Splinter
Splinter is a mutant rat, foster father, and sensei of the Ninja Turtles. He raises them into adolescent fighters to combat the Foot Clan and protect New York. April meets Splinter, who remembered April before he mutated, when he and the Turtles were ordinary test animals in a lab manned by Dr. O'Neil and Eric Sacks. April used to videotape herself in her fathers lab when she was little, and loved Splinter and the Turtles, personally naming them and feeding them pizza, which they all loved.
However, Dr. O'Neil learned that Sachs was up to something evil, and burned the lab down, at the cost of his own life. April saved Splinter and the Turtles, and took them to the sewers to be safe, with Splinter alone possessing enough intellectual ability at this time to remember April and her kindness. The mutagen soon took effect, granting Splinter and the Turtles enhanced intellect and anthropomorphic bodies.
April O'Neil
As a child, her father used the Ninja Turtles and Splinter as test subjects for his mutagen experiments, with April treating them as her pets, feeding them pizza when they were little. After her father destroyed his lab, she placed the Turtles and Splinter near a sewer grate.
As an adult, she worked in journalism at Channel 6, but felt that her talents were under-utilized reporting on relative puff pieces such as a new sports movement. While trying to follow up on an attempted story of stolen chemicals from a docking port, she first witnessed the Turtles active as vigilantes, later finding them when they thwarted a Foot Clan attempt to take hostages in a subway station. After hearing their names, she realized their ties to her father's work, but revealed the truth to Eric Sacks before the Turtles and Splinter could warn her of his real agenda.
Vern Fenwick
In this reboot Vern Fenwick acts as April's cameraman, but is always trying to personally win over his attractive female colleague for himself. After he learns of the existence of the Ninja Turtles, he displays heroic characteristics despite his lack of fighting skills and contributes significantly to the happy resolution of the plot as he is the one who knocks out Eric Sacks.
Casey Jones
Casey Jones is a corrections officer who works as a vigilante at night, and a close ally of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He eventually begins a relationship with April. He wears a hockey mask in battle, and wields either a hockey stick or a golf club when battling the Foot Soldiers.
