History Main / BigDumbBody

* Master Blaster in ''Film/MadMax Beyond Thunderdrome'' was a genius midget on a dumb brute's back.
** "He has the mind of ''child!''"

Regarding possessors, a [[TheSymbiote Symbiote]] is an example where the host is usually the bigger and more physical of the two (or more) involved, as opposed to the parasite. While a DemonicPossession usually has the opposite, where the demon is the source of the host's strength and power, however, a B.D.B. possessed by such an entity becomes a LivingBodysuit.

Most B.D.B's are {{Giant Mook}}s or even bodyguards who are forced to take the blame for killing their charge after the possessor has relieved control (though this can end with the B.D.B also being discretely killed off to further suspicion and/or confusion.)

In some cases, it's safe to state that a B.D.B is a more powerful version of the standard MeatPuppet, though expected to be less common. Contrast TheDividual. Not to be confused with DumbMuscle, though DumbMuscle characters may ''end up'' as Big Dumb Bodies; or the BigDumbObject, whose only common trait is that they're big (and not even that they're dumb).

** Subverted with the genetically manipulated wolf soldiers. They are specifically designed as weapons of terror under the command of a leader, but controlling them is immensely hard and requires a hard training of the manipulating skills ad full concentration. Different than guards or other people, they can't be controlled in masses, just in small "packs" of six or seven maximum.

In some cases, it's safe to state that a B.D.B is a more powerful version of the standard MeatPuppet, though expected to be less common. Contrast TheDividual. Not to be confused with DumbMuscle, though DumbMuscle characters may ''end up'' as Big Dumb Bodies.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Kelly Funk has the Jacket-Jacket Fruit power, which lets him turn into a jacket and possess anyone who wears it. Kelly's preferred host is his brother Bobby Funk, who is naturally extremely strong and resilient, whereas Kelly is physically much weaker but is an experienced hand-to-hand fighter. Together, they become a very tough opponent, combining Kelly's swiftness and intelligence with Bobby's brute strength and toughness. This is [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]], however, in that Bobby is not dumb by any means, but terrified of fighting and completely untrained in combat.

* The premise of ''VideoGame/CrashMindOverMutant''.

* Turns out this is why Yeerks enslaved the Hork-Bajir in ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}''.
** The Gedds were the only hosts the Yeerks had on their home planet. They were only half of the trope: "dumb" and easily controlled (compared to the Gedds, the Hork-Bajir were as hard to control as Frederick Douglass), but also physically weak by any normal standard. Even the Gedds are far less limited than an [[PuppeteerParasite unhosted Yeerk]] (a slug with no eyes or hands, living out its life in a pool), though, so before the Yeerks had the better hosts from other worlds, they were very happy to use the Gedds as their BigDumbBody.
** The series reveal that [[HumansAreSpecial humans are the ultimate version of this trope]] as far as the Yeerks are concerned. They are have better senses than the Gedd, need less specialized diets than the Carnivourous Taxxons or the Herbivore Hork-Bajir, are not controlled by their hunger like the Taxxons, more dexterous than the Hork-Bajir (who in turn were improvements over the Gedd) and have a better stomach for warfare than pacifistic Hork-Bajir, and most importantly, are more numerous than all the above races (including the Yeerks, unhosted) combined. There are more humans then there are Yeerks to host them by an order of magnitude. Because of many of these traits, the Yeerks actually decide that a silent invasion is better than a full offensive like the other races... they're downright terrified of what the humans would be capable in an open fight.

In some cases, it's safe to state that a B.D.B is a more powerful version of the standard MeatPuppet, though expected to be less common. Contrast TheDividual.

** In ''[[Comicbook/{{Supergirl 1972}} Vol 2]] #8'', Medusa’s ghost wants to take over the titular heroine's body specifically because of her superhuman powers and not because of her brains.

* Subverted with ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'' enemy Wordkiller-1 -an alien, body-surfing symbiote-. In ''ComicBook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'', he transferred his soul into the body of [[spoiler:Supergirl]] because she was crazy powerful and inmensely strong, and he thought she was only a stupid girl. By the time he realized she wasn't dumb at all and [[spoiler:she had outsmarted him to force him out of her body and kill him, it was too late.]]

[[folder:Comics]]

In some cases, it's safe to state that a B.D.B is a more powerful version of the standard MeatPuppet, though expected to be less common.

[[quoteright:335:[[CrashMindOverMutant http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crash_mind_over_mutant_trailer_video.jpg]]]]

* The premise of ''[[Franchise/CrashBandicoot Crash: Mind Over Mutant]]''.

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* The recurring ''JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'' enemy General Eiling transferred his mind into the body of the indestructible Shaggy Man. In this case the host's stupidity became a problem, as Eiling's intelligence didn't survive being forced to use the Shaggy Man's tiny brain.
* Johan briefly had one in ''{{BPRD}}'' before it was killed by Captain Zombie's jaguar demon form. He's been trying with little success to clone a new one ever since.
* Warstar of [[MarvelComics Marvel]]'s Shi'ar Imperial Guard is a form of this, consisting of a big guy ridden by a small one half-hidden on his back who does most of the actual thinking for the pair (and also has the ability to dish out electric shocks) -- to the point that at least once when he was taken out of action, his bigger partner stopped fighting, too. Oddly, the two seem to be ''robots'', suggesting that somebody may have designed them to embody this trope on purpose.

* In ''{{War of the Spider Queen}}'', Gromph Baenre, the Dark Elf Archmage of Menzoberranzan, once took control of a troll B.D.B to detonate one of several magical traps protecting a Traitor Noble House.

* The premise of ''CrashMindOverMutant''.
* Used by Abe in the ''{{Oddworld}}'' series through the power of Possession.

* As of its ''Cataclysm'' expansion, the first example of this trope new players will encounter will usually be Helix Gearbreaker, a boss in the Deadmines. Helix is a goblin who fights atop a Lumbering Oaf. Once you kill the Oaf as part of the fight, he'll jump off and start riding on top of the players until defeated.

* Master Blaster in ''Film/MadMax Mad Max Beyond Thunderdrome'' was a genius midget on a dumb brute's back.

* Master Blaster in ''Film/MadMaxBeyondThunderdrome'' was a genius midget on a dumb brute's back.

** "He has the mind of ''CHILD!''"

* Master Blaster in ''[[MadMax Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdrome]]'' was a genius midget on a dumb brute's back.