She made her first appearance in the Mirage Comics storyline in 1984 as a computer programmer. She was soon after portrayed as a warrior in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures comic produced by Archie Comics, and afterwards had various personas in different TMNT media. O'Neil was first represented on film in the 1987 TMNT animated series as a strong-willed reporter voiced by Renae Jacobs. She has since been played by actresses such as Judith Hoag, Paige Turco and Megan Fox.