"What's a team without its Captain?"
Hi there, Toonsters! RekkaDragon here with another character profile for Disney's Destiny League. As you can see, I am not only a fan of animation, but I am also a fan of sports, including hockey. The New York Rangers are my favorite team, but they don't have the heart of the champion since they buckled under pressure and lost to the Los Angeles Kings at the Stanley Cup Finals. But, that's another story. Speaking of which, this next profile is about a crime-fighting hockey player from another planet. I am referring to the leader and team captain of the Mighty Ducks, Wildwing Flashblade.
Background: The planet of Puckworld, home to a race of anthropomorphic ducks who think and feel like humans. And their favorite pastime is hockey. Who would of thought that hockey was universal sport of sorts. But, that's another story. Everything was peaceful, until the arrival of the evil Saurian Overlords. Led by Dragaunus, the Saurians raged war against the inhabitants of Puckworld and claim their world as their own. However, there are a few ducks who stood up against the Saurians. One of them was a fearless duck named Canard Thunderbeak. He and his team effortlessly stop the Saurian onslaught but Puckworld was in ruins. The battle continued in the blackness of space. During the ensuring battle, Dragaunus activated a dimensional portal. Canard fought his hardest against Dragaunus, but the gravity of the portal pulled him into dimensional limbo. Right before he got sucked in, Canard gave his mask to his best friend, Wildwing, ensuring him that he would be team captain when he is gone. After the dogfight, the two respected ships, the Aerowing, the Ducks' ship and the Raptor, the Saurians' ship, both crashed landed on Earth. Wildwing, along with his fellow ducks, Nosedive, his wacky brother, Mallory McMallard, his second in command or assistant captain like in hockey, Tanya Vanderflock, the brainy duck who talks like she has bad allergies, no offense.
Tanya: None taken.
Duke L'Orange, a former professional thief and Check Hardwing aka Grin, a super-strong muscle man type duck with a Zen-like philosophy, ended up in the city of Anaheim, CA, the home of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, now called just the Anaheim Ducks (more on that in the sidestory later). Aware that the Saurians will invade the Earth in the same manner they did with Puckworld, Wildwing and the Ducks fight to protect the Earth and end the Saurian invasion in the universe while posing as the hockey team of the same name. That is until the rise of Igor and the Disciples of Chernabog, where everything changed...for the worse.
Appearance, Gear & Personality: Wildwing is an anthropomorphic duck, which means he is part duck and part human with white feathers. When not in battle, he wears his usual Puckworld-type civilian clothes, a sea green shirt, a white jacket and brown pants with silver gray boots, which matches the colors of the classic Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. When he is playing hockey, just for fun, he wears the hockey uniform of the Mighty Ducks themselves, including the jersey with Wildwing's mask and the hockey sticks that makes an "X". Talk about H-E-Double Hockey Sticks there. But when in battle, he wears his armored suit, which matches the same colors as his other clothes. His weapons consist on two wrist-mounted Puck Launchers, which fires hockey pucks in a fast, Uzi-type rate and thanks to Rayjin and Tron, he can fire any type of pucks like Green Arrow and Hawkeye with their trick arrows, including an exploding puck and a grappling puck. And for an added edge to his fighting prowess, he wears the legendary golden mask of Drake DuCaine, once wore by his best friend, Canard Thunderbeak. Wearing it makes the wearer team captain. And as an added bonus, the mask also is used as a tracker, perfect for not only detecting things, but also good against those with a cloaking device, including Dragaunus. For personal travel, whether he has alone time or not, he rides his Duckcycle. And for some team missions that are otherwise treacherous and hard to travel, he uses the Migrator, the ultra tough all terrain vehicle that Rayjin reserved after the Anaheim Arrowhead Pond ended being owned by the Anaheim Ducks' new owners and renaming the stadium the Honda Civic Center (more on that in the sidestory) and has the Drake-1 supercomputer built in as well. Of all the characters, Wildwing is the most complex character in the story. Although a strong-willed character with a strong sense of justice, he is also flawed in many ways. For instance, he often questions whether or not he is worthy of being captain of the Ducks or feeling that saving the universe is the type of burden that is indeed hardest to bear, even for him. Despite his flaws, Wildwing is honorable, selfless, kind-hearted hero who is willing to give his life to save the universe, whether it's on Puckworld or on Earth. And he gets along with the other heroes and sees Tron, Rayjin, and Mulan as his brothers, and sister, in arms. On top of that, he has a soft spot for kids, including having a brother-sister relationship with Ariel's daughter, Melody. He is indeed a class-act.
Sidestory: In his crazed attempt to destroy the Earth and create a Saurian homeworld, Dragaunus rebuilt the Raptor and its dimensional portal and launch an attack on the city of Anaheim, CA, home of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Right before Dragaunus activated the portal to summon his Saurian brethren, the Ducks launch an assault on the Raptor. Wildwing jumps into the Raptor and battled valiantly against Dragaunus. During the ensuring battle, the portal's controls malfunctioned and the portal was going out of control. Dragaunus, as the cowardly Saurian as he is, made his escape through the portal, vowing to fight another day. Fearing that the out of control portal will destroy the Earth, Wildwing commited the ultimate sacrifice and flew the Raptor away from Anaheim, and crash-landed in the frozen north, closing the portal the hard way. Mallory tried contacting him, but their was radio silence, fearing that their captain was dead. Unknown to the Ducks, Wildwing survived, but just like Captain America, he ended up frozen and remained that way for a millennium. Unlike the other heroes, he was frozen...alive. A millennia has passed, as the entire world has fallen into darkness. During a mission assigned by "M", Rayjin, along with Tron, traveled to the frozen north and discovered the remains of the Raptor. Rayjin remembers the stories of Wildwing, who saved Anaheim and the entire planet from the Saurian invasion. But, doesn't even know if he survived. As our intrepid heroes left the Raptor after finding nothing, they went out, furthering the investigation. Rayjin and Tron split up to find anything related to what happened that day. Rayjin walked around and all of the sudden, without looking, he tripped over something. Rayjin wiped off the snow and uncovered the golden mask of Drake DuCaine. While he as surprised of this discovery, Tron called Rayjin to the other side. And to their shock, they have found a frozen, but alive Wildwing. Several hours later, Wildwing wakes up in a hospital after hearing a nearby radio in his room, saying that the Ducks won the Stanley Cup. Wildwing asked the nurse when that day happened. The nurse replied that the Ducks won the Stanley Cup years after the new owners bought the team and ditched the Mighty Ducks name after so many seasons of not winning the Stanley Cup. Wildwing explained to the nurse that the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim hasn't won a Stanley Cup since they were an exhibition team in the 90s. This state confuses the nurse after hearing that. Disoriented, Wildwing questions the nurse what happen here, where is he and why the Mighty Ducks are called the Anaheim Ducks now. Believing that he was getting out of hand, the nurse called in the guards to restrain Wildwing. Fearing for his life, Wildwing escaped from the hospital, commandeers a motorcycle to allude to authorities and heads to his destination: Anaheim, CA. Once he got there, he saw the Arrowhead Pond still standing. But when came closer to the Pond, Wildwing discovered that it is not called the Arrowhead Pond no more. It is now called the Honda Civic Center. And to make things more confusing, he found a banner on the top the entrance that reads, "Welcome to the Honda Civic Center, home of the Anaheim Ducks." Wildwing grows even more confused of why such events like this happens, including the name change, until Rayjin shows up to consul him. Back at H.Q., Rayjin explained what happened after he disappeared. After the Saurian invasion was thwarted, the Mighty Ducks were hailed as heroes. But, with Wildwing either dead or missing, the people of Anaheim erected a statue of him, in honor of his bravery and courage to the save the planet. Even so, the revenue for the Mighty Ducks hockey team themselves weren't doing so well, without their captain. To make matters worse, that is where Igor and his followers make their move and attacked Anaheim. The Ducks fought bravely against him, but without Wildwing, they were powerless to stop him, especially with the returning Dragaunus at Igor's side. To prevent further bloodshed, the Ducks surrendered and returned with Igor to his dark lair. Defiant to the end, the Ducks stood their ground, but not enough when Dragaunus rebuilt and activated the dimensional portal and send them to limbo, never to return. Wildwing questioned if they are alive like Canard. But Rayjin doesn't have the answer to that. With the Ducks missing, Anaheim became a city of darkness and full of politics and corruption, especially in the hockey world. Business people from the east came from to Anaheim and bought the Mighty Ducks property from the previous owners and changed everything. Not only remaining the Arrowhead Pond to the Honda Civic Center, but also dropping the "Mighty" out of Mighty Ducks and renamed them the Anaheim Ducks, and they've been called that ever since. Even though they have won a Stanley Cup under that new moniker, the new owners had no plans for any throwbacks for the classic Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, for they think that the Mighty Ducks name is nothing but a thing in the past. Rayjin offered him to join the team, but Wildwing, confused about the whole situation and feeling down to what happen to his teammates, refuse to join. To top this off, Wildwing gave the mask of Drake DuCaine to Rayjin, telling him that he is not worthy. Rayjin tried to stop him, but Tron wants him to let him go because he needs to sort this thing out on his own. Feeling all alone and depressed, Wildwing wanders around the city of Anaheim, which feels like a ghost town because of the Anaheim Ducks' new owners, who put so many people out of business because of the poor revenue after the departure of Wildwing and the other Mighty Ducks. Just as he was going to call it a night, a trio of thugs were picking on a girl. Wildwing steps in and stops those thugs by not fighting (avoiding their attacks and hitting each other instead, causing tension between the trio). While those thugs were focused more on each other, Wildwing and the girl he saves make their leave. The girl he saved turned out to be Ariel's daughter, Melody. After a brief introduction, Wildwing and Melody each talked about their life stories. Melody losing her family but gaining her mother back and Wildwing on his brave sacrifice to save Anaheim, which ended up all in vain after his disappearance. They eventually became fast friends, and Melody sees Wildwing as a big brother figure. Later, after buying a present for Melody (which he will give to her as a surprise later), Wildwing went back to his apartment he has rented. When entering, he discovered on top of this drawer was the mask of Drake DuCaine and a note from Rayjin that reads:
"Wildwing,
I know it's tough right now. But, if you ever change your mind, feel free to contact me. Besides, your mask doesn't fit me anyway. You don't have to put it on if you want to. You'll know when the time is right. Never forget who you really are. Stay in touch.
Rayjin"
After reading the letter, Wildwing went to sleep. While sleeping, Wildwing ended up retrospecting his life, from his happiness in Puckworld to the rise of the Saurian Overlords, losing Canard, and so on and so forth. Even in his dreams, Wildwing feels that he is not worthy of being captain, feeling that he doesn't have what it takes, and fearing that his teammates are lost forever. That is until he hears a voice telling him, "For someone who is a brave leader, you give up so easily." Wildwing was puzzled to who spoke to him. It turns out that is the spiritual form of Gordon Bombay, the head coach of the Mighty Ducks back in Minnesota. Wildwing never actually met Bombay, but he heard of his exploits on how he turned a ragtag team of pee-wee hockey players into champions. Bombay talked about his past, from being a pee-wee hockey player himself to being a lawyer and becoming a coach. Through his mentor, Hans, Bombay learned the tricks of the trade to help the team formerly known as District 5 become the Ducks of today, including Bombay's prized student, Charlie Conroy, who sees Bombay like a father to him. The Ducks in the past had their shortcomings, including overcoming their differences, college, etc. But the one thing the Ducks never do was give up. From the championship game back in Minnesota against the Hawks to winning the gold medal from Iceland, the Ducks will always prevail at the end. Bombay ensures Wildwing one thing that no matter what happens, even if his teammates are not here, but they are here in spirit because of one thing, Ducks always stick together. Before departing, Bombay gave him one other piece of advice, always have fun. Wildwing pleaded Bombay to not leave but he disappeared. When morning came, Wildwing woke up, realizing that it was all a dream. The next day, Wildwing was minding his own business, thinking about his future and that dream he had with Gordon Bombay, when all of the sudden, a holographic image of Dragaunus appeared above the skyline of Anaheim. Dragaunus initially gloats to all the residents of Anaheim, stating that the Mighty Ducks will never rise again. Then he turns to Wildwing and challenges him to a fight. Wildwing refuses, but Dragaunus tells him that you will never be brave enough to fight unless he wants to see his fellow Ducks again. Wildwing was shocked to hear what Dragaunus had to say. Dragaunus insured to Wildwing that though the Ducks are in Dimensional Limbo, they are still alive. Dragaunus tells Wildwing to meet him in the ruins of the California Adventure amusement park tonight, alone. With no other choice, but feeling hopeful to save his fellow Ducks, Wildwing departs to his destination, taking the mask of Drake DuCaine with him, but he doesn't put it on, yet. Arriving at his destination, Wildwing demanded Dragaunus to show up and he did. Wildwing wonders how Dragaunus got out of Dimensional Limbo. Dragaunus told him how he survived. After their last battle, Dragaunus was marooned in an unknown planet because his transdimensional portal device was damanged during the fight. Dreading that he would be stuck here forever, was eventually found by Lord Igor. Igor brought him back to Earth and with his help, the planet itself, along with many Disney worlds, fell into eternal darkness. With the Mighty Ducks missing, Anaheim became succumb to darkness. To make matters worse, disguising himself as a human, Dragaunus persuaded the new owners of the Mighty Ducks to not only change the team's name to the Anaheim Ducks, but also ensure that any mention of the Mighty Ducks name is prohibited, even if the fans demanded throwbacks of the classic Mighty Ducks. Dragaunus' plot was to undermine the Mighty Ducks name in order to destroy their legacy, not just on Earth, but all the universe, even Puckworld. Frustrated over Dragaunus' story, Wildwing demanded where his friends are. Dragaunus insured that they are alive, but being the sneaky Saurian Overlord that he is, he was planning to send him to Limbo as well, to join his friends. It was a setup from the very start. This sends Wildwing into a fury, but Dragaunus was ready for him. Although his fight spirit was great, Wildwing was no match for Dragaunus, for he overpowered him at every turn. From one teleport spam to another, along with his stealth attacks, Dragaunus over powered Wildwing, leaving him exhausted. Dragaunus gloated over Wildwing, reminding him, "What's a team without its Captain?" As Dragaunus was gloating and laughing maniacally, Wildwing started to reminisce what he has remembered, his past adventures, befriending Melody, remembering Gordon Bombay's encouragement, which all ends with defining moment, Canard making him team captain when he was pulled into Limbo. When he remembers Canard's last words, "You are team captain, now." and just as Dragaunus was going to deliver the final blow, Wildwing fires his Puck Launcher at his face, sending him flying until he hits the ground. When Wildwing got up, he finally dons the mask of Drake DuCaine and he was ready to fight. Dragaunus try to fend him off, but Wildwing battled valiantly against the Saurian, not even stealth mode couldn't save Dragaunus this time, since Wildwing's mask has an anti-stealth filter. The battle raged on until Wildwing slams Dragaunus to the controls of his transdimensional portal, setting it to reverse. And one flash of light later, the Aerowing, along with the other Mighty Ducks all ended up appearing right before their very eyes. The other Ducks were a little disoriented, but Nosedive got the worst of it, stating that being trapped in Limbo is like being the in penalty box for all eternity. But when they got it all together, their focus shift towards Dragaunus. Standing side by side with their captain, the Ducks were ready to take out Dragaunus, once and for all. But the Saurian made his escape, using the portal to go back to Igor. Wildwing turns to his fellow Ducks and one big group hug later, they were all back together. But, their reunion was short-lived. A few hours later, now that the Aerowing is fixed, the Ducks decided to go back to Puckworld and undo what Igor and the remaining Saurian Overlords has done. The Ducks wanted Wildwing to come back with them, since Anaheim is no longer their home away from home, but he respectfully decline and he has his reasons. Wildwing decides to stay on Earth and help Rayjin fight against Igor and his evil forces and make the Mighty Ducks name a descent one, not just for Anaheim, but for the entire universe. Every duck all say goodbye to Wildwing in their unique way, from Nosedive hugging him while wailing cause he is staying, but not before he tells his bratty brother to stay out of trouble, to shaking hands with Duke, bowing to Grin after the big guy tells him to being one with your mind, body and spirit, Tanya giving him the back up drive for Drake-1 so it could help him and Rayjin in their fight against Igor, and finally, saying goodbye to Mallory. Although they wouldn't admit their true feelings in the beginning, both Wildwing and Mallory finally embraced on another. Wildwing wanted Mallory to look after his teammates, for he made her Assistant Captain. And Mallory ensured that wherever Canard is, they will find him. And Wildwing is confident that he will be found. Unknown to Wildwing, Melody was watching the whole thing, thinking that Wildwing was going to leave and she ran off, in tears. As the Ducks leave and use their warp drive to head back to Puckworld, Rayjin and Tron came to see Wildwing. Wildwing decided to help him in their fight against Igor. Now that Wildwing became part of the team, the only thing left for him was to give Melody her present. But Melody was unaware of Wildwing's choice to stay, so he went after her. Wildwing caught up with Melody. Melody thought Wildwing went back to his world, but he chose to stay because until the Earth is free of Igor's control, he can't leave. Besides, he will never abandon his friends, especially one who looks up to him like a big brother. Melody hugs Wildwing and he hugs her back, like any brother/sister would do. Wildwing bids farewell to Melody until tomorrow, but not before he gave her a present and she was excited for what she got. The next day at the park, Rayjin, Tron and Ariel were talking about Wildwing and how is coping with this new world and his doing just find. Though he thinks about his comrades, he knows that will be their in spirit. As for Wildwing himself, he is playing street hockey with Melody. And do you know that was Melody's present was? It was the throwback jersey of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim which she is wearing now, for its not only a symbol of friendship, but also a sign of hope that the Mighty Ducks name will return to its former glory one day. Ariel asked when did she get a jersey like that. It was a gift from a friend said Rayjin, a gift of friendship if you will. And the story ends with Melody, wearing the jersey from Wildwing, scoring a goal.
And that's Wildwing in a nutshell. Do you know why Wildwing's character is so complex? Because he reminds me of...me. Being a hero means making the tough choices and it's not the easiest job in the world, especially with the weight of the world on your shoulders. Talk about a burden hardest to bear. Anyway, I hope you forgive me for being late with the blog, Stefan. I've been quite busy a whole lot, especially now that I created U.F.A.R. on Facebook. Well, until then, see you next time. Stay frosty and Godspeed.
(Mighty Ducks movie theme by David Newman plays)
*Fade Out
