Danny Phantom - Premise

Premise

Danny Phantom centers on the life and adventures of 14-year-old Danny Fenton, an unpopular but good-natured boy attending Casper High School in the small town of Amity Park. He lives with his eccentric ghost-hunting parents, Maddie and Jack, and an overbearing 16-year-old sister, Jazz (short for Jasmine). Upon pressure from his best friends, Sam and Tucker, he decides to explore the Ghost Portal that his parents had created in a failed attempt to bridge the real world and the Ghost Zone (the ghostly parallel universe of Earth). Once inside, Danny accidentally presses the "On" button (which his naïve parents failed to do), activating the portal, which infuses his DNA with ectoplasm, transforming him into a half-ghost boy, nicknamed "The Halfa" by the rest of the ghost community.

Danny, who calls himself 'Danny Phantom' in ghost form, quickly develops the ability to fly and become invisible or intangible. Over time he learns other powers such as his ghost ray, ghostly wail and cryokinesis. Danny initially is frightened by his new powers and has little control over them, but he soon learns to use them to protect his town from malevolent ghosts. After the defeat of a Lunch Lady Ghost in the first episode, Danny turns to the life of a superhero, using his powers to rid his hometown from the various ghosts that plague it. Danny's best friends, technophile meat-loving Tucker Foley and goth-minded ultra-recyclo vegetarian Samantha (Sam) Manson, support Danny and help him with his ghost fighting.

Danny's ghost self is a polarization of who he was when he entered the ghost portal. When he goes ghost, his black hair turns white, his blue eyes turn green and the white jumpsuit he was wearing during the accident is now black. If Sam had not removed the Jack Fenton logo on Danny's jumpsuit before the accident, it would be a permanent part of Danny's ghost form. In the second season a ghost grants Sam's inadvertent wish that she and Danny had never met, and in consequence Danny loses his ghost powers. In the end Sam persuades Danny (now fully human) to regain his powers by reenacting the accident, this time wearing the jumpsuit with her newly designed "DP" logo on the chest, so that it appears when he goes ghost from then on.

Danny faces threats of many kinds, including vengeful ghost hunter Valerie Gray, who for a short period of time becomes his love interest, a rival half-ghost Vlad Masters/Plasmius, an old friend of his father's and considered to be his true arch-rival, and even his own parents who, being ghost hunters, view Danny Phantom (and any ghosts) as a menace to society. In addition, Danny tries to keep his secret safe from his classmates, teachers, and family. Throughout it all, Danny slowly realizes his own potential and his purpose, while his worlds - both the Ghost Zone and Earth - slowly begin to accept him as their defender.