CASEY JONES:
-A curious addition to the TMNT mythos, Casey Jones has become the second most important human ally after April O’Neil, and is so prominent that he’s as important as any individual Turtle in the 1990s Film series, and shows up as a major character in the 2003 & 2012 cartoons. In most continuities, he is a violent, hard-headed, stubborn vigilante who’s a bit crazy and ends up softening via a relationship with April O’Neil.

He debuted in a Raphael solo series as a rival vigilante- the two butt heads, being extremely aggressive, angry, violent sorts. But they quickly become good friends, owing to those same similarities. He softens considerably after initial arcs that said he watched three televisions simultaneously and eroded his sanity doing so, and it turns out that his family were killed by criminals. He even enters into a relationship with April- they split up for some reason and he marries a pregnant woman named Gabrielle- when she dies in childbirth, he names her daughter Shadow and he & April eventually date and marry, Shadow entering into the greater TMNT family.

The 1980s cartoon takes Casey’s “Toyetic” design and remakes him into an even MORE insane vigilante, to the point where nobody can be around him for any length of time without being aware of his deep-seated issues and incredibly thirst for violence. He appears in only six episodes, but was INSANELY memorable to me and my friends. The movie takes a more Mirage-style bent, and pairs him up romantically with April in one of those “Slap Slap Kiss” things, as he’s a lunkhead and lout, constantly gets yelled at, and fights back… but he’s Casey so you just accept it.

The 2003 Cartoon made the most use of Casey, it seems, with him being a very prominent character throughout the show. Here, he enters into a relationship with April and the two are actually MARRIED by the Series Finale. The 2012 Nick Toon fashions him into a teenager like April- a scrawny punk with missing teeth and a hockey obsession, he is as aggressive as ever, but more comedic. He also appears constantly as an ally- adversarial with April, but a loyal friend who shows up even in the “Space Season”. Rise of the TMNT introduced an Asian “Cassandra Jones” as a Shredder minion who later turns on him and joins the heroes.

In IDW Comics, Casey becomes swift allies with the Turtles, but has to deal with his abusive alcoholic father, who ends up becoming a Mutagen-addled gang leader. He also enters into a relationship with April, which hits several rough patches after the manipulations of the Rat King (who tortures Casey mentally)- ultimately, he tries to reconcile with his father and takes control of the Purple Dragons himself, reforming the gang into protectors. Stephen Amell played him in the second Paramount TMNT film- he defeated Rocksteady & Bebop by deflecting a grenade into a container they were hiding in.

“If I don’t get to BREAK SOMETHING soon, I’m gonna go NUTS!”
-The hyper-violent, aggressive lunatic Casey Jones, implying that he’s GOING to go insane.

CASEY JONES (1980s Cartoon)
Role: The Greatest Character in the History of the Universe, Ax-Crazy Vigilante, Psychopath

-Hahhahaahahah OH MY GOD YOU GUYS- Casey Jones is the greatest character EVER. While the Movie version is amazing (“I hate punkers…”), the 2003 Cartoon’s version is good, and I even enjoy the antics of the goofy teenage Nickelodeon Casey, my heart truly belongs to the psychopathic, ultra-violent, pastel-wearing ass-kicker of the cartoon. Appearing in a mere five episodes, most of which I never even saw, I was nonetheless completely entranced. This was no smart-ass looking at the camera and cracking wise; no Team Comic or Team Smart Guy. Casey was simply an ax-crazy lunatic who enjoyed hurting people, and actually managed to wear pastel clothing and a belly shirt and make it look bad-ass. I was in love.

-This is actually a very unique character for a kids show when you think about it- there were guys with bad tempers in many an ’80s toon (Cravex from Visionaries for instance), but a vigilante who was like an exaggerated version of the Punisher? Now THAT stood out. And they went WAY into Parody Form with Casey right away- to start, Pat Fraley gave him an imitation of Clint Eastwood’s whispery voice. He called everyone “SCUZZ-BUCKET” or “LAW-BREAKER” like they were vulgar slurs. His first response to EVERYTHING was to attack at full-force, with weapons drawn. He used sports equipment to beat up criminals, and constantly voiced his desire to “BREAK something!” And he NEVER TOOK OFF HIS MASK. There was no humanizing THIS guy- he was just entirely the costume- nothing more.

-Casey, naturally, mistakes the Turtles for criminals and attacks the entire group all at once. Even after making nice, he’s IMMEDIATELY ready to attack them again in his second appearance (they were luring him out so that he could infiltrate “Octopus, Inc.” for them). This episode, the fantastic Corporate Raiders From Dimension X, exemplifies everything that is amazing about Casey. He attacks the Turtles for “desecrating a children’s playground”, but then begins tearing the playground equipment out from the ground, and THROWING IT at them. When the Turtles finally calm him down (by using sufficient violence), he goes in for a job interview… dressed in a nice business suit, but STILL CARRYING HIS BAG AND WEARING HIS HOCKEY MASK. He just walks to the front desk and hisses out “I’m seeking EMPLOYMENT!” And during his job interview, he responds to the opening questions by smashing the recruiter’s desk with his baseball bat! Once this act of psychopathy bags him the job, he assaults his supervisor the second he’s questioned, earning him a PROMOTION (since it’s an evil company). After this, his use to the plot kind of vanishes and he’s just there with the rest of the group- his remaining dialogue is a beautiful crescendo of pleas to commit more acts of violence, on the living and inanimate alike.

-He follows this up with a similar episode, infiltrating a gym full of Evil Gym-Bunnies, puncuating the affair by repeatedly harrassing a harmless-looking man for vicious crimes like jaywalking (he walked across an empty street at night) and littering (dropping a single cup)- by which I mean he whips out his BASEBALL BAT and begins chasing the man with intent to do violence. He’s later seen briefly in episodes where the Turtles gather some human allies to face off against a gathering of their older Rogues (Casey goes up against the giant Chrome Dome armed only with his trademark sports gear), and one final time to help April get some machine to help out the Turtles.

-But yeah, my friends and I all thought he was the coolest character ever. My Halloween costume one year was naturally Casey Jones, and I was jealous of my Vietnamese friend because his darker skin made HIS “Casey” outfit look more natural (though really, the character’s quite pale- I guess he was more similar to the toy’s color scheme). I was obsessed with the guy, and was happier than hell to see him in the MOVIE, especially as a character with a lot of lines, and a pair of great victories (over Raphael and Tatsu). The second movie’s lack of Casey was a major down-point, made up for in part because of the dope rhymes of Vanilla Ice.

CASEY JONES (Arnold Casey Jones, Jr.)- Mirage/2003 Version
Role: Human Buddy, Crazed Vigilante

-The biggest use of Casey Jones in TMNT‘s history was the 2003 cartoon, which used him as a major recurring character. They kept up his early adversarial relationship, and later friendship, with Raphael, and hooked him up with April as well. It’s believed that his father was murdered by Hun for going to the police over the Purple Dragon’s protection racket, and so Casey was an obsessive vigilante in dealing with them. This version marries April and has a largely stable relationship compared to other versions- their grandson Cody Jones is seen in the Fast Forward seasons piloting a mech suit with Casey’s hockey mask design for a head.

CASEY JONES (Arnold Casey Jones, Jr.)- Nickelodeon Version
Role: Dumb Kid

-This Casey is the dumbest, weirdest version of him ever, yet I still kinda love it. He’s just this admirably bizarre goofball- a classmate of April’s, he’s a failing student and kind of a general idiot, but when April & the Turtles are in danger, this hockey enthusiast puts on his punk-rock Do-It-Yourself gear and flies in with a “Goongala Goongala!” and wrecks house on Foot Ninjabots all the same. He ends up being kind of a butt-monkey and never given TOO much respect, but he’s a loyal ally to the Turtles (many are adversarial to him at first, especially Donatello, who’s jealous that Casey hangs out with April, but they all eventually consider him a friend), and he even survives into the “Flying Around Space” season!