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| “ | What are we going to do!? | „ |
| ~ Darwin in multiple episodes. |
Darwin Raglan Caspian Ahab Poseidon Nicodemus Watterson III is the deuteragonist of the Cartoon Network television series The Amazing World of Gumball, and the titular main protagonist of the Darwin's Yearbook mini-series.
He is Gumball Watterson's best friend and adoptive younger brother, the son of Nicole and Richard Watterson, and the older brother of Anais Watterson. He is also the love interest and eventual boyfriend of Carrie Krueger. He was the Watterson's family pet until he grew legs and became their son.
He is voiced by Jake Pratt in the early reel, Kwesi Boakye in Season 1 until "The Kids," Terrell Ransom Jr., in Season 3 until "The Copycats," Donielle T. Hansley Jr., in Season 5 until "The Anybody," and Christian J. Simon onwards. In the Japanese dub, he is voiced by Yumiko Kobayashi.
Appearance[]
Darwin is an orange goldfish with arms and legs. His goldfish-shaped head takes up his entire body, with fins and legs hanging down from it. He has retained his goldfish tail and fins, which he now uses as arms and hands. His legs are much longer than his body and end with plain feet that match the color and texture of the rest of his body. Usually, he covers them with green and white sneakers. Darwin is also shown to have a bubbly butt on the back of his head, as revealed in the official trailer. The inside of his mouth is red, and his tongue is red-orange. In his season 1 design, the shadow cast by his head on his legs was commonly misconceived as a black shirt and pants, as it was solid black.
In season 2, Darwin gets a redesign. His black shadow becomes more transparent, almost to the point of being unnoticeable. Additionally, his legs are slightly thicker, and he now has two eyelashes on each eye, instead of three. Like his family, his eyes are now oval-shaped. When in pajamas, he wears green dinosaur slippers with claws.
Since season 3, Darwin's eyes have been permanently round, along with the rest of his family.
In the early reel, Darwin was originally a 3D animated character.
Personality[]
Darwin is a very happy and positive person. He is optimistic, always trying to see the best in most scenarios, and generally tries to have a smile on his face. Not only does he desire to be happy, but he also desires to see others happy. His selflessness can be seen in episodes such as "The Fan," "The Advice," and "The Stories," where in all three, he chooses to do things to make a particularly sad person happier.
However, his optimism can extend to a romanticized and somewhat naïve view of the world. His idealistic viewpoints can be seen in "The Wicked," in which, despite his brother's views and Mrs. Robinson's obvious malicious intent, he firmly believes that Mrs. Robinson is a good person at heart and that there is a reason for her actions. Another example is in "The Signature," where he expresses a wish to create his own charity, but it proves futile in his imagination due to budget constraints and corporate corruption that he was unprepared for: here, he innocently remarks that he "just wanted to help people." He tends to be a very grateful person: in "The Flower" and "The Night," Darwin is shown not wanting much and just being happy and content with his current life.
Darwin is also very sensitive and empathetic. He is very affectionate towards others, as seen in his interactions with his family, specifically Gumball, throughout the series. He enjoys affection himself as well, expressing joy at being kissed or hugged. This love and affection may be a weakness of his; as a result, he is very possessive of his loved ones and feels very lonely when not around them. Such is evidenced in "The Bros" and "The Burden," where Penny Fitzgerald's newfound relationship with Gumball makes him jealous (presumably for the first time in his life, as suggested by the events of "The Flower," where he rejects envy even as it literally possesses him). He also becomes jealous of Fuzzy in "The BFFs" for what he sees as him taking Gumball away from him.
Darwin has a strong sense of honesty; he desires to tell the truth, no matter how much trouble it may cause. His strong sense of honesty can be seen in "The Shell" and "The Gift," in which he cannot adhere to the simplest of Gumball's white lies. His honesty, however, is prevailed by his politeness towards others; in "The Words," Gumball encourages him to bluntly suggest his opinions to students. Darwin is also morally grounded in general; he is typically the one to stop his siblings from doing anything wrong and is slow to take "shady" approaches. Darwin's reluctance to do anything wrong can be seen in "The DVD," where he tells Gumball not to pirate Alligators on a Train, opting for a more honest and ethical route. This trait causes Gumball to view Darwin as a "moral guardian," as evidenced in "The Sidekick."
However, his role as Gumball's "sidekick" is also a result of his lack of independence. He frequently struggles with making his own decisions, as demonstrated in the aforementioned episode, as well as in "The Decisions" and "The Promise." Darwin tends to follow Gumball's orders, viewing him as a more decisive "big brother" figure (though this is often more a result of Gumball's impulsivity and arrogance rather than actual decidedness or confidence, showing that Darwin can have difficulty recognizing these traits) and is sometimes manipulated into wrongdoing by him. Consequently, there are instances where Darwin participates in Gumball's ill-conceived schemes in a somewhat reluctant yet submissive manner, though he remains anxious about them usually. That said, Darwin is still quite mischievous at times, even without Gumball's influence, and enjoys pranking others, goofing around, but also just having fun: he enjoys playing video games, eating junk food, and messing around with his brother.
Despite Darwin's general happiness and positivity, he has been known to get very angry at times when pushed beyond his limit. "The Banana" and "The Words" both show that he can resort to over-the-top and senseless violence when given a reason to do so, where in the former he tries to physically fight Banana Joe just for ripping his homework, and in the latter where he has a villainous breakdown and begins ruthlessly insulting everyone around school. He also has many moments of downright absurdity that contradict his established good-natured personality, such as "The Society," where he breaks down upon seeing an educational safety video and ends up becoming a tyrant over Elmore who eliminates any hazard that could cause harm to someone; in "The Pony," where he callously kicks Rob down a manhole just for being annoying; and in "The Treasure," where he begins attacking a mailbox with a shovel after becoming upset at the Watterson siblings' worthless treasure hunt, where each hit of the shovel is "for" an inconvenience they faced along the way.
Darwin also has samhainophobia (seen in "Halloween") and autophobia.
Abilities[]
Just like his older adoptive brother, Gumball, Darwin possesses vast toon force. He can withstand the explosion of the Big Bang event, transform into "Darkwin," and endure dodgeballs thrown by Tina Rex. Due to his thick coating of blubber, Darwin can survive falls onto hard concrete, making him highly resistant to damage. He is also part suckerfish, which grants him the ability to suck up anything and spit it out clean. Like Gumball, he demonstrates remarkable combat skills and unnatural abilities.
Darwin is multilingual, speaking complex Chinese and French. Additionally, he can communicate with non-anthropomorphic animals. He is athletic, capable of running and swimming at high speeds, and is skilled at playing the ukulele and (formerly) the swanee whistle.
Quotes[]
| “ | You don't understand, for my whole walking life I had to keep my mouth shut, having to deal with everyone's annoying little habits, but now I can say what I like. | „ |
| ~ Darwin in "The Words." |
| “ | So you thought you could drag me to the bottom of the lake just to eat me later? Well, guess what, punk? I'm a fish, WITH LEGS. | „ |
| ~ Darwin in "The Puppy." |
| “ | Cute Combo Attack! | „ |
| ~ Darwin in "The Tape." |
| “ | STOP OBJECTIFYING OBJECTS! | „ |
| ~ Darwin in "The Revolt." |
| “ | It's supposed to be Carwin, not Carball, you homewrecking womaneater! | „ |
| ~ Darwin in "The Shippening." |
| “ | I want more kids! | „ |
| ~ Darwin in "The Dress." |
| “ | Yeah! Then we can kick his butt there! | „ |
| ~ Darwin’s last words in the series. |
Trivia[]
- He can breathe in both water and air.
- Darwin likes Mexican cuisine.
- Darwin reveals he can exhale for much longer than Gumball can.
- Darwin is inspired by Ben Bocquelet's childhood friend, Paul.
- In the early draft of the show, Darwin was originally the class goldfish.
- It's possible that Darwin is ambidextrous.
- Darwin can scream extremely loud and high-pitched, and it is so high that it can break every single window.
- Darwin is allergic to feathers.
- "The Apprentice," "The Awkwardness," and "The Singing" are the only episodes where Darwin is not physically present or referenced.
External Links[]
- Darwin Watterson on the The Amazing World of Gumball Wiki
- Darwin Watterson on the Inconsistently Admirable Wiki
- Darwin Watterson on the Love Exalted Wiki
- Darwin Watterson on the Antagonists Wiki
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 Heroes
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