Surprisingly, Pixars given us an excellent example of a classic mad scientist in Syndrome, the antagonist in animated superhero flick The Incredibles. This flame-haired supervillain, the self-appointed nemesis of our hero Mr. Incredible, first appears in the film as ten-year-old Buddy Pine, a wannabe superhero, and Mr. Incredibles number one fan he tries to assist in the capture of supervillain Bomb Voyage using a pair of rocket boots he invented, wanting to become Incredibles sidekick (Incrediboy), but accidentally gets in the way and is dismissed, returned to his family. Embittered and enraged by his rejection, Buddy turns his technical genius towards evil. A child prodigy specialising in technical engineering, he designs a variety of weapons and vehicles, geared towards his ultimate goal: the eradication of all supers. His greatest creation is the Omnidroid series, created specifically to murder supers on an island he owns for the purpose a highly successful creation, as prior to the start of the films narrative, Syndrome has killed most if not all of the supers that worked with Incredible and Elasti-Girl, intending to become the worlds greatest superhero through technology and trickery, and to eventually render all superheroes obsolete by selling his weapons to the highest bidder. As he declares: When everyone is super no one will be. Cruel, vengeful and full of furious, mindless rage, Syndrome is a force to be reckoned with. The first villain in a Pixar movie to be a serial killer, opinion is divided as to whether his lack of conscience makes him a psychopath or a classical sociopath: whichever, he's a truly mad scientist. Of course, Syndrome gets his comeuppance eventually. After discovering that Mr. Incredible is still alive, and failing to kill him and his family and then to kidnap baby Jack-Jack, Syndrome is pulled into the spinning blades of a jet by his cape, resulting in his death (theres a lot of casual violent death in The Incredibles, for a kids movie). Its a fitting end, testament to superhero costume designer Edna Modes advice that a cape is dangerous and just not practical (even if it is a good look).
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
