List of The Venture Bros. characters
This is a list of the main and recurring fictional characters from The Venture Bros., the Adult Swim/Cartoon Network comic science fiction series.
The Venture family
The Venture family composes the central characters in the show; they live in a fortified compound in an undisclosed location somewhere in the United States. The compound doubles as the headquarters for Dr. Venture's company, Venture Industries.
- Hank Venture (voiced by Christopher McCulloch): A teenage boy, one-half of the eponymous pairing. Hank is a combination of Joe Hardy, Jonny Quest and Fred Jones of Scooby Doo fame. He tends to be more athletic and better at disguises than his brother. He is always up for adventures and solving mysteries, but can be rather naïve, and will frequently get himself into more trouble thanks to his impulsiveness.
- Dean Venture (voiced by Michael Sinterniklaas): A teenage boy, the second half of the eponymous pairing. Dean is timid, selfless, and more "bookish" than Hank. He is a combination of Frank Hardy, and Peter Parker from Spider-Man (In fact, he wears Spider-Man pajamas in several episodes). He has an obvious crush on Triana Orpheus.
- Thaddeus S. "Rusty" Venture (voiced by James Urbaniak): Father of the Venture twins. He constantly lives in the shadow of his famous father Dr. Jonas Venture, from whom he inherited Venture Industries. There is some question as to his actual degree of ability in the nebulously defined field of "super-science." While Dr. Venture desperately wishes to emerge from his father's shadow, ultimately his knack for cutting corners proves his undoing, with his shoddy attempts at genuine technological innovation typically resulting in utter debacle (serving as the premise for several episodes). The doctor seems to dislike his sons; it is somewhat unclear whether he actually cares for them at all. However, that he keeps cloning them and has not tried to cash in on the process suggests more than scientific curiousity.
- Dr. Jonas Venture, Jr. (voiced by James Urbaniak): Dr Venture's deformed twin, who was absorbed by Rusty in the womb. Until the first season finale, he appeared only in Dr Venture's nightmares. He was freed from Rusty's body via surgery after being mistaken for a tumor. Desperate to claim the life that was stolen from him, he tried to murder Dr. Venture using a giant mechanical suit that he made out of household items. Though he has the body of an underdeveloped baby, his head has matured to an adult appearance that bears a striking resemblance to his father. He also seems to have inherited his father's brilliance, unlike Thaddeus, as he earned two doctorates in a month. By the end of the first season, Thaddeus has agreed to share his Venture birthright with his brother, including but not limited to; the X2, and Spider-Skull Island. Jonas Jr. appears to be everything his brother is not: scientifically astutue, hard-working, attractive to women, and about two feet tall. He has a cybernetic left arm to replace his useless "natural" one.
- Dr. Jonas Venture, Sr. (voiced by Paul Boocock): Deceased father of Dr. Thaddeus Venture, seen in dreams, hallucinations, and flashbacks. He was the foremost scientist and adventurer in the world of his time. He created what is now known as Venture Industries and led the original Team Venture. His character is based on Doc Savage.
- H.E.L.P.eR. (voiced by "Soul-Bot"): The Venture family's personal helper robot. H.E.L.P.eR. is an acronym for Humanoid Electric Lab Partner Robot. He was created by Dr. Jonas Venture to look after his son Rusty, but now assists Brock in looking after Dean and Hank. He does not speak, but rather communicates via electronic beeps that are more or less understood by the Venture clan. Though he has very sensitive feelings, the Ventures often treat him like an old appliance or pet.
The Venture compound
- Brock Samson (voiced by Patrick Warburton): Though not related to the Ventures per se, Brock is the bodyguard of the Venture family and an agent with the Office of Secret Intelligence. As a "Super Secret Agent," he has a license to kill and an amazing zeal to use it. Though Brock usually displays a relaxed and casual attitude, his temper can cause him to snap into psychotic violence at the slightest provocation. His ability to dispense punishment is equaled by his ability to sustain it, to the point that he is seemingly unkillable. He also has a superhuman sexual appetite, with conquests ranging from beauty queens to sleazy strippers to "the Queen of the Ant People." He is extremely loyal to the Venture family, actually living with them in the compound, and now seems to serve as a bit of a mentor for the boys, with whom he shares an avuncular relationship.
- Dr. Byron Orpheus (voiced by Steven Rattazzi): An expert necromancer and mystic who rents a portion of the Venture Compound and is friendly with Dr. Venture. Along with Brock, he is the only associate of Dr. Venture who displays any sort of competence. He dresses much like Doctor Strange, with face and hair similar to those of Vincent Price. His speech is filled with overly dramatic phrases and delivered in a theatrically grandiose voice with extreme emphasis on mundane topics, usually over a background of ominous trumpet-laden music. After witnessing Dr. Venture's various enemies, he acquires an extreme desire for an archnemesis of his own.
- Triana Orpheus (voiced by Lisa Hammer): Dr. Orpheus's 17 year old Goth daughter. She has purple hair, and is fairly friendly with the Venture Boys. She is possibly the most down-to-earth character on the show, despite her father's tendency to dramatize. She takes an interest in kitsch. Dean Venture has a crush on her, and she at least tolerates him. Triana frequently begs her father not to embarrass her and the Venture Brothers. She has witnessed her father bringing people back from the dead multiple times; she isn't comfortable with it, particularly when the resurrectee doesn't have a soul. According to Orpheus, Triana's mother "left him for a young necromancer," and Triana holds hope that her mother will return. Whether or not this is true remains to be seen.
Friends/allies
- Pete White (voiced by Christopher McCulloch): An albino computer scientist and co-founder of Conjectural Technologies. He went to college with Venture and Ünderbheit where he hosted a New Wave radio show called "The White Room." He tends to be passive-aggressive and let Master Billy Quizboy do most of the hard work of whatever projects they have.
- Master Billy Quizboy (voiced by Doc Hammer): A self-proclaimed "boy genius," Quizboy is actually an adult with a speech impediment and growth hormone deficiency. He is a neurogeneticist and co-founder of Conjectural Technologies. He suffers from hydrocephalus, although this doesn't seem to affect his intellect. He has a bionic hand and an eyepatch over one eye, though these have yet to be explained.
- Race Bannon (voiced by Christopher McCulloch): Agent in the Office of Secret Intelligence. He is killed recovering the Goliath Serum from Nat King Cobra's Snake-Men. It is implied that he is the same Race Bannon from Jonny Quest, as his dying words to Brock Samson are "Tell Jonny I love..." He and Brock Samson "go way back."
- Hector (voiced by Brendon Small): Thaddeus Venture's childhood friend, he has spent over twenty years working in the Venture Compound's manufacturing wing. Dr Venture however, was unaware of the presence of either Hector or the manufacturing wing. Hector also apaprently was stuck in the manufacturing wing for decades, as he didn't know Jonas Venture died. Dr. Venture then promptly fired Hector. He is most likely a parody of Jonny Quest's Hadji.
- Swifty (voiced by Brendon Small): An ex-middleweight boxing champion, he seemed to serve as Dr Jonas Venture's personal bodyguard. Eventually, he got "soft in the head" from his years of boxing. He then could only babble nonsensical strings of words, leading to him losing his house and his wife. Jonas took pity on him, and put him to work in the manufacturing wing. He was fired along with Hector.
- The Action Man, whose real name is Rodney (voiced by Christopher McCulloch): Retired member of the original Team Venture. He is an all-American supersoldier that can be best described as a kind of B-grade Nick Fury, though his costume evokes elements of vintage Captain America. He primarily fights with his handguns and fists. Since his retirement, he has become a crotchety old man with constant flatulence. He married Major Tom's widow after Tom's tragic accident.
- Col. Horace Gentleman (voiced by Christopher McCulloch): Retired member of the original Team Venture and later ersatz leader of the reformed Team Venture. He is a British gentleman and adventurer in the vein of Alan Quatermain and James Bond. The influence is apparent in the similarity of his voice to that of Sean Connery, who has played both characters in movies. He dresses in an old-fashioned English style, complete with cane. It is briefly implied that he is a pederast.
- Kano (unvoiced): Retired member of the original Team Venture. He is a master of the martial arts and an accomplished pilot. He never speaks, and only communicates by way of origami(and The Finger). In his prime, his hands were "powerful enough to crush a boulder," yet "delicate enough to crush a butterfly."
- Otto Aquarius (voiced by T. Ryder Smith): Retired member of the original Team Venture. He is an exiled son of Atlantis, half-human and half-Atlantean, which provides him with a greatly extended life-span. Most recently, he has converted to either the Church of Latter Day Saints (according to the special features section of the Venture Bros. Season 1 DVD) or the Jehovah's Witnesses (according to Jackson Publick's blog), though his bizarre appearance sabotages his attempts at evangelism. Due to his new faith, he is now a pacifist, limiting his usefulness to the reformed Team Venture.
Villains
- The Monarch (voiced by Christopher McCulloch): Dr. Venture's self-styled archnemesis. He is obsessed with Monarch butterflies, which he claims raised him as a child. In fact, he only spent a few months unsuccessfully imitating them before returning to the city, and still seems to have almost no understanding of their biology or behavior. Though he frequently describes himself as Dr. Venture's nemesis, their rivalry resides almost completely in the Monarch's imagination. In reality, Dr. Venture barely pays attention to him, and the boys have only recently learned who he is. His plans against the Venture family are usually bizarre and fail for a various amount of sad reasons. At the end of season one, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to prison after being framed by the Phantom Limb. However, in the first episode of season two, he manages to escape.
- Dr. Girlfriend (voiced by Doc Hammer): Former girlfriend and assistant to the Monarch. She bears a remarkable similarity to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and shares her New England accent. Her comically deep voice (the character is voiced by a man) is a parody of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' relatively low voice for a woman, and rumors that she is a transsexual have been dispelled as a red herring. After being thrown out by the Monarch, she has moved back in with Phantom Limb and taken to wearing her (quite revealing) Queen Etheria costume again.
- Monarch henchmen (voiced by Christopher McCulloch and others): The incompetent henchmen of the Monarch. They are all rather stupid, disposable and interchangeable, and the Monarch frequently kills them for various infractions. The Monarch has a total of about 83 henchmen, as reported by Dr. Girlfriend, though he generally seems to have an inexhaustable supply. The Monarch refers to them all by number except for a junior henchman, "Speedy". Two other henchmen, Numbers Twenty-One and Twenty-Four, are singled out from the group as recurring characters, and were the only revealed not to have left Monarch's crew after his incarceration.
- Baron Werner Ünderbheit (voiced by T. Ryder Smith): A noted member of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and tyrant dictator of Ünderland. He wears a prosthetic metal jaw and speaks in a thick, pseudo-German accent. He is an enemy of Dr. Venture due to unresolved differences from their college days together. Venture is to blame for Ünderbheit's prosthetic jaw; as he says, "In my country, a lab-partnership is a sacred trust. One is always supposed to look out for one's lab-partner! Venture did not..." Baron Ünderbheit is a parody of Doctor Doom and has been jokingly identified as such in the context of show (e.g. The Monarch referred to him as "that dime store Doctor Doom").
- Manservant (voiced by Christopher McCulloch): Baron Ünderbheit's long-time personal servant, given to him as a birthday present from his mother while he was in college. He is so completly devoted to Underbheit that he almost seems to have no will of his own; he speaks in a zombielike drone, and always appears to be staring into space.
- The Phantom Limb (voiced by James Urbaniak): A villain with invisible arms and legs, and arguably the most competent villian known in the Venture Brothers universe, despite (or perhaps because of) the fact he's never actually fought against the Ventures, and has in fact never given any indication that he is anything but indifferent to them. He is a high-ranking member of the Guild of Calamitous Intent. It is hinted that he and Dr. Girlfriend used to be a couple. He bears a striking resemblance to the comic book hero The Phantom. Once, a heroic super-scientist until the accident that resulted in his transparent limbs, the accident also gave him the ability to kill or render people unconscious with a single touch, even through objects they hold such as guns. He framed the Monarch for murder and attempted to foil the Monarch's escape plot, ostensibly because he wants Dr. Girlfriend all to himself. His name and invisible limbs are references to the phantom limb syndrome experienced by amputees.
Recurring and minor characters
- Molotov Cocktease (voiced by Mia Barron): Brock Samson's love interest, despite the fact that she killed his partner and he killed her father and took out her left eye. She is an ex-Soviet agent, now making her living as a mercenary. She is a knife enthusiast, like Brock, and shares a sadomasochistic relationship with him. Their meetings often begin with a vicious fight as a means of foreplay. Unfortunately, she wears a chastity belt, so their relationship can never go forward. Her name is a pun combining "Molotov cocktail" with "cocktease" (referring primarily to her chastity belt).
- Professor Richard Impossible (voiced by Stephen Colbert): Former professor to Dr. Venture, Mr. White, and Billy Quizboy and founder of Impossible Industries, a major government contractor. Impossible and his cohorts are a parody of the Fantastic Four: an experiment with cosmic radiation gave them each strange abilities. Richard can stretch his body like rubber, similar to Mister Fantastic. The name "Richard" is derived most probably from "Reed Richards", which is Mr. Fantastic's given name. The other members of his family have useless parodies of the other members' powers. His wife Sally (voiced by Mia Barron) has invisible skin (which is somewhat less useful than the abilities of the Invisible Woman) and she requires all her concentration to keep her skin visible. Sally's brother Cody (voiced by Christopher McCulloch) bursts into flames when exposed to oxygen. Unlike the Human Torch, he cannot control nor is immune to this very painful reaction, so he is kept in an air-tight container (though it is never explained how he can live without any access to breathable air). Their mentally handicapped cousin Ned (voiced by Christopher McCulloch) has a pale orange, "non-rocky" appearance. Unlike The Thing, he has no enhanced abilities or powers; his appearance is simply that of a "giant (and painful) callous." Makes a brief appearance in the Christmas special with a visibly pregnant Sally.
- Col. Bud Manstrong (voiced by Terrence Fleming): Commanding officer of the orbiting space station Gargantua-1. He is in love with his station partner, Lt. Baldavitch, but his "seduction" of her has moved at a glacial pace. Presumably killed when the backwash of the Venture space shuttle smashed him against the space station walls causing him to drift out into space. Name is a play off of Neil Armstrong.
- Lt. Anna Baldavitch (voiced by Nina Hellman): Lieutenant under Col. Manstrong on Gargantua-1. Her face is never shown, and it is implied that she is catastrophically ugly, in stark contrast to her shapely body. Her unconsummated relationship with Bud Manstrong is put in jeopardy when the Venture team visits the space station and she has sex with Brock, with her helmet on, of course.
- Roy Brisby (voiced by Christopher McCulloch): Founder, manager and CEO of the "Brisbyland" theme park and associated entertainment empire. He was crippled in an accident ("...trapped, beneath an unstoppable metal Lincoln.") that occurred during the construction of Brisbyland and is now confined to a wheelchair. He wishes for Dr. Venture to clone him a new body. He is a parody of Walt Disney. He also had a "companda" named Li-Li that he had won off of David Bowie in a trivia contest, until Molotov stole the panda back for Bowie. Incidentally, or perhaps not, Walt Disney's brother is named Roy.
- Mandelay (voiced by Charles Stewart Parnell): Roy Brisby's large bodyguard. Mandelay is named for his theme music, "Mandelay," from Foetus's Flow. Though his appearance is quite intimidating, he is surprisingly pragmatic when it comes to risk of bodily harm.
- Major Tom (voiced by James Urbaniak): A test pilot for the late Dr Jonas Venture. He died when the experimental plane he was flying crashed in the Bermuda Triangle. He returns from the dead as a flaming, screaming, skeletal ghost. His name is another of the multiple references to David Bowie and his music that are made in the show.
- Steve Summers (voiced by Christopher McCulloch): A former astronaut. After a near-fatal accident, he underwent a six-million-dollar procedure to turn him into a bionic man. He is currently fleeing the military, who expected him to work off the six million dollars spent reconstructing his body. He is a parody of Steve Austin of The Six Million Dollar Man, the last name of "Summers" being taken from Jaime Sommers, the lead character of Six Million Dollar Man spin-off The Bionic Woman.
- Sasquatch (voiced by Christopher McCulloch): Also known as Bigfoot. Steve Summers' life partner who gave him a new hope to abandon his government work. Their relationship parodies an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man where Steve Austin encountered Sasquatch. Sasquatch is a male, which is realized by Brock (much to his horror) when he shaves Bigfoot in order to pass him off as an old war buddy.
- Tiny Attorney (voiced by Christopher McCulloch): A southern gentlemen prosecutor during the Monarch's trial and #3 on The Guild of Calamitous Intent's Most Wanted List. He is actually a little person growing from the body of "an inbred simpleton". He is abducted during the trial by the Guild's Strangers, led by the Phantom Limb. He is a spoof of Kuato from the movie Total Recall and Andy Griffith's character from the TV show Matlock.
- Hunter Gathers (voiced by Christopher McCulloch): Brock's mentor in the OSI and a parody of Hunter S. Thompson. Decades ago, he trained Brock to be the killing machine he is today. Wears small blue cargo shorts with his "Nick Fury"-type costume, and frequently smokes cigarettes through a long-handled filter. He abruptly disappeared from the OSI with a large amount of embezzled money, leading to Brock's assignment to find and kill his former teacher. As it turns out, Hunter had traveled to Macronesia to get a sex change operation and begin life as a woman. His name is a pun on the term, "Hunter gatherer."
Imprisoned supervillians
- King Gorilla (voiced by Christopher McCulloch): A talking homosexual gorilla in prison. Was a member of the Guild of Calamitous Intent until his imprisonment (for eviscerating and sodomizing Vince Neil on national television, or at least half of him) which has left him steamed at the Guild. Helps the Monarch escape from prison in the second season, but not before giving him (to Monarch's horror) a good-bye kiss. His ability to talk and walk upright is not explained. He once tried to rape the Monarch, but couldn't do it because of his girl-like frame. He has an obsession with Tarzan and Jackson Publick has even suggested that he somehow houses and raises multiple Tarzans in his cell or the common area of the prison. Another reference to his obsession with Tarzan is a scene in which the Phantom Limb attempts to bribe him by sneaking in what appears to be a fully grown man baked into a giant cake that is apparently made with "Tarzipan." Mostly likely is a parody of Monsieur Mallah, as they are both talking, homosexual gorillas, or possibly Gorilla Grodd from the Legion of Doom.
- Tigerific: First mentioned in a deleted scene as a purported "peer" of the Monarch. He has since been shown to be in prison, where the Monarch planned to use him in his escape plot. However, while operating as a supervillain, he wore a tiger suit that granted him super-powers, powers the Monarch thought that Tigerific had on his own. He is not, contrary to popular belief, "half tiger, or something," nor was he raised by tigers. The Monarch has apparently worked with him in the past, and on one such occasion, the Monarch saw him "cleave an Eyewitness News van in twain."
- Dr. Septapus: He was among the key players in the Monarch's escape plot. His role was never specified, but it is likely he as meant to cause a diversion. Septapus is so named for the fact that he has seven limbs (two arms on each side, one on his chest, and two legs). A Septapus is a relative of the Octopus, but only has seven arms. Dr. Septapus is a parody of the Spider-Man villain, Doctor Octopus, but has actual organic limbs instead of cybernetic add-ons, but still has a penchant for sporty glasses. Septapus' hair is thinning on top.
- White Noise: A minor character who appeared in season 2 as part of the Monarch's escape group. He's a stereotypical racist southerner whose body became living TV static after he tried repairing a TV which ended in a live volt electrocution. He askes the Monarch if his group is multicultural because he doesn't want to "muddy" his "pure white blood". The Monarch, however, doubts he even has blood anymore.
- Mister Monday: Another supervillain who was a part of the Monarch's escape group in prison. He's a flamboyant villain with a monocle and a WASP-esque accent. He obsesses over the date of Monday and wanted to be "President of Calendars" in the Monarch's group. He appears to be a parody of the DC Comics villain Calendar Man. He is also similar in appearance to characters Virman Vundabar, Baron Strucker and The Batman villain The Penguin.
- Tiny Joseph: Although he originally appeared as one of the Monarch's henchmen in "A Very Venture Christmas", he now appears as the Monarch's cellmate. He is only a few inches tall and writes a tiny message for the Monarch that can be carried away by one of his butterflies.
- Mecha-Mouth: A supervillian who was part of the scare program in the same prison as the Monarch. He resembles a Tusken Raider, with the bandages exposing two goggle-like objects for eyes. His most striking feature of which he is named is a flat cartoon duck-like bill filled with sharp teeth which seem to chatter like a wind-up toy.
- Shame Face: A supervillian who was part of the scare program as well as the Monarch's escape group. His face and body were severely burned prior to his imprisonment. Seems to be a parody of the long-standing post-silver age tradition of villains disfigured due to their own misguided actions. Such a theme is common in the Batman mythos with Two-Face and The Joker. Shame Face is possibly a closer parody of Two-Face, except that his entire face was disfigured instead of only half.
Organizations
- Team Venture - once the premiere adventuring organization thirty-five to twenty or so years ago, a group of extraordinary gentlemen led by the late, great, Jonas Venture, Sr., and discovering amazing things and making wonderful scientific advances. The present day group merely consists of Jonas Venture's lackluster son Thaddeus S. Venture, his bumbling sons Hank and Dean, the muscular and uber-competent bodyguard Brock Samson, and the overbearing necromancer Dr. Byron Orpheus. This latter-day group is in no way a worthy successor to their predecessors and barely manage to make ends meet, yet they still manage to (occasionally) go on fantastic adventures anyways.
- The Guild of Calamitous Intent - a syndicate that seems to hold sway over all major and minor supervillains, ne'er-do-wells, and otherwise outlandish criminals. It helps to make laws and guidelines regulating villainous behavior, but lately the Phantom Limb seems to have been using it for his own gain, failing to help or support villains who were quite loyal to the group (such as King Gorilla) or those Phantom Limb has an extreme dislike for (such as the Monarch). Undercover Guild operatives are called "Strangers." The activities of Strangers are monitered by two cyborg Guild operatives, who receive orders from the top. Brock has praised the Guild's precision, and describes it as "the only organization [he] still respect[s]."
- Office of Secret Intelligence - the supersecret spy organization Brock Samson is a member of. Has been in existence since the Second American Revolution; "The invisible one". It trained him into the wonder he is today and its miltary outfits are vaguely reminiscent of S.H.I.E.L.D. The infamous Race Bannon was once a member of this organization until he was killed. Its name seems to be patterned after that of the real-life Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the CIA.
- Orange County Liberation Front - a minor paramilitary organization based in Orange County, California whose goal is to overthrow the local amusement park, Brisbyland, and regain control of the county.
- Impossible Industries - A secret think-tank, headed by Prof. Richard Impossible, where some of the greatest minds on the planet work together. The headquarters is secluded at the North Pole. Pete White, Master Billy Quizboy, and Dr. Venture were selected personally by Prof. Impossible to work there. Drug tests from urine samples are company policy.
- Conjectural Technologies - A buisness started by Pete White and Master Billy Quizboy, operated out of the trailer they live in. White identifies himself as a computer technician and Billy as a neurogeneticist. Dr. Venture contacted them to help indentify and cure Dean's testicular torsion.