Character Analysis
Getting disappointed by a childhood hero isn't anything unusual. Just ask anyone who's a sports fan. But turning into a super villain because of that disappointment? Now that's just ridiculous.
Fanboy Gone Bad
Before he was Syndrome, The Incredibles' chief villain was a dorky kid named Buddy Pine. Buddy was Mr. Incredible's number one fanboy back in the day, as evidenced by his desperate attempt to become the hero's sidekick in the middle of a mission.
It, uh, does not go well. Check it:
BUDDY: You always say be true to yourself, but you never say which part of yourself to be true to. Well, I've finally figured out who I am. I am your ward—IncrediBoy.
MR. INCREDIBLE: And now you've officially carried it too far, Buddy.
BUDDY: This is because I don't have powers, isn't it? Well not every superhero has powers, you know. You can be super without them
Ouch. You might have the watch the scene to get a full grasp on Mr. Incredible's level of shade in this scene.
Despite his immaturity, Buddy clearly is a brilliant kid. He invents his own rocket boots, after all. The only thing we were building when we were his age were snot rockets. Sure, he may be annoying, and yes, he might look like Ron Weasley cosplaying as a character from Dragonball Z, but you have to hand it to the kid—he's one smart cookie.
Caught Me Monologuing
Instead of using his talents for good, Buddy turns them to evil after this ill-fated encounter. Dubbing himself Syndrome, he dedicates his life to ridding the world of superheroes with his fearsome Omnidroid—yet another one of his brilliant inventions.
Here's a tasty villain monologue expressing his motivations—take a nibble:
SYNDROME: Now you respect me, because I'm a threat. That's the way it works. Turns out there's a lot of people, whole countries who want respect. And they will pay through the nose to get it.
Interestingly, Buddy wants to release the Omnidroid into a city not to destroy it, but to save it himself, therefore becoming the superhero he always wanted to be. True, he still wants to sell WMDs to dictators on the side, but what superhero doesn't do that? Er, right? This show that, despite his clear turn towards the dark side, Syndrome still has a secret desire to live out his childhood superhero fantasy.
Slice and Dice
Syndrome's Omnidroid is handily defeated by the Parr family, and though he makes a desperate attempt at revenge by kidnapping baby Jack-Jack, he too ends up with an L. Oh yeah—he also gets julienned by an airplane motor. Pretty gruesome for a kids' movie, eh? So let that be a lesson to you: don't become a super villain, or you'll end up chopped up in a million bits.
Yeah. That's the ticket.