History WesternAnimation / DarkwingDuck

** The episode ''Beauty and the Beet'' has been called by Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} as the darkest episode of the show and for a good reason. It has elements of a Sci-Fi and a horror story with Bushroot mutating himself into a half plant half duck monstrosity and snapping after being emotionally abused and violently murdering his enemies. And apart from a few puns during an autopsy scene all this is played grimly straight.

* TheTelevisionTalksBack: When [=NegaDuck=] I marches into a theater to watch an action movie, he gets annoyed when he realizes it's a TastesLikeDiabetes animated film about talking rabbits (one wonders how he missed the giant sign outside stating just that). He gets into an argument with the rabbits on the screen before dispersing them and the audience with a rifle. Then he proceeds to ''jump into the screen and roll out in a tank''.

%% * NiceHat

* FilkSong: In "The Darkwing Doubloon", the pirate versions of the Fearsome Five sing a song called "Pirates Are Something to Fear on the Sea" to the tune of "Ninety-nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall". Fittingly, as they sing, the Darkwing Doubloon and his fellow pirates capture them one by one.

** A lot of the villains have short tempers, but most of them have at least one thing that gets under their skin more than anything else:
*** Calling Megavolt "Sparky" drives him up a wall, although it is usually the blind rage that causes him to make mistakes.
*** Quackerjack flips out anytime anyone mentions wanting to play video games around him, whether they are allies or not.
*** Negaduck can hold his HairTriggerTemper to threats and calculated violence most of the time, but reminding Negaduck that he is only the No. 2 enemy of St. Canard, right under Dr. Slug, is signing your death warrant.
** On the other hand Herb Muddlefoot appears impervious to insults or threats of any kind, unless you insult Quackerware around him.

* NotImportantToThisEpisodeCamp: Gosalyn often misses episodes if she is not important to that episode's story. "Can't Bayou Love" has a literal example, as Launchpad offhandly mentions that Gosalyn and Honker are at summer camp during the events of the episode.

* TakingOverTheTown: In the two parter "Just Us Justice Ducks", the Fearsome Five take out the police, S.H.U.S.H. and rewired the electric company with a unbreakable force field. This isolates St. Canard from the rest of world while they take over the city unchallenged.

Darkwing Duck makes some appearances in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'', both as a ShowWithinAShow of which Launchpad [=McQuack=] is a diehard fan and as an actual character. Starting in the second season the character was defictionalized in-universe, and Season 3 included an hour-long special establishing Darkwing as an active hero in St. Canard and reintroducing Gosalyn. In addition to this, the show also incorporated Darkwing's mythology to its plot througth the presence of the agencies S.H.U.S.H. and F.O.W.L. with Bentina Beakley, Scrooge [=McDuck=]'s housekeeper, being established as a former S.H.U.S.H. agent and F.O.W.L. appearing in as villains in a season one episode and later as the main antagonists in season three, including Steelbeak. Both agencies also feature characters from previous Disney media outside ''Ducktales'' in its ranks. Shortly after the crossover, it was [[https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/darkwing-duck-reboot-disney-plus-1234830283/ announced]] that a reboot of the show was being created for Creator/DisneyPlus, but no one from the aforementioned ''Ducktales'' will be involved, instead being headlined by Creator/SethRogen and his production company Point Grey. Series creator Tad Stones has stated in an [[https://youtu.be/AhtNlEBqTJU?t=4181 interview]] that, though officially retired, he will be consulting on the reboot.

* AdultFear:
** In the second [[spoiler:Taurus Bulba]] episode, Darkwing had broken both his legs before the episode started and was confined to a wheelchair. Knowing that [[spoiler:his daughter]] is in danger and not being able to properly protect her...
** In general, the show milked DW's reactions to Gosalyn being in danger for all they were worth.
*** One episode had Darkwing completely give up crime fighting, in fear of dying and leaving Gosalyn alone (or worse, being raised by Launchpad).

* TheGhost: There was a repeated mention that the city's most wanted criminal was someone named Dr. Slug, but the only time we see him was right before the episode [[SomethingCompletelyDifferent cut away to a narration about the human brain told by Darkwing directly to the audience]].

* MediumAwareness: In addition to talking to the audience every once in a while, the character occasionally use the fact that they're in a TV show to their advantage: for example, D.W. once saved himself and Launchpad from being squished by Dr. Slug [[SomethingCompletelyDifferent by cutting away from the action in order to narrate the episode, which was about something else entirely.]]

* SomethingCompletelyDifferent: Used word-for-word in an episode that [[UniversalAdaptorCast transplanted the main characters onto the high seas]] with the Fearsome Five as pirates.

** The BadFuture episode "Time and Punishment" draws inspiration from Creator/FrankMiller's ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightReturns'' and as such has more of an edge to it than the rest of the series.

** The BadFuture episode ‘Time and Punishment’ draws inspiration from Frank Millers ‘Dark Knight Returns’ and as such has more of an edge to it than the rest of the series.

** F.O.W.L decides to rebuild Tarus Bulba as a cyborg, and they don't think to take any measures in case he rebels.

* DiggingToChina: The episode "Kung Fooled" has Darking, Gosalyn and Launchpad end up in China after the Ratcatcher rides deep into the Earth.

* DisproportionateRetribution: [[HeWhoFightsMonsters Dark Warrior Duck]]'s "method" of dealing with jaywalkers, lawyers, and anyone else who makes him mad. His ideas for a new law system, by traveling back in time and rewriting it are even worse.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Setting a building on fire for fun in "Stressed To Kill" seems like a good idea to Quackerjack... until his partner Megavolt notices that the fire is spreading from building to building awfully quickly, and they remember that the fire department won't be coming to put out the fire because the two brainwashed them into being utterly apathetic along with most of the rest of the city.

* ActionDad
* ActionFigureFileCard: The toys had them.
* AdaptationalNameChange: The verison of F.O.W.L. (Fiendish Organization for World Larceny) introduced in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' episode "Double-O-Duck" was originally called the ''Foreign'' Organization for World Larceny.

* AdventureRebuff: Darkwing is always trying to keep Gosalyn out of trouble.

* AIIsACrapshoot: D-2000 from the episode ''Star Crossed Circuits''.

** Honker describes the [[PlanetOfHats hat aliens]] as this.

** Megavolt is [[FoeYay flattered]] that Darkwing Duck considers him his archnemesis.

* AsideComment: Several characters comment to themselves or to the viewers about their current situation.

* AnAssKickingChristmas: "It's a Wonderful Leaf".
* AsideGlance: Mostly done by Darkwing.

* BattleCouple: Darkwing and Morgana usually qualify for this.

* BeachEpisode: "Something Fishy"

* BigEntrance: Darkwing is a master of this.

* BigThinShortTrio: Hammerhead (big), Hoof (thin) and Mouth (short).
* BilingualBonus: "St. Canard" is French for "St. Duck"
* BirthdayEpisode

* CampingEpisode

* ChildProdigy: Honker's brilliance easily qualifies him for this.
* ChristmasEpisode: "It's a Wonderful Leaf" takes place over a single Christmas Eve.

* CoolBike: The Ratcatcher, complete with sidecar for sidekicks.
* CoolGarage: Darkwing's base was on one tower of a suspension bridge.
* CoolPlane: The Thunderquack.

* CuteBruiser: Gosalyn and Neptunia. Gosalyn is a cute, red-haired school girl, but has enough physical skills and weaponry (mainly bows and arrows) to successfuly face adult opponents. Neptunia is an aquatic heroine, very agressive and combat-ready, but she is pint-sized and relatively feminine in appearance.

* {{Determinator}}: Darkwing and Negaduck both share this trait.

* DisneyDeath: The pilot's climax and "Dead Duck", [[spoiler: the latter of which was AllJustADream.]]

* {{Dogfaces}}: Jambalaya Jake and most of the extras are very standard examples, with flesh-colored skin and humanlike faces with animal ears and noses. Other anthropomoprhic dog characters, such as The Liquidator, have heads and faces that are more doglike.
* ADogNamedDog: One of Bushroot's plants was simply called Daisy. It was also refereed as "he" making it also a case of GenderBlenderName.

* DramaticSlip: Subverted; it was a killdeer ploy.

* TheElectricSlide: Megavolt uses this one.

* EmergencyTransformation: [[spoiler: Taurus Bulba. He wasn't too thrilled.]]

* EstablishingCharacterMoment

* EvenNerdsHaveStandards: In "Clash Reunion", it is shown that in high school Drake Mallard was picked on by everybody, including Elmo Sputterspark, the science nerd.
* EveryoneLovesBlondes:
** Herb Muddlefoot to Binkie Muddlefoot.
** Also Gosalyn to Honker.

** Subverted by Webby, who isn't actually evil as much as being led astray by Professor Moliarty.

* EvilTwin: The other [=NegaDuck=].

* ForTheEvulz: Many villains don't have any real motives, but Bushroot is a strange example and the biggest subversion. The only reason he became a villain was to get revenge on those that mocked him, which he did. Most of the time he's doing solo missions it's an attempt to gain friendship/romance/comraderie through mad science. When he's with the Fearsome Five (and sometimes when he's on his own) he's just plain evil. That's because he wants companionship and friends. So when he gets an invitation to join a RoguesGallery, obviously he's going to try to fit in because he thinks it will make him popular.

* FourFingeredHands

* FriendsRentControl: ''Finally'' explained in the comic.

* FryingPanOfDoom: BadFuture!Launchpad kayoes Darkwarrior with a frying pan after he threatens Gosalyn with a missile loaded gun.

* GlorySeeker: Darkwing of course! It usually takes a direct threat to Gosalyn to snap him out of it.
* GoneToTheFuture: Gosalyn (with Megavolt and Quackerjack) in "Time and Punishment".
* GoodParents
* GoToYourRoom
* GPSEvidence:
** The sand on Sharp's note in "In Like Blunt".
** Also the crumb in "Justice Ducks Part 1".
** Of course, [=NegaDuck=] knew he would ignore the giant [=NegaDuck=] flag.
* GrapplingHookPistol

* InTheNameOfTheMoon: "I am the terror..."
* InstantAwesomeJustAddMecha: On several occasions.
* InstrumentOfMurder: The King's guitar.

* JerkassGenie: Nodoff, so very much.

* JourneyToTheCentreOfTheMind: ''Inside Binkie's Brain''

* JustEatGilligan: Pellican gets eaten by a dinosaur in ''Pellican's Island''.

* KnightTemplar: [[FutureMeScaresMe Dark Warrior Duck]] from "Time and Punishment".

* LittleMissBadass: Gosalyn, so very much.
* LittleMissSnarker: Gosalyn, coupled with LittleMissBadass in many episodes.

* LovePotion: "My Valentine Ghoul".

* LuxuryPrisonSuite:

* MadeOfIron: Darkwing. He even says so in the episode "Dirty Money".

* MindControlEyes: Launchpad, when under the control of Jumbalaya Jake's mind control potion.
* MinionWithAnFInEvil: Stegmutt and Webby.

* MonsterClown: Quakerjack to certain degree, and Paddywhack to a literal degree.

** Professor Moliarty.

* NerdsAreSexy: Dr. Sara Bellum, Dr. Rhoda Dendron, and a few signs show that Gosalyn feels this way about Honker.

** There's also Darkwarrior Duck, an alternate timeline KnightTemplar version of Darkwing who advocates handing out the death penalty for even the most minor of offenses...and isn't afraid to say so.
* NiceHat

* TheNotableNumeral: The Fearsome Five.
* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Agent Grizzlikoff.

* OneHeadTaller: Morgana to Darkwing.

* ParentalBonus: Waaaaay too many to list. See [[ShoutOut/DarkwingDuck the Shout Out page]] for just a few examples.

* ParentsInDistress

* PlayingWithFire:
** Comet Guy can do this.
** Also Hotshot from the episode "Heavy Mental".

* ProjectileToast
* PstandardPsychicPstance:
** The episode "Heavy Mental" is full of this.
** Flygirl especially qualifies.
* PsychicPowers: The whole point of the episode "Heavy Mental".

* RoguesGallery: [=NegaDuck=], Bushroot, Megavolt, the Liquidator, Taurus Bulba, Steel Beak, etc.

* {{Sexophone}}: For [[HotScientist Rhoda Dendron]], in "Beauty and the Beet".

* ShoutOut: So many, the series borders on ReferenceOverdosed. Go [[ShoutOut/DarkwingDuck here]] for specifics.
* ShowWithinAShow: "[[Series/GilligansIsland Pelican's Island]]", among others.

* TemporaryBlindness: This happens to Darkwing in the episode "Duck Blind".

* ThemeNaming: Launchpad [=McQuack=].

* TheVamp: Morgana. Darkwing's main love interest (and Negaduck's occassional love interest), is an attractive witch. She can use her beauty as an additional weapon to her magic, as a proper vamp. Some episodes give her vaguely vampiric traits, so she has been depicted as an actual vampire in some fanfics.

* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Spiders in the episode "Aduckyphobia". Averted with Morgana's spider friend Archie.

Darkwing Duck makes some appearances in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'', both as a ShowWithinAShow of which Launchpad [=McQuack=] is a diehard fan and as an actual character. Starting in the second season the character was defictionalized in-universe, and Season 3 included an hour-long special establishing Darkwing as an active hero in St. Canard and reintroducing Gosalyn. In addition to this, the show also incorporated Darkwing's mythology to its plot througth the presence of the agencies S.H.U.S.H. and F.O.W.L. with Bentina Beakley, Scrooge [=McDuck=]'s housekeeper, being established as a former S.H.U.S.H. agent and F.O.W.L. appearing in as villains in a season one episode and later as the main antagonists in season three, including Steelbeak. Both agencies also feature characters from previous Disney media outside ''Ducktales'' in its ranks. Shortly after the crossover, it was [[https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/darkwing-duck-reboot-disney-plus-1234830283/ announced]] that a reboot of the show was being created for Creator/DisneyPlus, but no one from the aforementioned ''Ducktales'' will be involved, instead being headlined by Creator/SethRogen and his production company Point Grey.

Darkwing Duck makes some appearances in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'', both as a ShowWithinAShow of which Launchpad [=McQuack=] is a diehard fan and as an actual character. Starting in the second season the character was defictionalized in-universe, and Season 3 included an hour-long special establishing Darkwing as an active hero in St. Canard and reintroducing Gosalyn. In addition to this, the show also incorporated Darkwing's mythology to its plot througth the presence of the agencies S.H.U.S.H. and F.O.W.L. with Bentina Beakley, Scrooge [=McDuck=]'s housekeeper, being established as a former S.H.U.S.H. agent and F.O.W.L. appearing in as villains in a season one episode and later as the main antagonists in season three, including Steelbeak. Both agencies also feature characters from previous Disney media outside ''Ducktales'' in its ranks. Shortly after the crossover, it was [[https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/darkwing-duck-reboot-disney-plus-1234830283/ annouced]] that a reboot of the show was being created for Creator/DisneyPlus, but no one from the aforementioned ''Ducktales'' will be involved, instead being headlined by Creator/SethRogen and his production company Point Grey.

''Darkwing Duck'' was a superhero cartoon produced by Creator/{{Disney}} that ran from 1991 to 1993. It followed the adventures of a masked duck, who was somewhere between Franchise/{{Batman}}, ComicBook/{{Sandman|MysteryTheatre}}, Radio/TheGreenHornet and Radio/TheShadow, parodying many superheroic tropes and characters along the way. Nevertheless, it was one of Disney's DarkerAndEdgier series (not as much as ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'', but it did go places that most of Disney's works wouldn't dream of going), fondly remembered for things like total aversion of NeverSayDie and an episode featuring ''{{Satan}}'' (albeit a comical version) as the MonsterOfTheWeek (though that episode ended up getting banned from syndication).

While the show was on TV, several complementary comic stories and illustrated books were released. Some of these were written by the show's script writers and many feature villains not in the show. This all came to an end in 1996 and the license sat dormant until 2010, when Disney revived the franchise with the announcement of a brand-new ongoing monthly comic series, starting with an arc entitled "[[ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns The Duck Knight Returns]]", which began in June 2010. The comic ended in November 2011, with a [[BatFamilyCrossover Bat Family]] CrisisCrossover with the ''ComicBook/DuckTales'' comic where Scrooge [=McDuck=] and Darkwing join forces against the combined might of their rogues gallery as well as search for the long-missing Gizmoduck. The license then went back into a slumber until February 2015, when all 2010-2011 comics but the de-canonized crossover were reprinted as a trade by Joe Books Inc., rewritten by original editor Aaron Sparrow to better fit the show's tone and featuring a new epilogue. The comic series, continuing from the epilogue, properly started in 2016 with a monthly schedule, but was cancelled again after eight issues.

* FiveManBand: The Justice Ducks.
** Darkwing Duck is TheLeader. He organises and gives orders to the others - when his ego and desire to get all the credit for himself don't get in the way.
** Gizmo Duck is TheLancer, as he is more traditionally heroic and level-headed than Darkwing, and is the most likely to get in a battle of egos with him.
** Neptunia is TheSmartGuy. She is short and antisocial and resents being called upon to save the surface world (with which she has a rather adversarial relationship), but tends to be one of the more skilled of the group at strategy.
** Stegmutt is TheBigGuy. He's not very bright and is incredibly naive and childlike, but his huge size and strength are valuable assets to the Justice Ducks when properly directed.
** Morgana is TheChick, able to use her feminine wiles and magical abilities to charm, then defeat the team's enemies.

* WorldOfFunnyAnimals: The cartoon has nearly every character be an anthropomorphic animal. Unlike ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'' and the [[ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse comics that inspired it, there is a greater diversity of species than just ducks, {{Dogfaces}} and Pigfaces.

* WorldOfFunnyAnimals: The cartoon has nearly every character be an anthropomorphic animal.

There was also a [[SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames well-received]] [[VideoGame/DarkwingDuckCapcom video game adaptation]] released for the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem and UsefulNotes/{{Gameboy}} by Creator/{{Capcom}} that was effectively a shorter VideoGame/MegaManClassic clone. There was also a UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 game that was...[[TheProblemWithLicensedGames less well received.]]