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Mind control in popular culture

Mind control has proven a popular subject in fiction, featuring in books and films such as The Manchurian Candidate (1959; film adaptations 1962 and 2004) and The IPCRESS File (1962; film 1965), both stories advancing the premise that controllers could hypnotize a person into murdering on command while retaining no memory of the killing. As a narrative device, mind control serves as a convenient means of introducing changes in the behavior of characters, and is used as a device for raising tension and audience uncertainty in the contexts of the Cold War and terrorism. Mind control has often been an important theme in science fiction and fantasy stories. Terry O'Brien comments: "Mind control is such a powerful image that if hypnotism did not exist, then something similar would have to have been invented: the plot device is too useful for any writer to ignore. The fear of mind control is equally as powerful an image."[1]

Fictional means of mind control[edit]

In many fantasy genres, mind control is often achieved through magical means. For example, in Harry Potter media, the Imperius Curse allows one wizard to control the actions of another. Similarly, in The Lord of the Rings universe, the One Ring has the power to dominate the will of its bearer and those around it.


Another popular trope in science fiction and fantasy is mind control exercised by telepathy. In the Marvel Comics universe, for example, Professor X and Purple Man are among the many characters able to control minds. The Dune series also explores telepathic mind control by those in the Bene Gesserit sisterhood.

In , Broly is mind-controlled by his father Paragus.

Dragon Ball

In , the T'au Empire is mind-controlling its population.

Warhammer 40,000

one of the three Unforgivable Curses in Harry Potter, is a spell used for mind control.

Imperio

In , the titular character is mind-controlled by Raymond Sellars.

RoboCop

In , death-row prisoners are mind-controlled by gamers in Slayers, a first-person shooter.

Gamer

In , Brainiac and Poison Ivy are frequently using mind control, an ability that Darkseid also plans to obtain by seeking the Anti-Life Equation.

DC Comics

In , Vlad Plasmius used mind control to become a billionaire.

Danny Phantom

In , Marik has the Millenium Rod, one of the seven Millenium Items, which provides its owner with the mind control ability. Additionally The Millenium Key owned by Shadi can change a person's personality.

Yu-Gi-Oh!

In the movie series , a device used for memory erasing (known as the Neuralyzer) is used frequently by Agents Kay and Jay.

Men in Black

Doctor Who

In the episode "Dead Things", a trio of misogynistic young men create a "cerebral dampener" which will force any woman to become their "sex slave."

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

In the novel A Clockwork Orange, later adapted into a film by Stanley Kubrick, the "Ludovico Technique" is a form of mind control that causes the subject, in this case the thug anti-hero Alex, to feel sickness and pain whenever he has a violent or anti-social impulse. This backfires because of Alex's association with the music of Ludwig van Beethoven to ultraviolence, an unintended side effect means that he has the same physical reaction to the music alone, which is exploited later by a man whose wife Alex had raped.

Anthony Burgess

In 's 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, a device called a Penfield Mood Organ is used to control mood.[2]

Philip K. Dick

Mind control (telepathic hypnosis) is a prominent psionic gift in the series of films. It is used by the Scanners to escape imprisonment in the first film, and to sometimes control others in the subsequent films.

Scanners

George Orwell's novel features a description of mind control, both directly by torture, and indirectly, in the form of pervasive mind control by the use of Newspeak, a constructed language designed to remove the possibility, Sapir-Whorf-wise of articulating or of even thinking subversive thoughts.

Nineteen Eighty-Four

The is a prominent plot device in the Star Wars saga.

Jedi mind trick

In , a chemical was injected into Morpheus to make him reveal access codes.

The Matrix

In Michael Crichton's novel , the Terminal Man has doctors implant a simple computer into the brainstem of a man who suffers from impulsive violence. The plan is to stimulate certain nerves to ease the violent impulses. Instead, the violence becomes even more irresistible.

The Terminal Man

In the anime, movie and video game series , the main villain, known as M. Bison uses his "Psycho Power" to brainwash and corrupt street fighters across the world into joining his criminal organization known as Shadowloo, turning them into remorseless killing machines fully under his control.

Street Fighter 2

In the comic book series, Professor Xavier, can read and control people's minds. Mind control and other psychic abilities are relatively common mutations in the X-Men universe; other people with this ability include Emma Frost and, to a lesser degree, Jean Grey.

X-Men

is a science fiction book in which people have computer chips implanted in their brain, allowing them to only do what they are 'programmed' to do. These people are referred to as 'Eejits'.

The House of the Scorpion

In the anime series, , the protagonist, Lelouch Lamperouge, gets the ability, Geass, which gives him a form of mind control by allowing him to give someone an absolute order, by looking them in the eye.

Code Geass

In the film , an unsuspecting "everyman" slowly realizes he is an unwitting guinea pig being used in a mind control test. If successful, the test will then expand to behavioral control of an entire population.

Control Factor

In the films, based on the video game series of the same name, the fictional Umbrella Corporation captures and brainwashes the protagonist, Alice (portrayed by Milla Jovovich), as part of their "Program: Alice" experiment.

Resident Evil

In the storyline, a Kanohi mask called Komau allows the user the power to control minds of beings.

Bionicle

In 's Tripods trilogy, the alien Masters control all of humanity via devices called Caps which are permanently affixed to the skull. The Caps received signals broadcast by equipment in the Masters' cities.

John Christopher

In , giant ants used a white gas to control the minds of humans.

Empire of the Ants

In , the Goa'uld had brainwashing technology that is used several times over the show and proves both easy and difficult to defeat depending on what technique is used.

Stargate SG-1

In , using presumably left-over Goa'uld technology, the Lucian Alliance are able to brainwash their enemies into becoming spies for them as they do with Colonel David Telford. This brainwashing is difficult to break as shown with Telford: the characters were forced to evacuate the air in the room he was in, let him die for a short period of time then revive him. Those brainwashed are shown to remember their actions as Telford remembers everything he did.

Stargate Universe

Star Trek: The Next Generation

In the anime, the character Metalner has the ability to brainwash his victims by attracting himself to them.

Monster Rancher

In the South Korean-Japanese Blade of the Phantom Master and the film based on it, the character Chun Hyang (later called Sando) is brainwashed into becoming the bodyguard of a corrupt lord, but she is later freed by the main character Munsu.

manhwa

In the Japanese fantasy series Redo of Healer and the anime based on it, the anti-hero Keyarga uses his powers to brainwash Flare, the corrupt princess of Jioral, into becoming his companion, and later does the same to her younger sister Norn.

light novel

In the film , the main character Helena is brainwashed by the Queen of Shadows into becoming her daughter.

MirrorMask

In the TV show , a group of villainous kids called the Delightful Children from Down the Lane are revealed to be brainwashed Kids Next Door members of Sector Z, having been delightfulized by the villain Father. The effects of their brainwashing is permanent, but can be temporarily undone.

Codename: Kids Next Door

In the anime series , the antagonist Queen Mirage is a Cure who was brainwashed by the series' true main antagonist: Red. Mirage also brainwashes Cure Tender into becoming her servant: Dark Tender. Other characters brainwashed by Red are PhanPhan and Seiji. All four are eventually freed by the main characters. Red later tries to brainwash Cure Lovely, but was foiled at the last second.

HappinessCharge PreCure!

In , an antagonist called the Shadow Phoenix brainwashes the main character Bloom into her dark alter-ego: Dark Bloom.

Winx Club

In , the evil high priest of the Thuggee Mola Ram brainwashes the eponymous archaeologist Dr. Indiana Jones into Dark Indy by dosing him with the Evil Potion.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

In the franchise, the Mind Stone, one of the six Infinity Stones, has the ability to brainwash people.

Marvel

In , Buzz Lightyear is brainwashed into becoming Lotso's henchmen after being switched to demo mode.

Toy Story 3

In the anime the character Miyabi Hotaka is brainwashed by the antagonist K.

Absolute Duo

In the anime , the character Rose is brainwashed by the antagonist Professor Clover using a club-shaped headband.

Mysterious Joker

In the anime , the antagonist Embryo has the ability to brainwash those who wield the Light of Mana. He once used this ability on the main character Ange.

Cross Ange

In the episode "Equinox", Seven's brain is operated on by the unethical doctor to reveal codes she refuses to give.

Star Trek: Voyager

In the season 3 episode "Corporate Raiders from Dimension X", Shredder kidnaps businessmen all across New York City and takes them to the Octopus Inc. headquarters, where he brainwashes them by indoctrination to carry out crimes, and kidnap more businessmen. In the 2012 version, Shredder has created worms that can mind control people by placing them inside victims.[3]

1987 animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV series

In , the antagonist Lorelei has the ability to control men using her voice.

Agents of Shield

In the first season of the original series Jessica Jones, main antagonist Kilgrave—known in comics as Purple Man—has the ability to compel people to obey his orders. He uses this power to force protagonist Jessica into an abusive relationship. Within the series' context, Kilgrave's mind control is an allegory for manipulative and abusive behavior. Jessica's enhanced strength and her resistance to Kilgrave's abilities, on the other hand, embody free will and women's empowerment.

Netflix

In the anime , a fox spirit called Kumara and the character Milim are brainwashed by the antagonist Clayman. The fox spirit was later freed by the protagonist Rimuru while Milim reveals that she was faking her brainwashing.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

In the anime , the antagonist Blood Princess has the ability to brainwash her patients to behave like babies.

Love After World Domination

Several villains have the power of hypnosis; examples include the Mad Hatter, who relies on various technological devices to brainwash individuals, and Poison Ivy, who uses pheromones, plant-based creations, and occasionally supernatural means to take control of others, especially men.

Batman

In , the "Global Child Initiative Programme", led by the Infinity Group with government support, secretly implants schoolchildren with mind control devices through a mandatory dental plan. As a result of the implant, the children develop enhanced physical and cognitive abilities, with the implant "updating" their brains with new knowledge and fluency in foreign languages such as Mandarin and Hindi. The end goal of Infinity Group is to expand the GCIP worldwide and make the mind control complete and permanent, to create and entire generation of obedient and compliant workers. Children who managed to avoid the implantation form a resistance group called the Unlisted, but are actively hunted by Infinity Group.

The Unlisted

In the 2021 film , a woman is abducted, drugged, and taken to a secluded Texas ranch, where young women are tortured and brainwashed into becoming obedient, living sex dolls, that are then sold into the sex trade.

Girl Next

In the 2022 TV series , a medical procedure is applied to employees to separate non-work memories from work memories.

Severance

Entertainment[edit]

Hypnotism has often been used by stage performers to induce volunteers do strange things, such as clucking like a chicken, for the entertainment of audiences. The British psychological illusionist Derren Brown performs more sophisticated mental tricks in his television programmes, Derren Brown: Mind Control.


The late Russian psychic, Wolf Messing, was said to be able to hand somebody a blank piece of paper and make them see money or whatever he wanted them to see.

Hypnosis in popular culture

Mindwipe

Seed, David (2004). . Kent State University Press. ISBN 9780873388139.

Brainwashing: The Fictions of Mind Control : A Study of Novels and Films Since World War II