Gru

In 1968, Scarlet Overkill and her husband steal the Queen's crown in London. A boy shows up, freezes them with a ray and rides off with the crown on a rocket-powered motorcycle. It's Gru. Kevin, Stuart, Bob and the whole tribe run after him: they've found their boss.

At 11, in 1976, Gru has a basement lair and the Minions as his helpers. He auditions for the Vicious 6, gets laughed out and steals the gang's Zodiac Stone. Kidnapped by Wild Knuckles, he ends up friends with the old villain, who teaches him the trade. In the end, he hires a scientist who runs a record store: Dr. Nefario.

As an adult, Gru loses face when Vector steals the Great Pyramid. To top him, he plans to steal the Moon. He adopts Margo, Edith and Agnes just to get into his rival's fortress, but he gets attached. He steals the Moon, misses the girls' ballet recital and, when Vector kidnaps them, trades the Moon for his daughters without a second thought.

Now a full-time dad, Gru makes jelly. Agent Lucy Wilde brings him into the Anti-Villain League to find whoever stole PX-41. He suspects restaurant owner Eduardo, and he's right: it's El Macho. Mid-mission, Gru falls for Lucy. He saves her, they get married, and the girls get a mom.

Fired from the League after letting Balthazar Bratt escape, Gru learns he has a twin, Dru, in Freedonia, and that their father was the Bald Terror. Dru wants to be a villain. Gru pretends to teach him but plans to hand Bratt's diamond to the League. The brothers fall out and make up in time to stop Bratt's robot in Hollywood.

Gru gets old school rival Maxime Le Mal arrested at a reunion. Maxime escapes and wants to turn Gru Jr. into a cockroach. The family moves under fake names, and the baby wants nothing to do with his dad. Blackmailed by neighbor Poppy, Gru pulls a heist again. When Maxime takes his son, Gru goes to get him back, and Gru Jr. finally calls him dada.

Steve Carell voices Gru in every film he appears in.