Violet Parr
Screenwriter and director Brad Bird conceived Violet as "a teenage girl who just wants to be invisible". In early drafts of the screenplay, Violet is depicted as an infant as opposed to a teenager, since parents Bob and Helen Parr were originally intended to be introduced as retired superheroes who have just begun to attempt to live normal lives much earlier during the film. Violet is voiced by American author and actress Sarah Vowell, who related that she was offered the role unexpectedly. 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. During one of Vowell's regular appearances on the show, Bird heard her contribute an anecdote about a cannon she had helped her father, a gunsmith, build. Bird wanted to cast Vowell based on her description of the event, deciding that she was "perfect" for the part and immediately calling her to offer her the role. Vowell had already earned a reputation for declining several voice acting jobs prior to "The Incredibles", to the point at which her agent warned Bird, "She's a serious writer and she wouldn't do this, so don't waste your time!" However, Vowell states that she simply avoided pursuing animated roles in general because she was content being a writer and found few animated projects particularly interesting prior to "The Incredibles".
The animators animated a rough test sequence to some of Vowell's dialogue from the radio segment about her father's cannon, in which Violet is depicted being startled by a gun that repeatedly fires in her hands. Despite experiencing some hesitation due having never voiced an animated character before, 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 "if Nelson Mandela showed up asking for your help to fight racism". Additionally, she had also been a long-time fan of Bird's work as a filmmaker. Vowell ultimately decided to accept the role based on a sole image she had been sent of the character: a drawing of Violet surrounded by her schoolmates, all of whom appear to be happy and outgoing apart from Violet herself, who is instead hunched over and hiding behind her long hair. Vowell concluded, "I can be that kid. I was that kid. I love that archetype of the morose, shy, smart-alecky teenage girl."
Violet Parr
Violet has made several appearances in other media, with Vowell returning to voice the character in various spin-offs and merchandise, including toys and cell phones. Violet also appears in several video games inspired by "The Incredibles". In the original 2004 video game based on the film, Violet appears mostly in stealth missions, using her invisibility to maneuver past guards and enemies unnoticed. The character's invisibility is limited by her Incredi-Meter, which can become greatly depleted by the use of her powers. In later levels, players can combine the powers of Violet and Dash to create the Incredi-Ball, in which Violet surrounds both herself and Dash using a force field, and Dash runs within it to propel it forward. The Incred-Ball has been identified as virtually indestructible. On some platforms, Violet is able to use force fields to levitate other objects. 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." Similarly, "Eurogamer"'s Patrick Garratt wrote that younger children will find playing as Violet increasingly difficult to due to the character's tendency to "run out of Incredible Power juice" quickly, limiting her ability to "sneak her way to the end of the level," while Duke Ferris of Game Revolution found the character's stealth levels to be "particularly weak". "" (2004) features 10 minigames that revolve around Violet and the rest of her family, particularly using Violet's powers to avoid difficult situations. The characters are first played as their secret identifies before players unlock levels in which they can then be played as their superhuman alter egos. There are two minigames that revolve around Violet and her abilities. In the first, "Violet's Diary Drama", she projects force fields to intercept Dash and prevent him from stealing her belongings, while "Violet Surrounded" features the character using a force field to protect herself from oncoming projectiles and deflect them back at Syndrome's henchmen.