History Main / MoreThanMindControl

* Mother Gothel is this toward Rapunzel in ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}''. After kidnapping Rapunzel as a baby, she fills her head with [[VillainHasAPoint plausible hypothetical]] scary stories of the outside world so that she will never leave her and stay in her tower forever so she can keep using her hair to retain her youth. After Rapunzel finally does leave the tower, she feels excessively guilty for disobeying Gothel's warning. In the end, even after [[CallingTheOldManOut calling out Gothel]] for using her all these years upon realizing her true identity, Rapunzel still feels sorry for Gothel after Flynn cuts her hair, rendering her powerless and Gothel [[rapidly aging RapidAging]] [[DisneyVillainDeath until she falls out the tower window]] and is ReducedToDust.

* Mother Gothel is this toward Rapunzel in ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}''. Kidnapping Rapunzel as a baby? Check. Filling Rapunzel's head with false stories of the outside world that it's dark and cruel, so she can keep her locked up forever and use her for her power? Check. Rapunzel feeling guilty when she finally does leave the tower? Check. Rapunzel feeling sorry for Gothel's death in the end? Check...mate.

* This is the classic twofer tactic of Dominate and Majesty in ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem.'' When a vampire has Dominate, he or she has straight mind control, with limited emotional manipulation. Whereas Majesty allows very powerful emotional control with some compulsion as well. Pairing both makes most humans (and quite a few vampires) ridiculously easy to control. Add in the addictive vampire blood vitae and its natural ability to make the drinker obey and love the vampire and... well, let's just say more than a few {{Empty Shell}}s and [[TheRenfield mad Renfields]] have resulted.
* ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' has the Dominate discipline and the blood-bonding properties of vampire vitae, but not the Majesty discipline.
** The Presence discipline synergizes very well with Social Traits/Skills, and can work on crowds.

* This is implied in ''TabletopGame/InNomine'' to be how possession by the demonic Shedim works. The victim is still present in their own head and unaware of the visitor, eventually coming to believe that the selfish and evil impulses sent by the demon are entirely their own idea. And since each suggestion has to be worse than the last, most of the demonic Band will work slow, easing a person down the road step by step.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'''s ''Curse of the Crimson Throne'', about halfway through the campaign it is revealed that [[spoiler: Queen Ileosa]] has been possessed by the spirit of an ancient dragon named Kazavon. [[spoiler: Except she really hasn't. While many of the other characters think this is the case, in truth Kazavon has very little control over her, and simply encouraged her to go through with the plans that she'd always wanted to execute, but didn't have the power or confidence to go through with. Kazavon doesn't really mind, [[PsychoForHire so long as he can cause misery and destruction]].]]
* A simple matter of practicality in ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}''. A Mind Control roll of the target's Ego+30 can make them do anything, but you have to choose your command before you roll, so you are more likely to succeed the more inclined the target is to do what you're telling them to do.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', before Shen Aru became a brainwashed pawn of the Sidereals, he was a destitute, homeless preacher at the mercy of TheEmpire and parents who almost sold him into slavery. Now, he is the nourished, silk-clad figurehead of his religion, which is thriving and respected by thousands of people. The ''Illuminated'' sourcebook explicitly says that, even if his mental "leash" was broken, he would probably still obey the Sidereals. And they know that- [[ControlFreak they just didn't feel like taking the risk]].

* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', Doc Scratch (omniscient cue ball man) seems to induce Vriska ([[FanNickname huge bitch bluh bluh]]) to do violent and self-destructive things by telling her she can't resist the urge to do them.

* ''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 takes on a new identity as the insanely ruthless [[FaceHeelTurn Harley Quinn]].

* ''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. [[MultipleChoicePast 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]]. 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 takes on a new identity as the insanely ruthless [[FaceHeelTurn Harley Quinn]].

* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': The Joker does this to Dr. Harleen Quinzel when she is assigned to be his psychiatrist. He explains to her that his father [[FreudianExcuse 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. 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 takes on a new identity as the insanely ruthless [[FaceHeelTurn Harley Quinn]].

Also, it can overlap directly with actual mind control. In many instances, More Than Mind Control is simply a method of making the process of the takeover ''easier'', because by removing their resistance to your ideas, you remove the struggle in taking control of their thoughts. By having them ''submit'' to you, they essentially hand their free will over to you, making your spell or device much more effective on them. It also makes it harder for them to revert, because they now have an [[HappinessInMindCOntrol active resistance towards their own original beliefs.]]

Sometimes, the villain will try this on the whole team at once; they're usually saved by the BadassNormal, TheChick / TheHeart, or the AllLovingHero, who will point out the ways that the villain is distorting the truth. Usually accompanied by a KirkSummation to the culprit, [[ShutUpHannibal or something more violent]].

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. 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. {{Social Engineering}} 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.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'': The Joker does this to Dr. Harleen Quinzel when she is assigned to be his psychiatrist. He explains to her that his father [[FreudianExcuse 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. 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 takes on a new identity as the insanely ruthless [[FaceHeelTurn 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.]]

* ''ComicBook/NewGods'': Mind-control is the entire point of the [[ComicBook/NewGods Anti-Life Equation]]. It's not just a mind-control formula: it's a ''logical proof'' that free will is inherently paradoxical and meaningless, and that the only real meaning in life is to serve ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} and his will.
* ''ComicBook/TheSandman'' ''A Game of You'': The antagonist of this series, "The Cuckoo", accomplishes it's goals by magically convinces people to destroy themselves for the Cuckoo's sake. Affected characters completely forget their previous goals and self-interest.
* In the ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' story ''ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton2004'', ComicBook/{{Darkseid}} kidnaps and brainwashes Supergirl. After being rescued, Kara fears that her brainwashed, evil self is her real self. [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Her cousin]] reassures her, though. Playing mind tricks is Darkseid's child's play. And he trusts her.
-->'''Supergirl:''' Honestly...? I'm... torn. I remember what Darkseid turned me into —\\

* ''Franchise/XMen'':

** Mastermind does this to what he believes to be Comicbook/JeanGrey in ''Comicbook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga''. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to him, [[BullyingADragon Jean and the Phoenix are NOT the same]].
* Strongly implied 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.

* Zemo provides a good example of this the comic ''The ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}''. To Techno's question "why not just control everyone with the bio-modem? we could do it..." he answers: "Yes, but where is the satisfaction in rulling a planet of automatons, hmm? Better to break their spirits than enslave their minds. Better if they know they have been conquered."
* One of the nastiest monster villains of the Marvel universe is the Shadow King, a telepath nearly as powerful and skilled as Charles Xavier. He can do lots of nasty things, and does most of them at one time or another, but one of his nastiest tricks is to get into your head telepathically and rearrange things. Not change, just rearrange, amplifying some impulses and desires, suppressing conscience and learned morality. It's still all ''you'', but now what was a suppressed or passing impulse is eagerly indulged, that pesky moral code your parents and church and society taught you disregarded. What makes it so terrible is that even after somebody restores the original balance, you have to live with the fact that whatever murder, rape, incest, torture, adultery, betrayal, etc that you did, ''it was you''. Not the you that you normally are, but it all was always there in you and it's still there now, even if it's back in the cage.
* Loki subtly influenced [[ComicBook/NormanOsborn Osborn's]] mind all throughout ComicBook/DarkReign. Osborn's mental state was never too stable, but Loki made him believe the Goblin personality was talking to him, and made him doubt his own mind. Then, taking it up yet another notch, Osborn earned the enmity of ComicBook/XMan, whose GambitRoulette involved tricking Osborn's X-Men into entering his mind and knocking down the mental barriers that keep the Goblin locked up, and the two personalities interacted. Loki even created another ComicBook/TheAvengers team to compete with Norman's and manipulated him to storm [[PhysicalGod Asgard]]. By then, [[SanitySlippage Norman has had enough]] and by the end of Siege he experienced a complete [[VillainousBreakdown mental breakdown]].
* Kobra used this to turn Deborah Domaine into the new ComicBook/{{Cheetah}} (after her aunt, Priscilla Rich, died), in ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]] #274.
* ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'': The Nightmare forces' MO. First they talk the pony into accepting them, then they get their hooks in. They convinced Luna that, as Nightmare Moon, she could get everypony to respect her through fear. [[spoiler:Then they did the same to Rarity, convincing her that while others might eventually abandon her for someone better, they would always want her help.]]

* ''ComicBook/{{Batwoman}}''. Almost immediately after breaking up with Maggie, Kate Kane was hypnotized into an abusive sexual relationship with the vampire Nocturna. Kate had multiple blackouts during this time, implying she was raped repeatedly. After Kate was freed of the hypnosis (with the help of Red Alice/Beth Kane, her twin sister), Nocturna claimed that subconsciously Kate wanted to have sex with her and [[EvilGloating gloats]] [[KickTheDog how she (Nocturna) enjoyed it]].
-->'''Batwoman''': So, ''none'' of it was true? You don't... love me?\\
'''Nocturna''': Love you? I don't even ''like'' you. You were just so easy to snare. All your broken-hearted martyr-complex self-loathing... it was like a neon sign flashing ' ''Over here!'' ' I couldn't resist.\\
'''Batwoman''': You used your powers to ''make'' me sleep with you?\\
'''Nocturna''': I bet you ''wish'' that were true. No, Kate. That was all you. I'm no ''rapist''. You wanted me, so I figured 'I haven't done this since college, [[SureLetsGoWithThat so why not]]? You ''are'' sexy, after all. Damaged, yes, but so much fun. You wanted something raw, a lesbian ''Sid and Nancy'' thing. Kinky, yes? But that was all ''yours''.\\
'''Batwoman''': [[YouMonster You... monster]].\\
'''Nocturna''': [[InsultBackfire Maybe]], but all I did was find an open door in your head. All the interior decorating in that room? ''Yours''.\\
'''Batwoman''': [[FreakOut AAAHH!!!]]\\
'''Nocturna''': What's the matter, ''Katey''? ''Disgusted'' by your own subconscious?
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Dr. Psycho was quite annoyed to find that Vanessa Kapatelis could figure out when he was messing with her mind in a more direct approach and throw off his mental control, however discovered her insecurities while doing so. He and Circe later used those insecurities to build and then play on resentment and abandonment issues directed at Wonder Woman in order to turn her into the third Silver Swan.

* Discussed in Issue #13 of ''ComicBook/XFactor2006''. During a therapy session with Dr Samson, Guido talks about how as a kid he once saw a hypnotist make another boy act like a chicken. When Guido asked the hypnotist how he did it, the hypnotist told him that you couldn't make someone do something they didn't really want to do. [[spoiler: Guido believes that this is why Tryp was able to turn him into a sleeper agent and make him kill Henry Buchanan but Samson states that Guido is only saying this because he doesn't want to confront the fact that he was a victim.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}}'', Flotsam and Jetsam try to convince Ariel to see Ursula, especially since she's in tears after her father destroys the treasures in her grotto, but even then, Ariel is initially reluctant to go. However, when the eels flick the broken face of the statue of Prince Eric, her most prized of her possessions, Ariel is reminded of what had transpired and, now spiteful of her father and the sea he rules, decides that she wants to become human ASAP.

-->"He has various abilities and powers, one of them, like [Apocalypse actor Oscar Isaac said during the Comic-Con panel], is the power of persuasion, and part of why that's necessary is he needs other followers to be his Horsemen, and some of them would be hard to persuade--Magneto, Erik being the hardest. It's interesting, what's a little bit, hopefully, complex in the movie, or even ambiguous, is how much he's persuading his followers with a superhuman ability or just he's like any cult leader who is really good at convincing people to follow him, so we don't really ever make that explicit. It's not like he's putting people under a spell, but he is superhumanly persuasive."

* ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}:''

* This is Slade's chief weapon on ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', using a combination of blackmail, Hannibal Lecturing, and emotional manipulation to convince his "apprentices" they have no choice but to serve him- he fails with Robin, but is more successful [[spoiler: until the very end]], with Terra.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Riku from ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' embraces the trope wholeheartedly. Supplemented with plenty of scenes detailing his friend Sora's apparent betrayal. Also an example of NotWhatItLooksLike.
** He also continues this in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' by fully embracing the dark control in order to put Sora's mind back together. So not only does he stay under the mind control, but ends up reversing it and using it for his and Sora's benefit. Without the other occupant of his mind knowing that. Nice job man.
** Organization XIII does this to Sora in ''Chain of Memories'' with the help of illusions and FakeMemories.
** Zig-zagged in ''Birth by Sleep''. Maleficent hits Terra with a spell, and when he comes to his senses someone has released Princess Aurora's heart from her body. He blames Maleficent, who claims that she only brought to the surface a part of himself he'd been trying to hide. Then it turns out that Terra was right the first time - Maleficent was lying to him as part of Xehanort's plan to make him insecure and isolated. Terra never learns this himself, unfortunately.
* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'':
** [[spoiler:Darth Malak]] does this to [[spoiler:Bastila Shan]] through the power of BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil.
--> '''[[spoiler:Darth Malak]]:''' Torture? No, dear [[spoiler:Bastila]]. You misunderstand. This is but a taste of the DarkSide to whet your appetite. When you finally swear loyalty to me, it will be willingly.
** ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'': Kreia. To ''everyone'', including the PlayerCharacter. [[spoiler: Technically, ''both'' {{Player Character}}s, as [[EvilMentor she was Revan's original master]].]] She rarely has to use any kind of push from the Force (which she hates), but instead enjoys using a combination of bribery, blackmail, and shamelessly being MetaphoricallyTrue, to get people dancing to her tune. You know she's a manipulative, MagnificentBitch, but she engineers the situations so that there really isn't an option other than doing things her way.
** TheEmperor of ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' was intentionally neglectful to his children, subjecting them to suicide missions and experimenting on them with Sith magicks, until they snapped (or in Thexan's case, died), only showing some hint of acknowledgment the moment they crossed the MoralEventHorizon. [[ManchurianAgent He still put trigger phrases in them, though]].
* With as many Mind Control plots as ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' has had, they eventually had to try this to freshen it up a bit. [[spoiler:Hugh]] in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaCircleOfTheMoon'' and [[spoiler:Maxim]] in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaHarmonyOfDissonance'' are clear-cut cases, and there are others with room for debate.
* Inuart in ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}}'' falls under this. He's tied to a post and [[MindRape mind-raped]] with his own innermost thoughts until he finally gives in to the BigBad's control. He even gains cool glowy MindControlEyes.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** Played straight and then subverted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV''. Kain was under mind control, but only because of he wanted Rosa to love him instead of Cecil; then later when Golbez tries it again, Kain claims that he no longer holds power over him... After which he steals the crystal and takes off.
*** The second scene makes much more sense in the re-translated DS version.
*** Also in the DS version, using the pause menu to read Kain's thoughts in the final dungeon shows that [[spoiler:Zemus]] tries this one last time on him as the party descends, trying to make him hate Rosa this time for loving Cecil.. [[ThePowerOfLove He fights it off easily.]]
----> '''Kain:''' <People's hearts are not toys for you to trifle with, [[spoiler:Zemus]]!>
*** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears'', Kain acts similarly to how he acts when under mind control in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', but explicitly ''denies'' (over and over again) that he's under any form of mind control at all... and he's ''really not''. [[spoiler:However, he's not ''quite'' Kain, either. He's Kain's dark side incarnate. The real Kain is traveling under the guise of the "Hooded Man", and acting more heroically than he'd ever done in the past.]]
*** For that matter, [[spoiler:Golbez himself is also under MoreThanMindControl by Zemus. Basically his own self-loathing was taken advantage of and then expressed toward the rest of those of the Blue Planet.]]
** Sephiroth's control over Cloud in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' works a little bit like this - it magically exploits Cloud's obsession with getting revenge in order to bring him close and make him deliver the Black Materia.
*** It goes so much deeper. [[spoiler: He's also manipulating Cloud through his loyalties, through his identity confusion, through his low self-esteem, and through the Jenova cells in his body (Re: Reunion).]]
** Sorceress Edea [[spoiler:possessed by Ultimecia]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' turns Seifer into her half-crazed attack dog by playing on his long-held romantic dream of becoming a sorceress' knight, [[spoiler:his lingering memories of Edea being his surrogate mother when he was a child]], and his complicated rivalry with Squall, plus a dose of genuine magical influence over his emotions.
* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'':
** Morag does this to Aribeth in the original campaign by throwing all of her doubts and fears back at her in incessant nightmares until she finally falls under the lizardperson's domination.
** Towards the end of the expansion ''Hordes of the Underdark'', the BigBad [[spoiler:[[MagnificentBastard Mephistopheles]]]] does this to [[spoiler:all your party members]] with short but well-prepared [[BreakingLecture Breaking Lectures]], prompting a FaceHeelTurn from each just before the final battle. You may persuade each one back by being more convincing than he, but depending on the circumstances and your abilities, it may be impossible. This is [[spoiler:an archdevil]] we're talking about here, after all. Deekin is a notable exception, he doesn't require a roll or special skills to stay with you, just an assurance that you're his friend. Aww...
* In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'', Duminuss implements this to Lamia. Basically, other than very strong programming to keep her on check, she's implanted with information that her friends abandoned her out of glee after being shot down to near death by [[BigBadWannabe Wilhelm von Juergen]] and would've rot to death if she wasn't saved by Duminuss, and in short, they're treating her like a disposable doll. This combination reverts Lamia into thinking that she's a disposable tool for war, her old mindset.
* In ''Videogame/AssassinsCreedII'' [[DownloadableContent DLC]] ''Bonfire of the Vanities'', it's revealed that this is how [[MacGuffin the Apple of Eden]] works: It amplifies the individual reasons each victim has for agreeing with the Apple's wielder up to the point of zealotry.
** Al Mualim outright states in the first game that The Apple is "temptation given form".
* ''Franchise/DragonAge'':
** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', a [[HornyDevils Desire Demon]] has brainwashed a [[KnightTemplar Templar]] into believing he is living [[LotusEaterMachine an idyllic family life]], and she considers the arrangement to be mutually beneficial. You must choose to either let the Templar continue his wonderful delusion, or free him. Which means killing him. The demon will not release him, and he fights you to protect his imaginary family.
** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' features a much more personal example of this trope. During "Night Terrors", you go into the Fade to save a mage boy [[spoiler: You find a Desire Demon and a Pride Demon fighting over the chance to possess him. Depending on who's in your party, they can convince your friends to turn on you in exchange for something they want. It is hinted that they accept due to both the demon's magic and their own desires.]]
** It's stated many times that demons can't tempt you with something you don't really want. No matter how unwilling victim seems to be there is always an element of this trope.
** The [[ArtifactOfDoom creepy lyrium idol]] you find in the Deep Roads brings out the worst personality traits of those who possess it. [[spoiler: The second he touches it, Bartrand's ambition takes over and he leaves you all to die rather than share the loot you just found. When Meredith acquires it, her anti-mage paranoia goes through the roof.]] It also drives them insane, with a side order of superpowers.
** In ''Videogame/DragonAgeInquisition'', when Erimond is accused of [[spoiler:brainwashing the Wardens into helping Corypheus using the False Calling]], Erimond claims that brainwashing wasn't necessary. [[TheEmpath Cole]] will confirm it -- it was fear that drove [[spoiler:the Wardens]], nothing else.
* It may be standard procedure in [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]] and [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]], where the only school of magic not governed by a magical attribute -- Illusion (which includes various forms of subtle and direct mind control) -- depends on your Personality.
* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei''. Lucifer. Let's just say this thing about the man - listen to him, but ''always'' fear him. No matter how much of your friend he likes to look like. Manipulative and deceitful in the extreme, he may always be looking out for humanity - but you gotta realize he's ''still'' very much a FallenAngel, and he's still looking for converts for his army...
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia'', [[spoiler: Mila was created as a decoy to be "The Maxwell". However, she believes she ''is'' Maxwell.]]
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'', [[spoiler: Shirley is BrainwashedAndCrazy by Nerifes, but still has her free will. She is thus driven to schizophrenia as her Nerifes-controlled side fights for a dark cause while her normal side fights against it. Eventually, ManipulativeBastard Maurits catches on and tricks the part of Shirley that is free into submitting to Nerifes completely.]]
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' this is how Curse Slots work; they agitate hidden emotions and memories, using them to manipulate the one marked with it. [[spoiler: This puts the fact Guy has been attacking Luke, and only Luke, when the Curse Slot is active in a very dark light. It ultimately turns out he originally came to the Fabre Manor for a RevengeByProxy plan and does, still deep inside, bear the grudge against the Fabre House that makes him want to kill Luke. That said, he's [[TookALevelInKindness changed]] since then and his [[HeterosexualLifePartners friendship]] with Luke is genuine now.]]
* ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur V'''s Pyrrha [[spoiler: is subject to this at the hands of Tira.]] She ends up fighting [[spoiler: her own brother repeatedly because she thinks she's doing the right thing letting herself be used by Soul Edge.]]
* During [[spoiler:Mia Touma's]] route in ''VideoGame/DuelSaviorDestiny'' after an incident beneath the academy, she disappears and reappears in the enemy camp unable to distinguish who her former allies are. After this is broken through, though, it turns out that the mind control on her was just to keep her from causing damage since she really ''is'' on their side. If anything, she has simply been manipulated rather than being under genuine thought altering changes.
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
** [[MindRape Indoctrination]] can range from this to straight-up MindControl, but the Reapers prefer the former to the latter whenever possible. The more force the Reapers use to control their thralls, the faster their mental processes degrade, making them less useful. Saren was carefully manipulated into believing what he did was for the greater good of both his people and the galaxy, and even then he was aware that Sovereign could be indoctrinating him and was secretly afraid that might be the case, though by then it was too late. Other indoctrination victims in the series have their desires warped into a way to serve the Reapers while believing themselves to be autonomous, or even [[spoiler: in the case of the Illusive Man and Cerberus]] opposed to the Reapers and fighting against them.
** Apparently, it's also the ''modus operandi'' of Ardat-Yakshi, who have the ability to influence ''entire villages'', much less lonely artists.
* ''VideoGame/FatalFrameII'' plays with this between its original version and the [[UpdatedRerelease remake]]. The original version portrayed Mayu as being completely under [[BigBad Sae]]'s control, though with hints that she was [[BitchInSheepsClothing not as helpless as initially shown]]. It didn't help that the few in-game hints were very subtle or [[AllThereInTheManual only found in supplementary reading material]]. But then the remake made the entire thing much more ambiguous, making it difficult for the player to tell if Mayu's creepy obsession with her twin Mio, and desire to go through with the Crimson Butterfly ritual, was mostly because of Sae or if she always had been like this, and Sae possessing her merely amplified it.
* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
** While Gharnef from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragon'' usually operates on literal mind control, he didn't need to use any on Michalis. He just manipulated his [[AmbitionIsEvil ambition]] to convince Michalis to kill his own father.
** Lyon in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'', although this is seen only in Ephraim's route. The Demon King played up on his feelings of inadequacy and envy for the twins of Renais, twisting his noble intentions of saving the people of Grado with his desire to prove himself strong by defeating them.
** It happens to [[spoiler: Prince Takumi]] in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', more exactly in the [[spoiler: ''Conquest'']] route. [[spoiler: He first becomes 'infected' by accidentally falling into the gap between the dimensions and landing in Valla, which is under Anankos's rule. The possession first takes his already existing resentment and distrust towards the Avatar and, if they choose Nohr over Hoshido, slowly twists it into homicidal hatred that begins to consume everything else about Takumi's whole self. Throughout the route it becomes worse and worse until chapter 23, where after the party defeats him for the last time ''and'' kills [[ThreeAmigos his friends and retainers]] Oboro and Hinata, Anankos [[PsychicAssistedSuicide forces him to commit suicide]] [[DemonicPossession so he can take over Takumi's body entirely]]. In the last chapter Takumi is nothing but a corpse held up only by Anankos' possession, forcing the party to MercyKill him.]]
* Zigzagged with Arthas in ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' [[DependingOnTheWriter depending on the writer]]. ''Warcraft III'' establishes that Arthas lost his sanity and had his soul claimed by picking up Frostmourne, yet the Silver Hand paladins act as though he willingly betrayed his people. ''Rise of the Lich King'' clearly depicts Arthas in the moment his soul is claimed by Frostmourne, with Ner'zhul's whispers directing his action. Conversely, the same novel suggests that Arthas was capable of independent thought and rationalizing his actions as being his choice. The question of just how mind controlled Arthas was is left ambiguous, likely on purpose, but Ner'zhul seemed to deliberately give Arthas more autonomy to let him think he was in control, as opposed to the situation Sylvanas or other Forsaken were in.
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil7Biohazard''
** Although [[spoiler:Evelin's fungus control may ''seem'' to be blatant MindControl and {{Brainwashing}}, in Ethan's HiveMind conversation with Jack Baker, Jack expressly states that this is ''not'' the case.]]
* While magic powers are involved, this is part of the [[BrainwashedAndCrazy "taking"]] procedure in ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}''.
-->'''Oryx''': You are a Vandal. You slip through life like a thief. Trying to hide from everything greater than you — lest you be reduced, again, to a dreg. You have been taken. Come out into the light. You will never be diminished again. No one will ever rebuke you with a blade. What Captain disciplines you? What obedience has been burnt into your lungs? You do as your Captain commands. You wield the weapon you are given. You teach the Dregs and make sure everyone pays their share of the loot. But nothing is yours. You have no space to call your own. You deserve a place of safety. You deserve to be alone with yourself. There is a knife for you. It is shaped like [this place is mine]. Take up the knife. Make it your companion. Take your new shape.
* This how promotion works in one of the main villain factions in ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes''- Arachnos. Arachnos has an army of psychics who all broadcast a psychic hive-mind that subconsciously reinforces loyalty to [[BigBad Lord Recluse]]. Said hive-mind is their training method, screening method and primary form of communication, but only the high-end soldiers get a chance to join and if you don't join, you don't get a promotion - making submission to it entirely voluntary. Getting that promotion means willingly giving up your cognitive ability to refuse orders from the man at the top.
* ''VideoGame/RadiantArc'': [[spoiler:Derek accepts the Morians' offer of power and receives Seperus's sword. This sword has a mind of its own and slowly corrupts him by playing on his desire to one-up Linky and keep Lexie for himself.]]
* In ''VideoGame/ShiningResonance'', this trope is why [[CharmPerson Diva Magica]] songstresses are, A) not automatically evil, and B) necessary to keep the world functioning. Their job is basically to follow [[PersonOfMassDestruction dragon hosts]] like Yuma around and lull 'the dragon' back to sleep when the host loses control and goes feral. Notably, this version of PowerIncontinence is never related to what the host '''actually wants'''. It's not some sort of repressed-but-logical anger, it's genuinely not wanted. Which is good, because Diva Magica aren't actually strong enough to override free will. Even with the host FightingFromTheInside to help them, hypnotizing a dragon into ''not'' blowing up cities is hard. But it is definitely the dragon's desire, not the host's- when Yuma returns to sanity, he's pretty grateful for the Diva Magica's work. [[spoiler:And in a later scene, Excella has a nasty shock when her attempt to sing an enemy dragon into declaring allegiance to her fails completely. Neither the dragon ''or'' its host was on board with that, and Excella's presumption otherwise almost gets her killed.]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Bugsnax}}'', [[spoiler:anyone who eats the titular critters while bearing any insecurities of any kind will have those insecurities inflated to absolute extremes. As the Bugsnax offer brief yet satisfying reprieve from these insecurities, those that eat them will feel compelled to eat more and more of them regardless of the amount of food-related BodyHorror they inflict upon themselves until all that's left of them is an inert pile of food destined to become more Bugsnax.]]
* ''VideoGame/Persona5'': In ''Royal'', [[spoiler:this is how Maruki's actualization powers work. By peering into the hearts of others (be it through a counseling session or directly peering into them through Mementos), he's able to see what others want in order to be happy and uses his actualization powers combined with his powers as the new God of Control to alter reality in a way that they have what they wanted in order to be happy. In the case of the Phantom Thieves, what they wanted is [[IJustWantToBeNormal to live normal lives as normal people with none of their past traumas holding them back]]. Since Joker was the only one not completely affected due to his trauma having little to do with why he became a Phantom Thief in the first place, he had to talk to each of them to get them to remember everything they went through together, and even then it took a serious amount of doubt from each of them to break free of the actualization and rebel against Maruki.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* This is Mnemosyne's power in ''FanFic/{{Atonement}}''. She can make suggestions that her target believes to be their own thoughts. The target isn't forced to ''act'' on these thoughts, so her power won't work on something the subject is absolutely opposed to doing (i.e. she can't just tell a hero "You should go massacre random civilians now" and expect it to work), and is more effective if she gives a reason for the target to act ("You should betray your boss because he isn't giving you the respect you deserve" would work better than "You should betray your boss", for example). It is, however, quite good for espionage purposes ("I have every right to be here", "You know and trust me"), and it's ''amazing'' what dumb things people will do if they think it's their own idea.
* In the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''[=/=]''Series/{{Angel}}'' fic ''FanFic/BringMeToLife'', Spike rants about how Angelus was his SenseiForScoundrels, and that Drusilla may have sired him, but Angel was the one who really made him a monster. Angel retorts that [[MonsterFromBeyondTheVeil the demon within vampires]] only amplifies what's already there; he only opened the door and let the ''real'' Spike out of his cage.
-->'''Spike''': You taught me, you molded me, you made me what I am, O Great Savior. And then you cast me off like some bastard child that you refused to take responsibility for! Trying to wash your hands of me because you couldn't have me soiling that shiny suit of armor everyone thinks you wear. But you know the truth, and it eats at you like a cancer deep down in that precious soul of yours- Drusilla may have sired me, but you... ''you made me a '''monster'''.''\\
'''Angel''': I didn't make you into anything, Spike. The demon just amplifies what's already there; you and I know that, better than anyone. The rage, the anger, the violence... it was all there, just waiting to spring out like a jack-in-the-box. All I did as Angelus was give a little direction to a loose cannon, teach a few tricks to a mad dog. It wasn't even that hard. Admit it, Spike; you ''liked'' being the animal you'd become after Dru turned you. All I had to do was open up the door... and let the ''real'' you out.
* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has a textbook example of this in Sinister's treatment of [[spoiler: Maddie]], whose free-will he systematically destroyed from infancy so that she can barely grasp the ''concept'' of making a choice for herself, outside of flexibility within mission parameters. And the only reason she can even barely grasp it ''at all'' is because [[spoiler: Gambit]] has been carefully nurturing a sense of independence and free-will in her. He has psychic triggers and backdoors into her mind, but he almost never actually needs them: that's how strong his control is.
* ''Fanfic/IntelligenceFactor'' says that Obstagoon hate the world by their very nature, making them easy for [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Malamar]] to recruit without resorting to mind control.
* ''Fanfic/{{Luminosity}}'': In ''Radiance'', Chelsea is able to mess with people's relationships to others, including completely destroying them, but she can't create new relationships from nowhere. When Elspeth comes along and gets duly mindraped, she is able to help Chelsea by conversing with some of the Volturi's prisoners and creating the seed of a relationship, which Chelsea can then exploit.
* ''Fanfic/ShinjiAndWarhammer40K'': A non-evil example. [[SpiritAdvisor The Eldar Farseer]] often talks to an unaware [[FieryRedhead Asuka]] via telepathy to encourage her to get into [[LoveInterest Shinji]]'s pants. Asuka's feelings and desires are real and the Farseer is not forcing Asuka to do anything she doesn't want to do, but Asuka has no idea where the thoughts in her head come from, and she gradually becomes more receptive to her suggestions.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyro: [[http://shalonesk.deviantart.com/gallery/11400696#/d23ieon Zonoya's Revenge]]'': This is ultimately what Malefor's control over Zonoya amounts to. Unlike Cynder, who was brainwashed, Zonoya was controlled psychologically by her feelings for him. [[spoiler:This is what lead her to free Malefor from his prison, afterwards, he took full advantage of this and got her to have his child and make him Birdon king. His grip on her was so strong, his death reduced her to a sobbing, broken wreck. It was only after Malefor was dead and gone that Zonoya was willing to listen to Cynder and realize how evil Malefor really was, allowing her to perform a HeelFaceTurn.]]
* In ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8061161/1/Going-Rogue Going Rogue]]'', this is played straight with [[spoiler:the pied piper convincing Wally everyone hates him not once, but twice, before attempting to break his mind]].
* In ''Fanfic/InnerDemons'', this is how [[EnemyWithin Queen!]][[FaceHeelTurn Twilight]] [[BigBad Sparkle]] recruits her lieutenants. While she can and does use a [[CompellingVoice brainwashing spell]] for most of her minions, for her willing followers she plays TheCorrupter, giving them exactly what they want in exchange for their loyalties. For Trixie, she gave her the position of being her student (which is all Trixie ever wanted), and for [[spoiler: Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo]] she was able to make them see things her way by [[spoiler: [[PlotRelevantAgeUp aging them to adulthood]] and giving them their Cutie Marks.]]
* ''Fanfic/TwilightRevised'': This is done by Nightmare Moon to Twilight Sparkle, gaining her cooperation by [[spoiler:rewriting her memories so that she thinks Nightmare Moon was her mentor and teacher]]. The control doesn't seem to be perfect, though, as the HopeSpot at the end of the chapter implies. The later chapters describe how also Nightmare figures the mind control to be imperfect because [[spoiler:''nothing'' can replace the feelings Twilight has towards Celestia. So she simply "turns" into Celestia, making the mind control flawless. As a matter of fact, it is implied that Twilight is genuinely obsessed with Celestia to begin with (in more than a platonic fashion at that), making the level of actual mind control involved ambiguous at least).]]
* ''Fanfic/GameTheoryLyricalNanoha'': This is how Precia is able to ensure Fate's loyalty. She acknowledges Fate as her daughter, but tells her up front that she is a clone of Alicia. She then lays her plans out, introduces Fate to the Alicia in stasis and then gives Fate a purpose: Help her mother bring her sister back to life. The author [[http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/game-theory-nanoha-fanfic.204754/page-3#post-6742645 has stated]] Precia's behavior towards Fate is basically psychological brainwashing.
* ''Fanfic/HorseshoesAndHandGrenades'' has Ophiuchus makes Gentaro second-guess his decision on dying for Ryusei's sake, stating that doing so made him fail his parents' promise of making lots of friends. Then, by showing a scene of the Kamen Rider Club disbanding and putting blame on one another for not saving him, breaks Gentaro down to the point that Ophiuchus brainwashes him to become his Serpent-bearer.
%%* ''Fanfic/TheShroudedPath'': Vanitas does this to Aqua in ''Those Who Fight Monsters''.
* ''Fanfic/SaetwosStory'' features a young Zoombini called Xekrai who is convinced to work against the other Zoombinis with the Fleens, due to some well chosen words by their leader, who is convinced that he is the strongest link. He manages to manipulate Xekrai by pointing out that his father benefited from similar actions. [[spoiler: Xekrai eventually comes back to work with his group, and the leader realizes that he should have targeted Saetwo, who is the strongest motivator of her group, despite not being the smartest or kindest.]]
* ''Fanfic/HerInnerDemons'': Human Twilight reveals that [[TraumaCongaLine the bullying and abuse]] she received during [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsFriendshipGames the movie]] was [[CorruptTheCutie turning her power hungry]]. [[spoiler: Once she gained power after unleashing the magic, it was easy for her dark side to consume her and become Midnight Sparkle]].
* ''Fanfic/{{Forward}}'': Inducers take emotions, impulses people already have and build on them. One that has a particular importance to the plot (Inducer One-One-Nine aka [[spoiler: [[EnfanteTerrible Katie]]]] out right says [[spoiler: she]] can't make anyone do anything they don't have some ability or desire to, even if it's deep down inside. It just makes the MindRape Inducer One-One-Nine does even more horrifying.
* ''Fanfic/TheRoadToShalka'': In ''Children of the Sanctum'', UNIT and the Doctor suspect lord Hazelbrook to do who-knows-what to his initiates, but [[spoiler: all he really does is tell them the truth -- the alien artifact in his basement may destroy humanity any moment now and he honestly needs help to contain it]].
* ''Fanfic/TheHeartTrilogy'': In ''Heart of Ashes'', Sauron contacts [[VillainProtagonist Smaug]] and offers to help the dragon in taking back [[AMatchMadeInStockholm Kathryn]] and Erebor in exchange for swearing allegiance to the Dark Lord. Furious that Kathryn just left him for [[KickTheDog what he did]] to [[spoiler:Freyja]], Smaug [[DealWithTheDevil accepts]]. Sauron's taint takes root in the scar Smaug received from Bard's black arrow, and Smaug attacks [[ShiningCity Vathvael]] to get Kathryn back. Though the taint makes him [[BrainwashedAndCrazy a bit more aggressive]] than usual, it doesn't succeed in directing Smaug to go on a full rampage because he desires Kathryn more than bloodshed. When he notices the One Ring on Bilbo Baggins, the taint tries to force him under its full control and he resists, allowing Gandalf to knock out Smaug and contain the worst of the corruption. However, Smaug remains in the danger of succumbing to Sauron's influence again if he's not mindful of his darker emotions.
* ''Fanfic/AFinelyHonedBlade'': [[spoiler:The Queen Administrator works this way, with a combination of providing Taylor with information on the mental state of others, how to use that knowledge to encourage loyalty or another desired reaction, and subtly altering hormones and endorphins, and can even twist the conditioning of other Masters to Taylor's advantage. It's so subtle Taylor herself is unaware of it]].
* ''Fanfic/FateParallelFantasia'': False Lancer, False Assassin, and Sakura give in to False Avenger's corruption because they feel like their empty souls are filled by her.
* ''Fanfic/UsAndThem'': Jenova aims to make Aeris suffer, and intends to use Sephiroth to do it. [[AlternateUniverse Seph cares too much about Aeris to harm her directly]], but Jenova keeps pushing the feelings he has for her to the edge, at times outright stripping away his inhibitions which leads to him nearly raping Aeris before Vincent manages to subdue him.
* ''Fanfic/SonOfTheSannin'' uses a variation of this. Obito Uchiha used Kotoamatsukami on [[spoiler:Danzo Shimura]], as he needed someone in a high-ranking position he could use to undermine Konoha's efforts and also keep an eye on Orochimaru. But instead of outright brainwashing [[spoiler:Danzo]], all he did was plant an idea on him, namely [[spoiler:to let Akatsuki capture all the Tailed Beasts so as to claim them for Konoha once they were gathered in a single place,]] and let [[AmbitionIsEvil his personal ambitions]] do the rest. [[CrazyPrepared Nevertheless]], he still implanted a mental trigger to make [[spoiler:Danzo]] fully obedient to him, [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness once he had fulfilled his purpose.]]
* Witch Hunter's powers are implied to have some roots in this in ''[[FanFic/BurnTheWitchMiraculousLadybug BURN THE WITCH]]''. She carries a scroll containing a full list of her target's crimes, reading off of it to incite listeners into an angry mob. Given the sheer amount, scope and range of the misdeeds [[ManipulativeBitch Lila Rossi]] has committed, the chances are extremely high of there being something on there that [[ItsPersonal strikes a chord]] -- and ''real'' outrage makes it easier for the mob mentality to take root.
* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': [=UnChloe=] possesses the ability to [[MindManipulation compel her victims]] to speak, but it's implied that she can't force them to say things that they weren't already thinking. Sara, for instance, is made to [[EvilGloating brag about]] how she [[BitchInSheepsClothing manipulated her classmates]] as their FalseFriend, revealing what she ''really'' thinks about her {{Unwitting Pawn}}s. She uses the same trick on [[spoiler:Goh during her final temptation of Parker]], compelling him to rant aloud without realizing that he's got an unseen audience that's getting to hear [[spoiler:him [[NeverMyFault blaming Chloe for everything]] and plotting to [[ForcedOutOfTheCloset out Ash]]]].
* ''Fanfic/TheMountainAndTheWolf'': The Wolf is surprised his henchman thinks he mind-controlled Daenerys [[spoiler:into torching King's Landing]] (mostly because as a [[ChronicBacktabbingDisorder Tzeentchian]] sorcerer was needed to cast the spell, he certainly doesn't want anyone with that kind of power near him). According to him, the spell just gave her a push in the right direction (the direction [[spoiler:leading to a battle between her and Cersei's forces, since the city had surrendered and she was flying down to enter the city peacefully]]), since she was inclined to let the city surrender (due to the Wolf's interference, [[spoiler:Missandei is missing instead of confirmed dead and her fleet took a lot less damage from the Iron Fleet]], leading to a much more stable Daenerys).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Anime/MagicalProjectS'': This the case for Misao Amano; initially her other personality was believed to be caused solely by brainwashing. It was later revealed that while she had no memories of what she had done, her evil side was just her repressed personality.
* ''Anime/YuGiOh'': In Season 4, Dartz's promises of power and ability to prey on people's weaknesses got them to join his {{Cult}}, and the power of the Orichalcos kept them there. In a nod to the GambitRoulette, Dartz is revealed to be the instigator of the tragedies of all his main henchmen that forced them to join the cult. During the guy's duel with Yami, he almost makes him surrender the duel with this, but at the last moment, [[Awesome/YuGiOh he manages to fight it off]].
* In ''Anime/YuGiOhTheMoviePyramidOfLight'', Kaiba isn't outright possessed by Anubis, but he is nudged into following his orders by thinking they're his own thoughts.
* ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'': Saiou brainwashed his own followers, like Manjyome and Misawa, in a similar fashion. The only notable difference was a white color motif instead of green, and instead of manufacturing their future tragedies, he simply foresees them.
* Godwin tries this on Jack during the Season 1 GrandFinale of ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', but Jack beats him by playing the LoveRedeems card, referring to how Carly helped him conquer the arrogant JerkAss side Godwin was trying to appeal to.
* Don Thousand from ''Anime/YuGiOhZEXAL'' usually combines LaserGuidedAmnesia with this trope in order to control [[spoiler: the seven Barian Emperors]]. He makes sure they undergo traumatic experiences that will fill them with hate as to reincarnate as Barian wold denizens, erasing and replacing any of their memories which might impediment his [[EvilPlan plan]]. Even when directly possessing them, his telepathic communication with [[spoiler: Alito]] shows that even then he couldn't directly control their actions so much as have a stronger influence on what they could and couldn't remember, and which experiences they were most likely to focus on. [[ManipulativeBastard Granted, most of the memories that drove them to follow him]] [[FakeMemories were fake,]] but they still ''believed'' they were real when under his control.
* ''Anime/SailorMoon'': Wiseman to Chibi-Usa/Rini on one occasion (combined with MindRape), Zirconia to the Senshi via talking reflections in another. And Queen Nehellenia's mirror to her.
* ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'':
** Taichi of ''Manga/DigimonVTamer01'' is able to recognize mind control, but ''not'' more than mind control, such as that which Lord Tricera is under. Zeromaru is actually the first to really figure this out [[spoiler:after having experienced it personally.]]
** ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'':
*** Yamato [Matt], when Jureimon [Cherrymon] persuades him to turn on Taichi [Tai].
*** Koushiro [Izzy] experiences this and normal MindControl through Vademon. The Digimon convinces Izzy that he is greedy and useless in his pursuit for knowledge and should give up his curiosity. Izzy crumbles under the insults combined with being trapped in Vademon's pocket dimension and gives up his most defining trait. It takes a lot of talking from Tentomon (to the point where he devolves back to Pabumon, his baby form) to get him back out of it.
** ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'', in the origin story of Ken. How much of his behavior as the Kaiser was a result of the spore's influence, how much was due to the trauma of his past and how much was just him going ControlFreak on a [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential world that he didn't think was real]], is still up for debate.
** Kouichi in ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'' by Cherubimon, playing on his feelings of isolation after his family split.
** Masuken and Teru in ''Manhua/DigimonDCyber'', initially hooked with [=MetalPhantomon's=] promise of giving them super powers and then playing on their insecurities from there.
** Shu in ''Manga/DigimonNext'' by Barbamon, who also seemingly pulls it on Yggdrasil itself, though the latter seems to be a two way street as Barbamon ends up acting out of (misguided) benevolence rather than greed.
** Nene's relationship with [=DarkKnightmon=] [[=AxeKnightmon=]] in ''Anime/DigimonFusion'' has shades of this. [=DarkKnightmon=] is pretty...well...dark. He certainly doesn't seem to have Nene's best interests at heart, which is apparent to anyone watching. [[spoiler:It's revealed in episode 19 that she only works with him because she believes he's the only one who could get her and her brother out of the Digital World]]
* Mikage in ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' does this to friends and relatives of the main characters in order to get them to fight for him, and since even the supporting cast in ''Utena'' has complex psychological issues, it works. Notably, we see Mikage reject Wakaba's UnluckyChildhoodFriend, the "Onion Prince", because he didn't have the kind of emotional problems he was looking for. Then it turns out that [[spoiler:Akio and Anthy have been More Than Mind Controlling Mikage himself for decades, and the entire Dueling System hinges on Akio brainwashing all its participants, especially Anthy]].
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
** Orochimaru gets a large portion of his followers through this method and [[spoiler: Tobi]] also operates with this principle.
** Sasuke is more or less the poster-boy for the victim of this brainwashing. Itachi did it to him as a child; Orochimaru as a pre-teen; and [[spoiler: Tobi]] as a teen. He has essentially spent his entire life being manipulated by others and yet seems certain he is in control of his own destiny. Which was [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by [[spoiler:Itachi]], of all people, who said that Sasuke was still [[PureIsNotGood pure]], and that any influence could sway him.
* Hao of ''Manga/ShamanKing'' does this much like Orochimaru. In fact, extra manga chapter Relax. reveals this is how he amassed followers: most of them resented the world deeply for they were wronged by "normal humans". Just look at [[spoiler:Opacho, who was a malnourished baby Hao decided to take, becoming his most loyal ally; Kanna, who when her parents died, opportunistic relatives wanted to scum her state, so Hao burned them all castle included; Big Guy Bill, whose football career hit rock bottom AND on top of that being the sole survivor of an arranged traffic accident; or Brocken, who because not being born with any limbs, he considered his own house a prison and never received any help even as an adult, and perhaps for that, he was the first minion Hao recruited.]]
* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':
** In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', Babidi controls his minions by finding the evil in the person's heart and turn them into his willing slaves by making them ''want'' to serve him. The more evil the person is, the stronger the control. He did this to Vegeta, who actually refused his orders and wished to fight Goku, as he's the [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou only one allowed to defeat him, in his mind]]. He later revealed ''he'' was [[UnwittingPawn using Babidi]] as he felt he needed to be reminded [[EvilFeelsGood how good evil feels]] in order to gain more power.
** ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' has Watagash, a PuppeteerParasite who feeds on the evil and darkness within his hosts and draws it out; the more evil the heart of the host is, the stronger he becomes. When possessed, [[FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon Barry Khan]] is revealed to be a truly heartless and evil bastard, becoming strong enough to overpower base Gohan, which a violent bank robber was unable to do, and [[TransformationOfThePossessed mutating]] into horrific {{Kaiju}}-sized forms.
* Sae from ''Manga/PeachGirl'' is a master of this technique.
* [[ManipulativeBastard Iason Mink]] of ''LightNovel/AiNoKusabi'' kidnapped Riki but soon developed LimaSyndrome for his new "[[SexSlave Pet]]", fell in love with, and did everything in his power to make Riki love him. [[spoiler:It worked but didn't come into fruition until moments before they died.]]
* ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'':
** Used expertly by Nakago to turn Yui against her best friend Miaka. This is greatly facilitated by [[spoiler:Yui's crush on Tamahome and by Nakago letting her believe that she was raped]].
** When Tasuki is possessed by Tenkou in the second OVA, [[spoiler:he attempts to rape Miaka. Because Tasuki has been nursing a secret infatuation with Miaka, Tenkou is manipulating his actual feelings.]]
* ''Anime/{{Monster}}'': Johan Liebert is fond of this, using it on many people that he meets, to the point that one of them has a very HoYay -ish obsession with him.
* You know Sideways from ''Anime/TransformersArmada'' is good at this stuff when he's manipulating ''other people'' into employing it for him.
* [[spoiler:Fay]] from ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'' is revealed about two-thirds of the way through the story to have been willingly manipulated for most of his life by both [[spoiler:Fei Wong Reed]] and [[spoiler:Ashura-ou]]. This involved cunningly preying on his insecurities and regrets in moments of extreme emotional distress, aided by some magical suppression of memories that might cause him to question his situation.
* Koko from ''Manga/ZatchBell'' is a major subversion. She was thought by Sherry to be BrainwashedAndCrazy by Zofis (thanks to Zofis saying this upfront during their first meeting, which he didn't expect Sherry to survive). And she ''was'', despite pretending that her condition was different from Zofis' other mind slaves upon meeting Sherry again; Zofis ''forced'' Koko to explain, that he had created a dark personality for her, by manipulating the darkness and negative feelings the poor girl ''already'' had thanks to having lived in deep poverty and (allegedly) envying Sherry's wealth, and he did so specifically to force Sherry into an HeroicBSOD so that her partner Brago, whom Zofis rightfully feared, will be depowered. In truth, Koko was under straight MindControl ''the entire time'' - [[MortonsFork which meant that Zofis could threaten to break the control without erasing her memories of the time she spent brainwashed, forcing her to relive all the devastation she helped Zofis unleash without a dark personality to stay sane]]. Except Brago 'convinces' him to erase her memories along with the mind control.[[note]]Probably the only decision Zofis allowed Koko to make on her own was picking clothes for herself, and she used this tiny bit of freedom to include a visual clue for Sherry about her true condition in her outfit: she put on a pair of earrings that were a gift of Sherry...[[/note]]
* In ''Manga/InuYasha'', Sango's brother Kohaku becomes the victim of this. He's put under regular mind-control/memory-wipe ''first'', and only later, when he begins to show signs of resistance, does Naraku employ manipulation to keep him under control. Made especially ironic by Naraku insisting that Kohaku doesn't want to remember almost killing his sister, Sango, when one of the main things Naraku is using him for ''is'' the death of Sango, and is the whole reason he'd attacked her in the first place.
* This is used to some extent in ''Anime/{{Noein}}'' by the titular villain. [[spoiler:The last few episodes show Noein trying to torment Haruka into following his plans by showing her various scenes of her friends in desperate situations and of her own death and her boyfriend's subsequent agonizing. Fortunately, Haruka finds a future in each case where her friends overcame their tragedies, showing Noein that not ALL futures are full of pain and sorrow.]]
* A light version of this is present in ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam''. [[spoiler:Reccoa Londo [[FaceHeelTurn defects from the AEUG]] to join Paptimus Scirocco, whose combination of [[TheCasanova charm and Newtype powers]] seems to make [[MadLove women obsessively loyal to him]]. However, while this is certainly a big part of her reason for betrayal, it is also strongly hinted that she was driven to do this by her frustration with Quattro's indecisiveness in their budding relationship... or, at least, she saw that as one of the only ways she could escape Scirocco's influence.]]
* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'':
** This is usually the way that Ubik convinces people to become Apostles and place the Brand of Sacrifice upon others.
** Griffith is also very good at this, using his charisma to make people totally loyal to him. Indeed, the one time he is truly defied, ([[spoiler:Guts leaving the Band of the Hawk]]) only occurred because Guts wanted Griffith to see him as an equal rather than a subordinate; even when rebelling against Griffith, Guts was still acting out of a desire to be liked and respected by him. [[spoiler: Following his reincarnation as Femto and return to the human world, Griffith's extraordinary natural charisma has been supernaturally bolstered, making most people immediately see him as a MessianicArchetype simply by seeing him.]]
** Griffith was subjected to this in the first place; he originally had heroic willpower, but also extreme character flaws that the Apostles' master capitalized on. [[spoiler:Specifically, Griffith is an obsessive narcissist; when Guts and Casca decided they wanted to retire instead of continuing to spill blood for his glory, he immediately broke down. Then he was captured and tortured to near-death, and the Idea of Evil promised he would never lose anything important again - as long as he sacrificed everything that was important to him now. He took the offer before the Hawks could rescue him. From there, he's been part-demon and enthralled to a god of suffering, so he's now incapable of reconsidering his poor actions.]]
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** [[spoiler:Captain Aizen did this to his lieutenant Momo Hinamori]], with [[TearJerker very tragic results]].
** Also present in [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter Nemu Kurotsuchi's]] willingness to endure Mayuri's abuse because of her love and admiration for him. Though as an ArtificialHuman, she could have just been programmed to think that way.
** In one of the ''Bleach'' games, Nemu says that the only people in Soul Society she thinks are normal are [[MadScientist Mayuri]] and [[BloodKnight Zaraki Kenpachi]].
** In the Zanpakuto Unknown Tales arc, Muramasa's power [[spoiler:draws on pre-existing frustrations to incite them to rebel against the shinigami. Though the source of the frustration can be extremely petty (Suzumebachi disapproves of Soifon's fashion sense, for example), it's still got to be ''there''. Hanatarou's zanpakuto Hisogumaru doesn't participate in the rebellion because he doesn't have any resentment for Muramasa to work with.]]
** Tsukishima [[spoiler:has one of the most horrible instances of MoreThanMindControl yet--he inserts himself into his targets memories, placing himself as their best friend, their family, their lover... however he wants.]] It gets particularly bad in that he's done this to everyone [[spoiler:Ichigo]] knows, leaving him [[TheCassandra the only one aware of the truth]]. [[spoiler: It takes a massive intervention from ''several'' Shinigami plus Isshin and Uhrahara to start fixing this.]]
* Genkaku from ''Manga/DeadmanWonderland'' does this to Nagi with the help of drugs. He manages to make Nagi [[spoiler:temporarily revert back to being berserk and AxCrazy by convincing and reminding him that he doesn't have any hope for a family and that [[FakeMemories most of his happy memories are made up]]]].
* ''Anime/CodeGeass'':
** [[MagnificentBastard Lelouch]] does this quite a bit. Due to the [[ItOnlyWorksOnce limits]] on his MindControl [[HypnoticEyes Geass]], he also resorts to this when the situation calls for it - like turning Rolo over to his side.
** Let's not forget his half-brother [[TheChessmaster Schneizel]], who uses similar tricks on [[spoiler:the already mentally-unstable Nina Einstein]] and later on [[spoiler:Nunnally]].
** And, shockingly, [[spoiler:fake brother Rolo]] pulls this on '''Lelouch''', using his insecurities to tie them together, after Lelouch had already done the same to him. It doesn't work perfectly - Lelouch becomes more attached to [[spoiler:ThePowerOfFriendship]] than anything else - but once he does this, it's not until [[spoiler:Rolo kills one of those friends]] that Lelouch shows any particular dislike for Rolo.
** There's also Mao. His treatment of Shirley has all the trappings of More Than Mind Control (side order of MindRape attached, but same deal)... except that it doesn't work all the way. He's apparently done it a lot, though, and in a light novel, he even tells C.C. something to the effect of "I didn't make them do anything they weren't going to do already." Of course, considering he's a PsychopathicManChild mind reader who AccentuateTheNegative and has a ''very'' warped idea what is "good" and "evil" it's very unlikely without his push people would do anything he thinks they would do.
* Not only is [[spoiler:Seimei]] from ''Manga/{{Loveless}}'' extremely manipulative on his own, but [[spoiler:even though he's a Sacrifice, not a Fighter, he has the (unexplained) power to cause harm with his words.]] It's probably easier to list the people he HASN'T done this to, but notable examples of [[spoiler:Seimei]]'s victims are [[spoiler:Soubi, his Fighter Unit (see main entry) and Ritsuka, Seimei's twelve-year-old younger brother, who Seimei [[LoveMakesYouCrazy REALLY]] [[BrotherSisterIncest loves]].]]
* ''Manga/SoulEater'''s [[MagnificentBastard Medusa]] does this with [[AmbiguousGender Crona]]. We see Medusa has been breaking and driving Crona to madness since a very young age so s/he will kill and collect souls to become a Kishin. [[spoiler:Then Crona does a HeelFaceTurn through ThePowerOfFriendship with Maka, really not wanting to hurt people. Medusa then decides to use this to her advantage and turns Crona into TheMole, because [[NervousWreck Crona]] is too timid and lacks the self esteem to go against his/her mother's wishes, even when Medusa has no physical means of making him/her and if it means hurting his/her new friends.]] In the manga, even [[spoiler:''[[ThanatosGambit being dead]]'']] doesn't make Medusa any less psychologically dominant: [[spoiler:she gets Crona to kill her, but then--despite every horrible thing she did--feel so guilty about it as to consider him/herself unforgivable and owing it to Medusa to complete her dying wish of Crona surpassing Asura as a Kishin.]]
* Goldie Musou from ''Manga/GunsmithCats'' uses this to gain control of whoever she wants. She knows her mind-controlling drugs can only go so far; they'll have to keep her 'pets' constantly drugged or they'll instantly start fighting to return to their old life. In one case she kidnaps a young girl called Mary-Anne and brainwashes her into believing that [[spoiler:her father was possessed by demons and she had to kill him.]] Now that she's been forced out of her old life by that act, she will ''willingly'' accept her brainwashing rather than face the reality of what she did. Anyone who tries to deprogram her will realize that saving her means [[spoiler:forcing her to 'wake up' to the fact she killed her father.]] So she serves Goldie without any regret, to the point that when Goldie [[spoiler:abandoned her, she and some other girls tried to commit suicide rather than live without their beloved 'Mistress Goldie'.]] Yes, Goldie ''is'' an evil sadistic bitch, why do you ask?
** Ironically she ends up mellowing down somewhat in the final issues, and masters MoreThanMindControl to the point where the line between it and normal persuasion becomes practically transparent. The manga ends with her in more or less steady and consensual relationship with Misty Brown.
* ''Manga/DetectiveSchoolQ'':
** Apparently, what made [[spoiler:Miyo Fuuma]] a killer in . Dealt [[spoiler:by her ''grandfather'']], nonetheless.
** Also applied on several culprits, courtesy of [[spoiler:Meiuosei itself]]. Basically, [[spoiler:they give you the means to carry your revenge and keep an agent close as a your monitor, but if said revenge is foiled, they force you into either [[DrivenToSuicide kill yourself]] or murder the person who blows your cover. And if a Meiousei agent is captured by the police, another will activate some sort of MindControl that will make them kill themselves as well.]]
* In ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', Bruno was straight brainwashed, but Lorelei was manipulated by Agatha into turning her dislike of what humans had done to Pokemon into a full-out desire to kill them all.
* Happens frequently in ''Manga/PetShopOfHorrors''. Since the pets of the shop appear human to D's customers, there's often some initial resistance to the idea of 'slavery' inherent in buying or selling humans, especially children. D will usually give them a little speech -- combined with some [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane maybe-magical, maybe-hallucinogenic]] incense -- appealing to their inner conflict. By the end of the pitch, they're usually quite happy to walk out of the store with a human on a leash.
* In ''Manga/{{Arisa}}'', part of the King's power is that the class and his minions ''want'' to do what he tells them, no matter how extreme.
* In ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' this is what happens to [[spoiler:Kaname Chidori]] in the last few volumes of the light novels. After surviving and escaping several attempts of kidnapping/assassination directly aimed at her over a period of less than a year, she is finally taken away by the enemy after a series of very traumatic events that nearly [[spoiler:kills everyone at her school, gravelly injures her best friend, and almost kills Sousuke]]. Following her kidnapping, [[spoiler:she falls into a deep depression, struggles with both her emotional turmoil and the outside pressure put upon her by her captors; then she accidentally almost kills Leonard Testarossa, which puts an abrupt end to his attempts of behaving like a gentleman with her and brings a whole new world of psychological torture and physical illness on her, plus some Whispered mind screw; is taken away by the enemy ''again'' just as she was close to be rescued, tries to kill herself, and barely survives a helicopter crash that takes her to the one place where she really doesn't want to go. '''And all this happens in a little more than a year''', and does not take onto account her childhood traumas like the death of her mother and her resentment toward her father. Or the whole Whispered influence exerted over her literally since birth]]. By this point, when she is taken over by [[spoiler:Sophia]], the poor kid [[BreakTheCutie is too depressed and tired to put up much of a fight]], and even after she starts getting herself together, [[spoiler:Sophia still manages to break her, by making a defetist Kaname tiredly agree with her. Ironically, it ends up backfiring.]]
* BigBad Moo in ''Anime/MonsterRancher'' magnifies Grey Wolf's inferiority complex and insecurities about his [[AloofBigBrother well-meaning but strict older brother]] Tiger into a full blown GreenEyedMonster that wanted to ''murder'' said brother.
* In ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters G'', an AlternateUniverse retelling of KOF 96, there are several instances of BrainwashedAndCrazy fighters. However, [[spoiler: Benimaru Nikaido]]'s specific case is more of this, he had a rather violent verbal spat with [[spoiler: Kyo]] after [[spoiler: Kyo is almost killed by Goenitz]], which leaves him so badly shaken, first leads him to [[spoiler: team up wit Iori and Mature instead of Goro and Kyo]]. So when [[spoiler: Goenitz breaks havoc in the middle of Kyo and Benimaru's fight in the finals]], [[spoiler: Benimaru]]'s inner turmoil does ''not'' mix well with [[spoiler: the Orochi power infused around everyone]] and he snaps, [[spoiler: [[EyeScream injures Kyo's eyes]] and ''severely'' beats him up. Kyo still wins and manages to snap Benimaru out of it, and the released Benimaru apologizes to Kyo.]]
** [[spoiler: Mai Shiranui]] is also subjected to this: [[spoiler: she was in an HeroicBSOD after the Fatal Fury Team loses '''badly''' (including Andy being totally curbstomped by Benimaru) and left the battlefield to try calming herself down, but then Goenitz showed up and confronted her; the combination of a BreakingLecture, a CurbStompBattle ''and'' some bits of Goenitz's powers [[BreakTheCutie were horrible on poor Mai]], who totally lost control of herself and [[UnstoppableRage savagely attacked Kyo and Athena]] when they walked on her. It took Athena pulling a DivingSave to stop Kyo from burning Mai with an Orochinagi to bring her back.]]
** Also, [[spoiler: Leona]] falls into this as well [[spoiler: when Goenitz awakens her Orochi blood ''like he did in her past to make her kill her parents and townspeople'' [[BreakingLecture with words alone]]. Clark, one of her two {{Big Brother Mentor}}s, gives her a CooldownHug and snaps her out - but not before she ''puts her arm through his chest''.]]
* Tatsumi from ''Manga/{{Shiki}}'' does this a lot. The most obvious and drawn-out example happens when [[spoiler: he manipulates [[JerkassWoobie Masao]], who's just risen up as a vampire. First he appeals to Masao's [[EmoTeen insecurities]] by telling him that he's special for rising up as a vampire (being sure to mention that Masao's nephew, who Masao hated, will not be rising up). When Masao expresses any resistance to what Tatsumi is telling him (such as expressing a fear of killing a victim Tatsumi offers him to feed on), Tatsumi shifts to threatening him, at one point basically telling Masao that he'll drag him out into the sun to die if he refuses to comply with his demands.]] He's almost certainly done the same thing to just about every new vampire he's dug up, since he's responsible for them.
* Kirakishou from ''Manga/RozenMaiden'', most notable in the 2013 anime. [[spoiler:She starts sending texts to Unwin!Jun, making them look like if they were from his younger self, so he could make a new doll she could use to enter his world, using his desire to change the world. Since he knows that Shinku will have to leave his world in a week to return to his younger self, and he'll be left behind in a world he sees with JadeColoredGlasses, when Kirakishou's sweet offer comes, he doesn't consideres it could be a trap (because Shinku told him the world can't be changed), he just does because he ''wants'' to change the world.]]
* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl''. The cyborg girls start off as brainwashed blank slates who blindly obey every order they're given. As their relationship with TheHandler continues, other factors like romantic or platonic love and FireForgedFriends come into play, increasing the bond between handler and cyborg. One handler who never bothered building a relationship with his cyborg fell victim to a MurderSuicide when he did an assignment with another team and his cyborg realised how indifferent he was in comparison; in another case, a cyborg who fell in romantic love with her handler never told him her feelings because she was savvy enough to wonder whether said feelings came from her own will or were induced by the remains of her brainwashing.
* TheDragon [[spoiler: Proist]] in ''Anime/GaikingLegendOfDaikuMaryu'' manipulates [[spoiler: Ruru into attempting to kill her father]] by bringing up old, forgotten memories. Twice.
* Dio Brando of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' has an uncanny ability to gain followers due to being incredibly charismatic. While brainwashing is one of his powers, it seems that most of his followers are either genuinely loyal or at the very least hired assassins.
* By the end of ''Anime/UmiMonogatari'', the heroines realize that [[spoiler: Sedna's darkness was really just magnifying the weakness that was already present in people's hearts]].
* This is a popular theme in corruption-mindbreak ''{{hentai}}'', with the popular example being ''[[https://twitter.com/monmon_MACXES/media Dina Rangers]]'' by ''Macxes'': the receiving-end is being meticulously overridden by [[TheDarkSide beseechment]] and strong [[TheCorruption stimuli]] to abandon one's morals, attachments, values and even oneself. This does not work, ''[[RedShirt for the most part]]'', unless the recipient of TheCorruption is convinced that this is what they want.
* ''Manga/OnePiece'': This trope is how [[NoSuchAgency CP9]] convinced Nico Robin to surrender to them and distance herself from the Straw Hats: because she's been hunted down and outcast for over 20 years: ever since she was a child. For some time, Robin felt she really had no place in the world: that either everyone betrays her or she would betray everyone, so she had a DeathSeeker mindset. But Luffy and company stare her straight in the face, knowing her past, and basically yell back, "We don't care! If they're ''your'' enemy, they're ''our'' enemy!" The confirming stroke came when they [[BurningTheFlag burned the World Government's flag]]. It's only then that Robin realizes she has TrueCompanions at last, and she finally declares that she wants to live.
* Sometimes used by the Spiral in ''Manga/{{Uzumaki}}''. Although some of its manifestations look like vanilla mind control, it also frequently twists its victims in a more metaphorical sense. The two lovers in the chapter "Twisted Souls" [[spoiler:are convinced to succumb to the Spiral as a way to get away from their abusive families]] and in the end [[spoiler:Kirie and Shuichi are "won over" by a combination of the Spiral's all consuming influence and being worn down so much that life seems to have lost all meaning]].
* Dark magic in ''LightNovel/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'' can be used to control emotions, but the emphasis is on ''control.'' While it can heighten feelings like hatred or envy, those feelings have to be there to begin with. Since Katarina feels no jealousy towards Maria, the dark magician who wants to drive Katarina away can't destroy her reputation and get her expelled by making her bully Maria.
* ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'': While Saika wielders do get to completely mind-control people, Izaya is a very successful ManipulativeBastard who does this sort of stuff for ''fun'', and has no sort of superhuman abilities whatsoever. What he uses these skills for is disgusting. He found many girls with abusive lovers and families and turned them all into his 'followers' by, according to himself, shifting their worship for their abusers onto him. He even says that if he told them to die, even if they had doubts the girls would comply. Saki Mikajima dated Masaomi under his orders and even went so far as to purposely get kidnapped when Izaya told her to. Another one of his followers, Nozomi Kotonami, had a nervous breakdown when he vanished.
* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': [[spoiler:Mikasa]]'s extreme loyalty is involuntary...probably. Readers don't explicitly ''know'', because the genetic imprinting that defines her ancestry happened so long ago, with technology so alien to the medieval inhabitants of Eldia...and because it activated soon after the tragic murder of her parents, in a situation where damn near anybody would be desperate for positive human contact. [[spoiler:Mikasa]] herself has to be told the bond is artificial, and even then she doesn't quite believe it.
* ''Manga/GoldenKamuy'': This is Lieutenant Tsurumi's primary method of manipulation. He realized that the thing that moves soldiers on the battlefield is not the hate for another country and not even patriotism, but the bonds they develop with their companions and superiors. Because of that, he aims to make the members of his division love him and worship him deeply, to such a point that nothing he does will get them to turn against him. While some can be turned by simply him showing his devoted, fatherly, and loving side, he is willing to go to much greater lengths for others. [[spoiler:He faked a kidnap attempt so he could rescue Koito and invoke RescueRomance, allowed and covered up for Ogata to murder his father, and got Tsukishima out of the death row and then set up a situation where he could save his life]]. Even after realizing they've been manipulated, they're so deeply steeped in their adoration and love for him, they act as nothing happened and keep following his orders.
* In ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'', to some extent, this is [[VillainPossessedBystander how the villains are able to infect]] the MonsterOfTheWeek. A regular human is infected and corrupted with Zonder Metal due to their pre-existing stresses and/or negative emotions and more often than not, they are targeting specific locations that they felt had wronged them. El-02 is a homeless man who desired revenge against City Hall and began destroying the city in an attempt to get there. El-12 is a scientist hoping to make a breakthrough in his particles technology but his research and facility is used to trap and take out Guy and the others GGG mecha. El-15 is a tech genius jealous of Entouji and [[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs takes over the G-Island base]].
[[/folder]]

* Izuru Kamukura from ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair''. Once a teenager named [[spoiler:Hajime Hinata]], he [[spoiler:decided to help Hope's Peak, not knowing it would be a surgery that would [[{{AmnesiacDissonance}} wipe his memory and personality]] for the sake of talent.]] In ''Anime/DanganRonpa3'' it is revealed that he did this to join his Ultimate Gamer friend Chiaki Nanami and her class and feel equal to her.

*
* The Horcrux locket in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' did this, to Ron in particular. When wearing it, it basically turns people depressed and messes with their heads a bit, eventually causing Ron to [[spoiler:leave Harry and Hermione for a while]]. Just before [[spoiler:Ron destroyed it]], the locket tries to do this again to Ron via TheReasonYouSuckSpeech.

* In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', [[spoiler:Darth Malak]] does this to [[spoiler:Bastila Shan.]]
--> '''[[spoiler:Darth Malak]]:''' Torture? No, dear [[spoiler:Bastila]]. You misunderstand. This is but a taste of the dark side to whet your appetite. When you finally swear loyalty to me, it will be willingly.
* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'': Kreia. To ''everyone'', including the PlayerCharacter. [[spoiler: Technically, ''both'' {{PlayerCharacter}}s, as she was Revan's original master.]] She rarely has to use any kind of push from the Force (which she hates), but instead enjoys using a combination of bribery, blackmail, and shamelessly being MetaphoricallyTrue, to get people dancing to her tune. You know she's a manipulative, MagnificentBitch, but she engineers the situations so that there really isn't an option other than doing things her way.
* ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'': [[spoiler:After confronting the Sith Emperor.]]
** [[spoiler:"You are mine: servants, slaves, weapons. And you '''will''' obey."]]
** [[spoiler:It gets worse on Zakuul; the Emperor was intentionally neglectful to his children, subjecting them to suicide missions and experimenting on them with sith magics, until they snapped (or in Therann's case, died), only showing some hint of acknowledgement the moment they crossed the MoralEventHorizon. [[ManchurianAgent He still put trigger phrases in both of them, though]].]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/WonderWoman2009'', Ares does this to Persephone, albeit offsceen, to get her to turn against the Amazons. Though later when she fights Hippolyta, Persephone reveals [[spoiler: she joined up with Ares as being on an island of all women, governed purely on warrior tendencies and away from the outside world, denied her any chance to fall in love and raise a family of her own. Making Hippolyta realize that maybe her policies weren't so cut and dry after all.]]

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

* [[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 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]].

* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', [[spoiler:Mikasa]]'s extreme loyalty is involuntary...probably. Readers don't explicitly ''know'', because the genetic imprinting that defines her ancestry happened so long ago, with technology so alien to the medieval inhabitants of Eldia...and because it activated soon after the tragic murder of her parents, in a situation where damn near anybody would be desperate for positive human contact. [[spoiler:Mikasa]] herself has to be told the bond is artificial, and even then she doesn't quite believe it.

* The Joker does this to Dr. Harleen Quinzel when she is assigned to be his psychiatrist. He explains to her that his father [[FreudianExcuse 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. 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 takes on a new identity as the insanely ruthless [[FaceHeelTurn Harley Quinn]].
* In the comic book series ''ComicBook/{{Sleepwalker}}'', the monstrous, AxCrazy villain Psyko has the power to drive everyone around him insane. Being a resident of the mental plane, Sleepwalker was resistant to this power, but it affected him enough for Psyko to nearly manipulate Sleepwalker into murdering one of his former enemies, which would have permanently driven him insane.

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

* ''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}}, whether they embrace it or try to bury it. Billy's powers just remove their inhibitions and let that part out. Only one male character, with unparalleled experience fighting his inner demons, is able to let is just wash over him and shrug it off, explaining that particular primal drive is old hot to him at this point

** The First Evil. It can't physcially interact with anyone or anything, [[BreakThemByTalking but it knows all about you (especially your dark desires and impulses)]] and [[DeadPersonImpersonation it takes the appearance and demeanor of any]] [[DeadPersonConversation dead person it wants while talking with you]]. A very handy set of skills for driving people mad or evil without ever forcing them to do anything.

** Spike himself pulls this off in Season 4, exploiting the existing tensions within the Scooby Gang (Buffy's intense focus on her newfound relationship with Riley, Giles' feelings of uselessness, Xander's lack of direction, and Willow's recent gay relationship with Tara) in order to DivideAndConquer. As he himself points out, he didn't create said tensions, he just brought them to the surface, comparing the situation to how people blame Music/YokoOno for breaking up Music/TheBeatles.

** Sasuke is more or less the poster-boy for the victim of this brainwashing. Itachi did it to him as a child; Orochimaru as a pre-teen; and [[spoiler: Tobi]] as a teen. He has essentially spent his entire life being manipulated by others and yet seems certain he is in control of his own destiny. Which was {{Lampshaded}] by [[spoiler:Itachi]], of all people, who said that Sasuke was still [[PureIsNotGood pure]], and that any influence could sway him.

** Sasuke is more or less the poster-boy for the victim of this brainwashing. Itachi did it to him as a child; Orochimaru as a pre-teen; and [[spoiler: Tobi]] as a teen. He has essentially spent his entire life being manipulated by others and yet seems certain he is in control of his own destiny. Which was Lampshaded by [[spoiler:Itachi]], of all people, who said that Sasuke was still [[PureIsNotGood pure]], and that any influence could sway him.

** Nene's relationship with [=DarkKnightmon=] [[=AxeKnightmon=]] in ''Anime/DigimonXrosWars'' has shades of this. [=DarkKnightmon=] is pretty...well...dark. He certainly doesn't seem to have Nene's best interests at heart, which is apparent to anyone watching. [[spoiler:It's revealed in episode 19 that she only works with him because she believes he's the only one who could get her and her brother out of the Digital World]]

MindControl is an effective weapon, but your garden-variety {{Brainwashing}} or hypnosis is too mundane for some viewers, too predictable for some plots, too weak for some [[HeroicWillPower heroes]], and too unambitious for some villains. Also, outright controlling someone's mind tends to require either magic or technology, and depending on the nature of the story, the villain might not have access to either of those.

MindControl is an effective weapon, but your garden-variety [[{{Brainwashed}} brainwashing]] or hypnosis is too mundane for some viewers, too predictable for some plots, too weak for some [[HeroicWillPower heroes]], and too unambitious for some villains. Also, outright controlling someone's mind tends to require either magic or technology, and depending on the nature of the story, the villain might not have access to either of those.

This is a favorite technique of {{Manipulative Bastard}}s. Victims may or may not exhibit MindControlEyes. It also frequently comes with a [[EvilSoundsDeep creepy voice change]], which is probably as a ShoutOut to Darth Vader of ''StarWars''.

* Palpatine's manipulation of Anakin/Vader in the ''StarWars'' movies. However, it doesn't last. [[Awesome/StarWars And when it's broken]] by Luke...

* ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' is made of this trope. In the earlier movies, Jigsaw pulls this again and again, from the simple and obvious of making people commit heinous acts to save themselves to [[spoiler:gradually becoming more complex, in making people commit heinous acts to save others, or to trick them into thinking so (Rigg)]]. He also [[spoiler:gains Amanda and Hoffman as apprentices in much this way.]] Mileage may vary when it comes to the later movies, as it seems to get less cerebral, and more {{Gorn}} for no real reason but FanService. FanDumb CanonDisContinuity can begin with ''Film/SawII'', and end really nowhere.