Duncan and Harold



This article is about the major conflict between Duncan and Harold, present throughout the entirety of the series.

Overview
Duncan and Harold have had a long history of conflict since the very beginning of the show. Duncan doesn't put up with Harold's geeky ways, nor does Harold put up with Duncan's rebellious ways, displaying a classic "Bully vs. Nerd" scenario. Though this conflict started in Total Drama Island, it was carried over and grew much more intense in Total Drama Action, since Duncan realized what Harold did to Courtney in the previous season. Despite their fierce rivalry, there have been moments where the two can cooperate with each other; Duncan said Harold isn't a complete loser in Full Metal Drama, and Harold has shown signs of wanting to work with Duncan for the sake of their team. They also decided to join an alliance with Leshawna in Dial M for Merger, but only in order to have a better chance at the prize money. The two immediately backed out of Leshawna's new alliance in Super Hero-ld in order to join Justin to form their new Guys' Alliance and voted Leshawna off of the show.

In the later episodes of the season, Harold's dislike for Duncan intensified, especially after Duncan insulted Leshawna in Crouching Courtney, Hidden Owen, which finally aggravated Harold so much that it pushed him over the edge; he proceeded to punch Duncan square in the jaw for the first time, rendering him unconscious. Harold pulled pranks on Duncan afterward, giving Duncan a taste of his own medicine. When Harold was eliminated in 2008: A Space Owen, the two remained on bad terms, but Harold managed to get back at Duncan one last time before leaving by pulling his pants down. Their conflict is still unresolved due to their lack of interactions in Total Drama World Tour, but Harold has somewhat settled the score with Duncan.

This conflict is one of the longest-lasting conflicts in the show's history. It is also considered one of the most intense conflicts in the series, in terms of numerous confrontations, both verbal and physical, and true feelings of undying hatred between the two, possibly rivaled only by the Heather-Gwen Conflict and Heather-Leshawna Conflict. Very rarely have the two shown signs of peace or a truce. Even the other two aforementioned conflicts have at least featured true and sincere moments of civility between the two members, whereas the intensity of this one has no end in sight. To this day, it remains one of the most popular conflicts of the show.

Not So Happy Campers - Part 1
The conflict started in this episode, after Chris began talking about the organization of the teams, Harold smiles at Duncan, who suddenly puts his fist in front of Harold's face, making him feel nervous. It is notable to add that Harold smiled at Duncan when Chris said the word "friends" insinuating Harold didn't want any trouble and was hoping to make friends on the show, while Duncan had no intention of doing the same.

The Big Sleep
Duncan made Harold wet himself while sleeping by placing his hand in a cup of warm water. Duncan pointed Harold's accident out to everyone and Harold ran off in humiliation.

Dodgebrawl
When Harold comes into the main lodge, he has a marker-drawn mustache on his face (revealed to be drawn by Duncan in Haute Camp-ture). That became the laughing stalk. It became apparent that Duncan's fierceness was needed to win the game, so Harold was forced by Courtney to poke a stick into Duncan's nose (since, according to Courtney, in the event that Duncan killed Harold, he was the only team player that the Bass could afford to lose). Harold is eventually allowed back into the game, due to Geoff pitying him, and saves his team, defeating overwhelming odds by dodging all of Owen's balls and catching the last one to win his team the game.

Up the Creek
To bug Harold, and Sadie, Duncan forcefully becomes their canoe partner. He also could have done this just to get out of work by making them do it for him.

If You Can't Take The Heat... When Duncan is doing morning exercises, he is greatly disgusted by Harold's underwear lying around when he sniffed the air, therefore, Geoff and DJ join Duncan in teaching Harold a lesson about leaving his underwear lying around by pulling a series of pranks against Harold. Geoff secretly steals one of Harold's briefs and DJ purposely spills water on Harold. Duncan, Geoff, and DJ put hot sauce on one of Harold's underwear. Geoff then feeds Harold with a sandwich containing Harold's underwear and Geoff says that he will return Harold's clothes if Harold admits that he leaves his underwear lying around. After the ceremony, Duncan, Geoff, and DJ drag Harold's bed to the dock while Harold was sleeping. Harold finally admits that he will never leave his underwear lying around when he wakes up naked in presence of the girls who are swimming in the lake.

Basic Straining
This episode begins with Duncan and Geoff making s'mores out of Harold's underwear. Duncan, aided by Geoff, also gave Harold a wedgie with a fishing hook, as well as tricking Harold into drinking kitchen grease by telling him that it is apple juice, making Harold spit it back out. After Duncan and Courtney smuggle food from Chris' tent, Duncan uses some peanut butter to make a smiley face on Harold's bed. Geoff and Duncan laugh at Harold's reaction after he sees their mess and says that it was gross. When Harold sees Duncan and Courtney kissing, Harold gets upset and uses Courtney for revenge against Duncan for his constant pranking. At the end of the episode, it is revealed that Courtney was voted off because Harold tampered with the votes, saying "Let's see how you like it, when someone messes with your love life".

Haute Camp-ture
Harold says that he hates Duncan and then lists all the pranks Duncan had pulled on him over the course of the season. He also says that what he did to Courtney was pretty heinous, but he was really upset with Duncan because he kept bugging him. He refuses to vote for Duncan to win, despite Courtney's threats to post his love letters to Leshawna on the internet.

Total Drama, Drama, Drama, Drama Island
Harold asks Courtney and Duncan if he can join them, but Courtney furiously rejects him, saying that he will only slow them down. Duncan also calls Harold a doofus in the confessional stall after Courtney ignored and turns down Harold.

Theme Song
Duncan shoots Harold with seagulls until he falls off of the surfboard.

Monster Cash
After Chris said "Action", Duncan threw Harold out of the vehicle they were in.

Beach Blanket Bogus
During the Screaming Gaffers victory beach party, Duncan kicked sand into Harold's face for showing off his dance moves.

3:10 to Crazytown
Duncan trips Harold into a tub of water and laughs at his misfortune after Harold shows off his toughness before the first challenge. Duncan purposely landed on Harold when Harold successfully landed on the horse during the first challenge. Leshawna is shown in the confessional, disapproving of what Duncan did to Harold. Later, Harold is hogtied by Duncan and has his entire body wrapped in rope by him after the Screaming Gaffers won the final challenge. Duncan shakes Harold out of the barrel he is bathing in. In the confessional stall, Leshawna wonders why "that punk-haired skull-shirted wannabe" Duncan continues to pick on Harold, clearly frustrated at this point over the way Duncan is treating her crush. Duncan is shown in his confessional scene immediately afterwords, replying that he is paying Harold back for what Harold did to Courtney (in Basic Straining), as he finally figured out who was behind her wrongful elimination in Total Drama Island.

One Flu Over the Cuckoos
In this episode, Leshawna makes attempts to form an alliance with Harold and Duncan. Despite her attempts, Duncan just laughs at the idea. After she pitches the same idea to Harold, Harold vehemently refuses. Harold also questions why Leshawna even talks to Duncan, saying he is a "worthless punk".

Throughout the episode, Duncan continues to bully Harold, such as when he pulled down his pants during the first part of the challenge, when Duncan tramples Harold only to say "whoops-a-daisy", and when Duncan attempted to take Harold's 'temperature' with a rectal thermometer. Also, Harold reveals his full name in the confessional, and tells the cameraman to not tell Duncan that one of his middle names is "Doris". However, Duncan finds out anyway, infuriating Harold. However, Leshawna steps in for Harold multiple times when Duncan antagonizes him.

The Sand Witch Project
The conflict continues in this episode. While the Gaffers are discussing who the killer should be for this challenge, everyone agrees that Duncan should be the killer because of his acting abilities and plain scary personality; Harold agrees, shivering and stating that he's already "terrified of (Duncan) on a daily basis". Harold tries to convince Duncan and the others that he is very skilled at magic multiple times, but Duncan remains unimpressed, and often refers to him by insulting names such as "The Great Dorko" and "Harry Hood-Weeny". At one point, Harold uses Duncan's soccer ball to perform a magic trick (in an attempt to scare the opposing team out of the tent, which was the objective of the challenge), after which Duncan proceeds to kick him in the groin for messing with his soccer ball.

Masters of Disasters
In the beginning of the episode, Duncan puts his share of Chef's disgusting food in Harold's bowl. During the flooding submarine challenge, Harold volunteers to pick the lock and boasts about his lock-picking skills. Duncan trips him and tells him to hurry up. Later, Harold criticizes Duncan's intelligence by stating that he doesn't "look like a thinker", which causes Duncan to dunk Harold's head in the water out of anger.

Full Metal Drama
This episode is arguably the boiling point in this conflict. When the war challenge starts, Harold insists that he will be a valuable player due to his vast experience in online battles; Duncan mocks this by calling him a "virtual loser". Harold retorts by saying that he will defeat his foes with his "num-yos", which seem to simply be a pair of yo-yos he wields as weapons; he then proceeds to show them off with a spinning routine. Duncan sticks in a twig into the yo-yos during Harold's spinning routine, causing one of his yo-yos to hit Harold in the groin. Duncan calls him a loser and walks off laughing while Harold lies in pain. Throughout the challenge, Duncan belittles Harold despite Harold's constant efforts to keep the team together, angering him even further.

When Harold and Duncan are trapped in the foxhole with Leshawna farting all over the place, Duncan is desperate to escape, but gets in a heated argument with Harold when they accuse each other of not being team players. Fed up, Harold blocks the exit and forces Duncan into referring to him as an equal by intimidating him with Leshawna's worsening farts. The two finally escape and then face the Killer Grips head on (as they were attacking the Gaffers as part of the challenge).

Ocean's Eight - Or Nine
Duncan consistently picks on Harold throughout the challenges again. For the bank-robbing heist, he made masks from Harold's lucky socks, cut up his karate magazines to make a stick-up note, and slapped an unflattering caricature of Harold on Harold's face. When Harold notices Courtney returned, he teases Duncan by saying "Good news, eh Duncan?", to which Duncan replies by shoving him to the ground. Duncan also laughed at him along with Heather when Harold had a bra on after they crashed through a pile of clothing during the go-kart challenge.

One Million Bucks, B.C.
Early in the episode, Harold slips on his own soap bar. Duncan laughs at Harold, but then grows uncomfortable over Harold's subsequent nudity, telling him to "keep your skin to yourself, dweeb". Later, Duncan throws a rock on Harold's feet when Harold was condescendingly explaining the advantages of rocks in prehistoric times. During the fire-building challenge, Duncan tripped Harold and let "animatronic" prehistoric beavers drag him away. In the confessional, Harold admits that both he and Duncan equally hate each other, though he's willing to put that aside for the good of the team.

Million Dollar Babies
After Harold and the other guys wake up due to a trumpet blast at the beginning of the episode, Duncan remarks that if Harold has added trumpets to his snoring, it was "definitely time for (Harold) to die". Later, as Chris was announcing the participants for the boxing challenge, Harold misinterpreted Chris' description of the Gaffers' boxer ("the deluded dork, the lightweight loser, the knock-kneed numskull") as referring to Duncan, only to find out that Chris was talking about him; Duncan smirks smugly at Harold's misinterpretation. When Duncan and Harold share a confessional at the end of the episode, Duncan angrily frowns at Harold after Harold hugs Duncan.

Dial M for Merger
After Chris announces that deactivating a bomb will be a component of the episode's challenge, Duncan and Harold proceed to derisively dismiss each other's supposed bomb-deactivating abilities. In the laser challenge, Harold comments that Duncan was "too busy making googly eyes at a certain girl" to help Leshawna get through the lasers, causing Duncan and Harold to glare at each other; Duncan then pushes Harold into a laser. In the bomb-deactivating challenge, both blamed each other about not knowing how to disarm a bomb.

Super Hero-ld
Duncan puts a burrito (off-screen) in Harold's pocket after dinner. After Duncan brings it to Harold's attention, Harold reaches reaches in to see what's in his pocket, only to cause the burrito to burst onto his hand. Harold glares at Duncan for this; Duncan then kicks him in the butt, causing the burrito to splatter all over Harold's pants, much to Harold's annoyance. Justin intervenes in the fight and convinces Duncan and Harold to form a new Guys' Alliance because they were outnumbered by the girls. The two agreed to join him.

During the superhero challenge, as Harold was getting ready to head over to complete the obstacle course, Duncan makes fun at Harold and jokingly asks him if he's using his farts to get him through. Harold tells him that he is right and manages to complete it. After Harold tells Duncan to top that (referring to Duncan as the "All-Seeing Jerk"), Duncan grabs him by the cape and threateningly tells Harold that his real superpower is being able to cream dorks like Harold. As the Guys' Alliance plan on who to vote off, Duncan suggests that Leshawna gets sent home, but Harold refuses to vote with him and Justin. Harold reminds Duncan about their alliance with Leshawna and says to him that they should vote him off for treason. Duncan again threatens Harold, telling Harold that he plans on telling Leshawna that Harold picks his nose in his sleep if he doesn't vote her off. Harold replies that Duncan only has circumstantial evidence at best (while sticking out his mucus at Duncan).

When it was revealed that Leshawna was sent home instead of Duncan, Harold tells her that he voted for her along with Justin, Duncan, and Courtney. Leshawna forgives him, having suspected that Harold was manipulated to doing so. As she heads over to the Lame-O-Sine, Leshawna tells Harold to kick Duncan's butt. After she leaves, Duncan tells Harold that he's got something in his pocket, then kicks him in the butt, splattering a burrito all over Harold's pants again. Duncan runs away laughing, and Harold remarks that he should have seen that coming.

The Princess Pride
Duncan was sickened by Harold's Leshawna burrito in the burrito-building contest at the beginning of the episode, calling it a "pathetic portrayal of puppy love", but awarded the win to him anyway. Later, Duncan tries to impress Courtney by beating up Harold while she was singing. When Courtney blew an air kiss to Harold, Duncan grabbed it before it can reach Harold, then sarcastically wishes him luck in a sneering tone of voice. When Duncan was fighting the dragon, he called the dragon names he would usually call Harold, even calling the dragon a "Harold-type loser". Harold teamed up with Justin to help take down Duncan by having the dragon fall on him.

Get a Clue
Harold attempts to get Duncan's DNA and fingerprints with an elaborate trap, but Duncan manages to avoid it; Duncan subsequently bullies Harold into giving up his prints and DNA instead. Harold tries to trap Duncan again in the confessional by dropping a barrel on him but Duncan caught it. After the castmates throw soda and a pillow at the train's wheels in an attempt to stop it, their contents fly back at Harold, covering him with feathers; Duncan laughs at Harold for this, calling him Bigfoot.

Rock n' Rule
Duncan gets annoyed with Harold acting like a rock star. He tells Harold "bite me" before the guitar challenge begins. During the red carpet challenge, when Harold was about to start, Duncan told Harold to hurry up, calling him by his middle name, Doris. This caused Harold to have a crying fit and run through all the cardboard cut-outs of the fans and paparazzi, destroying them.

Crouching Courtney, Hidden Owen
At the beginning of the episode, it's revealed that Duncan filled Harold's bed with snails as a prank. During their training for the challenge, when Harold was punching a "Duncan" punching bag very poorly, Duncan yelled some insults to Harold to make him punch harder; the last insult was him telling Harold that he kissed Leshawna before, which made Harold so angry that he punched through the bag and choked Duncan with one hand. Right before the challenge, Chris put Harold and Beth in robotic combat suits which were controlled by Duncan and Courtney; Duncan made Harold kick himself several times for his own amusement. On the Bonsai tree challenge, Duncan and Harold started to get along but Chris had Owen sabotage their budding friendship in order to make the show more interesting. When Owen asked what Harold missed about Leshawna, Duncan laughed derisively at Harold's response. This caused Harold to grab Duncan's glass of water, splash it in his face, then knock Duncan out with a single left hook. This allowed him to win the challenge. Duncan can later be seen sulking outside the tent while Harold indulges in his reward.

2008: A Space Owen
At the beginning of the episode, it's revealed that Harold filled Duncan's mattress with rocks as a prank, possibly as retaliation for Duncan's actions in the previous episode. This made Duncan's back feel incredibly sore throughout the episode. After Harold accidentally kills Duncan's pet tarantula, Scruffy, Duncan helps vote out Harold. When Harold departed the competition, Duncan shouted "Get on with it Doris!" This implied that Duncan was eager to see Harold finally leave. This angered Harold, causing him to run up to Duncan and pull down his pants. Duncan admits he had that one coming for everything he's done to Harold throughout the season.

Although the conflict remains unresolved, Harold seems to have more or less settled the score with Duncan to his own satisfaction.

The Aftermath: IV
Harold declares Duncan's drawing to be "not exactly an animal." After Duncan wins, Harold has a shocked look on his face, showing that he most likely didn't want Duncan to win.

Total Drama Action Alternate Realities


Duncan's Alternate Reality is Dork Fishing; Harold is tied up as bait while Duncan is watching, waiting for the shark to eat him.

Theme Song
When Harold was doing karate moves on a hut, Duncan throws a canoe paddle at him, knocking him off the hut, and laughs at Harold's fall.

Walk Like An Egyptian - Part 1
When Harold asks if he'll be able to beatbox, Duncan told Harold he would beat him if he tried.

Hawaiian Style
Duncan calls Harold a "moron" for volunteering to participate in the surfing challenge in order to help Cody.

Episodes Suggesting a Friendship
Although Duncan is usually a foe of Harold, sometimes there are signs of a friendship in between them.

Not So Happy Campers - Part 1
Harold nods in agreement when Duncan tells Heather, "Looks like someone missed their double cappuccino macchiato this morning." When the campers are eating, Duncan is seen sitting next to Harold.

Dodgebrawl
Harold actually seemed satisfied with the mustache Duncan drew on his face, saying "Nice stache!" upon seeing it. Duncan compliments Harold's dodgeball playing after he wins the challenge, though he calls him a "skater nerd" after he compliments him (however, his tone is neither malicious or disrespectful).

Phobia Factor
Harold is shown to be smiling when Duncan faces his fear.

Up the Creek
Duncan and Harold are in the same canoe, along with Sadie.

Basic Straining
Duncan reports to Chef when Harold puked, instead of ignoring him.

X-Treme Torture
Duncan high-fives Harold when he leaves the island.

Total Drama Action Promo Picture/Main Group Shot
Duncan and Harold are standing next to each other with their arms around each other, which hinted that they could become friends as the season progressed. However, this ultimately was not the case.

Beach Blanket Bogus
In the sandcastle building challenge, Duncan looks impressed with Harold's sandcastle. Later during the Gaffers' victory party, Duncan kicks sand in Harold's face, but he compliments his dance moves and it may be his way of respecting Harold.

Masters of Disasters
Duncan nods in agreement when Harold says he wishes DJ was still there. They were both concerned for Owen when he broke his jaw. At the end of the episode, Duncan and Harold are shown happily clanking bottles of soda together during their victory celebration.

Full Metal Drama
In the beginning of the episode, Duncan reminds Harold about Leshawna lying to them. Harold later forces Duncan to admit to him that he isn't a complete loser and that he values a small portion of him that isn't a loser, although Duncan probably just admitted to desperately get out of the underground base. Later, Duncan and Harold cooperated in fighting off the attacking Killer Grips. Using Leshawna's blasts of bad gas as cover, Duncan buys Harold time to defeat all of the Grips with his "num-yos", and is thoroughly impressed by Harold's performance. Later, when they find that the chest they were protecting was empty, they wail in agonizing defeat.

Million Dollar Babies
Duncan and (especially) Harold are so crestfallen because of what Leshawna said about them that they're too sad to even insult each other. Later, they shared the confessional together. During it, Duncan looks sorry for Harold when he admits he's still sad about Leshawna trash-talking about him. Out of sadness, Harold even grabs onto Duncan's torso looking for support, causing both of them to look shocked at each other (however, Duncan looked somewhat angry and Harold somewhat concerned).

Dial M for Merger
Harold and Duncan both helped Leshawna get through the lasers, then they finally formed a "secret alliance" with her, albeit very reluctantly.

Super Hero-ld
Duncan and Harold form The Second Guys' Alliance. When Harold refuses to vote off Leshawna, Duncan convinces Courtney to talk to Harold about voting Leshawna off, which she does successfully.

The Princess Pride
Duncan declared Harold the winner in the "Biggest Burrito" contest.

Get a Clue
When Chris gave clues on where to find him in the bank vault set, Duncan said that unless there was an awesome reward he wasn't going to go look for Chris, as he could use a day off from him and his challenges. Harold gladly agreed with Duncan and said to let Chris search for them.

Crouching Courtney, Hidden Owen
Duncan and Harold's conflict nearly vanished in this episode. While in the training, Duncan got Harold to his limit by saying he "had kissed Leshawna" and blew a left hook in his face. During the Bonsai tree challenge, Duncan helped Harold from spilling his cup, then thanking him for getting them this far in the challenge with his left hook. They later agreed to split the prize if they win and helped each other climb the mountain. But Owen's interference may have ruined their friendship.

2008: A Space Owen
Duncan, as well as the rest of the contestants, cheer for Harold after he stops one of the problems during the first part of the challenge. After Scruffy jumped onto Harold's face, Duncan got it off Harold's face. Later moment before the elimination ceremony, they can be seen sitting next to each other.

The Aftermath: IV
Chris showed a video clip that reveals Duncan's kinder side. Duncan tucked Harold into bed while Harold was sleeping. Harold also seemed impressed, and somewhat relieved, with Duncan when he managed to fit through a hole and pass through the other side on a treadmill. He also said that he was "intrigued" by Duncan's drawing.

Hawaiian Style
During Who You Gonna Root For?, when Courtney sings "Duncan's a dead man!" Harold responds with "Ricki-tick, oh, no!"

Trivia

 * This conflict was the third conflict of Total Drama Island after Duncan's conflict with Noah and Duncan's conflict with Heather.
 * This conflict is considered the biggest conflict of Total Drama Action.
 * This is considered to be the most physical conflict in the series, meaning the most amount of pranks and physical confrontations between the two.
 * There is a connection between this conflict and Courtney and Harold's conflict.
 * Once, Harold and Duncan got along to an extent in "Full Metal Drama". However, their "getting along" was mostly caused because Leshawna had gas and Duncan was terrified enough to have a truce with Harold.
 * They both ranked 5th in a season. Duncan in Total Drama World Tour and Harold in Total Drama Action.
 * It can be noted that Duncan and Harold shared a confession together which usually only friends do. It is also noted that Duncan and Harold agreed in it and the fact that Duncan's facial expression showed annoyance towards Harold because of his love of Leshawna.
 * On the promo for Total Drama Action, Duncan is seen with his arm over Harold and both are smiling happily. This indicated that their friendship would probably improve over the season and the two might in fact become friends. However, given the state of their friendship at the time Harold got eliminated, it would appear that this was not the case.
 * Although by Crouching Courtney, Hidden Owen, the two seemed to be getting along, however Owen interfered and caused Harold to brutally attack Duncan.
 * In a Cartoon Network Exclusive: TDA Alternate Realities, it shows Duncan runs a show called Dork Fishing, a reference to Shark Fishing. In the spoof, Duncan has Harold tied up over a pool of water with a man-eating shark in it. While Duncan is making a monologue, a cop comes to see if Duncan has a fishing license, which he does, and doesn't seem to care that Harold is hanging over a shark pit.
 * There is a connection with this conflict and Duncan and Leshawna's conflict, as Harold becomes noticeably more aggressive towards Duncan whenever Duncan insults Leshawna or Harold's crush on her. Likewise, Leshawna has come to Harold's defense several times throughout the series.
 * They both like DJ, despise Courtney and Alejandro and somewhat are friends/enemies with Heather.