History Main / ImpossibleGenius

* Rick from ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' once described his abilities and limitations as "can do anything, but only if I feel like it". His intellect has allowed him to, among other things, invent CasualInterstellarTravel, open a PortalDoor to AnotherDimension, create his own universe inhabited by sentient life, and turn himself into a pickle and back. A defining moment from early in the series shows that this stuff comes so naturally to him that constructing a sentient robot from bits of junk he had to hand just so he can ask it to pass him the butter is deemed as being less effort than just getting up from his seat and fetching the butter himself.

* Rick from ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' once described his abilities and limitations as "can do anything, but only if I feel like it". His intellect has allowed him to, among other things, invent CasualInterstellarTravel, open a PortalDoor to AnotherDimension, create his own universe inhabited by sentient life, and turn himself into a pickle and back. Notably, this stuff comes so naturally to him that constructing a sentient robot from bits of junk he had to hand just so he can ask it to pass him the butter is less effort for him than just getting up from his seat and fetching the butter himself.

* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'': In a universe filled with genius scientists, [[WorldsSmartestMan Tony Stark is constantly shown to be leaps and bounds smarter than almost every other character]]. His own movies have him accomplish impossible feats of engineering in unfavorable conditions ([[Film/IronMan1 miniaturizing the arc reactor in a cave with a box of scraps]] or [[Film/IronMan3 improving Extremis while blackout drunk]]) and he continues the tradition in other movies. ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' has him [[spoiler: inventing time travel after dinner and building a functional Infinity Gauntlet with nanotech, a feat that previously took Asgard's personal blacksmiths working with a forge powered by the dying heart of a neutron star.]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* In ''FanFic/PerturaboInRemnant'', Perturabo is more or less without equal in terms of genius on Remnant. Most of the stuff he creates is utterly beyond the comprehension of even the smartest of his mortal peers. Even his fellow Primarchs are hard-pressed to understand the underlying principles of his inventions.
[[/folder]]

* [[Literature/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory Willy Wonka]] has harnessed [[ItRunsOnNonsensoleum nonsensoleum]] to such ends as creating a television-based ''teleporter'' and a flying glass elevator that is kept aloft by "candy power" and/or "[[Literature/CharlieAndTheGreatGlassElevator skyhooks]]" and can function as a spacecraft if necessary.
* Franchise/SherlockHolmes: Professor Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes archenemy, is the DeconstructedCharacterArchetype of ImpossibleGenius, a genius so great that he surpasses the scientific community of his time: An Eduardian mathemathician whose last book, "The Dynamics of an Asteroid", is so difficult that nobody in the scientific press can criticize it. ''This work means the end of Moriarty's scientific career'': in a world without computers, his theories cannot be proved nor disproved, and Moriarty realizes that further math investigation is meaningless because there is ''literally not another human being who can understand it''. His genius is so great that it makes him PowerfulAndHelpless. Is it any wonder that Moriarty decides to turn his intelligence to other activities, like being a DiabolicalMastermind?
* The [[Literature/{{Worm}} Parahumans universe]] has this in two flavors, the "tinker" and "thinker" power classifications.
** Tinkers seem to have TheSparkOfGenius, but by WordOfGod (and in-story information of the type which would require Administrivia/{{Self Fulfilling Spoiler}}s) they ultimately do utilize science with [[AndSomeOtherStuff key details]] omitted from their conscious awareness. One of the [[CapeBusters PRT]]'s first rules for handling a captured tinker is to [[LockingMacGyverInTheStoreCupboard keep them far away from anything that could conceivably be used to make anything else]].
** Thinkers, on the other hand, have exotic [[BizarreAlienPsychology mental capabilities]] and [[BizarreAlienSenses senses]] allowing them to casually execute impossible-seeming feats like AwesomenessByAnalysis, RubeGoldbergHatesYourGuts, SherlockScan, and BreakThemByTalking. In a world where {{Flying Brick}}s are commonplace, Thinkers are considered TheDreaded.

* If there's an alien baddie threatening lives, you can be sure ''[[Series/DoctorWho The Doctor]]'' will use his incredible scientific genius and [[ThePlan planning]] to stop it, and save the day. That said, by the standards of his own ProudScholarRace, [[NormalFishInATinyPond he's nothing special]]. Of course, this is the species that casually tracked every bit of energy in the universe, mastered time travel, [[ArsonMurderAndJayWalking and was the reason for the prevalence of]] HumanAliens (though it's more Time Lord Aliens - Time Lords came first), so 'average' by their standards is still smarter than almost everyone else in the universe.
** It's also worth bearing in mind that while in terms of pure brainpower, the Doctor is probably a little above average at most, and BookDumb at that, he's got a couple of advantages. First, he's far more creative than other Time Lords are, with a talent for lateral thinking on a level previously undreamed of. Second, his travels mean that he's got far more 'in the field' experience when dealing with the rest of the universe than even very senior and very book-smart Time Lords. As a result, he is often stated (even by other Time Lords) to be able to perform impossible feats which defy logic and laugh at the Laws of the universe. His plans usually work because he doesn't think they wouldn't work.
* ''Series/{{MacGyver|1985}}'', although his reputation of "aren't you that guy that can build a time machine out of three paperclips?" was far less realistic than the actual character.

[[folder:Roleplay]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}[=/=]Webcomic/{{SkinHorse}}'': Basically any mad genius. In one memorable instance, one makes a subspace teleporter out of all of the coat hangers in a walk in closet. It's powered by "Spring Power". The first clue that [[spoiler: Dave]] was a latent mad was when he [[spoiler: "repaired" a death ray that was actually a mail-sorting machine]].

* Rick from ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' once described his abilities and limitations as "can do anything, but only if I feel like it". His intellect has allowed him to, among other things, invent CasualInterstellarTravel, open a PortalDoor to AnotherDimension, [[PlayingGod create his own universe inhabited by sentient life]], and turn himself into a pickle and back. Notably, this stuff comes so naturally to him that constructing a sentient robot from bits of junk he had to hand just so he can ask it to pass him the butter is less effort for him than just getting up from his seat and fetching the butter himself.

** {{Inverted|Trope}} by B. S. Johnson]], an inventor and architect [[BunglingInventor so transcendently incompetent]] that reality itself wasn't safe from his bungling. Crowning achievements include Empirical Crescent, an EldritchLocation where any given door will probably open into the right room in the wrong building; a mail sorting machine built around a flywheel with a pi value of exactly 3, which brought down the post office by retrieving mail from random points in time; and cast-iron garden furniture that spontaneously melted on at least three occasions.

* Inverted in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' by the inventor and architect B. S. Johnson, who was so transcendentally incompetent that reality itself wasn't safe from his bungling. Crowning achievements include Empirical Crescent, an EldritchLocation where any given door will probably open into the right room in the wrong building; a mail sorting machine built around a flywheel with a pi value of exactly 3, which brought down the post office by retrieving mail from random points in time; and cast-iron garden furniture that spontaneously melted on at least three occasions.

* Inverted in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' by the inventor and architect B. S.[[labelnote:*]]Bloody Stupid[[/labelnote]] Johnson, who was so transcendentally incompetent that reality itself wasn't safe from his bungling. Crowning achievements include Empirical Crescent, an EldritchLocation where any given door will probably open into the right room in the wrong building; a mail sorting machine built around a flywheel with a pi value of exactly 3, which brought down the post office by retrieving mail from random points in time; and cast-iron garden furniture that spontaneously melted on at least three occasions.

* Inverted in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' by the inventor and architect B. S. Johnson, who was so transcendentally incompetent that reality itself wasn't safe from his bungling. Crowning achievements include Empirical Crescent, an EldritchLocation where any given door will probably open into the right room in the wrong building; a mail sorting machine built around a flywheel with a pi value of exactly 3, which brought down the post office by retrieving mail from random points in time; and cast-iron garden furniture that spontaneously melted on at least three occasions.

* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'': In a universe filled with genius scientists, [[WorldsSmartestMan Tony Stark is constantly shown to be leaps and bounds smarter than almost every other character]]. His own movies have him accomplish impossible feats of engineering in unfavorable conditions ([[Film/IronMan1 miniaturizing the arc reactor in a cave with a box of scraps]] or [[Film/IronMan3 improving Extremis while blackout drunk]]) and he continues the tradition in other movies. ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' takes this UpToEleven with him [[spoiler: inventing time travel after dinner and building a functional Infinity Gauntlet with nanotech, a feat that previously took Asgard's personal blacksmiths working with a forge powered by the dying heart of a neutron star.]]

* The Doctor from ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. Chakotay's mind has become detached from his body? The captain and the helmsmen have devolved into amphibians? A patient transported to Sickbay with their body in different time zones? Just another day in the life of an unappreciated Emergency Medical Hologram.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': Ork Mekboyz can take scrap metal from junkheaps and turn it into crude but effective PoweredArmor, assault vehicles, and HumongousMecha. It's part inherent engineering know how hardwired into them by their creators the Old Ones and part the reality warping Ork gestalt psychic field making their machines work better.

* Molly from ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' combines this with being a RobotMaster. She once built a super-strong sentient robot, overnight, out of a farmer's milking machine (who has since become a regular character); and built two (nonsentient) steam-powered robots out of ''snow'' (they both melted quickly). It was her [[InnocentProdigy first time playing in the snow,]] and she wanted to have fun. One of the [[{{Snowlems}} snow robots]] could [[TransformingMecha transform]] into an [[SiegeEngines ice ballista.]]
* Basically any mad genius in the ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}[=/=]Webcomic/{{SkinHorse}}'' universe. In one memorable instance, one makes a subspace teleporter out of all of the coat hangers in a walk in closet. It's powered by "Spring Power". The first clue that [[spoiler: Dave]] was a latent mad was when he [[spoiler: "repaired" a death ray that was actually a mail-sorting machine]].

* Anyone with Quick Gadgeteer advantage in ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}''.
* The Izzet League from the ''Ravnica'' setting of ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' are portrayed like this. Niv-Mizzet himself takes it up another order of magnitude.
* Magic items in ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' are, well, magic. It takes a spellcaster to create them -- or a Master Craftsman, who can be a complete {{muggle|s}} but can coax magic out of ordinary materials by being just that good.
* Ork Mekboyz from ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''. They are able to take scrap metal from junkheaps and turn it into crude but effective PoweredArmor, assault vehicles, and HumongousMecha. It's part inherent engineering know how hardwired into them by their creators the Old Ones and part the reality warping Ork gestalt psychic field making their machines work better.

* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'': In a universe filled with genius scientists, Tony Stark is constantly shown to be leaps and bounds smarter than almost every other character. His own movies have him accomplish impossible feats of engineering in unfavorable conditions ([[Film/IronMan1 miniaturizing the arc reactor in a cave with a box of scraps]] or [[Film/IronMan3 improving Extremis while blackout drunk]]) and he continues the tradition in other movies. ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' takes this UpToEleven with him [[spoiler: inventing time travel after dinner and building a functional Infinity Gauntlet with nanotech, a feat that previously took Asgard's personal blacksmiths working with a forge powered by the dying heart of a neutron star]]

* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'': In a universe filled with genius scientists, [[Characters/MCUIronMan Tony Stark]] is constantly shown to be leaps and bounds smarter than almost every other character. His own movies have him accomplish impossible feats of engineering in unfavorable conditions ([[Film/IronMan1 miniaturizing the arc reactor in a cave with a box of scraps]] or [[Film/IronMan3 improving Extremis while blackout drunk]]) and he continues the tradition in other movies. ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' takes this UpToEleven with him [[spoiler: inventing time travel after dinner and building a functional Infinity Gauntlet with nanotech, a feat that previously took Asgard's personal blacksmiths working with a forge powered by the dying heart of a neutron star]]

* Franchise/SherlockHolmes: Professor Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes archenemy, is the DeconstructedCharacterArchetype of ImpossibleGenius, a genius so great that he surpasses the scientific community of his time: An Eduardian mathemathician whose last book, "The Dynamics of an Asteroid", is so difficult that nobody in the scientific press can criticize it. ''This work means the end of Moriarty's scientific career'': in world without computers, his theories cannot be proved nor disproved, and Moriarty realizes that further math investigation is meaningless because there is ''literally not another human being who can understand it''. His genius is so great that it makes him PowerfulAndHelpless. Is it any wonder that Moriarty decides to turn his intelligence to other activities, like being a DiabolicalMastermind?

* The Doctor from ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. Chakotay's mind has become detached from his body? The captain and the helmsmen have devolved into amphibians? Just another day in the life of an unappreciated Emergency Medical Hologram.

* Basically any mad genius in the ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}[=/=]Webcomic/{{SkinHorse}}'' universe. In one memorable instance, one makes a subspace teleporter out of all of the coat hangers in a walk in closet. It's powered by "Spring Power". The first clue that [[spoiler: Dave]] was a latent mad was when he [[spoiler "repaired" an orbital laser control system that was actually a mail-sorting machine]].

* Basically any mad genius in the ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}[=/=]Webcomic/{{SkinHorse}}'' universe. In one memorable instance, one makes a subspace teleporter out of all of the coat hangers in a walk in closet. It's powered by "Spring Power".

'''EMH:''' It involved three neural transceivers, two cortical stimulators and fifty gigaquads of computer memory. I would be happy to take you through the process, but it would take at least ten hours to explain it all to you. Needless to say, it was a remarkable procedure. I would consider writing a paper about it if there were a convenient forum in which to publish it.

* Franchise/SherlockHolmes: Professor Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes archenemy, is the DeconstructedCharacterArchetype of ImpossibleGenius, a genius so great that he surpasses the scientific community of his time: An Eduardian mathemathician whose last book, "The Dynamics of an Asteroid", is so difficult that nobody in the scientific press can criticize it. ''This work means the end of Moriarty's scientific career'': in world without computers, his theories cannot be proved nor disproved, and Moriarty realizes that further math investigation is meaningless because there is ''literally no another human being who can understand it''. His genius is so great that it makes him PowerfulAndHelpless. Is it any wonder that Moriarty decides to turn his intelligence to other activities, like being a DiabolicalMastermind?

* Franchise/SherlockHolmes: Professor Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes archenemy, is the DeconstructedCharacterArchetype of ImpossibleGenius, a genius so great that he surpasses the scientific community of his time: An Eduardian matemathician whose last book, "The Dynamics of an Asteroid", is so difficult that nobody in the scientific press can criticize it. ''This work means the end of Moriarty's scientific career'': in world without computers, his theories cannot be proved nor disproved, and Moriarty realizes that further math investigation is meaningless because there is ''literally no another human being who can understand it''. His genius is so great that it makes him PowerfulAndHelpless. Is it any wonder that Moriarty decides to turn his intelligence to other activities, like being a DiabolicalMastermind?

* Franchise/SherlockHolmes: Professor Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes archenemy, is the DeconstructedCharacterArchetype of ImpossibleGenius, a genius so great that he surpasses the scientific community of his time: An Eduardian matemathician whose last book, "The Dynamics of an Asteroid", is so difficult that nobody in the scientific press can critizice it. ''This work means the end of Moriarty's scientific career'': InAWorld without computers, his theories cannot being proved nor disproved, and Moriarty realizes that further math investigation is meaningless because there is ''literally no another human being who can understand it''. His genius is so great that makes him PowerfulAndHelpless. Is it any wonder that Moriarty decides to concentrate in other activities, like being a DiabolicalMastermind?

* ''Series/MacGyver'', although his reputation of "aren't you that guy that can build a time machine out of three paperclips?" was far less realistic than the actual character.