List of fictional scientists and engineers
In addition to the archetypical mad scientist, western culture depicts scientists and engineers who go above and beyond the regular demands of their professions to use their skills and knowledge for the betterment of others, often at great personal risk. In this list of fictional scientists and engineers, an annotated alphabetical overview is given of some of the best-known beings in this category.
Individual scientist/engineers
- Eleanor Arroway (Contact) – A scientist who searches for extraterrestrial intelligence.
- Martin Arrowsmith (Arrowsmith)
- Buckaroo Banzai (The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension) – Particle physicist, neurosurgeon, test pilot, martial artist and rock star.
- Professor Barnhardt (The Day the Earth Stood Still) — American scientist who organizes a scientific reception for Klaatu's message of peace.
- Dr. Glenn Barton (The Man and the Challenge) — human-factors scientist and star of the 1958-1959 TV series.
- Beakman (Beakman's World) — general scientist who, in a funny and entertaining manner, teaches that science is a fact of life.
- Carson Beckett (Stargate Atlantis) – Medical doctor and geneticist who discovers the ATA gene and serves as the chief medical officer for the Atlantis expedition.
- Dr. Sam Beckett (Quantum Leap) - Nobel-prizewinning quantum physicist (with multiple doctorates) caught in his own time-travel experiment; "leaping" into many lives along the span of his own lifetime, he must change the histories of those around him for the better before he can return home.
- Dr. Walter Bishop (Fringe (TV series)) - Genius and mad scientist (literally). Responsible for opening a doorway into another universe in order to save an alternate version of his son Peter from dying. His actions have resulted in the gradual breakdown of both universes and inadvertently started a war between them. He, along with Peter, FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham and FBI Junior Agent Astrid Farnsworth attempt to solve a number of weird (or fringe) events and crimes; some of which are a direct result of Walter's action of opening a doorway into another universe.
- Blankman (Blankman) – Science wiz-nerd who believes he is a superhero, and becomes one.
- Brains (Thunderbirds) – Engineer.
- Dr. Emmett Brown, aka Doc Brown (Back to the Future) – Inventor of the Flux Capacitor which makes time travel possible.
- Professeur Cuthbert Calculus (The Adventures of Tintin) – A brilliant, if distracted, scientist. He is responsible for developing numerous potions and devices, but is most notably known as the leader of the first manned lunar mission.
- Dr. Susan Calvin (I, Robot and other stories by Isaac Asimov) – Chief robot-psychologist of U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men
- Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter, Ph.D. (Stargate SG-1) – An officer of the United States Air Force and astrophysicist whose scientific knowledge and engineering skills are used to resolve the various threats to her team and to Earth.
- Joseph Cavor (The First Men in the Moon) — inventor of "Cavorite" anti-gravity material
- Captain Hagbard Celine (Illuminatus trilogy) – Fights the Illuminati from his submarine and with his computer, both designed by himself.
- Norma Cenva (Legends of Dune) - Inventor of the space folding engine.
- Conal Cochran (Halloween III: Season of the Witch) - plans to resurrect macabre aspects of Gaelic festival Samhain, which he connects to witchcraft.
- Martin Crane (Skylark) – Engineer.
- Lara Croft (Tomb Raider) - Archaeologist
- Dexter (Dexter's Laboratory) – Young wiz-nerd.
- The Doctor (Doctor Who) – A superintelligent alien who was educated as a scientist and uses his skills extensively in his adventures.
- Stephen "Steve" Douglas (My Three Sons) — Aeronautical engineer.
- Dr. Miles Bennett Dyson (Terminator 2: Judgment Day) – When he learns of the destructive destiny of his future creation, Dyson destroys his research.
- Hal Emmerich/ Otacon (Metal Gear Solid) - lead designer of the fifth incarnation of the ultimate nuclear bi-pedal tank Metal Gear codenamed: REX.
- Dr. Stephen Falken (WarGames) — creator of "Joshua" computer program
- Dr. Charles Forbin (Colossus: The Forbin Project) — designer of Colossus
- Dr. Clayton Forrester (The War of the Worlds)
- Professor Sydney Fox (Relic Hunter) - Archaeologist.
- Dr. Frankenstein - Creates a creature and gives it life in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley
- Dr. Stephen Franklin - Babylon 5 and Crusade
- Dr. Gordon Freeman, Ph.D. (Half Life) – A theoretical physicist who fights a one-man battle against invading aliens, US Marines and Combine forces with a crowbar and other weapons. Associates are Drs. Isaac Kleiner, Eli Vance, Judith Mossman and Arne Magnusson.
- Dr. Leslie Gaskell (Kronos) — came up with a way to destroy the giant machine.
- Newton Gimmick (The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin) – Absent-minded inventor whose inventions do not always work, but who always comes through in the end.
- Dr. Goodfellow (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century)
- Dr. Stanley Goodspeed (The Rock) - an FBI chemical weapons specialist
- Leonid Gorbovsky (Noon Universe), a genius scientist, a progressor and a spaceship captain who is known for his ability to land on even the most dangerous planets, to survive planetwide catastrophes and easily making contact with any non-human civilization.
- Artemus Gordon (The Wild Wild West) The brainy complement to James West's brawn.
- Leo Graf (Falling Free) Space engineer who leads a group of genetically engineered four-armed humans known as "quaddies" to freedom.
- Gadget Hackwrench (Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers) - Female mouse tinkerer/scientist.
- Richard Hannay (The Thirty-Nine Steps and Greenmantle) Hannay, a British mining engineer is the hero in John Buchan's WW1 era adventure novels. The Thirty-Nine Steps has been adapted for film three times.
- Professor Roy Hinkley, aka The Professor (Gilligan's Island) – He is the respected de facto leader of the Castaways and usually represents the only real continual hope of rescue.
- Franz Hopper, (Code Lyoko) - Genius in Quantum Physics and Computer Programming responsible for the creation of the virtual reality Lyoko, Malevolent AI XANA and the advanced hardware that support both.
- Dr. Daniel Jackson (Stargate and Stargate SG-1) – Archaeologist and linguist who figures out how to open the Stargate; his understanding of cultures and languages typically comes in handy when dealing with the bewildering array of cultures in the Stargate universe.
- Professor Eddie Jessup (Altered States) — heroic at the end
- Indiana Jones (Indiana Jones movies and TV shows) – Adventurous archaeologist.
- Maxim Kammerer (Noon Universe) – Goes on a quest for traces of an enigmatic alien race called Wanderers.
- Gennady Komov (Noon Universe), a xenopsychologist whose main occupation is engaging contact with and studying alien (especially, non-human) civilizations, e.g. Headies and Ark Megaforms
- Pardot Kynes (Prelude to Dune) - Planetologist.
- Liet-Kynes (Prelude to Dune and Dune) - Planetologist.
- David Levinson (Independence Day) — Cable-TV engineer who devises the trick that blocks the alien invasion.
- Lewis McCartney, Max Hamilton and Dr. Linda Denman from H20: Just Add Water
- Angus "Mac" MacGyver (MacGyver) – A secret agent who fights the forces of evil using his scientific and engineering knowledge to his advantage.
- Ian Malcolm (Jurassic Park) – Mathematician and chaotician surviving numerous encounters with dinosaurs and other hazards. His mathematical prowess does not help so much as allow him to predict his own fate, and that of the park's inhabitants.
- Quinn Mallory (Sliders) — Graduate student who invents the transdimensional gateway.
- Dr. Russell A. Marvin (Earth vs. the Flying Saucers) — invented weapon that brought down the saucers.
- Dr. Rodney McKay (Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis) – Brilliant-but-whiny astrophysicist who manages to save the lost city of Atlantis on a regular basis (and never lets anyone forget it).
- Dr. Cal Meacham (This Island Earth) — Earth scientist (a radio engineer in the novel) kidnapped to solve the problem of defending the planet Metaluna.
- Dr. Harold Medford (Them!) — led team that wiped out the giant ants.
- Dr. Alphonse Mephesto, aka Dr. Mephesto (South Park) – Is a mad scientist, who specializes in genetic engineering. Dr. Mephesto creates strange creatures with his talents, however his creations are things like animals with multiple buttocks. Mephesto believes it is for the good of the Earth, and that one-assed animals are useless and must be destroyed. He even goes as far as presenting a "seven-assed Galapagos Turtle" in an attempt to win a Nobel Prize, but loses to Randy Marsh's "Unified Theory of Fart Thing". He also performs experiments ranging from simple DNA tests to creating a genetic clone of Stan Marsh for his son's science project.
- Dr Morel (The Invention of Morel) – has invented a machine that records and reproduces reality
- Professor Nebulous (Nebulous) – Leader of an eco-troubleshooting team.
- Captain Nemo (Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, The Mysterious Island) – An ambiguous-to-villainous figure, who later took on a heroic role.
- Jimmy Neutron (The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius) – Boy genius'
- Megan Parker (Drake and Josh) - Girl evil genius.
- Dr. Juliet Parrish (V) – A scientist who becomes the principal leader of the resistance against the genocidal alien Visitors.
- Prof. Jocelyn Peabody (Dan Dare) - The scientific brains behind many of the team's most inventive ideas.
- Quinn Pensky and Paige Howard (Zoey 101) 13 year old female mad scientist. Best known for her Quinventions
- Q (James Bond) – Makes all the gadgets 007 uses. Q is most often portrayed using the conventional literary trappings of a scientist (white lab coat etc.), even though his activities are closer to engineering.
- Professor Bernard Quatermass (various TV series and movies)
- Dr. Benton Quest (Jonny Quest)
- Leonard of Quirm (Discworld) – Superintelaligent clockpunk engineer.
- Hank Rearden (Atlas Shrugged) — Metallurgist and railroad magnate, inventor of "Rearden metal"
- David Reed (Creature from the Black Lagoon), contrasted to Mark Williams, a hypermasculine and ultimately destructive scientist.
- Dr. Clark Savage, Jr. aka Doc Savage (Doc Savage) – Surgeon, scientist, adventurer, inventor, explorer and musician.
- Menlo Schwartzer (Surf II: The End of the Trilogy) - A reputedly brilliant chemist.
- Dr. Richard Seaton (Skylark) – Super Scientist.
- Hari Seldon (Foundation Series) – The mathematician who invents psychohistory.
- Dr. Daisuke Serizawa (Gojira/Godzilla) - Scientist who invents the Oxygen Destroyer, uses it to destroy Godzilla, then destroys his notes and sacrifices his own life so his creation can never be misused.
- Jiveshwar Sharma Computer engineer and scientist.
- Cyrus Smith (The Mysterious Island) – Great literary example of 19th century engineer.
- Dr. River Song (Doctor Who) - Archeologist, Adventurer, and companion of the Doctor.
- Dr. Jeffrey Stewart (The Magnetic Monster) — Personally destroyed the dangerous substance.
- Dr. Thomas Stockmann (An Enemy of the People)
- Tom Strong (Tom Strong) – Science hero.
- Dr. Mohinder Suresh (Heroes) - Professor of genetics and parapsychology from India.
- Tom Swift and Tom Swift, Jr. (children's stories) – A father-and-son team of inventors.
- Dr. Jane Tiptree (Carnosaur) - plans to recreate dinosaurs and destroy humanity.
- Professor Wayne Szalinski (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids)
- Professor Utonium (The Powerpuff Girls) – The creator of the Powerpuff Girls, among several other wacky things.
- Professor Abraham Van Helsing (Dracula) – Nemesis of Bram Stoker's Dracula. In later incarnations, the professor has not fared so well, and, in some adaptations, is himself a villain.
- Mrs. Wakeman (My Life as a Teenage Robot) – XJ-9's creator.
- Dr. Hans Zarkov (Flash Gordon)
- Dr. Shawn Hayley - aka The SciIMPtist, mad master of cytokines
- Bill Davis (Brian Keith) - civil engineer, TV Show "Family Affair"
- Doctor Krieger (Archer), is the head of the ISIS applied research department.
- Reginald Barclay (TNG and VOY) - A diagnostic technician transferred to the USS Enterprise-D who later played a key role in a later project which enabled regular contact with the missing Starfleet ship, USS Voyager.
- Julian Bashir (DS9) – Chief medical officer on Deep Space 9.
- Dr. Philip Boyce ("The Cage (Star Trek: The Original Series)") — Enterprise doctor for this pilot episode only
- Zefram Cochrane ("Metamorphosis (Star Trek: The Original Series)" and Star Trek: First Contact) – Inventor of the warp drive.
- Beverly Crusher (TNG) – Chief medical officer of the Enterprise-D.
- Data (TNG) – Second officer and chief operations officer of the Enterprise-D, but his duties covered that of a science officer.
- Jadzia Dax (DS9) – Science officer on Deep Space 9.
- Ezri Dax (DS9) - Counselor on Deep Space 9, later host of Dax
- Dr. Richard Daystrom ("The Ultimate Computer") – Inventor of the duotronic computer systems, the basic principles behind the computers on all Starfleet vessels.
- The Doctor (VOY) – Voyager's Emergency Medical Hologram.
- Geordi La Forge (TNG) – Chief engineering officer of the Enterprise-D.
- Miles O'Brien (DS9) – Chief operations officer on Deep Space 9, which doubles as a chief engineer.
- Hoshi Sato (ENT) – Communication officer of the Enterprise-NX and inventor of the universal translator.
- Montgomery Scott aka Scotty (TOS) – Chief engineer of the Enterprise, often described as a miracle worker.
- Noonien Soong ("Brothers (Star Trek: The Next Generation)") – Inventor of the positronic brain, which makes intelligent androids possible.
- Dr. Tolian Soran (Star Trek Generations) - El-Aurian scientist desperate to return to the Nexus.
- Mr. Spock (TOS) – Science officer and second-in-command of the Enterprise.
- Leonard McCoy (TOS) – Chief Medical Officer of the Enterprise.
- Phlox (ENT) – Chief Medical Officer on the Enterprise-NX.
- Seven of Nine (VOY) – Borg drone with no official rank or post, but due to her access to advanced Borg knowledge, she was used as an acting science officer on Voyager.
- T'Pol (ENT) – Second-in-command of the Enterprise-NX, though the crew relied on her as an acting science officer as well.
- B'Elanna Torres (VOY) – Chief engineer of Voyager.
- Charles Tucker III aka "Trip" (ENT) – Chief engineer of the Enterprise-NX.
Scientists and engineers in animation and video games
- Naoko Akagi (Neon Genesis Evangelion)
- Dr. Ritsuko Akagi (Neon Genesis Evangelion) is the daughter of the above.
- Dr. Hiroshi Agasa aka Dr. Hershel Agasa (Case Closed) – An absent-minded professor who invents several devices to help out Jimmy Kudo.
- Jeff Andonuts (EarthBound) - One of the Chosen Four.
- Lloyd Asplund (Code Geass) - A Britannian scientist who designed the Lancelot Knightmare Frame, a bipedal, humanoid superweapon entrusted to Japanese pilot Suzaku Kururugi.
- William Birkin (Resident Evil 2) - Microbiologist working for the pharmaceutical enterprise Umbrella Corporation and creator of the G-virus. He was wounded and injected himself with his G-virus, mutating him into a monster.
- Bulma (Dragon Ball) - Creator of the Dragon Radar and a time machine allowing Trunks to avert the conquest of the world by evil androids.
- Isaac Clarke (Dead Space) Engineer.
- Ciel (Mega Man Zero) - Teen prodigy specializing in energy research, cybernetics, and robotics.
- Kiranin Colbock (Space Runaway Ideon) – A member of a science academy.
- Professor Kouzou Fuyutsuki (Neon Genesis Evangelion) – Right hand man to Supreme Commander Gendo Ikari and second in command of Nerv.
- Cid (Final Fantasy) - Although there are many different individuals with the name of Cid in many different Final Fantasy games, most of them are some sort of scientist, with few exceptions. His existence is a tradition on par with the Chocobo in the series.
- The Engineer (Team Fortress 2) - one of nine playable classes who is capable of building sentry guns for area denial and other constructions which may support other characters.
- The Medic (Team Fortress 2) - one of nine playable classes who is able to heal other characters and make them immortal (Übercharge them) for a limited time with his fictional device called Medigun.
- Professor E. Gadd (Nintendo games)
- Ri Kohran (Sakura Wars)
- Dr. Emil Lang (Robotech) – Responsible for much of the Earth based Robotechnology. Briefly seen in the original series, he played a much larger role in the aborted series Robotech II: The Sentinels which was adapted as a comic book series.
- Dr. Thomas Light (Mega Man) – Creator of the revolutionary robot Mega Man.
- Love Lab scientists (Rhythm Heaven) - A male and female scientist pass ingredients to each other to make love potions to the rhythm of the music.
- Lucca (Chrono Trigger) – Fighter and inventor, who, among other things, builds a time-machine and repairs a robot from over a millennium in the future.
- Professor Membrane (Invader Zim) - Super-scientist "the man without whom this world falls into chaos and the inventor of Super Toast".
- Tochiro Oyama (Captain Harlock) – He is the designer and some say the soul of Harlock's spaceship Arcadia.
- Perceptor (Transformers) - An Autobot scientist.
- Dr. Tem Ray (Mobile Suit Gundam) – Along with being the father of Amuro Ray, he led the design team that created the RX-78 Gundam.
- Dr. Aki Ross (Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within), a biologist vowing to stop the aliens that plague the Earth
- Shiro Sanada (Star Blazers) – Chief Technician or Chief Mechanic of the Space Battleship Yamato, called Sandor in Star Blazers.
- Professor Noriyasu Seta (Love Hina)
- James Ray Steam (Steamboy) - Boy genius who helps his father and grandfather save Victorian London from a greedy corporation's superweapons.
- Citan Uzuki (Xenogears)
- Shion Uzuki (Xenosaga)
- Wheeljack (Transformers) - An Autobot engineer and inventor.
- Miles "Tails" Prower (Sonic the Hedgehog) - A fox with two tails that is Sonic's sidekick. Using his knowledge of electrical engineering he creates mechanical devices that rival Doctor Eggman's robots.
- Doctor Vegapunk (One Piece) - The leading scientist in the employment of the Marines. His work includes discovering the secrets and uses of Seastone as well as the secrets of how Devil Fruit powers work.
- Genis Sage (Tales of Symphonia) - Lloyd Irving's super smart friend who has the ability to use extreme amounts of magic and is always there for Lloyd while being the voice of reason and choice.
- Albert Wesker (Resident Evil) - Microbiologist working for the pharmaceutical enterprise Umbrella and co-creator of the T-virus. He was killed in the first Resident Evil game by Tyrant T-002, a powerful biological weapon, and was resurrected with super-human powers after self-injecting the T-virus.
- Doctor Z (Mr. Driller) - A scientist who sends the Driller team out on various missions around the world.
- Doctor Zoidberg (Futurama) - A lobster-like creature working as the company doctor for Planet Express.
- Mayuri Kurotsuchi (Bleach) - Head of the Shinigami Research Institute, performs extensive bodily modifications on himself and his subordinates.
- Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz (Phineas & Ferb) - A mad scientist whose goal is to take over the tri-state area.
- Cave Johnson (Portal 2) - The eccentric former owner of Aperture Science, and creator of the portal gun.
- Mordin Solus (first appeared in Mass Effect 2) - a member of fictional alien species known as salarians (who mostly have fast metabolism, talk fast, walk fast and think fast), he is a brilliant biologist and a tech specialist.
- Rintarō Okabe aka Kyōma Hōōin (Steins;Gate)
Scientists and engineers in comics
The universes created by DC Comics and Marvel Comics abound with scientists who became superheroes. They include:
- Barry Allen, aka The Flash (The Flash) – Police scientist and superhero.
- Dr. Bruce Banner, aka The Incredible Hulk (Hulk) – Scientist who developed the "Gamma Bomb" for the US Government. An accident at the site of a test led to his becoming the Hulk. For a long period after, while in the form of Bruce Banner, he would look for scientific ways to rid himself of the transformation.
- Dilbert - Star engineer of the comic strip series, "Dilbert" in the Dilbert universe.
- Dilton Doiley (Archie Comics) – Teenaged inventor and scientific genius.
- Donatello (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) – The most intelligent of the four Turtles, he builds a lot of advanced devices, often in the heat of battle.
- Querl Dox, aka Brainiac 5 (Legion of Super-Heroes) – He is reputed to have a brain exponentially more powerful than a normal human.
- Forge (X-Men) – Mutant engineering genius.
- Jay Garrick, aka The Flash (The Flash) – Research scientist, superhero and founding member of the Justice Society of America.
- Gyro Gearloose (Duck universe)
- Victor and Janet Stein (Runaways) – Founding members of the Pride, parents of Chase Stein.
- Agatha Heterodyne, (Airship Entertainment, Girl Genius) - The heiress to the political background and scientific understanding of the Heterodyne Family.
- Ted Knight, aka Starman (Starman) – Astronomer, expert scientist and superhero.
- Will Magnus (Metal Men) – Creator of a team of advanced artificially intelligent robots.
- Dr. Henry (Hank) Philip McCoy, aka Beast (X-Men) – World-renowned biochemist and mutant superhero.
- Professor Ochanomizu, surrogate father of Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy
- Dr. Jon Osterman aka Dr. Manhattan (Watchmen) nuclear physicist transformed by accident into a godlike super-being. While publicized as a superhero, he functions as the ultimate weapon for the United States military.
- Ray Palmer aka Atom (The Atom) - Professor of Physics at Ivy University. Able to shrink his body to varying degrees, even to sub-atomic level, and able to alter his mass to near infinite levels.
- Peter Parker aka Spider-Man (Spider-Man) – Superhero with great knowledge of advanced sciences, who now teaches at the High School he went to.
- Ratchet (Transformers series) – Very skilled Autobot medic. In the G1 Comics, he sacrifices himself to kill Megatron.
- Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic (Fantastic Four) – Scientist and inventor, regarded as one of the most intelligent people on Earth, leader of the Fantastic Four.
- Victor Von Doom, aka Doctor Doom (Doctor Doom) - Evil Scientist, Engineer, Genius, Conqueror. Doctor Doom, like Mister Fantastic, is regarded as one of the most intelligent people on Earth, even though he is a villain.
- Ted Sallis, duplicator of the serum that created Captain America, transformed into The Man-Thing. Although he had serious problems with his personal ethics when it came to women and girls, he abandoned Operation Sulfer on moral grounds, and elected to remain as Man-Thing rather than allow innocents to be killed by the demon Thog.
- Alan Scott (Green Lantern) - Engineer and the first Green Lantern
- Doctor Sivana, full name Thaddeus Bodog Sivana - The World's Wickedest Scientist. Arch-enemy of Captain Marvel (DC Comics)
- Angela Spica, aka Engineer II (The Authority)
- Tony Stark, aka Iron Man (Iron Man) – An industrialist and electrical engineer of incredible ingenuity and inventive genius, whose technology to fight crime keeps him alive as well. He suffers from alcoholism.
- Othar Tryggvassen (Girl Genius) - A powerful "spark", or mad scientist, bent on destroying all sparks, including himself.
- Ludwig Von Drake (Duck universe) – Professor of science and psychology.
- Wally - Lazy and disillusioned engineer of the comic strip series in the Dilbert universe.
- Bruce Wayne, aka Batman (Detective Comics, Batman) - The World's Greatest Detective (reputedly) with incredible scientific knowledge and forensic and memory skills that are second to none.
- Professor Charles Francis Xavier, aka Professor X (X-Men) – The founder, mentor, and sometime leader of the X-Men.
Teams of scientist/engineers
See also