You’re reading The Complete Infinite Crisis, a Comprehensive and Encyclopedic look through the universe-changing superhero event published by DC from 2005 to 2006. Shelfdust are proud to provide a complete overview of the story, and everything that happens in it. We’ve had to get some experts in though – there’s so much going on that needs to be explained!

Oh baby we’ve heard the blues a-calling, and we’ve been spending a lot of time in Seattle recently, as our investigation into Infinite Crisis has led us deep into the lore of Frasier. I think we’ve basically got everything wrapped up, although there’s one last character left for us to get to grips with: so Veronica James, it’s all down to you! Who is Daphne Moon?

Veronica! I’ve heard about all these blokes, but there’s one name I know nothing about: Daphne! Who is Daphne and how does she know the Crane family?

Veronica James: Daphne Moon is a physical therapist who is hired by Frasier and Niles to live in Frasier’s apartment and provide full-time care to their father. You may not be aware of this but the reason Martin and Frasier live together isn’t because they have a close, familial bond… it’s because Martin fell down in the shower due to his hip injury and his sons decided he couldn’t be trusted to live on his own anymore.

Tell me more about Daphne, then! What’s she like – what are her superhero skills and abilities?

Daphne is an English migrant and comes from a working class background – she’s  very down to Earth. Obviously this puts her at odds with the snobbish elitism of Frasier but makes her a perfect friend for the equally salt-of-the-Earth Martin. One of the first things she does during her job interview is praise Martin’s recliner chair (an old and ratty, but clearly very comfortable, piece of furniture that Frasier despises) while dismissing every piece that Frasier owns as rubbish. I strongly suspect that the reason Martin chose Daphne to be his physical therapist is because of how much she would annoy Frasier. Daphne and Martin (together with Eddie) make a strong, working-class team to push back against Frasier’s grandiose snobbishness and make sure he doesn’t get too big for his tailored, European britches.

As a physical therapist she obviously has the ability to help people recover from their physical injuries which – let’s be honest – sounds like a position every superhero team should have. Maybe if the Justice League had had a resident physio on the payroll when Batman broke his back he wouldn’t have had to have had his psychic girlfriend heal his back by thinking at him so hard her mind regressed to that of an infant.

Additionally, she’s a bit psychic. When she meets Martin for the first time she can sense that he was a cop…but she mis-senses that Frasier is a florist. As I say, she’s a bit psychic. She’s not going to be replacing Martian Manhunter any time soon but, hey! Every little power helps in the Never Ending Battle Against Evil, I’m sure.

What happens to Daphne in the end? 

Like many a will they/won’t they sitcom relationship before them, Niles and Daphne do eventually end up together – although not before *years* of Niles secretly pining after her.

Initially they cannot be together because Niles is married, but then when he gets divorced he decides to (sensibly) pursue other options for romance instead of a woman he’s been pathetically idolizing for over half a decade. By the time Daphne does find out about Niles’ feelings he’s already gotten remarried and Daphne is on the verge of getting married herself… but then those crazy kids decide to follow their hearts and run off together in Martin’s Winnebago.

Despite some initial choppy waters in their relationship (a lot of them stemming from Niles abandoning a woman he’d married only days before and Daphne leaving her lawyer fiancé at the altar – who turned out to be understandably very bitter about the whole thing and tried to sue Daphne) they eventually managed to make things work and got married and had a child together.

So it’s a happy ending for Daphne Moon after all!

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Ah that’s great! Isn’t it nice when everything ends well? Everyone is happy, it’s all gone according to plan, and certainly no super villains have shown up anywhere! Thanks Veronica!

Veronica James is an artist, podcaster and youtuber and… well, she does everything basically! You can find a list of everything she’s up to here – and follow her on Twitter here!

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