Line #103 Main/TechnoWizard


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11	[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/oracle_0.png]]]]
12
13	->''"We are dreamers, shapers, singers, and makers. We study the mysteries of laser and circuit, crystal and scanner, holographic demons and invocations of equations. These are the tools we employ, and we know many things."''
14	-->-- '''Elric the Technomage''', ''Series/BabylonFive''
15
16	The Techno Wizard is the guy or girl who can make a computer or electronic device do anything.
17
18	Among other things, they know all the {{Omniscient Database}}s; they know how to use the EnhanceButton and the FacialRecognitionSoftware for the best results; they can look at a wall covered with BillionsOfButtons and immediately figure out which unlabeled one is the one that turns off the SelfDestructMechanism; they can jury-rig an [=iPod=] into an EverythingSensor.
19
20	They may or may not be a MadScientist as well, depending on how [[SpeculativeFiction fantastic]] the show is. They will often have MachineEmpathy, especially for devices they use regularly. Expect lots of HollywoodHacking.
21
22	Compare the GadgeteerGenius, who is more mechanically inclined than electronically inclined, and the {{Technopath}}, who is capable of magical control over technology. Not to be confused with MagicFromTechnology. When genuine magic is integrated with technology, see {{Magitek}}.
23
24	Despite their names, Techno Wizards may not be able to create a RobotWizard (robots that can actually perform wizardry).
25
26	Doesn't necessarily have to do with the music genre {{Techno}}, though in that case, you might be looking for MagicMusic.
27	----
28	!!Examples:
29
30	[[foldercontrol]]
31
32	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
33	* The title character from ''Anime/BattleProgrammerShirase''. He can take on even the most skilled and well-equipped hacker with '''just a cellphone'''.
34	%%* Ed from ''Anime/CowboyBebop''.
35	* Although much of Section 9 from ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' counts, the Laughing Man leads the pack: he can, in a matter of moments, subvert an entire crowd's ''cybernetic eyes'' and show them what he wants them to see.
36	%%* The heroes and villains of ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' are a borderline example.
37	%%* Hasegawa Chisame from ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' became one after her pactio.
38	%%* ''Franchise/SailorMoon'': Ami Mizuno (Sailor Mercury), and a very literal example with the Witches 5, who use a mix of magic and cobbled-together technology to fight.
39	%%* Washuu in ''Anime/TenchiMuyo''
40	* Nina from ''Manga/UltraManiac'' literally ''is'' a Techno Wizard because she needs to use a PC to cast spells due to her lack of skill.
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Comic Books]]
44	%%* ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'': Calculator. Savant has a few shades of this.
45	* ''Franchise/TheDCU'': [[Characters/{{Batgirl}} Barbara Gordon]] is a wizard with a computer, and has acted as the VoiceWithAnInternetConnection for teams across the DCU as Oracle, most notably the ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey''. She builds her own computers, occasionally with a little help from [[Characters/RobinTimDrake Tim Drake]], the most computer savvy of the Robins who has learned a lot from her. In her position as Oracle, she is often one of the, if not the most, powerful members of the superhero community without even leaving her carefully protected and booby-trapped clock tower.
46	%%* ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': The Wizard.
47	%%* ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': The Pied Piper.
48	%%* ''ComicBook/GICombat'': The chief scientist of the Office of Strategic Services is codenamed "Sorcerer".
49	%%* ''ComicBook/GoldDigger'': Brianna Diggers
50	%%* ''ComicBook/XMen'': Forge.
51	[[/folder]]
52
53	[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
54	* ''Fanfic/PowerRangersWildFury'' features a MonsterOfTheWeek known as Techno-Wizard, complete with appropriate powers. Just before the [[MakeMyMonsterGrow obligatory mech battle]], he does a FusionDance with several of the villains' spaceships to gain an armoured form on par with the Megazords.
55	* In ''Fanfic/StrayDahne'', Otacon's techno-wizardry is played up to the extent that he manages to build a homemade TimeMachine.
56	[[/folder]]
57
58	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
59	* Downplayed with Caleb from ''Film/ExMachina''. Nathan mentions that as a programmer, he's "okay" or "pretty good" -- though that's from the perspective of the most groundbreakingly advanced programmer in the world. He does manage to access Nathan's computer system and reprogram the doors.
60	%%* Jones in ''Film/TheHuntForRedOctober'', both as movie and [[Literature/TheHuntForRedOctober book]].
61	* Best-known film example: Q from the ''Film/JamesBond'' films. All of his gadgets are disguised as ordinary objects, even non-electronic objects, with the exploding pen from ''Film/GoldenEye'' being a prime example.
62	* Merlin in ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'', though his case is more downplayed than his counterpart Q above, since [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome he can't hack past biometrics locks]].
63	* Hackerman from ''Film/KungFury''. His knowledge of HollywoodHacking extends to the point that he can [[TimeTravel hack into time itself]].
64	[[/folder]]
65
66	[[folder:Literature]]
67	* Ax was the ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' resident techno whiz, due to Andalite knowledge being highly advanced compared to our own.
68	%%* Foaly the centaur from the ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' series. Artemis, as well. Even Foaly grudgingly admits the kid is good.
69	* Special mention ought to go to Ponder Stibbons from the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series, a literal wizard, and one of the few who know how to work with the [[WizardingSchool Unseen University]]'s literal MagicalComputer, Hex.
70	* ''Literature/TheExecutioner'': 'Gadgets' Schwartz of the HeroesRUs group Able Team (also nicknamed "The Wizard" on occasion by the other members of his PowerTrio).
71	* AEGIS from ''Literature/{{Exhuman}}'' is a girl locked in a dark room for dozens of years with nothing but a blank computer. Within days of it coming back online, she's written custom drivers to get an abandoned industrial factory up and running and is churning out blueprints for her own spy network and personal robot army. All while giving romantic advice to her superpowered roommate.
72	* Yuki Nagato from ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya''. She hacked a computer game ''while playing'' and disabled the cheating of its creators they were playing against. She played it from the motherfucking ''code''. And she learned all those computer skills [[InstantExpert in a matter of days]], as she [[RapidFireTyping types faster and faster]] every day. [[spoiler:Making it even better, she told Kyon in no uncertain terms that she wasn't using her data interface abilities; "I am staying within the limits of the programming."]]
73	%%* ''Literature/TheLaundryFiles'' includes a Palm Treo being turned into a [[spoiler:petrification gun]].
74	* Considering the fact that Nanaki of the ''Literature/TanteiTeamKZJikenNote'' series single-handedly turns the house he's cloistered in to run nearly completely in artificial intelligence (and an occasional driverless car), he falls into this.
75	[[/folder]]
76
77	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
78	%%* The duo of Fitz and Simmons (usually just referred to as Fitz-Simmons) fill this role in ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD''.
79	%%* Marshall on ''Series/{{Alias}}'' is the current top-dog Techno-Wiz.
80	%%* Seamus Harper in ''Series/{{Andromeda}}''.
81	* ''Franchise/{{Arrowverse}}'': Felicity Smoak from ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' is said the be ''the'' best computer wizard/hacker. Cisco Ramone from the companion show ''Series/TheFlash2014'' once performs a bit of difficult computering and shouts out, "Who's the best hacker?" The entire rest of Team Flash responds, "Felicity Smoak!"
82	%%* The Technomages of ''Series/BabylonFive'' and ''Series/{{Crusade}}''.
83	* Christopher Pelant from ''Series/{{Bones}}'' takes this to ridiculous degrees. He can add/remove people from videos, infect computers by writing malware on bones, and basically do whatever he needs to escape punishment/torment the heroes with computers.
84	%%* Willow in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', as well as Jenny Calendar.
85	* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'':
86	** Orion [[spoiler:a.k.a Chuck's father Stephen Bartowski]] is revered as a Techno God by pretty much every organisation in the show.
87	** Chuck himself is quite adept, being able to bypass FULCRUM encryption in minutes, amongst other things. He uses these skills to great effect as a BadassNormal, in season five.
88	%%* Auugie on ''Series/CovertAffairs'' is this. It's especially epic in his case because he's also ''blind.''
89	%%* Penelope Garcia of ''Series/CriminalMinds''.
90	%%* Any lab tech from ''Series/{{CSI}}''.
91	* Adam in ''Series/{{CSINY}}''. He's the team's go-to guy for all things tech. In one case, some of the team wonder why an FBI alert for a particular criminal had never been put out. Mac replies that all the jurisdictions involved evidently hadn't gotten around to updating their databases so that the FBI wasn't aware of the guy...
92	-->'''Mac:''' ...until we made the connection for them. Besides, we have Adam.\
93	''[Enter Adam, with the perp's location on his tablet.]''\
94	'''Adam:''' Got him!
95	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
96	** The Doctor, across most of their lives, generally has very impressive computer skills.
97	*** The Eleventh Doctor [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E1TheEleventhHour once wrote a computer virus on a cell phone in the span of only a few minutes]], and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E6TheBellsOfSaintJohn won a hacking duel against a minion of the Great Intelligence]].
98	*** The Thirteenth Doctor [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E1TheWomanWhoFellToEarth reconfigures a smartphone into a tracking device in less than five seconds without a sonic screwdriver while still in a state of post-regenerative confusion]].
99	** Mickey Smith once described himself as "technical support", and has the hacking skills to match, for instance hacking into UNIT to find out what's going on in "[[Recap/DoctorWho2005CSTheChristmasInvasion The Christmas Invasion]]".
100	** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E1AsylumOfTheDaleks Oswin Oswald]], the first version of Clara Oswald seen, is so good at hacking Dalek technology she shocks the Doctor. [[spoiler:It turns out that this is because she was converted into a Dalek herself, and is suppressing her memory of it out of trauma.]]
101	** The original Clara Oswald, meanwhile, temporarily gains super-hacking skills after being partially uploaded to a data cloud in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E6TheBellsOfSaintJohn The Bells of Saint John]]", as the uploaders spliced her a computer skills package. She puts them to good use tracking down the uploaders' location. It's implied that most of the computer skills faded after a while, as in "[[Recap/DoctorWho2013CSTheTimeOfTheDoctor The Time of the Doctor]]", the Doctor complains about her not knowing how to use [=iPlayer=] (the BBC's online media player).
102	** Nardole is quite good at hacking. Probably his most impressive moment is hacking fuel lines to blow up as a weapon against Cybermen in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E12TheDoctorFalls The Doctor Falls]]".
103	%%* Topher from ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}''.
104	%%* Meg Austin in the first season of ''Series/{{JAG}}''.
105	* Alec Hardison from ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' embodies this trope -- he can hack ''anything'' (except a hick). Bonus points awarded for the fact that, like a real-life hacker, he uses social engineering almost as much as technical know-how to get what he wants... although he does have a tendency to take things a bit too far.
106	%%* Both [=McGee=] and [[PerkyGoth Abby]] from ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' fill this role as the plot demands.
107	* ''Series/{{Nikita}}'': Birkhoff, [[GovernmentConspiracy Division]]'s chief computer expert. Bonus points for designing his own computer network (Shadownet) and making it look enough like a computer game that any of Division's recruits can easily learn how to use it.
108	* Several ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' characters qualify; usually if there's one person responsible for development and maintenance of the team's gear. This can be either TheSmartGuy of the team or a separate MissionControl character. The list of these people includes but is not limited to [[Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers Billy]], [[Series/PowerRangersLightspeedRescue Miss Fairweather]], [[Series/PowerRangersTimeForce Trip]], [[Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm Cam]], [[Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder Hayley]], [[Series/PowerRangersSPD Kat Manx]], [[Series/PowerRangersRPM Dr. K]], and [[Series/PowerRangersSamurai Antonio]].
109	* ''Series/{{Primeval}}'''s dorky genius Connor Temple. Among other magic, dude built the anomaly detector (and handheld versions) ''and'' the anomaly locker ''and'' figured out how to program a piece of future tech without ever having seen the equipment before. Now if he could just reverse-engineer Abby...
110	%%* Chloe Sullivan on ''Series/{{Smallville}}''.
111	%%* Rodney and Sam from the ''Franchise/StargateVerse''.
112	%%* Any chief engineer from any ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series: Montgomery Scott, Geordi [=LaForge=], Miles O'Brien, B'Elanna Torres, or Trip Tucker.
113	%%* "Brains" from ''Series/{{Thunderbirds}}''.
114	%%* Tosh in ''Series/{{Torchwood}}''.
115	* Cole in ''Series/Tracker2001'' can do just about anything with human computers, including MacGyvering complex technologies from household items.
116	%%* Mac in ''Series/VeronicaMars''.
117	* Claudia in ''Series/Warehouse13'', who (to Artie's horror) is skilled at hacking the Warehouse's own {{Steampunk}}[=/=]DieselPunk SchizoTech in addition to more conventional PlayfulHacker skillz.
118	[[/folder]]
119
120	[[folder:Video Games]]
121	%%* Naomi from ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' plays this role in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' (with some help from Mei Ling); Otacon in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty''.
122	%%* Li Kohran in ''VideoGame/SakuraWars''.
123	%%* Professor Elvin Gadd from the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' series (specifically, ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'').
124	* Pascal from ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'', she's so technologically savvy, she fills all the plot holes. She's also a mage.
125	* Aiden Pearce in ''VideoGame/WatchDogs''. With one thumb and a smartphone, he makes all of Chicago his technological bitch. Marcus Holloway and the San Fransisco branch of [=DedSec=] go several steps beyond in ''VideoGame/WatchDogs2''.
126	[[/folder]]
127
128	[[folder:Webcomics]]
129	* Eventually revealed to be literal in ''{{Webcomic/Homestuck}}'' when Sollux Captor is revealed to be a Mage of Doom. Beforehand, his coding was proficient enough to write a virus that made computers explode as well as curse the victim and anyone they knew. Apparently there are entire OS themed around what's essentially and/or coding that's [[SympatheticMagic sympathetic]] to real-world conditions. Might have something to do with the world being an RPGMechanicsVerse. Combined with the implementation of an esoteric ItemCrafting system that runs on punch card coding to [[MatterReplicator recreate]] or [[MergingMachine combine]] ''any'' object and you can have him make you literally anything.
130	* One of Remula's personalities in ''Webcomic/{{Jix}}'' named Lamerix is constantly creating weird devices that wreak havoc in the comic. Even before Lamerix surfaced, Remula reverse-engineered a device she had seen briefly.
131	* In ''Webcomic/Life2012'', Madison can solve almost any problem with her programs. Take, for example, [[http://www.cha0sden.com/Life.php?comic=61 her approach to a calculus test]].
132	* In ''Webcomic/{{Sarilho}}'', the augurs work as interpreters of the [[DeusEstMachina Word of God]], and communicate with computers using some sort of [[MachineEmpathy psychic link]], which apparently makes for a very personal and deep relationship with those machines and access to a lot of data.
133	[[/folder]]
134
135	[[folder:Web Originals]]
136	%%* The Literature/BastardOperatorFromHell.
137	* The children in ''WebOriginal/TheInnocent''. They are effectively able to hack into every computer.
138	* Hafidha Gates of the ''Literature/ShadowUnit'' has a paranormal boost to her technical skills which she describes as "having perfect pitch for computers", with the practical result being that she can effortlessly hack into any computer connected to the Internet. Soon after the start of the series she also develops {{Technopath}}ic powers, which lets her work her Techno Wizardry even faster.
139	%%* The Wireless Wizard from ''WebAnimation/TeenGirlSquad''.
140	%%* Bugs, Delta Spike, and just about all the other devisers and gadgeteers (there's a difference!) in the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse''.
141	%%* Dragon and Andrew Richter from ''Literature/{{Worm}}''. Also any tinker who specializes in computers.
142	[[/folder]]
143
144	[[folder:Western Animation]]
145	%%* Walter "Doc" Hartford from ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers'' is an AI psychiatrist.
146	* Tucker from ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'', who seems to be able to hack just about anything from his PDA, or failing that, with any of the other half-a-dozen tech gadgets he's constantly carrying around.
147	%%* [=TechRat=] from ''WesternAnimation/{{Jem}}''.
148	* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': [[MissionControl Wade]] built Kim's high-tech gadgets and can hack into just about any computer. On the villainous side, Frugal Lucre [[DoNotAdjustYourSet took over the TV networks]] and created a computer virus that could be uploaded from an ordinary checkout scanner.
149	* Corvax from ''WesternAnimation/MuzzyInGondoland'' can make exact copies of people and turn himself invisible using his computer.
150	* In ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'', Donatello definitely fits the trope -- humorously, he's been referred to as a wizard on more than one occasion (for example, the ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 Back to the Sewer]]'' episode "[[Recap/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003S7E9SuperQuest SuperQuest]]") and constantly called "Mr. Wizard" by his dimensional counterpart in ''WesternAnimation/TurtlesForever''.
151	%%* Raf from ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' is one, to a ridiculous degree. [[MadScientist Ratchet]] freaks out when Raf isn't there to help hack things.
152	%%* D:Lin of the ''WesternAnimation/VBirds'' is described as the group's "gadget-meister".
153	[[/folder]]
154
155	[[folder:Real Life]]
156	* Given that the majority of computer users don't step far outside of video games, browsing the Internet, and email, pretty much anyone with an education in the subject beyond high school level can appear to be this. However, old-school hacker purists will always maintain that there is a clear and important difference between "hacking" (i.e. using an original, creative, and/or unconventional procedure to get a computer or system to do something useful) and "cracking" (achieving unauthorized access to a secure system, usually for nefarious ends but occasionally just to see what's there or prove that one can do it). Hackers in the original sense generally disdain and have no use for crackers, who are widely seen as inferior in terms of their knowledge and skill level (indeed they're more likely to trick the user into giving them access than force their way in) and who often use widely known exploits to do Bad Things. See [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Script_kiddie Script Kiddie]]. Hollywood almost always ignores this distinction, to the extreme consternation of those that care about such minutiae.
157	* [[http://www.bellard.org/ Fabrice Bellard]]. In 1997 he discovered a new, faster formula to calculate single digits of pi in binary representation. Won the International Obfuscated C Code Contest twice (including one entry being a self-hosted C compiler). In 2004, he wrote the [=TinyCC=] Boot Loader, which can compile and boot a Linux kernel from source in less than 15 seconds. In 2005, he designed a system that could act as an Analog or DVB-T Digital TV transmitter by directly generating a VHF signal from a standard PC and VGA card. In 2011, he created a minimal PC emulator written in pure [=JavaScript=]. Broke the world record for calculations of pi using a desktop computer instead of a supercomputer. Has written both the QEMU emulator ''and'' [=FFmpeg=] (a widely used multimedia encoding, decoding, and editing library).
158	[[/folder]]
159

Context Main / TechnoWizard