In fiction, certain Elemental Powers match up with certain personality types. Fire controllers are hot-tempered, ice people are cold and aloof, etc. Then you have electricity users who are either erratic and unstable or super smart.
Modern technology is powered by electricity and the brain itself produces electric signals. Therefore, it is fitting that electricity is used to symbolize STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). The classic visual shorthand for sudden flash of brilliance, the Idea Bulb, is a light bulb appearing above one's head. Electricity, therefore, has a long association with intelligence, so it stands to reason that characters with electrical powers are often exceptionally smart.
Expect characters who qualify for this trope to be The Engineer, the Gadgeteer Genius, the Mad Scientist (in which case it may overlap with Psycho Electro), or the Techno Wizard. See also Lightning Can Do Anything for examples combining lightning and technology.
Sub-Trope of Personality Powers and Shock and Awe.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- Digimon:
- Digimon Adventure/Digimon Adventure: (2020):
- Izumi Koushiro is the team's IT expert and is exceptionally smart for his age. His Digimon partner is Tentomon, a beetle Digimon with electric-based attacks.
- Downplayed with Joe Kido. He is a very studious student as a kid and becomes a doctor as an adult. His Digimon partner is Gomamon whose ultimate form wields a Thunder Hammer.
- Digimon Ghost Game: Kiyoshiro Higashimitarai is a Teen Genius with a special knack for computers and programming. His Digimon partner is Jellymon, an Electric Jellyfish who is very good with computers herself.
- Digimon Adventure/Digimon Adventure: (2020):
- Mission: Yozakura Family: Shinzo is the Yozakura Family's weapons and firearms expert. In addition to his impeccable aim and fine motor skills, Shinzo is a skilled engineer and weaponsmith who developed Yae, Taiyo's Lightning Gun, as well as his own Ace Custom version that is so technically complex that no one but Shinzo is capable of wielding it. This gun is so powerful that a shot from it feels like an actual lightning bolt.
- One Piece: Nami is the Straw Hats' navigator and is knowledgeable in climatology, meteorology, and cartography. She also has a Magic Staff which can control weather phenomena, including summoning lightning.
- Record of Ragnarok: Nikola Tesla is one of the most renowned scientists of all time. His Volund takes the form of Powered Armor that allows him to generate and control electricity.
- Soul Eater: Franken Stein is a superb doctor and surgeon, able to treat even ailments caused by magic. His weapon Marie Mjolnir possesses lightning attacks.
- Yu-Gi-Oh!: Seto Kaiba is a genius at engineering and computer science. His Blue-Eyes White Dragon has an attack called "White Lightning".
Card Games
- Magic: The Gathering:
- Keranos is the god of lightning and knowledge in the game's Theros set. He sends lightning storms as tests for explorers, inventors, and mathematicians who seek to understand the mysteries of the world. His symbol, a simple lightning bolt, is both a reminder of his ability to electrocute men in the blink of an eye as well as his ability to provide sudden flashes of inspiration.
- In general lightning spells full under red, the color of emotions. While red can be stupid, it is also creative and its impulsivity lends well to quick thinking; lightning cards thus focus on red's intellectual side.
Comic Books
- Spider-Man: Subverted with Max Dillon aka Electro. Originally a blue-collar lineman, Dillon gained electrokinetic powers when he was struck by lightning while trying to repair a power line. Electro always wanted to be an engineer but his overprotective mother convinced him he wasn't intelligent enough for such a career. While occasionally depicted as an intelligent and powerful foe, Electro is generally shown as lacking the knowledge to fully take advantage of his powers.
- Static: Being an Expy of Spider-Man, Virgil Hawkins is very smart and often uses his knowledge of physics in tandem with his electromagnetic powers to defeat enemies.
- X-Men:
- Recurring antagonist (and sometimes ally) Magneto is the Master of Magnetism with near-complete control of the entire electromagnetic spectrum. In addition to his vast command over all things magnetic, he is a brilliant geneticist, physicist, engineer, and tactician who is an intellectual equal to Charles Xavier, the leader of the X-Men.
- While not as powerful or smart as her father, Polaris also possesses control over electromagnetism and is an expert in geophysics.
Fan Works
- Infinity Train: Seeker of Crocus: Specter, by himself, is a hacker who is part of the cyber-terrorist group, the Knights of Hanoi. He also has a fusion with the living lightning bolt Easter and can channel their power safely through his staff.
Literature
- A Certain Magical Index:
- Misaka Mikoto possesses electromagnetism powers, and as the world's #3 ranked esper her brain has become very Good with Numbers in order to manage the calculations behind her abilities (to the point where she can edit herself out of security camera footage in real time). She is only shown up in brainpower by the #1 and #2 espers, who have even stronger scientific connections by virtue of being themed after a particle accelerator and dark matter respectively. Far from being a Psycho Electro, Mikoto is the only 100% mentally stable person among Academy City's handful of Level Five espers, which makes her a darling of PR teams seeking to show off the fruits of the city's training programme.
- The Sisters are a series of clones of Mikoto, whose "Radio Noise" ability is a weaker version of Mikoto's own Electromaster talents with the secondary effect of allowing their near-identical brainwaves to link together into a Hive Mind. While first presented as an army of Super Soldiers, this is later revealed as a cover story for the creation of said Hive Mind - among other things it can function as a powerful supercomputer, or be used to Mind Control an "earthly angel" that was born from Academy City's sea of concentrated esper auras (due to the Hive Mind always having a majority vote over said auras).
Live-Action TV
- Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger: Yanma Gast is the team's machinery expert. His symbol of power gives him devastating lightning powers.
Tabletop Games
- Warhammer Fantasy: The Blue Wind of Magic represents inspiration, knowledge of the unknowable, and the heavens. The Celestial Magisters who specialize in it tend to be dreamy, scholarly Astrologers and theorists... who can call down lightning storms when provoked.
Video Games
- Dead or Alive 6: Nico is a MIST scientist and fights with a pair of gloves that can deliver electric shocks.
- Final Fantasy XVI: Cid is the Dominant of Ramuh, the Eikon of Thunder. He is also an excellent engineer.
- Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon: Shin is a brilliant scientist, having granted himself the power to see people's emotions. He also possesses power over electricity.
- Jak and Daxter: The Blue Sage is a master of blue eco, the setting's equivalent of electricity. He is also described as a mechanical genius.
- Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds: Dr. Doom is a Science Wizard and uses lightning magic.
- Moshi Monsters: Tamara Tesla is the smartest character in the game, being a scientist specializing in computers, astronomy, and chemistry. When she speaks, a bolt of electricity appears between her antennae and electric buzzing sounds are heard.
- Pokémon: Half of the gym leaders who specialize in Electric-type Pokemon are technologically inclined engineers.
- Pokémon Diamond and Pearl's final Gym Leader Volkner is from Sunyshore City, known for its solar farms. He has grown bored with constant victory, so he's decided to overhaul his Gym equipment with puzzles involving electricity-lined paths and exposed dynamos himself, causing strain on the city's power grid.
- Pokémon X and Y: Clemont, the Lumiose Gym Leader, is an inventor who is always tinkering with new creations. His design involves two mechanical arms strapped to his back.
- Pokémon Sun and Moon: The Trial Captainnote of Hokulani Observatory is Sophocles, another inventor who is developing various gadgets. Both versions of his Trial (the one in Sun and Moon and the one in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon) involve wrangling an Electric-type that is involved in his invention.
- Red Alert: In all timelines, the Soviets used Nikola Tesla's research to power their more exotic weaponry. This influence is especially visible in Red Alert 3:
- The Stingray (an amphibious boat that fires electricity) is crewed by Soviet scientists (since it's quite fragile, the crew is chosen by those scientists deemed expendable by the Soviet government) and designed by a university professor who slowly grew obsessed with electric fishing.
- The Terror Drone's secondary weapon is an electrical paralysis ray that prevents vehicles from moving. In the backstory, the Soviets couldn't figure out out to get the drone to automatically recognize enemy weak spots, so one scientist volunteered to interface his brain with the drone. It worked, but the scientist was later found attacking people with a cattle prod. It's hinted the drones are still remote-controlled by humans.
- Sonic the Hedgehog:
- Downplayed with Tails. He is The Smart Guy and Gadgeteer Genius of Team Sonic which consists of himself, Sonic, and Knuckles. In Sonic Battle and Sonic Heroes, he is granted the element of lightning. Ironically, Tails has a Fear of Lightning.
- Rouge the Bat is another downplayed example. Like Tails, she has lightning powers in Sonic Heroes. Rouge is also the most cunning and intelligent of Team Dark, having been trained in intel gathering and computer hacking.
Web Animation
- Dr. Crafty: Two opposing characters are very smart and also strongly associated with electricity. They happen to be related to each other, and their abilities surrounding their electricity are suited for their contrasting personalities.
- Nurse Worse is one of the smartest members of the Crafty Crew, with a vested interest in medicine, biology, psychology, art, and pop culture. Her electrical powers stem from her artificial Infinium Heart; whenever a loved one is in danger, her heart overflows with electrical energy and boosts her already immense strength, speed, and durability tenfold. It is first demonstrated in "I Need a Hero Academia" and remains part of her skill set since. She also happens to have an addiction to electricity, which is first shown in "Original Characterror."
- Doctor Mindstein, Nurse's antagonistic mother, is a very smart Mad Scientist. Not only is she experienced in some of the same fields as Nurse, but she's also experienced in robotics and has even dabbled in the arcane. While not her primary means of offense, she can electrify her hands to deliver quite a shock. Unlike Nurse's ability, Mindstein's is not predicated on her love and care for another person; she can simply activate the ability whenever she wants. Oftentimes, it's used to suit her abusive whims, such as how she uses it as her warped form of discipline for Nurse in "I Need a Hero Academia." There, Mindstein slaps Nurse with her electrified hand, triggering Nurse's PTSD.
Western Animation
- Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Frylock is without a doubt the smartest of the main trio, regularly coming up with scientific experiments and inventions. He can also shoot electricity from his eyes. In a bit of a subversion though, he's something of a Ditzy Genius and Bungling Inventor as many of his inventions and experiments have huge oversights or blow up in his face.
- Ben 10: Alien Force: One of Ben's new aliens is Brainstorm, a super-intelligent alien who can fire bolts of electricity from his brain. He can also mentally solve very difficult calculations in roughly seconds, and knows and can visualize equations and movement of objects as if they're actually there. He can even determine mechanical values and physical properties by simply looking at them.
- Ben 10: Omniverse: Dr Psychobos is a villain of the same species as Brainstorm (above). He's shown to be one of the smartest of all of Ben's enemies and has a huge but one-sided rivalry against Azmuth, as he wishes to prove that he's the smarter of the two. Due to his obsessive nature, he crosses this trope with Psycho Electro. His obsessions also mean that he's less dangerous than he'd otherwise be.
- Darkwing Duck: Megavolt is a Mad Scientist who gained electrical powers after an experiment went wrong. He needs to have an energy source on hand for his abilities to work, and he must avoid water as he can easily electrocute himself.
- He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2021): Duncan is the heroes' Gadgeteer Genius and fights with a mace that can manipulate electromagnetism.
- The Legend of Korra: Asami Sato is the New Team Avatar's technology expert. She fights using electrified gloves.
- Static Shock: Like his comic counterpart, Virgil is an academically gifted student with power over electromagnetism.
- Transformers: Prime: Knock Out serves as the Decepticons' surgeon and medic. His signature weapon is a Shock Stick.
- Winx Club: Tecna has electrical powers stemming from her powers over technology. Her intelligence is also a great asset to the heroes, having created devices like an inter-dimensional transporter and a barrier buster to get through the barrier around Alfea.
