| “ | You thought you could drag me to the bottom of the lake so you could eat me later. Well, guess what, punk? I'm a fish. WITH LEGS. | „ |
| ~ Darwin in "The Puppy." |
Darwin Watterson (full name Darwin Raglan Caspian Ahab Poseidon Nicodemus Watterson III) is the deuteragonist of the animated series The Amazing World of Gumball. He is the adopted younger brother (and best friend) of the protagonist Gumball Watterson, as well as the son of Nicole and Richard Watterson, the older brother of Anais Watterson, and the love interest-turned-boyfriend of Carrie Krueger.
Darwin began his life as the family's pet goldfish, but he grew legs, evolved, and became a full-fledged member of the Watterson family. He attends Elmore Jr. High with Gumball in in Miss Simian's class. He appears as an orange-goldfish, wears green sneakers, and has a gold-hearted, kind, and optimistic personality, although he is quite naive at times. Darwin often serves as the moral compass and "guardian" to the more mischievous and selfish Gumball, though he frequently gets pulled into Gumball's schemes and adventures throughout the series.
He is voiced by Jake Pratt in the early reel, Kwesi Boakye in Season 1 until "The Kids," Terrell Ransom Jr., in Season 3 until "The Copycats," Donielle T. Hansley Jr., in Season 5 until "The Anybody," and Christian J. Simon onwards. In the Japanese dub, he is voiced by Yumiko Kobayashi.
What Makes Him a Shonen Hero?[]
- Heroic/Honorable: Darwin is naturally kind, loyal, and willing to help others. He's honorable as well, as he has a strong sense of integrity (such as having a strong stance against lying at times) and consistently tries to do the right thing. His heroic acts include, but are not limited to:
- Stopping Bobert from committing genocide on mankind in "The Loophole" by informing him of the hypocrisy of his beliefs, namely that "viruses" like humanity should be protected alongside other forms of life victimized by humans.
- Helping Alan Keane cheer up after falling into a rut in "The Faith," thereby restoring all of the universe's color and positivity.
- Trying to help Gumball and Carrie stop Gargaroth, an apocalyptic monster, from destroying all life.
- Helping to rescue Banana Barbara from Rob's kidnapping and abuse in "The Future."
- Saving Gumball's life from the Evil Turtle in "The Puppy."
- Rescuing Molly Collins from being trapped in the Void in "The Void."
- Saving Anais from a house flood in "The Responsible."
- Courageous/Reckless: Darwin can be reserved at times, but when things get serious, he steps up. He has moments of reckless bravery, such as setting up a lethal scenario in "The Hero" where he and Gumball could be dropped in a car crusher - it was simply to make his father feel like a hero when he saves them.
- Energetic: Darwin is cheerful, lively, and playful, and has a fun-loving personality. He's often full of enthusiasm and can bounce around like an excited fish out of water (which, technically, he is). He is hyperactive when excited or passionate about something.
- Stubborn: He’s usually easygoing, but there are many moments where Darwin sticks to his beliefs or insists on his own way, especially when he thinks Gumball is doing something wrong or unethical. He also insists often on being seen as his own individual (rather than Gumball's doormat or sidekick), capable of making decisions independently. He frequently disobeys his parents as well, typical of a stubborn child.
- Hard-Working: Darwin is capable, and in comparison to the far more lazy Gumball, he works hard to accomplish his goals due to believing that there is value in it.
- Unintelligent: Darwin isn’t always dumb per se and can even be clever, but for the most part, he is a big goober and dimwit. He can certainly be naive and easily fooled, especially in Season 6. He also has his fair share of ridiculous, nonsense logic moments, and his antics are often irrational while he misconstrues situations. For instance, in "The Potion," he thought that the recipe for a potion read "Zero Rangutan toenails," when in reality it said "Orangutan toenails" - for some reason, he thought that the "O" was a zero. In "The Misunderstandings," Darwin believes that he is "wearing a wire" to secretly record audio - however, he's holding a broken piece of a metal fence.
- Optimistic/Idealistic: Darwin is the positive, sunshine-y contrast to Gumball’s cynicism. He always tries to see the bright side, even in very hopeless situations.
- One notable example is in "The Wicked," where Mrs. Robinson begins torturing people in Elmore out of pure sadism and is clearly evil, but Darwin insists that there must be good in her, even pretending to choke on a toy with the hopes of provoking her into helping him.
- Another example is in "The Signature," where he wants to create a charity business to help people, but he doesn't consider how ripe it is for corruption - in his imagination, all of the budget goes to financing the business rather than helping people, which makes him sad.
- Overall, Darwin genuinely believes in people and the good of humanity, even when he probably shouldn’t.
- Determined: If Darwin wants something, he’s often determined and will stop at nothing, having a stubborn persistence when something is especially important to him or his values. He was also completely determined to get back to Elmore and reunite with his family in "The Origins" after being flushed away from town.
- Unpredictable: Darwin’s thought process can be completely nonsensical at times, leading to some very unpredictable behavior. He will do the most absurd things on a whim for seemingly no reason:
- In "The Safety" he goes mad and becomes a dictator over Elmore to enforce strict "safety" precautions that preclude people from doing simple things like running or eating food that isn't literally just pure molecules (he eventually realizes that this is wrong and dismantles the operation). In "The Pony," he kicks pre-villain Rob down a manhole for no reason apart from the fact that he was being annoying.
- Self-Sacrificing: Darwin is extremely loyal and has put himself in danger multiple times for his friends and family. Unlike Gumball, Darwin rarely has an ego or acts selfishly. One example is when he dived into the Void to rescue Molly in "The Void," even when Gumball was being cowardly about it on the chance they might not make it back.
- Resilient: Darwin doesn’t hold onto grudges, failures, or embarrassment for too long. He’s good at moving on and pushing forward. Even though Darwin doesn't know his biological parents and sometimes feels like an outsider or belittled by his family, he keeps on keeping on.
- Youthful: He’s literally a child, but even beyond that, his personality is always full of wonder, curiosity, and a general childish enthusiasm for everything.
- Believes in the Power of Friendship: Darwin is one of the most wholesome, loyal friends. He'd do anything for Gumball and his peers, and he believes that loyalty and love among others is powerful. In fact, "The Origins" shows that the entire reason that Darwin grew both legs and lungs is because of his innate connection with Gumball, with the latter's love allowing him to adapt to his environment.
- Possesses Plot Armor: He's the second main character and vital to the series. Darwin has survived things that should’ve finished him off, mainly due to cartoon logic. He literally survived the Big Bang in "The Countdown."
- Short-Tempered: While he is usually a nice kid, he has been known to get very angry at times, such as when he screamed at Gumball in "The Castle" for making fun of his voice, even to the point of breaking glass and ringing ears.
- Has Rivals/Mentors: Darwin has rivals like Tobias Wilson and Rob, and mentors like his parents Nicole and Richard. Teachers like Miss Simian, Mr. Small and Principal Brown also qualify, and the latter two often try to help him do good and learn valuable lessons.
- Big Eater/Drinker: Like Gumball and Richard, Darwin loves eating junk food and drinking a lot of soda.
- Has an Idol: He idolizes his adoptive family, especially Gumball, even if Gumball is generally a terrible role model. Darwin views him as a more decisive "big brother" figure.
- Mischievous: Darwin is mischievous and enjoys playing pranks on his family and friends, such as in "The Prank," where he and Gumball engage in a prank war with their dad.
- Rebellious: Darwin is well-behaved, but he doesn't let any part of society change who he is when his values are unjustly targeted.
- Tragic Past: Darwin doesn't know his biological parents, and in "The Origins," it is revealed that Darwin was originally a pet fish, and when he was adopted by Gumball's family, Richard accidentally flushed him in the toilet. Darwin had to find his way across miles back to Elmore. He was eventually taken by pest control but later escaped to emotionally reunite with Gumball. However, his insecurities and feelings of being an outsider in his family still persist through the series, meaning that it is shown his backstory affected him.
- Forgiving: Darwin is very loving and forgiving, even those who antagonize him, such as his peers and even his brother. He even felt bad for Rob in "The Future," who had tried to kill him, and after helping paint him out of existence, he and Gumball requested that Banana Barbara paint their archenemy back into reality. There are other villains who he tries to befriend and redeem as well, purely out of his good heart.
- Is a Delinquent: Darwin is sometimes a delinquent who often pulls pranks and breaks the rules for fun. However, this is usually Gumball's job.
- Is a Chick Magnet: Darwin has attracted Carrie, Sarah G. Lato, Teri, and Masami Yoshida in the series - all girls at his school. He ends up falling in love with the first one.
- Is an Underdog: He started as just a pet fish, and is often treated as only Gumball's sidekick, but is still one of the most capable characters in the show.
- Is a True Hero: Darwin is a true hero because he believes in doing good by others, caring about humanity more than himself while making it one of his passions in life.
- Calls Out Attacks: In "The Tape," Darwin shouts "CUTE COMBO ATTACK!"
- Is a Mascot with Attitude: Darwin has a lot of attitude and can be snarky, mischievous, fun-loving, adorable, stubborn, angry, optimistic, downright crazy, etc. depending on the episode, which makes him relatable and inspiring to young boys.
- Street-Smart: While not conventionally, Darwin is capable of coming up with out-of-the-box solutions and creative challenges pertaining to the strange situations he finds himself in. That said, he is easily manipulated by thugs like Julius Oppenheimer Jr. in "The Sucker."
- Is a Kid/Teen Hero: Darwin is ten years old. He's also shown to be much younger in the flashback from "The Origins," only two years old, yet he still has the same adventurous spirit.
External Links[]
- Darwin Watterson on the Heroes Wiki
- Darwin Watterson on the Inconsistently Admirable Wiki
- Darwin Watterson on the The Amazing World of Gumball Wiki
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 Shonen Heroes
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Animated Features Live-Action Features Animated Television Shorts Video Games See Also | ||
 Shonen Heroes
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Cartoon Network Adult Swim See Also | ||