History Main / HeartDrive

If this is sounding a lot like a computer's Hard Drive, that's because it usually ''is'' one to many robot characters. Sort of like a cybernetic equivalent to a BrainInAJar. Thanks to their Heart Drive, most robots can pull off GoodThingYouCanHeal, their allies can [[WeCanRebuildHim rebuild them]] or just transfer them to a BodyBackupDrive. This is true for non-technology-based Heart Drives as well: characters whose intelligence is housed in a Heart Drive are also usually MadeOfIron, able to shrug off injuries that would make mortal characters pass out, perhaps because their Heart Drive is [[FeelNoPain isolated from physical sensations]]. Some Heart Drives also have a built-in HealingFactor to help repair or even ''[[FromASingleCell rebuild]]'' [[SelfConstructedBeing their body]]. At the extreme, they may consider [[ImmortalLifeIsCheap all non-fatal damage trivial]]. That is, unless the character has the foresight to hide it beneath body armor. Most do exactly that if given the option; having the Heart Drive damaged... or worse, [[YourSoulIsMine stolen]]... can have dire consequences.

One scary aspect of the Heart Drive is it can be a combination of BodySnatcher, TheSymbiote and ArtifactOfDoom. If it grafts itself onto another animal/character/clone body, the Heart Drive will [[DemonicPossession take over the mind]] and sometimes even "mutate" it into its [[TransformationOfThePossessed original form.]]

Subtrope of ImmortalityInducer. Compare AnimatingArtifact, CranialProcessingUnit and HeartLight.

* Desty Nova has one in ''Manga/BattleAngelAlita''. [[spoiler:It's his brain chip, and also he has a spare.]]
* Cell's core in ''[[Manga/DragonBall Dragon Ball Z]]''. Also Android 16's head -- even after the rest of his entire body was destroyed, he functioned well enough, and he likely could've been rebuilt. [[spoiler:Then Cell crushed 16's head, and we see a large chip fall out, spark and go dead...presumably that was his.]]

* Juiz, [[spoiler:all of them]], from ''Anime/EdenOfTheEast''. In this case, she resides entirely within a single semi-portable computer, by which we mean it has to be loaded onto a tractor-trailer unit.

* Another example is the ''Manga/{{Guyver}}''. If the suit's core is intact, its user can be ground to powder and the unit will simply regenerate him, conservation of matter be damned. But [[AttackItsWeakPoint crack it]], and the Guyver will actually ''eat you alive''.
* One of the Akatsuki members, [[spoiler:Sasori]], in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''; this is why the person's "true form" never seems to physically age.
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' uses the crystalline jewel organ version with its Angels -- and the Evas themselves, as shown in episode 19. In ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion 2.0'', Unit 02's core is physically removed at one point while the Eva is in cryofreeze. The original series implies that cores can be freely swapped between the production models. [[SuperPrototype Unit 01]], however, appears to have a partially overgrown non-removable core.

* ''Anime/DaiGuard'' used Heart Drives called "fractal knots" in their giant monsters of the week.
* The giant robots in ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}'' remain operational as long as a white, bulbous construct located inside them remains intact. [[spoiler:Later it's revealed that it's not the destruction of the core that ends the game, but the death of the human pilot inside it.]]
* In ''Anime/TheBigO'', when Dorothy's memory circuits are removed, it's essentially an irreversible coma. Worse yet, even if the disc was retrieved, there's no one alive who can repair the drive. Fortunately, this turns out to be somewhat of a subversion. [[spoiler:Dorothy is somehow able to start moving without it, prompting Beck to ask, "How can you function with no memory? Do you actually know who you are?]]
* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', [[spoiler:the Magical Girls' "Soul Gems" are [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin exactly what they sound like]]. The gem is a SoulJar, and if it gets too far from their body, the latter will "die" until the gem is brought back in range; but this setup allows them to [[HealingFactor survive and heal from massive injuries]]. Somewhat unusual in that they used to be normal humans, and became Heart Drive beings unwittingly through a DealWithTheDevil; unsurprisingly, putting your life-force in a magic gem has some other major downsides that the SatanicArchetype fails to mention...]]
* Mod Souls in ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' are actually small pills that contain souls. If you put them in a dead or soulless body (constructed body or one whose owner is [[OutOfBodyExperience missing]]), or even a humanoid stuffed toy, they come alive. No matter how much damage the body suffers, they can simply be put in another body and they'll be fine.
* The Soul Drive of ''Anime/SDGundamForce''. This is the MacGuffin that enables Captain to have his EleventhHourSuperpower, thanks to his bond of friendship with Shute. When it gets stolen he goes into a comatose state. [[spoiler:Commander Sazabi also has one, and tries to convince the Captain to spare him upon his defeat by [[NotSoDifferentRemark claiming that they aren't so different]] because of this. It doesn't work.]]

* Union Cores from ''Manga/ArpeggioOfBlueSteel'' are the essential component of the Fleet of Fog. Even if their neigh-invulnerable ship bodies are destroyed, as long as the core survives they can come back. They're entirely helpless without a supply of {{Nanomachines}} to form a body out of however, as Kirishima and Haguro have both learned the hard way.
* The Maiden Circuits in ''Anime/SaberMarionetteJ''. This special piece of hardware gives the Marionettes (and Saber Dolls) emotions and contains their personality. If removed or damaged, they become robotic and essentially lifeless. [[spoiler: The Maiden Circuits are actually a device in three parts, meant to be matured and then combined together to create an artificial personality based on the creator. They were created to serve as a control device, to pacify the rogue AI that nearly wiped out humanity centuries ago and holds the only surviving human female prisoner....]]
* In ''Manga/AbsoluteBoyfriend'', the main chips that contain the personalities of the RidiculouslyHumanRobots in the setting are their most crucial components. As long as the chips are intact, they can be repaired. The chips burning out is death for them. [[spoiler:Night's chip wears itself out faster than it should have because he was going beyond his programming to be Riiko's perfect boyfriend.]]
* ''Anime/{{Medabots}}'' come to life by inserting Medals into the back of their bodies.
* In ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'', the mages' Linker Cores are normally used to process (link) their magical energy into usable forms (spells), but for beings of pure magic, specifically, the creations of the [[Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs Book of Darkness]], they also apparently function as Heart Drives: [[spoiler:after the Wolkenritter are killed and have their Linker Cores fed to the Book, Hayate is able to reconstruct all four of them--no worse for wear--from their Cores after she gains full control of it. Later, Reinforce Eins, another construct of the Book, self-destructs, but, having essentially shared her own Linker Core with Hayate earlier, leaves behind enough "genetic" material for Hayate to reconstruct a smaller version of her, Zwei, who bears [[OurPhlebotinumChild resemblance to both of them]].]]
* In ''Anime/{{Kaiba}}'', devices called "chips" can store memories and allow them to be transferred to another body.
* Akagi An, aka Kafuka Fuura, in ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' is revealed to be [[spoiler:Main/DeadAllAlong and the reason she still lingers in the world is because her organs got donated to the girls in Nozomu's class, which allow her to randomly possess any of the girls whenever she wakes up the following day.]] Her genes are said to be too positive to allow her organ recipient hosts to die from suicide attempt and by the end of the manga, it's implied that she [[spoiler: achieved nigh immortality so long as any of her organ recipient hosts are alive, since she can spread her essence to another person just by doing blood transfusion. Even her organ recipient hosts' offspring strongly resembles her in looks, indicating a potential [[Main/BodyBackupDrive rebirth or reincarnation.]]]]
* In the ''Anime/KirbyRightBackAtYa'' episode "[[Recap/KirbyRightBackAtYaS3E7RightHandRobot Right Hand Robot]]", Escargoon builds a [[RobotMe robotic look-alike]] of himself called the Escar-droid to do all the work that his boss King Dedede has him do in his place. Escargoon ends up developing a bond with the droid and buys a heart-shaped component from [[EvilInc Nightmare Enterprises]] that gives the droid feelings, and also [[SelfConstructedBeing automatically reconstructs it to give it two additional modes]]: a knight-like form with a sword, and a flying KillerRobot form armed with missile launchers.

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]
* Rampage in ''[[Fanfic/FalloutEquestriaProjectHorizons Project Horizons]]'' has an indestructible crystal inside that contains the personalities and/or souls of an unknown number of ponies, as well as Rampage's own personality. It enables her to [[FromASingleCell survive anything, including disintegration]].

* ''WesternAnimation/WallE'': The titular hero's main processor chip could be defined as this, since he [[spoiler:temporarily loses his personality when EVE gives him the life-saving overhaul near the end of the movie]].

* BrainInAJar Cain in ''Film/RoboCop2'' while he's in the "[=RoboCop=] 2" body.

* In ''Film/FrankensteinConquersTheWorld'', its said that Frankenstein's heart is immortal and can regrow his body due partly to his creation and partly due to surviving and being mutated by one of the H-Bomb attacks on Japan. While his cells can grow into a new monster, his heart is the only part that seems able to regenerate into something human-like.
* Terminator units in ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' series have these. With exception of the T-1000 in ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'', and possibly the very early model T-1s in ''Film/TerminatorSalvation'' that seemed to lack any personality at all.

* ''Film/IRobot'' has the reveal that [[spoiler:Sonny]] not only possesses a positronic brain, but a secondary brain in his chest which allows him to ignore The [[ThreeLawsCompliant Three Laws]]. The redundant one would appear to be a mechanical "soul" of sorts.

* In ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'', Dragons have Eldunari which is essentially their souls. A dragon can expel their Eldunari but remain in control of their bodies. When their bodies die their consciousness is transferred to the Eldunari, where it remains until someone destroys it. If the Eldunari is still within the body when the dragon dies, however, it dies with them.
* In Creator/GregEgan's short story ''Learning To Be Me'', everyone has a tiny neural network computer implanted into their brain. As the people grow, the computer constantly corrects itself to mimic their brain's responses. At a certain age, many people choose to remove their brains, making the tiny computer this trope.
** Egan revisits this trope often. His short story ''Chaff'' and novels ''Literature/{{Diaspora}}'' and ''Literature/SchildsLadder'' all have variations on this theme.
* In the ''Dragoncrown War'' series, BigBad [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Chytrine]] has a [[SoulJar soulstone]] [[spoiler: because she's half-dragon, and dragons can naturally create them]]. However, in order to protect it, she ''swallowed it'', making it part of her being and rendering her nearly impossible to kill unless her [[spoiler: dragon]] form is torn open and someone pulls it out.
* In ''Literature/SaturnsChildren'', most robots have a personality chip to backup their memories/personalities. This can be used to keep them alive by transferring their mind to another body or to learn from dead "siblings". However, "wearing" the chip of another robot for too long can lead to their personality usurping the original owner's. As a backup can take months or years to be fully complete, destroying another robot's personality chip is a good way of ensuring that they behave themselves.
* In the ''Literature/TakeshiKovacs'' series people are normally implanted with a "cortical stack" at birth that acts as a backup hard drive for the brain. When one dies it can be removed and [[BrainUploading downloaded]] [[BodyBackupDrive into a new body]].
* In ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'', while Merlin's body can be destroyed, his mind, memories and consciousness are locked in a spherical computer about the size of a fist, hidden in his torso behind protection strong enough to withstand pretty much everything short of being ground zero for a nuclear strike. If the body is destroyed, this can still survive and be plugged into either a new PICA or a VR unit.
* ''Literature/{{Deeplight}}'': A god's heart is the core of it's being, the only organ they all have in common; breaking or stealing the heart will kill the god. An intact heart will continue beating outside the body and [[spoiler:mutate any humans who come into contact with it.]]

* A variant occurs in the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS01E09ThePassenger The Passenger]]" when a criminal has his brain copied to a microchip, which he embeds into Dr. Bashir's skin. This allows him to take over Bashir's body.
* Cameron, like all other terminators, has one in ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles''.
* In ''Series/KnightRider'', KITT's personality is contained in his CPU, which can be removed from the car. In one episode, when his CPU is removed from his car body by the villains, he's installed into a portable TV for safekeeping.

** The Roidmudes in ''Series/KamenRiderDrive'' have Cores, [[BroughtToYouByTheLetterS which are the numbers on their chests]]. If the Core survives the Roidmude's destruction, it can fly away to safety and [[FromASingleCell regenerate into a]] {{Mook}}[[EvolutionPowerup -level Roidmude]]. Near the end of the series, [[spoiler: Banno]] destroys a Roidmude's core while leaving the body intact, leaving it an EmptyShell until he [[DemonicPossession moves in]].
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': Used for a {{Cliffhanger}} RoboticReveal in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E2FourToDoomsday Four to Doomsday]]". A supposedly human character opens himself up to reveal circuitry where flesh and bone should be.
-->''"This is not me. ''[takes out chip]'' '''This''' is me."''

* ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'' supplement ''Acute Paranoia'', section "Playing Robots". In Alpha Complex a robot's brain (CPU) can be removed and inserted in another robot. One function of a Troubleshooter team's Robot Officer is to recover the [=CPU=]s of damaged robots.
** This doesn't however mean that the CPU is able to function properly if it is put into a body that it's not programmed to use. The only way a to make a Warbot actually act like a Docbot requires Bot Therapy. [[BlatantLies Bot Therapy of course always works and never leaves behind traces of of the old programming that come up at the worst possible times.]]
* ''TabletopGame/EclipsePhase'' borrows the cortical stack concept from Altered Carbon.
* 1E ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'' villain, The Atomic Brain, functions as this with the eponymous radioactive brain being the bit which gets transferred from one robot body to another.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', an [[SpaceElves Eldar]]'s Waystone is primarily a SoulJar that keeps his or her spirit from being [[FateWorseThanDeath consumed by Slaanesh]] so that it can be safely stored in a [[GenerationShips craftworld]]'s [[BrainUploading Infinity Circuit]], but they can also function as Heart Drives. If placed in a Wraithguard or Wraithlord, the Waystone will animate the construct so that the fallen warrior can fight on in a new body, and in the ''Farseer'' novel an Eldar takes over the body of a human wearing his Waystone.

* ''[[VideoGame/ExtrapowerStarResistance EXTRAPOWER Star Resistance]]'': The Shakun Star central computer can only be defeated by tearing the outer layers off its face and directly attacking the crystal within that is the source of its power. The crystal also just so happens to contain [[PoweredByAForsakenChild an unknown woman inside]].
* Franchise/{{Kirby}}:

* In the [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Classic]] ''[[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Mega Man]]'' series, a Robot Master's integrated circuit (I.C.) chip is the source of their personality. As long as the I.C. isn't destroyed, Robot Masters can be rebuilt any number of times, but if it is damaged beyond repair then that robot is basically dead, as the chips' complexity makes them near impossible to recreate. While this is AllThereInTheManual as far as the games go (outside of [[VideoGame/MegaMan1 the very first one]]), the [[ComicBook/MegaManArchieComics Archie comics]] use the concept more heavily.

* The Black Boxes in ''VideoGame/NierAutomata''

* It's provided the page image for RobotGirl at some points, so it shouldn't be a surprise that the ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' series utilizes Heart Drive-like devices. The more straightforward example is Labrys' "Plume of Dusk", which is said to contain something vaguely approximating her essence in ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena''. In the [[VideoGame/Persona3 third game in the main series]], Aigis can be a [[LevelUpAtIntimacyFive Social Link]] ([[UpdatedRerelease depending on the game version]]); at the conclusion of her CharacterArc, she invites the [[HelloInsertNameHere Main Character]] to [[spoiler:[[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything leave his DNA on one of her central processors]]]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'' [=GLaDoS=]' eye is removed by Wheatley and plugged into a potato battery. While she retains her sense of self in this form and can even speak, her processing power is understandably drastically reduced, to the point that she spends a good chunk of time in sleep mode to conserve power.

** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'': Core Crystals are crystals, usually about the size of a fist, that birth new Blades. When a Driver resonates with a crystal, that crystal becomes the core of the Blade, visible somewhere on their body (usually their chest, but not always). If their Driver dies, the Blade will revert to a lifeless rock, but once it regains its power it can be reused and the Blade summoned again--though without memories. New crystals, and hence new Blades, can be obtained from deceased Titans. [[spoiler:This subtly foreshadows the Blade-to-Titan life cycle. It's the interruption of this cycle that creates the overarching problem of rapidly declining livable space seen throughout the story of the game.]] Furthermore, Core Crystals were originally made [[spoiler:in an attempt to replace human brain cells for medical purposes. The hope was to finally crack true immortality. After [[ApocalypseHow the event that created the world of Alrest to begin with,]] [[BodyHorror this went horribly wrong]], but the Architect repurposed the technology for his Blades as part of the re-terraforming process]].
** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'': Seemingly all of the Agnian characters have Core Crystals, though they aren't always obvious. They don't seem to realize there is anything important about them, and they are almost universally ignored. Whether because of the strange nature of Aionios or because all the Agnian characters are (possibly) descended from [[HalfHumanHybrid human/Blade pairings]], the cores seem almost vestigial. [[spoiler:This works out when D tries to kill Nia. As the last true Blade on Aionios, her core is ''not'' vestigial, so him stabbing her through the heart but missing her core is merely extremely painful instead of instantly lethal]].

* The demons of ''Webcomic/{{Heartcore}}'' possess crystaline objects dubbed [[TitleDrop Heartcores]]. Second-generation demons inherit their Heartcores from one of their "parent" demons (such as the protagonist Ame possessing the Heartcore of her mother Lilith, or Carval and his "father" Volaster). A Heartcore is essentially a corrupted human heart, and demons must feed on them to survive (lest they be rendered unambulatory husks). They are also one of a demon's two AchillesHeel s, the other being their brain,

[[folder:Web Original]]
* In one ''WebVideo/FriendshipIsWitchcraft'' episode, Sweetie Belle claims she is uninstalling Rarity from hers and reinstalling Applejack. [[DisproportionateRetribution All for not attending a sisterly obstacle course-like event with her.]]
* The Website/SCPFoundation's Dr. Bright has [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-963 SCP-963-1]], an amulet that has bonded to him, which serves as his HeartDrive. When SCP-963-1 is placed around someone's neck, he [[GrandTheftMe permanently overrides their personality and memory.]] Unlike most examples of this trope, if the amulet remains on a person for over thirty days, they permanently become an independent copy of him even when the amulet is removed. (Removing the amulet before that point doesn't restore the original person, instead their body is left catatonic until the amulet is placed on them again).

* One of the more prominent examples would be the concepts of sparks in the Franchise/{{Transformers}}' universe. Sparks are basically a combination of the bot's heart and soul, as they are dead without one, and when it is "extinguished", the spark goes to become one with the Allspark. Originally introduced in ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', this is possibly the most enduring part of the show's mythology, since it has appeared in every subsequent incarnation of Transformers, including the [[Film/TransformersFilmSeries live-action movies]].
** Before this was introduced, one mini-arc in the the comics had Optimus Prime's brain and soul backed up on a [[MagicFloppy 5-inch floppy disk]].
** The concept first originated in an early draft script of ''[[WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie Transformers: The Movie]]'', where it is referred to as a "Life Spark". Later comic book writers mistaken the term as the name of a [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Decepticon who became Cyclonus]].
** As far back as season two of [[Franchise/TransformersGeneration1 Generation 1]], Starscream was able to build new Transformers out of old vehicles, using the "personalities" of former Decepticon criminals that were "imprisoned" in drives to form the Combaticons, who make up [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Bruticus_%28G1%29 Bruticus.]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back," Bender has his personality downloaded onto a floppy disk, which renders him "quiet, and helpful". However, in the season six episode "Lethal Inspection," Bender discovers that he can't simply download to a different body in case his is destroyed, because he was built without a back-up unit. So if his body is destroyed, [[KilledOffForReal so is he]]. Though, being a robot, he's practically invincible, so he doesn't have ''too'' much to worry about.
* ''WesternAnimation/FrostyTheSnowman'''s magic hat. "Happy birthday!"
* Several scripted but unproduced episodes of ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' were to have expanded on the functions of the PAK, the backpack device all Irkens wear. One of them, "Ten Minutes to Doom", contained this line:

* The Gems in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin are exactly what their name indicates]]: the only fundamental part of them is the [[GemHeart gemstone]]. If their [[HardLight Hard Light]] body is heavily damaged ("poofed"), their bodies retreat into their Gems for a while until they can form a new one; if the Gem is damaged or corrupted, however, the results are far more severe. A shattered Gem equals death. Incidentally, this is also why Rose Quartz suffered DeathByChildbirth. She desired Steven to be both human and Gem, and the only way he could be born as such was by giving her gemstone to him. As Rose herself puts it, the process required her to actually ''become'' half of Steven, though he has none of her memories and considers himself a separate being. However, most other gems don't understand this due to being a non-organic race with [[BizarreAlienReproduction no knowledge of sexual reproduction or genetics]], and [[MistakenIdentity assume Steven and Rose to be the same person]]. Even her closest friends took a while to figure out Steven wasn't just some new form she took.
** In "Change Your Mind", we find out what happens if [[spoiler: Steven's gem is removed]]. [[spoiler: We end up with two Stevens, one of them his human body sans gem, the other an identical body formed from his gem. However, unlike with perma-fusions, the two Stevens are halves of a whole, and neither of them can function without the other. [[CreepyChild Gem Steven]] is completely emotionless, barely speaks, and shows none of the restraint of the ActualPacifist we know and love, displaying just how powerful he actually is when White Diamond antagonizes him. Meanwhile, [[LittlestCancerPatient Human Steven]] is a sobbing wreck, in immense pain and [[DeathByDepower looks like he's on death's doorstep]], unable to walk or even crawl, and barely coherent when he tearfully begs for his gem back. Both of them show immediate improvements when reunited (Human Steven regains his strength and Gem Steven starts to laugh with his other half), and fuse back into one healthy, happy Steven.]]

* The [[EldritchAbomination Raksha]] of ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' have an odd version of this that is somewhere between a Heart Drive and a SoulJar. All [[FairFolk Shaped Raksha]] form a [[SoulJar heart grace]] when they take a solid form, and if another person possesses it they can control the others actions and destroying the heart grace is one of the few ways to permanently kill a Raksha. The other virtues (compassion, conviction, temperance, and valor, the Exalted game system's main character traits) can also be made into physical objects, though they are much less important, relatively speaking. If they're destroyed or possessed by another it only prevents the Raksha in question from using the emotion attached to that grace, or using that [[EmotionEater emotion]] to [[MindRape feed]] until it grows back. The confusing part is that in most cases a Raksha's apparent physical body is closer to a projection of their graces rather than a true physical form.

[[folder:Tabletop RPG]]

[[/folder]]

** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'': Core Crystals are crystals, usually about the size of a fist, that birth new Blades. When a Driver resonates with a crystal, that crystal becomes the core of the Blade, visible somewhere on their body (usually their chest, but not always). If their Driver dies, the Blade while revert to a lifeless rock, but once it regains its power it can be reused and the Blade summoned again--though without memories. New crystals, and hence new Blades, can be obtained from deceased Titans. [[spoiler:This subtly foreshadows the Blade-to-Titan life cycle. It's the interruption of this cycle that creates the overarching problem of rapidly declining livable space seen throughout the story of the game.]] Furthermore, Core Crystals were originally made [[spoiler:in an attempt to replace human brain cells for medical purposes. The hope was to finally crack true immortality. After [[ApocalypseHow the event that created the world of Alrest to begin with,]] [[BodyHorror this went horribly wrong]], but the Architect repurposed the technology for his Blades as part of the re-terraforming process]].

** ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3'': Seemingly all of the Agnian characters have Core Crystals, though they aren't always obvious. They don't seem to realize there is anything important about them, and they are almost universally ignored. Whether because of the strange nature of Aionios or because all the Agnian characters are descended from [[HalfHumanHybrid human/Blade pairings]], the cores seem almost vestigial. [[spoiler:This works out when D tries to kill Nia. As the last true Blade on Aionios, her core is ''not'' vestigial, so him stabbing her through the heart but missing her core is merely extremely painful instead of instantly lethal]].

* In ''[[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2 Xenoblade Chronicles 2]]'', Core Crystals are what Drivers use to birth new Blades. While Core Crystals can be reused via resonation with an old one after killing the original Driver, new ones can be obtained from deceased Titans. [[spoiler:This subtly foreshadows the Blade-to-Titan life cycle. It's the interruption of this cycle that creates the overarching problem of rapidly declining livable space seen throughout the story of the game.]]
** Not only that, but Core Crystals were originally made [[spoiler: with the intent of replacing brain cells after [[ApocalypseHow the event that created the world of Alrest to begin with,]] thus making the hosts immortal. It worked, [[BodyHorror but not the]] [[WasOnceAMan way it was]] [[GoneHorriblyRight supposed to work.]]]]

* One of the more prominent examples would be the concepts of sparks in the Franchise/{{Transformers}}' universe. Sparks are basically a combination of the bot's heart and soul, as they are dead without one, and when it is "extinguished", the spark goes to become one with the Allspark. Originally introduced in ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', this is possibly the most enduring part of the show's mythology, since it has appeared in every subsequent incarnation of Transformers, including the [[Film/{{Transformers}} live-action movies]].

* A variant occurs in ''Franchise/StarTrek: [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space 9]]'' when a criminal has his brain copied to a microchip, which he embeds into Dr. Bashir's skin. This allows him to take over Bashir's body.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'', Baymax's "Tadashi chip" contains his medical programming and pretty much all of his personality. When it's removed and all that's in him is the karate chip Hiro added to him he is pretty much a mindless automaton. [[spoiler: And the Tadashi chip allows him to be rebuilt after his HeroicSacrifice]]

* On ''Series/KnightRider'', KITT's personality is contained in his CPU, which can be removed from the car. In one episode, when his CPU is removed from his car body by the villains, he's installed into a portable TV for safekeeping.
* The Greeed in ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'' are revealed to store their consciousness in just one of the nine Core Medals that make up their bodies. If that medal is broken or destroyed, they're just a pile of medals, devoid of consciousness or life. The trick is that there's no known means of destroying Core Medals...[[spoiler:at least until we're introduced the Purple Core Medals, which have the PowerOfTheVoid.]] [[spoiler:All of the Greeed are destroyed by the end of the series, but Eiji dedicates himself to finding a way to fix Ankh's Core Medal and bring him back; ''Movie Wars Megamax'' has an Ankh come back from 30 years in the future to help out, implying that he succeeded somewhere down the line]].

* ''Series/DoctorWho''. Used for a CliffHanger [[TheReveal reveal]] in "Four to Doomsday". A supposedly human character opens himself up to reveal circuitry where flesh and bone should be.
-->"This is not me. (takes out chip) ''This'' is me."

* It's provided the page image for RobotGirl at some points, so it shouldn't be a surprise that the ''Persona'' series utilizes Heart Drive-like devices. The more straightforward example is Labrys' "Plume of Dusk," which is said to contain something vaguely approximating her essence in ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena''. In the [[VideoGame/{{Persona3}} third game in the main series]], Aigis can be a [[LevelUpAtIntimacyFive Social Link]] ([[UpdatedRerelease depending on the game version]]); at the conclusion of her CharacterArc, she invites the [[HelloInsertNameHere Main Character]] to [[spoiler:[[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything leave his DNA on one of her central processors]].]]

* In the ''Manga/GhostInTheShell'' universe, thanks to the advances of cybernetics, the human brain has come to approach a Heart Drive: people with full body replacement can simply have their brains moved to a new cyborg body. This happens to Major Kusanagi in the original 1995 film and the first ''[[Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex Stand Alone Complex]]'' series. The very first episode of ''Stand Alone Complex'' also shows how a person's brain can be stolen and replaced with somebody else's, if the victim isn't careful about basic security measures -- in this case, a Minister swapping his brains with a Geisha-robot for a bit of drunken fun when there's a foreign spy about.

* One of the Akatsuki members, [[spoiler:Sasori,]] in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''; this is why the person's "true form" never seems to physically age.

[[folder:Comics]]
* In most depictions of the ComicBook/MetalMen, their bodies are literally just solid blocks of Gold, Iron, Tin, etc. animated by a softball-sized spherical device called a responsometer, which is sentient and can manipulate the surrounding metal. If the device is yoinked out of their bodies, their bodies become inanimate. Interestingly, the responsometers themselves don't provide the personalities -- the Metal Mens' personalities depend on the surrounding metal. Very bad things happen when Doc Magnus puts a responsometer into something like plutonium...

* WesternAnimation/WallE's main processor chip could be defined as this, since he [[spoiler:temporarily loses his personality when EVE gives him the life-saving overhaul near the end of the movie]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6'' Baymax's "Tadashi chip" contains his medical programming and pretty much all of his personality. When it's removed and all that's in him is the karate chip Hiro added to him he is pretty much a mindless automaton. [[spoiler: And the Tadashi chip allows him to be rebuilt after his HeroicSacrifice]]

* BrainInAJar Cain in ''Film/RoboCop2'' while he's in the "Robocop 2" body.
* ''{{Film/Cherry 2000}}''. Robots have their personality stored in a memory chip that can be removed and reinserted in another robot of the same type. The protagonist spends the entire movie trying to find a new body for his robot.

* In the live-action ''Film/InspectorGadget'' movie, Gadget is captured by the villain who proceeds to remove the computer chip that amplifies his emotions to allow his body to function, causing him to shut down. However, Gadget later summons enough HeroicResolve to overcome this and reactivate himself.

* In [[Creator/GregEgan Greg Egan's]] short story ''Learning To Be Me'', everyone has a tiny neural network computer implanted into their brain. As the people grow, the computer constantly corrects itself to mimic their brain's responses. At a certain age, many people choose to remove their brains, making the tiny computer this trope.
** Egan revisits this trope often. His short story ''Chaff'' and novels ''Diaspora'', and ''Schild's Ladder'' all have variations on this theme.

* In Creator/CharlesStross's ''Literature/SaturnsChildren'', most robots have a personality chip to backup their memories/personalities. This can be used to keep them alive by transferring their mind to another body or to learn from dead "siblings." "Wearing" the chip of another robot for too long however can lead to their personality usurping the original owner's and as a back up can take months or years to be fully complete destroying another robot's personality chip is a good way of ensuring they behave themselves.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* Akagi An, aka Kafuka Fuura, in ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' is revealed to be [[spoiler:Main/DeadAllAlong and the reason she still lingers in the world is because her organs got donated to the girls in Nozomu's class, which allow her to randomly possess any of the girls whenever she wakes up the following day.]] Her genes are said to be too positive to allow her organ recipient hosts to die from suicide attempt and by the end of the manga, it's implied that she [[spoiler: achieved nigh immortality so long as any of her organ recipient hosts are alive, since she can spread her essence to another person just by doing blood transfusion. Even her organ recipient hosts' offspring strongly resembles her in looks, indicating a potential rebirth or reincarnation.]]

* Akagi An, aka Kafuka Fuura, in ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' is revealed to be [[spoiler:Main/DeadAllAlong and the reason she still lingers in the world is because her organs got donated to the girls in Nozomu's class, which allow her to randomly possess any of the girls whenever she wakes up the following day.]] Her genes are said to be too positive to allow her organ recipient hosts to die from suicide attempt and by the end of the manga, it's implied that she [[spoiler: achieved nigh immortality so long as any of her organ recipient hosts are alive, since she can spread her essence to another person just by doing blood transfusion.]]