Ever read any Piers Anthony?  

I've read almost all the major series of his as a kid... I'm not getting the reference. Feels like it should be in bio of a space tyrant but it's not ringing a bell. 

---

Your right potatoe penalty it is. Remove his eyes, remove his tongue, cut off his ears burn his ear drums shut. Remove his arms at shoulder, remove his legs at the tighs, remove his genitils, burn his anal hole. Set him up in a dark room with an IV with just enough fluid to barely stay alive and let him rot for decades as a potatoe.

This reminds me of the dude from Metallica's video, "One".

---