Baymax

**Baymax** is the deuteragonist of Disney's 2014 animated feature film *Big Hero 6*. He is an inflatable computerized robot created by Tadashi Hamada to serve as a personal healthcare companion. Following Tadashi's death, Baymax was inherited by Hiro Hamada, with whom he became a member of the superhero team known as Big Hero 6. **He is based on the Marvel character of the same name from the Marvel Comics Series, *Big Hero 6*.** Baymax was created by Scott Lobdell and Gus Vazquez.

## Background

“*Wait 'til my brother sees you! You're going to help so many people, buddy. So many!*”
―Tadashi to Baymax (in a recording prior to his death)
Baymax was conceptualized by Tadashi as a prototype healthcare-providing robot nurse to be mass-produced, with a goal to improve healthcare around the world. He was constructed using equipment and funding courtesy of the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. Baymax's artificial intelligence (which was based on a thesis by SFIT alumni, Wendy Wower) comes from a special chip with Tadashi's inscriptions. The chip is equipped with a caregiving matrix, and without it, Baymax can be conceived as an entirely different being. As programming would have, Baymax is instantly summoned by the sound of distress, and can only deactivate once his current patient states, "I am satisfied with my care."

### Official Description

*Baymax cares. That's what he was designed to do. The adorable, plus-sized inflatable robot's job title is technically Healthcare Companion: With a simple scan, Baymax can detect vital stats, and, given a patient's level of pain, can treat nearly any ailment. Conceived and built by Tadashi Hamada, Baymax just might revolutionize the healthcare industry. But to the inventor's kid brother Hiro, the nurturing, guileless bot turns out to be more than what he was built for—he's a hero, and quite possibly Hiro's closest friend. And after some deft reprogramming that includes a rocket fist, super strength and rocket thrusters that allow him to fly, Baymax becomes one of the Big Hero 6.*
### Personality

By design, Baymax is selfless, caring, and extremely devoted to his patients. He looks to improve the world's health by any means necessary, and will willingly go to great lengths to achieve his programmed goal. Though highly knowledgeable in the medical field, he is slightly naïve and childlike. He is very calm, even in dangerous situations, and is somewhat slow in processing things around him that don't involve health. Baymax is also very curious of his surroundings and tends to get easily distracted. His docile personality comes from a healthcare programming chip created by Tadashi. When installed, Baymax is soft-spoken, polite and attentive. However, his personality and abilities can be altered with other chips; one example being a chip created by Hiro which gave Baymax the ability to fight, but also sent him on a violent rampage without the presence of his original chip.

At the start of the film, Baymax lacked understanding of human emotion—reason being, he lacked human emotion himself, as his only concern was to provide his patients with effective healthcare to the best of his ability. After meeting Hiro, however, he slowly began to change. Observant and impressionable, Baymax steadily picked up human tendencies and emotions, and eventually gained a definitive personality of his very own. This allowed him to form a close bond with Hiro, to the point where his protection over the former was no longer out of protocol, but rather because he felt a genuine connection to him.

As he was designed to devote himself entirely to his patients, Baymax was initially subservient to Hiro and followed his every command regardless of morality, in hopes that it would improve Hiro's emotional state. More so than his assigned patients, however, Baymax is committed to Tadashi and his ideals. Despite his creator's death, Baymax remained adamant about upholding Tadashi's wishes to help the world, not harm—a trait that Hiro lacked for a majority of the film. The stark contrast between Tadashi and Hiro allowed Baymax to develop a profound understanding of right and wrong, to the point of directly disobeying Hiro's orders to eliminate Tadashi's murderer. It is through Baymax's guidance that Hiro learns the errors of his ways, and from that point, all of Baymax's actions were consensual.

Though Baymax gained a personality and a mind of his own as the film progressed, one definite part of his programming that he decided to stick with, aside from his role as a healthcare companion, was his vow to never harm a human being. This would go on to shape the foundation of the Big Hero 6 moral code, as violence is not always the answer.

### Physical appearance

Baymax is a helper robot, who provides assistance to the host or guest within his presence. He is an inflatable white robot with his metal parts built from inside. They are only visible when one looks deep inside through his inflatable vinyl material. Baymax's external structure resembles the appearance of a cute, fluffy snowman, or, as Hiro calls him, a big marshmallow. A small badge-shaped access port is placed on the left side of his chest that can hold up to four cartridge chips at a time to contain his initial programming and any additional programming.

After Hiro downloads karate techniques into Baymax, he develops a prototype dull-green armor for Baymax to use in executing karate. This armor covers his limbs with various padding and restraint to his soft form and grants his vinyl construction resistance to damage. However, the armor is also wide enough to enable Baymax's wide exterior to fit.

In his superhero form, he is upgraded with red and purple protective armor. While in this form, he has the ability to fly with the aid of two foot-equipped rocket thrusters and back-mounted wings and can fight thanks to the reinforced durability the armor offers. This armor is also more flexible in that it possesses tremendous strength while at the same time it is more light-looking and sleek in design.

### Powers and abilities

According to Tadashi, Baymax was programmed with considerably impressive strength (he is stated to be able to lift 1,000 pounds) and the ability to store a massive amount of data, making him highly intelligent in several fields, should he take the time to access the information. He is also programmed with 10,000 different medical procedures and equipment, such as defibrillators in his hands and an antibacterial spray that is dispensed from his fingers. His body is also equipped with a heating system that warms anyone lying on him. Through the use of a scanner, Baymax can assess the healthcare needs of anyone, gaining information on what ails them, and which remedy can best treat them. As was addressed in "Countdown to Catastrophe", however, Baymax cannot act without the consent of his patient—no matter how dire the situation.

Baymax's vinyl building makes him rather vulnerable in harsh situations, resulting in Hiro creating a special, battle suit to utilize the healthcare robot in defeating sinister villains about the city of San Fransokyo. The first suit was equipped with Ninja-esque skills downloaded from one of Hiro's tai-chi videos, enabling Baymax with karate action.

Baymax's true powers, however, lied within his "2.0" version. The massive, red battle suit that gave Baymax incredible strength, flight via a set of rocket thrusters and back-mounted wings, and a scanning system within his helmet; giving him the ability to track and find anyone using only their medical information, such as body temperature and heart rate. Baymax was also given rocket-fists that, when unleashed, can cause an incredible amount of damage. The back of Baymax's armor was also equipped with magnetic extensions, allowing Hiro to safely ride atop the robot's back (when wearing his own armor) without the fear of falling. In "Fan Friction", Hiro upgrades Baymax's armor with an overdrive mode, inspired by Karmi's fan fiction, which transforms him into a superpower robot. This upgrade also includes an energy sword which is converted from his wings. However, using overdrive mode quickly drains Baymax's batteries.

## Biography

### *Big Hero 6*

One night, while giving him a tour of the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, Tadashi brings his younger brother Hiro into his laboratory. Using duct tape, Tadashi purposely causes Hiro physical pain on his right arm, causing Hiro to let out a cry of pain. This activates Baymax, whom Tadashi introduces as his latest project. Baymax makes his way towards Hiro and greets him, stating that he had been alerted to the need for medical attention with Hiro's cry of pain. He then gives a brief diagnosis of Hiro, tends to his wound and gives him a lollipop for being a good boy. Baymax tells Hiro the code words meant to deactivate him ("I am satisfied with my care") and after Hiro says those words in confusion, the robot returns to his idle state. At some undetermined time, Baymax was taken to the Hamada household, where he remained dormant. Meanwhile, during the robot's time of inactivity, Tadashi was tragically killed in a fire at San Fransokyo Tech, leaving Hiro to fall into deep depression.

On a day following the events of Tadashi's death, Hiro accidentally stubs his toe, letting out a cry of pain which summons Baymax, who greets Hiro and makes an attempt to tend to his wounds. However, out of despair, Hiro spends their reunion trying to rid himself of the robot, finding him annoying. Baymax informs Hiro of the code words meant to deactivate him and Hiro says those words while forcefully trying to push Baymax back into his idle state, but he slips off Baymax in mid-sentence. As he falls to the floor, he stumbles upon one of his Microbots (an army of miniature nano-bots created by Hiro to present at the science fair of San Fransokyo Tech on the night of Tadashi's death). However, as they were in the same building that caught fire, Hiro believed that the Microbots were destroyed. Even so, the sole Microbot in his possession tries to link itself with the remaining Microbots that had survived. Because of Hiro's belief, however, he deems the device defective and discards it.

Baymax, however, notices the bot trying to reach a particular destination and notifies Hiro. Hiro sarcastically orders Baymax to find the Microbot's desired destination, but the robot takes it literally and does just that. Hiro hastily follows behind in an attempt to bring Baymax home, but the two soon find themselves at an abandoned warehouse. Inside, they stumble upon an assembly line mass-producing a hoard of Microbots. The Microbots suddenly attack Hiro and Baymax, and while trying to escape the warehouse, they spot the culprit behind the conspiracy: a masked man by the name of Yokai. Hiro frantically rushes to the San Fransokyo Police Station to report the incident, hoping to use Baymax as a reliable witness. Before Baymax can share his experiences, however, his battery begins to drain, rendering Baymax dysfunctional. Hiro is then forced to return Baymax home to recharge. Once Baymax regains his composure, he notices Tadashi's absence and questions his whereabouts. Hiro explains Tadashi's death, leaving him with a heavy heart. Sensing this, Baymax downloads files on personal loss, allowing him to properly comfort Hiro.

As he and Baymax talk the fire over, Hiro realizes that the fire that killed Tadashi was no accident, but instead a way for Yokai to cover the tracks of his Microbot theft. Vengeful, Hiro swears to bring him to justice, immediately recruiting Baymax to assist him. Baymax is given an upgrade, using data and programming from a karate film. With a battle-centric chip and a suit of armor to protect his balloon-like exterior, Baymax is set, though he notes that the modifications may undermine his intentional purposes. Nevertheless, Hiro assures that catching Yokai will keep him healthy. After Baymax's training, Hiro teaches Baymax how to fist bump and Baymax adds fist bump to his caregiving matrix. The duo then sneak out into the night to track down Yokai. They are led to the docks, where Yokai soon appears. Hiro and Baymax prepare for battle, until Honey Lemon, Go Go Tomago, Wasabi, and Fred arrive, having been contacted by Baymax earlier, believing that their presence would help subdue Hiro's depression.

The noise made by their arrival catches Yokai's attention and the masked villain instantly attacks, throwing a load of cargo at the team in hopes of crushing them, only to be foiled by a protective Baymax. While the team retreats to Wasabi's van, Baymax stays behind to battle Yokai, though he meets his defeat rather quickly, The team makes their escape and seek refuge at Fred's mansion where they will be safe. As the team enters the mansion, Baymax fist bumps Fred's butler Heathcliff. Once inside, Baymax activates his built-in body heater to warm up Hiro and the team. As Hiro ponders on Yokai's true identity, Baymax reveals to have scanned Yokai's health, allowing Hiro to use the information to track the villain down. Before he does so, he, Baymax and the rest of the team undergo modifications to become a powerful group of superheroes. Under the guise of his armor, Baymax is known as "Baymax 2.0" and is the last to receive an upgrade. Once complete, he and Hiro take a test flight throughout the city, which not only proves to be a success but enhances Hiro's levels of happiness.

With Hiro's improved emotional state, Baymax believes he has fulfilled his purpose, asking Hiro if he's satisfied with his care. Not wanting Baymax to depart yet, and needing him to help put a stop to Yokai, Hiro denies and returns to the mission at hand, commanding Baymax to scan the city to find Yokai. The masked villain's whereabouts are traced to an island not far from the city and the heroes gather to travel forth. There, they find an abandoned facility originally belonging to tech-geru Alistair Krei, which was shut down after an accident involving his newly-built portal. The group also discovers the portal in the process of recreation, believing that Krei is the culprit behind Yokai's mask and wanting to rebuild the portal for his own purposes. Just then, Yokai attacks, and the villain's identity is soon revealed to be Robert Callaghan, the former professor at San Fransokyo Tech who was believed to have been killed in the same fire that killed Tadashi. Betrayed, Hiro commands Baymax to destroy the professor, but Baymax denies, explaining that he is unable to harm a human being. Without thinking, Hiro removes Baymax's healthcare programming chip, leaving only his battle programming chip to turn him into a mindless killing machine. Baymax instantly attacks Callaghan, but is held off by Go Go, Fred and Wasabi. As Callaghan escapes, Honey Lemon recovers Baymax's original chip and returns it to its slot.

Ashamed and shocked by the trouble he had just caused, Baymax apologizes to the team, only to have Hiro order him to find Callaghan in hopes of finishing the job. Leaving the others on the island, they return to San Fransokyo to repair Baymax's damaged scanner, and in during which, Hiro tries to remove Baymax's healthcare programming chip again. Remembering the events that occurred the last time his chip was taken out, Baymax locks his access port permanently and questions the morality of Hiro's behavior. Out of anger and grief, Hiro has a breakdown, openly voicing his despair over Tadashi's death. Baymax comforts Hiro by specifically stating "Tadashi is here", leading him to show a series of recorded footage of Hiro's deceased brother on his video monitor. The sight and sound of a comforting, loving Tadashi comforts Hiro's heavy heart, bringing him to his senses. Hiro thanks Baymax and apologizes, just before the rest of the team arrives and shows the duo new footage that they uncovered on the island.

It is revealed that Callaghan's daughter, Abigail, was apparently killed in the accident that resulted in the closure of Krei's facility. The team heads to Krei Tech, where Callaghan attacks Alistar and reveals his plot to destroy all that Krei loves by sending it all into the portal that killed his daughter. Baymax and the others battle Callaghan, but are soon pinned down by the overwhelming swarm of Microbots. Fortunately, Baymax gathers his strength and rushes to the rescue, managing to save Hiro. From there, the two set their sights on Callaghan's Microbots, destroying them and sending them into the sucking portal, thus rendering Callaghan powerless. With that, Baymax and Hiro launch towards Callaghan, but Baymax stops inches short of the villain, as Hiro no longer wishes to kill. Instead, Baymax swipes Callaghan's mask and destroys it. Once the portal is subdued, Hiro and the team prepare to escape to avoid its oncoming destruction. However, Baymax's sensor detects signs of life coming from the portal. Hiro realizes that it must be Abigail, and that she's still alive, so he volunteers to go inside to rescue her.

Inside, and after some time of flying, they come across Abigail's shuttle with help from Baymax's scanners, finding her resting in hyper-sleep. While escaping the portal, a piece of debris from Krei's demolished building strikes them, destroying most of Baymax's armor. However, having one rocket-fist intact, Baymax gets the idea to blast Hiro and Abigail to safety, knowing that sacrificing himself would be the only way to save them. Baymax requests that Hiro deactivates him, but a panicked Hiro goes against the idea, refusing to lose Baymax as well. Baymax calmly explains that it's the only way of survival and assures Hiro that, no matter what, he will always be with him. In tears, Hiro embraces his companion and sadly recites the statement to initiate Baymax's deactivation. With these words, Baymax ignites his rocket fist, sending Hiro and Abigail back to safety while he is left stranded within the portal, which eventually explodes.

After returning home with Abigail by his side, Hiro and the team mourn the loss of their robotic comrade. Following these events, Hiro and the gang bring Callaghan to justice, sending him to the authorities while a now-conscious Abigail is taken to the hospital for medical care. Over time, Hiro manages to move on from the loss of Tadashi and Baymax, finding comfort in his family and friends as well as joining San Fransokyo Tech as an official student. As such, Hiro inherits Tadashi's former laboratory, where he stores Baymax's armor fist in loving memory of his companion. Upon fondly remembering the robot, Hiro notices Baymax's original healthcare programming chip within the palm of the robotic fist. This allows Hiro the ability to recreate Baymax, using the chip to restore his personality and memories. The moment Baymax is rebooted, he instantly recognizes Hiro and happily greets him. The two then share a loving reunion. Following Baymax's revival, Hiro reforms the "Big Hero 6" superhero team and the friends go about their days heroically protecting their city.

During the credits, Baymax is seen sticking along with Hiro as the two hang out with Hiro's friends and watch television with Cass and Mochi. Newspapers show the Big Hero 6 team performing heroic deeds around the city and Baymax stopping a runaway cable car, saving its passengers. Baymax also attends a ceremony of a building dedication in Tadashi's name alongside Hiro and his friends, Cass and Mochi.

## Trivia

* Baymax tends to use fewer contractions in his vocabulary. However, there have been times when he would do so.
* To capture the personality of Baymax, Don Hall and Chris Williams were inspired by Totoro from Studio Ghibli's *My Neighbor Totoro*.
* One of Baymax's poses on Hiro's laptop resembles Tony Stark's poses when he was putting on his armor at the beginning of *Iron Man 3*.
* In the scene where Baymax first meets Hiro, it is unknown where Baymax got the lollipop he handed to Hiro.
* Baymax, Hiro, and Fred are the only members of the team to not have nicknames.
* Baymax is 6'2" in height.
* Hiro and Baymax's flight through the city is reminiscent of when Tony Stark took his first flight in his first cinematic film.
* Baymax can download vast amounts of information into himself by simply touching another technological device, such as a computer monitor or, if possible, another robot. This is evidenced during the scene where Baymax downloads all kinds of information on human emotion to comfort Hiro for the first time. He touches Hiro's computer monitor to download the information.
* The 2013 Rotoscopers video and early information regarding the plot somewhat implies that Baymax was originally built by Hiro only *after* Tadashi's death to fill his void, just like in the comic book. At that time of production, his quotes were cheesy.
* Baymax activates when he hears the words "Ow" and deactivates when he hears the words "I am satisfied with my care" as mentioned above. However, Baymax is shown to activate without hearing the word 'Ow' in "The Impatient Patient" and "The Bot Fighter".
* Tadashi took 84 tries to perfect Baymax.
* When Baymax is low on battery, he enters a state that appears to make him highly euphoric and incoherent, as if he were intoxicated. It is possible that power is distributed unevenly throughout his circuitry when there is not enough battery before he shuts down. It normally takes about 15 seconds for his lithium-ion battery to charge.
* In the manga version of the movie (which is altered), it is shown that when Hiro was younger, he was severely targeted and bullied for his intelligence, changing him into a shut in. Tadashi would often fight the bullies to protect his brother and provide his brother first aid. To cheer Hiro up, he would also give a lollipop. This may have been his inspiration to create Baymax.
* A deleted scene that is present in supplementary books *The Science of Big Hero 6* bonus DVD (and the manga named after him) reveals that Baymax was presented at the showcase with Fred and Tadashi by his side and whether Baymax was still inside the building when it exploded is left a mystery.
* Despite the fact that he is supposed to deactivate when he is told "I am satisfied with my care", when he shows Hiro the clips of Tadashi building him and his final completion, when Tadashi in the video said "I am satisfied with my care", the recording had paused but Baymax did not deactivate. This may be because it was from a video or because he needs to hear these words from the person who activated him and whom he is serving as a patient.
* Baymax is capable of turning his head around 180 degrees, as shown during the car chase with Yokai.
* While Aunt Cass is oblivious to Baymax's existence (until after the events of the film), Hiro and Tadashi's friends appeared to have been acquainted with Baymax prior to the car chase with Yokai. However, Tadashi had never introduced Baymax to them onscreen. Part of this was due to the fact that Baymax was originally supposed to be introduced at the SFIT presentation. The scene was cut so that Baymax's introduction can be felt by Hiro.
* After 2014 renovations of the Walt Disney Animation Studios building, Baymax was one of the character silhouettes featured on the wall mural.
* Many Orisa's voice lines in Overwatch are based on him.