Enrico Matassa

Enrico Matassa
The Venture Bros. character
First appearance	Momma's Boys
Voiced by	Christopher McCulloch
Real name	Henry Allen "Hank" Venture
Information
Aliases	Enrico Matassa
Occupation	Supervillain Latin playboy
Relatives	Colonel Lloyd Venture (great-great grandfather, deceased) Jonas Venture Sr. (grandfather) Doctor Thaddeus Venture (father) Bobbi St. Simone (mother) Hank Venture "original" (genetic template) Dean Venture (twin brother) Dermott Fictel (half-brother) Jonas Venture Jr. (uncle, deceased) The Action Man (godfather) Jonas' father (great grandfather)
Notable characteristics	Egomania Illeism Rolls his Rs when speaking Obsession with the word "Hank" Giant handkerchief Hank of yarn (weapon)
Alliances	The Viceroy Flying Sidekick CrimeRobot
Enemies	Wide Wale Rocco The Monarch Myra Brandish

Enrico Matassa is the supervillain alter ego of Hank Venture on The Venture Bros.

Description

A self-described "Latin playboy and insane egomaniac" whose name means "Hank Hank", Enrico Matassa is an aspiring supervillain who is obsessed with the word "Hank". His character may have been inspired by the delusional protagonist of the 1994 film Don Juan Demarco.

Enrico Matassa tends to refer to himself in the third person and roll his Rs when he speaks. He also attempts to insert the word "Hank" into nearly every sentence, categorizing things as "Hank" or "Unhank".

He wears a fake mustache, purple dress shirt with a butterfly collar, light colored pinstripe suit with a matching hat, and an H-shaped necklace. A massive purple hankie hangs from his suit jacket's breast pocket and he wields a hank of purple yarn as a whiplike weapon.

Origin and History

Season 4

A rogue villain dressed as the Greek god Zeus was abducting super-scientists and sidekicks, leaving Dr. Venture anxious (bordering on giddily anticipatory) that he would be kidnapped next. When the kidnappers failed to materialize, Hank and Sergeant Hatred took pity on Dr. Venture and decided to stage a kidnapping to make him feel like the scientific community still cared about and respected him.

Hank and Hatred wore toy masks that disguised their voices when they kidnapped Dr. Venture. They also made use of a Teddy Talk-To-Me doll, which was capable of carrying on some very simple conversations with Dr. Venture in their absence. Dr. Venture, surprisingly, never realized he was speaking to a doll despite it being limited to only a handful of spoken phrases. He attempted to bargain with the doll for his freedom and eventually came to consider "Teddy" his closest friend.

Season 5

Dr. Venture walked in on Hank Venture and Dermott Fictel practicing music in Hank's bedroom while dressed in their stage costumes for Shallow Gravy. He asked them why they were dressed that way, to which Hank responded "Hey, don't put your heteronormative gender-biased hang-ups on me, man. Boys can play dress-up, too!"

In order to sneak out of the Venture Compound that evening to perform a gig, Hank and Dermott distracted Dr. Venture by calling him anonymously from a prepaid cellphone and letting him speak to the Teddy Talk-To-Me doll. Hank promised Dermott the ruse would work because his father "doesn't talk to people, he talks at them." As expected, Dr. Venture continued talking all night to the doll he believed to be his best friend Teddy.

Things went awry when Dr. Venture became obsessive, calling Dermott's prepaid cellphone repeatedly for over a week in an attempt to reach his best friend and becoming desperate when nobody answered. He eventually found the Teddy Talk-To-Me doll in Hank's room, but instead of realizing he'd been duped he concluded that his friend Teddy had been kidnapped and the kidnapper hid recordings of their phone conversation inside the stuffed toy bear. Hank and Dermott, not wanting to get in trouble, chose not to correct him.

Dr. Venture put the entire Venture compound on lockdown while he worked out a plan to rescue his "dusthead" ex-con friend Teddy from the gangster "Grumpy Bandersnatch" (actually a villainous character from one of the recorded stories on Teddy Talk-To-Me doll's tapes.) Hank and Dermott were dejected, unable to leave the premises until Dr. Venture "slays Grumpy Bandersnatch and frees all the animal friends of By-Golly Gulch."

Henchman 21, who at that point was living on the grounds of the Venture Compound, informed the boys that the actor who voiced the Teddy Talk-To-Me doll had become a supervillain after he got caught in a burning Teddy Talk-To-Me manufacturing plant in Asia. Horribly scarred from the burns and driven mad, Teddy was eventually caught and sent to Dunwitch Asylum for the Criminally Obsessive, where he still resided. Hank wanted to give his dad "a real Teddy", but 21 informed him the asylum would only allow blood relatives to visit--meaning their only option to meet Teddy was to get committed to the asylum themselves.

Hank, Dermott, 21, and H.E.L.P.eR. tunneled through the floor of a local bank using the drilling vehicle first seen in the Season 3 episode What Goes Down Must Come Up. They emerged from the vehicle in supervillain costumes, pretending to be obsessive criminals in an attempt to be committed to Dunwitch Asylum. Hank addressed the crowd of bank patrons, declaring himself to be an insane criminal who was robbing the bank. Each member of his party then introduced their criminal alter ego:

• The Viceroy (Henchman 21): dressed in a modified version of his Monarch henchman costume with a yellow crown and black cowl covering his butterfly antennae, 21 declared himself to be "The Viceroy", a criminal who mimics Monarch butterflies because he is obsessed with them.
• Flying Sidekick (Dermott Fictel): dressed in black karate pants and forearm bracers with a red sash tied around his waist, a shirtless Dermott whipped his "magic nunchuks" around while calling himself "Flying Sidekick". He accidentally lost control of his nunchaku, which flew from his hand and hit somebody, prompting him to apologize.
• Enrico Matassa (Hank Venture): dressed in a fake mustache, purple dress shirt with a butterfly collar, light colored pinstripe suit with a matching hat, and an H-shaped necklace, Hank introduced himself as "Enrico Matassa", a Latin playboy and insane egomaniac. He showed off his huge hankie and the hank of yarn he was wielding as a weapon.
• CrimeRobot (H.E.L.P.eR.): wearing a domino mask and sporting a large letter C on his torso, H.E.L.P.eR. was introduced by Hank as "CrimeRobot", a robot obsessed with crime because they programmed him to think of nothing else.

The police arrived to arrest them, with Enrico shouting at the police officer handcuffing him not to "hank" him around. Henchman 21 interceded, telling the police he was Guild of Calamitous Intent Member 283-21-MH, and that he and Enrico were both clearly obsessively insane. He demanded a Guild representative take them to Dunwitch Asylum for the Criminally Obsessive, which the police were only too happy to oblige. (Dermott and H.E.L.P.eR., not being Guild members, were instead arrested and taken to jail. Dr. Orpheus later freed them and deleted their arrest records from the police computer.)

A psychologist at Dunwitch Asylum--who looked remarkably like Sigmund Freud--showed card after card of Rorschach test inkblots to "The Viceroy". After each card Henchman 21 replied that it looked like a butterfly, finally asking what else they could be. Another psychologist received a very different response when she showed an inkblot to the hank-obsessed Enrico Matassa:

"I see two ladies, hanked side-by-side. Between them is me, Enrico Matassa. They are fighting over the affections of Enrico Matassa, I think, but this one on the left--she has the husband. He is not Hank at all. He is so Unhank that he wants to fight Enrico Matassa! But Enrico Matassa is very Hank. He is double Hank!"

Following their psychological evaluations, both 21 and Hank were stripped of their costumes and dressed in white hospital gowns to be admitted into Dunwitch as inmates. Hank continued wearing the fake mustache to maintain the guise of Enrico Matassa. The two finally met Teddy face to face, though at first he denied his identity to them.

Myra Brandish, former bodyguard to the Venture family, staged a coup with the aid of her "Momma's Boys" followers. Her devotees tied up all of the guards and took over the asylum, with Myra attempting to turn back time and have Dean Venture placed in her womb so she could finally give birth to him and be his real mother. Hank, realizing that Myra was not his and Dean's mother, decried her as a fake to the gathered inmates. Henchman 21 joined in, telling the crowd that she wasn't his mother, either. This triggered Teddy, Radical Left, and several other Momma's Boys to recall their identities and led to a full scale riot that culminated in most of the inmates escaping from the asylum.

Dean was dejected that Myra wasn't his real mother, but Hank reminded him that she was a raving lunatic. This cheered Dean up slightly, who said that Hank amazingly always made good points, to which Hank replied, "That's Enrico Matassa, my friend." A team of Guild Wasps then arrived to clean up the mess, motivating 21, Hank, and Dean to vacate while they still could.

Season 7

Hank began dating Sirena Ong, the daughter of his father's newest archenemy, the Level 10 supervillain Wide Wale. Sirena lived with her father in the penthouse of Tophet Tower, directly across Columbus Circle from VenTech Tower. The two tried to keep their relationship a secret from Wide Wale, as Sirena knew he would disapprove. They attempted to have sex, but Hank's overexcitement prevented them from ever consummating the act. Rocco, Sirena's creepily overprotective bodyguard, also frequently interrupted by knocking on her door to check up on her, forcing Hank to jump out the window and escape in his Go-Pod. Rocco became suspicious of Hank's presence, however, when he found Hank's pizza delivery cap on Sirena's bed.

Hank was fired from his job as the delivery boy for Vincenzo's following pressure from Wide Wale's Whale Lice henchmen. Vincenzo told Hank that he was a good boy, but that Vincenzo was not the boss of his own business--the order to fire him came down from the real man in charge, Wide Wale. Hank's spirits were lifted slightly when Vincenzo gave him a heart shaped pizza as a consolation, but dropped again when he discovered that the Whale Lice had demolished his Go-Pod, vandalizing it with a warning to stay away from Sirena and leaving him without personal transportation.

Furious, Hank walked home and encountered Sergeant Hatred in the VenTech lobby. Hatred asked Hank why he was so upset, with Hank replying that Wide Wale was ruining his life because Hank was dating his daughter. Hatred then related his own Romeo and Juliet romance with his ex-wife, Princess Tinyfeet, telling Hank that her father Chief Justice was a Native American crime-fighter who "just about went on the warpath when I proposed to his little squaw." Hank asked how Hatred handled it. Hatred said he brought his father-in-law-to-be a welcome basket of okra only to be shot by the angry superhero--and then shot him back in return.

Hank rang the doorbell of Tophet Tower's penthouse apartment, the pizza from Vincenzo in hand, seeking an audience with Wide Wale. A bemused Rocco answered, chuckling at Hank's audacity. Hank politely told Rocco that he wished to speak to Wide Wale about marrying his daughter and offered the artisanal pizza as a peace offering. Rocco accepted the pizza, but slammed Hank against a wall and threatened to electrocute his "braciole" until there was "nothing but taint left down there" if he even looked at Sirena again. Hank apologized and made his retreat, cagily promising Rocco he "won't be seeing Hank Venture again", to which Rocco dismissively replied "Oh, I ain't worried, peaches."

Rocco gave the pizza to his fellow Whale Lice. As they ate it, one henchman commented that Vincenzo makes the best slice in the city, while another replied that it almost made up for Vincenzo scuffing the henchman's knuckles with his face. A moment later the two slumped to the ground, unconscious from the tranquilizers hidden in the pizza.

Following Hank's departure, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch made her way to the penthouse of Tophet Tower, having learned that Wide Wale was keeping her husband imprisoned in his pool room with the intention of exacting revenge on The Monarch for killing Wale's brother, Dr. Dugong. She successfully manipulated, then physically subdued, the Whale Lice guards in front of Wide Wale's front door, leaving them unconscious on the floor. Before she could enter the apartment itself she was pulled aside by Henchman 21 in his Kano disguise. He had just ridden up the elevator while hiding his face from Hank, who was now dressed as Enrico Matassa. Dr. Mrs. The Monarch and 21 hid in a corner as Enrico Matassa stepped over the unconscious henchmen and confidently strutted up to Wide Wale's apartment. He pressed an ear against the door, listening for the telltale sound of bodies hitting the floor after eating drugged pizza. Hearing the "thud", Enrico Matassa opened the door and stepped inside.

Wide Wale discovered his unconscious Whale Lice henchman scattered around an open pizza box. Thinking The Monarch (as The Blue Morpho) had escaped, Wale armed himself with a handgun from his desk drawer and called out to the Morpho to show himself. The gun was snatched from his hand by a hank of purple yarn and Wide Wale found himself looking down the barrel of his own firearm, now wielded by one Enrico Matassa. Matassa introduced himself and Wale asked if he was a young supervillain trying to build a reputation by killing the "alpha whale". Matassa countered that he knocked out the guards to demonstrate his skills, considering their meeting a tryout, as he wished to serve Wide Wale. In a show of deference to prove his sincerity, Enrico Matassa knelt before Wide Wale and presented his gun back to him with open hands.

Wide Wale, sensing an opportunity, lead Enrico Matassa to the door of his Pool room and told him that joining his "family" was like a sacred covenant--once he walked through the door there would be no turning back. Handing the gun back to Enrico Matassa, Wale instructed him to kill the person imprisoned in his Pool room: The Monarch.

Enrico Matassa, visibly nervous and shaking, pointed the gun at The Monarch's face. The Monarch--still dressed as The Blue Morpho, badly bruised from being beaten, and tied to a chair--mocked Wide Wale for thinking that dressing Hank Venture up as a gigolo to kill him was in any way "poetic". Enrico Matassa interrupted to say that he dressed himself as a "juggalo." The Monarch scoffed at the idea of Enrico Matassa killing anyone, but Wide Wale poured on the encouragement, promising Sirena's hand in marriage and a home in a "friggin' magic petting zoo or some shit" if Matassa just pulled the trigger.

Henchman 21, still dressed as Kano, threw open the door to the Pool room, crying out to Enrico Matassa to spare The Monarch's life. Addressing 21 as "The Viceroy", Enrico Matassa expressed surprise that he was out of Dunwitch Asylum. 21 reasoned with Enrico Matassa by reminding him that Enrico Matassa is a lover, not a fighter. He told Enrico that the woman he loved was waiting for him in her bedroom, coaxing Enrico to give him the gun and go to her instead. Enrico appeared to agree, telling 21 his words were "very Hank", but was interrupted by Wide Wale snatching the gun from his hand and pointing it at The Monarch's forehead.

Before Wide Wale could pull the trigger, he himself was interrupted by an explosion of glass as Red Death crashed through the window on his mechanical horse with Dr. Dugong in tow. Dr. Dugong revealed that he had survived The Monarch's attack and healed thanks to an abundance of starfish DNA, but had been in hiding under OSI protection since then out of fear of his villainous brother. Wide Wale, overjoyed to learn "Dougie" was still alive but stung by his older brother's words, swore he would never do anything to hurt him. When Dr. Dugong pointed out that Wide Wale was still holding a gun, Wale tried to play it off as a game of cops and robbers with his costumed friends.

Sirena joined the group in the Pool room, alarmed by the sound of breaking glass. She was surprised to find her boyfriend in the midst of the chaos. When Sirena asked her father why Hank was there, Enrico Matassa removed his hat and sat down with a dazed look on his face, stating he didn't remember. The group quickly turned their attention across the street, as the VenTech Tower began violently shaking. The Morphomobile then flew past Tophet Tower to land in front of the quavering VenTech building and the original Blue Morpho emerged.

Hank, still dressed as Enrico Matassa, returned to the VenTech Tower to find the door blocked and several groups of people standing outside. He approached Dean and Sergeant Hatred, who filled him in on the situation with Jonas Venture Sr. in the PROBLEM and the arrival of Vendata. Hank first expressed interest in finally meeting his grandfather, but changed his mind as he learned more and more details, considering it a lot to process.

Police officers forced them to move away from VenTech Tower to make way for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, with the Venture brothers walking to the American Museum of Natural History. Hank confessed to Dean that when he takes on a persona--be it Enrico Matassa or The Bat or Russian Guyovitch--something comes over him and he becomes that character. He wondered if this made him crazy, like James McAvoy's character in the 2016 horror film Split. Dean dismissed the idea of Hank having dissociative identity disorder, thinking it more likely he had an overactive imagination and ADD.

Hank moved into Dean's old room in the VenTech Tower after Dean moved to the on-campus dorms at Stuyvesant University. Hank redecorated the room and moved his things into it. On the shelf next to Hank's bed he placed his Enrico Matassa hat and the Batman mask he wears as The Bat.

Episode Appearances

Season 5

• Momma's Boys

Season 7

• The Venture Bros. & The Curse of the Haunted Problem
• The Rorqual Affair
• Arrears in Science
• The Terminus Mandate (hat shown)

Movie

• Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart

Trivia

• Enrico is both an Italian masculine given name and a surname.
  • Enrico means homeowner, or king, derived from Heinrich of Germanic origin.
  • It is also a given name in Ladino.
  • Equivalents in other languages are Henry (English), Henri (French), Enrique (Spanish), Henrique (Portuguese) and Hendrik (Dutch).
• Matassa is Italian for skein or hank.
• A hank is a coiled or wrapped unit of yarn or twine.
• When Enrico Matassa sees "The Viceroy" in The Rorqual Affair, he expresses surprise that he is out of Dunwitch Asylum despite them both having left the asylum at the same time in the Season 5 episode Momma's Boys.

Gallery

"Nobody move, see! This is kind of a holdup!" (Momma's Boys)

CrimeRobot, Flying Sidekick, Enrico Matassa, and The Viceroy

"Now drop to the ground or something!"

"Again, we are insane criminals!"

"Hey, don't hank me around, copper!"

"Between them is me, Enrico Matassa."

"He is so Unhank that he wants to fight Enrico Matassa!"

"But Enrico Matassa is very Hank."

"That's Enrico Matassa, my friend."

"Mi chiamo Matassa."

"That is just a taste of Enrico Matassa's many talents."

"Per favore, Don Wide Wale."

"Enrico Matassa wants to come work for you."

"You walk through this door, ain't no turning back."

"You want in this family, you gotta do one thing for me first."

"Kill this asshole."

"Pretty poetic, huh?"

"Just pull the trigger and you're family."

"Viceroy? You're out of Dunwitch?"

"Does she crave Enrico?"

"I don't remember."

"Hey. What's the haps?"

"Ok, stop. That's... kind of a lot."

"Something just comes over me. In the moment, it's like I am Enrico Matassa."

"Awesome!"