Darkwing was a superhero and protector of Midnight City, along with his sidekick. He was also a member of the Guardians of the Globe until he was betrayed and killed by Omni-Man.
Quick Answers
What city did Darkwing protect as a superhero?
Who betrayed and killed Darkwing?
What group was Darkwing a member of before his death?
Did Darkwing have a sidekick, and if so, who were they?
How does Darkwing's role in Invincible compare to Batman's role in his universe?
History[]
Background Information[]
Not much is known about Darkwing's past, even his real name remains unknown, at some point in his life he decided to become a crime-fighting superhero in Midnight City, even having his own sidekick to help him on his crusades. He would eventually join the Guardians of the Globe. On Mark Grayson's 12th birthday, seemingly due to Omni-Man's connection with him, Darkwing was invited as a guest to the celebration.
Protecting the President[]
When the Mauler Twins attack the White House, Darkwing arrives with the other members of the Guardians of the Globe. The heroes help civilians evacuate while the aliens broke through the White House's walls to make it inside.
When Darkwing was about to get crushed by a tank, Omni-Man saved him by lifting it.
One of the twins throws a woman through the air as Darkwing flies in, so Darkwing catches her with his grappling hook. However, when they fall to the ground, the alien throws a tank at a building above them. Darkwing protects the woman from the falling tank and rubble by shielding her underneath him, and he is forced to use several mechanical supports from his suit to prop the wreckage up above them. The supports begin breaking nearly instantly, and running out of time, Darkwing gives the woman his grappling hook so she can escape. Moments later, the supports do fail, but Omni-Man lifts the tank and rescues Darkwing, much to his surprise. However, Darkwing does not offer his thanks. Instead, he warns Omni-Man of more falling rubble, throwing several explosives to dissolve the rubble to protect Omni-Man. As Omni-Man turns to watch the exploding rubble, Darkwing steps aboard his Hoverboard and flies away, prompting Omni-Man to say "You're welcome." when he turns back around.
Guardian of the Globe assembling together to defeat Mauler Twins.
Darkwing rejoined the rest of the Guardians in a final fight against the Mauler Twins after rescuing all the civilians. He plays a supporting role in defeating them by throwing explosives while flying on his Hoverboard.
Called to Action[]
As two men try breaking into a building, they get scared about Darkwing who had seen them. He attacks both of them and manages to bring them down easily, handcuffing them and asking them about their boss. He was called and told them he would check with them the next day before leaving in his jet.
Betrayed and Killed[]
All of the Guardian of the Globe arrives at the headquarters.
Darkwing is the final Guardian to arrive. The Immortal asks Darkwing why he called the meeting, and Darkwing reacts with confusion, as he and the others realize none of them signalled the meeting before they are attacked by Omni-Man. The Guardians of the Globe fight Omni-Man, managing to land several hits on him, right before he horrifically crushes Red Rush's skull, leaving all the other Guardians in shock. Martian Man then wrapped himself around Omni-Man, giving The Immortal and War Woman an opportunity to attack, however, Omni-Man was able to break free and temporarily subdue all three of them. Throughout this initial encounter, Darkwing threw numerous explosives at Omni-Man, which only stunned and blinded Omni-Man long enough for Darkwing's more powerful allies to actually hurt him.
In a moment of opportunity after blinding Omni-Man yet again, Darkwing tries attacking him from above. However, Omni-Man catches Darkwing by the ankle before slamming his entire body against the floor twice like a ragdoll. Omni-Man first slams Darkwing face first into the floor, disfiguring his face and causing him to go completely limp. Darkwing could only groan incoherently as Omni-Man then threw him the other way, destroying his skull and upper spine, instantly ending his life.
Green Ghost turns tangible to grabs Darkwing's corpse.
His corpse is later thrown at Green Ghost, who catches him, distracting her just long enough for Omni-Man to punch through her face, killing her instantly. Omni-Man eventually managed to brutally murder the remaining Guardians, before he too collapsed from exhaustion and his injuries.
Aftermath[]
Darkwing and the Green Ghost's corpses.
In the bloody aftermath in the Guardians HQ, the Global Defense Agency breached the room and brought in paramedics to check for casualties and recover the bodies, with one of them explaining how he used to worship him as a child. His name was mentioned in Omni-Man's eulogy along with the names of his other deceased colleagues.
During Damien Darkblood's investigation of the massacre scene, he would experience visions of Darkwing getting killed but was initially unable to discern who did so.
His corpse is later seen in a flashback along with Aquarus', Green Ghost's and Red Rush's during the Immortal's recovery of past events of his life.
After his death, his sidekick would go insane and take his superhero mantle, becoming more violent towards the criminals of Midnight City and using an unused tactic that his mentor invented.
Appearance[]
While he was never seen outside of his costume, from what can be seen, Darkwing resembles an tall African-American male, exhibiting a well-built and powerful physique. His costume has a black mask, leaving his eyelids completely white. The suit is colored in with dark shades, being light grey in his chest and thighs, with the remaining parts of the costume being black. His suit also carries a sharp cape and a single pointed cowl behind his head. Like all the other Guardians, Darkwing wore a piece of equipment resembling a wristband that would signal an alert anytime him or any of the other Guardians were needed in action, however it would be camouflaged by his suit.
Personality[]
Darkwing was a kind-hearted and selfless person, willing to sacrifice himself to save as many people as he could, as shown when he was stuck with a woman under a crumbling tank. He comforted her in what looked to be a hopeless situation and chose to save her rather than himself by lending her his grappling gun.
He was a good mentor, as his protégé was shown to be just as skilled as him at protecting Midnight City after his death. Furthermore, Darkwing II was deeply emotionally affected after his death. Darkwing showed clear empathy towards his allies, being in shock after seeing what Omni-Man had done to Red Rush.
Like Immortal and the other Guardians, Darkwing was skeptical of Omni-Man and his refusal to associate fully with the Guardians of the Globe. To Omni-Man, Darkwing was even closed-off, as he did not even thank Omni-Man after the latter saved his life.
Powers and Abilities[]
Abilities[]
- Genius Level Intellect: Darkwing was one of the world's greatest scientists, criminologists, tacticians and a master of disguise.
- Investigation: He was a peerless investigator with great observation, logical reasoning and deduction skills.
- Master Tactician: Since Darkwing lacks supernatural powers, he develops amazing strategies to outwit his foes.
- Master Martial Artist: Darkwing is an extremely skilled fighter, being able to quickly subdue criminals in Midnight City just before he was called to Guardians HQ.
- Peak Human Condition: Darkwing had pushed his body to the limits to become one of the greatest athletes in the world.
Equipment[]
- Gadgets: Darkwing had various mechanical devices that aided him in battle.
- Explosives: Darkwing's most commonly used gadget were his explosives, which he threw by hand. These were small dark grey circular bombs which would usually detonate on impact, but could also be detonated remotely. They had the potential to cause large explosions and clouds of smoke. Their true destructive power is unknown, as they were only seen being used against the Maulers and Omni-Man, who were all highly physically resilient, and were merely stunned by them.
- Hoverboard: While Darkwing could not fly on his own, he often used a Hoverboard. He often used his Hoverboard in combination with his explosives to keep out of range of his opponents.
- Magnetic handcuffs: Useful in Midnight City, Darkwing often used magnetic handcuffs to arrest criminals.
- Grappling hook gun: Darkwing's grappling hook gun could quickly propel its user to the point it was anchored to.
- Extendable appendages: Darkwing's suit had at least 4 extendable appendages stored in his utility belt, and he was able to control them remotely in some way. As showcased when he and a civilian were trapped underneath a tank, these appendages could support a great deal of weight, but no more than a few tons, as they began breaking almost instantly under the stress of the weight. It is unknown what other functions these appendages fulfilled.
Appearances[]
| Season 1 | ||||||||||||
| 1. "It's About Time": | Appears | 5. "That Actually Hurt": | Absent | |||||||||
| 2. "Here Goes Nothing": | Corpse | 6. "You Look Kinda Dead": | Mentioned | |||||||||
| 3. "Who You Calling Ugly?": | Absent | 7. "We Need To Talk": | Video | |||||||||
| 4. "Neil Armstrong, Eat Your Heart Out": | Absent | 8. "Where I Really Come From": | Absent | |||||||||
| Season 2 | ||||||||||||
| 1. "A Lesson For Your Next Life": | Absent | 5. "This Must Come as a Shock": | Absent | |||||||||
| 2. "In About Six Hours, I Lose My Virginity to a Fish": | Mentioned | 6. "It's Not That Simple": | Absent | |||||||||
| 3. "This Missive, This Machination!": | Absent | 7. "I'm Not Going Anywhere": | Absent | |||||||||
| 4. "It's Been a While": | Absent | 8. "I Thought You Were Stronger": | Absent | |||||||||
| Specials | ||||||||||||
| Invincible: Atom Eve: | Mentioned | |||||||||||
Trivia[]
- Darkwing is based on Batman from DC Comics and shares his super-hero moniker with Disney's Darkwing Duck.
- Caped Vigilante is also a a reference to the character.
- Darkwing also shares the name with Darkwing from Transformers toyline.
- Darkwing is the second member of the guardians that were killed by Omni-Man.
Comic Differences[]
- As a character, Darkwing mostly stays faithful to the comics, however like the rest of the guardians, he is fleshed out a bit more right before his death.
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Darkwing's design in the comics.
- Darkwing's design is altered a bit from the comics:
- His costume colors are much darker, with his black bits being more darker and having dark blue as his primary color instead of light grey.
- His costume lacked a belt that he has in the show, instead having two patches where he would store his gadgets in.
- His mask also lacked the singular cowl it has in the show.
- His death is slightly different in the comics as he would get his stomach punched through in comparison to the show where his head would get smashed against the floor.