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April O’Neil(2012) Character Analysis
So, this version of April is pretty controversial, especially beyond this community. Many fans accuse her of being a toxic, manipulative women. Even some fans would use derogatory words. For me, she is not so bad. Not my favorite, but pretty okay.
I’m not trying to convince others to change their minds. I respect everyone’s opinions because everyone matters is many ways. All I want to do is explain how I see April and get some of you guys’ opinions.
Hope you enjoy this analysis! And comment down below if you would like me to analyze another character.
Anyway, here we go.
The Main Issues
Season 2:
This season was where it all began with April hate train.
I think almost everyone can agree that April wasn’t so bad in season one, maybe even likable. At least, I did.
But all that potential love went down the drain once season two started.
The first episode, called “The Mutation Situation,” takes place a few months after they defeat the Kraang and the Shredder disappeared. Everything seemed fine since April’s dad was back and the city hadn’t been attacked. But, the Turtles once again have to face the Kraang and stop them from transporting their mutagen supply. They asked for April and her dad’s help to find the ship, though she had to trick him into doing it. The four brothers destroyed the ship, but they paid the price because all of the mutagen in the ship fell off, scattered across the city. One of the vials was going to drop on April, except her father took the hit and mutated into a human-sized bat.
Kirby kidnaps April and the guys have to save her. Once they did, Michelangelo reveals that him and his brother’s were indirectly responsible for the incident.
April gets so mad and storms off, wishing to never see them again.
Okay, so from my perspective, I understand why April broke down and said those hurtful things the first time. She went through a lot during the first season. With her dad being held captive for so long, getting kidnapped and probed by the Kraang, and being forced to relinquish most of her old life.
I’m surprised she isn’t even a bit traumatized.
When April believed the Kraang were defeated and her dad was safe, she was happy to have her life back in some kind of order. Yet, in basically a day, that whole dream died right in front of her. She was tired of all the fighting, and lost it when she realized she would have to again. In her irrational, emotional mind, I think she was angry at the turtles for more than just accidentally mutating her dad. She associated them as the start to all the craziness she didn’t want.
After everything she went through, April was desperate to have some clarity that she was willing to throw away her close friends.
I’m not saying that she shouldn’t have apologized. April needed to apologize.
What I didn’t condone from this arc was her yelling at Donnie in “Target: April O’Neil.” She went a bit off line and at least should’ve had some sense in what she was saying. Maybe Donnie practically stalking got her upset, but I get why people would get upset with her over that.
The Love Triangle:
This love triangle was the worst written plot point in this show. I still love the show, but god this needed so much work.
I believe there were some Apritello shippers around season one. I kind of shipped them.
This ship was ruined once season two came around with that April arc and introducing Casey.
I love Casey, but he was mostly used as a plot device for the love triangle. He had so much more potential than what he got.
Based on the comments about the triangle, most people have an issue with their belief that April was manipulating the guys and how unclear the status of either Apritello or Capril.
I just got to say that poor April was dragged through the mud because of the writer’s mistakes. They confused the h*ll out of us, or at least me, with all the will they, won’t they switcheroo. It was hard to tell if April liked Donnie, Casey, both, or none of them. I think the main goal with this triangle was the writers indecision to either follow the 2003 version’s lead with Capril or go their own path with Apritello. If they had decided, this plot point would have been so much better.
To be honest, I think the writers stopped April from making a decision to make the show “interesting. ”In season 3, it seemed like April wanted to be with Donnie. Casey and her were also acting more like friends instead of love interests. Yet, in the first episode of season 4, they had to make him get love struck over her new outfit.
Ughh... the writers confused me too much.
I think it didn’t come to fans’ minds that maybe April was confused with her feelings. Maybe she liked both guys and didn’t reject both of them outright because of her need to clear her head. Sure, it was a bad idea to be honest with them, but people make mistakes.
“The Power Inside Her”:
People are a bit harsh towards April in this episode. I totally get how they feel, though their hate for her could have clouded their judgment.
The biggest complaint I have seen about this episode is the fans being angry with April for not breaking from the alien’s control. Compared to the aeon, Za-Naron, April is a not that experience with her mental powers. Communicating or using their mental powers is normal for the Aeons, while April figured out how to use them a few months or a year ago. As she kept the crystal, Za-Naron control over her grew stronger. I think that if any other character like Leo or Donnie, fans would be more lenient since their writing was way better.
Of course, April needed to apologize for temporary killing Donnie, and hurting her friends; good thing she did. I don’t hold it against her as much as other fans.
Conclusion:
After finishing the analysis, I concluded that April is a victim of bad writing instead of a terrible character. I know there’s an argument that the writing doesn’t really play a part with liking or disliking a character, but it does. Writers decide every character’s actions and create the person they’ll become. Reducing April to a plot device for romance was terrible. Not seeing April’s potential was one of the greatest disappointments in TMNT 2012.
If you still don’t like April, that’s fine. I’m not trying to change your mind. All I want is to open their perspectives and see that all the hate April gets can be explained.
Hope you enjoyed this analysis. Comment down below your thoughts.
Do you agree or disagree?
Thanks for reading! 😊❤️
What Are Your Unpopular TMNT Opinions?
Please respect other opinions. Thank you
I don’t love TMNT 2003.
Before watching this version, many fans said 2003 series was the best version. I didn’t have a lot of TMNT content to watch so I tried it(with some high expectations). I really liked it and had a fun time watching it, but I wouldn’t say it’s the best version- there isn’t a best version imo. I had some issues with it such as some intriguing moments from the show that wasn’t further explored like Leo’s first loss, and traumatic injuries from the Shredder and Donnie’s reaction of the alternative universe in Same As It Never Was. They were good but I needed more. Season 6 and 7 were not great and was tough to go through because of the sudden tone and art style change.
Though, it’s my second favorite version so far.
I like 2012 April.
I already made a post about this so I will shorten my explanation.
I have many reasons, but I’m going to say only two or three reasons since I don’t wanna bore you guys to death.
I don’t hate April because she is a victim of bad writing. TMNT 2012 has overall great writing, but there were some mistakes. Apritello is a big example.
When I ignore the bad moments, April is a really good character. Is she my favorite? No, but she had great potential.
Rise has one of the best family dynamics.
When I watch the show, I can tell that the Turtles love each other no matter what, which is a big thing in the fandom. I enjoyed their brotherly relationships since their was rarely an physical confrontation between them compared to how much 2012 Raph hits the other brothers. I don’t like hitting people, unless I need to protect myself, so I always felt a bit uncomfortable with all the hitting in TMNT 2012. I’m not saying TMNT 2012 had bad brother relationships, it’s my favorite because the raw moments the turtles had always warmed my heart. If it happened too often, the moments would have less of an impact.
I think TMNT 2003 went a bit downhill after season 4.
I feel like the storylines after season 4 were not as good. They focused mostly on mystical things, which is fine, but having so many versions of the Shredder was annoying for me. I know it might sound rude, but I think the show should have ended after season 4.
The 2003 Same As It Never Was storyline was not executed as greatly as it could be.
I feel so bad for critiquing the 2003 version since it looks like I don’t like the series. That’s not true, I really like the series and I applaud it for doing storylines like SAINW and Leo’s PTSD.
The reason why I don’t feel like SAINW didn’t live up to its full potential is because of the length of episodes it could have taken and how it didn’t seem to bother Donatello afterwards.
If SAINW was not added in the Ultimate Draco storyline, I think more episodes like an extra one would have been a better idea. The episode felt pretty rushed and I really wanted to learn more about the future like what happened to Casey, why Hun and Stockman betrayed Shredder, and the circumstances right before Future Donnie disappeared.
Leo’s storyline collided with Donnie’s potential character growth, which makes me upset. I adore Leo’s growth, but the other brothers had so much potential. Maybe some hints of Donnie’s fear of the future or the brothers being separated would have made up for it, but it didn’t happen. All the future Turtles’ deaths didn’t seem to affect Donnie like I thought it would.
2012 Fugitoid should have passed away.
I feel so bad for saying this, but for the better of the story, Fugitoid coming back to life was not a great choice. I love Honeycutt, but his sacrifice would have had a lot of impact on the reality of heroes dying. 2003 TMNT did this really well. Some good people died and it symbolized how dangerous and important it is to fight for what is right.
TMNT 2003 had too many characters, which ruined some development for more important ones.
I feel pretty bad for criticizing TMNT 2003 so much, but I still really like it. Every cartoon has its flaws and I’ve noticed more on TMNT 2003 since I’ve been binging it.
Anyway, the show has too many arcs and characters. Too much for any to gain development. Like the Rat King. I would’ve loved to see him more since he was so interesting. And the Monster from season 4. I was so upset when we didn’t get back to him. He deserved a happy ending, and his story would have been great development for Bishop, good or bad.
2012 Karai’s redemption arc was not handled that great.
To be honest, her arc was always a bit shaky to me. What surprised me most was how fast Karai’s mind was changed. All her life the Shredder was her father, but when almost once Splinter revealed the truth, she switched. I don’t think that would’ve happened so soon since, usually, kids that handle trauma like that kind of try to rationalize or try to make sense of it all. It would have been better if Karai was having this mental battle as she was working with the Shredder. She would be neutral though because she doesn’t want to hurt the Turtles and Splinter if what they said was true.
2012 Karai is overrated.
Don’t get me wrong, 2012 Karai is my favorite version, but she is not as developed as some people say.
Her arcs with finding the truth about everything and “curing” her of the mutation were not handled well, especially the latter. It took the last halves of season 2 and 3 to save her. Was I only one annoyed that the group looked for so long, only for the retro mutagen to not work? 😑
She’s on my list of wasted great characters along with April and Casey.
In the 2012 series, female characters are not as well written as male characters.
This is one of my complaints with the 2012 series. Most of the female characters were either reduced to love interests or severely sidelined. April and Karai are the biggest victims with this.
April had great potential to be a great character, but the love triangle ruined it. If they solved this plot line already, April’s character wouldn’t have suffered as much. Can’t determine if fans would like her more, but that’s my opinion.
With Karai, she was a love interest at first, but then this Splinter’s daughter plot line happened. Tbh, I think this decision was last minute because I hope to god the creators were not promoting brother/sister romantic relationships of any kind. Anyway, that story was going along until that wild goose chase trying to cure her from the mutation(which didn’t work). After that craziness, she was just sidelined and there was barely any Splinter/Karai moments(one of my biggest disappointments with the show). It would have been amazing to see her journey as the new Shredder, but I don’t blame the creators for that because they had a limited amount of episodes.
2012 April is not op.
Oof.. I’m gonna get so many disagrees on this. 😂
The reason I’m saying this is because of the and my definition of overpowered. Overpower: defeat with superior strength.
While rewatching the show, I looked closely through April’s fights, especially with her powers. Usually, overpowered people defeat supposedly stronger opponents without explanation.
April has rarely beaten someone stronger than her except once with TigerClaw, but with the Dragon’s Tail kick and a sneak attack, not her powers. She used her powers with the Shredder, Shini, Kavaxas, and many more enemies. She lost every time. The only time April won with her powers was against that evil Aeon and it was severely weak.
I would say April is not very close to the fighting level with the Turtles, especially with Raph and Leo. If they went full force on her, she would lose, even with her abilities.
2012 Leo has better characterization than 2003 Leo.
I really like 2003 Leo but he can be pretty bland. He only ever focused on training and meditation. He was also too perfect in some areas. However, S4 made him better in those areas.
With 2012 Leo, I like that he has more interests than training and has a reason why he wants to be the leader. He also messes up and doesn’t get the full swing of being the leader until half way through S2. For me, I think realistic character progression is very important for a show.
I like 2018 April’s design.
I admit, I was shocked when I learned that April’s race was changed, but I have no problems with it. There’s more diversity.
The only thing I don’t like about her design is her hairstyle. I don’t like the pigtails. Much preferred finale look with the high ponytail.
I like the idea of them needing like 4 hours to watch a 90min movie bc they keep pausing to discuss something in the movie
(my mind wanted me to draw a apriltello comic i hope no one judge this ship T w T theyre cute together or in a friendly way but I do really see them as brother and sister but my mind is killing me to draw I have to get off my head)
(i hope i wont get any negative comments in this post)
Two Cherries and Leaf Wings
Comic
Donnie and April (or Apriltello Comic i guess)
🧡🎃 It’s Halloween Time Babes 🎃 🧡
Here’s a picture of Witch!April from last year! The design was done by the one and only @elitesheepi!
I actually wrote a little something something for the design here, so feel free to take a look whenever you want ^^
These are all scenes from wallbanger2008’s fic pink elephants, wherein Donnie accidentally gives April the ability to read minds andddd yeah, just, go read it if you like apritello. Like it is some top tier in-character stuff, I’ll tell ya. It was hard to choose scenes to illustrate bc I loved them all a ridiculous amount but I ending up going with one funny, one heartbreak-y and one fluffy as hell 💕
AWWW THIS IS BEAUTIFUL!! I LOVE THIS SM, YOUR ART ALWAYS MAKES ME SO HAPPY 😊 😭❤️
I'm a little embarrassed I only now saw this, a day after my birthday, but I'm super grateful and appreciative all the same! Thank you so much Violetdawn :)
Happy Birthday @kanayamaryam999!
Here is a present for you! I hope you enjoy the ship and the crossover!
¿Did you know Rob and Donatello 2012 share the SAME voice actor in the latin american dub? :DD
Yeeeeah, i just wanted to find an excuse to upload this draw.
Also, I'm not a big fan of Apritello, but I still wanted to draw Emma as April, idk- 🤷♀️
I definitely ship (2012) April 💛and (2012) Donnie💜🐢 together so much.
I think this is the reaction of Apritello shippers Xd
˗ˏˋ 𝓐𝓹𝓻𝓲𝓵 𝓞'𝓷𝓲𝓵 ⁺ ˖˚
I wanted to draw April in my design for my future AU. In the near future, I plan to draw a reference for her in different clothes. I promise.
⸜(⸝⸝⸝´꒳`⸝⸝⸝)⸝
Yesterday I was covered and wanted to paint. I finally drew them properly after so many months. I love them, it's like a breath of fresh air. (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)
Free sketches and a spoiler based on my April design in AU.(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
˗ˏˋDay 1 of Apritelloˊˎ-
Prom Queen
I was late, but there were reasons for that. It's been so long since I've painted a job that it's been a hard ordeal for me. ｡ﾟ(TヮT)ﾟ｡
˗ˏDay 2 of Apritelloˎ-
Mystic
I'm so happy that I finished them! Since my health is down, I will post everything later. ｡ﾟ(TヮT)ﾟ｡
˗ˏDay 3 of Apritelloˎ-
Matching Outfits
I was inspired by one photo, they turned out to be funny in the end.