Editing Genius (section)

==Literature and pop culture==
[[File:Google Ngram for "genius".jpg|thumb|upright 1.5|The [[Google Books Ngram Viewer]] indicating a marked decline in use of the word "genius" from 1700 to 2022]]
Geniuses are variously portrayed in literature and film as both [[protagonist]]s and [[antagonist]]s, and may be the [[hero]] or [[villain]] of the story. In [[Popular culture|pop culture]], the genius is often stereotypically depicted as either the wisecracking whiz or the tortured genius.<ref name="highability.org">{{Cite web|date=2020-12-26|title=Pop Culture Stereotypes and the Self-Concept of Gifted People|url=http://highability.org/511/how-pop-culture-stereotypes-impact-the-self-concept-of-highly-gifted-people/|access-date=2021-01-08|website=High Ability|language=en-US}}</ref>

Throughout both literature and movies, the tortured genius character is often seen as an imperfect or [[tragic hero]] who wrestles with the burden of superior intelligence, arrogance, eccentricities, addiction, awkwardness, mental health issues, a lack of social skills, isolation, or other insecurities.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-12-10|title=10 Best Movies About Tortured Geniuses, Ranked|url=https://screenrant.com/movies-tortured-geniuses-ranked/|access-date=2021-01-08|website=ScreenRant|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Wolf|first=Elizabeth R.|date=2018|title=The trope of the tortured genius : an examination of 19th century British and American poetry|url=https://wlu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/fulldisplay/alma991010460729004161/01WLU_INST:01WLU|access-date=2021-01-08|website=wlu.primo.exlibrisgroup.com|language=en}}</ref> They regularly experience existential crises, struggling to overcome personal challenges to employ their special abilities for good or succumbing to their own tragic flaws and vices. This common motif repeated throughout fiction is notably present in the characters of Dr. Bruce Banner in the ''[[Hulk]]'' and [[Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (character)|Dr. Henry Jekyll]] in ''[[Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde|The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]]'', among others.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Incredible Hulk turns 30|url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1992/03/06/incredible-hulk-turns-30/|access-date=2021-01-08|website=Tampa Bay Times|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Mills|first=Ryan|date=2019-10-11|title=Using the Incredible Hulk to Teach Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde|url=https://classroom.popcultureclassroom.org/blog/using-the-incredible-hulk-to-teach-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/|access-date=2021-01-08|website=Pop Culture Classroom|language=en-US|archive-date=2021-01-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111072553/https://classroom.popcultureclassroom.org/blog/using-the-incredible-hulk-to-teach-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Although not as extreme, other examples of literary and filmic characterizations of the tortured genius stereotype, to varying degrees, include: [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] in ''[[Amadeus (film)|Amadeus]]'', [[John Forbes Nash Jr.|Dr. John Nash]] in ''[[A Beautiful Mind (film)|A Beautiful Mind]]'', [[Leonardo da Vinci]] in ''[[Da Vinci's Demons]]'', [[Gregory House|Dr. Gregory House]] in ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'', [[Will Hunting]] in ''[[Good Will Hunting]]'', and [[Sheldon Cooper|Dr. Sheldon Cooper]] in ''[[The Big Bang Theory]].''

One of the most famous genius-level rivalries to occur in literary fiction is between Sherlock Holmes and his nemesis [[Professor Moriarty]]; the latter character also identified as the modern archetype of an [[Mad scientist|evil genius]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Case of the Evil Genius|url=https://www.psychologicalscience.org/news/were-only-human/the-case-of-the-evil-genius.html|access-date=2021-01-08|website=Association for Psychological Science - APS|language=en-US}}</ref>