Hot Scientist/Playing With

Basic Trope: Exactly What It Says on the Tin; an attractive scientist.
Played Straight: Dr. Alice Smartypants not only holds several Ph.D's, she's also very attractive. (A fact which is definitely not lost on her male students...and sometimes her female ones.)
Exaggerated: When Dr. Smartypants walks into the lab or the classroom, a heavenly choir sings, light surrounds her, animals gather outside of the window, and everyone stares. Because she's just that beautiful. And that's before she takes off her glasses!
Downplayed: Dr. Smartypants is an Unkempt Beauty. She would shine a lot more if she took some time to made herself up, but...

Dr. Smartypants: I'm too busy with my research to care about something as superfluous my physical appearance or eating three times a day.

Justified: There is the potential for being beautiful in any profession. Yes, even the sciences.
- Dr. Smartypants' research and work is about advanced genetic engineering, and she has performed some minor modifications on herself in order to substantially enhance her physical appearance. It could be said she's kinda like a Vain Sorceress... With science!
Inverted: Dr. Smartypants is considered Hollywood Homely, or at best generically cute/pretty. If she's a Mad Scientist, she could even be considered The Grotesque.
- Alice is a hideous ditz.
- Alice is a Brainless Beauty.
Subverted: Dr. Smartypants has a reputation for her good looks, but she looks like a regular Girl Next Door.
Double Subverted: But every one of her colleagues, students, lab assistants, etc. thinks she's pretty. (And so do the fans!)
Parodied: Dr. Smartypants is played by a hot actress who acts more like Dumb Blond saying long words and oftens likes to expose her cleavage to the audience.
Deconstructed: Others may not take Dr. Smartypants seriously, because her profession cares about smarts, not looks. Other scientists may write her off as a Brainless Beauty, which forces Dr. Smartypants to have to work twice as hard as her colleagues to get credit where it's due.
Reconstructed: But because Dr. Smartypants has to work harder, she's very dedicated to what she does, and her work is outstanding. Which eventually does lead to her winning the respect and admiration of the other scientists.
Zig Zagged: Some days, Dr. Smartypants comes into the lab looking like a goddess, other times (usually when she's been working her ass off with little rest) she's a wreck.
- Or, since beauty is subjective, some view Dr. Smartypants as one of The Beautiful Elite, others view her as Hollywood Homely.
Averted: No commentary is made regarding Dr. Smartypants' looks.
- Dr. Smartypants is Hollywood Homely, or even The Grotesque.
Lampshaded: "And my hot biology professor, Dr. Smartypants..."
Enforced: The author wants to show that smart and hot are not mutually exclusive.
Defied: In an attempt to get her colleagues and students to take her more seriously, Dr. Smartypants makes herself look Hollywood Homely (or tries to, anyway); she doesn't put on any makeup, she cuts her hair short and/or lets it get frizzy, she puts on a pair of thick Nerd Glasses, stops shaving her legs, etc. Whether or not this works is another matter entirely.
Invoked: Dr. Smartypants works hard to maintain her appearance to prove that just because she's intelligent does not mean that she can't be beautiful, too.
Discussed: "Remember, we're going to meet Dr. Smartypants tomorrow; twenty bucks says she's way hot."
Conversed: "They're getting such hot actors to play scientists these days. It's like they care more about the character's appearance than her actual scientific credentials."
Played For Laughs: Dr. Smartypants is a Brainless Beauty. In other words, she's a Seemingly-Profound Fool.
- Alternatively, Dr. Smartypants tries to defy the trope in an attempt to get her colleagues to take her more seriously, but since she's one of The Beautiful Elite, Dr. Smartypants still manages to look good even when she comes in looking like she literally just rolled out of bed.
Played For Drama: See "Deconstructed"

Back to Hot Scientist