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“ | There is no April. Only Za-Naron. | „ |
~ Za-Naron possessed April once more. |
Za-Naron is the main antagonist of the 2012 TMNT Season 4 episode "The Power Inside Her". She was one of the first seven elder Aeons whose physical forms were disintegrated after 100 millennia and their spirits were each placed into the Soul Star to exist forever. This Aeon lived inside April's Aeon crystal and possessed April.
She was voiced by Mae Whitman, who also voiced her host April.
Powers and Abilities
Za-Naron is more adept and skillful in using her psychic powers than April, as she can easily defeated the Turtles, Casey, Tiger Claw, Rahzar and Fishface. Her abilities also very potent than Splinter, whom more skillful in combat than any of them is no match for Za-Naron's powers. She can also disintegrate any lifeform on cellular level at will, which would be fatal had the victim is not restored in time.
Personality
Unlike previous Big Bads that the protagonists faced previously, Za-Naron believed she was doing good in cleansing the world from evil and corruption. Even so, Za-Naron was ultimately still a delusional psychopath, as she committed murder to get rid of anyone who stood in her path, as shown when she killed Donatello. Despite her desire to cleanse the world of evil, justifying it to herself by claiming that her ends justified the means, she was shown to be evil and corrupt herself. She was ruthless and sadistic towards her enemies, taking pleasure in painfully trying to get rid of them when they attempted to stop her, and was perfectly willing to destroy humanity. She becomes physically afraid when April chooses her friends over power and tries to annihilate her for rejecting all the power in the universe she could have had.
History
Za-Naron was one of the first seven elder Aeons whose physical forms were disintegrated after 100 millennia and their spirits were each placed into the Soul Star to exist forever to prevent of being corrupted by Heart of Darkness. After the corruption was cleansed with the help of April, April was rewarded with a crystal from the said Soul Star. Later on whenever April used her psychic powers, something was unexpectedly corrupting her and driving her insane. It's later apparent that it was due to Za-Naron's presence inside her Aeon crystal.
Za-Naron successfully drove April to retake the crystal and immediately possessed her which is in the episode, "City at War" when Karai's friend Shinigami who knew her from Japan and assuming that she was brainwashed again after April use her psychic powers to find out that she was no longer under his control that she was telling the truth. April was very upset when Shinigami took her sword to test her strength and limits. However, Karai orders Shinigami to give back April's sword which only the two girls fight. However Shinigami provokes April and Donatello tells his brothers that he wants to stop the fight before anything gets out of hand or bad.
Za-Naron successfully made April completely angry and used her powers by force and made her go completely crazy. Karai stopped Shinigami and tells her to give April back her sword. However April was still physically angry at her and begins to draw her sword to kill her, but Donatello stops dark April/Za-Naron and calms her down before anything goes out of hand.
Bat in the Belfry
April complains to Donatello that she's been having strange nightmares and monsters however Donatello suggested that all their adventures in space so she needs some time of getting used to life back Earth, to which realizes Mikey was right all along about it that April refuses to take it off. As Donatello was about to take the crystal away from April to test it, however April snaps, telling him not to get too close to her Crystal. However, Mikey immediately makes fun of her by saying my precious similar to the way to how Gollum said it, she told to leave her Crystal alone. However finding out more things about it, Mikey eventually took her Crystal to make his comics' characters come to life.
Za-Naron/Dark April get angry at Donatello and accused him of saying "Where is my crystal? I left it in your lab and now it's missing.". Donatello tells April to calm down that he sure that his brothers will find it however she couldn't relax at all and started to trash his laboratory and begins to panic when he tries to calm April down she immediately shouts at him and tell him to leave her alone. Master Splinter did not like this aggressive attitude of April and tells her that she needs to let go of her Crystal she denies it that she doesn't want to let it go he tells her that the crystal is a clutch that she needs to let it off her mind she denies it again to tell him that it is not a clutch, that it is very important to her but immediately found out that Mikey took it as she became very upset with him immediately as she successfully reconnects with her Crystal. Donatello tells April that when they go back to the lab and wants to test it she denies it again once more and tell him that it's her Crystal that she will never take it off for anyone or anything else ever again.
Darkest Plight
Shredder has become foolish enough to mutate himself, becoming the Super Shredder. A long battle was engaged and Splinter presumably died while dragging Shredder with him. Both manages to survive in different ways with Super Shredder returning to the surface and Splinter being trapped in the lowest point in the city, experiencing hallucinations of the Rat King since the undercity is also where he also last fought him and tossed him to his death also.
With Mickey and Donnie looking for Splinter, Casey and Raph dealing with Bebop and Rocksteady to prevent them from making Mickey and Donnie fall to their deaths, leaving her, Karai and Leo to face with Leo on their own to fight Super Shredder. The battle eventually leads to the street, leading to Super Shredder throwing a tanker at Karai. April struggles, to which Za-Naron helps by giving her some boost in her powers and throw the truck at Shredder.
The Power Inside Her
One stormy day, Donatello wanted to increase her powers, to which he fears that the crystal has this something to make her change from a kind gentle teenager to insanity. However, she refuses to take off the crystal and he decided to test her limits of the powers. April begins to hear voices towards her. Donnie asks her if she has slight headaches or wants to cut the power off, she tells him that she is fine before she could finish her sentence, Za-Naron manages to control of April spirit and body and made her go completely crazy in the laboratory, to which the others, who heard the noise, and went to the laboratory. As they begin to notice that everything a mess, for her own safety, they took the crystal off but somehow the Crystal had a mind of its own, trying reconnect its bond with April. Raph catches it and tell his brothers that he got it. Master Splinter immediately demanded what was going on and what happened here. Donatello tells Master Splinter that the Crystal has a strong bond with her. He realized that the crystal has become a clutch and really wants to get to the bottom of this suggesting that meditation will know the truth about the crystal.
At the meditation room, he begins to meditate into April's mind as he had visions of the Aeons and their corruption. April wakes up and demanding where was her Crystal, Splinter explains that Donatello is in the lab testing it. She demands that the crystal is hers and that no one should not take it from her. He then tells her that she is too addicted to the crystal, telling her kindly that she does not need their power as she must break this bond. All of a sudden, Za-Naron took control over April and uses her psychic powers to choke Splinter almost half to death. Suddenly she was able to reconnect with her Crystal. Donatello tried to stop the Crystal from its reconnection with April. Once again the crystal was back into April's place. Donatello demanding and ask April what is she doing suddenly she continues to use her psychic powers on Donatello as well splinter tells her to fight the evil influence on April as Za-Naron controls her she fears that she can't stop her at all fears that she is too strong and begin to control of April's body as she evil laugh at them and escaped from the lab.
a manhole cover levitate to the sky as the storm clouds have begun to rotate around a center-point like they have become a supercell thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado. As she looks down on NYC, gloating at all the people below, April tries to fight Za-Naron, but she wants to purge the city of all evil. April seems to agree with her, wanting to destroy the evil to save everyone, before spotting the van that Casey commandeered racing through traffic as Casey loses the two flame-engulfed Elite Foot-bots, but can't avoid a dumpster that causes the van to flip onto its side and crash. Casey kicks out the windshield to escape, but is soon confronted by Tiger Claw and Fishface.
As they overpower Casey and prepare to finish him off, April descends to confront them. Fishface goes after her first, but thanks to Za-Naron from the Aeon crystal, April overpowers Fishface and knocks him out. Rahzar attempts to attack her from behind, but gets psychically slammed by a dumpster, leaving only Tiger Claw, who is simply held aloft and psychically choked before being flung into the wall and knocked out himself. Casey is stunned to see April take all three of Super Shredder's goons out on her own, but is soon joined by Leo, Raph, and Mikey, who wonder want to know what happened, before April is given control again, but before they can talk to her, Za-Naron takes control again and she leaves their presence.
The Turtles except Donatello and Casey chase April to the Channel 6 building, and confront her on the roof. However, as April again regains control and wonders what's going on as she can't remember recent events, Za-Naron takes control again, and Mikey realizes it's the Aeon crystal that's to blame. As the entity within the Aeon Crystal takes full control of April again, she introducing herself as Za-Naron, and prepares to face the Turtles and Casey as Donnie tracks April to the Channel 6 building.
As Leo wonders what Za-Naron wants, Za-Naron reveals herself to be one of several ancient Aeon elders whose physical body was destroyed, but their spirits were transferred into the Aeon Sol Star for protection. However, when April was given the Sol Star fragment for helping to purge the Aeons of the dark influence of the Heart of Darkness, Za-Naron was slowly taking over April in mind and spirit, but at the cost of being corrupted because of Earth and all the corruption Za-Naron sensed within humanity and the planet, and now Za-Naron wants to purge the Earth of all that corruption, even if it means wiping out humanity to do so.
After psychically flinging the Turtles and Casey off the roof, they recover and watch as Donnie climbs up to confront April himself, but Za-Naron warns him to stay out of her way. Donnie tries to reach April, but April can't fight off Za-Naron's influence. Apologizing to Donnie, April lets Za-Naron retake control, and fed up with Donnie's attempts to get April to destroy the crystal and fight off her influence, Za-Naron lifts Donnie up in her grip, and reduces him to atoms for his interference, much to the shock and horror of Donnie's brothers and Casey.
As rain begins to fall, Za-Naron lets out a triumphant roar as she zaps the Channel 6 broadcast tower with lightning, knocking the Turtles off. By the time they recover, April has vanished. As Casey and the Turtles mourn Donnie and fear he's gone forever, April is soon granted control of her body again as she crashes onto a rooftop in exhaustion, and realizes to her horror that by letting Za-Naron help her with her psychic powers all this time and protecting her Aeon crystal in the process, she's now murdered the one Turtle whom she loved because of her obsession over her Aeon crystal and belief she needed it to help her psychic powers. However, before she can suffer any more guilt over what she's done, Za-Naron regains control and tells her she made her choice by picking the crystal over the Turtles and Casey, and tells her to let go of her connection to them and aid Za-Naron with purging the Earth of its corruption, starting with NYC.
The first target for April and Za-Naron: Hun and the Purple Dragons, who are about to mug a helpless old lady unless she pays for protection. April's arrival allows the lady to flee, but when Hun wonders if April is here to play, she easily overpowers him and the Purple Dragons. Impressed, Hun offers April the choice of joining the Purple Dragons, but Za-Naron refuses and sends him flying, crashing into a parked car as the Turtles and Casey arrive.
Leo tries to reason with Za-Naron again, but she warns them to stay out of her way, or she'll cleanse them as she did Donnie. Casey fears that they can't attack Za-Naron if April is still in there somewhere, but the Turtles agree that after what happened to Donnie, April is gone, and they must take her down, leaving Casey devastated.
Raph restrains her, but Mikey can't bring himself to attack April, allowing Za-Naron to break free and attempt to crush Raph, only to be restrained by Leo and Mikey, saving Raph. However, this gives the Turtles and Casey a chance to try and reach April, reminding her of everything they've been through together, such as Mutagen Man, their adventures with the Fugitoid, Master Splinter, Ice Cream Kitty, everything. Despite their best attempts to reach April, Za-Naron refuses to let April resurface, blasts them all away, and after tossing Casey aside when he tries to protect Raph, she prepares to cleanse him as well, but as Raph begins to feel himself being ripped apart on the molecular level, he tries one last time to reach April by reminding her of Donnie. As visions of Donnie, along with her guilt of murdering him flash through her mind, April is able to regain control, stop Za-Naron from murdering Raph as well, and restrain Za-Naron long enough for Leo and Mikey to recover and Leo to tell her that she's the only one with the power to destroy the Aeon crystal once and for all.
Fighting off Za-Naron for just long enough, April tears the Aeon crystal from her neck, and with a final, furious yell, throws the crystal to the pavement, shattering it. However, this results in Za-Naron being exorcised from April's body now that her link to April was destroyed, and reassuming a physical form as the Aeons' corrupted form seen on Xaava-Dal. Furious that April chose her friends, family, and humanity over having all the power in the universe, Za-Naron charges her in retaliation, but furious over what Za-Naron put her through, April draws her tanto blade, charges Za-Naron back, and when the two collide, April slays Za-Naron once and for all, ripping her physical form to shreds, and leaving Za-Naron's energy to disperse as Za-Naron lets off one, final anguished scream of defeat before being silenced for good.
Later on, the murder on Donatello by Za-Naron is undone when April restored the dying Donatello to life by reassembled his dispersed molecules.
Trivia
- When Za-Naron surfaces in her host April, her hair style is similar to Kala, another character from the 1987 Series.
- Za-Naron is the second villain to kill one of the protagonists, the first one being the Creep. and followed Shredder and Newtralizer. However, all of them with the exception of Shredder was reversed.
- Also, Za--Naron is one of the few villains on the show that killed someone onscreen. The only other villains who have such distinction are Shredder (who killed Tang Shen (albeit accidently) and Splinter), Newtralizer (who ate a kraang and electrocuted Mickey), The Rat King (who killed hundreds of rats during his fight with Splinter), Kavaxas (who drained the souls of Hattori Tatsu and the Hammer, as well as killed some of Don Viszioso's other henchmen), Jei (who killed Donnie, Mickey and Raph in a dream), Dracula (who killed the Mummy), Creep (who drained the mutagen out of Raph), Wyrm (who destroyed multiple planets onscreen), and the Triceratons (who vaporized Earth and got rid of the Kraang). Like everyone else that aren't Shredder, Kavaxas, Dracula, the Triceratons (since Kraang Prime's and Kraang Subprime's deaths weren't reversed) or Newtralizer, her kill was not permanent.
- Ironically, Mickey and Donnie were killed in similar ways by being seemingly vaporized.
- Also, Za--Naron is one of the few villains on the show that killed someone onscreen. The only other villains who have such distinction are Shredder (who killed Tang Shen (albeit accidently) and Splinter), Newtralizer (who ate a kraang and electrocuted Mickey), The Rat King (who killed hundreds of rats during his fight with Splinter), Kavaxas (who drained the souls of Hattori Tatsu and the Hammer, as well as killed some of Don Viszioso's other henchmen), Jei (who killed Donnie, Mickey and Raph in a dream), Dracula (who killed the Mummy), Creep (who drained the mutagen out of Raph), Wyrm (who destroyed multiple planets onscreen), and the Triceratons (who vaporized Earth and got rid of the Kraang). Like everyone else that aren't Shredder, Kavaxas, Dracula, the Triceratons (since Kraang Prime's and Kraang Subprime's deaths weren't reversed) or Newtralizer, her kill was not permanent.
- Many fans compared Za-Naron to Dark Willow due to her caused April turned into malevolent villainess. Ironically, Kirby O' Neil has some resemblance of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's creator, Joss Wheedon, who is famous for directing The Avengers, which was released the same year this show premiered, and infamous for being the replacement director for Justice League, released 5 days after the series finale aired.
- Za-Naron's line when she said, "There is no April, Only Za-Naron.", is the similar one given by Zuul when possessed Dana Barrett.
- Za-Naron also regarded as one of the most frightening antagonists of the series.
- Za-Naron also has some similarities with the Venom symbiote. Since they both initially gave their hosts power (Za-Naron — April; Venom — Peter Parker), and then began to corrupt and take control of them. Fortunately, they were then disposed of in time.
Villains (2012 Cartoon) | ||
Foot Clan The Kraang Purple Dragons Dream Beavers Triceraton Empire Italian Mafia Insectoids Savanti Romero's Monster Army Others |