| "I have experience, my child, and the money and power attained through using those powers for personal gain, you see. I could train you, teach you everything I know, and all you'd have to do is renounce your idiot father!" |
| — Vlad Plasmius to Danny Fenton[1] |
Vlad Masters, alias Vlad Plasmius, is a billionaire industrialist, the original founder and CEO of VladCo. An old college friend of both Jack and Maddie Fenton, Vlad is secretly a human/ghost hybrid (the first to come into existence), following an accidental college experiment he worked on with Jack and Maddie in which Vlad gained his powers. Having been such for about the last 20 years, he serves as the main antagonist of the series, acting as the archenemy to fellow hybrid Danny Fenton. He was voiced by the late Martin Mull.
History[]
Origin[]
Vlad just moments before he would receive his ghost powers.
Sometime in the early 1980's, Vlad attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison[6] alongside his roommate and best friend Jack Fenton and love interest Maddie whom Jack also had feelings for. Vlad's friendship with Jack ended when a prototype ghost portal they had built overloaded after the latter accidentally poured diet cola instead of ecto-purifier into the machine. This blasted Vlad in the face with ectoplasmic energy, resulting in him being hospitalized with ecto-acne and his DNA being infused with ectoplasm, causing him to become a half-ghost. Vlad remained in the hospital for several years thanks to his ailment which eventually went into remission.
(The exact date of this accident is unknown, however, it's confirmed that in June 1983, Vlad already had his ghost powers and used them to secretly rob a bank. Assuming that it was his very first robbery and knowing that before, he'd been hospitalized with ecto-acne for at least two years, the latest possible date of his accident would be June 1981.)
Vlad went on to blame Jack for what happened to him, secretly hating him and desiring to exact vengeance. Vlad spent the next 20 years honing and taking advantage of his newfound powers in order to become rich and famous, all in the hopes of eventually getting Maddie back.[1][7] He possessed wealthy business tycoons to make them hand their companies over to him, took part in invisible insider stock market trading, and committed many invisible burglaries in order to amass his vast fortune.[8] Though this had little effect as Maddie soon married Jack.
He founded and currently owns VladCo (which would buy out Axion Labs later on)[9] and has been featured in a number of magazines (Fortunate Magazine named him "Man of the Year" in 1997).[10]
Mysterious occurrence[]
Vlad Masters as he currently appears.
Despite the fact that Vlad made his first appearance in "Bitter Reunions," he reveals to Danny that he had sent the ectopuses in the first episode to test Jack, as well as other ghosts. Also in "Bitter Reunions," Vlad sends three of his ghost vulture henchmen to kill Jack, only to be thwarted by Danny after discovering their plan, but not their motive.
Despite their failure, Vlad invites the Fentons to a college reunion at his mansion in Wisconsin. However, it was really just part of a plot to humiliate Jack and to get his wife Maddie, the woman of his dreams, to leave him. Danny (as well as his sister Jazz) are dragged along, and the boy immediately has decidedly mixed feelings about the well-off man.
That night, Danny's ghost sense alerts him to the presence of a ghost who introduces himself as "Vlad Plasmius." They end up fighting, but Danny is easily outmatched by the stronger, more powerful ghost. Vlad knocks him unconscious, and he unwillingly transforms back to Danny Fenton in front of him, making Vlad realize that his soon-to-be archenemy/rival is Jack's son. This amused him and he starts planning to take advantage of this.
Vlad as a ghost in "Bitter Reunions"
He remains tight-lipped about the fact until the day of the actual reunion. On the night of the reunion, Vlad casually asks Danny to go down to the lab to get a present for Jack, but when Danny does so, Skulker captures him with the spectral energy neutralizer.
Vlad enters and reveals to Danny who he is, ultimately offering Danny the chance to join up with him and help him further train and hone his powers in exchange for renouncing his father. Danny angrily declines, leaving Vlad to put the next phase of his plan into action.
He possesses Jack, makes him cause chaos during the reunion to ruin his reputation, then captures Maddie Fenton. Danny (eventually freed by the Dairy King) uses the Fenton RV to stop him. Danny ironically blackmails Vlad by threatening to expose the both of them to his parents unless they call a truce, to which Vlad agrees, though he vowed to return.[1]
Archenemy[]
Unbeknownst to Danny, Vlad gives Valerie Gray ghost-hunting equipment in order to cause trouble for Danny while getting access to Danny's DNA for a secret project. Vlad appears later as the mysterious provider of Valerie's infamous ghost hunting suit and weapons, although she’s unaware of his true intentions behind it.[11] Vlad made a full return when he staged a plan that involved the inconspicuous "DALV" group ("Vlad" backwards) inviting Maddie and Danny to a mother/son science convention in Florida.[12]
When Maddie takes a reluctant Danny along as an attempt to bond with him, the two are both tricked into parachuting out of their plane, conveniently finding themselves at Vlad's Rocky Mountain retreat. There, Vlad attempts to convince them both to stay with him by confessing his undying love for Maddie. They refuse and storm off into the woods.
Vlad attempts to chase them both back by means of sending his mutated ghost animals after them - the bodies of which can be seen mounted in his hunting-lodge style living room.
Vlad short-circuits Danny's powers with the Plasmius Maximus.
While Maddie is sleeping in her tent, Danny is captured and confronted by Vlad, who shorts out Danny's powers for a set period of time with a device he invented, the Plasmius Maximus, and leaves him at the mercy of his ghost animals.
However, Danny is saved by his mother and, with little choice, is forced to return to Vlad's home to find a means to get back to Amity Park. Maddie uses her charm on Vlad to find a phone, which makes Danny sick. She goes off to make the call while Danny, left alone with Vlad, falsely declares him as his "new dad" to let his guard down.
Successfully tricking Vlad by setting back his clock to make him think the Plasmius Maximus hadn’t yet worn off (when in fact, it had), he wraps the Specter Deflector around Vlad, which weakens him considerably for a fairer fight. Danny ultimately defeats Vlad by convincing the ghosts of the animals that Vlad had killed to turn against him, as well as disabling his powers with the Plasmius Maximus.[12]
Vlad's next plan has him traveling into the Ghost Zone in search of the Skeleton Key, an item that enables him to open "any door, travel to any realm, and free any prisoner." When Behemoth, the guardian of the key, appears, Vlad easily overpowers him, but this is only an initial success and Vlad is soon defeated as Behemoth throws him out of the Ghost Zone back through his portal and back into his manor without the key.[13]
However, he realizes that he had forgotten to change the "Ecto-Filtrator" on his ghost portal, and it explodes, destroying his castle mansion. Due to this, Vlad plans to steal the Fentons' ghost portal. Needing to distract Danny so he can have the time to dismantle it, he offers a million dollar bounty on the ghost boy to distract him. Ghost hunters from all over gather to capture him, which does not bother Danny due to the incompetence of most of them.
However, when Danny spots the ghost vultures making off with Sam and Tucker, he races after them, only to be brutally beaten by Plasmius, who appears and reveals his intention to humiliate Jack as well, before leaving. Danny feels pity for his father and his ineptitude, so he allows himself to be caught to boost his terrible reputation as a ghost hunter. But when Jack leaves to claim his reward, the two are both captured by Vlad who then proceeds to steal their ghost portal. Working together, Jack and Danny escape and head for the Portal, where Vlad brutally insults Jack.
In a moment of rarity, Jack successfully uses the Fenton Ghost Gloves to beat Vlad and throws him into the Ghost Zone. A humiliated Vlad soon turns gleeful when he obtains the Key shortly afterwards.[13] The Skeleton Key was put to use later when Vlad winds up releasing the ghost king Pariah Dark when he tries to steal the king's treasures: the "Crown of Fire" and the "Ring of Rage."[14]
To combat the king, Vlad and Danny call a temporary truce and fight off Pariah's forces. Vlad also reveals to Valerie that he was the one who gave her the equipment to fight ghosts. Vlad ultimately locks Pariah Dark back into his sarcophagus prison just as Danny, armed with the Ecto-Skeleton, passes out from the exertion of using it to force Pariah back inside of it. Taking advantage of the situation, Vlad steals the Ecto-Skeleton, and claims to Maddie and Jack that he rescued Danny to worm his way back into their good graces.[14]
In an alternate future, Danny, orphaned upon the death of his family and friends, moves in with Vlad, seeing as he was "the only person left on the planet who could possibly hope to understand his situation." Vlad takes him in with open arms and honors his wishes when a seriously depressed and desperate Danny begs Vlad to remove his ghost half from him, claiming that the memory of it causes him too much pain.[15]
During the process, Danny's ghost half becomes enraged, and turns on Vlad, tearing Vlad's ghost half away from his human half and inadvertently merging him with it as he goes to attack the other ghost. With evil having completely consumed him, Danny/Vlad's ghost then proceeds to kill the human Danny, destroy Vlad's mansion, and begin a 10 year-long rampage of world destruction while the human Vlad just barely escaped.
Danny meets the now-repentant Vlad of the future.
When the present-day Danny, trapped in the future due to the future evil Dan fusing a Time Medallion within him, arrives in what is left of Vlad's mansion, he finds Vlad, now reduced to a miserable old hermit. The only good that came out of this, he says, is that ten years without ghost powers has given him time to realize what a fool he had been.
In a rare moment for himself, Vlad shows repentance for his misdeeds. Vlad ultimately played a part in returning present-day Danny back to the past to correct his mistake by removing the medallion from within him.[15]
However this future is erased and Vlad's next big plan has him hiring Skulker to steal various materials to improve the stolen Ecto-Skeleton's power. When Danny's sister, Jazz, arrives with the intent to move in with him, because her father's "an idiot," Vlad wastes no time in convincing Jack and Maddie to let her stay a while. However, he does not realize that Jazz's true motive is to investigate him and his possible connection to Skulker's thefts in secret.[16]
Vlad starts getting suspicious when Jazz is found sneaking around in his lab, and orders Jazz to prove her loyalty by putting her in the ecto-skeleton and ordering her to destroy her brother, unless she wanted to get destroyed herself. Danny and Jazz, however, get the last laugh by outsmarting Vlad by means of staging a mock battle, escaping while he is confused, and setting the Ecto-Skeleton to self-destruct.
At one point, Vlad comes down with another outbreak of lethal ecto-acne. Infecting Sam and Tucker with the same disease, he blackmails Danny into helping him. Taking a different route, Danny convinced Clockwork to send him to the past to save Vlad from getting hit by the Porto-Portal blast, this change of events ensuring a future without Vlad Plasmius. However, due to Danny's interference with the past, Jack accidentally got caught in the blast and Jack becomes infected with the ecto-acne and ultimately becomes an angry, bitter "Jack Plasmius."[7]
In this "alternate present," Vlad is married to Maddie, has become the new Wisconsin Dairy King, and supposedly lives as a simple dairy farmer. Just like in the original present, though, he is still a very controlling individual, as he forbids his wife Maddie from continuing her ghost research. He also lies to her by telling her that Jack had blamed her for the accident and never wants to see her again.
Danny tells her the truth in that it was not true and that Jack still loves her, making her enraged that Vlad had lied to her. When Vlad eventually discovers Maddie's secret basement lab, he’s shocked to see Jack still alive and crazy in love with Maddie. He blasts at him out of jealousy, possibly killing him.
Angry, Maddie quickly throws him into the Ghost Zone. Danny returns to Clockwork's lair afterwards where he changes the past back to the way it originally was. Gaining knowledge of a cure from the past, Danny tells his parents, who are able to cure Vlad, Tucker and Sam afterwards.[7]
Desperation[]
Vlad eventually takes drastic and desperate measures when he tries to create a clone of Danny (getting various samples of Danny's DNA secretly from their battles, in addition to his battles with Valerie).[10]
He managed to spawn a few imperfect versions (due to the lack of a mid-morph sample from Danny), including Dani Phantom, a slightly younger, female version of Danny. He eventually uses her in helping to capture Danny himself.
However, Danielle betrays Vlad after seeing who her "father" truly was, a man who didn’t care at all about her and saw her as nothing more than a tool. Siding with her "cousin" Danny, the two attack Vlad, causing him to actually collide with the main, "primary" clone, destroying him. Gravely upset over the loss of his most stable creation, Vlad was seconds away from killing Danielle if not for Danny's ghostly wail, Sam and Tucker's timely rescue, and Danielle's own insertion.[10]
Politics and new grounds[]
"Whenever there's a draw, there's bound to be a rematch..."
After a series of immature pranks between Vlad and Danny, the former runs for mayor of Amity Park, winning by overshadowing the voters and making them choose him. He then makes life miserable for Danny by banning technology and Danny Phantom, installing school uniforms, and tearing down the Nasty Burger to make way for a new restaurant, "McMasters," from which teenagers are banned.[2]
Danny eventually apologizes for his pranks, but Vlad refuses to stop ruining his life, leading Danny to try and announce to the public that Masters and Plasmius are the same.
This fails when a Plasmius double appears in front of Danny, the public and a human Vlad Masters. While the duplicate and Danny fight, Vlad, trying to make himself look good in public, attempts to kill his Plasmius double until Danny overshadows it and flies him to Vlad's limo just as the mayor opens fire. Pulled from the wreckage is an injured Danny Fenton, and an angry public blames Vlad for hurting an innocent child. As a result, he goes into damage-control mode and turns everything back to normal, his battle with Danny far from over.[2]
Vlad later steals the famed "Infi-Map" from Danny and his friends, who had gotten the map earlier from Frostbite. This powerful ghostly map takes the user to any part of the Ghost Zone that they want to go to instantly, and Vlad feels that he can use it to take over the realm. Danny and his friends get involved in a wild goose chase through various portals opening all over the world and throughout various time periods to bring the map back.[3]
They eventually succeed when the map leads Vlad to the realm of the "Far Frozen," where Frostbite, along with his people, freeze him. It is also revealed in this episode that Vlad owns a cat fittingly named Maddie, a suggestion Danny made in an earlier episode to spite his loneliness.[3]
To further his appeal as mayor, Vlad disguises a barometer that controls the weather ghost Vortex as his "rain machine" to bring rain upon Amity Park's recent drought. The plan later backfires when Vortex rebels and the barometer breaks, causing him to go on a rampage on Earth and accidentally transfers his own set of weather powers to Danny, which are triggered by his emotions.[17]
Vlad tries to keep Danny calm and happy at all times so that it remains sunny, while Sam and Tucker scope Vortex out and bring him back to Amity Park, where he is defeated by Danny. Vlad blames the whole mess on Danny Phantom in public.[17] Vlad made a cameo[18] on a billboard before Undergrowth attacked. He also made a cameo when the Fentons moved next door to him when they briefly became extremely wealthy, and as one of the ghostly villain Nocturn's sleeping victims.[19]
Upon Danielle's return, Vlad hires Valerie to capture her for him. With her under his possession once again, he planned to dissolve her entire body to study her remains in order to create a better, more functional clone. Danny, managing to gain help from a hesitant Valerie, stops him in time, saves Dani's life and warns Vlad to leave her be.[20]
Final Fall[]
After yet another embarrassing defeat, this time in space, Vlad finally had enough of Danny Phantom and was planning on finishing off his young foe once and for all, as a result, Vlad hires a new team of ghost hunters, the "Masters' Blasters," to replace and humiliate Danny, in what he hopes will cause the boy to stop his ghost hunting permanently.[21]
When an asteroid gets knocked towards Earth, which was caused by Vlad's satellite having an accidental explosion, he sees an opportunity for world domination and after sending both Jack and his Masters Blasters to space on a premeditated failed mission to destroy the Disasteroid, Vlad reveals his dual identity to the world through a press conference and proposes to stop the asteroid from destroying Earth by making the asteroid intangible, in exchange for 500 billion dollars and being made absolute ruler of the entire world.
Vlad Plasmius reveals himself.
However, after his demands are met and Vlad intends to carry out his part of the deal, he discovered too late after a painful shock that the asteroid was composed entirely of an anti-ghost element called Ecto-ranium, making it so all ghosts, including him, could never touch it, and therefore could not make it intangible.
Unable to save the planet or return home, due to the fact that he would be forever hunted now that he had revealed his secret identity and held the entire planet hostage, realizing that now more than ever he needed Jack's help, Vlad begged him to let him aboard the Fenton Rocket, but now knowing of Vlad's true nature and irrevocably seeing that the Vlad Masters he knew was gone, Jack shunned his former friend by abandoning Vlad in space, dooming him to eternally roam the universe alone. Due to him not having the desire to see the planet's destruction at the hand of his actions, Vlad guiltily saw the Earth one last time before flying away, showing that deep down he did have a heart. But it was too little, too late. His actions had forever earned him eternal hatred from the world.
Vlad finally accepts his loneliness.
After the Earth is saved by Danny, Vlad is shown sitting alone on a small asteroid, finally coming to terms with his eternal solitude as a "free-roaming space nomad" before being struck by the Disasteroid, after which his fate remains unknown. However, Butch Hartman has revealed that he survived as he drew a 10 years later version of Vlad.
Graphic novel[]
Danny Phantom: A Glitch in Time[]
As a result of his actions during the events of the series finale, Vlad unsurprisingly became the most hated man on the planet. Vlad eventually made his way to the Ghost Zone to meet Clockwork in the hopes that he would be allowed to travel back in time and undo his mistakes, therefore; preventing his exile. But despite going as far as to beg, Clockwork had refused to help him, calling him out for having had many chances to correct his behavior in the past. In desperation, Vlad attacks Clockwork only to accidentally push over and shatter the Fenton Thermos containing Dark Danny, freeing him. Dark Danny then subdued Clockwork and merged; with him to gain his powers well Vlad just fled from the powerful new ghost.
As Dark Danny began using his new powers to cause all of time and space to begin collapsing, Vlad had no choice; but to seek out Danny Phantom for help to stop him.
However, the canonicity of such events are still up for debate, where some insist they are, but others not, especially as the events of the graphic contradicts the “10 years later” video by Butch Hartman.
Appearance[]
As a human, Vlad has white hair that according to Bitter Reunions, turned white as the result of his DNA being infused with ectoplasm. However, in Masters of All Time, it's shown that even without the accident he'd end up having a white hair in the current time. It's possible that while currently his hair color is caused by his half-ghost DNA, he himself may suffer from Canities Subita (also known as Thomas More/Marie Antoinette Syndrome), which would result in his hair turning white without half-ghost DNA.
His hair is tied into a ponytail and he has a matching goatee. However, he has black eyebrows and a pointed nose. He has midnight blue eyes and his eyes are heavily outlined in black, showing his dark nature and implying that he maybe wears eyeliner. He typically wears a black suit with a red handkerchief in his left breast pocket and a matching red bolo tie. The suit has three rows of white buttons, a total of six. He also wears a white undershirt and black pointed shoes.
In his alter-ego of Vlad Plasmius, he retains little resemblance to his human form, although some features remain the same. Plasmius is more vampiric than Masters, as this was the producer's original intention, although it was rebuked by Nickelodeon, who considered it too "occult." He is more muscular in this form and has sky-blue skin and fangs. His hair is black and styled in a horn-like U-shape, and he has a black goatee. He wears a mostly white outfit consisting of white trousers and a white long-sleeved shirt with black gloves and boots. His shirt is connected via a black belt and stems up to his neck. There is a black collar on his shirt like Danny's, although it does not extend up the neck. Finally, he accessorizes with a high collar cape connected around his neck that has a white exterior and a red interior lining.
Personality[]
Vlad petting his cat Maddie.
Vlad's general outer appearance showcases him as a well to-do man: rich, suave, clever, intelligent and mysterious. He’s very methodical in getting what he wants whenever he wants it, showcasing patience as well as cunning. Deceitful and cruel, Vlad is perfectly willing to use any underhanded method to obtain his desires and he possesses no qualms about resorting to such things as kidnapping and attempted murder.
He is not above using others as his pawns in achieving his goals, as was shown when he infected Sam and Tucker with ecto-acne to get Danny to help him with his own case. Never giving up when he is down, to compensate for his losses, Vlad savors small, personal victories, such as in "Bitter Reunions" where he lost the battle, but proudly pointed out Danny's blackmailing being similar to his before leaving.
He usually works alone, but has required help from Skulker several times, as well as the vulture ghosts, ectopuses, and the failed clones. In "Reign Storm," while gloating to Danny, he said he "...used two 14-year-old pawns to turn a knight and topple a king," implying that he may have struck a deal with the Fright Knight. However, while the show never showed it come to play officially, it may have perhaps extended to Dark Danny.
Vlad is also known to hold a grudge for years. Part of the reason he hates Jack so much is due to all the humiliation and personal injury Jack has caused him over the years, blaming Jack for having caused the accident which saw Vlad become infected with ectoplasm and saw Vlad lose the opportunity to confess to and make Maddie his. (Indeed, Maddie and Jack were most likely prohibited from visiting Vlad as the doctors were unsure as to the exact nature of his condition and couldn't risk anyone seeing him lest it proved to be contagious.) When under stress, he frequently shouts out snack names ("Oh, butter biscuits," "Oh, sugar cookies," etc.) and is known for losing his temper quite easily.
Vlad enraged.
While Vlad is, at heart, cruel, sadistic, malicious, greedy, self-serving, petty, vindictive, obsessive and power-hungry, he’s also a complicated soul. Often a double-edged sword, he uses the wrong methods (killing, stealing, etc.) to gain what he thinks is right, namely in order to fill his painful loneliness.
This includes getting love that he’s never allowed himself to have blaming his life-altering incident rather than his own personal faults: Maddie, who he believes should have been his and the fact he wanted no else, and Danny, a potential son who also struggles with ghost powers.[22] Unfortunately, this longing is also used against him when his emotions leave him vulnerable, Danny, Maddie and Jazz having tricked him with it.
However, the fact that he retains such emotions shows that he is not above redemption. His arrogance has also proven to be a significant disadvantage; on one occasion when he fought Jack as Plasmius—Jack, naturally, being unaware of his identity as Vlad Masters—part of the reason for his defeat was the fact that he underestimated Jack's ability to successfully battle him and launch effective attacks.
Additionally, he can become too overconfident about his plans, only to ruin them because of his own short temper and inability to think some aspects of his plan through. By the time of his downfall at the end of the series, Vlad has come to realize the foolishness of his actions, contemplating his lonely future away from Earth.
Relationships[]
Danny Fenton/Danny Phantom[]
Quite possibly the one whom he desires the most (perhaps more so than even Maddie), Vlad's first meeting with Danny was nothing special, up until he discovered that the boy was a half-ghost, just like him. With that knowledge, Vlad has since pursued Danny, trying to convince him to renounce his father, and become his adopted son/successor. Later in the series, he becomes so desperate and angry that he attempts to clone Danny, which does not quite work out.
Danny has nothing but disdain/unfriendliness towards Vlad mostly because he recognizes Vlad as a hopelessly deluded, cruel, arrogant, manipulative and a genuine jerk. However, often he tries to use Danny in order to get another phase of his plan(s) moving and is not above being manipulative towards him.
Yet, the other side of his personality shows an antagonistic paternal bond towards the boy, giving him advice and indicating that the two of them are a lot more alike than Danny cares to admit. By the time of "Eye for an Eye," after losing his possibly only chance to have Danny when Danny's clone is destroyed, Vlad sees Danny as a full-time rival rather out of frustration. Additionally, once in a while at least, Vlad will ally himself with Danny whenever the situation requires it; such as seen in "Reign Storm" when Pariah Dark sent his minions to attack Amity Park, Danny and Vlad (along with Valerie) fought against them.
Dani Phantom[]
Created as one of Vlad's many failed attempts to clone Danny, Danielle "Dani" Phantom was the only one of his clones blessed with a mind of her own, the ability to think for herself, an individual personality, the closest he came to successfully cloning Danny. Dani genuinely loved Vlad as her father.
However, Vlad still saw her as a failed experiment that he would later dispose of, and his paternal behavior was feigned for the time being until he finished the primary clone. Vlad convinces her that if she captured Danny Phantom, he could use his "mid-morph" DNA to help stabilize her, and she agrees. However, Dani discovers the primary clone and what her "father" intended to do with her afterwards. She was heartbroken, grew to hate Vlad, and sided with Danny against him. They destroy all of Vlad's clones and leave him. Some time later, Vlad discovers Dani had returned and has Valerie capture her.
Vlad intended to resume his cloning experiments by melting Danielle down and study her ectoplasmic remains in order to see how she survived for so long. Valerie and Danny arrived just in time to save her, and Dani promptly beat down Vlad.
Ironically, if Vlad had treated Dani as he would have with Danny or the primary clone, he would have succeeded in creating the loving family he wanted.
Jazz Fenton[]
At first, Vlad often overlooks Jazz as he’s aware that she knows nothing about Danny's–and by extension, his own–half-ghost status, and therefore is hardly an immediate threat to his plans. However, as he wishes to take Maddie from Jack and replace him as Danny and Jazz's father, he still treats Jazz with a certain degree of affection.
This changes in "Secret Weapons" when Jazz tricks him by using his emotions against him and revealing that she knows about his secret identity. After that, Jazz becomes another rival to him.
Maddie Fenton[]
The woman whom he desires, Vlad has repeatedly declared that he’s in love with her and will do anything to get her, meaning having to kill Jack, who serves as an obstacle. Obsessed with her, his alternate self owned and controlled her like an object rather than a person.[7]
Vlad also owns a Maddie hologram to compliment him on his work (though one version falls in love with a Jack hologram). Maddie is indifferent to Vlad after his confession about his love for her and continues to harbor mixed feelings towards him, even after he apparently rescued Danny in "Reign Storm."
By the last episode, she considers him deplorable when he reveals his true nature and blackmails the nations of the world. Ultimately by doing this, Vlad loses any ounce of respect Maddie barely still had for him.
Jack Fenton[]
Vlad and Jack in a yearbook flashback.
Jack was once Vlad's best friend in college, but his accidental ghost portal mistake and marriage to Maddie has left Vlad bitter. His hate for Jack is ironic, as Jack's accident was the catalyst for Vlad's success and wealth, but it is likely the great humiliation and personal injury Jack caused that makes Vlad continuously hold enmity to him.
While Jack is oblivious to Vlad's hatred, Vlad has taken it upon himself to try to humiliate and kill Jack whenever the opportunity arises, only to typically be thwarted by Danny. Eventually, Vlad reveals himself as a half-ghost to the world and blackmails all the nations for money and power in return for saving the earth from an approaching asteroid—shocking and overwhelming Jack.
Despite Jack's constant apologizing and trying to understand Vlad's contempt, Vlad denied his pleas even stating he will make Maddie his queen, as he coldly flies off while in space. This despicable statement infuriates Jack. However, when Vlad realizes that he would be unable to stop the asteroid from colliding with Earth, Vlad begs Jack to let him aboard the spaceship he is in, to which he is coldly denied by the latter who sees his real colors and left him stranded in space.
Afterward, Vlad realized that his actions had destroyed his last friendship and connection to Earth, which showed he finally understood that he had taken Jack's friendship for granted and express remorse on his treatment. This is best exemplified in their final interaction in "Phantom Planet":
Vlad: "You wouldn't turn your back on an old friend, would you?"
Jack: "An old friend, no. You? Yes."
Valerie Gray[]
She was given her ghost-hunting gear by Vlad and has since used it to her fullest ability until "Flirting With Disaster," in which the suit was destroyed and replaced by Technus. Unbeknownst to her, Valerie's suit served to spy on Danny and his ghost powers, which Vlad would then use to create the perfect clone. It seems Valerie is impressed and respectful towards Vlad, obviously not knowing of his true intentions.
She eventually finds out he is half-ghost; angry by his deception she vows to hunt him down.[20] He referred to Valerie's ghost hunter persona as a "crack-pot" on a news broadcast in the last episode, hinting that Valerie may have already made moves against him.
Sam Manson and Tucker Foley[]
Although Vlad's relationship with Danny's best friends Sam and Tucker isn't explored as much as his relationship with Danny it's clear neither Sam or Tucker are friends with nor trust Vlad, being Danny's arch nemesis and it's also clear Vlad sees them as another one of his enemies.
Ghost allies[]
One of the ghosts he primarily employs to do various odds and ends for him (stealing, kidnapping, etc.) is Skulker, which he does willingly in exchange for better equipment. The vulture ghosts also frequent as Vlad's hench-ghosts, weak, but usually reliable. It may be possible that there are other ghosts that work for Vlad. Vlad has apparently hired the Fright Knight to serve him and at one point, obtained the services of a weather-controlling ghost named Vortex briefly.
Dark Danny[]
Vlad accidentally helped in the birth of Danny's alternate evil incarnation, which ultimately led to him living as a recluse hermit, powerless when Dark Danny stripped him of his ghost powers and assimilated them. Dark Danny ultimately seeks Vlad's ghost portal in order to destroy it and presumably him as well. In the game, Dark Danny comes to Vlad in the present to assure that the accident happens when he is defeated, while in the graphic novel “A Glitch In Time” Vlad was horrified to learn that he is responsible for his creation in an alternative timeline.
Powers and abilities[]
Ghost powers[]
- Human-Ghost Physiology: Vlad has all the same powers that Danny has, but his powers are far more developed. He is able to perform many techniques that Danny has yet to learn, such as Duplication (which Danny did not master until "Torrent of Terror."), and for all the feats that Danny can perform, Vlad can perform them better, possibly due to the 20-year experience in which he has had more time to develop new abilities, improve his existing ones, and patch up any weaknesses he might have, but Danny is slowly catching up to him. At the same time, however, Vlad seems to lack several powers; like Danny's Ghostly Wail and doesn't have Ghost Sense or by extension, hasn't developed Cryokinesis as Danny later gain, possibly as a result of being less exposed to the energies that gave the two their powers than Danny was. Vlad's powers eventually grew (creating more duplicates of himself, an Ecto-Twister, etc.) It is possible the reason Vlad increased in power a bit through the series is that he never really had any worthy opponents to train to defeat until he became Danny's archenemy. Even then, because of Danny's own training, he starts losing more often.
- Going Ghost: When Vlad transforms, black rings (as opposed to Danny's, which are blue-white) extend from his waist and pass over his body. Unlike Danny, Vlad does not have a battle cry. Vlad's ghost form is similar to a vampire, unlike Danny who just has a "negative image" of himself. The reason for this is that Vlad Dracula from Romania was thought to be a "vampire" for his blood lust, therefore, when they're names crossed the makers decided him to be a vampire. While in his ghost form he can use all his ghost powers. Like Danny, Vlad has also shown that he can make his blue eyes glow red, when angered, to use some of his ghost powers. His rings were only blue-white in "Maternal Instincts" when Danny used the Plasmius Maximus to short-circuit his powers.
- Intangibility & Invisibility: Standard ghost power. Vlad can phase through solid objects and turn invisible to be seen by others. He has used this often to steal money before the start of the series. As with other ghosts, however, he can still get hurt when intangible when other ghosts are so as well, and Anti-ghost gadgets that can get past it.
- Flight: Standard ghost power. Vlad can fly, float, and hover, presumably at the same speed as Danny. This is never noticeably seen before or again as Vlad does not use flying as an advantage as much as Danny does. He can even fly in his human form. Vlad’s lower half became a wispy tail as he quickly tries to escape Pariah Dark. As well as Duplication and Teleportation this is one of Vlad most often used abilities.
- Overshadowing: Standard ghost power. Vlad can overshadow other people to control their actions. He has used this ability to increase his wealth by possessing rich tycoons to make them give their companies to him. He also used this in Eye for an Eye on multiple people to vote for him for mayor.
- Superhuman Strength: He was much stronger than Danny during their first several encounters. In "The Million Dollar Ghost," he punched away the Behemoth with ease, though he didn't hurt him and he used an Energy Strike. However, we can assume that his strength is about 40 to 50 tons. Even after been weakened by having duplicated himself in hundreds of duplicates, he was still strong enough to punch Danny hard enough to pierce through a brick wall.
- Superhuman Durability: He is highly resistant to all forms of external physical damage. He is able to withstand higher amounts of damage than Danny. In his ghost form, Vlad's body is incredibly resistant to damage, and he also has demonstrated a high threshold for pain. His ghost tissues and bones are considerably harder and more resistant to physical injury than those of an ordinary human. A noticeable example of this is in Kindred Spirits where he was hit by Danny's Ghostly Wail, only being knocked back and momentarily without showing signs of the attack hurting him.
- Superhuman Stamina: He can exert himself at peak capacity for hours before fatigue begins to impair him.
- Superhuman Endurance: Vlad can endure attacks much more than an ordinary human. A great example is Vlad briefly (for only a second) held against Danny's Ghostly Wail before being blown back and forced to revert to human form.
- Superhuman Healing: Vlad can be able to regenerate quickly like Danny. When Pariah Dark effortlessly knocked out both Vlad and Danny, who both healed very quickly in a small period of time.
- Superhuman Agility: In his ghost form, Vlad's agility, balance, and bodily coordination are enhanced to levels beyond those of a normal human being.
- Superhuman Reflexes: Vlad has dramatically enhanced reflexes, being able to dodge attacks with ease. His reflexes are heightened in a similar manner and are, likewise, are superior to those of the finest human athlete. Given that he also outclassed Danny in this regard, one could argue that he is faster than most ghosts as well.
- Spectral Body Manipulation: Vlad is able to contort his ghost body into any position he desires. Vlad’s lower half became a wispy tail as he quickly tries to escape Pariah Dark.
- Duplication: Vlad can split his body into duplicates that share all of his ghost powers. This is his most often-used and most advantageous technique. He manages to create over a hundred shadows of him that possessed many people to make them vote for him in the city mayor elections. Creating that many duplicates still weakened Vlad to the point where Danny could easily defeat him in combat and seem to indicate that there might not be a limit to the number of duplicates that he or possibly Danny would be able to create. It's been shown that when Vlad creates a duplicate, he can make them invisible in the process. He can also transform back to his human form while forming a ghost duplicate of himself, which explains how he's been able to get away with some events that may link directly to his footsteps.
- Teleportation: Vlad vanishes/disappear from one location and reappears elsewhere by wrapping his cape around him and vanishing into a cloud of green or pink mist.
- Ecto-Energy Manipulation: Vlad can manipulate his innate ecto-energy in various ways.
- Ghost Ray: His blast consists of pink ectoplasm; however, he is seen using green, turquoise, violet, and blue blasts as well. His blue ghost rays are his weakest ones. He can also fire his ghost rays from his eyes in human or ghost form and fire them in the form of explosive disks. His full-powered ghost ray is enough powerful to dig a crate of 4 meters.
- Energy Strike: Vlad can channel ecto-energy through his fists to enhance the strength of his physical attacks. With this power, Vlad can punch the Behemoth away which fighting him or punch through a solid concrete on a street and break it.
- Ecto-Energy Constructs: Vlad can create solid objects with ectoplasmic energy, such as shields to nooses/ropes, a racket, and a cage[13] or a sword capable of great damage.[3] He can also trap others in ectoplasmic bubbles which are a dome-shaped Ghost Shield.
- Ghost Shield: His shield consists of pink or green ectoplasm. His shields can block or even reflect enemy attacks. He has been shown to shape his shield in the form of a wall, a barrier, or a mirror shield/reflecting shield that can reflect any attack, including physical attacks. He can create a ghost shield shaped like a dome to protect himself from explosions.
- Energy Absorption: Vlad can absorb an opponent's ghost rays/energy attacks from his enemies and redirect them back at his opponent, use them as his own. This is considered one of the rarest Ghost Powers for any ghost or half-ghost. Though he's the only ghost/half-ghost in the series to be known having this power. For unknown reasons he only used this power once.
- Power Augmentation: He can temporarily increase his physical strength. He once used this to become strong enough to break out of the Fenton Ghost Fisher.[13] He also used this power to escape Danny's snowball in "Phantom Planet".
- Ghost Stinger: Vlad sends out ecto-energy in the form of electricity. Vlad used this attack against Danny to drain his energy to the point where he almost changed back to human form. It is unknown if it will have similar if any, effects on full ghosts.
- Ghost Tornado/Ecto-Twister: By waving his cape around and spinning at high speeds, Vlad can create his own ectoplasmic energy tornado that is similar to a real one. It is capable of cause mass destruction, deflecting any incoming ectoplasmic energy attacks, and causing huge wind gusts that can suck his enemies in and throw them to other places. This is arguably Vlad's most powerful technique and he only used it once in Eye for an Eye.
- Ghost Ray: His blast consists of pink ectoplasm; however, he is seen using green, turquoise, violet, and blue blasts as well. His blue ghost rays are his weakest ones. He can also fire his ghost rays from his eyes in human or ghost form and fire them in the form of explosive disks. His full-powered ghost ray is enough powerful to dig a crate of 4 meters.
- Vacuum Resistance: Like Danny, Vlad has shown to survive a vacuum in outer space and was unaffected by it without any form of protection beyond his normal clothing; all he needed was a helmet connected to an oxygen tank.[21] This is only shown in "Phantom Planet" while trying to stop the Disasteroid and at the beginning when he was on Saturn's rings. Near the end of the episode, he appeared he didn't need the helmet or oxygen tank as he probably needed it to incase he reverted back to human form.
- Self-Sustenance: Despite first entering the voids of space with a helmet and oxygen tank, Vlad was seen sitting on the Disasteroid without said equipment. This indicates that Vlad either: doesn't require oxygen to survive while in his ghost form, or that he can utilize a form of self-sustenance while in his ghost form; either way, Vlad has shown to be capable of surviving in low-pressure, low-temperature environments.
- Paranormal Immunity: As Half-Ghost Vlad is immune or resistant to several effects that can hurt a ghost or a human. Like Danny, he's is immune to some Fenton Ghost Weaponry like the ghost shield when he is in his human form and it's possible that he is immune to some powers meant to affect humans like Ember's music.
- Going Ghost: When Vlad transforms, black rings (as opposed to Danny's, which are blue-white) extend from his waist and pass over his body. Unlike Danny, Vlad does not have a battle cry. Vlad's ghost form is similar to a vampire, unlike Danny who just has a "negative image" of himself. The reason for this is that Vlad Dracula from Romania was thought to be a "vampire" for his blood lust, therefore, when they're names crossed the makers decided him to be a vampire. While in his ghost form he can use all his ghost powers. Like Danny, Vlad has also shown that he can make his blue eyes glow red, when angered, to use some of his ghost powers. His rings were only blue-white in "Maternal Instincts" when Danny used the Plasmius Maximus to short-circuit his powers.
Abilities[]
- Gifted Businessman: Vlad is one of the most shrewd businessmen in the world, a trait that has earned him an immense fortune. However, he is not above using cutthroat tactics, unethical practices, and illegal operations to maintain the success of his business empire; he has admitted to overshadowing other businessmen.
- Insanely Rich/Wealth: One of Vlad's greatest gifts was his wealth. According to his words he "overshadowed enough millionaires to become the richest man on the planet". While this boast might be overstated, he once destroyed his entire castle home, along with everything in it, and casually said, "I can always buy another one," indicating that even spending likely millions of dollars is no issue for him. Prior to the events of "Phantom Planet", Vlad was one of the richest men on the planet but after holding the Earth hostage, it's more than likely that everything he once owned was confiscated, sold, or destroyed.
- Genius-level Intellect: Vlad is one of the most intelligent characters in the series, possibly even more so than Maddie or Jack. He has created hundreds of high-tech ghost-related devices and equipment, created a secret lab better than the Fentons' lab, and improved the Ecto-Skeleton so the suit would not drain or kill the wearer. Furthermore, he managed to find a way to prevent anyone from knowing that he stole money from various businessmen and cover up his own evil deeds while serving as Mayor.
- Master Strategist: Vlad has a cunning mind and, over the series, has developed complicated plans in order to get what he wants such as power or vengeance. However, most of them have been spoiled by Danny's interference and for underestimating his abilities and intelligence or even an unexpected problem. Furthermore, Vlad sometimes lets his ego get in the way resulting in him losing even when Danny was less experienced.
- Experienced Combatant: Vlad is considerably skilled in hand-to-hand combat, as his powers enable him to execute punches and kicks with superhuman force against his opponents. This is mostly due to the fact that he has had 20 years of experience with his powers, and he was considerably more skilled than Danny in their first encounter, effortlessly overwhelming the younger hybrid and knocking him unconscious.
- Swordsmanship: Vlad demonstrates some ability with the sword when fighting Danny in "Infinite Realms."
Equipment[]
- Main article: Vladco
- Ghost Gauntlets: This device with claws to allows its user to separate a ghost from a human, or separate a ghostly object trapped inside somebody. It appeared in "The Ultimate Enemy". Vlad uses these to separate Danny's ghost and human halves. Then, Danny's ghost half steals them, tears out Vlad's ghost half, and fuses with it, becoming Dark Danny. Vlad later uses them to remove a time medallion from Danny's body that Dark Danny had made permanently intangible.
- Plasmius Maximus: The device nullifies spectral energies, completely cancelling a ghost's powers. Its effects only last for three hours. It only appeared in "Maternal Instinct" Vlad uses it on Danny in his Colorado chalet, effectively taking away his ghost powers for three hours until midnight. Vlad then sends his experimental "pets" to chase a human Danny through the woods. At the end of the episode, Danny uses the device on Vlad after he claims that he is still more powerful than his pets even with the Specter Deflector on. This takes away Vlad's ghost powers, and Danny sends his pets after him much like he did earlier to Danny.
- Spectral Energy Neutralizer: This box like device nullifies spectral energies, trapping any ghost it captures. It was designed by Skulker and paid by Vlad. It drains Danny’s powers while he is trapped within it. It appears as a black cube with glowing green circuit patterns all over it. When not in use, it is a small cube. When activated, it enlarges and encases the target, leaving a hole at the top for the target's head, which is left vulnerable. On the side, there is a button that says "open" with a picture of a skull on it. Pushing this button deactivates the cube, returning it to its inert state and freeing the target.
Sightings[]
Season 1
- 107. "Bitter Reunions"
- 110. "Shades of Gray" (no lines)
- 117. "Maternal Instinct"
- 119. "The Million Dollar Ghost"
Season 2
- 201. "Memory Blank" (flashback, no lines)
- 204. "Reign Storm"
- 208. "The Ultimate Enemy"
- 211. "Secret Weapons"
- 212. "Flirting With Disaster" (pictured)
- 216. "Masters of All Time"
- 217. "Kindred Spirits"
Season 3
- 301. "Eye for an Eye"
- 302. "Infinite Realms"
- 303. "Girls' Night Out" (pictured)
- 304. "Torrent of Terror"
- 306. "Urban Jungle" (mentioned)
- 307. "Livin' Large"
- 309. "Frightmare" (no lines)
- 311. "D-Stabilized"
- 312. "Phantom Planet"
10 Years Later[]
Version 1 - Warming up sketch
Version 1
This version is similar to Vlad's design seen in the series, but aged up 10 years. His defining features remain the same: pointed ears, pointed hair, fangs, his cloak, and his gloves. The main difference is that his face is drawn to be more realistic than that seen in the original series.
Version 2
Version 2
In this version, Vlad has successfully created a clone of Danny. Although Vlad has aged 10 years, the Danny clone is 14 years old. The clone is almost identical to Danny except his hair has some white in it because he is a combination of Vlad and the original Danny. Maddie the cat has been replaced by a giant white tiger, since Vlad loves cats but he wanted something larger than a small house cat.
Version 3
Version 3
In this third version, Vlad's design is similar to that seen at a Renaissance Fair. Possibly as a result of his many interactions with the Ghost King, he has changed it outfit to reflect his desire to be a king. This version is a kingly, medieval-ewe version of Vlad.
Version 4
This fourth and final version has a darker background to the story. At the end of Phantom Planet we saw Vlad adrift in space (possibly as a full ghost since he did not have a helmet while in the vacuum of space). However, this version of Vlad was captured by a race of aliens who enslave other alien species, such as using them to mine for various minerals. Even though he is enslaved, Vlad would probably be their most powerful slave, and so his captors would use him for work and sport, in which he would be pitted against other aliens. This image depicts Vlad having escaped his captors, still wearing the clothes from his time in captivity. The icon on his suit is a barcode that was used to identify him. Even if he changes clothes, he does not remove the shackles. He leaves them on to remind him where he's come from. This Vlad is an even greater threat both in his increased hatred and desire for revenge against Danny, as well as having learned from the aliens. He now possesses new skills and possibly technology from his time held captive by the aliens.
Quotes[]
- Main article: Vlad Plasmius/Quotes
Trivia[]
- Vlad was created to be the "Lex Luthor" of the Danny Phantom series.[23] He serves as a contrast to Danny where he has the same powers but is older, more experienced, and richer, purposely meant to give Danny a formidable opponent. A running gag planned during development was that Vlad would lose his manor due to unfortunate luck every other episode.[23]
- Creator Butch Hartman originally conceived of Vlad as a vampire. Vlad's appearance, including his outfit, hairstyle and fangs, greatly resembles popular depictions of Count Dracula. His first name is a reference to "Vlad the Impaler", while his ghost surname, "Plasmius" is doubly a reference to blood plasma and ectoplasm - underlining both the former vampire element and the current ghost connection. Hartman got rid of the vampire idea because he and Nickelodeon thought it was "too occult.[24]
- Vlad's love for the Green Bay Packers was added due to series writer Steve Marmel being a fan of them. Their team color in the show is a reverse gold-and-green to avoid copyright infringement with the actual team.
- Vlad is the main antagonist of the show, which is understandably why he makes the most major appearances (14-15). However, the only exception is Skulker, who actually managed to tie with Vlad in having the most episodes.
- One of Vlad's obsessions outside of Maddie was to acquire the Green Bay Packers. Despite using his ghost powers to bamboozle the world's wealthiest people into signing over their assets to him, it had never occurred to Vlad to attempt this with the rightful owner of the franchise. It could be that Vlad sees acquiring the team through honest means a personal challenge for him that is yet unfulfilled.
- Vlad was Fortunate Magazine's 1997 Man of the Year.[10]
- Vlad was a member of the Skunk Punks alongside Jack in college.[25]
- Vlad lived in Madison, Wisconsin[citation needed] for the first two seasons. He moved to Amity Park during the third season when he abused his ghost powers to cheat in a plebiste to be "elected" mayor.
- Vlad using food names as exclimations is very similar to Mr. Lancer using book titles as exclimations.
- The library in his Colorado chalet has books on knitting, ghosts, and paranormal science.[26]
- Danny once insulted Vlad by saying that if he was so lonely, he should get a cat. Vlad furiously rejected this advice at the time, but in "Infinite Realms," he is shown to now own a cat named Maddie.
- In the same episode, he tells his cat that "If anyone asks, you're my sister's cat" implying he has one, but it's unknown if she's real or if he just made her up in order to not admit that Maddie is his cat.
- Vlad , Walker, Pariah Dark, Fright Knight, Hotep RA, Aragon, Undergrowth and Amorpho are the only known ghost villains not to have been captured in the Fenton Thermos.
- Even though Vlad was never captured in the TV series, he was captured in a video game once. At the end of the video game Nicktoons Unite for the Playstation 2 and Game Cube, Danny reveals that he imprisoned Vlad inside a Fenton Thermos. Though that was done off-screen.
- In a comic, Danny and Vlad swap bodies after Vlad steals an amulet from a dark knight.[27]
- In a video of future concepts for characters, Hartman depicts Plasmius as possibly having been found and enslaved by aliens after the events of "Phantom Planet." He speculates that after ten years of being prisoner, Vlad escaped, yet still wears a broken chain on his wrist and is more driven than ever to get Danny.[28]
- He appears in the mobile game Nickelodeon Pixel Town (only available in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines), you can get him if you merge Tommy from Rugrats and Eliza from The Wild Thornberrys in the memory center.
Gallery[]
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