All About Fenton Crackshell
Jun. 27th, 2019 09:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beancounterWORK IN PROGRESS!
birthday: March 26 (debut of "Super Ducktales").
- - If we assume Fenton is around... 22 [or 23] at his debut (1989), he would have been born in 1967 [1966].
(this would put him on the cusp of Baby Boomers: born 1946-1964 (approx), and Generation X (Gen X): born 1965-1980 (approx) (Someone said people born around the early part/first few years of GenX were called 'Baby Busters', as they 'busted' the boom)
- - - - From this, he would have been 6 [7] when "SuperFriends" cartoon first aired in 1973 (the version with the 'Wonder Twins' came out in 1978; he would have been 11 [12])
- - - If born 1967, he would be Year of the (fire) Sheep/Goat | Year of the Goat (it's really not sounding much like Fenton...)
- - - If born 1966, he would be Year of the (fire) Horse | Year of the Horse
________________ reading quick blurbs of each, Fenton sounds a lot more like a Horse, than a Sheep/Goat... though there are a few Goat traits...
---- just for interest's sake:
-------if born 1965 [24 at debut]: Year of the Snake
-------if born 1965 [25 at debut - also puts him into end-of-cusp Boomer]: Year of the Dragon
(related: Launchpad: September 18 -- Drake/Darkwing: September 6)
He's originally from Fresno, Calisota. He mentions in "My Mother the Psychic" that he won "first prize at the Fantastic Fresno Frisbee Flyoff." As Fresno, CA is LANDLOCKED, in the center of the state... I'm thinking he must have lived there as a kid, and then moved with his mother to Duckburg (perhaps when his father died/divorced/left them?)
Character Motivation & Personality:
Fenton takes a LOT of patience to deal with. A LOT of patience.
There are a couple key aspects to Fenton's (surprisingly complex) personality.
Character Motivation:
In his own words, he wants "status, recognition, a boss who remembers his name". He's looking for success, but has no idea what that means for him, personally. So he tends to go after anything he thinks will advance his career, or raise himself up in the eyes of others. He wants to be respected and looked highly upon for what he does. Again, in his own words, he wants "more" out of life, whatever that happens to be.
Personality:
● He's driven by a desire to succeed/be seen as a "somebody".
─ Fenton is ambitious, with hasty decision making, and looks at the 'big picture', not too concerned with details. This has the tendency to get him into QUITE a bit of trouble.
● Delving into slightly headcanon territory, we don't have any reference to his father except for one throw-away line in "Full Metal Duck". It's not hard to imagine that Fenton grew up with no father figure, and (until the show started), a couch-potato, uninterested-in-anything-other-than-her-TV, unimpressed mother. I feel that this is why he's desperate for attention and affection, and can act clingy when shown that. This is also why he acts with such grand gestures of affention towards Gandra: it took a lot of effort and large displays to get even the smallest sort of reaction from his M'ma as he was growing up, so he feels this is what's needed in any interaction.
● Fenton lacks a formal education. He probably quit school early to get jobs to earn money to support M'ma + himself.
─ perhaps due to his lack of education, he tends to take things literally. For example, when Scrooge mentioned he wanted to keep his assets 'liquid', Fenton thought that meant dumping his money into a lake.
─ Despite this, can be quick to come up with plans and ideas, even if they don't always work out the way he intends them to. If pressured, can think on his feet, come at problems from new angles. He will also doggedly persist against any sort of obstacle or problem until he manages to overcome/fix it.
● Despite the shows of bravado he puts on, he can become extremely self-conscious. His bluster and headstrong determination is a cover for his insecurity over his own skills and abilities.
─ he's become very reliant on the Gizmo suit, and feels very vulnerable, weak, and useless without it. Sometimes he can feel that all that makes him worthy is Gizmoduck, and without it he's just a "simple accountant", not worth much.
─ he definitely feels that being Gizmoduck is the best part about himself. The suit allows him to be a hero, to be popular, and respected by everyone.
─ his confidence gets a huge boost whenever he's in the suit. He's more sure of himself, and his actions, while being Gizmoduck.
● The only people who know that Fenton is Gizmoduck are his M'ma, and Scrooge. There have been moments (especially in later episodes) where one wonders HOW others never clued in to the fact that Fenton was Gizmoduck... or that the writers just seemed to be unaware that it was supposed to be a secret identity. In some episodes you really had to maintain a suspension of disbelief, and accept that some characters were just OBLIVIOUS, in order to keep the whole secret identity thing intact.
Canon Strengths/Weaknesses:
● Strengths:
Fenton has one unique skill, (which is (part of) the reason why he was hired by Scrooge McDuck). He has the ability to count anything, at just a glance, in a matter of seconds. His counts are always accurate, too. If he does happen to be off by a penny for example, it's only because said penny was out of his line of sight. The size or amount of the item he's counting doesn't matter. It can be only a handful of change, or the entire contents of Scrooge's money bin; Fenton can count all of it.
Headcanon: in lieu of his lack of education, Scrooge has taught Fenton how to actually do real accounting, on-the-job. It's still a bit of a work-in-progress...
─ Determination: If there's something he wants, he will doggedly go after it, until he either gets it, or is convinced otherwise. This will cause trouble, but when that happens, he is also determined to put things right, and will keep trying until he succeeds.
─ Friendly: Fenton may be a bit (okay, fairly) self-centered at times, but it's never maliciously intended. He does care about other people, and is generally a cheerful, friendly person.
─ Heroic: Being a hero in the guise of Gizmoduck is a given, but Fenton himself has shown plenty of heroic moments, too. He beat the alien supercomputer MEL with his wits, and rescued Launchpad from drowning (while stuck in the Gizmosuit, long story). He might not think much of Fenton Crackshell, himself, being a hero... but he definitely has that potential within him.
● Weaknesses:
─ Stubborness, impulsivity, & lack of forethought:
"Determination" can be a double-edged sword... for as much as Fenton is stronger for having it, it also leads to a lot of problems. As the flip-side of determination can lead to these three traits.
When Fenton gets one of his hare-brained ideas, it's hard to sway him from the path of destruction he's started down until it's too late. For example, he ignored Gyro's warning that the "Pep" bubble gum wasn't fully tested and went ahead with marketing it. That led to people floating helplessly in the sky, whom he had to rescue as Gizmoduck, as well as a massive recall of the product and full-refunds to everyone that bought it.
─ Lack of education/literal minded/naiveté:
Fenton can be smart in some ways... but in other ways he can be really dumb. He can be easily duped, but more often it's his own ignorance working against him. There was the whole incident with the 'liquid assets', and thinking 'frozen assets' meant freezing the lake. The Beagle Boys were also able to dupe him into using termites to eat away at the dam holding back Scrooge's fortune in the whole lake business.
─ Lack of Confidence in himself:
Outside of the Gizmosuit, Fenton can be very nervous about his own self-worth. He fears being replaced, being useless, or fired. For example, when Scrooge was suffering from anxiety about people constantly wanting his money, they went to the land of Tra-la-la, a land without money. There, Fenton feared that without the need for money his usefulness as an accountant would be redundant and he'd be fired. An offhand comment he made about the rarity of bottlecaps (from Scrooge's medicine) making it valuable, snowballed into the exact situation Scrooge was trying to avoid. Fenton hadn't intended for it to happen, but it was his fears at being redundant that had him poking at the seams of the Tra-la-la society, skeptical that they were as altruistic as they seemed. And that, coupled with his comments about the bottlecaps did not help matters at all.
When he feels useless, when situations like this arise, or if the Gizmoduck suit is incapacitated in any way, Fenton is prone to moping and wallowing in his own misery, often melodramatically, before he's able to pick himself back up and deal with whatever problem (usually self-caused) he's dealing with.
birthday: March 26 (debut of "Super Ducktales").
- - If we assume Fenton is around... 22 [or 23] at his debut (1989), he would have been born in 1967 [1966].
(this would put him on the cusp of Baby Boomers: born 1946-1964 (approx), and Generation X (Gen X): born 1965-1980 (approx) (Someone said people born around the early part/first few years of GenX were called 'Baby Busters', as they 'busted' the boom)
- - - - From this, he would have been 6 [7] when "SuperFriends" cartoon first aired in 1973 (the version with the 'Wonder Twins' came out in 1978; he would have been 11 [12])
- - - If born 1967, he would be Year of the (fire) Sheep/Goat | Year of the Goat (it's really not sounding much like Fenton...)
- - - If born 1966, he would be Year of the (fire) Horse | Year of the Horse
________________ reading quick blurbs of each, Fenton sounds a lot more like a Horse, than a Sheep/Goat... though there are a few Goat traits...
---- just for interest's sake:
-------if born 1965 [24 at debut]: Year of the Snake
-------if born 1965 [25 at debut - also puts him into end-of-cusp Boomer]: Year of the Dragon
(related: Launchpad: September 18 -- Drake/Darkwing: September 6)
He's originally from Fresno, Calisota. He mentions in "My Mother the Psychic" that he won "first prize at the Fantastic Fresno Frisbee Flyoff." As Fresno, CA is LANDLOCKED, in the center of the state... I'm thinking he must have lived there as a kid, and then moved with his mother to Duckburg (perhaps when his father died/divorced/left them?)
Character Motivation & Personality:
Fenton takes a LOT of patience to deal with. A LOT of patience.
There are a couple key aspects to Fenton's (surprisingly complex) personality.
Character Motivation:
In his own words, he wants "status, recognition, a boss who remembers his name". He's looking for success, but has no idea what that means for him, personally. So he tends to go after anything he thinks will advance his career, or raise himself up in the eyes of others. He wants to be respected and looked highly upon for what he does. Again, in his own words, he wants "more" out of life, whatever that happens to be.
Personality:
● He's driven by a desire to succeed/be seen as a "somebody".
─ Fenton is ambitious, with hasty decision making, and looks at the 'big picture', not too concerned with details. This has the tendency to get him into QUITE a bit of trouble.
● Delving into slightly headcanon territory, we don't have any reference to his father except for one throw-away line in "Full Metal Duck". It's not hard to imagine that Fenton grew up with no father figure, and (until the show started), a couch-potato, uninterested-in-anything-other-than-her-TV, unimpressed mother. I feel that this is why he's desperate for attention and affection, and can act clingy when shown that. This is also why he acts with such grand gestures of affention towards Gandra: it took a lot of effort and large displays to get even the smallest sort of reaction from his M'ma as he was growing up, so he feels this is what's needed in any interaction.
● Fenton lacks a formal education. He probably quit school early to get jobs to earn money to support M'ma + himself.
─ perhaps due to his lack of education, he tends to take things literally. For example, when Scrooge mentioned he wanted to keep his assets 'liquid', Fenton thought that meant dumping his money into a lake.
─ Despite this, can be quick to come up with plans and ideas, even if they don't always work out the way he intends them to. If pressured, can think on his feet, come at problems from new angles. He will also doggedly persist against any sort of obstacle or problem until he manages to overcome/fix it.
● Despite the shows of bravado he puts on, he can become extremely self-conscious. His bluster and headstrong determination is a cover for his insecurity over his own skills and abilities.
─ he's become very reliant on the Gizmo suit, and feels very vulnerable, weak, and useless without it. Sometimes he can feel that all that makes him worthy is Gizmoduck, and without it he's just a "simple accountant", not worth much.
─ he definitely feels that being Gizmoduck is the best part about himself. The suit allows him to be a hero, to be popular, and respected by everyone.
─ his confidence gets a huge boost whenever he's in the suit. He's more sure of himself, and his actions, while being Gizmoduck.
● The only people who know that Fenton is Gizmoduck are his M'ma, and Scrooge. There have been moments (especially in later episodes) where one wonders HOW others never clued in to the fact that Fenton was Gizmoduck... or that the writers just seemed to be unaware that it was supposed to be a secret identity. In some episodes you really had to maintain a suspension of disbelief, and accept that some characters were just OBLIVIOUS, in order to keep the whole secret identity thing intact.
Canon Strengths/Weaknesses:
● Strengths:
Fenton has one unique skill, (which is (part of) the reason why he was hired by Scrooge McDuck). He has the ability to count anything, at just a glance, in a matter of seconds. His counts are always accurate, too. If he does happen to be off by a penny for example, it's only because said penny was out of his line of sight. The size or amount of the item he's counting doesn't matter. It can be only a handful of change, or the entire contents of Scrooge's money bin; Fenton can count all of it.
Headcanon: in lieu of his lack of education, Scrooge has taught Fenton how to actually do real accounting, on-the-job. It's still a bit of a work-in-progress...
─ Determination: If there's something he wants, he will doggedly go after it, until he either gets it, or is convinced otherwise. This will cause trouble, but when that happens, he is also determined to put things right, and will keep trying until he succeeds.
─ Friendly: Fenton may be a bit (okay, fairly) self-centered at times, but it's never maliciously intended. He does care about other people, and is generally a cheerful, friendly person.
─ Heroic: Being a hero in the guise of Gizmoduck is a given, but Fenton himself has shown plenty of heroic moments, too. He beat the alien supercomputer MEL with his wits, and rescued Launchpad from drowning (while stuck in the Gizmosuit, long story). He might not think much of Fenton Crackshell, himself, being a hero... but he definitely has that potential within him.
● Weaknesses:
─ Stubborness, impulsivity, & lack of forethought:
"Determination" can be a double-edged sword... for as much as Fenton is stronger for having it, it also leads to a lot of problems. As the flip-side of determination can lead to these three traits.
When Fenton gets one of his hare-brained ideas, it's hard to sway him from the path of destruction he's started down until it's too late. For example, he ignored Gyro's warning that the "Pep" bubble gum wasn't fully tested and went ahead with marketing it. That led to people floating helplessly in the sky, whom he had to rescue as Gizmoduck, as well as a massive recall of the product and full-refunds to everyone that bought it.
─ Lack of education/literal minded/naiveté:
Fenton can be smart in some ways... but in other ways he can be really dumb. He can be easily duped, but more often it's his own ignorance working against him. There was the whole incident with the 'liquid assets', and thinking 'frozen assets' meant freezing the lake. The Beagle Boys were also able to dupe him into using termites to eat away at the dam holding back Scrooge's fortune in the whole lake business.
─ Lack of Confidence in himself:
Outside of the Gizmosuit, Fenton can be very nervous about his own self-worth. He fears being replaced, being useless, or fired. For example, when Scrooge was suffering from anxiety about people constantly wanting his money, they went to the land of Tra-la-la, a land without money. There, Fenton feared that without the need for money his usefulness as an accountant would be redundant and he'd be fired. An offhand comment he made about the rarity of bottlecaps (from Scrooge's medicine) making it valuable, snowballed into the exact situation Scrooge was trying to avoid. Fenton hadn't intended for it to happen, but it was his fears at being redundant that had him poking at the seams of the Tra-la-la society, skeptical that they were as altruistic as they seemed. And that, coupled with his comments about the bottlecaps did not help matters at all.
When he feels useless, when situations like this arise, or if the Gizmoduck suit is incapacitated in any way, Fenton is prone to moping and wallowing in his own misery, often melodramatically, before he's able to pick himself back up and deal with whatever problem (usually self-caused) he's dealing with.
