Nikola Tesla in popular culture

Nikola Tesla, Serbian inventor and engineer, has appeared in popular culture as a character in books, films, comics, and video games. The lack of recognition Tesla received during his own lifetime, contrasted with his genius and obscurity has made him a tragic, mysterious, and inspirational character well suited to dramatic fiction. Tesla has particularly been seen in science fiction where his inventions are well suited, often exaggerated, but building mostly upon his own alleged claims of ideas. A popular, growing fixation among science fiction, comic book, and speculative history storytellers is to portray Tesla as a member of some secret society with other luminaries of science. (While allegedly linked to a variety of real-world legends, from the Freemasons to the Illuminati to Plus Ultra, Tesla denied belonging to any kind of esoteric organization.) 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.

Books

Appearances

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 Edison's fictional nephew) and a couple of scientists, seeks to communicate with Mars.

Tesla is mentioned in H.G. Wells' 1901 book The First Men in the Moon 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 immortal version of Nikola Tesla is a recurring character in Spider Robinson's Callahan's book series (1977–2004).

Tesla appears in the 1989 novel Moon Palace by Paul Auster.

Tesla, alongside Professor Challenger, plays a major role in Ralph Vaughan's four Sherlock Holmes/H. P. Lovecraft crossovers, 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).

In Generation Tesla (1995), published in Serbia, 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 Wilson's novel Legacies, and a fictional device credited to him figures prominently in Conspiracies (1999), part of the Repairman Jack series of novels.

In the book The Witches of Chiswick (2003) Nikola Tesla (in an alternate timeline) meets Charles Babbage and creates wireless energy and steampunk supercomputers.

In Wonder of the Worlds a novel by geomorphologist and author Sesh Heri published in 2005 by Lost Continent Library, Tesla journeys to Mars with Mark Twain and Harry Houdini to retrieve a stolen crystal and confront Kel, the emperor of the Red Planet, on the eve of the Martian invasion of Earth.

Brian Clevinger and Scott Wegener's Atomic Robo is a comic book series about a robot that was invented by Nikola Tesla, which also features fictionalised representations of other scientists such as Carl Sagan and Thomas Edison.

Tesla is one of the main characters in The Tesla Legacy, a novel by Australian author Robert G. Barrett (2006). In the novel, Tesla builds a 'doomsday machine' hidden in the Hunter Valley area of New South Wales that could disrupt all wireless communication on Earth.

Tesla makes a cameo appearance in Thomas Pynchon's novel Against the Day (2006).

Tesla is the narrator and 'Watson' proxy in Ron Horsley's Sherlock Holmes novelette "The Polyphase-Powered Man" (2002).

Tesla is one of the major characters of Jacek Dukaj's novel Ice.

The Invention of Everything Else, 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 Hotel.

Tesla had an appearance in the denouement of Jack Du Brul's 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 Echenoz 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 Prestige (he is portrayed in Christopher Nolan's 2005 film adaptation by David Bowie). In the story, Tesla builds a machine that is intended to enable physical teleportation 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 Westerfeld depicts Tesla when the crew of the airship Leviathan come across the blast zone of the Tunguska event. Tesla had come to the site to research the blast and claims it was caused by a weapon created by him, the Goliath. 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.

Tesla's life and inventions are the subject of a children's picture book called Counting With Tesla.

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 Nyarlathotep in H P Lovecraft's 1920 short story of the same name was inspired by Tesla.

Cory Doctorow's short story collection A Place So Foreign and Eight More 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 novels Tesla is said to have used his Death Ray to knock down a hostile alien space craft.

In the second book of the Leviathan trilogy Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld, 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 Belgrade and pays a visit to the Nikola Tesla Museum.

In Paul Malmont's 2011 novel The Amazing, the Astounding, and the Unknown, protagonists Robert A. Heinlein and Isaac Asimov try to track down a potential superweapon designed by Tesla.

Comics

Appearances

JLA: Age of Wonder (2003) is a two-issue mini-series from DC Comics' Elseworlds line, in which Superman lands in Kansas 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 I.

Barnum!: In Secret Service to the USA, (2003) by Howard Chaykin and David Tischman, shows P. T. Barnum battling Tesla's sinister plans.

In the comic book series Rasl by Jeff Smith, 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 Science (2006) a graphic novel by Matt Fraction and Steven Sanders, Tesla teams up with Mark Twain to battle Thomas Edison.

Tesla stars in a comic book "Nikola Tesla and the Electric Fair" (2008) published by the American Physical Society by Rebecca Thompson, Christopher DiScenza, Justin Reeder and illustrated by Kerry G. Johnson PhysicQuest 2008 starring Nikola Telsa.

Tesla appears in the webcomic Thinkin' Lincoln by Miles Grover.

Tesla appears in the comic book The Light and Darkness War where he is an outlaw in the afterlife world of the galaxy of Light and his machines forbidden by Leonardo Da Vinci.

In the alternate history setting of Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume I, 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 Beaton.

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 Hickman's Marvel Comic S.H.I.E.L.D. as the mysterious Night Machine.

In the comic series Atomic Robo Tesla was responsible for building the protagonist.

Tesla, his rise and fall, and his struggles in life, are mentioned repeatedly, and play an important role in Jeff Smith's RASL.

The webcomic-episode Why Nikola Tesla was the greatest geek who ever lived by The Oatmeal presents Tesla's achievements.

Tesla offered to help the human allies of the Autobots in generating electricity to revive Optimus Prime in the IDW Publishing Infestation 2: Transformers comic.

Allusions

In the America's Best Comics title Tom Strong, the titular character's daughter Tesla Strong is named after the scientist.

In the manga Bleach, the Espada Nnoitora Jiruga's fracción, Tesla, is named after the scientist.^{[citation needed]}

In Yukito Kishiro's manga series Gunnm, known as Battle Angel Alita in North America, the floating city of Salem possesses a weapon called the Abaddon that is based on the concept of Tesla's Teleforce weapon.

Yasuhiro Nightow's manga series Trigun Maximum features a young girl that is experimented upon named Tesla.

Film

Appearances

In 1941, the first of Max Fleischer's Superman cartoons depicted Superman fighting a mad scientist named Tesla. They are now in the public domain and can be viewed in various locations, including the Internet Archive.

The Secret of Nikola Tesla (Template:Lang-sh) a 1980 Yugoslav film directed by Krsto Papić, notable for its inclusion of Orson Welles as banking baron J.P. Morgan, touches on Tesla's psychic powers and lost vision of the future.

In 2006 David Bowie portrayed Tesla in the movie The Prestige in which one of the main characters of the film gets Tesla to develop a remarkable electro replicating device for him.

A new Tesla film is slated for release in 2013 called "Fragments From Olympus-The Vision of Nikola Tesla". The producers of the film made news by using part of their budget to make a $33,333 donation to help save Tesla's Wardenclyffe lab during a crowd-funding campaign started by the popular internet comic known as the Oatmeal.

Allusions

In Craig Baldwin's agitprop 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 Coil", featuring Jack White and Meg White of The White Stripes, from Jim Jarmusch's 2003 film Coffee and Cigarettes. The White Stripes had previously mentioned Tesla in their song "Astro" on their self-titled first album.

In the film, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, there is a painting/mural of Tesla shown at least twice during the Tucker trial.

In the Disney animated film Meet the Robinsons, 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 Meatballs, 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 Tower.

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.

Television

Appearances

Nikola Tesla (1977), Yugoslav TV series about the life of Nikola Tesla, in 10 episodes. Tesla was played by Rade Šerbedžija.

On the Steven Spielberg cartoon Histeria!, Nikola Tesla is featured in an animated piece where he looks and sounds like Christopher Walken.

Tesla was a crucial character in the pilot episode, "Power", of Murdoch Mysteries, and appeared in the last episode of the third season, entitled "The Tesla Effect". He was played on both episodes by Canadian Ukrainian actor Dmitry Chepovetsky.

In Sanctuary, a fictional version of Tesla is revealed to have been transformed into a semi-vampire 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 Die'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. Reilly while Thomas Edison is portrayed by Crispin Glover.

On Season 9 Episode 15 of Family Guy Nikola Tesla was portrayed in cartoon form along with Thomas Edison.

Allusions

An amusement park is named after Nikola Tesla in the Saturday morning cartoon series The Weekenders, when it briefly mentions the debate over credit for inventing radio.

On the NBC series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006), Matt Albie and Danny Tripp plan to make a film about the life of Nikola Tesla. However, they are unable to make the movie because Danny tests positive for cocaine and could not clear the insurance.

On the series House Season 4, Episode 2: "Tesla was robbed" is written on the board.

The background of the character Janos Bartok in the TV series Legend 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., in an episode titled "ORB". In this depiction, Tesla and the Avon Ladies attack the zeppelin of "The Guild" carrying Mark Twain, Eugen Sandow, Oscar Wilde, and Aleister Crowley. 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 Eureka, Eureka's community school is called the Tesla School. The school's athletic team name is "The Coils".

In Warehouse 13, 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. He is one of the co-designers of the Warehouse 13 facility itself, along with Thomas Edison and M. C. Escher.

Nikola Tesla is a starting point and an inspiration in experimental animated interactive documentary Mechanical Figures by Helena Bulaja. The film presents technological and social development initiated by some of major Tesla’s inventions, from alternating current to radio, and includes interviews with some of the well known artists, scientists and writers who were inspired by Tesla in their work, such as Laurie Anderson, Terry Gilliam, Marina Abramovic, Andy Serkis, Douglas Rushkoff, and Christopher Priest, who share their ideas and thoughts about Tesla and creativity.

On the Fox TV show Fringe, the character of Doctor Walter Bishop is a modern day genius. One of his heroes is Nikola Tesla.

On the series Criminal Minds Season 7, Episode 11, There is a reference to Tesla by Dr Spencer Reid.

Radio

Allusions

In the broadcast radio series Ruby the Galactic Gumshoe, by the ZBS Foundation, Nikola Tesla is hailed as the patron saint 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.

Music

Allusions

Laurie Anderson makes several references to Tesla in her works, particularly on United States Live I-IV (1983).

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark included a song titled "Tesla Girls" on their album Junk Culture (1984).

The rock band Tesla is named after him. They have referenced his life and works a number of times, such as in their debut album Mechanical Resonance (1986), their second album The Great Radio Controversy (1989) and the song "Edison's Medicine" (and accompanying music video), from their 1991 album Psychotic Supper

Guitar group Acoustic Alchemy's 1998 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 Rocket, 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 Electric's 2004 album Hello, Mannequin contains a song that shares Tesla's name, in which singer Ronnie Martin laments, "Genius, scientist, inventor / Penniless at death, yet ignored / Nikola Tesla / Who remembers?".

The Handsome Family features Tesla in the song "Tesla's Hotel Room". The song is featured on the album Last Days of Wonder.

The White Stripes song "Astro" mentions Tesla in the line "Maybe Tesla does the Astro".

The Human Abstract released the album "Midheaven (album)" which includes songs referring to Tesla and his struggles.

Grindcore band Discordance Axis 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 Phirm's song "Trace Elements" includes the line "Tesla's coil thangs".

The rock band Piebald 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 Joksimovic wrote the music for Nikola Tesla (instrumental), vocals by Jelena Tomasevic.

Dr. Steel, a musician with a Mad Scientist motif, gives Nikola Tesla a special thanks in the credits of his "Dr. Steel Show".

Russian synthpop band Tesla Boy, is named after Tesla.

The album Electric and Benevolent by The Extraordinaires is loosely based on the life and achievements of Tesla.

Rapper Jay Electronica 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) and Exhibit C. Jay Electronica has also been known to reference Tesla in his songs, even doing so in the previously mentioned release Exhibit C.

The Abney Park song "The Secret Life of Dr. Calgori" includes the lines "Test tubes and Tesla coils" and "Played poker with Theremin, Tesla, and Poe."

Firewall in The People's Key, by Bright Eyes (band) mentions Tesla during the opening verse.

In 2011, musicians Amanda Palmer, Ben Folds, and OK Go's Damian Kulash teamed up with author Neil Gaiman 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 Fortis 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.

The Vernian Process song "Unhallowed Metropolis" includes the line "While mad men work by the Tesla array"

Australian band Last Dinosaurs paid homage to Tesla in their song "Time & Place"; the song containing the lyrics "Nikola, we're gonna make a difference".

Digital Sailor's 2013 title "The man who lit the world" refers to Nikola Tesla.

Video games

Tesla's proposal of teleforce 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 & Conquer Red Alert 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 Coil 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 Dreams, by Origin, which is part of the Worlds of Ultima series.

Tesla is one of the main characters in the game "Dark Void", where he is kept in an alternate universe, like a 'skin' between universes, to which one can travel through the Bermuda Triangle. He uses his great intelligence to create a huge spaceship 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 as an army of anthropomorphic robots. 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, Telefunken wireless station."

The Tesla Gun in the computer game Return to Castle Wolfenstein 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 instalment to the franchise, Wolfenstein, where it can be picked up in the "Hospital" level.

The Tesla Cannon in the computer game Blood and its sequel Blood II: The Chosen; it fires bursts of electrical energy, and can also be charged to release a devastating lightning blast.

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 & Clank 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 Croft has to investigate a research facility in Kazakhstan 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 Skies.

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 (MMORPG) City of Heroes, 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 3" 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 3 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 Vegas, the Tesla Cannon's unique variation, the Tesla-Beaton prototype, refers to Tesla and Kate Beaton, who has featured Tesla in her webcomic, Hark! A Vagrant.

The Tesla Coil in the game "Goblin Commander: Unleash the Horde" shoots lightning bolts at approaching enemies.

In the MMORPG Asheron's Call the most powerful lightning bolt spell is named "Alset's Coil", which is merely Tesla backwards.

In the Xbox game Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, 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 Obscura 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 Generation and Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation 2, 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 Tremulous, 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 Monsters, 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{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= }} released PSN game "Zen Pinball", there is a table called 'Tesla', involving experiments which act as the table goals and various features relating to electricity.

In the game Dark Void, Nikola Tesla builds the jetpack and weapons used by Will.

In the game Borderlands, 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 Fieldrunners, the Tesla Tower shoots electrical arcs at nearby enemies.

In Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, 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 ParaWorld seems to have been based on Tesla.

In Atom Zombie Smasher, Asa Willingdon's portrait looks very similar to Nikola Tesla

In the game Tachyon: The Fringe you can equip your ship with Tesla EMP missiles.

Nancy Drew 27: The Deadly Device is about Nikola Tesla.

In "Team Fortress 2", the online comic "loose canon" portrays Nikola Tesla as the first Engineer of BLU team.

Live theatre and opera

A number of live theatrical plays based on Tesla's life have been produced and staged worldwide.

Appearances

TESLA Opera by 'Carson Kievman with a libretto by playwright Thomas Babe originated at the Eugene O’Neil Music-Theater Conference in 1986 The libretto for this multimedia work was completed by Babe prior to his death from cancer on December 6, 2000. Two scenes were previewed to great critical success at the 2004 New York City Opera Vox Festival.

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, Texas based theatrical collective Rude Mechanicals 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 Koukias wrote his two-act opera Tesla - Lightning in His Hand about the life and times of Nikola Tesla. It premiered at the 10 Days on the Island Festival in Hobart, Tasmania, in 2003.

In 2008 Discovery World, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 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 Exposition.

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 Jarmusch 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 librettist Jillian Burcar deals with Tesla's conflicts with Thomas Edison – specifically, their rivalry over AC vs DC power.

Allusions

Duncan Pflaster's play Sleeping in Tomorrow takes place in several alternative universes, one of which is a universe where Tesla's ideas were celebrated and implemented.

Nikola Tesla Day

Tesla's birthday, the 10th of July, has been suggested by some to be the World Tesla Day or the Nikola Tesla Day, or simply, Tesla Day.

Some organisations already celebrate Tesla Day informally on July 10.

The Tesla Memorial Society wrote letters to several officials July 10th as international Nikola Tesla Day.

Most notably, the day came to widespread public eye, when Matthew Inman suggested about it in his webcomic The Oatmeal. Inman also suggested editing the Wikipedia entry for Douchebag to include Thomas Edison on Tesla Day.

Google honored Tesla on his birthday on 10 July 2009 by displaying a doodle in the Google search home page, that showed the G as a Tesla coil.

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 game Tannhäuser, 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.
• There is an annual Steampunk convention in Madison, WI named Teslacon.
• Tesla is an important figure, and sometimes, even worshipped, by comedy website The Oatmeal.
• In the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History, in season 2, Tesla is depicted in a rap battle against Thomas Edison.

See also

• Mark Twain in popular culture
• Thomas Edison in popular culture

External links

• “To Mars with Tesla; or, the Mystery of Hidden Worlds”, a Science Fiction Tale from 1901, Tesla and the Exploration of Cosmos