In its heyday, Nickelodeon had a strong variety of highly entertaining series young audiences could tune in to. Behind every strong protagonist, there were antagonists set to create mayhem or rain on the hero’s parade. The animated action-adventure series Danny Phantom had Vlad Plasmius frequently face off against the eponymous hero.
The series was one of Nickelodeon’s flagship shows that truly embraced the supernatural genre. Much like the comic issues in which Spider-Man would go toe-to-roe against Venom or Superman against Bizarro, Vlad Plasmius was Danny Phantom’s equal and occasional superior.
A Refresh on Danny Phantom
It is no secret by now that both the character Danny Phantom and the series of the same name were inspired by show creator Butch Hartman’s interest in Spider-Man. The animated series followed Danny Fenton, a 14-year-old high school student who lives with his eccentric parents who work as ghost hunters for a living, and his older sister Jazz. The Fenton family holds a portal to the Ghost Zone in the basement of their home which is the universe that all paranormal entities live in.
When Danny’s parents, Jack and Maddie, believe their invention was a failure, they put it aside to head upstairs. Danny walks into the portal and hits a switch which fully activates the portal but also unwittingly gives him ghost DNA. He now lives as half-human, half-ghost as Danny Phantom, and uses his newfound abilities to protect his hometown of Amity Park from nefarious ghosts and individuals. Hartman, known primarily for his shows with lighter fare including The Fairly Oddparents and Tuff Puppy, was able to create darker shades of animated TV while working on the series.
Vlad Plasmius’ Origins
A superhero isn’t complete until they have their supervillain. Superman has Lex Luthor, Batman has Joker, and Danny Phantom has Vlad Plasmius. Played by the late, great entertainer Martin Mull, Plasmius was initially only Vlad Masters; the Wisconsin native was close with Maddie and Jack Fenton when all three attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A similar laboratory experiment gone awry leads to Masters also gaining snow-white hair and ghost DNA. With his abilities and accumulated wealth, Masters/Plasmius has made the Fentons (primarily Danny and Jack) targets to often ridicule, torture, and eventually destroy. Speaking of, Vlad is believed to be the first superpowered human-ghost hybrid so his abilities far exceeded Danny’s during their first encounter.
Vlad could project shields to deflect Danny’s energy blasts and duplicate himself to more than triple or quadruple his power output. As the series progresses, Danny can learn these techniques and develop some of his own that give him the edge. In the episode “Urban Jungle”, the teenage ghost-fighter develops cold sensations that manifest into the power to shoot ice energy from his body.
He often immobilizes his enemies and encases his surroundings in solid ice. Another new technique, that’s more risky, is his ghostly wail. After encountering a devious future version of himself in one of the series’ most popular episodes “The Ultimate Enemy”, Danny learns how to use a highly powerful scream as a weapon to gain the upper hand. This ability often depletes him severely as he often turns back into his human half afterward.
He employed the assistance of Valerie Grey, one of Danny’s high school classmates, to attack and subdue him by creating personalized ghost-hunting equipment for her to use. In one encounter, Valerie was able to obtain Danny’s DNA. At once, the two are affectionate for one another until Danny discovers she’s the individual frequently hunting him.
The Worst of Vlad Plasimus
Vlad, using Danny’s DNA, goes on a frenzied quest to create his idealized version of Danny Phantom. One of the prototypes he makes is a young, female clone called Dani. Vlad uses her as a pawn to lure Danny into a false sense of security by having her pretend to be one of Danny’s long-lost relatives.
When Dani brings Danny to Vlad’s laboratory, she sees Vlad’s true colors as haunting, mutated versions of Danny Phantom can be seen barely sustaining life before they turn into puddles of ectoplasm. Dani is horrified and joins forces with Danny to destroy Vlad’s cloning plans once and for all. The last official appearance of Danny Phantom, Valerie, Vlad Plasmius, and all series characters is in the series finale, Phantom Planet.
In the final episode, Vlad tries one last time to get rid of Danny for good. He hires a young group of ghost hunters dubbed the Masters Blasters. They begin interfering in Danny’s missions to put away the bad ghosts and save innocent lives. Their interference gets so overwhelming that he considers taking a break from his superhero duties. As he uses his parents’ latest invention to do just that, an asteroid is revealed to be on a collision course toward Earth.
After enjoying a long break from the superhero gig, an asteroid is revealed to be heading towards Earth. Danny snaps out of his siesta and is now in a race against time to find a solution to save his world before it’s too late.
Final Thoughts
Danny Phantom was one of the most iconic television series of the last two decades. Despite the paranormal subject matter, the characters felt fully realized and incredibly fleshed out. Vlad Plasmius cemented his place in the pantheon of iconic supervillains with his dynamic action and unparalleled vocal talent. Those who haven’t had a chance to watch the series when it aired have some entertaining, chilling tales ahead of them just before Halloween.
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