Break the Scientist

So, we all know that every time you show dinosaurs and cave-people together in the same era a palaeontologist cries. Probably not literally, of course. You'd have to be fairly unstable to be brought to tears just because some TV show Did Not Do the Research. After all, it's just a show...

However, if a scientist or other expert saw this kind of defiance of the laws of the universe taking place right in front of them, it's likely that they would be a bit shaken up. All those years of careful study and research suddenly proven wrong... NOOOOOOOOOO!

This trope occurs when the expert in question is a character in the work who becomes upset that their reality is blatantly defying the laws of nature, physics, etc. This may manifest as actual crying, Unstoppable Rage, or even a nervous breakdown.

Often Played for Laughs as a form of Lampshade Hanging- the author is demonstrating that, yes, they know perfectly well that it doesn't make sense, and are giving the viewer a gentle reminder not to take it too seriously.

If the professor is already aware of the existence of other magic, aliens, etc, then his disbelief is Arbitrary Skepticism. Often happens to the Agent Scully.

Contrast Admiring the Abomination, when the Professor is pleased rather than alarmed at a sudden scary turn of events because it's proved him right.

Examples of Break the Scientist include:

Comics

• Reed Richards in Fantastic Four does this all of the time.
  • Which is itself an incredible source of Fridge Logic, given he can stretch and bend like he's made out of goddamn stretchy-goo.
    • He can deal with comicbook superscience -- magic continues to confound him.

Film

• Ellie and Alan's miniature freakout the first time they see a dinosaur in Jurassic Park.

Fan Fiction

• In the final chapter of Yabba Dabba Joes, a paleontologist working on Sue the T-Rex's skull before she goes on display goes into a temporary brain shutdown when he pulls a nine millimeter bullet out of a pockmark on Sue's jaw.
• Ritsuko in Shinji and Warhammer 40 K suffers a serious blow to her sanity after repeatedly witnessing Shinji playing Reality Warper with his AT-field wizardry and psyker abilities without finding ANY scientific explanation for it.
  • In the Anime Addventure thread "Switching Places/Eva, she has a similar reaction to Ranma. And to his habit (which most of the rest of the cast has picked up) of calling the Angels "kaiju."
• Harry goes through this a couple times in Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, but mostly when Professor McGonagall turns into a cat.

Literature

• In The Last Continent, Ponder Stibbons has some difficulty adjusting to the idea that the deserted island he and the rest of Unseen University's senior faculty are trapped on is actively supplying them with the means to live.

Live Action TV

• Physics grad student Chris Parsons in the Doctor Who serial "Shada" does a lot of this.
• This is actually a plot point quite often on Fringe. In a season 3 episode, Walter was confused and upset when the heaviest element was used by another scientist (who stumbled upon it and has no idea why it's doing this either) to make people float in the sky. Yes, it makes no sense. As it turns out, this lapse in the laws of physics is a sign that our universe is about to collide with another one and destroy them both.

Webcomics

• El Goonish Shive has a professor who starts crying whenever the laws of physics are violated hard enough. Whether he's actually present or not!
  • There's also a high school physics teacher named "Mr. Bleuel" who gets rather peeved when he spots one of his students floating down the hallway out of habit.
• The Infinite Summation Honeybee Professor in Problem Sleuth gets upset whenever the characters abuse the properties of windows in order to generate matter or discharge energy.
• In this "Something of that Ilk" comic, one man's refusal to believe in physics, and subsequent flying off, leaves the physics professor utterly speechless.
• Luckily for Dr. Lee in Skin Horse, the ancient, mystic order of notaries has a special couch just for scientists.

Western Animation

• An old Looney Tunes cartoon had a professor giving a lecture where he refuted the existence of UFO's and "Little green men". Just as he's laughing at the very idea, a flying saucer with a baby green Martian flies in and hovers before his face for a few moments, causing the laughter to turn into tears.

Video Games

• One of the planet travel guides in Tyrian reads "Many a scientist comes here after retirement to watch all their fundamental mathematical theorems fall apart as they watch the landmasses floating in apparent defiance to their life's work."