History Main / ComputerEqualsMonitor

* In the first ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'' game, Max travels to [[spoiler:Aesir Corporation]] and decides to destroy a computer by shooting the monitor several times. Possibly justified, as the accompanying dialogue is rather ambiguous about whether he actually cares if the data contained within is destroyed or if he just shot it for the sake of catharsis.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

** A gang of thieves once stole all the mice, keyboards, and monitors from an office ''in the Pentagon.'' If you believe their testimony though, they intentionally didn't go for the computers themselves because they were hoping the missing equipment would be chalked up to bureaucratic error and nobody would look into it very closely as long and no data was compromised. Or they might have just been stupid spies advised to say that by their lawyer as stealing office supplies caries a much less severe sentence than stealing state secrets.

* The Commodore 64, the Atari 400/800, the Atari ST, and the Amiga 500 were home computers with built-in keyboards. Later (2008?), some "new C-64" was offered to retro-gamers, where the computer was in the chassis of a [[UpToEleven joystick.]]

* An older ''Comicbook/AnimalMan'' comic book had this as a plot point. The BigBad tries to dispose of the friendly A.I. by blasting the monitor. Failure occurs.
* Averted in a Post-War Games issue of ''Comicbook/{{Nightwing}}'', Dick Grayson is working undercover for the mob. He beats up a witness, but leaves when he sees an associate pull out a gun. A jump cut later, its revealed that the mobster didn't shoot the guy, instead he shot the man's computer monitor. Nightwing mentions how that wouldn't work, and says he'll return later to destroy the man's CPU.

* Variation: In ''ComicBook/SupermanBatman'' #46, two characters are playing a video game, when one declares that the game sucks and destroys the TV that the game console (clearly visible as a separate unit) is plugged into. The other character reacts as if he'd destroyed the game console itself.

* Averted and lampshaded in ''Literature/{{Zodiac}}''. The baddies trash a computer by busting both the monitor and the processor... which tips off the protagonist that they aren't the dumb thugs he'd assumed, else they'd be content with just breaking the former.

** ''Voyager'' has a futuristic version of this trope with holograms, particularly the Doctor. Logically, a hologram should just be a user interface projection run by the computer, with the actual program stored in whatever relevant computer core is running the projection. However, the series consistently treats any threat to the projection as if it's a threat to the program. An episode with a psychotic maintenance hologram had the hologram be defeated by jabbing it with an exposed power cable. Turning off the computer failed to stop the hologram (it rebooted). In another, a hologram sporting the Doctor's mobile emitter was damaged beyond repair when the Doctor shot the hologram (not the emitter) with a holographic weapon.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* The ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' movie "Our War Game" uses this trope in an "accidental" sort of use. Taichi, in a frustrated manner, bangs on the side of the monitor he's using to observe the fight between the Digidestined's Digimon and Diablomon. The computer ''[[EpicFail crashes]]''. Hell, he didn't hit it very hard at all. Taichi's reaction is ''priceless''.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* The sequel to ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheNatural20'' features an Obliviation raid on a police station to erase the memories of [[{{Munchkin}} Milo's]] use of magic. They burst in, Obliviation charms flying, just after the WPC finishes saving her report to a floppy on a brand-new Windows 3.1 PC. Wizards have a shaky grasp of ''normal'' technology, and when they come across it, one identifies it as an 'eclectic' [sic] typewriter. The other wizard with him smashes the monitor, because [[{{Irony}} you can't be too careful]]. This issue comes back to haunt them.

[[folder:Film — Animated]]

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]

* In ''Film/ElectricDreams'', when Edgar commits suicide, his monitor explodes.
** Miles also manages to create Edgar by spilling champagne on the keyboard.

* ''Literature/LeftBehind [[TheFilmOfTheBook The Movie]]'' falls to this trope in a particularly spectacular fashion - the [[RevealingCoverup conspiracy-preserving assassin]] shoots out the monitor ''and not the [[PlotArmor guy sitting in front of it]]''.

* Subverted in ''Literature/TheJenniferMorgue''--the protagonist uses some dark magic juju (which is indistinguishable from sufficiently advanced mathematics) to hack into his captors' computer network, by way of what appears to be an insufficiently locked-down ''monitor'' in the room in which he is confined. However, it's actually a Windows Media Center PC built into the flat-screen TV.
* Averted and lampshaded in ''Literature/{{Zodiac}}''. The baddies trash a computer by busting both the monitor and the processor ... which tips off the protagonist that they aren't the dumb thugs he'd assumed, else they'd be content with just breaking the former.

** A scene in "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E8IRobotYouJane I Robot, You Jane]]" has Willow becoming annoyed with "Malcolm" (aka the demon Moloch) and appearing to turn off the computer just by punching the monitor's off button.

* This was averted a little ''too'' far, and in the opposite direction in an episode of ''{{Series/CSI}}''. At a crime scene, they discovered that the suspect's/victim's PC wasn't booting. The cause? The suspect hid their pistol in the case. While computer components themselves are very vulnerable to liquid or even small amounts of static electricity, placing an object inside the computer case probably wouldn't even affect the operation of the computer, let alone preventing it from booting, unless it was placed in such a way as to crush or bend a component, or damage a connection. The average tower has plenty of space for a small to medium-sized handgun.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In the new series, in most episodes involving computers, the Doctor controls one by using the [[MagicTool sonic screwdriver]] on the monitor. The classic series preferred ComputerEqualsTapedrive.
** Arguably in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E1TheLeisureHive "The Leisure Hive"]]: the misuse of a tachyonics machine in the climax is averted by the Doctor throwing a ceremonial helmet at its large round display screen.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E6Dalek "Dalek"]]: The Dalek "[[ItsASmallNetAfterAll absorbs the entire Internet]]" through a (broken) monitor.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E1SmithAndJones "Smith and Jones"]]: When the computer's database is erased, the Doctor looks for a backup by checking the back of the monitor.
** May be semi-justified with the sonic screwdriver, as if you look at the keyboards of some of the computers used, you can recognize them as Macs, with the monitors built in to the computer.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E12TheDoctorFalls "The Doctor Falls"]] the screwdriver ''visibly'' sucks digital stuff off a laptop's monitor, copying all of the laptop's software in the process. Perhaps the monitor was the most accessible interface offering the highest potential bandwidth.

* In the utterly appalling ''Killer Net'', written by Creator/LyndaLaPlante, the "hero" decides to destroy his computer because... the plot says so, basically, although it's implied that the software is some kind of threat, somehow - look, it's a [[NewMediaAreEvil The Internet Is Evil]] story, don't expect it to make sense. He does this by hauling the monitor and ''only'' the monitor up to the top of a building and throwing it off.
* During season 2 of ''Series/{{Lost}}'' a lot of the action for the season took place in a location known as the Hatch. Within the Hatch was a computer that had to have numbers entered on it every 108 minutes or "the world would end." Early in the season, someone shoots the computer monitor, and Desmond, who's been running it for years, freaks out and runs away, leaving Sayid to repair it before the timer runs down. Later on, the computer is totally destroyed by smashing the monitor on the floor. Only the smashing can be justified, as the actual CPU is attached to the bottom of the monitor, and is smashed to the ground with it.
* Justified in an episode of ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', when computer-averse Gibbs tries to fix the e-mail client on his computer by ''[[Funny/{{NCIS}} whacking the monitor with a baseball bat he apparently kept under the desk for just this purpose]]''. Gibbs is the type to believe this, and his attempt doesn't accomplish anything. However, played straight later in the same episode when Gibbs is faced with a mainframe that needs to be shut down, which he does by shooting it up; the bullet that apparently serves as the killshot goes through (one of!) the monitors. (If you're feeling generous, you could say that it was an all-in-one system that was part of a [=CnC=] cluster, and they just used the term "mainframe" because it would make more sense to the audience. If you're feeling generous.[[note]]On the other hand, it's very likely the NCIS writers are intentionally trolling their techie fans on a regular basis anyway...[[/note]])

* ''[[Series/WonderWoman1975 Wonder Woman]]'': IRAC is frequently used by both Diana Prince and Steve Trevor by standing in front of a combination keyboard and monitor in a specialized sealed room built specifically to focus all attention on the monitor. That the monitor itself was an homage to Lite Brite was simply icing on the cake.

* In ''VideoGame/TombRaiderII'' Lara Croft destroys the important data belonging to the Evil Scientist by shooting about eight LCD monitors. Spectacular and expensive but kinda pointless.

* Discussed in ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors''. Lotus and Junpei have a conversation about how a caveman would think that a monitor was the whole computer; this ties into the game's theme of passing information between two seemingly unconnected things. The setup that sparked this discussion, meanwhile, was a monitor that wasn't plugged into anything but a power outlet, but could run computer functions just fine, which initially confused Junpei until Lotus revealed that it's wirelessly connected to a nearby computer.

* ''VisualNovel/{{Ace Attorney Investigations|MilesEdgeworth}}'' features an aversion with a ''cell phone''. The cell phone in question has a broken LCD display, but otherwise functions well enough to ring when called. [[spoiler:It also has a camera, and the phone's memory contains a photograph critical to the case. Franziska accesses the photograph by synchronizing the phone with her own cell phone, which is a similar model.]]

* ''VisualNovel/YourTurnToDie'': The Monitor Room has nine monitors that house AIs of the candidates. The main computer and its controls are in the middle of the room, but each AI is stored directly on a monitor such that it effectively dies if the monitor breaks.

* On ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', Strong Bad's first two computers contained nothing but a monitor and a keyboard, with their internals apparently inside the monitors (the third one was a laptop, and the fourth one, the Compé, was a flat-screen). The computers they are very, very loosely based on, the Tandy 1000 and the Compaq Deskpro 386, both have a separate computer and monitor.

* Subverted in the short ''Internet Dating And Me'' in ''Webvideo/TheUncannyValley''.
* [[http://notalwaysright.com/when-a-computer-is-not-a-computer/11989 As shown by]] Website/NotAlwaysRight, some people tend to think this way in RealLife.

* Teens WebVideo/{{React}} [[https://goo.gl/5cm9R2 to Windows 95]] have the "test subjects" falling to this trope when asked to turn on an old school desktop PC.
* ''WebVideo/ObnoxOS'': Mel throws his monitor out of his office while trying to uninstall Obnox.

* Played in an ImagineSpot in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' episode ''Sue Ellen Moves In''. Sue Ellen pours water on a professor's keyboard which shorts out the entire computer system before making her escape, just after stealing a vital computer disc.

-->'''Terry:''' (Smacks his forehead) [[SarcasmMode Nice shot.]]

** There's one story where thieves broke into a computer lab and stole the monitors and keyboards...but not the tower cases.
*** Although that one might have been out of familiarity with UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}}, which had the computer and keyboard in the same unit.

Of course we are also there already in some ways — a [[DataPad smartphone or tablet]] is essentially a monitor with the computer built in. Just not in many examples from pre-2005.

Part of the reason this trope is so commonplace is that, psychologically, the monitor is the "face" of the computer. This is where one ''[[RuleOfPerception sees]]'' everything going on, so, if one doesn't have specific knowledge of how computers work, it's not unreasonable to think it's where everything ''does'' go on. Or else, if the screen is the "face", the casing must be the "head" and contain the "brain". This canm be TruthInTelevision for people unfamiliar with computers. See also CranialProcessingUnit, a similar misconception applied to humanoid robots.

** A modern remake of the Commodore 64 has been announced by Retro Games Ltd., the folks who brought us the [=C64=] Mini. True to its original’s form, the machine’s brains will be housed inside its keyboard.

Part of the reason this trope is so commonplace is that, psychologically, the monitor is the "face" of the computer. This is where one ''[[RuleOfPerception sees]]'' everything going on, so, if one doesn't have specific knowledge of how computers work, it's not unreasonable to think it's where everything ''does'' go on. Or else, if the screen is the "face", the casing must be the "head" and contain the "brain". See also CranialProcessingUnit, a similar misconception applied to humanoid robots.

Part of the reason this trope is so commonplace is that, psychologically, the monitor is the "face" of the computer. This is where one ''[[RuleOfPerception sees]]'' everything going on, so, if one doesn't have specific knowledge of how computers work, it's not unreasonable to think it's where everything ''does'' go on. Or else, if the screen is the "face", the casing must be the "head" and contain the "brain".

The trope originates with early personal computers. Systems such as the UsefulNotes/CommodorePET, the UsefulNotes/TRS80 models III and 4, and the UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh really were a case of the monitor also housing all of the vital computing components as well. However, the "all-in-one" desktop computer is no longer in the majority of computer usage by any stretch of the imagination (popularity of Creator/{{Apple}}'s [=iMac=] series aside), and anyone that requires a computer capable of doing heavy processing work (be it film editing and rendering, gaming, or just some serious number crunching) is unlikely to choose them over the now more commonplace monitor and computer tower setup. As such, saying that all computers are as such is an ignorant statement and implies that the author hasn't seen a computer tower in their life.

** ''Voyager'' has a futuristic version of this trope with holograms, particuarly the Doctor. Logically, a hologram should just be a user interface projection run by the computer, with the actual program stored in whatever relevant computer core is running the projection. However, the series consistently treats any threat to the projection as if it's a threat to the program. An episode with a psychotic maintenance hologram had the hologram be defeated by jabbing it with an exposed power cable. Turning off the computer failed to stop the hologram (it rebooted). In another, a hologram sporting the Doctor's mobile emitter was damaged beyond repair when the Doctor shot the hologram (not the emitter) with a holographic weapon.

* Subverted in the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' episode "[[Recap/BatmanBeyondS2E4LostSoul Lost Soul]]"; Tarry tosses a batarang into a giant display screen... which does absolutely nothing to impede the BrainUpload he's trying to stop. Further subverted in that his reaction implies he was trying to hit something actually important and missed because he's not used to fighting without his [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman suit]].

Not so in the world of fiction! In fiction, to destroy the computer, and any data stored on it, you only need to destroy the monitor. Usually by just shooting it a couple of times.

There is a tendency in fiction to treat a computer as if it is contained in the monitor. This is sometimes justified, in the case of portables and all-in-one desktops that combine the monitor with the processor, hard drive, etc, but it will frequently be seen with other computers as well.

The practical upshot of this is that to destroy the computer, and any data stored on it, you only need to destroy the monitor, and if you're lucky you only need to shoot it.

The trope originates with early computers such as the UsefulNotes/CommodorePET, the UsefulNotes/TRS80 models III and 4, and the UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh, in which the monitor, motherboard, and drives were contained in the same unit. This may have also experienced a resurgence in the popular consciousness thanks to the success of Apple's late '90s iMac. Many people consider this a DiscreditedTrope, but "all-in-one" [=PCs=] and Macs [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-in-One_PC do exist]] with [[JustifiedTrope modern technological advancements]]; if anything, the All-in-One's been making a sustained comeback since the late-90's, thanks to devices such as the [=iMac G3=] and its numerous successors. However, saying that all computers are as such is an ignorant statement and implies that the author hasn't seen a computer tower in their life.

Another possibility is that, psychologically, the monitor is the "face" of the computer. This is where one ''[[RuleOfPerception sees]]'' everything going on, so, if one doesn't have specific knowledge of how computers work, it's not unreasonable to think it's where everything ''does'' go on. Or else, if the screen is the "face", the casing must be the "head" and contain the "brain".

** In the first game: when bad guys are removing all the evidence from the computers, one of the {{mooks}} shoots the monitor and is convinced that the job is done. Another one scolds him, telling him that people can still retrieve data from it in this state and he also needs to wipe the hard drives and collect USB sticks.
** Averted in ''Chaos Theory'', where in order to remote-hack any computer, Sam must locate the actual hard drive instead of the usually more visible monitors. Averted even further in that computers with the monitors turned off or even destroyed can still be remotely hacked.

* Discussed in ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors''; Lotus and Junpei have a conversation about how a caveman would think that a monitor was the whole computer; this ties into the game's theme of passing information between two seemingly unconnected things. The setup that sparked this discussion, meanwhile, was a monitor that wasn't plugged into anything but a power outlet, but could run computer functions just fine, which initially confused Junpei until Lotus revealed that it's wirelessly connected to a nearby computer.

* In ''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'', destroying a critical monitor during the [[EscortMission "Protect Natalya" mission]] in the Janus base can cause you to fail the mission. Justified in that you don't have time to go around fixing computers. However, you can destroy everything except that monitor without consequence, and it's in fact recommended due to everything being MadeOfExplodium and blocking your line of fire against the mooks trying to kill you and Natalya.

* On ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'', Strong Bad's first two computers contained nothing but a monitor and a keyboard, with their internals apparently inside the monitors. (The third one was a laptop, and the fourth one, the Compé, was a flat-screen.) The computers they are very, very loosely based on, the Tandy 1000 and the Compaq Deskpro 386, both have a separate computer and monitor.

* Played with in [[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/17p24 this]] strip of ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'', what is apparently a very stupid time traveler plays it straight, the more well-informed Clone of Ben Franklin lampshades it with a sarcastic protest. To be honest to him, he later ''does'' go for actually vital and fragile parts.

* Technically true in some "smart" terminals, although it obviously won't affect the mainframe (which may be miles away.)

'''Tech:''' Then turn it off , wait 10 seconds, and turn it back on. That'll work, too.\\

* Subverted in ''The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse''. The characters are trying to steal a script on one of the writer's hard-drive. Not having a computer of their own to transfer the script to, they have to take the computer in a very limited time and so only take the essential parts; tower, keyboard, mouse... "Leave the monitor, we don't need that!" "How are we going to read it then, genius! Braille?"

* In Disney movie ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up,_Up_and_Away_(film) Up, up and Away]]'', Adam uses his electrical powers on a bank's computer monitor to bring back a previously running program.

The trope originates with early computers such as the UsefulNotes/CommodorePET, the UsefulNotes/TRS80 models III and 4, and the UsefulNotes/AppleMacintosh, in which the monitor, motherboard, and drives were contained in the same unit. This may have also experienced a resurgence in the popular consciousness thanks to the success of Apple's late '90s iMac. Many people consider this a DiscreditedTrope, but "all-in-one" [=PCs=] and Macs [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All-in-One_PC#All-in-one do exist]] with [[JustifiedTrope modern technological advancements]]. However, saying that all computers are as such is an ignorant statement and implies that the author hasn't seen a computer tower in their life.

** The Raspberry Pi 400 is the latest version of this trope, housing a custom-made Raspberry Pi inside a compact keyboard case.

** A modern remake of the Commodore 64 has been announced by Retro Games Ltd., the folks who brought us the [=C64=] Mini. True to its original’s form, the machine’s brains will be housed inside its keyboard. Taken full circle with the [=C64=] Maxi, which is basically like the Mini but bigger and with a working keyboard.

** A modern remake of the Commodore 64 has been announced by Retro Games Ltd., the folks who brought us the [=C64=] Mini. True to its original’s form, the machine’s brains will be housed inside its keyboard.

* Justified in an episode of ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', when computer-averse Gibbs tries to fix the e-mail client on his computer by ''[[Funny/{{NCIS}} whacking the monitor with a baseball bat he apparently kept under the desk for just this purpose]]''. Gibbs is the type to believe this, and his attempt doesn't accomplish anything. However, played straight later in the same episode when Gibbs is faced with a mainframe that needs to be shut down, which he does by shooting it up; the bullet that apparently serves as the killshot goes through (one of!) the monitors. (If you're feeling generous, you could say that it was an all-in-one system that was part of a CnC cluster, and they just used the term "mainframe" because it would make more sense to the audience. If you're feeling generous.[[note]]On the other hand, it's very likely the NCIS writers are intentionally trolling their techie fans on a regular basis anyway...[[/note]])
** In another episode, McGee and Abby are racing to keep ahead of a hacker who is trying to gain external access to their network. Gibbs "solves" the problem by unplugging the local workstation.