History Main / BigDumbBody

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

[[caption-width-right:335:When you're a titanic, mutated beast of destruction, and a bandicoot can possess you via piggy back riding, you're a B.D.B.]]

* 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 [[ActualPacifist terrified of fighting and completely untrained in combat]].

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

* In ''Literature/WarOfTheSpiderQueen'', 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.
* In ''Literature/{{Animorphs}},'' [[PuppeteerParasite Yeerks]] can control a species no matter how smart they are, but their shock troops, the Hork-Bajir, fit the bill--they're [[https://www.google.com/search?q=Hork-Bajir&rlz=1CAACAP_enUS712US714&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwigkuO6lOLTAhVB64MKHXKMDTIQ_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=591#imgrc=hQHqWHayG4QDbM: seven-foot-tall dinosaurians covered with blades]], but are [[GoodIsDumb simple-minded and peaceful]] in their natural state. (Those blades are actually for scrapping off edible tree bark.)

** The series reveal that [[HumansAreSpecial humans are the ultimate version of this trope]] as far as the Yeerks are concerned--not as good fighters as the Hork-Bajir, to be sure, but we're stronger than Gedds or Taxxons, breed quickly, are dexterous enough to be useful, and are technologically weak enough to be conquerable. Also, apparently we're the only sapient species that numbers in the ''billions.''

* In ''Literature/TheLunarChronicles'' the Lunars use their gift of MindControl to either weaponize guards or use them as shields when they are under attack; the guards are specifically chosen because they have a weak gift theirselves and cannot withstand the constraint from other Lunars. Usually, they are not dumb, just very easily controlled.
** [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] with the [[BioAugmentation genetically manipulated]] [[SuperSoldier 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 and full concentration. Different than guards or civilians, they can't be controlled in masses, just in small "packs" of six or seven maximum.
* "The Colossus of Ylourgne" by Creator/ClarkAshtonSmith: The dying DepravedDwarf {{Necromancer}} Nathaire decides to take his revenge on the world by creating a hundred-foot-tall FleshGolem for his ghost to inhabit. It lets him devastate the countryside, but the "Dumb Body" bit comes into play when [[spoiler:Gaspard disrupts Nathaire's control, whereupon it docilely [[NonMaliciousMonster digs itself a grave and lays itself to rest]], with Nathaire still [[AndIMustScream shrieking and helpless within]]]].
* Discussed in ''Literature/ArtemisFowl: The Last Guardian'': The Berserkers are a unit of undead fairy warriors whose bodies have rotted away, but as spirits they have the power to possess other creatures and use them as hosts. Their leader, Captain Oro, decided long ago that he would like the chance to possess a [[AllTrollsAreDifferent troll]] and take it into battle, so as to combine its brute strength with his own tactical knowledge and cunning.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' (3.5) had an arcane/psionic prestige class called Mind Bender, which allowed characters to eventually gain mind controlled thralls (usually B.D.Bs to balance out the weaknesses of said spellcaster).

* As of its ''Cataclysm'' expansion, the first example of this trope new players will encounter in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' 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.

In some cases, it's safe to say 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). A CustomBuiltHost will often be one of these, as its creators have no need to give it a mind of its own.

* Used by Abe in the ''VideoGame/{{Oddworld}}'' series through the power of Possession.
* ''VideoGame/{{Messiah}}'', revolving around possessing people, naturally features these. Especially since the high-tech dictatorship you're taking down has plenty of genetically engineered super-strong brutes running around to do the dumb labor.
* The somewhat obscure robotic third-person shooter ''VideoGame/MetalArmsGlitchInTheSystem'' has MightyGlacier GiantMook "Titan" enemies who are common targets for Glitch's Control Tether -- they're considerably more sturdy than Glitch or most of the enemies faced in the game, and great for plowing through enemy squads, at least while they're free of SubsystemDamage.

* As of its ''Cataclysm'' expansion, the first example of this trope new players will encounter in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' 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.
** The original Naxxramas raid had Instructor Razuvious as a boss, who flummoxed players by doing absolutely absurd quantities of damage to the point that tanking was impossible. Eventually it was discovered that his Understudy minions could be mind-controlled and used to tank the boss successfully, which was the intended way to win the battle.

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', Bran (a child and paralyzed from the waist down) sometimes wargs into Hodor, one of his companions (who is huge and strong but mentally handicapped) for use as a Big Dumb Body. Among other wargs, to take over the body of another human is an abominable crime, but Bran is wholly self-taught and too young to comprehend the horror of what he's doing or how frightening it is for Hodor.

%%* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', Bran uses Hodor as a Big Dumb Body.

* The recurring ''Franchise/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.

* Warstar of Creator/MarvelComics'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.
* ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'':
** Subverted with 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.]]
** In ''[[Comicbook/{{Supergirl 1972}} Supergirl 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.
* In Daredevil a small scientist, Dr. Karl Stragg, transfers his brilliant mind into mob legbreaker Ox's body under the pretense of increasing his intelligence. An unexpected consequence becomes evident when [[TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody his intelligence starts dropping as time goes on]] and Ox's mind in his body begins to grow smarter.
* On more than one occasion, villains have plotted to either steal the Hulk's powers or control his body. It usually backfires, if it works at all since his UnstoppableRage makes him highly resistant to anything less than the strongest telepaths. In ''ComicBook/ImmortalHulk'', it's revealed that the GreaterScopeVillain behind all gamma mutation across the multiverse is the One Below All, a cosmic entity that's TheAntiGod. It's currently sealed in its own Hell, but it [[LeakingCanOfEvil plots to create and possess gamma mutates so it can to work through them]] to break out and destroy absolutely everything. Its ultimate goal is to possess the Hulk, elevate him to a Galactus-level entity for the next multiverse, and ''smash it'' with its bare hands.

* In ''Literature/LunarChronicles'' the Lunars use their gift of MindControl to either weaponize guards or use them as shields when they are under attack; the guards are specifically chosen because they have a weak gift theirselves and cannot withstand the constraint from other Lunars. Usually, they are not dumb, just very easily controlled.

* The alchemist in ''VideoGame/{{Dota 2}}'' has one of these which he rides on.

In some cases, it's safe to say 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). A CustomBuiltHost will often be one of these, as it's creators have no need to give it a mind of its own.

In some cases, it's safe to say 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).

%%* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', Bran uses Hodor as a BigDumbBody.

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* One more than one occasion, villains have plotted to either steal the Hulk's powers or control his body. It usually backfires, if it works at all since his UnstoppableRage makes him highly resistant to anything less than the strongest telepaths. In ''ComicBook/ImmortalHulk'', it's revealed that the GreaterScopeVillain behind all gamma mutation across the multiverse is the One Below All, a cosmic entity that's the AntiGod. It's currently sealed in its own Hell, but it [[LeakingCanOfEvil plots to create and possess gamma mutates so it can to work through them]] to break out and destroy absolutely everything. Its ultimate goal is to possess the Hulk, elevate him to a Galactus-level entity for the next multiverse, and ''smash it'' with its bare hands.

* Vilitch the Curseling, from ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' has been magically attached to and overtaken the will of his hulking warrior twin Thomin, who acts as this for him.
** Subverted in the case of the orc warlord Azhag the Slaughterer, who obtained the Crown of Sorcery, an ArtifactOfDoom [[SoulJar containing the spirit of the great necromancer Nagash]]. Orcs, as it turns out, are considerably more bull-headed than humans, and as such the Crown could at best manage to distract Azhag temporarily no matter how much the spirit of Nagash attempted to possess him.

** The original Naxxramas raid had Instructor Razuvious as a boss, who flummoxed players by doing absolutely absurd quantities of damage to the point that tanking was impossible. Eventually it was discovered that his trainee minions could be mind controlled and used to tank the boss successfully, which was the intended way to wind the battle.

* In ''Series/StargateSG1'', the [[PuppeteerParasite Goa'uld]] prefer human hosts, by which they can pose as gods, but if they want something more durable they'll inhabit an Unas, a large humanoid that is short on brains but so tough it's nigh-bulletproof.

* ''VideoGame/{{Messiah}}'', revolving around possessing people, naturally features these.

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', Bran uses Hodor as a BigDumbBody.

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