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{{trope}}
[[File:
In the world of fiction, physical impairment = scientific credibility. The world is actually a [[RPG Mechanics Verse]], and when this [[Munchkin]] rolled up their character, they were [[Min-Maxing]]. Anyone in a wheelchair will possess super intelligence to compensate for his disability. This allows the character to remain a vital part of the cast without being expected to do anything physical.
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If you're stupid and in a wheelchair, man are you outta luck!
A form of [[Disability Superpower]]. Many of these are inspired at least partially by [[Stephen Hawking]], although the trope predates him. See also [[Evil Cripple]] for when a '''Genius Cripple''' turns out to be evil.
The "plus side" of being a [[Squishy Wizard]] when [[Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards]] applies. An athlete or a warrior who is crippled is pretty much screwed for life, but a genius or a wizard can keep on truckin'. The [[Blind Seer]] is another version of the archetype.
{{examples}}
== Anime & Manga ==
* Mashiro from ''[[
* While not a genius on the level of her brother [[Magnificent Bastard|Lelouch]], blind and wheelchair-bound [[Code Geass|Nunnally vi Britannia]] joined {{spoiler|Schneizel, successfully convinced him to hand over the key to the F.L.E.I.J.A. warheads, and came up with a plan that was ''eerily'' similar to Lelouch's, focusing all the world's hatred on a single target (in this case, ''Damocles'')}}. Being a child of the Emperor, she was undoubtedly quite intelligent, and showed more insight than normally attributed to her by the end of the series. {{spoiler|And after the end of the series, she makes a pretty good Brittannian Empress...}}
** Subverted in that this was all part of {{spoiler|Schneizel's latest Xanatos Gambit, which he started off by [[I Lied|lying to Nunnally about Pendragon and his own motives]], and later on intended to abandon Damocles with her on it after setting it to self-destruct in order to thwart Lelouch, and later on build another fortress and stockpile even more [[Weapon of Mass Destruction|FLEIJAs]], this time, with no one else to stop him or claim sovereignity over Britannia}}. So Nunnally had basically become an [[Unwitting Pawn]]. {{spoiler|Though she ''does'' wise up and then becomes a decent Empress after the [[Grand Finale]].}}
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== Comics ==
* Wiz Kid and Professor Xavier from ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]''.
* Oracle from ''[[Batman]]''. Especially interesting in that she started out as [[Badass Normal|Batgirl]] and was shot and paralyzed by the Joker; she became [[Badass Bookworm|Oracle]] because she [[Plucky Girl|refused to stay helpless]].
** Arguably, she's done more good with a computer than she could have ''ever'' done as Batgirl.
*** Even in-universe, it's considered pretty much a given that she has.
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* Dr. Ashford of ''[[Resident Evil: Apocalypse|Resident Evil Apocalypse]]'', {{spoiler|creator of the T-Virus}}
* Kuato in ''[[Total Recall]]'' is a genius deformed siamese twin.
* Dr. Leonard Gillespie, in the ''[[Doctor Kildare]]'' films.
** Also an example of [[Written
* Dr. Arliss Loveless in the film version of ''[[Wild Wild West (film)|Wild Wild West]]'' did not have congenital dwarfism like his TV counterpart - he was literally half a man, missing from about his hips downward, in a steampunk wheelchair. That sometimes sprouted legs. And not just two - sometimes four.
* ''[[Spy Kids]] 3D: Game Over'': Juni chooses to have his disabled grandfather accompany him on his journey inside the video game ''Game Over'', deducing that while he's been unable to walk for 30 years, his remaining strength has gone to his upper body and mind. {{spoiler|Not long after arriving, his grandfathers gets a Mega Legs power-up that fixes the "unable to walk" problem.}}
== Literature ==
* Eli Glinn in the ''Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child'' novels.
* In Dan Brown's novels ''[[Angels and Demons]]'' and ''[[The Da Vinci Code]]'', both had characters with disabilities and were also highly respected professors. The guy in the wheelchair was probably a reference to Stephen Hawking.
* Doran Martell from ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' fits this to a tee. {{spoiler|Arguably, also Bran Stark.}} And dwarf Tyrion Lannister is at least the second most intelligent person in the series.
* [[Lois McMaster Bujold]]'s [[Vorkosigan Saga|Miles Vorkosigan]]: Stunted, hunchbacked, with brittle bones that break at the drop of a hat, but always comes out on top by being the smartest guy on the planet. ''[[Marty Stu|Any planet]]''.
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* Quadriplegic forensics expert Lincoln Rhyme from the novels of Jeffrey Deaver.
* Waldo Farthingwaite-Jones of the [[Robert A. Heinlein|Heinlein]] novella ''[[Waldo]]''. He might be the inspiration for most of the later versions. He was a super-genius with myasthenia gravis that left him 1/10 as strong as an average human. He invented many incredible devices and is best known for the actual devices known as Waldos and named for the invention of the book.
* In the ''[[Halo]]'' prequel novel, ''The Fall of Reach'', John (the Master Chief) notes that the SPARTAN-II candidates who don't make it through the dangerous physical augmentation processes fully intact (some die, others are blinded, and a few are wheelchair-bound) will fulfill such a role in the UNSC as strategists and the like, as the candidates for the program were selected for their intelligence and instructed in history, science, math, and tactics in order to be both physically perfect soldiers and brilliant field strategists.
* While not a ''scientific'' genius, Lady Emily Alexander, {{spoiler|senior}} wife and political advisor of Lord Hamish Alexander, 13th Earl of White Haven and First Lord of the Admiralty, from David Weber's ''[[Honor Harrington]]'', certainly qualifies. Crippled by an aircar accident and bound to an advanced life support chair (and flying to boot) for the rest of her life, she's easily ''the'' [[The Chessmaster|most shrewd and cunning]] single politician in the whole Kingdom of Manticore. [[Justified Trope|It might be argued]], though, that it was the injury that forced her to switch from acting to writing, and that it's her extremely long and successful career as a playwright and producer that gave her the understanding of a human character and scheming skills prerequisite for a good politician.
** Less obvious is Honor's own treecat partner Nimitz. Due to an injury sustained in ''In Enemy Hands'', Nimitz was rendered telepathically mute. He could hear other treecats telepathically, and his empathic sense was fine, but he could not communicate beyond that. However, with a bit of help he was instrumental in adapting human sign language for 'cat use.
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* Garrett's partner in the ''Garrett, P.I.'' novels might qualify, in that he's a physically-immobile genius who could out-think most people in his sleep. Unusual in that he's not just paralyzed, but ''dead'' and haunting his own corpse.
* Melody Brooks from ''[[Out of My Mind]]'' is a girl who has cerebral palsy. As she says, it's not her brain that doesn't work, but her body. She has a photographic memory and is like a living encyclopedia (though her weak point is [[Everybody Hates Mathematics|math]]). She is even called her school's own Stephen Hawking.
* Beldin in ''[[The Belgariad]]'' is a disfigured hunchback. He also has the sharpest mind in the whole series and Belgarath readily acknowledges that Beldin is much more clever than him.
* Over the course of his career as an Auror, Alastor "[[Mad Eye]]" Moody from ''[[Harry Potter]]'' lost a leg, an eye
* Ivar the Boneless from ''[[Ragnar Lodbrok and His Sons]]''. Supposedly, Ivar was a 9th century Viking warlord whose legs contained only cartilage, but no bones, and therefore he was unable to walk. However, he was the most clever and cunning of his brothers and led them to many a victory, as his stratagems usually won the day when the brute strength of his brothers failed.
* The ''[[Inheritance Cycle]]'' has the High Priest [[Ambiguous Gender|(Priestess?)]] of Helgrind. He/she possesses incredible magical skills and [[Psychic Powers]], and very nearly out-magicked four skilled magicians in a mental battle. Did I mention he/she is missing both legs, both arms, and [[Tongue Trauma|part of his/her tongue?]] He/she also qualifies as an [[Evil Cripple]] because let's face it, leading a [[Religion of Evil]] that practices ritual mutilation <ref>which is how he/she lost all those body parts</ref> and [[Human Sacrifice]] kind of makes you a dick.
== Live
* Stevie from ''[[Malcolm in the Middle]]''. Possibly subverted in that he knows, and acknowledges, that the able-bodied Malcolm is a lot smarter than him, or anyone else, for that matter.
* Brutally subverted in ''[[Joan of Arcadia]]'', in which a [[Jerk Jock]] ends up in a wheelchair after a car accident and discovers that he now has no useful skills whatsoever.
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* Miguelito Loveless in ''[[The Wild Wild West (TV series)|The Wild Wild West]]'', and Arliss Loveless in [[Wild Wild West (film)|the movie remake]], although the nature of their physical handicaps were very different.
* [[House (TV series)|House]] is a crippled genius, but that injury more often hurts his genius rather than enables or is neutral to it. On the other hand, to the extent this trope extends to the ''emotionally'' crippled...
* Wheelchair-bound physicist Dr. Ernst Longbore in the final season of ''[[Lexx]]''.
* Sebastian from ''[[Dark Angel]]'' can barely move and requires a computer to talk. Yeah, he's pretty much
** Logan would probably qualify as well.
* Dr. John Ballard from ''[[Seven Days]]''.
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== Music ==
* Billy, a character in former [[Pink Floyd]] frontman Roger Waters' [[Concept Album]] "Radio KAOS", is a Welsh boy in a wheelchair speaking via a speech computer, who hears radio waves in his head. He learns to use a cordless phone stolen by his big brother, an unemployed miner, to broadcast his voice around the world. His brother is mistakenly arrested for allegedly kicking a stone from a bridge to a car during a miner's strike, killing the driver; the stone fell from a different bridge than one he and Billy were standing on. Upset by the loss of his family environment after he is sent to live with his uncle in L.A., the corporate greed that left his brother unemployed, his brother's false incarceration and the state of the world in general, he {{spoiler|befriends a renegade, freeform DJ (played by Jim Ladd), then hacks his way through the cordless phone into Defense Department computers. Billy programs the computers to simulate a nuclear attack, then make it impossible for missile silos to deter the "attack". The DJ (and the world) believe it has only four minutes left until the end of the world. The world is [[scared Straight]] into becoming a nicer, happier, and more peaceful and compassionate as a result.}}
== Myths & Religion ==
* [[Older Than Feudalism]]: Hephaestus, the ancient Greek god of the forge (counterpart to the Roman Vulcan), is
== Tabletop Games ==
* Any game with a point-buy character creation system can produce Genius Cripples. An old joke amongst ''[[GURPS]]'' players is that if the GM introduces a non-player character who is blind, deaf, and quadriplegic, start worrying about how the GM spent the bonus points from all those disadvantages.
== Video Games ==
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* In the webcomic ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]'', the father of Dr McNinja's college friend Martin is a scientific genius confined to a wheelchair named Dr. Birding. He has some resemblance to Professor Hawking (down to the name), and can only communicate via a speaking computer (even expressing emotion through emotes). He does have an Incredible Hulk transformation mode that is utterly useless since he's still crippled even after the transformation.
* Mecha Maid from the series [[Spinnerette]] qualifies, as she designed the nerve stimulator that gives her super strength and enables her to move around. Without it, she is confined to a wheelchair and has trouble even speaking due to her ALS.
* ''[[xkcd]]'' noted [https://xkcd.com/799/ how] the press tend to handle this (i.e. fail to meaningfully communicate with Hawking and just use him as a living [[Magic 8-Ball]] instead).
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* The ''[[Whateley Universe]]'' has several examples, including Juryrig and Kludge, both deviser/gadgeteers in extremely souped-up wheelchairs that fly and such. Kludge is also working on an "Iron Man" suit of power armor so he can walk again.
* Lululu Lopez from [[Platypus Comix]]'s ''Electric Wonderland'' always has to travel in some type of wheeled object because of her mermaid tail, but she does know a lot about bombs.
* As ''[[The Onion]]'' pointed out, Stephen Hawking [https://web.archive.org/web/20100308044239/http://www.theonion.com/content/node/39133 built himself a robotic exoskeleton] to replace his wheelchair.
== Western Animation ==
* Dr. Wang from ''[[Minoriteam]]'', who was a [[Badass Normal]] before he was paralyzed. The only person comparable to him in intelligence is Dr. Genius, who can only move one of his fingers.
* ''[[The Fairly
* Berto from ''[[Max Steel]]''.
* ''[[Alpha Teens On Machines|A.T.O.M.]]'' has Garrett, who becomes the team's gear supplier after their first supplier {{spoiler|turns evil on them at the end of season one.}}
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** Ummm... where did you get your information? Felix's ''mom'' built his wheelchair; Felix himself, while clever, is more in line with the [[Extreme Ghostbusters|Garret]] example above.
* In ''[[Zorro: Generation Z]],'' mute Bernardo is the maker of Diego's bat-gadgets.
* The subject of the ''[[G.I. Joe]]: A Real American Hero'' episode, "My Brother's Keeper". Sgt. Slaughter and Sci-Fi must rescue a handicapped (and frankly, [[Insufferable Genius|pretty dickish]]) scientist named Dr. Jeremy Pinser.
== Real Life ==
* [[Older Than They Think|Leonhard Euler]]: 18th century mathematician, and one of the most prolific of all time. He went blind in one eye at the age of 21; and blind in the other when he was about forty. After this, he kept turning out papers by dictating them to his secretaries. In addition to many fundamental results, Euler innovated much of current mathematical notation. Euler was able to juggle the symbols and numbers of the most difficult problems of his day entirely in his head; at one point during his blindness, he even managed to ''prove that a 10-digit number was prime''. Around this time, he was publishing papers at the average rate of one per week.
* The [[Trope Maker|inspiration for many of these entries]]: the late [[Stephen Hawking]], perhaps one of the most famous scientists in the world
** Hawking may also
* Another real life example: Jean-Dominique Bauby, who was left with his left eyelid as his only functional body part after a stroke. Using a system of blinking that eyelid, he was able to dictate an entire book about his life with Locked In Syndrome, during which he had to keep the entire book in his memory and edit the whole thing before giving instructions to his typist.
* Irish writer and artist [[wikipedia:Christy Brown|Christy Brown]], who could only move his left foot due to cerebral palsy, but still wrote several poetry books and became a very famous in the Irish literary circles. Daniel Day-Lewis won an Oscar for portraying him in the movie ''My Left Foot''.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:Characters As Device]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Disability Superpower]]
[[Category:Disability Tropes]]
[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]
[[Category:
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