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These are the characters that revolve around Darkwing and his inner circle. They are seen the most throughout the show.


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    Darkwing Duck/Drake Mallard 
Voiced by: Jim Cummings (English), Arturo Mercado (Latin American Spanish), Sergio Zamora (European Spanish), Ryūsei Nakao (Japanese), GĂ©rard Hernandez (French), Nelson Machado (Brazilian Portuguese), Anders Ă–jebo (Swedish)
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/darkwing_duckhero_pose.jpg
"I am the terror that flaps in the night!"

The series' protagonist is the egotistical yet clever hero of St. Canard. He works freelance in some episodes for the spy organization S.H.U.S.H., but otherwise seems to have no other job but as a crime fighter.


  • Action Dad: To Gosalyn, endangering her is a quick way for him to get dangerous.
  • Aesop Amnesia: How many times did Darkwing learn to put aside his pride and get serious/ask for help/play well with others/etc.? Probably about once an episode.
  • Affectionate Nickname: He has two; Launchpad calls him "D.W." and Morgana calls him "Dark."
  • Alliterative Name: When not in his civilian identity of Drake Mallard.
  • Anti-Hero: He's unfailingly ardent to fight crime, seeks to rectify wrongdoing and always tries to combat villainy, but he's easily irritable, incredibly vainglorious, a shameless Attention Whore, and has no problem with villains being killed on his watch. At his worst he teeters on the edge of Well-Intentioned Extremist.
  • Arbitrary Skepticism: In "The Haunting of Mr. Banana Brain", he refuses to believe that the events surrounding Paddywhack's box are supernatural for some time...this despite the fact that his girlfriend is a witch.
  • Attention Whore: His very first scene has him exiting the police station after apprehending some criminals... and disappointed that there's no press waiting for him outside.
  • Badass Biker: When he rides his Ratcatcher.
  • Badass Normal: Has no superpowers, but much like another caped crusader, he pulls through against super villains with some impressive wit and athleticism.
  • Battle Couple: With Morgana, mainly during the Justice Ducks two-parter.
  • Berserk Button: Woe to anyone who steals his spotlight, even if it's unintentional.
  • Beware the Silly Ones: At first glance, you probably wouldn't take him seriously for all his childishness. But woe befalls any villain who makes that mistake. He's the guardian of St. Canard for good reason.
  • Big Ego, Hidden Depths: "Inside Binkie's Brain" shows that while Darkwing Duck's 'inner hero' is fairly small, his ego is enormous. But this is a guy who puts his own life in danger for those he loves on a regular basis, adopted a little girl who desperately needed a father who understood her, and he even puts up with his royally annoying neighbors, Quackerware and all. "Life, the Negaverse, and Everything" shows how vitally important his role as father is to him.
  • Break the Haughty: Most episodes deal with quelling, managing or outright deflating his massive ego so he can stop the bad guy.
  • Bunny-Ears Lawyer: A capable crime fighter of his own right, but often hampered by his massive ego and short temper.
  • Butt-Monkey: Maimed and pummeled on a daily basis, barely getting any respect for his heroic deeds... The universe is really out for him.
  • Can't Live with Them, Can't Live Without Them: Darkwing frequently gets irritated by Launchpad's Cloud Cuckoolander tendencies. However, he's not happy when it looks like he might leave the planet in "U.F. Foe" and some kind of danger threatening to take Launchpad away from him will provoke a mad dash to protect his sidekick. Launchpad's relationship to Darkwing is not an example, as he's much more easygoing and rarely gets irritated with him.
  • Character Catchphrase: Several:
  • The Chew Toy: He's accident-prone, to say the least, and the world seems to enjoy picking on him. Admittedly, he offers plenty of chances to do so with his stubborn insistence of doing things the comic-book way.
  • Chick Magnet: Darkwing managed to get kisses from Morgana, Neptunia, and the Princess of Oilrabia, along with charming other female characters so he definitely qualifies for this trope.
  • Coat, Hat, Mask: Noticeable when asked about whether he should be prowling the city wearing a hat and mask, he asks 'What, no cape?'.
  • Cool Bike: The Ratcatcher. Not so much the Quackcycle, though.
  • Cool Plane: The Thunderquack, a state of the art jet created by Launchpad as a homage to Darkwing.
  • The Cowl: An Affectionate Parody of the archetype, especially Batman and The Shadow.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: The badass part usually comes out if somebody threatens Gosalyn.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: He's even mistaken for a robber in "Getting Antsy" by the Hamburger Hippo cashier. "Night of the Living Spud" has a bunch of redneck truckers mistaking him for a vampire (at least until he mentions knowing one of their friends).
  • Dating Catwoman: With Morgana who initially started out as one of Darkwing's foes.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Frequently and practically a Stepford Snarker. For example,
    Gosalyn: There's something strange about that Bug Master.
    Darkwing: Yeah, she's in a bug costume threatening a cockroach. I'd call that strange.
  • Detective Animal: Darkwing does detective work from time to time and is a duck.
  • Determinator: No matter how much beating he takes, he still keeps going until the job is done.
  • Distressed Dude: Whether under a supervillain's doomsday device or under arrest, DW finds himself as this quite a bit.
  • A Dog Named "Dog": Drake means a male duck, while Mallard is a common type of duck. Also a Non-Indicative Name as he lacks a mallard's green and brown coloration.
  • Dude, Where's My Respect?: Depending on the episode, usually this is played straight, with being treated with no respect from anyone, no matter how many times he's saved St. Canard from complete destruction. This often leads to trouble for those who underestimate them (especially those with legitimate superpowers), because when he gets dangerous he can kick all their asses six ways to Sunday.
  • Empowered Badass Normal: In "Aduckyphobia" and "Going Nowhere Fast".
  • Fatal Flaw: Drake's Pride and constant Glory Hound traits often stops him from stopping the bad guy a lot sooner than he does. It also causes him to lash out at his family and other heroes when he feels they are stealing his spotlight.
  • Fearless Fool: There is such a thing as good timing and the right location for theatrics but DW seems to have never heard of it if his long speeches during his heroic entrances like say hanging from a rope in front of an enemy or standing still on a electric stairway next to electricity-themed supervillain are any indication.
  • Gadgeteer Genius: He's not one to do things halfway, and that includes his superhero gear.
  • Good Parents: Despite his egotistical tendencies, he is shown to be a loving and protective father to Gosalyn.
  • Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Has the coat, hat, mask and cape, but no pants (or shoes) to complete the outfit. Even weirder since his underwear always includes boxer shorts.
  • Handicapped Badass: In "Duck Blind", where he's temporarily blinded and "Steerminator", where he spends the episode in a wheelchair, he still manages to save the day.
  • Hero Protagonist: He is the resident crime fighting superhero of St.Canard, and the show chronicles his adventures.
  • Hero with Bad Publicity: A parody of the concept, to the point where he is pretty much loathed by much of St. Canard, despite putting his neck on the line for the city. In "Dead Duck", it's even revealed that when he died, they didn't even bother giving him a proper burial.
  • Huge Girl, Tiny Guy: Compared to willowy Morgana, he's quite short.
  • I Know Kung-Faux: Darkwing knows Quack Fu.
  • Impersonating the Evil Twin: Done this twice as Negaduck.
  • Informed Loner: Darkwing tries to pull off being a loner at times, but (as with Batman) it's a bit hollow given that he has Morgana, Launchpad, and Gosalyn around, as well as being a member of the Justice Ducks.
  • Intergenerational Friendship: With Honker to an extent, he let him in his inner circle and is the only person in the Muddlefoot clan he can stand.
  • It's All About Me: Thanks to his ego, he often cares about the credit he gets for his heroics rather than the benefit of others, but he can also think of others when he really needs to.
  • I Work Alone: When doing a case, he often prefers to work on his own instead of letting others help him, which proves to be his undoing. Examples include: "Darkly Dawns the Duck - Part 1" and "Just Us Justice Ducks - Part 1".
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Can go toe-to-toe with Daffy Duck in a match of egos, but his thirst for attention is far from mean-spirited and he does come around to doing the right thing, especially if his loved ones are at stake.
  • Large Ham: By far the largest, particularly when he's monologuing.
  • Let's Get Dangerous!: The literal Trope Namer, which announces the shift to the badass part of his Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass side.
  • Loner-Turned-Friend: Darkwing started as a loner, dismissive of assistance from Launchpad and Gosalyn in the two-part pilot episode, but later on accepts the two. (For Gosalyn, however, it's "Loner-Turned-Father".) He still has the tendency to try to do things on his own, though.
  • Karmic Butt-Monkey: The universe tends to pick on Darkwing anyway, but he's especially likely to suffer misfortune/humiliation if he's behaving more arrogant and jerk-like than usual.
  • Made of Iron: He gets smashed, squished, pummeled, and anything else the villain can do to him, but he's still going.
    Darkwing Duck: Darkwing Duck emerges again, singed but triumphant!
  • Magnetic Hero: His real superpower. Though he annoys the heck out of everyone by being a vain Jerkass, he's good at drawing allies and leading them in battle.
  • Manchild: Among other things, he dressed up as a superhero fighting crime (a childish thing to do) without thinking of having a full time job, he argues with his 9-year-old daughter about winning the best cosplay and winning the videogame competition.
  • Mood-Swinger: Darkwing can shift moods at the drop of a hat and tends to express them quite animatedly.
  • Morality Pet: To Morgana in "Ghoul of My Dreams".
  • Mr. Vice Guy: With Pride as his vice. He's supremely arrogant, leading him to alienate allies and boast like a Bond villain... but there's a reason he named Let's Get Dangerous!: that pride is almost all justified, when he actually takes problems seriously.
  • Multiple-Choice Past: He has been given several contradictory origin stories.
    • "Paraducks" had a Stable Time Loop of young Drake Mallard being inspired to grow up to be Darkwing after being visited by his time-traveling adult self.
    • In "The Secret Origins of Darkwing Duck", a janitor resembling Drake in the future claims that Darkwing came from another planet, echoing the origin of Superman. This version of the origin also established that Negaduck was his evil cousin.
    • "Clash Reunion", which appears to be Darkwing's true origins, establishes that he first became Darkwing Duck in high school to stop Megavolt after he went crazy and started using his powers to wreak havoc at the prom.
  • The Napoleon: Darkwing is one of the shorter adult characters in the show but overcompensates with a bombastic and sometimes aggressive demeanor.
  • Nominal Hero: Darkwing's motivation for fighting crime usually falls under one of two motives: reward or his personal relationships. He undertakes many of his superhero missions in hopes of gaining money or fame from them. Others are fought in order to protect people he loves. In any case, however, his motives usually contain more selfishness than those of the average superhero.
  • Papa Wolf: Do NOT, under any circumstances, endanger or threaten Gosalyn. It's the best way to turn him from an egomaniac to a badass. To give a brief idea, the Bad Future where All Crimes Are Equal in "Time & Punishment" came about because Darkwing thought Gosalyn had run away.
  • Part-Time Hero: He originally was a full time hero, but dialed the heroing back so he could raise Gosalyn.
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Darkwing is reasonably short, and often faces villains (or their thugs) who are larger than him. Doesn't mean he has any trouble handling them though.
  • Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: "Let's get dangerous!".
  • Purple Is Powerful: He wears purple and at least tries to come off as a powerful superhero. How well it works depends on the situation.
  • Real Men Wear Pink: His purple cape has a pink lining. His civilian clothes include a pink button down shirt. He's also taken a job hosting women's tea parties and seems to genuinely enjoy housework.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Hot-Blooded Darkwing and easygoing Launchpad are often in the same scene, the better to contrast the two. Some aspects commonly associated with the archetype are played with, however — Launchpad, the Blue Oni, is a redhead who wears a maroon pilot's jacket, and Darkwing, the Red Oni, wears softer, darker colors. (It's also a rare case of the Blue Oni also being The Ditz.)
  • Secret-Identity Identity: Didn't need a civilian identity anymore until he adopted Gosalyn.
  • Shameless Self-Promoter: He has absolutely no embarrassment over acting as his own P.R. manager.
    Darkwing: [To policeman] Another order of dastardly delinquents delivered on your doorstep, courtesy of Darkwing Duck! That's two words, not three, both Ds capitalized. Here's my photo. If the papers need more glossies my number's on the card.
  • Shorter Means Smarter: Darkwing is one of the shortest adult characters in the show and is one of the smartest, well at at least certainly smarter than his towering sidekick, Launchpad.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: Darkwing is his own biggest promoter and even sometimes alleges he can do things he can't just to sound impressive (e.g., his struggles with being a Mr. Fixit in "Dry Hard").
  • Smart Jerk and Nice Moron: Though Darkwing is the primary hero of St. Canard, he's also temperamental and snarky enough to meet Anti-Hero specs. Launchpad is less brainy than Darkwing but makes up for that with a more affable and generous demeanor. Launchpad tends to receive the brunt of Darkwing's irritation whenever he's mad about something, but the other duck does have a semi-concealed soft spot for him. Additionally, sometimes the dynamic gets flipped given that Darkwing can become Too Clever by Half or stupidly bold, while Launchpad proves himself wiser than his comrade or notices things he misses.
  • Something Person: As Darkwing Duck, Arachnoduck and Teapot Duck.
  • Super Hero: Sure he (normally) does not have superpowers and he usually is full of himself, but he has enough brains, skill and gadgets to beat villains who do have superpowers. And above all enough STYLE.
  • Superheroes Wear Capes: A brilliant purple cape, that unfortunately has worked against him now and again.
  • Supernatural-Proof Father: In "The Haunting of Mr. Banana Brain". An unusual case in that (given that Darkwing is a single parent) there is no mother to whom to compare him. However, both Launchpad and Gosalyn recognize that the bizarre events surrounding the box are supernatural before Darkwing admits that it isn't just Gosalyn playing pranks and Launchpad freaking out.
  • Terror Hero: He IS the terror that flaps in the night! Seriously, he tries the spooky-scary tactics against criminals and super villains but they don't take him seriously most of the time and he ends up being the one who feels terror. There are a couple of times however where he will manage to play it to perfection.
  • Third-Person Person: When monologuing, he'll frequently refer to himself as though he were another person.
  • Tiny Guy, Huge Girl: Morgana is almost twice his height, even without her gravity-defying hair.
  • Too Clever by Half: Darkwing in "dangerous" mode is a force to be reckoned with, and as he usually doesn't have superpowers, that comes down to his gadgets, wits, and physical training. However, Darkwing's tendency to do things the hard way (often while gloating about it) can sometimes keep him from noticing something simple that would tell him the same thing. In "Fraudcast News", he nearly ignores the Bugmaster's message in the paper, claiming that "the untrained eye" might fall for that but he plans to use "science", and in one Fearsome Five episode, Negaduck leaves a crumb to lead him to the hideout — and then snidely tells him he knew he'd miss the gigantic flag.
  • Triple Shifter: He used to have no problems with this — he did his crimefighting thing at night and slept during the day. Now that he has to be a single dad during the day, one has to wonder when he gets to sleep. Although if you've seen seen Gosalyn in action, it's obvious parental supervision is a sometimes thing.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: A one-sided version with Launchpad. Launchpad gets on Darkwing's nerves a lot, despite their being Heterosexual Life-Partners.
  • Weirdness Magnet: Since he was a kid; he met his future self, in his teenage years he fought his classmate who turned into a supervillain, he fought a mafia boss who was also a supervillain who turned into a vengeful cyborg, he fought a version of himself from an evil universe, and on a vacation trip he fought an evil alien.
  • Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?: Darkwing Duck has all sort of crime fighting gadgets and equipment, many of them supplied by S.H.U.S.H.. What's puzzling is how he manage to build his own lair inside a bridge tower without anyone noticing it.

    Launchpad McQuack 
Voiced by: Terry McGovern (English), Jean-Claude Donda (French), Akio Ōtsuka (Japanese), Raul Aldana (Latin American Spanish), Tatá Guarnieri (Brazilian Portuguese)
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/launchpad_3.png

Darkwing's sidekick, pilot and back-up Darkwing. Since he never changes his clothing when he goes crime fighting with Darkwing, it's a wonder why anyone else can't figure out who he is.

Formerly worked for Scrooge McDuck in Duckburg; for tropes about him there, see the DuckTales (1987) page.


  • Affectionate Nickname: "L.P.", something Darkwing sometimes calls him (probably in response to Launchpad calling him "D.W.")
  • Big Eater: Launchpad has an appetite as big as his muscles. See any episode where he goes to Hamburger Hippo for examples.
  • The Big Guy: The tallest and strongest of Darkwing's group.
  • Captain Crash: Weirdly enough, subverted for the most part. Per his reputation from DuckTales (1987), he's often mentioned to have lousy landing skills, but his landing skills are actually far better in this series. He usually crashes only when shot down and can otherwise land fine, making this more of an Informed Flaw. In one episode, Launchpad expresses annoyance when a lovestruck Darkwing crashes the Ratcatcher into a lamppost.
  • Civvie Spandex: He wears his pilot's outfit just about everywhere, even when he's fighting crime with Darkwing.
  • Cloud Cuckoolander: Well, his spaciness made him a great candidate for Sara Bellum's psychic ray, since the only safe way to use it is on a subject who doesn't think...
  • Depending on the Artist: His rare appearances without his flight cap on different on how much hair he has. On a few occasions, he's shown to have a full head of hair like he did back in DuckTales (1987), other times he's seen without it he's shown to be near completely bald with the locks on the front of his head being the only hair he has left.
  • Early Installment Character-Design Difference: Compared to how he appears on DuckTales, he has a slight revision where he is a bit less muscular and has a human-like tongue instead of a triangular duck tongue.
  • Fan of Underdog: Unlike most citizens of Saint Canard who most likely bypassed nonchalantly any newspaper articles that referred to a mysterious and clownish vigilante's escapades and shrugged off any encounters they had with him, he made a habit out of collecting all photos and media references to him and was thrilled when he got to meet him in person in his hangar.
  • Fiery Redhead: Averted. Despite being a redhead, he's actually the person in the house who's least likely to get angry, generally playing the Gentle Giant to the snarky and somewhat bratty Gosalyn and the Hot-Blooded Darkwing.
  • Friend to All Children: Gosalyn and Honker (the two major non-villainous child characters) both have a positive relationship with him. See also Intergenerational Friendship.
  • Genius Ditz: Despite being an incredibly incompetent sidekick, he built the Thunderquack (Dark's plane) all by himself and is apparently a brilliant mechanic. He's even better flying the thing! Even his landings are generally better than they were in Duck Tales (although his reputation as a Captain Crash still precedes him).
  • Gentle Giant: Launchpad is loaded with muscle and towers over Darkwing and Gosalyn, but he'd never hurt a fly. In fact, he has has a big heart to match his top heavy build, and is always there to help Darkwing out of the many difficult spots he gets into.
  • Goggles Do Nothing: He can get away with wearing them because he's a pilot, but he really does not use them all that much.
  • Grease Monkey: He takes the role of the team mechanic, particularly with regard to the aircraft.
  • Heterosexual Life-Partners: Launchpad and Darkwing live together, work together, and raise Gosalyn together. However, Launchpad keeps his status as a Chick Magnet from DuckTales (1987) (one episode even focuses on him almost marrying an alien queen) and Darkwing has a steady girlfriend, Morgana McCawber, who he was to have married had the series continued.
  • Honest Corporate Executive: When he's appointed as the new CEO of Quackwerks, he actually does a lot of good with the company and former Crimebots/now Herobots.
  • I'm Your Biggest Fan: When he realizes who Darkwing is after their first meeting, he excitedly introduces himself as "your biggest fan." Darkwing perks up at the fact that he has a fan.
  • Intergenerational Friendship: Gosalyn and Honker, it helps that he has some childlike tendencies and is usually very easy going. He also calls Honker his little buddy.
  • Interspecies Romance: At one point, he almost married Tia, an alien queen.
  • The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Launchpad, who already had a number of heroic feats under his belt before coming to St. Canard, goes into full-on fanboy mode upon realizing the guy who fell through his roof is Darkwing Duck. In an unusual case, Darkwing (eventually) accepts him as a sidekick, so he winds up working with his hero on a regular basis as opposed to a one-time mission.
  • Lethal Chef: In "Can't Bayou Love", he bakes brownies that immediately send Darkwing to the water cooler for a long drink. He does mention that he "improvised" a little, but what exactly he put in the brownies is never made clear.
  • Limited Wardrobe: Launchpad's apparent lack of another outfit came up in passing more than once.
  • Manic Pixie Dream Guy: He is revealed to have played this role for a young alien princess named Tia in "U.F. Foe." Growing up, Tia was so focused on learning what she needed to know that she never slowed down and relaxed. The easygoing Launchpad "gave [her] the gift of laughter" and she fell in love with him partially on that basis. It's even deconstructed a bit, given that Launchpad points out that fun isn't the only important component of a relationship.
  • Misery Trigger: Just like in DuckTales, Launchpad reacts very poorly to being rejected by someone whose opinion he values. Darkwing has been known to trip the trigger at times.
  • Nice Guy: While Launchpad has things which set him off, he's generally quite easygoing, patient, and friendly.
  • The Nicknamer: He continues to do this whether he's working for "Mr. McD" or Darkwing. His common Affectionate Nickname for Darkwing is "D.W." On at least one occasion he also called Gosalyn "Gosaroonie."
  • Papa Wolf:
    • During "Dead Duck", Launchpad tries to step into Darkwing's role of protecting Gosalyn. He gets curbstomped by Megavolt during a scene cut.
    • Additionally, during "Time And Punishment", the Launchpad from the Bad Future Gosalyn ends up in kayoes Darkwarrior with a frying pan after he threatens Gosalyn.
  • Red Is Heroic: Launchpad is a redhead who wears a maroon pilot's jacket. He's Darkwing's partner in fighting crime and generally one of the friendliest characters in the show.
  • Scarf of Asskicking: Wears it as much as he does the goggles but it's a good look for him.
  • Secret Public Identity: Launchpad is often seen with Darkwing Duck as his sidekick ... yet none of the myriad villains, criminals, police officers or autograph hounds seem to care enough to look him up in the Saint Canard phone book. Except one time, when Launchpad was mistakenly reported to be Darkwing himself. Justified as one villain referred to Honker, Gosalyn and Launchpad as Darkwing's Fan Club, so people think they just follow him around.
  • Sidekick: He's Darkwing's partner in crimefighting.
  • Stalker without a Crush: During "Darkly Dawns the Duck". From the moment he crashes through Launchpad's ceiling during an opening chase with Taurus Bulba, Darkwing cannot get rid of the pilot. Launchpad isn't in love with Darkwing; he's just a fanboy who wants to make a good impression on his favorite real-life superhero. Darkwing ultimately finds this to be a positive thing as Launchpad proves to be the only source of help he has, given that he's alienated everybody else.
  • Top-Heavy Guy: Very brawny upper body and long, thin legs.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Inverted. Going from private pilot to superhero's sidekick might seem like a step up, but in Darkwing Duck, Launchpad displays a lot less of an Action Hero side than he did in DuckTales.
  • Undying Loyalty: Launchpad is always loyal to Darkwing, in spite of the duck knight's Hero with Bad Publicity status, Glory Seeker nature, and snarking at his expense. Even on the (extremely rare) occasions when he's angry at him, he'll usually step up to help him again if Darkwing is actually in trouble. Lampshaded in the Duckcthulhu storyline from the comics when Morgana, having doubts about her relationship with Darkwing, asks Launchpad about the reasons behind his own relationship with him, noting that Darkwing isn't the easiest person to deal with and that Launchpad's stuck with him longer than anyone.
  • Universal Driver's License: If it has wings, he can crash it.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds: A one-sided version with Darkwing. While Darkwing will not let anyone get away with messing with Launchpad, he frequently finds him irritating. Launchpad rarely minds his crime-fighting partner's insults and is fiercely loyal to him.

    Gosalyn Mallard 
Voiced by: Christine Cavanaugh (English), Sophie Arthuys (French), Marli Bortoletto (Brazilian Portuguese), Rossy Aguirre (Latin American Spanish), Yuriko Fuchizaki (Japanese), Antonella Baldini (Italian)
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gosalyn.jpg

Drake's adopted daughter, she's a spunky, thrill-seeking trouble maker. She often goes on Darkwing's missions even though he normally wants her to stay home, where she's safe. She never cleans her room.


  • Affectionate Nickname: "Gos" is this.
  • Big Eater: Oh boy, she literally cannot control her appetite, she can eat over 1000 times her own body weight in food as a snack! Basically she can outeat a whale with what she eats for breakfast. It's a wonder Darkwing Duck can even provide enough food to satisfy her for an hour! In one episode, her appetite pretty muck took over and she ate pretty much all the food in the country and she was ready to raid England's food reserve! Yep, she's a grade A glutton.
  • Book Dumb: Granted it's never really elaborated on, but it's still there. In "Whirled History", she thought Marco Polo discovered France, for one thing. On the other hand, it's often also implied it might not be an intelligence issue but just a lack of drive, as she's frequently shown trying to shortcut her way out of hard work. In the aforementioned "Whirled History", "AstroDuck" calls her out on doing this in her dream, suggesting that she's at least subconsciously aware that this behavior is a problem.
  • Bratty Half-Pint: She has her moments where she does little but irritate every villain she comes across. She is also a handful for Drake and her teachers.
  • Character Catchphrase:
    "Keen gear!"
    "Cool beans!"
    "Major league impressive!"
  • Cute Bruiser: Resilient and cunning, Gos can put up a fight when she needs to.
  • Daddy's Girl: As much as she can get on Darkwing's nerves, he'd do anything to make sure Gosalyn is safe and happy. She adores him, and he adores her and goes into full Papa Wolf mode if someone even threatens to harm her. Since she has no mother figure, she's also feisty and tomboyish and is eager to join her dad in fighting crime (he's not so keen on the idea as he doesn't like seeing her endanger herself).
  • Damsel in Distress: Despite her spirit and relative competence, she sometimes finds herself in trouble and has to be rescued by Darkwing.
  • Enemy Mine: With Megavolt and Quackerjack in "Time and Punishment" in order to get back to their proper time. She also tends to occasionally get involved whenever members of Darkwing's Rogues Gallery team up with him (eg. "Frequency Fiends", "Twin Beaks", and "Negaduck").
  • Fiery Redhead: Gosalyn is fierce, spirited and has red hair. In her first scene in "Darkly Dawns the Duck", she's playing roller hockey and hits the puck through the window onto Hammerhead's nose. She jumps through the window, shouts "Play it where it lands!", and hits the puck so hard it knocks the opposing goaltender back into his net.
  • Happily Adopted: While she and Darkwing have their disagreements, she clearly loves him just as much as if he were her real father.
  • Intergenerational Friendship: Has this with Launchpad who sometimes acts like an older brother.
  • Kid-Appeal Character: Type 3, she's a little kid and regularly ends up getting into trouble, but she's adventurous and determined and usually finds a way to be useful.
  • Kid Heroine: When she's in her Quiverwing Quack or the Crimson Quackette personas. Issue #4 of the comic series adds another identity: Gosmoduck.
  • Kid Sidekick: To Darkwing, unofficially. He'd rather she stay safe at home, but she never does.
  • The Lad-ette: Meddles in her dad's superheroics, leads his fan club, plays hockey, plays video games, hits, snarks, trash talks, threatens, wears sports jerseys. Yes, all very lady-like. This frequently gets the attention of next-door neighbor Binkie Muddlefoot, who finds it inappropriate.
  • Like Father Like Daughter: One of the reasons it's easy to forget that Gosalyn is adopted is in how similar and in sync her and Darkwing are. They're the same in many ways - a certain ego and impulsiveness, their theatricality and being Competition Freaks, for instance - and Gosalyn also takes on a lot of his quirks and catchphrases outright. Episodes like "Paint Misbehavin'" and "Dances With Bigfoot" make a point of how Gosalyn can be like a miniature version of her father sometimes.
  • Little Miss Badass: Especially as Quiverwing Quack, but even as herself she can usually hold her own.
  • Little Miss Snarker: Usually when Darkwing needs an ego check. Though Darkwing snarks back just as much.
  • Living Emotional Crutch: "Time and Punishment" shows that if Gosalyn ever left, Darkwing might completely break down.
  • Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Masculine Girl to Honker's Feminine Boy.
  • Morality Chain: "Time and Punishment" demonstrates that Darkwing might go Knight Templar if anything happened to Gosalyn.
  • Morality Pet: Gosalyn is probably the one person Darkwing loves more than himself.
  • Most Definitely Not Accompanying Us: No matter how hard or how often he tries, Darkwing never manages to get her to stay safe at home, far away from the action.
  • Naughty Is Good: Gosalyn is always pulling pranks, causing mischief or otherwise misbehaving. But she's unambiguously on the side of good and wants to be a superhero herself.
  • Nightmare Fetishist: In "The Haunting of Mr. Banana Brain", she wants to hear the story of Darkwing's encounter with Paddywhack as a bedtime story.
  • One of the Boys: There are only a few things that Gosalyn does that can really be considered girly. More often than not she's roughhousing tomboy.
  • Orphan's Plot Trinket: The lullaby from her grandfather.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Played straight with her and Honker. She's a rowdy Fiery Redhead while he is a shy Child Prodigy. They get along quite well, but needless to say, it's an Odd Friendship.
  • Sarcastic Devotee: Gosalyn idolizes her father, but that doesn't mean she's above mercilessly mocking him when he needs to be taken down a peg. Even outside of that, she always sarcastically aware of his faults.
  • Significant Greeneyed Redhead: Although the fiery personality still comes through loud and clear.
  • Slime Girl: Gets transformed into one in "Slime Okay, You're Okay".
  • Tomboy: The writer states that the daughter she was based on was 2 when Gosalyn was designed, and Gosalyn was based on what the writer thought his daughter would be like when she got to Gosalyn's canon age.
  • You Are Grounded!: Gets this a lot from her adoptive father, and not without reason.

    Herbert "Honker" Muddlefoot Jr. 
Voiced by: Katie Leigh (English), Jackie Berger (French), Angélica Santos (Brazilian Portuguese) Diana Santos (Latin American Spanish), Ai Orikasa (Japanese)
https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/char_29806.jpg

The youngest son of Drake's neighbors and Gosalyn's best friend. Honker has a high IQ and helps Darkwing, Launchpad and Gosalyn many times using it. He's also shy and tries to get Gosalyn to listen to her dad, normally to no avail.


  • Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Briefly becomes a giant monster when infected by the evil slime in "Dangerous Currency".
  • Cannot Spit It Out: Due to his shyness, he has a tendency to stammer when he wants to get other's attention.
  • Cassandra Truth: In "A Brush with Oblivion", nobody but Gosalyn believes him when he says he saw Splatter Phoenix in the paintings.
  • Cowardly Lion: Sometimes. Usually he's not very good with confrontations, but is very brave.
  • A Day in the Limelight: Despite being usually no more than a Satellite Character, Honker does star in the episodes "Battle of the Brainteasers" (and its sequel), "Calm a Chameleon" and "Brush With Oblivion." Also, in episodes where Gosalyn is more the protagonist than Darkwing is like "Dances With Bigfoot" he sometimes takes Launchpad's sidekick role.
  • Expospeak Gag: Does this on occasion, prompting Darkwing/Drake and Gosalyn to tell him to spit it out.
  • Extreme Doormat: Seen slightly when bending to Gosalyn's more dominant personality and more prominently when getting bullied by Tank.
  • Improbable Aiming Skills: Several episodes like "That Sinking Feeling" and "Getting Antsy" show that given enough time to calculate trajectory Honker can hit practically anything with all sorts of improbable projectiles. Granted, even if his aim can fix problems, the time he needs to calculate can cause trouble just by itself.
  • Intergenerational Friendship: With Darkwing and Launchpad, while the former lets him in his inner circle and takes his advice from time to time but ultimately is still a parental figure, the latter has more of a bond with Honker and calls him little buddy.
  • Kid Sidekick: To Darkwing unofficially and to Gosalyn; when she's Quiverwing Quack, he's the Arrow Kid.
  • Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Feminine Boy to Gosalyn's Masculine Girl.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: "Honker" isn't his name, but everybody calls him that anyway.
  • Only Sane Man: Between the other main characters and his family, he's the most normal.
  • Out of Focus: Completely vanishes from the cartoon following "Steerminator".
  • The Reliable One: Always by Gosalyn's side when he needs her, no matter what cockamamie idea she ropes him into or how much trouble/danger they get into. She usually doesn't even have to convince him.
  • Remember the New Guy?: Downplayed. He appears immediately in the episodes following the pilot, but was never given a formal introduction. So how he became Gosalyn's best friend and found out about Drake's identity is never explained. Everyone's already familiar with Honker and he's treated as a regular member of Darkwing's circle right from the beginning.
  • Satellite Character: Albeit an often used and very important one, but his main connection to the plot is still that he's Gosalyn's best friend and he never appears outside of that niche.
  • Secret-Keeper: It isn't explained how he found out, but he clearly knows that Drake Mallard is Darkwing Duck, as he's addressed Darkwing as "Mr. Mallard" and Drake and Gosalyn sometimes openly discuss his secret while Honker is in earshot.
  • The Short Guy with Glasses: He's Blind Without 'Em.
  • Shorter Means Smarter: The shortest of the principal cast and is indeed smarter than Gos and LP. While it's harder to determine if he's smarter than Darkwing, he certainly has more common sense.
  • The Smart Guy: As mentioned above, Darkwing may be as smart as Honker but he has a grasp of many advanced scientific disciplines including molecular biology, chemistry, reptilian physiology, classic art and literature at age 9.

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