Gazerbeam, real name Simon J. Paladino, was a minor character in Disney/Pixar's The Incredibles. He only briefly appears alive, with his disappearance and death setting events into motion.
Background
Personality
Gazerbeam was generally known for a rather dull personality, generally speaking in a monotonous tone. He was a member of a superhero team called The Phantasmics, but conflicts with Everseer lead him to leave the team and he soon joined the Thrilling Three as their new leader upon the death of Dynaguy. During the superhero ban, Gazerbeam was an activist for superhuman rights, though this may have allowed for easy tracking when Syndrome's organization was going after the supers.
He was also smart and elusive as he had survived the Omnidroid long enough to discover Syndrome's plan. His final act before dying was using his powers to carve "KRONOS" on the cave wall in which he was hiding in the hopes that someone would discover it and put and end to Syndrome's evil schemes. His final act was crucial in aiding the Incredibles' in their mission.
Powers and abilities
- Solid Eye Beams: Gazerbeam's superpowers consist of eye beams that he controls with his visor, similar to the Marvel superhero Cyclops.
Appearances
The Incredibles
Gazerbeam appears alive at the wedding of Elastigirl and Mr. Incredible. 15 years later, he would be one of the most recent victims of the Omnidroid, with Bob having noticed his disappearance becoming a story in the newspaper. When Bob narrowly escapes an explosive device of Syndrome's, he finds Gazerbeam's corpse in a hidden cave and looking from his view carved into the walls, the password to Syndrome's computers: KRONOS. Bob later managed to use Gazerbeam's corpse to fake his death to one of Syndrome's probes sent to make sure he's dead. Gazerbeam was avenged when Syndrome finally met his death.
Toy Story of Terror!
Gazerbeam, or rather his secret identity, made a cameo as a name on a tombstone in the beginning of the Halloween special, which also noted him in the epitaph as being "a public servant with a unique vision."
Trivia
- Gazerbeam shares similarities to the Marvel superhero Cyclops.
- They both fire beams of solidified energy from their eyes.
- They both wear a visor on their eyes to keep their eye beams from harming others and control and stabilize their powers.
- Cyclops's personality, much like Gazerbeam's, is usually shown to be that of a straight-laced leader whose teammates chafe under his command.
- His superhero name comes from the fact he can shoot beams from his eyes.
- It is unknown how Gazerbeam's corpse ended up in that cave, considering how an Omnidroid would be unable to fit inside it. It is also unknown why his body was not removed and his carving erased by Syndrome. A possible explanation is that Gazerbeam had escaped instant death but knew something (possibly poison) would cause him to die shortly. Another possibility is he was hiding out in the cave and died of starvation. It is also possible that Syndrome had dumped him in there to keep his skeleton as a trophy (since he had been a super rights activist) but left before Gazerbeam actually died, enabling the latter to proceed with the carving in his final moments.
Gallery
