This is a list of main and recurring fictional characters and organizations from The Venture Bros., the Adult Swim/Cartoon Network comic science fiction series.
Team Venture composes the central characters in the show; they live in a fortified compound in or near Colorado Springs, CO United States. The compound doubles as the headquarters for Dr. Venture's company, Venture Industries.
The Office of Secret Intelligence is a branch of the United States government that handles supervillain activity, both combatting groups of supervillains or assisting super scientists and superheroes with their Guild of Calamitous Intent-assigned archenemies. A pastiche of G.I. Joe, in the 1980s they even fought against S.P.H.I.N.X. (itself a pastiche of Cobra Command) in the Pyramid Wars, during which the original S.P.H.I.N.X. was defeated. The O.S.I. operates from a hovering base and seems to answer to a division known as the Misters who are the go-between with the Secret President.
The Guild of Calamitous Intent is the primary organization of antagonists in the series. It acts as a sort of supervillain trade union, providing benefits such as health insurance and setting the rules of conduct between its members and their enemies; the Guild acts as a stabilizing influence on the world of super-villainy, as without it they would be unchecked free agents with no rules restricting their behavior. As Brock Samson put it: "These guys like their system, it's what they do; you take that away, and you're looking at a bunch of pissed off nut-bags with ray guns." The Guild not only serves to organize those mentally unstable individuals prone to acts of villainy into an efficient force, but at the same time it also acts as a brake on their more murderous impulses, as well as restricting attacks to Guild-approved targets. It is led by a mysterious figure known only as "The Sovereign" (thought to be David Bowie, but later revealed to be a nameless shapeshifter), and a group of villains called the Council of Thirteen. The current incarnation of the Guild (or at least its leadership) is implied to be a haven for missing and/or presumed deceased rock stars. In "All This and Gargantua-2", most of the Council of 13 is killed by the Sovereign as part of a gambit to draw out the Investors. The only survivors being Dr. Mrs. The Monarch, Dr. Phineas Phage, Dr. Z, Red Mantle, and Dragoon. Dr. Henry Killinger forges a new Council of 13 from the remaining councilmen and surviving Revenge Society members (sans Richard) after his slaying of the Investors in order to restore the balance between the OSI and the Guild, but declined the role of Sovereign, claiming his work was done. Season six introduces the New York branch of the Guild, which is made up of the most dangerous supervillains the organization has to offer.