Professor Doomkauf is a character in Inspector Gadget. He is a M.A.D. agent and scientist. Doomkauf only appeared in the three episodes devoted to him.
Routine[]
Doomkauf works as conventioneerer and a M.A.D. agent.
Physical Description[]
Doomkauf is a middle-aged man with wild white hair, matching long beard and a long nose. He wears a green turtleneck under a white lab coat, red trousers and black shoes.
Personality[]
Doomkauf is a brilliant scientist, but he has an ill-temper towards Gadget and his family whenever they interfere with his plans to do Gadget in.
History[]
After being presented with evidence of Gadget and Capeman thwarting a M.A.D. robbery of the world's largest bank, a plot to kidnap world's wealthiest siamese twins, and foiling a M.A.D. plot to take over the country of Nostrovia, Doomkauf was ordered by Dr. Claw to eliminate Inspector Gadget. The Professor opened a suitcase to reveal the Linguinis, five small but violent imps and set them loose on Gadget. Their first attempt failed due to Brain's interferance. But the Professor, dressed as a female, returned them to the house dressed as babies in a basket.. He asked Gadget to babysit his 'five adorable babies' while he went to the store and left before Gadget could object. When the Linguinis were ejected from the house a second time thanks to Brain, Doomkauf came up with an idea to dress all five of them in suits that resembled Gadget's faithful canine companion. Doomkauf returned to the house dressed as the woman, and received the basked from Gadget filled with four stuffed dolls instead of the Linguinis. He was soon joined by the five Imps, and together they fled in a pink van, admitting defeat.[1]
Some time later Doomkauf presented Claw with a reducing ray of his design. He had his own stall at the Eccentric Inventors Convention and invited Inspector Gadget to see his inventions up close. One machine was able to turn all the lights off for three blocks. Another ray gun froze things. Gadget was told to enter a phone booth style shaped atomic battery charger. While Gadget and Capeman were temporary blinded by the machine's flashing lights, Doomkauf fired the first of four shrinking ray treatments at Gadget. But Capeman accidentaly froze Doomkauf with his own freeze ray and he failed to give Gadget the other three treatments. When Gadget and Capeman left the convention, Doomkauf chased the Gadget Van in a pink van of his own. He fired several shrinking rays, but only managed to hit a statue, a tree and part of a stone wall instead. Trying to hit Gadget on the road, he shrank a large billboard and an entire truck instead. The driver of the truck did not shrink, however, nor did the steering wheel he was holding on to.
At Gadget's House, Doomkauf used a rope to hang from the roof and fire the second treatment through the bedroom window while Gadget took a nap. But Brain, disguised as a gargoyle, untied the rope. Doomkauf fell and accidentally got hit by the shrink ray himself. Doomkauf hurried back to his lab to get the antidote. But when he arrived, he noticed that somebody was already there. He then realized he had left the shrink gun at Gadget's house and went back to fetch it. Back at the house, Doomkauf spotted Brain carrying the device. He ordered the dog to put it down, but when Brain dropped it, it fired a shrink ray and hit Doomkauf with the second dose. Doomkauf began to chase Brain, who entered the house through the window. The Professor tried to follow him, but had much difficulty because of his reduced size. Inside, Capeman took the shrinking raygun from Brain, dropped it, and Doomkauf was hit a third time and fell back onto the lawn.
He managed to climb into the house quite quickly and got up onto the table to fetch his gun, but Capeman noticed him and brought him to Penny's dollhouse. Gadget had just escaped from it and had left the door open, so Doomkauf climbed up into a toybox where Capeman had deposited the shrink gun. He couldn't believe his luck when he noticed Gadget lying on the floor and tried to fire the fourth and final dose of the reducing ray. Brain jumped at Doomkauf, causing toys from the toybox to fly through the air. Doomkauf ended up crushed under a doll of Riff-Raff from Heathcliff and the Catillac Cats. He took control of a toy airplane and flew it out the window to flee from the house, just as the police arrived after Gadget was given the antidote to return to normal.[2]
Later, having regained his normal size, Doomkauf presented Claw with a creature called the Grappler, whom he trained to destroy Gadget in exchange for his favorite treats, tidbits. When Corporal Capeman tried to call a cleaning agency to send some help to the Gadget House, Claw intercepted the call and had Doomkauf answer it. Holding his nose in a futile attempt to disguise his voice, and mistaking Capeman's name on purpose for "Apeman", Doomkauf promised to send over a helper immediately. He ordered the Grappler to get Gadget.
Soon, Claw grew impatient and Doomkauf had to impliment another plan. He called Gadget on his Top-Secret Gadget Phone and imitated the voice of Chief Quimby. He told Gaget to go to the Oriental Express Mystery Tour Train immediately. Gadget and the Grapller arrived at the station where the Oriental Express was just about to start the tour. Claw had made sure the train was fully automated and all the passengers were replaced by dummies. The only living being on board apart from Gadget and the Grappler was Doomkauf, disguised as a lady. In this case, Doomkauf did not alter his voice at all. He asked Gadget how he would handle a M.A.D. assassin, and Gadget decided that he and Grappler would give a demonstration. Gadget asked Grappler to try to get him, hard, and was promptly knocked off the train, together with Brain (who was hanging onto a train cabin from the outside at the time).
Gadget returned himsefl and Brain to the dining car using his Gadget Legs, and Doomkauf told Grappler to go get him. He then noticed that Penny had somehow boarded the train, and tried to grab her but missed. Corporal Capeman bumped into Doomkauf, mistook him for a granny, and locked the door behind him when he and Penny went to face the Grappler in the dining cart. This left Doomkauf helpless to interfere, but able to watch the proceedings through a window. Penny managed to stop the train using her computer book and persuaded the Grappler to turn over a new leaf. Doomkauf realized Penny had used a secret weapon: kindness. Nobody had ever been nice to Grappler before. He left the Oriental Express in defeat and apologized to Claw via videophone, stating Grappler had been ruined. Angered, Claw promised Doomkauf that he would pay for this.[3]
Appearances[]
Inspector Gadget (1983 TV Series)[]
Season 2 (1983 series)[]
Quotes[]
- And so are you.
- Gadget! You! You! I'll get even next time!
- I'm sorry I failed, Dr. Claw. How was it that I know that girl Penny had a secret weapon?
- Kindness! It's the first time anyone has ever been nice to Grappler! It ruined him!
Trivia[]
- Professor Doomkauf pronounces his name as the German word "dummkopf", which is another word for "stupid" (literally: dumb head).
- At the end of The Incredible Shrinking Gadget, Doomkauf shouts "I'll get even next time" at Inspector Gadget, which is usually reserved for Dr. Claw.
- How Doomkauf returned to his normal size after the events of The Incredible Shrinking Gadget wasn't explained, since Penny took the antidote from his lab. It's likely that he had an extra batch of it at his lab.
- What became of Doomkauf after the events of Gadget Meets the Grappler was never explained. He could have been arrested by the police or Dr. Claw might have fired him or executed him.
Gallery[]
