#dawn!darkwing

So, Drake Mallard...a surprisingly tragic character in this AU. What's his deal? A lot of things, but the prevailing issue with this man is that he has TERMINALLY low self-esteem. He is plagued with a horrible inferiority complex. This plays a lot into his behavior and choices.

Drake's superhero origin isn't quite as impressive or fantastical as those typically seen, it's a lot more..."mundane" but also sadder in a way??? Essentially in his early adulthood he was thoroughly dissatisfied with himself and his life. To put it bluntly the man felt absolutely worthless, so he sought to become a person that had value. He was sick of feeling expendable, he wanted to do something that mattered with his life, and somehow taking up vigilantism seemed like a good solution to that. That's how he believed he could give his life some kind of meaning. (One could debate all day how noble of an initial motive that is, but I digress-) That's why Drake completely abandoned his civilian identity when he first became Darkwing. That wasn't a life he wanted to return to, he saw no value in it. He committed himself 100% to the vigilantism thing, because now in his mind he had something better, why go back?

The "Darkwing" identity goes a little further than just being his superhero identity, that's who he wants to be, and how he wants to be perceived. As this confident, morally upright, protector of the city. A dependable respected hero. He didn't want to be that lonely, depressed, disheveled man anymore, he wanted to be someone better. (Bro didn't like himself so much he hit the reset button on his life).

To some degree, yes all of the things Darkwing is ARE also who Drake is as a person, so it's not a complete "mask", he does care about helping people, he does strive to be a moral person. What is a mask is his "smugness". Due to an underlying distaste for the vulnerable person he is deep down, he does put up a far more smug "you can't hurt me" attitude as DW. He's "faking it till he makes it" in terms of confidence. "Maybe if I act confident enough, I'll become confident, and convince others I am."

A clear effect his insecurity has on his actions is that he relies way, WAY too much on external validation, or achievements to feel valuable. He doesn't see inherit value in himself as a person, he feels like he has to justify his own existence by DOING things. Subconsciously he feels like he has to earn the right to exist. He thinks if he isn't doing things of value, then he HAS no value...

All this to say, the man is plagued with many an affliction. 😭