mad scientist
Sign in to saveAlso known as mad doctor, mad professor, crazy scientist
stock character; an insane or highly eccentric scientist, often villainous or amoral
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Mad scientist transparent background.svg
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- Commons category
- Mad scientists
- female form of label
- шалёная навукоўка
- topic's main category
- Category:Fictional mad scientists
- fictional or mythical analog of
- scientist
- different from
- absent-minded professor
- male form of label
- шалёны навуковец
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Encyclopedic overview
Victor Frankenstein in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who has a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabashedly ambitious, taboo or hubristic nature of their experiments. As a motif in fiction, the mad scientist may be villainous (evil genius) or antagonistic, benign, or neutral; may be insane, eccentric, or clumsy; and often works with fictional technology or fails to recognise or value common human objections to attempting to play God. Some may have benevolent intentions, even if their actions are dangerous or questionable, which can make them accidental antagonists.
History
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “mad scientist” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.