| “ | The name's Fred; school mascot by day, but by night... I'm also a school mascot. | „ |
| ~ Fred |
Fred is a major character from the 2014 Disney animated feature film, Big Hero 6.
He is voiced by T.J. Miller, who also voiced Tuffnut Thorston from the How to Train Your Dragon movies. In Big Hero 6: The Series, he is voiced by Brooks Wheelan.
Background
Fred is a young comic book enthusiast, with an eccentric personality and a slightly overbearing, yet lovable persona. He is the son of a wealthy couple in the city of San Fransokyo, though he rarely spends quality time with either of them, as they're often away on the family-owned private isles. Nevertheless, the family fortune, as well as the family mansion, is left in Fred's care during their absence, and the young man spends such privileges satisfying his unhealthy obsession with comic book lore, Japanese giant monsters, and and other stereotypically nerdy crazes.
Aside from this, Fred is also a regular attendant at the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, where he works as the school's mascot, as well as entertains his passion for science. At the school, he spends most of his time with his closest friends, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, Go Go Tomago, and Tadashi Hamada, and was noted to be the creator of their nicknames, basing them off their dominate personality traits (Though Wasabi was given his namesake after eating the food of the same name on one occasion), as well as explaining why he's the only member of their group with an average name.
Official Disney bio
- Fanboy Fred comes off like a laid-back dude with no direction. But this sign-twirling, monster-loving, comic-book aficionado is sure to go places—when he’s good and ready. For example, Fred doesn’t hesitate to join “Big Hero 6,” and he has a lot of ideas for his mega-hero skillset, too. His ferocious, fire-breathing alter ego comes complete with claws, integrated communications and a super bounce. But his sign-spinning may still come in handy.
Personality
As mentioned above, Fred is incredibly eccentric, zany, loud, childish, and rather boisterous. Nevertheless, he is ultimately very sweet, and extremely laid-back, especially when compared to his friends. Due to his nature, he can often sit back and look upon the brighter side of things, even in the face of intense danger; and is often prone to making comedic remarks at any given moment, no matter the stakes at hand. Though the other members of the team ultimately care a great deal for Fred, they have expressed their annoyance with his random tendencies, specifically Wasabi, who finds Fred to be borderline annoying, and Go Go, who sees him as an idiot.
Along with Honey, he is arguably the most compassionate and welcoming of the group, immediately taking a liking to Hiro upon meeting him, and showing great support and enthusiasm towards the boy genius throughout all endeavors.
Physical appearance
Fred is a tall, shaggy, and scrawny young man, often seen wearing baggy clothing and is rather unkept. His traditional outfit consists of a brink pink T-shirt with a Japanese Kaiju monster imprint and white, long-sleeved undershirt, dark green, OD cargo shorts, and white sneakers with dark green laces.
His megahero form is a battle suit, with the appearance of a traditional, Japanese Kaiju monster. The beast mostly consists of the colors blue and orange, in addition to having black, spiky, claw-like nails, a tail with similar features, and three eyes (with the top notably acting as Fred's access to vision).
Powers and abilities
In keeping with his love of comics and monster movies, and desire to become a super-powered creature, Fred's "Fredzilla" super suit is designed to look like a Kaiju, or Japanese monster.
Its exoskeleton enables Fred to jump incredibly high, and it contains a flamethrower installed in the mouth of the suit. The suit is also flame-resistant and is equipped with claws.
Role in the movie
One night, at the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, Fred is in the midst of practicing his mascot routines in the school's student lab, when he meets the younger brother of his friend Tadashi, Hiro Hamada. Upon inquiring the fanboy's major, Fred explains he's not a student, but a major science enthusiast, nonetheless. Fred then begins to reminisce the occasions he asked Honey to concoct a formula capable of turning him into a fire-breathing lizard, and the occasion he asked Wasabi to create a shrink ray, only to have his requests rebuffed, leading him to come up with yet another idea; an invisible sandwich, much to the annoyance of his friends. As time would pass, Fred and the others would come to befriend Hiro, spending time with the young genius on occasion, alongside Tadashi. Specifically to help create his latest invention; the Microbots, which he hopes will grant him enrollment within the university by showcasing it to the school's head professor, Professor Callaghan. On the night of the convention, Fred tags along to give support, having incredible faith in Hiro and the Microbots. Fortunately, the inventions are a success, but they catch the eye of tech-guru Alistair Krei, who expresses interest in purchasing the creations, only to gain rejection, much to his dismay.
After Krei's departure, and Hiro's enrollment letter is bestowed, Fred and the others head to the Lucky Cat Café for free celebratory dinner, courtesy of Hiro and Tadashi's aunt, Cass, much to Fred's excitement. Unfortunately, that same night, Tadashi was killed in a horrible fire whilst trying to save Professor Callaghan from a burning building. Fred and the others give their support to the Hamada family during the dark hours, whilst also offering to take Hiro under their wings, wanting him to join their side at the university. Unfortunately, their calls are ignored, and Hiro remains in despair, alone. One night, Fred and the others are contacted by Tadashi's healthcare robot, Baymax, who believed having his friends over would help Hiro in overcoming his depression. When the friends make their way to the Hamada household, they find Hiro and Baymax wandering about the streets. They then learn that Hiro's Microbots were stolen by a villainous man wearing a mask, named Yokai, and the former and Baymax were in the process of tracking him down. Just then, Yokai attacks, and a car chase ensues. While the team is oblivious to the villain's drive to kill them, Fred (who takes joy in being part of an intense action scene) channels his love of comics and quickly figures they've seen too much, leaving them targets for Yokai's wrath.
Nevertheless, the group manages to escape, finding themselves accidentally thrown off the road and into a bay. Sensing Hiro's need for warm shelter, Baymax requests a place of refuge, and Fred takes his friends to a mansion in the middle of the city, which he claims to be his home. Believing it to be a joke, GoGo stresses her frustration, until Fred's butler, Heathcliff, arrives and welcomes the team in. The group then engage themselves in a brief tour of the beautiful home, led by Fred, until they're guided to the former's private quarters; a lounge room filled with collectible figures of comic characters, statues, arcade games, and mildly unsettling "self-portraits" of Fred himself. Once settled, Hiro ponders on the identity of Yokai, though the team is at a loss for answers. Fred, however, believes the culprit to be Alistair Krei, referencing his desires to buy Hiro's Microbots at the science fair. Fred's ideas are rejected by the other members, however, who believe Krei is too high profile for such sinister plots. Just then, Baymax reveals to hold information that allows him to track Yokai and find his location, leaving Hiro to express the idea of turning himself and his friends into a team of heroes in order to catch him.
Unlike the rest of the team, Fred immediately agrees to the idea, excitably expressing his love for the concept and allows the friends to use his home as a training ground. Because of his love of Japanese monsters, Fred is given a battle suit with the appearance of a Kaiju and the ability to breath fire. After some training with the help of Heathcliff, the team heads to an abandoned island, where Yokai is thought to be hidden. The objective is to remove Yokai's kabuki mask. This will not only reveal his identity, but cease his control over the Microbots. As the team sneaks inside, Fred sings his own theme music (much to the annoyance of Wasabi) until they manage to find a large device in the mix of restoration. Through a series of recorded footage, the device is revealed to be a teleportation portal built by Alistair Krei, which was destroyed after a terrible accident resulting in the supposed death of a girl named Abigail. Before they can see more, Yokai attacks, and Fred immediately jumps into battle, only to be defeated instantly. Eventually, Yokai is uncovered by Hiro, and revealed to be Callaghan.
According to the professor, he used Hiro's Microbots to escape his death, meaning Tadashi's sacrifice was for nothing. Blaming the professor for the death of his brother, Hiro corrupts Baymax and orders the robot to kill the villain, prompting Fred, Go Go, and Wasabi to intervene, knowing murder is never the answer. Callaghan manages to escape just as Honey's able to restore Baymax, and a frustrated Hiro leaves the island, leaving his friends stranded. Fortunately, Fred is able to contact Heathcliff, who rescues the group on the family helicopter. Once they return home, Hiro, Fred, and the others are able to reconcile. Afterwards, they reveal to have found another piece of footage from the island, where it's revealed Abigail was Callaghan's daughter. Fred immediately points out the fact that Callaghan's madness is driven through revenge upon Krei, and the friends rush out to save the tech-guru at his headquarters. After a brief battle, Callaghan captures each member of the team, grabbing Fred by all limbs of his suit; hoping to brutally rip the boy apart. Realizing it's only a suit, Fred manages to escape, and uses his skills of his time as a mascot to destroy Callaghan's Microbots, leaving the latter powerless.
Before the portal meant to destroy Krei's building destroys itself, Baymax senses life within the machine, and rushes inside along with Hiro to retrieve the civilian. While Baymax loses his life, Hiro returns with the survivor, Abigail, who is taken into medical care, whilst Callaghan is arrested. After Callaghan's downfall and the safety of San Fransokyo is restored, Fred and the others return to their normal lives, happily welcoming Hiro into San Fransokyo Tech as an official student. Over time, Hiro is successfully able to recreate Baymax, and with the robot's revival, the Big Hero 6 megahero team is reformed, with Fred rejoining his friends to protect the city from any and all dangers; mostly in honor of the aspiring Tadashi.
In the post-credits, Fred stares at the portrait of his parents and wonders how they are in the isles, thinking about how proud his father would be of him right now. When Fred leans in close to it, the portrait opens to reveal a door to a strange lair filled with weapons, gadgetry, and a megahero outfit. While Fred becomes astonished, his father appears right behind him and reveals his career as a megahero. The two embrace as Fred's father states they have a lot to talk about.
Gallery
Trivia
- In the original Marvel Comics, Fred is not Caucasian. He is Ainu, the indigenous people of Japan. Like America's Native population, the Ainu faced much discrimination and were granted full rights recently. The decision to make Fred Caucasian in the Disney movie created some controversy.
- He is similar to Bruce Wayne from the Batman films/TV series because they are both rich, they have a butler and they are megaheroes.
 Heroes
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