...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

Reluctant Mad Scientist

495 statements
94 feature instances
77 referencing feature instances

Reluctant Mad Scientist	type	FeatureClass
Reluctant Mad Scientist	label	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist	page	ReluctantMadScientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist	comment	The Reluctant Mad Scientist considers himself a sensible man of science whose quest of discovery is unaccountably misused by his Evil Boss for destructive purposes. Reluctant Mad Scientists (and wizardly/seer variants) do not require a change of heart to do good; they merely need a change of employer, but they have Magic Nerd License to do what they want either way, as attested to in real life characters. Prior to the introduction of this trope, all stories about Mad Scientists (Faust, original Frankenstein, Lovecraft) seem to revolve around the scientist's own ethical and mental condition, usually involving Things Man Was Not Meant to Know that somehow cause him to go mad. In traditional accounts, the mad scientist himself suffers a nervous breakdown of some sort and becomes either the villain or the victim of his own experiments. Or at best he'd commit a Heroic Sacrifice so that our sensible, down-to-earth protagonists can right the wrongs he created. As if! The obviously charismatic Einstein and other early 20th-century physicists somehow inspired the notion of the Reluctant Mad Scientist who is generally beyond good and evil by virtue of sheer genius, leading to this new version of the Mad Scientist. The new generation of Reluctant Mad Scientists mark a refreshing non-villainous departure whose work was undeniably of immediate value to civilization, but only in the right hands. Unlike ordinary Mad Scientists, they are not heroes or villains per se; they are simply the only person who can be trusted to handle the new Weapon of Mass Destruction they invented. This usually makes them into a Living MacGuffin as far as the plot is concerned. This set up a new image of the scientist as a sort of natural resource, to be sought after by both sides. The Reluctant Mad Scientist may or may not be tormented by the evil that other men do with his work, but either way he is a Magical Nerd whom mortals must tolerate. The Reluctant Mad Scientist is generally morally neutral, and is rarely held accountable for the adverse consequences of his work. So long as he avoids romantic entanglements and anything else that might produce a character arc and self-doubt, he is ensured of a long and productive career. As a Magic Nerd, the Reluctant Mad Scientist is usually presented as the only person in the story who truly understands the implications of his work and thus the only person who is truly worried about applying it to good use. When detained by the hero, he will often immediately enter into a lecture warning of the evil to which his own inventions could be turned if used by anyone, such as, say, the evil boss who has funded his efforts for the past 20 years. Of course, everyone knows evil people are expected to disregard the Reluctant Mad Scientist's instructions not to use the Death Ray for harm; what's important is the good guy must not be allowed to make a similar mistake, and it is the responsibility of the Hero, not the Reluctant Mad Scientist, to destroy all copies of the Death Plans before they are made operational. Unlike the traditional Anti-Villain, the Reluctant Mad Scientist is not required to ask "My God, What Have I Done?" Even when employed by the Big Bad, he is generally portrayed as True Neutral because he is only concerned with one thing: to continue his work. When the Earth has been blasted into a million pieces, the Reluctant Mad Scientist only shakes his head and says, "I told you so". The Reluctant Mad Scientist is obsessed with his work and is unconcerned with outcomes or prosaic ambitions. He will either work for anybody so long as his work gets funded, or he will justify continuing his experiments in hopes of some abstract public good regardless of what the Big Bad does with them. He will immediately start collaborating with the Hero if "rescued", but only if he perceives that the other side values his work and wants to continue it. It is important to note that the main distinguishing characteristic of the Reluctant Mad Scientist is that he does not require a Heelâ€“Face Turn to be persuaded to come and work for the good guys; indeed, if he ever does pick a moral side, he is almost sure to be the next character killed. Nor is he held responsible for righting his previous wrongs, because they are never perceived by him to be mistakes, merely discoveries. The Reluctant Mad Scientist merely works for whomever is likely to get his ideas out there. After all, Colonel Badass also wants to know how to build a Phlebotinum Bomb in order to study and defend against this new phenomenon. Previously motivated only by his work, only The Power of Love can persuade the Reluctant Mad Scientist to destroy all his efforts after declaring that, "mankind was not meant to know what I have discovered." This conveniently preserves the status quo, because no one else gets to use his inventions to benefit world civilization in the next episode. After being rescued/turned by the Hero, they will inevitably show up again after the climax and provide a solution to help the Hero escape from the Collapsing Lair which was usually set off by the failure of the scientist to disarm his own creation, which he was supposed to do while the Big Battle was taking place. Corollary: the Reluctant Mad Scientist almost always delivers his creation to the Big Bad before its effects are known and before he has figured out how to disarm the device or reverse the effects. He must then spend the entire story trying to figure this out. He usually fails, prompting the Hero to simply inflict random damage to the Weapon of Mass Destruction causing it to only destroy the boss's lair and nothing else. The Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter may be his Morality Chain, or his Conscience. A Playful Hacker could turn out to be a Reluctant Mad Scientist. If he is Reformed, but Not Tamed or an Ignored Expert for long, he may as well be Well-Intentioned Extremist. Compare and contrast Cut Lex Luthor a Check and Trapped in Villainy. Related tropes include Motherly Scientist, Doctor von Turncoat, and You Can't Make an Omelette.... Science-Related Memetic Disorder is probably the opposite of this trope.
Reluctant Mad Scientist	fetched	2024-01-27T04:16:01Z
Reluctant Mad Scientist	parsed	2024-01-27T04:16:02Z
Reluctant Mad Scientist	processingComment	Dropped link to AnimeChineseGirl: Not an Item - FEATURE
Reluctant Mad Scientist	processingComment	Dropped link to BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: Not an Item - FEATURE
Reluctant Mad Scientist	processingComment	Dropped link to DeadpanSnarker: Not an Item - FEATURE
Reluctant Mad Scientist	processingComment	Dropped link to DeathRay: Not an Item - FEATURE
Reluctant Mad Scientist	processingComment	Dropped link to DoomsdayDevice: Not an Item - FEATURE
Reluctant Mad Scientist	processingComment	Dropped link to EnemyMine: Not an Item - FEATURE
Reluctant Mad Scientist	processingComment	Dropped link to GatlingGood: Not an Item - FEATURE
Reluctant Mad Scientist	processingComment	Dropped link to HeroicBSOD: Not an Item - FEATURE
Reluctant Mad Scientist	processingComment	Dropped link to HeroicSacrifice: Not an Item - FEATURE
Reluctant Mad Scientist	processingComment	Dropped link to MadScientist: Not an Item - FEATURE
Reluctant Mad Scientist	processingComment	Dropped link to MrFixit: Not an Item - FEATURE
Reluctant Mad Scientist	processingComment	Dropped link to NonEntityGeneral: Not an Item - FEATURE
Reluctant Mad Scientist	processingComment	Dropped link to PsychoLesbian: Not an Item - FEATURE
Reluctant Mad Scientist	processingComment	Dropped link to ReportsOfMyDeathWereGreatlyExaggerated: Not an Item - FEATURE
Reluctant Mad Scientist	processingComment	Dropped link to WhatTheHellHero: Not an Item - FEATURE
Reluctant Mad Scientist	processingComment	Dropped link to WizardingSchool: Not an Item - FEATURE
Reluctant Mad Scientist	processingComment	Dropped link to fridgelogic: Not an Item - FEATURE
Reluctant Mad Scientist	processingComment	Dropped link to lampshadehanging: Not an Item - FEATURE
Reluctant Mad Scientist	isPartOf	DBTropes
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_12300cc3	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_12300cc3	comment	Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen, although he's more of a super-powered being whose research is largely unrelated to his ability to explore the universe and have his powers harvested for devastation. Of course, it's justified in his case, as he really has no reason to care about what happens.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_12300cc3	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_12300cc3	featureConfidence	1.0
Watchmen (Comic Book)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_12300cc3
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_14494034	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_14494034	comment	Abraxas (Hrodvitnon): Ren Serizawa has shades of this when he's doing technical work on Project Talos. He's been contributing significantly to the creation of Kiryu as an ostensible Monarch-controlled ally for Godzilla, but Walter Simmons is exploiting Ren to further Apex Cybernetics' sinister agenda (which is implied to be just as bad here as in Godzilla vs. Kong). Partly defied, as Ren uncovers the negative Morality Chip that was coded into Kiryu without his knowledge, and he makes some tweaks of his own to rectify it.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_14494034	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_14494034	featureConfidence	1.0
Abraxas (Hrodvitnon) (Fanfic)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_14494034
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_171174dc	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_171174dc	comment	The Zeta Project: All of the named scientist who helped build Zeta either seem morally uncomfortable with making an assassination robot and/or moved onto other, more peaceful and widely beneficial, fields of science afterwards.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_171174dc	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_171174dc	featureConfidence	1.0
The Zeta Project	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_171174dc
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_1869a077	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_1869a077	comment	The Samurai Jack episode "The Tale of X-9" shows that Aku gathered all of the world's top roboticists to build a robot military police force. Despite a few of the scientists resembling villains from other franchises, they are portrayed as simply following orders, though it's unclear if they're doing so because they just really want to make robots or if they're doing so at gunpoint.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_1869a077	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_1869a077	featureConfidence	1.0
Samurai Jack	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_1869a077
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_1beda93b	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_1beda93b	comment	Riff from Sluggy Freelance just likes inventing stuff (especially exploding stuff) because it's cool. A recurring plot thread is the damage that resident Big Bad Hereti-Corp can do using Riff's technology. His attitude towards the whole thing is best summed up here:
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_1beda93b	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_1beda93b	featureConfidence	1.0
Sluggy Freelance (Webcomic)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_1beda93b
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_21ec74db	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_21ec74db	comment	Phil and Lem from Better Off Ted invent exactly the kinds of things mad scientists are supposed to but are shown following not only proper lab procedure (most of the time) but also keeping strictly to testing protocols. The dubious legal and ethical grounding of their work is mostly a matter of what Veridian Dynamics assigns them to develop than personal insanity.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_21ec74db	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_21ec74db	featureConfidence	1.0
Better Off Ted	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_21ec74db
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_25d97c04	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_25d97c04	comment	Qu, the gadgets and weaponry man for the History Monks, is another example of the type — only he makes no evasions about his gadgetry being weaponised. It doesn't always work as intended, but that doesn't stop him.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_25d97c04	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_25d97c04	featureConfidence	1.0
James Bond (Franchise)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_25d97c04
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_261c8d3f	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_261c8d3f	comment	In The Simpsons, Dr. Frink draws up plans for a Death Ray that can destroy an area the size of New York City. When confronted on what it's for, he sheepishly admits, "Well, to be honest, the ray only has evil applications."
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_261c8d3f	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_261c8d3f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Simpsons	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_261c8d3f
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_2702cb0e	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_2702cb0e	comment	Professor Deemer in Tarantula! wants to use the nutrient he has invented to end world hunger. Unfortunately, its side effects include deformity and death in humans, and gigantism in animals. Deemer is smart enough not to release the nutrient to the public until he has fixed these problems. It's not his fault that his assistants kill themselves by taking the nutrient before it's ready. Or that before one of them dies, he accidentally releases a giant tarantula that they had created while testing the nutrient. Really, the only thing Deemer is guilty of is not thinking to only test the gigantism-causing nutrient on herbivorous animals.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_2702cb0e	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_2702cb0e	featureConfidence	1.0
Tarantula!	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_2702cb0e
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_27777760	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_27777760	comment	The eponymous town in Eureka exists in part to keep these people (scientists with legitimately reasonable and innovative goals and research projects which sometimes go haywire) from falling into the wrong hands.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_27777760	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_27777760	featureConfidence	1.0
Eureka	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_27777760
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_2ab1a5ad	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_2ab1a5ad	comment	The Losers: The Indian scientists making Max's island destroying weapon in the film are at least partially motivated by knowing that he'll kill them if they refuse (although their leader at least still is out to get paid for it).
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_2ab1a5ad	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_2ab1a5ad	featureConfidence	1.0
TheLosers	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_2ab1a5ad
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_2ae406c1	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_2ae406c1	comment	Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri: Academician Prokhor Zakharkov has this as his starting morality as explained through his backstory, which involved building Powered Armor for the Russian Republic to fight the USA before defecting to the UN to build spaceships. Whether or not he actually stays reluctant is entirely up to the player. He's essentially a Russian Werner von Braun, balancing between Mengle and Einstein in morality.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_2ae406c1	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_2ae406c1	featureConfidence	1.0
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (Video Game)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_2ae406c1
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_2c3cd68a	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_2c3cd68a	comment	X-Wing Rogue Squadron: Prior to the storyline The Phantom Affair, physicist Rorax Falken was consulted by the Empire about constructing artificial moons to benefit underdeveloped planets. He suffered a mental breakdown upon discovering that Emperor Palpatine used his work to help build the Death Star.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_2c3cd68a	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_2c3cd68a	featureConfidence	1.0
X-Wing Rogue Squadron (Comic Book)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_2c3cd68a
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_325475	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_325475	comment	Resident Evil: Apocalypse: Charles Ashford only made the cell-regenerating virus to cure his paralyzed daughter and it's largely the fault of the sleazy pharmaceutical company he worked for that it got out of control and started a zombie apocalypse.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_325475	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_325475	featureConfidence	1.0
Resident Evil: Apocalypse	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_325475
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_331e009	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_331e009	comment	One of the missions in Borderlands 2 involves finding ECHO entries of Hyperion's slag experiments. The ones you find involve a scientist by the name of Dr. Samuels who isn't happy about performing cruel and decidedly pointless experiments but is forced to do so due to Handsome Jack threatening to kill her wife. In a sidequest of the Son of Crawmerax DLC, it's heavily implied that she was the one who killed Krieg's assassin, out of deep regret for what she did to him.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_331e009	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_331e009	featureConfidence	1.0
Borderlands 2 (Video Game)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_331e009
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_34525365	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_34525365	comment	In Trevor (2020), Dr. Maddison is the only member of the original medical team looking after Trevor who wants nothing to do with the military and their Super-Soldier project, despite it being an extremely well-paying job. He likely would have left, but according to Enid, the military "weren't exactly asking" and everyone else needed no coercion to go along with it.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_34525365	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_34525365	featureConfidence	1.0
Trevor (2020) (Webcomic)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_34525365
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_366dfee3	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_366dfee3	comment	Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams: Romero spliced animal DNA and created a lot of monsters, but he was just making small ones for a zoo before they accidentally were made to grow big (and they aren't that dangerous in the end), with Romero being more afraid of them than eager to exploit them.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_366dfee3	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_366dfee3	featureConfidence	1.0
Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_366dfee3
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_39f6a46c	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_39f6a46c	comment	Diamonds Are Forever has Dr. Metz, a "committed pacifist" who lends his expertise to Blofeld to create an orbiting death ray which will ensure world peace... right?
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_39f6a46c	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_39f6a46c	featureConfidence	1.0
Diamonds Are Forever	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_39f6a46c
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_416c3686	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_416c3686	comment	A group of scientists working for the dictatorial Empire in Gadget: Past as Future, according to the art book Inside Out With Gadget, once developed a device called the Beam Machine that they intended as a therapeutic tool to help psychic disorders by accessing hidden memories and such, but knowing that the Empire's leader, Paulo Orlovsky, would want to use it as a brainwashing tool, they created a new version of the machine called the Sensorama which they secretly changed so that anyone subjected to it would instead have a hypnotic suggestion planted into them to nonviolently overthrow the Empire that would be activated once they saw the "key" to trigger it, a giant airship the scientists were planning to build, although the discovery of an incoming comet caused them to abandon those plans.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_416c3686	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_416c3686	featureConfidence	1.0
Gadget: Past as Future (Video Game)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_416c3686
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_41ecc735	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_41ecc735	comment	Cyborg 009: Subverted with Dr. Isaac Gilmore. He knew damn well what he was getting into when joining Black Ghost and it took him years to develop enough conscience to drop out. His subconscious doesn't let him forget that detail, either. Played straighter with Dr. Finder, however. He first was kidnapped by Black Ghost to force him build a certain super weapon, and when it seemed that he would stop doing that, they kidnapped his daughter Cynthia to twist his arm even more. Then Cynthia is rescued by the Cyborg team... In the graphic novel reboot, 001's father is portrayed this way. He works with Black Ghost to save his son from a deadly illness and is clearly not on board with their plans for global domination. After 001 pleads with him to stand down because he accomplished his goal and saved his child, he performs a Heroic Sacrifice to let the cyborgs escape.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_41ecc735	featureApplicability	-0.3
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_41ecc735	featureConfidence	1.0
Cyborg 009 (Manga)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_41ecc735
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_467773a6	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_467773a6	comment	Galen Erso in Rogue One is a research scientist who gets forcibly recruited to construct a super-weapon for the Galactic Empire. That super-weapon turns out to be the original Death Star of the chronologically later Star Wars film A New Hope. Resenting the fact that he has been taken from his family, he secretly plants a weak spot, a thermal exhaust port leading directly to the main reactor, which would easily be destroyed by even a small starfighter.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_467773a6	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_467773a6	featureConfidence	1.0
Rogue One	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_467773a6
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_468bebb0	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_468bebb0	comment	Discworld: Leonard of Quirm (loosely based on Leonardo da Vinci) is a subversion; he never envisions violent uses for his ideas, and immediately becomes horrified and angry if anyone else suggests such uses for them. When one of his inventions is used for ignoble means, he tries to have it — and all of his plans and diagrams — destroyed out of shame. A later book suggests that he does realize the destructive potential, but tries to sell it as being used for peaceful purposes. When he designs an obvious weapon that he can't possibly spin into something else, he sighs and burns the plans. Qu, the gadgets and weaponry man for the History Monks, is another example of the type — only he makes no evasions about his gadgetry being weaponised. It doesn't always work as intended, but that doesn't stop him. Ponder Stibbons, in his quiet methodical way, comes up with concepts for the Wizards of Unseen University which have many unintended consequences. His less careful and more bellicose colleagues tend to misuse them or exploit the consequences in a way that horrifies Ponder. These include a seriously Big Bang.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_468bebb0	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_468bebb0	featureConfidence	1.0
Discworld	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_468bebb0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_498b77e9	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_498b77e9	comment	Dr. Lee of Skin Horse. Her morality is nebulous at best; she feels terrible about doing things like scooping out a man's brain to turn him into a weapon, yet she goes right on doing it. And while she does Mad Sciencey stuff, she's not exactly a Mad Scientist by the setting's definition, being far too connected to consensus reality. She's useful to the Shadowy Forces because she can turn mad science into things that actually work, while the non-reluctant Mad Scientists mock her for expecting things to make sense. Her naÃ¯vetÃ© on the matter is summed up fairly well here:
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_498b77e9	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_498b77e9	featureConfidence	1.0
Skin Horse (Webcomic)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_498b77e9
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_4b790c79	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_4b790c79	comment	In Iron Man, Tony Stark is perfectly fine with developing cutting-edge weapons systems... until he finds out they're being covertly sold to Middle Eastern terrorists, at which point he instantly shuts down the company's weapons manufacturing division and uses the titular Powered Armor to annihilate the terrorists' cache of Stark weapons. Tony then refuses to share the technology behind either the suit, or the miniature arc reactor that powers it and keeps him alive, for fear of what they might be used for. At the climax of the film, Obadiah Stane steals the arc reactor to power his own Iron Monger suit, and to copy its technology for use in weapons of mass destruction.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_4b790c79	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_4b790c79	featureConfidence	1.0
Iron Man	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_4b790c79
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_4cc10750	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_4cc10750	comment	In Guardian Fairy Michel, Dr. White's greatest fear was that his inventions would be used for evil. Sadly, he was right.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_4cc10750	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_4cc10750	featureConfidence	1.0
Guardian Fairy Michel (Animation)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_4cc10750
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_510fd7e5	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_510fd7e5	comment	Code:Realize depicts Victor Frankenstein as a brilliant, kind-hearted, and idealistic young man, eager to help people with his research in medicine, chemistry, and alchemy. He previously worked as Head Alchemist for Queen Victoria, and in this capacity he accidentally invented chemical warfare by developing Zicterium. When he realized the uses his research was being put to, he fled, and at the start of the game is wanted by the government since he's the only person who knows the process for making more Zicterium; on the run as an accused terrorist, he's searching for the remaining stockpile of Zicterium to destroy it before it can be used as a weapon.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_510fd7e5	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_510fd7e5	featureConfidence	1.0
Code:Realize (Visual Novel)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_510fd7e5
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_51d757e9	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_51d757e9	comment	Daybreakers: Edward is working at a company in the vampire-dominated world harvesting humans to try and make an artificial blood substitute, although he is only doing so to try and stop humans being slaughtered for blood like cattle and is quick to jump onboard with a faction instead working to try and cure vampirism.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_51d757e9	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_51d757e9	featureConfidence	1.0
Daybreakers	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_51d757e9
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_5283bd72	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_5283bd72	comment	Blayce the Nothing Man in Protector of the Small, when cornered by a furious Kel, claims to be this. He was born with the necromantic aptitude to use human souls to power horrific metal constructs and he'll do it for anyone, offering his services immediately to Kel's king. Kel doesn't believe him - he likes what he does, and he doesn't have to use children for it - and kills him rather than finding out if King Jonathan actually would allow Blayce to change sides.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_5283bd72	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_5283bd72	featureConfidence	1.0
Protector of the Small	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_5283bd72
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_53a0bd32	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_53a0bd32	comment	The Twilight Zone (1959): In "Third from the Sun", Sturka and Riden make destructive weapons for an oppressive government but hate it and feel trapped by how what they are doing is only a small part of a big chain (making it beyond their ability to stop or control) and their government comes down hard on dissent.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_53a0bd32	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_53a0bd32	featureConfidence	1.0
The Twilight Zone (1959)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_53a0bd32
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_53a73ca0	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_53a73ca0	comment	Dr. Sionver Boll from Star Wars: The Clone Wars is commissioned to engineer an indestructible armor for soldiers and spaceships from the Zillo Beasts scales. She is caring for the Zillo and doesn't want to kill it. In a DVD bonus feature, one of the people who made the episode even points out the Fridge Logic in well-meaning scientists always being appointed to the construction of weapons instead of curing diseases.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_53a73ca0	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_53a73ca0	featureConfidence	1.0
Star Wars: The Clone Wars	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_53a73ca0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_59151283	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_59151283	comment	Metal Gear: Metal Gear Solid: Otacon is an Occidental Otaku who created the Metal Gear Rex under the impression it would be an anti-missile platform. They didn't tell him they would slap on a railgun to launch undetectable nukes that aren't technically regulated by existing arms treaties. Sokolov from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater has a slightly less incredulous tale: he was originally a rocket scientist, who just wanted to build rockets to go into space. However, due to the escalating arms race, he was forced by the Soviet government to build nuclear missiles, eventually culminating in the Shagohod, which he was literally forced at gunpoint to build. He requested that the American government give him asylum, because he knew the weapon, if completed, would plunge the world into chaos. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker: Otacan's father Huey Emmerich agreed to work on Hot Coldman's Peace Walker project only so he could apply deterrence in such a way that wouldn't result in launching a nuke even once (as well as having to put up with it as, because he was born incapable of walking presumably due to his father's involvement in the Manhattan Project, he can't work in any other place than nuclear deterrence-related developments). As soon as he learned that Coldman was planning on launching a nuke as part of his test (something that Huey never agreed to), he immediately quit and defected to the Militaires Sans Frontieres, and also deeply considered quitting the field of science due to his unintended role in nearly causing a nuclear holocaust.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_59151283	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_59151283	featureConfidence	1.0
Metal Gear (Video Game)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_59151283
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_5958b382	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_5958b382	comment	Smoke features a pair of scientists seeking a cure for skin cancer. Their experiments turn their test subject invisible as a side effect. To the scientists' dismay, this interests their Corrupt Corporate Executive boss far more than their original medical research.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_5958b382	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_5958b382	featureConfidence	1.0
Smoke	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_5958b382
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_5c897f4a	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_5c897f4a	comment	Kevyn, from Schlock Mercenary, is very nearly the dictionary definition of "mad scientist" (which gets pointed out both by his teammates, when discussing his reputation, and himself, when wishing to capitalize on that reputation). But he also knows how wrong things can go: not only does he believe in the value of following the instructions the first time, to see how things are supposed to work before being modified, he insists that anyone working under him does the same thing. When tasked to build a robotic Longshoreman to help with distributing food to a colony, Para tried to place a bet: "With the parts on your shelf, I bet we can make a Longshoreman of the Apocalypse." It ended up being made anyway due to being in a rush job (and an order by the captain); Kevyn still wanted to test it out first. Of course, if the tests happened, LOTA wouldn't have saved the station's population after some holes were blown through its shell, and later become King LOTA.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_5c897f4a	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_5c897f4a	featureConfidence	1.0
Schlock Mercenary (Webcomic)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_5c897f4a
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_5dd28b4f	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_5dd28b4f	comment	Deep Blue Sea: Susan McAllister and Jim Whitlock are only looking for a cure for dementia when they're forced to genetically enhance man-eating sharks to harvest viable brain tissue from them. Unfortunately, while their security protocols are enough to keep the sharks from easily escaping, they aren't enough to stop the smarter than normal sharks from flooding the research facility and eating people. Unusually for the trope, Susan and Jim aren't driven to genetically enhance the sharks because their employer is evil, but because he's impatient with their experiments and contemplating cutting their funding.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_5dd28b4f	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_5dd28b4f	featureConfidence	1.0
Deep Blue Sea	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_5dd28b4f
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_694ab80	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_694ab80	comment	In the Batman Beyond episode "April Moon", a gang blackmails a scientist to make them super-strong with robotic body parts, claiming to have his wife taken hostage. Turns heart-wrenching when the scientist discovers that his wife is apparently a willing participant in the scam while cheating with the gang leader. Turns scary when the gang leader, who doesn't know that the scientist knows this, goes in for one last upgrade, with the implication that the doctor is going to get some revenge during the surgery.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_694ab80	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_694ab80	featureConfidence	1.0
Batman Beyond	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_694ab80
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_6a90d910	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_6a90d910	comment	The second American Ninja movie features the Big Bad using a doctor/biologist's input to create a line of Super Soldiers trained in ninjutsu and meant to be assassins and enforcers for his enterprise. The doctor is horrified by this, claiming that his work was supposed to be for the improvement of humanity. In the end the doctor blows up his lab so the work will be destroyed and cannot be misused again, taking the Big Bad with him in the process.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_6a90d910	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_6a90d910	featureConfidence	1.0
American Ninja	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_6a90d910
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_6ae1d164	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_6ae1d164	comment	Years before Galaxy of Fear, Mammon Hoole was one of these. He and his colleague were conducting experiments on the nature of life. His colleague knew the latest one would backfire horrifically and wipe out all life on the planet, and after consulting with the Emperor decided not to tell him. Hoole felt responsible, went into hiding for a few years, and came out as a different kind of scientist — an anthropologist. Some of his old work still comes up in the series.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_6ae1d164	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_6ae1d164	featureConfidence	1.0
Galaxy of Fear	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_6ae1d164
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_6c9193a1	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_6c9193a1	comment	The Venture Brothers: In the pilot, Dr. Venture doesn't seem to realize how much of an evil scientist he's being until someone points it out. He figures there's plenty of peaceful uses for a ray that melts buildings.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_6c9193a1	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_6c9193a1	featureConfidence	1.0
TheVentureBrothers	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_6c9193a1
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_72262aee	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_72262aee	comment	The Mechanist from the Avatar: The Last Airbender episode "The Northern Air Temple" creates weapons of war for the Fire Nation, because his work gives protection for his family and colony.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_72262aee	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_72262aee	featureConfidence	1.0
Avatar: The Last Airbender	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_72262aee
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_74fb542e	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_74fb542e	comment	A That Mitchell and Webb Look sketch features the unfortunately named Professor Death, a textbook Reluctant Mad Scientist. His "Giant Death Ray" is only so called because he invented it; its intended purpose is scanning groceries... or with the power turned up, to perform delicate eye surgeries.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_74fb542e	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_74fb542e	featureConfidence	1.0
That Mitchell and Webb Look	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_74fb542e
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7785278d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7785278d	comment	Dr Tenenbaum in BioShock technically fills this role by the end of the series (barring the exploding arena, as the final boss area does not explode, but she does provide the means of defeating the final boss). Going back over the audio diaries leaves it a bit ambiguous how reluctant or willing she was, how much of it was a desire for survival, how much was for science, and how much was just Rapture spiraling out of control. It doesn't help her boss is a murderous crime boss who probably would kill her if she protested too much.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7785278d	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7785278d	featureConfidence	1.0
BioShock (Video Game)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7785278d
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7c4c7803	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7c4c7803	comment	Abrahim Zherkezhi of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, a chronically naÃ¯ve computer theorist who only wants to use his unblockable magic hacker-program to promote the course of 'world peace'. It's not his fault he chose Douglas Shetland as a partner.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7c4c7803	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7c4c7803	featureConfidence	1.0
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (Video Game)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7c4c7803
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7cb259ac	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7cb259ac	comment	Nahum Whitley from Die, Monster, Die! is trying to use a radioactive Magic Meteor to grow larger vegetables but ended up turning plants, animals and people into monsters.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7cb259ac	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7cb259ac	featureConfidence	1.0
Die, Monster, Die!	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7cb259ac
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7cea4fb2	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7cea4fb2	comment	Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019): Dr. Emma Russell has invented a bio-acoustic device called the ORCA, with which she can communicate with the Kaiju, manipulate their behavior to a limit, and potentially bring humanity closer to achieving cohabitation with the creatures. Mercenaries led by Charles Dance kidnap her and force her to use the device to forcibly awaken the dormant Kaiju around the world, including King Ghidorah. Subverted, as Emma was actually in cahoots with the mercenaries to set the Kaiju loose all along.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7cea4fb2	featureApplicability	-0.3
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7cea4fb2	featureConfidence	1.0
Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7cea4fb2
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7dc973ed	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7dc973ed	comment	gen:LOCK: Dr. Weller is called a Mad Scientist by Cammie when they first meet, but he intended the gen:Lock programme to be used for purely scientific reasons to help humanity unlock its potential. He wanted it to be a new way of communicating and understanding other human beings, so he's not happy that its first use is to militarise it before it's even ready for use. As a result, the technological inventions he's creating for the Polity military, including the technology he's using to keep Julian alive despite Julian's extensive injuries, and his encouragement of a Union spy's use of the Holon despite knowing what would happen to an incompatible subject isn't entirely by choice.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7dc973ed	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7dc973ed	featureConfidence	1.0
gen:LOCK (Web Animation)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7dc973ed
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7fd91a3	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7fd91a3	comment	Star Wars: Catalyst: Galen Erso (along with several other more minor characters) was hired to design an energy source based on the Kyber crystals and wasn't told it would be used as a weapon: the Death Star.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7fd91a3	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7fd91a3	featureConfidence	1.0
Star Wars: Catalyst	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_7fd91a3
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_86c3beca	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_86c3beca	comment	While the whole point of Girl Genius is that "Mad Scientists rule the world. Badly," most of the main characters are Reluctant Mad Scientists. While they are still afflicted by "The Madness Place", they work very hard to control it and are defined by their ability to actually use their Sparkiness to make the world a better place. Klaus Wulfenbach does this by being a Magnificent Bastard; Othar Tryggvassen (Gentleman Adventurer!) tries to make the world better by ridding it of all Sparks (including, once his "job" is done, himself); the others are just trying to do their best in a world pounded into submission and littered with wandering monsters. (Ironically, this may involve pounding the world into submission and/or creating armies of monsters. Sometimes you have to work inside the system.)
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_86c3beca	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_86c3beca	featureConfidence	1.0
Girl Genius (Webcomic)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_86c3beca
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_880cfa15	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_880cfa15	comment	Hogan's Heroes has this several times with people the Heroes help defect. "The Witness" has a Russian Wernher von Braun stand-in working for the Nazi rocketry program. He built the rocket just to test his theory and then programmed it so it would turn right around and kill everyone at its launch point, including himself in order to keep his rocket design from being used for the war effort. Fortunately, his plan was thwarted. Dr. Vanetti in "The Assassin" is a somewhat easily flustered atomic scientist being pressured to invent the bomb for the Nazis, when he'd prefer to defect and ride out the war, feeling such a weapon would be "far too noisy". "The Scientist" features Henri Dubois, a French chemist working for the Nazis to develop a synthetic fuel who turns out to only be helping them because the Germans have his daughter hostage. Karl Svenson in "How to Win Friends and Influence Nazis" is the inventor of a new steel alloy but is reluctant to give it to the German government unless they can prove that their prison camps are humane, and is only willing to consider it due to a desire to bring a quick end to the war. In "Carter Turns Traitor", Leni Ricther, the second in command of a chemical warfare program, turns out to be a secret opponent of Hitler who has been deliberately sabotaging the project to keep it from producing anything useful for the German war effort. Professors Rieman and Bauer in "The Dropouts" are atomic scientists introduced trying to flee to Switzerland with their recently completed research rather than entrust it to Hitler.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_880cfa15	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_880cfa15	featureConfidence	1.0
Hogan's Heroes	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_880cfa15
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_88701b75	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_88701b75	comment	Dr. Kokintz, the inventor of the Q-Bomb in The Mouse That Roared. In the end, he's happy to see his weapon unused.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_88701b75	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_88701b75	featureConfidence	1.0
The Mouse That Roared	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_88701b75
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_8a836c90	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_8a836c90	comment	Milton in The Walking Dead (2010). He has a better insight into the Governor's true nature than most Woodbury residents — even enabling several of them as resident The Smart Guy — and reluctantly turns a blind eye due to interest in the experiments on communicating with zombies to curb their aggressiveness he is able to perform under the Governor's patronage.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_8a836c90	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_8a836c90	featureConfidence	1.0
The Walking Dead (2010)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_8a836c90
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_8cea2648	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_8cea2648	comment	The head scientist and CEO of Alchemax in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse appears to simply be a brilliant scientist caught between her research into multiple universes and Wilson Fisk's maniacal designs, being made to build an inter-dimensional device in spite of her concerns of the damage it could cause. But then we learn that her name is Doctor Olivia Octavius, and that she's not nearly so "reluctant" once the four tentacle arms come out...
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_8cea2648	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_8cea2648	featureConfidence	1.0
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_8cea2648
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_8d445a78	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_8d445a78	comment	Marionettes: Dr. Bright Future was hired by the Stallions in Black to create the titular machines, which they intended to use to carry out what they believed was the Tree of Harmony's plan.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_8d445a78	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_8d445a78	featureConfidence	1.0
Marionettes (Fanfic)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_8d445a78
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_8df52438	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_8df52438	comment	Dr. Hedo in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero was the grandson of Dr. Gero and had no love for the Red Ribbon Army but went along with their plan to Take Over the World anyway because they were the only ones who would hire him. He desired to create the Ultimate Life Form to protect humanity and made the sentai-styled Gamma twins for that purpose, but also agreed to make a new Cell at his boss' request while being Genre Savvy enough to know what a terrible idea it is and makes sure everyone knows it.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_8df52438	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_8df52438	featureConfidence	1.0
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_8df52438
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_924bb56e	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_924bb56e	comment	Topher Brink of Dollhouse is an interesting example. At first, he seems the perfect man for the job, a sociopath who sees human beings as toys. However, it soon becomes rather clear that much of this is merely scientific detachment, and although he's immature and his morals are shaky, his favorite parts of the Dollhouse are the assignments that make him feel like a good person (like the Priya storyline... at first). By the end of the series, his loyalties are clear.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_924bb56e	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_924bb56e	featureConfidence	1.0
Dollhouse	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_924bb56e
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_9db10e53	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_9db10e53	comment	In Danger!! Death Ray, the scientist who invented the titular Death Ray exclaimed that he only wanted his invention to be used for peaceful purposes. Just like the above example, what those peaceful purposes are exactly is anyone's guess.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_9db10e53	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_9db10e53	featureConfidence	1.0
Danger!! Death Ray	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_9db10e53
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_9fa025d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_9fa025d	comment	Dr. Andonuts in Mother 3, who creates the chimeras and ultimately tricks the Big Bad into sealing himself in a capsule with no escape.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_9fa025d	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_9fa025d	featureConfidence	1.0
Mother 3 (Video Game)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_9fa025d
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_9ff4a8d9	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_9ff4a8d9	comment	Godzilla: Godzilla (1954): Dr. Serizawa. He invents a weapon called the Oxygen Destroyer, but refuses to make his findings public and fears what'll happen if it gets into the wrong hands. It's only after he sees the destruction Godzilla has caused that he decides to use it... but only once. Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019): Dr. Emma Russell has invented a bio-acoustic device called the ORCA, with which she can communicate with the Kaiju, manipulate their behavior to a limit, and potentially bring humanity closer to achieving cohabitation with the creatures. Mercenaries led by Charles Dance kidnap her and force her to use the device to forcibly awaken the dormant Kaiju around the world, including King Ghidorah. Subverted, as Emma was actually in cahoots with the mercenaries to set the Kaiju loose all along.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_9ff4a8d9	featureApplicability	-0.3
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_9ff4a8d9	featureConfidence	1.0
Godzilla (Franchise)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_9ff4a8d9
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a04b0ca3	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a04b0ca3	comment	Professor Cuthbert Calculus in Tintin, who is also an Absent-Minded Professor; most notably in The Calculus Affair, in which he's abducted by Taschists after he invents a Tesla-style sonic superweapon. Calculus is extremely opposed to any government using his invention, goes to meet a fellow scientist because his discovery frightens him, and burns the plans on his own volition. He'd become much less of a Cloudcuckoolander at this point in the series and more The Professor, even as his inventions became more dangerous and sought-after.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a04b0ca3	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a04b0ca3	featureConfidence	1.0
Tintin (Franchise)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a04b0ca3
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a183d57f	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a183d57f	comment	Professor Farnsworth in Futurama. "This box contains our own universe! We must cherish it as we would every moment of our lives." Not to mention his collection of Doomsday Devices. Ironically, he's saved the world with them on a few occasions but otherwise doesn't seem motivated to use them. "Mother's Day" reveals that at one point, he invented a teddy bear that shoots rainbow-colored lasers. When boss Mom wants to use them as military weapons, he protests that this would defeat the purpose, because enlarging them would eliminate the cuteness factor due to the square-cube law!
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a183d57f	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a183d57f	featureConfidence	1.0
Futurama	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a183d57f
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a3129642	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a3129642	comment	Doctor Universe of Spinnerette used to be this trope, before the government aborted his project to prevent China from using his studies to make Super Soldiers.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a3129642	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a3129642	featureConfidence	1.0
Spinnerette (Webcomic)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a3129642
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a796bde8	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a796bde8	comment	Metal Gear Solid: Otacon is an Occidental Otaku who created the Metal Gear Rex under the impression it would be an anti-missile platform. They didn't tell him they would slap on a railgun to launch undetectable nukes that aren't technically regulated by existing arms treaties.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a796bde8	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a796bde8	featureConfidence	1.0
Metal Gear Solid (Video Game)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a796bde8
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a90d239a	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a90d239a	comment	Sheegor from Psychonauts is a twist on this trope, a Reluctant Igor (and a girl one; note pun in name). She is completely opposed to her boss Dr. Loboto's plans, but has a childlike mind and fears for her beloved pet turtle who Loboto has taken hostage. She instantly switches sides when Raz rescues him — indeed, using Clairvoyance reveals that she sees him as a shining, angelic savior.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a90d239a	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a90d239a	featureConfidence	1.0
Psychonauts (Video Game)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_a90d239a
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ac58ea30	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ac58ea30	comment	Professor Fassbender in The Pink Panther Strikes Again, who is forced to make a Disintegrator Ray for the mad Dreyfus, after threats against his daughter and the use of Nails on a Blackboard.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ac58ea30	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ac58ea30	featureConfidence	1.0
The Pink Panther Strikes Again	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ac58ea30
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_b0b4e8ff	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_b0b4e8ff	comment	Jade Empire has Kang the Mad, who only really cares about building and improving his Steampunk Schizo Tech, and literally couldn't care less about what it's used for. He betrays his boss Gao the Greater at the first opportunity, but that's only because Gao dared to make copies of his inventions, not because he was using those copies for slaving and piracy. This is mostly attributable to him being Lord Lao, a member of the Celestial Bureaucracy, all of whom seem to have a noninterventionist Above Good and Evil kind of worldview.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_b0b4e8ff	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_b0b4e8ff	featureConfidence	1.0
Jade Empire (Video Game)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_b0b4e8ff
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_b4967d43	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_b4967d43	comment	Dr. Gerald Robotnik of Sonic the Hedgehog was contracted by the former president of the United Federation to assist with their Immortality Seeker research. Gerald initially refused believing No Man Should Have This Power but changed his mind after seeing it as an opportunity to help his ill granddaughter Maria, eventually creating the Ultimate Life Form Shadow the Hedgehog in the process after making a Deal with the Devil with the alien Evil Overlord Black Doom. Despite him actively working with the government, a later administration turned on him ironically believing No Man Should Have This Power themselves and attacked his space station, killing Maria and turning Gerald into an Omnicidal Maniac.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_b4967d43	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_b4967d43	featureConfidence	1.0
Sonic the Hedgehog (Franchise)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_b4967d43
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_b4fe32c9	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_b4fe32c9	comment	In Invader Zim, the Vort(ian)s, which seem to be a species of scientists, were once allies of the Irkens before they were betrayed and conquered, and are now forced to make them weapons like the Megadoomer and Minimoose. (Some fans have noted that these weapons don't work very well when compared to the stuff that they made Irkens before the conquest.) Special mention to Prisoner 777, whom Zim calls especially for this purpose; in the comic continuation, it's revealed◊ that Prisoner 777 goes along with this because Zim's kidnapped his children and threatens to "erase" them.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_b4fe32c9	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_b4fe32c9	featureConfidence	1.0
Invader Zim	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_b4fe32c9
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_b8c3cc30	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_b8c3cc30	comment	In Young Justice (2010), Serling Roquette was captured by the League of Shadows to make the Fog, a cloud of Nanomachines that could destroy anything in their path as well as download any information that the villains needed. She was actually rescued at the beginning of the episode she appears in, but spent the rest trying to create a virus to destroy the Fog while the Team protected her from League assassins.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_b8c3cc30	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_b8c3cc30	featureConfidence	1.0
Young Justice (2010)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_b8c3cc30
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ba07853c	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ba07853c	comment	Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker: Otacan's father Huey Emmerich agreed to work on Hot Coldman's Peace Walker project only so he could apply deterrence in such a way that wouldn't result in launching a nuke even once (as well as having to put up with it as, because he was born incapable of walking presumably due to his father's involvement in the Manhattan Project, he can't work in any other place than nuclear deterrence-related developments). As soon as he learned that Coldman was planning on launching a nuke as part of his test (something that Huey never agreed to), he immediately quit and defected to the Militaires Sans Frontieres, and also deeply considered quitting the field of science due to his unintended role in nearly causing a nuclear holocaust.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ba07853c	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ba07853c	featureConfidence	1.0
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (Video Game)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ba07853c
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ba2ab0a2	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ba2ab0a2	comment	In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Leonardo da Vinci is conscripted by the Borgia to put his Gadgeteer Genius talents to use creating weapons for them. He tries to sabotage them by deliberately not giving them his best work. Unfortunately, even his half-assed inventions like the wheel-lock rifles are still considerable improvements over their older weapons.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ba2ab0a2	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ba2ab0a2	featureConfidence	1.0
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Video Game)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ba2ab0a2
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ba666650	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ba666650	comment	Sokolov from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater has a slightly less incredulous tale: he was originally a rocket scientist, who just wanted to build rockets to go into space. However, due to the escalating arms race, he was forced by the Soviet government to build nuclear missiles, eventually culminating in the Shagohod, which he was literally forced at gunpoint to build. He requested that the American government give him asylum, because he knew the weapon, if completed, would plunge the world into chaos.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ba666650	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ba666650	featureConfidence	1.0
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (Video Game)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ba666650
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_bcadd7cb	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_bcadd7cb	comment	Warhammer 40,000 provides an interesting variant in the form of Magnus the Red, Primarch of the Thousand Sons. He was the galaxy's most powerful and knowledgeable psychic after his father, the Emperor; and in this weird, gothic Science Fantasy setting, this made him more akin to a mad wizard than a mad scientist. After some political maneuvering by Magnus's brothers and the covert influence by a malign deity, the Emperor called the Council of Nikaea, in which the use of psychic powers were publicly banned. (The Thousand Sons's hat was warrior-psychics, so they would have to radically change everything from the ground up, had they complied.) The Horus Heresy broke out, Magnus used his power to reach out to the Emperor across the galaxy. What Magnus didn't realize was that the psychic shock caused enormous damage across Earth, even destroying the Emperor's secret projects for the Imperium's long term survival. The Emperor dispatched the Space Wolves in response to subdue Magnus and his Legion, with Horus intercepting the order and altering it to destroy them. The following battle ended with Magnus sacrificing his physical body to transport the relative few survivors of his Legion to a new planet, and having to throw his lot in with the traitors for survival. What's notable here is that Magnus was one of the Emperor's most loyal sons, and his hubris in thinking he knew best allowed him to be manipulated by the God of schemes and sorcery (which Magnus was ironically ignorant of), destroying the Emperor's plans and exposing himself in flaunting the Emperor's decree, both in spectacular fashion. This caused the avoidable tragedy of two of the Emperor's most loyal forces to clash for survival. Magnus was crushed with guilt to the point of nearly allowing everything he loved and worked for to be destroyed right up to the point where he nearly did lose everything. At the last possible moment, he had to cut a deal with the God that had tricked him, his eternal service and what little he had left would be kept intact, especially his few surviving Sons. That included siding with Horus in treason, and after the whole ordeal was finished, Magnus and his sons fully cast off any old loyalties and decided to pursue revenge against the Emperor and the Wolves.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_bcadd7cb	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_bcadd7cb	featureConfidence	1.0
Warhammer 40,000 (Tabletop Game)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_bcadd7cb
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_c43df4d8	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_c43df4d8	comment	Yvonne Hartman, Director of Torchwood in the Doctor Who episode "Army of Ghosts", widens an apparent power source leading to the void between realities and lets through an army of Cybermen.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_c43df4d8	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_c43df4d8	featureConfidence	1.0
Doctor Who	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_c43df4d8
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_c692db8d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_c692db8d	comment	The Last Days of Krypton: Jor-El is an interesting variant of the trope. He's a genuine Science Hero whose inventions are being used to save Krypton from various cataclysmic disasters. It's just that Zod, the man granting him the resources to carry out those projects, also finds ways to use those same inventions for tyranny and destruction once they've served their original purpose (to Jor-El's distress).
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_c692db8d	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_c692db8d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Last Days of Krypton	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_c692db8d
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_c8c98634	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_c8c98634	comment	Dr. Zelinsky in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 is the mind behind the time machine used by the remnants of the defeated Soviet leadership from the previous interation of the series who goes back and changes history by erasing Einstein from it, giving rise to a three-way war between the western Allies, Soviets, and Empire of the Rising Sun. He is on the lighter side morally compared to other examples on this page, as he becomes horrified at the implications of his work being played out in front of him and tries to rectify it in various ways depending on whose campaign you're playing: In the Allied campaign, he makes secret contact with Allied high command during the Enemy Mine situation they have with the Soviets to combat the Empire to warn them that the Soviets are planning to backstab the Allies with a mustering of forces in Cuba, and later defects to them. In the Imperial campaign, he also secretly contacts the Allies to warn them about the nature of their existence — the Emperor and his son are able to listen in via their spy US President Ackerman, who is a android controlled by them in this meeting, and learn that the Empire was never meant to be a power at all if it weren't for his actions; this sends the Emperor into a Heroic BSoD as the whole nature of Imperial destiny is called into question. Later, Dr. Zelinsky defects to the Allies after the Soviets are defeated and helps them make a Last Stand in Brussels against the Empire in the campaign's final mission, considering it his duty to right the wrongs his work has done (namely, the Empire's existence). In the Soviet campaign, he attempts to contact the Non-Entity General player commander to convey the same information, but the transmission is interrupted. Presumably, Premier Cherdenko had him silenced to make sure the truth behind his rise to the top of the Soviet hierarchy is not found out.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_c8c98634	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_c8c98634	featureConfidence	1.0
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (Video Game)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_c8c98634
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ca713b1c	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ca713b1c	comment	Fatal Frame has Dr. Kunihiko Asou, whose inventions included various types of Camera Obscura. While his inventions originated from his curiosity regarding the afterlife and were never meant to actively hurt anyone, the fact that those who become exposed to extended use of such items could become mad upon seeing spirits (especially if said users hadn't seen one before) and possibly Driven to Suicide caused many of his inventions to be considered dangerous or even cursed.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ca713b1c	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ca713b1c	featureConfidence	1.0
Fatal Frame (Video Game)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ca713b1c
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_cdedd56a	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_cdedd56a	comment	In Exo Squad, Prof. Algernon starts off working for the Neo Sapiens (though he masquerades as a lab assistant while his Neo "boss" pretends he's the genius inventor), but when he gets captured by the good guys, he starts working for them without batting an eye.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_cdedd56a	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_cdedd56a	featureConfidence	1.0
Exo Squad	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_cdedd56a
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_cf32411f	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_cf32411f	comment	Walter from Dubious Company. He is one of very few Magitek engineers in the world. All he wants to do, however, is fly around in his airship and play pirate. The urging and endangerment of his friends changes him from Boisterous Weakling to Captain Science Hero.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_cf32411f	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_cf32411f	featureConfidence	1.0
Dubious Company (Webcomic)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_cf32411f
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_d531b6f7	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_d531b6f7	comment	The former members of Unit 11 in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow are classic examples, forced to conduct experiments to save the human race from extinction from a war that ultimately didn't escalate to the depths they'd thought, causing them to wash their hands of the project and try to leave.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_d531b6f7	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_d531b6f7	featureConfidence	1.0
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_d531b6f7
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_d6e2636b	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_d6e2636b	comment	Will Magnus, creator of the Metal Men, is conscripted to be one in 52. Most of the others in the program are more than happy to go along with it. It's also revealed that he has bipolar disorder which makes him a Mad Scientist — the only reason why he works for the Science Squad is because its members took away his meds. Then combined with Beware the Nice Ones when he rebuilds the Metal Men secretly and takes on the evil conspiracy keeping him as prisoner from the inside.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_d6e2636b	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_d6e2636b	featureConfidence	1.0
Metal Men (Comic Book)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_d6e2636b
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_d794a2a2	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_d794a2a2	comment	Dr. Onishi in AKIRA. He ignores an order to kill Tetsuo if Tetsuo's vital signs get out of hand. You have two guesses why, and the first guess (deeply cares about saving Tetsuo's life?) doesn't count. Tellingly, nobody ever blames him for the outcome.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_d794a2a2	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_d794a2a2	featureConfidence	1.0
AKIRA (Manga)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_d794a2a2
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_da6c3f4d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_da6c3f4d	comment	The Girl With All the Gifts: Dr. Selkirk clearly dislikes helping Caldwell's vivisections of the zombie children. Eventually she can barely look at the kids. Caldwell notices this, but sees it just as a testimony to her own triumph and talent, accomplishing so much with just a single, weak-stomached assistant.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_da6c3f4d	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_da6c3f4d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Girl With All the Gifts	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_da6c3f4d
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_dab32bf	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_dab32bf	comment	Dr. Mikhail Cossack in Mega Man 4 was blackmailed by Dr. Wily into creating a series of killer robots and taking the blame for their rampage. When you face him in the final stage of his fortress, Proto Man comes in, having just saved his kidnapped daughter, at which point Cossack immediately leaves his mech and asks forgiveness from Mega Man. Come Mega Man 5, Cossack has both increased the power of Mega Man's Mega Buster, as well as creating Beat.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_dab32bf	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_dab32bf	featureConfidence	1.0
Mega Man 4 (Video Game)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_dab32bf
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_db96ded4	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_db96ded4	comment	In The Legend of Korra, while he's willingly working for Kuvira's Earth Empire, Varrick accidentally creates a Fantastic Nuke while experimenting with spirit vines. His first instinct is to shut down the project, deeming it too dangerous. Kuvira however forces him to continue or else be kicked off a moving train. It's worth noting that this is the first time he's ever had second thoughts about one of his inventions — most of the time, he's just plain Mad Scientist.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_db96ded4	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_db96ded4	featureConfidence	1.0
The Legend of Korra	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_db96ded4
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_dd3fe595	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_dd3fe595	comment	Deconstructed with Dr. Robert Stadler of Atlas Shrugged. He sees himself as a noble pure scientist who seeks only to discover truths about the physical cosmos, and he is shown to have real tendencies to live up to his values of achievement and humanitarianism. However, his allowing himself to be co-opted by the evil government of looters — laying the groundwork for a weapon of mass destruction — is not portrayed as excusable, and he is often considered to be the most evil villain in the book (not least because John Galt's speech calls him out by name). He has a moment of Ignored Epiphany when he gives a speech about how great it is that he's given the government an increase in firepower — though he's selling out his true belief, that he disapproves of how the weapon (best known as Project X) will obviously be used for repressive purposes. And his end is somewhat similar to the tropes of a character who's a just-plain Mad Scientist: He begins to believe that it's okay to force the masses into doing his will, he ends up fighting with another character who, like himself, is planning to defy the bosses in Washington to use the Project X weapon to take over a part of the country, and both are destroyed by the weapon that Stadler helped to invent.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_dd3fe595	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_dd3fe595	featureConfidence	1.0
Atlas Shrugged	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_dd3fe595
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_de8f6a97	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_de8f6a97	comment	Godzilla (1954): Dr. Serizawa. He invents a weapon called the Oxygen Destroyer, but refuses to make his findings public and fears what'll happen if it gets into the wrong hands. It's only after he sees the destruction Godzilla has caused that he decides to use it... but only once.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_de8f6a97	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_de8f6a97	featureConfidence	1.0
Godzilla (1954)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_de8f6a97
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_e0730aee	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_e0730aee	comment	The assistant to the titular doctor of Dr. Franklin's Island, Dr. Skinner, is tormented by the ethical ramifications of turning unwilling teenagers into Mix-and-Match Critters and then psychologically testing them. He's swayed by the potential of the research and by an unspecified past that means he can't get work in this field and at this level elsewhere, and is somewhat weak-willed anyway. While drunk he tries to set some test subjects free, but Dr. Franklin catches him and Skinner immediately bows his head and returns to helping him, though that's not the end of his conflict.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_e0730aee	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_e0730aee	featureConfidence	1.0
Dr. Franklin's Island	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_e0730aee
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_e07a5e98	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_e07a5e98	comment	Jeremiah: Jeremiah's father and his lab partner Dr. Weil were manipulated into creating the Big Death virus by the U.S. government and are appalled by everything it did. They immediately devoted themselves to trying to undermine the Valhalla Sector from within afterward, although Dr. Weil didn't live long after that. "The Face in the Mirror" has a flashback which shows several other Valhalla Sector scientists being miserable in the work they do for a budding dictatorship and talking about how they want to stop it. Several of them (a team of psychological warfare experts) escape Raven Rock to set up an opposition government of their own. Most of them end up becoming their own antithesises (assuming they were ever genuinely noble in the first place), but Dr. Monash is as appalled by them as he was by the Valhalla Sector and ends up defecting.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_e07a5e98	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_e07a5e98	featureConfidence	1.0
Jeremiah	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_e07a5e98
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_e0fcfdea	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_e0fcfdea	comment	The Avengers (1960s): The episode "Return of the Cybernauts" has a couple of these being hired/coerced (with varying levels of enthusiasm) into assisting with the villain's revenge scheme against Steed and Emma.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_e0fcfdea	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_e0fcfdea	featureConfidence	1.0
The Avengers (1960s)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_e0fcfdea
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_e6267766	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_e6267766	comment	Star Wars Legends: Qwi Xux and the team of scientists that built the Death Star, which they believed was for blowing apart asteroids to get at the valuable minerals inside. Unusually, she does get called out on her naivete (for example, believing that anything called "Death Star" wouldn't be used for exactly that), and winds up siding with the New Republic. Of course, according to the Empire's propaganda department, the official name for the Death Star was Imperial Planetary Ore Extractor. It should also be noted that her part in this trope is taken to Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds levels, as the reason why she even felt as though she had to solve problems no matter the cost is because Wilhuff Tarkin, after taking her from her family, had her go through an intense high-risks mathematics/science course taught by him and his underlings. And by "high-risks", we mean "if one of the students failed to answer a question correctly, Tarkin will force said student to watch as his/her home village is destroyed from orbit, and then executed shortly thereafter" kind of "high-risks". The fact that she, not to mention her home village, were the only ones that literally survived that harsh course makes matters a lot worse. Years before Galaxy of Fear, Mammon Hoole was one of these. He and his colleague were conducting experiments on the nature of life. His colleague knew the latest one would backfire horrifically and wipe out all life on the planet, and after consulting with the Emperor decided not to tell him. Hoole felt responsible, went into hiding for a few years, and came out as a different kind of scientist — an anthropologist. Some of his old work still comes up in the series.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_e6267766	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_e6267766	featureConfidence	1.0
Star Wars Legends (Franchise)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_e6267766
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ec2a1c9e	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ec2a1c9e	comment	The scientist who created 9 in order to defeat his previous creation, which wiped out humanity. This is, of course, after some militant dude took the machine and modified it so that it was capable of building machines capable of wiping out humanity.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ec2a1c9e	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ec2a1c9e	featureConfidence	1.0
9	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ec2a1c9e
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ee5e6821	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ee5e6821	comment	Dr Krukenstein in John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme is 95% sure her invention isn't evil... or maybe 90%. She gets down to 51% and then chucks it in the lake.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ee5e6821	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ee5e6821	featureConfidence	1.0
John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (Radio)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_ee5e6821
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_f4abd380	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_f4abd380	comment	BlazBlue: Litchi Faye-Ling used to be a scientist who made a device similar on how to make a Nox Nyctores. Later on, she became a doctor after a freak accident that created Arakune and seemed really content with her life as a doctor while seeking to cure Arakune. Until the side effect of said freak accident started to affect her and the appearance of Hazama made her aware that NOL may have the answer to the cure of Arakune and herself, and her old mentor rejected her plea for help. As she didn't have much respect on NOL previously, after a lot of hesitations, she ends up retaking her old science way and becoming their Reluctant Mad Scientist (compared to the very much less reluctant Relius Clover) only for the cure of Arakune (and herself).
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_f4abd380	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_f4abd380	featureConfidence	1.0
BlazBlue (Franchise)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_f4abd380
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_f599977e	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_f599977e	comment	Dr. Schroeder in Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown was brought in by the Eruseans to collect flight data from one of their top aces, Mihaly, to improve upon the drone army. At first, he was willing to go through with it to avenge his homeland of Belka, but he became increasingly disillusioned with the project as the war dragged on, and Mihaly's granddaughters began to resent him for putting their grandfather through increasingly risky sorties. It's not until the end of the war, when his motivations are discovered, that he finally relents and tries to stop the project after it results in two UAVs that try to start a Robot War.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_f599977e	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_f599977e	featureConfidence	1.0
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown (Video Game)	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_f599977e
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_fdbace96	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_fdbace96	comment	Gravity Falls has the author of the journals, Ford Pines, whose journals catalog his many inventions and various creatures he's encountered and studied — both of which tend be incredibly dangerous or at least have the potential to be. His primary motives are For Science! and to avert The End of the World as We Know It... due to one of said inventions.
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_fdbace96	featureApplicability	1.0
Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_fdbace96	featureConfidence	1.0
Gravity Falls	hasFeature	Reluctant Mad Scientist / int_fdbace96

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

Reluctant Mad Scientist	processingCategory2	A Reluctant Index
Reluctant Mad Scientist	processingCategory2	Characters as Device
Reluctant Mad Scientist	processingCategory2	Cyberpunk Tropes
Reluctant Mad Scientist	processingCategory2	Make My Index Live!
Reluctant Mad Scientist	processingCategory2	Tropes on Science and Unscience
Guardian Fairy Michel (Animation) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Secret of Cerulean Sand / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist (Comic Book) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Injustice 2 (Comic Book) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
The Losers (Comic Book) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
The Marvels Project (Comic Book) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Watchmen (Comic Book) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Nodwick (Comic Strip) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Fallout: Equestria - Project Horizons (Fanfic) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Captain America (1979) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Captain America: The First Avenger / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Clockstoppers / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Diamonds Are Forever / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Die, Monster, Die! / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Godzilla (1954) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Laser Mission / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Metropolis / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Morgan / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Outpost / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
The Dark Knight Rises / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
The Manhattan Project / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
The Pink Panther Strikes Again / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
The Shadow / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Tintin (Franchise) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Dr. Franklin's Island / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Heroics for Beginners / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Necromancy Cottage, Or, The Black Art Of Gnawing On Bones / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
The Girl With All the Gifts / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
The Last Days of Krypton / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
The Passage / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Thief of Time / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Console RPG Clichés 97 to 120 / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
DieFrauInMond	seeAlso	Reluctant Mad Scientist
JetsNGuns	seeAlso	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Lukebn	seeAlso	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Mario4812LikedTropes3	seeAlso	Reluctant Mad Scientist
TraceMemory	seeAlso	Reluctant Mad Scientist
AKIRA (Manga) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Cyborg 009 (Manga) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme (Radio) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Campus Life (Roleplay) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Eureka / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Giant Robo / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Helix / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Jeremiah / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Kamen Rider / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Seibu Keisatsu / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
The Avengers (1960s) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Another Code (Video Game) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Chernobylite (Video Game) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Dishonored (Video Game) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
EVERSPACE (Video Game) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Fallout 3 (Video Game) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Gadget: Past as Future (Video Game) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Gorky Zero (Video Game) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Mega Man 4 (Video Game) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Nightfall Mysteries (Video Game) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Psychonauts (Video Game) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Putt-Putt (Video Game) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
SOMA (Video Game) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Soldier of Fortune (Video Game) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
20XX (Video Game) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Jets'n'Guns / Videogame	seeAlso	Reluctant Mad Scientist
AsteroidQuest (Webcomic) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Dogs of Future Past (Webcomic) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Spinnerette (Webcomic) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
TREVOR (Webcomic) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
Trevor (2020) (Webcomic) / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
The Zeta Project / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist
X-Men: The Animated Series / int_bbc8a85d	type	Reluctant Mad Scientist

Copyright of DBTropes.org wrapper 2009-2013 DFKI Knowledge Management. Imprint. - Thanks to Bakken&Baeck for hosting. Contact.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.