History Main / TheProfessor

Compare OmnidisciplinaryScientist and AbsentMindedProfessor, may study a FantasticScience instead of a regular one. May have hints of being a {{Spock}}, but this is usually not central to the figure. Combining this figure with the MadScientist is a common subversion. Sometimes, in fact, The Professor ''is'' an ex-MadScientist who has pulled a HeelFaceTurn and now works for the good guys. Or just a ReluctantMadScientist or sufferer of ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder who happens to not be evil. Or a regular MadScientist among {{Villain Protagonist}}s.

* ProfessorLayton, full stop.

The [[SuperIntelligence nearly impossibly]] [[TheSmartGuy smart guy]]; A StockCharacter exemplified on ''Series/GilligansIsland'' and ''Series/MacGyver''. Probably started off as a TeenGenius and is capable of many an AssPull, DeusExMachina, or, um, [[ReversePolarity Polarity Reversal]]. May or may not rely on TechnoBabble. Is the source of much AppliedPhlebotinum, but is incapable of providing a solution that would thwart the show's premise (the Professor couldn't get the rest of the gang off that darn island, Ziggy couldn't bring Sam home on ''Series/QuantumLeap''). Often gets to be MrExposition. Fluent in SesquipedalianLoquaciousness and SoundsOfScience. If he plays a game, it's inevitably TabletopGame/{{chess}}, because SmartPeoplePlayChess. He's also very likely to be a TVGenius.

* ''Series/MacGyver''

TheProfessor may also happen to be a BunnyEarsLawyer who has wacky hobbies and idiosyncrasies, sometimes heating up Cup of Noodles soup in a test tube with a Bunsen burner or wearing wildly mismatched clothing. Despite these oddities, he will still prove to be amazing brilliant at his field of study and his quirks will be good-naturedly PlayedForLaughs.

* Charles "Professor X" Xavier of the ''ComicBook/{{X-Men}}''.

* Professor Adelung in ''TheDeathOfTheVazirMukhtar''.

* Rick, one half of the titular ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' is basically a jaded alcoholic version of Doc Brown.

* Dr. Amos Messing of the Amazing Three, in the WhateleyUniverse. Not that he's a parody of anyone else on this list whose initials might be 'RR'...

* There happen to be so many of these characters in TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003-- often dubbed appropriately-- that it is, eventually, commented upon by our resident [[TeenGenius Teen Professor]]:

* Professor Lambert, a ''Franchise/{{Neopets}}'' character, is the leader of a group of intellectuals known as the Seekers.

* Professor William Race of ''Literature/{{Temple}}'' by MatthewReilly.

* Profesor Memelovsky in ''Series/OdiseaBurbujas'' albeit mix with shades of MadScientist. His vast knowledge of history and culture come handy as the show is educational. Also as inventor he develops among other things a TimeMachine and a BookPortal.

* Daedalus from [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek Myth]] makes this OlderThanDirt, having build the Labyrinth of the Minotaur and pairs of wings that allowed him to fly, among many other things.
* In his footsteps follows Archimedes, a Greek inventor from the Greek colony Syracuse in southern Italy. He is best known for his work on lever action and bouyancy. While it's not entirely clear what kind of devices he actually invented and how well they worked, but he had a massive reputation as an inventor even during his lifetime.

** On the other hand, it's pretty hard to imprison a man who lives mostly in his own head, forgets to eat and often doesn't see how people could to turn his Moving Mountains Out of the Way Device (for mining, obviously) into something more sinister. Leonard of Quirm has all the cunning of a concussed duckling, and Vetinari keeps him supplied with, well, everything, and tucked safely away behind booby traps he himself designed.
* Abraham Van Helsing in ''Literature/{{Dracula}}''. Is there nothing he doesn't know about? Could also be seen as a forerunner for the idea of the genius with the funny foreign accent (he's Dutch) as well as a medley of eccentricities.

* Professor Pike of the ''Literature/HIVESeries'' is the school's head engineering instructor- and also the source of the many technological advances that fuel G.L.O.V.E.'s reign. Also the [[TeamDad Team Grandpa.]]

* The Count in ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio'' can extract almost any chemical from mushrooms, build a submarine and electronical mind-control countermeasures, is old fashioned in his way of dressing and speaking, and can be very absent minded at times.
* Adhemar from ''The Adventures of Nero'', who looks like a baby in a smoking.

If The Professor is quite older than the FiveManBand / RagtagBunchOfMisfits / TrueCompanions he works with, he's very likely to be the TeamDad or [[TeamDad Team Grandpa]].

*** ''Anime/MazingerZ'': Dr. Gennosuke Yumi and the Morimori/Nozori/Sewashi triad. Note that the series also subverts this, since Dr. Juuzou Kabuto is sometimes The Professor and sometimes a MadScientist, depending ''heavily'' on which canon we're talking about. This was because GoNagai wanted to showing bluntly Mazinger-Z was a machine whose actions were completely depending on the pilot. In the original manga, Dr. Kabuto and Dr. Hell were NotSoDifferent, and as [[FallingIntoTheCockpit Kouji tried to learn how piloting it]], [[UnbuiltTrope Mazinger caused so much destruction]] as your average {{Robeast}}.

* The actual Professor from ''GilligansIsland'' (his [[EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep rarely-used real name]] was Dr. Roy Hinkley) used lots of BambooTechnology.

* ''Film/XMen'': Dr. Charles Xavier [[Film/XMenFirstClass earned his "Professor of Genetics" title from the University of Oxford]]. Even before he became a paraplegic, he was considerably less action-oriented than the other mutants on his team, and is often protected by a combatant (e.g. [[Film/X2XMenUnited Cyclops]], [[Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast Beast]], [[Film/XMenApocalypse Havok]]). Professor X serves as the TeamDad for the X-Men.

TheProfessor may also happen to be a BunnyEarsLawyer who has wacky hobbies and idiosyncrasies, sometimes heating up Cup of Noodles soup in a test tube with a bunson burner or wearing wildly mismatched clothing. Despite these oddities, he will still prove to be amazing brilliant at his field of study and his quirks will be good-naturedly PlayedForLaughs.

* Dr. Isaac Gilmore from ''{{Cyborg 009}}''. Also of the "ex MadScientist" type, one of the most memorable episodes of the 2001 series depicts with ''very'' brutal details how Gilmore, [[FallenHero with his reputation in tatters]] after a failed experiment, is taken in by Black Ghost and later defects, unable to deal with their horrible methods anymore. There are also Dr. Finder, Dr. Ross and Dr. Kouzumi...

The Professor is quite often the least action ready of the team. This may be due to age, infirmity or just being physically weak. For this reason, the Professor may be left at headquarters while the more able characters handle the physical action. Occasionally, in a two man team, the Professor's teammate is there to specifically act as a bodyguard and handle the physical stuff. Sometimes, this bodyguard may be a government agent.