History Main / ManchurianAgent

* Deconstructed [[PlayedForLaughs For Laughs]] in [[https://regimental-standard.com/2020/07/01/find-the-assassin/ this]] ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' news article. An assassin was called in to assist a regiment, disguised as a soldier and given false memories for maximum concealment. Not even their allies know the identity of the assassin... so once the officers realize that the assassin wasn't triggered, they have to go on a regiment-wide search for them by triggering all 80,000 soldiers under their command. The deconstruction comes with the 'rumor' that the assassin was killed by the Commissar (morale officer, infamous for killing their own soldiers); no memories means no legal protection.

* One of the many loathed parts of ''ComicBook/TheCrossing'' was attempting to retcon that ComicBook/IronMan had been this for Kang since ComicBook/TheAvengers first fought him, having brainwashed him into being a mole for him, and that [[ComicBook/AntMan Giant-Man]]'s various psychological issues were the issue of an earlier attempt by Kang to turn him into one before moving onto Iron Man. As part of ''ComicBook/AvengersForever''[='=]s damage control, it was retconned that it was really Immortus (at the time Kang's older self), the manipulations of Tony only went back to ''ComicBook/OperationGalacticStorm'' (and Tony leading half of the Avengers to kill the Supreme Intelligence was an attempt to drive the Avengers back to Earth that backfired), and Kang being the cause of Hank's instability was a lie.

* In a first season episode of ''Series/LoisAndClark'' a magician hypnotizes people into becoming his willing slaves when they hear the phrase "moon and stars", with both Superman and Lois falling victim to this. In another episode, Lois thinks she was taken in a stereotypical AlienAbduction (when Clark expresses doubt, she points out that ''he himself is an alien''). In reality, it was an implanted memory by a criminal, who triggers Lois to do something reckless, such as walk out onto a busy roadway, in order to distract Superman, while he steals something.

* In ''Manga/DeathNote'', [[spoiler:Light]] acts as a Manchurian Agent on behalf of [[spoiler:himself]]. One of the most ingenious plot twists in a series full of plot twists.

* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': Lelouch's mind-controlling HypnoticEyes lets him give people orders that cannot be refused, and in addition to the immediate {{Brainwashed}} victims, he can also create a Manchurian Agent by applying special conditions to the command. For example, he made [[spoiler:Gilbert G.P. Guilford]] into a Manchurian Agent who would see him as [[spoiler:Princess Cornelia (under whose command he was)]] when he grabbed his collar.

* ''Fanfic/RWBYDark'': Ruby Rose enslaved, conditioned, mistreated and heavily abused her older half-sister Yang Xiao Long. The result of such abuse? As soon as Ruby says "six 'em", Yang, driven by rage and a will to fight back against everything, is on the warpath.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'': The episode ''"Our Man in Grrfurjiclestan"'' plays with this trope. While on a WildGooseChase to track down the Red Squirrel [[CallBack after previous events]], Buck Rockgut tells the penguins that his enemy has inexplicitly turned one of them into a sleeper agent, but is unable to tell them which one is the suspect, leading the penguins (minus Skipper) into letting their ParanoiaFuel take control and turn on each other. [[spoiler:It isn't until the penguins confront Buck themselves that they learn that none of them was a sleeper agent, and that Buck only set them onto each as payback for tricking him into searching for the Red Squirrel in a place that doesn't exist. However, this leads to Buck attacking the penguins himself, with the Red Squirrel appearing to confirm that the ''real'' sleeper agent was Buck Rockgut himself, who is being control by the sounds of fingers snapping]].

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'': The episode ''"Our Man in Grrfurjiclestan"'' plays with this trope. While on a WildGooseChase to track down the Red Squirrel [[CallBack after previous events]], Buck Rockgut tells the penguins that his enemy has inexplicitly turned one of them into a sleeper agent, but is unable to tell them which one is the suspect, leading the penguins (minus Skipper) into letting their ParanoiaFuel take control and turn on each other. It isn't until the penguins confront Buck themselves that they learn that none of them was a sleeper agent, and that Buck only set them onto each as payback for tricking him into searching for the Red Squirrel in a place that doesn't exist. However, this leads to Buck attacking the penguins himself, with the Red Squirrel appearing to confirm that the ''real'' sleeper agent was Buck Rockgut himself, who is being control by the sounds of fingers snapping.

* A ''Tekwar'' episode had an agent undergo this to infiltrate a criminal organization, which screens entries using a lie detector. The criminals somehow catch on and interfere with the switch, causing a personality crisis –- resolved by the main character preparing to make the coup de grace.

* ''Film/{{Argylle}}'': When [[spoiler:Rachel Kylle/Elly Conway]] was amnesiac and brainwashed by Ruth/Dr. Vogler and Ritter, Vogler also programmed [[spoiler:her]] to react to trigger words and a music box tune, and uses that to try having Aiden killed in the climax on the deck of the oil tanker.

See also {{Brainwashed}}, BerserkButton, MoralityDial, TomatoInTheMirror, ConvenientlyUnverifiableCoverStory, AlternateIdentityAmnesia, and LotusEaterMachine. Compare MemoryGambit, which is when you do this to yourself. May require {{Deprogram}}ming to cure and, if not cured sufficiently thoroughly, is one of the causes of BrainwashResidue.

* In ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' we learn that [[spoiler:although Bucky is no longer being put through the full HYDRA brainwashing process, he can still be controlled by anyone who can recite a certain sequence of code words. And [[TearJerker he remembers what is occurring and what he is ordered to do while under the influence of his handlers, but is powerless to stop it from happening]].]] Tony Stark namedrops the TropeCodifier [[TheNicknamer as a nickname for him]].

* The entire population of ''Film/TheMatrix'', being as how anyone who hasn't been freed from the Matrix can become an Agent at any time. It's arguable because, while the result is the same, from the perspective of anyone inside the Matrix they physically turn into an Agent.

* From the 1983 comedy ''Going Berserk'', John Candy's character is brainwashed by a cult to assassinate his fiancée's congressman father using a playing card as a trigger. Something goes wrong in the hypnotism though, and the trigger doesn't make him a cold-blooded assassin as much as a loud obnoxious asshole -- HilarityEnsues.
** Candy is also one in one of the very few funny moments in ''Volunteers'' (1985). Captured by the Red Army, he laughs at their plans to brainwash him. One jump cut later he's quoting Mao at every opportunity to the point where he's annoying the hell out of his new commander.

* Arguably, the entire population of ''Film/TheMatrix'', being as how anyone who hasn't been freed from the Matrix can become an Agent at any time. It's arguable because, while the result is the same, from the perspective of anyone inside the Matrix they physically turn into an Agent.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': The clone troopers from the prequels are an ''army'' of Manchurian Agents, which Palpatine activates via the infamous Order 66, resulting in [[ThePurge the massacre of nearly every Jedi throughout the galaxy]]. However, the manner of how this was done differs between canon and ''[[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Legends]]''.
** ''[[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Legends]]'': Palpatine had a series of genetic "orders" implanted in them that he could activate them when ready. Until then, the clone troopers simply acted as normal, friendly soldiers. The only order we see is Order 66, which, when issued, caused every single clone who hears it to instantly consider any Jedi a traitor to the Republic and attack them. He also had plenty of failsafes to keep them loyal to him and him only.
*** The Expanded Universe showed that some of the clone troopers were strong enough to resist Order 66 and that those who simply didn't hear it remained good (one clone trooper who was stuck on an uncharted world during the end of the Clone Wars later joined up with the Rebellion), but the vast majority of them succumbed to it, and those who didn't were either forced into hiding or killed.

[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/LastPlaceComics https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sleeper_agent_dave_comic.png]]]]

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* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'''s River Tam, although it's only really seen in TheMovie, ''Film/{{Serenity}}''. Her trigger was a subliminal message buried in a Fruity Oaty Bars commercial, which caused her to go into [[WaifFu martial-arts-killing-machine]] mode.

* The trope namer is ''Literature/TheManchurianCandidate'', in which [[spoiler: the protagonist and his war buddies were brainwashed in order to play politics and get a sleeper agent to be president]].

* In ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' we learn that [[spoiler:although Bucky is no longer being put through the full HYDRA brainwashing process, he can still be controlled by anyone who can recite a certain sequence of code words. And [[TearJerker he remembers what is occurring and what he is ordered to do while under the influence of his handlers]], [[AndIMustScream but is powerless to stop it from happening]].]] Tony Stark namedrops the TropeCodifier [[TheNicknamer as a nickname for him]].

* In ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' we learn that [[spoiler:although Bucky is no longer being put through the full HYDRA brainwashing process, he can still be controlled by anyone who can recite a certain sequence of code words. And [[TearJerker he remembers what is occurring and what he is ordered to do while under the influence of his handlers, but is powerless to stop it from happening]].]] Tony Stark namedrops the TropeCodifier [[TheNicknamer as a nickname for him]].

* One of the many loathed parts of ''ComicBook/TheCrossing'' was attempting to retcon that ComicBook/IronMan had been this for Kang since Franchise/TheAvengers first fought him, having brainwashed him into being a mole for him, and that [[ComicBook/AntMan Giant-Man]]'s various psychological issues were the issue of an earlier attempt by Kang to turn him into one before moving onto Iron Man. As part of ''ComicBook/AvengersForever''[='=]s damage control, it was retconned that it was really Immortus (at the time Kang's older self), the manipulations of Tony only went back to ''ComicBook/OperationGalacticStorm'' (and Tony leading half of the Avengers to kill the Supreme Intelligence was an attempt to drive the Avengers back to Earth that backfired), and Kang being the cause of Hank's instability was a lie.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: Hypnota snuck in to where Serva was being kept and brainwashed Serva right after her (first) rescue from Hypnota to report back to her former master without raising suspicion as soon as she can after hearing anything about Wonder Woman's plans or location. Hypnota is unaware of this trigger until it's been activated and can do nothing to fight it or alert the others to it.