Nikola Tesla in popular culture
Encyclopedia
Nikola Tesla
, inventor and engineer, has appeared in popular culture
as a character in books, films, comics and video games. The lack of recognition received by Tesla during his own lifetime has made him a tragic and inspirational character well suited to dramatic fiction. Tesla has particularly been seen in science fiction where his inventions are well suited. The impact of the technologies
invented by Nikola Tesla are a recurring theme in the steampunk
genre
of alternate technology
science-fiction.
Tesla's achievements and personality have inspired many authors to include him as character in their works or create characters inspired by him.
weapons and the destructive possibilities of massive electric arcs created by tesla coils have inspired many video game designers to create Tesla weapons and armors.
Nikola Tesla
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, mechanical engineer, and electrical engineer...
, inventor and engineer, has appeared in popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
as a character in books, films, comics and video games. The lack of recognition received by Tesla during his own lifetime has made him a tragic and inspirational character well suited to dramatic fiction. Tesla has particularly been seen in science fiction where his inventions are well suited. The impact of the technologies
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
invented by Nikola Tesla are a recurring theme in the steampunk
Steampunk
Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain or "Wild West"-era United...
genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
of alternate technology
Alternate history (fiction)
Alternate history or alternative history is a genre of fiction consisting of stories that are set in worlds in which history has diverged from the actual history of the world. It can be variously seen as a sub-genre of literary fiction, science fiction, and historical fiction; different alternate...
science-fiction.
Tesla's achievements and personality have inspired many authors to include him as character in their works or create characters inspired by him.
Appearances
- Tesla is one of the main characters in the 2010 novel Čovek koji je ubio Teslu ("Man Who Killed Tesla") written by the acclaimed Serbian author of SF and Horror Goran Skrobonja. In this mixture of alternative history/steampunk and SF, Tesla is a version of Bill Gates for the early 1920s, living and working in Belgrade in a world that has not yet known WW1. Many famous period true-life characters appear as well - Buffalo Bill, Mata Hari, Henry Ford - in this fast-paced thriller with Tesla that might have been. The novel is available only in Serbian, published by Laguna.
- To Mars With Tesla; or, the Mystery of the Hidden World by J. Weldon Cobb (1901) is an adventure where Tesla, aided by Young Edison (Thomas EdisonThomas EdisonThomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
's fictional nephew) and a couple of scientists, has a number of encounters with Martians.
- Tesla is mentioned in H.G. Wells' 1901 book The First Men in the MoonThe First Men in the MoonThe First Men in the Moon is a 1901 scientific romance novel by the English author H. G. Wells. The novel tells the story of a journey to the moon undertaken by the two protagonists, the impoverished businessman Mr Bedford and the brilliant but eccentric scientist Dr. Cavor...
as being the inspiration to the character of Julius Wendigee, who picks up the broadcasts of the main character's exploits on the Moon.
- An immortalized version of Nikola Tesla is a recurring character in Spider RobinsonSpider RobinsonSpider Robinson is an American-born Canadian Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction author.- Biography :Born in the Bronx, New York City, Robinson attended Catholic high school, spending his junior year in a seminary, followed by two years in a Catholic college, and five years at the State...
's Callahan'sCallahan's Crosstime SaloonIn the fictional universe of Spider Robinson, Callahan's Place is a bar with strongly community-minded and empathic clientele. It appears in the Callahan's Crosstime Saloon stories In the fictional universe of Spider Robinson, Callahan's Place is a bar with strongly community-minded and empathic...
book series (1977–2004).
- Tesla appears in the 1989 novel Moon PalaceMoon PalaceMoon Palace is a novel written by Paul Auster that was first published in 1989.The novel is set in Manhattan and the U.S. Midwest, and centres on the life of the narrator Marco Stanley Fogg and the two previous generations of his family.- Plot summary:...
by Paul AusterPaul AusterPaul Benjamin Auster is an American author known for works blending absurdism, existentialism, crime fiction and the search for identity and personal meaning in works such as The New York Trilogy , Moon Palace , The Music of Chance , The Book of Illusions and The Brooklyn Follies...
.
- Tesla, alongside Professor ChallengerProfessor ChallengerGeorge Edward Challenger, better known as Professor Challenger, is a fictional character in a series of science fiction stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...
, plays a major role in Ralph Vaughan's four Sherlock HolmesSherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
/H. P. LovecraftH. P. LovecraftHoward Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
crossoversFictional crossoverA fictional crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders, or because of unauthorized efforts by fans, or even amid common...
, The Adventure of the Ancient Gods (1990) The Adventure of the Dreaming Detective (1992), "The Adventure of the Laughing Moonbeast" (1992) and Sherlock Holmes and the Terror Out of Time (2001).
- Generation TeslaGeneration TeslaGeneration Tesla was a Serbian comic book series from 1995 about a superhero team of the same name, published by "Luxor comic" in Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia. The comic represented one of the biggest attempts to revive the comic scene in Serbia during the 1990s, after the breakup of Yugoslavia...
(1995), published in SerbiaSerbiaSerbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
. Tesla evades his own death by transferring himself to another plane of existence. In 2020 he resurrects a number of humans slain by the evil Kobalt, transforming them into superhumans who can counter the threats of such villains. He is founder and mentor of super-hero team Generation Tesla.
- Broadcast power, Tesla's main focus in his later years, is the primary plot device of F. Paul WilsonF. Paul WilsonFrancis Paul Wilson is an American author, primarily in the science fiction and horror genres. His debut novel was Healer . Wilson is also a part-time practicing family physician. He made his first sales in 1970 to Analog while still in medical school , and continued to write science fiction...
's novel LegaciesLegacies (novel)Legacies is the second volume in a series of Repairman Jack books written by American author F. Paul Wilson. The book was first published in 1998 by Headline in England and by Forge in the US .-Reception:...
, and a fictional device credited to him figures prominently in ConspiraciesConspiracies (novel)Conspiracies is the third volume in a series of Repairman Jack books written by American author F. Paul Wilson. The book was first published in March 1999 by Gauntlet Press as a signed, limited edition...
(1999), part of the Repairman Jack seriesThe Repairman Jack SeriesThe Repairman Jack series is the name given to thirteen horror/thriller novels written by American author F. Paul Wilson, as well as several standalone short stories.- Story :...
of novels.
- In the book The Witches of ChiswickThe Witches of ChiswickThe Witches Of Chiswick is a novel by the British author Robert Rankin, the title parodying that of The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike.-Plot summary:...
(2003) Nikola Tesla (in an alternate timeline) meets Charles BabbageCharles BabbageCharles Babbage, FRS was an English mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer who originated the concept of a programmable computer...
and creates wireless energy and steampunk supercomputers.
- In Wonder of the WorldsWonder of the WorldsWonder of the Worlds by Sesh Heri, published 2005 by Lost Continent Library, is the first in a trilogy of novels featuring secret agent Harry Houdini facing off against a Martian invasion in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.-Plot introduction:...
a novel by geomorphologistGeomorphologyGeomorphology is the scientific study of landforms and the processes that shape them...
and author Sesh HeriSesh HeriSesh Heri is a theorist, illustrator and an author of fiction and non-fiction. Heri resides in Sacramento, California.-Biography:...
published in 2005 by Lost Continent Library, Tesla journeys to MarsMarsMars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
with Mark TwainMark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
and Harry HoudiniHarry HoudiniHarry Houdini was a Hungarian-born American magician and escapologist, stunt performer, actor and film producer noted for his sensational escape acts...
to retrieve a stolen crystal and confront Kel, the emperor of the Red Planet, on the eve of the Martian invasion of Earth.
- Brian ClevingerBrian ClevingerBrian Clevinger is an American writer best known as the author of the webcomic 8-Bit Theater and the Eisner-nominated print comic Atomic Robo...
and Scott Wegener's Atomic RoboAtomic RoboAtomic Robo is a comic book series depicting the adventures of the eponymous character, created by 8-Bit Theater writer Brian Clevinger and artist Scott Wegener.-Publication history:...
is a fictional work about a robot that was invented by Nikola Tesla, which also features fictionalised representations of other scientists such as Carl SaganCarl SaganCarl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books...
and Thomas EdisonThomas EdisonThomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
.
- Tesla is one of the main characters in The Tesla Legacy, a novel by Australian author Robert G. BarrettRobert G. BarrettRobert G. Barrett is a popular Australian author of numerous books, most of them featuring the fictional Australian character Les Norton. He has also written others which are single book story. 'So What Do You Reckon?' is a collection of Robert's columns from when he was a columnist for the...
(2006). In the novel, Tesla builds a 'doomsday machine' hidden in the Hunter Valley area of New South WalesNew South WalesNew South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
that could disrupt all wireless communication on Earth.
- Tesla makes a cameo appearance in Thomas PynchonThomas PynchonThomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. is an American novelist. For his most praised novel, Gravity's Rainbow, Pynchon received the National Book Award, and is regularly cited as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature...
's novel Against the DayAgainst the DayAgainst the Day is a novel by Thomas Pynchon. The narrative takes place between the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and the time immediately following World War I and features more than a hundred characters spread across the United States, Europe, Mexico, Central Asia, and "one or two places not strictly...
(2006).
- Tesla is one of the major characters of Jacek DukajJacek DukajJacek Dukaj is a Polish science fiction writer. Winner of the Janusz A. Zajdel Award , Śląkfa , Żuławski Award , Kościelski Award and the European Union Prize for Literature .-Career:Dukaj studied philosophy at the Jagiellonian University...
's novel IceIce (Dukaj novel)Ice is a Janusz A. Zajdel and Kościelski awards-winning novel written in 2007 by the Polish science fiction writer Jacek Dukaj, published in Poland by Wydawnictwo Literackie...
.
- The Invention of Everything ElseThe Invention of Everything ElseThe Invention of Everything Else is a novel written by American author Samantha Hunt, published in 2008. The novel presents a fictionalized account of the last days in the life of Nikola Tesla, the inventor who pioneered radio and alternating current electricity...
, by Samantha Hunt (2008), is a novel blending fact with fiction. It centers on the relationship between Nikola Tesla and a maid at the New Yorker HotelNew Yorker HotelThe New Yorker Hotel, is a hotel located 481 Eighth Avenue in New York City. The 43-story Art Deco hotel opened in 1930.-General:The New Yorker Hotel is a 900 room, mid-priced hotel. It is located in Manhattan's Garment Center, central to Pennsylvania Station, Madison Square Garden, Times Square...
.
- Tesla had an appearance in the denouement of Jack Du Brul'sJack Du BrulJack Du Brul is a New York Times Best-Selling Author from Vermont who writes Techno-thrillers.-Early life:...
2006 novel Havoc.
- Tesla and his inventions play a large role in the novel Ghost Dancer by John Case.
- Tesla plays a significant role in the alternate history novel The Kingdom of Ohio (2009) by Matthew Flaming.
- French writer Jean EchenozJean EchenozJean Echenoz is a French writer.Son of a psychiatrist, Echenoz studied in Rodez, Digne-les-Bains, Lyon, Aix-en-Provence, Marseille and Paris, where he lives since 1970. He published his first book, Le méridien de Greenwich in 1979...
retraces in his book Des éclairs (2010) the life of Nikola Tesla, pictured under the name of "Gregor".
- Tesla is an important supporting character in Christopher Priest's 1995 novel The PrestigeThe PrestigeThe Prestige is a 1995 novel by British writer Christopher Priest. The novel is epistolary in structure: that is, it purports to be a collection of real diaries that were kept by the protagonists and later collated...
(he is portrayed in Christopher NolanChristopher NolanChristopher Jonathan James Nolan is a British-American film director, screenwriter and producer.He received serious notice after his second feature Memento , which he wrote and directed based on a story idea by his brother, Jonathan Nolan. Jonathan went to co-write later scripts with him,...
's 2005 film adaptationThe Prestige (film)The Prestige is a 2006 mystery thriller film written, directed and co-produced by Christopher Nolan, with a screenplay adapted from Christopher Priest's 1995 novel of the same name. The story follows Robert Angier and Alfred Borden, rival stage magicians in London at the end of the 19th century...
by David BowieDavid BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
). In the story, Tesla builds a machine that is intended to enable physical teleportationTeleportationTeleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
for use in the stage act of magician Robert Angier. The machine is flawed, and merely creates a duplicate of the original item or person. Tesla improves the machine, but warns Angier to destroy it.
- The novel Goliath by Scott WesterfeldScott WesterfeldScott Westerfeld is an American author of science fiction. He was born in Texas and now divides his time between Sydney, Australia and New York City, USA.-Books:...
depicts Tesla when the crew of the airship Leviathan come across the blast zone of the Tunguska eventTunguska eventThe Tunguska event, or Tunguska blast or Tunguska explosion, was an enormously powerful explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River in what is now Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, at about 7:14 a.m...
. Tesla had come to the site to research the blast and claims it was caused by a weapon created by him, the GoliathWardenclyffe TowerWardenclyffe Tower also known as the Tesla Tower, was an early wireless telecommunications tower designed by Nikola Tesla and intended for commercial trans-Atlantic wireless telephony, broadcasting, and to demonstrate the transmission of power without interconnecting wires...
. Towards the end of the book it is revealed that the event was caused by a meteor after all, but Tesla was too unhinged to believe it.
Allusions
- There is a mission in the 39 Clues website that involves the War of Currents between Tesla and Edison. In it, they say that Tesla was a member of the Ekaterina branch and that the War of Currents was just a cover-up for something big - possibly connected to the hunt for the 39 Clues.
- Some researchers have suggested that the character of NyarlathotepNyarlathotepNyarlathotep, also known as the Crawling Chaos, is a malign deity in the Cthulhu Mythos fictional universe created by H. P. Lovecraft. First appearing in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem of the same name, he was later mentioned in other works by Lovecraft and by other writers and in the tabletop...
in H P Lovecraft's 1920 short story of the same nameNyarlathotep (short story)"Nyarlathotep" is a short story by H. P. Lovecraft written in 1920, and first published in the November 1920 issue of The United Amateur. It is the first mention in fiction of the Cthulhu Mythos entity Nyarlathotep.-Synopsis:...
was inspired by Tesla.
- Tesla is briefly mentioned in Book 2 of Southland Tales (2006) in which a large group of neo-MarxistsNeo-MarxismNeo-Marxism is a loose term for various twentieth-century approaches that amend or extend Marxism and Marxist theory, usually by incorporating elements from other intellectual traditions, such as: critical theory, psychoanalysis or Existentialism .Erik Olin Wright's theory of contradictory class...
achieve his dream of wireless electricity. An outdated version of the WikipediaWikipediaWikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
article on Tesla is also featured at the end of the book.
- An improvised Tesla machine, as well as a few Tesla references, are used in Jack Henderson'sJack HendersonJohn "Jack" Henderson was an Irish international footballer who played club football for Ulster as a goalkeeper.Henderson earned three caps for Ireland at the 1885 British Home Championship.-External links:*...
novel Circumference of Darkness.
- Cory DoctorowCory DoctorowCory Efram Doctorow is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who serves as co-editor of the blog Boing Boing. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of the Creative Commons organization, using some of their licences for his books...
's short story collection A Place So Foreign and Eight MoreA Place So Foreign and Eight MoreA Place So Foreign and Eight More is a collection of short stories by Cory Doctorow. Six of these stories were released electronically under a Creative Commons license. A paperback edition was issued in New York by publisher Four Walls Eight Windows in 2003 with ISBN 1-56858-286-2...
includes the short story "Home Again, Home Again" where a main character believes that he is possessed by the spirit of Tesla.
- In the Area 51 novelsArea 51 novelsThe Area 51 novels are a series of science fiction novels by American author Robert Mayer, under the pseudonym Robert Doherty.-Plot:In the opening book of the series, it is revealed that in the late 1940s, two flying saucers and a mile long spacecraft with an interstellar drive were discovered in...
Tesla is said to have used his Death Ray to knock down a hostile alien space craft.
- In her book, Addition, Toni Jordan's main character, Grace, keeps a photo of her hero Nikola Tesla by her bed.
- In the second book of the LeviathanLeviathanLeviathan , is a sea monster referred to in the Bible. In Demonology, Leviathan is one of the seven princes of Hell and its gatekeeper . The word has become synonymous with any large sea monster or creature...
trilogy BehemothBehemothBehemoth is a mythological beast mentioned in the Book of Job, 40:15-24. Metaphorically, the name has come to be used for any extremely large or powerful entity.-Plural as singular:...
by Scott Westerfield, Tesla's famous death ray makes an appearance in the form of a cannon that shoots lightning at the "Leviathan" from the previous book. The cannon is stationed on the German ship "Goeben," but is ultimately destroyed by Great Britain's most destructive creature: the Behemoth.
- In John Case's 2006 thriller "Ghost Dancer", an evil genius tries to harness research by Nikola Tesla to build an ultimate weapon. Following his trail, the main protagonist comes to BelgradeBelgradeBelgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
and pays a visit to the Nikola Tesla MuseumNikola Tesla MuseumThe Nikola Tesla Museum is located in the central area of Belgrade. It holds more than 160,000 original documents, over 2,000 books and journals, over 1,200 historical technical exhibits, over 1,500 photographs and photo plates of original, technical objects, instruments and apparatus, and over...
.
Appearances
- JLA: Age of WonderJLA: Age of WonderJLA: Age of Wonder was a two-issue prestige format comic book mini-series from DC's Elseworlds imprint. It was written by Adisakdi Tantimedh, with art by P. Craig Russell and Galen Showman.-Plot:...
(2003) is a two-issue mini-series from DC ComicsDC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
' ElseworldsElseworldsElseworlds is the publication imprint for a group of comic books produced by DC Comics that take place outside the company's canon. According to its tagline: "In Elseworlds, heroes are taken from their usual settings and put into strange times and places — some that have existed, and others...
line, in which SupermanSupermanSuperman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
lands in KansasKansasKansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
in the 1850s and emerges on the world stage at the 1876 Centennial Exposition. He teams up with Edison but ends up working with Tesla, who eventually deploys a death ray during World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
- Barnum!: In Secret Service to the USA, (2003) by Howard ChaykinHoward ChaykinHoward Victor Chaykin is an American comic book writer and artist famous for his innovative storytelling and sometimes controversial material...
and David TischmanDavid TischmanDavid Tischman is an American comic book writer who has been active since 2000, writing for such series as American Century, Cable, Bite Club, and Star Trek.-Biography:Tischman wrote Greatest Hits at Vertigo....
, shows P. T. BarnumP. T. BarnumPhineas Taylor Barnum was an American showman, businessman, scam artist and entertainer, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and for founding the circus that became the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus....
battling Tesla's sinister plans.
- In the comic book series RaslRASLRASL is an independently published black and white comic book series, written and drawn by Bone creator Jeff Smith. The series showed Smith's "dark side", as it was much more mature than his previous works. The series originally ran with 3 issues a year with repeated delays, but has now been...
by Jeff SmithJeff Smith (cartoonist)Jeff Smith is an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the self-published comic book series Bone. His current series, RASL, focuses on an art thief who hops through dimensional barriers, hiding out on various parallel worlds.-Early life and education:Jeff Smith was born in McKees...
, the ideas of Tesla are prominently featured as the foundation of travel between alternate realities. The story also features an alternate take on Tesla's biography and uses his journals as a plot device.
- In The Five Fists of ScienceThe Five Fists of ScienceThe Five Fists of Science is a steampunk graphic novel created by writer Matt Fraction and artist Steven Sanders. It was published in 2006 by Image Comics.-Plot:...
(2006) a graphic novel by Matt FractionMatt FractionMatt Fritchman, better known by the pen name Matt Fraction, is an Eisner Award-winning American comic book writer, known for his work as the writer of The Invincible Iron Man, The Immortal Iron Fist and Uncanny X-Men for Marvel Comics and Casanova for Image Comics.-Career:Fraction wrote two...
and Steven Sanders, Tesla teams up with Mark Twain to battle Thomas Edison.
- Tesla appears in the webcomicWebcomicWebcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
Thinkin' Lincoln by Miles Grover.
- Tesla appears in the comic book The Light and Darkness WarThe Light and Darkness WarThe Light and Darkness War is a six-issue comic book limited series written by Tom Veitch and drawn by Cam Kennedy published by Epic Comics , an imprint of Marvel Comics....
where he is an outlaw in the afterlife world of the galaxy of Light and his machines forbidden by Leonardo Da VinciLeonardo da VinciLeonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
.
- In the alternate history setting of Alan MooreAlan MooreAlan Oswald Moore is an English writer primarily known for his work in comic books, a medium where he has produced a number of critically acclaimed and popular series, including Watchmen, V for Vendetta, and From Hell...
's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume IThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume IThe League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume One is a comic book limited series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, published under the America's Best Comics imprint of DC Comics. It is the first story in the larger League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series...
, Tesla and Edison never became enemies, instead remaining partners and developing some of the advanced technology of the League world.
- Tesla is portrayed in two comics from Hark a Vagrant, Tesla mad for science and the ladies mad for Nikola Tesla and Tesla, Marconi, Edison by Kate BeatonKate BeatonKate Beaton is a Canadian webcomic artist. Originally from Mabou, Cape Breton, she has a degree in history and anthropology from Mount Allison University. She began drawing comics for the university newspaper, the Argosy, during her third and fourth years at school. Previously she worked in the...
.
- Tesla also appears in DC Comics's Assassin's Creed: The Fall volume 2. He prepares a teleforce weapon to help the Assassins to destroy the Staff of Eden being used by Templars in Tunguska.
- Tesla is currently featured in Jonathan HickmanJonathan HickmanJonathan Hickman is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for the Image Comics series The Nightly News and currently writes FF , and S.H.I.E.L.D for Marvel Comics.-Career:...
's Marvel Comic S.H.I.E.L.D.S.H.I.E.L.D.S.H.I.E.L.D. is a fictional espionage and a secret military law-enforcement agency in the Marvel Comics Universe. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Strange Tales #135 , it often deals with superhuman threats....
as the mysterious Night Machine.
- In the comic series Atomic RoboAtomic RoboAtomic Robo is a comic book series depicting the adventures of the eponymous character, created by 8-Bit Theater writer Brian Clevinger and artist Scott Wegener.-Publication history:...
Tesla was responsible for building the protagonist.
Allusions
- In the America's Best Comics title Tom StrongTom StrongTom Strong is a comic book created by writer Alan Moore and artist Chris Sprouse initially published bi-monthly by America's Best Comics, an imprint of DC Comics' Wildstorm division.-Background:Tom Strong, the title character, is a "science hero"...
, the titular character's daughter Tesla Strong is named after the scientist. - Tesla is briefly mentioned in Book 2 of Southland Tales (2006) in which a large group of neo-MarxistsNeo-MarxismNeo-Marxism is a loose term for various twentieth-century approaches that amend or extend Marxism and Marxist theory, usually by incorporating elements from other intellectual traditions, such as: critical theory, psychoanalysis or Existentialism .Erik Olin Wright's theory of contradictory class...
achieve his dream of wireless electricity. An outdated version of the WikipediaWikipediaWikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
article on Tesla is also featured at the end of the book. - In the manga BleachBleach (manga)is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Noriaki "Tite" Kubo. Bleach follows the adventures of Ichigo Kurosaki after he obtains the powers of a —a death personification similar to the Grim Reaper—from another Soul Reaper, Rukia Kuchiki...
, the Espada Nnoitora Jiruga's fracción, Tesla, is named after the scientist. - In Yukito KishiroYukito Kishirois a Japanese manga artist, born March 20, 1967 in Tokyo, Japan.-Works:*Hito **Kikai **Kaiousei **Hito **Dai-Majin **Mirai Tokyo Headman **Uchukaizokushonendai...
's manga series Gunnm, known as Battle Angel AlitaBattle Angel AlitaBattle Angel Alita, known in Japan as , is a manga series created by Yukito Kishiro in 1990 and originally published in Shueisha's Business Jump magazine. Two of the nine-volume comics were adapted into two anime original video animation episodes titled Battle Angel for North American release by...
in North America, the floating city of Salem possesses a weapon called the Abaddon that is based on the concept of Tesla's TeleforceTeleforceTeleforce was Nikola Tesla's charged particle beam projector, first mentioned publicly in the New York Sun and New York Times on July 11, 1934.-Introduction:...
weapon. - Yasuhiro NightowYasuhiro Nightowis a Japanese manga artist and game creator who created the anime and manga Trigun. Nightow was born on April 8, 1967 in Yokohama, Japan. He moved to Yokosuka when he was in elementary school, and spent the junior high and high school years in Shizuoka....
's manga series Trigun Maximum features a young girl that is experimented upon named Tesla.
Appearances
- In 1941, the first of Max FleischerMax FleischerMax Fleischer was an American animator. He was a pioneer in the development of the animated cartoon and served as the head of Fleischer Studios...
's Superman cartoonsSuperman (1940s cartoons)The Fleischer & Famous Superman cartoons are a series of seventeen animated Technicolor short films released by Paramount Pictures and based upon the comic book character Superman....
depicted SupermanSupermanSuperman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
fighting a mad scientist named Tesla. They are now in the public domainPublic domainWorks are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
and can be viewed in various locations, including the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
.
- The Secret of Nikola TeslaThe Secret of Nikola TeslaThe Secret of Nikola Tesla , is a 1980 Yugoslav biographical film about the inventor Nikola Tesla directed by Krsto Papić and starring Petar Božović as the title character.-Cast:* Petar Božović as Nikola Tesla* Strother Martin as George Westinghouse...
a 1980 Yugoslav film directed by Krsto PapićKrsto PapicKrsto Papić is a Croatian screenwriter and film director whose career spans several decades....
, notable for its inclusion of Orson WellesOrson WellesGeorge Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
as banking baron J.P. Morgan, touches on Tesla's psychic powers and lost vision of the future.
- In 2006 David BowieDavid BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
portrayed Tesla in the movie The PrestigeThe Prestige (film)The Prestige is a 2006 mystery thriller film written, directed and co-produced by Christopher Nolan, with a screenplay adapted from Christopher Priest's 1995 novel of the same name. The story follows Robert Angier and Alfred Borden, rival stage magicians in London at the end of the 19th century...
in which one of the main characters of the film gets Tesla to develop a remarkable device for him.
Allusions
- In Craig BaldwinCraig BaldwinCraig Baldwin is an American experimental filmmaker. He uses “found” footage from the fringes of popular consciousness as well as images from the mass media to undermine and transform the traditional documentary, infusing it with the energy of high-speed montage and a provocative commentary that...
's agitpropAgitpropAgitprop is derived from agitation and propaganda, and describes stage plays, pamphlets, motion pictures and other art forms with an explicitly political message....
film Spectres of the Spectrum (1999), a group of media revolutionaries broadcast underground transmissions under the moniker "TV Tesla". The film also incorporates Tesla's story into its plot.
- In Hot Wheels Highway 35 World Race (2003) Dr. Tesla ( a scientist with the same last name, not the actual Nikola Tesla) discovers inter-dimensional racetracks named Highway 35.
- Nikola Tesla's work is referred to in the sketch "Jack Shows Meg His Tesla CoilTesla coilA Tesla coil is a type of resonant transformer circuit invented by Nikola Tesla around 1891. It is used to produce high voltage, low current, high frequency alternating current electricity. Tesla coils produce higher current than the other source of high voltage discharges, electrostatic machines...
", featuring Jack WhiteJack White (musician)Jack White , often credited as Jack White III, is an American musician, songwriter, record producer and occasional actor...
and Meg WhiteMeg WhiteMegan Martha "Meg" White is an American drummer best known for her work in the Detroit rock duo The White Stripes.-Early life:...
of The White StripesThe White StripesThe White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...
, from Jim JarmuschJim JarmuschJames R. "Jim" Jarmusch is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor and composer. Jarmusch has been a major proponent of independent cinema, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...
's 2003 film Coffee and CigarettesCoffee and CigarettesCoffee and Cigarettes is the title of three short films and a 2003 feature film by independent director Jim Jarmusch. The 2003 film consists of 11 short stories which share coffee and cigarettes as a common thread, and includes the earlier three films....
. The White Stripes had previously mentioned Tesla in their song "Astro" on their self-titled first albumThe White Stripes (album)The White Stripes is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band The White Stripes, released on June 15, 1999. The album was produced by Jim Diamond and vocalist/guitarist Jack White, recorded in January 1999 at Ghetto Recorders and Third Man Studios in Detroit...
.
- In the film, Tucker: The Man and His DreamTucker: The Man and His DreamTucker: The Man and His Dream is a 1988 biographical film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Jeff Bridges. The film recounts the story of Preston Tucker and his attempt to produce and market the 1948 Tucker Sedan, which was met with scandal between the "Big Three automobile...
, there is a painting/mural of Tesla shown at least twice during the Tucker trial.
- In the Disney animated film Meet the RobinsonsMeet the RobinsonsMeet the Robinsons is a 2007 American computer-animated family film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures on March 30, 2007. The forty-seventh animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics, the film was released in both the United States and the...
, a picture of Tesla hangs in Lewis' room in the orphanage. Later, in the future sequences, some Tesla coil like devices are among the inventions kept in the lab of Lewis' future self.
- In Cloudy with a Chance of MeatballsCloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (film)Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a 2009 American computer-animated family comedy film, produced by Sony Pictures Animation, distributed by Columbia Pictures, and released on September 18, 2009. The film is loosely based on the children's book of the same name by Judi and Ron Barrett.The film...
, a poster of Tesla can be seen on Flint's wall with the words "Nikola Tesla Rockstar Scientist", and his laboratory is designed (at least externally) after Wardenclyffe TowerWardenclyffe TowerWardenclyffe Tower also known as the Tesla Tower, was an early wireless telecommunications tower designed by Nikola Tesla and intended for commercial trans-Atlantic wireless telephony, broadcasting, and to demonstrate the transmission of power without interconnecting wires...
.
- In the 2010 Disney film "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", the main character (David Stutler) is a physics student who experiments with Tesla Coils. At the end of the film, he uses a Tesla Coil to defeat the main villain.
Appearances
- Nikola Tesla (1977), Yugoslav TV series about the life of Nikola Tesla, in 10 episodes. Tesla was played by Rade ŠerbedžijaRade ŠerbedžijaRade Šerbedžija , occasionally credited as Rade Sherbedgia in some English-language productions, is a Croatian actor, director and musician of Serb origin. He was one of the most popular Yugoslav actors in the 1970s and 1980s. He is now internationally known mainly for his supporting roles in...
.
- On the Steven SpielbergSteven SpielbergSteven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
cartoon Histeria!Histeria!Histeria! is a 1998 American animated series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. Unlike other animated series produced by Warner Bros. in the 1990s, Histeria! stood out as the most explicit edutainment program in order to meet FCC requirements for...
, Nikola Tesla is featured in an animated piece where he looks and sounds like Christopher WalkenChristopher WalkenChristopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...
.
- Tesla was a crucial character in the pilot episode, "Power", of Murdoch MysteriesMurdoch MysteriesMurdoch Mysteries is a Canadian drama television series that airs on Citytv, featuring Yannick Bisson as William Murdoch, a police detective working in Toronto, Ontario in the 1890s. The television series is based on the Detective Murdoch series of novels by Maureen Jennings. The fifth season was...
, and appeared in the last episode of the third season, entitled "The Tesla Effect".
- In Sanctuary, a fictional version of Tesla is revealed to have been transformed into a semi-vampireVampireVampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
as a result of being injected with vampire blood. He appears to be one of the primary antagonists of the series' first season, but becomes more friendly later on. He is played by actor Jonathon Young.
- In Funny Or DieFunny or DieFunny or Die is a comedy video website founded by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's production company, Gary Sanchez Productions with original and user-generated content. Funny or Die contains exclusive material from a number of famous contributors and also has its own Funny or Die Team, which creates...
's HBO series, in a segment called "Drunk History" Duncan Trussell while intoxicated tells a story of Nikola Tesla's life and his encounters with Thomas Edison. Tesla is portrayed in the reenactment by John C. ReillyJohn C. ReillyJohn Christopher Reilly, Jr. is an American film and theater actor, singer, and comedian. Debuting in Casualties of War in 1989, he is one of several actors whose careers were launched by Brian De Palma. To date, he has appeared in more than fifty films, including three separate films in 2002...
while Thomas Edison is portrayed by Crispin GloverCrispin GloverCrispin Hellion Glover is an American film actor, director and screenwriter, recording artist, publisher, and author. Glover is known for portraying eccentric people on screen such as George McFly in Back to the Future, Layne in River's Edge, unfriendly recluse Rubin Farr in Rubin and Ed, the...
.
- On Season 15 Episode 9 of Family GuyFamily GuyFamily Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
Nikola Tesla was portrayed in cartoon form along with Thomas Edison. Peter made a reference to "bum deal(s)", which led to a cutscene where a man determines that Edison's light bulb will be used "to power the world," while Tesla's Tesla CoilTesla coilA Tesla coil is a type of resonant transformer circuit invented by Nikola Tesla around 1891. It is used to produce high voltage, low current, high frequency alternating current electricity. Tesla coils produce higher current than the other source of high voltage discharges, electrostatic machines...
will be used "in the background of Frankenstein movies."
Allusions
- An amusement park is named after Nikola Tesla in the Saturday morning cartoon series The WeekendersThe WeekendersThe Weekenders is a Disney animated series about the weekend life of four diverse 7th graders: Tino Tonitini, Lorraine McQuarrie, Carver Descartes, and Petratishkovna Katsufrakis, voiced by veteran cartoon voice-actors: Jason Marsden, Grey DeLisle, Phil LaMarr, and Kath Soucie, respectively...
, when it briefly mentions the debate over credit for inventing radioRadioRadio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
.
- On the NBCNBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
series Studio 60 on the Sunset StripStudio 60 on the Sunset StripStudio 60 on the Sunset Strip was an American dramedy television series created and written by Aaron Sorkin. It ran for 22 episodes.The series takes place behind the scenes of a live sketch comedy show on the fictional television network NBS , whose format is similar to that of NBC's...
(2006), Matt AlbieMatt AlbieMatthew Albie is a fictional character on the U.S. TV series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, played by Matthew Perry.-Personal history:Matt began working at Studio 60 in 1997, but remained largely anonymous until 1999, when Harriet Hayes joined the cast...
and Danny TrippDanny TrippDaniel Tripp is a fictional character on the US television series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, played by Bradley Whitford.-Personal history:Danny Tripp was educated at Northwestern University...
plan to make a film about the life of Nikola Tesla. However, they are unable to make the movie because Danny tests positive for cocaineCocaineCocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
and could not clear the insuranceInsuranceIn law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
.
- On the series HouseHouse (TV series)House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
Season 4, Episode 2: "Tesla was robbed" is written on the board.
- The background of the character Janos Bartok in the TV series LegendLegend (TV series)Legend was a science fiction Western television show that ran on UPN from April 18, 1995 until August 22, 1995, with one final re-airing of the pilot on July 3, 1996. It was Richard Dean Anderson's first major role after the successful MacGyver series, and also starred John de Lancie, best known...
was heavily inspired by Tesla. The picture of Tesla sitting and reading underneath the Magnifying Transmitter was portrayed in the first episode.
- A cartoon version of Tesla is alluded to in the Astrobase Go/Adult Swim cartoon The Venture Bros.The Venture Bros.The Venture Bros. is an American animated television series that premiered on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim on February 16, 2003. The series mixes action and comedy together while it chronicles the adventures of the Venture family: well-meaning but incompetent teenagers Hank and Dean Venture; their...
, in an episode titled "ORB". In this depiction, Tesla and the Avon Ladies attack the zeppelinZeppelinA Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
of "The Guild" carrying Mark TwainMark TwainSamuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
, Eugen SandowEugen SandowEugen Sandow , born Friedrich Wilhelm Müller, was a Prussian pioneering bodybuilder in the 19th century and is often referred to as the "Father of Modern Bodybuilding".-Early life:...
, Oscar WildeOscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
, and Aleister CrowleyAleister CrowleyAleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
. The Guild is depicted as the precursor of the show's antagonist group, the Guild of Calamitous Intent. Tesla uses in the attack a lighting gun, the "peace ray" that Tesla talked about making later in his life.
- On the series EurekaEureka (TV series)Eureka is an American science fiction television series that premiered on Syfy on July 18, 2006. Since then four seasons have aired, and a fifth is currently being filmed. The second half of season 4 began on SyFy on July 11, 2011 and ended on September 19, 2011...
, Eureka's community school is called the Tesla School. The school's athletic team name is "The Coils".
- In Warehouse 13Warehouse 13Warehouse 13 is an American fantasy television series that premiered on July 7, 2009 on the Syfy network.Executive-produced by Jack Kenny and David Simkins, the dramatic comedy from Universal Media Studios has been described as borrowing much from 1980s television series Friday the 13th: The...
, the characters use a prototype stun-gun said to have been invented by Tesla. Also, much of the electric and steam-punk designs throughout the warehouse have been credited to Tesla.
- Nikola Tesla is a starting point and an inspiration in experimental animated interactive documentary Mechanical Figures by Helena BulajaHelena BulajaHelena Bulaja is a Croatian multimedia artist, film director, scriptwriter, designer and film producer.- Career:Helena Bulaja was born in Split, Croatia. She was educated in art history and comparative literature at the Faculty of Philosophy in Zagreb....
. The film presents technological and social development initiated by some of major Tesla’s inventions, from alternating currentAlternating currentIn alternating current the movement of electric charge periodically reverses direction. In direct current , the flow of electric charge is only in one direction....
to radioRadioRadio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
, and includes interviews with some of the well known artists, scientists and writers who were inspired by Tesla in their work, such as Laurie AndersonLaurie AndersonLaura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson is an American experimental performance artist, composer and musician who plays violin and keyboards and sings in a variety of experimental music and art rock styles. Initially trained as a sculptor, Anderson did her first performance-art piece in the late 1960s...
, Terry GilliamTerry GilliamTerrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam is an American-born British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam is also known for directing several films, including Brazil , The Adventures of Baron Munchausen , The Fisher King , and 12 Monkeys...
, Marina AbramovicMarina AbramovicMarina Abramović is a Belgrade-born New York-based Serbian performance artist who began her career in the early 1970s. Active for over three decades, she has recently begun to describe herself as the “grandmother of performance art.” Abramović's work explores the relationship between performer and...
, Andy SerkisAndy SerkisAndrew Clement G. "Andy" Serkis is an English actor, director and author. He is popularly known for playing Gollum in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, for which he earned several award nominations, including the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Two Towers...
, Douglas RushkoffDouglas RushkoffDouglas Rushkoff is an American media theorist, writer, columnist, lecturer, graphic novelist and documentarian. He is best known for his association with the early cyberpunk culture, and his advocacy of open source solutions to social problems.Rushkoff is most frequently regarded as a media...
, and Christopher Priest, who share their ideas and thoughts about Tesla and creativity.
- On the Fox TV show FringeFringe (TV series)Fringe is an American science fiction television series created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The series follows a Federal Bureau of Investigation "Fringe Division" team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security...
, the character of Doctor Walter BishopWalter Bishop (Fringe)Walter Bishop, Ph.D. is a fictional character on the Fox television series Fringe. He is portrayed by John Noble. Noble also plays Walter's counterpart in the show's parallel universe, who is referred to in the show as Walternate.-Arc:...
is a modern day genius. One of his heroes is Nikola Tesla.
Allusions
- In the broadcast radio series Ruby the Galactic GumshoeRuby the Galactic GumshoeRuby the Galactic Gumshoe is the titular character of a radio drama series by the ZBS Foundation, written by Thomas Lopez. The first series, Ruby: Adventures of A Galactic Gumshoe was created in 1982, and the eighth and most recent was copyrighted 2009...
, by the ZBS FoundationZBS FoundationZBS Foundation, a small non-profit audio production company, was founded by Thomas Lopez in 1970 with a grant from Robert E. Durand as a working commune based on a donated farm in Upstate New York...
, Nikola Tesla is hailed as the patron saintPatron saintA patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
of the Digital Circus.
- In episode #11 ("Die Hindenburg") of the German radio play series Offenbarung 23, which deals with conspiracy theories, Tesla, the circumstances of his death and his work with "death ray" weapons play a role.
- The Firesign Theatre includes Nikola Tesla in a list of extinct species and lost things in one of their radio sketches on Dear Friends.
Allusions
- Laurie AndersonLaurie AndersonLaura Phillips "Laurie" Anderson is an American experimental performance artist, composer and musician who plays violin and keyboards and sings in a variety of experimental music and art rock styles. Initially trained as a sculptor, Anderson did her first performance-art piece in the late 1960s...
makes several references to Tesla in her works, particularly on United States LiveUnited States LiveUnited States Live was the third album release by avant-garde singer-songwriter Laurie Anderson. Released as a 5-record boxed set , the album was recorded at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York City in February 1983.United States was Anderson's magnum opus performance-art piece featuring...
I-IV (19831983 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1983.-January-April:*January – ZTT Records is founded.*January 8 – The UK singles chart is tabulated from this week forward by The Gallup Organization...
).
- Orchestral Manoeuvres in the DarkOrchestral Manoeuvres in the DarkOrchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark are a synthpop group whose founding members are originally from the Wirral Peninsula, England...
included a song titled "Tesla GirlsTesla Girls"Tesla Girls" is a song by British band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark released as the third single taken from their 1984 album, Junk Culture .The single performed poorer than expected mainly due to a lack of media coverage...
" on their album Junk CultureJunk Culture (album)Junk Culture is the fifth album by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, released in 1984. It is most noteworthy for being the last OMD album to receive acclaim in the UK.The cover artwork was designed by Peter Saville....
(19841984 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1984.-Janury-March:*January 21 – "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood reaches number one in the UK singles chart, despite being banned by the BBC; it spends a total of forty-two weeks in the Top 40.*January 27 – Michael Jackson's...
).
- The rock band TeslaTesla (band)Tesla is an American hard rock band formed in Sacramento, California in 1984. They have sold 14 million albums in the United States.-Formation and Mechanical Resonance :...
is named after him. They have referenced his life and works a number of times, such as in their debut album Mechanical ResonanceMechanical ResonanceMechanical Resonance is the debut album by the American rock band Tesla. It was released in 1986. The album was certified platinum by RIAA on October 5, 1989.- Track listing :...
(19861986 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1986.-January-June:*January 23 – The first induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame takes place...
), their second album The Great Radio ControversyThe Great Radio ControversyThe Great Radio Controversy is the second album by American rock band Tesla, released in 1989. The songs combine 1980s metal with some blues-influenced elements, as well as the occasional love ballad...
(19891989 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1989.-Events:*January 14 – Paul McCartney releases Снова в СССР exclusively in the USSR...
) and the song "Edison's Medicine" (and accompanying music video), from their 19911991 in musicSee also:* 1991 in music Record labels established in 1991-Summary:The year 1991 is the year that grunge music made its popular breakthrough. Nirvana's Nevermind, led by the surprise hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit", becomes the most popular U.S. album of the year...
album Psychotic SupperPsychotic SupperPsychotic Supper is the third studio album from the rock band Tesla. It was reissued outside the US in 2000 with 3 bonus tracks. The album was certified platinum by RIAA on November 5th, 1993.-Track listing:...
- Guitar group Acoustic AlchemyAcoustic AlchemyAcoustic Alchemy is an English contemporary instrumental and smooth jazz band formed in England in the early 1980s , originally fronted by acoustic guitarists Nick Webb and Simon James...
's 19981998 in musicThis is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1998.-Events:*January 28 – "Weird Al" Yankovic gets LASIK surgery to cure his myopia...
album Positive Thinking... uses a colored version of the photograph of the “Magnifying Transmitter” taken at Tesla’s Colorado Springs laboratory c1900 for the album cover.
- "Tesla" is the title of the last album the polish band Silver RocketSilver Rocket"Silver Rocket" was the second single from Sonic Youth's 1988 album, Daydream Nation. It was ranked #79 in Rolling Stones "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time"....
, whose main theme is the inclusion of an underrated scientist's genius (2008).
- Recent performances of "National Grid" and "Circuit Blasting" by Disinformation vs Strange Attractor - see Disinformation (art and music project), use small Tesla coils as live performance tools (aka "instruments") for sound art and electronic music. Earlier versions of "National Grid" by Disinformation (solo) use amplified VLF radio noise from AC electricity and line-outputs from AC mains transformers as the basis of sound-art installations and live music performances.
- Joy ElectricJoy ElectricJoy Electric is the brand label for a series of electropop/synth pop productions by Ronnie Martin. Martin began producing music under the Joy Electric name in 1994, after the demise of Dance House Children, a band Ronnie was in with his brother Jason Martin of Starflyer 59. Starflyer 59 bass player...
's 20042004 in musicSee also:* 2004 in music Record labels established in 2004-January:*January 1**The Vienna New Year's Concert is conducted by Riccardo Muti.**Kurt Nilsen wins World Idol....
album Hello, MannequinHello, MannequinHello, Mannequin is the seventh album released by Joy Electric.Hello, Mannequin is the third release in the Legacy series and was created using the Roland System 100 synthesizer...
contains a song that shares Tesla's name, in which singer Ronnie MartinRonnie MartinRonnie Martin is an American musician best known as the sole member of the synth-pop outfit Joy Electric, one of the few remaining major bands to model its music after classic electro-pop...
laments, "Genius, scientist, inventor / Penniless at death, yet ignored / Nikola Tesla / Who remembers?".
- The Handsome FamilyThe Handsome FamilyThe Handsome Family is an alternative country band, formed in Chicago, Illinois.-History:The band was formed in 1993 by husband-and-wife duo Brett Sparks and Rennie Sparks and drummer Mike Werner, although the band would later revolve around Rennie, who writes the lyrics, and Brett, who writes...
features Tesla in the song "Tesla's Hotel Room". The song is featured on the album Last Days of Wonder.
- The White StripesThe White StripesThe White Stripes was an American rock band, formed in 1997 in Detroit, Michigan. The group consisted of the songwriter Jack White and drummer Meg White . Jack and Meg White were previously married to each other, but are now divorced...
song "Astro" mentions Tesla in the line "Maybe Tesla does the Astro".
- The Human AbstractThe Human AbstractThe Human Abstract is an American progressive metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 2004, the group was originally signed to the independent label Hopeless Records, the band then released the two albums Nocturne and Midheaven before signing to E1 Music and releasing Digital Veil...
released the album "Midheaven (album)Midheaven (album)Midheaven is The Human Abstract's second full-length release on Hopeless Records. It was released on August 19, 2008. The album was originally recorded with producer Toby Wright, however the band has "wiped off all credits" of his effort. The record was later re-worked and finished by Leonard...
" which includes songs referring to Tesla and his struggles.
- Grindcore band Discordance AxisDiscordance AxisDiscordance Axis was a grindcore band from East Brunswick, New Jersey.-Biography:Frontman Jon Chang on the history of the band:"Discordance Axis was a three piece grind core band that started in NJ around 1992. The band started after myself and Rob's previous band disintegrated and we found Da5e at...
have a song on their Jouhou album titled "Nikola Tesla".
- Punk band Disarm reference Tesla in the song "Sirens & Machines" in the line, "Hey baby what's your malfunction? I got my body from Nikola Tesla".
- Hard 'n PhirmHard 'n PhirmHard 'n Phirm is a comedy/parody musical duo based in Los Angeles. The members are Chris Hardwick and Mike Phirman. They began performing at UCLA in 1994, but broke up, only to reform 7 years later. After the huge success of their song "Rodeohead" , they released their first and only album to...
's song "Trace Elements" includes the line "Tesla's coil thangs".
- The rock band PiebaldPiebald (band)Piebald is an American alternative rock band. Piebald started as a hardcore band in Andover, Massachusetts, out of the same scene that produced legends Converge. They later moved to the Boston suburb of Somerville and became a staple of the Greater Boston indie rock scene. Two members still live in...
refer to him in their song "A Friend of Mine".
- The CD “Balkan Routes Vol. 01: Nikola Tesla”(released 2008), is a collection of 15 songs with a contemporary Balkan sound dedicated to Nikola Tesla. The Serbian composer-singer Zeljko JoksimovicŽeljko JoksimovicŽeljko Joksimović or often credited Zeljko Joksimovic is a popular Serbian singer, songwriter and producer. He is also well known in Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, Germany, Austria and other European countries...
wrote the music for Nikola Tesla (instrumental), vocals by Jelena TomasevicJelena TomaševicJelena Tomašević is a Serbian pop singer famed for her strong vocal performances. She has won numerous awards for her songs and represented Serbia at 2008 Eurovision Song Contest, coming sixth with the song "Oro".- Music career :Jelena started her way to stardom at the young age of 8 when she won...
.
- Dr. Steel, a musician with a Mad ScientistMad scientistA mad scientist is a stock character of popular fiction, specifically science fiction. The mad scientist may be villainous or antagonistic, benign or neutral, and whether insane, eccentric, or simply bumbling, mad scientists often work with fictional technology in order to forward their schemes, if...
motif, gives Nikola Tesla a special thanks in the credits of his "Dr. Steel Show".
- Russian synthpop band Tesla BoyTesla BoyTesla Boy is a Russian synthpop / new wave band formed by Anton Sevidov, Dima Midborn and Poko Cox in late 2008.-History:The band's name is taken from the title of a song written by Anton and Dima during the beginning of their collaboration about a boy who could conduct electricity but could not...
, is named after Tesla.
- The album Electric and Benevolent by The ExtraordinairesThe ExtraordinairesThe Extraordinaires are a five piece American indie rock band hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Originally formed by Jay Purdy and Matt Gibson in 2004, the group, which releases its albums in books bound in Masonite, is known for its use of storytelling within songs.Their latest album,...
is loosely based on the life and achievements of Tesla.
- Rapper Jay ElectronicaJay ElectronicaTimothy Elpadaro Thedford , better known by his stage name Jay Electronica, is an American hip hop recording artist and record producer...
has used a picture of Tesla with the Tesla Coil in his Colorado Springs Laboratory for both of his official iTunes releases Exhibit A (Transformations)Exhibit A (Transformations)"Exhibit A " is a single by Jay Electronica recorded in 2008 and released on iTunes on June 23, 2009. The song is featured on the soundtrack to EA Sports Fight Night Round 4....
and Exhibit CExhibit C"Exhibit C" is a single by American rap artist Jay Electronica released to iTunes on December 22, 2009, as an EP with explicit, clean and instrumental versions.-Background:...
. Jay Electronica has also been known to reference Tesla in his songs, even doing so in the previously mentioned release Exhibit C.
- The Abney ParkAbney Park (band)Abney Park is a band based in Seattle that mixes elements of industrial dance, world music, and steampunk influenced lyrics in their work. Their name comes from Abney Park Cemetery in London...
song "The Secret Life of Dr. Calgori" includes the lines "Test tubes and Tesla coils" and "Played poker with ThereminLéon ThereminLéon Theremin was a Russian and Soviet inventor. He is most famous for his invention of the theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments. He is also the inventor of interlace, a technique of improving the picture quality of a video signal, widely used in video and television technology...
, Tesla, and PoeEdgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
."
- In 2011, musicians Amanda PalmerAmanda PalmerAmanda MacKinnon Gaiman Palmer , sometimes known as Amanda Fucking Palmer, is an American performer who first rose to prominence as the lead singer, pianist, and lyricist/composer of the duo The Dresden Dolls...
, Ben FoldsBen FoldsBenjamin Scott "Ben" Folds is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and television personality. From 1995-2000, Folds was the frontman and pianist of the alternative rock band Ben Folds Five. Since the group disbanded, Folds has performed as a solo artist and has toured all over the world...
, and OK GoOK GoOK Go is a rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois, USA, now residing in Los Angeles, California, USA. The band is composed of Damian Kulash , Tim Nordwind , Dan Konopka and Andy Ross , who joined them in 2005, replacing Andy Duncan...
's Damian KulashDamian KulashDamian Joseph Kulash Jr. is the lead singer and guitarist for Chicago-based rock band OK Go.-Early life:Born in Washington D.C., USA, Kulash graduated from St. Albans School in 1994, and later Brown University in 1998 with a concentration in Art-Semiotics. The family name was originally "Kulas"...
teamed up with author Neil GaimanNeil GaimanNeil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
to write and record eight songs in eight hours. The album Nighty Night was released with the resulting musical works, including a song titled "Nikola Tesla".
- In September 2011, the Israeli rock musician Rami FortisRami FortisRami Fortis , often Fortis, is an Israeli rock singer.-Biography:Rami Fortis is of Iraqi and Italian origin. He served in the 1973 Yom Kippur war and was influenced by his experiences at the front. He began his musical career in 1975 as a lighting-man in the shows of Tamuz - one of Israel's...
released the concept album Ha'Haver Ani (The Friend Me), inspired by Tesla.
- Post-Industrial group Electric Caves has cited Tesla as a major influence in their work. Their 2011 album Solace Furnace Transformation features the song Who Knocked Down Tesla's Towers? and he is featured in their video Unified Field.
Video games
Tesla's proposal of teleforceTeleforce
Teleforce was Nikola Tesla's charged particle beam projector, first mentioned publicly in the New York Sun and New York Times on July 11, 1934.-Introduction:...
weapons and the destructive possibilities of massive electric arcs created by tesla coils have inspired many video game designers to create Tesla weapons and armors.
Appearances
- In the Command & ConquerCommand & ConquerCommand & Conquer, abbreviated to C&C and also known as Tiberian Dawn, is a 1995 real-time strategy computer game developed by Westwood Studios for MS-DOS and published by Virgin Interactive. It was the first of twelve games to date to be released under the Command & Conquer label, including a...
Red AlertCommand & Conquer: Red AlertCommand & Conquer: Red Alert is a real-time strategy computer game of the Command & Conquer franchise, produced by Westwood Studios and released by Virgin Interactive in...
series of video games, Nikola Tesla is a scientist working for the USSR, and "Tesla" is the name of the technology the Soviets use to generate power and for their lightning-based weapons. Perhaps the most widely known example is the Tesla CoilTesla coilA Tesla coil is a type of resonant transformer circuit invented by Nikola Tesla around 1891. It is used to produce high voltage, low current, high frequency alternating current electricity. Tesla coils produce higher current than the other source of high voltage discharges, electrostatic machines...
defense structure, capable of sending short electric arcs towards oncoming units, also in their arsenal are Tesla troopers, who carry portable tesla coil based weaponry and tesla tanks, which have a large glowing blue sphere that ejects great bolts of electricity (Red Alert 2 version is a small tracked vehicle with a pair of forward-facing,miniature Tesla coils mounted on a turret).
- Nikola Tesla is also one of the characters in the game Martian DreamsMartian DreamsUltima: Worlds of Adventure 2: Martian Dreams is a computer RPG set in the Ultima series, published in 1991. It uses the same engine as Ultima VI, as did the first Worlds of Ultima game, The Savage Empire....
, by OriginOrigin SystemsOrigin Systems, Inc. was a computer game developer based in Austin, Texas that was active from 1983 to 2004...
, which is part of the Worlds of UltimaWorlds of UltimaThe Worlds of Ultima series was a short lived spin-off of the well-known Ultima series of computer role-playing games.-Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire :...
series.
- Tesla is one of the main characters in the game "Darkvoid", where he is kept in an alternate universe, like a 'skin' between universes, to which one can travel through the Bermuda TriangleBermuda TriangleThe Bermuda Triangle, also known as the Devil's Triangle, is a region in the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean where a number of aircraft and surface vessels allegedly disappeared under mysterious circumstances....
. He uses his great intelligence to create a huge spaceshipSpaceshipSpaceship can refer to:* Another name for a spacecraft* An Unidentified flr5tyqertaerying object * "Spaceship", a song by Puddle of Mudd from their album Vol...
called the Ark, kept in another, tropical, Earth-like universe called the Void. The Ark can be used by others stranded in the alternate universe to defeat the post-singularity robotic AI that manifests itself in anthropomorphic robots, similar to those in the move I, Robot. After defeating the robotic menace, Tesla and the other protagonists return to the 'skin' universe, where Tesla stays to keep his youth and his inventions.
Allusions
- In World of Warcraft, two Tesla Coils are used to power Thaddius, an abomination.
- In Assassin's Creed 2, images and quotes from Nikola Tesla are hidden in the files left in the Animus by Subject 16. They insinuate that he used a "Piece of Eden" (powerful artifacts in the Assassin's Creed conspiracy-inspired mythology) to create his inventions. There is also an enciphered message in one image that reads "He used it to develop a bottomless source of energy, TelefunkenTelefunkenTelefunken is a German radio and television apparatus company, founded in Berlin in 1903, as a joint venture of Siemens & Halske and the Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft...
wireless station."
- The Tesla Gun in the computer game Return to Castle WolfensteinReturn to Castle WolfensteinReturn to Castle Wolfenstein is a first person shooter video game published by Activision and originally released on November 19, 2001 for Microsoft Windows. It was made available on Steam on August 3, 2007. The single player game was developed by Gray Matter Interactive and Nerve Software...
is a weapon that projects lightning-like electrical arcs, as part of the secret Nazi-Germany weapons that the main character finds through the game. The gun returns in the newest installment to the franchise, Wolfenstein, where it can be picked up in the "Hospital" level.
- The Tesla Cannon in the computer game BloodBlood (computer game)Blood is a PC game developed by 3D Realms and Monolith Productions and distributed by GT Interactive. Development was underway at 3D Realms in parallel with a number of other well-known titles. Following the success of Duke Nukem 3D, development progress was made public starting in June 1996 with...
and its sequel Blood II: The ChosenBlood II: The ChosenBlood II: The Chosen is a first-person shooter computer game developed by Monolith Productions and distributed by GT Interactive, which was later purchased by Infogrames. Released on October 31, 1998, it featured Monolith's new fully 3D engine Lithtech, which was previously used in Shogo: Mobile...
; it fires bursts of electrical energy, and can also be charged to release a devastating lightning blast.
- Quake IIQuake IIQuake II, released on December 9, 1997, is a first-person shooter computer game developed by Id Software and distributed by Activision. It is not a sequel to Quake; it merely uses the name of the former game due to Id's difficulties in coming up with alternative names.The soundtrack for Quake II...
Mission Pack: Ground Zero has landmines called Tesla that can be set on the ground, and enemies nearby get attacked by electric discharges.
- Three weapons in the Ratchet & ClankRatchet & ClankRatchet & Clank is a 3D platformer/shooter video game for the PlayStation 2, developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Released in 2002, it is the first game in the Ratchet & Clank series....
video game series, the Tesla Claw, Tesla Spikes, and Tesla Barrier (the upgraded version of the Shield Charger), use electricity discharges to attack enemies.
- In Tomb Raider: Legend, Lara CroftLara CroftLara Croft is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Square Enix video game series Tomb Raider. She is presented as a beautiful, intelligent, and athletic British archaeologist-adventurer who ventures into ancient, hazardous tombs and ruins around the world...
has to investigate a research facility in KazakhstanKazakhstanKazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
in order to uncover an ancient artifact which is powering the plant's main weapons array. The technology is supposedly based on Tesla's work.
- Nikola Tesla is mentioned in several accounts throughout the world of Crimson SkiesCrimson SkiesCrimson Skies is a media franchise and fictional universe created by Jordan Weisman and Dave McCoy. The series' intellectual property is currently owned by Microsoft Game Studios , although Weisman's new company, Smith & Tinker Inc., has announced that it has licensed the electronic entertainment...
.
- In the Destroy All Humans series, Tesla coils are used to shoot waves of electricity that disrupts the player's powers.
- In the popular Massive Multi-player Online Roleplaying Game (MMORPGMMORPGMassively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
) City of HeroesCity of HeroesCity of Heroes is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the superhero comic book genre, developed by Cryptic Studios and published by NCsoft. The game was launched in North America on April 27, 2004 and in Europe on February 4, 2005 with English, German and French language...
, the hero class Blaster has an ability under its power set "Electrical Blast" called Tesla Cage, in which the player creates a cage of electricity to surround an enemy and shock him.
- The historical background of the Fallout series of computer games is based around Tesla's inventions all working as expected and his physical theories were correct. Tesla Armor has high resistance to laser and plasma weapons. Also, there is a book within the game entitled Nikola Tesla and You, which raises the player's Energy Weapons skill. In "Fallout 3Fallout 3Fallout 3 is an action role-playing game released by Bethesda Game Studios, and the third major installment in the Fallout series. The game was released in North America, Europe and Australia in October 2008, and in Japan in December 2008 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360...
" Tesla armor is some of the strongest armor in the game and is designed with Tesla Coils and a field of electricity around the character.
- The Fallout 3Fallout 3Fallout 3 is an action role-playing game released by Bethesda Game Studios, and the third major installment in the Fallout series. The game was released in North America, Europe and Australia in October 2008, and in Japan in December 2008 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360...
downloadable content Broken Steel features a weapon called the Tesla Cannon. Building the cannon requires you to find a Tesla Coil in an old power station. The game also features Tesla Armor, a special type of powered armor that increases damage done with energy weapons. Additionally, one of the load screens is a poster for "Nikola Tesla and You," which is an in-game skill book which raises your proficiency with energy weapons.
- In Fallout: New VegasFallout: New VegasFallout: New Vegas is a first person action role-playing video game in the Fallout series developed by Obsidian Entertainment, and published by Bethesda Softworks. The game is based in a post-apocalyptic environment in and around Las Vegas, Nevada...
, the Tesla Cannon's unique variation, the Tesla-Beaton prototype, refers to Tesla and Kate BeatonKate BeatonKate Beaton is a Canadian webcomic artist. Originally from Mabou, Cape Breton, she has a degree in history and anthropology from Mount Allison University. She began drawing comics for the university newspaper, the Argosy, during her third and fourth years at school. Previously she worked in the...
, who has featured Tesla in her webcomic, Hark! A Vagrant.
- The Tesla Coil in the game "Goblin Commander: Unleash the HordeGoblin Commander: Unleash the HordeGoblin Commander: Unleash the Horde is a 2003 real-time strategy video game developed and published by Jaleco for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube consoles...
" shoots lightning bolts at approaching enemies.
- In the MMORPG Asheron's CallAsheron's CallAsheron's Call is a fantasy MMORPG for Microsoft Windows-based PCs developed and published by Turbine Entertainment. It was published by Microsoft until 2004. Asheron's Call is set on the continent of Dereth and its surrounding islands on the fictional planet of Auberean...
the most powerful lightning bolt spell is named "Alset's Coil", which is merely Tesla backwards.
- In the XboxXboxThe Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
game Crimson Skies: High Road to RevengeCrimson Skies: High Road to RevengeCrimson Skies: High Road to Revenge is a first-party video game developed by FASA Studio for the Xbox. The game was later made available for download on the Xbox 360 from the Xbox Live Marketplace. The game, like the earlier Crimson Skies for the PC, is an action-oriented arcade flight game...
, one of the planes is equipped with a Tesla Gun, which shoots an arc of energy at other planes.
- Troika Games' Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick ObscuraArcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick ObscuraArcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura is a single player / multi-player computer role-playing game developed by Troika Games and published by Sierra Entertainment. It was released in North America and Europe in August 2001 for Microsoft Windows...
includes a Tesla Rod as the most technologically-advanced pure electrical weapon achievable in-game, as well as a Tesla Gun.
- In Super Robot Taisen: Original GenerationSuper Robot Taisen: Original Generationis a tactical role-playing game for the Game Boy Advance, developed and published by Banpresto in Japan, and later localized by Atlus in North America....
and Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation 2Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation 2is a tactical role-playing game for the Game Boy Advance. It is the second Super Robot Taisen game that was officially released in North America....
, the Tesla Drive is an enhanced engine which makes personal troopers flight capable.
- In the webgames Strategy Defense 3 and Strategy Defense 4, the Tesla Cannon, Tesla Helicopter, and Tesla Tower are powerful assets that can be purchased.
- The electricity-wielding Tekno character Tesla in the PlayStation game "The Unholy War" is a reference to the scientist as well.
- In the WiiWare game "Gyrostarr" a weapon that can be obtained is called the "Tesla Shot". It appears to be a ball of electricity.
- In the FPS TremulousTremulousTremulous is a free and open source team-based first-person shooter with real-time strategy elements.The game features two opposing teams: humans and aliens. Each team must attack the enemy's base and team members, while defending their own base...
, the Tesla Turret is a human construction which arcs electricity to nearby aliens.
- In the PlayStation 2 game Persona 4, there is an item dubbed the "Tesla Coil" which deals 50 points of Electrical damage to foes.
- In the PSN game PixelJunk MonstersPixelJunk MonstersPixelJunk Monsters is a game developed by Q-Games for the PlayStation 3. It was released worldwide on the PlayStation Store on January 24, 2008...
, one can research and use a "Tesla Tower". This tower emits electrical arcs at nearby, ground-based enemies. This charge can then transfer between adjacent enemies in a wave.
- In the recently released PSN game "Zen PinballZen PinballZen Pinball is a series of pinball machine video games for iOS and the PlayStation 3 developed by Zen Studios. The iOS releases are two separate applications, each containing one table; Zen Pinball: Rollercoaster, released July 7, 2008, and Zen Pinball: Inferno, released October 31, 2010...
", there is a table called 'Tesla', involving experiments which act as the table goals and various features relating to electricity.
- In the game Dark VoidDark VoidDark Void is a video game developed by Airtight Games using the Unreal Engine 3 and published by Capcom for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. In the game players must face an alien threat that humanity had previously banished. The game mixes on-foot and mid-air combat...
, Nikola Tesla builds the jetpack and weapons used by Will.
- In the game BorderlandsBorderlands (video game)Borderlands is a science fiction based first-person shooter with RPG elements that was developed by Gearbox Software for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It was first revealed in the September 2007 issue of Game Informer magazine...
, there is a challenge worth 2000 XP called "Nikola is My Friend" for getting 250 kills with Shock damage.
- In the Kongregate hosted platformer-RPG Remnants of Skystone, there is a character named "Otto Von Tesla", who asks you to do many tasks involving energy minerals.
- In the RPG Final Fantasy XIII, the Tesla Turbine is a component that can be used to upgrade weapons.
- In the tower defense game FieldrunnersFieldrunnersFieldrunners is a tower defense video game developed for several platforms. Originally released on October 1, 2008 as an exclusive iOS title, the game was later ported to Nintendo DSi, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, and mobile phones. It was released on the Android platform in July 2011, on...
, the Tesla Tower shoots electrical arcs at nearby enemies.
- In Guitar Hero: Warriors of RockGuitar Hero: Warriors of RockGuitar Hero: Warriors of Rock is a music video game and the sixth main entry in the Guitar Hero series for the PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 consoles. The game was released September 24, 2010 in Europe, September 28, 2010 in North America and September 29, 2010 in Australia...
, a character named, Echo Tesla, is possibly named after Nikola Tesla. The said character also is a technical person. She turns on a set of her stage that contains some things that appear to be Tesla coils.
- Nikolaj Taslow in ParaWorldParaworldParaWorld is a real-time strategy PC game released on September 25, 2006. It was developed by the German company SEK , based in Berlin. The game features more than 50 prehistoric animals, especially dinosaurs and Pleistocene mammals...
seems to have been based on Tesla.
- In Atom Zombie Smasher, Asa Willingdon's portrait looks very similar to Nikola Tesla
Live theatre and opera
A number of live theatrical plays based on Tesla's life have been produced and staged worldwide.Appearances
- The Canadian theatrical company Electric Company Theatre took its stage production Brilliant! The Blinding Enlightenment of Nikola Tesla on tour first starting in 1996. In August 2007, their production was again listed on their current performance schedule.
- The Austin, TexasAustin, TexasAustin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
based theatrical collective Rude MechanicalsRude Mechanicals (a.k.a. Rude Mechs)Rude Mechanicals is a collaborative theater company operating out of Austin, Texas, USA. Founded in 1995, the company has created 25 original plays and produced another 25 premieres and workshops. Since 1999, they have run a theater space called The Off Center, where they premiere all of their work...
created and then produced Kirk Lynn's Requiem For Tesla in January–February 2001, and then presented again at the Fresh Terrain Festival in February 2003
- Australian Composer Constantine KoukiasConstantine KoukiasConstantine Koukias is a Greek-Australian composer and flautist.He is the co-founder and Artistic Director of IHOS Music Theatre and Opera, based in Hobart, Tasmania. He is well known for his innovative work in contemporary opera and other forms...
wrote his two-act operaOperaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
Tesla - Lightning in His Hand about the life and times of Nikola Tesla. It premiered at the 10 Days on the Island10 Days on the IslandTen Days on the Island is Tasmania’s state-wide biennial multi art-form festival. A unique event in Australia, Ten Days is a celebration of culture in Tasmania. With almost 250 events in 99 venues in over 50 locations, 195,000 Tasmanians and visitors took part in the 2009 event.Ten Days was the...
Festival in Hobart, Tasmania, in 20032003 in music-January:* January – following an investigation by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and London detectives, police raids in England and the Netherlands recover nearly 500 original Beatles studio tapes, recorded during the Let It Be sessions. Five people are arrested...
.
- In 2008 Discovery WorldDiscovery WorldDiscovery World is a museum located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at 500 N. Harbor Drive. When the museum moved to Milwaukee's lakefront in 2006, it changed its name to Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin. It formerly was located at 815 N. James Lovell Street....
, in Milwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
, premiered Tesla Lives!, a theatrical show about the life and work of Tesla. The show features demonstrations of Tesla coils and a recreation of his 1893 presentation at the World's Columbian ExpositionWorld's Columbian ExpositionThe World's Columbian Exposition was a World's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St...
.
- In 2009 at the University of Chicago's University Theatre, Lee August Praley's "The Last Ninety Minutes in the Life of Nikola Tesla" premiered. The play was directed by Phoebe Holtzman
- In 2010, Jim JarmuschJim JarmuschJames R. "Jim" Jarmusch is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor and composer. Jarmusch has been a major proponent of independent cinema, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...
and the composer Phil Klein began preparing a non-traditional opera about Tesla.
- The 2011 opera, Light and Power by American composer Isaac Schankler and librettistLibrettoA libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
Jillian Burcar deals with Tesla's conflicts with Thomas EdisonThomas EdisonThomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
-- specifically, their rivalry over ACAlternating currentIn alternating current the movement of electric charge periodically reverses direction. In direct current , the flow of electric charge is only in one direction....
vs DCDirect currentDirect current is the unidirectional flow of electric charge. Direct current is produced by such sources as batteries, thermocouples, solar cells, and commutator-type electric machines of the dynamo type. Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through...
power.
Allusions
- Duncan PflasterDuncan PflasterDuncan Pflaster is an American Off-Off-Broadway playwright, composer and actor. His first play Wilder and Wilder , was produced in 1995 at Florida Playwrights' Theatre in Hollywood, FL...
's play Sleeping in Tomorrow takes place in several alternative universesParallel universe (fiction)A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
, one of which is a universe where Tesla's ideas were celebrated and implemented.
Other
- Tesla was a recurring minor character in the actual play podcast "Of Steam, Steel and Murder", often giving the player characters assignments.
- In the alternate World War I setting in the board gameBoard gameA board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
TannhäuserTannhäuser (board game)Tannhäuser is a 2007 board wargame from Take On You which takes place in an alternate reality. Each player controls an elite team who are attempting to shift the balance of power in this stalemate between nations...
, Nikola Tesla is a major figure in the Russian Matriarchy faction, where his inventions have not only been used to create deadly weaponry but also harness the power of other worldly forces. - In the Rooster Teeth Short "Conspiracy Weary" episode, Matt, a conspiracy theorist, calls Tesla the greatest inventor and tells of how he invented MP3 and the electric car, and developed a prototype Time Machine.
- There is an annual SteampunkSteampunkSteampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain or "Wild West"-era United...
convention in Madison, WI named Teslacon.
External links
- “To Mars with Tesla; or, the Mystery of Hidden Worlds”, a Science Fiction Tale from 1901, Tesla and the Exploration of Cosmos
- Disinformation "National Grid" performance
- Disinformation interviewed by Carlton TV
- Fantastic Victoriana: T, The 'T' page of the online version of Jess NevinsJess NevinsJohn J. Nevins, MA/MS, is an American author and librarian, born 30 July 1966 and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. He is the author of the World Fantasy Award-nominated Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana , and other works on Victoriana and pulp fiction...
' Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana which contains an entry on Tesla - "Wonder of the Worlds" Book-related site with links to biographical backgrounds of the historical protagonists and themes in the novel.
- "Tesla character in IMDB" Several movies and TV shows where the Tesla character appears.