Carmen Sandiego and the Tango of Time

Carmen Isabella Sandiego is an international lady thief, a criminal mastermind, and the elusive nemesis of the ACME Detective Agency. She is the head of ACME's rival organization, V.I.L.E. She is an extremely intelligent, stylish, fashionable woman whose signature look features a red, matching fedora and trenchcoat. Many of her crimes depicted involve spectacular and often impossible cases of monument theft. The character is a Hispanic woman. Her last name alludes to the city of San Diego, California. Carmen Sandiego is referred to by such epithets as The Miss of Misdemeanor, Vicious & Cruel, The Queen of Crime, and The World's Greatest Thief. In most cases, Carmen Sandiego steals only for the challenge of it, although some of her V.I.L.E. minions are more traditionally motivated. She often describes her schemes and the protagonists' attempts to stop them as being a game, which they ironically are, regularly gloating that she will never be captured, 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 motives and seems to revel at how difficult she can make it for anyone trying to figure her out. 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. Her former partner now tries to catch her. 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." ACME agents who used to work closely with her are often shown to have mixed feelings about imprisoning her.