Robert "Bob" Parr, also known as Mr. Incredible, is the protagonist of Disney/Pixar's 2004 hit animated feature The Incredibles. He is voiced by Craig T. Nelson.
Background
In the film, Mr. Incredible is a person born with superpowers, and is referred to as a "Super." He was one of the most famous heroes of his era, and was known for his skill at fighting crime. At some point, he met and fell in love with fellow superhero Elastigirl. However, soon after the two wed, bystanders who had been injured during crime-fighting attempts began to sue. The backlash forced supers like Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl into retirement and witness protection. Mr. Incredible resumed the name of Bob Parr, and began a civilian life with Elastigirl, now in her civilian identity as Helen Parr.
Mr. Incredible is considered one of the most powerful Supers. During his early career, he was known for working alone, something that led him to push away Buddy Pine. He possesses the powers of enhanced strength and durability, as well as enhanced senses.
Personality
Bob's personality is that of a classical hero. At his core he desires to be a hero and paragon, and to do good for its own sake. But as shown in newsreels, Bob is physically invulnerable, but all to human in his flaws. He grows weary of a world that won't stay saved for more than five minutes; and later, shows a streak of hubris and arrogant pride, seeking to relive his glory days at the expense of his family life.
Bob also has a tendency to try to solve the world's problems on his own, refusing and actively dismissing help from anyone, even from his loving wife and the sage council of his best friend Frozone. these flaws combined nearly cost him his life and the lives of his family.
My Disney Experience Official Description
Mr. Incredible loves being a superhero. He's glad to be back in action, with his family and friends by his side.
Role in the film
"True to his incredible strengths, all Bob wants to do is save the world - even if he has to do it undercover. It takes almost losing everything, however, for him to see that the real source of his power is his extraordinary family." - Official Pixar Website
At first Mr. Incredible is enjoying the life of a superhero, or "Super" as they are called. Then, Buddy Pine tries to become his side-kick and his exuberance gets him into trouble and leads to several civilians being injured, including Oliver Sansweet who did not wanted to save his life. Meanwhile Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl get married. Due to the events of that night, the public turns against Mr. Incredible and all the supers in response to the injuries; and they are forced to hang up their capes. Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl go into hiding as Bob and Helen Parr and try to lead a normal life. He and his wife Helen have 3 children: Violet, who is able to project force fields and turn invisible, Dash, who has super speed, and Jack-Jack, who initially is thought to be powerless [though it is later revealed that he has several very impressive powers.] Bob is wildly unhappy in his civilian life, because he and his family are forced to hide their powers and are miserable, and because his civilian job is a soul-crushing tedium which goes against all he stands for.. This leads him to sneak out with his friend Frozone and fight crime covertly. When he assaults his boss after being prevented from saving a man who was getting mugged outside their window, he is fired from his job at the insurance company and the goverment is called in to again cover his actions as a super and relocate hi, a task for his much put-upon case handler Rick Dicker.
Before he can tell his family, a woman named Mirage offers him a large sum of money to stop a robot in a covert job "for the government". He is able to complete the task successfully, but tears his old suit in the process. He receives a new suit from Edna Mode, who is a famousfasion icon and former super suit designer. Bob spends the next few months getting into shape while pretending to still be employed at the insurance company for the sake of his family not having to move. However, his next assignment turns out to be a trap. Bob is captured by Syndrome, a.k.a. Buddy Pine, who intends to avenge himself after being shunned by Supers. Syndrome blamed Mr. Incredible for not admitting him as a sidekick. Bob learns that the robot fights had simply been a ruse to discover flaws in the design for a greater plan, and that Syndrome intends to fake being a superhero by defeating the robot in a rigged crisis. Bob is able to escape, though barely. Later he uses the computer to discover that many other Supers died during the testing of the robots. But he trips an alarm and is recaptured and is led to believe that his family has been killed after Syndrome shoots down their plane.
Later, Bob reunites with his wife, though he is caught embracing Mirage, who had just freed him. Bob and Helen bicker for a bit, then regroup with the children. Syndrome captures the family to try to stop them from interfering with his plan, but they are able to escape with Mirage's help. Bob and his family return to Metroville, and are able to stop Syndrome's robot after a lengthy fight. Bob's journey in returning to the head of his family and superheroing is completed when he learns that his youngest son Jack-jack is indeed a very special super, and that his family are the greatest prize worth saving. The end of the film shows that Bob and his family now fight crime together as "The Incredibles."
Biography
Early life
At the beginning of the original film, Bob was 25 years old. He was also not that fat as he is now.
Current life
Bob is now about 40 years old and had become somewhat obese, gaining a large gut. He goes on a diet and intense training regime, and eventually succeeds in losing a lot of the weight. According to official sources, Bob Parr is 6'7" (200 cm) in height and is 350 pounds (158 kg) in weight.
Powers
Superhuman Strength: Mr. Incredible's primary superpower is super strength. He is seen bench-pressing locomotives and throwing boulders at speed, even in middle age.
- Super Jump: This gives him a leaping ability of a few stories, with corresponding agility.
- Speed Swimming & Enhanced Lung Capacity: He also has good swimming ability, though not as a separate power, though his lung capacity does not appear to be substantially greater than a normal human's.
- Superhuman Speed: His strength also gives him superhuman speed, as he can run significantly faster than a normal human—though neither his speed nor agility approach that of his son Dash.
- Enhanced Agility: He's also very agile for a man of his size.
High Durability: He has a high degree of durability. He can withstand tremendous amounts of physical trauma, including multistory falls, the direct impact of a train, and breaking through brick walls. He can be cut, though, with very hard metals and a suitable amount of force.
Near-Invulnerability: Although Mr. Incredible has near invulnerability, things that produce a large force still hurt him. This is shown when he is going to stop the train, he winces just before it hits him, according to director Brad Bird it was him "preparing for the fact that it's going to hurt". In a deleted scene, however, his body could withstand being cut by a butcher knife, and also dent it in the process, as demonstrated when he, while trying to cleave some food for the grill, accidentally chopped his fingers. This also in a way acted as a weakness as it would have produced complications as it would have given away his identity to a barbecue by their new neighbors, so he had to fake injury in order to maintain cover.
Sharp Senses: Mr. Incredible also has very sharp senses. This power is seen when Bomb Voyage is about to blow open the vault of a skyrise building; Mr. Incredible is able to hear the faint beeping of the bomb from the other side of a thick wall.
Expert Strategist: He doesn't exhibit superhuman intelligence, but his years of super-heroic experience allow him to rapidly formulate effective strategies to deal with opponents who cannot be bested by his strength alone.
Weaknesses
Mr. Incredible doesn't appear to have any superhuman weaknesses, but is as vulnerable as anyone to hubris from the veneration of his "glory days" and in middle age he has a bad back. However, in a deleted scene, it was implied that his superhuman durability was in itself a weakness, as it would have exposed him when his fingers dented a butcher knife when he accidentally chopped his hand with it, forcing him to act fast and fake injury, and later allowed him to be identified by one of the neighbors, an agent of Syndrome.
Bob appears to be solely interested in his wife Helen, but treats other women with respect. This trait was picked up by Syndrome, who instructs Mirage to be appreciate, but not seductive, towards Mr. Incredible. Bob sees having dinner with Mirage after he deactivated an Omnidroid as a social event and nothing more than that. However, it could be argued that Mirage was having somewhat of a positive effect on Bob's self-image, making him take up a workout routine (albeit one catering to building up his super strength), and Bob behaving more self-assuredly in a manner similar to James Bond. Also, having endured dressing downs and a later job termination from his short boss Mr. Huph, Mirage's large payouts and appreciation of the missions were an exact opposite of the hostile workplace he dealt with at Insuricare.
In the Operation Kronos database, Mr. Incredible was given a threat rating of 9.1, the highest rating of any of the supers.
Physical Appearance
Bob is exceptionally tall with massive shoulders, chest, and arms (as befits his superhuman strength). As a younger man, he was slim-waisted, but by the time his daughter Violet was in high school, he had become obese, and was forced to undergo a strenuous diet and exercise regimen, after which he lost enough weight to resume his superheroics before leaving to go to Nomanisan Island. He has blonde hair (which has receded in his middle-age) and blue eyes.
Other Appearances
Disney Parks
Mr. Incredible is a meetable character in the Disney Parks. At Disney California Adventure, he can be found in Hollywood Land with his wife.
Mr. Incredible posing for a photo at Hong Kong Disneyland
Disney on Ice
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Gallery
Trivia
- In an early draft for the film, he broke the law when he married Elastigirl and had children, as said in the alternate beginning when Syndrome (then a minor one-shot villain who sought revenge) discovered that Mr. Incredible was married to Elastigirl, and they had a baby, he said "Isn't it illegal for Supers to breed?" This concept was cut in the final version, and when a similar revelation was made, he doesn't mention anything about whether it was legal or not for Supers to marry and have kids.
- Bob Parr is the first human protagonist in a Pixar feature film.
- He shares some similarities with Wreck-It Ralph, the main character from the film of the same name, as both of them are strong and muscular, have superhuman force, have been caught at least once in a sticky trap, and seek redemption (Bob from his family, and Ralph from being the bad guy). Both characters are also loners who learn to value family.
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