Characters / Big Hero 6 Obake

Big Hero 6 Main Character Index
Big Hero 6
Allies, Family & Friends: Allies | Family & Friends
City of San Fransokyo: San Fransokyo Institute of Technology | Krei Tech Industries | Civilians
Villains: Yokai | Obake | Good Luck Alley | Noodle Burger Boy's Team | Sycorax and Associates | Other Criminals

Obake (Bob Aken)

Click ^hereto see him as a teenager.

Voiced by: Andrew Scott
Appearances: The Series (debut: "Baymax Returns")

"Tragedy has molded us. Intellect has driven us. Now we stand at the doorway to greatness!"

A mysterious villain in San Fransokyo who serves as the Arc Villain of Season 1.

---

• Actor Allusion: Just like Moriarty, Andrew Scott's most famous role prior to the series, Obake doesn't have an hammy Evil Laugh, and chuckles in a sinister manner instead.
• Affably Evil: He's relatively soft-spoken (although this can easily come off as sinister), seems to have some level of legitimate respect for Big Hero 6, and actually treats Globby and Noodle Burger Boy quite well. He also has potentially dangerous plans for San Fransokyo. He respects Hiro enough to try and make him his apprentice, and when his plan completely fails, sends Baymax away to save him.
• Alas, Poor Villain: After his plan to recreate "The Great Catastrophe" was stopped by Big Hero 6, he goes to a Villainous BSoD that's saddening to see.
• Ambiguously Evil: While its made clear that Obake became the villain that he is after the accident that caused his tumor, it's left debatable over what his true nature was. It's possible that he was once a genuinely idealistic student, but the lab accident left him without any moral constraints and drove his obsession with science to monstrous extremes. On the other hand, it's also possible that he had already been a science-obsessed maniac, and the accident merely caused his true nature to come to light.
• Ambiguously Human: He seems to be a normal man, but the fact that his face sometimes glows neon purple suggests otherwise. It's eventually revealed that it's the result of the brain damage he received after his failed experiment.
• Ambiguous Start of Darkness: He was seemingly a nicer guy as SFIT's star student and 20 years went by between his Freak Lab Accident and his position as the Omnicidal Maniac main villain of the first season.
• Analogy Backfire: He tries to use the story of The Fall of Icarus in persuading Hiro to join him, rationalising that Icarus fell because he didn't build better wings. However, Hiro points out that the reason Icarus fell was because "he flew too high". In short, Icarus fell because he tried breaking his limits, which is what ultimately caused Obake's undoing.
• Arc Villain: He's the main antagonist of Season 1 who drives the long-running conflict and serves as The Man Behind the Man for some of the villains the team faces. He's also the closest thing to an overall Big Bad for the series; despite his apparent demise, his legacy is carried on by his subordinates in subsequent seasons and the repercussions drive several plotlines most notably Trina's and Noodle Burger Boy's attempts to avenge him.
• Ax-Crazy: His incident left him rather mentally unstable to the point where he's obsessed with unbridled destruction and cannot decide right from wrong. Globby realizes he's that insane.
• Bad Boss: When Yama fails to grab the object he needs in the pilot, Obake comes just short of murdering him before Yama reveals he's built a makeshift robot army. Played with in future episodes when it's shown he treats his other minions more tactfully. Given Obake's personality, it's likely that he treats Yama the way he does because it gets results.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Obake is one of the most successful animated villains ever created. His success goes beyond even a typical Xanatos Gambit in that every single one of his plans completely succeeded save for the first and last ones. Even when Big Hero 6 won a battle, Obake had fully expected or even planned for them to do so. Fortunately for our heroes, foiling his last plan was the one that really mattered, and even then they would've lost had it not been for Globby's timely Heel–Face Turn.
• Bald of Evil: Downplayed. Obake's hair is shaved on the side, but he has a black fringe of hair across the top of his head.
• Batman Gambit: When it's not a Xanatos Gambit with him, it's this. He spents a good deal of Season 1 testing the heroes to ensure his final use of this works out. It works to a point, but a Batman Gambit requires the ability to understand the way other people think, and Obake did not count on Globby not acting out of self-interest.
• Benevolent Boss: Treats his minions well even if he is somewhat condescending towards them.
• Brainy Brunette: Has jet black hair and is a former Teen Genius turned Evil Genius.
• Broken Ace: He's an extremely gifted, intelligent, and visionary man. However, the accident from an experiment gone wrong left him with a brain tumor that makes him unable to perceive right from wrong.
• The Cameo: After Season 1, despite not being the main antagonist anymore, he's definitely not forgotten:
  • He's made a cameo appearance in almost all of the Big Chibi 6 shorts.
  • In the first episode of Season 1, Fred draws an "X" over a doodle of him, as he states that the "phase one" of the "Big Hero Verse" ended after Obake's defeat.
  • In "Nega-Globby", Globby/Dibs looks at a picture of Obake and his team that he kept on his phone.
  • In the "Hyper-Potamus Pizza-Party-Torium", he appears on three occasions: as a simulation in the team's hologram training facility, on a picture Noodle Burger Boy contemplates (of Obake building Trina) and as a chibi in one of Fred's Super-Deformed Imagine Spots.
• Characterization Marches On: He's much more reserved in his first few appearances in the series, and his face is rarely shown, but after "Failure Mode", which is when his face is seen, he starts showing off his more comedic and bombastic qualities, which he would demonstrate for the rest of Season 1.
• Chekhov's Gun: In the season 1 finale, the only thing remaining from Obake after his demise, is his chip with all his programmings. It's revealed in "Legacies" a season later that Trina managed to get her hands on it and used what her father programmed to build the Buddy Guardians and start a robotic revolution to destroy the city in her father's honor.
• The Chessmaster: The man makes lots of plans for some purpose only he knows about. When he starts to plot against Big Hero 6, he launches a series of attacks against them just so he can gather intel. The implication is that when he has enough information he'll start his real plan.
• Childhood Brain Damage: Suffers a brain tumor that is slowly spreading throughout his brain as a result of the failed lab experiment.
• Cold Ham: He can be rather bombastic, but still in a quiet tone of voice.
• Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: Yokai was fairly taciturn, direct in doing his deeds, and had a very serious personality. Obake, meanwhile, is much more talkative, prefers hired guns to get things done (as well as keep his existence a secret), and is much more eccentric. Callaghan was a teacher of the San Fransokyo Institute, while Obake is a former student.
• The Corrupter: He turned the sweet Noodle Burger Boy into his devious henchman. He also attempts to turn Hiro to his side, but luckily, Hiro takes none of it.
• The Cracker: He's hacked just about everything, and if he hasn't he can do so easily.
• Creepy Blue Eyes: Obake has blue eyes and is the Arc Villain of Season 1, who is terrifying compared to other villains of the show before and after him.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Twenty years ago, Obake, known back in the day as Bob Aken, used to be a prodigious Teen Genius, and was SFIT's star student under Granville's wing. Unfortunately, he was not given the limits he should've had, and did extremely dangerous experiments without supervision after school hours. One of them went awry one night, which caused him to be heavily injured and barely survived, thus quitting from SFIT in the progress.
• Deadpan Snarker: Has a sarcastic side, reserved at his henchmen and of course, Big Hero 6. Helps he's being voiced by Andrew Scott.
  Globby: I did what you asked, but I'm gonna be honest, I don't get it.
  Obake: Well, of course not. It's beyond you.
• Didn't See That Coming: The one thing he did not - and in fact could not predict - was Globby's Heel–Face Turn.
• Do Not Adjust Your Set: Hijacks Yama's TV to tell him to steal Granville's paperweight.
• The Dreaded: The Mad Jacks are terrified of him, and Big Hero 6 knows less about him than he does about them, knowing right away he's a treat. Even Globby admitted to knowing he was obviously insane, but not at that point.
• Driven to Suicide: Implied. Upon his plan being foiled, the last we see of him, is him dejectedly sitting in his chair as his lair collapses around him. The final shot focuses on his programming chip, which may hint that he's (or at least his personality is) still alive.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Has an extremely pale skin complexion and dark hair, making his appearance more sinister.
• Emo Teen: Implied to have been one in his youth. Just look at his teenager picture!
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: He shows affection for his robotic "daughter" Trina.
• Evil Brit: He has a crisp English accent despite living in an American city influenced heavily by Japanese culture.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: He genuinely thinks Hiro will see things his way after San Fransokyo is destroyed. Unlikely.
• Evil Eyebrows: He has dark, high-arching eyebrows.
• Evil Feels Good: His comment to Baymax implies that he hasn't had his brain damage treated because he enjoys the freedom it gives him from his moral compass. It certainly fits in with how he hates limits.
• Evil Genius: He's one of the few people who rival Hiro in intellect, which he uses both to create advanced technology and to manipulate people for his Evil Plan.
• Evil Mentor: What he wants to be towards Hiro. Of course, Hiro refuses and thinks Obake is completely bonkers.
• Evil Plan: Recreate the Great Catastrophe in order to be remembered as the man who rebuilt the city into a world of science and knowledge.
• Evil Wears Black: He wears a black tailor vest, black pants and shoes.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: As a teenager, he sports a bangs that hides one of his eyes, showing him as a wide-eyed prodigy student who wants to make the world a better place with science. Twenty years later, he has his hair shaved on the sides and slicked back in an undercut, and the good grade A student he used to be is definitely gone.
• The Faceless: In his first appearances he's either seen from the back, or his face is in shadows. His face is abruptly revealed in the seventh episode, without any real drama.
• Fame Through Infamy: His goal: recreate the Great Catastrophe to shape a new city in his image, a city for research and experiment without any limits to hold any aspiring scientist back, despite the fact it puts the lives of thousands of innocents at stake. He actually wants to be remembered as "the man who remade the city".
• Fanboy: "Countdown To Catastrophe" reveals that he's a huge fan of Lenore Shimamoto's work, as she was a secret scientist and created the Great Catastrophe, making her a famous figure centuries after her death, and it's what Obake attempts to recreate in order to be revered posthumously like Shimamoto was.
• Fatal Flaw: His inability to recognize that just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. Granville's lack of supervision combined with his brain damage has driven him to complete his goals, no matter how dangerous or who gets hurt in the process.
• Faux Affably Evil: Despite his level of respect for Big Hero 6 and for Hiro's intelligence, his plan still involves needlessly endangering countless innocent people.
• For Science!: His primary motivation. He wants to destroy San Fransokyo and rebuild it into a city of science where he can experiment freely without any limitations.
• Freak Lab Accident: As a teenager, he was Professor Granville's star student, and she gave him access to the labs after school hours. She had no idea Obake was working on an energy amplifier, a dangerous experiment, which turned awry and gravely injured him. One of the aftereffects of his accident is a brain damage that causes the left side of his face to glow, and to not defer right from wrong.
• Giggling Villain: More like "Chuckling Villain".
• Going Down with the Ship: After his plan is foiled and his lair begins to collapse, a dejected Obake refuses Baymax's offer to save him, instead opting to let himself go down with his lair.
• Guy Liner: The black traits that define his eyes look a lot like eyeliner.
• Hidden Agenda Villain: It's made clear in the pilot that he's planning something for San Fransokyo, and it likely isn't good. See Evil Plan above.
• Hoist by His Own Petard:
  • Ironically enough, it was involving Globby in his plan that did him in. He did not see his betrayal coming.
  • All those times Obake spent testing Big Hero 6 and pitting them against greater and greater challenges ultimately means they're more than capable enough to deal with his grand plan when he enacts it.
• Icy Blue Eyes: Has blue eyes and is a cold, ruthless figure.
• Ink-Suit Actor: He bears some resemblance to his voice actor, Andrew Scott.
• Invisible Parents: Nothing is known about his family life. Considering his accident at SFIT happened when he was a teenager, either he has a case of Parental Abandonment or he did have his parents' support, but it wasn't enough to keep him on the right track probably because medicine was not advanced enough to treat him 20 years ago.
• Kick the Dog:
  • Tricked Hiro into thinking that his dead brother Tadashi was alive.
  • When he steals Hiro's power amplifier from his lab, he casually tosses Tadashi's cap aside.
• Knight of Cerebus: While Obake still has some comedic traits, stemming from much of his quietly bombastic personality, he's also shown to be much more adept and subtly creepy than most of the other recurring antagonists.
• Leitmotif: Ominous ambiance tends to play around him.
• Lean and Mean: A tall, thin man and the antagonist of Season 1.
• Mad Hatter: He's aware of his own brain damage, but is content with it because it allows him to pursue his experiments without any guilt holding him back.
• Mad Scientist: Literally so, as Baymax scans that he's suffering treatable damage to the part of his brain responsible for discerning right from wrong.
• Manipulative Bastard: He is very talented at either manipulating people or at least predicting how they will act. As an example, he concocts an elaborate scheme where he tries to steal a chip that came into Krei's possession. The chip contains Obake's spyware, and Obake only tries to steal it to trick Krei into installing it.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: Obake has money on the side to have built his secret lair, as well as the one his minions steal for him, and he's a Sharp-Dressed Man who wears a tailor vest complete with a red cloth in the torso pocket.
• Meaningful Name: "Obake" is a name for a type of shapeshifting youkai. Over the course of Season One, he reveals himself to be a pretty effective Master of Disguise.
• Mirror Character: Despite Hiro stating he's nothing like him, Obake thinks otherwise. And he's right. Both are (were in Obake's case) teen geniuses with difficulty respecting their limits under Professor Granville's teaching. The difference is, Hiro realizes this and learns to respect his limits, while Obake never does and thinks they're only holding him back because of his Childhood Brain Damage, which causes him to lose his sanity to villainy.
• Mysterious Past: Though between the present day and his accident, 20 years went by, and we have no idea what happened in Obake's life during that period except a gradual Sanity Slippage.
• Never Found the Body: Hiro and Baymax never found his body while searching amongst the debris of his destroyed lair. Fred takes advantage of this in Fred the Fugitive by claiming he's returned in an attempt to get the team to go back on patrol after being branded fugitives.
• Non-Action Big Bad: He hires big guns such as Momakase and Globby or builds them (like Trina) to do his work and fight Big Hero 6, while he observes the show from the comfort of his secret lair.
• No Sense of Personal Space: When he has Hiro captive, he goes all in his personal bubble and puts his hands on his shoulders and back multiple times, which obviously makes Hiro uncomfortable.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: While he may believe his plan to destroy San Fransokyo will result in a place of unrestrained scientific progress and learning, he is also primarily doing this to be "remembered" and so that no one can limit his research. Due to his morality being heavily skewed by his brain damage, he sees scientific progress as an end to itself and doesn't care much about the people it's supposed to benefit.
• Ominous Multiple Screens: His Supervillain Lair has this setup.
• Omnicidal Maniac: His whole plan is to destroy all of San Fransokyo and remake it into a new city for the gifted.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: He managed to fool Honey Lemon with a cowboy hat, fake beard and Nerd Glasses. Justified since Honey Lemon had never met him before.
• Parental Favoritism: He seems to love Trina more than Noodle Burger Boy, since Trina is a realistic intelligent android, while Noodle Burger Boy is more Literal-Minded and gets on his nerves with his overly-cheerful attitude that disturbs him while he works. Plus, he made Trina himself, while he only stole and reprogrammed Noodle Burger Boy; Trina is his (robotic) daughter and Noodle Burger Boy is "adopted".
• Pet the Dog:
  • He hugs Trina and gently caresses her hair while she's deactivating in "The Botfighter".
  • After his plan fails, he removes the programming chip he placed in Baymax to allow him to go save Hiro.
• Posthumous Character: Despite passing away in the Season 1 finale, he's still being mentioned through Season 2 and not forgotten by the heroes. "Legacies" is about Trina avenging him and keeping his legacy going.
• A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: He was once Professor Granville's top student, until the accident left him with a tumor that makes him to unable to differentiate right from wrong, and is what drives him off the deep end.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: Obake wears a lot of black, has a red handkerchief in his pocket and a red strand in his otherwise black hair.
• Redemption Rejection: Baymax scans him and says his condition is treatable, but Obake brushes him aside: he enjoys living without any moral restraints.
• Red Herring: Given that the left side of his face glows occasionally, the reveal that he got gravelly injured as a kid in an experiment, and the fact that Trina is his robot daughter, it led to a lot of viewers to think he was a robot or a cyborg of some type which on top of it seemed all but confirmed on a sneak peak screenshot of the season's finale. It turns out said glow is a product of a brain tumor caused by his childhood accident which makes him mentally unstable. The picture of a robot is merely a drone he made to distract Hiro.
• Red Right Hand: The left side of his skull glows purple on occasion, the result of an unusual tumor he gained following a botched attempt to create an energy amplifier in his youth.
• The Reveal: In "Countdown to Catastrophe", Granville reveals that Obake was once a pupil of hers once known as Bob Aken.
• Revenge: Completely averted. You'd think he'd harbor some ill will towards Granville or SFIT, but he doesn't. In fact, he thanks Granville for making him the man he is today.
• Say My Name: A subdued version for a subdued villain: in "Baymax Returns", Obake ominously Title Drops the show (and the characters) while watching them on his monitors
• Sanity Slippage: Seems to have gone through one over the past 20 years after his Freak Lab Accident. He slowly goes through a worse one in "Countdown to Catastrophe". When Globby helps Hiro escape, Obake, who's normally calm and collected, becomes actually furious for the first time and angrily orders Momakase to bring him back.
• Scare Chord: He tends to produce these. This goes all the way back to his first appearance.
• Sdrawkcab Name: When he goes undercover to steal from Honey Lemon, he gives his name as "Herman Ekabo."
• Shadow Archetype: Just as Yokai was who Hiro might have become if he had let his desire for revenge against the person who took away someone he dearly loved overtake him, Obake is who Hiro could be if he didn't set limits for himself or care about who gets hurt in his experiments. Obake himself sees the similarities.
• The Silent Bob: Only in the chibi shorts. Bonus points for his name actually being Bob.
• Silent Snarker: Again, only in the chibi shorts. His facial expressions are priceless.
• Slasher Smile: Gives a terrifying one in "Killer App"◊ before he kidnaps Noodle Burger Boy.
• Stalker without a Crush: He grows an obsession in Hiro when he sees the two of them aren't that different, and the instant he knows his identity, he follows his everyday life and tests him from the shadows, with the intention of becoming his Evil Mentor.
• Steven Ulysses Perhero: His real name turns out to be Bob Aken.
• Supervillain Lair: Has one on the coast of San Fransokyo's Bay, which has a part that's underwater.
• Surrounded by Idiots:
  • Obake is a fairly dangerous and serious villain, while his henchmen, such as Globby and Noodle Burger Boy, are more prone to comedic and idiotic moments. He's clearly irritated by their antics as he tries to work in "Kentucky Kaiju":
    Obake: [rubbing his temples] Stop. Talking.
  • In Nega-Globby, photos shown on Dibs/Globby's phone◊ shows that Obake is not only not smiling in the photos, he seems annoyed to be bothered while he works.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: He's a tall, slender and ominous individual with a sarcastic side.
• Teen Genius: Was one in his youth, just like Hiro.
• Theme Naming: Obake is a type of yokai. On another level, "Bob", his real name, is a diminutive of "Robert", Yokai's real name.
• Tom the Dark Lord: A genius criminal mastermind whose real name is Bob.
• Trap Master: In "Rivalry Weak", once he introduces himself to Big Hero 6, he lures them into an abandoned warehouse with three different Death Trap rooms, which contains riddles than Big Hero 6 must decipher in order to escape the room and survive.
• Truly Single Parent: He built Trina, and she considers him her father. By how he caresses her hair in her debut episode, it's shown that Obake also cares about her the way he would for a daughter. Noodle Burger Boy also considers Obake his "daddy".
• Two-Faced: A downplayed variant. His face looks rather normal, but once he lives a strong emotion like anger or excitement, the left side of his face glows a bright purple. It's due to a Freak Lab Accident in his youth.
• The Unfettered: Likely at least in part due to both his brain damage and Granville not setting proper limits for him as a student, he has no problem destroying the entire city in order to create a better one.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: The flashbacks involving him in his youth from "Mini-Max" shows that Obake used to be a kid who was passionate about science and was excited to show his work to his teacher. Professor Granville even talked about him about a kid who wanted to make the world a better place.
• Tom the Dark Lord: His real name is "Bob Aken". Lampshaded by Fred when he finds out.
• Uncertain Doom: While he chooses to remain in his collapsing lair, the episode makes his fate nebulous.
• Underwater Base: His main lair is underneath San Fransokyo Bay.
• Viler New Villain: While Yokai of the movie pays no mind to collateral damage, he is avenging his beloved daughter, his temporarily Lack of Empathy is caused by his grief, and he pulls Heel–Face Turn in the Series. Obake is The Sociopath who wants to recreate the Great Catastrophe in order to be remembered as the man who rebuilt the city into a world of science and knowledge. He is willing to kill millions of innocent people For Science! When he is offered a chance to turn from villainy, he refuses.
• Vile Villain, Laughable Lackey: He's the serious, creepy Vile Villain in contrast to Globby and Noodle Burger Boy's Laughable Lackeys.
• Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: Obake, despite his occasional quirks, is a disturbingly dark and wicked villain for such a light-hearted and optimistic series. He's an Omnicidal Maniac who's willing to destroy an entire city and rebuild it to his vision at the cost of the lives of millions of people.
• Villainous Breakdown: It's more subdued, but he's clearly shocked and subsequently saddened to see his plan come apart, to the point that he doesn't even bother trying to save himself as his lair collapses around him.
• Villainous BSoD: After Big Hero 6 save the city, he's uncharacteristically heartbroken that everything he'd worked for up to that moment had been for naught, lamenting that he could have built San Fransokyo into something "perfect". Baymax offers to save him, but he refuses and orders him to save Hiro, believing they still could have done great things together. As his lair crumbles around him, Obake quietly sits in his chair and tells Baymax he's satisfied with his care, resigning himself to his fate.
• Villainous Legacy: His actions have left consequences for all of San Fransokyo to deal with, and Trina is determined to make sure his dream lives on.
• Villain's Dying Grace: His very last action is to release Baymax from his control to save Hiro, his Worthy Opponent, and when Baymax insists on trying to help him, he tells Baymax he doesn't want to be saved, and seems to prefer to die alongside his plan.
• Villains Out Shopping: Played with. He goes to Aunt Cass' cafe in "Kentucky Kaiju" because he wants to see how his latest plan is affecting Hiro.
• Villain Respect:
  • He respects Big Hero 6's intellect and ability to perform heroics, and thus views them as a Worthy Opponent.
  • In the Season 1 finale, when his evil plans are thwarted, he releases Baymax from his control and tells him to go back to Hiro. He could have kept Baymax under his control to stay with him, but it's implied that he respects Big Hero 6 enough (particularly Hiro, Baymax, and indirectly, Tadashi) that he sees their genius minds as worthy enough to entrust the care of the world to and didn't want that to go to waste.
• Villain Takes an Interest: In Hiro. Some of his plans amount to nothing more than testing the local boy genius, and it's implied he may believe they're not that different The finale reveals he wants to take Hiro in as his own protégé.
• Villainous Cheekbones: He is a villain with high and sharp cheekbones.
• Visionary Villain: His plan is revealed in the season 1 finale to be recreating the Great Catastrophe and the city's subsequent rebirth.
• Voice with an Internet Connection: His preferred method of talking is through phones, or hacking into various objects to communicate.
• We Can Rule Together: He plans to take Hiro in as a student so he could "reach his full potential", and rebuild what's left of San Fransokyo together after Obake succeed in recreating the Great Catastrophe.
• Wham Shot: At the end of "Issue 188", his face glows.
• Would Hurt a Child: Implied by how Obake's Evil Plan consists of wiping the entire city, killing millions of innocents, children included. And even if he wants Hiro by his side as his student, he tests his intelligence with gambits that most of the time put Hiro's life at stake.
  Obake: If [Hiro] is smart, he'll survive.
• Xanatos Gambit: After he decides Big Hero 6 are a threat to his plans, Obake enacts several plots against them that seem to fail... but in fact, help him learn more about the heroes.
• You Have Failed Me: Narrowly averted. When Yama fails to retrieve the alloy for Obake, he barely escapes a murder attempt from him by making an army of Baymax exoskeletons to get the alloy for him. He warns Yama not to deceive him next time.
• You're Insane!: Hiro calls Obake crazy to think he'd ever join his side.