@altshroom - Tumblr Blog

Danny Phantom Randomness (Principal Masters)

Not sure if this idea has been used in the phandom before, probably not since it’s a pretty common for the principal of a school in a cartoon to be the antagonist in some way, but I thought I’d share it anyways. So here’s what I’m thinking. Personally I think it would have made a lot more sense for Vlad to switch tactics and double down on trying to win Danny over instead of going full cookie-cutter-bad-guy-that-wants-to-rule-the-world after cloning him failed which would make him realize that his little badger really is one of a kind and what he has can’t be replicated.

Up until this point Vlad’s been making Danny’s life more difficult instead of easier which was his whole sales pitch when they first met…

Vlad: Daniel, stop. Think about the things I could show you, the doors I could open for you. You, Danny Phantom, and I, Vlad Plasmius. Together, we could rule.

Then there’s these comments Vlad made to Danny in Reign Storm…

Vlad: Sneak attack, very good, Daniel.You’re getting more like me with every battle.

Danny: I AM NOTHING LIKE YOU!

Vlad: Oh, you’re not? Using your powers to get back at people you don’t like? Throwing the first punch? You’re more like me than you know.

I’m so disappointed this didn’t develop into something more interesting where Danny starts to genuinely worry he’s becoming too much like Vlad which would have made the events of The Ultimate Enemy twice as cool because it’d be like a glimpse of that reality where he’d actually become worse than Vlad. But, back to the topic at hand! I’ve mentioned this in a few of my fanfics but I think the whole cloning thing was more of a desperate attempt to get Danny on his side since Vlad never really made any serious attempts to tempt him to join willingly and just spent the whole time bashing Jack and telling Danny he’d be a better father.

With that in mind, rather than being a petty rich bully after Danny gets Vlad’s mansion destroyed in Season 3 what if Vlad decided to put his foot down to “re-educate” him so to speak? What I mean by that is instead of running for Mayor of Amity Park, why didn’t Vlad try to replace the principal of Casper High? For one thing it would have ACTUALLY made sense because the position doesn’t require living somewhere for more than 6 months and its purely based on their education and teaching experience. And I think overshadowing the right people on a smaller scale would make it more believable than the whole Mayor thing.

Vlad could of course still be a jerk about a lot of things to get back at Danny like force the whole dress code thing, however, it would have been an interesting twist if when Danny comes to Vlad to apologize and ask for a truce he graciously accepts which totally throws Danny for a loop. Why? Because that was the plan all along! Vlad wanted Danny to learn there are consequences to his actions, realized that fighting him is counterproductive, and on top of that, to actually show how much easier he could make Danny’s life by letting him become a part of it.

Honestly, I absolutely love the idea of him unexpectedly becoming the cranky overprotective type kind of like what you see in this amazing comic strip by @lilianade-comics: https://www.tumblr.com/lilianade-comics/703807353584320512/aw-man-dont-you-hate-it-when-your-arch-enemy?source=share

Think about it. If Vlad started to make Jack look bad without actively insulting him to make Danny finally get fed up with being hunted by his parents to the point where he’d reluctantly go there just to catch his breath once the two of them agree to a cease fire. Trouble with the high school bullies? In comes Uncle Vlad who happens to be the richest man in the world and a close personal friend of the Fenton family so Danny’s off limits. Ghost attack? Vlad helps cover up Danny disappearing to fight them or even scares them off if he has an important test that day. The list goes on on what Vlad could do to either make Danny’s life a living hell in a more personalized way by invading his school life or a lot better depending on their interactions at Casper High.

Long story short its basically using the idea that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar and all that so seeing Vlad gradually start doing nice things for Danny from time to time might help change his tune. Because deep down Danny DOES want to learn more about being half-ghost, but he refuses to accept Vlad’s offer to join him because he hasn’t really done anything to make it appealing. Vlad’s always insulting Danny and his father so if you ask me, giving him the praise he doesn’t get at home or at school could change so much between them…

Vlad’s just gotta be smarter about it.

Obviously Danny would be suspicious if Vlad started acting too nice to him right away so the changes would be gradual. And whenever he goes to Vlad for help or at the very least asks if he’ll cut him some slack Vlad will reward him for coming to him first. Especially because unlike his parents, Vlad knows exactly how much he’s dealing with and I’d love it if what started off as a plan to manipulate Danny transformed into an actual student and mentor relationship leading into a redemption arc instead of whatever Season 3 was.

And there you have it. Principal Masters AU anyone?

lilianade-reblogs

OP, you’re a genius. I’m a huge fan of mentally rewriting Vlad so that his motivations are more consistent with his season 1 characterization. (Which really just means making sure that all of his schemes revolve specifically around Danny, Jack, Maddie, or the Fentons in general.) Vlad was originally what I call a “local” villain, in the sense that his actions were generally localized and directed into the life of the protagonist. No “taking over the world” nonsense, just an out of control and pathetic obsession with one family. While some threads of that carried over into the later seasons, he definitely lost some focus imo.

Which is why Vlad becoming Casper High’s principal instead of Amity Park’s mayor is such a great idea! It quite efficiently keeps Vlad “localized”. He’s able to be much more of a nuisance/help in that role, because it gets him much closer to Danny. And Danny is the protagonist, so that’s essential for fun things like, I don’t know. A story. It’s also hilarious, like genuinely. I’m picturing him giving the wildest speeches at pep rallies. And interacting with parents?? Oh dear.

And I of COURSE am always here for Vlad taking on an ally role. Part of his charm is that he can ruin Danny’s life in one episode for really petty reasons and fight alongside him in the next, so anything that gets him closer to Danny naturally will involve that complicated dynamic. Thanks for the tag, by the way! Vlad being a cranky, overprotective parent is his ultimate form and my mind cannot be changed. Let this guy experience consequences, emotions, the crushing weight of parenthood, all of that good stuff!!!

perfectquote

“I think that after the first time you give your heart away, you never get it back. The rest of your life is just you pretending that you still have a heart.”

— Tarryn Fisher, The Opportunist