Off THEIR Minds: Why Are So Many Villains Doctors?

Knowledge is power, power corrupts, so study hard be evil

@gsGaret said:

Knowledge is power, power corrupts, so study hard be evil

true this is

Because they all have PhD's...in Horribleness!

Because the stress of grad school drives people crazy… or drives crazy people crazier. I think it could also be they turn to crime as a means to pay back student loan debts.

Other than Dr. Strange, and Dr. Mid-nite I can't think of any that are MDs. I imagine a lot of them are PhDs in things like biological engineering, or nuclear physics. Also, Dr. Fate is totally a Th.D (doctor of theology).

The same thing happens to Barons: The Baroness, Baron Zemo, Baron Blood, Baron Swastika, Baron Blitzkrieg, Barons Strucker, Baroness Paula Von Gunther, Baron Mordo,Baron Bedlam, etc. Possibly the only good one is Baron Münchhausen!

Dem loans.

I thinks most of the "doctor ___" names come from Marvel

Just sayin'...

It's kinda poetic in a way. I mean Doctors either save lives or as Scientist work to make them better. So in a comic world it would make sense that they try and end/destroy lives as well.

Other day I was think about how many magic doctors you found in comics.Dr; Strange,Dr. Fate,the above mentioned Dr Doom(sort of),Dr Voodoo and the Authority's Doctor,bonus points for his villain counterpart being an alchemist called the Surgeon.

@Nerx: I'm certain that's why most villians use it even if they have no degree at all.

How does DOCTOR DOOM speak in all caps? I'm curious.

- They find themselves unable to ever get out from under their mountain of student loans and are forced into a life of crime.

@Miss_Garrick said:

@Nerx: I'm certain that's why most villians use it even if they have no degree at all.

Then again most villains with Dr on their names can qualify as doctors anytime they want, pssh Doom can be a rocket scientist if he wanted to (seewhatididthere?)

If we are seeking the origin of how "doctor" and villains are so closely related with terms of nomenclature, I can it all dates back to antiquity with regard to the "evil" or "mad scientist" stories that we have seen ever since the famed era of alchemy during the Renaissance era. After all, many of the so-called alchemists were associated with individuals who spurned Christianity and supposedly practiced dark arts. Then in literature you had many who adopted similar traits for deviant purposes, like Dr. Faustus and the Devil. Then you come to the pulp and weeklies era in the late 1920s/early 1930s and you have the rise of the "mad scientist" stories, and voila, there you go, there you see an association between doctor and villain that I say has been in place for some time. As for a more fun answer, I guess there's just more of a sense of professionalism when a villain has "doctor" in front of their name.

If they wanted twisted people in the medical profession, start at orthodontists. I know from experience, a few of them have 'problems'. I've also heard horror stories.

Doc Ock is way underdone. He's written like a clownish, loser villian. Now he's a robot with no personality. Someone should come up with a good story with him in it someday. Just have him come out as he was, maybe ina new suit and stylish sunglasses. A villian with a scheme and a purpose.

Dr. Doom can't possibly be considered a doctor. After all Podiatrists aren't real doctors.:)

Fine line between brilliance and insanity. Touched upon a dozen times over in comics.

Pffft. Villains are not always doctors. =P

It's pretty simple. It's not that being a doctor is menacing, it's that someone who was a doctor, someone you'd asume is working for the good of mankind, is menacing, is threatening, is nefarious. It's scary to think of a doctor, normally very trusted and well liked at least in theory, betraying that trust or making use of their brilliant intellect to do terrible things.

Plus, "scientist" isn't a thing, but "doctor" is, as far as society is concerned, even though it really just means "expert" ostensibly, and they have to be able to have an experiment with ill intentions go poorly or have ill intentions go into a sinister and successful experiment. Most villains are man made. Their powers, their brutality and menace comes from themselves. One part hubris, one part Dr. Frankenstein-esque ability.

@BoyWander: lol man.

It implies that they are more intelligent than the often under-educated, blue-collar heroes. Many of Marvel's heroes, for example, have never attended college nor completed the high school portion of their education.

Because they didn't go through 4 years of evil medical school to be called "mister"?

Repaying Student Loans makes you Evil.