Tmnt April O'neil - Blog Posts

I love the idea that the 2003 iteration of Leonardo is so intent on being a mother hen that he tries to take care of literally everyone around him—even grown-ass adults. I especially love the idea of fifteen-year-old Leonardo mother henning Casey and April, who are in their mid-twenties.

Leonardo: [hands an apple and a protein bar to Casey] Here. You might get hungry during patrol, and it’s important to keep your energy up. I also have dark chocolate or peanut butter if you finish those.

Casey: [staring at the snacks, confused] Uh… thanks, Leo?

Raphael: [snickering]

Casey: [frowning] Does he always do this?

Donatello: [with a straight face] You have no idea…

Michelangelo: [letting Leonardo peel an apple for him with his katana] Oh yeah, all the time. It’s kinda nice—he cuts the apple into perfect little pieces.

A huge thanks and shout out to @jadethest0ne​ for the absolutely amazing work and help with the Logos/Banners for Tmnt:Unity! these all turned out fantastic!

I created a few banners, titles, and logos for @lunawoona11 's original TMNT incarnation, TMNT Unity. It was really fun figuring out a way to incorporate all of the character motifs into the banners! Andro gave me some great direction for what to include!

I'm particularly fond of these title logos I did. I based the lettering on the Japanese art of knot-tying, called Mizuhiki. I thought it worked best with the theme of the word "unity" and fit culturally as well.

Finally, here's the symbol of the Yuu Clan - the family that the Turtles and Splinter belong to. Unlike the Hamato symbol, which was meant to be modeled after a cherry blossom, the Yuu symbol is that of a Japanese camelia. We also wanted 6 petals - one each to symbolize the turtles, Casey, and April, with Splinter at the center. I wanted to keep a similar style to previous incarnations' Hamato symbol, but this time with a different flower, and a different clan in mind

My Commission Sheet

Thank you once again to @jadethest0ne for these amazing full body refs! i cannot thank you enough they look amazing

Was commissioned to do some more character outfit variations for @lunawoona11‘s TMNT: Unity! Always a pleasure to work on this series!

My Commission Sheet

In TMNT: Unity, what are your turtles different fighting styles? Are they more defensive, offensive, melee, ranged, etc? Also, how do they work together in a fight? Do some work better together than others? Or are they all a mess? (and same question for April, Casey, and Splinter if you're feeling up to that)

Now this is a fun question! I’ll try my best to describe the fighting style of our main characters!

Donnie’s fighting style is what I would call versatile, It involves a lot of shifting, twisting and blocking. He can switch between the three Size settings on His Bo[Tanbo, Jo and Bo] on the fly, allowing Him to Switch to whichever best compliments the opponent’s weapon and the circumstances. Sometimes he will switch mid combat to throw the opponent off, doing it only infrequently to prevent the Opponent from adapting

Raph’s fighting style is what I would call Agile. He will try to get in close fast before the opponent has time to react. It involves a lot of catching the weapon on the Kama, tripping the opponent, and using the chain as a chokehold. what it lacks in stealth and offensive power it makes up for in disarming opponents. He has the most range of his siblings

Mikey’s fighting style is what I would call Energetic. He will use evasion to tire out the opponent, blocking when they manage to get in close. He will then try getting in a few good hits, A mix of Striking and kicking before kicking the opponent backwards in order to regain some distance

Leo’s fighting style is what I would call Adaptable. He will often feint with one Kodachi then strike with the other. He will use the opponent’s momentum and strengths against them. He tends to favor his right Kodachi over his left one.

Casey’s fighting style is what i would call unpolished, She often hits hard with the force of raw power but he lacks the finesse of a trained combatant, this often has the side effect of leaving them open for counterattacks. They will tend to use anything she can get his hands on as a weapon.

April’s fighting style is what I would call Evasive. If she can, She will tend to avoid being confronted directly, Either through trying to stay hidden or through the use of smoke bombs for a quick escape. If she is cornered and cannot avoid a direct confrontation, She will try and end the fight quickly by catching them off guard.

Splinter’s fighting style is what I would call defensive. She favors blocking, striking at weak spots in the opponent's stance or armor when the moment is right. She can be seen utilizing her unique physiology to Jump backwards and forwards with ease. Though she may appear to be moving freely to the outside perspective. She is efficient and effective in her movements, preserving her stamina.

Now in terms of who works best together...

Raph and Casey-these two work well together in that they tend to make up for the other’s weaknesses. Casey’s attention drawing fighting style gives Raph the advantage he needs to catch opponents by surprise and He can disarm the targets Casey does not notice, thus both can cover the other’s blind spots.

Donnie and Leo- Both of their fighting styles rely on understanding the opponent. Donnie with the Calculated variations of his staff, and Leo with his on the fly redirection of their strengths. when paired together, this can make them quite a pain for an opponent relying on raw power

Mikey and Raph- Mikey’s method of kicking the opponent backwards, causing them to lose balance makes it easy for Raph to follow it up with their chain. they have a sort of friendly competition on the battlefield and this tends to motivate both of them.

This was super fun to ask. Look forward to more Tmnt unity in the future!

TMNT:Unity-April O’Neil

And finishing up the main cast profiles Is April! Full credit for the full body refs goes to @jadethest0ne​! please check them out!

Extra notes:

-For unknown reasons, She has Joined an mysterious group known as the Foot clan -She likes wearing novelty aprons while baking

*is what the turtles call her when they don’t know her name

Tune in for more Unity Posts in the future! —-Image ID below—– [Image ID: image 1 depicts a full body lineart ref for a fanmade design of April O’neil from teenage mutant ninja turtles standing against a blank burgundy background. She is a Black American teen with Shoulder length 4A textured Coily Reddish brown hair and a black bandana around her forehead, the bandana tails rest on her right shoulder. She has a dark gray sleeveless Gi that reaches down to her knees with a deep red obi around her waist.She wears a black turtleneck undershirt and black pants. She has metal armor Boots with dark gray diamond shaped plating at the shin that curves upwards, and dark gray plating at the toes. She has gray gauntlets with sharp dark gray plating that overlaps and curves upward towards her elbow and she has her hands raised as fists in a mock “put up your dukes” gesture. She has a grin, reddish brown eyes and her eyebrows are pointed downwards in determination,At the bottom of the image is a stylized watermark reading “Jade” with small fox head next to the e The text alongside the image reads as follows April O’Neil Nicknames: O’Neil,*Mystery girl, *Foot recruit Pronouns: She/her Age:16 Species:Human Weapon(s):Provided Tanto,Smokebombs and Kunai -Compassionate -Loyal -Very guarded -Has a penchant for snooping -Has definitely stolen money from corporations -Gets so focused on finding the truth she disregards risks -Takes pride in her work -Is/was Casey’s lab partner in science class Likes: Programming, Baking, Rpg games and arcades, Slushies,Real magic Dislikes:Stage magic, Feeling stuck,Small spaces, Killing, The heat Image 2 shows the back of April's sleeveless Gi with a deep red stylized symbol that looks like a 3 clawed dragon-like foot.Text to the right reads “<Foot symbol at the back”. Above this is a unsheathed Tanto with black wrapping on the hilt and circular gaps,Text underneath reads “^Foot tanto” Image 3 Shows another full body lineart ref of April.Her hair is the same but instead of bandana she wears a neon yellow headband.She wears black leggings,a muted green tea length skirt and gray high top sneakers. She wears a gray cropped hoodie with a Neon yellow undershirt. She has a confident closed smile and both of her hands are curled against her hips.Text above reads “Casual wear” and in the left corner of the image is a stylized watermark reading “Jade” with small fox head next to the e /.End ID]