- List of Duck universe characters
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The following are fictional characters appearing in the Duck universe, which revolves around the stories of Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck. Much of this page is based upon the ideas of Don Rosa.
Main characters
Donald Duck
Main article: Donald DuckScrooge McDuck
Main article: Scrooge McDuckDaisy Duck
Main article: Daisy DuckHuey, Dewey and Louie
Main article: Huey, Dewey, and LouieLudwig Von Drake
Main article: Ludwig Von DrakeRelatives
Duck family
Main article: Duck family (Disney)Clan McDuck
Main article: Clan McDuckSupporting characters
Andold "Wild Duck" Temerary
Andold "Wild Duck" Temerary (original Italian name: Mac Paperin) is a fictional character created by Gaudenzio Capelli and Marco Rota for The Walt Disney Company. He appears in stories set in the Middle Ages, as a lookalike and probably ancestor to Donald Duck. Andold was a commander who protected the shores of Caledonia (Scotland) from vikings.
He has a girlfriend named Aydis who looks like Daisy Duck, and he also has five soldiers, two of them are named Little Bo and Big Brutus.
In the first Andold story (Paperino e il piccolo Krack from 1975), Donald dreams about Andold, in the second (Le avventure di Mac Paperin: L'arrosto della salvezza from 1980, published in the USA as Donald Duck and his fierce ancestor... Andold Wild Duck), Huey, Dewey and Louie are reading a book about his adventures. In later Andold stories, the modern-day Ducks do not appear. All Andold Wild Duck stories are illustrated by Marco Rota, most of them are also written by him.
Aracuan Bird
The Aracuan Bird, also called the Clown of the Jungle, first appeared in the feature film The Three Caballeros (1944); though, despite his apparent on-screen popularity, strangely he did not appear in the comic book adaptation of that film. During the segment "Aves Raras" (or "rare birds"), Donald is watching a film about South American birds when the film's narrator introduces the Aracuan as "one of the most eccentric birds you have ever seen". The Aracuan proceeds to walk right out of the film along the projectors' light beam and into Donald's life. This crazy bird drives Donald nuts not only in this film, but again in the cartoon short "Clown of the Jungle" (1947), and then once more in the feature film Melody Time segment called "Blame it on the Samba" (1948) where he attempts to cheer up the "blue" (literally) Donald Duck and José Carioca. Like Panchito Pistoles and José Carioca, the Aracuan Bird is primarily known only from these three films in the USA. However, he has found some success in comics from Brazil where he is known as Folião. More recently the Aracuan Bird has appeared in Mickey Mouse Works and Disney's House of Mouse. He causes hilarious practical jokes and dons various disguises (including posing as Donald Duck). Often Donald is shown trying to take a photo of the bird, with it evading his efforts. In Norway & Sweden the cartoon "Clown of the Jungle" is shown as part of the From All of Us to All of You Disney Christmas special shown on television every Christmas Eve at 3 pm, although the Swedish censorship edits out the part where Donald attacks the Aracuan with a machine gun.
The crazy Aracuan, with its flaming red hair, hot pink face and fluorescent yellow feet, appears at first to be a completely fictional creation. However, there actually is a South American bird called the Aracuan (or Aracuã, in contemporary Portuguese). The aracuan is the local name for the eastern Brazilian sub-species of the Speckled Chachalaca (Ortalis guttata). Chachalacas are moderately large tree-dwelling birds that belong the Cracid family, which also includes guans and curassows. Cracids are related to other galliformes, such as turkeys, and also share some characteristics with megapodes (such as the Australian malleefowl and brush-turkey).
The very name chachalaca (from Paraguayan Spanish) refers to the noisy call of the bird. Around dawn, groups emit hoarse screams and "arapapiyas" that are similar to those produced by the Aracuan Bird in the Disney movie. However, the physical appearance of the bird is quite different, with a long tail, drab plumage and a much shorter beak.
Barko
Barko was once a great sled dog and "champion of all the North". However, as he reached old age, he became unwanted and stricken with rheumatism. He spent most of his retirement at a hardware store that used to rent/sell sled dogs.
It wasn't until the crooked Soapy Slick threatened to take the fortune of Scrooge McDuck because of an I.O.U. from 1898 that Barko was needed. Scrooge had proof through a receipt, but because of a fight upon the plane with a disguised Slick, Scrooge's bag (along with the receipt inside) fell near the Frozenjaw River. Scrooge needed a sled team fast, but the only good team left was in Slick's possession. Upon seeing that the only two dogs left were "Kyoodles", Scrooge then discovered Barko in the snow. The two instantly befriended each other, and thus, the quest began.
The team soon caught up with Slick's team, thanks to Scrooge helping Barko, whose rheumatism was threatened by the rolling hills. Slick then dropped off drugged fishes to knock out Scrooge's team. Scrooge discovered this, but then succumbed the fumes of the drugged fish himself. Barko was the only one unaffected, and bravely pulled the sled by himself, along with the Kyoodles and Scrooge aboard.
Later that night, Scrooge awoke to see that his sled dog buddy had pulled the whole way. Scrooge then volunteered to pull while Barko slept on the sled the rest of the way. The team then caught up with Slick's team by the Frozenjaw River's icy shore. Slick saw Scrooge, then fired his pistol sending the old duck quadzillionaire into the icy waters. Barko rescued his friend just in time. As the sled crashed through the ice, Barko was pulled under just as Scrooge made it near where his receipt laid at the mercy of Soapy Slick. Scrooge then did the unexpected, and saved Barko instead of his fortune. Upon the cracks of ice, Scrooge and Barko ("It's all right, old fellow! We sort of belong on this ice cake together!"). All seemed lost until Huey, Dewey, and Louie showed up with Poly Poly, a polar bear cub raised by the Arctic Patrol of the Junior Woodchucks. Poly Poly rescued the two friends, and just as Slick got the receipt, newsreporters, courtesy of Donald Duck, arrived before he could rip it.
In the end, Scrooge got to keep his great fortune while Barko and Poly Poly became famous animal heroes. Once again, Barko's potential was recognized thanks to Scrooge, and he reclaimed his title as the Champion of the North.
Battista
Battista (Quackmore, Albert, or Baptist in English[1]) is Scrooge's butler in Italian Disney comics.
According to the I.N.D.U.C.K.S.,[2] he first appeared in a 1967 story written by Rodolfo Cimino and illustrated by Massimo De Vita. The character has only made a handful of appearances in American comic books.[3]
In the DuckTales series, Duckworth the Butler is Scrooge's butler.
Belle Duck
Belle Duck is a fat, tall and elegant duck lady created by Dick Kinney and Al Hubbard (comic book artist). She happens to be an old crush of Scrooge's, including she knows some secret of him and she uses this "trump card" to blackmail him when she needs his financial help to fix her riverboat, "The Gilded Lily". You can assume that Belle knows something really unconfessable about Scrooge's past, considering that he's a very, very stingy man and she can make him give money to her. Belle appeared in a couple of Brazilian comic stories and her last appearance was in the story "Riverboat Rovers" by Lars Jensen.
Billy Goat
Billy Goat is one of the various farm animals that are treated as pets by Grandma Duck, but he certainly is the most known one. Billy is always ready to hit intruders with his horns. He was used by Carl Barks in the famous comic series "Grandma Duck's Farm Friends".
Bolivar
Bolivar is a non-anthropomorphic St. Bernard dog belonging to Donald Duck. He first appeared in the Mickey Mouse cartoon Alpine Climbers where he and Pluto rescued Mickey and Donald from an eagle and a mountain goat. Bolivar is unusual for a Disney character in that he is not anthropomorphized beyond showing an unusually broad range of facial expressions; he is actually represented with the characteristics of his species. He also appeared in the Silly Symphonies cartoon More Kittens.
Later on he appeared in the newspaper comic strips as Donald's dog. Ever since 1938,[4] Bolivar has been a prominent member of the Duck family. He has even been used by Carl Barks as a companion for Huey Dewey and Louie, and appears now and then in recent stories (the artist Daniel Branca had Bolivar as one of his favourite characters).
In some comic strips Bolivar had a son named Behemoth, who disappeared without a trace later on.
Bolivar has also been called Bornworthy and Bernie, as his name is rather controversial for being a Disney character (see Simón Bolívar). Nevertheless from 1992 onward the original name Bolivar has almost always been used in the United States.
Brigitta MacBridge
Brigitta MacBridge first appeared in 1960 but her relationship with Scrooge is said to have started in 1930. The relationship did not start well. Scrooge, who at the time had already been isolated from his family, when hearing of her feelings about him reacted quite cynically. He bought her an expensive fur coat and in exchange asked her to never bother him again. This did not work. Brigitta truly loves Scrooge, and for decades she has tried every method to get him to return her love. This includes stalking him, which greatly infuriates Scrooge. To impress him she has established her own business and at times acts as his rival. She has proven to be cunning and skilful and seems to have a very strong will. Sometimes she has Jubal Pomp helping her. Dickie Duck (Goldie's Granddaughter) occasionally appears as her employee.
Right from the beginning, Scarpa and his successors have left enough hints that Scrooge is interested in her but does not enjoy her obsession with him. Although he pretends to be emotionless—a typical character trait—he is not. When she gets in trouble he is there to help her, and he has at times protected her from danger; whenever another man expresses an interest in her, Scrooge seems not to be above jealousy. In the story "The Next Best Thing" by Lars Jensen, Scrooge can make her date his rival Flintheart Glomgold, so he feels free at last, but then he discovers Flintheart is heartlessly using her and rescues her. Though Scrooge has had chances to end their strange relationship, when she is truly frustrated with his behavior, he has instead chosen to pass them by and even apologises to her at times.
On another note, Brigitta acts as Scrooge's personal nurse whenever he is sick and has nursed him back to health on many occasions. She is among Scrooge's most trusted allies and she volunteers to help whenever he asks for it. Scrooge's relatives are quite friendly with Brigitta and seem to have accepted her as an unofficial member of the family; she is even present in family meetings. Brigitta has also helped them against the Beagle Boys and Magica De Spell at times. John D. Rockerduck is said to find his rival's relationship amusing and is himself friendly with Brigitta, including John already pretended to be in love with her to make Scrooge jealous. And it really worked for Brigitta, but then Scrooge discovered her pact with John, who was interested in keeping Scrooge busy in a possible marriage with Brigitta. These events were shown in the classic story "Zio Paperone e l'amore a seconda vista" ("Uncle Scrooge and Love at Second Sight").
In a 2007 issue of the comic, a parallel-universe Scrooge is bankrupt and married to Brigitta, whose shopaholic ways are contributing to his money problems. When the parallel-universe Scrooge fools the Earth A Scrooge into trading places, the Earth A Scrooge works to set things right by retiring his debts and seeking money-making opportunities. He also put Brigitta on a strict budget and says she should do her own cooking, as she was once a restaurateur. After Scrooge solves the money problems of his parallel-universe counterpart, he returns to his own world but realizes he may be missing out on marriage, so he starts a relationship with the Brigitta from his world.
Despite the fact that Brigitta MacBridge and Glittering Goldie love the same man, Scrooge McDuck, these two quite different ladies have never been in conflict because of his affection in the rare comic stories where they both appear. But in the story "Arriva Paperetta Yè-Yè" (free translation: "The Arrival of Dickie Duck") by Romano Scarpa Brigitta feels really sad when she sees Scrooge and Glittering together for a brief moment, but then Glittering comforts her and says that she assumes Brigitta loves Scrooge's stingness more than himself and Brigitta thanks for Glittering's "kind" words and calls her "my friend". There are only other three Italian stories - "Zio Paperone Pigmalione" ("Uncle Scrooge Benefactor"), "Zio Paperone e Le Grandi Conquiste" ("Uncle Scrooge and The Big Achievement") and "Paperina di Rivondosa" ("Daisy of Rivondosa") by Silvia Ziche - where they both appear, but they aren't showed talking to each other in none of them, including they don't even meet face to face in any panel of the stories "Zio Paperone Pigmalione" and "Zio Paperone e Le Grandi Conquiste".
In German and Dutch, she is named Gitta (sometimes Brigitta) Gans (Gans = Goose). In newer Dutch comics her name is changed to Brigitta MacBridge.
Bum Bum Ghigno
Bum Bum Ghigno is a character created by Corrado Mastantuono. Bum Bum Ghigno is a rotund man who dresses in overalls and a red chequered shirt. He also has protruding front teeth, similar to Goofy, and thick black eyebrows.
Bum Bum Ghigno is a general layabout with no permanent profession. He is frequently seen in various short-timed jobs, but his laziness and clumsiness prevent him from holding them for long. In his first appearance he was an antagonist to Donald Duck and Gyro Gearloose, but has since become their friend.
Clara Cluck
Main article: Clara CluckDouble-O Duck & Mata Harrier
Double-O Duck and Mata Harrier are two antropomorphic ducks who form a secret-agent duo. They were created by Dick Kinney and Al Hubbard in the same age when this creative duo of comic artists developed other important characters for Disney comics, such as Fethry Duck and Hard Haid Moe. Double-O Duck's name is a play on "007" (a.k.a. "James Bond") while Mata Harrier's one is an obvious play on "Mata Hari". They appeared for the first time in the story "The Case of the Purloined Pearls", where they fought against agents of the evil organization "BLONK". Then the agents of this organization became the traditional rivals of Double-O Duck and Mata Harrier in their subsequent stories. Most part of their comic stories were created by Brazilian cartoonists.
Emily Quackfaster
Emily Quackfaster is the secretary of Scrooge McDuck. She was originally hired by Scrooge's Sisters Hortense McDuck and Matilda McDuck. At first Scrooge did not like the idea of having someone on his payroll but he got used to her very quickly. She first appeared in Uncle Scrooge #36 in the story The Midas Touch (the same story that introduced Magica De Spell), and her last name Quackfaster was first used in Uncle Scrooge #39 in A Spicy Tale. Her name Emily was first used in The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Part 11. She was also known as Miss Typefast in some stories and on the show DuckTales she was called Mrs. Featherby.
Fenton Crackshell
Fenton Crackshell, also known as GizmoDuck, first appeared on DuckTales as a literal bean counter, but he quit that job to work for Scrooge McDuck as his accountant. The character was voiced by the late Hamilton Camp. Fenton's ambitious ideas and hasty decision-making create serious problems for his boss. He is doggedly determined to make amends each time by any means necessary, which can create even more complications until he ultimately succeeds. His one talent in which he excels in is counting. A mere glance at any amount of anything and he will come up with the correct quantity, regardless of how large the number or the situation where the quantity is presented. For instance, he stunned Scrooge McDuck by instantly counting the pellets being fired from his shotgun, and McDuck confirmed this skill by challenging Crackshell to determine the value of some coins he tossed in the air, and Crackshell was accurate to the penny. He was even able to defeat the fastest supercomputer in the universe, (Master Electronic Leader aka M.E.L.) in a contest of counting ball bearings.
Later on, Fenton finds a robot suit called GizmoDuck made by Gyro Gearloose. The code word to activate it is "Blatherskite", a word which Gyro assumes no normal person would use. (Unbeknownst to him, one of Fenton's most frequently used sayings was "blathering blatherskite".) As fate would have it, Fenton wanders too close to the suit and utters his favorite expression, thus gaining a secret identity as a superhero. From then on, Fenton always uses "blathering blatherskite" to become Gizmoduck, despite only needing the second word — it is possible that Fenton failed to realize he does not have to say the entire phrase, since Gyro was the only one present when he activated the phrase. This was further reinforced when his mother's remote control caused all the Gizmoduck armor to fall off Fenton, and attach itself to her when she mentioned the word blatherskite as part of her phrase "blathering blatherskite". Fenton's self discovery as how to attach and disattach the armor served to show another of his savant abilities; he realized one of the words his mother spoke acted as a key code and repeated her last few sentences verbatim to find it; his memorization skills are outstanding.
The only characters privileged to know that Fenton is GizmoDuck are Scrooge McDuck Launchpad McQuack, who hears Scrooge reveal his identity after being saved, and Fenton's mother, whom he refers to as M'ma. His mother usually wears a bathrobe and watches television in a rundown trailer, where she lives with her son (and sometimes serves as GizmoDuck as she has the same favorite exclamation as her son). Fenton is in love with Gandra Dee, Scrooge's bean factory receptionist. As Fenton, he is Scrooge's accountant, but as GizmoDuck, he is chief security guard for the money bin and Scrooge's personal bodyguard.
Fenton has appeared as a guest star on Darkwing Duck on occasion as Launchpad McQuack's old friend from Duckburg as both identities. However his suit seemed to be smaller than the one from DuckTales, and lacks the black coloring in the upper arms. He appears more as GizmoDuck than himself, and is a superhero rival of Darkwing's. Although Fenton has not yet appeared in Boom! Studios ongoing Darkwing Duck comic, the GizmoDuck suit appeared and played a pivotal role in its opening arc, The Duck Knight Returns.
Originally, GizmoDuck was intended to be an artificially intelligent robot (and indeed in the series Scrooge originally intended to use a security robot designed by Gyro until he realized "it didn't have a brain" — it was so mechanistic it wouldn't even let Scrooge himself into his money bin), but the idea was later changed to the current one, akin to Iron Man or RoboCop, although the reference leans toward the latter due to his first nemesis, GICU-2, being a parody of Robocop's ED-209.
Strangely, Fenton never appeared in the DuckTales comic book series, despite continuous letters asking that he appear. He did, however, appear in the comic stories printed in Disney Adventures, mostly showing up in Darkwing Duck stories, as well as the DuckTales video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Following the bankruptcy of Gladstone and the acqusition of printing rights for Disney acquired by BOOM! Comics, the DuckTales name and comic book line was revived. Fenton made appearances in the new Ducktales, in this the nephews now know that Gizmoduck is Fenton and seek to be his successor. Fenton, however, decides to train Webby as a "girl Gizmoduck", seeing as she is the most mature of the bunch.
GizmoDuck (along with Bubba and an unused character named Space Duck) were created by Tad Stones around the same time Chip 'N' Dale were added to Rescue Rangers. GizmoDuck was originally called Robo Duck, which coincidentally is his name in Japan and the Netherlands, and also explains the "R" shaped insignia on his chest.[5]
Garvey Gull
Garvey Gull is a comic book character in Walt Disney's Donald Duck comics. Garvey is a mischievous, homeless orphan friend of Huey, Dewey and Louie. Donald doesn't think much of him. The character was designed by artist Daniel Branca.
In Europe, Garvey's (British) English name is Sonny Seagull. Garvey is his name in American comics.
General Snozzie
General Snozzie is the official bloodhound for The Junior Woodchucks of Duckburg. He has the ability to sniff out a substance on command. He sometimes joins Huey, Dewey and Louie, Donald Duck, and Scrooge McDuck on their adventures.
He first appeared in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #213 in the story Dodging Miss Daisy, where he helped Daisy Duck and the boys track down Donald. In the story W.H.A.D.A.L.O.T.T.A.J.A.R.G.O.N. by Don Rosa, General Snozzie was just a puppy; back then he was called Major Snozzie. General Snozzie wasn't the only mascot of The Junior Woodchucks. Bolivar was a Junior Woodchucks mascot at one point, and Pluto also was a Junior Woodchucks mascot in some stories.
Glittering Goldie
Goldie O'Gilt a.k.a. Glittering Goldie is Scrooge's secret sweetheart. Originally created by Carl Barks as a character in the comic Back to the Klondike, Goldie's origins are as a music hall singer in Dawson. In a flashback sequence, Scrooge catches Goldie in an attempt to rob him of his recent gold poke, and is forced to repay the debt by helping him work at his claim at White Agony Creek. Some 50 years later, they meet again and it is revealed that Goldie is now poor and living alone at Scrooge's former claim in Yukon.
Barks only used the character once, but Goldie and her relationship with Scrooge was later picked up and expanded by other creators. One of these was Don Rosa who used her in several stories, including The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck and Last Sled to Dawson, where it is implied that Scrooge and Goldie fell in love with each other, but never revealed their feelings of affection to the other one, and eventually drifted apart as Scrooge travelled across the world and became a trillionaire, while Goldie remained in Dawson.
Carl Barks drew inspiration for Glittering Goldie's character from Kathleen Rockwell ("Klondike Kate" Rockwell).
Gotrocks
Gotrocks is a not very known rival of Scrooge McDuck. He was used for the first time in the classic story "The Luck of Pali" by Bob Gregory and Tony Strobl, where he and Scrooge both take a part in a museum contest to know who has the most unique valuable object. He was also used by the prolific Brazilian comic writer Ivan Saidenberg in four comic stories.
Gyro Gearloose
Main article: Gyro GearlooseHard Haid Moe
Hard Haid Moe is a hillbilly and unlike most other characters in the Donald Duck universe indubitably a human being.[6] Moe was created by Dick Kinney and Al Hubbard. His first appearance was in the story It's music (1964).[7] In the 1960s and 1970s, he was frequently used in Disney Studios comics, usually as a supporting character for Fethry Duck, one of very few townspeople ever befriended by Moe. But his relation with Fethry isn't exactly friendly. However, Moe would eventually disappear from North American and European stories, but became popular in Brazil, where he even had his own title (Urtigão) from 1987 to 1994. In Italy, where he's called "Dinamite Bla", his appearances has become more frequent during the 2000s and he has gained a small Italian figurine.
Hard Haid Moe lives somewhere on Calisota's countryside with his rather flabby dog, Houn' Dawg. Moe is often seen carrying a shotgun. Brazilian cartoonists created a permanent female character for Moe's stories, a funny maid called Firmina, who was hired by Moe in the classic Brazilian story "Uma Intrusa Especiar" (free translation: "An Unusual Newcomer"), and because of her strong and daring personality she's often arguing with Moe, who in turn has a very hard temperament. She became a kind of non-official girlfriend of Moe, including she almost married him.
Herbert
Herbert is a not especially bright pig friend of Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck. He first appeared in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #43 in the Donald Duck story entitled "Three Dirty Little Ducks".
He then appeared in a few other Barks stories, including "The Fifty Dollar Dime" in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #50. He has recently made appearances in Disney comics produced in the Netherlands.
Hustler Duck
Hustler Duck is an obscure character created by Dick Kinney & Al Hubbard that works as a marketing man. Hustler is funnily annoying and he wears big round glasses, just like John Rockerduck. He used to appear in some stories starred by Scrooge McDuck. In addition, Brazilian cartoonists eventually used him in some Fethry stories too.
José Carioca
Main article: José CariocaJubal Pomp
Jubal Pomp (Filo Sganga) is a fat, chicken-faced tycoon created by Romano Scarpa. His main ambition is to become as rich as Scrooge McDuck. His attempts at gaining wealth tend to be disastrous. When he tries to compete with Scrooge, he markets eccentric products (firefly-powered mood lights, for instance) that meet with varied success at best. When he tries to convince Scrooge to become partners in some project, the result is Jubal being kicked out of Scrooge's office.
Jubal sometimes helps Brigitta MacBridge try to get back at Scrooge by setting up businesses to rival his. On these occasions Jubal is more successful.
He first appeared in "Zio Paperone e il ratto di Brigitta" (free translation: "Brigitta Kidnapped"), Topolino #272 (February. 12, 1961). He appears as an upstart businessman who happens to overhear Scrooge mentioning his "Secret of Prosperity". Convinced that the contents of the Secret would open his path to true wealth, he sought to blackmail Scrooge. He abducted Brigitta McBridge, Scrooge's stalker/love interest and asked the contents of the Secret as ransom. Scrooge was at first reluctant if he should rescue her or take the opportunity to be free of her obsessive pursuit. However he finally decided on retrieving his lady and managed to locate Jubal's hiding place and launch a successful rescue operation. He also took the opportunity to explain that his "Secret of Prosperity" were the virtues which led him to wealth, not some kind of shortcut.
Jubal is bright and creative but his money making schemes are at times both clumsy and impractical. On his own Jubal is more of a nuisance than an actual threat. However Brigitta has decided that one way to impress Scrooge is prove her own worth as a businesswoman. Pulling her resources with Jubal, the duo have been able to launch a number of locally successful business operations in Duckburg. Providing true competition to Scrooge and often breaking his hold on a certain market. It helps that Brigitta appears to be equally resourceful to Scrooge in launching out new operations and surpaces him in the marketing and advertisement process. With her as a partner, Jubal enjoys much more success. There are a few stories that hint to him seeing Brigitta as more than a business partner and friend but they are not really romantically involved.[8]
Launchpad McQuack
Launchpad McQuack first appeared as Scrooge McDuck's pilot in the DuckTales cartoon series. He later appeared in the spin-off series Darkwing Duck as Darkwing's sidekick.[9] He is usually depicted as brave, good-hearted, and incredibly dim-witted. While a skillful pilot, he is very bad at landing and almost always crashes instead but, to his credit, he and his passengers always survive such crashes, and he takes a strange sort of pride in being able to crash any imaginable aircraft ("If it's got wings, I can crash it!" he has proudly proclaimed). In one episode, he has a checkbook of all the vehicles he has crashed (including a submarine). He was voiced by Terry McGovern. The character sometimes appears in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom and Disney's Animal Kingdom for meet-and-greets, though his appearances have been rarer since the Disney Afternoon cartoon block ended production. He was to be the original star of TaleSpin.[citation needed]
In DuckTales, Launchpad acted as Scrooge McDuck's personal pilot. His imposing physical stature meant that he sometimes acted as a bodyguard for Scrooge as well, though his role was later taken over by Gizmoduck. In earlier episodes, he is idolized as a hero by Huey, Dewey, and Louie's friend Doofus. In later episodes he appears less frequently. Often when a DuckTales story adapted an original Carl Barks story, Launchpad would be used as a stand-in for Donald. While Launchpad never argued with Scrooge the way Donald might, he would often end up in Donald's role as physical laborer or man of action. Launchpad was the subject of several episodes devoted to exploring his character in more detail, including one that explains how he came to work for Scrooge McDuck.
Launchpad is a slightly different character in Darkwing Duck. He performs less action sequences. His design is changed somewhat, with a much larger beak, a generic human tongue regularly used on other cartoon characters as opposed to the somewhat semi-realistic Duck tongue used on the Disney Duck characters and a more muscular torso. Launchpad becomes slightly more intelligent. Launchpad leaves his job working for Scrooge McDuck in the series pilot, Darkly Dawns the Duck. Meeting Darkwing in his hangar, Launchpad claims to be the underappreciated superhero's biggest fan. Launchpad offers to be Darkwing's sidekick several times before the hero eventually accepts him. Launchpad is the designer and builder of the Thunderquack, Darkwing's custom air transport (which he almost never crashes). In the series, Launchpad is depicted as living with Drake Mallard. There is no explanation of how Drake accounts for Launchpad's presence in his household to his neighbors the Muddlefoots. Launchpad doesn't disguise his identity when he is out with Darkwing Duck fighting crime. He also, like Drake, doesn't appear to have any sort of job beyond his crimefighting duties. In alternative universe stories Lauchpad has different roles-in "Life the Negaverse and Everything" he is a evil Twin biker outlaw; in "Time and Punishment" an older Lauchpad has been demoted from sidekick to taxi driver. This is after he protests to an insane Darkwarrior Duck that criminals should be arrested before executions.
Launchpad was recently named, "The Greatest Video Game Sidekick of All Time" on the video game review site Gamespot. He defeated the likes of Albert Einstein, Tails from Sonic, and Dominic Santiago from the Gears of War franchise to earn the title. He won in the finals against Einstein by a vote of 19,568-12,148.
Little Helper
Little Helper, or simply Helper, debuted in the story "The Cat Box" in Uncle Scrooge #15 (September 1956). Helper is a small, humanoid robot (about 20 cm tall), constructed from pieces of metal and a lightbulb, which serves as his head. He acts as the assistant to the inventor Gyro Gearloose. In the Donald Duck comics, he is often shown as an inventor himself, sometimes copying Gyro's inventions.
Little Helper never speaks, but occasionally uses thought bubbles. He enjoys chasing mice and helping Gyro clean up the unusual consequences of his inventions.
Helper's origin is given in the story "Gyro's First invention" (written by Don Rosa), which appears in Uncle Scrooge #324 (December 2003) as part of Gyro's 50th anniversary. In this retelling, Gyro accidentally passed on some of his intelligence to Donald Duck's desk lamp. Gyro added small metal arms and legs to the lamp, so that it could move about. Little Helper lived up to his name, helping his creator with his inventions.
In the Italian comics, his name is Edi, in reference to Thomas Edison.
Little Helper appears alongside Gyro in the animated series DuckTales. He is called Little Bulb in the series, which is compatible with the Brazilian name for the character - Lampadinha - informal diminutive of Lâmpada (lamp), in Portuguese.
Maurice Mattressface
Maurice Mattressface first appeared in Uncle Scrooge #10 in a story called The Fabulous Philosopher's Stone. In that story he confiscated the stone from Scrooge McDuck because he was afraid that he might use it to wreck the Gold Market. In The Crown of the Crusader Kings by Don Rosa, he was shown as working for Mr. Molay as an employee of The International Money Council. In The Old Castle's Other Secret or A Letter From Home, he betrays his boss after finding out that he wants to use the treasure of Castle McDuck for evil purposes.
O.K. Quack
O.K. Quack is an alien duck who appears in some Italian comics created by Carlo Chendi and drawn by Giorgio Cavazzano.
His first appearance was in "Topolino" #1353 (1981) in the story "Paperino e il turista spaziale." He is an alien who came from space, and more precisely from the planet Duck, with his spaceship shaped as a coin and that can be shrunk to the size of a dime and reads O.K. Quack's fingerprints as a means of activating its size mechanism. He also appeared in some other stories such as "Zio Paperone e il satellite bomba" ("Uncle Scrooge and the exploding satellite") from "Topolino" #1354, "E quando Paperino prende una decisione..." ("And when Donald gest up with a decision...") from "Topolino" #1373; "Zio Paperone e la moneta disco volante" ("Uncle Scrooge and the flying coin"); "Zio Paperone e la piramide capovolta" ("Uncle Scrooge and the pyramid upside-down").
In all of these stories O.K. Quack is looking for his spaceship that has been lost and is circulating as a dime somewhere in Duckburg. O.K. Quack soon reveals his strange abilities such as telepathy (talking to locks, flowers or anything else) and telekenesis (moving things with the power of his mind, included the money bin). He doesn't understand or appreciate need or use of money (in this way he seems to have been inspired by Bill Walsh and Floyd Gottfredson's Eega Beeva). Franco Fossati once defined him as "...a perfect character who with his innocence criticizes the absurdity of our society. Going on with time he will adequate to our times and to our every-day way of living and we'll forget that he came from space." Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck and the Nephews know that O.K. Quack is a space alien and are actively trying to help him find his ship. They first met him in the money bin where he entered talking to Scrooge's locks and was looking at Scrooge's coins thinking that they were all spaceships. Thus he does not require any cover story and can freely act in his strange ways (at least in front of them). He sometimes lives in the Money Bin, and sometimes in a rented room in a small hotel in Duckburg where he met Umperio Bogarto (no official American name as of June 2010), a sorry private detective whose services O.K. has contracted to also help locate his spaceship.
As for his initials "O.K." there has been no real explanation and it is assumed that they basically mean the same as the American expression, "It's all right!"
Panchito Pistoles
Main article: Panchito PistolesPandy Pap
Pandy Pap is an Italian Disney character who appeared in three comic stories by the cartoonist Giorgio Cavazzano. She's a kind of radical ecologist who became friend of Huey, Dewey and Louie and The Junior Woodchucks.
Peter Pig
Peter Pig is a fictional pig in Disney short films and comics of the 1930s. He was introduced in The Wise Little Hen (1934),[10] in which he was the lazy and greedy friend of his much more famous fellow first-appearance character, Donald Duck. Peter Pig's second and last Disney film appearance was in The Band Concert (1935),[11] in which Peter played trumpet and a smaller, similar pig called Paddy Pig played the tuba.
The brief film career was followed by a just as brief comics career. Federico Pedrocchi, the Italian who created the first long Donald Duck comics, used Peter Pig as Donald's sidekick until he was replaced by the arrival of Huey, Dewey and Louie.
According to a Disney studio press release, Three Little Pigs are Peter Pig's cousins.[12]
In the Garden area of Disney Castle in Kingdom Hearts II, there is a topiary sculpture of Peter Pig. He also has a brief cameo in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Peter Pig also appears on one of the first artworks for the video game Epic Mickey.
Princess Oona
Princess Oona is a character created by Stefan Printz-Påhlson and his wife Unn Printz-Påhlson in 1994. During a trip to the Stone Age in Gyro Gearloose’s time machine Gyro and Donald Duck first meet the incredibly strong cave-duck Oona. On the journey back to the future she stows away in the time machine, and has remained in Duckburg ever since.
All of the early Princess Oona stories—and a significant percentage of modern ones—were illustrated by the Chilean artist Victor Arriagades Rios, better known by his artist name Vicar.
After having written the first couple of stories about Princess Oona, Stefan Printz-Påhlson asked the rest of the Egmont crew to do stories with the super cave girl. So far about 25 have been created, teaming Princess Oona with such well-known Disney characters as Scrooge McDuck, Daisy Duck, Gladstone Gander, the Beagle Boys and Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Oona claims to be attracted to Donald and she's always trying to get his attention, but in the story "Love and War" by Lars Jensen and Vicar she falls for Gladstone.
The adventures of Princess Oona have appeared in Disney publications in many countries including Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Hungary, Brazil, Iceland and Russia.
Scottie McTerrier
Scottie McTerrier was appointed caretaker of the McDuck Castle by Scrooge McDuck in 1902. He died in 1948. Sometime after Scotty died Matilda McDuck took over the castle.
His name was first mentioned in The Old Castle's Secret by Carl Barks, but his true first appearance was in The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Part 9 by Don Rosa.
Squiggs
Squiggs are fairly small fish that are typically eaten oolated, which is also a term coined in the Barks story. Conserved oolated squiggs are fairly cheap and wholesome food but don't taste particularly good, and smell worse. Donald Duck and Gladstone Gander once took part in a competition organised by a company producing oolated squiggs, where the grand prize was an ocean liner cruise. Donald won the grand prize and Gladstone won a year's supply of oolated squiggs. For more details of this competition, see Oolated Luck.
Tabby
Tabby is Donald's cat and he appeared for the first time in the classic story "The Health Nut" by Dick Kinney and Al Hubbard, where Fethry Duck also made his first appearance in comics. Actually Tabby has always disliked Fethry, something that was quite explored in many American and Brazilian comic stories starring Donald and Fethry. Tabby really likes his owner, Donald, but this doesn't refrain him from trying to catch a fish who lives in Donald's fishbowl.
Webby Vanderquack
Webby Vanderquack first appeared in the DuckTales cartoon series. She is Mrs. Beakley's granddaughter who lives with her at the McDuck mansion. Webby secretly wishes to be accepted as the fourth "nephew" and is rarely without her Quacky-Patch rag doll, who is dressed in the same shade of pink as Webby.
Witch Hazel
Witch Hazel is a fictional character appearing in productions of The Walt Disney Company. She first appeared in the Donald Duck cartoon Trick or Treat in 1952, voiced by June Foray, where she helps Huey, Dewey and Louie get candy from Donald. She also appeared in the Carl Barks's comic book adaptation and two sequels to that story, "Too Late for Christmas" in Donald Duck Adventures (Gladstone Series) #30 in December 1994 and "The Poorest Duck in Duckburg" in Donald Duck Adventures (Gladstone Series) #35 in October 1995.
Witch Hazel has a broom named Beelzebub, which acts as both her servant and her mode of transport. In Disney comics she appeared as working with other Disney witches such as Magica De Spell and Mad Madam Mim.
Witch Hazel is also seen in some Italian Disney comics, where she is called Nocciola (full name Nocciola Vilibranda Crapomena), notably those by Luciano Bottaro.
Her name, a pun on the name of the North American shrub and the herbal medicine derived from it, witch hazel, has been commonly used for the names of cartoon witches; Warner Bros., MGM, Famous Studios, and the Little Lulu comic book also had characters named "Witch Hazel", and Rembrandt Films had one named "Hazel Witch". Animator Chuck Jones, of his own admission, got the idea of Looney Tunes' Witch Hazel from the Disney short, creating a different character but again using June Foray for the voice.
The Disney Witch Hazel had a very different appearance from her Looney Tunes counterpart. She is short, has a hairy, warty chin and a large red nose with green eyes. She wears a long blonde wig (although occasionally it is grey), dresses in archetypal black witches clothes, and her hat is very tall. She is also far more benevolent than the Looney Tunes version.
The Disney Witch Hazel never became as popular as Magica De Spell or Mad Madam Mim. But, in Italian Disney comics, she has been for a long time an oft-used and well-liked character. Usually, her stories show her interactions not with the Duck Clan, but with Goofy (the only exception are the stories Il dottor Paperus, parody of Goethe's Faust in the 1950s, and its sequel Paperino e il seguito della storia, published in 1999). This is due to her irritation of the fact that Goofy staunchly refuses to believe in magic or witches of any sort, believing instead that real magic is the same as regular trick magic, and that those claiming to be magicians (including Hazel) are crazy. This leads to several amusing adventures where Hazel uses every spell in the book to try to convince Goofy of the existence of "real" magic, despite continued failure. She also appears to be the first boss of the NES game Mickey Mousecapade, despite being originally a good character.
Witch Hazel appeared as a guest in Disney's House of Mouse.
Her name appeared on a tombstone (next to Deadly Nightshade and Wolf Bane) in The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Antagonists
Argus McSwine
Argus McSwine is an enemy of Scrooge McDuck and Donald Duck. He appears in many stories, both by Carl Barks and others. Sometimes he has the Beagle Boys working for him. His first appearance was in Forbidden Valley, Donald Duck #54.
McSwine has appeared in many Egmont-produced Disney stories in which he antagonizes Donald more than he does Scrooge. Argus is a lot like Neighbor Jones in this function—except that he does not live next door to Donald, and is often a crook or con man (whereas Jones is generally on the side of law and order). Often portrayed as rich, McSwine sometimes competes with Scrooge for some type of prize in much the way that Flintheart Glomgold or John D. Rockerduck also do.
Argus is in fact one of the most evil villains in the Scrooge stories, having openly shot at the ducks and threatened them with harm in a manner that the Beagle Boys rarely do.
From the 1950s to the 1980s, McSwine had no consistent name and was known only as "the pig villain", going by a number of one-time aliases including John the Con and Porkman De Lardo.
The last name McSwine comes from Carl Barks' Donald the Milkman. In 1990, then-editor Bob Foster published that story for the first time in the USA. At the same time, the decision was taken that McSwine should be the character's "real" name, with the first name Argus being added at the same time. Thus the pig villain has remained Argus McSwine in many other stories through 2010, with only the occasional alias used in more modern times (Lardo J. Porkington in Lars Jensen's The Nest Egg).
Arpine Lusène
Arpin Lusène, nicknamed Le Chevalier Noir (The Black Knight), is a French gentleman, and a notorious thief with, naturally, a cheesy French accent which other characters have hard time understanding at times, often leading to clever wordplay. Apparently, Lusène even writes in his accent, spelling English words phonetically as he would pronounce them. His home has been said to be a castle in Portofino on the Italian Riviera.
He is a sticky fingered thief. On some occasions he is even seen stealing people's clothes while the victims are wearing them. His life's goal is to steal Scrooge McDuck's money, or make it disappear to make people think he stole it. His motive for this is to be remembered as the greatest thief ever to exist, rather than to make a profit out of it, as he has plenty of money already.
Lusène strictly refuses to appear in any photographs, claiming he has never been photographed. He likes to use his extreme dexterity to avoid being photographed. He once removed the filament from the lightbulb of a camera's flash, without breaking the bulb glass.
Usually on his appearances, Lusène wears an armor of a knight, almost completely covered in Gyro Gearloose's invention, a universal solvent which has the ability of absorbing all kinds of matter, excluding diamonds.
Lusène has appeared in several stories, the first one being The Black Knight in 1997. This story was mainly the introduction to the character as well as a sequel to the story Universal Solvent. As the main plot, Arpin comes to Duckburg in order to rob the Money Bin. His first attempt fails, however he steals the universal solvent and uses it to make his special armor to make another, successful attack on the Bin. Scrooge, with the help of Donald, Huey, Dewey and Louie, manage to stop him. Lusène's next appearance was in the story Attaaaaaack in which Scrooge stops his new plot to raid the Money Bin thanks to an invention of Gyro's. His third appearance was in Rosa's The Black Knight GLORPS Again which is a direct sequel to event's in The Black Knight and Arpine restores his suit in it. So far he has only made appearances on covers by other artists like Marco Rota.
Arpine is the only present day character that Don Rosa has created for the Duck Universe that has made more than one appearance.
His name comes from a spoonerism of Arsène Lupin, a fictional character from novels by Maurice Leblanc. The switcheroo spelling is ironic (or delicious, or funny) partly because Leblanc himself once changed[13] the spelling of the name of a character (who was "visiting", in a way, from the works of another author) from "Sherlock Holmes" to "Herlock Sholmes",[13] in response to legal objections from the author (Arthur Conan Doyle) who was the original creator of Sherlock Holmes. In the Swedish translation, his name is "Armand Lutin", a play on "Arséne Lupin".
Azure Blue
Azure Blue first appeared as an evil miser in The Golden Helmet in Donald Duck Four Color #408. In that story, he was revealed to be a descendant of Olaf the Blue (Viking discoverer of America according to that story) and he wanted to find a Golden Helmet so he can be king of North America and make everyone on the continent his slaves, but Donald Duck and his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie wouldn't let that happen. Azure was assisted by Lawyer Sharky.
Later on he was used by Don Rosa as he made a cameo appearance in Return to Plain Awful when he sees off the disguised Scrooge McDuck and Donald Duck and his three nephews at the Duckburg Airport in Donald Duck Adventures (Gladstone Series) #12 (This story was reprinted in Uncle Scrooge number 362, February 2007), Nobody's Business (Printed in Uncle Scrooge #220, 300 and The Don Rosa Library of Don Rosa in Color and in The Lost Charts of Columbus in Donald Duck Adventures #44. In that story, Donald and the nephews had to find a more valuable treasure than the Golden Helmet.
Azure's kinship to Olaf is questionable, since his lawyer, instead of showing evidence of it, asked for evidence in contrary from whoever doubted Azure to be descendant of Olaf. When Donald and the nephews found what Blue and Sharky believed to be evidence that a Phoenician prince named Hanno and his kin are the real owners of North America, Azure renamed himself Azure Hanno Blue. It can make people think Blue to be a surname Azure gave himself in order to claim to descend from Olaf in the very first place.
Azure only had two active roles in The Golden Helmet and The Lost Charts of Columbus and made a few cameo appearances in Nobody's Business and Return to Plain Awful.
Bombie the Zombie
Bombie the Zombie first appeared in the story in Donald Duck Four Color #238. In that story, Bombie gives a voodoo doll to Donald Duck, thinking that Donald is Scrooge McDuck. Bombie was sent by a witch doctor named Foola Zoola to get revenge on Scrooge for destroying his village many years ago. Huey, Dewey and Louie befriended the zombie and helped him get back to Africa while Donald tried to find a cure for the Voodoo Curse, eventually succeeding. Despite the fact that he had been sent after Scrooge, Bombie never came in direct contact with Scrooge during this story.
In Don Rosa's The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Part 11, it was revealed that Bombie had been stalking Scrooge for decades prior to "Voodoo Hoodoo". In order to force Foola Zoola to sell him some valuable rubber plantation land, Scrooge hired a gang of thugs and destroyed Zoola's village. Scrooge then disguised himself and tricked Zoola long enough to close the deal by making Zoola think the land would be safe with him. Zoola realized the trick, and set Bombie on Scrooge. After the first time Bombie found him, Scrooge turned back to his normal look, keeping Bombie from recognizing him and explaining why Bombie would later mistake Donald for Scrooge (in "Voodoo Hoodoo"). Although this saved Scrooge from the curse, Bombie continued to pursue Scrooge thanks to Zoola's magic. Bombie followed Scrooge to the North Pole, an iceberg near the RMS Titanic, and finally to the isle of Ripan Taro. Cornered by the zombie, Scrooge agreed to give a local sorcerer the valuable candy-stripped ruby (see The Status Seeker for more details about the ruby) in exchanged for a spell to trap Bombie on Ripan Taro for 30 years. Scrooge took the deal, assuming that the curse would wear off by the time Bombie could leave the island. Except for a few cameos, Bombie did not make any further appearances in The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck.
Chisel McSue
Chisel McSue is an enemy of Scrooge McDuck. Scrooge almost lost his fortune because he could not produce a single heirloom. He also accused Scrooge of not being a true Scot. Scrooge and his nephews managed to defeat him after staging a mock Battle of Culloden. Chisel McSue was also referenced by the Scottish band Belle & Sebastian, in their song "If You McSue Me, I'll Go Sullen".[citation needed]
In the DuckTales episode Down and Out in Duckburg, a character named Fritter O'Way with the same background took over Scrooge's fortune until Scrooge recovered the cargo sunk with Seafoam's ship, the Golden Goose.
His ancestor, Swindle McSue, is the guy who sabotaged Seafoam McDuck's boat in 1776. Because of that incident Scrooge almost lost his fortune.
Emil Eagle
Emil Eagle first appeared in "Donald Duck" #102 as a rival inventor for Gyro Gearloose. Later on, he was adopted into the Mickey Mouse universe as an enemy for Mickey Mouse and his friends, in particular Super Goof.
Emil has caused a lot of trouble for Mickey Mouse, Super Goof, Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, Gyro Gearloose, and other characters on various occasions. Sometimes he has teamed up with Black Pete, the Beagle Boys, Mad Madam Mim or other bad guys in the Mickey Mouse universe or the Duck universe.
Flintheart Glomgold
Main article: Flintheart GlomgoldJohn D. Rockerduck
Main article: John D. RockerduckLawyer Sharky
Sylvester J. Sharky appears to be an anthropomorphic rat, with a huge droop-snoot nose upon which a pair of pince-nez spectacles are perched.
In The Golden Helmet (1952), the first story in which he appears, he provides legal advice to Azure Blue, who claims to be owner of North America, because he is a descendant of Olaf the Blue, a Viking explorer who discovered America in 901 AD. Whenever Sharky was asked to prove his client (Blue or whoever he was working for) to descend from Olaf, he replies asking the questioner to prove he isn't.
Sharky often speaks in fake legal Latin, like "Hocus, locus, jocus", which means "To the landlord belong the doorknobs".
Lawyer Sharky seldom has a large role, but he is often seen in cameo appearances.
In The Lost Charts of Columbus, believing a Phoenician prince named Hanno to have made a claim to North America before anyboby else, he helped Azure Blue, now Azure "Hanno" Blue, to "prove" his kinship to Hanno.
In The Poorest Duck in Duckburg he helps Scrooge McDuck cancel Halloween by spending his money on all the Halloween stuff in Duckburg but that only makes things worse for Scrooge but Scrooge gets his money back eventually.
Madam Mim
Main article: Madam MimMagica De Spell
Main article: Magica De SpellMerlock
Merlock is an anthropomorphic wolf, and he possesses a green magic talisman that gives him magic powers which include the ability to transform into (non-anthropomorphic) animals, including an eagle (a form he most commonly uses to get around over long distances), a rat, a beetle, a gryphon, a bear, and a mountain lion. When placed on the Genie's magic lamp, the talisman grants Merlock an unlimited number of wishes to be granted, instead of the usual three for everybody else. When he first possessed the lamp, some of the sorcerer's wishes that were unwillingly granted by the Genie include his own immortality, the sinking of Atlantis into the sea (which, in this case, was not just a city but a luxury resort that was so popular that Merlock failed to obtain a hotel reservation), the eruption of Mount Vesuvius due to Merlock's hatred of Pompeii, and the creation of anchovy pizza.
In DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp, Merlock (a portmanteau of Merlin and warlock) is the main antagonist, obsessed with retrieving the Genie's lamp, which he apparently lost to the thief Collie Baba (a parody of Ali Baba) millennia before. Collie Baba buried the lamp, along with a large amount of treasure, in the middle of a desert. When Scrooge McDuck comes searching for that very treasure, Merlock attempts to use Scrooge's ambition to obtain the lamp for himself. In this movie, Merlock is voiced by actor Christopher Lloyd of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Anastasia. In the end of the film, Merlock lost his talisman (and thus his super powers) and apparently fell to his death after falling from his floating castle which Scrooge's money bin was transformed into earlier on. Even if he survived, he would have lost his immortality; At the end of the film, when Genie was freed, Dijon, whom Merlock wished Genie to turn into a pig, turned back into his original form. This indicates that all of the other wishes previously granted by Genie, including Merlock's wish for immortality, were also undone.
Merlock makes his next appearance in the video game Legend of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse, in which he is known as the Sorcerer of Darkness and is responsible for stopping the River of Time and threatening the Tree of Life in the process. Mickey Mouse must defeat Merlock in order to restore everything to what it once was. He mainly uses fire and lightning to attack. Eventually, he'll change into a dragon, changing his strategy entirely. He will breathe fire at Mickey, fly to the other side of the screen, and toss a spiked ball in front of him.
Merlock also appears in the video game Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers as the main antagonist. He captures reporter Daisy Duck after she infiltrates his temple, and Donald Duck sets out to rescue her. In the final level movie, Donald Duck reaches Merlock's lair, and the final battle between him and Merlock begins. Merlock has three attacks in the PlayStation 2 version. The first one is to make the floor tiles disappear, with arrows and fireballs. Second, he turns himself into a tornado, and the third is turning into 4 duplicates(the one with a shimmering tailsman is the one players hit) and fire attack. In the PlayStation 1 version, he turns into a dragon, followed by tougher versions. In the end, Donald rescues Daisy. In the game Merlock is voiced by Corey Burton.
Mister Molay
Mr. Molay first appeared in the story The Crown of the Crusader Kings in Uncle Scrooge #339. In that story he is known to be the head of The International Money Council. He and his associate Maurice Mattressface confiscate a crown from Scrooge McDuck and his nephews. He also appears in the story titled The Old Castle's Other Secret or A Letter From Home, in which he and Maurice plan to steal the treasure from Scrooge's old ancestral castle and using Scrooge's sister Matilda to get it. Later in that story Maurice betrayed Mr. Molay.
Mr. Molay has only appeared in these two stories. He is named after Jacques de Molay, last Grand Master of the Knights Templar.
Neighbor Jones
Neighbor J. Jones is Donald Duck's next door neighbor. He is portrayed as being as short-tempered as Donald, and more truculent. The yard between their respective homes often becomes a battlefield. The usual setting would be some argument or fight which would result in a huge mess for both Jones and Donald. Donald once even thought taking a vacation on a cruise ship would get him thousands of miles away from Jones and other problems, only to realize Jones bought a ticket on the same cruise by coincidence! The captain of the ship, however, is quick to extinguish bickering by threatening to throw both in the brig, and later on Donald and Neighbor Jones actually have to work together when they are stranded at sea.
The character first appeared in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #34 (in 1943). There and in later issues, he tended to appear in stories featuring Donald Duck. Neighbor Jones was the first of many recurring characters that Carl Barks created.[14] Jones has since appeared in hundreds of additional stories, with writers Paul Halas (UK) and Jan Kruse (Netherlands) among the most frequent to use the character. The character has made more appearances in American comics.
Although Neighbor Jones is largely an adversary, he will be pleasant with Donald on occasion, such as Donald offering Jones money to clear his yard during a snowstorm after seeing how efficiently Jones had shoveled his own driveway. Jones does the job, and courteously announces he is finished after Donald presents payment.
In some Italian stories Jones is replaced by a similar character named "Anacleto Mitraglia", more tall and narrow, but with a similar personality and the same rivalry with Donald. Mitraglia evolved from one of several names given to the real Jones in early Barks stories.
In one story, Jones was given the first name of "Jughead". This could not continue, because it would create a copyright conflict with Archie Comics.
Pete
Main article: Pete (Disney character)Porker Hogg
Porker Hogg is a rival of Angus Pothole McDuck. He hired the original Beagle Boys to destroy McDuck's boat but then they double crossed him. Porker's nephew Horseshoe Hogg challenged Scrooge McDuck to finish the race their uncles started in 1870, but in the imaginary part of Ducktales, he was a thug who worked for the Beagle Boys.
Soapy Slick
Soapy Slick is the crooked saloon operator and profiteer in the Scrooge McDuck comic series, modeled after Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith of Skagway, Alaska. He is one of the oldest of Scrooge McDuck's enemies. He was introduced by Carl Barks in North of the Yukon.
Don Rosa illustrated The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Chapter 8: The King of the Klondike documents Scrooge's Alaskan prospecting days (1896 or thereabouts). Scrooge secures a loan from Soapy. Soapy, being a saloon owner on land and water (he owns a gambling boat), has plenty of money to lend. Of course, at a more than suitable interest rate (it was 10% at the turn of the century).
But Soapy swindles Scrooge - the pocket of land Scrooge wants to pan on has already been identified as having no gold - and Soapy goes ahead and gives him the loan anyway.
Soapy adds another 0 to the 10 and makes the interest on the loan 100% and then tries to collect on the loan in Uncle Scrooge #59. Luckily, Scrooge manages to produce the loan-paid receipt.
Eventually, Scrooge goes to the Yukon and strikes gold in Uncle Scrooge #292. However, he is kidnapped by Soapy who ties Scrooge to the smokestack of the casino boat and taunts Scrooge by making fun of Scrooge's dead mother. Scrooge becomes enraged and tears the smokestack down, sinking Soapy's casino boat.
The Beagle Boys
Main article: Beagle BoysThe McViper Clan
The McViper Clan first appeared in Uncle Scrooge #56 in The Mystery of the Ghosttown Railroad. In that story they try to scare Scrooge McDuck and his nephews with ravens dressed as ghosts, in order to steal the deeds to the local railroad. When a defense contractor wishes to acquire the railroad track for rocket testing, this causes a significant increase in the railroad's shares, meaning a tremendous windfall for Scrooge and a few other residents of the Western town of Goldopolis, who were the only investors. The McViper gang attempted to steal the deeds in order to prevent sale of the railroad track, and that modern changes in Goldopolis would mean the end of the memories of them as outlaws. Actually only one of them appeared in that story and his name was Copperhead McViper, and stated he was the last McViper due to the rest of the gang having died of old age. Another McViper by the name of Snake McViper appeared in The Cattle King in Uncle Scrooge #69 where he tried to antagonize Scrooge and his nephews. Surprisingly Snake is a pignose and not a dogface like Copperhead. Don Rosa used The McViper Clan in The Life and Times of Scrooge Part 3 where two of them who go by the names Snake Eyes and Haggis infiltrate Murdo Mackenzie and his posse while they plan to rustle Murdo's prize bull Vindicator but Scrooge outwits them. This is supposedly the first encounter that Scrooge has had with The McViper Clan. Either Snake Eyes or Haggis is the father of Copperhead but it is unknown which one. In Part 11 Copperhead and two of his brothers try to steal some papers from Scrooge but they don't succeed.
The name McViper is a pun on the word viper which is a type of snake.
All of The McVipers Names have references to snakes except for Haggis which is a Scottish dish.
Snake is obviously not related to the rest of The McViper Clan. He just has the same last name as the rest of them since he happens to be a pig and the rest of them are dogs. It may be possible the brothers accepted him into their gang and allowed him to use "McViper" in order to show his gang membership.
It is unknown whether or not The McViper Clan appeared in any stories other than the aforementioned stories written by Carl Barks and Don Rosa.
The Whiskervilles
The Whiskervilles first appeared in Uncle Scrooge #29 in The Hound of the Whiskervilles where Scrooge McDuck and his nephews find out that the Whiskervilles have been using their hound costume to frighten The Clan McDuck for centuries. The hound ruse caused the McDuck family to vacate the castle in 1675, giving the Whiskervilles opportunity to search for hidden treasure. At the end of that story Scrooge and the last member of the Whiskerville family eventually become friends.
The Whiskervilles returned in The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Parts 1, 5, and 9, where they continued to antagonize The McDucks. In Part 1, they run Scrooge and his father off by using the hound costume, but Scrooge gets back at them by impersonating the Ghost of Sir Quackly McDuck. In Part 5, they try to steal a bank draft from Scrooge so they can legally buy Castle McDuck to tear it down, but Scrooge stops them with supernatural help from the ghosts of his ancestors. In Part 9, only one Whiskerville appears, but he does not cause too much trouble in that story. He appears as a sheep owner while Scrooge competes in a Scottish games sheep shearing contest. After that the Whiskervilles do not make any more appearances in the Scrooge McDuck story line.
Historical figures in Duck stories
In several Don Rosa stories, Scrooge McDuck encountered historical people. The most notable of these encounters was with U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt and Scrooge would meet each other at least three times: in the Dakotas in 1883, in Duckburg in 1902, and in Panama in 1906. Rosa is famous for his historical accuracy: he checks historical records to make sure that the figures he writes about could have plausibly taken part in those adventures. (This also extends to scientific accuracy for the most part.) Other historical people who met Scrooge:
- Elias Lönnrot, in Glasgow in 1877.
- Jesse James, several times in the late 19th century.
- Murdo McKenzie, in Montana from 1882 to 1884.
- Captain E. Moore, on the Cutty Sark in 1883.
- Sultan Mangkunagara V of Djokja, in Batavia in 1883.
- (Which was actually an error since the ruler of Djokja at the time was Sultan Hamengkubuwono VII. The error was derived from the mistake on Don Rosa's source, an 1890's traveller titled On The Subject of Java)
- Sultan Pakubuwana IX of Solo, in Batavia in 1883.
- Marcus Daly, in Butte, Montana in 1884.
- Jakob Waltz in Pizen Bluff in 1890.
- Geronimo, in Arizona in 1890.
- Buffalo Bill, in Arizona in 1890.
- Annie Oakley, in Arizona in 1890.
- P. T. Barnum, in Arizona in 1890.
- The Dalton Brothers, in Arizona in 1890.
- Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, at the Chicago Universal Exposition in 1892.
- Wyatt Earp, in Skagway in 1896 and one year later in White Agony Creek.
- Bat Masterson, in White Agony Creek in 1897.
- Judge Roy Bean, in White Agony Creek in 1897.
- Butch Cassidy, in White Agony Creek in 1897.
- The Sundance Kid, in White Agony Creek in 1897.
- Sam Steele, in Dawson City in 1898.
- Jack London, in Dawson City in 1898.
- William H. Scarth, in Dawson City in 1898.
- Edith Roosevelt, in Panama in 1906.
- General Esteban, in Panama in 1906. This character is named after General Esteban Huertas, who is considered a hero in Panama. Because Rosa needed the character as a villain, he chose not to use the General's full name. Also, the real General Esteban Huertas had only one arm, unlike his counterpart in the comic.
- John F. Stevens, in Panama in 1906.
- Captain George R. Shanton, in Panama in 1906.
- Robert Peary, close to the North Pole in 1909.
- Matthew Henson, near the North Pole in 1909.
- Nicholas II of Russia, in the Winter Palace in 1910.
- John Jacob Astor IV, on the RMS Titanic in 1912
- Frank Lloyd Drake, the designer of Scrooge's Money Bin, was named after famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. This character is only mentioned and doesn't make an appearance.
- Sitting Bull, he was called "Standing Bull" until he lost a fight against Scrooge.
Furthermore, Don Rosa often hides images of himself, his friends or Carl Barks in his stories.
See also
References
- ^ Quackmore
- ^ Search results
- ^ Search results (5 items)
- ^ Starbäck, Per. "Bolivar". Disney Comics characters. 3 Apr 1999. Disney Comics.
- ^ http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=search&sval=tad+stones&article_no=2157&page=4%7C1
- ^ Did You Know? Hard Haid Moe "Perhaps “Hog Haid Moe” was meant to imply a pigfaced character, but artist Al Hubbard drew Moe as a big-nosed human."
- ^ http://coa.inducks.org/story.php/x/S+64029/
- ^ http://www.comicvine.com/jubal-pomp/29-57828/
- ^ "Disney's 'Darkwing Duck' enlists a super fowl in fight against crime; ABC telecasts Easter Parade". The Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/1991-03-31/news/tv-2594_1_disney-darkwing-duck. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
- ^ The Wise Little Hen. The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts. Retrieved on March 17, 2008.
- ^ The Band Concert. The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts. Retrieved on March 17, 2008.
- ^ Three Little Pigs. Disney HooZoo. Retrieved on March 17, 2008.
- ^ a b Arsène Lupin and Sherlock Holmes
- ^ *List of Duck universe characters at the INDUCKS
External links
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- Lists of Disney characters
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