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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"Just because you're stupid enough to keep your brain in a vulnerable protrusion doesn't mean I'm stupid enough to design a robot that way."''|'''Kevyn''', ''[[
In the human body, the entirety of the brain is conveniently located inside the head. In the world of fiction, this often applies to humanoid robots as well. On a certain level, this would seem to be logical; after all, it's been designed to resemble a human being, with all its corresponding external parts in the appropriate places. It's not a big leap to assume the same would be true for the corresponding internal parts.
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However, there are some reasons why you might want to put important functions in the head (for much the same reason that so many terrestrial creatures evolved that way.) Many of the parts related to sensory input, such as visual or auditory receptors, would logically be built into the head for the sake of having a higher vantage point of view; once you've placed those there, you need to place the core processors near them to ensure maximum-speed reaction times to visual stimuli. How important this is and how hard that constraint becomes, of course, depends on how quickly you need your robot to be able to react.
Regardless of whether or not it makes any sense, it's very common for everything that makes up the "brain" of an autonomous robot to be located entirely within its head. [[Heart Drive|If its head is removed and placed on another body, its mind will remain intact]]. The head may even be able to [[Losing Your Head|function completely independent of the body]], like a human [[Brain In
Sometimes related to [[Losing Your Head]], [[Easily-Detachable Robot Parts]], [[Computer Equals Monitor]], [[Removing the Head
{{examples}}
== Anime & Manga ==
* [[Gundam]] can't always make up it's mind on whether or not this applies to it's [[Humongous Mecha]]. For the vast majority of Mobile Suits, the cockpit is actually located in the torso, but the head usually contains the main sensor. A [[Mook]] or [[Red Shirt]] who's mecha is decapitated is usually at the very least treated like it's disabled, if not destroyed, but one piloted by a main character or [[Mauve Shirt]] is often only slightly inconvenienced.
** The climax of ''[[
** ''[[Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
** It's deliberately invoked in ''[[Mobile Fighter G Gundam
** ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam The 08th MS Team]]'' conspicuously averts this in one episode, where Karen's Gundam is beheaded by the first blow of an ambush, but still manages to destroy its attacker. She did need someone else to tell her where to aim, but only because the cockpit displays had been smashed in addition to the head being knocked off.
** Deliberately invoked in the logic behind a mobile suit variation in ''Gundam 00''. The Neo-Head is an advanced prototype that is compromised solely of arms, legs and a torso, with all cameras, sensors, and processing units distributed throughout the body or within the centre of the torso. The reasons behind it was that in virtually all cases, a mobile suit having it's head destroyed meant that it was combat inoperable, regardless of the rest of it's operational status.
* Averted by most incarnations of ''Astroboy'', whose CPU is body-centered, contained in a heart-shaped casing inside his chest, making him perfectly capable of functioning with his head knocked off. A little too well, in fact, as Tezuka never did explain how he's able to find his way around without eyes or ears. Maybe one of those wires that's always sticking out of his neck contains a fiberscope?
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== Comicbooks ==
* As noted by [[Atop the Fourth Wall
* Subverted in ''[[Stormwatch|Stormwatch: Team Achilles]]'' with the thoroughly cybernetically modified villainess Ivana Baiul, who mocks the protagonist for shooting her in the head:
{{quote| '''Ivana''': HAHAHAHA! You think I keep my brain inside my head? Come on, Khalid! You're an engineer! Think like one! It's inside the torso surrounded by eight inches of solid diamonsteel!}}
* Remarkably consistent for [[Transformers]]. While there have been a few notable instances of Transformers surviving decapitation (or being slain by the same--it seems to vary depending on who's losing their head that day), Transformers killed via having their heads crushed or shot have died on a fairly reliable basis. This may have something to do with the brain module, a concept referenced in earlier issues of the Marvel comic, but seen and invoked in a more gruesome fashion in ''[[Transformers Last Stand of the Wreckers]]''.
* Averted with Herman von Klempt's cyborg body in ''[[Hellboy (
* [[Defied Trope]] in an issue of [[Spider
* Played straight with [[
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** The prequel movies had legions of Battle Droids with brainy heads, although they can sometimes walk around a bit after their heads have been cut off, for [[Rule of Funny|"comedic" effect.]]. MagnaGuards however are an example of a droid that can battle on without a head -- something not common in the movies. It certainly surprises Obi Wan when it first happens. [[All There in the Manual|They have backup processors in their chest]].
** R2-D2's brain (an "Intellex IV computer", according to the Expanded Universe) is in his head, but his torso is so full of gadgets, gizmos, and dwarf actors that there's nowhere else for it to go.
* This is one of the few things the movie of ''[[I, Robot (
* Kay-Em 14 is used this way after Jason knocks her head off in ''[[
* ''[[The Last Starfighter]]''. When the Beta unit (robot) impersonating Alex takes off its head, the head can continue to talk normally.
* ''[[Terminator]]'', since the Terminators all keep their brains/chips in their head.
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== Literature ==
* [[Isaac Asimov]]'s robot stories. If the position of their positronic brains in their bodies is mentioned, it's usually in their heads. For example, in ''[[
* Averted in ''[[The Stainless Steel Rat]]'', where it's mentioned after diGriz drops a safe on one that police robots have their brains and their voice units in their midsection, surrounded by extra armour. (He knew that; the point of crushing its head was to disable its radio so it couldn't call for backup.)
* In one of [[Harry Harrison]]'s ''[[Bill the Galactic Hero]]'' novels, [[Idiot Hero|Bill]] travels to a planet populated by two warring factions of [[Mechanical Lifeforms]]. One of them gets shot in the head by a [[Lizard Folk|Chinger]] guard. When the guard leaves, the robot stops playing possum and explains that his CPU is actually in his ''butt''.
* Towards the beginning of a ''[[Spider
* Briefly mentioned in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' [[Virgin New Adventures]] book "Original Sin". The Doctor decapitates a hostile robot, and then muses how fortunate it was that the robot's designer had put the brain in the head.
* The [[Wild Cards]] series has the Ly'bahr, a race of [[Brain In
* Averted in David Weber's Off Armageddon Reef, where the protagonist is described as having his/her "brain" "located about where a flesh-and-blood human would have kept his liver".
* At least most of the androids in Rick Griffin's [[Argo]] seem to have their processors in the head.
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== Live-Action TV ==
* An episode of ''[[Star Trek:
* 790, the disembodied robotic head in ''[[Lexx]]''.
* ''[[
** One of the Red Dwarf novels suggests that the circular display on Kryten's abdomen also houses his memory core. If Kryten routinely swaps heads (implied in the TV series to be "once a month") then it makes sense for his body to house a central memory so each head can keep track of what Kryten's current activities have been, even if each head maintains a subtly different personality and its own memory. This may also explain the changes to his personality when he was rebuilt between series two and three - he has the same central memory core but was otherwise extensively reworked.
* Unsurprisingly ''[[The Sarah Connor Chronicles]]'' featured this. Although it's indicated that at least some models have a backup system somewhere. The headless body of one Terminator was able to keep functioning so it could search for its head. It even put a motorcycle helmet on top to cover things up. The helmet in question also contained a severed head.
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== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Paranoia]]'' adventure ''Send in the Clones''. When the Funbot is shot in the head it loses control, running around and bumping into things.
* In [[Warhammer
* 'Mech cockpits in ''[[
* Averted in ''Cyborg Commando'': the cyborg's brain is in the chest, while the head houses various sensors. (And a large amount of empty space, for some reason.)
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== Videogames ==
* Justified in [[Sly Cooper]], as Clockwerk was originally organic, replacing his organs one at a time.
* The ''Mega Man'' series (''[[Mega Man (
* Averted in the 2010 ''[[Alien vs. Predator]]'' game, which is oddly enough in the same universe as the [[Alien]] example. The combat androids can have their heads completely shot off, and continue to not only function, but attack as well. Presumably, they have sensory devices that are also not on their head.
* The best way to take down the humaniform robots and the "robot dogs" in ''[[Mass Effect]] 2'' is a headshot. The larger robots require a bit more effort, though.
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* Most robots in the ''[[Ratchet and Clank]]'' series play this straight, but the soldier robots on Damosel in the second game can function with only legs.
* Robots in the ''[[Fallout]]'' series take more damage when they are shot in the head. Except for the military Sentry bot in ''[[Fallout 3]]'', who actually takes more damage if shot in the chest. Head shots are still a good idea, though, because all the targeting systems are there and it's armed to the teeth.
* Possibly the Mechawfuls from ''[[Mario and Luigi Bowsers Inside Story
** Or just keep hammering them, [[Curb Stomp Battle|figuratively]] and [[Drop the Hammer|literally]].
* The Wood Golem in ''[[Popful Mail]]'' is similar to the above example in that destroying the body will merely cause the head to bounce around until the body regenerates; killing the head is the only way to end the fight. Averted in the case of Nuts Cracker, who is either a robot, an animate puppet or something in that vein: his favorite method of distracting his opponents is ''cutting off his own head'' while his body makes a getaway. (The head then taunts the unfortunate bounty hunter and then ''explodes''.)
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== Webcomics ==
* Averted in ''[[
** Also, one organic alien survives a headshot, as his "head" is just a big eye and his brain is actually in his pelvis.
* ''[[Darths and Droids]]'' mentioned this recently with reference to how strange it is that C3PO still works when his head is grafted onto a battledroid.
* Briefly discussed in ''[[MS Paint Masterpieces]]'', with Mega Man wondering why robot designers always put the CPUs in the robot brains, concluding that if it were up to him, he'd put the CPU in the robot's butt.
** In a subversion, it turns out Crash Man's CPU isn't in his head. Oh no, that's reserved for ''more explosives''.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Ctrl
** Said robot was an X-Box system; the only vital components in the head were the hard drives containing saved games (and personality).
* ''[[
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* Played straight and then lampshaded in ''[[Red vs. Blue]]''. Lopez the robot has his body blown up and spends season 4 onwards as a disembodied head. Later in season 4 Sarge wants to retrieve a secret message that was hidden in his databanks, and Grif asks if the data would actually be in his head and Sarge cites the logic behind this trope.
** Church is kicked out of his robot body if he's shot in the head, which would sorta count as a kill, except he can hop back in just as quickly.
* The ''[[Mega Man (
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* Bender in ''[[Futurama]]'' is shown more than once to be able to completely remove his head and continue to function in any way his head normally would. He even once was able to function when nothing was left of him but his ''eyes.'' His body is still able to move around with the head, it just can't see.
** Although that time he was reduced to his eyes was only an update-induced dream.
* Usually averted in ''[[Transformers]]''. It varies by continuity whether or not the head even has anything related to thought or memory in it, but they almost always have their most important part, [[Our Souls Are Different|their Sparks]], near where the heart would be on a human or the dead center of their chest. Still, a surefire way to get a Transformer to stay down is to tear the head off. Megatron exploited this in ''[[
** Played straight in ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' however, where the heads are shown to contain the transformer's mind. Something that allows Megatron to survive and that the Headmaster exploits. This despite the fact that, as noted above, the Transformers still clearly keep their sparks in their chests.
* Averted with the robotic Richard Simmons in ''[[The Simpsons (
* [[My Life
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