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Edna Mode famously has no tolerance for capes. When Mr. Incredible tried to get his suit fixed, Edna proposed making him a new suit which lead into an argument over her "no capes" rule.

Was this rule based on fashion, i.e. she never liked capes as clothing, or was it simply because capes caused the death of many superheroes?

I was just thinking that she might have never liked capes in the first place, and then because many superheroes died by capes, this justified her position.

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    This is explained clearly in the movie as part of the flashbacks Edna spoke to.
    – SteveED
    Jun 12, 2012 at 1:08
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    @ SteveED I'm asking if her rule was before or after the death of many superheroes. As you see, Mr. Incredible's original suit does not have a cape.
    – Blue
    Jun 12, 2012 at 11:43
  • I don't know if it's been brought up before, and I know next to nothing about Incredibles, but there's a DC hero called Dollar Bill. He was presented briefly in Watchmen, and elaborated upon in Before Watchmen. What connects him to your question, is the fact that he was gunned down after his cape stuck in a turning door. Yep. That's it. The comic was released in 1986.
    – Gallifreyan
    Feb 15, 2017 at 17:42
  • She may have had flair for fashion, but let's keep in mind that the reason they went to her for suits was that the suits she made were very, very functional. So, fashion or not, she would not have agreed to make suits that she suspected were going to kill them.
    – Misha R
    Nov 14, 2017 at 6:29

3 Answers 3

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I suspect the truth was she did not like capes and considered them dangerously unfashionable. From her perspective, she thought capes ruined the line of what she considered the ultimate expression of superhuman appearance, the well-garbed human form.

Rumor has it she was likely responsible for issuing said capes to the supers (against her fashion advice, of course, darling) and may have had some indirect involvement in their demise.

Capes added more lines, a madly fluttering distraction and had potentially lethal consequences to their daily use. Having memorized half a dozen heroes who met an untimely end due to their use of the deadly fashion accessory, she felt fully justified when she emphatically stated: "No Capes!"

Bob is trying to get Edna Mode to repair his mega-mesh super-suit damaged in combat with Syndrome's weapon.

Edna: You need a new suit, that much is certain.

Bob: A new suit? Well, where the heck am I gonna get a new suit?

Edna: You can't! It's impossible! I'm far too busy, so ask me now before I can become sane.

Bob: Wait? You want to make me a suit?

Edna: You push too hard, darling! But I accept!

Edna: It will be bold! Dramatic!

Bob: Yeah!

Edna: Heroic!

Bob: Yeah. Something classic, like, like Dynaguy. Oh, he had a great look! Oh, the cape and the boots...

Edna: [throws a wadded ball of paper at Bob's head] No capes!

Bob: Isn't that my decision?

Edna: Do you remember Thunderhead? Tall, storm powers? Nice man, good with kids.

Bob: Listen, E...

Edna: November 15th of '58! All was well, another day saved, when... his cape snagged on a missile fin!

Bob: Thunderhead was not the brightest bulb...

Edna: Stratogale! April 23rd, '57! Cape caught in a jet turbine!

Bob: E, you can't generalize about these things...

Edna: Metaman, express elevator! Dynaguy, snagged on takeoff! Splashdown, sucked into a vortex!

[shouts] Edna: No capes!

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    In addition: It is likely Edna issued the caped uniforms to the dead supers in the first place. While not feeling actual guilt for their causing thier passings, the primadona would have felt regret that she let the supers talk her into making dangerous uniforms that clashed with her sense of fashion. That is why I believe Edna draws the line and proclaims "No capes!"
    – Major Stackings
    Jun 12, 2012 at 1:32
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    Like all forms of design, fashion design is part aesthetic and part practical design. It may have also been that capes offended her design sense because they were obviously dysfunctional to her. As they later proved to be a hazard, and yet someone kept designing costumes with them.
    – Kai
    Oct 8, 2014 at 21:30
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    I always thought this was also an homage to Alan Moore's Watchman series actually. If you recall, there was a young hero named Dollar Bill who died when his cape got stuck in a revolving door and he was shot at point blank range... it was the first thing I thought of when I saw Edna Mode's no capes montage.
    – djm
    Oct 9, 2014 at 18:01
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    I'm confused - why is it you've listed the assumption (that she considers them unfashionable) as the main answer, when the sub-answer (they are a hazard to the super) is clearly stated by Edna? Surely if there are no quotes of her discussing capes as fashion choices, then we must go by the (perfectly reasonable) explanation that her hatred of the clothing comes from the fact that they keep getting good people killed.
    – DavidS
    Nov 13, 2018 at 17:48
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According to The Incredibles: Essential Guide factbook, E's primary motivation for disliking capes is twofold; in addition to being unsafe, she also considers them unfashionable.

One thing E insists on when she’s crafting a Super suit is NO CAPES! They get snagged on missile tailfins and sucked into jet turbines. They’re not just a fashion disaster, they’re a real disaster waiting to happen!

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Possible out-of-universe reason: Capes are hard to animate

Don't have any reference on that, but it seems very possible that part of the decision was based on capes just being an (avoidable) annoyance to the animation team. Making a cape look credible and realistic in every situation is probably not easy, and as the suits get a lot of screen time, the benefit would add up quickly.

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    This is somewhat believable; on the extra features in the DVD, they mention deleting a scene in part because it would have involved underwater hair simulation, which they (apparently) considered too hard at the time. Nowadays, it's a much less plausible excuse, of course (see Merida's hair in Brave).
    – Kevin
    Nov 25, 2020 at 23:20
  • In the Making-of documentary, they discuss how hard it is to animate Edna putting her hand right through a hole in the fabric of the Super-Suit. That being said, the directors insisted on that scene and the designers didn't seem averse to doing it, just annoyed at how hard it would be, compared to doing it differently.
    – Valorum
    Nov 25, 2020 at 23:24
  • @Valorum One single scene is not exactly long enough to matter. They also animated capes in the flashback scenes. Makes sense to not want a mild annoyance, that you of course can put up with for short scenes, filling half your movie, doesn't it?
    – MaxD
    Nov 25, 2020 at 23:50
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    Here's your reference: when Dreamworks was making Megamind they had to get IRL versions of Megamind's various capes made and then film them in various activities so that they could model them properly.
    – The Daleks
    Nov 26, 2020 at 1:05

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