This show is a superhero drama based on a comic by Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá. It features seven adopted siblings with quirky powers. They come together to figure out their father’s death and stop an apocalypse. It is full of dark humor and characters with depth. Genres clash here- science fiction meets fantasy meets drama. It is a wild ride.

Meet the villains from Umbrella Academy

Hazel

Okay, Hazel is such a weird softie wrapped in murder — like imagine a cinnamon-roll accountant who also does contract hits on people. He’s patient, almost painfully gentle, likes old movies and makes terrible jokes at the worst times, and then can calmly strangle someone five minutes later, which is wild. There’s this heartbreaking nostalgia about him, like he’s always half-lost in another decade, and also he’s inexplicably good at baking? (Or is that just something I imagined? Maybe cupcakes. Definitely cupcakes.) He’s loyal in a way that makes you root for him even when he’s doing terrible things — heart on his sleeve, guns in his hands.

Axel

Axel gives “sullen sidekick with a soft center” vibes and I totally love that contradiction — grumbly, efficient, low-key philosophical sometimes, like he’s read one too many noir novels. He’s practical, likes lists, probably alphabetizes his feelings and then loses the list, but also has tiny moments where he genuinely cares (which he will deny, loudly). He seems made for the Commission’s monotony but every so often slips into this weird sentimental streak, so you never quite know whether he’s going to brew you tea or explode. Oh and he has a weird hobby I can’t place — model ships? Watches? It’s inconsistent but charming.

Cha Cha

Cha Cha is absolutely terrifying and also somehow a fashion icon — she’s all business: high heels, deadpan, and disaster, with this perky smile that makes everything worse. She loves violence like it’s a hobby, is unnervingly childlike about rules (“we must follow the rules!”) and then gleefully breaks a skull, no big deal. There’s this ridiculous contrast where she collects tiny plushies or has a tea set she never uses — like a serial killer who also writes postcards, and I’m here for it. She’s efficient, hilarious in a dark way, and has this weird loyalty that shows up in the most inconvenient places.

Carl Cooper

Carl Cooper is one of those side characters who steals scenes by being just messy and flappable enough to be real — think small-time guy who gets in over his head, kind of sweaty, always a little too hopeful. He’s got ambitions or at least the impression of them; he tries to be clever but often ends up bewildered, which is oddly endearing. He’s the sort of character who will shout a plan and then immediately forget half of it, and yet somehow survives because the world underestimates him. Also I’m 90% sure he keeps a pack of gum in every pocket and hums old radio jingles when nervous — don’t quote me, might be made up.

Carmichael

Carmichael strikes me as the smooth bureaucrat who smells faintly of aftershave and regret — polished, official, all the right forms, but you can tell there’s rot under the suit. He’s the kind of guy who smiles while moving chess pieces around people’s lives, very calm, very practiced, and maybe a little addicted to power in the tiny, bureaucratic ways. At the same time he’s oddly relatable — coffee addiction, a bad marriage story you only catch glimpses of — so he’s not cartoonishly evil, more the quietly terrifying kind. He keeps a pen collection he’s oddly proud of (or maybe that’s a rumor), and he definitely knows how to make a problem disappear with paperwork.

The Handler

The Handler is peak silky, smirking villain energy — impeccable wardrobe, sharp as a scalpel, and she talks like every sentence is a threat wrapped in velvet. She’s the kind of manipulator who plays chess with people’s hearts and has a spreadsheet for emotions, utterly ruthless but charming as hell, and somehow you forgive her in moments you shouldn’t. She loves control, cocktails, and the sound of her own plans unfolding; also, tiny detail, she probably has a pet that is either a Persian cat or a bonsai tree she refuses to water. There’s a warmth at times — and then she’ll vaporize your family, so, you know, pick your favorites carefully.

Leonard Peabody

Leonard is the textbook “sweetly sinister” guy — awkward, vulnerable-seeming, plays violin, and makes you think he’s soft until he rips the rug out from under you. He’s lonely in a very theatrical way, classic tragic-manipulator vibes: smiles, small gifts, whispers of destiny, and then suddenly massive consequences. There’s something heartbreaking about him — like he really wanted to be loved and also wanted everything to burn, which is messy and human and terrible. Also he probably has a shoebox of mixtapes and terrible poetry he insists are “for presentation,” and I mean that in the best/worst way.