History Main / HappinessInMindControl

This trope raises [[LossOfIdentity questions about identity]], the self and (of course) free will. It can be terrifying to suffer lack of agency over your own actions, thoughts or feelings, or even a full DeathOfPersonality, as most people would choose [[IDieFree Dying Free]] or DyingAsYourself than being changed into something they aren't. However, what if being [[CharmPerson charmed]] made them happy, or what if the personality that emerges over the old one ''[[NotSoDifferent is just as afraid of being erased]]?''

-->'''Takeru:''' ''(cheerfully)'' I am a slave! I love serving Ryoken-sama.

* ''Series/SearchParty'': [[spoiler: Dory seems much happier and at peace with herself while under Chip's brainwashing, to the point that after being broken out of it, she asks him to do it again.]]

* ''SearchParty'': [[spoiler: Dory seems much happier and at peace with herself while under Chip's brainwashing, to the point that after being broken out of it, she asks him to do it again.]]

* ''Film/TotalRecall'': At the end of the film, Quaid discovers [[spoiler:that Houser was EvilAllAlong, and if the bad guys win, he'll be turned back. He thus fights his way free, forcing the BigBad to decide to just kill him because he's never getting his friend back.]]

** Odiana was enslaved as a young girl. The mind altering [[SlaveCollar discipline collar]] broke her mind and, despite being free, she now prefers to be under its effects.

-> ''If I felt pain, it is meaningless to me now. Once I knew only fear, but now I know only service. Whatever pain there was, I believe it an acceptable trade.''
-->-- ''Franchise/DragonAge: Literature/{{Asunder}}''

* ''LightNovel/Overlord2012'': 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.

* In ''Literature/MankindUnderTheLeash'' (also sold under the much better British title "White Fang Goes Dingo") humanity has been conquered by aliens, who use a form of control called the Leash, which gives the one controlled great pleasure while under it.[[/folder]]

* ''Manga/GunsmithCats'': Played for horror with the brainwashed "pets" of Goldie Musou. They're happier to be brainwashed sex slaves because Goldie made them do something traumatic once they were hooked (often, killing everyone they loved) and they can't deal with it otherwise.

* ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'': A spirit [[HauntedHouse inhabiting an abandoned house]] traps Suzu and Matsuri inside, forcing them to reenact the lives of a HappilyMarried couple that once lived there. Despite being fully aware they're being controlled, the pair enjoy each other's private company too much to resist. It's only thanks to [[spoiler:someone else taking control of Suzu's body]] that they get out, though they're not upset about it afterward.

-> "If I felt pain, it is meaningless to me now. Once I knew only fear, but now I know only service. Whatever pain there was, I believe it an acceptable trade."

* ''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.

* After Migi is released from Go's control in Manga/Parasyte he explains that it was a peaceful existence essentially being a limb. He was in a kind of unconscious state, yet still had rivers of information flowing through his mind, with no awareness enough to feel the emotions, positive or negative, that he'd been developing.

** 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/TheWheelOfTime'': ZigZagged with the ''damane'', mages that the Seanchan Empire enslave with RestrainingBolt collars and condition with years of {{Brainwash|ed}}ing, {{Dehumanization}}, and EmotionControl to be utterly subservient to their handlers. Some become so convinced that they need to be controlled that they lash out in a blind panic when freed and are happy to be collared again.

* ''Literature/CodexAlera'': Odiana was enslaved as a young girl. The mind altering [[SlaveCollar discipline collar]] broke her mind and, despite being free, she now prefers to be under its effects.

* In ''Fanfic/GinnyWeasleyDoubleLife'', after being hypnotised by talking serpent Milikan, Ginny happily refers to Milikan as her Mistress and affirms that she lives to serve her. However, Milikan's hypnosis primarily 'encourages' Ginny to see Milikan as her best friend rather than just her Mistress, and the snake also has no problem with Ginny retaining her existing relationships with Harry and her children; the only thing that truly changes is that Ginny has no problem spending time in the nude with a talking serpent, and even then there is nothing truly sexual in their nude interactions.

* In the ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13700165/1/Ginny-Weasley-Double-Life Ginny Weasley: Double Life]]", after being hypnotised by talking serpent Milikan, Ginny happily refers to Milikan as her Mistress and affirms that she lives to serve her. However, Milikan's hypnosis primarily 'encourages' Ginny to see Milikan as her best friend rather than just her Mistress, and the snake also has no problem with Ginny retaining her existing relationships with Harry and her children; the only thing that truly changes is that Ginny has no problem spending time in the nude with a talking serpent, and even then there is nothing truly sexual in their nude interactions.

* In the ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13675375/1/Ginny-Weasley-Double-Life Ginny Weasley: Double Life]]", after being hypnotised by talking serpent Milikan, Ginny happily refers to Milikan as her Mistress and affirms that she lives to serve her. However, Milikan's hypnosis primarily 'encourages' Ginny to see Milikan as her best friend rather than just her Mistress, and the snake also has no problem with Ginny retaining her existing relationships with Harry and her children; the only thing that truly changes is that Ginny has no problem spending time in the nude with a talking serpent, and even then there is nothing truly sexual in their nude interactions.

* In ''Literature/MankindUnderTheLeash'' (also sold under the much better British title "White Fang Goes Dingo") humanity has been taken under control by aliens, who use a form of control called the Leash, which gives the one controlled great pleasure while under it.[[/folder]]

* In Literature/MankindUnderTheLeash (also sold under the much better British title "White Fang Goes Dingo") humanity has been taken under control by aliens, who use a form of control called the Leash, which gives the one controlled great pleasure while under it.[[/folder]]

[[/folder]]

* ''Series/JessicaJones2015'': After an extended time under Kilgrave's control, Malcolm Ducasse discusses this trope with Jessica. There is an ironic freedom to being mindcontrolled because you are not responsible for your actions. You don't worry about plans or their consequences, you just fulfill the purpose of the controller.

* 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.