WARNING: THIS BLOG MAY CONTAIN TRACES OF DA PRO AND PHARMMAJOR.

Pharmmajor: Welcome, ladles and gentlespoons, to another installment of...

LOUSY VILLAINS WE ADORE.

First off, I want to thank Da Pro once again for letting me collaborate with him. I'm a big fan of the series, and the chance to work with him is an honor. And I am thrilled that we're working together on today's subject, a tribute to the megalomaniacal mastermind mouse mouthed by the marvelous Maurice LaMarche, The Brain!

DP: Well, it's my pleasure to have you collaborating with me. It's also an honor to know my series has fans! And to be able to work with someone so good at making alliterations, too.

The Brain. Honestly, I think this villain deserves all the praise he can get. I always found The Brain very similar to the Lobe. They both are extremely intelligent, have a huge head (proportionally to their bodies) and are usually the only sane beings in the vicinity.

That said, one is a big brain and the other's a lab mouse.

PM: And in both cases you have to wonder how they're able to keep their heads held upright.

All kidding aside, The Brain is a mouse who gained incredible intelligence after an experiment by Acme Labs went awry. Along with this massive IQ and the ability to speak, he also developed a desire to conquer the world and rule over humanity.

DP: He also deeply believes his rise to power is for the better, since his rule would be a wise one.

Helping (?) him in his quest for world domination is Pinky, another genetically-modified mouse. While The Brain is rational, intelligent, and scheming, Pinky is stupid, and... well, he's just stupid. Despite this, he manages to make himself useful sometimes.

PM: That's one thing that kind of confused me. The early episodes just showed him as a power-hungry would-be dictator with no interest in the well-being of humanity, but later on the writers fleshed him out better. He's still egotistical and power-hungry, but thinks that because the world is so messed up, his leadership would vastly improve society. Then again, people thought the same thing about Barack Obama.

... I kid, really.

Pinky is without a doubt one of the most amusing sidekicks in history. Voiced by the incredibly talented Rob Paulsen, his humorous non-sequiturs and inane comments always provide a laugh. While his blunders are responsible for the majority of Brain's failures, in a pinch he proves himself to be a helpful friend. This is because in spite of his foolish nature, Pinky has some common sense and emotional understanding of human nature. Not blinded by his friend's megalomania, he actually shows some moments of true wisdom that even amaze Brain at times, like the time he went to rescue Brain after being kidnapped under the orders of a super-intelligent cat.

DP: Personally, I think I liked the early Brain better. But that change did give him some depth.

Like almost all idiots in kid's TV shows, Pinky shows moments of pure brilliance and wisdom from time to time. Also, we must not forget that Pinky is a trivia fan, and knows lots of seemingly useless little things that occasionally help Brain's schemes.

I wish my knowledge of the Norwegian Fur Industry could help me conquer the world too. [[silly reference no one will get]]

Being much more emotional and human than Brain, he's also a very happy and carefree mouse. Trouble doesn't bother him much, usually because he doesn't notice it. Overall, both physically and mentally, the two are polar opposites.

PM: And that is another one of the elements that makes Brain such a captivating character; his relationship with Pinky. If it was just Brain on his own, he wouldn't be as engaging or enjoyable and would probably become annoying quickly. But when he has someone to interact with who vastly differs from his own personality, it makes it easier to relate to him.

While Brain has few strong relationships aside from that with Pinky, they also help make his character more human, in a way. We've seen his romantic side when he tried to woo Billie the mouse, and his struggles with "fatherhood" when he tried to raise his clone Roman Numeral I ("Romy"). Like Pinky, these characters have personalities that completely oppose his own, and the scenarios that play out between them help strengthen his character by forcing him to use aspects he all but ignores in his quest for global domination.

DP: Indeed. Brain seems (and is) heavily rational, but he still has that more human and sentimental side.

So, we now have great characters with great plans. What's left to make a great show? Well, The Brain is a villain, but not the only one around. There's also Snowball, and when compared to him, Brain looks like a good choice for a Supreme Ruler of the World, in my opinion.

While Brain seems to have some standards, Snowball... well, Snowball is more or less the earlier Brain, if he didn't like the newer Brain. Okay, this makes no sense at all. What matters is that they keep foiling and stealing each other's plans.

PM: And Snowball has actually succeeded in his plans at times, causing a massive blow to Brain's ego. If anyone's going to conquer the world, it's going to be him, not a super-intelligent hamster. So there have been times when Brain has actually had to work towards preventing the planet from being conquered so that he can conquer it himself. Seems weird, but it makes sense. And it's another source of deeper character development as we see Brain does get depressed when it seems like someone else will succeed where he has failed. This again relates to his "altruistic" motives; he thinks he would be a just ruler, and therefore no one else should be able to one-up him since they don't share his intentions.

DP: And so we have The Brain: proof that a mouse can indeed be the only sane person around, even if a wee bit megalomaniac.

So, what do you say, Pharmmajor? Is he really a lousy villain? Or just one who keeps having his plans foiled? Since he's got good intentions, does that compensate the fact he plans to take over the world?

M Bison: OF COURSE!

PM: Well, since he does constantly fail, I'd say that constitutes as "lousy", but I'll give him some leeway since fate and Pinky often lead to his defeat. And while he may have good intentions, my personal opinion is that no one person (or mouse) should have too much power over others. Still, "Brain's Night Off" demonstrated that he can effectively motivate people to stand up for themselves and that he does care about what's basically right. So maybe he'd be better suited to a managerial position.

Thanks again for having me in on this, DP. I really enjoyed it. Farewell, take care, and of course... NARF!

DP: I enjoyed it as well, my friend. I hope we can work together again sometime. Take care, zort!

And to you, kind readers, I leave the complete list of Pinky's answers to the question, "are you pondering what I'm pondering?"

Here ya go.

Thank you, and until next time! We're Pharmmajor and Da Pro, and this was "LOUZY VILLINS WEE ADORE".Find the rest of the blogs here. If you want. Of course!