Cartoon Conspiracy | Inspector Gadget : Dr. Claw's Identity? [It's Not Gaget!]

Hello everyone. Don't worry, it's not that I'm slacking but I felt it might be worth sharing this theory with you. It's one I have recently came up with, and I might not even be the first to have this theory but the only way to be sure is to share it. Please let me know what you think of this and if you'd like to see topical posts like this in the future. Without further ado, onto the main topic.

Who is Dr. Claw?

The commonly believed theory is that Dr. Claw is no other than the Inspector Gadget himself, or more accurately the pre-gadget incarnation of said character. This theory itself makes sense and is a strong concept but I think it's time for a new theory to dawn, one that might just make more sense! Dr. Claw is not Inspector Gadget, but is instead his evil brother! Now hang in there, please hear me out.

I know that this sounds like, the classic evil brother trope, how does this make sense? There are a few elements I can use in my favour for this theory. I will not be including the live action films, as these are only related to the cartoon as a brand, not a continuity. But any merchandise including the face of the original cartoon's Inspector Gadget will be included as these may at the least be intended to align in continuity with the original show.

Talon

With the exception of the original cartoon, all continuities attempt to establish a family for Dr. Claw. Examples include Dr. Thaw the brother, Talon the nephew. However I haven't found anywhere in the original for Dr. Claw to be confirmed as an only child, as Talon doesn't make any contradictions. For Talon to exist, Claw needs a brother [I'm not saying that Gadget is his dad, that's highly unlikely]. For my theory to be correct there would need to be three brothers. I'm sure fans of the Gadgetinis will try to fill this spot with Dr. Thaw, but I'm not including that series in this theory.

Penny

Penny is the most crucial point to this theory, the reason it spawned in the first place. Everybody knows that Penny is Inspector Gadget's niece, which means Gadget is not an only child either. Yet there is never any mention or sighting of her parents. This stems the question of 'where or who' about Penny's parents. And that's when it dawned upon me.

As is routine in the show, Dr. Claw's minions kidnap Penny yet no harm is ever done to her, even if Dr. Claw knows about her kidnapping. And then once Penny has foiled his plans and Gadget has taken the credit, Dr. Claw will always blame Gadget for his failures. My point is Dr. Claw never expresses any hatred towards Penny. Now either he has a soft spot for the youthful like Jason Todd and refuses to mess with kiddies or there is a closer connection to Penny then the show tells us. This is where people assume Dr. Claw is Gadget, but this is where I'm going to assume Dr. Claw is Penny's biological father and therefore Gadget's brother.

Face Reveal

Now this is where some of you will probably shake your head, but I'm going to discuss Dr. Claw's face reveal. That's right, we know what his face looks like and it has been used in three separate pieces of Inspector Gadget merchandise. When looking at his face, you will see a resemblance but not an exact likeness to Gadget. The hairstyles are similar, the head shape is similar. All is similar enough to be interpreted as a brother to Inspector Gadget.

How Does This Add Up?

Okay, so I have some puzzle pieces and now it's time to fill in the holes. This is how I believe this works.

We start with three brothers. One is Dr. Claw, another is Gadget and the third remains anonymous. I'm going to get the third brother out of the way quickly. Let's say that in the 2015 cartoon, Dr. Claw has successfully eliminated the third brother and taken custody of his nephew Talon, to fill the gap of not having a child.

And now for the bit you've been waiting for. As the better guardian for Penny, Gadget was granted custody of her so Dr. Claw has devoted his life to getting his revenge on Inspector Gadget and retrieving his daughter by any means necesarry. Dr. Claw successfully eliminates him but Gadget is then resurrected as a RoboCop style experiment and so his every action haunts Dr. Claw to the point of using MAD solely to destroy this robotic replica.

As for Talon? Well if we really do include him in this theory, perhaps his enrollment in MAD was simply to act as a lure for Penny to join MAD and be ultimately reunited with her father, assuring the demise of Inspector Gadget once and for all... okay let's be honest that point probably sounds better than the whole theory!

So What Do You Think?

Does this all add up and make sense? Is there anything I'm missing or do not know? Be sure to let me know your opinions and theories in the comments. And if you would like me to do another one of these, what topics would have in mind? Bear in mind please it's best I keep it relevant to art or the world of fiction.

Has Penny gone MAD?

Had you thinking there was no art today didn't I? Well truth be told there wasn't going to be but I couldn't resist making a piece to go with this theory. Thank you if you've made it this far!