- "In Sensational Dragon-Vision!"
Produced 2003, aired in U.S. on 4/9/04
Production order: 3 (1-3)
Danny has a huge crush on the most popular girl in Casper High, Paulina. He works up the courage to ask her to an upcoming school dance and she agrees after accepting an amulet that he brought to school. The problem is that the wearer of the amulet will turn into a dragon if anything upsets them. What's more is that Danny has to deal with his father chaperoning at the dance. How can he handle his date and keep his father from embarrassing him at the dance?
Tropes included:
- Bait-and-Switch: With a She Is Not My Girlfriend and Suspiciously Specific Denial.Jazz: By the way, Danny, just so you know, I'm onto your little secret.Danny: (Spit Take) What?! W-what secret?!Jazz: The clumsiness, the nervousness... I can't believe I didn't figure it out before — you have a girlfriend!Danny: It's a lie, I'm not a ghost! I mean, she's not my girlfriend.
- Berserk Button: Paulina pushes Sam's after finding out that Danny isn't Sam's boyfriend like she had originally assumed, and plans to go dump him in front of everyone at the dance, as she only agreed to be his date to spite Sam. Unfortunately for her, Sam was wearing the dragon amulet at the time.Sam: Danny is not my boyfriend.
Paulina: He's not?
Sam: He's my best friend. Maybe that's why I was so hard on you. I didn't mean to call you shallow.
Paulina: What a bummer! I only agreed to go out with him because I thought I was stealing him from you. (puts the amulet on Sam) Here, take your crummy amulet. I'm going back inside to dump your dorky friend.
Sam: (shaking with anger as the amulet starts to glow) SHALLOW LITTLE WITCH! (transforms into the dragon ghost) - Bishie Sparkle: Sam has this big time when Tucker first sees her in her dress for the dance.
- Chekhov's Gun: The Fenton Fisher comes in handy during the final fight with the ghost dragon.Danny: It can capture ghosts and dragon ghosts. Way to go, Dad!
- Chekhov's Gunman: Tucker almost ends up going to the dance with some snobby girl named Valerie...
- Comedic Underwear Exposure: Poor Danny experiences this throughout the episode due to his powers continuously making his pants intangible.
- Early-Bird Cameo:
- The Cinderella-esque ghost that appears, complaining about not being able to go to a ball at both the beginning and the end of the episode, actually is Princess Dorothea/Dora Mattingly from the season 2 episode "Beauty Marked".
- Valerie, as well.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- Dash is twice shown hitting on Paulina, as if setting him up to be Danny's rival for her. Even though the two of them are often seen together throughout the show, Dash is never shown having any romantic attraction to Paulina after this episode.
- In a similar vein, Tucker is floored when he sees Sam dressed up for the dance and is suddenly thrilled to take her. Many early fans assumed this was a Ship Tease or setting up a Love Triangle in the trio, but hints that Tucker might be attracted to Sam rarely came up in the future.
- Everyone Can See It: Like Dash in the first episode, Paulina genuinely believed Danny and Sam were a couple.Sam: (highly amused) My boyfriend?! Hah! And they say pretty girls can't be funny! Danny is NOT my boyfriend.Paulina: (genuinely confused) He's not?
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Danny has this moment after he, Sam and Tucker do some research on the dragon ghost he's been fighting lately, and discover the connection between it and the necklace he gave to Paulina.Danny: (reading the online article Sam sent him) "Medieval ghostly legend held that the cursed Amulet of Aragon could transform any wearer into dragon form under states of extreme emotional duress or anger." That's the amulet I gave to Paulina. It must have accidentally fallen into my backpack. Wait… you mean… I'm going on a date with a dragon?!
- Fighting Your Friend: Danny is forced to fight Sam after Paulina unwittingly placed the amulet on her.
- Gilligan Cut: Once he realizes Danny wants him to take Sam to the dance, Tucker insists, "No way. Forget it. Absolutely not. NO!" Cut to a possessed Tucker outside Sam's front door asking her to the dance.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: The wearer of the amulet will turn into a ghost dragon if something angers them.
- Hulk Speak: The Ghost Dragon sometimes slips into this, with the speech focused on whatever the host was angry about.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: Once a victim is back to normal, he/she won't remember being transformed into a ghost dragon.
- Literal Metaphor: When Sam says that girls like Paulina are "a dime a dozen," Danny and Tucker reach into their pocket and pull out coins.Danny: How much change ya got?
- New Super Power: Danny discovers his overshadowing ability in this episode.
- No Antagonist: Everyone Danny fights in this episode is an innocent victim accidentally possessed by the amulet. There's no evil plot to thwart and no ghost or human enemy intentionally trying to accomplish anything or hurt anyone, just a mess to clean up caused by a magical object constantly falling into the wrong hands.
- Operation: Jealousy: Paulina was never attracted to Danny at all — she just went to the dance with him because she thought doing so would hurt Sam, whom she wanted to get back at for insulting her.
- Out-of-Character Moment: When she sees Paulina and Dash together at the dance after all the mayhem caused by the amulet, Sam's about to say something to them but then decides "Ah, who cares?" and decides to dance with Danny instead of getting on her usual soap box. Needless to say, many fans appreciate this little scene and wish it wasn't out-of-character for her...
- Potty Emergency: Played with. When the Ghost Dragon roars "I have to go!" note , Danny quips "You'll have to stand in line behind my dad!"
- Reused Character Design: Downplayed compared to more typical examples, but there's a girl at the mall who somewhat resembles a female version of Tucker
. - Running Gag:
- Danny's pants turning intangible.
- And people treating it as if he wasn't wearing a belt or took his pants off on purpose.
- Danny possessing his father during the dance.
- Mr. Lancer using outdated slang to fit in with his students.
- Danny's pants turning intangible.
- Something Only They Would Say: Played for Laughs when Danny realizes that the Ghost Dragon he's fighting near the end of the episode isn't Paulina this time.Danny: Take it easy, Paulina. You don't wanna hurt Sam! (finally notices who is in the dragon's claws) Paulina? (looks at the ghost dragon) SAM?!
Ghost Dragon: SHALLOW GIRL!
Danny: Yep. That's Sam. - That Came Out Wrong: When Tucker suggests that Danny try to talk to Paulina:Danny: I can't. I get weak-kneed trying to talk to cute girls.
Sam: (Irked) Oh, and you have no problem talking to me.
Danny: Uhhh... - Twerp Sweating: Paulina's father gives Danny an If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her... speech when he comes to pick her up to the dance.
- Vocal Dissonance: The Ghost Dragon speaks with a deep, manly voice (courtesy of Kevin Michael Richardson) even though all three of its hosts are female.
- You Need a Breath Mint: Said-word-for-word by Danny when he goes intangible to avoid a blast of fire from Sam!Ghost Dragon:Danny: Whoa, Sam! Two Words: Breath Mints!
