Why Dr. Doofenshmirtz is the best villain.
The contemplated life of Dr. Doofenshmirtz leads to compelling character development and passionate reasoning behind his actions.
Back when I was about 4 years old, I was watching Phineas and Ferb. 13 years later, this show is still relevant in my life.
The show Phineas and Ferb is an American TV show about two boys, Phineas and Ferb, who build inventions for the fun of the neighborhood. On the other hand, the main antagonist and antihero, Dr. Doofenshmirtz, raised in Drusselstein, builds “inators” to sabotage his brother Rodger and take over the tri-state area. However, his background could justify this attribute.
Even from his birth, Heinz Doofenshmirtz was alone. Neither of his parents showed up to his birth! Heinz celebrated every birthday by himself because neither of his parents cared to do anything for him. Every time he had a cake made for himself it was always eaten by bats.
Heinz was, for a short time, actually disowned by his parents. He was raised by ocelots and would stink so bad from the meat that nobody would go near him. And due to the lack of money, he was forced to get a job at the carnaval being the ball that they threw for the water tank game. Since nobody would go near him, he decided to buy himself a friend, Balloony. He sprayed Balloony with long-lasting spray.
Eventually he returned back to his normal family. Unfortunately for them, The family's lawn gnome was stolen and Heinz had to play the role of lawn gnome. He was constantly commanded to stand still and be the lawn gnome even when the other children were playing games. One night, when Heinz was standing guard, his friend balloony flew away and he never saw balloony again for another 40 years.
Later on, Heinz’s mother, Gertrude, was expecting another child. Believing it would be a girl, she knitted a bunch of dresses for this future baby. Turns out, Roger Doofenshmirtz was not a girl at all. So to not make waste of all the clothes, Gertrude forced Heinz to wear all of the dresses to school, humiliating him in front of everyone. He was even bullied by Grulinda and Boris.
Roger was inexplicably favored by his mother, basically abandoning Heinz. At such a young age, he felt even more traumatized because of this. Roger was also naturally good at kickball which his mother loved. Heinz, in response, tried sports but ended up failing at every single one, never making his mother happy. So one day, in an attempt to make his father proud, he attempted to jump off of the high-dive to prove he was a man. Like the child he was, he could not do it and his father wore a bag over his head because he was so ashamed that Heinz was his son.
Heinz moved on and and tried his hand at magic, and was surprisingly able to pull a crowd, but was beaten by another kid with bigger hands. That same kid won the heart of Heinz’s crush, destroying his heart.
Heinz later entered into a science fair, in which he built his first “inator” only to lose to another kid with a baking soda volcano. Heinz, once again, entered into another science fair, but lost to another baking soda volcano.
He was told as a child to not make a mountain out of a molehill, which he took quite literally, and carried it on to his adulthood.
Heinz’s parents tricked him into going to the “schtor” which was really just a painting in front of a boat bound to America. In America, Heinz found a new love in painting, but never could find his muse. One day, inspiration struck him and he made his masterpiece. Due to his excitement, he tried to show Roger, which he accidently spilled food all over and ruined. This led Doofenshmirtz to grow a stronger, more personal hatred towards his brother.
After this, Heinz decides to go into poetry, which he, surprisingly, still loses to a baking soda volcano. After his failures there, he decides to start a bratwurst company which was never successful, and was even mocked by a couple of kids.
He went to “evil school” in which he was flunked from. Doofenshmirtz swears to get revenge on Dr. Gevaarlijk, his teacher, but never ended up succeeding.
He then dated Linda for a short while before she became famous. During their date, Doofenshmirtz sarcastically says “I’m going to rule the world” in which Linda responds by saying he could start small, like “with the Tri-State Area.”
This likely sparks Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s obsession with ruling the Tri-State Area. Since Doofenshmirtz already had a deep hatred for his brother already, taking his position as mayor was more of an act of revenge than a challenge.
After the divorce of his wife Charlyne, Dr. Doofenshmirtz goes on to pursue his evil dream. He gets an alimony check, giving him the fundings he needs.
He soon meets his nemesis, Perry the Platypus, who inherently destroys all of Dr. Doof’s evil inators. However, Heinz being the doof he is, always puts a self destruct button on his inators. Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s smarts are ultimately the reason for his failure, putting him in an endless, painful cycle of disappointment and failure. Even such, Dr. Doofenshmirtz will never stop being evil because he is just that determined to finally release all of the pent up guilt and shame he gathered through his years. He is the embodiment of pity because he alone desemates everyone in brains, but that very strength is the reason for his failure. This makes him a great, and the best villain.