#about electrical networks than the avg lighting tech (poss from having to set up parties in places where parties weren't meant to be ;D)

[nixariel]

46. During the early days of Dr. Bellum's experiments with neural reprogramming, Mime Bomb was a young cryptanalyst-turned-V.I.L.E.-graduate who tried to defect from the organization with the proceeds of a particularly lucrative mission. He was quickly retrieved and brought before the faculty, but was then given to Dr. Bellum (in lieu of the usual punishment of death) as a test subject for what would eventually become V.I.L.E.'s mindwiping device. Although the process did succeed in creating a more loyal operative, it also made him unstable, and too erratic to work unsupervised for long despite his preserved code-breaking skills. Thus his year with the rest of Carmen's original dorm-group is technically his second in the Academy, but Black Sheep doesn't recognize him because of how differently he looks/behaves.

47. It is V.I.L.E. policy to have a spy in every Academy year-group to help them weed out recruits who are morally or mentally unsuitable for operativehood; the task is normally given to graduates who have failed a few too many missions recently and are deemed in need of proving their fitness to continue, or to members of V.I.L.E.'s support staff who want a chance at becoming operatives themselves.

48. Second only to her matryoshka dolls, Carmen's next most prized possession is the first passport Player ever set up for her—the only one actually under the name 'Carmen Sandiego'. In a private joke between the two of them, it lists her birth date as December 1st.

49. Neither V.I.L.E. nor Team Red have any way to know, but Carmen was actually born on March 1st. Coach Brunt had always celebrated the anniversary of Black Sheep's arrival on the island as the girl's birthday growing up but since escaping V.I.L.E., Carmen prefers not to celebrate any day at all (even if she does let Player get away with giving her some small gift on December 1st every year ;D).

50. During high school, Gray was a theatre tech with the drama department who picked up extra cash by using his skills (and sometimes the school's equipment) to manage the lights/audio for underground parties and raves. He liked being the man running the show enough to do a diploma in Live Production and Technical Services after finishing Year 12, and even managed to get a job at the prestigious Sydney Opera House, but still wasn't netting the income he wanted. This dissatisfaction led him to mention to certain connections he'd made via working the underground party circuit that he would be interested in opportunities for a bigger payday, and the thefts he accomplished as a result are what brought him to V.I.L.E.'s notice.

51. Julia did a four-year double major in ancient history and criminology at Oxford University, then decided to go for a Master's degree in Greek and Roman Studies instead of continuing on into law school like she'd originally planned. Encouraged by her academic supervisor, she was at the point of considering PhD options when her mother was unexpectedly diagnosed with end-stage breast cancer. Julia changed course again to look after her but after her mother passed, she couldn't quite face the thought of re-entering the dry confines of academia. Wanting to escape a life spent studying instead of doing, Julia took a chance on her criminology degree and applied to Interpol.

52. As a former enforcer with the yakuza, and having particularly excelled in his stealth classes, Shadow-san had been on a path towards becoming one of the Cleaners before being tasked with tying off Dexter Wolfe as a loose end. In later years—particularly as Black Sheep's presence continued to prod at his conscience—he grew a little uncomfortable around Boris and Vlad as examples of the depths to which he might have sunk in V.I.L.E.'s service. They, however, interpreted his discomfort as standoffishness and arrogance at having jumped past them to faculty instead, making them more inclined to do things like take secret orders from Brunt during the San Francisco caper despite Shadow-san nominally taking point in that operation.

53. Before she became head of V.I.L.E.'s bookkeeping department, Cookie Booker was the accountant who noticed the irregularities in V.I.L.E.'s accounts from Dexter's surreptitious transfers. She took her findings to Maelstrom, who was the one to make the connection to Wolfe's pattern of absences, but he then framed their discovery as mostly his own work when presenting it to the other faculty. Upon learning how he'd cut her out of the credit (and possibly a faculty seat of her own), Cookie's attitude towards Maelstrom took on a distinct chill.

54. Shadow-san stole the Matsumoto katana and ran away from home to join the yakuza when he was only in his second year of upper-secondary school, making him effectively a high school drop-out. However, he quietly rectified this after becoming faculty by, unbeknownst to anyone else, enrolling in an online school in order to finally earn his high school diploma. This contributed to his reputation for being curt and unfriendly because he was too busy trying to balance this secret coursework with his V.I.L.E. responsibilities to be sociable.

55. Against Antonio's protests, Jean-Paul taught Black Sheep how to swear like a sailor in French.

56. Dr. Bellum doesn't truly change the morality of the people she mindwipes as part of V.I.L.E.'s retirement protocol. Instead, she conditions them into feeling a strong sense of apprehension at the thought of breaking rules/getting into trouble, which has the effect of making them more law-abiding but not necessarily better people. As even Bellum wouldn't be able to erase all the memories that led up to them becoming the criminals they were before joining V.I.L.E., this fear is what keeps post-mindwipe operatives from returning to a life where they might either draw legal attention (potentially exposing the cover story for the gap in their memories to outside scrutiny) or stumble across some memory-provoking trace of V.I.L.E.'s presence (potentially prompting their own questioning of that cover story). So the mindwiped version of Gray, for example, would still remember wanting more money than he made as a lighting tech and turning to (non-V.I.L.E.-related) crime to get it, but would no longer feel comfortable with the thought of stealing anything.

Some Carmen Sandiego head-canons, in no particular order:

1. Coach Brunt’s first name is Gloria.

2. Everybody at the academy thinks that that faculty has their favourites, and for the most part that’s true, but Shadow-san has no idea why anyone thought Tigress was his and Countess Cleo doesn’t like any of the students enough to have one. She tolerates Dash Haber because he’s the prettiest. 

3. Graham has always introduced himself as such. Carmen was the one to shorten it to ‘Gray’, and the others picked it up from her.

4. Boris (the shorter Cleaner) is sweet on Cookie Booker. She is completely unaware.

5. Countess Cleo was the most recent elevation to faculty before Shadow-san. Dr. Bellum’s change of hairstyle from bride-of-Frankenstein to actually-pretty-flattering is a direct result of her influence.

6. The academy accepts up to forty students per year; that doesn’t mean there’s forty graduates. Only about sixteen people looked to have made it in Carmen’s original year. Those that fail or are expelled are normally mind-wiped and sent home like Gray. The faculty made an exception for Carmen, another decision Shadow-san opposed.

7. Carmen didn’t know, at least about the mind-wiping. There would just be students who weren’t there the next day.

8. Before they were Tigress and Crackle, Sheena and Graham had a thing in the academy. That’s why she went along with the water balloon prank and didn’t put up more of a fuss about Gray getting them all saddled with detention on Carmen’s behalf. It’s also part of why she has such a grudge against Carmen, because Tigress blames her for Crackle’s dismissal.

9. Lady Dokuso lied about poisoning the chopsticks. She coats the outside of her umbrella with a skin-permeable toxin, which is why she used it to fight Shadow-san. But it takes a little time to work, so she’s not about to tell anyone when they were really exposed to it.

10. Ivy and Zack aged out of the foster care system. Their mom died at least ten years ago, and their dad was never in the picture. 

And last, but not least-

11. Carmen and Player can pun back and forth to each other all day. Literally. It drives the rest of the crew batty, but there’s nothing they can do to make the pair stop. Any reaction only encourages them.