History Main / AbsentmindedProfessor

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}: Some of the professors to fall under this category.

* TheSmartGuy Gale in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'' is the fantasy equivalent, as well as a DeconstructedCharacterArchetype as his story revolves around him dealing with the consequences of being the "high INT, low WIS" kind of person. His recklessness combined with being too smart for his own good endangered countless lives.

* In [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] ''Franchise/TheFlash'', Iris West's dad, Professor Ira West, was an extreme version of this. According to ''The Life Story of the Flash'', he has every physics award available, but no idea where he put any of them. In his first appearance, he nearly learns Barry's secret identity, but gets distracted before he can put the clues together. A later {{retcon}} takes it further; Barry ''told'' him he was the Flash, and Ira assisted him in creating his super-compressible costume, but a blow from some burglars gave him EasyAmnesia, wiping his memory of the day and leaving him permanently forgetful.

* A story about Wiener (admittedly second hand). He was on sabbatical when his office was needed for a visiting professor. One look at the piles of papers and the admins hunted up his daughter, who was a student at MIT at the time. Some time later she was heard laughing and asked what about. She replied that near the bottom of one of the piles she had found a note congratulating Norbert on the birth of his daughter, her!

* Paul-Louis Courier had this reputation, especially as an officer in Napoleon's army. He was a renowned Hellenist, but he had an unfortunate tendency to lose everything but his manuscripts. Several of his letters describe his constant battle to find proper clothing after his luggage got lost or stolen; likewise, many letters from his friends often end with a reminder that he left some of his belongings at their house some months (or years!) ago and never came to take them. Not to mention that he became somewhat infamous among people of letters for having spilled ink on an invaluable 14th-century manuscript.

* TruthInTelevision in ''Madame Curie'' (1943) for both Marie and, tragically, for Pierre.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'': In "Pomp and Circuitry" Rusty jokes that his son Dean will one day grow up to be this. Rusty himself sometimes qualifies, as he is sometimes a professor (guest lecturer in Mexico) and sometimes whole plotlines revolve around him being absent-minded (Escape to the House of Mummies Part 2). Also he has been known to forget names.

* ''VideoGame/{{Creatures}}'' has a whole specie of absent minded professors called the Shee. It's said that they likely invented the steam engine as an offshoot of an attempt to design a better way of brewing tea before they invented the wheel.
* Professor E. Gadd from ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion''. This is emphasized in ''VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon'', when [[spoiler: he inadvertantly lets King Boo escape by accidentally selling his portrait at a garage sale.]]
* Professor Frankly from ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' -- he's pretty much the Goomba equivalent of [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} Prof. Farnsworth]].

* Greg the apothecary, from ''VideoGame/DungeonMakerIITheHiddenWar''. He's brilliant and capable of making potions even the royal alchemists haven't figured out, but he's also forgetful and silly. He even dresses the part: long, messy hair, button up shirt that's improperly buttoned, and dark gray lab coat thrown on as an afterthought.
* [[MeaningfulName Absent Mindstein]], one of the characters in ''VideoGame/AtlantisUnderwaterTycoon'', is described as being so absent-minded that he ends up inventing more whimsical but useless things than genuine life-improving things. He also apparently "left the keys to his time machine in the past." Which is probably why his main drawback is -10% Starting Funds for your UnderwaterCity if you choose him.

* A variation of this trope kick-starts the plot of the 1999 Tivola game, ''Max and the Secret Formula''. Protagonist Max's Uncle Pong, an absentminded genius of an inventor, has lost an important formula in his house and needs help to find it.
** As if the trope wasn't embedded enough in pop culture, the narrator goes on to note "that's the way it is with inventors - they're geniuses, but they're also quite forgetful."
* Uncle Albert from ''VideoGame/UncleAlbertsAdventures'' has a scientist side and is said te be absent minded by Tom, who was accidentally locked inside the album with the treasure by Albert.

* In ''Webcomic/WapsiSquare'', Monica's boss, Dr. Gregory Fields, has traces of this. He was most likely written to be reminiscent of [[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade Marcus Brody]], and while he never got lost in his own museum, he did [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/11082002/ forget the security code.]]

* Holly Path from ''Webcomic/{{Archipelago}}'', since she's clearly suffering from dementia and she ''knows'' about it. She forgets she likes tea and asks for coffee, only to be confused when given coffee, since she always drinks tea, needs piles upon piles of [[NoteToSelf notes]], including notes listing her notes, and trusts people who really shouldn't be trusted.

* Female example: Gadget from ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' is a WrenchWench, a GadgeteerGenius, and this. Sparky's a more traditional male version of this trope.
* Good news everyone! Professor Farnsworth of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', who is also very old. [[spoiler: And capable of making you [[MemeticMutation read this in his voice.]]]] Extra credit goes to the episode "A Big Piece of Garbage", where he goes to an inventors' competition, realizes the invention he brought (the death clock) is the same one he showed last year, attempts to invent the same thing again after it's pointed out to him ("I need a new invention! Perhaps some kind of death clock..."), quickly creates a new invention (the smell-o-scope) to replace it, then only hours later... "Eureka!" "You built the smell-o-scope?" "No, I remembered that I'd already built it last year!"
%%* Prof. Frink from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.
* Professor Sumdac of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated''. Occasionally forgets important things like eating [[spoiler:and remembering to make a legal record of his daughter's existence]], and doesn't have much common sense in general.

* A villainous example is Professor Calamitus from ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'', who was unable to finish anything (including his... um... his... ''sentences!'' That's it!) and had to kidnap Jimmy so that he could finish his inventions for him.
* Professor Von Schlemmer, of the ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'', fits this to a tee. It’s even pointed out by Tails!
%%* The Vector in ''WesternAnimation/{{Skyland}}''.
%%* Cosmo from ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', has been described by Butch Hartman, its creator, as such.
* Steven Boxleitner from ''WesternAnimation/WordGirl'' seems to be this; at least before his experiment went horribly wrong...
* César from ''WesternAnimation/GeneratorRex''. He's superhumanly capable as a scientist and a master of technology decades ahead of the rest of the world, but forgets a lot of things not directly related to research. This isn't played entirely for comedy either, as he may have [[spoiler:caused the nanite event that changed the whole world and cause the existence of [=EVOs=] in the first place.]] On top of that, [[spoiler:he might [[ObfuscatingStupidity not be as absent-minded as he seems.]]]]
* Wizard version: The Moochick from the original ''Franchise/MyLittlePony''. Very knowledgeable... to the point where he can have difficulty remembering a particular detail at first, like where he stashed the Rainbow of Light.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' episode "Pomp and Circuitry" Rusty jokes that his son Dean will one day grow up to be this. Rusty himself sometimes qualifies, as he is sometimes a professor (guest lecturer in Mexico) and sometimes whole plotlines revolve around him being absent-minded (Escape to the House of Mummies Part 2). Also he has been known to forget names.

* Ramon Ridley from ''WesternAnimation/{{Dogstar}}''. His mind so focused on higher matters that he will teleport places without putting his trousers on.
* Dr. Von Goosewing from ''WesternAnimation/CountDuckula'', a ruthless but easily-sidetracked vampire hunter. In fact, if an absent-minded professor type character ever shows up in a Cosgrove-Hall cartoon, there's a better-than-average chance he'll be voiced by Jimmy Hibbert.

* Egon Spengler in ''WesternAnimation/ExtremeGhostbusters'', to the point where he relied on Janine's help even more than he did in ''The Real Ghostbusters.'' (Then again, he ''is'' a fair bit older in ''Extreme''...)
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes:''

* The Ur-example in American comics has to be Mister Fantastic of the ComicBook/FantasticFour, best known for being able to completely ignore his [[MostCommonSuperPower bombshell]] wife to work with test-tubes.

* Holly Path from ''Webcomic/{{Archipelago}}'', since she's clearly suffering from dementia and she ''knows'' about it. She forgets she likes tea and asking for coffee, only to be confused to get coffee, since she always drinks tea, needs piles upon piles of [[NoteToSelf notes]], including notes listing her notes, and trusts people who really shouldn't be trusted.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'': Professor Elm "steps out for a minute" while examining the starter Pokémon, just long enough for the rival to steal one of his Pokémon.

* ''Film/TheAbsentMindedProfessor'' and its sequel, ''Son of Flubber''. Of course. And its remake ''Film/{{Flubber}}''.

* Vincent Schaefer was a chemist and meteorologist who was a seminal figure in the development of cloud seeding, but he was notoriously absent-minded. Once, he left a tip on a table… for his wife. If this sounds familiar to those who've read ''Literature/CatsCradle'', that's because Bernard Vonnegut, brother of [[Creator/KurtVonnegut Kurt]], was a colleague of Schaefer's.

* Vincent Schaefer was a chemist and meteorologist who was a seminal figure in the development of cloud seeding, but he was notoriously absent-minded. Once, he left a tip on a table… for his wife. If this sounds familiar to those who've read ''[[Literature/CatsCradle]]'', that's because Bernard Vonnegut, brother of [[Creator/KurtVonnegut Kurt]], was a colleague of Schaefer's.

* Peter's favorite middle school Randall Fargus is becomes one in ''Fanfic/FamilyGuyFanon'' (along with a bit of MadScientist). He loves to invent and create things to have fun, but due to his age (he's over ''ninety-six'' in this adaption), he's more scatter-brained and doesn't think about most of his inventions' dangerous consequences through until it's too late.

** Famously, he once sent a telegraph to his wife: "Am in Market Harborough. Where ought I to be?" She telegraphed back, "Home."

* Aldanon from ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'' is the arcane version of one, being the only one that can really identify what your PlotCoupon actually is to prove his capabilities (as well as being able to hold to very valuable terrain in the middle of a DecadentCourt of nobles that want it), but ''very'' absentminded, prone to irrelevant tangents in the middle of his speech and getting sidetracked by his own analogies and metaphors, coupled with some minor but visible memory issues. His servants are mostly there to keep him functional.
* Some of the professors in Pokemon tend to fall under this category.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'''s Professor Oak is so absent-minded he doesn't remember his own grandson's name, [[HelloInsertNameHere leaving it up to the player to remind him]]. This remains the case in the GBA remakes, but ''VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee'' reveals that it's actually a subversion: said grandson (who isn't your rival here, but instead a recurring NPC) exasperatedly interrupts the conversation to tell him no one thinks that joke is funny anymore and to focus on the task at hand.
-->[[Webcomic/SuperEffective That's right! I remember now! His name is DOUCHE!]]
** Professor Elm from ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' "steps out for a minute" while examining the starter Pokemon, just long enough for the rival to steal one of his Pokemon.
** Professor Birch from ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'', despite usually conducting his studies in the field, is ambushed by a Level 2 Poochyena, despite bringing three Pokemon of his own. In the remakes, he later gets chased by a Shroomish, the moving company's Machoke, and [[spoiler:even his own wife]], never realizing that they were never threats to him in the first place.
** Professor Rowan from ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' leaves behind his research bag, which contains the three starter Pokemon. Admittedly, this is not his fault, as his assistant was in charge of the bag, but he seemed not to notice that his highly valuable Pokemon were missing until after the player and the rival had pilfered two of the Pokemon.(However, this is not the case in ''Platinum'', where they're given to the player and rival instead).

* Dr. Xu from ''VideoGame/InvisibleInc'', supposedly. Central remarks in his bio that he "plays the Absent-Minded Professor character well", but can still be relied upon when it really matters. His lines and interactions with the other agents suggest that while he may overplay it on purpose, it's not entirely an act.
* Professor Pickle from ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed''.
* The Professor in some of the ''VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon'' games.
* Dr. Crygor in ''VideoGame/WarioWare''.
* Kang the Mad in ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'' pretty much breathes this trope to live. If asked if he's seen an old man...
--> I'm not so good with faces. Or names. Dates, too.
* Dr. Warren Vidic of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI'' is an evil example. The guy ''is'' under a lot of pressure, but would it kill him to put his security pen on the inside of his pocket so that he doesn't lose it and necessitate the entire complex's passwords being reset, or punctuate his emails, or treat the Animus subjects like people rather than vending machines for genetic memory?
* Momo of ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireIII'' is a female example.
* Lucca of ''Videogame/ChronoTrigger'' is milder than most of these examples, but when she saw Robo sitting inactive in the middle of an abandoned building the post-apocalyptic future, her immediate reaction is to repair it. Her father may also be of this character type (or just a workaholic), because in an optional subquest you read a younger Lucca's diary and she's very angry at her dad at neglecting herself and her mother.

* Holly Path from ''Webcomic/{{Archipelago}}, since she's clearly suffering from dementia and she ''knows'' about it. She forgets she likes tea and asking for coffee, only to be confused to get coffee, since she always drinks tea, needs piles upon piles of [[NoteToSelf notes]], including notes listing her notes, and trusts people who really shouldn't be trusted.