Daniel "Danny" Fenton/Phantom: Girly Boy
VOICE ACTOR: David Kaufman
AGE: 14
EYES: Blue
HAIR: Black
STATUS: Student of Casper High/Ghost-Fightin’ Superhero, suffers from hero syndrome, has a secret crush on Vlad Masters (you know it's true)
LIKES: Space/NASA stuff, Video Games, Dumpty Humpty
DISLIKES: The constant embarrassment from his school life, and later, the stress of fame as a hero, people toying with his emotions, Math
PERSONALITY: Naïve, curious, well-meaning, brave, emotional, later more confident and mature
POWER: Variety of ghost powers ranging but not limited to: Flight, invisibility/intangibility, ice element, shield defense, the all-powerful Ghostly Wail, Ecto Rays, wall walking, etc, has been shown to be knowledgeable on fighting and/or some form of martial arts skills and sword fencing STRENGTH: Heroic and often goes his way to help others, moral centered (more so as the show goes on), increasing knowledge of ever growing Fenton products helps against ghost battles, increasing maturity, wide variety of ghost powers WEAKNESS: Tends to be a bit too naïve and often doesn't get the big picture, as a ghost is prone to disadvantage on various ghost gadgets, at times, uncontrollable emotions
GOAL: To be an Astronaut
TRIVIA: Has a bowling average of 150 FIRST APPEARANCE: "Mystery Meat"
HISTORY: To say that Danny had a normal existence would be denial; with a nagging sister who thinks she's older then she is and two ghost hunting parents, nothing is normal for young Daniel Fenton. Since birth, he was exposed to the eccentric lifestyle his family subconsciously prepared him for. Interestingly, the first instance of his eccentric livings isn’t caused by ghosts, but Jack and Maddie’s continuous arguments on the existence of Santa Claus. So caught up in their opposite beliefs, Danny repeatedly receive the brunt end during the holidays, creating traumatic events that shaped him to detest Christmas. That was only the beginning.
Despite his unique family, Danny never had too much of a problem grasping the concept of his parent’s jobs as much as his older sister did. True, there have been moments when he would rather avoid their latest Fenton gear, but it occurred only during moments when he urged to be one of the popular denizens of Casper High, an act that failed miserably in every turn as much of the higher-ups saw him as the down-below. Though it often degrades his ego, he always has two best friends to turn to in his time of sorrow: techno geek Tucker Foley and individual Goth Sam Manson.
The latter, an advocate of all things unique had a brief fascination for the then under construction Fenton Portal, taking pictures and urging a curious Danny to explore its contents. He willingly obeys and wearing one of the many Fenton jumpsuits lying around, Danny enters, only to accidentally push a button that triggers the portal and zap him full of Ectoplasmic goodies. Instead of killing him, Danny ends up only half dead (err...if you accept that theory, I personally don't) when he turns half ghost. But creating a hero is only the first step, the rest is tragedy. Er, not really, he just wallows around for a month, whining about his given ghostly abilities, fearful of the new change in his life. If he wanted any sense of normalcy, he ain’t getting it now! When he countered a vicious Lunch Lady Ghost (and a couple of Ectopusses prior), Danny hesitantly jumped to the call and defeated her after much struggle. Realizing he’s pretty good at the superhero gig, that’s what Danny decided to become; a superhero. Danny Phantom. The rest is history.
Balancing schoolwork, an average teenage life, and fighting malicious ghosts became a taxing problem for the young boy, yet he still persisted for no reason other then upholding justice and morality. The latter became a grave issue with him when he oftentimes used his powers for personal gain, creating a dark circle where his abuse of power would gain the eye and favor of one Vlad Masters, fellow half ghost and all around [sexy] manipulative genius. He desires Danny as the perfect son who would understand the pangs he’s been through, but the relationship is strictly one-sided as Danny views him nothing more then his arch nemesis. He would constantly egg on Danny on his mischievous nature though and that in turn would backfire on him heavily...
Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither was Danny’s acceding heroism. His early acts of truth, justice, and the American way were largely away from the public view. It was when he incurred top ghostly law enforcer Walker’s wrath that gave him the morbid attention he ironically sought. Walker later turned the entire town against Danny by making it look as though he staged a vicious ghostly invasion (composed of Walker’s ghost cops) and kidnapped the mayor. It worked like a charm and Danny Phantom has been branded as Amity Park’s number one culprit. Despite it all, a maturing Danny continued to save his town from its various threats with no plans of getting anything in return. He eventually won the town’s approval when he saved it from Pariah Dark, the Ghost King, who took over both the Ghost Zone and Amity Park in one fell swoop. Donning the dangerous Ecto-Suit, Danny literally risked his energy (and life) and it paid off.
Things got a worse before it got better; Danny got sucked into a time-traveling plot that involved his older self—the desolate Dark Danny (a combination of himself and Vlad Plasmius) who laid havoc to the world, his birth owned to Danny cheating on the CAT test, thus setting off a chain reaction that eventually led to the death of his loved ones (in a vicious cycle, Dark Danny was the one who set it off in the first place, if you accept that theory). The ultimate test to Danny’s growing darkness, his defeat and entrapment of Phantom freed him from its confines and in turn create a better, mature Danny.
From then on, everything seemed to work his way. He and his sister built a newfound respect and support for one another, the town consistently relied on him as they sing praises and idolized him, eventually making him the appointed deputy of Amity Park ("Urban Jungle"), he has increasingly gotten better at his powers and continuously gets new ones, and managed to win the heart of ghost hunter Valerie Gray whom secretly hunts Danny Phantom out of vengeance. Unfortunately it was for this very reason that the two broke up before it even started, Valerie's reasoning that she wanted to protect Fenton from the daily risks she takes on her mad pursuit for Phantom, unaware that the two are the same.
That eventually led to Danny’s slow, but realized crush on Sam Manson. It’s emotional progress was further hindered when Vlad ran for mayor, an act of revenge after all the shit the boy put him through—no longer thinking him as the son he wanted—especially his last stint: when he created clones of Danny. The first three were mindless drones who did whatever their "father" told them to do. The fourth however had a will of her own; a living, walking female version of Danny Phantom/Fenton. Specifically, a female version of what Danny was before he matured. Sent to capture Danny to acquire his mid-morph, Danielle, like the three before her, was an imperfect clone meant as a stepping stone to the perfect clone; Danny Phantom himself, the son Vlad achingly wanted. So much so that he treated Danielle as a tool which compared to Danny’s warm, brotherly methods, gave her a heel face turn. She sided with him and together defeated Vlad and the clone lab.
As mayor, Vlad made it his goal to make Danny’s life as difficult as possible, succeeding with mixed degrees. The two seem to one-step over another in tandem. By that point, Danny had already achieved wide fame throughout America and he has since fit to avoid the spotlight and remain a more private individual. However, even he felt some longing when he briefly gave up his role as a hero (by literally removing his powers the same way he got them) when Vlad’s latest plan had him built a team of teenage ghost fighters who did a better job vanquishing ghouls then Danny did in his whole superhero life. But when the world becomes threatened with an asteroid (inadvertently caused by Vlad), Danny takes the mantle of hero once more, gaining his powers (through an ass pull) and managing to unite the world to build a machine that could phase the entire planet from its deadly impact (yes, I know, bear with me). Regaled as a hero to the world, Danny reluctantly, but with confidence, revealed his secret identity to the entire world (yes, I know, bear with me). Promoted to hero of the world, Danny and Sam confess their feelings for one another, and then set off for a bright future. ("Phantom Planet")
PERSONALITY: Danny retains the behavior of a typical teenage boy growing up in modern times; he’s lazy, he loves video games, he dreams of being an astronaut someday and adores his room with space posters and merchandises, he hangs out with friends, etc. He maintains a "C" average and is the target for bully Dash Baxter. He adores Paulina, the Queen of Casper High, but barely gets a notice from her. He strives for popularity, but usually falls flat on his face. Danny remains an emotional figure and the daily crap he gets in life contributes to the frustrations he usually ends up with. His urged feelings contribute to his ghost powers (which react to his emotional chains) and with his parents venomous fascination with ghosts, Danny has spent his early days in complete caution. He is still fourteen though and has much to learn; he is naïve, snappy in judgment when prompt, shy, and slightly shallow.Often simpleminded, Danny views the world in black and white; evil is evil, good is good. He is not devoid of deep thinking and he at times have often been straddled with the inner-grays, where morals and the concept of what is right and wrong is often not as straightforward as he thought it would be. Despite it, Danny takes on the challenge to strive for the right choice, ultimately affecting his role as a hero, a job he takes seriously over the course of the story, becoming a firm dedicator to the protection of his people and his loved ones. This is no truer then his consistent struggle with his darkness, a boiling point that sips inside of him whenever he abuses his powers.
However, its dealing and eventual rejection of questionable morals and his responsibilities as a hero turned Danny from an insecure, one-track teenager to that of a superior figure. By the end of the series, Danny no longer concerns for the shallow spotlight (and would rather live in private) and regains more confidence in himself and his powers. While he still juggles an emotional heart, Danny’s mind (and body!) has grown. He has considerably matured; understanding and embracing the life he has given for himself.
OPINION: Danny was a hard boy to like in my earlier days as a DP fan. He embodied everything I hated about teenagers; their immaturity, their shallowness, their stupidity. He constantly needed to learn a lesson—sometimes the same one in a different episode—over all the idiocy he had portrayed, many where I just wanted to smack him upside the head for. In the beginning, it was understandable. He’s a growing boy and his mind isn’t in the peak of maturity, so I watched with bated breath that he’d grow up.
Thankfully, he did...for the most part. Danny used to be a character I didn’t care for until repeated viewings and familiarity with the show—he has since become one of my favorite. The series miraculously kept it consistent; "13" hinted on such an aspect, but it truly started from "Public Enemies", revealed in full by "Pirate Radio", and finalized by "The Ultimate Enemy". To see his panicking, shallow-induced side in the first episodes, then to see his actions and mannerisms in Season Three are remarkable in comparison.
However, he is not without his mistakes. Even though he grew as a character, there were some hiccups that belittled his characters. Sometime around "Micro Management", Danny was given moral lessons during the onset of his maturity, a maddening contradiction. He was purposely turned into a blinding idiot despite the frequent lessons and maturity he gained, reverting him into Season One levels of thinking. Season Three provided the worst offense when the concept was taken overboard; where his moral lessons were often corrected by the likes of Sam Manson who by that point became Danny's nagging conscience. Instead of finding new ways to explore any flaws in Danny's system, they kept fueling him with life lessons which by that point had no baring to the bigger and grander plots. He has terrible emotions and that could have been an issue they could have explored instead. They tried in "Torrent of Terror", but it didn't really break new grounds.
The only other annoying element is how Danny seems to miss the fame that he gained as Phantom. In "Livin' Large", he viewed his superheroing as some tiresome job that he lost all flavor for. In "Phantom Planet", he stripped his own powers when a team of ghost hunter bested him in every step. It's as if he's treating his duties as Danny Phantom as some thankless job then the responsibilities he took for himself. It also doesn't make a lick of sense when episodes like "Forever Phantom" showed his disdain for the spotlight; that he'd rather prefer a private existence. One could argue that he realized how much he missed the spotlight when it's taken away from him, but I find it a bold contradiction and an insult to the growth Danny has received. For him to still view popularity and attention as a good thing doesn't seem like something Season Three Danny would do.
For that matter, I'm not too keen on him revealing his secret identity to the general public in the last episode. I won't go into further detail that can be better stated in the "Phantom Planet" review, but I find his willing ability to expose his half ghost self to everyone in the goddamn planet to be very impersonal. The issue of Danny's panicking moments with his powers and how his parents perceive them were answered in both "Bitter Reunions" and "Reality Trip", where Jack and Maddie proudly declare they love and respect their son, regardless of who he truly is. Revealing his entire self to them by the end makes sense and installs a sense of trust (which should have been utilized in "RT" instead though), but revealing it to the whole world? It doesn't create that sense of affect and doesn't convey the appropriate emotions.
I also think he secretly makes a good female. We all know Danny is a girl anyways. A girl who has the hots for Vlad Masters.
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