Gadgeteer Genius: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
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{{quote|''He said: "To hell with moisture detectors. I'm going to build a giant robot." So we built a giant robot.''|''[[Everything 2]] [[Podcast]]''}}
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]].
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== 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
* Rin-Rin from ''[[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.
* Li Kohran from ''[[Sakura Taisen]]''.
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** 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]], [[Incredible Hulk|Bruce Banner]], [[The Avengers (Comic Book)|Henry Pym]], [[Iron Man|Tony Stark]], and the [[Black Panther]] are some of the most prominent heroes, while [[Doctor Doom]], the Wizard, the Terrible Tinkerer, the Mad Thinker, and the Fixer are prominent villains.
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== [[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 ''[[Charmed]]'', [[The Scrappy]] Billie managed to "[[MacGyvering|MacGyver up]]" a magical potion from the contents of a hostage's purse, despite the show always stating that [[Magic A Is Magic A|potion ingredients are quite specific]].
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== [[Magazines]] ==
* One of the [[Mascot
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* In the second incarnation of [[New World of Darkness|the World of Darkness]]:
** ''[[Werewolf: The Forsaken]]'' has the Iron Masters, who tend to stay close to humanity and urban habitats. They have an affinity for Technology Gifts that, at the highest level, allow them to make a technological device out of the base materials (that is, a circuit-board out of plastic and sand).
** ''[[Mage: The Awakening]]'' has the Free Council, modernist mages whose studies take them towards examining magic with a scientific
** ''[[Changeling: The Lost]]'' has the Wizened, who were kept as caretakers, craftsmen, and busybodies for [[The Fair Folk|the True Fae]]. They have an affinity with Contracts that allow them to manipulate and construct (or deconstruct) machinery; the top level of one set allows them to make a hovercraft out of a go-kart and an inflatable raft.
** And then there's the fanline ''[[Genius: The Transgression]]'', where most of the player characters are these, capable of making inventions that bend the laws of physics to the breaking point. Powerful Geniuses are easily the most effective at gadgeteering, whipping up an entire fleet of spaceships is possible.
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* Victoria Van Bathysphere from ''[[Little Big Planet]] 2''. The later portion of her level is an Eternal Engine and she made a robot army.
* ''[[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-Mecha]] design. {{spoiler|She's also quite skilled in biology, [[Creating Life]] while barely old enough to be out of high school.}} The shopkeeper Suzette and Red's sister Chocolat are both [[Wrench Wench
* 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 ''[[Girl Genius]]'', and the other Sparks ([[Mad Scientist
** 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.
* Kat from ''[[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.
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* 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 [[Podcast]] [[Critical Hit (podcast)|Critical Hit]] has two: the PC Randus du Thane, played by Brian, and the NPC Thony.
* 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 Super Heroes universe. Gimble is notable because she makes physics-violating tech that ''everyone'' can
* [[The League of STEAM]] boasts several, especially Crackitus Potts.
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