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** Virgil also appears to have read TheEvilOverlordList and avoids falling into several of the pitfalls outlined in it.
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** Virgil also appears to have read TheEvilOverlordList the EvilOverlordList and avoids falling into several of the pitfalls outlined in it.
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* KillerRobot: Averted. Even Pindars (giant, nearly-indestructible war machines created by a MadScientist) prefer acting scary to actually harming anyone.
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* AndroidsArePeopleToo: No one doubts that even for a millisecond.
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* TrojanHorse: [[spoiler: Sally the Martian detector]] and presumably other Martian technology that could be used against Mars. Although Caprice says Mars never does this with ''actual gifts,'' even to Venusians and even as useful as build-anything factory.
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*** Considering the AI in question [[spoiler: nearly instantly rebuilds herself as a powerful combat robot that's more than a match for Haas' entire army]] it might be that those parts were for giving her capability to do so, not AI itself.
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** Mad scientists in general, unless you're able to set up confrontation, chase and denouement for them.
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* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Blue hair runs in Caprice's family, presumably on her mother's side; her dad has brown hair, but every other Quevillion we see has some shade of blue hair. There's a smattering of extras with oddly colored hair, either flat-out unnatural or just [[DarkSkinnedBlond matching oddly]] [[DarkSkinnedRedhead with their skin tone]].
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* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Blue hair runs in Caprice's family, presumably on her mother's side; her dad has brown hair, but every other Quevillion we see has some shade of blue hair. There's a smattering of extras with oddly colored hair, either flat-out unnatural or just [[DarkSkinnedBlond matching oddly]] [[DarkSkinnedRedhead with their skin tone]].
tone]]. Mind you, it could just be that dyeing your hair unnatural colours is more normalized in 2148. (Although given the Martians' advanced technology it's possible that they have in fact invented the blue hair gene.)
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Useful Notes are not tropes and should not be used in examples lists.
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* UsefulNotes/{{Mars}}
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* UsefulNotes/{{Mars}}
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* UsefulNotes/{{Mars}}
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->''"When you're a recovering mad scientist, you're always afraid you'll lose control and wake up some morning with a half-built time machine in the living room and a plan to go back in time and pants {{Hitler}}."''
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->''"When you're a recovering mad scientist, you're always afraid you'll lose control and wake up some morning with a half-built time machine in the living room and a plan to go back in time and pants {{Hitler}}.[[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]]."''
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* TheRedPlanet
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* TheRedPlanetUsefulNotes/{{Mars}}
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* {{Determinator}}: Benjamin is very stubborn man; he is more than willing to push through any kind of obstacle to achieve his goal. Best shown in the final face-off against Haas, with his response to YouCanBarelyStand. [[spoiler: Of course, once Haas surrenders and Benjamin has reached his goal, he promptly collapses.]]
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* NoMedicationForMe: One SRMD sufferer, Manny, notes that he can't perform even non-mad science when he takes his treatment under the recommended daily regimen - he claims it makes his head "feel like felt." He takes it on alternating days, which leaves him able to work on robotics and networking... but also makes him increasingly paranoid and has Benjamin worry about the potential for a relapse into SRMD.
* NoodleIncident: There are multiple references to the case Benjamin wrapped up previous to the Haas case, involving a Dr. Hanford, although we don't find out any specifics beyond the fact that it involved genetic engineering in some fashion
* NoodleIncident: There are multiple references to the case Benjamin wrapped up previous to the Haas case, involving a Dr. Hanford, although we don't find out any specifics beyond the fact that it involved genetic engineering in some fashion
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* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Chief Nyerere and (oddly enough) Haas. In the latter's case while he may be an insane mad scientist trying to take over the world, he does listen to Chaucer and Dryden when they give him advice (even if he does threaten to disassemble the poor fellows occasionally).
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* BadassBoast Delivered to an apathetic police officer: "Sergeant, I've just been to the outer solar system and back to track down a mad scientist. I've been shot at with secret weapons, destroyed robots that could take down tanks, and fallen from orbit without benefit of a re-entry vehicle. (beat) I don't need your rudeness added to my troubles, okay?"
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* BadassBoast BadassBoast: Delivered to an apathetic police officer: "Sergeant, I've just been to the outer solar system and back to track down a mad scientist. I've been shot at with secret weapons, destroyed robots that could take down tanks, and fallen from orbit without benefit of a re-entry vehicle. (beat) I don't need your rudeness added to my troubles, okay?"
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* BadassBoast "Oh come on! I've plunged down from orbit on ''wings of fire''... so don't ''even'' think ''you'' can scare me!" Benjamin has a longer version of this boast as well.
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* BadassBoast "Oh come on! Delivered to an apathetic police officer: "Sergeant, I've plunged just been to the outer solar system and back to track down a mad scientist. I've been shot at with secret weapons, destroyed robots that could take down tanks, and fallen from orbit on ''wings without benefit of fire''... so a re-entry vehicle. (beat) I don't ''even'' think ''you'' can scare me!" Benjamin has a longer version of this boast as well.need your rudeness added to my troubles, okay?"
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* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Haas has a bad case of this.
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* WellIntentionedExtremist: Virgil Haas is pretty much this. He's a MadScientist, yeah, and he's willing to hijack ships and kill people who are on his trail. But he doesn't want to kill innocent civilians, and he's intent on [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans taking over the world to create a society where robots do all the drudge work, so that humans can dedicate themselves entirely to pursuits of art, science, exploration, and leisure.]]
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** The Voice is visually represented by the speaker's spoken or telepathic dialogue being written in '''BOLD CAPS''', the rest of the bubble being filled with repetitions of what is being said, in different-sized typefaces and various shades of gray. At one point, when Mars finds out that [[spoiler:Caprice isn't dead]], the telepathic response is jumbled up with about two dozen different expressions of relief, most of them in lowercase.
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Linking to the end of the Talking Her Way Out as well.
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* TalkingYourWayOut: When [[spoiler:Caprice]] is captured, [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos344.html she pulls this off.]]
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* TalkingYourWayOut: When [[spoiler:Caprice]] is captured, [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos344.html she pulls this off.]]off]] by convincing [[spoiler:Dryden]] that [[spoiler:[[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos359.html the only way to stop Mars from attacking is to get her access to a telephone]]]].
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* AGodIAmNot: Mars is quick to [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos023.html point out]] that it isn't omnipotent; merely extremely powerful.
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* NotAGodAmI: Mars is quick to [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos023.html point out]] that it isn't omnipotent; merely extremely powerful.
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There\'s a trope for that now
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* AGodAmI: Averted; Mars is quick to [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos023.html point out]] that it isn't omnipotent; merely extremely powerful.
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* NotAGodAmI: Mars is quick to [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos023.html point out]] that it isn't omnipotent; merely extremely powerful.
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* {{Autodoc}}: [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos349.html The hospital]].
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* {{Autodoc}}: [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos349.html The hospital]]. A rare example of a ''sentient'' Autodoc.
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--->['''Ben:''': somewhat hysterically [[CrowningMomentOfFunny "He shot my gun!]] He ''shot'' my ''gun!'' ''Why are you negotiating with the man who '''shot my gun'''?!"''
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* GratuitousGerman: "Vorstellen Polizei" (the name of the "Vorstellen Police" that written in it's HQ) is baaaad German for "Imagination Police", correct would be "Vorstellungs-Polizei" or something like that.
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* GratuitousGerman: "Vorstellen Polizei" (the name of the "Vorstellen Police" that written in over the entrance to it's HQ) is baaaad German for "Imagination Police", correct would be "Vorstellungs-Polizei" or something like that.
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* GratuitousGerman: "Vorstellen Polizei" (the name of the "Vorstellen Police" that written in it's HQ) is baaaad German for "Imagination Police", correct would be "Vorstellungs-Polizei" or something like that.
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removed non-example
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''[[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/ A Miracle of Science]]'' is a [[Mohs/WorldOfPhlebotinum science fiction]] Main/{{webcomic}} written by Jon Kilgannon and drawn by Mark Sachs. It ran from 2002 to 2007 and was set [[Main/{{TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture}} in the year 2148]], when humanity has spread across the solar system from Venus to Ganymede, and robotics and artificial intelligence are well developed, advanced sciences. Also of note is the science of memetics, which can be used to treat (or cause) psychological issues. Of key importance in the story is one specific meme, ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder (or, more colloquially, [[Main/{{MadScientist}} mad science]]).
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''[[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/ A Miracle of Science]]'' is a [[Mohs/WorldOfPhlebotinum science fiction]] Main/{{webcomic}} written by Jon Kilgannon and drawn by Mark Sachs. It ran from 2002 to 2007 and was set [[Main/{{TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture}} in the year 2148]], 2148, when humanity has spread across the solar system from Venus to Ganymede, and robotics and artificial intelligence are well developed, advanced sciences. Also of note is the science of memetics, which can be used to treat (or cause) psychological issues. Of key importance in the story is one specific meme, ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder (or, more colloquially, [[Main/{{MadScientist}} mad science]]).
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Badass Labcoat is redirected per TRS.
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* BadassLabcoat: Virgil Haas wears it.
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* InstantAIJustAddWater: "Any machine smart enough to detect Martians will eventually become self-aware."
** Though this may be an intentional ploy on the Martians' part, since they built the machine in the first place. And Caprice does admit that they had to do a bit of bribery to make sure all the parts got installed.
** Though this may be an intentional ploy on the Martians' part, since they built the machine in the first place. And Caprice does admit that they had to do a bit of bribery to make sure all the parts got installed.
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* InstantAIJustAddWater: "Any machine smart device complex enough to detect Martians will is going to eventually become self-aware."
** Though this may be an intentional ploy on the Martians' part, since they built the machine in the first place. And [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos395.html Caprice doesadmit admit]] that they had to do a bit of bribery to make sure all the parts got installed.
** Though this may be an intentional ploy on the Martians' part, since they built the machine in the first place. And [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos395.html Caprice does
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* InstantAIJustAddWater: "Any machine smart enough to detect Martians will eventually become sentient."
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* InstantAIJustAddWater: "Any machine smart enough to detect Martians will eventually become sentient.self-aware."
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** Also averted insofar as the robots are rarely: if ever humanoid, being shaped to their purposes.
* [[spoiler:SanitySlippage: Noticeable in Benjamin if you know what you're looking for, though thankfully he gets better.]]
* [[spoiler:SanitySlippage: Noticeable in Benjamin if you know what you're looking for, though thankfully he gets better.]]
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** Also averted insofar as the robots are rarely: rarely, if ever humanoid, being shaped to their purposes.
*[[spoiler:SanitySlippage: SanitySlippage Noticeable in Benjamin [[spoiler:Benjamin]] if you know what you're looking for, though thankfully he [[spoiler:he gets better.]]
*
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* ShutUpKiss: [[spoiler:(on the [[LastMinuteHookup penultimate page]]]]
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* ShutUpKiss: [[spoiler:(on [[spoiler:on the [[LastMinuteHookup penultimate page]]]]
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* ShownTheirWork: Kilgannon and Sachs are both computer professionals and science geeks, and it shows, making Webcomic/AMiracleOfScience one of the hardest-SF webcomics out there. They're courteous enough to confine the worst of the infodumps to the "John/Mark Sez" columns beside the latest panel.
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* ShownTheirWork: Kilgannon and Sachs are both computer professionals and science geeks, and it shows, making Webcomic/AMiracleOfScience ''Webcomic/AMiracleOfScience'' one of the hardest-SF webcomics out there. They're courteous enough to confine the worst of the infodumps to the "John/Mark Sez" columns beside the latest panel.
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let\'s not link to Main/ on the page itself
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* ShownTheirWork: Kilgannon and Sachs are both computer professionals and science geeks, and it shows, making AMiracleOfScience one of the hardest-SF webcomics out there. They're courteous enough to confine the worst of the infodumps to the "John/Mark Sez" columns beside the latest panel.
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* ShownTheirWork: Kilgannon and Sachs are both computer professionals and science geeks, and it shows, making AMiracleOfScience Webcomic/AMiracleOfScience one of the hardest-SF webcomics out there. They're courteous enough to confine the worst of the infodumps to the "John/Mark Sez" columns beside the latest panel.
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moved to webcomic namespace
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->''"When you're a recovering mad scientist, you're always afraid you'll lose control and wake up some morning with a half-built time machine in the living room and a plan to go back in time and pants {{Hitler}}."''
''[[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/ A Miracle of Science]]'' is a [[Mohs/WorldOfPhlebotinum science fiction]] Main/{{webcomic}} written by Jon Kilgannon and drawn by Mark Sachs. It ran from 2002 to 2007 and was set [[Main/{{TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture}} in the year 2148]], when humanity has spread across the solar system from Venus to Ganymede, and robotics and artificial intelligence are well developed, advanced sciences. Also of note is the science of memetics, which can be used to treat (or cause) psychological issues. Of key importance in the story is one specific meme, ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder (or, more colloquially, [[Main/{{MadScientist}} mad science]]).
Key characters include Benjamin Prester, a field agent of the Vorstellen Police, a law-enforcement agency specializing in SRMD; Caprice Quevillion, a Martian forensic psychiatrist assigned as his partner; and Virgil Haas, the [[Main/{{MadScientist}} Mad Scientist]] they attempt to capture. The story opens not long after Mars, a [[Main/{{CrystalSpiresAndTogas}} utopian]] [[Main/{{HiveMind}} group intelligence]], has ended a century of self-imposed isolation.
Given its Mad Scientist motif, one should expect that a significant number of tropes appear as important plot points in the comic. In fact, given the science of memetics, the characters themselves use tropes (common examples being the [[Main/{{ChaseScene}} Chase Scene]] and the [[Main/{{Denouement}} Denouement]]) as psychological aids when dealing with mad scientists.
Kilgannon and Sachs went on to collaborate on a second webcomic, titled Webcomic/AfterlifeBlues.
----
!This webcomic provided the name of:
* [[Main/{{ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder}} Science Related Memetic Disorder]]: The name of the mad science disease.
!And examples of:
* AbsentAliens: Mars' version of SETI turns up with lots of aliens... [[spoiler: but they're all dead. By at least a thousand years. "You've got to love existential angst on a planetary level..."]]
* AntiVillain: Yes, Virgil Haas is a MadScientist. Yes, he wants to take over the world. But he'd rather not kill anyone to do it. Like [[spoiler: the crews of the civilian ships with which he could have rammed the first ''Qin''.]]
* AmericaTakesOverTheWorld: Well, not exactly the world, but they seem to have taken over Canada. And there's a space colony that's nominally in the US, contravening present-day treaties.
** Annexing nearby countries isn't just a US thing in the [=AMoS=]-verse, either; Peru has been absorbed into Brazil.
* {{Autodoc}}: [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos349.html The hospital]].
* BadassBoast "Oh come on! I've plunged down from orbit on ''wings of fire''... so don't ''even'' think ''you'' can scare me!" Benjamin has a longer version of this boast as well.
* BadassLabcoat: Virgil Haas wears it.
* BadassLongcoat: Benjamin wears one most of the time.
* [[strike:[[BatmanCanBreatheInSpace Batman]]]] Caprice [[BatmanCanBreatheInSpace Can Breathe In Space]], thanks to Martian technology being SufficientlyAdvanced to keep a pocket of air around her wherever she goes.
* BigGuyLittleGuy: Dryden and Chaucer, respectively, are a robotic version and thus able to take the trope to new heights.: Chaucer is the size and shape of a hamster ball; Dryden is several times bigger than a human.
* BlackEyesOfEvil: Minus the "evil" part. See the VoiceOfTheLegion entry below.
* BroughtDownToNormal: [[spoiler:Caprice Quevillion was disconnected from Mars.]] [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]].
* ChaseScene and {{Denouement}}, as mentioned. The ChaseScene is actually a vital part of proper treatment of SRMD; if the MadScientist is not given the psychological fulfillment of a direct confrontation with authority, he'll go even ''more'' crazy.
* CheerfulChild: Wei Quevillion, Caprice's seven-year-old sister.
* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:Benjamin Prester]]'s therapy is [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos270.html reported to be robust against anything less than a major psychological disturbance]].
-->[[TheRant Jon Kilgannon]]: [[LampshadeHanging This page is guaranteed to be 100% free of foreshadowing.]] [[BlatantLies I swear.]]
* CloserThanTheyAppear: [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos354.html This strip]] does it with a pair of glowing evil eyes, in the middle of a chase scene.
* ConcealmentEqualsCover: subverted on [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos323.html this page]]. When Benjamin is attempting to take cover behind an upturned table, the man shooting at him simply shoots ''through'' the table... and then mocks him for taking cover behind such a flimsy object.
* CrystalSpiresAndTogas: Mars.
* CutLexLuthorACheck: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] as actual insanity, but also subverted as mad scientists' inventions are quickly turned into useful technology for everyone. It's implied that {{The Government}}'s willingness to cut those checks is what led to the advanced society depicted in the comic.
* CyberpunkWithAChanceOfRain: Venus is like this.
* DaChief: Agent Nyerere.
* DetachedSleeves: Caprice.
* [[spoiler: EverybodyLives]]
* EvilLaugh: Mad scientists do this ''a lot''
** If you get a group of them together in one place, [[spoiler:though Benjamin is so far the only known example of an SRMD sufferer who sought out allies]], they will apparently hold ''contests''.
* ForScience!
* GenkiGirl: Wei Quevillion, as the protagonists comment on [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos166.html this page]].
* GeniusBruiser: The Pindars, which [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos393.html gets on Chaucer's nerves at one point]]:
-->'''Chaucer''': Rrrg! I told Doctor Haas he shouldn't make you Pindars so smart.
-->'''Pindar-Two''': I'm going to take that as a compliment.
* GeniusLoci: The Martian people form a collective consciousness.
-->'''Caprice''': Mars likes you.
-->'''Benjamin''': That's like saying "''Brazil'' has decided you're ''cute''."
* GenreSavvy: The entire science of memetics relies on this. [[spoiler: The Vorstellen Police catches mad scientists by knowing exactly how they will react to certain situations.]]
** Virgil also appears to have read TheEvilOverlordList and avoids falling into several of the pitfalls outlined in it.
* AGodAmI: Averted; Mars is quick to [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos023.html point out]] that it isn't omnipotent; merely extremely powerful.
* GoodCopBadCop: Caprice being the good cop to Benjamin's bad cop. [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos266.html Lampshaded.]]
** A more dramatic example comes after [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos278.html they drop in on Dr. Beatriz Juruna.]]
* GoodHairEvilHair: In addition to [[ScaryShinyGlasses his glasses]] as noted below, one sign that Haas has developed ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder is that [[HairAntennae his bangs suddenly jut up and out]], managing to look like horns, or perhaps broken antennae.
** [[spoiler: Benjamin]] also has a different hairstyle when he's in mad science mode. Notably, he messes his hair back into this style when he relapses.
*** Maybe everyone has "normal" hair and "Mad Science" hair
* GracefulLoser: Most mad scientists end up being pretty relieved that they're stopped.
* GroundShatteringLanding: When Benjamin and Caprice crash into the surface of Mars from orbit.
* GunsDoNotWorkThatWay: Robots can be seen firing entire rounds, as opposed to just the bullet. The case stays in the weapon until extracted in real guns.
* HiveMind: Mars again, if you couldn't tell.
** Mars however works differently from most in that all members are their own individuals. They relay information to each other, and there is a distinct unified "Mars" meta-personality that can take posession when appropriate, but [[spoiler: all information is not immediately shared; the hive mind is divided in two, like the hemispheres of the brain. The Martians' greatest fear is that if both hemispheres were totally connected, the ''entire planet'' would become collectively susceptible to SRMD -- with the safety redundancies removed, a single case could spread rapidly through the population.]]
** Haas also has built an army of information-gathering robots that function on a simpler level like this.
* HonestAdvisor: Chaucer. Dr. Haas complains that Chaucer's always picking holes in his plans; Chaucer's response is that he's trying to ''help'', and merely being a yes man isn't helpful.
* HotScientist: Dr. Juruna
* HumanCannonball: Suborbital Express variant. A one-man pod is shot into space with a giant cannon, design courtesy of a MadScientist. When it fails, LudicrousGibs result. Fortunately the failure rate isn't very big...
* HypocriticalHumor: A background character [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos162.html here]] says "no one who is in favor of eugenics should be allowed to reproduce".
* ImagineSpot: Used in the explanation of the benefits of an AI HiveMind. Apparently, unlinked computers think about socks.
* InsistentTerminology: It is a thing mad scientists do. Special mention, though, goes to Beatriz "That's ''Doctor''" Juruna.
** Also of note: [[spoiler:Benjamin Prester insists on not being called Ben.]]
* InstantAIJustAddWater: "Any machine smart enough to detect Martians will eventually become sentient."
** Though this may be an intentional ploy on the Martians' part, since they built the machine in the first place. And Caprice does admit that they had to do a bit of bribery to make sure all the parts got installed.
* LensFlare: Used in the epilogue [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos426.html here]] and [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos432.html here]].
* LightningBruiser: The Pindars.
* MadScientist: Dr. Haas, Dr. Juruna, and [[spoiler: Ben Prester]].
* MagicalGirl: Caprice arguably qualifies as a superscience version of this, of the CuteWitch variety.
* MamaBear / PapaWolf: Mars is [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos358.html very protective of its people]].: That link is full of implicit spoilers, by the way.
* MentalFusion: See HiveMind, above.
* {{Nanomachines}}: The main source of the Martians' advanced technology.
* PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny: The People's Republic of the Moon, a drab-looking lunar colony that's heavily implied to be a Communist state (USSR imitation), at least at the time of flashback.
* PlotTechnology: subverted. When mad scientists are captured, their inventions and research are used for the benefit of society as a whole.
* TheRant: Reading Jon and Mark's columns is strictly optional, but they offer a bit more insight into the comic's world and also occasional scientific lectures.
* RedHeadedHero: Benjamin.
* RedOniBlueOni: Fabula and Syuzhet, color-coded little ball-shaped robots from the Martian Constabulary.
* RememberWhenYouBlewUpASun: See BadassBoast above.
* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: Robots with sentience will talk to themselves out loud; in fact, Benjamin points out that ''only'' sentient AI's are known to do this: suggesting it's actually rather common amongst them.
** Also averted insofar as the robots are rarely: if ever humanoid, being shaped to their purposes.
* [[spoiler:SanitySlippage: Noticeable in Benjamin if you know what you're looking for, though thankfully he gets better.]]
* ScaryShinyGlasses: The only time Dr. Haas doesn't have these is in the prologue, just before he catches SRMD
* SexByProxy: A romantic example: everyone on Mars ''loves'' Prester.
* ShutUpKiss: [[spoiler:(on the [[LastMinuteHookup penultimate page]]]]
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Solidly Idealist.
* ShownTheirWork: Kilgannon and Sachs are both computer professionals and science geeks, and it shows, making AMiracleOfScience one of the hardest-SF webcomics out there. They're courteous enough to confine the worst of the infodumps to the "John/Mark Sez" columns beside the latest panel.
* StarSpangledSpandex[=/=]BishieSparkle: Caprice's hair; WordOfGod says it's a fashion accessory.
* SufficientlyAdvancedAliens: subverted with the Martians, which are Sufficiently Advanced but actually human.
* TakeOverTheWorld: A seemingly common compulsion among mad scientists. Unusually for a MadScientist story, we get several hints as to ''how'', exactly, the various loonies in the story intend to "improve" the solar system once they're in charge of it.
* TalkingYourWayOut: When [[spoiler:Caprice]] is captured, [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos344.html she pulls this off.]]
* TheRedPlanet
* ThemeNaming: All of Virgil Haas's robots, much like himself, are named after famous writers and poets.
* ThereAreNoTherapists: Averted. Both main cast members ''are'' therapists -- Benjamin is equally as much a counselor for mad scientists as a detective, and Caprice is a medical doctor and psychiatrist. Therapy for Mad Scientists is a major plot point.
* ThouShaltNotKill: Benjamin Prester, Caprice Quevillion, and even Virgil Haas are or become unwilling to kill innocents. How well they stick by this rule during a disaster tells quite a bit about their resistance to [[VillainousBreakdown Breakdown]], and in Prester's case, CharacterDevelopment.
* TomeOfEldritchLore. While not mentioned directly in the plotline, it's mentioned in the site's glossary that the book ''Crank Theories of Robotics'' is a known cause of SRMD; effectively, one can become a MadScientist simply by reading it. Doctor Haas is seen with it in the prologue.
* TropersDoItWithoutNotability: "[[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos360.html Astronomers do it in the dark]]"
* VoiceOfTheLegion: Whenever the Martian group mind speaks through one of its members. Said member simultaneously acquires BlackEyesOfEvil: minus the "evil" part.
* WhatTheHellHero: Caprice immediately calls Benjamin out on his plan to escape Haas' attack on their ship by blasting up five civilian ships and killing a few hundred people. [[spoiler:This may or may not have been foreshadowing.]]
* WigDressAccent, subverted in [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos304.html this page]] by having a poorly-disguised version of the protagonists going through customs... and then having the ''actual'' protagonists enter the scene in the next page.
* WreckedWeapon: Benjamin has a gun [[spoiler: that he just built with his mad science abilities]] [[BlastingItOutOfTheirHands shot out of his hand]]. Twice.
--->['''Ben:''': somewhat hysterically [[CrowningMomentOfFunny "He shot my gun!]] He ''shot'' my ''gun!'' ''Why are you negotiating with the man who '''shot my gun'''?!"''
* YouCanBarelyStand: Word for word, in the final Chase Scene.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Blue hair runs in Caprice's family, presumably on her mother's side; her dad has brown hair, but every other Quevillion we see has some shade of blue hair. There's a smattering of extras with oddly colored hair, either flat-out unnatural or just [[DarkSkinnedBlond matching oddly]] [[DarkSkinnedRedhead with their skin tone]].
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''[[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/ A Miracle of Science]]'' is a [[Mohs/WorldOfPhlebotinum science fiction]] Main/{{webcomic}} written by Jon Kilgannon and drawn by Mark Sachs. It ran from 2002 to 2007 and was set [[Main/{{TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture}} in the year 2148]], when humanity has spread across the solar system from Venus to Ganymede, and robotics and artificial intelligence are well developed, advanced sciences. Also of note is the science of memetics, which can be used to treat (or cause) psychological issues. Of key importance in the story is one specific meme, ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder (or, more colloquially, [[Main/{{MadScientist}} mad science]]).
Key characters include Benjamin Prester, a field agent of the Vorstellen Police, a law-enforcement agency specializing in SRMD; Caprice Quevillion, a Martian forensic psychiatrist assigned as his partner; and Virgil Haas, the [[Main/{{MadScientist}} Mad Scientist]] they attempt to capture. The story opens not long after Mars, a [[Main/{{CrystalSpiresAndTogas}} utopian]] [[Main/{{HiveMind}} group intelligence]], has ended a century of self-imposed isolation.
Given its Mad Scientist motif, one should expect that a significant number of tropes appear as important plot points in the comic. In fact, given the science of memetics, the characters themselves use tropes (common examples being the [[Main/{{ChaseScene}} Chase Scene]] and the [[Main/{{Denouement}} Denouement]]) as psychological aids when dealing with mad scientists.
Kilgannon and Sachs went on to collaborate on a second webcomic, titled Webcomic/AfterlifeBlues.
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!This webcomic provided the name of:
* [[Main/{{ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder}} Science Related Memetic Disorder]]: The name of the mad science disease.
!And examples of:
* AbsentAliens: Mars' version of SETI turns up with lots of aliens... [[spoiler: but they're all dead. By at least a thousand years. "You've got to love existential angst on a planetary level..."]]
* AntiVillain: Yes, Virgil Haas is a MadScientist. Yes, he wants to take over the world. But he'd rather not kill anyone to do it. Like [[spoiler: the crews of the civilian ships with which he could have rammed the first ''Qin''.]]
* AmericaTakesOverTheWorld: Well, not exactly the world, but they seem to have taken over Canada. And there's a space colony that's nominally in the US, contravening present-day treaties.
** Annexing nearby countries isn't just a US thing in the [=AMoS=]-verse, either; Peru has been absorbed into Brazil.
* {{Autodoc}}: [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos349.html The hospital]].
* BadassBoast "Oh come on! I've plunged down from orbit on ''wings of fire''... so don't ''even'' think ''you'' can scare me!" Benjamin has a longer version of this boast as well.
* BadassLabcoat: Virgil Haas wears it.
* BadassLongcoat: Benjamin wears one most of the time.
* [[strike:[[BatmanCanBreatheInSpace Batman]]]] Caprice [[BatmanCanBreatheInSpace Can Breathe In Space]], thanks to Martian technology being SufficientlyAdvanced to keep a pocket of air around her wherever she goes.
* BigGuyLittleGuy: Dryden and Chaucer, respectively, are a robotic version and thus able to take the trope to new heights.: Chaucer is the size and shape of a hamster ball; Dryden is several times bigger than a human.
* BlackEyesOfEvil: Minus the "evil" part. See the VoiceOfTheLegion entry below.
* BroughtDownToNormal: [[spoiler:Caprice Quevillion was disconnected from Mars.]] [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]].
* ChaseScene and {{Denouement}}, as mentioned. The ChaseScene is actually a vital part of proper treatment of SRMD; if the MadScientist is not given the psychological fulfillment of a direct confrontation with authority, he'll go even ''more'' crazy.
* CheerfulChild: Wei Quevillion, Caprice's seven-year-old sister.
* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:Benjamin Prester]]'s therapy is [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos270.html reported to be robust against anything less than a major psychological disturbance]].
-->[[TheRant Jon Kilgannon]]: [[LampshadeHanging This page is guaranteed to be 100% free of foreshadowing.]] [[BlatantLies I swear.]]
* CloserThanTheyAppear: [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos354.html This strip]] does it with a pair of glowing evil eyes, in the middle of a chase scene.
* ConcealmentEqualsCover: subverted on [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos323.html this page]]. When Benjamin is attempting to take cover behind an upturned table, the man shooting at him simply shoots ''through'' the table... and then mocks him for taking cover behind such a flimsy object.
* CrystalSpiresAndTogas: Mars.
* CutLexLuthorACheck: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] as actual insanity, but also subverted as mad scientists' inventions are quickly turned into useful technology for everyone. It's implied that {{The Government}}'s willingness to cut those checks is what led to the advanced society depicted in the comic.
* CyberpunkWithAChanceOfRain: Venus is like this.
* DaChief: Agent Nyerere.
* DetachedSleeves: Caprice.
* [[spoiler: EverybodyLives]]
* EvilLaugh: Mad scientists do this ''a lot''
** If you get a group of them together in one place, [[spoiler:though Benjamin is so far the only known example of an SRMD sufferer who sought out allies]], they will apparently hold ''contests''.
* ForScience!
* GenkiGirl: Wei Quevillion, as the protagonists comment on [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos166.html this page]].
* GeniusBruiser: The Pindars, which [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos393.html gets on Chaucer's nerves at one point]]:
-->'''Chaucer''': Rrrg! I told Doctor Haas he shouldn't make you Pindars so smart.
-->'''Pindar-Two''': I'm going to take that as a compliment.
* GeniusLoci: The Martian people form a collective consciousness.
-->'''Caprice''': Mars likes you.
-->'''Benjamin''': That's like saying "''Brazil'' has decided you're ''cute''."
* GenreSavvy: The entire science of memetics relies on this. [[spoiler: The Vorstellen Police catches mad scientists by knowing exactly how they will react to certain situations.]]
** Virgil also appears to have read TheEvilOverlordList and avoids falling into several of the pitfalls outlined in it.
* AGodAmI: Averted; Mars is quick to [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos023.html point out]] that it isn't omnipotent; merely extremely powerful.
* GoodCopBadCop: Caprice being the good cop to Benjamin's bad cop. [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos266.html Lampshaded.]]
** A more dramatic example comes after [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos278.html they drop in on Dr. Beatriz Juruna.]]
* GoodHairEvilHair: In addition to [[ScaryShinyGlasses his glasses]] as noted below, one sign that Haas has developed ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder is that [[HairAntennae his bangs suddenly jut up and out]], managing to look like horns, or perhaps broken antennae.
** [[spoiler: Benjamin]] also has a different hairstyle when he's in mad science mode. Notably, he messes his hair back into this style when he relapses.
*** Maybe everyone has "normal" hair and "Mad Science" hair
* GracefulLoser: Most mad scientists end up being pretty relieved that they're stopped.
* GroundShatteringLanding: When Benjamin and Caprice crash into the surface of Mars from orbit.
* GunsDoNotWorkThatWay: Robots can be seen firing entire rounds, as opposed to just the bullet. The case stays in the weapon until extracted in real guns.
* HiveMind: Mars again, if you couldn't tell.
** Mars however works differently from most in that all members are their own individuals. They relay information to each other, and there is a distinct unified "Mars" meta-personality that can take posession when appropriate, but [[spoiler: all information is not immediately shared; the hive mind is divided in two, like the hemispheres of the brain. The Martians' greatest fear is that if both hemispheres were totally connected, the ''entire planet'' would become collectively susceptible to SRMD -- with the safety redundancies removed, a single case could spread rapidly through the population.]]
** Haas also has built an army of information-gathering robots that function on a simpler level like this.
* HonestAdvisor: Chaucer. Dr. Haas complains that Chaucer's always picking holes in his plans; Chaucer's response is that he's trying to ''help'', and merely being a yes man isn't helpful.
* HotScientist: Dr. Juruna
* HumanCannonball: Suborbital Express variant. A one-man pod is shot into space with a giant cannon, design courtesy of a MadScientist. When it fails, LudicrousGibs result. Fortunately the failure rate isn't very big...
* HypocriticalHumor: A background character [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos162.html here]] says "no one who is in favor of eugenics should be allowed to reproduce".
* ImagineSpot: Used in the explanation of the benefits of an AI HiveMind. Apparently, unlinked computers think about socks.
* InsistentTerminology: It is a thing mad scientists do. Special mention, though, goes to Beatriz "That's ''Doctor''" Juruna.
** Also of note: [[spoiler:Benjamin Prester insists on not being called Ben.]]
* InstantAIJustAddWater: "Any machine smart enough to detect Martians will eventually become sentient."
** Though this may be an intentional ploy on the Martians' part, since they built the machine in the first place. And Caprice does admit that they had to do a bit of bribery to make sure all the parts got installed.
* LensFlare: Used in the epilogue [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos426.html here]] and [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos432.html here]].
* LightningBruiser: The Pindars.
* MadScientist: Dr. Haas, Dr. Juruna, and [[spoiler: Ben Prester]].
* MagicalGirl: Caprice arguably qualifies as a superscience version of this, of the CuteWitch variety.
* MamaBear / PapaWolf: Mars is [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos358.html very protective of its people]].: That link is full of implicit spoilers, by the way.
* MentalFusion: See HiveMind, above.
* {{Nanomachines}}: The main source of the Martians' advanced technology.
* PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny: The People's Republic of the Moon, a drab-looking lunar colony that's heavily implied to be a Communist state (USSR imitation), at least at the time of flashback.
* PlotTechnology: subverted. When mad scientists are captured, their inventions and research are used for the benefit of society as a whole.
* TheRant: Reading Jon and Mark's columns is strictly optional, but they offer a bit more insight into the comic's world and also occasional scientific lectures.
* RedHeadedHero: Benjamin.
* RedOniBlueOni: Fabula and Syuzhet, color-coded little ball-shaped robots from the Martian Constabulary.
* RememberWhenYouBlewUpASun: See BadassBoast above.
* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: Robots with sentience will talk to themselves out loud; in fact, Benjamin points out that ''only'' sentient AI's are known to do this: suggesting it's actually rather common amongst them.
** Also averted insofar as the robots are rarely: if ever humanoid, being shaped to their purposes.
* [[spoiler:SanitySlippage: Noticeable in Benjamin if you know what you're looking for, though thankfully he gets better.]]
* ScaryShinyGlasses: The only time Dr. Haas doesn't have these is in the prologue, just before he catches SRMD
* SexByProxy: A romantic example: everyone on Mars ''loves'' Prester.
* ShutUpKiss: [[spoiler:(on the [[LastMinuteHookup penultimate page]]]]
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Solidly Idealist.
* ShownTheirWork: Kilgannon and Sachs are both computer professionals and science geeks, and it shows, making AMiracleOfScience one of the hardest-SF webcomics out there. They're courteous enough to confine the worst of the infodumps to the "John/Mark Sez" columns beside the latest panel.
* StarSpangledSpandex[=/=]BishieSparkle: Caprice's hair; WordOfGod says it's a fashion accessory.
* SufficientlyAdvancedAliens: subverted with the Martians, which are Sufficiently Advanced but actually human.
* TakeOverTheWorld: A seemingly common compulsion among mad scientists. Unusually for a MadScientist story, we get several hints as to ''how'', exactly, the various loonies in the story intend to "improve" the solar system once they're in charge of it.
* TalkingYourWayOut: When [[spoiler:Caprice]] is captured, [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos344.html she pulls this off.]]
* TheRedPlanet
* ThemeNaming: All of Virgil Haas's robots, much like himself, are named after famous writers and poets.
* ThereAreNoTherapists: Averted. Both main cast members ''are'' therapists -- Benjamin is equally as much a counselor for mad scientists as a detective, and Caprice is a medical doctor and psychiatrist. Therapy for Mad Scientists is a major plot point.
* ThouShaltNotKill: Benjamin Prester, Caprice Quevillion, and even Virgil Haas are or become unwilling to kill innocents. How well they stick by this rule during a disaster tells quite a bit about their resistance to [[VillainousBreakdown Breakdown]], and in Prester's case, CharacterDevelopment.
* TomeOfEldritchLore. While not mentioned directly in the plotline, it's mentioned in the site's glossary that the book ''Crank Theories of Robotics'' is a known cause of SRMD; effectively, one can become a MadScientist simply by reading it. Doctor Haas is seen with it in the prologue.
* TropersDoItWithoutNotability: "[[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos360.html Astronomers do it in the dark]]"
* VoiceOfTheLegion: Whenever the Martian group mind speaks through one of its members. Said member simultaneously acquires BlackEyesOfEvil: minus the "evil" part.
* WhatTheHellHero: Caprice immediately calls Benjamin out on his plan to escape Haas' attack on their ship by blasting up five civilian ships and killing a few hundred people. [[spoiler:This may or may not have been foreshadowing.]]
* WigDressAccent, subverted in [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos304.html this page]] by having a poorly-disguised version of the protagonists going through customs... and then having the ''actual'' protagonists enter the scene in the next page.
* WreckedWeapon: Benjamin has a gun [[spoiler: that he just built with his mad science abilities]] [[BlastingItOutOfTheirHands shot out of his hand]]. Twice.
--->['''Ben:''': somewhat hysterically [[CrowningMomentOfFunny "He shot my gun!]] He ''shot'' my ''gun!'' ''Why are you negotiating with the man who '''shot my gun'''?!"''
* YouCanBarelyStand: Word for word, in the final Chase Scene.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Blue hair runs in Caprice's family, presumably on her mother's side; her dad has brown hair, but every other Quevillion we see has some shade of blue hair. There's a smattering of extras with oddly colored hair, either flat-out unnatural or just [[DarkSkinnedBlond matching oddly]] [[DarkSkinnedRedhead with their skin tone]].
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