Mirage (The Incredibles) (2024)

Mirage is the secondary antagonist of the 2004 Disney/Pixar animated film The Incredibles. She was Syndrome's sultry assistant during his attempt to eradicate Supers, but she had a change of heart after Syndrome appeared to pass off her life.

Background[]

Personality[]

Mirage is a calm and decisive femme fatale who thrives on wealth and power. Unlike Syndrome, however, she has standards for how far she is willing to go for it.

At first, Mirage respected Syndrome as her leader and her presumed lover, sharing in his taste for calculation and betrayal and willingly drawing supers to their deaths to near the point where they could release the Omnidroid for its rampage. However, she does have some honor, as she was clearly ill at ease with Syndrome opening fire on Elastigirl's plane when they learned children were aboard, and all of her loyalty for him completely faded away when Syndrome expressed no concern for her life once Mr. Incredible threatened to kill her and then mocked the man whose family he thought he had killed by calling him weak, thus making her change her ways completely by siding with the Incredibles.

Physical appearance[]

Mirage is a tall tan-skinned young woman with mid-back length platinum-blonde hair that has bangs swept to the left side, green eyes, and a very slim body.

She has a penchant for expensive clothes, and sometimes wears earrings and also wears high-heeled black shoes.

Role in the film[]

"Mirage" is a pseudonym, her real name is currently unknown. She is Syndrome's seductive right-hand woman, who aided him in the murder of Gazerbeam and many other superheroes during Operation Kronos. She had been conducting surveillance on Frozone for some time in an attempt to make him Syndrome's next murder victim, however, when she spots Frozone with his good friend Mr. Incredible, Mirage recommends to Syndrome that they put Frozone on hold and instead target Mr. Incredible, given Syndrome's hatred of the latter. She later slips a video message to Bob Parr on his last day at Insuricare, spinning a story of needing superhero help with a government project gone wrong and promising to pay him to triple his annual salary at Insuricare, which he opens that night after he is fired by Gilbert Huph. Mr. Incredible, both eager to resume his superhero glory days and in need of money to support his family now that he is unemployed, accepts Mirage's offer. Mirage meets Mr. Incredible aboard the Manta Ship and requests him to deactivate the allegedly defective Omnidroid 9,000 on Nomanisan Island without destroying it, warning him that the robot will learn the longer that the battle goes on. She watches from a surveillance bird with Syndrome as Mr. Incredible succeeds in the task, surprising the vengeful villain who instructs Mirage to invite him to dinner. She later joins Mr. Incredible at dinner that night, explaining away her superior's absence as him liking anonymity, and explaining that she's drawn to him due to a mutual attraction to power. After receiving his pay, Bob returns home.

Two months later, Mirage contacts Mr. Incredible again after the super has turned his home life around with both the increased income and losing a significant amount of weight. She greets him complimenting his new suit, courtesy of Edna Mode, and escorts him to a suite, informing him that he will receive his briefing later that day in a certain room, in actuality a trap where Syndrome and the completed Omnidroid 10,000 waits to intercept him. Later that night, after Mr. Incredible tricked Syndrome's probe into thinking he was dead, Mirage inadvertently lets Mr. Incredible into Nomanisan's control room, allowing him to discover Syndrome's plans, but finds him when the tracking device on his suit triggers the security system.

She is present later when Syndrome tries to interrogate Mr. Incredible about the plane heading to the island, looking on with an increasingly uncomfortable expression as Syndrome sends missiles at the jet when it becomes clear that Mr. Incredible's wife is the pilot, and even more so when they learn that their children are on the plane. She reluctantly informs Syndrome that the missiles destroyed the plane and notices Mr. Incredible fighting through his binds after Syndrome taunts him. She pushes him out of the way, winding up in Mr. Incredible's grasp herself as the super threatens to crush her unless Syndrome releases him. Syndrome comments it is uncharacteristically dark for him and passes it off, much to Mirage's concern, and goads Mr. Incredible. The broken super releases her a few seconds later, and Mirage's expression shows even more uncertainty as she leaves the room. Syndrome continues to taunt him over being weak and beneath him now while Mr. Incredible sobs for his presumed deceased family. Later, as they prepare the rocket to launch the Omnidroid, Mirage calls Syndrome out on his attitude, to which Syndrome tells her he simply called Mr. Incredible's bluff and that he knew he would not have it in him to hurt her. Not buying his excuse, Mirage furiously tells him to bet his own life when he gambles again and storms off in disgust, leaving Syndrome confused.

The next morning, Mirage has decided to defect from Syndrome, and shortly after learning that Mr. Incredibles' family had survived and made it to the island, she goes to free him. The super nearly chokes her before she manages to say that they're alive, upon which the super releases and then warmly embraces her. She then notices Helen in the doorway, who punches her in the face, under the impression that her husband had an affair with her. Mr. Incredible quickly disabuses her of that notion, and Mirage warns them that their children may have triggered the alarm and tells them to hurry to find them.

Later, after Syndrome has left the island, leaving the Incredibles bound in the containment room, Mirage sees the Omnidroid attacking the city on the news with a worried expression and then sees the escaped family running through the halls, to her surprise. Reaching the hangar, the Incredibles decide to use the extra rocket to return to the mainland, but Mr. Incredible surmises that Syndrome has changed the password. As he ponders on how they could access the computer, Mirage speaks over the intercom: "Say please." Thanks to Mirage, the Incredibles are able to return to Metroville to stop the Omnidroid and thus foil Syndrome's plan of Operation Kronos for good.

Printed media[]

Mirage has since joined the NSA as an agent. When Xerek becomes active again in Europe, she and Helen are assigned to work together against the diminutive supervillain's schemes. When discovering Helen's past with Xerek and how she is keeping this from the rest of the family, Mirage points out that she is doing exactly the same thing Bob was doing, to Helen's chagrin. Arriving in Paris, they face Bomb Voyage and a group of mercenaries, though they are outnumbered. Helen pursues Bomb Voyage to Xerek's lair, with Mirage meeting her there. After Xerek's small goal of wanting to lure Helen out under the assumption, she missed the thrill of the old days and him, both heroes just laugh and Xerek is arrested as Mirage manages to offer his mercenaries better pay.

Video games[]

Disney Infinity[]

Mirage also makes a non-playable appearance in the game Disney Infinity, where she helps the Incredibles and Edna Mode to defeat Syndrome before he can destroy the city.

Gallery[]

Screenshots[]

Miscellaneous[]

Trivia[]

• Her name means an optical illusion caused by atmospheric conditions or something that appears real or possible but is not in fact so, as it alludes at her deceptive nature and her comparing herself to the Supers that, according to the government, they do not exist.
• Mirage is similar to several James Bond villainesses, especially ones such as puss* Galore and Andrea Anders who, like her, eventually defect from their truly evil employers.
• Mirage's voice strongly suggests a Central American or European accent.
• Despite her original voice actress Elizabeth Peña having a Spanish last name, and the ability to speak Spanish, she has not dubbed her own voices for Spanish-language releases.
• Mirage's skill in locating superheroes seems to show that she has extensive computing skills and is adept at human intelligence (HUMINT).
• Director Brad Bird has said that Mirage does not have superpowers.
• It is implied Mirage has a crush on Mr Incredible as she was flirting with him.
• One of her other infamous outfits is a long black dress, which she wore when she had dinner with Mr. Incredible.
• The phone number on Mirage's business card reads (866) 787-7476. On a typical telephone keypad, this translates into "SUPRHRO."
• Mirage is the only character to call Helen with her alternate name "Mrs. Incredible"; this is because at that point her identity was still unknown.
• Mirage is the third Pixar villain to reform at the end of the film, after Molt and Fungus.
• Among all the Disney villains that "turn good," Mirage, though "merely" being an accomplice in all of the murders she participated in, has the highest known body count, and, in the comics, she is never punished for these several counts of willing accessory to murder, even though she should have been, considering that she is an accomplice to multiple crimes:
  • Espionage (gaining access to federal data, the only conceivable way she could find the supers and enlist them).
  • Tax evasion and wire fraud (paying supers under the table money).
  • Impersonating a government agent (Claiming to be a government representative/employee).
  • Murder/Manslaughter (willful aiding in the murder of several superheroes).
  • Terrorism (launching an attack on US soil).
• Ironically, almost everything she says to Mr. Incredible during their meeting on the plane turns out to be or become the truth: the Omnidroid's powers she lists are real and they actually lose control of the Omnidroid v.10.
• It should be noted that all of Mirage's printed media appearances after the events of The Incredibles have been rendered non-canon since the creation and release of Incredibles 2. As a result, her actual canonical fate after the first film is still unknown.

External links[]

• Mirage on Pixar Wiki
• Mirage on The Incredibles Wiki