Robert "Bob" Parr, also known as Mr. Incredible, is a fictional superhero who appears in Pixar's animated superhero film The Incredibles (2004) and Incredibles 2 (2018). He is a superhero who possesses superhuman strength, durability, and stamina. He is married to Helen Parr, also known as Elastigirl, and has three children named Violet, Dash, and Jack-Jack. He is voiced by Craig T. Nelson in the films, while in Mr. Incredible and Pals and the video games, he is voiced by Pete Docter, Richard McGonagle, and Jeff Bergman. He was created by writer/director, Brad Bird, and is partly based on Bird's father, with Bird stating, "He's a little bit like my dad, because my dad was a great guy, really funny and smart, and I love him dearly".
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Development
Mr. Incredible is voiced by Craig T. Nelson. Nelson had always wondered about wanting to do a voice role after he recalled seeing The Iron Giant again; he did his voicework when not working on The District, which he was starring in at the time of the sessions, which took over two years. Nelson would reprise the role again in its 2018 sequel. In video games, he is voiced by Richard McGonagle.
Appearances
Films
On the day he is set to marry his fiancée Helen (also known as Elastigirl), Bob Parr (also known as Mr. Incredible) rescues Oliver Sansweet from a skyscraper being robbed by a supervillain called Bomb Voyage. While the two confront each other, a young fan of Mr. Incredible, Buddy Pine, flies in with rocket boots, but Bob rejects him as his sidekick. Bob's collateral damage lawsuits turn public opinion against superheroes. The government initiates the Superhero Relocation Program, forcing "supers" to abandon their exploits.
Fifteen years later, Bob, Helen, and their children Violet, Dash, and Jack-Jack live in the city of Metroville and keep their superpowers secret. Bob, along with his best friend Lucius Best or Frozone, occasionally relive "the glory days" by being a vigilante at night. While Bob is working as an insurance adjuster, he attempts to stop someone getting mugged but his supervisor, Gilbert Huph, threatens to fire him, causing Bob to throw him through several walls. After being fired, Bob receives a message from a woman named Mirage asking him to fight an Omnidroid, a tripod-like robot that has gone rogue. Bob secretly takes up the offer and flies to an island called Nomanisan. After returning from battling with the droid, Bob starts to get into shape. He takes his superhero costume to designer Edna Mode who makes new superhero costumes for the entire family.
Heading back out to Nomanisan, Bob learns that Mirage is working for Buddy, who is now going by the superhero name Syndrome. Helen gets suspicious and discovers what Bob has been doing. She activates a beacon Edna built into the suits to find Bob, inadvertently causing him to be captured while infiltrating Syndrome's base. Helen borrows a private plane to travel to Nomanisan, with Violet and Dash as stowaways. After the family is reunited, they escape to Metroville with Mirage's help. Together Lucius and the Parrs fight to stop the Omnidroid and destroy it. When returning home, the Parrs figure out that Syndrome is trying to kidnap Jack-Jack, but Jack-Jack's own shapeshifting superpowers manifest and he escapes. Syndrome is sucked into a jet turbine by his own cape. Three months later, the Parrs witness the arrival of supervillain Doug Talpid, better known as the Underminer.
The Incredibles and Frozone battle The Underminer and successfully prevent him from destroying City Hall, but are unable to stop him from robbing a bank and escaping. The collateral damage gives the jealous government the perfect excuse to shut down the Superhero Relocation Program, denying the Parrs and other superheroes financial assistance. Violet's love interest Tony Rydinger discovers her superhero identity, causing agent Rick Dicker to erase his memory of her.
Reception
Bob has received a generally positive reception from reviewers. Scott Nye of Slant Magazine praised the maturity of his story arc, particularly his rejection of his job in pursuit of his dream and his acknowledgement of his responsibilities to his family. The Austin Chronicle considered Bob's yearnings to return to his old superhero life to be realistic and touching. Stephanie Zacharek from Time positively commented on the realism of Bob in Incredibles 2 as an exhausted stay-at-home father and considered his adjustment to his wife's superhero work to be an exploration of the fragile male ego. Staff at The Ringer had a mixed response when assessing Bob's parenting skills but found him to be a competent father who attempts to fix his mistakes and learns about the challenges of raising children. In a Forbes review of Incredibles 2, staff writer Scott Mendelson thought that the role reversal of Bob and Helen's working life was handled with sensitivity and noted that Bob is not depicted as a completely incapable father, but instead attempts to better himself to be a responsible parent, even asking for help from others when necessary. Film critic Mark Kermode felt that middle-aged viewers would be able to identify with Bob's parenting struggles and the challenges of feeling sidelined.
In popular culture
In September 2021, Mr. Incredible became the subject of an internet meme commonly referred to as "Mr. Incredible Becoming Uncanny". The meme features an illustration of Bob Parr, who becomes more traumatized, distorted and horrific. In 2022, the meme got more popular and more phases were added, including the sequel, "Mr. Incredible Becoming Canny". He becomes happy/ascended instead of traumatized.