History Main / InjuryBookend

* Invoked in ''Film/NationalLampoonsChristmasVacation.'' When Clarke's hillbilly cousin Eddie comes to visit, his youngest daughter is no longer crosseyed, which happened offscreen between movies:

* Invoked in ''Film/NationalLampoonsChristmasVacation.'' When Clarke's hillbilly cousin Eddie comes to visit, his youngest daughter is "no longer crosseyed" (this happened offscreen between movies. Eddie states that falling down the well made her go cockeyed and getting kicked in the head by a mule made her go back to normal.

* Invoked in ''Film/NationalLampoonsChristmasVacation.'' When Clarke's hillbilly cousin comes to visit, his youngest daughter is no longer crosseyed. He states that a mule kicking her in the head made her go cockeyed and falling down a well made her back to normal.

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants''. Squidward gets hit in the face by a door, and the resulting alteration to his bone structure causes him to become ridiculously handsome, so much as to attract copious amounts of attention from both [[EvenTheGuysWantHim men and women.]] After becoming overwhelmed with his newfound status, he attempts to become normal again, getting hit in the face with the same door several times again. This just makes him even ''more'' beautiful, however, only going back to normal after getting hit in the face with a pole after running to avoid a falling [[BrickJoke shoe]].

Compare PercussiveMaintenance, for inanimate objects

* One ''Series/AddamsFamily'' episode centers around this, after Gomez gets amnesia from being hit on the head with a juggling club. One person hits him and fixes him, another person thinks he's still out of it and brings the amnesia back by hitting him ''again'', and so on.

This is especially popular with EasyAmnesia, where an accidental [[TapOnTheHead bonk on the head]] in the beginning of an episode will be reversed by an accidental (or intentional for the GenreSavvy characters) bonk on the head later.

* A very short-term example in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles''. The out-of-shape Mr. I hurts his back while laughing about his easy defeat of the first [=OmniDroid=]. When it immediately comes back for round two, he can't fight properly, and it grabs him and tries to pull him in half. Instead it ''fixes'' his back, at which point he [[CurbStompBattle curbstomps the thing]].

* In an Anime only story of ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', early on Akane accidently knocks Ranma's head into a rock. After waking up he spends the rest of the episode [[IdentityAmnesia as a full female personality]]. Recreating the accident at the end undos it. ...Then [[HereWeGoAgain it happens again]] making him stupid due to his father.

* Tireseus, the blind seer of Myth/GreekMythology. Before being blinded, he was turned into a woman when he saw two snakes having sex. He was told by the Oracle that he would remain a woman until he saw the same two snakes having sex. He eventually did and was turned back into a man.

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* In an episode of the ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' Stu falls off the roof while putting up a high-tech, duck-shaped weathervane. He hits his head and this causes him to think he's just a big baby. Soon after, Tommy decides he misses Stu as his dad, and "Stewie" agrees to go up on the roof and "fight the duck." He does, and falls off, waking up as his "normal" self and being confused as to why he's holding a rattle.

* A very short-term example in ''Film/TheIncredibles''. The out-of-shape Mr. I hurts his back while laughing about his easy defeat of the first [=OmniDroid=]. When it immediately comes back for round two, he can't fight properly, and it grabs him and tries to pull him in half. Instead it ''fixes'' his back, at which point he [[CurbStompBattle curbstomps the thing]].
* ''Film/RugratsGoWild''. [[WesternAnimation/TheWildThornberrys Nigel Thornberry]] falls on his head and regresses to believing he's three years old. Later, when chaos ensues inside a small sub, a subsequent whack to the head restores his memory.

* PlayedWith on ''Series/CornerGas'': Local cop Davis had no sense of smell because he got hit in the back of the head with a ball when he was young. When he falls off a ladder and hits the back of his head, he regains his sense of smell, but soon finds it overwhelming and wants to go back to lacking it. Oscar asks him how he lost it, then tells him, "Okay, then what you need to do is get hit in the head with a ball again." Davis lampshades the absurdity of this with, "I don't think that will work. This isn't Gilligan's Island". Oscar tries to hit Davis with a ball anyway, but misses and hits Brent instead, causing him to go deaf in one ear.

There are many debilitating conditions that make for interesting narratives. Amnesia, paralysis, blindness, can all be used to give a character a new perspective, humility, or a lesson, or they can be used to drive the plot in interesting new directions. However, most of these are permanent, or very long-term, which causes problems for authors who want to use them in shows where StatusQuoIsGod. So how do you show one of your characters what it's like to be quadriplegic without having them in a weelchair for the entire remainder of the show? Easy: A freak repeat of the exact same injury that caused the condition will somehow cure it.

* Aang in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' is injured in the finale of season two, and unable to enter the avatar state. In the season three finale, he runs into a rock directly on the spot he was injured, unlocking his avatar state again.

This is especially popular with EasyAmnesia, where an accidental bonk on the head in the beginning of an episode will be reversed by an accidental (or intentional for the GenreSavvy characters) bonk on the head later.

* PlayedWith on ''Series/CornerGas'': Local cop Davis had no sense of smell because he got hit in the back of the head with a ball when he was young. When he falls off a ladder and hits the back of his head, he regains his sense of smell, but soon finds it overwhelming and wants to go back to lacking it. Oscar asks him how he lost it, then tells him, "Okay, then what you need to do is get hit in the head with a ball again." Davis lampshades the absurdity of this with, "I don't think that will work. This isn't Gilligan's Island".

* Tireseus, the blind seer of GreekMythology. Before being blinded, he was turned into a woman when he saw two snakes having sex. He was told by the Oracle that he would remain a woman until he saw the same two snakes having sex. He eventually did and was turned back into a man.

There are many debilitating conditions that make for interesting narratives. Amnesia, paralysis, blindness, can all be used to give a character a new perspective, humility, or a lesson, or they can be used to drive the plot in interesting new directions. However, most of these are permanent, or very long-term, which causes problems for authors who want to use them in shows where StatusQuoIsGod. So how do you show one of your characters what it\'s like to be quadriplegic without having them in a weelchair for the entire remainder of the show? Easy: A freak repeat of the exact same injury that caused the condition will somehow cure it.

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* ''Literature/TheKeysToTheKingdom''. In ''Grim Tuesday,'' Arthur broke his leg and used his residual power from the First Key to heal it, but the bones set all wrong and Dame Primus had to re-break it so he could get it properly attended to back on Earth, with a nice little nano-enhanced cast (TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, remember.)

* A very short-term example in ''Film/TheIncredibles''. The out-of-shape Mr. I hurts his back while laughing about his easy defeat of the first [=OmniDroid=]. When it immediately comes back for round two, he can\'t fight properly, and it grabs him and tries to pull him in half. Instead it ''fixes'' his back, at which point he [[CurbStompBattle curbstomps the thing]].

* ''Film/RugratsGoWild''. [[WesternAnimation/TheWildThornberrys Nigel Thornberry]] falls on his head and regresses to believing he's three years old. Later, when chaos ensues inside a small sub, a subsequent whack to the head restores his memory.

* The first \'\'Film/TheAddamsFamily\'\' movie has Uncle Fester\'s amnesia he got from the Bermuda Triangle cured by a lightning storm from one of the enchanted books in their library.
* A very short-term example in \'\'Film/TheIncredibles\'\'. The out-of-shape Mr. I hurts his back while laughing about his easy defeat of the first [=OmniDroid=]. When it immediately comes back for round two, he can\'t fight properly, and it grabs him and tries to pull him in half. Instead it \'\'fixes\'\' his back, at which point he [[CurbStompBattle curbstomps the thing]].
* Subverted in the 2004 short film, \'\'Fluent Dysphasia\'\'. A guy gets hit on the head, and wakes up speaking fluent Gaelic, and can no longer understand English. His friend tries to knock him back to normal by hitting him on the head again with the proverbial frying pan, [[spoiler:but he wakes up speaking fluent FRENCH.]]

* \'\'Literature/TheKeysToTheKingdom\'\'. In \'\'Grim Tuesday,\'\' Arthur broke his leg and used his residual power from the First Key to heal it, but the bones set all wrong and Dame Primus had to re-break it so he could get it properly attended to back on Earth, with a nice little nano-enhanced cast (TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, remember.)

* \'\'Series/JohnDoe\'\'. The title character had his universal knowledge erased by lightning in the beginning of one episode, only to have it returned by getting electrocuted later in the episode.
* In one episode of \'\'Series/TheMunsters\'\', Herman gets struck by lightning and is turned into a regular human being. After all of Grampa\'s magic fails to return him, he gets struck by lightning again and is back to his old self again.
* One \'\'Series/AddamsFamily\'\' episode centers around this, after Gomez gets amnesia from being hit on the head with a juggling club. One person hits him and fixes him, another person thinks he\'s still out of it and brings the amnesia back by hitting him \'\'again\'\', and so on.
* Inversion from \'\'Series/{{Soap}}\'\'. Chester has amnesia due to brain surgery gone somewhat wrong. He gets a bonk on the head and remembers his life, but then very quickly gets another bonk and forgets everything again.
* In one episode of \'\'Series/FatherTed\'\', Mrs Doyle falls down the stairs and hurts her back, leading to trouble walking, a hunched posture, and inability to do most of her usual work. Ted tries to help (against her violent protests) but just makes it work. At the end of the episode, she trips on the same toy as before, falls down the stairs again, and is cured.
* PlayedWith on \'\'Series/CornerGas\'\': Local cop Davis had no sense of smell because he got hit in the back of the head with a ball when he was young. When he falls off a ladder and hits the back of his head, he regains his sense of smell, but soon finds it overwhelming and wants to go back to lacking it. Oscar asks him how he lost it, then tells him, \"Okay, then what you need to do is get hit in the head with a ball again.\" Davis lampshades the absurdity of this with, \"I don\'t think that will work. This isn\'t Gilligan\'s Island\".

* In \'\'WesternAnimation/AmericanDad\'\' Stan was paralyzed by being shot, and after hijinks and character development he was shot again, and his paralysis was cured.
* In an early episode of \'\'WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones\'\', Fred gets hit in the head with a bottle. When he comes to, he becomes a \"formal\" personality who insists on being called \"Frederick\", but who ends up of being a bit too sickeningly sweet. Eventually, Wilma and the others decide WeWantOurJerkBack, so he is hit in the head again.
* \'\'Film/RugratsGoWild\'\'. [[WesternAnimation/TheWildThornberrys Nigel Thornberry]] falls on his head and regresses to believing he\'s three years old. Later, when chaos ensues inside a small sub, a subsequent whack to the head restores his memory.
* Played with in \'\'WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants\'\'. Squidward gets hit in the face by a door, and the resulting alteration to his bone structure causes him to become ridiculously handsome, so much as to attract copious amounts of attention from both [[EvenTheGuysWantHim men and women.]] After becoming overwhelmed with his newfound status, he attempts to become normal again, getting hit in the face with the same door several times again. This just makes him even \'\'more\'\' beautiful, however, only going back to normal after getting hit in the face with a pole after running to avoid a falling [[BrickJoke shoe]].
* On one \'\'WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry\'\' cartoon, Tom gets a TapOnTheHead and thinks he\'s a mouse. Jerry tries to get Tom hit again to return him to normal, and eventually succeeds. Unfortunately, Mammy has the same idea, and Tom is back as a mouse for the IrisOut.
* Reversed for comic effect in \'\'WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy\'\'. Joe Swanson, who is paraplegic, gets the use of his legs back when someone skies over his legs. He then jumps up and yells \"I can walk again!\" [[StatusQuoIsGod only for someone else to run into him and cripple him just as he was before.]]
* Aang in \'\'WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender\'\' is injured in the finale of season two, and unable to enter the avatar state. In the season three finale, he runs into a rock directly on the spot he was injured, unlocking his avatar state again.