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They Would Cut You Up: Difference between revisions
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{{quote|''"Ever since I was a kid, I'd have this dream where somebody would find out what I could do. It starts off with lots of ice cream and balloons, and ends in a small white room where little bits are cut out of me until there's nothing left to cut."''|'''Ned''', ''[[Pushing Daisies]]''}}
A standard justification for any unusual character to maintain a [[Masquerade]], because [[The Government]] is Evil and [[Science Is Bad]] and if [[Government Conspiracy|the authorities]] got their hands on them, they'd [[Pounds Are Animal Prisons|stick them in a concrete box]] and [[Playing with Syringes|perform all sorts of cruel experiments]] to find out what makes them and/or their special powers tick, either [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?|destroying their quality of life, or killing them outright]] in hopes of getting [[Captured Super Entity|all sorts of goodies.]]
Scientists will usually be portrayed as [[For Science!|too obsessed to care]] for anyone or anything who might be used to further our knowledge of the universe or make a cool new weapon, caring only about the fame or payment they'll receive from their higher-ups. Only one bad scientist is quite enough to spoil your day, but in [[Darker and Edgier|settings that use this trope]] the ''majority'' of encountered research workers are likely to be like this.
The oddest part of this trope is that the danger may ''never even materialize within the story'' -- but it will '''never be questioned''' by anyone concerned.
Frequently, this trope is present due to the character's [[Inhumanable Alien Rights]]...
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* [[Mad Scientist|Mayuri Kurotsuchi]] in ''[[Bleach]]'' wants to cut up and experiment on anybody who demonstrates abilities he's unfamiliar with.
* In ''[[Nichijou]]'', miss Nakamura wishes to do this to the robotic Nano, so she can take credit for inventing her. If Nakamura weren't so inept at her repeated attempts to kidnap Nano, this would be quite dark for such an upbeat show.
* [[Ax Crazy|Misaka]] [[Dark Action Girl|WORST]] from [[To Aru Majutsu no Index]] , said to have been cut open, without being put to sleep, or any pain-killer.
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* [[Nikolai Dante]] refuses to report back to the the Makarov Dynasty after the Romanov Dynasty Weapon Crest fuses with his body for fear that the Makarovs would cut him up to learn how to design a similar Weapon Crest for themselves.
* ''[[The Sandman]]'': One of the reasons Hob keeps his immortality a secret from most people he knows, including the mortals he falls in love with. It's too easy for him to imagine a bunch of "Noble-prize wannabes examining slices of my pancreas."
* ''[[Superman: Secret Identity]]'' - Clark ''is'' captured and experimented on by shady military types, and only narrowly escapes. On his way out, he finds the bodies of other superhumans who weren't so lucky, some of them children. When he learns he's going to have kids of his own, he makes it clear that [[If I Wanted You Dead...|he could have taken the entire government apart]] a long time ago if he wanted to and is prepared to help them out on his own terms.
== Fan Fiction ==
* In the ''[[Homestuck]]'' fanfic [http://archiveofourown.org/works/139056 "Interview"], the trolls (who ended up on Earth in this fic) [[Defied Trope|defy]] this outright:
{{quote|''First, blanket statement: we're not going with your ridiculous military scientists. No poking, no prodding, no examinations, no experiments. If you're that curious you can ask nicely, but we reserve the right to say no. And especially don't do the cliché kidnap-them-in-the-middle-of-the-night-when-they're-off-guard thing.''}}
* In ''[[With Strings Attached]]'', Shag points out that John can't go home with [[Winged Humanoid|wings]] because he'd be dissected; Paul unknowingly echoes this when he tries to talk John into finding a way to change back. Much later, after he really is facing the return home, John sourly reflects that at least the scientists won't be able to hang onto him.
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** {{spoiler|Not really. When he says 'no', they have him declared insane and get a court order to perform the surgery. By claiming it's a treatment, they create a plausible legal excuse for vivisection.}}
* [[Transformers Film Series|Transformers:]] They're actually ''shown'' experimenting on Bumblebee.
** And by experimenting we mean basically torturing him.
* In ''[[The Incredible Hulk (film)|The Incredible Hulk]]'' movie, knowledge of what Thunderbolt wants to do with the gamma power is why Bruce keeps running because he knows they'll dissect him and try to weaponize the gamma power.
* In ''[[Planet of the Apes|Beneath the Planet of the Apes]]'', Cornelius warns the fugitive astronaut Brent against speaking if captured by the apes-- "If they catch you speaking, they will dissect you. And they will kill you. In that order."
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* In ''[[Splash]]'', an "internal examination" was the next thing on the to-do list of mermaid Madison's scientist captor.
* ''[[Repo! The Genetic Opera]]''. Plot involves a future society in which 90% of the population has required organ transplants to survive a horrible illness. Unfortunately, the company that gives the operations demands steady repayment for the organs they provide. If not...a 'repo man' comes to 'repossess' your organs. Also, it's a musical. Yes, a musical. Also... Giles can sing.
** [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Well, we already knew]] ''[[Musical Episode|that...]]''
* Seems to be subverted in ''[[District 9]]'' so far--dissection is one of the ''least'' [[Humans Are Bastards|of the cruelties inflicted on the aliens]].
** However, this is ''exactly'' the reason that Wikus goes on the run, {{spoiler|since they actually ''were'' about to vivisect him (unanesthetised and fully aware, no less!) when he managed to get free and escape.}}
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** Except that NOVA had little interest in Number-5's sentience; they saw it as a bug that needed fixing at best and a potential threat to innocent civilians at worst. At no point in either movie does any organization have any deliberate intention of doing any unpleasant experimentation on him.
* A kid-friendly version appears in the Swedish children's movie "Pirret" (approximately "That Bubbly Feeling"). The movie is about a little girl who can fly when she's particularly happy and has "that bubbly feeling". Her mother asks the family physician if there's anything wrong with the girl, and the girl is whisked off to the hospital where a ''very'' unsympathetic doctor tries to find out what makes her fly. No actual cutting up, just MRI scans and stuff. Of course, since the doctor is constantly scaring her, she doesn't get "that bubbly feeling" in the doctor's presence, and in the end she's released.
* In the panned sequel, ''[[Starship Troopers]]: Hero of The Federation'', former [[Jerkass]] Lieutenant Pavlov Dill uses these exact words when he finds the finds that the rest of the soldiers (all infected by mind-control Control Bugs) have infected Gen. Shepherd with the Arachnids' plan being to send him back to the Federation so he can infect other Federation Leaders and take over the world. His threats are cut short when another infected soldier slowly walks behind him and slits his throat, making it [[Redemption Equals Death]]:
** Pavlov: "You bastards... you are all under arrest for murder, sedition, for treason against the Federation. Oh! Your going to pay... because we're not going to kill you... oh no... you see, we got special places for things like you... where they cut you up, but they keep you alive when they cut you up... so they can see what makes you tick, and they what makes you sick! And I will be there, oh yeah! I'm going to be there when they see ACK!" (threat cut short by infected soldier cutting his throat).
** Arachnid dissection and vivisection [[Funny Background Event|occur in the first film]] as well- particularly pay attention to the captured brain bug in the epilogue.
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** Also, while not exactly cut up, Elle was treated to some rather unpleasant tests to figure out how powerful she was as part of her [[Backstory]].
* In the pilot episode of ''[[ALF]]'', what finally convinces the family to hide the titular alien is being told ''by the researchers themselves'' what they plan to do to him.
** Subverted in the later TV movie, where it's shown that Alf's doing all right after turning himself in, when he is not shooting his mouth off at least.
* In an episode of ''[[Farscape]]'', Crichton thinks he's returned to Earth. It's a world constructed from his memories, and when the aliens running the show introduce a copy/clone of Rygel dead on a dissection table, it's implied this is what Crichton subconsciously expects to happen. And he's a ''military scientist!''
** Ironically, when the crew actually does arrive on Earth, they're all treated as honored dignitaries and celebrities. Moya arrived at Earth several weeks before Crichton did (Note that Crichton's father and several other humans were already aboard when Crichton steps out) so the aliens actually managed to do fine by themselves.
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** Considering how dangerous uncontrolled para-psychics are, the general public doesn't have a problem with this either.
* In ''[[Hunter: The Vigil]]'', the Cheiron Group is a [[Mega Corp]] which does just this - it captures supernatural creatures, figures out how their powers work, and then [[Lego Genetics|cuts out bits and implants them into field agents so they can use those powers]]. This is one of the few times where the ''player'' is doing the cutting-and-utilizing.
* And then there's ''[[Promethean: The Created]]'', where several of the antagonist monsters demonstrate why you don't want an alchemically-reanimated corpse with incredible power and an inborn [[Uncanny Valley]] effect getting anywhere near a [[Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate]]. The reasons range from a Galateid whose tissue was broken down and utilized to create living sex dolls to a cloning program that practically turns Prometheans into genetic soup.
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** Only dead ones, though. Live ones are interrogated then disposed of.
*** Of course, you can dissect the corpse ''after'' the interrogation...
* Toyed with in ''[[Harvest Moon]] DS.'' Local [[Mad Scientist]] Daryl has been chasing the strange creature Mukumuku for ''years'' in an attempt to figure out how it works, and given the long and fantastic family history of genetic experimentation he brags of, it seems [[It Runs in The Family]]. So when chance favors him, and he happens upon an injured [[Our Mermaids Are Different|mermaid girl?]] He takes her home to his basement, and... [[Morality Pet|diligently cares for her until she recovers.]] And if you befriend said mermaid, she ''openly chastises you'' for daring to think Daryl would experiment on her.
* The resident [[Mad Scientist|Mad Scientists]] of the [[Fallout: New Vegas|Big Mountain Research Facilty]] were fond of this, needing no real excuse other than to [[For Science!|do Science]]. [[Memetic Mutation|Vivisection can get boring!]]
* In [[Infamous (video game series)|inFAMOUS,]] Cole receives several warnings that the government wouldn't treat him kindly if they got their hands on him. It turns out to be a subversion: they already know how to endow someone with superpowers, they just want to control Cole and choose what direction he's pointed in since his powers are already very offensively oriented. Between the games, every government agent who has this goal for him is killed anyway. The mentalist Alden Tate, however, ''is'' vivisected.
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* This is why Roland has to keep Sadachbia's presence on the down-low in ''[[Not So Distant]]'', since Sadachbia is a large alien, who'd probably look great cut up on a table to Earth scientists.
* Though she's a little confused about it on their first encounter with the FBI, this is later a thing Aylee in ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' fears. The humans she's living with assume the government would automatically perform a secret alien autopsy on her if they ever found out about her.
* In ''[[Dela The Hooda]]'', the extradimensional fox hybrid Dela is warned against contacting Earth authorities because rumor has it that they dissect aliens. This potential problem is later resolved when the [[The Men in Black|Men In Plaid]] (the Canadian division of the Men in Black, [[Canada, Eh?|who wears plaid suits because the Canadian government can't afford fancy, black Italian suits]]) has a talk with her and decides let her go free.
* In ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]],'' this trope is the reason Jean hasn't published any research papers about her [[Cute Monster Girl]] synthetic daughter, Molly. As depicted [http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20071110.html here.]
* The talking raccoon, Woo, of ''[[Sandra and Woo]]'' mentions this when he first reveals this gift to Sandra, saying that he's kinda' attached to his vocal cords, and asking her to keep it quiet. The danger is never mentioned again.
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* In a very meta episode of ''[[Transformers]]'' (1980's) several of the characters wind up on a planet inhabited by [[You Fail Biology Forever|giant humanoids, to whom the Autobots are the size of]] [[Merchandise-Driven|toys]]. When a scientist gets hold of them, they do indeed try to dissect them. One might wonder how [[Mecha-Mooks|being tiny and mechanical]] plays into the decision.
* Blackarachnia {{spoiler|left the Autobots}} in ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' because she was afraid this would happen to her after she became technoorganic. Given the xenophobic nature of the High Command, she might not be too far off the mark.
* Used, as one would expect, as one of the justifications for the ''[[Gargoyles]]'' masquerade. Given that no less than four of their enemies--Xanatos, Demona, Thailog, and Sevarius--have expressed a desire to do nasty things with their genetic material and have in fact done so, it's quite justified.
* As with the ''Gargoyles'' example, the ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' take this trope to heart. Given that the first thing government agent Bishop did when he captured them was to take their genetic material and try to dissect them, their fears are more than simple paranoia.
* Justified in ''[[Danny Phantom]]'', where his ghost-obsessed parents aren't getting ethics approval for their research and have explicitly said they'd like to dissect or kill any ghost they find "molecule by molecule". However, it's odd that Danny was so certain they'd do the same to their own child, a ''half''-ghost.
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