Lotus Blossom is a supporting character in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
She was voiced by Renae Jacobs, who also played April O'Neil in the same series.
History[]
She was hired by the Krang to annihilate the Turtles, but then fell in love with Leonardo while dueling him. After they both realized they were equally matched and neither could win, she used a rigged sword to knock him out. When she met him for the second time, she tried to convince him to become her partner as "ninja for hire", but he refused. After Shredder called her out for falling for Leonardo, Lotus turned against Krang and allied herself with the turtles. She then ran away back to her mercenary life, telling Leonardo there is not much gold in goodness, although she continued to hope that one day they would be on the same side.
Her feelings for Leonardo weren’t in focus in her second episode, “Farewell, Lotus Blossom”, so it’s unclear if their relationship had moved forward. However, she later returned with the Turtles after Shredder tricked her into believing that an ancestral ghost was telling her to get revenge on the Turtles. After discovering the deception, she lamented that she had never fit in and that she didn’t feel like she belonged in the modern world. She joined the Turtles to recover a stolen pearl before Chakahachi's ghost could turn New York City into a replica of Japan. While searching for the pearl with Leonardo, she admitted to him that despite the comedic situation she was sharing with him, she was happy for the first time in her life.
However, Chakahachi mistook her as his long-lost wife, whose soul dwelt in Lotus' body. After Chakahachi recovered his wife’s displaced spirit, Lotus was finally able to live a peaceful life.
Trivia[]
- Unfortunately, she is often mistaken as the 1987 version of Karai. This is incorrect as the two characters have very little in common other than being female ninja who have a connection with Leonardo. It is especially notable that Karai has made appearances in the 1987 franchise beside Lotus. Karai has been a popular 1987 video game character, appearing in Shredder's Revenge. Lotus made her appearance beside Karai in the mobile game app, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Madness. While Karai is associated with the Foot Clan and Shredder, Lotus is a ninja for hire, and Shredder is shown to despise her in the show. Lotus Blossom’s debut episode aired 3 years before Karai’s debut in the Mirage comics. In the podcast series, Turtle Recall, Kevin Eastman himself confirmed that he has no memory of the character of Lotus Blossom and it is unlikely that she inspired Karai.
