Turanga Leela

Turanga Leela
Character Information
Gender	Female
Status	Alive
Age	25-31
Species	Mutant (believed to be an Alien before reuniting with her parents)
Planet	Earth
Profession	Currently: Captain and pilot of the Planet Express delivery ship, Formerly: Cryogenic Counselor at Applied Cryogenics, pitcher for the New New York Mets,
Relatives	Great-grandmother: Munda's grandmother Grandmother: Munda's mother Mother: Turanga Munda Father: Turanga Morris Children: Kif Kroker's Offspring Husband: Zapp Brannigan Distant Nephews: Hubert J. Farnsworth and Floyd Farnsworth Further Distant Nephews: Cubert J. Farnsworth and Igner
Background Information
First appearance	"Space Pilot 3000"
Voiced by	Katey Sagal

“	What's the secret of time travel doing on Fry's ass?	”
–Leela, Bender's Big Score

“	It was bound to be somewhere.	”
–Leela and Fry, Bender's Big Score

Turanga Leela (born July 29, 2975) is the captain of the Planet Express ship of Futurama.

With a "no rain or sleet" attitude and a "kick-your-ass" grace, this delivery captain is a refreshing source of professionalism to counterpoint the rest of the crew. For better or worse, the ship runs on her high octane passions, be it because of her longing for family, her love of violence, her commitment to a job well done, or her affection for animals. She has been known to scrap the missions on a whim on the promise of learning more of her past, jeopardize the crew's lives to spite Zapp Brannigan, and save Nibbler. Leela was the first female Blernsball player and the worst player ever because of her poor depth perception (this is due to the fact that she has one eye). However, in space, depth perception is less useful because things are further away and so Leela is the captain of the Planet Express ship. Later on, she finally met her long lost parents, who turned out to be sewer mutants.

She is the daughter of Turanga Morris and Turanga Munda. She is the granddaughter of Munda's Mother and the great-granddaughter of Munda's Grandmother. She is the mother of Kif Kroker's Offspring (Amy Kroker (née Wong)'s adoptive children). She is the wife of Philip J. Fry. She is the daughter-in-law of Yancy Fry, Sr. and Mrs. Fry (Philip J. Fry's parents). She is the paternal granddaughter-in-law of Enos Fry (deceased) and Mildred Fry. She is the maternal granddaughter-in-law of Mr. and Mrs. Gleisner (Philip J. Fry's paternal and maternal grandparents). She is the sister-in-law of Yancy Fry, Jr., and his wife and the great-granddaughter-in-law of Yancy Fry (Philip J. Fry's great-grandfather). She is the aunt of Philip J. Fry II as well as the distant aunt of Floyd Farnsworth and Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth. She is the even further distant aunt of Cubert J. Farnsworth and Igner.

Appearance

Apart from her single large eye, Leela is a very beautiful woman of curvaceous frame. Her usual attire is gray knee-high boots, black stretchy pants, and a white tank top. At her and Fry's wedding in "Meanwhile", she wears the same white wedding dress and has a veil with her hair up into a bun. Leela inherited the purple hair from her mother, Turanga Munda.

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 a surprisingly unmutated 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

"Look, I don't know about your previous captains, but I intend to do as little dying as possible."

―The Series Has Landed - Turanga Leela on dying 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 lives alone in a small unfurnished apartment, "1I" (one eye) in New New York City. 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.

Personality

Leela is known for her extreme sensitivity and no-nonsense personality. She is a headstrong woman who focuses on work first and fun later. She is known for loving animals that are endangered, which led her to meeting Nibbler for the first time. She routinely rejects perverts such as Zapp Brannigan. She frequently learns from her mistakes and tries to right many wrongs. She is not impulsive by nature but is a careful planner (for example, she has been known to cook a month's worth of dinners in advance so she can freeze and then defrost the meals as needed). Although she was very fond of Fry in the original series, she was mostly put off by his immaturity and childishness. Later in the series, she eventually fell in love with Fry for his boyish charm.

Relationships

Relationships with Misc. Characters

"Men who call too much are the worst... I bet."

―Amazon Women in the MoodLeela had an ex-boyfriend named Sean: uneducated, unambitious, pasty, and hunched, with an incredible, beautiful creative soul and musical talent. Their breakup may not have been entirely mutual, judging by the fact that Leela stresses how mutual it was every chance she can and that she believed he was cheating on her. Apparently, he told his wife that she was crazy and he dumped her. She went on at least one date with Doug. Leela dated the Dean of Mars University after Fratbots won a boating race, however, he didn't call her after one date.

Adlai

Leela started dating Adlai Atkins, an orphan she grew up with after she reconnected with him as an adult. They became engaged after he performed phases eye surgery on her but broke up after Leela realized he didn't like her the way she was. Leela dated Chaz, the mayor's aide, but broke up with him after she realized he thought he was too important for most everyone. While stranded on Omega 3, Leela has a quick fling with William Shatner. Leela almost married Alkazar after he tricked her into thinking they were the last of their race. Leela gets engaged to Yivo, along with the rest of the universe. Leela made out with Amy Wong during the battle at Wipe Castle.

Relationship with Zapp Brannigan

Leela met Zapp Brannigan en route to Vergon 6. She took pity on him and had sex with him, something she regrets constantly. Zapp believes he still has a chance with Leela and hits on her every time they meet. Bender frequently reminds Leela about her one night stand with Zapp, to her disgust. Zapp makes an attempt to convince Leela that they will be the new Adam and Eve in the episode, In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela. Leela even got very upset when Zapp started dating her mom and got very close to marrying her.

Relationship with Bender

Leela first met Bender when she was chasing after Fry, before later working together at Planet Express. Although they are seen as friends, they rarely seem to agree with one another, or even enjoy each other's company, due to Leela's un-impulsive nature and Bender being the subsequent opposite. After Bender flushed Nibbler down the toilet, the Professor installed an empathy chip in Bender, allowing him to feel Leela's emotions. The act initially seemed to bond the two, but it was later revealed that the empathy chip had to be running at triple capacity to get Bender even close to Leela's true feelings. When Bender asked Leela what she likes most about him, she commented that she liked his "in-your-face attitude."

Relationships with other members of Planet Express

Leela's relationships with the rest of the Planet Express crew differs from time to time. Though she mostly spends time with Fry and Bender, she sometimes hangs around Zoidberg, Hermes, as well as the Professor. However, apart from Bender and Fry, she hangs out most with Amy Wong. She first met Amy after joining Planet Express and didn't think much of her. She was shocked when Amy saved her and Fry's life by flying to their rescue in the Planet Express ship. Leela and Amy's friendship is hot and cold at times, and Amy often feels jealous of her because she is considered prettier and has better luck with love.

Relationship with Fry

Main article: Fry's and Leela's relationship

Her relationship with Fry is a major theme throughout the series. At first, Leela didn't think much of Fry but they became friends very quickly, but after years the two grew together, not dating in multiple episodes and she even eventually punch him twice (and almost another time if you count his time paradox duplicate), the second accompanied by "a very long honeymoon" that lasts for decades.  

Episodes where Leela Uses Her Martial Arts

(Note: The list goes in chronological order.)

• "Space Pilot 3000"
• "Fear of a Bot Planet"
• "My Three Suns"
• "Hell Is Other Robots"
• "Fry and the Slurm Factory"
• "Raging Bender"
• "A Bicyclops Built for Two"
• "Bender Gets Made"
• "Anthology of Interest I"
• "War is the H-Word"
• "Amazon Women in the Mood"
• "I Dated a Robot"
• "Roswell that Ends Well"
• "Godfellas"
• "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch"
• "Less than Hero"
• "Where No Fan Has Gone Before"
• "The Farnsworth Parabox"
• "Three Hundred Big Boys"
• "Bender's Big Score"
• "The Beast with a Billion Backs"
• "Rebirth"
• "The Late Philip J. Fry"
• "All the Presidents' Heads"
• "Möbius Dick"
• "Fun on a Bun"
• "Fry and Leela's Big Fling"
• "Murder on the Planet Express"
• "Meanwhile"

Trivia

• Leela's officer code (1BDI) is a reference to her only having one eye.
• In the last quarter of S2E2, she said: I don't want to die at the age of 25.
• In a commentary track for Futurama, creator Matt Groening states that Leela's name is derived from the Fourth Doctor's companion Leela on the British science fiction television show Doctor Who.
  • Her first name might also have been inspired by the German, Hungarian, Swedish and Spanish word lila ("purple, violet"), in a possible allusion to her hair color. It is also possible that Leela's name is a parody of Princess Leia Organa from Star Wars as she was once dressed up like her in the comic-con costume contest.
  • Her name also plays on Turangalîla, the Sanskrit title of the landmark Turangalîla-Symphonie by French composer Olivier Messiaen which translates to time and love in Hindi.
  • It might also be that 'Turanga' is the local spelling of a place near Christchurch, New Zealand, after local Maori tribesmen legend, which sounds just foreign and spicy exotic to be fit for 'alienese', and hence her whole family was perhaps given that name for the show because of it.
• The wrist device that Leela is seen consistently wearing has been shown to have at least seven uses: a communicator, reattach Fry's nose (a small laser), play Tetris and Pong, detect whether or not the Omicronian young (later known as Popplers) are edible, a tracking device receiver she uses in the Central Bureaucracy, a tissue dispenser, targeted advertising, as well as has a (possibly deadly) laser.
• In "Rebirth", it is revealed that Leela wears size 12 shoes.
• According to Zapp Brannigan in "Into the Wild Green Yonder", Leela's measurements are 36-24-36. This is the same as Bart's locker combination in The Simpsons. So Leela's body measurements match perfectly to having an hourglass figure due to a 36-inch bust and hip size, as well as a 24-inch waist.
• Leela also has a singing boil on her buttocks named Susan, a parody of Susan Boyle, which she lances all the time.
• In "The Butterjunk Effect", it is said that Leela and Amy auditioned to be Rockettes; however, they kicked two Rockettes to death and did not get the job."
• The name of Leela's hair color is actually called leela (a dark shade of purple).
• In her debut, it is shown that Leela can be easily annoyed by people who are put off by her one eye.
• Leela has 205 bones (a normal human has 206) in her body. ("Fry Am The Egg Man".). This may be due to the fact she only has one eye.
• Her birthday is July 29th, because in the episode ("The Late Philip J. Fry"), Farnsworth's time machine says 7/29 before Farnsworth, Fry, and Bender land on the date 12/3, 10,000 years into the future.
• When Leela tries to kill something, she says "it will be just like stomping a puppy."
• Leela has the last spoken line of the series: "I do".
• She's one of only three characters to have appeared in every single episode of the series (the other one being Zapp).
• Her last appearance is the 2020 Comedy Central “viewer discretion is advised” screen which is her non-physical appearance in the 2020 airing of In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela.
• Leela was originally going to be voiced by Nicole Sullivan.

Gallery

Leela with two eyes.

Fry and Leela kiss in "Fun on a Bun"

Leela as a child

Leela in bed with Fry

Leela in her undies

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