History Main / MoreThanMindControl

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

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'': Barbara Gordon is subject to this in "Eyewitness"; while [[MasterOfIllusion Spellbinder]] ''did'' cast an illusion on Barbara to make her think that she saw Batman kill Mad Stan in cold blood, when he's found out, he takes the time to gloat right to Barbara's face that it was easy to trick her because she [[InspectorJavert was already fully prepared to believe the worst in Batman anyway]].
-->'''Spellbinder''': You were ''so'' ready to believe the worst, it was ''easy''.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Huntik}}'' once a seeker is linked to a titan-summoning amulet there is a constant connection called 'the bond' between the two, which the seeker uses to command the titan. The titan itself is under no obligation to follow these instructions but the constant telepathic contact slowly imprints the seeker's personality and allegiance over its own until the titan is completely devoted to the seeker and his/her cause. The longer a titan is bonded to one seeker, the longer it would take for the titan to become loyal to a new seeker, though this can be reduced for seekers with similar personalities.
* Gorilla Grodd uses this in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', using his psychic powers to exacerbate the heroes' latent distrust and jealousy to split them up. When ComicBook/TheFlash takes this as an excuse to say none of them meant any of it, ComicBook/MartianManhunter corrects him - they meant every word, even if they wouldn't normally have said it out loud. It also has the side effect of making John / GL [[WillTheyOrWontThey blurt out that he'd give his life for Shayera.]]

See also: BlankSlate, ConditionedToAcceptHorror, NurtureOverNature, RousseauWasRight, StockholmSyndrome, and ThenLetMeBeEvil.

** ''[[Literature/BlackMaria Aunt Maria]]'', the titular Maria talks ideas into people's head. She TALKS them into submission, magically.
** 'Laurel,' [[spoiler: the faerie queen]] from ''Literature/FireAndHemlock'', who also has more literal versions available to her. The power of ''embarrassment'' is particularly accentuated here.
** Also Reigner One in ''Literature/{{Hexwood}}'', with the conditioning he puts on his Servants, though in their case it starts in childhood. He never made Mordion into an actual ''bad person'', really, but he ''did'' make him unable to seriously think actively rebellious thoughts. There was some brain work there, but that mostly seems to have been to short out his magic.
* [[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, {{Room 101}} 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]].

* ''Literature/{{Coda}}'' has this with the Corp's mind-controlling music. Anthem admits to himself that it's addictive, and listening isn't always unwilling.
* ''Literature/{{Curtain}}'' has a serial killer known only as X before their identity is revealed. X has never actually killed anyone themselves- instead, they're a master of manipulation, preying on the fears of others and driving them into a state where they decide to kill, but are completely unaware that they're being manipulated to do so.

* In ''Literature/{{Everworld}},'' [[TokenEvilTeammate Senna]] uses her powers to control [[TheHero David]]. Even after [[LadyOfWar Athena]] forces her to stop, however, April notes that David is still in love with (or at least obsessed with) her, and Senna is [[TheChessmaster more than nasty enough]] to use this to her advantage. Ultimately [[spoiler:it doesn't work, though]].
** She also uses mind control to make Christopher drink some wine with her blood in it, even though he knows witch blood may well kill him. Senna notes that she can't force him to do something he doesn't ''want'' to do, but she can take a desire he already has and increase it. Given that he's a borderline alcoholic and, like David, retains a certain level of attraction/obsession with her...

* The BigBad in ''[[Literature/{{Genome}} Dances on the Snow]]'' takes over whole planets by putting everybody to sleep for a few days and making them relive a lifetime of loyal servitude to the BigBad's regime. When they wake, they have a hard time believing that they have ever been loyal to TheEmpire.

* ''Literature/{{Hannibal}}''. Ooohboy. [[spoiler: Hannibal kidnaps, drugs, and hypnotizes a disillusioned Clarice and acts as her therapist. Clarice undergoes a major FaceHeelTurn, and when the drugs wear off, Clarice seduces ''him''.]]
* The [[SoulJar 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 ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'' series, it's revealed that this is the key to both [[CompellingVoice charmspeak]] and the full use of the Mist. Sure, with immense effort you can MindControl a monster into not killing you, but it's so much more effective to use charmspeak to pull a BatmanGambit (ie by walking them into a trap, sowing division amongst your already paranoid enemies, etc). A sufficiently powerful manipulator of the Mist is essentially a full-scale RealityWarper by making illusions come to life, but the trick is to make people see what they want to see and then imposing your will to make it so.
* In ''[[Literature/{{Deryni}} High Deryni]]'', Wencit of Torenth uses a variety of tactics against Sean Lord Derry in his effort to [[BrainwashedAndCrazy establish control over Derry's mind]]. At one point, he has his minion Rhydoon of Eastmarch summon a tentacled monster called a caradot to menace Derry, who is then tied to a chair. Wencit himself puts a dagger to Derry's throat, and when that elicits no reaction, he begins cutting the leather thongs of Derry's jerkin:
--> "Do you know, Derry," ''cut'' "I've often wondered what it is about Alaric Morgan which inspires such loyalty in his followers," ''cut'' "Or Kelson and those rather strange Haldane powers of his," ''cut''. "Not too many men would sit here as you do," ''cut'' "refusing to talk, though they know what unpleasantness awaits them," ''cut "and still remain loyal to a leader who is far away and can never hope to help them out of this, even if he knew."

* This is what Susan Mortlake does to Scott in ''Literature/ThePowerOfFive'' novel ''Nightrise'', to get him to take part in an assassination.

* Used in ''Literature/TheSilverChair'', one of ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'', by [[TheVamp the Lady of the Green Kirtle]], on the four main characters. They're saved by TheEeyore, who notes that, even if what she's saying is true and Narnia really is just a happy fantasy world, he prefers it to the awful truth, at which point the other characters realize that if this dreary underground really ''was'' the only world they'd ever known, their imaginations would be stunted and they'd never have been able to invent Narnia. The smell of burning marshwiggle didn't hurt either.
** In ''Literature/TheMagiciansNephew'', the Witch's attempt to tempt Digory initially works, when she talks about how disobeying [[BigGood Aslan]] might save Digory's terminally ill mother. Then she overreaches, saying that Digory could even leave Polly stranded in Narnia. Since that is '''not''' something he wants to do on any level, he gets angry and realizes that the Witch is just trying to use him for her own purposes.

* Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium:
** This was one of [[TheStarscream Saruman's]] major skills in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' (book version only). Doesn't work so well with diverse groups, especially when he starts to lose his cool - though he does talk Treebeard into letting him go.

* ''Literature/TheTraitorSonCycle'': the BigBad manipulates Thorn by subtly changing his personality and planting new ideas in his mind so that eventually, Thorn does his bidding with no input from the BigBad's.
* ''Literature/TheTrialsOfApollo'': [[spoiler: Meg]] goes through this because of their AbusiveParent [[spoiler: '''Nero,''' aka the person most likely to be the antichrist referred to in the Bible]] It's actually quite terrifying given how real the abuse feels like.
* Mentioned in passing in ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' novel ''Breaking Dawn''. Chelsea, a member of the Volturi, has a special ability where she can mess with people's emotional attachments, both keeping the rest of the Volturi loyal to Aro and using it to help them win more easily against enemies by dividing them.

* In Peter F. Hamilton's ''Literature/VoidTrilogy'', the noble houses of Makkathran use their telepathic abilities to subtly change the thoughts of others. Primarily used by [[spoiler:Ranalee]] on both [[spoiler:Edeard and later Salrana. He detects her influence and breaks it while Salrana remains influenced by it, ultimately betraying him as far as she knows of her own free will]]

* This is Slade's chief weapon on ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'', 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.

** The episode "Wild Side" reveals Cricket gets an urge for the wilderness once a year and unless Bill takes him far into the woods to go camping, he becomes ballistic and feral. He fails to do this, resulting in a backyard campout instead, resulting in Cricket's urge to take its full effect and he runs amok through town. During the course of his rampage, he holds Remy hostage and manipulates him into being feral like him, then he manipulates Bill into doing whatever makes "him" happy, turning him feral as well. By episode's end, the whole family has become feral with no explanation of how they got back to normal.

** This was Starlight Glimmer's entire modus operandi, as her cutie mark removal spell only dampened their special talents and some facets of their personality. She had an entire village acting in unison, all with UncannyValley grins on their faces, purely by convincing them it was best for them, some intimidation, and some rather brutal ''real life and mundane'' brainwashing tactics.

* Durkon has been [[OurVampiresAreDifferent turned into a vampire]]. In this universe this means [[spoiler: Durkon's body has been taken over by a doppelganger which the fanbase has nicknamed "Durkula", while Durkon is trapped inside his own skull.]] So Durkon defeats "Durkula" by [[spoiler: manipulating him into letting Durkon overwrite his personality by feeding him traumatic memories - Durkon [[https://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots1130.html convinces Durkula that receiving all of Durkon's other memories is the only way to ameliorate the traumatic memories,]] by contextualizing them.]]

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]].

* In ''Literature/{{Everworld}},'' [[TokenEvilTeammate Senna]] uses her powers to control [[TheHero David]]. Even after [[LadyOfWar Athena]] forces her to stop, however, [[TheChick April]] notes that David is still in love with (or at least obsessed with) her, and Senna is [[TheChessmaster more than nasty enough]] to use this to her advantage. Ultimately [[spoiler:it doesn't work, though]].

What makes this "more than mind control" rather than simple [[ManipulativeBastard manipulation]] is that this can still be ''assisted'' by magic or technology. [[TheDarkSide Magic forces may be at work]], but it's really the despair, trickery, lies, and sometimes even [[ExactWords carefully-selected]] [[MetaphoricallyTrue truths]], that are thrown in that successfully break the victim's spirit. Instead of the villain forcing a victim to do something against their will, the villain ''changes'' the victim's will. It's DealWithTheDevil [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] BreakThemByTalking. This can even be justified depending on the setting; a very common limitation on mind control across many different works (for example ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'') is that the would-be-controller simply cannot induce an idea or a command into the victim that is either completely alien to their mind or goes against their base instincts. Much like a body's immune system will fight against a virus or a bacteria, the mind in-question will recognize the thought as a foreign object and will resist or even completely reject it.

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

Compare TheHeartless, FaceHeelTurn, BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil. Overlaps with JediMindTrick and BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood. Contrast FightingFromTheInside, though it ''can'' happen after More Than Mind Control if it's rushed or botched. May overlap with LivingDollCollector and {{Glamour}}. It usually takes hard core {{Deprogram}}ming to remove, unless the controller [[IntrinsicVow asks the wrong thing]].

* ''ComicBook/NewGods'': Mind-control is the entire point of the 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 [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]] and his will.

** One of the nastiest monster villains of the Franchise/MarvelUniverse 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.

* Zemo provides a good example of this in ''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."

** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Dr. Psycho is quite annoyed to find that Vanessa Kapatelis can figure out when he is messing with her mind in a more direct approach and throw off his mental control; however, he discoveres her insecurities while doing so. He and Circe later use 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.

* 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:how 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-dried after all.]]

* The Borg Queen ''almost'' does this to Data in ''[[Film/StarTrekFirstContact First Contact]]''. He confirms in the end that she had him considering it... for 0.68 seconds, but "for an android, that is nearly an eternity."

** Additionally, the Matrix can only imprison you if you make a choice to allow yourself to be imprisoned. It doesn't have to be a concious choice, and in fact The Matrix can only really exist if most people aren't aware on a concious level what's actually happening, thus the vast majority of the subjects in The Matrix have subconsciously agreed to be imprisoned by it. Only a small handful of people reject the unreality of The Matrix and leave.
* The eponymous Pushers of ''Film/{{Push}}'' work this way. They implant whatever memories they like into the victim's mind, and then make simple commands that seem reasonable with those new memories. For example, in the beginning Kira is held captive by Mac and Holden. Kira implants memories to make Mac believe that Holden killed his brother, and is so furious, he shoots Holden in the head, giving Kira a chance to escape. Mac never had a brother. Mac's boss, who is also a Pusher, makes Mac commit suicide by making Mac believe he unloaded the gun, and it'll be perfectly safe. Low-level Pushers need to use words to put thoughts into people's heads. A high-level Pusher like Carver is able to do it with just a look of BlackEyesOfEvil (their pupils grow big the more it's used.) In fact, [[spoiler: Carver uses this with some falsified documentation to implant false memories into Kira that she is his former partner who went on the run after an accident screwed with her memories. However, she's restored to normal when some lingering doubt has her open the granted envelope and discovers a photo that undoes the Push. She proceeds to make Carver shoot himself.]]

* ''Film/UpstreamColor'': When a person has been infected with a strange parasite, they become extremely susceptible to manipulation. A thief exploits this effect by intentionally infecting victims and them guiding their actions by telling them outlandish things. For example, when he wants to keep a woman confined to the carpeting of her home, he tells her than the tile floor will not support her weight. To keep her from remembering what he looks like, he tells her that his face is made of the same substance as the sun, so she cannot look directly at it.
* In ''Film/WonderWoman2017'', Ares tells Diana that although he wants [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans destroy humanity because they are too corrupt to inhabit the earth]], he doesn't need to kill them himself. All he has to do is give humanity an inspiration to create a new weapon, or give their leaders an excuse to fight, and they willingly go into a destructive war with one another, and not stop until it ends.

* ''Literature/{{Coda}}'' has this with the Corp's mind controlling music. Anthem admits to himself that it's addictive, and listening isn't always unwilling.

* In the ''Literature/DreambloodDuology'', in order to control Reapers, the Prince uses Hetawa terms and imagery in addition to the jungissa. In Ehiru's case he also uses some well-placed lies and their family bond.

* In ''Literature/{{Elvenborn}}'', this is Aelmarkin's favorite pasttime. He picks his favorite concubine, deliberately picked to be easily duped and manipulated, and tricks them into believing that he is eternally kind, loving, and right... and then uses that belief to deliberately destroy their self-esteem and mental faculties, until they're anorexic-bulimics starving and purging themselves in a desperate attempt to be 'beautiful' even as he pretends to be concerned for their well-being and asking them to eat more. If he's feeling particularly generous, when they're near death he'll memory-wipe them and have them retrained as normal concubines again.

* ''Literature/TheFableOfTheDragonTyrant'': This fable satirizes and mocks the idea that death gives life meaning as this trope. The kingdom wholeheartedly believes that the dragon is inevitable and virtuous, reflecting that most people in the real world have this mentality towards aging and death. The fable deems this mindset archaic and dangerous in the modern world, with genetic engineering to cure aging now on the table.

* ''Literature/{{Hannibal}}''. Ooohboy. [[spoiler: Hannibal kidnaps, drugs and hypnotizes a disillusioned Clarice and acts as her therapist. Clarice undergoes a major FaceHeelTurn, and when the drugs wear off, Clarice seduces ''him''.]]

* In ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'' series, it's revealed that this is the key to both [[CompellingVoice charmspeak]] and the full use of the Mist. Sure, with immense effort you can MindControl a monster into not killing you, but it's so much more effective to use charmspeak to pull a BatmanGambit (ie by walking them into a trap, sowing division amongst your already paranoid enemies, etc). A sufficiently powerful manipulator of the Mist is essentially a full-scale RealityWarper by making illusions come to life, but the trick is to make people see what they want to see, and then imposing your will to make it so.

* In ''Literature/TheMachineriesOfEmpire'', the Kel formation instinct (which enforces their obedience of the chain of command) is part straight-up brainwashing, but also part arduous training, part propaganda and part the Kel's own desire to belong.

* This is what Susan Mortlake does to Scott in ''Literature/ThePowerOfFive'' novel ''Nightrise'', to get him to take part in an assasination.

* ''Literature/TheSisterVerseAndTheTalonsOfRuin'' has this as one of its primary themes. The goal of the villain is to slowly corrupt the protagonist, and it does this by making him think that his actions are solely products of his own decision making.

** In fact, this is the preferred technique of Tolkien villains. Tolkien believed that this was one of the strongest weapons that real life villainy wields. It's also why he thought that Sauron was a far more terrifying villain than Morgoth, despite Morgoth being an OmnicidalManiac who was literally undefeatable except by the gods themselves. Sauron may have been far weaker, but his power lay in manipulating the pride and evil in men's hearts.

* Mentioned in passing in ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' novel ''Breaking Dawn''. Chelsea, a member of the Volturi, has a special ability where she can mess with people's emotional attatchments, both keeping the rest of the Volturi loyal to Aro and using it to help them win more easily against enemies by dividing them.

** Upon being turned, a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]]'s personality often draws upon their former self's darker impulses and things which they wouldn't normally say or do. When confronted over being Spike's SenseiForScoundrels in the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "[[Recap/AngelS05E08Destiny Destiny]]", Angel retorts that he didn't make Spike a monster; he just opened the door and let the "real him" out. Also, upon being sired, Spike's mother's taunts about his [[MommasBoy attachment to her]] were in fact something she feared as a human but wasn't cruel enough to actually say to him beforehand.

* In ''Series/{{Grimm}}'', the Ziegevolker are [[FaunsAndSatyrs goat-like Wesen]] who have the ability to emit powerful {{pheromones}} which make others do whatever they want. The pheromones can be temporarily boosted by consuming certain rare toads. One episode involves a famous defense attorney who turns out to be a Ziegevolk eating an extremely potent toad to get witnesses to revise their testimonies (the lawyer actually gets them to remember events differently) and sway the jury. Luckily, Rosalee is able to device a potion that reverses the effects of the toads, causing the lawyer to repel anyone he uses his powers against, just before the closing arguments, meaning he instantly turns the jury against him.

** When a human holds Azrael's Blade, they are driven inexorably to kill people that the holder thinks has wronged them, however trivially. The initial murder is over a ''parking space''. [[spoiler:Dan is nearly driven to kill Lucifer, not for all the verbal abuse he piles on or even the latter's romantic and sexual interest in his ex-wife and mother of his child (he thinks he deserves the ridicule on some level and blames himself for the state of his family), but for eating the pudding that Dan had in the station refrigerator. "It. Was. ''Labelled!''" Dan's remarkable restraint and resistance to the effect actually impress Lucifer quite a bit; he didn't believe that ''any'' mortal could actually hold back the way Dan did under its influence.]]
* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S5E19Stranded Stranded]]", the neuromuscular enhancer which Tyr'Nar, a telepathic shapeshifter, gives Kevin Buchanan has a mental component as well as giving Kevin SuperStrength. It makes Kevin more susceptible to Tyr'Nar's attempts to manipulate him. After Kevin gets into a fight with his bully Nelson Tyler who is badly hurt in the process, he feels very guilty about it until Tyr'Nar convinces him that Nelson got what he deserved. Immediately afterwards, Kevin tells his father Alex as much when he confronts him about Nelson's condition. [[spoiler:Later still, Tyr'Nar emerges victorious after his fight with Alex, whose form he assumes. He tells Kevin to keep wearing the enhancer as it will make him stronger, but the true reason is that he will make it easier for Tyr'Nar to manipulate him further. It is implied that Kevin is aware that Alex has been replaced by Tyr'Nar.]]

* Orthodox Christianity states this is how demons tempt us into committing sins. Not all of our thoughts are ours. They give us their suggestions, using either directly sinful thoughts (to eat more than we need, not to pray the Lord, to have sinful sex, to be proudful of our deeds, and so on.) [[ParanoiaFuel or they can be more innocuous...]] The best way to reject them is a prayer to God (for example, "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner"), or simply ignore them. But how many such suggestions do we agree with during a single day?

* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', most mind-control spells falter or fail outright when the target is ordered to do something they wouldn't normally do--but there is a specialized spell called ''Programmed Amnesia'' which can bypass this rule by changing what the target considers normal behavior. The spell is not inherently evil, but see below.

** The Bluff and Diplomacy skills fit even better than most spells. Both represent perfectly mundane conversation which, with sufficient training, can convince almost anyone to do almost anything, and the only way to counteract them is more bluffing and diplomacy.
* The forces of Chaos in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' and ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' are highly subtle and insidious, able to convince people to join them by, amongst others, making the victim think that he is benefiting the fight for "good" by doing so. This particular case is usually seen where trying to use a Chaos artifact or other power of Chaos against Chaos is seen. Even hardass KnightTemplar-ish [[ChurchMilitant Inquisitors]] are not immune.

** The first part largely works under Tzeenchian rules (being the master of scheming to the point that he doesn't see the future, he sees ALL POSSIBLE futures and works things to the one that benefit him the most.) Slaanesh is right on as well. Even Papa Nurgle is surprisingly duplicitous: he won't 'cure' the plagues he gives you, he'll just make sure you're happy about it. [[BloodKnight Khorne]] on the other hand... Well his followers shout out "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD, SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!!" as they're killing everyone in sight, including each other. Not so subtle.

* ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'': This is the classic twofer tactic of Dominate and Majesty. 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.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Scion}}'' there is an Epic Manipulation knack called "God's Honest". The scion gives a statement along with some gesture of sincerity: cross my fingers hope to die/pinkie swear/I give my word. If their legend rating is higher than or equal to the target's then they will believe the speaker without question. Only solid, incontrovertible proof can sway them to believing it is a lie, and even then it has to be a good speaker. On top of that, if the scion uses "God's Honest" to enforce a truth then almost nothing will convince the target that that truth is a lie.

** With Wanda's Arkenpliers, the corpses she "decrypts" genuinely seem to grow a sort of love for her, be it to worship her or think of her as a sister. It seems to warp entire personalities, like Ansom's. There ''are'' limits, however; the spell needs something to latch onto, and can't completely override their essential nature. In Ansom's case it twisted his religious zeal from Royalism to Toolism, and he shifted his priorities to match. His honor-obsessed brother was controlled right up until they started using tactics he considered too underhanded, at which point he defected to his original side.

* ''Webcomic/ZebraGirl'''s slow degeneration into a [[spoiler:sadistic demon who feeds on terror and nightmares]] appears to be the consequence of a magical spell which did not so much alter the way she thinks as block her ability to resist the lingering mental effects of her long-completed physical transformation.
* ''Webcomic/MSFHigh'''s Legion might fit into this trope, at least in Mahou Galaxy and during the Legion War, when they were the bad guys. Being converted into a Legion causes people to be put into a situation where they want to help their sisters because of the 'love' that binds them. Mostly unchanged personality, and the feelings seem to be genuine. But it still seems like this trope, at least for unwilling victims.

* The magical wards woven through Literature/{{Addergoole}} stop the new students freaking out at the weirdness or questioning too much what's happening. But it's peer pressure and something resembling StockholmSyndrome (if you squint) that makes most of them buy into Ellemenhai Society.

* ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' has [[spoiler:WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob]] turn on the other critics (and even accidently help kill [[spoiler:WebVideo/TheLastAngryGeek]]} after the Executor manipulates him into becoming corporate.

** The episode "Wild Side" reveals Cricket gets an urge for the wilderness once a year and unless Bill takes him far into the woods to go camping, he becomes ballistic and feral. He fails to do this, resulting for a backyard campout instead, resulting in Cricket's urge to take its full effect and he runs amok through town. During the course of his rampage, he holds Remy hostage and manipulates him into being feral like him, then he manipulates Bill into doing whatever makes "him" happy, turning him feral as well. By episode's end, the whole family has become feral with no explanation how they got back to normal.

* Rat King pulls this on Splinter in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012''. Using his rodent controlling powers to access Splinter's memories, Rat King makes small, hurtful suggestions to steadily convince Splinter to abandon the turtles.

* In real life, any effective "mind control" usually amounts to this. Nazism, {{cult}}s, propaganda, advertising, talking heads on the news: if anyone gets you to do anything, it's by convincing you that you want to do it, or have to do it.

* Hypnotism only works if the planned subject is ''willing'' to go along with being hypnotised, and even when under hypnosis, the subject will only go along with the hypnotist's suggestions if they ''want'' to do whatever the hypnotist tries to "make" them do. That said, when in a trance, the subject does become generally more susceptible to suggestions, and if the hypnotist can somehow frame a suggestion in the right context, it is easier to trick the subject into doing or go along with something they wouldn't normally do, because if they were in their right mind they would consider it an immoral, socially unacceptable, or humiliating action and refuse to carry it out.

* The discoveries made by the field of memetics are often utilized to do this on a widespread scale. A properly-created meme that is funny enough, cute enough, or (the most effective) [[FlameBait rage-inducing and argument-provoking]] enough can cause an idea to 'infect' huge swaths of the population. While MemeticMutation does make this very unpredictable, the result is essentially mind control on a massive scale. Numerous pervasive cultural artifacts of the modern age, such as the anti-vaccination movement, and [[ChurchOfHappyology Scientology]], are believed by some scientists to be products of highly successful memes that have infected large numbers of people, deliberately or otherwise.

** In ''The Magician's Nephew'', the Witch's attempt to tempt Digory initially works, when she talks about how disobeying [[BigGood Aslan]] might save Digory's terminally ill mother. Then she overreaches, saying that Digory could even leave Polly stranded in Narnia. Since that is '''not''' something he wants to do on any level, he gets angry and realizes that the Witch is just trying to use him for her own purposes.

** This was also how Sauron brought down Númenor in the "Akallabêth". He intentionally let himself be taken prisoner, by [[MagnificentBastard Ar-Pharazon]] and then used the King's distrust of the elves and desire for immortality to corrupt him. It's also how Melkor suborned Fëanor in the ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', although his attempts to do this didn't work nearly as well.

* In the ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'' series, it's revealed that this is the key to both [[CompellingVoice charmspeak]] and the full use of the Mist. Sure, with immense effort you can MindControl a monster into not killing you, but it's so much more effective to use charmspeak to pull a BatmanGambit (ie by walking them into a trap, sowing division amongst your already paranoid enemies, etc). A sufficiently powerful manipulator of the Mist is essentially a full-scale RealityWarper by making illusions come to life, but the trick is to make people see what they want to see, and then imposing your will to make it so.

** Princess Luna's fall to Nightmare Moon is an odd case. Originally according to WordOfGod this was played straight during Luna's fall and the creation of Nightmare Moon, though after ''Creator/{{Lauren Faust}}'s'' departure there has been absolutely no InUniverse mention of any corrupting entity, instead turning Luna into TheAtoner who fell purely due to her own jealousy. The [[ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW the IDW comic series]] has gone the other direction and had an issue focusing on exactly who was doing the mind control.

* In ''{{Webcomic/Erfworld}}'', Wanda Firebaugh -- the [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience color-coded]] EvilOverlord's [[TheDragon Croakamancer]] -- uses a suggestion spell and torture (with definite [[LesYay lesbian]] BDSM overtones) to manipulate Jillian Zamussels, an enemy mercenary leader. [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0045.html It is, indeed, complex.]]

* In ''Literature/{{Ward}}'', sequel to the above, a supervillain named Goddess can inflict this on almost any parahuman who sees her... or even sees an ''image'' of her (she can do it through camera feeds, at least). They still mostly have free will, but their thought processes are automatically directed to see Goddess as a wise, intelligent person they should obey without question because that's what's best for everyone. The only real drawback seems to be that it explicitly has no effect on non-superpowered people. [[spoiler:If this ability sounds overpowered, it is: in the past, she took over an entire ''planet'' (Earth Shin) with this power, and was ruling as supreme overlord of all of Earth before Khepri showed up to "recruit" her for the battle with Scion.]]

* ''Series/BabylonFive'': [[spoiler:Garibaldi]] was the victim of this in Season 4. [=PsiCop=] Alfred Bester used telepathic brainwashing and post-hypnotic suggestions, but he also played on his victim's deep-seated prejudices and paranoia -- manipulating him to do what Bester wanted of his own "free" will. In fact, the change in this character is so gradual and believable that Bester's involvement almost seems unnecessary. (The other characters, as distressed as they are, never suspect an outside influence on their friend.)
** A flashback reveals exactly what Bester had in mind too. A subordinate suggested a complete mind wipe and a new personality be inserted. Bester refused, saying that [[spoiler:Garibaldi]] had all the right personality characteristics already in place: natural suspicion, paranoia, distrust of authority figures, etc. Bester decided that these qualities simply needed to be exaggerated for the plan to work (and it did).
** Bester also mentions this in [[spoiler:his post-victory gloating]], saying that having [[spoiler:Garibaldi]] turn against the protagonists was an unexpected bonus; he only wanted to turn [[spoiler:Garibaldi]] into an unaware [[TheMole mole]] that could infiltrate the [[FantasticRacism anti-telepath]] conspiracy.
** This method is also unsuccessfully applied to [[spoiler:Sheridan]], and the interrogator even {{Lampshade|Hanging}}s it by saying that "We don't want cooperation. We want conversion. We want repentance," to make the public confession speech more believable to the general public and more demoralizing to the co-conspirators, not to mention telepath-proof.

** The First Evil. It can't physically 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.
** Mayor Wilkins deserves a mention here too. Faith's FaceHeelTurn is voluntary, but the Mayor cements it by playing on her cynicism, self-loathing, jealousy of Buffy, and yearning for a caring [[ParentalSubstitute parental figure]]. Of course, as time goes on it becomes clear that [[PapaWolf he really]] ''[[PapaWolf does]]'' [[PapaWolf care about her]], making this even more complex.

** Upon being turned, a vampire's personality often draws upon their former self's darker impulses and things they wouldn't normally say or do. When confronted over being Spike's SenseiForScoundrels in "Destiny," Angel retorts he didn't make Spike a monster; he just opened the door and let the "real him" out. Also, upon being sired, Spike's mother's taunts about his [[MommasBoy attachment to her]] were in fact something she feared as a human, but wasn't cruel enough to actually say to him beforehand.
* The A-Squad Rangers from ''Series/PowerRangersSPD'', who wanted to be on "the winning team".
* Jannu, the LadyOfWar of the bad guys in ''Series/BakuryuuSentaiAbaranger''. [[spoiler:She suffers this fate when, as Mahoro, she gets captured by the invading alien forces and has her spirit broken by an illusion of her lover abandoning her to die. The trauma leaves her vulnerable to infection by the parasitic BigBad, who pieces her back together as a willing servant driven by revenge on the one who "betrayed" her]].
* In ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'', Dahak, the show's god-slaying SealedEvilInACan, spends an unknown, but very large, amount of time trying to convince Iolaus to willingly join forces with him against the JerkassGods after Iolaus's spirit accidentally became trapped in the can too. Iolaus eventually agrees, and becomes Dahak's new body on Earth - at which point, of course, Iolaus's soul is instantly relegated to a dark, dungeon-like corner somewhere within Dahak's mind.
* In the ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' adaptation ''Series/LegendOfTheSeeker'', [[BigBad Darken Rahl]] does this to the hero's sister after she gets amnesia, rewriting her memory from scratch with him as the compassionate hero and her brother as evil. Eventually she recovers from her amnesia enough that she sees through the manipulation, but the bad guy almost wins in that episode because this trope is used so effectively, and it makes for one of the better episodes.
** In the book, Rahl did it to children in order to gain perfectly loyal followers who can literally take him to Hell and back (after he kills them).
** There's also the fact that he didn't lie that much. Most of it was half-truth, like the fact that [[spoiler:his father Panis Rahl slept with Richard's mother and produced two children. Technically, he said "rape", and many people would agree that disguising yourself as someone else to trick a person to have sex is a form of rape]].
* On ''Series/{{Lost}}'', this is Ben's preferred method of manipulation. Ironically, [[spoiler:the same method is used successfully against him by Fake Locke, aka Jacob's nemesis, throughout season five.]]
* In ''Series/StargateSG1'', in the episode "Reckoning Part One", Replicator Sam appears to Daniel as Oma Desala to make the process of mining his subconscious easier for her. She convinces him, using the disguise, that he has the information he wants in his subconscious, and he unwittingly opens it for her.
** Subverted when Daniel figures it out and starts to collect information from the replicator without her knowing it.

* This is the modus operandi of the demons in the Spanish series ''Angel o Demonio''.
* ''Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon'': Sailor Mercury is kidnapped and is thought to be brainwashed when she turns into Dark Mercury, but this is subverted when it turns out she remembers her friendship with the Sailor Senshi and the sadness and resentment she feels due to her friends seemingly discarding her makes her resistant to the Silver Crystal's purifying power.

** The Master as played by John Simms and his 'wife' Lucy Saxon. Although her role is a CallBack to his WeakWilled pawns of TheSeventies, rather than just look into her eyes and say "[[CatchPhrase I am the Master and you will obey me!]]" this incarnation uses a combination of EvilIsSexy, BreakTheCutie (showing Lucy the [[NietzscheWannabe end of the universe]]), and PetTheDog ("He was so kind to my father.")
** For that matter, the Doctor himself. His best weapon isn't his sonic screwdriver or the TARDIS, or whatever nifty device he whipped up, or even his tremendous body of knowledge and doctorates in everything from medicine to basket weaving. It's his ability to manipulate and twist everyone around him into... being greater than they were. Into being smarter, braver, better than they ever believed they could be. The Silence condemns him as "The Man Who Reasons" and "The Man Who Lies," rather than "The Man Who Rides In A Police Box." His companions have a marked tendency to TookALevelInBadass over time. The Eleventh Doctor's companions include Amy Pond, who starts out as a sweet little girl and ends up [[spoiler: becoming accustomed to literally ROUTINELY overcoming mental trauma and overwritten memories]]; Rory eventually proceeds from being a male nurse to earning a title that says it all: [[spoiler: The Last Centurion]]. Davros at one point called out The Doctor on his tendency to make other people into weapons this way, [[NotSoDifferentRemark claiming that it's no different from Davros creating the Daleks.]]
--->'''Doctor''': It's not like I'm an innocent. I've taken lives. Then I got worse, I got ''clever'': manipulated people into taking their own.

** Lucifer has used this to successfully gain control of Nick and attempted (but ultimately failed) to recruit Castiel. [[spoiler: [[GodzillaThreshold Initially]].]]
---> '''Lucifer''': This is your choice...You people misunderstand me. You call me "Satan" and "devil", but... Do you know my crime? I loved God too much. And for that, he betrayed me — punished me. Just as he's punished you. After all, how could God stand idly by while that man broke into your home and butchered your family in their beds? There are only two rational answers, Nick — either he's sadistic, or he simply doesn't care. You're angry. You have every right to be angry. I am angry, too. That's why I want to find him — hold him accountable for his actions. Just because he created us doesn't mean he can toy with us, like playthings.
---> '''Nick''': If I help you...can you bring back my family?
---> '''Lucifer''': I'm sorry. I can't. But I can give you the next best thing. God did this to you, Nick. And I can give you justice. Peace.
---> (to Castiel) "Castiel. I don't understand why you're fighting me, of all the angels...I rebelled, I was cast out. You rebelled, you were cast out. Almost all of heaven wants to see me dead, and if they succeed, guess what? You're their new Public Enemy Number One. We're on the same side, like it or not, so why not just serve your own best interests? Which in this case just happen to be mine?"
** What Crowley did for two years to Dean, subtly isolating him from his brother and best friend, making sure he's indispensable w/r/t fighting Abbadon, pointing out the many betrayals of the people closest to him and how Dean keeps helping/loving them despite it and making sure Dean's always in situations where he has to rescue Crowley.
--->'''Demon''': You were right, he warned me not to get involved.
--->'''Crowley''': I told you. I'm his best friend. And now he's ready.
** [[spoiler: It comes to a head in Season 9 when Dean [[DeathIsTheOnlyOption suicides by battle rather than become a remorseless killing machine.]] Crowley shows with the one thing that will bring Dean back and when he does, unbeknownst to Sam and Castiel, Dean goes with him, willingly.]]
* Bonnie in ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'', her prejudice toward vampires made it that much easier for [[spoiler:Esther to sleepwalk her into feeding Alaric to complete his transformation into a vampire meant to destroy all vampires.]]
* In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', the Female Changeling does this to Odo during the Dominion occupation of [=DS9=]. She plays on his feelings of isolation and her position as a much older and mature member of Changeling society to convince him to link[[note]]physically merge in liquid form[[/note]] over Kira's objections. Through the link, she's able to convince him that solids are just not worth his time, destroying the resistance's plans and getting Rom shortlisted for execution. Odo only breaks free when the Female Changeling unwisely says that she wants to kill ''Kira'' for distracting Odo from his people.
* In ''Series/{{Grimm}}'', the [[FaunsAndSatyrs Ziegevolker]] are goat-like [[OurMonstersAreDifferent Wesen]] who have the ability to emit powerful pheromones that get people to do whatever they want. The pheromones can be temporarily boosted by consuming certain rare toads. One episode involves a famous defense attorney who turns out to be a Ziegevolk eating an extremely-potent toad to get witnesses to revise their testimonies (the lawyer actually gets them to remember events differently) and sway the jury. Luckily, Rosalee is able to device a potion that reverses the effects of the toads, causing the lawyer to repel anyone he uses his powers against, just before the closing arguments, meaning he instantly turns the jury against him.
* In ''Series/{{Gotham}}'', this is how [[spoiler: a therapist hypnotizes people into becoming the "Spirit of the Goat", a murderer that murders rich and powerful people as according to her EVERYBODY already wants to destroy the rich, she just gives them the push they need.]]
* ''Series/{{Lucifer}}'':
** Lucifer doesn't control humans; he simply has the power to get them to reveal the truth to his questions, usually in response to him asking what is their deepest desires, good or evil. Once they've admitted what they are, especially to themselves, some make the choice to actively pursue that desire.
** When a human holds Azrael's Blade, they are driven inexorably to kill people that the holder thinks has wronged them, however trivially. The initial murder is over a ''parking space''. [[spoiler: Dan is nearly driven to kill Lucifer, not for all the verbal abuse he piles on or even the latter's romantic and sexual interest in his ex-wife and mother of his child (he thinks he deserves the ridicule on some level and blames himself for the state of his family), but for eating the pudding that Dan had in the station refrigerator. "It. Was. ''Labelled!''" Dan's remarkable restraint and resistance to the effect actually impress Lucifer quite a bit, he didn't think ANY mortal could actually hold back the way Dan did under it's influence]]
* ''Series/{{Arrow}}''. In Season 4 many inhabitants of HIVE's Ark aren't under mind-control, despite Damien Darhk having that capability via a yellow pill that his followers take willingly. They're simply people who have nothing in their old lives and therefore no loyalty to keeping things as they are when they're promised the possibility of a fresh start.
* The serial killer "Mister Scratch" on ''Series/CriminalMinds'' uses drugs to cause victims to believe assorted scenarios he comes up which then causes them to be the actual killers. He later gets a list of people suffering Dissociative Identity Disorder and uses the same method to convince them they are someone else in order to carry out whatever his plan is.
* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In "Stranded", the neuromuscular enhancer that Tyr'Nar, a telepathic shapeshifter, gives Kevin Buchanan has a mental component as well as giving Kevin SuperStrength. It makes Kevin more susceptible to Tyr'Nar's attempts to manipulate him. After Kevin gets into a fight with his bully Nelson Tyler who is badly hurt in the process, he feels very guilty about it until Tyr'Nar convinces him that Nelson got what he deserved. Immediately afterwards, Kevin tells his father Alex as much when he confronts him about Nelson's condition. [[spoiler: Later still, Tyr'Nar emerges victorious after his fight with Alex, whose form he assumes. He tells Kevin to keep wearing the enhancer as it will make him stronger but the true reason is that he will make it easier for Tyr'Nar to manipulate him further. It is implied that Kevin is aware that Alex has been replaced by Tyr'Nar.]]
* On ''Series/The100'', the Primes don't strictly ''need'' any manipulation [[BodySnatcher to take over someone's body]], just a medical procedure to insert their BodyBackupDrive. However, Sanctum's laws require that someone must give their consent before their body can be taken, so the Primes turned Sanctum into a cult, where they are worshipped, and all suitable hosts [[RaisedAsAHost are raised to think giving their bodies to the Primes is a great honor]].
* ''Series/{{Treadstone}}''. In 1973 the KGB is trying to forcibly brainwash captured CIA agent John Bentley with little success until Petra Andropov adds sympathy and seduction to break down his defences. This starts a rather unhealthy relationship between them where it's never quite clear who is manipulating who. In the present day, the brainwashing programs developed from these crude early attempts are conducted on willing volunteers and use subliminal programming for better results.

* ''Theatre/LittleShopOfHorrors''. Like Faust, he sells his soul, but gradually. Best evidenced in the song "Feed Me" with an elaborate hard sell. This is an improvement over [[Film/TheLittleShopOfHorrors the original b-movie]], which just used flat-out mind control.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'': In "All Chalked Up", a disguised HIM gives Bubbles magic chalk that allows her drawings to come to life. He manipulates her by reminding her of when Buttercup smashed her old chalk not too long ago and encouraging her to let her anger out by drawing giant monsters, which then come to life and go on a rampage.

* ''Literature/TheTrialsOfApollo'': [[spoiler: Meg]] goes through this because of their AbusiveParent [[spoiler: '''Nero,''' aka the person most likely to be the antichrist referred to in the Bible]] It's actually quite terrifying given how real the abuse feels like.
* Middle-Earth:
** This was one of [[TheStarscream Saruman's]] major skills in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' (book version only). Doesn't work so well with diverse groups, especially when he starts to lose his cool - though he does talk Treebeard into letting him go.
** Gríma was basically running Rohan by doing this to Théoden. There is some magic involved here, presumably provided by Saruman.
** This was also how Sauron brought down Númenor in the "Akallabêth". He intentionally let himself be taken prisoner, by [[MagnificentBastard Ar-Pharazon]] and then used the King's distrust of the elves and desire for immortality to corrupt him. It's also how Melkor suborned Fëanor in the ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', although his attempts to do this didn't work nearly as well.
** It's also how the [[ArtifactOfDoom One Ring]] is able to corrupt people (combined with a dose of JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope).
** In fact, this is the preferred technique of Tolkien villains. Tolkien believed that this was one of the strongest weapons that real life villainy wields. It's also why he thought that Sauron was a far more terrifying villain than Morgoth, despite Morgoth being an OmnicidalManiac who was literally undefeatable except by the gods themselves. Sauron may have been far weaker, but his power lay in manipulating the pride and evil in men's hearts.
* Used in ''Literature/TheSilverChair'', one of ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'', by [[TheVamp the Lady of the Green Kirtle]], on the four main characters. They're saved by TheEeyore, who notes that, even if what she's saying is true and Narnia really is just a happy fantasy world, he prefers it to the awful truth, at which point the other characters realize that if this dreary underground really ''was'' the only world they'd ever known, their imaginations would be stunted and they'd never have been able to invent Narnia. The smell of burning marshwiggle didn't hurt either.
** In ''The Magician's Nephew'', the Witch's attempt to tempt Digory initially works, when she talks about how disobeying [[BigGood Aslan]] might save Digory's terminally ill mother. Then she overreaches, saying that Digory could even leave Polly stranded in Narnia. Since that is '''not''' something he wants to do on any level, he gets angry and realizes that the Witch is just trying to use him for her own purposes.
* In ''[[Literature/{{Deryni}} High Deryni]]'', Wencit of Torenth uses a variety of tactics against Sean Lord Derry in his effort to [[BrainwashedAndCrazy establish control over Derry's mind]]. At one point, he has his minion Rhydoon of Eastmarch summon a tentacled monster called a caradot to menace Derry, who is then tied to a chair. Wencit himself puts a dagger to Derry's throat, and when that elicits no reaction, he begins cutting the leather thongs of Derry's jerkin:
--> "Do you know, Derry," ''cut'' "I've often wondered what it is about Alaric Morgan which inspires such loyalty in his followers," ''cut'' "Or Kelson and those rather strange Haldane powers of his," ''cut''. "Not too many men would sit here as you do," ''cut'' "refusing to talk, though they know what unpleasantness awaits them," ''cut "and still remain loyal to a leader who is far away and can never hope to help them out of this, even if he knew."
* ''Literature/{{Hannibal}}''. Ooohboy. [[spoiler: Hannibal kidnaps, drugs and hypnotizes a disillusioned Clarice and acts as her therapist. Clarice undergoes a major FaceHeelTurn, and when the drugs wear off, Clarice seduces ''him''.]]
* Used in ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}''. There are voluntary Controllers, people who willingly let a Yeerk infest them. Many of them are simply so alone, so desperate to be part of ''something'', that they're willing to give up their free will. The Sharing's main purpose is to find these sort of people and indoctrinate them.
* In ''The Amtrak Wars: Death Bringer'' the protagonists, posing as spirits and using fake 'magic' illusions, fool the sister of the Shogun of the Iron Masters into thinking her brother framed and executed the man she loved.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'':
** Molly Carpenter's issue. A wizard with a talent for mental magic and illusion, she first came to the attention of Harry Dresden and The White Council because she tried to make her best friend and her boyfriend (who was also the father of the best friend's unborn child) stop using heroin. Problem: this involved [[MindRape invading their minds]] and then [[MoreThanMindControl forcing them to feel fear every time they thought of using]]. In Dresdenverse terms, meant that she was taking their free will away from them...making it, despite her good intentions, BlackMagic. Which, ironically, is [[TheDarkSide highly, HIGHLY addictive]]. [[spoiler:Molly's well-intentioned spell drove her boyfriend insane due to her anger over him affecting the spell -- he was so badly damaged by it that he ended up suffering from a form of paranoid schizophrenia... permanently. As of ''Literature/GhostStory'', she is still manipulating people with exceedingly subtle mind control]]
** Attempted by [[FallenAngel Lash]] who tries to make Harry do a DealWithTheDevil. [[spoiler:It backfires, he successfully resists her out of ''sheer spite and stubbornness'' once his friends help him realize that he was talking to a mental illusion. Lash continues to exert what influence she can on Harry for years, not realizing that ''Harry'' is also exerting influence on ''her'', to the extent that [[HeelFaceTurn eventually she starts helping him]], finally sacrificing herself to save his life.]]
** Used by TheMole [[spoiler: in the White Council, Peabody]], with the assistance of some magical drugs to make them more susceptible to his control. He subtly influenced [[spoiler:the Council's behavior]] to make them more aggressive [[spoiler:and to perpetuate the war with the vampiric Red Court,]] all toward unknown ends [[spoiler:on behalf of the Black Council.]]

* In Peter F. Hamilton's ''Literature/VoidTrilogy'', the noble houses of Makkathran use their telepathic abilities to subtly change the thoughts of others. Primarily used by [[spoiler:Ranalee]] on both [[spoiler:Edeard and later Salrana. He detects her influence and breaks it while Salrana remains influenced by it, ultimately betraying him as far as she knows of her own free will]]
* In ''Literature/TheVampireFiles'', Jack's mind-control power works better and lasts longer if he words his orders so that they seem to mesh with a subject's own motives and desires.
* In ''Literature/{{Everworld}},'' [[TokenEvilTeammate Senna]] uses her powers to control [[TheHero David]]. Even after [[LadyOfWar Athena]] forces her to stop, however, [[TheChick April]] notes that David is still in love with (or at least obsessed with) her, and Senna is [[TheChessmaster more than nasty enough]] to use this to her advantage. Ultimately [[spoiler:it doesn't work, though]].
** She also uses mind control to make Christopher drink some wine with her blood in it, even though he knows witch blood may well kill him. Senna notes that she can't force him to do something he doesn't ''want'' to do, but she can take a desire he already has and increase it. Given that he's a borderline alcoholic and, like David, retains a certain level of attraction/obsession with her...
* ''Literature/TheFableOfTheDragonTyrant'': This fable satirizes and mocks the idea that death gives life meaning as this trope. The kingdom wholeheartedly believes that the dragon is inevitable and virtuous, reflecting that most people in the real world have this mentality towards aging and death. The fable deems this mindset archaic and dangerous in the modern world, with genetic engineering to cure aging now on the table.

* This is what Susan Mortlake does to Scott in ''Literature/ThePowerOfFive'' novel ''Nightrise'', to get him to take part in an assasination.
* Mentioned in passing in ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' novel ''Breaking Dawn''. Chelsea, a member of the Volturi, has a special ability where she can mess with people's emotional attatchments, both keeping the rest of the Volturi loyal to Aro and using it to help them win more easily against enemies by dividing them.
* The [[SoulJar 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.
** Voldemort acquired some of his followers the same way before spending a few years being OnlyMostlyDead: Snape ended up signing on for them thanks to having his bitterness over being Lily's UnluckyChildhoodFriend weaponised against him, and it's not outright confirmed in the text but many fans believe Peter Pettigrew had something similar done to him due to him perceiving himself (maybe correctly, maybe not) as TheFriendNobodyLikes.
* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'': Lanfear's [[{{Brainwashing}} Compulsion]] is not strong enough to make people do anything, so in order to make Perrin help her [[spoiler: kill Moiraine and Nynaeve to prevent Rand from sealing away the Dark One]] she has to convince him that [[spoiler: he hates Moiraine. Lanfear fails anyway.]]
* In ''Literature/{{Elvenborn}}'', this is Aelmarkin's favorite pasttime. He picks his favorite concubine, deliberately picked to be easily duped and manipulated, and tricks them into believing that he is eternally kind, loving, and right... and then uses that belief to deliberately destroy their self-esteem and mental faculties, until they're anorexic-bulimics starving and purging themselves in a desperate attempt to be 'beautiful' even as he pretends to be concerned for their well-being and asking them to eat more. If he's feeling particularly generous, when they're near death he'll memory-wipe them and have them retrained as normal concubines again.

* In the ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'' series, it's revealed that this is the key to both [[CompellingVoice charmspeak]] and the full use of the Mist. Sure, with immense effort you can MindControl a monster into not killing you, but it's so much more effective to use charmspeak to pull a BatmanGambit (ie by walking them into a trap, sowing division amongst your already paranoid enemies, etc). A sufficiently powerful manipulator of the Mist is essentially a full-scale RealityWarper by making illusions come to life, but the trick is to make people see what they want to see, and then imposing your will to make it so.
* The BigBad in ''[[Literature/{{Genome}} Dances on the Snow]]'' takes over whole planets by putting everybody to sleep for a few days and making them relive a lifetime of loyal servitude to the BigBad's regime. When they wake, they have a hard time believing that they have ever been loyal to TheEmpire.
* In ''Literature/ThoseThatWake'', Man in Suit's influence amplifies the already existing hopelessness in people's hearts; this is why it's so hard to fight him. [[spoiler:Brath]] falls victim to this.
* ''Literature/GoodOmens'': [[NobleDemon Crowley]] uses this as part of his way of getting more souls to Hell. He doesn't lead people into ''evil'', he leads them into ''temptation'' by looking into their soul and giving them what they really, truly want. Is it really ''his'' fault [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters people want such horrible things so often]]?
* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': Prince Lunas Latrot proves the adage "the best ordercrafters don't need ordercraft". He can use charisma and personal insight to control others just as well. Once he's in, the ordercraft merely enhances and reinforces the control.
* ''Literature/TheTraitorSonCycle'': the BigBad manipulates Thorn by subtly changing his personality and planting new ideas in his mind so that eventually, Thorn does his bidding with no input from the BigBad's.
* ''Literature/TheCavesOfSteel'': During his investigation of a murder, Detective Elijah Baley at one point has a partner of the victim discuss a project the victim was working on: encouraging Earth humanity to begin colonizing other worlds again. Elijah continues to muse about both the colonization project and the intrinsic weaknesses of the MegaCity [[CityPlanet Planet]] Earth has become throughout the rest of the book. [[spoiler: Elijah's partner. R(obot) Daneel Olivaw, eventually reveals that the murder victim's partner had surreptitiously given him a dose of a drug that was intended to brainwash him into a fanatical supporter of the project. The drug failed to work because of Elijah's skeptical nature, but it did encourage him to think about the argument enough to become a willing supporter by the end of the novel.]]

* In ''Literature/TheMachineriesOfEmpire'', the Kel formation instinct (which enforces their obedience of the chain of command) is part straight-up brainwashing, but also part arduous training, part propaganda and part the Kel's own desire to belong.
* ''Literature/TheSisterVerseAndTheTalonsOfRuin'' has this as one of its primary themes. The goal of the villain is to slowly corrupt the protagonist, and it does this by making him think that his actions are solely products of his own decision making.
* In ''Literature/{{Renegades}}'', the Renegade Wonder has the ability to make the others notice the beauty of their surroundings, which can cause some of them to hesitate or calm down, although he cannot dictate how they'll respond to it.
* ''Literature/{{Curtain}}'' has a serial killer known only as X before their identity is revealed. X has never actually killed anyone themselves- instead, they're a master of manipulation, preying on the fears of others and driving them into a state where they decide to kill, but are completely unaware that they're being manipulated to do so.

** A flashback reveals exactly what Bester had in mind too. A subordinate suggested a complete mind wipe and a new personality be inserted. Bester refused, saying that [[spoiler:Garibaldi]] had all the right personality characteristics already in place: natural suspicion, paranoia, distrust of authority figures, etc. Bester decided that these qualities simply needed to be turned UpToEleven for the plan to work (and it did).

* Hypnotism only works if the planned subject is ''willing'' to go along with being hypnotised, and even when under hypnosis, the subject will only go along with the hypnotist's suggestions if they ''want'' to do whatever the hypnotist tries to "make" them do. That said, when in a trance, the subject does become generally more susceptible to suggestions, and if the hypnotist can somehow frame a suggestion in the right context, it is easier to trick the subject into doing or go along with something they wouldn't normally do, because if they were in their right mind they will consider it an immoral, socially unacceptable, or humiliating action and refuse to carry it out.

* Hypnotism only works if the planned subject is ''willing'' to go along with being hypnotised, and even when under hypnosis, the subject will only go along with the hypnotist's suggestions if they ''want'' to do whatever the hypnotist tries to "make" them do. That said, when in a trance, the subject does become generally more susceptible to suggestions, and if the hypnotist can somehow frame a suggestion in the right context, it is easier to trick the subject into doing or go along something they wouldn't normally do, because if they were in their right mind they will consider it an immoral, socially unacceptable, or humiliating action and refuse to carry it out.

* Hypnotism only works if the planned subject is ''willing'' to go along with being hypnotised, and even when under hypnosis, the subject will only go along with the hypnotist's suggestions if they ''want'' to do whatever the hypnotist tries to "make" them do. That said, when in a trance, the subject does become generally more susceptible to suggestions, and if the hypnotist can somehow frame a suggestion in the right context, it is easier to trick the subject into doing something they wouldn't normally do, because if they were in their right mind they will consider it an immoral, socially unacceptable, or humiliating action and refuse to carry it out.

* Hypnotism only works if the planned subject is ''willing'' to go along with being hypnotised, and even when under hypnosis, the subject will only go along with the hypnotist's suggestions if they ''want'' to do whatever the hypnotist tries to "make" them do. That said, when in a trance, the subject does become generally more susceptible to suggestions, and if the hypnotist can somehow frame a suggestion in the right context, it is easier to trick the subject into doing something they wouldn't normally do.

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

* 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:how 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.]]

* In the ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'' series, it's revealed that this is the key to both [[CompellingVoice charmspeak]] and the full use of the Mist. Sure, with immense effort you can MindControl a monster into not killing you, but it's so much more effective to use charmspeak to pull a BatmanGambit (ie by walking them into a trap, sewing division amongst your already paranoid enemies, etc). A sufficiently powerful manipulator of the Mist is essentially a full-scale RealityWarper by making illusions come to life, but the trick is to make people see what they want to see, and then imposing your will to make it so.

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

* ''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/TheSandman'' ''A Game of You'': The antagonist of this series, "The Cuckoo", accomplishes its goals by magically convincing people to destroy themselves for the Cuckoo's sake. Affected characters completely forget their previous goals and self-interest.

** Havok, after being brainwashed by the [[EvilTwin Dark Beast]], notes that it's not so easy to break free... because "first you have to want to."
** Mastermind does this to what he believes to be [[Characters/MarvelComicsJeanGrey Jean Grey]] in ''Comicbook/TheDarkPhoenixSaga''. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to him, [[BullyingADragon Jean and the Phoenix are NOT the same]].

* [[Characters/MarvelComicsLoki Loki]] subtly influences [[Characters/MarvelComicsNormanOsborn Norman Osborn's]] mind all throughout ''ComicBook/DarkReign''. Osborn's mental state was never too stable, but Loki makes him believe that the Goblin personality is talking to him and makes him doubt his own mind. Then, taking it up yet another notch, Osborn earns the enmity of [[Characters/MarvelComicsXMan X-Man]], whose GambitRoulette involves 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 interact. Loki even creates another [[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers]] team to compete with Norman's and manipulates him to storm Asgard. By then, [[SanitySlippage Norman has had enough]], and by the end of Siege he experiences a complete [[VillainousBreakdown mental breakdown]].

* In the ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' storyline ''Superman: King of the World'', the BigBad Dominus is able to turn Superman into an authoritarian ruler by playing on Superman's fears and insecurities.