Despicable Me/Characters

Gru

Voiced by Steve Carell

The title character, a supervillain whose previous schemes including stealing the Times Square Jumbotron, the Statue of Liberty (actually the Las Vegas one) and the Eiffel Tower (also Vegas). When another villain shows him up by stealing the Pyramid of Giza, he decides to top that by stealing the moon. This will require a Shrink Ray, and to get his hands on it, he comes up with a plan involving little girls...

• Abusive Parent: Well, closer to uncaring parent at first. He gets better.
• Affably Evil
• Always Second Best
• An Ice Person: He has a freeze ray that he uses on several customers in a coffee shop.
• Anti-Villain
• Bald of Evil
  • Bald of Awesome
• Benevolent Boss: The minions adore him... and the feeling is mutual.
• Card-Carrying Villain
• Defrosting Ice King
• Determinator
• Genius Bruiser: He's smart enough to build workable rockets out of whatever scrap he can find (or even macaroni when he was a kid), and is strong enough to punch out a shark.
• Heel Face Turn
• Jerkass --> Jerk with a Heart of Gold
• Last-Name Basis: Though his first name is revealed briefly in two places--the family tree, and his false information when pretending to be a dentist. It's Felonius, in case you were wondering.
• Love Redeems
• My Beloved Smother: His mother is convinced he'll never be a successful villain.
• Papa Wolf: Holy crap, do not mess with Agnes, Edith, or Margo unless you want to suffer.
• Scarf of Asskicking
• Tsundere: A male example of a Type I.
• Villain Protagonist
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: To his mother.

Vector

Voiced by Jason Segel

The primary antagonist of the film, a nerdy young man who just happens to have very good technology. He stole the Pyramid of Giza, which kicks the film off. He took the shrink ray that Gru requires for his plan. Has a thing for sea life.

• Big Bad
  • Surprisingly combined with Butt Monkey, and it still works. He's also The Dragon to the Bigger Bad, his father Mr Perkins, who is considered to be the true villain of the film.
• Bunny Ears Lawyer
• Catch Phrase: "Oh yeaah!"
• Evil Genius
• Jerkass
• Nerd Glasses
• Smug Snake: A classic example.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Cookies - with COCONUT!
• Villain Ball: Pretty much the only reason he refused to give the girls back to Gru for the moon. Or in preventing Margo from jumping while said enlarging moon was wrecking havoc on his ship.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: To his father, Mr. Perkins.

Miss Hattie

Voiced by Kristen Wiig

Owner of Miss Hattie's Home for Little Girls... which she runs as something of a sweatshop cookie-sales outfit. Under the sweet surface is a cold, ruthless woman who has no affection whatsoever for the girls in her care.

• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: No surprise, considering who she is clearly an Expy of. See below.
• Child-Hater
• Expy: It is impossible for a Harry Potter fan to see her without wondering who put Dolores Umbridge in charge of an orphanage.
• Fat Bitch
• Faux Affably Evil
• Jerkass
• Karma Houdini
• One-Scene Wonder: She only appears in three scenes for the entire movie.
• Smug Snake
• Soft Spoken Sadist
• Sugary Malice

Agnes

Voiced by Elsie Fisher

Youngest of the three girls Gru adopts. She's an oddball who loves unicorns. A lot. The first to take a liking to Gru.

• All Girls Like Ponies: Her stuffed unicorn.
• Cheerful Child
• Cloudcuckoolander
• The Ditz
• Fluffy Tamer
• Genki Girl
• Genius Ditz
• Girls Love Stuffed Animals
• Heartwarming Orphan
• Nice Girl

Edith

Voiced by Dana Gaier

Middle of the three girls Gru adopts. Somewhat disagreeable, though she adjusts quickly once Gru's true nature becomes obvious.

• Cloudcuckoolander
• Creepy Child: "Cool! My pancake's shaped like a dead guy!"
• Dumb Blonde: Downplayed: she not technically dumb but she be foolish at times.
• Genki Girl
• Nice Hat: It never comes off. She also wears her snow boots constantly; Edith and Margo at least wear appropriate footwear for ballet.
• Nice Girl
• Pink Means Feminine
• Skirt Over Slacks: Both with her regular outfit and with her ballet tutu.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Despite the pink clothing, she's the tomboy to Agnes' girly girl.
• Tomboy with a Girly Streak

Margo

Voiced by Miranda Cosgrove

Oldest of the three girls Gru adopts. She acts as a guardian to her younger "sisters", and as such is slow to trust anyone.

• Brainy Brunette:
• Cool Big Sis: To Edith and Agnes.
• Defrosting Ice Queen
• Little Miss Snarker
• Mama Bear: She's pretty protective of Agnes.
• Meganekko: Or rather, she shows promise for becoming this when she grows up.
• Nice Girl
• Only Sane Woman
• Promotion to Parent
• The Smart Girl

Dr. Nefario

Voiced by Russell Brand

Gru's resident Mad Scientist, builder of the devices he uses in his schemes.

• The Dragon
• Kick the Dog: When he calls the orphanage to have them pick up the girls.
• Mad Scientist
• Only Sane Man

Mr. Perkins

Voiced by Will Arnett

Owner of the Bank of Evil (formerly Lehman Brothers), where supervillains get loans for their schemes. Not a good person.

• Bald of Evil: He has no hair except for the two horn-like tufts on his head.
• Bigger Bad: Considered to be the true villain of the film.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He's actually Vector's father, which explains why he's so hellbent on ruining Gru's plan.
• Evil Sounds Deep
• Fat Bastard
• Large and In Charge
• Jerkass
• Karma Houdini
• One-Scene Wonder: Like Miss Hattie, he only appears in the film for three scenes.

...and the Minions

A small army of yellow, begoggled people in overalls who do the grunt work for Gru. They adore their boss, who surprisingly enough returns the affection. This doesn't mean they're all that effective sometimes...

• Adorable Evil Minions
• Amusing Injuries: At least in this trailer.
• Bizarre Alien Biology: They can be shaken and used as a glowstick.
  • And Word of God says they're genetically-engineered corn kernels.
• Butt Monkey: "I said dart gun!"
• Chain of People: One of their basic skills.
• Cloning Blues: Averted to hell and back. They all have names — and Gru knows every single one.
• Failure Is the Only Option: One scene involves three of them fighting over a banana. None of them get it.
• Genius Ditz: For starters, how about hacking into government records to alter Gru's credentials while Miss Hattie was still reading them?
• Hammerspace: Comes standard for the Minions, who all have one huge weapon and possibly a crude disguise each.
• Mascot Mook
• Plucky Comic Relief
• Silent Snarker: A few of them fit The Unintelligible variation.
• Speaking Simlish: But with a little Bilingual Bonus thrown in.
  • Actually, they can say a few words, like "banana", "Despicable Me", and "July 2010".
  • A bit of Russian thrown in, like "dah" (yes) and "bomba" (bomb).
  • And in the credits, one speaks intelligibly while mimicking Gru as a shadow puppet
• Trademark Favorite Food: BANANAAAA!
• Undying Loyalty: Faithful to Gru no matter what.