Brainwashed: Difference between revisions

** The Wraith also have the power of suggestion, not showcased much.

** {{spoiler|Telford}} in ''[[Stargate Universe (TV)|Stargate Universe]]''.

* ''[[Star Trek the Original Series]]'', "This Side of Paradise".

* ''[[Dark Angel]]'' Manticore loved to do this by pumping drugs into X-5's then blasting them in the eye with a laser for hours on end. Leaving them not even knowing what they revealed while drugged.

* ''[[Big Wolf On Campus]]'' episode "Manchurian Werewolf".

* In ''[[V]]'', the Visitors have a brainwashing method called conversion, but humans are so resistant to it that it is only considered worth the bother for a few vital individuals.

{{quote| "I am the Master, and ''you will obey me''."}}

* In a series 2 episode of ''[[The Mighty Boosh]]'', "The Call of the Yeti," the main characters narrowly escape being brainwashed and raped by yeti.

* In an ''[[NCIS (TV)|NCIS]]'' there was a North Korean assassin named Kai who had in her childhood been to an institution remarkably like The Academy in ''[[Firefly (TV)|Firefly]]'' and was seeking revenge.

* In ''[[Babylon Five]]'', {{spoiler|Psi-cop Bester}} turns {{spoiler|Garibaldi}} into a secret agent so secret even {{spoiler|''he''}} doesn't know it.

* ''[[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.

 

 

* 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.

** Look at the profile of the individuals they had to start with. Predisposition makes it possible. Now you can redirect your [[Paranoia Fuel]] to whether you fit the profile.

** 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.)

[[Category:Turn-On Tropes]]

[[Category:Brainwashed]]