A mad scientist or mad professor is a stock character of popular fiction, specifically science fiction.
The mad scientist may be villainous or antagonistic, benign or neutral, and whether insane, eccentric, or simply bumbling, mad scientists often work with fictional technology in order to forward their schemes, if they even have a coherent scheme. Alternatively, they fail to see the potential objections to playing God. Not all mad scientists are evil or villains such as Simon Bar Sinister. Some may have benevolent or good spirited intentions, even if their actions are dangerous or questionable, which can make them accidental villains. In the same relation, some are protagonists (or at least positive forces), such as Dexter in the animated series Dexter's Laboratory, Professor Calculus in The Adventures of Tintin, Dr. Muto, Professor Farnsworth, Philo in UHF, Dr. Benjamin Jeffcoat, or Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown from the Back to the Future movies. Occasionally, there are self parodies of mad scientists making fun of the stereotype.
Famous quotes containing the words mad and/or scientist:
“It is scarcely exaggeration to say that if one is not a little mad about Balzac at twenty, one will never live; and if at forty one can still take Rastignac and Lucien de Rubempre at Balzac’s own estimate, one has lived in vain.”
—Willa Cather (1873–1947)
“I’ve been complimented for my scorekeeping, and sometimes it’s hard to tell whether it’s a backhanded compliment or not. Are the men surprised when a woman does a good job as a judge?”
—Sheila Harmon-Martin, U.S. political scientist and boxing judge. As quoted in the Chronicle of Higher Education, pp. A13-A14 (June 2, 1993)