History UsefulNotes / NikolaTesla

* In ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}'', Tesla is introduced late into the first season and quickly became one of the most popular characters on the show being a colleague of Helen Magnus from the 1800s. They were members of The Five, a group of scientists who had discovered a preserve sample of blood from the extinct vampire race. He, Helen, and the other three took the blood and gained mutations that granted them superhuman abilities: Tesla in his case became a vampire-human hybrid while Helen became TheAgeless, John Druitt (aka Jack the Ripper) gained teleportation, James Watson (InUniverse inspiration for Literature/SherlockHolmes) gained super-intellignce, and Nigel Griffin gained invisibility (making him the Invisible Man). The series also took his MadScientist reputation and ran with it, making him a scientific genius whose recurring character arc involves finding a way to resurrect his ancestral race and take over the world. Despite that, he's a pretty affable guy and its made clear on occasion its out a (deluded) belief that it will bring about a new Golden Age for the world[[note]]Apparently the Dark Ages came about when their empire fell thanks to humanity's uprising against their vampiric overlords[[/note]]. At one point he temporary loses his vampiric abilities only to gain electro-magnetic ones instead.

* Tesla is a supervillain in a flashback in ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers.'', allied with the Avon Ladies. Interestingly, he's depicted as fighting against his RealLife HeterosexualLifePartner Creator/MarkTwain.

* In the 2010-2013 ComicBook/{{SHIELD}} series, Marvel Comics depicted Tesla as a cyborg called Night Machine with [[ShockAndAwe electrokinetic powers]]. He works with an {{Immortal|ity}} [[TimeTravel time-traveling]] Creator/{{Michelangelo|Buonarroti}}. Really.

* In the {{Eurogame}} ''Through The Ages: A Story Of Civilization'', one of the six Modern Era leaders available for your civilization is Tesla (at least, in the more recent editions - the original version of the game had BillGates filling the same role).

Conjecture and conspiracy aside, some of the things that we do know Tesla was either working on or had plans for are quite terrifying. Aside from the above mentioned Artificial Lightning, Earthquake Machine, and the Death Ray (a particle beam weapon, to be precise) he tried to sell to the Government, Tesla had plans (whether or not any were close to functional is up for debate) for Force Shields, Gravity Manipulation, Wall Phasing and Teleportation. You know what they say about "genius and madness"! Another famous incident in which he claimed to have received a 'message from Mars' appears to have been Tesla receiving the signal from a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulsar pulsar]], in which case he also accidentally invented radio astronomy.

Conjecture and conspiracy aside, some of the things that we do know Tesla was either working on or had plans for are quite terrifying. Aside from the above mentioned Artificial Lightning, Earthquake Machine, and the Death Ray (a particle beam weapon, to be precise) he tried to sell to the Government, Tesla had plans (whether or not any were close to functional is up for debate) for Force Shields, Gravity Manipulation, Wall Phasing and Teleportation. You know what they say about "genius and madness"!

* SuperBreedingProgram: Tesla was an ardent eugenicist in real life.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Histeria}}!'' talked about Tesla's work and character in surprising detail, even noting his questionable sanity and his rivalry with UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison. (It's noteworthy that Tesla here is portrayed as Creator/ChristopherWalken.)

Nikola Tesla (10 July 1856 – 7 January 1943) was a Serbian-American electrical genius, brilliant engineer, MadScientist, possibly [[UsefulNotes/{{Asexuality}} asexual]] (or just [[CelibateEccentricGenius celibate]], voluntarily or not), pigeon-loving weirdo, and exceedingly poor businessman.

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
* In the film adaptation of ''Film/ThePrestige'', [[CelibateHero Tesla]] is played by, of all people, Music/DavidBowie. [[spoiler:He also invented a cloning machine.]]

* Tesla plays a brief but important role in ''Literature/ThePrestige''. [[spoiler:He rips physics a new one by inventing a SteamPunk matter duplicator.]]

* In ''[[Creator/RobertRankin The Witches Of Chiswick]]'', it's revealed that in the ideal timeline, Nikola Tesla was respected and befriended several other scientists - particularly Charles Babbage. Which led to him perfecting his inventions and bringing about the space age (plus broadcasted electricity and androids) in the Victorian era. This is screwed up when time-traveling witches pollute the time line which leads to a [[{{Dystopia}} dystopic]] time line. This is patched up and we end with the current timeline we all live in.

* The band [[DreamTeam 8in8]] (Music/BenFolds, Music/AmandaPalmer, [[Music/OkGo Damian Kulash]], and Creator/NeilGaiman) opened their album ''Nighty Night'' with a {{pun}}-laden love song to a time-traveling Tesla. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2dDdVSU6M4]]

* ''Manga/ShuumatsuNoWalkureRecordOfRagnarok'' lists Tesla as one of humanity's representatives in the tournament against the gods. He fights in Round 8 against {{Beelzebub}}, wearing a suit of PoweredArmor similar to that of ComicBook/IronMan which he had developed in the afterlife with a team of history's greatest scientists, including Thomas Edison. In addition to generating electricity, his armor also utilizes some of the more outrageous technologies that he allegedly designed, such as anti-gravity and teleportation.

* ''Manga/ShuumatsuNoWalkureRecordOfRagnarok'' lists Tesla as one of humanity's representatives in the tournament against the gods.

* ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}'' took Tesla and turned him into a pseudo-vampire with delusions of world domination. He's one of the most popular characters on the show.

Nikola Tesla (10 July 1856 – 7 January 1943): electrical genius, brilliant engineer, MadScientist, possibly [[UsefulNotes/{{Asexuality}} asexual]] (or just [[CelibateEccentricGenius celibate]], voluntarily or not), pigeon-loving weirdo, and exceedingly poor businessman.

Despite his relative obscurity later on, Tesla was well known in his own time. Examples include having things named after him, receiving multiple Nobel Prize nominations being on the front cover of Time magazine on his 75th birthday, and New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia reading a eulogy over the radio for him when he (Tesla) died. In recent years, his reputation has very much swung the other way as a new generation of writers and scientists rediscovered his inventions and research.

* Tesla is a supervillain in a flashback in ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers.'', allied with the Avon Ladies. [[CriticalResearchFailure Interestingly]], he's depicted as fighting against his RealLife HeterosexualLifePartner Creator/MarkTwain.

* ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'' has Tesla Coils as aids that can be brought in through tears.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' has higher-level Enclave soldiers decked out in Tesla Armor, which has giant glowing electric coils on the back, and gives the wearer a better handling of energy weapons.
** Books entitled "Nikola Tesla And You" add +1 to your EnergyWeapon Skill.

Nikola Tesla (10 July 1856 – 7 January 1943): electrical genius, brilliant engineer, MadScientist, possibly [[{{Asexuality}} asexual]] (or just [[CelibateEccentricGenius celibate]], voluntarily or not), pigeon-loving weirdo, and exceedingly poor businessman.

However, a combination of poor business decisions, economic trouble, and pressures from arch-rival (but not enemy) UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison eventually led to the end of his good fortunes, and he acquired obsessive/compulsive tendencies and other eccentricities. He ultimately died alone in a hotel room after failing to sell a giant DeathRay to the US government. It is safe to say that without this man, the 21st century would not exist as we know it. But for most of the later twentieth century, not a lot of people knew him (although the good news is that recently, he ''has'' been gaining more and more publicity).

* TheRival: His relationship with Creator/ThomasEdison is usually framed this way. It's more correct to note that Tesla ''worked'' for Edison's rival, George Westinghouse, after leaving Edison's company over a pay dispute,[[note]]Which Tesla didn't blame on Edison himself, but his business manager Charles Batchelor refusing to grant Tesla a promised raise[[/note]] and that the supposed personal animus between the two men tends to be exaggerated.

However, a combination of poor business decisions, economic trouble, and pressures from arch-rival (but not enemy) UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison eventually led to the end of his good fortunes, and he acquired obsessive/compulsive tendencies and other eccentricities. He ultimately died alone in a hotel room after failing to sell a giant DeathRay to the US government. It is safe to say that without this man, the 21st century would not exist as we know it. But for most of the later twentieth century, not a lot of people knew him (although the good news is that recently, he ''has'' been gaining more and more publicity). Also, he was well known in his own time. Examples include having things named after him, being on the front cover of Time magazine on his 75th birthday, and New York City mayor Fiorello La Guardia reading a eulogy over the radio for him when he (Tesla) died.

* ''VideoGame/TeslaTheWeatherMan'' has an [[AlternateUniverse AU]] version of Tesla wielding a gauntlet that [[WeatherControlMachine controls the weather]] against Edison and his robot army. [[CrazyAwesome Yes]].

* Tesla is an important supporting character in [[Creator/JacekDukaj Jacek Dukaj]]'s ''Ice'' novel.

* A brief note in ''Comicbook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' implies that in that world, Tesla and Edison merged their electric companies, contributing to the SteamPunk-ishness of the series' Britain.

* In ''Behemoth'', the sequel to ''{{Leviathan}}'' by Scott Westerfeld, the {{Steam|Punk}} / {{Diesel Punk}}s that make up the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI Central Powers]] have 'Tesla Cannons,' which are, predictably, lightning generators. In the third book in the trilogy, ''Goliath'', Tesla becomes a major character. He is [[AxCrazy a great deal]] [[MadScientist more unstable]] than in real life. Which is saying something.