History Main / Lobotomy

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E6TreehouseOfHorrorV Treehouse of Horror V]]", Ned Flanders is global overlord and deals with any rebels by having a part of their brain removed. Lobotomized Moe shows Homer "you get to keep the little piece they cut out", and lobotomized Marge just tells Homer that "it's bliisss...".
* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' brings up lobotomy procedures in "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueS2E11And12ABetterWorld A Better World]]", when [[spoiler:Justice Lord Superman manages to lobotomize Doomsday, using his [[EyeBeams x-ray and heat vision]] for instant effect]]. When the others decide to check out a mental hospital [[spoiler:in the Justice Lords universe, it's revealed that he has done it to many other villains like the Joker, Poison Ivy, and Mr. Scarface]]. It's how we know he's not a good guy. [[spoiler:When Doomsday recovers and hunts down our Superman, Supes tries it again as an act of desperation, only for Doomsday to reveal that he [[AdaptiveAbility developed an immunity]] since his last fight.]]

* Season 4 of ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman'' reveals that [=BoJack's=] grandmother, Honey Sugarman, received a lobotomy after having a mental breakdown following the death of her son, Crackerjack, in 1945, predictably turning her into a catatonic EmptyShell. What's worse is her husband Joseph threatened to do the same to Beatrice (his ''daughter'') if she couldn't keep her emotions in check.
-->'''Joseph:''' You don't want to end up like your mother now, do you?
* The episode "Webworld" from season three of ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' sees Galvatron nearly given one when all conventional attempts at curing his insanity through therapy fail. As it turns out, the GeniusLoci planet that was to perform the operation couldn't handle his evil and insanity, allowing Galvatron to break free and wreck the place.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'', [[spoiler:MauveShirt S-464 was a {{mook}} for the [[WeirdTradeUnion Guild of Calamitous Intent]] who's found out to be TheMole for their rival the Peril Partnership. After he goes rogue again, he's taken prisoner by the Guild and undergoes one of these to ensure his loyalty. As a result, he no longer recognizes his [[LoveAcrossBattlelines OSI lover]] Agent Kimberly [[LadyLooksLikeADude McManus]], much to her horror]].
* {{Parodied|Trope}} in the "Franchise/ToyStory 4" sketch of ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'', in which a now college-aged Andy turns Buzz Lightyear into a makeshift bong, lobotomizing him to an infantile state in the process.

* Mentioned as having been performed at the Shalebridge Cradle in ''VideoGame/ThiefDeadlyShadows''. The head doctor's fancy silver surgical tools are a special loot item in that level.

A lobotomy is a (thankfully, now rare) medical operation that cuts into part of a person's brain in order to treat mental illness. Lobotomies and similar drastic brain alterations are still used as last-ditch treatment for intractable epilepsy, but that's about it. In Real Life, there was little evidence that it did anything therapeutic. The most often performed procedure rarely helped; it simply destroyed random brain matter and caused the patient to suffer [[LazyBum loss of motivation]], [[ExtremeDoormat loss of assertiveness]], [[CreativeSterility loss of creativity]], [[NoSocialSkills difficulty in social situations]] and [[PottyFailure incontinence]] and could cause seizures in those who had not suffered from them before the operation. A majority of lobotomies were performed on adult women who were perceived as unstable, moody, or violent (by 1930s-1960s standards, anyway--take that as you will), but it was sometimes performed on male patients (often as an attempt to CureYourGays, for example), and in some cases very young children. For all these reasons, the practice was highly controversial from the outset (to the point where the Soviet Union banned it in 1950) and was gradually phased out when pharmacological treatments for mental illnesses became available in TheFifties. It was still noticeably present in mental hospitals until TheEighties, but only became rarer and rarer during that time.

* ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'': While this doesn't ''actually'' happen in canon, Schlatt once very casually threatened to "turn [Quackity] into Rosemary Kennedy" (see the Real Life section) if he didn't meet his standards of attractiveness. Really says a lot about [[DomesticAbuse their relationship]] in the roleplay series.

%% ** ImagineSpot by Bart in the Music/MichaelJackson episode. %%% NOTE: If you add context to this example, fix the example indentation as well.

* On an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'', Elmyra heavily hinted to Montana Max that she wanted him to take her to an upcoming dance. Monty responded that he'd rather have a lobotomy.

* {{Parodied|Trope}} in the "Franchise/ToyStory 4" sketch of ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'', in which a now college-aged Andy turns [[spoiler:Buzz Lightyear]] into a makeshift bong, lobotomizing him to an infantile state in the process.

* In Creator/TennesseeWilliams's 1958 play, ''Theatre/SuddenlyLastSummer'', the protagonist is threatened with a lobotomy to stop her from telling the truth about her cousin Sebastian.

* ''Franchise/FiveNightsAtFreddys'':
** The infamous Bite of '87 from [[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys1 the first game]]. During a birthday party, one of the animatronics malfunctioned and took a chunk out of one of the people at the restaurant. Other than that, the details of it are unclear.
--->'''Phone Guy:''' I-It's amazing that the human body can live without the frontal lobe, you know?
** The example from the first installment is explained in ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys4''. [[spoiler:The kid ''you play as'' got their head stuffed into the mouth of the Fredbear animatronic by their BigBrotherBully. It was meant to be a prank, but then Fredbear accidentally [[DeadlyPrank bit down]]...]]

* ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'':
** If [[spoiler:Slate]]'s life is spared he will be found later on in the game, the apparent victim of a lobotomy or some similar "procedure" by [[BigBad Comstock]]'s forces that has left him an EmptyShell to keep him from continuing to spread dissent and treasonous information about Comstock, [[spoiler:that happens to be both true and false, [[MetaphoricallyTrue metaphorically speaking]]]]. If you [[MercyKill put him out of his misery]], then Elizabeth will comment on it, saying, "I guess that's what he wanted."
** In "Burial at Sea", Atlas nearly gives Elizabeth one while torturing her for information. He even sticks the needle in and taps it a few times with a hammer. And you get to experience it all in first person! Elizabeth simply laughs it off though, saying that he'll be doing her a favor, by making her no longer care about all she's been through. He then threatens to do it to the Little Sister Elizabeth had been trying to save the whole time. She quickly gives in.