Superman :: Uncle Scrooge as Lex Luthor :: ?
Flintheart Glomgold or Magica DeSpell? I was considering this for a long time today because, well, nerd. And I’m not sure. There’s arguments for both.
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Should probably be Superman::Lex Luthor as Scrooge McDuck::???
FORMAT IS IMPORTANT OKAY
I’d say Flintheart.
Magica is more Mxyzptlk
Flintheart is really Scrooge’s arch nemesis, equal/opposite while Magica is the off theme nuisance who shows up every so often.
I would say probably Flintheart.
Magica isn’t so much the antithesis of Scrooge (though you could make a case for her magic and attempted usurpations as the veriest opposite of Scrooge’s “I did it square!”) as she is trying to take something of his elemental quality for herself.
Flintheart, on the other hand, is Scrooge’s absolute antithesis; a man who’s cut every corner, cheated lied and stole to make his fortune and considers it a point of pride that he did so.
A good rule of thumb for this sort of thing, of course, is “The hero’s archenemy is whoever the last boss is in their video game.”
Ergo, Scrooge’s Lex Luthor is … Dracula Duck?
Well, all right, there are exceptions to every rule.
If we switch heros, Glomgold: Joker as DeSpell:Poison Ivy. For the most part Magica is mainly interested in the Number 1 Dime, and the magic power it would give her.
A good rule of thumb for this sort of thing, of course, is “The hero’s archenemy is whoever the last boss is in their video game.”
The actual final boss is the race against Flintheart and Magica. In other words, your argument is worthless.
I might make the argument that Flintheart is the Bizzarro Scrooge – his dark mirror image, so to speak.
Magic, definitely.
Superman and Scrooge have in common that they are both protagonists who are different from most characters in their world.
Superman’s powers are mainly physical, and Scrooge’s are mainly financial.
Luthor is Superman’s nemesis whose abilities (intellectual) are NOT like Superman’s; following this logic, Scrooge’s nemesis should NOT be someone with equal financial “powers,” and thus Magica is the most appropriate choice here.
Chast: except by that logic, Donald being poor is Scrooge’s Luthor…and as Superman is always some level of smart to sooper genius, your comparison doesn’t work.
The only Scrooge McDuck stories I’ve read didn’t have any archenemy types– just the Beagle Boys (and one story with the McVipers). I guess the Beagle Boys could be Hydra to Scrooge’s Fury, but they don’t really work as the archenemy since they’re not really individuals.
Superman :: Uncle Scrooge as General Zod :: Flintheart Glomgold
They came from the same place and have nigh identical abilities, but one is our hero and a good guy while the other is a ruthless, self-aggrandising villain.
It has to be a “GG”, since that’s Scrooge’s version of the Superman “LL”. Not Gladstone Gander. Not Glittering Goldie. Not Gus Goose. Hmmm…
Gyro Gearloose. Barks just never got around to doing the story where Scrooge accidentally interferes in an experiment, making Gyro lose his hair (feathers?) and destroying his attempts to create artificial life (a more sophisticated version of his Helper robot). Gyro vowed revenge from that day on. Tragic, really.
Well, Donald is kind of evil, Scavenger, and he does make Scrooge’s life more difficult without actually doing any permanent damage….
I also take issue with Superman being smart. Sure, we’re told he’s smart, but he often doesn’t act it. Certainly, his first instinct is to beat any threat to a pulp, even if he destroys half the city in doing so, instead of figuring out and exploiting an enemy’s weaknesses. Hell, he seldom even thinks to use his non-strength and non-flight powers (like super-speed; it would come in handy a lot of the time, but it seems he only uses it as a last resort). Then again, that could just be laziness rather than low intelligence.
Have you considered the possibility that just having to have this debate means Scrooge doesn’t have a Luthor equivalent? In the Superman canon, there is nobody you would put on the same level as Luthor.
Ah, but let’s not forget that Magica’s main objectiveis to get Scrooge’s first dime while Flintheart actually wants to see Scrooge destroyed because of who he is and what he’s accomplished.
Flintheart’s motivation is much more Lex Luthor-esque.
With the ridiculous disparity in role and powers, I think character motivation is the clue to this one. Uncle Scrooge and Superman’s intersection is their indomitable will. Lex Luthor wants to destroy Superman mostly for what he represents, but also because he feels threatened by him. Magica DeSpell’s motivation is greed for power. Flintheart Glomgold wants to destroy Scrooge McDuck because Flintheart feels threatened by his greater fortune, but also because he hates that Scrooge is a fair dealer.
*God, I feel embarrassed typing this.*
If we use Silver Age Lex Luthor the mad and weird scientist, then the counterpart is Magica DeSpell.
If we use Modern Age Lex Luthor the ruthless zillionaire, then the counterpart is Flintheart Glomgold.
I’m gonna be That Guy here and point out that the DC ‘verse and the Scrooge ‘verse aren’t necessarily isomorphic.
Luthor doesn’t have many peers among the Man of Steel’s arch-foes, does he? Just Brainiac, really. Whereas if we were talking about Batman villains, we’d have Flintheart as Two-Face, Magica as Joker, Goldie as Catwoman (maybe), and so on.
In fact, they don’t need to be compared to anybody; they are themselves squarely within the standard archetypes of arch-foe. Flintheart is Scrooge’s wealth untempered by Scrooge’s morality, a typical broken mirror. Magica strikes at Scrooge’s self-identity, a typical origin-related arch-foe.
I’d say Ma Beagle is closer to being Scrooge’s anti-thesis…
“– Luthor is Superman’s nemesis whose abilities (intellectual) are NOT like Superman’s; following this logic, Scrooge’s nemesis should NOT be someone with equal financial “powers,” and thus Magica is the most appropriate choice here. –”
Using that logic, I’d say Scrouge’s arch-nemesis would be the Beagle Boys.
Where Scrooge obeys laws and rules and is generally obedient to social norms, the Beagle Boys are first and foremost thieves and criminals.
In this case, Scrooge’s power rests in his society, while the Beagle Boys triumph through anarchy.
I’d also note that Lex Luther is something of an underdog in the Superman / Luther dynamic. Despite being rich, he’s human and generally quite weak. The deck is stacked against him. Likewise, the Beagles are always working against a superior opponent, constantly working to overcome the overwhelming superiority Scrooge’s fortune provides him.
Luther and the Beagle Boys also both spend a lot of time getting thrown in and busting back out of jail.
AMS: “– In the Superman canon, there is nobody you would put on the same level as Luthor. –”
I’d say Darkseid does a good job matching Luthor as a peer arch-villain. But in a lot of ways, they’re the same character, plus or minus a suite of superpowers.
Flintheart and DeSpell are very distinct from one another.
BobH – Why not Gladstone? Just as Luthor is in many ways the Antithesis of Superman, Gladstone and his way of life is the antithesis of Scrooge’s. Just because Gladstone’s never attempted to kill Scrooge doesn’t mean he can’t qualify as a nemesis.
I’m gonna go with the Beagles, here. They’re Scrooge’s most archetypal adversaries, as well as being his opposites for many of the reasons enumerated above.
I have to say, though, that upon first seeing the question posed, my circuit breakers went off — because, dagnabbit, both Lex and Scrooge would have wound up with that Orange Ring.
“Scrooge McDuck: You Want It All.“
Glomgold.
Luthor’s obsession with Superman is equally one of superiority- he hates and is threatened by the existence of a being that is better than him. Luthor seeks to defeat Superman just as Glomgold seeks to defeat Scrooge, and like Superman and Luthor the two are opposites sides of a moral coin. For godssakes, the introduction of Glomgold was a story titled “The Second-Richest Duck.”
Magica DeSpell, on the other hand, is more like Galactus. She hungers for the resource that sustains her, in her case being the dimes of the richest men on earth to meld into a powerful amulet. Scrooge himself is a means to an end. Her attempts to get the dime have both incorporated and avoided Scrooge completely. Scrooge is incidental to acquiring the dime.
I don’t even see an argument here. DeSpell wants to rob Scrooge; Glomgold wants to destroy and humiliate him. Only one of them comes close to the Luthor profile.
I would say that Glomgold is the best fit. The Superman/Lex Luthor dynamic is, as I understand it, the latter wanting to prove that he is superior to the former in all respects, which is what Glomgold wants, no matter the methods.
Magica wants to use Scrooge to give her lots of money without having to work for it, which in my mind makes her closest to the Parasite. She’s not out to ruin Scrooge per se, just do whatever it takes to get what she views as a source of unlimited power from him.
I thought about Blackheart Beagle too, as Don Rosa really brings home the idea that he is Scrooge’s first enemy, but his motives are to destroy Scrooge because he doesn’t see how he can exist when someone as rich as Scrooge also does, so I’d put him as Bizarro.
What about Rockerduck?
Thok: I totally would not count Magica and Flintheart at the end of the game as a “boss.” You *fight* Dracula Duck, you just *race* those two (and it’s not much of a race). By that logic, the final boss of Metroid isn’t Mother Brain, it’s the bomb that arms after you beat her.
But then again, technically Mega Man never “fights” Dr. Wily, because he’s actually fighting robots and holograms *controlled* by Wily, and Glomgold seems to be pulling the strings of Dracula Duck. I may need a judge’s ruling on this.
So… has there ever been a comic where Glomgold and Scrooge agree to write the other into their wills and then fight to the death so the loser gets all their combined money?
And if not, why the hell not?
Luthor uses all that he has to try and be what Superman is naturally. In that respect, Flintheart Glomgold is Scrooge McDuck’s Luthor.
Luthor is human while Superman has immense power and yet Luthor possesses a mind of great potential which Superman does not. In this respect, Magica DeSpell is Scrooge McDuck’s Luthor.
Luthor has near unlimited resources and an uncanny knack of escaping the legal boundaries of normal men. In this respect, The Beagle Boys are Scrooge McDuck’s Luthor.
Personally I vote for Launchpad McQuack.
Justin: For what it’s worth Glomgold is the final boss of the second Duck Tales game and Magica doesn’t appear.