| “ | I'm applying for a new villain loan. Go by the name of "Vector". It's a mathematical term. A quantity represented by an arrow with both direction and magnitude! Vector! That's me! Cause I'm committing crimes with both direction and magnitude! OH YEAH! | „ |
| ~ Vector’s most famous quote, introducing himself to Felonious Gru. |
Vector, real name Victor Perkins, is the main antagonist of Illumination's 1st feature film Despicable Me, the main protagonist of the short film Mooned and a minor character in Despicable Me 4.
He is a young, aspiring supervillain and the son of Mr. Perkins, the president of the Bank of Evil, as well as the first villain to fight Felonious Gru. He is one of Gru's archenemies and also the reason why Gru became a hero and adopted Margo, Edith, and Agnes.
In the film, he was voiced by Jason Segel. In the video game adaptation of the film, he was voiced by Jason Harris Katz.
What Makes Him a Shonen Villain?[]
- Villainous/Anti-Villainous: Vector commits several evil actions including stealing the Great Pyramid of Giza offscreen and replacing it with a giant replica, having his house security system constantly attack Gru for trying to steal the shrink ray back, kidnapping Margo, Edith and Agnes in order to make Gru give him the moon, and attempting to kill off Gru with missiles to stop him from rescuing the girls before cowardly taking off in his escape pod with both the moon and the girls.
- Powerful/Skillful: As a young supervillain, Vector has immense financial resources via his father's company, the Bank of Evil. He is skilled with inventing technology, such as the Piranha Gun and the Squid Launcher, and has an armory that consists of bizarre items beyond imagination.
- Power-Hungry: He is willing to abduct Margo, Edith and Agnes in order to obtain the shrunken moon from Gru and accomplish his goal in becoming the world's #1 supervillain.
- Pursues a Big-End Goal: Vector is determined to indicate his title as the world's no.1 supervillain by succeeding the moon heist against Gru and to steal the moon, which puts him into conflict with Gru, especially after he kidnaps Margo, Edith and Agnes in order to make Gru hand over the shrunken moon.
- Arrogant: Vector is overly confident and exceedingly arrogant, often tending to boast about his plans. He didn't think that the regrowing moon would harm him in spite of the girls' warnings, and thought the aliens in the short Mooned were threats.
- Intelligent: Vector is highly intelligent, being a genius in mechanics, strategy, and inventing.
- Laughably Evil: He has a ton of comedic moments, like his iconic introduction scene and his scenes with his father where he shows off his talents, him not being aware of a Cookie Robot’s sentience as he eats it, and him getting back up into his escape pod after surviving another injury from the moon before being crushed by it two more times.
- Psychopathic: Vector has no qualms about kidnapping children and taking them as hostages, as shown when he kidnapped Margo, Edith and Agnes in order to force Gru to surrender the moon to him.
- Narcissistic: He is very arrogant and boastful, and often takes time to congratulate himself and revel in his achievements.
- Has a Sinister Laugh: He laughs when he's successful or has outsmarted someone.
- Sadistic: He is seen laughing and cheering at his evil deeds or when he has outsmarted anybody he opposes.
- Serves as a Foil to the Hero/Protagonist: Vector is a dark reflection of Gru. Both were self-established villains who are willing to achieve their goals of becoming the greatest supervillains in the world. However, while Gru can be civil with the Minions and treats them like equals, and despite his initial hatred towards children, since he originally viewed Margo, Agnes, and Edith as pawns, he eventually grew to care for the trio throughout the movie, influencing him to become more heroic than he was before. Vector, meanwhile, is shown to be more determined in getting into villainy, which was further aided by the fact that he was horribly cruel towards the aforementioned girls, as evidenced in the film's climax, where he had carelessly put them in danger. Overall, Vector serves as an example of what Gru would've become if he had let his descent into villainy consume him.
- Bloodthirsty: He grabs Margo in order to keep Gru from rescuing her and severely endangers the young girl's life, being highly aware that his ship is about to explode and kill both of them thanks to the regrowing moon.
- Is a Secondary-Color Nemesis: He wears an orange jumpsuit.
- Has Black Air Force Energy: Kidnapping Margo, Edith and Agnes in order to make Gru give him the moon, and then "procrastinating" on safely returning the girls when Gru simply surrenders the moon as promised, possibly to spite Gru.
- Immature: Even though he is an adult, Vector always embraces and has the personality of an underage.