The Venture Bros. - Characters

Characters

The characters of The Venture Bros. are largely either re-imaginings of the characters from Jonny Quest, comic book superheroes and supervillains, or of other famous figures from popular culture. Hank (voiced by Christopher McCulloch) and Dean Venture (voiced by Michael Sinterniklaas) are the titular fraternal twin brothers of the show. Hank is the more adventurous and Dean the more timid and bookish of the two. The two teenagers often wind up in perilous situations, and (as revealed in the second season) have been killed over a dozen times, but replaced with exact clones who have no memory of their own deaths.

Dr. Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture (voiced by James Urbaniak) a former boy adventurer and inspiration for the "Rusty Venture" cartoon series, runs what remains of Venture Industries, a once-leading global corporation established by his super-scientist adventurer father Jonas. Since Jonas' death, Venture industries has declined to a shadow of its former glory, now occupying only a portion of the vast and deteriorating Venture compound and external locations including a base on Spider Skull Island and the space station Gargantua-1, all built by Jonas. Dr. Venture–who does not actually have a doctorate–attempts to follow in his father's footsteps by becoming a super-scientist himself, although his competence frequently falls short of his father's and he usually demonstrates questionable ethics, leading others to claim that his occasional successes merely capitalize on the work of his late father.

Brock Samson (voiced by Patrick Warburton) is the original bodyguard to the Venture family. Appointed by the Office of Secret Intelligence (OSI), the muscular and hyper-masculine Brock frequently uses his license to kill to protect the Venture family from any threat with sudden and brutal violence. He is a ruthless (and somewhat sadistic) hand-to-hand combatant, usually preferring to use a combat knife, his hands and feet, or his vintage Dodge Charger rather than firearms; the Monarch refers to him fearfully as Venture's "Swedish murder machine" ("Dia de Los Dangerous!").

In the fourth season, Brock Samson is replaced as bodyguard by Sergeant Hatred (voiced by Christopher McCulloch), a former supervillain. Prior to becoming their bodyguard, Hatred was assigned to be the Venture family's arch-enemy. Hatred is also a "cured" pedophile; his pedophilia is actually controlled by an experimental drug ("Nomolestol") given to him by the OSI and its effectiveness varies wildly between episodes.

Dr. Venture's deceased father, Dr. Jonas Venture (voiced by Paul Boocock), was the model super-scientist of his day. He was a visionary who changed the world with his inventions, and stands as the inspiration for most other protagonists in the series. He formed "Team Venture", a collection of friends and associates that helped him fight crime and subsequently save his son (Dr. Venture) from his arch-enemies. To help his son cope without a mother figure, he developed a loyal and rather emotional robot named H.E.L.P.eR. (listed in episode credits as voiced by "Soul-Bot") that accompanies and assists the Ventures. Early in the series, he was portrayed as a model man and father. However, later episodes show him as callous and uncaring about his son's well being. In the fourth season episode "Self Medication", there is a scene showing the young Rusty Venture receiving psychotherapy from his father. As Rusty says that he longs for a normal childhood, Jonas interrupts him and insists that he is ungrateful for the opportunities given to him.

Throughout the series, the Venture family has had various recurring antagonists. Many are current or former members of The Guild of Calamitous Intent, an organization originally founded to save mankind from self-destruction but which now serves as an ad hoc placement agency matching super villains with appropriate heroic nemeses. The organization is run by the mysterious leader known only as "The Sovereign", who is revealed to be real-life rock star David Bowie in episode 26.

The Venture Family's primary nemesis is the pernicious but ineffective super-villain the Monarch (voiced by Christopher McCulloch). Assuming the motif of a monarch butterfly and "arching" Dr. Venture since college, the Monarch will stop at nothing to kill Dr. Venture (even though his motive is unknown). Accompanying the Monarch is the masculine-voiced Dr. Girlfriend, (voiced by Doc Hammer) referred to by the Monarch as "Dr. Mrs. The Monarch" after their wedding.

Baron Werner Ünterbheit (voiced by T. Ryder Smith) is a former dictator of Ünterland and bears a grudge against Venture. He blames Venture for the loss of his jaw in college, citing, "One is always supposed to look out for one's lab partner!" The season-three premiere reveals that the Monarch was responsible for the explosion that destroyed Ünterbheit's jaw, in an early attempt to kill Venture.

Phantom Limb (voiced by James Urbaniak) is a ruthless killer, villain insurance agent, and high-ranking Guild member (or was until he tried to usurp David Bowie as the Sovereign). Also, he was the former lover of Dr. Girlfriend before she left him to become The Monarch's companion.

The Ventures' friends and acquaintances include expert necromancer Doctor Byron Orpheus (voiced by Steven Rattazzi) and his apathetic, teenage goth daughter Triana (voiced by Lisa Hammer), who rent a portion of the Venture Compound; the albino computer scientist Pete White (voiced by McCulloch), a former college friend of Dr. Venture's; and hydrocephalic "boy genius" Master Billy Quizboy (voiced by Hammer). Surviving members of the original Team Venture have also appeared as well as Dr. Orpheus' teammates.