The 90s cartoon Darkwing Duck produced by Disney may have only lasted a couple of years and three seasons, but its name always stirs a fond sense of nostalgia for kids who grew up in that decade. The vigilante superhero modeled after various comic book characters, along with his friends and family, fought crime and brought justice to their hometown of St. Canard.
But not all episodes hold up the quality the fans once thought the show had. Here are the 10 worst episodes of the series, according to IMDb.
Adopt-a-Con - 6.8/10
Darkwing Duck inadvertently gets involved in a government program called Adopt-a-Con that’s meant to pair law-abiding citizens with criminals in an attempt to reform them. When he gets paired with his nemesis Tuskerninni he doesn’t believe for one second that the thief is capable of reform.
He tries to trick Tuskerninni into committing a crime to prove he hasn’t repented by posing as a robber as his secret identity, Drake Mallard. But it all goes wrong when Tuskerninni holds Drake’s family hostage. Darkwing Duck must rescue them without giving away his secret identity.
You Sweat Your Life - 6.8/10
After a pair of thieves get away from a museum robbery, DW uses the one clue left behind to investigate the crooks. He goes to the health center as Drake Mallard, but his neighbors Herb and Binkie Muddlefoot join his endeavors as they have a three-for-one coupon to join the gym.
It just so happens the gym owner has found the formula for the elixir of life, and the last ingredient he needs is a feather from a true hero, Darkwing Duck. Things go awry when Herb and DW get stuck together.
The Secret Origins of Darkwing Duck - 6.7/10
The episode starts 200 years in the future where a group of school kids tour the Darkwing Duck Museum. Two of them get stuck in a display and are locked in until a janitor happens by and releases them. They argue about DW’s existence, and the janitor tells them the hero was real.
He delves into Darkwing Duck’s history starting with how his father accidentally destroyed their home plant Zipton and sent him in a rocket that got re-routed to Earth, a la Superman. It goes on to show him training in kungfu.
Hush, Hush Sweet Charlatan - 6.7/10
Tuskerninni appears to have abandoned his criminal life in exchange for a life as a movie director. But his productions keep experiencing strange accidents, so DW investigates. It turns out the land the movie studio is on contains oil.
Tuskerninni purposefully sabotages the productions to ruin the studio so that the owner is forced to sell it and the land to avoid bankruptcy. He hopes to buy it from A.F. Erret so that he can flip it for a profit. Darkwing Duck keeps trying to investigate and stop the sabotage, but he is barred from the set.
Paraducks - 6.7/10
As Drake takes his daughter Gosalyn to school he makes a stop at SHUSH, the secret organization like Marvel’s SHIELD, to change into his superhero alter ego. DW doesn’t realize his daughter followed him until he accidentally starts up a time machine and the two of them are sent back to the 1950s when Drake was a little boy.
In that time they see the bully Lamont picking on Drake and take him to a music store to break a safe. He fails to stop Lamont, and when they get back to their present time, they find it changed.
Getting Antsy - 6.7/10
Launchpad and Darkwing Duck stop for food after a night of crimefighting. They return to the stand only a few minutes later to retrieve a scarf Launchpad left behind only to find the restaurant gone. It turns out golf course owner and inventor Lilliput is using a telepathic helmet to order ants to steal for him.
The use of a shrink ray gun changes the buildings’ sizes so that the ants can take them. Drake is so tired from his vigilante activity though that none of the obvious clues are getting through.
Dances With Bigfoot - 6.5/10
When Launchpad goes on vacation, Gosalyn wants to fill in and help her dad fight crime, but he refuses. She wakes up the next morning to find him gone and follows a clue dressed as the Crimson Avenger to the Pacific Northwest.
Battling through the obstacles set by the environment, she finds her dad with a native tribe that wants to sacrifice him to their volcano god because his image was on their totem pole. They escape, but the last scene shows the next sacrifice on the totem pole is Launchpad.
Apes of Wrath - 6.5/10
SHUSH sends Darkwing and Launchpad to find Dr. Beatrice Brute, an anthropologist who went missing in Africa. They find a colony of gorillas with her hat and assume they took her. But then they meet Major Trenchrot, a banana plantation owner who claims the gorillas stole his bananas and kidnapped the doctor.
It turns out that Major Trenchrot is working on a villains resort. The gorillas are not dangerous, but protective and friendly. It is because of them she survived the villain’s plans to get rid of her.
Can’t Bayou Love - 5.7/10
Darkwing is on a mission to stop Jambalaya Jake and his trusty sidekick alligator Gumbo from stealing all of St. Canard’s money. Jambalaya Jake continuously gets foiled by Darkwing and Launchpad, whether he’s trying to steal donated money or robbing a jewelry store.
Finally, the bad guy sets a trap and captures Launchpad. He’s able to bribe Gumbo with spicy brownies he has on him at the time. DW swoops in to save the day and rescues his best friend, but Jake gets away, vowing revenge.
Double Darkwings - 5.6/10
Jambalaya Jake’s revenge comes as he enlists the help of his Granny Whammy. She creates a concoction that Jake can use to put Darkwing under his control, but it will cost him $10,000. Meanwhile, Darkwing is teaching Launchpad how to act as his decoy. This causes confusion when Jake goes to give DW the hex potion and instead feeds it to Launchpad.
The potion puts Launchpad under Jake’s control, so the villain tricks the hero’s sidekick into committing crimes. During one of these escapades, the real Darkwing Duck is arrested.
