Violet Parr

Voiced by Sarah Vowell, Violet is a shy junior high school student who longs to fit in among her peers, a task she believes is hindered by her superpowers.

[2] In early drafts of the screenplay, Violet was depicted as an infant as opposed to a teenager, since parents Bob and Helen Parr were originally intended to be introduced as retired superheroes much earlier during the film.

[5] While beginning to cast the film's main characters, Bird had been listening to the National Public Radio program This American Life, to which Vowell is a frequent contributor.

[5] Despite experiencing some hesitation due to having never voiced an animated character before,[2] Vowell accepted the role after receiving an e-mail from the film's producer, agreeing to participate in The Incredibles because she believes that Pixar is consistently "the best at what they do", comparing the offer to politician Nelson Mandela "asking for your help to fight racism".

[9] Vowell admitted that she shares Violet's "inability to stop pushing people's buttons", citing their tendency to voice their opinions about any given topic and gift for making various situations awkward as similarities.

Vowell found the process of producing non-verbal sounds such as laughing, yawning and screaming on cue to be the most difficult component of the job, a task that working in radio had hardly prepared her for.

[8] Despite 14 years separating the releases of the first and second films, Vowell did not find resuming the role to be difficult, identifying Violet as a character to whom she feels "closely tied", having played her for approximately one-third of her life.

[19] Describing Violet as "a typical teenager ... not comfortable in her own skin" who resides "in that rocky place between being a kid and an adult", Bird felt that invisibility would be the most suitable power for the Parr family's only daughter.

[2] Describing her as a young woman who would much prefer if other people avoided looking at her,[3] Bird elaborated that some teenage girls are prone to feeling insecure and defensive,[20] and thus gave her the abilities to become invisible and create protective shields.

[13] Bird sought to balance the adventurous and "ordinary" components of the family's lives, explaining that audiences would appreciate and relate to moments when Violet uses her powers in the event that she feels humiliated.

[2] Although the films are set roughly during the 1950s and 1960s, shading art director Bryn Imagire opted to incorporate a more modern style into Violet's wardrobe, feeling that the hourglass silhouette, poofy skirts and tight shirts young women typically wore during this time period were not as suitable for the character due to her shy, withdrawn personality and hairstyle.

Although the animators admitted to using mid-century fashion "as a jumping-off point", they deliberately designed Violet's clothes to be more baggy in appearance with a "very desaturated" color scheme,[24] incorporating a variety of cut-off jeans, sneakers and sweaters into her attire to compliment her rebellious personality.

According to character art director Matt Nolte, the filmmakers agreed that Violet's hair would be worn back entirely for the sequel to emphasize "that she's not scared anymore.

[31][42] Grindle explained that the character successfully "turned a corner at the end of the first movie" to the point of which she is finally able to ask her crush on a date, which she partially attributes to her beginning to believe in herself as a result of fighting crime alongside her family.

"[37] Oliver Lyttelton of IndieWire believes that Violet has more in common with actress Thora Birch's character Enid in the film Ghost World (2001) than most teenage girls.

"[8] The actress believes that her character "can be hilarious" at times, "but her humor has some bite to it ... She has a tendency to comment a little too truthfully about any given scenario ... For better or worse, if she thinks it, she says it", describing Violet as incapable of "edit[ing] uncomfortable thoughts.

[70] Violet's low self-esteem manifests in the use of her superpowers to the point at which she resents having them, as demonstrated when she struggles to create a force field large enough to shield her family's jet from missiles at her mother's insistence.

"[47] IGN identified Helen's speech as female empowering,[40] while Vowell cited the scene as a "dramatic" moment in which Violet dons her mask and truly "becomes a hero" for the first time, elaborating that the character evolves significantly "in terms of really discovering ... and developing her powers".

[77] Able to turn invisible rather quickly, the Richmond Times-Dispatch's Mike Ward joked that the character is capable of disappearing faster than the short-lived 2004 presidential campaign of politician John Kerry.

A junior high school student with the superhuman abilities to turn invisible and create force fields, Violet is shy and insecure, and would much rather be a "normal" teenager,[76] finding it difficult to fit in among her peers.

[40] Violet and Dash are eventually pursued by Syndrome's henchmen, forcing her to use her powers to defend herself and her brother for the first time; she begins to realize her full potential while striving to master her abilities, which she had been largely suppressing prior.

[100][103] Although initially resentful towards Bob for the fact that Dicker erased Tony's memories of her to the point of which she "renounces" her superhero heritage,[104][55] Violet eventually offers assistance upon realizing how much effort her father is putting into raising his children.

[112] In a negative review, Alex Navarro of GameSpot described Violet's levels as arguably "the worst the game has to offer" due to time limits that restrict her invisibility, making it "difficult to gauge when a guard will or won't notice you.

The Washington Post's Jennifer Frey described Violet as "instantly familiar as the teenage girl who pines for the cute boy, fights with her little brother and is so uncertain of herself".

[71] In addition to appreciating Pixar's decision to cast the lesser-known Vowell, Joshua Tyler of CinemaBlend dubbed Violet his "favorite character" in The Incredibles, praising her many "goose-bump worthy moments as she starts to accept who she is.

[60] In a retrospective review, Jonathon Dornbush of IGN cited "Violet’s sense of isolation and misunderstanding" among the main reasons The Incredibles remains "a deeply relatable, enduring film" and "one of Pixar's best".

"[106] The Ringer editor Juliet Litman identified Violet as "a galvanizing force" in the sequel, crediting her with "propelling the plot in crucial moments and injecting raw emotion into the" otherwise comedic film.

[55] Writing for Vulture.com, Edelstein called it "wonderful to hear Sarah Vowell and her euphonious quack as the irritable Violet," describing the character as "the quintessential brilliant but ever-stricken and angry teenage girl.

Writing that while Violet's storyline offered "a great deal of potential" by "exploring how a child with superpowers growing up in a world where superheroes are illegal could affect her sense of self", Freeman criticized it for being "boiled down to either focusing on her dating life or providing a challenge for Bob to overcome."

[140] IndieWire ranked Vowell's work as Violet Pixar's 19th greatest performance, writing that her "quirky tones perfectly captures the kind of girl who wishes she could (and in this case actually can) fade into the background," continuing, "the way she eventually finds her own voice is one of the most moving aspects of the film.

Violet is voiced by author and radio personality Sarah Vowell (pictured), a role director Brad Bird cast her in after hearing her recall a childhood story about her father on the radio program This American Life . Violet was Vowell's first voice acting role.