World Of Tanks Blitz Duck

[Emir Ballard]

Rubberducks have been a running gag and easter egg in World of Tanks Blitz throughout its history. They have appeared in the game files, in maps, and even had an April Fools event dedicated to them.

It is hard to figure out when the first rubber duck appeared in WoTB, but one of the oldest can be found in the game files. An image of a real rubber duck (not CGI) called "_default0.mali.webp" exists, but is not used by the game. It is most likely a placeholder for tanks without their own icon, and would therefore only be used during very early testing of a new tank.

Perhaps the most famous rubber duck appearance was in the event World of Ducks. This event, which introduced a game mode of the same name, allowed players to play as one of three varieties of the WarDuck, a floating Tier I "medium tank" shaped like a duck. The appearance of most future duck easter eggs are based on the model of the WarDuck.

The original Darkwing Duck series had three episodes depicting different, seemingly contradictory origins for how Drake Mallard became Darkwing. Creator Tad Stones stated that this was done deliberately for the humor, and that he would've written more backstories had the series run longer. The three origin stories produced, entail the following:

According to the comic book adaptation of "Darkly Dawns the Duck", Drake was a Junior Woodchuck in his youth, as he still makes use of his Junior Woodchucks Guidebook (the actual episode instead refers to it as a generic "boy scout handbook").

In a 2021 interview, comic writer Aaron Sparrow mentioned that he wanted to write a four-issue mini-series titled The One True Origin of Darkwing Duck, which would've presented four more contradictory origins for Darkwing, all told by several Junior Woodchucks. At the end, Darkwing would reveal to Gosalyn his true origin... which, in the flashback that would be shown, would comedically be a lot less dynamic (he simply noticed that there was a lot of crime in St. Canard, and he had a lot of gadgets with which to fight crime).[3]

Darkwing is a short, middle-aged anthropomorphic mallard duck with white feathers, a large forehead, two lines on his forehead (forehead wrinkles), orange bill, and webbed feet. When in civilian attire, he wears a salmon collar shirt, with a green vest over it.

In the Joe Books comic, the turtleneck sweater was replaced with a teal collared shirt and a purple necktie. In-universe, this is a visual cue for Darkwing moving forward with new confidence after having spent so much time doubting himself in the Boom! comic. This change was also done because Tad Stone had stated that he would've given Darkwing the necktie if he relaunched the series later. However, the necktie was not incorporated into the character's design in the DuckTales reboot, nor has it been kept for the Dynamite Entertainment comic.

As a non-powered superhero, Darkwing utilizes a variety of gadgets in his fight against crime. His most used weapon is his gas gun which not only fires gas but a variety of weapons. It is also designed to function as a grappling hook. For transportation, he will either use the Thunderquack, a duck head-shaped plane built and piloted by Launchpad, or the Ratcatcher, his motorcycle.

While having no superpowers, Darkwing is still a toon, and seems virtually indestructible: he often gets defeated in a painful way, gets crushed, flattened, even blown away by explosions, but always rises back. He is not unstoppable, however, as he sometimes needs to wear bandages after being seriously injured. Darkwing suffers several injuries in a slapstick manner throughout the episodes.

Darkwing is an expert in martial arts, despite a large degree of clumsiness. It is mentioned that he was trained in Quack Fu by Goose Lee.[4] From his great-great-aunt, who was a sideshow contortionist, he also learned a number of skills that would prove useful during his encounters with villains.[5]

In "Going Nowhere Fast", due to the effects of Negaduck's Particle Accelerator, Darkwing Duck temporarily gained the power of super speed, which caused him to age rapidly the more he used it, which could be reversed by running in reverse.

Darkwing is known for his rather large ego and pride, and can initially be mistaken for a bumbling superhero. Rather than be a hero for justice or just helping others, he does it for fame and glory. However, when pushed, as symbolized by the utterance of his catchphrase, "Let's get dangerous," he can become very competent, proving his skill. He usually works alongside his crossover lackey from DuckTales, Launchpad McQuack. He typically works at night, appearing with smoke effects and a unique introductory statement, which almost always begin with "I am the terror that flaps in the night!", followed by a second sentence of similar structure that is always different each time, and ending with "I am Darkwing Duck!" As a hero, Darkwing is often forced to balance his desire for fame with his desire to be a father to Gosalyn and do good in St. Canard.

As a civilian, he is known as Drake Mallard (a reference to Kent Allard, the civilian identity of The Shadow) and he lives in the suburbs with his adopted daughter, Gosalyn Mallard, and his sidekick Launchpad McQuack. His next-door neighbors are the dimwitted Muddlefoot family, who, (with the exception of their younger son, Honker, Gosalyn's best friend) are ignorant of his double life as a superhero. There is also Morgana Macawber, whom is a reformed criminal sorceress, and the object of Darkwing's affection.

Interestingly, the pilot episode shows that Darkwing had given up his civilian identity in favor of full-time crime-fighting. At that point, he lived in a secret lair at the top of a bridge. Darkwing's return to a civilian alter-ego was fueled by his adoption of Gosalyn.

In "Time and Punishment", Gosalyn was sent into the future and Darkwing went mad with depression when Gosalyn went missing; believing she had run away because he did not allow her to help him that night against Quackerjack and Megavolt. One night, he came across someone who was in need and reminded him of Gosalyn. Rediscovering his purpose, he became Dark Warrior Duck a much more public menace and deadlier than many of his foes such as Steelbeak and NegaDuck. However simply defeating the supervillain menace of St. Canard is not enough for Darkwarrior; and he becomes a militaristic dictator, declaring martial law over St. Canard. He would punish anyone for minor offenses. Launchpad is no longer a sidekick to him because Darkwarrior accused him of being too soft on crime after he said criminals should be arrested before they were sent to the electric chair. Gosalyn was able to travel back to her present and that future never happened.

Darkwing Duck appears in the reboot series of DuckTales, debuting in the episode "Beware the B.U.D.D.Y. System!", when Launchpad shows the Darkwing Duck show to Dewey. In this continuity, Darkwing Duck is the fictional star of a superhero television show, instead of someone who exists in the show's universe. Because Darkwing is a fictional role, two different incarnations appear in the show, the first being the actor who played Darkwing, Jim Starling, and Drake Mallard, who happened to be a fan of Jim's Darkwing Duck character in his youth (alluding to the character's origin in "Paraducks").

In "The Duck Knight Returns!", Drake Mallard makes his debut as a fresh actor and fan of Darkwing Duck cast as the character for the upcoming Darkwing Duck movie that Scrooge McDuck is producing. However, Jim Starling was not happy with Drake taking on his role as Darkwing, and set out to steal it from him. Jim had Launchpad trap Drake inside his trailer and held him hostage. However, the two of them got to know one another and bonded over their passion for Darkwing Duck. After seeing how true of a fan Drake is, Launchpad lets him go and they both head out to find Jim. Drake finds Jim trying to hide away two guards he knocked out. He apologizes to him for being cast instead of him but also expresses how much of an inspiration he has been to him. He hopes they can work together on the movie, but the egotistical Jim instead throws him in with the guards and gets onto the stage. However, Drake escapes and, dressed as Darkwing, confronts the now-insane Jim, with Launchpad's help. He almost loses when Jim threatens to kill him with a chainsaw. However, Launchpad tells Jim to stop, reminding him that he was not a villain. When one of the set props is on the verge of blowing up, both Drake and Jim save Launchpad, but Jim is presumably killed when the set explodes. Afterward, Scrooge has decided to cancel the movie. At first, Drake feels hopeless that his chance to inspire kids is over, but Launchpad encourages him to become a hero for real. Drake is not so sure at first but accepts. (Unbeknownst to them, Jim did survive and hides out in the sewer, having been turned into Darkwing Duck's new archenemy, Negaduck, but the series was cancelled before he could make another appearance.)

Drake also appears in the Season two finale "Moonvasion!" as part of Scrooge McDuck's army against the Moonlanders. While being recruited to join the battle, he devises a plan during a meeting to fight against the Moonlanders by using his ability just as Scrooge devises a foolproof plan. Scrooge leads the army of recruits to join the battle. Later while trying to approach Lunaris, Darkwing tells him to go slower due to newspapers landing on his face causing him to interrupt his speech. He tells him about his plan to get to Lunaris to which he tells him that the Moonlanders are not afraid of him. Scrooge, however, wears Darkwing's outfit while arriving at the Money Bin just as the Moonlanders attack Darkwing wearing Scrooge's outfit. The battle, however, ceased with Lunaris defeated just as Darkwing and the other citizens celebrate.

Drake reappears again in the Season 3 episode "Let's Get Dangerous!". As Launchpad McQuack and Dewey Duck are at Drake's secret lab, the two happily encounter him on his motorcycle. He then explains to Launchpad about his relationship with Gizmoduck, explaining to the two that he can't stand the villain he used to face. Launchpad shows Drake the villains that Darkwing fought in the TV show he originated from, to which he explains the villains he used to fight are fictional. As Dewey asks W.A.N.D.A. to know if there are any criminals for Darkwing to face, it is then known that there are no crimes for Drake to face ever since Zan Owlson became the new mayor of St. Canard, much to Drake's shock. Darkwing then devises a plan to devises a crime. At the city of St. Canard, Launchpad and Dewey are filming Darkwing's plan to fight crime in the city to which no villain preparing to ambush the two appears behind the group. Drake then confuses a group of All-Nite Movers employees as criminals to which Drake feels exhausted after failing to find a criminal who would fight against him. Upon seeing Gosalyn Mallard, Drake enters the Ramrod area and spies on Gosalyn who has entered the lab.

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