If you haven’t seen The Venture Brothers yet, you really got to get on that. It is a one-stop shop for parodies of comics, sci-fi movies, and Saturday morning cartoons. It follows the adventures of Hank and Dean Venture (parodying The Hardy Boys), a couple of accident-prone teenagers, who accompany their super-scientist wannabe father, Dr. Venture, and their secret agent bodyguard, Brock Sampson (a family unit that parodies Johnny Quest). They are usually being threatened by The Monarch, a butterfly-themed archnemesis of Dr. Venture’s. Even though so much of it is based on spoofing classic cartoons, it has gained its own mythology and a giant cast of recurring characters. The best of which are as follows:
King Gorilla is a humanoid gorilla crime boss serving time in Super-Villain Prison with The Monarch. He is known for being a little too aggressive trying to scare kids straight. He is rumored to be gay, and he most definitely got lung cancer making The Monarch’s carton of cigs gift kind of tasteless.
Now known as Dr. Mrs. The Monarch. She was the on-again, off-again serious girlfriend of The Monarch. She was a serial dater of professional arch-nemeses, usually becoming their Harley Quinn. She has smoked so many cigarettes that her voice has become incredibly deep and man-like, but her womanly figure still captures the attention of just about every straight male character on the show.
Dr. Byron Orpheus is a necromancer who is a spoof of Marvel’s Dr. Strange. He rents a building on Dr. Venture’s compound and aids him in more magical endeavors, but since the doc doesn’t believe in magic, he pretty much just babysits. He is also the leader of a supernatural strike force called The Order of the Triad. They are not as impressive as their name implies nor is his very Shakespearean cadence.
A high-ranking leader of the OSI (Office of Secret Intelligence), Gathers was kicked out for believing in a guild of supervillains (which turned out to exist) and went deep undercover, going as far to get a sex change. Col. Gathers bears a striking resemblance to gonzo journalist, Hunter S. Thompson. Whoever voices him does a damn good impression too.
The Master is the master (duh!) of all supernatural forces. He visits many of his followers by taking on different appearances. He seems to favor Dr. Orpheus’ company. He has materialized himself to Orpheus as Cerberus, Orpheus’ ex-wife, and Santa Claus. He is voiced by Archer star, H. Jon Benjamin, and he is great at poking fun at all his misbehaving disciples.
Billy is a man with stunted growth, a mechanical hand, an eyepatch, and too much spinal fluid in his head. He has a weird history. He got caught cheating on trivia game shows forcing him to make ends meat playing back alley trivia games. He ended up getting recruited to go under cover as a mad scientist apprentice for the OSI. Now, he is stuck in a trailer with his old buddy, Pete White, occasionally hanging out with Dr. Venture.
The Alchemist looks like an old-fashioned monk, but he is voiced by the same guy who voices Master Shake on Aqua Teen Hunger Force. He is the most hip of The Order of the Triad, as well as one of the many openly homosexual cast members of The Venture Brothers. He is a fairly powerful magic user, he is just lazy. He’d rather be bar-hopping.
Clearly a spoof of Marvel’s Black Widow, she is a Russian assassin with a lot of history with the Venture’s bodyguard, Brock Sampson. She has a chastity belt so she leaves Brock with blue balls all the time. She is an effective killer and spy, who has caused just about as much damage to the Ventures as she has helped them. Her ridiculous Russian accent and chemistry with Brock is fantastic.
Shore Leave is another openly gay member of the Venture cast. He is based on the G.I. Joe member, Shipwreck, but as a member of the Village People. He was in the military and worked for the OSI before going rogue with Col. Gathers and Brock. In the last season, he became a more prominent character showing off his military skills and making straight alpha males insecure about their own abilities.
This is kind of a cheat because Henchman 21 could be considered a main character. He has been around since near the beginning. He is a fanboy (a collector of Star Wars memorabilia who looks like Kevin Smith when not in uniform). He is obsessed with arch-enemies and henchman lifestyle. He is described by The Monarch as perfect combination of expendable and invulnerable. He isn’t that capable of a henchman, until the later season, but he has the kind of dumb luck that allows him to be the longest lasting henchman of The Monarch (who loses a lot to Brock’s kill craziness.)
