Is pure human April falling out of favor?

[neatoman]

So we all know that the Mirage and Nickelodeon versions of April turned out to be, hmmm, not quite what they originally seemed. In addition, the 4kids April was briefly hinted at having the same origin as Mirage April. And while we don't know yet (and I may very well be dead wrong) it would not surprise me if April turned out to have more fantastical origins in the IDW comics and the new movies.

So, is regular human April falling out of favor?

[Refractive Reflections]

I wouldn't say falling out of favor, as it appears more so as writers reaching a conundrum on what to do with her character after she becomes close friends with the Turtles. It seems that they have to make her character have some supernatural or mutant abilities/background just to make her character interesting, which I don't usually agree with from the standpoint of her character development.

I don't mind if they do add these qualities to April in certain versions, but making it as a necessity of sorts for her character in subsequent versions, just so she can be more involved with the mutant Turtles is not the best writing. I enjoy having the dynamic of the Turtles and April being from two different worlds rather than her discovering that she was a mutant or "freak" just like them after all.

It does bring up an interesting point though, why is there pressure to make April have these supernatural/mutant abilities, but not Casey though in so many depictions? At least that would be something new...

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by Refractive Reflections

It does bring up an interesting point though, why is there pressure to make April have these supernatural/mutant abilities, but not Casey though in so many depictions? At least that would be something new...

Well the thing about Casey is that he is already really weird without a fantastical bent, he's a slightly deranged, stupid, hot headed, sports themed vigilante.

April without a fantastical bent is... A shopkeeper, a journalist or a high schooler...

[Cryomancer]

Originally Posted by Refractive Reflections

I wouldn't say falling out of favor, as it appears more so as writers reaching a conundrum on what to do with her character after she becomes close friends with the Turtles. It seems that they have to make her character have some supernatural or mutant abilities/background just to make her character interesting, which I don't usually agree with from the standpoint of her character development.

I don't mind if they do add these qualities to April in certain versions, but making it as a necessity of sorts for her character in subsequent versions, just so she can be more involved with the mutant Turtles is not the best writing. I enjoy having the dynamic of the Turtles and April being from two different worlds rather than her discovering that she was a mutant or "freak" just like them after all.

It does bring up an interesting point though, why is there pressure to make April have these supernatural/mutant abilities, but not Casey though in so many depictions? At least that would be something new...

Agreeing with this right here.

[DarkFell]

"Is pure human April falling out of favor?"

No - I don't really think so. Human Ms. O'Neil will always be forevermore part of TMNT lore. The Nickelodeon TMNT wanted to go a different way with their version of April as did the Mirage comics. '87 TMNT kept her totally human. The older TMNT movies had Ms. O'Neal totally human.

So, I really do not think human April O'Neil is totally out of the loop.

[plastroncafe]

I'm usually disappointed by Non-Zeppo April. It always rings of Pasted On Yay to me for some reason. Like, the writers couldn't handle just having a normal person to deal with. Made worse by the fact that she's one of the few female characters.

Leaves the story open to the argument that the writers just can't write female characters, so they have to give her a gimmick.

[Electric]

Originally Posted by plastroncafe

I'm usually disappointed by Non-Zeppo April. It always rings of Pasted On Yay to me for some reason. Like, the writers couldn't handle just having a normal person to deal with. Made worse by the fact that she's one of the few female characters.

Leaves the story open to the argument that the writers just can't write female characters, so they have to give her a gimmick.

i disagree with the "writers cant write female characters"

example: nicks karai

nick took a previous plot for karai, and developed it even more, and she has become one of the most if not the most complex character in the show. and she is

Spoiler:

was

totally human, no special powers, abilities, no alien origin, just a trained girl. doesnt just serve as a love interest, has her own plots, can handle herself, had a rivalry with april, and with leo, developed from rebellious fun seeking teen to devoted daughter, showed extreme determination, and ended up making her own choice

she is very well written.

in regards to april, i dont mind giving her different involvments. im all for her being a part of the kraang invasion. it gives her some more purpose than just the turtles friend. having psychic powers though? not a fan

honestly my favorite background for april was the new movie. kinda spoilerish but:

Spoiler:

her saving the turtles, developing their love of pizza, and having her father be the one to make them. it makes her again, more than just their friend, and is a cool way to tie all their pasts together

[DarkLightDragon]

Yeah, it honestly seems like for every iteration of Turtles where she's a normal human, there's always going to be one where writers feel April needs to be as special as the Turtles or Splinter if not more, whether it's having a unique ability or not being completely human in origin.

It's like her being the 'big sister/den mother' figure to Turtles or being their only link to the outside world weren't enough to establish her main role for a Turtles series and she's going to come off as too boring unless she doesn't have anything to make her just as unnatural as the Turtles, Splinter, or just any bizarre mutant that comes along. Because hey, "Who would wants to be the weak and occasional damsel in distress with no powers when you can be a mutant with powers and kick a lot of levels of a**!" or some crap like that.

[Shark_Blade]

Megan Fox is pure human...


I love her and OT April the best. Both are reporters.

[Garfield]

I only know of 2 April that aren't Pure human and its Mirage April and Nick April. But it seems that much more than most versions of April are pure human. I don't know about IDW April.

I think you might be making Super April into a bigger deal than it really is. Most versions of April O'neil has her as just a regular woman from a pure genetic stand point.

[Shark_Blade]

2k3 April was cool... until they turned her into a ninja kill bill wannabe (2k3 and 2k7).

I read somewhere that Mirage April was a drawing (wtf?), and chose to ignore that existence and remember her lovely beginnings only as a lab assistsnt.

[ZariusTwo]

Originally Posted by Shark_Blade

I read somewhere that Mirage April was a drawing (wtf?), and chose to ignore that existence and remember her lovely beginnings only as a lab assistsnt.

Once she found out she was a drawing she breifly went about fighting crime in the guise of Nobody until Casey put a stop to her, then she left to find herself

[Cipher]

Originally Posted by neatoman

April without a fantastical bent is... A shopkeeper, a journalist or a high schooler...

Or a programmer.

But chalk me up for any of those, because I feel a non-fantastic character is something TMNT needs.

Granted, selling a non-fantastic character also requires a more mature level of writing. I think giving her plot-integral super powers, bizarre origins, kick-butt ninja skills, etc., is often sort of a lazy solution.

Also agreed that Casey is usually spared this because he's a bizarre action character from square one. And look -- no version has ever really gotten him out of that role into a fully normal one, even when the story might call for it (Mirage and the 4Kids cartoon both try to imply a more normal, mature lifestyle on the horizon for him as they go on, but still have him back in the mask at the drop of a hat). I think it's more of a failure to integrate non-action characters than anything.

[ScrewtheMirageTMNT]

No. They keep using the same april, human april.

[Panda_Kahn_fan]

Hey did everybody forget the April who drank a potion, turned into a 40-foot tall robot, fought her 40 foot tall robot evil ancestor Mae East, and saved the turtles? Seriously, I think that was awesome!

[Leo656]

Just to touch on one of the things people seem to be split on, I know some people like the idea of tying the Turtles origins back to April in various incarnations, but I don't like it. Not everything needs to be connected to everything else within the same fictional universe. Things happening by random chance is much more true to life. Having everything and everyone be connected is kind of hokey.

Tying big chunks of their origin back to April, reminds me of a Superman comic they did a while back where before Krypton exploded, Jor-El was sending probes or something all over the universe looking for a suitable planet to send Kal-El, and Jor-El's holo-projection or whatever "met" Johnathan Kent, and they talked about stuff, and it kind of made it seem like Kal-El's rocket didn't happen to land where it did by chance, it more or less implied the Kents found it by design, and... that's stupid. I mean, I get that it's fiction, but having all the characters of a story share some predetermined "destiny" is just so... "convenient".

More to the point of the thread, I much prefer April as a plain ol' human being who happens to get wrapped up in the crazy world of the TMNT completely by chance, just a regular person dealing with highly irregular circumstances. There's no need for her to be anything else, other than the fact that some writers can't write "regular" characters. Kinda like how back in the day writers couldn't resist giving Jimmy Olsen super-powers just because they didn't know what else to do with him... Superman's already in the book, who gives a sh*t if Jimmy turns into a giant turtle or a second-rate Plastic Man? I think what makes these kinds of secondary characters "special" is that, by contrast to the more fantastical main characters, they aren't "special" at all. They're just normal people, caught in a series of abnormal events, and that in and of itself should be interesting.

Nothing's worse than that "April was a magical drawing" BS though. From concept to execution, still the worst thing I've endured coming out of the TMNT franchise as a whole, and that's saying a lot.

[Konchadunga]

Originally Posted by ElectricN

i disagree with the "writers cant write female characters"

example: nicks karai

nick took a previous plot for karai, and developed it even more, and she has become one of the most if not the most complex character in the show. and she is

Spoiler:

was

totally human, no special powers, abilities, no alien origin, just a trained girl. doesnt just serve as a love interest, has her own plots, can handle herself, had a rivalry with april, and with leo, developed from rebellious fun seeking teen to devoted daughter, showed extreme determination, and ended up making her own choice

she is very well written.

A big part of the difference is that Karai comes with a skillset and motif that fits what they're trying to do. She, like the turtles, was raised almost from birth to be a ninja, and her life revolves around conflicts. She has interests of her own that further the plot.

Sadly, there isn't as much room for writing April into an interesting character. They can't make her another pure badass normal, because going the route of "trained from birth" just seems too far from what April traditionally is and too similar to what other characters are. They can't make her someone who has her own objectives to too great extent because then she might come off as against the turtles, whether in goal or just in competition for screentime. They can't make her nothing but a damsel in distress, or they'd get called backwards. Finally, they can't give April too much development that doesn't involve the Turtles/Foot Clan/Kraang, because then they'd need to model a lot of sets and characters that aren't the focus they're going for. It's not too late for them to fix things, but that does require revising the approach they're taking. This crass, toy-driven, MOTW formula is ruining character development.

Originally Posted by neatoman

In addition, the 4kids April was briefly hinted at having the same origin as Mirage April.

I can't say I remember that, ever. The inclusion of "The King" as an episode doesn't count, as that story was written in the Mirage series a long time before they decided to tie April's origin to it.

[Jester]

I think the key is Renet.

[Panda_Kahn_fan]

Guys,,,, I wan't joking.... YOU ALL know the ridculous scenario I described above actually happened. It shows ridiculous stuff happened to her in MANY TMNT UNIVERSES!

[neatoman]

Originally Posted by Konchadunga

I can't say I remember that, ever.

Of course you don't, it was only for a brief second and if you don't know how April found out in the comics then it's just going to go over your head.

Here's the quote, Return of Savanti Part 1:

Originally Posted by Renet

Of course I know you April! Remember when I showed you... Oh wait, that hasn't happened yet... Oops, sorry, I always do that...