Edna Mode

“	I never look back dahling, it distracts from the now.	„
	~ Edna Mode

“	NO CAPES!	„
	~ Edna's catchphrase

Edna Marie "E" Mode is the overarching protagonist of Pixar's The Incredibles franchise.

She is Bob Parr's mentor and the costume designer for the superhero community in the franchise, though she refuses to include capes to the costumes because of the number of superheroes that were killed when their capes were caught in assorted gadgets like airplane turbines and elevators. She has a little bit of screen-time in the first film, but more screen-time in the second film.

Edna is a half-Japanese, half-German, short fashion designer and auteur. She is known for calling everyone "Dahling" ("darling").

Despite being a female, she was voiced by the film's director Brad Bird. who is a man.

Personality[]

Edna has created custom-made original outfits for superheroes since the "glory days", proclaiming that she designs for gods. It is apparent that she feels infinitely superior to all other fashion designers in the world, as she shows anger knowing that Elastigirl got a new outfit from a rival designer, and demands to be Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, and Frozone's exclusive designer "throughout the known universe and until the end of time" in return for looking after Jack-Jack for a day. She shows such disdain toward runway boutiques and modern fashion models, claiming that she had recently returned from a fashion event in Milan after designing clothing for them, and called them "spoiled, stupid little stick figures with poofy lips who think only about themselves".

She is very talented and as demanding of others as she is of herself. She is also shown to have a constant desire to create and design new things. She runs away with ideas, such as when Bob Parr asks her for a simple repair in his old suit, which she immediately deems a "hobo suit" and replaces it, as well as creates new suits for the rest of his family. She has a particular hatred of superhero capes, having learned from experience the potential dangers of wearing the clothing item. Edna also seems not to be concerned with the past, saying "it distracts from the now," and is not very emotional. This is evident when Helen is crying over the thought that her husband might be cheating on her or in danger, and instead of comforting her, Edna smacks her with a newspaper and orders her to pull herself together.

Biography[]

The Incredibles[]

Edna has created custom-made original outfits for superheroes since the "glory days", saying that she used to design for gods. It is apparent that she feels infinitely superior to all other designers in the world and shows much disregard toward runway boutiques and modern fashion models, claiming that she had gone to Milan to design clothing for the supermodels, and called them "spoiled, stupid little stick-figures with poofy lips who think only about themselves".

In the beginning of the first film, she attended Mr. Incredible's and Elastigirl's wedding.

Edna is called out of a 15-year period of imposed retirement to repair damage to Bob's supersuit, and ends up producing a series of completely new, matching outfits for the entire Parr family. For safety reasons, she is very insistent on not including capes in the new design, mainly because any superhero who had a cape ended up killed or trapped. This proves to be a foreshadowing as to the final fate of the villain.

Later, when Bob's wife Helen discovers that a rip of his super-suit has been mended, she suspects Edna. She contacts Edna, wanting to talk about the suit, and Edna insists that she come see her almost immediately. Helen goes to Edna's mansion, where Edna reveals that she has designed super-suits for the entire family, adding that each suit is equipped with a homing device. As Helen desperately wants to find out her husband's whereabouts, Edna hands her a device that gives her his exact location. When Helen finds out that Bob is on a faraway island, she breaks down in tears, in fear that she is losing the man she loves. Angry, Edna then whacks Helen on her head with a newspaper, demanding that she pull herself together, go confront the troubles he is facing, fight, and win, now that she knows where he is.

In a later scene, Edna's intention to make the super suits completely indestructible comes in handy when Syndrome does attempted murder on Bob's family with missiles while they're on an airplane

Incredibles 2[]

In the sequel, Edna first appears after a sleep-deprived Bob shows up with Jack-Jack. Edna is furious that Elastigirl is wearing a costume made by a different designer (Alexander Galbaki) but still lets Bob in. Bob tells her he needs her to look after Jack-Jack so that he can get a night's sleep. At first, Edna refuses, telling him she's not a babysitter. However, when Jack-Jack mimics her form, appealing to her curiosity and vanity, and displays several other powers, she agrees.

The next day, Bob comes to pick Jack-Jack up. Edna reveals that she had a good time with Jack-Jack. She's aware that young Supers have trouble controlling their powers and designed a special suit for him so Bob can look after him more easily. Edna puts him in the chamber to demonstrate. Edna reveals that the suit is connected to a datapad that lets Bob know when Jack-Jack is about to use his powers. She then continues the demonstration with a gigantic cookie. Edna warns Bob that any solution involving cookies will end with Jack-Jack becoming the demon baby, a revelation she recalls learning painfully. Edna's prediction proves true when, being denied the cookie, Jack-Jack throws a tantrum, transforming into his monster form and using his Combustion power. Edna has Bob hit the tracker, which makes Jack-Jack's suit put out the fire with a flame retardant made of blackberry lavender which she informs him is both edible and delicious - making it safe for curious babies.

After the demonstration is over, Bob thanks Edna and takes Jack-Jack home, and in return, she demands that she be his, Elastigirl's, and Frozone's exclusive designer "throughout the known universe and until the end of time" and claims she'll watch Jack-Jack anytime and for free. Later in the ending, Edna is seen in the far left corner when Supers are now legal once more.

Abilities[]

Though it never occurred to others how Supers got their suits or suspect Edna of having power, Edna's most notable trait is her fashion designs, which extends to creating super-suits for them. Edna uses technology to create the suits so they can accommodate the powers of the Supers who wear them.

Her intellect has its limits. Though Edna creates suits for all Supers, she sometimes has trouble making them adjust to a Super's abilities. An example is shown when Edna stated Violet's suit was tricky, as she had to make it entirely out of a sturdy material that can become invisible as she does.

Trivia[]

Edna Mode's explanation about her policy of "no capes" and why capes are dangerous to superheroes foreshadows Syndrome's death, as his cape got tangled in a plane's engine.
Lily Tomlin was offered the role of Edna Mode, but she turned it down due to hearing Brad Bird's placeholder performance and thinking it was too good to replace.
According to her voice actor Brad Bird^[1], her accent is meant to reflect Japan and Germany's shared advancement in technology, which makes further sense when considering the fact that the whole franchise is set in the 20th century.