History Main / GeniusCripple

** Prior to becoming a cyborg, Viktor used to be this as shown in ''WesternAnimation/{{Arcane}}''. Ever since he was a child, he was frail and sickly, always having to walk around with a single crutch even into adulthood. For bonus points, he was also an [[IllGirl Ill Boy]], as growing up around Zaun meant he was frequently exposed to toxic gas which was slowly claiming his life until he rebuilt himself. Despite his condition, his genius is shown in that he helps Jayce invent Hextech, which revolutionizes Piltover (and Zaun), and in his present state as a cyborg he assists unfortunates in Zaun by providing them with ArtificialLimbs so as to usher into his "Glorious Evolution".

* French king Charles V the Wise, suffered from an ill-proportionned and weak body, as well as of gout in his right hand and an abscess in his left arm, which made him eventually unable of fighting and of riding a horse. He proved to be a very smart and pragmatic king, managing to overcome many rebellions, replenish France finances, establish the first permanent french army with wages and turn the tide of the Hundred Years War in french favor with nearly all territories conquered by English being taken back.

* Doctor Octopus in ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan''. Because of an accident, he lost the use of his limbs. He uses his metal arms to work, fight and move around, as his human body is basically pulled along for the ride like a talking puppet. He's still menacing and looks rather creepy, partially ''because of'', rather than despite, all this. Doubles as an EvilCripple. Eventually gets upgraded into a cyborg by Hydra, and eventually restored to a healthy normal body just in time to be the surprise BigBad of the two-part GrandFinale.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'''s "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E24S7E1Descent Descent]]": Data plays poker against {{Hologram}}s of famous geniuses, including UsefulNotes/IsaacNewton, UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein, and Creator/StephenHawking (who [[AsHimself plays himself]] and is famous for being so crippled that he can't even talk). Naturally, Hawking beats everyone. [[FridgeBrilliance After all, how could you tell if he's bluffing? His tone of voice?).

** One of the cruel animal experiments performed by the villain of the Ace the Bat-Hound "Hounded" story in ''Batman: Urban Legends'' was to remove a chicken's legs while teaching her to play chess, to see if the lack of motor functions meant her neural pathways could be rerouted. She gets around in a little wheelchair she controls by pecking at a computer, and her creator has ''no idea'' just how smart she's become.

** One of the cruel animal experiments performed by the villain of the Ace the Bat-Hound story in ''Batman: Urban Legends'' was to remove a chicken's legs while teaching her to play chess, to see if the lack of motor functions meant her neural pathways could be rerouted. She gets around in a little wheelchair she controls by pecking at a computer, and her creator has ''no idea'' just how smart she's become.

** Barbara Gordon started out as ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}, being presented as varying from ditzy to reasonably sharp. Then she was shot and paralyzed by the Joker, and suddenly remembered that she had an eidetic memory and world-class hacking, strategic, and organizational skills, and she became the broker information Oracle. The [[ComicBook/Batgirl2011 reboot version of Barbara]], on the other hand, eventually regained the ability to walk after three years of being paralyzed, but flashbacks show that Barbara's smarts were there well before she was shot.

* Josie Beller/Circuit Breaker from the ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformers Transformers Generation 1]]'' comics. After being paralyzed in a Decepticon attack, she builds herself a suit of surprisingly clingy PoweredArmor that allows her to fly and shoot lightning.

* UsefulNotes/HelenKeller, known for her great writing and activism as well as for being both deaf and blind. She appears on the back of Alabama's statehood quarter, which is [[{{Irony}} surprising]] when one realizes that she was a co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union and a staunch socialist.

* Roger Bochs from ''ComicBook/AlphaFlight'', who invented a robot called Box and controls it with a mental interface helmet; a later version allows him to physically merge into it, making him a GeniusBruiser.

* Morihiko Dan from ''Manga/DetectiveSchoolQ'' is a wheelchair-bound old man who is also a detective so competent that he's one of the few (if not the only) detectives with an authorized firearms license, which is notoriously difficult to obtain in Japan. One of the biggest demonstrations of his deductive skills is when he's able to solve and break down a complicated murder plan in a short time just from reading his students' case report.

** ComicBook/{{Oracle}} is arguably the poster girl for this trope. She started out as [[BadassNormal Batgirl]], being presented as varying from ditzy to reasonably-but-not-exceptionally sharp (depending on the era's views on women). Then she was shot and paralyzed by the Joker, and suddenly remembered that she had an eidetic memory and world-class hacking, strategic, and organizational skills; she became [[BadassBookworm Oracle]] because she [[PluckyGirl refused to stay helpless]]. Even in-universe, it's considered pretty much a given that she has done more good with a computer than she could have ''ever'' done as Batgirl. The [[ComicBook/Batgirl2011 reboot version of Barbara]], on the other hand, eventually regained the ability to walk after three years of being paralyzed, but flashbacks show that Barbara's smarts were there well before she was shot.

* Zodon from ''ComicBook/{{PS238}}'' is an underaged boy with super-genius powers. He is ambulatory only through his hover-chair and he's never seen outside of it.

%%* Niles Caulder from ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol''. Also an EvilCripple depending on who you ask. (Administrivia/ZeroContextExample)

* Creator/SamuelLJackson's character Elijah Price in the movie ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'' fits this rather well, [[spoiler:[[EvilCripple in the villain sense]]]]. He manages to manipulate the entire cast of ''Film/{{Glass|2019}}'' into giving him exactly what he wants ([[spoiler:bringing The Beast out of Kevin, having David fight him, recording the AncientConspiracy killing David, and exposing both their existence and the existence of superpowered people]]) while almost never leaving his wheelchair.

** The Daemon Kairos Fateweaver is also a formidably powerful sorcerer, but shrivelled and feeble thanks to his experience being thrown into the Well of Eternity. He's also blind to the present (although one of his two heads can see the past and the other the future), which means that he is virtually incapable of fighting in close combat.

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* The main character of ''Film/MyLeftFoot'' can only move his left foot due to cerebral palsy, but still writes several poetry books and becomes very famous in the Irish literary circles. Creator/DanielDayLewis won an Oscar for his portrayal.

** Although a fairly mild example, High Loremaster Teclis qualifies. Teclis suffers from considerable physical infirmity - highly unusual among the normally disease-free High Elves - such that he is only kept alive thanks to magical potions and the powers of his formidable magical items. Were it not for these measures he would probably have died in childhood, and even with them, he is still more feeble than any other elf in the game. Teclis is, however, the most powerful wizard in this age of the world, and possessed of a brilliant, obsessively analytical mind.
** Venerable Lord Kroak has perhaps the most crippling of all disabilities - he's dead. Not undead, just the ordinary not-moving-about kind. And although it has robbed him of most of his vast magical ability, he's still a very powerful wizard, even in this state! To a lesser degree, even the living Slann come under this trope, as they are all but immobile thanks to their bloated, lethargic physiques and the terrible psychic strain that living in such a chaotic and disordered world has wrought on their minds.
** The Daemon Kairos Fateweaver is also a formidably powerful sorcerer but shrivelled and feeble thanks to his experience being thrown into the Well of Eternity. He's also blind to the present (although one of his two heads can see the past and the other the future), which means he is virtually incapable of fighting in close combat.
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':

* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': Autochthon, one of the few non-antagonistic Primordials in the setting, is characterized by an illness which causes his internal components to turn upon themselves, and has actually performed self-surgery on one of his own souls, essentially lobotomizing himself. He's also among the most advanced craftsmen in the setting (their version of Hephaestus or Vulcan, who in past editions was creating ray guns and teleporters while everyone else was working with swords and bows... albeit magical ones).

* Professor von Kriplespac from ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay''.
* Bentley of the ''VideoGame/SlyCooper'' games becomes this in [[VideoGame/Sly3HonorAmongThieves the third game]] after he was crippled at the end of [[VideoGame/Sly2BandOfThieves the second]]. This does not hinder him from making a wheelchair fitted with gadgets as well as making him a [[HandicappedBadass better fighter than he was before]].
* Kenny Kawaguchi of ''VideoGame/BackyardSports''.
* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'': Although Patchouli Knowledge has no specific disabilities, she is depicted to have a very fragile constitution. "It seems that she's capable of very powerful magic of all kinds, [[ElementalPowers using many elements in a single spell]], but due to asthma and general poor health she's often unable to recite her spells."([[http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Patchouli_Knowledge Touhou Wiki]]) A popular fan observation is that she doesn't get nearly enough vitamin D.
* Jasper Gunz of ''VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead: Overkill'' is a deliberately over-the-top example of this trope.
* Dr. Sellers of the ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'' trilogy, the games' resident EvilGenius and probably the only paraplegic left in the galaxy. In all fairness, he brought it on himself; [[spoiler:he sassed an already mentally-unstable Joachim Mizrahi while the planet Miltia was [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt figuratively going to Hell]], so Mizrahi pulled out a gun and capped him once in each leg]]. Harsh.
* Stephen from ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'', [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed being Steven Hawking with the serial numbers filed off]], and having created the Demon Summoning Program. [[spoiler:''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse'' [[BonusBoss reveals]] that [[IAmNotLeftHanded that he's actually a subversion]].]]
* The ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' series has Huey Emmerich, father of Hal "Otacon" Emmerich, and one of the minds behind the predecessors to the Metal Gears. He suffers from a malformed spine that leaves him wheelchair-bound. Around the time of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'', he has invented his own wheelchair that can navigate stairs, and by ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidV'', seems to have replaced them with mechanical leg braces.
* Hugh Darrow from ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' pioneered the human augmentation project, but a genetic condition leaves him unable to augment himself, and thus he walks with a cane and braces. [[spoiler: May overlap with EvilCripple.]]

** Shizune Hakamichi is basically perfect at everything she does [[spoiler: except for interpersonal relationships]], is academically excellent, a master manipulator and can effortlessly beat a chess enthusiast at her own game ''while giving her a psychological analysis based on her play style'', who was born deaf.
* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' has Lester, who has to use either a wheelchair or a cane to move around due to a degenerative muscular disease, but does most of the planning behind the protagonists' heists. The one time he doesn't plan a heist, [[spoiler:[[AxCrazy Trevor]] almost ends up selling a nuclear superweapon to the Chinese, [[DidntThinkThisThrough which would have put the group on the government's hit list for the rest of their lives]]]]. That misadventure serves to show exactly why he's so crucial to the heists' success.
* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' has Doran, the creator of three starting items, the Doran's Shield, Blade, and Ring. Born with a passion for crafting, he became an UltimateBlacksmith at the age of 15, until he suffered an accident that made him become "soft-minded", but didn't rob him of his passion. Where once he crafted single masterpiece items, he now crafts simpler items in large quantities.
* ''Videogame/FalloutNewVegas'''s [[spoiler:Mr. House]] is 200 years old person with physical constitution to match - he can't even exist, not to mention to move, outside his capsule, as the diseases would kill him in less than a year, and has to do everything through his interface and you, if you decide to join him. He's also absolutely brilliant mind and the reason New Vegas is still standing - it is stated that Luck in this game actually stands for capacity to compute statistics and probabilities, and his is ''maxed''.

* As per the [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 source material]], The Emperor in ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'' is hooked up to a giant machine to "rule" his empire. Except he isn't near the brink of death and instead has been trying to communicate since the Horus Heresy as his mind is still in control of his body despite a fragment of is soul shines in the Warp. Once he has the text to speech device installed he immediately starts bitching about how terrible his empire has become and begins a plan to take control again, succeeding in playing everyone including his "son" and [[spoiler:Fallen Primarch Magnus the Red]] and the Inquisition in a massive plan that [[BatmanGambit hinges on everyone acting like themselves]].

* In the webcomic ''WebComic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'', the father of [=Dr McNinja's=] college friend Martin is a scientific genius who uses a wheelchair named Dr. Birding. He has some resemblance to Professor Hawking (down to the name), and can only communicate via a speaking computer (even expressing emotion through emotes). He does have an Incredible Hulk transformation mode that is utterly useless since he's still crippled even after the transformation.

* The ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'' has several examples, including Juryrig and Kludge, both deviser/gadgeteers in extremely souped-up wheelchairs that fly and such. Kludge is also working on an "Iron Man" suit of power armor so he can walk again.
* Lululu Lopez from Website/PlatypusComix's ''Electric Wonderland'' always has to travel in some type of wheeled object because of her mermaid tail, but she does know a lot about bombs.
* As ''Website/TheOnion'' pointed out, Stephen Hawking [[http://www.theonion.com/content/node/39133 built himself a robotic exoskeleton]] to replace his wheelchair.
* Doki [[http://akaichounokoe.deviantart.com/art/Well-Meaning-Nurse-337873785 is a nurse afflicted with a mild form of cerebral palsy.]] She is well-loved and has a large heart, coupled with the fact she has the skills of a doctor.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'' has a Hawking send-up who drives a rocket-powered chair and makes out Crocker the idiot.
* Berto from ''WesternAnimation/MaxSteel''.
* Doctor Octopus in ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan.'' Because of an accident, he lost the use of his limbs. He uses his metal arms to work, fight and move around, as his human body is basically pulled along for the ride like a talking puppet. He's still menacing and looks rather creepy, partially ''because of,'' rather than despite, all this. Doubles as an EvilCripple. Eventually gets upgraded into a cyborg by Hydra, and eventually restored to a healthy normal body just in time to be the surprise BigBad of the two-part GrandFinale.
* In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueGodsAndMonsters'', Lex Luthor is astoundingly brilliant but has a disease that, over the course of several years, leaves him confined to a chair.
* ''[[WesternAnimation/AlphaTeensOnMachines A.T.O.M.]]'' has Garrett, who becomes the team's gear supplier after their first supplier [[spoiler: turns evil on them at the end of season one.]]
* Chip Chase from ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers G1'' is your basic wheelchair bound genius.
** But he has courage!
* Carlos's younger brother from ''WesternAnimation/TheMagicSchoolBus'' has a wheelchair with a parachute, an emergency raft, a crowbar, and various other useful things, and is a lot smarter than his brother or his brother's classmates.
* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' has a Hawking send-up called Professor Hawk, whose software factory is a technological Willy Wonka send-up itself.
** And in a subversion, he's not actually disabled, just too lazy to walk. Once he comes under the influence of [=DeeDee=], he sheds his jet-bird-shell-thing and takes up interpretive dance.
* Hawking appeared as a cartoon version of himself on several episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', driving a wheelchair that features a spring-loaded boxing glove and rockets. Even though it would have been really easy to get another computer to fake his voice, they got him into the studio to record his lines. According to later interviews, he loved it and plans to build a boxing glove into his next chair.
** He also presented a BAFTA for ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' on one occasion.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', Stephen Hawking is part of a group of nerds who travel in a school bus and use murder to solve many of their problems.
** In other episodes, Hawking's head shows up in a "way cool rocket" equipped with lasers. Oh, and he's at a huge science convention.
*** And apparently has lasers in his eyes. Even he didn't know he was that awesome.
* Hawkins appears several times on ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', first as a non-speaking character in "Peter Peter Caviar Eater" being kept on hold at the Pewterschmidt estates in case someone needs help with their ''math homework'', and later in an episode dealing with a black hole threatening to consume the Earth (in reality an April fools prank by Channel 6). This episode reveals that Hawkins isn't even crippled, and the whole "crippled genius" bit is just a role he plays whenever the media needs a smart guy.
--> '''Hawkins''': This schtick is getting so old, man! That chair ''smells'', dude.
--> '''Surfer''': Hey Steven, surfs up!
--> '''Hawkins''': *grabs surfboard* Alright! Later bitch!
* Hawking showed up on the ''WesternAnimation/{{Dilbert}}'' cartoon, too. He mocked everyone viciously while zipping in and out of [[OurWormholesAreDifferent his wormholes]] like an amphetamine-crazed rabbit.
* Garret was the name of a wheelchaired bound [[WesternAnimation/ExtremeGhostbusters Extreme Ghostbuster.]]
** He was sort of an unusual subversion, though, in that he was a jock, not a brain. And not in the "realizes he has no useful skills when he loses the use of his legs" sense, in the "the guy in the wheelchair is the most physically fit one" Murderball sense.
* The [[spoiler: future Joker]] in the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' episode "The Knights of Tomorrow!"
* Felix, Ron's friend in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible''. He handles a cool wheelchair that allows him to fly (built for him specifically by his mother), and governments and militaries want to work with him and his almost legendary brainpower. He prefers to goof off and play video games with Ron though.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ZorroGenerationZ,'' mute Bernardo is the maker of Diego's bat-gadgets.
* The subject of the ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'' episode, "My Brother's Keeper". Sgt. Slaughter and Sci-Fi must rescue a handicapped (and frankly, [[InsufferableGenius pretty dickish]]) scientist named Dr. Jeremy Pinser.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'': Cyrus Borg, the wheelchair-bound head of Borg Industries. His inventions singlehandedly turned Ninjago City from a modern metropolis into a cyberpunk mega city. He was introduced using a spider-like mech for mobility and pointed out that his parents naming him "Cy Borg" sort of determined his future for him.

* [[OlderThanTheyThink Leonhard Euler]]: 18th-century mathematician, and one of the most prolific of all time. He went blind in one eye at the age of 21; and blind in the other when he was about forty. After this, he kept turning out papers by dictating them to his secretaries. In addition to many fundamental results, Euler innovated much of the current mathematical notation. Euler was able to juggle the symbols and numbers of the most difficult problems of his day entirely in his head; at one point during his blindness, he even managed to ''prove that a 10-digit number was prime''. Around this time, he was publishing papers at the average rate of one per week.
* The [[TropeMaker inspiration for many of these entries]]: Creator/StephenHawking, perhaps one of the most famous scientists in the world, who as the result of [[AndIMustScream Motor Neurone Disease]] (also known as ALS and Lou Gehrig's Disease) was quadriplegic and used a wheelchair, and who, following a 1985 tracheotomy, used a computer voice synthesizer to speak. Somehow, though, he was able to have an extramarital affair, so apparently not ''everything'' is paralyzed. When asked about how he'd fathered children despite the disease, Hawking joked that it only restricted ''voluntary'' muscle movements.

* Irish writer and artist [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christy_Brown Christy Brown,]] who could only move his left foot due to cerebral palsy, but still wrote several poetry books and became very famous in the Irish literary circles. Daniel Day-Lewis won an Oscar for portraying him in the movie ''My Left Foot''.
* Christopher Nolan ([[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant no, not]] '''[[NamesTheSame THAT]]''' Creator/ChristopherNolan), another Irish author who was also rendered quadriplegic and mute by cerebral palsy. He can only properly write with a "unicorn stick" on his head ''only'' after the effects of spasmodic medication.
* US President UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt. Used a wheelchair because of an illness,[[note]]either polio or Guillain-Barré syndrome, there's some debate as to which,[[/note]] he still managed to become one of the greatest presidents America ever had. Of course, the general public didn't know that he was disabled. That's the benefit of a respectful press and a nice combination of leg braces and sheer willpower for those occasions that mandated standing up.
* Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, The Emperor Claudius, became Emperor by surviving, faking [[ObfuscatingInsanity mental illness]] and [[ObfuscatingStupidity idiocy]], and suffered lameness in his legs (as well as [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudius#Claudius.27_affliction_and_personality other physical deformities).]] Considered now a pretty good Emperor, and a great builder.
* Arab Syrian poet [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Ma%CA%BFarri Al-Ma'arri]] lost his eyesight at the age of four. It didn't prevent him from becoming one of the greatest poets and philosophers of his age. It's worth mentioning that not only did he [[BadassPacifist stop a band of raiders from raiding a village with nothing but his own words]], he is one of the oldest vegan [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Maʿarri#Antinatalism antinatalists]] in history.

* According to tradition, Creator/{{Homer}}, author of ''Literature/TheIliad'' and ''Literature/TheOdyssey'', was blind. Of course, since we don't actually know anything about the entity known as "Homer" other than that he/she/they wrote ''The Iliad'' and ''The Odyssey,'' there's no way of verifying whether or not this is true.
* Alexander Pope suffered from a form of tuberculosis that deformed his body, stunted his growth to about four and a half feet, and caused a whole slew of other health problems. He's also renowned as one of history's greatest poets.
* Louis Braille, creator of the Braille alphabet, was blind.
* Helen Keller, known for her great writing and activism as well as for being both deaf and blind. She appears on the back of Alabama's statehood quarter, which is [[{{Irony}} surprising]] when one realizes she was a co-founder of the American Civil Liberties Union and a staunch socialist.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joaquin_Rodrigo Joaquin Rodrigo,]] Marquis of the Gardens of Aranjuez. Blind ever since he was a toddler. Virtuoso piano player and of the most famous Spanish classical music composers, author of the ''Concert of Aranjuez''
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Herman_Unthan Carl Herman Unthan]] of Prussia, born without arms. Thanks to a supportive father in his earliest years, Carl never let infirmities hold him back, and taught himself how to use his feet in lieu of hands, and became a famous virtuoso violinist and card magician, ''using only his feet''. Also a good example of TheDeterminator.
* Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Sir Charles, suffered from morbid obesity and gout for most of his adult life and became lame after he was flung from a carriage he invented. In the 18th century, he was England's most famed physician, as well as a poet, inventor, scientist, and scholar; he also founded the intellectuals' Lunar Society, whose scientists and industrialists pioneered Britain's Industrial Revolution.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Proteus_Steinmetz Charles Proteus Steinmetz]] was a mathematician and electrical engineer whom we owe a lot of progress in the electric industry. He suffered from a number of problems, including hip dysplasia, hunchback, and dwarfism. His co-workers also considered him a nice and funny guy.
* Frank Williams, paralysed and hugely successful UsefulNotes/FormulaOne team owner. In 1986 he suffered a car crash, thereafter requiring a wheelchair. Rival team owners credited much of his team's increased success to the fact that he had to take a more hands-off role with his team and could only ''think'' his way to success.
* Itzhak Perlman, the great Israeli violinist, was crippled by polio at the age of 4.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Nelson,_1st_Viscount_Nelson Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson]] was missing his right arm and blind in one eye. He was also an incredible admiral if there ever was one, holding the distinction of outmaneuvering UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte at the battles of the Nile and Trafalgar.
* John Milton was blind by the time he dictated ''Literature/ParadiseLost''.
* Creator/HenriDeToulouseLautrec broke both his legs as a teenager, stunting his growth to only 4'8" since his legs stopped growing after that. He also had a slew of other health problems, likely due to the fact that his parents were KissingCousins. Unable to participate in much physical activity, Toulouse-Lautrec immersed himself in painting...and became one of the greatest artists of the Post-Impressionist era.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apolinario_Mabini Apolinario Mabini y Maranan]], who lost both his legs to Polio, was a Filipino revolutionary leader, educator, lawyer, and statesman who served as the first Prime Minister of the UsefulNotes/{{Philippines}}, serving first under the Revolutionary Government, and then under the First Philippine Republic.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Cecil,_1st_Earl_of_Salisbury Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury]] stood barely over five feet tall, with a curved spine caused by scoliosis. He had a shrewd mind for politics and served as Secretary of State under both Elizabeth I and James I. He personally managed the ascension of James to the throne and was instrumental in foiling the Gunpowder Plot. However, he suffered frequent mockery for his appearance, even from the monarchs who depended on him.

* Eli Glinn in the ''Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child'' novels.
* In Dan Brown's novels ''Literature/AngelsAndDemons'' and ''Literature/TheDaVinciCode'', both had characters with disabilities and were also highly respected professors. The guy in the wheelchair was probably a reference to Stephen Hawking.
* Doran Martell from ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' fits this to a tee. [[spoiler:Arguably, also Bran Stark.]] And dwarf Tyrion Lannister is at least the second most intelligent person in the series.
* Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's [[Literature/VorkosiganSaga Miles Vorkosigan]]: Stunted, hunchbacked, with brittle bones that break at the drop of a hat, but always comes out on top by being the smartest guy on the planet. ''[[MartyStu Any planet]]''. After he gets all his bones replaced by synthetics by around age 25, he's not so fragile -- but then, by his early 30s, he's picked up several other potentially debilitating health problems: Seizures, extensive vascular damage...
* Quadriplegic forensics expert Lincoln Rhyme from the novels of Jeffrey Deaver.
* Waldo Farthingwaite-Jones of the [[Creator/RobertAHeinlein Heinlein]] novella ''Literature/{{Waldo}}''. He might be the inspiration for most of the later versions. He was a super-genius with myasthenia gravis that left him 1/10 as strong as an average human. He invented many incredible devices and is best known for the actual devices known as Waldos and named for the invention of the book.

* While not a ''scientific'' genius, Lady Emily Alexander, [[spoiler: senior]] wife and political advisor of Lord Hamish Alexander, 13th Earl of White Haven and First Lord of the Admiralty, from David Weber's ''Literature/HonorHarrington'', certainly qualifies. Crippled by an aircar accident and bound to an advanced life support chair (and flying to boot) for the rest of her life, she's easily ''the'' [[TheChessmaster most shrewd and cunning]] single politician in the whole Kingdom of Manticore. [[JustifiedTrope It might be argued]], though, that it was the injury that forced her to switch from acting to writing, and that it's her extremely long and successful career as a playwright and producer that gave her the understanding of a human character and scheming skills prerequisite for a good politician.
** Less obvious is Honor's own treecat partner Nimitz. Due to an injury sustained in ''In Enemy Hands'', Nimitz was rendered telepathically mute. He could hear other treecats telepathically, and his empathic sense was fine, but he could not communicate beyond that. However, with a bit of help, he was instrumental in adapting human sign language for 'cat use.
* Hile Troy, from ''[[Literature/TheChroniclesOfThomasCovenant The Illearth War]]'', was a congenitally blind genius at military strategy who gained his sight after being transported to The Land.
** It's Troy's gaining of sight, which he'd never had, which leads him to believe The Land is real (in contrast to Covenant, "The Unbeliever").

* Sand dan Glokta of ''Literature/TheFirstLaw'': crippled and disfigured, the Inquisitor is easily the most intelligent of the three main protagonists, and consistently demonstrates a higher level of cunning and insight than almost any other character.
* Garrett's partner in the ''Garrett, P.I.'' novels might qualify, in that he's a physically-immobile genius who could out-think most people in his sleep. Unusual in that he's not just paralyzed, but ''dead'' and haunting his own corpse.
* Melody Brooks from ''Literature/OutOfMyMind'' is a girl who has cerebral palsy. As she says, it's not her brain that doesn't work, but her body. She has a photographic memory and is like a living encyclopedia (though her weak point is [[EverybodyHatesMathematics math]]). She is even called her school's own Stephen Hawking.
* Beldin in ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' is a disfigured hunchback. He also has the sharpest mind in the whole series and Belgarath readily acknowledges that Beldin is much more clever than him.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Over the course of his career as an Auror, Alastor "[[MadEye Mad-Eye]]" Moody lost a leg, an eye, [[note]]Though this wasn't crippling at all, as he got a magical replacement that allowed him to see in all directions and through solid objects.[[/note]] and part of his nose, and acquired a series of nasty scars. He's still an extremely skilled wizard and strategist, albeit something of a BunnyEarsLawyer due to being ProperlyParanoid all the time. He's also an incredible Dark Wizard hunter, and it's said that half the cells in [[TheAlcatraz Azkaban]] are filled because of him.
* Ivar the Boneless from ''Literature/RagnarLodbrokAndHisSons''. Supposedly, Ivar was a 9th century Viking warlord whose legs contained only cartilage, but no bones, and therefore he was unable to walk. However, he was the most clever and cunning of his brothers and led them to many a victory, as his stratagems usually won the day when the brute strength of his brothers failed.
* The ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'' has the High Priest [[AmbiguousGender (Priestess?)]] of Helgrind. They possess incredible magical skills and PsychicPowers, and very nearly out-magicked four skilled magicians in a mental battle. Did I mention they're missing all four limbs and [[TongueTrauma part of their tongue?]] They also qualify as an EvilCripple because let's face it, leading a ReligionOfEvil that practices ritual mutilation [[note]]which is how they lost all those body parts[[/note]] and HumanSacrifice kind of makes you a dick.
* Crippled midget Fenn is the brain behind the operations of "[[AmoralAttorney Codhringer and Fenn]]", a law firm appearing in Franchise/TheWitcher saga. He's actually not made up for tax purposes by Codhringer, but his disability means he simply never leaves their office and lets his partner do the talking.
* Dr. Heilan Rotham from ''Franchise/StarWars'' [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe's]] Legacy of the Force books. In ''Betrayal,'' she uses a repulsorlift-powered wheelchair of some kind and serves the plot by providing the Jedi with specialized information that other experts were unable to give.
* The Rat in ''Literature/TheLostPrince'', to an extent: he's a hunchback and his legs are crippled, but his mind is sharp, and at the age of thirteen he has a grasp of military tactics and strategy that impresses adults.
* In ''Literature/WingsOfFire'' [[spoiler:Starflight becomes this after having his eyes burned out by the volcano]]
* Yarvi, one of the main characters of ''Literature/TheShatteredSea'' has a crippled arm and hand which prevent him from taking part in the activities expected of a man/warrior. However, he makes up for his lack of physical prowess by being extremely well-read, an accomplished orator, and extremely clever/cunning.
* Lord Vetinari from the Literature/{{Discworld}} series is uncannily clever at [[ManipulativeBastard manipulating people]] and [[XanatosGambit creating plans that work to his advantage whatever happens]]. Fairly early in the series, he got shot in the leg with a prototype gun and uses a cane to walk for the rest of the series, and after that point, he seems to get even more scary-smart than he was before.

* ''Series/TheAvengers1960s'': The Creator/LindaThorson years, their boss, called "Mother," was a stocky man in a wheelchair (who could get around briskly in his office via a series of ceiling-mounted hand grips.)

* ''{{Series/CSI}}'': Doc Robbins, the medical examiner, is (and is played by) a double amputee.
* Likewise, ''{{Series/CSINY}}'' had wheelchair-bound forensics expert Dr. Leonard Giles in season one.
* ''Series/DarkAngel'':
** Sebastian can barely move and requires a computer to talk. Yeah, he's pretty much a Creator/StephenHawking knockoff.
** Logan would probably qualify as well.

** Doctor Judson, the wheelchair-bound computer scientist in ''The Curse of Fenric''. Who gets very grumpy about his medical assistant treating him as helpless:

** ''The Dalek Invasion of Earth'' featured a brilliant but crippled scientist named Dortmund.
** The Cybus Industries Cybermen were created by John Lumic, also an EvilCripple.
** The Face of Boe is a virtually all-knowing entity that has been around for billions of years...and just happens to be a gigantic, withered head in a life-support tank. [[spoiler:His probable identity--Jack Harkness after eons of AgeWithoutYouth--is quite a shock.]]

* ''Series/ExoMan'': The eminently forgettable failed-series-pilot featured a scientist who permanently lost the use of his legs, and so built a super-powered robotic exoskeleton for himself to make up for it.
* ''Series/TheFlash2014'': Dr Harrison Wells, the genius scientist who designed the particle accelerator, winds up injured and confined to a wheelchair after it exploded. [[spoiler: However, not only is he not who he claims to be, he is actually faking being paralyzed. He's undeniably a genius, though.]]

** Dr Walter Bishop is clinically insane and a drug addict.
** Nina Sharp is quite a brainiac (not a super-genius like Dr Bishop) and has an artificial arm. [[spoiler: In season 5, she also needs a wheelchair.]]

* ''Series/{{House}}'': Dr House is a crippled genius (needing a cane to walk around), but that injury more often hurts his genius rather than enables or is neutral to it. On the other hand, to the extent this trope extends to the ''emotionally'' crippled...
* ''Series/Ironside1967'': Chief of Detectives Robert T. Ironside, and also in its {{remake}}, ''Series/Ironside2013''.
* ''Series/{{Lexx}}'': In the final season, we meet wheelchair-bound physicist, Dr Ernst Longbore.

* ''Series/SevenDays'': Dr John Ballard designed the time machine that is the impetus of the show, and is paraplegic due to a diving accident in his youth (he was showing off in a rock quarry to impress some girls).

** Genius scientist Dr. Virgil Swann, played by (former Superman) Creator/ChristopherReeve, is in a wheelchair because the actor has trouble standing.
** In Season 8, EvilGenius [[spoiler:Lex Luthor]] sustains horrific injuries, causing them to be confined to a wheelchair.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'''s "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E24S7E1Descent Descent]]": Data plays poker against {{Hologram}}s of famous geniuses, including UsefulNotes/IsaacNewton, UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein, and Creator/StephenHawking (who [[AsHimself plays himself]] and is famous for being so crippled he can't even talk). Naturally, Hawking beats everyone ([[FridgeBrilliance Well, how could you tell if he's bluffing? His tone of voice?]]).

* Billy, a character in former Music/PinkFloyd frontman Roger Waters' ConceptAlbum Radio KAOS, is a Welsh boy in a wheelchair speaking via a speech computer, who hears radio waves in his head. He learns to use a cordless phone stolen by his big brother, an unemployed miner, to broadcast his voice around the world. His brother is mistakenly arrested for allegedly kicking a stone from a bridge to a car during a miner's strike, killing the driver; the stone fell from a different bridge than one he and Billy were standing on. Upset by the loss of his family environment after he is sent to live with his uncle in L.A., the corporate greed that left his brother unemployed, his brother's false incarceration and the state of the world in general, he [[spoiler: befriends a renegade, freeform DJ (played by Jim Ladd), then hacks his way through the cordless phone into Defense Department computers. Billy programs the computers to simulate a nuclear attack, then make it impossible for missile silos to deter the "attack". The DJ (and the world) believe it has only four minutes left until the end of the world. The world is ScaredStraight into becoming a nicer, happier, and more peaceful and compassionate as a result.]]

Examples will often be a SquishyWizard, BlindMusician, BlindSeer or DeafComposer. See also IronicallyDisabledArtist, when physical impairment doesn't stop creative skill (as opposed to brains). Also compare HandicappedBadass for the physical counterpart of this trope, and GeniusBruiser if both tropes overlap with each other.

* Morihiko Dan from ''Manga/DetectiveSchoolQ'' is a wheelchair-bound old man who is also a detective so competent he's one of the few (if not the only) detectives with authorized firearms license which is notoriously difficult to obtain in Japan. One of the biggest demonstrations of his deductive skills is when he was able to solve and break down a complicated murder plan in a short time just from reading his students' case report.
* Mashiro from ''Franchise/MyHime'' uses a wheelchair throughout most of the series, but is otherwise very capable both as a school principal and spiritual leader to some of the [=HiME=]. It helps that in the anime version, she's [[spoiler:supposedly ''way'' [[OlderThanTheyLook older than her 11 years of age]]]].
* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': While not a genius on the level of her brother [[MagnificentBastard Lelouch]], blind and wheelchair-bound Nunnally vi Britannia joined [[spoiler: Schneizel, successfully convinced him to hand over the key to the F.L.E.I.J.A. warheads, and came up with a plan that was ''eerily'' similar to Lelouch's, focusing all the world's hatred on a single target (in this case, ''Damocles'')]]. Being a child of the Emperor, she was undoubtedly quite intelligent and showed more insight than normally attributed to her by the end of the series. [[spoiler: And after the end of the series, she makes a pretty good Brittannian Empress...]]
** Subverted in that this was all part of [[spoiler:Schneizel's latest Xanatos Gambit, which he started off by [[ILied lying to Nunnally about Pendragon and his own motives]], and later on intended to abandon Damocles with her on it after setting it to self-destruct in order to thwart Lelouch, and later on build another fortress and stockpile even more [[WeaponOfMassDestruction FLEIJAs]], this time, with no one else to stop him or claim sovereignty over Britannia]]. So Nunnally had basically become an UnwittingPawn. [[spoiler: Though she ''does'' wise up and then becomes a decent Empress after the GrandFinale.]]
* ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'': [[spoiler: Izaya becomes this. During his fight with Shizuo, he was horribly injured and left on the verge of death. In his spin-off, it's revealed that he survived but lost the ability to use his legs. Thus, he now uses a wheelchair, albeit a moderately tricked out one. However, Izaya is still highly intelligent and a ManipulativeBastard, plus his knife skills haven't changed]].

* Professor Xavier from ''ComicBook/XMen''. Paraplegic and not just smart, but also the most powerful telepath in the world.
** His ''1602'' counterpart Carlos Javier has to be carried everywhere. Wheelchairs did exist in his time, but they were rare enough that he'd probably never heard of such a thing.
** There's also a minor mutant called Whiz Kid, a boy genius with the ability to turn his wheelchair into any machine he can think of.
* ComicBook/{{Oracle}}. Especially interesting in that she started out as [[BadassNormal Batgirl]] and was shot and paralyzed by the Joker; she became [[BadassBookworm Oracle]] because she [[PluckyGirl refused to stay helpless]].
** Arguably, she's done more good with a computer than she could have ''ever'' done as Batgirl.
*** Even in-universe, it's considered pretty much a given that she has.
*** She's arguably the poster girl for this trope, as she was presented as varying from ditzy to reasonably-but-not-exceptionally sharp (depending on the era's views on women) as Batgirl... but once she became wheelchair-bound, she suddenly remembered she had an eidetic memory and world-class hacking, strategic, and organizational skills!
*** The [[ComicBook/Batgirl2011 reboot version of Barbara]], on the other hand, eventually regained the ability to walk after three years of being paralyzed, but flashbacks show that Barbara's smarts were there well before she was shot.

* Niles Caulder from ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol''. Also an EvilCripple depending on who you ask.
* Lionel Canter from ''ComicBook/TheSurrogates'' is Stephen Hawking crossed with Series/{{MacGyver|1985}}. He's the original creator of the surrogates and [[spoiler: even modified his own to use [[ShockAndAwe lightning in combat]].]]
* Josie Beller / Circuit Breaker from the ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformers Transformers Generation 1]]'' comics. After being paralyzed in a Decepticon attack, she built herself a suit of surprisingly clingy PoweredArmor that allows her to fly and shoot lightning.
* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'': Alistair Smythe, the inventor of many a Spider-Slayer, at least until he turned himself into a cyborg. Probably best remembered as the Kingpin's [[DisabledSnarker snarky]], SuperWheelChair-driving aide-de-camp in ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries''.
* Roger Bochs from ''ComicBook/AlphaFlight'', who invented a robot called Box and controlled with a mental interface helmet; a later version allowed him to physically merge into it, making him a GeniusBruiser.
* In his {{Rewrit|e}}ten origin story ComicBook/{{Morbius}} was this before being 'cured' by becoming [[OurVampiresAreDifferent a living vampire]]. He won a Nobel prize but couldn't attend the ceremony due to his frailty. He walked with a cane and lifting a full cup of tea would break the bones in his fingers.
* Zodon in ''ComicBook/{{PS238}}'' is an underaged boy with super-genius powers. He is ambulatory only through his hover-chair and he's never been seen outside it.
* The Silver Age version of ComicBook/GreenLantern villain Hector Hammond. Unusual for this trope, his handicap and intellect are not natural, but the result of exposure to a strange meteorite, which caused Hammond's brain to mutate, but also crippled his body and took away his ability to speak. He instead relies on telepathy to communicate.
* ''ComicBook/TheMovement'': Discussed when one of the captured cops asks Vengeance Moth if she's the one who set up the headquarters to be off the power grid with an internet connection, which she denies. Also possibly a Mythology Gag to Gail's earlier work on ''ComicBook/BirdsOfPrey'', which featured the wheelchair-bound super hacker Oracle and the fact that people made comparisons when Vengeance Moth was first introduced.

* Dr. Finkelstein from ''WesternAnimation/TheNightmareBeforeChristmas'', who doubles as an EvilCripple.

* ''Film/DrStrangelove'', although he regained the ability to walk a second before the world ended.
* Eugene in ''Film/{{Gattaca}}''. He's intelligent enough to fit the trope, but also a former Olympic-level swimmer and [[DesignerBabies genetically engineered]] "perfect" man, and whatever potential he might have isn't strong enough to withstand all his regrets and depression.
* Creator/SamuelLJackson's character Elijah Price in the movie ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'' fits this rather well, [[spoiler:[[EvilCripple in the villain sense]]]].
* Subverted in ''Film/TheBigLebowski'', when the title character [[spoiler:spends most of the movie posing as a bad-tempered, handicapped disabled self-made millionaire, ("I didn't blame anyone for the loss of my legs! Some Chinaman took them from me in Korea!") and turns out to be a phony. That is to say, he's not a genius, as Walter learns the hard way, he genuinely is crippled.]]
* Dr. Ashford of ''Film/ResidentEvilApocalypse'', [[spoiler: creator of the T-Virus]]
* Kuato in the original ''Film/TotalRecall1990'' is a genius deformed siamese twin.
* Dr. Leonard Gillespie, in the ''Film/DrKildare'' films.
** Also an example of WrittenInInfirmity, as the actor who played Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore) was wheelchair-bound due to severe arthritis.
* ''Film/WildWildWest'': Dr Arliss Loveless did not have congenital dwarfism like [[Series/TheWildWildWest his TV counterpart]] (Miguelito Loveless). Dr Arliss is literally half a man, missing from about his hips downward, in a [[GadgeteerGenius steampunk wheelchair]]. That sometimes sprouted legs. And not just two - sometimes four. He is also a member of the Confederacy, even after the end of the Civil War.
* ''Film/SpyKids 3D: Game Over'': Juni chooses to have his disabled grandfather accompany him on his journey inside the video game ''Game Over'', deducing that while he's been unable to walk for 30 years, his remaining strength has gone to his upper body and mind. [[spoiler:Not long after arriving, his grandfather gets a Mega Legs power-up that more than fixes the "unable to walk" problem.]]

* The main character of ''Film/MyLeftFoot'' could only move his left foot due to cerebral palsy, but still wrote several poetry books and became very famous in the Irish literary circles. Creator/DanielDayLewis won an Oscar for his portrayal.

* ''Film/TheTheoryOfEverything'', obviously (which is about the above-pictured Stephen Hawking and his first wife).
* Spider from ''Film/{{Elysium}}''.

** Jason Stryker from ''Film/X2XMenUnited'' is barely able to lift an eyebrow, but that's made up for by a very impressive mind -- although his ability to think on his own has been almost lost due to the brain surgery.
* Master, the brains of the "Master Blaster" tag team in ''Film/MadMaxBeyondThunderdome'', has dwarfism, in contrast with his huge but mentally impaired partner Blaster. Similarly, Corpus Colossus from ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'' has osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease), which severely stunts his growth and limits his mobility, and he serves as a {{foil}} to his DumbMuscle brother Rictus.
* Played with in ''Film/TheFly1986''. When brilliant scientist Seth Brundle allows Veronica to see him again after a month's estrangement, his ongoing, accelerating mutation into a HalfHumanHybrid having progressed significantly in the interim, he is using two canes to slowly walk because he's hunched over and cannot maintain his balance otherwise. When she sees him again a few days later, however, he has not only adjusted to a PrimalStance but is downright jumpy and spry -- due in part to discovering an ability to WallCrawl.
* The BigBad in ''Film/SirArthurConanDoylesSherlockHolmes'' is GadgeteerGenius who was paralyzed by a police bullet and uses an exoskeleton to move around.

* ''Series/{{ER}}'': Dr Kerry Weaver uses a cane and is revealed to have an IQ of 145.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Volume 7 introduces Pietro Polendina, one of the most brilliant minds in the Kingdom of Atlas. He is a paraplegic robotics engineer who gets around in a customised chair with four mechanical legs that move like a spider's. His speciality is creating robotic prosthetics, such as Yang's arm and Maria's eyes; he spends much of his spare time volunteering in the disadvantaged mining community of Mantle, who wouldn't otherwise have access to prosthetics and engineers of his quality. His crowning achievement is the P.E.N.N.Y. Project, where he created the world's first [[RobotGirl synthetic lifeform]] capable of generating an Aura; she is better known as Penny Polendina, his daughter. [[spoiler:His project has been so successful at bridging the divide between man and machine that Penny is even capable of inheriting the [[ElementalPowers soul and magic of a Maiden]], which can only be inherited by young women.]]

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': Volume 7 introduces Pietro Polendina, one of the most brilliant minds in the Kingdom of Atlas. He is a paraplegic robotics engineer who gets around in a customised chair with four mechanical legs that move like a spider's. His speciality is creating robotic prosthetics, such as Yang's arm and Maria's eyes; he spends much of his spare time volunteering in the disadvantaged mining community of Mantle, who wouldn't otherwise have access to prosthetics and engineers of his level of ability. His crowning achievement is the P.E.N.N.Y. Project, where he created the world's first [[RobotGirl synthetic lifeform]] capable of generating an Aura; she is better known as Penny Polendina, his daughter. [[spoiler:His project has been so successful at bridging the divide between man and machine that Penny is even capable of inheriting the [[ElementalPowers soul and magic of a Maiden]], which can only be inherited by young women.]]

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' Volume 7 introduces Pietro Polendina, one of the most brilliant minds in the Kingdom of Atlas. He is a robotics engineer and is paralyzed from the waist down. He gets around in a chair with four mechanical legs that move like a spider's. His specialty is creating robotic prosthetics such as Yang Xiao Long's arm and Maria Calavera's eyes. His crowning achievement is creating his "daughter", Penny Polendina.

Examples will often be a SquishyWizard, BlindMusician, BlindSeer or DeafComposer. Also compare HandicappedBadass for the physical counterpart of this trope, and GeniusBruiser if both tropes overlap with each other.

* Mashiro from ''Anime/MaiHime'' uses a wheelchair throughout most of the series, but is otherwise very capable both as a school principal and spiritual leader to some of the [=HiME=]. It helps that in the anime version, she's [[spoiler:supposedly ''way'' [[OlderThanTheyLook older than her 11 years of age]]]].

*** The [[{{Comicbook/Batgirl2011}} reboot version of Barbara]], on the other hand, eventually regained the ability to walk after three years of being paralyzed, but flashbacks show that Barbara's smarts were there well before she was shot.

* Niles Caulder from ''Comicbook/DoomPatrol''. Also an EvilCripple depending on who you ask.
* Lionel Canter from ''Comicbook/TheSurrogates'' is Stephen Hawking crossed with Series/{{MacGyver|1985}}. He's the original creator of the surrogates and [[spoiler: even modified his own to use [[ShockAndAwe lightning in combat]].]]

* In his [[{{Rewrite}} rewritten]] origin story ComicBook/{{Morbius}} was this before being 'cured' by becoming [[OurVampiresAreDifferent a living vampire]]. He won a Nobel prize but couldn't attend the ceremony due to his frailty. He walked with a cane and lifting a full cup of tea would break the bones in his fingers.
* Zodon in ''Comicbook/{{PS238}}'' is an underaged boy with super-genius powers. He is ambulatory only through his hover-chair and he's never been seen outside it.

* ''{{Series/Dollhouse}}'': Bennett's left arm is permanently disabled. Unlike many examples, she was actually quite a genius ''before'' the arm was damaged.
* ''{{Series/ER}}'': Dr Kerry Weaver uses a cane and is revealed to have an IQ of 145.

* ''{{Series/Fringe}}'':

* ''{{Series/House}}'': Dr House is a crippled genius (needing a cane to walk around), but that injury more often hurts his genius rather than enables or is neutral to it. On the other hand, to the extent this trope extends to the ''emotionally'' crippled...

* ''{{Series/Lexx}}'': In the final season, we meet wheelchair-bound physicist, Dr Ernst Longbore.

* ''{{Series/MANTIS}}'': The protagonist is a scientist who permanently lost the use of his legs, and so built a super-powered robotic exoskeleton for himself to make up for it.

* ''{{Series/Probe}}'''s "[[Recap/ProbeComputerLogicPart2 Computer Logic, Part 2]]": John Blane, Austin's only friend and creator of [[ArtificialIntelligence Crossover]], is a paraplegic.

* ''{{Series/Smallville}}'':

* ''{{TabletopGame/Warhammer}}'':

* TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}: Autochthon, one of the few non-antagonistic Primordials in the setting, is characterized by an illness which causes his internal components to turn upon themselves, and has actually performed self-surgery on one of his own souls, essentially lobotomizing himself. He's also among the most advanced craftsmen in the setting (their version of Hephaestus or Vulcan, who in past editions was creating ray guns and teleporters while everyone else was working with swords and bows... albeit magical ones).

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'': Although Patchouli Knowledge has no specific disabilities, she is depicted to have a very fragile constitution. "It seems that she's capable of very powerful magic of all kinds, [[ElementalPowers using many elements in a single spell]], but due to asthma and general poor health she's often unable to recite her spells."([[http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Patchouli_Knowledge Touhou Wiki]]) A popular fan observation is that she doesn't get nearly enough vitamin D.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Dr. Heilan Rotham from ''StarWars'' [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe's]] Legacy of the Force books. In ''Betrayal,'' she uses a repulsorlift-powered wheelchair of some kind and serves the plot by providing the Jedi with specialized information that other experts were unable to give.

* ''{{Series/CSINY}}'' had wheelchair-bound forensics expert Dr. Leonard Giles in season one.

* ''{{Series/CSI}}'': %%Referring to the franchise
** ''{{Series/CSI}}'': Doc Robbins, the medical examiner, is (and is played by) a double amputee.
** ''{{Series/CSINY}}'' had a wheelchair-bound forensics expert in season one.

[[caption-width-right:350:"...in my mind I am free."]]