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    Darkwing Duck

    Character » Darkwing Duck appears in 136 issues.

    Let's get dangerous!

    Short summary describing this character.

    Darkwing Duck last edited by Hyjurocket on 02/10/22 07:29AM View full history

    Darkwing Duck (aka Drake Mallard) is the superhero crime fighter of St. Canard. Much like Batman, Darkwing has no superpowers, relying only on his wits, intelligence and gadgets to get him through the day. Darkwing Duck suffers from a hugely inflated ego that often causes him trouble when crime fighting, but unlike other heroes with this mentality, Darkwing Duck is an extraordinarily effective crime fighter once he puts his mind to it and focuses on the case at hand.

    Origin: Darkly Dawns the Duck

    Fan art post
    Fan art post

    As of yet, Drake's true origins has never been revealed and probably never will be revealed.

    In his first appearences, Darkwing Duck saves young Gosalyn Waddlemeyer from the diabolical hands of Taurus Bulba with the help of his #1 fan (only actually), Launchpad McQuack. He would go on to adopt Gosalyn. Darkwing had many enemies, the one to be noted is Morgana Macawber, whom Drake helps reform. The two are currently in a relationship.

    Creation

    Created by Tad stones for the TV Show by the same name, the basic idea of the show stemmed from two episodes of "Duck Tales" (from which Launchpad came from): Double-0-Duck (which also established F.O.W.L.) and The Masked Mallard (where Uncle scrooge became a hero by the same name as title). From there, the idea grew into a universe--no! a Multiverse--of characters which influenced a generations of children from all over.

    His first comic appearance was his four issue series, which adapted the first episode of his series (or Darkly dawns the duck). His first appearance in comics where was not an adaptation from the TV show, but new content was Disney Adventures #199111. He has made many more appearances since. He mas more recently, after a long hiatus, been taken up by James Silvani (artist) and Ian Brill (writer) of Boom! Studios. They have created a series which has created new adventures of this "Masked Mallard". It ran from 2010 to 2011 and had 18 issues and an annual. No word when he will return next

    Character Evolution

    Evolution of Darkwing Duck!
    Evolution of Darkwing Duck!

    Having started out as a cartoon spy-like character in the planning stages, this character has changed a lot. Examining his very character (wacky, self centered, ego maniac, etc.), he has not really changed in his transition from tv to Comics. If anything, he has become even more wacky, self centered, ego-maniac and whatever else he is, that couldn't possibly fit the code for this page.

    Major Arcs

    The Duck Knight Returns

    In the Duck Knight Returns arc, we find the mysterious mega corporation, Quackwerks, has taken over the city of St. Canard with their Crimebots. After an attack from Negaduck at his home which he was unable to stop and was only saved by Crimebots, Drake Mallard has not only retired the mantle of Darkwing Duck, but also anything related to superheros including being friends with Launchpad (no need for a sidekick) and being Morgana Mccawber's boyfriend, resigning himself to his new job as a Quackwerks data account networking officer...whatever that means.

    However, when Crimebots arrest unsuspecting Honker Muddlefoot for illegally downloading music, Drake, with some persuasion from Gosalyn, becomes Darkwing once more. He is not returning alone as the dreaded fearsome Five—er…Four, wants revenge for the year they had to rot in their offices. With Launchpad and Gosalyn once again by his side, DW faces his old foes, but this little Reunion battle was cut short by a ambush by the crimebots.

    When they all come to, the rogues and heroes find that the true culprit behind Quackwerks is none other than Taurus Bulba. It turns out, according to a movie by Tuskernini productions, Bulba's whole plan was centered around getting his hands on the Gizmo Duck armor. Not knowing the new password, he was forced to enslave all of St. Canard and used jailed citizens to read every word in the English language. This plan is foiled as Gosalyn says the password ("keen gear") and becomes Gosmo Duck. With her new found power, Gosalyn and Darkwing are able to defeat Bubla.

    Scrooge Mcduck ultimately gives the position of CEO of Quackwerks to the person he knows he can trust: Launchpad. It appears to be a happy ending, but is it?

    Crisis on Infinite Darkwings

    A new day dawns in St. canard in the aftermath of the collapse of the Quackwerks Corporation, all due to the one and only Darkwing Duck. The shining sun might soon set, however, as our hero is now unknowingly and unsuspecting being stalked by his arch enemy Negaduck, who has joined forces with a powerful yet unexpected ally: Magica De Spell.

    This deadly despicable duo is kidnapping and brainwashing an Infinite number of Alternate Darkwings from other dimensions, all for the purpose of destroying St. Canard and "our" Darkwing's good name. If that isn't bad enough, even the very water supply of st. canard has grown a little unsettling as ordinary citizens are starting to go missing; lost at sea!

    The skeem is revealed, but it is too late because the city is now overrun by Darkwings of the Multiverse! In addition to the ciaos the alternates create, the source of the water troubles are revealed to be non other than (not the Liquidator as hoped but rather) Paddywhack! A team up between Paddywhack and Negaduck (minus Magica De Spell) nearly brings the city to its knees if wasn't for the quick thinking of Darkwing.

    Remembering his first adventure with Negaduck (the first version), he visits Megavolt in jail, and barrows his tron splitter. Using that device and the now unhypnotized Alternates (lead by Darkwing's alternate Quiverwing Duck), they are able to defeat the Giant NegaPaddywhack. It appears to be the end, but is it?

    F.O.W.L. Disposition

    As Darkwing duck is trying to put the pieces back together into reputation (was it ever that great in the first place?), he runs into Steelbeak, who needs his help. Turns out that after Quackwerks took over the city, the Fiendish Organization for World larcany (or F.O.W.L.)'s own High command wanted to do one better so they decided to summon the creature known only as Duckthulhu. When Darkwing is unable to combat this force, Morgana steps in and fights it, disappearing in the process. She has yet to come back.

    Campaign Carnage

    To get out of his depressed mood about Morgana being gone, Darkwing decides to run for the office of Mayor. On the campaign trail, he fights several villains, such as One-shot and Cat-Tankerous. In a turn of events, Launchpad is also running, though this is not the biggest problem that would be the force behind the creation of all these supervillains known only as "Suff-Rage". However, even when the bad guy is unmasked and captured, St. canard is not safe...especially when Launchpad is elected mayor and doom is in the air!

    Dangerous Currency!

    A peaceful evening at the Mallard residence is interrupted by the appearance of Fenton Crackshell (aka Gizmo duck) and the slightly angry Uncle Scrooge (with tag alongs Huey, Dewey and Louie). However worse things are about to happen to the city of St. Canard and its sister city of Duckburg when Eve-IL and other surprises invade!

    Home Life

    Drake Mallard lives in a modest house at 537 Avian Way, or the Mallard Residence. This house is in a Siberian area next to the Muddlefoots, whom Drake despises. Originally, he lives only in a lair above the Audubon Bay Bridge. However, after adopting Gosalyn he bought his current home, where he was able to actively use his secret identity, thereby giving Gosalyn a somewhat normal life.

    Occupation

    While Drake Mallard's real occupation was never revealed in the show, in the comics it was revealed that he lived off a fund from S.H.U.S.H.. However, when Quackwerks began taking over, the fund dried up and he had to take the job of Quackwerks data accounts networking officer...whatever that means. When Launchpad became CEO of Quackwerks, it can be assumed that Drake is no longer working at his current job.

    Secret Identity

    Like most superheroes, Darkwing has been seen going out of his way to protect his secret identity from being discovered. Drake does not seem to act any differently as Darkwing, yet even the Muddlefoots (minus Honker) cannot tell they are the same person. At one point, Drake actually showed up to a costume party dressed as Darkwing Duck, but Herb Muddlefoot told him that he was "too short" to be Darkwing Duck. Negaduck was able to figure out his identity due to them having the same dry cleaners.

    While Launchpad, Gosalyn, and Honker have no alter egos, they are often with both Darkwing and Drake. Megavolt once claimed to know that Gosalyn and Launchpad are "the Darkwing Duck fan club".

    Equipment

    Darkwing Duck's weapon of choice is his gas gun. This gun fires a variety of different gas capsils (smoke bombs, itching powder, anti-guard Flamingo, etc.), as well as other weapons (including boxing gloves and cartoon bombs). It also has a retractable line and grappling and can fire other random objects. His main forms of transportation are the Thunderquack (a small airplane-like) and his motorcycle, called the Ratcatcher.

    Entrances

    I am the terror...
    I am the terror...

    Darkwing Duck frequently uses dramatic entrances that involve him mysteriously appearing in a cloud of smoke, and include some variant of the following...

    “I am the terror that flaps in the night,

    I am the [noun] that [verb]s your [noun]

    I am DARKWING DUCK!”

    The verb in the middle line often consists of Darkwing comparing himself to something annoying, such as "I am the hair that clogs up your drain", or "I am the cat that lays kittens in your bed". This middle verb often has something to do with the villain at hand, such as when facing Megavolt, he will often work electricity into his metaphors.

    Alternate Darkwings

    Darkwing has lots of alternate reality counterparts, all of which appeared in the Crisis on Infinite Darkwings as part of the team: Darkwings of the Multiverse, including:

    • Dark Warrior Duck: A darker version of Darkwing from an alternate future timeline where Gosalyn disappeared.
    • Quiverwing Duck : a Arrow shooting Darkwing, who took the mantle of Quiverwing after Gosalyn was killed

    DuckTales connections

    In 2016, according to series creator Tad Stone, Darkwing Duck and DuckTales are not from the same universe, however, that didn't stop Disney from doing crossovers with the two series, the first being the story arc "Legend of the Chaos God", published in Disney Adventures magazine, the crossover had characters from other series such as TaleSpin, Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers and Goof Troop, In 2011, Boom! Studios promoted a crossover between the series in the comics, in the 2017 DuckTales reboot Darkwing Duck is Launchpad McQuack's favorite TV series starring Jim Starling, later he finds another a fan, Drake Mallard, who resembles Starling, Mallard ends up becoming the real-life Darkwing Duck, with McQuack as his sidekick, the series' villains are brought into real life and adopts Gosalyn.

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