Back in the late 1960s, nobody ever thought that a woman could rise to the top of the heap, and dominate any field...including villainy!  And society was not yet ready for any woman to upset the proverbial apple cart, and rise to the forefront of that or any other field.  So when Scarlet Overkill did just that, she rocketed rather ironically to superstardom amongst the community of villains, and enjoyed a devoted fan following. 

Pretty impressive for a woman who rose from a childhood saddled by braces, pigtails and the relentless teasing of her youthful peers, and who dreamed of living in a fairytale castle and being a queen who is adored by all.  But it is through abject persecution and humiliation that, just occasionally, unexpected strength is forged.  Such was the case with Scarlet who, by the age of 13, had built her own criminal empire.  By the mid 1960s, she had found love in her soul mate, the evil scientist and inventor Herb Overkill.  She established a villainous secret lair, in the London suburbs, cleverly disguised as her youthful dream home--a medieval fairytale castle which, conveniently, didn't stick out all that much in the English countryside.  From there she launched the villainous schemes and capers which made her famous.

Scarlet, however, is a megalomaniac saddled with a deep psychological need to rule over all of humanity (her way of trying to block out the painful memories of a troubled childhood).  She has a blatant conceit for those she views as beneath her (which constitutes pretty much everyone else), and yet will not hesitate to use her feminine charms and wiles to get any henchman, or even her beloved husband Herb, to do her bidding.

Herb Overkill is a scientist and inventor who is also a super villain.  He is married to Scarlet Overkill, a celebrity super villain who is widely considered the greatest one the late 1960s has to offer.  Herb supports his villainous wife by inventing weapons, devices and other gadgets for her to make use of during her crime sprees.  And he is every bit as inventive, intelligent and devious as Dr. Nefario and Vector.

Herb has also thoroughly embraced the English mod subculture (even though he is an American).  Everything about him, from his hair style, his fashion sense, his demeanor and body posture, to his use of slang and his general behavior is absolutely indicative of how much he loves being a mod. 

Herb is far more easy-going, laid back and affable than Scarlet, and is more of a swinger as well.  While he lives under his wife's shadow, he doesn't let it bother him.  Rather, he revels in their romantic relationship and the deviousness of their many schemes and adventures, all while fully embracing 1960s British culture.  (Of course, because of his more easy-going, laid back and affable nature, he's also more easily distracted from his schemes, and can become dejected and depressed when he is thwarted.)

Walter is the proud head of the Nelson clan...a man who strikes the image of an ideal, clean-cut father of the typical late 1960s middle class nuclear family.  And that's precisely the image he wants to project to the public, as underneath that squeaky-clean exterior lives a clever and intelligent career villain, one who has worked hard to lead his family into being a successful villainous gang. 

All the same, Walter loves and deeply cares about his family, and has a wonderful relationship with his wife, Madge.  He also is very supportive of his children, Walter Jr., Tina and Binky.  And while the whole family is part of the criminal enterprise, they otherwise do actually lead a normal and seemingly wholesome family life in conjunction with their criminal activities, including residing in a very normal and quaint suburban home, and going from place to place in the family station wagon (which has New York State license plates with the I.D. "Luv 2 Rob"). 

Even though each member of his family has an active criminal record (and has been incarcerated in New York state prisons), he absolutely revels in the spice and adventure of a life of crime, carefully and very cleverly concealed by their clean-cut family image.

Madge presents herself as the ideal late 1960s housewife...conservatively and tastefully-dressed and groomed, with a very motherly demeanor.  But don't be fooled...underneath that clean-cut exterior beats the heart of a hardened criminal--one who relishes the excitement and adventure of an illicit and devious lifestyle!  She and her husband, Walter Nelson, have forged the perfect cover for their criminal activities in the seemingly clean-cut, middle-class nuclear family which they appear to be.  But each and every member of their family, from their older son Walter Jr., to their middle child, Tina, to their infant son Binky, and right down to the family cat, are villains, each with a criminal record (and each having served time in jail in New York State, apparently).  They drive around in the family station wagon, which bears New York license plates with the I.D. "Luv 2 Rob".

Madge is also pretty handy with a small bowie knife she keeps on her person.  She uses it for everything from a defensive weapon to a handy apple slicer.

Walter Jr. is the oldest child of Walter and Madge Nelson, and the brother of siblings Tina and Binky.  Of all the members of the Nelson family, he is probably the least "normal" in appearance, looking like a hulking brute perhaps more befitting the Addams Family or the Munsters than that of a traditional, late 1960s middle class nuclear family.  Walter may very well be a bit big for his age too (which has not been established). 

Walter is an outgoing and friendly kid, if perhaps something of a dumb and bumbling fool (and he snores and drools when he sleeps).  He is probably the stereotypical "bull in a china shop" on the Nelson family crime capers as well.  He tends to not be cognizant of his size and strength (typical of a dumb brute), and seems to favor black clothing (a black t-shirt and black overalls appear to be his preference).  He wears his hair in a straight bowl cut.

Tina is the deeply psychotic middle child of the Nelson family (between Walter Jr. and Binky), and her whole personality, appearance and demeanor echo the childhood of her idol, Scarlet Overkill (she wears pigtails...and while she doesn't have braces, she has all the self-image issues that Scarlet had as a child).  Which begs the question as to what her own future holds for her (and whether or not we'll see her someday going head-to-head against Gru!

Tina, for all her youthful exuberance, is a hardcore little girl, with a very rough edge.  You wouldn't know it just by looking at her--she presents the image of a very normal little girl.  But engaging her in conversation brings the risk of her snarky and often sarcastic responses.  And while she's becoming a capable villain in her own right, she's still on the learning curve, and occasionally makes mistakes.  Thankfully, her parents (Walter and Madge Nelson) are both very sympathetic and supportive, and want to see her prosper into a successful villain.

Binky is the infant son of Walter and Madge Nelson, and the brother of Walter Jr. and Tina Nelson.  He is being brought up in the Nelson family tradition of criminal behavior, and seems to be developing a knack for it, occasionally demonstrating quite a talent for devious behavior in spite of his general innocence.  Like the rest of the Nelson family, Binky's criminal exploits have already landed him a short stint in jail and a criminal record, meaning he's been photographed and fingerprinted as well.

Binky's entire comfort revolves around his pacifier, which has a skull-shaped fob dangling from it.  He becomes utterly inconsolable whenever the pacifier is lost or misplaced, and will do anything he has to in order to regain it

Her majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, stands forth in all her toothy glory, and even as something of a heroine, in late 1960s swinging London!  She goes about her usual daily royal duties, appearing before her adoring public, until one day she is accosted by three mysterious little yellow creatures (minions Kevin, Stuart and Bob) while on a carriage ride through the London streets, having her crown stolen right off her head!  In short order, Bob manages to pull the fabled sword Excalibur from the stone, and is proclaimed rightful king of England by divine providence! 

Of course, this hits Elizabeth rather hard.  But, with the characteristic "stiff upper lip" expected in her culture, she stays strong for her public, soon finding herself throwing back cold ones and arm wrestling in the pub with the locals, and telling her sad story.

Above: (Former) Queen Elizabeth II throwing back a cold ale in a London pub shortly after (temporarily) losing her royal stature to Bob.

Of course, it is only a short time before Kevin, Stuart and Bob set things right, and restore Elizabeth to the throne as queen.  For this, each of them is well-rewarded by the United Kingdom, before an adoring crowd assembled at Buckingham Palace.

Her majesty is not some feather-weight wallflower.  She's capable of impressive arrays of drinking, arm-wrestling and self defense, and can hold her own in any situation, a credit to her crown and to her empire!
 

He's been in his government's service for years, protecting that gem of the crown jewels, St. Edward's Crown, as his singular duty: "the keeper of the crown".  He may no longer be as spry and healthy as some of the guards and yeoman warders who are assigned to the Tower of London, but he is still as committed to his duty as the day he was assigned to it.  And he's pretty dangerous with his cane even though he's totally blind!
 

Fabrice is a rather flamboyant hair stylist, whom Scarlet Overkill hired to do, for her, a queenly and eye-catching style for her coronation as the new Queen of England (after she usurped it, albeit temporarily, from Elizabeth II).

He prefers to dress as flamboyantly as he lives, sporting a pair of white-rimmed sunglasses, a gold chain around his neck (which has a gold hair comb attached to it), a pink satin shirt with flaring sleeve cuffs and collar (and knotted at the front of his rather heavy waist), white high-fashion bellbottom jeans, black Italian leather shoes, and several gaudy rings on his fingers.  He sports long, straight and meticulously-groomed hair and a handle bar mustache.  He keeps his grooming tools close at hand (usually in a kit, but he also uses his back pants pockets to temporarily store them while working on a client).

Fabrice's only fault is that he tends to speak his mind, especially when someone opens the door for him in conversation.  Which can lead to his putting his foot right into his mouth, metaphorically-speaking.  And that usually ends badly for ol' Fabrice!

Professor Flux is a regular attendee at the annual Villain-Con.  Though he may be someone out of place amongst the many villains who show up there (either as guests, as exhibitors or as guest speakers), as he appears to be the least villainous of the lot.  He presents the very image of the quirky, eccentric but studious and dedicated scientist--white lab coat, black rubber gloves, and a balding pate. He is, however, quite the genius, having invented the very first successful time machine! 

At the 1968 Villain-Con, the professor decided to reveal and demonstrate his new invention...going forward in time on several occasions in order to bring future iterations of himself back to that year in order to assist him with his many other experiments.  That is, until one of his future selves accidentally killed him, thus wiping out of existence every future iteration of the poor professor!

Frankie Fish Lips is a most unusual super villain, and one of the very few to appear annually at Villain-Con who isn't human.  He is, in fact, some sort of strange fish creature, similar in most respects (and appearance) to the legendary Creature From The Black Lagoon.  He has a greenish-brown body, covered in chitinous armor, and his gills almost look like sideburns.  His hands and feet are webbed, which help him glide effortlessly through the water.

Frankie is a gregarious super villain--he loves entertaining.  However, living in the ocean, and having that rather fishy smell that he constantly exudes, can put a damper on his social exploits.  Still, he does get around, and can breathe air as easily as he can breathe underwater.  So he is often pulling off criminal capers on the surface as well as in the depths. 

Most recently, however, he has found himself working for Scarlet Overkill, the super villain everyone wants to work for!

Dumo is a Japanese sumo wrestler gone bad, having decided to embark upon a life of crime.  Instead of the limited celebrity, in his own nation, which came of being a sumo wrestler, he preferred the superstardom of super villainy.  He makes use of his sumo wrestling skills to bulldoze his way through his capers.  And he is one of the many super villains who appears annually at Villain-Con.

Dumo, unfortunately, is also something of an aggressive hothead, and not terribly bright.  And his short temper has led him, in the past, to eat his own henchmen...which makes working for him a rather risky prospect!  Recently, however, he has taken to working for Scarlet Overkill...the super villain everyone wants to work for.

Norbert is one of the earliest minions to ever have appeared...emerging from the ocean in prehistory alongside of his brethren.  But Norbert, unfortunately, is an idiot.  Of all the minions to emerge from the ocean, he was the only one who seemed to forget the importance of wearing clothing of some sort, and emerged fully naked!  A quick application of a couple of starfish (ironically, on his chest) seemed to satisfy him.  However, ol' Norbert would have some clothing fails again and again throughout history.

In the modern dog-eat-dog world of supervillains, it's all about staying one step ahead of the competition.  And one of the world's most successful, and despicable, is Gru*.  Not that he showed any signs of it in his youth.  All he ever wanted to do as a boy was to be an astronaut, and go to the moon.  But with a mother like his, and an apparently absent father, poor little boy Gru's dreams were repeatedly crushed, setting the stage for a life of villainy.  Gru and his mother clearly are not native to the United States (where they live), and their broken English accent would seem to indicate that they originated from somewhere in central to southeastern Europe.

(* Gru is actually his last name.  Officially, Gru's first name is "Felonius", as seen on the computer screen during the background check Miss Hattie conducts on him.  His birth date is also given there, in the background information, as September 28, 1960.  Which would make him eight years old when the minions first arrive in America, and nine years old during the moon mission which he became so obsessed with as a boy.)

In his life, Gru has made quite a success of being a most despicable supervillain, setting his sights on really, really big capers designed to generate fear and respect.  Of course, he had to start somewhere...and that somewhere was in London, in the United Kingdom in 1968.  There, at the tender age of eight, he pulled off a daring caper by snatching the royal British crown out from the clutches of the greatest super villain of the time, Scarlet Overkill, who herself was attempting to steal it for her own nefarious purposes (and he did so with the help of the freeze ray he and his mother had purchased earlier from Dr. Nefario at Villain-Con).  In later years, he set his sites gradually higher: Las Vegas, for example, where he managed to steal the miniature versions of the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower.  In time, he moved onto bigger targets, and this brought him more noteworthy successes--such as the Times Square Jumbotron!  Gru also loves all of the high-tech vehicles, gadgets and weapons which he uses in his trade, most of which have been either provided and/or invented by Dr. Nefario.

Above: Eight-year-old Gru, in an audacious and daring move, swipes the British royal crown from the clutches of super villain Scarlet Overkill, after some very creative use of Dr. Nefario's freeze ray.  Thus he began a very successful career as a super villain in his own right.

But just as in other facets of life, young up-and-coming go-getters will rock the boat...and one day one particular fellow really rocked Gru's boat.  The super-smart, but rather nerdy young supervillain calling himself "Vector" stole the Great Pyramid of Giza, which made all other villainous acts pale by comparison.  Not to be deterred, Gru revived an old plot of his which would cast the pyramid theft under it's shadow forever...to steal the moon!  With his faithful and inventive assistant Dr. Nefario, and his army of little yellow minions, he set his plan in motion...

...just as three little girls came knocking on his door, looking to sell him some cookies.  And those three little girls (Margo, Edith and Agnes) changed his life forever...stirring in him some latent goodness.  Gru, you see, was never truly evil, even if he was rather despicable.  The girls brought out the good in him, and it wasn't long before Gru was not only adopting them as their new father, but falling in love with a lady spy whom the girls saw to it that he'd happily marry.
 

Gru's mom* is a gruff and abrasive woman...tough as nails and old-world in her mannerisms and style.  She raised Gru pretty much on her own.  But don't be fooled...nurturing was neither her strong suit nor her preference.  Every time young Gru would attempt to gain his mother's approval or affirmation, she would shoot him down with some snide or disdainful remark.  She's not a very nice lady, or a very good mother, except when she's comparing others to herself.  But she loves Margo, Edith and Agnes very much, and that's something in her favor.

(* On the imdb.com page for Dispicable Me, in the trivia section, it says "in the Gru family tree, you can see Gru's mother's name is Marlina, and his father's name is Robert."  Of course, other than seeing Robert and other ancestors in Gru's family tree, we never actually get to see any members of his family, during the movie, except his mother.)

Gru and his mother clearly are not native to the United States (where they live), and their broken English accent would seem to indicate that they originated from somewhere in central to southeastern Europe.

Of course, she's also an accomplished martial artist...

Doctor Nefario has been in the evil scientist business for a very long time, and it shows.  With an incredibly inventive mind and a knack for problem solving, he is still occasionally distracted by the rigors of old age, which result in his often misinterpreting Gru's requests for new weapons or devices for his despicable plots and missions...with occasional comedic effect.  Doctor Nefario is completely and utterly dedicated to a life of evil, and is generally not comfortable around children.  He spends most of his time down in the depths of Gru's secret lair, usually in the laboratory and machine shops...creating various concoctions, weapons and machinery...and fixing stuff broken by Gru, the minions and the girls.

Above: Dr. Nefario in his younger years, demonstrating his many inventions (including the freeze ray) on the exhibitor floor at Villain-Con in 1968.  Gru and his mother look on.  Is this the start of a long-standing and villainous friendship?
 

Dr. Nefario routinely wears a white lab coat, black rubber gloves (with the Gru logo on them), a pair of goggles, red and yellow plaid pants, a yellow shirt and black boots.  He has a substantial double chin, a sharp hook nose, a pot belly, large and long ears, and a thin, wispy tuft of white hair atop his head.

Kyle would seem, from his behavior and basic body structure, to be a dog.  However, there are some very uncanine things going on with him.  Kyle is actually a little monster who seems to have some dog-like features, characteristics and behavior patterns.  He's not terribly friendly with strangers, and even can be a bit nippy and anti-social, from time to time, with his master Gru, with Dr. Nefario and the minions.  He even starts out that way with the girls (Margo, Edith and Agnes), but they quickly win him over after Agnes showers him with her irresistible charms.  He has since become very fond and protective of them.