Line #30 Main/DrGenericius


1	[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/TheBozzChronicles https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dr_pretorius_5.jpg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:He must be legit. His name ends in 'ius'.]]
3
4	By some weird reason, wizards and MadScientist types often have names ending on "ius" (possibly just "us", but "ius" is just better). SmartPeopleKnowLatin, after all, so a guy with a Latin-sounding name must be ''especially'' intelligent.
5
6	TruthInTelevision with Vesalius and all of the other Medieval/Renaissance scientists who used Romanized names (Keys would become Caius, to cite a real-life example), the likely inspiration for the trope. It's frequently CanisLatinicus, though.
7
8	See also DrFakenstein and TheGreatWhodini for alternate naming patterns used by scientists and magic-users respectively, and HerrDoktor for the German-sounding scientists.
9	----
10	!!Examples:
11
12	[[foldercontrol]]
13
14	[[folder:Comic Books]]
15	* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': [[ComicBook/DoctorOctopus Dr. Otto Octavius]].
16	* Dr. Cornelius from ''ComicBook/XMen''. (He's the ''other'' guy responsible for Logan becoming Wolverine.) [[note]]Most versions of the story depict a bald Asian guy and a red-haired or brown-haired, bearded guy working on the soon-to-be Wolvie. The bearded guy is Dr. Cornelius. The bald guy's the one who invented the adamantium bonding process, and ''Lady Deathstrike's father.'' He shows up more often and is more recognizable, in the comics and animated versions.[[/note]]
17	* ''ComicBook/{{Morbius}}'': Dr. Michael Morbius, a ProfessorGuineaPig, became a Living Vampire.
18	* Dr. Pretorious from ''ComicBook/TheBozzChronicles'', who shares his name with mad scientist from ''Film/BrideOfFrankenstein''.
19	* Dr. Pretorious in ''ComicBook/SherlockHolmesAndTheHorrorOfFrankenstein''. It is unclear if he is intended to be the same Dr. Pretorius from ''Film/BrideOfFrankenstein''
20	* ''ComicBook/DeCapeEtDeCrocs'' has the MadScientist (well, as close to scientist as you could get in the Enlightenment) Bombastus Johannes Theophrastus Almagestus [[Usefulnotes/WernherVonBraun Wernher]] [[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus von Ulm]], who builds several moon rockets.
21	[[/folder]]
22
23	[[folder:Film]]
24	* There is a Dr. Vesalius in the Creator/VincentPrice movie ''Film/TheAbominableDrPhibes''. He's not at all mad, though.
25	* Dr. Pretorius the mad scientist from ''Film/BrideOfFrankenstein''.
26	* Dr. Morbius in ''Film/ForbiddenPlanet''
27	* In ''Film/PlanetOfTheApes1968'', the apes tend towards Roman-inspired names, and the film is mostly set at an ape academy of science, so doctorates abound. Among the main characters are Dr. Cornelius and Dr. Zaius, and there are more minor characters named Dr. Maximus and Dr. Honorius.
28	* The title character of ''Film/TheImaginariumOfDoctorParnassus''.
29	* Dr. Sartorius in ''Film/{{Solaris\|1968}}''. He's not generally explicitly addressed as ''Dr.'' Sartorius, because all the men on the Solaris station are Doctors and therefore equals, but still.
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	[[folder:Literature]]
33	* Theatre/DoctorFaustus.
34	* Dr. Cornelius from ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'', a magician though not an evil one.
35	* Dr Igneous Cutwell, from ''Literature/{{Mort}}'' is another non-evil wizard, and is unusual in that it's his ''first'' name that fits the trope.
36	* The ''Literature/VesperHolly'' series has Dr. Desmond Helvetius
37	* ''Literature/HarryPotter'', of course. A lot of wizards have names ending in "us" : Albus, Bartemius, Lucius, Regulus, Remus, Rubeus, Severus, Scorpius, Sirius ... It seems to be more frequent in the Pure-Blood families, though.
38	* Creator/JosephSheridanLeFanu's OccultDetective Dr. Hesselius.
39	* ''Literature/TheCrowsTower'' has Icherios Cain, the protagonist, who is an alchemist and is starting to study medicine in that book of the series. He is more or less sane, though most people might not agree, seeing as he keeps a rat as a pet ... [[spoiler: A rat which, at this point, has licked up some immortality potion, and is not quite ... normal anymore.]]
40	* The ''Literature/FairyOak'' series have Hibiscus Castle, a sheltered young Wizard from the village.
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
44	* Dr. Cornelius from ''Series/DoctorWho'' -- a name which actually sounded somewhat jarring because of this very trope, given that he's an ordinary medical doctor.
45	* Dr. Gaius Baltar from ''Battlestar Galactica'' (both the [[Series/BattlestarGalactica1978 classic]] and [[Series/BattlestarGalactica2003 reimagined]] versions).
46	* Gaius, the court physician from ''{{Series/Merlin 2008}}''.
47	[[/folder]]
48
49	[[folder:Music]]
50	* Professor Psychoticus, Mike Barson's alias when Music/{{Madness\|Band}} were pretending to be The Dangermen.
51	[[/folder]]
52
53	[[folder:Video Games]]
54	* Dr. Nefarious from ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank''.
55	* Dr. Mordin Solus from ''VideoGame/MassEffect2''.
56	** Interestingly averted with turians, who, as [[FantasyCounterpartCulture pseudo-Roman aliens]], frequently have names ending with [[CanisLatinicus -us]], some of which are actual Roman names. Averted because we almost never meet any turian doctors or scientists, and when we do, they're not named.
57	* Dr. Mobius and Dr. Borous from VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas. In their cases, however, the names also fulfill [[MeaningfulName another theme, along with the rest of that level's doctors]].
58	* Dr. Genarius from ''Frutti Freak 2''.
59	* [[MadScientist Avernus]], Danarius, Decimus, and Corypheus from the ''Franchise/DragonAge'' series, all of whom are [[EvilSorcerer evil sorcerers]]. The naming convention comes from Tevinter, yet another Roman FantasyCounterpartCulture. Silly!Hawke even lampshades this, saying that someone with a name like Corypheus is bound to go [[EvilLaugh "mwahaha"]] at some point. Minor mage [=NPC=] Tobrius is, by contrast, a good man.
60	* Two scenarios of the Russian campaign in the first ''VideoGame/EmpireEarth'' feature a Dr Alexi Septimus, who is a cybernetics researcher.
61	* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianDawn'' and ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRenegade Renegade]]'' feature Dr Ignatio Mobius, expert of the mysterious alien crystal tiberium.
62	[[/folder]]
63
64	[[folder:Webcomics]]
65	* [[https://eheroes.thecomicseries.com/comics/72 Professor Odious]] from ''Webcomic/EverydayHeroes''.
66	* Subverted in ''Webcomic/LastRes0rt'' when Gabriel Damascus ends up being a Doctor... except his name is actually Gabriel ''[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the Maskless]]''.
67	** Other doctors in the comic include Qin Xu and Daisy Archanis.
68	* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
69	** Vaarsuvius and Aarindarius are both wizards. However, this trope is subverted by Vaarsuvius' spouse Inkyrius, who is an an apprentice baker.
70	** In one strip, Elan [[https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0127.html decides to become a wizard]] and names himself Elanicalicus.
71	[[/folder]]
72
73	[[folder:Web Original]]
74	* Doctor Trayaurus of LetsPlay/DanTDM, the resident MadScientist villager who often helps Dan with his mods and owns an entire laboratory in the desert.
75	* ''Literature/TheDescendants'' has Doctor Paralus, which is his actual name but the heroes are constantly mocking it as Powerless or Perilous. A BadFuture is shown where he does in fact become Doctor Perilous.
76	[[/folder]]
77
78	[[folder:Western Animation]]
79	* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' has Professor Calamitus.
80	* Another Dr. Pretorius in ''WesternAnimation/{{Felidae}}''. In the German original, his name is Preterius.
81	* Yet another Dr. Pretorius in ''WesternAnimation/TheMask'' animated series.
82	* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' has Dr. Byron Orpheus.
83	* Dr. Anton Sevarius from ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}''.
84	* Dr. Malignus, a minor recurring villain from ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003''.
85	* Dr. Colossus, a throwaway gag from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.
86	[[/folder]]
87
88	[[folder:Real Life]]
89	* Dr. Viktor Capesius (1907–1985), Doctor of Pharmacy, physician and pharmacist in the Auschwitz death camp and right-hand man to another MadScientist, Dr. Joseph Mengele.
90	* UsefulNotes/{{Paracelsus}} (1493–1541), Renaissance-era Swiss physician, alchemist, and astrologer, and the father of toxicology as a field. Already an example for his chosen name (Latin for "higher than high", or "surpassing Celsus", perhaps referring the Greek philosopher Celsus[[note]]Or more likely a Latinization of his surname, Hohenheim (German, lit. "high-home"[[/note]]), but an even more triumphant example for this page thanks to his full name: ''Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus '''Bombastus''' [[TheVonTropeFamily von Hohenheim]]''.
91	* Carl Linnaeus [[note]]also known after his ennoblement as Carl von Linné[[/note]] was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organisms. He is known as the "father of modern taxonomy". Many of his writings were in Latin, and his name is rendered in Latin as Carolus Linnæus (after 1761 Carolus a Linné).
92	[[/folder]]

Context Main / DrGenericius