Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Difference between revisions

{{quote|"Do you know how many '''degrees''' I have?!"|'''Dr. McNinja''', ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]''}}

 

 

Films are particularly bad about this. It's understandable that a producer needs to reduce the number of named characters, so anything "scientific" is handled by the existing "[[The Smart Guy|science guy]]" character. However, it strains [[Willing Suspension of Disbelief]] when the guy who was just working on the nuclear reactor turns around and is suddenly a xenobiologist, chemist, alien technology expert and computer programmer as well.

 

Used as one of the most common excuses to let [[The Main Characters Do Everything]].

 

== Anime & Manga ==

* ''[[Mazinger Z]]'' features a villainous example: [[Big Bad]] Mad Scientist Dr. Hell routinely designed and build [[Humongous Mecha]], complex computing systems, giant flying ships, submarines, all kind of weapons and devices (including a size-changing ray in one episode), cyborgs... He would need being an expert on any field of science to achieve all those scientific breakthroughs and perform all those feats, including physics, engineering, maths, robotics, computing science, cybernetics and medicine. In contrast, Dr. Kabuto and Professor Yumi subverted the trope, being experts on one field and needing help or expert advice in other areas, and using the trial-and-error method to make breakthroughs.

* Possibly Dr. Kozaburo Nambu of ''[[Science Ninja Team Gatchaman]]''. That, or he has an awesome research team that we never see.

* Professor Desty Nova in [[Battle Angel Alita]] mastered every practical and theoretical science up to and including nanotechnology before inventing "karmatron dynamics". Which he also makes great progress in.

* Dr. Vegapunk of [[One Piece]] is described as studying both cells and battleship and came up with many of the technological advances used by the Navy. If it's a field that involves science, he's studied it, and except for ship building, pioneered it. He [[Just for Pun|literally]] wrote the book on devil fruits, figured out how to feed them to inanimate objects, studied the sea's energies to create various purposes and coating from seastone, and is the leading expert on cybernetics. Pretty good for an unseen character who just set out to bring summer to his home island.

 

 

== Comic Books ==

** One issue of ''Secret Invasion'' contained a hilarious but possibly inadvertent sight gag with a board listing the eight or so ''completely unconnected'' disciplines that Pym was giving lectures on his cutting edge research in.

** Further evidence of Hank Pym being this trope in recent [[Mighty Avengers]] stories, wherein he is conferred the title of Scientist Supreme of the Earth-616 universe.

** In the ''[[Ultimate Marvel]]'' universe, on the other hand, Hank Pym is a specialist in cybernetics, who claims to have created the Giant Man formula, when actually he "merely" reverse-engineered it based on his wife Janet's mutant DNA. In an argument between the two, Janet hangs a lampshade on this by saying that he's already a great cyberneticist and doesn't need to make people think he's an amazing geneticist as well. Later, after discussing his interrogation of several Spider-Man villains for their scientific secrets, Janet remarks "Oh, so you're a psychologist now?"

** This was also [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in the mini-series Fantastic Four: True Story, where Reed said at one point; "This will require me to create an entirely new field of scientific study. Give me a couple of days."

*** Middle-lampshaded when Reed told Hank Pym he's the best biochemist in the world, so he would need weeks to be as good as him. Pym comments it's no wonder that people hate Reed.

** In ''[[Marvel 1602|1602]]'' he ''invented'' the several disciplines of science. Okay, so he picked out different names, but the dude basically came up with our modern foundation of science by himself.

** In ''Marvel Apes'' it's established that Reed has a fellowship for achievement in multiple fields of study named after him.

** Former [[Fantastic Four]] writer John Byrne as jokingly stated that Reed has one degree, "in Science".

** It's also possibly-canon that Reed invented — not just discovered, but literally invented — all the 616 universe's ''frickin' laws of physics'' during a time travel stunt with a cosmic entity...[[Stable Time Loop|based on his knowledge of the laws of physics during his time period.]]

** Interestingly enough, Spider-Man usually goes the other way. Writers can often forget that Peter Parker is (or was) a fledgling super scientist and just cast him as a photographer with above-average intelligence and a secret identity. Considering how many OTHER super-scientists there are in Marvel canon, it's not surprising that they let Parker go his own way.

** That said, Hank Pym looked at his spider tracers in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #15 and was shocked that Parker was able to develop something at 15 so akin to Pym's own kit for communicating with ants (which took years to develop), and in the New Avengers [[Iron Man|Tony Stark]] made a point of using Spider-Man's science brain rather than his spider powers. This may be considered to have backfired on Stark given the {{spoiler|Peter discovered and put his own over-ride on Tony's backdoor into the Iron Spider armor}}.

* Oddly enough, [[Iron Man]], (Tony Stark) mostly gained this after [[Stan Lee]]'s writing stint. He was originally and is primarily an electronic and munitions engineer, an ambitious enough combo on its own. However, later writers have seen him brought in to consult on everything from spatial anomalies to medicine.

** The second animated series, [[Iron Man: Armored Adventures]], extends this retroactively to his father, who is (at the least) versed in physics, engineering, infinite energy creators, biology, neurology, ancient Chinese, ancient Mongolian, mythology, geology, math and geometry.

*** It's not just scientific fields. At one point he jumps into a jet fighter and starts flying, when questioned about how he did it without, say, crashing he claims he's a fast learner.

** [[Batman]] is occasionally portrayed as an Omnidisciplinary Scientist as well, impressively building the JLA Watchtower using Martian, Thanagarian, human and New Genosian tech. It also shows in his detective work, although he does have a computer that appears to be incredibly advanced and considering the members of his [[Rogues Gallery]] it's vitally important that he be familiar with chemicals.

** From the [[Silver Age]] through the [[Bronze Age]], [[Superman]] qualified as well: his powers amped up his intellect along with everything else.

* The older sister from the Valiant series ''The Troublemakers'' is also another example coming by this trope with superpowers. She's just more skilled then anyone nearby. Her parents are smart enough to toss her in a lab with some brains to get work done...but not smart enough to keep her away from a crazed near-god.

* [[X-Men]] tried to subvert this and [[Zig-Zagging Trope|ended up using it perfectly straight]] with Bolivar Trask, the anthropologist who first considered mutants a menace. Trask built the robotic Sentinels to protect mankind and, of course, they immediately [[Turned Against Their Masters|turned against him]] claiming to be his superiors. Professor X commented that this had happened because Trask was an anthropologist and not a robotic expert, and therefore had an inadequate knowledge of cybernetic brains. Building self-aware robots seems a heck of an accomplishment in cybernetics to me. Then again, [[Instant AI, Just Add Water|doing so seems particularly easy]] in the [[Marvel Universe]].

* The independent comic [[3]] has as one of the main characters "one of the last generalists, a dabbler in dozens of fields."

* Belgian comic ''[[Jommeke]]'' has Professor Gobelijn, whose official title is 'Professor in EVERYTHING.' Too bad he is also the resident [[Absent-Minded Professor]], so his inventions often cause problems.

* [[Tintin|Professor Calculus]] is apparently versed in engineering (he built a working submarine), astrophysics (the moon rocket), nuclear physics (the nuclear propulsion engine), acoustics (a sonic weapon) and pharmaceutical and oil chemistry (identified the substance that ensured [[Every Car Is a Pinto]] and created a pill that makes you hate the taste of alcohol).

** Also, his Ph.D is {{spoiler|in DANCE!}}

* In ''[[Avatar (film)|Avatar]]'', Grace Augustine is the foremost expert on Pandoran botany, but she also appears to be an anthropologist. And a xenolinguist. And a schoolteacher.

* ''[[Iron Man (film)|Iron Man]]'' franchise: Tony Stark, weapons designer, was able to build [[Powered Armor]] and clean, cheap, small energy, in a cave, with a box of scraps, in the first film. In the second, {{spoiler|he made an entirely new element in the space of a few hours, once he had the basic idea.}} Presumably if he had a whole afternoon he could fill all the blanks on the periodic table and create a perpetual motion machine.

** Ivan Vanko was able to do the same, in Siberia, minus the new element. He also hacks computers in seconds (Hammer, US government, and SHIELD tech), and is a nuclear physicist.

** Also the captive doctor Yensen, who manages to build an electromagnet and implant it into Tony's chest. The concept is somewhat simple, but to make a precise and effective one for the exact purpose in the movie, would require something of an expert in electrical engineering. And as any doctor will tell you, there isn't really enough time in your life to get a medical degree as well as expert knowledge in other nearly completely unrelated fields. He admits to seeing the kind of wound Tony has several times in his home village and as a result has had practice in treating it, somehow.

** Justin Hammer claims to be this, but most of his tech doesn't work.

* Lucius Fox in [[The Dark Knight Saga]]. He's the engineer who devises the technology that Batman's gadgets a based on, and he also knows enough about toxicology to synthesize an antidote to Scarecrow's fear toxin.

* Averted in [[The Man From Earth]]. John is intelligent, but not abnormally so. He claims to have collected ten advanced degrees over his extended lifetime, but he freely points out that no one can maintain current knowledge in that many fields at once. His 19th century biology degree is pretty useless now.

** Now, now, the nuclear weapons did ''not'' get past the speculation phase. Not like the submarine, the moon rocket, or the espresso maker.

** Inverted with "Bloody Stupid" Johnson, an omnidisciplinary ''[[Bungling Inventor|incompetent]]'' [[Epic Fail|whose failures are so spectacular]] [[Crosses the Line Twice|that they loop straight back around into genius]]. The things he's made defy not only common sense [[Achievements in Ignorance|but frequently the very laws of physics as well.]]

* Ryeland Ames, from Jack Williamson's ''The Dead Spot'', is famous for having built a particle accelerator AND a bathysphere AND an artificial heart AND portable H-bombs; the first two of which before he was 25. Notice that the story was written in 1938.

* Sax Russell in the Kim Stanley Robinson's ''[[Red Mars Trilogy]]'' develops in this direction. He's assigned to the original colonization mission as a physicist, but over time (a lot of time, as the longevity treatments developed in the first book greatly extend his career) he picks up Ph.D.-level training in chemistry and biology in order to further his goal of terraforming Mars.

 

 

* The Doctor from ''[[Doctor Who]]'', especially when asked what he's a doctor of (Everything, by the way). This [[Justified Trope|makes sense]], as he's [[We Are as Mayflies|far older than humans]].

** In the Second Doctor story, "The Moonbase," the Doctor mentions that he studied human medicine under Joseph Lister, which means his knowledge of human medicine might be just a leetle bit out of date.

** In "The Empty Child", he performs (with his sonic screwdriver) an autopsy (effectively), listing all the possible reasons for the [[Our Zombies Are Different|sci-fi zombie's]] "deaths".

** Then there was [[Hot Scientist]] Dr. Liz Shaw, described as having degrees in at least a dozen fields. She didn't last long, though, since she was too smart to be [[The Watson]] all the damned time.

** Averted wonderfully in "Remembrance of the Daleks" when Allison is examining a soldier. When asked, "Is he all right?" she replies, "No idea, [[Not That Kind of Doctor|I'm a physicist.]]"

* Every version of ''[[Star Trek]]'' has at least one Omnidisciplinary Scientist and [[Open-Heart Dentistry|Open Heart Dentist]], always justified by some means or another: [[The Next Generation]] had [[Super Prototype]] android Data, [[Deep Space Nine]] had [[Designer Babies|Designer Baby]] Doctor Bashir. The rest of the time they just called in a Vulcan, whose ''[[Planet of Hats|Hat]]'' seems to be "Omnidisciplinary '''''whatever I choose to study'''''", and an extensive amount of [[Backstory]] is devoted to justifying this. Vulcan neurochemistry has what would be in humans super-high levels of various hormones that facilitate learning, recall, analysis, and reflexes. They also result in [[Hot-Blooded|hair-trigger tempers]]; prior to the coming of [[The Messiah|Surak]], they were even more violent than ''[[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Klingons]]''. His Message was that all problems were solvable through [[Awesomeness By Analysis]], whereas [[Don't Think, Feel]] would only lead to [[The End of the World as We Know It]]. He wasn't all that popular until he gained a [[Foil]], T'Pel, who basically executed the story of [[Fight Club]] [[Up to Eleven]], freaking the ''entire planet'' out so badly that they've followed him ever since. The Foil then left Vulcan to found a Planet Of Hats that have been the Vulcans' Foil ever since - the [[Magnificent Bastard|Romulans]].

** And in Dr Bashir's case, it was almost averted originally. When [[Deep Space Nine]] first started, Dr Bashir was the medical expert who didn't even know everything about medicine (for example, he once had great difficult with a dying Cardassian patient due to his (at the time) lack of knowledge of Cardassian physiology). As a result, Bashir was used to play up the [[Running Gag|"I'm a doctor, not a..."]] [[Overly Long Gag|tradition]] instead. Very late into the show, it was revealed Bashir was in fact a [[Designer Baby]] and he was turned into a ridiculously Omnidisciplinary Scientist prone to [[Ludicrous Precision]] and capable of [[Improbable Aiming Skills]] almost overnight with the [[Hand Wave]] that he'd been like this all along, but had simply been keeping it secret.

** Until Bashir gained his "[[Character Development]]", the closest thing to this trope in [[Deep Space Nine]] was actually Jadzia Dax, whose exact specialisation was almost impossible to tell because her scientific knowledge accommodated whatever the plot needed her to know. This was partially justifiable because Dax's collective life experiences totalled more than 300 years, but it was also partially played straight because most of Dax's hosts had never been scientists, save for one engineer and the current scientist (Jadzia). The Dax symbiote's life experiences were later used to waive the rest of Ezri Dax's training to become a fully qualified psychologist on the grounds that her training couldn't teach her anything her 300+ year old symbiote hadn't already experienced. This was despite Ezri being the first psychologist to have ever hosted Dax and the fact that, as an Trill unprepared for Joining, the Joining seriously messed her up for a while.

* On ''[[Lost]]'', Dr Jack Shephard is a spinal surgeon, but seems to be up to speed on thoracic surgery, optometry, general medicine, and is relatively confident about delivering babies.

** On the other hand, Juliet was basically useless beyond her specialty (fertility) and some basic first aid. And Bernard the dentist is basically useless entirely, since people in their situation have more things to worry about than the state of their teeth.

* On ''[[Crossing Jordan]]'' Nigel Townsend is a straight example of this. He knows everything about everything and readily admits it. It is even addressed by another character in one of the episodes. 'Dare I ask how he knows these things?' Another character responds, 'It's better not to question it.'

* The [[Stargate Verse]] tried to avert this by bringing in guest stars or occasionally even nameless specialists. However, this trope is still played straight several times in the franchise.

** In ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'', half of the main cast during the final season consists of scientists and medical experts with various specializations, and most of the other recurring guest characters are scientists as well. This would make sense, as it's a scientific expedition they've undertaken. That said, among the main characters Dr. Rodney McKay is the go-to guy for an inordinately wide variety of problems, as he has far exceeded his original field and is now Atlantis' omnidisciplinary expert on alien technology. Not surprisingly, as at the beginning of the series McKay was the only scientist in his team, while the other three main characters (Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon) were pilots and combat experts.

*** Was humorously averted in ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' at times, though. One episode opens with the team encountering a woman in labor; all the guys look at Sam, who immediately yells, "What? I don't know what to do!"

** In ''[[Stargate Universe]]'' Dr. Rush is set up to be this. Admittedly most issues brought up so far deal with ancient technology, which he is supposed to be an expert on, and the basics of other fields, he has a tendency to refuse all other help. Averted in the pilot however, when he needed an MIT dropout to solve a math problem that he'd being working on for 2 years.

* Professor Arturo in ''[[Sliders]]'', despite supposedly being a cosmologist or sometimes a more general theoretical physicist, successfully creates penicillin in an early episode (in a world where medicine was much less advanced). Later, quite unbelievably, he was capable of performing a Caesarean section on another (male) character, despite having no experience with any form of surgery, let alone such an exotic circumstance as a [[Mister Seahorse|male pregnancy]]. And then there was the time he revived a deactivated android... However, each of these cases was lampshaded with dialogue about how hard and/or different from maths he found it.

*** He also had a patch ready after winning the town Mayor position.

** Fargo seems to wind up as the assistant to pretty much anyone at Global Dynamics who's doing anything interesting, dangerous, or plot-important. It helps him live up to his [[Butt Monkey]] status, though you have to wonder how someone who looks like he's just out of high school could possibly have had the ''time'' to learn that much.

* The hero of ''[[Quantum Leap]]'', Sam Beckett, had seven doctorates, including Chemistry, Physics, Astronomy, Medicine, Archaeology, Ancient Languages...and Music.

* Dr. Jacob Hood, biophysicist and special science advisor to the FBI, from ''[[Eleventh Hour]]''. Being an Omnidisciplinarian with an extra helping of awesomesauce is the entire role of his character.

* Fred in ''[[Angel]]'' is presented as a physics student, but by the fifth season she's doing autopsies, examining things under microscopes, and boiling up chemicals. This despite the fact that she never even finished her ''first'' physics degree. Like other examples here, she does at least have a team that she works with.

** An evil team. Well, at least in the fifth season.

'''Hotch:''' "--Doctor Reid, our expert on, well, everything." }}

* Walter Bishop of ''[[Fringe]]'' is a partial subversion. His expertise ranges from biology to teleportation technology but at least has the good grace to not build things that work perfectly on his first try. (the teleporter for example does [[Noodle Incident|something very nasty, but non-lethal]], to you). His son is close enough to this that he can point out when Walter is ignoring the laws of physics and common sense.

** The show behaves as if "fringe science" were a single category of scientific endeavor, overlapping physics, biology, biochemestry, and a dozen or so others (Sonoma State University may have once offered a degree in fringe science, but Harvard not so much). Walter Bishop is shown as an expert on teleporters one minute and performing autopsies the next. They even occasionally send patents to his clearly unhygienic lab to have him perform surgeries. Not that the character isn't a hoot. He also knows a lot about LSD.

*** In reality more than a few fringe scientists ''do'' think like that. At least one of the cold fusion groups has a medical doctor as a consultant.

**** {{spoiler|It does work. It identified Boomer as a Cylon - but it takes 8 hours for a single sample to be processed. He would need more than 60 years to process all the samples of the refugee fleet. If he forgoes sleep that is.}}

* Leonard and Sheldon from ''[[The Big Bang Theory]]'' are physicists, but seem well-versed enough in biology, genetics, robotics, and computer science to conduct experiments involving them as well. This is not including the various areas of science that they can discuss casually and in great depth.

** Also note that most of the show's main characters are ''geeks''. While not absolving them of [[Hollywood Nerd|stereotyping]], their nerdy pursuits would allow them to have working knowledge of any geeky interest they enjoy, as they would want to know how something from comic books or science fiction would be plausible; indeed, many cold opens are the guys debating the workings of superpowers, [[Time Travel]], or science in general.

** Howard's being an engineer, not a physicist, is brought up fairly often by other characters disparaging him because he "only" has an M. Eng.

'''Gablehauser:''' Who doesn't? }}

*** In fact, only Sheldon is a theoretical physicist. Leonard is an experimental physicist and Raj an astrophysicist.

** Subverted when Howard claimed that as the engineer he is, he will fix the elevator in no time. Then claims the elevator is beyond reparation.

* Partially averted in ''[[Power Rangers Dino Thunder]]''. Although Tommy is well established as being a doctor of paleontology, this expertise in dinosaurs still enables him to create [[Transforming Mecha|dinosaur cyborgs]] ranging in size from motorcycle sized to [[Humongous Mecha|kaiju]] size, to create magical [[Power Rangers RPM|bio-armor]] (powered by magical "dino gems"), etc. Basically, he can do anything if its either shaped like or named after a dinosaur. More broad than the average paleontologist, certainly, but he's ''technically'' staying within his field of study.

** Kinda [[Justified Trope]] by the fact that he spent [[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers|his]] [[Power Rangers Zeo|high school]] [[Power Rangers Turbo|years]] using hyperadvanced alien technology to fight crime as an afterschool activity. He was bound to pick ''something'' up.

* ''[[The X-Files]]'': Dr Dana Scully sometimes comments on psychological issues despite the fact that it's ''Mulder'' who has the degree in this area.

* Natalie on ''[[Forever Knight]]'', although she's the medical examiner, is represented as doing a variety of science stuff (although not much is shown onscreen) in attempting to understand vampire Nick Knight's condition and "cure" him.

* Charlie Epps from [[Numb3rs]] is a mathematics prodigy. Besides being an Omnidisciplinary Mathematician (he seems to know everything about every algorithm ever made) he also seems to be an expert on chemistry, sociology, computer programing and physics. The only reason that he needs such a wide variety of skills is that the team of FBI agents he works with are all [[Idiot Ball|idiots]].

** Charlie has the sort of knowledge in the computer and physical sciences that are required support for a mathematics degree at many universities. Really, Amita is the expert programmer and Larry the expert physicist ([[The Cameo|and Bill Nye]] the expert chemist).

* Standard procedure for most soap opera doctors. One on [[One Life to Live]] appeared to simultaneously be an internist, surgeon, OB/GYN, neonatologist, and pathologist.

* [[Melrose Place]]'s Kimberly started out as a surgeon. Then after committing a myriad of offenses which should have sent her to jail for life, as well as cost her her medical license, she effortlessly resumed her medical career. . .in psychiatry.

* Simon Campos on ''[[Flash Forward]]'' is a quantum physicist who also reads medical charts and breaks encryption.

* Lem and Phil on ''[[Better Off Ted]]''.

* Siroc on ''[[Young Blades]]'' is introduced as a [[Gadgeteer Genius]] and man ahead of his time, but by the end of the series is shown as knowledgeable in knowledgeable in biology, engineering, forensics, medicine, and whatever other branch of science the plot requires.

 

== Radio ==

** Please notice that (in the 3rd Revised Edition) all these exclamation-mark skills were meant ''only'' for highly cinematic play, to simulate mad geniuses and gadgeteers, not realistic scientists.

** The 4th Edition retains ''Science!'' but only as a cinematic skill in order to simulate this specific trope. The ridiculously expansive skill list allows for a more realistic scientists (broken down to the level of era and subspecialties).

* ''[[Exalted]]''. If you have Lore and Occult, you can do Science.

** Probably justified in the case of older Exalts, who are hundreds or even thousands of years old and have thus had a lot of time to study.

** Then again, another of the abilities of a Genius is to spend [[Mana|Mania]] to [[Awesomeness By Analysis|intuitively understand technology]]. Given that "technology" is a very broad category, there's a high chance of overlap between those two skills.

* Any character with Science skill in the current edition of the World of Darkness is this by default, as there's only one "Science" skill, just as there's only one "Academics" skill. Even the specialities are extremely broad, such as "Physics" or "Chemistry."

* ''[[Rifts]]'' and other Palladium Books games have this trope in spades. In the case of the original ''Rifts'' book, there's the Rogue Scientist, who can grab any and all science skills in the book. The CAF Scientist in Phaseworld is similar, though he does get to pick one science at a slightly higher bonus as his specialization (as in, his specialization is in one entire scientific field). ''Heroes Unlimited'' has other examples, but as the point of that game is to make comic book style superheroes, it's likely [[Invoked Trope|done on purpose]] in that case.

* ''[[Maid RPG]]''. In the replay "Maids at the End of the World", the Master is Masami Onji a scholarly genius who is greatly knowledgeable about every field imaginable.

== Theater ==

* A rare theatrical (and totally pseudoscientific) example is the "very small prophet" from Gilbert and Sullivan's ''The Sorcerer'' who is an expert:

Isn't the man to require an apology! }}

** He is no scientist, but Major-General Stanley from ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]'' can tell you pretty much anything in any one of a number of fields of knowledge ''except'' for [[Modern Major-General|the practical details of anything military post-1800]]. Oops!

 

== Video Games ==

* Guildenstern in the ''[[Onimusha]]'' games initially seems to be only a demon biologist or geneticist, but later installments have him dipping into chemistry, electronic warfare, physics, engineering, and so on.

* Caulder/Stolos in ''[[Advance Wars]]: Days of Ruin'' is described by Dr. Morris as having been "kicked out of the medical academy", but is knowledgeable about a great deal of things unrelated to medicine.

* The Engineer from ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'' claims to have ''eleven'' Ph.Ds, despite specializing in building automated weapons and support devices in-game.

** Dude, the guy can build TELEPORTERS. 11 degrees would help with that.

* The scientists from the original ''[[Half Life]]'' all carry magic healing syringes, and can treat all injuries.

* Kohaku from ''[[Tsukihime]]'' was trained in medicine at an early age, although nobody uses the word "doctor." Due to the effects of a [[Reality Warper]] affected by how the cast perceives her [[The Chessmaster|devious]] [[Yandere|personality]]; this has [[Justified Trope|also given her the ability]] to build robots (and limited witchcraft).

* Professor Oak/Elm,etc from [[Pokémon]] claim to be "pokemon doctors" which seems to mean that they're geneticists, naturalists, and maybe veterinarians. But they have the technological know-how to build electronic encyclopedias, teleporters, artificial intelligences, and some crazier things.

* Averted by ''[[Mass Effect]]''. If Liara is in your party {{spoiler|when you encounter the Rachni}}, she will tell you she's an archaeologist, not a biologist, and has no idea what they are.

** But don't assume {{spoiler|that he's a tech 'expert', or he will die in the final mission}}.

** He also takes care of ''all'' the upgrades on Normandy SR-2 as his sidework, main project being studying the Collectors. Seriously, this guy really is [[Ear Worm|the very model of a scientist salarian.]]

* ''[[Fallout]] 3'' has Dr. Li and Dad (maybe others). Li apparently is trained in botany and hydroponics and also can make a mean [[Humongous Mecha|Giant Stompy Robot]]-driving high-output compact fusion generator. Dad apparently has training with theoretical quantum physics (or whatever science is involved in the [[Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan|Genesis Device]]-like GECK) and also general practice medicine.

** This trope applies for the player character him/herself, right from the first game. There is a skill simply labeled "Science", which among other things covers computer programming, pharmacology and agriculture. Medicine is a separate skill, though there is some overlap.

* ''[[Infinite Space]]'' has Dr. Gavriil Minas, who's mostly around to be [[Mr. Exposition]] and occasionally develop new modules for your ships.

* Averted and lampshaded in ''[[Tales of the Abyss]]'' with [[Deadpan Snarker|Jade]] [[Heroic Sociopath|Cur]][[Four-Star Badass|tiss]]. Everybody expects him to be one, but as it turns out his doctorate revolves around [[Functional Magic|fonons]] rather than biology or medicine. As such, he gives one or two exasperated sighs whenever people have a science question and he has to explain that, it's "not (his) subject." Oddly enough, his [[Always Second Best|inferior rival]], [[Ambiguously Gay|Dist]], is closer to this trope as he's done the same kind of research Jade has along with building huge machines.

** Of course, that's the whole joke, because he's doing [[Open-Heart Dentistry|non-doctor things]].

* In [[Metal Gear]] basically every scientist is this, especially Naomi, which is not only capable of creating a complex virus that targeted specific individuals, but also multipurpose nanomachines, both of which she injected Snake with at the beggining of Metal Gear Solid; In [[MGS 4]] she also shows great understanding of computers, being capable of creating an encrypted file that only Sunny was able to decrypt.

 

 

** Gil is actually more of a biology specialist, hence being the go to guy for doctor questions, where as Tarvek is mechanical engineering, hence his facination with and amazing ability to create/manipulate the muses. All sparks seem to come together on the subject of weapons.

** Tarvek seems to be more like Klaus, with an extraordinary ability to analyze and replicate creations. His interest with the muses is just because {{spoiler|they were built for his ancestor, and thus ''him''.}}

A: Ninjas are mysterious in their ways. ''Way'' mysterious. }}

** One scene shows the Doctor with a wall of diplomas.

** More recently, Tagon's Toughs has acquired a specialist on A.I. and robotics, who calls Kevyn [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20080406.html "an arrogant generalist"] on first meeting him. They eventually reach a balance, as Kevyn has more practical experience than the average scientist, and helps the newbie wrap her brain around concepts like "the value of field testing".

* Molly in ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]]'' seems to approach all branches of knowledge holistically, and possesses an incalculably vast grasp of astrophysics, engineering, biology, literature, drama, philosophy, comic book trivia, cartoons, nursery rhymes... and yet still comes across as a bit of a ditz with very little common sense.

* Riff from ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' doesn't have any degree that we know of, but he's somehow able to create giant robots, psychotropic drugs, dimensional portals, and [[Rule of Funny|twinkie-based weapons of ultimate destruction]]. Basically, if there's [[Tim Taylor Technology|a branch of science that can cause mass destruction]], Riff's a master of it.

** The strip also has Doctor Schlock, who has figured out how to clone aliens, travel through time, control nanobot swarms, and make inflatable versions of just about anything.

 

== Web Original ==

* [[The Spoony Experiment|Doctor Insano]] has the power of science, which allows him to shoot lasers out of his hands. Presumably, all the other X-Sanos are equally gifted.

* [[Global Guardians PBEM Universe|Doctor Simian]] holds eighteen doctorates, including one in "Other Sciences."

 

 

** Meteorology: "The Devil's Tower"

** Paleontology: "Turu the Terrible" (identifying Turu as a pteranodon by sight)

* Professor Farnsworth from ''[[Futurama]]'' fills this role often enough. Particularly in the first movie with his quote.

'''Professor:''' I can wire anything into anything! ''I'm the Professor''! }}

* Dr. Venture from ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'' is a parody of this. Rather than being competent in several fields, he's a [[Bungling Inventor]] who is ''in''competent in several fields. His lone talent seems to be in genetics/biology (still in the super-scientist range, mind you).

* Also parodied on ''[[South Park]]'': Stan's father, Randy, is a geologist by trade, but is called on by the Mayor to investigate all manner of odd happenings, since aside from [[Mad Scientist|crazy geneticist]] Dr. Mephesto, Randy Marsh is the ''only'' scientist living in the entire town.

** He even lampshades this to the mayor, that his field of study is strictly geology.

* [[Subverted Trope]] in an episode of ''[[Kim Possible]]''. Ron pleads with two kidnapped scientists to find some way to stop a gang of berserk robots, who explain they're both astrophysicists and know nothing of robotics.

** And from another episode:

'''Mr./Dr. Possible:''' Well, I could put it in geosynchronous orbit, but I'm not sure how that would help. }}

** Played straight with Doctor Drakken. A physicist by trade (specialising in robotics), he dabbles in chemistry, mindswapping, radical geology and any number of other fields. His actual plans can be awful, but his science is quite brilliant, even if he steals a lot of his inventions.

* Prof. Algernon from ''[[Exo Squad]]'' is a partial subversion. On the one hand, he is skilled in theoretical physics (discovering the Gravitational Focus Effect which "cannot be explained by normal physics"), numerous forms of engineering (building the GRAF Shield, upgrading Able Squad's E-Frames), and neuroscience (curing Dark Matter Syndrome). Also VR painting. However, when consulted on the subject of genetics, he is quick to point out that it isn't his field and can provide no assistance.

* [[Transformers Animated]]: Professor Sumdac spends most of the second season as Megatron's prisoner, forced to help him construct a space-bridge from stolen Autobot schematics. He specifically mentions that this isn't his area of expertise, though he gets the hang of it eventually (having [[Big Bad|Megatron]] as his 'boss' probably encouraged him).

* Judging by his inventions, Professor Utonium of ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'' is, at the minimum, an electrical engineer, a chemist, a biologist, and a theoretical physicist.

* In [[Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman]] this is played with in [[Batwoman]] as she ''appears'' to be a brilliant martial artist who also invented miraculous gadgets and is a skilled and experienced computer hacker. {{spoiler|It turns out it is three different women [[Collective Identity|using one costume]] who each bring their own skills to the table}}.

* [[Family Guy]]'s Stewie has mastered time travel, weather manipulation, robotics, cloning...and still isn't potty-trained. Oh yeah, he's also [[Da Vinci]].

* On ''[[The Simpsons]],'' [[Absent-Minded Professor|Professor Frink]] has been everything from an astronomer to a physicist to an entomologist.

 

== Real Life ==

** The [[Renaissance Man]] ''did'' also have to know what at the time was treated like science and was later found not to actually work- all manner of mysticism, in short, including alchemy, astrology, etc.. He would generally treat magic as another science- it made as much sense as anything else at the time.

* [[Leonardo da Vinci]]

* [[Aristotle]] knew just about everything there was to know in his time. He proved the Earth was round, catalogued every known animal (along the way, he was the first to differentiate whales from fish), advanced all natural sciences, organized legal knowledge, and made art commentaries that are still quoted in colleges (particularly his problems with "Deus Machina" endings), and the list goes on... He quite literally wrote the book on every discipline of his time and made new advancements in almost every one of them.

* While geared towards engineering rather than research, fields of Bioengineering deal with applications of technology with respect to biological systems. This means that bioengineers have to be trained in various sciences pertaining to engineering (usually mechanical or electrical engineering, so various fields of physics) and biochemistry. This isn't nearly every discipline, of course, but it is still a much broader range than most scientists and engineers tend to deal with.

** The first two years of an undergrad degree in bioengineering can feel like they are spent trying to become one of these. Often it isn't until the third year that students actually start bringing all those different disiplines together. Some people say doing actual engineering is what graduate school is for.

* Al-Jazari (copied from the other wiki) was a "Muslim polymath: a scholar, inventor, mechanical engineer, craftsman, artist, mathematician and astronomer". Though he is most famous for his engineering feats. He invented robots.

* [[Michael Faraday]] is essentially a founding figure in chemistry, physics, and any discipline involving electricity. He discovered the molecular structure of benzene (paving the way for practically all organic chemistry since), invented an early type of Bunsen burner, formulated and demonstrated the principle of electric induction (effectively inventing the electric generator), and invented the electric motor. His work also laid the ground for field theory in physics.

* A similar case can be found with young people of any religion who get bombarded with the holes in religious texts. most known The Bible. Being grilled is hard for an atheist or a monotheist, Genesis itself is hard enough, the first fifteen chapters involve at least a rudimentary understanding of, physics, astronomy, evolution, linguistics, prehistory, history of the Arab world. meterology, geneology, and some knowledge of in other theology in mythology, if you don't want to come of as an uneducated simpleton. Its impossible to gain a foremost knowledge in all of those disciplines. Failure to provide how an example from the Bible fits in with scientific theory or being unversed in a certain field, is very easy to do.

* [[Thomas Jefferson]]: botanist, architect, philosopher, inventor, engineer, statesman.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Characters As Device]]

[[Category:Tropes On Science and Unscience]]

[[Category:Intelligence Tropes]]