Despicable Me Wiki
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This is the page for the sequence of events that happen in the Despicable Me series.

Beginning of Time

Note: The events of Minions start.

  • 4.6 billion years ago - Earth forms.
  • 3.8 billion years ago -The Minions come into existence. They begin looking for a new boss.
  • 70 million years ago - 2500 BC- The Minions serve a Tyrannosaurus Rex, a caveman and a Pharaoh. The named bosses are all destroyed in the process.

Pre-1960s

  • 1431[1] - Count Dracula was born.
  • 1769 - Napoleon Bonaparte was born.
  • 1788 - Minions celebrate for Dracula's 357th birthday, but Dracula changes into ashes under sunlight.
  • 1812 - Napoleon is hit by the cannon because of Minions' carelessness.
  • 1851 - The National Museum is established.[2]
  • 1880 - The first convention of Villain-Con is held and it's later held annually.[3]
  • 1907 - Pig's Spleen starts business in London.
  • 1925 - Pennsylvania Best Bank is founded. One of the branches is later robbed by the Nelson family in 1968.
  • 1926 [4]- The Daily Gru is founded, and Queen Elizabeth II was born.

unknown time - At least six generations of Gru's have existed.[5]

1960s

1960

September

1967

  • April[7] - The Nelson family goes home after a successful heist from a museum and Binky Nelson goes back in search of his pacifier, also successfully.

1968

  • unknown time - The Minions, lacking a master to guide them, become depressed. Their hopes are answered when Kevin the Minion and two other volunteers set out from the cave.
  • unknown Friday - Kevin along with Stuart and Bob arrive in New York, where they find out that the Overkills are looking for new henchmen at Villain-Con in Orlando by the weekend.
  • Saturday - In the convention, it's also shown that the Freeze Ray is an invention developed by Dr. Nefario. The minions are permitted as henchmen of Overkills and they are appointed to steal the crown of Queen Elizabeth II.
  • Sunday - After Bob becomes the king by accident, the Overkills turn back on them.
  • Monday - Scarlet Overkill attempts to blow up Stuart and Bob but she is defeated in London. Later, Kevin is knighted for helping to save the Minions, and the Minions find a new boss in the form of Felonius Gru, who trains them to become his new army of Minions. Gru and Dr. Nefario meet each other for the first time.

Note: Minions-backstory timespan ends here and continues into Despicable Me.

1969

July

  • July 21, 1969 [8]- Felonius Gru and Marlena Gru watch the scene that Neil Armstrong steps on the Moon.

School Year

  • Early school year of 1969-1970[9]- Gru attempts to ask his crush, Lisa, out on a date but is mocked and ridiculed by his schoolmates while doing so.

Pre-Modern Era (1970's-2011)

  • late 1960's/early 1970's - Gru attempts to impress Marlena with his Moon-related projects, but is coldly met with an apathetic response each time. This plays a large role in Gru becoming a supervillain- he seeks to impress his mom.
  • a period of several decades ending right before the Moon heist - Felonius Gru becomes a supervillain and continues this trade up until the Moon heist. During this time, he becomes the master of the Minions, becomes acquainted with Dr. Nefario, manages to steal the Mona Lisa and Starry Night paintings, and wins "Villain of the Year" at some point.
  • June, 1985 - The weekly Superteen Dream makes a report about Balthazar Bratt, who is known as a child star and then superstar with other details on the cover.
  • late 1980's-early 1990's[10] - El Macho becomes renowned for being a nearly-superhuman bank van robber. He also manages to steal the Dallas Cowboys. El Macho retires in a dramatic fashion, faking a suicide involving being strapped to grenades, dynamite, a shark, and a rocket, jumping into an active volcano. El Macho adopts the name Eduardo Perez and becomes the owner of Salsa & Salsa at the Paradise Mall.
  • October 13, 1991 - In The Daily News, it is written that Gru almost won the Super Villain of the Year award (as seen in Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem).
  • 2001 - Margo is born.
  • April 26, 2001[11] - A special article in the magazine Daily Villain is published about El Macho's "suicide".
  • 2004 - Edith is born.
  • April 30, 2007[12]- Agnes is born.
  • Unknown time in 2007[13] - A banana causes a complete chaos because almost all the minions in the lab chase for it.
  • October, 2010 - Gru appears at Washington Square Park in New York with Kyle, as seen in the film The Secret Life of Pets.[14]
  • 2011[15] - Gru steals the Times Square Jumbotron, and the replicas of the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower from Las Vegas.

Modern Era (2012-present)

2012

Spring 2012

Note: The events of Despicable Me start.[16]

  • unknown period of time - Vector steals the pyramid, and Gru prepares to steal the Moon in response. Gru visits Mr. Perkins at the Bank of Evil but is denied a loan. The SR-6 is stolen by Gru from East Asia, but is hijacked by Vector.
  • the day before some Monday~Wednesday before May 18[17]- Gru adopts Margo, Edith, and Agnes to gain access to Vector's fortress. The girls are not pleased, but Margo remains hopeful. The boogie robots are created, though they are soon replaced with cookie robots. Tim, Mark, and Phil try to get a unicorn for Agnes after Edith destroys her younger "sibling"'s old one. Jerry and Stuart watch the girls and bond with them quickly. Gru tucks them in for the first time.
  • some Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday before May 18- Gru prepares to retake the shrink ray but is forced to take the girls to dance class. Afterwards, with his cookie robots, he succeeds in re-taking his prize. Gru tries to abandon Margo, Edith, and Agnes at Super Silly Fun Land, but after riding a roller coaster with them and destroying the Space Killer booth to win a unicorn for Agnes, he takes a liking to them. Gru is then embaressed by the girls when he attempts to showcase the rest of his plan for the moon heist, which cuts off funding from Mr. Perkins. The girls inspire Gru to just build his own rocket without the Bank of Evil's help.

May

  • May 18[18]- the girls play with Kyle and redecorate him completely in pink. Gru later takes a picture of the pink Kyle.[19]
  • May 24[20] - Gru reads the bedtime story "Sleepy Kittens" to the girls. He realizes his newfound love for the girls and it startles him.
  • May 25 - Dr. Nefario, fearing Margo, Edith, and Agnes are distractions for Gru, returns the girls to Miss Hattie's Home for Girls. Gru becomes extremely saddened by this event and the girls return heartbroken to the Boxes of Shame.
  • May 26[21][22] - Gru steals the Moon with the SR-6. Margo, Edith, and Agnes perform at a dance recital on that day. Vector kidnaps the girls shortly after and Gru is forced to give up the shruken moon in exchange for the girls, though Vector reneges on his side of the bargain. Gru attempts to then rescue them by force. The girls are rescued and the Moon is accidentally sent back into space, stranding Vector on the satellite.
  • sometime after the Moon heist - Gru reads the girls his book, One Big Unicorn, as expression of love. Gru later watches the girls perform their ballet, which is then hijacked by the Minions with disco.

Note: The events of Despicable Me end here.

2012-2013

  • sometime after the Moon heist - A social worker from Miss Hattie's checks if Gru's home is suitable for children. It is approved by the worker thanks to the girls hastily redecorating the interior.
  • November 2012[23] - Agnes does a Veteran's Day pageant.
  • unknown time - Gru quits villainy and becomes the producer of Mr. Gru's Old Fashioned Jelly.

2013

The events of Despicable Me 2 mainly take place in this following timespan.[24]

April

  • Early April - El Macho makes his comeback and steals the PX-Labs building.
  • April 30[25] - Agnes has her birthday party. Infamous for having Gru dressing up as a fairy princess, being forced to do so when the hired princess says she can not make it. Gru encounters Lucy Wilde, an AVL agent, who takes him by force when he resists her recruitment effort.

May

  • May 1 - Gru accepts the AVL's job offer. He and Lucy set up shop at Bake My Day. They break into Salsa & Salsa upon a weak, but correct lead that Eduardo Perez resembles El Macho, only to fight the owner's pet chicken, Pollito, and find a batch of a secret salsa recipe instead the mutagen. Eduardo nearly catches them but they escape. During the night, Kevin and Jerry are kidnapped by El Macho.
  • May 2 - The duo investigate Floyd Eagle-san. Unfortunately, Eduardo anticipated this and planted the PX-41 serum ahead of time on the unsuspecting wig store owner. In addition, Margo ends up falling in love with Antonio Perez, which frustrates Gru. Gru proceeds to make baseless accusations to Silas Ramsbottom that Eduardo and Antonio were the perpetrators of the theft. During the day, Dr. Nefario kidnaps more minions using a fake ice-cream truck.
  • May 3[26] - While investigating El Macho, Gru is forced to date Shannon, a friend of Jillian's, and ends up having a bad date, only to be rescued by Lucy. The two realize their feelings for each other.
  • May 4 - Floyd is arrested because of Eduardo planting the serum in the wig merchant's store. Lucy is to be reassigned to the AVL's Australian branch. Both can not admit their feelings to each other. Gru attempts to call Lucy but he doesn´t have the courage to do so.
  • May 5[27] - Eduardo Perez holds a Cinco de Mayo party. Gru discovers Eduardo is El Macho and is forced to flee home afterwards. Margo breaks up with Antonio and Gru freezes him. Lucy jumps off the plane inbound to Australia and hang-glides to Eduardo's party but then gets captured.
  • May 6 - El Macho prepares to launch his PX-41 mutated Minions, but is thwarted by Gru, Dr. Nefario, the girls, and uninfected Minions. El Macho drinks the mutagen in a final attempt to defeat Gru but is incapacitated by a lipstick taser and a fart gun. Lucy is rescued from being blown up in a volcano.

Despicable Me 2 timespan stops momentarily here.

July

  • early July[28] - Agnes falls off her bike while trying to get ice cream and the Minions give her a unicorn motorcycle. Agnes ends up stopping a jewel thief and though her motorcycle is destroyed.
  • Early July - Three kittens are mysteriously kidnapped.
  • July 7- Agnes gets an exoskeleton-bike to replace the old bike.

December

  • unknown point[29] - Mike becomes infected by expired PX-41 in the mailroom and Ken has to protect a bunch of kittens from the rabid Minion. These kittens are the same kittens that earlier mysteriously disappeared.

147 Dates Later (Unknown Amount of Time)

Note: The Despicable Me 2 timespan resumes here.

  • after 147 dates - Gru and Lucy marry. The first dance occurs to tune of "I Swear", sung by a ballad of Minions. Agnes recites her poem dedicated to Lucy and all of the attendees dance to the Minion version of "YMCA". As Gru and his family take pictures, an Evil Minion appears.

Note: Despicable Me 2 timespan ends here.

Others

Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem

Note: As of this moment, there is no clear information of how it relates to the timeline. It is likely that this event transpires in-between Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2.

an anniversary of the adoption- Gru opens up Minion training sessions after Dr. Nefario builds the Minionizer, a gadget that turns humans into Minions. The girls become involved in a Minion training session on the anniversary that they met Gru. It goes horribly wrong but Gru, the girls, and the new recruits come out unscathed and all of them briefly celebrate before the latter reverts to human bodies.

"Puppy"

Note: As of this moment, there is no clear timeframe for this short film. It is likely set before the wedding, given the two other short films are set in July and December 2013, it would follow the pattern.

unknown time - The miniature UFO touches down in Gru's backyard.

unknown amount of time after the UFO lands - Dave is washing windows when he sees many owners walking their dogs. He tries to walk Kyle, a squirrel, a pigeon and a ladybug. He first meets the Miniature UFO.

unknown period of time after first meeting- The "puppy" enlarges a cheeseball. The Minions take advantage of this to make their bananas bigger.

winter[30] - The miniature UFO destroys Gru's TV after getting angry at a bunch of tanks attacking another UFO in a movie. This tantrum gets Dave and the miniature UFO thrown out. The two stargaze to pass the time. The UFO draws a part of Ursa Major and a few butts, and points to Sirius, its home. It basically tells Dave it misses home, and Dave, being the loving owner, beams an e-mail to the star system.

sometime after the winter night-The other UFOs arrive. The "puppy" is grateful, and leaves behind one final gift- the ladybug it took when it first met Dave.

Despicable Me 3

Steve Burke, the NBCUniversal CEO, announced in September 2013 that a third film in the Despicable Me series is in the works. In January 2014, it was said to be titled Despicable Me 3 and would be released on June 30, 2017. Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio, the writers of the first two films, will also return to write the screenplay for the third film.

References

  1. Dracula is referred to Vlad the Impaler, who was born in late 1431.
  2. "MDCCCLI" is written at the museum.
  3. According to the host of VNC, the convention of Villain-Con has been held for 89 years straight as of 1968.
  4. The July 7, 2013 edition of Daily Gru that is being read by the Minions claims this.
  5. See the Gru family tree for details.
  6. While this is found on fake credentials, it seems plausible given Gru was a child at the time.
  7. A calendar can be found in the guardroom, which implies that the date April 1st is Saturday - in the United States, April 1st, 1967 is Saturday. In the mini-movie, Binky Nelson is still a baby, so it's the closest time.
  8. The assumption is that the DM timeline adheres to this date.
  9. Lisa's comment "Did you see the moon landing on TV?" implies that the moon landing had just happened, and the likely time to talk about this while the memory is fresh is in the beginning of the school year.
  10. Despicable Me 2 takes place in 2013 (see below), and El Macho's career is said to be about 20 years ago.
  11. Found on Gru's computer.
  12. Her birthday cake in the second movie says 6 on the candle. The directors' commentary for the birthday scene confirms that this is her sixth birthday.
  13. A working time calander is hang beside a vending machine in the lab.
  14. See also: Timeline in The Secret Life of Pets
  15. Gru, before introducing some of his stolen goods, says "We have had a pretty good year ourselves." Given Korea is not in the wintertime when Gru heads over there a few days later and the appearance of the girls doesn't alter much from the time skip, it's safe to say this is the given year.
  16. The calendar of May corresponds to the May of 2012, and the only other years that correspond with the calendar make the appearance of the girls in Despicable Me 2 implausible.
  17. A schedule states that there is no class the Thursday of that week.
  18. Gru crosses off the 18th in that scene.
  19. A picture of the pink Kyle is seen in Despicable Me 2.
  20. Immediately after Gru leaves the girls room, Dr. Nefario says that there are only 48 hours until launch. Though the exact timing is contradicted, it's still safe to say that this scene occurs two days before the launch.
  21. Seen on the girls' concert dance ticket
  22. The date is marked with "Steal the Moon!"
  23. Veteran's Day is in November, so this is a reasonable timeframe.
  24. Lucy's car has a license expiration date of 2014, which highlights a possibility that the car was registered in 2013. Also see below references to Training Wheels and Panic in the Mailroom.
  25. The AVL's projector says it's Tuesday and that it's 1 PM. There's no time skip indicated by the film and since the film later has Eduardo has him saying that his Cinco de Mayo is next week, this is credible.
  26. Time shift indicated by film's fade to black.
  27. Assumed that the party is held on Cinco de Mayo proper.
  28. Seen on a newspaper towards the end of the short "Training Wheels".
  29. A calendar in the mailroom corresponds to December 2013.
  30. The Sirius system, the "puppy's" home, is visible in the night sky. If the Gru's house is in Southern California, then the only way this situation is possible is if this scene is set in the winter.

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