The caricatured "mad scientist" and "crazy inventor" predates cinema. Doctors Faustus, Jekyll and Frankenstein are early classics. Even before that, Daedalus, creator of the labyrinth, who was then imprisoned by King Minos. To escape, he invented two pairs of wings made from feathers and beeswax, one for himself and the other for his son Icarus. While Daedalus himself managed to fly to safety, Icarus flew too close to the sun, which melted the wax of his wings, casting him down into the sea below. The tragic, tortured figure with too much knowledge has been around as long as the spoken word.

Since ancient times, popular imagination has circulated on archetypal figures who wielded esoteric knowledge. Shamans, witches and witch doctors were held in reverence and fear of their rumored abilities to conjure beasts and create demons. They shared many of the same perceived characteristics such as eccentric behavior, living as hermits, and the ability to create life. It is believed that they employed colorful theatrics to heighten the sense of power and mysticism. What people do not understand can easily be supplanted with fears and suggestion. Someone who wields superior knowledge becomes someone to be feared.

And such subjects are always great fodder for stories..........