Dark Danny
| Dark Danny | |
|---|---|
| File:DanPhantom.JPG | |
| Publication information | |
| Created by | Butch Hartman |
| In-story information | |
| Team affiliations | Himself, Former leader of Team Phantom, Fright Knight (Minion) |
| Notable aliases | Phantom, The Ultimate Enemy, Dan Phantom, Old Man (insult by Danny) |
| Abilities | Has all the same powers as Danny Phantom, Dani Phantom and Vlad Plasmius, and many more that are unique only to him |
Dark Danny is a villain in Danny Phantom, created by the fusion of the ghost-halves of the show's protagonist, Danny Phantom and his arch-enemy, Vlad Plasmius. Dark Danny's first and only appearance is in The Ultimate Enemy which was both a TV movie and the first Danny Phantom video game for the Game Boy Advance. He is voiced by Eric Roberts (father to Emma Roberts of Unfabulous fame).
Wanting to mix in time traveling while Danny battled a pure evil ghost, Butch Hartman realized the worst enemy for Danny Phantom to fight would be an evil version of himself. [1] He was not originally revealed to be a villain in the advertisements for The Ultimate Enemy on Nickelodeon, due to the shock factor of Danny's future as his own worst enemy, though internet sources already confirmed it.
History
An accidental explosion of the Nasty Burger's vat of condiments took the lives of Danny's family, friends, and teacher, causing the grief-stricken boy to move in with his arch enemy, Vlad, seeing as "he was the only person left on the planet who could possibly hope to understand his situation".
Despite the history of animosity between the two halfas, Vlad treated Danny with a great deal of sympathy. Completely taken over by grief, Danny asked Vlad to separate his human and ghost halves, believing him being half-ghost was the cause of the deaths of his family and friends, since he used his ghost powers to cheat on a test that led to the tragedy. After the procedure, the separated Danny Phantom suddenly became malevolent, forcibly removing Vlad's ghost-half and merging with it, resulting in Dark Danny's birth. His first act of malice was the murder of his human half and blowing up the entire Masters' mansion/castle before unleashing ten years of pain and destruction on both Earth and the Ghost Zone.
Upon witnessing this horrible future, the Observents ordered Clockwork to kill Danny in the past to prevent Dark Danny's rise. Dispatching various ghosts from the future to eliminate Danny, it set about a chain reaction that led Danny to the future where he encountered his dark self. Fusing him with his time medallion so he'd be stuck in the future, Dark Danny sends Danny to the Ghost Zone to keep him occupied while he disguises as his 14-year-old self and travels to the past via a leftover time medallion to secure his future, namely cheating on the C.A.T test, the only witness having figured out he's true identity his sister Jazz. After cheating the C.A.T. via test answers (that Danny obtained previously by accident), a suspicious Lancer calls his parents over to the Nasty Burger as demonstration of Danny's possible future at the same time Sam and Tucker warn them on the oncoming explosion and Jazz, who using the Fenton Ghost Peeler exposed Dark Danny to the rest.
Tying them all to the nasty sauce vat, Dark Danny was eventually reunited with his past self (having returned via Future Vlad) and a battle ensued, Danny emerged victoriously by using the Ghostly Wail as an advantage, a power Dark Danny believed he would not obtain for another ten years. Despite his victory over his evil self, Danny's weakened powers seemingly failed to save everyone if not for Clockwork who saved them at last minute, sending Danny back in time to when the test began and giving him a second chance at changing his future.
Dark Danny was subsequently trapped in Danny's Fenton Thermos, which was given to Clockwork after the battle, who was told that it was to be his responsibility. By the end, Dark Danny is seemingly attempting to escape the thermos.
Personality/Weakness
Unlike all of Danny's other enemies, Dark Danny has no guilt or conscience - he is pure evil, a monster who is willing to kill to get what he wants, even if it is the people he once loved. Cruel, sadistic, and merciless, he is willing to do everything to make the world suffer. This personality shift most likely comes as a result of both Danny and Vlad's personalities combining, since he is the fusion result of their two ghost halves (possessing Danny's gumption and emotions and Vlad's cleverness and intelligence). Since it was Danny's ghost half that caused the merge by overshadowing Vlad's ghost half, Danny is the dominant half--identity and memory-wise, which is why he refers to the present time Danny as his "past".
Without his humanity, Dark Danny can go to lengths any other character--even Vlad--wouldn't even dare to. While other villains would kill for personal gain, revenge, or because it's their job, Dark Danny kills because he has the power to and doesn't care what anyone thinks. In the end, he only does what he does just for his own pleasure or benefit.
He severely underestimated his opponents; He cannot comprehend Danny gaining the Ghostly Wail so early because Dark Danny cannot understand what motivates his younger self: his human heart. In addition, he has the handicap of being unable to kill his past self for fear of putting his existence in danger. However, since Dark Danny now exists outside the time stream, he is no longer hindered by what becomes of present-time Danny. Since he has largely forgotten his human life, he no longer remembers any of the Fenton inventions, which is also a key weakness, though due to his tremendous powers, they still can't harm him as severely as they normally would on other ghosts.
There is debate on what this character's real name is. In "The Ultimate Enemy", Valerie and Skulktech 9.9 refers to him by his last name, "Phantom". The end credits, Butch Hartman, and tv.com call him Dark Danny, while the game calls him Dan Phantom, which has become an unofficial name for some fans. He never does introduce himself by name, and it is doubtful that he would continue using his former name, so his true name may yet be unknown. The most logical answer is that his name is Dark Danny, considering Butch Hartman, the creator of the series, named him as such. The name "Dark Danny" comes from the obvious fact he is a darker version of Danny.
Theories/Inconsistencies
- Dark Danny encounters his past self. In the episode "Identity Crisis", Danny and his ghost self were separated by a device created to capture ectoplasmic energy, Danny's personality was polarized; resulting in the birth of the lazy human Danny Fenton with a passive personality, and the heroic ghost Danny Phantom with a proactive personality. However, after being separated for a while, the two willingly rejoined into one being. But in the movie Vlad's evil ghost half made Danny's ghost side an evil being. Thus Vlad's pure evil ghost-half destroyed all that was good in Danny Phantom. Although, in "Identity Crisis", the Ghost Catcher separated nearly everything about Danny into two, including his emotions and when Vlad removed Danny Phantom from Danny Fenton, Phantom became emotionless (like Skulker or so). It is also possible that the Ghost Gauntlets and Ghost Catcher have two different effects on the people/ghosts on which they are used. There are speculations about how the role of emotions play in the two separate episodes. When Dark Danny was created, Danny himself had gone through a tramatic period. His emotions have been messed up with feelings of possible anger hidden deep inside, along with regret. When separated, these feelings could have transferred into the ghost-half leaving him in a fit of rage.
- Technically speaking, if Vlad's and Danny's ghost selves merged, then Vlad's ghost self should be the dominant one since he is more powerful than Danny due to experience, although it is made very obvious that Danny has the potential to become much stronger than Vlad given time. Maybe this is taken into account, because in this case, Danny's ghost self remains to be more dominant as it is apparent in both Danny Phantom's appearance and personality. In fact he has most of Danny's memories and virtually none of Vlad's. The only part of Vlad's ghost self that seems to have taken over Danny's ghost self even partially is his appearance. This is a testimony to Danny Phantom's growing powers allowing him to overshadow Vlad. This is supported by the fact that Danny has matched and even surpassed Vlad on a few occasions despite having only around 1/20 as much experience as Vlad, although he definitely uses his powers more often than Vlad does. Also, maybe Danny was able to overshadow Vlad because he was free from his human side, which could be holding him back a little as far as power goes. But you never know. Maybe Danny's human side is what allows him to gain powers that other ghosts don't have.
- Dark Danny is the first ghost of significantly great power against which a Fenton Thermos was used. The circumstances under which he was imprisoned suggests the Fenton Thermos has limits to its effectiveness against ghostly entities of magnificent might. Specifically, Dark Danny was only sealed after he had been significantly weakened in power from prolonged battled against Danny Fenton, aided by some of the Fentons gadgets. Dark Danny himself actually remarks, while he is being pulled inside the Thermos, that he is too weak to escape, and in later scenes the metal casing of Thermos is seen being dramatically misshaped from within by the considerable power of the imprisoned evil ghost. It is strange he didn't use the ghostly wail to escape from the thermous, as he is shown using it early in the movie, provoking Danny to thoughtfully say "Hey, cool! It's like some sort of...Ghostly Wail." This new power probably will probably allow present Danny to escape from a Thermos too should he be captured in one.
Relationships
Dark Danny encountered his younger self through a time mislapse when the latter entered his future. Disgusted towards the person he once was, he views his younger self as pathetically weak, keeping him alive only to ensure his future. Dark Danny gravely underestimated his young self when Danny countered with the Ghostly Wail in the oncoming final battle, ultimately defeating and entrapping him in the Fenton Thermos where he remains in Clockwork's custody.
It was through his methods that Dark Danny came into existence, though not intentionally. Doing so caused the former prideful billionaire to live in recluse, guilty over his past misdeeds. Vlad later played a crucial role ten years later when he helped the younger Danny return to his present by removing the unreachable time medallion Dark Danny had placed on him earlier.
Dark Danny's parents, he attempted to kill them along with the others he once loved (and Mr. Lancer) so his future would come to pass. After being exposed by Jazz, Jack and Maddie rounded and threatened him, demanding to know where their son was. He ridicules them for their lack of observation on the connections between Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom before restraining and silencing them, planning to have them killed in the Nasty Burger explosion.
Like his parents and friends, Dark Danny shares no love for his past sister. He reunites with her when he returns to his past (disguised as his younger self) where she confesses of her secret knowledge of his hero identity. Revealing his evil ghost form to her and stating his plan, he knocks her out and leaves to finalize his future. With the information that was given to her, Jazz writes a note to the younger Danny, attaching it to the Fenton Boomerang where it sought Danny after ten long years of traveling. Jazz later tries to confront Dark Danny on two separate occasions with the Fenton Peeler, the latter ending his masquerade and revealing his true self. He then restrains her to the Nasty Sauce vat.
Valerie is a prominent defender of Amity Park against Dark Danny and other ghosts, keeping a vigilant watch over the city. When the towers that emit Amity Park's ghost shield is destroyed, she reunites with Dark Danny whom counters with his powerful Ghostly Wail. She returns later when younger Danny enters the future with Sam and Tucker. Assuming him to be Phantom at first, the real Dark Danny arrives and sends her away, saved by young Danny. Dark Danny finds her deplorable, but has some past respect for her.
His two best friends no longer matter to him and he instead has tried to kill them via Nasty Burger explosion to continue his future despite their best efforts to thwart their ill-gotten future.
The dark knight claims Dark Danny as his new master, obeying his every command.
Ghost Powers
Since he became Dark Danny by merging with Vlad's ghost self, he has all of Vlad's and Danny's combined powers at his disposal. This makes him stronger than both Danny and Vlad, and apparently stronger than any other villain with the possible exception of Pariah Dark. He has both gained completely new abilities that neither Danny or Vlad can do as well as increased the power of his past ones (although present Danny now has powers that Dark Danny doesn't have and will therefore be stronger than Dark Danny in the future, if Danny continues his current rate of growth). Below is a complete list of his currently known abilities:
Seen Powers
- Ghost Sense – Dark Danny can sense nearby ghosts. When he does, a wisp of red ectoplasm comes out of his nostrils. It even works when his younger self is coming. This is most likely due to the fact that he is a fusion of Vlad's ghost half, and therefore has different DNA. It is unknown if he has the cold generation abilities that Danny learned in Urban Jungle. Although it is not proven, some fans believe that Dark Danny might have fire, instead of ice, because his ghost sense's color is red. Also, he is the opposite of Danny, so it's possible that he has the opposite of ice, which is fire. This theory also goes with his fiery hair.
- Intangibility & Invisibility - He has the ability to disappear and to be able to pass through solid objects.
- Flying/Floating/Hovering - Standard ghost powers.
- Paranormal Strength, Speed, Agility and Durability - Dark Danny is more durable than Danny or Vlad. He can even survive the blast of a Tracker (Valerie Gray) as seen in the show. He was able to lift a tank and throw it with ease.
- Overshadowing/Possession - Standard ghost powers.
- Ectoplasmic Energy Blast - "Ghost Ray" - His blast is composed of green ectoplasm; it is stronger than Danny's blasts seeing that he was able to blow up cars, large parts of buildings, and even murder Danny.
- Ectoplasmic Energy Shield - "Ghost Shield" - He isn't seen using any shields, but seeing as Danny and Vlad both have the power, it is likely that he has one or more of them. And seeing that his blasts are the same color as Danny's it is likely that it is green.
- Wall Walking – Dark Danny, as well as many other ghosts, can walk on uneven and vertical surfaces as though they were horizontal. Most likely this is an application of his flying/hovering ability.
- Ghost Stinger – Dark Danny uses this pseudo-electric attack to cause Danny to turn back into a human and to knock Jazz out.
- Ghostly Wail - In The Ultimate Enemy, Dark Danny develops the unique ability to generate an extremely powerful shriek from his vocal cords and mouth, a bit like a Banshee's wail and it sounds like moaning ghosts. It can cause terrible pain to ghosts and damage tangible matter. This technique is Dark Danny's most powerful attack, and he's able to use it more than once without losing any energy, unlike Danny who could only use it once or twice but afterwards would quickly be drained of his energy and revert back to his human form. When he learned this ability he used it on Ember, destroying her vocal cords and causing her to become overweight in an alarmingly short time. After Danny was thrown in the Ghost Zone, he also gained this abillty. When he uses this attack on Dark Danny, he is totally shocked because Dark Danny doesn't learn that ability until ten years later. This shows that Dark Danny has indeed changed the past, and by doing so, he winds up giving Danny a new ability over Vlad Masters.
- Duplication - Dark Danny can create about five doubles, possibly a few more. These doubles can be invisible when made, and can be made in his disguise. Though it's possible the fifth double was a mistake on the show.
- Ectoplasmic Energy Constructs - Dark Danny is capable of forming binds and ropes out of ectoplasm.
New Powers
These are some attacks that Danny, as well as his "cousin" Danielle and arch-enemy Vlad does not possess.
- Shapeshifting/Spectral Manipulation/Phase-Shifting – Dark Danny took on the form like the real Danny Fenton in order to disguise his appearance. It can be assumed that this ability covers all humanoid creatures, as well, though it is possible he could transform into Danny due to his connection with him. His ability to convert his body into a green, gaseous form (as seen when Future Valerie threw an Ecto-Grenade at him,) is also a part of his Spectral Minipulation/Phase-Shifting ability. It is also possible this is why a non-aging creature like Dark Danny changed form, he chose to change form as he aged, further supported by his younger appearance when Jazz attacked him with the Fenton Peeler, stripping him of all ilusiory forms including his human Danny form and his older Dark Danny form. He apparently prefers to seem older, and thus more powerful and more worthy of respect.
- Ghost Portal Creation- He can create temporary portals into the ghost zone by merely waving his hand. It is possible Dark Danny gained this power when he destroyed the Fenton Portal.
- Immobilization - He can freeze a person by touching or waving his hand at them.
- Ectoplasmic Goo - He can shoot ecto goo like Spider-Man's webs.
- Intangibility Fusion – Dark Danny was able to fuse one of Clockwork's time medallions into Danny through the use of his intangibility powers. While fused, the object inserted is unreachable by human or ghost abilities; it can, however, be removed through the use of special equipment (I.E., the Ghost Gauntlets).
References
| Video games | |
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| Related pages | |
- Danny Phantom characters
- Fictional ghosts
- Supervillains
- Fictional characters who can teleport
- Fictional characters with superhuman strength
- Fictional characters who can fly
- Fictional characters who can turn intangible
- Fictional characters who can turn invisible
- Fictional characters who can duplicate themselves