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A recent obsession with mad scientists has caused me to cook this thread up. The idea is pretty simple. Who is your favorite mad scientist, either fiction or real (so long as you are able to provide a case for their mad scientist-ness, distinguishable from an evil scientist or evil genius).
Rules: don't just name drop, provide a reference of some sort. Must be a mad scientist, as noted above--evil scientists need not apply. See the wikipedia entry for mad scientist if you need clarification.
My favorite mad scientist is a toss-up between Jack Parsons, occultist and father of American rocketry, and Mandark of Dexter's Laboratory fame.
Why these two? Jack Parsons, aside from being a brilliant chemist and having stopped L. Ron Hubbard from grifting him (with a summoned typhoon, according to some), he also died under mysterious circumstances, which is just perfect for a mad scientist. Well, I suppose the circumstances could be viewed as easily explainable--fulminate of mercury is very explosive and he had a shitload of it sitting around, so dying of wounds sustained in an explosion is perhaps not so mysterious. But he was an expert, probably knowing as much about fulminate of mercury as anyone else on the planet, so accidentally mixing it with another chemical known to produce unexpected explosions does not sound like something he would do. But hell, who knows. Accidents happen.
Mandark, Dexter's primary rival, would qualify as an evil genius if not for his capacity for love (he is in love with Dexter's sister Dee Dee). A mind that possibly overtakes Dexter's, and a much nicer lab, puts him in running for the top slot. Plus he overcame his hippy upbringing! Wotta guy. |
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