Q: What the heck is the Liquidator? Is he really made all out of water? Where did he come from?
A: A very good question, and the one I'm sure on most anyone's lips if they haven't seen Licky's origin. Now I myself haven't seen this episode in a couple of years now, so if I'm wrong, let me know...

Our story begins in the Liquidator's first and only solo appearance, "Dry Hard", a very Batman-like origin tale. St. Canard is in the middle of a drought, and Bud Flud, a bottled water salesman, is sabotaging the competitors' water so that his will be the only stuff on the market. Darkwing catches him in the act as he is adding chemicals to another vat of water; during the ensuing tussle, Bud falls into the vat and disappears. Bud Flud... is no more.

Or so it seems at first. A little while later, strange things begin happening with water systems, and soon a newcomer enters the scene with his own brand of water (and some women who dance around dressed as giant bottles of water, but that's not essential to the plot). Darkwing confronts him, and the newcomer reveals that he once was Bud Flud, but now- thanks to the chemically-treated water- he is THE LIQUIDATOR! Licky flings off his coat to reveal that his body is now entirely made of water, over which he has complete control.

Since his mind has obviously been affected by the chemicals as well, Licky now speaks like a constant sales ad, whether he's hocking his brand of bottled water or threatening the general populace. He's also even more obsessed with making money than he'd been before, making the term "Your money or your life" ring true for St. Canard. In the end, he holds the city's water hostage by turning it into a kind of rubbery substance. Darkwing's repeated attempts at defeating him are futile; how do you catch a guy who's slippery when wet, and is wet all the time? Finally Darkwing's gardening skills come in handy, and he cements Licky into a lovely lawn ornament. All's well that ends well, evidently.

Q: Wow... That seems vaguely familiar.
A: Yeah, it's a lot like (one of) the Joker's origins in "Batman". Actually it's one of many Batman-esque touches this show has. One could almost write a paper on it. ^_~

Q: Why didn't Licky have any other episodes of his own? He seems like a really cool character!
A: Well, if you look at a few of the elements of "Dry Hard" I listed, you can probably figure it out. In the Liquidator, the Darkwing staff created a villain with some incredibly cool powers and a really cool gimmick. Unfortunately, gimmicks aren't easy to maintain for long. How many times can Darkwing beat a water-creature? You can freeze him, but he'll thaw. You can cement him, but they've done that. The writers would have to be really creative, and while they're capable of that- as they've shown, in episodes like "Just Us Justice Ducks" (pudding, anyone?)- but the formula would be too closely followed: Liquidator is running amok, Darkwing can't beat him, Darkwing finally beats him by adding something to the water which he's made of. And then there's the dialogue...

Q: What? What about the dialogue?
A: Heh heh. As I was saying in the synopsis of his origin, Licky almost always speaks in "ad-talk". He uses old, overused advertising lines and twists them around to suit his needs. It's hysterical - in almost any episode he's in, Licky has some of the best lines. But how easy can it be to keep coming up with sales pitches? This is also probably the main reason Licky's not often starring in his own fanfics, too.

Q: What kind of guy is the Liquidator? Is he comic relief, like Quackerjack and Megavolt?
A: Nope, that he ain't! Out of all of Darkwing's enemies, Licky may hold the title of the most... well... real. I mean, Negaduck is the most dangerous without a doubt, Bushroot is sort of wishy-washy, Megavolt and Quackerjack are both nuts. The Liquidator is crazy, but crazy in a focused way. He takes any chance he can get to sell things to an otherwise disadvantaged public, like the life-rafts in "Just Us Justice Ducks part 2". He trades barbs with Darkwing, but more often than not gets the goods on him. And he's smart, too. Smart, diabolical, and has cool and very powerful superpowers... That sounds pretty real to me...

Q: What about when he's with the Fearsome Five? Does his character change, like with the others?
A: It's hard to say with Licky, because his character wasn't so firmly established WITHOUT the other members of the F5. However, he seems about the same- although a little dumber. After all, in the Fearsome Five, Negaduck is the only smart one, and the superpowers are wasted on the rest of 'em (well, that's what Negs said in "Jailbird"!). He's still in it for the money, and he still seems more focused than the other three lackies, though. And he's always had very creative uses for his powers; that continues. Plus, like I said, the general pattern for defeating him stays the same; it's just more in the background. Oh, and a new way of taking out him and Megavolt at the same time is to get them to make contact. Water and electricity don't mix, and Megs and Licky don't seem to get along well because of that...

Q: What the heck does the title of this page mean, though? Has Licky ever evaporated?
A: No... The title here is a personal thought. There aren't a whole lot of pages about the Liquidator out there, and there are even fewer screengrabs and soundbites and things like that available. Plus there aren't many fanfics about just him, since he's so hard to write for. And that just stinks! Not only does it make it hard for me to make a web page (I'm such a mooch), but it makes it hard to appreciate the Liquidator! So... the phrase "Combat Liquidator Evaporation" is just basically: Don't forget Licky. ^_^ There should be a little club about it, with a banner and everything. Hee hee. ^_^

Q: Are you sure his name was spelled Bud Flud, and not Bud Flood?
A: Nope, I'm not. They might have spelled it out in the episode, which I don't remember 'cause I haven't seen it in so long, or it might just be the accepted fandom spelling. I was spelling it "Flood" until I saw it as "Flud" on a few pages. I don't think it makes a difference, though. *shrug*

Q: Any idea how old the Liquidator is?
A: None whatsoever. If I had to take a guess, I'd say about 35? But that's a shot in the dark, based on the fact that he had obviously created a little empire for himself as Bud, and was pretty entrenched in the industry. He could be older or younger very easily though, and if anyone has any theories to share here, they're welcome to...

Q: Are there any screen grabs of Bud Flud online? Not the Liquidator!, but Bud before the transformation? (submitted by anonymous)
A: You know what? I haven't seen any myself. It might be a while before I'm able to get any screencaps from "Dry Hard" up, but I'll try and get as many of Bud as I can. Meanwhile, if anyone does have a page with screencaps of Bud, please email me and tell me and I'll change this answer. :)

Q: Does The Liquidator control all liquids, or just water? (submitted by anonymous)
A: Just water. That is, we've never seen him control any other liquids...

Q: Does the Liquidator still sell "Bud Flud" water? (By the way, it is spelled "Flud") (submitted by anonymous)
A: Boy anonymous, you've been a busy question writer. ^_~ Thanks for the confirmation on the spelling; meanwhile, as for the water - I imagine that he'd still sell if it he saw a market for it. Liquie is often busy selling other things, or being frozen, statued, puddinged, or just in jail. When he's out though, if he's not concentrating on some other commercially-evil plot, I could see him going out and promoting Bud Flud water *G* Though I think he might call it Liquidator Brand by now or something ^_~

Q: How and DOES the Liquidator eat? (submitted by anonymous)
A: I don't think he does. I think he just worries about not freezing or evaporating (though as it has been pointed out to me, if he did evaporate he could probably eventually re-form *g*). I mean, why would water need to worry about sustenance? And as has been shown, solids just go through him (or get stuck inside him) - there'd be no point.

Q: How come on the episodes, "Darkwing Dabloon" and "Jailbird", DW just threw a net on the F5, couldn't Licky just go through one of the holes in the net? (submitted by anonymous)
A: Hmmmm... writer's mistake? Erg... lemme rack my brains over this, since I never caught that fact myself. Well, even though Licky can basically shapeshift, it may be that since the netting was itself so containing, he just couldn't really get the space to go through, what with the others there too. Hmm.. kinda weak. :P I can say though, in "Darkwing Doubloon", being as that one was a fantasy episode it may have just been something that Darkwing - who I assume was the storyteller - overlooked for a plot contrivance when he told the story. ^_~

Q: Can I get a date with Licky? (submitted by anonymous)
A: Sure! But, like anything with the Liquidator, it'll cost ya.

Q: How come no one calls Licky a, "mutant water dog"? I mean don't 'cha think someone would notice walking and talking water! (submitted by anonymous)
A: Before I answer this, I have a question of my own... why don't any people asking Licky questions leave a name?! *lol* Anyway - that's rather insightful. I think the reason Bushroot was given that moniker, and Licky wasn't, is because Bushroot actually is a plant-duck hybrid mutation whereas the Liquidator is a dog-shaped blob of sentient water. Still, I doubt that it's that people don't notice him - rather that he's just not in the public eye as much as Bushroot, who has a lot of capers of his own. Licky is nearly always with the FF.

Q: this is my opion, really, but if you saw Licky dresssed up as darkwing duck or a pirate, I'd say he looks pretty cute in a hat! ^_^ (submitted by Licky Lover)
A: You'd probably have plenty of people agreeing with ya there, kiddo. *g*

Q: Why is he sometimes called 'The Liquidator'? Why is the 'the' there? It doesn't really make sense. (submitted by SenninGirl17@wmconnect.com)
A: It's because, well, what's a good way to put this. "The Liquidator" isn't so much a name as it is a title; it's not who he is, it's what he DOES. *G* He liquidates; he is The Liquidator. Bud Fludd, after all, comes from an advertising background. It's strange, but oddly logical, that he would name himself as a product rather than a person.

Submit a question!

Alrighty folks, that's it. No more questions. This was supposed to be for people to ask me questions about the show - not to spam me with random words sent by bots, not to ask me to conjecture on what a character's favourite food is or what they do in their spare time, and not to send me a million messages about how you are a character's wife. That's very fun for you, but what am I supposed to do with it? And, to be fair, I haven't updated the FAQ with the few valid questions I've received in something like two or three years. So, I'm afraid, no more submissions but please enjoy the stuff that's already up here. I'll try to get the remaining good ones up someday soon - it's hard with two kids - but if it involved anything like "What does so-and-so do when they're NOT being a villain?", it's not going up here. I can answer stuff from the show. I can't pull magic answers out of my hat. I didn't invent these characters. Sorry to burst your bubble. (And I promise, I'll change this message to be nicer when I'm less annoyed by the spam I've been getting from my good-natured attempt at letting fans have an interactive page. That'll show me, huh? Thanks for ruining everyone's fun, Internet.)