History Main / ScaleOfScientificSins

* *The Necrontyr wanted immortal iron bodies to expend their livespan, and asked the C'tan (godlike beings feeding off stars) for their help. The result ? A population of nigh-invincible, self-repairing mindless automatons.

* Also on ''Series/DoctorWho'', the Daleks were a GeneticEngineering horror story. The Kaled people were being mutated by a millennium-long nuclear/biological/chemical war. One of their scientists, Davros, came up with (or stole) the brilliant idea of accelerating the mutations to see where they would finally end up. And, while at it, he couldn't pass up the opportunity to improve on his creations, making them stronger and more determined. In one version of the story, he was explicitly trying to turn the Kaled race into gods, based on a prophecy he'd read. In all versions, the result was the Daleks, whose sole motivation was to exterminate any lesser (i.e., non-Dalek) forms of life. Starting with Davros himself.

* The ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' universe makes some sort of GeneticEngineering easy, given some of its non-human (but not alien) residents. Still, Project Lycanthrope starts up to make weird hybrids to go on missions and assassinate. Before AmericaSavesTheDay, though, the intended target (Damien) shows up, 'liberates' (read: enslaves) the results, and kills everyone else save one. Note that in an alternate universe, one of the Project Lycanthrope products is hinted to be the reason it's now ruled by an EvilOverlord.

# [[AGodAmI Usurping God]].

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', the Ereta'een represent a prime (indeed, the first in-setting) example of this. While [[ForScience science]] itself is not evil within the setting, [[AGodAmI scientific hubris]] definitely is. In this story, the particular god being usurped by the Ereta'een species is [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Great Maker]] [[FriendlessBackground Autochthon]], the deity responsible for inventing the concepts of science, art, and culture. At first he was their patron and mentor, and cherished and protected them in an almost parental way against the depredations of other gods. Ultimately, though, their skill and ambition grew so immense that they believed they could usurp Autochthon and cannibalise his infinite power and genius for their own usage. Before their plan could be brought to fruition, however,

* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'': Many of the antagonists have committed a few, but Umbrella in particular seems to use this list as a checklist, with particular focus on genetic engineering, creating life, and resurrection. Wesker has also ticked off an impressive number of the items on this list for one man, with the ultimate goal of [[AGodAmI becoming a god]].

** Also, he may have known he WAS a god, but because he knew that the 40k verse runs on ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve he may have set out to stop any and all belief in gods in the galaxy as a way to kill of his ''rival'' gods.

Science is a religion-- an [[ReligionOfEvil evil]], godless religion that isn't just [[ScienceIsBad Bad]] and [[ScienceIsWrong Wrong]], but unethical [[HarmonyVersusDiscipline by nature]]. And like all religions, [[SevenDeadlySins it has sins]]--or, rather, "[[EvilVirtues virtues]]". These are the sins that a MadScientist commits in his quests ForScience. If... no, ''[[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong when]]'' these are violated something will [[GoneHorriblyWrong Go Horribly Wrong]] and the transgressor will receive karmic punishment [[HoistByHisOwnPetard in accordance to the sin]], increasing in evil as the number rises. [[KarmaHoudini No exceptions]].

** 2.1 [[PowerPerversionPotential Stimulating yourself]].

* On ''Franchise/StarTrek'', taking organic oversight out of the command decision loop is almost invariably a catastrophic mistake (except when it's Data). [[WeWillUseManualLabourInTheFuture Humans in the Federation almost do more manual labor than we do]].

*** It is [[MultipleEndings possible]] to achieve peace between the two factions in the [[Videogame/MassEffect3 third game]] ([[GuideDangIt provided you make the right choices]]), but even with the best possible outcome, [[TearJerker sacrifices must be made]]. What can be surprising, however, is that if you have to choose a side because you didn't meet the requirements, the Paragon choice is '''to side with the geth'''.
** Despite the Council's laws against it, you encounter ''two'' rogue AI programs in just the first game - one which evolved from a casino-cheating program, and one built by your own bosses as a tactical tool. [[spoiler: Cerberus steals the second one and it ends up working for you under her new name, [=EDI=], and [[BenevolentAI she's alright]].]]

* ''Film/IAmLegend'', the movie: we cured cancer and everybody died. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero And turned into an evil horde of zombie-vampires]].

* Many of the mooks (and some of the bosses) you face in ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'' are either unnatural crosses of animal species (eg., Cattlesnake, Batangutan, Kangashark) or mechanised animals (eg., Steel Mecharilla). They only exist because [[spoiler:Porky ]] deemed regular animals as uncool, and so had his Pigmask army to alter them genetically.

* Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion gives us the [[spoiler: Mass Production Evangelions.]]

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': MadScientist Espada Szayel sees scientific pursuit as seeking "perfection" which can only be achieved by finding a way to cheat death, something he believes he's achieved with his resurrection and therefore feels he's achieved the perfect form in science. Fellow MadScientist Captain Kurotsuchi strenuously disagrees with this requirement ForScience by proving Szayel hadn't quite succeeded in cheating death, after all.

* [[OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness SEELE]] has a big problem with [[ManipulativeBastard Gendou Ikari's]] apparent attempts at this in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. Cause they wanted to do it. As with the previous sin. SEELE and Gendo tie with Doc from Manga/{{Hellsing}} for general Scientific Evilness, matching him sin for sin.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': According to "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS7E4Inferno Inferno]]", the sin of the greedy scientists seeking to [[DugTooDeep dig too deeply]] into the earth was so great that not only were monsters called forth and the guilty scientist punished, but the world itself was destroyed (in a parallel reality). There's no reason for this other than that scientists dared tamper with what should not have been disturbed--and this from the incarnation of the Doctor that steadfastly rejected all nonscientific explanations for observed phenomena in every other story.
--> '''Doctor:''' That's the sound of this planet screaming out its rage!

** Transhumans and Hyperturing AIs were capable of a great deal, but when one broke through to a higher level of intelligence it seized control of the solar system and largely evicted humans from earth. It wasn't actively malevolent however, and its actions were [[TheEndJustifiesTheMeans largely justified]].

* ''Podcast/OurFairCity'' This is seen in the second season, when Dr Herbert West, despite his amiable nature [[spoiler: realeases a horde of zombies on Hartlife]]

** To be fair, their situation is more similar to that of the [[MassEffect geth]]. Plus, it was a plan of god(s) all along.

* The ''TabletopGame/{{Cyberpunk}}'' universe has it's own problems with over using cybernetics: Cyberpsychosis. When a human adds too many augs, they eventually become more and more unhinged until they're more machine than man and become Cyber Psychos. Special police forces colloquially called "Cyber Psycho Squads", police that are almost Cyber Psychos themselves, detain these criminals to have their minds rebuilt into a more acceptable form. Some even become Cyber Psycho Cops after their prison time.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'': One explanation for the mysterious disappearance of the entire Dwemer species. It's known that they tinkered with the "Earthbones", the hidden MagicalUnderpinningsOfReality, and that their Chief Architect Kagrenac found the heart of a god and developed the means to tap its power. In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', the PhysicalGod Vivec claims that the Dwemer glitched out of reality when Kagrenac tried to use said heart to create a new patron god for his people.

** In some ways, though, it's quite a subversion. The Dyad Institute's villain status comes not from their science necessarily, but from their objectification of human life, disregarding the clones' well-being and their very bodily autonomy for the sake of profit. It's their intention behind the human cloning, rather than the act of cloning itself, that drives them to villain status. In fact, some of the less predatorily capitalistic members of Dyad were occasionally portrayed in a good light, such as Ethan Duncan and Aldous Leekie.

* In ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', the creation of [[SuperSoldier Artificial Mages]] is explicitly banned. This is one of the reasons why [[BigBad Jail Scaglietti]], a MadScientist with a passion for [[EvilutionaryBiologist biological manipulation]], is considered an interdimensional criminal.
** Interestingly, [[TheFederation the TSB]] only comes down hard on the people that built and commissioned artificial mages/cyborgs. The creations themselves are only punished if they're found to have been gleefully kicking dogs or something. Otherwise, they're treated same as any other person, with no limits on what they're allowed to do. Also interestingly, the majority of these created beings seem to turn out to ultimately be pretty nice people; turning out as well as they do when built and raised by insane women and/or mad scientists, one has to wonder how well off they'd be if the process WASN'T illegal and thus only used by MadScientist types.

* Project F of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', which attempts to bring back the dead by creating a clone [[GeneticMemory with the memories and personality of the original]]. As it's a subset of Artificial Mage research mentioned under Genetic Engineering, this is also banned by TheFederation. [[spoiler:Series DarkMagicalGirl and ultimately {{Lancer}} Fate Testarossa was one of the products of this project, and the development of her own personality led to her mother, Precia, being [[AbusiveParents absolutely horrible to her]]]].

Science is a religion-- an [[ReligionOfEvil evil]], godless religion that isn't just [[ScienceIsBad Bad]] and [[ScienceIsWrong Wrong]], but unethical [[HarmonyVersusDiscipline by nature]]. And like all religions, [[SevenDeadlySins it has sins]]--or, rather, "[[EvilVirtues virtues]]". These are the sins that a MadScientist commits in his quests ForScience. If... no, ''[[WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong when]]'' these are violated something will [[GoneHorriblyWrong Go Horribly Wrong]] and the transgressor will receive karmic punishment [[HoistByHisOwnPetard in accordance to the sin]], increasing in evil as the number rises. [[KarmaHoudini No exceptions.]]

# [[AGodAmI Usurping God.]]

* On ''Franchise/StarTrek'', taking organic oversight out of the command decision loop is almost invariably a catastrophic mistake (except when it's Data). [[WeWillUseManualLabourInTheFuture Humans in the Federation almost do more manual labor than we do.]]

* Battlestar Galactica 2010 is all about this. In the original series, the Cylon were alien AI, [[BlueAndOrangeMorality their motives and methods not fully understood.]] In the new 2010 version, the Cylons were built by humanity to "make life easier, simpler, and better." The Cylon didn't like that, went rogue, and after a bloody war, a peace treaty was hashed out between the two sides, until the human-form Cylon came into existence, and they decided to "come home" and commit genocide on their creators.

** Despite the Council's laws against it, you encounter ''two'' rogue AI programs in just the first game - one which evolved from a casino-cheating program, and one built by your own bosses as a tactical tool. [[spoiler: Cerberus steals the second one and it ends up working for you under her new name, [=EDI=], and [[BenevolentAI she's alright.]]]]

* This is ultimately the goal of the Human Instrumentality Project in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', and it is most certainly portrayed in a fairly negative light. [[ScienceFantasy Of course, the scientificity of this sin is somewhat questionable.]]

* Pretty much Jobe Wilkins's ''raison d'etre'' in the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse''. He has genetically engineered a synthetic [[TheFairFolk Sidhe]] that is essentially a dark elf hottie. He has invented serums that can turn people into transhuman monsters... and he ''has used them on people who annoyed him''. He has invented a serum that gives people strength, endurance, and healing abilities... by turning them into what amounts to feral orcs who are put to work in his father's mines.

* In the third book of [[Creator/CSLewis C.S. Lewis's]] ''Literature/TheSpaceTrilogy'', ''That Hideous Strength'', [[FunWithAcronyms the N.I.C.E.]] engages in several patently unethical projects, including using some sort of contrivance to keep alive the head of a previously deceased French convict.

** To be fair, their situation is more similar to that of the [[MassEffect geth.]] Plus, it was a plan of god(s) all along.

** [[spoiler:Finishing the entire game and discovering the complete lore reveals that there's more to it than simple [[EvilInc ambition.]]]]

* ''Doctor Doom'' has done this on at least two occasions. In the first case, it turned out that he [[GoMadFromTheRevelation wasn't quite capable of]] [[PowerIncontinence handling the Beyonder's power]]. The second time, he gave it up because [[VictoryIsBoring being God bored him.]]

** 2.1 [[PowerPerversionPotential Stimulating yourself.]]
** 2.2 Using powers for [[MundaneUtility things other than combat.]]

** 3.1 When it's [[EmergencyTransformation unwilling]], but otherwise [[NotQuiteHuman mostly]] [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman human.]]

!!The First Sin of Automation

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!!The Second Sin of Hubris

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* ''Film/IAmLegend'', the movie: we cured cancer and everybody died. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero And turned into an evil horde of zombie-vampires.]]

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!!The Third Sin of GE and Transhumanism

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!!The Fourth Sin of Anti-Thanatosis

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!!The Fifth Sin of Autogenesis

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!!The Sixth Sin of Resurrection

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!!The Seventh Sin of Autodeification

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-->"''[...] the shadow of the great metal sphere that is Autochthon’s chosen form enveloped them and cast their great nation into darkness. Then and only then did they lift their eyes toward the heavens and tremble in fear of the darkness that spread out around them as the body of their god descended down upon them.''

-->''Looking up in terror, too proud to even ask for forgiveness, they watched as silent sentinels as Autochthon’s eye glared down upon them with umbrage and indignation.''"

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!!All of the Above
* ''TabletopGame/GeniusTheTransgression'' incorporates almost the entire list into the KarmaMeter. In order of severity Transgressions include: automation, minor transhumanism, making zombies, dangerous experimentation on humans, creating intelligence, deadly experimentation on humans, moderate transhumanism, very deadly experimentation, major transhumanism, raising the dead, genocide.
* [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Notice a certain setting that has an example on every point of the list?]]
** It's like they're trying for a record or something.
** ''Trying for''? This ''is'' ''Warhammer 40000'' we are talking about. The sole purpose and quintessence of the setting is to embody UpToEleven.
* ''TabletopGame/EclipsePhase'' has checked off each of them, although number 7 was carried out by superintelligent AI's, the [=TITANs=], who proceeded to forcibly upload many humans, reduce Earth to a blasted hellscape, and vanish through hyper-advanced wormhole gates. Most of them are considered routine everywhere except the Jovian Junta, although attempting to create another TITAN-style "seed AI" with unlimited potential is so illegal that if you attempt it you will be killed and all your backups will be wiped, and if your habitat doesn't take you down, Firewall will.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' has Voidtech, which is essentially TheCorruption in the form of self-replicating machines that embody the Scientific Sins, as defined by [[UltimateBlacksmith Autocthon]]. As with many Exalted tropes, this is played with-Autocthon embodies invention and machinery, meaning he views violation the scale as something to praise, so long as it leads to better quality of life and new discoveries in the long run. Voidtech does not care about this, only itself-in effect, what happens when actual science is warped to service greed and war.
* Nearly every faction of ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3'' ''[[GameMod Paradox]]'' has committed at least one of the sins. The Allies have committed sins #1 and #2, the Empire and Syndicate have committed #1, #2, and #3 (the Syndicate is worse though), the Confederates have committed #2, China has committed #2, #3, #4, #5, and the Protectorate ''[[RobotWar is]]'' #1. Only the Soviets and Order of the Talon haven't committed any of the sins.

* ''WebOriginal/OrionsArm'', despite generally displaying all of these as good things, shows disadvantages to all but immortality.
* ''VideoGame/AmnesiaAMachineForPigs'': The Engineers commits #3 and #7, its plan is to slaughter everyone in London and convert them into Manpigs, and become a God by using the blood of the people killed.

* Creator/HPLovecraft's series of short stories "Herbert West - Reanimator", on which the film was loosely based. Which ends with the title doctor being torn to pieces by a small army of his creations [[spoiler:though they take his head with them, and one of them is smart enough to reanimate the dead himself]].

* ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' - He's ''everyvere und novere.''