Gru (Despicable Me)

Gru is the main protagonist of the Despicable Me series (except Minions, the first prequel, where he only appeared at the end of the film). He comes from a long linage of villains and was separated from his brother Dru since birth and lived with Marlena Gru. He has always been bullied by other students and one of these events made him afraid of asking a girl for a date as this was the reason why he became evil. He and his mom visited Villain-Com and met Dr. Joseph Albert Nefario. Attracted to the scientist's contraptions, he would later employ Nefario, as well as a group of yellow pillow-shaped creatures named Minions he met shortly afterward. The Minions and Nefario would eventually become his only friends and, differently than the usual villain, he treated them as friends and appreciated every effort they made instead of treating them like slaves. Things started to change when 3 girls came to the scene.

Why He Rocks

 * 1) To start things off. Gru get's major character development. He starts off as a villain, but he has a change of heart. His heart changed to the point where he gave up the moon that he has shrunken and give it to Vector so the girls can be released.
 * 2) Even if Gru changed his heart, he's a sympathetic character who is seen as a villain who deems to be the greatest supervillain in the world. However, he ends up getting distracted by the girls.
 * 3) He's a pretty funny and entertaining character with loads of humor like "I'll stuff you all in the crust", him cosplaying as a fairy princess in Agnes' party, or "I sit on the toilet".
 * 4) Despite having an antagonistic persona, Gru was still kind to the people he cares for like Nefario, the Minions, and even the girls. Even going as far a re-adopting the girls at the end of the first film.
 * 5) He's quite a nice foil to Lucy Wilde. Gru would often feel irritated to work with her as both characters have different personalities. However, Gru started to realize he is in love with her. It goes on when he felt heartbroken about Lucy leaving. Thankfully, both reunited and got married in the end. Not only does this count as character development, but it also shows that Gru admits his love.
 * 6) The Minions film may not be that great of a film, but we get to see a scene where Gru gets to appear and explain how he got the minions. Sure, the movie itself has story issues, but Gru's appearance is just nothing short of awesome.
 * 7) The Rise of Gru movie, shows more of his backstory of how he became the likable villain protagonist that we know and love.
 * 8) Was a child prodigy according to his backstory of him building a prototype rocket. This also contributed to Gru being a pretty smart mastermind.
 * 9) His past is surprisingly troubled for a guy like him. He had a father who divorced his mother and his peers treat him like trash.
 * 10) Gru is very protective towards his family whether it be his adopted girls or even his own brother Dru. Speaking of Dru, Bratt messed with Dru to the point that Gru comes in and faces Bratt.
 * 11) He's a big determinator as the films show that he will stop at nothing to get what he wants. From stealing the Moon to even rescuing Lucy.
 * 12) He had a reason as to why he stole the moon mainly because he wanted to impress his mother. But it turns out that the girls were the reason why Gru's mom was proud of him.
 * 13) He doesn't really do anything overly dastardly in the film's universe. (In real life, however, the consequences of stealing the Moon would be horrific). Sure he freezes a few people, but freezing doesn't last too long.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Even though he had funny moments, Gru, at first, is unlikeable and cruel.
 * 2) Is somewhat of a butt-monkey as he gets the most slapstick inflicted on him.

Trivia

 * Gave us certain memes like "You're going to suffer the wrath of Gru", "I'll stuff you all in the crust", "gorl", and Gru's plan
 * Gru's original name is Groo.
 * It is known that he started balding before the age of 40, and he still had lots of hair at some point during his life.
 * Gru's birthdate is either June 19, 1960 or September 28, 1960 (as shown on his profile on Miss Hattie's computer).
 * Gru's e-mail is BaldandBeautiful@grumail.com
 * Gru and Steve Carell look somewhat alike, as shown when Steve Carell appeared dressed as him on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.
 * Gru seems to be very wealthy, as indicated that he pays each of the minions wages, and there are over 10,000 minions. Although, it is also indicated that much of his money comes from the Bank. However, his source of income in Despicable Me 2 is unknown before he became an agent of AVL.
 * Gru shares some characteristic features with the current version of Dr. Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik, a villain of the Sonic the Hedgehog series.
 * Gru shares some characteristic features with the Dreamworks character Megamind from an eponymous film. Both are introduced as villains and end up being the hero of their respective movies, both have great intellect they use to create high tech weapons and gadgets and while Gru has an army of Minions at hand, Megamind's most trustworthy and loyal ally is a talking fish in a robotic body called Minion; Megamind also had a horde of small, airborne "Brain Bots" as his servants and helpers.
 * Gru bears some resemblance to an Emperor Penguin, which is known for the father's tendency to protect and nurture its offspring very well, such as the case for his minions and adopted daughters.
 * He also bears some resemblance to Batman villain Oswald Cobblepot, aka the Penguin, right down to their vaguely bird-like appearances.
 * Some early concept art of "Groo" resembled Jafar, the main antagonist of Disney's Aladdin.
 * When getting zapped the first time by a Lipstick Taser, Gru (later Antonio during a dance party with Gru's daughter) performs some of the late Michael Jackson dance as part of the late King of Pop's tribute.
 * When Gru was attacked by Pollito during his and Lucy's sneak-in at the Salsa and Salsa restaurant, the chicken worms his way underneath Gru's shirt and explodes out of his chest. This is a nod to the movie Alien and its famous "chestburster" scene.
 * Gru does have some resemblance to Ernst Stavro Blofeld of The James Bond Film Series.
 * Gru and his mother are also shown earlier in Minions at Villain-Con, where Gru appears to be purchasing his freeze-ray gun from Dr. Nefario. There, Gru also spotted Stuart, one of the lead Minions who are looking for the new boss.
 * Gru has been a supervillain since he was at least 8 years old, seen when he froze Scarlet Overkill and stole Queen Elizabeth's crown in 1968. This was also when the Minions respect him and he became their new boss since then.
 * He met Dr. Nefario in his youth when he went to Villain-Con with Marlena Gru.
 * A DNA test revealed more detailed information about Gru including:
 * Having an ancestry consisting of 55.7% Freedonian, 18.2% Balkan, 10.1% Sardinian, 6.8% Native American, 2.6% Japanese, and 6.6% Middle Eastern.
 * Having 312 Neanderthal variants, more than 77% of the Minions.
 * Being lactose intolerant.