The Incredibles, a film created by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures in 2004, was a huge commercial and critical success. The movie was adored by viewers everywhere, and they actively helped bring about its sequel 14 years later. There are several factors that contributed to The Incredibles’ success, including its well-timed humour, intriguing world-building, and instantly recognisable characters, which won over viewers almost right away. Having said that, The Incredibles wouldn’t exist without its amusing narrative, which is much more complex than most people realise.
The Incredibles appears to be a traditional good-versus-evil story made to appeal to the entire family. The super-strong Parr family is clearly shown in the film as the heroes, and the psychotic Syndrome (voiced by Jason Lee) is clearly the antagonist. That label rather fits his intention to stage an attack on a city to bolster his ego and punish his previous meta-human admirers. Even so, there are other factors to take into account when narrating the tale of this would-be hero.
The fact is that Syndrome isn’t the true antagonist in the first Incredibles movie, and for ardent followers of the series, learning who the real antagonist is may be a bitter pill to swallow.
In the end, Mr. Incredible (voiced by Craig T. Nelson) is The Incredibles’ true antagonist.
His personal history speaks for itself before you whip out your torches and pitchforks at the prospect of such blasphemy.
But when he was younger, Bob Parr established a name for himself as the renowned lawman Mr. Incredible.
Before the advent of superheroes, he was well-known and turned into something of a cultural symbol for both young and old. One such admirer was Buddy Pine, who developed an obsession with his favourite superhero and once tried to assume the name “IncrediBoy” and join forces with Mr. Incredible.
After angrily berating Buddy for getting in the way and allowing the supervillain Bomb Voyage to escape capture, Mr. Incredible ultimately decided to decline Buddy’s offer. Angered and saddened by his idol, Buddy made a dark turn and gave up his fandom, beginning the journey that would eventually lead to his transformation into Syndrome.
Although Buddy’s downward spiral to some part was an exaggeration, the reality remains that Buddy’s change was sparked by Mr. Incredible’s decision to humiliate him that evening. Mr. Incredible created a super-villain, one who would eventually put his entire family in harm’s way.
Bob had the opportunity to tell his wife Helen (Holly Hunter) and the kids about his new career when Mirage’s (Elizabeth Pea) initial offer for him to continue his hero work arrived. Instead, he decided to lie to them all and conceal his activities as an alternative. The Parr family didn’t realise they were stepping into a trap when they attempted to rescue Bob when Syndrome revealed himself as the brains behind Bob’s tasks and subsequently imprisoned him. If Bob had been honest with his family from the start, they would have known and arrived more ready to take down Syndrome.
Overall, even though he wasn’t aware of it at the time, the so-called hero Mr. Incredible did some very awful things in his day.
