Void (The Amazing World of Gumball)

Evil-doer
Full Name	Unknown
Alias	The Void
Origin	The Amazing World of Gumball
Occupation	Metaphysical regulator
Powers / Skills	Dimension physiology Absorption Mind manipulation Body manipulation Immortality (implied)
Goals	Remove and contain anything from reality it deems as useless Prevent Gumball, Darwin, and Mr. Small from rescuing Molly and Janice (failed) Destroy all of Elmore and the universe (ongoing)
Crimes	Attempted omnicide (implied) Attempted mundicide (implied) Mass kidnapping Mass brainwashing Theft Mass property damage Forced confinement Universal endangerment Sabotage Pollution Mutilation
Type of Villain	Cataclysmic Cosmic Entity

“	Look, children. All the mistakes the world has ever made.	„
	~ Mr. Small introducing Gumball and Darwin to the Void after entering. noicon

The Void is the overarching antagonist of Cartoon Network's The Amazing World of Gumball franchise.

It is a parallel realm existing beyond the perceived reality of Elmore; a vast expanse that contains "all the mistakes the world has ever made."

The Void eventually threatens to destroy all of reality, with this threat having been foreshadowed throughout episodes like "The Oracle" and "The Future" before occurring in "The Inquisition."

Overview

Functionality

The Void serves as a destination for all the entities or objects that are deemed to be errors or "mistakes" in Elmore. Anything ranging from characters, objects, inventions, games, claims, fashion styles, animals, prototypes, or miscellaneous items can be expelled from reality into the Void. This can be due to their lack of excitement or interest, unconventional appearances, or purposelessness. For instance, Molly Collins is consigned to the Void simply because she is perceived as being dull or uninteresting, while various styles and even Pluto's classification as a planet have also found themselves banished to this realm because of their obsolescence. People banished there are sometimes frozen in time like a paused video, though a touch can break this stasis.

The Void's backdrop appears as TV static, with distorted physics and gravity that changes direction randomly. "Mistakes" float around freely unless they're standing on floating platforms, sometimes glitching or flickering in and out of sight.

When something's sent to the Void, all proof it ever existed disappears from reality. People forget about it (unless they wear tinfoil hats), it vanishes from photos, and locations connected to it get folded up and hidden. These folds can be forced open to create two-way portals between the Void and reality. These portals suck in nearby things but slowly shrink and can close permanently, thus trapping anyone inside. Traveling through them in a dangerous position can cause "glitchy" disfigurement, like what happened to Rob.

People who escape the Void are forced by the dimension to forget everything about it. However, memories can come back; Rob remembered his time there in "The Nobody," making him the only person to do this. The prophetic Banana Barbara has never been to the Void but still knows about it and has made artwork showing what it looks like and how it corresponds to future events.

The Universal Remote can open a Void portal using the "AV" button, which also switches the "channel" of the Void's expanse. When series protagonist Gumball is ejected into the Void by Rob in "The Disaster" and the portal is sealed, the Void automatically runs the show's end credits along it's backdrop (mirrored horizontally).

Personality

Even though the Void is just a place, there appears to be some sense of intentionality associated with it. It manipulates Gumball and his friends by making them completely oblivious to its existence after just witnessing it, as if it has a mind of its own. Beforehand, it tried to close the only exit in order to keep them inside forever. It also lacks empathy towards "mistakes," as evidenced by its slow capture of Rob which resulted in his disfiguration, and also condemned him a fate in isolation.

The precise motive behind its decision to eliminate "mistakes" remains a mystery, although the most probable explanation for its behavior lies in its desire to maintain control and harmony within the realm of Elmore. By discreetly removing elements it deems undesirable, it can effectively reshape the world according to its own preferences, all while evading detection.

Despite this, it is not made explicitly clear in the show whether the Void acts on its own volition, or if it is a manifestation of collective thought or some other underlying mechanism. Gumball, Darwin and Mr. Small also speak as though its decisions are on behalf of "the world" itself.

Biography

The Void makes his first appearance in the episode of the same name. Gumball, Darwin and Mr. Small enter the dimension to search for their friend Molly (and Small's van Janice), discovering all the mistakes the world has ever made in the process, and the true nature of the Void. As the crew try and make it out, the dimension attempts to seal them inside forever. They manage to escape, but their memories are erased afterwards.

The Void appears depicted in one of Banana Barbara's paintings in "The Oracle," where the Watterson family is seen running fearfully as Elmore collapses into it.

Without the main characters knowing, Rob had been sent to the Void too due to his status as a useless character, and escaped by grabbing onto the van (which was used at the end of "The Void") at the cost of becoming disfigured, from which he declares vengeance (revealed in "The Nobody"). The Void appears in "The Disaster" and "The Re-Run." In the former, Gumball is sent there by Rob using the Universal Remote before reverting the day, and in the latter, Gumball does the same to Rob, though he decides to free him afterward.

The Void is alluded to in "The Future," where Rob kidnaps Banana Barbara, whose prophetic paintings depict only TV static in the future. It also appears behind or within areas that Banana Barbara brush erases in reality. At the end of the episode, a painting is created that depicts Rob falling into the Void.

The Void makes its last appearance in "The Inquisition," the current series finale, revealing itself to be what Rob was trying to save the characters from (via turning them human), and begins destroying the whole world, starting with the school as Rob falls into it, mirroring Barbara's painting. It's role in the show's upcoming seventh season and possible film is currently unknown, though it will likely re-emerge as the main antagonist in the next installment.

Witnesses

• Molly Collins—exiled to the Void because she was "boring." She was rescued by Gumball, Darwin, and Mr. Small, who returned her to Elmore, but her memories of the Void were wiped clean afterward.
• Rob—cast into the Void, implicitly due to being an inconsequential, forgettable character without a defined role in the series. He escaped by grabbing onto Mr. Small's van, which left him in a glitchy, polygonal form. He created (and sealed) a Void portal in "The Disaster" before being ejected back into the Void in "The Rerun" when Gumball used the Universal Remote against him. His eventual return to the Void was hinted at in "The Future" via Banana Barbara's artwork, finally happening in the series current conclusion, "The Inquisition," when he falls back inside. He's the only character who reliably keeps his memories of the Void after breaking free.
• Gumball Watterson—accessed the Void via a portal to save Molly, then came back to the regular world but forgot the entire ordeal soon afterward. He returned to the Void in "The Disaster" after Rob threw the Universal Remote through a portal leading there. In "The Rerun," he entered the Void for a third time to locate and save Rob after sending him there. Nevertheless, this timeline was completely undone by Rob, and thus Gumball's awareness of the Void was erased once again.
• Darwin Watterson—accessed the Void via a portal to save Molly, then fled back to reality, but his recollection of what happened was immediately wiped.
• Steve Small—accessed the Void via a portal to rescue both Molly and his cherished van, Janice, then came back to reality, forgetting everything about the Void soon after. Beforehand, Mr. Small had an intuitive sense of the Void's existence from things constantly missing in Elmore, initially chalked up as a conspiracy theory.
• Banana Barbara—illustrated and witnessed the Void through various paintings, though she never directly encountered it herself.

Entities sent to the Void

Many artifacts have been sent to the Void. Most of them are scrapped designs from the series, pop culture references to outdated or widely criticized trends/products, and simply random items. Below is a list of all that are confirmed:

• Gumball, Darwin, and Mr. Small's hats—banished to the Void to erase their memories and preserve the secrecy of the world's discarded mistakes.
• 80s hair spray—eliminated due to extreme toxicity.
• Keytar—removed for being merely a passing trend.
• Darwin's preliminary design—presumably discarded after Darwin's final form was established.
• Zeppelin—purged following the catastrophic 1937 Hindenburg disaster.
• Transmission tower—eliminated due to hazardous high voltage risks.
• Janice—banished for its eccentric hippie qualities and appearance. Later recovered when Gumball, Darwin, Molly, and Mr. Small drove it through the portal out of the Void.
• A ship—removed for unspecified reasons; possibly due to sinking.
• Basketball hoop—likely eliminated for being an outdated design.
• Refrigerator—possibly removed for significant design flaws.
• Wheelchair—likely discarded when newer models rendered it obsolete.
• Gas tanks—probably eliminated for dangerous leakage issues.
• Disco—expunged after its demise in the early 1980s.
• Disco shoes—removed after falling out of fashion.
• Jorts—eliminated once no longer stylish.
• Mullet—banished after its popularity waned.
• Shutter Shades—removed after going out of style.
• Payphone—eliminated following the widespread adoption of cellphones.
• 70s cellphone—consigned to obsolescence.
• Molly's treehouse—sent to the Void along with Molly herself.
• Early Watterson house version—removed after the house design was finalized.
• Saxophone—eliminated for undetermined reasons, possibly for being annoying or outdated.
• Models from "How to Ratatwang Your Panda"—discarded for being cheap knockoffs designed to deceive consumers; a parody of The Little Panda Fighter and Ratatouille.
• LaserDisc—eliminated following DVD's arrival, due to its cumbersome size and "Laser-rot" issues.
• Pluto—banished following its 2006 reclassification as a dwarf planet (contradicted by Pluto's appearance in "The Singing").
• Various low-polygonal CGI models.
• 2009 Gumball design head outline.
• Office Assistant (Clippy)—removed following widespread criticism.
• Dodo birds—consigned after extinction.
• Crazy Frog lookalike—eliminated due to waning popularity and irritating nature.
• Titanic ventilation tube—banished following the 1912 sinking.
• Pogo balls—eliminated after their trend faded.
• Rock cloud—similar to the one that crushed the Wattersons' car in "The Job."
• Various car models—removed due to poor performance or changing designs.
• Mixtapes—eliminated as obsolete media.
• Early Elmore Junior High design.
• Segways—banished for underwhelming sales and performance.
• Early CD media in caddies—eliminated once superior technology emerged.
• YOLO ("you only live once")—removed after trending ceased.
• Penny-farthing—banished when superseded by modern bicycles.
• Kettle—possibly removed for primitive design.
• Socks with sandals—eliminated after fashion rejection.
• Helicopter ejector seat—removed due to fatal design flaw (blade collision).
• Platybelodon—banished following extinction.
• Soda cans and coffee cups—sucked into the Void upon the first portal opening, possibly as common litter.
• ACARI cartridges—parodies of Atari 2600 games (especially E.T.), removed for poor reception.
• Various terrain pieces—eliminated either coincidentally or for unspecified faults.
• School bus—possibly removed when newer models rendered it obsolete.

Gallery

Images

Gumball, Darwin and Mr. Small opening the Void.

Rob's fate.

The Void's static

Videos

The Amazing World of Gumball - The Void - Cartoon Network Africa

The search for a missing child - The Void - Gumball - Cartoon Network

Theme

Gumball OST - "The Void"

Trivia

• The Void destroying the world is commonly interpreted as a metaphor of cancellation. This is implied through Rob's efforts to transform the characters into humans in "The Inquisition," the originally intended series finale. He also claims that it would allow them to escape into "the other place," likely the real world, upon the destruction of their reality by the Void.
• It was first confirmed at the Annecy Festival 2024 that the upcoming seventh season of the series will reveal what's in the Void. This was further solidified when series' creator Ben Bocquelet said the Void's storyline would be resolved by Gumball and Darwin in season seven at the 2025 festival (along with the implication that it was originally set for the movie).
• The Void makes minor appearances in the episodes "The Compilation" (briefly when Darwin accidentally breaks a screen) and "The Vegging" (the background panel outside of the Watterson family's window collapses and reveals the Void).

External Links

• The Void on the The Amazing World of Gumball Wiki
• The Void on the Evil Wiki