Dum-Dum

## Chronology

### First Appearance

* *Gun and Swordplay* ( *Blazin' Trails Redux* season 2, episode 10, guest appearance)
* *Gloria Immortalis* ( *Blazin' Trails Alter* episode 6)

### Last Appearance

* *Happy Trails, Sheriff* ( *Blazin' Trails Redux* season 7, episode 32)

**Dum-Dum Dugan** is an Old English sheepdog who works as a hero-for-hire. Hailing from New York City, Dum-Dum's numerous misadventures eventually landed him a job working as Touché Turtle's sidekick. Though the terrapin had his initial doubts about Dum-Dum, the sheepdog would eventually become his confidant and closest friend. Though he's more cowardly than Touché, Dum-Dum eventually grows into his role as a hero-for-hire on par with the terrapin himself. Because of his association with Touché, he is an occasional ally to Ricochet Rabbit and Droop-a-Long.

Dum-Dum was not meant to appear in the original *Blazin' Trails*, but he did make a cameo in the final chapter of the original, *So Long, Droopy*. He would later gain greater focus in the series' remake, *Blazin' Trails Redux*, and is an integral character in seasons 4 and 5.

## Personality

Dum-Dum, as one can tell by his name, is not the smartest sheepdog in the world; he often makes obvious or stupid observations, and his words and actions, however well-intentioned, can lead both him and Touché getting into major trouble (assuming Touché did not screw up in the first place). Dum-Dum would sometimes try to imitate Touché or do a task on his own only to fail miserably, or occasionally do something useful only to have it backfire. He is also more cowardly than Touché and usually sits out in fights, preferring for Touché to do the work while he remains on the sidelines. Due to a combination of both laziness and cowardice, his skill as a hero for hire leaves much to be desired. He also trusts people far too easily, which leads to him getting burned hard as he places a lot of people on high pedestals.

Despite his various shortcomings, Dum-Dum’s kindness and loyalty are his greatest strengths, although his opponents have also used these against him. He’s more empathetic than his best friend is, and though he doesn’t always understand everything that goes on, he tries his hardest to offer moral support to. Within the “Four Paladins” (the group consisting of him, Touché, Catalina and Edith), he is the heart of the group and known as their emotional support for this reason. He is very loyal to his best friend Touché, whom he nicknames "Toosh", and will eagerly follow him everywhere no matter the danger; although this was originally because he admires him as a hero, he genuinely cares about the turtle and outright states that he's like a brother to him, which the turtle reciprocates in kind. He carries this same attitude towards his other friends as well, and doubly so if they’re friends with Touché. While a nice person normally, he’s not above engaging in pettiness, especially if he feels the other person needs to be taught a lesson, and will occasionally indulge in “malicious compliance” to do so. His wrath when incurred is more dangerous than Touché’s, for his first instinct when his loved ones are threatened is violence. Harming anybody he cares about is the quickest way to make him lose his cool.

Similar to Droop-a-Long, Dum-Dum didn’t have a lot of luck with women, with many of them making fun of his lack of intelligence. When he was a teenager, an older woman assaulted him, leaving his views on romance and love twisted—in an effort to prevent himself from being hurt, he suppressed his feelings, leaving him the only member in his family to not get married for years. In season 3 of Redux, his initial relationship with Cat was difficult due to the feline being focused on her duty, and Dum-Dum, though annoyed with her snippy attitude towards him and Touché, made it his personal mission to help her open up. When he realizes that he’s started to fall in love with her, he initially rejects his feelings, believing that she wouldn’t give him the time of day. His worries about losing her after she finds her family lead him to confess his feelings, and their relationship starts out slow, but eventually solidifies into a strong one on par with his friendship with Touché. Angel’s assault on him in season 5 would bring back these old memories, and for a time he considered suicide, but Catalina refused to leave his side, and would avenge him later by killing Angel in the penultimate episode. Shortly after this, the pair get married, and in season 7, not only do they have a daughter, Moira, but are planning on expanding their family.

## Powers and Abilities

While Dum-Dum is supposed to be a fencer like Touché, he rarely wields a foil, and often he's beat by other opponents, sometimes even Touché during practice, as seen in one episode. That being said, he does know how to operate some vehicles such as helicopters, can row a boat, and sometimes does useful things especially if Touché is threatened, although it's a rarity, and often his attempts backfire. In addition to this, Dum-Dum is rather strong, and his stamina is greater than Touché’s, allowing him to withstand enemy attacks.

In his appearances in both Redux and Alter, Dum-Dum is mentioned to be proficient in Sabre, to where he could actually give Touché a challenge during their practices. Within the quartet featuring him, Touché, Edith and Catalina, he’s often the team’s tank; for what he lacks in agility, he more than makes up for in power and strength.

During the events of season 5, Dum-Dum received two heirlooms from Clan Dugan—the Dugan Crown, which is said to grant its user control over people and creatures; and Oathkeeper, a holy sword that is known to answer only to the Dugan whom it chooses. He faced a lot of difficulties using both of these, in no part due to having little to no magic training when he received them, but over time he came to master them. Due to his skill in Sabre, he mastered Oathkeeper easier than the Dugan Crown.

## Trivia

* Similar to Droop-a-Long, who is his “spear counterpart”, Dum-Dum was also given a few upgrades to his portrayal:
	+ In the cartoon, he was deemed to be generally useless by everyone, including Touché, who although he was his best friend, was quick to make demeaning comments to him every once in a while. Both Blazin’ Trails and the For Love and Glory series keep the air headed and clumsy aspects of his personality, with the author noting that it’s part of his charm as a character. Similar to Droop-a-Long, he would become a fearsome hero in his own right, but keeps much of his original personality.
	+ Within the show, Dum-Dum isn’t shown to be a fencer, and any occasion he does is to show how incompetent he is next to Touché. In both Blazin’ Trails and For Love and Glory, his fencing skills are showcased more, as well as his skill and proficiency in Sabre. His role as the team’s tank is also emphasized.
	+ Within the cartoon, Dum-Dum practically worships Touché, which the turtle isn’t wholly against. In both BT and FLaG, this is kept up, but it eventually tones down in later installments as the pair’s friendship progresses. As a testament to Touché’s growth, he tells Dum-Dum that he doesn’t have to praise him for nearly everything, something that literally shocks everyone who hears it.
* The authoress explained that she developed a fondness for Dum-Dum while writing the original For Love and Glory, to where much of the story was about him more than Touché. The sequels following that would focus more on him due to this, although in For Love and Glory Relance, the focus would be split between both him and Touché, with the latter receiving more development.
	+ This would be the second case where the sidekick to the main character receives more attention, the first being Droop-a-Long Coyote.
* Dum-Dum’s last name is a reference to a comic book character, Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader “Dum Dum” Dugan, who was a member of S.H.I.E.L.D. This comes from an old post that the author reblogged about a Touché Turtle book, where one of the tags for Dum-Dum was the character, Dum Dum Dugan, and she mistakenly took that to be the sheepdog’s last name. She decided to leave it in as a reference.