History DannyPhantom / TropesHToP

** Some of the episodes use punny names to hint at villain reappearances like [[spoiler:"Dr. Burt Rand" from the episode Doctor's Disorders]] or [[spoiler:M. Bursback Cruise line in Pirate Radio]] referring to [[spoiler: Burtrand, Penelope Spectra's assistant and Ember's second appearances, respectively]].

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Danny gets manipulated into screwing up a few times. It almost always turns out all right and the one time it ''didn't'' found someone hitting the ResetButton. Ironically, he messed up all by himself that one time. It ended up destroying thousands, if not ''millions'' of lives... which made the ResetButton required.

*** Maybe she's [[Pun into heavy metal]]?

* PhantomZone: The Ghost Zone; also served as a SealedEvilinaCan]].

->"In the poem, 'The Tyger,' why does [[WilliamBlake the author]] rhyme the words 'eye' and 'symmetry'?"[[note:To answer Danny's question, the letter "y" in British English during the 1800s always sounded like the "i" in the word, "kite."]]

* ItsNotYouIts

-->'''Vlad:''' I've seen your grades, and I know you're bad at math. ... I'll give you five minutes before I send my minions to destroy you. (mere seconds after Danny flees Vlad's cabin) Get him! Five minutes, five seconds -- oh, apparently, I'm bad at math, too!"
Later, after Danny gets the better of him and {{DePower}}s him with the same device):

* ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies: Ironically, ''Valerie'' severs her relationship with Danny (Fenton) before it can start because she doesn't want him to get hurt because of her job hunting ghosts, including Danny Phantom.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:J]]
* TheJailer: Walker.
* {{Jerkass}}: Vlad, especially in [[spoiler:the series finale, after he reveals his ghost powers to the world. Jack, while surprised at this, is willing to overlook it and try to rebuild their friendship. Vlad coldly blows this off however since he thinks his plans are coming to fruition. When they don't though, he tries crawling back to Jack. Say the least, his chance at redemption is long since gone and Jack leaves him to rot.]]
** A bit of AlternativeCharacterInterpretation can cause the Ghostwriter to be this. He causes the whole world to torture Danny because Danny ''accidentally'' incinerated a Christmas poem he wrote. Sure, he considered it his MagnumOpus, but what self-respecting writer considers a ''Christmas poem'' his greatest work? And if it really ''was'' that important, he just could've used his power to [[RewritingReality rewrite reality]] and make it so that Danny never incinerated it. In order to torture Danny, he breaks an annual Christmas truce that EVERY ghost follows.
* JerkJock: Dash and Kwan are insufferable that way.
** Though Kwan gets HiddenDepths by portraying his bullying [[InWithTheInCrowd as a way to get friends--shallow or not--because he doesn't feel like he belongs anywhere]]. In a way, he's like Danny, who at the beginning was also trying to find his place.
* JiveTurkey: The second episode has Mr. Lancer trying to speak rap using a "How to Talk Slang" book.
** Hey Technus, your language is FAR OUT, but your execution is FUNKY FRESH.
* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind: Danny invades the dreams of his friends in order to snap them out of Nocturne's control in "Frightmare".
* JustAKid: Danny gets this a lot. His in-universe nickname ''is'' "Ghost Boy". More notably, Vlad does this twice, once almost calling it out ("Bitter Reunions"), the other as more of an insult ("Reign Storm"). Clockwork also does this once, but it's justified - he's trying to explain the nature of time and his own existence to someone who's probably flunking high school math. ("Why am I bothering? You're ''fourteen''.")
** Valerie also remarks this about herself when her ghost-hunting benefactor reveals himself. "But why me? I'm, like, fourteen."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:K]]
* KickTheDog: "Besides, shouldn't you be failing a test, kicking a puppy, or beating up somebody weaker than you now?"
* KidsAreCruel: Poor, poor Danny....
** Tucker is also a victim of this.
* KidFromTheFuture: Box Lunch, daughter of The Box Ghost and The Lunch Lady.
* TheKnightsWhoSaySquee: {{Inverted}} in a sense -- Vlad ([[CaptainObvious the villain]]) is a huge Packers fan.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:L]]
* LamePunReaction: Danny is a master of ''really bad puns''. Also lampshaded once in "Shades of Gray" and "Beauty Marked".
-->Hey, another "ax" pun!
** Puns are used as lead-ins to commercial breaks with alarming frequency. As narrated by Ghost Writer:
-->(A giant Nutcracker appears)\\
"'Nuts!' Danny cried as he started to run."\\
({{beat}})\\
"Must we end every scene with a terrible pun?"
* LampshadeHanging: "Jazz, take it easy. There's a rhythm to these things. Ghost attacks, we exchange WittyBanter, I kick ghost butt, then we all go home [[AnAesop having learned a valuable lesson about honesty]] or some such nonsense." Also used by Dark Danny to his parents (so very justified) and subtly by Clockwork.
* LargeHam: Oh, where do we ''begin''? Box Ghost, Technus, Super Danny in "Identity Crisis", arguably Jack, and especially Undergrowth's "''I AM '''EVERYWHEEEERE!'''''"
* LastMinuteHookup: After episodes of conspicuous "hints" towards it, Danny and Sam's relationship gets serious only in the concluding two episodes of the series.
* LastNameBasis: (Penelope) Spectra.
* LawyerFriendlyCameo: In Eye For An Eye, we get Vlad overshadowing Bill Gates and selling himself {{Microsoft}} - no, pardon, [=Mastersoft=].
** An episode later, Vlad flips through channels, and mentions an "embarrassing celebrity arrest." Don't blink when the camera shows the tv, or you'll miss MichaelJackson.
** In "Attack of the Killer Garage Sale" Technus' operating system is Portals XL, which seems to be a reference to Windows XP.
* LeastRhymableWord: In the Christmas episode, everyone was forced to speak in rhyme as someone narrated the entire episode. That is, until someone picked up an orange, prompting him to remark irritably that nothing rhymes with orange.
** Later, in Ghost Jail...
-->'''Walker:''' Orange? (offers it to Ghostwriter).\\
'''Ghostwriter:''' ''GET THAT THING AWAY FROM ME!''
*** Yet he still wears a purple coat...
** Tucker believed that the reason Danny [[spoiler:doomed us all by getting rid of his powers]] in the Finale was because nothing rhymed with Phantom.
* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: In "Boxed Up Fury" when Danny saves Skulker from killer unicorns:
-->'''Skulker''': I won't tell anyone about this if you won't.
-->'''Danny''': Deal.
* LimitedWardrobe
* LiteralGenie: Desiree.
* LockedIntoStrangeness:
** Danny's change of hair-style in "Phantom Planet".
* LogicalWeakness: Ever tried screaming really loud for a really long time? This is why the ghostly wail is only ever used by Danny as a [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique last resort]], as it completely drains him and deactivates his ghost form.
* LookMaNoPlane: Danny has phased through at least one plane.
* LostForever: The original "Fright Before Christmas".
* LoveMakesYouEvil: Story of Vlad's life. [[spoiler:Losing everything he loved caused it to be Danny's future.]] Somebody hit the ResetButton.
** Which they did in "Masters of All Time". It got worse. [[spoiler:Vlad and Maddie married, but Vlad has made her into nothing more than a bitter housewife and Jack a major woobie as a half-ghost shut in. But even then, Maddie and Jack loved each other in this future and helped Danny go back and change it the right way.]] In an interesting subversion of this trope, Vlad was still evil regardless.
* LoveYouAndEverybody: Danny and Sam pull it on each ''other'' in "Claw of the Wild."
--> '''Danny:''' I couldn't imagine my life without you. [beat] Or Tucker. ''[monster appears in the distance]]'' Stay here. Wake up Wulf.
--> '''Sam:''' Be careful. I couldn't imagine my life without you either. [beat] Or Tucker.
* LovesMyAlterEgo: Pauline idolized Danny Phantom and typically dismissed Danny Fenton.
** And then happens ''in reverse'' with Valerie, who loves Danny Fenton but hates Danny Phantom! Boy just can't win.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:M]]
* MadeOfIron: '''Danny'''. Even putting it down to a ghostly HealingFactor, Danny gets shocked, blasted, and slammed into walls so often any ordinary superhuman would at least fracture something. Even disregarding the title character, the ordinary human characters survive at least crippling falls without even bruising.
* MagicMirror: The mirror in Poindexter's old locker acts as a portal between Caspar High of the present and a 1950's version of the school in the Ghost Zone.
* MagicSkirt: Sam, Kitty, and Spectra.
* MagneticPlotDevice: The Ghost Portal.
* MakeAWish: Desiree.
* MakeMeWannaShout: Danny and Dark Danny's "Ghostly Wail".
* MamaBear: Maddie Fenton can get rather aggressive if either of her children are in danger.
** PapaWolf: Jack has his moments too.
* ManipulativeBastard: Vlad.
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: Vlad in his black suit. [[EvilIsSexy Hoo boy...!]]
* ManHug: It's brief and goes without comment, but Tucker hugs Danny at one point in "The Ultimate Enemy".
* TheMasqueradeWillKillYourDatingLife: Danny and Valerie.
* MassHypnosis: One of Ember's main abilities.
* MasterOfDelusion: Valerie, unfortunately.
** Danny, with regards to Jazz knowing his double life. "Danny! Go somewhere I can't see you and get help!" "Are you hiding here? Then I'll hide way over there where I can't see you."
* MasterOfTheMixedMessage: Danny.
* MarilynManeuver: It's really brief, but when the Sphinx roars at Tucker in King Tuck, Tucker's loincloth flies up into this trope.
* MeaningfulName: Most ghosts' names give clues as to some aspect of their appearance or what they can control. Example: The Box Ghost can control boxes and other cube-like objects. [[spoiler:BEWARE!!!]]
** Desiree, a genie ghost who grants wishes and lived her life trying to fulfill them for others, is simply another way to pronounce desire.
** One of Freakshow's ghosts, [[MarxBrothers Lydia The Tattooed Lady]].
** The kids all attend Casper High. Can they really complain about the constant ghost attacks?
** Also they live in Amity Park Amity being a Reverence to Amityville Horror.
** Kwan, a name Korean in origin, meaning "strong".
** Some of the episodes use punny names to hint at villain reappearances like [[spoiler:"Dr. Burt Rand" from the episode Doctor's Disorders]] or [[spoiler:M.Bursback Cruse line in Pirate Radio]] referring to [[spoiler: Burtrand, Penelope Spectra's assistant and Ember's second appearances respectively]]
* MercyLead: Valerie in "D-Stabilized". Subverted in "Maternal Instinct" by both Vlad and later Danny.
* MerryChristmasInGotham: The show has an all-round Christmas Spectacular as Danny [[spoiler:teams up with his enemies to fight someone]] who is trying to spoil the event. Unusually for a children's show, Danny ''loathes'' Christmas, but with good reason.
* MesACrowd
* TheMenInBlack: Somewhat inverted with the Guys In ''White''.
* MickeyMousing
* MindRape: Vlad's attempts to get Danny over to his side. Done later on when Vlad tries to ''remove Danny's human emotions'' (at ''Danny's'' request, chillingly). That it backfired is [[PsychoForHire putting it mildly]].
* MoodLighting: Seems to represent a drop in temperature comes with the presence of a ghost.
* MotiveDecay: Vlad's initial, intriguing motive to turn Danny into his son and apprentice, putting him on par with Slade from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', disintegrated without explanation by Season 3, leaving him nothing your average, run-of-the-mill VillainWithGoodPublicity.
** Possibly justified. Vlad is an extreme narcissist. Being repeatedly beaten or at least matched by a 14-year-old boy with over 20 years less experience with ghost powers than him is likely to eat away at his ego which would probably lead to an evaporation of any positive feeling or goodwill. The desire to destroy would easily overwhelm the desire to teach.
* MundaneMadeAwesome: Jack Fenton is made of this. When [[MesACrowd split]] into "hero" mode and "slacker" mode, hero!Danny is too.
-->Curse this infernal messy room! This looks like a job for... ''the vacuum cleaner!''
* MundaneUtility: In "Prisoners Of Love", Danny is shown using his ghost powers to vacuum high parts of walls, and clean the lab.
* MurderTheHypotenuse: Vlad will do absolutely ANYTHING to claim Maddie for his own. Luckily for Jack, Danny's powers have saved him from demise more than once.
* MusicalAssassin: Ember [=McLain=].
* MustacheVandalism: The first thing Technus does as soon as he's freed from Danny's old game of Doomed is to open a paint program with a picture of Danny's crush Paulina and draw a mustache and massive glasses on her. Later, once Technus beams himself into the mainframe of the Fenton RV, he does the exact same to a picture of [[BumblingDad Jack Fenton]].
* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: Lancer in "The Ultimate Enemy." Jack, Maddie, Jazz, Sam and Tucker are all "gone, but not forgotten." Lancer is just "gone".
* MythArc: Danny's coming of age as a superhero and struggle with his darkness, his deepening relationship with Sam, and the world's gradual acceptance of him - and that's just the main character.
** Jazz's arc where she slowly and eventually accepts her parents' ghost hunting habits and eventually getting into the life style; she also learns to embrace her childhood instead of acting like an adult all the time.
** Valerie's growth from a shallow, popular teen in the background to a fierce ghost-hunting warrior who starts to see a world beyond what she perceived while she was spoiled.
** Vlad's continuous desire for Maddie and especially Danny that culminated in his VillainousBreakdown.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:N]]
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Vlad Masters/Plasmius, Skulker, Pariah Dark, Fright Night, and [[spoiler:Dark Danny]].
* NarrativePoem: most of the "Fright Before Christmas".
* NewPowersAsThePlotDemands: Kind of justified since it serves as a more physical metaphor for his character growth (his powers grow as Danny himself does).
* NewSuperpower: After establishing the basic ghost-related abilities, Danny gets newer, [[RuleOfCool less-ghostly, energy-based powers]] about every other episode. One notable gain occurred in "Urban Jungle", where Danny develops ice- and cold-generation powers just in time to fight a plant ghost who is particularly vulnerable to cold. However, at least the producers were classy enough to foreshadow this new power; Danny's [[SpiderSense ghost sense]] is said to be a by-product of it. Furthermore, the episode used that power as the springboard to show the deepening friendship with Danny and Frostbite as student and mentor.
** The ice thing is also semi-justified in that ghosts are commonly associated with cold (see MoodLighting). And Vlad specifically says that Danny shoots a beam of ectoplasmic energy.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Danny gets manipulated into screwing up a few times. It almost always turns out all right and the one time it ''didn't'' found someone hitting the ResetButton. Ironically, he messed up all by himself that one time. It ended up destroying thousands, if not ''millions'' of lives... which made the ResetButton required.
** Sam had a moment herself in "Memory Blank".
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Does Technus remind you of Gilbert Gottfried? Exactly.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: Plasmius' introduction. Oh, but what an introduction.
** Does it again in "Kindred Spirits".
* NonLinearCharacter: Clockwork. He always shifts through kid, adult, and old man appearances.
* NoodleIncident: "Maternal Instincts" revealed there was a "Backwash Incident" involving the college trio (Vlad, Jack, Maddie). It's one of the reason Vlad has held a grudge on Jack.
** In that same episode, Jack had previously had the house sent into a "parallel dimension". Maddie hasn't gotten over it since.
* NotSoDifferent: Danny and Plasmius, more than Danny would like to admit.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:O]]
* OddlyNamedSequel2ElectricBoogaloo: Played for laughs. When the family temporarily gets filthy rich, they move. Jack wants to call their new home "Fenton Works 2: This Time, it's Personal".
* OffModel: Sprinkled throughout the series, most notably during a period in the first season (and the beginning of Season 2) where the entire cast turned rubbery in a few episodes. [[WordOfGod Hartman has since "removed" those people.]]
* OmnicidalManiac: Dark Danny, apparently. No onscreen death actually occurs, however. He's also the only person who has [[ShadowDiscretionShot actually committed murder]].
* TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness: The Observant High Council.
* OmniscientMoralityLicense: Clockwork, who does some very questionable things. It turns out okay, but still...
-->"Danny Phantom grows up to be the most evil ghost on the planet. What do you want me to do about it?"
** Also, the Observants may count, though their perception of time is not as dynamic as Clockwork's. They were willing to kill a fourteen year old kid, but only then to save thousands of lives.
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Whenever he's forced to team up with Danny, Skulker only does so to be able to continue hunting him.
** "Now go! Defeat him! So I'll be free to hunt you another day!"
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Christmastime is the only time of the year when Sam's actually cheerful. Unfortunately, everyone's so use to her sulkiness that they see it as a sign of the apocalypse.
* OrbitalKiss [[spoiler:Danny and Sam in "Phantom Planet"]], complete with FootPopping.
* OurGhostsAreDifferent: Most of the ghosts diverge from mainstream paranormal expectations.
* OurSoulsAreDifferent: On multiple occasions, Danny Fenton's soul is shown to be separate from Phantom. Originally happened via a forced FreakyFridayFlip with Poindexter, who was capable of morphing into Danny Phantom while in Fenton's body. Subsequently, any time Danny's ghost and human halves are split - either by the Fenton Ghost Catcher or [[spoiler:Vlad's Ghost Gauntlets in "The Ultimate Enemy"]] - the latter is conscious and active.
* OutOfOrder: "The Fenton Menace" aired after "The Ultimate Enemy" but was set beforehand.
** As did "Identity Crisis". Furthermore, despite being set afterwards, "Double Cross My Heart" and "Kindred Spirts" aired before "Reality Trip". In addition, "Urban Jungle" was the first episode of the third season to premiere, even though it was number six. The Season 3 premiere didn't even air in the U.S until after the following seven. Honestly, Nick didn't handle new episodes very well.
* OutOfSightOutOfMind: Several antagonists, but notably Dark Danny who, unfortunately, does not return.
* OutOfTheInferno: While fighting Danny, [[FutureMeScaresMe Dark Danny]] is weakened by the Spectre Deflector and hit into an oil truck, which the fire from his hair ignites. Danny walks away... [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome Only for Dark Danny to emerge out of the blaze, unscathed and clutching the now-useless device.]] [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown He then proceeds to beat the crap out of Danny.]]
* OverprotectiveDad: Paulina's father:
-->"If you upset my daughter, we are going to have a very violent talk."
** Also, Valerie's dad, Damian, to a lesser extent. He's okay with Danny and Valerie being together, just so long as none of Danny's parents' "ghost weirdness" rubs off.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:P]]
* PainfulRhyme: Lampshaded in-universe by Danny to Lancer in "Teacher of the Year":
-->"In the poem, 'The Tyger,' why does [[Creator/WilliamBlake the author]] rhyme the words 'eye' and 'symmetry'?"[[note]]To answer Danny's question, the letter "y" in British English during the 1800s always sounded like the "i" in the word, "kite."[[/note]]
* PairTheSpares: "I am Box Lunch, daughter of the Box Ghost and the Lunch Lady!"
** Once, when Danny began dating Paulina [[spoiler:who was a ghost ''disguised'' as Paulina]], Sam got unwillingly paired up with Kwan while Tucker began dating Star. Finally, Star and Kwan hooked up with each other, allowing Sam and Tucker to both be single once more.
** [[spoiler:Ember and Skulker.]] Seriously, what?
*** Maybe she's [[{{Pun}} into heavy metal]]?
* ParrotExpowhat:
-->'''Jack:''' It's the Ecto-Exodus Alarm!\\
'''Danny, Sam and Jazz:''' The Ecto-whaty-what?
* PeopleJars: The clones in "Kindred Spirits".
* PerkyGoth: Sam, especially during the winter holiday season.
* PhantomZone: The Ghost Zone; also served as SealedEvilInACan.
* PickOnSomeoneYourOwnSize
* PingPongNaivete: Danny.
* APirate400YearsTooLate: Youngblood and his pirate crew.
* PlotHole: How did [[spoiler:Technus escape from Doomed when Danny deleted it? He was trapped at level zero online, meaning deleting the program wouldn't free him.]]
** [[spoiler:Danny just deleted it from the desktop, it was likely just a shortcut to Doomed, instead of the actual program.]]
* PlotSensitiveItems
* PopculturalOsmosisFailure: When Sidney Poindexter, a ghost from [[TheFifties The Fifties]] takes over Danny's body in the present, the other students have no idea what an egg cream is.
* PortalPicture: In "Livin' Large":
-->'''Danny:''' Okay, think fast. If I were Vlad's portal, where would I be? Woah, that is a really big, really ugly painting. Evil dudes are ''so'' predictable.
* PositiveDiscrimination: Namely, "Women are better than Men", though not as prominent as in ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents''. Most prominently seen in Maddie and Sam, but does show up elsewhere.
* PostVictoryCollapse: Rather often, starting in the first episode with Danny saving Tucker and Sam from the Lunch Lady, only to collapse afterward. Subverted in the climax of "[[TheMovie Ultimate Enemy]]". Eventually, he grows out of this as he gets used to his powers and develops them further.
* PowerDegeneration: The fate of the Danny clones, and almost that of Dani when overextending her powers.
* PowerDyesYourHair: When Danny first gets his powers and, subsequently, whenever he "goes ghost", his hair turns white. [[spoiler:In "Phantom Planet", when he decides to reverse the accident that gave him his ghost powers and get rid of them, he gets a streak of white in his hair, which goes away when he gets his powers back. It is even commented on in-universe.]]
* PowerGlows
* PowerIncontinence: A common theme for Danny in early Season 1, and again in "Memory Blank" in Season 2.
** Possibly Vlad pre-series. He got his powers in 1981, but got his money in 1986.
* PowerLevels: implicitly done with ColourCodedForYourConvenience; Green, Blue, Purple, Red.
* ThePowerOfRock: Ember is a villainous version of this.
* PowerTrio:
** Danny - Ego
** Sam - Superego
** Tucker - Id
* PunctuatedForEmphasis: Several times throughout the series.
[[/folder]]

----

-->'''Vlad:''' I've seen your grades, and I know you're bad at math. ... I'll give you five minutes before I send my minions to destroy you. (mere seconds after Danny flees Vlad's cabin) Get him! Five minutes, five seconds -- oh, apparently, I'm bad at math, too.\\
''(Later, after Danny gets the better of him and {{DePower}}s him with the same device):''\\
'''Danny:''' I'll give you a five-minute head start, Plasmius.\\

''(Later, after Danny gets the better of him and {{DePower}}s him with the same device):\\''

In "Attack of the Killer Garage Sale" Technus' operating system is Portals XL, which seems to be a reference to Windows XP.

* PainfulRhyme: Lampshaded in-universe by Danny to Lancer in "Teacher of the Year":
-->"In the poem, 'The Tyger,' why does [[Creator/WilliamBlake the author]] rhyme the words 'eye' and 'symmetry'?"[[note]]To answer Danny's question, the letter "y" in British English during the 1800s always sounded like the "i" in the word, "kite."[[/note]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:L]]

* PopculturalOsmosisFailure: When Sidney Poindexter, a ghost from [[TheFifties The Fifties]] takes over Danny's body in the present, the other students are have no idea what an egg cream is.

** Possibly justified. Vlad is an extreme narcissist. Being repeatedly beaten or at least matched by a 14-year-old boy with over 20 years less experience with ghost powers than him is likely to eat away at his ego which would probably lead to an evaporation of any positive feelings or goodwill.

* NoodleIncident: The Backwash Incident involving the college trio (Vlad, Jack, Maddie).

* LawyerFriendlyCameo: In Eye For An Eye, we get Vlad overshadowing BillGates and selling himself {{Microsoft}} - no, pardon, Mastersoft.

-->'''Skulker:''' Err...Guys, there is a problem... ''my nose is itching''.

* {{Hammerspace}}: One exactly one occasion, Danny is shown carrying the Fenton Thermos by a shoulder strap. The rest of the time, he just pulls it from behind his back, seemingly out of nowhere.