Big Hero 6 (2014) Tadashi appears in
Big Hero 6 as Hiro Hamada's older brother. Due to their parents being deceased, Tadashi is Hiro's primary voice of reason and father figure. In the film, Tadashi and Hiro live in San Fransokyo with their aunt Cass. Although his age is not explicitly described in the film, Tadashi acts very mature for his age. In the film, Tadashi suggests that Hiro should attend the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology as Hiro is also gifted in robotics and engineering, even more so than Tadashi, his intellect allowing him to graduate from high school at 13. Initially, Hiro dismisses the request, as he chooses to pursue monetary gain from his domination in illegal bot fights in San Fransokyo, even in spite of any risks. Tadashi responds to this by redirecting his little brother's intelligence, taking Hiro with him on a quick trip to his college. From it, Hiro sees just how remarkable the institution really is, and is introduced to Tadashi's friends—
Honey Lemon,
GoGo,
Wasabi, and
Fred. Tadashi also introduces Hiro to his project
Baymax, a personal healthcare robot. Tadashi designs Baymax to have a huggable build. The film's animation team researched at
Carnegie Mellon University to help conceive Baymax's design. Directors Don Hall and
Chris Williams wanted Baymax to be "appealing but also huggable."
Ryan Potter (Hiro's voice actor) states that Hiro sees Baymax as a representation of Tadashi. Hiro showcases his project, Microbots, controlled by a neurological headband and highly versatile, at a student exhibition held at the school. Shortly after being accepted by Robert Callaghan, the institute's professor, the exhibition hall catches fire. With Professor Callaghan still inside, Tadashi runs into the burning building in an effort to save him.
Big Hero 6: The Series Tadashi briefly appears as a recording in "Baymax Returns", the first episode of
Big Hero 6: The Series. It is revealed that he taught Hiro how to ride a bike. Henney reprised his role. He also appears in "Obake Yashiki" where he appears as an illusion created by augmented reality that made Hiro believe that Tadashi is alive. The series gives more insight into how he created Baymax. In "Failure Mode", it is revealed that he nearly gave up on completing him and he needed a medical expert named Lily in order to properly program him, as seen in "City of Monsters – Part I". In the season 2 finale "Legacies", Hiro accepts Tadashi's diploma on his behalf at graduation.
Printed media Tadashi appears in the prequel manga,
Baymax, which was released prior to the film's release, in August 2014. Unlike other Disney properties that received a one-shot manga,
Baymax is a full manga story which had the goal of previewing the film's story. Tadashi also appears in other Disney books, such as
The Art of Big Hero 6, and
Big Hero 6: Hiro and Tadashi. ==Reception==