It's Not Rocket Science

Dr. Loboto spent time locked away in an asylum, but he opened a dental studio in the facility after it was abandoned. The deranged dentist thinks it’s appropriate to treat teeth and brains in the same way. As far as he’s concerned, bad brains – like bad teeth – are in need of removal. Before removing a brain with his prosthetic arm, Loboto assures his unwilling patients that their pain will subside once their brains are removed. He’s technically correct, but I somehow doubt his victims find any comfort in that. The removed brains are ultimately used in fleets of armored battle tanks that Loboto designed. The purpose of these “brain tanks” is to cause massive damage by firing concentrated psychic death beams. He clearly oversteps his bounds as a dentist, but his inventions are impressive in their own twisted way.

Professor E. Gadd is an eccentric old man who is known for inventing unusual contraptions. He was first seen in Luigi’s Mansion where he was introduced as the creator of the “Poltergust 3000.” This was basically a glorified vacuum designed for the sole purpose of capturing ghosts. The professor is also credited as the inventor of the “Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Device” water pack that Mario uses throughout Super Mario Sunshine. Like the Poltergust before it, the F.L.U.D.D. is actually quite helpful. It’s very existence makes me question where E. Gadd’s head is at, however. It’s almost as though he designed it without thinking of the consequences. The Mario series is supposed to be about running and jumping, not standing still and washing walls! Whoever thought that was a good idea was clearly out of his mind.

Dr. Nefarious is an egomaniacal, megalomaniac misanthrope who’s defined by his horrible temper and his hatred for all organic life forms. He was once a normal human (albeit with an oversized head) before he was injured in a wedgie-related accident that ultimately led to him being transformed into a robot. Dr. Nefarious had a fully-functioning organic army at his command, but he went through the trouble of turning them into robots like him. His ultimate plan was to turn all life in the galaxy into machines so he could rule them with a literal iron fist. His plan was thwarted by Ratchet and Clank, but this only encouraged him to find new approaches. Later in the series, Nefarious unlocked the secrets of time travel, built a space station in his likeness, and entered an intergalactic singing competition for some reason.

Caulder is the director of a private military contractor and believes in advancing science by any means necessary. After the world was devastated by a global meteor shower, Caulder seized the opportunity to perform experiments on the survivors. He’s highly intelligent and extremely manipulative, but it was a combination of physical threats and psychological abuse that allowed Caulder to conduct his research. He operates in the absence of ethics and is unfazed by the chaos his research causes. He also shows a complete disregard for the safety of his three children. At one point, he even orders his youngest daughter to sacrifice herself in a kamikaze attack. The children are later revealed to be modified clones that were specifically designed to be used as weapons, but that doesn’t make Caulder’s actions any less reprehensible.

Dr. Fred Edison was always a genius, but his madness was largely influenced by a chance encounter with a sentient meteor that altered his personality. Edison’s entire family was affected by the meteor, and “Maniac Mansion” was an appropriate description of their household. While under the influence of the meteor, Edison spent years without food or sleep as he worked on a machine that would turn people into zombies. After his plan was foiled, Dr. Edison took on a more heroic role in Day of the Tentacle. When the mutant lab assistant he created developed a thirst for global domination, Edison attempted to solve the issue by using a time machine that he created. Sadly, Edison had to cash in his royalties from Maniac Mansion in order to purchase a diamond so his time machine would function properly.

Dr. Neo Periwinkle Cortex is a “professional evil scientist” and Crash Bandicoot’s longtime rival. He was brought up in a family of circus clowns and mocked for his love of science. After his family was killed in a “freak” explosion, Cortex enrolled at the Academy of Evil and set his sights on world domination. In an effort to create an army of super soldiers, Cortex planned to use his newly-developed “Evolvo-Ray” on animal subjects. Crash Bandicoot himself was the result of a failed experiment – meaning that Cortex effectively created his own arch-nemesis. When Cortex’s attempts to capture Crash were unsuccessful, he tried his hand at building death rays, building time machines, and wearing evil masks. Cortex’s absurd theories were often dismissed by the scientific community, but the ridicule only served to motivate him.

Albert Whesker wanted power, Oswald Spencer sough immortality, and Alfred Ashfrord was looking to extend his family name. Most scientists in the Resident Evil series were motivated by greed or glory, but William Birkin was driven entirely by his love of science. He agreed to work for the Umbrella Corporation because of the freedom they granted him. After numerous biological experiments, he discovered a mutated virus strain with fierce regenerative properties. Birkin viewed his “G-Virus” as a perfect creation, and he ended up injecting himself with the virus in order to protect it from the agents that had been set to retrieve it. The virus rapidly mutated Birkin into a monster, so he later implanted the virus into his own daughter! He was willing to sacrifice the well-being of his family for the sake of finding a host to propagate his virus.

Sephiroth is the primary antagonist in Final Fantasy VII, but a case can be made that his father is the true villain of the story. Prof. Hojo was the head of Shinra’s Science Research Division, but he became obsessed when they discovered a destructive extraterrestrial being known as Jenova. While heading the “Jenova Project,” Hojo infused his unborn child with cells from the being, and the end result was Sephiroth. Sephiroth’s power and instability threatened the entire world, but Hojo was happy to see the result of his work, regardless of the consequences. In his pursuit of knowledge, he performed many horrific experiments on unwilling subjects and eventually began to experiment on himself. Life itself is a mere experiment to Hojo, and there was nothing he wouldn’t sacrifice for the sake of scientific discovery.

With an IQ of 300 and an affinity for machinery, Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik planned to create a utopia that was overrun by robots. The achieve his goal of building an Eggman Empire, Sonic’s comically obese rival imprisoned helpless woodland animals, built a space station in his likeness, created an evil mechanical version of Sonic, learned to control the flow of time, built a fleet of battle ships, and shattered the Earth with a giant laser cannon. As a means of apologizing for his past transgressions, Robotnik opened up a theme park within Earth’s orbit. To the surprise of absolutely no one, the park was merely a ruse and his true intention was to take over the world with a mind-control cannon. No matter how many times he’s defeated, Robotnik refuses to listen to reason and continues to chase his impossible dream.

Dr. Wily is a brilliant scientist who has repeatedly used robot armies in his bid for world domination. He has also pretended to be an alien, blackmailed rival scientists, framed his enemies, hosted fake fighting tournaments, and created a virus that caused robots all over the world to malfunction. Despite his track record, he has somehow been able to convince others that he has changed his ways on multiple occasions. At one point, he even conned the public into donating money by promising to make altruistic robots to defend the planet. Dr. Wily’s plans are always foiled by Mega Man, but his influence is seen long after his death. Dr. Wily’s last creation was a robot named Zero who played a role in infecting robots of the future and setting off the great Maverick rebellion that served as the backdrop for the Mega Man X series.