History Main / MadScientistLaboratory

* In ''VideoGame/BadMojo'', Roger Samms converted half of his apartment into a small version of this as part of his research to kill cockroaches. His desk is cluttered with glassware and bug specimens, alongside a bulletin board covered in news clippings, biology schematics, scrawled notes, and [[RoomFullOfCrazy eyes clipped from pictures]]. To top it off, the player gets to see this up close thanks to [[LaserGuidedKarma Roger having been turned into a roach by a mysterious locket]].
* The base editor in ''[[VideoGame/CityOfHeroes City of Villains]]'' has all requisite mad science lab items, with classic items ranging from operating tables to Jacob's ladders of various sizes to organs in jars (ranging from preserved to rotted), and more modern items like microscopes, X-Ray machines, and LCD monitors.
* This is the whole ''point'' of the sandbox game ''VideoGame/EvilGenius''.
* The Forsaken in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' apparently discovered this trope in the ''Wrath of the Lich King'' expansion, as their bases in Northrend tend to be full of traditional MadScientist equipment like Tesla coils, Jacob's ladders, and mechanical arms that move vials of [[TechnicolorScience glowing chemicals]] around.
* Mad Science Castle in ''VideoGame/MonsterLab'' is, of course, ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. You get no less than four laboratories, three that correspond with the three disciplines of mad science (mechanics, biology and alchemy) and a fourth where LightningCanDoAnything.
* A large number of them exist in ''VideoGame/DeusEx''. Somewhat {{justified|Trope}} in that several factions are technocratic cabals who see "technology alone as a source of political power", and [[BlackAndGreyMorality some of them are on your side]]. Still, applies mainly to scientists serving the BigBad.
* The whole Gouma-Den in the ''[[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy Rai]][[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon dou]]'' duology. Hosted by [[LargeHam lovable]] [[MilkingTheGiantCow lunatic]] [[MadScientist Dr.]] [[ShoutOut Victor]]. Complete with virtually all of the accoutrements of the standard lab.
* The Big MT (Big Empty) in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas: Old World Blues'' is a [[NoOSHACompliance non-OSHA compliant]] research facility run by MadScientist [[BrainInAJar brains in jars]]. Both this and the main game have chemistry sets where you can [[ItemCrafting craft drugs]].

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': {{Parodied|Trope}} with [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1417-j SCP-1417-J,]] a joke SCP who uses psychic powers to play childish pranks on people unless surrounded by over-the-top HollywoodScience equipment.

* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': Doctor Yatsubiyashi's clinic [[WrongSideOfTheTracks in the slums]] he set up for PlayingWithSyringes on the residents in exchange for free medical treatment looks like this, which is immediately {{lampshaded}} by Akira who complains to Sheryl, who doesn't do anything about it because the residents are TooDesperateToBePicky. Yatsubiyashi says it's inspired by designs used by {{Precursors}}. Sure enough, he ends up making a character into a TragicMonster in its facilities.

* The final area of ''[[VideoGame/TheRoomMobileGame The Room Two]]'' is a tower on an island belonging to Professor de Montfaucon, set up in his research to save his dying sister Lucy. His equipment ranges from bug specimensand [[LightningCanDoAnything stimulating a hand with electricity]], to [[SentientPhlebotinum the Null]] and a [[BeatStillMyHeart still-living heart]]. [[spoiler: Lucy died before he could complete his research.]]

* The final area of ''VideoGame/TheRoomMobileGame Two'' is a tower on an island belonging to Professor de Montfaucon, set up in his research to save his dying sister Lucy. His equipment ranges from bug specimensand [[LightningCanDoAnything stimulating a hand with electricity]], to [[SentientPhlebotinum the Null]] and a [[BeatStillMyHeart still-living heart]]. [[spoiler: Lucy died before he could complete his research.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewSchool'', there's Yzma's 'secret lab', which contains dozens of transforming potions.[[note]]Unfortunately they are all the same color and not properly labeled.[[/note]] Yzma and Kronk enter it by a roller coaster ride accessed by pulling a lever on the wall, though Kronk occasionally pulls the wrong one.

* A [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_coil Tesla coil]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewSchool'', there's Yzma's 'secret lab', which contains dozens of transforming potions[[note]]which unfortunately are all the same color and not properly labeled[[/note]]. Yzma and Kronk enter it by a roller coaster ride accessed by pulling a lever on the wall, though Kronk occasionally pulls the wrong one.

* The Opians, an alien race in ''Webcomic/ThogInfinitron'', have an interstellar spacecraft with an [[http://www.drunkduck.com/Thog_Infinitron/index.php?p=428274 onboard laboratory where they engineer ways to destroy Thog]].

* ''WebVideo/AgamemnonTiberiusVacuum'' has a very high-tech "pretty bad-ass" one in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdvo86kPcnQ The Experimentasium]]''.
* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': {{Parodied|Trope}} with [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1417-j SCP-1417-J]], a joke SCP who uses psychic powers to play childish pranks on people unless surrounded by over-the-top HollywoodScience equipment.

* A big honking [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spark_gap#Visual_entertainment Jacob's Ladder]] (the thing that looks like a rabbit-ear antenna with an electrical arc between the posts)
* A [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Coil Tesla coil]].

This is edging toward becoming a DiscreditedTrope, at least in the classic beaker/Jacob's Ladder/operating table configuration. For the more modern variations, see HackerCave.

[[quoteright:340:[[Franchise/{{Frankenstein}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/0508a_franklab_6891.png]]]]

A significant portion of mad scientist laboratories are not low budget small scale DIY projects that take up no more than a spare table in a corner. Instead, these labs are very elaborate for someone who usually does not appear to have anyone funding them, let alone working for them. Often the equipment is huge, bulky, unweildy, and difficult to transport and assemble for just one man, even with an assistant. It's worth remembering that many mad scientists are older men (or physically weak men) who would definitely not be able to manage such a feat on their own. While not a mad scientist, Franchise/{{Batman}} fans will recognize a modern iteration of this dilemma whenever the question is posed of [[FridgeLogic how Bruce Wayne (maybe with Alfred's help) managed to build the Batcave, Batmobile and all his equipment by himself in secret]].

* For seven seasons, the villains on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' work in an ElaborateUndergroundBase; the audience occasionally glimpses chemistry equipment, chalkboards, computer consoles and mysterious air ducts. Things become tighter when the villains' [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute replacements]] have to work out of a space-travel-equipped VW Microbus, but this lasts for only one season -- they return to a [[HauntedCastle more appropriate environment]] soon enough.
** In the [[ScrewedByTheNetwork Screwed By The Studio]] [[TheMovie Motion Picture]], Dr. F's lab gets a major overhaul, complete with a fish tank filled with acid.
%%* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'': The Academy.%%ZCE. Describe how this trope is used.

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''. Played straight in "[[Recap/SupernaturalS04E05MonsterMovie Monster Movie]]", where the MonsterOfTheWeek is a fan of monster movies like ''Film/{{Frankenstein|1931}}'', and so has his own laboratory to electrocute Dean via BigElectricSwitch. More updated versions are seen in "[[Recap/SupernaturalS01E10Asylum Asylum]]" and "[[Recap/SupernaturalS06E20TheManWhoWouldBeKing The Man Who Would Be King]]" -- the latter being the most disturbing of all [[spoiler:given that it involves AffablyEvil Crowley dissecting demons while discussing business with supposed good-guy Castiel]].

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'': The interior of a Borg ship can come across like this.
** Notably at the start of the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS5E15DarkFrontier Dark Frontier (Part 1)]]", the ship is lit by blue flashes and the sound of electrical arcs, with the occasional burst of steam, even ''before'' they enter combat with Voyager.
** In the ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration TNG]]'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E3Brothers Brothers]]", we start at the requisite glass containers full of bubbling chemicals and a tube generating lightning-like effects before panning across to the more homely aspects of Dr. Soong's hideout.

* ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'': Tim leads the ComicBook/TeenTitans into a secret underground lab belonging to [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex Luthor]] that's full of autonomous robots, half finished experiments, and vials of manufactured cures and diseases in search of a cure for ComicBook/{{Superboy|1994}} who was dying at the time.
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'':

* Washuu from ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' has a giant laboratory that spans ''five planets'', set up in other-dimensional space and accessible through a door that is usually located under the stairs in Tenchi's house, but which can vanish or move as Washuu wills it.

* In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', MadScientist Dr. Gero had one where he worked on his android project. Despite its destruction, the version of his [[UltimateLifeForm ultimate creation]] Cell from the future was unaffected thanks to way Trunks' time machine operated.

* In older works, a caged KillerGorilla -- presumably as a test subject and/or [[TheDragon henchman]] -- was a popular addition

This is edging toward becoming a DiscreditedTrope, at least in the classic beaker/Jacob's Ladder/operating table configuration. For the more-modern variations, see HackerCave.

* Merlin's cottage in Disney's ''WesternAnimation/TheSwordInTheStone'' is one of these. In that film, he's a powerful wizard who uses magic to teach science to young Arthur.

* In ''Film/IronMan'', Tony Stark has an updated version in the basement of his house. [[TheIgor Robot assistants]], machine shop, [[InformedAbility electronics fabrication]], CADCAM system.

* Doc Brown's lab in ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', originally the garage of his family estate, was crammed full of all types of scientific gear. He even had the old tape drives to (presumably) the 50s/60s style computer he would have used to invent time travel.

* ''Film/TheFly1986'' updates and {{downplay|edTrope}}s the "gentleman scientist" inspirations for this trope with Seth Brundle's lab. It's located on the top floor of an AbandonedWarehouse in a lonesome part of Toronto, and despite it also serving as his living quarters with a small kitchen, bedroom, etc. retains a stark appearance with its basic furnishings and lack of décor, since Seth is a {{Workaholic}} and has no social life. It has a skylight that factors into the climax ([[spoiler:allowing him to sneak into the central room by Wall Crawling and get the drop on Stathis]]), shelves full of binders of papers, etc. serving as background detail, and is ultimately centered upon the exotic-looking "telepods" and the imposing computer that controls them. Early on, Seth [[MrExposition actually provides some exposition]] to reporter (and later love interest) Veronica explaining that he had to commission the individual components for the telepods and "stick them together, but nobody knows what the project really is." His work is financed by a company (they met at a press event in the opening scene), "but they leave me alone because I'm not expensive, and they know that they'll end up owning it all, whatever it is."
* ''Film/VanHelsing'': Being a send-up to [[Franchise/UniversalHorror Universal's classic horror movies]], these naturally show up. The film opens in the laboratory of none other than Victor Frankenstein as he successfully brings his monster to life, and Dracula later appropriates the lab for his own purposes and then moves it to his own castle where he tries to complete the experiment. Another lab is shown earlier in the film where [[GadgeteerGenius Carl]] develops weapons for Van Helsing to use against Dracula.

* ''Film/ACureForWellness''. There's a locked tower on the spa grounds that the protagonist Lockhart eventually breaks into. He finds stairs leading down to a grotto containing an underground laboratory, which is replete in 19th century-style with beakers containing mutated fetuses, dissected eels, and scientific notebooks. [[spoiler:Turns out the anachronistic look is not a coincidence, as the doctor who runs the spa is a [[{{Immortality}} lot older than he appears]]]].

* In ''Film/DraculaVsFrankenstein'', Dr. Durea has a secret laboratory hidden beneath the Creature Emporium -- the house of horrors he runs at the amusement park -- where he conducts all of his experiments in developing his blood serum. Much of the electrical lab equipment in the lab are props originally used in ''Film/Frankenstein1931''. Ken Strickfaden, who had designed all the electrical gadgetry in that film, supplied the equipment.

* No surprise that ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' can't have a scene in a magic-user's residence without poking fun at the Mad ''Wizard's'' Laboratory variant of this trope. Most common are jokes about how they all order identical décor out of a kit: pre-dribbled candles, dusty skulls (with optional raven on top), mysterious alchemical glass apparati (usually filled with green-dyed water and soap), and the sorcerer's equivalent of the Jacob's ladder, i.e. [[ApothecaryAlligator a stuffed alligator hanging from the ceiling]].

* The ''Literature/GauntsGhosts''' main objective in ''Salvation Reach'' is to [[spoiler:raid a well-defended Chaos research facility and capture as much intelligence material as possible, which may be further used in advantage to the Crusade. The laboratory is described as grim halls filled with strange and disturbing devices. Although they cannot read them, even mere touch of scrolls and dataslates stored there fills the Imperial Guardsmen with a feeling of dread]].

* For seven seasons, the villains on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' worked in an ElaborateUndergroundBase -- the audience occasionally glimpsed chemistry equipment, chalkboards, computer consoles and mysterious air ducts. Things became tighter when the villains' [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute replacements]] had to work out of a space-travel-equipped VW Microbus, but that was for only one season -- they returned to a [[HauntedCastle more appropriate environment]] soon enough.
** In the [[ScrewedByTheNetwork Screwed By The Studio]] [[TheMovie Motion Picture]], Dr. F's lab gets a major overhaul. Complete with a fish tank packed with acid.
* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'': The Academy.

** In the ''[[Series/StarTrekThenextGeneration TNG]]'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E3Brothers Brothers]]", we start at the requisite glass containers full of bubbling chemicals and a tube generating lightning-like effects before panning across to the more homely aspects of Dr. Soong's hideout.

* In Roleplay/DinoAttackRPG, XERRD -- an entire organization of {{Mad Scientist}}s -- has three notable Mad Scientist Laboratories where they perform experiments on dinosaurs: the Dino Island Laboratory, the LEGO Island Laboratory, and the Adventurers' Island XERRD Fortress.

* The base editor in ''VideoGame/CityOfVillains'' has all requisite mad science lab items, with classic items ranging from operating tables to Jacob's ladders of various sizes to organs in jars (ranging from preserved to rotted), and more modern items like microscopes, X-Ray machines, and LCD monitors.

* A large number of them exist in ''VideoGame/DeusEx''. Somewhat {{justified|Trope}} in that several factions are technocratic cabals who see "technology alone as a source of political power," and [[BlackAndGreyMorality some of them are on your side]]. Still, applies mainly to scientists serving the BigBad.

* The Big MT (Big Empty) in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas: Old World Blues'' is a [[NoOSHACompliance non-OSHA compliant]] research facility run by MadScientist [[BrainInAJar Brains in Jars]]. Both this and the main game have chemistry sets where you can [[ItemCrafting craft drugs]].

* Doctor Pickles has a couple of places in ''VideoGame/StayTooned'' replete with items of this trope, some of which can be interacted with.

* Butchery Loves Company, the Frankenstein-inspired starting level of the fourth episode in ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}'', complete with all of the listed features.

* In ''VideoGame/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream'', [[AIIsACrapshoot AM]] builds a mock-up of a Nazi death camp for the character Nimdok to explore. One part of it includes a bunker containing a laboratory that fits this trope per the World War II setting, with implements from a teletype, a morphing creature in a bell jar, and a {{Golem}} made from steel and clay. [[spoiler:It's also significant by the fact that Nimdok himself once performed experiments here alongside [[ThoseWackyNazis Dr. Mengele]]. Some of them included genetic manipulation and a [[WhoWantsToLiveForever youth serum]], which is how AM kept Nimdok and four other humans alive for 109 years, and [[BodyHorror warped one of them into a mutant]] [[ForTheEvulz just for fun]].]]

* The first dungeon of ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'' (known as "Chateau Irenicus" in the community) has 'pickled' people in jars, [[CloningBlues rampant clones]], a lightning generator, portals to other dimensions and other crazy contraptions, and a horde of duergar serving as [[TheIgor Igors]]. The only difference with a traditional mad science lab is that the owner is an EvilSorcerer and all the contraptions are powered by magic. Half the protagonist's canonical party from the first game ends up StrappedToAnOperatingTable, and not everyone walks away...

* ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}'' is about {{Mad Scientist}}s. If you don't have the GratuitousLaboratoryFlasks around, you fail to grasp the principles behind mad science.

* Professor Joseph Corwin in ''Webcomic/TalesOfGnosisCollege'' houses his Apsinthion Device, a tank with a tentacle monster, and in impressive amount of weird glassware in a mad scientist's laboratory located in a derelict red-brick ''brewery'' that rather resembles an old-fashioned castle.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': Mostly averted with Professor Farnsworth's lab, which is usually surprisingly sparse, with only one piece of equipment at a time, although in one episode he's shown to have about a dozen different {{doomsday device}}s tucked away.

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' in the episode "[[Recap/TinyToonAdventuresS1E12HareRaisingNight Hare-Raising Night]]". There's a panning shot of what appears to be Dr. Gene Splicer's laboratory, with a bunch of spiraling glass tubing and oddly-shaped chemistry equipment (flasks, beakers, etc.) in the foreground... only for the pan to continue and reveal it's just a painting, titled "Dad's Place." Dr. Splicer's actual laboratory is a surprisingly mundane office building (the giant vat of "gene juice" aside).

* Common on the GothicHorror plane of Innistrad in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering''. There's even a card called [[https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=512275 Laboratory Maniac]]
* ''TabletopGame/SpiritOfTheCentury'' has an interesting play on this with Der Blitzmann, a German MadScientist has a portable lab, in the form of his mechanical exoskeleton. Despite the nontraditional size and style, it does come complete with Tesla coils. Weaponized Tesla coils.
** Given some of the other [=NPCs=], it's hard to not to imagine their secret lairs set up this way:
*** Dr. Methusala seems to set up a lab wherever he happens to be conducting his latest experiments, and probably has more chalkboard and less stuff lying around.
*** Baroness Blackheart probably has a good old fashioned alchemical lab, complete with smoking cauldron and eye of newt.
*** Mizrahi probably has something somewhere between the two, filled with chalkboards, but also with various kabbalistic paraphernalia.
** Heck, considering that the Mad Scientist is a possible character build, and having a laboratory is no real problem, the [=PCs=] could easily play to this trope.
* A lab is very important to the protagonists of ''TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression''. The problem is that lab space is expensive and obsessively making things that break when {{Muggles}} touch them is [[PerpetualPoverty bad for the bank balance]].
* The Nazi base Festung Seig from ''TabletopGame/RocketAge'' includes laboratories for their scientists.

* Optionally, depending on your flavor of MadScientist, you may find a wall generously populated with chains and manacles (just to make sure the experimental subjects stay handy and don't wander away) and a big worn chalkboard filled with equations.

* A [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Coil Tesla coil.]]

* In older works, a caged KillerGorilla - presumably as a test subject and/or [[TheDragon henchman]] - was a popular addition

A significant portion of mad scientist laboratories are not low budget small scale DIY projects that take up no more than a spare table in a corner. Instead, these labs are very elaborate for someone who usually does not appear to have anyone funding them, let alone working for them. Often the equipment is huge, bulky, unweildy, and difficult to transport and assemble for just one man, even with an assistant. It's worth remembering that many mad scientists are older men (or physically weak men) who would definitely not be able to manage such a feat on their own. While not a mad scientist, Franchise/{{Batman}} fans will recognize, a modern iteration of this dilemma whenever the question is posed of [[FridgeLogic "How did Bruce Wayne (maybe with Alfred's help) manage to build the Batcave, Batmobile and all his equipment by himself in secret"]].

The archetypical movie Mad Scientist Laboratory probably came from the classic silent film ''Metropolis'', though the Universal remake of ''Frankenstein'' added a fair amount. Both were probably strongly influenced by a real-life example that was a staple in popular media between 1900 and 1940; the various laboratories of UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla, which actually did feature gigantic incomprehensible machinery, scary robotic devices, Tesla coils, and lots of gaudy electric-arc effects.

All of the film, TV, and comic versions of the Mad Scientist's Lab derive originally from Gothic horror stories of the 18th and 19th centuries, the most famous of them being Creator/MaryShelley's novel ''Frankenstein'' and Creator/HGWells' ''The Island of Doctor Moreau.'' The concept developed from older stories about the lairs of alchemists and sorcerers. The Enlightenment put paid to many kinds of mystical dabbling by dilettantes, tinkerers, and wealthy eccentrics, but these characters were replaced in the public imagination by gentleman scientists -- many of them self-taught, many very eccentric -- who built laboratories and observatories in their homes and made a number of important discoveries in the new disciplines of chemistry, physics, and biology.

The age of the gentleman scientist was ending by the 1850's, when the most famous of them, UsefulNotes/CharlesDarwin, published his Theory of Evolution. More and more, experimental research became associated with facilities provided by universities, foundations, museums, governments and industry. However, the romantic image of the mad scientist -- isolated from his fellows and angry with a world that would suppress his ideas -- has deep archetypal power. It's also [[EconomyCast dramatically compact]], needing only the scientist, an assistant, and a faithful servant or two as characters. The {{meme}}'s emotional energy and enactment efficiency has kept it alive into the 21st Century, and it's even routinely projected into future scenarios via television shows like ''Franchise/StarTrek'' and ''Series/TheOuterLimits1963''.

* ''Anime/MazingerZ'': BigBad Dr. Hell had his own laboratory installed in his SuperVillainLair, but it was barely seen in the series. [[TheProfessor Dr. Kabuto's]] lab in the original manga also counts.

* Professor Franken Stein from ''Manga/SoulEater'' has quite an interesting home/lab. Stitched patterns are found randomly throughout the house, both the inside and outside (and also on his clothes and even his person). He has an older looking computer and many chemistry related items such as a Bunsen burner, beakers, Erlenmeyer flasks, etc. (which, it should be noted, he occasionally uses as ''drinking glasses'') Arrows are painted on the floor pointing in different directions, usually away and toward doorways.

* In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', MadScientist Dr. Gero had one where he worked on his android project. Despite its destruction, the version of his [[MagnumOpus ultimate creation]] Cell from the future was unaffected thanks to way Trunks' time machine operated.

* ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'': Tim leads the ComicBook/TeenTitans into a secret underground lab belonging to ComicBook/LexLuthor that's full of autonomous robots, half finished experiments, and vials of manufactured cures and diseases in search of a cure for ComicBook/{{Superboy|1994}} who was dying at the time.

* The ''Film/JamesBond'' films had their resident good-guy MadScientist, Q; almost every film features a peek into his lab, which usually features several [[TheIgor assistants]] participating in such dubious experiments as testing a new bulletproof vest by putting one on and getting shot.

* ''Film/SkyCaptainAndTheWorldOfTomorrow'' (2004). The laboratory of Dr Walter Jennings (with mutated fetus and tiny elephant), and the room in [[TheShangriLa Shangri-La]] (shown in a deleted scene) where Totenkopf conducted experiments on radiation victims from his uranium mine.
** Dr. Totenkopf requires a special mention here as his 'laboratory' is a whole factory complex, complete with a [[spoiler: rocket launch silo]].
* ''Film/IronMan'' Tony Stark has an updated version in the basement of his house. [[TheIgor Robot assistants]], machine shop, [[InformedAbility electronics fabrication]], CADCAM system.

* Dr. Rotwang's laboratory in ''Film/{{Metropolis}}'' (1927) is perhaps the earliest example of the trope on film, and features all the necessary paraphernalia, along with large pentagrams to tie him to the classical magician/alchemist archetypes.

* Of course Jekyll in ''Film/AyoyDrJekyllAndMrHyde'' has one, full of technicolour chemistry and stuff. Though the potato doesn't really do anything.
* The Chamber of Life in ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'', where the Skeksis drain innocent Podlings of their life essence. It's filled with [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter Ridiculously Cute Critters]] in cages which Skeksis scientist skekTek performs cruel experiments on.
* [[DrFakenstein Dr Frank N. Furter's]] lab in ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'' is full of [[BigElectricSwitch big electric switches]] and octagonal monitors. The tank that [[FrankensteinsMonster Rocky]] is born in is the same one from ''Film/TheRevengeOfFrankenstein''.

* ''Film/TheFly1986'' updates and downplays the "gentleman scientist" inspirations for this trope with Seth Brundle's lab. It's located on the top floor of an AbandonedWarehouse in a lonesome part of Toronto, and despite it also serving as his living quarters with a small kitchen, bedroom, etc. retains a stark appearance with its basic furnishings and lack of decor, since Seth is a {{Workaholic}} and has no social life. It has a skylight that factors into the climax ([[spoiler: allowing him to sneak into the central room by Wall Crawling and get the drop on Stathis]]), shelves full of binders of papers, etc. serving as background detail, and is ultimately centered upon the exotic-looking "telepods" and the imposing computer that controls them. Early on, Seth [[MrExposition actually provides some exposition]] to reporter (and later love interest) Veronica explaining that he had to commission the individual components for the telepods and "stick them together, but nobody knows what the project really is." His work is financed by a company (they met at a press event in the opening scene), "but they leave me alone because I'm not expensive, and they know that they'll end up owning it all, whatever it is."
* ''Film/VanHelsing'': being a send-up to Universal's classic horror movies, these naturally show up. The film opens in the laboratory of none other than Victor Frankenstein as he successfully brings his monster to life, and Dracula later appropriates the lab for his own purposes and then moves it to his own castle where he tries to complete the experiment. Another lab is shown earlier in the film where GadgeteerGenius Carl was developing weapons for Van Helsing to use against Dracula.

* ''Film/ACureForWellness''. There's a locked tower on the spa grounds that the protagonist Lockhart eventually breaks into. He finds stairs leading down to a grotto containing an underground laboratory, which is replete in 19th century-style with beakers containing mutated fetuses, dissected eels, and scientific notebooks. [[spoiler:Turns out the anachronistic look is not a coincidence, as the doctor who runs the spa is a [[{{Immortality}} lot older than he appears]].]]

* In ''Film/DraculaVsFrankenstein'', Dr. Durea has a secret laboratory hidden beneath the Creature Emporium--the house of horrors he runs at the amusement park--where he conducts all of his experiments in developing his blood serum. Much of the electrical lab equipment in the lab are props originally used in ''Film/Frankenstein1931''. Ken Strickfaden, who had designed all the electrical gadgetry in that film, supplied the equipment.

* Deconstructed a little in Creator/TeresaEdgerton's ''Literature/TheCastleOfTheSilverWheel'' by Gwenlliant's reaction to Lord Cado's wizard's laboratory. When Gwenlliant -- who grew up at court and was taught by the resident alchemist / wizard -- first sees Cado's laboratory, she is immediately uneasy, knowing that he must be a bad wizard -- "either not very principled, or not very wise". No proper wizard would bother to keep so many showy magical experiments running at once; they would be set up one at a time for research purposes, and would not be shown off to visitors.
* No surprise that ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' can't have a scene in a magic-user's residence without poking fun at the Mad ''Wizard's'' Laboratory variant of this trope. Most common are jokes about how they all order identical decor out of a kit: pre-dribbled candles, dusty skulls (with optional raven on top), mysterious alchemical glass apparati (usually filled with green-dyed water and soap), and the sorcerer's equivalent of the Jacob's ladder, i.e. [[ApothecaryAlligator a stuffed alligator hanging from the ceiling]].

* The title character of ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfProfessorJackBaling'' has a rather mundane version of one of these in a shed in his backyard, but in the second episode he encounters some really sophisticated ones in the Prometheus Corporation’s HQ, some of which even have Jacob’s ladders and bubbling beakers.
* The eponymous MadScientist in Creator/HPLovecraft's ''Literature/HerbertWestReanimator'' has a hidden laboratory, first in a dilapidated farm house and later in his cellar, for his experiments of [[OurZombiesAreDifferent dead body revival]] and other, [[{{Squick}} more gruesome]], things. He also pursues a quasi-legitimate career in medicine and research at the Miskatonic University and could procure scientific apparatus -- without attracting unwanted attention -- by plain old theft.
* ''The Probability Broach'', by L. Neil Smith. Lampshaded by the protagonist when he enters the lab in the Colorado State University that (unknown to him) is actually a gate to an AlternateUniverse.

* The [[Literature/GauntsGhosts Gaunt's Ghosts']] main objective in ''Salvation Reach'' is to [[spoiler: raid a well-defended Chaos research facility and capture as much intelligence material as possible, which may be further used in advantage to the Crusade. The laboratory is described as grim halls filled with strange and disturbing devices. Although they cannot read them, even mere touch of scrolls and dataslates stored there fills the Imperial Guardsmen with a feeling of dread.]]
* Literature/FrannyKStein's own room is her laboratory, where the little girl mad scientist frequently conducts her experiments using whatever chemicals and technology she needs.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* For seven seasons, the villains on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' worked in an ElaborateUndergroundBase - the audience occasionally glimpsed chemistry equipment, chalkboards, computer consoles and mysterious air ducts. Things became tighter when the villains' [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute replacements]] had to work out of a space-travel-equipped VW Microbus, but that was for only one season - they returned to a [[HauntedCastle more appropriate environment]] soon enough.
** In the [[ScrewedByTheNetwork Screwed By The Studio]] [[TheMovie Motion Picture]], Dr F's lab gets a major overhaul. Complete with a fish tank packed with acid.

* ''Series/BreakingBad'': The meth lab on wheels. It's got the smoking flasks, mysterious coloured goo, and pretty much anything else they can cover with RuleOfCool.
* ''{{Series/Supernatural}}''. Played straight in "Monster Movie", where the MonsterOfTheWeek is a fan of monster movies like ''Film/{{Frankenstein|1931}}'', and so has his own laboratory to electrocute Dean via BigElectricSwitch. More updated versions are seen in "Asylum" and "The Man Who Would Be King" -- the latter being the most disturbing of all [[spoiler:given that it involves AffablyEvil Crowley dissecting demons while discussing business with supposed good-guy Castiel.]]
* ''Series/GameOfThrones''. The maester's laboratory in "The Children" is a MedievalEuropeanFantasy version once [[MadDoctor disgraced ex-maester Qyburn]] starts PlayingWithSyringes on a dying [[TheDreaded Ser Gregor Clegane]].
-->'''Queen Cersei:''' You can save him?
-->'''Qyburn:''' Difficult to say, your Grace. But if [[TestedOnHumans my past work is any guide]]... we stand a chance.
-->'''Cersei:''' Do everything you can. Come to me for anything you need.
-->'''Qyburn:''' Thank you, your Grace. You should know, the process may, [[CameBackWrong change him.]] Somewhat.
-->'''Cersei:''' Will it weaken him?
-->'''Qyburn:''' ''[[CameBackStrong Oh, no.]]''

** Notably at the start of "Dark Frontier part 1", the ship is lit by blue flashes and the sound of electrical arcs, with the occasional burst of steam, even ''before'' they enter combat with Voyager.
** In the TNG episode "Brothers", we start at the requisite glass containers full of bubbling chemicals and a tube generating lightning-like effects before panning across to the more homely aspects of Dr Soong's hideout.

* The entire playfield for ''Pinball/StrangeScience'' is decorated like a classic laboratory. Operators can also install a backbox topper resembling a Jacob's Ladder with an electric arc between the poles.

* In Roleplay/DinoAttackRPG, XERRD - an entire organization of {{Mad Scientist}}s - has three notable Mad Scientist Laboratories where they perform experiments on dinosaurs: the Dino Island Laboratory, the LEGO Island Laboratory, and the Adventurers' Island XERRD Fortress.

* ''TabletopGame/SpiritOfTheCentury'' has an interesting play on this with Der Blitzmann, a German MadScientist has a portable lab, in the form of his mechanical exoskeleton. Despite the nontraditional size and style, it does come complete with Tesla Coils. Weaponized Tesla Coils.

* The base editor in ''VideoGame/CityOfVillains'' has all requisite mad science lab items, with classic items ranging from operating tables to jacob's ladders of various sizes to organs in jars (ranging from preserved to rotted), and more modern items like microscopes, X-Ray machines, and LCD monitors.

* The Forsaken in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' apparently discovered this trope in the ''Wrath of the Lich King'' expansion, as their bases in Northrend tend to be full of traditional MadScientist equipment like tesla coils, jacob's ladders and mechanical arms that move vials of [[TechnicolorScience glowing chemicals]] around.

* A large number of them exist in ''VideoGame/DeusEx''. Somewhat justified in that several factions are technocratic cabals who see "technology alone as a source of political power," and [[BlackAndGreyMorality some of them are on your side]]. Still, applies mainly to scientists serving the BigBad.
* The whole Gouma-Den in the ''[[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsTheSoullessArmy Rai]][[VideoGame/RaidouKuzunohaVsKingAbaddon dou]]'' duology. Hosted by [[LargeHam lovable]] [[MilkingTheGiantCow lunatic]] [[MadScientist Dr]]. [[ShoutOut Victor]]. Complete with virtually all of the accoutrements of the standard lab.

* Henry Stauf has one in ''VideoGame/TheSeventhGuest'', rather well hidden in his mansion. It is infamously known for a now-impossible minigame of Infection inside a microscope there. On top of that, a rather squicky cutscene can be watched of a ghost patient who wakes up and finds that half of his head is missing, then reaches down and tries to put his brain back.

-->'''Dr. Pickles:''' ''"Will you help me with mein experiment?"''

* In ''VideoGame/IHaveNoMouthAndIMustScream'', [[AIIsACrapshoot AM]] builds a mock-up of a Nazi death camp for the character Nimdok to explore. One part of it includes a bunker containing a laboratory that fits this trope per the World War II setting, with implements from a teletype, a morphing creature in a bell jar, and a {{Golem}} made from steel and clay. [[spoiler: It's also significant by the fact that Nimdok himself once performed experiments here alongside [[ThoseWackyNazis Dr. Mengele]]. Some of them included genetic mainpulation and a [[WhoWantsToLiveForever youth serum]], which is how AM kept Nimdok and four other humans alive for 109 years, and [[BodyHorror warped one of them into a mutant]] [[ForTheEvulz just for fun]].]]

* In ''VideoGame/KillingFloor2'', Dr. Hans Volter has one underneath his manor in Switzerland, where it's implied he performs Zed-related experiments. The Descent map shows that it extends over a kilometer below the surface, with at least 11 different floors.
* The first dungeon of ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'' (known as "Chateau Irenicus" in the community) has 'pickled' people in jars, [[CloningBlues rampant clones]], a lightning generator, portals to other dimensions and other crazy contraptions, and a horde of duergar serving as igors. The only difference with a traditional mad science lab is that the owner is an EvilSorcerer and all the contraptions are powered by magic. Half the protagonist's canonical party from the first game ends up StrappedToAnOperatingTable, and not everyone walks away...

** In the novel ("Agatha H. and the Airship City", an expanded prose version of the first few comic volumes) Agatha asks Gil why he needs four labs aboard Castle Wulfenbach. He replies that his father has ''forty-three'' plus two ground-based facilities, so by comparison he's a model of efficiency. And that's not counting all the other labs on Castle Wulfenbach that the Baron set up for his employees, one of which is labeled "Lab Full of Exploding Things #5".
* The Opians, an alien race in ''Webcomic/ThogInfinitron'', have an interstellar spacecraft with an [[http://www.drunkduck.com/Thog_Infinitron/index.php?p=428274 onboard laboratory where they engineer ways to destroy Thog.]]
* In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' Riff rents out some tunnels to act as his secret, underground lab. At least when Minion Master's not using it as his "Domicile of Evil."
* Subverted in ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive''. Tedd's lab consists of a desk, computer, and a place to test the [[TransformationRay TF Gun]].

* ''Webcomic/EvilPlan'': Doctor Kinesis has a multi-level lab, complete with minions and a vat of "acid."
* Dottore's lab in ''[[http://commedia2x00.wordpress.com Commedia 2X00]]'' is packed with this stuff--literally, in the storage basement, the boxes are labeled with things like "blinkenlights", "boss themes (casettes)", and "mecha-piranhas, x-mas decs". Being Dottore, it's also stocked with warp-pipes, wall-mounted chainsaws, an inexplicable fiery lake of lava (complete with Heli-Kraken...)

* ''WebVideo/DoctorSteel'' has one, seen on his website and in his videos, located on a mysterious secret island in the Pacific.
* WebVideo/AgamemnonTiberiusVacuum has a very high-tech "pretty bad-ass" one in ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdvo86kPcnQ The Experimentasium]]''.
* Parodied with [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1417-j SCP-1417-J]], a joke [[Wiki/SCPFoundation SCP]] who uses psychic powers to play childish pranks on people unless surrounded by over-the-top HollywoodScience equipment.

* In ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'', Man-At-Arms has a big and impressive lab (good for those trademark {{Creator/Filmation}} long, slow pans), though it's not at all sinister-looking, since he's a nice guy.
* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E15FeelingPinkieKeen Feeling Pinkie Keen]]" showed one of these in Twilight Sparkle's basement.

* Dr. Viper's laboratory in ''WesternAnimation/SwatKats'', seen in "The Giant Bacteria," is pretty impressive to behold, featuring retorts, racks of test tubes, flasks, beakers and even a microscope that for some reason has smoke pouring out of the eyepiece (!). Interestingly, production notes called for even ''more'' chemistry equipment to be seen, but for some reason the animators didn't get the message.

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' in the episode "Hare-Raising Night." There's a panning shot of what appears to be Dr. Gene Splicer's laboratory, with a bunch of spiraling glass tubing and oddly-shaped chemistry equipment (flasks, beakers, etc.) in the foreground... only for the pan to continue and reveal it's just a painting, titled "Dad's Place." Dr. Splicer's actual laboratory is a surprisingly mundane office building (the giant vat of "gene juice" aside).

* ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}'' has these and lampshades the trope [[http://narbonic.com/comic/march-24-29-2003/ on occasion]] (fifth comic on page).

* In ''Film/KissMeQuick'', Dr. Breedlove's laboratory has all of the standard mad scientist accoutrments, including GratuitousLaboratoryFlasks, an arcing Jacob's ladder, and a talking skull.

* Henry Stauf has one in VideoGame/TheSeventhGuest, rather well hidden in his mansion. It is infamously known for a now-impossible minigame of Infection inside a microscope there. On top of that, a rather squicky cutscene can be watched of a ghost patient who wakes up and finds that half of his head is missing, then reaches down and tries to put his brain back.

* The ''MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E15FeelingPinkieKeen Feeling Pinkie Keen]]" showed one of these in Twilight Sparkle's basement.