science

Gru

Gru is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Gru rather than just read about it. In short: Felonious Gru, typically referred to by his surname Gru, is a fictional character and the protagonist of Illumination's Despicable Me franchise. He first appeared in Despicable Me (2010) and has appeared in all seven films in the franchise.

Gru — main illustration — Gru — illustration

Key takeaways

Gru belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Gru to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Gru from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Felonious Gru, typically referred to by his surname Gru, is a fictional character and the protagonist of Illumination's Despicable Me franchise. He first appeared in Despicable Me (2010) and has appeared in all seven films in the franchise. He is voiced by American actor and comedian Steve Carell. Based on a Dracula-like concept character pitched by animator Sergio Pablos, he was shaped by directors Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin into a character more like a James Bond villain. Gru is a grouchy, quick-witted, and cynical supervillain and the boss of the Minions, who also serves as a secret agent in order to fight other supervillains. His adoption of three orphan girls named Margo, Edith and Agnes propels his story arc from malevolent supervillain to reformed parent.

Characteristics Felonius Gru is a supervillain whose ambitions include masterminding evil deeds, such as stealing the Moon. He is bald, top-heavy, has a sharp and long beak nose and wears a black coat and a scarf. Despite his wicked motives, he is largely inept and often resorts to petty acts of villainy. His suburban home is built above a secret lair, inhabited by his Minions. In Despicable Me, Gru is preoccupied with being the greatest villain of all time. His ambitions are influenced by his mother, who sometimes ridicules him. With the help of his genius inventor Dr. Nefario, he is able to employ a variety of weapons to carry out his wicked plans, such as his Insta-Freeze Gun or his Shrink Ray. In addition to his Minions, Gru has a small, sharp-toothed dog named Kyle. His prickly, quick-tempered personality softens after adopting three orphan girls, named Margo, Edith, and Agnes. Gru's family is extended in subsequent films. In Despicable Me 2, when recruited as an agent by the Anti-Villain League (AVL), he meets Lucy Wilde, who becomes his love interest. In Despicable Me 3, he meets his long-lost evil twin brother, Dru. In the fourth Despicable Me film, he is the biological father of a baby named Gru Jr.

Concept and creation

Development The character that would become Gru was conceived by animator Sergio Pablos, who pitched the idea for "Evil Me" centred around an evil mastermind named Groo. He envisioned him as a Dracula-like character, but the directors of the first film, Chris Renaud and Pierre Coffin, later opted for a more sleek character that would echo "the world of James Bond", with Auric Goldfinger being cited as a particular influence. Originally Gru was much more evil than in the final film and the creative team struggled to get his character right. Coffin said that eventually they found ways to make him "evil but very charming". His "ogre-like henchmen" evolved into silly child-like characters named Minions, which helped to make Gru more likeable to audiences. Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio wrote the script for the first film. Paul said that they tried to find evil moments that made the audience root for Gru, such as using his Freeze Ray to skip the line at Starbucks, and so they depicted him as a normal person who is trying to be a villain. Producer and founder of Illumination Entertainment, Chris Meledandri, said that the second film was driven by the success of the first but wanted to ensure that the sequel would be approached creatively. He considered Gru to be an appealing character because he is damaged and felt that this added more depth to the Despicable Me films especially for adult viewers. For Despicable Me 2, Gru was still given moments to be evil but on a different level. Daurio said that he does "the things we wish we could do", such as spraying an annoying neighbour with water. Meledandri wanted to see how the challenges of fatherhood would affect Gru's character. Coffin said that it was important for Gru to remain constant even though he is working for the "good guys" at the Anti-Villain League, citing a tradition in French comic books in which characters evolve but remain the same. The creative team thought that Lucy's positive, lively personality would create a contrast to Gru, as a loner and an unsociable person, so they felt it was important to develop their relationship. Initially, Lucy was treated as an annoyance for Gru, but they thought it would be interesting to explore the emotional side of his character, so decided to make her his girfriend. Additionally, they wanted to tackle some of their own issues with fatherhood, so introduced a subplot involving Margot dating a boy. For the film's villain, they created a very macho character due to feeling that Gru had been feminized by adopting three girls. During the development of Despicable Me 3, the creative team struggled to decide how to progress Gru due to him no longer being a supervillain. They decided to give him a midlife crisis and the potential at trying villainy after meeting his long-lost brother, Dru. Designer Eric Guillon designed Dru with long hair and a white outfit to contrast with Gru's black clothing. Co-director Kyle Balda described Dru as the "polar-opposite" to Gru whom he defined as a "dark cloud". Gru's relationship with his brother shifted from a fascination with each other to rivalry and eventually to mentor. Balda said that Gru's story arc was the anchor for the Despicable Me series. The team decided to challenge his confidence, make him vulnerable and offer the temptation of returning to being a villain. Meledandri explained that the emotional core of the story is Gru's rivalry with his brother, who is charming in contrast to Gru's bad-tempered personality. The creative team used an exaggerated style, similar to Buster Keaton films, to reinforce the relationship Gru has with his brother, particularly in a sequence where they overact to play the role of each other. For Despicable Me 4, the creative team began by focusing the story on Gru and his family having to relocate from their home and go into a witness relocation program. Screenwriter Mike White was brought onboard to write the drafts that eventually formed the story. They introduced a new villain named Maxime Le Mal who is also Gru's high school rival. Renaud said that this storyline provided the opportunity to show Gru when he was in high school. They also added Gru Jr. to explore how Gru copes with a six-month-old baby. Renaud said that the very first scene in which Gru interacts with a baby who does not like him creates humor but also helps to keep the characters relatable to the audience.

Voice

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Gru

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Gru claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Gru before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Gru ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Gru

In research: Gru appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Gru in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Gru is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Animated characters introduced in 2010, Animated villains, Despicable Me, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Gru outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Gru in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Gru means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Gru out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gru in simple terms?

Why does Gru matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Gru?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Gru.

Gru