Thomas Edison

"Ladies and gentlemen, alternating current is dangerous. There's bound to be a big accident. Just like this. However, all of the products I have invented run on direct current, therefore they are perfectly safe!"

- Thomas Edison

Thomas Alva Edison (トーマス・アルヴァ・エジソン) is the main antagonist of The Genius Who Made Edison Cower: Nikola Tesla, the seventh chapter of The Lives of Eccentrics series.

He is an American inventor who famously invented the light bulb. He's also a rival of Nikola Tesla and an opponent of the alternating current pioneered by him.

Appearance
Thomas Edison is a man of average build and height with dark combed over hair.

He is depicted wearing a suit.

Personality
Thomas Edison is vindictive and prone to anger. He has no qualms about using unfair and immoral tactics to achieve his goals. Edison seemingly can’t stand competition and is somewhat envious of Tesla; when the newly employed Nikola Tesla demonstrated his immense talent, Edison fired him before attempting to defame him.

Edison believes that genius is defined by hard work as opposed to passion or natural talent.

Intelligence
Thomas Edison is a renowned scientist and inventor. His most famous invention is the light bulb.

Background
Not much is known about Thomas Edison's past. At some point in his life, he invented the light bulb and founded his own company.

The Genius Who Made Edison Cower: Nikola Tesla
In 1884, at the age of 32, Edison hires Nikola Tesla. Edison tells Tesla his first task, which is to fix two generators, and gives him a week, expecting him to be done in no less than two weeks. To his surprise, Nikola Tesla completes the job in a mere six hours.

While Tesla is making a test model for an alternating current motor he's approached by Edison, demanding to know what he's doing. After Tesla explains it to him, Edison breaks the test model and calls the alternating current dangerous, comparing it to lightning. Tesla refuses to abandon his idea, so Edison takes out a billiard ball, shoves it in Tesla's face, and fires him.

Subsequently, Edison starts spreading derogatory rumors regarding the alternating current, stating that it's significantly more dangerous than the direct current, on which all of his products run. He electrocutes live animals to spread fear of the alternating current and even helps implement the electric chair as a method of execution in the United States. This proved to be successful with the public's perception of the alternating current becoming significantly worse, practically ruining Tesla's career.

Years later, in 1893, Thomas Edison is notified on the ongoing. On the stage of the American pavilion, Nikola Tesla performs an experiment that disproves Edison’s claims about the alternating current and fully redeemed Tesla in the eyes of the public.

In 1915, the Nobel Committee announces that they would award the Nobel Prize for physics to Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison, but both of them turned it down due to their resentment for each other.