Mr. Incredible/Relationships

The relationships of Mr. Incredible.

Family

Elastigirl

“The important thing is that Mommy and I are always a team, always united against the forces.”

―Bob Parr to Dash and Violet Parr

Bob and his wife.

Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl met and bonded under undisclosed means before finally becoming married just before Supers became illegal. Elastigirl wanted to ensure he knew he would have to be more than a crime fighter to make their relationship work, indicating he had crossed lines in the past. Still, as Supers became prosecuted, Bob's relationship with Helen became increasingly strained as they both missed the old days, but Bob, unlike his wife, chose to dwell on them. This, coupled with Bob's dislike of his job and narcissistic tendencies, strained their marriage even further. Another issue that they argued about was how much attention Bob paid to the children, as he had no intention of going to Dash's celebration, whereas he considered himself "genuinely exceptional". Nevertheless, he disagreed that Dash should not be allowed to go out for sports. As he was completely indifferent to the scuffle going on in the kitchen while he was occupied in the other room, her anger caused by his neglect may quite possibly be legitimate. They also bickered over little things like Bob reading at the table.

Their biggest issue, however, was Bob doing secret hero work behind Helen's back. It started when she became angry when she learned he had been listening to police scanners behind her back. Things got worse when he accepted an assignment from a mysterious client named Mirage and lied that Huph, not Syndrome, had recognized his talents and sent him on a quest. Their relationship improved briefly when he bought her a new car and stopped neglecting the kids, though he still deliberately kept her in the dark about his secret hero work. She became suspicious, however, as she had no idea how he could afford her car, let alone a sports car for himself, and when she saw a platinum blonde hair on his jacket, she assumed he was cheating on her, which goes to show just how much duress their marriage was under.

The final straw came when Edna Mode showed Helen the suits she had designed for the family, as she had assumed Bob had already informed her of the situation. Unbeknownst to Bob, who was occupied evading enemies on Nomanisan Island until his imprisonment, Helen learned he had been doing secret hero work behind her back and struggled to admit she was unsurprised that he would keep something secret from her. She was even more distraught when she learned that he had been fired weeks ago, and went to Nomanisan hoping to rescue him. She arrived at his cell to find him hugging a mysterious woman with platinum blonde hair and furiously incapacitated her and demanded for Bob to thank her. He dragged her into an embrace, but she was still unconvinced even though Bob was genuinely troubled that she thought he had it in him to "betray the perfect woman". Bob was also troubled to learn the children had stowed away and assumed Helen had brought them with her, angering her with the accusation. They successfully reunited with them, but failed to rescue them as Syndrome captured them and pronounced them a family.

While imprisoned together, Mr. Incredible apologized to Elastigirl and the kids, acknowledging that they were his greatest adventure and he was too blind to see it, and confessing that he had been a lousy contribution to their family. They managed to escape the island and came face-to-face with the Omnidroid, where Mr. Incredible, increasingly fearful for his family's well-being, demanded Elastigirl watch from the sidelines where she would be safe with the children. She initially assumed his heart was in the wrong place, but when he openly and dramatically explained his reasoning, all her unconditional love and forgiveness for his faults erupted in her lunge forward to kiss him passionately. She promised him that if they worked together, he wouldn't have to be, a claim which proved to be true. They worked effectively against the Omnidroid, with Elastigirl activating the claw Mr. Incredible hurled into the heart of the Omnidroid, showing that in spite of everything they would always be a team, always united against whatever forces impeded them.

They are shown in the sequel to have a far healthier relationship, with Mr. Incredible agreeing to watch the kids. While he didn't want to see her in danger, he also had the ulterior motive of wanting to be Mr. Incredible again. While Elastigirl didn't want to force the kids into anything, Mr. Incredible wanted them to become Supers like their parents, a conflict of which was never truly resolved. When Elastigirl was hypnotized by Evelyn Deavor, she initially attacked Mr. Incredible before realizing what she was doing and embracing him. Nevertheless, she placed a mask on to hypnotize him, just as Evelyn had done to her. However once she was freed by her kids she freed her husband.

Dash, Violet, and Jack-Jack Parr

“I'm sorry. I’m used to knowing what the right thing to do is. But now, I’m not sure, anymore. I just want to be a good dad.”

―Mr. Incredible

Bob and his children.

Mr. Incredible initially had a strained relationship with his daughter and sons, as he was the catalyst for most of their problems and he missed being a superhero and despised his job, causing him to neglect them but did love them. As he was training and reliving his hero days, he took the time to bond with them and had fun with them. However, after they teamed up against the Omnidroid he improved his relationships with them.

During the second movie, he took to watching them after Elastigirl moved against the Screenslaver. Bob initially had a hard time tending them as he dealt with Violet's boy problems, Dash's school issues, and Jack-Jack's developing powers. At one point, he angrily lashed out at their complaints and this showed them how overwhelmed he is. Over time, he genuinely came to appreciate the hardships and joy that both came with parenting. Bob also admitted to his daughter that he only wanted to be good father, which left her touched and understanding of why he tries so hard. He and his children reconcile and bonded for a while.

Friends

Frozone

Frozone is Mr. Incredible's longtime best friend and best man of his marriage to Elastigirl.

Enemies

Syndrome

As a young boy, Syndrome formerly idolized Mr. Incredible, but Mr. Incredible found his zealotry annoying and rejected him. Syndrome vowed revenge and he became a severe threat to Mr. Incredible's life.

A decade later, Bob was shocked to see his former fanboy was now a mad villain, bent on his destruction. He tried to apologize but Syndrome was not accepting and had captured. At one point, Syndrome showed some respect when he complimented him on faking his death but tortured him by making him watch the suppose murder of his family. Mr. Incredible also criticized him on being a pretend hero, after he killed many heroes with his robots.

He eventually killed him, mostly to defend himself and his family and especially Jack-Jack.

Mirage

Mr. Incredible was initially fond of Mirage, as she was his host during an assignment of a lifetime and rewarded him generously for taking out the Omnidroid v.8. He realized who she really was when he saw her approaching him in the computer chamber and threatened to kill her in order to hurt Syndrome, but when Syndrome didn't care, he refused to take her life despite the threat she posed to his own. Mirage was grateful to him for mercifully sparing her life and angry with Syndrome for callously gambling it, and she chose to switch sides as she initially only disliked him because her boss did. She helped him and his family get to their home city. Whether or not they ever heard from each other after that, is unknown.

Evelyn Deavor

Mr. Incredible didn't initially know Screenslaver very well, he met her when Elastigirl went on a top-secret mission. He hated her primarily for the threat she posed to his wife and making him fight his kids.

Bomb Voyage

Bomb Voyage was a long-standing enemy of Mr. Incredible. He never succeeded in stopping him because Supers were illegalized.

Gilbert Huph

Bob, to say the least, had a strained relationship with his boss. He disapproved of Huph's methods and Huph, in turn, was very condescending. After Huph suspected him of helping clients in ways he didn't approve of, he bluntly confronted him about it, but Bob ignored him as he was focused on a robbery going on nearby. When Huph refused to let him interfere, Bob furiously pummeled him, inadvertently revealing his massive strength and costing him his job. He indifferently asked how he would be doing, and threw away all his former work possessions to cut off his last reminder of Huph's existence.