#madscientist

A. Merritt's Fantasy Magazine / October 1950

1. Harley Sawyer (The Doctor / Experiment 1354) – Purest, Most Sadistic Evil

Harley Sawyer stands alone at the top as the most evil figure. He is a cold, remorseless genius who delights in the science of turning living children and employees into tormented, immortal toy monsters. His experiments involve grotesque surgeries, psychological conditioning, and treating human suffering as mere data. He shows zero empathy, manipulates everyone (including his own “allies”), and continues his work even after being reduced to a brain in a jar. His actions are not driven by profit or ideology but by a god-complex pursuit of immortality and biological alteration. Even other villains like Leith Pierre despise him.

2. Leith Pierre – Greedy, Sadistic Corporate Monster

Leith is the ruthless corporate engine behind the worst excesses. As Head of Innovation and eventual company leader, he greenlit the Bigger Bodies Initiative, funded the mass kidnapping and experimentation on orphans, ordered cover-ups (including murders), and created the prison system (The Shelf). He is a blatant Hate Sink: condescending, greedy, hypocritical, and personally sadistic (he makes mocking “death trap” tapes purely for his own amusement). He treats employees as disposable and children as resources. His only “standards” are pragmatic (keeping Sawyer alive because he’s useful). He bears enormous responsibility for turning Playtime Co. into a full-blown factory of horrors.

3. Eddie Ritterman – Cold, Calculating Enabler

As Head of Research (and the man who consolidated power after Sawyer’s jarring), Eddie is a pragmatic, empathy-lacking executive who pushes for eliminating problems (suggesting they “make Sawyer disappear”), builds the secret prison, threatens contractors, and oversees the brutal salvage of failed experiments. He is less personally sadistic than Pierre or Sawyer but more coldly efficient in covering up and expanding the atrocities. His survival of the Hour of Joy and continued operations (possibly with Tokyo connections) make him a lingering threat.

4. The Prototype (Experiment 1006 / Oliver Ludwig) – Vengeful Architect of Massacre

The Prototype is extremely evil in execution but slightly less “foundational” than the humans who created the system. He orchestrated or enabled the Hour of Joy — the indiscriminate slaughter of hundreds of employees (many innocent or unaware). He manipulates everyone, including remorseful staff like Preston Willard, sacrifices his own “allies” (CatNap), and builds a nightmarish post-massacre hierarchy. His goal appears to be total dominance and revenge, mixed with a twisted “family” reunion plan from his origins as Elliot’s son. He is a monster by design, but one the company deliberately fostered.

5. Stella Greyber – Well-Intentioned but Complicit Extremist

Stella starts as the closest thing to a “good” executive (she genuinely loves children and breaks down crying over the experiments), but she slowly slips into full complicity. As Head of Playcare, she helps condition and gaslight orphans, supports the Bigger Bodies Initiative for “the greater good” (immortality to help humanity), and participates in propaganda and emotional abuse of children. Her hypocrisy and gradual corruption make her deeply culpable, even if she has more internal conflict than Pierre or Eddie.

6. Other Corrupt Executives & Scientists (Bruno White, Jessica Newman, Scientist #4, etc.)

Bruno White: Sadistic enabler who personally jarred Sawyer and chose orphans with false hope of adoption. Fake kindness masking cruelty.

Jessica “Nan” Newman: Conditioned children into forgetting their identities; raised in Playcare and fully indoctrinated. Shows some late fear but never true remorse.

Scientist #4 and similar staff: Actively performed the surgeries and brainwashing while hiding behind “For Science!” rhetoric. Many showed callous disregard for suffering.

These people formed the day-to-day machinery of torture and cover-ups.

7. The Playtime Co. Company as a Whole (Systemic Evil)

The corporation itself — with its Arbitrarily Large Bank Account, bribes to police, secret labs, prison, orphanage facade, and willingness to kidnap, experiment on, and disappear hundreds of children and employees — is monstrous. It created the entire ecosystem of evil. However, as an entity, it ranks below specific architects because it was enabled by individuals. The “Crapsaccharine” facade and “Utopia Justifies the Means” philosophy (immortality for humanity) masked industrial-scale child torture.

8. Lower-Level Staff & Guards (Mixed / Pragmatic Evil)

Most guards at The Shelf: Brutal, forced gladiatorial fights, treated experiments as slaves or animals. Many were deliberately kept ignorant that the toys were once human.

Resource Extraction Specialists / Clean-up crews: Participated in cover-ups after incidents like the Theater Incident.

Regular employees (e.g., Marcas Brickley, Rich Lovitz, Sharon): Varied from oblivious to mildly complicit. Some were assholes or cowards, but many were just trying to survive a toxic workplace. Many became victims themselves.

Exceptions like Stanley (the kind guard who tried to show compassion) or Rowan Stoll (who tried to expose the company and got eaten) show not everyone was equally evil.

9. Elliot Ludwig – Tragic Instigator / Well-Intentioned Extremist

The founder is the least “evil” of the major villains in intent. He started with genuine love for children and a desire to bring joy. His personal tragedy (losing family, especially his daughter turned into Poppy) drove him to early secret experiments on resurrection/immortality. He kept research hidden to prevent abuse and reportedly saw science as a way to benefit humanity. However, his work directly inspired the Bigger Bodies Initiative, and he turned his own children into experiments. His naivety and secrecy enabled far worse people (Leith, Sawyer) to hijack everything. He is more a fallen idealist than a deliberate monster.

10. The Player (Ex-Employee / Poppy’s Angel) & Survivors – Ambiguously Good / Redeemers

The protagonist is the least evil (and often heroic) figure. They return seeking answers, show survivor’s guilt, fight the monsters, and try to stop the Prototype. While they may have been a low-level employee with some inkling of wrongdoing (and possible bystander guilt), they never participated in the experiments. Their actions are survival-driven pragmatism mixed with atonement. Project Playtime survivors are similar — ordinary people just trying to escape with their lives.

Summary of the Hierarchy (Worst to Least Evil)

Harley Sawyer

Leith Pierre

Eddie Ritterman

The Prototype

Stella Greyber

Active Mad Scientists & Conditioners (White, Newman, #4, etc.)

Playtime Co. Corporate System

Brutal Guards & Cover-up Crews

Elliot Ludwig

Its genuinely such a good novel yet I never see anyone talk about it. Edward Prendick is such a complex character, and Moreau’s mad scientist shtick is really entertaining 😭

BECAUSE WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE’S LITERALLY VIVISECTING ANIMALS AND TURNING THEM INTO PEOPLE?? WHAT??

Mad Scientist

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Viktor [Mobian-Crossfox OC]

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