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My Brain Is Big: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:s big brain 7397.png|link=The Powerpuff Girls|
{{quote|'''Azmuth:''' Are you [[You Keep Using That Word|inferring]] that you're smarter than me because your head is bigger?
'''Brainstorm:''' No, I'm '''''implying''''' that I'm smarter than you because my ''brain'' is bigger.
|''[[Ben 10: Alien Force]]''}}
What's a fast way to clue the audience into a character's [[Super Intelligence|super-intelligence]], either inborn or suddenly-gained? Why, give them a swollen (and often hairless) cranium, apparently housing a grossly enlarged brain. Variants include the head being fissured like a human brain, or the [[Please Keep Your Hat On|enlarged brain being exposed]]. The head may or may not pulsate, and the rest of the body be comparatively weak and underdeveloped. Often related to [[Evolutionary Levels]] or dubious experiments done [[For Science!]]. May involve the development of [[Psychic Powers]] if it's [[Brain Critical Mass|big enough]].
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* Yue from ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', although her intelligence isn't shown immediately due to a serious case of [[Brilliant but Lazy]].
* Guldo, the psychic member of the Ginyu Force from ''[[Dragonball Z]]''
* An exaggerated example is Dr. Vegapunk from ''[[One Piece]]''. His ''Nomi Nomi no Mi'' Devil Fruit ("Brain-Brain Fruit") gave his brain unlimited potential, giving him a photographic memory and the ability to memorize infinite amounts of information. Unfortunately, the more information he gained, the more his brain physically grew, until his cranium became larger than the rest of his body. Eventually he built a facility (the Punk Records, as he calls it) that let him separate his brain from the rest of his body, and since then he and his "satellites" (five androids that are extensions of himself) are linked to this facility, where his brain - now the size of a small town - contains the information of a large supercomputer.
== Comic Books ==
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* Used by [[H. G. Wells]] when he designed the ''[[War of the Worlds]]'' Martians.
* It's a plot point in ''Evolution's End'', a 1941 short story by (IIRC) Robert Arthur. In a far future, humans have evolved into huge-headed, hyperintelligent and [[Straw Vulcan|emotionally devoid]] beings. One of them invents a machine that accelerates evolution, tries it on some volunteers and is horrified to discover {{spoiler|that in 100,000 years human brains will grow big enough to collapse under their weight}}. Also a textbook example of [[Evolutionary Levels]].
* December 1953 edition of ''[[Mechanix Ilustrated]]'' magazine. In the article "How Nuclear Radiation Can Change Our Race", Otto Binder speculated that the radiation from a nuclear war might cause mutations that could lead to the creation of a new species, Homo Superior. Among other differences, they would have brains (and heads) 50% larger than a normal human's. See the original article here: [https://web.archive.org/web/20150724043454/http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/binder1-620x467.jpg page 1], [https://web.archive.org/web/20150724043456/http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/binder2.jpg page 2], [https://web.archive.org/web/20150724043457/http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/binder3.jpg page 3] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20150421033127/http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/binder4.jpg page 4].
* The [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] has the [http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Columi Columi], a species with giant heads, tiny bodies, and limbs so small and useless they need hoverchairs just to move around. When Columi explorers first reached human-populated worlds, they immediately returned home [[Humans Are Morons|in disappointment at having found no intelligent life]].
* [[Jeeves and Wooster (novel)|Jeeves]]'s head bulges out slightly at the back, and Bertie believes that this is a sign of his intelligence. He also attributes the size of Sir Roderick Glossop's head, which resembles "the dome of St. Paul's", to his vast intellect: "I suppose he must have taken about a nine or something in hats. Shows what a rotten thing it is to let your brain develop too much.”
== Live-Action TV ==
* The Talosians of ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' episode "The Menagerie",
* This was one of the forms of John Crichton in the "My Three Crichtons" episode of ''[[Farscape]]''.
* "[[wikipedia:The Sixth Finger|The Sixth Finger]]" episode of the original ''[[The Outer Limits]]''
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* [[Invoked Trope|Invoked]] in an episode of the ''Honey, I shrunk the kids'' TV series. One of Wayne's inventions gives his son Nick the ability to [[Liquid Assets|absorb other people's intelligence]], and the extra smarts [[Dumb Is Good|obviously]] turn him into an [[Evil Genius]]. At a point, Nick reverses his dad's [[Shrink Ray]] to enlarge his brain, as he needs extra room for all the stolen brainpower.
* The Bighead tribe in ''[[The Legend of Dick and Dom]]'' all have huge heads; their society is ordered by intelligence, and the leader's head is so big he has to have minions supporting it.
* The Kanamits from the iconic ''[[The Twilight Zone]]'' episode "To Serve Man".
== Magazines ==
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== Web Original ==
* ''[[Orion's Arm]]'': The [http://www.orionsarm.com/xcms.php?r=oaeg-view-article&egart_uid=47ed99bea6c67 Highbrows].
* Spoofed in [https://web.archive.org/web/20130826104431/http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/241/ this post] at ''Dial B for Blog''.▼
== Western Animation ==
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** Don't forget the titular character having a humongous cranium.
* In one episode of ''[[Superfriends]]'', a scientist turns himself into a megalomaniac "man of the future" complete with swollen bald head. He also zaps Wonder Woman with the device and she [[Transhuman Treachery|becomes his accomplice]].
* Brainulo, a supervillain from ''[[The Venture
** Not to mention Master Billy Quizboy, Boy Genius. Really a middle-aged little person with hydrocephaly, but in all fairness he's a competent surgeon and good with mechanical prosthetics.
* A few episodes of ''[[Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot (animation)|Big Guy and Rusty The Boy Robot]]'' had a giant scientist that got in the way of a particle beam and a spider (or something) that could suck out people's brains. With each brain that he absorbed, his head got bigger. Also, the company's CEO's nephew (a teenage [[Expy]] of the CEO) also got in the way of the particle beam, and received the same power.
* [[Mad Scientist]] Dr. Badvibes from ''[[COPS (animation)|COPS]]''. Not only is he big brained, the upper part of his skull has been replaced by a glass dome, making his brain visible. When he thinks, electricity courses around his brain, more intensely when he has [[Literal Metaphor|a brainstorm of an idea.]]
* Charles/Brainchild from ''[[The Tick (animation)|The Tick]]''
* Subverted in ''[[Invader Zim]]'', where Dib faces continuous ridicule concerning his "big head" (a [[Running Gag|gag]] in and of itself, since [[Informed Deformity|it isn't actually any larger than the other characters]]').
** Also parodied with Throbulator, a creature of pure headache!
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* Brainard from ''[[Men in Black (animation)|Men in Black]]: The Series'' is a subversion. Although his huge brain gives him considerable psychic power, it doesn't keep him from being [[Dumb Muscle|very dumb.]]
** Also, J's own cranium expands when using forbidden alien tech boosts his brain power and helps him deal with a time-warping menace. Sadly, [[Blessed with Suck|unless the process is reversed, his head will soon split apart like an overripe casaba melon]].
* The super-intelligent Omnitrix aliens in ''[[Ben 10]]'' and ''[[Ben 10:
* ''[[Family Guy]]''
{{quote|'''Stewie''': I say, it appears my cranium has doubled in size!}}
{{quote|'''Stewie''': Good lord, Lois, either I was a C-section or you're Wonder Woman.}}
* One ''[[Totally Spies!]]'' plot involved the villain transmitting the intelligence of Nobel Prize winners into his son. The results? [http://www.woohp.org/gallery/displayimage.php?album=58&pos=87\]
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* In ''[[The Penguins of Madagascar]]'', Kowalski invents a device to make himself smarter, and it gives him an inflated cranium. Unfortunately, not only is the effect temporary, it actually deflates his head entirely, leaving him a dimwitted pinhead.
* Lactose the Intolerant from ''[[Sam and Max Freelance Police (animation)|Sam and Max Freelance Police]]''. Subverted when {{spoiler|Max lobotomizes him into submission.}}
* Yugopotamians on ''[[The Fairly
* The Noodle, a villain from the ''Super Chicken'' segment of ''[[George of the Jungle]]''. When he had to think up a plan, he'd [[Literal Metaphor|use his noodle.]]
* Ultra Humanite from ''[[Justice League]]'' was a criminal genius who transplanted his own brain into the body of a gorilla, becoming a big-brained gorilla.
==
* ''Garbage Pail Kids''{{'}}s Brainy Janey▼
▲* Spoofed in [http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/241/ this post] at Dial B for Blog.
▲* ''Garbage Pail Kids'''s Brainy Janey
== Real Life ==
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