| Mantilla | |
|---|---|
| The Venture Bros. character | |
 | |
| First appearance |
Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart |
| Last appearance |
Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart |
| Voiced by |
Nina Arianda |
| Information | |
| Full name | Debra St. Simone |
| Nickname(s) | Debbie |
| Species | Human |
| Occupation |
Super-Villain Animal Caretaker (formerly) |
| Relatives |
Force Majeure (father, deceased) Bobbi St. Simone (mother) Hank Venture (biological son) Dean Venture (biological son) |
| Notable Characteristics |
Can turn invisible Can make others and objects invisible Super Intelligent |
| Alliances |
The Peril Partnership |
| Prior Alliances |
ARCH Caring Hands Second Chance Ranch |
| Prior Relationships |
The Monarch (ex-boyfriend) |
Mantilla (real name: Debra St. Simone) is the main antagonist of The Venture Bros. movie: Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart. She is the leader of the organization known as ARCH. She is voiced by Nina Arianda.
History[]
Debra St. Simone was the child of the previous Sovereign of The Guild of Calamitous Intent, Force Majeure and Bobbi St. Simone She and her mother were force to flee the Guild when she was a child after her father was killed and his position usurped by the shapeshifter who would later be known as The Sovereign.
Debra would later meet The Monarch and dated him for a while. After a decade on the run, her mother wanted to have a normal life again, so both went to Rusty Venture at his compound to help her get rid of her powers, which he succeeded by transferring them to Debra in exchange for some "stuff" from her (implied to be her eggs, which he used to give birth to his sons). It was also at that time that she ended her relationship with the Monarch as her mother found out and disapproved of her dating a super villain, although the Monarch would wrongfully believe for a long time that it was because she slept with Dr. Venture. Bobbi later founded the Caring Hands Second Chance Ranch, an animal sanctuary for abandoned super-science pets where Debra would work, but resented it as she thought it to be beneath her.
Debra develops an obsession over Dr. Mrs. The Monarch, began to idolize her, and wanted to team up with her as a partner but was unable to because she would always be the number two of male villains. She began stalking her for the next twenty years in order to "save" her from what she thought was Mrs. Monarch wasting her potential by being with The Guild of Calamitous Intent and The Monarch.
By Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart, she is a supervillain in her own right, calling her herself Mantilla with her own organization called ARCH. She makes her move and strikes by first attacking a secret Office of Secret Intelligence laboratory in Queens and framing Dr. Mrs. The Monarch for it, causing the latter to go on the run from the OSI and The Guild. She then approaches and propositions her ex boyfriend, The Monarch and his henchman 21 to join her team in exchange for technology, weapons, and the right to arch Dr. Venture. After The Monarch and 21 accepts her offer and attacks Venture with her henchman and weapons, she betrays him by trapping him in the VenTech Tower and remote accessing the Helper Pods to blast him and Dr. Venture into space. Dr. Mrs. Monarch with the help of Red Death and his horse Daisy, tracks down and confronts Debra. She reveals her background and as well as her plan; she was trying to convince Mrs. Monarch to leave The Guild and The Monarch to join forces with her and Arch as a female villain duo. Mrs. Monarch declines and convinces her to switch off the HelperPods so that her trapped husband in the VenTech tower can return to Earth in exchange for helping her avoid OSI and Guild retaliation and setting her up with a super villain gig with The Peril Partnership. Mantilla agrees and also gives Mrs. Monarch some of her invisibility powers which she uses to sneak into Ben's house to see her injured husband.
Abilities and Personality[]
She not only has inherited her mother's invisibility powers, but seems to have enhanced them by being able to make entire large objects like a hover tank and her henchmen invisible, and can even share her powers with another individual for a few hours. She also seems to have a cunning, super intelligence that's led her to build an organization more powerful and effective in arching and villainy than The Guild, that managed to trick them and the OSI. How she developed these exceptional skills is unexplained.
Relationships with Other Characters[]
Bobbi St. Simone[]
Debra resents her mother for prohibiting her from engaging on the villain lifestyle, such as dating villains like the Monarch and forcing her to become an animal caretaker which she considers to be beneath her and blames her for her own erratic behavior.
Dr. Mrs. The Monarch[]
Debra is obsessed with Dr. Mrs. The Monarch, who she considers to be a great villain but who's talents are squandered by playing number two to incompetent men. She wanted to partner up with her but couldn't because she was the number two of villains like Truckules, Phantom Limb and finally The Monarch. For the past 20 years Debra has been stalking her in order to save Sheila from "the system". Upon hearing her "speech", Shelia called her out on it and outright refused her. More importantly her claim as the "heir" to the guild. She was willing to get her a place in the guild. But refused to still follow her or abandon her husband.
The Monarch[]
The Monarch was Debra's ex-boyfriend. According to the Monarch, they broke up because she slept with Rusty Venture. However, Debra later explains to Dr. Mrs. The Monarch that the real reason was that her mother disapproved of her dating a villain as they both had given up the villain life. She also considers him to be failure and wonders what Dr. Mrs. The Monarch sees in him.
Dr. Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture[]
Debra knows Dr. Venture due to him being a past acquaintance of her mother and officially met him when Bobbi wanted to remove her invisibility powers in order to return to a normal life. Rusty succeeded in the endeavor by transferring Bobbi's powers to Debra in exchange for something that in Debra's words was "stuff that she wasn't planning on using", after their business was concluded they parted ways and never contacted each other again. The Monarch believed that the reason Debra broke up with him was because she slept with Venture and when she is told of this by Dr. Mrs. The Monarch, Debra gags in disgust and corrects her by saying that she merely made business with Rusty and nothing more. Thaddeus himself shows no sign of attraction to her and called their arrangement, simply business.
Episode Appearance[]
Season 1[]
- Eeney, Meeney, Miney... Magic! (mentioned)
- Mid-Life Chrysalis (mentioned)
Season 2[]
- Powerless in the Face of Death (mentioned)
Season 4[]
- Perchance to Dean (mentioned)
- Pinstripes & Poltergeists (mentioned)
Season 7[]
- The Saphrax Protocol (mentioned)
Movie[]
Trivia[]
- Debra's deal with Dr. Venture is not explained in full detail in the film. In the commentary it is confirmed her eggs were used by Doctor Venture to create his sons, Hank and Dean, thus making her their biological mother.
- That being said and given her past remarks, she most likely feels no maternal connection to them. Though ironically the twins never got to officially meet their biological mother.
Gallery[]
