Anti-Villain League

Heroic Organization
Full Name	Anti-Villain League
Alias	AVL Doctor AVL
Origin	Despicable Me 2
Foundation	Unknown
Headquarters	A giant submarine Somewhere in Austrailia Unknown skyscraper Unknown maximum security prison
Commanders	Silas Ramsbottom (currently; out of retirement) Valerie Da Vinci (formerly)
Agents	Felonious Gru Lucy Wilde Minions Mega Minions Other agents
Special Abilities / Weapons	Advanced technology Various weapons and vehicles
Goals	Catch and imprison dangerous villains, such as El Macho, Balthazar Bratt and Vicious 6 Catch Maxime Le Mal (both succeeded).
Type of Heroes	Symbolic Counter-Terrorists

The Anti-Villain League (abbreviated to AVL) are the overarching protagonists of the Despicable Me franchise.

It is a top-secret organization that is dedicated to combating super-villain activity. In Despicable Me 2, the director is Silas Ramsbottom, though in Despicable Me 3, he was replaced by the current director, Valerie Da Vinci. The only known employees of the organization are the relatively new agent Lucy Wilde and Felonious Gru.

Operations

Because not much is revealed about the AVL, not much is known about the Anti-Villain League. What is known is that the AVL has at least two bases.

One of the bases is a large submarine, where Silas Ramsbottom and Lucy work. Unlike a regular military submarine, the AVL's base is modified with a "landing strip" of sorts and a secret door. The submarine also has a boat tethered to it. Many agents are hard at work inside the base. In the middle of the base, there is a conference table where Ramsbottom works and a digital projector screen. The AVL's other base is located in or near Australia.

The agents of the AVL, with the exception of Lucy, typically dress in black and white, and wear matching black sunglasses.

Plot

Despicable Me 2

The AVL had been tracking the theft of the Arctic PX-41 laboratory for at least three weeks when Ramsbottom is forced to call Felonious Gru in. Lucy Wilde, one of the agents of the AVL, is dispatched to escort the ex-supervillain to the submarine. Though there is some resistance from the reformed villain, Lucy managed to bring Gru in. Ramsbottom attempted to utilize Gru's skill of identifying villains in order to capture the PX-41 thief, but Gru refused. Thanks to Lucy (and some other factors like Dr. Nefario's departure), Gru changed his mind.

The AVL, in order to assist the duo, gave them specialized tools such as a belt buckle that could detect traces of PX-41. Later, when the shop Eagle Hair Club is discovered to be contaminated with PX-41, the owner of the shop, Floyd Eaglesan, is arrested by the AVL. Declaring the case closed, Ramsbottom transferred Lucy to the AVL's Australian branch, though she went AWOL when she realized she loved Gru.

The AVL did not realize it was El Macho who was the true perpetrator, but luckily Gru figured this out and incapacitated the culprit.

Despicable Me 3

In Despicable Me 3, Ramsbottom is replaced by Valerie Da Vinci, who quickly fires Gru for failing to stop Balthazar Bratt. When Lucy protests, she simply fires her as well, throwing them both off the blimp.

Minions: Rise of Gru

In Minions: Rise of Gru, the Anti-Villain League is led by Ramsbottom into the conflict with the Vicious 6. After a young Gru defeats the supervillain team by transforming them into rats, the Anti-Villain League captures them in a cage and transport them to jail.

Despicable Me 4

???

Trivia

• The organization's name may be a pun on "anti-villain", which refers to someone whose questionable actions do not necessarily define their overall inherent character (which is what Gru technically was before when he was still a self-proclaimed villain).