Tadashi Hamada

At Home with Olaf (2020, cameo)

### Friends

Baymax (creation), Honey Lemon, Wasabi, Fred Frederickson, Go Go Tomago, Alistair Krei

### Likes

Helping others, his family and friends, San Fransokyo Ninjas, robotics, martial arts, his family and friends, Baymax

### Dislikes

Bot-fights, Hiro neglecting his own genius, upsetting others (including his aunt), crime, illegal or unlawful behavior, recklessness

## Character's Bio

### Nationality

AmericanAmerican-British (Trapped & Disappearances)

## Physical Apearance

### Status

Deceased

**Tadashi Hamada** is one of *Big Hero 6* characters. He was Hiro Hamada's older brother and Baymax's creator, as well a gifted robotics student living in San Fransokyo.

## Early Life

Tadashi was an inventor and the older brother of Hiro Hamada. The Hamada boys were taken in by their aunt Cass some time after the death of their parents, where they were raised in her café in the city of San Fransokyo. While Hiro was unable to remember their parents due to his young age, Tadashi possessed a clear memory of what they were like. During their childhood, Hiro exhibited high intellect for his young age, although Tadashi was the only person to fully understand how he felt due to the boy's intelligence isolating him from friends. They also came up with a special set of rules that only they knew. On Halloween days, Tadashi also took his brother to haunted houses.

By the time Hiro graduated from high school at the age of 13, Tadashi was accepted into the prestigious San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, where he became friends with *Go Go Tomago*, *Wasabi*, *Honey Lemon* and Fred.

On the last Christmas before his death, Tadashi built a Snow Machine because it didn't snow where they lived. The machine malfunctioned and caused an avalanche, but Tadashi kept it as he intended to fix it and give it as a present for Hiro next year.

During his time studying at SFIT and majoring in Robotics under the tutelage of Professor Robert Callaghan, Tadashi earned his own laboratory through hard work—a lab that belonged to a former student, Bob Aken, a few decades before. Tadashi admired Callaghan, but also became a fan of SFIT graduate Dr. Trevor Trengrove as he read Trengrove's groundbreaking thesis about artificial intelligence titled "*Artificial Fun-telligence*". Tadashi owned a copy of this thesis and became inspired by it, as well as his desire to help people, to start his very own project about a healthcare companion robot that would help anyone in need. He named his project "Baymax" and went through 84 attempts until the robot was perfected. Tadashi recorded each test, and although at times he felt tired or desperate that Baymax wasn't working the way he wanted, he never gave up as his motivation was to help as many people as he could. Since Tadashi was not an expert in the medical field, he asked fellow student Lily for help to code a healthcare chip with a large database of nursing information for Baymax that allowed him to hold most kinds of information—including memories and a personality of its own.

After the final test, Tadashi was excited and wanted to show Baymax to Hiro, though he first introduced the robot to Aunt Cass and his friends. Tadashi also participated in a seismic project for SFIT where he created a model of a building that would support huge earthquakes, and Baymax learned about this.

However, Hiro, not wanting to attend college himself because he considered it a waste of time, soon became involved with bot fighting, to the displeasure of Tadashi who believed that Hiro was wasting his potential when he could do something useful with his gift. Due to this new problematic behavior, Tadashi had sewn mini-GPS systems into every one of Hiro's hoodies to keep track of him.

## Appearances

### *Big Hero 6*

One night, in the city's illegal underworld, Hiro engages himself in a bot fight against a group of thugs, specifically the boisterous Yama. After facing a humiliating defeat, Yama seeks revenge by ordering his goons to attack the young genius, who is immediately rescued by Tadashi on his moped. The brothers make their escape as Tadashi reprimands Hiro for his actions, only to find themselves caught and arrested by the San Fransokyo police. Yama and his gang are forced to share a cramped cell with Tadashi, while Hiro has a separate cell to himself due to being a minor. Tadashi was not happy with this and silently glared at Hiro across from his cell for getting them into the situation. Fortunately, they are released on account of Aunt Cass, who scolds the two on the ride home.

Frustrated with Hiro's bot-fighting obsession, Tadashi takes his younger sibling to his school, the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, in hopes of sending him down a better path. At the Institute, Hiro meets Tadashi's closest friends (Go Go Tomago, Wasabi, Honey Lemon and Fred), Tadashi's latest invention Baymax and Professor Callaghan (an aspiring master of robotics and Hiro's personal idol). The experience successfully manipulates Hiro into having a strong desire to attend the school.

To gain acceptance into San Fransokyo Tech, Tadashi suggests that Hiro participate in the school's annual science fair. Should his invention and presentation impress Callaghan, he'll be allowed enrollment. Unfortunately, Hiro reaches a creative rut until Tadashi steps in and advises that he look from a different angle. Tadashi's advice leads to the creation of the Microbots. On the night of the fair, Callaghan shows amazement at the sight of Hiro's latest invention, leading to the latter's acceptance into the school. After the successful presentation, Tadashi and Hiro have some time alone, during which the older brother congratulates the younger one on his accomplishment, showing pride in the new path that he's willing to take.

Just then, a fire breaks loose at the school and the brothers immediately rush to the action. While most civilians manage to escape, Tadashi learns from a survivor that Callaghan is still trapped inside the burning building. With no help around to save him, Tadashi volunteers his own life. A fearful Hiro immediately stops his brother, but reluctantly allows the decision upon seeing Tadashi's humanity and motivation to rescue his mentor. After rushing inside, the building violently explodes, killing Tadashi (even though his final moments are not shown, the junior novelization implies that he was crushed by a falling beam). After Tadashi's death, the people of San Fransokyo mourn his loss while a heartbroken Hiro falls into a deep state of depression. Over time, Hiro and his friends discover that the fire was caused by Callaghan as a cover-up for stealing Hiro's Microbots.

Though mentioned several times during the events following his demise, Tadashi would not appear again until after Hiro's anger and frustration consumes him, leading Baymax to show a series of footage (which was recorded while Tadashi was in the process of building the healthcare companion) to comfort the boy. In it, it is shown that Tadashi had struggled to perfect the robot, each attempt ending with a major failure. Although there were many setbacks, Tadashi never gave up on building him. During the eighty-fourth test, Baymax was finally functional. With Baymax working properly, Tadashi stated his eagerness to use his creation to help others, as well as sharing his success with Hiro. The footage successfully heals Hiro's damaged heart, and as such, the young prodigy vows to use his intellect to change the world for the better, which he does by defeating Professor Callaghan and using the Big Hero 6 team to selflessly protect the city.

During the credits of the film, a newspaper shows a ceremony of a building dedication in Tadashi's name taking place, in which Hiro accepts the honor on behalf of his late brother.

### *Big Hero 6: The Series*

In the television series, Tadashi is mentioned fairly often and occasionally appears via video recordings. As Hiro officially enrolls in San Fransokyo Tech (where Tadashi is considered a "legend" according to "Baymax Returns"), he is pressured by Professor Granville to live up to Tadashi's legacy and someday inherit his personal lab. Though Hiro is successful in earning the lab and cites Tadashi as a major inspiration, he makes it his goal to find his own path. Meanwhile, Honey Lemon, Wasabi, Go Go and Fred continue to fill the void left behind by Tadashi by acting as Hiro's guardians (alongside Aunt Cass). In addition to watching over the boy genius, they also work together to keep Hiro out of trouble and mischief. They are especially strict about Tadashi's wish to keep Hiro away from illegal bot-fights, as seen in "The Bot Fighter".

While trying to learn more about Professor Granville's past in "Mini-Max", Hiro visits Callaghan in prison to gather intel. During their meeting, Callaghan apologizes to Hiro for having caused Tadashi's death. Hiro notes that, despite knowing Tadashi would advocate forgiveness, he can't bring himself to actually forgive Callaghan yet. When Hiro found himself slipping back into his bot-fighting habits in "The Bot Fighter", Baymax showed a clip of Tadashi in which the latter expressed his concern over Hiro's bot-fighting obsession. Despite his reservations, Tadashi reminded himself that Hiro's a good person and will choose to do the right thing. This inspired Hiro to remain firm on his decision to quit bot-fighting. Tadashi's influence on Hiro puts a wrench into the scheme of Obake, who looks to have Hiro join his nefarious side.

In "Obake Yashiki", Hiro is sprayed with a gas that unknowingly placed digital imaging lenses onto his eyes. This gave Hiro—and only Hiro—the illusion that Tadashi is roaming about San Fransokyo, alive. Though confused and visibly shaken, Hiro finds himself too relieved to see Tadashi again to realize the dubious nature of the situation. As the brothers finally catch up, Hiro mentions Professor Granville and her belief that the former needs limits. Tadashi rejects this notion and claims that limitation will only slow Hiro down. When Hiro notes that he's currently working to fix Baymax, Tadashi declares that Hiro's intelligence should not be "wasted" on his old work. Knowing his brother would never say such things, Hiro gathers that he's talking to an illusion created by augmented reality. He quickly comes to realize that this was Obake's doing, but questions how the villain could have known so much about Tadashi to make the illusion so convincing. As it turns out, Obake had acquired Baymax's development footage and used them to familiarize himself with Tadashi's characteristics. Despite failing to coerce Hiro into the side of villainy once again, Obake compliments the boy genius on his deduction.

It is revealed in "City of Monsters" that Tadashi had assistance from a physician when creating Baymax. When Hiro claims that Karmi can't be a robotics and biotech genius, comparing her to Tadashi, Baymax shows him a video of Tadashi having assistant from needed that physician's input to articulate his medical skills.

Tadashi appears in a flashback in "The Present". He had created a snow machine, which he showed to Hiro, who pointed out that it would require a lot of energy and suggested adding insulation to reduce it. Tadashi then attempted the first test run of the machine in their bedroom, but it malfunctioned, causing an avalanche inside Lucky Cat Café. Months after that incident, during the period Baymax was created and programmed, Tadashi had fixed the snow machine and showed it while recording one of Baymax's tests, mentioning how he also took Hiro's note and thanked him for it. Tadashi had planned to give the machine to Hiro as a present for the following Christmas and wrapped it ahead of time.

In "Legacies", Trina's talk of her father Obake's legacy inspires Hiro to keep Tadashi's legacy alive instead. At the end of the episode, during a graduation ceremony at SFIT (in which Honey Lemon, Go Go, and Wasabi graduate from the institution), a large photo of Tadashi is behind the podium as Hiro delivers his speech about his big brother and desire to keep helping others. After Hiro wraps up his speech, he accepts Tadashi's degree from Professor Granville on his behalf.

Other Appearances

In the series finale of *At Home With Olaf*, a short clip of *Big Hero 6* featuring Tadashi, Baymax, and Hiro appears during a montage of heartwarming moments from Disney films playing in Olaf's song "I Am with You".

## Official Description

Tadashi is a good guy. He just is. He actually developed, built and programmed a state-of-the-art nursebot—a Healthcare Companion named Baymax that will likely help millions worldwide. But it's his role as big brother that makes Tadashi truly special. Every kid needs a guy like Tadashi looking out for him, and Hiro knows just how lucky he is to have him in his life.

## Personality

Incredibly kind, encouraging and hard-working, Tadashi is considered the epitome of a great brother, nephew, and student, always there when people need him. He has an energetic sense of humor and can be silly and excitable.

Tadashi is very hard-working and intellectually gifted. He does not believe in "dead ends" and values hard work to accomplish goals. He also has a large understanding of health and medicine. Ever the optimist, he successfully balances this rising career in cutting-edge technology and providing moral and emotional support for his younger brother while keeping a good attitude and a happy smile. He also even appears to be athletic and he is known to have taught Hiro some karate; Baymax's statement that Tadashi was in 'excellent health' also indicates that he is physically fit.

As the only male figure in Hiro's life, he has carried the burden of responsibility from a young age, knowing that he had to be a good role model. Having to care for Hiro alongside their aunt Cass has made Tadashi gentle and understanding, though as the big brother, he can still be rough on occasion. He is also not above scolding Hiro or becoming upset with him, getting angry at Hiro's unwillingness to try and make something of his life, showing a slightly frustrating side to his personality not seen anywhere else. He encourages Hiro to be the best that he can be and supports him in his endeavors. He was also sneaky, as he promised Hiro he would take him to a bot fight but in reality took him to his university, claiming he "needed to get something" before they headed off in order to get Hiro to come to his university and become interested in it while technically keeping his promise of "taking him to the bot fight" without actually doing it.

However, he was also shown to have a silly, goofy side to himself. When he introduced Baymax to Hiro and Baymax asked if he is experiencing any pain, Hiro asked "physical or emotional", causing Tadashi to comically pout. When Hiro ran out of ideas, he told him, "Hey, I'm not giving up on you." grabbed Hiro and shook him upside down in order to shake some ideas into his head and stated that Hiro needed to "look at things from a different angle"―a philosophy that Hiro eventually adopts as his own during the film. He was also excitable, as shown when he was happy after finally activating Baymax (after 84 tests) and ran around and kissed Baymax.

Tadashi also values his aunt; he does not like to make her upset and is appreciative of all she has done to raise them, especially having done it alone. His concerns extend to the general public, developing Baymax with the sincere hope that the healthcare companion would help people all over the world. He is dedicated to helping others no matter what the cost is to him―a statement undeniably proven when he makes the ultimate sacrifice in an attempt to protect his teacher.

## Physical Appearance

Tadashi is a tall, slender, slightly muscular teenager of a larger build than others in his family. He has large, warm brown eyes and neat black hair cut above his prominent ears. His face shape is different from those of his aunt's and brother's, with a longer face, larger jaw, and slightly larger nose.

His most notable physical trait is his preference for a black baseball cap with a red-and-gold San Fransokyo Ninja lettering on it. He is rarely seen without this cap in the film, except for a few scenes such as when he takes off his moped helmet, and it is also off in many family photos that can be seen.

Tadashi's main choice of apparel is based off of a smart-casual type of fashion, which is usually neat, conventional, yet relatively informal in style. His choice of outfit and color-coding reflect his personality, smart yet vibrant and full of energy. Since he changes his clothes daily, he does not wear any one outfit for much longer than others. However, he owns many similar articles of clothing, only varying in color. He owns several blazers, crew-neck t-shirts, and cardigan sweaters, usually in the colors white, black, tan, red, or various shades of green. He often wears mint-colored sneakers with white soles and shoelaces and occasionally carries a tan satchel across his shoulder.

When he introduces Hiro to his friends, he is wearing a white crew-neck t-shirt with an artwork of a SFIT ninja mascot, along with a grey cardigan, brown pants rolled up around his ankles and his mint-colored sneakers. He wears the same shirt to bed that night, with green plaid pajama pants.

On the day of his death at the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology Showcase, he wears an olive green blazer over a black shirt, with a similar pair of rolled-up brown jeans. Before he runs into the burning building, his hat falls off of his head, which Hiro retrieved and kept as a memento.

In the fanfics, he has fair complexion, black hair and blue eyes.

## Fanfics

Trapped & Disappearances

Tadashi was appearing in the second fanfic, he was a cameo on the photo that hangs on the wall after a year of his death.