Putting on My Thinking Cap: Difference between revisions

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See also [[Congruent Memory]]. Can be a specific [[Character Tics|character tic]].

== Anime and Manga ==

* L in ''[[Death Note]]'' claims that if he doesn't sit in the odd way he does, his reasoning ability drops by forty percent.

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** While Nodoka is already a pretty good [[Mahjong]] player, she becomes absolutely phenomenal when she's hugging her penguin plushie, capable of figuring out plays that would bring about the highest efficiency at once. Almost, she's great when she's playing at home online, so hugging her plushy puts her in the same mindset.

** Saki finds this in taking off her shoes.

* Downplayed in ''[[Working!!]]'', where Popura wears zero-prescription glasses when studying.

== Comic Books ==

* In older Disney comics, Gyro Gearloose had a thinking cap he'd put on when he needed an idea for an invention. The cap looked like a roof of a house, complete with a little chimney, and there was a bird's nest with three crows on top of ~~the~~ said chimney. The hat seems to have disappeared from the comics at some point, probably because its role as a source of inspiration was replaced by Little Helper, Gyro's robot buddy.

* In older Disney comics, Gyro Gearloose had a thinking cap he'd put on when he needed an idea for an invention. The cap looked like a roof of a house, complete with a little chimney, and there was a bird's nest with three crows on top of said chimney. The hat seems to have disappeared from the comics at some point, probably because its role as a source of inspiration was replaced by Little Helper, Gyro's robot buddy.

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** It was revived in a later comic, where he explained that he had indeed put it into storage, the reason for it was that the ideas that it gave were too random to be of much use. It's also shown that it works just as well on anyone else, and naturally [[Donald Duck]] "borrowed" it while Gyro wasn't present to try to solve his usual money problems by coming up with some sort of a revolutionary new idea he could sell and patent. Naturally, this being [[Born Unlucky|Donald]], there's only one possible outcome... {{spoiler|which results in Gyro having to save him by using the cap himself, causing him to come up with a mathematical formula that can be used to predict any future event with 100% accuracy. While he did write it down, the cleaner lady that he had hired in the beginning of the story [[Status Quo Is God|ended up wiping the board he had written it on clean while he was away]]}}

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It was revived in a later comic, where he explained that he had indeed put it into storage, the reason for it was that the ideas that it gave were too random to be of much use. It's also shown that it works just as well on anyone else, and naturally [[Donald Duck]] "borrowed" it while Gyro wasn't present to try to solve his usual money problems by coming up with some sort of a revolutionary new idea he could sell and patent. Naturally, this being [[Born Unlucky|Donald]], there's only one possible outcome...{{spoiler|which results in Gyro having to save him by using the cap himself, causing him to come up with a mathematical formula that can be used to predict any future event with 100% accuracy. While he did write it down, the cleaner lady that he had hired in the beginning of the story [[Status Quo Is God|ended up wiping the board he had written it on clean while he was away]]}}

** He really should have seen that coming.

** In other comics, Gyro's thinking aid is ''hitting himself on the head with a hammer!''

* ''[[Nextwave]]'': Dirk Anger has some very odd rituals he engages in when he needs to concentrate, or just be alone. Some of them are intended to be potentially lethal for no easily discernible reason.

* ''[[Leonard Le Genie]]'' has a number of gadgets to help him concentrate. They usually involve strong coffee, or holding him upside down to improve the blood flow to his brain.

== Film ==

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* In [[The Movie|the movie adaptation]] of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy (film)|The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy]]'', Zaphod Beeblebrox has a literal thinking cap, that keeps his brain powered by lemons once his second head is removed.

{{quote|'''Ford''': This should give him [[A Worldwide Punomenon|some zest]] for a couple minutes.}}

== Literature ==

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* The sentient dinosaurs of ''[[Dinotopia]]'' can think best when they move their feet, due to their original technique of writing via leaving footprints in the sand. Because of this, reading machines for dinosaurs are treadmills which move the scroll the user wants to read.

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== Live-Action TV ==

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== Live Action TV ==

* In ''[[The X-Files]]'', when Mulder needs to think really hard about a problem he watches ''[[Plan 9 from Outer Space]]'' on the reasoning that the film is so bad it shuts down his logic and allows him to make his standard huge leaps of deduction.

* A number of the Doctors in ''[[Doctor Who]]'' - the second played music on the flute or recorder, the tenth puts his glasses on, etc. The [[Doctor Who|Eleventh Doctor]] seemingly has dozens of these, particularly quick (1-2 step) back and forth pacings, slapping his own forehead, and shutting people up.

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* BBC's ''[[Sherlock]]'', like his literary counterpart plays the violin and uses [[Settting Update|nicotine patches]] instead of smoking, and also stops eating when he's figuring out a case. This can go on for days.

* ''[[Worzel Gummidge]]'' didn't have a thinking cap, he had a literal ''thinking head''. Being a living scarecrow, he was able to remove his own head and replace it with a more intelligent one when he needed to concentrate on something.

== Mythology ==

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* Whenever [[Celtic Mythology|Fionn MacCumhaill]] sucked his thumb, he got access to great wisdom (though this was the result of him attempting to soothe a burn on his thumb from the Salmon of Wisdom as a child).

== Newspaper Comics ==

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* ''[[FoxTrot]]'': Jason wore an "external brain" (a cap resembling the surface of a brain) while helping Paige with her homework. However, it's pretty clear that he was just doing it to jerk her chain.

== Oral Tradition, Folklore, Myths and Legends ==

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* Whenever [[Celtic Mythology|Fionn MacCumhaill]] sucked his thumb, he got access to great wisdom (though this was the result of him attempting to soothe a burn on his thumb from the Salmon of Wisdom as a child).

== Tabletop Games ==

* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' has the Headband of Intellect.

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== Theatre ==

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== ~~Theater~~ ==

* William Barfée from the ''[[The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee]]'' is noted for spelling out the words on the floor with his foot before saying them aloud. He sings a song about it.

* Lucky in [[Waiting for Godot]].

== Video Games ==

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* ''[[The Sims 2]]'' has an actual Thinking Cap, a baseball hat with a light bulb. Wearing it will make you learn skills and complete intellectual activities ''very fast''. [[Yes but What Does Zataproximetacine DO|Side effects may include falling unconscious, losing previously obtained skill points, ending up with the cap welded to your head, and fulfilling one or more Fears. Consult your aspiration meter before use]].

* In the ''[[Fallout]]'' series, most hats give a bonus to Perception. Perception governs skills like Energy Weapons, Explosives and Lockpicking. So if there's a puzzle involving lasers, bombs and tumblers, you might well need a thinking cap. [[Booze-Based Buff|Or Absinthe]].

== Web Comics ==

* Agatha from ''[[Girl Genius]]'' hums or plays a tune she invented when she wants to think. Judging by Von Mekkan's reaction, it's possible that ''[[In the Blood|every single member of her family]]'' did that. Judging by her uncle's reaction, it's an instinctive act linked to being a [[Mad Scientist]]. Which makes sense, considering {{spoiler|the family name is from heterodyning, the generation of new frequencies by mixing, or multiplying, two oscillating waveforms. Which is what she's doing}}.

* Hannah from ''[http://www.jaydenandcrusader.com Jayden and Crusader]'' has a [https://web.archive.org/web/20140906094209/http://www.jaydenandcrusader.com/2010/02/08/page-147/ thinking cap] that her boyfriend [https://web.archive.org/web/20160410083815/http://www.jaydenandcrusader.com/2009/07/04/page-124/ stole for her from Uncle Sam!]

== Western Animation ==

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* ''[[Cyberchase]]'': Jackie's catchphrase is "Make room! I gotta pace!" She gets annoyed if anyone else steals it. The other characters have their own habits; Inez stands on her head, and Matt plays with his yo-yo. Overlapping with [[Character Tics]] in Digit's case is the eyeball on his cap which [[Idea Bulb|sometimes flashes red]].

* In ''[[The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron]]'', Jimmy has his "Think, think, think!" bit. Then it shows us his brain and a few tidbits from earlier (in case you forgot them) that usually help him solve...whatever.

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* In a Jimmy Neutron/ [[Fairly Oddparents]] crossover, Timmy Turner attempts to do this, only to give up half-way with a tired "[[Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny|Okay, bored now]]".

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In a Jimmy Neutron/ [[Fairly Oddparents]] crossover, Timmy Turner attempts to do this, only to give up half-way with a tired "[[Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny|Okay, bored now]]".

* [[Bugs Bunny]] puts on his thinking cap to get an idea to rid the island of Japanese Soldiers in the wartime Merrie Melodie cartoon, 'Bugs Bunny [[Yellow Peril|Nips the Nips]]'.

== Real Life ==

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[[Category:Body Language]]

[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]

[[Category:Putting on My Thinking Cap]]