M9 Assassins

The M9 Assassins are a group of supporting antagonists from the 2019 Blue Sky Studios animated film, Spies in Disguise. They are unstoppable, indestructible drone models powered by atmospheric energy which never stop chasing their enemies.
==Background==
According to Joy Jenkins, the M9 Assassin is said to be an unstoppable robot that never stops pursuing its enemy. Created by Killian to take over the world, these drones are invulnerable to regular bullets as shown during the part where Lance and Walter follow Marcy to help stop Killian. As revealed through the climax of the film, Killian's robotic claw has a system which gives Killian himself to change the settings for the drones whether to deactivate or leave them intact. If one chooses to deactivate the drones by tapping "Yes", this option deactivates any active M9 Assassin model powered by Killian.
===Development===
The M9 Assassin model was created using the appearance of ticks and horseshoe crabs while developing the drone to which while combining the inspiration of the drone, it was equipped with weapons and gear tucked up into its model which is revealed throughout the film. In reference to invertebrates, it is shown that the underside of the drones that the bellows inside almost behave like gills in a reference to almost breathing the way the light undulates in its underside as if there was a red glow coming between the legs of an invertebrate.Super Secret Spy Mode bonus feature (Spies in Disguise Blu-ray / Digital platforms).
==Role in the film==
At the Iwate Prefecture in Japan, Lance Sterling is tasked to take the briefcase containing the M9 Assassin inside. Lance prepares to take the briefcase, but is surrounded by a group of Yakuza agents just as Killian takes the briefcase containing the M9 Assassin inside just as he gets the briefcase to which Lance manages to fight off a group of Yakuza agents and later escapes to retrieve the briefcase from Killian, much to his worry.
Later when Marcy Kappel enters the conference room, it is revealed that Killian (disguised as Lance Sterling) stole the M9 Assassin as Lance himself tries to prove that he is wrong just as Lance escapes from H.T.U.V. to deal with Killian.
Meanwhile at the Covert Weapons Facility, Killian flies on his helicopter during a stormy night at the North Sea as the M9 Assassin follows alongside him. Back at the Facility, Killian walks past a scientist who explains to him that the database is almost at full capacity to which he explains to his fellow scientist that he doesn't know about or how many lives the M9 Assassin destroys to which he uses the Assassin against him and drops him into the ocean just as Killian plans to go to Venice.
At Venice, Lance and Walter follow Marcy who is after Killian as the two see a group of soldiers firing at the M9 Assassin which has the database device to which it is shown that the M9 Assassin is resistant against bullets and fires missiles at them to which Walter and Lance plan to capture the escaping drone. As Lance learns how to fly, Lovey, Jeff, and Crazy Eyes help him go after the Assassin to which during the chase, Crazy Eyes spits out an icy blast at the Assassin, causing it to drop the database device to which the drone targets the pigeons and chases them across the town. Lance attempts to crash it into a building, but it still chases the pigeons across the town to which after Walter catches the database device, an M9 Assassin drone falls into the water, losing it.
Later when Lance Sterling faces off against Killian, an M9 Assassin model corners Lance and prepares to attack to which he disables it. Killian explains to him that he managed to defeat one drone, leaving him to fight against thousands of M9 Assassin drones to target the victims Killian has targeted, much to his evil plans and Lance's worry just as Killian sends thousands of M9 Assassin models to take over the world much to his evil plans as the drones prepare to target the victims Killian has selected. Two M9 Assassin models, A-01 and A-02, are then sent to to go after Walter Beckett, much to Lance's worry.
Later when Lance is freed thanks to Walter who used Crazy Eyes to fire an icy blast on the cuffs to free him, two other Assassin drone models surround Lance while at the ruins followed by a couple more preparing to attack while Walter prepares to access Killian's system to disable the drones. Lance then throws an explosive gadget to which he switches it to Hug Mode, causing glitter to appear and distract Killian, as Lovey, Jeff, and Crazy Eyes fly past the drones followed by Marcy joining the battle as she apologizes to Lance for his bad reputation of accusing him to be a villain. Killian then sends dozens of drones to take over the world as part of his revenge.
Meanwhile at the H.T.U.V. atrium, a fellow technician tells Joy that according to the satellite feed on the computer, he notices dozens of M9 Assassin drones approaching and attacking the agency as Joy tells Geraldine to put the agency in lockdown due to the ambush.
As it is shown that Walter is taking over Killian's system, Lance discusses a plan to Marcy to help him disable the drones to which as a couple of drones prepares to fire at Lance, he uses the binder bubbles from his blaster to counter the missiles fired by the drones. Later, Walter hands out many of his gadgets to help stall Killian and the drones just as he gives a device containing a recording of Walter as a child imitating a siren's blare as Ears loads it in his weapon and fires shockwave blasts at the M9 Assassin models.
Back at H.T.U.V., more M9 Assassin models start ramming themselves at the glass which is above the employees. Joy then tells the employees to enter the gadget lab to get the weapons to fight back and protect the agency as the drones fill the world with battle. Killian uses one to escape but Walter catches him using the multi-pen to fire a serious string at him to which the drone takes off, despite Lance's attempt. Back at H.T.U.V., the M9 Assassin models are in the process of bursting in as the survivors inside the agency ready themselves to prepare for battle. Later, back with Lance, Walter finally gains access to Killian's system on his claw, giving him the option to disable the drones. Walter then presses "Yes" on the screen, to which the all the M9 Assassin models (especially the ones at H.T.U.V.) are deactivated, thanks to Walter's plan. With the drones deactivated, everyone at H.T.U.V. celebrates.
==Trivia==
*During the part where Lance is being chased by the M9 Assassin at Venice during the shot where the drone crashes through a wall, there are two references to past Blue Sky Studios films (both made before Disney purchased Fox back in March 2019). The cameos that one can spot are a statue of Ronin and a Boggan from the 2013 Blue Sky Studios animated film, Epic and under the drop cloth is a statue of Raf, Ferdinand's father (based on his pose on the Casa del Toro poster) who appears in the 2017 Blue Sky Studios animated film, FerdinandSuper Secret Spy Mode bonus feature (Spies in Disguise Blu-ray / Digital platforms)..
**Also during the scene where the M9 Assassin models surround Lance during the battle against Killian at the ruins, one can see a portrait which is a caricature of Ron DeFelice, who worked as an artist at Blue Sky Studios in real life where the portrait of DeFelice himself was placed on the abandoned manorSuper Secret Spy Mode bonus feature (Spies in Disguise Blu-ray / Digital platforms)..
==References==
==External links==
*M9 Assassin on Spies in Disguise Wiki.
Category:Blue Sky Studios characters
Category:Spies in Disguise characters
Category:Villains
Category:Robots
Category:Animated characters
Category:Machines