The Despicable Me films started in 2010 as the story of Gru, a would-be supervillain who plans to steal the Moon and accidentally adopts three girls along the way. His goggle-wearing yellow henchmen were meant as supporting gags. They became the face of Illumination, appearing on merchandise and memes everywhere, and earned spin-off films of their own.
The series now spans four Despicable Me films (2010, 2013, 2017, 2024) and two Minions prequels (2015, 2022). This page covers the named Minions first, since that's what most people are looking for, then Gru's family, the Anti-Villain League, and the villains of every film.
- Studio
- Illumination (Universal)
- First film
- Despicable Me (2010)
- Creators
- Directed by Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud
- Minion voices
- Pierre Coffin
- Gru
- Steve Carell
The Minions
Minions are small, yellow, pill-shaped creatures in denim overalls and goggles. They have one or two eyes and a deep need to serve the most villainous master they can find. The 2015 prequel shows them working their way through history, from a dinosaur to Dracula to Napoleon, usually getting their boss killed by accident. They love bananas, music and each other, and they're terrible at being evil.
Kevin
Tall, two-eyed · Leader of the trio
Kevin is the tallest of the main three Minions and the closest thing they have to a responsible adult. In Minions he volunteers to find the tribe a new boss, takes Stuart and Bob with him, and keeps the mission moving from New York to Orlando to London. In the climax he's blown up to giant size by one of Herb Overkill's inventions, which is why fans call him "Big Kevin." He's brave and earnest, and secretly enjoys being in charge.
Stuart
One-eyed · Guitarist
Stuart is a one-eyed Minion with a centre-parted haircut, a love of music and almost no interest in effort. He'd rather play his guitar or nap than follow Kevin's plans, and he's easily distracted by bananas. He's the trio's comic slacker, but he comes through when it matters.
Bob
Smallest · Has a teddy bear named Tim
Bob is the smallest and most innocent Minion, with heterochromia (one brown eye, one green) and a teddy bear called Tim that he never lets go of. He's sweet, easily delighted and treats every stranger as a friend. In Minions he pulls a sword from a stone and is crowned King of England, a job he enjoys enormously until it's taken away.
Otto
Chatty · Wears braces
Otto is the braces-wearing Minion who can't stop talking, introduced in Minions: The Rise of Gru. Trusted with a precious stone, he swaps it for a pet rock and spends the film travelling across the country to get it back, including a ride with a kindly biker voiced by RZA. His solo plot made him the breakout fourth member of the gang.
Dave
One of Gru's original crew
Dave is one of the Minions most often singled out in the first two Despicable Me films, and a two-eyed member of Gru's crew. He's enthusiastic and eager to please, and he shows up in many of the series' classic gags.
Jerry
One of Gru's original crew
Jerry is another long-serving member of Gru's crew who often pairs up with Dave in the early films. He's a familiar face in group scenes, the kind of Minion fans recognise without being able to say why.
Mel
Leader of the Minion walkout
Mel is a one-eyed Minion who leads most of the tribe in quitting Gru in Despicable Me 3 when Gru refuses to go back to villainy. The walkout ends in a misadventure on a talent-show stage and a spell in prison.
Carl, Phil, Tim, Tom and Norbert
Other named Minions
These are some of the other Minions given names in the films and related material. Most appear as faces in the crowd with an occasional solo gag.
Gru and his family
The emotional core of the series is how a lonely villain becomes a father. Every film puts that family under some sort of pressure.
Gru
Felonius Gru · Villain turned agent and dad
Gru is a tall, bald, scarf-wearing supervillain with a vague Eastern European accent and a mother who never praised him. In the first film he adopts three orphans purely to use them in a heist, then finds he can't give them up. Across the sequels he joins the Anti-Villain League, marries Lucy, meets a twin brother and becomes a father again. The Rise of Gru shows him as a boy, idolising the villains he would later outdo.
- Voice
- Steve Carell
Margo
Eldest daughter
Margo is the oldest of Gru's adopted girls: sharp, sceptical and protective of her sisters. She's the last to trust Gru, and she's the one who keeps the family grounded when he gets carried away. Her first crush, on El Macho's son Antonio, is a running joke in Despicable Me 2.
- Voice
- Miranda Cosgrove
Edith
Middle daughter
Edith is the mischievous middle child in a pink knit hat who loves danger, gadgets and anything she's told not to touch. She's the girl most like Gru, and a natural partner in chaos.
- Voice
- Dana Gaier
Agnes
Youngest daughter
Agnes is the youngest girl, with a high ponytail, an unshakeable belief in unicorns and the series' most famous line, about a toy unicorn being so fluffy she's going to die. She's the first to love Gru outright, and her bedtime story scenes are what melt him. In Despicable Me 3 her search for a real unicorn gets its own sweet subplot.
- Voice
- Elsie Fisher (1–2), Nev Scharrel (3), Madison Polan (4)
Lucy Wilde
AVL agent · Gru's wife
Lucy is an enthusiastic, accident-prone Anti-Villain League agent who recruits Gru in Despicable Me 2, partly by tasering him with lipstick. Her chaotic energy matches Gru's, and they marry at the end of that film. Later films focus on her learning to be a mother to the girls.
- Voice
- Kristen Wiig
Dr. Nefario
Gru's elderly scientist
Dr. Nefario is the hard-of-hearing inventor behind Gru's gadgets, from the shrink ray to the fart gun. He mishears orders with spectacular results and worries Gru is getting soft. In The Rise of Gru he appears as a younger man, already building things for the boy villain.
- Voice
- Russell Brand
Dru
Gru's twin brother
Dru is the twin Gru never knew about, revealed in Despicable Me 3. He's rich, cheerful, blond and desperate to follow their late father into villainy, and he pulls Gru into one last heist. Their brotherly rivalry carries the third film.
- Voice
- Steve Carell
Gru Jr.
Gru and Lucy's baby
Gru Jr. arrives in Despicable Me 4 and seems to like everyone except his father. Winning him over is the film's running domestic gag.
Marlena Gru
Gru's mother
Gru's dry, unimpressed mother, whose lack of praise explains a great deal about her son. She has larger roles in the first film and The Rise of Gru.
- Voice
- Julie Andrews
The Anti-Villain League and allies
Silas Ramsbottom
Director of the AVL
The stiff, formal head of the Anti-Villain League, whose surname the Minions find endlessly funny. He brings Gru in as an agent in the second film.
- Voice
- Steve Coogan
Valerie Da Vinci
AVL director in Despicable Me 3
Ramsbottom's ambitious successor, who fires Gru and Lucy early in the third film and sets its plot in motion.
- Voice
- Jenny Slate
Master Chow
Kung fu teacher
An acupuncturist and kung fu master who trains Kevin, Stuart and Bob in kung fu in The Rise of Gru.
- Voice
- Michelle Yeoh
Wild Knuckles
Founder of the Vicious 6
A veteran villain betrayed by his own gang, who kidnaps young Gru and ends up as his first mentor in The Rise of Gru.
- Voice
- Alan Arkin
Poppy Prescott
Aspiring villain neighbour
The girl next door in Despicable Me 4, who spots Gru's real identity and blackmails him into helping with a heist.
- Voice
- Joey King
Miss Hattie
Orphanage owner
The cold owner of the home where the girls lived before Gru, who punishes them for not selling enough cookies.
- Voice
- Kristen Schaal
Villains in every film
Each film pits Gru or the Minions against a new rival, usually one who is flashier, richer or more ridiculous than Gru ever was.
Vector
Despicable Me (2010)
Victor "Vector" Perkins is a nerdy young villain in an orange tracksuit who has just stolen the Great Pyramid of Giza and loves to tell people about it. His father, Mr. Perkins, runs the Bank of Evil, which makes Vector the rival Gru can't afford to lose to. His fortress, guarded by sharks and gadgets, is why Gru adopts the girls in the first place.
- Voice
- Jason Segel
El Macho
Despicable Me 2 (2013)
Eduardo Pérez runs a restaurant in the mall and is secretly El Macho, a legendary villain thought to have died riding a shark strapped with dynamite into a volcano. He steals a mutagen that turns Minions into purple, indestructible monsters. He's big, theatrical and genuinely threatening.
- Voice
- Benjamin Bratt
Balthazar Bratt
Despicable Me 3 (2017)
Balthazar Bratt was a child TV star in the 1980s who played a villain. When puberty cancelled his show, he decided to become a villain for real. He still wears the shoulder pads and mullet and fights with dance moves, a keytar and bubblegum.
- Voice
- Trey Parker
Maxime Le Mal
Despicable Me 4 (2024)
Maxime is Gru's old rival from villain school, a Frenchman obsessed with cockroaches who has given himself cockroach-inspired powers. After escaping prison he swears revenge, forcing Gru's family into hiding under new identities. His partner is Valentina.
- Voice
- Will Ferrell
Scarlet Overkill
Minions (2015)
Scarlet is the world's first female supervillain and the star of Villain-Con in 1968. She hires Kevin, Stuart and Bob and sends them to steal the Queen's crown, then turns on them when Bob ends up wearing it. Her husband Herb is the gadget-maker behind her rocket dress and other inventions.
- Voice
- Sandra Bullock (Herb: Jon Hamm)
Belle Bottom and the Vicious 6
Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022)
The Vicious 6 are the 1970s supervillain supergroup young Gru dreams of joining. After they betray their founder Wild Knuckles, Belle Bottom takes charge, alongside Jean-Clawed, Svengeance, Nunchuck and Stronghold. Gru's application interview goes badly, and he steals their prize, the Zodiac Stone, out from under them.
- Voice
- Taraji P. Henson (Belle Bottom)
Voice cast
| Character | Voice actor | Films |
|---|---|---|
| Gru, Dru | Steve Carell | All Despicable Me films, The Rise of Gru |
| The Minions | Pierre Coffin | All films |
| Lucy Wilde | Kristen Wiig | Despicable Me 2–4 |
| Margo | Miranda Cosgrove | Despicable Me 1–4 |
| Edith | Dana Gaier | Despicable Me 1–4 |
| Agnes | Elsie Fisher / Nev Scharrel / Madison Polan | 1–2 / 3 / 4 |
| Dr. Nefario | Russell Brand | Despicable Me 1–3, The Rise of Gru |
| Marlena Gru | Julie Andrews | Despicable Me films, The Rise of Gru |
| Vector | Jason Segel | Despicable Me |
| El Macho | Benjamin Bratt | Despicable Me 2 |
| Balthazar Bratt | Trey Parker | Despicable Me 3 |
| Maxime Le Mal | Will Ferrell | Despicable Me 4 |
| Valentina | Sofía Vergara | Despicable Me 4 |
| Scarlet Overkill | Sandra Bullock | Minions |
| Belle Bottom | Taraji P. Henson | The Rise of Gru |
| Wild Knuckles | Alan Arkin | The Rise of Gru |
Watch order
The films were released out of story order. You can watch them by release date, which is how most fans first met the characters, or chronologically:
- 1968 Minions (2015) — Kevin, Stuart and Bob meet Scarlet Overkill and a very young Gru.
- 1976 Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) — pre-teen Gru, the Vicious 6 and Otto's pet rock.
- Present Despicable Me (2010) — the Moon heist and the girls' adoption.
- Present Despicable Me 2 (2013) — the AVL, Lucy and El Macho.
- Present Despicable Me 3 (2017) — Dru and Balthazar Bratt.
- Present Despicable Me 4 (2024) — Gru Jr., Maxime Le Mal and the Mega Minions.
A third Minions film followed in 2026. This guide focuses on the characters of the six films above. For tips on handling franchises like this, see our watch order guide.
Why these characters work
Gru is one of animation's clearest redemption arcs: a man who wanted to be the world's greatest villain and found being a dad was more satisfying. The Minions are the opposite of character development. They never change, and that's the point. They're pure slapstick, and their gibberish language means the jokes work in every country.
The films also borrow freely from spy films, with gadgets, lairs and rival villains, which makes them a good introduction to villain types for younger viewers. For comparison with other big studio casts, see our guides to DreamWorks characters and Pixar characters, or the Disney and Pixar A–Z.
All Minions and Despicable Me character names A–Z
A–B
- Agnes — Gru's daughter
- Balthazar Bratt — Villain, DM3
- Belle Bottom — Vicious 6
- Bob — Minion
C–D
- Carl — Minion
- Dave — Minion
- Dr. Nefario — Gru's scientist
- Dru — Gru's twin
E–J
- Edith — Gru's daughter
- El Macho — Villain, DM2
- Gru — Lead
- Gru Jr. — Gru's son
- Herb Overkill — Scarlet's husband
- Jerry — Minion
K–M
- Kevin — Minion leader
- Lucy Wilde — AVL agent
- Margo — Gru's daughter
- Marlena Gru — Gru's mother
- Master Chow — Kung fu teacher
- Maxime Le Mal — Villain, DM4
- Mel — Minion
- Miss Hattie — Orphanage owner
N–P
- Norbert — Minion
- Otto — Minion
- Phil — Minion
- Poppy Prescott — Neighbour, DM4
S–T
- Scarlet Overkill — Villain, Minions
- Silas Ramsbottom — AVL director
- Stuart — Minion
- Tim — Minion (and Bob's bear)
- Tom — Minion
V–W
- Valentina — Maxime's partner
- Valerie Da Vinci — AVL director, DM3
- Vector — Villain, DM1
- Wild Knuckles — Vicious 6 founder
Frequently asked questions
Who is the leader of the Minions?
Kevin. The tall, two-eyed Minion leads Stuart and Bob on their search for a new master in Minions (2015), and he's the one who keeps the trio on task. As a group, though, the Minions follow whoever is the biggest villain around, and for most of the films that's Gru.
What are the Minions' names?
The best-known Minions are Kevin, Stuart, Bob and Otto. Others named on screen or in official material include Dave, Jerry, Carl, Phil, Tim, Mel, Tom and Norbert. There are hundreds of Minions, and most never get a name.
Who is Bob the Minion?
Bob is the smallest, most childlike of the main trio. He has one brown eye and one green eye and carries a teddy bear named Tim. In Minions he pulls a sword from a stone and briefly becomes King of England.
Who is Big Kevin?
Fans use "Big Kevin" for the giant version of Kevin in the climax of Minions (2015). He's enlarged by one of Herb Overkill's inventions and towers over London as he tries to save his friends from Scarlet Overkill.
Is it Stuart or Stewart the Minion?
It's Stuart. He's the one-eyed Minion in the Kevin, Stuart and Bob trio, best known for his guitar and his short attention span.
Who voices the Minions?
Pierre Coffin, who co-directed the first Despicable Me, voices the Minions. Their language, usually called Minionese, mixes real words from several languages with nonsense, so audiences everywhere can follow the tone if not the words.
Who is the villain in each Despicable Me movie?
Vector in Despicable Me, El Macho in Despicable Me 2, Balthazar Bratt in Despicable Me 3 and Maxime Le Mal in Despicable Me 4. In the spin-offs, Scarlet Overkill is the villain of Minions, and the Vicious 6, led by Belle Bottom, are the threat in Minions: The Rise of Gru.