Mini Me in Austin Powers: Dr. Evil's Clone and Who Plays Him

Mini-Me is a miniature clone of the villain Dr. Evil, and he is credited under that name in both of his films. Verne Troyer plays him in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), directed by Jay Roach, and again in Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), also directed by Roach. Mike Myers stars in all three films of the series and plays Dr. Evil himself, so the pairing is a double act built around one man and his much smaller copy.

The character arrives as part of the sequel's setup. Dr. Evil comes back from a long stay in space, is reunited with his son Scott Evil, and acquires the clone in the same stretch of the story. Troyer is billed third in The Spy Who Shagged Me, behind Myers and Heather Graham, and seventh in Goldmember, where the cast grows to include Beyoncé as Foxxy Cleopatra and Michael Caine as Nigel Powers.

If you are wondering what the name means, a mini-me in everyday speech is a smaller copy of someone. In this series it is literal: the clone is a scaled down version of Dr. Evil. For the full roster, see the Austin Powers characters page.

Mini-Me's most important relationship is with Dr. Evil, the man he is cloned from, and it is the one that changes by the end of the series. In The Spy Who Shagged Me he is the villain's miniature double and fights Austin on the Moon base. In Goldmember he leaves that loyalty behind.

His link to Austin Powers starts as a fight and becomes an alliance. After switching sides, Mini-Me joins Austin and Foxxy Cleopatra for the infiltration of Dr. Evil's submarine, which makes him part of a three person team instead of a henchman.

Scott Evil is the third corner of the triangle. Scott is Dr. Evil's real son and rejects his father from the first film, while Mini-Me is a clone who spends the second film at his side. That gives the villain two very different kinds of family: one by blood who wants nothing to do with him, and one by cloning. Goldmember also reveals that Austin and Dr. Evil are brothers and that Dr. Evil's real name is Doug, which gives the clone an odd place in the family tree (he is a copy of Austin's brother).

In my opinion, Mini-Me's best moments come from how his two films use him, and it could be argued that the clone is the series' most efficient sidekick. These three picks are opinion.

The Moon base fight in The Spy Who Shagged Me. Austin has to get past Mini-Me to reach Dr. Evil, so the sequel puts a tiny henchman between the hero and the villain inside a lair of the kind the series borrows from the James Bond films. It takes a standard spy movie beat (the hero beats a henchman before the boss) and shrinks it. Perhaps the scale gag is the point: everything is set up like a big action scene, and the opponent is the smallest person in the room.

Switching sides in Goldmember. After Scott kills one of the villain's associates, Mini-Me leaves Dr. Evil and helps Austin, which sets up the submarine infiltration with Foxxy Cleopatra. As a result, the third film has an ensemble feel in its last act, and Mini-Me is part of it.

The end credits. During the end credits of Goldmember, Mini-Me is shown talking with Britney Spears. It is a small scene, but it gives a character with one name and one role a moment of his own.

If you are new to the series, start with the Austin Powers movies in order and watch The Spy Who Shagged Me first for his debut, then Austin Powers Goldmember for the payoff.