Vlad Plasmius

"I sent those ghosts and others to test your father's skills. Imagine my surprise when I find you, the second ghost hybrid his foolishness created."

Vladimir "Vlad" Masters (also known as Vlad Plasmius''') is a fictional character, a supervillain from the television show Danny Phantom. He serves as the main antagonist throughout the series, mostly as Danny's arch-enemy but he also fits the description of a tragic villain. Vlad's primary goal is to kill his former friend, Jack Fenton because he blames him for ruining his life, and/or "steal" his wife, Maddie, because he is really madly in love with her and desperately wants a family. '''

'''After he discovers that Jack's son is actually "Danny Phantom," he tries to win him over so that he can adopt him and mold him into the perfect (evil) half-ghost son and eventual successor. He calls Danny "Daniel" or rarely, the more affectionate "little badger"-- a term which originated from his college football team whose mascot is a badger.[1] [2] '''

'''Vlad is also a devoted Packers fan, going as far as for decorating the entrance hall of his castle in Packers paraphernalia, building a football stadium outside his home, and trying to buy the team itself.[3] (It is unknown why he was unable to use his multi-person-overshadowing abilities to force Green Bay, Wisconsin to sell him the team.) He is voiced by Martin Mull. '''

'''Vlad may take his name from Vlad III, the man that inspired Count Dracula. His ghost form resembles that of a Dracula-esque vampire, in both skin tone and costume, an idea that was almost utilized during production before it was nixed, considering it too "occult". [4] '''

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Contents
[ hide ]*1 Appearances/History 
 * 1.1 Origin 
 * 1.2 Mysterious Occurrence 
 * 1.3 Arch Nemesis 
 * 1.4 The Ultimate Enemy.... 
 * 1.5 Desperation 
 * 1.6 Politics and New Grounds 
 * 1.7 Final Fall 
 * 2 Personality and Weakness 
 * 3 Relationships 
 * 3.1 Danny Phantom (Daniel Fenton) 
 * 3.2 Dani Phantom 
 * 3.3 Maddie Fenton 
 * 3.4 Jack Fenton 
 * 3.5 Valerie Gray 
 * 3.6 Skulker and Other Henchmen 
 * 3.7 Dark Danny 
 * 4 Powers 
 * 5 Trivia 
 * 6 References 
 * }

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Contents
[hide] *1 Creation and Conception
 * 2 Character
 * 3 Plot Overview
 * 4 Powers
 * 5 References
 * }

Creation and Conception
Vlad was created to be the "Lex Luthor" of the Danny Phantom franchise series. He serves as a contrast to Danny where he is older, more experienced, and richer; purposely meant to give Danny a formidable opponent.

Originally devised as a vampire before the developers declared it "too occult", Vlad's current resemblance shares much in common with vampiric traits. His ghost surname, "Plasmius" is devised from "plasma" which doubly can be a reference to "blood" or ectoplasm - underlining both the former vampire element and the current 'ghost' connection. Regardless of its influence, it is a surname that stayed in the final production.[1] However, writer Steve Marmel declared the name "Vlad Plasmius" was from a brick he bought in Lambeau Field.[4]

Vlad's love for the Green Bay Packers is attributed and added due to Marmel's fondness for them. Their team color is a reverse gold and green to avoid copyright infringement with the actual team. An original running gag would be that Vlad would lose his manor due to unfortunate luck every other episode.[4]

Character
Vlad's exterior portrays him as a well-to-do man; rich, debonair, and suave. But inside, he is diabolically twisted, clever, manipulative, intelligent, and mysterious. Though his motivation is love, Vlad's goals are often forceful and selfish, devising numerous long term plans[5] [6] [7] to get what he wants, when he wants. He isn't above using others as his pawns in an allegorical reference to Chess.[3]

Though he has no problems handling his own mission, Vlad frequently employs several ghosts to assist him when needed[2] [7] [3] [8] and at one point, Valerie, who at the time, was unaware he was half ghost.[9]

His villainous acts are usually as a means to fill the painful loneliness and empty void in his life and feels his actions are justified.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9">[10] Danny often uses this weakness against him during battle.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-The_Million_Dollar_Ghost_6-2">[7] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Maternal_Instinct_10-0">[11] His methods and actions towards Danny gets more vile during the last season.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Eye_for_An_Eye_11-0">[12]

When stressed, he frequently shouts out snack names ("Oh, fudge buckets!").<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-The_Million_Dollar_Ghost_6-3">[7] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Reign_Storm_2-3">[3] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Eye_for_An_Eye_11-1">[12] He is also a devoted Green Bay Packers fan and has spent years trying to obtain them. He commemorates his obsession with Packers merchandises,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Bitter_Reunions_1-2">[2] football statues, and a football stadium in his backyard.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Secret_Weapons_12-0">[13] Like the Fentons, he is a keen inventor and has created numerous gadgets and Anti-ghost gears of his own.

Origin
The only known thing about his past was that he attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison alongside his best friend Jack Fenton, and love interest, Maddie. Vlad's friendship with Jack ended during an experiment with a prototype ghost portal they had built when it overloaded and blasted Vlad in the face with ectoplasmic energy. (Jack had accidentally poured diet soda in the filtrator instead of ecto-purifier). Afterwards, Vlad was forced to stay in the hospital for years with a serious case of "ecto-acne," which ruined his social life, his spirits, and his chances of proposing to Maddie. However, after he recovered he began to make billions in the hope of actually getting Maddie back.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Bitter_Reunions_4-0" sizcache="201" sizset="161">[5] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Masters_of_All_Time_5-0" sizcache="201" sizset="162">[6]

He spent the next bitter 20 years honing and taking advantage of his newfound powers, and using them for his own personal gain in order to become rich and famous. He possessed wealthy business tycoons to make them hand their companies over to him, took part in invisible insider stock market trading, and committed many invisible burglaries in order to amass his vast fortune. He currently owns a company named "VladCo" (which would buy out Axion Labs later on)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Flirting_with_Disaster_6-0" sizcache="201" sizset="163">[7] and has been featured in a number of magazines ("Affluence" magazine named him "Man of the Year" in 1997, and he apparently took over Microsoft renaming it to "MasterSoft," etc.)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7" sizcache="201" sizset="164">[8]

Mysterious Occurrence
Despite the fact that Vlad made his first appearance in the episode, "Bitter Reunions", he reveals to Danny that he had sent the Ectopusses in the first episode to test Jack (and potentially sent Skulker as well). Also in "Bitter Reunions", Vlad sends three of his ghost vulture henchmen to kill Jack, only to be thwarted by Danny after discovering their plan, but not their motive.

Despite their failure, Vlad invites the Fentons to a college reunion at his castle-like mansion in Wisconsin. However, it was really just part of a plot to humiliate Jack and to get his wife Maddie, the woman of his dreams, to leave him. Danny (as well as his sister Jazz) are dragged along, and the boy immediately has decidedly mixed feelings about the well-off man. He later confronts the ghost named 'Vlad Plasmius' when his ghost sense alerts him to his presence that night, and he discovers that he is easily outmatched by the stronger, more powerful ghost after he is knocked unconscious during their fight. Danny Phantom then unwillingly transforms back to Danny Fenton in front of him, and Vlad realizes that he is Jack's son. He remains tight-lipped about the fact until the day of the actual reunion.

At the night of the reunion, Vlad casually asks Danny to go down to the lab to get a present for Jack, but when Danny does so, Skulker captures him with the ghost-neutralizer. Vlad enters and reveals to Danny who he is, ultimately giving Danny the chance to join up with him and help him further train and hone his powers in exchange for renouncing his father. Danny angrily declines, leaving Vlad to put the next phase of his plan into action. He possesses Jack, makes him cause chaos during the reunion to ruin his reputation, then captures Maddie Fenton. Danny (eventually freed by a friendly ghost that haunts Vlad's house) uses the Fenton RV to stop him. Danny ironically blackmails Vlad by threatening to expose the both of them to his parents unless they call a truce, to which Vlad agrees, though he vowed to return.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Bitter_Reunions_4-1" sizcache="201" sizset="175">[5]

Arch Nemesis
Vlad appears later as the mysterious provider of Valerie's infamous ghost hunting suit and weapons, although she is unaware of his true intentions behind it.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Shades_of_Gray_8-0" sizcache="201" sizset="177">[9] Vlad made a full return when he staged a plan that involved the inconspicuous "DALV" group ("Vlad" backwards) inviting Maddie and Danny to a mother/son science convention in Florida. When Maddie takes a reluctant Danny along as an attempt to bond with him, the two are both tricked into parachuting out of their plane, conveniently finding themselves at Vlad's Rocky Mountain retreat. There, Vlad attempts to convince them both to stay with him by confessing his undying love for Maddie. They refuse and storm off. While they are leaving, Danny declares, "Bye Vlad, and as a lonely single man in your forties, might I suggest internet dating... or a cat!" Vlad swears that they will regret the day they refused him and that he "WILL...NOT...GET...A...CAT!", but he later does in the episode, "Infinite Realms" and names it "Maddie".

Vlad attempts to chase them both back by means of sending his mutated ghost animals after them- the bodies of which can be seen mounted in his hunting-lodge style living room. While Maddie attempts to find a way out of the wilderness, Danny confronts Vlad, who shorts out Danny's powers for a set period of time with a device he invented (the "Plasmius Maximus"), and leaves him at the mercy of his ghost animals. However, Danny is saved by his mother and with little choice, is forced to return to Vlad's home to find a means to get back to Amity Park. Maddie uses her charm on Vlad to find a phone, which makes Danny sick as she pretends to like him. She goes off to make the call while Danny, left alone with Vlad, falsely declares him as his "new dad" to let his guard down. Successfully tricking Vlad by setting back his clock (which shows how much time is left until Danny's powers return), he wraps the Specter Deflector around Vlad, which weakens him considerably for a fairer battle. Danny ultimately defeats Vlad by convincing the ghosts of the animals that Vlad had killed ("Hey, I'm not the one who turned your pelts into wall art.") to turn against him (as well as disabling his powers with the Plasmius Maximus).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Maternal_Instinct_9-0" sizcache="201" sizset="178">[10]

Vlad's next plan has him traveling into the Ghost Zone in search of the Skeleton Key, an item that enables him to open "any door, travel to any realm, and free any prisoner". When Behemoth (the guardian of the key) appears, Vlad easily overpowers him, but this is only an initial success and Vlad is soon defeated as Behemoth throws him out of the Ghost Zone back through his portal, and back into his manor without the key. However, he realizes that he had forgotten to change the "Ecto-Filtrator" on his ghost portal, and it explodes, destroying his castle mansion. Due to this, Vlad plans to steal the Fentons' ghost portal. Needing to distract Danny so he can have the time to dismantle it, he offers a million dollar bounty on the ghost boy to distract him. Ghost hunters from all over gather to capture him, which doesn't bother Danny due to the incompetence of most of them. However, when Danny spots the ghost vultures making off with Sam and Tucker, he races after them, only to be brutally beaten by Plasmius, who appears and reveals his intention to humiliate Jack as well, before leaving.

Danny feels pity for his father and his ineptitude, so he allows himself to be caught to boost his terrible reputation as a ghost hunter. But when Jack leaves to claim his reward, the two are both captured by Vlad who then proceeds to steal their ghost portal. Working together, Jack and Danny escape and head for the Portal, where Vlad brutually insults Jack. In a moment of rarity, Jack successfully uses the ghost gauntlets to beat Vlad and throws him into the Ghost Zone. A humiliated Vlad soon turns gleeful when he obtains the key shortly afterwards.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-The_Million_Dollar_Ghost_10-0" sizcache="201" sizset="180">[11] The skeleton key would be put to use when Vlad winds up releasing the ghost king Pariah Dark when he tries to steal the king's treasures: the "Crown of Fire" and the "Ring of Rage." To combat the king, Vlad and Danny call a temporary truce and fight off Pariah's forces. Vlad ultimately locks Pariah Dark back into his sarcophagus prison just as Danny, armed with the Ecto-Skeleton (The Fenton's latest invention), passes out from the exertion of using it to fight Pariah back inside of it. Taking advantage of the situation, Vlad steals the Ecto-Skeleton, and claims to Maddie and Jack that he rescued Danny to worm his way back into their good graces.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Reign_Storm_11-0" sizcache="201" sizset="181">[12]

The Ultimate Enemy
In an alternate future, Danny, orphaned upon the death of his family and friends, moves in with Vlad, seeing as he was "the only person left on the planet who could possibly hope to understand his situation". Vlad takes Danny in with open arms and honors his wishes when a seriously depressed and desperate Danny begs Vlad to remove his ghost half from him, claiming that the memory of it causes him too much pain. During the process, Danny's ghost half becomes enraged, and turns on Vlad, tearing Vlad's ghost half away from his human half and inadvertently merging himself with it as he goes to attack the other ghost. With evil having completely consumed him, Danny/Vlad's ghost then proceeds to kill the human Danny, destroy Vlad's mansion, and begin a 10-year long rampage of world destruction while the human Vlad just barely escaped.

When the present-day Danny, trapped in the future due to the future evil Danny (Dark Danny) fusing a Clockwork medallion within him, arrives in what's left of Vlad's mansion, he finds Vlad, now reduced to a miserable old hermit. The only advantage of this, he says, is that it's given him time to realize what a fool he'd been. In a rare moment for both characters, Vlad shows repentance for his misdeeds while Danny, in a way, forgives him,"Maybe that's all anybody needs, a second chance". Vlad ultimately played a part in returning present-day Danny back to the past to correct his mistake by removing the time medallion from within him.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-The_Ultimate_Enemy_12-0" sizcache="201" sizset="183">[13] Danny is successful.

Desperation
Vlad's next big plan has him hiring Skulker to steal various materials to improve the stolen Ecto-Skeleton's power. When Danny's sister, Jazz, arrives with the intent to move in with him, because her father's "an idiot," Vlad wastes no time in convincing Jack and Maddie to let her stay a while. However, he doesn't realize that Jazz's true motive is to investigate him and his possible connection to Skulker's thefts in secret (Jazz knows about his ghost form after hacking into Danny's secret files). Vlad starts getting suspicious when Jazz recognizes a captured Danny Phantom, and orders Jazz to prove her loyalty by putting on the ecto-skeleton and destroying her brother, lest she be destroyed herself. Danny and Jazz, however, get the last laugh by outsmarting Vlad by means of staging a mock battle, escaping while he's confused, and setting the ecto-skeleton to self-destruct.

At one point, Vlad comes down with another outbreak of lethal ecto-acne. Infecting Sam and Tucker with the same disease, he blackmails Danny into helping him. Taking a different route, Danny convinced Clockwork to send him to the past to save Vlad from getting hit by the porto-portal blast, to ensure a future without Vlad Plasmius. However, due to Danny's interference in the past, Jack accidentally got caught in the blast and Jack becomes infected with the ecto-acne and ultimately becomes an angry, bitter "Jack Plasmius." In this "alternate present", Vlad (ironically still possessing his white hair) is married to Maddie, has become the new Wisconsin Dairy King, and supposedly lives as a simple dairy farmer. However, he is still a very controlling individual, as he forbids his wife Maddie from continuing her ghost research (although she still continues it in secret). He also lies to her by telling her that Jack had blamed her for the accident and never wants to see her again. However, Danny tells her the truth in that it wasn't true and that Jack still loves her. She is enraged that Vlad lied to her.

When Vlad eventually discovers Maddie's secret basement lab, he's shocked to see Jack still alive and still thoroughly in love with Maddie. He blasts at him out of jealousy, apparently killing him, angering Maddie who quickly throws him into the Ghost Zone. Danny returns to Clockwork's lair afterwards where he changes the past back to the way it originally was. Gaining knowledge of a cure, Vlad, Tucker, and Sam are cured afterwards.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Masters_of_All_Time_5-1" sizcache="201" sizset="188">[6]

Vlad eventually takes drastic and desperate measures when he tries to create a clone of Danny (getting various samples of Danny's DNA secretly from their battles, in addition to his battles with Valerie). He managed to spawn a few imperfect versions (due to the lack of a mid-morph sample from Danny), including Dani Phantom, a slightly younger, female version of Danny. He eventually uses her in helping to capture Danny himself. However, Danielle betrays Vlad after seeing who her "father" truly was, one who didn't care at all for her and saw her as nothing but a tool. Siding with her "cousin" Danny, the two attack Vlad, causing him to actually collide with the main "primary" clone, destroying him. Gravely upset over the loss of his most stable creation, Vlad was seconds away from killing Danielle if not for Danny's ghostly wail, Sam and Tucker's timely rescue, and eventually Danielle herself. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Kindred_Spirits_13-0" sizcache="201" sizset="190">[14]

Politics and New GroundsEdit
After a series of pranks between Vlad and Danny, the former runs for mayor of Amity Park, winning by overshadowing the voters and making them choose him. He then makes life miserable for Danny by banning technology and Danny Phantom, instating school uniforms, and tearing down the Nasty Burger to make way for a new restaurant, "McMasters," from which teenagers are banned. Danny eventually apologizes for his pranks, but Vlad refuses to, leading Danny to try and announce to the public that Masters and Plasmius are the same. This fails when a Plasmius double appears in front of Danny, the public, and a human Vlad Masters. While the duplicate and Danny fight, Vlad, trying to make himself look good in public, attempts to kill his Plasmius double until Danny overshadows it and flies him to Vlad's limo just as the mayor opens fire. Pulled from the wreckage is an injured Danny Fenton, and an angry public blames Vlad for hurting an innocent child. As a result he goes into damage-control mode and turns everything back to normal; his battle with Danny far from over.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Eye_for_An_Eye_14-0" sizcache="201" sizset="192">[15]

Vlad later steals the famed "Infi-Map" from Danny and his friends. This powerful ghostly map takes the user to any part of the Ghost Zone that they want to go to instantly, and Vlad feels that he can use it to take over the realm. Danny and friends get involved in a wild goose chase through various portals opening all over the world (The Bermuda Triangle, etc.) and throughout various time periods to bring the map back. They eventually succeed when Vlad ends up landing in the realm of the "Far Frozen," where Frostbite, the original guardian of the map, along with his people, freeze him.

It is also revealed in this episode that Vlad owns a cat fittingly named Maddie at that point, a suggestion Danny made in an earlier episode (done to spite his loneliness). The cat increasingly grows bigger and nastier over the course of the show.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Infinite_Realms_15-0" sizcache="201" sizset="193">[16]

To further his appeal as mayor, Vlad disguises a barometer that controls the weather ghost Vortex as his "rain machine" to bring rain upon Amity Park's recent drought. The plan later backfires when Vortex rebels and the barometer breaks, causing him to go on a rampage on Earth and accidentally transfers his own set of weather powers to Danny, which are triggered by his emotions. Vlad tries to keep Danny calm and pleased at all times so that it remains sunny, while Sam and Tucker scope Vortex out and bring him back to Amity Park, where he is defeated by Danny. Vlad blames the whole mess on Danny Phantom in public.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Torrent_of_Terror_16-0" sizcache="201" sizset="194">[17] Vlad made a cameo when the Fentons moved next door to him when they briefly became extremely wealthy. <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Livin.27_Large_17-0" sizcache="201" sizset="195">[18] and as one of the ghostly villain Nocturne's sleeping victims.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Frightmare_18-0" sizcache="201" sizset="196">[19]

Final FallEdit
Upon Danielle's return, Vlad hires Valerie to capture her for him. With her under his possession once again, he planned to dissolve her entire body to study her remains in order to create a better, more functional clone. Danny, managing to gain help from a hesitant Valerie, stopped him in time, sparing Dani's life and warning Vlad to leave her be.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-D-Stabilized_19-0" sizcache="201" sizset="198">[20]

Planning to destroy Danny Phantom once and for all, Vlad hired a new team of Ghost Catchers--Vid, Thrash, and Download--also known as the "Masters' Blasters" team to replace and humiliate Danny, in what he hopes will cause the boy to stop his ghost hunting once and for all (which he does). When an asteroid gets knocked towards Earth by Vlad's satellite (having exploded accidentally), he revealed his dual identity to the world and promised to stop the asteroid from destroying Earth by making it intangible in exchange for over $500 billion and complete control over the entire world. However, he later finds out that the asteroid was composed of an anti-Ghost element called ectoranium, making it so he (and any other ghosts) couldn't touch it, and therefore could not make it intangible. Unable to save the planet and return home (due to the fact that he would be forever hunted now that he had revealed his secret, in addition to an angry Jack leaving him in space), he remained in space. Although He most likely survived by the asteroid that struck him in the end, Vlad has accepted his destiny (isolation and loneliness) and embraces the darkness in his "soul".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Phantom_Planet_20-0" sizcache="201" sizset="199">[21]

Personality and Weakness
"Maybe that's all anyone needs; a second chance."Vlad's general outer appearance showcase him as a well to do man: rich, debonair, suave, clever, manipulative, intelligent, and mysterious, but deep down he has Narcissistic personality disorder. He plans out his well strategized ideas to get what he wants, when he wants it, showcasing patience as well as a slick side. He isn't above using others as his pawn in his well played game of chess to reach further into his goals, never giving up when he is down and going into another phase of his multiple plans. To compensate for his losses, Vlad savors the small personal victories (such as in "Bitter Reunions" where he lost the battle, but pointed out Danny's blackmailing before leaving). When under stress, he frequently shouts out snack names ("Oh, butter biscuits", "Oh, sugar cookies", etc). He usually works alone, but has required help from Skulker several times, as well as the vulture ghosts, ectopusses, and the failed clones. It is also probable that he struck a deal with the Fright Knight.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-21" sizcache="201" sizset="206">[22]

Vlad is also know to hold a grudge for years. Part of the reasons he hates Jack so much is due to all the humiliation and personal injury Jack has caused him over the years.

Vlad is also decitful and cruel and will use any dirty trick to get what he wants. This includes infecting Sam and Tucker with Ecto achne to get Danny to help him with his own disease.

While Vlad is at heart greedy, self serving, sneaky underhanded and power mad He's a complicated soul however, often a double edged sword as he uses the wrong methods (killing, stealing, etc.) to gain the right, namely his painful loneliness and wanting acceptance of love which he frequently shares with Maddie and especially Danny or to try and gain the things he can't have (Maddie and Danny).<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-22" sizcache="201" sizset="207">[23] Unfortunately this is also used to his disadvantage when his emotions were often used to trick him into losing a battle. However, the fact that he retains such emotions shows that he is not above redemption.

Though he is powerful, (having more than 20 years of ghost experience as compared to Danny), Vlad is not invincible. Like other ghosts (and half ghosts), Vlad is vulnerable to the various (Fenton) ghost gadgets. Danny's Ghostly Wail (a sonic scream) and Ghostly Ice (Cryokinesis) are also clear advantages, seeing as these are powers that Vlad seems to lack, giving Danny a substantial edge, while Vlad's powers have remained consistent throughout the series. His arrogance has also proven to be a significant disadvantage; on one occasion when he fought Jack as Plasmius- Jack, naturally, being unaware of his identity as Vlad Masters- part of the reason for his defeat was the fact that he was so surprised at Jack's ability to successfully battle him that he didn't launch any effective attacks. He (like all ghosts) is also powerless against the anti-ghost element Ectoranium, which ultimately leads to his downfall.

Danny Phantom
Quite possibly the one whom he desires the most, Vlad's first meeting with Danny was nothing special up until he discovered that the boy was a half-ghost, just like him. With that knowledge, Vlad has since pursued Danny, trying to convince him to renounce his father, and become his adopted son/successor. Later in the series, he becomes so desperate and angry that he attempts to clone Danny, which doesn't quite work out.

Danny has nothing but disdain for Vlad mostly because he recognizes Vlad as hopelessly deluded, cruel and a genuine sleaze.

However, often he tries to use Danny in order to get another phase of his plan(s) moving and isn't above being manipulative towards him. Yet, the other side of his personality shows an antagonistic paternal bond towards the boy, giving him advice and indicating that the two of them were a lot more alike then Danny cares to admit. By the time of "Eye for an Eye", Vlad now sees Danny as a full time rival rather than the son he yearns for out of frustration towards the boy.

Dani Phantom
Created as one of Vlad's many failed attempts to clone Danny, Danielle (Dani) was the only one of his clones blessed with a mind of her own, the ability to think for herself, and an individual personality (as opposed to the other mindless clones, whose only coherent thoughts were to "obey father"). As a result, Vlad temporarily treated Danielle as if she were his actual daughter in order to keep her trust. However, Danielle's ghost-half was unstable, and she would begin to melt into ectoplasmic goo if she exerted herself too much. Vlad convinced her that if she captured Danny Phantom, he could use his "mid-morph" DNA to help stabilize her, and she agreed. In truth, Vlad intended to destroy and dispose of her once he had succeeded in perfecting his ultimate Danny clone.

When Danielle discovered the truth about her "father", she turned on him and left. When she later returned in a much more weakened state, he made Valerie fetch her in order for him to melt her so as to study her remains to see how she had survived so long, and so he could learn how to make a more-perfect clone. Danny and Valerie end up rescuing her.

Maddie Fenton
The woman Vlad desires; he has repeatedly declared that he is in love with her and will do anything to get her, mostly killing Jack who serves as an obstacle. Obsessed with her (even to create an A.I. holographic computerized program of her), his alternate self owned and controlled her like an object rather than a person.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Masters_of_All_Time_5-2" sizcache="201" sizset="215">[6] Maddie is indifferent to Vlad due to his confession that he loved her and continues to harbor mixed feelings towards him even after he apparently rescued Danny in "Reign Storm." By the last episode, she considers him deplorable when he reveals his true nature and blackmails the nations of the world. Ultimately by doing this Vlad loses even Maddie's respect.

Jack Fenton
Jack was once Vlad's best friend in college, but his accidental ghost portal mistake and marriage to Maddie has left Vlad bitter. Jack has also caused Vlad great humiliation and personal injury due to all his disasters. While Jack is oblivious to Vlad's hatred, Vlad has taken it upon himself to try and humiliate and kill Jack whenever the opportunity arises, only to typically be thwarted by Danny (Although on one particularly humiliating occasion he was defeated by Jack while in ghost form). Eventually, Vlad reveals himself as a ghost to the world and blackmails all the nations for money and power in return for saving the earth from an approaching asteroid- and Jack is overwhelmed by shock. Despite his first apologies and wishes to hold a strong friendship again, Vlad denies his pleads, and coldly flies off. However, when Vlad realizes that he would be unable to stop the asteroid from colliding with Earth, Vlad begs Jack to let him board the spaceship he is in, to which he is denied. Thus, Jack finally ended his friendship with Vlad.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-23" sizcache="201" sizset="221">[24] After that, Vlad showed remorse for what he has caused and apparently he realized he lost the one true friend he had ever had. It is debatable whether he would have gotten a second chance had he accepted the offer Jack made him in regards to being friends again.

Valerie Gray
She was given her ghost hunting gears by Vlad and has since used them to her fullest ability until "Flirting with Disaster" (in which the suit was destroyed). Unbeknownst to her, Valerie's suit served to spy on Danny and his ghosts powers which Vlad would then use to create the perfect clone. It seems Valerie is impressed and respectful towards Vlad, obviously not knowing of his true intentions. She eventually finds out he is half-ghost; angry by his deception she vows to hunt him down.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-D-Stabilized_19-1" sizcache="201" sizset="224">[20] He referred to Valerie's ghost hunter persona as a "Crack pot" on a news broadcast in the last episode, hinting that Valerie may have already made moves against him. One of the ghosts he primarily employs to do various odds and ends for him (stealing, kidnapping, etc.) is Skulker, which he does willingly in exchange for (presumably) money, or perhaps better equipment. The Vulture ghosts also frequent as Vlad's henchghosts, weak, but usually reliable. It may be possible that there are other ghosts that work for Vlad. Vlad has apparently hired the Fright Knight to serve him and at one point, obtained the services of a weather-controlling ghost named Vortex briefly.

Dark Danny
Vlad accidentally helped in the birth of Danny's alternate evil incarnation, which ultimately led to him living as a reclused hermit, powerless when Dark Danny stripped him of his ghost powers and assimilated them. Dark Danny ultimately seeks Vlad's ghost portal in order to destroy it and presumably him as well. In the game Dark Danny comes to Vlad in the present to assure that the accident happens when he is defeated.

Powers
Having twenty years more experience, Vlad starts off the series as Danny's superior.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Bitter_Reunions_1-7">[2] He possess all the abilities Danny has (flight, Ghost Rays, intangibility/invisibility, overshadowing) and has mastered powers Danny has not—the most prominent being duplication of which he easily splits in four.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-The_Million_Dollar_Ghost_6-6">[7] He is also able to construct various shapes from his ectoplasm, from a rope to a swatter with ease. Vlad has mastered the ability to teleport.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-The_Million_Dollar_Ghost_6-7">[7] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Reign_Storm_2-6">[3] Like Danny, he gains super strength and enhanced agility his human self does not possess. When he transforms, two black rings intersect his body, opposed to Danny's white rings.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Bitter_Reunions_1-8">[2]

Vlad gains new and stronger powers later on, least of all an Ecto tornado. During this season his duplication extends from four to dozens.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Eye_for_An_Eye_11-3">[12] He is able to create a duplicate of his human or ghost half despite whatever form he possess.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-D-Stabilized_8-2">[9] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Eye_for_An_Eye_11-4">[12] Vlad's Ecto Rays often take on a disk-like shape during this time as well. It is thought widely due to the character development, that Vlad did not gain new powers, but was simply holding back.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Infinite_Realms_18-0">[19]

Vlad's Transformation Process.

Vlad has all the same powers that Danny has, but his powers are far more developed. He is able to perform techniques that Danny has yet to learn (like duplication, until the episode Torrent of Terror), and for all the feats that Danny can perform, Vlad can perform them better, possibly due to the 20 year experience in which he has had more time to develop new abilities, improve his existing ones, and patch up any weaknesses he might have, although it seems Danny is slowly catching up to him. Furthermore, it's been shown that Vlad lacks Danny's Ghostly Wail ability. He also doesn't seem to have a ghost sense, and, by extension, hasn't developed ice powers like Danny recently did. Vlad's powers eventually grew (creating more duplicates of himself, an Ecto-Tornado, etc.)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Eye_for_An_Eye_14-1" sizcache="201" sizset="237">[15] It is possible the reason Vlad increased in power a bit through the series is because he never really had any worthy opponents to train to defeat, until he became Danny's arch-nemesis.

His powers include (but possibly not limited to) the following :
 * 1) Transformation: Vlad's rings are black, as opposed to Danny's, which are white.
 * 2) Vampiric Ghost Form: Vlad's ghost form is similar to a vampire, unlike Danny who just has a "negative image" of himself. The reason for this is that Vlad Dracula from Romania was thought to be a "vampire" for his blood lust, therefore, when they're names crossed the makers decided him to be a vampire. An in-show explanation for this could be that he is altering his form to give him a more "original" look as a ghost and to be less obvious in case somebody made the physical connection.
 * 3) Intangibility and Invisibility: Able to phase through solid objects and not be seen. He has used this often to steal money before the start of the series.
 * 4) Flying, Floating, and Hovering: Able to fly, float, and hover, presumably with the same speed as Danny's. In Reign Storm, vlad's lower half became a wispy tail as he quickly tries to escape Pariah Dark. This is never noticabely seen before or again as Vlad does not use flying as an advantage as much as Danny does.
 * 5) Paranormal Speed, Strength, Agility, and Durability: Standard ghost powers. Vlad has built on these skills during the 20 years of practice he has had to hone his ghost powers. He is easily stronger and quicker than Danny.
 * 6) Overshadowing/Possession: Able to overshadow and possess any human. He has used this ability to get rich tycoons to give their companies to him.
 * 7) Ectoplasmic Energy Blast ("Ghost Ray"): His blast consists of pink ectoplasm, however he is seen using green, turquoise, violet. He can fire ghost rays from his eyes in human or ghost form. He can also fire his ghost rays in the form of explosive disks.
 * 8) Ectoplasmic Energy Shield ("Ghost Shield"): His shield consists of pink ectoplasm, but on one occasion is seen forming a shield with green ectoplasm. He shapes his shield in the form of a wall, a barrier, or a mirror shield.
 * 9) Duplication: Vlad can effortlessly split into 4 duplicates. It is one of his most commonly used and advantageous techniques. In Eye for an Eye, Vlad manages to create well over a hundred shadows of himself that possessed many people to make them vote for him in the city mayor elections. Creating that many duplicates still weakened Vlad to the point where Danny could easily defeat him in combat. Creating that many copies of himself seems to indicate that there might not be a limit to the number of duplicates that he or possibly Danny would be able to create. It's been shown that when Vlad creates a Duplicate, He can make them invisible in the process. He can also transform back to his Human form while forming a Ghost duplicate of Himself which explains how He's been able to get away with some events that may trait directly to his footsteps.
 * 10) Ectoplasmic Absorption & Redirection: Vlad can absorb attacks and use them as his own. This is considered one of the rarest Ghost Powers for any Ghost or Half-Ghost as He's the only Ghost/Half-Ghost in the series to be known having a power like this.
 * 11) Ectoplasmic Energy Constructs: Vlad can shape ectoplasmic energy into solid objects; from shields to nooses, even a racket in "Million Dollar Ghost" or a sword in Infinite Realms.
 * 12) Teleportation: Vlad can disappear from one location and reappear elsewhere by wrapping his cape around him and vanishing in a cloud of mist. He can also disappear and reappear somewhere else like in "Million Dollar Ghost".
 * 13) Ghost Stinger: Vlad uses this electricity attack. He has used it to drain Danny of energy until he returns to human form.
 * 14) Ghost Twister: Vlad spins like a tornado, deflecting any ectoplasmic energy and causing huge wind gusts.
 * 15) Ectoplasmic Bubble: Vlad was able to trap people in ectoplasmic bubbles.
 * 16) Spectral Manipulation: Vlad can be able to shape-shift his body at any position He desires. He usually doesn't use this power as much as Danny does.
 * 17) Paranormal Resistance: As Half-Ghost Vlad is immune/resistant to several attacks/effects that can hurt a Ghost. Like Danny, He's also immune to some of Fenton Ghost Weaponary.
 * 18) Regeneration: Vlad can be able to regenerate quickly like Danny. An example is when Pariah Dark effortlesly knocked out both Vlad and Danny, Both healed very quicky for a little period of time.

Trivia

 * Vlad seems to be an amalgram of the comic book villains Doctor Doom, Lex Luthor, The Green Goblin, Magneto, and The Red Skull. His past, involving his former friend ruining his face with a scientific accident, harkens back to Doctor Doom. In his human form, he alludes to Lex Luthor, being a rich and powerful man who won't settle for not getting what he wants (also his running for Mayor is a parody of when Lex Luthor ran for President). Much like the Green Goblin he knew his adversary's identity before his adversary knew his identity, and the split personality. His personality appears to be based off the Red Skull.
 * Vlad gave Valerie her ghost hunting gear as part of bigger plot; her gear had secret survelliance equipment in it which he would use to study Danny.
 * Vlad made his fortune by overshadowing millionaires and manipulating them for his own means. Though he could have overshadowed the citizens of Wisconsin to give him the Packers, he might not have wanted to because he might have preferred to obtain the Packers by the citizens' own choice.
 * Danny insulted Vlad once, suggesting that he get a cat if he was so lonely. Later in "Infinite Realms" he is shown to have taken his advice, owning a cat named Maddie, which he talks to as though it could understand him, he also says that "If anyone asks, you're my sister's cat".
 * His name might be derived from Vlad Dracula.
 * Because his name is 'Vladimir' it is possible that he could be half Russian.
 * Even though Vlad never made an appearance in Grim Tales, but his facial appearance and his personality does appear in the second arc of Grim Tales, Dark Danny's face has begun to look just like his Vlad's human face, his hair is in a ponytail style, and he's using the some of the same lines like "little Badger".

The only abilities he does not have or isn't shown with are the Ghostly Wail, a ghost sense, and ice powers.