The Engineer: Difference between revisions

[[File:lg_engineer__poster"WE CLEAR THE WAY - ENGINEERS" - NARA - 513535.jpg|framethumb|350px|[[Attack of the 50 -Foot Whatever|Attack of the 50 Foot Engineer]]]]

{{quote|''"Hey look, buddy, I'm an Engineer. That means I solve problems. Not problems like 'what is beauty?', because that would [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness|fall within the purview of your conundrums of philosophy]]. I solve '''[[Mr. Fixit|practical problems]]'''."''|'''[[Exactly What It Says Onon the Tin|The Engineer]]''', ''[[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|Team Fortress 2]]'', ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}ipYkuCZ2IYI Meet the Engineer]''}}

The Engineer is the go-to guy for anything technological in this man's army. Just as [[The Medic|the Medic]] takes care of the soldiers' lives, the Engineer takes care of their equipment to make sure that the Medic is not needed. He's also the one that constructs shelter and support machines like turrets and gun emplacements to give the infantry cover and a little extra oomph. Perhaps most importantly, the Engineer is usually the main mechanic, handling upkeep of vehicles.

The Engineer is practically never one of the protagonists, since the more glamorous frontline soldiers are the ones that usually get the spotlight. However, if the Engineer is in a story, he will always be an ESSENTIAL character, and you can expect his skills to be crucial for victory at some moment in the story. Engineer characters also usually tend to be older, more experienced soldiers who are [[A Father to His Men|a father figure]] to younger soldiers, be they frontline soldiers or younger engineers. They can also have elements of the [[Drill Sergeant Nasty|drill sergeant]], demanding constant effort and discipline from his crew, although this is not surprising considering the frontline soldiers depend on the equipment they service to survive. Younger engineers can have [[Hot -Blooded|a tendency to be very passionate about their work]], and have the gift of creativity and tenacity on their side. Expect young Engineers to come up with new technologies and strategies using existing technology that will give their allies a new edge in combat. Sometimes, an Engineer will actually [[Ascended Extra|get the spotlight on him and remain a major character.]]

* Heihachi in ''[[Seven Samurai 7]]'' who lacks martial experience, but fights with engineering tech instead.

== [[Film]] ==

* In the 2009 ''[[Star Trek (Filmfilm)|Star Trek]]'', Montgomery Scott is looking to be as brilliant a chief engineer as in the [[Star Trek: theThe Original Series|original series]]. The same cannot be said for his position's [[Red Shirt|predecessor]].

* ''[[The Cross Time Engineer (Literature)|The Cross Time Engineer]]'' is about how a single 20th century engineer thrown back to 13th century Poland manages to introduce heavy industry.

* In ''[[Starship Troopers]]'', Johnnie is enthusiastic upon learning he may be interacting the engineering corps on a mission. He states the unit's mottos ("Can do!" and "First we dig 'em, then we die in 'em.") to be literal truth, even calling out their bravery under fire. High praise indeed, from an [[Badass Army|MI]] (they appreciate specialists, but usually are eager to remember and remind everyone else that warfare ultimately is about whose boots are last standing on that ground).

* Master Klopp in Scott Westerfeld's ''[[Leviathan (novel)|Leviathan]]''.

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

** The first and most famous example was of course Scotty from ''[[Star Trek: theThe Original Series]]''. Much like Kirk, he's become a legend even within his own universe. The character made such an impression that he's remembered through [[Popcultural Osmosis]] alongside [[Power Trio|The Big Three]] of TOS, and it's impossible to imagine the show without him, even though [[What Could Have Been|he almost wasn't a part of it at all]]. [[Gene Roddenberry]] didn't have any interest in having an engineer on the ship, and [[James Doohan]] (among others) had to convince him otherwise. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqedcvB8MKw In one interview], Doohan claims that 50% of the students attending at least one university's engineering program went into the field because of Scotty.

* In the rebooted ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined (2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]'', Barry Garner, former chief engineer, is promoted to commander of battlestar ''Pegasus'' after the death of Commander Fisk. In a bit of a subversion, his way of running the ship is to obsessively micromanage every bit of the crew, and nearly leads to ''Pegasus''' destruction after he blindly jumps into an ambush. [[Percussive Maintenance|He saves the ship by hitting its malfunctioning FTL drive with a wrench,]] [[Redemption Equals Death|dying from lack of oxygen in the engine room.]]

{{quote| '''Admiral Adama''': In your opinion, off the record, what was Garner's flaw?<br />

* ''[[Danger UXB (TV)|Danger UXB]]'' is a case of the engineer as protagonist. Lt Brian Ash is an engineering student who [[Got Volunteered]] into the command of a [[Bomb Disposal]] section in [[World War Two]].

** [[Redshirt Army|Imperial Guard]] have EnginseersEngineers, Tech-Priests attached to the unit specifically to maintain their equipment.

* Subverted in ''[[Paranoia (game)|Paranoia]]'': each Troubleshooter team generally has a designated Equipment Guy (among other Mandatory Bonus Duties), but it doesn't mean he's any good (especially when The Computer assigns roles based on ''who needs the most practice'').

* Quite obviously, The Engineer, Dell Conagher (and both his father and grandfather, likely to be a family tradition, considering a few images seemed to imply that his father is the engineer from [[Team Fortress Classic (Video Game)|Team Fortress Classic]]) from ''[[Team Fortress Classic (Video Game)|Team Fortress]]'' and ''[[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|Team Fortress 2]]''. He specifically is an example of a Combat Engineer, supplying ammo and equipment to fellow soldiers and constructing [[The Turret Master|turrets]] and [[Transporters and Teleporters|teleporters]].

* The Engineers in ''[[Valkyria Chronicles]]''. Isara, Kreis, Zaka and Leon are the biggest examples, storywise. Isara, Kreis and Zaka in particular also participate in battle as tank drivers, and have important roles in the main story. But other than them, there's also Engineers who are actual footsoldiersfoot soldiers in the battlefield. They are essential units for their capacity to repair tanks, disarm mines, construct shelter and resupply soldiers with ammo. Engineers also have bigger Ragnaid capsules than the other units, so they're also the designated [[The Medic|medics]]. In ''[[Valkyria Chronicles II]]'', Engineers can actually specialize into Medics.

* The Gnomes and Goblins in the ''[[War CraftWarcraft]]'' universe are known for being experts in engineering. Engineering is also an optional job you can train in. You can make [[Rule of Cool|fantasy motorcycles]] that way.

* Roland the Soldier in [[Borderlands (Video Game)|Borderlands]] dabbles into this trope, as his action skill is summoning an automated turret to fire for a bit. The turret can be upgraded to be more effective, provide supply drops or also fire misslesmissiles from his skill tree while the character's potential abilities in general can directly provide more to a group than any other.

* The worker units in ''[[StarcraftStarCraft]]'' fulfill the role of engineers, but it is the Terran [[SC Vs]] that follow the trope most closely, being piloted units dedicated to construction, mining, terrain-forming, and unit repair. Science Vessels and their succeeding equivalent in the sequel are worth mentioning too, as their detection capabilities are invaluable, and their abilities are no less useful in harassing the enemy or supporting allied troops.

** King Edgar Figaro of ''VI'' is also an example of the trope. His mechanical, sand-diving, transforming castle just by itself is [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|an example of how incredibly COOL''cool'' an Engineer can be.]]

* [[Leonardo Dada Vinci]] plays this role in ''[[Assassin's Creed|Assassin's Creed II]]''. He shows some HEAVY''heavy'' [[Mad Scientist|mad scientist tendencies]], inventing a FLYING''flying MACHINEmachine'' and all...

* In the ''[[Command and& Conquer]]'' titles, engineers are used to either sabotage/capture enemy structures or instantly repair one's own.

** Imperial Guard EnginseersEngineers in the expansions to the first game are the toughest builders available. Other factions tended to use various types of slaves or drones or other squishy units.

* Lucca from ''[[Chrono Trigger (Video Game)|Chrono Trigger]].'' She invents a teleporting machine and a device to control time portals, she built a prototype battle robot, and she can repair more advanced robots that exist over a thousand years after her time!

* ''[[Brutal Legend|]]'': Eddie Riggs]], in an unusual example of The Engineer being the protagonist. Sure, he can fight, drive, lead armies {{spoiler|and turn into an ass-kicking demon}}, but the main reason he's so valuable to the Ironheade army is his knowledge of mechanics and capacity for building stuff. He's a perfect example of how Engineers help turn the tide of battle through usage of technology. Later in the game, Mangus and Jack(the Headbanger with the hydraulic car jack of death) are examples as well.

* [[Lock's Quest]], being from a tower defense genre, also has an Engineer protagonist, along with Engineers being a core part of society. Also unlike the present examples, Lock starts out as a freshman to Engineering, over the course of the game developing bigger and better guns, walls, and traps. Though mostly working as a Support Engineer, Lock is also expected to help out in the frontlines, to collect [[Power Source|Source]] used to build more towers, pre-engage [[Mecha -Mooks]], and stop [[Advancing Boss of Doom|Boss]] [[Elite Mooks|Mooks]] from reaching your defenses and the source wells/pathways you are guarding.

* PROTAGONIST engineer Isaac Clarke of ''[[Dead Space (Franchiseseries)|Dead Space]]''. His armor is meant for use in spaceship repairs are the majority of his plasma tools. As it turns out, said armor and tools work just as well against Necromorphs.

* ''[[Makai Kingdom]]'' has Mechanics as a class of [[Player MooksMook]]s. They're the ones who patch up your vehicles between battles, though you'll need [[Mad Scientist|Professors]] to improve them. Oh, and they can do field repairs with giant wrenches.

* ''[[Sly Cooper]]'''s Bentley. In the first game he is mainly much needed Support, but in the second and particularly the third he outfits himself with some sleep darts and explosives and heads out into the field, proving himself to be truly badass in Combat as well.

* Party member [[Wrench Wench|Tali]] from ''[[Mass Effect (Video Game)|Mass Effect]]'' is acknowledged to be a mechanical and programming/hacking genius, even landing the job of Chief Engineer on the ship in the second game. [[Player Character|Shepard's]] class can also be engineer, giving you numerous technical skills, though you still mostly use them to blow stuff up. There are 2 main indicators which show just how brilliant Tali is at her job:

** In the endgame, the player has to select a party member to {{spoiler|infiltrate through [[Memetic Mutation|a series of tubes]] to hack into a huge door blocking the team's progress}}. The three "good" choices are Tali; {{spoiler|Legion, a brilliant [[Star Trek: theThe Next Generation|Data-style robot]]; and Kasumi, the galaxy's best thief, assuming you have her downloadable-content mission}}.

** [[Mass Effect 3 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 3]]: If this as picked [[An Adventurer Is You|as the player's class]], they can make their Overload ability from [[Mass Effect 2 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 2]] into [[Chain Lightning]], and can also throw a [[Weak Turret Gun]] across the battlefield.

*** Also from [[Mass Effect 3]], Cerberus Combat Engineers are a new type of [[Elite Mook]] that, while not too difficult on their own, can deploy [[Demonic Spider|stupidly powerful auto-turrets]] if given half a chance. Because of this, and that they can repair damaged [[Mini -Mecha|Atlas walkers]], give them [[Shoot the Medic First|very high target priority]]. You can thwart their turret placement doing so, or at least hose off the turret while it's still deploying. Or if you're an engineer yourself or have an engineer on the squad, [[Hack Your Enemy|help yourself to the turret to cause hilarity to ensue.]]

* ''The Thing: The Game'' where it is one of the three classes of NPC helpers, and they are essential for opening doors. As [[The Spoony Experiment (Web Video)|Spoony]] put it: "There are three kinds of guys: The Engineers, who you ''need'' to keep alive, [[The Medic|Medics]], the guys you really wanna keep alive, and back in there, there are [[Cannon Fodder|Soldiers]]..."

* Regular American Engineers and Wehrmacht Pioneers constitute each side's starting units in ''[[Company of Heroes]]'', and while they aren't very impressive as-is, they can get a big firepower boost once upgraded with [[Kill It Withwith Fire|flamethrowers]]. Not to mention, their repair abilities make them absolutely vital to any armored campaign. The British and the Panzer Elite in the expansion pack play with the trope a little: ''every'' jack-of-all-trades Panzergrenadier is an engineer as well as an experienced soldier. The Brits split the difference - their basic infantry build basic defences while the dedicated Sappers don't arrive for a while but build ''[[Stone Wall|really good]]'' defences and repair stuff faster than their opponents.

* The Formers in ''[[Sid MeiersMeier's Alpha Centauri]]'' have the ability to raise and lower terrain. With this simple tool, they can change rainfall patterns, create new land for themselves, destroy their enemy's lands, and even destroy enemy cities not protected by Pressure Domes.

* The Robotics class from [[Global Agenda]] can be pretty much any type listed at the top of the page. They can carry multiple types of turrets, semi-automated killer drones, stations that provide health and energy to their team, force fields and giant mobile suits. They can buff and repair anything mechanical with ease, and are the best or only choice for using a vast array of field gear in a particular gameplay type. The only things limiting them are a limited number of stat points, forcing them to choose a specialty, and being able to only carry three devices at any given time. Like many classes in this game, the Robotics class can best be described as the [[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|Team Fortress 2]] engineer [[Recycled in Space|in space]]. Well, "in space".

* Both''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' has Kevyn Anderson andas Parageneral Ventura of[[Mad Scientist]]/"[[SchlockGadgeteer MercenaryGenius|make something work in a pinch]]" aretype, Elf as the more practical fabber savant, and later roboticist Para Ventura, all terrifyinglyextremely competent engineers. Kevyn especially, having built, amongst other things, a telescope array from stocks of torpedoes; thereafter known as the Very Dangerous Array. UNS space customs had (she was moved to an embassy) Haley Sorlie, who studied to become a shipwright.

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