Devil, Clown, or Something More?– Extremes in Characterization

Is Karnage merely a plot device, or was he truly meant to be a well-rounded character on his own?  In this editorial, I look at the different episodes in TaleSpin and the many interpretations of his character therein.  Some eps portray DK as the ultimate megalomaniacal antagonist, while others depict him as the paradoxical honest-thief.  Still others merely treat him as a colourful plot device.  Does any episode capture the quintessential Karnage persona, or is he perhaps a melding of all of these qualities?

Hope you like to read, because I babble on something fierce in this editorial. ; )

Plunder and Lightning: The Dark Side of DK

There is no doubt that this is where Karnage reaches his pinnacle of villainy.  When you're used to consuming tamer eps such as ‘In Search of Ancient Blunders' or ‘On a Wing and a Bear,' the depth of Karnage's ferocity in P&L can be downright astonishing!  In the four-part Plunder and Lightning saga, Don Karnage is a pirate in every sense of the word.

One particularly shocking revelation was in P&L 3, where Mad Dog, after Karnage sets some pilots adrift in the ocean, says to Karnage, "Why'd you let them live, boss?!"  He makes it sound as if murder is indeed a top priority to Karnage.  In no other ep have I ever considered Karnage to be a killer, and thankfully this the only example I can find of it.  There's also his claim that he, ‘never lets anybody go,' in the same ep, but that can be taken in a few ways.  In either case, it's obvious the lives of others mean very little to Karnage in this saga.  He's bad to the bone!

Now, I rather enjoy seeing this side of Karnage.  It is certainly a big difference from how he usually is characterized Talespin.  Often it seems as if Karnage perceives piracy as merely an excuse to dress up and order people around.  Not so in P&L.  If you need any proof, just look at the various dogfights with the Sea Duck littered throughout the premiere.  He has an almost tangible bloodlust for gunning down his prey, as he bars his teeth and gestures wildly, punctuating his orders with an inappropriate amount of gunfire.  Scary, and oddly disarming too, I must say.  This is a Don Karnage you must take very seriously.

In P&L, Karnage steals, kidnaps, tortures, endangers countless lives, and perhaps even kills.  You can tell he really enjoys it, too.  Now, one must also wonder why the writers didn't decide to leave Karnage as an obviously one-dimensional villain, but in successive episodes, Karnage is calmed down, given a sense of humour, and even code of honour.   Even in P&L, we are exposed, however briefly, to a Karnage who isn't completely despicable.  When Kit goes back to the pirates, one can see that Karnage is downright nurturing to him.   It has been said that there has never been any other evidence other than this scene that Karnage can care about someone besides himself.  Although I don't agree that this is the only example, I do feel that this was a truly magnificent Karnage moment, and a very rare look into the depths of his character.

To a lesser extent, we can also see evidence of the ‘evil-Karnage' in "Bygones."  Now  unfortunately, I don't have this ep on tape, but I never liked it anyway, so I'll have to work by memory.  In this ep, Don Karnage appeared to be actively seeking to kill Baloo.  Again we see Karnage as a maniacal villain, but somehow it's not nearly as fun as it was in P&L.  The animation doesn't help either.  Where France animation made Karnage look amazingly fierce and wolf-like in the first two installments of P&L, he's now just a rather nasty-looking ball of fur with teeth.  Even worse is the ending.  Now I always thought of Karnage's retreats as wise tactical strategies, but in this ep, it just seems like cowardice.  Not one of his finest moments.

Karnage as Plot Fodder

More often than not, Karnage is merely used as a tool to get the plot moving. They all run pretty much the same; Karnage finds something he wants (usually treasure), battles our heroes for it, and loses.  Still, these eps are not total losses.  In each episode, we often get a glimpse into Karnage's less tangible qualities.  Portrayals range from entertaining (e.g. "Polly Wants A Treasure") to downright idiotic, (e.g. "Jolly Molly Christmas") but thankfully almost every episode provides us with another piece to the Karnage puzzle if we look hard enough.

Throughout the TaleSpin run, we learn that Don Karnage is well-read, has a biting sense of humour, has an almost gymnastic athleticism, is a music-lover,  believes in Christmas, and needs a vacation every once in a while.  He also enjoys donuts and cappuccino and the occasional sea-food platter. Certainly, none of this is exactly earth-shattering, but at least it's something!

Now if I could just drift for a moment, I know many people would see this editorial as a sort of justification for Don Karnage. They would likely say that I'm seeing facets of his character that are simply not there in an attempt to make him more likeable.  All right, I admit that I may be making assumptions about some things (like him being a music-lover, for example, simply because he insisted on a singing telegram), but I believe people who don't like Karnage make similar assumptions as well.  Is there really any evidence that Kit was abused by Karnage when he was a pirate?  Or that Karnage likes to hurt people?  Or that he's an idiot?  In an interview with Jim Cummings (the voice of Don Karnage) in a Disney Comics article (go here to see article), Cummings admits that likely Don Karnage is his own biggest fan, but agreed with the interviewer that there is a big misconception that Karnage is stupid.  He sometimes does silly things, but he's not a buffoon.  "He is a very thorough, vicious, cunning person."

The Breakthrough Performances

These are the episodes that manage to peel away the one-dimensional plot devices DK often gets trapped in and come to new revelations about the depth of his character.  The truly rare episode reveals that Karnage is not a megalomaniacal buffoon, but an actual person who has good qualities along with the bad.  Ironically, most of these episodes took place near the end of the production season, prompting me to wonder whether this indicates that the writers were indeed attempting to explore the character more. It is such a tragedy that a second season was never made, because I think we would have seen a whole bunch of fascinating revelations about his character.

First, we have the two-parter ‘A Bad Reflection on You."  This could have been put in the earlier category, as Karnage is admittedly stuck in the same ‘stop the heroes' bit he usually plays.  Still, it has merit. It is indeed a rare episode where Karnage actually manages to win, however briefly, against our heroes.  More notable scenes in this ep include the showdown between Baloo and him at the beginning of the show.  Usually Karnage falls prey to Baloo's tricks, but this time Karnage has the upper hand.  He is shrewd and clever enough to figure out Khan's true intentions regarding Baloo's mission, making Baloo look very foolish in the process.  It is also interesting to see how completely helpless the pirates are without Karnage's guidance.  They'd drown themselves if it wasn't for him!

'Ransom of the Red Chimp' – First of all, seeing Karnage in anything other than his Captain's uniform is pretty noteworthy on its own, but can you imagine the Don Karnage of P&L putting up with Aunt Louise?  He would have tossed poor Louisey right off the Iron Vulture!  I may be reading the wrong signals, but I think this ep shows that Karnage is something of a gentleman.  No matter what Aunt Louise does to him, Karnage never lays a finger on her, except for when he's frantically pushing her away.  How sweet!  And convenient! ; )

Ah, then there's 'Stuck on You'.  This is probably THE Karnage-characterization masterpiece!

It would be my favourite episode if only it had been animated by a better company.  Still, there are so many character revelations that it sets my heart aflutter!  We finally get to see how Karnage to reacts to things that aren't plunder-related.  We now know that he does have a weak spot in his ego, which is that he fears being crazy. We also find out that he does in fact find Rebecca irritating.  (That he actually FEELS something for other people, however negative, is noteworthy in itself ). Other surprises are that he can work with others if need be, and that he does in fact have a sense of mercy and honour.  Oh, how I love when he saves Baloo's life twice!  Still better is the rapid-fire banter between Baloo and Karnage.  Unlike in some eps, for instance,  "I Only Have Ice For You," Karnage is more than capable in 'Stuck on You' of coming up to his own witty rejoinders to Baloo's needlings.

Well?!

So, just who is the real Karnage?  A despicable tyrant? A modern Robin Hood? A mere annoyance?  Well, first of all, I think the whole ‘bloodthirsty pirate' thing is an act, but he does it for good reason. Think about it.  He's a pirate!  He has to act all tyrannical and evil, or people won't be afraid of him.  He also has his crew to worry about.  In his line of work, there's no room for vulnerabilities.  He must remain supremely confident at all times, because the slightest dent in his armor could spell mutiny. Therefore, Karnage gets stuck in perpetual macho-mode, whether he likes it or not.

Now I'm not saying that he isn't arrogant, but I do think a lot of it is purely for show.  When he doesn't have an audience, he does a lot less posturing, as evidenced in ‘Stuck on You.'  Furthermore, although he's a crook, he does have his own rules that he staunchly adheres to.  He seems to perceive failure in following these rules as a failure in his character.

And is he as unbalanced as he often seems to be?  Possibly, but I think he merely lets his emotions get the better of him at times.  He's passionate, and perhaps a little over-zealous, but not crazy.

Unfortunately, I don't really have a definite answer to my self-imposed question, but before you start rolling your eyes, consider this.  Why is he so darned likeable?  Why isn't he just another throwaway villain we don't care about like Trader Moe, El Gato, or Heimlich Menudo?  They were all arrogant, colourful, and crazy, weren't they?  It's because Don Karnage shares much more in common with the main characters of TaleSpin than he does with one-shot villains.  (Also, he gets a lot more screen time, as my editor keenly pointed out out ; ), and therefore he has more time to develop).  Karnage has his strengths and weaknesses just like Baloo, Kit, and Rebecca do.  He's flawed, and  has some weird hang-ups, but he also has things he cares about, and has bouts of conscience just like the rest of us. Perhaps not at first, but after a while, you start to see that Karnage is just as human as the rest of us.

"It is a very rare man who is taken for what he truly is."   Peter S. Beagle

I'd like to thank Scarlet, fellow  Karnage-aholic, for scrutinizing this editorial with a fine-toothed comb.  She's earned her English Major, trust me!

Return to Karnage-ology