- “I will destroy you and everyone you love!”
- ―Rob's catchphrase.
Rob, briefly known as Dr. Wrecker, is the main antagonist of Cartoon Network's The Amazing World of Gumball.
Initially a purposeless background character at Elmore Junior High, he was eventually banished into the Void for being an anomaly. After he was accidentally abandoned by Gumball and Darwin Watterson within the dimension, he was forced to escape precariously on his own terms, resulting in his glitchy and polygonal disfiguration. Upon escaping, he found a role to play in the narrative by becoming Gumball and Darwin's mortal enemy. Eventually, he discovered that the universe would be erased by the Void, but his efforts to save everyone went unheeded.
He is voiced by Charles Philip ordinarily, and by the late David Warner as Dr. Wrecker.
Role in the Series[]
Season 1[]
Rob first made a cameo appearance in "The Party," where he attended a party hosted by Tobias Wilson' older sister, Rachel.
He was later seen in "The Fight" as one of the Elmore students anticipating the fight between Gumball and Tina Rex.
Season 2[]
His first speaking role was in "The Pony," in which he greeted Gumball and Darwin with excitement on the sidewalk, but got upset when the two didn't know his name. He blocked Gumball and Darwin’s path to argue with them about it before Darwin kicked him down a manhole; he later denied them the DVD they were after.
In "The Finale," Rob is seen among a crowd of angry Elmore civilians trying to attack the Wattersons before reality is reset to the status quo.
Season 3[]
In "The Void," he briefly appears next to a rejected design of the Watterson house, indicating his fate as one of Elmore's mistakes sent to the Void.
In "The Nobody," many of the Wattersons' possessions suddenly go missing. The three members of the family wrongfully Gumball and Darwin stealing them, and Nicole grounds them by making them stay in their room until one of them owns up. The duo assumes that a mysterious house guest must be the culprit, and eventually uncover clues like a secret food compartment, later attempting to find a secret bunker. This leads them to the basement, where they find all of the stolen possessions, and the intruder in question. The stranger runs out of the house in a panic, and the duo chases him throughout Elmore for an explanation. Gumball blocks his path by inadvertently causing a trail of destruction. This prompts the individual to surrender. Gumball and Darwin sit the stranger down, asking for an explanation as to why he was in their house. He tells them he is a nobody who has lost his identity, has no mother or siblings, and that there is no other place for him in this world. Gumball and Darwin tell the stranger that he can reinvent himself, suggesting different roles for him to play in Elmore, but discovering that all the positive ones are taken. Eventually, they land on the missing role of a "bad guy" and suggest he become their mortal enemy, specifically arguing that he becomes "the worst guy the world has ever made." This choice of words triggers the person's memory, and he is revealed to be Rob. In a flashback, Rob explains that he was trying to get Gumball and Darwin's attention in the Void, but they were too focused on finding Molly Collins. As the group escaped the Void in Mr. Small's van, Janice, Rob clung on to the back of it as it launched back to Elmore, deforming his body in the process. After the group drove off, Rob was ejected from the Void, but his precarious escape permanently altered his appearance, leaving him glitchy, disfigured and discolored. In the present, he vows revenge on Gumball and Darwin for leaving him behind, claiming that he will take away everything that they ever loved and that they have given him a part to play in the world.
Season 4[]
Rob's next appearance in "The Nemesis" showcases him repeatedly failing to exact revenge on Gumball and Darwin by setting up lackluster tracks. The duo decides to help him become a better nemesis by following him around town. He becomes increasingly agitated by their antics until Gumball suggests the nickname "Dr. Wrecker," which Rob ends up liking. They alter his voice to sound more villainous, make him armor out of cardboard, and lead to him coin his own catchphrase. Later in the episode, his plot to flood the town by destroying the Elmore dam with a wrecking ball backfires when he is unable to escape via bus, so he consults Gumball and Darwin to fix the damage. After all hope seems lost, they realize Elmore doesn't even have a dam, and that Dr. Wrecker only destroyed part of a vending machine. To cheer him up, Gumball and Darwin walk into one of Rob's earlier traps. Rob then walks off in evil laughter as the two beg him to help them down.
Later on, Rob makes two cameo appearances in "The Uploads" and "The Love," the first showing him briefly swearing revenge in an Elmore Stream-It video, and the second showing him participate in the "What Is Love" song.
Rob's next appearance is in "The Bus," where he is revealed to be the criminal mastermind behind the episode's convoluted ordeal. He anonymously suggested that the adults teach the kids to not skip school by faking a hostage scenario, told the police it was a real crime, and replaced the ordinary suitcase on the bus with one containing a bomb. His reason for doing this was to steal ransom money from the police and fulfill his role as Gumball's nemesis. A chaotic scenario ensues involving a police chase on the highway and into an airport, where a plane wing eventually cuts the bus in half and picks up Gumball and Rob. The two fight on the plane wing over the two briefcases which are also used as weapons, one containing the money and the other containing the bomb. Rob is about to crush Gumball with his briefcase, but as the police arrive, he blames Gumball for the crime and gets away. However, Rob mistakenly takes the briefcase with the bomb, which then explodes from a distance, sending him flying back to the airport and landing on top of a police car. Rob, defeated, is then arrested for his crimes.
Rob returns in "The Disaster," presumably having escaped from prison, and steals a universal remote from the "Awesome Store" van. He messes around with the remote, discovering its power to manipulate time, reality, and the episode itself. He accidentally rewinds to when he was left behind in the Void, prompting him to reset his voice and declare himself in control in spite of past events. When the Van Shopkeeper requests the money he is owed from Rob, Rob deletes him from existence using the remote. While the Watterson family is looking for a parking spot in the mall garage, Rob pauses the scene and reminds Gumball that he will destroy everything he loves, unbeknownst to him. Rob turns on the ignitions of the surrounding cars, causing them to crash into the Watterson vehicle and create a piled-up wreck. Gumball is wrongly blamed for this due to him annoying Nicole earlier by playing with the car window, and the family enters the mall. While at the Elmore Mall, Rob makes Gumball lose his half-brother Darwin by putting up "evil magic subtitles," framing Gumball for making offensive remarks towards Darwin regarding his adoption. Gumball runs to his family to explain what happened, and Nicole calms him down. However, Rob makes Richard and Nicole argue and agree on a divorce by deactivating their "parental filters." Anais chases after them, but Rob causes her to get lost by turning down the brightness. The lowered brightness then causes Gumball to dive and accidentally "kiss" Sarah G. Lato in front of Penny Fitzgerald, Gumball's girlfriend. Gumball chases after a distraught Penny to explain, but Rob's fast forwarding causes Gumball to push her off the mall balcony, time suddenly pausing before she hits the ground. Gumball runs around the mall in confusion, until he is confronted by Rob. Rob explains the reasons behind his actions, and claims that Gumball has no one to blame but himself. Rob says that he never wanted to be the villain, and instead wanted to be a cute sidekick, but that since Gumball is the hero of the story, Rob has to be the villain in order to reclaim his place in the world. Rob argues that once Gumball is out of the picture, he can be whoever he wants, as it will no longer be Gumball's "amazing world." Rob opens up a portal to the Void with the remote and tries to kick Gumball inside, but Gumball immediately tackles him, fighting for the remote. Ultimately, Rob launches Gumball to the very edge of the portal and tries to eject Gumball, but the remote malfunctions. Initially frustrated, Rob then decides to toss the remote in the Void, forcing Gumball to follow the device in order to save his loved ones. Rob seals the portal to the Void as Gumball falls in with a final goodbye, and the end credits sequence roll along the "screen" of the Void. Gumball plummets into the Void, and eventually grabs the remote. He fixes the batteries that slipped out and presses rewind, sending him right back to the beginning of the episode. The episode ends on a "to be continued..." message.
Season 5[]
Rob appeared again in "The Rerun," where Gumball relives the events of "The Disaster" but with hindsight. When Rob first turns on the insult subtitles to spite and upset Darwin, Gumball rearranges the letters, eventually spelling "Rob is messing with you." Rob then tries to use the eject attack on Darwin, but Gumball pushes him out of the way. Rob runs off and again tries to break up Nicole and Richard. Gumball jumps on top of Rob to stop him, but accidentally presses the rewind button that starts to devolve Richard and Nicole into babies. Anais points out a time paradox regarding their parents being converted to babies, and argues that the three children need to undo this quickly before they all disappear. Despite this, Anais dies from implosion, and Darwin devolves into a normal fish, causing him to suffocate and die on the spot. This enrages Gumball who tries to attack Rob, but Rob fast forwards Gumball into pushing Penny off the mall balcony once again. They both fight for the remote again, but Gumball gets the upper hand this time. He ejects Rob into the Void with the remote, defeating his nemesis and retrieving the remote. Gumball celebrates, but quickly realizes the consequences of his actions. He jumps into the Void to try and rescue Rob before he (Gumball) disappears, as the time paradox remains unresolved. Gumball extends an olive branch to Rob, but Rob denies his help, arguing that he should remain with the rest of the universe's mistakes, and that his story ends here. Gumball catches up to him, but his body is rendered useless due to the time paradox. Rob retrieves the remote and contemplates turning Gumball "off," but he cannot bring himself to do so, deciding to spare Gumball’s life instead. Rob hits rewind, and appreciates how Gumball came all that way to save him. Rob realizes the only way to fix everything is to go back in time to break the remote, which will undo their reconciliation, but Gumball states he looks forward to being Rob's enemy in the future. Rob then goes back in time, fixing everything, and destroys the remote, claiming it is too dangerous.
Rob returns in "The Ex," where he finds himself a new archenemy in Banana Joe. He argues that Banana Joe is "easier to hate" after the emotionally complicated events of "The Rerun." Gumball is distraught, and while ignoring Penny's suggestion to leave the situation alone, he tries to win back Rob's hatred. He does so by suggesting villainous ideas to Rob, being intentionally annoying, and mimicking Banana Joe. After this proves to be fruitless, he tries to befriend Rob instead. He joins him in a stakeout at Banana Joe's house, but ruins his trap by inadvertently alerting Banana Joe with his phone. Rob flies into a rage and lashes out at Gumball for foiling his plans, solidifying Gumball and Rob as nemeses yet again.
Season 6[]
Rob returns in "The Spinoffs," where he holds Timmy (AKA the Internet) hostage in order to hijack the show's broadcast, showing several spin-offs ideas with the other characters. This proves to be futile, and Rob gives up by the end of the episode.
Rob reappeared in "The Future," where he kidnaps Banana Joe’s mom, Banana Barbara, to understand her prophetic paintings, which have gone from depicting tangible events to pictures of only static. One week later, Banana Joe requests Gumball and Darwin's help in finding his mother after she went missing. Meanwhile, at an abandoned warehouse, Rob orders Barbara to paint the future, but all she can paint is images of static. This enrages Rob, who claims "that can't just be the end." Barbara eventually paints a portal that teleports Gumball, Darwin, and Banana Joe to the warehouse. They confront Rob, who uses Barbara’s paintings to defend his quarter, painting in hazardous things like a crack in the floor and himself a bazooka. Gumball tackles Rob, and threatens to paint him out of existence. Rob claims that they "don't get it" and argues that "this is more important than you." Despite this, the trio eventually use white paint on a painting of Rob to erase Rob from existence, killing him. Gumball feels remorse, and requests that Barbara paint Rob back into existence. Banana Barbers repaints Rob into existence, giving him a pigtail as per Gumball's request, who wishes to see him in the future. However, Barbara responds that there is no future, contextualized next to the painting of Rob which depicts him falling into the Void.
In "The Revolt," Rob makes a cameo where he is in an Elmore Stream-It video, uploaded during his "Dr. Wrecker" phase.
In "The Inquisition," a live-action human named Superintendent Evil arrives at Elmore Jr. High to stamp out any cartoonish conduct. This involves having the kids act realistically, threatening punitive measures if they do not oblige. Eventually, it is revealed that Superintendent Evil is using technology to transform the characters into humans. He manages to transform almost all the kids into humans, except for Gumball and Darwin, who manage to turn all the kids back to their normal forms by reminding them of their cartoon identities. After getting confronted, Superintendent Evil's mask is pulled off, revealing him to have been Rob in a disguise the whole time. Rob tries to explain his actions, and claims that the transformation was designed to save their lives, but Tina knocks him out. Rob wakes up at the school at midnight, alone, and rants about how he was stopped earlier. He claims that transformation was the only chance they had to escape to "the other place" before something happened to this world. However, he cuts himself off upon hearing crumbling sounds, and the floor breaks apart beneath him, revealing the Void. He falls in and barely holds onto the edge of the floor, looking down at the abyss before remarking with horror that "it's started." He loses his grip and falls into the abyss, screaming, the Void continuing to destroy the world around him. The episode freeze frames on Rob's descent into the Void, and plays an eerie and incomplete rendition of the end credits music before the episode ends. The last shot of the episode is the same image depicted in Banana Barbara's painting from the end of "The Future." It is unknown if Rob survived or not.
Personality and traits[]
Temperament[]
At first, Rob was a relatively friendly and sociable individual, often seen conversing and partying with the other students. However, he got annoyed and argumentative when Gumball and Darwin forgot who he was after he greeted them on the sidewalk. Despite this, he was still willing to help Gumball and Darwin retrieve their CD which fell into the sewer, despite Darwin being the one who kicked him down into the sewer simply to get rid of him. This shows that Rob was a fairly normal, friendly, and forgiving kid, but was still prone to angry outbursts, confrontation, and entitlement.
This personality changed in "The Nobody." After being found in the Wattersons' basement and running away in fear, he later revealed he had no memory of his past life and thus felt like a nobody. He was polite and receptive to Gumball and Darwin who suggested he reinvent himself with a new identity, but was somewhat cowardly, pitiful, and insecure, lost and lacking faith in his own sense of self. When Rob remembered that he was left in the Void, however, he swore vengeance on Gumball and Darwin for leaving him behind, feeling a new sense of motivation in his new identity and became determined to make his mark on the world by enacting revenge. He followed this by becoming a cruel, sadistic, and anarchic individual, often orchestrating hazardous schemes in Elmore while enjoying the thrill and mischief of it.
Although he initially embraced his role as an antagonist out of anger and desperation, he later claimed he "never wanted to be the villain." He revealed his knowledge about his fictional status to Gumball, and asserted that the world of Elmore revolved around him as the protagonist. Because of this, Rob felt forced to become a villain in order to justify his existence, and only played the role reluctantly, claiming he would rather have been a "cute sidekick." Ultimately, he tried sealing Gumball into the Void in order to redefine the universe and his role within it. However, out of remorse, he undid all the damage he caused in this episode, also noting that there would be nothing else for him to do in the absence of Gumball, and that Gumball was hard to hate considering he had saved Rob from the Void..
As a villain, Rob became an extremely depressed and irritable individual who would snap at others and the universe for perceived slights. However, underneath all of this hate and anger is a very traumatized and insecure teenager who experiences existential crisis about the nature of the world he inhabits and his purpose within it, believing it to be a controlling and unjust environment. In addition, he does value the lives of others, as he tried to save everyone from the Void upon its destruction of the universe by transforming them into humans, presumably allowing them to escape into reality. However, his words went unheeded due to his confrontational attitude, cowardice, terrible communication skills, and poor reputation.
Abilities[]
Rob is known for being very intelligent and one of the series' smartest characters. He has devised multiple intricate and nearly successful villainous plans, such as his ransom in "The Bus" and his acquisition of the universal remote in "The Disaster" and "The Rerun". He also has profound 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 somehow conceive of technology capable of transforming the characters into humans as seen in "The Inquisition."
Rob is also 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.
Physical Appearance[]
Original[]
In Seasons 1 and 2, Rob was a blue cyclops with a lanky body, medium-length light-brown hair, and a single large eye with a magenta iris. He had long, skinny limbs, pink hands with visible nails, and a large head. He wore a pair of red short shorts with two light orange stripes on the left side, a yellow crop-top T-shirt, dark orange shoes with blue laces, and a brown backpack.
Current[]
After his escape from the Void, Rob's body became deconstructed and disfigured. His head became grey and dodecahedral, floating without a neck and with distorted static on the left and right side of his face. His eye turned pale yellow with a black, lemniscate-shaped pupil (although it was changed to an ovular design starting with Season 5), and his tongue and mouth became yellow and pink, respectively. His hair fragmented into sparse, large polygons and turned dark brown.
His arms and legs turned into static, with one shoe turned into lime wireframe and the other into a solid dark-grey prism. One hand became geometric and grey, while the other remained pink and organic. His clothes became polygonal, with his shirt gaining a hole and losing its sleeves. His backpack became a floating brown hexagon without straps. His new midriff inconsistently switches between pink or static.
His new look randomly glitches, warps, and malfunctions.
After being painted back into the timeline in "The Future," he was given a pig tail.
Relationships[]
Gumball Watterson[]
Gumball is Rob's arch-nemesis and by far Rob's most significant relationship. The two were originally acquaintances back in Elmore Junior High, but after an incident involving Rob being left in the Void, Rob and Gumball became sworn enemies. Rob primarily blames Gumball for his plight, as he not only harbors resentment after being left in the Void, but also because he was not considered worthy enough to star in Gumball's "amazing world" unless he fulfilled the role of the villain. This, along with Gumball's general callousness, fuels his anger towards him, culminating when he tears apart his entire family dynamic and tries to seal Gumball in the Void for good. Despite this, Rob experiences moments of regret and redemption regarding the way he treats Gumball, such as rewinding the damage he caused with the universal remote.
Darwin Watterson[]
Having been incidentally involved in Rob's abandonment in the Void, Rob also harbors indignation towards Darwin. He bullies Darwin by destroying the cookies he made after Darwin helped Rob become a better nemesis, and even revels in his suffocation to death after a time paradox caused by the universal remote. Despite this, Rob's primary enemy is Gumball, and Darwin is mostly caught up in Rob's schemes by his proximity to Gumball.
Anais Watterson[]
After Nicole and Richard were rewound into babies, Anais realized that this meant the existence of the Watterson siblings was a temporal paradox. She insisted they retrieve the remote from Rob before disappearing completely. Anais requested to be thrown at Rob and bit down hard on his arm, but later disappeared from existence. She is also a target of Rob due to her adjacency to Gumball.
Nicole and Richard Watterson[]
Nicole and Richard were initially targeted by Rob due to their proximity to Gumball and his declaration to take away everyone he loves. However, Rob does not have any personal connection towards them. He involved Richard in his scheme to steal $1,000,000 from the police, and later rewound Nicole and Richard into infants using the universal remote.
Penny Fitzgerald[]
Penny was also a target of Rob's due to her importance to Gumball. Using the universal remote, he caused Gumball to push her off the mall balcony twice, but in separate timelines. Despite this, he harbors no personal animosity towards her, and the two were shown to be on neutral terms in subsequent interactions.
Banana Joe[]
After Rob and Gumball seemingly reconciled following the events of "The Re-run," Rob found Banana Joe to be a suitable new nemesis because he was "easier to hate." He tries to kill him by dropping a pile of bricks on him, feeding him an exploding burger, and later running him over with oil drums. Despite Rob's nemesis relationship with Gumball being rekindled by the end of the relevant episode, Banana Joe remained one of Rob's more significant enemies, as his kidnapping of Banana Joe's mother resulted in animosity and an intense fight.
Banana Barbara[]
Banana Barbara is one of Rob's victims and an attempted pawn. After Rob kidnapped Banana Barbara and forced her to paint the future instead of pictures that only depicted static, he became increasingly agitated with her cryptic language and incompetence considering the stakes at hand. He strangled her, threatened to eat her, and almost crushed her with a metal bar before stopping himself.
Tina Rex[]
Before Rob was sent to the Void, he claimed to have been bullied by Tina at school. When Rob later tried to explain why he attempted to turn everyone into humans, Tina smashed him into the ground and eventually knocked him unconscious.
"The Awesome Store" Van Shopkeeper[]
After exiting the van with the universal remote, Rob declared his intention to use it for revenge. In response, the van shopkeeper tried to take it back, insisting that the powerful device must not be used for evil. Rob fought him over the remote and accidentally used it to cause the van to haphazardly drive around the mall parking lot before eventually tipping it over, revealing its true power. When the shopkeeper sarcastically demanded that Rob pay $12.99 for the remote, Rob deleted him from existence.
Quotes[]
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
Season 5
Season 6
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Gallery[]
Photos[]
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- Rob made a cameo on the computer in "The Genius," showing that his friends were (in order) Teri, Alan, Leslie, and Carmen. He is also seen wearing a mustang mask in the desert on Fessebook. This same page reappears in "The Internet."
- Technically, Rob, Bobert, and Banana Bob share the same name, as they are all shortened forms of "Robert."
- In Season 1, Rob was animated using CGI. In Season 2, he was changed to 2D animation, likely to make him easier to animate. However, starting with "The Nobody," he returned to CGI.
- In "The Nobody," it is revealed that Rob never had parents or siblings, although he was suffering from amnesia at the time.
- In the same episode, the static-covered parts of Rob's body can be seen glowing in the dark.
- Rob is the second character in the show to have a permanent physical change, the first being Penny. Fittingly, both have a unique relationship with Gumball and the most significant roles of any non-Watterson characters.
- Rob is aware that the world he lives in is fictional.
- Despite his tragic nature, Rob is one of the most dangerous and morally compromised villains Gumball has ever faced, willing to abandon his morality to hurt Gumball. This has led to several near-death experiences for the main cast and multiple instances of crossing the "Moral Event Horizon," such as:
- Deleting the van shopkeeper from existence while smiling.
- Breaking up Gumball's family, nearly causing Gumball to kill Penny twice.
- Attempting to trap Gumball in the Void.
- Enjoying the transformation of Nicole and Richard into infants, which caused Anais to disappear and Darwin to suffocate and die from devolution.
- Creating a shark to attack Gumball during their battle in "The Future," and using a bazooka as a weapon.
- Threatening to eat Banana Barbara if she didn't paint the future, though the threat was nullified by his lack of depth perception due to his one eye.
- In "The Disaster," Rob told Gumball he "could be whatever he wants" once Gumball was "out of the picture," suggesting that Rob planned to rule the universe with the remote's power and redefine his place in the world.
- Rob mentions in "The Bus" that he has a major in Canadian History, implying that he may have already advanced in his studies by age 13, though this could have been a one-off gag.
- In "The Uploads," Rob has an internet channel called Dr. Wr., with his only video titled W.R.E.C.K.T.R.E., a parody of S.P.E.C.T.R.E. in 007.
- Rob's static changes with his emotions. When he feels malevolent, his static turns dark navy, and when he's angry or upset, it glows white.
- Rob's static exhibits the "unmoving plaid" effect, where it retains the same 2D orientation no matter how Rob is positioned.
- Rob is arguably one of the strongest characters in the show, having defeated Gumball and his family, who are considered some of Elmore's strongest residents.
- Nicole is the only member of the Watterson family who has yet to encounter or interact with Rob.
- Rob is the last character to appear and speak in the main series, having the final line in "The Inquisition."
- Rob is the only character who consistently remembers the Void, as other characters have had their memories wiped or their timelines rewound.
- A running gag in the series involves Gumball repeatedly forgetting Rob's name, usually calling him similar one-syllable names starting 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 that his bad depth perception is due to having only one eye.
- Rob's name was first revealed after fans asked James Lamont who the blue cyclops from "The Party" was. Lamont jokingly responded, "We do not speak of him," but eventually revealed his name.
- Jacob Hopkins, who voices Gumball, has stated that Rob is his favorite character from the series.
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