Tbh I don't care if nobody reads this. This is a great footnote nonetheless.
I realized a VERY interesting Western media characterization. Evil scientist or engineer mole or mole-coded, mole-semblant character is a top tier characterization (at least in my book). It LOOKS quite becoming on a character, something about moles digging under the ground and looking like an expert in something quite hands-on or literal ---
'Tis because moles dig around in the dirt and have very big hands for doing this. This can be taken for a personality being quite capable in building things, but these people and this species are also encapsulated/ encased in darkness.
It's also deeply intriguing to internalize that NONE of these people have superpowers, or supernatural abilities.
The ones who do go above and beyond in what they cause, in their world around them, earned whatever power they command through their sheer hard work.
Now, we all know that glory is earned through getting down, and getting your hands dirty ---
These characters as they appear in my post from first to last:
The Underminer (The Incredibles)
Dr. Jumba Jookiba (Lilo and Stitch)
Professor Moliarty (Darkwing Duck)
Speckles (G-Force)
Gaetan "Mole" Moliére (Atlantis: The Lost Empire)
I want to highlight that ALL of these people are VILLIANS at some point in their franchises. True, the mineralogist from Atlantis was revealed to be an antagonist along with a whole bunch of other people, but my point still stands.
If you want a brief rundown of how these people are antagonists in each of their franchises, it is as follows:
1. The "Underminer" is a throwaway gag as a villain who briefly makes his appearance at the end of the Pixar Incredibles film. It does appear as if he has built the machine, and he also has prosthetics for hands/ forearms, and we can safely assume that these are his doing as well. His goals are taking peace and joy from people (literally his words.)
2. Dr Jumba Jookiba is a very industrious scientist who manipulates life at the genetic level with the intent of ruining life in the universe around him in a vast majority of particular and creative ways. His creation of Stitch is 'unearthed' by the Galactic Federation upon finding out that he has been doing this under their noses the whole time.
3. Professor Moliarty invented a device that would permanently block out the sun in St. Canard, the city where Darkwing Duck resides. Upon activation, the device would block out the sun so that his people to storm the surface and take over the city forever.
4. Speckles, the cyber-intelligence specialist for the G-Force team, an espionage party composed of Guinea pigs. Speckles is basically revealed to be the mastermind villain behind a plot involving global extermination of humanity, which he would facilitate by having space pollution/ debris rain down upon the earth. He somehow amalgamates electronics/ appliances (I think through microchips???) at the climax of the film into a giant robot which he controls.
5. Gaetan Moliére, the mineral scientist of the team of specialists employed on the expedition to find Atlantis. He has developed or invented 62 tools, excavation vehicles, or equipment. He also built the devices which he wears on his head and face. At the end of this Atlantis film, he is revealed to be in on a plot using Milo to locate the giant crystal in Atlantis in order to afterwards sell it on the black market, with the rest of the party he's part of.
What lead to this post was me thinking about Jumba from Lilo and Stitch, and how semblant he is to a giant mole, and quipping;
"Well, he likes to dig around in the proverbial dirt a lot, doesn't he. He makes a mess", but then sensed this isn't the first time that I've seen a scientific or engineering mole person who is also dark or nefarious.
I think the mole connection might have started in peoples' minds as the fact that intellectual or nerdy people have this stereotype of needing glasses and not being particularly fit, and a mole, as an animal, fits those stereotypes as well if it needed to.
Add this to engineering, and the following fictional character becomes easy to make or envision. You see... engineering is manipulation of mostly metal and things like silicon, which are derived from minerals from the earth itself. So, manipulation of machinery can be said to be manipulation of clay and dirt. Moles' hands manipulating dirt!? No SHIT, you might say!
(Folklore tangent, sorry about this, it goes in line with my interpretation of these mole people being engineering types in these pieces of Western media. It's rather interesting, however.)
Actually, Jewish mythos predicted robots. Golems according to Jewish folklore were beings made of clay for particular animate purposes, mainly protection of Jewish communities.
After being molded of clay, they were brought to life by ritual incantations, and sequences of Hebrew letters.
A well known variant of this happening, is a sequence of Hebrew letters is that which was written on a slip of paper to animate the golem.
Once the golem had gotten out of control, the Rabbi who had created it tore apart the paper with the writing on it that allowed the golem to move, and this golem ceased to be animated. So, after the paper with the code on it was ripped up, the creature was destroyed. This is like robots not being able to function without their code.
That's amazing that they predicted it, is it not!!!???
(Absolute end of folklore tangent. The rest of the following has nothing to do with any real type or race of persons.)
For these sneaky characters, there's also a connection to being a "dirty" person and also things that are being hidden below in a situation, or people in the "deep dark underbelly" of a city, so to speak. Moles irl do naturally reside under the ground so "darkness" immediately as a word & impression springs to consciousness.
Things being below the ground is also associated with death, the Underworld, Hades, Hell, ect.
More or less, these characters manifest their visualizations and wills into the world using purely mechanical means from below...
---(ESPECIALLY Jumba, he works from the level of MOLECULES [and YES the words mole and molecule are RELATED] )---
...from the ground up, as extended by the work of their minds and hands. Like I said, they have no personal bodily powers.
Isn't that truly fascinating?
Anyway, what are your thoughts? Do you think there's a connection? Did I reach too far? Were there any mistakes? What do you think?
Power to these mechanic mole people ✊✊✊
Or, in more socially adjusted words, uh... mole scientists and engineers just feel so right. Ahem, evil mole scientists. And engineers.
