Esmeralda is a character and friend of the Ninja Turtles in the 2012 TV series. She appears in the season 5 monster arc, in 15th century Transylvania.
Appearance[]
Esmeralda is a dark-skinned Romani woman with raven-black hair and brown eyes. She wore an off-shoulder white blouse, a burnt orange corset with lacing and white ruffles, a long orange skirt with Polish-style prints on the ends of the hem and a gold sarong around the waist, and orange sandals.
History[]
Esmeralda and her father Vulko were two traveling Romas living in Transylvania, the domain of Dracula. At some point during their travels, Vulko was infected by a werewolf and himself became such a monster, but kept this secret from all other people except his daughter. To prevent his transformations, Vulko always wore an amulet filled with wolfsbane around his neck.
One day, Esmeralda and Vulko met the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the time-master Renet, who had traveled through time while trying to thwart the plan of Savanti Romero to conquer the Earth with a monster army. Raphael had been bitten by Dracula and threatened to transform himself into a vampire, and after the two Romass had first overcome the horror about the appearance of the Turtles, the two helped the time traveler. However, on the way to Dracula's Castle, Vulko was kidnapped by Dracula and Savanti, forcing his transformation into a werewolf, making him the involuntary ally and slave of the two monster princes. With the promise to bring Esmeralda back her father, the Turtles and Renet took up the pursuit of the fleeting monsters. Finally, Vulko was freed from Dracula's violence and brought back to his daughter by Renet.
Trivia[]
- The name "Esmeralda" originates from Spanish, meaning "Emerald" or, more generally, "gem". A famous fictional namesake is the dancer, who grew up among Romas, (LA) Esmeralda from the novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo. In the novel Doctor Faustus by Thomas Mann, the 'Haetera esmeralda' plays an important role.