The German engineering company Festo has created some lovely robot minions that I’m sure every person with dreams of becoming an evil overlord will want to purchase and implement right away..

First, robotic jellyfish.  These guys can communicate with each other, seek out energy stations to recharge themselves when their energy supply is low, and more. Watch them in action:

There’s also this critter, which is sort of the aerial version of the robotic jellyfish. It’s surprisingly graceful to watch as it flies through the air:

Says Festa, "Using a peristaltic movement to drive a balloon was previously unknown in the history of aviation. The AirJelly is the first indoor flying object to use such a peristaltic propulsion system. The jellyfish glides gently through the air thanks to this new drive concept based on the reaction thrust principle." In other words, it really IS a flying jellyfish. A robotic flying jellyfish. A BIG robotic flying jellyfish. Coming to get you. And there’s something vaguely Matrix-ish, if not outright Lovecraftian, about these guys.

Every up and coming dark overlord needs to have these robot jellyfish, both aquatic and aerial, in their minion army.