History WesternAnimation / DonaldDuck

** Donald had a son in "How to Have An Accident at Work” and in ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouseClubhouse'' named Donald jr.

* OutOfFocus: Not to the extent of [[WesternAnimation/PlutoThePup Pluto]], but in the newest ''WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse'' series of 2013, Donald has thus far made only 13 appearances (15 if you include cameos).

** "The Wise Little Hen" notwithstanding, a year prior to Donald getting his own individual shorts, the MickeyMouse cartoon, "Donald and Pluto", was centered entirely around [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Donald and Pluto]], with no appearance whatsoever by Mickey.

* DecompositeCharacter: Since ''WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales|1987}}'' had Donald Duck DemotedToExtra and sent to the navy so to give more screen-time to the relatively underexposed Uncle Scrooge. Donald did appear a few times in the original cartoon, but never in a big role and he didn't have much of his orignal personality and characteristics. Nevertheless, aspects of his traditional role in the comics were distributed to other characters, who eventually evolved aspects of their own personality.

* WouldHitAGirl: ''Chef Donald'' has Donald angry at the radio host Mother Mallard because his recipe didn't come out right, and ends with Donald running to the station and (since we don’t see what actually goes down) seemingly pummeling Mother Mallard.

* GrumpyBear: Donald is often grumpy and temperamental. That said, when he's in a good mood, Donald can be just as cheery as Mickey or Goofy, but not too often.

* ShoutOut: when Donald [[ItMakesSenseInContext gets hung up like a marionette from his overly-sticky attempted waffle batter]] in ''Chef Donald'', the music plays to the tune of "I've Got No Strings" from ''WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}}''.

* WouldHitAGirl: “Chef Donald” has Donald angry at the radio host Mother Mallard because his recipe didn't come out right, and ends with Donald running to the station and (since we don’t see what actually goes down) seemingly pummels Mother Mallard.

* GoKartingWithBowser: Attention, people! Donald Fauntleroy Duck is suspected of ditching Disney's good-natured Halloween party so he could spend UsefulNotes/AllHallowsEve chillin' out with villains, donning a wise disguise! Here's undeniable [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eavo08IXduQ evidence!]]

** The 2017 reboot of ''[=DuckTales=]'' even makes this a plot point, with no one being able to understand Donald's plan to fight the BigBad. Gyro Gearloose gives Donald a voice change, turning him into a BadassBaritone instead. It doesn't last, but several characters note that being able to understand his dialogue makes him seem far more capable than before.

** ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'' averts this, as WordOfGod pins his age specifically at 36 years old.

* AdaptationalBadass: The ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series of games paints Donald as a BlackMage and prominent ally to [[TheHero Sora]]. Exaggerated in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' where he [[spoiler: casts '''''Zetta Flare''''', the most powerful spell in the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series, albeit fainting right afterward]].

* AdaptationalBadass: The ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series of games paints Donald as a BlackMage and prominent ally to [[TheHero Sora]]. Taken UpToEleven in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' where he [[spoiler: casts '''''Zetta Flare''''', the most powerful spell in the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series, albeit fainting right afterward]].

* DrippingDisturbance: The main plot line of ''Drip Dippy Donald'', which takes this trope UpToEleven, as the dripping just won't stop no matter what Donald does.

* WesternAnimation/DownAndOutWithDonaldDuck, TV special released on MArch 22, 1987.

* WesternAnimation/TheThreeCaballeros, released on 3 February 1945 – in a Donald Duck, Jose Carioca & Panchito Pistoles movie; this entire Donald Duck production is one of the [[Franchise/DisneyAnimated Disney Animated Classics]] movies.

* Wide Open Spaces, released on 12 September 1947

* NiceHat: Donald's "classic" outfit just isn't complete without his iconic sailor hat. It started off as white, then became blue to better match his shirt. And woe betide anyone to harms that hat.

* ByTheLightsOfTheirEyes: Almost every time he ends up in a dark room.

* BerserkButton: It doesn't take a lot to set Donald off, but the most common thing to set him off are things not going his way, either through his own bad luck and pettiness or because someone else is deliberately sabotaging him.

* ButtMonkey: It's even in his song, "Who gets stuck with all the bad luck? No one, but Donald Duck!"
%%* ByTheLightsOfTheirEyes

* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: The Brooding Boy to Daisy's Gentle Girl. Donald is usually hot-tempered, grumpy, and aggressive while Daisy is sweet, calm and cheery.'

* BlatantLies: The theme song for the cartoons. [[ButtMonkey Except for the last part.]]

* BreakTheHaughty: When he's being a selfish [[{{Jerkass}} jerkass]], he often receives a HumiliationConga.
* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: The Brooding Boy to Daisy's Gentle Girl. Donald is usually hot-tempered, grumpy, and aggressive while Daisy is sweet, calm and cheery.
* ButtMonkey: Lampshaded in his theme song:
-->''Who gets stuck with all the bad luck?''\\
''No one--but Donald Duck!''

** Launchpad [=McQuack=] ends up being TheDitz and ButtMonkey accompanying Scrooge and the nephews on the adventures, sometimes complicating their adventures by being incompetent, impulsive and short-sighted.

* DependingOnTheWriter: Different stories depict Donald as lazy or overzealous, as stupid or hyper-competent, as boorish or aspiring to be cultured, as an unrepentant jerk or a decent guy with glaring flaws... There's really only two constants: he's always [[HairTriggerTemper got an explosive temper,]] and he's ''always'' [[ButtMonkey unlucky.]]

* {{Jerkass}}: He's hot-tempered, rude, aggressive, and loves imposing on people for his amusement.
** In the shorts where he's the one who starts trouble for either Chip and Dale or his nephews. And then of course there's the short ''Donald's Penguin'' where he almost ends up [[MoralEventHorizon shooting his pet penguin]] with a shotgun for eating his pet fish.
** One short features Donald making trouble for himself in the kitchen as he gets distracted while listening to a radio cooking show and accidentally adding rubber cement to his waffle batter. The short ends with him running off to beat up the show's host despite the fact that ''everything that happened to him was directly his own fault.''
** In the comics by Al Taliaferro, Donald was recurrently portrayed as nothing but a jerk (save for a several strips-long failed attempt at redeeming himself in 1937, where every attempt by Donald to do good just got him even deeper into trouble). As well as generally shown with interests in playing pranks, breaking windows, throwing stones at people and other such petty crimes as a source of fun, this also featured comics where Donald would do things like tie an anchor to Goofy's leg and throw him in the entire way there. [[DisproportionateRetribution For accidentally smacking Donald in the back of the head with a fish and then laughing about it.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: The gold part shows up far more often in the comics, modern cartoons and other spin-offs than in the classic cartoons, but... for all his faults, Donald does have a heart and will ''usually'' do the right thing in the end.

* KarmicButtMonkey: The eponymous Donald Duck. There is a very good reason his theme song says, "Who gets stuck with all the bad luck? No one but Donald Duck." A lot of his problems are self-inflicted due to his [[HairTriggerTemper bad temper]] and the fact that he imposes on other people for his own sick kicks.

* ShoutOut: when Donald [[ItMakesSenseInContext gets hung up like a marionette from his overly-sticky attempted waffle batter]] in ''Chef Donald'', the music plays to the tune of "I've Got No Strings" from ''WesternAnimation/Pinocchio''.

* The Band Concert, released on 23 February 1935 – in a Mickey Mouse cartoon, where Donald's eyes would be colored light blue for the first time.

* Grand Canyonscope, released on 23 December 1954 – the first Disney cartoon released through the newly-formed Buena Vista Distribution

* Dude Duck, released on 2 March 1951

* BreakTheHaughty: When he's being a selfish [[{{Jerkass}} jerkass]], he often receives retribution such as AmusingInjuries or a HumiliationConga.

* BreakTheHaughty: Happens to him when he's being a selfish [[{{Jerkass}} jerkass]].