History MadScientist / Literature

* In Justina Ireland's ''Literature/DreadNation'' duology, the 2nd book ''Deathless Divide'' reveals that the tinkerer Gideon Carr turns out to be one and the BigBad. In a world where "shamblers" have devastated much of the US, Gideon's so obsessed with creating a cure to [[ZombieApocalypse the zombie plague]] that he keeps traveling to various towns and cities, convincing their leaders to try his experimental vaccines. Problem is his vaccines only have a minuscule chance of working, but a high possibility of starting new outbreaks so many settlements and cities have been wiped out by his actions. Too bad he's so obsessed with a zombie cure, as he's truly a brilliant inventor and made things that really benefited places he's lived at such as wind turbines, electrical systems, gas heaters and a [[MagneticWeapon rail gun]] in the 1860s!

* In Justina Ireland's ''Dread Nation'' duology, the 2nd book ''Deathless Divide'' reveals that the tinkerer Gideon Carr turns out to be one and the BigBad. In a world where "shamblers" have devastated much of the US, Gideon's so obsessed with creating a cure to [[ZombieApocalypse the zombie plague]] that he keeps traveling to various towns and cities, convincing their leaders to try his experimental vaccines. Problem is his vaccines only have a minuscule chance of working, but a high possibility of starting new outbreaks so many settlements and cities have been wiped out by his actions. Too bad he's so obsessed with a zombie cure, as he's truly a brilliant inventor and made things that really benefited places he's lived at such as wind turbines, electrical systems, gas heaters and a [[MagneticWeapon rail gun]] in the 1860s!

* Dr Reeper (at least before his [[spoiler: HeelFaceTurn]]) and Professor Zuzubin in ''Literature/GeorgesSecretKeyToTheUniverse''. Alioth Merak is arguably this as well.

* From ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles: Literature/StormFront'', the main antagonist has a whole factory producing a magically-laced drug. It's catalyzed by [[RitualMagic a ritual]], [[SexMagic fueled by sex]].

* Mandragora from ''Website/TheCrewOfTheCopperColoredCupids'' may be an alchemist (who dresses like it, torch-lit laboratory, alembics and all), but hereally acts more like a mad scientist, complete with bringing monsters back to life with cries of having unlocked [[EvilIsHammy the secret! of life! ''itself!'']]. Pythe jokingly refers to Mandragora as "the Governor's pet mad scientist".

* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''[[Literature/CountToTheEschaton Count to a Trillion]]'', Menelaus tries a very hypothetical and dangerous experiment [[ProfessorGuineaPig on himself]] the first chance he can get.

* [[Literature/TheDestroyer Remo Williams]] has encountered mad scientists, for example Dr. Judith White, who mutated herself into a [[CatFolk tiger/homo sapien]] HalfHumanHybrid.
* Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series:

* Dr. Griffin from Creator/HGWells' ''Literature/TheInvisibleMan''. All the evidence suggests that he was not entirely stable to begin with; after he [[ProfessorGuineapig manages to turn himself permanently invisible]], he becomes a murdering psychopath bent on domination who refers to himself as [[ThatManIsDead "Invisible Man the First"]].
* Creator/HGWells' Dr. Moreau from ''Literature/TheIslandOfDoctorMoreau'' isn't as early as Frankenstein, but he played a major role in shaping the trope. He has EinsteinHair -- [[UnbuiltTrope decades before Einstein]]. He had the MadScientistLaboratory -- his island (and he likely brought tropical island laboratories into vogue). Cast out from society, with only [[TheIgor one assistant]]? Oh, yes. He did it all ForScience but used extremely painful methods that would give any PETA representative nightmares. [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters Turned on by his own creations]]? Yep. Several films adaptations even give him a [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter beautiful daughter]] [[spoiler: of his own creation]]. He also provided the beginnings of the ReluctantMadScientist -- he never intended to get revenge on the other scientists who cast him out, and in his own mind he had noble purposes for his work; it's only his (possibly willful) ignorance of how torturous his methods are that makes him less than a sympathetic character.
* Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs's ''Literature/JohnCarterOfMars'' tends to run into his share of crazy scientists:
** In ''The Master Mind of Mars'', Ras Thavas makes his living selling his skills and doesn't care about the rest of the world. Although he later tries to give up his evil ways, Ras Thavas has trouble [[EvilCannotComprehendGood understanding the “rules”.]]

* In ''Literature/KilnPeople'' by Creator/DavidBrin this is diagnosed as Smersh-Foxleitner Syndrome. Arrogance, sociopathy, mood-swings, and self-delusion are among its many symptoms.

* The villain of Creator/HilariBell's ''[[Literature/KnightAndRogueSeries The Last Knight]]'' is a rare example of a mad scientist in a fantasy setting, performing dubiously ethical experiments in order to give magical powers to humans (as, in the story's universe, only plants and animals have magic).

** Crawford Tillinghast in "From Beyond", who messes with the nature of reality and doesn't seem bothered when it leads to his servants being eaten by an EldritchAbomination.

* The Master of the World, in [[Literature/MasterOfTheWorld the Jules Verne thriller of the same name]], is a brilliant inventor. Pity he's also a monomaniac...

* Middle-Earth:
** Fëanor in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' falls somewhere between this and MadArtist. An extraordinarily gifted craftsman and scholar, he starts out rather paranoid and nasty ([[FreudianExcuse because of]] the [[MissingMom death of his mother]] and remarriage of his father) and ends up [[RevengeBeforeReason completely unhinged]] after his father is killed and his finest works are stolen.
** Saruman in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' can also be viewed as this character type, what with his obsession with industry at the expense of the natural world. He is also something of a would-be EmperorScientist; he would have become one had his whole TakeOverTheWorld plan gotten off the ground.

* Professor Drummond from the Nick Carter short story "Nick Carter and the Professor" from 1902. This story appeared in the reprint anthology Nick Carter, Detective published in 1963 by the [=MacMillan=] Company, with an introduction by Robert Clurman. Drummond worked out of Malden, MA and had his underlings [[GraveRobbing steal a body]] from Mount Auburn in Cambridge. Carter also faced Dr. Jack Quartz.

* Subverted by Erik, the titular Phantom in ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' by Gaston Leroux: He built a RoboticTortureDevice / DeathTrap and a DeceptivelyHumanRobot at the middle of the 19th century, but his tragedy, as the {{Narrator}} lampshades in the Epilogue, is that he is so ugly he could never become a scientist, but rather a toyman or stage magician:
--> ''And he had to hide his genius or use it'' to play tricks with, ''when, with an ordinary face, he would have been one of the most distinguished of mankind!''

* Both Masego and Wekesa from ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil''. Not surprising given that they are both Villains with Names strongly associated with magic, in a world where magic is commonly used in place of technology even for things like grenades. Both have stated outright that they are more interested in tearing apart Creation to figure out how it works than in gaining temporal power. Over the course of the series we learn about such inventions of them like Still Waters [[spoiler: - a ritual/alchemical compound that kills anyone who drinks it and raises them as undead under caster's control -]] and reverse-engineered ''angelic smiting''.
* The [[PlayingWithFire aeshes]] of A.L. Phillips's Literature/TheQuestOfTheUnaligned have this reputation, and in fact in magickless Tonzimmiel, "aesh" means "certified engineer." Word Of God reveals that their secondary power is Haesh's Trace, a burst of insight that grants them true understanding of something they've been considering. An example of this is seen in Laeshana's sudden insight into the nature of magic while she is finishing her studies at the College of Magic.
* Literature/TheRadix: Edgar Wurm, a cryptoanalysist who managed to decode the Voynich manuscript, but in the process got mad and obsessed with the Radix.
* Creator/JulesVerne's Literature/RoburTheConqueror, in the novel of the same name.
* In ''Literature/RogueStar'', Cliff Hawk wants to know more about rogue stars -- living stars which for whatever reason have not joined the intergalactic community of stars -- and decides to build one from scratch in his own laboratory. It does not go well.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': In ''[[Literature/BloodAngels Red Fury]]'', Caecus persists in his efforts to make replicae of Space Marines over his Chapter Master's overt disapproval. (His servant Fenn falls more under OldRetainer than TheIgor, because he vocally disapproves of it all.)

* Dr. Impossible, of ''Literature/SoonIWillBeInvincible'', suffers from "[[ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder malign hypercognitive disorder]]". His mentor, Baron Ether, had the condition as well. Symptoms include [[FreakLabAccident not following safety protocols]] while [[ILoveNuclearPower working with high energy physics experiments]], [[ThePlan extreme long-term planning]], [[MechaMooks robotic servants]], [[DeathRay death rays]], ''[[GambitPileup extreme]]'' [[ThePlan long-term planning]], [[EvilLaugh maniacal laughter]], [[CutLexLuthorACheck wondering why you just didn't get a normal job while powering up the death ray]], and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking insomnia]].

* Garfield Reeves-Stevens' novel ''Dark Matter'' features a mad scientist SerialKiller who actually manages to endow himself with metahuman powers similar to {{ComicBook/Captain Atom}}, {{ComicBook/Firestorm|DCComics}}, and [[{{ComicBook/Watchmen}} Doctor Manhattan]] (in imitation of the latter, he even visits Mars).

* Most of Franchise/DocSavage's foes are mad enough to the point that their [[ScienceIsBad death machines could not have been a large scale threat]] after retrieval and close examination by Doc. [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation At least, that's what he says...]]

* Both Masego and Wekesa from ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil''. Not surprising given that they are both Villains with Names strongly associated with magic, in a world where magic is commonly used in place of technology even for things like grenades. Both have stated outright that they are more interested in tearing apart Creation to figure out how it works than in gaining temporal power.

* Professor Drummond from the Nick Carter short story "Nick Carter and the Professor" from 1902. This story appeared in the reprint anthology Nick Carter, Detective published in 1963 by the [=MacMillan=] Company, with an introduction by Robert Clurman. Drummond worked out of Malden, MA and had his underlings [[BodySnatching steal a body]] from Mount Auburn in Cambridge. Carter also faced Dr. Jack Quartz.

* ''[[Literature/TimeMachineSeries The Rings of Saturn]]'' has an old, very much insane scientist, living in the abandoned part of a space pirate base (without their knowledge) who is obsessed with researching other dimensions (and doesn't hesitate to send his lab assistant, or random strangers into them. Without giving them a way back.)
* Literature/TheUltraViolets owe their superpowers to [[AbsentMindedProfessor Absent Minded]] TeenGenius Candace and her questionable experiments. And the Fascination Lab and [=BeauTek=] seem to hire them by the batch. Though the latter is the "evil" company, [=FLab=] isn't afraid of exploring the potential of some freaky, questionable science. (They even have a literal Highly Questionable Tower, for Pete's sake.)
* In Creator/JamesSwallow's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novel ''[[Literature/BloodAngels Red Fury]]'', Caecus persists in his efforts to make replicae of Space Marines over his Chapter Master's overt disapproval. (His servant Fenn falls more under OldRetainer than TheIgor, because he vocally disapproves of it all.)
* Subverted to some extent in the George R.R. Martin-edited ''Literature/WildCards'' books. There are Mad Scientists a plenty, on both hero and villain sides. Or at least folks who have been infected with the wild card virus who are now determined to build androids, {{Humongous Mecha}} and all manner of mad-sciencey devices. The kicker is that the inventions they create ''really are'' just piles of unworkable junk, and the particular power they have developed is the [[MagicPoweredPseudoscience ability to make their crazy inventions work]]. Any attempt to analyze and reproduce the devices prove to be fruitless and show that there is no way they should function in the first place.
* Starflight's father Mastermind from ''Literature/WingsOfFire'' is the chief scientist for the [=NightWing=]s, dabbling in experiments and asking dragonets to help him out for their school projects. Because he had [[spoiler:kidnapped [=RainWing=]s to learn their defenses so his tribe could overpower them, he is arrested and sentenced by their new queen Glory to prison]]. Starflight finds it hard to trust his father after that.