Bob is the evil inside all men. The animalistic part of the human brain that revels in violence, dishing out suffering. Bob is human nature, Bob is nature. A leopard killing a gazelle for food. A cat toying with a bird.
Bob is what pushed Leland Palmer to kill Sarah Palmer.
Another time traveler, the scientist in the beginning says they have had unfortunate problems with unstable types before. I think that was a hint that the voice Cole hears is the unstable character the scientist was talking about. Time travel must muddy the waters so maybe the character is interdimensional, or he has figured out how to move through different timelines.
shareThis is the best theory I’ve heard on this yet
sharegood theory
shareI was just watching again and the homeless man doesn't know who James is when Kathryn questions him but he only knows James as Bob. He also has a bandage on his head which obviously signifies memory loss, I doubt the director wrapped the man's head like that just for looks. He might not remember her with Bob/James on their earlier encounter. What comes to mind when someone has a bandage on their head?
There is a moment where he is cut off by Kathryn and he's in the middle of talking about how "they" do experiments and not just on animals but on people. He starts pointing down as he appears to say down there and she cuts him off. I thought he was talking about Jeffreys group originally but now I think he is clearly still going on about the future scientists.
The "who's James" line is really what confuses people into thinking he's just a street loon.
The significance of the bandage, if there is one, is very interesting. We know there are three options: another volunteer, someone from the central office, or voices in James head. Based on clues in the movie, my guess would be the first option. Whatever Bob's identity may be, based on the main theme of the movie, I don't think we supposed to know the answer. Ontology is a key element in the film, and one of its themes explores our perception of reality and how we determine what is real and what is not. The director wants us to left confused as James himself.
I believe hes another time traveler. James hears his voice for the first time in the future, and later sees him physically in the past. We also know that he isn't a figment of James imagination, because Dr. Railley also sees him, and interacts with him when James isn't there. He also gives James the information that they track him through his teeth. James only obtains this information from him, and it turns out to be true, because after he pulls them out, they are unable to bring him future, and Jose confirms it when they meet.
The question is why was he so ambiguous with James during that first conversation? We know that time travel is supposed to be tough on the mind. So maybe he does it just to mess with the more weak minded individuals that are returning, and questioning their reality.
"We also know that he isn't a figment of James imagination, because Dr. Railley also sees him, and interacts with him when James isn't there."
Wrong.
First, it's 'Railly', not 'Railley'. Second, she does NOT interact with the 'voice', only the homeless bun that the 'voice' seemingly used. It's CLEARLY not the same personality/entity, even though it's the same body. That homeless guy doesn't know who James is, plus, his voice is different.
She interacts with the homeless guy, but she never interacts with THE 'voice' entity that James hears periodically throughout the movie.
It's the same voice, that's really not even up for debate. The only difference that you are hearing is that the 2 scenes where we see his physical body take place outside. While the scenes where we just hear his voice take place inside a jail cell, a hospital room, and a bathroom that all have echoes.
He doesn't know who James is, because he doesn't know his name. He called him Bob in the previous scene when he told him about removing his teeth, just like the disembodied voice did. In the first scene James says thats not my name, but he doesn't give him the correct name. Not that it matters, since those scenes probably aren't in chronological order. Once he removed his teeth, he won't return to the future, so the homeless bum that we see is the latest version of himself. But that aside, the fact that they both call him Bob shows that it's the same person.
Also the fact that Railly interacted with the homeless man is important, because without that scene, it could be argued that even the physical version of the homeless man was in James head. During the first scene she didn't say or do much of anything, so it's not clear that she saw him. That scene was needed to show that she saw and heard him as well.