The V.I.L.E. Faculty, also referred to simply as The Faculty, are the council of five masterminds that lead V.I.L.E. and who are also the academic instructors of V.I.L.E. Academy. They are the primary antagonists of the 2019 Netflix animated series, Carmen Sandiego.
The Faculty are each of equal authority, and reach decisions by a majority vote. That said, Professor Maelstrom does seem to have the most influence of any member of the council and is often the one calling the shots on the whole, even if they are voted upon once the proposal is made.
While they are largely oriented in the same way to continue their thieving and villainy to gain wealth and status, each one has their own likes, interests, and distinct personalities. They will act petty, such as Malestrom wanting gold cufflinks made from a rare Equadorian Escudo to rub in Cleo's face, or snark at the others’ failures, such as Shadowsan's suggestion to use Tigress against Carmen in "The Lucky Cat Caper", resulting in Tigress' failure and Coach Brunt mocking him for it, not realizing that he intended for Carmen to beat Tigress. That said, they will settle their problems civilly and democratically by voting and respecting the will of the Council.
Members[]
Current Members[]
Former Members[]
Roles[]
- Professor Maelstrom deals in symbolic crime; various ways to prove that evil will triumph over law and order. Examples of this include the attempt to steal the Magna Carta, and his desire to turn a historically significant gold coin into a set of cuff links.
- Countess Cleo focuses on stealing priceless treasures and art and replacing them with forgeries, enabling her to keep them as trophies or resell to the criminal underworld. The Eye of Vishnu was kept in her residence in Poitiers, France, and it was Cleo who organized the thefts of the paintings of Vermeer.
- Coach Brunt is the muscle and fighter of the faculty. Her schemes are usually simple-minded and mostly involve intimidating and hurting enemies with her strength. Crackle, after being released from police custody, made a joke about Brunt wanting him to steal the finest eclairs in Paris.
- Dr. Bellum, being the scientist and inventor, handles capers that involve science, technology (such as the space station incident in Australia), and/or chemical weaponry (such as the rice destroying fungus in Indonesia).
- Before defecting to Carmen's team, Shadowsan dealt in stealth-based crimes; one example being the combined use of Mime Bomb and Tigress to covertly steal a $10,000,000 stamp from a Children's Foundation Auction in San Francisco.
Capers Supervised[]
Dr. Bellum[]
Rice Crop Destruction[]
- Location: Java, Indonesia
- Operative(s): Tigress
- Mission: Spread a rice destroying fungus across the rice fields in Indonesia.
- Goal: Get the Indonesians to purchase V.I.L.E. brand imitation rice at inflated prices.
- Result: Failure (Fungus spreading system sabotaged)
Space Station Sabotage[]
- Location: Australian Outback
- Operative(s): Le Chevre, El Topo
- Mission: Launch a defective rocket so that it would explode mid-air and rain debris on sacred land.
- Goal: Make the locals angry with the rocket scientists so that the company will lose it's contract and V.I.L.E. can take advantage of the situation and enter the space business.
- Result: Failure (Rocket launch aborted)
Milan Fashion Fauxpa[]
- Location: Milan, Italy
- Operative(s): Cookie Booker, Dash Haber, The Cleaners
- Mission: Sew stolen smart fabric into the hats of runway models in order to put them under mind control.
- Goal: Steal the gowns that originally belonged to the wealthy Medici family who provided funding to great artists during the Renaissance. The combined value of which surpasses nine million dollars.
- Result: Failure (Carmen's team stole the dresses first)
Grand Theft Race Car[]
- Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Operative(s): The Mechanic, The Driver
- Mission: Steal the new prototype race car that boasts the greatest speed of any car in history.
- Goal: Reverse engineer the car to create a fleet of uncatchable getaway cars.
- Result: Failure (Car stolen back by Carmen's team)
Continuing the Russian's Work[]
- Location: Moscow, Russia. One of Russia's Most Secured Strongholds
- Operative(s): Neal the Eel
- Mission: Break into the Kremlin and steal blueprints for a failed EMP generator.
- Goal: Build a working version that V.I.L.E. can use to shut off power to security systems.
- Result: Failure (Carmen broke into Dr. Bellum's lab to delete the stolen data and destroy the prototype)
Singapore Science Snatch[]
- Location: Singapore, Republic of Singapore
- Operative(s): Roby the Robo-Robber
- Mission: Test the capabilities of Bellum's robotic operatives
- Goal: Have the Robo Robber steal a one-of-a-kind Himalayan crown on display in the Singapore Art and Science Museum.
- Result: Success (crown stolen and test drive successfully fulfilled, but Carmen Sandiego was able to secure one of the robotics hands).
Capturing the Crackle[]
- Location: Reykjavík, Iceland
- Operative(s): Roby the Robo-Robber, The Cleaners, The Troll
- Mission: Capture or eliminate Graham Calloway
- Goal: Either capture or tie a loose end that threatened V.I.L.E's secrecy
- Result: Success (Calloway is successfully kidnapped by Roby and taken to Dr. Bellum's Himalayan Laboratory)
Android Army Assemblage[]
- Location: Himalayan Mountain Range
- Operative(s): Roby the Robo-Robber
- Mission: Construct an army of robotic thieves to assist V.I.L.E. in their operations.
- Goal: Build a force of mechanical thieves capable of inhuman feats and that lacked the so-called "human error" of V.I.L.E's agents
- Result: Failure (All robots destroyed by Carmen Sandiego, who also stole back the crown burgled from Singapore)
Professor Maelstrom[]
Rare Coin Acquisition[]
- Location: Quito, Ecuador
- Operative(s): El Topo, Le Chevre
- Mission: Acquire a rare gold coin that was found in a sunken shipwreck.
- Goal: Melt down the coin so Professor Maelstrom can get a new set of solid gold cuff links.
- Result: Failure (Coin lost in the confusion)
Theft of the Magna Carta[]
- Location: Mumbai, India
- Operative(s): Paper Star, Le Chevre
- Mission: Steal all seventeen known original copies of the Magna Carta from a museum in Mumbai.
- Goal: Prove that evil will always triumph over good.
- Result: Partially Failure, Partially Success (Magna Carta stolen back and left for the authorities, but Paper Star acquired information on A.C.M.E.)
Capturing the Crackle[]
- Location: Reykjavík, Iceland
- Operative(s): Roby the Robo-Robber, The Cleaners, The Troll
- Mission: Capture or eliminate Graham Calloway
- Goal: Either capture or tie a loose end that threatened V.I.L.E's secrecy
- Result: Success (Calloway is successfully kidnapped by Roby and taken to Dr. Bellum's Himalayan Laboratory)
High Himalayan Recruitment[]
- Location: Himalayan Mountain Range
- Operative(s): Crackle
- Mission: Recruit a useful agent or wipe the mind of a potential danger
- Goal: Either persuade Crackle to return to V.I.L.E or again reprogram his memories, erasing all his recollections of the Villains' Intentional League of Evil
- Result: Success (Crackle returned to V.I.L.E; later however, he turned against them and assisted in V.I.L.E's downfall)
Countess Cleo[]
Theft of the Paintings of Vermeer[]
- Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Operative(s): Tigress, Mime Bomb, Dash Haber
- Mission: Steal the thirty-four paintings of artist Johannes Vermeer.
- Goal: Auction off the paintings, whose combined value could easily surpass one billion dollars.
- Result: Failure (Paintings stolen back before they could be auctioned)
Milan Fashion Fauxpa[]
- Location: Milan, Italy
- Operative(s): Cookie Booker, Dash Haber, The Cleaners
- Mission: Sew stolen smart fabric into the hats of supermodels to put them under mind control.
- Goal: Steal the gowns that originally belonged to the wealthy Medici family, the combined value of which surpasses nine million dollars.
- Result: Failure (Carmen's team stole the dresses first)
Mask Theft[]
- Location: Venice, Italy
- Operative(s): Neal the Eel, Mime Bomb
- Mission: Steal a collection of valuable rare masks from a special museum exhibition.
- Goal: Sell the masks to fund V.I.L.E. operations in the near future.
- Result: Failure (Carmen and her crew retrieved the masks, switching them with souvenir replicas)
Gold Bullion in Germany[]
- Location: Bavaria, Germany
- Operative(s): Dash Haber, Madame Goldlove, Hugo
- Mission: Transfer stolen gold bullion out of Germany and into V.I.L.E.'s own bank accounts
- Goal: Smuggle gold bullion from Germany under the disguise of chocolate-coated gnomes to fund V.I.L.E.'s current operations.
- Result: Failure (Carmen secretly tipped off the local police, forcing the V.I.L.E. operatives to flee before the gold could be taken)
Coach Brunt[]
Doughnut Shop Counterfeit Cash[]
- Location: Boston, Massachusetts
- Operatives(s): El Topo, Le Chevre, The Cleaners
- Mission: Print vast amounts of counterfeit money using stolen money printing plates and store said money in a vault hidden in a V.I.L.E.-owned doughnut shop.
- Goal: Amass enough money to buy prominent Boston real estate to give V.I.L.E. a needed extra foothold in the U.S.A.
- Result: Failure (Carmen stole back the money plates and her team dumped the existing cash into the sea)
Kidnapping of Inspector Devineaux[]
- Location: Poitiers, France
- Operative(s): Shadowsan, Coach Brunt
- Mission: Kidnap Inspector Chase Devineaux and question him.
- Goal: To learn what Devineaux knows about A.C.M.E. and V.I.L.E., and unravel the details about his relationship to Carmen Sandiego.
- Result: Failure (Interrogation interrupted by the appearance of Carmen and Devineaux was rescued by the authorities)
Grand Theft Race Car[]
- Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Operative(s): The Mechanic, The Driver
- Mission: Steal the new prototype all-electric race car that boasts the greatest speed of any car in history.
- Goal: Reverse engineer the car and craft V.I.L.E. a fleet of getaway cars, making escape easier.
- Result: Failure (Car stolen back by Carmen's team)
Shadowsan[]
Stolen Stamp[]
- Location: San Francisco, U.S.A.
- Operative(s): Mime Bomb, Tigress
- Mission: Steal a rare, discontinued postage stamp valued at $10,000,000.
- Goal: Use the stamp's monetary worth to fund V.I.L.E. operations.
- Result: Failure (Stamp stolen back and returned)
Kidnapping of Inspector Devineaux[]
- Location: Poitiers, France
- Operative(s): Shadowsan, Coach Brunt
- Mission: Kidnap Inspector Chase Devineaux and question him.
- Goal: To learn what Devineaux knows about A.C.M.E. and V.I.L.E. and unravel the details about his relationship with Carmen Sandiego.
- Result: Failure (Interrogation interrupted by the appearance of Carmen and Devineaux was rescued by the authorities)
Roundabout[]
Illegal Diamond Mine[]
- Location: Botswana, Africa
- Operative(s): Tigress, Le Chevere.
- Mission: Smuggle millions of dollars in diamonds out of the country and sell them for a profit.
- Goal: Use the money made from the diamonds to fund V.I.L.E's operations in the near future.
- Result: Failure (Samples stolen and operation discovered and reported to police)
Trap for Carmen Sandiego[]
- Location: London, England
- Operative(s): El Topo, Le Chevre, The Troll, The Cleaners
- Mission: Use a fake Crown Jewels heist as bait to lure Carmen Sandiego into a trap
- Goal: Have Carmen captured and sent to prison, whereupon Roundabout would use his influence to get her out and have the Cleaners bring her back to V.I.L.E. Academy, whereupon Roundabout would secretly steal the jewels himself.
- Result: Failure (Carmen anticipated the trap and arranged it so that Roundabout would be discovered with the jewels and subsequently arrested)
Beijing Bullion Burglary[]
- Location: Beijing, China
- Operative(s): Lady Dokuso, Mime Bomb, Neal the Eel
- Mission: Kidnap Huang Li, manager of China’s largest gold reserve for its national bank
- Goal: Use his retinal scan to access the vault and steal gold to fund V.I.L.E.’s operations.
- Result: Failure (Carmen and her team foiled both kidnapping attempts)
Unknown[]
Dig Sight Jewel Heist[]
- Location: Casablanca, Morocco
- Operative(s): Crackle, Tigress, Le Chevre, El Topo
- Mission: Infiltrate an archaeological dig site and steal a recently discovered rare gem, The Eye of Vishnu.
- Goal: Acquire a new item for V.I.L.E.'s collection of stolen treasure.
- Result: Success (Eye of Vishnu successfully taken with no witness)
- Presumed Mastermind: Countess Cleo
Confrontation with Carmen Sandiego[]
- Location: Poitiers, France
- Operative(s): Crackle
- Mission: Find Carmen and convince her to return to V.I.L.E. or eliminate her if she refuses.
- Goal: Either gain Carmen's Trust to return to V.I.L.E, or Eliminate her entirely.
- Result: Failure (Carmen defeated Crackle and left him for the authorities)
- Presumed Mastermind: Coach Brunt
Alexandrite Carnival[]
- Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Operative(s): Tigress, Le Chevre, El Topo
- Mission: Empty an alexandrite vein of all precious minerals and transport it out of the city inside a Carnival float.
- Goal: Acquire enough gemstones to fund all of V.I.L.E.'s operations soon.
- Result: Failure (Jewel shipment hijacked before it could be transferred)
- Presumed Mastermind: Dr. Bellum
Launch Code Trade[]
- Location: Stockholm, Sweden
- Operative(s): Otter Man, Moose Boy
- Mission: Transfer a computer chip containing stolen military launch codes.
- Goal: Give V.I.L.E. a missile of some sort, suspected to be a Nuclear Missile of some sort.
- Result: Failure (Computer chip stolen before the trade could be completed)
- Presumed Mastermind: Professor Maelstrom
Halloween Heist[]
- Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
- Operative(s): Tigress, Paper Star, The Troll, The Cleaners
- Mission: Kidnap celebrity chef, The Crawfish King, at his Halloween charity party.
- Goal: Use a retinal scan app to transfer the charity money from his account into V.I.L.E.'s
- Result: Failure (Carmen and her crew freed him before the transfer could be completed)
- Presumed Mastermind: Dr. Bellum and Professor Maelstrom.
Trivia[]
- Despite working with each other and the majority vote rule, a single faculty member is allowed to take actions without the vote or the other members' permission.
- This is evident when Coach Brunt sends The Cleaners to "clean up a mess" in The Lucky Cat Caper without the knowledge of Shadowsan and presumably the other members as well. In The Luchadora Tango Caper, Coach Brunt personally goes after Carmen in Buenos Aires, Argentina without permission of the faculty, though they have done nothing to stop her.
- Every vote made by the faculty concerning their vacant seat and anyone who takes up the position helps trigger the events for V.I.L.E.'s eventual downfall:
- Dexter Wolfe, who held the position (unknown how he obtained it), fathered V.I.L.E.'s greatest enemy.
- Shadowsan taking up Wolfe's seat allowed him easy access to V.I.L.E.'s data files, which he passed on to Carmen Sandiego.
- Roundabout was favored by the faculty and was promoted to the vacant seat discarded by Shadowsan. Though he had no intentions of working against V.I.L.E., all of his schemes failed and cost V.I.L.E. the means to covertly extract their captured operatives and "loose ends".
- Carmen (while brainwashed) inherits Shadowsan's seat after believing that he betrayed V.I.L.E. When she regains herself, however, she provides A.C.M.E. the location of V.I.L.E.'s headquarters.
- Season Three shows the Faculty enjoy celebrating Halloween, wearing costumes, carving Jack-o-Lanterns, and bobbing for apples (though the apples get swapped out for haggis).