History Main / TouchTelepathy

* Eric Draven from ''Film/TheCrow'' develops this power few after he gets {{psychometry}}, [[spoiler:and uses it to ''great'' effect in the end, [[MindRape completely wrecking]] the BigBad Top Dollar by forcibly giving him the memories of the last 30 hours of his [[TheLostLenore Lost Lenore]] Shelly's life (since his orders were responsible for Shelly getting raped and beaten to death, and Eric himself being gunned down). Top Dollar, who (while evil) is quite alive and mostly sane, proves to be unable to stand [[AgonyBeam "thirty hours of pain", all in one shot]]]]...

* In ''Film/Hellboy2004'', Abe Sapien can learn about objects or people by touching them. For example, he can touch a weapon left behind at a crime scene and see exactly how the crime happened--or he can touch a superior's hand and realize the man is dying of cancer.

* Telepaths in ''Series/BabylonFive'' wear gloves and concealing clothing in public because even accidental skin-to-skin contact can cause [[PowerIncontinence involuntary mind reading]]. Later seasons indicates that when two telepaths get intimate, the resulting mutual mind-reading can get rather intense.

->''"You think...you think I'm touching your head too hard!"''
-->-- '''Lister''', ''Series/RedDwarf''

Subtrope of PsychicLink. {{Psychometry}} is a SisterTrope that allows someone to read the history of objects (and occasionally people) by touching them.

* ''Anime/EsperMami'': At the start of the series, Mami can only read thoughts clearly if she's touching the person. Later she learns she can do it if they're both touching a metal wire (insulation does not stop the telepathy).

* In Act 2 of ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal,'' Ami has a sudden, involuntary vision of a palace when she touches her new friend Usagi's hand while handing her pet cat Luna back to her.
* Two female characters created by Creator/YoshihiroTogashi have both this skill and {{psychometry}}:
** ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' has [[spoiler: Kaname Hagiri]]'s sister, who got these abilities when the Demon's Gate opened. She's seen mourning [[KickTheDog the death of a stray cat]] at the hands of a bunch of JapaneseDelinquents, then touches the kitty's corpse to retrive its last memories, and ''then'' she places her hand on her brother's forehead to give him said memories, [[CantGetAwayWithNuthin so he can locate the killers and punish them]].
** Pakunoda's powers in ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' are more or less like this, with a side dish of LivingLieDetector. Basically, if this woman wants to extract info from a person and then tell her companions, she first gets the info with her {{psychometry}}, then infuses some magical bullets with her Nen and non-lethally shoots her teammates. [[spoiler: When she does it despite Kurapica [[RestrainingBolt using his own Nen powers on her]], she ''dies''.]]

* Used several times in ''The Adventures of ComicBook/LutherArkwright'' and its followup ''Heart of Empire'' by Creator/BryanTalbot. Mind reading is done by touching hand to head, but it appears that it's more of a data dump than reading surface thoughts (though it is implied that another psychic can control the contents of the dump). However, it is possible to implant thoughts without touching.
* ComicBook/{{Starfire}} and other Tamaraneans from Franchise/TheDCU can learn languages through touch (some of them prefer kissing, but it was stated any kind will do).
* In Silver Age story ''Adventure Comics'' #397, Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} mind-reads several persons by touching their heads.
* [[ComicBook/XMan Nate Grey]] generally doesn't actually need to do this, but does it when his vast PsychicPowers are on the fritz or otherwise contained, or when he wants to be more precise.
* In addition to copying their powers, ''ComicBook/XMen'''s ComicBook/{{Rogue}} can also absorb the personality, memories, and knowledge of anyone she touches.

* In ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'', it's used even by powerful psychics for greater precision or to bypass defences. In the first chapter of the sequel, ''Ghosts of the Past,'' Harry does this to Carol in a clear reference to "The Girl In The Fireplace" (see below). [[SarcasmMode This doesn't add to the UST at all.]]
** Later on in ''Ghosts'', he uses it to bypass the psychic defences of a powerful and clever Master Vampire whose cleverness did not quite extend to realising that he was in danger of this. Cue MindRape.
* ''Fanfic/{{Dangerverse}}'': Those who have sworn the Guardian's Oath and share a first-degree blood relation (parent/child or sibling/sibling) can communicate telepathically with skin-to-skin contact.

* In the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Heroes}}'', Spock and Kirk can hear each other's thoughts by touching.

* John in ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached'', though since his telepathy is water-based (he connects to the “water-strings” of people he touches), he is also telepathic at a distance through water. However, most of the time he just touches one (or more) of the others.

[[folder:Film — Animation]]
* Sunset Shimmer gains this ability during ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsLegendOfEverfree''. It lets her see inside a person's memories as they relate to their current thoughts and attitudes. [[spoiler:This ability lets her see that Gloriosa Daisy is stressed about selling the camp to Filthy Rich, and is trying to use magic to save it.]] In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsForgottenFriendship'' she uses it to first read Applejack's mind to find out [[LaserGuidedAmnesia everyone's good memories of herself have been erased]] [[spoiler:and then on the villain herself to confirm her suspicions]].

[[folder:Film — Live Action]]
* Eric Draven from ''Film/TheCrow'' develops this power few after he gets {{psychometry}}, [[spoiler: and uses it to GREAT effect in the end, [[MindRape completely wrecking]] the BigBad Top Dollar by forcibly giving him the memories of the last 30 hours of his TheLostLenore Shelly's life (since his orders were responsible for Shelly getting raped and beaten to death, and Eric himself being gunned down). Top Dollar, who while evil is quite alive and mostly sane, proves to be unable to stand "thirty hours of pain," all in one shot...]]

* The ''Film/{{Green Lantern|2011}}'' movie has Hector Hammond infected with a strain of Parallax and gradually gain psychic powers. He starts reading minds naturally but learns he can tap into deeper memories via direct contact.
* In ''Film/{{Hellboy|2004}}'', Abe Sapien can learn about objects or people by touching them. For example, he can touch a weapon left behind at a crime scene and see exactly how the crime happened--or he can touch a superior's hand and realize the man is dying of cancer.
* ''Film/Lifeforce1985''. Colonel Carlson, the last survivor of the ''Churchill'', can see into the mind of a human possessed by a space vampire when he touches them (or vice versa).
* The ''Franchise/StarTrek'' films follow up on the established Vulcan Mind Meld that debuted in the original series (see the Live-Action TV section below):

** ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry''. After Spock realizes that Valeris is a traitor and murderer, he grabs her by the head and performs a forced MindMeld on her to learn the details of the conspiracy.
** ''Film/StarTrek2009'' has Spock!Prime meld with the young Kirk to convince him that the young man and his own counterpart in the ''Kelvin'' timeline are destined to become friends. The younger Spock does a meld to glean information needed for their infiltration of the ''Narada'' from a Romulan crewmember they gunned down.
** ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'' has Spock mind-meld with [[spoiler:Admiral Pike]] as he lay dying in an attempt to soothe the man in his last moments.
* In ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'' David he has the ability to [[DetectEvil read evil intentions and/or actions in a person]] via physical contact, but because David is in denial about his powers he always explained it to himself as mundane intuition and never followed up on it. Elijah eventually confirms that David's "intuition" is extremely accurate, to the point of describing the look and design of a concealed gun. At the climax of the film David begins accepting the truth about his abilities and discovers that his bouts of intuition have been right all along.
* Loki is revealed to have this ability in ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', when he performs a psychic assault on Valkyrie's mind and finds out [[spoiler: how the Valkyries were all killed by Hela]].

* The Vitalian race in ''Literature/TheDarkPast'' have a variant. Touch Empathy which is automatic whenever they touch any intelligent being. It makes disciplining their children easy and (physically) painless.

* The [[LivingLieDetector Truthsayers]] are able to read minds via physical contact in Creator/KevinJAnderson's ''Literature/{{Blindfold}}''. For this, they need the special drug called [[MeaningfulName Veritas]] that temporarily boosts the brain's natural receptiveness to electrical signals, allowing them to perceive another person's electrical signals (i.e. thoughts and memories). Physical contact is not necessary, although close proximity only allows a trained Truthsayer to pick up surface thoughts. MindRape is also possible, which is why the drug is banned for anyone who is not a Truthsayer. The entire colony of Atlas is supported by the belief that the Truthsayers are never wrong and always correctly determine guilt or innocence. Guess what happens in the novel?

* Played with in ''Literature/TheSookieStackhouseMysteries'' (and by extension ''Series/TrueBlood''). Sookie doesn't need to touch people to read their thoughts, but physical contact makes it much easier for her to do so. There are certain people and supernatural beings that are far harder for her to "read" than normal, and she has to touch them in order to get something more than their general emotional state. Two telepaths touching can also amplify their powers - Sookie and Barry use their super sense to find victims in the rubble of the Pyramid of Gizeh hotel.

* In ''Literature/TheUnicornChronicles'' unicorns need physical contact in order to speak to people telepathically.

* Telepaths in ''Series/BabylonFive'' wear gloves and concealing clothing in public because even accidental skin-to-skin contact can cause involuntary mind reading. Later seasons indicate what when two telepaths get intimate, the resulting mutual mind-reading can get rather intense.

** This is one of the Time Lords' abilities — they can perform something like a mind meld by touching another person's temples. As shown by [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E4TheGirlInTheFireplace Madame de Pompadour]], it works both ways, and she is able to read the Tenth Doctor's mind while he's scanning hers, much to his surprise.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E11TheLodger "The Lodger"]] shows the Doctor can relay a ton of information at once in the form of a forehead-on-forehead headbutt. Because it's extremely painful for him, he swears never to do it again.
* The telepathic aliens in ''Series/GabbyDuranAndTheUnsittables'', one in particular being her friend Sky, can read other's thoughts and communicate telepathically by making physical contact with them.
* ''Series/TheHauntingOfHillHouse2018'': Theo Crain has this and {{Psychometry}}, both of which she developed after a ghost held her hand in Hill House. She wears gloves to protect herself from the unwanted visions and feelings 99% of the time. [[spoiler:Most of the time it's for the best, as evidenced when we see her psychically relive someone else's rape after touching the couch on which it happened.]]
* The page quote is from the tenth season episode of ''Series/RedDwarf'' "Trojan". Arnold Rimmer is attempting to convince his brother Howard that he is actually the captain of the highly advanced starship the [[TitleDrop SS Trojan.]] When putting on the Trojan's uniforms Lister puts on a uniform which signifies he is a "Touch T". HilarityEnsues trying to prove it to keep up the charade.
* A MindRape version in ''Series/StargateSG1'' and ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' with the humanoid Replicators and the Asurans, respectively. Both do it by putting their hands ''through'' someone's forehead (both are made out of nanites). The process is incredibly painful to the person being scanned, although, as demonstrated by Fifth, the pain is not necessary.
* In ''Franchise/StarTrek'', Vulcan telepathy works much better with physical contact, and it seems to be required for a full-on MindMeld.
** Spock touches the heads of the listed people in the following episodes while doing a MindMeld with them.
*** "Dagger of the Mind". Simon van Gelder, to find out what deviltry is going on at Elba II.
*** "The Devil in the Dark": The Horta in order to communicate with it.
*** In "Requiem For Methuselah": Kirk, in order to remove his memories of Rayna Kapek.
*** "Spectre of the Gun". Kirk, [=McCoy=], and Scotty, to convince them that the situation they're in isn't real (so the simulated bullets can't [[YourMindMakesItReal kill them]]).
*** In "Mirror, Mirror", Evil!Spock does it with Dr. [=McCoy=] so he can find out what's going on.
*** "I, Mudd". He tries it on Norman, but fails because Norman's a robot.
*** In "The Paradise Syndrome" Spock does it to Kirk to restore his memory after he loses it in an accident.
*** "The Return of The Archons". He tries to do it on [=McCoy=] but fails because of Landru's MindControl.
*** The current page image is from "Turnabout Intruder", the final episode of the series, and it reveals to him the FreakyFridayFlip involving Kirk and Janice Lester.
** Several other characters do it too: Miranda to Spock in "Is There In Truth No Beauty?", T'Pau to Spock in "Amok Time".
** There are at least two cases where Vulcan telepathy works without contact, but neither is a full mind-meld:
*** In the TOS episode "A Taste of Armageddon", the ''Enterprise'' landing party is held prisoner in a small room. Spock mind-touches the guard outside through the wall to convince him the prisoners have escaped.
*** In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Sarek", Sarek's [[PowerIncontinence failing mental control]] causes his emotions to leak out into the entire crew. His aide also does not need to touch him to help him keep control.
** There are other species that can do this as well. ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' has Letheans, whose telepathy is harmful to other species. ''Dahar'' Master Kor gets mind-probed by one and falls unconscious as a result. Another Lethean weaponized his telepathy against Doctor Bashir. Bashir got better, but he was one of the lucky ones. Most victims of telepathic attacks by Letheans don't survive.
** In an episode of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', Tuvok turns out to be a ManchurianAgent of a radical Maquis. He assaults and mind melds with the other former Maquis crewmembers in order to turn them into {{Manchurian Agent}}s as well. In another episode, Vorik, in the middle of his "pon farr", tries to forcibly mind meld with B'Elanna. This leaves her feeling the effects of "pon farr".

* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'':
** Castiel can do this, depending on how well his powers work and the situation. Sometimes it's painful for the subject, such as in Season 6 where he causes a child agony by reading his mind for the identity of a rogue angel. Other times, it seems easy for him, such as him being aware of a prostitute's daddy issues, which is PlayedForLaughs and upsets the young woman. The difficulty seems to depend on how deeply the memory is embedded in the person.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' adventure [=OA6=] ''Ronin Challenge''. In "Episode 2: Kera Valley" the {{PC}}s discover the Diuku, red baboons with legs like a giant frog. A Diuku communicates telepathically by touching its head to the head of another creature and thinking two-word sentences like "Friend now" and "Share food".

* The asari from ''Franchise/MassEffect'' need physical contact to MindMeld. They can share memories and emotions this way, but it's also how they reproduce. Ardat-Yakshi, asari with a rare genetic defect, can kill people this way. The Protheans also possess this ability, as we find out in the third game.
* Happens in the Bluebyte game ''VideoGame/{{Albion}}'', when [[HeroicMime Mellthas the mute]] touched [[CatFolk Sira's]] [[AmplifierArtifact Trii]], and they telepathically come to know one another intimately and fall in love.
* Jupiter Adepts have the ability of reading minds in ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'', requiring the user to touch the other person (although in-game it can happen be done from slightly longer distances). If another Adept touches the Jupiter as he does this, the thoughts are transmitted to him as well.

* In Duke Vale's route of ''VisualNovel/VillainousNights'', Duke is initially unable to hear [[PlayerCharacter Monarch]]'s telepathic broadcasts the way the rest of the team can, which the other characters attribute to his closed-off emotional state. In the process of attempting to overcome this block, Duke and Monarch discover that physical contact (whether skin to skin or through clothing) makes it possible for him to hear her thoughts and vice versa. As the two grow closer Duke starts being able to hear Monarch's telepathy without contact, but touch still makes it easier (and more romantic).

* Howard from ''Webcomic/UnwindersTallComics'' places his hand on people's foreheads when he reads their minds. So far, he's only ever used his telepathic powers on one page.

* ''Webcomic/{{Outsider}}'': While Loroi telepathy works at range (and in fact their biggest military advantage is that they can use technology to boost it to interstellar distances), it works best with physical contact. This is one of the reasons that the Loroi generally avoid touching each other except in rather specific circumstances. The Loroi initially try to violently overcome Alex's strange resistance to telepathy by touching him. Later, after he has been accepted as an ally and an ambassador, Beryl asks permission and touches his forehead to try again. [[ShipTease While sitting in his lap]].
* ''Webcomic/SleeplessDomain'': Vedika, as the {{magical girl}} Mindful Eye, has a limited form of telepathy that allows her to send and receive simple thoughts over long distances. However, she has mentioned that her powers get "super duper weird and trippy" when she touches someone while transformed, and she does her best to avoid it when possible. When she does, she forms a temporary PsychicLink with the other person, allowing them to experience each other's thoughts directly while they remain in contact.

[[folder:Web Original]]

* In the ''Literature/ChakonaSpace'' 'Verse, physical contact creates an unfilterable, unblockable link between the mind reader and pretty much anybody else. Especially another telepath. Not that the touch is required in the first place.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Parodied in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E20TwoDozenAndOneGreyhounds Two Dozen and One Greyhounds]]", where the pet shop employee [[PhonyPsychic pretends to mind-meld]] with the Simpons' dog by grabbing his face, saying he needs a bunch of expensive merchandise.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

* The ''Film/GreenLantern2011'' movie has Hector Hammond infected with a strain of Parallax and gradually gain psychic powers. He starts reading minds naturally but learns he can tap into deeper memories via direct contact.

* ''Series/TheHauntingOfHillHouse'': Theo Crain has this and {{Psychometry}}, both of which she developed after a ghost held her hand in Hill House. She wears gloves to protect herself from the unwanted visions and feelings 99% of the time. [[spoiler:Most of the time it's for the best, as evidenced when we see her psychically relive someone else's rape after touching the couch on which it happened.]]

* Creator/IsaacAsimov and Creator/JanetAsimov's ''Literature/TheNorbyChronicles'': The ability to send telepathic thoughts through physical contact is very common in this series. The Others may have been born with it, and their technology was used to grant it to the [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons of Jamyn]]. Through their bite, humans also gain the ability to send/receive surface thoughts. Additional species encountered, such as the Biguglies from ''Literature/NorbyFindsAVillain'' and the Jylot from ''Literature/NorbyAndTheCourtJester'', often have enough latent PsychicPowers that they can join in with people who have telepathic powers.

* ''Literature/{{Hurog}}'': In ''Literature/DragonBones'', [[spoiler: Bastilla]] has this, but it seems to only work during magical healing, and seems to be a bit vague; the main thing that's shared is emotions or physical pain.

* In Madeline L'Engle's ''Literature/ASwiftlyTiltingPlanet'', this process is known as "kything." Interestingly, it doesn't work by touching the other person; rather, Meg touches a friendly dog (which [[BecauseDestinySaysSo ran into the family's home seemingly out of nowhere]]) and is able to see/communicate with Charles Wallace as he journeys across time and space. Also, it's implied that only people who either have natural PsychicPowers (such as Charles) or share a strong bond of love (Meg/Charles and Meg/Calvin) can kythe.
* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'':

* ''Film/{{Lifeforce}}''. Colonel Carlson, the last survivor of the ''Churchill'', can see into the mind of a human possessed by a space vampire when he touches them (or vice versa).

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Parodied in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E20TwoDozenAndOneGreyhounds Two Dozen and One Greyhounds]]", where the pet shop employee pretends to mind-meld with the Simpons' dog in order to increase sales.
* Sunset Shimmer develops this ability when using her element powers in [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsSunsetShimmer Equestria Girls]].