History Main / InventorOfTheMundane

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* In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' this is given as a reason why Chase's parents are wealthy enough to hang out with the families of the other characters, whose parents are doctors, businessmen and famous actors, among others. Specifically, they invented a thing "that thing" that lets you open CD covers without ruining your fingernails. Subverted because it's partially a lie - his parents, just like those of the other kids, are actually supervillains in control of the entire West Coast criminal underground, although they are also world-class inventors and well known enough that Tony Stark is able to recognize Mr. Stein by voice.

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* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'': Sam Manson's family became wealthy because an ancestor of hers invented a device that twirls toothpicks in cellophane.
** Danny's parents make a living from the inventions they make.

* Patrick Dempsey is portrayed as one in the movie ''Film/MadeOfHonor''. He invented that cardboard thing that goes around the coffee cup that keeps your hand from getting burned--named in the movie as the "Coffee Collar." Patrick Dempsey got 10 cents whenever one was used.

* Otra in ''Webcomic/{{Girly}}'' is wealthy only because she accidentally came up with a popular clothing fashion line that only consists of wear with the number 0 on it, or letter O in reference to her name, after a designer took notice of the number 0 she drew on her own shirt and found it to be brilliant.

* In ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome'', Scotty hands the chemical makeup for Transparent Aluminum (which ''will'' be extremely mundane in the ''Star Trek'' canon, but isn't in 1980s US) to an engineer.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' this is given as a reason why Chase's parents are wealthy enough to hang out with the families of the other characters, whose parents are doctors, businessmen and famous actors, among others. Specifically, they invented a thing "that thing" that lets you open CD covers without ruining your fingernails. Subverted because it's a lie - his parents, just like those of the other kids, are actually supervillains in control of the entire West Coast criminal underground.

* Greg Universe from ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' spends most of his life as a musician before getting a quiet job at a car wash after settling down with Rose. Years later he soon finds that a song he wrote was re-purposed into a successful commercial jingle, entitling him to millions of dollars in royalties, and he's now impossibly rich. Curiously he doesn't actually change his standard of living after becoming wealthy; he still works at a car wash and lives in the back of a van, only now he seems to take comfort in knowing he's financially secure.

Compare with WeekendInventor when inventing is a hobby rather than a lucrative living. See also BunglingInventor, GadgeteerGenius, and MrFixit. If the inventor was an ancestor, then it is RoyaltiesHeir. If the character only ''claims'' to have invented something, then it is InventionPretension. In a number of cases this also doubles as a ShoutOut or a NamesakeGag.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' this is given as a reason why Chase's parents are wealthy enough to hang out with families of other characters, whose parents are doctors, businessmen and famous actors, among others. Subverted because it's a lie - his parents, just like those of other kids, are actually supervillains in control of entire West Coast criminal underground.

* ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'' features the RealLife story of Mark Zuckerberg and the invention of {{Facebook}}.

* In ''The39Clues'', Alistair Oh's money comes from his pride and joy, the microwavable burrito.
* Caractacus Pott in the book ''Film/ChittyChittyBangBang''. In this case, it overlaps with MoneyDearBoy: his more mundane inventions, such as collapsible coat-hangers and cubical potatoes, keep the family going.
* In PatrickO'Leary's ''DoorNumberThree'', there's a hotel convention of these kinds of mundane inventors. One of the main characters invented the "Hold" button.

* In ''Film/NightAtTheMuseum : Battle of the Smithsonian'', Larry Daley becomes a successful inventor, and one of his inventions is Glow-in-the-Dark Flashlight, which is based on his former job from the first movie as a night guard.

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* ''{{Archer}}'': In "Heart of Archness Part 1", Archer lies to a [[RuthlessModernPirates pirate captain]] that he has a rich mother who invented the splash-less urinal cake.

-->'''[=McCoy=]:''' You realize that by giving him the formula you're altering the future.
-->'''Scotty:''' Why? How do we know he didn't invent the thing?

* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' episode [[JoeMillionaire "Ron Millionaire"]] featured Ron Stoppable receiving 99 million dollars for inventing the Naco. Whatever he didn't spend during the episode was stolen by Dr. Drakken in the end.

* Invoked in ''Film/RomyAndMichelesHighSchoolReunion''. The girls ''claim'' to have invented Post-It Notes, but it's a lie to impress their old high school peers. They deliberately tried to think of something everyone has heard of, but no-one's ever thought about who invented it (unaware that one of their classmates was a business school graduate where they taught about that invention in their classes.) PlayedStraight with said classmate, who invented a fast-smoking cigarette.

* Nick Vanderpark (Jack Black) in ''Film/{{Envy}}'' becomes rich after inventing a product that vaporises dog poo.

* One Creator/DanielPinkwater book featured a protagonist taking a summer job working for his uncle, who had invented the things they put on the end of shoelaces (they're carefully never given their actual name-- aglets-- in the novel, which plays into [[WhatTheHeckIsAnAglet a whole trope in itself]]).

* In ''TheWestingGame'', James Hoo has a grudge against Westing for stealing his idea for the disposable paper diaper. He later invents a paper shoe liner, Hoo's Little Foot-Eez, that sells well enough that he retires a wealthy man.

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* From Creator/AkiraToriyama's ''Manga/DragonBall'', Dr. Briefs invented capsules: nifty little things that defy the laws of conservation of mass in order that whatever vehicle, housing, or devices one could possibly need can be shrunk down to the size of a pill. Due to his rule as one of the series' {{Gadgeteer Genius}}es, he fills that role a bit more than this (but the capsules are ''very'' mundane in that world).

* Patrick Dempsey was portrayed as one in the movie ''Film/MadeOfHonor''. He invented that cardboard thing that goes around the coffee cup that keeps your hand from getting burned--named in the movie as the "Coffee Collar." Patrick Dempsey got 10 cents whenever one was used.