The Monarch is a costumed villain who dresses up as a monarch butterfly and attacks his enemies with butterfly "stings" in the form of darts that range in lethality.

His main goal as a villain and quite possibly his reason for taking up arch-villainy in the first place is to ruin the life of Dr. Thaddeus S. Venture and his family. As the fiendish head of The Fluttering Horde, he commands relatively loyal butterfly-themed henchmen and is aided by the villainous talents of his wife, Dr. Mrs. The Monarch who was once his second-in-command as Dr. Girlfriend. Their villianous deeds are launched from the Horde's base of operations, a giant flying machine known as the Floating Cocoon.

Likes

• Fresca
• butterflies
• poison darts
• Dr. Girlfriend

Dislikes:

• Being betrayed
• Dr. Venture

History

As a pupae

At the age of eight years old The Monarch, then called Malcolm, was the only survivor of a plane crash in New Jersey's Pine Barrens that killed both of his parents. Left on his own in the woods, he spent that summer living with a group of monarch butterflies. This fateful event became his inspiration for the villainous persona of The Monarch.

Left with a large inheritance from his parents' death, the Monarch would later use these funds to finance his obsessive antagonism of Dr. Venture.

In the Chrysalis

During his years at State College, Malcolm is known to have at least taken a class in creative writing, as seen in "Past Tense". It is also where he began arching Dr. Venture. It was during this time that The Monarch caused the accident that was supposed to kill Dr. Venture, but instead destroyed Baron Ünderbheit's Jaw.

Adversaries

As a villain, The Monarch is in direct opposition with law enforcement and any who may be considered heroes. Specific foils are considered below.

Dr. Venture

The Monarch considers himself the arch-enemy of Dr. Venture, though the exact cause of the Monarch's antagonism is unknown. It is known, however, that The Monarch and Dr. Venture attended the same college and met there for the first time. It is speculated that Dr. Venture may have poked fun at The Monarch or criticized his poetry. The poetry was deeply rooted in a love for Monarch butterflies and Rusty thought it was way too specific in expressing this love.

What is known is that during college The Monarch made an attempt on Rusty's life by blowing up a laboratory where Dr. Venture was working in. The explosion resulted in a fellow student, Werner Underbheit, losing his jaw.

Phantom Limb

The Phantom Limb is another villain with whom the Monarch has "clashed swords" in the past. Much of their animosity can be traced back to The Monarch stealing Limb's girlfriend, Queen Etheria, who'd later be the Monarch's sexy and husky-voiced Dr. Girlfriend. Phantom Limb also played a major role in sending The Monarch to prison. The Monarch has directed his henchmen to exact revenge against Phantom Limb, but more repercussions seem likely.

The Guild of Calamitous Intent

The Monarch has long been on tenuous ground with The Guild. He was never interested in The Guild's rules and regulations, as he'd only joined for the dental and partial health coverage. His aggression towards Dr. Venture, however, was not sanctioned by The Guild and soon forces were at work to rectify that.

The likely instigator of the actions taken against the Monarch by The Guild was Phantom Limb, a very high ranking member of the villainous organization. Since The Monarch had been dating Dr. Girlfriend at the time Limb's acts were mixed with a tinge of personal grudge.

Once he was framed and imprisoned by The Guild even from prison The Monarch plotted revenge. Considering some of them traitors to his cause, The Monarch took steps to get revenge on members of The Guild such as "[unleashing] herpes smeared sexbots upon the traitorous members".

After his marriage with Dr. Girlfriend, The Monarch fully rejoined The Guild in a duoship with the new Dr. Mrs. The Monarch. The repeated murdering of his new arch-enemies, however, may have put him on shaky ground with some of the Guild.

Captain Sunshine

While he and Dr. Girlfriend were separated, The Monarch attacked Captain Sunshine's sidekick Wonder Boy during a fit of drunken rage. Wonder Boy died as a result of the incident, leaving Captain Sunshine to seek revenge.

Butterfly Kisses

Extremely high strung, he has depended on Dr. Girlfriend, his long-time partner in love and crime, more than was necessary. The Monarch had wooed Dr. Girlfriend, who was known as Queen Etheria at the time, from Phantom Limb in a whirlwind romance. They quickly established a partnership of villainy, but it was fraught with insecurity and jealousy. Dr. Girlfriend especially draws out his sensitive side and this more than anything else gives others the impression of fallibility. As such a passionate man his strong emotions have greatly interfered with his villainous plans. His emotional nature, as well as efforts by Phantom Limb, led to their eventual break up and The Monarch's imprisonment.

However after a prison break, The Monarch attempts to kidnap Dr. Girlfriend and starts a contest of one-upmanship with Phantom Limb. Dr. Killinger helped reunite the couple using the Monarch's poetry. After promising Dr. Girlfriend to stop arching Dr. Venture the two were married. Unfortunately, the wedding was interrupted by Phantom Limb's attempted coup of The Guild of Calamitous Intent.

The two escaped and eventually moved into Phantom Limb's home after his disappearance. However there was strain due to the henchmen not seeing use in favor of Dr. Girlfriend's murderous moppets, as well as the Monarch's hatred of Dr.venture causing him to kill his last 5 arches. He eventually raided the Venture Compound but failed and managed to keep it a secret.

Effectiveness

While he is considered by some to be ineffective, The Monarch captured Dr. Venture, Hank, Dean and even Brock, successfully used his henchmen to infiltrate the Venture Compound, enacted a plan to inject Dr. Venture with a serum that changed him into a caterpillar, gave the robot G.U.A.R.D.O. chlamydia, and entered Venture Industries by slipping past Brock and his security team to have unfettered access inside. The Monarch is also deadly with his primary weapon, wrist darts. In one instance, The Monarch neutralized four of Brock Samson's trained security in the blink of an eye, before they could react or raise an alarm.

It is commonly believed that while The Monarch has had the opportunity to cause great harm to the Venture family, he chooses to let them go because he'd rather have a constant archenemy than be victorious but without a foe.

Fun Facts

• He is allergic to Rocket lettuce, causing his face to swell up.

Related Links

Hazelfo's Monarch doll