Types of scientists most and least likely to become supervillains

[Sir Tim Drake]

I was just reading T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents #4 and I was surprised to see Dr. Sparta describe himself as "the world's greatest zoologist". Zoology seems like kind of an odd field for a mad scientist to be in, since it mostly involves studying animals, not training them to attack people and property. In fact, since Dr. Sparta's research focuses on growing dinosaurs in test tubes and teleporting them, it seems like zoology is not his primary area of expertise.

Although I have not studied this question extensively, I would guess that most mad scientists were trained in genetic engineering, robotics, or some sort of applied physics.

What are some other types of scientists that would make effective super-villains? What are some scientific specialties that would not be useful for a super-villain?

[Jolly Mon]

Proctology. Could go either way.

[Slam_Bradley]

I'd think bio-chemistry has to be up there.


"I think I'll test this serum on myself."

[Sir Tim Drake]

I'd think bio-chemistry has to be up there.


"I think I'll test this serum on myself."

I guess animal testing is not really practical, unless you want to end up with a ten-foot-tall lab rat, or one that can shoot laser beams out of its eyes.

[Slam_Bradley]

I guess animal testing is not really practical, unless you want to end up with a ten-foot-tall lab rat, or one that can shoot laser beams out of its eyes.


Sharks with lasers are cool.

[JKCarrier]

I always liked the bit in Steve Gerber's Defenders, where the Headmen kidnap a bunch of people, shrink them down, and stick them all in an ant farm to study their reactions. Mad anthropology!

[Ziggy Stardust]

For every Mad Thinker building a bad robot, there's a Wil Magnus.

For every Henry McCoy trying to use biochemistry to cure the Legacy Virus, there's a Mr Sinister mucking with people's genes.

For every Hank Pym building an Ultron, there's a T. O. Morrow building a Red Tornado.

This is an interesting premise for a thread, but I am finding it hard to come up with an absolute.

After all, the superior scientists who can do any and all types of science are seen on both sides of the battle, IE Doom and Richards.

[Roquefort Raider]

Supervilain Dr. Zeitgeist, sociologist, is making plans for a society where everybody is unhappy.

Not quite Galactus material, if you ask me.

[benday-dot]

I always liked the bit in Steve Gerber's Defenders, where the Headmen kidnap a bunch of people, shrink them down, and stick them all in an ant farm to study their reactions. Mad anthropology!

I quickly thought of the Headmen as well, upon reading Sir Tim's thread. However, I was thinking of those experiments that actually each of the member's original creation.

The practise of zoology (or genetics) might very well have been useful in the creation of Gorilla Man, the result of a human head being transplanted onto a powerful gorilla body. And the saggy Jerold Morgan was messing around with molecular biology I think.

[Babylon23]

Let's not forget the crazy evil botanists out there - Plant Man, Poison Ivy, Floronic Man.

[Chris N]

Botany might be the answer. Can anybody think of a botanist who turned to good?

[Roquefort Raider]

Botany might be the answer. Can anybody think of a botanist who turned to good?

The Floronic Man?

He was a villain but saw the light in time to join the universe's greatest super-team : The New Guardians!!!

[mgs]

In fiction, ANY scientist has the potential to be a sueprvillain.

Hell, look at the Batman movie, where the Riddler (Jim Carey) was initially a scientist working for good guy, Batman!! Look at how he ended up! :wink:

[Roquefort Raider]

I can just imagine a villainous homeopath who gets all upset because the heroes keep reminding him that...

(a) he can't be a mad scientist if he's not a scientist to begin with;

and

(b) none of his potions actually do anything.

[Sir Tim Drake]

Literary scholars are not well represented among supervillains, but just imagine a villain who could take your favorite children's book and show you why it's colonialist, racist, sexist and classist.

"Oh, you like Curious George? Well, let's not forget that the man in the yellow hat is a safari explorer. And since the text portrays him sympathetically, it participates in a neocolonialist legacy of touristic exploitation of 'native' territories and peoples. And let's not even get started on the speciesist implications of using a monkey as a protagonist. This just reifies a binary opposition between 'the animal' and 'the human'..."

[Roquefort Raider]

Literary scholars are not well represented among supervillains, but just imagine a villain who could take your favorite children's book and show you why it's colonialist, racist, sexist and classist.

"Oh, you like Curious George? Well, let's not forget that the man in the yellow hat is a safari explorer. And since the text portrays him sympathetically, it participates in a neocolonialist legacy of touristic exploitation of 'native' territories and peoples. And let's not even get started on the speciesist implications of using a monkey as a protagonist. This just reifies a binary opposition between 'the animal' and 'the human'..."

That's not so far-fetched!

In the all-humor issue of What If...? there was a segment on "Spidey's intellectual stories" in which the titular hero barges in on the Mad Thinker, and both endeavour to resolve their differences through a high brow philosophical discussion.