The Hobo is a unnamed character in The Polar Express film. He is a ghost who lives on top of the Polar Express and rides it whenever he feels like it for free. He does not believe in Santa Claus or Christmas, but his negativity tests Hero Boy’s faith. Throughout the film, Hero Boy is the only character who sees and directly interacts with him.
The Hobo first appears sleeping in a hammock underneath the train during the ticket journey scene. As the wind blows Hero Girl’s ticket underneath the train, it lands on his face before being blown away again.
When Hero Boy tries returning Hero Girl’s ticket, he sees the Hobo’s shadow on the roof of the observation car from inside. Thinking it is Hero Girl with the Conductor, he climbs onto the car’s roof. He meets the Hobo, preparing coffee over a fire while humming “Good King Wenceslas” and playing a hurdy-gurdy. Hero Boy says that he is “looking for a girl”, though the Hobo laughs, thinking he meant a romantic partner. When he shows Hero Girl’s ticket, the Hobo recognizes its value and suggests Hero Boy puts it in his slipper. He goes on to explain how he rides on top of the train for free whenever he likes and claims to be the king of both the train and the North Pole. He also offers Hero Boy a cup of coffee, though the boy spits it out when he finds out the Hobo washes his socks in it. Afterwards, he questions him being the king of the North Pole, thinking that role would belong to Santa Claus, which leads to the Hobo mocking Santa by putting on a Santa hat and pretending to be a department store animatronic Santa. The Hobo asks why he wants to see Santa and Hero Boy explains that he wants to believe. The Hobo then hints that everything is just a dream and asks Hero Boy if he “believes in ghosts.” When Hero Boy’s replies “No,” all Hobo says is “interesting” as he mysteriously appears and vanishes in the snow.
The Hobo comes back and puts Hero Boy onto his shoulders to get ready to head to the locomotive, explaining that they must make it before they reach Flat Top Tunnel, which is only one inch taller than the locomotive. However, when the train goes up a hill, they slide towards the back of the train. The Hobo stops them by grabbing the top rung from the train ladder with one of his ski sticks, but Hero Boy falls off his shoulders and starts hanging off the edge of the train. The Hobo uses his other ski stick to save him and puts him onto his skis in front of him. The train begins going down the hill and the two ski down the train, jumping from one car to the next. As soon as Flat Top Tunnel’s teeth fly out, Hero Boy jumps into the tender of the locomotive just in time after the Hobo mysteriously disappears.
Later, the train ends up on the Ice Lake and crashes through an iceberg, causing it to lean sideways and Hero Girl to nearly fall off. Hero Boy and the Conductor grab her and try to save her to no avail. Luckily, the Hobo appears and after putting a finger on his lips telling Hero Boy not to say anything, he helps them get Hero Girl back on board, then disappears before anyone else could see him.
On their way back to the passenger cars, Hero Boy, Hero Girl and the Conductor go through the abandoned toy car where the Hobo, hiding on top of the car, uses a Scrooge marionette to scare Hero Boy.
He appears again on the speeding runaway observation car, tapping on the manual brake wheel to show Hero Boy where the brakes are while drinking another cup of coffee. He disappears again when the car rushes through a tunnel.
The Hobo makes one last appearance near the end of the film when Hero Boy is dropped off at his house. He waves goodbye to Hero Boy from the roof of the train before disappearing one last time.
Credit : Fandom
Picture Credit : Google
