Head jars
| Head jars | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Inventor | Ron Popeil |
| Origin | Earth |
| First appearance | "Space Pilot 3000" (1ACV01)  |
The technology to keep human heads alive in jars was invented by Ron Popeil, one of the many people now benefitting from his innovation. The jars, in conjunction with cloning techniques, can even store historical figures who had expired prior to the technology's debut. The liquid within the jar is, as one would expect, safe to drink and people have been shown to enjoy its flavour. This miraculous fluid, known as H2OGfat, is presumably sufficiently oxygenated and rich in nutrients. Heads can and do perform normal roles in society, including President of Earth, but most pass their days in quiet contemplation at the Head Museum. It is unclear which was developed first- the head jar, or cloning which recreates the memories of the deceased; however, if the former, Popeil's jars must have been invented in either the 20th or 21st Century. Head jars are one step away from the brain in a vat. The jars can also keep dogs' heads alive (2ACV03). The fluid that preserves the heads contains a very very small amount of powder made from opals. Such powder is capable of maintaning the heads by creating a temporal stasis, where they are kept with the same youth as they had in their respective eras. Ingesting this substance will temporarily send the person who drinks it and those around them back in time to the time period of the head it is preserving. In "Raging Bender" and in "A Head in the Polls" it is shown that several heads in jars do not enjoy their existence. For some reason, most heads in jars refer to themselves as their head rather than themselves, for example Nixon's "I am not a crook's head!"
Main functions
The full extent of the jars' functionality may never be known, however the jars are all capable of sustaining the life of one human's head. The heads are still able to eat and any waste is presumably filtered. The heads are able to survive out of their jars for an undefined period of time. Jars allow the inhabitant to control robotic limbs and bodies, while the jars themselves can contain attachments such as a pen to sign one's name. Jars are usually open at the top, though lids are available, but the liquid is able to remain within the jar while flying through space even when lidless. A black band is seen around the neck, but how it appears and what it does is unknown. In Bender's Big Score, Hermes' head is jarred, but the band spontaneously appears, and it disappears when Hermes' head is about to be put on top of his time paradox duplicate body.
Variants
Multi-head jars (3ACV16).
Dome-covered version, seen in Futurama comics, able to safely float freely through space.
Matt Groening's head fires (6ACV11).
Additional Info
Trivia
- On 22 June, 2011, the Futurama Head in a Jar app was released for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad.
Appearances
- The heads in jars appear in most of the episodes, so this list only includes the key appearances for them.
- "Space Pilot 3000" (1ACV01) (first seen)
- "A Big Piece of Garbage" (1ACV08) (inventor identified)
- "A Head in the Polls" (2ACV03) (first use of robotics)
- "A Leela of Her Own" (3ACV16) (multiple head jars seen)
- "Crimes of the Hot" (4ACV08) (rocket jar)
- Bender's Big Score (survivability of freshly decapitated heads shown, liquid named)
- "Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences" (6ACV11) (Groening's jar with built-in gun)
- Futurama (video game) (time required to begin use shown to be less than a minute)
- "All the Presidents' Heads" (6ACV23) (It is revealed more about the preserving method, also that ingesting the jar's liquid causes time travel)