Assimilation Plot: Difference between revisions

* The anime series ''[[Kaiba]]'' has a giant plant monster that consumes memories and [[Planet Eater|planets]] that contain them. When the threat comes towards a planet the main characters are on, Popo, {{spoiler|who just usurped the king}}, wants the world to be eaten to unify all people and their memories. {{spoiler|One of the Warp copies}} seems to agree with this idea.

* In ''[[Macross Frontier]]'', [[Big Bad]] {{spoiler|Grace O'Connor}}'s [[Evilutionary Biologist]] plan is to use her cybernetic implant based brain network and the FTL-communications of the Vajra's fold quartz to link everyone in the entire galaxy into a single group mind. Unlike the trope, however, the heroes discover that the network will have an "admin" position which will effectively put one person's desires over everyone else hooked into it, {{spoiler|and that this is how Grace has already co-opted the Macross Galaxy fleet into her private army.}} The final episode even has what may be a [[Shout-Out]] to Evangelion in this memorable exchange:

'''Alto:''' It's because we ''are'' alone... that we can ''love someone''! }}

* ''[[Noein]]:'' {{spoiler|Noein's ultimate plan is to end all the suffering everywhere by collapsing every ''reality'' into Shangri'la. It's implied that his allies only ''think'' they'll survive this. Actually, that was only phase one! He planned on destroying Shangri'la after that. Nirvana aka the death that has no rebirth after it! It is more of an Annihilation Plot!}}

* A relatively mild version of such a system is the central focus of Komi Naoshi's oneshot manga, [http://www.onemanga.com/Personant/ Personant].

* The Military leaders in [[Fullmetal Alchemist]] seem to think along these lines. It even ''sounds'' like [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|EVA]] (SEELE, anyone?):

* This seems to be the goal of the weakness-hating, [[Death Note|Kira-esque genius]] [[Villain Protagonist]] of ''Lost+ Brain'', who has {{spoiler|caught practically all of Japan using hypnotic TV shows in addition to the students he has under his control. What he actually does is erase their memories, although they could also be under his control too}}.

* Zonder metal in ''King of Braves [[GaoGaiGar]]'' was initially developed as a method of stress relief and a means to remove negative emotions, but it quickly went haywire and turned people into seemingly emotionless beings bent on assimilating the whole universe in a quest to remove negative emotions, which is explained to have been extended to such emotions such as joy, courage and compassion. Not surprisingly, the Zonders, Zonderians and the closely related Primevals are the main villains of the show.

* This is the ELS's main tactic in ''[[Gundam 00: Awakening of the Trailblazer|Gundam 00 a Wakening of The Trailblazer]]''. If enough ELS gather together, they can assimilate space cruisers (or even, it's implied, entire planets). {{spoiler|It is not until the end of the movie that humanity realizes that the ELS didn't mean anything malicious by this. They just didn't know how to communicate except by absorbing other things into their [[Hive Mind]] (generally killing the unlucky human being assimilated), which humanity understandably took as a hostile action. Once the ELS realize that they're being perceived as hostile due to this, they immediately stop.}}

* In the ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' movie, Paint It White, this is the goal of the [[Ditto Aliens|Pict.]]

* This appears to be the eventual goal of {{spoiler|the Claw man}} in ''[[Gun X Sword]]''.

 

== Television ==

* Cybermen in ''[[Doctor Who]]''.

** In "The End Of Time", {{spoiler|The Master's plan ends up being a fusion of this and [[Me's a Crowd]]. Agent Smith, eat your heart out!}}

* While primarily selfish scavengers of biology and technology, the Borg show hints of this in ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'':

'''Locutus''': A narrow vision. You will become one with the Borg. You will... ''all''... become one with the Borg. }}

** Then there's a strong argument that [[The Federation]] is one in action, with a plan to join all in one Utopian government. This is a problem for the Maquis, who choose to leave the Federation. In ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Deep Space Nine]]'', one of their leaders actually compares the Federation to the Borg, who at least let people ''know'' they're going to be assimilated.

**** Specifically, humans were getting augmented with robotic parts, to enhance heir capabilities, and Reploids started getting programmed with lifespans, which could not be exceeded, so they would die too, with the end result being no practical difference between the two.

* ''[[System Shock]] 2'':

'''The Many''': The Machine Mother... told us of the planet of her birth. We know how you have harmed this place... with your pollution, your violence, and your discord. But when we arrive there, we will cleanse the surface of that place, and merge it... with the harmony... of the Many. }}

* In ''[[Xenogears]]'', [[Big Bad|Krelian]] wants to bring about an assimilation to salve his heart of the pain of losing [[The Messiah|Sophia]]. He does this by literally getting most of the world's population to mutate and [[Grey Goo|become part of the flesh of a giant, organic weapon called Deus]].

** The Geth are a machine race where sapience is achieved by the cooperation and consensus of a multitude of lesser non-sapient programs and sub-routines. Their ultimate goal is {{spoiler|to create a single repository for all of their programs in order to form a single, unified entity}}. Unique in that no member of their race opposes this goal - an 'individual' geth is a piece of software, so they need to be networked to achieve sapience.

** On a grimmer note are {{spoiler|the Reapers, ancient machines that possess thousands of programs in their cores and, as shown by the seqeuel's climax, are created by transforming millions, if not billions, of sapient organics into a liquid metal for use in their construction, apparently fusing some measure of their being into the resulting Reaper.}}

*** Does this all remind you of [[Neon Genesis Evangelion|something]]?

* ''[[Bioshock]] 2'' {{spoiler|has [[Big Bad]] Sofia Lamb attempt a version of this using [[Genetic Memory]] carried through the gene-splicing [[Psycho Serum]] used by everyone in Rapture}}.

* In ''[[Halo]] 3'', Gravemind has a few quotes suggesting that's what the Flood view as their ultimate goal.

* In ''[[Fallout]]'', the Master seeks to create the "Unity": a single race of super mutants, via (mostly) forced assimilation.

* The ultimate plan of [[World of Warcraft|The Burning]] [[Legions of Hell|Legion]] is to [[Omnicidal Maniac|destroy all traces of order in existance]] while recruiting races they come across to their ranks by corrupting and them and turning them into demons as well.

* The Grigori in ''[[Star Ocean: The Last Hope]]'' seek to achieve instrumentality of the entire universe by eradicating all life, and replacing them with souless copies that act under their will.

* The State in Jack L. Chalker's ''[[Well World]]'' series, in an [[Alternate History]] where the [[The Great Politics Mess-Up|Soviet Union never fell]], and [[Dirty Communists|Communism]] became the default human government, tries to make this a reality on many of its more "advanced" planets, engineering humans in [[Designer Babies|Birth Factories]] to be physically flawless but mentally ant-like workers and on some worlds even hermaphrodites, so everyone's equal.

* Effect of DemoPol used by Humans in [[Con Sentiency]] history resembled this, and some still [[Berserk Button|are a bit upset]] when it's considered:

'Given any species which reproduces by genetic mingling such that every individual is a unique specimen, all attempts to impose a decision matrix based on assumed uniform behavior will prove lethal.' }}

* ''Be A Perfect Person in Just Three Days'' extols the necessity of broccoli in pursuit of a very quiet assimilation with lots of vitamins.

* The philosophy of Ingsoc from ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'' claims to be this. Party members, thanks to the [[Big Brother Is Watching]] system and heavy conditioning, are reduced from individuals to just on/off switches through doublethink, accepting both mutually contradictory ideas and agreeing with whatever the vast Party mind wants, even though it completely contradicts with facts and history. The Phlebotinum which the collective uses to bind together its components and fuel itself is simply endless mass war hysteria and pure power, specifically power over other human beings. Freedom is slavery, and if there is a slight deviation of thought within one of the Party members, they are subjected to institutionalized [[Mind Rape]]. Not to mention Ingsoc is also known as the "Obliteration of the Self."