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1* Awesome/DonaldDuck
2* Awesome/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck
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5[[AC:Scrooge [=McDuck=] elsewhere]]
6* Most of Scrooge's awesomeness is based in how he has found more priceless treasures than perhaps any other fictional character: TheSampo, The Land of Xanadu (during his attempt to find the Crown of the Crusader Kings), The Treasure of the Knights Templar, The First Minted coin of Croesus, The Candy-Egg Ruby, The Crown of Genghis Khan, The PhilosophersStone, The Golden Fleece of Jason, The Fountain of Youth, The Lost Dutchman Mines, and (according to WordOfGod) his final discovery, The Trojan Horse. Certainly his record is mixed in actually ''hanging on'' to the treasures, but that's mainly a result of Scrooge wanting to play fair, which is kind of awesome in itself.
7* Creator/DonRosa starts off Scrooge's awesome with his victory at the ending of ''Son of the Sun''.
8* Scrooge [[http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i212/Kerrah_photos/Badass.jpg beating up and tossing]] a Beagle Boy out of his dream so he can talk to Goldie, at the end of ''The Dream Of A Lifetime''. The Beagle Boy threatens Scrooge, only for Donald to point out that this Scrooge in his prime, fifty years younger than any Scrooge [=McDuck=] they've ever tangled with. ''This'' Scrooge is '''the King of the Klondike!'''
9* In ''The Last Lord of El Dorado'', Scrooge and his nephews are on a quest for the titular city of gold, with Flintheart Glomgold following them in a variety of [[PaperThinDisguise incredibly obvious disguises]]. Near the end of the story, Scrooge confronts Glomgold and not only reveals that he saw through all of his guises, but also takes the opportunity to rub Glomgold's face in some of his past defeats. Finally, after Glomgold himself discovers the treasure of El Dorado, he "tricks" Scrooge into selling him the bank in which the gold is deposited for a bargain price... which is when Scrooge points out that while Glomgold might own the '''bank''', Scrooge transferred the '''gold itself''' to himself as a depositor, which means the bank doesn't own anything - except the ''major'' interest on his deposit, which Glomgold, as the bank's owner, now owes - to the tune of ''all the money in the world.'' Scrooge never gets this, but he determines that the look on Glomgold's face made the whole thing worth it.
10--> '''Donald''': Holy cow! You must owe Uncle Scrooge all the money in your bin!\
11'''Glomgold''': ''(on the verge of a nervous breakdown)'' No! No! Your uncle isn't so merciful as that! He knows that that much gold, with interest compounded for 300 years... ''(collapses)'' ''I owe him all the money in the world!''\
12'''Scrooge''': But I'll settle for your bin. Plus a full lien on all your future earnings!
13** The goverment of Peru gets their own moment. Just a few minutes after the above exchange, two men approach Scrooge, revealing themselves to be representatives of Peru's goverment, who have been following the group throughout their adventure. As it turns out, while the bank deed Scrooge found did indeed make him the owner of the bank, no one has actually paid any corporate taxes since the original owner died, and the bank and all its holdings were surrendered by the state approximately 200 years ago, meaning that regardless of whether Scrooge or Glomgold was the Last Lord of El Dorado, the title was worthless long before either of them was born.
14* Scrooge's most awesome moment of brilliance has got to be the end of Creator/CarlBarks' last story "Horsing Around With History." When Donald and the boys deduce that the Beagle Boys are inside the Trojan Horse, they rush into Scrooge's bin to warn him... only to find that Scrooge was able to figure out something was up even before they did with all their clues and already has the Beagle Boys captured!
15* In the Carl Barks one-shot ''Somethin' Fishy Here'' (later remade as ''Something Fishy''), a prank from Donald has him believe ''fish'' will now be used as money and all his cash is now worthless. As soon as he's recovered from the shock, uncle Scrooge rebuilds a fortune in fish [[SelfMadeMan all by himself]], ''in a single day''.
16* Scrooge and John D. Rockerduck saving Christmas together when Santa is injured doubles as both this and SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming|Moments}}.
17* "Magica and the Seven Volcanic Witches" has what is possibly Scrooge's greatest hit against Magica: while she was attacking the Money Bin, his agents broke in her home and ''stole the other coins she needs for the Midas' Touch'', so Scrooge could give them back to the other billionaires, who he'd provide with the designs for counter-witch devices, setting her back to square one and forcing her to fight as hard as she does with Scrooge for ''all'' the coins. The only reason it fails is that the titular Volcanic Witches decide to take over the quest for the Midas' Touch and stumble on his relatives trying to give back the coins, clueing them on the plan before the other billionaires can protect themselves.
18* "Scrooge's Fate" is the sequel of "The Lentils of Babylon", in which [[TheBadGuysWin the Beagle Boys had successfully conned him out of his entire economic empire]] and, just for a laugh, bet him that if he could grow a single one of the titular lentils into a plant they'd give back everything. As the Beagle Boys have found the plant before he noticed and hid it, he has no way to regain it... Then, in a single month and while having to face a ghost threatening to take away his memories, he ''takes back everything in three different ways'':
19** First way: the Beagle Boys, [[KickTheDog for kicks]], had made him another bet, that if he could build up a new economic empire they'd give back everything. ''He succeeds''.
20** Second way: he talks the Beagle Boys into letting him administer "their" fortune, given they can't really do business... And uses the stipend they pay him to invest, build up some capital, and ''take everything from under their noses''. This is how he pulled off the first way.
21** Third way: as he's going to the Beagle Boys and force them to abide to the terms of their bet, he discovers the lentil plant, takes it back, and shows it to them, forcing them to admit in front of witnesses they lost. ''Then'' he reveals he had already taken back everything, this was just to force them to face they were outclassed.
22** The identity of the ghost: Scrooge's own insecurities... That, after Scrooge took back his fortune and in the process successfully found a rich mine in the Amazon Forest, foiled the scammer that tried to take it from the legitimate owners, and saved a bedouin tribe from dying off by restoring their access to ''a subterrean city with a stable water supply'' (that he also had to find), is left completely powerless.
23* Every time Scrooge has regained his fortune from scratch, such as in "Scrooge's Fate" and "Scrooge's Last Adventure".
24** Especially notable the time he had to regain that of his counterpart from a parallel dimension in "Brother from Another Earth", as in that occasion he was in ''massive'' debt, to the point Gyro was threatening to sick a debt collector robot on him and the local Quackmore and Miss Quackfaster had lost their trademark UndyingLoyalty and were on the verge of quitting, ''and'' his counterpart had married Brigitta, who had gained spendrifth habits that were heavily contributing to his mounting debts. Scrooge not only rebuilt his counterpart's fortune in a few weeks and regained the loyalty of butler and secretary, he also snapped the local Brigitta out of his wasteful new habits and back into her businesswoman persona and having her rebuild the restaurant side of the business greater than before.
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27* Goldie O'Gilt giving Scrooge "A Little Something Special" in the story of the same name.
28* Gyro's Little Helper robot using Stonehenge's power to pull Arthur's sword from the stone in ''The Once And Future Duck.''
29* The climax of ''The Magnificent Seven (Minus Four) Caballeros'' gives at least one to each of the titular [[WesternAnimation/TheThreeCaballeros Three Caballeros]]: First, Donald, after being put down by Scrooge, Gladstone, and Daisy earlier in the story, finally snaps when the villain of the comic (a native chief turned greedy by civilization) escapes in a canoe, leaving Donald, Jose and Panchito in the lost city of Ophir, with no way to get out (due to the piranha-infested river and the city's location on a high plateau). Donald then grabs a vine, swings into the chief's canoe, and proceeds to give him what for. During the scuffle, Panchito and Jose decide to help their friend. Just then, they notice a ''gigantic'' anaconda (which had previously attempted to eat Donald) swimming toward the canoe. Panchito ties the snake's tail to a nearby bridge, while Jose subdues it with only his umbrella. Finally, after the chief falls off an InevitableWaterfall, Panchito ties up the Anaconda by its neck and he and the other Cabelleros ''ride out of the ruins on it like a bucking bronco''.
30* [[SmugSnake Gladstone]] [[{{Jerkass}} Gander]] of all people, gets one at the end of "A Little Something Special." Blackheart Beagle is making his escape on a hover-scooter, when Gladstone shouts for the mayor to put a reward on Blackheart's capture. The mayor does, and a gust of wind suddenly causes Blackheart's scooter to become tangled in a banner, which results in Blackheart being deposited unconcious at Gladstone's feet. This marks one of the only times Gladstone has used his luck to help others-and he doesn't even seem to be concerned about collecting the reward.
31** Another SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome for Gladstone is his rescue of Donald in "Donald's Lucky Day". Donald falls into a river and is about to drown. Gladstone, instead of relying on luck, or even just letting Donald flail around, instantly rips of his coat and throws himself into the strong current, carries Donald to shore, and gives him the needed help afterwards.
32** When Magica had to train Scrooge and family to play soccer against eleven champions from around the universe and timeline, Gladstone was made the goalkeeper. Between his luck and actually doing his best, the champions could only score twice... And the second goal happened only because their coach, an [[The Archmage archmage]] with a grudge against Magica, ''used magic to cheat''.
33** The Italian Paperinik stories usually show him as a jerk, but once in a while Paperinik asks for his help. Awesomeness ensues:
34*** One story had the villain guessing Paperinik's secret identity as Donald and blackmailing him to let him steal or he'll make his identity public. To cover for it, Paperinik asked Gladstone to substiture for him, feigning he had to do a job out of town and Donald was injured. What follows is an insecure Gladstone (because he knew he could die and he had little experience with Paperinik's weapons) facing the villain and his competent gang and inflicting them [[CurbStompBattle one hell of a one-sided beatdown]]. And at the end of the story, Gladstone ''volunteers to it again'' whenever is necessary. Maybe not so awesome, as he now knows he can do it, but considering his laziness...
35*** In one occasion, Paperinik had to face an incredibly powerful jinxo that was blackmailing both Scrooge and Rockerduck, but was thwarted by bad luck every time he tried. How did Gladstone neutralize him? With a ''phone call'': such contact is enough to drain both of their energies, temporarily canceling both Gladstone's luck and the jinxo's ability. At which point the Devilish Avenger swept in and ran the terrified jinxo out of town.
36*** In ''Paperinik e il Demone del Gioco'', Rockerduck was defeating Scrooge by transforming him in a GamblingAddict (an idea ripped off Creator/FyodorDostoevsky's ''The Gambler'') in his own casino. Paperinik intervened... And while he cured Scrooge with a shock therapy, Gladstone, disguised as Scrooge by Paperinik, went to the casino and won ''everything'' in spite of Rockerduck's players cheating. What's better, Rockerduck had anticipated the scenario and had made Gladstone win a three month vacation (in fact he had had the licence for years, but had never used it because he knew what would happen if Gladstone decided to gamble), but when Paperinik called him Gladstone came back, won that crapload of money, and gave it all to charity.
37* The Italian four-parter story ''Zio Paperone e l'Ultima Avventura'' (''Scrooge's Last Adventure'') in its entirety. The premise? Rockerduck, the Beagle Boys, Magica De Spell and '''Freakin' Flintheart Glomgold''' do a VillainTeamUp and ''defeat Scrooge''. Magica and the BB exchange targets, so the former makes Scrooge's money vanish, while the latter easily steal the Number One Dime; after such a massive defeat Scrooge's quotations plummet, which allows Flintheart and Rockerduck to buy his entire economical empire. And then they act as benevolent tycoons to gather the masses' sympathies while planning to ''erase the Money Bin and the entire Killmotor Hill'', building a super-technological waste disposal center in their place, '''''just to erase the memory of Scrooges from the hearts of Duckburg's inhabitants'''''. '''DAMN.'''
38** After recovering his spirit Scrooge ''steamrolls them back'': he gains the help of both both Magica, who lost her powers (since Scrooge was bankrupted he wasn't the richest person on the planet anymore, so her plan for richness failed... again... and she was stripped of her powers as a result), and the Beagle Boys, who, since they couldn't get their money (due to Magica losing her powers, thus being unable to make the money reappear), pressured the two billionaires only to get [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness backstabbed by Flintheart]]. Later, with the help of the entire Duck family plus friends (the full group includes Donald, the nephews, Grandma Duck, Gus, Gladstone, Fethry, Gyro, Brigitta [=McBridge=] and Jubal Pomp), he manages to expose Flintheart's "waste disposal facilities" (throwing trash into the bowels of the Earth), takes advantage of both [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Rockerduck's guilt over Scrooge's (faked) death]] and fear of Flintheart, and Flintheart's ChronicBackstabbingDisorder to take back Killmotor Hill, and, with the help of the Beagle Boys (saved by Donald as Paperinik), blackmails them both into selling him back his economic empire. For ''one single dollar''. [[ItsTheBestWhateverEver Best. Story. Ever!]]
39*** When trying to recover the cash from the Money Bin, Scrooge had to go to the Witches Council, composed by three witches each far more powerful and ancient than Magica can ''hope'' to be and easily angered, and explain them they were wrong in punishing Magica in such a way they can't justify a retaliation, fully knowing the consequences of failure. He doesn't even bat an eye, and the Witches Council has to accept his argument and restore Magica as a witch, even as they swear they'll make him pay when he slips and give them an excuse.
40** Almost forgot: the works to demolish the Killmotor Hill had already started, and by the time Scrooge counterattack hit them it should have been already erased. So, how did they stop them? Easy: Fethry weaponized [[TheKlutz his tendence to accidentally set off disasters]] by getting hired as a worker for the demolition, thus ''continuously destroyed the demolition engines'' without even trying. And it was apparently his idea to begin with. When ''Fethry Duck'' manages to outsmart the likes of Flintheart and Rockerduck in a realistic way, you know this ''really'' is the [[ItsTheBestWhateverEver Best. Story. Ever!]]
41** The retaking of Killmotor Hill included Jubal Pomp impersonating the vizier of the [[ContinuityNod Maharajah of Howduyustan]], an old business rival that Scrooge bankrupted by accident (bankrupt the Maharajah has since recovered from). How does Jubal worthily impersonates the vizier? He [[IncomingHam passes through Duckburg in a gigantic parade that includes even elephants]] ([[ComicallyMissingThePoint Rockerduck's secretary mistakes it for the circus]]), and later welcomes first Rockerduck and later Flintheart in the most expensive suite of Duckburg's most expensive hotel, a suite he filled with treasures, and when Rockerduck shows up he [[RefugeInAudacity casually offers him a cup of diamonds (as in a cup filled with diamonds), a bucket or emeralds, or a few platinum ingots ("They're fresh, just arrived")]] ''[[RefugeInAudacity as if they were snacks or drinks]]''. No wonder he casually managed to get Rockerduck and Flintheart to sign their contracts without reading...
42* In "Donald and Reginella's Wedding" the planet Pacificus was occupied by the armies of the Mighty Bingo and enslaved the inhabitants who, due their pacifism, are unable to resist his middle ages-level forces. The only hope is to bring there Donald, but the only one who could ''physically'' go and survive in the outside time would be Reginella herself, who is held prisoner by Bingo [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe who want to marry her]]... And she and her subjects find a way around that:
43** The plan is to choose the strongest among the young people of Pacificus and have ''everyone'' transfer some of their energy to allow him to go and bring back Donald, but Bingo won't allow them to assemble for the choosing... Cue Reginella casually and effortlessly manipulating the tyrant, with such ease she even calls him an idiot in her mind.
44** The chosen one is about to be captured before he can jump on the sideral perissiodactyl (a pterodactyl that can fly through space), and, while stronger, can't fight back... [[StopHittingYourself But nothing forbids him from suddenly stopping with an extended fist and let his would-be captor run into it nose-first]].
45** Having recently dreamed about Reginella's trouble, Donald is ready with a double-barreled shotgun, lots of salt shells, and a mega-boombox. [[OneManArmy And that's all he needs to deal with Bingo's armies]]:
46*** First he crashes the wedding by shooting Bingo right in the ass, ''twice'', frees Reginella, and deals with the immediate chase with a few shots.
47*** After a while Bingo comes with his entire army... Cue the boombox playing a song meaningfully titled "Torment of the Grinder". A few notes and salt shells later, Bingo and his army surrender.
48*** Donald's terms of surrender are awesome by themselves: he has Bingo and his men melt their weapons and armor into agricoltural tools and sends them back to the home they left because they were too lazy to work, and now they will have to work for a living... Or Donald ''will'' come for them.
49* In "Reginella and the Terran Threat", Reginella originally planned to deal with said threat, a vacation village for vips that could ruin Pacificus' way of life and pollute the planet, by having Donald become its director and manipulate it in the desired direction, but then she learned the very presence of so many Earthlings was causing an illness that could drive the Pacificans to extinction... And so, having to chase them off, [[LetsGetDangerous she finally cut loose with her psychic powers]], [[HeroicSacrifice fully expecting to die in the process]], and a single psychic blast was sufficient to have ''every single Terran except for Donald (who wasn't targeted) too terrified to remain for even a single minute more''. What's more, ''she survives''. Disfigured, but survives, and is still strong enough to personally give Donald a handerchief embroidered with the next date of Pacificus' arrival to Earth before having him go too.
50* In "Wintertime Wager" Donald had lost his home to Gladstone due a stupid dare. How does Donald get the house back? Easy: ''Daisy'' gets it back for him, by reminding Gladstone of his own stupid dare that he'd have to complete or give Donald his house back, and when Gladstone could not drink a gallon of lemon juice in a hour...
51* "Brigitta's Strawberries" is one of the early stories with Brigitta and starts like the other ones before, with Brigitta trying to woo Scrooge and him rejecting her... Then quickly turns in a WhamEpisode when his latest rejection and then not searching for her when she decides to give him the silent treatment prompt her to go into WomanScorned mentality:
52** First thing she does is to call in a passing Jubal Pomp and tell him they're going to give Scrooge a lesson... And Jubal, who first debuted by ''kidnapping'' Brigitta, puts himself in her service, as he ''knows'' Brigitta can do it.
53** Before opening her business, Brigitta sends Jubal Pomp to spread the rumor she has some important secret just to prove he needs her. And when Scrooge falls for it and tries to spy on her, he finds himself in a cage and forced to ''beg'' for [[SupremeChef her awesome cooking]]. And this is just the warning shot.
54** After recovering from her little prank, Scrooge continues with his latest project, selling strawberry cakes, and completes his factory and secures the best strawberries in the world, but feels like something's wrong. In the meantime Brigitta has built her own factory and launched a ship, [[InexplicablyAwesome with no previous hint she had that much money or the credit to loan it]], ''lets'' Scrooge corner the market... And then she starts selling her own strawberry cakes, ''stealing every single one of Scrooge's customers''. And nothing Scrooge tries can stop her, as the strawberries in her cakes are just that much better.
55** Trying to find out where she gets her strawberries, Scrooge tries to follow her ship. She finds out, ignores him for a while, and then just disappears. And comes back to Duckburg with tons of strawberries shortly after Scrooge has returned, making him realize she never got far away.
56** The next time Brigitta sets sail Scrooge follows her again with a submarine, and discovers two things: Brigitta's ship is actually a sub itself... And she's making her cakes from a wild strawberry variety that grows ''on the bottom of the ocean''. And she had known about it for who knows how long.
57** After her attempts at legally barring Scrooge from taking her strawberries fail, Brigitta manages to turn his victory in a PyrrhicVictory by simply telling everyone where they grew. By the time Scrooge shows up to collect them, not only his competition has taken every single strawberry, Scrooge's fleet ''accidentally killed the species'' by filling the area with the polluting exhausts of the ships. And she knew. [[WomanScorned Don't screw with Brigitta]].
58** As he finds out, Scrooge faints and gets ill from the shock. What does Brigitta do? Why, she acts as his personal nurse, both to enjoy the time with the duck she still loves... And to prove once again he ''needs her''.
59** A corollary: in later stories, Scrooge tends to ''panic'' whenever he finds out the competition that has just appeared from nowhere is Brigitta in WomanScorned mode, as he now knows well that the only thing keeping her from being a rival more formidable than even Rockerduck and Glomgold is that ''she usually can't be bothered to try''.
60* The two stories set during UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar prove just [[BadassFamily how formidable the Duck Family is]]:
61** "Donald, Hero of Duckburg", has the modern day Donald tell the nephews about how his great-grandfather Donald (that is, Grandma Duck's father-in-law) became a war hero: after a Confederate unit occupied Duckburg, he's forced to join the Union Army by his uncle to escort supplies for the troops trying to retake it in the face of just how invulnerable Fort Duckburg is... And he not only helps delivering most of the supplies, but due the interference of a Confederate officer (Gladstone's great-grandfather, and just as lucky) he delivers the munitions carriage to the fort... ''In flames''. The following explosion turned Fort Duckburg in the ruin Scrooge would find thirty years later and allowed the Union forces to retake Duckburg, effectively winning the war on the West Coast (the Battle of Duckburg was stated to have been the decisive one in the theatre). There's a reason Donald was (in-universe) named after him...
62*** Post-battle awesomeness: the Hero of Duckburg was awarded the Medal of Honor. By the circumstances, it appears that his action was so decisive that ''Lincoln ordered to award him the Medal on the field as soon as he received the news of the victory'', as the medal is awarded right after the battle by a brigadier general.
63** "Donald and the Wind of the South" features Donald Butler, the Confederate-aligned cousin of the Hero of Duckburg-and his CharacterDevelopment from a coward expelled from West Point for lazyness to someone who Donald (proud grand-grandson of a Unionist war hero), called him his finest relative. For Donald Butler did the following:
64*** Distribute goods that his uncle had hidden away for engrossing at a later date, keeping him from pressing charges by pointing out he'd get lynched for it;
65*** Beat up a far larger deserter that was threatening his LoveInterest Paperella O'Hara-who openly despised him.
66*** Volunteered to bring a cargo of cotton to Britain to buy weapons for the Confederate Army-and when the profiteer Rock Jaffery burned it because it was the property of Butler's uncle, forced him to give up ''a hundred thousand dollars in gold coins''.
67*** Stumbling again on Jaffery after setting sail, he boarded their ship and, finding it full of weapons and other supplies, he delivered those to the Confederate Army. And found out Jaffery had ''stolen them from the Confederates''. Too bad the war ended at the wrong time for him to get him arrested... From the Confederates, for the Unionists, upon finding out of what happened from Butler's friend Charles, went and did the job for him
68*** After the war ended, he used those gold coins to save Paperella's plantation from Jaffery. It's implied that Paperella fell for him for that.
69*** And he did that while finely dressed and ''without expecting any reward'', as it was the right thing to do for the citizens of Atlanta (that had a very poor opinion of him due his uncle telling everyone why he had been expelled from West Point and later refusing to enlist in the Confederate Army as he knew they couldn't win the war). His reasons were good enough that the Union Army, that had arrested him as a profiteer due Jaffery framing him, not only let him go even if he had taken part to the Confederate war effort, but let him keep the gold they had confiscated as evidence.
70*** At the start of the war, Paperella confronts him on his refusal to enlist-and Donald replies with an abridged version of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S72nI4Ex_E0 Rhett Butler's famous speech]]:
71---->'''Paperella:''' "And you won't go at war, Donald Butler?"\
72'''Donald Butler:''' "Nope! I'm a pacifist."\
73'''Paperella:''' "Pacifist or... Coward?"\
74'''Donald:''' "Not at all. This war is already lost. The Union is rich, they have factories and raw resources."\
75'''Paperella:''' "The Confederation is rich too!"\
76'''Donald:''' "Yes, rich of cotton, but wars are won with guns. Believe me, this war is lost from the start."
77* During a 1994 story, Scrooge had got the plans for ArtificialGravity by a stranded time traveler in exchange for help building a time machine, only to have said plans snatched by Rockerduck's agents claiming to be the [[TimePolice Guardians of Time]] and that it's illegal to introduce technologies from the future. Thus Rockerduck introduces and ''patents'' artificial gravity, Scrooge is left despairing at that while the time traveler has discovered that 1994 technology isn't advanced enough to build a time machine... And that's when the ''real'' Guardians of Time take notice:
78** As introducing future technology in the past ''is'' illegal, they move and quickly track down the time traveler to Scrooge's Money Bin, in what from their point of view is about ''one minute''.
79** Upon being informed of what happened, they leave the time traveler there for a moment and go back in time to the moment Rockerduck was receiving the plans for artificial gravity from his agents, confiscating them and leaving a baffled Rockerduck with a warning.
80--->"[[DidntSeeThatComing Who'd have expected that]]? My idea was so good it turned out being true."
81** After that they go back to the Money Bin... The night of that day, where they inform Scrooge and Donald of what had happened (leaving them confused due the mechanics of time travel) and recover the time traveler to bring him back to his proper time.
82** This story was published right when some of the authors at Disney Italian's division were creating ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures''... And that appearance was apparently so good they actually went and included the Guardians of Time as the Time Police, to the point of one of the main characters being their surveillance agent for the period. The story [[Recap/PaperinikNewAdventuresS1E42TimeWreck Time Wreck]] is even a WholePlotReference to this one, down to the Time Police having the same uncanny ability to track a stranded time traveler under normal conditions (the events of a previous story making it hard for that specific span of time).
83* Every time Ms Quackfaster and Quackmore show [[HypercompetentSidekick what kind of people one must be to work directly under Scrooge]]:
84** In "Miss Paperett e un caso di normale amministrazione", Ms Quackfaster thwarts the Beagle Boys and Magica by herself in the same day... And treats it as a normal day at the office.
85** In "Magica and the Seven Volcanic Witches" the titular witches, each more powerful than Magica, attack the Money Bin while only Quackmore is there. He single handedly holds them off, and when they start overwhelming the defenses by drawing on their volcanoes' powers he thwarts them by hiding the Number One Dime in a secret witch-proof vault... And when Scrooge finds out of the attack and calls Quackmore is already fixing the damage and [[{{Understatement}} talks of the attack as a spot of trouble]].
86** It's repeatedly shown that ''nobody'' can keep up with Scrooge's insane working rhytm and demands, with any twenty employees, and even his sisters, Donald and the Nephews, falling into exhaustion in a very short time if they try without a few dozen people helping them. There's three exceptions to this rule... And two of them are Ms Quackfaster and Quackmore:
87*** As his personal secretary, Ms Quackfaster easily manages Scrooge's schedule and directs the work of the other employees of the Money Bin. The rare times she quits over the insane schedule whoever hires her profits... And Scrooge's office and schedule become an unmanageable mess, forcing him to ''beg'' her to return and untangle the mess. Something she does on the first day.
88*** Quackmore has an incredibly small budget for food and other work-related expense, and has to cook and clean everything but the coins by himself. The Money Bin is spotless, and his food is varied, healthy, and, most incredibly, abundant. [[LivingLegend Butlers all around the world know him as the best of them all for it]].
89** The Money Bin is defended by multiple heavy guns, including four black powder cannons, an old gunpowder field gun leftover of the Boer Wars, and an unspecified 149mm artillery piece residuate of the Royal Italian Army, whose spare parts and ammunition are out of production. Thanks to Quackmore's work, all guns are in perfect condition and fully supplied of ammunition, and, as shown in ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'' if needed he can be counted with scoring a ''headshot at multiple kilometers''.
90* "Gladstone and the Solitude of the Four-Leaf Clover" has a few moments near the end. Having overheard his relatives can barely suffer him, Gladstone left for the countryside and made himself a new life, without the family even realizing he had relocated... Then Grandma Duck passes by while ''escaping from Duckburg'', and informs him that in the last few weeks the city had been hit by catastrophe after catastrophe and now it's being evacuate. Cue the awesome:
91** Hearing Grandma Duck telling him what was happening in Duckburg, Gladstone realizes it was ''his immense luck'' that had been holding the disasters at bay. So he goes to check the news, sees Duckburg is being hit by a flooding of biblical proportions, and ''takes the train to Duckburg''. Said train was going to Duckburg to pick up the last evacuees, including Ludwig Von Drake, who instead sees Gladstone coming down and ''ending the flooding just as he walked by'', to the amazement of Ludwig, the would-be evacuees, and ''all the country'', as Ludwig was live on tv. The moment Gladstone reaches his old home, the rain ends on the spot.
92** Then there's Donald and Scrooge, who not only were so stubborn they ''refused'' to leave... They were still thriving.
93*** This is hijacked by Gladstone, at least as far as Donald is concerned: Donald had been decisive in pushing Gladstone to leave, so the lucky Gander, knowing his cousing was too stubborn to leave, made a point of passing in front of his home so he could be spotted ending the flooding.
94* "The Hundred Goals Tournament" is centered around a six team futsal tournament with a massive sports center, the Hundred Goals Village (so named because it included ''fifty'' soccer fields), as the prize, as the owner, the sports-loving billionaire D. Ribbling, was planning to retire that [[DidNotThinkThisThrough thought this was the best way to insure his most prized possession would end in the hands of someone who'd continue his sporting legacy]], and had not accounted for Scrooge, Glomgold, Rockerduck, and even Jubal Pomp trying to win the tournament to redevelop the land (only Donald's team and the Beagle Brats weren't planning for that, and even then the Beagle Boys had entered their kids for less than noble reasons). Cue awesomeness as everyone's plan intersect each other:
95** Jubal Pomp's plan: [[BoringYetPractical auction off the place to whoever offers the most]], for once avoiding his usual AwesomeYetImpractical plans for something that would actually work.
96** Donald getting Ribbling to see reason, though only after his team got crushed by Pomp's. By this point Ribbling can't exclude the businessmen's teams filled with young promises... But can give him his own grandson, a champion futsal player, and his own experience, quickly turning the team in arguably the strongest in the tournament.
97** Scrooge being Scrooge, he hired Gladstone as coach for his team... And Jeeves, now the coach for Rockerduck's team, knows he's screwed unless he somehow gets around Gladstone's luck. ''He does just that'': spying on Gladstone he discovers he's playing it safe with a propitiatory ritual that ends with him getting a fortune that he only reads at sundown that will obviously come true, and on their game's day he sneaks him a fortune saying that Rockerduck's team will win.
98*** Having experience with Paperinik overcoming his luck, Gladstone had his deputy train his team well, just in case, so his team was losing "only two-nil" by the time the first half ended... Then Gladstone, having realized someone hijacked his luck, reads the fortune, realizes what's happening, and, even fearing he'll lose his luck forever, ''rips the fortune'', because those kids are counting on him and he can at least put them on even ground. Turns out he doesn't lose his luck but gets it back on his team's side... And since the other team had lazed around counting on it, Scrooge's team utterly crushes Rockerduck's.
99** The Beagle Boys' plan: they're not only taking advantage of the distraction posed by the tournament to attack the Money Bin while Scrooge is distracted, they mobilized some relatives with useful skillsets for this job. [[NearVillainVictory They came very close to succeed]] before being foiled by the Nephews.
100*** The following game has the Beagle Brats ready to physically destroy Donald's team and force them out of the tournament in revenge for the Nephews getting their entire family arrested... But then one realizes they're the only chance to stop Scrooge's undefeated team from winning, and they start bickering. Cue Ribbling's grandson literally walking in their goal as the starting point of the most one-sided game in the entire tournament as the team gleefully takes advantage of the bickering.
101** When it comes to the final game, Scrooge, knowing he's facing a team co-coached by Donald Duck, decides to stack the deck by buying the best players of Rockerduck, Glomgold, and Jubal's teams early enough that Gladstone and his deputy can form a proper team out of them. ''Donald's team scores first'', and [[HopeSpot even if Scrooge's manages to score themselves it's clear they have the upper hand and with the many goals scored on the Beagle Brats they'd win the tournament if they won the game]]... At least until Gladstone orders his team to use the ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catenaccio Catenaccio]]'' and waste the entire game, forcing a draw and winning the tournament.
102*** The fact Gladstone was playing for keeps the entire time, and knew how to use his dream team's skills the best and casually shutting down the one team that could beat him.
103** During the course of the tournament Scrooge had taken advantage of it to sell sporting goods, [[LetNoCrisisGoToWaste so that whatever happened he'd turn a profit]]. With the tournament won he can redevelop the land, and after a few months he unveils what replaced the Hundred Goals Village: the ''Thousand Goals'' Village, as he took a look at how much his sales had increased, how his family and even Gladstone had reacted to the realization he was going to raze the place and build a shopping mall, and decided instead to expand the sports center tenfold and turn it into a selling point for his sporting goods businesses.
104
105[[folder:The Amazing Adventures of Fantomius-Gentleman Thief]]
106This Italian series is dedicated to Fantomius, the GentlemanThief whose journal inspired Paperinik. Living in the Duckburg of the RoaringTwenties and the early thirties, lord John Quackett AKA Fantomius, his fiancee-accomplice Dolly Paprika and his friend [[GadgeteerGenius Copernico Gearloose]], are doing heist upon heist to humiliate the {{Upper-Class Twit}}s of Duckburg, always in style and awesomeness and defeating [[SympatheticInspectorAntagonist commissar Pinko]]'s attempts at capturing them. And every single story is made of awesome.
107* The series existing at all: the previous attempt at using Fantomius outside of flashbacks, the Danish story "The Legacy" and its sequels, had utterly failed in the goal due rampant ContinuitySnarl (worse of all, replacing Dolly Paprika with an original character and ignoring the fact that Fantomius ''died'' well before Donald found his journal, as stated in the first story). This time instead we get a series that respects the previously established continuity about Fantomius ''and'' the general Disney Duck continuity while being awesome all around.
108* In the first story "The Monte Rosa" Fantomius steals the titular diamond under the eyes of dozens of witnesses and ''[[SympatheticInspectorAntagonist Pinko]]''. Then he notices the owner of the diamond had replaced it with a fake for an insurance scam... So Fantomius goes back, actually steals it plus some money as compensation for making him come back, ''and'' reveals his crime to the police.
109* In "Fantomius' Break-Out" Pinko brags to the radio that Fantomius would never be able to break out once arrested. So Fantomius gets himself arrested and unmasked, breaks out, steals the jewels of the loan shark in whose home he had been arrested, ''returns to the jail from the main gate and breaks out again'' leaving behind [[LatexPerfection a mask with his face]] to convince Pinko he wasn't lord Quackett, ''just to prove he could''. Ladies and gentlemen, the duck who will inspire Paperinik.
110* In "Fantomius on Board" Fantomius steals a necklace on a ship. It's implied he did it ''under Scrooge's nose'' (Scrooge isn't shown, but Fantomius had a mask to replace him, implying he was in fact on that ship).
111* In "Brutfagor" Fantomius is in Paris and steals a golden mask from the Louvre. What's more, he does it in spite of Hercule Paperoit, a NoCelebritiesWereHarmed version of Literature/HerculePoirot, being there to stop another thief... And Paperoit doesn't even notice him until ''after'' he committed the heist ''and'' served him the other thief on a silver platter.
112* In "Silence in the Theater" we find out that ''United Artist is making movies about Fantomius and Dolly Paprika, with [[Creator/DouglasFairbanks Ducklar Fairbarks]] and Gloria Squackson (AKA Gloria Swanson) as the leading actors and [[Creator/DWGriffith David F. Griffit]] as the director''. Just this is awesome on its own... Then Fantomius uses the new movie they're shooting to commit a caper, and ''Pinko is there to try and stop him''.
113** Bonus point for the story being in the style of the silent movies.
114* In "The Curse of the Pharaoh", Fantomius casually humiliates a crooked archeologist and gets his hands on the map for a silver mine. He also escapes Pinko by ''jumping down of a window after grabbing a bandage from the archeologist's mummy disguise'', with Pinko too busy stopping the archeologist from falling down to give chase.
115** A picture on a table indicates what Fantomius did during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI: the AcePilot.
116* "The Eighth Wonder of the World" has multiple ones (and you may have already guessed one):
117** For starters, it features a cameo of Quackmore Duck and the [=McDuck=] sisters. Given Italy used to have an AlternateContinuity where Grandma Duck was Scrooge's only sister, just sneaking this in is pure awesome.
118** After that Fantomius' sees the target of his newest caper: Bong, a ''giant gorilla''. That Fantomius decides to bring back to his island... Except flashes from photographers scare him, and he kidnaps Dolly. Who ''calms him down'', allowing Fantomius to bring him to his submarine for the travel.
119** Fantomius' submarine. Especially because it's an actual submarine, well before anyone else found a way to keep a boat under the water for an undetermined span of time.
120** When Bong's captor asks Pinko to stop Fantomius otherwise he'll bring the ape back, the chief of the police has only one thing to say:
121--->"That's what I hope! It would be the only caper of his that I'd approve!"
122** The crowner: what has happened here ''inspired Merian C. Cooper into making '''[[Film/KingKong1933 King Kong]]'''''. No names altered, just a mr. Cooper quipping it could make a good movie, the captor telling him it would flop and daring him to do it, and the final panel including a poster of ''King Kong''.
123* ''Fantomius on the Snow'' has Fantomius committing a heist by having ''Pinko'' give a necklace to him while faking being a nobleman disguised as Fantomius. Except Paperoit was there and had guessed what Fantomius was planning, so he replaced the necklace with a fake... [[OutGambitted And gave it to a disguised Dolly]]. Sorry, Paperoit, [[OvershadowedByAwesome as good as you may be, Fantomius is better]].
124** The ending panel shows one of Fantomius future opponents: [[Literature/SherlockHolmes Paper Holmes]].
125* "The Mask of Fu-Man-Atchoo" has Fantomius and Dolly dealing with a madman who wants to mind-control the pharmacists of the world into never making anti-allergy drugs and share the pain ([[LampshadeHanging even Fantomius finds this crazy]])... And Lady Senape, a DarkActionGirl who happens to have been Fantomius previous accomplice before he met Dolly. She's strong, she's skilled... And Dolly [[CurbStompBattle beats her up so hard she]] [[EasyAmnesia loses her memory]].
126* In "The Spoils of the Barkservilles", Fantomius and Dolly go to Britain to steal the titular treasure... And succeed in spite of Paper Holmes' presence. Still, Holmes has its own success: he has no evidence to prove it, but has deduced that Fantomius is lord Quackett.
127* In "The Treasure of the Doge" Fantomius goes to Venice to steal the symbols of the Doge's power, but has to give it to the mysterious sect known as the Guardians of Venice, who have captured Dolly and replaced her with a fake... Except that looking, moving and speaking like Dolly Paprika is not enough to convince Fantomius you're the real deal, so he replaced the treasure with random trash.
128** The two final panels have two surprises for all readers: the Supreme Guardian takes off his mask, revealing himself as looking like Copernico, Fantomius' GadgeteerGenius, and what appears to be ''Scrooge [=McDuck=] returning to Duckburg''.
129* "The Nobleman Behind the Mask" is Fantomius' OriginStory. At first he was just a British gentleman, second son of the duke Andrew Quackett and his French wife Marie Lamont, who moved to America, in his family's Calisotan properties, and mused on how to deal with the hypocrisy of the other rich and noblemen. Then he saw Copernico (who he had just befriended) being framed by the baron Von Duck for two thefts he didn't do (he ''did'' build what was used to open the safes, but Von Duck asked him for it, stole a ruby from another noble, feigned having been robbed himself to frame him, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and didn't pay Copernico for it]])... So he decided that the one thing that can defeat a thief masquerading as a gentleman is a gentleman masquerading as a thief, grabbed Copernicus' sping-heeled boots, fryer mushroom (a mushroom-like device that fries and melts locks) and the safe-opener prototype and, wearing an outfit once used by his older brother for a masked ball plus a blue silk mask, strolled in Von Duck's home, opened the safe, put the stolen ruby on his desk, and ''called the police to expose Von Duck''. Then waited, and when Pinko arrested Von Duck and made him confess Fantomius jumped back in, grabbed the ruby, left a literal CallingCard presenting him as "Fantomius-Gentleman Thief", and jumped out before Pinko and the shocked cops could even ''think'' to stop him.
130* "The Rings of Cagliostro" have Fantomius and Dolly trying to find the treasure of the Count of Cagliostro before Lady Senape (who is now working with the Supreme Guardian)... And left her with a sack of buttons. And, being a gentleman, he shared the treasure with the owner of the dilapidated castle where he found it, so he could repair it.
131* "The Treasure of Francis Drake" is ''made'' of awesome:
132** The opening: back in 1585, ''Francis Drake'' coming to New Albion, the village placed where one day Duckburg would be founded, to take revenge on Richard Quackett, the Mad Duke of Duckburg (an old character of Carl Barks [[ArcWelding that this series has made in one of Fantomius' ancestors]]) for some unspecified crime... And when he's informed, ''the Mad Duke doesn't care'': he knew he'd come and was ready, and takes the time to thank his friend the Count of Bad Luck for warning him by giving him a portrait of himself.
133*** The Duke's home: a middle-age like castle built on ''the West Coast of the United States''. That he built just because. And he had built ''two'' other castles: Three Towers' Castle and the Castle of Dismal Valley.
134** In the present lord Quackett finds out that a model was kidnapped with the gem-encrusted gown he was targeting, and the current Count of Bad Luck is arrested when the model, after being freed, identifies a room in the impoverished Count's castle as the place where she had been held... Except lord Quackett quickly realizes it was a frame-up [[AwesomenessByAnalysis by simply asking how long it had been between she had been held in the castle and being released at lord Quackett's doorstep]]: about half an hour, when it takes over one hour to go from Villa Rose to the Count's castle. That's also enough to realize where she had been held: the castle of the Mad Duke himself.
135** At the castle, Fantomius and Dolly are searching for the room where the model had been held, and find two new doors. Which one is the right one? [[TakeAThirdOption The third]], hidden and opened by the only undusted brick.
136** After the third door they find an exact copy of the Count's lounge and one of Francis Drake's journals, that reveal exactly what was his beef with Richard Quackett: joining his crew and then staying in New Albion ''with a large part of the loot destined to the Queen''. ''Trying'' to steal from that loot and expecting to get away with it was something Drake called madness, hence him calling Richard Quackett the Mad Duke… Except [[ConspicuousConsumption the Mad Duke did it, used the money to build himself three castles, buy the lands near Drake's outpost of Fort Drakeborough, give some of it to charity, and still had enough to live in luxury]]. And when Drake came for revenge ''he couldn't find the gold''. Part of which he sneakily passed to his friend the Count of Bad Luck… [[GoneHorriblyRight Who couldn't realize he had it because it was hidden too well]].
137** Back at the Count's castle Fantomius looks at the portrait of his ancestor, the only way the Mad Duke could have passed the gold to the ancient count,, and, after noticing the the Duke stands before Three Towers' Castle and the writing “Ars Est Celare Artem”, “Art Is in Hiding Art”, deduces the gold is in the castle. That's when Howard Drake, descendant of Francis Drake, appears, gives a MotiveRant of how he wanted to recover the gold and [[SinsOfOurFathers make the descendants of the Mad Duke and his friend pay for making a fool of his ancestor]] (hence the frame-up and trying to implicate lord Quackett by releasing the model on his doorstep) and thanks Fantomius for the pointer… Except Fantomius lied: he had noticed someone was spying on them and made that claim to send them in the wrong place… Before calling Pinko on him. Bad guy dealt with without even dirtying his hands on him.
138** But where was the gold? In the Count's castle: ''[[RefugeInAudacity the Mad Duke painted his portrait over it]]''. And Fantomius, being a GentlemanThief, leaves most of it to the Count.
139** Finally, TheReveal of [[TheManBehindTheMan who gave Howard Drake the journal of his ancestor]]: the Supreme Guardian. Who has a secret lab in Three Towers' Castle. And is actually Copernico's EvilTwin Cartesio.
140* "Fantomius in Egypt", in which lord Quackett and Dolly go to Egypt to try and find John's missing brother Henry, has a few:
141** Lord Quackett and Dolly are abandoned by their guide in the desert. They decide to wear their costumes, and as Fantomius and Dolly Paprika are captured by desert bandits who bring them to their leaders, the guide. [[AwesomenessIsAForce Who apologizes as soon as he realizes he was dealing with Fantomius and Dolly Paprika]].
142** After recovering Henry's journal from the bandits, Fantomius and Dolly find where he is: ''Atlantis''. That was covered by the sands where the sea where it was dried up, but still survives. And Henry is not a prisoner: [[IChooseToStay he could escape whenever he wants]], and helps his brother and Dolly doing so, but he wants to stay with the queen, who he married.
143** The final sequence, back in Duckburg... With ''Scrooge [=McDuck=] back in town for a few days'' [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments and asking of his sisters]] but missing them as they're out of town, [[TearJerker preventing their possible reconciliation]]. Also, it's an awesome moment for the guy who's with Scrooge: ''Cartesio Pitagorico'', who will now install the first defensive devices to the Money Bin. Whatever he did to talk Scrooge into this, deserves this trope.
144[[/folder]]
145
146[[AC:Villains]]
147* Magica de Spell throwing Scrooge into a panic by sending him a threatening ''Valentine!'' Top points for style, dahling.
148** It was the early Creator/CarlBarks story '' Ten-Cent Valentine'', for the curious.
149* Flintheart Glomgold discovering "The Eye of Manco Capac" in ''The Son of the Sun'' before Scrooge, then pointing out that even though Scrooge may have claimed the rights to the ''gold'' in the area, there's absolutely no gold in his far more valuable find; The Eye Of Manco Capac turns out to be a massive disc filled with priceless gem stones, all set in a foundation of ''platinum'', rather than gold. (Don't worry, of course he doesn't get to keep it.) There's also the fact that Glomgold was the one who figured out that the gold in the temple wasn't the real treasure, since it had been brought there to hide it from the Spanish invaders, centuries after the temple was built, but the legend of an invaluable treasure long preceeded the gold, meaning that there had to be something else hidden inside.
150* Arpin Lusène is generally made of awesome, but the fact that he goes for AdaptiveAbility by going back and fixing the universal solvent armor of the flaw that defeated it the first time, then terrorizes Scrooge's "Mooney Been" far more effectively.
151* In one comic where Donald buys a bit of land, it turns out to be one Scrooge and Rockerduck has been fighting over (they have a comparison about who owns more land- the winner will be allowed to use the other's land for a season), despite the lot being rather worthless. John D. Rockerduck shows up mere seconds before Scrooge is about to buy the piece of land from Donald for a single dollar. Rockerduck proceeds to offer Donald a big check. Donald is ecstatic, and Rockerduck doesn't even gloat, just drives home.
152* Every time the Beagle Boys succeed, even temporarily, is one for them:
153** In one occasion they allied with Magica, who gave them superpowers. They had Scrooge on the ropes, and while two ended up defeating themselves through sheer stupidity, the third was about to single-handedly ''demolish the Money Bin'' before Scrooge took advantage of his gluttony to trick him into giving up on the powers...
154** At one point, after one failure too many, they decided to not attack the Money Bin anymore and targeted Duckburg's other billionaires. A week later, they were rich, casually waltzing through the defenses of the other billionaires because, compared to Scrooge's, they were nothing.
155*** Turned against them by Scrooge, who first sells his defenses to the other billionaires, so the Beagle Boys, realizing the situation, launch an attack to the Money Bin... And Scrooge captures them with improvisation and ''cleaning supplies''. That he proceeds to sell to the other billionaires when they demand to have the new super defenses too.
156** In one occasion Scrooge, after taking Karate lessons for two weeks and becoming a "World-class Karateka", went to threaten them into leaving him alone... And [[OhCrap found Grandpa Beagle and six of his grandsons wearing karategi alongside his teacher]]. Turns out ''they'' arranged for Scrooge's lessons, paying his teacher to fake teaching him Karate and a few bullies to pick a fight and take a dive, to give him enough confidence to not use his usual defenses when they next attacked the Bin and find out the hard way they had taken ''actual'' Karate lessons, and the plan worked so well that Scrooge went at their home to threathen them. Had the Nephews not arrived with Gyro's weakness-inducing ray, they would have won.
157** Their most elaborate and successful scheme is in "The Lentils of Babylon". After discovering [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashurbanipal king Ashurbanipal]] personal stash (he ''really'' liked them), and unable to profit from the legendary recipe because the lentils won't grow more, they export them to Duckburg, then can and sell them to a certain African country, who then sell them to their neighbour country, and so on until the Beagle Boys buy them back... And, due the complicated exchange between the local currencies, the transation ended up giving them ''ten times the expense of exporting and canning them''. Rinse and repeat, and perfectly legal, with them canning them with linen oil to make sure nobody in Duckburg will eat them.
158*** Then Scrooge eats some and likes them so much he plans to make a whole economic empire out of it and almost buys out the Beagle Boys, with their attempts at stopping him failing due his skills with advertising. What do they do? They sell him their last share in exchange for ''his entire fortune and economic empire''. And when Scrooge finds out everything they don't even gloat, they just give him a place to stay and a document where they state they'll give him everything back if he can make a single lentil grow into a plant.
159*** What they did when Scrooge actually ''succeeded'' to grow a lentil into a plant (by accident): it appeared they kept their word and left... But, [[HappyEndingOverride as revealed in the sequel "Scrooge's Fate"]], [[ProperlyParanoid they were keeping an eye on the vase where he planted the last lentil]] and stole it, forcing Scrooge to regain his fortune the hard way.
160** Their schemes in Paperinik stories tend to be especially noteworthy, as they have to compete with a far more formidable opponent than usual:
161*** A story had our hero accidentally go to the future. Without him around, the Beagle Boys had Duckburg almost robbed blind by ''hiring new Beagle Boys and training them in their tactics and skills'', even with the Nephews stepping in for their uncle after discovering he was Paperinik - and when Paperinik arrives and tracks them to their hideout, they ''almost overwhelm him''. They only lose because Paperinik had the foresight of getting the Nephews to follow him.
162*** In "La Marcialonga Furtiva" (Criminal Marathon) the Beagle Boys, make a few attempts at low profit, low risk thefts, but after someone always stumbles into them and ruins the theft by accident they decide to ''get everyone out of town for a day and rob the city blind''. How? By setting up the titular marathon... And offering Paperinik's identity (that they don't know) as the prize. ''Everyone but Paperinik enters the race''. It ends with a ''furious'' Paperinik getting them caught in the act by their victims (because just beating them up wasn't enough for the scare they caused him), but they still tricked the entire city with ease.
163*** In "L'Amnesia Furfantesca" they stumble on a knocked out Paperinik, and take a look under his mask. Then Paperinik wakes up but doesn't remember anything... So Grandpa Beagle ''tells him he's their leader''. Cue Paperinik and the Beagle Boys robbing Duckburg blind... And not knowing if and when Paperinik would recover his memories, they kidnapped the Nephews as insurance.
164*** In "Brains at Stake" Scrooge had a new defense for the Money Bin: an ''intelligence sensor'' that would open the gate only to someone as smart as him or more - something difficult, given Gyro measured him as [[BrokeTheRatingScale twice as smart as the previous smartest duck known]]. What do they do? They go to Gyro, ask him if he has a device that emits intelligence brainwaves, and since he has one they ''steal it and use it to shut down the defenses'', before entering from the main gate and starting to fill four large tank trucks with the cash. And when Scrooge and the Nephews catches them in the act they waste no time in holding him at gunpoint and kidnap him for ransom later, something that forces Paperinik to scheme a lot to get around them having four hostages.
165* In one story, Gyro and Donald were having a race against Magica and Mad Madam Mim for possession of the Number One Dime. Near the goal Magica and Mim tried to take their opponents out, only to have all their spells countered by Gyro... Cue Magica deciding to just beat the crap out of them, and ''matching Donald blow for blow in a fistfight''. The race ends in a draw because Donald and Magica took each other out ''and'' knocked the other two out as collateral while also bringing everyone past the goal at the same time.
166* Magica's power level varies across continuities,but all of them maintain how her true power lies in her smarts. Aside from being [[{{Determinator}} unwilling to stop pursuing the Dime no matter what]], for all ridicule she sometimes gets from other witches, Magica is incredibly capable, able to locate, acquire and understand some of rarest spells and artifacts around the world. Another factor in her being such great threat is her sheer unpredictability and creativity. While other antagonist, though tricky in their own right, generally follow same modus operandi, there is no end and limit to variety of Magica's schemes, which are only increased with her magical powers and knowledge, allowing her to come up with rather impressive and often bizzare plans that sometimes require lowkey [[RealityWarper alteration of reality]]. She will turn off gravity, turn into a giant bird, start a cult, brainwash Scrooge, take away his greed, burst in with a machine gun...
167** In Italian comics Magica is perhaps at her most powerful. She generally doesn't do a lot of (relatively speaking) impressive and bombastic magic, because she only desires the Dime and needs to conserve her magical reserves for the flight from Duckburg to Italy and for her ritual (Duckburg being in America, making it awesome in it's own right, as Magica is regularly travelling from one continent to another and then back again, often faster than planes), and Scrooge is [[WeaksauceWeakness well-equipped with garlic]]... And it is repeatedly shown that, if she wanted to, she could easily raze Duckburg to ground, [[HumongousMecha Scrooge's high-tech defences included]].
168** One thing easily overlooked is that Magica can actually be ''humble'': for all her powers and abilities she accepts that Scrooge is just that good, so she plans for it, takes advice from other witches, and occasionally requests or takes the help of Roberta, a witch that is far weaker than her but more than compensates with her greater knowledge of exotic magics and {{Magitek}}, and has helped her in some of her most successful schemes.
169** One thing to note is that, among the regular characters, Paperinik is basically unstoppable in direct combat... With the sole exception of Magica, who is the only regular who can match him blow-for-blow. They have many off-page battles, but it's implied they went like the one actually shown, when Paperinik tried to raid her home thinking she had stolen something he was tasked with recovering: Magica overpowering Paperinik's gadgets and weapons one-by-one until the sheer enormity of his arsenal tires her out, allowing his ''slightly'' better stamina to give him a chance to defeat her.
170*** Speaking of their one on-page battle, it was an extremely close thing... And she almost won: when she was about to fall down from exhaustion she realized Paperinik didn't have special vision equipment and made herself invisible, and was sneaking up on him to use a stun bomb when Ratface woke up, saw Paperinik near her home, and, not knowing what had happened, pushed a button to make Magica show up, annulling her invisibility and allowing Paperinik to hit her with his ''last'' weapon.
171** Some of her greatest hits are:
172*** Her very debut, "Midas' Touch". In which she has effectively no powers, only disguises and her "Foof" stun bombs... And repeatedly outsmarts and outplays Scrooge, Donald and the Nephews. And when she's about to melt the coins she notices she has to go through a narrow passage ideal for ambushes, tells herself that there's no way Scrooge and the others have reached her so soon... And ''throws a stun bomb just in case'', [[ProperlyParanoid flushing out Scrooge and Donald from their ambush positions]]. The only reason she loses is that, at the very last moment, she's jumped by the Nephews, who in the meantime procured extremely dark glasses that shield them from the bombs, and manage to surprise and overpower her.
173*** The first thing she does in "Midas' Touch": [[RefugeInAudacity walk into Scrooge's office, tell him her plan, and offering to buy a random dime he touched for a dollar, acting hammily and expecting to be taken for a loon and prompting Scrooge to sell him some coin just to get rid of her]]. ''It works'', at least until Scrooge realizes he accidentally gave her the Number One Dime... And he still thinks of her as a loon up until she decides the Number One Dime would make a better ingredient than a random coin and throws a stun bomb. [[OhCrap It's only when they wake up from it that Scrooge realizes he's not dealing with a loon]].
174*** "Midas' Touch" exposed her as [[SquishyWizard physically weak]]... So apparently she went and worked out, because, as said above, in a later story she gets in a fistfight with Donald and ''matches him blow for blow'', ending in them knocking out each other, Gyro and Mad Madam Mim because they're so engaged in the fight they don't even notice when their BigBallOfViolence runs over the other two and carries everyone into hitting a windmill with enough force to take everyone out.
175*** How the race where the fistfight happened came about: during one of her attempts on the Number One Dime she managed to grab it but was injured and Scrooge had her broomstick... So she pulled out a vial full of ''magma'' and threatened to just ''destroy the coin'', forcing a stalemate until Mim teleported in and suggested the race. Better yet, she could have still destroyed the Number One Dime and ''still'' been able to complete the Midas' Touch: she actually need ''any'' coin owned by Scrooge, the Number One Dime just works better.
176*** The 99 Caves of Spelonca. The caves host a number of dangerous tasks, with the reward for each being an ingredient of the potion to obtain the powers of Spelonca, [[TheArchmage the most powerful witch ever]]. Ever since Spelonca's death of old age many have faced the Caves, but none managed to pass the halfway point and had to give up due the injuries. Cue Magica and Ratface, who, seeking a way to overpower Scrooge's defenses, waltz through the Caves in ''three days'' before finding in the final one a magic-repellent giant spider that could actually beat them-up until Ratface produced knitting needles and ''knitted its web into a trap to neutralize the spider''. The only reason Magica failed to get the powers was that the final ingredient happened to be her worst enemy's most prized possession, that is Scrooge's NumberOneDime... But she still got everything else where every other witch in centuries ''failed''.
177*** The Y-Beagles. As mentioned above, she once gave three Beagle Boys superpowers that allowed them to defeat the Money Bin's defenses... ''Single handedly''. That time Scrooge was on the verge of utter defeat, and was only saved by the Beagle Boys' own stupidity and klutziness. And the best part is that Magica ''had that spell just lying around'', she just couldn't use it on herself... But the moment she and the Beagle Boys met at the theater watching a superhero movie, she told them to follow her and gave them overwhelming superpowers.
178*** In the Italian story "Uncle Scrooge and the Wonderful Old Slipper" Magica finds the recipe for a potion that will make an object irresistible to anyone who sees it except the owner before adding the potion. What does she do with it? Why, she uses it on an old slipper that she sells to Scrooge for ''his entire fortune and economic empire''. She had won so completely she didn't even need to use the NumberOneDime for that amulet anymore, and it would have stuck had Donald and the nephews not destroyed the slipper, allowing Scrooge to use one of his old planes (whose custodians still apparently don't know of the transfer of property) to go to Naples, find the last of the potion ([[GenreSavvy that Magica had thrown away just in case]], but had missed a very small part), and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard use it on a button to have Magica give back everything in exchange for the button]].
179*** Scrooge's main motivation to defend his money and the Dime is his greed. So, with Roberta's help and a one-off artifact, she ''took it away''. While she's foiled by the Triplets using on Donald an identical artifact to make him greedy and take over Scrooge's fortune until they both wear off, it was a close thing... So in another story ''they figured out how to do it again'' so they could make him waste his money, get him interdicted, and ''take over his financial empire''. And when said greed took Donald as host, they ''chased it out again''. And when the greed took over the Nephews and Quackmore, [[RuleOfThree they did it again]], this time with a dash of brainwashing. They were on the verge of victory when the greed went back to Scrooge, at which point they had exhausted the unique resource allowing for the spell...
180*** One Christmas story reveals that, for six years in a row, she had ''[[RefugeInAudacity requested the Number One Dime from Santa]]''. And when, on the seventh year, she found out from her niece Minima that by doing it for seven years in a row Santa would ''have'' to give her the Dime she flew to Santa's home, [[OneManArmy overpowered all of Santa's assistants]], gave him the letter, and went back to Duckburg on his sled to watch ''Santa Claus get through the anti-witch defenses of the Money Bin and steal the Number One Dime for her''. And when Scrooge convinced Santa to help him get it back, she ''beat Santa in a fight '''on Christmas Eve'''''. The only reason she lost was that while she was flying to Santa's home Minima had replaced the Dime with a chocolate coin (the Bin's defenses at the time were triggered by evil intentions, and as Minima just wanted to give her aunt a Christmas present the defenses let her pass) that threw the spell out of whack.
181*** Gaslighting Paperinik until he accepts to steal the Number One Dime for him in exchange for her magically enforced promise to not do it again, as she knows he can just walk through the Money Bin's defenses with ease... And knowing Paperinik would try and recover the Dime as soon as he had given it to her and he usually won their battles by exhaustion, she had prepared a ''rocket-powered broom'' to get back to the Vesuvius and make her spell before he could stop her. Paperinik wins this by having Gladstone disguise as him and give Magica the Dime while he goes to the Vesuvius early, but [[DidntSeeThatComing she couldn't have expected the notoriously paranoid Paperinik to use a replacement]].
182*** As the first time she had forced Paperinik to help her had worked, she decided to try again... Only, this time she insured his compliance by ''learning his secret identity'' and threatening to expose it. And when it came to take it, she easily anticipated him trying to slip her a [[LaserGuidedAmnesia memory-erasing candy]] when he proposes a celebratory toast, only losing because [[BatmanGambit he expected her to demand they swapped glasses and so spiked his own]] and, knowing she'd forget, swapped the Dime with a fake.
183*** When her raven familiar Ratface fell for the raven familiar of a wizard she had a poor relationship with, the two ravens decided to run away and elope... But Magica, unwilling to lose her MoralityPet, instead went out, picked a fight with the wizard, and then ''threw it and manipulated him into becoming her friend''. And she was improvising - one moment she was helping Ratface preparing for the elopment, the next she was shouting in anger and promising she'd settle things so he'd be able to stay before walking to the wizard's shack.
184*** Magica's battle with [[TheArchmage Archmage]] Mondor, who had been tasked to review various witches and, after being humiliated by Magica at table soccer, challenged her to train Scrooge's family and have them beat a team composed by eleven of the strongest soccer players in history (mostly from the future and alien worlds, but one being [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Parola Carlo Parola]] in a LawyerFriendlyCameo) on pain of losing her powers if she failed. ''She succeeds'', at least until Mondor cheats... But when he's exposed, the tens of thousands of magicals who watched the match are so impressed by her taking eleven amateurs against eleven champions and winning without cheating their admiration restore her powers.
185*** At one point Magica realizes she can use Rockerduck's own first coin to create a power-boosting sceptre, as long as said coin is given willingly... So she uses her ''charm and good looks'' to bewitch Rockerduck into confirming he preserved his first coin and obtain it. And once she uses it to make a sceptre bulldozes through the defenses of the Money Bin... And, remembering how many times victory had been snatched from her hands at the last moment, makes sure to keep Scrooge and family contained, Donald and the Nephews through an invisible barrier around their home she placed ''before'' coming out in the open and attacking, and Scrooge by placing a ''spider {{Kaiju}}'' around the Money Bin. The only reason Scrooge can mount a counterattack is because he had anticipated a situation where the Money Bin could be blockaded and preserved the Beagle Boys' tunnels to escape underground and Rockerduck, feeling guilty at his part in the debacle, called him to reveal what happened and offer his help. And they still nearly fail when they try and jump her at the Vesuvius because [[ProperlyParanoid she had set up a detection spell in case Scrooge somehow got away from the spider]], only losing because [[UnderestimatingBadassery she didn't think Rockerduck could pose a threat]].
186*** In another occasion she teams up with [[WomanScorned a scorned Brigitta]], so that Scrooge will move to her home rather than try and tough up after she hits him with a spell. What spell? One that makes him ''allergic to cash'' and gives him terrible hives in the presence of even a single coin, forcing him to leave the Money Bin. It fails when Scrooge tricks her into thinking the Number One Dime is in the main pool right before the Beagle Boys attack, but she had still forced him out of the Money Bin. The same story reveals Magica has nothing to fear from Gladstone's otherwise invincible luck, as she also has a spell to turn good luck into bad luck.
187** The Italian story "Origin of a Sorceress", one of Magica's origin stories, show how formidable she was even before her many battles with Scrooge... Or even before becoming a full-fledged witch (or rather, [[InsistentTerminology a sorceress]]), showing just why she thought Scrooge would be a piece of cake:
188*** Her sheer determination and raw talent: after learning her parents died in an explosion in the attempt to achieve the MidasTouch she ''immediately'' realized it could be pulled off by using the coins of many rich persons (and many WhatIf stories showed she's correct), and when her uncle threw her out in the attempt to make her desist she instead started teaching herself magic and work to maintain herself as she traveled through the world.
189*** One of the few things she has from her mother is a plushie raven. Her very first successful spell? Bringing it to life as Ratface.
190*** Her first known retrieval of a coin: she walks up to her first target and [[PragmaticVillain tries to buy from him a coin he touched repeatedly]], and when he reacts in anger and tries to have her thrown out she replies with a Foof bomb, has Ratface open his safe, and then they retrieve a coin and walk out, [[InsistentTerminology with Magica calmly correcting him and declaring she's a sorceress when the guy shouts "Someone stop that witch!"]].
191*** Her second shown retrieval, though a much later one, is from someone implied to be none else than ''the Maharaja of Howdoyoustan'' (the previous richest man in the world). Once again she offers to buy his coin collection, once again the mark orders her thrown out... But since the Maharaja has four guards presents she can't just stun him, so she pulls out a wand and ''turns the guards into human-elephant hybrids'' that can't move due having human bodies and elephant heads. The Maharaja immediately surrenders his coin collection... Though Magica only keeps the one he touched the most.
192*** After the Maharaja's coin she makes her first attempt at creating the Midas Touch charm, but it fails and she doesn't have much money anymore... So she uses what else she still has to buy a piece of land on the Vesuvius and build her laboratory, and then [[CutLexLuthorACheck starts selling charms and potions to the locals]]. Between the Neapolitans being notoriously superstitious and her wares actually working, she quickly becomes wealthy... And can resume her search.
193*** Having decided she needs the coins of the richest people in the past alongside the present ones, Magica starts tracking them down. One of the retrievals shown is in a pharaoh's tomb, where she casually reanimates the pharaoh's mummy and has him reveal to her where the secret treasure chamber is.
194*** A later retrieval, the last before she learns of Scrooge, has her target a museum containing the coins of many rich people in history, a museum too well protected for the spells she has at the moment... So she turns Ratface into a large humanoid with SuperStrength and has him tear apart the gates.
195*** Magica knows she's beautiful and has no qualms using her looks to achieve her goals, but also that Scrooge wouldn't budge. So in one occasion she transformed in a different but still very beautiful duck, marched up to the Money Bin, and ''applied for a job'', expecting Scrooge to be so distracted by her looks he wouldn't notice her stealing the Dime. And ''she was right'': he was completely bedazzled until he smelled sulphur and realized he was dealing with Magica. But since it had worked, she decided to try again in a way that would eliminate the telltale smell she has due living on a volcano, and spent the rest of that story searching for a fan with that precise effect. It worked, and Scrooge and Donald, who were trying to get the fan before her, were so charmed they simply stared without thinking that this beauty could be the witch they ''knew'' was in that area trying to become hotter until the Nephews (too young to be distracted by her looks) stole the fan while she was busy looking at her image reflected in a pond.
196* "Magica and the Seven Volcanic Witches" is generally a moment of awesome for Magica:
197** Right after the latest failure against Scrooge, Magica is visited by the Seven Volcanic Witches, whose leader, Irma of Yellowstone, has decided not to wait for Magica to defeat Scrooge to obtain the wish she was promised in exchange of informations about him but instead wants to realize the Midas' Touch herself. The Volcanic Witches, who draw their powers from volcanoes (especially the one they reside near), attack... And their first attempt is an embarrassing failure thanks to Magica's own anti-witch defenses. It takes Irma [[PowerParasite actively drawing power from the volcano and her fellow Volcanic Witches to penetrate the defenses]].
198** The story delves a bit in Magica's retrieval of the other coins after Scrooge steals them and gives them back to the original owners... Because, true to her modus operandi, she always offered to buy them first, and one of the billionaires actually accepted in exchange for her planting thousand of trees on the infertile land near his home. [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome Magica pulled it off better than the billionaire expected]], so he peacefully gave her the coin... Twice, because as far as he was concerned now the coin was hers and gave it back to her as soon as she showed up.
199** Initially Magica had reacted to the theft of the coins and the Volcanic Witches betraying the friendship she thought existed between them by retiring... But when Grilla, [[TokenGoodTeammate the one Volcanic Witch who actually considered Magica a friend]] and had warned her of Irma's coming attack, shows up to ask for help as Irma is clearly going insane Magica unretires with a plan to deal with the mad witch:
200*** First of all she talks three other of the Volcanic Witches into going to her side, one immediately and two others into feigning they had been captured, so when Irma and the remaining two show up at the Money Bin holding Scrooge's family as hostages they can see if Irma actually cares for her coven sisters. [[BatmanGambit She doesn't]], and they switch sides. ''All'' of the Volcanic Witches, as [[EvenEvilHasStandards they were unsettled from the start by what Irma demanded]] and only followed her through fear, and [[MachiavelliWasWrong now they have enough]].
201*** Irma deals with the others by using her power-drawing spell to steal all the powers of the cover for herself and even drawing power from the very core of Earth, endangering the planet, and threatens to destroy the Money Bin if Scrooge doesn't cough up the Number One Dime... Except Scrooge doesn't have it: Magica has it and the coins the Volcanic Witches haven't claimed, [[ProperlyParanoid just in case Irma managed to defeat the other Volcanic Witches]].
202*** Irma quickly tracks down Magica to the cargo ship she's using to escape and threatens her, also adding she knows she's not stupid enough to oppose her. Magica replies by pointing out many claims to know her but in truth only her grandmother does... And then points out something Irma had missed: whenever talking of the Volcanic Witches to one of them [[InsistentTerminology Magica had always called them YOUR sisters]] because, contrary to Irma's belief, she isn't one herself, she just lives on a volcano out of convenience. She's actually an ''Oceanic'' Witch... And that's when [[OhCrap Irma realizes she's screwed]], as Magica has lured her far away from any volcano and ''in the middle of the Pacific Ocean'', [[GeoEffects where Magica is all but invincible]]. [[CurbStompBattle Irma is promptly defeated]] and [[{{Depowered}} deprived of the stolen magic and even her own]], at which point Magica confiscates her broom and drags her back to Duckburg so the newly repowered Volcanic Witches can drag her to trial for her stunt.
203** The reveal Magica is an Oceanic Witch brings every past fight she had against any opponent into a new light: away from the sea her powers are diminished (even in Duckburg and Naples, two sea ports, are enough to weaken her as the Money Bin and the Vesuvius aren't directly on the sea)... And yet she came dangerously close to win multiple times while not in full form. Considering the kind of power she showed in the middle of the ocean, Scrooge would have been defeated years ago had the Money Bin been closer to the coast.
204----
205''See also Awesome/DuckTales.''

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