Hank Venture
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Henry Alan "Hank" Venture is one of the two titular Venture Brothers and a main character on the Adult Swim program of the same name, parodying boy detectives and adventurers. He is voiced by Christopher McCulloch.
[edit] Personality and relationships
Hank Venture is the more outgoing, if less intelligent, of the two boys. He exhibits a typically 1950s/1960s outlook on life, frequently using such mild interjections as 'golly!' His appearance is similar to that of Fred Jones from Scooby-Doo, (a similarity mentioned by Triana Orpheus and her friend, Kim). The resemblance mainly stems from his ever-present (except at night when he wears his Aquaman pajamas) white shirt and neckerchief wardrobe and blonde hair, although his hair is much shorter than Fred's. (Hank has remarked that he does not particularly like neckerchiefs any longer, but continues to wear them to please his father.) Unlike Dean, he tends to be less naïve and more decisive, even if his actions are often mentally unsound and fail to help the current situation. He is prone to flights of fancy; Brock Samson states at one point "it's like he (Hank) channels dead crazy people," to which Dean agrees. He is older than Dean by four minutes.
Hank tends to be more keen on adventuring than anyone else in the family, frequently asking to accompany Brock on his various trips ("Home Insecurity") or just hanging out with him ("Eeney, Meeney, Miney... Magic!"). Brock good-naturedly tolerates this and has even taught the boy a few tricks in order to help him survive, although not by choice ("Ghosts of the Sargasso"). His best friend is certainly his brother Dean, and the two attempt to live up to the legacy of Team Venture, albeit poorly. Like any other pair of brothers, Hank and Dean argue at times; Hank seems to be the physically stronger of the two and usually overpowers Dean when rough-housing (His father, Dr. Venture, also once mentioned that Hank "get(s) that kind of retard strength when he gets all worked up"). His relationship with his father can border on the nonexistent at times, largely due to Dr. Venture's low tolerance for his sons' foolishness, and preoccupation with his work.
Both Hank and Dean are much more concerned with The Monarch than their father, despite the supervillain's self-proclaimed status as Dr. Venture's sworn enemy. After kidnapping the boys, The Monarch attempted to serve as a father figure towards them out of pity; one of the series' ongoing jokes is that nearly everyone except their father displays some sort of paternal feelings towards them.
Hank has a close relationship with family bodyguard Brock Samson that borders on idol worship. The normally reserved, aloof Samson displays genuine affection for Hank, good-naturedly tolerating his persistent questions and goofiness. Hank dreams of emulating Brock as a macho, combat-seasoned secret agent. While Dean is apparently being groomed by Dr. Venture to follow in his father and grandfather's footsteps as a super-scientist, Brock has passed on some of his own unique expertise to Hank. He once talked him through the process of defeating several "ghost" pirates via his wrist communicator, and has apparently given the boy some martial-arts instruction. In "Love-Bheits," Brock rightly considers Dr. Venture useless in a fight but actually allows Hank to assist him in a fight against a group of guards, although Hank apparently doesn't end up with any actual fighting to do, and, in a fit of psychotic zealousness, is knocked out and beaten.
While Hank is circumcised, Dean is not; Hank has used this as an insult (calling it a "creepy dog dork").
[edit] History and activities on the show
Details of Hank's childhood have been very sparse; in "Careers in Science," Dr. Venture bemoans the "moment of passion" that led to the boys' birth. He, like Dean, regrets knowing nothing of their birth mother and sometimes entertains fantasies about finding her ("Eeney, Meeney, Miney... Magic!" "Hate Floats"). The episode "I Know Why the Caged Bird Kills" gave a likely (but not officially confirmed) suspect of now insane (possible) ex-OSI agent Myra Brandish as their mother. There is also evidence to suggest that the Venture brothers have no mother at all and that they are merely another one of Dr. Venture's experiments. The episode "¡Viva los Muertos!" culminates in an underground room in the Venture compound filled with innumerable clones of both brothers. In "Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean", Dr. Venture blames himself for his son's testicular tortion, claiming that the problem could have been repaired in an early "prototype".
Thanks to their father's scientific knowledge, the Hank and Dean that appear in The Venture Bros. have been cloned over a dozen times. Venture explains that the boys seem to be rather "death-prone," and as a precaution he keeps a few clones ready at all times for activation. Although Dr. Venture mentions in "Powerless in the Face of Death" that both Hank and Dean's clones were first developed from "toenail clippings," it is unclear whose clippings he is referring to; with the tantalizing lack of information, some fans have engaged in rampant speculation on the matter. (A popular debate centers around whether Hank and Dean were ever "born" in the conventional sense, or whether they have only existed as clones.) A flashback montage showing the boys' deaths seems to indicate that Hank may have met an unfortunate end slightly more frequently than Dean.
Hank has a fascination with Batman and is shown wearing the same Batman costume as a running gag.
While Hank rarely has an episode dedicated solely to himself, he does play at least a prominent part in nearly all episodes. He helped Brock to take down a ship of faux-ghost pirates, led an attack on the "Phantom Spaceman" and attempted to free Brock from Dr. Venture's hypnotic "joy can." He can be counted on for enthusiasm, if not actual intelligence or competence. Unlike Dean, however, Hank noticed that his supposed age did not match the date on his ID card.
One of his larger roles involved his accidental exposure to the "Goliath Serum." This compound, invented by Richard Impossible for use as a weapon, was intended to cause a chain reaction in a living organism that culminates in a massive, devastating explosion. Dr. Venture worked with Pete White, Master Billy Quizboy, and Impossible's wife Sally to produce an antidote. Shortly after being injected with this experimental cure, Hank's symptoms vanished; Dr. Impossible, however, curtly announced that the scientists had only succeeded in inventing ranch dressing. (The serum was apparently only effective on ants, the only creatures on which it had ever been tested.) However, Hank did manifest symptoms of the serum, so it's possible that the supposed "ranch dressing" was really a cure and Dr. Impossible was just jealous of Dr. Venture's success. Richard's wife, Sally Impossible, even claims that this is the reason.
He developed an intense crush on Molotov Cocktease when she guarded the Venture family for several days while Brock was hunting his former mentor and eagerly threw himself into the training the Russian mercenary forced the Ventures to do. His infatuation led him to take down his posters of Mary Lou Retton and Danica Patrick, which worried Dean about the training's effect over his brother. Coming across her then-discarded stiletto heel boots, he nuzzled and rubbed against them, only to be lightly touched in the neck by the blade hidden in the heel, which was coated with a highly effective psychotropic hallucinogen. This caused him to hallucinate that Molotov wanted him to kill his father so they could be together (Dr. Venture had been making his usual pathetic advances to Molotov in the meantime). He picked up a machete and attempted to hack down his father in his lab; but the weapon was made merely of papier-mâché and he was summarily grounded for his attack.
Again he has played minor but important roles in recent episodes, such as attempting to personally crash the wedding between Baron Underbheit and his brother while trapped in Underland; he also tried to help the spirit of Abraham Lincoln save the current president from being assassinated — although when his brother was possessed by Lincoln, he was nearly kissed, an event that horrified him but prompted Lincoln (who indicated that he had access to Dean's memories) to express knowledge that the boys had experimented with each other previously.
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