Chad Danforth is one of the main characters in the High School Musical trilogy. He is Troy Bolton's best friend, co-captain and basketball teammate. At first, he is against Troy's "singing thing", and with the help of Taylor McKessie, he plans to stop Troy and Gabriella Montez from singing.
Sports and basketball mean everything to him. As you can see, he is rarely seen without a basketball under his arm.
During competitions, he always shouts, "Which team?" and his companions say, "Wildcats".
He chose to go to the University of Albuquerque as Sharpay.
He was played by Corbin Bleu who also portrayed Izzy Daniels in Jump In!
Chad is first seen after Troy and Gabriela meet at the New Years party and at the end of summer break, he gets off the school bus and greets Troy, who and the basketball team are in the hallways, then Sharpay Evans and his brother Ryan walks through the hallways and denounces the athletes, all making fun of them, saying that the princess has returned from a vacation in the Arctic. During Get'cha Head In The Game he said that Troy should worry about the big game on Friday night, Troy understands. Chad and the basketball team worry about Troy after he signs up for a musical and rehearses with Gabriella, Chad and Taylor think that Troy and Gabriela's dating could disrupt the math game and competition, and then if join the teams to separate Troy and Gabriella. Chad and the basketball team face the Trojan he 'if he ever thought Lebron James or Shaquille O'Neil auditioned for the school musical, Chad asks if he's ever seen Michael Crawford in a cereal box he says too that he was the Phantom of the Opera that his mother watched the musical 27 times and that he put Crawford's picture on the fridge is not in it. but on him. His opinion is that if Troy plays basketball, he'll end up in a cereal box, but if he's an actor, he'll end up in Chad's mom's fridge. Troy asks him why Chad responds to crazy diets and doesn't try to understand the female mind.
High School Musical 2
In High School Musical 2, Chad and his friends spend their summer vacation working at the Lava Springs Country Club, which is owned by Sharpay & Ryan's parents.
What they don't know is that Sharpay's scheme is to make Troy part of his show on the traditional Star Dazzle Show, which is performed every year at his country club. Troy becomes so obsessed with new opportunities that he begins to forget what's really important to him; and Gabriella ends up leaving and he has a big fight with Chad.
When Chad is offered to be part of the performance, he enters the game, but decides to give up after Troy was blinded by fame. In the end, he was persuaded by Ryan to do the show. However, Sharpay makes an announcement to ban all crew members from taking part in the show. When Troy realizes he's lost sight of him, he decides to do what's right and works out his friendship with Chad.
In the end, Chad and the others participated in the presentation. So the rest of the summer was to go out and have fun with everyone.
High School Musical 3: Senior Year
In the 3rd and final installment, Chad is forced to participate in the spring musical. Though he was resistant to the idea at first, he eventually gives in and uses most of his time to practice. He receives a scholarship in the University of Albuquerque, which he intends on attending when he graduates high school.
Chad is so excited about entering University of Albuquerque, something he and Troy had been talking about for a long time, that he does not see his best friend's troubles about choosing either sports or theater.
He takes part in the musical, which turns out to be a success.
After the spring musical, Troy runs into the school gym and plays with Chad one last time. After Troy decided to study both sports and theater at University of California, Berkeley, he realizes it's time to go separate ways, but is happy to know that they will meet again when the season comes, when they play against each other.
On graduation day, Chad and his friends perform one final last dance as celebration for the end of their high school days that they will never forget about.
Love Interests
Chad's primary love interest is Taylor McKessie. In the 1st movie, they work together to tear apart Troy and Gabriella and then reconnect them when they realize what damage they've caused even to themselves. Right after the championship game, Chad asks Taylor to be his date at the celebration party.
In the second movie, Chad and Taylor are in a relationship.
In the third film, Chad tries to ask Taylor to the high school prom in a lame way and is rejected. So he works up the courage and asks Taylor to officially partner with her at the Spring Ball. His answer is then changed to I would be honored.
In the first movie, they have a real love-hate relationship. But as the series continues, you see them getting closer.
Curiosities
Although Sharpay and Ryan were the antagonists of the first two films (Ryan was an antagonist to some extent High School Musical 2), Chad and Taylor can be considered the main antagonists, because his action of filming with his friends and live streaming Troy speaking ill of Gabriela and the talent show, and Taylor for showing the video to Gabriela and all of the math competition team to separate them is much worse than that the Evans brothers did.