History Main / HappinessInMindControl

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Subverted by Tom Riddle Sr., who was forced by Merope Gaunt to fall in love with her via a LovePotion. It's argued that she later released Tom from the effects of the potion because she thought this trope would have kicked in by the time she got pregnant. She was horribly wrong, and Tom fled the moment he was given control of his faculties again.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'': Subverted by Tom Riddle Sr., who was forced by Merope Gaunt to fall in love with him via a LovePotion. It's argued that she later released Tom from the effects of the potion because she thought this trope would have kicked in by the time she got pregnant. She was horribly wrong, and Tom fled the moment he was given control of his faculties again.

* ''Film/TheMatrix'': TheMole [[spoiler:Cypher]] was extracted from the Matrix by Morpheus, the same as the rest of the crew. When he sells out Morpheus to Agent Smith, the reward he asks for is to be re-inserted into the Matrix, to have all of his memories of the real world erased and be programmed to think that he's an actor. He doesn't get his wish, as he's killed by the heroes.

* ''Literature/TheSilverChair'' combines this with NoMatterHowMuchIBeg. The missing prince of [[Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia Narnia]] has been bewitched into marrying his captor and forgetting his old identity, [[spoiler:but the curse temporarily lifts every night, so he has to be bound to the silver chair until the spell returns and he forgets the night's events. In his enchanted state, he instructs the heroes not to release him no matter what he says at night, believing that he'll goes berserk and turn into a monstrous snake if he's not tied down. But once his mind returns for the night, he successfully convinces them to untie him by invoking the name of the divine lion Aslan in his pleas, then destroys the chair to break the enchantment once and for all.]]

* ''Discworld/MakingMoney'': The forger Owlswick Jenkins is a brilliant and gifted artist. Abducted to create the first official banknotes for the City, the downside is that his personality is ''artistically tormented''. his new employer very kindly organises pioneering Igor neurosurgery to improve his condition. This works perfectly: Jenkins becomes mentally balanced and is at last free of the voices and the inner demons. But the downside is that his artistic skills are gone completely. And he completely resists any offer to change him back and restore his artistic genius, on the grounds he prefers it this way...

* ''Franchise/DragonAge'': In general, a character that has been made "Tranquil" (had their connection with [[SpiritWorld The Fade]] severed in order to make them docile) doesn't particularly mind being Tranquil and some will even say that they prefer their lives this way compared to whatever it was before. Still, being made Tranquil is considered a FateWorseThanDeath for any person threatened with it, as it is an irreversible ([[spoiler:or so we're led to believe]]) LossOfIdentity, and in addition, it's common for Tranquil to be exploited as cheap labor or even {{Sex Slave}}s because they tend to lack any strong feelings.

-->-- ''Franchise/DragonAge: Asunder''

* ''Literature/TheSilverChair'' combines this with NoMatterHowMuchIBeg. The missing prince of [[Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia Narnia]] has been bewitched into marrying his captor and forgetting his old identity, [[spoiler:but the curse temporarily lifts every night, so he has to be bound to the silver chair during that period until the spell returns and he forgets the night's events. In his enchanted state, he instructs the heroes not to release him no matter what he says at night, believing that he'll goes berserk and turn into a monstrous snake if he's not tied down. But after he's restrained, he successfully convinces them to untie him by invoking the name of the divine lion Aslan in his pleas, then destroys the chair to break the enchantment once and for all.]]

* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'': If you run light-side, this is arguably the case for [[spoiler: your PlayerCharacter!]] The way it's phrased in-game (and in [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords the sequel]] is ambiguous as to the degree of the brainwashing involved, with characters giving their unsolicited opinion as it being everything from a full-on HeelFaceBrainwashing, LossOfIdentity, and FateWorseThanDeath to a ResetButton to a brain dead husk with only a few memories left that was all but resurrected with the new personality.

* Bender in the the ''Futurama'' movie 'Bender's Big Score' is not as unhappy about being enslaved and reprogrammed by the scammer aliens as other characters expect.

* The Mule in the ''Literature/{{Foundation}}'' trilogy has an unusual form of mind control in that he can directly manipulate people's emotions. Some people under his thrall are aware that they're being controlled yet still absolutely love him because they have no other choice. However, the one time we see someone freed from his control, that person immediately goes into a murderous rage at having been violated in such a way.

* In ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', Yeerks are {{Puppeteer Parasite}}s and most of their hosts were forcefully enslaved, screaming insidr their heads. However there are some ''voluntary'' hosts who welcome being controlled and will feel lonely without their Yeerk partner.

* ''LightNovel/{{Overlord}}'': As a joke, protagonist Momonga rewrote the command code on the NPC Albedo so that she'd be madly in love with him. When they're transported to a new world in which NPCs like Albedo are now real people, he regrets the decision because it tarnished his friend's beloved NPC and took away her agency. When he apologizes to her, she cheerfully tells him that she's fine with it and wouldn't want to be any other way.

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* [[spoiler:"Reliable" Matthew]] in ''VideoGame/ShadowrunReturns: Hong Kong'' is actually a deeply neurotic and insecure man who uses a [[SplitPersonality PersonaSoft that overrides his default personality with an artificially created one]] as a way of coping with life. He reacts with horror if you suggest he stop, preferring to use the Persona when interacting with others. Speaking with the Persona later reveals he sees himself as benevolent by allowing the 'real person' underneath to not have to deal directly with unpleasantness.

* [[spoiler:Reliable Matthew]] in ''VideoGame/ShadowrunReturns: Hong Kong'' is actually a deeply neurotic and insecure man who uses a [[SplitPersonality PersonaSoft that overrides his default personality with an artificially created one]] as a way of coping with life. He reacts with horror if you suggest he stop, preferring to use the persona when interacting with others. Speaking with the Persona later reveals he sees himself as benevolent by allowing the 'real person' underneath to not have to deal directly with unpleasantness.

* [[spoiler:Reliable Matthew]] in ''VideoGame/ShadowrunReturns: Hong Kong'' is actually a deeply neurotic and insecure man who uses a [[SplitPersonality PersonaSoft that overrides his default personality with an artificially created one]] as a way of coping with life. He reacts with horror if you suggest he stops, preferring to use the persona when interacting with others.

* ''Franchise/DragonAge'': In general, a character that has been made "Tranquil" (had their connection with [[SpiritWorld The Fade]] severed in order to make them docile) doesn't particularly mind being Tranquil and some will even say that they prefer their lives this way compared to whatever it was before. Still, being made Tranquil is considered a FateWorseThanDeath for any person threatened with it, as it is an irreversible ([[spoiler:or so we're led to believe]]) LossOfIdentity, and in addition, it's common for Tranquil to be exploited as cheap labor or even {{Sex Slave}}s because they tend to lack any strong feelings.