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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''He said: "To hell with moisture detectors. I'm going to build a giant robot." So we built a giant robot.''|''[[
It doesn't matter if she's [[Teen Genius|13 years old]] or [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old|13,000]], she's the greatest scientific genius in the universe and can prove it by building a 50,000-horsepower [[Humongous Mecha|battle robot]] out of [[Homemade Inventions|tin cans and an old transistor radio]]. Overnight. Sometimes her creations [[Explosive Instrumentation|fail]] with [[Stuff Blowing Up|entertaining explosions]], but they always work for at least a little while. In [[Anime]], the '''Gadgeteer Genius''' is usually female, and often still in grade school. In Western depictions the gadgeteer is usually male, and can be of any age.
There can be a very fine line between Gadgeteer Genius and [[Mad Scientist]].
A [[Wrench Wench]] is a slightly more realistic depiction. Expect her [[Battle Cry]] to be "''[[For Science!]]''"
When the Gadgeteer Genius's creations cannot be replicated by lesser minds see [[The Spark of Genius]]. When it's the results are [[Beyond the Impossible|impossible according to internal logic]] and [[Played for Laughs]], it's [[Impossible Genius]].
{{examples|Examples}}▼
When the character is known for skill in electronics rather then mechanics he or she is a [[Techno Wizard]]. It is possible of course for the same character to be both or for a Gadgeteer and a Techno character to compliment each other on the same team.
== Anime & Manga ==▼
* [[Dragonball Z|Bulma]] will single-handly perfect time-travel, launch the space exploration industry, and artificially produce energy comparable to a small celestial body if it will help [[Red Oni Blue Oni|Goku or Vegeta]]. Gotta love that girl.▼
* Washuu from ''[[Tenchi Muyo]]!'' In the original OVA she actually isn't much of a gadgeteer -- most of her time was spent in doing research so complex that the viewers were rarely let in what she was doing. The later TV-series increased her gadget-building role considerably.▼
* Rin-Rin from ''[[Sister Princess (Light Novel)|Sister Princess]]'' can build custom laptop computers overnight for pocket change, complete with her own hand-written operating system. She's also built an [[Robot Girl|android duplicate of herself]], but the poor thing [[The Voiceless|can't speak]] and is still [[Dojikko|a bit klutzy]] at household chores.▼
▲* [[Dragonball Z|Bulma]] will single-handly perfect time-travel, launch the space exploration industry, and artificially produce energy comparable to a small celestial body if it will help [[Red Oni, Blue Oni|Goku or Vegeta]]. Gotta love that girl.
▲* Washuu from ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]
▲* Rin-Rin from ''[[
* Li Kohran from ''[[Sakura Taisen]]''.
* Skuld from ''[[Ah
* Kaolla Suu from ''[[Love Hina]]''.
* Nanoca Flanka from ''[[Aoi Umi No Tristia]]'' (''Tristia of the Deep Blue Sea'').
* Rika Domeki from ''[[Dai
* Satomi Hakase in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]''.
** Not to mention Chao Lingshen.
* Hayashida Heihachi in ''[[Samurai 7]]''.
* Niea from ''[[
* Irina Woods, one of Arika's friends and roommates from ''[[Mai
* Nina Einstein from ''[[Code Geass]]''. She invented a {{spoiler|NUCLEAR WEAPON}} in the last episode of the first season using the contents of a High School science lab! Granted, it was only semi-functional and broke down before {{spoiler|detonation}}, but STILL. And not to mention, she later ''did'' build a functioning {{spoiler|bomb}}... with disastrous results.
** And by the end of S2... she builds an {{spoiler|anti-FLEIJA}} device. ''In a month''. And it works, both for Lelouch and [[Rescued
* ''[[Sonic X]]'': Chis Thorndyke's [[Rescued
** Tails is a better example.
* Shari of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'', who by the age of 17, had already created the [[X-Men (Comic Book)|Danger Room-like]] training grounds of Riot Force 6 and the [[Empathic Weapon|Intelligent Devices]] of the rookies.
* Chie from ''[[Hyakko]]'' is still in high school, but is quickly advancing in the field of robotics. Her most notable achievement to date is [[Robot Me|Mecha-Torako]].
* Dr. Agasa from ''[[
* Toma is training to be a magical version of this in ''[[Mahoujin Guru Guru|Doki Doki Densetsu Mahoujin Guru Guru]]''
* Rat from ''[[Free Collars Kingdom]]''.
* Spanner and the future Giannini from ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]''. They can do anything. Including building giant robots and motorcycles which are as quiet as mimes.
** Notably, both are male.
* Franky and Usopp of ''[[
* B-Ko from the ''[[Project
* Hotaru of ''[[Gakuen Alice]]''. Her's is the invention Alice.
* Ursula Hartmann from ''[[Strike Witches]]'' combines this with [[Improbable Age]]. A 10-years old who is a rocketry expert.
* So does Noel from ''[[So Ra No
* [[Spell My Name
* ''[[
* For a [[Jidai Geki]] series, ''[[Ayakashi Ayashi]]'' has one hell of an example - Masurao, a member of the 'People of the Craft', proves capable of whipping up devices in feudal japan that would be considered revolutionary TODAY - including a fully-functional handgun made from paper. His [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]], however, comes when he is pursued by the heroes through a construction-site, grabs some random pieces of wood and some tools without slowing, and craft them into an attack-robot to sic on his pursuers. Without ever stopping.
* The [[Child Prodigy]] {{spoiler|Sieglinde Sullivan}} in the ''[[Black Butler (manga)|Black Butler]]'' manga goes in a space of a few weeks from not knowing anything about technology to single-handedly inventing the field of robotics... in 1889.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
== Comics ==▼
* ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'s'' Forge has the ability to intuitively determine how anything works, and by this point, after years of exposure to all manner of gadgetry, is able to whip up any manner of [[Applied Phlebotinum]] you can possibly imagine. We're talking ''[[Star Wars]]'' level.
** He is also a [[Magical Native American|shaman]]. This fact isn't brought up so much, because combining the two aptitudes leads to questions of why he has not whooped most of evil's ass by now.
*** Oh, but he has. He stopped the Adversary, an evil [[Physical God]] and banished it from the world. ''Twice.'' It's probably going to {{spoiler|resurface soon now that Forge is dead}}.
** Scalphunter, a member of the [[Complete Monster|Marauders]] that regularly clash with the X-Men has these technical abilities too, being able to reform mechanical components into anything he can think of. Given that he's a murderous [[Psycho for Hire]], he generally tends to create [[Big Freaking Gun|shotguns, grenade launchers, high-powered automatic rifles, and other lovely toys.]]
** The writers of ''[[X
* Angie from the superhero comic ''[[
** And of the male (and not quite as explosive) type, the school also hosts Zodon and Herschel Clay, who both have significant gadget construction and tinkering skills in addition to (or due to) being prime examples of, respectively, the [[Evil Genius]] and the [[Mr. Fixit]].
* [[Legion of Super-Heroes (
* [[Iron Man]], who in turn inspired a Gadgeteer Genius (aptly codenamed Gadget) to build a tech-suit in her garage. Probably [[Memetic Mutation|from a box of scraps]].
* In ''[[Astro City]]'', Beautie's origin is revealed: {{spoiler|she was built by a girl Gadgeteer Genius, the still more brilliant daughter of another Gadgeteer Genius. (Her father's reaction leads to Bad Things for both Beautie and the daughter.)}}
** Not to mention the Junkman, who uses stuff that's been thrown out to create his devices (as he considers himself cast off by society because of his age). Despite the self-imposed handicap, he is one of the few villains in Astro City who {{spoiler|actually win}}, as it is implied he {{spoiler|gets away from his trial}} with the recognition he craved and all the loot he stole.
* ''[[Alpha Flight]]'' supporting cast member Madison Jeffries has the mutant power to physically alter machines, metals and related inorganic objects, which he initially used as a mechanic. (His brother Lionel had a similar power over living tissue, which had [[Squick|gruesome results when he went insane.]] Another more conventional genius was Box, a quadriplegic who used his tremendous scientific skills to build machines that overcame his disability.
* The original, pre-Crisis version of [[Lex Luthor]] was the archetype of all comic book [[Mad Scientist
* In [[Warren Ellis]]'s ''newuniversal'' (based on ''[[The New Universe]]''), this is the power provided by the Cipher [[Power Tattoo]]. Of the three known bearers, one was a prehistoric woman who invented electric lighting and energy weapons, but believed they were gifts from the gods; one was this world's version of [[Iron Man|Tony Stark]]; and the most recent is [[Humongous Mecha]] designer Dr Jennifer Swan.
* Too many [[Marvel Comics]] characters to list, really. [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|Reed Richards]], [[
** There's also Tom Thumb and Master Menace from Marvel's ''[[Squadron Supreme]]'' alternate universe.
* Gyro Gearloose can build literally anything. In one story he built a functional space rocket out of a couple of toasters and duct tape, overnight.
* Lewis, Mechanika's armourer in ''[[Lady Mechanika]]''.
* Al Jabr in ''[[Demon Knights]]''. It's [[The Dark Ages]] and he has a telescope and an electrified whip.
* [[Batman]] is this to a certain degree. Though most of his larger contraptions (like a Satellite that monitors all meta human activity down to the slightest) are built by a subsidiary of his corporation, WayneTech, making this overlap with [[Crimefighting
* Fantasio of ''[[Spirou and Fantasio]]'' was a talented inventor in the earlier volumes. [[Characterization Marches On|Later volumes ignored this attribute]] but his skills are alluded to in "Aventure en Australie", where he fixes a broken down train despite everyone in town insisting that it was beyond repair.
* Most recently [[Static (
* Ted Kord as the [[Blue Beetle]] is ''the'' defining example of a gadgeteer genius superhero. He invented all of his gear himself, a lot of which was reverse-engineered alien technology (you think HTML code is tough?), up to and including a ''beetle shaped flying ship.'' [[Green Lantern|Guy Gardener]] has even said that Ted was smarter than ''[[Batman]]''.
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* Calvin is [[Character Exaggeration|exaggerated]] into this in ''[[
==
▲* Calvin is [[Character Exaggeration|exaggerated]] into this in ''[[Calvin and Hobbes The Series (Fanfic)|Calvin and Hobbes: The Series]]''. Among his inventions include the [[Do Anything Robot|MTM]], [[Incredible Shrinking Man|Mega Shrinker]] [[Trope 2000|5000]], [[Time Stands Still|Time Stopper]], [[Trapped in TV Land|Movie Transporter]]...
== Films ==▼
* Doc Brown, ''slightly'' crazy inventor and engineering genius from the three ''[[Back to The Future]]'' movies. Built a time machine in the form of a Delorean car. Then a ''second'' even more stylish time machine which combined a 19th century steam locomotive with antigravity and cold fusion technology from the future.
** He turned a ''regular'' steam train into a ''time traveling'' steam train with nothing that didn't exist before the 1800s, except for a hover-board.
** And let us not forget his epically-impractical ice-making machine.
* The ''[[Blade]]'' movies (especially ''Blade Trinity'') have several characters who build high-tech equipment for the vampire hunters. Seriously... ultraviolet light bullets??
* Q from ''[[James Bond (
** In several of the novels by John Gardner, Q/Major Boothroyd's character is downplayed so Bond can flirt with his [[Hot Scientist]] assistant, Ann Reilly. Her nickname is "Q'ute," which explains a lot.
* Tony Stark in the 2008 ''[[Iron Man]]'' movie (not to mention the comics it's based on) is depicted as a gadgeteer genius. He builds the power suit prototype and his own [[Unobtainium]] artificial heart using spare parts provided for the construction of a Jericho missile. In his own lab, he creates even more impressive gadgets.
* Both Artemus Gordon and Dr. Loveless fill this part in ''[[Wild Wild West (
** To be fair, most of the work for the latter is done by the scientists he has captured. He doesn't even hide that fact. He's smart enough to survive being blown in half.
* Lewis from ''[[Meet the Robinsons]]''.
* [[Charlie and
** Yes, but he also had an army of Oompa-loompas - some of which may have actually come up with the designs themselves.
* Dr. Cockroach from ''[[Monsters Versus Aliens]]'' managed to build a working computer out of a pizza box and paper clip, and that's after an experiment turned him into a humanoid cockroach. If he ever gets his hand on a box of LEGO bricks and some uranium, watch out!
* Gwen/Royal Pain from the super-teens comedy ''[[Sky High]]'' calls herself a "technopath." She demonstrates the ability to magically repair electronics, as well as presumably designing and building her own armored super-suit.
* Anakin Skywalker of ''[[Star Wars]]'' fame built a [[Robot Buddy|protocol droid]] and a pod racer before the age of ten.
* ''[[The Specials]]'': Mr. Smart, smartest man in the world, inventor of such devices as a winged rocket-backpack and [[It Seemed Like a Good Idea At
* Flint Lockwood from ''[[Cloudy
* Ling Ling Fat (008) in Steven Chow's ''[[Forbidden City Cop]]'' is a genius inventor who uses his wits to protect the Emperor better than the kung-fu masters making up the rest of the Imperial Guard.
* The title character of ''[[The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension]]'' invented the Jet Car, a surgical technique to implant a microphone in the human skull so people can give orders to their own brain, and (with Professor Hikita) the Oscillation Overthruster. And that's just what was mentioned in the movie - it's implied that he's done much more.
== [[Literature]] ==▼
▲== Literature ==
* Tinker in [[Wen Spencer]]'s ''Tinker'' novels.
* In the ''[[
** In ''[[
* The ''[[Wild Cards]]'' series features quite a few gadgeteer characters, such as Jetman, but in a subversion, the gadgets they make don't actually work. Some of them actually have no means of operating. The gadgets are just tokens that serve as a crutch for their powers.
* Foaly from ''[[
* Ashley Stalworth from ''[[Dragons in Our Midst]]''.
* [[Tom Swift]] is the ur-example, making this trope [[Older Than Radio]].
** But don't forget Frank Reade Jr. or Johnny Brainerd.
* Soledad O'Rourke of ''[[John Ridley|Those Who Walk In Darkness]]'' is a specialist, only designing [[Abnormal Ammo]]. However, she deserves to be on this list after creating [[Fun
* [[Tom Clancy]]'s Net Force, based on the name alone, would be expected to have a lot of these. And it does. But no one can best Jay Gridley.
** One guy bests Jay Gridley, but it takes a Quantum Computer (manifested as a T-Rex) to do so. Gridley eventually recovers, hunts it down in VR, and blows it away with a rocket launcher.
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* Abner Perry in ''At The Earth's Core'' by [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]].
* Violet Baudelaire in ''[[A Series of Unfortunate Events]]''. This girl used a window shade and six roller skates to make an automatic rolling pin. When she was ''five''.
* Cogs in ''[[The Grimnoir Chronicles]]'' books are exactly this. Unlike most other examples though, Cogs tend to be specialized.
* The main character of [[The Chronicles of Professor Jack Baling]] is able to build a disintegrator gun out of parts from his microwave, flatscreen TV, laser pointer, refrigerator, and his wife’s hair dryer that plugs into any standard wall socket.
* [[Isaac Asimov]]'s short story "Homo Sol" portrays Earthpeople as, by comparison with the Galaxy's other intelligent peoples, an entire species of these — specializing in weapons. One extraterrestrial describes how Earth's researchers rebuilt an alien geological sensor, used to detect ore deposits and '''not very effective''', as an absolutely deadly targeting sensor: "It will automatically lay a gun or projector on a completely invisible target in space, air, water — or rock, for that matter."
== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* One of the most famous gadgeteers of TV was ''[[MacGyver]]'', although he was more of a tinkerer. The series that spawned the term "[[MacGyvering]]." Usually worked alone, without a sidekick. Oddly enough, though, there was an episode of ''MacGyver'' where he teamed up with a classic Gadgeteer Genius
* Micah from ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' is a ten-year-old boy whose mastery of machines allowed him to make his own circuitry for his computer. This is later explained to be {{spoiler|[[Technopath|his superpower]], control and knowledge}} of machines.
* Magical Version: in ''[[
* Basically ''every'' Chief Engineer from ''[[
** Starfleet Engineers in general seem to have a reputation for this. In the ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
** Presumably, the dry dock engineers are geniuses too, since they manage to survive and repair all the alien tech that all homecoming vessels seem to be infested with.
** Spock was also sometimes expected to be a Gadgeteer Genius, even with only primitive materials to work with. In "City on the Edge of Forever," he expresses his frustration at having to do this with 1930's technology: "I am endeavoring, ma'am, to create a mnemonic memory circuit, using stone knives... and bearskins."
*** On [[Star Trek:
** Justified with the ''Enterprises'' because, as capital ships, their officers are the ''best of the best'' from an organisation spanning hundreds of planets, or in the case of ''Enterprise'', at least the whole of Earth.
*** For ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
*** Lampshaded in the 2009 movie: Scotty is just a little too smart for his own good, having beamed "Admiral Archer's prize beagle" across the galaxy for a bet. To allow him time to wait for it to arrive, he's sent to the Starfleet equivalent of a [[Reassigned to Antarctica|remote Alaskan radar station]]. Apparently, Porthos was going to re-materialize at the very end of the film, but it was cut for time, [[What Could Have Been|alas]].
* Seamus Zelazny Harper from the spaceship ''[[Andromeda]]'' is both an engineering genius (which by later seasons extends itself even to human cloning) and also a hyperactive archetypal [[Mr. Fixit]] and tinkerer.
* ''[[Power Rangers]]'' has had several characters who could apparently create/repair [[Humongous Mecha]] in a matter of hours. The most egregious example is the [[Ass Pull]] of ''two fully-functional copies'' of a mecha introduced out of the blue. Cam's just that good.
** Then there's the fact that Billy Cranston, the first Blue Ranger, invented a collection of wristwatches that could be used both as personal communicators, and could remotely activate an alien teleportation grid. Villains aren't the only ones who could [[Cut Lex Luthor a Check]].
*** The most impressive part? He put the teleportation thing in by ''accident''. He was just trying to connect to the alien communications network. ''The day after meeting the aliens for the first time''.
* Supposedly, the Professor from ''[[
** Maritime engineering clearly just isn't his thing.
** Can't, or won't? Plenty of folks believe he [[Fridge Logic|just played dumb]] with fixing the boat, knowing that he'd never get a better shot at Ginger and Maryanne once they got back to civilization.
* In ''[[
** Also Professor Yana, {{spoiler|the Master in disguise}}, who build a rocket's computer system "out of food and string and staples."
* Pixel and Robbie Rotten from ''[[
** Pixel is able to build almost anything, from hovering cameras, to a device that can transport people into storybooks, to a remote control which can control literally everything, including random electronic things he has in his room to ''people''. In ''Secret Agent Zero'', the 007 parody Episode, he played the role of Q. And he is 9 years old.
** Robbie Rotten can build anything out of anything he has in his lair. He even has a Microwave which creates the inventions for him.
* Red Green of ''[[The Red Green Show]]'' aspires to this. Usually he doesn't make it and his inventions backfire horribly, but on rare occasions they actually work. A forklift built out of a K-car is truly a wonder to behold.
* It doesn't come up much, but it's implied that Joel Robinson, of ''[[
** The original premise of the show was that the Mads (mad scientists) stranded Joel in space specifically so that they could steal his inventions. In several episodes, during the Invention Exchange, Joel complains when the Mads steal his ideas. The Invention Exchange didn't really last long after Joel left, however... instead of inventing stuff, Mike would fill his time by either confusing the Mads (for example, by pretending to be a drive-though restaurant, or shilling them "bold" BBQ sauce), or attempting to escape (for example, challenging Pearl to a game of three-card Monty).
* Just about everyone in the town of Eureka at some point, on the television show ''[[Eureka]]'', except for Sheriff Carter.
* In the ''[[
** This is what got her hired, actually. The alternative was life in prison.
* Scholar Mek of ''[[Spellbinder]]'' began the second series by designing and building a transdimensional boat... when he was supposed to be making a set of musical jewels for the [[Royal Brat|Dragon Lord.]]
* As noted above, Artemus Gordon on ''[[The Wild Wild West (TV series)|The Wild Wild West]]'' cobbled together all sort of useful gadgets for his partner James West to use.
* The crew of ''[[
* Claudia Donovan from ''[[Warehouse 13]]''. H.G. Wells is a villanous version of the tropes.
* Siroc from ''[[
* Fred on ''[[
== [[Magazines]] ==
* One of the [[Mascot
== [[Oral Tradition]], Myths and Legends ==
* [[Ultimate Blacksmith | Vulcan/Hephaestus/Hephaistos]] in [[Classical Mythology]]. Of note are the trap-bed he made to catch Aphrodite cheating on him with Ares, the [[Mechanical Horse]]s he built to pull his chariot, the [[Robot Girl]] maids he built to serve him and sing for him, the gold and silver lions and dogs he built to protect the palace of Alkinoos, Eros' bow and arrows of love and hate, Hermes' winged sandals [[Captain Obvious | which allow him to fly]], Helios' chariot, and mechanical tripods which could walk to and from Mt. Olympus.
* [[Our Dwarves Are All the Same | The Dwarves]] in [[Norse Mythology]]. Of note regarding the things which they built are [[Animal Mecha | Gullinbursti]], a mechanical boar made of gold which could travel incredibly fast both over land and underground, Thor's hammer Mjöllnir, which could cause lightning to strike when thrown, and be shrunk down to a tiny size, Odin's spear Gungnir, which could strike any target it was thrown at, Tyr's ship Skidbladnir, which could be shrunk down to a tiny size, a wig for Thor's wife Sif which grew just like real hair, and, most intriguing and disturbing of all, the dwarf brothers [[Magnificent Bastard | Fjalar and Galar]] made magic wisdom-granting mead [[Squick | from a man's blood]].
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* Urza and Mishra, the Brother Artificers of ''[[Magic:
* From the first incarnation of the ''[[Old World of Darkness|World
** The Sons of Ether from ''[[
** One tribe of werewolves, the Glasswalkers, in ''Werewolf: the Apocalypse'' had adapted to modern times and learned to use their spirit magic to talk to the spirits of machinery and urban landscapes.
** The Nockers from ''[[Changeling: The
*** Nockers are also capable of ''scaring'' a piece of machinery into working temporarily by ''cussing'' at it.
* In the second incarnation of [[New World of Darkness
** ''[[Werewolf: The
** ''[[Mage: The
** ''[[
** And then there's the fanline ''[[
* The Mad Scientists in ''[[Deadlands]]'' are similar to the {{spoiler|Wild Cards}} series example above; the devices they make barely {{spoiler|work on their own, if at all}}. The power behind their science-breaking steampunkness is {{spoiler|evil spirits the characters are unwittingly channeling}}. Well, not Hellstromme, he knows exactly what he's doing.
* The Artificer base class from the ''[[Eberron]]'' campaign setting of ''[[Dungeons
* ''[[
** And their options get even wilder if the Gizmo advantage is also taken. For a Gadgeteer character, that means that at a crucial moment, he or she can build exactly what they need on the spot. (Alternatively, it can also mean happening to have [[Crazy Prepared|just the right gadget]] in his or her pocket.)
* In ''[[Warhammer Fantasy]]'' the Skavens clan Skyre is a group of giant rats numbering hundreds of thousands if not millions of Gadgeteer Geniuses. The engineers of the empire follows this trope quite good as well. The dwarfs might at first appear like this but their constructions aren't that improbable and most are old engines based on experience and new inventions are rare.
* The Ork Mekboyz of ''[[Warhammer
** And make Da Red Ones Go Fasta!
* The D20 supers game ''[[Godlike]]'' likewise has gadgeteers turn out to actually have nonsensical gadgets that only work because their "inventors" believe they do, most likely as a way to prevent a [[Reed Richards Is Useless]] situation.
* ''[[Traveller]]'': The Terran Confederation is this in ''Intersteller Wars''. When they first meet the Vilani they are thousands of years behind. However they surpass them in less then two hundred years.
* ''[[Bionicle]]'': Nuparu, Avak, and Telluris
== [[Video Games]] ==▼
▲== Video Games ==
* If a character in any ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' game is called Cid, two things are almost certain: 1. He's a Gadgeteer Genius and 2: His specialty will be [[Cool Airship|Airships]], for example:
** Never seen, but Cid of the Lufaine in ''[[
** The very first Cid appears in ''[[
** ''[[
** Cid Pollendina of ''[[
** ''[[
** Cid Del Norte Marquez from ''[[
*** However, if you go out of your way to visit the crashed Blackjack after Terra and Locke leave Vector on the way to the Crescent Island, you can find Cid on board offering to help Setzer repair it, claiming he has some prior experience with airships. Setzer politely turns him down.
** Cid Highwind of ''[[
** Cid Kramer of ''[[
** Cid Fabool IX of ''[[
** ''[[
*** His daughter, [[Genki Girl|Rikku]] counts as well with her "Mix" [[Limit Break|Overdrive]].
** ''[[
** ''[[
* Jennifer from ''[[Disgaea]]'' created super-robot Thursday at the age of 5.
* Billy Blaze, alias Commander Keen, from id Software's ''[[
* Andy, from ''[[Heart of Darkness (
* Lucca in ''[[
* Little [[Mad Scientist]] girl Penny Crygor from ''[[
* Max from ''[[
* Lash from ''[[Advance Wars]]'', who combines this trope with being an [[Enfante Terrible]], much to the protagonists' dismay.
* Shinra from ''[[Final Fantasy X
* The Vances from ''[[Half Life]] 2''. Eli built a [[Robot Buddy|robotic dog]] for his daughter, Alyx. Over the years, she upgraded Dog into a super-strong, semi-sentient [[Lightning Bruiser]].
* Jeff Andonuts of ''[[
* Tron Bonne and Roll from ''[[
** Ciel from ''[[Mega Man Zero]]''. And the two above examples seem like amateurs compared to her. Her accomplishments? Creating a perfect replica of X (Cain certainly couldn't, partially why mavericks exist), she created an energy system to solve the energy crisis that is not only effective but just beautiful (take a look at the reactor of the Guardian airship from ZX!), and she made Biometals to match Master Albert's, but also added the dual Mega-Merge feature. And she created Copy-X when she was ''nine years old''. Don't believe me? Read the [[All There in the Manual|MegaManZero Complete Works.]]
* Area from ''[[Street Fighter]]'' ex2 plus. While they didn't give her much of a story, they did say that she was a greater inventor than her father.
* Miles "Tails" Prower and Dr. Robotnik from the ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' games.
* Bentley and Penelope from the ''[[Sly Cooper]]'' series.
* The Engineer of ''[[
** Don't forget his laws-of-thermodynamics-be-damned dispenser, and the fact that he can make one from scratch using the raw metal of a ''butterfly knife''. Which he invented. In the 60s. Then again, he does have [[Omnidisciplinary Scientist|11 PHDs]], so it's a little justified.
*** Butterfly knife be damned that man can make a physics defying dispenser [[Beyond the Impossible|out of a wooden baseball bat.]]
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** He also built himself a robotic hand to replace his missing right hand. [[Mad Scientist|A hand that he cut off so he could replace it with a robotic hand.]]
* This trope is the defining characteristic of Gnomes in ''[[World of Warcraft]]''. Gnomish tinkerers are famous for inventing just about anything, including (but not limited to) helicopters, robots, guns, and even some mechanized melee weapons. Players can take the "Engineering" profession, which allows them to embody this trope. The profession even allows the player to create [[Mad Scientist]] style goggles.
** Although true to Gnomish tradition, player made inventions have a nasty tendency to backfire through explosions, accidental size modification, poultryfication, and teleporting you far above the ground. If it does not do any of this it is either a bomb, has a massive cooldown time, or is a robot or something that works once before breaking.
* Another gnome from a completely different universe/game (and a definite case of [[Our Gnomes Are Weirder]]), Jan Jansen from ''[[
* Grubb from ''[[Septerra Core]]''. He built several robots of different types out of rubbish thrown down from Terra 1.
* {{spoiler|Deus Diablo}} in ''[[The Nameless Mod]]''; he built an inanimate object with the powers of a board admin, something {{spoiler|Gamespy}} couldn't do, hence why he was {{spoiler|kidnapped}}.
* Edgar from ''[[
* Purge from ''[[Space Channel 5]]'' Part 2.
* Momo from ''[[Breath of Fire]] III''.
* Nono the airship mechanic from ''[[
* Bill from ''[[
* Carl, your chief engineer in ''[[Mechwarrior]] 4'' has a reputation as one. The saying goes "Give Carl a hundred tons of steel wool and he'll knit you an Atlas overnight."
* Professor E. Gadd from the ''[[Super Mario]]'' series. Also, Shy Guys, who count as Gadgeteer Genius [[Mooks]]. Luigi also becomes this as Mr. L.
* The steampunk RPG ''[[Arcanum:
* The whole Bui bui species from ''[[Loco Roco]]'' series. To lesser extent, Mui mui too.
* ''[[Touhou]]'' has Nitori and the Kappa race in general. In a setting that has a medieval level of technology, [[Schizo
* The Gadgeteer is an actual class in ''[[
* Gadgeteering exists as a power set in the MMORPG ''[[
* The Gadgeteer is also the name of a class in ''[[Twilight Heroes]]'' - they make many of the gadgets and devices that they use in combat.
* [[Donkey Kong Country (video game)|Funky Kong]]; he can make helicopters, watercraft, and guns out of [[Bamboo Technology]]. All while being a [[Surfer Dude]].
* Puck of [[Vanguard Bandits]] is capable of repairing the strongest and oldest [[A Mech
* [[Unwritten Legends]] has two classes based on gadgeteering, making the characters either this or at least the [[Genius Ditz]]
* Victoria Van Bathysphere from ''[[
* ''[[Eagle Eye Mysteries]]'': [[Word of God]] says that Jennifer Eagle's character was created specifically for her to be this. In-game, she built the Eagle Eye Detective Agency's TRAVIS hand-held computer, and is rather picky about who gets to wield it (only Eagle Eye members have the privilege).
* ''[[Solatorobo]]'' has Merveille, who is credited with single-handedly raising the bar for Kurvasz [[Mini
* The Lombaxes from ''[[Ratchet and Clank]]'' are [[Planet of Hats|an entire race]] of Gadgeteer Geniuses. Ratchet himself was able to build a functioning space ship out of <s>[[Memetic Mutation|A BOX OF SCRAPS!]]</s> spare parts <s>[[Iron Man|IN A CAVE!]]</s> on Veldin simply by following Gadgetron's voice prompts (not to mention the list of his wacky inventions that Clank rattled off), and the Lombax Secret is in fact {{spoiler|an inter-dimensional portal device.}} According to the Smuggler, Lombaxes can't leave ''any'' invention the way they found it and are forever tinkering.
▲== [[Web Comics]] ==
* [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/ Agatha Heterodyne] of ''[[
** Yes you do! If you haven't seen Vanamonde von Mekkhan's [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070625 description of this coffee ], you will find the need to find the Foglios and have them tell you how they came to our universe so we can go there and get some. The only downside is you'll never be able to fully enjoy other cups of coffee again.
▲* [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/ Agatha Heterodyne] of ''[[Girl Genius (Webcomic)|Girl Genius]]'', and the other Sparks ([[Mad Scientist|Mad Scientists]]). An example of [[Schizo Tech]] because Sparks are able to screw with the laws of physics. Examples include electrical lightning moats, cloning pods, [[Death Ray|Death Rays]], giant airships, autonomous robots and Frankenstein monsters in a world that is otherwise at the tech-level of the 19th century. (That's her in the page image. Yes, that is a coffee maker. No, [[Gone Horribly Right|you don't want any coffee from it.]])
* Kat from ''[[
▲** Yes you do! If you haven't seen Vanamonde von Mekkhan's [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20070625 description of this coffee ], you will find the need to find the Foglios and have them tell you how they came to our universe so we can go there and get some. The only downside is you'll never be able to fully enjoy other cups of coffee again.
* Tedd from ''[[
▲* Kat from ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court (Webcomic)|Gunnerkrigg Court]]'' builds an antigravity generator out of a thermos and coat hangers for the school [[Science Fair]]. She didn't see this as anything special, and built it simply in order to allowe her protein synthesis experiment to work properly. Much to her chagrin, nobody cared very much about proteins, but were fascinated by her anti-grav machine. Later, she converts it into a personal aircraft.
* Scarlett from ''[[Sequential Art (
▲* Tedd from ''[[El Goonish Shive (Webcomic)|El Goonish Shive]]'' is a male version of this trope. Grace, the squirrel-girl girlfriend of Tedd, has her moments as well.
▲* Scarlett from ''[[Sequential Art (Webcomic)|Sequential Art]]'' is either this, or an [[Crouching Moron Hidden Badass|Idiot Savant]]. Several strips indicate that she'd be an engineering genius were it not for her [[Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny|crippling case of ADD]].
** It later turned out she is actually one-fourth of a [[Wetware CPU|biocomputer]] [[Hive Mind|gestalt]], she is a lot more competent when she's with her "sisters"
*** Though they do have a disturbing tendency to make things that explode... including bug nets and self-motivated slinkies. [[Department of Redundancy Department|That explode.]]
* In ''[[
* Molly from ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]]''. An artificially (or rather, accidentally) generated creature, she is less than a year old and has the common sense of a little girl, but is quite capable of building a giant robot [http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20070512.html out of a milking machine], and an interstellar transmitter out of [[
** Her sister Galatea is [http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20080715.html no slouch, either.]
* Thomas the Cat from ''[[Penny Arcade (Webcomic)|Penny Arcade]]'', as seen [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2001/03/16/ here] and [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2002/09/30/ here].
** Not to mention Annarchy, especially in the Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness games where she upgrades your weapons and builds a {{spoiler|[[Humongous Mecha]] to defeat a [[Physical God]]}}. Also meets the female and school-age requirements.
* Dust Puppy in ''[[User Friendly]]'' wrote Erwin the Artificial Intelligence [https://web.archive.org/web/20170926215504/http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20001018 overnight, in Cobol], only [https://archive.is/20130705182146/http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=19980125 53 days] after Dust Puppy himself [https://web.archive.org/web/20150101213339/http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=19971203 was born].
* ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'''s Riff has built several robots, a device for opening gates to other dimensions, the Omnitaser Supreme, and a staple remover ''with a 100 feet range''.
* A more specific version, but ''[[Megatokyo]]'''s Largo can build a computer out of almost anything, including ''cereal boxes''.
* Sev'vil and Anira in ''[[Juathuur]]'' are the greatest scientific minds in the world.
* The titular pair from ''[[
* ''[[Dr. Nonami]]'' stars a young female scientist who invents a variety of machines to fight evil.
* Doc and Roger from ''[[
* ''[[Voodoo Walrus]]'' has a "house badger" by the name of Professor Kaboodles who has seemingly evolved in the background from being a simple pet badger to a full on goggle and lab coat wearing inventor. Though no one notices. Even when he's [https://web.archive.org/web/20140405133953/http://voodoowalrus.com/?p=1137 shooting lasers at floating pygmy cows.]
* Walter from ''[[Dubious Company]]'', regularly upgrades the ships he steals with complex [[Magitek]], and is the go-to-guy for [[Techno Babble]]. His first on panel instance of this is in the shipwrecked arc, where he built a fully-furnished house in the course of an afternoon ''without'' tools. It was also a [[Visual Gag]] about his [[Winged Humanoid|animal instincts]].
* [[The Big Guy|Equius Zahaak]] from ''[[Homestuck]]'' uses his mechanical skills to build [[Artificial Limbs|new body parts]] for his wounded allies. He also builds robots for various personal uses.
== [[Web Animation]] ==
* Sudoku from ''[[Banana
== Web Original ==
* The various gadgeteers (follows the laws of physics) and devisors (considers them more of a guideline) of the ''[[Whateley Universe]]'' have this as their mutant talent. Ironically, [[Word of God]] has canonically stated that even ''they'' can't actually make a giant robot that works. Not that this keeps the relevant perpetual school project nicknamed "Tiny Tim" from having its own [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] during the Halloween battle...
* Makes-Things, Techno-Dann, in ''[[Protectors of the Plot Continuum]]''. Technically, anyone who works for the Department of Sufficiently Advanced Technology can qualify.
* The [[Web Serial Novel]] ''[[The Descendants]]'' has a lot of these: Codex, Tink, and (at least in the backstory) Chaos all serve this role, as do many of the
* The [[
* A staple villain type in ''[[Super Stories]]'', usually with their own, restricted specialty. Veldron is a whiz at electronic circuitry, Clockwork is brilliant with medium-scale engineering such as, well, clockwork, and Devnull is a programming and hacking genius.
* There's also the ''[[Masks]]'' universe, where this is one of the mutant powers, besides for instance Bricks (really tough and strong) and Flyers.
* This is a super-power in the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]''. Some
* In the web novels ''[[Trinton Chronicles]]'' there are two characters who fit this, one is Robert who took actual schooling on robotics and the other is Brandon who's super power actually allows him to understand machines.
* Essay (hero), Gimble (neutral) and Triton (villain) are notable examples in the ''[[Academy of
* ''[[The League of STEAM]]'' boasts several, especially Crackitus Potts.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[
** Phineas and Ferb.
** Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz. Despite being a normally [[Harmless Villain]], he is capable of building -inators that are as impressive as the inventions of the title characters.
** Also, the Fireside Girls, led by Isabella. They're usually just helping the boys out, which is impressive in itself, but they ''can'' build a Time Machine.
* ''[[Jimmy Neutron]]'' is only a kid, but he has already surpassed any known scientist in capablity. Each episode focuses on one of his invention although his inventions usually fall pray to [[Flowers for Algernon Syndrome]].
* Gadget Hackwrench from ''[[Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers (
* ''[[
* ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]''.
** They make holographic projectors out of steam engines and lasers out of a flashlight, a piece of wood, and a bottle.
*** AND [[Beyond the Impossible|SPACESHIPS!]]
** If you're looking for a person example, Numbuh 2 would be your man. You just have to get past his [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Punny]] way of life.
* Edd from ''[[Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy]]''. He makes an industrial-grade excavator out of junk he found around his neighborhood.
* Professor Von Slickstein of ''[[Inspector Gadget]]'', who even incorporated gadgets into the title character's body. T
** The Inspector's niece and dog, Penny and Brain, are the more competent gadgeteers, though they are just as likely to become the [[Damsel in Distress]] (both of them are subject) or [[Wrongly Accused]] (Brain, while simultaneously being the Damsel sometimes) while Gadget plays the [[Spanner in
* In addition to commentary, Stone Cold Steve Austin provided this service in the original run of ''[[
* Gear from ''[[Static Shock]]'', who initially thought his power was [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|rather lame]]: "How am I supposed to fight supervillains, ''think'' them into submission? All I can be is your Mega-Mechanic." Which turns out to be a great way to fight supervillains.
* Sandy Cheeks from ''[[
* Kani on ''[[Sushi Pack]]'' fits the bill, although others have tried to steal credit for her inventions on occasion.
* ''[[The Spectacular Spider
* Widget from ''[[Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!]]''.
* Jack and Maddie Fenton in ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' seem to fit this trope, with their inventions being proven inoperable by a normal person, or even [[The Men in Black|The Guys In White]], due to the quirks because of said "tin cans and an old transistor radio" method of construction.
* Professor Utonium from ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' creates things like a supersuit or a giant robot or a car that can turn into a giant robot.
** [[Captain Obvious|...or superpowered kindergarteners.]]
* Jérémie from ''[[Code Lyoko]]''. His gadgeteering occurs more in the virtual world, however, as he is the primary programmer and the one who is most adept at using the Supercomputer. However, it is a confirmed fact that he can build robots, participating in a robot competition in Season 1. He also created an EMP bomb in episode "Ultimatum," which has efficiently stunned a XANAfied person at this occasion.
** [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|Unfortunately that EMP bomb in "Ultimatum" also fried Ulrich's cell phone, preventing the news that Yumi and Odd were alive and rescued from getting back to Jeremie]]. Ah well; easy come easy go I guess.
* Wade from ''[[Kim Possible]]'' is able to build more or less anything that the plot demands. And the Tweebs that were able to really pimp Kim's [[Cool Car|car]]. The three of them are 10 years old...
** On the villainous side, Motor Ed is a mechanical genius. [[Verbal Tic|Seriously!]]
** In his "bad boy" mode, Ron Stoppable is this. It's even latent in his "good" mode, when he builds a weapon (at Drakken's insistence) [[MacGyvering|IN A LAIR, from A BOX OF SCRAPS]]!
* Tanya from ''[[The Mighty Ducks (
* Ginger Snap from ''[[Strawberry Shortcake]]''.
* Donatello from ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]''.
* [[Disney Fairies|Tinkerbell]] is one of these in her origin story movie. This actually comes from the original [[JM Barrie]] [[Peter Pan]]: She mended pots and kettles, at least. The name really does come from her being a tinkerer.
* [[Grumpy Bear|Grumpy]] from ''[[Care Bears|Adventures in Care-a-Lot]]'' straddles the line between this and [[Bungling Inventor]]. He apparently built an entire theme park at one point, not to mention a cloning device, among many others, but his inventions sometimes turn on him (i.e. the clone cloned itself and both clones kicked him out for not being "Grumpy" enough) or fail because of ([[Stop Helping Me!|unwanted]]) help from Oopsy.
* The Geek from ''[[Sam and Max Freelance Police]]'' fits the original mold perfectly, as a young genius girl who built a gigantic robot Max in her underground lair.
* Rattrap in ''[[
* AJ from ''[[The Fairly
* Froggo from ''[[Histeria
* [[Scooby Doo|Velma Dinkley]] produces a number of remarkably sophisticated pieces of equipment in her spare time in ''What's New, Scooby-Doo?'' In the same series, Fred also makes [[Sarcasm Mode|a few minor modifications]] to the Mystery Machine, such as equipping it to transform into a submarine at the press of a button.
* Similar to Fred's modification of the Mystery Machine, Alan of ''[[The Amazing Chan and The Chan Clan]]'' programmed the iconic Chan Van to be able to transform into just about anything. Even a dynamite truck.
* [[Loonatics Unleashed
** Don't forget [[Looney Tunes|Wile E. Coyote]] in the Bugs Bunny cartoons on occasion, though mostly he used [[Acme Products]].
* ''[[
* In the Ruby-Spears ''[[Mega Man (
* ''[[Tracey McBean]]''
* Philly Phil from ''[[Class of 3000]]''.
* Coop from ''[[Megas XLR]]'' tuned up a [[Humongous Mecha]] until it worked better than the original, even despite all the parts he keeps breaking on account of [[Genius Ditz|not being all that bright besides.]]
* The Mechanist from ''[[
* Wheeljack, from ''[[Transformers]]''! How has he not been mentioned yet? He created the Aerialbots and the Dinobots, and while some of his inventions don't quite work out, in the, ah, explode-y sense.. his fuel pump is in the right place. I mean, he also invented lots of useful things! Like the Immobilizer, which worked great until it blew up, and the Negavator, which worked great until IT blew up, and that bomb they used one time, which was supposed to blow up, so it DEFINITELY worked great, and I think I'm starting to sense a trend here...
* Gretchen Grundler from ''[[Recess]]''
== [[Real Life]] ==▼
▲== Real Life ==
* The book ''The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind'' is about a real-life example of this. William Kamkwamba, a fourteen-year-old Malawian boy, was forced to drop out of school because his family could no longer afford the tuition. Using some books from a foreign-aid funded library and parts from a scrapyard, he constructed a fully functional windmill to run appliances in his family's home, largely creating the design from scratch.
* Wolfgang von Kempelen (Kempelen Farkas) was a real life example from the 18th century, known for creating, among other things, a speaking machine and a chess playing 'automaton'. The later required an operator sitting inside and controlling the puppet through an elaborate mechanism, and using several other mechanisms to conceal himself when the machine is opened up, creating the illusion that the whole structure is fully mechanical.
* Wu Yulu is a 46-year old farmer from a rural area of China near Beijing. While he has very little in the way of formal education, he has over the past thirty years built over 26 robots to do everything from light cigarettes, to scale walls, to drive rickshaws, building them out of scrap metal. In true [[Mad Scientist]] tradition, he nearly drove his wife to divorce, plunged them both into tremendous debt, destroyed his home and scalded his face with acid. All ''[[For Science!]]''! Or at least his crazy hobby.
* Draper Kauffman, the head of the Underwater Demolition Teams ([[World War II]] Seals effectively) was good at gadgets and had a number of skilled gadgeeteers in his crew. He was once a bomb tech during the Blitz, and latter planned the breeching of obstacles at Saipan.
* [[Knife Nut|Victorinox]] is a corporate gadgeeteer genius specializing in making one of Switzerland's [[Every Device Is a Swiss Army Knife|most famous products.]]
** Swiss in general are famous for gadgets. They make watches, after all, and though they did not actually invent the cuckoo clock they could have.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Stock Characters]]
[[Category:Make My Index Live]]
[[Category:Steampunk Index]]
[[Category:Intelligence Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Trope]]
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