Line #151 Main/GhostInTheMachine


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8	%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
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14	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/InsideOut https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/stacey_aoyama_eric_tan_inside_out_movie_poster_disney_2015.jpg]]]]
15	[[caption-width-right:350:''Your'' emotions!]]
16
17	->''(Phone rings.)''\
18	'''Jay:''' Hello?\
19	'''Familiar Voice:''' Jay! This is your inner child! I escaped and I just ''robbed'' a liquor store! ''(Sirens)'' Gotta go!
20	-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'', "Dukerella"
21
22	Cartesian philosophy (flanderised by pop culture -- consult Website/TheOtherWiki) includes a notion that there is, in effect, a little creature [[HappyPlace inside your head.]] It sits on your [[PinealWeirdness pineal gland]] and works the controls that make your robot-like body move around, much like the pilot of a MobileSuitHuman. The little thing is the "real you", and it's a much deeper and more interesting creature than [[MeatPuppet the physical "you"]] everyone else gets to see, mostly because the human body has lousy User Interface design. The term was actually coined as a criticism of Cartesianism by the British philosopher Gilbert Ryle.
23
24	In any event, in the land of fiction the notion of a ghost in the machine is not only dominant but often literally true. Of course, this might cause FridgeLogic issues when one asks oneself whether this "little person" needs to have an even smaller person inside them, leading to an infinite regress. This fallacy is formally called the homunculus argument, with homunculus referring to the little guys.
25
26	Insert joke about TV writers being behind the times here if you like, but the idea remains dominant because it is a good parallel to the experience of the viewer.
27
28	This is realized in numerous ways:
29
30	* The ''Series/HermansHead''[=/=]''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'' notion: [[MentalWorld actual little people live inside your brain]], [[LiteralSplitPersonality each representing some aspect of personality]]
31	** Some cases are fully functional, with each "little person" acting autonomously, allowing the "whole person" to multitask several complicated activities at once with little or no conscious decision-making.
32	* InnerMonologue is, essentially, an expression of the character's "inner self" speaking about his actions as an observer.
33	* {{Robocam}} is the application of this concept to robots: essentially, treating the robot as if it were a man in a robot suit.
34	* FreakyFridayFlip switches the little guys between bodies. NotHimself or PuppeteerParasite is usually something sinister replacing the little guy.
35	* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind is when two or more little guys fight it out to see who's driving.
36	* JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind is when the cast goes to visit those little guys.
37
38	External manifestations, like the GoodAngelBadAngel, are related.
39
40	Also seen in commercials for medicines and food items, where the little man has an acute need which only the advertiser's product can assuage, or is the malign cause thereof.
41
42	When, instead of metaphors for emotions and thoughts, we see the body run by AnthropomorphicPersonifications of cells and organs, that is AnthropomorphizedAnatomy.
43
44	See also OurSoulsAreDifferent and BrainWithAManualControl.
45
46	For characters who ''literally'' are piloted by little guys inside them, see MobileSuitHuman. For actual machines that have ghosts in them, see HauntedTechnology. For souls/personalities/minds uploaded to a computer/robot/{{Cyberspace}}/TheMetaverse see BrainUploading.
47
48	Not to be confused with "[[DeusExMachina god from the machine]]", ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'', the [[Music/GhostInTheMachine album]] of the same name by Music/ThePolice, the [[Film/GhostInTheMachine 1993 horror film]] named after the Police album (a.k.a. ''Deadly Terror''), an obscure 2003 graphic novel, the 9th arc of [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Atop the Fourth Wall]], the [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers Transformers]] episode, the ''{{Series/Bones}}'' episode, or Ghost of the Robot, ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' alum Creator/JamesMarsters' band.
49
50	----
51	!!Examples:
52
53	[[foldercontrol]]
54
55	[[folder:Advertising]]
56	* A commercial for the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn featured the effects of playing said system. These effects were shown via a Ghost in the Machine. Not only the brain, but the eyes, ears, nervous system, etc. This commercial has been placed as indirect NightmareFuel due to the ending, which displayed the person's [[PottyFailure bowels literally malfunctioning]] from playing the Sega Saturn too much.
57	* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj1meOmpezs These]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsnnU3fJTWg two]] UsefulNotes/SuperBowl LIV[[note]]54 in Roman numerals[[/note]] Bud Light Seltzer ads featuring Music/PostMalone controlled internally by a crew of tiny people. Partially mixes this with AnthropomorphizedAnatomy.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
61	* ''Manga/BGataHKei'' has everyone's sexual desires taking the form of small gods (or at least godlike) people that appear around their head.
62	* On ''Manga/BoboboboBobobo'', little people who reflected Bobobo's (fractured) state of mind would be seen inside or around Bobobo's head. Examples include two talking squirrels going through a break-up, the graduating class of a Japanese high school, a mecha pilot, and a rock band. The thing is, they were not only visible to the audience, but to the ''other characters''.
63	* In an early chapter of ''Manga/Eyeshield21'', Sena tries to remember how scoring extra points after a touch-down works, which is represented by an ImagineSpot of Sena running around a library representing his memory before finally asking the Devil Bats' mascot about it. Sena even thinks to himself afterward "I've got quite a vivid imagination."
64	* ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'': anime, manga, and OVA. Takes both a personal look at this, in everything from the mind of Motoko and the arc antagonists to the Case Of The Week, and the more Meta idea of consciousness born of the interactions of millions of consciousness. Most of the anime is spent looking into the idea of mind, consciousness and the viability of a reality in which virtual immersion is so consistently present. If you want to see this trope played with, subverted, deconstructed and ''re''constructed, this would be your primary base of examples. There are literally hundreds of individual examples to choose from, and all 3 mediums present probably the most thorough hypothetical analysis of the idea of the individual mind this side of the 21st century.
65	* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'': This happens to Germany after hugging Italy in "Buon San Valentino" (Part 2). And in Germany's head, there are army men (complete with a General) sorting files... in which they don't know where to store any of those heart-shaped files containing feeling of romance.
66	* Kaguya from ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' has three distinct pseudopersonalities that play the role of her Id, Ego, and Superego (referred to as Kaguya (Moron), Kaguya (Child), and Kaguya (Ice) respectively) who act out mental court cases with her when she's at a complete loss for what to do. Unlike most examples, the three of them explicitly do not exist within the context of the story and are mearly an artistic representation of her being a MoodSwinger.
67	-->'''Kaguya (Child):''' We're all you. You're the one who has to make the decision. So? What do "we" want to do?
68	* In [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness early episodes]] of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Sakura had an "Inner Sakura" in her head. Inner Sakura was mostly just a device to let the audience know what Sakura [[InnerMonologue really thought of a given situation]], so there was no need for it once she became more assertive and outgoing. However, Inner Sakura did help her shake off Ino's mind control at one point, so whether it was an actual alternate personality or not is left up in the air.
69	* Sayo of ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' is both a figurative AND literal example. For starters, she is an ''actual ghost'' possessing a tiny doll. This tiny doll pilots a HumongousMecha, which is to say, a [[MobileSuitHuman normal sized robot]]. Built to look like her.
70	* In ''Anime/NeoHumanCasshern'' the human scientist Tetsuya Azuma needed to find a method where he could stand against [=BK=]-1 in combat, and so transferred his mind into the titular android.
71	* A major part of the premise of ''Manga/ShugoChara'', where the Guardian Charas within everybody are their Ghost in the Machine brought out into the real world. Most people have one, but heroine Amu has three [[spoiler:later four]]. That's one very busy machine.
72	* This is the main part of a {{Josei}} manga and adapted film called ''Manga/PoisonBerryInMyBrain''. Starring a 30 year-old woman's Boss/Reason, Past/Memory, Impulse, Pessimism, and Optimism--all personified as people having a business meeting in her brain.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Comedy]]
76	* Swedish comedy group Galenskaparna has a routine in which a man's brain gets so tired of the man never using it, that it escapes and tries to make a new life for itself. ("Does anyone want a brain? Practically unused, only one previous owner!")
77	[[/folder]]
78
79	[[folder:Comic Books]]
80	* In Leah Moore's ''ComicBook/{{Albion}}'' (which did to UK comics of the seventies what [[Creator/AlanMoore her father's]] ''ComicBook/LeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' did to Victorian literature), Numskulls and Nervs (see Below) are both called "Menorgs", relating them to the rather odd theories of Alfred William Lawson.
81	** Note that Numskulls and Nervs (and indeed Menorgs) don't just run the brain, they run the ''entire body''. There's a Numskull in the mouth whose job is to shovel food down the hatch, and another whose job is to process it when it gets to the stomach.
82	* "The Numskulls", a strip which appeared in the British comic ''ComicBook/TheBeezer'' (and later ''ComicBook/TheBeano'').
83	** The concept of the little people having smaller little people inside them has also been played with: we've seen the Numskull Brainy's sub-Numskulls, which are very tiny and have even more simplified anatomy.
84	** "The Nervs" were a similar idea in ''Smash!''
85	* ''[[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]]'' has "Starship Hulk" where the Bruce Banner personality has control and pilots the Hulk, envisioning the Hulk as essentially a GiantRobot
86	[[/folder]]
87
88	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
89	* Several times in ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'', Calvin has had little mini-Calvins operating his body. In [[https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1995/05/28 one case]] they watch movies which Calvin perceives as dreams, and [[https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1992/08/16 another]] dramatizes his falling down the stairs.
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
93	* ''WesternAnimation/CaptainUnderpantsTheFirstEpicMovie'': [[spoiler:This happens by showing a scene of George and Harold's brains communicating with each other, frantically trying to come up with a way out of their dilemma as their "Haha-Guffaw-Chucklotamuses" shrink smaller and smaller.]]
94	* Scrooge and the three spirits in ''WesternAnimation/AChristmasCarol2009'' are depicted this way, and [[ActingForTwo all are played by Jim Carrey]].
95	* The Creator/{{Pixar}} film ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'' is based around this concept, with characters representing Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger living in the head of a young girl. There are also teams of "mind workers" who run the other aspects of the brain such as memory, reason, and imagination.
96	* The film ''Film/OsmosisJones'' features a less metaphysical version, showing a brain inhabited by technicians tapping away at computers which represent neurons.
97	[[/folder]]
98
99	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
100	* In a segment of Creator/WoodyAllen's ''Film/EverythingYouAlwaysWantedToKnowAboutSexButWereAfraidToAsk'' (1972), Creator/BurtReynolds plays the master controller of an unseen man's body, while Woody plays a sperm.
101	* In the film version of Creator/StephenKing's ''Film/RidingTheBullet'', while Alan Parker is in the front seat of several vehicles, his inner self is in the back [[DeadpanSnarker snarking all the way.]] His last driver, dead and well-aware of the goings-on in the story, turns around and yells at Parker's inner-self to ''shut up already!''
102	* In ''Film/SpyKids3DGameOver'', the Toymaker creates three virtual representations of his ghosts; a hippy, a doctor and a soldier.
103	[[/folder]]
104
105	[[folder:Literature]]
106	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
107	** This comes up from time to time in the series, especially with the character of Sam Vimes. He has a number of ghosts, including the Beast, who is the part of his brain that wants to inflict his own view of justice on the world, and the Watchman, who doesn't let him.
108	** This is especially popular among the witches. Agnes Nitt, a witch "with a wonderful personality," who hates that role, has [[ADarkerMe a sassier alter ego]] named Perdita X. Dream, and Perdita's interference prevents her from the dreamy vampire's MindControl. It turns out Agnes isn't alone, as the Reverend Mightily Oates has a Good Oates and a Bad Oates, who disagree on theology and life philosophy.
109	** Granny Weatherwax is implied to have this. She's a natural Bad Witch, but since her sister ran off to be evil she has to be good, and her evil impulses are kept firmly in check by her own iron will, even if throwing off her constraints would let her pretty much deal with every threat that comes her way in minutes.
110	[[/folder]]
111
112	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
113	* ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica\|2003}}'':
114	** One could argue that Baltar's hallucinatory Six fills this role; she spends an ''awful'' lot of time doing his thinking for him, especially as he tends to be rather useless in a crisis. Of course, there's always the possibility that she's [[SpiritAdvisor something else entirely]]...
115	** The same could be said of [[spoiler:Six's ghost Baltar]], for that matter.
116	** Or [[spoiler:Baltar's ghost Baltar]]! ...You know what? We give up trying to figure this one out until Ron Moore explains it. [[spoiler:The finale suggests that they're [[OurAngelsAreDifferent angels]], or maybe [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]]]]
117	* An episode of ''Series/CornerGas'' had this, in Hank's head. Lacey almost shows him how to open a notoriously difficult carafe, but he stops her, saying he has a limited amount of room in his head. Cut to a Hank sitting at a desk in front of some boxes. Another one comes up to him to place a box of Knock-Knock Jokes next to the Music/{{Bananarama}} Lyrics. A minute later, Hank tries to tell a joke, but he says "Bananarama" instead of the proper punchline. Cut to his head again, where the boxes have all fallen and mixed together.
118	* Shows up in ''{{Series/Dollhouse}}''. Namely, the "other personality" type.
119	* In ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', over the course of the series, John has had everything from retreating into his inner self to try to work ideas out, to literal multi-layered ''wars'' inside his mind. On a day to day basis, his inner self usually has prolonged conversations with [[spoiler:Harvey, Scorpius's mind clone who is [[EnigmaticMinion mostly almost not entirely]] trying to help John. ...[[MagnificentBastard Maybe]].]]
120	* As mentioned above, ''Series/HermansHead'' depicted the thought processes of the title character as arguments between four personified aspects of his personality living in a loft apartment.
121	* ''Series/LizzieMcguire'' often featured monologues and asides from an animated version of Lizzie depicting her inner thoughts.
122	* In the ''Series/TheMightyBoosh'' episode "Journey to the Center of the Punk," the ultimate destination of Howard's FantasticVoyagePlot is Vince's brain: a lone cell who looks like Vince and spends all its time watching a television that only shows people who look like Vince.
123	* In ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', Jerry is dating a girl who is gorgeous and sexy, but not very bright. His conflict over this manifests itself in a scene where his brain (Jerry in a brain-shaped hat) and his penis (Jerry in a flesh-toned military helmet) face each other off in a chess game until one folds.
124	* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', the good Alexander inside evil Lex's head.
125	* ''Series/StargateSG1'':
126	** In the episode "Grace", a little girl appears to a concussed Carter and helps her find the solution to her problem. The rest of her team and her father also appear to her at various times, representing different aspects of her personality (eg: Teal'c as the seasoned soldier).
127	** In the mirror episode "Grace Under Pressure" from ''Series/StargateAtlantis'', Carter appears to [=McKay=] as the genius-part of his mind trying to stop him from killing himself.
128	* [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Depending on your interpretation]], this could at least partially be what drives the odd behavior of [[RobotGirl Cameron]] from ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles''. The episode "Allison from Palmdale" implies that the "Allison" persona she adopted could be influencing her actions in many ways, especially considering that she ''becomes'' Allison at one point.
129	[[/folder]]
130
131	[[folder:Music]]
132	* Inverted by the Music/Apollo440 instrumental track "Machine In The Ghost".
133	* Music/{{Ayreon}} built a whole two-disc album around this. In ''The Human Equation'', the main character -- named "Me" -- goes through a metal opera interacting with different aspects of his personality: Pride, Reason, etc.
134	* "Driver", by Music/{{Phish}}:
135	-->''Let me tell you about the driver\
136	Who lives inside my head\
137	He starts me up and stops me,\
138	and puts me into bed...''
139	* The song "Minus the Machine" by 10 Years references this concept explicitly in its opening lines:
140	-->''You're not alone\
141	They're closer than you know\
142	And now there's ghosts\
143	In the machines we host''
144	* In Music/PoetsOfTheFall's [[https://youtu.be/xfvtPTvuFTA "Drama for Life,"]] a "prolific designer" that personifies the singer's unrestrained creativity is [[MissionControlIsOffItsMeds off-leash]], alternately depicted as a madman or rampaging animal with which the singer is in conflict.
145	* Music/ThePolice released the trope namer.
146	[[/folder]]
147
148	[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]
149	* This is a central doctrine in any religion that believes in an immortal (or killable, for that matter) personal soul, including Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and some branches of Buddhism: You do not have a soul, you ''are'' a soul; you ''have'' a body; the soul is the driver, the body is the car. After much debate, Christian philosophers have borrowed the [[Creator/{{Aristotle}} aristotelian]] notion of body and soul being inextricably interconnected. So yes, we'll have bodies in Heaven, just maybe different, and soul is as much a part of "you" as your leg is.
150	[[/folder]]
151
152	[[folder:Theme Parks]]
153	* At one time [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Epcot]] had an attraction called Ride/CraniumCommand which was built around this trope. The hero had to "pilot" a twelve-year-old boy through his day with the aid/hindrance of the body's various organs, glands, etc. Especially noteworthy for Bobcat Goldthwaite's tender, nuanced performance as the adrenal glands. Curiously, the people who controlled the world's brains seemed to be randomly assigned and fired from hosts at random, one day piloting a chicken and then one day piloting a 12-year old boy.
154	[[/folder]]
155
156	[[folder:Video Games]]
157	* A DummiedOut concept in ''VideoGame/CrashTwinsanity'' involved the characters using the Psychetron to enter others' minds to retrieve information they forgot. Levels inside Coco and Cortex's brain would have involved the player fighting off all the weird inhabitants fabricated by their mind. The one remainder of this in the final game is Cortex inadvertently trapping himself in Crash's brain in the ending. Said brain is just a population of Crashs roaming around and dancing.
158	* In ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'', the Detective's skills manifest as parts of his personality that have a life of their own and frequently argue with each other about the world around you and the best course of action.
159	* The final villain in ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxTheDevilsPlayhouse'' is revealed to be one of these -- specifically, Max's super-ego, plotting to destroy both of them and a huge part of New York in order to save both others and himself from having to put up with Max.
160	* ''VideoGame/TheSims'' and its sequels are a computer game expression of this trope, in that the player serves to control the Sims' every move. ''VideoGame/TheSimsMedieval'' has the player play as [[{{God}} The Watcher]] and control the characters.
161	[[/folder]]
162
163	[[folder:Webcomics]]
164	* ''Webcomic/{{Comedity}}'':
165	** What video gamer doesn't have a Personality 47, aka "[[RedRightHand The Red Right Hand]]"?
166	** This is actually a recurring gag in the strip; at one point, the facets of the main character's personality (including his [[GoodAngelBadAngel inner angel, inner devil]], muse, and inner ninja) are shown in a hot tub... and then the one representing his psyche realizes they're moving and storms out of the hot tub to find out who the hell is driving.
167	* ''Webcomic/{{Housepets}}'': In a final [[https://www.gocomics.com/overthehedge/1999/11/01 bonus strip]], Great Kitsune consults the Aardvark's "innermost soul" about returning to human form, and ends up in a fleshy cave filled with pastel-coloured aardvarks. The ones who get speaking roles include the inner child, one in a tie-die shirt and shades who thinks "it's all cool", one who's panicking about ever going back to the office, one in glasses and a tie who points out he doesn't ''have'' to go back to the office either way (logic?) and two in shirts with a half-filled glass of water who are arguing with each other (optimism and pessimism). Pessimism is the ''only'' one who's against remaining an aardvark.
168	* ''Webcomic/ImMyOwnMascot'' has Indie Kevin, a badly drawn version of the main character who seves as his self-loathing and Kevin's inner five-year-old, who seems completely unphazed by him.
169	* ''Webcomic/MenageA3'': Most of the cast seems to get ShoulderAngels, but Sandra has her id, ego and superego debating whether or not Didi is flirting with her.
170	* In ''Webcomic/{{Narbonic}}'', all the characters have swarms of pixies that sometimes appear around their heads and represent aspects of their personality. They have iconic outfits that show what they represent. Most characters have an angel and a devil, but sometimes the angels are evil too. Interestingly, while the characters can only see their own pixies (and only when the pixies are talking) pixies can see the pixies of other characters and communicate with them when both sets are active. Apart from GoodAngelBadAngel, other common ones include Left Brain, Right Brain, Inner Child, Inner Teenager and Social Life.
171	* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' has an arc where Haley loses the ability to speak properly and has inner-monologue conversations with various facets of her personality, including her self-loathing, her optimism, her vanity and her latent bisexuality. Only one facet is present in the beginning, but more started showing up, and they even lampshade the fact that Haley is probably going crazy.
172	* ''Webcomic/YumisCells'' are little people that live in her brain and embody several aspects of her personality, mental functions, and responsibilities. To name just a few, Rational and Emotional Cell embody the conflict of logic versus emotions, Hunger Cell is Yumi's desire to eat ([[BigEater and it's the largest Cell]]), Naughty Cell is responsible for Yumi's dirty thoughts, and Love Cell is the Prime Cell who can overpower any other Cell with ThePowerOfLove. Some Cells, like Writer Cell, have died due to disuse. Other characters have different Prime Cells depending on their personalities, like Babi's Detective Cell indicating that he's very observant.
173	[[/folder]]
174
175	[[folder:Web Original]]
176	* Internet comedy group Britanick have done a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zo4boNEdoQA&feature=channel_page sketch about this]].
177	* Referenced in the ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'' episode of ''WebVideo/MidnightScreenings'':
178	-->'''Angry Jake:''' Sorry, I've just got the black people playing jazz in my head.\
179	'''Slaver Brian:''' (''to audience'') That means he's thinking.
180	* ''WebVideo/SandersSides'' focuses on the moral dilemmas faced by a fictionalized version of Creator/ThomasSanders, represented by his conversations with the "Sides", aspects of his personality personified as Thomas in different outfits.
181	* Some versions of ''WebVideo/TwitchPlaysPokemon'' plots turn the Voices into this, serving as a physical manifestation of the protagonist's judgement instead of the puppeteers behind a [[PeoplePuppets Person Puppet]].
182	[[/folder]]
183
184	[[folder:Western Animation]]
185	* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TwoStupidDogs'', Little Dog is trying to think of a plan, and we cut to the inside of his head, where his brain has an "OUT OF ORDER" sign hanging from it, and a sad little repairman sitting next to it and lamenting "I can't fix it! I just can't fix it!"
186	* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' shows that Roger did, in fact, have a conscience modeled after Jiminy Cricket. It was caged and dying of neglect before finally committing suicide, [[ComedicSociopath which explains a lot]].
187	* In ''WesternAnimation/BrandyAndMrWhiskers'', Whiskers' brain is a separate entity in the vein of this, and for some reason he's ''Jewish''. On multiple occasions, he gets fed up with Whiskers not paying any attention to him, and leaves. This doesn't seem to slow Whiskers down, although he's invariably despondent that his brain has abandoned him.
188	* In the ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' episode "Dimwit Dexter", while Dexter is overworking himself, we see his brain being represented as a nuclear plant whose core is about to have a meltdown. The men inside initiate a temporary shutdown so the core can cool off, which turns Dexter into an idiot, until they turn the plant back on at the end.
189	* ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' explained that everyone has a "little hero" trapped inside their mind. Actual heroes have them free and in charge. Villains have them tied up and gagged. Darkwing's is not only free, but partnered with a grotesque monster that represents his ego.
190	* ''WesternAnimation/TheEpicTalesOfCaptainUnderpants'': In "The Strange Strife of the Smelly Socktopus", George and Harold deliberately try to get suspended, and we go into Mr. Krupp's mind to see a meeting between Angry Krupp, Hungry Krupp, Happy Krupp, Sad Krupp, and Paranoid Krupp on whether to suspend the boys.
191	* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'':
192	** In an episode, Timmy travels inside Vicky's brain to find that it is run by an army of computer technicians. It turns out that Vicky is so nasty because the technician responsible for controlling her "nice" emotions never shows up for work.
193	** Another episode involves Timmy wishing to have no emotions, which results in the emotions flowing out of his head in the form of colorful little characters (such as a white square for Common Sense, a pink heart for Love, and a green thing for Envy).
194	* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' does several gags based on this.
195	** In one instance, two accountants are seen working inside Peter's skull as he suffers a hangover. In another, we cut to the inside of his brain, as the last brain cell after Peter's heavy drinking killed the rest (in homage to ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S1E8TimeEnoughAtLast Time Enough at Last]]") reflects on having time enough at last to read all his books... [[CruelTwistEnding only to suffer the same terrible fate as his Twilight Zone counterpart]].
196	** And in yet another episode, Lois tells Peter that his idea for a ''Who's the Boss'' parade float is "esoteric". It shows a board of directors inside Peter's head trying to figure out the definition of esoteric. They decide it means "delicious", and Peter continues the conversation as if this usage of the word is perfectly normal.
197	--->'''Peter:''' Lois, ''Who's the Boss'' is not a food!\
198	'''Brian:''' Swing and a miss.
199	* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': Shows up in "Hoss Delgado: Spectral Exterminator", the first episode to feature Hoss Delgado. When Grim begs him to destroy him because he's a slave to two rambunctious kids, Hoss is so dumbfounded, we see inside his mind a hamster running on his wheel and slowly coming to a stop.
200	* ''WesternAnimation/IlEtaitUneFois'' used this metaphor extensively, up to the point that the nucleii of every cell in the body were represented by fully staffed command centers.
201	* ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'': In "The Racing Bug", the eponymous {{Puppeteer Parasite}}s climb into the brains of [[ThePollyanna Jimmy]] and [[FatIdiot Beezy]] and find little brain-like blobs driving little toy car rides like the ones you find at a mall. Jimmy's happily gives up his post when requested by the bugs, while Beezy's is asleep on duty and snarls at the bugs before being driven off.
202	* The ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "Monster From the Id" reveals that Candace's mental landscape is mostly devoid of these, save for a monstrous creature wielding [[RunningGag a Ducky Momo club]] that represents her Id.
203	* ''Reason and Emotion'', a [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Disney]] WartimeCartoon, revolved around this concept. Apparently, the inside of one's head is like a car, and inside it are Reason (a prim and proper guy in a business suit) and Emotion (an unruly caveman). When Reason is in the driver's seat, everything is fine, but when Emotion is in charge... well, apparently you run the risk of turning into a Nazi. The short ends with both Reason and Emotion as pilot and co-pilot on an Allied bombing mission. A segment from this cartoon set in a woman's head, with a prim librarian-type and an impulsive wild girl, and no wartime references, often played on Disney TV shows.
204	* ''WesternAnimation/ReBoot'' has the premise that peoples' computers (and the internet) have beings living inside them, running the place-- and we're unaware that not only do these beings exist, we're [[FridgeHorror killing them every time we play a game against the computer and win]]. However, as the series takes place entirely within the Net-- and more to the point, the city of Mainframe-- we only see ourselves from the POV of the sprites, binomes and others who regard "the User" as a deity of some kind.[[note]]The User was later revealed in the live-action follow-up ''Series/ReBootTheGuardianCode'', but [[FanonDiscontinuity that show never happened in the eyes of most fans]].[[/note]]
205	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'':
206	** Homer converses with his brain several times. They generally have an antagonistic relationship. ("Shut up, brain, or I'll stab you with a Q-Tip.")
207	** This happens to other members of the cast, as well; for example, when Lisa becomes a popular kid because of her pool, her brain tries to advise her it's fleeting. ("Shut up, brain! I have friends now! I don't need you!") Her brain later gloats when her "friends" abandon her and she has to think of a way out of the now-empty pool.
208	** Homer is so stupid that his inner self is usually shown as similar to those [[CymbalBangingMonkey toy monkeys banging the cymbals]]. Subverted in the movie, when the toy monkey in his mind is going off while Marge is talking, and it drops the cymbals and forces Homer to listen to her.
209	** Homer's brain has ''given up and left him to go it alone'' on at least one occasion. It is, however, kind enough to remind him [[CaptainObvious that money can be exchanged for goods and services]].
210	** Homer's liver once cheered when Homer thought he had to stop drinking. Homer angrily punched his liver to shut it up... then doubled over in agony ''because he had just punched his liver''.
211	** Seen once with Marge, and implied that she has several inner voices, each one residing higher up in her beehive. The one on top simply says "Why are you asking me, I'm just hair; your head stopped eighteen inches ago."
212	** In "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife", in what is probably an ActorAllusion to ''Series/HermansHead'', Lisa is shown to have several little Lisas in her brain representing different aspects of her personality. There is a wild and crazy Lisa locked in a cage, and it's stated that she won't be let out until Lisa turns 16.
213	** In "We're on the Road to D'ohwhere", Bart asks why Homer is so serious all of a sudden and he tells him that "Serious!Homer has Fun!Homer locked up". It then goes into his brain showing Serious!Homer in a guard's uniform guarding a cage holding drunk Fun!Homer.
214	--->'''Serious!Homer:''' I'll kill you the way I killed Intellectual Homer.
215	* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' used a clever subversion:
216	-->'''Tiny Spongebob #1:''' Hurry up! What do you think I'm paying you for?\
217	'''Tiny Spongebob #2:''' You don't pay me. We don't even exist. [[BreakingTheFourthWall We're just a clever visual metaphor used to personify the abstract concept of thought]].\
218	'''Tiny Spongebob #1:''' One more crack like that and you're out of here!\
219	'''Tiny Spongebob #2:''' Please, no! [[IHaveAFamily I have three kids!]]
220	* In the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' episode "Nevermore", Beast Boy and Cyborg find themselves trapped in AnotherDimension which is really Raven's mind, inhabited by copies of Raven with different personalities and costume colors -- as well as her demonic father and some creepy [[RedEyesTakeWarning red-eyed]] crows.
221	* A very literal example comes from the ''Franchise/TransformersGeneration1'' episode "[[Recap/TransformersG1GhostInTheMachine Ghost in the Machine]]". Said episode deals with the ghost of Starscream, who is able to possess machines (in this case, other Transformers).
222	* ''WesternAnimation/TucaAndBertie'':
223	** In "The Open House", we see the inside of Bertie's brain as she examines Pastry Pete, which contains two [[SuperDeformed miniature versions]] of Bertie herself pacing around and seeing the world through Bertie's eyeballs.
224	** In "Kyle," Bertie creates an idealized {{fratbro}} version of herself called Kyle, and she talks to him in her mindspace to better get through to the aggravating men in her life. Eventually he escapes from her mind and wreaks havoc in the real world, but she eventually gets him back in her brain and pacifies him with a basketball.
225	[[/folder]]
226
227	[[folder:Real Life]]
228	* Some people who experience the phenomena referred to as multiple personalities (or MPD or DID) report having spaces within their minds where the various selves interact and converse.
229	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / GhostInTheMachine