Danny O'Brian was the school crossing guard of Degrassi Middle School.
Character biography[]
Although mentally handicapped, Danny was good at his job and made sure the kids under his charge were always safe crossing the street to and from school.
In "Griff Makes a Date", Danny told Robin "Griff" Griffith off for crossing without waiting for the signal, and Griff called him a retard. Danny was visibly upset and protested "There's nothing wrong with me!" Fortunately, after hearing Lisa Canard's baby brother Nicholas had suffered brain damage at birth and would be mentally handicapped, Griff apologized for what he said and gave Danny a sketch he had drawn as a present, which showed Danny seeing a family of ducks across the street. Danny was really pleased, saying "That's me!" on seeing the sketch for the first time. The pair became friends shortly afterwards.
In "Griff Gets a Hand", Danny was suffering from a persistent headache. Griff had been promising to draw a colour picture of Danny, but because of studying for his junior high exams, he had difficulty finding the time to finish it. When Griff finally finished the picture, he was devastated on hearing that Danny had died suddenly of a stroke and felt he had let Danny down.
After Danny's funeral, his parents wrote to thank the students for all the cards, flowers, letters and tributes they had sent, as well as wishing them a happy graduation.
For a time afterwards, Griff thought he was seeing Danny's ghost, but his older brother Duke assured him that all he was seeing was his imagination, and helped Griff come to terms with Danny's death.
On graduation day, Griff's picture of Danny appeared, albeit in black-and-white, in the Degrassi Middle School yearbook as a tribute to their much-missed crossing guard.
Danny was portrayed by Andy Stocks.