Doctor Sleep: Danny Torrance’s 10 Most Badass Moments

Danny Torrance spent his entire adult life trying to block out the atrocities he experienced at the Overlook Hotel in 1980. Just a boy at the time that his father Jack Torrance became its caretaker for the winter season, his special ability to commune with the supernatural got him noticed by the dark power residing in it. Built on an indigenous burial ground, and full of guests who had been performing criminal acts for decades, it reacted to his “shine” and wanted to possess it.

Doctor Sleep operates as both a sequel to The Shining novel by Stephen King and the film by Stanley Kubrick, showing what happened to Dan after his mother moved them to Florida, and growing up being haunted by the ghosts of the Overlook Hotel. Dan spends his time trying to dull his “shine” with all sorts of self-destructive tendencies until a young girl needs his help against malicious members of a group who prey on their unique abilities. Dan becomes a force of righteous fury, and shines as brightly as he ever has. Here are his 10 most badass moments in Doctor Sleep.

10 WHEN HE FACED HIS FEARS

When Danny and his mother Wendy moved to Florida following the Overlook Hotel horror, he was still haunted by the ghosts there. They followed him because of his special gift to attract the supernatural, and he was plagued by their disturbing specters.

One afternoon, Dick Halloran, the old cook at the Overlook Hotel appeared to him. Halloran explained that he had a special gift for Danny to help him with the ghosts. He taught Danny how to create a mental box inside his mind to trap them, and that’s exactly what Danny did to his first ghost, the Old Woman in the Bathtub. She never bothered him again.

9 WHEN HE AGREED TO HELP ABRA

Originally when Danny found out about Abra, the young girl who possessed the same “shine” that he did, he didn’t want anything to do with her. He felt that she should keep to herself and not attract attention from the True Knot and others who wished to possess her power.

A visit from his old friend Dick Halloran convinced him otherwise; he learned that her life could be in danger if he didn’t intervene. Telling Billy about his story and then the pair of them driving to Abra’s house to pledge themselves as her protectors was fearless and brave, especially given Dan knew that he would be psychologically and physically putting himself in extreme danger.

8 WHEN HE DEMONSTRATED HIS MARKSMANSHIP

Who knows exactly how Danny became so well acquainted with rifles, but his use of Billy’s old hunting weapons proved he was a natural. He often said that his gift for clairvoyance and seeing things before they happen (or shortly after) was special, and often typical of those with a shine.

When he used Billy’s rifles to protect Abra from the True Knot members, fans got to see Danny in a much more action-oriented role. Whereas formerly he lived his live afraid to open up to his given powers, now he was willing to embrace them for good.

7 WHEN HE DIDN’T GIVE INTO HIS URGES

It took Danny a long time to overcome his self-destructive habits. He had spent years of his adult life being angry and getting drunk as a way to feel a closer connection with his dead father. When he joined AA, he knew it was because if he continued on his current path he’d join him.

When he loses Abra to The Crow, he has a moment of weakness. He has a handle of hard liquor and is severally tempted to drink it. Instead, he musters the internal strength to maintain a clear head and locate Abra’s whereabouts using his shining. It’s a powerful scene that demonstrates the tenacity of Danny’s commitments.

6 WHEN HE FOUND ABRA IN CROW DADDY’S CAR

When Danny decided to use the full extent of his powers, he did so knowing that it could save a young girl’s life. When Abra was taking by Crow Daddy following Danny and Billy’s entrapment of the True Knot members, Danny had to project himself astrally to her location.

His appearance wasn’t the best part – it came when he took possession of her body and began talking to Crowd Daddy as though he were her. This served to make Crow Daddy distracted and not paying attention when Danny orchestrated a crash, whereby the van slammed into a tree and Crow Daddy went flying through the windshield, dying out on the grass on the side of the road.

5 WHEN HE WOKE UP THE OVERLOOK HOTEL

Returning to the Overlook Hotel took a lot of courage for Danny. Even though he’d locked away the restless ghosts that dwelt there in his mental boxes, he still had to face the hotel itself. When he arrived with Abra, he had her wait outside while he “woke up” the hotel, long since abandoned since his father went on his homicidal rampage.

As Danny drifted from room to room, it soaked up his shine and fed on his energy, using it to return the hotel to its former magnificence. He chose to confront the hotel alone, at least at first, to convince himself that will it held bad memories, those memories didn’t have to control him.

4 WHEN HE RESISTED THE OVERLOOK HOTEL

After Dan woke up the Overlook Hotel to prepare it to receive Rose the Hat, he spent some time in the Gold Room. He sat at the same bar his father had sat, drowning his sorrows night after night. Lloyd the bartender appeared to Dan as he’d appeared to Jack, and told him to take his “medicine” because it would take care of all of his emotional ailments. Dan refused, because not only was he eight years sober, he was also wise to the hotel’s manipulation tactics.

Even though he’d later be taken over by the spirits of the hotel who were hungry for his shine, he still managed to maintain some semblance of himself to communicate to Abra. He was able to stop himself from harming her and give her time to escape before he made his way to the boiler room.

3 WHEN HE STOOD UP TO ROSE THE HAT

Rose the Hat was one of the most powerful members of the True Knot, and before she tracked Dan and Abra to the Overlook Hotel she’d consumed her cache of essence in order to give herself incredible power. Dan knew that a fight against Rose the Hat might mean his death, but he had to protect Abra at all costs.

He lured her to the Colorado Room and tried to unsuccessfully trap her in a mental prison in his mind, but she was too clever for that. When that didn’t work, he went ahead and opened all the mind boxes keeping the ghosts of the Overlook at bay. When they were released, they went after Rose, who was the more powerful of the two at the time.

2 WHEN HE WENT AFTER ABRA IN THE HOTEL

While we can’t say that Dan going after Abra in the Overlook was badass on the side of the righteous, we can at least recognize how epic it was to see Ewan Mcgregor mimic the homicidal spree Jack Nicholson went on in The Shining. From the famous limp, to the maniacal screaming, and the wild axe-wielding, it was a truly memorable homage.

The truly badass moment came when he caught up with Abra and very nearly killed her, but she was able to remind him that the good part of him was still in there. That the hotel simply wore a “false face” that would allow its ghosts to get close enough to her to absorb her essence. When she declared this, Danny was able to emerge and help her escape.

1 WHEN HE DESTROYED THE OVERLOOK HOTEL

Unlike in The Shining film, the Overlook Hotel gets destroyed in Stephen King’s novel. As an homage to that ending, Dan finally destroys the hotel in Doctor Sleep by overloading the boiler until it explodes, igniting everything around it. Danny sticks around to make sure it happens, knowing he’ll also be free of its hold on him when he dies.

Dan knows that no one is ever truly gone, and so is able to visit Abra later on when she needs his guidance. Where once he told her to keep out of sight like he did, away from the eyes of the True Knot, he now tells her to “shine on” and take her bright light into the world with pride.

About The Author

Kayleena Pierce-Bohen
(1343 Articles Published)

Kayleena has been raised on Star Wars and Indiana Jones from the crib. A film buff, she has a Western collection of 250+ titles and counting that she’s particularly proud of. When she isn’t writing for ScreenRant, CBR, or The Gamer, she’s working on her fiction novel, lifting weights, going to synthwave concerts, or cosplaying. With degrees in anthropology and archaeology, she plans to continue pretending to be Lara Croft as long as she can.

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