Darkwing Duck

Disney's Darkwing Duck is a Disney cartoon show that ran from 1991 to 1994 (often inside The Disney Afternoon), featuring an eponymous superhero anthropomorphic duck with the alter ego Drake Mallard. Owing much to the tradition of The Shadow and Batman, the only people who know the hero's secret identity are his adopted daughter Gosalyn Waddlemeyer Mallard (mistakenly referred to as his niece in recent Disney information sources), his sidekick Launchpad McQuack (originally from Duck Tales), Gosalyn's best friend Honker Muddlefoot, and in later episodes, Darkwing's girlfriend Morgana Macawber. The show is set in the fictional city of St. Canard.

Origins

There are at least three completely different accounts given throughout the series regarding Darkwing's origins - all three of which contradict each other. Perhaps the most outrageous of these is "The Secret Origins of Darkwing Duck," in which we learn that both Darkwing Duck and Negaduck both came from a doomed planet in a tale paralleling the origin of Superman. Darkwing acquired his mask, gas gun, and combat training from a variety of sources who figured that they "might come in handy some day." This episode appears to take place in the future, and is told in a series of flashbacks by a museum janitor who looks suspiciously like an aged Darkwing Duck, who relates the story to two children looking like descendants of Honker and Gosalyn.

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It is also notable that "Darkwing Doubloon" is a period episode taking place several centuries ago and featuring the entire Fearsome Five and Justice Ducks as pirates. How this fits into continuity is anyone's guess.

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Some of these accounts seem intentionally over the top, and given Darkwing's little ego problem it is not hard to imagine that perhaps he exaggerates his true origins. As there is no one true story depicting how he came to be, most just shrug it off saying that it adds to his character's mystique and charm.

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