History Main / ManInTheMachine

** This worked so well apparently, that in the sequel they are succeded by Immortals and Stalkers, for high and dark templars, respectively.
** Also from [=StarCraft=] are the [[SpaceMarines Marines]]. They are mostly resocialized convicts who are permanently bolted into their powered armor. Tychus Findlay in the sequel is an escaped con who is still stuck in his armor.

* Humans in ''WallE'' are [[BigFatFuture morbidly obese]] and unable to walk, so they are bound to their hoverchairs for mobility, communication, and other needs.

* The brain of [[spoiler: Dogan]] from ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' is used to power a tank weapon when Raz enters the Brain Tumbler.
* In ''VideoGame/HatofulBoyfriend'''s extended BBL route, the characters are attacked by a [[spoiler:scarecrow robot after they are trapped in the school.]] Turns out that [[spoiler: the doctor used your character's brain to power it.]]

He isn't a typical HollywoodCyborg, lamenting [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul his dwindling humanity]], nor is he a BrainInAJar fighting the SenseLossSadness and [[WhatHaveIBecome despair]] their LossOfIdentity brings. He's a normal, ordinary human encased in a mechanical body. A ManInTheMachine might be created from a person who is fatally wounded or suffering from an illness that makes it impossible for him to survive without heavy life-support machinery. This would normally doom the person to spend the rest of his life bedridden, but if those machines were to be mounted on a robotic frame, they would be able to walk around and interact with others. Their new mechanical body will effectively be a suit of PoweredArmor, immensely strong and tremendously alienating since they can't live outside of it. Is it any wonder those trapped in these bodies as an EmergencyTransformation become [[CrushKillDestroy rampaging engines of destruction?]]

* ''BioShock'''s Big Daddies are humans with mechanized and weaponized diving suits permanently grafted on them.

[[folder:Comicbooks]]

[[folder:Videogames]]

* Max Barry's ''Machine Man'' features Dr. Charles Neumann, who spends some time in an exceptionally powerful robot body [[spoiler: before eventually just {{Brain Uploading}}]].

* In ''GhostInTheShell'' the third episode of the anime series had a tank which [[spoiler: the terminally ill designer convinced his friend to implant his brain into]].

*** We see a person who actually had one--called a Jameson-type body--in his case it's basically a cubic brain-case with stubby legs.
* One episode of ''CowboyBebop'' had the crew tracking down a cult leader who was encouraging his followers to commit suicide. Eventually, what they discovered was, [[spoiler: the cult leader they were searching for was merely a false identity. The true mastermind behind this was a teenaged hacker who was turned into a vegetable and used his life-support machines to contact the outside world.]]

** Even worse, Raiden in ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots MGS 4]]'', whose only organic parts are his head and spine.

* The main character of ''ZoneOfTheEnders: The 2nd Runner'', Dingo, ends up in this kind of situation after the first level. Having been fatally shot by the BigBad, his deceptive lieutenant arranges to have the necessary life-support equipment installed directly into the [[HumongousMecha Jehuty]], and then wires Dingo into that, effectively chaining him to the cockpit... and since she can turn off the life-support by remote control, effectively turning him into her pawn. Fortunately, she's not really a bad person, so it works out okay.

[[quoteright:330:[[BattlestarGalactica http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SamGetsFreeBroadband2_817.jpg]]]]

* Hybrids in ''BattlestarGalactica'' are humanoid cylons suspended in tanks of water and wired into Basestars. [[spoiler: Sam becomes a more typical example of this trope late in the series]].

* Yoshimitsu from ''Videogame/SoulCalibur'' might be considered one of these.

Of course, this might be the idea to begin with. A MadScientist may create one by [[UnwillingRoboticisation sticking some poor unfortunate soul inside his battle robot to act as the pilot]]. The smart Mad Scientist will usually put the [[StrappedToAnOperatingTable test subject]] through BrainWashing first though, or control the suit's inputs to make the pilot see what he wants him to see.

* In ''Videogame/MetalGearSolid'', Grey Fox is this. His body is [[WeCanRebuildHim grafted surgically]] to his robotic exoskeleton, and he has to constantly take anti-rejection drugs or suffer extreme pain. It's something of DidNotDoTheResearch on Kojima's part, though.[[hottip:*:In RealLife people had to take anti-rejection drugs when they have the ''organic'' transplants that don't perfectly match their antibody profiles and are thus rejected by their immune systems. That's why the transplants from the close relatives are usually preferred -- there's less immunologic differences. In case of the cybernetic implants on the other hand the only thing to worry is the matter of allergy and biological compatibility. There's plenty of such materials, one of which, titanium, actually has one of the best strength/weight ratios known.]]

* IronMan in some continuities. For example, the Earth X universe has him wired into an entire Stark Enterprises factory, controlling various armors remotely. He's also [[spoiler: the only remaining non-Terrigen'd human]] due to this particular behavior.

* Robotman from DoomPatrol. Cliff often wished that The Chief hadn't "saved" his life after his fateful car crash.

* [[StarWars Darth Vader]].

* Alex Murphy, aka RoboCop.
* SourceCode: [[spoiler:The original fate of Cptn. Colter Stevens]]

* ''{{Warhammer40000}}:'' Gideon {{Ravenor}}, a man so crippled his melted remnants are encased in a life-support/psychic enhancement antigravity box.

* Hybrids in BattlestarGalactica are humanoid cylons suspended in tanks of water and wired into Basestars. [[spoiler: Sam becomes a more typical example of this trope late in the series]].

* Space Marine Dreadnaughts in ''{{Warhammer40000}}'' are mortally wounded Space Marines placed inside a life-supporting sarcophagus that is then installed into a robotic body. Because dying is no reason to stop fighting. Ork Dreads and Killa Kans follow the same principle, with an Ork or Grot "volunteer" wired inside a robotic body.

* In ''MetalGearSolid'', Grey Fox is this. His body is [[WeCanRebuildHim grafted surgically]] to his robotic exoskeleton, and he has to constantly take anti-rejection drugs or suffer extreme pain. It's something of DidNotDoTheResearch on Kojima's part, though.[[hottip:*:In RealLife people had to take anti-rejection drugs when they have the ''organic'' transplants that don't perfectly match their antibody profiles and are thus rejected by their immune systems. That's why the transplants from the close relatives are usually preferred -- there's less immunologic differences. In case of the cybernetic implants on the other hand the only thing to worry is the matter of allergy and biological compatibility. There's plenty of such materials, one of which, titanium, actually has one of the best strength/weight ratios known.]]
** Even worse, Raiden in ''MetalGearSolid 4'', whose only organic parts are his head and spine.
* Protoss Dragoons in ''{{Starcraft}}'' are warriors too grievously wounded to continue serving as foot soldiers, and are transferred into massive robotic bodies that serve as fire support.

* Yoshimitsu from ''SoulCalibur'' might be considered one of these.

* Tali'Zorah, one of the main party members in all [[MassEffect Mass Effect]] games, is from a species with such debilitatingly weak immune systems that none of them can safely remove their space suits outside of clean rooms.

* [[WorldOfWarcraft Deathwing]] is a special case of this. His proximity to the Demon Soul he created with stolen power from the other four dragon aspects ruptured his body so much, that the goblins had to encase him in a full-body adamantium plating in order to keep him in one piece. Behind that armor is a horribly crippled, yet still cosmically powerful, draconic body that would nevertheless bleed to death and spill its organs all over the place if it wasn't for those plates.
* [[spoiler: Mr. House]] from FalloutNewVegas. For the first half of the game, the player is left wondering how someone from the pre-War days could still be alive. When the player eventually meets him, they have the option to break into his security vault and find a massive life-support machine. Furthermore, in one of the endings, it is hinted [[spoiler: that if the player sides with Mr. House, s/he can also receive this life-support treatment and be effectively immortal, if they desire it.]]
* [[TheLegendofZeldaCDiGames Militron.]] Defeating him will actually cause his robotic shell to fall off, revealing a scrawny old man in his boxers who then slinks away in humiliation.

* [[spoiler: The golems]] from ''DragonAge'', who [[spoiler: were dwarves who were transformed into 10-foot-tall rock creatures, a process that involved having molten rock poured over them and their free will removed. Some volunteered; some didn't.]]

* Skulker from DannyPhantom counts, as he is actually an apple sized, tooth shaped ghost inside a ghostly mecha the size of a tall human.

* White Knight from GeneratorRex plays with this. Technically, he does not need his containment suit nor his HumongousMecha, he instead utilizes them to completely seal off himself from the rest of the world, and thus the Nanites which infect all living things. Besides of course himself.

Terrifying screams\\

Terrified screams\\

** General Grievous in the prequels.

* Tali'Zorah, one of the main party members in both [[MassEffect Mass Effect]] games, is from a species with such debilitatingly weak immune systems that none of them can safely remove their space suits outside of clean rooms.

* Alcatraz from ''{{Crysis}} 2''. Later on, it is revealed that [[spoiler: all wearers of the N2 nanosuit eventually become this.]] Toward the end of the game, [[spoiler: Jacob Hargeave]] is revealed to also be one.

Subtrope of {{Cyborg}} as DeathTrope.

Subtrope of {{Cyborg}}.

* Karen S'Jet of {{Homeworld}}.

Subtrope of {{Cyborg}} and DeathTrope

[[caption-width-right:330:[[EmergencyTransformation Becoming]] a [[SpaceshipGirl Spaceship]] [[strike:Girl]] Boy [[MadOracle isn't]] [[UnusualUserInterface necessarily]] [[InstantOracleJustAddWater fun]].]]