April as a Ally in Combat?

[oldmanwinters]

As weird as Archie's May East mini-series was, it at least made an effort to explain why April made such quick progress at being trained by Splinter. Every other instance in which she's a fully functioning adult who quickly becomes a skilled fighter and acrobat within a few weeks/months after meeting the Turtles defies any notion of plausibility. It's also more believable that she could make quick progress as a teenager like in the Nick CGI toon, on account of the fact that a lot of kids don't start playing particular sports until high school, and then become top prospects within 2-3 years.

[turtle1237]

To me it just seems odd for April to be in the field fighting along the Turtles. Not everyone can be the warrior in a JRPG. April should of been a white mage with the task of healing and other ways of helping out.

[ABrown]

If it works for said version of the character, then absolutely. I thought that both the 4Kids and 2007 movie Aprils handled her as a fighter very well.

[IndigoErth]

Frequently and on purpose, no. But it would make sense that her friends might give her some basic training she can use out in life if need be and on the occasion that she's with them and ends up in the middle of a battle.

Even if she is not actively going after the enemy herself, it would be good and preferable if she can at least defend herself. And maybe provide occasional support as able with some clever quick thinking, etc. (Rather than just being made into a screaming hostage or cowering behind something.) Things like causing something to come crashing down that slows an enemy, being able to trip one of them with something, or is able to toss a lost weapon back to one of the Turtles. Things that can help turn the tide in favor of her friends without getting too involved.

Hell, she could even impact a bad battle the Turtles are not likely to win by escaping to call the police and the Turtles know to make a quick escape amid the chaos when they hear those sirens.

If April was a character who'd chosen a career as a cop, or martial artist, military, or whatnot, it might make sense to have more involvement and for her to have interest in doing so if she found herself in the middle of it, but that isn't her life. (And I'd rather not make it her life for the sake of an excuse to do it or for trying to be different... The reporter or lab tech options work.)

While having occasional female fighting partners is good, I don't see April as the best option for that. Let her use her own skills and tools from her own career choices to be an asset in her own ways. She doesn't forever have to be the only woman they ever know, just preferably the closest.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

I'm surprised this isn't a TommyT thread .

I prefer her not be a fighter, Atleast not extensively to the extent with iterations like 2012 which made her a Kunoich with all-out Psychic powers.

The extent of OT April fighting was just waving around a frying pan or unplugging dangerous machinery for the turtles every now and then

She was still pretty helpful to them though, by virtue of being their eyes and ears to the outside world.

[TommyT]

The day I get a good looking April figure, is the day I stop obsessing.

[oldmanwinters]

Originally Posted by ABrown

If it works for said version of the character, then absolutely. I thought that both the 4Kids and 2007 movie Aprils handled her as a fighter very well.

I liked April in both of those contexts, but when most people complain about "warrior" April, they probably have one of those two examples in mind. In the 4Kids show, she advances (off-camera) so quickly that she's making Casey Jones look bad by early Season 3 (specifically her acrobatics in "Worlds Collide, Parts 2-3"); to be fair, most episodes were content to scale back her competence to basic self-defense. But the Imagi film has her going one-on-one with Karai and besting her; although I've heard some people argue that Karai was thrown off-balance by some sort of distraction that allowed April to simply get around her during the big battle when the good guys storm the enemy stronghold.

Originally Posted by TommyT

The day I get a good looking April figure, is the day I stop obsessing.

Uh... wrong thread?