History Main / BrainInAJar

* According to the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boltzmann_brain Boltzmann brain]] hypothesis, if one considers the probability of our current situation as self-aware entities embedded in an organized environment, versus the probability of stand-alone self-aware entities existing in a featureless thermodynamic "soup", then the latter should be vastly more probable than the former if both scenarios are to be created out of random fluctuation. As that is something very [[MindScrew Mind Screwy]], and even more when one considers the possibility of other universes existing, solutions to that paradox include the possibility of the fabric of the Universe being metastable and degrading after a [[TimeAbyss really very long time]], so no Boltzmann brains appearing out of nowhere-- same for other universes should they exist.

* ''Film/RoboCop2'' shows Cain's brain literally in a jar, about to be transferred into a robot. With his [[EyeScream eyes still attached]], allowing him to see his [[BodyHorror face]] that's been cut off of his head.

* ''Anime/CaptainFuture'': Simon Wright is an archetypal brain in a (highly mobile) jar, with a tractor beam, other appendages, and an array of blinkenlights for a mouth.

* ''Anime/RODTheTV'': It is (briefly) revealed that [[spoiler:the reality-warping effect that causes London to take on elements of fictional works like ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' and ''Literature/TheLostWorld1912'' is (at least in part) run by the preserved brains of famous authors.]]

--->'''Kid Flash:''' It's the Brain!\\

* ''Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse'':
** [[spoiler:Mr. Freeze]] is eventually reduced to this after his condition worsens. He was able to slow it down with the aid of some kidnapped scientists, but by that point, he had already lost everything from the neck down. To make things worse, his condition has also made him TheAgeless. By the time of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'', he's still alive... as a disembodied head stuck in a glorified meat locker. He's later given a healthy body, but snaps and returns to his villainous ways before dying in one final rampage.
** The Brain has appeared on ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'', voiced by Creator/DeeBradleyBaker, and ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', voiced by Creator/CoreyBurton (spouting GratuitousFrench in both incarnations).
--->'''Kid Flash:''' It's the Brain!\\
'''Artemis:''' Duh, I can ''see'' it's a brain.\\
'''Kid Flash:''' Not ''a'' brain; [[SpellMyNameWithAThe The Brain!]]\\
'''The Brain:''' In the flesh... so to speak.

** The show has the heads of various 19th-21st-century personalities preserved in jars, including UsefulNotes/RichardNixon, who eventually becomes president again through ExactWords[[note]]No''body'' can be President more than twice[[/note]]. Used more for comedy and satire than creepiness. It's never explained exactly ''how'', say, UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington's head could have been preserved in the first place. Also, the main antagonists of several episodes are flying brains outside of their jars.

** This process is eventually HandWaved as being a form of limited time travel; by incorporating some kind of powdered opal into the fluid that the heads are kept in, they create a tiny bubble in which the heads are perpetually in the time period during which they were alive. Presumably, a certain amount of cloning is involved for certain heads as well.

'''Kid Flash:''' Not ''a'' brain; [[SpellMyNameWithAThe The Brain!]]

** In which [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Twilight Sparkle]] turns herself into a brain in a jar for perfectly logical reasons.

* The true nature of [[spoiler:[[MyFutureSelfAndMe Future Calvin]]]] in ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries''.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8143094/14/The-Power-He-Knows-Not-Is The Power He Knows Not Is]]'' Voldemort stuck the brain of a mook who failed him in a glass globe attached to an eye and a large number of flytraps. The eye acted as a surveillance system while the plants supplied enough nutrients to keep the whole thing in operation.

* In ''Fanfic/OutOfTheCornerOfTheEye'', Ephraim Waite has been rendered as one of these, attached to a spider-like mech body, by the [[StarfishAliens Mi-Go]]. He's perfectly content with this.
* ''FanFic/SonicXDarkChaos'':

Keep [[AccidentalPun in mind]] that in real life, just pulling the brain out of a living person's head and plopping it in a tub of sterile saline would leave you with a starved, dead brain the next morning, so you'd need to hook the blood vessels up to some sort of fluid pump (ala the heart) to keep the brain supplied with oxygen and nutrients. But then you'd also need an air pump (ala the lungs) and nutrient intake device (ala the digestive tract) to keep that ''fluid pump'' supplied with that oxygen and nutrients. And then you'd need a regular filtration system (ala the urinary system) to keep the brain from dying of "blood" poisoning. But at this point it all amounts to basically a near-complete prosthetic body, so you might as well attach some limbs and call it a robot with a WetwareCPU, or a FullConversionCyborg.

->''"We are all aware that the senses can be deceived, the eyes fooled. But how can we be sure our senses are not being deceived at any particular time or even all the time? Might I just be a brain in a tank somewhere, tricked all my life into believing in the events of this world by some insane computer? And does my life gain or lose meaning based on my reaction to such UsefulNotes/{{solipsism}}?"'' -- '''Project PYRRHO, Specimen 46, Vat 7 Subject termination advised'''

* ''Franchise/{{DCAU}}'':

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animat Animats]] or Cultured Neuronal Networks are almost a RealLife version of this trope, almost being that they aren't complete brains (and usually animal neurons).

Compare to LosingYourHead when the whole head is preserved and capable of independent movement. Compare BrainTransplant when the brain is given a new body. This may or may not lead to AndIMustScream. May also be a result of BrainTheft. See also BrainMonster for brains that don't ''need'' to be preserved to survive.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'':
** [[spoiler:Teitoku Kakine]] has been reduced to this after Accelerator horribly dismembers him. It's also forced to create a constant stream of [[spoiler:Dark Matter]] for the use of Academy City's soldiers. [[spoiler: He eventually manages to create a new body out of Dark Matter and escape.]]

** In ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'', [[spoiler:Exterior]] is revealed to be a giant brain in a tube, cultivated from part of [[spoiler: Misaki's]] cerebral cortex. It was intended to allow other people to use the ability [[spoiler: [[MindManipulation Mental Out]]]].

%%* ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'': Celty's head, though it wasn't technically ''attached'' in the first place.

%%* ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'': Part of Araya's "Spiral Paradox" relies on these.

Occasionally with this trope, a virtual reality is put into the brain so that it thinks it's a regular person with a body, making it a sort of LotusEaterMachine. See Website/TheOtherWiki's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_in_a_vat "brain in a vat"]] article for further discussion of this idea.

* Tactical Commander Owen Negata from ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers''. A BETA research scientist and tactician, he was killed in the Supertrooper Riot (though we don't learn this until later). What was left of him can fit into a little jar attached to a 1.5 meter by one meter repulsorlift platform. Zozo is rather shocked by it.
-->'''Zozo:''' ''That's'' Commander Negata?!
-->'''Waldo:''' His brain unit. His body died years ago.
* In ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'', while the Star Command employs the Little Green Men seen in ''Franchise/ToyStory'', Zurg's minions are brains in jars (who frequently mention this situation when the boss complains).
* BigBad Mother Brain in ''WesternAnimation/CaptainNTheGameMaster'', as the name implies, is a giant brain in a jar, with a face.
* The [=GoBots=] in ''WesternAnimation/ChallengeOfTheGobots'' are brains in cyborg bodies.
* ''WesternAnimation/CountDuckula'' has The Egg, esentially the bird version of the trope, a supervillain that hates everyone alive as he was never able to hatch. Yes, is a literal egg connected to a machine.
* Franchise/{{DCAU}}:

-->'''Kid Flash:''' It's the Brain!
-->'''Artemis:''' Duh, I can ''see'' it's a brain.
-->'''Kid Flash:''' Not ''a'' brain; [[SpellMyNameWithAThe The Brain!]]
* ''WesternAnimation/EekTheCat'' episode ''Eek's International Adventures'' is a spy film parody and features a villain named The Brain, made of a brain, eyes, teeth and an ear in different jars.
* The ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' MadeForTVMovie "WesternAnimation/EgoTrip" has Mandark turned into a brain in a jar following his defeat by 4 Dexters from different ages... [[SpannerInTheWorks and Dee Dee's intervention]].
* Hector Con Carne's Brain in ''WesternAnimation/EvilConCarne''. Variation in that his ''stomach'' also is in a jar... and developed its own sentience. And both are occupying the body of a Russian circus bear named Boskov who can still act on his own despite his brain being replaced with Hector's.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': In "Future Lost", the evil brain that aspired to take over had a strange weakness - put juice pills in its tank, and it would get a BrainFreeze. They also dumped some ice into it, making a giant slushie. Also, every Yugopotamian has their brain clearly visible in a glass dome on their heads.

** The show had the heads of various 19th-21st-century personalities preserved in jars, including UsefulNotes/RichardNixon, who eventually became president again through ExactWords[[note]]No''body'' can be President more than twice[[/note]]. Used more for comedy and satire than creepiness. It was never explained exactly ''how'', say, UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington's head could have been preserved in the first place. Also, the main antagonists of several episodes are flying brains outside of their jars.
** Done to an extent in "[[Recap/FuturamaS2E11HowHermesRequisitionedHisGrooveBack How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back]]", where Bender's personality and intelligence are downloaded into a floppy disk.

** They eventually HandWaved the process as being a form of limited time travel; by incorporating some kind of powdered opal into the fluid heads are kept in, they create a tiny bubble in which the heads are perpetually in the time period during which they were alive. Presumably, a certain amount of cloning is involved for certain heads as well.
* ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse'': Modulok tries to do this to Man-At-Arms in "Happy Birthday Roboto", though he's actually using the second head that came with his toy in the episode instead of a jar.
* There are two on display at the Mystery Shack in ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls''.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'' had Jimmy and Beezy accidentally knocking the brain out of their favorite soccer player's head. By the end of the episode, Beezy still hasn't given it back, keeping it in a jar among his memorabilia.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfSpeedRacer'' episode "B.O.S.S." the titular computer is revealed to be [[spoiler:the disembodied brain of inventor Pavel Masterson.]]
* Spoofed in ''WesternAnimation/PlasticMan'' with villain The Clam, is a literal clam that commands an evil organization and needs help for everything.
* On ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'', Rocko buys a vacuum cleaner. When he tries to shut it off, a brain under a glass or plastic dome with wires attached to it comes up out of the control panel, and won't allow him to shut it off.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/Sealab2021'' episode "Return to Oblivion", a brain in a jar named J.J. is the head of the company that produces ''Sealab''. He has two other brains in jars to be his [[YesMan yes brains]].
* Mr. Burns in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' ends up as one of these in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E4Rosebud Rosebud]]", attached to a robot body (but still fond of his teddy bear.)
* The Brain from the ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'' comics appears as the BigBad in the last season of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003''. Beast Boy was able to make a {{pun}} on The Brain's defeat:
-->'''Beast Boy:''' Hey, check it out! ''[flash-freezes The Brain]'' BrainFreeze!\\

* In the "Morphic Trilogy" of ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'' it's revealed that Jonas Venture Sr. was ejected into space during the Gargantua-1 disaster, and the other members of Team Venture put him into a life-prolonging machine he built but were only able to preserve his head after they [[LiterallyShatteredLives dropped his frozen body]]. They thought it didn't work until he revealed himself to be alive by trying to communicate through the [=VenTech=] Tower's systems.
* As with the ''Teen Titans'' example above, The Brain features in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' as a founding member of [[BigBadEnsemble The Light]], though he ultimately falls OutOfFocus and is no longer with them as of the show's third season after being apprehended by the heroes.
** Come the fourth season, this trope was revealed to be [[spoiler:how the Kaizer-Thrall, a sentient device loaned to Lor-Zod and his crew by Darkseid, [[PoweredByAForsakenChild was constructed]]. Miss Martian established a link to him and revealed him to be a pre-teen [[ComicBook/TeenTitans Danny Chase]], a trafficked metahuman whose brain was extracted by Desaad and integrated with Apokoliptian technology.]]

* Brain from ''WesternAnimation/{{Igor}}'', though he has wheels and a robot hand so he can move around.

* The Yolkians from ''WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutronBoyGenius'', although they're technically egg yolks in glass egg-shaped capsules.
* Mok's supercomputer in ''WesternAnimation/RockAndRule'' looks like one of these, although not quite as easy on the eyes.

** Igor was sent to retrieve the brilliant Hans Delbruck's brain from the Brain Depository. Igor drops the jar containing the scientist's brain, and instead takes a different jar marked "ABNORMAL - DO NOT USE". After the monster reveals its true nature, Dr. Frankenstein asks Igor whose brain he put in the body. "Abby someone." "Abby who?" "Abby Normal."
** In the German-dubbed version, this became: "I took the brain of a cleric, an abbot (''Abt'')." -- "What abbot?" -- "''Abt Normal''." By the way, as he mentions on the DVD, Mel Brooks had Frederick Frankenstein send Igor to fetch Hans Delbruck's brain because that would rhyme with "Mel Brooks' brain". So it is not a reference to the German politician and historian Hans Delbrück (1848-1929), father of the Nobel Prize-winning German-American biophysicist Max Delbrück (1906-1981).

* TabletopGame/{{Munchkin}}: The Brain in a Jar is an enemy in ''Star Munchkin''.

** Doctor Sun, a [[YellowPeril Chinese enemy]] of Dracula in ''Comicbook/TheTombOfDracula'' (we know he's Chinese because we are told); he later went on to menace ComicBook/{{Nova}} and finally the ComicBook/FantasticFour, before getting blown up while controlling [[WesternAnimation/TheFantasticFour1978 H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot]].

* ''[[Series/WonderWoman1975 Wonder Woman]]'': In the episode "Gault's Brain", the titular Gault's Brain was a brain-in-a-jar villain with floating eyeballs and telekinesis.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* A BrainInAJar alien makes an appearance in [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=990606 this]] ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' strip, with the added twist that the creature's brain is divided into a right and left side, each in separate jars.

* As with the ''Teen Titans'' example above, The Brain features in ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' as a founding member of [[BigBadEnsemble The Light]], though he ultimately falls OutOfFocus and is no longer with them as of the show's third season after being apprehended by the heroes.

* ''Manga/MurasakiiroNoQualia'': One can be seen in chapter 11. [[spoiler: It's Yukari's brain.]] The real-life example of Einstein's brain is also mentioned.

* ''Literature/RebuildWorld'': Alpha mentions that individuals whose brains have the ability to interact with the Old World network are highly valuable to the government. As a result, Akira [[TheyWouldCutYouUp might get dissected]] and be reduced to a brain in a jar if anyone finds out about it.

* In the ''[[Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz Wizard of Oz]]'' pastiche ''Series/TinMan'', the brain in a jar turned out to be [[spoiler: part of the brain of the Scarecrow counterpart]], used to construct and power a DoomsdayDevice.

[[quoteright:237:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/474px-human-brain_257.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:237: fMRI reading: "99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer..."]]

!!Examples: