesn't actually make the speaker racist by default".

Seriously, as a point of conversation, and you aren't going to like this man, but you are the bigger problem going straight to that BS in response to Cyber's -strange- thread than Cyber is for generating conversation about the topic. Seriously man....

you don't see any difference in tone between these threads? really?

Okay, so I'm glad you said this. First and foremost to the actual OP's thread - I'm not going to lie, I can't tell if this thread was meant to be valid conversation, or if it's disingenuous or if it's wild sarcasm. Honest to God, I can't tell. But let's pull past that for a second...

To your question - yes I do. I see a bunch of people giving knee jerk reactions instead of just having the conversations and I find those knee jerk reactions to be disingenuous and problematic. So that's the one I see here.

Look here's the simple fact for solving the world's problems here on our lil Turtles forum, okay? If you truly don't want racism to promulgate throughout society, then stop being so reactive to the triggers of any conversation that involve race. Someone here will respond with another lowest common denominator response - "oh okay IMJ, so just ignore it and it'll go away". But that's just more opportunistic reply from people who play at smart. It's reciprocating causation based on a phony premise. Someone has a convo about race, so right away they are called racist thus making the majority who don't calculate life correctly believe "here's another racist! I see 'em in my sleep!" and therefore there is more racism in the world. But if you just had the conversation and didn't assume people with opinions about the content were racists.... well.. then the world quite literally have less racism in it.

Many of you guys are causing the witch hunt and I'll bet you don't even know you are doing it. Maybe you do know and you are virtue signaling, but again I doubt the psychology is actually that you are making your big stand in life.

So just have the conversation until it's actually revealed that maybe someone's observations are born of disdain rather than some kind of contiguous logic or thought.

[Leo656]

https://ftw.usatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/90/2020/02/gty-1158137761-e1581080521788.jpg?w=1000&h=600&crop=1
I mean it is spelled differently, but still.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. :lol::trazz: Always an exception somewhere, sure.

Regardless, this specific fictional character has been most often and prominently portrayed with red hair, fair skin, and (I think) green eyes. Ask 100 people what "April from Ninja Turtles" looks like, that's the description you'd get from at least 80 of them. That should still be okay.

Going in such a dramatically opposite direction with more recent portrayals, well... They know what they're doing and why. Wally West circa 2012, same thing. Partly "representation", and partly because they enjoy the pushback even though they say they don't. They absolutely love the negative reaction whenever they do stuff like that.

[Rooish]

You're so bad at trying to parody Right wingers.

I thought it was chillingly accurate actually.

[ToSte]

Her being black doesnt bother me in the slightest because I dont partake in that turtle series, problem solved.

[The Great Saiyaman]

I had a ball using both incarnations of the Nickelodeon April in my crossover comic "A weird world"

Both April's meeting each other (https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/128dbac3-9706-47e7-adfc-d33dcd996e8f/dddddwh-f7ee562c-5f7d-4144-b8e1-578f3ee4969a.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJ IUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjph cHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvMTI4ZGJhYzMtOT cwNi00N2U3LWFkZmMtZDMzZGNkOTk2ZThmXC9kZGRkZHdoLWY3 ZWU1NjJjLTVmN2QtNDE0NC1iOGUxLTU3OGYzZWU0OTY5YS5qcG cifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9h ZCJdfQ.H9JSlMWTJiFo-jKViH7h7ZDQaBXU1E37HGqZuyZL1mA)

[lonewarrior20]

i feel like there's one thing i can say to deflate this argument.
every incarnation is an alternate universe/dimension. of course somethings going to be different than another. so Aprils black, Aprils born from a drawing, or Aprils middle name is Harriet.

[ABrown]

Also, make her old enough to shag. No more of these kids, please.

Don't even get me started on the ridiculous age of consent in the state that I reside. Apparently the lawmakers in this state don't realize that this isn't the 1800's any more, so the Nick April should NOT be hooking up with someone who's more than say three or four years older than her.

[CylonsKlingonsDaleksOhMy]

Don't even get me started on the ridiculous age of consent in the state that I reside. Apparently the lawmakers in this state don't realize that this isn't the 1800's any more, so the Nick April should NOT be hooking up with someone who's more than say three or four years older than her.

Shout out to Alabama? :tlol:

[IMJ]

Shout out to Alabama? :tlol:

I think he's talking about California. The stuff I've been reading about what those people are doing to their consent laws - I can't believe it.

[ABrown]

Shout out to Alabama? :tlol:

I think he's talking about California. The stuff I've been reading about what those people are doing to their consent laws - I can't believe it.

Indiana actually

[sdp]

Fat acceptance is now a thing, you go to malls and see overweight people in ads. I'm guessing her next appearance will be far more "curvy", April's days of wearing crop top shirts are over.

https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/c51823f2-5baf-4c6a-b2ac-59c4ced53658/d7q7ouy-d2ead39b-5481-4090-8bbb-ddbc6cee4eb4.png/v1/fill/w_400,h_566,strp/_request__fat_april_o__neil_by_yukisachiko_d7q7ouy-fullview.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI 1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6 Iiwib2JqIjpbW3siaGVpZ2h0IjoiPD01NjYiLCJwYXRoIjoiXC 9mXC9jNTE4MjNmMi01YmFmLTRjNmEtYjJhYy01OWM0Y2VkNTM2 NThcL2Q3cTdvdXktZDJlYWQzOWItNTQ4MS00MDkwLThiYmItZG RiYzZjZWU0ZWI0LnBuZyIsIndpZHRoIjoiPD00MDAifV1dLCJh dWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ .S6EaIuMsTAU-YqihE5p7EDWDqIkCR_JeyK7nUw1zEjc

https://64.media.tumblr.com/10dbde2466a230704d299a4179238d4a/10f30bf794bdd3ea-4b/s640x960/0fa6adb3060a103d77b073a9dc7735945a01cc24.jpg
April keeps getting younger in each iteration, she'll be 8 years old in the next one.

[CyberCubed]

April was 27 according to the games:

https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3182/2626745299_2875bcc908_o.png

I always saw her as a mother figure for that reason.

I remember thinking that was "old" when I was a kid...now I'm older than April was in the original toon.

Goddamn.

[IndigoErth]

April keeps getting younger in each iteration, she'll be 8 years old in the next one.
Forget all the scary imagery of Halloween...nothing beats the horror of the thought of TMNT ending up on Nick Jr.

[ABrown]

Fat acceptance is now a thing, you go to malls and see overweight people in ads. I'm guessing her next appearance will be far more "curvy", April's days of wearing crop top shirts are over.

This is her in the next series. And they do another crossover with the original TMNT:

Original TMNT: "Oh lord, your April got cross mutated with a walrus?"

Next TMNT: "No??? That's April"


https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/7a6b6178-7034-4146-bee1-4705c8424785/d9xqw2b-30e6db39-05c5-4f49-894e-1af05580e3f0.png/v1/fill/w_1024,h_768,q_75,strp/weekly_waifu__april_o_neil_by_akafa-d9xqw2b.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1 NiJ9.eyJpc3MiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhN WYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwic3ViIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg 4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsImF1ZCI6WyJ1c m46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl0sIm9iaiI6W1t 7InBhdGgiOiIvZi83YTZiNjE3OC03MDM0LTQxNDYtYmVlMS00N zA1Yzg0MjQ3ODUvZDl4cXcyYi0zMGU2ZGIzOS0wNWM1LTRmNDk tODk0ZS0xYWYwNTU4MGUzZjAucG5nIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTEwM jQiLCJoZWlnaHQiOiI8PTc2OCJ9XV19.DnQL6qCQDiaON8Z1F9 Zu89m3cUVPqQ1l-xcMW6M7eHI

[IndigoErth]

That's what happens when your friends invite you over for dinner a lot, but all they ever serve is pizza.

[CyberCubed]

Fat April probably won't ever be a thing, cartoons are aimed at kids after all and most females are not drawn that way.

[IMJ]

Indiana actually

Wow, really?!?

Fat acceptance is now a thing, you go to malls and see overweight people in ads. I'm guessing her next appearance will be far more "curvy", April's days of wearing crop top shirts are over.

Eh, you're right... I also think though that what is going on is a lot different than traditional evolution of societal beauty acceptance trends. This is only a thing on Twitter and in examples of corporate virtue signaling. In real life the operating individual will continue to gravitate towards fitness-as-beauty either out of desire or influence for life improvement. When I watched ridiculous movies like Commando or Bloodsport as a kid I didn't wish that those guys looked more like me - instead I was motivated to bring myself up to their level. That's how most normally operating people function - you don't get angry for society not loving you by default, but you seek out examples by which to improve yourself by. That's lost completely on nearly an entire generation of twitter people right now.

https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/7a6b6178-7034-4146-bee1-4705c8424785/d9xqw2b-30e6db39-05c5-4f49-894e-1af05580e3f0.png/v1/fill/w_1024,h_768,q_75,strp/weekly_waifu__april_o_neil_by_akafa-d9xqw2b.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1 NiJ9.eyJpc3MiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhN WYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwic3ViIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg 4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsImF1ZCI6WyJ1c m46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl0sIm9iaiI6W1t 7InBhdGgiOiIvZi83YTZiNjE3OC03MDM0LTQxNDYtYmVlMS00N zA1Yzg0MjQ3ODUvZDl4cXcyYi0zMGU2ZGIzOS0wNWM1LTRmNDk tODk0ZS0xYWYwNTU4MGUzZjAucG5nIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTEwM jQiLCJoZWlnaHQiOiI8PTc2OCJ9XV19.DnQL6qCQDiaON8Z1F9 Zu89m3cUVPqQ1l-xcMW6M7eHI

LMAO at the "Pizza's are REALLY fattening!" thing at the bottom... oh God hahahahah

[King Kahn]

Also, make her old enough to shag. No more of these kids, please.

Yikes. That’s kinda weird and creepy. Who is she supposed to “shag” and why is it she needs to do this to be “April”.

[King Kahn]

We actually had a thread like that:

http://forums.thetechnodrome.com/showthread.php?t=48130

That thread was about if Kevin Eastman intended April to be black in the Mirage comics. This thread is about April being white again in whatever the next cartoon or movie is.

Wow. And looking at that thread, who was the 6th post and the first person to say

“The world isn't ready for a black April.”

Literally 1 hour after the thread started. And now who is championing to not have April anything but white....

[Leo656]

If you've honestly been here since 2003 and don't get Cubed's gimmick by now then I have no idea what to tell you, friend.

[Voltron]

#AprilCalendarGirl

You know what I mean. Do it.

[sleeplessknight]

One of the best things about Turtles Forever and the FW crossover episodes in the 2012 TMNT series was acknowledgement of a multiverse of characters.

April O'Neil and April O'Neal can both exist in the multiverse. Heck, they could even be next to each other in the phone book alongside other totally unrelated April O'Neils and April O'Neals. Unless you have a really complex sounding East Asian name, don't tell me you won't find at least three other people who happen to have the same name as you if you look in the phone book.

I'd like to advocate for the next April O'Neil to be a French Moroccan immigrant who acquired the O'Neil last name through a mixed race Irish/Moroccan father and her name will be Avril and she'll always speak with a thick French accent.

[neatoman]

One of the best things about Turtles Forever and the FW crossover episodes in the 2012 TMNT series was acknowledgement of a multiverse of characters.

April O'Neil and April O'Neal can both exist in the multiverse. Heck, they could even be next to each other in the phone book alongside other totally unrelated April O'Neils and April O'Neals. Unless you have a really complex sounding East Asian name, don't tell me you won't find at least three other people who happen to have the same name as you if you look in the phone book.

I'd like to advocate for the next April O'Neil to be a French Moroccan immigrant who acquired the O'Neil last name through a mixed race Irish/Moroccan father and her name will be Avril and she'll always speak with a thick French accent.

Actually the acknowledgement of a multiverse opens up another can of worms in this regard. If the cartoons/movies are just a bunch of unrelated adaptations of the same comic, no big deal, they just change things. Explicitly placing them in a multiverse raises some questions, the relevant here being how variants of the same exact person can both be a magic drawing and a human/utrom hybrid, or differ in other key details.

[Voltron]

One of the best things about Turtles Forever and the FW crossover episodes in the 2012 TMNT series was acknowledgement of a multiverse of characters.

April O'Neil and April O'Neal can both exist in the multiverse. Heck, they could even be next to each other in the phone book alongside other totally unrelated April O'Neils and April O'Neals. Unless you have a really complex sounding East Asian name, don't tell me you won't find at least three other people who happen to have the same name as you if you look in the phone book.

I'd like to advocate for the next April O'Neil to be a French Moroccan immigrant who acquired the O'Neil last name through a mixed race Irish/Moroccan father and her name will be Avril and she'll always speak with a thick French accent.

I like this. There should be another April O'Neil who is 100% Irish. In fact, she'll be a leprechaun. And Shredder should be after her Lucky Charms.

I mean full green face, here. She'll only speak in limericks. Her preferred method of travel is "jig". Her favorite past time is cobbling.

Imagine the fun story lines where Shredder almost has his coveted cereal, only to find out Rocksteady and Bebop brought back the French Avril. Again.

Or go with the tear jerker when she dies of cirrhosis after 2 seasons.

[Leo656]

A Multiverse can be useful. My biggest problem with it is that relying on it over-complicates things for the uninitiated. That's true everywhere it's ever used. It becomes a crutch and a way to simply "wipe out and start over" rather than moving an existing story forward. And that creates more problems on its own.

Simple questions deserve simple answers. And whether it's April or Superman, I don't feel like "Who is _______?" should require an entire novella with multiple conflicting versions of a character each getting their own chapter to explain. The person who asks the question is going to walk away long before you get halfway done with your answer.

"...And then the FOURTH version of April........"
"Ahhh, geez, y'know what? Forget I asked."

I feel like even when reboots and retcons are "necessary" - and to be honest, they rarely are, it's almost always "We wrote ourselves into a corner and we're not interested in fixing it or moving it forward" stuff - there should still be more consistency in character depiction than not.

If you try and get into the mindset of treating the characters as "real people", it becomes very difficult to do that when there are multiple versions of a character who act, look, think and behave almost nothing alike, to the point where in truth they're entirely different people.

[Coola Yagami]

Yikes. That’s kinda weird and creepy. Who is she supposed to “shag” and why is it she needs to do this to be “April”.

Lmao. No one. I'm just saying make her an adult.

[Leo656]

Yikes. That’s kinda weird and creepy. Who is she supposed to “shag”

https://i.gifer.com/origin/62/62f0712a72c390de8a20366e01982f9a_w200.gif

[frank_one]

The point is April IS white, the character was created as white. A black version of April is not really April, she is just a different character with the same name. Do you want a black companion to the turtles? Create one anew and give her a new name. The perfect example of this is Miles Morales: he's a black version of Spider-man but he's not Peter Parker, it's a new character with his own back-story, he was created to be black.

[Coola Yagami]

https://i.gifer.com/origin/62/62f0712a72c390de8a20366e01982f9a_w200.gif

Hey there brother. You. Me. April on a pole match. Let's go.

[Leo656]

https://media3.giphy.com/media/LKf4i5Tvt7mE0/200.gif

[Galactus]

While TMNT can change pretty drastically from version to version no character changes more than April. Everything from her job, personality, appearance, age and role in the mythos shifts drastically she might as well be a different character each time.

Heck even in the original Mirage books she a straight laced lab tech, then she got a new hair do and outgoing attitude before opening her dad's antique shop and becoming a more thoughtful audience surrogate all in the first dozen issues alone.

I don't see why her race and ethnicity is off limits for people to change. I mean Eastman did want to make her black and Laird Chinese and she is also actually was black in one issue that wasn't part of the main continuity so it's not like this is without precedent.

Someone like Casey Jones has been pretty consistent in almost every version with little changes (and even then I don't think a race change would make much if a difference to his character ) but April. Basically remaking her from the ground up is practically a tradition at this point.

[CyberCubed]

Speaking of that I am surprised Casey Jones race was never changed over the years. A black or hispanic Casey would actually be quite fitting and fit his backstory. This Casey would have grown up "in da hood" and seeing all the crime around him would want him to take up the hockey sticks and clean up the streets.

Casey would probably say things like, "In your face, dawg!" and "You got owned homie!" and stuff like that. Granted Nick's Casey already said similar stuff in the cartoon.

Wouldn't be surprised if we get a gangsta Casey from the ghetto next time.

[neatoman]

Speaking of that I am surprised Casey Jones race was never changed over the years. A black or hispanic Casey would actually be quite fitting and fit his backstory. This Casey would have grown up "in da hood" and seeing all the crime around him would want him to take up the hockey sticks and clean up the streets.

Casey would probably say things like, "In your face, dawg!" and "You got owned homie!" and stuff like that. Granted Nick's Casey already said similar stuff in the cartoon.

Wouldn't be surprised if we get a gangsta Casey from the ghetto next time.

l60MnDJklnM

[Coola Yagami]

Speaking of that I am surprised Casey Jones race was never changed over the years. A black or hispanic Casey would actually be quite fitting and fit his backstory. This Casey would have grown up "in da hood" and seeing all the crime around him would want him to take up the hockey sticks and clean up the streets.

Casey would probably say things like, "In your face, dawg!" and "You got owned homie!" and stuff like that. Granted Nick's Casey already said similar stuff in the cartoon.

Wouldn't be surprised if we get a gangsta Casey from the ghetto next time.

We already have a female Casey Jones or have you not been paying attention?

[Cryomancer]

Speaking of that I am surprised Casey Jones race was never changed over the years. A black or hispanic Casey would actually be quite fitting and fit his backstory. This Casey would have grown up "in da hood" and seeing all the crime around him would want him to take up the hockey sticks and clean up the streets.

Casey would probably say things like, "In your face, dawg!" and "You got owned homie!" and stuff like that. Granted Nick's Casey already said similar stuff in the cartoon.

Wouldn't be surprised if we get a gangsta Casey from the ghetto next time.

as someone who lives as a hermit shut-in indoors as much as possible allow me to ask that you please go outside sometimes. experience the presence and experiences of others.

[frank_one]

I'm afraid a black Casey Jones would be considered politically incorrect. A gangsta Casey would be an interesting reimagining of the character though.

[Cryomancer]

I mean if you have such a problem with April being black, why is it OK for Casey to be? If her (supposed) whiteness is important to her character, why is it not to Casey's?

[IndigoErth]

Wasn't Rise "Casey" possibly Asian though? So technically Casey has been another race, if so. Albeit a half-assed attempt at the character and will never feel like Casey imo...

This Casey would have grown up "in da hood"...

Casey would probably say things like, "In your face, dawg!" and "You got owned homie!"
https://media1.giphy.com/media/RBeddeaQ5Xo0E/source.gif

Is it possible to disown some white people...

[Leo656]

I'm gonna double-down on the awful by merely stating that I never met any black guys who owned a hockey stick. BUT that's purely anecdotal.

I just figured since we're being terrible, well... "Terrible" is my middle name* so I didn't wanna be left out.

*Actually it's "Patrick". And now you know.

[LeotheLateBloomer]

Wasn't Rise "Casey" possibly Asian though? So technically Casey has been another race, if so. Albeit a half-assed attempt at the character and will never feel like Casey imo...


https://media1.giphy.com/media/RBeddeaQ5Xo0E/source.gif

Is it possible to disown some white people...

I thought people were just assuming she was Asian because they thought she was Karai.

[sdp]

This topic got me thinking perhaps Casey in Rise is a trans woman so in a way Casey is still a man even in Rise. Or if you're in the trans are real biological sex camp part of the opinion then perhaps Casey is a trans man. Either way of political thinking Rise Casey is a man in Rise.

I just wish black April had been Baxter Stockman's daughter.

[neatoman]

I just wish black April had been Baxter Stockman's daughter.

Then she would have been April Stockman, not April O'Neil.

[DVSleeSmooth]

This thread I swear to god. April can be a scientist a news reporter and half kraang but When she becomes black that is the problem despite the original Mirage Comics depicting her as atleast Mixed:x

[garsh]

Then she would have been April Stockman, not April O'Neil.

Her mom was an O'Neil and they never married.

[neatoman]

This thread I swear to god. April can be a scientist a news reporter and half kraang but When she becomes black that is the problem despite the original Mirage Comics depicting her as atleast Mixed:x

A mixture pencil ink and magic crystal power that is. Genetically speaking, she doesn't have any ancestors if she's a figment of her father's imagination brought to life.

[IndigoErth]

I thought people were just assuming she was Asian because they thought she was Karai.
Yeah, I mean the Turtlepedia site or whatever has her listed as Asian, though I realize that could also just be a fan assuming if anyone can edit that site. She's a little hard to guess.


Then she would have been April Stockman, not April O'Neil.
Her mom was an O'Neil and they never married.
Or O'Neil is her step/adoptive father while Stockman is her mad scientist bio father and creates some nicely awkward character ties.

[Cryomancer]

This thread I swear to god. April can be a scientist a news reporter and half kraang but When she becomes black that is the problem despite the original Mirage Comics depicting her as atleast Mixed:x

lol, right?

[puirnaut]

This thread I swear to god. April can be a scientist a news reporter and half kraang but When she becomes black that is the problem despite the original Mirage Comics depicting her as atleast Mixed:x

Whoever says anything, just look at the original cover of the second issue in color and all questions disappear at once.

[Mexiun]

Making a white character black is equally as stupid as making a black character white (which doesn't happen because that would be racist right? The other way around isn't racist!).

People are so easily offended by people saying "white character should stay white" and quickly grab their 'racist card' but when they say "white character should be black" then its no longer racism its progressiveness.

Remember: Its okay to blackwash, its racist to whitewash.

Laughable world we live in, glad i'm a right winger and not a braindead leftist.

[CyberCubed]

Has there ever been a black character turned white in anything?

[Powder]

Has there ever been a black character turned white in anything?

Michael Jackson?

[Galactus]

Has there ever been a black character turned white in anything?

Baxter Stockman.

[Leo656]

Michael Jackson?

That's awesome, you're awesome. :lol:

[Coola Yagami]

Has there ever been a black character turned white in anything?

Um.... Do you remember what cartoon we're talking about? Episode 3? A thing about rats?

[CyberCubed]

For some reason white Baxter slips my mind, but it was 1987, and back then having a cowardly black man take orders from Shredder probably would have been seen as even *more* racist, so that was probably the mindset of the staff when they changed him to white.

I honestly wonder had Baxter been black in the original toon but written the same way as he was, how people would have taken it to see a black man verbally and physically abused by Shredder, then Krang was basically going to execute him and disintegrate him but he got accidentally mutated with a fly instead.

Maybe it would have been seen as more racist to see a black character treated like that.

[sdp]

I like to think that FW Baxter is black, he just happens to be albino or had vitiligo, that's my headcanon and no one is changing my mind. Also Rise of the TMNT Casey Jones is actually trans, so technically he's still a man and not a woman.

Has there ever been a black character turned white in anything?


I think it happened plenty of times in the 90s but can't think of many examples rightnow, for TMNT besides Baxter we also saw the Beebop Mutating figure get turned to white. The Spawn movie changed Wanda's (https://miscrave.com/articles/spawn-movie/) new husband Terry to white but that was because they didn't want to make people think it was a movie only for "blacks" and instead featured an interracial couple which was also controversial, so it wasn't done for racist reasons, still a dumb move.

[superstaff]

For some reason white Baxter slips my mind, but it was 1987, and back then having a cowardly black man take orders from Shredder probably would have been seen as even *more* racist, so that was probably the mindset of the staff when they changed him to white.

I honestly wonder had Baxter been black in the original toon but written the same way as he was, how people would have taken it to see a black man verbally and physically abused by Shredder, then Krang was basically going to execute him and disintegrate him but he got accidentally mutated with a fly instead.

Maybe it would have been seen as more racist to see a black character treated like that.

Yeah, I was actually discussing this with my husband recently. I think this is exactly why they made him white. That, and they possibly didn't like the implication of both of the sole black characters on the show being villains (the other is Bebop).

[Shark_Blade]

But Shredder isn’t even white. So a Japanese man abusing a black man would be ... less racist? *shrug*

They seem to be okay with him abusing a white man tho.

[newhire13]

This post is pretty disturbing.

[CyberCubed]

I made this thread before I watched all of Rise, but now that I have, I still don't really care for her much. By the end of the show they also made her into the same fighting April all the other incarnations do so April isn't a damsel in distress all the time, so it really wasn't anything new.

At the very least "black April," was an experiment in a short lived incarnation that will probably have no impact going forward.

[aprilbound]

She wasn't really an atypical damsel in the 80/90's show though. She was a little to headstrong not straight up helpless.

[Cake-Monster85]

The person who created this post... why? Sorry, I'm new here, but... are you like offended by darker skin color OR?

I don't mind April being black, but I know her best as a white woman.

[Prowler]

Changing an established character's race is a dumb idea. There's been lots of revisionist history getting spread online in the last few years about April "having been black all along!". Maybe that was just a prototype April. But the actual April drawn on the comic wasn't black. That's like saying Michelangelo should have Krang in his stomach from now on because in his original prototype draft that's what he looked like. Why don't we see the same sunset of the fandom pushing that narrative? I think we all know why...

"BUT HER HAIR!"...do you not remember the 80s or seen photos from that era or something? Women of all races sported that kind of hairdo. Don't give me that BS.

[Leo656]

That's the kinda dumb sh*t people cling to when they absolutely refuse to concede an argument.

There's long been a vocal subset of fans who insist that Superman/Clark Kent is "obviously Jewish", on account of two Jewish guys created him and his story is partly a Moses allegory (it's also a Jesus allegory, but I digress). The argument goes, "Obviously" these two Jewish guys would naturally want to see themselves represented in the character they created, and at one point things like men having dark hair were *occasionally* seen as being more of "a Jewish thing", therefore in their own minds, "Superman must be Jewish".

This despite the fact that Clark Kent 1. Eats pork, 2. Doesn't keep Kosher, 3. Doesn't observe Shabbos, 4. Has been seen in flashback stories going to church - not Temple - with his parents, 5. Has been known to still attend church services as an adult from time to time, 6. Married Lois in a Christian church, 7. Celebrates Christmas, and 8. Has met Santa Claus, who's apparently real within the context of the DC Universe.

So we can safely and definitively say that while there is nothing at all wrong with being Jewish, Clark Kent is 100% NOT Jewish. And the only reasons anyone ever even suggested that he was were very circumstantial. Frankly, it IS possible that very, very early on, Siegel and/or Shuster maybe wanted to imply that he was, but they never said so out loud or put evidence towards it into any stories, so even if that was at one point their intention, all we know for sure is What We Know For Sure.

Frankly, for all the guilt he carries around with him about never being able to save everyone, or whether or not he's doing TOO much (or not enough), Clark is almost certainly Catholic, if anything. :lol: But that's a whole other can of worms.

Point being, if people want to believe something, and they're hellbent on convincing others to their way of thinking, they'll grasp at some pretty flimsy straws in order to do so, whether or not it makes any sense in reality. That's just the way people are. Superman isn't Jewish, and April isn't (generally) black. And neither of them were most likely ever created to be.

[Prowler]

Exactly.

"Kevin Nash played Super Shredder. Therefore Shredder must actually be white!" Michael Bay logic

[neatoman]

... How...
How would you even be able to circumcise Superman?
... I mean... If people thinks he's jewish and all...

[mrmaczaps]

Frankly, for all the guilt he carries around with him about never being able to save everyone, or whether or not he's doing TOO much (or not enough), Clark is almost certainly Catholic, if anything. :lol: But that's a whole other can of worms.



I'd argue this one point being that the writer behind that story wanted him to be seen as Catholic.

I always saw him more Baptist & I really want to say there was a line somewhere in the late 80s about him attending a Baptist church service or saying the Kents went to/belonged to a Baptist church.

[CyberCubed]

Time to bring this back, I can't believe this is from 3 years ago now before we knew we'd have the second black April in a row.

I guess I must be nostradamus and predicted the future.

[Coola Yagami]

Have to hand it you, you were right.

[TMNT is cooler than MOTU]

“Goddamn darkies are getting uppity again!”-TMNT fanboys