#Pariah dark made them believe to expect violence from their rulers and they should follow suit

[redrobin-detective]

I know I’ve thrown around a lot of various Ghost King headcanons but you want to know the version I really believe in and want? Danny had a legitimate strong claim to the throne when he defeated Pariah Dark but he was still young, seen as an annoyance, like he wasn’t a real ghost. Most of the Zone and it’s leadership just kind of decided to ignore Phantom’s claim and focused more on preventing Vlad from acting on his much more tenuous claim. 

But then the years go on, Phantom becomes much more powerful, he learns what it means to be a ghost and understands more of Zone culture. He still fights off ghosts but they soon recognize he’s not just being a killjoy, he’s fulfilling his obsession and self appointed guardianship of Amity. Agreements are reached and truces conducted and pretty soon the ghosts think to themselves that Danny isn’t that bad. He’s just as much a ghost as they are and he’s genuinely fun to fight. They start to think that he wouldn’t be the worst choice for King.

Danny makes ghost friends, spends more time in the Zone in general. He forms strong alliances with many powerful and influential ghosts. More and more see Danny as he is, a strong ghost with a compassionate heart and a dedication to protecting others, living and dead. Ghosts like Frostbite and Dora and Pandora see these traits and kind of edge him towards his destiny. Some Ghost Zone politics lessons here, a little bit of royal history there, enough to prep Danny for what they see as inevitable. 

By the time Danny’s senior year comes around, it doesn’t matter that there’s other candidates for the throne. Danny is the only real choice having gained the support of most major members of the Zone. Unlike Vlad and the others who were actively vying for power, Danny was the only one who seemed to be willing to help out the ghosts. The Zone looked at itself and imagined a King who would fight for them, who wasn’t just the strongest and the fiercest but the kindest. With enough built up support, Danny was named heir apparent. 

When he was shocked and stammered out that he didn’t want this, that the ghosts couldn’t possibly want this, he was shocked to see how many ghosts wanted him. Danny had never been wanted before and then it was all about his powers or his connections. This time, for the first time, he was wanted for just being him. He did a lot of thinking, long hours of soul searching before accepting the claim. It was a job he felt he could do in bones, knew that he would be good at, that would fulfill both his ghost obsession and his human desire to help.

Danny started out as the Dark Horse candidate, the one no one wanted or was expecting to win. He ends up with the crown not because he fought harder or took it by force, but because his very nature was enough to change minds, to make the ghosts wonder if maybe it was possible for a King to actually be kind.

#danny phantom #ghost king danny #also I love the idea of Danny becoming king not through a big epic battle #but bc he gained the support of enough ghosts that he would win in a more peaceful quiet sense #that his very presence help change some of lawlessness of the zone #Pariah dark made them believe to expect violence from their rulers and they should follow suit #Phantom told them it was okay to hurt but to not hurt others in return #that he could help heal those hurts #love that all his enemies who still love to beat him up #are also so damn loyal to him bc they KNOW how good and kind he is even when they're messing things up for him #he couldve wiped them out destroyed their cores but all he ever did was trap them and send them home #and so they gladly knelt and asked him to be their king #offering loyalty (and the occasional beat down) for his continued kindess #also lmao Danny giving them shit once he's crowned like 'aw you guys really like me huh? I saw your signature on my coronation document :)))