History Main / MoreThanMindControl

* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': According to [[AmoralAttorney Lilah Morgan]], this is how Billy Blim's HatePlague works. In her words, ''all'' men have at least a little bit of {{Straw Misogynist}} tendencies, whether they embrace it or try to bury it. Billy's powers just remove their inhibitions and let that part out. Only Angel himself, with unparalleled experience fighting his inner demons, is able to let it just wash over him and shrug it off, explaining that particular primal drive is old hat to him at this point. Of course, other characers, notably Fred, cast doubt on Lilah's interpretation and say the victims had something forced onto them; Lilah ''is'' a villain working for a demon-run law firm whose ethos is that the world because of evil rather than in spite of it, after all.

* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': According to [[AmoralAttorney Lilah Morgan]], this is how Billy Blim's HatePlague works. In her words, ''all'' men have at least a little bit of {{Straw Misogynist}} tendencies, whether they embrace it or try to bury it. Billy's powers just remove their inhibitions and let that part out. Only Angel himself, with unparalleled experience fighting his inner demons, is able to let it just wash over him and shrug it off, explaining that particular primal drive is old hat to him at this point. Of course, other characers, notably Fred, question Lilah's interpretation and say the victims had something forced onto them; Lilah ''is'' a villain working for a demon-run law firm whose ethos is that the world because of evil rather than in spite of it, after all.

* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': According to [[AmoralAttorney Lilah Morgan]], this is how Billy Blim's HatePlague works. In her words, ''all'' men have at least a little bit of {{Straw Misogynist}} tendencies, whether they embrace it or try to bury it. Billy's powers just remove their inhibitions and let that part out. Only Angel himself, with unparalleled experience fighting his inner demons, is able to let it just wash over him and shrug it off, explaining that particular primal drive is old hat to him at this point.

* "WesternAnimation/BadBatch": Crosshairs is subject to this. At first, he is controlled by the inhibitor chip during Order 66. Then Tarkin intensifies his inhibitor chip to ensure his loyalty. After several run-ins with Crosshairs, the team finally contronts him on Kamino, only for Crosshairs to reveal that he removed his chip and willingly joined the Empire after feeling abandoned by his family and buying into the Empire's authoritarian ideology.

This is an example of TruthInTelevision because real-life hypnosis requires that the person subconsciously want to do whatever they're doing. Even more so in that there does not appear to be any true [[{{Brainwashed}} mind control]] that works in real life, only more and more extreme versions of More Than Mind Control that can in extreme cases appear like straight brainwashing to third parties. The general term for this is coercive persuasion, and it is used by most cults, including the ChurchOfHappyology. [[TheSvengali Svengali mentors]] will use this. [[TheSociopath Psychopaths]], or at least the intelligent ones, are also very good at using this in real life to make their way up in the world and get girls. SocialEngineering is a milder (but no less nefarious) form often employed by shady types like [[ConMan con artists]] and spies in persuading their victims to turn over passwords or sensitive information, to trick them into paying for fraudulent goods or services, or even gain access to restricted areas. Oftentimes this takes the form of phishing, a real-life tactic used by cyber-criminals to gain access to the computers and accounts of unwitting victims by convincing them to install spyware or computer viruses, or even to suck their bank accounts dry by participating in costly scams.

Though I am not unkind.'"''

* ''Film/TheMatrix''. Agent Smith's monologue while trying to take control of Morpheus' mind.
** Additionally, the Matrix can only imprison you if you make a choice to allow yourself to be imprisoned. It doesn't have to be a conscious choice, and in fact The Matrix can only really exist if most people aren't aware on a conscious level of what's actually happening, thus the vast majority of the subjects in The Matrix have subconsciously agreed to be imprisoned by it. Only a small handful of people reject the unreality of The Matrix and leave.

** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E12TheSoundOfDrums The Sound of Drums]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords Last of the Time Lords]]" have the relationship between John Saxon/the Master and his wife, Lucy Saxon. Although her role is a CallBack to the Master's WeakWilled pawns of TheSeventies, rather than just look into her eyes and say "I am the Master and you will obey me!", the Master uses a combination of EvilIsSexy, BreakTheCutie (showing Lucy the end of the universe), and PetTheDog ("He was so kind to my father").

* [[BigBad Palpatine]] in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' series is [[LongGame patient]] and [[TheChessmaster manipulative]], only made enhanced through his mastery of TheDarkSide. His greatest feats are manipulating Republic politics to become an absolute dictator and grooming Anakin Skywalker to eliminate the Jedi as a threat. Luke Skywalker is one of the few to successfully resist his temptation, [[DrunkOnTheDarkSide but only barely]].

* [[BigBad Palpatine]] in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' series is [[LongGame patient]] and [[TheChessmaster calculating]], which is only made more effective through his mastery of TheDarkSide. His greatest feats are his subtle and gradual transformation of the democratic Galactic Republic into the totalitarian Empire and grooming Anakin Skywalker to eliminate the Jedi as a threat to his rule. Luke Skywalker is one of the few to successfully resist his temptation, [[DrunkOnTheDarkSide but only barely]].

* Palpatine's manipulation of Anakin/Vader in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' movies. However, it doesn't last. And when Luke breaks it...

* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', the Female Changeling does this to Odo during the Dominion occupation of [=DS9=]. She plays on his feelings of isolation and her position as a much older and mature member of Changeling society to convince him to link[[note]]physically merge in liquid form[[/note]] over Kira's objections. Through the link, she's able to convince him that solids are just not worth his time, destroying the resistance's plans and getting Rom shortlisted for execution. Odo only breaks free when the Female Changeling unwisely says that she wants to kill ''Kira'' for distracting Odo from his people.

** Jack Slash manages to inflict this trope upon [[spoiler: Panacea]], driving her to a psychotic breakdown in which [[spoiler: her feelings for her adopted sister Glory Girl are driven out of control, causing her to inadvertently turn Glory Girl into pure BodyHorror]]. It's eventually deduced that Jack has a secondary superpower even he is unaware of that allows him to [[spoiler:subconsciously understand a parahuman's psychology, and this is how he's been able to keep control over the absolute psychopaths that make up the Slaughterhouse Nine, as well as why he's so good at breaking people psychologically.]]

So, if you have to talk someone into mind control, what's the point of using magic or high tech at all? Creating [[MasterOfIllusion illusions]] can help make your case. Isolation is key, so magically cutting them off from support is effective. Maybe science or sorcery is just needed to accelerate the effects. In extreme cases, outright MindRape is utilized. This type of brainwashing, called UsefulNotes/StockholmSyndrome in the real world, supposedly requires a minimum of 72 hours, but with a sci-fi or sorcerous catalyst, it can be achieved in less than 72 seconds.

* [[spoiler:O'Brien]] in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'' uses torture (including physical beatings, direct pain stimulation, [[BreakThemByTalking destroying them in debate over their values and beliefs]], starvation, and deliberate inducement of UsefulNotes/StockholmSyndrome, and, if necessary, Room101 itself) to make dissidents ''want'' to love Big Brother. Only ''then'', when the former rebel embraces the system and becomes a true believer, will they ever actually execute someone. It's far more elaborate, involved, and time-consuming than is really necessary to maintain control, [[ForTheEvulz which is explicitly stated as the point of doing it this way]].

* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'': As a teenager, [[spoiler:Caleb]] was taken in by [[spoiler:Trent Ikithon]] along with two others to be trained as a Vollstrecker. Trent would bolster their nationalism and use isolation and cult tactics to make his students do horrible things "for the good of the Empire," including forcing them to execute traitors to the regime. Their final test was to execute [[spoiler:their own parents, as Trent implanted FakeMemories into their minds to make them think they were traitors]].

** Specifically, the whole point of SocialEngineering

** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E12TheSoundOfDrums The Sound of Drums]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords Last of the Time Lords]]" have the relationship between John Saxon/the Master and his wife, Lucy Saxon. Although her role is a CallBack to the Master's WeakWilled pawns of TheSeventies, rather than just look into her eyes and say "[[{{Catchphrase}} I am the Master and you will obey me!]]", the Master uses a combination of EvilIsSexy, BreakTheCutie (showing Lucy the end of the universe), and PetTheDog ("He was so kind to my father").

* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': The Joker does this to Dr. Harleen Quinzel when she is assigned to be his psychiatrist. He explains to her that [[FreudianExcuse his father used to beat him constantly]], but he always lived for the times when his father treated him kindly. Whether his backstory is true or not is left ambiguous, but it can be inferred that at the very least he was exaggerating the details ([[MultipleChoicePast according to Batman, the Joker will make minor tweaks to the story every time he shares it]]). Regardless of its basis in fact, he does eventually manage to get Harley to [[FlorenceNightingaleEffect sympathize with him]] to the point that she helps break him out of Arkham Asylum and even [[FaceHeelTurn takes on a new identity as the insanely ruthless Harley Quinn]].

* The founding members of the modern ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' were all asked to join. But they later found out [[spoiler:they were under a ''little bit'' of mind control -- just enough to make them ''want'' to join. When they found this out, most of them quit]].

* In the ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' story ''The Supergirl from Krypton'' (2004), [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]] kidnaps and brainwashes Supergirl. After being rescued, Kara fears that her brainwashed, evil self is her real self. [[ComicBook/{{Superman}} Her cousin]] reassures her, though. Playing mind tricks is Darkseid's child's play. And he trusts her.

* This is strongly {{implied|Trope}} to be the fate of Black Hand after ''ComicBook/BlackestNight''; the last page has him pleading for help because the Indigo Tribe are slowly destroying his personality as punishment for helping Nekron.