Danny Phantom

Danny Phantom is an animated series that follows the adventures of a normal boy, Danny Fenton, which receives ghost powers after an encounter with an odd machine in his parent's laboratory. Danny Fenton wants to live a normal life, but thanks to the interesting abilities he received from the accident that seems like a longshot. The series is an interesting take on the living-in-two-worlds idea by having a shy high-school boy have to deal with the pressures of being a superhero.

Of course, what good would a superhero be without a strong supporting cast? Danny's friends, the Goth girl Sam and technology friendly Tucker, help keep Fenton's alter ego Danny Phantom a secret. Even Danny's sister, Jazz, is in on the secret identity, which is a trick because young Fenton's parents are ghost hunters. Once all these crazy characters get tossed into the mix, it is not hard to see that things can get a little interesting at Casper High.

Danny Phantom breaks the traditional superhero mold by not requiring knowledge of an extensive backstory to enjoy what is going on in every episode. Each tale is primarily a stand-alone adventure, but Danny Phantom does develop an unusual assortment of colorful adversaries. Just like typical comic book superheroes, the villains of the stories are a mix of those with powers and those with not. Of course, as a normal boy, Fenton's troubles exist with teachers and popular students, but in ghost form his enemies can go from harmless to lethal in short order.

Just below the surface of the crime fighting superhero is the shy boy trying to fit in. The series is as much about Danny trying to fit in as a boy as it is his ghostly alter ego. As young people, Danny and his friends face the typical challenges associated with youth, including romance, grades, and relating to adults. Of course, the ghost hunting parents are often hot on the trail of their own son, which only adds to the challenge that the title character routinely undertakes. The action moves fast and furious when the teenaged ghost-boy is on the case.