- This page is for Danny Phantom (character), the character. For other uses, see Danny Phantom (disambiguation).
| "I'm going ghost!" |
Daniel[3] "Danny" Fenton, also known by his alias Danny Phantom, is the titular protagonist of the television series Danny Phantom. Becoming a half-human/half-ghost during a lab accident, Danny has taken on the role of a ghostly superhero to protect Amity Park and the world from the dangerous ghosts of the Ghost Zone.
History
The Origin
Living with ghost-obsessed parents since birth, Danny had to put up with his parents' "unique" personalities, which often traumatized him. Danny wanted to be an astronaut when he grew up and, unlike his parents, had no interest in hunting ghosts. However, this did not stop his curiosity that one day changed his life forever. While exploring his parents' laboratory, Danny accidentally activated the newly-built Fenton Ghost Portal, causing his molecular structure to become infused with ectoplasm. This causes Danny to become half-human and half-ghost and gain an array of ghostly superpowers.
Beginning
Danny had only had his powers for a month before his first real ghost fight. He was unsure about telling his parents about the accident, and was still trying to get the hang of his powers, often losing control of them at inopportune and embarrassing moments. But after his first battle against a ghost, he realized what his powers were for. Since the ghosts were a serious threat, Danny decided to take on the role of a superhero to protect Amity Park.[4]
Danny soon met Vlad Masters, his parents' friend from college, now a billionaire bachelor. Danny found out that twenty years ago, Vlad became a half-ghost just like Danny, and now had all the same powers he had but with twenty years more experience. Vlad soon became Danny's arch-nemesis.
Becoming a Hero
At first, Danny Phantom was not a particularly well-known or well-liked ghost. His debut to Amity Park was ruined when Walker staged a ghost invasion on the city and framed Danny for it[5] and later when Freakshow took control of Danny's mind and forced him to perpetrate a series of ghostly crimes for him.[6] Events such as these caused the people of Amity Park to hate Danny Phantom (then known to them as "Inviso-Bill"), despite his intentions to protect them. Danny's only supporters were his two friends Tucker Foley and Sam Manson and, unbeknownst to him, his sister Jazz.
In "Reign Storm," after Danny defeated Pariah Dark and saved Amity Park from being trapped in the Ghost Zone, Amity Park finally recognized him as a hero. (It was at this point when he confirmed to the town that his name really was "Danny Phantom.") This also helped his standing in the Ghost Zone, as the Far Frozen began to know him as āthe Great Oneā and āSavior of the Ghost Zoneā due to his victory. However, his parents and his then-love interest Valerie, the three people he most wanted to believe in him, still did not view Danny Phantom as anything but a menace.
Alternate Paths
In "The Ultimate Enemy," Danny witnessed an alternate future where he gave up his human half after an accident killed his friends and family, causing him to become fully ghost and much more powerful, but ultimately extremely evil. His own future self turned out to be his ultimate enemy.
New Allies and Old Friends
Throughout his adventures, Danny made a number of allies, including his half-ghost female clone and cousin, Dani Phantom, a Yeti-like ghost named Frostbite, a werewolf ghost named Wulf, and Pandora, the owner of Pandora's Box.
A Bright Future
In "Phantom Planet," Vlad created a new team of teenage ghost hunters, the Masters' Blasters, to upstage Danny. They were inexplicably able to hunt ghosts much better than Danny could, embarrassing Danny to the point where he began to seriously question his status as the superhero the people wanted. He was so depressed that, despite his friends' protests, he used the Fenton Portal to remove all his ghost powers, becoming fully human again. At the same time, however, a much bigger threat - the Disasteroid - was headed straight for Earth, timed to collide in just one week and destroy the entire planet; and because Earth and the Ghost Zone are flip sides of each other, if Earth were to be destroyed, the Ghost Zone would be destroyed as well.
With renewed determination, Danny returned to the Ghost Zone to seek help. His enemies in the Ghost Zone, however, were all too glad to see him in his powerless human state, and took great pleasure in blasting him over and over. This inexplicably caused Danny to regain his half-ghost status and all his former powers. Gaining help from his allies and enemies from the Ghost Zone, humans and ghosts worked side-by-side and successfully saved the Earth from the Disasteroid. When the crisis was finally over, Danny revealed his secret identity to all of Earth and was hailed as Earth's hero.
Appearance
- Main article: Danny Phantom (character)/Clothes
Danny Fenton has black hair and blue eyes. He wears a white T-shirt with a thin red collar, red cuffs, and a red circle in the middle, light blue jeans, and red-and-white sneakers. When he transforms into Danny Phantom, his hair becomes snow white, his eyes become glowing green, and his skin changes from light to tanned. Danny Phantom wears a black jumpsuit with white boots, collar, belt, and forearm-length gloves. After "Memory Blank," he wears his logo, a white "D" with the negative space inside it forming a "P," on his chest.
Personality
At first, Danny was an average teenager attending high school, awkward and nervous but friendly. Like most teenagers, he had crushes on girls, desires to be popular, a dislike of bullies, and embarrassment about his parents. But unlike most teenagers he had ghostly superpowers. He struggled to cope with them and was afraid of anyone discovering his secret, fearing it would make him go from "geek" to "freak," and longed to be normal just like everyone else again. But after fighting ghosts for the first time, he realized he could use his powers for good. This newfound sense of purpose changed Danny into a heroic, brave young man.
In the present, when he's not worrying about ghosts, Danny is kind, easy-going, helpful, and compassionate at times. He likes using his ghost powers for good, but, being a teenage boy, is not always above using them to get revenge on bullies or sneak into the girls' locker room. His ghost hunting often cuts into his school work time, but he does work hard when he puts his mind on the task at hand. He loves making puns and exchanging witty banter during his fights, and while there's moments when he under-appreciates his friends, he is thankful to have them.
Danny has also shown distress when it comes to failure in himself to protect others. Examples of this include the deaths of his family and friends inadvertently causing him to turn evil, the moment when he believed that he had failed to protect Dani from Vlad, and the brief time when he removed his powers after Masters' Blasters upstaged and humiliated him into thinking himself obsolete and useless.
Relationships
Sam Manson
Sam has been Danny's friend since at least the second grade and was one of the first two people Danny trusted with his secret. Danny's friendship with Sam is not always as strong as his friendship with Tucker due to their mutual stubbornness, but he values her friendship just as much as he values Tucker's.
Sam always had a little bit of a crush on Danny, but Danny, at first, showed romantic feelings exclusively toward Paulina, which made Sam extremely jealous.[7] By "Phantom Planet," however, Danny had rejected Paulina and confessed his feelings for Sam, and he and Sam had become an official couple.
Tucker Foley
Tucker is Danny's best friend, as the two have many things in common, and was one of the first two people Danny trusted with his secret. Danny often takes Tucker's side when Tucker and Sam disagree, and rarely disagrees with Tucker. Tucker is the technology expert of the three, so Danny and Sam often rely on his expertise to help them hunt ghosts.
Jazz Fenton
When Danny was younger, he and his big sister Jazz were quite close, but as they grew older, they became more at odds with each other. Jazz's behavior is intelligent in a sometimes snobbish manner, which annoys Danny despite Jazz's concern for her little brother. In "My Brother's Keeper," Jazz learned Danny's secret and, unbeknownst to Danny, helped cover for him when he needed to go ghost. She planned not to tell Danny until Danny was ready to tell her, which occurred in "The Ultimate Enemy." The two have since formed a much tighter bond. Despite having a more strained and distant relationship at the beginning of the series, the two clearly still love each other. Jazz always looks after Danny, and he refuses to let Jazz down and promises to always keep her safe.
Jack and Maddie Fenton
Danny sometimes feels at odds with his parents, especially due to their desire to hunt ghosts. At an earlier age, Danny connected greatly with his mother, but they grew apart over time. While it seems he does not always feel safe with his parents (as they have on multiple occasions expressed intention to tear Danny Phantom apart molecule by molecule), he shows love and concern for them as much as they do in return. In "Phantom Planet," Danny's parents readily accept him when they finally learn he is Danny Phantom.
Paulina Sanchez
At the beginning of the series, Danny had a massive crush on Paulina, even going so far as to set his computer password to "Paulina Fenton." Danny was too awkward and shy to ask her out, and the one time he worked up enough courage, his intangibility activated and caused his pants to fall down, embarrassing Danny in front of everyone and discouraging him from talking to her again. After he, as Danny Phantom (then still known as "Inviso-Bill"), saved her life, Paulina developed a huge crush on Danny Phantom; but she continued to completely ignore and reject Danny Fenton, frustrating Danny to no end. As the series progressed, however, Danny's feelings for Paulina faded, being replaced by Valerie, and eventually Sam.
Valerie Gray
When they first met, Danny's opinion of Valerie was anything but kind, as he was not a fan of her egotistical and angry attitude nor of the fact that she wanted to hunt his ghost self down.[8][9] However, as Danny Phantom and Valerie were often forced to work together against their mutual foes, Danny Fenton began to see things from Valerie's perspective and gradually warmed up to her, even going so far as to briefly express romantic feelings toward her. In "Phantom Planet," Valerie was among the crowd cheering for Danny after he revealed his identity to the world.
Vlad Masters
The antagonism between Danny and Vlad
At first, Vlad was Danny's enemy only because he was jealous of Danny's father Jack, whom he felt had stolen Maddie from him in college. Vlad wanted to take Maddie back, and even went so far as to offer to bring up Danny as his own son and train him in using his ghost powers.[10] However, by "Eye for an Eye," Danny and Vlad had become more antagonistic toward each other, with Vlad's motive inexplicably changing from wanting revenge on Jack to wanting to rule the world and destroy Danny. Only in the alternate future explored in "The Ultimate Enemy" does Danny treat Vlad as anything other than an arch-nemesis.
Dani Phantom
Danny and Dani team up
Danny and Dani were on opposing sides until Dani realized that her creator, Vlad, was only using her, at which point she defected and became an ally of Danny. She later reappeared seeking a cure for her instability, which she found with Danny's help. Despite only knowing each other for a short time, they developed a close sibling-like bond, always trusting and protecting each other.
Dark Danny
Dark Danny is the most powerful and evil foe Danny has ever faced. Danny is at odds with his other enemies, including Vlad, but Dark Danny is a whole other story. Dark Danny is, or was, Danny's future self, but the events that led Danny to become him were averted through Clockwork's intervention. They have not encountered each other since Dark Danny's imprisonment in Clockwork's lair.
Skulker
The hunter ghost Skulker has proven to be Danny's most persistent foe. Skulker has often tried to hunt and capture Danny due to Danny's unique status as a half-ghost. Despite this, Skulker is usually the first ghost Danny seeks aid from if he needs allies in the Ghost Zone.
Powers and Abilities
Ghost Powers
Danny possesses a variety of supernatural powers and abilities due to his unique physiology.
"Going ghost!"
- Going Ghost: Danny can transform between human and ghost at will. This manifests as white rings extending from Danny's waist, then sweeping across his body. His battle cry, "I'm going ghost!" or a variant thereof, often accompanies his transformation. Once transformed, he can use all his ghost powers. He can switch back to human form at will, and can still access some of his powers like weak ghost rays and intangibility in human form.
- Intangibility: Danny can turn his body intangible to pass through walls or other solid matter. This power was the hardest for Danny to control at first, often activating at embarrassing times such as causing his pants to fall down while he was asking a girl out. He can turn just a portion of his body intangible as well, and he can also turn other people or objects intangible when in contact with them.
- Invisibility: Danny can make his body invisible to both humans and ghosts.
- Flight: Gravity doesn't affect Danny's ghost form,[11] so he can fly through air and space at considerable speeds and heights, and walk on vertical surfaces. While flying, his legs often become a ghostly tail. His top speed was measured to be 112 mph in an early episode,[12] and he has almost certainly gotten faster since then.
- Ecto-Energy Powers
- Ghost Ray: Danny can fire green blasts of ecto-energy from his hands or fingertips. These blasts often explode on contact and are powerful enough to melt steel.
- Repulsion Field: Danny can send out a pulse of energy in all directions from his body to repel large groups of attackers.
- Energy Strike: Danny can channel ecto-energy through his fists to enhance the strength of his physical attacks.
- Ecto-Energy Constructions: Danny can create constructs made out of solid ecto-energy in a variety of forms, including concentrated ecto-energy balls, waves, and explosive discs and rings.
- Ghost Shield: Danny can generate shields made of solid ecto-energy that can nullify or even reflect attacks from other ghosts. Like his ghost rays, Danny's shields are green in color.
- Energy Absorption: Danny can absorb an opponent's energy and link to their powers for a limited time, mastering it in "Torrent of Terror."
- Ghost Shield: Danny can generate shields made of solid ecto-energy that can nullify or even reflect attacks from other ghosts. Like his ghost rays, Danny's shields are green in color.
- Power Augmentation: Danny can use his ecto-energy to increase his physical strength.
- Ghost Stinger: Danny can send ecto-energy as electricity through an electric current, negating his enemies' electric attacks and sending them back at the attacker.[5]
- Photokinesis: Danny can project light from his hand using ecto-energy.
- Ghostly Wail: Danny can generate an extremely powerful sonic blast of pure ecto-energy that can destroy buildings and cause severe damage to both humans and ghosts. The ghostly wail is Danny's most powerful ability, but it drains his energy extremely quickly, often forcing him to revert to his powerless human form after just one use. While he is capable of defeating almost any foe with this power, he only uses it as a last resort.
- Telekinesis: Danny can surround objects with his ecto-energy to make them move from a distance. Inexplicably, Danny has only been seen using this power once, to give a rake to the Box Ghost,[13] and it is never seen nor mentioned outside of its one appearance.
- Ghost Ray: Danny can fire green blasts of ecto-energy from his hands or fingertips. These blasts often explode on contact and are powerful enough to melt steel.
- Overshadowing: Danny can possess the mind and body of a person, ghost, or animal, allowing him to completely control his or her actions. While overshadowing, Danny can still use his powers of flight, intangibility, invisibility, and ghost rays.
- Software Fusion: With the Fenton Helmet, Danny can introduce himself into computer software and overshadow his video game avatar to use his ghost powers in video games.
- Exorcism: Danny can separate a possessed person from a ghost overshadowing them simply by grabbing them with his hand or using a ghost ray.
- Dream Invasion: Danny can overshadow a sleeping subject in order to get inside and influence his or her dreams.[14]
- Duplication: Danny can create duplicates of himself that all have his ghost powers and can fight alongside him. After seeing Vlad use this power during their first encounter, Danny spends much of the series trying to learn to use it himself, finally mastering it in "Torrent of Terror."
- Cryokinesis: Danny can fire blasts of icy energy from his hands or eyes that can freeze enemies on contact, radiate cold energy from his body, and create objects from ice out of thin air. When using this power, his eyes turn icy blue instead of their usual glowing green. Danny can combine cryokinesis with his other powers for enhanced effects, such as firing an icy explosive blast or generating an ice shield to block fire attacks. Danny learned this power in "Urban Jungle."
- Ghost Sense: When Danny is near other ghosts, a cold blue mist comes out from his mouth and a chill goes down his spine. In "Urban Jungle," it was revealed that Danny's ghost sense was a manifestation of his then-untapped potential to use cryokinesis.
- Pyrokinesis: Danny can generate and throw balls of ectoplasmic fire.[15]
- Spectral Body Manipulation: Danny can bend, twist, split, and otherwise contort his ghost body beyond the limits of normal human physiology.
- Supernatural strength: Gravity doesn't affect Danny's ghost body, so he can lift heavy objects with ease.[11] In ghost form, he is strong enough to rip through reinforced titanium and can easily lift and throw hordes of enemy ghosts.
- Supernatural durability: While human, Danny can withstand many hits and blows that would cause injury to any normal teenager. In his ghost form, his body is incredibly resistant to damage, and he has demonstrated a high threshold for pain.
- Supernatural stamina: While human, Danny has the same level of stamina as a normal teenager, but in ghost form, he can exert himself at peak capacity for hours before fatigue begins to impair him. In "Reality Trip," he was able to keep the Fenton Jet invisible for an entire night.
- Supernatural speed: According to Tucker Foley in "Maternal Instinct," Danny can fly at 112 miles per hour.
- Supernatural agility: In his ghost form, Danny's agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to levels beyond those of a normal human being. He can effectively dodge attacks, swing from things easily, and perform acrobatic feats such as backflips.
- Supernatural reflexes: In ghost form, Danny has dramatically enhanced reflexes, being able to dodge attacks with ease. In "Beauty Marked," he was able to catch an arrow shot at him with his bare hands.
- Healing factor: Danny is capable of healing at much greater speeds than that of an ordinary human, likely due to his body's ecto-biological structure. He has proven capable of healing from slashes and puncture wounds within a short amount of time, and even his suit appears to regenerate sometimes. At one instance, he completely regenerated his body after Freakshow reduced him to a puddle of goo in "Reality Trip."
- Weather Control (briefly): After Danny's first fight with Vortex in "Torrent of Terror," he gained some of Vortex's power, allowing him to control the weather like Vortex. This power was linked to Danny's emotional state, with calm weather when Danny was calm and stormy weather when Danny was angry. Danny lost this power during his second fight with Vortex.
- Teleportation (possibly): Twice, Danny has shown the ability to vanish and instantly reappear in another place nearby.[16][17] Although unconfirmed, it is possible that this could be teleportation.
- Vacuum Resistance: Twice, Danny was in outer space without a space suit and was unaffected by the vacuum, though he wore a helmet.[18][19]
- Underwater Breathing: Twice, Danny has been seen breathing and talking underwater.[20][21] It is possible that he does not need to breathe at all in ghost form.
Abilities
- Quick Learning Ability: Danny is able to quickly learn new things, even often being able to copy many of the powers his enemies use against him without any training. Examples:
- The first time Danny used a ghost shield was only hours after seeing Vlad use one, without any training on Danny's part.[10]
- In "Urban Jungle," Danny learned to use his ice powers in just one day, with training from Frostbite.
- In "One of a Kind," Danny quickly learned Sampson's body language.[3]
- In "Teacher of the Year," Danny got an "A-" on his literature test with just one night of study.[22]
- In "The Ultimate Enemy",Danny learned to use Dark Danny Ghostly Wail,by only seeing it once.
- Paranormal Immunity: As a half-ghost, Danny has higher or total resistance to many types of ghost powers that affect humans, such as Ember's music and Spectra's ghost illness.
- Experienced Pilot: Danny is a considerably skilled pilot, having much experience with the Specter Speeder as well as with spaceship simulator video games. In "Reality Trip," he was able to save a NASA shuttle from crash-landing due to his "training" with spaceship simulators.[17]
- Skilled Tactician: Danny is an excellent strategist, despite his relatively young age. In "Pirate Radio," he demonstrated the ability to formulate relatively complex plans of actions to infiltrate Youngblood's pirate ship, with all his schoolmates, to save their parents from Ember and Youngblood. He is also very good at improvisation, as he often manages to think of a plan that fits with the changing needs of a situation.
- Experienced Combatant: Although he has no formal training in hand-to-hand combat, Danny's powers enable him to execute punches and kicks with superhuman force against his opponents. His career as a superhero and ghost hunter has given him plenty of combat experience.
- Swordsmanship: Danny demonstrates some ability with a sword when fighting Vlad in "Infinite Realms."
- Fenton Weaponry Expertise: Danny can operate his parents' ghost-hunting technology with great expertise, at times even better than his parents.
- Leadership Skills: On several occasions, Danny has demonstrated remarkable skills as a natural leader and speaker. He can easily garner respect and inspire others, such as when he rallies his classmates to save their parents from Ember and Youngblood, or to stage a protest to save the Nasty Burger from Vlad.
- Multilingual Skill: Like Sam, Danny learns how to speak Esperanto from Tucker, in case he meets with Wulf again.
Weaknesses
- Anti-Ghost Weapons: In ghost form, Danny is vulnerable to all anti-ghost devices, including Fenton Works and Vladco gadgets and the Guys in White's weaponry. Some anti-ghost devices, such as the Specter Deflector, can affect him even while in human form.
- Blood Blossoms: While in the presence of Blood Blossoms, Danny is rendered powerless and suffers extreme physical agony. Vlad, in human form, was able to stand near Blood Blossoms unharmed, so presumably Danny can do so as well.
- Ecto-ranium: Danny is extremely vulnerable to ecto-ranium, as all ghosts are.
- Infrared Vision: When invisible, Danny can still be seen in infrared, as he still radiates heat.
Sightings
- Intro: "Danny Phantom Opening"
Season 1
- Every episode of Season 1
Season 2
- Every episode of Season 2
Season 3
- Every episode of Season 3
Crossovers
Quotes
- Main article: Danny Phantom (character)/Quotes
Cameos in other media
Danny's cameo in The Fairly OddParents!
- In the television series The Fairly OddParents! (also by Butch Hartman), in the episode "Poltergeeks," Danny Phantom can be seen on one of the TV screens in the ghost lab, in the upper-left corner, with the word "WANTED" written underneath him.
Danny's cameo in MAD
- In the television series MAD, in the episode "Extreme Renovation: House Edition," figures resembling Danny Phantom and Casper the Friendly Ghost can be seen floating inside Superman's new closet.
- In an issue of the Snafu comic The Grim Tales, Danny is seen in Grimmās flashback working at Nasty Burger and once again when Clockwork brings up young Danny to Dan.
Trivia
- His original character design was much different from the final version:
- Creator Butch Hartman originally wanted to name Danny "Jackie," after the actor Jackie Chan.[23] Some other alternative first names were "Billy," "Kenny," and "Davie."[24]
- Danny was originally going to be fully human. He and his friends would use gadgets to fight ghosts, and he would ride a motorcycle (referencing the Marvel superhero Ghost Rider). Later, Hartman decided it would be cooler if the main character had superpowers, and took away Danny's motorcycle.[23]
- Danny eventually did ride a motorcycle in "Livin' Large," possibly as a homage to this original idea.
- Danny was originally going to have a pet owl named "Spooky." However, the film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, which also featured a title character with a pet owl, was released right as production started, so the pet owl idea was dropped.[24]
- Danny was originally going to have a psychic link with Sam. Hartman eventually dropped the idea because it made the relationship between Danny and Sam feel too developed for a show that was just starting.[24]
- He was originally going to have blond hair as a human. It was likely changed to black to differentiate him from Dash Baxter and to better contrast with his ghost form's white hair.
- Danny has some similarities to both Superman and Spider-Man.[24] His powers like flight and super strength, and the poses he makes while flying, are similar to Superman, and him being a teenage boy who likes to make jokes and wisecracks during battle is similar to Spider-Man.
- Danny is a certificated junior astronaut.[25]
- The only historical quote Danny knows is, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," from Franklin D. Roosevelt.[26]
- According to the Guys in White, Danny Phantom is "an entity of scale 7 ectoplasmic power." This is a reference to Ghostbusters.
- Danny wears a tank top at the pool, because he can easily get sunburns.[24]
- Danny hand-writes in cursive.[3]
- Danny has learned how to speak Esperanto from Tucker by the events of "Claw of the Wild," in case he runs into Wulf again.
- Danny is the only character to appear in every episode.
- He appears in the title card of every episode except for the series finale "Phantom Planet," which did not have any characters in its title card.
Gallery
Click here to view the gallery.