Herr Doktor: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''Raised in Stuttgart, Germany during an era when the Hippocratic oath had been downgraded to an optional Hippocratic suggestion, [[The Medic]] considers healing a generally unintended side effect of satisfying his own morbid curiosity.''|''[[Team Fortress 2]]''}}
In TV Land, a doctor or scientist is roughly 75% likely to be German or Austrian, complete with thick accent. Increase to 98% for [[Mad Scientist
It's worth noting that Central Europe was a scientific and economic powerhouse in the early 20th century, dominating the physics field. More than a few Germans were "rehabilitated" by the Russian and American space program, to the point of each side complaining "they have more Germans than we do!" For a slightly safer stereotype, consider using a Swede or Norwegian instead, with the same [[E=MC Hammer|unintelligible theories]] and outrrageous akksent!
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* [[Trope Namer|This trope might just have been named]] for one of Sam Jaffe's character's first lines in the 1950s [[Film Noir]] heist movie ''The Asphalt Jungle'':
{{quote|'''Dr Riedenschneider:''' Maybe you've heard of me. The Professor? Or Herr Doktor, maybe.}}
* ''[[Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow]]'' has a passel of German and Austrian [[Mad Scientist
* Subverted in the 2009 ''[[Sherlock Holmes (film)|Sherlock Holmes]]'' movie. After Watson is {{spoiler|injured in a bomb blast, his girlfriend/soon-to-be fiance Mary goes to him in the hospital, as he is attended by a very German-sounding doctor. However, Mary figures out that the doctor is actually Holmes in disguise.}}
** It is actually a much stronger subversion as {{spoiler|Holmes' impersonation sounds very ''French'' and not German.}}
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== [[Literature]] ==
* ''[[Frankenstein]]'' is the ''doctor's'' name and may be the trope codifier (although in the novel he is Swiss and doesn't actually receive his doctorate).
* In ''[[Dracula]]'', Professor Van Helsing is actually Dutch, but constantly peppers his English with German. (Yes, Bram Stoker did, in fact, do the
** Also, Dutch is a Germanic language closely related to German.
** And German was the language of science in the 19th
* In ''[[Discworld/Unseen Academicals|Unseen Academicals]]'', Mister Nutt does psychotherapy on himself, using a thick [[Uberwald
* Comes up as a sort of [[Discussed Trope]] in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' [[Eighth Doctor Adventures]] novel ''Unnatural History''. Fitz is annoyed by the Doctor [[Happiness Is Mandatory|pressuring him]] [[What Do You Mean It's Not Heinous?|to have fun]] and mentally refers to him as [[Gratuitous German|Herr]] Doctor. There's probably some connection to the fact that Fitz is himself [[But Not Too Foreign|half-German]] and was picked on for it a lot growing up during [[World War II]].
* Dr. Martin Hesselius from Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's ''In a Glass Darkly'', the first [[Occult Detective]] of literature, is a German physician.
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* Professor Von Kripelspac from ''[[Conkers Bad Fur Day]]'', a weasel scientist that sits in a floating chair.
* Dr. Stanislaus Braun from ''[[Fallout]] 3'', who {{spoiler|is the overseer of Vault 112. He keeps the vault dwellers trapped in a virtual reality simulator, keeping them there forever, for his own amusement.}}
* Klingmann from ''[[Gabriel Knight]]'': The Beast Within. "People refer to me as
* ''[[Broken Sword]]: Shadow of the Templars'' has Herr Hagenmeyer.
* The Norwegian Professor Ingvar Johanssen of [[Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines]] was the one responsible for digging up the Ankaran Sarcophagus. His accent is outrageous, though surprisingly realistic,<ref>if on the ''Swedish'' side of outrageously broad Scandinavian accents</ref>
* The Cybran leader from ''[[Supreme Commander]]'', Dr. Gustaf Brackman has suspiciously Germanic name (Swedish actually) although he speaks clear English.
* Romanian [[Mad Scientist]] Dr. Ort-Meyer from the [[Hitman]] series, who sounds like a mix of [[Bela Lugosi]] and [[Vincent Price]].
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== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[Girl Genius]]'' revels in this trope. Then again, in a comic about [[Mad Science]] in a setting where German is the ''lingua franca'', it's par for the course. The only ones who speak with anything resembling the stereotypical accent are the [[Super Soldier
* ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'' [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] and [[Affectionate Parody|parodies]] it with "Stereotypical German Scientist Dr. Germahn". Initially the host of a 'questions from the readers' sub-strip, he has since popped up frequently in odd places, even as the Q&A section has been mostly taken over by his <s>Dumb</s> [[Dumb Blonde|Ditzy Blonde]] Assistant Amanda.
* Professor Zweistein fills in this role in ''[[The FAN]]''
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* The plastic surgeon in ''[[The Venture Brothers]]''.
* One of Megabyte's henchmen in ''[[Re Boot]]'' is known only as Herr Doctor.
* ''[[Dexter's Laboratory]]'' - Dexter is a [[Mad Scientist]] with a German
* ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' has Dr. Doofenschmirtz who actually never
* Despite being a race of cyborgs from another planet, the [[Challenge of the Go Bots|Gobots]] had two of these: Guardian Baron von Joy and Renegade Herr Fiend.
* Mr. Lizard the Wizard on ''[[Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales]]'' was a German-accented lizard...who was a wizard.
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* Professor Dementor from ''[[Kim Possible]]'', as indicated by his [[No Indoor Voice|LOUD GERMAN-ACCENTED SPEAKING!]]
* Doctor Jacques von Hamsterviel, the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Lilo and Stitch: The Series]]''.
* Dr. Ketzer,<ref>German for "[[The Heretic|Heretic]]"</ref>
* The [[Area 51|Parking Lot 51]] scientist pitties from ''[[Pixar Shorts|UFM: Unidentified Flying Mater]]'', as well as [[Paper-Thin Disguise|"Dr. Aschleppwagen"]] ([[Cars|Mater's]] disguise) from the same short.
* Dr. Oro Myicin, psychiatrist from "Hare Brush", who convinces Bugs Bunny he is really Elmer J. Fudd, Millionaire using psychotropic drugs of some kind.
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