Hiro Hamada

"Tadashi was right. You are a good kid."

- Baymax to Hiro

Hiro Hamada is the protagonist of Disney's 2014 animated feature film Big Hero 6. He is a fourteen-year-old robotics prodigy living in San Fransokyo under the care of his aunt and older brother, Tadashi. After Tadashi's sudden death at the hands of a kabuki-masked villain, Hiro—with support from his healthcare companion, Baymax—became the founder and leader of Big Hero 6, a group of superheroes bent on protecting the city.

Hiro is based on Hiro Takachiho from the Marvel comic of the same name.

Background
Hiro was born in San Fransokyo, and notes that he's never been outside of the city. He and his older brother, Tadashi, were orphaned when the former was only three. Following the deaths of their parents, the brothers were raised by their aunt, Cass, in her popular restaurant, the Lucky Cat Café. Over the following decade, Hiro managed to graduate high school when he was thirteen, but refused to attend college out of arrogance. He instead spent much of his time participating in illegal bot-fights across the city, where he'd con local gangsters for their money. Tadashi—who came to act as a surrogate guardian alongside Cass—looked down upon this lifestyle and worked to steer his brother down a better path. Tadashi's effort would direct Hiro to the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, which in turn led to the formation of Big Hero 6.

Official Description

 * Robotics prodigy Hiro Hamada has the mind of a genius—and the heart of a 14-year old: his state-of-the-art battle-bots dominate the underground bot fights held in the dark corners of San Fransokyo. Fortunately, his big brother Tadashi redirects Hiro's brilliance, inspiring him to put his brain to the test in a quest to gain admission to the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. When a tragic event changes everything, Hiro turns to a robot named Baymax, and they form an unbreakable bond—and two-sixths of a band of high-tech heroes on a very important mission.

Personality
Hiro Hamada is a young boy with intelligence far beyond his years. For example, he graduated from high school when he was 13. Because of this, he can be rather brazen and cocky (especially when he was seen to be bored during his bot fight with Yama), but never to the point of being annoying and insufferable.

He spent much of his time using his technology to win money through illegal bot fight bets (he states that bot-fighting isn't illegal, but betting on it is, though he still did bet on bot-fighting illegally), something he prided himself on, though his older brother Tadashi heavily disapproved. While Tadashi felt that his brother had a greater purpose and should attend college, Hiro believed that he held the knowledge of all that there is to know in the world, or at least all that any school can teach him, showing a strong sense of pride, as well as possible past experiences of school being redundant, unchallenging, and boring for him.

Despite his bold nature, Hiro has a much softer side to him, as he's shown to sometimes be rather shy in front of crowds and during the process of making new friends, as well as socially awkward at times. Even so, he is very compassionate, which, in the beginning, is mostly seen when dealing with his older brother, Tadashi who despite his brotherly nagging, holds a special place in Hiro's heart as the latter's best friend and inspiration. When with Tadashi, Hiro's true colors emerge, showing him to be free-spirited, innocently sassy, warm and ultimately very loving and appreciative. Such aspects wouldn't be seen again until the void left by Tadashi's demise is eventually filled by the lovable Baymax, who cares for Hiro in the same sense, forming a strong companionship.

However, while Hiro has a kind heart, he is a very complex character, and is far from perfect, engaging in some darker behaviors when highly provoked. At certain points during the movie, the boy genius allowed his anger to cloud his better judgment and commit acts normally out of the question. He is similar to Yokai (the villainous mastermind responsible for the death of Tadashi) in this respect, as both experienced the loss of a loved one, thus mutilating their hearts to the point where they sought revenge against the wrongdoers responsible, going as far as to consider murder, rather than bring Yokai to justice. However, what separates the two and ultimately classifies Hiro as a hero and Yokai as a villain is the fact that, unlike Yokai, Hiro not only learns the error of his ways, but he makes a serious effort to right the wrongs he caused as quickly as possible. Such revelations are mostly due to the comforting nature of Baymax, the legacy of Tadashi and the support of his closest friends, resulting in a newly-reformed young prodigy who values the lives of all human beings and refuses to carry out acts of justice through the use of violence and murder.

As time would move on following the events of Tadashi's death, Hiro would slowly shape into a heroic, wise and inspirational leader, following in his brother's footsteps. Such traits passed down include Tadashi's philosophy of "looking for a new angle", as well as the devotion to doing whatever is necessary to help others and make the world a better place for all, especially the innocent and deserving. As mentioned above, Hiro would notably organize the Big Hero 6 team, vowing to protect the city of San Fransokyo in order to fulfill Tadashi's lifelong dream of helping others.

Physical appearance
Hiro is a young 14-year old boy. According to official sources, he is 5'0" (152 cm) in height and rather slender. He can often be found in a blue hoodie jacket, a red shirt with a humanoid robot on it, long dark beige cargo capri shorts, and dark brown Converse sneakers with yellow laces. He has fair skin, brown eyes, and messy black hair. His eyelashes and eyebrows are somewhat thick, and his eyes are a rounded almond shape. When he smiles or opens his mouth, a gap in his teeth can be noticed along with a slight overbite.

Hiro's super-suit is made of primarily purple with red accents and black armor, with black clothing underneath that covers most of his body up to his knees, and steel-toe black sneakers. On his suit are red magnetic pads, used to carry onto Baymax's armor for transportation and battle purposes. Hiro's super-suit received a few alterations in the TV series. His sneakers have been replaced with black steel-toe combat boots, the pockets on his belt are obsolete, his black pants fully cover his legs and his visor is transparent orange.

Powers and Abilities
Unlike the rest of the team, Hiro's armor lacks any real ability, as his true power lies within his genius. As mentioned above, however, his suit enables him to hold onto Baymax with magnetic pads whenever the robot takes flight, with him aboard, as well as partial protection from destruction. The magnetic pads can also be used to deflect or attract metallic objects. His helmet is also equipped with a communication device, enabling him contact with the rest of the team members despite their distance, if any.

With his vast intelligence, Hiro has the power to create various new concepts and inventions, often varying in scale, from a small, yet powerful, battle bot, to a state-of-the-art super suit. Not only was he able to "upgrade" both himself into a crime-fighting vigilante, but also Baymax, as well as his four closest friends, creating a series of powerful battle suits with various powers and abilities; making them a force in their own rights.

Other inventions notably created by Hiro include the Microbots (which were primarily used throughout the film as Yokai's source of power), Baymax's original battle suit (which was equipped with karate action), programming chips capable of enhancing (for better or worse) the knowledge and personality of a robot, and Baymax himself, whom the boy genius was able to recreate in every little detail at the end of the film.

In pictures of Hiro and Tadashi, it is implied that Hiro knows martial arts, though he is never shown using martial arts in battle.

Big Hero 6
On one particular night, Hiro takes part in an illegal bot fight against champion Yama and leaves the battle victorious. Out of spite, Yama and his goons try to attack Hiro, but the latter is rescued by Tadashi. Though they escape Yama and his thugs, the two brothers, along with everyone else involved in the illegal bot fights, are caught by the police and arrested. Hiro and Tadashi are released that same night on account of Cass, who takes them home, scolding them along the way. The two are able to bypass punishment, but a frustrated Tadashi scolds Hiro on his bot-fighting obsession, wanting him to put his intelligence to better use. Hiro scoffs at the idea and makes an attempt to go to another bot fight. Tadashi offers a ride, but instead takes his brother to his school, the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. There, Hiro meets Tadashi's closest friends: Go Go Tomago, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Fred. After meeting the team, Tadashi takes Hiro to his lab, where he introduces him to Baymax—a squishy white robot programmed to be a personal healthcare companion and created as a means to heal the sick and injured. Tadashi explains that Baymax is programmed by a special healthcare chip which, according to him, makes Baymax who he is.

After the introduction, the two run into Professor Callaghan, a world-renowned robotics expert, mentor of Tadashi, and Hiro's personal idol. With the help of Tadashi, Callaghan cunningly convinces Hiro to enroll in the institute. According to Tadashi, the school holds an annual convention, where up-and-coming geniuses are meant to showcase new creations. Those who impress Callaghan are accepted into the school. After a long period of work and planning, with the help of Tadashi, Go Go, Wasabi, Honey, and Fred, Hiro creates the Microbots—miniature robots capable of forming anything that comes to mind through the use of a telepathic transmitter. Hiro's presentation thoroughly impresses both Callaghan and famous tech-guru Alistair Krei. Krei offers Hiro vast wealth in exchange for ownership over the Microbots, but Callaghan interferes by accusing Krei of using technology for selfish reasons, advising Hiro to deny the offer. After some consideration, Hiro takes Callaghan's advice and refuses to sell the Microbots. A frustrated Krei leaves the scene while Callaghan congratulates Hiro on his success by granting him admission into the school.

Afterwards, the Hamada brothers walk off for alone time; in during which, Tadashi congratulates Hiro on his success, proud to see him use his genius for bigger things in life. Suddenly, the school's fire alarm goes off, prompting Tadashi and Hiro to rush to the chaos. There, they see civilians escaping the showcase hall, which was mysteriously set ablaze. One woman informs Tadashi that Callaghan is still inside the burning building, prompting him to go in after the professor. Hiro tries to stop Tadashi, but the latter rushes inside in a desperate attempt to save his mentor. Hiro tries to follow, but the building violently explodes before he could, killing Tadashi and presumably Callaghan. As a result of Tadashi's death, Hiro falls into deep depression. Cass tries to comfort her nephew, but to no real avail. As such, Hiro remains alone in mourning within his room, ignoring both his aunt and friends. He also disregards his acceptance into San Fransokyo Tech and instead looks to rejoin the bot-fighting scene.

One day, Hiro stubs his toe and accidentally summons Baymax, who offers healthcare assistance. Hiro tries to deactivate the bot, only to stumble upon one of his Microbots, which is still active and trying to reunite with the other bots. Hiro, thinking that the rest of his Microbots and the transmitter were destroyed in the fire, believes it to be a simple malfunction. Hiro sarcastically orders Baymax to find out where the bot is trying to go, which the robot takes literally. Hiro chases after a wandering Baymax through the city and the two eventually find themselves at an abandoned warehouse. Suspicious, Hiro and Baymax break in and eventually discovers a machine creating millions of Microbots. As Hiro ponders on the situation, the Microbots rise and attack. As Hiro and Baymax make their escape, they enctiunted a dark, masked figure named Yokai, who is apparently controlling the bots. The masked man pursues the duo, but they escape at the last minute, immediately heading to the police station to report the attack.

While filing a report to Officer Gerson, Baymax loses power, forcing Hiro to leave the station and return home to have the robot recharged. There, Baymax takes notice of Tadashi's absence and asks for his whereabouts. Hiro explains that Tadashi was killed in a fire, much to his distress. In response, Baymax downloads files on personal loss and tries to comfort Hiro. As a result of their conversation, Hiro realizes that the fire was no accident, and was merely a setup to cover the tracks of Yokai's Microbot theft. Vengeful, Hiro recruits Baymax into helping him take down the masked culprit. As such, Baymax is given a few upgrades, including a super-suit and a new programming chip equipped with karate-like battle programming. After his new upgrades are put to the test, the two head out to find and capture Yokai. They arrive at the warehouse, only to find it vacant. However, using the last Microbot to track him, Hiro and Baymax are led to the docks, where they find Yokai emerging from the fog with a massive piece of technology. The two go into hiding until Honey, Go Go, Wasabi, and Fred arrive, having followed the two there after spotting them snooping about the city alone.

Hiro urges them to leave, but the group is attacked by Yokai. Baymax tries to battle the masked villain, only to be thrown onto the top of Wasabi's van. The group retreats, with Yokai in hot pursuit, leading into a chase throughout the city. Thanks to Go Go's reckless driving, they manage to escape by driving into the bay, having Yokai believe them to be dead, thus prompting him to vanish once again. Baymax then rescues the team by floating them back to shore. Needing a safe place to rest and recover, Fred invited his friends to his family's manor. There, they ponder on the true identity of Yokai and how to find him. Fortunately, Baymax had scanned the masked man's body, allowing Hiro to track him down by upgrading Baymax's sensors. Before the mission to bring Yokai to justice begins, Hiro decides to upgrade both himself and the rest of the team, believing they'd have a much better chance if they all join together as superheroes.

With Hiro in the lead, the objective is to retrieve Yokai's mask to cease his control over the bots. Baymax is the last to be upgraded and after his new super suit is revealed, he and Hiro embark on a test flight through the city. The experience elates Hiro, and in response, Baymax offers to deactivate if Hiro is satisfied with his care. Not wanting Baymax to leave just yet, Hiro refuses, and orders Baymax to scan the city. A match is discovered on an island not far from the mainland, which is revealed to be an abandoned facility. There, the team finds a dismantled machine and a room with security footage. From the footage, they learn that the facility originally belonged to Alistar Krei and the machine was a portal meant to enhance transportation. The test subject, a young woman named Abigail, was lost after the portals malfunctioned and destroyed themselves. The incident resulted in the closure of Krei's facility. Hiro comes to the conclusion that Krei is responsible for stealing the Microbots in hopes of rebuilding his portals.

Just then, Yokai appears and attacks once more. A battle follows and in the process, Hiro accidentally removes the villain's kabuki mask. Yokai's true identity is then revealed to be Professor Callaghan. Callaghan confesses his crime of stealing the Microbots and reveals that he used them to escape the fire alive and unharmed, meaning that Tadashi had died for nothing. A heartbroken Hiro tearfully explains that Tadashi died trying to save the professor, but Callaghan coldly responds by blaming Tadashi for his own death. Enraged, Hiro orders Baymax to kill Callaghan. Baymax denies such an action, explaining he's unable to bring harm to a human being, but Hiro, blinded by hatred and grief, removes the robot's healthcare chip, leaving only his programming of battle and destruction, thus sending him on a violent, mindless rampage in an attempt to kill the professor. Seeing this, Go Go, Fred and Wasabi try to fend off the bot and, in the midst of the chaos, Callaghan manages to retrieve his mask and escape.

Luckily, Honey recovers Baymax's healthcare chip and restores the robot to his original settings. Hiro berates his team and blames them for Callaghan's escape, though they retort by explaining they had no intention to kill Callaghan. Out of anger, Hiro leaves the team on the island and returns home to repair Baymax's suit. Baymax talks to Hiro about the situation, asking if Callaghan's death would improve his health. With his mind clouded by thoughts of fury, revenge, sadness and the loss of Tadashi, Hiro breaks down in tears. Baymax comforts him by showing videos of Tadashi, which were recorded during Baymax's creation. Tadashi's presence and loving words relieve Hiro, who thanks Baymax for his comfort. Honey, Go Go, Fred and Wasabi soon arrive and they, too, comfort an apologetic Hiro. Go Go vows to bring Callaghan to justice, and Honey Lemon shows Hiro a recording they found, which reveals that Abigail was the daughter of Callaghan. Hiro deduces that Callaghan blames Krei for the tragedy and plots to to exact revenge.

The next day, Alister Krei is in the middle of an important showcase, just as Yokai arrives and captures him. Yokai reveals himself to be Callaghan, and the vengeful professor subsequently reveals his plot to use the newly-recreated portal to destroy Krei's new building before killing Krei himself. Just then, Hiro and the team arrive on the scene. Hiro tries to sympathize with the professor, claiming revenge won't change anything, nor would it be something Abigail would approve of. Callaghan briefly falters, but his fury ultimately gets the better of him, and his plans proceed. Hiro and the others battle the villain, aiming for Callaghan's mask, but Callaghan soon gets the upper hand with help from the Microbots, rendering the team members restrained and left for dead. Honey, Go Go, Wasabi and Fred fearfully call to Hiro for help. While pondering how to defeat Callaghan, Hiro takes note of the Microbots being sucked into a portal, giving him the idea to take out the bots and send them into the portal, which would in turn disarm Callaghan. Hiro uses the words of wisdom from Tadashi to successfully guide each of his friends to safety, and after regrouping, Hiro relays his new plan.

Hiro and Baymax fly into the air to divert Callaghan's attention, making him fire towers of Microbots in their direction. Under Hiro's direction, Baymax breaks apart the Microbot clusters, thus sending them into the portray. Meanwhile, Honey, Go Go, Wasabi and Fred do the same from below. Eventually, Callaghan captures Hiro and Baymax and prepares to make the killing strike, only to find that he has run out of Microbots, thus rendering him powerless and vulnerable. With this revelation, Hiro and Baymax break free of their confinement and launch towards the villain. Fearfully, Callaghan prepares for his oncoming demise, but to his surprise, Hiro decides to spare his life, now refusing to injure another human being. Instead, Hiro and Baymax swipe the mask of Yokai and smash it into smithereens, causing Callaghan to finally—and permanently—lose control of the Microbots.

With his plans foiled and power-stripped, the team apprehends Callaghan, but Baymax senses life within the portal, a female in hyper-sleep. Realizing that it must be Abigail, Hiro and Baymax journey inside to save her. The two soon find Abigail, asleep in her capsule, and as they make their escape, some of the debris from the destruction of Krei Tech strikes them, causing Baymax to lose most of his armor. Hiro reaches out for Baymax, who manages to grab ahold of his hand, but they both find that the portal is soon closing. Baymax decides to use his rocket-fist to send both Hiro and Abigail to safety, and requests deactivation at Hiro's command. Realizing that this will result in the robot's permanent imprisonment within the portal, Hiro denies. Baymax disregards his own safety and reassures Hiro that he will always be with him. Without a choice, Hiro tearfully hugs Baymax as he bids him farewell, telling the robot that he is satisfied with his care. With these words, Baymax sends Hiro and Abigail off, leaving himself trapped in the portal, which is quickly destroyed. Hiro reunites with his teammates and silently reveals Baymax's demise. Soon afterwards, the police and paramedics arrive to care for Abigail and arrest Callaghan.

Following these events, Hiro has made a tremendous recovery from his depression as he spends his days hanging out with Honey, Go Go, Wasabi, and Fred. Finally joining San Fransokyo Tech as an official student, Hiro settles in Tadashi's old lab, where the young genius stores Tadashi's hat and Baymax's his rocket fist in memory of those he's lost. Within the grasp of the fist, however, Hiro discovers Baymax's original programming chip (which contains both his personality and memories). After some work, Hiro is able to recreate Baymax, reviving him. The two rejoice in their reunion with a loving embrace and Hiro reassembles the Big Hero 6 team, dedicating themselves to protecting the city from any and all problems, to honor Tadashi's wish of helping a lot of people.

During the credits, Hiro, along with Baymax, is seen hanging out around the city with his friends and watching television with Cass and Mochi. Newspapers show that Hiro has been awarded a grant from the university and the Big Hero 6 team performing heroic deeds around the city. Another newspaper shows a ceremony of a building dedication in Tadashi's name taking place, in which Hiro accepts the honor on behalf of his late brother.

Big Hero 6: The Series
Beginning immediately after Callaghan's defeat, Hiro sets out to overcome the loss of Baymax by committing himself to college as a student at San Fransokyo Tech. On his first day, he meets the new dean, Professor Granville, and settles himself into Tadashi's former lab against her wishes. There, Hiro discovers Baymax's healthcare chip, and works tirelessly to recreate the robot, beginning with his skeleton. An impatient Hiro ignores the crucial diagnostic exams, and as a result, Baymax's skeleton runs loose, ending up in the hands of Yama's gang. Yama strikes a deal, ordering Hiro to steal a paperweight from Granville's office in exchange for Baymax's skeleton. With help from Fred, Hiro does so, though Yama betrays him and tries to kill the duo. Honey Lemon, Wasabi and Go Go rescue their friends, and manage to retrieve both Baymax's skeleton and Granville's paperweight in the process. Afterward, Baymax is completed and reunites with Hiro and the team. Unfortunately, Yama mass produced Baymax's skeleton while it was in his possession, creating an army of minions bent on stealing Granville's paperweight. Guilty, Hiro assembles the Big Hero 6 team, who manage to defeat Yama and destroy the paperweight, which turned out to be an extremely powerful weapon.

Following these events, Hiro has a talk with Granville; in during which, Hiro stresses that while Tadashi will continue to be an inspiration, he must find his own path and handle life his own way, regardless of how unconventional these methods may be. Among these methods is later revealed to be his double life as a superhero protecting the city as part of Big Hero 6. Meanwhile, Hiro also tries to maintain a stable academic and social life. All the while, Professor Granville, watches him closely. Though Hiro initially trusts Granville's intentions, his feelings are brought into question when he discovers that she had worked at SFIT twenty years before he ever enrolled. By consulting with an incarcerated Professor Callaghan, Hiro discovers that Granville resigned due to an incident on school grounds—an incident that she reportedly caused. Eventually, Granville outright reveals that she once had a prodigy very much like Hiro—reckless and ambitious. His potential encouraged Granville to allow the student 24-hour access to the school's lab. Unbeknown to her, the student had been working on a dangerous experiment, resulting in an accident that nearly killed him. Granville took the blame and resigned out of guilt. This encouraged Hiro to ensure that his own recklessness doesn't steer him down the wrong path.

In "Issue 188", Hiro meets Karmi, another young genius at SFIT. Karmi resents Hiro for "stealing" what makes her special amongst campus, sparking a mostly one-sided rivalry between the two prodigies. He later discovers that Karmi has a crush on his superhero alter-ego (who Karmi dubs "Captain Cutie" in her fan fictions). This causes Hiro a great deal of embarrassment and frustration.

Over time, Big Hero 6 garners a large following throughout San Fransokyo. They are viewed favorably by the public, especially amongst media. Karmi even writes fan fiction of the team, which itself proves to be incredibly popular. Even so, Big Hero 6 unanimously agree to keep their identities a secret. Hiro is especially strict about this rule, specifically when it comes to Aunt Cass. The presence of Big Hero 6 also causes an uptick in crime, pitting them against a wide array of criminals such as Globby, Momakase and Baron Von Steamer to name a few. Unbeknown to the team, their actions were being monitored by a mysterious figure called Obake, who develops interest in Hiro, especially (primarily due to Hiro's intellect). After Hiro finally learns of Obake's presence in "Rivalry Weak", he becomes fixated on learning more about this new villain and what he could be planning.

During "Countdown to Catastrophe", Hiro learns that Obake was once a student of Professor Granville, and has been trying to recreate the 1906 catastrophe that destroyed San Fransokyo, through the use of an energy amplifier. After Hiro is manipulated into crafting the amplifier, Obake tries to forcibly recruit Hiro as his prodigy. His efforts are unsuccessful as Hiro (with a reformed Globby's help) escapes Obake's clutches and foils his plans before the city is destroyed.

Other appearances
In Ralph Breaks the Internet, a screenshot depicting Hiro and his team can be seen in the background of Oh My Disney.

Manga
The manga series Baymax, delved into Hiro's past, revealing his upbringing and relationship with Tadashi, prior to the events of the film. It is revealed that Hiro was dubbed a genius at a very young age (being able to solve a problem no one could have) and, as a result, he found himself bullied and beaten by a group of envious kids on occasion, though Tadashi would always come to his rescue, yet he'd lie and say that it wasn't on purpose. As he grew older, Hiro became increasingly antisocial, even growing distant from Tadashi. Nevertheless, the elder sibling made attempts to keep the bond between Hiro and himself strong by crafting fun inventions for them to share, such as a miniature airplane for two. With the latter, Hiro's enthusiastic side saw a resurgence, and together, the brothers spent their days side by side as scientific partners and best friends.

Hiro and Tadashi
Hiro and Tadashi centers around the relationship shared by the Hamada brothers, where they are shown to share secret rules (at least 457 of them) and continuously joined together to concoct various inventions. It's also revealed that Tadashi supplied his younger brother with a journal, to keep track of his latest endeavors, which would tie into Hiro's Journal. This book focused on the inner thoughts of Hiro during the course of the film, including his excitement to join the ranks of San Fransokyo Tech, his devastation over the loss of Tadashi, and more; all told by written journal entries and photographs.

Comics
Hiro's adventures are also expanded upon in a Dutch magazine print centering around the film and containing several short stories revolving around the young genius and his team. For example, Tech Nightmare takes place during the events of the film, in the midst of Hiro's creation of the Microbots in anticipation of San Fransokyo Tech's annual science fair. Adventurous Imagination takes place after the events of the film, where the team faces a new villain by the name of Dr. Rat. In the story The Winning Robot, Yama returns to exact revenge.

Disney INFINITY
Hiro and Baymax appear as playable characters in the second Disney INFINITY game, donning their superhero outfits. Hiro's main source of power and attacks in the game are his Microbots and can use booster jumps for super-stealth spying purposes. He also has the ability to mount Baymax.

Big Hero 6: Battle in the Bay
Taking place after the events of the film, San Fransokyo falls under the attack of a battle bot invasion, at the hands of Yama, who seeks vengeance on Hiro for humiliating him and "usurping" his bot-fighting championship. With this, Hiro and the team band together to defeat the villain. For combat, Hiro is equipped with electromagnetic gauntlets that allow him to create damaging electromagnetic energy for pushing or pulling in foes.

Kingdom Hearts III
Hiro appears in the third installment of the series. He meets Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy during a battle against the Heartless on the San Fransokyo Bridge. They later decide to join forces in order to save their world from the invasion after formally introducing Sora, Donald, and Goofy to the rest of the Big Hero 6 team following Hiro discovering a news article online that proves discouraging to the team upon reading it.

However, Hiro soon discovers that the Baymax he left behind in Alistair Krei's portal when they rescued Abigail Callaghan has been corrupted by the Heartless along with the Microbots he was stranded with and is personally leading the Heartless assault on San Fransokyo. Working together with Sora and his friends, Hiro and Big Hero 6 are able to purge the darkness from the old Baymax and return him to normal. With two Baymax at his side, Hiro continues to defend San Fransokyo with the rest of Big Hero 6.

Disneyland
From November 2014 to mid-2015, Hiro and Baymax appeared as meetable characters to promote the film at the Starcade in Disneyland.

Hiro also makes a cameo appearance in the 2014 rendition of World of Color: Winter Dreams, as well as World of Color: Celebrate!, alongside Baymax.

Walt Disney World
From November 2014 to mid-2015, Hiro and Baymax appeared as meetable characters to promote the film at The Magic of Disney Animation in Disney's Hollywood Studios. In December 2015, Baymax returned to the parks without Hiro. Hiro still appears at private events but, as of now, will no longer be doing meet and greets publicly.

In the Magic Kingdom, animation of Hiro and Baymax briefly appears in Happily Ever After fireworks show.

Tokyo Disney Resort
Hiro appears as a walkaround character in a unit dedicated to Big Hero 6 in the Tokyo Disneyland daytime parade, Dreaming Up!

Disneyland Paris
In France, Hiro makes an appearance in Disney Dreams!.

In late December, 2015, Hiro made a special appearance in Disneyland Paris, debuting as an atmosphere character in both his civilian wear and superhero armor. The atmosphere Hiro character reappeared in 2018 as part of Disneyland Paris' FanDaze event, alongside Yokai.

Hong Kong Disneyland
From June 4 to June 30, 2016, Hiro made meet-and-greet appearances as an atmosphere character in Art of Animation at Hong Kong Disneyland, as part of its 10th anniversary celebration. Hiro and Baymax currently appear in the castle show Disney in the Stars.

Shanghai Disneyland
Hiro and Baymax briefly appear during the Ignite the Dream fireworks show finale.

Hiro (as a face character) and Baymax also co-host the interactive workout session, Baymax Super Exercise Expo, at the Pepsi E-Stage.

Trivia

 * In the original comics, Hiro's last name was originally Takachiho but was later changed to Hamada in the final film.
 * Hiro and Tadashi are both half Japanese. Their father is Japanese while their mother is Caucasian. In the original comics, they were fully Japanese.
 * According to Hiro, he lost his parents at the age of three.
 * He seems to quote Tadashi sometimes in the film, such as "Unbelievable" and to look at things from a different angle.
 * Hiro and Baymax's flight through the city is a reference to Iron Man when Tony Stark took his first flight in his first cinematic film.
 * Hiro, Baymax, and Fred are the only members of the team to not have nicknames.
 * In the Japanese manga adaptation, it is shown that Hiro showcased high intelligence from a very young age, which caused him to be bullied by others and needing Tadashi to protect him. This may explain Hiro's antisocial, shy behavior around others along with his cockiness in his own intelligence.
 * It is also shown from the manga that he is smarter than Tadashi.
 * The 2013 Rotoscopers video and early information regarding the plot depicted Hiro with a slightly different backstory: He was already attending classes with Tadashi and could not fit in with the other students due to his intelligence (though he doesn't seem to mind). The Rotoscopers video also depicted Hiro as part of a "science club research team" lead by Tadashi (most likely consisting of Honey, Go Go, Wasabi, and Fred) in which each individual would make different things and would eventually lead up to a competition. Like Tony Stark, Hiro felt pressure over using his intelligence for good or just building battle robots in the basement (garage in the final film).
 * Also, in the early stages of the story, Hiro was responsible for the creation of Baymax, as opposed to Tadashi, just like in the comic book.
 * According to Baymax's first scan, Hiro has a minor allergy to peanuts. Baymax stated it again in "Killer App" after Hiro told Wasabi that he just had an almond butter and jelly sandwich.
 * Hiro's name, written in Japanese, is "ヒロ". The transliteration of the English word "Hero" in Japanese is ヒーロー (Hīrō).
 * Hiro loves Gummy Bears and was excited when he asked Baymax to retrieve said item.
 * Hiro, along with his comic counterpart, shares many physical traits with fellow Marvel character Amadeus Cho: both are of Asian descent and bear a slight resemblance to each other along with being child prodigies.
 * Hiro has a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) controller connected to his computer in his bedroom.
 * He also has a poster of the deleted villain "Mr. Sparkles" in the same area.
 * Along with Hiro's gap in his front teeth, he has a slight overbite. In addition, in one scene, Hiro was seen sticking his tongue out to bring a straw up to his mouth before sipping, a habit common among people who sucked their thumbs as children.
 * Hiro has a habit of running his hand(s) through his hair. Some examples are when he is explaining to the policeman about the microbots, on the staircase telling Aunt Cass that he has a lot of homework to catch up on, or when he re-activated Baymax by the end of the film.
 * Hiro appears to be a Whovian (Doctor Who fan) because of a Dalek-like action figure on his shelf in his room.
 * During renovations of the Walt Disney Animation Studios building, beginning in 2014, Hiro was one of the character silhouettes featured on the wall mural.
 * In much of Hiro's early concept art, he bears a strong resemblance to Arthur Pendragon, from The Sword in the Stone.
 * Because Tadashi Hamada's name is changed to Teddy Armada in the Korean dub, Hiro Hamada's name is changed to "Hero Armada".
 * Similarly, Hiro's name was changed to "Hero" in the mainland Mandarin Chinese dub.
 * Hiro's SFIT ID is #20348509.