History Main / BrainTransplant

* In the short ''Literature/TheMonsterOfLakeLametrie'' a pair of scientists discover an Elasmosaur living in a lake in the Wyoming mountains, soon after the beaat is killed and one of the men dies, the other decides to transplant the brain of his companion into the body of the creature.

* The Ultra-Humanite, the first supervillain that Franchise/{{Superman}} faced (in fact, the first supervillain ''ever'' in a Creator/DCComics story), was a MadScientist who was seemingly killed in a battle against the Man of Steel. However, he had his henchman briefly revive him so he could implant his brain into the body of actress Dolores Winters and continue his schemes. He would transplant his brain into many different bodies over the years, including various superheroes when he had the opportunity, before settling on an albino gorilla.

* ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'': Grunt, a member of the team introduced in John Byrne's run through the "Tenth Circle" arc of ''ComicBook/JLA1997'' that served as a PoorlyDisguisedPilot, is revealed in the series' tenth issue to be a teenage boy named Henry Bucher who became what he is now when a MadScientist surgically transplanted his brain into the skull of a four-armed gorilla.

* ''ComicBook/DoomPatrol'': Grunt, a member of the team introduced in John Byrne's run through the "Tenth Circle" arc of ''ComicBook/JLA1997'' that served as a PoorlyDisguisedPilot'', is revealed in the series' tenth issue to be a teenage boy named Henry Bucher who became what he is now when a MadScientist surgically transplanted his brain into the skull of a four-armed gorilla.

* This has been a staple of ''Franchise/{{Frankenstein}}'' films ever since the [[Film/{{Frankenstein 1931}} 1931]] film where the monster received the brain of a violent criminal.
* 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 ''Film/AbbottAndCostelloMeetFrankenstein'' Dracula's plan involves transplanting Costello's brain into the monster.

* Another film, ''Film/TheAtomicBrain'', deals with an old rich woman who seeks to cheat death by having her brain put into the body of a young, healthy woman. The scientist in charge of doing this does a number of tests on dead bodies, which makes them mindless bodies, but doing so with live bodies works wonders. The woman's plan gets [[SpannerInTheWorks derailed]] due to her initial choice getting mauled, her companion attempting to betray her and the scientist putting her in a ''cat's'' body.

* In the Action Thriller ''Film/Criminal2016'', 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.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''. One of the reasons ork paindoks are feared is that they occasionally replace a patient's brain with that of a squig, leaving them comatose for a while while they adapt, then leaving them semifunctional zombies only fit to follow the dok's orders.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheRickyGervaisShow'', this is a key plot point in Karl Pilkington's idea for a movie.

* 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.

Often involves a BrainInAJar at some point. If successfully pulled off on two living people, a FreakyFridayFlip will result. Whole-body OrganTheft may also become a factor, if the donor body isn't yet deceased or brain-dead.

* In the 1970s ''Series/WonderWoman'' episode "Gault's Brain", that was the BrainInAJar's plan, stealing the body of an athletic young man.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* The closest thing that has been done in real life is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_transplant Head Transplants]] on test animals like dogs and monkeys. They were quadriplegic because their spinal cords in the head and torso could not attach, but they could breathe and eat, though [[AndIMustScream vocalization is unlikely]]. Fortunately, to our knowledge it has never been attempted with humans.
* Dr. Sergio Canavero has been working on a head transplant variation of this. Claiming success with animal testing, and a successful dry run on cadavers.
* A rather uncomfortable point about brain transplants that isn't brought up much is how the family of the donor might have to live knowing their loved one is - on the surface - alive, walking around and enjoying their life, but it's ''not them anymore''. The recipient of the new body may choose to connect with the family of the donor, as is common with other transplant recipients, but at the same time, it's well within their right to sever all ties and move on.
* 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 people if its individual organs are harvested for transplantation into several different recipients, rather than squandering them all on preserving just ''one'' life.
* It has been suggested that a brain transplant is a theoretical possibility - 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.
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* ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'': Kenjaku ([[IHaveManyNames AKA]] [[spoiler:Noritoshi Kamo or Suguru Geto]]) has {{Body Surf}}ed through a millennia's worth of hosts by tearing their brains out and replacing it with his own. [[spoiler:That's why "Geto" in the present has a stitch in his forehead.]] Disturbingly, he can casually pop his skull open to show his brain has ''[[TooManyMouths its own mouth]]'', suggestive of some sort of PuppeteerParasite.

* Referenced in ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'': while Sid swaps the heads of his sister's doll and a toy pterodactyl, he role-plays like he's a surgeon performing a dangerous "double-bypass brain transplant".

* The ''Literature/{{Airhead}}'' trilogy kicks off when protagonist Emerson, after suffering fatal wounds when a TV falls on her at the grand opening of a department store, wakes up with her brain having been secretly transplanted into the body of a teen supermodel who had a contract with the large corporation that owns the store, and by coincidence was felled by an undetected congenital brain defect at the same time as Emerson was struck by the TV. Em not only discovers that the corporation has been running a secret transplantation program for the ultra-rich, but she's forced to pose as the supermodel as if nothing has changed (including FakingAmnesia) or else.

Often involves a BrainInAJar at some point. Whole-body OrganTheft may also become a factor, if the donor body isn't yet deceased or brain-dead.

* 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 short ''Literature/TheMonsterOfLakeLametrie'' a pair of scientists discover an Elasmosaur living in a lake in the Wyoming mountains, soon after the beaat is killed and one of the men dies, the other decides to transplant the brain of his companion into the body of the creature.

** In [[Anime/GhostInTheShell the first movie]] the Major muses that she has no real way of knowing if she even has a brain in her current body.