Valerie Gray is the supporting character of Danny Phantom. She is a former popular student at Casper High and a ghost hunter. She is determined to destroy Danny Phantom and other ghosts.
She was voiced by Grey DeLisle for Parental Bonding & My Brother's Keeper and currently Cree Summer for Shades of Gray and rest of episodes who also voices Susie Carmichael, Abigail Lincoln, Penelope, Kim, Cleo and Elmyra Duff.
History
She was once a rich, popular girl at Casper High, and part of the "in" crowd with Paulina Sanchez, Dash Baxter, Kwan , etc. Until the appearance of a huge ghost dog at Axion, a large laboratory facility where her father worked, appeared. Danny tried to catch the dog (which could shapeshift from a harmless puppy to a huge monstrous form that Danny calls Cujo) but the two of them cause so much ruckus and damage, that her father, Damon Gray, loses his job. He had been the chief security system designer for the facility, and the dog was ironically the ghost of one of the old guard dogs before the security system had been installed. Due to his job loss, she and her father have little money- and thus her popularity status from the "in-crowd" plummets. Valerie blames her misfortunes on Danny Phantom, thus dedicating herself to hunting ghosts.
Unbeknownst to her, Vlad Plasmius has taken advantage of her grudge and has secretly supplied her with various ghost-hunting weaponry with which to destroy Danny (and allow Vlad to spy on Danny in secret for his own misdeeds). She later learns her weapon supplier is Vlad (although she is unaware of Vlad's own alter-ego as Plasmius) and believes him to be a good man and fellow ghost hunter who recognizes her talents.
She gets another starring role in "Life Lessons" where she and Danny Fenton are assigned partners on a class assignment, at around the same time she is hunting Danny Phantom, Skulker appears to be hunting him as well and decides to hold a contest between the two with the "winner" having the "privelege" of becoming his prey his plan falls out the window he resorts to knocking them both unconsious.
Waking up at Skulker's lair the duo find themselves handcuffed to each other and Valerie
By "Reign Storm", She becomes closer friends with Danny and meets Vlad Masters (the man responsible for giving her battle equipment) for the first time where she is shocked that Vlad knows her after Danny brings her to her house he then takes her outside and rides with her on her aircraft where reveals to her he gave her he equipment because she smart and determined he then giver her the ghost king Pariah Dark ring to her so he can steer clear of the ghost king and tells her she has a job to do she state she wont let him down and flies off.
Sam and Tucker express their concern of Danny being around Valerie but Danny shrugs this off stating she is not bad when you get to know her, Valerie appears and thanks him and asks whats wrong with Sam and Tucker, Danny states they are just overprotective, suddenly he notices the ghost kings army is causing havoc around Amity Park and runs off only to run into Dash and Vlad. Valerie then asks Sam and Tucker where Danny is running off to, she them mocks Sam for him having a girlfriend and her liking him to which she responds to her that she is one of his best friends, Valerie responds that she should make a move before she does.
Meanwhile as Danny and Vlad brawl on the football field the Fright Knight appears and threatens Vlad but Valerie appears in ghost equipment and attacks the three, Valerie then asks Danny whats going on to which the ghost boy responds by pointing out the Fright Knight and the ghost kings army and asks for her help but she refuses stating that she doesnt like him or Vlad, but Danny states he doesn't have to like him but she should call a truce and fight with him, she agrees, shaking hands with Danny, they along with Vlad gang up on the Fright Knight gang up on Vlad, this forces the Fright Knight to put the sword into the ground and states if anyone removes it they will surrender to Pariah Dark, Valerie attempts to attack the Fright Knight but he hits her and knocks her unconscious, before Vlad and Danny can help her, Maddie and Damon arrive forcing Danny to change back and Vlad to flee, Danny then tells them she was unconscious when he found her.
Later, Valerie is recovering at Fenton Works as Jack Maddie and Vlad finish the robotic suit, Tucker asks if she is okay she says feels a bit better and asks them that they don't like her much to which Sam angrily states that they dont know her and that she was mean to them in the first place and also suspiciously asks her where he got the ghost kings ring to which she responds that is not her business, Danny enters the room and Sam pulls Danny and Tucker into a closet for a private chat. there, Tucker tells Danny the moment he turns in Danny Phantom she will turn hostile without asking questions and Sam points out to him that she is in possession of ghost kings ring and Danny suspects that Vlad had given it to her to hide it from Pariah and the Fright Knight.
Much later during a fight between Danny and Vlad, Danny accidentally removes the sword thus surrendering Amity Park to the ghost king where the latter knocks the duo unconscious, Valerie heads out and attacks the ghost king just as he was about destroy Danny and Vlad, The Fright Knight then notices that Valerie is in possession of the ring and demands her to return it but Valerie puts it on a missile and fires it away distracting the ghost king, she then picks up Danny and Vlad and heads back to Fenton Works with Fright Knight in pursuit who manages to shoot down her aircraft but she manages to get herself, Danny and Vlad into the ghost shield safely much to the Fright Knight's anger but Pariah Dark manages to claim his ring and together with the crown of fire gives him unimaginable power.
Worn out from the battle, Valerie takes an unconscious Danny and Vlad back to Danny's room before passing out, Vlad wakes up and notices the ring is no longer in her possession before disappearing, Jack informs Sam and Tucker that they are in Danny's room they rush in as Danny wakes up to find Valerie unconscious in his room, Valerie soon wakes up and Danny discovers her snooping around in the lab telling her to stay away from the suit but Valerie tells him that this is her fight but Danny states not anymore by exposing her secret as a ghost hunter in front of her father who angrily forbids her from doing so ever again
In the aftermath she along with her father, Sam, Tucker, Jazz, Jack, Maddie and Vlad surround him in his room happy that he is alright later she confronts Sam and Tucker stating she like Danny alot, to which Sam states that they will be watching her, she accepts the challenge before Sam and Tucker send Nathan after her.
In "The Ultimate Enemy", her future self has become Amity Park's defender with her and her father moving in to Fenton Works following the death of the Fenton family where they operate the ghost defense systems from there. eventually Dark Danny contacted her where she angrily tells him no matter how powerful he is he cant break the shield but seconds later Dark Danny breaks Amity Park's enhanced Ghost Shield using his new acquired ghostly wail and the Fright Knight who conspired with Dark Danny attacks her and chases her to Fenton Works but then Dark Danny breaks into Fenton Works where he sarcastically says "Hi" to her before causing an explosion to Fenton Works presumably killing Damon and knocking her unconscious, she then attempts to fight him off but Dark Danny manages to easily send her away, eventually Present Danny along with Sam and Tucker arrive in the future intending to stop Dark Danny, when the younger Danny states he feels hes responsible for the destruction, Valerie appears and attacks him, he beg her to listen to him but she states he cant fool her this time and eventually she catches him in a net and states she has been waiting a long time to destroy him, she was seconds away from destroying the present Danny before Sam and Tucker intervened shocking her stating they cant be alive shocking the two where Tucker mentions not wanting to take the C.A.T. she mentions the Nasty Burger explosion that killed Danny's friends and family before attempting to kill him again but out of nowhere Dark Danny appears and attacks her who states he is responsible for the destruction, she then attacks him but he manages to defeat her and attempts to kill her but the present Danny intervened and was able to prevent he. She says she almost forgot how cute young Danny was, which flattered him. However, this future was canceled thanks to Clockwork.
In "Flirting with Disaster", Valerie and Danny date for a brief period of time to which Technus uses to his end; keeping the two occupied while he goes about his plans for world domination and possessing her armor in an attempt to kill him (and creating more cause for Valerie to hate Danny's alter ego). When Technus hooks up with a satellite in space, he upgrades Valerie's suit, giving her an advanced red and black-striped one, and the power to change into it at will (it can 'appear' and wrap itself around her whenever she wants). This was meant to further distract Danny from his own dastardly plans, as she was now even more dangerous to Danny Phantom then she was before. In "Kindred Spirits" it is revealed that Vlad gave her her ghost hunting equipment so he can secretly monitor and study Danny through their various battles so he can create the perfect half ghost son of his.
In "D-Stabilized", Valerie is hired by Vlad to seek and capture Danielle "Dani" Phantom. Vlad tells her that Dani wants to destroy him. Using a ghost detector, she instead finds a human Danielle, and is unaware she is the same "Dani Phantom." When mistaken as a hostile situation, Danielle runs from Valerie into an unstable building about to collapse where she saves Valerie's life when the hunter followed and almost perished from within from falling debris. After exposing herself as a half-ghost, Valerie captures Danielle and uses her to lure out Danny Phantom (upon gaining knowledge of Danny's affiliation with her) to great success. She then ships her off to Vlad until Danny convinces Valerie that she is innocent, and half-human as well stating she would be responsible for her death if Vlad successfully destroys her. Calling a temporary truce, the two work together to save her from Vlad Plasmius's clutches. By the end, Valerie discovers that Vlad Masters and "Plasmius" are one in the same and is also angered that he had been using her all along to do his dirty work for him vows to hunt him and take him down as well.
She makes a final cameo appearance in "Phantom Planet". First she gets pushed aside by Vlad's "Masters' Blasters" team suggesting that she had already made moves against Vlad , and eventually takes part in saving the world from a deadly asteroid. At the end, she finds out who Danny Phantom and Danny Fenton are one in the same. It's unknown if she still hates Danny when she found out the truth, but it is extremely unlikely as she is seen clapping for him when Danny revealed is secret as a half ghost.
Appearance
Valerie is a fourteen year-old African-American girl, with long, curly hair and dark green eyes. She seems to be a little more muscular and corpulent than Sam or Jazz, though she looks slimmer when she's wearing her red and black ghost-hunting suit. When not using her suit, she usually wears a yellow sleeveless shirt and orange skirt with white tennis shoes. She also wears an orange headband, yellow triangular earrings, an orange necklace, and has two bracelets on each wrist, one yellow and the other orange. She has also been seen in a violet baby doll T-shirt in "Shades of Gray."
Personality
Early on, she was selfish and mean like her popular friends. In "Reign Storm," she's confused for a while about why Sam and Tucker treat her uneasily, but then they remind her that she used to treat them terribly. However, her descent into unpopularity begins to change her into a nicer, less egotistical person to the people around her, making new, better friends while looking upon her former "friends" with disdain and disgust. She also becomes more compassionate and caring, going from just wanting to get revenge on ghosts like Danny Phantom to endangering herself to protect Amity Park from ghost attacks.
Valerie is extremely stubborn and hot-tempered, as well as very persistent and dangerous. Not even her dad can stop her dedication to hunting ghosts. If necessary, she manipulates people if it's required or it's helpful, like taking advantage of Tucker knowing ghost hunters and Dani having connections with Danny. Her anger is also something to be feared, like getting revenge on Danny ruining her new shirt by sending Kwan out to hurt him in "Shades of Gray." She holds strong grudges, too, as she has never forgiven Danny Phantom for ruining her life. As time goes by, though, Valerie becomes better at supressing her fiery emotions, especially when she has to team up with her least favorite ghost or makes occasional truces with him.
Danny and his friends might see her as a foe, but Valerie thinks of herself as the hero, even though she's actually an anti-hero. Valerie truly means well and is positive that Danny and all ghosts are evil, so her hatred motivates her to hunt them down. Although more fierce and harsh in the way she treats enemies than Danny, she does have the right intentions of saving everyone from harm. Sometimes, her firm stance in her beliefs gets shaken up. She strongly trusts that Vlad isn't a ghost or a bad guy, but when she finds out the truth, she is shocked and immediately decides that she'll get him back for his deceit. While certain that torturing humans is wrong, she struggles over whether letting a half-human/half-ghost be killed is morally right, only finally agreeing to it after Danny persuades her. Valerie isn't completely aware about many things concerning ghosts, yet she is sure that it's her duty to ward them off from innocent people, like her father and her crush, Danny.
Abilities
- Martial Arts: As a normal human being, she has no superhuman powers at all, but she does have several skills and weapons she uses to hunt ghosts. She is a 9th-degree black belt and proven to be capable to fight ghosts like the Fright Knight and Vlad Plasmius, using her suit and her fighting skills, and even Vlad himself stated that "she really is good at this" when she fought the Fright Knight. She was also seen fighting her own ghost hunting gear when it was manipulated by Technus.
- After she decides to become a ghost hunter, she begins to exercise intensively, and becomes very athletic. She motivates herself during exercise with her hatred towards ghosts.
