History Main / BeatItByCompulsion

* Teru Mikami of DeathNote always uses exactly one page of the Death Note each day - no more, no less. This means that Near can replace the page that he uses on the day of the confrontation at the Yellow Box Warehouse weeks in advance. All of the other pages work, so the criminals that Mikami writes down keep dying and he doesn't get suspicious, but when he tries to kill Near and the rest of the SPK, he only confirms his guilt and Light's.

* Part of containment procedures for [[SCPFoundation SCP-]][[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-578 578-3]] is covering the containment area with sand and painting a labyrinth on the floor, since the undead wight in question compulsively counts salt grains and traces labyrinth lines, slowing it down when it inevitably manifests. There was apparently some resistance to this kind of "folkloric strategy" at first among the scientifically-minded SCP researchers.

* In the old WorldOfDarkness splatbook for were-cats, each tribe of cats had three or four unbreakable compulsions. As most of these compulsions were significant tactical disadvantages to the were-cats, they strongly discouraged their members from revealing these secrets to ANYONE. For example, one tribe of cats had to follow a line of salt. The effectiveness of this tactic when the cat in question was on large natural salt-deposits was not explored.

* Part of containment procedures for [[SCPFoundation SCP-]][[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-578 578-3]] is covering the containment area with sand and painting a labirynth on the floor, since the undead wight in question compulsively counts salt grains and traces labirynth lines, slowing it down when it inevitably manifests. There was apparently some resistance to this kind of "folkloric strategy" at first among the scientifically-minded SCP researchers.

* In an episode of ''DannyPhantom'', Desiree the Wishing Ghost is compelled to grant any wish she hears. Sam takes advantage of this to undo her mischief so that Danny can defeat her. [[FridgeLogic Which makes you wonder why Sam just didn't wish Desiree defeated and save some time.]]

** theory A: Imhotep's belief '''made''' the cat sacred (i.e. a presence inimical to unholy creatures)

* In ''{{Supernatural}}'' they distract a leprechaun (played by Robert Picardo) by spilling salt on the ground and forcing him to count them, giving them time to figure out how to banish him.

** In the new [=WoD=], [[ChangelingTheLost changelings]] who grow powerful enough suffer from "frailities", similar to the old stories about TheFairFolk. One may be unable to drink anything but alcohol, while another may have to dance when she hears a clock chime.

* Part of containment procedures for [[SCPFoundation SCP-]][[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-578 578-3]] is covering the containment area with sand and painting a labirynth on the floor, since the undead wight in question compulsively counts salt grains and traces labirynth lines, slowing it down when it inevitably manifests. There was apparently some resistance to this kind of "folkloric strategy" at first among the scientifically-minded SCP researchers.

* [[StarControl Star Control 2]] has The Words: "Hold! What you are doing to us is wrong! Why do you do this thing?" [[spoiler:Use this [[DialogueTree dialogue option]] on the [[BigBad Ur-Quan]], and they will explain their history and [[MotiveRant the motives]] for their actions.]] However, they'll still attack you afterwards. The reason it works is [[spoiler:that phrase is a MeaningfulEcho from a race they tried to exterminate in their {{Backstory}}, which initiated the EnemyCivilWar between the two factions of the Ur-Quan, the Green Kor-Ah, and the [[OmnicidalManiac Grey Kzer-Kza]].]]

* In the first ''ArtemisFowl'' book, the titular {{Villain Protagonist}} uses the fairies' inability to enter a human dwelling without permission, compulsion to obey a human while in their dwelling, and inability to come back later to try get revenge to extract a lot of gold from them. [[spoiler: they get around this by {{Loophole Exploitation}} and sending in a non-magical troll]]

* In {{SoulEater}}, Death the Kid has a crippling obsession with symmetry, resulting in him stopping mid-battle to chew out one of his [[EmpathicWeapon Weapons]] for being off center, going home in the middle of a mission to check whether the picture in his room was centered properly (it was), refusing to attack a symmetrical opponent and going berserk and obliterating an asymmetrical one.

* In the first ''ArtemisFowl'' book, the titular {{Villain Protagonist}} uses the fairies' inability to enter a human dwelling, complusion to obey a human while in their dwelling and inabilty to come back later to try get revenge to extract a lot of gold from them. [[spoiler: they get around this by {{Loophole Exploitation}} and sending in a non-magical troll]]

* Part of containment procedures for one of the forms of the undead [[SCPFoundation SCP-]][[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-578 578]] is covering the containment area with sand and painting a labirynth on the floor, since the form in question compulsively counts salt grains and traces labirynth lines, slowing it down when it inevitably manifests. There was apparently some resistance to this kind of "folkloric strategy" at first among the scientifically-minded SCP researchers.

* [[StarControl Star Control 2]] has The Words: "Hold! What you are doing to us is wrong! Why do you do this thing?" [[spoiler:Use this [[DialogueTree dialogue option]] on the [[BigBad Ur-Quan]], and they will explain their history and [[MotiveRant the motives]] for their actions.]] However, they'll still attack you afterwards. The reason it works is [[spoiler:that phrase is a MeaningfulEcho from a race they tried to exterminate in their {{Backstory}}, which initiated the EnemyCivilWar between the two factions of the Ur-Quan, the Green Kor-Ah, and the [[OmnicidalManiac Grey Kzer-Kza]]]]

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* In {{SoulEater}}, Death the Kid has a crippling obsession with symmetry, resulting in him stopping mid-battle to chew out one of his death-scythes for being off center, going home in the middle of a mission to check whether the picture in his room was centered properly (it was), refusing to attack a symmetrical opponent and going berserk and obliterating an asymmetrical one.

* In the first ''ArtemisFowl'' book, the titular {{Villain Protagonist}} uses the fairies' inability to enter a human dwelling, complusion to obey a human while in their dwelling and inabilty to come back later to try get revenge to extract a lot of gold from them. [[spoiler: they get around this by {{Loophole Exploition}} and sending in a non-magical troll]]

[[NeatFreak Not to mention his obsession with cleanliness]]. Splash a bit of mud on his tunic and he'll be incapable of anything but whining until he scrubs it all out.

* The Contractors of ''{{Darker Than Black}}'' have to fulfill an "obeisance", which is a compulsion to do something after using their powers--and they ''must'' do it, or else bad things happened (though it's never really explained what would happen to a Contractor who didn't fulfill his or her obeisance). This can vary from folding the corners of every page in a book to breaking one's own fingers.
** Badass Hei subverts this, however, since [[spoiler:he doesn't seem to have an obeisance.]]

* In the first ''ArtemisFowl'' book, the titular {{VillainProtagonist}} uses the fairies' inability to enter a human dwelling, complusion to obey a human while in their dwelling and inabilty to come back later to try get revenge to extract a lot of gold from them. [[spoiler: they get around this by {{LoopholeExploition}} and sending in a non-magical troll]]