History Main / StupidityInducingAttack

* In ''[[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Victory Gundam]]'', the [[DoomsdayDevice Angel Halo]] is designed to fire a permanent StupidityInducingAttack at ''the entire population of Earth''. Definitely ''[[HighOctaneNightmareFuel not]]'' PlayedForLaughs, though the necessity of '[[InherentlyFunnyWords psychickens]]' may make one wonder...

This trope can take many forms. It can be temporary or permanent. It can be achieved through magic, surgery, or weaponised PhlebotinumInducedStupidity. It can have any number of degrees of severity, ranging from simply taking the edge off the victim's reasoning to full-on infantilisation or even reducing them to a drooling vegetable. Finally, depending on the work's tone, it can either be PlayedForLaughs or be a potent source of HighOctaneNightmareFuel (or perhaps something between the two, like AccidentalNightmareFuel or FridgeHorror).

* One SuperMarioBros story from ValientComics involved a new weapon from King Koopa- the Stoopid Bomb, an hair-trigger explosive that can make anyone (Except King Toadstool) mind-numbingly dumb. There's also the Smart Bomb developed to counter the Stoopid Bomb's effects, though they all get used up on one Snifit. By the end of the story, everyone, including Koopa's army, are rendered idiots, and the now-genius snifit's attempts to take over are ignored.

* In one ''KimPossible'' episode, Drakken uses "Silly Hats" to avenge himself on the members of the Cerebellum Ultra-Smart Super Genius Thinking Society for not letting him join.

* This is how the [[WebComic/EightBitTheater Light Warriors]] planned to defeat [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2010/01/29/episode-1215-so-stupid-its-brilliant/ Chaos.]]

* This is how the [[EightBitTheater Light Warriors]] planned to defeat [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2010/01/29/episode-1215-so-stupid-its-brilliant/ Chaos.]]

* In ''{{Portal 2}}'', Wheatley is a Moron Sphere who was created as part of [=GLaDOS's=] AI, to prevent her from killing everyone in the facility by giving her a constant stream of terrible ideas.

* In ''VictoryGundam'', the [[DoomsdayDevice Angel Halo]] is designed to fire a permanent StupidityInducingAttack at ''the entire population of Earth''. Definitely ''[[HighOctaneNightmareFuel not]]'' PlayedForLaughs, though the necessity of '[[InherentlyFunnyWords psychickens]]' may make one wonder...

* In ''{{Futurama}}'', an invading alien race of brains can sap intelligence away by their presence, which makes it easier to assimilate knowledge and destroy planets.

** [[TooDumbToFool Doesn't work on Bullwinkle, though.]]

* in the LiloAndStitch cartoon series, Jumba reveals that one of his earlier experiments had quills that contained a venom which reduces anybody's intelligence to 1% of it's original functionality.

* MagicTheGathering has [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=188962 Nemesis of Reason]] whose attack causes you to discard 1/6 of your deck, representative of your mind/knowledge/power. When you have no more cards in your deck, you lose.

** [[TooStupidToFool Doesn't work on Bullwinkle, though.]]

This trope can take many forms. It can be temporary or permanent. It can be achieved through magic, surgery, or weaponised PhlebotinumInducedStupidity. It can have any number of degrees of severity, ranging from simply taking the edge off the victim's reasoning to full-on infantilisation or even reducing them to a drooling vegetable. Finally, depending on the work's tone, it can either be PlayedForLaughs or be a potent source of NightmareFuel ([[HighOctaneNightmareFuel High Octane]] or otherwise).

In short, a weaponised IdiotBall.

* During the fight with Pana of Giga's Six Cyber Knights in [[BoBoBoBoBoBoBo Bobobo]], Poppa Rocks/Don Patch summons a literal idiot ball in retaliation against Pana's Psycho Balls. Later on against Poet, he stabs a spike into Poet which injects the latter with a fluid that makes Poet think just like Poppa Rocks, and given how Poppa ROcks (Hell, just about any of the fighter on the good side) think, this [[{{Understatement}} doesn't really go well for Poet in regards to his techniques]].

* [[TheMessiah John Coffey]] does this to Percival in ''TheGreenMile'', not through evil intentions but to remove the threat to his friends, resulting in the guard ending up in an insane asylum.

* In ''VictoryGundam'', the [[DoomsdayDevice Angel Halo]] is designed to fire a permanent IdiotCannonball at ''the entire population of Earth''. Definitely ''[[HighOctaneNightmareFuel not]]'' PlayedForLaughs, though the necessity of '[[InherentlyFunnyWords psychickens]]' may make one wonder...

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* Common in erotic fiction, where the process, often referred to as 'bimbofication', tends to be treated as a good thing by both its users and [[HappinessInSlavery its victims]].

An IdiotCannonball also has a variety of uses. It can be a means of control, a way to neutralise a troublesome GuileHero or {{Chessmaster}}, or even a particularly sadistic torture method or FateWorseThanDeath (especially if [[AndIMustScream the victim's aware of what's happening to them]]). Some characters, in fact, use it to boost their own knowledge and intellect via a form of VampiricDraining, though this is not strictly necessary to the trope. Whatever the case, though, removing some IQ points from the target must be a deliberate purpose of the attack, not just a side-effect.

[[redirect:IdiotCannonball]]