Guild of Calamitous Intent

The Guild of Calamitous Intent is a fictional guild and organization of supervillains in the Adult Swim program The Venture Bros.

Organization
The Guild is an overbearing and major organization of villains in the Venture Bros. universe, its members including nearly every supervillain and otherwise major criminal presumably active. The members pay dues and submit themselves to certain regulations outlined in the Guild of Calamitous Intent Handbook in return for protection from the law and other benefits, such as health and dental care. The Guild is known for having almost complete immunity from the police, as they supply the police with new weapons and equipment.

The Guild has certain members working directly for the top leadership, particularly in terms of espionage; they are known as strangers, who receive their orders from two cyborgs monitoring all Guild activities named Watch and Ward. These monitors in turn appear to receive their orders from an individual referred to as Sovereign, who has thus far only appeared as a distorted face on a computer screen. Some costumed supervillains also work as operatives of the Guild, such as Tiny Eagle, who intercepted a message The Monarch tried to send out while in jail.

Because of their precise and accurate methods of villainy as well as their apparant honor code regarding their interaction with local authorities, Brock Samson has stated that the Guild is the only organization he still respects.

Thier motto is "hate you can trust".

Activities in the show
The Guild was first mentioned in passing by the Monarch in "Home Insecurity" when he and Baron Ünderbheit had turned a dispute into a good time and wanted to have a villainous team-up, but would have to ask the Guild to allow it for regulation purposes (which they passed on doing anyway). Another mention was in "Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean" when the Monarch wasn't even listed amongst its members in a Guild handbook, claiming he only joined it for the dental care (and partial health) plan.

The Guild's activities came to the forefront in "The Trial of the Monarch". It was revealed that Phantom Limb holds a high-ranking position in the Guild, and was overseeing an operation to capture the #3 individual on the Guild's Most Wanted list, Tiny Attorney, who was acting as prosecutor in the titular trial and had a successful record of prosecuting supervillains. The entirety of the episode's events, including the disappearance of a police officer and framing of the Monarch for the crime, are revealed to be orchestrated by the Guild in service of this goal (though it seems likely the selection of the Monarch as the operation's fall guy was made by Phantom Limb himself so that he could continue to pursue a relationship with Dr. Girlfriend free of interference).

The Guild caught wind of the Monarch's plot to orchestrate a prison break in "Powerless in the Face of Death" and Phantom Limb either bribed or forced members of Monarch's crew to abandon the scheme (while Phantom Limb did so in his capacity as a Guild operative, it seems likely his personal animosity towards the Monarch was a strong motivator). Ultimately, King Gorilla decided to aid in the Monarch's escape so as not to stand in the way of the Monarch's pursuit of his true love, Dr. Girlfriend.

The episode also explored the notion regarding the Guild's "honor code" by revealing that the Guild has been known to turn against members for crimes that threaten the Guild's standing. In the case of King Gorilla, his murder and rape of Vince Neil during the filming of "The Surreal Life" (which both men were involved in) led to the Guild abandoning Gorilla to rot in jail.

In "Hate Floats", this was further explored by Phantom Limb, who stated he could be killed by the Guild for bringing Brock Samson to the top secret "Location B" headquarters of the Guild, when the two teamed up to fight the Monarch. At the same time, it also revealed that the Guild has rules which require that the level of weapons used is proportional to the threat. For example, the Monarch going after Dr. Venture using firearms and shooting in crowded public areas was not allowed. The rules seem to be applied somewhat inconsistently in that Phantom Limb sent a very heavily armed team of Strangers after the Ventures with no justification in Guild terms at all.

In "Victor. Echo. November.", the Monarch rejoins the Guild on a double date with Dr. Girlfriend and Phantom Limb (with the Monarch being accompanied by a girl only identified by her LiveJournal username of Jollyrancher82), and dared Limb to destroy the Ventures after bragging about his resources as part of the Guild. Limb sent a squad of Strangers on an attack on Team Venture, temporarily relieving Dr. Venture of his left arm. After the end credits it is shown than Billy has reattached Dr. Venture's arm. However, most of the squad members were eventually killed gruesomely by Brock until Phantom Limb called them off. Brock also threatened the Limb (who threatened Brock by stating that the Guild would murder every single person Brock has ever loved if he killed him) with decapitation should he ever threaten the Ventures again (a deal which the Limb agreed to).

The Guild finally accepted Dr. Orpheus's many petitions for a supervillain and allowed him to get one-but as a team. Orpheus quickly reassembled his team the Order of the Triad and began screening potential rivals, much to Dr. Venture's jealousy. While the Order found a new enemy in the firey villain the Torrid (who had transported Triana to the tropics), Venture caused havoc amongst the other applicants by sending a 'walking eye'-a technological wonder-to be attacked by them, with Brock coming into the battle simply to get some action.

Trivia

 * The Guild, in having all major supervillains as members as well as those members paying dues and working together, is similar to the DC Comics supervillain team the Secret Society of Super Villains and the Legion of Doom from Superfriends.


 * The Guild has strict regulations on use of force, weapon availability to henchmen and "costumed aggression" as stated by Phantom Limb in Hate Floats. In the same episode, it is noted that the Guild does not help members get out of jail if they conduct particuarly terrible crimes.  The Guild seems to provide a restraint on criminal behavior as well as enabling it, which may be another reason they are tolerated.


 * The Guild apparently also acts as a distributor of nemeses. Dr. Orpheus has filed petitions with the Guild for a costumed nemesis, something he has coveted since the events of "Tag Sale -- You're It!".


 * The outfits and the names of the Guild's field operatives (fur-lined trenchcoats with fedoras, called "Strangers") may be inspired by the villians of the same name in the movie Dark City.


 * The Guild has been around for at least 74 years in some form, and apparently had dealings with Dr. Jonas Venture Sr. in the past. According to the Monarch, Rusty's Law, an addendum to their charter, was named for a young Dr. Thaddeus Venture.


 * In his LiveJournal, Jackson Publick has stated that the arguments between the cyborg monitors in the Guild's control room are taken verbatim from arguments between himself and Doc Hammer at Astrobase Go! Headquarters.


 * Rival organizations include the "Partnership of Peril" and "Fraternity of Fear".