Helen: Everyone's special, Dash. Dash: Which is another way of saying no one is.
Following a Super Registration Act and consequent court ruling, all superheroes have been forced into retirement. Superstrong Mr. Incredible and the stretching Elastigirl are now just Bob and Helen Parr. They have a quiet life in the suburbs with an ordinary house, a normal job and 2.4 children: disruptive and superfast Dash, shy Violet (who can turn invisible and project force fields), and baby Jack-Jack, who seems to have no powers. In other words, they are a very rough equivalent of the Fantastic Four. Most of them are not too happy with the situation.When Bob gets an offer from a mysterious woman named Mirage to relive his Glory Days and help out a high-tech facility gone wrong, he Jumps at the Call without telling his family. Soon, though, he gets in trouble, and finds he needs all the help his family can offer to help him save the day from a Diabolical Mastermind with an Evil Plan and a Killer Robot.The Incredibles, Pixar's sixth film (and the first with humans as the main characters) was released in 2004. It's an affectionately parodicDecon-Recon Switch of the Superhero genre, happily hanging lampshades on many conventions. Its plot bears a resemblance to Watchmen, although the tone is nowhere near as dark. That said, it's easily in the running for the darkest film Disney's ever been involved with — surpassed in number of onscreen deaths only by Pirates of the Caribbean — with tons of Black Comedy besides.Like other Pixar movies, there was a comic book series being published by Boom! Studios written by Mark Waid that has the continued adventures of the family. With the Superhero ban lifted, the Incredibles have to deal with a lot of old villains crawling out of the woodwork and after taking out a decaying villain team, a new one rises out of the ashes gathering power and planning on turning the citizens of Metroville against the supers using hypnosis and mecha, led by Xerek, the villain of early scripts for the film. The ending to this ongoing villain conspiracy arc however has been delayed from various internal problems at Boom. Despite Marvel picking up the Pixar license, nothing has materialized with a reprint attempt of the series being cancelled a few story arcs in.For information on the DVD shorts Jack-Jack Attack and Mr. Incredible and Pals, see the Pixar Shorts page.
Adult Fear: "There are children aboard! I repeat, there are children aboard..."
Prior to meeting with Edna, there are several scenes which imply that Helen has a growing fear that Bob is cheating on her, including the classic "find a hair on his clothing" bit. When she actually speaks to E, it's unclear if she's upset because she thinks he's cheating or because she's figured out the truth.
A deleted scene expands on her previous fears with her directly confronting Bob with the hair and them getting into a tense heated argument.
Advertised Extra: Jack-Jack doesn't feature nearly as much in the film as you'd be inclined to think by the promotional material. In fact, he doesn't even wear his full Incredible outfit until literally the last fifteen seconds of the film.
A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The Omnidroid that Mr. Incredible is sent to fight midway through the film is said to have become so intelligent that eventually "it started wondering why it had to take orders". However, this was a lie and the Omnidroid was under control the entire time. Later played straight when the Omnidroid deliberately targets Syndrome's remote control, rebelling against it's controller and freeing itself.
it noticed that it had an arm detached before it attacked the remote, presumably it's not "rebelling" so much as being "efficient as possible",and only attacked the remote because it saw it as a hindrance to it's function.
All There in the Manual: Detailed profiles of other Supers that are only briefly mentioned in the movie (if at all) in the Extras section of the DVD. The comic book also fills in some holes the movie may have left open.
Alternate DVD Commentary: An in-universe version. The poorly-done Mr. Incredible animated episode extra can be played with Mr. Incredible and Frozone riffing on it. It's a Crowning Moment of Funny for DVD extras (especially their vitrol for Mr. Skipperdoo).
And the Adventure Continues: The ending ends with the arrival of another supervillain (a drilling... underground hobo.) It's continued in the video game sequel.
Anti-Hero: Mr. Incredible and Frozone are both seen running from the police, Mr. Incredible in particular lies to his own wife and kids to keep his superhero work secret, and Dash is seen deliberately causing mooks in aircraft to crash into each other... though to be fair, it's in self-defense. They're not particularly gritty anti-heroes, but they're far from the Black and White Morality one might expect from a Disney movie.
When Mr. Incredible is infiltrating Syndrome's fortress after evading capture the first time, he kills several guards on his way in (throwing a coconut at one from dozens of yards away and hitting him in the head, to say nothing of hurling a train car into two waypoint guards). When the family fights as a team for the first time, Mr. Incredible hurls a downed hovercraft into a flying one, killing the pilot. Mr. Incredible may act like a Silver Age hero when he's out fighting crime, but he will kill if he must. Especially to protect his children.
Edna: [on Jack-Jack's suit] I cut it a little roomy for the free movement, the fabric is comfortable for sensitive skin... [a sheet of flame erupts in front of the suit] and it can also withstand a temperature of over 1000 degrees! Completely bulletproof... [four heavy machine guns appear and open fire on the suit, without effect] and machine washable, darling, that's a new feature.
Artistic License - Law: In actuality, the "he ruined my death" theory will always fail: someone who rescues a person committing suicide is never liable for injuries sustained during the rescue. In fact, the judge will dismiss the case on the pleadings for failure to state a claim (that is, telling the guy "This isn't something you can sue about, go home and suck it up.") before a jury is even selected. Of course, if it wasn't for that lawsuit, the plot would never be kicked off...
Art Shift: Invoked. The opening and closing themes are animated in a shiny, 60's and 70's deco art.
Awesome Yet Practical: Everything Edna Mode designs. Comfortable for sensitive skin, machine washable, breathes like Egyptian cotton — and also tailored for every family member's superpower. And they look fabulous.
Badass Normal: Syndrome has no powers, yet his technical skills and smarts allow him to create a robot powerful enough to eliminate dozens of supers. As well as an energy beam that allows him to move anything, regardless of its size, almost exactly like the Gravity Gun from Half-Life 2. It may be that he has the one power of the Fantastic Four that no member of the Parr family has: His ability to invent things.
Bathos: There's a dramatic moment where the family is racing to save the city in a rocket. Along the way, they do what any family does on a long "car" trip - they bicker.
Dash: Are we there yet? Bob: (irritated) We'll get there when we get there!
Battle Discretion Shot: Just before escaping Syndrome's base in a rocket, Mr. Incredible confronts a van full of Mooks. Cue an outside shot of the van rocking and shaking as he takes them out.
Beam Me Up, Scotty!: Samuel L. Jackson never actually says "Woman, where is my supersuit?" The proper lines are "Honey, where's my supersuit?", and "You tell me where my suit is, woman!"
Big Red Button: Syndrome gets to press several over the course of the film. One of the DVD Easter Eggs is a compilation sequence showing "every door, button and explosion in the movie". The fact that it has nearly the whole of the Anvil Chorus as its soundtrack shows just how many there are.
Blunt Yes: When Dash, Violet, and Helen are in the ocean after Syndrome shot down their plane, and Helen suggests swimming toward the ground-to-air missiles' contrails.
Dash: You wanna go toward the people that tried to kill us? Helen: If it means land? Yes.
Syndrome's death by cape in a jet turbine. When was this Foreshadowed? During Mr. Incredible's conversation with Edna Mode on the danger of capes and one of the deaths mentioned is the cape caught in a jet turbine.
Bob's rage over a broken car is seen by a kid on a bike. Guess who shows up at the climax of the film?
The Cameo: A particularly awesome one for anyone who is into animation history. Those two old men who praise the heroes after the climax ("That's the way to do it" - "No school like the old school") are Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston...Not ringing a bell? They were the last surviving two of Disney's "Nine Old Men", legendary animators who had been in the business practically since the beginning. For example, they were both animators on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and were involved in practically every animated Disney project up to The Fox and the Hound. (Sadly, Thomas didn't live to see The Incredibles finished, and Johnston died in 2008.)
Camera Abuse: A neat little effect aboard Mrs. Parr's jet.
Cape Snag: Several instances in the backstory lead to Edna now refusing to include capes in her costume designs.
Edna: Metaman, express elevator! Dynaguy, snagged on takeoff! Splashdown, sucked into a vortex! NO CAPES!
The family is very nearly the Fantastic Four: Mr. Incredible is the Thing, Elastigirl is Mr. Fantastic, and Violet is the Invisible Woman. Only Dash lacks a direct parallel, though he's certainly Hot Blooded enough to be a match for the Human Torch. The ending shows Jack-Jack has highly variable superpowers (among these, setting himself on fire like the Human Torch), and Franklin Richards, the child of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman had very ill-defined but vast superpowers. Even their costumes and name (Fantastic/Incredible) are similar. Their villain, Syndrome, is a somewhat more rotund Doctor Doom, a villain whose primary superpowers are simply being so good at super-technology that his super-suit is more powerful than the family combined. Syndrome also has Doctor Doom's 'petty grudge blown WAY out of proportion' motivation for his enmity as well.
Dash is basically The Flash and even calls himself "The Dash" when he gets his suit.
Frozone is basically Iceman from the X-Men comics as played by Samuel L. Jackson. They even have the same way of getting from place to place: creating ramps of ice to skate everywhere.
In a more extreme example, Gazerbeam and The Underminer basically are Cyclops and the Mole Man in all but name. The DVD special features on the minor heroes in the movie even parodies Cyclops' infamously bland personality by having Gazerbeam be an incredibly dull person.
It even extends to the comic, which has featured among the expanded rogues gallery a Gorilla Grodd expy and aliens resembling the tentacles.
And the Humongous Mecha piloted by the Underminer in an effort to frame the Incredibles resembles The Iron Giant with a red paint job.
Car Cushion: Frozone lands on one during the killer robot battle.
Chekhov's Gun: Edna fires two missiles into Helen's suit to showcase its invulnerability. This probably explains why Helen was able to protect her kids when her plane took those anti-air missiles.
Also, Edna regarding Superheroes with capes, one of the cases of death included the cape being snagged in a jet turbine. At the end of the movie, the Big Bad gets his cape caught on the turbine of his own plane, making the plane explode with him
Also, the Omnidroid: "The only thing that can pierce it is... itself".
Also, Dash and Mr. Incredible playing football. Comes back when Mr. Incredible throws the remote to Dash.
Chew Out Fake Out: Dash gets in trouble for placing a tack on the teacher's chair. Bob, rather than being angry about the prank, is impressed by the fact that Dash managed to avoid being caught on a hidden camera. Helen is not amused.
Children Are A Waste: In a deleted scene, Helen has to deal with a condescending woman at a neighborhood barbecue. She then lays down a verbal smackdown, prompting the other woman to gape in amazement and ask what she did before she had her child.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: The Supers in general are quick to spring into action against big threats, but Mr. Incredible in particular needs to help other people. He doesn't adapt well to civilian life.
Cloudcuckoolander: KARI...THE BAAAAYBEEEESITTEEEER! *eyetwitch*. Then again, after what she had to put up with in babysitting Jack Jack, most people would be a tad deranged.
Convection Schmonvection: Taken to serious and seriously impractical extremes in Syndrome's lair, when Bob has to run and eventually shimmy between two closing walls that are made of lava. Also seen in the initial fight with the Omnidroid, in which Bob gets within inches of lava without getting burned. A justified trope in the case of Mr. Incredible, however; he's a super and thus resistant to heat damage. Being thrown INTO the lava, however, would be a different story.
Could Say It But: Bob does this with a woman trying to claim her insurance, when his boss wants him to reject as many claims as possible. He even whispers "Pretend to be upset!" before she walks away, turning on the water works flawlessly.
For his part, when Bob is being dressed down and asks his boss if he's saying that they shouldn't help people, he answers "The law requires that I say 'no'."
Crack! Oh My Back!: Played straight at first, invoked by Bob to the letter when he throws his back out in the volcano. Hilariously inverted seconds later when the Omnidroid attempts to tear Bob apart... and pulls his spine back into alignment.
Helen: What on Earth do you think the baby will be doing?! Edna: Well, I'm sure I don't know, darling. Luck favors the prepared. I didn't know the baby's powers, so I covered the basics.
The various action vignettes surrounding the closing credits are related to the role of the person following each. The title of the Story Supervisor is kept constantly spinning, then is chopped up and reassembled to form the name of the film editor. The name of the Shading Supervisor has a shimmery shadow on the ground.
Cross-Dressing Voices: Brad Bird as Edna (they brought in Lily Tomlin to voice Edna, but when she heard Brad demonstrate the kind of voice he wanted, she immediately declared Brad needed to do the voice himself).
Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Syndrome made a fortune out of military inventions. The last part of Syndrome's plan is to sell his inventions to normal people to get rid of the "special people with special powers" meaning of superhero.
Dangerously Genre Savvy: This, more than any of his weapons, was the secret to Syndrome's success - but would eventually be his undoing as well.
Syndrome: You sly dog! You got me monologuing! I can't believe it.
And rather than assume No One Could Survive That, as one might do after your enemy falls hundreds of his feet into the water, he then throws a grenade, and even after that he sends a probe to search for him in the nearby caves.
This even extends to some of his mooks. Within seconds of seeing that unarmed children have superpowers, they start reacting to it appropriately, flanking, separating them, and responding to their powers. For example, when Violet turns invisible and hides in water, one mook throws dirt into it to watch for currents revealing her position.
"Really, really little kids should not see this movie. They should wait till they get older. We're getting some reactions from people who were disappointed that their four-year-old was a little freaked out by it. Well, I don't want to compromise the intensity in order to please a four-year-old."
Deadly Dodging: About half of the death toll racked up throughout the movie is Dash of all people getting mooks to blow themselves up on scenery.
Dead Man's Trigger Finger: Elastigirl kicks one of Syndrome's mooks in the face, and he fires off a few semi-auto rounds as he falls to the floor. One of the bullets hits the control panel for the door that Elastigirl is stuck in, freeing her.
Death by Secret Identity: Syndrome learns not only their real identities, but knows where they all live by the end of the movie.
Death Montage: Edna's montage of superheroes killed by their capes. The screens showing the results of the superheroes versus the Omnidroid serves the same purpose as a dramatic Death Montage.
Deconstruction: Near the start of the movie, many superheroes get into legal trouble because of the collateral damage they cause. A deleted scene shows how difficult it would be to hide super powers (specifically, invulnerability). At a barbecue, Mr. Incredible accidentally hits his fingers with a large knife, ruining the knife and leaving him unharmed. To cover up what happened, he begins screaming, douses his hand in ketchup, wraps an apron around his hand, and he and his wife quickly leave the party. Bob then complains in the car about the necessity of wearing bandages on his hand for months, wearing scar makeup, and coming up with a surgery story to explain his still-intact fingers.
Description Porn: Edna's presentation of the costumes she makes for the Parr family. Somewhat justified in that if you're being handed a supersuit, you wanna know exactly what it does. Also makes for cool visual effects.
Also, Edna seems rather... down about no longer being able to make super suits, so presumably Edna was very excited to be showing off her work.
Desk Jockey: Mr. Incredible is forced to become one to support his family's normal middle class life and hates it so much he sneaks a little vigilantism on the side.
Disproportionate Retribution: Yes, Syndrome, we understand that you were disappointed, he could have gone a little easier on you, and we feel for you. But don't you think you're overreacting?
Even moreso because Buddyreally wasn't giving Mr. Incredible any other choice. It had been pointed out that Mr. Incredible tried to be polite and let him down easy on numerous occasions, but Buddy just wouldn't take 'no' for an answer.
Does Not Know His Own Strength: Mr. Incredible, but only when he's really stressed. Most of the time he's a complete aversion to this trope, even going so far as to perform delicate tasks and super-strength ones simultaneously.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: "It's time for their secret identity to become their only identity. Time for them to join us or go away." Also, Violet's dialogue during the dinner scene: "Normal? What do you know about normal? What does anyone in this family know about normal?! We act normal, I want to be normal!"
Although Brad Bird says he never read Watchmen there are a few plot points that are reminiscent of plots in Watchmen
The Government relocating heroes and forcing them into retirement is reminiscent of The Keene Act outlawing vigilantes
Heroes going missing is very reminiscent of Rorschach's theory that masks are being targeted.
Enda's exclamation on the dangers of capes is best highlighted in Watchmen by Dollar Bill who gets his stuck in a revolving door and is shot and killed.
Do Wrong, Right: Dash gets sent to the principal's office for using his Super Speed to put a tack on the teacher's chair during class. His father is genuinely impressed, especially about how Dash went too fast to be picked up on video. At least as far as the others in the room were concerned, it was also an example of Comically Missing the Point — primarily because it's clear that Bob's just living vicariously through his son's use of his powers in this case, at least in part.
Elemental Baggage: Frozone gets his ice by sucking moisture from the air and his body, but can somehow multiply it exponentially. A single sip of water lets him put a fridge-sized block around a guard.
Also, burning wood produces C02 and water. That burning building? Plenty of water around.
It seems that he has to be able to breathe in/drink the water for his powers to work. In a burning building, the heat from the flames and the smoke would dehydrate him first.
Evil Laugh: Done by Syndrome after he thinks he's killed Bob's family. Lampshaded somewhat, but not as blatantly as the "hangings" so as not to distract from the seriousness of the scene. However, in the background, Bob is moving and it's only Mirage's quick action that saves Syndrome.
Also, he gives another one after revealing his full plan to the Parr family.
Evil Plan: Syndrome's in three steps: Lure the supers to their doom, pretend to be a super with technology and evil robots, profit by selling the technology to everyone and thereby making it impossible to be a super.
Edna is based on a real-life costume designer for Paramount, Edith Head. Compare Edna◊ and Edith◊.
Many say she was based on Linda Hunt's character Regina Krumm in Altman's 1994 film Pret-a-Porter. There is a serious resemblance, down to her size, her hairstyle, her black dress and her circular glasses!
If a place can be an expy, than the middle school that Violet attends is one for Corvallis High School in Corvallis, Oregon, where Brad Bird went to high school. This is down to them having the same mascot (the Spartans). However, since the high school building was torn down in 2005 and rebuilt, it's a little hard to see it now.
The Underminer is almost definitely based on Marvel's the Mole Man, an enemy of the Fantastic Four. Rumor has it that the film version of Fantastic Four was going to end in a similar way but it was changed when this movie came out.
Rick Dicker's look and voice is based on Richard Nixon.
Faceless Goons: Though not voiceless. "Okay, every time one of them runs, take a shot." Not entirely faceless, either: Dash knocks the visor off of one in a fight. We even get a Reaction Shot of his face before he hits a cliff wall.
Family Unfriendly Death: Edna's description of the fates of various superheroes who wore capes (most got the cape snagged and broke their necks, although one was caught on a missile and another was sucked into a jet turbine). Syndrome shares that last one. Also, every time a hovercraft exploded with a Mook inside.
Foreshadowing: The entire "NO CAPES" sequence, which demonstrates the dangers of having a cape as part of the costume, specifically "Stratogale! April 23rd, '57! Cape caught in a jet turbine!"
Helen's supersuit being able to withstand missiles being fired upon it.
Frivolous Lawsuit: A ridiculous number of these end up forcing all superheroes into hiding.
From My Own Personal Garden: Mr. Incredible eats with Mirage, who points out how everything was grown on the island, thanks to the volcanic soil. This is before Mr. Incredible encounters Syndrome.
Funny Background Event: During the climactic fight against the Omnidroid, the family gets a hold of Syndrome's remote. After the Omnidroid uses a Rocket Punch to grab Mr. Incredible...
Dash:(pushes button) Mr. Incredible:(gets tossed into the air by the claw opening) Huuwaaugh!
After Lucius comes and gets Mr. Incredible, Jack-Jack can be seen in the back trying to eat the spit that Lucius froze.
The argument between Lucius and Honey as the former tries to find his supersuit, with the chaos the Omnidroid is inflicting in the background.
Gadgeteer Genius: Syndrome. There seems to be no limit to what he can build; moving walls made of lava.
Edna might also qualify, but she is focused exclusively on clothing. Making a onesie that is bulletproof, fireproof and machine washable? That's just warmup for her.
Gendered Outfit: While all four Incredibles wear similar one piece outfits with a contrasting "gloves, boots and briefs" motif, Helen and Violet's outfits have opera "gloves",thigh-high "boots" and bikini-shaped "briefs".
Genius Bruiser: Not explicit, but Mr. Incredible must be very intelligent to master the subtle ins-and-outs of Insuricare, which we see even before he outwits Syndrome's Omnidroid and goes for a delve in the computer network. Mr. Incredible is actually quite sharp, and when he's infiltrating Syndrome's base, this fact helps him just as often as his strength does.
Get A Hold Of Yourself Man / Quit Your Whining: Edna, when Helen / Elastigirl breaks down after discovering her husband is on a tropical island in the middle of the ocean, assuming he's having an affair. Edna essentially tells her to go get him and kick his ass. (But it ends well.)
Edna: And call me when you get back, darling - I enjoy our visits.
Gone Horribly Right: The final version of Syndrome's Omni-Droid is so intelligent that it even recognizes its own remote control as a threat to be destroyed.
Harmless Freezing: During the jewelry store scene, Frozone encases a cop in a shroud of ice after the officer mistakes him and Mr. Incredible for burglars. When the cop's friends come in to check on him, he is frozen in place, but his eyes can still be seen moving around freely within the ice.
Hartman Hips: Elastigirl seems to dislike hers. Violet has a more teen-size version.
Held Gaze: Elastigirl and Mr Incredible share a rather long seductive one right after they capture a thief together during the Cold Open at the beginning of the movie.
Heroes Want Redheads: Helen/Elastigirl had long, bright red hair when young. Now that she's older, she keeps it short and auburn.
He's a Friend: When Edna goes through her security system's identity check, a gun drops down in front of Helen, prompting Edna to quickly assure the system that Helen's a guest.
Hilarity Sues/Hero Insurance: One of the main causes for heroes hiding is the damage their battles caused to their surroundings. The immense destruction in the end battle is hardly mentioned, though.
Probably because pretty much all of it was caused by the Omnidroid itself. The only damages that could be reasonably pinned on the heroes were the office building Mr. Incredible was thrown through, the car Frozone was chucked onto, and the manhole cover Elastigirl pulled up.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Bob knocks Syndrome into his jet's intake by hurling a car at him — the one he bought when he was on Syndrome's payroll. Syndrome also got hoisted by making the OmniDroid smart enough to outwit him by destroying his controls.
Hollywood Law: Good Samaritan laws say someone who stops to help an injured person can't be held liable, and you certainly can't sue someone from stopping you from committing suicide. Mr. Incredible's boss at Insuricare, on the other hand, is going to be liable for serious bad faith in insurance lawsuits.
Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Played with when the Parrs are arguing. Worried that the hulking Bob yelling at his much smaller wife might lead to Unfortunate Implications, the writers realized that Helen can even the playing field by growing taller than Bob.
Concrete dust on a dark sweater is actually pretty easy to see, she probably just pulled the largest bit from his sweater for emphasis. Plus, Bob's been pulling those stunts ever since their forced retirement, so she knows what to look for.
Though not foolproof, Bob's 'danger sense' (mentioned in his profile in the DVD extras) lets him anticipate imminent danger... including an angry wife!
Ignored Enamored Underling: Mirage to Syndrome, who doesn't so much ignore her affection, but feels she is ultimately expendable.
I Just Want to Be Normal: Violet, until the Adrenaline Makeover makes her realize how awesome she is when she has confidence and uses her powers to help and protect her family.
I Just Want to Be Special: Syndrome, despite the fact that, through use of his incredible intelligence and advanced technology, could make himself a super without having to go into villainy.
Impairment Shot: Mr. Incredible's POV: Mirage walks in on him as his vision and consciousness are taken out by the squishy black things that hit him upon setting off Syndrome's intruder alert.
Improbable Parking Skills: Mr. Incredible first lands a falling van right on the highway, then proceeds to veer so sharply that it rolls over several times before stopping perfectly in a parking space.
Indy Ploy: Though not an Idiot Hero, Helen is able to do this very well. It helps that besides being the mother that needs to balance, control, and maintain her family, she can adjust herself in various ways to accommodate her own plans.
Bob is a straighter example of this. His own experiences as a hero aside, working with and being married to Helen probably contributed a lot to his ability to think fast and adapt to situations quickly.
Ink Suit Actor: Samuel L. Jackson animated as-is to create Lucius/Frozone. On a side note Mr. Incredible/Bob Parr's facial features are based on a cross between Craig T. Nelson's face and a greek hoplite's helmet.
Helen/Elastigirl isn't too far off from Holly Hunter.
Gilbert Huph and actor Wallace Shawn look fairly similar, too.
Inspiration Nod: While the powers parallel with the Fantastic Four came about accidentally from the Personality Powers and the "superhero-as-family" parallel was inevitable since the FF codified it, they still gave it a nod by having the final villain The Underminer be a Captain Ersatz of the Fantastic Four's first villain The Mole Man.
Instant A.I., Just Add Water: The cover story for Mr. Incredible's first mission is that this had happened to the Omnidroid.
"I work alone." In a visual echo, the first time we see the family using their powers together, they are fighting with each other until interrupted by Frozone. The next time, they are fighting with Syndrome's goons until interrupted by Syndrome.
Elastigirl telling Dash the quote on the top of this page. Syndrome says the same thing when telling Mr. Incredible of his plan to sell his tech to the people.
"I am your biggest fan."
It's claimed that Omnidroid v9 "got smart enough that it wondered why it had to take orders". This probably wasn't true for Omnidroid v9, but it was most certainly true for v10
Ironic Name: Parr means "average". Something the Parrs definitely are not.
It's All About Me: As a boy, Syndrome constantly pesters Mr. Incredible and implores him to let him be his sidekick. When he tries to show his skills, and almost gets killed doing so, the resulting damage leads to a widespread Super Registration Act which forces Mr. Incredible into retirement and hiding. Yet years later, Syndrome still has the gall to say he got the short end of the stick.
Just Plane Wrong: Averted, as Helen's radio dialog is actually accurate.
Aside from the tail number (assuming, of course, that it was supposed to be an American-registered aircraft...)
Karma Houdini: Despite helping track down and murder dozens of superheroes, absolutely nothing happens to Mirage in the end. Slightly justified when she helps the Incredibles get back to the mainland.
The moment where Syndrome happily and unrepentantly shoots Mr. Incredible's children out of the sky, or so he thinks.
Before that, when it's revealed that he's been spending years murdering other supersjust to perfect the Omnidroid for his Monster Protection Racket. The movie leaves you in no doubt that Syndrome is eeeeeevil.
A good example of a specific Kick the Dog moment pulled by Syndrome was when he was willing to call Mr. Incredible's bluff, with Mirage's life on the line, effectively turning her against him.
When he decides to kidnap Jack-Jack not only so he'll have a hostage but so he can one day turn him against his own family.
While not nearly to the extent of Syndrome, Mr. Huph gets a pretty big one when he sees a man being beaten and mugged right outside his office window, then smiles and says "Let's hope we don't cover him!" And threatens to fire Bob if he tries to help.
Kubrick Stare: Attempted a few times by Syndrome, but it's nothing compared to Bob maintaining the look for the entire sequence with Mr. Huph and the robbery outside the building.
Lantern Jaw of Justice: There's nothing we can say about Mr. Incredible's chin that the picture at the top of the page doesn't. Syndrome has one as well, but he's evil.
"I am Syndrome, your nemesis! And... [inadvertently throws Mr. Incredible out of sight] oh,brilliant."
The Underminer shows signs of this as well.
"I am beneath you! But NOTHING is beneath ME!!!" "I hereby declare war on PEACE and HAPPINESS!"
Dash's teacher is a less super-villainous example:
"Coincidence? I think NOT!!!!
Larynx Dissonance: Director Brad Bird voices Edna. This wasn't originally intended, but producers thought his "scratch", or guidance performance, was good enough. This happens frequently at Pixar. According to commentary, Brad Bird initially wanted someone else (Lily Tomlin) to voice Edna Mode. When he called her and gave a demonstration of what he wanted the voice to sound like, she laughed and asked him what he needed her for. He already had the voice down!
Played with in the Italian dub, where the voice actor is a woman (Amanda Lear) known for her distinctly deep and masculine voice.
Lava Adds Awesome: Syndrome's island base includes a dining room with walls of flowing lava for decoration.
Licensed Game: There are two: the one that is an action-adventure adaptation of the movie suitably stretched out on Nomanisan Island and starring the whole family, and a sequel beat-em-up game called Rise of the Underminer starring Mr. Incredible and Frozone.
Living Legend: At the start of the story, the supers are all Golden Age heroes and perfectly happy to be celebrities. This quickly bites them in the tush when normals start suing them.
Look Ma, No Plane!: The folly of doing this is shown during the "no capes" montage in which a female hero flying by a jetliner and waving at a kid is sucked into the engine when her cape gets caught.
Male Gaze: Elastigirl. There's even one scene where she sighs after seeing the size of her behind in a mirror.
Meaningful Echo: The page quotes, as paraphrased by Syndrome later on:
Syndrome: And when I'm old and I've had my fun, I'll sell my inventions so that everyone can have powers! Everyone can be super! And when everyone's super, (Evil Laugh) no one will be.
The Parr family. "Par" means average or adequate, contrasting with "Incredible".
Violet can be taken to refer to ultraviolet light (which is beyond normal human visual acuity and is therefore invisible). Also, a "Shrinking Violet" refers to someone who is very shy or timid, which Violet tends to be until she Takes A Level In Badass.
Jack-Jack can be read as a reference to a jack of all trades, which he certainly appears to be.
Syndrome is Buddy "Pine", as in "I cry because I can't be your friend". In addition, he has the same initials as Mr. Incredible: Bob Parr and Buddy Pine. He also has a bad case of hero's syndrome.
Edna Mode: 'Mode' means 'fashion' in several languages.
Mirage.
Nomanisan Island (No man is an island), which ties into the film's themes of teamwork and family. Attempted in the Spanish translation, where the island is known as Isla Palos Locos ("Crazy Sticks Island", but can also be read as Isla Pa'los Locos, "Island For The Crazy").
A Million is a Statistic: Averted. The scene when Mr. Incredible learns that Syndrome has killed dozens of supers. None of them are established characters, but the scene is treated as appropriately horrific.
Mundane Utility: The Parr's homelife in a nutshell — especially Helen, who finds a way to apply her superpowers to nearly every household chore despite her oft-expressed desire to live a normal life. And, related to Power Perversion Potential, having an elastic body probably came in very handy during the pregnancies. (For that matter, a rubbery woman is the least likely for Bob to accidentally crush with his strength).
Inverted in one brief scene, when Helen realizes (much to her chagrin) that in spite all the cool stuff that she can do with her stretching powers...she can't seem to control the size of her butt.
Never Trust a Trailer: Like other trailers for Pixar films, the trailer is basically a sketch that doesn't appear in the film, but the trailer is also deliberately misleading in that it changes all the memorabilia in Bob's office to indicate that he has always worn the red Mr. Incredible suit, as opposed to the blue one.
Never My Fault: Syndrome's motivation falls kind of flat when you realize that even though Mr. Incredible told him he worked alone, Buddy had distracted him repeatedly, let Bomb Voyage escape, and had nearly gotten killed because he repeatedly tried to "help".
Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: After Mr. Incredible throws out his back in his first fight against Syndrome's Omnidroid, the robot's attempt to pull him apart straightens his back right back out. Curb-Stomp Battle ensues.
Heck, Syndrome's whole plan, to bring Mr. Incredible out of retirement in order to kill him, makes him a better superhero now then he was in his prime, and bringing his whole family together makes them a formidable group.
No Export for You: For some reason, the "Vowellet" feature was omitted from the Region 2 DVD. Which is strange, given that this one movie is the only time most Europeans have heard of Sarah Vowell, the popular essayist and This American Life regular who voiced Violet, making this feature particularly important to Europeans.
No Flow in CGI: With one exception particular to this film: Violet's long hair required Pixar's engineers to write advanced custom software to get it right, and was one of the first challenges they tackled when making the film, since they knew they would need as much time as they could get to cope with unforeseen problems. The commentary discusses a scene where Edna reaches her hand through Incredible's old super suit and out the hole in the sleeve. It was not an easy task for the animators.
The creators also expressed their exasperation in the commentary for the scene where Elastigirl and the kids fall into the ocean.
No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: Averted; it is explicitly shown that Syndrome put his Omnidroid through many prototypes so each new version could kill whichever superhero beat the old version.
No Such Thing As HR: While Bob does get in trouble for punching his boss through a wall, it's for using superpowers rather than, you know, punching his boss through a wall. Presumably the government had a hand in smoothing things over.
Not Good With Rejection: Buddy Pine makes this absolutely clear to Mr. Incredible after being refused by him as his sidekick, Incrediboy, and changed into Syndrome.
Not Now, Kiddo: Not now Dash. And Violet, you can set us free after Dad has his epiphany.
Not the Fall That Kills You: Averted. At the beginning, Mr. Incredible's attempt to stop a would-be jumper (when he's already fallen a good ten stories) is to stop his fall, hard. The jumper's neck ends up broken, and he sues Mr. Incredible for it. And at the end: when catching a falling Jack-Jack, Elastigirl stretches her arms out to slow down his velocity, before turning into a parachute.
Not Using the Z Word: The word "superhero" is hardly used, but instead they're called "supers".
Possibly because Marvel and DC claim a joint trademark (not copyright) on the former.
Not What It Looks Like: Mirage tells Bob his family survived Syndrome's missiles, and Bob is so grateful for the news that he gives Mirage a great big hug — and right at that moment, Helen, who fears Bob was having an affair, walks in to rescue him.
Bob Parr: Are you saying we shouldn't help our customers?!
Mr. Huph: The law requires that I answer "No."
Oh Crap: The Mook in the trailer gets a good one right before Mr. Incredible goes to town on his whole squad. Mr. Incredible gets one of his own in the film when the Omnidroid notices him with Syndrome's remote and promptly stomps on him.
Also Bob's reaction just after he loses his temper and punches Mr. Huph through the wall— he realizes he's just blown his superhero cover and he's going to get fired.
Bob had another reaction when a transmission of Helen requesting landing at Nomanisan plays and Syndrome orders missiles to be fired at the plane.
Old Superhero: As a minor theme: Both Elastigirl and Mr. Incredible notice themselves getting out of shape, and Mr. Incredible puts himself through personal training to become physically fit again.
One Book Author: As of April 2012, this is still Sarah Vowell's only film role.
Only One Female Mold: A subtle background example. Edna Mode's design studio has three body type mannequins to model her clothes on: huge buff dude, medium-sized buff dude, and woman.
Our Demons Are Different: Okay, it's not really a demon, but at the end of the movie Jack Jack's powers include setting himself on fire, turning into heavy brimstone, and transforming into the freaking baby devil. It's probable they are homages to a famous superhero with similar powers, i.e., The Human Torch, Silver Surfer, and The Demon. Or he could just be an Expy of the Super-Skrull.
Outrun the Fireball: Dash had to use his Super Speed to get himself and Violet safely out of the cave when Syndrome launched his rocket.
Dash: "DON'T! [ducks punch] TOUCH! [ducks another grab/punch] MY! SISTER!"
Parental Bonus / Getting Crap Past the Radar: Quite a few, actually. Every single instance of Helen dragging Robert back into the house when he shaped up. Most obvious one, the scene where only her arms are to be seen...
Syndrome: You married Elastigirl? ... And got (shakes hips) BI-ZAY!
Frozone:(while Syndrome's robot is attacking the city) We are talking about the greater good! Honey: I am your WIFE! I am the greatest GOOD you're EVER going to get!"
Peek-A-Boo Corpse: Mr. Incredible unexpectedly comes face-to-face with the mortal remains of Gazerbeam while on the run from Syndrome.
Post-Climax Confrontation: The family defeats Syndrome and they are heading home; when they arrive, they find out that Syndrome has abducted their youngest son Jack-Jack, so they must rescue him and defeat Syndrome again.
Posters Always Lie: Contrary to the poster above, Jack-Jack is never shown in the super suit designed by Edna Mode.
Punch! Punch! Punch! Uh Oh...: Dash uses speed to get a lot of blows on a Mook, who shrugs them off and punches Dash off of his glider with one blow. This turns out to be a good thing, as the glider then crashes.
Actually, the "uh oh" part didn't come from Dash realizing the mook was shrugging off the punches — he was distracted by the cliff face the glider was on a collision course with.
Race Lift: Frozone in the special features' Clutch Cargo knockoff cartoon. He is furious about it.
Frozone: Wait a second, what's this? Is that me?... I'm white! They made me a white guy? Mr. Incredible: You're... You're... black...ish... Frozone: They made me a white guy! Mr. Incredible: Well... Maybe the print's faded. You're tan. ...-ish? Frozone: Wait, wait, wait. Is that supposed to be me? I sound like a, a... A what? A beatnik! Yeah, that's it, I sound like a beatnik! Mr. Incredible: It was meant to sound cool! Frozone: Well, it doesn't sound cool, and it doesn't sound like me. I sound cool. And if it sounded like me, it would sound cool.
Rapid Fire Fisticuffs: Dash is surprised (and delighted) when he discovers he can do this.
Reconstruction: While it has Deconstructive elements, it also turns the Tropes around, such as switching traits with heroes and villains, as well as correcting past mistakes.
Repetitive Name: Jack-Jack. (Well, he is a toddler, it's probably not his real name).
Required Secondary Powers: Violet can't make her clothes invisible so needs a special suit, it is suggested Dash's clothes would heat up from friction.
Retired Badass: Elastigirl and Mr. Incredible. For a while. She adapts pretty well, he's not so happy about it. Possibly also Edna, who is apparently doing ordinary fashion design with shows in Milan when Bob comes to see her. She leaps at the chance to design for "gods" again.
Scaled Up: The climax of the City of Incredibles arc of the comic has Shifty turn into a red dragon after being enhanced by the superpower virus, to take down the Incredibles and mutiny against his fellow supervillains.
Screams Like a Little Girl: Syndrome when Jack-Jack goes demon-baby, pulls out his hair. Also, just as he's about to die. Foreshadowed when Syndrome is taunting Mr. Incredible at his island base.
Self-Serving Memory: Syndrome guilts Mr. Incredible into thinking he was wrong to have rejected him as a sidekick.
Sequel Hook: The Underminer rises from below the city streets at the end of the film; the Parr family reacts by all masking up. Even Jack-Jack. Ultimately, The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer was made into a video game.
Satellite Love Interest: Violet's crush Tony only appears in two scenes, and mainly exists to demonstrate her character development over the course of the movie.
Dash vs. the speeders calls back the Star Wars speeder chase.
Oh and speaking of Star Wars, the scene where Mr. Incredible chokes Mirage for betraying him and having him locked up by Syndrome can be seen as a reference to Chewbaca choking Lando for betraying the Rebels to Darth Vader.
The call-sign of Helen's plane is "India Golf Niner-Niner", or "IG 99", referencing The Iron Giant, director Brad Bird's previous film. The Iron Giant — "I.G." — came out in '99.
Syndrome entitled his project "Kronos", which is the name of a 1957 film featuring a giant killer robot.
Not to mention, Kronos, in Greek Myth, is titled the 'all devouring' and eats his children, the Olympians (except for Zeus, of course), and in other words, killing. What do those Omnidroids (the all devouring,) do to the superheroes (the Olympians)? So, Kronos=Omnidroid, Olympians=Supers, and (in a way,) Zeus=Bob.
The interiors of Syndrome's base look like those of the "Liparus" and "Atlantis" in The Spy Who Loved Me, as well as Blofeld's volcano base in You Only Live Twice. The scene of Mr. Incredible leaning on the balcony railing is from Dr. No. Furthermore, Michael Giacchino's soundtrack would have fit perfectly in a James Bond film — the opening fanfare is a Suspiciously Similar Song to the theme from On Her Majesty's Secret Service. (Brad Bird initially wanted John Barry himself to do the score, but he was unavailable.)
Many of the costumes on display in Edna Mode's studio are shout outs to Marvel super heroes, including Captain America, the Fantastic Four, and Crystal of The Inhumans.
The rolling giant robot-ball and the closing flame curtains both recall Indiana Jones.
The mascot of the middle school that Violet attends — a Spartan — is the same as Brad Bird's high school, Corvallis High School. The design of the high school is also what CHS used to look like (it was bulldozed and rebuilt in 2005)
Elastigirl finds out her husband has been keeping secrets from her, doing hero-work behind her back, and follows him into enemy territory, determined to find him no matter what the obstacles or dangers involved, requiring her to stealthily sneak among troops of Mooks like a ninja — exactly what Marguerite Blakeney does in the Super HeroTrope CodifierThe Scarlet Pimpernel. *
Marguerite and Elastigirl also both have a daughter named Violet.
The ship that Syndrome's robot flies into the city in (and, to an extent, the robot itself) is modeled on Dr. Zin's "The Robot Spy" on Jonny Quest.
Also, Dash channels Little Mac in a fistfight with one of the goons on their speeder.
"You are my greatest adventure..." My Greatest Adventure was the DC comic that introduced the Doom Patrol.
Someone on Youtube commented to Mr. Incredible that "Freakazoid wants his costume design back".
The Underminer, the villain that appears at the very end of the movie, is extremely similar to the first villain another certain superhero family fight on their very first published comic.
In the end, the shot of Mr. Incredible pulling his shirt apart, revealing his superhero emblem, is exactly like Superman.
Shown Their Work: Helen's radio-speak is realistic. In the commentary Brad Bird points out how Mark Andrews wrote the script using military language used in emergencies, and that Helen's voice actor (Holly Hunter) insisted on knowing exactly what everything she was saying meant. "VFR on top" indicates she is flying in the regime of Visual Flight Rules 'on top' of a cloud cover. She then requests vectors to the "initial", the initial landing approach. "Angels 10" is her altitude call - ten thousand feet. "Track east" is her current direction of travel from her current position. Her "buddy-spiked" mayday is US Air Force code, as a warning not to fire, given to an aircraft who has radar lock on a friendly - in this case, Helen was referring to the missiles she thought were fired by friendlies. "Transmitting in the Blind Guard" is a call on the emergency frequency where 2-way communication has not been established.
The only snag was substituting the aircraft's tail number from the "proper" N-number so that it could be a Shout Out.
Sleep Cute: Non-romantic version, with bickering siblings Violet and Dash.
Slow ElectricityInvoked by Syndrome, who designed his office to light up dramatically in this very way.
Small Annoying Creature: Mr. Skipperdoo, the rabbit sidekick from the in-universe cartoon "Mr. Incredible and Friends" included as a DVD extra.
Smug Super: Handsome Jack in the DVD bonus material. Bob pre-Super Registration Act has shades of this but ultimately is benevolent.
And Syndrome would be one if his plan succeeded.
Snow Means Cold: Averted; Frozone can't use his powers when the air is too arid.
The same scene establishes that he can use his powers provided he's getting moisture from somewhere; either the air around him, or his body's own reserves (except that there in that burning building, well, all the heat was making him dehydrated).
A meta-example, the "Incredits" track of The Incredibles soundtrack. A portmanteau of the movie's title, The Incredibles, and the word "End Credits", where the track is heard in the movie.
Also from the soundtrack, "Lithe or Death" when Helen has to use her powers to sneak into Syndrome's headquarters.
Think about this visual stealth pun. Mr. Incredible gets through a wall of lava to get to Syndrome's private computer. What's it called when a program on a computer is used to keep malicious outside forces, well, outside? Is it or is it not called a firewall?
Of course, this has long been addressed in actual comics (for one, capes are easily detachable), and the real reason for "no capes" is that the animators didn't want to deal with cape physics and animation over the course of an entire film.
Super Registration Act: One of the main themes is the heroes being forced into hiding. However, it's notably given a twist in that the push comes, not from the government, but from the public. The supers are actually backed by Uncle Sam.
Superpowerful Genetics: Explains how a super-strong guy and a stretching woman give birth to a super-fast boy, a girl with invisibility powers, and a shapeshifter.
Tanks For Nothing: When the spider droid first attacks, a bunch of tanks attempt to stop it. Futilely, of course.
Telepathic Sprinklers: After Bob's mysterious new job offer self-destructs. Smoke alarms sound, then all the sprinklers in the house go off. Dash in particular thinks it's awesome, but at least Bob is shown blow-drying soaked books afterwards.
How many houses have sprinkler systems built into them?
How many houses have Supers living under the roof?
Tempting Fate: "Hey, we're superheroes. What could happen?" (Twice this is said, and twice they found out).
"Don't worry Mrs. Parr. I can handle anything this baby dishes out..."
This Is Gonna Suck: Mr. Incredible's expression just before stopping a train early in the movie is this trope.
Thou Shalt Not Kill: Completely averted. None of the Incredibles have any problem using deadly force in self-defense, and a lot of mooks die as a result.
Throwing The Distraction: Played with. Mr. Incredible picks up a rock, and you think he's going to throw it to cause a sound that will distract the guards, and indeed he does throw it... to knock out another nearby guard, who promptly (and loudly) falls to the ground. Which is also an acceptable way to distract the guards.
Training Montage: Bob lifting train cars at the rail yard. Intercut with a lot of Crap Getting Past The Radar.
Trope Overdosed: In fact, by the time we stopped keeping track, it was the most trope overdosed stand-alone film, narrowly edging out The Princess Bride.
Two-Person Love Triangle: Subverted where Bob, as Mr. Incredible, flirts with Helen, in her Elastigirl outfit, before being distracted while on his way to his wedding. However, as it turns out Bob is marrying Helen and both of them already know the other's superhero identity. They seem to just flirt in costume as if they don't know each other because they like it.
Tykebomb: It thankfully never happens, but Syndrome expresses interest in turning Jack-Jack into one.
Ungrateful Bastard: The citizens saved by supers sue over minor injuries incurred while saving their lives. Of course, it depends on how you look at it, which is the whole beginning of the movie: you can see it as the superheros saving people, but in the meantime, destroying half the city and hurting people accidentally along the way. In other shows, if the city is destroyed it's fine later, but this is giving it a more realistic touch, and that is this all costs MONEY.
Unwanted Rescue: Mr. Incredible gets sued for saving the life of a guy who was trying to commit suicide.
Villain Exit Stage Left: Syndrome attempts a variation of this at the end of The Incredibles. It doesn't work, mostly because the hero isn't in the mood to just let him get away.
Walk on Water: Dash is quite surprised to discover his Super Speed enables this. How does he stop and turn the other way? Super Reflexes. And when he's surrounded by two flying Mooks? He stops in a panic, and instantly sinks.
The Walls Are Closing In: There's a visually similar scene, as Mr. Incredible races to get out from between two closing walls of lava.
Wasn't That Fun?: Invoked after their winnebago drops from a crushing altitude, lands on a crowded interstate, takes out half a dozen other cars, somersaults down the road, and stops in a vacant parking spot...
Mr. Incredible: Everyone okay back there? Violet: Super-duper, dad! Dash: Let's do that again!
Weight Woe: Elastigirl. She isn't a big fan of her butt.
We Will Meet Again: "This isn't the end of it! I will get your son eventually! I'll get your son!" Bob promptly throws his car at Syndrome's plane.
When the supers are forced into retirement, the existing villains seem to disappear as well, and it's never explained what happened to them. It may be that the government did keep some of the supers fighting the good fight without the flashy codenames and costumes... just not the easily recognizable headliners like Mr. Incredible, of course. Or the military could take over. There was at least one fan fiction that explored that mouse, suggesting that at least some of the old villains joined the private sector.
Probably got boring when trying to take over the world when there isn't someone trying to stop you.
Also, Mirage disappears from the story after helping the family escape from Syndrome's lair. A recent issue of the comic book reveals she's working with the Agency that monitors the superheroes.
In the commentary, Brad Bird explicitly expresses that it was averted due to the prevailence of this trope in media set for kids by the Media Watchdogs, saying that he felt that such an attitude is more damaging to kids than helpful.
Xanatos Gambit: Syndrome's Omnidrones. He pits them against supers and benefits no matter what happens. If the heroes win, he can use the data from the fight to improve the Omnidrone until it wins, and by 'win' I mean 'kills the super'.
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