The ACME Detective Agency (ACME Crimenet) and V.I.L.E. are two fictional organizations central to the premise of the Carmen Sandiego series. Within the series, ACME is a vaguely defined worldwide organization that devotes most or all of its resources to thwarting V.I.L.E., a criminal organization of comparable size. Carmen Sandiego is the leader of V.I.L.E. and the archvillain of the franchise. // Fiction (from the Latin fingere, to form, create) is the genre of imaginative prose literature, including novels and short stories. ... It has been suggested that Organizing be merged into this article or section. ... A former logo of the Carmen Sandiego series used in the 1990s. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Organized crime. ... Carmen Sandiego is a fictional character featured in a long-running edutainment series of the same name. ... An archrival, archenemy, archfoe, archvillain or archnemesis (sometimes spelled arch-enemy, arch-foe, arch-villain or arch-nemesis or arch-rival) is the principal enemy of a character in a work of fiction, often described as the heros worst enemy (compare nemesis). ...

Overview

In most Carmen Sandiego media it is explained that Carmen was once a brilliant ACME agent who decided that being on the other side of the law would be more challenging. Therefore, she left ACME and turned to a life of crime to give herself greater intellectual challenges. To achieve her goals, she founded V.I.L.E., which is generally portrayed as a vast organization that seems to consist mainly of incompetent henchpeople.

Both organizations are variously portrayed possessing technology that makes them capable of teleportation, spaceflight, time travel and such. Therefore, the series often verges on spy-fi, especially in the games Carmen Sandiego Word Detective and Carmen Sandiego Math Detective. However, the existence of ACME and V.I.L.E. seems to be common knowledge among the general public as news reports seen in the series are often written in a way which implies the reader is familiar with them. By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a mastery of technology sufficient to leave the surface of the Earth for the first time and explore space. ... Teleportation is the movement of objects or elementary particles from one place to another, more or less instantaneously, without traveling through space. ... ISS in earth orbit. ... Time travel is a concept that has long fascinated humanity—whether it is Merlin experiencing time backwards, or religious traditions like Mohammeds trip to Jerusalem and ascent to heaven, returning before a glass knocked over had spilt its contents. ... Spy-fi is a fan name for television series and movies - especially those from the 1960s - that blend the espionage genre with elements of science fiction. ...

ACME and especially V.I.L.E. seem to employ a large number of eccentric people whose names are puns ("Polly Tix", "Lou Pole", etc.) on their primary personality traits. It has been suggested that Mike Hunt be merged into this article or section. ...

ACME Crimenet

ACME's logo as seen in Carmen Sandiego: Junior Detective Edition and in the third versions of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? and Where in the U.S.A. is Carmen Sandiego?

The ACME Detective Agency or ACME Crimenet (changed to ACME Timenet in Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego?) is the organization that the user or protagonists always work for. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? is the title of several edutainment computer games in the Carmen Sandiego series that teach geography. ... Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? is the title of several edutainment computer games in the Carmen Sandiego series that teach geography. ... Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego? is the title of two edutainment computer games in the Carmen Sandiego series that teach history. ...

The exact nature of the organization is never explained, but it appears to be concerned mainly with tracking down and capturing international criminals. Principally, ACME trains and employs agents who act as detectives, spies and double agents against V.I.L.E. →♥♥Н This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Spy and Secret agent redirect here. ... A double agent pretends to spy on a target organization on behalf of a controlling organization, but in fact is loyal to the target organization. ...

Name

The name "ACME" is presumably an homage to the Acme Corporation of Looney Tunes fame. In earlier games, the name was often spelled with only the "A" capitalized ("Acme"), but it is now typically spelled in all caps ("ACME"). Note that ACME, unlike V.I.L.E., is not an acronym and therefore it should not be spelled with dots after each letter (i.e. "ACME" not "A.C.M.E."). For a description of the medieval homage ceremony see commendation ceremony Homage is generally used in modern English to mean any public show of respect to someone to whom you feel indebted. ... The Acme Corporation is a fictional corporation that exists in the Looney Tunes universe. ... Looney Tunes opening title Looney Tunes is a Warner Brothers animated cartoon series which ran in many movie theatres from 1930 to 1969. ... In typography, all caps (short for all capitals or all capitalized; often written as ALL CAPS) refers to text or a font in which all letters are capital letters. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Backronym and Apronym (Discuss) Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations, such as NATO, laser, and ABC, written as the initial letter or letters of words, and pronounced on the basis of this abbreviated written form. ...

Early depictions

ACME as it currently exists in the series did not appear in the original World game from 1985, which instead had the user working for Interpol. However, the opening scene showed a stereotypical detective office with the words "ACME Detective Agency" written in the window. It was in the following game, 1986's Where in the U.S.A. is Carmen Sandiego?, that first made references to the user working for the "Acme Agency". Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? is the title of several edutainment computer games in the Carmen Sandiego series that teach geography. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Nature of the organization

Carmen is the founder of V.I.L.E. and she worked for ACME prior to that, which would indicate that ACME well predates V.I.L.E. although most of the time the former seems to primarily exist to thwart the latter. Note that the ACME logo seen on this page has "dedicated to the pursuit of Carmen Sandiego" written around it. However, ACME is occasionally shown to battle criminals unaffiliated with Carmen in the Earth TV show. In Treasures of Knowledge, Jules Argent makes reference to some past cases that she and Carmen worked on together. Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego? was a Saturday morning cartoon show based on the Carmen Sandiego series of edutainment computer games. ... Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? is the title of several edutainment computer games in the Carmen Sandiego series that teach geography. ...

Although the structure of ACME Headquarters varies, it is always located in San Francisco, often being depicted as well within view of San Franciscan landmarks such as the Transamerica Pyramid and the Golden Gate Bridge. Additionally, ACME usually has numerous field offices around the globe. An ACME training academy of some kind is often stated or alluded to exist, presumably located at its San Francisco headquarters. Nickname: Location of the City and County of San Francisco, California Coordinates: Country United States of America State California City-County San Francisco Government  - Mayor Gavin Newsom Area  - City  47 sq mi (122 km²)  - Land  46. ... The Transamerica Pyramid. ... The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening into the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean. ...

The Chief

The leader of ACME is called "The Chief", though the nature of the character varies considerably in different media. The character is never given a name beyond that title. In the original first few computer games "the Chief" was a mysterious male figure hidden in the shadows who had very little personality or role. No Chief character appears in Carmen Sandiego's ThinkQuick Challenge, Carmen Sandiego Word Detective and Carmen Sandiego Math Detective. The most notable "Chiefs" were the live-action Chief played by Lynne Thigpen and the Chief of Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego? voiced by Rodger Bumpass. A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... This article lists recurring characters and sketches performed on the PBS game show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?. // Although Greg Lee was referred to by his real name, he adopted a goofy yet amiable persona as the shows host, often playing Lucy to Lynne Thigpens Desi... Lynne Thigpen (December 22, 1948 – March 12, 2003) was an Image Award-nominated American film and television actress. ... Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego? was a Saturday morning cartoon show based on the Carmen Sandiego series of edutainment computer games. ... Rodger Bumpass (born 23 January 1959 in Jonesboro, Arkansas) is a voice actor with credits in cartoons stretching back to the The Jetsons. ...

The Chief featured in Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego: Treasures of Knowledge and Carmen Sandiego: The Secret of the Stolen Drums was voiced in both games by Marcie Henderson. Perhaps as a tribute, this Chief looks somewhat similar to Lynne Thigpen, although her voice and personality are unmistakably different. In fact, she has little personality beyond getting angry whenever Carmen breaks into ACME communication lines.

V.I.L.E.

The Villains' International League of Evil (V.I.L.E.) is Carmen Sandiego's criminal organization whose agents either assist her in committing outrageous thefts or else commit thefts of her behalf. The organization is always referred to by its acronym, which is pronounced phonetically and is therefore often a source of puns. It is usually stated only in the game manual what the initials in "V.I.L.E." stand for, though their meaning has been consistently maintained since the first game in 1985. Everyday instance of theft: the bike which fits on this wheel has disappeared. ...

Nature of the organization

Given that V.I.L.E. essentially exists to allow Carmen the opportunity to flaunt her abilities, one must wonder where she found such a huge supply of sycophantic henchpeople. The game manuals for the third versions of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? and Where in the U.S.A. is Carmen Sandiego? specify that Carmen has a "soft spot" for people less capable than herself and that she therefore likes to surround herself with incompetent fools, persumably to reinforce her own sense of mental superiority. This would explain why most members of V.I.L.E. seem to be buffoonish men and women with one-dimensional personalities and materialistic motivations.

Apparently a very diverse organization, V.I.L.E. has been variously portrayed employing robots (RoboCrook of the World game show, the KnowBots of Carmen Sandiego's ThinkQuick Challenge, the unnamed robots of Carmen Sandiego: The Secret of the Stolen Drums), extraterrestrials (Where in Space is Carmen Sandiego?, Kneemoi of the World game show) and, in the person of Patty Larceny from the World game show, preteen schoolgirls. Carmine, Carmen's semi-anthropomorphic pet cat of Carmen Sandiego: Junior Detective Edition and the third versions of Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? and Where in the U.S.A. is Carmen Sandiego?, is commonly listed as a member of V.I.L.E. ASIMO, a humanoid robot manufactured by Honda. ... Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? was a popular childrens television game show loosely based off the computer games of the same name created by now defunct Brøderbund Software. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A preadolescent girl A Preteen or pre-teen refers to a stage of human development during childhood. ... A schoolgirl is a girl attending either primary or secondary school. ... An anthropomorphic character; a cat ascribed human characteristics. ... Binomial name Felis catus Linnaeus, 1758 Synonyms Felis lybica invalid junior synonym The cat (or domestic cat, house cat) is a small carnivorous mammal. ...

In many of the computer games and in the World game show, Carmen's underlings are portrayed as colorful, eccentric characters in their own right who commit similarly outrageous thefts under the V.I.L.E. banner for their own personal reasons, which Carmen appears to allow. The most common motives among these characters seem to be personal profit, fame or that they simply desire the loot for themselves, often for a humorously petty reason. In the Time game show, however, Carmen is clearly shown sending her crooks into the past, deciding herself what they will steal. Her crooks in Time appear to enjoy creating chaos simply for the sake of it and seem to require no motivation beyond having the opportunity to do something evil. Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego was a U.S. game show, loosely based off the computer game of the same name. ...

In most media, Carmen seems to be the undisputed leader of V.I.L.E. and the driving force behind all its schemes to the extent that it appears to be presumed that her capture will cause the organization to cease to exist. In the Earth series, however, there is a degree of rivalry among some of the more prominent members of V.I.L.E. and there have been a couple instances where a V.I.L.E. operative tried or temporarily succeeded in usurping Carmen's position.

Logo or lack thereof

Unlike ACME, V.I.L.E. is not given a logo in any of the computer games. The closest the games have come to portraying a V.I.L.E. logo is in Word Detective and Math Detective where "V.I.L.E." is consistently written in italics with the "E" written as three lines on top of each other. V.I.L.E. does seem to have a permanent headquarters either, although Word Detective and Math Detective show it to have various "hideouts" in exotic locations around the world. Where in the U.S.A. is Carmen Sandiego? and Carmen Sandiego Math Detective both portrayed a headquarters for V.I.L.E., but each was lost to V.I.L.E. by the end of the respective program. Italic can refer to: Italic languages Italic scripts Italic means Of or from Italy; the usage is most commonly restricted to talking about the people and languages of what is now Italy from the historic period before the Roman Empire. ...