Breakout Character: He was introduced as just a wealthy miser uncle for Donald Duck by Carl Barks, and took off in popularity to become a famous character in his own right.
Cane Fu: In the present era, as he needs to use a cane to get around but retains his fighting spirit and Badass nature, he naturally uses it as his main weapon.
Celibate Hero: He's been in relationships (notably Goldie), but never married.
Character Development/Characterization Marches On: Scrooge was introduced as a genuine Jerkass, a Robber Baron who was ruthlessly stingy and greedy, well surpassing the meanness and cruelty of his Charles Dickens namesake. As the character became more and more popular and Barks discovered how much potential he had as a protagonist, though, he became a much more heroic figure. This was the interpretation that Don Rosa preferred, and he even used his magnum opus, The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, to explain just how Scrooge could have gone from the hardnosed but good-hearted individual he was in his youth and who he returns to being in the "present" to being the crusty, curmudgeonly skinflint he is when he first appears in the Disney Duckiverse.
Chaste Toons: Definitely in the sense of the trope's function.
Cool Old Guy: Not only does he have a past stuffed fit to bursting with fabulous adventures, he keeps on adventuring despite his advanced age.
Depending on the Writer: Scrooge's ruthlessness and adherence to ethics. Older Italian comics (particularly those written by Guido Martina) tended to portray Scrooge much more in line with his initial Jerkass characterization, veering into Corrupt Corporate Executive territory. Barks himself went back to a more ruthless Scrooge in a few Donald-centered gag stories.
DuckTales, notably, goes the other way, turning Scrooge Lighter and Softer by giving him an openly sentimental streak and sense of family values that he seldom, if ever, displayed in the comics.
Early-Bird Cameo: Though it may be a pure coincidence, a character closely resembling Scrooge made an appearence in the shortThe Spirit of '43 as Donald's "thrifty saver" conscience four years before Scrooge's actual debut in comics, though whether Scrooge as we know him was based on this character is presumably something that only Carl Barks himself would have known.
Good Is Not Nice: After he fully grows into his mainstream characterization, Scrooge is an honest man who does care for his family and holds onto his scruples with an iron grip... but he's also cranky, bad-tempered, and a major skinflint.
Jerkass Façade: Formally established in in the Barks comic "Back to the Klondike." He likes people to think he's a heartless skinflint, because it means that less people try to beg or mooch off him. In one story, disillusioned by how many people outright hated him, he tried to drop the facade and become a philanthropist, only to have everyone walk all over him to such an extreme that he immediately put the facade back up.
Knight in Sour Armor: Scrooge is quite a heroic character, for all his sour, cynical outlook on life.
Lonely at the Top: One of Scrooge's most important life lessons; if you do get wealthy and powerful, friendship is pretty much something you'll have to forsake.
Non-Idle Rich: Scrooge has to keep earning money - business deals, treasure hunts, lucrative gambles - or else he sinks into depression.
Number One Dime: Trope Namer, though whether he actually fits the trope varies from writer to writer — Carl Barks and Don Rosa portray the titular dime's only value as being sentimental (and, for Magica de Spell, sympathetic - it's powerful because it belongs to Scrooge, it's not inherently magical), other writers play this trope straight. Carl Barks did write a story in which Scrooge had an actual Number One Dime; a magical hourglass that, when upset, caused his fortunes to start drying up.
Prospector: Scrooge's first big break came while he was prospecting, though it took him years of hard work. He's prospected for gold, copper, oil, silver, uranium, and just about anything that one can prospect for.
Thrifty Scot: In the Don Rosa canon, this is a family trait of the McDuck Clan, and it's one they're very proud of — the ghosts of Scrooge's ancestors ensure he survives a would-have-been fatal injury when they discover his destiny is to become the most tightfisted tightward the world will ever see. In fact, one of Scrooge's ancestors lost a battle (and his life) because he was too cheap to buy arrows for his archers.
Unstoppable Rage: He makes Donald look like a pacifist in comparison. There is a story where at one point, Scrooge is chained up in a riverboat, with his enemies gloating over him and reading out loud one of his letters from his mother and mocking it. This sends him off the deep end. What followed ended up becoming a LEDGEND in later years, he ripped apart the riverboat with his BARE HANDS (Including hurling two smokestacks and throwing a piano out the window) and dragging the baddies off to jail. In present times, no one is even sure if that incident even happened.
Violent Glaswegian: He's Scottish, has a real short temper, and won't hesitate to get violent.
What Could Have Been: It took twenty years from Scrooge's first appearance in comics (Christmas on Bear Mountain, 1947) to his first proper role in animation (Scrooge and Money, 1967) — and twenty more years until he became a star character in animation (DuckTales, 1987) — but there was actually talk of bringing Scrooge to animation much sooner. In the fifties, when Scrooge's solo comic was beginning to really get popular, The Disney studios contacted Carl Barks to ask him to provide a story for a Scrooge McDuck cartoon, and Barks complied. According to Barks, the story was based around a similar concept to the opening parts of Only A Poor Old Man, with Scrooge trying to convince Donald how happy and carefree the life of a rich man is, while at the same time nearly suffering breakdowns at the thought of thieves or other threats to his money. For some reason, Disney ended up not using this story, and as they couldn't seem to get a grasp on the character of Scrooge at the time, the cartoon was never made.
Scrooge's nephew, who has to tolerate living with his three nephews, being dragged along for treasure hunts, fighting annoying neighbors and cousins, and being between jobs.
The Chew Toy: It's toned down in the comics compared to the cartoons, but he still tends to end up through the wringer.
The Complainer Is Always Wrong: Often, in the adventures he shares with Scrooge and his nephews, Donald is the one most reluctant to come along, and who complains the most... so he's also the one who suffers the most hardships.
Cool Car: Donald's old 313 (a 1934 Belchfire Runabout) straddles the line between this and The Alleged Car.
Cool Old Guy: Played as something of this in PKNA. He's not really that old, it's just that most other characters are pretty young.
Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Most notably as the Duck Avenger, where he sometimes reached near-Batman levels of hyper-competence, but he has many moments where he gets to be Badass just being himself.
Genius Ditz: He's a duck of many talents. Unfortunately, his biggest and most consistent talent seems to be screwing things up for himself whenever things are going well.
Hair-Trigger Temper: Much less prominent in the comic book incarnation of Donald than in his animated counterpart, but still very much a part of his character — after all, he wouldn't be Donald Duck without it.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: No matter how bad-tempered, self-centered or otherwise annoying he may act, he genuinely does care for his nephews and will sacrifice just about anything for their sake.
The Lancer: Serves this role when forced to accompany Uncle Scrooge.
Miles Gloriosus: While he often displays amazing talents, he's got a tendency to brag and exaggerate, promising more than he can deliver. Usually his faith in himself is unshakable — until he's actually called upon to do all those things he's bragged about.
New Job Episode: Donald has much trouble getting jobs. When not working for Scrooge, he is most commonly shown working in a skunk oil factory or a margarine factory, jobs he understandably hates.
Even so, Donald seems to be doing very well for himself at the margarine factory, at least. He once took a test of skills, and the conclusion was that the ideal job for him would be packing margarine.
DuckTales sent Donald off to the Navy for the length of the series, as a plot excuse to leave the three nephews with Unca Scrooge.
It also helps them skip around the problem of him being a main character while keeping the defining trait of his animated self; a voice that is functionally impossible to understand.
A common plot in comics is that Donald starts in a job, and is amazingly good at it, earning money and becoming famous – until he makes a huge mistake that destroys the house, the garden, the road or whatever he’s a specialist in, and has to flee the town.
Typically, it's his arrogance which causes the fateful mistake. He could be anything from a gardener to an explosions expert. He pretty much creates works of art. His confidence increases with each successful assignment. Then he is offered a more demanding assignment, which seems to him like his crowning achievement. At this point he a) attempts to do by himself a job which would require one or more assistants, b) seriously underestimates the difficulties in accomplishing his goal or c) his single-minded pursuit of his goal prevents him from taking a rest, re-assessing the situation, etc. The scene is set for a spectacular disaster.
Supreme Chef: Depending on the Writer to a very high degree, and some comics even depict him as a Lethal Chef, but in most stories where it comes up he's actually a good cook — not quite in Grandma Duck's class, and often limited by the fact that he can't afford to buy the proper ingredients, but a talented enough chef that family members will come running when he's doing the cooking.
A few comics has him being able to make even hotdogs desirable enough to drive big-name restaurants out of business.
The Unintelligible: Subverted in the comics, since there his dialogue is written for us to read.
Played straight on DuckTales, though, where it's a Running Gag for people to ask "What did he say?"
Unlucky Everydude: Although not as bad as in the Disney animated canon, Donald still tends to have absolutely rotten luck.
Donald's nephews (and Scrooge's grandnephews), living with their "Unca Donald," rising within the ranks of the Junior Woodchucks, and causing trouble at home.
Characterization Marches On: They started out as absolute terrors who delighted in tormenting their uncle, but slowly became more sympathetic and mature, until they arguably acted more "grown-up" than Donald in most situations. This change was actually deliberately invoked by Carl Barks, who reasoned that the audience would tire of the boys if they never became anything other than mishchief-makers.
Another common combination in the comics is, or at least was, Huey/blue, Dewey/green and Louie/Red. The change of colors was usually ignored, but sometimes lampshaded and explained as the boys sometimes borrowing each others' clothes.
Deus ex Machina: Their Junior Woodchuck guidebook. There's an entry on how to make dragons sneeze in it, for crying out loud!
Hollywood Nerd: The Quack Pack version of Dewey is a computer geek, but he has the same average look as his brothers save for the hairstyle.
Identical Twin ID Tag: The color of their clothes, at least nominally. In reality, the colorists often vary wildly on which boy wears which color, and since they also wear identical black shirts in the comics and often go hatless or are wearing identical Junior Woodchucks coonskin caps, it's often impossible to tell who is who.
Not So Different: The nephews are as enterprising and risk-seeking as their Unca Scrooge, which is how he warms to them (and why Scrooge sometimes sees the trio as his true heirs over his more skeptical, less-driven nephew Donald).
Parental Abandonment: Their mother is Donald's sister Della Duck, and she apparently asked Donald to take care of them while their unnamed father was spending time on a hospital. And she was never heard from again...
Scrooge: I'm not used to relatives either. The few I had seem to have... disappeared.
Huey, Dewey and Louie: We know how that feels, Unca Scrooge.
Single-Minded Triplets: More apparent in earlier stories, where they were often literally treated as one character with three separate bodies, to the point of sharing all their spoken lines. The trope is still in effect in later stories, but the boys seem to have at least stopped speaking in union and finishing each other's sentences.
DuckTales occasionally subverted the trope by giving them individual character traits — Huey as the energetic leader, Dewey as the smart guy and Louie as the gentle, good-natured tagalong. Quack Pack took these traits and ran with them, making the three boys distinct individuals and completely averting the trope.
Debut: Mr. Duck Steps Out (in animation), Donald makes a hit (in comics) (both 1940)
Donald's girlfriend, who is almost as temperamental as he is, but does have somewhat better self-control.
Diary: Many of the stories starring her are framed as her diary entries, complete with captions where Daisy acts as First Person Narrator. The idea seems to have started with Dell devoting Four Color Comics #600 (November, 1954) to "Daisy Duck's Diary" which featured stories in this format. The idea proved successful enough for one issue each year devoted to new stories from Daisy's Diary. This sub-series lasted from 1954 to 1961. In 1964, Daisy's Diary was revived as a feature in "Walt Disney's Comics and Stories" with several stories published over the next few years. In 1965, new "Daisy's Diary" stories started being created and published in Italy. Followed by Brazil a few years later. This subset of stories has continued into the 21st century. The Inducks database counts 297 stories of "Daisy's Diary" published between 1954 and 2008. Not bad.
Double Standard: Daisy often gets away with leaving Donald for Gladstone whenever it suits her, making ridiculous demands from and sometimes downright mistreating Donald. In her defense, Donald isn't always portrayed as being an all that reliable boyfriend either.
Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Among the Disney Ducks, Daisy is the one that plays the most with this trope: when half-dressed (like in the picture) her rear feathers resemble bloomers, and sometimes she even wears dresses or pants (while everyone else keep their traditional wardrobe).
Positive Discrimination: In the Brazilian comic stories about the McDuck TV channel, Daisy is a way more savvy and effective reporter than Donald and Fethry. Donald gets close to her level sometimes, but Fethry never does.
Duckburg's local inventor, who frequently works on strange and often useless inventions that have a tendency to end up in the wrong hands. Donald and Scrooge are his friends and his most frequent customers.
Bungling Inventor: Sometimes, though his inventions do tend to work perfectly — when problems arise, it's usually due to some detail Gyro has failed to consider, or simply due to unfortunate circumstances.
Chaste Toons: Like so many other Disney comics characters, Gyro too has a nephew, whose name is Newton and who sporadically shows up in stories.
Ditzy Genius: He's brilliant, but sometimes his genius overrides his common sense.
Nice Guy: One of the most genuinely nice guys in the Universe. Tends to veer into Extreme Doormat territory: he has a hard time asking for money for his service, even if it's just to cover his expenses. Which explains why Scrooge is his best costumer.
Inner Monologue: Prone to these in his first solo stories — before the introduction of Little Helper, which gave him someone to actually talk to.
Reed Richards Is Useless: Gyro seems to be capable of inventing almost anything, but generally doesn't focus his work on anything that might be of any use to the world unless asked to. Granted, this may be for the best, since his inventions often go horribly wrong in stories where Scrooge tries to sell them.
There's one excellent story when he actually succeeds in moving Duckburg into the future, but the people aren't ready for it.
Workaholic: loves his job to no end. Attempts to take a vacation or just relax will inevitably end in him inventing new gadgets to relax better.
Little Helper
Debut: The Cat Box (1956)
Gyro's tiny, robotic assistant, who aids him with his many inventions and is sometimes hinted to be just as smart, if not even smarter, than Gyro. Usually he's mostly a Funny Background Event character, but he does occasionally play important parts in the plots and even gets a few Day in the Limelight episodes now and again.
His Name Really Is Barkeep: He's never given any actual name other than "Little Helper" or, more commonly, just "Helper."
He gets a name in some translation - such as "Edi" (after Edison) in Italy, "Lampadinha" ("little lightbulb") in Brazil and Portugal or "Filament" in France.
Only Sane Robot: Where Gyro tends to get carried away with his own brilliance, the Helper is usually far more practical-minded and can generally spot disaster long before it actually happens.
Robot Buddy: With a lightbulb for a head. As revealed in one of Don Rosa's stories, he was originally just an ordinary table lamp that was exposed to the rays of Gyro's prototype "think box" used in one of Carl Barks' earliest Gyro stories, which animated him and gave him sentience. After Gyro initially gave him a set of wheels to allow him to explore a small hole leading to a cavern where all of Scrooge's money had fallen into when the foundations of his money bin gave out, he then replaced the wheels with arms and legs, and the rest is history.
The Watson: Despite not actually being able to talk, he was created by Carl Barks to fulfill this very role: So that Gyro, in his solo stories, could have someone to talk to and explain things to. According to Barks, this seemed less depressing than constantly having Gyro alone and providing exposition through an Inner Monologue.
Gladstone Gander
Debut: Wintertime Wager (1948)
Donald's impossibly lucky cousin. Gladstone's incredible luck allows him to live a life of leisure without ever doing anything resembling working, much to Donald's chagrin. He is Donald's heated rival in almost everything, including Daisy's affections. Everybody — including the writers — loves to hate this guy, but of course, the "Lucky Bastard loses his luck" plot would lose its meaning if overdone; it was actually very rarely used in the comics and only once in the DuckTalesAnimated Adaptation.
Brilliant, but Lazy: Gladstone is so ridiculously lucky he could probably become richer than Scrooge with no effort, but lacks the ambition to do so. Gladstone could even become Scrooge's heir if he weren't so lazy. The only reason Scrooge considers him a better heir than Donald is that Gladstone is least likely to squander the money.
Characterization Marches On: In some of Gladstone's earlier appearances (Such as ''Wintertime Wager''), his luck is not yet present, and he's basically a (slightly) more obnoxious version of Donald. Later, he got his infamous good fortune, and became that much more insufferable.
Heroic Bystander: While he's certainly not out to save people or so, he's quite often in places where people are in lifethreatening danger. When this is the case, he doesn't give a damn if it's exhausting, he WILL save the person involved, by luck or by strength. This heroic side of his is perhaps his most redeeming feature.
Hidden Depths: In most stories he averts this, but there have been stories where it's revealed that his constant good luck isn't always a good thing — when it comes down to it, Gladstone's lifestyle and attitude has left him with absolutely no friends and only marginal support from his family. A few stories have speculated that this is the real reason he enjoys riling Donald up so much; it's the closest thing he has to a friendship.
Jerk Ass: In the comics. He's actually pretty nice to his relatives in Duck Tales.
Jerk With A Heart Of Jerk / Jerkass With A Heart Of Gold: Very much Depending on the Writer. Several comics have him saving Donald's life,and not in a lucky way either, but through actual physical labor. A prime example is "Donald's Lucky Day", where he doesn't hesitate for a second to throw himself into a river to save Donald from drowning.
It seems pretty easy to tell if he has a heart of gold based on where the comic is made. The european(primarily italian) take on him is notably less of an outright jerk, and is always portrayed with at least some shreds of decency. The american version seldom has him as anything but Jerk With A Heart Of Jerk.
Donald's eccentric cousin who seems to take on a new obsession every week, but as all of his information on his obsession usually comes from books, TV shows, self-help videos and the like, he often messes up his attempts to apply his "knowledge" and is blissfully unaware of the trouble he causes for everyone around him (especially Donald). Despite Fethry's being an American invention, his stories weren't printed in English until relatively recently. Instead, he enjoyed popularity in other countries, Brazil going as far as to give him his own solo comic, complete with nephew (just one), girlfriend (she's a long-suffering artist), and superhero alter-ego (The Red Bat, borderline useless). He is not part of Barks/Don Rosa canon, though some versions of the Duck family tree do place him there.
Cloudcuckoolander: As he might say: "Having your feet on the ground just means you're standing still."
The Determinator: When he gets an idea, he'll see it through to the end no matter what... or at least until he gets a new idea to be obsessed about.
Ditzy Genius: Though as (bad) luck would have it, his tactlessness and lack of common sense punish others around Fethry more than Fethry himself.
Genre Savvy: Not so much in his normal, day-to-day life, but shows distinct traits of this as a TNT agent; a lifelong obsession with fantasy, sci-fi, horror and the supernatural has taught him just about every trick in the book, which comes in useful when going out to deal with real monsters.
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Fethry selflessly dotes on Donald and considers him his favorite cousin, genuinely wishing to improve things for Donald whenever possible. You can guess about how well that works out.
The Klutz: He has traces of this and is responsible for inadvertently setting off a number of Slapstick routines.
Simpleminded Wisdom: One of his undeniable strengths is that since his mind works in such strange ways, he's very good at spotting the obvious questions or solutions that everyone else misses.
Soapbox Sadie: Occasionally, but unlike most examples of the trope he's hardly ever a soapbox for the writers and is probably wrong more often than he's right.
Stalker with a Crush: While it's obviously not a romantic interest, Fethry adores Donald's miserable pet tomcat, Tabby, and behaves in Elmyra-like fashion when Tabby is near.
Vitriolic Best Buds: Classic Type 1, with Donald. Fethry drives Donald insane on a regular basis, but he is one of the very few people in the Disney Ducks Comic Universe who genuinely likes and appreciates Donald as a friend. How much Donald in turn appreciates Fethry often Depends On The Writer, but even in the stories where he doesn't like Fethry much it's still clear that he vastly prefers Fethry to Gladstone.
Wacky Guy: Part of Fethry's charm is that he allows Donald to play the Straight Man to him in many stories.
Grandma Duck
Debut: Grandma Duck gag (1943)
Donald, Fethry and Gladstone's grandmother and Huey, Dewey and Louie's great-grandmother. She lives at a farm outside Duckburg with her gluttonous, incredibly lazy farmhand Gus Goose (Donald's cousin), and is renowned for her pie-baking skills. Her rarely heard real name is Elvira Coot.
Depending on the Writer: According to Don Rosa, she is Donald's paternal grandmother and therefore not related to Scrooge at all, but before that, in European comics, it was widely accepted that she was Scrooge's sister and actually Donald's aunt — and Huey, Dewey and Louie's real grandmother. With the publication of the Duck family tree which shows her as Donald's grandmother, this has largely been forgotten.
Cool Old Lady: While she can be strict, especially in early stories, she's also kind and loving... not to mention, she can be tough as nails when she needs to be.
Depending on the Writer: An interesting variation here, as both comics and cartoons portray Gus as lazy and gluttonous... but whether he is more greedy or lazy depends on the media. In the cartoons, Gus's defining trait is his appetite; most of his appearances are almost solely dedicated to him eating huge amounts of food. In the comics, however, Gus (while still a Big Eater) is far more likely to be found asleep under a tree or thinking up ways to do the least possible amount of work.
Nice Guy: Despite being incredibly lazy, always shirking work, and always eating more than his fair share, he's actually very soft-hearted. In one story, it turned out that the reason he hadn't fetched the mail in weeks was that two birds had made a nest in Grandma's mailbox, and Gus didn't have the heart to disturb the baby birds.
Ultimate Job Security: The only logical explanation for why Gus hasn't been fired is that he's Grandma Duck's nephew, as she crossly reminds us now and then.
There is another theory (spoilered because you may find it inappropriate): Gus is actually Grandma's lover.
There have been a couple of stories where Gus (temporarily) either got much more energetic, or Grandma hired another farmhand to help out — every time, Grandma ended up going nuts because all of a sudden there wasn't enough work left for her.
Stout Strength - surprisingly strong, able to lift Grandma's horse.
Supreme Chef: In general, he's far more interested in eating than in cooking, but on the rare occasions when he does cook, he's almost as good as Grandma (he has, after all, picked up a lot from her).
The Voiceless: In the cartoons he only utters the occasional honk, but in the comics he's a fully-voiced character.
April, May and June
Debut: Flip Decision (1952)
Daisy's three nieces, and more or less Distaff Counterparts of Huey, Dewey and Louie. Unlike HD&L, however, they live with their mother (Daisy's unseen and unnamed sister) and only occasionally stay with their aunt.
Chromatic Arrangement: Only in about half their appearances do the girls follow the classic red/blue/green scheme; they're often seen to wear yellow/magenta/cyan, and sometimes they discard the chromatic part and wear yellow/purple/orange — and sometimes they all wear the same color. It's impossible to say which color belongs to which girl, as they never got an official color assignment.
That said, some fans have assigned April with the blue clothes, as that was the color she wore when she appeared solo in one story.
Also, in more recent Dutch comics, the girls have gained more modern appearances and can now be told apart by their hairstyles◊: April wears her hair in a ponytail, May has short hair and wears a headband, while June wears twin pigtails.
The Dividual: Like Huey, Dewey and Louie, the girls look and act pretty much the same. so it's impossible to say if they have any individual character traits.
Out of Focus: The girls were never major characters in the comics, and with the advent of DuckTales, where their combined Expy Webby appeared, they seem to have been phased out, maybe to avoid confusion. Since the eighties they have only made very occasional cameos.
However, this is again avoided in the Dutch comics, where the girls have made more appearances with their modernized looks. Certain Danish stories have also begin featuring the redesigned girls, so it remains to be seen whether they'll make a glorious return.
Identical Twin ID Tag: Again, in the modern Dutch comics, their hairstyles. In older comics, the colors of their clothes is probably supposed to be this, but since the girls' colors are even more inconsistently handled than Huey, Dewey and Louie's are, this really doesn't help.
Parental Abandonment: Surprisingly enough, averted. Though their mother never appears on-page and isn't referred to very often, the girls first show up in a story where Daisy is visiting her sister, and introduces her three nieces to Donald. Presumably, they still live with their mother (though we don't hear anything about their father).
Scrooge's love interest from his gold prospecting days, "the only live one I ever knew."
Breakout Character: Only appeared in one Carl Barks story but was eventually accepted as Scrooge's de facto love interest (a la Irene Adler) in American comics and animation.
Glittering Goldie's granddaughter (though the relationship was really only mentioned in her debut story, and has been ignored since then; the two have never actually appeared together in any comic), who now attends a boarding school in Duckburg — that is, when she's not roaming around the town and getting into various mishaps.
Breakout Character: While a minor character in many countries and virtually unknown in the USA, she is extremely popular in Brazil, where she stars in her own comics together with her own group of friends.
Chaste Teen: And she doesn't seem particularly interested in romance either.
Depending on the Writer: Is she roughly the same age as Huey, Dewey and Louie, or is she a much older teenager? Depends on who's writing the story.
Intrepid Reporter: In some stories she is a junior reporter for the newspaper The Jiminy Cricket.
Plucky Girl: Perhaps one reason why the normally girl-hating Huey, Dewey and Louie don't mind hanging out with her and are even fine with her taking the lead — she's a spirited teen and One of the Boys.
The One Who Wears Shoes: As well as the one who wears pants. Justified in that she has a more humanoid body than most of the other Ducks.
An absent-minded scholar/inventor who is referred to as Donald's uncle (according to Don Rosa, he is/was married to Scrooge's sister Matilda, making him Donald's uncle by marriage) and an expert on everything. He originally appeared in Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, but has since appeared as a recurring character in comics by some authors. He appears very rarely in stories by Carl Barks and Don Rosa. Has become somewhat similar to Gyro, which is probably why you rarely see the two together. Just remember, Ludwig is The Professor first, and a Bungling Inventor second, while Gyro is the other way around.
Ditzy Genius: Even moreso than Gyro, in fact. There's no doubt that he's brilliant in every way, but he's also somewhat of an eccentric, at times bordering on being a Wonka — or, Depending on the Writer, even a full-fledged Cloudcuckoolander.
Insufferable Genius: On a bad day. But even on a good day, humility is not his strongest suit.
Out of Focus: In later years he hasn't been used much in comics — in fact, for some years Egmont Creative A/S, the main publisher of Disney comics in Europe, completely banned any use of the character, because editor and creative leader Byron Erickson considered him superfluous; there was nothing Ludwig could do that Gyro Gearloose or the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook couldn't. However, the ban seems to have been lifted in recent years, though Ludwig is still a minor character in the comics.
Strangely enough, another character that was banned from use at Egmont was Launchpad McQuack, and when asked why the two characters were not seen in Disney comics nowadays, Byron Erickson famously answered: "Ludwig and Launchpad ran off to Las Vegas, where they came out as transvestites and joined a drag show."
The animated version of Ludwig, however, remains fairly central and is usually the character who appears whenever Mickey Mouse or his friends need a scientist to explain things.
Omni Disciplinary Scientist: In fact, he'll constantly point out all the various fields he's an expert in. Usually he's right about it too, though he doesn't always go on about things in the most sensible way.
Scrooge's lazy, freeloading, overweight half-brother. Created by, and so far used exclusively by William Van Horn.
Acrofatic: He's old and fat and lazy, but can really move when he wants to.
Big Eater: Especially when it's other people's food he's eating.
Jerk Ass: He doesn't have very many redeeming qualities, and in fact seems determined to be as irritating and pushy as he possibly can be towards his poor relatives.
Though in some stories he does seem to have a slightly soft spot for his half-brother Scrooge and gets a few minor Pet the Dog moments when he at least tries to get along with him.
Karma Houdini: He tends to be this, even when it looks like it's going to be subverted; in fact, the two first stories he appeared both ended with him, after driving Donald and Scrooge insane, injuring himself and becoming bed-ridden for weeks... which meant that he got to happily lie about in Donald's bed while Donald had to wait on him hand and foot.
Lazy Bum: A strange version; he energetically puts every bit of effort he can into being extremely lazy, and does it in such a way that he's as annoying as possible.
The Load: Treated as one in-universe. Every single Duck family member dreads it when he's coming over for a visit, because they know he'll eat all their food, hogs all their things, and keeps them awake all night with his infernal snoring, which can be heard through concrete-thick walls.
No Social Skills: Though it doesn't seem to be the cause of any strange upbringing or Asperger's Syndrome or anything like that — Rumpus probably could be a socially well-adjusted person if he made the effort; it's just that he does not care enough about anyone who isn't him to even bother trying.
Brigitta MacBridge
Debut: The Last Babaloo (1960)
A shrewd businesswoman duck whose main goal is to one day marry Scrooge McDuck, even though he isn't interested in romance at all. Created by Romano Scarpa, Barks liked the character enough to give Romano a drawing of Brigitta trying to seduce Scrooge with a Money Scented perfume, which Romano then wrote a story based on said premise. The original drawing has been lost.
Intergenerational Friendship: Occasionally with Daisy (at least it's implied she's moderately older). She also gets along very well with Huey, Dewey and Louie.
Stalker with a Crush: To Scrooge, though the actual stalking has been toned severely down since her early appearances.
Woman Scorned: Many stories starring Brigitta have her being rudely rejected by Scrooge, then starting her own business trying to outperform him. Sometimes she even succeeds.
Zany Scheme: She's really good with them... they actually succeed a fair number of times too.
Jubal Pomp
Debut: The Secret of Success (1961)
A younger businessman (about Donald's age, it seems) who really wishes he could be successful like Scrooge, but doesn't really have what it takes, despite being just as eager (and usually just as honest). A friend (and nothing more) and protegé of Brigitta MacBridge. When working with her he can usually accomplish more than on his own. Like Brigitta, created by Romano Scarpa and used mainly in Italian comics, where he is named Filo Sganga.
Catch Phrase: "Business is business!" - And that's pretty much all he knows about business.
Characterization Marches On: In his first appearance he was the villain of the story. In later appearances he became more sympathetic, but was still a bit of a cheat and a con man. Later still, he became an out-and-out good guy with only the occasional lapse into dishonesty.
Ascended Extra: The fact that Quackfaster was mostly just a background character in Carl Barks's stories probably contributed to her inconsistent portrayals.
Depending on the Artist: For some reason, she is sometimes shown as being blonde and much taller than any of the other duck characters (rather than old, grey-haired and relatively short). Some artists go the middle road and make her the same height as the other ducks, but make her look younger.
Depending on the Writer; Quackfaster's name is inconsistent between writers. Her British name is "Miss Typefast," and is occasionally left in American rewrites by mistake. She was "Miss Featherby" on DuckTales, where writers evidently ignored existing sources. Her first name, "Emily", was invented by Don Rosa.
Donald's lazy and stupid St. Bernard, who is generally much more at home sleeping in front of the fireplace than he is going out on adventures and suchlike. Doesn't appear in many stories, but generally makes himself known in a big way when he does appear.
Characterization Marches On: He first appeared in the cartoon The Alpine Climbers where he was a genuine rescue dog who stoically braved the icy alps to rescue Mickey, Donald and Pluto. When he was brought over to comics as Donald's pet, he pretty much lost his stoic heroism and became a lazy, stupid coward who hates the cold and runs inside to huddle by the fireplace the moment a snowflake falls.
Depending on the Writer: His real name is Bolivar, but due to fear that this might be seen as a slur on Simon Bolivar, writers have named him "Bernie," "Bornworthy," "Bolly" and "Bornie." Nowadays, most writers use his original name, though.
Furry Confusion: Bolivar is on the same anthropomorphic level as Pluto; i.e. he's mostly just a dog...
Donald's pet cat, a smart, cynical and self-centered tom who like Bolivar most of all wants to take life easy, lie around to take a nap or five, maybe make yet another attempt at catching one of the goldfish. Usually only a background character, but does get the occasional Day In The Limelight — most often alongside Fethry, with whom he has a... complicated relationship.
Badass Adorable: Coupled with Brilliant, but Lazy. This is one seriously tough cat, though he doesn't often bother spending much effort in order to show it.
Cats Are Mean: A mild case, and he's actually rather affectionate towards Donald — but he shows some traits of callousness, especially towards Fethry.
Fethry: Help! I'm drowning! Tabby: Best news I've heard all day.
Depending on the Writer: The Tabby who made his debut in the Taliaferro strip looks and acts almost nothing like the Tabby from later stories, and his depiction varied wildly with other writer/artists. It wasn't until 1964, in "The Health Nut" (coincidentally the debut story of Tabby's nemesis Fethry) that his look and personality settled, though the colorists still don't seem to agree what color he should be.
It does vary a little just whose cat he is, too. Usually he's depicted as Donald's, but there are a few stories where he seems to be Fethry's cat.
Inner Monologue: He gets far more of them than any other "pet" character in the comics. Usually with a great deal of sarcasm.
Mega Neko: In one story, he drank some "Growth Serum" and grew to the size of a tiger.
Vitriolic Best Buds: Type 1 with Fethry, who adores Tabby, and is not very good at picking up the signals that the feelings are not mutual. (That said, in some stories they get along fine, so Tabby's main objection to Fethry is probably his tendency to drag him along on Zany Schemes.) Type 2 with Pluto, on the rare occasions when they meet.
Two house-mice who live on Gran'ma Duck's farm and occasionally do favors for her in exchange for room and board.
Animal Talk: Depending on the Writer (and on what's most convenient for the plot). In some stories, they can talk to each other, but not to the more anthropomorphic Ducks, but in some stories they can communicate freely with humans and human stand-ins.
Breakout Character: The reason why they're in the comics at all. When Cinderella debuted in 1950, the two mice were by far the most popular characters and were heavily featured in Disney comics in order to promote the movie.
This was fairly standard procedure back in the day; when a new Disney movie was released, some or all of the more popular characters from said movie — such as Dumbo, Jiminy Cricket or Madam Mim — would show up in Disney comics, often interacting with the characters from the Ducks and Mice comic universe (which meant they were often taken out of their movie's universe and were depicted as living in modern-times). Gus and Jaq are among the most successful examples; after wandering around the Duck unierse for a few stories, they eventually came to stay at Gran'ma Duck's farm, and after that have stayed there and featured as suporting characters in Gran'ma Duck comics for decades.
Catch Phrase: "Zuk-zuk!" Someimes borders on Verbal Tic, but it seems to be used mostly as a positive confirmation, in the vein of "yes" and "okay."
Depending on the Writer: Sometimes they can't talk to humans, but mostly they can — see Animal Talk above. The most different take on them, however, was in the Mickey Mouse comic strip, in a serial adventure named Mousepotamia. Here, they were fully anthropomorphic characters and the same size as Mickey, coming from the country of Mousepotamia, where Jaq is prime minister and Gus is head of intelligence.
Name's the Same: Gus has the same name as Gus Goose, who also lives at Gran'ma's farm. It's usually solved by Gus the mouse being called "Gus-Gus."
You No Take Candle: Understandable to humans or not, they still talk in broken English the way they did in the movie (though it is slightly toned-down from the movie in order to make them more intelligible).
The Junior Woodchucks
Debut: Operation St. Bernard (1951)
The Scouting organization that Huey, Dewey and Louie are members of, created by Carl Barks as a parody of the Boy Scouts. There are, or at least there are implied to be, several thousand members of the Junior Woodchucks on a global basis, though the Duckburg troop is the oldest and original one. In most stories, HD&L are the only named characters in the organization, though several writers and artists have their own recurring background characters to fill out the ranks, plus a never-ending stream of troop leaders and generals with pompous and silly titles.
Crazy-Prepared: Taking the "Be Prepared" motto to ludicrous extremes, members are pretty much required to be this.
Fun with Acronyms: The Junior Woodchucks have dozens, if not hundreds, of long-winded titles, both positive and negative, all of which are acronymed. Some examples are O.G.U.F.O.O.L. (Omnipotent Giver of Unimpeachably Full-bodied Observations on Omniscient Logic), B.I.G.D.O.P.E (Brazenly Impressive and Grandiose Door Opener and Party Entertainer) and A.N.S.W.E.R.M.A.N (Awesome Noteworthy Senior Woodchuck, Expert Researcher, and Master Archaeological Nitpicker).
Great Big Book of Everything: The Junior Woodchucks' Guidebook is a pocket version of this; it has virtually all the information in the world gathered between two covers, including tons of information that doesn't exist anywhere else.
Don Rosa's stories frequently lampshade the impossibilities of this, on some instances taking it even further — such as in the story W.H.A.D.A.L.O.T.T.A.J.A.R.G.O.N, where one tiny pamphlet with extratcts from the Guidebook still holds enough information for "a mere set or two of encyclopedias."
One other story does reveal that the book does not contain the most basic information, things that are covered in elementary school. Trying to look up such information in the book will just lead you to a page that says something to the effect of "Any third-grader should know the answer to this, and if you don't, we have all reason to doubt whether you're even qualified to be a Junior Woodchuck."
Merit Badges For Everything: As a vital part of the parodic aspects of the organization; the Woodchucks hand out badges for every big and little thing. Several stories show Huey, Dewey and Louie's collection of merit badges to be so huge by now that they literally fill up every closet, cupboard and storage space in Donald's house.
Scout Out: Probably one of the most famous versions out there.
General Snozzie
Debut: Dodging Miss Daisy (1958)
One of three official Junior Woodchuck canine mascots (both Pluto and Bolivar have functioned as Junior Woodchuck mascots in some stories), and by far the most talented of them. He's an expert bloodhound who can sniff out anyone or anything, and is hinted to be the smartest dog in the world.
The Ace: As weird as it may seem to have an Ace who's a non-anthropomorphic, non-talking dog, General Snozzie manages to pull it off. Is there nothing this dog can't do?
The Nose Knows: As a bloodhound, his skills are unsurpassed and taken to ridiculous extremes. He has two trainloads of trophies he has won in tracking competitions, He has tracked men in rubber shoes through aisles of fish markets...
Scarily Competent Tracker: ...and even if the prey tries to confuse his senses, "he doesn't need to smell, see, or hear! He can track by Braille!"
Cornelius Coot
Debut: Statuesque Spendthrifts (1952)
The founder of Duckburg and Donald's great-great grandfather. An immense statue of him erected by Scrooge as part of a contest with the Maharajah of Howduyustan towers over the city.
Tranquil Fury : Unlike her siblings whenever she gets angry its this tope
Hortense McDuck
Scrooge's youngest sister. Also Donald Duck's Mother.
Badass Adorable: Already as a little girl she was tough as nails, as a teenager she effortlessly chased and beat up fully grown men, and as a young adult she managed to chase away an entire army by chasing them with a broom.
We Named the Monkey : Scrooge names his horse in America "Hortense" in honor of his sister because they both have a bad temper. Hortense is not amused.
Villains
The Beagle Boys
Debut: Terror of the Beagle Boys (1951)
The Beagle Boys are a family of masked and usually not-too-bright thugs that unsuccessfully seek to rob Scrooge of his fortune.
Characterization Marches On: In the Beagle Boys' early appearances, they actually represented a threat to Scrooge. Today they are incompetent buffoons who are usually easily thwarted.
Not all the time. Italian-produced comics make them buffoons, but quite a number of Egmont and Dutch-produced stories feature the Beagles being quite menacing — the point typically being that while just a few Beagles are fairly inept by themselves, a large number can be quite effective crooks.
Comic Trio: Many European comics feature the three "main" Beagles as this. 176-176 is the schemer, 176-761 is the stupid, food-obsessed moron, and 176-671 is the one who gets dragged along. Italian comics often add Grandpa Beagle to the mix as their hands-on boss.
Depending on the Writer: Just how many Beagle Boys exist is very inconsistent. They are commonly shown three at a time, but in Don Rosa's stories, there are seven of them (who are occasionally aided by their much smarter grandfather, Blackheart). Some authors show the Beagle Boys to be all over the world in some form or another. Their relationship is also somewhat inconsistent. They are usually seen as being brothers, but according to Don Rosa they are actually a group of brothers and cousins.
Even Carl Barks at one point showed them by the hundreds. They're implied to be a very large family with dozens of branches, but only one of them is usually active in Duckburg. He used thirty different numbers in his stories.
Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: In DuckTales, at least. The closest thing to Ma Beagle in the comics is their grandfather or, occasionally, Granny Beagle.
Numerical Theme Naming: Each serial number is a permutation of 167-167, with 176-XXX given preference. If a Beagle cousin has a different number, it might be a numerical pun - for instance 176-007 for a spy cousin, 176-B00M for a demolition man or the Born Unlucky "Omen" 1313. Underaged Beagle Brats had obviously numbers 1, 2, and 3.
Paper-Thin Disguise: The Beagle Boys constantly wear black masks that only serve to make them more recognizable (which was played in one story, where they robbed a jewelry store and the witness didn't recognize them because they weren't wearing their masks despite the fact they were otherwise dressed like typical Beagle Boys), since they never, ever take them off, not even when they are actually trying to disguise themselves. Let alone the prisoner's numbers on their chests.
Don Rosa used to play with it, and in one occasion Barks draw one of them (young Blackheart) without his mask from stupefaction: here.
Team Rocket Wins: Though only an example in hindsight, the Beagle Boys succeed in robbing Scrooge in the first two stories where they appear and suffer no ill consequences for it.
Trademark Favourite Food: One Beagle (usually numbered 176-761) is shown as having an unhealthy obsession with prunes.
Villain Protagonist: There are plenty of comic stories with the Beagle Boys as the main focus, often showing them trying to rob someone other than Scrooge for a change. It's these stories that usually features their Comic Trio characterizations.
You Are Number Six: In the comics, the Beagles are only known by their prisoner's numbers — one story goes as far as to show a Beagle wondering what his name is, as his own mother preferred to call him by number. Averted in DuckTales, where they all get names and different appearances (Word Of God states that this was because the prisoner's numbers were too unclear as identity tags in animation.)
Grandpa Beagle/Blackheart Beagle
Debut: The Fantastic River Race (1957, as Blackheart Beagle), The Money Well (1958, as Grandpa Beagle)
The Beagle Boys' grandfather, founder and occasional leader. In DuckTales he's replaced by Ma Beagle, and some of the fans assume that she's his wife.
Big Bad: Mostly in Don Rosa's stories. Especially in A Little Something Special, where he's eventually revealed as the mastermind behind the Villain Team Up.
Composite Character: Blackheart as depicted in Don Rosa's stories is based on two characters from two different stories by Carl Barks that may or may not have been intended to be the same character.
Depending on the Writer: Not only does it seem to vary whether Blackheart Beagle is the same character as Grandpa Beagle or not, but Grandpa's personality tends to vary a lot depending on who's writing him. Carl Barks depicted him as a fairly calm old man (though still a Card-Carrying Villain), while in Don Rosa's stories he's more a hard-boiled Big Bad. Italian stories often feature him as the Beagles' scheming, hands-on leader and father figure who plans great coups and plays homemaker for his grandsons with roughly the same amount of enthusiasm.
Genre Savvy: He's been around the block a few times and knows most of the old tricks.
Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: In Italian stories, he generally plays this trope in an unusual way, since he's usually seen with a corn pipe in his mouth.
Surrounded by Idiots: Though the idiots are his grandsons, so while he can be strict and tough on them, he's seldom overly harsh.
Magica De Spell
Debut: The Midas Touch (1961)
A sorceress who seeks to steal Scrooge's #1 dime and melt it in the fires of Mt. Vesuvius for a spell that could give her the power to turn any substance into gold.
Chaste Toons: A DuckTales comic gave her a niece named Minima, who's made several appearances in the foreign comics since then.
Creator Provincialism: She's the only major Duck Universe character who's Italian. Unsurprisingly, the Italians love her, and grant her her own supporting cast.
Depending on the Writer: Just how much power Magica has varies between writers. Carl Barks and Don Rosa generally showed her as not having any genuine magical abilities on her own, but merely using magical trinkets, but many other writers show her as a powerful witch in her own right and interacting with many other powerful witches.
Flanderization: How many people remember that her spell originally just required coins in general from various rich people? Barks himself feared this would happen.
Barks himself played a part in this happening, despite desperately trying to avoid it. This also resulted in Flanderization of the Number One Dime itself, since by the original explanation it was "lucky" because it belonged to Scrooge, Scrooge was not lucky because of having it.
Hot Witch: Specifically created to invoke this trope; Carl Barks admitted that when he created her, he deliberately went against the "old, ugly crone" type of Wicked Witch so prevalent at Disney at the time, and instead created a witch that was young and pretty. He also said that while designing her he based her looks on such italian actresses as Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren.
Snarky Non-Human Sidekick: Ratface is often characterized as this, but it's limited to thoughts, as Ratface cannot talk like Poe can.
Surveillance As The Plot Demands: When bored, she spends her free time spying on Scrooge in her crystal ball. Scrooge too has detectives who keep Magica under surveillance.
Villain Protagonist: She has starred in her own stories since the 1960s. With supporting characters including Mad Madam Mim, her blonde ward Witch Child (actually the bratty little girl of a witch neighbor), her brunette niece Minima, Granny De Spell, unwanted fiance Rosolio, etc.
The second richest duck in the world, Flintheart Glomgold, just like Scrooge is a cheap old miser who lives in a bin full of money, except in South Africa; and just like Scrooge, Flintheart started his fortune from nothing. Flintheart, however, has none of Scrooge's integrity and didn't make his fortune square. Flintheart seeks to gain the status of the richest duck in the world, and unlike Scrooge, doesn't have much morality to slow him down.
Create Your Own Villain: In The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Scrooge rescues an Afrikaner, who repays Scrooge by swindling him out of his supplies and deserting him in the middle of Africa. Scrooge makes it back to town and confronts the swindler, tarring and feathering him before the thief is mauled by Scrooge's lion. From his jail cell, the bushwhacker vows to become a somebody so he can one day get back at Scrooge. Guess who "Mr. Whatever-Your-Name-Is" turns out to be?
Dub Name Change: A lot of Duckverse characters have their names changed, but an especially cool one could be the Polish one: Granit Forsant ('granite', and 'cash') - not only it matches lipsynch, has very close meaning but also the initials match as well.
Depending on the Writer: He is sometimes shown living in Duckburg and being a member of Scrooge's Billionaire Club rather than living in South Africa.
Et Tu, Brute?: His betrayal of Scrooge McDuck in "The Terror of the Transvaal".
Evil Counterpart/Foil/Shadow Archetype: Glomgold's whole character can be described as what kind of person Scrooge would be like if he never even tried to make his fortune square. Not to mention his lack of relatives and allies in comparison to Scrooge's large group of family and friends.
Flanderization: In his first appearance, Glomgold wasn't especially dishonest- the story was more Scrooge Vs. Himself. The second story had him attempt to sabotage Scrooge's fortune in order to win a competition, but he was shown stricken with guilt at "betraying my dear old mother's fondest hopes" and "becoming a scoundrel- all to win the title of world's richest duck!" (at least until he was offered another chance to sabotage Scrooge, which he readily accepts) It was his third appearance that he became the bad guy he's known as today, attempting to murder Scrooge and his nephews multiple times.
Humiliation Conga: He gets these in "The Last Lord of El Dorado", "The Terror of the Transvaal" and "A Little Something Special." Don Rosa seems to be fond of putting him through these.
Master of Disguise: Since his third appearance, Glomgold has fooled Scrooge and his nephews numerous times with his disguises in order to stay one step ahead, sabotage, or both. Even his female disguise was once convincing enough for Donald to steal a kiss!
My Name Is Not Durwood: In the DuckTales episode "Attack of the Metal Mites", Dijon could never pronounce his name correctly.
Also, his second appearance "The Money Champ" (September, 1959) has several people failing to get his name right, calling him Goldflint Heartglom, Flintgold Glomheart, and Heartflint Goldglom. Albeit it was more likely that Glomgold himself coined these variations of his name to get away with his dirty schemes. Even Scrooge failed to connect these names to Flintheart Glomgold.
A notorious, Duckburg-based business rival of Scrooge's. He presumably holds the dubious honour of being the third richest duck in the world, or depending on the story, the second richest. John D. Rockerduck was created and used by Carl Barks in just one story, "Boat Buster", but for some bizarre reason, Brazilian and European writers almost always use him in Flintheart Glomgold's place and rarely acknowledge Flintheart's existence. Unlike Scrooge (and Glomgold), Rockerduck has no qualms about spending money if it suits him (which in some ways makes him somewhat more sensible than Scrooge), and he inherited his wealth from his hard working father, Howard Rockerduck, rather than earning it himself.
Affably Evil: He can be pretty pleasant, unlike Glomgold.
Battle Butler: his secretary (usually called "Jeeves" in English translations) is a version - he is no bodyguard material, but he is a competent spy and saboteur and a Master of Disguise, in addition to do most of the work administrating Rockerduck's business empire.
Designated Villain: Surprisingly common. Quite a few stories has him actually being far more benevolent than Scrooge, or simply being completely moral. He still always loses in the end.
Evil Counterpart/Foil/ShadowArchetype: Not surprisingly to Scrooge, though generally in a different way than Glomgold. If Glomgold can be described as what Scrooge would have become if he didn't have his sense of morality, then Rockerduck is a younger and arguably more modern Scrooge who was born into luxury (At least in the Don Rosa continuity). And while Scrooge is a legendary skinflint, Rockerduck is the "spare no expense" type, often to a fault.
Even Evil Has Standards: He does have his moral standards — it depends on the story what he actually is willing to do (some stories have him gleefully perform sabotage, kidnappings and even outright theft, while others have him a more honest businessman), though unlike Glomgold, he is never portrayed as willing to stoop to murder.
Friendly Enemy: Towards Scrooge and his allies, on occasion. Is arguably one of the major traits he has that differentiates him from Glomgold.
Depending on the Writer: Rockerduck has sometimes helped Scrooge to foil the Beagle Boys for no other reason than that he can't stand thieves, but at other times has allied with them against Scrooge, acting almost like a thief himself.
An European trait of his is eating his bowler hats after defeat.
In fact, Rockerduck was in no way portrayed as a villain in his only Carl Barks story.
Many comics have him as distinctly not villainous, just competitive.
Non-Idle Rich: A lot of fans who disdain Rockerduck for being born into luxury, tend to forget that he's good enough a businessman to easily rival Scrooge himself.
Donald's next door neighbor. He and Donald have a heated rivalry that comes close to being a full-fledged war, with the yard between their houses as the battlefield.
Disproportionate Retribution: When we are given a reason for why Donald and Jones are fighting (if they themselves even remember it), it's usually something like this.
Jerkass - he's essentially a bigger, angrier Donald.
Momma's Boy: His mother is the only one who can force him and Donald to "play nice."
One Name Only - it's implied that either his first name is Jones, or his last name is Neighbor
Er, no. It's more like his first name is problematic: Carl Barks called him Jughead, which can't be used today because there's a more famous Jughead Jones in comics.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute - in some European comics Donald has a second neighbor, Johnson. While Jones is as angry as Donald, Johnson is a cunning cheater and schemer.
P.J. McBrine/Argus McSwine
Debut: Forbidden Valley (1957)
A pig-featured, mustachioed con man usually wearing a hat and a black coat. Created by Barks, he's appeared under many different names such as "Scalpnik" and "Porkman de Lardo".
Zany Scheme: His plots have included stuff like turning pineapples to stone with a poison or destroying Duckburg's cucumber crop so he could sell his own unpalatable foodstuffs ("Forbidden Valley", his first appearance).
A tall, strapping pilot who worked as Scrooge's go-to guy for piloting, but with a bad habit of pulling off crash landings. Later became Darkwing Duck's sidekick.
Sometimes going into Genius Ditz area. Not only is he several times shown being quite inventive and capable in a pinch, at one point he manages to work the Gizmoduck suit, and by the time he made the migration to Darkwing Duck had managed to singlehandedly build a gadget-laden, VTOL and hover-capable subsonic jet plane.
Scrooge's accountant in the second season of DuckTales, who possesses an almost supernatural ability to count things very quickly with only a quick glace. He also guards the Money Bin as Gizmoduck.
The Atoner: His character is that while he is prone to make stupid mistakes that lead to disaster, he is also single-mindedly determined to put things right by any means necessary. This of course leads to him initially making things worse until he ultimately succeeds. This is actually how he became Gizmoduck in the first place.
Badass Unintentional: He was actually satisfied being Scrooge's accountant, but one thing led to another.
By the Power of Grayskull!: "Blatherin' blatherskite!" This was actually a Catch Phrase he used even before the Gizmosuit was built; he really only needs to say "blatherskite" to become Gizmoduck.
Disappeared Dad: His father is only mentioned once. He didn't seem to think very highly of Fenton's mother.
Expy: Fills in Donald's missing role; especially glaring in episodes based on Barks' comics such as "The Land of Tra La La."
Genius Ditz: To quote the manual for the video game DuckTales: The Quest For Gold: "Fenton can count faster than the speed of sound, but his judgement is not always very sound."
Ditzy Genius: He shows a surprising amount of clever thinking at times, mostly when in his Gizmoduck persona, suggesting that he might be smarter than he himself realizes.
Rags to Riches: Subverted. While he does make a really big leap by going from a literal bean-counter to becoming Scrooge's accountant, and again when becoming Gizmoduck, it still doesn't exactly pay top dollar.
Secret Keeper: The only ones who know him being Gizmoduck are Scrooge and his mother.
Spotlight-Stealing Squad: He was introduced in the second season of DuckTales and almost immediately became the show's main character apart from Scrooge himself.
Webbigail "Webby" Vanderquack
A young female duckling who lives with her grandmother, Mrs. Beakley, in Scrooge's mansion.
Interestingly enough, in the Dutch dub of DuckTales she is named "Lizzy," which is the Dutch name for April.
Tagalong Kid: Huey, Dewey and Louie tend to view her as this as she is both younger than them, and a girl. It varies how much they tolerate her; for the most part they're willing to let her hang out with them, but they loathe it when she tries to arrange tea parties and suchlike.
Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: In the second season. He only showed up in one single non-speaking cameo in one episode and afterwards was never seen or mentioned again — perhaps because both Launchpad and (to a lesser extent) Huey, Dewey and Louie were moved Out of Focus in this season, and sice Doofus was mostly there to interact with them, there was no real room for him in the scripts anymore.
Ship Tease: With Webby; according to one Time Travel episode they marry some time in the future. (Of course, that particular future will no longer come to pass, but Scrooge acts as though he's convinced Webby and Doofus will still marry.)
Sidekick: Sometimes to Huey, Dewey and Louie, sometimes to Launchpad.
Demoted to Extra: Immediately after the five episodes that served as his introduction. Despite supposedly living with Scrooge, he was absent for most episodes after that and only got a few cameo appearances and a couple of Day in the Limelight episodes.
Expy: Bubba is essentially what you'd get if you turned Bamm-Bamm Rubble into a duck.
Scrooge's butler and chauffeur in DuckTales, who has actually also appeared in some non-Rosa comics. It should be noted that though Duckworth himself was a DuckTales creation, the idea of Scrooge having a butler ranges as far back as to Scrooge's first story, The Christmas on Bear Mountain. Italian comics have a similar character named Battista as Scrooge's butler, and the Mexican dub of the animated series actually translated Duckworth as "Battista". Similarly, the Swedish comic names both of the characters as Albert.
A Day in the Limelight: For the most part, he's mostly a background character who gets a few minor moments here and there, but he did get two episodes that centered on him, Duckworth's Revolt and Take Me Out of the Ballgame.
Fake Brit: Speaks in an appoximation of an upper-class English accent, though his voice actor Chuck McCann is from New York.
Jack Of All Trades: Not quite a Renaissance Man, but still highly skilled at a variety of tasks. Which is good, considering that Scrooge isn't going to pay for a large household staff when one man can do the job.
The Jeeves: He's not omnicompetent, but he knows how to run house with meager money he gets from his Boss.
Nonindicative Name: Despite being named "Duckworth" and appearing in a show where most of the central characters are ducks, he himself is the only regularly recurring character who is not a duck or a bird of some kind, but rather a classic Dogface.
Servile Snarker: Not the most obvious example of this trope, but he has his moments.
The Stoic: It takes a lot for him to drop his stone-faced exterior.
Mrs. Bentina Beakley
Scrooge's maid and the nephews' nanny, hired because she offered to work for nothing except food and shelter for herself and her granddaughter Webby.
Apron Matron: At least in the beginning; though less strict and more soft-spoken than most examples of the trope. Of course, she didn't quite stay that way: see below.
Expy: For Grandma Duck, who weirdly enough never appears in DuckTales — even though she would probably be a more natural choice for Donald to send his nephews to than Scrooge.
A ruthless, immortal, shape-shifting sorceror who goes on the warpath when Scrooge gets hold of the magic lamp in Duck Tales The Movie Treasure Of The Lost Lamp. He was one of the Genie's former masters, and will do anything to get him back into his clutches.
Three Wishes: His talisman allows him to bypass this rule.
El Capitan
A former sea captain who's even more greedy and miserly than Scrooge is; he literally goes insane with gold fever and will go to any lengths to retrieve even a lost penny — even if it should risk losing all his other money or even his life. Appears in the five-part pilot for DuckTales.
Really 700 Years Old: Hinted to be several centuries old, having stayed alive out of pure greed and not wanting anyone else to get their hands on his money.
Dijon the Thief
A kleptomaniac who's always going after valuable treasures but has trouble keeping them. He's occasionally hired by other villains to aid them in their goals, and has been seen working for both Flintheart Glomgold and Merlock — though he's really not such a bad person when it comes down to it.
Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: He does occasionally manage to pull off some impressive jobs of thievery, but all in all he is a fairly Harmless Villain who's more a slave to his own kleptomania than anything else.
Lovable Coward: When danger lurks, Dijon will step up and... make any excuse not to have to face it.
