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Merlock is a anthropomorphic wolf sorcerer who appeared in DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp and Donald Duck Goin' Quackers
Background[]
DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp[]
At some point, Merlock created or gained possession of a magical talisman. This was the primary source of his power, allowing him to transform into various animals both real and mythical. He also came into possession of a magic lamp containing a genie. By affixing his talisman to the lamp, Merlock gained the ability to make an unlimited number of wishes. He used his first wish to gain immortality, allowing him to survive far beyond the time of his birth.
One of his other wishes was to sink the city of Atlantis to the bottom of the sea. According to the genie, this was due to his inability to get a reservation when Atlantis was a popular resort. On another occasion, Merlock made a wish that caused Mount Vesuvius to erupt and destroy Pompeii. Much to the relief of the genie, Merlock later lost to the lamp to a thief named Collie Baba.
Having failed to recover the lamp despite his powers and centuries in which to search, Merlock hired a thief named Dijon to assist him. Dijon took a job as a guide for Scrooge McDuck and his family on a treasure hunt that led them to Collie Baba’s horde. Merlock succeeded in stealing the treasure, unaware that the lamp had been mistaken for a worthless artifact and removed from it. He then left Scrooge’s party to die, only for them to escape with the lamp. Failing to find it among the stolen treasures, he blamed Dijon for this failure and departed.
Returning to the treasure chamber to find Scrooge and co. gone, Merlock assumed that they had used the lamp to escape. Grabbing Dijon, he forced the thief to accompany him to Duckburg to continue their efforts to regain the lamp. In the meantime, Scrooge’s family discovered the nature of the lamp and learned about Merlock from the genie. Upon arriving at McDuck Manor, Merlock transformed into a rat to infiltrate the premises. However, the chaos caused by the childrens’ wishes prevented him from obtaining the lamp.
Merlock, with Dijon in tow, then followed Scrooge and the genie to the Archaeological Society Ball. He attempted to regain the lamp but was thwarted, despite transforming into a bear during his efforts. Merlock then departs to resume the search, only for Dijon to end up in possession of the lamp. However, Merlock soon determined this, and took advantage of Scrooge’s attempt to recover the lamp to do so himself.
With the genie once again at his mercy, Merlock wished for Dijon to be turned into a pig. He then wished for Scrooge’s Money Bin to transform into a duplicate of his own evil lair. This done, he commanded the genie to lift it into the sky with Scrooge aboard. Merlock then wished for Scrooge to fall to his death, but Scrooge’s nephews were able to knock the lamp from his grasp after the wish had been made.
The lamp and Scrooge both fell from the fortress, and Merlock used his recovered talisman to pursue them in the form of a griffin. He and Scrooge became locked in an aerial struggle, but Scrooge managed to knock the talisman from Merlock’s grasp. Scrooge was able to regain the lamp and return himself, his friends, and the Money Bin to their normal location and state. Merlock, meanwhile, was left powerless and plummeting through the sky.
Donald Duck Goin' Quackers[]
- It is unclear whether these events take place in the same continuity as the DuckTales movie.
GameCube version[]
Daisy Duck infiltrated Merlock’s temple in his kingdom while he was working on a mysterious machine. Merlock spotted the intrepid reporter and took her captive, vowing that she would never escape. He later gloated to her that he would soon ”anchieve victory over the world.” When she defiantly responded that her friends would save her, Merlock used his talisman to conjure a disembodied hand to prevent anyone from reaching his temple again.
The hand pursued Daisy’s boyfriend Donald Duck, but failed on two occasions to halt his mission to enable his access to Merlock’s temple. Merlock eventually resorted to informing other villains, like the Beagle Boys and Magica De Spell, of Donald’s approach, only for them to fail to stop him as well. Donald was thus able to make his way to the temple and navigate its traps in order to reach and confront Merlock himself. By this point, Donald’s cousin Gladstone Gander had also fallen into Merlock’s clutches, though the goose was rescued by the intervention of Gyro Gearloose.
Merlock promptly engaged Donald in battle over a lava pit, employing various traps and powers against the duck. Despite growing to massive size, creating illusory duplicates of himself, and unleashing fire and wind, Merlock was overcome. He lost control of his talisman and was transformed into a small child version of himself, floating away on a stone block as his temple collapsed. His machine, acquired by Gyro and the ducks, proved curiously benign, as its only apparent function was the production of gourmet chocolate popcorn.
N64 version[]
- In this version, Merlock does not send hands to pursue Donald, nor does he apparently communicate with the other villains. Otherwise, the story is largely similar up to the point where Donald encounters Merlock in his temple.
Merlock engages Donald in battle along pathways bordered by lava. After taunting him regarding Daisy, Merlock transforms into a dragon and begins pursuing Donald. He attacks him with blasts of fiery breath, only for Donald to turn his own temple’s defenses against him. Electrocuted and struck with energy blasts, he is eventually forced back into his normal form and his talisman is apparently destroyed. In a huff, Merlock makes his escape by throwing a smoke bomb, and Donald rescues Daisy and destroys Merlock’s machine.
Gallery[]
