Terranga Leela

(Born July 29, 2975)

Leela is the captain of the Planet Express ship and the female protagonist 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 captain of the Planet Express ship. Later on, she finally met her long lost parents, who turned out to be sewer mutants.

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

In addition to her tomboyish nature, beauty and sexiness, 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.

Death & Comeback

Leela survives the Planet Express Ship crashing because of Fry shielding her with his body. After accidentally building Fry-bot with too much wiring she was severely electrocuted to death but was brought back by the stem cells.