Battle in the Center of the Mind: Difference between revisions

Opposing this force is usually the "host" or person that is being affected. Occasionally, their mind is too weak and addled to oppose the invader, so a friendly telepath or mystic will insert an ally or two to try and rout the bad guy. They will fail. However, the act of them trying and yelling ''"[["I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight|I know you are in there somewhere!]]"'' and going in to save them from the evil presence in their mind is usually enough to get the host to kick their unwanted guest out of their mind if not completely obliterate it when it [[Heroic Resolve|threatens their friends]]. The thing is, no matter how powerful the invader, it can't beat a determined victim's home <s> field</s> brain advantage.

 

 

For those on the outside, it's usually obvious that the character is [[Fighting From the Inside]].

* In the Guy Ritchie film ''[[Revolver]]'' the protagonist Jake Green, who is claustrophobic, battles his [[Mind Screw|ego]] when he gets trapped in an elevator. What follows is a scene that looks straight out of the last episode of ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''

 

{{quote|'''The Guarding Dark:''' "Yes...but you misunderstand. I am not here to keep darkness out. I am here to keep it '''''in'''''."}}

* ''[[The Riftwar Cycle|Magician]]''. Tomas, one of the main characters, finds a suit of cursed armor that fuses him with a godlike being, who wants to repulse the invaders (Tsuranii). Said godlike being was one of a race that created the bloody elves as their personal slaves, to the point that an elf can't disobey any word said in their language, and who are fiercely protective of their world. Now, if Tomas standing in the middle of a storm of pure mental fury from a dragonlord whilst quietly saying, "I am Tomas" isn't an incredibly badass version of this, nothing is.

** That "godlike being" is actually a Dragon Lord, or Valheru as th elves call them. They weren't really godlike, as they all got slaughtered except one<ref>The one whose armor Tomas finds, Ashen-Shugar</ref> when they challenged the Lesser Gods of Midkemia<ref>Midkemia has Lesser and Greater gods. The Lesser Gods were also fighting the Greater Gods during the Chaos Wars, and the Valheru barely made a dent in either side even with the [[Artifact of Doom]] Lifestone boosting their power.</ref> during the Chaos Wars, but they're still far more powerful than any human or elf except the highest levels of magician.

* The ''[[Doctor Who]] [[Virgin New Adventures]]'' novel ''Timewyrm: Revelation'' by [[Paul Cornell]] is largely set inside the Doctor's mind, which is under attack from the Timewyrm. Different parts of the Doctor's mind are looked after by five of the six past Doctors (Sixth isn't there for reasons we learn later), and there's an area where the six "embryonic" personalities of Doctors-to-come wait to be born.

* In Sergei Lukyanenko's ''[[Night Watch (novel)|Night Watch]]'' series, the battle for dominance between Vampires apparently works like this. To an outsider, however, it looks like a glorified staring contest.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* The climax of ''[[Metro 2033 (video game)|Metro 2033]]'' {{spoiler|The protagonist is mentally fighting the Dark Ones, who are trying to stop him from annihilating their home - all while the protagonist on the highest point of Moscow's Ostankino tower as it's crumbling. Failing the fight results in the protagonist falling to his doom from the mental blow.}}

* [[The Very Definitely Final Dungeon]] of ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]: Mask of the Betrayer'' {{spoiler|has you and [[Dream Weaver|Gann]] battling the Spirit-Eater itself for control of your soul}}.

 

== Web Comics ==

* A variation occurs in ''[[Charby the Vampirate]]'' when Tony has to use his Alp powers to enter Zeno's mind and help him fight the spirit possessing him. Turns out that Zeno has pretty much given up the fight already and is of no help, so Tony changes tactics and get the spirit to not only force him out but to enter his mind instead. A big mistake, as it gave Tony a massive homefield advantage.

* Torg from ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' faces one of these during the "[http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/060404 Wayang Kulit]" [[Story Arc]]. In this case he's fighting all of his major past and current [[Love Interests]]. Bit of a subversion, in that killing them only makes things go ''worse'' for him.

* ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'': Haley’s “mental constructs” have a habit of bickering amongst themselves, at least until she makes them all sit down and shut up.

* Happens between Artie and Joel in Concession, but ultimately spills over into the real world. Doubles as a subverted [["I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight]] as unfortunately, that part only works for a little bit.

* Monique from ''[[Sinfest]]'' once [https://web.archive.org/web/20140209174355/http://sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3876 tried to defeat a rhinovirus with(in) her mind].

* ''[[Eerie Cuties]]'' has this going in chapters 17 and 18.

* ''[[Girl Genius]]'', [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20191111 eventually]. And ''then'' "The Other" decides to [[We Can Rule Together|start bargaining]]. And ten we get to see how it looks for everyone else.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Madness Tropes]]

[[Category:Internal Conflict Tropes]]

[[Category:Just for Pun]]

[[Category:Paranormal Tropes]]