Professor Farnsworth - Character History

Character History

The Professor is a self-described mad scientist. The creator of the show named him after electronic television pioneer Philo Farnsworth, giving him the same first name as University of California Philosophy professor Hubert Dreyfus, of whom writer and producer Eric Kaplan was a former student. The Professor is a senile, amoral, deranged, and unpredictable old man with a gift for creating doomsday devices and atomic supermen. He has put at least one parallel universe in peril with his inventions and visited dozens more (see The Farnsworth Parabox).

The Professor teaches at Mars University and has worked for Momcorp on several occasions, but spends most of his time inventing ridiculous devices and sending the Planet Express delivery crew on suicide missions. While at Momcorp, he fell in love with the CEO, Mom, only to leave her and Momcorp when she decided to weaponize his "Q.T. McWhiskers" toy. What he is a professor of is never explicitly stated. He demonstrates mastery of whatever field of science is convenient for a given episode's plot; however, in the episode Mars University when asked what he is teaching, he responds: "The same thing I teach every semester, the mathematics of quantum neutrino fields. I made up the title so no student would dare take it." Approximately 100 years ago he taught a young Professor Wernstrom, whom Farnsworth regarded as a prized student. After returning a pop quiz to Wernstrom with a grade of A-minus, the two became bitter rivals (established in "A Big Piece of Garbage").

As Philip J. Fry I's great (x30) nephew, it is likely that he is the great (x29) grandson of Yancy Fry, Philip J. Fry's brother from the 20th century. This would also make him the great (x28) grandson of Philip J. Fry II, Yancy's son (named after the series' protagonist), although his exact shared family members with Fry have not been stated. However, since Fry was revealed to be his own grandfather (established in Roswell that Ends Well and confirmed in The Why of Fry) he is also Fry's direct descendant, specifically his great (x31) grandson.

In "All the Presidents' Heads," he reveals that he is descended from Philo Farnsworth (see above); Dean Farnsworth, who created the Farnsworth Lantern Test to check for color vision problems in military aviators and sailors; and David Farnsworth, a colonial-era counterfeiter who was eventually hanged for his crimes.

The Season 7 episode "Near-Death Wish" reveals that the Professor's parents, Ned and Velma, are still alive and living in a virtual-reality retirement home on the Near-Death Star. In addition, he has a younger brother named Floyd, who may still be alive; at the end of the episode, Bender mentions having seen a man with that name who claims to be related to the Professor.