When you think about cartoons during the 2000s, the first one to come to your mind would likely be Danny Phantom. This cartoons series gained quite the cult following when it came out. And now, over a decade later, people still talk about this show. There are even rumors of a new series starting up that follows Danny’s adventures ten years later (we can only hope).

I can see why this cartoon would be popular. It had a unique premise, some pretty awesome characters, fun animation and coloring, and fairly strange themes. This was a cartoon that could be silly, but it could also be serious when it wanted to be.

But if you think about it, Danny Phantom is kind of a strange cartoon. Not so much in tone, but in premise and concept. After all, the show is centered around a boy who is half-human half-ghost, so the subject of passing comes up a lot more in this series than in your average cartoon. But there are a lot more elements to this show that are surprisingly strange.

And for many of us, these things didn’t really occur to us as kids. The show was actually pretty good at glossing over some of the heavier stuff, but that doesn’t change the fact that Danny Phantom wasn’t afraid to go creepy.

So here are 20 secrets about Danny Phantom that you probably didn’t realize. Think we missed some good ones? Make sure to let us know in the comments section below!

20 His Origins

You know, Nickelodeon kind of glossed over the whole accident that changed Danny Fenton into Danny Phantom. Yeah, the whole story gets told in the theme song and it talks about how his DNA got fused with ghost ectoplasm, but they kind of ignore the fact that this lab accident was extremely hard. And yet, you can hear Danny’s scream to know he was not having a good time.

What you may not know is that Danny actually perished during that accident. But thanks to the ghost ectoplasm and the machine, he became part ghost. He may have gotten cool powers out of it, but they came at a pretty high price. It’s a much weirder element to the TV series that they don’t really talk about in great detail.

19 Gives A New Meaning To "At War With Yourself"

For the most part, Danny’s human half and ghost half are on the same page because they are the same person. He’s usually able to transform from ghost to human pretty easily, and there’s not much distinction between the two. Until he tries to separate the two, and then things go very bad.

Imagine having half of you trying to eliminate the other half.

In an alternate future, after losing his family and friends, Danny tries to have Vlad remove his human half from his ghost half in order to stop feeling the pain. But things go wrong. Very wrong. His ghost half then removes the ghost half of Vlad, absorbs that, and then destroys Danny’s human half. Imagine having half of you trying to eliminate the other half. This dark future did not end well for poor Danny.

18 Something's Up With This Guy

Vlad is probably the only other person like Danny, where he’s part human part ghost. And oddly enough, he also got his powers through a lab accident caused by Danny’s father. (Maybe his parents shouldn’t be around dangerous technology... ) But Vlad, also known as Plasmius, isn’t as heroic as Danny. Quite the opposite, actually.

What’s weird about Vlad is not so much that he’s a villain, but his motivations behind becoming a villain. Vlad has two big goals: he wants to eliminate Danny’s father in revenge, and he wants to marry Danny’s mother. Seriously, this guy is a big creep who can’t seem to let go of the past. He has gone through a couple of decades in his life feeling like he’s been cheated out of happiness that was rightfully his, and now he’s going to take it by force. Yeesh, just let it go, man.

17 A Tough Sister

You could argue that Jasmine Fenton, or Jazz, is probably the most normal person in this strange family. She’s incredibly smart, a little over-protective of Danny, and she’s not afraid to speak her mind on things that matter to her. And while she doesn’t like that her parents are ghost hunters, she will go in and take down ghosts if it means protecting her family.

If you think about it, Jazz is peeling layers off of a ghost’s skin.

And that’s what she does when Spectra goes after Danny. But the method of how Jazz does it is kind of strange. Jazz dons a suit called the Fenton Peeler and proceeds to peel away layers of Spectra’s beauty, leaving her true appearance: an ugly old hag. But if you think about it, Jazz is peeling layers off of a ghost’s skin. She is way more hardcore than we give her credit for.

16 My Mind Is Not My Own

Mind control is always a creepy thing in any show. The idea that someone is making you do things beyond your control can be all kinds of weird. And it happens a few times in Danny Phantom. The most notable and creepy one is when the ghost Freakshow decides to have fun with our favorite teen ghost hero.

In his first appearance, Freakshow puts Danny under his control and makes him do his bidding, like steal stuff, commit crimes, etc. But what’s creepy is when Sam confronts the two, Freakshow makes Danny almost destroy Sam. She manages to snap Danny out of it, but there’s a moment where you’re wondering if Sam’s going to bite the dust. Plus, seeing Danny, who’s normally this dorky and noble hero, turn into something a bit more demented is seriously weird.

15 Who Even Came Up With These Flowers?

This show definitely went to some places. It did pretty much everything except show blood. For example, did you know that Vlad mistreated Danny in one episode? Well, more like he knowingly caused Danny intense pain in order to gain something out of it.

Vlad shoves Danny into a circle of Blood Blossoms, which traps him and harms him.

There are things called Blood Blossoms, a type of flower that is apparently excruciatingly painful to ghosts should they touch them. At one point, Vlad shoves Danny into a circle of Blood Blossoms, which traps him and harms him. Granted, he does this to basically get rid of Danny so he can take the Infi-map, an object he wanted for his own designs. But he basically shoved Danny into a situation, knowing it would cause him excruciating pain, and then left him to suffer. That’s just cold, Vlad.

14 Sam's Actions

Despite her appearance and indifferent demeanor, Sam does care a lot about quite a few things. She’s a big activist for animal rights, she’s always fighting against injustice, and she’s not afraid to speak out if she thinks something is wrong. But we never really see her as particularly violent.

But at one moment, Sam rips off the head of a teddy bear at the Gothapalooza. And it turns out that all of the teddy bears were actually goth kids who had been transformed (ghost shenanigans, this probably isn’t even the weirdest thing to happen). So, Sam basically ripped someone’s head off. I wonder if that poor goth kid still lost their head, or if when everything went back to normal, their head was intact? We may never know.

13 The Ghost Child

Considering we usually only saw ghosts whenever they were attacking Amity Park, we don’t really know much about what they do during their downtime. And we don’t know a ton about how they interact with each other. But they do, and some are friends, and some are more than that.

Apparently, ghosts can get it on and they can have kids.

In the episode “Ultimate Enemy,” we find out a bit of slightly strange information. Apparently, ghosts can get it on and they can have kids. The proof is the ghost Lunchbox, a ghost who is the child of the Lunch Lady and the Box Ghost. While I’m not going to judge a ghost’s personal business, it’s kind of a creepy concept that ghosts can reproduce. How does that even work? Never mind, I don’t think I want to know.

12 This Guy’s Got The Power (No, Really)

At first glance, Ghost Writer may seem like a throwaway character. He does show up only in a couple of episodes, and one of them was a holiday special. Compared to other ghosts that Danny fights, Ghost Writer doesn’t seem all that intimidating. But he’s a lot more powerful than you may think.

Ghost Writer has control over reality itself, and he can manipulate it however he wants through his stories. If you think about it, that makes him incredibly powerful. Now, he only uses the power to write his stories and antagonize Danny a bit, so I guess he’s still not that dangerous. But if he wanted to, Ghost Writer could totally take over the world and no one could do much about it. Maybe Danny should stay on his good side for a bit.

11 His Own Worst Enemy

Danny has quite a few enemies and they range from being annoying to downright terrifying. And we’ve had quite the variety of ghosts, from the child ghost that just wanted to play, to an otherworldly horror bent on taking over the ghost zone. But the most terrifying enemy that Danny has likely faced is himself.

Danny’s darker self is seriously scary.

The concept of going up against a dark version of yourself is nothing new. A lot of people are fascinated by the idea of the hero going dark. But Danny’s darker self is seriously scary. Dark Danny, also known as Dan Phantom, is the ghost half of Danny that merged with Plasmius and then destroyed Danny’s human half. This guy is a full-blown psychopath and raged terror on both humans and ghosts for years. You don’t want to go up against him.

10 Family Ties

There are quite a few strange things in Danny Phantom; you can’t really avoid it with the premise of the show. But there’s one element that tends to get played off a bit for laughs that’s actually seriously weird. And that’s Danny’s parents and their obsession with hunting ghosts.

Danny’s parents are unaware that Danny is part ghost. So, they have no idea that Danny Phantom is actually their son. What’s horrifying is that his parents want to capture and dissect Danny Phantom. They see him as a dangerous enemy that should be captured and studied/destroyed. So, they basically are trying to harm and eliminate their own son. It is just shown for comedy, but it’s a pretty creepy concept. Like poor Danny doesn’t have enough to deal with.

9 Vlad, Leave The Guy Alone

We’ve established that Vlad is a pretty creepy person in general who can’t tell the difference between love and hate apparently. In the beginning, Vlad’s big goal was to win the heart of Maddie, Danny’s mom, and get rid of his dad. But as time progresses, we see Vlad grow pretty attached to Danny as well.

He becomes just as obsessed with Danny as he was with Maddie.

In fact, Vlad brings up the idea of becoming Danny’s new father, saying he’s a much better fit and that he can even help Danny with his powers. Pretty soon he becomes just as obsessed with Danny as he was with Maddie. Seriously dude, stop being a creep. What’s even creepier is that many fans like to ship these two, which is all kinds of unhealthy. This guy should not be dating anyone, especially a teenage boy.

8 Half Here, Half There

Danny does have some pretty cool powers. Since he’s part ghost, he can do all kinds of cool stuff like disappear, fly, phase through walls, throw ectoplasmic blasts, and more. But there’s actually a kind of weird element to his very nature.

The fact is, Danny is technically half deceased. Since he is half ghost, part of him is literally deceased. If we want to get even creepier, we could say that his ghost half is possessing his deceased body. Since he did actually perish during that lab accident that gave him his powers, this isn’t a far-fetched idea. The point is, no one really knows just what Danny is. He’s human, but he’s also a ghost. He’s alive, yet he’s deceased. It’s all really creepy if you think about it.

7 This Teen Packs A Punch

We know that Danny has quite a few awesome abilities as a half ghost. But I think we forget just how powerful this teen actually is. He’s so powerful that a lot of the ghosts are kind of afraid of him. And let’s not forget that the dark version of him took over Amity Park easily.

He’s so powerful that a lot of the ghosts are kind of afraid of him.

Let’s take a look at his skills. Besides the usual ghostly stuff of phasing through objects, flying, and disappearing, Danny has a few other special abilities. He can blast ghosts with ectoplasmic energy, he can make shields, he can redirect electric attacks at his opponents, he can use his ecto-energy to make himself stronger, and he can do the famous ghostly wail. All of these abilities can cause a lot of damage to ghosts and humans. This kid is not someone you should anger.

6 Ghosts Have Feelings Too!

When it comes to the ghosts of Amity Park, we tend to think of them as another "villain of the week," another obstacle for Danny to overcome. And to a degree, that’s kind of what they are. They are challenges that help Danny grow. But we also forget that these ghosts were actually once people too.

In fact, practically every enemy Danny has (besides the Guys in White) is either deceased or half deceased. But these ghosts were once people with their own lives. And they’ve all perished in various ways, from something normal like a heart attack, to something tragic like a freak accident. It’s a little sad and pretty strange when you think about it. I don’t think many kids shows have this much pain and turmoil surrounding the premise.

5 He’s Still Just A Kid

We don’t really forget that Danny is a teenager throughout the series; the fact that he deals with problems at school just as much as he deals with ghost problems makes sure of that. Half the struggles Danny has is dealing with humans as well as ghosts. But I think we forget just how young Danny actually is.

This isn't some older teenager we're talking about here. 

At the start of the series, Danny is fourteen. Yeah, when we think teenager we tend to think around 16 or 17. But while Danny is a teenager, he’s a young teenager, and he’s still very much a kid in some ways. That’s what makes all these things that happen to him that much more horrifying. This isn’t an older teenager that’s getting attacked, hunted, and hurt. This is a kid who’s just barely entered the teen stage. Danny, you are stronger than we give you credit for.

4 How Do You Cope?

Can you imagine losing everything and everyone you ever loved? That’s a pretty strange concept for a cartoon, and yet Danny Phantom did it. Though it was one of those “dark alternate future” scenarios. In this situation, Danny loses his family and his friends due to a freak explosion at the Nasty Burger.

What’s even crazier about this situation is this is what catalyzes Danny’s transformation into Dan Phantom, the evil version of Danny. But even without that, this whole idea is pretty horrifying, especially for a kids’ show. To lose everyone you ever loved and cared about would be completely devastating, and we see it in Danny. This Danny was completely broken, and it was really hard to see him like that. Man, Nickelodeon doesn’t mess around.

3 He Didn’t Get Much Time To Train

Most heroes with crazy powers usually have a little time to get the feel of their powers before they start fighting the good fight. And in some cases, they go through crazy amounts of training in order to hone their skills. But not Danny. This kid has been learning on the fly from day one.

This kid has been learning on the fly from day one.

What you may not know is that Danny only had his powers for a month before he fought ghosts for the first time. A month. Can you imagine? And this kid hadn’t been training or anything; he was mostly focused on trying to keep his powers under control and not alert anybody to his new abilities. But it’s thanks to that first fight that he found his calling. So, I guess it was a good thing. But man, Danny is either seriously talented or just incredibly lucky to have lasted as long as he has.

2 The Hunter

Most of the ghosts do have it out for Danny for one reason or another. The most common one was that he stopped them from having their fun, and now they want revenge. Or in Vlad’s case, he wants Danny to join up with him. But there is one ghost that had a more sinister plan in mind for Danny.

Skulker is a famous hunter ghost that loves to hunt rare animals. And he wanted to hunt Danny since Danny is a rarity, being half human and half ghost. What’s truly weird about Skulker is the fact that he tells Danny he wants to hunt him and hang his pelt at the foot of his bed. So he basically wanted to end Danny and put him on his bed. Okay, that’s just messed up.

1 A Perfect Plan

We’ve established the Vlad has a rather unhealthy obsession with Danny that leads to him to want to become Danny’s new father. Practically every time he and Danny fight, he is trying to persuade the ghost teen to join up with him. But things don’t stop there.

His plan was to make a clone and then eliminate the original Danny.

Vlad takes it a step further and attempts to clone Danny. His plan was to make a clone and then eliminate the original Danny. The attempts don’t really work, but he then creates Dani, a little female clone of Danny, who he then tries to use to take Danny down and then eventually rejects. Seriously, this guy is so messed up and so desperate to be Danny’s father that he tried to create a clone of him and then destroy him. Vlad, you’ve got some serious problems.