Danny Phandom Basics - Blog Posts

please tell me more about danny phantom lore

Delighted to see this in my asks~

I assume you know about the most common phandom lore, but to recap, I'll just describe a few and then go into other sources. Keep in mind that DP lore is super super flexible and up for interpretation (it's what makes it fun!), and that a lot of it comes from canon crumbs, or just complete fanon lol.

Ghost cores: The very essence of a ghost, described as an orb-like, glowing kind of "ghost organ." Has been interpreted as a soul, a place that stores ghost consciousness, or just a life source. Often tied to their obsession. (brief mention appeared In Urban Jungle w/this pic and we rolled with it lol)

Ghostly Obsession: The anchor that ties a ghost to the spirit plane I suppose. Or what holds them together. This is one of those with many interpretations. Mostly, I've seen it have great importance. It's something tied to their previous life (an interest, a passion, a yearning, etc.) that gives the ghost's existence a purpose, and is often tied with ghost health. For example, The Box Ghost's obsession is boxes lol. Some phans believe that not fulfilling an obsession can result in either the ghost destabilizing, great physical pain, a drop in the hierarchy of ghosts, etc. I've seen some say that blob ghosts are those without a proper obsession. And as mentioned before, I have seen a few who believe obsessions are mainly just an interest or theme without great importance. Personally, I'm on the side that does think they're very important, since it's a cool idea, and also one of the few most supported by canon. Plus it's pretty close to actual ghost lore, in how we believe ghosts are spirits stuck on earth because they have not satisfied a purpose.

Additional ideas I've seen are that a ghost can be consumed by it if they're not careful, or that they can even evolve into having a different one if the circumstances are dire enough. An example of that is with ASharksReadingGlasses' MCU crossover where Vlad's obsession goes from a family including Maddie and Danny to (SPOILER) one where his obsession is solely having Danny as his son. Having a family -> being a father.

Danny's Obsession: Then for Danny, I see a general consensus that his obsession is protection due to the nature of his death. Part of the reasoning stems from how unstable he was the first month without a purpose, but once he realized he wanted to protect Amity, it stabilized his core. There are some other ideas though, such as how @imekitty has a theory that it's actually more specific than just "protection," but rather protection of himself. Others think his love for space is a contender, bringing us to the next phandom tidbit-

Dual Obsession: Some think there's a chance, a very rare one, where ghosts can have two obsessions. I've mainly seen this used for Danny, where people want him to have both a protection obsession, and a space one. Brings up some interesting ideas such as which would win out, and the complications that come with balancing them.

Ghost Speak: Idea that ghosts have their own dead languages that come naturally with dying. Often described as either guttural, or like wind going through branches. Spooky sounding, inhuman. Even a feeling, or a form of telepathy. Can be an umbrella term for multiple ghost languages, since many believe there's some spoken only by certain ghosts, depending on location, how deep they are in the zone, and how old they are. There's contemporary ghost languages, ancient ones. Just a lot to unpack here.

The Ancients: I've seen some phans distinguish ghosts like the Observants, Clockwork, and Pandora from others. They're just on a whole other level, sometimes even equated to ancient gods. This one's the most open-ended that I've seen. Very much a worldbuilding element.

Ghost King Danny: Belief that Danny is actually now the new ghost king since he bested Pariah Dark in battle. Some believe he has to die all the way to get the throne, but mostly I've seen that the zone doesn't care if he's a halfa or not.

The Ghost Zone is Alive: I've seen some describe the ghost zone as a living entity, comprised of human ideas that were so strongly held, they gained sentience. Also, many fics refer to the Infinite Realms as being the proper name for the zone. (thanks Frostbite)

Ghost Hunger: Often jokingly referred to as ghost vore lol. Just the idea that ghosts need to ingest a certain amount of ectoplasm to survive. There are harmless interpretations of this, such as Danny just needing to drink ectoplasm, or recharge in the ghost zone for energy. I've seen others go the Tokyo Ghoul route, where Danny needs to eat other ghosts. (typically smaller ones, like blobs)

Lairs: A place a ghost has claimed as their domain, place to feel safe, etc. Often like a haunt. Canonically backed as well, with Pariah's Keep, Skulker's Island, etc. Some believe Danny has a lair in the zone, that Pariah's Keep is now Phantom's Keep (ghost king Danny idea), that Amity Park is his lair, just Fentonworks is, etc.

....

There's honestly a lot of lore to go through lol. The Phandom is wild creative, not even mentioning the AU's since those are a whole other thing. I've barely scratched some of the surface here, but if you want to read more, I'll provide some links to other posts on lore. (some mine and a few others!)

General blogs to check out: @floralflowerpower (fun facts, lore, thorough posts), @five-rivers (lot's of worldbuilding and ghost biology), @redrobin-detective (lot's of cool analysis), @monotype-on-phantom (super insightful analysis too), @imekitty (lot’s of lore shown through fics and explanation posts), @liminalhollow (analysissss) etc. There's many others but I can't think rn lol, so if anyone wants to add to the post, be my guest.

Ghost Lore Theory Posts:

Proof Our "Ghosts Are Spirits of the Dead" conclusion is valid and canon

Ghost Hissing

Ghost zone adopts Danno

Does amity know about the portal?

Danny hiding strength

pocket dimension

Danny is hard to look at

ghosts are like vampires

Danny power mimicry ability

nature of Danny’s relationship with ghosts

trio popular on social media

Danny has to train himself to compartmentalize 

More inhuman aspects of Danny’s biology

The Westons

Valerie isn’t totally human cause of the suit now

Ghost Portal Origins and Lakes Theory

Johnny’s Origin

Danny sheds hair and it turns white

OSHA analysis on the portal lmao 

Hand to Hand combat theory