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1[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/literal_knucklehead_350px.png]]]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:"[[DumbMuscle Knucklehead]]" can't get any more [[LiteralMetaphor literal]] than this.]]
3
4The head is one of the most important parts of the body. It contains the [[ThisIsYourBrainOnTropes brain]], [[EyeTropes eyes]], [[EarTropes ears]], [[NoseTropes nose]], and [[MouthfulOfIndex mouth]]; all vital organs for perception and aid in various [[SensoryIndex sensory]] functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste, respectively. Now imagine if in its place is a different body part... yet it [[InvisibleAnatomy retains]] some or all the features and functions of a regular head. That would be this trope.
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6[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephalization Cephalization]] or development of heads in animals is an evolutionary trend to concentrate the nervous system, sense organs, and feeding structures at a front end, but the [[HollywoodEvolution evolutionary process]] for the creatures with this trope either didn't see it fit to do so or just took an effort to be [[BizarreAlienBiology as weird as possible]].
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8AnimateBodyParts have a chance of becoming this if they gain a completely separate body but they may also go for being a {{Cephalothorax}} (so you can have another body part functioning as a head that is also a chest). Specifically, a creature with an eye as its ''entire'' "head-chest" is also an {{Oculothorax}} and those examples should go there.
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10For the trope to be played straight, the replacement organ must still serve its intended purpose in addition to being a head. A head that merely looks like another body part (like in the cases of some {{Eldritch Abomination}}s, {{Starfish Alien}}s, and {{Gonk}}s) is a subversion.
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12With or [[TheBlank without]] actual facial features, this may lead to NightmareFace if the body part in place of the head [[BodyHorror just feels wrong]]. It may overlap with MultipleHeadCase, if other body parts are also functioning as heads [[OrganAutonomy by their own right]], and other SpareBodyParts tropes, if a part replacing the head creates a surplus.
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14This is a sub-trope of NonHumanHead. Compare/contrast SkullForAHead, which is just a regular head but without the fleshy bits, and BrainMonster, when it doesn't have the bony bits (sometimes).
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16JustForFun/NotToBeConfusedWith PianoDrop, which is about a keyboard instrument similar to that ''other'' [[OminousPipeOrgan or]][[HolyPipeOrgan gan]] (not [[OrganDrops this one]]) falling overhead.
17----
18!!Examples:
19[[foldercontrol]]
20
21[[folder:Advertising]]
22* The [[https://www.neozep.com.ph/product-info Neozep]] brand of cold medicine from the Philippines has the "[[Radio/TheLoneRanger Ilong]] (Filipino for "[[PunnyName nose]]") [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgUTI4Hdsgs Ranger]]" as its {{Mascot}}.
23* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBPPfZCdqYo This Alka-Seltzer commercial]] from 1967 has a stomach, played by Creator/GeneWilder, as a Cephalothorax.
24* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2CkqikcUDs These Coke Zero commercials]] have two tongues, an eye, and a finger with non-human legs. On the other hand, the armed brain on a [[CoolBoard skateboard]] is a BrainMonster.
25[[/folder]]
26
27[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
28* ''Anime/UltimateMuscle'': Puripuriman has two large buttocks instead of a head and {{fart|illery}}ing is his BreathWeapon.
29* ''Anime/ButtDetective'': The titular character has a butt for a head, and he makes use of its skill set to help him solve crimes.
30[[/folder]]
31
32[[folder:Comic Books]]
33* ''ComicBook/InfinityWars2018'': Ulysses Klorb is a FusionDance of [[Comicbook/GhostRider Orb]] and [[ComicBook/BlackPanther Ulysses Klaw]]. Instead of being an {{Oculothorax}} like the former, he has a giant ear for a head, which is a situational {{irony}} for someone who has the latter's MakeSomeNoise.
34* Supers with strange heads are a fairly common sight in ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'', with the most notable example fitting this trope being Hand Cholo, whose head is a giant hand.
35[[/folder]]
36
37[[folder:Comic Strips]]
38* ''ComicStrip/ThePerryBibleFellowship'': "[[https://pbfcomics.com/comics/sweet-deal/ Sweet Deal]]" has people with teeth for heads and thus, can be [[TheToothHurts killed by excess sugar]].
39* In one ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' strip, a hillbilly sparks an interplanetary war by grabbing an alien captain by his hand-shaped head and shaking him around.
40[[/folder]]
41
42[[folder:Film - Live Action]]
43* The infamous ending of ''Film/{{Society}}'' features [[spoiler:[[BodyHorror the Shunt]], a Lovecraftian, cannibalistic orgy which involves the rich [[RubberMan twisting themselves]] into grotesque shapes. When the protagonist, Bill Whitney, attempts to escape being "[[CruelAndUnusualDeath shunted]]", his former therapist [[PsychoPsychologist Dr. Cleveland]] turns his head into a gigantic hand in order to scare him. Even Bill's adopted family gets in on this - after fleeing Cleveland, he finds his father turned into, well...]]
44--> [[spoiler:'''Jim Whitney''']]: [[spoiler:''"Well, son, I guess you're right. I am a [[VisualPun butthead]]!"'']]
45* ''Film/SpyKids'': The "Thumb-Thumbs" made by Floop are humanoid robots with their arms, legs, and head all giant thumbs.
46[[/folder]]
47
48[[folder:Literature]]
49* The Creator/NikolaiGogol story "The Nose" has a detached nose that was able to pass itself off as a human being with its own body and surpass the rank of its owner.
50* Zigzagged in ''Literature/{{Ringworld}}'', where Pierson's Puppeteers have their brains in their thoracic cavities. Their two heads, resembling hands with ExtraDigits, play no role in thinking, instead being used mainly for eating and manipulating objects.
51* ''Literature/TheBumTrilogy'': The first book has people's butts planning to invoke this by {{taking over the world}} with a huge, worldwide fart by building up a massive quantity of methane gas in the "Bumcano." When the Bumcano blows, all humans will be rendered unconscious, then the bums will seize their chance and switch places with their heads.
52* ''Literature/{{Kraken}}'': The Tattoo's FacelessGoons all wear motorcycle leathers and helmets to conceal the fact that they've had their heads magically replaced with fists. The word "knucklehead" gets thrown around as a result. Apparently there are benefits, but we're not told what. When [[NaiveNewcomer Billy]] asks Dane how they're able to see, etc., Dane chides him for thinking that sort of question matters. [[spoiler:As a side effect, the process replaces their ''genitals'' with hands, too.]]
53[[/folder]]
54
55[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
56* An episode of ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' (hosted by Creator/JonStewart) had a sketch where he plays the founder of several boy bands and presents his latest such group, which he genetically engineered himself. It's also revealed that he contaminated one batch and the resulting members came out wrong. One of these members, Ass-Face, has... well, look at his name and guess.
57[[/folder]]
58
59[[folder:Video Games]]
60* ''VideoGame/{{Inkulinati}}'': One class of creatures, just called "Beasts", have hands in place of heads.
61* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': Binacle, introduced in [[Characters/PokemonGenerationVIChespinToHawlucha Gen VI]], looks like a pair of arms with [[MultipleHeadCase faces]] on them stuck on a rock. Its evolution, Barbaracle, have those two Binacle multiply into seven and [[BishonenLine rearranged into a humanoid form]] (one in the middle as [[LeaderFormsTheHead the head]] and thorax, four as limbs, and two as VerticalMechaFins). All of them have a mind of their own, but they usually follow the one in the middle. These designs are also invoked by the Japanese word for barnacle, ''kamenote'', which means "turtle's hand."
62* ''VideoGame/YoKaiWatch'':
63** Cuttincheez/Hekokijin and Cheeksqueek/Onarazumono have butts for heads and they can fart with it. [[ToiletHumor Yup]].
64** The Bananose/Nagabanana line, and others with similar name and appearance, may be {{Yokai}} with exaggerated {{Gag Nose}}s or their heads are giant noses with facial features. [[TakeAThirdOption Or]] they're anthropomorphic bananas.
65* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': One of the receptionists in MTT Resort has a giant hand for a head.
66** In its AlternateUniverse, ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'': In Hometown, the receptionist at the Town Hall has a manicured hand for a head.
67* In ''[[VideoGame/AlexKidd Alex Kidd in Miracle World]]'', [[MiniBoss Stone-Head, Paper-Head, and Scissors-Head]] have hands making their respective RockPaperScissors gestures for heads.
68* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'': Prepare the BrainBleach.
69** Though Creator/{{Atlus}} wouldn't admit that it's intended, it has several [[GagPenis phallic]] examples in [[https://megamitensei.fandom.com/wiki/Mara Mara]], [[https://megamitensei.fandom.com/wiki/Ym Ym]], and, [[https://megamitensei.fandom.com/wiki/Mishaguji Mishaguji]] (who is depicted to be either {{snake|sAreSinister}}-like or humanoid depending on the specific installment). [[TooMuchinformation DO NOT]] spare a thought if these function as intended but the designs are justified for these demons/deities associated with either temptation, fertility, or both in their original myths. Ym is also a deity of agriculture so his head must be meant to represent root crops (''yam'', geddit?)... but [[VisualPun who are we kidding]]?
70** ''VideoGame/{{Catherine}}'': Zigzagged with the Immoral Beast. It's a creature that crawls on its four weirdly angled limbs like a crab and has its conjoined buttocks as its head. It has an eye on each cheek, while the rest of its deformed facial features are on its "upper back," and a "[[VaginaDentata mouth]]" with an OverlyLongTongue sticking out. It is a manifestation of Vincent's guilt from having an affair.
71* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' has the Monstrosity of Sin, which has a massive hand-like head and its palm has a gaping hole lined with teeth.
72* ''VideoGame/Psychonauts2'' has the Five Senses, a group of mental entities who not only represent, well, the five senses, but [[spoiler:the Mote of Light's former friends and teammates, the Psychic Six]]. The band consists of Vision Quest (who has an eyeball for a head), Dr. Touch (a hand), Audie O. (an ear), Sniffles (a nose) and Tasty (a mouth).
73[[/folder]]
74
75[[folder:Webcomics]]
76* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob,'' [[SpacePolice Officer Zodboink]] and his alien race the Fleenians have heads that just look like big eyeballs.
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78
79[[folder:Web Animation]]
80* ''WebAnimation/TheAmazingDigitalCircus'': Caine's "head" is really just a set of teeth with [[EyesDoNotBelongThere his eyes inside]].
81[[/folder]]
82
83[[folder:Western Animation]]
84* ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'': While Lord Hater leads the Army of Watchdogs, who have [[FacelessEye eyeballs]] as their entire heads[[note]]They appear to use their eyes as mouths for speaking and eating, even being able to lick ice cream cones in spite of the lack of tongues.[[/note]], Emperor Awesome has the Fist Fighters, who are humanoids with fists for heads. The Knucklehead variant works as a {{Bouncer}} for his parties. The time travel episode shows that a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, a man named Admiral Admirable has literal foot soldiers in humanoids with feet for heads. Another episode had Wander and Sylvia meeting up with beings heavily implied to have butts for heads.
85* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls''
86** The [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Shape Shifter]] from "[[Recap/GravityFallsS2E2IntoTheBunker Into the Bunker]]" transformed into a creature with a fist for a head, with [[{{Cyclops}} one eye]] and mouth in its "palms."
87** Mabel summoned a [[VertebrateWithExtraLimbs centaur-taur]] in "[[Recap/GravityFallsS2E13DungeonsDungeonsAndMoreDungeons Dungeons, Dungeons, & More Dungeons]]." It is a horse whose head... is an entire horse's body. It's basically the result of putting two headless horses together.
88** "Teeth," [[spoiler:from Bill Cipher's invasion posse]], is a gummed set of teeth with limbs who wouldn't look out of place as a mascot in oral hygiene commercials.
89* In ''WesternAnimation/PickleAndPeanut'', Pickle dates a girl with a foot face.
90* The Earclops/Earclopes/Earclopses in ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' are large, humanoid beings with ears as heads. Due to their giant ears, they are very sensitive to loud noises.
91* ''WesternAnimation/TheDayMyButtWentPsycho'', [[PragmaticAdaptation loosely based]] on ''Literature/TheBumTrilogy'' and named after the first book, has butts with lives and humanoid bodies separate from the people they're supposed to be attached to.
92* ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball'':
93** Gumball and Hotdog Guy have a run-in with a mall security guard that has a hand for a head.
94** A professional fighter in “The Cage” is a giant with a fist for a head.
95* ''WesternAnimation/CupcakeAndDinoGeneralServices'': In the episode "Retrieval Boys," one of the people they suspected to be the book thief is Mr. Palm who has a FourFingeredHand with two eyes in its palm for a head.
96* ''WesternAnimation/{{Bunnicula}}'': Harold's tail becomes sentient in the episode "Wag the Dog" when the StaticElectricity charged from rubbing his paws on objects passed through a magical [[UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla Tesla Coil]]. The tail plans to switch with the head by exposing Harold and the Tesla Coil to {{lightning|CanDoAnything}} and succeeds for a while, [[spoiler:but a thrown tennis ball interrupts the process before it becomes permanent and the tail's consciousness transfers to it instead]].
97* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'': The episode "[[Recap/DuckTales2017S3E20TheLostCargoOfKitCloudkicker The Lost Cargo of Kit Cloudkicker!]]" has two air pirates that are combined by the [[MergingMachine Stone of What Was]] into one with none of their heads but with one arm on the left side of the body, two arms on the right, and a hand in place of the head. The fused pirate can still somehow scream without a visible mouth or perhaps it's just displaced somewhere else in the body, like the hand-head, that can't be seen.
98[[/folder]]

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