History Main / ScrewLearningIHavePhlebotinum

-->-- ''Series/FirstKill'', "First Blood

* ''[[VideoGame/MegaManStarForce Mega Man Star Force: Dragon, Pegasus and Leo]]'': The Study Wave is EM Wave invention that stimulates brain activity and forces knowledge into the minds of the students. Mr. Shepar is opposed to this because students should be allowed to learn from other people rather than machines, and also because it has detrimental effects on the human body. Blair Loude threatens to fire him if he doesn't use it in his class, and with some goading from Libra, Mr. Shepar activates it and puts it on overdrive, endangering the entire school. Once Mega Man puts a stop to it and Mr. Shepar realizes the error of his ways, the school staff begin to consider the ethics of using the Study Wave after coming to the conclusion that it messed with Mr. Shepar's head.

* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', this is the essence of the gameplay mechanic for how the [[PlayerCharacter Last Dragonborn]] learns how to use [[MakeMeWannaShout the Thu'um]]. For normal mortals, it takes years of learning, meditation, and introspection to learn the essence of a Shout's Words of Power, but Dragons know the [[ConLang Dovahzuul]] words intrinsically. The Dragonborn, a middle point between Dragon and Mortal, doesn't know it inherently, but can absorb Dragon souls after vanquishing enemy Dragons[[note]]in the lore metaphysics, it's postulated that all Dragons, Dragonborn included, are soul-fragments of the Draconic time-god Akatosh, so it's like two fragments re-combining[[/note]] and use them to unlock the power behind the Words instead. The Graybeards, the mortal masters of the Thu'um, state this more or less during the in-game tutorial on using the Thu'um after the Last Dragonborn meets them.

* {{Averted}} in ''[[WesternAnimation/COPS1988 C.O.P.S.]]'', of all places. In "The Case of the Brilliant Berserko", AppliedPhlebotinum makes [[DumbMuscle Berserko]] a genius. This does not automatically make him a knowledgeable; at first, he uses his newfound intelligence to think on his feet and devise clever plans. Only after stealing and reading a load of scientific books he develops GadgeteerGenius tendencies. There is, however, an example of unexplained knowledge: Brilliant Berserko starts talking in a posh accent the moment he wears the AppliedPhlebotinum.

* In the pilot of ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'', seeds Morty has absorbed anally give him temporary intelligence and allows him to recite the square root of pi to several decimal places, despite the fact that he would need to have known pi to several places beforehand to be able to calculate this.

* In the Creator/LaurelAndHardy film ''A Chump at Oxford'', a knock on the head not only made Stan Laurel think he was his uncle but gave him his uncle's intelligence and knowledge as well, to the point where Einstein was asking him for help with the Theory of Relativity. Another knock turned him back into his happy idiot self again.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': SCP-028 is a small area within an abandoned storage yard that causes anyone who enters it to instantly gain complete, perfect knowledge about a single random subject. Subjects range from cold fusion to the location of one specific set of car keys (they belong to a Buick [=LeSabre=] if you're wondering), to things that will make you GoMadFromTheRevelation.

* ''Webcomic/PvP'' has both played this trope straight and somewhat subverted it: an arc had [[TheDitz Skull]] gain super intelligence after a [[LightningCanDoAnything freak electrical accident]] which apparently also caused him to gain great knowledge of science, medicine, and engineering (to the extent that literally seconds after the accident, he started listing the physical reasons for his survival). He later decides to go back to what he was before but builds a machine should the need to become intelligent again arise. When later his cat Scratch gains superintelligence, it is handled a smidgen more realistically: yes, he can suddenly talk, but he's shown several times to be ''actually studying'' scientific textbooks and he still has a lot to learn about humans, which has caused trouble for him (notably the time he turned the Ottobot into a human-looking robot suit, then tried to take over the Mayor's office...[[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome and got unceremoniously thrown in jail]]).

** It's also shown in several instances ("The Power Within," "Ariel," "Supertroopers") that the S5 implants only crank the Rangers' ''existing'' abilities UpToEleven.
* Similarly avoided in ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock''. When Richie gains SuperIntelligence, he doesn't really gain any knowledge that he didn't already have; his GadgeteerGenius tendencies had been present since the beginning of the series, so they just get taken UpToEleven, suggesting that the powers really just drastically improved and sped up his problem-solving abilities.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutron'', this happens to Sheen when Jimmy [[MyBrainIsBig increases the size of his brain]] so he can pass a test. [[spoiler:This ends with Sheen becoming an EvilOverlord with PsychicPowers, of course.]]

* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': Gunn is instantly upgraded to über-lawyer thanks for Wolfram & Hart's surgeon. The procedure makes him an expert on human and demonic law within a few hours.

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* [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] in a [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] story where a DevolutionDevice devolves {{Franchise/Superman}} into a superpowered caveman while [[GoalOrientedEvolution evolving]] {{Franchise/Batman}} into a [[MyBrainIsBig huge-brained]] genius. Batman soon starts creating all sorts of AppliedPhlebotinum, which may be considered a case of "screw learning" but is actually not too hard to justify.[[note]]Batman is already technologically adept in his normal form, and he may have been doing his research off-panel with the story not showing it for brevity.[[/note]] On the other hand, Superman isn't just dumber -- he ''has actually forgotten what machines are'', and for instance believes a train to be an animal.

[[folder: Comic Strips]]
* One of Calvin's [[ImagineSpot Imagine Spots]] in ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' involves him getting a 'knowledge implant' that instantly teaches him everything he would learn in the course of his education, thus removing the need to ever go to school. Of course, in the real world he isn't so lucky.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* In a ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' strip, Calvin once dreams about getting a "knowledge implant", in the form of extra brain matter, from a pair of robot surgeons. The point of the fantasy is so that he doesn't need to go to school anymore, which to him would be the ultimate of joys.
** In one story arc, he enlarges his brain to make his homework easier and becomes so intelligent that, within moments, he mentally calculates the purpose of the cosmos and all reality into a single, simple answer. However, he was unable to figure out why girls are so weird.
* [[ParodiedTrope Parodied]] in ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}''. Wally dreams of approaching the Pointy-Haired Boss and mocking his "Work smarter, not harder" advice ("I didn't realize I could become smarter just by wanting to!"). He then increases his brain size by straining his muscles and says, "Wow! Suddenly I can speak Latin!"
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* Boosts to intelligence and knowledge skills in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' allow you to retry knowledge checks and "know" something you didn't before. Explained as both AWizardDidIt and that you are [[EurekaMoment actually realizing something is relevant]] or that you are recalling information that you could normally not bring to mind, rather than knowing something new.
** If these increases are temporary, however, you don't actually get any new skills. (Except for in ''Pathfinder'', a SpiritualSuccessor to 3.5).
** If you've taken another rank in Knowledge, though, then you actually have learned more than you knew before. Which makes sense if the character gains a level at the end of an adventure, and presumably has some downtime to learn something new. When it happens in the middle of DungeonCrawling, then it's this trope played straight.

* In ''VideoGame/EmeraldCityConfidential'', the knowledge pills at the university allow students to acquire knowledge on virtually any topic automatically, from elocution lessons to public records.

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* [[Wiki/SCPFoundation SCP]]-028 is a small area within an abandoned storage yard that causes anyone who enters it to instantly gain complete, perfect knowledge about a single random subject. Subjects range from cold fusion to the location of one specific set of car keys[[note]]They belong to a Buick [=LeSabre=] if you're wondering[[/note]], to things that will make you GoMadFromTheRevelation.

* The normally-idiotic Grimlock does this to himself by accident in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'', becoming immensely intelligent but finding it hard to fit in with the other Dinobots. He eventually transfers his intelligence to the Technobots (after building them in about five minutes) and returns to his normal idiot self.
** Strangely, this is probably the all-round smartest action on this page as a result of this trope.
* Notably averted in ''WesternAnimation/MightyMax''. Dr. Zygote, after inventing a machine that [[EvolutionaryLevels manipulates evolution]], uses it on himself to become a [[MyBrainIsBig huge-brained]] "man of tomorrow". Once he's done this... he's harmless: he has acquired new powers, but he doesn't know how to use them. Sure enough, a dozen episodes later, Zygote is back and has made some practice with his powers.
** And he's defeated ''exactly the same way'', only this time the machine causes him to AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence and [[AboveGoodAndEvil not bother anyone again]].
* In the first ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' series, when Ben transforms into Greymatter, he gains intelligence and the ability to construct machines out of spare parts. In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'', his Brainstorm form doesn't appear to gain any building knowledge but does gain an extremely large vocabulary and the desire to show off all of it.

* {{Averted}} in ''WesternAnimation/{{COPS}}'', of all places. In "The Case of the Brilliant Berserko", AppliedPhlebotinum makes [[DumbMuscle Berserko]] a genius. This does not automatically make him a knowledgeable; at first, he uses his newfound intelligence to think on his feet and devise clever plans. Only after stealing and reading a load of scientific books he develops GadgeteerGenius tendencies.
** There is, however, an example of unexplained knowledge: Brilliant!Berserko starts talking in a posh accent the moment he wears the AppliedPhlebotinum.

* ''Webcomic/PvP'' has both played this trope straight and somewhat subverted it: an arc had [[TheDitz Skull]] gain super intelligence after a [[LightningCanDoAnything freak electrical accident]] which apparently also caused him to gain great knowledge of science, medicine, and engineering (to the extent that literally seconds after the accident, he started listing the physical reasons for his survival). He later decides to go back to what he was before but builds a machine should the need to become intelligent again arise. When later his cat Scratch gains superintelligence, it is handled a smidgen more realistically: yes, he can suddenly talk, but he's shown several times to be ''actually studying'' scientific textbooks and he still has a lot to learn about humans, which has caused trouble for him (notably the time he turned the Ottobot into a human-looking robot suit, then tried to take over the Mayor's office...[[RealityEnsues and got unceremoniously thrown in jail]]).

'''Ron:''' ''(eagerly)'' Dingle's got powdered dragon claw?'\\