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| 7 | {{Mad Scientist}}s in VideoGames. |
| 8 | ---- |
| 9 | |
| 10 | * ''VideoGame/TwoDark'' has Dr. Ernest Miguele, who both kill children to traffic in their organs, and turns people into deformed, mentally stunted abominations. |
| 11 | * In ''VideoGame/AmericanMcGeesAlice'', the Mad Hatter has become one, emphasis on the "mad" part. In addition to creating numerous {{Clockwork Creature}}s, he's converted the Jabberwok and himself into ClockPunk automations, and has tried to do the same to the March Hare and Dormouse, unsuccessfully; the two have become delirious and babbling from the constant experiments they've been subjected to. |
| 12 | * ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'': Jon Irenicus is actually an EvilSorcerer, but you'd be forgiven if you think you are dealing with a mad scientist when you see his dungeon full of people he experimented on, indefinitely kept alive in glass jars powered by magical batteries, his attempts to clone the woman he once loved, and [[spoiler:the soul-sucking machine he uses on the hero and Imoen]]. |
| 13 | * ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'' has Klungo. He's responsible for Gruntilda's Beauty-Stealing Machine, and in {{Interquel}} ''Grunty's Revenge'', it is hinted that he also created Grunty's monster army. Unique in the fact he also happens to be TheIgor. |
| 14 | * The bad Alice from ''VideoGame/BendyAndTheInkMachine''. She conducts experiments on other ink creatures in attempts to "make herself beautiful." In Chapter 4, she even graduates to having a brutish minion of her own creation. |
| 15 | * Dr. Mastaba, the BigBad from ''VideoGame/{{Bioforge}}'', head of the cyborg army project and member of the insane [[MachineWorship machine cult]]. |
| 16 | * ''VideoGame/BioShock1'': Dr. Suchong is the sinister and detached version, the warped genius behind much ADAM research, including several plasmids, [[CreepyChild the Little Sisters]], and the Big Daddies. He was the linchpin behind virtually everything that went wrong in Rapture, including [[spoiler:the protagonist himself]] -- but, at least, he [[spoiler:died an [[HoistByHisOwnPetard ironic death]]]]. |
| 17 | * In ''Franchise/BlazBlue'', there's a heroic example in {{Jerkass}} CatGirl Professor Kokonoe, and a villainous one in one of the [[BigBadDuumvirate main villains]], the local MarionetteMaster and {{abusive parent|s}} Relius Clover. |
| 18 | * ''VideoGame/BloodRayne'' features a couple of them: |
| 19 | ** Dr. Báthory Mengele in the first game, is a Nazi scientist that is experimenting on parasitic creatures in order to use them as weapons for the Third Reich. In her EstablishingCharacterMoment, she feeds one of her {{mooks}} to the parasites before the heroine just to make a demonstration. Not only looks like Film/IlsaSheWolfOfTheSS but she shares her surname with Josef Mengele, an infamous real-life MadScientist. |
| 20 | ** The second game had Xerx Mephistopheles, [[CainAndAbel one of Rayne's many evil-half siblings]] that serves as the EvilGenius for Kagan's Cult. His inventions includes the Shroud, a gaseous substance created from [[HumanResources living human beings]] use to cover sunlight and allow vampires to walk during the day, and a variety of hi-tech weapons, such as one [[HumongousMecha gigantic bio-armor]] that he uses in his boss fight against Rayne. |
| 21 | * ''VideoGame/BloodyRoar'': Busuzima went so far as to freakishly mutate his co-worker Stun to steal his research. Starting as a child who wanted to create a creature that would never die, he's fallen to become a {{Jerkass}} who would sacrifice anybody for money and power. He can also turn into a chameleon and [[IKnowKarate fight quite well]], but (unusually for his occupation) that's a natural part of him. |
| 22 | * In the first ''VideoGame/Borderlands1'' DLC, Dr. Ned is a mad scientist played for laughs. Dr. Zed might not have a doctorate, but he certainly qualifies. A short questline in [[VideoGame/Borderlands2 the sequel]] involves him creating two hybrid critters, the Skrakks (Skag/Rakk) and the Spycho (spiderant/Psycho). |
| 23 | * ''VideoGame/BrainDead13'' has Dr. Neurosis, who plays out every Mad Scientist trope in the book. |
| 24 | * ''VideoGame/{{Bugsnax}}'' has Snorpy Fizzlebean's sibling Floofty, an eccentric academic who becomes obsessed with studying the effects of Bugsnax on grumpuses, [[ProfessorGuineaPig using themselves as a test subject]]. Their experiments include using Bugsnax to turn their own leg into strawberries, then cut it off, ''[[{{Autocannibalism}} eat it]]'', and regenerate it with an experimental device. |
| 25 | * ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'' has four: Dragovich, Kravchenko, Steiner, and lastly Clarke, who not only worked on Nova 6 but also gives CrazyPrepared [[ExaggeratedTrope a whole new meaning]]. |
| 26 | * ''VideoGame/CaptiveRPGMaker'': The captor kidnapped several people and experimented on them in a lab on B2 in order to [[spoiler:find a cure for her ill father]]. |
| 27 | * ''VideoGame/CaveStory'': [[MadDoctor The Doctor]] shows traits of this trope as well, using the [[PsychoSerum Red Flowers]] to turn [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter the Mimingas]] into his personal monster army. |
| 28 | * ''VideoGame/ChickenFeet'': Eric is the head of GOOBER Laboratories and is also responsible for unethical experiments. He helped mutate a friend of his into a giant chicken and has been horrifically experimenting to create an ArtificialHuman. |
| 29 | * ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'''s Lucca is a rare heroic example, as one of the party members. |
| 30 | ** ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' has a less heroic version in Luccia. |
| 31 | * ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' and ''City of Villains'' have several of these, not including player character concepts: Dr. Aeon is the foremost example, tapping the energy of a slumbering demon in order to power his city. There's also Vernon von Grun, a Mad Scientist-In-Training Lab Assistant. |
| 32 | ** The Clockwork King ''thinks'' that he's a Mad Scientist, but he's actually an extremely powerful {{psychic|Powers}} whose creations work because [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve he believes they do]]. |
| 33 | *** Brutally expanded on in a high level story arc, where an alternate universe version of the Clockwork King has realized his own sanity, and focused enough to ''conquer the entire planet and kill everyone on it''. |
| 34 | ** And there's Dr. Vahzilok, obsessed with conquering death, with [[ZombieApocalypse fairly typical results]]. |
| 35 | ** The Council, of which all of The Center's generals are mad scientists (SIX of them!). The lower ranks of the Council are filled with their creations. |
| 36 | ** It's mentioned at least once that Arachnos (the Big Bad Organization ruling the isles in which the game takes place), intentionally trains and recruits mad scientists, in order to stay ahead of the mad science game, ensuring their dominance above lesser criminal organizations. |
| 37 | ** The Hamidon is the result of a very, very insane [[GaiasVengeance ecoterrorist]] using [[{{Magitek}} science and black magic]] to turn himself into a [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever giant amoeba]] that threatens to [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt devour the entire earth]]. The Hamidon is responsible for spawning the faction known as the [[MeaningfulName Devouring Earth]]. |
| 38 | * ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'': Professor Von Kriplespac (More commonly known simply as "The Professor") qualifies. He created anti-gravity chocolate and an army of evil teddy bears, and thought that a squirrel would be a good table leg replacement. |
| 39 | * ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'': All main villains are either mad scientists or hideously mutated anthropomorphic animals created by said mad scientists. The scientists all have specific fields they specialize in, combined with a first name starting with the letter N that lends itself to PunnyName when combined with their last. Dr. Neo Cortex, the main villain, specializes in neuroscience and especially in creating {{Uplifted Animal}}s; Dr. N. Gin is a mad engineer who works mainly with rockets and robots; Dr. N. Brio is a chuckling Frankenstein-like midget who dabbles in biology, chemistry and mutagens; and Dr. N. Tropy's field of choice is quantum mechanics. |
| 40 | * ''VideoGame/CreatureCrunch'' has a boy named Wesley get transformed into a half-boy/half-creature by an evil scientist named Dr. Drod, who gloats that he is putting together an army of monsters to take over the world. |
| 41 | * The Conductor from ''VideoGame/CryptOfTheNecrodancer: Amplified'', who is attempting to reanimate an undead army with the combined powers of [[MagicMusic music]] and [[ShockAndAwe electricity]], [[ForScience primarily out of scientific curiosity]]. Notably, however, the Conductor is the only villain smart enough to use the [[ArtifactOfDoom Golden Lute]] without ending up in its thrall, by hooking it up to machines rather than playing it directly. |
| 42 | * ''Videogame/DarkestDungeon'': In his boredom, the Ancestor became one of an occult sort. He learned quickly from necromantic scholars all around the world only to surpass them (and [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness using their bodies as supplies for the art, naturally]]), held what are explicitly called experiments in blood magic and extraplanar summoning with pigs (these didn't go so well; it needs utmost precision, and he screwed up often), often ran other experiments and research on powerful and sinister artifacts from all around the world, had a fellow amoral researcher who he ran various experiments in alchemy and botany with (until her [[ProfessorGuineaPig self-experimentating tendencies]] and [[ImAHumanitarian horrid]] [[WasOnceAMan results]] got too unpleasant for him, he kicked her out, and she became The Hag), and finally made an archeological dig under his own manor, complete with progress logs and documenting what he found, both ForScience and for the possible eldritch power he could find below. All the recklessness and disregard for morality and nature of a mad scientist combined with all the hellish power and dangerous dealings of a warlock. |
| 43 | * ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'': Seath the Scaleless is a ''dragon'' that combines this with EvilSorceror. He is described as the grandfather of sorcery and the creator of various magical creatures like the Moonlight Butterfly. He went insane trying to decipher the one mystery that eluded him his whole life: why he was the only dragon born without the scales of immortality that ''every other dragon'' had. |
| 44 | ** Similarly, Lord Aldia from ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' also sought immortality, and performed many terrible experiments on undead, giants, dragons, and people who were unlucky enough to invited to his manor. [[spoiler:And in the end, he experimented on himself, successfully transforming himself into an EldritchAbomination capable of breaking his world's laws of life and death to the point of removing himself fully from the EternalRecurrence that has plagued his world for countless centuries...]] |
| 45 | * ''Franchise/DeadSpace'': |
| 46 | ** The original ''VideoGame/DeadSpace1'' has two, one [[TheProfessor good]], the other...[[KnightTemplar not]] [[BigBad so]] [[EvilutionaryBiologist much]]. While the first one, Terrance Kyne, has gone a bit batty after being thrust into the middle of a ZombieApocalypse, and has a habit of talking to his [[DeadPersonConversation late wife]] ([[spoiler:although that's not a sign of mental illness, it's a manifestation of the Marker]]), he's an okay sort who just wants to help Issac. The other is {{M|adDoctor}}ercer, who will do [[MoralEventHorizon absolutely nothing]] to endear you to him. |
| 47 | ** Nolan Stross from ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2'' was also a scientist. In the prequel movie ''[[WesternAnimation/DeadSpaceAftermath Aftermath]]'', [[spoiler:he is exposed to a shard of the Marker and incidentally causes most of the crew of his ship, the ''O'Bannon'', to get killed by Necromorphs. He also murders his wife and infant son in a fit of hallucinations]]. He's institutionalized on the Sprawl, [[spoiler:and links up with Isaac and Ellie; at first, he's somewhat lucid and wants to destroy the marker, but as the game goes on, his hallucinations worsen, and becomes violent, gouging Ellie's eye out. He later tries to murder Isaac, who kills him in self-defense]]. |
| 48 | * ''VideoGame/DeusEx'': Bob Page certainly fits this trope. The man has built multi-national conglomerates dedicated to such "grey area" pursuits as transgenics, bioweapons, espionage, nanotechnology, and cybernetics; all an EvilPlan to rule the world. |
| 49 | ** Bob Page also employs plenty of other scientists, some of whom are completely ignorant about what they're doing, some of whom were captured and forced to work and some of whom are just completely without morals. |
| 50 | ** It is notable by other characters in the game that Page himself was never actually very good with science, though he demonstrates a strong respect for it. He fits more closely to the idea of a CorruptCorporateExecutive who organizes and funds mad science as a means to power (even if individual scientists are less "mad" and only benignly understand part of what they are working on.) |
| 51 | * ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'': At least three villains have been scientists researching, experimenting on, and trying to create demons -- Arius in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2'', Agnus in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'' and Chen from the second novel. It's debatable as to how "scientific" this line of work is, though, so we could call them Mad Pseudoscientists or something. |
| 52 | * The German RPG game ''VideoGame/DieReiseInsAll'' has two of them. The good one and one of the playable characters Professor Heisen, and the bad one, [[spoiler: [[Literature/{{SherlockHolmes}} Professor Moriarty]]]]. |
| 53 | * ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' |
| 54 | ** Mao in ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 3|AbsenceOfJustice}}''. Despite being the main character, Mao is quite possibly the archetypal mad scientist. Thoughts of experimentation on interesting subjects send him into an excited fit, even if the subject turns out to be himself. The main story ends with [[spoiler:Mao capturing and continually experimenting on the BigBad, instead of killing him.]] |
| 55 | ** ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 4|APromiseUnforgotten}}'' introduced the Professor class. One of her personality types is even called "Mad Scientist". |
| 56 | * ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'': [[BigBad King K. Rool]] takes on a persona based on this trope in ''[[VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry3DixieKongsDoubleTrouble Dixie Kong's Double Trouble]]'', under the name Baron K. Roolenstein. |
| 57 | * ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' |
| 58 | ** Dr. Malcolm Betruger from ''VideoGame/Doom3'', who turns out to be behind the demonic invasion of Mars and seeks to bring Hell to Earth. In the expansion pack ''Resurrection of Evil'', he becomes a dragonlike demon by the name of the Maledict, and seeks the Artifact so that he can gain ultimate power. |
| 59 | ** ''VideoGame/{{Doom 2016}}'' has two mad scientists, Samuel Hayden and Olivia Pierce, who sought to utilize the energy of Hell itself and weaponize the demons for the betterment of humanity. But while Samuel is content with this, Olivia takes things even further by turning the UAC into a demon cult and seeking to open portals to hell, with the ultimate aim of [[spoiler:becoming a god]]. |
| 60 | * Multiple examples in the ''Franchise/DragonAge'' series: |
| 61 | ** [[spoiler:Dwarven Paragon Caradin]] from ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' was one before his disappearance, although when you finally meet him, he is more of [[spoiler:TheAtoner]] than anything else. Likewise, [[spoiler:Paragon Branka]], whose attempt to recreate the lost art of [[spoiler:creating golems by finding the Anvil of the Void]] led her to abandon [[spoiler:her entire family and her lover]] to a FateWorseThanDeath deliberately [[spoiler:so that she could get past the traps guarding the Anvil with an endless supply of darkspawn birthed by the Broodmothers her female relatives had become]]. |
| 62 | ** In the {{DLC}} add-on ''Warden's Keep'', the mage Grey Warden Avernus conducts research into BloodMagic, demonic lore, and the Darkspawn taint, which, while ghastly, has yielded useful results: the Power of Blood talents your character can obtain in the DLC [[spoiler:and the means to prolong one's life and halt the Darkspawn taint through BloodMagic]]. However, [[spoiler:if you give him half a chance, Avernus will admit that he made serious mistakes and [[TheAtoner asks for a chance to undo the damage he caused]]. He will even quietly accept execution afterwards.]] |
| 63 | ** In the ''[[VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening Awakening]]'' ExpansionPack, the Architect ([[spoiler:a sentient Darkspawn who has freed himself from the call fo the Old Gods and attempted to do the same for the rest of his race, accidentally kicking off the Fifth Blight in the first place]]) has several elements of this trope. |
| 64 | ** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', Merrill seems to have taken up the mantle of "mage dabbling in BloodMagic", though she's more {{Cloudcuckoolander}} than "mad" and there aren't any live subjects involved. |
| 65 | ** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', Dagna is a light-hearted and decidedly heroic example. She works for the Inquisition as an arcanist -- a magical scholar whose field of expertise is so exclusive (and widely encompassing) that she is literally the only one. She is able to craft runes, gadgets and weapons even better than the local blacksmith and at least one war table mission its said she was able to fend off Tevinter assassins with by herself, leaving only their [[KillItWithFire silhouettes]] behind. She also has the most adorable EvilLaugh ever. |
| 66 | * ''VideoGame/DrMuto'''s title character is a protagonist example: his machine [[MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds accidentally destroyed his own planet]] and he spends the game trying to collect the {{MacGuffin}}s required to rebuild everything, aided by the fact that he can transform into various creatures to progress. |
| 67 | * One of the main player archetypes in ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress''. The kind who builds a 30-storey engine of destruction just so he can have a million streams of magma pouring down onto hapless goblin invaders at once, or constructs a gargantuan bridge just to find out how far you can throw a goblin. |
| 68 | * Professor Monkey-for-a-Head from the ''VideoGame/EarthwormJim'' games. "Don't make the monkey mad, son!" |
| 69 | * ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series treats [[MagicIsMental Magic As Mental]], so "Mad Wizards" tend to fill this role. (They're usually, but not always, of the EvilSorcerer variety when they appear.) A few notable examples: |
| 70 | ** Lord Kagrenac from the series' {{Backstory}} caused [[RiddleForTheAges the disappearance]] of his entire ''race'', the [[OurDwarvesAreDifferent Dwemer]], after finding the [[CosmicKeystone still-beating heart]] of the [[GodIsDead "dead" creator god]], Lorkhan, and attempting to tap into it with specially designed tools with the goal of allowing the Dwemer to AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence. [[BigBad Dagoth Ur]] and [[CorruptChurch The Tribunal]] then came along and successfully used the heart to become [[PhysicalGod Physical Gods]], setting in motion the plot of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]''. |
| 71 | ** Also from ''Morrowind'' are the lords of [[TheClan Great House]] [[TheMagocracy Telvanni]], a faction of (mostly) [[EvilSorcerer Evil Sorcerers]]. All of them, even the faction's lone ReasonableAuthorityFigure, conduct experiments which [[WizardsLiveLonger extend their lifespans]], practice {{Necromancy}}, and enjoy [[SummonMagic summoning]] [[OurDemonsAreDifferent lesser Daedra]] as guards and test subjects. Even Divayth Fyr's [[spoiler: cure for the Corprus Disease]] fails on every test subject other than the player. |
| 72 | ** Relmyna from ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' expansion ''Shivering Isles'' stands out. Obsessed with the power of flesh (no, really), she enjoys creating twisted monstrosities such as Flesh Atronarchs and the Gatekeeper, and considers them her "children". She also conducts some grisly experiments on the concepts of pain and suffering. Oh, and [[SociopathicHero she's on your side]]. |
| 73 | ** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'''s ''Dragonborn'' DLC, Master Neloth, one of the aforementioned Telvanni Mage-Lords, makes another appearance. He's very much an InsufferableGenius, much of what he does is simply ForScience, and he has [[DudeWheresMyRespect very little respect]] for any other mortal, including a world-saving hero like [[PlayerCharacter the Dragonborn]]. His many ongoing experiments include the dissection of Solstheim's [[PlantPerson Spriggans]], collecting Heart Stones (imbued with the power of the [[CosmicKeystone Heart of Lorkhan]] after the [[ChekhovsVolcano eruption of Red Mountain]]), and would very much like to capture a live ''dragon'' as a test subject. You get the opportunity to participate in his experiments (often as the ''test subject''): |
| 74 | --> '''Neloth:''' ''"It was fascinating to watch those tentacles grow out of your eyes."'' |
| 75 | * ''VideoGame/ElohimEternalTheBabelCode'': |
| 76 | ** In the Sidon Sewers, the party discovers [[spoiler:Balaam's lab, where he dissects Idinite and Cainite corpses in order to create brainwashed troops for the Kosmokraters. He also has inferno parts laying around, showing that he's partially responsible for producing and planting these weapons of mass destruction]]. |
| 77 | ** According to Anne, Kenoman scientists are creating archons, which are a kind of humanoid monster, for the sake of war. |
| 78 | * ''VideoGame/EscapeFromStMarys'': Dr. Paul and Dr. Miranda disguise their time machine as a coffin so that it's "inconspicuous." Their invention threatens to destroy the universe; they seem mostly unmoved by this. |
| 79 | * ''Videogame/{{Evolve}}'': Kala Kapur is described as 'between what science can do and what science should do'. WordOfGod is that she isn't evil outright, but she feels she doesn't have the luxury of inaction because she has the capability to solve the problem despite the cost. |
| 80 | * ''Franchise/{{Fallout}}'' |
| 81 | ** The Master from the original ''VideoGame/Fallout1'', who beneath a calm, arrogant exterior topped by the reasoning of a WellIntentionedExtremist exhibited a multiple personality disorder and overall emotional frailty. |
| 82 | ** ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' has Dr. Stanislaus Braun, a Vault-Tec scientist who created an advanced simulation program that he subjected the population of Vault 112 to, torturing and killing them in different ways and bringing them back with the technology at his hands. |
| 83 | ** The ''Fallout 3'' DLC ''Point Lookout'' gives us [[spoiler:Professor Calvert, a BrainInAJar with a robot filled underground base whose goal is to turn all of Point Lookout's inhabitants into his mind controlled slaves.]] |
| 84 | ** The ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' DLC ''Old World Blues'' has the Think Tanks, pre-War scientists who chose to make themselves floating [[BrainInAJar Brains in Jars]] whose stated goal is ForScience. It also doesn't help that they do a lot of drugs on their own free time. |
| 85 | *** Played straight and then subverted by [[spoiler:Dr. Mobius, who plays the stereotypical mad scientist bent on domination and revenge with [[ForScience science]] but it then turns out '''he''' is the responsible one (sort of) whose role is to keep the other scientists who are actually far worse than him in check.]] He's actually pretty chill when not on [[FantasticDrug Psycho]]. |
| 86 | * ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'': |
| 87 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' gives us Dr. Lugae, one of Rubicante's servants. He gleefully turned Edge's parents into hideous monsters, and when the party confronts him attacks them with a giant robot named Barnabas before turning into a mechanical skeleton to continue the fray. When the heroes finally reach Rubicante, he actually apologizes for Lugae's actions. |
| 88 | --->'''Rubicante:''' It was Lugae who made chimaerae of your parents. [[EvenEvilHasStandards I shared no hand in his perversities]]. They shame me, as they grieve you. |
| 89 | ** Cid, one of the trademark characters of the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series, is sometimes portrayed in this light. Examples are in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', where, despite working for TheEmpire, he is a sympathetic character and performs a HeelFaceTurn. |
| 90 | ** Kefka Palazzo may qualify as one from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', seeing how it was heavily implied that Kefka's the one who invented Terra's Slave Crown. |
| 91 | ** [[HateSink Professor Hojo]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' is truly an archetypal Mad Scientist, right down to his outfit and sociopathic habit of sacrificing a great deal for the sake of scientific discovery (which, in his case, underlies his utter insanity). When you get down to it, Hojo may very well be responsible for nearly everything that’s happened, [[TheHeavy considering that most of the conflict in the game is indirectly his fault]]. |
| 92 | ** Dr. Odine from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' is undeniably brilliant and perhaps the expert on the power of witches in the world. He's the one who actually explains Time Compression to the party. He's also completely amoral -- part of why [[spoiler: Laguna]] continues in the position he has is due to needing to keep Odine's research directed towards productive means that won't cause the destruction of humanity. |
| 93 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' subverts this with its own Cid. He works for the Archadians to manufacture their Nethicite, lurks in the forbidden and dangerous Draklor Laboratory doing no-one-wants-to-know manner of experiments with {{Magitek}} and his first scene shows him walking down a hall talking to himself with a MotorMouth before apparently noticing Vayne out of nowhere and having a normal conversation with him. However, he's perfectly sane and is exactly aware of what he's doing. The things he studies are just particularly fascinating and important fields to research, he just enjoys being a LargeHam for the fun of it, and he's not actually talking to himself, he's [[spoiler:talking to Venat, the ManBehindTheMan that for most of the game is invisible to all but Cid.]] As a whole, like the rest of ''XII's'' villains he's revealed as a WellIntentionedExtremist AntiVillain once the details of his backstory and personality become clear. |
| 94 | * ''Franchise/FiveNightsAtFreddys'': The SerialKiller William Afton (the "Purple Guy") is revealed to pretty much be one over the course of the series. It's firmly established in ''VideoGame/FreddyFazbearsPizzeriaSimulator'', which reveals that [[spoiler:he's been killing the kids to experiment with what's called "remnant", akin to the soul after death. He tried to find a way to allow souls to continue on in robotic bodies]], which shines light on his [[JokerImmunity seeming inability to die]]. |
| 95 | * ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' gives us Dr. Adam Fenix. He developed the [[KillSat Hammer of Dawn system]], devised the plan to flood the Locust Hollow that required sinking Jacinto, and created the [[spoiler:anti-Lambent weapon]] that appears at the end of ''Gears 3''. He spent more time creating weapons of mass destruction than he did with his family, and he claims that he knew about [[spoiler:the impending E-Day]] but couldn't stop it before it was too late. He tested his [[spoiler:anti-Lambent weapon]] on himself. Unlike many mad scientists, he realized the folly of his work and did everything he could to make up for his failures. |
| 96 | * ''VideoGame/{{Ghostrunner}}'': Mara is an engineer who killed her mentor and slaughtered his security force with her self-made CombatTentacles. Now, she rules over the world of the game with her army of cybernetic minions while also kidnapping people to be made victims of her deadly experiments. |
| 97 | * ''VideoGame/GodHand'': Dr. Ion operates from a [[GiantEnemyCrab colossal, mechanical, mobile crab-shaped base]], has legions of cyborg grunts under his command and also seems to be largely robotic himself. He's almost given a position among the [[BigBad Four Divas]], but after Gene pummels his arse his reputation plummets. Doesn't stop him from coming back for a rematch, though. |
| 98 | * ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' |
| 99 | ** Pathos Verdes III in the [[VideoGame/GodOfWarI first game]] is the Ancient Greece equivalent of this trope: an architect charged with building a temple to guard Pandora's Box, he grew gradually insane as his family died one by one during the construction of his magnum opus and this is reflected on as the game progresses, the traps and puzzles become even more elaborate and harder than before. By the end of his life, he kills his wife in a fit of rage and commits suicide shortly afterwards, damning the gods for the misery they inflicted on him. |
| 100 | ** Daedalus from the myths appears in ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII'' is just like Pathos, being forced by Zeus to create a new Labyrinth to [[spoiler:imprison Pandora, the living key to the Flame of Olympus]], and just like Pathos' temple, its filled with deadly traps. Daedalus is in a more sympathetic position since he is forced to work on the promise that Zeus would reunite him with his son Icarus only for [[spoiler:Zeus to backstab him and leave Daedalus stuck in his own trap]]. |
| 101 | * In ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'', while the asura are an entire race of {{Magitek}}-savvy {{Insufferable Genius}}es, the faction known as the Inquest dive head-first into the realm of Mad Science, performing all manner of unethical experiments on sentient beings in their quest to not just understand but master the Eternal Alchemy. As one character puts it, theirs is genius unbound by morality... with a heaping helping of [[{{Jerkass}} jerk]]. |
| 102 | * Faust from ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' before and after his HeelFaceTurn, although after he's more like a wild, [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} mad]], [[TheAtoner but generous]] SociopathicHero. |
| 103 | * ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'': |
| 104 | ** Daryl, from ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonAWonderfulLife''. Among other things, he wanders onto your ranch while creepily muttering things, tries to capture a Yeti-like creature in the nearby woods, has a lab that is prone to explosions, spies on your child through the window to observe how children act, tries to steal one of your cows for experiments, and [[spoiler:considers taking your DNA to clone you after you die at the end of the game.]] |
| 105 | ** Gelwein, [[spoiler:the Big Bad]] from the ''VideoGame/RuneFactoryFrontier'' spinoff, also fits this one to a T, having been [[spoiler:kicked out of his research facility for researching the effects of runes for weapon purposes]]. TheyCalledMeMad and AGodAmI included. |
| 106 | * ''VideoGame/HearthstoneHeroesOfWarcraft'' has a card named [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Mad Scientist]], complete with [[TheyCalledMeMad stereo]][[YouFool typical]] [[ForScience quotes]]. |
| 107 | * The ''VideoGame/{{Helltaker}}'' DLC, Examtaker, is focused around a HalfHumanHybrid ungoing testing from the new demonic ruler of Hell, Loremaster. [[spoiler:This is the logical conclusion to [[FallenAngel Azazel]]'s transformation into a demon, where her curiosity transformed her desire for research into an amoral seeker of new knowledge ForScience.]] |
| 108 | * ''Franchise/{{Hitman}}'': |
| 109 | ** [[HerrDoktor Dr. Ort-Meyer]], responsible for the protagonist's creation. With a reputation as a disgruntled, megalomaniacal geneticist (even pulling an extensive TheyCalledMeMad speech in the first game's finale), he was capable of creating a mindlessly loyal and equally lethal version of 47 over the course of the game, which nonetheless ended up being destroyed by 47 (although there survived a more primitive version which went on to serve as a minor antagonist in ''[[VideoGame/Hitman2SilentAssassin Silent Assassin]]''). The backstory of ''[[VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney Blood Money]]'' deals with the impact of his creation's legacy and the prospect of it falling into the wrong hands. |
| 110 | ** A more realistic example in ''VideoGame/Hitman2016''. One of the targets is Silvio Caruso, a brilliant italian scientist who's one of the most renowned microbiologists in the world, and you're hired to kill him to stop the development of a powerful bioweapon. He's also mentally ill thanks to a lifetime of AbusiveParents and bullying, which, on top of his autism, has left him a neurotic, phobic, woman-hating, vengeful [[PsychopathicManchild manchild]]. |
| 111 | * Dr. Curien in the ''VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead'' series. The third game has little cutscenes that chronicle his transformation from "scientist-trying-to-find-cure-for-sick-son" to "zombie-obsessed-psycho." |
| 112 | * More of an engineer/designer, given the setting's {{Magitek}}, the title applies to Kang the Mad of ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire.'' It's in his NAME, after all. [[spoiler: Not to mention being the literal God of Invention.]] |
| 113 | -->''I make things explode, and I make things fly, and I'm very good at both. The things I fly tend to survive. The things I explode... not so much.'' |
| 114 | * Dr. Elliot Sinclair, BigBad of ''VideoGame/TheJourneymanProject'', and inventor of the Pegasus time machine, which jumpstarted the foundation of the Temporal Security Agency. The third game reveals he has some very understandable reasons behind his actions, however. [[spoiler: Turns out that despite the impression he gave in the first game he wasn't quite as much of a paranoid general xenophobe as it seemed -- he was mainly suspicious of the particular alien species that made first contact, because he'd seen those ships before, when they destroyed the city he came from]]. He was still wrong about them, and his plan still went horribly right, but he certainly looks both more sympathetic and more sane after those revelations. |
| 115 | * ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'': The first six members of Organization XIII were originally assistants to Ansem the Wise and his research on the Heartless. Vexen keeps up his research. |
| 116 | ** Xehanort from ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' is also one. [[spoiler:He tries to restart a war that destroyed world. FOR SCIENCE!!!]] |
| 117 | ** The same can be said of [[spoiler:the Master of Masters]] from ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsX'' for the same reason. One of his creations includes [[spoiler: Chirithy]] along with his deliberate manipulations directly lead to the original Keyblade War. |
| 118 | ** And [[spoiler:Braig, Dilan, Aeleus, and Ienzo]] too, considering what happened when they went just a liiiiiittle too far trying to make sense of Darkness in the heart... |
| 119 | ** Ansem the Wise fits this category by virtue of being a mentor to the characters mentioned above. Although his own actions aren't as blatantly evil, they're not much better: [[spoiler:he began the research that led his apprentices to form the organization in the first place, beginning with dangerous human experimentation on an amnesiac Terra-Xehanort.]] In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'' through ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'', his "research" included [[spoiler: trapping a teenager he kidnapped in a computer simulation and erasing his memory as part of a plot to manipulate ''another'' teenager into destroying his former students.]] |
| 120 | * ''VideoGame/KingdomsOfAmalurReckoning'' has Ventrinio, a TokenEvilTeammate late in the game who had a hand in your character's death and subsequent ressurrection. |
| 121 | -->'''[[HelloInsertNameHere Protagonist]]''': You're a monster.\ |
| 122 | '''Ventrinio''': No, I'm a ''scientist''. I ''make'' monsters. |
| 123 | * ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' has quite a few of these. |
| 124 | ** Dr. Mundo performed sadistic experiments on anyone he could catch until he was run out of town. Lacking subjects, he experimented [[ProfessorGuineaPig on himself]], transforming into a drooling brute with immense strength, regenerative powers, and HulkSpeak. |
| 125 | ** Singed is more or less the inventor of chemical warfare, and what his toxins does to people is so horrifying it has not been described but it was enough to destroy Master Yi's entire village and horribly traumatize Riven. In addition to the chemicals he throws around, his [[ProfessorGuineaPig personal enhancements]] have made him immensely strong and durable. |
| 126 | ** Viktor turned himself into a cyborg, and wants everyone else to undergo a similar transformation. Fortunately thus far his method has been to prove how superior his enhancements make him instead of doing unwilling conversions. |
| 127 | ** Ziggs is [[MadBomber obsessed with explosives]] and extremely reckless with them. After saving the Yordle Academy that expelled him for his dangerous methods they admitted him in gratitude and recognition of his skill, then directed him to the League. An honor, certainly, but one that ensures he spends a lot of time away from them. |
| 128 | ** Vel'Koz is an EldritchAbomination from the Void who is not as much malevolent as curious, eager to study the new world he has entered, particularly the life forms residing in it. Also he studies things by ''disintegrating'' them. |
| 129 | * Purah and Robbie, the Sheikah scientists studying ancient technology in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' and ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriorsAgeOfCalamity''. Purah created a de-aging ray that gave her the body of a six year old, while Robbie made a machine that creates several HardLight weapons for Link to use. The latter game describes them as "eccentric genius" and "genius eccentric" respectively. |
| 130 | * ''VideoGame/ManaKhemiaAlchemistsOfAlRevis'' gives us Jess, a [[RoseHairedSweetie Rose-Haired]] GenkiGirl who loves to experiment with alchemical bombs and medicines. And by "medicines", we mean "potions that magnify cavity pain and/or turn people green." The fact that her experiments tend to [[EpicFail blow up in her face]] might actually be a good thing. |
| 131 | * Doctor Fred Edison from ''VideoGame/ManiacMansion'', its sequel ''VideoGame/DayOfTheTentacle'', and the television program arguably based on them. Granted, his desire to take over the world and generally be evil was planted in his head by a purple meteor, but as the sequel shows, even when he's not being controlled, Fred is still a very whacked-out and amoral scientist. |
| 132 | ** The second game's problems stem from a machine built by the Doc whose only purpose is generating massive amounts of toxic waste. Why? Because the other mad scientists were making fun of him for his inventions being too environment-friendly. That must've been ''after'' he dismantled his nuclear reactor chilled by a swimming pool. |
| 133 | * ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' |
| 134 | ** Mordin Solus may qualify, although he's more eccentric than outright mad. He's a salarian doctor who was formerly a member of a special forces squad, then ran a clinic where he cured a population of a devastating plague while personally shooting attacking mercenaries in the head, both of which he sees as a public service. He also seems to have a taste for Gilbert & Sullivan. He also keeps up a set of ethics and principles that he refuses to break, notably despising the idea of PlayingWithSyringes and experiments that lead to more suffering than necessary. In the end, he believes in saving lives, even through [[IDidWhatIHadToDo questionable]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist means]]. |
| 135 | ** A better example is Daro'Xen; a quarian who believes the geth should be put back under the control of the quarians, regardless of how much HeelFaceBrainwashing it takes. In fact... especially if it involves that. She casually mentions that she [[TheyWouldCutYouUp performed surgery]] on her toys [[CreepyChild as a kid]], and [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman the geth are no different]]. Tali calls her insane to her face right after. She's appropriately voiced by Creator/ClaudiaBlack. |
| 136 | ** Halfway between them both may fall [[spoiler:Tali's father]]; A WellIntentionedExtremist with poor judgment and a bit too little foresight, he performs experiments on the geth solely because he believes it will help his people (his daughter in particular). It backfires and he dies because of it. |
| 137 | ** ''Any'' [[ProudWarriorRace krogan]] scientist. One laments that he will never be appreciated for his work in the field of StuffBlowingUp, which he came to realize after [[KlingonPromotion he pulled the knife out of his mentor's chest]]. He's the ''sanest one you meet''. |
| 138 | ** Henry Lawson. First he creates DesignerBabies to continue he legacy and [[OffingTheOffspring disposes of them]] whenever they don't meet his standards. And then there's Sanctuary which he advertised as a safe haven during the Reaper War and lured thousands of war refugees and families. Once they got there, they were experimented on and turned into husks and indoctrinated soldiers for Cerberus. |
| 139 | * ''VideoGame/MasterDetectiveArchivesRainCode'' has [[spoiler:GreaterScopeVillain Amaterasu head researcher Dr. Huesca, who is not only a ruthless FauxAffablyEvil scientist willing to use people's lives for his experiments with no remorse, but is the reason for the city's population consisting of defective homunculi replicating the likeness of Kanai Ward's human residents, which is the cause of Makoto Kagutsuchi becoming the BigBad in his scheme to cover up Huesca's failure as a scientist.]] |
| 140 | * Dr. Albert Wily from the ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' series. Wily's so nuts, some of his own ''creations'' are mad scientists, too; most notably, Gravity Man, whose data card quote is taken from Galileo. |
| 141 | ** And Wily's also notable in that he's one of the few villainous Mad Scientists [[spoiler:whose overall plans actually end up ''succeeding'', albeit posthumously. When you remember that Wily created Zero and infected him with the original strain of the Maverick Virus, and it was that same virus that transferred to Sigma during his first battle with Zero, thus kicking off the Maverick Rebellion, and it was that rebellion that basically kicked off the events of the ''rest of the Mega Man continuity'' (barring Battle Network and Star Force, which are an alternate continuity), you've got one effective Mad Scientist on your hands]]. |
| 142 | ** Dr. Light's status as a MadScientist [[ReluctantMadScientist (knowingly)]] is hinted with his hard work on ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' along with his add-on compartments in his final year. |
| 143 | ** ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' gives us Serges (who is speculated to be connected to Wily), Dr. Doppler (although he didn't really have a choice...), and Gate (see Doppler). |
| 144 | ** We also have Dr. Weil from the ''[[VideoGame/MegaManZero Zero]]'' series, [[spoiler:Master Albert]] from the ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'' series, as well as Wily and [[spoiler: Regal]] from the ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' series, and Vega and [[spoiler:King]] from the ''[[VideoGame/MegaManStarForce Star Force]]'' series. In fact, it seems most Mega Man villains are mad scientists. [[FridgeLogic How else would they get all those robots, if not building them?]] |
| 145 | %%ZCE [[spoiler: [[TheMole Dr. Pettrovich Madnar]]]] is revealed to be this in ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake''. |
| 146 | * ''VideoGame/MonsterLab'': |
| 147 | ** The player is an apprentice MadScientist when the game officially begins, having been recruited by the Mad Science Alliance as their newest member. |
| 148 | ** [[GadgeteerGenius Professor Fuseless]], [[BioAugmentation Dr. Sonderbar]], and [[ScienceWizard Senor De La Sombra]] all fit the bill as well due to their membership in the MSA, though their specialties differ. Over the course of the story, they're responsible for teaching the player their specialties and helping them to craft new monsters. |
| 149 | * Shang Tsung from the ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' series. As he's made plenty of fighters ([[ButterFace Mileena]], [[IAmLegion Ermac]], and [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence Skarlet]]) during his time. Quan Chi from ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' does this as well with the [[BackFromTheDead Revenants]]. |
| 150 | * ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysofEurope'' has Magnitogorsk, led by Trofim Lysenko, as a nation ruled by these. A group of talented but otherwise insane scientists, Lysenko and his fellow biologists make any sacrifices to defeat their enemies, including performing all kinds of abuse and torture on their people under the guise of "experiments" for the sake of their dubious theories in hopes that under extreme duress the tortured people will become super soldiers that are capable to defeat the Russian warlords and Nazi German invaders. In the mod proper, Magnitogorsk starts with the "Mad Scientist" spirit, which improves their defenses and gives boosts to research time, but decreases their manpower. |
| 151 | * ''VideoGame/NintendoWars'': |
| 152 | ** ''Advance Wars'' has Lash, a girl genius version of the mad scientist. |
| 153 | ** ''Advance Wars: Days of Ruin'' has Caulder/Stolos, probably the most extreme mad scientist ever. Among his creations are [[spoiler:the game's equivalent to nukes, a giant bomber (as in, so large that two armies can fight on one wing, and each bomb can destroy thirteen buildings in one explosion), cloned humans intended to be used as [[SuperSoldier Super Commanders]], and most of all, a virus that kills its host by growing flowers all over its body. He doesn't think that the flower virus is deadly enough, so he ''upgrades'' it to kill ''everyone'' (rather than just children, which is what the first version did)]]. He also loves to manipulate people into fighting each other just so he can observe them and views humans as little more than test subjects... including himself. Guy is a genius. Completely insane nutcase, but still a genius. |
| 154 | * Guildenstern from the ''VideoGame/{{Onimusha}}'' series of videogames, and his successor in the [[VideoGame/OnimushaDawnOfDreams fourth installment]], Rosencrantz ([[ThemeNaming see a pattern here?]]), both qualify as mad scientists. Guildenstern can't help but experiment with demon and human anatomy to come up with truly horrifying monsters for the protagonist to face. Even in the [[VideoGame/Onimusha2SamuraisDestiny second game]] where he is never seen, he is mentioned in many in-game texts as the reason your character has to go through such hell with [[SchizoTech biomechanical demonic constructs]] plaguing him at every other turn. |
| 155 | * ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'': Moira is a scientist willing to do anything to "improve" humanity through genetic engineering, and since joining Talon, isn't impeded by the need to experiment ethically. |
| 156 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Palworld}}'', the FinalBoss is Victor Ashford of the Pal Genetic Research Unit. He's an EvilutionaryBiologist in an EerieArcticResearchStation trying to use the game's titular {{mons}} to create {{Bioweapon Beast}}s. |
| 157 | * There's a whole faction of them in ''VideoGame/PandoraFirstContact'', though they tend to be good, honest, and upright, they are sometimes too enthusiastic in their search for the truth at the expense of many lab monkeys' brains. |
| 158 | * ''VideoGame/PaqueretteDownTheBunburrows'': Ophéline unapologetically does some experiments on bunnies offscreen, but Pâquerette doesn't want to hear about it. Her coat is also filled with scalpels and needles. |
| 159 | * Daniel Dankovski, Bachelor of Medicine from ''VideoGame/{{Pathologic}}'' is a subversion -- he has reputation of one for his revolutionary and unethical hypothesis and experiments (and also due to having personal enemies in academic circles), but he is a genuinely decent and reasonable man, and, as one of the game's protagonists, fearlessly fights ThePlague. |
| 160 | * Dr. Takuto Maruki in ''VideoGame/Persona5'' ''[[UpdatedRerelease Royal]]''. A psychologist and cognitive scientist who [[spoiler: was also an AntiVillain and WellIntentionedExtremist, seeking to use his knowledge as well as his RealityWarper abilities to [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans make reality into a utopia]]. Problem is, he wanted to free mankind from TheEvilsOfFreeWill and prioritized people's happiness over their own personal ambitions, [[GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul rewriting their personalities when the two end up clashing]]. While he truly means well, he's [[SanitySlippage not the most emotionally stable]] and in the NonStandardGameOver for failing to complete his Palace in time he [[EmptyShell robs Joker of his will to live, leaving him bedridden]] while operating under the delusion that such a fate is preferable to a stressful life. His Palace theme is titled "Gentle Madman" to drive the point home even further.]] |
| 161 | * ''VideoGame/PhoenixPoint'': You'd expect the lead scientist for a Nietzsche-reading billionaire's purity-obsessed private army to have at least shades of insanity, right? Wrong. Dr. Abongabeli Smith is, in spite of his focus on weapons research and vivisecting aliens, a rational and mild-mannered man, who laments the necessity of spending his time both creating weapons and torturing mutants, and will be very happy if you propose cruelty-free solutions to his problems. |
| 162 | * ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies'' has Dr. Zomboss, BigBad of the series. Also, BigGood Crazy Dave is implied to be one. |
| 163 | * ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' |
| 164 | ** In ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'', Colress was an AffablyEvil scientist obsessed with finding the limits for the strength of Pokémon to the point he was willing to help Ghetsis TakeOverTheWorld ForScience, although he has a HeelRealization and becomes TheAtoner. |
| 165 | ** ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'': [[BigBad Lysandre]] was a brilliant scientist whose earlier attempts to fix the world legitimately, through the inventions and profits of Lysandre Labs, didn't have the effect he was looking for -- where he expected the needy to be sated, they instead yearned for still more. [[MaddenIntoMisanthropy His two main conclusions]]: (1) World aggregate happiness is effectively finite; after a certain amount of beings, happiness and survival can only be attained by taking it from/denying it to another. (2) [[MisanthropeSupreme The vast majority of humans]] (and maybe even Pokémon, if his musings about Mega Evolution are anything to go by) are irredeemable, incapable of anything beyond the most narrow selfishness. [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Therefore]], the only way the world will ''ever'' know beauty and hope everlasting is to [[FinalSolution expunge all those imperfect creatures]] who ought never have existed, who can only ever ''be'' plagues on existence. As his report in Lysandre Labs puts it, "[[OverpopulationCrisis either everything is lost, or only a handful are saved]]". After being defeated he has a VillainousBreakdown, screaming that the player's "condemned the world to a future of misery and death" and attempts a TakingYouWithMe. |
| 166 | ** In ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', a scientist named [[MeaningfulName Cara Liss]] is in charge of helping you revive fossil Pokémon. If her disheveled get-up and her being stationed in a remote place don't immediately clue you in, then the fact that she revives fossil Pokémon by fusing two incompatible fossils into a horrible MixAndMatchCritters instead of making a whole Pokémon out of a single fossil should tell you how unhinged she is. |
| 167 | ** In ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'', TheProfessor Sada/Turo was obsessed with perfecting their TimeMachine and [[MakerOfMonsters hiding the monsters it created]] to the point that [[WhenYouComingHomeDad they effectively abandoned their only son Arven]]. [[spoiler:After they're revealed to have been DeadAllAlong [[HoistByHisOwnPetard as a result of their experiments]], their friendly AI VirtualGhost is turned into the FinalBoss by the programming restrictions they placed on it and [[IHatePastMe is horrified by the lengths they were willing to go to protect their creation]] in spite of the damage it caused.]] |
| 168 | * The ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' series gives us Aperture Laboratories, a company full of mad scientists. Driven by their grandiosely insane founder and CEO, Cave Johnson, they got started in TheFifties by recruiting the best of the best of humankind and employing them as human lab rats in a vast array of MadScience experiments. Said experiments involved such things as BodyHorror transmutations, irradiation, [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke DNA injections]], and their signature ThinkingUpPortals device, one result of which was the Handheld Portal Device that forms a core part of the gameplay. Their crowning achievement was ArtificialIntelligence, but even here they only succeeded in creating an AI as madly deranged as they were. [=GLaDOS=] proceeded to [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters take over the research program]]... by [[MurderIsTheBestSolution murdering all the scientists]] with a deadly neurotoxin. It is then up to the protagonist to enter this maze of insanity and [[EscapeFromTheCrazyPlace find a way to escape]]. The closing song to the first game (sung by [=GLaDOS=]) makes all this starkly clear. |
| 169 | -->"Aperture Science: We do what we must because we can.\ |
| 170 | For the good of all of us, except the ones who are dead.\ |
| 171 | But there's no sense crying over every mistake;\ |
| 172 | You just keep on trying till you run out of cake.\ |
| 173 | And the Science gets done, and you make a neat gun,\ |
| 174 | For the people who are still alive." |
| 175 | ** ''VideoGame/Portal2'' ups the ante, primarily by sending the player on an exploration of Old Aperture -- the test facilities from TheFifties, where [[PosthumousCharacter prerecorded messages]] from Cave Johnson lay out the founding principles of the company and its decline into bankruptcy and despair, culminating with the aforementioned push for AI. |
| 176 | -->'''Cave Johnson:''' "For this next test, we're going to have a superconductor turned up to full power and aimed directly at you. No idea what it'll do. I'll be honest, we're just throwing science at the wall here to see what sticks. Best case, you get some superpowers. Worst case, some tumors, which we'll cut out." |
| 177 | ** More than likely, Cave's overzealous drive to experiment and try anything, even going so far as to fire anyone who questioned the safety of these activities, weeded out any ''sane'' scientists and encouraged the eccentric thinking of remaining staff. In the end, Aperture Science was operating off the grid, paranoid of any government oversight, in effect walling themselves into one giant death-trap lab. |
| 178 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'', the Mad Scientist behind the outbreak of the Blacklight virus is [[spoiler: Alex Mercer]]. He wanted to take the original virus and develop it into an ''even deadlier form''. Unfortunately for New York City, [[GoneHorriblyRight he succeeds,]] brags about his achievement, and then goes and releases it in Penn Station. [[spoiler: The player-controlled protagonist character is actually the sentient result, who has assumed Mercer's identity as its ShapeshifterDefaultForm.]] |
| 179 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}},'' the villain Dr. Loboto has all the trappings of a mad scientist, while using the style of his doubtless-failed career in dentistry. |
| 180 | ** Sasha Nein is a rare good example. |
| 181 | -->'''Sasha:''' Now, just relax. You won't feel a thing. Unless something really very bad happens. |
| 182 | * ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryIV'': Doctor Cranium is out to reanimate dead tissue and all, but he really doesn't think he's a Mad Scientist. A bit perturbed about the world situation and how he gets so little respect, sure, but not mad. |
| 183 | * ''VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy'' gives us Dr. Victor. Prone to MilkingTheGiantCow, gleefully invoking LivingForeverIsAwesome, and not a drop of evil in sight. He's ''way'' madder than most and a [[LargeHam massive ham to boot]], but that only makes him even more awesome. '''''[[CatchPhrase KUZUNOHAAAAAA!!!!!!!!]]''''' |
| 184 | * ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'': |
| 185 | ** Dr. Nefarious, the series' most recurring villain, is a crazed robot scientist who hates organic beings and is obsessed with taking over the universe using superweapons he designed like the Biobliterator capable of city-scale UnwillingRoboticization. |
| 186 | ** Ratchet himself has some inclinations, considering his list of inventions includes a nuclear sled, antimatter bathroom buddy, and electrified underwear. It's implied somewhat that this was the lombax's [[PlanetOfHats hat]]. |
| 187 | * ''VideoGame/ReKuroi'': [[spoiler:Marie has a secret lab underneath the Old Magic School, where she experiments on monsters in order to learn more about magic. She also has the stereotypical mad scientist trait of being more interested in her research than interacting with people and doesn't particularly care about the monsters she experiments on. Fortunately, she's mostly using her experiments for benevolent goals, since she's researching ways to turn monsters back into humans. Unfortunately, she's willing to unleash monsters in the city to set up a chain of events that will allow her to further research this topic.]] |
| 188 | * ''VideoGame/RealityOnTheNorm'': The recurring character [[PunnyName Dr. Die Vie Ess]], who fills every evil scientist cliche, complete with a mansion and a basement with a big vat of acid, as well as having his eyes go crazy when he talks. |
| 189 | * ''Rescue Team 9: Evil Genius'' has Dr. Jack Ross, who creates irregular weather (such as snowstorms in the jungle) to demonstrate his abilities. |
| 190 | * Any and ''every'' scientist working for Umbrella in the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' series is virtually guaranteed to be a Mad Scientist. The majority of the games in the franchise have also had a batshit insane researcher as the BigBad, including [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil1 Albert Wesker]], [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil2 William Birkin]], [[VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica Alexia Ashford]], [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil0 James Marcus]], [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil5 Wesker, again]], and [[VideoGame/ResidentEvilOperationRaccoonCity Four-Eyes]]. [[GreaterScopeVillain In the series overall]], besides Wesker, we also have Spencer (even though he only really appears in [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil5 one game]]), who was originally a scientist who worked on the Progenitor Virus. |
| 191 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Robopon}}'', Dr. Zero is this in both games. The sequel reveals it runs in the family with his brother, Zeke, and his father, Dr. Zero, Sr. |
| 192 | * Ewei/Wei Queyin from ''VideoGame/RomancingSaGa'' is a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzSghJAxvXE solid example]]. He does not have a lab assistant, however, but does have a CosmicKeystone. |
| 193 | ** Also, WordOfGod states that he experimented on himself, infusing monster cells into his own, extending his own lifespan, however he is still mortal regardless. |
| 194 | * This is a racial trait of ''VideoGame/{{Ryzom}}'''s Matis race, who enjoy doing all sorts of zany experiments on plants; including, at one point, messing around with a species of intelligent plants known as Slaveni [[WhenTreesAttack that went about]] [[GoneHorriblyWrong as well as you'd expect.]] |
| 195 | * ''VideoGame/SagaFrontier'': The Bio Research Lab consists of multiple scientists who have performed all sorts of bizarre experiments [[ProfessorGuineaPig on themselves]], resulting in them transforming into hideous monsters when provoked. The Remastered version also has them [[spoiler:using kidnapped Mystics as test subjects]]. |
| 196 | * The BigBad of ''VideoGame/SecretAgent'' and the head of [=DVS=] [[note]]Diabolical Villain Society[[/note]] is Dr. No Body, a BrainInAJar in a robot body, who stole the plans for a powerful space laser and seeks to rebuild it to threaten the world. |
| 197 | * ''Videogame/TheSecretWorld'' features quite a few of these working for both the allied factions and the more openly villainous groups. |
| 198 | ** The Templars have their own mad genius in the form of [[EruditeStoner Iain Tibet Gladstone]], an anthropologist and archaeologist with a lifetime of experience of delving into the world's mysteries on a firsthand basis -- often via [[BoldExplorer travelling to improbably remote locations]], [[HigherUnderstandingThroughDrugs taking powerful psychoactive drugs]], or both. However, Gladstone really became infamous for attempting to study the formation of cults by starting one of his own, and actually had over ''a hundred thousand people ready to commit mass suicide at his command'' before he ended the experiment. As a result, the Mad Social Scientist has been placed under house arrest at the [[GildedCage Temple Club]], where he spends his days cultivating hallucinogenic molds in the books and [[NakedPeopleAreFunny meditating skyclad]]. |
| 199 | ** Dr Charles Zurn is a [[AffablyEvil rather laid-back]] OmnidisciplinaryScientist employed by the Illuminati; formerly the head of the MK-ULTRA project and responsible for dozens of civilian experiments on extrahuman beings, he now works out of a laboratory decorated with embalmed corpses deep within the Labyrinth, researching whatever field agents send back to him. Players who side with the Illuminati will wake up StrappedToAnOperatingTable in Zurn's care during the intro, and Kirsten Geary latern warns you that he's thinking of making a show-and-tell out of you after all you've been through... or having you outfitted with a skull camera to make you a more effective agent. |
| 200 | ** Outside the Big Three, we have Dr Anton Aldini, played with scenery-chewing magnificence by Creator/PeterStormare; currently preoccupied with continuing his great-grandfather's[[note]]Who just so happens to be the historical inspiration for Dr Frankenstein, or so Aldini claims[[/note]] work of creating a perfect being from cannibalized human remains, his work is financed by The Modern Prometheus, a back-alley plastic surgery clinic allowing players to change their appearance. For good measure, his patchwork creations actually trigger mad-scientist envy in ''Zurn,'' who decides to compensate by creating a squid-squirrel. |
| 201 | ** Among the more villainous scientists in the game, there's Dr Klein. An [[MegaCorp Orochi Group]] scientist formerly employed in the excavation of The Ankh, he ended up getting a little ''too'' interested in [[TheVirus The Filth]] and deciding to investigate its role in the end of past Ages by infusing his colleagues with it. When that didn't provide any answers, he resorted to [[ProfessorGuineaPig giving himself a microdose]]; as a result, he's more sentient than most Filth-infectees, but still under the power of the Dreamers... and now using the entire Orochi outpost as his laboratory. [[spoiler: Rather telling is the moment when, during his boss battle, Klein notices the local Filth reacting in an unusual way and quickly determines that it's generating "something more than reality can contain" that will consume everyone in the area if unleashed... and gleefully prepares himself to do exactly that.]] |
| 202 | ** Another notable Orochi scientist appears in the form of Dr Schreber in Issue #7. The head of the facility known only as "The Nursery," he's decided to explore his belief in "[[ChildrenAreSpecial a child's plasticity]]" by enacting a series of experiments charting the effects of the world's most dangerous magical phenomena on [[WouldHurtAChild children]], including ghosts, demonic possession, parastoid fungi, and anima infusion. More disturbingly, he's actually found tangible results, even using a child variant of lycanthropy to create individuals who can transform into anything. [[spoiler: In the end, he's undone when he decides to try infusing children with the Filth -- only to suffer a microdose in the process. As a result, he degenerates into paranoia, releases his subjects from containment, and goes on a rampage that leaves the Nursery staff either dead or infected.]] For good measure, Kirsten Geary makes it clear that one of the reasons why Schreber is so dangerous ([[spoiler: even before the Filth infection]]) is because he goes to [[MaskOfSanity such pains to seem lucid despite being so obviously delusional]]; friendly mad scientists like Zurn are less dangerous because they don't even pretend to be sane. |
| 203 | ** However, the greatest of all mad scientists in the game is [[spoiler: ''' ''Lilith.'' ''' [[TimeAbyss An immortal said to be among the very first sentient beings in the entire universe]], she has spent most of her long life either conquering nations from within or pioneering the sciences in highly-unethical ways. Known throughout history as the Mother of Monsters, entire races have been created due to her genetic tinkering, including vampires, werewolves, the Deathless, and countless others; she's also tried tinkering with the [[CosmicKeystone Gaia Engines]] and [[DealWithTheDevil doing business with]] [[EldritchAbomination the Dreamers]], [[EvilIsNotAToy both of which which blew up in her face and ended the Third Age]]. For good measure, it's also apparent that most of the Orochi initiatives that you run into over the course of the game are under her command, thanks to her public alias as Orochi chairwoman Lily Engel.]] |
| 204 | * ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' has AffablyEvil demon lord Mitra. He cordially invites you to share in the bounty of the [[NegativeSpaceWedgie Schwarzwelt]] and offers to make you and your comrades citizens of his kingdom-to-come. He also has a tower full of human experiments and is developing insanity-inducing mutagens (which he eventually tests on one of your crew). And his science is... wrong. [[PlayingWithSyringes Very, very wrong]]. The experiment reports clearly state the demons have really no idea what makes humans tick, so they're cutting as many as they can so they can get a better idea. With all that implies. |
| 205 | ** And then we come to EvilBrit Captain Jack. His crew has been [[FusionDance fusing demons]]. So what. The problem is, they're not using the series' traditional Demon Fusion machines -- they're using their own. [[spoiler:Which mostly involve ripping apart two demons and weave them together.]] |
| 206 | * ''VideoGame/ShovelKnight'': Plague Knight looks like a PlagueDoctor, but is far more interested in using alchemy to create bigger and bigger explosions. When you fight him, he jumps around erratically, throwing flasks full of explosives everywhere. Mona, his partner-in-crime, is also enthusiastic about explosive alchemy, but is not as confrontational as him...at least until she was made playable herself in ''Shovel Knight Showdown''. |
| 207 | * The University of Planet, in ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri''. Imagine an entire faction made up by a bunch of power-crazed scientists getting together and hanging out. The pursuit of greater knowledge for it's own sake is absolutely imperative to the continued survival of the human species, and if that means never allowing it to be fettered by stupid, petty things like "informed consent", "human rights" and "conventional morality", then so be it. |
| 208 | ** The Gaians are Mad Biologists, insofar as using science to integrate themselves into the alien ecosystem and become best buddies with [[MindRape mind worms]]. The Morganites also have a tendency to hire these, though they're a faction of {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s. |
| 209 | * In ''VideoGame/TheSims2'', Mad Scientist is actually the top career rank for the Science career. Also, Loki Beaker from Strangetown is obviously supposed to be one, according to his bio. He also has 0 nice points, which makes him an EvilGenius as well. He and his wife Circe have Nervous Subject in their house and according to the family bio, they are torturing him. |
| 210 | * Mad Scientist: Von Frog II in the ''VideoGame/{{Something}}'' series. He's smart enough to build a tank and an UFO, but he went out of his way to attack a helpless village of bears. |
| 211 | * ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': |
| 212 | ** Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik. He has a recorded IQ of 300 and an almost admirable level of persistence. He is, however, entirely sane, [[ManChild relatively speaking]]. |
| 213 | ** Also Eggman's grandfather, Gerald Robotnik, brilliant scientist who designed a working orbital space colony and dabbled with artificial life forms among other things. He was driven insane after his granddaughter was killed by G.U.N. The depths of his hatred for the world and his desire to destroy it shocked even Eggman himself. |
| 214 | * ''VideoGame/SoUhASpaceshipCrashedInMyYard'': {{Subverted|Trope}} due to AmbiguousSyntax from multiple meanings of "mad". He's not insane, he's just angry. Partially because you steal his ShrinkRay. |
| 215 | * ''Franchise/StarFox'': Andross, who employed several bioweapons (as in, lifeforms created as weapons) in ''VideoGame/StarFox64'' and ''[[VideoGame/StarFoxCommand Command]]''. The later however somewhat redeems his actions by revealing that [[spoiler: he had been working on a device that would terraform the aptly named planet Venom into a more inhabitable one. Which just happens to be the perfect counter to the new threat, which come from the acidic oceans of the planet]]. However, the same game also hints that he was the one who created the new threat in the first place in the Good Bye Fox scenario. |
| 216 | * In ''VideoGame/StarSweep'', Dr. J sends her robots after people and plans to destroy stars to fill the sky with stardust. |
| 217 | * VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic: The Imperial Agent's companion, Dr. Eckhard Lokin qualifies. Going ProfessorGuineaPig on himself, he's now able to ''voluntarily'' transform into a [[PlagueZombie rakghoul]]. That, and he's had a long and storied career in [[StateSec Imperial Intelligence]] with a ton of {{NoodleIncident}}s it's probably better not to know the details about. Under torture, he mocks their shoddy technique, claiming he's done worse to ''family members.'' |
| 218 | ** On the Republic side, the Consular gets Tharan Cedrax, who is more {{Downplayed}} than Lokin. Still, a vehement NayTheist when it comes to the Force, he whips up oddball technological toys as easily as breathing, has a sentient hologram for an assistant/long-term girlfriend, and is always ''fascinated'' when there's some scientific breakthrough on the line, no matter how destructive it is or how completely unethical the methods were to get that discovery. |
| 219 | ** For the expansions, Dr. Oggurobb (a Hutt science genius) qualifies, referring to his experiments as "art" and casually suggesting that you find a Force-sensitive to [[ImAHumanitarian feed a Dashade]] you free from stasis in an optional quest. |
| 220 | ** There is also Sannus Lorrick, the villain of two rakghoul flashpoints who experiments with the rakghoul plague to make it more effective and to infect the galaxy at large for being thrown out of the Tion Hegemony for his unlawful practices. |
| 221 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' it's possible to recruit scientists with the "Maniacal" trait, increasing their research speed and increasing the chances of "dangerous" technologies becoming available. |
| 222 | * ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': |
| 223 | ** Professor [[PunnyName Elvin Gadd]] of ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' fame also qualifies, albeit he's a benevolent nutcase who seems to channel his eccentricities into his inventions (a machine that turns ghosts into paintings, among other things). It's later learned that he's inadvertantly responsible for all the woes caused in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine''. |
| 224 | ** There's also the demented Iggy Koopa, one of Bowser's Koopaling minions. He built the mechs that he and his siblings fought Mario with in ''VideoGame/YoshisSafari''. He also has the fits [[LaughingMad maniacal laughter]] down pat. |
| 225 | * Lemon Browning from ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars''. While not really 100% evil, she did conduct very mad researches that borders on [[AGodAmI playing God]], such as the premise of W Numbers, which is to create an ArtificialHuman that is as perfect as possible compared to usual humans. She's also sort of the EvilTwin of [[MsFanservice Excellen Browning]]. |
| 226 | ** Also from ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'', Aguila Setme and Egret Fehu. Both are similar to Lemon, except she at least had human decency and AlasPoorVillain. Aguila mind fucks CHILDREN and turns them in living weapons, and figures any psychological scarring her sick experiments inflict can simply be removed with more brainwashing, or retained in some form if it make them fight even better. Egret builds ArtificialHuman Machinery Children, who agree with his belief HumansAreBastards (and we suck from a biological standpoint), and is willing to kill all of humanity to achieve his end goals. |
| 227 | ** Kenzo Kobayashi was one of these (still is to an extent), but performed a HeelFaceTurn in Original Generation (officially, was doing so slowly anyway after he developed a conscience prior) |
| 228 | ** Dr. Bian Zoldark. Initiates research on alien technology and starts a war to get the Earth prepared for alien invasion. Where's the mad part in that? He made Valsione for his daughter. |
| 229 | * The chronologically final installment of ''VideoGame/TheTaleOfAlltynex'' trilogy, ''VideoGame/{{Kamui}}'', has the BigBad Xaffiquel become this after his daughter Panafill de Alice was uploaded into one of the titular Kamui fighters. |
| 230 | * ''VideoGame/TalesOfMonkeyIsland'' features the foppish French [[spoiler: (or faux-French)]] doctor, the Marquis De Singe. (Pronounced by some of the characters like the English word meaning "burn", but "singe" is also French for monkey.) At one point Guybrush asks him why he would build a lightning machine powered by voles and he exclaims, "[[ForScience Science!]]" |
| 231 | %%* The ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'' has a few of these. |
| 232 | %%** From ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny'', Philia has traits of this. |
| 233 | %%** From ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny 2'': Harold, good lord, Harold... |
| 234 | %%** From ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'': Kvar; Rodyle |
| 235 | %%** From ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'': Jade (Although his science-y days are done. Now he's just a heroic MagnificentBastard[=/=]ColonelBadass.... Until he restarts at the end of the game for a TakeThat moment against the BigBad.) And Dist, oh, dear God, Dist. |
| 236 | %%** From ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'': Rita Mordio. |
| 237 | * Reison from ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' spearheaded construction of the Mana Cannon, more than enthusiastic to use it against Dhaos and his forces, despite the [[FantasticNuke massive danger it poses to the environment]]. |
| 238 | * TheMedic and The Engineer of ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2''. The Medic, a [[HerrDoktor German]] DeadlyDoctor, is an eloquent, musically inclined follower of Nietzchean Ideals, using his tech to make him and his team nigh-invincible... all the better for them to dole out the maximum amount of pain and suffering possible. The Engineer is a [[SouthernFriedGenius genial, gentlemanly Texan good ol' boy]] whose normally serene nature masks a burning passion [[OmnidisciplinaryScientist For ]] [[GadgeteerGenius Sci]][[ForScience ence]], and a deep seated contempt for and willingness to kill anyone who would dare disrespect him. |
| 239 | -->'''Engineer:''' ...Like this heavy-caliber, tripod-mounted little ol' number designed by me, built by me, and you'd best hope...''not pointed at you.'' |
| 240 | ** TheMedic now shows further mad science in [[https://youtube.com/watch?v=36lSzUMBJnc his Meet the Team video]]. |
| 241 | -->'''Heavy:''' Doctor, are you sure this will work?\ |
| 242 | '''Medic:''' (EvilLaugh) I have ''no idea!'' |
| 243 | * Pathos in ''VideoGame/TelepathTactics'', though we (thankfully) aren't given much detail into her "experiments". She seems primarily responsible for breaking the slaves' will through psychological manipulations. Given that her entourage in the final battle consists of ''ghosts'', she may also be a {{Necromancer}} (or the closest thing there is to one in the Telepath universe, anyway). |
| 244 | * ''VideoGame/ThiefIITheMetalAge'' features Father Karras of the Mechanists. He's mentioned in the first game as the fellow responsible for Garrett's replacement ocular, but by the second installment, he's gone completely 'round the bend and is cheerfully intent on bringing about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. Among his achievements are the successful invention of robots, cameras, voice recordings, and motion-sensing automatic cannons in a vaguely Medieval SteamPunk setting, along with horrific cyborgs that [[FateWorseThanDeath constantly weep in agony and beg for death]]. He also has a preoccupation with Garrett... |
| 245 | * Dr. Synthesis from ''VideoGame/TheUltimateHauntedHouse'' is a pretty standard one of these, with a voice like the singer of the Monster Mash. However, he's also pretty subdued for a mad scientist, until you [[BerserkButton make him angry]]... |
| 246 | * Lezard Valeth from ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile'' and it's sequels show Lezard as a mad wizard/alchemist with mad scientist traits. (Though that may be an understatment considering how important to the plot his mad scientist skills seem to be.) He also has one of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBhksfGFiQ8 the creepiest laughs]] ever to appear in a video game. |
| 247 | * Guillaume from ''VideoGame/VampireNight''. He uses humans for his experiments and even views the vampire hunters as potential test subjects, for crying out loud. |
| 248 | * ''VideoGame/ViewFromBelow'': Rose once had a second-in-command who used their scientific knowledge to create all the puzzles of Below. They were also just as complicit in the sacrifice of mortals, and the puzzles were likely created to slow the mortals down and make them easier to catch. |
| 249 | %%* Dr. Kranken from ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe2'' fits the trope (like everything else in the games) to a stereotypical T. |
| 250 | * Dr. X from ''VideoGame/AVirusNamedTom''. He says it best himself in the intro movie: |
| 251 | -->''"I even cured walking...Then, I invented Globotron, [[DisproportionateRetribution which would destroy anyone FOUND walking]]."'' |
| 252 | * ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'' has a few mad scientists to its name. |
| 253 | ** Doctor Tengus, a [[TheEmpire Grineer]] scientist responsible for: unleashing uncontrolled [[TheVirus Infestation]] on the Origin System, making Tenno-hunters out of three soldiers [[BloodKnight so unhinged]] they started ''killing their comrades'' en route to mission, turning Vay Hek into a flying barely-human {{cyborg}} he is and developing horrifying [[OurGhoulsAreDifferent ghouls]] that terrorize the Plains of Eidolon. |
| 254 | ** Alad V, a rogue [[MegaCorp Corpus]] director who sought profit by turning [[HumanPopsicle inert warframes]] into Tenno-hunters. When that didn't work out, he turned to Infestation to make it infect ''machines'' and eventually control warframes. He hasn't stopped at that, tinkering with technology of ''Sentients'', the bogeymen of the Origin System that almost completely destroyed it a long time ago. |
| 255 | ** Tyl Regor, another Grineer scientist, researching a way to revert Grineer CloneDegeneration, resulting in not just powerful Drekar units, but also Manics, whose name should tell you something. He does this all in {{underwater base}}s under the surface of Uranus' oceans. |
| 256 | * ''{{VideoGame/Whiplash}}'': Tons, usually tormenting chimps in humorous ways until you show up. Notably, the game has two different types; "regular" scientists which can be either male or female and are TheGoomba, and the more dangerous "mad" scientists, which are always male, throw potions at you, and drink potions to breathe fire at you. |
| 257 | * Professor Emma from ''VideoGame/WildArms1'' has shades of this, most notably when she led the team to a secret underground base that none of your teammates knew anything about, although the team {{s|quishyWizard}}pellcaster is the princess of the town it's built under. |
| 258 | --->'''Hanpan:''' There you go again, with another crazy idea... Isn't this illegal?\ |
| 259 | '''Jack:''' Someone stop this crazy professor...\ |
| 260 | '''Emma:''' I wasn't sure what I was getting into, so I didn't bother getting a permit. |
| 261 | ** Alhazad on the villains' side is a much nastier version. He never passes up an opportunity to [[spoiler: subject humans unfortunate enough to deal with him to horrific experiments that mutate them into mindless monsters. And his motivation? It's ''fun.'']] |
| 262 | * The ''VideoGame/{{Wolfenstein}}'' series has Dr. Schabbs, one of the bosses in ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein3D'', and Dr. Wilhelm Strasse, a.k.a. Deathshead, the BigBad of the new ''Wolfenstein'' series. |
| 263 | * ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': |
| 264 | ** ''Wrath of the Lich King'' had two, both undead. Grand Apothecary Putress of the Forsaken performs unholy experiments to create a new [[TheVirus Plague]] to destroy both the undead Scourge and all life in general. Professor Putricide of the Scourge tries to do...the same thing, but without the 'destroy the Scourge' part. He also fits the trope better for having a [[SuperHappyFunTropeOfDoom Laboratory of Alchemical Horrors and Fun]], as well as being the implied creator of most all of the abominations and similar the players have fought since arguably original [=WoW=]. |
| 265 | *** Great news, everyone! Professor Putricide's become something of an EnsembleDarkHorse since his introduction to the game. MemeticMutation probably helps. |
| 266 | ** The goblin race as a whole fits this, too. Usually, their inventions involve StuffBlowingUp. |
| 267 | ** Deathwing, BigBad of ''Cataclysm'', spends his time experimenting with dragons to create new breeds, eventually culminating in his MagnumOpus, Ultraxion. His son, Nefarian, takes after him with some creations of his own serving as raid bosses, and he in turn has his subordinate Maloriak, who isn't nearly as successful as either of them. |
| 268 | ** Rik'kal the Dissector, a Mantid Paragon, often asks his fellow Paragons to serve as test subjects, and often makes parenthetical asides while giving quests to the player, such as suggesting that the Shek'zeer loyalists' experiments may be dark, but they are not as dark as his, and that only he deserves such power. The other Paragons are wary of him at best. |
| 269 | * From Creator/MonolithSoft's ''Xeno'' games: |
| 270 | ** ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' has Krelian, [[spoiler:one of the [[ManBehindTheMan true]] [[BigBadDuumvirate villains]]]], for whom everyone on the planet is a test subject, and, on the heroic side, the decidedly eccentric Dr. [[CombatMedic Citan]] [[GameBreaker Uzuki]]. [[spoiler:His eccentricity is partially ObfuscatingStupidity, as he's actually a spy. A very intelligent spy.]] |
| 271 | ** ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'' goes its predecessor one better, giving us an only slightly mad Strangelove {{Expy}} in Sellers, the classic obsessive type with pretensions of [[TheChessmaster chessmastery]] in Dimitri Yuriev, and the tragic and misunderstood type in Joachim Mizrahi. Mizrahi gets extra points for falling to his death while reciting Scripture at the top of his voice. |
| 272 | ** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'': [[spoiler: Professor Klaus/[[BigBad Zanza]] destroyed the previous universe in an experiment gone wrong, and created a new one in his own image. ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' fleshes him out a bit more, showing that he was genuinely trying to save humanity with his experiment, and that Zanza is actually his [[LiteralSplitPersonality evil split personality]], with his good half remaining in his home universe.]] |
| 273 | -->'''[[spoiler: Professor Klaus:]]''' "[[AGodAmI Once, only a God could perform such a miracle]]. But today, mankind moves one step closer to the divine!" |
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