History Main / ForScience

# [[ProfessorGuineaPig Where]] [[GuineaPigFamily will I]] get [[InnocentBystanders test]] [[DisposableVagrant subjects]]?

* In the True Route of [=ClockUp=]'s ''Euphoria'', [[spoiler:among other things, [[EvilGenius Kanae]] literally steals away [[CloningBlues Nemu]] from the protagonist. Why? Kanae sees Nemu as a valuable specimen]].

** Characters/{{AIM}} (Advanced Idea Mechanics) is the premiere hyper-science villainous organization on Earth. If they're not being paid to build something devastating and/or horrifying, they're probably working on it anyway.

** One day said to his good friend Freeman Dyson that he decided to quit military-related work when he realized that he had enjoyed working on the Manhattan project too much. Feynman and other rockstars were known to work on questions solely for their own amusement and never bother to publish. When others came to them to ask for help with a difficult question, the answer would be "I think that's right." followed by riffling through some papers, confirming that it had already been solved and saying "Yes, that's right." On one occasion a grad student was struggling with a limited case, and was devastated when Feynman rattled off a quick solution to the more general case then demonstrated that it simplified down to the limited case.

* A lot of theoretical research tend to suit this trope, at least at first. When one asks why special relativity was useful in 1905, or Democritus' concept of atomism in classical Greece, one finds that the greatest practical results came decades or even centuries later. A particular meta-example would be Bacon, whose most noted practical accomplishment was [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_scientific_method#Roger_Bacon how to create practical accomplishments in research]]. Or [[VideoGame/ShadowHearts immortality]].

* A positive example: Howard Florey who had an important role in the making of penicillin had this to say about his motives: "People sometimes think that I and the others worked on penicillin because we were interested in suffering humanity. I don't think it ever crossed our minds about suffering humanity. This was an interesting scientific exercise, and because it was of some use in medicine is very gratifying, but this was not the reason that we started working on it."

-->'''Caulder:''' Have you ever watched yourself die? It's '''[[{{Catchphrase}} FASCINATING]]!'''

* ''Webcomic/IrregularWebcomic'' sends up ''Series/MythBusters'''s For Science! tendencies on a fairly regular basis. Examples [[http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/1654.html here]] and with "for science" used [[http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/1915.html here]], [[http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/2087.html here]], replete with a [[TheRant footnote]] reference to this very page and [[http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/2329.html here]], with the same link. But [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazi]] science is [[StupidJetpackHitler one step further]] and [[{{Catchphrase}} Nazi science sneers at]] TV Tropes.
* The Elegant Nova of Progression of ''Webcomic/KeychainOfCreation'' is the embodiment of this trope. She performed experiments in a high-fantasy world to make cyborgs, developed a way to SCIENCE!!! herself into (or possibly out of) a giant cat, and owns a Friction Beam. Her {{Catchphrase}} is "Science!".

* This is the {{Catchphrase}} of Lim the Weaponsmith/Scientist from the MMORPG ''VideoGame/DragonFable''... who is constantly at odds with Cysero, who does things For Magic! and batshit insane experiments that can actually destroy the world (or a large portion of it).

* LetsPlay/{{Raocow}} uses "Science" as a CatchPhrase when exploring areas of levels in his [[LetsPlay Let's Plays]]. Specifically, he says "science" before jumping into potentially deadly pits/spikes/munchkins to check for hidden areas.

* [[MadScientist Dr. Insano]] of ''WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment'' uses "With SCIENCE, of course!" as his CatchPhrase, and tends to lean towards the destructive side of scientific research if his orbital death ray and his taking control of ComicBook/{{Neutro}} are any indication. Some of his inventions, however, such as the [[{{Unobtainium}} raritanium-powered]] anti-magic field generator, or [[TakeThat getting an Atari Jaguar CD to run]], might have peaceful applications. Not that he acknowledges this, as he's [[CardCarryingVillain quite open]] about wishing to use them for death, destruction and [[TakeOverTheWorld world conquest]]. This inevitably carries over into all other series that Dr. Insano makes cameos in, such as ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}''.

* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'': Dexter leaps out of bed every morning crying, "[[{{Catchphrase}} What a fine day... FOR SCIENCE!]]". The majority of his experiments have no conceivable practical use, and he seemingly never intends for them to leave his private underground lab in any case. He performs them because, darn it, SCIENCE!

--> "[[{{Catchphrase}} Good news, everyone]]! I've invented something crazy! For Science!"

* AFriendInNeed: When Applejack [[spoiler:makes her deal with the Nightmare]], it's to save Rainbow Dash's life.

* In ''Fanfic/BetterDaysOmegaRubyNuzlocke'', Professor Birch has this reaction to the HalfHumanHybrid form of AJ's Treecko, walking around to examine him while firing off one question after another.

* This is the motivation -- or at least the excuse -- of Caulder/Stolos from ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars: Days of Ruin''; indeed, until the last chapter it's his only real characteristic.
-->'''Caulder:''' Have you ever watched yourself die? It's '''[[{{Catchphrase}} FASCINATING]]!'''

* ''Series/MythBusters'' vs. ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePony'' on [[http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=§ion=&q=theartrix#/d3bmtq1 Deviantart]].

** This is [[MadScientist Professor Zaroff's]] justification for blowing up the world in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E5TheUnderwaterMenace The Underwater Menace]]". That, and ForTheEvulz.

* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'': An alien MadScientist justifies his unethical experiments on Moya's crew this way. Crichton compares him to [[ThoseWackyNazis Dr. Mengele]] which the scientist [[InsultBackfire takes as a compliment]] after Crichton explains who Mengele was.

** The {{Elseworld}} ''ComicBook/BatmanCastleOfTheBat'', a retelling of ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'' with Bruce Wayne as Victor Frankenstein and his father Thomas Wayne as the monster, Dr. Seltsam is shown to be willing to get people killed and have their body parts preserved for the sake of scientific progress.

* Becomes somewhat of a gag in ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII'', where Doc and Marty hijack a train at gunpoint, which they need to make their time machine reach the speed needed for the travel. When the unimpressed driver asks if it's a robbery, Doc hesitates and then answers "It's a science experiment!".

-->-- '''Ian Malcolm''', ''Film/JurassicPark''

* Hammond [[InvokedTrope invokes]] this in ''Franchise/JurassicPark'':
-->'''Hammond''': How can we stand in the light of discovery... and NOT act?
** Despite this, it comes across [[AvertedTrope as a flimsy justification rather than his true motive]], which is a combination between [[OnlyInItForTheMoney making an absolute butt-load of money]] and because [[RuleOfCool darn it, dinosaurs are really COOL]].

** He was also quite happy to play ProfessorGuineaPig, for it is alleged that he once [[EyeScream inserted a leather needle between his eyeball and the side of his eye-socket]] to test his eye theory. No permanent damage, apparently. Between having an AmbiguousDisorder and the amount of time he spent inhaling mercury vapours, quite possibly also just to see what would happen, this was a man who really put the "mad" in MadScientist.

* For the time being, the experiments using the Large Hadron Collider will mostly be for satisfying scientific curiosity (namely searching for higher energy versions of the Higgs boson). Whether any practical use can be made from such a discovery (which would provide insight to the quantum nature of mass) remains to be seen. There are also those who claim that the experiments are unethical, due to the potential for creating miniature black holes [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt which could destroy the planet]], but these fears are [[IncrediblyLamePun mostly groundless]] [[LampshadeHanging (REALLY!)]].

* This is actually one of [[GadgeteerGenius Penny]]'s catchphrases in ''[[VideoGame/WarioWareGetItTogether WarioWare: Get It Together!]]''. She'll always say it when you start up the "Penny's Mix" stage.

* In ''Literatyre/ACertainMagicalIndex'', this trope seems to be the driving force of most of Academy City's scientists, doing crazy, incredibly dangerous and downright evil experiments just to make a Level 6 Esper. [[spoiler:According to Therestina Kihara Lifeline, this is the ''entire'' purpose of Academy City.]]
** That is quite an under-exaggeration: [[spoiler:Every single member of the HUGE Kihara Family believes in this idea. Kihara Gensei, Therestina's grandfather, goes as far as saying that he would be fine with turning Mikoto Misaka (the #3 level 5) into a level 6 for a few seconds even if it would end up blowing up all of Academy City including himself right afterwards because he would have achieved scientific progress, which outweighs everyone else's deaths]].

* ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'':

* In ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'', this trope seems to be the driving force of most of Academy City's scientists, doing crazy, incredibly dangerous and downright evil experiments just to make a Level 6 Esper. [[spoiler:And according to Therestina Kihara Lifeline, this is the ''entire'' purpose of Academy City.]]

* Dantalion from ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'' is a typical MadScientist who doesn't care if any of his experiments succeed or fail or even destroy existence (likely a fail), so long as something interesting happens. Generally disliked by his fellow [[TheLegionsOfHell Denizins]] for his reckless and unpredictable experiments, some on his own kind, some resulting in powerful artifacts turned against them and [[HunterOfMonsters Flame Haze]]. But he's such a ''fun'' character...

* In ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'', [[spoiler:Wesley Stickler]] uses this as his justification for [[spoiler:[[PantyThief underwear theft]]]]. More specifically, [[spoiler:he stole the "magic panties" used in Trucy Wright's magic trick to see how they worked, only to find there was nothing special about them]].

* Basically the only reason the Wiki/SCPFoundation keeps any safe-level [=SCPs=] around.

* ''ComicBook/AntMan'': Hank Pym's motivation for being a scientist is this. Since he was a child, scientific work was the way he expressed his creativity and imagination. He's basically an artist that expresses himself through science.
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': Occasionally the Scarecrow is portrayed as using his [[SupernaturalFearInducer Fear Toxin]] on people for science. Other times, it is part of his backstory -- he ''began'' by studying how fear works simply for science, but eventually becomes so obsessed with it that he crosses over into MadScientist territory.
* In ''ComicBook/CombatKellyAndHisDeadlyDozen'', [[MadDoctor Dr. Max Sweikert]] is a deluded genius who brushes aside conscience and morality for the sake of his own sadistic, scientific curiosity.
* In the ''Magazine/DoctorWhoMagazine'' comics, the Fourth Doctor encountered a guy called "The Collector," who captured people from different points in time and space to study them. He was otherwise an all-right kind of guy, though: "I know it's wrong to kidnap, but study keeps me sane."
* [[ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman Doomsday]] was the result of this in the story ''ComicBook/SupermanDoomsdayHunterPrey''. An [[TheGreys alien]] MadScientist wanted to create the UltimateLifeForm so he took an infant, [[WouldHurtAChild shot it onto the surface of the]] DeathWorld that was prehistoric Krypton, and scooped up the remains for cloning after it was eviscerated by the wildlife over and over to [[EvilutionaryBiologist accelerate the evolutionary process]]. After 30 years of baby murder, Doomsday eventually came to be. Since they had no plan or endgame, they had no way to prepare for him [[GeneticMemory remembering them killing him thousands of times]] and being ''pissed'' over it.
* In ''Heroic Age: Villains'', [[StupidJetpackHitler ex-Nazi scientist]] Baron Wernher von Blitzschlag's "goal" is listed as "challenges". Indisputably a genius, the ancient man seeks nothing more than an endeavor that will distract him for more than a moment. Products of this desire include Ragnarok (a crazed clone of [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]]) and KIA (a crazed clone of [[ComicBook/AvengersTheInitiative MVP]]).
* ''ComicBook/InnocenceLost'': Dr. Sarah Kinney's entire motivation for participating in the Facility's project to clone ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} is originally just the challenge of actually ''doing'' it. The result? ComicBook/{{X 23}}. And then things go really, ''really'' badly for everyone involved. Ultimately, [[spoiler:Sarah [[HeelRealization comes to see how wrong her part in everything was]], and [[RedemptionEqualsDeath ends up paying for her part with her life while trying to save the girl from those who tortured and abused her]]]].
* An issue of the Postboot ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' features a group of (faux-)suicide-bombing space scientists, the Objective Order, on a rampage against mystical forces, "For science!".
* Also in Marvel, we have Characters/{{AIM}} (Advanced Idea Mechanics), the premiere hyper-science villainous organization on Earth. If they're not being paid to build something devastating and/or horrifying, they're probably working on it anyway.
-->"We spend so much time figuring out HOW to catch [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk the Hulk]], maybe we should have figured out whether we ''should'' catch the Hulk."
* In IDW's ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW Transformers]]'' comics ''ComicBook/TheTransformersLastStandOfTheWreckers'' and ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'', [[MadScientist Brainstorm]] has a bad habit of making crazy weapons, just to see if he can. It's fortunate as the devil's eyebrows that he's with the Autobots. He's spent his whole life working at various institutes for unethical scientific experiments, and spent a lot of time getting into trouble for said unethical experiments. Probably because whatever he designs is usually so outrageously insane only the imminent collapse of all space-time would possibly justify even considering their use. [[spoiler:And then it turns out he's ''not'' with the Autobots at all.]]
* ComicBook/UltimateMarvel:
** Advanced Idea Mechanics, led by George Tarleton, had several scientists working in inventions in a cloaked satellite. Their ultimate goal was to establish a scientific utopia. Tarleton intended to use a Gah Lak Tus module, removed from the swarm, for experimentation, in ''ComicBook/UltimateVision''. Unfortunately, he forgot that EvilIsNotAToy.
** Reed Richards of the ComicBook/UltimateFantasticFour was a big genius, but could only work in the things that the military was willing to fund and allowed him to. He eventually tired of it and became the Maker, a super villain bent on imposing his inventions on world no matter the cost.
** ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'': Abraham Cornelius seems like a good guy, but has no problems with horribly experimenting on Nightcrawler and Beast.
* In ''ComicBook/XMen #41'', there's a scientist who invents a nuclear-powered machine that both creates earthquakes and irradiates the ground. His colleagues think he's nuts for inventing such a dangerous weapon, but he assures them that [[JustThinkOfThePotential it will only be used for the benefit of mankind]].

-->'''Membrane''': Build a machine capable of allowing you to enter [[AlternateDimension alternate realities]] so you can [[DisproportionateRetribution kidnap your brother and trap him in a nightmare of virtual horrors]]? [[AndThatsTerrible That sounds awful]]. Why would I help you do this?\\

** We also have Fermet, who "tested the extent of their immortality" by stabbing hot fire pokers into Chez's [[EyeScream eye sockets]], throwing him into a fire, bathing him in acid, etc, etc. [[WhoWantsToLiveForever For about 100 years]]. For ''science''. [[spoiler:Or so he claims. After Czeslaw kills him and absorbs his memories he states it was just a justification for him to indulge his sadism. And he should know.]]

** ''Saturine Nights'' introduces Father Mazda, an Osiran who, after creating his first progeny (as all Prometheans are required to do), became curious as to how far one could deviate from the prescribed progenation rituals and still get a viable result. Over a century later, he's created countless variations on the Promethean form, as well as small armies of [[GoneHorriblyWrong Pandorans]], to the point he's taken up [[TheDarkSide Centimanus]] so that he can keep some degree of control over them. Why? Sheer curiosity. He's long since given up on [[BecomeARealBoy the Pilgrimage]], though not because he thinks it's impossible (some of his own creations have succeeded), but because he can't stop experimenting ''now''.