This article concerns the show's title character and namesake. For information on the show itself, see Danny Phantom

Daniel "Danny" Fenton a.k.a. Danny Phantom is protagonist and main character of the Nickelodeon animated television series Danny Phantom. One day in his parents' laboratory, Danny has an accident involving the newly built "Fenton Portal" and his molecular structure was fused with ectoplasm allowing him to transform from human to ghost at will (with a call of "I'm going ghost!").

As a human, Danny Fenton looks normal enough. He is a nervous, clumsy 14-year-old boy who tries to fit in with the crowd. But as a ghost, his hair turns white, his clothes turn gray and black, and "Danny Phantom" gains a number of new supernatural powers. In either form, Danny (as well as all other humans) can see, hear, and talk to other paranormal beings, as well as battle them. The only exception is when Danny or another ghost turns himself or herself invisible, which ghosts can do at will. To save his friends and family, Danny frequently battles with various ghosts.

Danny has told nobody except his friends Tucker Foley and Sam Manson about being half ghost, and struggles to hide his ghost identity from his family: his parents Jack and Madeline "Maddie" Fenton and his sister Jasmine "Jazz" Fenton. There have been several hints throughout the series that he has romantic feelings for Sam (Samantha), one of his best friends. However, he also develops a close relationship with Valerie during Reign Storm.

He was voiced by David Kaufman.

From normal 14-year-old with 'eccentric' Ghost-Hunters for parents - to becoming a half-human, half-ghost, teenaged superhero with ghost-powers, is one big change that has occurred in Danny's life in the past few months; even with him being as unique as he is, Danny has every reason to feel as paranoid as he does about keeping his ghost half a secret whenever possible. However, his paranoia has yet to do a thing about his boundless curiosity, which (besides the prodding of his friends Memory Bank) was the main reason why he got his ghost-powers to begin with. When his friends and family are in danger, he can become rather stubborn and over-protective, which doesn't bother his friends as much as his naive nature. In the end of the fight though, its his loyalty to his cause, along with his faith in the love of his peers, helps him to overcome all obstacles.

Danny Phantom has gradually increased his power and abilities as his knowledge of the ghost world matures. He has both gained completely new abilities as well as increased the power of his current ones. Below is a complete list of his currently known abilities.

1. Transform – Allows Danny to switch between human and ghost forms. He can transform the Ecto-Skeleton as well due to its connection with his brain. He usually accompanies his tranformation with his transformation cry, "I'm going ghost!"
2. Ghost Sense – Danny can sense nearby ghosts. When he does, a wisp of blue mist comes out of his mouth and he shivers, getting the appearance of standing at attention or an electrical pulse going down his spinal cord. His older, evil version had this ability but it was a red wisp that came out of his nose.
3. Intangibility & Invisibility – Danny has the ability to turn intangible and invisible at will. With the use of intangibility, Danny can pass through most objects (except, for example, the Fenton Ghost Fisher's line and ectoplasmic goo), becoming untouchable; Danny can also make other people and objects intangible provided he is in physical contact with them. Danny's intangibility is in part connected to his teenage emotions, as he has been known to go intangible at some very inopportune and unwanted times. It is quite common for Danny to make only a part of his body intangible (either on purpose or otherwise). When invisible, he is unable to be seen by human (and some ghosts') eyes. Invisiblility and Intangibility both work in similar ways and thus work together.
4. Flying/Floating/Hovering – While in ghost form, Danny has the ability to float/fly through the air, sometimes at considerable speeds and heights. He often uses this in combat, but occassionally will do it for fun and relaxation. He can also make other humans and objects hover but must keep in physical contact with them. In Maternal Instincts, Danny's top speed in flight was clocked at 112 mph. While floating he also has the ability to turn his bottom half into a wisp, which he most often does when he wants to fly quickly, but he usually leaves his legs and the rest of his body intact while floating or flying slowly.
5. Overshadowing/Possesion – With this power, first learned by Danny in Parental Bonding, Danny can take possession of a human being from within by flying toward and entering the person's body. This allows him to completely control that person's actions. Danny has used this power on several people, including Tucker, Dash, and even his dad, for various reasons. When overshadowed, the victim keeps his or her original form, but his or her eyes and voice change to Danny's. Note that some ghosts (but not Danny) have been able to overcome this shortcoming. The victim has no memory of what he or she did while overshadowed, but usually feel a slight dizziness and disorientation.
6. Ghost Ray – An ectoplasmic blast that usually comes out of the palm of his hand, Danny blasts enemies using this attack. The attack takes many forms: a ray of energy, a glowing orb, or even a repulsion field. After learning it in What You Want, he could use this power at any time, and in Memory Blank, an inexperienced Danny Phantom shot a blast out of his buttocks.
7. Ectoplasmic Energy Shield – Danny can use this ability to form shields of ectoplasmic energy, which he can use to block or rebound attacks from enemies.
8. Wall Walking – Danny, as well as many other ghosts, can walk on uneven and vertical surfaces as though they were horizontal.
9. Ghost Stinger – In Public Enemies, Danny uses this pseudo-electric attack to free Wulf from Bullet's weapon. Other examples of its use might include Vlad in Million Dollar Ghost, Penelope Spectra in Doctor's Disorders, and Phantom in The Ultimate Enemy.
10. Body Half Separation – Danny has on rare occasions been known to change the shape of his midsection for short periods of time. Among these occasions include stretching along the waistline, creating holes in his stomach, and temporarily vaporizing his middle (although this is probably a use of his intangibility power).
11. Ghostly Wail – In The Ultimate Enemy, Danny develops the ability to generate an extremely powerful shriek with his mouth, a bit like a Banshee's wail, the Ghostly Wail can cause pain to ghosts and damage tangible matter.

Vlad Plasmius and Dan Phantom (Dark Danny) have demonstrated various ghost powers that Danny is not able to use. However, given the mutual status shared among them, it might be safe to assume that Danny will gain similar powers eventually.

1. Duplication – Duplication is an ability Danny has not yet mastered. Vlad Masters, the only other known half-human, half-ghost, is the only known being to have perfected this ability. Duplication is the ability to create multiple copies of oneself, each acting and thinking separately (but coordinated as one) and with all the powers of the original. The copies are merely phantoms, however, and any physical damage will cause them to disintegrate. Also, these phantoms can exist out of sight of the original, as Phantom demonstrated in The Ultimate Enemy. The closest Danny has come to using this ability is to split his head in two (creating two heads on one body, or even further mutilation). One exception is when he piloted the Ecto-Skeleton, which drastically improved his powers and allowed him to duplicate with ease. At any time, the duplicates can be brought back into the original. Since other ghosts are aware of duplication abilities it could be thought that many beings can perform this feat.
2. Teleportation – Vlad Plasmius is able to disappear and reappear elsewhere by wrapping his cape around himself and vanishing in a cloud of mist.
3. Ghost Portal Creation – In The Ultimate Enemy, Phantom was able to create a temporary portal into the Ghost Zone anywhere with just a wave of his hand.
4. Smoke Form – In The Ultimate Enemy, Phantom was able to transform into an ectoplasmic smoke in order to be able to dodge the future Valerie's bombs.
5. Ectoplasm Shaping – Vlad Plasmius and Phantom have demonstrated on various occasions to be able to form ectoplasm into a solid substance. Solidified ectoplasm can apparently be shaped into basic geometric forms, and can be either elastic or rigid, at the creator's will. With this ability, they have created walls, paddles, ropes, etc.
6. Ectoplasmic Energy Absorbption and Projection – In Reign Storm, Vlad Plasmius used this ability to absorb an energy blast from the Fright Knight and use it as his own.
7. Shapeshifting – In The Ultimate Enemy, Phantom took on the form of Danny Fenton in order to disguise his appearance. It can be assumed that this ability covers all humanoid creatures, as well.
8. Intangibility Fusion – In The Ultimate Enemy, Phantom was able to fuse Clockwork's time medallion into Danny through the use of his intangibility powers. While fused, the object inserted is unreachable by human or ghost abilities; it can, however, be removed through the use of special equipment (I.E., the Ghost Gauntlets).

Danny Fenton: Everyone's a little different, but Danny, well, he's A LOT different. On the outside, he's a nervous, kinda clumsy 14-year-old who wouldn't stick out in a crowd. But underneath that awkward teenage exterior, Danny is a genuine superhero! After an accident in his parents' lab, Danny was given some ghostly powers. Half ghost, Danny can see, hear, and talk to other paranormal beings—not to mention battle them on a regular basis to save his friends, family and, you know, the rest of the planet. Too bad he's still afraid of them!

• Danny had a lot of trouble controlling his ghost powers at first. Often he would accidentally trigger them when nervous or angry. When he is infuriated, his eyes glow a bright and vivid yellow-green.
• Danny loves dogs, when he was a kid, he always wanted a puppy as expressed in Fanning the Flames, but his parents would not let him have one; in Shades of Grey, Danny has to deal with the Ghost-Dog.
• In Mystery Meat, when Jack asks Danny, Tucker and Sam if they want to be Ghost-Hunters, Danny expresses that he wants to become an astronaut when he grows up - not that his father heard him.
• Danny collects and builds model rockets, and has a number of them hanging from his bedroom ceiling. Danny also collects comic books.
• While in Ghost-Mode, Danny has an echo effect with his voice,which makes him sound more ghostly.
• Does Danny play Soccer? Whenever Danny's bedroom has been seen, we see a Soccer ball next to his bed.
• In Teacher of the Year, Danny's username for the online computer game Doomed is Ghost-Boy.
• In the episode Identity Crisis, it is revealed that Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom are actually two seperate personalities merged as one—"fun" Danny and "Super" Danny.
• Danny is also quite the artist, doodling pictures when he is bored, like in Fright Knight .
• While in Ghost Mode, Danny has been seen using martial arts moves, and his mother, Maddie Fenton, has been revealed as an accomplished martial artist. Has Maddie been teaching Danny martial arts? If she has, then we've never seen him use those moves on anyone in self-defense.
• Will Danny ever be an inventor like his parents when he's older? Apart from having to hear all about his parents inventions 'straight from the horses' mouths', Danny is shown how to work his parents inventions by his parents, and to work on maintanince on them: In Bitter Reunions, when Danny is up against Vlad Plasmius, Danny knows how to work the weapons in the Fenton Family Ghost Assault Vehicle/Fenton RV. In The Million-Dollar Ghost, Danny is expected to change the Fenton Ghost Portal's ecto-filtrator, so either he must know how or his father Jack must only think that Danny does. In Identity Crisis, Jack is teaching 'Fun-Danny' how to use Fenton ghost-hunting technology against 'Super-Danny', so Danny is being taught how this technology works.