Clockwork: I can't make a Doctor Who reference, I never watched the series
VOICE ACTOR: David Carradine (RIP)
AGE: Ageless
EYES: Red
HAIR: Unknown, he never takes that damn hood off
STATUS: Guardian of Time and Space...but mostly time
LIKES: Keeping the flow of time intact, prancing around like the God-like figure he is, if he had to choose a favorite school subject: history
DISLIKES: Guys who just watch and don’t do a goddamn thing
PERSONALITY: Calm, all-knowing, tricky, omniscience level of mystery
POWER: Standard Ghost powers aside, the dude controls fuckin’ time. He could turn you into primordial soup if you piss him off
STRENGTH: HE. CONTROLS. TIME.
WEAKNESS: Pssh, a God of Time has no weakness.
FIRST APPEARANCE: "The Ultimate Enemy"
GOAL: To control and establish the flow of time that benefits the entire universe
HISTORY: The beginning appearance of Clockwork would have the viewers under belief that he is a villain or at least a character without proper morals. Asked by the Observants to kill Danny in order to prevent his bleak, destructive future, Clockwork easily agrees and sends two ghosts from the future to try and waste our hero. They fail, so hoping for a "third-time’s-the-charm" route, Clockwork battles Danny, scythe in hand. This time, Danny is no match; how can a mere boy defeat someone who's practically God-like? So they run off into safety for the time being.
There, they dealt with the mess that is Danny’s future self while Clockwork watched, his plans unfolding in rapid succession. Only at the last minute, after Danny learned his lesson and nearly died to save his loved ones does Clockwork dive in, rescuing Danny’s friends and family (and teacher) from certain death. Realizing him to be a benevolent figure, Clockwork praises Danny for his continuous good deeds and gives him a second chance and with it, a better future.
Danny eventually returns to him with a favor under his belt; begging Clockwork to send him to the 80’s to prevent Vlad Masters from becoming Plasmius. Immediately livid with the idea, Clockwork reluctantly sets Danny on his path, knowing full well of the consequences he would make. Indeed, Danny’s attempt to better the future falls flat on his face when he finds the altered timeline even worse then before. Clockwork kindly, though not without a condescending attitude to the idiot boy, restores everything back to the way it was, leaving Danny to fix his current dilemma his own way.
He later appears in the last episode to stop a rampaging asteroid. ("Phantom Planet")
PERSONALITY: Having seen it all and possibly playing a part in many lines of history, Clockwork is an ageless ghost who watches and secretly guides the very structure and time flow of the universe. Nothing is beyond his reach; he knows all and sees all. With it, he gains confidence and remains several steps ahead of everyone, using his given powers to keep time moving in the manner which befits him.
As a result, he can be hard to read because he retains a tricky air and a mysterious core. He may approve of Danny’s lifestyle, but he is not an easy ally and does not attempt to fix every one of his problems. He has no defining morals of good and evil and just plays out time and space in the manner that would benefit the overall universe. Despite his calm exterior, he is a dangerous figure to cross as he possesses quite possibly the most powerful abilities in the show. Nothing is unpredictable, nothing can bypass him...
OPINION: Clockwork embodies everything that I believe most Gods or deity-like figures possess (at least in fiction): an ambiguous nature on the very physical world they govern/watch over. Clockwork is visually impressed by Danny’s constant super heroism, but that doesn’t mean he plans to aid him on every mission. Indeed, Clockwork has no set morals. Gods don’t believe or care for how humanity perceives good and evil. His duties lie strictly on the clocks he churns and the time that he helps keep flowing.
He essentially runs the universe and sometimes, that means making decisions that would otherwise be immoral to many. He is above and beyond what we puny mortals could imagine; he’s a divine figure who knows far beyond the past and future. If he acted superior or smug, he has every right to be. He has the knowledge of the beyond and powers we can only dream of. We could either be on his side or not, Clockwork could change his mind and work to whatever he feels fits best. In the end, how the world works is through his vision and if he has to end lives as much as rebuild it...so be it.
Plus, with David Carradine’s soothing, sexy voice (he's not that bad looking either—hey, I like the olda' men), Clockwork remains one of most ambitious and interesting (and one of my favorite) ghosts of the series. With such a powerful figure under their belt, he was underutilized during the last segments of the series. Considering Marmel wanted to bring Dark Danny for the series finale, I wondered if he had any grand plans with the Clock King in mind? I wondered if the new writers had any inkling to work in Clockwork as well? He could do so much—which is everything.
Back to Characters PageArticle Written in: Jan. 12, 2009
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