This article is about the character from Big Hero 6. For the character from Gargoyles, see Yama (Gargoyles).
- “No one hustles Yama!”
- ―Yama to Hiro[src]
Yama is a minor antagonist in Disney's 2014 animated feature film Big Hero 6. He is one of San Fransokyo's most notorious criminals, made especially infamous for his illegal bot-fighting ring. Modeled after rikishi (sumo wrestlers), Yama is also Hiro Hamada's arch-nemesis.
Background[]
Yama is a local crime boss living in the city of San Fransokyo. He has partaken in various illegal acts such as bot-fighting, thievery, illegal money lending, and murder. With his gruff and powerful demeanor (coupled by his massive physique), Yama has gained a notorious reputation and is amongst the most feared members of San Fransokyo's underworld. His base of operation is in a shady district known as "Good Luck Alley", which is heavily guarded by a slew of subordinates under Yama's authority.
Yama's primary source of entertainment (and income) are illegal bot-fights held in the back alleys of the city. In this sport, Yama is the undisputed champion with his bot Little Yama (save for when Hiro Hamada enters the ring).
Development[]
In earlier drafts, Yama was intended to be a more important antagonist as a mob boss in San Fransokyo's crime scene. He was the sumo wrestler leader of a gang that worked for Yokai, which consisted of rocket-powered bomber men, and the Fujitas; a group of martial artist roller women in traditional Japanese wear and makeup. Some concept art for Yama depicted him with full-body Yakuza style tattoos or donning masks similar to those found in certain Japanese wrestling circles.[1]
Appearances[]
Big Hero 6[]
Yama is first introduced as the undisputed bot-fighter champion in San Fransokyo's underground bot fights with his prize robot, Little Yama. After defeating an unfortunate contender, a boy named Hiro Hamada shows up and asks if he can participate with his own robot. Yama, underwhelmed by Hiro's naive demeanor, agrees to fight the boy. When Hiro's bot seems to collapse after the first round, Yama is about to gloat in his victory until Hiro bribes him with more money for a rematch. The confident Yama accepts this and the match restarts.
However, Hiro's bot is revealed to be highly advanced, quickly repairing itself and destroying Little Yama with ease. Hiro brazenly boasts about his victory until Yama, out of spite, has his goons attack the boy and chase him into the alley. When the group seems to have Hiro cornered, Hiro's brother Tadashi rescues him on his moped away from the goons.
The brothers, along with Yama's gang and everyone in the bot fights, are caught and arrested by the San Fransokyo police during the escape. 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. Hiro and Tadashi are released that same night on account of their aunt, while Yama and his henchmen are presumably left in the police station. He isn't shown for the rest of the film after this.
Big Hero 6: The Series[]
Season One[]
Not long after his and his gang's arrest, Yama was released and returned to his criminal activity, appearing to be working for an unseen man that goes by "Obake".
While Yama and his men were threatening to drop a man off the top of a roof if he didn't pay off his debt, Yama received a call from Obake, along with the task of retrieving a sculpture from San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. As Yama was coming up with ways to get it, he and his men come across an out-of-control, wandering robot, along with Hiro. Vengeful, Yama decided to use this opportunity to give Hiro the "lesson" that they weren't able to give him at the bot fights.
Yama and Hiro strike a deal.
However, when they were in the middle of hanging Hiro by the feet to drop him on the side of the building, Yama saw Hiro's ID for SFIT and realized that he is a student and could serve as their "little helper" in obtaining the sculpture. To make sure that Hiro does as they say, Yama held the robot they obtained from him as a bargaining chip; the sculpture for the robot. In truth, Yama has no interest in giving it back, which was proven when Hiro and his friend gave Yama what he asked for but still planned to give Hiro his "lesson" of the night and keep the robot for himself. After three superheroes infiltrated and save the two from them and take the robot back, Yama has already made copies of it in the form of a powerful army that would obey his commands.
Yama's employer wasn't happy when he learned that he lost the sculpture and uses his hacking to make the elevator that Yama was in plummet from a high level; fortunately, Obake was pleased with the robotic army that Yama built and how he planned to use them to get the sculpture back. As Yama's new robots attacked the city as a distraction, he and a small number of Baymaxes went to SFIT to obtain the sculpture himself; with no knowledge that "Zero" and his robot were also at the school. Yama was having trouble finding the room that it was kept in and the item itself until he hurt himself and one of his robot minions revealed itself to be an imposter, with the sculpture in its hand.
After a piece of the sculpture breaks off and revealed a powerful energy source that overcharges anything electronic from the inside of it, Yama called Obake to ask him why he didn't warn him about the dangers of it; in which his boss replies by telling Yama that a "dog" doesn't need to know or ask what it is fetching for its master. With Yama escaping from the group of superheroes with the entity in his pocket, it melts itself through his clothing and out of the pocket as it attaches itself to a train and makes it go out of control; and far out of Yama's reach. Yama is left empty-handed as the damaged sculpture is later destroyed.
In "Food Fight", Yama hires a skilled thief, Momakase, to steal a prototype gravitational disruptor from Alistair Krei. Once she had got it, Momakase decided to keep it for herself and poisons Yama with sushi that made him ill. She then ordered her henchmen to take Yama back to his residence and give him the antidote - eventually.
In "Small Hiro One", Yama catches Hiro and Baymax infiltrating his abandoned warehouse; he fails to recognize Hiro in his superhero outfit. When Hiro demands he return the nickel-titanium alloy he stole, Yama revealed that he used it to create a larger-sized version of Little Yama he dubs Mega Yama. As Hiro evaded Mega Yama's attacks, he incidentally throws Yama off his lift, in which Baymax catches him and holds Yama in bear hug, claiming it would keep him calm, despite his protests to the contrary. As the rest of Big Hero 6 soon showed up, Baymax is forced to release Yama to keep Mega Yama from falling on them. Yama then switched off the warehouse lights to escape with his robot.
Yama and Mega Yama.
Needing to upgrade Mega Yama to best Big Hero 6, Yama blackmails Dr. Trevor Trengrove with a flash drive containing evidence that he stole the thesis of fellow SFIT classmate, Wendy Wower, into tricking SFIT students into creating tech to improve Mega Yama; ironically, those students were Go Go Tomago, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon. Additionally, he gave Trengrove specific instructions to keep Hiro away from the workshop under the guise of an age restriction.
Yama and his henchmen later stand guard outside Trengrove's pavilion, where they were approached by Wendy Wower and her Woweroos, offering to show off their volcanoes. Yama soon realized they were a distraction as he spotted Hiro, Baymax, and Fred climbing through the upper window. Storming the pavilion and confronting Trengrove in front of Hiro and his friends, Yama demanded his robot. Mega Yama soon burst from behind Trengrove, fully upgraded with all the tech Hiro's friends had created. Yama and his henchmen then hop on Mega Yama and flee. They were soon pursued by Big Hero 6 all the way to the docks, where Go Go snatches Yama's flash drive. Ultimately, Mega Yama was defeated when Big Hero 6 infused the robot with two chem-balls filled with baking soda and vinegar and superheating it to cause it to erupt. Yama was thrown into the water, forcing him to swim away before he could be apprehended.
In "The Bot Fighter", a string of bot-related robberies plague San Fransokyo. Big Hero 6 deduce that Yama is the culprit, and infiltrate his office to find hard evidence, while Hiro distracts him with a bot-fight rematch. Instead, the team finds that Yama was busy at his samba classes during a robbery, which proves his innocence.
Season Two[]
In "The Fate of the Roommates", Yama partners with Mr. Sparkles to create Maximum Insane Driving Challenge for wealthy thrillseekers. The secret purpose of this race involved their contestants piloting remote control drone cars through the city, distracting the authorities while Yama and Sparkles commit robberies. However, their partnership was less than amicable as Yama resented being nicknamed "boyo" by Sparkles. Their partnership soon came to an end when Sparkles sent Yama to rob Richardson Mole's comic shop for Captain Fancy Issue 8 so he could abscond with all their loot. Yama was then confronted by Big Hero 6 and subsequently taken into custody by the police.
In "El Fuego", Yama summons Mega Yama to break him out of prison, only for Big Hero 6 to intervene and stop his robot; Yama remained completely oblivious to what was going on due to the brick wall separating his cell from the prison yard.
Video games[]
Big Hero 6: Battle in the Bay[]
Yama is the main antagonist of the video game, Battle in the Bay, where he sought revenge against Hiro for defeating him in the bot-fighting tournament. To do so, Yama invaded San Fransokyo with an army of battle bots, setting them against the Big Hero 6 team. After a battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, however, Yama is defeated and sent back to prison.
Big Hero 6: Bot Fight[]
Yama served as a minor antagonist, serving as the primary enemy in the first stage of the game where he, once again, made an attempt to avenge his own defeat by terminating Hiro.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- "Yama" is Japanese for "mountain".
- He dry-cleans his tracksuits.
- It is revealed in "The Bot Fighter" that Yama attends Samba classes.
References[]
External links[]
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