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Whoo-crashed it!

Launchpad McQuack is one of the nine main characters in the 2017 television reboot of DuckTales, based on his original version from the 1987 series.

Description

Launchpad is a fearless and big-hearted guy who works for Scrooge McDuck, initially as his limo driver and later also as his air and submarine pilot. Launchpad may not be a Carl Barks original character, but he is an endearing friend to the McDuck family as well as the show.

Personality

As loyal as he is to an employee of McDuck Enterprises, Launchpad also serves as a loyal friend to the McDuck family. He is fearless and always up for anything which suits well as Scrooge's drivers. Launchpad isn't the brightest, he acts on instinct and learns on the go. Though even through some misadventures and mistakes, he always keeps a positive attitude, and this is shown in "Woo-oo!" when he got bitten by snakes and remained calm and positive throughout the ordeal. And even when things are going wrong he is determined to make things right and be there some others as seen in "Beware the B.U.D.D.Y. System!".  Launchpad is very kind and friendly he always there to help others like in "Woo-oo!" when Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Webby need to help Scrooge defeat a flying golden dragon. Launchpad offers himself as a pilot the Sunchaser, to rescue Scrooge even though he didn't know them well at the time, he still wished to help. In "Day of the Only Child!", Launchpad is shown to be oblivious when he could see past the Beagle Boys' disguises. And he shows to get easily distracted, this often interferes with his driving, which is shown in many occasions like in "Sky Pirates...in the Sky!" where Launchpad is intrigued by Don Karnage and his musical performance.

Skills and Abilities

  • Without truly getting the training Launchpad is an "okay" driver. He often crashes but beside being a "driver" Launchpad is a team player.
  • He can crash airplanes and not get injured.
  • He apparently speaks Swedish, as shown in "Woo-oo!"
  • Although his experiences with flying appear extremely crash-centric, in "The Golden Armory of Cornelius Coot!" he proves to Della his out-of-the-box maintenance methods actually work.

Relationships

Scrooge McDuck

Launchpad is a devoted employee of McDuck Enterprises and prides his job as Scrooge's chauffeur. He not only views Scrooge as his boss but also somewhat of a father figure as shown in "Beware the B.U.D.D.Y. System!".

Donald Duck

Even though Donald and Launchpad never really hang out, Launchpad is very friendly towards him. Even though he took his boat without asking in "Jaw$!". But still treats he kindly, Launchpad as shares that he likes his fashion sense in "The Shadow War!".

Huey Duck

Launchpad has serves Huey as his friends and his Junior Woodchuck trooper as shown in "Day of the Only Child!". Huey has shown to judge Launchpad because he is dim behaviour this is seen in "Sky Pirates…in the Sky!" where Huey assists Launchpad to return home in one piece.

Dewey Duck

Launchpad considers Dewey as his best friend, shown favouritism towards Dewey that on an occasion he refers to Huey and Louie as "Dewey's brothers." In "Beware the B.U.D.D.Y. System!", the two of them hang out together, and Launchpad introduces Dewey to his favourite TV show, Darkwing Duck (2017). Launchpad also asks fashion advice from Dewey. In "Jaw$!",  it's shown that Launchpad is protective of him. When Dewey gets eaten by Tiffany, Launchpad wakes up in the middle of the night because he senses his best friend is in danger and takes Donald's houseboat to the Money Bin to rescue Dewey.

Webby Vanderquack

Even though they don't interact hang out a lot, they make a great team as shown in "The Shadow War!" where they work together to prevent Donald and the triplets from permanently moving to Cape Suzette.

Bentina Beakley

Mrs. Beakley rarely seen with Launchpad, but does seem to tolerate his accident-prone nature, especially during the Shadow War. When she tried to bond with him one night, Launchpad was afraid she was going to fire him for damaging Mr. McDuck’s gate. But what he notices she was reading “The Scarlett Pimpabill”, it reminded him of Darkwing Duck and showed her his video series. Beakley liked the series so much that she even teamed up with him to make a fan film after he told her the show was cancelled before the show’s finale.

Della Duck

After Della Duck returns to Earth after spending a decade on the Moon, she is shocked when she realized that Scrooge replaced her with Launchpad as a pilot. And even though Launchpad tried to befriend her, she was infuriated with him and didn’t give him a chance.

Drake Mallard

Launchpad became acquainted with Drake during the events of The Duck Knight Returns!, where originally Launchpad attempted to help Jim Starling by trapping the new actor for the Darkwing Duck film. But instead, they ended up bonding over their loving interest for the original Darkwing Duck TV show. Eventually, when Jim begins to get out of hand on the movie set, Launchpad and Drake work together to convince him that his obsession was getting too out of control. After the explosion incident with Jim having seemingly disappeared, Launchpad encouraged Drake to step in Jim's shoes as both the role of Darkwing Duck and a hero. This gave Drake enough belief in himself to take on the roles, with Launchpad claiming he had now gained his first fan.

Old flames

Viking and Wereduck

Unused art of the Viking Shieldmaiden and The Wereduck drawn by storyboarder Sam King.

In several episodes, including "The House of the Lucky Gander!", "The Depths of Cousin Fethry!" and others, Launchpad reconnects with old flames. His relationships with these individuals, who are almost never actually shown, often lead him into his own adventures separate from those of Scrooge and his family.

Videos

Promos

Shorts

Gallery

Click here to view the image gallery for Launchpad McQuack (2017).
Click here to view this page's gallery.

Appearances

Shorts

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Trivia

Launchpad's driver's license

Launchpad's driver's license.

  • As seen on the driver's license issued to Launchpad in "Beware the B.U.D.D.Y. System!", he was born on September 18, 1987, he's an organ and tissue donor, and he signs his signature with a drawing of an airplane propeller.
    • Launchpad's birth date is a reference to the date the first few episodes of the original DuckTales show aired.
  • It is revealed in "Last Christmas!" that Launchpad is Jewish.
  • Though he has the likeness of a pelican, Launchpad is actually a duck, as stated in Frank Angone's Tumblr.

Reference

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