Themad scientist (alsomad doctor ormad professor) is astock character of ascientist who is perceived as "mad, bad and dangerous to know"[1] or "insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabashedly ambitious,taboo orhubristic nature of their experiments. As amotif in fiction, the mad scientist may bevillainous (evil genius) or antagonistic, benign, or neutral; may beinsane,eccentric, or clumsy; and often works withfictional technology or fails to recognise or value common human objections to attempting toplay God. Some may have benevolent intentions, even if their actions are dangerous or questionable, which can make them accidentalantagonists.
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The prototypical fictional mad scientist wasVictor Frankenstein, creator of hiseponymous monster,[2][3][4] who made his first appearance in 1818, in the novelFrankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus byMary Shelley. Though the novel's title character, Victor Frankenstein, is a sympathetic character, the critical element of conducting experiments that cross "boundaries that ought not to be crossed", heedless of the consequences, is present in Shelley's novel. Frankenstein was trained as both analchemist and a modern scientist, which makes him the bridge between two eras of an evolving archetype. The book is said to be a precursor of a new genre,science fiction,[5][6] although as an example ofgothic horror[7][8][9][10] it is connected with other antecedents as well.
The year 1896 saw the publication ofH. G. Wells'sThe Island of Doctor Moreau, in which the titular doctor—a controversialvivisectionist—has isolated himself entirely from civilisation in order to continue his experiments in surgicallyreshaping animals into humanoid forms, heedless of the suffering he causes.[11] In 1925, the novelistAlexander Belyaev introduced mad scientists to the Russian people through the novelProfessor Dowell's Head, in which the antagonist performs experimental head transplants on bodies stolen from the morgue, and reanimates the corpses.
Fritz Lang's movieMetropolis (1927) brought thearchetypical mad scientist to the screen in the form ofRotwang, the evil genius whose machines had originally given life to thedystopian city of the title.[12] Rotwang'slaboratory influenced many subsequent movie sets with itselectrical arcs, bubbling apparatus, and bizarrely complicated arrays of dials and controls. Portrayed by actorRudolf Klein-Rogge, Rotwang himself is the prototypically conflicted mad scientist; though he is master of almost mystical scientific power, he remains a slave to his own desires for power and revenge.[citation needed]
A recent survey of 1,000 horror films distributed in the UK between the 1930s and 1980s reveals mad scientists or their creations have been the villains of 30 percent of the films; scientific research has produced 39 percent of the threats; and, by contrast, scientists have been the heroes of a mere 11 percent.[13]Boris Karloff played mad scientists in several of his 1930s and 1940s films.
The mad scientist was a staple of the Republic/Universal/Columbiamovie serials of the 1930s and 40s. Examples include:
Mad scientists were most conspicuous inpopular culture afterWorld War II. The sadistichuman experimentation conducted under the auspices of theNazis, especially those ofJosef Mengele, and the invention of theatomic bomb, gave rise in this period to genuine fears that science and technology had gone out of control. That the scientific and technological build-up during theCold War brought about increasing threats of unparalleled destruction of the human species did not lessen the impression. Mad scientists frequently figure inscience fiction andmotion pictures from the period.[14]
Mad scientists in animation includeProfessor Frink fromThe Simpsons,Professor Farnsworth fromFuturama,Rick Sanchez fromRick and Morty,Rintaro Okabe fromScience Adventure,Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz fromPhineas and Ferb, and Dr. Lullah fromStuGo.
Walt Disney Pictures hadMickey Mouse trying to save his dogPluto fromThe Mad Doctor (1933).
Depictions of mad scientists in Warner Brothers'Merrie Melodies/Looney Tunes cartoons includeHair-Raising Hare (1946, based onPeter Lorre),Birth of a Notion (1947, again based on Lorre),Water, Water Every Hare (1952, based onBoris Karloff).
While bothTom and Jerry dabbled in mad science in some of theHanna-Barbera cartoons, an actual mad scientist did not appear until[citation needed]Switchin' Kitten (1961).
