Tony Stark

                                                       Tony Stark ( Iron Men)

     Anthony Stark, also referred to as Tony, is one of the mad scientists portrayed in the marvel series. He is a CEO of Stark Industries who makes billions of dollars due to his extensive knowledge in engineering.  Due to his impressive skill set in weapons and robotics, terrorists bomb his company in order to defeat their competition.  This event causes Tony to be severely injured and captured by his enemy team, along side his acquaintance Doctor Ho Yinsen.  While captured, they create the well-known Iron Man suit, which keeps his heart intact as well give him superhuman abilities.  He escapes the tragic events, but unfortunately Dr. Yinsen doesn't make it back alive.  Although he made the suit in order for survival purposes, it may be considered controversial since he went beyond human capabilities to cheat death in a sense.

Tony Stark in action as he wears the Iron Man suit.

     This idea of challenging what seems impossible is one of the many characteristics of what makes Tony Stark a mad scientist.  Since he went through extreme means in order to live, it may be suggested that he has a selfish personality like many classic mad scientists have.  For example, he created the suit not for the purpose of being a superhero, although later in the movies he starts to do more for the greater good, but he created it for his own personal issues.  Besides the mentality aspect of him being a mad scientist, he also possesses some stereotypical qualities as well.  He is a male that uses his intelligence to gain success and fame, as well as has laboratories and an assistant who helped him make the idea that could be used for potentially good or evil, the suit.  These features are distinct when looked at films involving the mad scientist.  

Tony Stark without his mask. 

     Although most mad scientists have the stigma behind them that they are monstrous or do more bad than good, Tony Stark has a different impact in his society.  Before he created the suit, the main goal of his corporation was to create weapons for United States army.  Once he started to realize what his suit was capable of, he began to use his suit towards saving America from rival forces rather than for himself.  He then goes on to join a team of people just like him who have superhuman qualities with the same ambition to save innocent lives.  This concept shows how risking morality can have the potential of being a positive impact for society, instead of the usual bad ending stories most mad scientist stories tend to follow.
     Tony Stark goes against most of the generalizations that mad scientists are evil.  He, however, still is mad due to the insanity of his creations and the passion of his goals.  He does whatever he has to do to get what he wants or to keep America safe.  Although he may of invented the suit for not the the right reasons at first, his actions went on to prove he can be the good guy.  Tony Stark shows that the mad scientist can take their extraordinary ideas and turn them into something for the greater good.