Mirage Comics

Baxter Stockman is a brilliant scientist that used his talents for his own selfish nefarious schemes rather than to help mankind. His latest invention, the Mousers, were small robots designed to find and kill rats, thus solving the city's rat problem. However, Baxter was really using the Mousers to rob banks and commit other crimes. Once his assistant April O'Neil discovered his plan, he sent the Mousers after her. Not knowing that she was saved by the TMNT, he continued his plans, holding the city ransom with the threat of destroying several city landmarks with his Mousers. With the help of April, the TMNT found Baxter, defeated him, and sent him to jail.

In Volume 2 of the series, Baxter would somehow escape prison and break into the DARPA facility to wreak havok. After taking out the guards, he would somehow implant his brain into the body of a huge killer robot. As the robot, Baxter would bust out of DARPA, seek out and find April O'Neil and inject her with something which was, at the time, unrevealed. The TMNT, Casey and Nobody find and battle it out with the Baxterbot, which would result in Baxter escaping missing an arm and blacking out, and Raphael being captured by DARPA. Gaining consciousness, Baxter would discover his robot body was fixed and somehow regenerated an arm. The other three Turtles and Casey find the Baxterbot in the sewers, ready to electrocute them with live power lines. Leo would turn the tables and electrocute the Baxterbot instead. While the Turtles wondered how Baxter got the robot to work, they didn't know his brain was actually inside it. Or so it would seem.

In Volume 4 of the series, April would fall prey to nanobots inside her system, threatening her life. It was revealed that this was what Baxter injected her with all those years ago. It was also revealed that Donatello had part of the robot with Baxter's brain still alive and pinned up against a sewer wall. When Donatello would ask Baxter for a way to help April, the mad scientist would only laugh and say how she was doomed. In a rage, Donatello blew him up.

It is also worth mentioning that in the Mirage comics, unlike other media, Baxter Stockman was a stand-alone villian and had nothing to do with the Shredder or the Foot.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987 TV series)

Baxter Stockman was a bumbling Caucasian scientist who worked as a humble inventor. Stockman started out an honest life trying to sell his Mousers to a pest control agency. Seeing that it would work a little too well to rid the city of rats, and thus, put the pest control agency out of business, Stockman was thrown into the street. Shredder would find Stockman and offer him a job, creating a Master Control System for an army of Mousers. While Stockman didn't know Shredder was using the Mousers to kill the Turtles and Splinter, Shredder still sent the Foot to eliminate him. The Turtles defeated the Foot and tied Stockman to a lamppost to interrogate him. He would be arrested and Donatello would use the equipment he found in his apartment to create the Turtle Van and the Turtle Blimp.

Stockman was later committed to an insane asylum, having since gone criminally insane. Shredder returned to bust him out and use him to help in his attempts to defeat the Turtles. Stockman eventually became fed up with Shredder's abuse and tried to use the Eye of Sarnath for himself. The Eye could create things out of thin air, or transmute objects, but it had no effect on gold. Shredder would take advantage of this to get the Eye back, even though he'd still end up getting defeated by the Turtles. Despite his treacherous nature, Stockman remained under Shredder's employ, until Shredder demanded Krang send Bebop and Rocksteady back to Earth (since they were trapped in Dimension X at the time). Since at the time the Technodrome's dimensional portal was weakened, Krang could only send them back if he got something sent in return, so Shredder threw Stockman through the portal. Seeing no use for a human scientist, Krang had him thrown into a disintegrator unit. A fly happened to follow Stockman inside, and instead of disintegrating him, it would cross mutate him with the fly, turning him into a mutant fly.

As the fly, Stockman would now plot revenge against both the Turtles and the Shredder. While Shredder would sometimes trick Baxter into helping him, with the promise of turning him human again, Stockman would always be double crossed and twice as eager to attack Shredder the next time. Stockman's schemes would always get him trapped into either Dimension X or some other parallel dimension. During his attempts to destroy his enemies, he would befriend a sentient computer named Z, who would try to help out Stockman, since over time, he would start losing his scientific mind and begin acting more like a fly.

In his next encounter with the Turtles and Shredder, he tried to use Insect Essences to turn all of humanity into all kinds of insects. The Turtles used the Retromutagen Ray that Shredder was attempting to rebuild to thwart Baxter's plans and send him back to his dimension.

Besides the Mousers, Stockman was also the inventor of the Knucklehead, which Shredder utilized after he got rid of Stockman. Baxter Stockman also had a twin brother, Barney, who hated Baxter and the fact that turned into a fly.

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Leatherhead is a 12'4" or 7' mutant alligator or crocodile (depending on which version). He has appeared in all TMNT incarnations except for the movies and the live action series.

He first appeared in Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #6. Originally Leatherhead was nothing more than an infant alligator which had somehow found its way into the sewers. While in the sewers, Leatherhead was found by a group of TCRI Utroms who decided to bring the creature to their headquarters. During his stay with the Utroms, Leatherhead was exposed to Mutagen which caused him to mutate into a humanoid and intelligent being.

Living with the Utroms, Leatherhead ended up being separated from his "family" when the TCRI building self-destructed. The now homeless Leatherhead was forced to live in the sewers where he was continually attacked by a big-game hunter called Mr. Marlin. During one attack by the hunter, Leatherhead met the Turtles. Aiding Leatherhead in defeating the hunter, the Turtles decided to allow Leatherhead to live in their old home.

Eventually two Foot Clan ninjas encountered an eye-patch-wearing Leatherhead in the sewers. Fearing that Leatherhead would kill them, the ninjas tried to get on Leatherhead's good side by promising to aid him in creating his Transmat Device. Accepting the help, Leatherhead and the ninjas set to work creating the Transmat, only to be interrupted by the Turtles. After a brief skirmish, the Turtles learned that the Foot ninjas were actually helping Leatherhead. Embarrassed by the incident the Turtles decided to aid the mutant alligator. Eventually the Transmat Device was complete, Leatherhead could finally reach the Utrom Homeworld. Unfortunately instead of teleporting Leatherhead, the device simply blew up in his face. This failure was too much for Leatherhead to handle and in a fit of rage, Leatherhead killed his two Foot assistants and vowed revenge on the Turtles, whom he blamed for wrecking his attempt to get "home."

Leatherhead later resurfaced in Volume 4. He makes an appearance at Master Splinter's funeral. He is then seen wrestling a mutated Raphael in the sewers before swimming off. It is unknown what his current relationship with the Turtles is, but Raphael's comment that he hopes he didn't hurt Leatherhead would make it seem as if they're at least on good terms.

He has also appeared in two issues of Tales of the TMNT Volume 2. In issue eight, a mentally unstable and delusional Leatherhead is discovered by Raphael to be building another Transmat Device. Leatherhead seems to harbor an insane grudge against Donatello, and nearly kills Raphael when he mistakes him for Donatello. Once the Transmat Device was finished, it suddenly kicked into operation and causes three Utroms to appear; these Utroms blast Leatherhead with a ray gun, and take him away, destroying the Transmat Device as they leave.

In issue twenty-three, the Turtles are recruited by the Utroms to save Leatherhead from a renegade group of Utrom radicals called "The Illuminated," the same ones who took him away in issue eight, in attempts to clone him into an army of mutants to aid in their world "cleansing" agenda. It is revealed that the Illuminated where secretly drugging Leatherhead, which caused him to subconsciously to build the second Transmat Device he was working on in issue eight, then wake up and remember little. It also caused his missing eye to heal and gave him a massive increase in size. The Turtles rescue Leatherhead, defeated the clones, and aided in the destruction of the Illuminated. Leatherhead returns to Earth with the turtles rather than going back to the Utrom home world. These events all take place between Volumes 2 and 4 of the Mirage series.

It is interesting to note that in the past, at several comic conventions, Leatherhead creator Ryan Brown has said he initially intended to kill the character off at the end of Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vol. 1, #6 by having the gator-man tumble into the underground gorge with the evil big game hunter but Turtle's creator Peter Laird nixed the idea opting to have Leatherhead survive and return to the sewers with the Turtles.

Brown returns to plot his creation after 19 years in the September 2007 issue of Tales of the TMNT. Out for a swim, Leatherhead encounters a group of aliens called Sigmurethites and attacks them. The alligator-man's Utrom guardian Dr. X also appears in this issue in a female scientist's exoskeleton.

Footage of Leatherhead Boss Fight in TMNT 2 Battle Nexus


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The Mousers are a type of robot created by Dr. Baxter Stockman. The robots are about knee high. They have a head with sharp teeth and two legs. Their jaws are strong enough to bite through steel.

Dr. Stockman created the Mousers under the premise of selling them to the government to fight New York City's rodent problem. However, his true intent was to use them to tunnel into bank vaults to steal valuables.

1987 - They appear in the episode "A Thing About Rats" they were created by mad scientist Baxter Stockman to rid the town of the rat problem, April warns the turtles about how they could go after Splinter, meanwhile they attack him he manages to hold them off until they overwhelm him the turtles come to his rescue and destroy the remaining ones, Shredder is angry about this and orders Stockman to program them to also attack turtles, they attack Splinter and April who manage to hold them off until the turtles arrive to destroy the remaining ones again but April's apartment building collasps due to the Mousers constant chomping and they manage to escape in time, the turtles decide to go after Stockman as he is responsible for the mess so they capture him and squeeze information out of him, meanwhile Michaelangelo sneaks into his mansion to shutdown the Mousers but is captured by Shredder and he orders the rest of the Mousers to attack the turtles, Splinter, and April, Krang frees Michaelangelo because he doesn't want Shredder to succeed, so Michaelangelo confronts Shredder and taunts him causing his anger to get the better of him he takes out a gun and shoots at him several times accidentally hitting the master control, Donantello takes control of the Mousers with a remote control he swiped from Stockman and commands them to bring down Baxter Stockman's mansion which collaspes on top of them destroying them.

2003 - Their origin is very similar to the comics they first appear in "Things Change" as they try to kill Splinter he and the turtles manage to destroy them but at the cost of their lair so they are forced to find a new one. They appear in the next episode we learn that they were created by Baxter Stockman to control the rat problem and April O'Neil is his assistant, meanwhile Donantello gathers the remains of one and fixes it, upon being fixed it goes on a high speed chase where it eventually joins up with hundred of them in the sewer they engage in an all out brawl with the Mousers discovering that they are more durable than the last batch as a shot from a shuriken barely damaged one, eventually Leonardo discovers the only way to beat them is chop of their heads eventually destroying all but one which Donantello tries to capture to study but Raphael destroys it before he can. April discovers Baxter is also using them to rob banks and jewelery shops he discovers her and sics four Mousers after her, the turtles rescue her and destroy the ones that were sent after her, she passes out as this is their first meeting and she was initially afraid of them and they bring her to their lair. They explain to Splinter why they brought her with them April wakes up and eventually gets used to them and decides to work with them to destroy the Mousers, they make their way to the laboratory and encounter Stockman, who activates the Mousers to attack them, April and Donantello manage to shutdown the Mousers and make them selfdestruct destroying them and putting Baxter Stockman out of business and he is punished by Shredder for failing him.

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Arnold "Casey" Jones is a character from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. Like the turtles, Casey Jones is a self-appointed vigilante. Created as a parody of vigilante characters that were in comics. Casey wears a hockey mask and cut-off biking gloves and carries his weapons in a golf bag over his shoulder. His weapons include baseball bats, golf clubs, cricket bats, and hockey sticks. He is a master of stealth, as he has never been caught by the NYPD despite his bizarre appearance. In recent installments, he appears as a love interest for April O'Neil.

As a boy growing up in New York, Casey Jones' neighborhood was overrun with criminals. Casey became tired of the "hoods running his 'hood'", started an intense weight training regimen and purchased a few books on martial arts to help combat the "bad guys." He started his career with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when he ran into a gang of youths attempting to beat up Raphael. The two clashed but eventually helped each other to take down a group of Purple Dragon gang members. Ever since, Casey has been a close friend to Raphael and the Turtles.

Often Casey has been known to shout the term, "Goongala," as a sort of battle cry.

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In the 1987 series, Usagi was mistakenly called Usagi Yojimbo, which is the title of the comic rather than the name of the character.

Usagi first appeared when Donatello's interdimensional device malfunctioned due to interference from The Shredder's device. Upon entering the Turtle's dimension, Usagi assumed that the Turtles were Turtle Guards sent to attack him. Luckily, Michelangelo was able to subdue him. They decide that Usagi should be returned to his home and that he should stay with the Turtles until they can transport him back.

Usagi helped the Turtles find the source of the disruption. After fighting some Foot Ninja, Usagi wandered into a rabbit-themed restaurant where he was mistaken for a waiter. Shortly after, he decided to "liberate" his "enslaved brothers."

After his rebellion, Michelangelo found him and took him to the rest of the group. When Baby-San was hatched, Usagi was part of the group that found Obento. Usagi was the one to place the Blue Flame of Osaka in the dragon's mouth, causing him to return to his egg. Afterwards, Obento agreed to care for Usagi until he could return home.

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The Rat King remains one of the more enigmatic characters in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with various appearances depicting him as either a villain, a neutral character and even an ally of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Rat King has a distinguishable attire, which consists of filthy, tattered rags and, most prominently, various bandages covering his body. As his name implicates, the Rat King has apparent telepathic influence over rats, with his only other consistent power being his immense strength (which varies throughout incarnations of the character).

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT or Ninja Turtles) are a team of four anthropomorphic turtles, who are trained by their sensei, Master Splinter, to become skilled ninja warriors. From their home in the sewers of Manhattan, they battle petty criminals, evil megalomaniacs, and alien invaders, all while remaining isolated from society at large. Thier names are Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangeo, and they are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

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Shredder (Oroku Saki) is a fictional character from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise. At one point or another in every incarnation of the TMNT stories, he has been the archenemy of Splinter and the Turtles. He is also known as the leader of the Foot Clan.

Shredder's physical appearance remains fairly consistent in all incarnations of the character. Saki is a muscular Japanese man, most frequently seen in the Shredder persona, wearing a suit of armor vaguely based on that of a samurai, with a cape. The armor consists of blade-covered metal plaques on his shoulders, forearms, hands (sometimes just his left hand, as he is left-handed), and shins; he wears a purple, gray, blue, or red robe that variously appears to be simple fabric or a form of chain mail. Sometimes he wears a metal silver, black, or blue suit of armor. He also wears a metal helmet with a trident-shaped ornament on top, and a metal mask that covers his face, leaving only his eyes visible. He sometimes wears a purple or sliver cape.

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Splinter was the pet rat of a ninja named Hamato Yoshi in Japan. Intelligent for his species, Splinter was able to learn his master's art by mimicking his movements while he practiced. Yoshi became embroiled in a dispute with a fellow ninja by the name of Oroku Nagi, and was eventually murdered by Nagi's brother Oroku Saki.

Without a home, Splinter was forced to run away and live in New York City's sewers. Due to a traffic accident, four baby turtles and a canister of radioactive ooze were sent down into the sewer, where they mutated both Splinter and the turtles. Splinter named the four turtles Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo (after a book on Renaissance artists that he found in a storm drain) and trained them in the arts of ninjutsu, while still raising them as his own sons.

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Bebop and Rocksteady used to be human, and part of a street gang in New York City that was employed by Shredder. Rocksteady was originally a short and stocky blond Caucasian man (who sported army camouflage pants that would be replaced with simple beige cargo pants later while also occasionally sporting a strong Army helmet on his head in his mutated form). Bebop was a taller African American man with a purple mohawk. With other members of their gang, they were sent out to stop a Channel 6 reporter named April O'Neil from doing a report about crime in the city. April ran down into the sewers while being chased by the street gang and met the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who defeated the gang in a fight.

After this humiliating setback, The Shredder developed a plan to defeat the Turtles by mutating members of this street gang, so that they would have abilities parallel to the Turtles'. Bebop and Rocksteady both volunteered to undergo the procedure (though neither was particularly aware of what it would entail) with the promise that it would let them get revenge on the Turtles. Bebop was mutated into a human warthog, and Rocksteady into a rhinoceros. However, though the transformation did make them larger and stronger, they remained incompetent simpletons, and were completely inept at stopping the Turtles or carrying out Shredder's plans. For example, in "Enter the Shredder" they charged at the Turtles, who jumped, and crashed into each other. Donatello commented that their mutations didn't "up their IQ's any". For most of the series they were employed for comic relief purposes. In one episode of the series, Bebop was shown to have kept a pet turtle, which got mutated into the evil turtle Slash.

Bebop and Rocksteady's last appearance is in the season 8 finale Turtle Trek. In that episode, the Turtles destroy the Technodrome's engines, trapping it and its inhabitants in Dimension X for good. Bebop and Rocksteady are never seen again after that episode, but Krang and Shredder return during the 10th and last season. Bebop and Rocksteady are presumed to still be somewhere in Dimension X.

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Raphael (or Raph), a fictional character, is one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT). Unlike his brothers, his bandanna remains red and he carries two sai. He is usually depicted as being aggressive, sullen, and rebellious.

The origin of Raphael's anger is not always fully explored, but in some incarnations appears to stem partly from the realization that they are the only creatures of their kind and ultimately alone. He also has a somewhat turbulent relationship with his older brother Leonardo because he is the group leader. He is generally the most likely to experience extremes of emotion. He is named after Raphael Sanzio.

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Michelangelo (Mike or Mikey, the youngest of the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT). His mask is typically portrayed as orange outwith the comic series and his weapons are two nunchakus, though he has also been portrayed using other weapons, such as a grappling hook, tonfa and (in action figures) a three section staff. Nunchaku are illegal in some countries, so they were edited out of some showings of the TV series in Europe. He is a natural athlete, and is considered the fastest Turtle. Michelangelo is the most light-hearted and relaxed of the Turtles.

Like all of the brothers, he is named for a famous Renaissance artist-Michelangelo, painter of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Unlike the one for whom he was named, however, the spelling of his name varies. It has been alternately shown as both Michelangelo and Michaelangelo.

More fun-loving than his brothers, he was given a much bigger role and was more popular in the 1987 cartoon series, directed at a younger audience, than in the more serious original comic books. He came to epitomize the late 1980s and early 1990s popular culture incarnation of the TMNT, coining most of their catch phrases; hence, he is possibly the most famous Turtle. Because of his more carefree nature, most seem to view Michelangelo as the youngest of the Ninja Turtles, although they are all roughly the same age. He is named after Michelangelo Buonarroti.

Because Kevin Eastman's original "ninja turtle" concept drawing (1983) portrayed an unnamed turtle with nunchaku strapped to its arms, some consider Michelangelo to be the first Ninja Turtle created.

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Leonardo (or Leo), Is the eldest of the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT). He is distinguished by a blue bandanna (although originally all four Turtles had red bandannas) and his weapons are two ninjaken (literally "ninja sword"), which are universally referred to as katana. Leonardo takes after his sensei, Splinter, in taking ninjutsu very seriously. He spends much of his free time in practice and meditation. He has a strong sense of honor, and is a strict follower of the Bushidō code. He often speaks for his brothers and tries to keep them in line, making him the de facto leader of the team, and often the lead protagonist of various TMNT stories. In the fourth feature film, "TMNT", Leonardo is stated to be the eldest of his brothers, although the relative ages of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are not officially stated. He is named after Leonardo da Vinci.

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Donatello (Don or Donny) is a fictional character that appears in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics and all related media.

In the Mirage/Image comics all four turtles wear red bandanas but in mainstream versions he sports a purple bandana. His signature weapon is the bō staff. In all media he is depicted as the most intelligent of the four turtles with a natural aptitude for science and technology. He is named after the sculptor Donatello.

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Image by CapMoreno

Bebop and Rocksteady used to be human, and part of a street gang in New York City that was employed by Shredder. Rocksteady was originally a short and stocky blond Caucasian man (who sported army camouflage pants that would be replaced with simple beige cargo pants later while also occasionally sporting a strong Army helmet on his head in his mutated form). Bebop was a taller African American man with a purple mohawk. With other members of their gang, they were sent out to stop a Channel 6 reporter named April O'Neil from doing a report about crime in the city. April ran down into the sewers while being chased by the street gang and met the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who defeated the gang in a fight.

After this humiliating setback, The Shredder developed a plan to defeat the Turtles by mutating members of this street gang, so that they would have abilities parallel to the Turtles'. Bebop and Rocksteady both volunteered to undergo the procedure (though neither was particularly aware of what it would entail) with the promise that it would let them get revenge on the Turtles. Bebop was mutated into a human warthog, and Rocksteady into a rhinoceros. However, though the transformation did make them larger and stronger, they remained incompetent simpletons, and were completely inept at stopping the Turtles or carrying out Shredder's plans. For example, in "Enter the Shredder" they charged at the Turtles, who jumped, and crashed into each other. Donatello commented that their mutations didn't "up their IQ's any". For most of the series they were employed for comic relief purposes. In one episode of the series, Bebop was shown to have kept a pet turtle, which got mutated into the evil turtle Slash.

Bebop and Rocksteady's last appearance is in the season 8 finale Turtle Trek. In that episode, the Turtles destroy the Technodrome's engines, trapping it and its inhabitants in Dimension X for good. Bebop and Rocksteady are never seen again after that episode, but Krang and Shredder return during the 10th and last season. Bebop and Rocksteady are presumed to still be somewhere in Dimension X.

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In the original Mirage Comics storyline, April, who originally sported a jumpsuit, was a skilled computer programmer and worked as an assistant for Baxter Stockman, helping to program his Mouser robots and demonstrating their operation. After she discovered that Baxter was using the Mousers to burrow into bank vaults and steal from them, she attempted to flee Baxter's workshop and found herself in the sewers running for her life, with several Mousers in pursuit. Three of the Turtles happened to come across her and save her; they later successfully fended off a Mouser invasion after Baxter programmed them to attack the Turtles.

April began to run an antique shop, which came under attack by The Shredder and the Foot Clan (who had come for the Turtles), and was destroyed in the ensuing battle. She and the Turtles retreated to a farm house in Northampton, Massachusetts where she later had dreams about the Foot Clan's attack. During the mid-90s, April became romantically involved with Casey Jones and the two eventually adopted a child named Shadow.

In Volume 2 of the TMNT comics, April was attacked and injected by a huge robot controlled by Baxter Stockman's brain (apparently, Baxter escaped capture, placed his brain in the body of a robot and sought them out in order to get revenge on April). It wasn't revealed until Volume 4 that April was injected by nanobots that seemed to have caused sterility as well as was nearly killing her from the inside. With the help of the Utroms, the turtles sent turtle versions of nanobots to stop Baxter's versions and saved April before they would reach her brainstem. Despite this, April remained sterile.

Later Renet would appear and take April back to her past to discover the truth behind her origins in this version. It was revealed, at the time, that April's parents couldn't have children, and April actually turned out to be a drawing made by the same crystal Kirby used in Donatello #1 to bring drawings to life, but due to April being drawn in ink, not pencil like Kirby's drawings, it might explain why she hasn't disappeared. This news came to be a crushing blow on April, finding out that she wasn't real led her to leave the city to deal with this new revelation. Though revealing her origin to Casey, she has yet to tell the turtles about this.

Unlike the other versions of her character, the Mirage Comics version of April has dark brown/black hair (though early color reprints of Volume 1 depicted her hair color as red/light brown). All future incarnations of April that came afterwards are redheads.

April also appeared in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comic produced by Archie Comics, which began as re-tellings of cartoon episodes but were eventually spun off into original stories. In this series, she began as a carbon copy of her animated counterpart, but the writers developed her into a competent warrior after training with Splinter. Years earlier in the September, 1985 re-printing of issue one, Mirage Studios artist Ryan Brown depicts April as a katana wielding ninja warrior in his back cover pin-up. Because of her frequent adventures with the Turtles, she lost her job at Channel 6 and became a freelance reporter. Archie also published 2 sets of 3-part April O'Neil mini-series.

The second issue of the Dreamwave Productions series (based on the 2003 animated series) focused entirely on April, consisting of a dream sequence showing how she had been pressured into a scientific career by her family despite having interest in journalism, an obvious homage to the 1987 cartoon.

In the original TMNT animated series, April O'Neil was a television reporter for Channel 6 News. She was employed by Burne Thompson, though due to her headstrong nature and passion for her work, she expressed frequent disagreement with the assignments he gave her. She also butted heads on a regular basis with Vernon Fenwick, the director/camera operator whose enormous ego compelled him to scoop April on her stories whenever possible. April was best friends with Irma, the receptionist at Channel 6. Her Channel 6 News Van was a blue van that had classic headlights and the Channel 6 News logo on each side. The Channel 6 News Van is often likely based on a Volkswagen T2[citation needed]. April was a skilled driver. Though it remains unclear whether this was required work attire or her particular fashion sense, April later could usually be found wearing a distinctive yellow jumpsuit. She lived in an apartment in New York City, though during the course of the series, she was forced to relocate several times due to a variety of indirect Turtle-related mishaps.

In the 1987 series, having been employed at Channel 6 for less than a year, April was reporting on a series of thefts of high-tech scientific equipment, apparently by a ninja (ostensibly components Shredder was securing for use in the Technodrome), when she came under attack by a gang of street punks. Thinking quickly, she managed to squeeze into a storm drain and ran from the mob until she hit a dead end. As it happens, the Ninja Turtles were nearby and soundly beat the punks. They took her back to their sewer lair for rest and recovery where they explained their origins to her. At first, she believed them to be responsible for the equipment thefts, but they agreed to provide her with the true culprits if she provided her assistance and didn't tell people about them. April quickly became the Turtles' major link to the outside world, since their unusual appearance effectively precluded them from functioning aboveground without some sort of disguise.

April's friendship with the Turtles resulted in the opportunity to film exclusive footage of their encounters with Shredder, but despite her intimate knowledge of the details of their lives, she tended to keep her professional news reports about them impersonal and mysterious. She was a vocal champion of their cause, despite the opinion of Burne Thompson that the Turtles were a menace to the city. April was frequently kidnapped by Shredder, quite often as bait in order to lure the Turtles out of hiding in order to unleash his latest attempt at destruction upon them, and was often tied up and/or gagged. In at least one episode, Shredder referred to April as being the Turtles' greatest weakness, which he was always happy to exploit.

Her Aunt Agatha ("Aggie"), who appeared in the episodes ("Case of the Case of the Hot Kimono" and "Sleuth on the Loose"), is a detective.

April was normally portrayed as a capable woman, but also filled the role of the typical plot device of damsel-in-distress. Her obsession with "getting a story" led to numerous instances of poor judgement which often resulted in her getting captured for the Turtles to save. April's innate curiosity and determination placed her in danger on several occasions as well. Her most important contribution to the Turtles was her experience in doing research on the Channel 6 computers and alerting the Turtles to trouble and possible case leads.

Following the destruction of the Channel 6 building in the season eight episode Get Shredder!, April continued to work for Channel 6 for the remainder of the season, but by season nine, April worked freelance, for reasons never specified. During these three seasons, she exchanged her yellow jumpsuit for a brown leather jacket. This outfit was more practical and less conspicuous than her classic form-fitting suit. She continued to help the Turtles, even after the defeat of Shredder and his subsequent exile to Dimension X.

According to the third season episode Leatherhead: Terror of the Swamp, April is 28 years old. In the same-season episode, "Invasion of the Turtle Snatchers," she had been employed at Channel 6 for one year, and she had a birthday in the sixth season episode, "Shreeka's Revenge." and her middle name is revealed to be Harriet in "Invasion of the Krangezoids".

April was voiced by Renae Jacobs. There was also a two-part OVA series in Japan, in which April was voiced by Emi Shinohara.

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