When I think of a mad scientist, I have a specific picture in mind. First and foremost, these scientists are eccentric and often (at least partially) insane. There are three main types of mad scientists: the good, the bad, and the semi. I’ll illustrate each of these with some examples. A good mad scientist is probably the rarest. He/she is not evil in any sort of way, and is only classified as mad due to his obsession. The perfect example of this type of mad scientist is Doc Brown from the Back to the Future trilogy. Doc Brown is obsessed with his inventions, and obviously a tad bit crazy, but he is always a good guy. A semi-good, semi-bad mad scientist is probably the second most common type of mad scientist. This type usually starts out as a protagonist, but that status is called into question based on his actions. Probably the best example of this type of mad scientist is Dr. Frankenstein in James Whale’s Frankenstein (1931). His Monster takes on the protagonist’s role in this film (Whale’s Monster is much more sympathetic a character than Branagh’s Creature), and turns Frankenstein into a questionable character. The third main type of mad scientist, and the most common, is the evil mad scientist. This type generally has no regard for life and often goes out of his/her way to be evil. A perfect example of this type of mad scientist is Dr. Pretorius from Whale’s Bride of Frankenstein (1935). In this film, Pretorius convinces Frankenstein to resume his experiments of bringing the dead to life. (Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention some comic book examples of the evil mad scientist. Lex Luthor is the quintessential mad scientist. Professor Zoom (Reverse Flash) is another good example of the evil mad scientist. And in the comic book vein, the Fleischer Superman cartoon, The Mad Scientist (1941), obviously displays a great example of the evil mad scientist).