Gru

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Lore & Background

Gru is a supervillain whose ambitions include masterminding evil deeds, such as stealing the Moon. He is bald, top-heavy, has a sharp and long beak nose and wears a black coat and a scarf. Despite his wicked motives, he is largely inept and often resorts to petty acts of villainy. His suburban home is built above a secret lair, inhabited by his Minions. In Despicable Me, Gru is preoccupied with being the greatest villain of all time. His ambitions are influenced by his mother, who sometimes ridicules him. With the help of his genius inventor Dr. Nefario, he is able to employ a variety of weapons to carry out his wicked plans, such as his Insta-Freeze Gun or his Shrink Ray. In addition to his Minions, Gru has a small, sharp-toothed dog named Kyle. His prickly, quick-tempered personality softens after adopting three orphan girls, named Margo, Edith, and Agnes. In Despicable Me 2, when recruited as an agent by the Anti-Villain League (AVL), he meets Lucy Wilde, who becomes his love interest. In Despicable Me 3, he meets his long-lost evil twin brother, Dru. In the fourth Despicable Me film, he is the biological father of a baby named Gru Jr.

In Their Own Story

At the beginning of the first film (2010), Gru is an ambitious supervillain who constantly seeks approval from his mother. He is undermined by his rival, Vector, who steals the Great Pyramid from Giza. With the intention of becoming the greatest villain, he plans to steal the moon by using a Shrink Ray. To further his evil plan, he adopts three orphan girls, who eventually reform his character. In the second film (2013), Gru leaves his villainous past behind to care for his adoptive daughters. He spends his time launching a range of jams and jellies, which causes Dr. Nefario to resign. Gru is recruited by Lucy Wilde, an agent at the Anti-Villain League, to help uncover a supervillain at a local shopping mall. Eventually he discovers that the supervillain is a Mexican restaurant owner named El Macho. In the third film (2017), he and his wife, Lucy, are fired from their jobs at the Anti-Villain League due to failing to stop a supervillain named Balthazar Bratt. Gru learns that he has a twin brother named Dru. Along with Lucy and the girls, he meets Dru at his mansion and they form a brotherly relationship, in which Dru attempts to drag Gru back into a life of villainy. In the fourth film (2024), Gru and his family, which includes his baby son named Gru Jr., are forced to move to a new town and assume different identities after a villain named Maxime Le Mal, who has harboured a high school hatred for Gru, escapes from prison.

Reader's Guide

Gru debuted in Despicable Me (2010) as a supervillain who plans to steal the moon using a Shrink Ray. His personality is defined by his grouchy, quick-witted, and cynical nature, but he softens after adopting three orphan girls: Margo, Edith, and Agnes. In Despicable Me 2 (2013), he leaves villainy behind to care for his daughters, launches a jam business, and is recruited by the Anti-Villain League to stop El Macho. In Despicable Me 3 (2017), he is fired from the AVL, meets his twin brother Dru, and faces Balthazar Bratt. In Despicable Me 4 (2024), he and his family—including baby Gru Jr.—enter witness protection after Maxime Le Mal escapes prison. Gru's voice actor Steve Carell described his performance for a younger Gru in Minions: The Rise of Gru as "a little more earnest, voice a bit higher, a little squeakier, a little less composed, but very much the same guy."

Did You Know?

• Gru's distinctive accent was conceived by voice actor Steve Carell as a combination of 'every middle European country in the world, plus a little Latin America, and maybe some French.'
• Early in development, Gru nearly had a French accent inspired by Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau.
• In Despicable Me 3, Steve Carell voiced both Gru and his long-lost evil twin brother, Dru.
• Gru's character was originally much more evil in early concepts, but the creative team found ways to make him 'evil but very charming.'
• For Minions: The Rise of Gru, Carell voiced a younger Gru with a higher, squeakier, and more earnest tone.