History Main / MatryoshkaObject

* As mentioned in the webcomics section, the [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Matrioshka or Matryoshka]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrioshka_brain Brain]], a hypothetical object consisting of [[DysonSphere nested Dyson Spheres]]. The innermost layer takes in energy from the star and runs a massive computer system, with the next layer absorbing the waste heat from the inner layer to run its own systems and repeated for however many layers are built. Perhaps one of the most triumphant examples of JustForFun/AbusingTheKardashevScaleForFunAndProfit.

* ''VideoGame/{{Stacking}}'' takes place in a world of Matryoshka dolls, so this counts for everyone in it.

* One of the enemies in ''VideoGame/AlienHominid'' is a bunch of robotic Russian Doll {{bears|AreBadNews}} that fight you partway through the boss.
* Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum from ''VideoGame/AmericanMcGeesAlice'' can open up and spawn smaller, weaker copies of themselves.
* Some treasure chests in ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' games are like this, and the inner chests are inexplicably the exact same size as their containers.

* In ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'', [[spoiler:the manifested Dragon Stream]] is one of these. It's a segmented "dragon" made up of heads linked by NestedMouths. [[spoiler:When you beat Mizar, it ends up swallowing Mizar along with every head in the chain until the last is left.]]

* ''Videogame/StarRuler'' allows people to [[DesignItYourselfEquipment design their own starships, then adjust the ship size]], from smaller than a Coke can to [[PlanetSpaceship larger than the galaxy]]. It's possible to build a size 2000 carrier which has docking space for a size 1500 carrier, then a 1000, then a 500, et cetera. With Quantum Compressors, the trope can be {{Inverted}} - it's possible to build a ship with a [[BiggerOnTheInside storage space larger than the ship itself]], allowing ships [[ClownCar to vomit out progressively larger ships]].
* The Mammoshka boss in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam''. It's a mammoth like creature inside a whole horde of mammoth like shells each slightly bigger than the one inside it. The actual creature even turns out to be less than half the size of the thing you start out facing!
* ''{{VideoGame/Ultima}}'' makes this a signature of [[BigBad the Guardian's]] magic constructs, with nearly all of them being hollow geometric objects containing a smaller copy of themselves inside.
* In ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'', it's possible to open a chest only to find another, smaller chest inside of it. This can potentially happen multiple times in a row, leading to smaller and smaller chests.
* The Battling Blowfish in ''[[VideoGame/StreetpassMiiPlaza Mii Force]]'' is a giant pufferfish robot. After you break it's blue outer shell, it reveals a smaller, red one, after that there is still a yellow one inside.
* You can get a couple of them to decorate your home with in ''{{VideoGame/AnimalCrossing}}: New Leaf''. Gulliver will give you a traditional, 3-piece set as a souvenir if he asks you trivia about Russia, and if you build an anatomically satisfactory [[{{Snowlems}} snowman]], it may thank you by sending you a 4-piece snowman family set in the mail. Both can be opened out in a row or tucked back away by touching them.
* In ''VideoGame/JumpStartKindergarten'', there's a game where you can interact with the matryoshka dolls.
* ''{{VideoGame/Subnautica}}'': the [[CoolBoat Cyclops]] is a submarine which contains a small docking bay suitable for storing either a Seamoth (a smaller submarine) or a PRAWN Suit (a MiniMecha). Both of these mount small storage compartments in which the player might choose to stash a Seaglide (a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diver_propulsion_vehicle DPV]], thus allowing the player to put a vehicle inside a vehicle inside a vehicle.
* ''VideoGame/YouDontKnowJack'': The intro to the "Elephant, Mustard, Teddy Roosevelt, or Dracula?" questions on the Facebook version of the game include matryoshka dolls of an elephant, a bottle of mustard, Theodore Roosevelt, and Count Dracula. In ''VideoGame/TheJackboxPartyPack'', similar intros accompany the "Kangaroo, Peanut, Albert Einstein, or Uranus?" questions from ''YDKJ 2015'' and the "Octopus, Coffee, Queen Elizabeth, or Frankenstein?" questions from ''YDKJ Full Stream''.
* ''VideoGame/TitanicAdventureOutOfTime'': To recover Georgia's real diamond necklace, you must get into Sacha's cabin, figure out the combination to his safe, and take out a Matryoshka doll which is the necklace's hiding place.

* ''Literature/TheCatInTheHat'': The Cat has Little Cat A under his hat, who has Little Cat B under its hat and so forth. [[spoiler:Underneath Cat Z's hat is the "Voom", which unleashes some kind of RealityBreakingParadox effect only for when the GodzillaThreshold has been reached (in the case, cleaning up the yard)]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry''

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MenInBlack'' cartoon, there was a [[LittleGreenManInACan race of miniscule Greys who piloted]] {{Mobile Suit Human}}s to blend in with humanity, called the Arquillians. There was another race called the microcephalopods, who used arquillian mobile suits to bodyjack the arquillians human mobile suits!

* In one episode of ''Series/{{Castle}}'', Castle and Beckett have to check Eastern European shops to try to find a candy bar the victim had (so that they can hopefully identify her). Beckett tells the captain Castle "had to buy something in every shop!" He's then seen showing off a set of new nesting dolls, gleefully explaining that they defy the laws of physics because "Just when you think there can't be another one..."

* By definition, baby mammals are smaller versions of their parents.
** Marsupials bring up the analogy to perfection.
*** Aphids. The females are actually ''born pregnant''. A {{Squick}} factor emerged when zoologists figured out ''how''. [[note]] In many related species, the males never actually get "born" and carry on squatting inside their mothers, waiting for their sisters to mature, and... well. [[/note]]

* A common prank/trick at Christmas is to wrap a special item within multiple layers of boxes.
** This is also the basis of the game "Pass the Parcel" -- a prize is hidden within multiple layers of packaging and is passed around while music plays. When the music stops, whoever's holding the parcel gets to remove one layer.

* In the fifth season of ''Series/TheMaskedSinger'', a pair of singers has this as their costumes. As commented in the promo for the season: "They multiplied!? Could there be more?"

In Russia, Matryoshka Dolls are commonly used as a visual motif for motherhood and fertility. In fiction, these types of objects can symbolize a character's nested identities or society's hierarchies.

** In "WesternAnimation/TheYankeeDoodleMouse", Tom is cornered by a large firecracker. Instead of blowing up, it breaks apart to reveal a smaller firecracker, which then reveals a smaller firecracker, and so on until all that is left is a tiny firecracker. Tom holds it in his hand and places it on his nose, and then it goes off with a huge explosion.
** A similar gag happens in "WesternAnimation/SafetySecond" except that Tom holds up the firework instead of placing it on his nose.

** In "WesternAnimation/SafetySecond", Tom is cornered by a large firecracker. Instead of blowing up, it breaks apart to reveal a smaller firecracker, which then reveals a smaller firecracker, and so on until all that is left is a tiny firecracker. Tom holds it in his hand and places it on his nose, and then it goes off with a huge explosion.
** A similar gag happens in "WesternAnimation/TheYankeeDoodleMouse" except that Tom holds up the firework instead of placing it on his nose.

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' of Creator/AAPessimal, Rebecka Smith-Rhodes is a young Witch whose first mentors in the Craft were [[UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} Rodinian]]. A Rodinian witch with a more mystical streak uses the nested Matryoshka dolls to explain how it works: each successive layer in the doll represents another witch in the chain and you can go as far back as you like. She looks at Bekki and with each successive doll, speaks the name of a Witch. Bekki understands as she gets to the familiar name of Irena Politek, then opens the doll and brings out the whole and unbreakable smallest doll inside it. The witch names this as "Rebecka Yohannovna". Then the seemingly solid Bekki-object seperates in two and this reveals an even smaller doll inside - but just a shape in silver light. The mystic then tells Bekki "Who knows, Firebird?" and ends the illusion.

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' of Creator/AAPessimal, Rebecka Smith-Rhodes is a young Witch whose first mentors in the Craft were [[UsefulNotes/{{Russia}} Rodinian]]. A Rodinian witch with a more mystical streak uses the nested Matryoshka dolls to explain how it works: each successive layer in the doll represents another witch in the chain and you can go as far back as you like. She looks at Bekki and with each successive doll, speaks the name of a Witch. Bekki understands as she gets to the familiar name of Irena Politek, then opens the doll and brings out the whole and unbreakable smallest doll inside it. The witch names this as "Rebecka Yohannavitchnya". Then the seemingly solid Bekki-object seperates in two and this reveals an even smaller doll inside - but just a shape in silver light. The mystic then tells Bekki "Who knows, Firebird?" and ends the illusion.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' episode "Mom & Jerry", Dexter ([[FreakyFridayFlip in the body of a mouse]]) hides from his mother inside a nesting doll. ...except he isn't the smallest doll and his mom actually ''[[LosingYourHead removes his head]]'' to inspect the smallest of the nesting dolls. He puts his head back on and sneaks away while she's distracted. [[MST3KMantra Perhaps it's best not to think too much about how Dexter pulled that off, boy genius or not]].

* ''Literature/ToyTerrorBatteriesNotIncluded'' has a child-sized KillerRobot called the Annihilator 3000, where upon being smashed by a golf club, breaks apart... only to reveal two smaller robots inside, two Annihilator 1500s. Turns out one of them (the one occupying the 3000's head-space) is evil and programmed to KillAllHumans, while the other is good.

** In "Safety Second", Tom is cornered by a large firecracker. Instead of blowing up, it breaks apart to reveal a smaller firecracker, which then reveals a smaller firecracker, and so on until all that is left is a tiny firecracker. Tom holds it in his hand and places it on his nose, and then it goes off with a huge explosion.

* 'Website/SCPFoundation'':

* 'Wiki/SCPFoundation'':

*** Aphids. The females are actually ''born pregnant''.

* In ''VideoGame/JumpStart'' ''Kindergarten'', there's a game where you can interact with the matryoshka dolls.