Rob (The Amazing World of Gumball)

Rob
Post-Void Original Season 1
Series	The Amazing World of Gumball
Age	13
Birthday	Unknown
Sex	Male
Species	Humanoid Cyclops / Glitch
Height	Unknown
Weight	Unknown
Alignment	Neutral Evil, True Neutral, Anti-Villain

Rob, also known as Dr. Wrecker, is the main antagonist of Cartoon Network’s The Amazing World of Gumball.

Background

He first appeared in the show as a purposeless background character at Elmore Junior High. However, due to the futility of his existence, he was eventually exiled into the Void, a dimension that erases mistakes and anomalies from reality. When Gumball and Darwin entered the Void, he called out for help, but they didn’t notice him. This forced him to escape precariously by clinging to Mr. Small's van as it launched back into Elmore, which deconstructed and disfigured his body into a glitching, polygonal form. Upon escaping, he found a new purpose by becoming Gumball’s mortal enemy, seeking revenge for his abandonment and a justification for his existence.

This culminates when he acquires a magic universal remote from a mysterious van, which allows him to control time, reality, the episode, and the universe at large. He uses it to tear apart Gumball’s family dynamic and trap him in the Void, intending to isolate him for eternity and usurp his place in the narrative after realizing the fictional and contingent nature of their universe. However, he ultimately reverses this with the remote, regretting his actions and destroying the device.

Eventually, Rob learned through the prophetic paintings of Banana Barbara that Elmore's future is doomed to the Void. In response, he tried to save everyone by transforming them into humans, claiming this would allow them to escape into "the other place." However, his warnings went unheeded, and he was the first to fall into the Void as it began destroying the world.

Powers and Abilities

• Intelligence: Rob is known for being very intelligent and one of the series' smartest characters. He has devised multiple intricate and nearly successful villainous plans. For example, in "The Bus," he manipulates a group of adults into taking the Elmore Jr. High students on an unplanned field trip to teach them the dangers of skipping school, doing so by having them disguise as criminals. However, he told the police that it was a real crime, and proceeded to ransom one million dollars from them while also planning to blow up the bus and frame the adults. He is also shown to have developed trapping skills over time, as although he was somewhat incompetent in "The Nemesis," he devices numerous and nearly successful traps to harm Banana Joe in "The Ex."
• Metafictional Awareness: He has profound and heightened existential knowledge on the nature of the universe, as he understands that it is fictional and that there are larger forces at play. This allows him to devise a plan to eject Gumball outside of the universe in "The Disaster," hijack the show's broadcast in "The Spinoffs," accurately predict the show's ending through Banana Barbara's paintings as seen in "The Future," and conceive of technology capable of transforming the characters into humans as seen in "The Inquisition." He is the only character in the show who is consistently aware of this.
• Combat and Athleticism: Rob is shown to be a decent opponent in combat. He is capable of defeating Gumball in a one-on-one fight as seen numerous times, such as in "The Disaster" and "The Bus." He is also shown to be fast, agile, and possess a lot of stamina, as seen in his flee across town in "The Nobody" and various fights. He exhibits a lot of endurance, taking strong blows from both the Watterson brothers and even enduring a bomb explosion, which launches him onto a car from a considerable height and distance away. He also showcases a sizable amount of strength, having shoved a vending machine over, pushed a car down a road, and carried a treadmill with ease.

Equipment

• Universal Remote: The Universal Remote, as its name suggests, was a powerful remote control with standard television buttons that was capable of controlling the entire universe and structure of The Amazing World of Gumball. Not only could it control time and reality, but it could also alter the episode itself. However, it was destroyed by Rob after he realized it was too dangerous.
  • Pause: Freezes time or a particular person.
  • Rewind: Goes back in time, reverses a character's age, or reverses the broadcast.
  • Subtitles: Causes inaccurate subtitles to appear below a character.
  • Language: Changes the language.
  • Fast Forward: Goes forward in time, ages a character, or speeds up the broadcast.
  • Slow Motion: Slows down time and movement.
  • AV: Opens a portal to the Void and can change the channel.
  • Zoom: Zooms the camera onto a person or object, and can even cause the screen to collide.
  • Music: Plays or changes the background music.
  • Brightness: Increases or decreases the brightness of the world.
  • Volume: Increases or decreases the volume.
  • Mute: Mutes all noise, or mutes the object or person it is pointed at.
  • Record: Copies an object.
  • Play: Teleports the recorded object to the location the remote is pointed at.
  • Loop: Puts the user in an infinite loop.
  • Eject: Sends a shockwave that launches a person or object.
  • Power: Turns someone or something off/on.
  • Parental Filter: Enables/disables the verbal filters of parents.
  • Blur: Blurs the vision of a person.
  • Crop: Changes the aspect ratio.
  • Erase: Erases a person or object.
• Wrecking Ball: Rob's short-lived gimmick as "Dr. Wrecker."
• Binoculars: Routinely used to spy on others, most notably Banana Joe and Gumball.
• Banana Barbara-Equipped Paintbrush: Banana Barbara can paint things into existence into present and future events so long as they have been depicted on an already existing painting. She can also predict future events through painting without directly causing them. In "The Future," Rob uses her to his advantage to fight Gumball, Darwin, and Banana Joe.
  • Bazooka: Painted into reality using Barbara's brush. Capable of launching missiles at opponents.
• Transmutation Machine: Can transform cartoon characters into live-action human counterparts, which also makes them "real" enough to escape into the physical world.
• Miscellaneous: Car battery, axe, falling tree, sliding car, oil spill, rope, briefcase, bomb, circular saw, pile of bricks, exploding burger, oil drums, crowbar.

Alternate Forms

• Original Form: Originally, Rob was an organic humanoid cyclops with blue skin and biotic features. He did not possess any unique abilities.

• Post-Void Form: After escaping the Void, Rob's body became permanently disfigured and deconstructed, resembling a glitched animated model. His new form randomly warps or spasms in a defective fashion. He can be controlled using a TV remote, which can alter his voice, volume, other characteristics. The distorted static on his new body can also display menus, status symbols, and change color based on his emotions.

Feats

Strength

• Clung onto a van launching through dimensions.
• Lifted a treadmill with ease.
• Shoved over a vending machine.
• Pushed a car down a road.
• Wielded a large metal bar.
• Held a bazooka.
• Through a metal bar at Banana Joe's face which folded his head back.
• Routinely fights Gumball with hard-hitting blows.

Speed

• Almost immediately fled the scene of the anticipated fight between Tina and Gumball.
• Quickly ran towards Mr. Small's van to grab on and escape the Void
• Ran swiftly across town to flee from Gumball and Darwin.
• Almost immediately disappeared from the scene after escaping with his briefcase.
• Quickly evaded the Watterson siblings in the mall.
• Fled Gumball's help from within the Void.

Durability

• Fell down a manhole without a scrape.
• Endured being mutilated upon escaping the Void.
• Hit in the face with a car battery but quickly recovered.
• Had a tree fall on him and was immediately hit by a utility pole, but quickly got back up.
• Smacked into a wall by riding a wrecking ball and was crushed by bricks.
• Endured an explosion from a bomb he was holding and being launched from a considerable height and distance away, crashing onto a police car.
• Smashed into the ground by Tina's tail and endured it for long, although he was eventually knocked unconscious.
• Tackled and hit hard by Gumball numerous times on many occassions but pushed through.

Skill

• Managed to escape the Void, a realm of complete non-existence, and reclaim his place in reality.
• Manipulated a group of adults into artificially staging a hostage situation, thereby allowing Rob to ransom one million dollars from the police, frame the others, and attempt to blow up a bus full of students.
• Systematically tore apart Gumball's family using the universal remote before sealing him in the Void, allowing him to temporarily gain complete domination over the universe.
• Devised numerous, nearly successful plans to harm Banana Joe, most notably one that would crush him with oil drums after he opened his door.
• Hijacked the broadcast of The Amazing World of Gumball from within the show itself.
• Kidnapped and kept Banana Barbara hidden for over a week and creatively fought Gumball, Darwin, and Banana Joe by painting a bazooka, flood, fissure, and shark into reality.
• Disguised himself as a live-action human and managed to brainwash all of the students while turning them into humans.

Weaknesses

• Partial Incompetence: While Rob is generally intelligent, many of his plans fail, often due to his own oversights. For example, he attempted to destroy the "Elmore Dam," but only destroyed a vending machine. Also, his plan to steal one million dollars nearly worked, but only failed because he grabbed the suitcase with the bomb instead of the money. Furthermore, his reckless scheme with the Universal Remote was rewinded out of the timeline because he threw the remote into the Void, allowing Gumball to catch up with it.
• Emotional Vulnerability: Rob's unstable mental state often leads him to be confrontational or have extremely poor communication skills, causing issues for himself and others around him. For example, he failed to fully explain his intention to save everyone from the Void after kidnapping Banana Barbara and later transforming the cast into humans, appearing like an antagonistic figure. His reluctance to be a villain and occasional remorse also sometimes leads him to remediate his own plans.
• Physical Limitations: While Rob is somewhat strong and durable, he is not extraordinarily so, and often is overreliant on resources around him rather than his inherent capabilities. His one eye also grants him poor depth perception.

Fun Facts

• Rob made a cameo on the computer screen in "The Genius," showing that his friends were (in order) Teri, Alan, Leslie, and Carmen. Also, it shows him wearing a mustang mask in the desert on Fessebook. This same page reappears on "The Internet."
• Originally, for Season 1, Rob was animated with CGI. In Season 2, he was changed to a 2D animated character. Starting with "The Nobody," he is again animated in CGI.
• In "The Nobody," it is revealed that Rob never had parents or any siblings.
• He is the second character to have a permanent physical change in the show, the first being Penny.
  • Fittingly, they both have a unique relationship with Gumball and have the most major roles out of any non-Watterson character.
• Rob is the only character in the show who is consistently aware of the fact that the world he lives in is fictional.
• In "The Uploads," Rob is shown to have an internet channel called Dr. Wr., his only video titled W.R.E.C.K.T.R.E, a parody to S.P.E.C.T.R.E in OO7.
• Rob's static changes depending on his emotions. When he experiences malevolence, his static turns dark navy, but when he's angry or freaking out, his static glows white.
• Currently, Nicole is the only one of the five Wattersons who hasn't encountered Rob or interacted with him.
• Rob's name was first revealed after people were asking James Lamont who the blue cyclops from "The Party" was. At first he jokingly responded with "We do not speak of him," but after more asking, he gave in and revealed his name.
• Rob is Jacob Hopkins' favorite character from the series.
• Rob spoke in a deep British accent when he was voiced by David Warner, a voice given to him Gumball using a TV remote. He kept the accent in "The Uploads," "The Bus," "The Love," and "The Disaster;" in the last, he reset his voice with the universal remote.
• A running gag exists where Gumball forgets his name, calling him similar one-syllable names that begin with "R." However, in "The Bus," "The Rerun," "The Ex," "The Future," and "The Inquisition," Gumball correctly says his name.
• In "The Future," Rob claims he has bad depth perception due to only having one eye.
• Rob stars in the Villainous episode "The Lost Cases of Elmore."
• He is currently the very last character to appear and speak in the main series, as he had the last line in "The Inquisition."
• Rob is the only character who consistently remembers the Void, as the other characters have had their memories wiped or their timelines rewinded.