FAN THEORY THURSDAY: Who is the Real Megamind? Part 2
Even though Minion threatens to “pack his thing and go” whenever I say it: SPOILER WARNING!
Last week we discussed Megamind’s personality type in Who is the Real Megamind Part 1, and this week we’ll continue by looking at other aspects of the blue hero’s true self. What is Megamind really like beyond his positions as a former supervillain and the Defender of Metro City? What are his interests? His likes and dislikes? Thankfully, fan theories offer a lot of great ideas! Let’s look at some of the most popular.
Megamind Has Several Interests Beyond Inventing
Of course, everyone knows Megamind is interested in engineering, biochemistry, robotics, and higher mathematics; it’s obvious from his activities in the movie. There is, however, quite a lot of evidence that our favorite alien superhero is a fairly well-rounded person with many other interests unrelated to inventing. Fans have pointed to small details in the film, concept art, comics, and more to support suppositions about what some of these may be.
Megamind is an Avid Reader
I’ve mentioned this before in another post, How Smart is Megamind, but it bears revisiting here. It’s logical to assume that anyone with an intellect as brilliant as the Blue Defender’s would naturally enjoy reading, and many fans suppose this to be the case. There is actually some proof to support the idea as well; some of the concept art for the film depicts Megamind Lair containing a vast library. (You can see examples of that art in the aforementioned blog article.) Furthermore, in both the movie and the Bad Blue Brilliant comics, we see that Megamind and Roxanne sometimes have dates at the local library. Indeed, a number of fan fiction writers have taken the idea of Megamind being a book lover and run with it, with Setepenre-Set even going so far as to envision Megamind and Minion secretly living in a public library as teens before their first Lair was established.
So what exactly does Megamind read? Some of fans’ suppositions are exactly what you’d expect, such as books on quantum physics and engineering, as well as novels related to his apparent geeky interests such as sci-fi and fantasy. (It’s been suggested that Megamind might mispronounce some words because he learned them from books rather than from hearing them said, and his veiled references to things like Star Wars during the film makes it clear he’s a bit of a geek. For more on the former, take a look at Megamind’s Pronunciations.) Some of the other genres of reading material fans have suggested, however, may surprise you.
One popular theory is that the blue man, despite having spent most of his life as a supervillain, might enjoy romance novels. The concept is that, being good-hearted and lonely beneath the black leather, as well as clearly able to feel attraction for humans but unlikely to have the opportunity to do anything about it, he might turn to romance fiction as a source of comfort. (Some say that the fact he is sapiosexual, attracted by Roxanne’s mind at least as much as her person, would make this a more likely escape than adult websites.) In fact, there are several fans who agree that, having been raised in prison and ostracized for most of his life, this taste in reading may form the alien hero’s only basis for understanding how human courtship works. That could explain why his only Big Deal Official Date with Roxanne in the movie feels almost like it’s taken from a standard list of stereotypical Key Features for a Romantic Evening. Upscale restaurant? Check. Champagne? Check. Candlelit ambiance? Check. How much do you want to bet that, if she hadn’t accidentally discovered his identity, Megamind planned for he and Roxanne to go out dancing after dinner? And that brings us to our next area of interest…
Megamind Enjoys Cutting a Rug… And He’s Darned Good At It
If you’ve seen the movie—and considering that you’re reading this I sincerely hope you have—you already know that there’s a scene at the end where Megamind, Roxanne, and Minion dance together on stage, as well as one near the beginning where the then-villain dances down the streets of newly-conquered Metro City. So, really, this one should come as no surprise. There is more than these scenes alone to suggest the blue man might enjoy getting his groove on, however. Many fans point to the way he moves—energetic and fluidly graceful—as evidence that he would probably be good at dancing. Add to that the fact that, as we established in the previous post, Megamind is likely an extrovert and clearly enjoys being the center of attention, and it’s not hard to guess that he probably enjoys dancing quite a lot.
Several fan theories fully embrace this, and there is a plethora of artwork and writing depicting this lighter side of the black-clad Defender. In fact, several fan fiction authors, including Dalniente, Setepenre-Set, and, yes, even yours truly, have produced stories portraying scenes in which Megamind teaches Roxanne to dance. (Dalniente in particular describes how he might have learned himself from a suave thief while in prison, and might have used the skill, much as had his teacher, to infiltrate affluent parties and discretely rob his dance partners. In Megamind’s case, of course, this would also have required the use of the holowatch.) While there is no direct evidence of this, it’s a very interesting concept, and one that seems to be gaining some traction in the fandom. Either way, the proof that the blue man likes cutting a rug is certainly hard to miss in the film, so, however he learned it, dancing must undeniably be one of Megamind’s talents and hobbies.
Megamind is Very Into Music
Dancing is not the only way that our favorite villain-turned-hero displays a love for music. He incorporates Heavy Metal into many of his battles and schemes, and, apparently, even felt having a good soundtrack was important enough to task Minion with bringing a stereo with them when he announced his takeover of the city. Indeed, many fans view the songs in the film almost as Megamind’s personal playlist, and since several of them are in fact chosen by the blue man himself, that is not an unreasonable assumption. If true, this would also mean Megamind has a fairly wide and eclectic taste in music. Yes, he definitely loves Metal, but he also chose Michael Jackson’s “Bad” as his song when he officially took on the position of Defender of Metro City. Other tracks in the movie, such as “Mr. Blue Sky” and “Bad to the Bone,” the latter of which is in fact woven throughout the rest of the soundtrack, may hint that, along with his obvious enjoyment of classic Metal, he also likes Eighties Pop, Oldies, and even Folk Rock. The fandom has expanded even further on this, suggesting that Megamind’s musical tastes may be broader still.
It doesn’t stop there, however. Along with listening to music, there is some evidence that Megamind enjoys playing it as well. As mentioned before in How Smart is Megamind, an episode of the comics Bad Blue Brilliant, entitled Rox Star, depicts Megamind playing a keytar with obvious enjoyment and skill. This makes his being a musician pseudo-canon. Furthermore, when Metro Man is revealed to still be alive and pursuing a music career, Roxanne tells him with brutal honesty that he’s “terrible,” but Megamind offers a more encouraging view that, while bad, his former nemesis “has talent.” Was this merely flattery because he wanted Metro Man’s help? Many fans say no. He seemed to think that, simply by informing the ex-hero that the city was being destroyed, he would prompt Music Man into taking back up the mantle of Metro Man. And, really, given that, during their adult lives at least, his previous interactions with the other alien were all centered around Wayne Scott being a hero, it seems logical that Megamind would make that assumption. Why say it then? Could it be, as some have suggested, that, being a musician himself, Megamind was unwilling to discourage someone else’s desire to play an instrument and sing?
Megamind’s Persona is Not His Personality
Maybe that seems like an oddly nice thing for a self-professed supervillain to do, but that brings us to our next point. Megamind’s evil persona and his real personality are not the same thing. I touched on this in the blog article Megamind and Identity, but I’ll go into more detail here.
While in what we may think of as “Villain Mode,” Megamind goes out of his way to appear evil, callous, and dangerous. He claims that his boots are made from baby seal leather—which, given the likely difficulty of obtaining such a material, would probably be highly impractical and is therefore unlikely—and he paints his name all over Metro City just to remind everyone that he’s taken over. He refers to himself, both directly and indirectly, as evil, threatens the populace with something six times worse than the most diabolical thing they can imagine, goes out of his way to destroy property, and, of course, booms his iconic villainous laugh.
When not in the public eye, however, he seems to be very different. In the film we see him joking with Minion, as well as calling him his “best friend” and his “fantastic fish,” none of which is exactly standard supervillain behavior. (Indeed, it should not be forgotten that one of the super-genius’ most impressive inventions, a fully-integrated neuroprosthetic body, was made not for his own plots but for his henchman’s use.) He plays fetch with his brainbots and refers to himself as their “daddy,” indicating a very un-evil level of affection for his cyborgs. His banter with Metro Man is almost playful while his interactions with Roxanne Ritchi are amicable, teasing, or even flirtatious. Clearly, the blue alien was never the stone-cold hard-case he portrays himself as.
In fact, Roxanne herself seems well aware that Megamind isn’t nearly as bad as he pretends to be, obviously never feeling that she’s in any real danger as his captive. And she may have good reason. Many fans have suggested that, in order to have so many “deadly” contraptions aimed at her at once without a single one doing any harm, Megamind must have carefully placed and calibrated everything to ensure her safety. It doesn’t seem to be only her life that the then-villain is worried about, either. In the DVD commentary, the creators discuss the way that Megamind, while in control of the city, never does anything worse than steal and vandalize. They even mention the fact that he usually sets his plots in unpopulated areas because, in reality, Megamind has no desire to hurt anyone. That is further evidenced by his concern for Metro City and it’s people after Titan takes over.
Indeed, the commentary also reveals that Megamind’s persona is based in part on Alice Cooper, which explains the black leather and spikes as well as clarifying that it is, indeed, only a persona. This is interesting because the choice may have been more than aesthetic, as the commentary hints. Alice Cooper himself is known for having a dark, over-the-top stage persona that he keeps separate from his real self and his daily life. In a talk with Dan Rather on The Big Interview he discussed how he does this, how he is not Alice Cooper off-stage, and how his family, when seeing him perform, are more likely to say “there’s Alice Cooper” than “there’s Dad.” From details dropped by the creators, it seems that Megamind may be much the same. Like his musical inspiration, the blue alien’s persona is meant to be dark, shocking, attention grabbing, and even frightening, but that is not the real him. When Megamind is in “Villain Mode,” (or “Dark Hero Mode,” as the case may be now,) he is at work, putting on a show.
Megamind May Be Scarier Than You Think
He’s Purposefully Frightening
Despite his persona being separate from his personal life, our favorite blue hero can still be a pretty frightening guy, both on and off the proverbial stage, when he wants to be. His carefully cultivated image was originally envisioned as far darker and more terrifying. Concept art for the famous Presentation Scene is much more threatening, as you can see below. Beyond that, another specific detail mentioned in connection with classic Heavy Metal stars during the DVD commentary was the idea of Megamind biting the head off a bat a la Ozzy Osborne. When you consider that things like that were supposed to originally be the image Megamind portrayed to Metro City, it’s easier to see why people might have been scared of him.
This is hardly surprising. As mentioned before in the blog articles How Strong is Megamind and The Warden, the alien genius apparently learned to use fear as a weapon beginning at an early age. Aside from sending ordinary citizens into screaming panic with his mere presence, the former villain also displayed a penchant for making some of the scariest people around tremble. As those who have read those posts already know, a newspaper clipping featured in the title sequence describes how, even as a boy, Megamind frightened the adult men incarcerated with him. (Keep in mind that the blue man was raised in a high-security prison, meaning that people like murderers and gang leaders were too afraid to cross him even when he was young.) This was likely for he and Minion’s protection as it is almost certain growing up in jail would mean he had to fight, and use any other methods at his disposal, in order to keep himself and his friend safe. Nonetheless, those reasons don't change the fact that the blue man filled even fellow convicts with dread. They may not have been the only ones. In an unused storyboard other supervillains, collectively known as the Dooom Syndicate, show the alien genius a healthy amount of fear and respect. Megamind can clearly be terrifying if he needs to be.
He’s Potentially Dangerous
Then there’s the De-Gun. We mostly see Megamind use the Dehydration Setting in the film—with the exception of when he uses the Destroy Setting on the mayor’s office door and a stage prop brick wall—but keep in mind that there are several others as well. According to Fandom.com, the weapon has no fewer than eight settings: Dehydrate, Decompress, Debilitate, Demoralize, Decoupage, Deregulate, Death Ray, and Destroy. (For more about that, feel free to read the post Megamind’s Inventions.) Fans have come up with some frankly creepy explanations for what some of these settings might do—for example, one discussion of the Megamind Evil Lair Discord suggested that Demoralize might produce a low-range frequency causing intense feelings of terror and hopelessness—but it’s the Death Ray setting I’d like to focus on.
Megamind, being an inventor, is likely fairly practical. It’s doubtful he would have created and installed the Death Ray setting if he never meant to use it. This indicates that, although the blue man dislikes violence, he will still engage in it if he feels he must. In fact, fans theorize that that may be part of how he racked up eighty-five life sentences. After all, a person doesn’t receive life in prison for robbing a few banks or spray painting his name all over the city. So, while he may not want to harm people, he clearly will when it becomes necessary. (Many suggest that most or all of this violence was involved in his takeover of the criminal world. He can hardly be expected to have become the Master of All Villainy without backing up his threats from time to time.) Make no mistake, good-natured though he may be, Megamind can be dangerous.
But Megamind is Also a Good Guy
This, however, still doesn’t make Megamind truly evil. In fact, there is quite a bit of evidence, even beyond the aforementioned traits, that suggests he’s really quite a likable person. (It should be noted that while this, of course, is not particularly surprising now that he is a hero, as his personality and even mode of dress do not seem to have changed much, many fans suspect it has always been the case.) Here are a few of the things I’m talking about.
Megamind is Probably an Animal Lover
As both a supervillain and a hero, the blue alien seems to treat his brainbots not only as workers by also as pets. They display rather dog-like behaviors—mechanical barking, playing fetch—and he shows them the same sort of affection one might expect of a pet owner. This is important because the blue man calls his robotic drones "cyborgs," meaning that there must be some sort of organic material involved. As a result, many fans have suggested that the specific organic components used might, in fact, be canine, leading to a popular theory that this is Megamind’s way of giving abandoned dogs who are either euthanized at the animal pound or badly injured by cars a second chance at life. Given the way he plays with and pets the brainbots, this seems more likely than any other possible explanation.
There is some pseudo-canon support for the idea of Megamind liking dogs. In the Bad Blue Brilliant comic episode called Mega-Mutt, although he at first claims to be dead-set against Minion getting a dog, when a pooch falls into their lives, the blue man dotes on it. Of course, this is partly due to his mistaken belief that the animal might be from his home planet, but he nonetheless displays a great deal of affection for the animal. Even when he learns that Mega-Mutt is not, in fact, of alien origin, he remains happy to have the chance to visit his doggy friend.
If that isn’t enough, there is also the fact that a large number of Megamind’s robotic inventions appear to be animal-themed. (The Spee-ider Bot, the Equestinator, Robo-Sheep, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Kittens… The list goes on and on.) All of this combined has led many fans to suppose that our favorite alien genius is actually quite an animal lover at heart but hides it for the sake of his scary tough-guy persona. The idea has gained so much popularity, in fact, that a fanon has developed among fanfiction writers which portrays the blue man as having anonymously donated large sums to no-kill animal shelters even when he was a supervillain.
Megamind Might Like Kids, Too
This one is a little less certain, but it’s still well worth mentioning. We’ve been looking at the comics quite a bit in this post, and guess what? We’re going to do it again. In A Sidekick’s Sidekick, Minion convinces Megamind to take on a boy as an apprentice, and the boy, overly-eager to get into the “real” hero work, is frankly a disaster. However, despite the fact that Megamind fires several would-be sidekicks for far less serious infractions in another comic episode, Bad Minion Bad, he shows remarkable patience for the child. (In fact, it’s not until the boy practically destroys part of the Lair doing something extremely dangerous that the blue man lets him go.) Afterward, Megamind saves the boy’s life when the latter tries to play hero on his own, afterward giving him a rather fatherly (if irritated) lecture about not jumping into perilous situations he doesn’t understand. Megamind also allows the youth to keep the Sidekick’s Handbook so that he can learn and, maybe, fulfill his dream one day.
I know, I know, that seems like a rather thin basis for a fan theory, but there is another piece of potential evidence. If you compare the Museum Opening scenes for both Metro Man and Megamind, you’ll notice something interesting: in the scene where Metro Man makes his speech, all the people at the front of the crowd are adults, with the exception of three babies brought by their mothers. When Megamind publicly accepts the role of Defender of Metro City, however, there seem to be several children and teens at the front of the crowd. Indeed, one of the two foremost youngsters has a Megamind mask while the other can be seen at one point doing an impression of the former villain’s evil laugh. Clearly, the blue hero is popular with kids, and this may indicate that he is particularly nice to them. (Maybe he occasionally offers local children a short ride on the hoverbike? That would certainly earn him some bonus points with them!)
Still not convinced? One more source offers additional proof. During the opening scene of The Button of Doom, we can see the alien super-genius interacting very cordially with children. He hands one a teddy bear, albeit a spiky and rather dangerous one. (Hey, I never claimed he was particularly good at being a responsible role model.) A little later, he tells a mother that her son is “merely expressing himself,” then assures the boy, who has just accidentally dehydrated his parent, that she will be fine if he will only “put her in water—not the toilet.” Toward the end of the short film, when he finds an entire group of unruly youngsters who have now dehydrated all of their parents, he says he should punish them, but decides to be merciful because he figures that whatever their guardians do to them will be bad enough.
And that, finally, completes our examination of Megamind’s true self behind the cape! (Thank you to everyone for reading this. I know it was a long one, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless.) Judging from all the information we’ve been able to consider, it would seem that there truly is much more to our favorite blue hero than first appears on the surface. Megamind is obviously a fascinating character with a variety of interests. He’s a surprisingly deep animated antihero who balances the potential for necessary danger with a kind and lovable heart. Clearly, the entire team responsible for bringing him to life put a great deal of effort and thought into his creation, making him one of the best and most complex DreamWorks characters to ever grace the big screen!
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