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{{trope}}
[[File:brainwashed05a_3084.png|link=Trope Tan|frame|I...will...allow...Wiki/TVTropes...to...[[TV Tropes Will Ruin Your Life|destroy...my...life...]]]]
 
{{quote|''"My sole purpose in life is to bring pleasure to my companions!"''|'''Derek Flint''', ''[[Our Man Flint]]''}}
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Often the brainwashing victim will come to his/her senses and resist, necessitating the villain pour on the mind control mojo. Sometimes they will perform the hated task, but weep openly as they do so. This is [[Truth in Television|not far off]], as hypnosis cannot force someone to do something they instrinsically believe wrong. Occasionally even when the character does overcome it they [[Brainwash Residue|don't clean off all symptoms]], and all [[Cartesian Karma|isn't instantly right with the world]] because of it. Can be the cause of a [[Face Monster Turn]].
 
{{examples|Examples}}
 
== Anime & Manga ==
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* ''[[Kekkaishi]]'' has a fair amount of this. There's Byaku, the prosecution office, the Oumi brothers...
* Present in the [[Hentai|ero-OVA series]], ''[[Moonlight Lady]]'': the maid, Sayaka, induces this on herself after she was kidnapped and raped. The trope is subverted in that Sayaka doesn't get flashbacks (or the 'mind-control vision') until she's under ''further'' mind-control from the magic forces around Kuraki Manor). It's also implied that the other maid, Tomomi, went through the same procedure.
* Near the end of ''[[Brigadoon Marin and Melan]]'', Melan is brainwashed into thinking that he must attack Marin. Fortunately, {{spoiler|[[True LovesLove's Kiss]]}} breaks through the brainwashing and reminds him of what she means to him.
* In the second to last episode of ''[[Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water]]'', the title character is brainwashed by [[Big Bad|Gargoyle]] to follow his every order, including shooting Captain Nemo.
* ''[[Digimon Adventure]]'' and ''[[Digimon Adventure 02]]'', first caused by [[Complete Monster|Devimon]], followed by [[Driven to Villainy|The Digimon Emporer]].
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* ''Volunteers'' has John Candy's character get brainwashed in the middle.
** It happened to him in ''Going Berserk'' as well.
* ''[[A Clockwork Orange (Film)|A Clockwork Orange]]'' has the protagonist strapped down and forced to watch violent scenes while a drug that induces nausea is pumped into him to make him feel repulsion for violence. And sex. [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|And ]][[Ludwig Van Beethoven|Beethoven]][[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|'s music]] (because the film included it in the background).
* ''[[J-Men Forever]]'' (1979). The evil Lightning Bug plans to brainwash the Earth people with rock & roll broadcasts, but is successfully countered by schmaltzy music from the Military Underground Sugared Airwaves Command ([[Fun With Acronyms|M.U.S.A.C.]]). So the Bug decides to use hashish instead, and only the combined forces of the J-Men (a team of [[Gag Dub|redubbed]] superheroes from Republic [[Film Serial]] clips) can stop him!
* As indicated by the page quote, one of the crimes that the Galaxy organization commits in the spy-spoof ''[[Our Man Flint]]'' is turning women into brainwashed "Pleasure Units".
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'''Kro-Bar:''' Bring the meteor to Kro-Bar and Lattis.<br />
'''Betty:''' I must make a skeleton meteor using a crowbar covered in lettuce... }}
* When the eponymous character of ''[[Igor]]'' creates a [[FrankensteinsFrankenstein's Monster]] [[Minion With an F In Evil|with an F in Evil]], he takes her to the local Brain Wash. {{spoiler|His creation ends up not getting the right program and instead of becoming an evil monster, she becomes an actress.}}
* Scooby Doo and the Ghoul School: Done by the villainess, Repulsa The Witch of The Web, who uses mind-control web headphones to control the female monsters into doing her bidding until she makes them evil permanently at midnight.
* Happens to multiple anonymous programs in ''[[Tron Legacy (Film)|Tron Legacy]]'', most notably {{spoiler|Tron himself, who goes under the name "Rinzler" until the effects are broken by Flynn in the climax.}}. The process is known variously as "rectifying" or "re-purposing" and is essentially to programs what brainwashing is to humans.
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== Literature ==
* ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]'':
** The [[The Vamp|Lady of the Green Kirtle]]'s [[Our Gnomes Are Weirder|gnome slaves]] are all brainwashed, not to mention Prince Rilian, with enchantments. She also tries to do this to the heroes who rescue Rilian, but is thwarted when Puddleglum pulls a [[Shut UP, Hannibal]]. [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] ensues.
** The White Witch's enchanted Turkish delight very quickly gets Edmund 100% on her side, after she intimidates him into eating it. Never take candy from strangers indeed!
* The Mule, an interstellar warlord in [[Isaac Asimov]]'s ''[[Foundation]] trilogy'' had the telepathic ability to turn anyone, even his greatest enemies, into devoted followers willing to die for him. The Second Foundation, which possesses a similar ability, later turn it against him and transform him into a pacifist.
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* ''[[Harry Potter (Literature)|Harry Potter]]'' has the Imperius Curse.
* ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' has Compulsion.
** And [[Cold -Blooded Torture|Semirhage]]. Compulsion can be unwoven, though in extreme cases there may be nothing left of the original person. Semirhage's work, done with conventional methods, is all but impossible to undo.
* And of course, arguably the most famous example, was Winston's ordeal in ''[[Nineteen Eighty -Four|1984]]''. {{spoiler|He loved Big Brother.}}
* In the novel ''All Capable To Bear Arms'' by Leonid Kudriavcev protagonist use fictional drug abrutine (that 'paralyzes the free will' and limited lobotomy (to provide neurological reinforcement for performing desired tasks) to 'program' several characters. Targets are usually programmed to perform some simple tasks like ramming the gate with a vehicle.
* In the books of [[Dale Brown]], {{spoiler|David Luger}} was brainwashed into helping the Soviets after he gets captured by them. Eventually he gets rescued and somewhat "fixed", but the memories and effects still show on occasion.
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*** And of course, [[Kick the Dog|they betray their brainwashed villain]].
**** [[Moral Event Horizon|Several times]].
*** [[What the Hell, Hero?|Which bites them in the ass]].
** The Wraith also have the power of suggestion, not showcased much.
** {{spoiler|Telford}} in ''[[Stargate Universe (TV)|Stargate Universe]]''.
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* ''[[Dollhouse (TV)|Dollhouse]]''. The whole reason it exists.
* ''[[Merlin (TV)|Merlin]]''. At least two episodes come to mind where Arthur was brainwashed, and there's also at least one episode where Uther is brainwashed, and one where Merlin is brainwashed, too.
* Cally from ''[[BlakesBlake's Seven (TV)|Blakes Seven]]'' gets taken over by various alien entities so often that it sometimes seems to be her only role on the show.
* ''[[Earth Final Conflict]]'' the CVI's motivational imperative.
 
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* Temporarily happens to anything hit by the Ordos Deviator in ''[[Dune II]]''.
* All over the place in ''[[Final Fantasy Dissidia]]'' and its sequel. Between the two games so far, Terra, Tidus, Jecht, and {{spoiler|Kuja}} have ''all'' been brainwashed to fight for evil instead of good, the former two in ''Duodecim'' and the latter two in ''Dissidia''.
* In ''[[Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon]]'', [[Evil Sorcerer|Gharnef]] is doing this to [[Token Mini -Moe|Dragon Princess Tiki]]. Though Tiki was [[Older Than They Look|older than she looked]], this leads to [[Unfortunate Implications]].
* [[Donkey Kong Country Returns]] has this trope, and started at the '''very begining of the game!''' But Donkey Kong was able to resist the brainwashing effects.
 
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* [[Newshounds]] has {{spoiler|[http://newshounds.keenspot.com/d/20110128.html Wolfram so brainwashed that he doesn't even recognize his own wife].}}
* Apparently the main method of recruitment for the Joy group of ''[[A Path to Greater Good]]''.
* [[Homestuck (Webcomic)|Homestuck]]: While the full effects haven't been explored, Jane has at least subtly been effected by [[Subliminal Seduction]] - by the {{spoiler|[[What Do You Mean ItsIt's Not Awesome?|Betty Crocker company]].}}
 
 
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* The final arc in [[Superman the Animated Series]] opens with some space dude in Apokolips-style armor brutally conquering a fleet. At the end of the opening he accepts their surrender, takes off his helmet, and...it's Superman!
** Turns out Darkseid got hold of him and gave him to Granny Goodness, whose specialty is brainwashing, so that he thinks he's Darkseid's son, Kal-El of Apokolips, happily conquering star systems for his father. Darkseid likes the irony, the military advantage, and apparently having a son he can be proud of. (Kalibak is not happy.)
*** Oddly, given the setting, Granny's brainwashing didn't make him [[Card -Carrying Villain|actively evil]], it just made him believe in Darkseid and his empire and not think too hard. Darkseid even assigned four of his elite troops to be Kal's 'buddies,' who he's 'known all his life' and jokes around with. They actually hate him. They fake it pretty well. And he's polite, and reacts to his regular sessions in Granny's chair like a very good boy being sent to the dentist. He's still basically the same guy. [[Uncanny Valley|This makes it creepier.]]
** Darkseid gets addicted to irony and [[Too Dumb to Live|sends him to conquer Earth]]. Lois breaks him out with the [[Power of Love]] before he and his army do too much real damage, but his reputation is wrecked and there are still repercussions years later on [[Justice League]].
* In the season 2 premiere of ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (Animation)|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'', [[Big Bad]] Discord brainwashes Twilight's friends into going against their respective Elements of Harmony: the honest Applejack becomes a compulsive [[Bad Liar]], the happy-go-lucky Pinkie Pie becomes bad-tempered and overly-serious, the generous Rarity becomes greedy and possessive of a boulder she thinks is a giant diamond, the kindly Fluttershy becomes a bully, and the loyal Rainbow Dash is tricked into ditching her friends to save her [[Villains Never Lie|supposedly endangered]] birthplace of Cloudsdale. This turns out to be part of Discord's plan, so that {{spoiler|the Mane Six won't be able to use the Elements of Harmony on him, even if they find them.}}
 
 
== Real Life ==
* The term in English is derived from the Chinese 洗脑 "clean/wash the brain", used to describe the combination of torture and propaganda-barrage used on U.N.-aligned troops, mostly Americans, during the Korean War in order to extract false confessions for use in broader propaganda. The actual efficacy of any form of brain washing, from torture to subtle persuasion to drugs to hypnotism, is highly disputed. It is generally held that such techniques can be very good at extracting compliance from the victim, but true ideological turn-about ''à la'' the books and film ''[[Nineteen Eighty -Four|1984]]'' or ''[[The Manchurian Candidate]]'' is not to be expected -- in the few cases where this seems to have happened, it has generally been linked to the prisoner's captors treating her better than her own nominal side (see: Japanese POWs during [[World War II]]).
* Arguably, some religious and corporate groups are capable of this.
** Drink the <s>Kool-Aid!</s> [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown#Deaths_in_Jonestown Flavor Aid].
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** The traditional view of [[Fire and Brimstone Hell|Hell]] definitely counts as this, as avoiding eternal torture is a pretty good motivation to do just about anything. Especially when its not just murderers and rapists and the like who are supposed to go there, but everyone who isn't the right religion. (this was probably a great way for missionaries to convert people.)
* As with quite a few other kooky schemes, you can bet your bottom dollar that NATO and the Warsaw Pact did experiments with brainwashing during the [[Cold War]]. [[Paranoia Fuel|Thankfully, nothing]] ever came of those experiments.
* There are [[Rule Thirty Four34|quite a few]] [[Power Perversion Potential|online fetish communities]] centered around mind control and brainwashing.
 
{{reflist}}
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