Which Daniel is Mine?

[tejas]

princessofg has asked some fascinating questions about Daniel and it got me thinking. She's looking at the range of Daniel characterizations in fic and trying to get a handle on what they are. (She's ignoring obvious bad!fic.) You've got Inexperienced!Daniel and Snarky!Daniel and Pissy!Daniel and Pragmatic!Daniel and... and... and... Most Daniels encompass

Comments

[sg_wonderland]

Boy, this is such an interesting subject! I can't prove it but I do think Daniel has to be the most ficced person in the SG fandom. Which kind of begs the question, why? Maybe I'll tackle that in my own journal

[tejas]

One of the world's most perfect foods.

Unless you're allergic to it. :-)

"Adaptable". That works for me, too. That's pretty much how I see Daniel on the show. He rises to whatever the occasion is, does what needs to be done, and can do so with what many see as cold efficiency. The Daniel we saw in Absolute Power was *still*, essentially, Daniel. Just slightly twisted by the Goa'uld knowledge. I think we saw that part of him very clearly in Prototype, for example.

I think one of the reasons he's the most popular to write about is that he's, by far, the most complex character from the show.

[sg_wonderland]

He's certainly very complex and I do think part of that is down to how Shanks was ultimately allowed to portray him. After two season of admittedly doing a Spader, he got a bit more license to take Daniel out of the intellectual/geek box and we got a more realistic Daniel.

Season Three, for me, is where Daniel really comes into his own. Forever in a Day, is where the course of his entire life changes, where what he'd basically been living for is yanked away from him and he has to build an entirely new future from the shakiest of foundations.

And one of the reasons that 'Absolute Power' was so chillingly believable was that there was just enough 'real' Daniel there for us to buy that our Daniel could become this Daniel.

'Prototype'! One of the finest examples of a Daniel who thinks precisely and intellectually about how to solve a problem and calmly applies his conclusions with devastating results. He doesn't tell any of the designated soldier-types what has to be done, he simply does it.

[tejas]

And the only remorse he feels is that it was necessary in the first place.

[sg_wonderland]

I absolutely love the fact that he doesn't let Woolsey off the hook for making a bad situation even worse.

[tejas]

YES! Daniel can be laser guided when his intellect and his emotions are in full accord. *That's* when he becomes the most dangerous man at the SGC.

[sg_wonderland]

Exactly! There are time when he is more fierce, more 'don't mess with me!' than Jack and Teal'c combined. (I edited that comment in case there were little eyes about, but you get my meaning.)

[tejas]

LOL!!! Yes. Exactly.