Whether it’s a grim supernatural ritual or technology beyond the imagination of modern mankind, there’s always a questionably ethical, debatably insane visionary ready to light the fuse. In science fiction, the go-to villain isn’t a perfect killing machine, a race of hostile aliens, or a natural apocalypse. It’s just one smart person willing to go the extra mile.
The first science fiction story, pioneering the genre as we know it today, was Mary Shelley’sFrankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. Everyone knows the tale of the cruel medical school dropout who assembles a sapient being through his own hubris. Victor rejects his creation and is punished for his failure of empathy, and thus, the enduring sci-fi format was established.
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The mad scientist trope was codifiedby Shelley’s 1818 opus, making it one of the most recognizable tropes in fictional history. The mad scientist has been the bad guy in so many works that everyone can call half-a-dozen examples to mind. While all kinds of characters can fill this role, the thing they have in common is the allegory they all represent. The mad scientist is a character designed to embody the theoreticallesson of cosmic horror. The moral of every mad scientist story, even as far back asFrankenstein, is that mankind shouldn’t try to advance too far past their boundaries. Regardless of the goal or what could be achieved along the way, experimentation can be dangerous. There are dark secrets around every corner, and every school of natural science holds something that could spell our doom. Ignorance is a virtue and the desire for knowledge, the evolutionary gift that gave humanity its position, is a sin.
The reason behind the popularity of the mad scientist trope is fairly obvious. There are quite a few things that people have invented that could be the end of all life on Earth. The closest real-world example of the tale of a well-meaning scientist inventing a tool of mass destruction is the story of J. RobertOppenheimer and the Manhattan Project. The possibility of global annihilation still looms large due to their actions would make a person reticent to see scientists as the hero. In real life, scientists spend most of their time telling us how bad our favorite things are for us, and alerting us to crises we can’t individually solve. Many people would love to live in ignorance of the problems that currently plague Earth. From their perspective, scientists are confronting them with too much knowledge, and it is harming them.
The interesting thing about the modern incarnation of the mad scientist trope is that they are often motivated by more extrinsic forces. Victor Frankenstein was motivated by his own ego, his own desire to claim the adoration of his creation, and his desire for praise from everyone else. Many modern mad scientists overstep the boundaries of ethics or logic in pursuit of a greater good. Some scientists seek to improve conditionsfor an unfairly treatedgroup that they may or may not represent. Essentially, the biggest change amongst the mad scientist trope has been a shift from psychological to sociological storytelling. Of course, there are still plenty of examples of both, but the innovative examples add some much-needed depth to the trope.
In many cases, a mad scientist is a one-note villain who seeks some form of success through unethical experimentation. A bad guy using whatever the universe’s version of techno-babble is can do whatever the creator needs them to do. In the more interesting cases, however, the trope exists to interrogate theflaws of the fictional societyand both sides of power.Frankensteinintroduces a new form of cruelty through the actions of its eponymous scientist, but his goal isn’t a noble one. How would the moral calculus change if Victor was trying to cure disease, defend his neighbors, or eradicate death? How would it change if he was in pursuit of profit? Who could be the hero of a story in which the villain is knowledge?
The best modern examples of a mad scientist can work in any context. They can be comedic, horrific, or inspiring.Rick Sanchez is a takeon the trope in which the pathos of the creator is far more important to the narrative than the things he creates. Victor fromArcaneis a mad scientist who is turned into a pawn by the shifting culture that surrounds him, even as his experimentation leads to his destruction. In the modern superhero cinema boom, most of the heroes and villains are either inventors or wielders of hyper-advanced scientific technology.Peter Parker is kindof a young mad scientist and almost all of his adversaries are the very same. The single-minded “science bad” take from early sci-fi remains alive and well, but most audiences recognize that message as silly today.
There have been some advancements in this unique trope, but with so many examples, fans are free to pick their favorites. There’s no sign of mad scientists going away any time soon, and as long as nuance enters the equation, it isn’t getting any less relevant.
