This article is about Darkwing Duck's evil counterpart who is prominently featured in the show. For articles that share the same name, see Negaduck.
- “I am the screeching fingernail of the chalkboard of justice. I am the sour ball in the candy jar of goodness. I am Negaduck!”
- ―Negaduck's monologue in the episode "Going Nowhere Fast"
Negaduck is the main antagonist of the Darkwing Duck franchise.
There are two incarnations of him in the original series: the first was a manifestation of Darkwing Duck's evil side created by Megavolt's tronsplitter, while the second and more well-known version, the subject of this article, is an evil doppelgänger of Darkwing from a parallel universe known as the Negaverse. He first appeared as the leader of the Fearsome Five during the two-part "Just Us Justice Ducks" episode.
Additionally, in the rebooted universe of the 2017 DuckTales series, a third version of Negaduck is presented, an actor who used to portray Darkwing Duck himself in a TV show before going insane.
Background[]
- “In the Negaverse, I never needed a 'secret' identity. When you're this freaking awesome, why would you ever pretend to be anything less?”
- ―Negaduck officially explaining why there was never a Negaverse version of Drake Mallard (and why he never realized Drake Mallard was Darkwing Duck before)[src]
As the archenemy and "evil doppelgänger" of Darkwing, little is known about Negaduck's history. A possible clue is that he rules the Negaverse, a parallel universe similar to Darkwing's home of St. Canard where evil reigns supreme. He refers to the Negaverse as his "secret hideout", which can only be accessed through a portal within the hollow shell of a paper-mâché cake inside a local bakery in the original St. Canard. Unlike Darkwing himself, Negaduck does not seem to have a secret identity of his own, preferring that he not pretend to be anything less than his own self (though this was retconned by him having previously been Jim Starling in the DuckTales reboot).
Personality[]
- “Only someone so dastardly, so despicable, so disdainful of the utterly defenseless would dare perform such a deed. Friends, I give you Negaduck.”
- ―Darkwing Duck[src]
Unspeakably murderous, horrifically homicidal, psychotic, violent, and completely devoid of compassion and remorse; Negaduck is evil personified. He finds insidious joy in the misery of even the smallest innocent creature, hates flowers, and loves skulls. Like any criminal mastermind; Negaduck's schemes usually revolve around complete conquest of Saint Canard and obtaining immense wealth, but at the very top of his list is destroying his arch-enemy Darkwing Duck, or at least making his life as miserable as possible.
Abilities[]
Negaduck lacks any powers of his own but makes up for it with his sadistic temperament and penchant for destructive weaponry, i.e. guns, chainsaws, flamethrowers, bombs, and even a nuclear missile.
Appearances[]
Darkwing Duck[]
Negaduck serves as a major villain in the series, often carrying out his schemes in an effort to sully his counterpart's reputation. In addition to his own crimes, Negaduck is known to lead a band of villains he has dubbed the Fearsome Five, which also consists of Megavolt, Reginald Bushroot, Liquidator, and Quackerjack. Despite not having any powers of his own, he maintains an iron grip on the group's leadership through his intelligence and sheer ruthlessness and the fact that he doesn't like his minions.
Negaduck occasionally takes advantage of the fact that he greatly resembles Darkwing Duck by attempting to frame his good counterpart by committing crimes while disguised as Darkwing. This once came back to haunt him after instigating the public to put a price on Darkwing Duck's head and an angry mob mistook him for Darkwing Duck in different clothes. He also takes pride in being known as Public Enemy #1 and was greatly incensed to learn that Dr. Slug had stolen the title from him, prompting him to go on a rampage in order to reclaim it.
DuckTales (2017)[]
In the DuckTales reboot, Negaduck is oddly given a sympathetic backstory, in that he was once an actor named Jim Starling who starred as Darkwing Duck in a superhero television show of the same name, retconning the previously established Negaverse background. He was known for performing his own stunts, despite the fact that he fumbled most of them. Years after his show ended, Jim was reduced to a down-on-his-luck actor who simply wanted to be remembered again for the very thing that brought him fame.
His portrayal of Darkwing Duck was shown in an episode of Darkwing Duck that Launchpad and Dewey were watching at the beginning of "Beware the B.U.D.D.Y. System!".
Negaduck in DuckTales.
In "The Duck Knight Returns!" Jim hears that there was a Darkwing Duck movie being made, and much to his dismay that character he used to play would be done by an actor and fan named Drake Mallard. With Launchpad's assistance, Jim tried to steal the spotlight by any means necessary, which culminated in a fight against Drake in costume and setting the stage on fire. He was on the verge of killing Drake with a chainsaw until Launchpad stopped him, reminding him that he was not a villain. When the stage set is about to blow up, Jim and Drake rush toward Launchpad, with the former thinking that he would be upstaged if Drake saved his longtime fan. He pushes both of them out of range of the volatile electrode, but not in time to get himself away, and is caught in the explosion.
Everyone assumes that Jim was killed when the stage set exploded. However, it was later shown that he survived and escaped into the sewers, but has become completely insane; his purple Darkwing costume having turned black, yellow, and red. Jim, now madly convinced Drake sabotaged everything to humiliate him, resolves to play the part of his adversary, becoming Negaduck.
Jim Starling's portrayal of Darkwing also appeared on the Ramrod's screen in "Let's Get Dangerous!" when Taurus Bulba sets it to the show's dimension to bring Bushroot, Quackerjack, Liquidator, and Megavolt into his.
Printed media[]
Negaduck in "Dangerous Currency".
In the Boom! Studios comic series, a flashback in "The Duck Knight Returns" reveals that Negaduck discovered Darkwing's secret identity and nearly killed him, but was apprehended by the Crime Bots before he could do so. The story's revised script in Darkwing Duck: The Definitively Dangerous Edition notably also reveals that Negaduck, unlike the prime Darkwing Duck, has no secret identity of his own.
In "Crisis on Infinite Darkwings", Negaduck teamed up with Magica De Spell and, with her help, kidnapped alternate versions of Darkwing from other worlds and then brainwashed them into wreaking havoc on the prime version of St. Canard (except for DarkWarrior Duck, who was already evil). Later on, he is then merged with Paddywhack, before eventually being split down into particles by Megavolt's Tronsplitter.
Negaduck teases an ultimately unpublished story arc.
He eventually returns in "Orange is the New Purple", the opening story arc of the Joe Books continuation, in which he tricks Darkwing into showing up at St. Canard's new maximum-security prison and then triggers an attack that sends the prison into lockdown, trapping Darkwing inside with all of his enemies. It is later implied that he has big plans in store and is now using the prison as his new secret hideout, but due to the comic being canceled (and the creative team being fired and replaced for the next Darkwing Duck comic by Dynamite Entertainment), it is unknown what he is planning, or how he returned to his original form.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The word "nega" that's part of Negaduck's name is a pun to the word negative. For example, Negaduck is the opposite of Darkwing Duck, his dark side, or evil doppelganger.
- In "The Secret Origins of Darkwing Duck", a parody of the outer space origins of Superman, Negaduck and Darkwing Duck is shown to be cousins who are sent off by their parents in spaceships to different worlds; Darkwing goes to Earth and Negaduck goes to a pirate planet.
- Interestingly, despite his ruthlessness, Negaduck never succeeded in conquering St. Canard.
- A planned episode for the show's third season would have had Negaduck possessed by Paddywhack who goes up against Darkwing. Although that episode was never made, the idea was used for the climax of the "Crisis on Infinite Darkwings" arc in the Boom! Studios Darkwing Duck comic.
- It was shown in "Disguise the Limit" that Negaduck wears black boxer shorts with white skull and crossbones designs.
- Negaduck also has framed Darkwing Duck for arson, burglary, hijacking, kidnapping, cat-kicking, insider trading, and spitting on the sidewalk.
- According to a conversation with Tad Stones on Twitter, Bushroot has a higher body count than Negaduck (though Bushroot's first victims, Dr. Gary and Dr. Larson, were eventually revived in the Joe Books comic).
- In 2017's DuckTales, Negaduck's real name being Jim Starling is a reference to Jim Cummings, Negaduck (and, in the original series, Darkwing)'s voice actor.[1] It could also be a reference to Jim Starlin, a Marvel comic artist or presumably both.
- Negaduck is the third character where Jim Cummings reprises his role from the original in a remake or adaptation to something, after Winnie the Pooh and Tigger in Christopher Robin.
- Tad Stones has stated that he regrets making Negaduck the leader of the Fearsome Five, due to his tendency to steal the spotlight, and that if done again, he would've instead put Splatter Phoenix in the group.[2]
- He is one of the favorite Disney Villains of DuckTales co-creator Frank Angones.[3]
- He was originally set to appear in the DuckTales episode "Let's Get Dangerous!" under the disguise of Taurus Bulba's assistant Calfka, before using the Ramrod to summon the Fearsome Four.[4] However, his appearance was scrapped as the creators felt his role in the episode would be a disservice to the character (despite having also made the character sympathetic), and preferred to leave him as a "lingering threat".[3]
- He and Quackerjack are the only Darkwing Duck characters to retain their original voice actors for the DuckTales reboot.
- This also makes Negaduck the only Disney Afternoon-original character voiced by Jim Cummings to still be voiced by Cummings in current media, due to Darkwing, Don Karnage, and Monterey Jack having all been recast, and Bonkers D. Bobcat only having a silent cameo in "Let's Get Dangerous!"
References[]
External links[]
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