History Main / ChildhoodBrainDamage

* In ''DragonBallZ'', it's stated that the reason why Goku doesn't share the violent nature of Saiyans is that he received a blow to the head while he was a baby. It's also why he's a bit of a simpleton.

A explanation for a character's eccentricity, ditziness, lack of intelligence, brashness, etc is for them (or others) to harm his head as a infant or a child. A possible cause of this trope could be that they were accidentally dropped by their AlcoholicParent, who had a little too much to drink. In some cases, they were actually pretty intelligent before the incident happened. One variation of this trope is that the character's mental deficiencies are not from a head injury but by them ingesting something harmful and toxic such as paint chips [[OneDropWillKillTheBaby or alcohol]]. Another is that the brain damage was due to the character being deprived of something that's essential or substantial to having a relatively healthy body.

* The outdoor humorist PatrickMcManus has written about an incident in his childhood where he managed to fall out a speeding bus and land on his head. One friend he told this story to said that it "explained so much!"

* A flashback in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' explains Elan being TheDitz as a result of his brother [[EvilTwin Nale]] continually DopeSlap-ing him when they were babies.

Related to PhlebotinumInducedStupidity, as this trope has a more realistic take on how the character lost some of their intelligence. Not to be confused with DroppedABridgeOnHim.

A explanation for a character's eccentricity, ditziness, lack of intelligence, brashness, etc is for them (or others) to harm his head as a infant or a child. A possible cause of this trope could be that they were accidentally dropped by their AlcoholicParent, who had a little too much to drink. In some cases, they were actually pretty intelligent before the incident happened. One variation of this trope is that the character's mental deficiencies are not from a head injury but by them ingesting something harmful and toxic such as paint chips or alcohol. Another is that the brain damage was due to the character being deprived of something that's essential or substantial to having a relatively healthy body.

* In ''Literature/TheGrapesOfWrath'', Pa Joad blames himself for his son Noah's slowness as he delivered him with forceps which injured his head.

[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomics/OrderOfTheStick http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SoftUnderdevelopedSkull_8349.png]]]]

* In {{Film/Bio-Dome}}, there's a scene where one of the dumbasses' mothers is holding the other's head under water to teach them how to hold their breath for long periods of time.

* ''{{Horns}}'': [[spoiler:It is heavily implied to be the reason why Lee Tourneau is a remorseless psychopath.]]

Related to PhlebotinumInducedStupidity, as this trope has a more realistic take on how the character lost some of their intelligence.

* In ''DragonBallZ'', it's stated that the reason why Goku doesn't share the violent nature of Saiyans is that he received a blow to the head while he was a baby.

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* A variation of the trope occurs with Martin Soap from ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'': We see the nurse dropping him on his head just after being born, but he doesn't end up with any mental handicap for it (it's just there to show the crap life shoves on him started very early and never let up).

* ''Horns'': [[spoiler:It is heavily implied to be the reason why Lee Tourneau is a remorseless psychopath.]]

* SlightlyDamned: Buwaro's frequent blows to the head (fail rock catches) might go some way to explain his lack of intelligence, but there are factors, such as damaged to his egg before birth and being left alone for long periods of time.

* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheatre'': Black Mage asks [[GeniusDitz Fighter]] whether he was dropped on his head a lot as a child, to which Fighter answers, "Maybe..." This is immediately followed by a flashback to Fighter's childhood, with young Fighter exclaiming how happy he is to have power lines in his back yard and plenty of paint chips to eat.

A explanation for a character's eccentricity, ditziness, lack of intelligence, brashness, etc is for them (or others) to harm his head or as infant or child. A possible cause of this trope could be that they were accidentally dropped by their AlcoholicParent, who had a little too much to drink. In some cases, they were actually pretty intelligent before the incident happened. One variation of this trope is that the character's mental deficiencies are not from a head injury but by them ingesting something harmful and toxic such as paint chips or alcohol. Another is that the brain damage was due to the character being deprived of something that's essential or substantial to having a relatively healthy body.

A explanation for a character's eccentricity, ditziness, lack of intelligence, brashness, etc is for him (or others) to harm his head or as infant or child. A possible cause of this trope could be that they were accidentally dropped by their AlcoholicParent, who had a little too much to drink. In some cases, they were actually pretty intelligent before the incident happened. One variation of this trope is that the character's mental deficiencies are not from a head injury but by them ingesting something harmful and toxic such as paint chips or alcohol. Another is that the brain damage was due to the character being deprived of something that's essential or substantial to having a relatively healthy body.

Examples:

* ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'': had a flashback in which Kelly (TheDitz) was shown to be very intelligent as a young girl, until she hit her head during a car ride.

* In ''Film/TheGoonies'', it's implied that Sloth's deformity was caused by being dropped as a baby. When Ma Fratelli tries to calm him down by singing "Rock-a-bye Baby", Sloth reacts to the line "tbe baby will fall" as if it has unearthed RepressedMemories, precipitating his HeelFaceTurn.

A explanation for a character's eccentricity, ditziness, lack of intelligence, brashness, etc is for them (or others) to harm their head or as infant or child. A possible cause of this trope could be that they were accidentally dropped by their AlcoholicParent, who had a little too much to drink. In some cases, they were actually pretty intelligent before the incident happened. One variation of this trope is that the character's mental deficiencies are not from a head injury but by them ingesting something harmful and toxic such as paint chips or alcohol. Another is that the brain damage was due to the character being deprived of something that's essential or substantial to having a relatively healthy body.

[[folder: Comic Books ]]
* A variation of the trope occurs with Martin Soap from ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'' : We see the nurse dropping him on his head just after being born, but he doesn't end up with any mental handicap for it (it's just there to show the crap life shoves on him started very early and never let up).

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]
* In ''Literature/BraveNewWorld'' it's rumoured that Bernard Marx's eccentricities are caused by there having been too much alcohol in his blood-surrogate while he was being [[DesignerBabies grown]].

* In ''Literature/TheElenium'', the main characters met a secondary, clearly handicapped characters who was hit on the head when young by a cow.

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* ''Webcomic/EightBitTheatre'': Black Mage asks [[GeniusDitz Fighter]] if he was dropped on his head a lot as a child, to which Fighter answers, "Maybe..." This is immediately followed by a flashback to Fighter's childhood, with young Fighter exclaiming how happy he is to have power lines in his back yard and plenty of paint chips to eat.

[[folder: Web Videos ]]
* ''TwoBestFriendsPlay:'' In one episode, Matt's being more of a ditz than usual, so Pat asks him if he ate paint as a child. Matt immediately answers, "You mean wall candy?"

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* On ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', Mordecai and Rigby travel back in time and meet young Pops, acting lucid and sane, unlike the CloudCuckoolander he is in the present. Later during a car chase, they hit Pops, who then starts giggling like present-day Pops.

* On ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' it is often suggested that Patrick's stupidity is the result of frequent head injuries. In "Squidward the Unfriendly Ghost", Patrick mentions that he knows a lot about head injuries, then spaces out mid sentence. In "Big Pink Loser", [=SpongeBob=] tries to discourage Patrick from mimicing him by hitting himself with a hammer, to which Patrick responds, "I've been doing this way before I started copying you."

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--> '''John:''' I know. That's why I didn't sew it in your hat.