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They Would Cut You Up: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:cit_tsukihime_c47_-_ciel_-_43rd_procedure.jpg|link=Tsukihime|right|[[Who Wants to Live Forever?|A downside to immortality.]]]]
{{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
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.
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Compare [[Alien Autopsy]], in which the fantastic creature being studied is usually dead when human scientists find it in the first place, which would make such an up close and personal study sound ''significantly'' less unethical.
{{examples
== Anime and Manga ==
* Agito, the short-tempered fire fairy from ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'', can only remember being confined in a lab, which had left her almost completely broken, physically and mentally. According to her, she was only days away from death by exhaustion before being rescued.
* ''[[Midori no Hibi]]'' manifests the danger in the form of a [[Mad Scientist]] who, of course, wants to dissect Midori [[For Science!]].
* A variant is Alphonse Elric from ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]].'' Mustang advises Al not to continue with the State Alchemy exam because there is often a physical examination involved, at which point they would discover his armor is empty and cart him off to a laboratory for study. However, Al doesn't have a masquerade; people who don't know the truth simply assume he likes armor/feels safe inside it.
** Later on in the anime, at least, it's implied that most people know he's a living suit of armor, but since the government already knows how to create those [[Unusually Uninteresting Sight|nobody really gives a damn]]. At the time of the exam, Colonel Mustang wasn't ''quite'' high enough in the chain of command to realize this.
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** Which, given the series' [[Humans Are Bastards|tone]] and [[Crap Saccharine World|setting]], is is probably 100% accurate (or worse).
* Dr. K-ko's antagonist status in ''[[Magical Pokaan]]'' comes from her intent to fool around with the girls in a lab.
* In the early episodes of ''[[Keroro Gunsou]]'', this is part of the reason (along with imprisonment and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|potential traffic accidents]]) why the alien frogs are not allowed to go out on their own, at least before they develop their [[Mobile Suit Human|Mobile Suit Humans]].
* In the ''[[Excel Saga (Manga)|Excel Saga]]'' manga, this happening to [[Death Is Cheap|Hyatt]] is one of many reasons Excel is nervous about health care providers.
* Between this and {{spoiler|[[And I Must Scream|drowning at the bottom of the Hudson River for half a century]]}}, Eve Genoard of ''[[Baccano (Light Novel)|Baccano]]'' chooses this fate for {{spoiler|her missing brother}}.
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* In [[Vogelein]], this is one of the arguments the Duskie gives for why [[Humans Are Bastards]], saying that they'll take the title character, lock her up, and take her to pieces to see how she works. Considering that she's a clockwork Faerie...
* A different example has [[Deadpool]] supporting character Montgomery at the mercy of a corporation that keeps him hooked up to machines, the better to utilize his precognition to their advantage.
* In ''[[G.I. Joe]] vs. the [[Transformers]]'', the Joes are ordered to do this to [[Kid Appeal Character|Bumblebee]] and Wheeljack by their superiors, who [[What Measure Is a Non
* This was the motivation behind mutated child Batwing's rampage in ''[[Untold Tales of Spider Man]]''. When Spider-Man discovers him and promises to get him help, he freaks out completely because, as he put it, "Not going... get cut up by scientists... like mom said!"
* The [[Planetary]]/[[Justice League of America|JLA]] crossover oneshot is set in an alternate reality where the Planetary organization controls the advancement of science and technology the world over. By the time of the story, they've ''already'' cut up [[The Flash|Barry Allen]] and Ray Palmer (the Atom) in order to create super-fast couriers and shrinking technology for ''Fantastic Voyage''-style medical procedures.
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{{quote| '''Shirmin:''' ''(disgusted)'' Welcome to planet Earth.}}
* In ''[[Phenomenon]]'' the government is almost totally upfront about wanting to do this to George. Because George's mind is [[Ninety Percent of Your Brain|working at near 100% efficiency]], it takes him no time at all to realize what they're not saying is {{spoiler|that the exploratory surgery they want to do would kill him, and that they think they'd get less data doing the same surgery after his death.}}
** [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|Neuroscience KILLS!!!]]
** {{spoiler|At least they're willing to take no for an answer, unlike many of the other examples on this page.}}
** {{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.}}
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* In a less extreme example, the main character of ''[[Kyle XY]]'' keeps his abilities a secret because he wants to live a normal life, rather than spending all his days being tested by scientists.
* In ''[[Heroes (TV)|Heroes]]'', HRG tells Claire that this is what the company would do to her if they found her, presumably in order to test her regenerative properties.
** In other words, it'd be [[Good Thing You Can Heal|no different from her day-to-day life]], and at least it'd be [[For Science!]] rather than for kicks as is usually the case with the poster child for masochistic self-mutilation.
** 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 (TV)|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.
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** This was somewhat subverted in regards to her parents. When they discovered her powers in the same episode (due to her confessing after said parents were left for dead in the exploding plant as well), they were quite understandably offended by Alex's belief that they would turn her in.
* At the beginning of ''[[Power Rangers Dino Thunder]]'', Kira suggests they go to the authorities about their new superpowers and the [[Mooks]] that attacked them. [[Hollywood Nerd]] Ethan argues that in movies, people with powers tend to end up in a lab with wires in their head, and [[Jerk Jock]] Conner agrees that even ''he'''s [[Genre Savvy]] about that part.
* ''[[Star Trek the Next Generation]]'' ("The Measure of a Man"). A Federation cyberneticist wants to disassemble the android Data for study, and Captain Picard has to legally establish that he has [[What Measure Is a Non
** Which brings up some nasty [[Fridge Logic]] about the fact that Data had already been admitted to Starfleet Academy, been granted a commission and rank as an officer, and even decorated with medals for valor in the line of duty; none of which would or could apply to a piece of property rather than a legal recognized individual. The scientist's argument is essentially just "ignore that stuff because it would be cool if I could figure out how to make lots of new androids that we can treat like disposable slaves".
* Clark's secret is kept for this reason in ''[[Smallville]]'' and it's also mentioned in [[Lois and Clark]]. How would they [[Nigh Invulnerability|cut him up?]] [[Kryptonite Is Everywhere|Kryptonite knives, of course.]]
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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 (Tabletop Game)|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 (Tabletop Game)|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
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** At least according to the backstory, Crey never actually tries to do it to the player. The most they ever do is attempt to ruin your public image for getting too close to their CEO's big dark secret.
* Resident doctor slash nuttybar Shiro in ''[[Siren (Video Game)|Siren]]'' does this to {{spoiler|the Shibitofied Onda twins}}, experimenting on what, exactly, it would take to kill them. The answer is: nothing. Made especially [[Squick|Squicky]] when he tugs an unborn fetus out of {{spoiler|Mina, the girl he had KILLED earlier in the plot}} and proceeds to stamp on it. Lovely.
* In ''[[Prototype (Video Game)|Prototype]]'', if the {{spoiler|Web Of Intrigue}} videos are anything to go by, this is one of GENTEK's goals regarding [[Psycho Prototype|Alex Mercer]]. {{spoiler|The problem with this, of course, is Mercer's [[Person of Mass Destruction]] status, his [[Healing Factor]], and his propensity for [[I Surrender, Suckers|playing dead/unconscious]] when he's finally cornered. Less than five seconds after the morgue security camera confirms that he's still there, his ex-boss turns around to find that Mercer is [[Right Behind Me|right behind]] [[Stealth Hi Bye|him]]. [[Offscreen Teleportation|Somehow]].}}
* "For Science!" is why Marquis DeSinge wants to capture the pox-infected Guybrush Threepwood (who has gained a prodigious [[Healing Factor]]) in ''[[Tales of Monkey Island]]''.
* In one of the bad endings of [[H Game]] ''Madou Souhei Kleinhasa'', Roze is experimented on by enemy scientists to find out how her magic works. It's implied that she doesn't survive their experiments.
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*** 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 [[In Famous (Video Game)|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.
* [[Blaz Blue|Sector Seven]] has the reoccuring issue of hiring lunatics to deal with scientific discoveries. In fact, everyone that was offically hired by Sector Seven that's major to the story has this at some point. Lambda-11 comes to mind, {{spoiler|but Relius gets a prize for using his own ''daughter and '''wife''''' as experiemnts.}}
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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 (Webcomic)|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 (Webcomic)|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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** Which makes sense, as there is no usual scientific data that could be gained from it that couldn't also be gained by, you know, just ''asking'' Susan and Mary, since they gave him all of those abilities.
** In one episode, the Network Executives are shown to scare even the axe-crazy Repto-Slicer.
* 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
* 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 (Animation)|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.
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