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Carmen Isabella Sandiego is a fictional character featured in a long-running edutainment series of the same name created by the American software company Broderbund. As an international lady thief, a criminal mastermind, and the elusive nemesis of the ACME Detective Agency, Carmen Sandiego is the principal protagonist and anti-villain of the video game series and the head of ACME's rival organization, V.I.L.E. She is depicted as an extremely intelligent, stylish, fashionable woman whose signature look features a red, matching fedora and trenchcoat. Most of her crimes depicted in the games involve spectacular and often impossible cases of monument theft, which are used as a pretext to teach children geography via the simulated process of tracking down the character, the stolen monuments, and her accomplices all over the world.

Carmen Sandiego's authors were Gene Portwood, Lauren Elliott, and Dane Bingham. Writer David Siefkin, who wrote the first script of the project and invented the character's name, left before the first game was released in 1985. The character's identity as a Hispanic woman has remained a consistent and integral part of her character, and visually, she was in part influenced by the Brazilian singer and actress Carmen Miranda. Her last name alludes to the city of San Diego, California. Carmen Sandiego is also referred to by such epithets as The Miss of Misdemeanor, Vicious & Cruel, The Queen of Crime, and The World's Greatest Thief.

Character overview

There are numerous discrepancies in the various media depicting Carmen Sandiego, and no official or correct canon has been designated or established. However, the following seems to have remained consistent throughout all Carmen Sandiego media created since around the mid-1980s:

• In most Carmen Sandiego media, it is stated or implied that Carmen is a lady thief in that she steals only for the challenge of it, although some of her V.I.L.E. minions seem to be more traditionally motivated. She often describes her schemes and the user/protagonists attempts to stop them as being a game, which they ironically are, regularly gloating that she is impossible to capture or that her plans are infallible and acting as though any efforts made against her are extremely trivial. Sometimes, she asserts that it is impossible for anyone to understand her or her motives and seems to revel at how difficult she can make it for anyone trying to figure her out.
• In the original 1985 Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? game, Carmen is characterized as a former spy for the Intelligence Service of Monaco and that she is "an agent, double agent, triple agent, and quadruple agent for so many countries that even she has forgotten which one she is working for," but this background seems to have since been abandoned.
• Starting with Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time (formerly Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?), it is explained that she was an ace detective for the ACME Detective Agency who found catching criminals too easy and decided that outsmarting ACME itself would make for greater challenges. This origin story was consistently maintained for over a decade, with one of the protagonists of Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Treasures of Knowledge being Carmen's former partner.
• In both the animated TV series Where on Earth Is Carmen Sandiego? and in the video game Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Treasures of Knowledge, it is heavily hinted that, despite her thieving ways, she may still have some goodness left in her. The character has, however, never been depicted turning back to the good side outright, although she has often been encouraged to do so. Nevertheless, Carmen tries to maintain a reputation as a "thief with a conscience" in the Earth series and ACME agents who used to work closely with her are often shown to have mixed feelings about imprisoning her.
• In other media, however, the character seems more than willing to bring chaos and destruction upon the world. For example, many of the thefts committed in the Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? game show, such as stealing the history of medicine, for example, would quite clearly cause millions to die, although this is never specifically stated. In Word Detective and Math Detective, she appears to be particularly fiendish, plotting to steal the concept of natural language in the former and to make herself invincible in the latter. This inconsistency in her portrayal is never explained, but it seems reasonable to assume that not all Carmen media is set in the same fictional universe.

Backstory

Carmen Sandiego was voiced by Lilac Jonson in the Earth animated series. This animated television series reveals a unique backstory It is discovered the real story about her dad and his death

Portrayals

Games

Carmen Sandiego has always been created through animation techniques in most of the games, either with various forms of computer graphics or traditional animation. The Time game show is the only time the character has officially been portrayed in live action, aside from photographs in early game manuals.

Carmen Sandiego's voice was heard for the first time on Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? Deluxe Edition during her trial after she is captured by the player. Her voice was featured regularly in the World game show, though only during the phone tap skit. Carmen had little personality on the World show, aside being constantly exasperated by her crooks' incompetence and showing sarcasm. No voice artist was credited; however, later performers maintained the distinctive, slightly dusky voice she was given on World.

Animation

In the Earth animated series, Carmen Sandiego also had a much larger role and was voiced by actress Rita Moreno. Moreno would later voice Carmen for the game Junior Detective and the planetarium film Universe. In the games Word Detective and Math Detective, Mari Devon took on the title role. Most recently, her voice was provided by Christiane Crawford for Treasures of Knowledge and The Secret of the Stolen Drums. On Time, Carmen Sandiego also had little personality and was generally portrayed as a straight villain. Furthermore, her face was never fully visible and all images of her were posterized, giving her a stylized, unreal look. Although the actress portraying Carmen in the show was not directly credited, it has been confirmed that she was played by Janine LaManna in the first season, and later Brenda Burke until the show's cancellation. LaManna and Burke also portrayed minor characters, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Efforts were made at least once, in 2006, to produce a film featuring the character, possibly starring Sandra Bullock as the titular thief. In 2011 and 2012, there was talk that Jennifer Lopez would play the titular thief.

In 2019, a Netflix animated series presents an intimate look into Carmen Sandiego's past where viewers not only follow her escapades but also learn her origins. Her backstory was that she was an orphan from Buenos Aires taken in and raised by V.I.L.E. at their secret Canary Islands headquarters. When she learns the truth, she turns on them and seeks to undo their thievery. Gina Rodriguez is the voice of the character for the series.

Cultural impact

Despite being loosely based on the Brazilian singer and actress Carmen Miranda, Carmen Sandiego is commonly considered to be of Hispanic descent. Carmen Sandiego is cited as having a major "cultural impact Latin American girls" in particular. Martel states that "Sandiego has a particular impact on girls...because she was a symbol of cultural rebellion. She is the first major American pop culture example of a mischievous yet beloved hero who also happens to be both a woman and a American." Julie M. Rodriguez of Care2 said: "There are so few examples of what a competent, successful Latina woman looks like in the media – and it’s wonderful to realize that, even in the infancy of the video game industry, there was at least one game working to remedy that problem". Animaniacs made a reference to Carmen Sandiego in an episode.

Attire

Carmen Sandiego is almost always portrayed as a woman who often wears a red trench coat, a matching fedora (though often portrayed similar to a sombrero cordobés), and long brown hair, although her hair color was given to be "auburn" or "black" in some of the earlier games of the franchise. Her hat is often shown leaving her face in shadow and obscuring her eyes. When her eyes are visible, they are usually brown, although they were blue in the Earth animated series and in the Math Detective game. In many appearances, she also wears gray or black leather gloves.

In the original Broderbund games, Carmen Sandiego wore a yellow or orange dress under her trench coat, with a matching stripe on her fedora, and red high-heeled shoes (best recognized in this outfit). She also seemed to have a flair for elegance, being described in the classic 1985 video game as having "jewelry" as a feature and in its accompanying manual as wearing a famous necklace known as the "Moon of Moldavia". In the later games developed under The Learning Company and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, the character's appearance was rebooted so that she wore a grayish black catsuit under her trench coat, with the stripe on her fedora changed to match, and more practical footwear.

In the canon depicted in the Earth animated television series, her hair is black, rather than the usual brown, as are her normally gray gloves. Her hat band on Earth is orange, matching a turtle neck and skirt she wears under her trench coat in this series. Frances Martel of The Mary Sue described her as having a "keen but conservative fashion sense". In the Netflix animated series, she wears black clothing under her trench coat and a black stripe on her hat, as well as a choker with a triangle pendant, although she briefly wore the classic design in the second episode. Her hair is reddish-brown and her eyes are dove gray.

Reception

The character has had mostly positive reception. St. Cloud Times described her as "glamorous", "shifty", "smart", and "great fun to chase". Heather Alexandra of Kotaku described her as "mysterious", "clever", "dashing", a "mastermind", "cunning", "sly", "sneaky", "smart", and fashionable, summing her up as the "perfect childhood villain". Brittany Vincent of SyFy Wire was drawn to her most was her "grandiose attitude and infallible confidence". Robert Workman of GameDaily elected Sandiego as the 21st "evil mastermind" in video games of all time, and the website also included her among "the smartest video game babes". In 2011, Complex ranked her as third on the list of "most diabolical video game she-villains", and in 2012, they ranked her as the 27th coolest video game villain of all time as well as the tenth on their "The Most Evil Women In Video Games" list. In 2013, they placed Sandiego eleventh in a list of "12 Old School Video Game Characters Who Were Style Icons". Hugh Sterbakov of GamePro also included the character on its list of "The 47 Most Diabolical Video-Game Villains of All Time", placing her 44th. She was included in GameSpot's 2010 "All Time Greatest Video Game Villain" contest and lost to Sweet Tooth in "Round 1b". The same site included her in their "The Ten Best Female Characters". IGN placed Carmen Sandiego 62nd on their 2010 list of "The Top 100 Videogame Villains", saying she "is one tricky end boss". In 2012, GamesRadar+ included her on their "Mediocre Game Babes" article and in 2013 they ranked her as the 71st best villain in their "Top 100" list.

References

1. Martin, Douglas (2000-07-30). "Raymond Portwood Jr., Computer Game Pioneer, Dies at 66". The New York Times. Retrieved August 25, 2010.
2. Luling, Todd Van (16 August 2016). "My 20-Year Quest To Find Carmen Sandiego" – via Huff Post.
3. "Who In the World Was Carmen Sandiego? We Finally Know the Answer". 18 August 2016.
4. "'Educating Rita". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
5. "Top 100 videogame villains". IGN. Archived from the original on May 11, 2010. Retrieved May 13, 2010. According to one game, by the way, the villain's full name is Carmen Isabella Sandiego.
6. "Carmen Sandiego, the World's Most Iconic Latina Super Villain, Is Back". Fusion.net. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
7. "Carmen Sandiego Actress Janine LaManna Found After 20 Years". People. 17 August 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
8. Mangan, Jennifer (1994-05-04). "'Educating Rita". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
9. Van Luling, Todd (2016-08-16). "My 20-Year Quest To Find Carmen Sandiego". The Huffington Post. Retrieved August 16, 2016.
10. Cox, Dan (1997-12-03). "Bullock on road to Sandiego—Entertainment News, Film News, Media". Variety. Retrieved December 16, 2011.
11. "Oh God, Jennifer Lopez Might (Still) be Carmen Sandiego". Kotaku. June 28, 2012. Retrieved February 16, 2020.
12. "Carmen Sandiego With Gina Rodriguez Is Officially Happening". 18 April 2017.
13. ^ "Carmen Sandiego: CEO, Intellectual, Positive Latina Role Model". The Mary Sue. 2012-02-28. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
14. "Carmen Sandiego: America's Most Positive Latina Role Model?". Care2.com. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
15. "Mysteries can solve problem of getting kids on a computer". St. Cloud Times. August 28, 2000. p. 8. Retrieved April 18, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
16. Alexandra, Heather. "Why In The World People Love Carmen Sandiego". Kotaku. Retrieved 2017-04-20.
17. Vincent, Brittany (April 19, 2017). "How Carmen Sandiego made me want to play the villain". SyfyWire. Retrieved April 20, 2017.
18. Workman, Robert (December 1, 2008). "Top 25 Evil Masterminds of All Time". GameDaily. Archived from the original on December 9, 2008. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
19. "Babe of the Week: Brainy Babes". GameDaily. Archived from the original on March 17, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
20. "3. Carmen Sandiego, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? Series — Bad Girls Club: The 25 Most Diabolical Video Game She-Villains". Complex. June 30, 2011. Retrieved July 8, 2013.
21. "26. Carmen Sandiego — The 50 Coolest Video Game Villains of All Time". Complex. November 1, 2012. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
22. Welch, Hanuman (March 23, 2012). "10 Of The Most Evil Women In Video Games". Complex. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
23. Welch, Hanuman (May 23, 2013). "12 Old School Video Game Characters Who Were Style Icons". Complex. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
24. Sterbakov, Hugh (March 5, 2008). "The 47 Most Diabolical Video-Game Villains of All Time". GamePro. Archived from the original on October 3, 2008. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
25. "All Time Greatest Video Game Villain". GameSpot. Archived from the original on August 30, 2010. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
26. "The Ten Best Female Characters". GameSpot. Archived from the original on August 28, 2003. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
27. "Carmen Sandiego is number 62". IGN. Archived from the original on May 12, 2010. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
28. Antista, Chris (June 23, 2012). "Mediocre Game Babes". GamesRadar+. Retrieved July 25, 2013.
29. GamesRadar Staff (May 17, 2013). "100 best villains in video games". GamesRadar. Archived from the original on May 22, 2013. Retrieved June 21, 2013.

External links

• The Elusive Carmen Sandiego: A Community based on the Carmen Sandiego universe
• The Sandiego Manor: Carmen Sandiego's Dossier at kyranthia
• Carmen Sandiego at hmheducation
• Who is Carmen Sandiego?

• Animated human characters
• Carmen Sandiego
• Female characters in animation
• Female characters in video games
• Female video game villains
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• Fictional characters from San Francisco
• Fictional con artists
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• Fictional criminals in video games
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• Fictional female detectives
• Fictional female secret agents and spies
• Fictional gentleman detectives
• Fictional gentleman thieves
• Fictional Hispanic and Latino American people in video games
• Fictional professional thieves
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• Orphan characters in video games
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