The Mad Scientist's Lab

Lore & Background

The prototypical fictional mad scientist was Victor Frankenstein, creator of his eponymous monster, who made his first appearance in 1818, in the novel Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley. The year 1896 saw the publication of H. G. Wells's The Island of Doctor Moreau. In 1925, the novelist Alexander Belyaev introduced mad scientists to the Russian people through the novel Professor Dowell's Head. Fritz Lang's movie Metropolis (1927) brought the archetypical mad scientist to the screen in the form of Rotwang.

Reader's Guide

Mad scientists may be villainous (evil genius) or antagonistic, benign, or neutral; may be insane, eccentric, or clumsy; and often works with fictional technology or fails to recognise or value common human objections to attempting to play God. Some may have benevolent intentions, even if their actions are dangerous or questionable, making them accidental antagonists.

Did You Know?

• A 2005 survey of 1,000 horror films distributed in the UK between the 1930s and 1980s reveals mad scientists or their creations have been the villains of 30 percent of the films.
• Scientific research has produced 39 percent of the threats in those films, while scientists have been the heroes of a mere 11 percent.
• Writer Christopher Frayling has commented that mad scientists are perceived as 'mad, bad and dangerous to know.'