History Main / PuttingOnMyThinkingCap

A character has something they do as an aid to thinking. Crosses into BunnyEarsLawyer territory if it's something really bizarre.

** While Nodoka is already a pretty good {{Mahjong}} player, she becomes absolutely phenomenal when she's hugging her penguin plushie, capable of figuring out plays that would bring about the highest efficiency at once. Almost, she's great when she's playing at home online, so hugging her plushy puts her in the same mindset.

** In a related ritual, Scrooge [=McDuck=] in ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales'' would retreat to a private room to pace around a stylized statue of "The Thinker"; he's done it so many times that the ground around the statue has recessed into a deep pit.

* William Barfée from the ''Theatre/The25thAnnualPutnamCountySpellingBee'' is noted for spelling out the words on the floor with his foot before saying them aloud. He sings a song about it.

* TomTerrific uses an oversized funnel as a thinking cap. After he goes through some weird motions thinking, a plume of smoke emerges from the funnel's spout when he gets an idea.

* The sentient dinosaurs of ''{{Dinotopia}}'' can think best when they move their feet, due to their original technique of writing via leaving footprints in the sand. Because of this, reading machines for dinosaurs are treadmills which move the scroll the user wants to read.

--> '''Ed''': *holds a tree root over his head, the root is still lodged in a clod of earth* BOING! It's a light bulb!

* Parodied in ''KamikazeKaitouJeanne''

* ''TheRenAndStimpyShow'': "I'd better put on my patented Stuponetron helmet."

* Golden Age Creator/DCComics supervillain the Thinker had a "thinking cap" that not only boosted his intelligence, but allowed him to perform other effects such as minor mind control and telekinesis, DependingOnTheWriter. Post-Crisis, he died and his malevolent personality moved into the helmet, magnifying the negative personality traits of anyone else who wore it.

See also CongruentMemory and ThinkingTic. Can be a specific [[CharacterTics character tic]].

* Yue in ''MahouSenseiNegima'' seems to have the most going on in her head when she's calmly sipping an odd drink of some kind with a slightly blank look in her eyes. Although in dangerous situations where she has to think on her feet, she doesn't do anything in particular.

It was revived in a later comic, where he explained that he had indeed put it into storage, the reason for it was that the ideas that it gave were too random to be of much use. It's also shown that it works just as well on anyone else, and naturally DonaldDuck "borrowed" it while Gyro wasn't present to try to solve his usual money problems by coming up with some sort of a revolutionary new idea he could sell and patent. Naturally, this being [[BornUnlucky Donald]], there's only one possible outcome...[[spoiler:which results in Gyro having to save him by using the cap himself, causing him to come up with a mathematical formula that can be used to predict any future event with 100% accuracy. While he did write it down, the cleaner lady that he had hired in the beginning of the story [[StatusQuoIsGod ended up wiping the board he had written it on clean while he was away]]]]

* ''AFewGoodMen'': Tom Cruise's character -- "Where's my bat? I think better with my bat." And later that scene, "He does think better with his bat."

* ''SherlockHolmes'' had a number of these, including smoking (in "The Red-Headed League", he explicitly rates the difficulty of a problem by how many pipefuls of tobacco he expects to get through before reaching a solution) and playing the violin.

* Violet from ''ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' will tie her hair up in a ribbon when she is concentrating on something.

* ''{{Scrubs}}'': Dr. Cox holds his hands behind his head or on top of his head when thinking or frustrated.

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': Calvin once built a [[LiteralMetaphor literal]] thinking cap out of one of his ubiquitous cardboard boxes, some thread, and a colander.

* William Barfée from the ''Theatre/{{The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee}}'' is noted for spelling out the words on the floor with his foot before saying them aloud. He sings a song about it.

* ''VideoGame/TheSims2'' has an actual Thinking Cap, a baseball hat with a light bulb. Wearing it will make you learn skills and complete intellectual activities ''very fast''. [[YesButWhatDoesZataproximetacineDO Side effects may include falling unconscious, losing previously obtained skill points, ending up with the cap welded to your head, and fulfilling one or more Fears. Consult your aspiration meter before use]].
* In the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series, most hats give a bonus to Perception. Perception governs skills like Energy Weapons, Explosives and Lockpicking. So if there's a puzzle involving lasers, bombs and tumblers, you might well need a thinking cap. [[BoozeBasedBuff Or Absinthe]].

* In Fleischer Studios' ''Betty Boop'' shorts, Grampy has a literal thinking cap, essentially a mortarboard with a blinking {{Idea Bulb}}.
* Ed of ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' once tried to think whilst putting the tips of his thumb and forefinger together as though he was trying to literally grasp an idea. Another time when Eddy tells Ed to think (about a matchs problem) Ed stands absolutely motionless for a whole day and night, his pose so unbreakable his pals resort to sleeping in the crook of his arm till the following morning. These aren't so much habits as they are humorous.

* In his silent cartoons, ''FelixTheCat'' paced back and forth with his hands clasped behind his back.

* In ''TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutron'', Jimmy has his "Think, think, think!" bit. Then it shows us his brain and a few tidbits from earlier (in case you forgot them) that usually help him solve...whatever.\\

* ''TheSims2'' has an actual Thinking Cap, a baseball hat with a light bulb. Wearing it will make you learn skills and complete intellectual activities ''very fast''. [[YesButWhatDoesZataproximetacineDO Side effects may include falling unconscious, losing previously obtained skill points, ending up with the cap welded to your head, and fulfilling one or more Fears. Consult your aspiration meter before use]].

* ''{{Tales Of Xillia}}'': [[BadassGrandpa Rowen]] starts to StrokeTheBeard while [[CombatMedic Jude]] tilts his head while a finger hovers over his temple.

See also CongruentMemory. Can be a specific [[CharacterTics character tic]].

* Whenever [[CelticMythology Fionn MacCumhaill]] sucked his thumb, he got access to great wisdom (though this was the result of him attempting to soothe a burn on his thumb from the Salmon of Wisdom as a child).

* BugsBunny puts on his thinking cap to get an idea to rid the island of Japanese Soldiers in the wartime Merrie Melodie cartoon, 'Bugs Bunny [[YellowPeril Nips the Nips]]'.

In a Jimmy Neutron/ FairlyOddParents crossover, Timmy Turner attempts to do this, only to give up half-way with a tired "[[AttentionDeficitOohShiny Okay, bored now]]".

* ''FamilyGuy'': Peter Griffin has his Thinking Grenades.

* ''CalvinAndHobbes'': Calvin once built a [[LiteralMetaphor literal]] thinking cap out of one of his ubiquitous cardboard boxes, some thread, and a colander.
* ''FoxTrot'': Jason wore an "external brain" (a cap resembling the surface of a brain) while helping Paige with her homework. However, it's pretty clear that he was just doing it to jerk her chain.

* ''DungeonsAndDragons'' has the Headband of Intellect.

* William Barfée from the ''{{The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee}}'' is noted for spelling out the words on the floor with his foot before saying them aloud. He sings a song about it.
* Lucky in WaitingForGodot.

* [[FantasticFour Reed Richards]] has been known to stretch into a ball inside a gravity-free sensory deprivation tank when he needs to solve a particularly difficult problem. Like human nature or entropy.

* ''ComicStrip/LeonardLeGenie'' has a number of gadgets to help him concentrate. They usually involve strong coffee, or holding him upside down to improve the blood flow to his brain.

* ''LeonardLeGenie'' has a number of gadgets to help him concentrate. They usually involve strong coffee, or holding him upside down to improve the blood flow to his brain.

* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'': The Sorting Hat described himself as a thinking cap.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': Professor Farnsworth has the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCZbb85R0B0 Chamber of Understanding]].

* [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} Professor Farnsworth]] has the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCZbb85R0B0 Chamber of Understanding]].

* Likewise, ErastFandorin has his jade rosary beads to help his deductions along. They are so prominent, they even got their own origin story in a short story collection (that was named after them).

* ''AceAttorney'': All playable characters in the series have their own thinking pose.