Dr. Elvin Lincoln

Seen in episodes: All

Occupation: Research Scientist at Humanidyne

Height: 7'4"

Height when shrunk: 11 inches

Nickname: El

El is a perceptive and mild-mannered scientist and all around nice guy. He has a big heart and once he knows someone is in trouble he can't say 'no', no matter how wacky the plan to help them may be. He's very intelligent and serious when it comes to science and his research, and he prefers to be regarded as a respectable scientist. He's marvelous at explaining things, especially when it has anything to do with a scientific concept. Though when it's something like asking Deanna out on a date, he's a little less sure-footed.

Growing up in Watts, El was put under a lot of pressure to play basketball because of his height. But since he has no proficiency whatsoever for the game, he became a scientist instead, and the scientific world is all the better off for it.

During missions El doesn't just help out by being little, he'll sometimes use his big size as the advantage, by giving a karate chop to the back of the neck of a bad guy menacing his friends, or by putting the pinch on a bad guy's wrist to disarm them.

El feels strongly about H.I.T. being a place that people with strange afflictions can come to for help. When H.I.T. was shut down by Dr. Strickland and El thought it was gone for good, he was concerned that weird people would have "no place to go".

Superpower

Shrinking El gave himself his superpower — though when he decided to test his experimental growth serum on himself, he didn't know that he'd gain the ability to shrink down to 11 inches. He'd merely wanted a way to gain a more average height, a way to combat the pressures and inconveniences of his extraordinary stature.

Research

El is interested in just about any area of science, from genetic memory and superhuman capabilities to first contact and communication with dolphins; he also gets super excited over scientific equipment. He's meticulous in his science and his research, and he's willing to keep an open mind about explanations for strange occurrences – he only didn't believe in The Fly's problems being caused by a jinx because there wasn't good proof.

—Projects:

Glandular research. He developed a glandular serum that changed the size of his test bunnies; one shrunk to a miniature size and the other grew to a size much larger than a normal bunny. He discovered its effect on a fully grown human when he gave a large dose to himself.
Transicon unit. A device he developed/invented with Billy that translates computer input from one language or set of codes to another.
A project with Billy on operating motors using high-frequency soundwaves. They used parts from radio-controlled toys to save Humanidyne money.
A project involving a plant and a heart monitor.
A project with Billy on analyzing the dreams of dogs.

History & Relationship...

...with Billy

Billy and El are best buds. They've known each other since college and room together at the beach house (though El sometimes has to get after Billy about not having his share of the rent money ready on time). El keeps Billy grounded and Billy looks to El for his opinion before he makes decisions. Billy knows El is capable of a lot and, just as he does with the other Misfits, he pushes him to be his best. They can argue without fighting and know pretty much how the other is going to act in a situation.

El doesn't like it when Billy gets him into "schemes", and he isn't shy about telling Billy when he thinks he's taking something too far. They're always getting into trouble together – tied up, locked in rooms – but they always work out a way out together.

When the doctors from Vivatech offered El a job and his own lab, he was sorely tempted. But it broke him up to think of not doing his work alongside Billy, so he never took them up on the offer – which was good since they turned out to be crooked anyway.

When Billy could tell there was something between El and Deanna, he tried to make sure it could blossom.

...with Gloria

El and Gloria are seldom paired while the Misfits are on missions (Gloria has never had to use her TK to move around El while he's shrunk). Gloria wasn't shown El's ability to shrink before the Misfits went on their first mission. She found out – and gasped in shock – when Billy set a tiny El on the Fundae's dashboard.

As part of H.I.T., El had helped on the studies of Gloria's TK back when she had been brought in to Humanidyne for testing, so he knows how impressive her power is. They worked together during the mission at the basketball arena – El throwing the ball in the general direction of the hoop and Gloria making sure the ball went through it.

...with Johnny B

Johnny B had been a patient at Humanidyne after his on-stage accident, and El had helped on the testing and studies done at the time. El is still in charge of the tests Johnny B does or treatments he needs. El helped get rid of the electro-magnetism Johnny B acquired, and he tried, unsuccessfully, to make a nonconducting suit for him. El doesn't, however, always maintain the same level of patience for Johnny B's electricalness when the Misfits are on missions. When Johnny B needed to let off some extra juice outside the casino, El didn't see why he couldn't just hold it.

When Johnny B first saw that El could shrink, and was now a "freak" just like he was, it helped to convince him to come out of his seclusion in the desert and use his electrical powers for fighting evil.

Fashion

El is always impeccably dressed — aside from when he's in transition after his 15 minutes of shrinking are up. He isn't overly image conscious but he can be a little concerned over sloppy appearances, like when he was telling Billy to tuck in his shirt and do something about his hair when they were in the posh Beverly Hills restaurant. He wears either his Misfits jacket or a brown windbreaker, button-down shirts and pressed slacks, and he keeps his black hair trimmed short. He wears a tie, often properly clipped with a tiepin, and of course a Humanidyne lab coat while at work.

While El is shrunk he usually wears the Ken doll jogging suit that he carries around with him, but he does enjoy it when he gets to branch out into other styles from Ken's wardrobe. He's worn a 'Malibu Ken' Hawaiian shirt and shorts, a Michael Jackson 'Thriller' outfit complete with a tiny white glove, and street clothes with a tiny cap for the puppet routine. Even when buying doll clothes he finds it hard to find clothes in his size, and has to take whatever the toy store has (that's what happened with the MJ outfit).

During the parts of missions that call for them, he wears fancy 3-piece business suits and ties, and he and Billy dressed as if they were on 'Miami Vice' when they infiltrated the Flamingo Club.

Trivia

He and The Fly knew each other growing up in Watts and are great friends.
He has a habit of keeping his pencil behind his ear.
He and Billy bought themselves an embossed business card that read: 'Doctors Hayes & Lincoln - purveyors of very weird science'.
Deanna was the first person to accidentally cause him to shrink, when she threw her arms around him in excitement.
He can dance. After the Misfits' Saturday night dancing party, Billy told him that they could go all the way as 'The Dancing Misfits' and do all the big shows, though El didn't agree. El also kept the audience entertained at Nikolai's 'magic act' with the dance routine he did while shrunk.
He doesn't like caviar.
He was trying to placate Boy Charles when he told her "And pink is my favorite color", but it still may be true.
He and Billy were the ones who did Brick's bionics. As Billy puts it, they "practically rebuilt the guy from scratch."
He and Eddie, also a research scientist, knew each other from before. Eddie thought El was the one person who would believe him about Donald, since he always believed him before.
When playing center for the Wolves his jersey number was 14.
He's a college graduate with a P.H.D.

Links:

Deanna Eddie The Fly Alt El

Fundae Sundae MoS Uniforms Humanidyne & H.I.T. Beach House

Quotes

El: I'm a scientist because I hate being tall! ... Why do you think I spend all my free time on growth research?	(01-02)
El: Don't shoot! They're the Misfits of Science!	(05)
El: Look, Dee, a good scientist has got to be prepared to go out on a limb. He's gotta have the courage to make mistakes.	(05)
El: What's really depressing, is that, from now on, weird people got no place to go. ... We were it, Billy. We were it.	(01-02)
El (while running from being shot at): I'm a college graduate. P.H.D. Good grades. I could have been anything I wanted. I became a scientist, and when you're a scientist nobody shoots at you.	(07)
El: The freezer? Aw, Billy, that's a little mouse.	(08)
El: I'm a scientist. I'm not a chauffeur.	(13)
Billy: Wrestling? I can't believe this, a friend of mine, a P.H.D., a man of science, is watching wrestling. El. El: Well, I was waiting for the special on stomach stapling, and I figured I'd kill some time with some sports.	(16)
Billy: Even Donald gets to have a girlfriend. El: You want a date with a dolphin? I'll fix you up.	(07)

—Science

El: We call it "contact temperature transference". CTT.	(01-02)
El: Something like that. We call it a "neurological reflex". I can only do it once an hour.	(01-02)
El (when Harry had shown the Misfits the signal he believed was alien in origin): Oh wow. You know, ever since I was a little kid, I always knew that, you know, somehow, somewhere, somebody would make contact, but this... This is incredible!	(04)
El: Personally, I would like to have 'em land, and come over to the lab.	(04)
El: Richard, the pursuit of extraterrestrial life is a perfectly legitimate scientific concern.	(04)
El: We call it 'Mr. Brain'. Psychotronic inducer. See. The machine probes into the subconscious and then projects the images it finds there.	(10)
El: Billy! It’s a law of science: the more you move around, the more oxygen you use. Sit down.	(03)
El: A sequencer! Billy, Billy, they've got a sequencer. Do you know what I could do with one of these? Billy: Nice. El: Inorganic crystallization. A replicator! Billy, c'mere c'mere, come on. You gotta look at this. This is a replicator. This place is absolutely incredible. A crystal light reader. I've never even seen one of those.	(11)
Billy: Scientifically, how'd that ball reach you? El: The angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection. Billy: That's right. Now what makes it drop? El: Gravity. Billy: Okay. What makes it bounce back up? El: Action, reaction. Billy: So why do we dribble? El: Friction loss. Billy: That's right! And you know something? You're the only one out there in that court that knows that. Huh? El: Right. Billy: Okay! Right? El: Right, right. Billy: Alright, what makes it go through the hoop? El: Gloria.	(14)

—Pointed Wit

El (to Billy): You're a man with a gift for understatement.	(01-02)
El: This is a good start. Do we ask them about the Mayans now, or after dessert?	(03)
Billy: They think I'm crazy, El. El: I agree with 'em.	(10)
El: Billy, why would a bunch of seven foot millionaires in satin shorts worry about your next million?	(14)
El: I don't think we're gonna live long enough to make the calculations.	(06)
Billy: See, El, new phones! El: Oh my god, we're doomed.	(17)
Billy: A cellar! El, they have wine here. El: Lots of restaurants are doing that now.	(03)
El (holding up wine bottle): I wonder if red or white goes better with prison food.	(03)

—Billy

El (not wanting to play basketball): Come on, Billy. You promised you wouldn't make me. Billy: It's for your own good, bud.	(01-02)
El: This is a scheme, Billy. You're getting me into another one of your schemes.	(01-02)
El: How'd you do that? Billy: We'll talk about it later. El: Wait, wait, wait. You didn't tell Stetmeyer that we were gonna do that toxic waste program? Billy: Not exactly. El: "Not exactly"? Billy, what does that mean? I hate that: "Not exactly".	(04)
El: No way I'm gonna be able to explain this to Stetmeyer. Why do I let you do this? Billy: You're a team player, big guy. Don't fight it.	(03)
El: The National Tattler?! Are you kidding? I wouldn't read that sensationalistic piece of low-brow garbage if it was the last paper on— Hold on, I'll get Billy's copy.	(07)
El (seriously): I'd follow this man... to the ends of the earth. Billy: Thank you.	(01-02)

—Shrinking

El: Jump?! What're you, crazy?! Jump. No, no jumping. J-Jane, you're gonna lower me down, slowly. Got that?	(01-02)
El: Well, it's about time! Don't you ever do that to me again. Now where are my clothes?	(01-02)
El (wearing the Michael Jackson doll outfit): Well, the jogging suit got lost in the dryer, and this is all the toy store had in my size.	(03)
El (stuck in the small crack): Billy, what happens when I get big?	(03)
El: Deanna, do you still respect me? Deanna: Of course I do. El, it takes a big man to admit he's little.	(05)
El: Hey! I'm not dressed yet. I wish this would happen to you guys just once.	(03)
El: I think I can fit through here. ... My clothes are in the lunchbox.	(06)
El: Boy Charles. Look, take it easy. It was Billy that threw you in the freezer. The short, mean guy. I'm the tall nice guy. Okay, I'm not so tall. Now. But I'm still nice.	(08)
Billy: Well, believe me, El. I mean, it works. More oxygen gets to my brain when I exercise. And I think better. El: Then you should exercise more often. Billy: Come on, lay off. Look, we've been in worse situations, haven't we? Okay, so let's think. How do we usually get out? El: I shrink. Billy: Great. So, shrink. El: And do what?! Huh? And do what, Billy? Contrary to what you've come to expect, shrinking – in and of itself – does not get us out of our problems. Shrinking does not get us out. I get us out. I get little, and then I jump off of some transom, or I crawl through a greasy pipe. Now you look around, Billy. Look around. Do you see a transom for me to jump off of? Huh? Do you see some greasy, filthy, disgusting pipe?! I don't! Billy: El. Have you paid a second visit to Mr. Coffee? El: No. And you know what I think? I think that you have been taking an awful lot for granted. Yeah. I mean, what if I couldn't shrink? What if we got into trouble, and your best friend was just an average, ordinary, everyday, run-of-the-mill seven-foot-four guy who couldn't shrink?! Then all we could do is just scream and shout till somebody got us outta here! Or maybe, maybe I'd just get so mad, and so angry that I'd just break down a wall, or kick in a door. ... Maybe I bottle things up too much. Billy: Don't ever change, big guy, okay?	(10)
El: This is about pride. It's about dignity. I'm a scientist. I am not a magic act.	(12)
El: Don't drop me.	(13)
Billy: Do they know you shrink? El: Hasn't come up.	(11)

El