Duffy Gordon

Art by Neldorwen

GOLDEN

Race: Human

Skills: Telepathy

Family: Gordons

Daphne "Duffy" Gordon is a character from Defenders of the Earth fan fiction, introduced by Marzena. 

Creation

The original, unaired television pilot for Defenders of the Earth featured a character named Jedda Gordon, the daughter of Flash and an unidentified mother, presumably Dale. This girl was removed by creators when the series began production, and her first name was retained for a new character.

Fan-fiction writer Marzena later decided to create tales about Jedda Gordon, but gave her a new name, Duffy.

Introduction

The character first appeared in The Story Begins — Original Pilot, a take on the aborted Defenders of the Earth TV pilot, which featured a Gordon daughter rather than a son. The fanfic's original purpose was to examine what might have happened had Jedda Gordon, not Rick Gordon, been present in the first DoE episode, "Escape From Mongo." Rather than simply recreating Jedda, the tale devotes a substantial amount of time to developing Duffy, establishing her emotional nature and her impulsive tendencies. These characteristics are also present in the follow-up, The Prince of Mongo — an alternate version of the TV series' Krotan arc, with Duffy featured in place of Jedda Walker. Both tales take place primarily on a world called Earth G.

Alternate Version

Defenders of the Earth: This Is Their Side Story introduces the Duffy Gordon of Earth Y, a meeker girl whose mother, Dale, apparently fell in the battle against Ming the Merciless. Duffy travels to Earth B and attempts to bond with that world's Dale Gordon. The pair journey to multiple Earths before returning to Dimension B.

Afterward, Duffy becomes stranded on Earth B and lives there with the Gordon family, using her talents as a Defender of the Earth. She eventually embraces the world as her new home, gains citizenship, and takes a job as a fitness trainer alondside Sheila DeWindt. 

Duffy with Veena, April, and Dale. Art by Neldorwen.

Skills

Daphne Gordon inherited supernatural gifts from her parents, Flash and Dale, who were empowered temporarily by experiments. Though the abilities did not endure in her mother and father, they melded with the younger Duffy permanently.

While the Duffy of Earth G showed little interest in practicing her skills growing up, her counterpart on Earth Y was more inclined.

Using high-level telepathy, Duffy can send her thoughts into another person's head, track someone down, or force a target to obey her by taking control of their mind. These abilities can be employed to simply communicate with another, or for far grimmer purposes. The Duffy of Earth Y reveals that she used her skills to locate Ming and avenge her mother, which had unexpected results.

It is believed that some super-powered beings can resist her will, with varying degrees of success. In general, she must be in close proximity to someone to subdue them, though she can communicate mentally at longer distances. 

On Earth B, it is confirmed that her years of telepathic training have heightened her power beyond that of fellow telepath Jedda Walker. During one mission, she proves capable of controlling numerous people in a building with little effort, guiding them to safety.

Duffy's abilities also allow her to detect when a person is being secretive, alerting her to potential danger. In addition, she can affect a target's vision temporarily, making them see what she wishes them to, which helps her to influence their actions to her liking.

Rick Gordon theorizes that one of the Duffys may be the legendary Gatemaster, a telepath with the power to observe and visit multiple dimensions, without the aid of technology.

Related: Gordon Family