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Introductory Stuff

Funny story: this article was supposed to be much more broad, tackling Darwin as whole. However, going in with such a broad topic proved to be a determent. I had no idea in what direction to take the article and the post was not coming together the way I would have liked.

Luckily, Game came through for me, suggesting that I write about Darwin's moral compass specifically. This gave the post the much needed direction, and thus, here we are. Thanks, Game.

I must say, this is the first time I have written about a character as opposed to an episode, so the results should be interesting, to say the least.

Analysis

Darwin Watterson.

When Gumball fans hear the name "Darwin Watterson", they often think of a young fish who is forgiving, loyal, passionate, and just an all-around pleasant guy. They're not wrong for thinking such; Darwin is an awesome character (good and nice bias), but one of Darwin's more intriguing traits is his strong sense of morality.

Darwin's moral compass is one of the traits that really helps to separate him from Gumball. While Gumball is quite far from being amoral or even a straight-up jerk, his brash and mischievous nature is a nice counter to Darwin's more thoughtful and moralistic attitude. Darwin's "goody-two" shoe personality not only makes him more lovable, but it proves useful when creating all sorts of scenarios, especially when it's at odds with Gumball's more rambunctious philosophies.

Darwin's strong sense of morality proves especially useful in episodes such as "The Saint"; His presence in the episode helps to add a sense of self-awareness to the whole ordeal that helps to put the viewers at ease. The constant berating of Gumball during his selfish-driven outrage serves as voice for the viewers; he is speaking for most people, and for many people, it makes "The Saint" that much more tolerable (that and the pure ridiculousness of Gumball's antics in the episode, but alas, that is for another day). Darwin's failure to properly play this role in "The Stars" is a primary reason as to why I find the episode not bad, per say, but rather irritating. Instead of being the much needed voice of reason during Gumball's angry review tirade, he's right there backing up Gumball. Instead of one annoying dude and a fairly sane man, there are two obnoxious kids, and it's not very pleasant to watch.

Of course, it's always interesting when Darwin's moral standing works against him and demonstrates to be a weakness, and two episodes in particular, "The Girlfriend" and "The Advice", prove there is no shortage with the concept. These two episodes are especially interesting because it puts the morals of Gumball and the morals of Darwin at odds with each other. In both "The Girlfriend" and "The Advice", on the surface level, Darwin's intentions seem far more noble than Gumball's, those being patiently waiting for Jamie to understand love and cheering up Mr. Small respectively. Darwin's well-meaning causes end up creating humorous results when in both episodes, his actions end up causing more destruction than Gumball's more rude and blunt approach, which in both cases, would have been to promptly shut up Jamie and Mr. Small (though most likely much more reluctant when speaking with Jamie, given it's...Jamie). One could make the argument such is in the case in "The Wicked" as well, though the conflict arises more from Gumball's cynicism and Darwin's optimism rather than any conflicting morals.

Darwin's morality isn't universally praised, though; as brought to my attention by /u/jowijo during a conversation, he finds that Darwin's morality, while not bad by any means, takes away from Gumball's character. He believes that Gumball's character suffers, specifically in his morality, in order for Darwin to be more distinct from him. While that is true to a degree, it's important to note that many of the characters are built with the intention to interact with Gumball, whether it be to compliment or counter him. As deep and fleshed-out many of the characters are, many of them derive from the crew desiring certain interactions between said character and Gumball. To put it simply, Gumball was always going to have a slightly "nerfed" morality because the crew always wanted Darwin to serve as they moral reassurance; Gumball's character never suffered for anything (generally speaking of course; there are exceptions).

Darwin and his morals make the character more relatable. There is something endearing about a person who stands his/her ground, even when the odds are stacked against him/her. A character that sticks to his/her beliefs even when the situation demands for something else is endearing, and that is likely one of the reasons Darwin is so popular.





















Closing Notes

I promised a few individuals that I would one day write this. It took me a while to get to it, but finally, I wrote the post and I am relatively happy with the way it came out.

Who knows? I might decide to do this with other characters if I see fit (Rob, Penny, Carrie, among others). Maybe.

In the mean time, I have some other plans for I what I want to do with the blog, with it being summer and all, so stay tuned for that, I guess.

As always, comments and any form of additional discussion are appreciated. Have a pleasant day, and take care until next time.