It's here.
Take a look at that thread, but I'm going to leave this one open because the old one doesn't place the discussion tag, and the old mark-up doesn't work anymore.
In fact, I'm going to lock the old one.
edited 16th Oct '10 2:09:23 PM by Madrugada
"And I bet you can't guess what The Worm Guy is about, at all, from the title."
I did, actually, but bad name.
Helpful Scripts and Stylesheets here.I suggest Taken Out Of Their Field. (It's probably not good to name a character trope after a less memorable part of a commonly reviled movie.)
I feel like this is related to Call to Adventure. Maybe Call To Science?
How about Dragooned Scientist? The phrase seems to fit.
Regarding Call to Adventure and Call To Science mentioned above, that sounds like a term that would be more appropriate for cases where the person being "called" is the main or viewpoint character as a narrative device for kicking off a story, but seems less appropriate for a character that's not at the center of the narrative.
edited 31st Dec '10 7:28:42 PM by nonpalindromic
What does dragooned in this instance mean? Is there an aspect I'm not getting?
Fight smart, not fair.Ah, I was misremembering the trope. I was thinking "a scientist from a barely related field brought in" because of the example.
Fight smart, not fair.I've never heard the word dragooned used like this, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt since that's just me.
However, based on the definition given, it doesn't seem quite appropriate. These aren't just scientists being coerced by force, they're scientists being coerced by force to work with the coercer for some plan (as opposed to just being coerced to stop their research or keep quiet or whatever). It's much more specific. I think something like Drafted Scientist would be much more appropriate.
edited 2nd Jan '11 4:24:52 AM by Clarste
Now that you mention it, "Drafted" sounds like a nice alternative to "Dragooned", particularly since it's more common and more immediately recognizable, while capturing the general idea.
Also, I was thinking that it might be appropriate to use "Specialist" rather than "Scientist", (i.e. "Drafted Specialist" or "Dragooned Specialist") since there are a number of technical workers who might get pulled in this way who are not specifically scientists. Hackers or other computer specialists, as is the case in movies like "Swordfish" or "Sneakers", for example.
Without getting into any connotations, I'm still going to favor Drafterd over Shanghaied due to being easier to spell.
Fight smart, not fair.Amusingly Drafted was the one you misspelled there. That said, Drafted just sounds like the wrong word. You draft from a pool. It obfuscates the very important bit of the trope that the reason that they pulled this person in is because they're the only one who can do the job. There isn't a pool. That's why they forced this specific specialist to help them.
Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. DickHijacked then. Co-opted, coerced, conscripted. I should go to an online thesaurus or something.
Fight smart, not fair.The point about "drafted" is well taken, it does cloud the intended meaning of the trope.
I like the sound of "Conscripted Specialist", as it emphasizes the specific intent of appropriating the particular individual to render a particular service, as opposed to simply kidnapping someone to simply confine them because they witnessed a crime or something.

I'm always mixing The Worm Guy up with The Worm That Walks. And I bet you can't guess what The Worm Guy is about, at all, from the title. Apparently, it's more or less a Cunning Linguist, except one who's useful for his expertise in one of the natural sciences. Worms are nowhere near a necessary component...
I guess we could rename it Unwilling Scientific Consultant... if you want to be a bit dry and longwinded about it.