Maxime Le Mal

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Villainous Benchmark

Basic
Cockroach-Man

Full Name

Maxime Le Mal

Alias

Cockroach-Man

Origin

Despicable Me 4

Allies

Valentina (girlfriend)

His Roaches
Principal Übelschlecht

Powers / Skills

Charisma
Knowledge over cockroaches
High intelligence
Business management
Mechanical engineering
Immense wealth
Leadership
Intimidation
Combat prowess
Cockroach physiology:

Enhanced strength
Enhanced speed
Enhanced agility
Nigh-invulnerability
Superhuman durability
Flight

Goals

Kidnap Gru Jr. and turn him into a cockroach as revenge on Gru. (briefly succeeded, but later backfired)
Turn everyone into cockroaches hybrids.
Conquer the world with an army of cockroaches.
Impress his principle in his school to commit crimes in the future and restart his ruined graduation that he almost have and get a replacement trophie.
Kill Gru for stealing his song. (all failed)

MEH or Worst Act

Turning Gru Jr. and a gas station worker into a human-cockroach hybrid

Kill Count

1 (attempted)

Crimes

Attempted murder
Abuse of power
Psychological abuse
Assault and battery
Kidnapping
Destruction of property
Trespassing
Theft
Terrorism
Brainwashing
Child abuse
Jailbreak
Endangerment
Unethical experimentation
Attempted world domination
Corruption
Conspiracy
Resisting arrest
Jailbreak
Unlawful imprisonment

Type of Villain

Vengeful Mastermind

“	I'm coming for you, Gru	„
	~ Maxime Le Mal calling his vengeance.

“	He stole my big number!	„
	~ Maxime Le Mal talking about his talent show.

“	THIS ENDS NOW! SAY GOODBYE TO DADDY!	„
	~ Maxime Le Mal about to drop Gru off the construction site to kill him.

Maxime Le Mal is the main antagonist of Illumination's 15th full-length feature film, Despicable Me 4, the sixth installment in the Despicable Me franchise.

In his characterization, he is a cockroach-themed supervillain who becomes the fourth sworn adversary as well as the arch-nemesis of Felonious Gru; their conflict originates due to the fact that Maxime was humiliated by Gru during their time at school as well as when he was arrested during a sting operation, thereby seeking revenge on him and his family after he gets exposed for his crimes before getting arrested by the AVL. He is also the boyfriend of Valentina herself.

He was voiced by Will Ferrell, who also played Megamind in the film of the same name.

His Evil Ranking[]

His Villainous Deeds[]

After being captured by Gru, he almost immediately broke out of prison and vowed revenge on the former supervillain.
He found out about where Gru lives, which caused him and his family to move out and change their identities.
He destroyed a road and endangered civilians when he emerged from the ground in his cockroach mech.
He turned a gas station employee into a cockroach-human hybrid; it shows the process is pretty painful when they are zapped.
He stole fuel and a slushy from a gas station.
Once he finds out Gru's new home, he invades it.
He kidnapped Gru Jr. and turned him into a cockroach.
He tried to kill Gru, sadistically smiling while doing so.
He told the brainwashed Gru Jr. to go kill Gru, but this backfired since Gru Jr. realized how much he loved his dad.
While it was wrong of Gru to steal Maxime's act, it's too petty and laughable to make him tragic, especially since he was already attending a villain school before this. Plus, Gru only did it to get back at Maxime for pantsing him at a dance that same year.
Despite the high heinous standard, he stands out for being the only Despicable Me villain to brainwash people and the most personal villain towards Gru.

Why He Doesn't Stand Out?[]

While he meets the baseline as his brainwashing is unique in the series (not to mention it’s depicted as painful) and he serves as Gru’s most personal enemy, he still fails the high heinous standards of Balthazar Bratt, who, with just a robot, tried to launch an entire city into space (which would have given him a body count of thousands).
Despite being taken more seriously than most other Despicable Me villains, he has many detracting comedic moments, such as:
- Him questioning if he should rename himself to "Cockroach Man."
- His backstory of planning to sing "Karma Chameleon," while wearing a Boy George outfit, before Gru stole the song from him.
- An infamous gag where he fails to work the gas station's credit card machine.
- His slapstick defeat at the hands of Gru Jr. and the Mega Minions.
- Him singing with Gru at the end of the movie.
He cares about a few people, for instance:
- He cares about his cockroach soldiers, referring to them by name and praising them for their help.
- He is genuinely in love with Valentina, as he agreed to buy her a slushy and is visibly upset when she was defeated.
- He was affable to Ubelschlecht and is generally on good terms with her.
At the end of the movie, he obtains partial redemption by performing a musical number with Gru, suggesting he has cooled off.