Eduardo Perez

"We could have ruled the world together, Gru... but now... you're gonna die!"

- Eduardo, moments before he drinks PX-41

Eduardo Perez is the owner of the Mexican restaurant Salsa & Salsa in the Paradise Mall. What few know, however, is that he is actually the illustrious El Macho, a renowned bank robber with super-human strength. The undercover supervillain has now returned to hold the world hostage, using the deadly mutagen, PX-41, to form indestructible, mindless, killing, and bloodthirsty henchmen. He has a son named Antonio, who was Margo's first known boyfriend, though the flirtatious child later cheated on her.

He appears in Despicable Me 2, the 2014 mobile game Minion Rush and in the 2018 Roblox video game Despicable Forces. He is voiced by Benjamin Bratt in the movie.

History
​According to Gru, El Macho used to be a physically robust villain, with one of his felonies being robbery. El Macho possesses superhuman strength, able to destroy a Security Truck in a single punch and carry it away with ease. He was also a heavy drinker and isn't affected by alcohol, snake venom or other toxic substances.

​At an unknown point, 20 years prior to the events of DM2, El Macho faked his death by "riding a shark, strapping 250 pounds of dynamite on his chest and into the mouth of an active volcano". He was never seen again after his presumed death.

Appearance
Eduardo is a very short, very thick Mexican man with long black hair that reaches his shoulders, and a thick black mustache. According to Gru's flashbacks, twenty years ago, Eduardo was taller and more muscular than he is in the present day, and had longer black hair. In the present day, Eduardo only stands at 5'4, which is about Gru's shoulder height. Eduardo also has a lot of chest hair, as seen when he displays the Mexican flag tattooed on his chest. Sometimes you might see him flexing his Heavy Weight Champion Belt.

Personality
According to Gru, twenty years ago Eduardo is "ruthless, dangerous, and as the name "El Macho" implies, very macho". In the present day, he is generally friendly and also cares a lot about his pet chicken, El Pollito. When provoked, however, he will seek to kill the object of his wrath, as demonstrated when he hunts down Gru and Lucy in Salsa & Salsa and when he fights Gru at his home.

Despicable Me 2
In early April, Eduardo heads to the Arctic Circle to steal the PX-41 serum. Using his magnet ship, he steals the entire lab to get as much of the mutagen as possible. The first night, Dr. Nefario leaves Gru and becomes El Macho's assistant. Nefario later goes back to Gru's House and kidnaps Phil. Three weeks later, Eduardo enters Bake My Day to greet the new owners of Bake My Day, Gru and Lucy. He orders the duo to make cupcakes decorated with the Mexican flag for his Cinco de Mayo party. During this encounter, Gru identifies him as El Macho, a well-known villian supposedly deceased two decades ago. Later the other night, Eduardo abducts Kevin and Jerry with his magnetic ship.

Eduardo returns to Salsa & Salsa at night, only to discover his restaurant has been broken into. When he enters his restaurant, the first thing he sees is his chicken, Pollito, trapped in the epoxy that Lucy has trapped it with. While tending to his chicken, hears the sound of someone eating chips in the kitchen, whom, unbeknownst to him, are Gru and Lucy. He sees the bag of partially-finished nacho chips and his jar of secret salsa opened. Eduardo spots the duo escaping through a hole in the roof, but does not recognize them due to the darkness. Eduardo is temporarily blinded by Lucy shooting epoxy at his eyes. Managing to get it off, he runs outside looking for the intruders with three knives in each hand. As he is about to discover Gru and Lucy, Dave and Stuart run Eduardo over with Lucy's car, knocking the heavy-set man out on contact. When he wakes up, he sees the car escaping from the Mall. The next morning, he appears in his restaurant as usual and preforms a small tango performance for the diners. As he sees Gru walking by, he greets Gru and hugs him. When El Polito appears, Eduardo cradles him and tells Gru that Pollito had a rough night. He later invites Gru and his girls to his Cinco De Mayo party so Margo and her family can learn more about Antonio, Eduardo's son.

During the Cinco De Mayo party, Eduardo greets Gru who had a sad expression on his face. Eduardo tells him that he has also felt sadness before. Eduardo later leaves to his secret lair, tailed by Gru. Inside the lair, Gru is greeted by Eduardo, who reveals that he indeed faked his death. Dr. Nefario also comes forth. They both explain their evil plan, which is turning all of of the Minions into purple, furry, mindless, indestructible, bloodthirsty killing machines that when unleashed the Evil Minions will destroy the world. El Macho offers Gru a partnership, but Gru declines. After he leaves, El Macho unleashes Evil Kevin to hunt down Gru.

Returning to the party, Eduardo bumps into Lucy Wilde when she attends the party to find Gru. Picking up Pollito, who had just clucked at Lucy, he explains that Pollito isn't usually aggravated. Then, when he noted Pollito had the same reaction with Gru, Eduardo discovers that Lucy and Gru are working for the AVL, so he takes Lucy hostage and straps her to a rocket. After the party, Eduardo, now is El Macho, brings his rockets to the surface to prepare his Evil Minions to be stuffed in the rockets to be ready to terrorize various countries. El Macho notices that Gru is turning the mutated Minions back to normal by shooting them with jelly that has the antidote (serum PX-49) mixed in. Realizing that Gru has almost destroyed his entire plot, he kicks Tom to Gru in hopes of defeating him him, but Tom is cured instantly instead. Gru asks El Macho where Lucy is and he explains him that he will launch the rocket where Lucy is on to the same volcano where he faked his death. Before El Macho can press the button to launch the rocket, a Minion takes it away from him and throws it away when tripped over, leaving it unreachable.

El Macho, bemoaning that he and Gru are unable to work together, moves to kill the ex-villain by drinking a vial of PX-41 and transforms into a very powerful monster (With his belly soon slacked down, much to his embarrassment). Gru attempts to take down the monster but realizes that he has ran out of the antidote jelly. The mutated El Macho roars and tries to smash and kill Gru and the latter tries to freeze El Macho with his Freeze Ray, but El Macho gets rid of the ice by smashing his arms against the ground, forcing Gru to hold onto a big metal pillar, which soon collapses and drops him. El Macho picks up the pillar to smash Gru, but the latter suddenly finds Lucy's lipstick taser in his pocket. The shock passes from the metallic structure right to El Macho, disabling him instantly. As he lies defeated, angry minions close onto him with their jelly guns, of which El Macho claims not to be terrified of. Dr. Nefario, who has betrayed him earlier on, arrives and fires the Fart Gun, knocking out El Macho once and for all.

Minion Rush
In Minion Rush video game, Eduardo appears as El Macho in the boss battle in El Macho's Lair. After El Macho appears, the player's Minion must dodge his Evil Minions' cage, and tap on the various chickens to hurl them back at him. After hurling a couple of them back at him, or simply dodging, El Macho will be defeated as he slumps over and yells in a rage. In original game design, El Macho will still show up only while running in El Macho's Lair, much like with any other bosses in the game. After the July 2014 updates, El Macho only appears in some levels.

Quotes

 * "Somebody's going to die tonight." - When he appears and chases after the minion in Minion Rush and when he finds out that the Anti-Villain League agents invaded his restaurant Salsa & Salsa.


 * "What's happening?" - When he is defeated by the minion in Minion Rush and when he see the evil minions back to normal in Despicable Me 2.
 * "And here's the best part......I'VE GOT AN ARMY OF THEM!" - El Macho shows off his army of evil minions.


 * "You are coming with me!" - When the minion gets hit and caught in Minion Rush and when he finds out Lucy and Gru working for the Anti-Villain League and taken her.


 * "No, he's not Kevin anymore. Now he is an indestructible, mindless, killing machine!"—El Macho describing Evil Kevin to Gru.


 * "I am... not afraid... of your jelly guns." - After being lipstick-tasered by Gru and being held at gunpoint by multiple Minions and Dr. Nefario.
 * What's happening, to my minions? Gru??! - When he witnesses all his minions neutralized by Gru and his allies.
 * "That is a pity." When he responds to the girls having to leave from his Salsa & Salsa restaurant and when the minion in Minion Rush gets hit by his Pollo Locos.
 * "Buenos días ("Good Morning" in Spanish), my friends! I am Eduardo Perez. Owner of Salsa y Salsa restaurant across the mall." Eduardo introducing himself to Gru and Lucy.
 * "Soon, I will unleash them on the world! And if anyone, anyone tries to stop them...Yeow! Their city gets eaten!" - El Macho explaining his evil plan.
 * "Stop!" - Eduardo before he gets shot with Lucy's Watch Epoxy Shooter, and as El Macho when he gets hit by Pollo Locos in Minion Rush.

Gallery
Check out this page's gallery!

Trivia

 * He wears a red shirt opened to reveal his chest hair, along with a large tattoo of the Mexican flag, and a large gold medallion that prominently features his emblem. Oddly enough, while wearing his El Macho outfit, the Mexican flag tattoo is nowhere else seen on his chest.
 * Due to his Mexican ethnicity, El Macho speaks with a Spanish accent.
 * Eduardo was originally voiced by Al Pacino, an actor known for his roles as mobsters, such as Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy and as Tony Montana in Scarface. Pacino left the project at the beginning of May 2013 due to creative differences and was replaced by Benjamin Bratt, two months before the film came out.
 * All characters within the films have some facial resemblance to their voice actors except El Macho, who is similar to his original actor, Al Pacino. This is because by the time Al Pacino quit and Benjamin Bratt was brought in, there wasn't any time or funds left to change his face to look like the new voice actor.
 * The producers of the movie did not mention what happened to El Macho after being defeated, but he was most likely reverted and arrested by AVL.
 * When transformed by the PX-41, El Macho isn't as much corrupted by the serum:
 * He is still capable of cognitive function and proper speech.
 * His hair remains black instead of purple.
 * His supervillain alias "El Macho" means "The male" in Spanish.
 * The word "Macho" means showing aggressive pride.
 * His last name "Pérez" is a common surname within former Spanish colonies such as Mexico.
 * When he was younger, he looked taller and thinner, but when he is older, he is shorter and fatter.
 * According to a concept drawing, he was going to have a yellow mask and a yellow cape (but with the same designs), but later it got changed to the current red one.
 * El Macho's absence in the original film was retconned in DM2. He personally reveals that he has admired Gru's work for many years, including the moon heist.
 * There is no explanation given as to why El Macho faked his death. It's possible he wanted to retire.
 * The tune he uses as a password to access his secret lair is La Cucaracha (The Cockroach when translated to English), a very popular song from the Mexican revolution times and now a staple of their culture.
 * El Macho is the only boss in Minion Rush that fights your minion physically by themselves (he chases the Minion on foot) rather than fighting the minion from inside a machine/vehicle.
 * El Macho also makes a cameo in the film Minions; he was one of attendees in Villain-Con, and he sits not far away from Frankie Fishlips, though he only wears ordinary clothes at that time and is not really recognizable.
 * His El Macho outfit, especially the mask is heavily influenced by Luchadores, a type of masked Mexican wrestling where the wrestlers wear colorful masks and uses high flying movements as their repertoire.
 * This is also referenced with his high physical strength.
 * In his purple monster form, he resembles Grimace (a character from McDonald's).
 * His villain name is a parody of "El Chapo" who is a real life Mexican criminal