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Mad Scientist Laboratory: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
The place where ''[[For Science!|Science]]!'' happens. Usually pronounced "lah-BOHR-ah-tor-ee" in ominous, stentorian tones.
Every [[Mad Scientist]] has to have a lab. This is typically a refurbished dungeon of some sort, with aging stone walls. It also must contain most of the following lab equipment:
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Never mind that real science does not generally call for all of these things at the same time -- or within the same discipline! -- the [[Mad Scientist]] [[Omnidisciplinary Scientist|doesn't specialize]]. All the same, most of what he does will at least ''look'' like chemistry, since nothing shouts "science" to the casual viewer more than a guy in a lab coat fiddling with a beaker of [[Technicolor Science|colored liquid]].
Also never mind that modern chemistry has very little use for the big impressive glass-sculpture thing with with a lot of burettes, condensers, and funny coils of glass. (These actually were useful constructs at one time, but they're the chemistry equivalent of doing differential equations on an abacus. Also, even when they were used, a typical experimental setup would have consisted of three to six of the pieces put together; never dozens of pieces, all connected, as shown on the screen.) You need this stuff because otherwise, the [[Viewers
The archetypical movie [[Mad Scientist Laboratory]] probably came from the classic silent film ''Metropolis'', though the Universal remake of ''Frankenstein'' added a fair amount. Both were probably strongly influenced by a real-life example that was a staple in popular media between 1900 and 1940; the various laboratories of [[Nikola Tesla]], which actually did feature gigantic incomprehensible machinery, scary robotic devices, Tesla coils, and lots of gaudy electric-arc effects.
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This is edging toward becoming a [[Discredited Trope]], at least in the classic beaker/Jacob's Ladder/operating table configuration.
{{examples
== Anime and Manga ==
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** In the [[Screwed By the Network|Screwed By The Studio]] [[The Movie|Motion Picture]], Dr F's lab gets a major overhaul. Complete with a fish tank packed with acid.
* ''[[Firefly]]'': The Academy.
* ''[[Breaking Bad]]'': the meth lab on wheels. It's got the smoking flasks, mysterious coloured goo, and pretty much anything else they can [[Rule of Cool|cover]] with [[But It Really Happened!]].
== Tabletop Games ==
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