History Main / ShrunkenOrgan

In WesternAnimation, {{Anime}}, and {{Comics}} it is common to sum up behavioral problems or character flaws as being the direct result of some greatly underdeveloped organ in a character's body. Maybe said character [[Literature/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas has a heart that is too small]] and thus cannot properly love or maybe their brain resembles the size of a golf ball and thus lacks normal intelligence. Of course, having an organ this small in RealLife would [[YouFailBiologyForever cause serious complications for most of these characters]], so this trope is very often PlayedForLaughs.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': In one episode Timmy swaps brains with an ordinary dog. His brain is noticably the smaller of the two.

[[caption-width-right:350:"An itty bitty one, but it ''is there!]]

[[quoteright:149:[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/peabrain2_117.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:149: This is your brain on [[WesternAnimation animation]].]]

* ''DragonHalf'' has a character undamaged by a sword through the head because his brain is "compact".

** Homer apparently has a significantly smaller than average brain[[note]]though maybe not as small as the page picture; that'd be unrealistic even for ''The Simpsons'', and it is not ([[DependingOnTheWriter (usually)]] the reason for Homer's stupidity.[[/note]]. This enables him to resist blows to the head more easily than normal people (also helps that he has a significantly thicker than average skull), which had great effect in his brief career as a professional boxer.

** Homer apparently has a significantly smaller than average brain[[note]]though maybe not as small as the page picture; that'd be unrealistic even for ''The Simpsons'', and it is known that the reason for Homer's stupidity is a crayon lodged in his brain since he was a young boy[[/note]]. This enables him to resist blows to the head more easily than normal people (also helps that he has a significantly thicker than average skull), which had great effect in his brief career as a professional boxer.

[[quoteright:149:[[TheSimpsons http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/peabrain2_117.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:149:[[WesternAnimation This is your brain on animation]].]]

->The Grinch hated Christmas -- the whole Christmas season.
->Oh, please don't ask why, no one quite knows the reason.
->It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight.
->Or maybe his head wasn't screwed on just right.
->But I think that the best reason of all
->May have been that his heart was two sizes too small."

* The Koala has a brain like this. Its brain used to fill the whole cranial cavity, but when it adapted to a diet of eucalyptus leaves (which are very low in nutrients), its brain shrank. It now resembles two shriveled walnut halves on top of the brain stem.

* ''TheAmazingColossalMan'': The eponymous character had a heart that didn't grow as fast as the rest of him, which led to him having constant chest pains. A scientist claimed this was because the [[YouFailBiologyForever human heart was one giant cell]].
* In ''OsmosisJones'', the kid who does the project on oyster filtration (which he just started the morning of the science fair) is mentioned by Ms. Boyd as having a brain the size of a tangerine.

* ''RenAndStimpy'': Stimpy's bean-sized brain [[WhoEvenNeedsABrain accidentally falls off when he leans down]]. Ren's cousin Sven marvels at how ''big'' it is, and then shows Stimpy his own, pinhead-sized brain.
* ''PinkyAndTheBrain'': In the TitleSequence, the two eponymous characters walk behind an X-ray machine. Brain's skull has meshing gears, while Pinky's has a peanut.
* ''TheSimpsons'': Mr. Burns' heart has been shown as a shriveled black lump that beats every now and again. Additionally, after crawling out from beneath a landslide, Mr. Burns tilted his head and banged his ear in hope of clearing out the gravel from his other ear. The gravel came flying out that ear, along with his walnut-sized brain.

*** If a HalloweenEpisode outtake is to believed, Homer has no brain. A demon went bowling with his head. His head cracked open and inside was a note "I.O.U. One Brain. Signed God."

* ''Oh No! It's an Alien Invasion'' has the Brainlings, a race of aliens with brains in jars on their heads. Most of them have brains that are small compared to humans', with their leader Emperor Brainlius -- the dumbest of them -- having the smallest. Brainlius' assistant Briiian has the largest brain -- larger than any human's -- and he's the smartest.

* ''Oh No! It's an Alien Invasion'' has the Brainlings, a race of aliens that have brains in jars on their heads. All of their brains are small compared to humans', but their leader Emperor Brainlius has the smallest and his assistant Briiian has the largest.

* The Koala has a brain like this. Its brain used to fill the whole cranial cavity, but when it adapted to a diet of eucalyptus leaves, its brain shrank. It now resembles two shriveled walnut halves on top of the brain stem.

* ''{{Planetary}}'': In one issue, a giant man is seen in one panel, dying from his sudden artificial growth. His autopsy revealed "a normal-sized brain hanging in a web of nerve tissues like cables in a skull several feet across."

* ''Just Say Julie'': In one episode, a supermodel's brain exploded out of her head (not fatally) when she tried to think too hard. It was the size of a wadded-up piece of chewing gum.

* In the {{BugsBunny}} cartoon "Buckaroo Bugs" his opponent Red Hot Rider an incredibly stupid cowboy is implied to have a very small brain, every time he gives an affirmative nod a small rattling sound is heard inside his head.

'''Genie'''[appears as a doctor]: Aha! You ''do'' have a heart!\\
[poofs up an X-ray over Iago revealing a tiny heart in his ribs]\\
'''Genie''': [-An itty bitty one.-], but it is there.

'''Genie''': [-An itty bitty one.-], but it is there."

* in ''Disney/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar'', the Genie tries to get Iago to make Al and Jasmine reconcile; one attempt is startling the parrot resulting in this exchange
-->'''Iago''': What're you tryin' to do, gimme a heart attack?\\

[poofs up an X-ray over iago revealing a tiny heart in his ribs]\\

-->-- ''Literature/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas'', DrSeuss

** Homer apparently has a significantly smaller than average brain. This enables him to resist blows to the head more easily than normal people, which had great effect in his brief career as a professional boxer.