| Margaret Fictel | |
|---|---|
| The Venture Bros. character | |
 | |
| First appearance |
"Return to Spider-Skull Island" |
| Voiced by |
Lisa Hammer Kate McKinnon |
| Information | |
| Occupation | Waitress |
| Relatives |
Nikki Fictel (daughter) Dermott Fictel (grandson) Harold Fictel (husband) Joseph Fictel (father-in-law) Penelope Fictel (mother-in-law) |
Margaret Fictel is a minor character on The Venture Bros. She serves as the stern yet devoted matriarch of the Fictel family. She first appeared as a diner waitress in Season One, but was not formally named until Season Four.
Character History
Margaret Fictel is Nikki Fictel's mother and Dermott Fictel's biological grandmother. She's been a waitress for many years, most likely to support her family. Nikki's son Dermott was raised to believe Nikki was his sister and Margaret was his mother, and he was never told who his father is. At first, Margaret's face is never really shown, only silhouetted in her first two appearances. Dermott believed that Brock Samson was his father from a very vague answer from Margaret. She gave him a key and said it belonged to his father. Many believed it was Brock, because of his lifestyle.
In reality, Dermott is the son of Nikki and Rusty Venture. Rusty slept with Nikki, the president of his fan club, when she was 15, resulting in her pregnancy under the false impression she was 20. Though Nikki withheld her natural age, Margaret saw her child as the victim and was understandably outraged and angered to find her daughter pregnant. She berated Dr. Venture for putting her daughter in that "situation."
She then declared that he was forbidden to see her daughter or the child ever again. Despite Rusty's open guilt, Margaret threatens to sue him for statutory rape and would call the cops to have it settled publicly unless he wrote them a check and maintained his distance. After he gives in and leaves, she disappointingly watches her daughter cry over his departure. To comfort her child, she admits she'd let Nikki keep the child and that she'd raise it as hers.
Vowing to protect her daughter, she promised to make it work and hugged Nikki. Sometime later, Nikki gave birth to her child, a son named Dermott and Margret became the prime caregiver to her grandson led to believe his mother was his sister and his grandmother his mother. To this point, it appears only Brock Samson, Shore Leave, Dr. Orpheus, and the Alchemist (if he hasn't erased his memory) know the truth about the family's secret. In "'From the Ladle to the Grave: The Story of Shallow Gravy", Margaret tells the interviewer she was tired of Dermott asking her "Who's my daddy?". She gave a sarcastic answer saying "You wanna meet your daddy, he's right up the road". This shows she still holds a strong hatred for Dr. Venture for sleeping with her daughter.
Margaret would reappear in the beginning of season five as she walked in on Nikki trying to seduce Hank. This made her furious seeing Hank, almost instantly recognizing him as Dr. Venture's son. Its unknown if she's upset because she knows its Dr. Venture's son or because she knew of Nikki repeating mistakes from the past.
Episode Appearances
- Return to Spider-Skull Island
- The Buddy System
- Perchance to Dean
- Everybody Comes to Hank's
- From the Ladle to the Grave: The Story of Shallow Gravy
- What Color is Your Cleansuit?
Trivia
- Margaret is voiced by Lisa Hammer in her initial appearance in Return to Spider-Skull Island. For all subsequent appearances she is voiced by Kate McKinnon.