Line #128 Main/ResearchInc


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7	[[quoteright:300:[[VideoGame/{{Portal}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Aperture_Science_poster_ATFIS_1412.jpg]]]]
8
9	->''"Gentek: We're not playing God. We're just doing His work."''
10	-->-- ''VideoGame/Prototype2''
11
12	Research Inc. is a company that serves as the birthplace of technology and innovation. Generally, for technology that doesn't yet exist in the real world. It may be a whole company dedicated to one aspect of science, or an independent contractor, or just one part of a larger MegaCorp, but in any case, they're usually [[OnlyInItForTheMoney in it for a profit]] or [[WhereDoesHeGetAllThoseWonderfulToys new toys]].
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14	Think tanks, policy institutes, research laboratories, [[MildlyMilitary military bases]], [[SecretGovernmentWarehouse secret facilities]]; there are many locations a scientist ({{mad\|Scientist}} or otherwise) can get a decent salary (plus benefits) and [[BlatantLies never have to worry about]] ethical [[GrayingMorality problems]].
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16	The actual facilities very likely double as a modern MadScientistLaboratory, but could also be found {{abandoned\|Laboratory}}. Actual research may occur or it could [[ExcusePlot just be there]] ForScience Often they're run by a CorruptCorporateExecutive.
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18	Compare with CutLexLuthorACheck. Contrast with ForScience, as this tends to be [[OnlyInItForTheMoney For Money!]]
19
20	----
21	!!Examples:
22
23	[[foldercontrol]]
24
25	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
26	* Genom is a MegaCorp in ''Anime/BubblegumCrisis'' that does a lot of R&D to [[AIIsACrapshoot disastrous effect]].
27	* PANDORA from ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' does research on [[EldritchLocation Hell's Gate]] and may or may not develop technology based on its properties.
28	* ''Anime/GhostHound'' has a research facility in the hills just outside town, Dai-Nippon Bio.
29	* ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'' has a ''lot'' of these: Derumo, Kenbishi Heavy Industries, Kyo-Re, Locus-Solus, Meditech Corp, Hanka Precision Instruments, Poseidon Industrial Co., Serano Genomics, Tokura Electronics, and likely others; all do commercial R&D.
30	* ''Manga/PandoraHearts'' has a GaslampFantasy variation of this: the organization Pandora (unrelated to that from ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'') was made for the express purpose of studying [[EldritchLocation the Abyss]], [[OurMonstersAreDifferent the Chains]], [[RealityWarper the Will of the Abyss]], and their impact on the real world. The true object of their research is kept secret from the general public, and the main character only learns the truth after getting thrown into the Abyss himself and being forced to join the organization.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Comic Books]]
34	* ''Franchise/TheDCU'':
35	** [[FunWithAcronyms S.T.A.R. Labs]] (Scientific and Technological Advanced Research) is an independent group of research laboratories throughout the U.S. It has a long history of coming up with high technology and new inventions, and has also regularly gotten involved in superheroic activities.
36	** Project Cadmus was into [[LegoGenetics genetic engineering]]; its {{abandoned laborator\|y}}ies are in some caverns near Metropolis. The most famous results of their work are ComicBook/{{Superboy\|1994}}/Kon-El -- or S-13, as they labeled him -- and the Golden Guardian.
37	* ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'': [[ComicBook/IronMan Stark Industries]] often seems to fill this role, getting the credit for any real fancy tech that needs explaining, although it's primarily an armaments manufacturer that’s diversified. [[Characters/MarvelComicsAIM A.I.M.]] ([[FunWithAcronyms Advanced Ideas Mechanics]]) is more of a criminal conspiracy with a heavy super-science bent, but it may sometimes work through front companies.
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Fan Works]]
41	* ''Fanfic/AbraxasHrodvitnon'': [[spoiler:Apex Cybernetics]] are this; printing blueprints for protective suits and vehicles designed to enable soldiers to survive amidst [[{{Kaiju}} Titans]] in mind.
42	* ''Fanfic/WithThisRing'': Paul would prefer to work through [=LexCorp=], since Lex is an excellent manager, but since Lex remains involved in supervillainy, Paul instead funnels ideas through Ted Kord and his company [=KordTech=]. Weather control drones based on Professor Morrow's robots (including Red Tornado), arcane metals like orichalcum based on Themyscira's expertise, the Thinking Cap that grants {{telepathy}} and [[MindOverMatter telekinesis]]...
43	[[/folder]]
44
45	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
46	* Bartok Industries starts up where Seth Brundle left off in ''Film/TheFlyII''.
47	* ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'': Apex Cybernetics are highly invested in the fields of robotics, A.I. and neurology, and it's overall implied that humanity's technological progress has sped up in response to [[TheUnmasquedWorld the Titans' mere existence]]. Apex's inventions include maglev (magnetic levitation) underground trains, [[HumongousMecha Mechagodzilla]], ElectronicTelepathy, and [=HEAVs=] built to survive planetary gravity inversions.
48	* Bradford Labs in ''Film/InspectorGadget1999''.
49	* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'': Stark Industries seems to be responsible for just about all technology more advanced than what is actually available in the present day -- except when their competitor Justin Hammer gets the blame. Hammer's stuff is often [[IncompetenceInc grossly unreliable]] and/or [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum salvaged alien tech]] (or a bad copy of a Stark development).
50	* ''Franchise/StarWars'' has Sienar Advanced Projects Laboratory (which designed Darth Maul's Scimitar starship) and Czerka Arms, which runs droid laboratories.
51	* Cyberdyne Systems from ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' was [[TimeyWimeyBall at one point]] the origin of the Terminators and [[AIIsACrapshoot Skynet]].
52	* ''Film/Underworld2003'': Antigen from ''Awakening'' focuses on medical research.
53	* ''Film/Venom2018'': The Life Foundation is a multibillion-dollar corporation that's investigating everything from cancer treatments to space exploration. Unfortunately, its founder is mostly concerned with surviving any sort of global crisis the future might hold, and is willing to chew through any number of human test subjects to do so.
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:Let's Plays]]
57	* Yoglabs from ''LetsPlay/{{Yogscast}}'' is mod testing disguised as this.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Literature]]
61	* In the ''Literature/HeecheeSaga'', the Gateway Corporation makes all its money by researching applications of alien technology and other discoveries brought back by the volunteers who fly in the mysterious and often deadly alien ships found on Gateway asteroid.
62	* Galactic Cybersystems Corporation in ''Literature/TheHistoryOfTheGalaxy'' had a planet dedicated to R&D.
63	* In the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'', the Durona Group was set up by Miles' brother Mark (using some of the millions he got at Jackson's Whole) to research [[LongevityTreatment life-extension techniques]] that will help put an end to the morally repugnant Jacksonian clone-and-[[BrainTransplant brain-swap]] business.
64	[[/folder]]
65
66	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
67	* ''Series/BabylonFive'' and ''Series/{{Crusade}}'' have Interplanetary Expeditions (IPX for short), a private Earth-based commercial company which [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin funds archaeological expeditions to alien planets]] in the hopes of finding ancient technology to [[ImportedAlienPhlebotinum reverse-engineer and incorporate into Earth technology]]. They sort of dance on the line between outright corrupt and merely kind of dodgy, and the minor characters in ''B5'' and main character in ''Crusade'' that we see work for them often aren't the greatest of people even when they're on the good guys' side.
68	* ''Series/BetterOffTed'' takes place in the R&D section of Viridian Dynamics, and they develop everything from artificial meat to killer cyborgs.
69	* ''Series/DoctorWho'': Cybus Industries made the Cybermen ([[HumanResources mostly]]) and earpiece communicator thingies (that double as {{Mind Control Device}}s).
70	* ''Series/TheDrewCareyShow'': When the gang infiltrates Lewis's workplace of [=DrugCo=], we see things like gigantic insects and interchangeable heads. They also offered large amounts of money for a man to test breast implants. Double if they pose for the calendar.
71	-->'''Kate:''' Does any actual research go on at [=DrugCo=], or is it just one big game of "Truth or Dare"?
72	* ''Series/{{Eureka}}'' has Global Dynamics, which isn't a true MegaCorp as it only does R&D with government supervision.
73	* ''Series/{{Fringe}}'''s [[MegaCorp Massive Dynamic]] specializes in biotech.
74	* In ''Series/{{Helix}}'', Arctic Biosystems is a private company staffed by over a hundred {{Morally Ambiguous Doctorate}}s who specifically come to the base, stationed in international territory, to exploit the opportunity to perform research unburdened by regulatory agencies. Its problems begin when a SyntheticPlague it's been developing gets out of control, and results in an outbreak of TheVirus amongst its research scientists.
75	* The Hanso Foundation from ''Series/{{Lost}}'' has the motto "Reach Out to a Better Tomorrow" and financed the [[FunWithAcronyms DHARMA Initiative]]. Mittelos Bioscience doesn't count as it's [[spoiler:just a front the Others use for recruitment]].
76	* Gizmonic Institute in ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000''. We don't get a clear picture of ''what'' they do (some sort of science things -- Joel mentions cleaning up a Film/{{Flubber}} spill in the subbasement), but even a low-level janitor like Joel is a skilled, if eccentric, inventor.
77	[[/folder]]
78
79	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
80	* ''TabletopGame/DeltaGreen'':
81	** The most prominent is March Industries. Originally started as a front company of [[GovernmentConspiracy MAJESTIC-12]] for advanced research, but after their collapse many ex-MAJESTIC personnel went to work at March (Including four former members of the MJ-12's Steering Committee). The reformed Delta Green can't shut down March since it's a major part of the Military-Industrial complex and are the only ones with know-how to research alien technologies and the paranormal, so the Program made an alliance (or better said, an [[KeepingTheEnemyClose uneasy truce]]) to have March make research for them, while March executives abuse that position to profit and maybe take their position back in the future.
82	** The real-life [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAND_Corporation RAND Corporation]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin Lockheed Martin]] appear as possible options of employers for player characters in the sourcebook ''The Complex''.
83	* ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'': Freedom City has The Foundry. Lead by the ancient android Talos, they are often hired by other supervillains and crime syndicates to provide research and technical expertise. Its west coast rival, Ghostworks, does much the same in Emerald City.
84	* The ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness'' has a few:
85	** ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension'' has groups within the Technocracy -- [[{{Cyborg}} Iteration X]] and the [[EvilutionaryBiologist Progenitors]] -- responsible for futuristic technology, but they’re conspiracies, not companies; front companies operated by the Syndicate, the branch of the Technocracy responsible for economics, may ''appear'' to fill this role.
86	** The trope is {{subverted\|Trope}} in ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'', where Pentex and its subsidiaries are all just a front for an EldritchAbomination, lying about their curses coming from research [[DoingInTheScientist when it's really magic]].
87	* Triax from ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'' used to be one of these, but now acts more an arm of the New German Republic.
88	* There are more than a few in the MegaCorp-dominated ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}''.
89	* In ''TabletopGame/TranshumanSpace'', pretty much any company that's worth mentioning in the game supplements ends up playing this part to some extent; it's a [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture near-future SF setting]] with the technology jammed on fast forward, after all. But especially notable examples would include Biotech Euphrates, a major biotech company with a sometimes shaky grasp of ethics, Omokage Laboratories, another biotech outfit with no detectable ethics at all, and Exogenesis, a corporate research division who, after they were bought out, came under armed assault from ''their own management'' because their idea of science seemed to come with the mandatory prefix [[MadScientist "mad"]]. The latter two are based in the asteroid belt, where supervision is harder.
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Theatre]]
93	* In ''Theatre/{{Urinetown}}'', this is supposedly one of the primary missions of the UGC (Urine Good Company), the company that owns and operates the public toilets. It's mentioned mainly in passing in a musical number:
94	-->''We're not greedy, as some make us seem.\
95	We need funds for our big research team.\
96	Men in [[LabcoatOfScienceAndMedicine lab coats]] with [[TechnicolorScience test tubes that steam]].\
97	What it shows, no one knows, but hey, still we can dream.''
98	[[/folder]]
99
100	[[folder:Video Games]]
101	* ''VideoGame/AlienIsolation'': Gemini Exoplanet Solutions, a research and development company specializing in mineral extraction. It operated a laboratory on Sevastopol from which it ran Project KG-348.
102	* Abstergo in ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed''. It also helps make money to keep a [[AncientConspiracy secret society]] going strong.
103	* ''VideoGame/BioShock'':
104	** Fontaine Industries, Ryan Industries and Sinclair Solutions are among the {{Mega Corp}}s who heavily and agresively invested in research, whether in [[PsychoSerum ADAM]] or other fields. ''VideoGame/BioShock2: Minervas Den'' feature very advanced artificial intelligences, even compared to the ones available on 2022.
105	** ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'' also features Fink Industries, but it's eventually revealed that their "research" amounts mostly to stealing secrets from other timelines.
106	* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3'': Future Tech is a Netherlands-based company that provides the Allies with just about all their higher-tech weapons, including freeze weaponry, the proton collider, and the chronosphere. They get upgraded to villain status (including VillainProtagonist) in the expansion, when their CEO plans something sinister involving stopping time.
107	* ''Franchise/DeusExUniverse'':
108	** ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' has pharmaceutical giant Versalife, which even has [[ElaborateUndergroundBase secret underground labs]].
109	** ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' has an entire field of biotech corporations specializing in researching and developing new [[{{Cyborg}} mechanical augmentations]], the most prominent of which are Sarif Industries, Tai Yong Medical and Darrow Industries, the latter of which has shifted to geoengineering to combat global warming.
110	* A central element of ''VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon'' is the Armacham Technology Corporation (ATC), which is almost entirely responsible for all the problems in the game.
111	* Black Mesa Research Facility from ''VideoGame/HalfLife''.
112	* A villainous example from ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'': Binary Helix, a corporation primarily owned by Saren, invests heavily in (as the name implies) genetics research -- meaning that it's the source of the [[BugWar entire incident on Noveria with the rachni]], Saren's [[MacGuffin genophage cure]], and most of his OffscreenVillainDarkMatter.
113	* The Murkoff Corporation from ''VideoGame/{{Outlast}}'' is a highly immoral research organization holding incredibly dangerous technologies that they use to perform experiments on humans. The company apparently has multiple research projects at multiple locations, with [[BedlamHouse Mount Massive Asylum]] being the grounds for their Walrider Project.
114	* ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'' concerns a shadow conflict between two of these. The dataDyne corporation is a US defense contractor -- in an early level you can find a prototype rifle the NSA forces use in a later mission -- but is secretly conspiring to overthrow the government on behalf of [[ReptilianConspiracy the reptilians]]. Its rival the Carrington Institute presents itself as a private R&D center, and helped develop the setting's {{Flying Car}}s, but is secretly a SpySchool that runs covert operations against corporations and even the US government, and is allied with TheGreys.
115	* Aperture Science from the ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' series was the aforementioned [[VideoGame/HalfLife Black Mesa]]'s UnknownRival, but gradually went into decline over decades of being more interested in [[MadScientist wild experimentation and building insane contraptions]] than in corporate profit. [[AIIsACrapshoot GLaDOS]] killing off most the staff and taking over the main testing facility just put the nail in the coffin.
116	* ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'' and ''VideoGame/Prototype2'' have [=GenTek=], a genetics company that seems to be a front for the shadowy military agency Blackwatch. They claim to be researching ways to cure diseases, disfigurement, and ''death'', but in practice they're more like a mob of {{Sociopathic Soldier}}s and {{Mad Scientist}}s interested mainly in terrorizing the citizens of New York. In the second game, you can find [=GenTek=] loudspeakers broadcasting messages telling citizens to "ignore the rumors" and trying to hit them up for money.
117	* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' initially features the Umbrella Corporation [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil5 and later TRICELL]], which were both into pharmaceutical R&D.
118	* The ''Cities of Tomorrow'' expansion pack for ''VideoGame/SimCity'' introduces "The Academy", a super-advanced facility full of science gurus that lets mayors research expensive, but very useful additions to their cities/region.
119	* Materialist-focused [[MegaCorp Mega-Corporations]] in ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' can be considered a shade of this on a galactic scale, though aside from some minor buffs to research, they don't play much differently from any other empire. Additionally, any [=MegaCorp=] can establish research-focused branch offices on other empires' planets, which are planetary-scale versions of this trope.
120	* ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' has the player run into a lot of products from [=TriOptimum=], a MegaCorp with a division dedicated to science.
121	* ''VideoGame/VectorThrust'' has Sigsawa Heavy Industries, who specialize completely in research and development of new heavy industry and force-application technology to sell to nations and manufacturers.
122	[[/folder]]
123
124	[[folder:Webcomics]]
125	* Hereti-Corp from ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' even [[RuleOfFunny programs their muffins to self-destruct]] lest they fall into the hands of a competitor.
126	* Cassie's workplace in ''Webcomic/TimesLikeThis'' is [=TerCon=] Technologies, a nanotech laboratory. The products that she says "may happen in the future" at the conventions are generally ones she's actually witnessed while time-tripping in the future.
127	[[/folder]]
128
129	[[folder:Websites]]
130	* ''Website/SCPFoundation'':
131	** The Foundation has a dedicated research staff who study the paranormal, primarily to figure out how to [[ArtifactCollectionAgency track down, capture]] and [[TailorMadePrison safely contain]] the things they've already encountered, secondarily to try to [[SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic figure out how the paranormal in general works]], and thirdly to figure out how to use the paranormal to create resources the Foundation can use (which is part of the reason the Foundation is an OrganizationWithUnlimitedFunding).
132	** Played even straighter with Prometheus Labs, one of the groups of interest tracked by the Foundation. This GOI is a rather sketchy research group with a great track record on figuring out how to turn anomalous effects into even more anomalous devices... and not such a great track record on things like remembering to add an off switch to an infinite power source.
133	[[/folder]]
134
135	[[folder:Western Animation]]
136	%% * ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' notably has David Xanatos, who owns Xanatos Enterprises. There's also Cyberbiotics, a rival corporation owned by the aging Halcyon Reynard, Xanatos' father-in-law. %%How is it Research Inc?
137	* ''WesternAnimation/Invincible2021'': The Global Defense Agency specifically have access to technology and research that the public has no access to or even knowledge of, including but not limited to a chemical that inhibits the ability to see certain frequencies of light and renders rooms' contents completely invisible.
138	[[/folder]]
139
140	[[folder:Real Life]]
141	* Institutionalized R&D started around the 1790s in UsefulNotes/{{France}} but didn't get going until the 1860s in the [[UsefulNotes/TheUnitedStates USA]] with the Cambria Iron Company, followed by the Pennsylvania Railroad, and eventually the famous [[UsefulNotes/ThomasEdison Thomas Edison Electric Light Company]]. By UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, most countries involved had research labs to make bigger and better weapons, and the UsefulNotes/ColdWar is famous for its LensmanArmsRace, with Western R&D not in the hands of governments so much as private contractors. Nowadays this trope is ubiquitous, and R&D itself is an essential part of our technological society.
142	* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAND_Corporation The RAND Corporation]] is an especially famous example of the trope in action. The name literally stands for [[FunWithAcronyms Research ANd Development]]. Originally formed to offer research and analysis to the United States armed forces, its scope has grown to encompass pure science including space exploration; civil and criminal justice; social policy including child welfare; public health; and many other areas. Thirty-two Nobel laureates have been associated with RAND at some point in their careers.
143	* German industrial corporation [=Robert Bosch GmbH=]. In its core automotive technology business, Bosch invests 9% of its revenue on research and development, nearly double the industry average of 4.7%. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bosch_GmbH The other wiki has more information.]]
144	* The pharmaceutical industry probably takes the cake on the research front, where most companies invest around 10-20% of their revenue on R&D.
145	** Defense contractors are pretty noteworthy for R&D spending as well, investing 10% or more of their profits (not to mention their notorious cost overruns).
146	* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_Labs Bell Labs]], who invented the first transistor (and later, the MOSFET), the photovoltic cell, radio astronomy, lasers, the C programming language, the UNIX operating system, and much more, racking up 9 Nobel Prizes in Physics in the process. The labs were spun off as part of Lucent when Ma Bell was no longer a legal monopoly and are now owned by Nokia.
147	* One that often surprises people: [[http://research.microsoft.com/ Microsoft,]] amazingly enough and despite their reputation. They have an absolutely insane R&D budget that accounts for something like 15% of their revenue. It's also considered one of the unfortunate jokes of the IT industry that despite having one of the biggest and best research divisions in the world, the corporate division [[ReedRichardsIsUseless steadfastly refuses to actually produce any of their best ideas]].
148	* [[http://research.ibm.com/ IBM]]'s R&D/revenue ratio is more like 7%, but they've had five Nobel laureates and as 2017 have patented more inventions in the US than any other company for [[LongRunners twenty-four years in a row]]. Suing IBM for patent infringement is [[MuggingTheMonster considered a bad idea]], because they generally call up their ArmyOfLawyers, have them take a look at your stuff, and say to your lawyer something like "Yeah, about that one patent of yours we're supposedly infringing... do you want to talk about the ''[[SpamAttack fifty]]'' [[SpamAttack patents of ours]] you're ''[[OhCrap definitely]]'' [[OhCrap infringing]]?"
149	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / ResearchInc