Self Demonstrating / Darkwing Duck

Me, demonstrating my sense of crimefighter chic.

(This page is best read in the voice of Jim Cummings (1952) or Chris Diamantopoulos .)

(Puff of blue smoke)

I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the trope page that you cannot edit! I am... Darkwwwiiiiing Duck!

I bet you want an autograph. No really, it's no trouble. Take a few more for the kids. Or maybe you want to hear some of the tales of my derring-do and cunning cleverness?

At the start, Darkwing Duck struggled solo against the sinister scoundrels who stalked the city of St. Canard. However, little did I know that that was all to change. While investigating the theft of the Waddlemeyer Ramrod, I encountered for the first time a featherbrained flyboy, Launchpad McQuack (he eventually told me he was fresh from Scrooge McDuck's mansion in Duckburg... ya might have told me that earlier, L.P.) and a spirited little girl called Gosalyn Waddlemeyer. Originally, I didn't plan to keep either of them around for longer than it took to complete the mission — Darkwing Duck dares the denizens of darkness alone! However, the mission proved more problematic than I presumed, and I was forced to interact with both for longer than I had intended... Okay, so they both grew on me, so sue me! After the defeat of the terrifying taurine, Taurus Bulba, I reunited with both of them and now we live together.

Oh, by the way, if you've heard something about there being an old TV show, a washed up actor, and some fan who was gonna star in a movie, you're thinking of some other guys. I already know from Negaduck that there's more than one me.

Now that you've heard that story, maybe you want to hear some specific samples of the circumstances of my crimefighting career? Very well... that is, since you insist.

(Ahem)

Tropes I've left my mark on:

• Added Alliterative Appeal: Ah, yes! This avian adventurer always amazes his adoring audience with awesome alliteration abilities.
• Aesop Amnesia: So what if I constantly forget that I need to let others help me out on tough cases? Clearly they can stick to their own little corners of the world, while I and I alone defend St. Canard from the dastardly deviants who deprive the denizens of their...wait, THEY WHAT?!?! They took over the city?! Oh, why didn't I learn?! Oh well. Maybe it will stick with me this time around…
• Affectionate Nickname:
  • Launchpad calls me "D.W.", in or out of costume. I sometimes call him "L.P."
  • Morgana calls me "Dark."
  • Gos calls me "Dad".
• Alliterative Name: Related to Added Alliterative Appeal, my superhero name is awesomely alliterative.
• All Just a Dream:
  • You do not know how thankful I was to find out that the time I thought I was dead was this.
  • The time I was about to kiss Morgana? Not so much. Especially once I found out I'd planted one on Launchpad instead.
• Anti-Hero: There's nothing anti about me! I am the genuine article of heroics! All I want is a little respect, thank you very much! I mean, I spend all this time saving St. Canard from seriously sinister slimeballs, and what do they do? Act like I'm some sort of common criminal! What a joke! It's not my fault they have poor taste in fashionable crime fighters!
• Arch-Enemy: Being a superhero, I have quite a few. Just to name a few of the foul fiends whom I frequently fight:
  • That electromagnetic egomaniac Megavolt and I have been squaring off on a regular basis since our school days. (Apparently he was the school science nerd. Who knew?)
  • My diabolical doppelganger Negaduck is my mirror image in every way (right down to thinking we don't get the respect we deserve), and so we're often at odds.
  • The terrifyingly tyrannical bovine, Taurus Bulba, has had it in for me since I foiled his plan to rob the city blind with Professor Waddlemeyer's Ramrod. I've had it in for him ever since he tried to kill Gos to get his hands on the activation code for the Ramrod.
  • Quackerjack. Especially watch out for his Electric Joybuzzer.
  • Many are of the opinion that the dangerously duplicitous Dr. Slug is my greatest archenemy. I suppose it's only natural to assume that; he is Public Enemy #1 after all, and I have had to engage in many feats of heroic daring-do to defeat him! But you already knew that. What's that? You don't? What do you mean you haven't even seen Dr. Slug in action?!
  • And then there's Steelbeak. Given that he's F.O.W.L.'s primary agent, we have a long-running feud.
• Attention Whore: Attention —? Who wrote this? I am not a glory hound. I just have a healthy respect for my contributions to the welfare of the world, that's all. Okay, I do have a problem with this...but only a slight problem. Want an 8-by-5 glossy?
• Awesome Ego: Alright, alright, maybe I have a small ego problem. But considering my exploits once I say the catchphrase, I live up to the billing.
• Badass Cape: And it looks great along.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: Megavolt was actually a classmate of mine, a science geek named Elmo Sputterspark. That Jerk Jock Hamm String ruined Elmo's electrical experiment, which gave him superpowers. Elmo was so angry that he attacked us at a school dance. I couldn't let him fry the rest of the class, so I had to stop him. I nicked a hat, cape and mask from the school Drama department to create my impromptu superhero identity, but I had to fight Elmo in the tuxedo I wore to the dance.
• Badass Normal: Sure, it would be great to have some fancy powers, and I really like when I get temporary ones, but most of the time I only need my smarts and skills to defeat my felonious foes.
• Berserk Button: Do not, and I repeat, under any circumstances, do NOT try to steal MY job and vanquish MY foes in MY city!
• Big Eater: Gosalyn. Seriously, have you seen how much she packs away?
• Can't Live with Them, Can't Live Without Them: Boy do L.P. and Gosalyn get on my nerves! Between his constant crashing and her refusing to even clean one inch of her room...but, what's a duck to do? They're the two most important people in my life. I don't know what I'd do with myself if anything were to happen to them...
• Character Catchphrase: Oh, I have several ones; in no particular order...
  "Let's Get Dangerous!"
  "Suck GAS, evildoer!"
  "Yep, yep, yep."
  "AH...HA!"
  "Ouch."
  "Singed, but triumphant."
  "I am the terror that flaps in the night. I am the (noun that does / is something unpleasant). I am Darkwiiinnng Duck!"
• Cheap Costume: I made my first Darkwing disguise with props and clothing from my school's Drama Club; I admit I was lucky to find good enough stuff for a decent disguise, since I had to improvise it on the spot to stop Megavolt.
• Chick Magnet: All in a day's work for a hero. I got smooched by Neptunia and drew the attention of Morgana McCawber and other females I've run across with my smooth charm and dashing good looks.
• Coat, Hat, Mask: Yep, yep, yep, I have a great fashion sense. My standard crimefighting attire includes all three of these garments, all in dashing shades of purple.
• Combat Pragmatist: I'm quite good at thinking on my feet and improvising battle plans. That helps me defeat enemies that, admittedly, are too powerful for me to take on in a direct fight.
• Cool Bike: The Ratcatcher.
• Cool Plane: The Thunderquack — a gadget-laden, VTOL and hover-capable subsonic jet plane, created in my image.
• Crazy-Prepared: Hey, sometimes you have to be crazily prepared to survive in this business. Just look at the fight where I led the Justice Ducks against the Fearsome Five. When Morgana teleported the pudding mix I was carrying to fall on Liquidator, I put an eggbeater attachment on my gas gun and worked with Gizmoduck to turn Liquidator into a delicious dessert.
• Create Your Own Villain:
  • Okay, seriously, stop saying I created Liquidator!! I tried to save the guy when he fell in that contaminated water... that he contaminated in the first place!! Not my fault that he fell when trying to escape from me.
  • Heh, funnily enough, the reverse version happened to me, since it was Megavolt's actions that made me become Darkwing Duck in the first place.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: With Let's Get Dangerous! in between!
• Dark Is Not Evil: For some reason, almost everyone seems to hate my darker persona. Even Launchpad mistook me for a burglar the first time we met.^Well...  Okay, fine, that may have had something to do with the fact that I crashed through his ceiling at an early hour of the morning. So sue me.
• Deadpan Snarker: One of my many talents is to taunt my enemies with clever one-liners, usually to really humiliate them once I've started destroying their plans.
• Despair Event Horizon:
  • I actually came near this line thanks to Taurus Bulba. Fortunately, Launchpad's timely arrival snapped me out of it.
  • In an alternate future, this is what led me to becoming an iron fisted dictator due to thinking Gos ran away.
• Determinator: It doesn't matter what you throw at me. Darkwing Duck always finishes the job!
• Distressed Dude: Distressed? Where did anybody get that idea? I just frequently get my enemies to let their guard down by — okay, I get tied up a fair amount. But Darkwing Duck always triumphs.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: Like I mentioned — I can save the city a hundred times, and I'm still "Darkworm Duck" on the evening news. How is that fair, I ask you?
• Enemy Mine: Sometimes I've needed to team up with my enemies for the greater good... and in their case, because they'd have nothing to steal if the city gets destroyed.
• Establishing Character Moment: Here, for your viewing pleasure, is the opening scene to my pilot episode. It showed off both my amazing skills and my amazing theme music!
• Everyone Went to School Together: Even I was surprised that the science geek in my class became Megavolt.
• Fedora of Asskicking: I wear a sharp-looking purple fedora when I kick butt and take names. It complements the rest of my dashing superhero outfit quite nicely.
• Follow in My Footsteps: Sometimes I wish Gos wouldn't do this. Sometimes.
• For Halloween, I Am Going as Myself: I was once invited to a costume party and wound up wearing my suit. Can you believe Herb Muddlefoot actually thought "no one would mistake me for the real Darkwing Duck"?
• Frame-Up: Somehow or another, St. Canard's most delinquent deviants always destroy my do-gooder image so they can slink into the night and rob the city blind. Some of them framing me successfully I can understand; Negaduck at least has the handsome good looks and the nearly identical costume. But people like Tuskernini making a judge seem like I was merely bullying a reformed villain? Or some other costumed criminal callously creating chaos in my costume? Come on people, it's not that hard to figure out! Then again, that does explain a lot about my current reputation amongst St. Canard's denizens.
• "Freaky Friday" Flip: A machine of mine accidentally swapped me and Gosalyn and Launchpad and Honker. And let me tell you, being stuck in the body of a child can really get in the way of crime fighting.
• Friendly Enemy: I actually get along reasonably well with Megavolt and Bushroot when we're not trying to defeat each other, at least well enough to make a truce in Enemy Mine situations; after all, Sparky and I go way back, and Bushy just wants some buds to call his buddies.
• Future Me Scares Me: Gos once ran into an alternate future version of me called Darkwarrior Duck. Yeesh. The guy seriously needs some professional help.
• Gray-and-Grey Morality: I don't usually experience this since most of my rogues are outright villains, but I suppose I did go overboard with continuously calling Neptunia evil, but hey, it was my first time dealing with a Well-Intentioned Extremist.
• Handicapped Badass: Whether blind, restricted to a wheelchair, cursed with bad luck, or turned into an old man, I still manage to save the day.
• Happily Adopted: There have been time I've had to remind myself that Gosalyn is Adopted.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: This happens so much it's not even funny. The citizens of St. Canard simply don't respect my stylish, non-traditional image. Okay, so I don't wear a lot of bright colors and I make my rounds near midnight; I am still the superlative superhero in the city!
  • Well, there was this one time Gosayln tried to help improve my image and make the city respect me more. And it was going fine until that nefarious ne're-do-gooder Negaduck swooped in and trashed everything I've worked for! Well, the joke was on him, for I quickly turned things around as the original, classic, and dashingly debonair Darkwing Duck the fans have come to expect, and sent him packing right into jail! Maybe your Chronic Backstabbing Disorder isn't such a good idea when there's more of them and only one of you Negsy!
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: I admit L.P. gets on my nerves sometimes. All right, a lot of the time. But after facing malevolent malefactors like Taurus Bulba, Paddywhack, and the Fearsome Five — not to mention the far trickier task of raising Gosalyn while keeping the neighborhood in one piece — together, it looks like we're in it for the long run.
• I Just Want to Be Special: This is pretty much the main reason I became Darkwing Duck on the first place; as Drake Mallard, I have to admit, I was a nobody, but the moment I Jumped at the Call, I realized that, as Darkwing, I could make a difference, and people would actually notice me. Even now that I've reassumed my civilian identity to be a father to Gosalyn, I realize that a normal, civilian life doesn't fit me at all; just the idea of no longer doing my heroics has actually depressed me more than once.
• I Know Kung Fu: Or, more precisely, Quack Fu; and I'm quite good at it, mind you.
• I Work Alone: To satisfy my ego… ehem… uh… I mean, for everyone's else safety… I sometimes prefer to handle big cases on my own. Unfortunately, in those cases, I do end up needing help to save the day.
• Impersonating the Evil Twin: More than once, I have posed as my devious doppelganger, Negaduck. And done myself proud, I might add. (So did he, but that's beside the point.)
• Informed Loner: Darkwing Duck relies on nobody but himself! Um... just don't look too closely at the... several people who tend to be associated with me.
• Last Disrespects: In the dream where I believed I was dead, I was chagrined to find that I was given a small, cheap cone with my picture on it as my tombstone.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: The Trope Namer. Yep, yep, yep. This is what I say when I'm ready to stop getting pounded and crush my enemies into little pieces.
• Literal Split Personality: When I got zapped by Megavolt's tron splitter, I was split into my good and bad sides. Launchpad and Gosalyn had to team up with Megavolt not only to put me back together, but to stop my supercharged evil half from tearing St. Canard apart.
• Made of Iron: I can get smushed, squished, pummeled, and anything else the bad guy can do to me, but Darkwing Duck always emerges singed but triumphant!
• Magnetic Hero: Seriously, I don't know how I do it, but I do!
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous: After being bitten by a mutant spider. It wasn't that bad... although #6 did drive me nuts!
• Multiple-Choice Past: My life prior to becoming a superhero is hard to understand. We have my Senior Prom where I became Darkwing Duck to stop Megavolt and the time my future self inspired me as a child to become a hero, plus the time I spent learning martial arts from Goose Lee. The story of me being a Superman Expy is completely fictional, however. What? All brilliant artists have to take some liberties with their creations.
• Must Have Caffeine: You really don't want to see me in the morning before I take a very good cup of coffee; and don't give me that look. If you were doing heroics all night, and then wake up very early in the morning to be a parent, you'd be the same.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: I first became Darkwing Duck, improvising a name and outfit on the spot, because someone had to stop Megavolt when he first appeared and attacked our school's prom dance... Heh, so, thanks, Sparky.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: You know how bad Taurus Bulba must be when you see how terrified I am to see he survived the ramrod explosion.
• Papa Wolf: Don't touch Gos, I'm warning you.
• Part-Time Hero: At first, I was on the job full time, but now that I have an adopted daughter, I have to dial back a bit.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Despite my smaller size, I can vanquish vile villains much larger than myself. Oh, yeah, Gos is like that, too.
• Pride: Who, me? Surely you jest!
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: Let's. Get. Dangerous. The way I say the epic catchphrase is just as important as the actual words.
• Purple Is Powerful: Just look at my awesome outfit! In no less than three shades!
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Launchpad's laidback look contrasts quite sharply with my more passionate personality. Oddly though, he wears red and I wear a purple (it's a bluish shade — close enough) coat with a blue shirt underneath it.
• Rogues Gallery: I've faced off with some of the most knavish and nasty ne'er-do-wells in the entire Disney Afternoon canon! They might strike fear into the hearts of ordinary citizens, but bringing them to justice is all in a day's work for yours truly.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: This is why I work with SHUSH as a freelancer instead of a formal agent. I can't stand all of SHUSH's bureaucracy and rules, which really cramp my style. Luckily, J. Gander Hooter is smart enough to let me do things my way. This is also why I loathe that stuffed shirt Gryzlikof, Hooter's right-hand bear. Gryzlikof swears by the SHUSH rulebook, but the only use I've ever had for it was when I ripped it up to clog Ammonia Pine's vacuum cleaner to save him and Hooter.
• Secondary Color Nemesis: Oh you have it quite backwards. As you can see my suit is primarily purple, a color favored by felonious fiends from standard superhero stories, but I'm sure you're quite aware I'm on the side of justice by now. Funnily enough, a couple of my own foes—such as that malicious malefactor, Megavolt, and the notorious ne'er-do-well, Negaduck—are the ones whose fashion sense favors primary colors.
• Secret-Identity Identity: As I already said, being a masked hero used to be a full time job, to the point I no longer used my civilian identity, at least until I adopted Gosalyn.
• Shameless Self-Promoter: Shameless? Why should I be ashamed? I'm just making sure the public knows what it needs to know about its greatest hero — me.
• Shorter Means Smarter: I am quite clever, thank you, no matter how tall I am — certainly a lot smarter than Launchpad (not that that means much).
• Smoke Out: A specialty of mine. Of course, I prefer using the smoke for my great dramatic entrances rather than escaping.
• Something Person: Darkwing Duck. I also followed this pattern when I became Teapot Duck and Arachnoduck.
• Superheroes Wear Capes: A brilliant purple cape which superbly sets off the rest of my crimefighting costume. It has occasionally hit a few snags.
• Supernatural-Proof Father: I admit it took me quite a while to believe L.P. and Gos when they said there was something weird about that jack-in-the-box. Well, what do you expect? Gos had just buzzed me on my keister earlier; of course I thought it was just her playing pranks!
• Superpower Silly Putty: Despite regularly being a Badass Normal, I sometimes do end up with super powers: Super-Speed, spider powers, Super-Strength, growing into a giant, even got a super suit once. Interestingly, it was when I used my brains instead of the powers that I managed to save the day.
• Super-Speed: I temporarily got this power when Negaduck blasted me with a proton accelerator. It was pretty handy, too bad it had the side effect of making me age rapidly.
• Swiss-Army Gun: My trademark Gas Gun; despite the name, it does a lot more than shooting gas and smoke cartridges. I can use it as a Grappling-Hook Pistol, or adapt it to use 'toony' weaponry, like cartoon bombs and boxing gloves.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Whenever I have to work with that Obstructive Bureaucrat at SHUSH, Agent Grizlikov.
• True Companions: With Launchpad and Gos, obviously, but also with Gos's best friend Honker Muddlefoot, who's got more common sense than the rest of his family put together. They've been with me through thick and thin, as we protect the good people of St. Canard from the fearsome and felonious fiends that threaten it!
• Where Does He Get All Those Wonderful Toys?: I admit, it does look strange to my fanbase that I somehow have the resources to have everything from my gas gun to the Ratcatcher to the Thunderquack to my secret lair, all while maintaining my suburban house and provide for Gos, even though I don't seem to have any job besides saving St. Canard. With all that said, I was paid for my work under S.H.U.S.H. until the money stopped flowing, making me get a job at Quackerworks.
• Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Splatter Phoenix once taunted me that I wouldn't hit her because she was a woman. Sadly, I had to agree — but Gos (as the Quiverwing Quack) was there, and she was happy to do it for me. Other times I've found effective ways to fight female fiends without hitting them.
• You Are Grounded!: I say this to Gosalyn so often I could be a Trope Codifier. Ironically, the one time I did it when she hadn't done anything wrong (to try and protect her from Taurus Bulba) blew up in my face when it was what led to her being captured.