The Ancient Minion was one of the later characters to appear in Minions at Work. He grew out of a couple things.

First and foremost is that old cartoon cliché of the wise man on the mountaintop, who random characters painfully climb to for wisdom, and usually don’t get what they expected. I like the idea of there being some sort of wise man or guru for the Minions, and I thought it would be funny if you could find him on a mountain of boxes in an abandoned warehouse, rather than a real mountain.

Second, as often happens, it’s a matter of discovering the right prop, in this case, a figure in my preferred Minion style that just happened to have gray hair and a beard, making him look older. I gave him a floppier, more battered looking version of Minion No. 1’s cap, and the standard Minion winter uniform (the fur-trimmed vest) because I figured it got cold up on the mountain of boxes.

This one is a little crude by MAW 1.o standards, but I figured that the Ancient Minion was a little rough around the edges, and could get away with saying most anything he wants.

I hope to do more with him in MAW 2.o, as the caption format didn’t suit him well. Better to be able to have some exchange of dialogue with seeker-of-wisdom.