Inventor of the Mundane: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:patdempseywcoffee 2698.jpg|frame|[[Self-Referential Humor|Coffee Collar? I hear the guy that invented these gets ten cents every time one is used.]]]]

 

Sometimes the plot needs a character to be [[Undisclosed Funds|very wealthy]] without ever [[One-Hour Work Week|actually doing anything]] or being particularly clever. When such a thing is needed, the character will be credited with inventing something very simple, useful, and everyday. Not anything groundbreaking like cold fusion—think more along the lines of velcro.

 

Compare with [[Weekend Inventor]] when inventing is a hobby rather than a lucrative living. See also [[Bungling Inventor]], [[Gadgeteer Genius]], and [[Mr. Fixit]]. If the inventor was an ancestor, then it is [[Royalties Heir]]. If the character only ''claims'' to have invented something, then it is [[Invention Pretension]]. In a number of cases this also doubles as a [[Shout-Out]] or a [[Namesake Gag]].

 

* From [[Akira Toriyama]]'s ''[[Dragon Ball]]'', Dr. Briefs invented capsules: nifty little things that defy the laws of conservation of mass in order that whatever vehicle, housing, or devices one could possibly need can be shrunk down to the size or a pill. Due to his rule as one of the series' [[Gadgeteer Genius]]es, he fills that role a bit more than this (but the capsules are ''very'' mundane in that world).

 

* In ''[[Johnny and The Bomb]]'', Wobbler is left in the past, unable to return to his time due to a paradox. While taking [[The Slow Path]], he uses his knowledge of the present to become obscenely rich by both 'inventing' fast food chains and encouraging the inventors of other products.

* In ''[[The Westing Game]]'', James Hoo has a grudge against Westing for stealing his idea for the disposable paper diaper. He later invents a paper shoe liner, Hoo's Little Foot-Eez, that sells well enough that he retires a wealthy man.

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

* A [[Running Gag]] from ''[[The Adventures of Brisco County Jr]]'' was the invention of now-everyday objects, some of them decades in advance of their normal time.

{{quote|"It's the coming thing!" }}

* Walden Schmidt from ''[[Two and A Half Men]]'' is billionaire after developing a website that he sold to Microsoft for $1.3 billion. No one has ever heard of it beacuse Microsoft decided to bundle it with the Zune.

* The town of Neptune in ''[[Veronica Mars]]'' is so high-class because it's home to a bunch of children of the tech boom. Duncan Kane's dad, for instance, invented streaming video,

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

** Danny's parents make a living from the inventions they make.

* ''[[Kim Possible]]'' episode [[Joe Millionaire|"Ron Millionaire"]] featured Ron Stoppable receiving 99 million dollars for inventing the Naco. Whatever he didn't spend during the episode was [[Reset Button|stolen by Dr. Drakken in the end]].

 

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