Robert Andrews, usually referred to as Bob, is the third member of the Three Investigators. He is in charge of "Records and Research".
Appearance[]
Bob is the shortest member of the Three Investigators. He has blond hair and bright blue eyes. As he is nearsighted, he wears glasses, which he switches out for contact lenses after he starts working for the record producer Sax Sandler.[2] In The Nameless Adversary, he is also described as having a striking face and a narrow nose. He has tan skin and is quite slender, yet not muscular in the slightest. Bob is considered the most handsome and attractive of the trio.
Personality[]
Bob is quiet, calm, and collected. He has a sense of humor and there's hardly anything that can faze him. With his level-headed demeanor, he often has to mediate between Jupiter and Peter. He doesn't speak a lot and usually stays in the background. Still, with his sympathetic and friendly character lets him make friends fast. In The Mystery of the Moaning Cave, Jupiter compares his courageousness to that of a lion.
In the Crimebusters series, Bob starts working for the record producer Sax Sandler. He becomes more confident and flirtatious, which gets him a lot of attention from girls. Peter and Jupiter like to make fun of him for having become arrogant and self-absorbed. His tastes change along with his personality: he becomes less and less interested in books and reading and finds his new passion in music, especially rock.
Bob is quite chaotic, which reflects in the constant state of untidness his room is in. He is also meticulous with money, as he doesn't throw away anything he paid for.[2] While Bob lacks Jupiter's deductive skills, he has a high analytical ability.
Movies[]
Bob is the only character whose appearance and personality were vastly changed in the movies. Here, he has red locks and his fair skin is speckled with freckles. He is fearful and pampered and more of a jokester. In the second installment, however, he is starting to act more like his novel counterpart and is shown to be more of a womanizer.
Biography[]
In The Secret of Terror Castle, Bob is initially just assigned the position of "Records and Research" because he previously rolled down a five hundred feet long slope and fractured his leg in multiple places. Due to that, his mobility was limited. Since the job suited him the most, he kept it after his leg healed a week before The Mystery of the Green Ghost takes place.
In the earlier volumes, he works at the local library. However, he seems to quit his job there later on and starts working for Sax Sandler's record company.[2] After he starts working there, he begins to neglect his duties with the Three Investigators but slowly returns to normal from The Insane Painter onwards.
Relationships[]
Jupiter Jones[]
Peter Crenshaw[]
Bob is Peter's close friend. They seem to get along much better with each other than they do with Jupiter.
Since Peter's girlfriend, Kelly, was eventually cut out of the audiobooks, a lot of the scenes that originally featured her were replaced with Bob. This lead to many scenes gaining a strong homoerotic subtext. In The Missing Pilot, for example, Bob and Peter kiss after Peter solves a riddle.[note 1]
Elizabeth Zapata[]
Elizabeth is Bob's girlfriend. They meet in a record shop and date for four years[3] before they eventually break up.
In Voices from the Void, Bob seeks help from a therapist because he has fallen in love with another girl when he already has a girlfriend. In Slander, it is briefly mentioned that things didn't work out with his crush, whom he calls Brenda.
Skinny Norris[]
Skinny and Bob's relationship is built on mutual hatred.
In The Nameless Adversary, however, Bob loses his memories and Skinny Norris convinces him that they're best friends. Even after Bob recovers his memories, Skinny still refers to him as "his best friend".
Skills[]
- Records and Research: Bob is good at researching topics and archiving the information he has gathered. In early episodes, he works at the local library, which makes him well-acquainted with the surroundings. He is also uses the internet and the archive of the Los Angeles Post, where his father works, as resources.
- Drawing: Bob is a good artist and even creates composite sketches for the Three Investigators in later volumes.[1] In Black Sun, it is also said that he attends an art class.
- Photography: Bob enjoys taking pictures and is often seen developing photographs in the Headquarters' dark room. Most of his knowledge about photography and cameras comes from his father, who has taught him how to work with them from an early age.[4] In newer volumes, he uses a digital camera instead of an analogue one.
Trivia[]
- Bob is the only member whose name hasn't been changed in the German version.
- Bob is the red question mark in the German version and the green one in the American one.
- He is the youngest member of the Three Investigators.
- Bob drives an old, yellow Volkswagen Beetle.
- In Path of Fear, Bob drives his car down a cliff. It gets repaired afterwards and still appears in the following volumes.
- Bob doesn't like the color black.[5]
- Unlike Jupiter and Peter, Bob prefers snowboarding to ski.
- Bob is left-handed.[6]
- According to William Arden, Bob was the character Robert Arthur identified with the most.
- Bob's full name, Robert Andrews, was also based on Robert Arthur and his son Robert Andrew Arthur.
- Bob has an annoying cousin.[1]
- Because of his leg injury in The Secret of Terror Castle, Bob now has problems walking long distances. His right leg is weaker than his left one and hurts when he strains it. He also starts hinking after walking a while.
- Bob loses his memory of two different occasions: in The Mystery of the Silver Spider and The Nameless Adversary.
- Depending on the novel, he either took Latin[7] or French[8] in school.
Notes[]
- ↑ Peter: ...get it?
Bob: (excited) OF COURSE! Oh, Pete, I could kiss you!
Peter: (embarrassed) Ehrm....not...not here... (They go on explaining the puzzle)
Jupiter: You solved it, Second!
Bob: (slightly breathy) Can I kiss you now?
Peter: Go ahead! *cue smoochie sounds*