|
| “ | No one makes fun of my nose. | „ |
| ~ Leela |
Turanga Leela (b. July 29, 2975), better known as Leela, is the deuteragonist of the Futurama franchise.
She is a smart, strong, and level-headed woman. She is also the conscience of the group, and is often prone to nagging them and expressing her outrage at their various immoral actions.
She has been known to scrap missions on a whim at the promise of learning more of her past, jeopardize the crew's life to spite Zapp Brannigan, and save Nibbler, and have sudden emotional outbursts about an ex-boyfriend from her past named Sean. Although she doesn't often show it, she is in love with Fry, and vice versa. Leela was the first woman blurnsball player, and the worst player ever due to her poor depth perception. Later on, she finally met her long lost parents, who turned out to be sewer mutants.
She is voiced by Katey Sagal.
History[]
Childhood[]
Having grown up in the Cookieville Minimum-Security Orphanarium, Leela long-lived the lonely life of an orphan, thinking herself as the only member of an unknown alien race. It is not until her 20s that she discovers she is, in fact, the daughter of Turanga Morris and Turanga Munda, shamed sewer mutants from Earth's own degraded depths. It would appear that she was born as the surprisingly least mutated Mutant, her only known mutations being purple hair, the elbow talons she usually shaves, a concessional appearance of a singing boil she named Susan and her distinct cyclops eye, she also occasionally lays an egg as stated in "Leela and the Genestalk" when she visits her parents. Leela was taught Kung-Fu by Master Fnog, who had crashed down on her dreams by telling her that she did not have "the will of the warrior" but the will of "a schoolmarm" or "housewife."
Adulthood[]
After growing up, Leela begins work at Applied Cryogenics as a Fate Assignment Officer, code number "1BDI" (one beady eye). When Leela meets Philip J. Fry, she becomes a job deserter in favor of piloting for Planet Express. Leela lived alone in a small unfurnished apartment, "1I" (one eye) in New New York City. In 3023, she moves with Fry at his and Bender's Robot Arms apartment.She was named Orphan of the Year in 3000 and for a short while, Miss Universe. Due to an accident, she and Kif Kroker have several children together, though Amy Wong, as Kif's "Fonfon Ru", is considered the mother.
Appearance[]
Leela is a tall, attractive, and muscular woman, with a single large eye that takes up most of her head. She has purple hair which she usually ties in a ponytail, and she has a long cow-lick that hangs from her forehead.
She dresses in gray knee-high boots, black stretch pants, and a white tank top. Leela also wears a Wrist LoJack-a-mater on her right wrist, and can occasionally be seen wearing a bright green jacket.
When wearing outfits for outdoor or formal occasions (swimsuits and gowns), she favours wearing ones that expose her navel.
Personality[]
During her youth, Leela was often teased because she only had one eye. She felt very lonely in her childhood after being abandoned by her parents at an orphanarium, and always dreamed of learning who her real parents were. She eventually learns that she is a mutant, rather than an alien, which she had always thought she was. Leela has been shown to care a great deal about her mutant parents, even stealing a priceless Quantum Gemerald from a museum along with Bender and Fry, when the Zookeeper threatens to feed them to piranhas.
Despite her troubled past, Leela is friendly, smart and self-reliant, though she is sometimes impatient and quick to anger. She cares deeply for her friends and loved ones, plus issues she feels she must stand up for, like freedom, the environment and cute animals. However she does not hesitate to use force if she believes the situation demands it. She also has a liking for violence and was often sarcastic, but she nevertheless seems to have developed strong maternal instincts at times. She is engaged in a constant low-intensity feud with Amy Wong, the only other female at Planet Express, who more or less frequently accuses her of not being ladylike enough to be a true woman, despite Leela having a strong sensitivity for cuteness and romantic issues.
Leela is a strong advocate for environmental issues and animal rights. Although, she tends to be the selective about the latter, particularly for her pet, Nibbler, as she feeds him herds of animals, even endangered, because she finds him cute and adores his company.
Leela is stringently disciplined, yet appears to often envy Fry's impulsive nature. Even so, it seemed implied that it'd be better for everyone for her to remain strict about her impulses, as her segment in Anthology of Interest with a "little more" impulsiveness had her become quickly murderous and swift to have sex for bargaining, contrary to her typical highly strung self. Although, even with her restraint, she does act out due to pride or anger; such as taking possible opportunities to pummel Zapp in revenge for her humiliation or to punish his sleaziness and foolishness. She can also be provoked into street races and fights if challenged and insulted.
Leela claims to hold high standards in terms of romantic partners, but her life of isolation can make her vulnerable to an unsuitable partner if they can exploit a weakness. Her most regretful encounter was with Zapp Brannigan, as his performance of self-pity coerced her into sex, which she seemed to do in a fugue state as upon post-coital, she screamed in horror. Alleged fellow alien cyclops Alcazar lured her into a relationship with kindness, but he quickly turned callous and entitled; she remained with him out of a sense of obligation for her cyclops race, however, swiftly and violently broke up with him when it was revealed he was a shapeshifter who had fooled other women in the same way, at the same time. Her insecurity about her appearance also caused her to adopt the superficiality of her tormentors, thus when reuniting with former fellow Orphanarium resident Adlai Atkins as an adult, she accepted his plastic surgery skills to give her two eyes to be "normal"; ultimately, this relationship ended when Adlai was dismissive of the value of a three eared orphan girl, which made Leela realised the folly in rejecting the fact that she was already beautiful and more so through uniqueness, thus had reversed surgery to become her true self again; she also realised how bland Adlai really was, and how she ignored it due to a desire for belonging. Her most noted ex-boyfriend was Sean who was unattractive, lazy, and slobby, but she dated him out of awe of his musical talent, until she ended things due to him cheating; even so, she had an admiration of arts and music that if in them, made a partner more appealing than they would be otherwise.
Leela's most significant romance was with Philip J. Fry, who was immediately attracted to her, but she primarily considered him a friend, even with multiple sparks occurring between them. While Fry was unremarkable physically, his optimistic outlook, adventurous spirit, kindness, and selflessness made Leela like him, yet continue to abstain from a relationship because of his immaturity and occasional idiocy. Her superficiality also manifested when Fry was infested by parasites that enhanced his intellect and sculpted his muscles; she was willing to let him remain infested out of superficial desires, and ended their first proper dating when he removed them and accidentally mentioned his time dating Amy. Despite this, they remained close friends, and Leela would appreciate whenever Fry helped her interests, such as advocating for mutant rights so her parents could visit her freely on the surface.
Her own maturity in a way prevented her from happiness, as when Planet Express are all de-aged, as a teenager, she happily and enthusiastically dated teen Fry; thereby, her maturity also carried cynicism and jaded feelings due to a lifetime of sorrow, which vanished upon becoming a child again. Leela would also be impressed by Fry's grand gestures that he would do as to illustrate his love, whether they be planned or impulsive, such as taking the sting of a space bee; during the coma dreams, Leela managed to acknowledge how much Fry meant to her, as she almost committed suicide, until roused from sleep by the hospital bedside Fry, and she appreciated learning he had been during the weeks of her slumber. When Fry got the Robot Devil's hands to compose a holophoner opera for her, she was touched; when Bender deafened her, she was willing to make a deal with the Robot Devil herself just to respect Fry's efforts of his music. It seemed Fry's own immaturity is what prevented her from accepting him, since an unknown to her time duplicate of Fry, Lars Fillmore, was swift to win her affections and even almost marriage, with the only fundamental difference between him and present Fry being years of sobering maturity to make him more responsible and adult.
For a few years, Leela and Fry were on-again, off-again, although only off due to her own doubts and uncertainties, since Fry wanted them to be "on all the time". Though, when believing Fry had died in Bender's sausage maker and she unwittingly ate one, Leela couldn't handle the grief, thereby went to voluntarily Total Recall to purge the memories; even so, Fry had become so ingrained in her heart, that she held residual inexplicable-to-her feelings for things that "reminded" her of him; eventually, an also amnesiac Fry would lead a Neanderthal uprising and battle her, but they both succumbed to subconscious attraction for each other, which restored their respective memories. Eventually, she accepted that she loved Fry in spite and because of his flaws, therefore they committed to a serious romantic relationship. She was further convinced of Fry's sincerity when she further mutated until just being a head with a body of tentacles, yet he reaffirmed his love for her, regardless of appearance; it was only her own version of vanity that made her accept Mom's technology to restore her.
When Fry proposed, she accepted, even when his own impulsiveness led to them being trapped in frozen time; despite spending 60 years with only each other for company, when Professor Farnsworth discovered a way to restore time and them, they were happy to return to their prior ages and spend another lifetime together, therefore showing how deep their love had become.
Abilities[]
| “ | Hiiiiii-YAH! | „ |
| ~ Leela's battle cry |
Leela showcases her martial arts prowess in Hell Is Other Robots.
As a mutant, Leela has a peculiar metabolism different from that of standard humans. Mutagens cannot harm her, and she seems resistant to many poisons, environmental hazards and illnesses. Her special condition may have helped her fight off the threat by the Baby Space Bee Queen's poison, and it proved instrumental for finding the cure against the common cold that had New New York in its clutches.
As a recruit of the Earth forces, she surpassed every other recruit on the training ground, even well-trained males, and has shown extraordinary strength, dexterity and stamina on numerous occasions.
Leela is also highly skilled in martial arts which has been shown on numerous occasions. She also has relatively decent marksmanship, if often undermined by her lack of depth perception.
She has strong leadership skills. Other than being the captain of the Planet Express ship, a notable example is when she leads the Feministas, who successfully elude the authorities and vandalise Leo Wong's efforts to build a solar system scale "mini"-golf course.
Trivia[]
- Before Katey Sagal was cast to voice Turanga Leela, Nicole Sullivan was considered to voice her, although Nicole Sullivan would later voice Mira Nova in Disney/Pixar's Buzz Lightyear of Star Command as well as Supergirl in DC Super Hero Girls.
- Her name was directly inspired by Leela of the Sevateem, who was a companion of the Fourth Doctor in long-running British sci fi series Doctor Who. Both Leelas are similar in the regards of being stubborn, hold warrior skills and mindsets, and befriend a time traveller (of sorts).
- In Anthology of Interest II, her question about her true home was blocked when she was knocked out, which was due to the twist about her not being an alien but a mutant hadn't been revealed yet.
- Her English voice actress, Katey Sagal, played Peggy Bundy.
- This is referenced in A Bicyclops Made For Two, in which she is lured into a relationship with supposed cyclops Alcazar, known as "Al" (a note to Al Bundy, Peggy's husband), and she began wearing outfits and styling her hair in the same fashion as Peggy.
- Her family likely has Eastern roots despite being New New York mutants; seeing as Turanga is her family name.
- Leela has had three happy marriages with Fry undone due to time travel shenanigans.
- Due to time hopping caused by the damage to the fabric of reality, she didn't know she had been wooed by Fry literally moving the stars to spell out a romantic message. She missed it due to setting off the implosion device too soon to erase the damaged part of space.
- Lars called of their marriage due to being a Paradox double of Fry destined to die.
- In the second run finale, Leela and Fry spent over 60 years in frozen time; happy and willing to let Farnsworth reset time, with their marriage evidently annulled as their sentimental ceremony wasn't legally binding.
External Links[]
- Turanga Leela on the Futurama Wiki
- Turanga Leela on the Inconsistently Admirable Wiki
[]
 Heroes
| ||
|
Main Heroes Supporting Heroes | ||
