Followers or servants of a powerful person, especially ones who are loyal but not very important or intelligent, or the small yellow cartoon characters.
From Old French 'mignon,' possibly from French 'mignard' meaning 'dainty' or 'favorite.' The word evolved to describe subordinates or servants.
The Minions franchise is absurdly successful—these gibberish-speaking creatures made billions of dollars in revenue even though they barely have character development, which suggests that cute, simple, and vaguely meme-able is more profitable than complex storytelling in modern entertainment.
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