Villainous

Villainous is a Mexican animated web series created by Alan Ituriel. It is based on the 2012 web series of the same name which he had previously created and was initially picked up by the Latin American counterpart of Cartoon Network as a miniseries of ten one-minute episodes for the Cartoon Network Anything app (further episodes, along with a series of specials, began to be released later). The series is co-produced by Cartoon Network Latin American Original Productions and A.I. Animation Studios.

Production notes
The original Villainous webisodes were written, animated and voiced by Alan Ituriel in 2012 for ThatPlaceToHangOut.com, an art website he jointly worked on. He had to use royalty-free music and voice all characters. During the production of the new series, Cartoon Network was able to sign on YouTuber and popular Internet gamer Markiplier as the voice of 5.0.5. and attached a professional composer, Kevin Manthei, both upon request by Ituriel, to the project. Ituriel remained in control over most aspects as director, writer, storyboard artist, animator and voice of Black Hat. The English version is recorded first at TRACKS Productions using an Atlanta-based cast (with the exception of Ituriel and Markiplier) while the Spanish version was dubbed afterwards at Dubbing House in Mexico.

The Villainous concept was pitched by Alan Ituriel at a contest run at the Pixelatl Festival in Cuernavaca, called IdeaToon Summit, in 2014. He met some Cartoon Network executives there and the concept was judged to fit the 6-11 year old demographic for Cartoon Network Anything original content.

Villainous has garnered very positive reception on Cartoon Network's online platforms, especially Cartoon Network's fans of the United States, leading Cartoon Network to decide to continue their own "Pitch Me" competition through at least 2017 in an aim to find more web original shows. Villainous is the first of what CN hopes to be many successful short projects for their app and YouTube channel.

A TV pilot was released on June 8, 2019, with the Spanish-language version released seven days earlier, while a full-length series is currently in development and it will premiere in October 2021 in the United States. Ituriel later confirmed that season one is currently in production, while also announcing a new character, with a backdoor pilot later debuting as the Victor and Valentino episode "Villainy In Monte Macabre."

On October 10, 2021, the full-length series was finally announced to premiere first on HBO Max later the same month

Plot
Villainous is the story of Black Hat Org., run by Evil Handyman Black Hat (whose name is a synonym for villain, a reference to black-hatted evil cowboys from western movies) and his team of three less-villainous aides. Black Hat is trying to sell various evil inventions created by Dr. Flug and desperate to achieve his evil aspirations. However, things usually end up going wrong for him as the brilliant innovations tend to have small and often comical flaws.

Characters

 * Black Hat is a pure evil, narcissistic mastermind who runs Black Hat, Org. and appears in all of the ads that the "company" produces. Black Hat is of unknown species and is able to shapeshift, teleport, manipulate space, conjure objects at will and open portals with his claws. He is shown to be able to play the pipe organ and, according to the creator, a violin with strings made of cat guts. Black Hat is also shown to wear a smaller, black bowler hat beneath his signature top hat. An alternate, muscular Black Hat in "The Perception of Evil" was voiced by Markiplier, but in Spanish and English was voiced by Ituriel himself.
 * Dr. Flugslys is a nervous scientist who wears a paper bag over his head. Flugslys means 'aviation accident' or 'plane crash' in Icelandic and, according to the creator, Flug has obtained his driver's and pilot's license. Nobody has ever seen his face, except, according to someone working on the show, Black Hat himself. According to a tweet by Alan Ituriel, the reason behind his bag would be revealed after the mini-series became a show.
 * Demencia is Black Hat's crazed fan and assistant. Her outfit is inspired by reptiles and she has a love for destruction. If she crouches down, because of her hair color, her hair covers her body and she resembles a lizard. She is seen to be able to play the electric guitar. She is hinted to be an experiment.
 * 5.0.5 is the organization's failed experiment that cannot be killed. Intended to be an evil creature, he instead became very loving and enjoys hugging his friends. He is a big blue bear-creature with a single flower sprouting from his head that wilts and grows based on his emotions, and closes when he is asleep. He seems to be the organization's housekeeper. 5.0.5 sees Dr. Flug as a father more than a creator, which makes Demencia his troublesome sister.
 * Cam Bot was revealed by Alan Ituriel in a recent Twitter poll to be the one who films all of Black Hat Org.'s ads. It is a sentient camera with useful attachments, however, the make-up puff arm was removed by Black Hat when it attempted to use it on him.
 * Penumbra is a villainess who suffers a skin condition (possibly caused by herself) that gets her burn when in contact by the sun. She tried to obstruct the sun in numerous ways but they are always thwarted by Sunblast, the superhero of Arteno City who acts like a bully towards her. She wears a white lab coat (like a classic mad scientist) and has shadowy transparent hair that reveals a black line behind her head.
 * Miss Heed, whose real full name is Cecilia Amanda Kelly is a "hero" who can make anyone fall in love with her under mind control. She has a mysterious past with Dr. Flug, and is one of the few characters who refer to him by his real name.
 * Goldheart is one of, if not the strongest heroes and Dr. Flug's personal arch-nemesis since their younger years. He hasn't shown much of his powers yet, only appearing at the end of one episode.

Episodes
Episodes are produced in English and dubbed in Spanish afterwards. Below are the original English and Spanish dub titles for the one-minute shorts that Cartoon Network has approved and the small, fifteen-second shorts that are also being released on the CN Anything app to promote the show, ordered by their official YouTube compilation.

Nevertheless, Season 1 episodes are either produced in Spanish or using English demo recordings made by the show's crew.

Pilot (2019)
1.The Dreadful Dawn/El Atroz Amanecer

Phase One

 * 1) The Perception of Evil/La Percepción del Mal
 * 2) Ice Cream of Fear/Helado de Miedo
 * 3) Bigger, Badder/Más Grande, más Malo
 * 4) Squeak/Chirrido
 * 5) Horribly Heavy/Horriblemente Pesado
 * 6) Wearing Evil/Vistiendo la Maldad
 * 7) Bad Security/Seguridad Mala
 * 8) The Portrait of Evil/El Retrato del Mal
 * 9) Sculpting Evil/Esculpiendo Maldad
 * 10) The Note of Destruction/La Nota de Destrucción

Phase Two

 * 1) Horrible Holidays/Horribles fiestas
 * 2) The Foul Flower/La flor fétida
 * 3) Dementia WuZ Here/Demencia eZtubo aquí
 * 4) Black Hat Organization: 2018 Anniversary/Black Hat Organization: Aniversario 2018
 * 5) Trap-ical Resort/¡Verano!
 * 6) Black Hat Challenge/Desafío Black Hat
 * 7) Black Hat Challenge II/Desafío Black Hat II
 * 8) Black Hat Challenge III/Desafío Black Hat III

Orientation Videos for Villains
''Note: In general, this is a series of 10-to-11-minute specials which feature Black Hat and Dr. Flug criticizing villains from other Cartoon Network shows. The Q&A special is an exception, at 14 minutes and without a focus on a particular villain.''
 * 1) The Lost Cases of Ooo (featuring Earl of Lemongrab from Adventure Time)
 * 2) The Lost Cases of Rhyboflavin (featuring Nohyas from Mighty Magiswords)
 * 3) The Lost Cases of Boxmore (featuring Lord Boxman from OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes)
 * 4) The Lost Cases of Townsville (featuring Mojo Jojo from The Powerpuff Girls)
 * 5) The Lost Cases of Elmore (featuring Rob/Dr. Wrecker from The Amazing World of Gumball)
 * 6) Guide for an Evil Conquest (featuring Vilgax from Ben 10)
 * 7) The Lost Cases of the Future (featuring Aku from Samurai Jack)
 * 8) The Lost Cases of Beach City (featuring Peridot and Jasper from Steven Universe)
 * 9) The Lost Cases of the Park (featuring Anti-Pops from Regular Show)
 * 10) The Lost Cases of the Tree House (featuring The Delightful Children from Down the Lane from Codename: Kids Next Door)
 * 11) Q&A: Black Hat Organization Responds

In other media

 * Black Hat makes a cameo in the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes episode, "Crossover Nexus". It was later revealed in the Q&A special that this was actually an identical duplicate of Black Hat that was created in the short, "Perception of Evil".
 * The Black Hat Magisword, which debuted in the Villainous short, "The Lost Cases of Rhyboflavin", makes subsequent cameos in the second-season episodes of Mighty Magiswords, including "Ghosthaste".
 * A crossover with Victor and Valentino entitled "Villainy In Monte Macabre" premiered on October 19, 2020 on the US Cartoon Network, with the cast reprising their roles. In the special, Victor and Valentino team up with Dr. Flug and Demencia to try to find a squid monster who is disguised as a human in Monte Macabre.

Trivia

 * Many episodes of the full series feature plenty of cameos and references to many famous Cartoon Cartoons characters, few of them even having voiced appearances.