History Main / ScienceHero

* ''Film/KingOfTheRocketMen''. The evil Dr. Vulcan is arranging fatal accidents for the members of Science Associates, so when rocket scientist Jeff King voices his suspicions they propose he look into the matter instead of hiring a private detective agency or calling in the FBI. One of Dr. Vulcan's goons scoff at the idea that he's a threat because "these science types are all brain and no brawn", but when King walks in on them riffling his files, he quickly shows himself adept at GoodOldFisticuffs to send them packing, then proceeds to foil Dr. Vulcan's schemes with the help of a JetPack and various other gadgets. In the later "Rocket Man" serials like ''Film/RadarMenFromTheMoon'', Commando Cody is an inventor, building not only his rocket suit but also a rocketship that can take him to the Moon. Averted in ''Zombies of the Stratosphere'' where Larry Martin is basically SpacePolice.

* ''Film/KingOfTheRocketMen''. The evil Dr. Vulcan is arranging fatal accidents for the members of Science Associates, so when rocket scientist Jeff King voices his suspicions they propose he look into the matter instead of hiring a private detective agency or calling in the FBI. One of Dr. Vulcan's goons scoff at the idea that he's a threat because "these science types are all brain and no brawn", but when King walks in on them riffling his files, he quickly shows himself adept at GoodOldFisticuffs to send them packing, then proceeds to foil Dr. Vulcan's schemes with the help of a JetPack and various other gadgets. In the later "Rocket Man" serials like ''Film/RadarMenFromTheMoon'', CommandoCody is an inventor, building not only his rocket suit but also a rocketship that can take him to the Moon. Averted in ''Zombies of the Stratosphere'' where Larry Martin is basically SpacePolice.

* The cast of ''Film/DestinationMoon''. The one guy who isn't a scientist is the radio operation of the rocket, and the other two figure out their way to solve a ColdEquation with little more than some rope and a file.

* ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'' features a science AntiVillain, who invents a Freeze Ray to rob banks for social justice and has a PhD in Horribleness. [[spoiler: Until the end when he drops the 'anti', anyway.]]

** Jonas Venture Sr. seems the ideal fulfillment of this trope -- [[BrokenPedestal at a distance]]. A closer look reveals he was not merely an AbusiveDad to Rusty, but callous and exploitative toward nearly everyone in his life. His concealed legacy makes him seem an amoral DesignatedHero at best, or a MadScientist VillainWithGoodPublicity at worst. DeliberateValuesDissonance suggests that the same deeds and qualities that make him repugnant to us make him perfect in the mid-20th century.

** Professor Richard Impossible, a CorruptedCharacterCopy of [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Reed Richards]], subverts and skewers this trope. He initially seems far more heroic and brilliant than Rusty but is quickly exposed as a pompous and exploitative {{Jerkass}}.

'''Richard:''' ... sssssssssssscience?

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/XMen https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/beast2.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:And he [[MinoredInAsskicking minors in asskicking]] too.]]

* Percival de Rolo from ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'', the second son and third child of a noble family who spent much of his childhood and adolescence studying engineering, history, and the natural sciences. Following the massacre of his house by usurpers, he spent a year or two on the run before unknowingly making a deal with a demon, who gave him the inspiration to craft firearms—not just his first, but the first ever made, a creation that [[MyGreatestFailure Percy deeply regrets]]. He becomes Vox Machina's resident engineer, creating several innovations throughout the campaign; he crafts trick arrows for [[ArcherArchetype Vex]], he creates a trap that temporarily restrains an ancient dragon, and he builds a network of steampipes beneath the streets of his hometown to heat the roads so they won't need to be cleared of snow or ice in the cold northern climate. His dream, as he returns to help lead his city, is to make it "a shining beacon on the hill of what mankind's future could be".

* After the 2016 US federal election, groups of researchers and volunteers worked to download and save countless pages of environmental data from the EPA website, believing it was at risk of being deleted by the administration at the time. This process was called The Guerrilla Archiving Event, and all of its participants are certainly real world science heroes for saving such great sums of vital data.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'', a character with a high Science skill and [[KarmaMeter Good Karma]] can become this, solving problems with their advanced knowledge. This especially comes into play in the ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' DLC ''Old World Blues'', which takes place in a facility for a group of {{Mad Scientist}}s and where the Science skill gets quite a bit of work. In fact, if the main quest is completed with [[KarmaMeter Good/Neutral karma]], the epilogue states that the Courier becomes the benevolent caretaker of the technologies of the Big MT and kept them safe until they could be used to help mankind.

** The oWoD game ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension'' gave us the Sons of Ether, gloriously so; they even have an informal Adventurers faction that's expressly made up of Science Heroes. Some members of the Technocracy might count as Science {{Anti Hero}}es.
** The [[TabletopGame/ChroniclesOfDarkness]] has a fan gameline named ''TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression''. While this tends to lean towards {{Mad Scientist}}s, the Science Hero is a common character type for players, even having as far as a ''merit'' called Science Hero.

* ''Series/KamenRiderBuild'': The title character, Sento Kiryu, is a genius physicist and the second-smartest Franchise/KamenRider to date[[note]]The other person smarter than him is [[Series/KamenRiderZiO Oma Zi-O]], who has bested all the Kamen Riders including the likes of Sento. He is better seen to be an EvilOverlord than a hero, however[[/note]]. He's also the only Rider to invent his own {{Transformation Trinket}}s, weapons, and upgrades, though he didn't invent his transformation belt. [[spoiler:It was created by "[[MadScientist Demon Scientist]]" Takumi Katsuragi, whose memories were wiped and became...[[AmnesiacDissonance Sento Kiryu]].]] Despite the fact that the show's villains employ similar technology, Sento rejects the notion of "evil science", viewing it as a tool that can be used either for good or ill depending on its user's intent. [[spoiler:Which is why he has no problem continuing to use the Build gear after learning that it was created to be a weapon of war.]]

-->-- '''Dr. Jonas Venture''', ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers''

* The Venture family of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' is a century-spanning line of "super-scientists" dedicated to improving the world with their brilliance. They are also a DeconstructiveParody: every son of the Venture family is a DeconstructedCharacterArchetype with a different interpretation of the trope.

A PlayfulHacker can be this trope when viewed in a positive light in the world of computing. See also GivingRadioToTheRomans. Compare NatureHero, BadassBookworm, OmnidisciplinaryScientist, LovableNerd, and CelibateEccentricGenius if the Science Hero [[CelibateHero rejects romantic love in favor for benevolent use of science]]. Contrast ScienceIsBad and MadScientist though [[AntiHero heroic]] mad scientists are becoming more popular. Often a champion of the Enlightenment in works featuring RomanticismVersusEnlightenment and opposed by an EvilLuddite. If the work portrays them positively, it likely also ascribes to ScienceIsGood and, depending on certain situations, WorkingClassHero. A PuzzleThriller is a good place to find them.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Fleming Every]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein scientist]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copernicus and]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei rational]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Kepler thinker]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalind_Franklin whose]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kilby inventions]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman and]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newtonian_mechanics theories]] have led to the decrease of [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug famine]] and disease, the rise of technology and civilization, the expansion of the breadth of humanity's knowledge, and in general the increase in the quality of life for the average human across the board is a ScienceHero. RousseauWasRight, indeed.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Fleming Every]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein scientist]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copernicus and]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_Galilei rational]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Kepler thinker]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosalind_Franklin whose]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kilby inventions]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Feynman and]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newtonian_mechanics theories]] have led to the decrease of famine and disease, the rise of technology and civilization, the expansion of the breadth of humanity's knowledge, and in general the increase in the quality of life for the average human across the board is a ScienceHero. RousseauWasRight, indeed.

* ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'' features a science AntiVillain, who invents a Freeze Ray to rob banks for social justice and has [[CatchPhrase a PhD in Horribleness]]. [[spoiler: Until the end when he drops the 'anti', anyway.]]

* [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Reed Richards]] stands out in this regard -- his stretching abilities are usually used to make his research easier, not so much for fighting. In an issue of Marvel Team-Up from the 80's with Spider-Man, he lost his genius, and was ''extremely'' upset, even telling Spider-Man that he has always considered his mind to be his true super-power.

* ComicBook/SpiderMan invented the web-shooters that allow him to BuildingSwing around New York, and often finds himself up against much larger and/or stronger foes that require him to think on his feet to defeat them, such as when he defeats [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Morlun]] by [[SpikedBlood irradiating his own blood]]. He also invented a tracking device that's keyed to his own Spider-Sense and thus has no conventional radio signal to detect. Hank Pym was initially impressed by these inventions, and then amazed when he realized that Peter Parker created them at age 15 with virtually no resources.

* Bentley of the ''VideoGame/SlyCooper'' series. Considered to be the team mastermind, he performs a variety of science-based tasks, [[PersonOfMassDestruction many of which involve]] [[StuffBlowingUp destroying]] structures.

* The three astronauts onboard the ''Film/{{Apollo 13}}'' and most of the personnel at MissionControl. They manage to turn a doomed scenario into one of NASA's finest hours.

* Hard rocking neurosurgeon/jetcar inventor Film/BuckarooBanzai, who along with his band the Hong Kong Cavaliers, must fight an AlienInvasion.

* Meteorologist who study tornadoes and hurricanes. Their early warnings of dangerous weather have saved countless lives
* In a similar vein as above, Volcanologist risk their lives to gather data about dangerous volcanoes and provide early warning for potential eruptions

* Not only does Tim Drake (ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}} III[=/=]ComicBook/RedRobin III) create his own gadgets and help modify the computer in the Batcave and assist Barbara when she updates the computer she uses as Oracle he also finds ways to apply reactive chemical compounds and other innovations to crime fighting. It fits as he's a detective before a fighter, even if he is quite good at fighting.

* [[ComicBook/TheTerrifics Mr. Terrific]] is the 3rd smartest man, and his superpower is using his knowledge of science and technology to save the day.

A PlayfulHacker can be this trope when viewed in a positive light in the world of computing. See also GivingRadioToTheRomans. Compare NatureHero, BadassBookworm, OmnidisciplinaryScientist, and CelibateEccentricGenius if the Science Hero [[CelibateHero rejects romantic love in favor for benevolent use of science]]. Contrast ScienceIsBad and MadScientist though [[AntiHero heroic]] mad scientists are becoming more popular. Often a champion of the Enlightenment in works featuring RomanticismVersusEnlightenment and opposed by an EvilLuddite. If the work portrays them positively, it likely also ascribes to ScienceIsGood and, depending on certain situations, WorkingClassHero. A PuzzleThriller is a good place to find them.

See also GivingRadioToTheRomans. Compare NatureHero, BadassBookworm, OmnidisciplinaryScientist, and CelibateEccentricGenius if the Science Hero [[CelibateHero rejects romantic love in favor for benevolent use of science]]. Contrast ScienceIsBad and MadScientist though [[AntiHero heroic]] mad scientists are becoming more popular. Often a champion of the Enlightenment in works featuring RomanticismVersusEnlightenment and opposed by an EvilLuddite. If the work portrays them positively, it likely also ascribes to ScienceIsGood and, depending on certain situations, WorkingClassHero. A PuzzleThriller is a good place to find them.

* WebOriginal/FortniteLoreSociety: The Mad FN Scientist is really good at science, and has won Science Fairs before.