History Main / EmotionSuppression

* Kleene in ''Manga/EdensZero'' seems like an EmotionlessGirl with [[ExpressiveAccessory Expressive Accessories]] emoting on her behalf at first, until it's revealed those accessories are also suppressing her emotions because she suffers a condition that triggers potentially lethal [[FreakOut mental breakdowns]] whenever she feels anything. [[spoiler:Once the root of the problem--a [[TraumaInducedAmnesia repressed memory]] of being ForcedToWatch her big brother get dismembered with a chainsaw when she was just a little girl--is removed via LaserGuidedAmnesia, Kleene is able to emote normally again.]]

* Kleene in ''Manga/EdensZero'' seems like an EmotionlessGirl with [[ExpressiveAccessory Expressive Accessories]] emoting on her behalf at first, until it's revealed those accessories are also suppressing her emotions because she suffers a condition that triggers potentially lethal [[FreakOut mental breakdowns]] whenever she feels anything. [[spoiler:Once the root of the problem--a [[TraumaInducedAmnesia repressed memory]] of being ForcedToWatch her big brother get dismembered when she was just a little girl--is removed via LaserGuidedAmnesia, Kleene is able to express herself normally again.]]

* Kleene in ''Manga/EdensZero'' seems like an EmotionlessGirl with [[ExpressiveAccessory Expressive Accessories]] at first, until it's revealed those accessories are suppressing her emotions because she suffers a condition that causes potentially lethal [[FreakOut mental breakdowns]] whenever she feels anything. [[spoiler:Once the root of the problem--a [[TraumaInducedAmnesia repressed memory]] of being ForcedToWatch her big brother get dismembered when she was just a little girl--is removed via LaserGuidedAmnesia, Kleene is able to express herself normally again.]]

* Kleene in ''Manga/EdensZero'' seems like an EmotionlessGirl with [[ExpressiveAccessory Expressive Accessories]] at first, until it's revealed those accessories are suppressing her emotions because she suffers a condition that causes potentially lethal [[FreakOut mental breakdowns]] whenever she feels anything. [[spoiler:Once Sister removes the root of the problem--a [[TraumaInducedAmnesia repressed memory]] of being ForcedToWatch her big brother get dismembered when she was just a little girl-- via LaserGuidedAmnesia, Kleene is able to express herself normally again.]]

* ''Franchise/DocSavage'': The primary weapon of the villain in ''The Men Who Smiled No More'' is a drug that prevents its victims from feeling emotion. This makes the victim's very suggestible, and also capable of committing casual murder as they cannot see anything wrong with the act.

* ''Anime/GunslingerGirl''. The 'conditioning' the cyborg children undergo includes this, though the effects vary as it's up to TheHandler how much conditioning they receive.

* ''Anime/GunslingerGirls''. The 'conditioning' the cyborg children undergo includes this, though the effects vary as it's up to TheHandler how much conditioning they receive.

* ''Project Itoh: Genocidal Organ''. The {{Super Soldier}}s have B.E.A.R (Battle Emotion Adaptive Regulation) enabling them to stay calm in combat conditions and kill without remorse. The plot involves the soldiers hunting a linguistic expert who's developed a [[LanguageEqualsThought language of genocide]] that he claims works in a similar manner to B.E.A.R by repressing the conscience, [[HatePlague enabling ordinary people to commit atrocities]].

* The [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Guardians of the Universe]], when preparing plans for their new InternalAffairs officers, decided to include protocols to this effect as part of the cyborg conversion, represented by a permanent link to the Book of Oa, intended to make them perfect, impartial and logic-driven, since by then they'd begun to fear all emotions except willpower and they felt restricting them would only improve the officers they envisioned. To no one's surprise, the conversion wound up creating idiotic martinets without any emotions to back up their willpower, with the added downside of making them extremely vulnerable to DemonicPossession and even common ''hacking''.
* One arc of the "threeboot" ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperheroes'' saw several of the Legionnaires trying to lead a RagtagBunchOfMisfits against a well-organized team of supervillains. In an effort to boost their chances, Saturn Girl used her powers to suppress the misfits' ability to feel fear.

* In some continuities this is how Kryptonian culture is depicted. They've OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions but also everything else not related to cold rational science, sometimes to the point of replacing sex with [[UterineReplicator artificial reproduction]]. Jor-El for his part is a [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch cultural rebel]] and one of the motivations for sending his son to Earth is that humans are like what Kryptonians used to be instead of what they are now.

This trope can also be carried out on a massive scale. There can be a human or alien culture where every representative has their emotions suppressed. This situation also has little chance of being undeniably good. At best, (other) humans will just leave it as it is, perhaps after [[StrawVulcan some demonstrations of how emotions can be useful]]. If it's done by an EvilOverlord or... uh... [[BigBrotherIsWatching a caring and benevolent ruler]] who is unable to [[GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul paint smilies on their subjects' souls]] but at least wants to remove tears from there, you've got a ready [[{{Dystopia}} dystopian]] setting.

This is part of the basis of {{The Stoic}} and the {{Emotionless Girl}}, {{Ice Queen}} and {{The Quiet One}} characters, {{The Baroness}}, the {{Deadpan Snarker}} (and {{Little Miss Snarker}}), the {{Broken Bird}}, the SugarAndIcePersonality and the {{Aloof Big Brother}}. Compare and contrast GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul or {{Lotus Eater Machine}}: Emotion Suppression does ''not'' make you happy, it just makes you not-sad, not-angry, you know, ''emotionless''.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'': Many factions. The [[SuperSoldier Space Marines]] and the [[DeathSeeker Death Corps of Krieg]] actually have cybernetic augments that pump emotion-dulling drugs through their bloodstream. The [[OurElvesAreDifferent Craftworld Eldar]] do this through training alone, [[EasyRoadToHell and they need to otherwise their souls will be claimed by Slaanesh]].

* Tatsuya's scenario in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}: Eternal Punishment'' reveals Izanami, in the Kadath Mandala, wears a mask that crushes her emotions. When questioned, she reveals that though her fury at being abandoned by Izanagi in Yomutsu Hirakasa has faded, her ''sorrow'' has not, and thus she keeps the mask on until she can be with Izanagi once more.

* [[VideoGame/{{Touhou}} Koishi Komeiji]] was tired of being a Satori, a race of {{Youkai}} with extremely powerful mind-reading abilities, so she shut close her third eye. This thankfully sealed her mind-reading, but had the unforeseen side effect of shutting down her ability to read her ''own'' mind as well, taking her personality and emotions with it.
* ''[[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft World of Warcraft]]'' has an odd case where a character does this to himself. According to legend, Emperor Shaohao expelled his negative emotions from his body (thus creating the Sha) in order to save Pandaria from the Shattering.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'': Raven has to constantly suppress her emotions lest she lose control of her powers completely. Hence the meditation.

* This is the unique ability of Stella Atlas' Shadow Charm in ''Roleplay/NothingIsSacred''. The majority of the time, [[BlessedWithSuck this is not a good thing]]. Stella is something of a BrokenBird who has spent a large portion of her life living with muted emotions due to [[ParentalNeglect the lack of emotional support she was given growing up]] as well as [[DarkAndTroubledPast an unspecified event that happened to her in the past]]. This comes to a sudden end after the results of a Shadow Game force Stella to actually feel and process her emotions...or, rather, it would if she didn't have her Shadow Charm to lean on, allowing her to avoid her problems with an emotional crutch. The Charm ''does'' come in quite handy however when Stella has to infiltrate [[spoiler:Doma]] with her Shadow Charm allowing her to counter the soul-altering effects of [[spoiler:the Seal of Orichalcos]].

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', [[spoiler: Sanji's brothers Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji had their ability to feel and understand empathy surgically removed by their AbusiveParent Judge ''while in utero'', [[TykeBomb so he could weaponize them]]. Their mother, Sora, took a gene modification-reversing drug to save her sons, but for some reason, the drug only worked on Sanji. The other three have just a tiny shred of humanity left, which up until now has only showed once: when the three guys [[EvenEvilHasStandards freaked out]] over [[EvilMatriarch Big Mom]]'s [[AndIMustScream "living library"]].]]

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

* ''Fanfic/AdviceAndTrust'': Rei has been unwittingly doing this to herself with various pharmaceuticals until Asuka and Shinji find out and convince her to stop.

Portrayed as a good thing, Emotion Suppression can be used to enter HeroicSafeMode, to escape MindRape or simply to concentrate on the fight clearing your head of unimportant thoughts. The SmartGuy may enter a state of pure impartial logic to perform AwesomenessByAnalysis, and the master of PolitenessJudo can calmly [[SilkHidingSteel suggest to the ambassador that it would be wise for his kingdom to withdraw their invading troops before the Fantasic Nukes are launched]] without dropping her polite and reserved facade for an instant. More combat or magically oriented characters likewise can benefit from a MeditationPowerup. This kind of suppression is almost always temporary and voluntary.

Sometimes it is portrayed as a bad thing. In that case the character in question [[StealthPun can at best hope]] to be an [[LonersAreFreaks a loner]] or an EmotionlessGirl not knowing ThisThingYouCallLove. Alternately, when a character has been emotionally hurt previously, or seen someone close to them be hurt, they may decide to seek SafetyInIndifference, and often need time before they [[PowerOfTrust feel comfortable letting down their guard again]]. At worst, the character will be put in a sort of UncannyValley, being human in appearance but not human in behaviour- arguably the worst form being the StepfordSmiler. Any sort of permanent Emotion Suppression will probably turn out this way, especially if it is not voluntary.

This trope can also be carried out on a massive scale. There can be a human or alien culture where every representative has their emotions supressed. This situation also has little chance of being undeniably good. At best, (other) humans will just leave it as it is, perhaps after [[StrawVulcan some demonstrations of how emotions can be useful]]. If it's done by an EvilOverlord or... uh... [[BigBrotherIsWatching a caring and benevolent ruler]] who is unable to [[GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul paint smilies on their subjects' souls]] but at least wants to remove tears from there, you've got a ready [[{{Dystopia}} dystopian]] setting.

* This forcefully happens to Satoru Suzuki in ''LightNovel/Overlord2012'' when he becomes Momonga, his {{lich}} video game character, as the undead cannot feel emotions. This is both a good and a bad thing. While he does not feel emotions like fear, disgust or rage which could cloud his mind, he also [[LackOfEmpathy loses his empathy]] and becomes completely inhuman.

%%* In ''Manga/AngelBeatsHeavensDoor'', Yusa voluntarily undergoes this.
* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', [[spoiler: Sanji's brothers Ichiji, Niji and Yonji had their ability to feel and understand empathy surgically removed by their AbusiveParent Judge ''while in utero'', [[TykeBomb so he could weaponize them]]. Their mother, Sora, took a gene modification-reversing drug to save her sons, but for some reason, the drug only worked on Sanji. The other three have just a tiny shred of humanity left, which up until now has only showed once: when the three guys [[EvenEvilHasStandards freaked out]] over [[EvilMatriarch Big Mom]]'s [[AndIMustScream "living library"]].]]

* To deal with her life, Maika from ''ComicBook/{{Monstress}}'' appears to experience no emotions besides hunger and rage. It's unclear - even to her - whether her other emotions are gone or just suppressed.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'', Nico once magically stripped Klara of her emotions in an attempt to rein in her powers, which were going haywire as the result of Klara suffering a panic attack. in the short term, this worked out sort of okay, but in the long term, it turned Klara into even more of a nervous wreck.
* One arc of the "threeboot" ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperheroes'' saw several of the Legionnaires trying to lead a RagtagBunchOfMisfits against a well-organized team of supervillains. In an effort to boost their chances, Saturn Girl used her powers to suppress the misfits' ability to feel fear.

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has the tragic example of [[spoiler: Maddie Pryor]], who was raised to be a TykeBomb by [[TheSociopath Essex]], a cold, unfeeling, and obedient HumanWeapon without anything in the way of a normal moral compass - the fic even notes how traditional fairytales were given a HardTruthAesop to reinforce the 'human terminator' mentality. The level of control reaches MoreThanMindControl levels; even after months, if not ''years'', of [[spoiler: Gambit]] [[TheCharmer working every wile and charm]] he has on her [[DefusingTheTykeBomb to encourage her to embrace the fact that she is a person, not just a weapon,]] it takes a while to get through to her that she is more than just a weapon. Even after her epiphany and HeelFaceTurn, she's [[TheStoic very reserved]], quite shy, and has a lot of trouble dealing with her newfound emotions. All of this, when contrasted with Jean Grey [[spoiler: (her twin sister, who she was stolen from at birth)]], is [[PlayedForDrama played as tragically as possible]].

* ''Project Itoh: Genocidal Organ''. The {{Super Soldier}}s have B.E.A.R (Battle Emotion Adaptive Regulation) enabling them to stay calm in combat conditions and kill without remorse. The plot involves the soldiers hunting a linguistic expert who's developed a [[LanguageEqualsThought language of genocide]] that he claims works in a similar manner to B.E.A.R by repressing the conscience, [[HatePlague enabling ordinary people to commit atrocities]].

* ''Franchise/DocSavage'': The primary weapon of the villain in ''The Men Who Smiled No More'' is a drug that prevents its victims from feeling emotion. This makes the victim's very suggestable, and also capable of committing casual murder as they cannot see anything wrong with the act.

* ''Literature/RealQuickFlashFic'' has a story where a murderer is using meditation to try to supress his emotions; not with the greatest of success.

** Jedi are expected to be able to suppress their emotions in order to think clearly; in practice it depends.
** [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Dengar Dengar]], a man TheEmpire [[WeCanRebuildHim rebuilt as an assassin]], had his emotions surgically cut away, all but anger, despair, and hope, as those would be useful to an assassin. Hope is the driving force, the hope that if he does well enough they will restore him to his old self. They also accidentally left him the ability to feel loneliness. Interestingly, when they ordered him to assassinate children, he left Imperial service- he wasn't able to ''feel'' why it was wrong, but he could still logically recognize that it was [[WouldntHurtAChild not something he wanted to do]]. He did get what he wanted, sort of, in the end; a woman who used cybernetic implants to share sensation and emotion fell in love with him and was able to partially restore him after they were married. Everyone but her still found him rather cold, though.

* In ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', Crichton spends the first half of season 4 taking drugs which are intended to [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies suppress his love for Aeryn]]. She's... not happy when she finds out.
* ''Series/TheMagicians2016'': Battle magic requires cold focus to be used reliably--without excessive training, it comes in fits and starts. However, hedge witches sometimes use a loophole: They literally bottle up their emotions, turning themselves into deadpan automatons but allowing them to easily use battle magic. The problem is that when you stop bottling up your emotions, you get hit with all of them at once, and it hits '''hard'''. The main characters end up collapsed in their rooms crying for hours.

* Vampires in ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'' have the ability to turn off their emotions, presumably to stop things like guilt getting in the way of their hunting. Apparently, this ability fades after a few centuries. In the first season finale [[spoiler: Jeremy attempts to become a vampire so he can shut off his grief.]] In the third season [[spoiler: Klaus compels Stefan into turning his off so he'll stop resisting his orders.]]

* ''VideoGame/RadiantArc'': Deconstructed. Tamotsu and Undyne trained themselves to be unemotional because they believe emotions will get in the way of their duty of guarding the Aquamarine shard. However, Tamotsu realizes that this caused Undyne to lack the willpower to resist Seperus's control, since she didn't develop feelings of camaraderie with Twilight Village. Tamotsu also reveals that he originally became the Vessel of Twilight and sacrificed his emotions in order to become strong enough to protect his loved ones, but eventually forgot about his loved ones due to his lost emotions.
* ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'': Cyrus, leader of the Team Galactic, is trying to create a universe with no emotions so that there would be no conflicts.

* The ''Franchise/DragonAge'' series has "the Tranquil": mages who have been entirely cut off from the Fade in order to prevent demonic possession. However, this not only robs them of their use of magic but also renders them entirely emotionless. Tranquil retain their memories of their former selves, but they lack any form of emotional response whatsoever, not only those such as happiness or fear but even boredom. Nonetheless they remain independent thinkers, and can think logically (they will not simply let themselves be killed, for instance). Tranquil often adopt a placid smile as a default expression - not because they actually feel contentment, but because they know it puts others at ease and facilitates their work when interacting with others (many find the emotionally dead expression disconcerting). Reactions in-game are mixed. Some characters are horrified by the procedure. Others consider that if the alternatives were demonic possession or execution, becoming Tranquil was preferable. Asking the Tranquil themselves what they think gets the predictable response that they don't mind what they've become, but by definition the state they are in renders that answer meaningless. However the one Tranquil, who had temporarily regained his emotions due to proximity to a Fade spirit, ''begged'' to be killed before he became Tranquil again.

* [[VideoGame/{{Touhou}} Koishi Komeiji]] was tired of being a Satori, a race of {{Youkai}} with extremely powerful mind-reading abilities, so she shut close her third eye. This thankfully sealed her mind-reading, but had the unforeseen side effect of shutting down her ability to read her ''own'' mind as well, taking her personality and emotions with it.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', Shadow tells Terra Branford that there are many people like him who have killed their emotions and warns her against forgetting that, implying that he thinks she'd be wise to not do the same.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' has this as a central plot point, as [[{{Nanomachines}} the SOP system]] used by [[PrivateMilitaryContractors PMCs]] suppresses emotions like fear, sorrow, anger and happiness in order to keep control over them. [[spoiler:When [[BigBad Liquid Ocelot's]] failed hack causes the System to go down, the soldiers' emotions return, causing them to react to everything they've done all at once. Needless to say, it's [[MindRape not pleasant]].]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'': Raven has to constantly suppress her emotions lest she lose control of her powers completely. Hence the meditation.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/FairlyOddParents'', Timmy wishes to have emotions removed and stored in a box. This effectively makes him completely fearless and popular, until he realizes that it's not so great if you don't have any emotions to enjoy it with.

* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'': In one episode, Fred breaks down over the possibility that Daphne may have gotten hurt and scolds himself for caring too much, wishing he was as unfeeling and cold like his [[ParentalNeglect father]]. Daphne overhears and takes it the wrong way, causing a rift between them for the entire episode. Fred eventually realizes that he ''does'' care for Daphne and that it's okay, leading to them making amends by the end of the episode.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': In the episode “[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS7E2AllBottledUp All Bottled Up]]”, after Trixie accidentally teleports Twilight’s enchanted map table to who knows where and spends most of the episode making light of it despite the potential for it to get Starlight into a great deal of trouble, Starlight deals with her mounting anger with Trixie by magically siphoning off her negative emotions into a bottle whenever it seems like she might lose control. This works fine, until the bottle breaks.

* ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsInTheLandWithoutFeelings'' is about a boy, Kevin, who feels so terrible about having to move that he decides he won't care about anything or anyone anymore.

* Seta Sojiro from ''Manga/RurouniKenshin''.

* Similar examples to the above happen in ''LightNovel/SkeletonKnightInAnotherWorld'':

* In ''Manga/AngelBeatsHeavensDoor'', Yusa voluntarily undergoes this.
* Mob from ''Manga/MobPsycho100'' suppresses his emotions to prevent his PsychicPowers from going haywire and hurting the people around him. When he first met Dimple, the latter mocked him for his stunted emotions until he couldn't hold back his Rage any longer and, well...
-->'''Mob''': They came out upon your request. [[SuperMode These are my emotions.]] [[CurbStompBattle This is what happens when I let them show.]]

* "Soothing" in ''Literature/{{Mistborn}}'' is a power that allows the user to dampen other peoples emotions. In the original Trilogy this is mostly just used as [[EmotionControl a way to manipulate people]], but in the SequelSeries, we see "Soothing Parlors", where patrons can go to have their fears and worries suppressed as a form of relaxation.

* In the ''Creator/TamoraPierce'' series ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'', Kel keeps her emotions under tight control at all times, reciting mantras in her mind to keep her face blank even in the face of the harshest bullying. She learned this from the Japan-like Yamani culture in which she was raised, and though the boys training for knighthood alongside her nickname her "the Yamani Lump " for it, it constantly works to her advantage, as she keeps a cool, practical head in battle and never lets her enemies or other detractors see any vulnerability to use against her.

** Similarly, [[spoiler: [[BigBad the pontiff]] is revealed to have been a skeleton for several years, similar to Arc, and the return of his emotions caused by Arc dousing him with water from the Holy Crown causes him to [[RapidAging age rapidly]] and then crumble into dust.]]

* This forcefully happens to Satoru Suzuki in ''LightNovel/{{Overlord}}'' when he becomes Momonga, his {{lich}} video game character, as the undead cannot feel emotions. This is both a good and a bad thing. While he does not feel emotions like fear, disgust or rage which could cloud his mind, he also [[LackOfEmpathy loses his empathy]] and becomes completely inhuman.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'': Many factions. The [[SuperSoldier Space Marines]] and the [[DeathSeeker Death Corps of Krieg]] actually have cybernetic augments that pump emotion-dulling drugs through their bloodstream. The [[OurElvesAreBetter Craftworld Eldar]] do this through training alone, [[EasyRoadToHell and they need to otherwise their souls will be claimed by Slaanesh]].