Darkwing Duck (animation)/Characters
The characters list for Darkwing Duck.
The Main Characters
These are the characters that revolve around Darkwing and his inner circle. They are seen the most throughout the show.
Darkwing Duck/Drake Mallard
The series' protagonist is the egotistical yet clever hero of St. Canard. He works freelance on some for the spy organization S.H.U.S.H., but otherwise seems to have no other job but as a crime fighter. Voiced by Jim Cummings.
Tropes associated with Darkwing:
- Alliterative Name
- Anti-Hero: Type II bordering on Type III
- Badass Normal
- Badass Abnormal: Aducky'phobia and Going Nowhere Fast
- Badass Biker: When he rides his Ratcatcher.
- Handicapped Badass: Duck Blind and Steerminator.
- Break the Haughty
- Catch Phrase: several, including:
"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 something unpleasant). I am Darkwing Duck!"
- The Chew Toy
- Coat, Hat, Mask
- Cool Bike: The Ratcatcher.
- Not so much the Quackcycle, though.
- Cool Plane: The Thunderquack.
- Costumed Nonsuper Hero
- The Cowl: An Affectionate Parody of the archetype, especially Batman and The Shadow.
- Dark Is Not Evil
- Dating Catwoman: With Morgana.
- Deadpan Snarker
- Determinator
- Dude in Distress
- Gadgeteer Genius
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal
- The Hero
- Hero with Bad Publicity
- Impersonating the Evil Twin: Done this twice as NegaDuck
- Implacable Man: No matter how much he is damaged, he still keeps going until the job is done.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold
- Let's Get Dangerous: The literal Trope Namer.
- Magnetic Hero: His real superpower. Though he annoys the heck out of everyone, he's good at drawing allies and leading them in battle.
- Mr. Vice Guy: With Pride as his vice.
- Multiple Choice Past: Especially when it comes to his Super-Hero Origin.
- Nice Hat
- Papa Wolf
- Part-Time Hero
- Purple Is Powerful: At least he tries to follow this trope.
- Secret Identity Identity: Didn't need a civilian identity anymore until he adopted Gosalyn.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Until he gets serious.
- Something Person
- Superhero
- Superheroes Wear Capes
- Third Person Person: When monologuing.
- Triple Shifter
Launchpad McQuack
Darkwing's sidekick, pilot and back-up Darkwing. Since he never changes his clothing when he goes crime fighting with Darkwing, it's a wonder why they don't know who he is. Formerly worked for Scrooge McDuck in Duckburg.
Tropes associated with Launchpad:
- Awesome McCoolname
- Big Eater: See any episode where he goes to Hamburger Hippo.
- Captain Crash: Weirdly enough, subverted for the most part. As a carry-over from DuckTales (1987), he's often mentioned to be this, but his landing skills are actually far better in this series.
- Civvie Spandex: He wears his pilot's outfit just about everywhere, even when he's fighting crime with Darkwing.
- Honest Corporate Executive: When he's appointed as the new CEO of Quackwerks, he actually does a lot of good with the company and former Crimebots/now Herobots.
- The Ditz: Though better than he was in DuckTales (1987).
- Goggles Do Nothing
- Scarf of Asskicking
- Secret Public Identity
- Sidekick
- Transplant: From DuckTales (1987).
- Universal Driver's License: If it has wings, he can crash it.
Gosalyn Mallard
Drake's adopted daughter, she's a spunky, thrill-seeking trouble maker. She often goes on Darkwing's missions even though he normally wants her stay home, where she's safe. She never cleans her room.
Tropes associated with Gosalyn:
- Bratty Half-Pint: At times.
- Catch Phrase:
"Keen gear!"
"Cool beans!"
"Major league impressive!"
- Daddy's Girl
- Deadpan Snarker
- Fiery Redhead
- Girlish Pigtails: The girliest thing about her.
- Green Eyed Red Head
- Happily Adopted: While she and Darkwing have their disagreements, she clearly loves him just as much as if he were her real father.
- Kid Appeal Character
- Kid Hero: When she is Quiverwing Quack or the Crimson Quackette. Issue #4 of the comic series adds another identity: Gosmoduck.
- Kid Sidekick: To Darkwing, unofficially.
- The Ladette
- Little Miss Badass: Especially as Quiverwing Quack, but even as herself she can usually hold her own.
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Masculine Girl to Honker's Feminine Boy.
- Mouthy Kid
- One of the Boys
- Orphan's Plot Trinket: The lullaby from her grandfather.
- Tomboy
- Write Who You Know: Based on the daughter of one of the writers.
- Though Word of God states that the daughter in question was 2 when Gosalyn was designed and Gosalyn was based on what the writer thought his daughter would be like when she got to Gosalyn's canon age.
- You Got Spunk
Herbert "Honker" Muddlefoot Jr.
The youngest son of Drake's neighbors and Gosalyn's best friend. Honker has a high IQ and has helped Darkwing, Launchpad and Gosalyn many times using it. He is also shy and tries to get Gosalyn to listen to her dad, normally to no avail.
Tropes associated with Honker:
- Expospeak Gag
- Gadgeteer Genius
- Kid Sidekick: To Darkwing unofficially and to Gosalyn; when she is Quiverwing Quack, he is the Arrow Kid.
- Lovable Nerd
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: Feminine Boy to Gosalyn's Masculine Girl.
- Only Sane Man
- Straight Man: Between the other main characters and his family, he's the most normal.
- The Short Guy with Glasses: He's Blind Without'Em.
- Shorter Means Smarter
- The Smart Guy
The Justice Ducks
When the Fearsome Five formed to take over St. Canard, Darkwing had to put his ego aside (but not before throwing a tantrum about wanting to be the only superhero in the city and being beaten by the Fearsome Five three times) and form a Five-Man Band of unique individuals to face them. The team itself only appears in the two parter "Just Us Justice Ducks" but the members make other appearances in the show.
Gizmo Duck/Fenton Crackshell
The high-tech hero of Duckburg who is Launchpad's old work friend, Fenton, an accountant for Scrooge McDuck. Darkwing, a Hero with Bad Publicity in St. Canard, is jealous of how Gizmo Duck is universally accepted and trusted by the city. In turn, Gizmo Duck doesn't like Darkwing's vigilantism. Despite this however, they work well together, when they put the petty stuff aside.
Tropes associated with Gizmo Duck:
- The Ace
- Affectionate Parody: Of RoboCop.
- Break the Haughty: At least once in the show.
- By the Power of Grayskull: "Blathering blatherskite!"
- Catch Phrase: Also "Blathering blatherskite!"
- Clothes Make the Superman
- Do-Anything Robot
- The Lancer
- Large Ham
- Something Person
- Superhero
- Transplant: From DuckTales (1987).
Morgana McCawber
A sorceress and former CEO of "McCawber's Mushrooms" who shared a mutual attraction with Darkwing. Initially, she was a criminal, but eventually reforms, becomes Darkwing's girlfriend and earns his trust learning his secret identity.
Tropes associated with Morgana:
- Brainy Brunette
- The Chick
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Initially.
- Dark Is Not Evil
- Dating Batman: The Catwoman to Darkwing's Batman.
- Femme Fatalons
- Heel Face Turn
- Heroic Sacrifice: In the comics.
- Hot Witch
- Kath Soucie
- Lady in Red
- Lethal Chef: An odd case. The food she cooks certainly sounds and looks disgusting, but Darkwing is the only one in-universe who even seems to notice. Everyone else loves it.
- Magical Girl
- Magic Warrior
- Non-Mammal Mammaries
- One Head Taller: A good two heads taller than her boyfriend, at least...
- Perky Goth
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man
- Tall, Dark and Bishoujo
- Tiny Guy, Huge Girl
- Tsundere: While she's normally quite sweet-natured, she is extremely dangerous when angered.
- Ugly Guys Hot Daughter
- The Vamp
Stegmutt
A former duck janitor transformed into a stegosaurs by the Mad Scientist Dr. Fossil. Well meaning and friendly, Stegmutt is also powerful, destructive, gullible and pretty clumsy.
Tropes associated with Stegmutt:
- Accidental Hero
- Adult Child: Possibly.
- Almighty Janitor
- Catch Phrase:
"Oh Boy!"
"Oops, sorry."
- Beware My Stinger Tail
- The Big Guy
- Destructive Savior
- Does Not Know His Own Strength
- Dumb Muscle
- Everything's Better with Dinosaurs
- Gentle Giant
- Giant Mook: Was one under Dr. Fossil.
- Heel Face Turn
- Keet
- Metamorphosis
- Minion with an F In Evil: Partially, because he wasn't evil, and until Gosalyn and Honker told him otherwise, he didn't think Dr. Fossil was either.
Neptunia
Originally a regular fish who was transformed by toxic chemicals, she was angered at St. Canard for polluting the ocean. She initially sought her Revenge, but came to terms with Darkwing, who is helping to keep trash out of the ocean. She controls sea creatures buy playing a song through a conch shell and also wields a trident.
Tropes associated with Neptunia:
- Deadpan Snarker
- Fish Person: Not a duck and, unlike Stegmutt, never "used to be".
- Heel Face Turn
- Metamorphosis
- The Napoleon
- Non-Mammal Mammaries
- Prongs of Poseidon
- The Smart Girl
- Speaks Fluent Animal
- Well-Intentioned Extremist
S.H.U.S.H.
A peacekeeping super-secret organization headed by J. Gander Hooter, trusted with handling international affairs - usually involving their primary foe, F.O.W.L. - that the regular authorities cannot. When S.H.U.S.H. is in need of a more unorthodox solution, they bring in Darkwing Duck. The organization is so secret that not even its leader knows what "S.H.U.S.H." stands for.
J. Gander Hooter
The head of S.H.U.S.H. who brings Darkwing Duck in on several F.O.W.L. missions.
Tropes associated with J. Gander:
- Benevolent Boss
- The Commissioner Gordon
- Fake Brit: Has the accent, but is played by Tennessee-born actor Danny Mann.
- Only Sane Man: Probably the most rational character in the entire series.
- Reasonable Authority Figure
- The Spymaster
Agent Vladimir Grizzlikof
The head agent of S.H.U.S.H. who clashes with Darkwing on how to handle F.O.W.L.. He is the antithesis to Darkwing, operating strictly and uncompromisingly by the S.H.U.S.H. handbook.
Tropes associated with Grizzlikof:
- Husky Russkie
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold
- Malaproper
- Obstructive Bureaucrat
- The Rival: To Darkwing on S.H.U.S.H. matters.
- Russian Guy Suffers Most
Dr. Sarah Bellum
A scientist and inventor who is the head of S.H.U.S.H.'s research division. Somewhat absent-minded and slightly sadistic, her ultimate goal is to win the Nobel Prize for her inventions.
Tropes associated with Dr. Bellum:
- Absent-Minded Professor
- Gadgeteer Genius
- Genius Ditz
- Hot Scientist
- Mad Scientist
- Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate
- Name's the Same: This Sarah Bellum is not the Mayor's assistant from The Powerpuff Girls.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette
- Tall, Dark and Bishoujo
Derek Blunt
S.H.U.S.H.'s greatest secret agent, who didn't believe in using gimmick and gadgets in the line of duty.
Tropes associated with Derek:
- Deadpan Snarker
- Expy: To James Bond and Derek Flint.
- Hey, It's That Voice!: Derek Blunt is Master Splinter!
Other Allies
Other characters that Darkwing has worked with.
Comet Guy
A humanoid Superhero who lives on Mertz, a planet of superheroes with only one "ordinary guy" to save. Initially, he was a failure due to his lack of intelligence and his weakness, when hearing a bell ring, he dances uncontrollably until he hears a whistle. Darkwing trains him to turn his weaknesses into strengths and save the day.
Tropes associated with Comet Guy:
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass
- Dumb Muscle
- Everyone Is a Super (Mertz itself)
- Flying Brick
- Planet of Hats
- Something Person
- Weaksauce Weakness (the bell thing)
Goose Lee
Darkwing's master in Quack Fu, who is at first disappointed at him for not learning the "belly bounce" technique and for using gadgets and weapons to fight with. He was corrupted by money and fame and tried to use a dragon in his plans to take over Kung Pow city. Darkwing stops the dragon in the end using the "belly bounce" and earns his master's respect.
Tropes associated with Goose Lee:
- Acrofatic
- Broken Pedestal
- Foo Fu: Quack Fu
- Heel Face Revolving Door
- Karma Houdini: Darkwing doesn't punish him for his actions and he even gets the theme park he wanted. Though he is at least remorseful for what he's unleashed...
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Mainly Bruce Lee (his name) and Pat Morita (his voice, changing from traditional Asian to more American sounding).
- Old Master
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: To Darkwing.
PosiDuck
When Darkwing was accidentally zapped by Megavolt's tron splitter, he was separated into purely good and purely evil halves. The good half was nice to a fault. However, after being galvanized via another zap from the tron splitter, he ends up becoming supercharged and able to save the day even with his pacifistic tendencies. Was remerged with NegaDuck I back into the regular Darkwing. Voiced by Jim Cummings.
Tropes associated with PosiDuck pre-galvanization:
- Actual Pacifist
- Butt Monkey: Due to being identical in appearance to his evil counterpart, combined with his unwillingness to fight back, he ends up taking a lot of abuse at the hands of NegaDuck I's victims.
- Good Is Impotent
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Turned Up to Eleven post-galvanization.
- Literal Split Personality
- Mistaken for Badass: Upon stepping into a Bad Guy Bar that NegaDuck I had just terrorized about a minute ago.
- Nice Guy
Tropes associated with PosiDuck post-galvanization, in addition to most of the above:
- An Aesop: He continuously spouts these off, even when it's falling on deaf ears.
- Batman Gambit: He manipulates NegaDuck I's destructive habits in such a way as to completely undo all of the destruction caused by him in a single move.
- Bishie Sparkle
- Friend to All Living Things
- Light Is Good
- The Messiah
- Power Glows: A pink aura, no less.
- Reality Warper
- Super Mode
- Took a Level in Badass: He's able to "fight" the super-charged Negaduck I to a standstill without even laying so much as a finger on him.
The Muddlefoots
The neighbors in Drake/Darkwing's Moebius Neighborhood and Honker's family. Unlike Honker, they're really aren't that bright; otherwise they would have discovered that their neighbor was Darkwing Duck a long time ago. With the exception of Honker, Drake cannot stand them, while Gosalyn and Launchpad don't seem to mind them.
Herbert "Herb" and Binkie Muddlefoot
A loving but oblivious couple that lives next door to the Mallards. Herb is a Quackerware (their version of Tupperware salesman) and Binkie's a homemaker. Herb also loves to barbecue and watch his favorite show "Pelican's Island". They are very friendly but also unintentionally intrusive and unaware how much of a brat their oldest son, Tank is.
Tropes associated with Herb and Binkie:
- Berserk Button: Herb, of all characters, is shown to have one in "The Merchant of Menace" when facing off against evil salesman Weasel Loman
Weasel: "Quackerware's a tenth rate product! It took me to realize its true potential!"
Herb: "You can disgrace yourself, and you can disgrace me, Weasel. But when you start messin' with Quackerware, that's it for old Herb Muddlefoot! Come on!"
- Drop-In Character: Both of them, but Herb mostly.
- Hawaiian-Shirted Tourist: Herb.
- Let's Get Dangerous: Herb in one episode where he shows heretofore unknown sumo skills.
- Hot Mom: Binkie.
- Housewife: Binkie.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: They are extreme characters of Ward and June Cleaver.
- Parental Obliviousness
- Wiki Walk: Herb
Tankard H. "Tank" Muddlefoot
He is a really mean little boy, which is something his parents fail to realize. Honker is his usual target, but he has also been known to make fun of Gosalyn and attack Drake.
Tropes associated with Tank:
- Bratty Half-Pint: Despite his size, he still qualifies for this in spades.
- Evil Redhead: Not a lethally evil, but there's little good to be found with him.
- Fiery Redhead
- Jerkass
- Jerk Jock
- Kids Are Cruel
- Laser-Guided Karma: He gets what comes to him usually.
- Trash Talk
The Fearsome Five
A Five-Bad Band formed by NegaDuck with four of Darkwing's most recurring/dangerous villains to takeover St. Canard. Despite getting beaten by the Justice Ducks, they still work together at times, but become more of a Big Bad with his bumbling Quirky Miniboss Squad.
NegaDuck
He is Darkwing's Evil Counterpart from a Mirror Universe which he has taken total control. Now he seeks to take over Darkwing's world and be Public Enemy #1, but can never seem to beat out Dr. Slug for the top spot. Not to be confused with the first NegaDuck, referred to here as NegaDuck I (With this one being referred to as NegaDuck II when discussing both NegaDucks.). Voiced by Jim Cummings.
Tropes associated with Negaduck:
- Abusive Parent: There's a chilling but subtle indication that he's this to the Negaverse's version of Gosalyn.
- All Your Powers Combined: He steals all the Fearsome Five's powers in "Jail Bird".
- Arch Enemy
- Ax Crazy
- Badass Normal: Leads a team of super villains where 3/4 of them have powers, and the other has dangerous gadgets, and he puts the fear into them regardless.
- Badass Abnormal: "Jail Bird".
- Berserk Button: Do not remind Negaduck that he's only the #2 villain in St. Canard, behind Dr. Slug.
- Big Bad
- Big Ol' Eyebrows: When compared with Darkwing. Only visible when he's posing as Drake Mallard.
- Breakout Villain: After the Negaduck I episode, Tad Stones (the Show Runner) said he liked Negaduck and wanted him brought back for more episodes; this resulted in Negaduck II, who the fandom embraced as perhaps not just the most popular villain but the most popular character on the show, period. When the revival comic book came around, the writer has said that he intended to have a F.O.W.L. story for the second arc and a Negaduck story for the third arc, but sheer fan demand made him swap the order.
- Card-Carrying Villain
- Catch Phrase: "I hate that."
- Chainsaw Good: Likes using chainsaws as weapons quite a bit; in the "Crisis on Infinite Darkwings", he's seen Dual-Wielding chainsaws, as well as using a chainshaw that has other smaller chainsaws attatched to the blade.
- Complete Monster: A mix of humor and horror comes from him because of this.
- Determinator
- Evil Counterpart: To Darkwing, of course. And an interesting variation, too. Though they have the exact same physical abilities, they have opposing personalities. Where DW's Fatal Flaw is Pride, ND's is Wrath. Though this makes him exponentially more effective in combat than DW, it also means that he can't keep a team together. He thus beats the stuffing out of DW on a regular basis...Aaaand then DW's friends show up and stomp him.
- Evil Laugh
- Evil Overlord: In his own world and he's not satisfied with it.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Has Darkwing's voice, only deeper and more menacing.
- Evil Twin
- Genre Savvy: 'Cause he knew Darkwing wouldn't notice the giant flag.
- Humiliation Conga: " Just Us, Justice Ducks" part 2.
- Impersonating the Evil Twin: Done this twice as Darkwing.
- Implacable Man: Not even being sucked into oblivion itself can stop him for very long.
- Just Between You and Me: "When I throw...THE SWITCH!"
- Large Ham
- Laser-Guided Karma: Negaduck is the worst villain. Fittingly, he tends to suffer the worst defeats.
- Laughably Evil: Most of Darkwing's villains are, but he's the best example.
- Multiple Choice Past: Much like Darkwing himself, there have been multiple Negaducks, each with a distinct origin.
- Enemy Without: "Negaduck". This one is definitely a separate being, however.
- Mirror Universe: "Life, the Negaverse, and Everything". This one seems to be canon.
- Cain and Abel: "The Secret Origins of Darkwing Duck". This one was also a Space Pirate.
- And that's not even getting into the Pirate version from "Darkwing Doubloon".
- To be fair though, while modern Negaduck shares the name with the pirate version seen in Darkwing Doubloon, the implication is that the pirate version is not in any way supposed to be the Negaduck of the modern day, though the wooden foot probably provides ample evidence of that. Possibly a dimension hopping ancestor, or maybe even the ancestor of Negaduck before reality somehow split or something. Darkwing Doubloon might be an ancestor of Darkwing's (Darkwing himself never says he is, just that he was "another masked mallard who fought for justice three hundred years ago"), so there may be something to the idea that this Negaduck might be related to the 'modern day' version, but that's up to fan interpretation. For all we know, Darkwing just made the whole story up as a Filler episode!
- Psycho for Hire
- Something Person
- Surrounded by Idiots
- To the Pain: "When I throw...THE SWITCH!"
Megavolt/Elmo Sputterspark
Unintentionally obtaining electrical powers (and maybe frying some brain-cells in the process) from his experiment caused by some high school bullies, he now is a crook who wants to "liberate" the appliances and electrical items of St. Canard. Voiced by Dan Castellaneta.
Tropes associated with Megavolt:
- Animate Inanimate Object: Has done Type 3 a couple times, most notably in "A Revolution in Home Appliances".
- Berserk Button: "Don't call me Sparky!"
- Civilian Villain: At the start of the 2010 comic series, we find that Elmo has given up a life of crime (thanks to the Crimebots) and shares a cubicle at Quackwerks with Drake Mallard.
- Companion Cube: All electrical devices, seen with a light bulb the most.
- The Dragon
- Enemy Mine: Teams up with Darkwing more than once.
- Evil Laugh
- Idea Bulb: Literally.
- Mad Scientist
- Psycho Electro
- Reunion Revenge: Tried to get revenge on the classmates that caused him to get his powers.
- Shock and Awe
- Technopath: Subverted, he can bring technology to life but not control them.
- They Called Me Mad: "They called me crazy! They called me insane! They called me looney! And, boy, were they right."
- Those Two Guys: With Quackerjack who he's teamed up with twice outside of the group.
- Villainy Discretion Shot: While a comedic villain, he's been to the electric chair twice.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: So what if appliances aren't actually sentient, he thinks he's saving them from slavery.
Dr. Reginald Bushroot
After having his funding pulled from his experiments with plants he experimented on himself and unintentionally turned himself into a plantduck capable of controlling plant life. His crimes usually involve him trying to fund his research (i.e. stealing), protecting plants or cure his loneliness.
Tropes associated with Bushroot:
- Affably Evil: He's almost not evil, but he's willing to kill Darkwing Duck when he tries to screw up his plans to find/make a mate.
- Anti-Villain: If not for his obsessiveness and lack of impulse control might actually be an Anti-Hero.
- Beware the Nice Ones: He was actually a really nice guy before his mutation.
- The Bad Guy Wins: He actually succeeded in murdering his tormentors in his debut appearance.
- Driven to Murder: In his very first episode, no less.
- Evil Genius
- Enemy Mine: Teams up with Darkwing more than once.
- From a Single Cell: Bushroot can regenerate a new body over time, as he has been mowed down at least twice.
- Green Thumb
- The Grinch: In the Christmas Episode, obviously, though unlike most Grinches, he has a good reason for it - he has a really hard time doing his Christmas shopping.
- Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain
- Love Makes You Evil: See Affably Evil.
- Mad Scientist
- Man-Eating Plant: His assistant, Spike, a Venus Fly Trap.
- Metamorphosis
- Professor Guinea Pig
- Villainy Discretion Shot: He may have "done away with" two of his tormentors Dr. Gary and Dr. Larson.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: His environmental concerns have a certain validity.
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds
Quackerjack
A deranged toymaker who turned to crime after the video game industry, mainly the game "Whiffle Boy" put him out of business. He creates lethal toys that look like normal ones, but he's infamous for his gigantic sized joke teeth. Voiced by Michael Bell.
Tropes associated with Quackerjack:
- Badass Normal
- Berserk Button: He hates video games with a passion.
- In #2 of the comic series, the mere mention of Negaduck's name causes Quackerjack to go utterly nuclear and wipe out an entire squad of Crimebots.
- Captain Ersatz: Of DC Comics villains The Joker and Toyman.
- Catch Phrase: "It's Playtime!"
- Companion Cube: Mr. Banana Brain.
- Dark Chick
- Driven to Suicide: In the comics, he uses a device to turn himself into a toy because he says that he would be happier that way.
- Enemy Mine: Teams up with Darkwing more than once.
- Evil Laugh
- Gadgeteer Genius
- Happy Fun Ball: All his non-living toys except for Mr. Banana Brain.
- Idiosyncrazy: Toy-themed villainy.
- Killed Off for Real: In the comics...well, sort of (he turns himself into a toy.)
- Living Toys: Obviously the evil example.
- Monster Clown: Well, monster court jester anyway.
- My Little Panzer
- Those Two Guys: With Megavolt who he's teamed up with twice outside of the group.
- Took a Level in Badass: In the comics.
- Toothy Bird: Most bird characters has teeth in the show, but he shows them almost all the time. Plus, they're fake teeth to boot.
- What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: His "wackiness".
The Liquidator/Bud Flood
Originally a Corrupt Corporate Executive named Bud Flood who sold his Bud Flood's Sparkling Crystal Pure Flood Water while he was contaminating his competition during a massive heatwave. Darkwing accidentally startled him and he dropped into a vat of water he'd contaminated. He then turned into a being of pure water with the ability to shape it, heat it, chill it and turn it into hard water. Only appeared with the Fearsome Five afterwards. His salespitch-centric dialogue was difficult to write and the ways to defeat him were quite limited; pairing him with the others made this less of a problem for the writers.
Tropes associated with The Liquidator:
- The Brute
- Cool, Clear Water: What he advertised his water was.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive
- Create Your Own Villain
- Enemy Mine: Against NegaDuck who stole the rest of the Fearsome Five's powers.
- Even Evil Has Standards: In the second comic story arc, he was sucked into St. Canard's water bed against his will, but managed to escape and reveal to the city that whatever's in there ( Paddywhack) is more horrifying and dangerous than anything they've ever faced. He warns them to flee, as their lives are "a limited time offer!"
- Large Ham: Probably the only villain capable of rivaling Negaduck in the Ham department.
- Lethal Harmless Powers: Not that his powers were harmless to begin with, but with the level of control over water Liquidator had, imagine what he could have done. Start with boiling the water that is naturally part of the human (and presumably Funny Animal) body...
- Making a Splash
- Metamorphosis
- Only Sane Man: Out of all the Fearsome Five, he's probably the most level headed member, company slogans not withstanding.
- Power Creep, Power Seep: His hard water and boiling water abilities vanished, and his other abilities got scaled back after his solo appearance. Mainly, his hydrokinesis was mostly ignored in favor of simply shapeshifting his own body.
- Put a Face on The Company: Both before and after he changed into the The Liquidator, he constantly uses sales pitches with jargon like But Wait! There's More! and Operators Are Standing By.
- Third Person Person: During his sales pitches as the Liquidator.
- Weaksauce Weakness: Sponges. Chocolate pudding mix. Getting trapped in a glass bottle. Very ironic, as he could survive electrocution, evaporation and other obviously lethal attacks unharmed.
F.O.W.L.
The Fiendish Organization for World Larceny or F.O.W.L. is a criminal organization whose goal is to Take Over the World.
F.O.W.L. High Command
The three leaders of F.O.W.L. who gives the operatives their orders. Their faces are covered in shadows and only their eyes and mouths are seen.
Tropes associated with F.O.W.L. High Command:
- Bigger Bad
- The Faceless
- The Man Behind the Man
- The Omniscient Council of Vagueness
- Toothy Bird: The duck-looking commander sometimes sports vampire-like fangs.
Steelbeak
F.O.W.L.'s top agent whose smooth exterior masks the true villain he is. He literally has a steel beak, which can cut material in half if close enough. Voiced by Rob Paulsen.
Tropes associated with Steelbeak:
- Badass in a Nice Suit
- Brooklyn Rage: Speaks with a stereotypical "1930's gangster" accent, see? Nyah!
- The Dragon
- Dirty Coward
- Evil Laugh: Imagine a rooster trying to cluck and laugh at the same time.
- Expy: References several James Bond villains by his steel beak (Jaws), his attitude and dress (Emilio Largo) and his name (Goldfinger).
- My God, What Have I Done?: In the comics, after he helps F.O.W.L. bring about Duckthulhu.
- Red Right Hand
- Smug Snake
- Toothy Bird: Under his metal bill, yet!
- Villainous Breakdown: Loses his temper when his plans start to fail.
- Wicked Cultured
Ammonia Pine
A former cleaning lady for a research lab who had accidental contact with an experimental bathroom disinfectant. Inhaling the fumes turned her into a cleaning-obsessed villain. She was later recruited by F.O.W.L. for their dastardly plans. She hates and fears dirt.
Tropes associated with Ammonia:
- Abhorrent Admirer: To Steelbeak in "Cleanliness is Next to Badliness." While Steelbeak is repelled by her affections, he strings her along for his own purposes.
- Almighty Janitor: Literally.
- Evil Laugh
- Freak Lab Accident
- Idiosyncrazy: Cleaning-themed villainy.
- Improbable Weapon User: Lethal cleaning supplies, uses brooms and mops as staves etc.
- Neat Freak
- Sibling Rivalry: With her sister Ample.
- Sibling Team: Once with her sister Ample after forced by F.O.W.L. for a mission.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: With her dirty sister Ample.
- Woman Scorned: By Steelbeak. The result wasn't pretty.
Ample Grime
Ample is Ammonia's messy, dirt-loving sister who hates and fears cleanliness.
Tropes associated with Ample:
- Evil Laugh
- Idiosyncrazy: Dirt-themed villainy.
- Improbable Weapon User
- The Pig Pen
- Sibling Rivalry: With her sister, Ammonia.
- Sibling Team: Once with her sister, Ammonia after forced by F.O.W.L. for a mission.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: With her clean sister Ammonia.
Major Synapse
A stereotypical Drill Sergeant Nasty who steals S.H.U.S.H.'s Norma Ray and gives himself powerful psychic abilities. He explodes after Darkwing, Launchpad and Gosalyn overload his mind with questions. May have been Killed Off for Real.
Tropes associated with Major Synapse:
- Drill Sergeant Nasty
- General Failure: Led his first set of troops into a volcano.
- Killed Off for Real
- My Brain Is Big
- One-Scene Wonder
- Oracular Head
- Psychic Powers
Hotshot & Flygirl
Major Synapse's hippie underlings changed by the Norma Ray, Hotshot could burn or freeze and Flygirl could move things with her mind.
Tropes associated with Hotshot & Flygirl:
- An Ice Person: Hotshot.
- Flight: Flygirl.
- Mind Over Matter: Flygirl.
- New Age Retro Hippie
- One-Scene Wonder: Averted by the comic revival. They're back.
- Playing with Fire: Hotshot.
- Pstandard Psychic Pstance
- Spider Sense
- Sunglasses at Night: Hotshot.
F.O.W.L. Eggmen
F.O.W.L. soldiers that usually serve under Steelbeak.
Tropes associated with the Eggmen:
Taurus Bulba's Gang
The primary antagonists of the two-part pilot movie, "Darkly Dawns the Duck". Most of them don't return afterwards.
Taurus Bulba
Probably Darkwing's most dangerous villain. A crime lord who had Gosalyn's paternal grandfather killed for his invention, the Ramrod, an anti-gravity gun he used to steal from the citizens of St. Canard. He was Killed Off for Real when he was caught in the explosion of the Ramrod caused by Darkwing Duck, but he returned when F.O.W.L. salvaged his body and turned him into a cyborg. Voiced by Tim Curry.
Tropes associated with Taurus:
- Big Bad: In the pilot.
- Complete Monster: Easily DW's most evil foe.
- Dangerously Genre Savvy
- Diabolical Mastermind
- Faux Affably Evil
- Genius Bruiser
- Hollywood Cyborg
- Husky Russkie
- Killed Off for Real: Seems to be the case as of Darkwing Duck #4, in which he uploads his mind to a machine that is "shut down" in the end.
- Knight of Cerebus: While his episodes have funny moments, expect any scenes with him in them to be almost completely serious.
- Luxury Prison Suite
- Magnificent Bastard
- Meaningful Name
- Might as Well Not Be in Prison At All
- We Can Rebuild Him: By F.O.W.L.
- We Will Meet Again: "I will be back!" Too bad he never was... At least not until the 2010 comic series.
- Wicked Cultured
- Would Hurt a Child: He's perfectly willing to have Gosalyn dropped down a hundred foot skyscraper to get what he wants out of Darkwing.
Hammerhead Hannigan
Taurus Bulba's lead henchman, he's more brawn than brain and uses the horns on his head (he's a goat) as weapons. He also makes a short appearance in "In Like Blunt".
Tropes associated with Hammerhead:
- Badass in a Nice Suit: Wears some stylin' gangster threads.
- Butt Monkey: He's constantly on the receiving end of various painful gags. Bulba himself also seems to love picking him up by the throat.
- Brooklyn Rage: Rivals Steelbeak in this department.
- The Dragon
- Dumb Muscle: More intelligent than Hoof & Mouth, but that really isn't saying much.
- Evil Minions
- Took a Level in Badass: During his small appearance in In Like Blunt, he throttled Phineas Sharp. Since he was willing to pay a lot for a list of SHUSH agents, he might've taken a couple levels in smarts, too.
Hoof & Mouth
Taurus Bulba's henchmen, they're all brawn, no brain and in Mouth's case, can't shut up.
Tropes associated with Hoof & Mouth:
- Harmless Villains
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: They're strongly implied to have been the ones who killed Gosalyn's grandfather.
- Those Two Guys
- Evil Minions
- Hey, It's That Voice!: Mandark is Mouth.
- Punny Name: A combined name pun version, on hoof and mouth disease.
- Becomes a Funny Aneurysm Moment as they were named years before the massive British outbreaks of said disease in 2001 and 2007.
- The Speechless: Hoof never talks (in the show anyway; in the four-part comic adaptation of the pilot, he has several lines).
- Verbal Tic: Mouth tends to repeat things, repeat things.
Clovis
Taurus Bulba's secretary and assistant. According to her parents, she should have been a dental hygienist.
Tropes associated with Clovis:
- Creepy Monotone
- Evil Minions
- Full-Name Basis: She always calls Taurus Bulba by his full name.
- Hey, It's That Voice!: Ms. Krabappel is Clovis.
- Sexy Secretary
- Yes Woman
Tantalus
Taurus Bulba's pet condor, who's as evil and ruthless as his master.
Tropes associated with Tantalus:
- Feathered Fiend
- Furry Confusion: Being a non-anthropomorphic condor who is the pet of an anthropomorphic bull.
- Mook
- Pirate Parrot
The Brainteasers
Hat-shaped aliens that can take over a lifeform's body when placed on top of their head. Lead by Flarg the Grand High Potentate of a thousand planets in the Delphonic Nebula. Flarg, Barada & Nikto appear twice in the series with Talaya appearing on their second appearance.
Flarg, Barada, Nikto & Talaya
See above.
Tropes associated with the Brainteasers:
- Big Eater: Nikto
- Body Snatcher
- Body Surf
- Dark Mistress: Talaya
- The Dragon: Barada
- Galactic Conqueror: Flarg
- People Puppets
- Planet of Hats: Literally.
Other Recurring Villains
Villains that have no allegiance to a group and appear at least twice in the show.
Tuskernini
A film director turned criminal uses his directing background as a gimmick for his crimes. He also has three penguin assistants to aid him.
Tropes associated with Tuskernini:
- Affably Evil
- Civilian Villain: In "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlatan" and "Adopt-a-Con".
- Fat Bastard
- Hey, It's That Voice!: King Triton?
- Idiosyncrazy: Movie-themed villainy, which he's the "director".
- Large Ham
- Meaningful Name
- Paper-Thin Disguise
- Prima Donna Director
- Unlimited Wardrobe
The Penguins
The trio of penguins who act as Tuskerninni's sidekicks. Usually act as gofers, cameramen, or other menial labor at their boss's request.
Tropes associated with The Penguins:
- Everything's Better with Penguins: Erm..no, totally averted this time.
- Hypercompetent Sidekicks
- No Names Given
- The Voiceless-In certain episodes they can make sound effects or quacking noises, bu they stay silent most of the time.
Professor Moliarty
A Gadgeteer Genius mole who lives underground. With his mole army, he tries to usurp the surface world from the surface dwellers and make it inhabitable for moles (like permanently blocking out the sun).
Tropes associated with Professor Moliarty:
- Beneath the Earth: Well, he is a mole.
- Evil Genius
- Expy: Named after Professor Moriarty, rival to the detective Sherlock Holmes, and being a mole.
- Gadgeteer Genius
- Just Between You and Me: To Darkwing, much to his chagrin.
- MacGyvering
- The Napoleon
Splatter Phoenix
A daringly innovative pseudo anti-neo post modern deconstructionist with an eloquent and intelligent vocabulary. Using her paint and paintbrush applied with Applied Phlebotinum she can breathe life into her creations and can enter works of art with the master stroke of her brush. Her intentions are to receive recognition, fund her work (steal paintings to make money) and let no obstacle prohibit her.
Tropes associated with Splatter:
- Applied Phlebotinum
- Art Attacker
- Art Initiates Life
- Idiosyncrazy: Painting-themed villainy.
- Killed Off for Real
- Mad Artist
- Non-Mammal Mammaries
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness
- Tall, Dark and Bishoujo
- Weaksauce Weakness: Turpentine, which melts her, and looks to have killed her.
- Wild Hair
Jambalaya Jake
A thief and cajun hick who lives in St. Canard's sewers who has bested Darkwing more than once. He is aided by his gator, Gumbo and witch doctor grandmother, Granny Whammy (the latter offered her help for $10,000).
Tropes associated with Jambalaya Jake:
- Badass Normal
- Bald of Evil
- Catch Phrase: "I guarantee".
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass
- Funetik Aksent
- Hollywood Voodoo: With a spell from Granny Whammy.
- The Napoleon
- Never Mess with Granny: Jake learned this the hard way when he didn't pay Granny Whammy her money.
- Ragin Cajun
Gumbo
Jambalaya Jake's near civilized, more intelligent alligator sidekick who doesn't like to be called Dumbo.
Tropes associated with Gumbo:
- Battle Butler
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: He can cook, clean and stand on two legs, that's pretty good for an alligator.
- He also knows better on when to pay Granny Whammy her money.
- Non-Human Sidekick
- The Unintelligible
Minor Villains
Villains who have only appeared once.
NegaDuck I
When Darkwing was accidentally zapped by Megavolt's tron splitter, he was separated into purely good and purely evil halves. The evil half was unreasonably nasty and enjoyed violence. However, after being galvanized via another zap from the tron splitter, he ended up becoming supercharged into a nearly-unstoppable force. Was remerged with PosiDuck back into the regular Darkwing. Voiced by Jim Cummings.
Tropes associated with NegaDuck I pre-galvanization:
Tropes associated with NegaDuck I post-galvanization, plus most of the above:
- Casting a Shadow: Kinda. His negative energy manifests itself as evil-looking lightning and energy balls.
- Dark Is Evil
- Deliberately Monochrome: Not just black-and-white, but also shading-inverted. The only colored parts are his glowing red eyes.
- For the Evulz: In his own words (post-galvanization): "Crime!? Who cares about crime?! I'm into wanton, mindless destruction!"
- Humanoid Abomination
- The Nth Doctor
- Omnicidal Maniac: He wants to destroy everything.
- Power Glows
- Reality Warper
- Red Eyes, Take Warning
- Super Mode
- Walking Wasteland: His presence alone causes streetlights to burst, fences to fall apart, glass to shatter, and pavement to crack. And then there's what happens when he goes after specific targets...
- What Could Have Been: There was at one point an episode planned where he would have made a return and force Darkwing Duck and Nega Duck II into an Enemy Mine situation to stop him.
Dark Warrior Duck/Drake Mallard
Drake's dictator-like persona if Gosalyn had disappeared when Quackerjack and Megavolt went into the future in "Time & Punishment". He rules St. Canard with an iron fist and give's the citizen's little liberties and arrests them on the spot. Voiced by Jim Cummings.
Tropes associated with Dark Warrior Duck:
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: All three will get you a life sentience in prison or worse because...
- Badass Normal
- Boring but Practical: He beats Megavolt with a fire hose, and for a Large Ham, he's quite competent.
- Combat Pragmatist: He had apparently wised up during the ages when Gos disappeared.
- Darker and Edgier: A parody of the concept.
- Expy: Essentially a Take That to The Dark Knight Returns.
- Future Badass
- Gadgeteer Genius
- Jerkass
- Knight of Cerebus: While he has some moments of comedy, he's played seriously like 90% of the episode he's appearing in.
- Kinda shares this with Quiverwing Quack in the War of the Darkwings arc in the comics. They both lost Gosalyn and changed their methodology as a result—though they went in opposite directions. Also, has a surprisingly Tear Jerker moment when he tells QQ to give DW Prime one of his "Last victories before he loses her" after having witnessed something in the time stream as they were brought to this Earth.
- It turned out he meant Morgana, not Gosalyn.
- Kinda shares this with Quiverwing Quack in the War of the Darkwings arc in the comics. They both lost Gosalyn and changed their methodology as a result—though they went in opposite directions. Also, has a surprisingly Tear Jerker moment when he tells QQ to give DW Prime one of his "Last victories before he loses her" after having witnessed something in the time stream as they were brought to this Earth.
- Knight Templar
- Large Ham
- Love Makes You Evil
- Mecha-Mooks
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: When wearing his mask.
- Secret Identity Identity
- Shoulders of Doom
- Spikes of Villainy
- Something Person
- Well-Intentioned Extremist
Paddywhack
A evil clown-like aberration who feeds on misery. Likes Gosalyn and Quackerjack for their prank playing.
Tropes associated with Paddywhack:
- Big Bad: Returned in the War of the Darkwings arc, having been stuck in St. Canard's water and slowly making his way back to full power.
- Demonic Possession: First of Mr. Banana Brain, and then Negaduck in the comics.
- Emotion Eater
- Evil Laugh
- Fangs Are Evil
- Monster Clown
- Perverse Puppet: When possessing Mr. Banana Brain.
- The Power of Love: The mutual love all the alternate Darkwings had for Gosalyn was used to defeat Paddywhack.
- Sealed Evil in a Can
The King & Lamont
The King is a two bit thug, who would have taken over St. Canard in the present day if Darkwing Duck didn't intervene in the past. Lamont is his little brother who picked on Drake when they were kids.
Tropes associated with The king & Lamont:
- Bald of Evil: The King, revealed when his toupee was taken.
- Captain Ersatz: The King and Lamont are heavily inspired by Elvis Presley. It's implied in the show that the King is imitating Presley.
- Gang of Hats: Greasers.
- Evil Hair (theatre)
- Instrument of Murder: The King's guitar that fires destructive energy beams. He calls it Cecille.
- Kids Are Cruel: Lamont.
The Bugmaster/Bianca Beakley
A famous news reporter who wanted higher ratings, so she created her criminal persona "The Bugmaster" to create her own personal crime wave so she could reap the rewards of having the highest rated news show in St. Canard, covering her battles with Darkwing. She learned rather quickly that Evil Pays Better and decided to become a true criminal.
Tropes associated with The Bugmaster/Bianca Beakley
Isis "Icy" Vanderchill
A vain woman who wanted to freeze her looks, but accidentally ended up freezing her blood instead. Now she is constantly freezing and wants to cover Saint Canard in stolen gold so that the sun's rays will overheat the city and keep her constantly warm.
Tropes associated with Isis "Icy" Vanderchill
- Acrofatic
- An Ice Person: Literally.
- Big Beautiful Woman: In her mind anyway.
- Fat Bitch
- Foe Yay: She has a one-sided crush on Darkwing.
- Gentle Giant: Averted, as it's only a facade to get Darkwing to trust her.
- Hoist By Her Own Petard: Darkwing defeats her by freezing her with an ice machine.
- Large and In Charge: Of her firefly army.
- Meaningful Name
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: She's the Blue Oni to her army of criminal fireflies which act as the Red Oni.
- Stout Strength
- Vain Sorceress: This is what led to her Start of Darkness.
Ordinary Guy
From Comet Guy's planet, Mertz. Has something of a grudge...not only is he the only guy on Mertz with no powers, but the heroes protected him and coddled him so much that he turned evil.
Tropes associated with Ordinary Guy:
- Badass Normal: the only guy without superpowers.
- Gadgeteer Genius: To take on the supers.
- Planet of Hats: The only one who doesn't have the hat.
- Power Copying: With his ray gun.
- Ridiculously Average Guy
Cement Head
A mutant made entirely of cement, and also a crime lord. He took up an identity of Swindlin' Swine to avoid attention, and tried to frame Rubber Chicken for trying to stop his crimes.
Tropes associated with Cement Head:
- The Juggernaut
- Latex Perfection: His disguise as Swindlin' Swine.
- Living Statue
- Made of Iron: Or cement.
- Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Swindlin' Swine.
- Super Strength: Comes with the territory of being cement.
Dr. Fossil
A former paleontologist, Dr. Fossil was responsible for turning him and Stegmutt into dinosaurs. Obsessed with dinosaurs and the lack of respect they received, he plotted to smash a comet into St. Canard ("BAM BOOM!") turning everyone into dinosaurs.
Tropes associated with Dr. Fossil
- Catch Phrase: "BAM! BOOM!" and "Sorry I have the wrong number"
- Everything's Better with Dinosaurs: Not in this case, no.
- Evilutionary Biologist
- Good Wings, Evil Wings
- Hey, It's That Voice!: Dr. Fossil is Donatello!
- Mad Scientist: Dr. Fossil.
- Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate
- Professor Guinea Pig
- Ptero-Soarer
Other Minor Villains
- Canon Foreigner: Wolfduck, who only in the Darkwing Duck video game. Unless you count that one time, that Morgana's family turned Darkwing into a wolfduck.
- Also, Ice-Head Harry from Darkwing's appearance in the Disney on Ice show "Double Feature... Live!"
- Not to mention Fluffy, who had three storylines (one of them a two-parter) in the Disney Adventures comics.
- The Ghost: Dr. Slug, the never seen archenemy to Darkwing Duck and the #1 most wanted criminal in the world.
- Homemade Inventions: Lilliputt with his ant communication helmet and shrink ray.
- Non-Indicative Name: Ice-Head Harry is actually just a generic gangster-type villain and not an ice-themed supervillain; he really only has the "Ice-Head" moniker because he was exclusively featured in a Disney on Ice show.
- Powered Armor: Fluffy used this in his latter two appearances.
- Sealed Evil in a Teddy Bear: Fluffy from the Disney Adventures comics, who actually isn't a case of Fluffy the Terrible.
- Something Person: Wolfduck and Dr. Slug.