- This article is about the TV series within the universe of DuckTales 2017; for the real-world animated series, see Wikipedia's article.
Darkwing Duck is a television series centered on the adventures of its titular superhero. It is Launchpad McQuack's favorite show, and he owns a number of pieces of merchandise from the series.
The show's premise is very similar to the real-life animated series: the caped hero Darkwing Duck defends the city of Saint Canard from various criminal masterminds; however, the execution and tone of each series differs greatly. Unlike the real-life show which has several supporting characters, the in-universe show portrays Darkwing as a solo act without assistanc from Launchpad McQuack, Gosalyn Mallard, or any equivalent characters. Although several scenes from the original show are referenced throughout the run of DuckTales, their in-universe versions are never the same, suggesting differing interpretations of the same premises to account for the smaller cast. These changes suggest that the in-universe show focused more on action, whereas the real-life show also focused on comedy and Darkwing's domestic life with his sidekick and his adopted daughter. Some elements remain the same between the shows, however, such as their theme songs, villains, catchphrases, and even a few episode names.
Unlike the real-life show, which is animated, the in-universe show is considered live-action, with actor Jim Starling playing the title role and performing his own stunts.
History[]
Beware the B.U.D.D.Y. System![]
Dewey watches an episode of the show at Launchpad's garage, the plot of which involves Darkwing thwarted several villains robbing a bank. Launchpad is also shown to own several pieces of Darkwing Duck merchandise, including a poster and a talking bobblehead he has in the limo.
The Last Crash of the Sunchaser![]
When the Sunchaser crash lands, Launchpad puts on Darkwing Duck as an in-flight movie, but only the end credits play.
The Shadow War![]
While fighting against the shadows, Launchpad began to sing the Darkwing Duck theme song but to his own improvised lyrics.
Friendship Hates Magic![]
After learning that Mrs. Beakley has never heard of Darkwing Duck, Launchpad shares his old VHS tapes of the show, up until the last episode, where he revealed it was canceled before the finale, making Beakley think that they should create their version of the canceled finale.
The Duck Knight Returns![]
Jim Starling attends a furniture store opening as a celebrity guest, sharing the last episode filmed before cancellation. The episode shows Darkwing confronting a masked bomber in the sewers and ends on a cliffhanger of Darkwing unmasking the crook to reveal his own face. Around the same time, film director Alistair Boorswan is making a gritty movie based off of the series but becomes frustrated when Scrooge McDuck places the childish Dewey in charge of the final scene.
Launchpad dislikes the pitch for the movie due to the grim portrayal of his childhood hero, while Jim takes a liking to it until he discovers the studio has hired someone else to play Darkwing's role. The two initially team up to sabotage the film until Launchpad gets to know the new actor, Drake Mallard, and learns from Drake how the show inspired him as a kid to stand up for himself. Jim goes berserk on the set of the final scene, burning the set and nearly killing Drake, but he is swayed by Launchpad's love of the character into sacrificing his life for him and Drake when the final piece of the set explodes.
While the movie is ruined, ending the franchise for good, Drake is inspired by Jim's sacrifice and Launchpad's encouragement to fight crime as Darkwing Duck for real. Unbeknownst to everyone, Jim had survived the incident and escaped to the sewers, where he pins the blame on Drake and vows to take revenge as Negaduck.
Let's Get Dangerous![]
Desperate to dispose of the new real-life Darkwing Duck and Dr. Waddlemeyer's granddaughter Gosalyn, Taurus Bulba uses Waddlemeyer's reality-altering Ram-Rod machine to pull the Fearsome Four (Megavolt, Liquidator, Quackerjack, and Bushroot) out of the TV series universe into their own reality. Darkwing and Launchpad use their extensive knowledge of the show when battling its supervillains, and they are ultimately successful in sending them back into their own reality when Gosalyn destroys the Ram-Rod to prevent its unstable portal from ripping the universe apart. During the final fight, two episodes from the series are namedropped: "Beauty and the Beet" and "Just Us Justice Ducks", the latter of which was allegedly a crossover episode featuring the protagonists of a few different TV shows teaming up.
Characters[]
- Darkwing Duck
- Quackerjack
- Megavolt
- The Liquidator
- Bushroot
- Paddywhack
- Tuskerninni
- Hot Couture (action figure)
- Bugmaster
- Jambalaya Jake
Trivia[]
- The actual, real-life Darkwing Duck series, originally aired in the 1990s as a part of The Disney Afternoon lineup.
- According to Frank Angones, E. Thaddeus Rockwell created the show. The name comes from Thaddeus Rockwell, the fictional producer of Darkwing's cartoon who appeared in the original series episodes "Twitching Channels" and "A Star is Scorned".
- Also from this, it was shown that it got cancelled due to poor ratings paired with Jim Starling's increasingly ludicrous demands.