Greatest Fictional Inventors

The enigmatic candy mogul of Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory introduces myriad innovations to the sweets business, from his waterfall method for mixing chocolate to the experimental Everlasting Gobstopper. The man’s R&D department is so big it requires an entire nation of Oompa-Loompas to staff it. He’s just got this succession problem…

The hero of a long-running comic book series and the recent summer blockbuster starring Robert Downey Jr., Tony Stark has a busy life. A billionaire industrialist and genius inventor, he supplies Stark Industries, the multinational manufacturing powerhouse co-founded by his father, with the latest innovations in weapons technology—while still maintaining a hectic party schedule. But he’s also got a knack for designing superhero outerwear. His light-weight metal suit comes equipped with the latest weaponry and de-icing for high-altitude flight. But his most impressive invention is his mini arc reactor, the cleantech-powered, blue-glowing device that keeps his damaged heart ticking and the suit charged up.

Motivated by his love of experiment, Doc Emmett Brown invents the Holy Grail of mad science: The time travel machine. In 1985’s Back to the Future, when the supply chain for his plutonium—which involves stealing from Libyan terrorists—goes horribly wrong, his young friend Marty McFly finds himself jumping around the history of Hill Valley, California in a DeLorean souped-up with a flux capacitor. If only Doc had had an entrepreneurial-minded partner to monetize the technology, things might have gone a little smoother. From tourism to archeology, the time machine could have made him a billionaire.

From the Internet to GPS, there’s a long history of technology cooked up in government labs making its way into the private sector. Imagine the start-up companies MI-6 could spin out of Q’s lab. Since James Bond’s gadget-supplier first appeared in 1963’s From Russia with Love, he’s produced a steady stream of inventions, from a clothing brush communicator in Live and Let Die to Die Another Day’s automobile-cloaking device.

Tom Bailey, played by Patrick Dempsey in last year’s romantic comedy Made of Honor hatches, patents, and monetizes a brilliant idea: the paper sleeve for handling hot coffee cups. He’s looking for his next big project when his female best friend, Hannah, announces her engagement to another man. Tom, realizing he needs to devote some time to his work/life balance, proceeds to bring all his inventiveness to bear on stealing the love of his life back from her fiancé.

The brilliant half of Pinky and the Brain, who got their start in 1993 as a recurring part of the WB’s loony cartoon Animaniacs, the Brain devotes his life to a single goal: Taking over the world. No matter how many times he fails, he always has another device ready for a test-run, from a means of flash-freezing world leaders to a giant magnet capable of immobilizing everyone in the world via their loose change. If only lab rats could apply for patents, he’d be the next Thomas Edison.

Jigsaw, the villain in the Saw franchise, which debuted in 2004, is perhaps the most creepy of all fictional inventors. His clever traps, rigged to kill the least motivated individuals, are designed to encourage people to fully realize their potential in life. Any entrepreneur who has ever struggled pushing employees to perform at their highest level can take inspiration from his example—just don't take too much inspiration from his example.

The fierce fashion designer Edna Mode supplies super-suits for the heroes of Pixar’s 2004 animated feature The Incredibles, but her abilities go beyond an eye for color, fabric and silhouette. Her creations are high-tech and tailored to her demanding customers’ needs. So Edna has pioneered the next generation of high-tech fabrics, from super-stretchiness for Elastigirl to friction-resistance for hyper-speedy Dash.

The original biotech pioneer? How about Dr. Frankenstein, the protagonist of Mary Shelley’s namesake 1818 novel. Relying only on early-industrial-era steam power, he manages to raise a gigantic, sentient being from his operating table. Unfortunately, when his creation runs amok, he learns firsthand the importance of conducting careful clinical trials.

Charles Lang is the hero of The Water Engine, a 1977 David Mamet radio play adapted into made-for-TV movie starring William H. Macy. In Depression-era Chicago, he dreams up the next leap forward in technology: an engine that runs on water. All he wants is to capitalize on the technology and live in comfort with his blind sister. But when he tries to patent it, the young man runs into opposition and intimidation from big oil companies, who will do almost anything to stop the competition.