Court
is a midquel to Blackmailed and a side story in the Danny Phantom: Stranded series. Danny and Star recall a time Walker tried to convict Danny with a jury made of Danny's ghostly enemies.
Tropes:
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A-H
- Abhorrent Admirer:
- Nathan is still this to Valerie as he refuses to accept that she won’t go with him to senior prom.
- Marcie and Tyler can see that Colette is this to Danny despite not even knowing him given her less than charming personality and lack of stability.
- Johnathan becomes really unnerved when Spectra starts flirting with him during the trial. And that's before he learns of her true form.
- Desiree is not flattered by Zoren's flirting.
- Johnathan points out to Vlad that he's this to Maddie since she won't leave Jack and doesn't like Vlad, and she'd want even less to do with him after learning he's a supervillain.
- Accidental Truth: Tuckers lies to Nathan that Valerie is already considering going with him to senior prom, and she implies she might take him someday.
- Actually Pretty Funny:
- Despite initially being reluctant at using magic against Dash, Sam admits that Misty creating an illusion of a trash monster to scare him was funny.
- Even Danny's enemies find his revenge against Dash during the Sidney Poindexter incident to be hilarious.
- Johnathan can't help but have a laughing fit after seeing how Danny managed to force Beatrice to leave Star alone.
- Valerie laughs when she hears about how scared Vlad is of Virgato.
- Adults Are Useless: Star rightfully suspects that Jean-Luc knows of Colette’s rotten nature but doesn’t care. Although it’s averted when he grounds her for costing him an important business deal with a California hotel owner by picking a fight with the man's daughter, which Star lampshades as one of the rare times he acted like a parent by disciplining her of his own accord.
- Aerith and Bob: The ghosts who only worked for Freakshow while under his control introduce themselves as Goliath, Elastica and Jim. Subverted as "Goliath" and "Elastica" are stage names and their actual names are Jeff and Emma.
- Aesop Amnesia: Sam still refuses to see what she did wrong by changing the school’s lunch menu to only serve her ultra-recyclo-vegetarian food or that it was garbage.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Ember is impressed that Danny used his powers to get payback on Dash, Beatrice, and Donovan.
- Alternate Species Counterpart:
- Danny considers Johnny 13 to be a ghost version of Dash Baxter since they’re both huge jerks.
- Star considers Prince Aragon to be a ghost version of Toadman for being just as much of a self-absorbed, sexist prick.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Sam as always is mortified by her mother Pamela’s snobbishness and immaturity.
- Amicable Exes: Johnathan may still have his problems with Stella, but he will defend her from Spectra's insults.
- Amnesiac Resonance: At the end, despite not remembering the events of the trial (including Vlad's Secret Identity and crimes), Johnathan still turns down Vlad Masters' lucrative job offer due to instinctively distrusting him.
- Animals Hate Her: Colette gets attacked by seagulls after destroying an empty nest of theirs and throwing something at a flock of the birds during a tantrum.
- Acquaintance Denial: Sam and Ida pretend not to be related to Pamela when she makes a total fool of herself by throwing a tantrum in public over losing the tennis tournament to Stella and Maddie.
- Arranged Friendship: Stella makes it clear to Maddie that she never liked Virginia and only hung out with her to please her overbearing mother, since Beatrice pressured Stella to be "friends" with a fellow wealthy heiress for the sake of their family's reputation.
- Asshole Victim:
- Team Phantom and Valerie are fine with Misty frightening Dash with the illusion of a trash monster as revenge for bullying Danny.
- The Observants and villains agree that Dash, Donovan, and Beatrice deserve what Danny did to them.
- Athletically Challenged: Virginia justifiably sees Pamela as this, given her low stamina and inability to hit a single tennis ball during their practice session.
- Attempted Homewrecker: Spectra knows Johnathan is dating Solene but still flirts with him at Danny's trial.
- Audience Surrogate: Misty and Valerie serve as this as they listen to the story from Team Phantom.
- At Least I Admit It:
- Ember is the only one of the evil ghosts who's completely honest when Johnathan cross-examines her, freely confessing how she wanted to Take Over the World just because and that Danny had nothing to do with it.
- Unlike Walker, the rest of Danny's enemies have no delusions about their morality and openly admit they're villains at the end of his trial.
- Badass Bookworm: Johnathan is brave enough to confront Danny's enemies and can memorize all the laws in the Ghost Zone.
- Badass in Distress: Danny needs to rely on Johnathan to get him out of Walker's Kangaroo Court.
- Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: Invoked by Misty to Sam, who, as a former villain, has no problem paying Dash back for bullying Danny.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: Colette threatens to have her dad get his chefs to cook the seagull that stole her hat and feed it to their dog.
- Berserk Button:
- Spectra really hates anyone insulting her age.
- Johnathan absolutely hates cheaters and homewreckers.
- Big Brother Instinct: Inverted, but Danny makes it clear to Johnny 13 during the trial that he should’ve let his parents beat him with the Fenton Anti-Creep Stick for coming near Jazz.
- Big Damn Heroes: Johnathan shows up to defend Danny as his lawyer when he's put on trial by Walker.
- Blunt "Yes": Pamela when Jeremy asks if she really thinks he can't be a better tennis partner than his elderly mother.
- Boring, but Practical: Johnathan defeats Walker and saves Team Phantom through his own skills as a lawyer.
- Brutal Honesty:
- Virginia doesn’t bother hiding her low opinion of Pamela’s lack of athleticism.
- Ember makes it clear to Spectra that they're acquaintances at best and Kitty only hangs out with her out of pity.
- All of Team Phantom make it clear to Sam that her ultra-recyclo-vegetarian diet is garbage.
- Danny's enemies make their disgust of Spectra's true haggard appearance very clear.
- Spectra makes it very clear in court that Stella is a total failure as a wife and mother.
- Johnathan makes it clear to Vlad that Maddie won't be with him because she doesn't want to.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Spectra tries to act friendly and flirtatious around Johnathan due to her crush on him. However, he quickly sees what a sadistic and cruel person she is after learning how she treated Star and the other kids, rejecting her.
- Bully Hunter: Unlike Sam, Misty and Star have no problem getting payback at Dash for harassing Danny as Star gives Misty suggestions on how to punish the Jerk Jock.
- Card-Carrying Villain: During the trial, Johnathan uses this against Danny’s villains by reminding them that they already established they were going to attack Amity Park regardless of Danny’s interference, so he can’t be blamed for their own actions.
- Conditioned to Accept Horror: After reviewing footage of all their ghostly enemies attempts to kill them, Team Phantom has realized how nonchalant they've become to all the attempts on their lives.
- Contrived Coincidence: Johnathan mentions his former college roommate is working as a historical consultant for a movie starring Eloise Von Schmidt-Stone, one of Star's favorite actresses... and Jean-Luc's previous ex-wife (whom Team Phantom had recently met by the time Danny and Star tell the story).
- Control Freak: Walker, big time.
- Courtroom Episode: This fic is about a time Walker tried to have Danny sentenced to prison for good.
- Crime of Self-Defense: Danny lampshades this since his enemies are trying to punish him by putting him on trial for protecting his friends and town from their attacks.
- Didn't Think This Through: Walker and Vlad try to get Danny sentenced by bringing up the ghost boy using his powers to get revenge on ordinary humans who wronged him. However, they forget that those people were Hate Sink Asshole Victims, with even the Observants and ghostly villains acknowledging that Dash, Donovan, and Beatrice deserved what was coming to them since Danny made sure not to take things too far. Vlad himself lampshades that he completely underestimated just how much Johnathan hated his former mother-in-law since he finds the scene of Danny utterly humiliating Beatrice to be the funniest thing he's ever seen.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Johnathan makes it clear to the Lunch Lady Ghost that making a complaint to the school would’ve done a better job of changing their lunch menu than a violent outburst and monster attack.
- Double-Meaning Title: The title "Court" may refer to the trial Walker plans to subject Danny to; and tennis courts since there's a subplot about a tennis tournament.
- Do Wrong, Right: Ember is embarrassed she ever dated Skulker because he's just as bad a liar as he is a hunter since he can't even come up with a believable excuse when testifying against Danny in court.
- Drama Queen: Colette as always is throwing a tantrum over getting grounded for ruining her father’s business trip to California and refuses to accept that it’s because of her own horrible behavior.
- The Dreaded:
- Even Walker doesn't want to tick off Pandora.
- Vlad is still scared of Virgato.
- Driven by Envy:
- Pamela wants to win the tennis tournament partly to convince Stella to favor the Mansons instead of the Fentons.
- Johnathan and Team Phantom are well aware that Vlad obsessively pursues Maddie because he's jealous of the fact that Jack married her first.
- Entitled to Have You: Johnathan sums this up as Vlad’s attitude towards Maddie; her feelings, opinions, and relationships don’t matter to him because he just regards her as a trophy to possess by stealing her from Jack.
- Even Evil Has Standards:
- Vlad finds Klemper just as annoying as everyone else does.
- Klemper is the only one who Walker didn't recruit to be a part of his jury.
- Spectra finds the other ghostly villains to be a disgrace to evil because of how easily Johnathan gets the best of them during the trial.
- None of the court staff will allow Danny and Johnny 13 to fight during the trial.
- All of the female ghosts in court hate Prince Aragon for being a sexist bastard. They feel the same towards Donovan Loadman.
- The rest of the villains are disgusted at Vlad's callous treatment of the clones he created, especially Danielle.
- Even Vlad is among the villains who got disgusted at Walker for abducting a baby.
- Both Ember and Desiree agree with Team Phantom that Nocturn was lazy for reusing the same old plan in "Dreamt".
- The other villains find Youngblood to be a huge brat.
- Spectra sees Jean-Luc as a moron who's too incompetent to parent his daughter Colette.
- All of Danny's enemies laugh at Spectra's humiliation when they see the image of Jazz exposing her true age with the Fenton Peeler.
- Everyone Can See It:
- Even people who don’t know Danny can tell he doesn’t like Colette because of her unstable personality.
- Johnathan makes it clear to Vlad that he’s the only who doesn’t realize that he’s wasting his life obsessing over Maddie because she’ll obviously never love a jerk like him.
- Everyone Has Standards:
- Eleanor likes Maddie and Stella but still bills them for all the damages they cause to her country club during their tennis practice.
- Virginia makes it clear Donovan Loadman is nothing but a lunatic. Pamela also doesn't think any better of him.
- Sam eventually agrees to let Misty get back at Dash for bullying Danny as long as she doesn’t physically hurt him.
- Stella is disgusted with Pamela Manson's immaturity and bad parenting. Stella acknowledges that she has no room to criticize someone's parenting considering how she strained her relationship with her own daughter, and to her credit, is working to become a better person while acknowledging her and Pamela's similarities. While gossiping with Maddie about her, Stella expresses disgust and annoyance with Pamela's social-climbing, Professional Butt-Kisser plots, like when she wrote a failed romance novel just to show up Stella's sister Jocelyn and tried to suck up to a Hollywood star with her husband acting as her agent. Stella also asks if it was true that Jeremy and Pamela hadn’t met Maddie and her husband, Jack, until their kids were in high school (despite Sam Manson and Danny Fenton being friends for years before), which Maddie confirms; Stella notes that that while she wasn’t the perfect parent, she still made an effort to be involved Star's personal life and at least know her daughter’s friends. Maddie points out that those two are too lazy and spoiled to do something productive with their time or get real jobs, and when she realizes she sounded insensitive to Stella, Stella tells Maddie not to worry about it, and concludes her point by stating that she and her friend Eleanor at least try to do something productive with their money and time, like charity work, and Stella tries to be someone her daughter can respect. In contrast, Jeremy and Pamela do nothing with their lives or try to earn their daughter’s respect. Stella was disgusted to learn that those two had put most of the job of actually raising Sam onto her grandmother. She also disapproves of how the Mansons tried to bribe students they preferred to befriend Sam so she would leave her true friends for them. Stella admitted that while she was guilty of encouraging Star to befriend the wrong people, she never went as far as to bribe her daughter's peers. Stella also criticizes Jeremy and Pamela for trying to change Sam’s clothing style, not understanding what is wrong with her wearing black.
- None of the other socialites can stand the Mansons for being immature idiots, and Pamela’s public tantrum after losing the tennis tournament sure doesn’t change their minds.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good:
- More like “snobbishness can’t comprehend non-snobbishness” but as far as Pamela is concerned, Stella only favors the Fentons because their kids are dating, and winning the tennis tournament will show her not to overlook the Mansons.
- Vlad thinks Johnathan is only defending Danny out of hope Danny will show gratitude by making Jean-Luc suffer a terrible accident.
- Johnathan spells out to Vlad that a Nice Girl like Maddie would never leave her loving husband Jack for a jerk like him, especially not if she found out he was a supervillain.
- Spectra doesn't understand why Johnathan vastly prefers Solene over her.
- Evil Counterpart:
- In a way, Walker is one to Johnathan. Walker uses the law as an excuse to arrest anyone for even the pettiest reasons, while Johnathan is devoted to his career as a lawyer and truly wants to make sure that justice is served.
- Penelope Spectra is one to Stella as both are women who frequently cause trouble for Team Phantom and are interested in Johnathan. But Stella is a Brainless Beauty who at worst is an Innocently Insensitive Jerk with a Heart of Gold that truly means well, divorced Johnathan but regains her feelings for his Nice Guy nature although she is in complete denial about it, and has grown into a better person who cares greatly for Team Phantom as well as others while Spectra is a sadistic Evil Genius who hurts Team Phantom for fun, has no personal history with Johnathan and openly desires him solely for being a rich lawyer, and refuses to change her wicked ways.
- Eviler than Thou: Johnathan finds Prince Aragon to be an even worse pompous jerk than Jean-Luc Bevier. Jazz also admits he makes Dash Baxter seem charming in comparison.
- Evil Is Petty:
- Walker sets up a trial for Danny by using his ghostly enemies as the jury to finally defeat the ghost boy for good.
- Ember tells Team Phantom she’s not going to help them with Danny’s trial because she’s still their enemy, and plans to visit Danny if he does end up in jail in an effort to steal him from Star.
- When Vlad finds out about the trial, he decides to join in just to make things more difficult for the heroes.
- Vlad is amused by Johnathan's discomfort with Spectra's flirting.
- Exact Words: Walker wishes to Desiree for the Behemoth to talk. She grants his wish and the Behemoth starts to say... random words because his animal growls don't properly translate to full sentences. Desiree points out he wished for the Behemoth to talk, not that he could talk in clear sentences or "have an Oxford vocabulary".
- Excellent Judge of Character:
- Marcie and her boyfriend Tyler correctly regard Colette as an unstable Spoiled Brat who has a delusional, one-sided obsession with Danny despite not even knowing him.
- The California hotel owner refuses to do business with Jean-Luc after realizing his bad character due to how much of a brat he raised Colette to be, considering what she did to his daughter Marcie.
- Danny admits him and his parents were right from the beginning not to want Johnny 13 anywhere near Jazz. Johnathan is also glad that Star never went out with the evil punk ghost biker.
- Virginia considers Donovan Loadman an unhinged psycho, which even Pamela agrees with.
- Spectra is well aware that Jean-Luc is nothing but a rich idiot who is completely unfit for parenthood.
- Johnathan is correct that Maddie doesn't want anything to do with Vlad, especially if she found out about his true evil nature.
- Extremely Protective Child: Star defends her mother Stella from Spectra's insults.
- False Friend: Stella tells Maddie that Virginia Coleson-Snow is one of the Spoiled Brats her elitist mother Beatrice had her "befriend" in her youth.
- Fantastic Legal Weirdness: Danny is forced to be on trial by all his ghost enemies, but Star's father Johnathan defends him as his lawyer.
- Feeling Oppressed by Their Existence: On the beach near the Beviers' rented house, Colette is annoyed by how loud the "peasants" are being with their "drivel", believing they should only be allowed in her presence as her servants.
- Forgiven, but Not Forgotten: Valerie has mostly gotten over her grudge against Cujo for costing her father his job since he never meant any real harm, but she still has issues with the ghostly dog, although she is willing to tolerate his presence.
- Framing Device: Days before Colette's trial, Danny tells about a past occasion Walker tried to have him sent to prison.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: While Johnathan admits that Vlad has a right to be angry at Jack for the lab accident, he also points out that it's no excuse for Vlad's crimes and all the people he hurt, especially his treatment of Danielle and the other clones. Johnathan makes it clear Vlad is ultimately responsible for his own misery because he refuses to move on from a 20-year-old grudge.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: None of the other ghostly villains like Spectra. Ember even tells her that she just regards Spectra as an acquaintance and Kitty only hangs out with her out of pity.
- The Gadfly: Zoren admits he helped Danny because ruining Walker's plans is fun.
- Geeky Turn-On: Spectra becomes even more infatuated with Johnathan when she witnesses him memorize the entire ghost zone law book in a matter of minutes thanks to his exceptional memory.
- Gem-Encrusted: Colette's $3,000 sunhat which she buys during her shopping spree in California. It gets stolen by a seagull to replace the nest she destroyed, much to her dismay.
- Gold Digger:
- Pamela accuses Danny of being one for his interest in Sam then Star, which earns her a kick in the shin from his mother Maddie.
- One of the reasons why Penelope Spectra likes Johnathan is because he is a rich and successful lawyer.
- Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: Star wonders if her mother Stella just doesn’t want to believe that Colette is irredeemable.
- Good Is Not Dumb:
- Unlike Pamela Manson, Maddie knows that Star and Sam are too smart to ever be interested in a Gold Digger.
- When Sam wishes for popcorn from Desiree, she words it carefully so the Jackass Genie ghost can’t tamper with the popcorn to poison her.
- Good Is Not Soft:
- Johnathan is a Nice Guy, but he is also a lawyer who isn't afraid to use all his skills in his career in order to obtain justice.
- Danny is willing to use his powers on humans who push him too far like Dash, Beatrice, and Donovan.
- Eleanor threatens to ban Pamela from the country club if she doesn't quit her tantrum from losing the tennis tournament to Stella and Maddie.
- Good Lawyers, Good Clients: Johnathan serves as Danny's lawyer and defends him from Walker's Kangaroo Court.
- Graceful Loser: Virginia at least tries to be this by congratulating Stella and Maddie on winning the tennis tournament.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Valerie is openly bitter that Vlad gave Solene triple her old salary and a car to convince her to work for him since he never paid the former that much as the Red Huntress.
- Has a Type: Spectra may have a thing for smart guys since she becomes impressed with Johnathan for quickly memorizing all of the Ghost Zone’s laws. She also has a much higher opinion of the Self-Made Man Johnathan than the Upper-Class Twit Jean-Luc.
- Hated by All:
- Nobody likes Spectra. She's frequently insulted by Amorpho, the other ghosts laugh at her embarrassment, Kitty and Ember reveal they regard her as an acquaintance at best, her own assistant Bertrand doesn't have much respect for her, and Johnathan was creeped out by her even before seeing her true colors (and face).
- Team Phantom, their allies, and even all their ghostly enemies can't stand Prince Aragon for being an egomaniacal, self-absorbed, and sexist jerkass.
- Nobody in the court can stand Dash Baxter for being an insufferably annoying Dumb Jock bully, and take pleasure in seeing Danny use his powers to humiliate him. Tucker even records it for his own amusement.
- Nobody cares about the trauma Danny put Beatrice through in "Visited" after seeing how much of a Hate Sink Rich Bitch she is. In fact, Johnathan can't stop himself from laughing hysterically after watching how pathetic he made the old bat look by exposing her for the pitiful Dirty Coward Boisterous Weakling she truly is.
- Team Phantom's enemies despise Donovan Loadman just as much as they do for being a violent Jerkass that harasses Star, and praise Danny for punching his teeth out in "Visited".
- He Is Not My Boyfriend: Spectra insists that Bertrand is just her assistant, not her boyfriend.
- Her Own Worst Enemy: Thanks to her arrogance and temper, Colette makes a total fool of herself on her dad’s trip to California by provoking a girl into pushing her in the ocean and angry seagulls into attacking her, along with getting grounded after she ruins her father’s business deal by making a scene at an important dinner.
- Hidden Depths:
- Eleanor implies that she was once a professional golfer.
- It's revealed that both Stella and Eleanor play tennis. Before Stella moved to Paris, they won the country club's charity tennis tournament together seven years in a row.
- Johnathan is revealed to be a speed reader and has a photographic memory, which Star claims is partly what helped him get a scholarship to law school.
- Johnathan is also well-versed in medieval terminology and customs thanks to his college roommate, who was a medieval history major.
- Pamela once tried to write a romance novel, but it was deemed an utter failure.
- Johnathan took fencing lessons for several years.
- Technus apparently likes reality shows.
- Spectra may be a Gold Digger but she'd much rather go after the benevolent lawyer Johnathan than the Rich Bastard Jean-Luc.
- Hidden Disdain Reveal: Ember admits to Spectra she considers her only an acquaintance she hangs out with out of pity instead of a true friend like Kitty.
- Hopeless Suitor:
- Spectra's attempts to flirt with Johnathan fail miserably due to the fact that not only does he already have a girlfriend, but he grows to hate her after seeing all her evil plots his daughter and her friends.
- Johnathan makes it clear to Vlad that Maddie wouldn't have anything to do with him even if he weren't a supervillain.
- Horrible Judge of Character:
- At the time of the flashbacks, Stella is still in denial about Colette’s rotten nature and clings to the belief that she has good deep down, much to Star’s irritation over her mother’s naivety.
- Johnathan makes it clear to Vlad he's delusional for thinking a good person like Maddie would ever leave her Nice Guy husband Jack for a slimeball like him, who she doesn't love and would like even less upon learning Vlad's secret identity as a ghostly supervillain.
- Humiliation Conga: Spectra's attempts to flirt with Johnathan end up not only with being rejected by him, but also getting humiliated in front of him and her fellow ghosts when her true age and appearance are revealed.
- Hypocrite: In Blackmailed, when Team Phantom was framed for crimes and nearly expelled from school, Jeremy and Pamela Manson refused to believe Sam’s protests of innocence and instead blamed her friends and the Fentons for being a bad influence on her, planning to send their daughter to a boarding school. When Sam’s grandmother Ida Manson protested their decision, Jeremy put his foot down and told his mother that Sam was his daughter. He also opened up about how he resented his mother for teaching Sam to be rebellious and not being there for him in his childhood due to her activism. While Jeremy was wrong in not supporting Sam or believing her, he did have a point about his strained relationship with his mother and Ida's irresponsibility when he was younger, along with the fact Sam was ultimately his daughter. However, this story destroys Jeremy’s point; when Stella and Maddie gossip about the Mansons, it’s revealed that they didn’t even meet Jack and Maddie until Sam was in high school (despite her being friends with Danny since kindergarten) and put the job of raising their daughter onto Ida while the couple were focused on their wealthy lifestyle, like going on vacations and spending their money. This means that Jeremy has no room to be resentful towards his mother because it’s his and Pamela’s faults that Sam is so close to Ida and turned out just like her grandmother since her parents didn’t take an active role in raising her. On another note, Jeremy has no right to judge his mother for neglecting him when he also neglected his own daughter, that too for more petty reasons. Ida, for all her faults, was hands-off with Jeremy partly to give him the freedom to make his own choices in life, which she didn’t have, and is willing to acknowledge she messed up as a parent; by contrast, Jeremy and Pamela refuse to do the same and only care about molding Sam in their own image.
I-Y
- Ignorant of Their Own Ignorance: Johnathan calls Vlad out on understanding Maddie so very little that he actually thinks she’d have anything to do with him despite her being Happily Married and not even liking Vlad for being an Entitled Bastard.
- I Hate Past Me: Stella is ashamed of how she encouraged Star to hang out with the A-Listers, who she now correctly regards as delinquents.
- In Love with Love: Everyone can see that Vlad is more in love with the idea of being in love with Maddie than Maddie herself.
- Insistent Terminology: According to Danny, Spike Bison didn't "wipe the floor" with him. "He just...got in some good hits...".
- Insult to Rocks: Danny quips to Star that calling Spectra a vampire is an insult to vampires everywhere, even Dracula. "For all we know, monster or not, he's probably way more pleasant to be around".
- Internal Reveal:
- In this story, Star's father, Johnathan Strong, discovers Danny's secret.
- Johnathan also learns about what Danny’s ghostly enemies have been doing to the town when he was away on business. He’s especially shocked that the Lunch Lady Ghost attacked Star’s school with a giant meat monster while he was busy defending a politician.
- I Reject Your Reality: As far as Vlad is concerned, Maddie is his soulmate and Jack is the idiot who betrayed him.
- Irony:
- Ember refuses to help Team Phantom with Danny's trial but accidentally does so by giving Star the idea to have her dad Johnathan represent him.
- Sam finds it ironic that Stella, who comes from an even richer family and has higher status than Jeremy and Pamela, is far more accepting of her individuality than her own parents are.
- Johnathan lampshades how the supervillain Ember McLain is the most honest witness he's ever questioned in his career.
- It's All About Me: Jean-Luc only grounds Colette on their trip to California because he’s upset that she ruined an important deal for him by picking a fight with the daughter of a hotel owner he wanted to do business with. Star even acknowledges that Jean-Luc never does anything about Colette’s bratty behavior unless it causes him problems.
- Jerkass: Walker, as always.
- Jerkass Has a Point:
- Tyler is understandably creeped out by Colette when she kisses him after mistaking him for Danny, and tells her it’s unlikely Danny would go for someone as unbalanced as her who would mistake another guy for him unless he was nuts.
- Marcie doesn’t even know Danny but she can still tell that he doesn’t love Colette and the latter is in denial about him.
- Jean-Luc grounds Colette as punishment for destroying his chances of closing a deal with a California hotel owner by childishly antagonizing the man's daughter Marcie.
- Stella insists to Maddie that they have to practice for the tennis tournament since she’s new to the sport.
- Johnathan is understandably against Star fighting ghosts when he finds out about Danny's secret identity and Team Phantom.
- Johnathan is rightfully concerned when Team Phantom tells him that dangerous ghosts cross into the human world through natural portals that occasionally appear in the Ghost Zone.
- Danny tells the court he only accidentally gave Technus the idea to use his family’s tech to Take Over the World because he assumed Technus was going to do that anyway, since the ghosts he fought so far were evil and only cared about world domination. Considering Technus proved to be no different, Danny was right on the money about him.
- Both Virginia and Pamela regard Donovan Loadman as unstable.
- Team Phantom are rightfully annoyed with Klemper for telling Vlad about Danny’s trial since the evil halfa would just make things worse for them.
- Given Pamela is a spoiled, social-climbing Womanchild who throws a very loud tantrum at the country club over losing the tennis tournament, it's not hard to understand why Sam and Ida are so embarrassed to be associated with her.
- Virginia makes it clear to Pamela it’s her own fault they lost the tennis tournament because she’s a horrible player.
- The other socialites wonder why Eleanor let the Mansons into the tennis tournament since their childish attitudes make it clear they’re not country club material, especially since Pamela threw a really embarrassing tantrum after losing to Stella and Maddie.
- Kangaroo Court: The fic's summary describes the trial as unfair.
- Know When to Fold 'Em:
- Nathan backs off when Tucker tells him he might take Valerie to senior prom himself and Star threatens to get him in trouble with her lawyer dad Johnathan.
- Unlike Youngblood, his skeleton assistant sees no point in lying to the Observants during Danny’s trial and admits he stole the pirate ship.
- Lack of Empathy: Star lampshades that Jean-Luc is too apathetic to care how much of a bully his spoiled daughter Colette is to people unless it negatively affects him.
- Laser-Guided Karma:
- While accompanying her dad on his business trip to California, Colette antagonizes a couple called Tyler and Marcie by kissing Tyler when she thought he was Danny, refusing to apologize for it, and insulting them, which causes Marcie to push her into the ocean. Then her expensive hat is stolen and she gets attacked by seagulls for destroying an empty nest and provoking them during a tantrum, while everyone on the beach laughs at her humiliation and rightfully questions her sanity. Later, it’s revealed that Marcie is the daughter of the hotel owner who Jean-Luc wanted to cut a deal with but the owner terminates it on account of Colette’s awful behavior, so Jean-Luc grounds her for ruining an important business venture for him.
- As payback for throwing trash at Danny, Misty uses her magic to create an illusion of a trash monster to scare Dash.
- Spectra gets humiliated when the orb shows everyone her true age, causing her to be mocked by her fellow ghosts and embarrassing her in front of Johnathan Strong (whom she has a crush on).
- Not only does Walker lose the trial, but it's revealed that some of his rules he created were never official and didn't have any grounds to arrest Danny and some of the ghost villains in the first place. This enrages Danny's enemies to make them turn on Walker and go after him for revenge.
- A Lighter Shade of Black:
- Virginia and Pamela may be Rich Bitches even snobbier than Stella was, but they want nothing to do with someone as unstable as Donovan Loadman.
- Spectra may be a Gold Digger but unlike Yolanda, she has enough standards to want nothing to do with the Beviers and prefers the Nice Guy Johnathan Strong.
- As much of a snob and Sore Loser Virginia is, she at least tries to take defeat gracefully by congratulating Maddie and Stella on winning the tennis tournament, even if it is just to protect her reputation, unlike Pamela.
- Like a Son to Me: Stella makes it clear to Virginia that she considers Danny family even if he doesn’t marry her daughter Star.
- Like Mother, Like Daughter: One trait Pamela and Sam share is a hard time accepting responsibility for their actions. To Sam’s credit, she is working on that personal flaw, while Pamela still refuses to see when she is wrong.
- Like Mother, Unlike Daughter: Maddie would’ve never believed that the Mansons are Sam’s parents if it weren’t for Ida.
- Loving a Shadow: Johnathan explains to Vlad that the Maddie he loves isn’t real because she’ll never return his interest.
- Lust Makes You Dumb: Johnathan makes it clear to Vlad that he’s too obsessive to notice or care that he’ll never have Maddie because she hates him too much.
- Mama Bear: Maddie has no problem kicking Pamela in the shin for insulting her son Danny as a gold digger.
- Mid-Battle Tea Break: During the trial, the Dairy King summons ice cream and offers some to Team Phantom, their allies and even the Observants. Walker doesn't like it but the Observants ignore him and allow a brief recess.
- Mistaken for Object of Affection: While in California, Colette mistakes a boy named Tyler for Danny and kisses him on the cheek, much to his revulsion and his girlfriend Marcie’s outrage.
- Motor Mouth: Team Phantom can testify that Klemper NEVER shuts up, as it's how they found out about his conversation with Vlad.
- Mundane Made Awesome: Johnathan saves the day and rescues his daughter's friends with his legal skills and impressive memory.
- Mutually Unequal Relationship: Stella considers Maddie a good friend, but Maddie sees her as more of a friendly acquaintance. It isn’t that Maddie dislikes Stella, despite the rough start to their relationship; it’s just that she doesn’t feel close enough to Stella to consider her a friend. However, the two genuinely bond in this story, and become closer friends.
- Mythology Gag: Helena the bridezilla ghost, who appeared in another one of Flower princess11's Danny Phantom works, Growing Pains, is mentioned when Spectra protests Kitty comparing her to Helena.
- Named by the Adaptation:
- Lunch Lady Ghost’s real name was never revealed in canon, but here it’s Edith.
- In canon, Lydia was the only ghost among those working for Freakshow whose name was revealed. Here, the others are named Emma, Jeff, and Jim.
-
Nausea Fuel: Danny shudders at the memory of Box Lunch when Youngblood brings up that ghosts can have kids. - Nerves of Steel: Johnathan refuses to be intimidated (or at least show he is) by Danny’s ghostly enemies during his trial.
- Never Hurt an Innocent: Johnathan points out that Dash, Beatrice, and Donovan's cruel behavior is what forced Danny to lash out at them in self-defense.
- Never My Fault:
- One of Johnathan's clients, Mr. Westly, crashed his car into an old man's and now wants to sue the old man.
- Colette as always never takes responsibility for any of her behavior and pins the blame on the people she wronged: Marcie for pushing her into the ocean after Colette kissed her boyfriend Tyler then refused to apologize and just insulted them, Tyler for her mistaking him for Danny because of his superficial resemblance to the Fenton boy, and the seagulls for stealing her hat and attacking her after she destroyed an empty nest of theirs and threw something at them.
- Basically the whole point of Danny’s trial is to blame his enemies' villainous actions on him, claiming he drove them to villainy.
- Pamela as always refuses to recognize that her and her husband’s unpleasantness is what makes Stella prefer the Fentons' company over theirs.
- Sam still doesn’t see that it was a mistake to change the school’s lunch menu to only serve her ultra-recyclo-vegetarian food since it was literal garbage.
- After Danny is proclaimed innocent, Walker blames Desiree for messing up his wish to get the Behemoth to talk, but she retorts he didn't wish for the creature to have an Oxford's diction.
- Virginia and Pamela blame each other for losing the tournament.
- Never Recycle Your Schemes: The heroes and villains call Nocturne out on being so lazy that he reused his old plan to put everyone in town to sleep, especially since he failed again.
- Non-Action Guy:
- Johnathan doesn’t have ghost powers or the Fenton’s anti-ghost weapons, but he still helps save Team Phantom using only his talents as an attorney, by defending Danny in court from his enemies.
- The Dairy King stays out of the conflict in the courthouse.
- No Sympathy:
- Danny just laughed when Colette told him about how horrible her trip to California was in an attempt to elicit sympathy because he completely hates her and knows she brought it on herself.
- Nobody in the court cares about Danny using his ghost powers to get back at Dash, Donovan, and Beatrice because they're just THAT despicable.
- Not So Above It All:
- Sam normally advocates against petty revenge even if it is justified, but doesn’t stop Misty from terrifying Dash with the illusion of a trash monster as payback for bullying Danny and finds it hilarious.
- Maddie can't help but enjoy her spa day with Stella, especially after seeing how the facial helped make her look younger.
- Even Danny's enemies can't help but laugh after seeing the Sidney Poindexter incident, where Danny put frogs down Dash's pants to get back at him.
- Johnathan can't help but laugh his head off after seeing how Danny traumatized Beatrice in "Visited".
- "Not So Different" Remark:
- Maddie doesn’t say it out loud but she considers Virginia to be just as much of a snob as Colette based on Stella’s description of her.
- While she never went as far as Jeremy and Pamela, Stella admits she is just as guilty as them of being a less than stellar parent to her own daughter, especially with how they both pushed Sam and Star to make friends with the wrong people.
- Odd Name Out: Jim is the only one of the three circus ghosts to go by his regular name instead of a stage name.
- Old Money: Stella mentions Virginia's family has been a fixture at high society for over 10 generations and was one of the first to settle in Amity Park when it was founded.
- Older Than They Look: Danny's enemies are surprised that Spectra is WAY older than they ever expected when they see her true form.
- Papa Wolf:
- The California hotel owner cuts ties with the Beviers after Colette acted like a total bully to his daughter Marcie.
- Johnathan stands up to Spectra when she insults Star and blames her for his and Stella's divorce.
- Pass the Popcorn: During the trial, Sam and Tucker wish for popcorn from Desiree and are careful enough to wish for it to be non-poisonous and not to have any weird or unexpected side effects.
- Pet the Dog:
- Team Phantom gets Nathan to leave Valerie alone by telling him that she's already considering going with Tucker to senior prom and threatening to get Star’s lawyer father Johnathan involved.
- Stella praises Maddie for her killer instinct and agrees to pay for any damage she causes to the country club during tennis practice.
- Misty promises to get revenge on Dash for bullying Danny and Star gives her suggestions.
- Ember gives Team Phantom an update on Danny's progress at his trial and leaves peacefully.
- Johnathan doesn’t hesitate to defend Danny in court from his ghostly enemies.
- Virginia thinks Maddie is nice and makes an effort to be polite to her.
- Virginia sends Eleanor a get-well card for her injury.
- Frostbite, Pandora, Amorpho, the Dairy King, Queen Dora, Zoren, Madame Shelley Valentine, Spike Bison, Virgato, and the 3 circus ghosts testify in Danny's defense.
- Danny's enemies side with him for defending Star from her violent Abhorrent Admirer, Donovan Loadman.
- After Danny wins the trial, The Dairy King summons pizza and ice cream cake to celebrate.
- Virginia congratulates Maddie and Stella for winning the tennis tournament, at least to save face.
- Jeremy comforts his wife Pamela after she loses the tennis tournament.
- Playing the Victim Card: Danny is annoyed as always by Colette’s delusional and dramatic attitude when she tries to act like she did nothing wrong on her and her father’s trip to California even though her spoiled, haughty nature ruined it.
- Pragmatic Hero: Team Phantom won’t let Misty make Dash stink as revenge for his bullying because they don’t want to risk having to smell him at school.
- Pragmatic Villainy: The other ghostly villains wonder why Nocturne reused his old scheme to put Amity Park to sleep since it didn't work the first time and the second time ended the same way.
- Proud Beauty: As far as Colette is concerned, Tyler should be grateful that a girl like her who is much more beautiful than his girlfriend Marcie would even bother to kiss him by accident after she mistook him for Danny.
- Psychological Projection:
- Vlad appears to be under the impression that Johnathan is just as petty and vindictive as he is since he thinks the lawyer is only helping Danny in the hopes he can get back at Jean-Luc for him.
- Maddie tells Pamela to quit assuming the former is an ambitious Social Climber just because she is.
- “The Reason You Suck” Speech: Johnathan gives several of these to Danny's enemies while he cross-examines them. He gives an even bigger one to Vlad after learning all of his crimes.
- The Reveal: It's revealed that some of Walker's rules were never made official, but he had arrested Danny and several other ghosts regardless.
- Revenge on the Bully: Star and Misty team up to get back at Dash for harassing Danny.
- Rules Lawyer: Johnathan not only memorizes the entire ghost zone law book, but counters each and every ghost's claims by mentioning the laws in either Amity Park or the ghost zone in order to explain his point.
- Screw the Money, I Have Rules!:
- The California hotel owner refuses to make any business deals with Jean-Luc because Colette bullied his daughter Marcie.
- Vlad is so impressed with Johnathan's skills as a lawyer he offers to pay Johnathan ten times his yearly salary and get Jean-Luc and Stella as far away from him as possible if he drops Danny's case. Johnathan refuses, mentioning he also refused the $500,000 Beatrice offered him to call off his wedding to Stella and the million dollars she kept offering him to divorce her.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Johnathan makes it clear in court that Beatrice would've violated the restraining order against Star because she's an elitist snob who thinks having money makes her above the law, considering how she tried to force her granddaughter to marry Donovan of all people.
- Selective Obliviousness:
- Star as always is annoyed by her mom’s obliviousness to Colette’s rotten nature and speculates she just wants to believe there’s good in Colette despite all the evidence to the contrary.
- Johnathan calls Vlad out on ignoring Maddie’s love for her husband Jack and obvious disdain towards him for his unpleasant nature.
- Self-Proclaimed Love Interest: Colette as usual refuses to accept that Danny doesn’t love her.
- Shipper on Deck: Stella is this for Star and Danny, which she makes clear to Maddie, Virginia, and Pamela. Stella even brags to Virginia that Danny will become her son-in-law someday by marrying Star.
- Ship Tease: Happens between Tucker and Valerie.
- Shout-Out:
- Eleanor and Stella's exchange while the former suggests alternate tennis partners for Stella mirrors Monique and Kim Possible's when the former suggested other people Kim could make plans with in the episode "Steal Wheels".
- To Disney and Pixar when the Ghost Zone's rule book is revealed to have a page called A113.
Word of God says it wasn't intentional and the page was supposed to be A133.note
- Sickeningly Sweethearts: Everyone is grossed out by how affectionate Lunch Lady and Box Ghost are.
- Small Name, Big Ego: According to Stella, Pamela once tried to write a romance guide and get a celebrity to endorse it. Not only was her book an utter failure, but Pamela ended up embarrassing herself as the celebrity didn't know who she was.
- Smug Snake: Walker thinks he can easily sentence and condemn Danny in a rigged trial when he doesn't have a lawyer to represent him, but then Johnathan shows up to defend him.
- Sore Loser:
- Virginia admits to Pamela that she hates losing and that’s why they need to train hard to win the tennis tournament. She still accepts defeat better than Pamela does, or at least is more concerned about how their peers would react to bad sportsmanship.
- Pamela throws a big tantrum after Stella and Maddie beat her in the the tennis tournament, not helped by Virginia blaming her for their loss due to her lack of athleticism. She even goes as far as accusing Maddie of cheating.
- Spoiled Brat: Even while staying in a lavish beach house, eating 5-star gourmet meals, shopping endlessly at luxury boutiques, and having servants wait on her hand and foot, Colette still manages to find things to complain about, namely her accommodations "barely" meeting her standards and not having Danny at her side.
- Stating the Simple Solution: Johnathan points out to the Lunch Lady Ghost that she could’ve changed back the Casper High lunch menu by filing a complaint like the students did later instead of going on a violent rampage.
- Sympathy for the Hero: While Team Phantom is glad Colette is out of their lives for good and Stella is finally completely aware of her true rotten nature, they regret that she had to learn it in such a heartbreaking way.
- Talking Animal: Deconstructed. The animalistic Behemoth ghost is randomly summoned to the courtroom by Desiree and given the ability to speak so it can act as a witness. However, the Behemoth still lacks the sapience to comprehend speech and being given the ability to talk only gives it the closest thing to proper speech. Because of this, the Head Observant deems the Behemoth an unreliable witness and has it dismissed from the courtroom.
- Totally Trusting Love Interest: Marcie is rightfully angry at Colette after catching the latter kissing her boyfriend Tyler and defends him.
- Ugly All Along: Everyone is surprised that Spectra's true form looks like an unappealing old lady.
- Underestimating Badassery: Pamela sees Maddie as a weirdo who Stella only favors because their kids are dating.
- Underestimating Intelligence: Walker is left speechless after Johnathan proves he is more than capable of representing Danny as his lawyer after comprehending the Ghost Zone law book in only a few minutes.
- Unusual Hiring Practices: The Observants plan on hiring Johnathan for his legal skills should he become a ghost someday.
- Villain Has a Point:
- Spectra makes it clear that Kitty can do better than Johnny 13.
- Ember points out that given how many legal systems have existed throughout history, the idea that the Ghost Zone has a jury system option is not as obvious as Walker is condescendingly making it sound when he assembles Danny's enemies for the jury. Even one of his own guards admits that she has a point before Walker glares him into silence.
- Ember reminds Team Phantom that she's a villain and that's not going to change just because she likes Danny, so she won't help them with Danny's trial.
- All of Team Phantom agree with the Lunch Lady Ghost that the food Sam replaced Casper High's menu with was garbage, especially since they had to eat actual mud pies and grass.
- Sam and Johnathan agree with Undergrowth that mankind needs to stop destroying the environment, even if they make it clear his methods are unacceptable.
- Team Phantom agree with Youngblood's minion about Spectra making a lousy mother.
- The villains agree Donovan Loadman deserved to have his teeth punched out by Danny for attacking Star.
- Spectra is correct that Stella was a terrible mother and wife for leaving her family for an Upper-Class Twit like Jean-Luc.
- Spectra rightfully regards Jean-Luc Bevier as a total moron who is completely unfit to be a parent.
- Even Johnathan admits Vlad is right to hate Jack for causing the lab accident that put him in the hospital.
- The other ghostly villains share the heroes' opinion of Nocturne being too lazy to think of a new plan since reusing his old plan of making everyone in Amity Park fall asleep didn't work the second time.
- Villainous Crush: Spectra hasn’t lost interest in Johnathan.
- Villains Never Lie: Danny's enemies (who serves as the jury), despite trying to make Danny look like the bad guy, admit to their own crimes after Johnathan points them out. Justified as they are aware that the Observants would know if they are lying and don't want to provoke them.
- Villain Respect:
- Downplayed but the Box Ghost was visibly impressed after Johnathan memorized the entire ghostly law book in a matter of minutes and could recite each law by memory.
- Spectra and Ember are impressed by how well Johnathan is defending Danny during his trial.
- Vlad is impressed enough with Johnathan's lawyering to offer him a bribe, and later to want to hire him.
- Danny's enemies can't help but praise him for humiliating Dash, Donovan, and Beatrice.
- Villains Out Shopping: Danny's enemies make it clear they have lives outside of terrorizing humans.
- Villainesses Want Heroes: Spectra still has a crush on Johnathan Strong. As much of a gold-digging Vain Sorceress she is, she'd rather pursue him than have anything to do with the Old Money Jerkass Jean-Luc.
- Violently Protective Girlfriend:
- In retaliation for forcefully kissing her boyfriend Tyler when she thought he was Danny, then blaming them for her mistake and insulting Tyler, Marcie pushes Colette into the ocean.
- The Lunch Lady will always defend her boyfriend Box Ghost.
- Gender-Inverted with Danny, who's willing to use his ghost powers to protect Star from Donovan and Beatrice.
- Wacky Parent, Serious Child: Sam regards her mother Pamela as more of a spoiled child than an adult.
- Warts and All: Star and Johnathan are aware of Stella's flaws but still defend her from Spectra's trash-talking.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Undergrowth genuinely wants to save the environment, but doesn’t care if humanity has to be destroyed in the process.
- Whole-Plot Reference: Flower princess11 said this story was inspired by the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Trial".
- Women Prefer Strong Men: Ember is pleased to see Danny isn't above revenge after viewing how he got vengeance on Dash, Beatrice, and Donovan.
- Would Harm a Senior: Johnathan points out in court that Danny never physically harmed Beatrice, just intimidated her.
- Wowing Cthulhu: The Observants are quite impressed with Johnathan's skills as a lawyer and sincerely praise him for a job well done.
- Year Inside, Hour Outside: Walker was sentenced to 1,000 years in prison but, since the Observants didn't want to find a replacement to run the prison, they asked Clockwork to set it so that time would be just one day anywhere on Earth and the Ghost Zone outside prison.
- You Didn't Ask: Lunch Lady Ghost tells Danny that this is the reason why she never told Team Phantom that her real name is Edith.
