HOME | DD

mightyfilm In reply to Kooshmeister [2011-03-06 15:56:54 +0000 UTC]

It seems the Fearsome Five really don't know what they're capable of because, let's face it... Negaduck is the brains of the operation for a reason. Megavolt isn't... well, he isn't all there, Bushroot seems to be a reluctant villain, Quackerjack is also pretty out to lunch, and Liquidator is stuck in his corporate and commercial background. None of them are really all that smart, even when they work on their own. Plus, Negaduck is a pretty sick dude. He fired a machine gun in a children's movie in his first appearance.

I suppose Liquidator could be defeated if you were to mix him with quick-drying cement or to lock him in a freezer. Gizmoduck and Darkwing immobilized him by mixing him into pudding.

👍: 0 ⏩: 2

Kooshmeister In reply to mightyfilm [2011-03-06 17:54:58 +0000 UTC]

Incidentally... my apologies for all this in-depth character analysis in the comments here. I just don't know when to shut up. All respect is due you as an artist and to this picture.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Kooshmeister In reply to mightyfilm [2011-03-06 17:48:06 +0000 UTC]

Liquidator seemed like such a dangerous villain in Dry Hard. Even before he fell down that vat he was twisted enough to poison competitors' water supplies. Later he is essentially unkillable. Although he's been defeated and frozen and mixed in concrete and turned into pudding, he always came back.

But the second he's yoked under Negaduck by the writers, he becomes a cowed weakling.

As a businessman I can see him viewing working with Negaduck, who has some good plans, as being mutually beneficial, but since he was head of his own company you'd think he'd be be unused to taking abuse. And his creative businessman's mind should be able to come up with a hundred ways of tricking Negaduck. Like, right here, he could just flow facefirst into Negaduck's nostrils and mouth and drown him, if he wanted.

Likewise, Quackerjack, while lacking any special powers, is also a former businessman and head of his own corporation. He, too, would severely dislike taking orders and not knuckle under easily (more easily than Liquidator for obvious reasons, but still, not automatically).

Really, the only two who would be all that easy to boss around should be Megavolt and Bushroot, given their backstories. They were victimized by bullies and so are used to being pushed around. But at the same time, given the revenge they took against those bullies (or tried to), one wonders why they don't also decide enough is enough. Granted, Negaduck is like every bully, ever, ramped up to ten zillion, so he would be scarier to them, but still.

Basically, I never understood the writers' decision to make Negaduck the leader, with the circular logic explanation that he is the leader... because he is. I admit that the show put comedy before story, though, so I guess I'm approaching the setup with the wrong mindset.

👍: 0 ⏩: 2

mightyfilm In reply to Kooshmeister [2011-03-07 15:57:56 +0000 UTC]

It makes me wonder... does Liquidator feel pain? I don't know if they ever defined it or not.

But other than that, I see the age old super villain group up for consolidation of powers, and connecting to a single goal, usually world conquest and or destroying a common enemy... and usually when the writers put themselves in that situation, you either have a disorganized group that can't get along or a group where the villains are just there so the head of that team can use them... sort of like Lex Luthor and the Legion of Doom in that Challenge of the Superfriends series. Only one time did one of the other members (Gorilla Grodd) get assertive enough to propose their own plan that would have been to that member's gain, but it also was a mutual benefit to Lex.

Seems like the Five is a mixture of both. Together they do cancel each other's powers out (i.e. Liquidator can short out Megavolt, Quackerjacks toys trample Bushroot's plants). But Negaduck clearly is using them for their abilities. He can't take out a master plan without them. Neg's only got his pure evil to keep him going.

Now, I do believe that the four could indeed stand up to him, but the scene in Just Us Justice Ducks part 2 sums it up well. Negaduck's mere presence is more than they could bare. When they were chanting "Kill Negaduck" while beating up Darkwing, all they needed was a grim sounding "Kill WHO?!!" and they cowered behind a lie that they knew it was Darkwing all along.

Plus, I still say he's a sick, evil, twisted individual. Much sicker and more twisted than all of them combined.

👍: 0 ⏩: 1

Kooshmeister In reply to mightyfilm [2011-03-07 22:11:12 +0000 UTC]

I had an interesting discussion with Darkwing Snark about Negaduck's mindset and came to an interesting conclusion: that, while indeed a sick and evil individual, he is filled with self-doubt. See, he is Darkwing's opposite, and, almost without exception, Darkwing is always confident and self-assured to the point of being suicidal.

Negaduck, in my opinion, would be the opposite: always secretly doubting whether he is really being as evil and clever as he can be. Witness his rage at being considered second best Dr. Slug. More than simply ego I believe Negaduck is constantly worried he isn't living up to his own potential as a villain. As a result, he, essentially, tries too hard.

The irony is that all of this is unnecessary. Just as Darkwing is, for all his egomania and clumsiness, quite a capable hero, Negaduck is indeed as evil as he is made out to be, but his lack of self-confidence, being Darkwing's opposite, prevents him from reaching his full villainous potential due to his insistence upon making up for perceived shortcomings with increasingly loony diabolical death traps that would make Dr. Evil green with envy.

You may disagree (and I know that many Negaduck fans would challenge my assertion that he has any kind of secret, inner doubts of his own potential), but this is only my own interpretation of the character.

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

Marij-main In reply to Kooshmeister [2011-03-06 19:08:58 +0000 UTC]

I think Quacky goes along with Negaduck because he's in it all for fun (in his own twisted way), so Negaduck's plots don't usually clash with Quacky's own motivations; plus, if Negaduck's plots are successful, payoff looks good (except for the fact of various double-crossings - like in 'Justice Ducks' and 'Jail Birds').

I truly don't get why the Liquidator puts up with him, though. In his debut episode, he was pretty smart and only failed due to mishaps, luck and miscalculations (he didn't KNOW how bad ice and cement would effect him, he was still learning).

👍: 0 ⏩: 0

FlytrapDog In reply to FlytrapDog [2011-03-06 03:21:41 +0000 UTC]

^caught^

👍: 0 ⏩: 0