glak

i think duckfed and deathglare are fairly similar when you strip them down to their main core parts, "selfish idiot with a smart partner who keeps them afloat and deals with the trouble they put them in" which is probably why i often think of hater and peepers when watching duckman.

as hater does, duckman treats his partner like absolute garbage. and like peepers, cornfed puts up with the abuse his boss puts him through. they both stick around for a simple reason; that's the role they were assigned. they're the right-hand man, the one uplifting their partner, saving their skin even if their efforts aren't recognized or really appreciated

butttt, if you were to dig further you could argue that it's an issue of codependency. cornfeds case is pretty easy to defend since gregg berger (cornfeds voice actor) has said exactly that. there have been a few episodes showing that too, notably my favorite episode "all about elliot". as for hater and peepers, they can't function without each other, hater can't run the empire properly without him and peepers is left without a purpose

unlike cornfed, peepers wants the validation and respect of hater. peepers infatuation with hater seems to blur out most of his bad traits, at least for the most part. cornfed is more than aware of how pathetic duckman is, usually calling out his absurd behavior, something that peepers didn't have the guts to do until later on. 

regardless of who duckman is as a character (selfish, idiotic, egotistical...) he has more emotional maturity than lord hater and is able to apologize to his partner, cornfed. he hugs him, tells him he loves him, verbally says that he cares for him, all rare occurrences but they still happen

lord hater doesn't reject affection (hugs or whatever) from peepers but struggles to initiate it. small things, like calling peepers his friend is too much for him, and it's pretty obvious that he struggles with his emotions

like cornfed, peepers is always the one comforting his partner when he's feeling down. peepers doesn't shy away from a hug when really necessary, but there's a lot of tension between the two especially in the early episodes of season one, so that in itself is pretty self explanatory on why he doesn't do it often.

i don't wanna dogpile on hater or say his writing sucks, i know that duckman is from an adult cartoon and exploring the reasons behind his crude personality was one of the main focuses of the show. woy is a cartoon for children, both have different tones and purposes for the way they explore their characters

(somewhat a continuation to this ramble)
in woy we've seen hater ditch peepers for whatever reason, but i always wondered how hater would react if peepers was the one to leave. (but y'know, willingly)... i've heard, but haven't bothered to look for confirmation, that the crew for woy was going to explore that idea in season 3. in my head i keep trying to come up with different scenarios but they all sound like The Axe just slightly different

if i had to really make a guess it'd be pretty similar to what duckman did in one of their comics. to sum it up cornfed leaves the agency, cough duckman cough, to make the world a better place with the help of a mentor. just apply the plot to woy and add in peepers motive for evil idk.

here's how it'd go, at least in my head:
hater is worn down from wanders attempts to draw him away from evil (though he'd rather die than admit that) for whatever reason. he tells peepers he doesn't want to conquer the universe anymore and that he's reconsidering the future of the empire. peepers is beyond furious for several reasons, the main ones being that all of his efforts to build the empire, a standing on the leader board, all those years of maintaining the empire have been for nothing. he gets an opportunity (or seeks out) to work with another villain who has the potential to rule the galaxy. in the state of feeling betrayed and cast aside, he leaves. initially hater pretends not to care, but as time goes on he realizes peepers wasn't bluffing and he really wasn't coming back. he's mad, sad, doesn't know how to handle it. peepers heart isn't in it but he tries convinces himself this is what he wants. hater is very stubborn but eventually admits he wants him back blah blah. drama bro, drama! 

hater would not act like duckman did though lolol

 

eventually peepers would come around. i think. hater would have to learn a thing or two about showing respect for the people you care about when confronting peepers though

love wins, even if peepers had his temper tantrum he cools down, knowing hater is making an effort in showing he cares he goes back choosing him instead of conquering the galaxy.