In *Despicable Me 2* (2013), the primary conflict is a battle between the protagonist, **Gru**, and the antagonist, **Eduardo Pérez (secretly the supervillain El Macho)**. The conflict centers on El Macho’s plan to use a stolen mutagen to transform Gru’s Minions into an army of mindless, indestructible killing machines to achieve world domination.
### How the Conflict Started
The conflict is set in motion by a high-stakes heist at the beginning of the film:
* **The Theft of PX-41:** A mysterious, giant magnet-equipped ship descends upon a top-secret research laboratory in the **Arctic Circle**. The entire lab is stolen, along with a powerful chemical mutagen known as **PX-41**. This serum has the ability to turn any living creature into a ferocious, purple, and nearly invulnerable monster.
* **The AVL’s Intervention:** Because the mutagen is so dangerous, the **Anti-Villain League (AVL)**, led by Silas Ramsbottom, decides they need a former villain to help track the culprit. They recruit Gru (now a reformed father and jam maker) and pair him with Agent **Lucy Wilde**.
### The Characters and Specific Details of the Conflict
1. **Identity and Suspicion:** Gru and Lucy go undercover at the "Paradise Shopping Mall" because the AVL tracked traces of the serum there. Gru quickly becomes suspicious of **Eduardo Pérez**, the flamboyant owner of the "Salsa & Salsa" restaurant. Gru believes Eduardo is actually **El Macho**, a legendary villain who supposedly died 20 years earlier by riding a shark into an active volcano with 250 pounds of TNT strapped to his chest.
2. **The Minion Abductions:** Throughout the film, Gru's Minions are mysteriously abducted one by one. It is later revealed that El Macho has been kidnapping them to test the PX-41 serum.
3. **The Betrayal of Dr. Nefario:** A major turning point in the conflict is the discovery that Gru’s longtime assistant and friend, **Dr. Nefario**, has left Gru to work for El Macho. Nefario felt Gru’s transition into "goodness" was boring and helped El Macho develop the mutated "Evil Minions."
4. **The Climax:** The conflict peaks when El Macho reveals his true identity and his plan to launch rockets filled with the mutated Minions into major cities. He attempts to recruit Gru to join him, but Gru refuses. The battle concludes at El Macho’s Cinco de Mayo party, where Gru, Lucy, and a redeemed Dr. Nefario (who creates an antidote hidden in jelly) fight to restore the Minions and stop El Macho.
**Primary Motives:**
* **El Macho:** Driven by a desire for a "spectacular return" to villainy and global power.
* **Gru:** Motivated by his new identity as a protector of his family and his growing romantic feelings for Lucy Wilde, who is eventually captured by El Macho.