Tony Stark has his inventive moments. Querl Dox has been known to make a thing or two in his multilab. Even Reed Richards dabbles in invention, here and there. But can any of them truly match up to the greatest scientific genius polymath in the history of pop culture, research scientist and well-known Scoutmaster Professor Roy Hinkley, M.A. B.S. Ph. D? No… no they cannot. Hinkley’s skill in salvaging equipment from a single sunken pleasure craft and detritus that washed ashore on his island home is truly inspiring, so much so that he is the first thing that comes to most minds when you say “Professor.” Still, other fictional folks have done things just as impressive, I guess, leading to today’s three-hour query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) might be willing to switch my vote to Chris Knight of ‘Real Genius’, especially after the popcorn prank, asking: Which fictional scientific genius are you most impressed by?
3 Comments
anybody else feel like the biggest scientific minds are often the biggest a-holes? seems like Ray Palmer, Hank Pym, Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Lex Luthor, Brainiac-5, Rick from Rick and Morty, etc., would be kinda insufferable to be around for various reasons.
i feel like Forge has to be one of the most underrated geniuses in comics, he has the MacGyver skills without the Tony Stark ego. Hank McCoy seems personable enough most of the time. maybe mutants have suffered enough in their day-to-day that they know to drop the ego when it’s problem-solving time.
I think what makes the Professor so great is that he creates stories for the shows, not plot-crutch solutions for writers who’ve plotted themselves into a corner. I’m trying to think of another fictional scientific genius that isn’t just a “win ’cause science” character, because that’s what would most impress me.
Q from the James Bond franchise? Sure, let’s go with him. He’s always inventing, and doesn’t get deterred when his field testers destroy his prototypes with their espionage thug shenanigans.
I’ll have to give it to Gyro Gearloose. He can invent and build basically anything, nothing seems impossible.