Dr Saira Bellum

The Villains International League of Evil, known more commonly to its associates and A.C.M.E as V.I.L.E., was a vast and shadowy criminal syndicate. V.I.L.E. was not just a criminal organization, but a global conglomerate as well, powerful and well-organized, working without hindrance in every country on Earth, with a massive network of well equipped agents to do their bidding from behind the scenes. Their existence was seen as a myth to law enforcement like Interpol, but members of A.C.M.E. knew for certain they exist. However, even they only ever had a hunch to go on, and the leaders of V.I.L.E. went to any lengths to keep it that way. V.I.L.E. made an assortment of products, like smartphones, imitation rice, and even toothpaste. They have also been responsible for manipulating financial markets to cause economic recessions, corporate fraud, and white-collar crimes. To the uninitiated and to cover their syndicate secret, they went under the guise of a trading company known as the Valuable Imports, Lavish Exports company. V.I.L.E.'s origins go all the way back to the Medieval era, and the V.I.L.E. that Carmen's team was working to defeat is but the latest incarnation of a long line of criminal masterminds.

V.I.L.E. was led by a council of five masterminds known as The Faculty, named so not just because they were the leaders of V.I.L.E., but because they were also the teachers of V.I.L.E. Training Academy for Thieves. The Faculty often took a democratic approach when making important decisions among themselves, usually putting it to a majority vote when either supporting or rejecting an idea. There were also pair of operatives known as The Cleaners, who worked as janitors at V.I.L.E. Academy, but they were also in charge of cleaning up any "messy situations" that any V.I.L.E. operatives might find themselves in, hence their name. All V.I.L.E. operatives go by codenames, students come up with a code name for themselves while still in school, and usually choose something to represent an area of expertise that they specialize in, or a theme that they like to keep to. Until they have selected their V.I.L.E. codenames, it is rule of V.I.L.E. Academy that they only give their first names.

V.I.L.E. Academy only graduated forty students per year (known as "The Forty Thieves"), and demanded nothing less than utter perfection. Students who attended and graduated the academy went on to become V.I.L.E. agents, who worked in every country, engaging in criminal misdeeds around the world, which were planned out in accordance with the annual budget determined by V.I.L.E.'s accountant Cookie Booker, who, once every year on December 1st, delivered a hard drive containing the information for the coming fiscal year to the Academy to be uploaded onto the V.I.L.E. mainframe. For security reasons, she traveled to V.I.L.E. island by boat to avoid detection.

The Faculty expected and instilled loyalty to all of its agents, and the students of V.I.L.E. Academy did not graduate on grades alone; they were profiled by the Faculty to determine if they were truly loyal to the organization, and willing to do whatever is necessary to achieve their goals. Coach Brunt routinely considered the organization "family"; to betray one's family, leave the group, or make war against them is a heinous crime in their eyes. Beyond simply being a thieves' guild that steals valuable items, V.I.L.E. was a deeply rooted criminal enterprise that operated in secret all over the world, engaging in any manner of unlawful opportunities with no effort spared. The group was primarily focused on the theft of rare treasures, new technology, and other items for profit, to exploit or sabotage, or for simple pleasures. However, they were not above more serious crimes, such as murder, kidnapping, torture, human testing, and acts of terrorism, should the need arise. From art heists to stealing space shuttles, nothing was too far-fetched for V.I.L.E. According to the Chief, V.I.L.E. is believed to have masterminded most major crimes over the last twenty years, from the manipulation of financial markets to the contamination of cheese.

The Faculty, who are of equal authority, usually reach decisions by a majority vote. That said, Professor Maelstrom does seem to have the most influence of any member of the council, and is often the one calling the shots on the whole, even if they are voted upon once the proposal is made. Though each has their own method of achieving their goals, they will often discuss their problems as a group and pick the ideal choice in order to get what they want whether for their own amusements or as a whole. While they are largely oriented in the same way to continue their thieving and villainy to gain wealth and status, each one has their own likes, interests, and distinct personalities. They will act petty, such as Malestrom wanting gold cufflinks made from a rare Equadorian Escudo to rub in Cleo's face, or snark at the others’ failures, such as Shadowsan's suggestion to use Tigress against Carmen in "The Lucky Cat Caper" resulting in Tigress' failure and Coach Brunt knocking him for it, not realizing that he intended for Carmen to beat Tigress. That said, they will settle their problems civilly and democratically by voting and respecting the will of the Council. The Faculty enjoy celebrating Halloween, and participating in various Halloween-themed activities, including gorging themselves on candy. wearing costumes, carving Jack-o-Lanterns, and bobbing for apples (though the apples get swapped out for haggis).

Professor Maelstrom deals in symbolic crime; various ways to prove that evil will triumph over law and order. Examples of this include the attempt to steal the Magna Carta, and his desire to turn a historically significant gold coin into a set of cuff links. Countess Cleo focuses on stealing priceless treasures and art and replacing them with forgeries, enabling her to keep them as trophies or resell to the criminal underworld. The Eye of Vishnu was kept in her residence in Poitiers, France, and it was Cleo who organized the thefts of the paintings of Vermeer. Coach Brunt is the muscle and fighter of the faculty. Her schemes are usually simple-minded and mostly involve intimidating and hurting enemies with her strength. Crackle, after being released from police custody, made a joke about Brunt wanting him to steal the finest eclairs in Paris. Before defecting to Carmen's team, Shadowsan dealt in stealth-based crimes; one example being the combined use of Mime Bomb and Tigress to covertly steal a $10,000,000 stamp from a Children's Foundation Auction in San Francisco.

Despite working with each other and the majority vote rule, a single faculty member is allowed to take actions without the vote or the other members' permission. This is evident when Coach Brunt sends The Cleaners to "clean up a mess" in The Lucky Cat Caper without the knowledge of Shadowsan and presumably the other members as well. In The Luchadora Tango Caper, Coach Brunt personally goes after Carmen in Buenos Aires, Argentina without permission of the faculty, though they have done nothing to stop her.

The Faculty attempt to find a new fifth member after Shadowsan joins Carmen.