History YMMV / TheUltimateEnemy

* {{Narm}}: When Danny demands Clockwork name one evil thing he's done, the first thing Clockwork shows him is Jazz getting upset when she realizes "Danny's a cheater!", while the second is Dan Phantom taking out a city block. While this is supposed to show that the slippery slope of Danny's action leads him down a dark path, Jazz's overdramatic line delivery, the questionability of calling cheating on a test "evil", and the sheer contrast of severity in cheating vs mass destruction can come across as this.

* {{Narm}}: When Danny demands Clockwork name one evil thing he's done, the first thing Clockwork shows him is Jazz getting upset when she realizes "Danny's a cheater!", while the second is Dan Phantom taking out a city block. While this is supposed to show that the slippery slope of Danny's action lead him down a dark path, Jazz's overdramatic line delivery and the sheer contrast of severity in cheating vs mass destruction can come across as this.

** In regards to Dark Danny's origin, was Danny's Ghost Half corrupted by the evils of Vlad's. [[EvilerThanThou Or was it the other way around?]]
** Why did the surviving future humans presumably vilify Mr. Lancer? On one hand, they might have figured out that Lancer was indirectly responsible for causing Dark Danny to be born. On the other, a more plausible reason is that they blame Lancer for causing most of the Fenton family's deaths who are the only ones capable in hunting ghosts, including Dark Danny. Given that they are using the Fenton's technology and Valerie and her father are taking residence at their former home, the latter reason is more likely.

* MagnificentBastard: [[EvilMeScaresMe Dark Danny]] is an evil, powerful version of Danny from the future, and the most personal, dangerous foe Danny ever faced. Birthed from [[FusionDance the combination of Danny and Vlad's ghost halves]], Dark Danny immediately destroyed his human half and put most of his RoguesGallery out of commission to ensure no one could stand in the way of his rampage, even unlocking new ghostly abilities to bypass any and all security or tech thrown in his way. Dark Danny quickly realizes temporal tampering at the hands of his past self and Clockwork, and, so as to ensure time isn't altered and he still comes into existence, he banishes Danny to the Ghost Zone and travels to the past disguised as his younger self, playing his family and friends to ensure they all still die in the Nasty Burger explosion that prompted Dark Danny's inception. Staying one step ahead of his targets and Danny at every turn, Dark Danny faces even defeat with casual resignation after only being beaten by Clockwork's reversal of time, and ends the episode laughing in glee at the possibility of escaping his newfound prison to wreak havoc on Danny once more.

** Similarly, what were Vlad's real intentions behind separating Danny from his ghost half? Obviously creating Dark Danny wasn't part of the plan, but did he want to eliminate Danny as a threat by removing his powers, or did he genuinely want to help Danny with his grief? When Danny first arrives at Vlad's doorstep, Vlad looks devious at first, but when Danny doesn't react and instead just looks solemnly at a picture of his old friends and family, Vlad suddenly looks sympathetic to Danny's plight.

* AmbiguousSituation: In the opening scene, The Observers are conversing with Clockwork about their plan of action to “save the future”; however, when Clockwork meddled on The Observers behalf they ultimately kick-start the events that lead to the bad future, in the first place. Although, Clockwork knew from the beginning what was going to happen, so rather then let Danny’s loved ones perish and Danny living through the awful events that would follow, he gave him a second chance to make things right. [[WhatIf AND YET, it begs to question on what would’ve happened if Clockwork “didn’t” meddle in the first place. Would Danny have quit and bombed his C.A.T. without actually trying? Or, would he have chosen, as a last act of desperation, to use his powers to obtain the answers from Lancer?]]

* ToughActToFollow: ''The Ultimate Enemy'' is unanimously seen as ''the'' best episode of the series. Of the remaining episodes in the show's run, only ''WesternAnimation/RealityTrip'' and ''[[Recap/DannyPhantomS3E11DStabilized D-Stabilized]]'' come remotely close in fan reception.
* TrueArtIsAngsty: The darkest and most well loved episode in the series.

** Unpleasant and even painful emotions like stress (over a test) or grief (over lost loved ones) are hard to deal with, but they're part of what makes you human and it's important to learn to cope with them rather than try to take some easy way out (like cheating on a test, or trying to cut yourself off from your emotions), as it can rob your humanity or ruin your life.

** Was Danny's Ghost Half corrupted by the evils of Vlad's. [[EvilerThanThou Or was it the other way around?]]

** Similarly, what were Vlad's real intentions behind separating Danny from his ghost half? Obviously creating Dark Danny wasn't part of the plan, but did he want to eliminate Danny as a threat by removing his powers, or did he genuinely want to help Danny with his grief? When Danny first arrives at Vlad's doorstep, Vlad looks devious at first, but when Danny doesn't react and instead just looks solemly at a picture of his old friends and family, Vlad suddenly looks sympathetic to Danny's plight.

* AmbiguousSituation: In the opening scene, The Observers are conversing with Clockwork about their plan of action to “save the future”; however, when Clockwork meddled on The Observers behalf they ultimately kick-start the events that lead to the bad future, in the first place. Although, Clockwork knew from the beginning what was going to happen, so rather then let Danny’s loved ones perish and Danny living through the awful events that would follow, he gave him a second chance to make things right. [[WhatIfAND YET, it begs to question on what would’ve happened if Clockwork “didn’t” meddle in the first place. Would Danny have quit and bombed his C.A.T. without actually trying? Or, would he have chosen, as a last act of desperation, to use his powers to obtain the answers from Lancer?]]

* AmbiguousSituation: In the opening scene, The Observers are conversing with Clockwork about their plan of action to “save the future”; however, when Clockwork meddled on The Observers behalf they ultimately kick-start the events that lead to the bad future, in the first place. Although, Clockwork knew from the beginning what was going to happen, so rather then let Danny’s loved ones perish and Danny living through the awful events that would follow, he gave him a second chance to make things right. [WhatIf?AND YET, it begs to question on what would’ve happened if Clockwork “didn’t” meddle in the first place. Would Danny have quit and bombed his C.A.T. without actually trying? Or, would he have chosen, as a last act of desperation, to use his powers to obtain the answers from Lancer?]

* AmbiguousSituation: In the opening scene, The Observers are conversing with Clockwork about their plan of action to “save the future”; however, when Clockwork meddled on The Observers behalf they ultimately kick-start the events that lead to the bad future, in the first place. Although, Clockwork knew from the beginning what was going to happen, so rather then let Danny’s loved ones perish and Danny living through the awful events that would follow, he gave him a second chance to make things right. [[WhatIf?AND YET, it begs to question on what would’ve happened if Clockwork “didn’t” meddle in the first place. Would Danny have quit and bombed his C.A.T. without actually trying? Or, would he have chosen, as a last act of desperation, to use his powers to obtain the answers from Lancer?]]

* AmbiguousSituation: In the opening scene, The Observers are conversing with Clockwork about their plan of action to “save the future”; however, when Clockwork meddled on The Observers behalf they ultimately kick-start the events that lead to the bad future, in the first place. Although, Clockwork knew from the beginning what was going to happen, so rather then let Danny’s loved ones perish and Danny living through the awful events that would follow, he gave him a second chance to make things right. “”[[WhatIf?AND YET, it begs to question on what would’ve happened if Clockwork “didn’t” meddle in the first place. Would Danny have quit and bombed his C.A.T. without actually trying? Or, would he have chosen, as a last act of desperation, to use his powers to obtain the answers from Lancer?]]””

* AmbiguousSituation: In the opening scene, The Observers are conversing with Clockwork about their plan of action to “save the future”; however, when Clockwork meddled on The Observers behalf they ultimately kick-start the events that lead to the bad future, in the first place. Although, Clockwork knew from the beginning what was going to happen, so rather then let Danny’s loved ones perish and Danny living through the awful events that would follow, he gave him a second chance to make things right. [[WhatIf?AND YET, it begs to question on what would’ve happened if Clockwork “didn’t” meddle in the first place. Would Danny have quit and bombed his C.A.T. without actually trying? Or, would he have chosen, as a last act of desperation, to use his powers to obtain the answers from Lancer?]]

* AmbiguousSituation: In the opening scene, The Observers are conversing with Clockwork about their plan of action to “save the future”; however, when Clockwork meddled on The Observers behalf they ultimately kick-start the events that lead to the bad future, in the first place. Although, Clockwork knew from the beginning what was going to happen, so rather then let Danny’s loved ones perish and Danny living through the awful events that would follow, he gave him a second chance to make things right. [[WhatIf? AND YET, it begs to question on what would’ve happened if Clockwork “didn’t” meddle in the first place. Would Danny have quit and bombed his C.A.T. without actually trying? Or, would he have chosen, as a last act of desperation, to use his powers to obtain the answers from Lancer?]]

* AmbiguousSituation: Two examples that “could” be both considered a RiddleForTheAges:
** In the opening scene, The Observers are conversing with Clockwork about their plan of action to “save the future”; however, when Clockwork meddled on The Observers behalf they ultimately kick-start the events that lead to the bad future, in the first place. Although, Clockwork knew from the beginning what was going to happen, so rather then let Danny’s loved ones perish and Danny living through the awful events that would follow, he gave him a second chance to make things right. [[WhatIf? AND YET, it begs to question on what would’ve happened if Clockwork “didn’t” meddle in the first place. Would Danny have quit and bombed his C.A.T. without actually trying? Or, would he have chosen, as a last act of desperation, to use his powers to obtain the answers from Lancer?]]

* AmbiguousSituation: Two examples that “could” be considered a RiddleForTheAges:
**

** Similarly, what were Vlad's real intentions behind separating Danny from his ghost half. Obviously creating Dark Danny wasn't part of the plan, but did he want to eliminate Danny as a threat by removing his powers, or did he genuinely want to help Danny with his grief? When Danny first arrives at Vlad's doorstep, Vlad looks devious at first, but when Danny doesn't react and instead just looks solemly at a picture of his old friends and family, Vlad suddenly looks sympathetic to Danny's plight.

* HilariousInHindsight:
** A monster accidentally created causes TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt and humanity's only place for survival is a domed city with a guardian that the monster can't penetrate, along with said monster's repentant creator wanting to make things right? ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' apparently liked this [[Series/PowerRangersRPM storyline]].
*** Not the first time either, as Vlad's backstory and motivation in the regular series is similar to [[Series/PowerRangersWildForce Master Org's]].
** Dark Danny, at one point, says the phrase "Me? My future? ''I'm inevitable''." Fast forward to ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', another superhero story involving time travel, and Thanos says, "I am... '''inevitable'''."

* HarsherInHindsight: The special involves Danny losing everything he had: his family, his best friends[[note]]which includes his future girlfriend[[/note]], his future, and even his identity. Nearly seventeen years later, a certain web-slinging hero that inspired Danny [[Film/SpiderManNoWayHome experienced nearly the same thing]], and unfortunately for him, doesn't get a ResetButton.

* {{Anvilicious}}: The special really goes hard on the CheatersNeverProsper message, going so far as to show Jazz crying over the fact that "Danny is a cheater" and having his cheating on ''one test'' lead to the death of all his loved ones ([[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Lancer]]), to him turning evil, and to the destruction of the entire world and Ghost Zone. It's a ''lot.''
** However, the Observants point out that ''Clockwork'' [[{{Hypocrite}} technically cheated]] by leading Danny to the right decision, but to Clockwork this is justified by Danny [[EarnYourHappyEnding earning his (and his loved ones') happy ending]]. The audience certainly isn't complaining about his logic.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Prior to Dark Danny appearing on screen, Fright Knight shows up and reveals he is now working for Dark Danny. After Valerie escapes Fright Knight, he doesn't appear for the rest of the movie and isn't even mentioned.
** This might have been in order to show that Dark Danny is worse than Fright Knight, since up to that point Fright Knight was one of the most powerful ghosts in the series.

* SignatureScene: Danny's ghost half merging with Vlad's, creating the BigBad of the episode in the process.

* FantasticAesop: Never cheat on a school test. Doing so will lead to the death of your loved ones, your arch-enemy will become your legal guardian, and your ghost half will fuse with your arch-enemy's ghost half creating an evil ghost duplicate that kills you and creates a BadFuture for the entire world.

** Don't disrespect retail workers. The plot kicks off with Mr. Lancer using the Nasty Burger to [[ScareEmStraight scare kids]] into buying into the AchievementTestOfDestiny, and the Nasty Burger manager (a former Casper High student who failed the C.A.T.) as an AntiRoleModel. When the manager tries to protest that his job is important too because he keeps the Nasty Sauce cold to prevent it from exploding, he becomes demoralized when he realizes no one cares. This is partly what spurs Danny into wanting to cheat in the first place because the scare tactic worked [[ALessonLearnedTooWell a little too well]]. Later, when the Nasty Burger restaurant is trashed, ''none'' of the employees want to stick around to ensure the Nasty Sauce doesn't get too hot because [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere they're not paid enough to care]]. Finally, after Mr. Lancer catches Danny cheating on the test, his ''insistence'' on informing Danny's parents ''right outside the Nasty Burger'' as a VisualMetaphor for Danny's future is what gets them all caught in the blast zone in the BadFuture. One could easily argue that if Mr. Lancer (and society at large) respected fast food workers and the work they do a little more, it wouldn't have created the DisasterDominoes that led to the BadFuture.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Did Future Vlad willingly help Danny get back to the present, or did he intend to go through with his intention of destroying Danny to change the future, only to end up removing the time medallion instead?