 ✓
| ||
|
This Villain was Headlined on July, 2024. | ||
 ✓
| ||
|
This Villain was proposed and approved by Villains Wiki's Pure Evil Proposals Thread. Any act of removing this villain from the category without a Removal Proposal shall be considered vandalism (or a futile "heroic" attempt of redemption) and the user will have high chances of being | ||
| “ | Sure, it was difficult, but you are worth it. I mean, after all... I am your biggest fan. | „ |
| ~ Syndrome's most famous quote as he reveals his true identity to his former idol, Mr. Incredible. |
| “ | I'll give them heroics. I'll give them the most spectacular heroics anyone's ever seen! And when I'm old and I've had my fun, I'll sell my inventions so that everyone can be superheroes. Everyone can be super! And when everyone's super... (laughing maniacally) ...no one will be. | „ |
| ~ Syndrome revealing his true goal to eradicate superheroes. |
| “ | You took away my future. I'm simply returning the favor. Don't worry, I'll be a good mentor. Supportive, encouraging. Everything you weren't. And in time, who knows, he might make a good sidekick. | „ |
| ~ Syndrome attempting to kidnap Jack-Jack as revenge on the Parrs. |
Buddy Pine, better known as Syndrome, is the main antagonist of Pixar's 6th full-length animated feature film, The Incredibles, the first installment in the franchise of the same name.
In the glory days of the superheroes, Buddy used to be Mr. Incredible's self-proclaimed "#1 biggest fan" who, in his youth, wanted to become his sidekick under the name of IncrediBoy. Unfortunately, the former rejected him, because he was too young to be a superhero, had no powers, and Mr. Incredible works alone. To make matters worse, Buddy unintentionally foiled Mr. Incredible's plan to stop Bomb Voyage, and he ended up being taken away in a police car.
Over the next fifteen years, when the Supers were being sued and exiled by the public to go underground by force, Buddy felt deeply betrayed by Mr. Incredible, and he sought revenge by becoming a supervillain and arms dealer named Syndrome. Because of this, he becomes Mr. Incredible's arch-nemesis, and he murders many supers in the world by creating Omnidroids via his secret operation codenamed "Operation Kronos", and using the final Omnidroid in turn to falsely prove that he was a superhero himself. Syndrome also serves the former boss of Mirage and his Security Guards.
He is voiced by Jason Lee, who also portrayed Azrael in Dogma.
Quick Answers
What led Syndrome to become the archenemy of Mr. Incredible?
How does Syndrome plan to eradicate the concept of superheroes?
What was Syndrome's original identity before becoming a villain?
What is the significance of Syndrome's memory in the Incredibles?
Did Syndrome ever consider himself a hero?
Physical Appearance[]
Syndrome stood 5'7" (1.7 m), excluding the height of his hair. He was 25 years old, he was barrel-chested, and he weighed 185 lb (83.91 kg). His red (strawberry-blonde as a child) hair extended straight up in a manner reminiscent of flames. Syndrome also has sky-blue eyes.
As "IncrediBoy", Buddy wore a small, crudely home-made 'suit', composed of a shirt with a mixture of white and blue, with the white confined to his chest, and the blue portion including his belly, and navy blue sleeves which appear to be cut off. Said shirt also includes a small stitched-on mock-up of Mr Incredibles 'i' symbol only with a subtle crescent that makes it resemble a lower case 'b' tying into his name 'Incrediboy'. He also wears light blue pants and gloves, and a small blue mask. Buddy also wears shorts on top of his pants, a visual joke on how superheroes in Golden Age Comics appear to wear "underwear" despite often being fully dressed. A small cheap cape also is also part of Buddy's guise.
15 years later, as "Syndrome" Buddy now has a full body costume with a large white 'S' in black, a small black mask, and mechanical looking gauntlets and boots. Syndrome's costume also sports a cape, more professional quality, with it clamping on by his neck, unlike Incrediboy's cape, which hung freely of his neck. Said cape is black facing away from Syndrome's back, but is blue facing his back. His body built is barrel chested.
Personality[]
| “ | Syndrome: My name is not BUDDY! And it's not "IncrediBoy" either! That ship has sailed. All I wanted was to help you. I only wanted to help, and what did you say to me?! Mr. Incredible: Fly home, Buddy. I work alone. Syndrome: It tore me apart. But I learned an important lesson: you can't count on anyone. Especially your heroes. |
„ |
| ~ Syndrome revealing his twisted philosophy to Mr. Incredible after he rejected him. |
Syndrome's evil grin
Syndrome's personality (namely his callous disregard of others and lack of conscience or morality) all stem back to psychopathy. He is a derived and power-hungry scientist destined to make himself a “hero”, even if it meant creating a destructive killer robot to murder various retired ones.
Due to Mr. Incredible making him believe that he could count on nobody except for himself, he has no value of human life (except for his own) which was shown when he let loose the Omnidroid in Metroville to pretend to be a superhero, allowed missiles to fire on Helen, Dash, and Violet's plane even after discovering there were children on board and does not even value his own cohorts as shown that he was willing to risk Mirage's safety to dismiss Mr. Incredible's bluff of "crushing her", although he decided not to kill Jack-Jack's babysitter, Kari, and instead deceived her into giving her custody of Jack-Jack (though this may in part have been due to the fact that she was easily persuaded because of her being incapable of handling Jack-Jack's superhuman powers).
Syndrome was a scientific, technological, technical, and mechanical genius, and possessed the intelligence and resourcefulness sufficient to create an incredible variety of weaponry and equipment. He was also capable of creating a sentient, self-aware, incredibly powerful and intelligent being that ultimately defeated him despite him knowing how to destroy it. Even as a kid, he created rocket boots that let him travel great distances, including an entire skyscraper. He would use said rockets as his main mode of transportation upon assuming the identity of Syndrome which shows his superiority complex.
Aside from his derangement, Syndrome is cynical. He thinks that the only way to get respect was to become a threat. He shows himself to be extremely sadistic, as well, as shown when he overhears that Bob knew Helen from the transmission, he instantly set missiles on their plane. To show his cruelty, he allowed the audio to play to force Mr. Incredible to hear the destruction and smiles at his enemy’s despair. With both under the impression he had killed his family, Syndrome further emphasizes his cruelty by inhumanely mocking Mr. Incredible on their apparent deaths after recalling how Bob had told him that he worked alone. On top of this, he delighted in kidnapping Jack-Jack to get revenge on Bob's family further proving that he is willing to endanger even kids to achieve his goals.
Syndrome holds a firm belief that mercy is a weakness, and disregarding life is strength, which was pointed out by Mirage. Syndrome himself is a very calm, levelheaded, and laid-back young man, rarely, if ever, expressing his temper. When Mr. Incredible had just destroyed his eighth Omnidroid, instead of initial anger, he simply compliments the feat by saying it was "surprising." This also shows when Bob takes Mirage hostage and Syndrome makes clear his lack of regard for the lives of others when he threatens to crush her. In addition to his lack of empathy, Syndrome proves himself to be ungrateful for kindness from others. In spite of Mirage protecting him from the enraged Mr. Incredible, Syndrome thanklessly continues to goad him.
Furthermore, despite being well aware of the difference between right and wrong, he did not understand why she was upset with him afterward. He was also perfectly willing to risk several lives once he set the Omnidroid free in the city just to boost his own ego and reap the benefits. Even as a child, he thought that being a hero was all about fighting bad guys and not saving people. That said, Syndrome can still lose it when provoked as shown when he snaps at Bob during the latter's attempt at reasoning with him.
Syndrome is an extremely spiteful, hypocritical, and vindictive individual. After being rejected by his former idol, it turned him into a megalomaniacal supervillain. However, he was still intelligent enough not to make his hatred allow him to be arrogant and realized that the Omnidroid would have to be worthy before fighting Bob hence why he tested it out on various other Supers. As one would expect from a sociopath, he showed no regard for others yet had no problem killing various Supers out of spite after he couldn't become one. Syndrome was still known to underestimate his enemies, such as Elastigirl believing that the missiles would destroy the plane. However, Elastigirl easily outsmarted him by turning herself into a parachute and saving her kids from falling to their deaths. Another example is that he believed that Mr. Incredible was weak and no longer a real hero after capturing him for the second time. However, Syndrome was proven to be somewhat wrong when he destroyed his Omnidroid. What makes Syndrome a hypocrite is that when Mr. Incredible threatens to kill Mirage if he doesn't free him, Syndrome says that's dark for Mr. Incredible, even though Syndrome himself is responsible for the deaths of many Supers his Omnidroids have killed.
Despite his evil personality, Syndrome is also shown to have a comedic side, as he's often played up as the stereotype of an obsessive fanboy with way too many toys to play with, and is also a suitably hilarious take on seemingly jealous supervillains who just love the sound of their own voices too much. For instance, he remarks that Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl "married and got busy" after he noticed their children, and accidentally tossed Mr. Incredible far away while attempting to explain his plan to him. He also told Kari that the reason for there being an "S" on his suit was because it stood for "sitter" since initials for "babysitter" would've meant that he would've gone around wearing a big "BS", and he couldn't have gone with that. However, these traits do not contradict his actions.
However, Syndrome was not always like this. Buddy Pine was inventive and intelligent, though otherwise a little pestering and obnoxious. He was somewhat obsessed with Mr. Incredible, as he was a member of the fan club, knew his favorite catchphrases and fighting styles, and was his self-proclaimed number-one fan. He was a child prodigy, creating rocket boots that allowed him to fly. Sadly, however, his intrusions caused his idol to lose Bomb Voyage. After being rejected by Mr. Incredible when Buddy attempted to become the Robin to his Batman as IncrediBoy twice, the resentment led Buddy down a dark path until it became a desire for vengeance against his former idol and to make all superheroes obsolete.
Even as a child, Syndrome is made clear to have already had self-serving desires and a total disregard for superhero principles. He believed that being a superhero was about wearing cool outfits and getting to beat people up, showing no real desire to help others. Essentially, Syndrome just cared for the "Super" part and not for the "Hero" one. This was proven when Syndrome tells Mr. Incredible that all he wanted is to help him, a flashback of Syndrome's memory is seen, and the terrorist Bomb Voyage is absent from his mind. Therefore, although Mr. Incredible could have treated him better, perhaps even if Mr. Incredible had not rejected him, he would either still become a villain eventually, or at least an anti-hero as his reckless nature aside, Buddy's self-serving nature made him unworthy of being a hero. To be fair, however, he was a kid at the time, so he may not have understood what being a superhero really meant and he did genuinely wish to help Mr. Incredible with a great deal of respect for him. Though despite this, he didn't realize as he grew up that Mr. Incredible wasn't in the wrong, and even if he didn't want to forgive Mr. Incredible for his harsh treatment on him, that didn't justify going after supers who had nothing to do with his rejection.
Overall, Syndrome lacks any sympathetic or redeeming traits, despite his past and the fact that part of him still admires Bob. Even his goofier side does not do anything to detract from his villainy as it does nothing but show his spiteful and vindictive nature as well as more often than not emphasize his sadism. One of his greatest weaknesses was that he put no value in human life, and his inability to understand what being a real hero is about which ultimately led to his downfall.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Genius Level Intelligence: Even though he has no superpowers, he is an enigmatic genius with significantly above-average gifted intellect, largely compensating for his lack of special powers and making him an extremely dangerous opponent, being able to create Omnidroids to counteract Superheroes.
- Technological Genius: Syndrome is an incredible technician, being able to create a wide variety of weapons and high-performance vehicles. He was able to create flying boots at a young age, which he later modified as an adult, indicating he was a child prodigy. As an adult, he made himself rich by selling his weapons and was able to earn a vast wealth and many henchmen. He was able to create restraint systems for Supers, flying vehicles for combat and transport, a very powerful explosive battery, a lie detector or a large number of highly sophisticated combat robots.
- Expert Tactician: Syndrome was also an excellent tactician, he was able to put in place a complex plan to get rid of Bob involving the mass murder of superheroes, lure Bob to his island easily by exploiting his desire to return to his superhero life, set up a bluff against Bob when he takes Mirage hostage, put in place a plan to pass himself off as a hero through his Omnidroids, though this plan finally failed, and easily gain the trust of Jack-Jack's babysitters, although this is due to her inability to handle the baby and her stupidity.
- Immense Wealth and Resources: Given Syndrome's immensely large island level set up of super-weapons, rockets, a small security force/army, and even a small moderate amount of infrastructure, generous estimates of his wealth can be made that he is worth roughly $200 Billion USD to even $500 Billion. Factoring into account his pay to his security guards, which maybe comes with retirement, Syndrome easily is one of the wealthiest villains in fiction.
Arsenal[]
- Utility Gauntlets: Using zero-point energy, Syndrome could create a field of quantum energy that inhibited the majority of a victim's body movement. If the victim's skin is exposed, the range of motion of the victim's face was also taken to the minimum (only their eyes can move), and the ability to speak was also inhibited. These could be manipulated by simple finger movements.
- Field Blasts: Syndrome's quantum energy fields could also be fired in the forms of energy blasts and concentrated beams. Like the trigger for Spider-Man's web-shooters, the trigger for these weapons was located high on the palm of each hand to prevent most unwanted firings.
- Omnidroid Control: Syndrome's left-hand gauntlet also held the remote control for the Omnidroid.
- Communicator: A communicator is likely built into Syndrome's right-hand gauntlet.
- Bio-Probe - Used to locate temperature, atmosphere and life signals in various locations. Worn in the left-hand gauntlet.
- Miniature "I"-bomb - Small, but exceedingly powerful bomb contained in the right-hand gauntlet. Based on its detonation, its explosive may be triggered by impact as it doesn't explode until touching a rock. Unknown if it is exclusively a water bomb.
- Aero Boots - In his short days as IncrediBoy, Buddy used makeshift rockets. As Syndrome, his rocket boots were modified to project flames of blue fire.
- Omnidroid - To date, there have been ten known versions of this battle robot. The first nine were prototypes designed to fight and kill supers. The tenth was used in the foiled Operation Kronos. All of them were artificially intelligent, enabling it to solve any problem that it encounters; Omnidroid v.10 figured out that Syndrome used a remote device to control it and knocked him unconscious. Another feature of the Omnidroids is that they have colored eyes (e.g., 08 has a blue/green eye, v.10 has a red eye). The Omnidroid's only weakness is itself: in the film, Mr. Incredible scrambles into the Omnidroid 08's inner workings, making the machine pierce its hull in a vain attempt to pry the hero free from inside, and later on, Mr. Incredible launched Omnidroid v.10's claw at it and tore right through it, ripping out its power core.
- Viper - Helicopter-like, VTOL vehicles with ducted fans attached that twist and turn to control the vehicle's altitude and movement. The ducted fans tend to decrease lift when changing the independent blade pitch.
- Velocipod - Round open cars with four surrounding blades that spin at exceedingly high speeds to keep them airborne.
- Manta Jets - Specially designed transporters resembling manta rays that have a translucent holographic monitor inside and can travel underwater.
- Energy Prisons - Prisons in which the victim is obtained inside a powerful electric field and unable to escape due to hard metal mine balls.
Weapons and Inventions[]
Syndrome's list of super weapons that he made was extensive, but several notable ones included:
- Utility Gauntlets
- Rocket Boots
- Omnidroid Models
- Tracking/Scanning Devices
- Miniature Explosives
- Velocipods
- Containment units (in which the prisoner has mine balls on their hand and feet and is held up in a field of zero-point energy, causing the prisoner to be unable to escape).
Relationships[]
| Allies |
|---|
|
| Enemies |
|---|
|
Victims[]
- Universal Man - Indirectly; Killed by Omnidroid v.X1 on orders by Syndrome.
- Psycwave - Indirectly; Killed by Omnidroid v.X1 on orders by Syndrome.
- Everseer - Indirectly; Killed by Omnidroid v.X2 on orders by Syndrome.
- Macroburst - Indirectly; Killed by Omnidroid v.X2 on orders by Syndrome.
- Phylange - Indirectly; Killed by Omnidroid v.X2 on orders by Syndrome.
- Blazestone - Indirectly; Killed by Omnidroid v.X2 on orders by Syndrome.
- Downburst - Indirectly; Killed by Omnidroid v.X3 on orders by Syndrome.
- Hypershock - Indirectly; Killed by Omnidroid v.X4 on orders by Syndrome.
- Apogee - Indirectly; Killed by Omnidroid v.X4 on orders by Syndrome.
- Blitzerman - Indirectly; Killed by Omnidroid v.X4 on orders by Syndrome.
- Tradewind - Indirectly; Killed by Omnidroid v.X4 on orders by Syndrome.
- Vectress - Indirectly; Killed by Omnidroid v.X4 on orders by Syndrome.
- Gazerbeam - Indirectly; Killed by Omnidroid v.X5 on orders by Syndrome.
- Stormicide - Indirectly; Killed by Omnidroid v.X5 on orders by Syndrome.
- Gamma Jack - Indirectly; Killed by Omnidroid v.X6 on orders by Syndrome.
Quotes[]
| “ | Buddy Pine: Cool, ready for take-off! Mr. Incredible: What the... Who are you supposed to be? Buddy Pine: Well, I'm IncrediBoy! Mr. Incredible: What? No. You're that kid from the fan club. (stammering) Brophy. Brody. Buddy! Buddy! Buddy Pine: My name is IncrediBoy. Mr. Incredible: Look, I've been nice, I've stood for photos, I signed every scrap of paper you pushed at me. But, this is... Buddy Pine: Oh, no, no, you don't worry about training me. I know all your moves, your crime fighting style, favorite catch phrases, everything! I'm your number one fan! (gets ejected out of the car by Mr. Incredible, who then speeds off, leaving him behind) Hey! Hey, wait! |
„ |
| ~ Buddy Pine's effort to become Mr. Incredible's sidekick, only for Mr. Incredible to eject him out of his car rather than accepting Buddy's offer. |
| “ | Surprising. We must bring him back. Sound the all clear, and... invite him to dinner. | „ |
| ~ Syndrome after witnessing Mr. Incredible beat the Omnidroid 08. |
| “ | Syndrome: It's bigger! It's badder! Ladies and gentlemen, it's too much for Mr. Incredible! Whoa-ho-ho! It's finally ready! You know, I went through quite a few Supers to get it worthy to fight you, but, man, it wasn't good enough! After you trashed the last one, I had to make some major modifications. Sure, it was difficult, but you are worth it. I mean after all, I am your biggest fan. Mr. Incredible: Buddy? Syndrome: My name is not BUDDY! (He uses the Omnidroid v.9 to throw Mr. Incredible down) And it's not "IncrediBoy" either! That ship has sailed. All I wanted was to help you. I only wanted to help! And what did you say to me? (Mr. Incredible: Fly home, Buddy. I work alone.) It tore me apart. But I learned an important lesson: you can't count on anyone. Especially your heroes. Mr. Incredible: I was wrong to treat you that way. I'm sorry. Syndrome: See? Now you respect me, because I'm a threat. That's the way it works. Turns out there are a lot of people, whole countries who want respect. And they will pay through the nose to get it. How do you think I got rich? I invented weapons, and now I have a weapon that only I can defeat. And when I unleash it, I'll get... You sly dog! You got me monologuing! I can't believe it! It's cool, huh? Zero-point energy. I saved the best inventions for myself. Am I good enough now?! Who's super now?! I'm Syndrome, your nemesis and… (accidentally flings him away) Oh, brilliant. |
„ |
| ~ Syndrome's grand reveal of himself and his infamous quote as he reveals his true identity to his former idol, Mr. Incredible and revealing his twisted philosophy to Mr. Incredible after he rejected him and revealing his intentions to Mr. Incredible before he was interrupted and gloating about his strength before accidentally throwing Mr. Incredible away. |
| “ | All right, try this one on for size, big boy. | „ |
| ~ Syndrome bombing Mr. Incredible. |
| “ | Syndrome: You sir, truly are Mr. Incredible. You know, I was right to idolize you. I always knew you were tough, but tricking the probe by hiding under the bones of another Super?! Aw, MAN! I'm still geeking out about it! ...And then you just had to go and… ruin the ride. I mean, Mr. Incredible calling for help? "Help me! Help me!" Lame, lame, lame, lame, LAME!! Alright, WHO DID YOU CONTACT?! Mr. Incredible: Contact? What are you talking about? (Syndrome orders one of his soldiers to electrocute him a bit) Syndrome: I am referring to last night at 23:07 hours while you were snooping around. You sent out a homing signal. Mr. Incredible: I didn't know about the homing device. (Voltage increases) Syndrome: And now a government plane is requesting permission to land here. WHO DID YOU CONTACT?! Mr. Incredible: I didn't send for a plane. Syndrome: Play the transmission. Elastigirl: India Golf niner-niner, checking in. VFR on top. Over. Mr. Incredible: Helen? Syndrome: So you do know these people. Oh, well, then, I'll send them a little greeting. |
„ |
| ~ Syndrome after he kidnaps Mr. Incredible and before sending missiles to bomb his family. |
| “ | Mr. Incredible: No! Call off the missiles! I'll do anything! Syndrome: Too late. 15 years too late. |
„ |
| ~ Syndrome refuses after Mr. Incredible begs him to call off the missiles. |
| “ | Mirage: We have a confirmed hit: target was destroyed. Syndrome: Ah, you'll get over it. I seem to recall you prefer to... work alone. |
„ |
| ~ Syndrome taunts Mr. Incredible after apparently killing his family. |
| “ | Mr. Incredible: Release me! NOW!!! Syndrome: Or what? Mr. Incredible: I'll crush her. Syndrome: Oh, well, that sounds a little dark for you. Ah, go ahead. Mr. Incredible: It'll be easy. Like breaking a toothpick. Syndrome: (chuckles) Show me. |
„ |
| ~ Syndrome allowing Mr. Incredible to crush Mirage to her death, showing just how callous he is. |
| “ | I knew you couldn't do it; even when you have nothing to lose! You're WEAK! And I've outgrown you. | „ |
| ~ Syndrome mocking Mr. Incredible after the latter refuses to kill Mirage and eventually betraying Mirage. |
| “ | Mirage: He's not weak, you know. Syndrome: What? Mirage: Valuing life is not weakness. Syndrome: Oh. Hey, look, if you're talking about what happened in the containment unit, I had everything under control. Mirage: And disregarding it is not strength. Syndrome: I called his bluff, sweetheart. That's all. I knew he wouldn't have it in him to actually- Mirage: Next time you gamble, bet your own life! |
„ |
| ~ Syndrome being callous about Mirage's safety, claiming he had the situation with Mr. Incredible under control before the latter hinted to him that she quit. |
| “ | Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey! TIME OUT! What have we here? Matching uniforms? Oh, no! Elastigirl?! (laughs) You married Elastigirl?! (laughs) Oh! And got BUSY! It's a whole family of Supers! Looks like I've hit the jackpot! Oh, this is just too good! | „ |
| ~ Syndrome realizing Mr. Incredible's married to Elastigirl, fifteen years ago, as well as they had children, Violet and Dash. |
| “ | Syndrome: Huh? Huh? Oh, come ON! You got to admit, this is cool! Just like a movie! The robot will emerge dramatically, do some damage. Throes of screaming people! And just when all hope is lost, Syndrome will save the day! I'll be a bigger hero than you ever were! Mr. Incredible: You mean you killed off real heroes so that you could PRETEND to be one?! Syndrome: Oh, I'm real. Real enough to defeat YOU! And I did it without your precious "gifts", your "oh-so-special" powers! |
„ |
| ~ Syndrome explains his plan for the Omnidroid v10 to the Incredibles. |
| “ | I'll give them heroics. I'll give them the most spectacular heroics anyone's ever seen! And when I'm old and I've had my fun, I'll sell my inventions so that everyone can be superheroes. Everyone can be super! And when everyone's super... (laughs evilly) no one will be. | „ |
| ~ Syndrome revealing his true goal to eradicate superheroes. |
| “ | No, no. I'm a NEW Superhero! I'm Syndrome!! | „ |
| ~ Syndrome introducing himself to the citizens, posing as a superhero. |
| “ | Someone needs to teach this hunk of metal a few manners! | „ |
| ~ Syndrome punching one of the Omnidroid v10's arms, before it got smart enough to turn on its master. |
| “ | Huh? NO! | „ |
| ~ Syndrome's frustrated breakdown that the Incredibles and Frozone destroyed the Omnidroid v10 and destroying Operation Kronos for good. |
| “ | Syndrome: Is this the Parr's residence? Kari: Ha, ha, YES! I'm KARI!! THE BABYSITTER!! Syndrome: Well, hello, Kari. I'm- Kari: You're the replacement! Thank heavens you've come! What's the "S" stand for? Syndrome: For... "sitter"! Yeah, "sitter". Originally, I was gonna have initials for "babysitter", but then I would've been going around wearing a big "BS", so you understand why I couldn't go with that. |
„ |
| ~ Syndrome intruding the Parr's house, encountering Kari McKeen; one of Violet's friends, taking over her babysitting role for Jack-Jack as a "replacement babysitter." |
| “ | Shh... the baby is sleeping. (chuckles evilly) You took away my future. I'm simply returning the favor. Oh, don't worry, I'll be a good mentor. Supportive, encouraging; everything you weren't. And in time, who knows? He might make a good sidekick. | „ |
| ~ Syndrome attempting to kidnap Jack-Jack as revenge on the Parrs. |
| “ | This isn't the end of it! I will get your son eventually! I'LL GET YOUR SON!!! (laughs evilly, but immediately gasps after seeing Mr. Incredible hurling his car into the jet) Oh no... AH! (heavy panting) AHH! | „ |
| ~ Syndrome's last words before his cape gets sucked into the turbo engine of the Manta Jet and gets killed, echoing the dangers of wearing a cape by Edna Mode and avenging all of the Supers he indirectly killed. |
In Other Media[]
Jack-Jack Attack[]
He appears in the short film, Jack-Jack Attack. There, he was unmasked, and imposed himself to Kari McKeen as a "sitter" to "take care" of the short's namesake infant (when really, it's for his attempt on vengeance against the Parr family for thwarting his plan on faking heroism).
Disney Infinity[]
Syndrome appears as a playable character in the Disney Infinity video game series. While he is the main antagonist of the Incredibles Play Set level (which is likely set in an alternate universe where he survived the events of the first film), he also made a major antagonistic role in the 3.0 level, Toy Box Takeover, where he stole the Magic Wand from Mickey Mouse (as well as Merlin's magic wand) and tried to control the Toy Box world with the other villains (most notably Davy Jones, Venom, and Darth Vader as level bosses and the other Marvel villains within his "Hero Eliminator" level). When confronted in his lair, he used the Sidekick feature to make five copies of himself. After he was defeated, Syndrome and the other villains were blasted far away by Merlin's magic.
LEGO The Incredibles[]
Syndrome returns in the LEGO The Incredibles video game as an antagonist. While his role in the game's story mode is similar to the film on which it is based, his fate has been noticeably changed.
When the Parr family returned home after destroying the Omnidroid, they find the interior of the house covered in scorch marks before Syndrome stumbles into view admitting defeat and telling the family he will go into hiding. He also mentioned that they should tip their babysitter more, implying that Jack-Jack had already gotten the better of him.
Syndrome later reappears as a boss during the final crime wave in Metroville. He has his goons steal various technology to build a new Omnidroid so he can take over the city. He is eventually found in an abandoned warehouse where the boss fight takes place and is sent to prison after his defeat. Syndrome also becomes a playable character after stopping all crime waves in Metroville.
Disney Heroes: Battle Mode[]
Syndrome appears in the game as one of the playable and unlockable characters of the Incredibles category, he can stun enemies with his powers and can use his drone to get close to the enemy and explode.
Disney Emoji Blitz[]
Syndrome appears as an emoji in the game. He is unlocked using the Villain Box, His skill is that he can drag the emojis using his zero-point energy.
LEGO Pixar: BrickToons[]
He appears as the main villain of the episode, "Pizza Night." He tries to knock out power across the entire city. But then, he gets defeated by Violet and Dash.
Behind the Scenes[]
| “ | Imagine you want to be in with the cool crowd in school and they deny you access. You're a little bit crazy, as Syndrome is, and you will take revenge on these people in some fashion, to gain acceptance, because those insecurities exist... That's exactly what happens with Syndrome; he has an enormous chip on his shoulder. | „ |
| ~ Jason Lee describing Syndrome's character |
Conception and Creation[]
Syndrome was originally meant to be a throwaway character, depicted as an old enemy of Mr. Incredible who had been incarcerated before the superhero ban. In a deleted scene (the alternate opening), Syndrome, after escaping from prison and learning from an agent of his that Mr. Incredible had recently moved into a new neighborhood (after an incident where Mr. Incredible accidentally cleaved his hand with a butcher knife and, due to his superhuman durability, dented it in the process without injury to himself, and was forced to fake injury and hide the incriminating knife.), broke into the Incredible Family's home (the Incredibles used the last name "Smith" instead of "Parr"), disguising himself as a burglar and making enough noise to lure Bob to him, and then used Bob as a battering ram to wreck the home. He also tried to capture Violet while she was still in her infancy, but she, in her invisible state, regurgitated saliva onto his eyes (apparently, the baby Violet had a problem with this, as earlier in the scene, she regurgitated saliva onto her mother's shirt, much to the disgust of one of their neighbors), making him drop the parents. In response, Syndrome immobilized both Helen and Violet but became immobilized himself when Bob rolled a mirror between them and lodged him into the ceiling of Violet's room. Syndrome was ultimately killed when the family's home was totaled in a gas main explosion sparked by a flame in the fireplace (the Incredibles, however, managed to escape in time). In the same scene, Syndrome, upon discovering Violet, also hinted that Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl essentially broke the law by marrying and having children, although this concept was cut in the final version, as when a similarly scripted revelation occurred, he does not mention the legality of whether Supers should breed or not.
The villain was originally intended to be Xerek, a man who physically resembled the archetypal James Bond villain and had a much more conventional evil plot (whereas Syndrome would've been an old villain seeking revenge and would've been killed in the first scene). However, in terms of popularity with the creators, he was bested and replaced by Syndrome.
Trivia[]
- How Syndrome met his demise stands as one of the reasons why Edna Mode disapproves of capes when it comes to supersuits.
- The Incredibles director Brad Bird voiced Syndrome in the deleted scenes for the DVD.
- In The Incredibles: The Video Game, Syndrome is completely absent in-game, but he appears in the cutscenes, which are directly ripped from the film. The game ends after the destruction of the Omnidroid 10. The reason for this is unknown. However, an in-game model of Syndrome was leaked online. [1]
- Syndrome is the second main antagonist in a Pixar film to die, after Hopper from A Bug's Life.
- In the first film, Syndrome is seen as a child during the opening prologue, and he is seen as an adult during the main events of the story. If the film showed Syndrome as a child throughout the story, he would've been the second non-adult Pixar villain, after Sid Phillips from Toy Story.
- Syndrome is the only Incredibles villain who is seen as a child and an adult.
- Syndrome is also the only Incredibles villain who gets killed. The Underminer's death in the Boom! comic book series doesn't count because it was later rendered non-canon by Incredibles 2. The same goes for his video game appearance in The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer.
- Syndrome was originally conceived as a minor villain in the film with the role of the main antagonist going to Xerek. However, due to his popularity with the film's producers, Syndrome was promoted to the main antagonist, and Xerek was scrapped. However, Xerek did appear in The Incredibles comic book series.
- In the film's alternate opening scene, Syndrome was established as an old enemy of Mr. Incredible who attacked the Parrs (then called the Smiths) after learning from an agent of his that Mr. Incredible had recently moved into the agent's neighborhood. He broke into the family's home, disguising himself as a burglar and making enough noise to lure Bob to him, and then used Bob as a battering ram to wreck the home. He also tried to kidnap Violet while she was still in her infancy, but she, in her invisible state, regurgitated saliva onto his eyes (apparently, the baby Violet had a problem with this, as earlier in the scene, she regurgitated saliva onto her mother's shirt, much to the disgust of one of their neighbors), making him drop the parents. In response to Helen grabbing Violet, Syndrome immobilized the two of them. But then, he became immobilized himself when Bob rolled a mirror between them, reflecting his zero-point energy beam back onto him. After being lodged into the ceiling of Violet's room, Syndrome was ultimately killed when the family's home was destroyed in a gas main explosion sparked by a flame in the fireplace.
- Syndrome's supervillain name might be a reference to the phenomenon known as "hero syndrome", in which a person who seeks fame and heroic recognition creates a harmful situation that they then can resolve, which was exactly what Syndrome was doing when he planned an Omnidroid attack in the city.
- In some novelizations, Syndrome's fate isn't fully explained, likely due to the dark, violent nature of his death in the film. Instead of being sucked by the propellers, it's described that after Mr. Incredible launched his car against the plane, Syndrome was left without his getaway vehicle. It is then said that after that, Syndrome was never heard from again.
- Two storybooks describe Syndrome's defeat in different ways. One of them shows Syndrome plummeting to the ground after Jack-Jack breaks off one of his rocket boots. The other one shows Jack-Jack scaring Syndrome away after turning into a little monster. As a bonus, the first storybook reveals that Syndrome dies at the end, and the second storybook reveals that he's still alive.
- Syndrome has the second highest body count out of all Pixar villains behind Mor'du.
- Syndrome is the only villainous animated character to be voiced by Jason Lee.
- Syndrome serves as a dark parallel to the following characters:
- Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible: They both desire the glory of being a superhero. However, while Bob's motivation was due of his sense of justice and desire to save people, Syndrome wants the praise and recognition. When the Super Relocation Act is passed, Bob continues to pursue the glory by illegally listening to the police scanner and helping out when he can. Syndrome, however, kills Supers to develop his Omnidroid which will be part of an elaborate Engineered Heroics scam that will bask in the glory without regards for those who may be hurt or killed as a result. Bob realizes his desire for the glory days has caused him to miss out on his family and apologizes, but Syndrome has no such realization. If Bob started to put his excessive obsessions with glorifying the golden age of superheroes and seeking public recognition before his family, he would've ended up like Syndrome.
- Mirage: They both have worked together for the purpose of targeting Supers, with their headquarters being located in Nomanisan Island. However, Mirage herself doesn't actually hold anything against Supers, and has a high sense of morality, as well, which is what lead to her complete redemption. Syndrome, on the other hand, hated Supers ever since his youth, but also fails to completely know the difference between right and wrong, as demonstrated when he's only staging a battle between him and the Omnidroid v.10 in Metroville for the public admiration rather than for actual justice. If Mirage hadn't realized the error of her ways sooner and didn't help the Incredibles stop Syndrome's plans, she would've ended up like Syndrome too.
- Helen Parr/Elastigirl: They both hate the things that Bob/Mr. Incredible was doing (Helen hates it when Bob tries to relive the glory days, and Syndrome hates it when Mr. Incredible refuses to let him be his sidekick). But while Helen helps Bob realize that he should always be there for his family, Syndrome continues to get revenge on Mr. Incredible by trying to kill him, his family, and the other Supers. Syndrome serves an example of what Helen would've become if she hadn't helped Bob realize that his family is more important than his glory days as a superhero.
- Evelyn Deavor: They both initially have nothing against Supers before, but eventually grew to hate them, due to agonizing experiences involving those beings (Evelyn's father was killed by the burglars when the Supers failed to arrive, due to the Super Relocation Act law, and Syndrome was rudely turned down by Mr. Incredible, albeit for safety reasons). Both them also possess no superpowers. Therefore, they're ordinary humans. However, their great intelligence compensates for their lack of powers. Both of their goals involve getting revenge against Supers (Evelyn wants to ban Supers forever, and Syndrome wants to kill all Supers and render them obsolete with his technology). But, while Evelyn has some redeeming qualities (as she still cares for her family, and that she has no plans on killing Supers themselves), Syndrome is far more despicable as he enjoys killing others, including children. Syndrome also has gone so far with his crimes, that he even captures Jack-Jack out of spite. Thus, Syndrome serves an example of what Evelyn would've become if she let her hatred of Supers really consume her and didn't recognize her own family more often.
- Ironically enough, Syndrome was indirectly responsible for Evelyn's tragic descent into villainy, since if he didn't ignored Mr. Incredible's warnings about the bomb on his cape while still as IncrediBoy, which was placed by Bomb Voyage, then the Super Relocation Act wouldn't have been fully enacted, which would've ensured the survival of her and Winston's parents from intruders at their old home.
- Despite being Syndrome's initial target, Lucius Best/Frozone didn't actually meet or interact with him.
- Ironically, for someone who fantasizes himself as being a "superhero", Syndrome has actually exemplified each of the seven deadly sins:
- Pride: He thinks highly of himself, believing that he deserves to be a hero while not giving any concern for the lives of others.
- Wrath: He's easily capable of losing his temper, and has developed a strong grudge against supers since youth.
- Envy: He gets embittered when someone else takes away any of his desired chances of attempting heroism.
- Sloth: He doesn't have the essential responsibilities of being a genuine hero, which includes morality. He also leaves most of his work to his robots and workers rather than himself.
- Gluttony: He continuously killed off numerous supers just so that he could be the "only living superhero".
- Greed: He only wanted to be a superhero for the fame and glory rather than actual justice.
- Lust: He's pleased with both the serial murders of various supers and the public attention he gets from his fake heroism. He's also implied to have a sexual relationship with Mirage, whom he sees as nothing but a pawn.
- Syndrome's plans to culturally eradicate supers via selling his inventions publicly is actually related to ethnocide, where it pertains to causing a cultural identity to decline through any psychological means. In his case, the moment his plans actually succeeded, the sense of being a super would potentially become worthless in an effective manner.
- Just as the Incredible family are based on the members of the Fantastic Four, Syndrome himself is a parody of their archenemy Doctor Doom: he's a highly intelligent inventor who harbors a grudge against the hero team's leader for a petty reason. Syndrome running a remote island is also a parody of how Doom rules over the country of Latveria in Marvel.
External Links[]
- Syndrome on the Pure Evil Wiki
- Syndrome on the The Incredibles Wiki
- Syndrome on the Disney Wiki
- Syndrome on the Antagonists Wiki
- Syndrome on the Pixar Wiki
- Syndrome on the Disney Heroes: Battle Mode Wiki
- Syndrome on the VS Battles Wiki
[]
 Villains
| ||
|
Nomanisan Island Insuricare DevTech Unforgivables Independent Villains In-Universe Fiction | ||
 Villains
| ||
|
1.0 2.0 3.0 | ||
