Carmen Cortez

Carmen Elizabeth Juanita Costa-Brava Cortez is a fictional character in the "Spy Kids" films, played by Alexa Vega. For most of her life Carmen had no idea her parents were secretly spies. Carmen's main concern was with her little brother Juni, whom she felt she was unfairly being forced to be babysit. Carmen responded by treating Juni abusively. However, Carmen was also hiding her own secrets: in addition to skipping school to go on outings to the city without her parent's permission, she also had to deal with a bedwetting problem which she was desperate to hide from her brother. Juni was aware of her problem, but their mother made him promise to keep it secret. Juni often makes fun of Carmen because her feet stink.

In the first "Spy Kids" film, a discovered the truth about their parents when they were kidnapped during the source of their spying activities. Though Carmen and Juni fought with each other throughout their adventure, the two of them bonded and formed a rapport of mutual respect. Carmen was also influenced by her real uncle Machete, who let her know that he had the same problem with his younger brother, Carmen's father. She also found out that her brother had always been aware of her nighttime bedwetting and had kept that knowledge to himself on her mother's instructions. Carmen also developed a sense of family, and insisted that if any Cortezs become involved in espionage, then of all of them should.

By "", Carmen has stopped calling her brother names, and they are able to work better as team. Problems still arise from a romantic interest Carmen develops in Gary Giggles. Juni tries to convince Carmen that Gary is trouble, but to no avail. Carmen, after a conversation with Gary's sister Gerti Giggles, changes her mind about Gary and convinces Gerti to turn against her father, who has an evil plan for world domination.

In "", Carmen, an experienced hacker, goes on a quest to shut down the Toymaker's evil video game "Game Over", which possesses its users. However, she makes it only as far as Level Four, before being kidnapped. Juni comes to her rescue and they continue on her quest to shut down the game.