Valerie Gray: Definitely NOT Genre Savvy
VOICE ACTOR: Grey Delisle (first cameo appearances), Cree Summer (standard voice)
AGE: 14
EYES: Green
HAIR: Black
STATUS: Ass kickin' Ghost Hunter She-Warrior, cashier at Nasty Burger—occasionally has to wear the Nasty Ned costume
LIKES: Ghost hunting, Ghost Hunting, Ghost Hunting
DISLIKES: Ghosts, especially Danny Phantom (and the Ghost Dog)
PERSONALITY: Aggressive, rude, outspoken, hot-tempered, crass. Was once Self-centered and shallow
POWER: Martial Arts ability—said to be 9th degree level (which I still refuse to suspend my disbelief on), competent with Anti-Ghost weapons
STRENGTH: Powerful fighter and competent warrior
WEAKNESS: Her anger often clouds her better judgment
GOAL: Hunt down all ghost kind
TRIVIA: She likes the word "kumquat" because it sounds funny.
FIRST APPEARANCE: "Parental Bonding", officially debuts in "Shades of Gray"
HISTORY: In the beginning, there was nothing. Or there was everything in Valerie’s case. Her world was built on success; her father’s well paying job has established an easy living for this glamorous little princess. Whatever she wanted, she got. She was a fitting member to the other shallow pinheads of Casper High, but with sass to match. She had no trouble using her upper class status to boss others around and get her way. But even a force of nature cannot stop a whimsical ghost.
Or a ghost Dog. In search of its missing squeaky toy, the pup (hinted to once work as a guard dog in Axion Lab) singlehandedly destroyed Damon Gray’s hi-tech security system; no matter how hard Danny worked to prevent it. Fired from his job, Damon and his only daughter had to move out of their fancy house and sell most of their belongings. Grudge-ridden, Valerie is given a box of anti-ghost weapons from a mysterious benefactor (Vlad) to hunt down both the Ghost Dog...and Danny Phantom. Alas, she is but a novice with the new tools, so she briefly manipulates an infatuated Tucker into dating her in order to get closer to Danny and his ghost-expert parents. It didn’t work, and eventually the Ghost Dog left after reuniting with its beloved squeaky toy. That hasn’t stopped her determination, vowing to take down Danny and all ghost kind.
Though her self-centered existence was once the fuel to her fire, Valerie has since declared all ghosts a menace. Thinking herself as some superhero, she has undergone much of the series in pursuit of them, creating a reputation as a competent ghost hunter. Danny remains her primary target and the two are obviously not on the best terms, even if they had to work together at times. Valerie’s normal existence doesn’t clash well with Danny Fenton either, the former viewing the latter as a low-social nerd who isn’t worth her time. Danny was the first to respect her when he realizes how tough her life is, forced to take a job at the Nasty Burger to save money for college and hunt down ghosts. He later takes that into acknowledgment when he and Valerie help each hide from their respective follies: the bully Dash and geeky Nathan—a boy with a massive crush on Valerie. And though Phantom and the Ghost Hunter still sparred, Fenton and Gray grew closer. During this point, she also met Vlad who confessed he was the one who provided the weapons, much to her happiness.
The two developed feelings over time, an act that Sam and Tucker disapproved and Technus milked. Taking over the world via Axion Lab technology, he pits Danny and Valerie together until he could break the computer’s firewall codes. Their love had grown big enough that Danny decides to give her a class ring (donated by Jack) to seal the deal while Valerie vows to give up ghost hunting to pursue her romance. It is with irony that Technus’ interference destroyed that promise. Assuming Danny to be the ghost who has been stealing Axion Lab technology, Valerie (now donning a new battle suit via Technus as a means for further distractions) chased after Danny to the depths of outer space. She is knocked unconscious by an Danny unintentionally (which only worsens her hatred over him) who promptly destroys Technus in anger. After returning to Earth, Valerie breaks up with Danny before the relationship could begin to keep him from harm from her secret job, unaware of the crushing realization that he is Phantom. Danny briefly continues to harbor romantic feelings for her despite.
Valerie returns after a long absence, requested by Vlad to hunt and bag him a Danielle. Accepting his gift of a new apartment for her and Damon (and her high opinion of Masters), Valerie easily obeys and captures both Danny and Danielle. While torturing Danny, he forces her to save Danielle, revealing her origins as a half-ghost (clone). Stuck with the idea that she is human, Valerie (with Danny) invade Vlad’s manor, combating Plasmius who cleverly creates a duplicate between him and Masters to fool Valerie. Danielle is saved (and fully stabilized), but the results end poorly when Valerie finds Masters and Plasmius to be the same person. Betrayed, she has since put him in her enemy’s list. ("D-Stabilized")
She makes a quick cameo in the end and contributes to the battle against the Ecto-Asteroid. She finds out Danny’s secret identity and cheers. ("Phantom Planet") She also fights ghosts in the future as Amity Park’s official guardian during Dark Danny’s reign...though that’s an alternate future, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she continued the ghost hunting path. ("The Ultimate Enemy")
PERSONALITY: With enough sass to span the globe, Valerie, from start to finish, is an angry, violent, hot-tempered young lady with a perchance for revenge. Once a former member of the glamor tribe of Casper High, the spoiled brat’s life turned downwards, causing her to live the life of the Average Joe—perhaps even less so; stuck in a rundown apartment, in a rundown city, with a rundown mope. Upon retrieving her ghost weapons did Valerie’s life turn for the better, first using it for selfish motivations before turning it into an official job.
Straddled with the belief that her work is a good thing, in Danny’s perspective, she is a grave Anti-Hero. Unable to accept any ghosts, Danny remains her number one target even when he gains the role of Amity Park’s prime hero. She is easily vindictive, quick to judge, and aggressive, letting violence solve much of her solutions. In her moments of peace, she is a decent person to talk to. Living the life of the "common" people have improved her behavior of them, realizing why their life isn’t easy and the challenges they take upon themselves, Valerie has since gain a new and better respect for the people she once considered below her.
Though she constantly outbursts in rage over anything ghoulish, she is merely a girl who works her job because she believes it will be for the better, even if she gets a little too gung-ho over it.
OPINION: Though Valerie, too held a drastic character development over the series, I don’t hold her in high regards as I do Jazz. Her earlier behaviors were rude and crass and despite her harsh livings, I didn’t feel great sympathy as the writers probably wanted me to...just because of her attitude problem. Yes, she does have a hard life, but that gave her little excuse to take it out on others just for the sake of taking out on others. Without even apologizing. She was a hard character to like in her early days, thankfully fixed by the latter.
Also, unlike Jazz, Valerie’s character never got a complete finish. She became a better person, but her near ignorance in Season Three culminated on a few choice questions: Did she still have feelings for Danny? Did she ever make peace with her father when he disapproved of her job once he found out? For that matter, what did Valerie do when she discovered Vlad as Plasmius? The last one is an even bigger insult because it comes before the Series Finale. She didn’t even appear in "Reality Trip" when such a concept practically begged for her. Was she living in a cave when Danny’s secret was exposed throughout America or partying in Euro Disney?
She had some of the most impressive transformation in the show while keeping her prime personality as a hot-tempered girl who survived any onslaughts of negativity that seeped through her existence. In a way, she got a chance to redeem herself: her path was once destined for the bandwagon of one-note jerkasses who cared only for themselves. Valerie’s materialism streak ended because she found out there is much more to live then a five hundred dollar top. So why waste such potential on the girl by Season Three? A character like her deserved for a keen finale.
At this point, I don’t think it wise to actually question Season Three without a severe "DUH", but it hurts Valerie’s character because we’re never going to see her completion as we have with most of the others. Much like Tucker, she was shoved out, though being a secondary character, it isn’t as insipid as what they did with him, but still. She was washed away by end. Her easy acceptance of Danny as both Fenton and Phantom in the last episode was criminal. I feel there is an emotional baggage that would have sufficed instead. I fear she would be crushed by this and take a greater time to sort it out. But that’s what happens when the series had to rush the last season because of network executing.
I have a love/hate relationship with the way the animators draw her. I personally like that Valerie is pudgy. There’s no fat jokes at her expense and she remains an important figure to the show. However, whenever she goes into Ghost Hunter mode, all the fat is magically sucked away. Her stomach chunks is as thin as Paulina. I’m not sure if the doodlers think the action worked better or if it made her look more like a badass, but I find it highly annoying and a vast contradiction to her human form. The bigger the better, they all say and she indeed looks gorgeous. Besides, both her ghost hunting outfits are badass designs anyways. I prefer her first slightly more due to how the simple designs really work. Plus, I admire the hooded headgear and its visors (though I don’t like it whenever Valerie’s eyes seep out from it—it’s creepy!) Her second is visually amazing, with complicated designs and darker colors that really show the insanity and commitment she has given herself, but I don’t much care for her new head wear. While it conveys her emotions better (which the first one did just fine), I think it just looks awkward and kinda stupid. I liked the secretive look better.
I also don’t care for her being a ninth degree martial artist. Out of all the unbelievable cartoon stuff I am willing to suspend my disbelief for, this one I refuse. And this is coming from the same episode where jetpacks can take you to space in two minutes, something which I have no problems with! Maybe I just feel the writers are making her seem more stronger then she’s already emphasized to be or this may be one of the few times where I can't suspend my disbelief.
Back to the Characters PageArticle written revised in: Jan. 23, 2009
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