ENCYCLOPEDIA!

DESIROVAC -to- DINOSAUR

Desirovac, The: The Desirovac is a device that is worn on the head and is connected to a generator. It grants wishes, anything you can think of can be given by the Desirovac. The Terror once terrorized the world when he had control of this device but he was eventually defeated by the Decency Squad who hid the Desirovac in Vault #1289 in the abandoned mine shafts outside of The City. The Terror once more attempted to gain the powers of the Desirovac when he broke the Human Ton out of prison and sent his son Terry to spy on the Decency Squad. The Terror was defeated and the Desirovac was presumably destroyed by The Tick after he wished for a BLT with extra mayo.

Devil In Diapers: Go to Episode 31.

Devon Ugly: Devon Ugly is so hideously ugly that he must wear a bag over his head to keep from frightening others. This villain attended the birthday celebration of the villainous Chairface Chippendale in the comics.

Dewey Bridge, The: The Dewey Bridge was named after the inventor of the Dewey Decimal System, Melvil Dewey. Half of the Dewey Bridge was eaten by the galactic being, Omnipotus, in Episode 15. (Aw, man! That was the best bridge!") It also served as the final confrontation between Project Shave and the Mustache.

Dewey Park: [Comic Books] A memorial park on Elysium street in The City, Dewey Park was the site where the Running Guy/Red Scare battle took place. The park is in memorial to the inventor of the Dewey Decimal System, Melvil Dewey (1851-1931).
In the Cartoon Series, the park is called, simply, The City Park.

Die Fledermaus: Die Fledermaus is a bit of a coward, to put it lightly. He claims to be the dark avenger of the night. That must be when he does all of his superheroing. He spends most of the day at Ben's Diner with a hot cup of expensive coffee, striking poses on rooftops, kissing up to the media, and reading fashion magazines. Die Fledermaus has the uncanny ability to deduce the obvious.
"The Flying Mouse" or bat wears a long flowing cape, heavy on the flow, with long rib-like ridges running down to the bottom edge, were they come to a point. The cape is webbed between the ridges giving it a look very similar to another dark superhero who shall remain nameless. He also wears a half mask with near-laughable oversized ears and nose flaps that give him a resemblance to a rather silly looking fruit bat. His suit is three shades of brown and his boots have three claws apiece, perfect for traction when one escapes from danger. Die Fledermaus is very vain in his appearance but even he suffers from "bad ear days" sometimes. He also wears a utility belt were he keeps band aides and quarters for pay phones.
The Maus will take the easy out when it is present. He does act brave on the occasions when there is no way of escaping but that is as much a show as anything else he does. Charming cannot be used to describe Die Fledermaus, even though he tries hard to be, he fails miserably. He is actually a male chauvinist. He has a completely different persona when the media are filming nearby. It is believed that Die Fledermaus had a romantic relationship with American Maid who wouldn't admit it if it were true. Maus has on numerous occasions reminded American Maid of the chance that she had. All we really know is that she hates him and she has a very valid reason, beyond his obvious actions and beliefs of course.
Die Fledermaus first appeared in The Tick Vs. The Idea Men. He didn't play much of a role in the episode. He did fight with his long time rival, American Maid calling her a mop squeezer, a jingoist, Ms. Intimacy, Ice Queen, clean freak, and told her to go scrub out a toilet somewhere. Her response was to call him a nerf, a jerk, a rabid goon, incredibly immature, and told him to go stink up a cave. The verbal assaults between the Maid and the Maus even take place during yuletime. Die Fledermaus decided that he'd press his luck and stand under the mistletoe. He said "Hey, babe! I'm under the mistletoe. Make my Christmas!" She replied with "Field Mouse, get under a missle, make everybody's Christmas!"
In Episode 7 Die Fledermaus conned the Arthur in to taking him, The Tick, and Sewer Urchin to the Comet Club in Dot's Car. He was really pushy and immature during the whole trip there and back. He was a backseat driver, telling Arthur how to drive and when to merge. He acted like a child, hitting Sewer Urchin and blaming him for stinking on purpose. When they finally made it to the Club he didn't act any better. He hit on every female superhero in the joint and was rejected by all of them. Poodle Girl went as far as firing her Poodle Gun at him. He also made a pass at Jet Valkyrie saying that he loved a woman who dressed in stainless steel. She told him that he made her sick to her stomach. Die Fledermaus' sour grapes with American Maid reared its ugly head again in this episode when he mistook her legs for someone else's. She poured a drink on his head.
Die Fledermaus has a deep superheroic voice, without an accent. He thinks he talks real cool and who am I to argue? His voice has been known to raise an octave or two when he is frightened out of his wits though, which doesn't take much. He faints. During Proto-Clown's terrible rampage, Die Fledermaus showed some real backbone by volunteering to stay behind with American Maid to fight Proto-Clown while the other superheroes got Bud Frontier to safety. ("What could you do, anyway? Hit it with a shoe?" "Don't start with me!") Unfortunately, his act of bravery ended in humiliation--American Maid had to carry him from the fight. Later, at the Civic Minded Five's HQ, she playfully renamed him Die Faintermaus.
It could be said that Sewer Urchin is Die Fledermaus' best friend, though the latter would never admit so. The superhero duo hang out together at the Diner all the time. Die Fledermaus has even nicknamed Urchin "Stinky". When they are together they act like little children, going as far as name calling and pushing and shoving in Arthur's car. I believe Die Fledermaus thinks that Sewer Urchin is his comic relief.
Die Fledermaus has a fear of commitment and rarely does the team up thing, unless the hero he teams up is powerful enough to provide protection. He is sometimes known to do the right thing but only if someone is watching. He really hammed it up when the television show, Heroes arrived in The City. He went as far as giving the show's crew his resume.
Die Fledermaus was the first hero to encounter the Swiss when they invaded America. That's what he thought they were doing anyway and no one believed him. The Swiss were actually a group of industrial spies after the notebook of the famed scientist, J. J. Vatos. The only person he was able to convince was the Human Bullet who missed Switzerland by 14,000 miles. When the Swiss were revealed and the battle over the notebook began, Die Fledermaus and Sewer Urchin escaped, proclaiming that they were going to start an underground resistance. ("Yeahh, definitely underground! Very resistant!")
When it appeared that The Tick had been blown to smithereens on the moon mission, Operation Erase, Die Fledermaus decided, at the urgings of American Maid, to take Arthur as his sidekick in an attempt to stir him out of his depression. He taught Arthur what he knew about crime fighting: The look is the key. Striking dynamic poses is essential. Actually fighting crime, physically, is passe. Never do that. Always alert the police first. Never go running after strangers. Arthur quit being Die Fledermaus' sidekick because all they did was look at fashion magazines and hang out at the diner. They never once fought crime. I also think he was mad at the Maus for eating most of his condolence cheeses.
He has many gadgets that we have yet to see and he drives the power-packed Maus Mobile which blew up in Coach Fussel's Lament. He even posed as the villain, The Rake to save The Tick in the same episode, but he was very reluctant to do it. Included in his arsenal is the Die Fleder Grapple and pulley line that he sometimes uses to travel across rooftops with.
Die Fledermaus was even invited to Dot and Neil's wedding were he ushered in guests and was nearly eaten by a rogue floral arrangement. When the Breadmaster made a second attack on The City, Die Fledermaus was there. Apparently, the Breadmaster deemed Die Fledermaus a worthy enough opponent to send a package of Gingerbread Minions with a villainous note. The rogue cookies attacked and threw Die Fledermaus into a world of cowering fear--he couldn't sleep for weeks. When the cookies went stale and ceased their movement, Die Fledermaus bragged that he single-handedly fought of the Gingerbread Army while in the post office with Arthur and Eclair. Of course Die Fledermaus hit on Eclair asking her "What flavor is your filling?". She replied by projecting a small burst of electricity from her eyes and Die Fledermaus responded with "Ooooh, Lightning flavor... I'll be checking my mail.". When it came time to tackle the rogue baker, Die Fledermaus escaped.
Die Fledermaus experienced a bout of fatal attraction at the hands of the Ottoman. They met at a furniture store and instantly clicked. After spotting the "well put-together" furniture queen, Die Fledermaus attempted to impress her with his knowledge of furniture, but mistakenly identified a Queen Anne as a Louis XVI. Ottoman smiled slyly and corrected him, saying it was "a common mistake". Recognizing his fashion sense, however, she noted that "a good decorating strategy is the hallmark of a distinguished gentleman". So enraptured was Die Fledermaus by the lovely villainess that he allowed her to escape ("You'd better run! No one messes with Die Fledermaus, baby!"). When he, Arthur, and The Tick tracked the Ottoman's next move to the Furniture Czar's, he asked her on a date. He flashed her a big goofy smile and agreed that they could work around the evil thing. American Maid showed up and the Ottoman got jealous but decided to have the date on Thursday. On the date, Die Fledermaus was taken to the Ottoman's flying carpet were she had tables and chairs and dinner all prepared. She nearly put Die Fledermaus into shock by proposing marriage. Die Fledermaus quickly danced around the issue saying that "Marriage [was] sort of a big word for [him]". He told her the only person he loved was himself and escaped because she was suffocating him. He revealed that he had been burnt in the past and wasn't ready for commitment. The Ottoman wouldn't take no for an answer and chased Die Fledermaus all around The City before she was captured.
When the ants revolted in Episode 22, Die Fledermaus was chosen to recruit heroes to stand against the insect hordes while The Tick was under psychiatric care. He recruited Sewer Urchin and Fishboy. Maus accused The Tick of using his fear of ants as a dodge and wished he had thought of it himself. At first, Die Fledermaus wasn't afraid of the "ant women". He tried to sweet talk them (they were ant women) but they were able to resist his 'irresistible charms'. The human temp, however, was another story... If only American Maid hadn't interfered!
[Voiced by: Cam Clarke]

Diner, The: See Ben's Diner!

Dinosaur Grotto: One day, The Tick decided to skip the morning patrol, to Arthur's relief. They visited the Dinosaur Grotto which turned out to be very fun and educational. The chief paleontologist was Dinosaur Neil and he took The Tick, Arthur, and others on a group tour of the Grotto. Every day there is a tour of the Grotto which is an actual working dinosaur dig. Expert scientists are viewed as they dig up, clean, and put together actual dinosaur fossils. A giant replica of a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton holds the sign in front of the Grotto's entrance. The walls of the entryway are saturated with fossils. Dinosaur Grotto even has a gift shop with tee-shirts and souvenirs. During the night hours of the Grotto you can bare witness to the "Parade of Extinction" complete with fireworks.

Dinosaur Neil: Dinosaur Neil is the mustached chief paleontologist of the Dinosaur Grotto theme park and fossil excavation site. He is an expert in dinosaur genetics and frequently performs experiments that mimic those he saw in a movie once. When The Tick and Arthur visited the Dinosaur Grotto, Neil led them throughout the Grotto on an interesting and educational tour. The Tick didn't know he could learn so much. Neil liked to see superheroes take an interest in science so he invited The Tick and Arthur to his tent to show them his latest experiment in dinosaur genetics. His theory involved cloning and he believed that it was possible to create a dinosaur from the DNA found in a fossil. A machine synthesizes living tissue from the DNA patterns. His experiments were so far successful and he had already grown a sample of living dinosaur tissue. The tissue grew at an increased rate so Neil had to keep it in an anti-catalyst solution of acetylsalicylic acid, or aspirin, to keep it from becoming uncontrollable. Neil was excited because he believed that he would have a complete and fully functioning organism within two weeks. During his explanation, a lab accident occurred. The petri dish containing the organism looked exactly like the container that Neil kept his pasta salad in. Neil accidentally ate the sample instead of his lunch.
The growth wasn't instant, it took a while. That night, Neil began to change into the form of a monstrous dinosaur. His mind was exponential to his size so the larger he grew the dumber he got. His growth could have been halted with aspirin but his huge dinosaur hands couldn't open the child-proof cap on the medicine bottle. When Dinosaur left the Grotto and began his rampage he was a 70 foot creature of nightmares with a roar that could shatter glass and a mass that shook The City's entire foundation. And he was still growing. Luckily, Neil was a herbivore, no one lost their lives on the rampage but The City suffered a great amount of damage. The Tick and Arthur made a few attempts to curb Neil's destructive tendencies. Arthur found that even Neil's mustache was deadly, a mustache of a titan. Dinosaur Neil was finally cured of his metamorphosis when Arthur remembered the acetylsalicylic acid used to keep the sample in check. A large aspirin tablet was created by Bang Pharmaceuticals and Neil was confronted at the Must Go Shopping Plaza. the National Guard was called in to destroy Neil but Arthur was able to convince them that their plan would work. The Tick took the aspirin and was eaten by Neil. The hero wrestled with the 180 pound terror's tongue, was chewed on, and eventually tossed the tablet down Neil's throat. The aspirin, when digested, started to work immediately. Neil was reduced to his normal form. He felt really good to be human again and thanked the two for their help. Neil was invited to Arthur's apartment for dinner where he met Arthur's sister Dot. They got along real well.
Dinosaur Neil always wears his green Dinosaur Grotto costume. It zips up in the front and is made to resemble a dinosaur, complete with spikes and tail. When Neil changes into a 180 pound rampaging monster, his costume rips away revealing a dinosaur's body that is practically identical to the cloth costume. Neil keeps his facial features after transforming. His mustache is deadly in this form. Mindless is the best way to describe Neil when he's large. He travels in randomly and destroys whatever is in his path. He is a menace in his dinosaur form but as a human, he is a beloved celebrity.
A year after his first rampage, Neil married Arthur's sister Dot. He appointed The Tick his best man for the wedding. The criminal genius, Chairface Chippendale switched Neil's medication in an attempt to promote a regrowth. These fake aspirins, which featured tiny portraits of Chairface himself, had no effect on Neil's growth and he went Jurassic during the wedding. The slightest bit of stress causes dinosaur growth in Neil's DNA and Chairface deduced that the wedding would provide more then enough stress for a second rampage. Neil was ready for this type of situation and gave The Tick, his best man, a package with information at the beginning of the transformation. Neil correctly guessed that the growth gene had mutated since his last growth so aspirin wouldn't have any more effect. He came up with an alternate plan. His "notes in case of bigness" instructed The Tick to find a submarine and 4,000 pounds of pungent, raw meat, two items that Sewer Urchin had readily available. Meanwhile, Chairface Chippendale had hired the aptly named Indigestible Man to go into Neil's body and gain control of his brain. With Neil, Chippendale planned to make his will law and gain the biggest flunkey mankind has ever seen.
Arthur and The Tick covered the submarine with the meat and climbed aboard. Dot insisted on going as well and soon, the smell of the meat lured Neil. The meat covered submarine was swallowed and eventually reached the base of Neil's brain with careful navigation by Arthur. When they reached the brain, The Tick took care of the Indigestible Man who had his computer linked directly to Chairface's headquarters while Arthur and Dot rammed the mutated dinosaur gene in Neil's pituitary gland with the submarine. They narrowly escaped through Neil's sinuses as he shrank in size. Neil and Dot were both very grateful and the wedding continued without a hitch. Neil was cured.
[Voiced by: Danny Mann]

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