History Main / BrainTransplant

* It has been suggested that a brain transplant is a theoretical posibility - but only if the entire brain ''and spinal cord'' are transplanted together as one connected entity. Apparently this is one of those things which is ''just'' outside the reach of medical science as it is now.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}'' after Dave's first death Dr. Narbon reanimates him, but being a zombie gets boring quickly so she is convinced eventually to clone him a new body and transplant his brain into it.

* It has been suggested that a brain transplant is a theoretical posibility - but only if the entire brain ''and spainal cord'' are transplanted together as one connected entity. Apparently this is one of those things which is ''just'' outside the reach of medical science as it is now.

* In the 2016 Action Thriller Film/{{Criminal}} a recently deceased CIA agent Bill Pope has his memories grafted into the mind of violent convict Jericho Stewart in order for him to complete the dead agent’s assignment for the CIA to track down a hacker and his wormhole program that gives the user access to the United States nuclear Arsenal before a Spanish anarchistic can get his hands on it.

* In the 2016 Action Thriller Film/Criminal a recently deceased CIA agent Bill Pope has his memories grafted into the mind of violent convict Jericho Stewart in order for him to complete the dead agent’s assignment for the CIA to track down a hacker and his wormhole program that gives the user access to the United States nuclear Arsenal before a Spanish anarchistic can get his hands on it.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "{{Literature/Sally}}": Gellhorn's GetRichQuickScheme involves taking the [[{{Unobtainium}} positronic brains]] from "retired" AutomatedAutomobiles and putting them into brand-new bodies, forcing them back to work.

* Bioethicists have near-universally rejected the prospect of brain transplantation, although for a different reason than this trope generally addresses: mathematically, a brain-dead donor body can save ''far'' more lives if its individual organs are harvested for transplantation, rather than squandering them on preserving just one person.

Often involves a BrainInAJar at some point.

* In ''Fountain Society'', a dying scientist's brain is transplanted into a body of a younger man. He eventually rebels against the eponymous society, [[spoiler:and destroys their skyscraper by crashing a plane on it while the BigBad is going through the same operation]].
* In ''Literature/IWillFearNoEvil'' by Creator/RobertAHeinlein, the protagonist has their brain transplanted into a woman's body, it doesn't end well. The event is later mentioned in ''Literature/TimeEnoughForLove'' when the possibility of being transferred into an OppositeSexClone is suggested to Lazarus Long, he rejects it.
* In ''[[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars Mastermind of Mars]]'', the bulk of [[MadScientist Ras Thavas']] research involves swapping people's brains. He's even made a business out of it, transplanting the brains of the old and wealthy and/or powerful into younger bodies.
* In ''[[https://www.fictionpress.com/s/3214035/1/SI S.I.]]'' the protagonist is awakened from cryonic suspension, and suffers severe ethylene glycol poisoning. Fortunately there happened to be a body nearby that lacked a central nervous system.
* This is possible, albeit risky, in ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends''. Monks of the B'Omarr order have their brains removed [[BrainInAJar and placed into life-support jars]] upon reaching enlightenment so they can continue to contemplate the universe forever. Less scrupulous B'Omarr initiates have been known to perform the operation on unwilling patients and even reverse it, implanting brains into other bodies. One of the short stories in ''Literature/TalesFromJabbasPalace'' implies that Bib Fortuna eventually manages to escape his AndIMustScream fate that way.
* In the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'', Jackson's Whole infamously hosts life extension clinics based on brain transplants into younger clones. The clone's brain is thrown away.

* The French comic ''Une Femme Dans la peau'' or ''Johanna'' uses this as a plot point, but plays more as a GenderBender story. Long story short, a middle-aged, lecherous, businessman ends up hit by a bus the same day a beautiful blond twenty-something ODs. Both corpses are acquired by an elderly Nazi scientist and used as the first test of an experimental brain-swapping procedure. It works... but the scientist gets [[ShockAndAwe fried]] for his trouble. Now, the businessman has to deal with being a blonde bombshell, starting his/her life over, and having to dodge the scientist's elderly Nazi-Remnant chums and stop them from using the procedure in a two-for-one FountainOfYouth/WorldDomination plot.

* At the end of ''Film/TheManWithTwoBrains'', Dr Hfuhruhurr, inventor of "cranial screw-top brain surgery", transplants the BrainInAJar he's been dating into the body of his evil wife.

* In ''Film/TheGhostOfFrankenstein'' Ygor makes Dr. Frankenstein transplant his (Ygor's) brain into the monster's body so they'll be "together forever." Unfortunately they don't have the same blood type so Ygor!Monster is blind, leading to the eyes closed/arms outstretched shuffle that the Monster is Flanderized into having.

* In the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'', Jackson's Whole infamously hosts life extension clinics based on brain transplants into younger clones. The clone's brain is thrown away.

* In Creator/HPLovecraft's "Literature/TheWhispererInDarkness" the Mi-Go have a tendency to put [[BrainInAJar brains in jars]] and at least claim they can easily put them back in bodies, not necessarily their original ones.
* In ''Literature/IWillFearNoEvil'' by Creator/RobertAHeinlein the protagonist has their brain transplanted into a woman's body, it doesn't end well. The event is later mentioned in ''Literature/TimeEnoughForLove'' when the possibility of being transferred into an OppositeSexClone is suggested to Lazarus Long, he rejects it.
* In [[https://www.fictionpress.com/s/3214035/1/SI S.I.]] the protagonist is awakened from cryonic suspension, and suffers severe ethylene glycol poisoning. Fortunately there happened to be a body nearby that lacked a central nervous system.

* In the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'', Jackson's Whole infamously hosts life extension clinics based on brain transplants into younger clones. The clone's brain is thrown away.

* This is possible, albeit risky, in the ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse''. Monks of the B'Omarr order have their brains removed [[BrainInAJar and placed into life-support jars]] upon reaching enlightenment so they can continue to contemplate the universe forever. Less scrupulous B'Omarr initiates have been known to perform the operation on unwilling patients and even reverse it, implanting brains into other bodies. One of the short stories in ''Literature/TalesFromJabbasPalace'' implies that Bib Fortuna eventually manages to escape his AndIMustScream fate that way.
* In ''Fountain Society'', a dying scientist's brain is transplanted into a body of a younger man. He eventually rebels against the eponymous society, [[spoiler:and destroys their skyscraper by crashing a plane on it while the BigBad is going through the same operation]].

* ''Series/OutOfJimmysHead'' has this happen to the eponymous character, using the brain of a MrAltDisney. However, the retention of the [[ArtisticLicenseBiology "personality gland"]] lets Jimmy keep everything that's himself.

* In ''Series/KamenRiderGaim'', Ryoma Sengoku at one point transplants his brain into [[Film/KikaiderReboot Hakaider]]'s robot body, fights against Gaim and Kikaider, and then transplants his brain back to his own body with no apparent lasting effects.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
** In "The Brain of Morbius", BrainInAJar Morbius intends to have himself transplanted into the Doctor's head.
** In "The Return of Doctor Mysterio", the aliens have their brains transplanted into human hosts by a team of scary surgeons.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' episode "Dexter's Assistant," Dexter puts a new brain in Dee Dee's head so she'll be smart enough to help him with his science experiment. Bizarrely, this makes her smarter without changing her memories or identity, and it's never explained where the brain came from.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "The Return of Doctor Mysterio", the aliens have their brains transplanted into human hosts by a team of scary surgeons.