Heinz Doofenshmirtz

Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz is the main antagonist of Phineas and Ferb. He is a dimwitted scientist that vows to rule the "Tri-State Area" for the smallest or even the most ridiculous motive possible. He is the arch-nemesis of the title characters' pet, Perry the Platypus, although he is unaware of his owners' existence. He is voiced by the series's co-creator, Dan Povenmire.

Role
Doctor Heinz Doofenshmirtz(born 29 October 1958) is the fictional antagonist of the animated television series Phineas and Ferb. Doofenshmirtz is voiced by Dan Povenmire and created by Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh.[1] Doofenshmirtz first appeared in the pilot episode of the series and since then has appeared in every episode to date except "Isabella and the Temple of Sap". A routinely bumbling, incompetent and forgetful mad scientist, Doofenshmirtz is the primary villain of the series and the mastermind behind the B-Plot.

Doofenshmirtz's goal in life is to "take over the entire tri-state area" and attempts to do so with obscure contraptions and inventions that tend to have "-inator" as the suffix (as a child, he invented a machine simply called the "Inator"). Doofenshmirtz's voice is of Eastern European descent (most likely Czech, Polish or Sorbian, as he was noted by Lawrence as having a German accent) and was a voice Povenmire used since he was a fifteen-year-old having pillow fights with his sister.

In nearly every episode of the series, Doofenshmirtz has an evil scheme or invention that he explains about through the means of a "back story" from his youth. Throughout the series, the back stories explore his mentally abusive and shunned childhood growing up in the fictional village Gimmelshtump, Druelselstein.[2] Doofenshmirtz usually monologues[2] and displays acts of "cartoonish" physical violence[3] towards his frenemy Perry, a skilled anthropomorphic platypus secret agent who disguises himself as the mindless pet of the series main characters. Doofenshmirtz appears in several merchandise pieces based on the series, particularly the book series[4] [5] [6] [7] and the video game.[8]

Creation and design
EnlargeDoofenshmirtz is voiced by Phineas and Ferb co-creator Dan Povenmire.[2] When Jeff "Swampy" Marsh and Dan Povenmire were working on the Nickelodeon animated series Rocko's Modern Life, they always had two things in episodes they worked on: a song or a musical number and an action/chase scene. When they created Phineas and Ferb, they wanted to incorporate this trait into that series too.[25] They used a platypus secret agent to do so,[26] due to the animal's interesting appearance,[27] and wanted to have a continuous nemesis for him that the viewers could get to know.[28] They choose one named "Dr. Meddleshmirtz;" Meddleshmirtz was a prototype for Doofenshmirtz and carried a majority of his traits. His name eventually was changed to "Doofenshmirtz."[29]

Every main character of the series was designed to incorporate geometric shapes in reminiscence of Tex Avery's graphic style for his Looney Tunes cartoons; Doofenshmirtz himself appearing to use that of an oval.[25] They were as well meant to be drawn very simple, so that the child viewers could draw them easily themselves. Each one was designed to be recognizable from a distance or, as Povenmire notes as a reference to Matt Groening and The Simpsons, by silhouette.[30]

Voice
Co-creator and executive producer Dan Povenmire voices Doofenshmirtz. He describes the voice he uses as "vaguely Eastern European" and is one he used at fifteen years old when having pillow fights and such with his five year old sister. To this day, his sister recognizes the voice and asks him to do it frequently. During recording sessions, Povenmire is easily able to ad-lib and improvise; the writers are known to change his lines around and add new ones without throwing him off.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-podcast_1-3">[2] Povenmire sometimes adds his own lines to mix with the script, as well as being asked to alternate his voice to enunciate his lines.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Day_30-0">[31] Povenmire is usually asked to perform the voice in interviews <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-podcast_1-4">[2] and performs the voice for his daughter's friends.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-QA_26-1">[27]

Personality
Doofenshmirtz is portrayed as an evil mad scientist<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-BBB_31-0">[32] who despises almost everything around him, including pelicans, ear hair and such obscure things such as musical instruments starting with the letter "B."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-MB_10-1">[11] Doofenshmirtz treats his nemesis Perry the Platypus as his best friend,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Meap_12-3">[13] and is often concerned for Perry when he does not arrive at the scene of his next scheme, hesitating to execute his plans and fearing for where Perry has gone - though he notes that he "hopes something terrible has happened to him."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-HD_32-0">[33] Doofenshmirtz's relationship with Perry has also been used to his advantage, as he once replaced Perry as his nemesis with a secret agent panda bear to cause depression in Perry, causing a distraction from his actual plot to freeze agents to use as a giant chess set.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-IAT_2-3">[3] When Perry is re-assigned by the Agency to a higher-leveled threat, The Regurgitator, leaving Doofenshmirtz classified as a low-level threat who would be dealt with by a secret agent snail, Doofenshmirtz himself took up an internship with the new villain to assist him in ultimately defeating the new threat and keeping Perry as his nemesis.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-thereyouareperry_33-0">[34] He is currently the 2nd fastest cup stacker in the world (only to Candace Flynn). He is also always beaten by a baking soda volcano.

Reception
In a generally negative review of the series during 2008 for Toon Zone, Maxie Zeus notes that a large bright side of the series is Povenmire's performance as Doofenshmirtz. Zeus states that "Dan Povenmire voices him with such energy, and with such perfect timing, that you'll laugh out loud even at the stuff that isn't even supposed to be funny." Zeus as well says that the Doofenshmirtz subplot would have made a "fine bit of sketch writing" if trimmed down.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-34">[35]

In 2009, Josh Jackson, editor-in-chief for Paste Magazine, wrote in a blog that Phineas and Ferb was "the best kids show on TV" and gave Doofenshmirtz a large amount of praise. He calls his inventions "awesomely designated devices of pure evil" and his complex relationship with his nemesis Perry the Platypus as "pitch-perfect."<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-35">[36]