Megavolt (Darkwing Duck)

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Megavolt
First appearance	"Duck Blind" (September 1991)
Created by
Voiced by	Dan Castellaneta

Elmo Sputterspark, better known as Megavolt, is a fictional character, a super-villain from the animated television series Darkwing Duck, produced by Disney. He appears to be an anthropomorphic "dog/rat/weasel thing". Megavolt is voiced by Dan Castellaneta.

[edit] Megavolt's Story

Darkwing claims to have "sent him to the electric chair — twice", and Megavolt shows signs of fear in his first appearance, but his psychotic hatred eventually wins out. From then on, he remains a constant and credible threat. The fact that he was twice sentenced to electrocution indicates that prior to his first appearance on the series Megavolt had committed at least two murders, but, of course, this was never elaborated on in a relatively family-friendly cartoon (though Darkwing himself had gone so far as to mention that he brought murderers to justice in his normal nightly patrols). This also suggests that Megavolt was apparently electrocuted and survived due to the nature of his powers.

It is eventually revealed that Darkwing and Megavolt first met and fought (unsuccessfully) at the high school prom. When a bully sabotaged his science fair project on static electricity, young Elmo Sputterspark gained the ability to absorb and project electrical currents, and to grant nearby electrically powered objects a form of sentience. He wanted to call himself "Megawatt", but the band playing at the dance had already adopted that name. Years later, Gosalyn - looking at Elmo's picture in an old yearbook - realized that Sputterspark and Megavolt were the same person, and Darkwing realized that he would probably attempt revenge at their upcoming high school reunion against the school bullies and Darkwing.

Sputterspark's transformation gave him virtually unlimited power. Unfortunately, it also fried several portions of his brain, leaving Megavolt rather demented; he believes that lightbulbs, toasters and anything else powered by electricity have been "enslaved" by Mankind and need rescuing, which explains why we usually see him leaving the Scenes Of His Crimes with bags full of flashlights and toaster ovens rather than cash. He is probably a parody of the Spider-Man villain Electro. He wears goggles that magnify his crazed-looking eyes, a yellow jumpsuit, and a hat that looks like a plug, a large battery strapped to his back to maintain his power supply and a large socket on his chest. He is going bald, presumably as a side effect of the procedure that gave him his power; as a youth, according to a flashback, he had an afro.

Megavolt was a member of the Fearsome Five (along with Negaduck II, Bushroot, Liquidator, and Quackerjack; he occasionally teamed up with the latter as a duo-although he hates it when Quackerjack calls him "sparky"). He also took orders from Negaduck as a henchman. On the other hand, he was once forced to partner up with Darkwing Duck on a case. In one episode Darkwing Duck defeats Megavolt by turning his own powers against him-he "literally" charges and changes Megavolt into a super magnet.

[edit] Memorable Quotes

• "I know the electrical spectrum like the back of my hand! (looks at back of hand) Whoa! What the heck is that?!?"

• "DON'T CALL ME SPARKY!"

• "These powers would be put in good use. I can seek revenge on those who tormented me, those who made me a frak, those who...those who gave me this ridiculous hair-style!"

• "Sorry, Muddlefoot, but the Friendly Four are running this town from now on,"

• "Let's get luminous!"

• "Quackerjack, this dressing up in costume thing is getting boring,"

• "They called me mad. They called me insane! They called me LOONY!! And boy were they right."

[edit] Trivia

• Originally, Megavolt was going to be called "Dim Bulb".

• The MTV Spider-Man animated series used a new origin for its version of Electro that was rather similar to Megavolt's origin rather than than Electo's classic comic book origin.

• Gosalyn discovers that Megavolt was once Sputterspark by drawing a pair of coke-bottle glasses on a picture of him in Drake Mallard's high-school yearbook. In Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Bruce Wayne discovers that he had once met the Joker in his youth by drawing the villain's trademark grin on a background figure in an old photograph.

• Megavolt is public enemy #3 in St. Canard. In an episode where Negaduck is complaining about being #2 behind Dr. Slug, Megavolt's picture can be seen below Negaduck's in the article he's reading.

Darkwing Duck view • talk • edit
Characters
Main Characters	Darkwing Duck/Drake Mallard | Gosalyn Mallard | Launchpad McQuack | Honker Muddlefoot
Villains	NegaDuck | Megavolt | Bushroot | Quackerjack | The Liquidator | F.O.W.L. | Splatter Phoenix | Taurus Bulba | Hammerhead, Hoof and Mouth | Dr. Fossil | Phineas Sharp
Minor Characters	Herb, Binkie and Tank Muddlefoot | J. Gander Hooter | Vladimir Goudenov Grizzlikof | Gizmoduck | Morgana Macawber | Stegmutt | Dr. Sarah Bellum | DarkWarrior Duck
Other
Misc	St. Canard | Calisota | Darkly Dawns the Duck | Characters
Media	Episodes | DVDs | Darkwing Duck video game
See also	Tad Stones | DuckTales | Double-O-Duck | The Disney Afternoon