Brainwashing for the Greater Good: Difference between revisions

Line 1:

So, the heroes have finally captured [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Duke Diabolico]], yay! ... [[And Then What|so now what?]] He's repeatedly proven he not only [[Card Carrying Villain|doesn't want to reform]], but will turn any such attempts into another [[Evil Plan|dastardly scheme]] by [[Civilian Villain|masquerading as reformed]], and the [[Cardboard Prison]] is looking especially porous right now. Plus, he's proven smart enough to defy being a [[Self-Disposing Villain]] and even if the heroes [[If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him|weren't too principled to kill]], he's also avoided [[I Did What I Had to Do|giving the heroes]] (and [[~~Big~~ ~~Damn~~ ~~Villains~~|other villains]]) reasons to kill him.

So, the heroes have finally captured [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Duke Diabolico]], yay! ... [[And Then What?|so now what?]] He's repeatedly proven he not only [[Card-Carrying Villain|doesn't want to reform]], but will turn any such attempts into another [[Evil Plan|dastardly scheme]] by [[Civilian Villain|masquerading as reformed]], and the [[Cardboard Prison]] is looking especially porous right now. Plus, he's proven smart enough to defy being a [[Self-Disposing Villain]] and even if the heroes [[If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him|weren't too principled to kill]], he's also avoided [[I Did What I Had to Do|giving the heroes]] (and [[Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work|other villains]]) reasons to kill him.

There's only one thing to do. [[Brainwashed|Brainwashing]]... for the greater good! This can be done with varying degrees of squick. Heroes might go the "soft" route and administer [[Care Bear Stare|Care Bear Stares]], use [[The Power of Love]] and [[The Power of Friendship|Friendship]], and in conjunction with [[Talking the Monster To Death|"motivational" speeches]] trigger a [[More Than Mind Control|quasi-voluntary]] [[Heel Face Turn]]. However, a more extreme villain might require a more extreme method. The combination of [[Laser Guided Amnesia]], a [[Loss of Identity|new personality]], and a [[Restraining Bolt]] might be in order.

There's only one thing to do. [[Brainwashed|Brainwashing]]... for the greater good! This can be done with varying degrees of squick. Heroes might go the "soft" route and administer [[Care Bear Stare|Care Bear Stares]], use [[The Power of Love]] and [[The Power of Friendship|Friendship]], and in conjunction with [[Talking the Monster To Death|"motivational" speeches]] trigger a [[More Than Mind Control|quasi-voluntary]] [[Heel Face Turn]]. However, a more extreme villain might require a more extreme method. The combination of [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]], a [[Loss of Identity|new personality]], and a [[Restraining Bolt]] might be in order.

Who cares about [[Mind Over Manners]] if Duke Diabolico is no longer a threat and is helping old ladies cross the street? He might even join the heroes and help capture and brainwash other villains! But why stop there? Why not [[Getting Smilies Painted On Your Soul|paint smiles on everyone's soul]]? Eventually, the heroes will be dumped at the bottom of the [[Slowly Slipping Into Evil|slippery slope]]: a world of [[Grey and Gray Morality]] where [[Go Horribly Wrong|the horrific after-effects manifest]].

Who cares about [[Mind Over Manners]] if Duke Diabolico is no longer a threat and is helping old ladies cross the street? He might even join the heroes and help capture and brainwash other villains! But why stop there? Why not [[Getting Smilies Painted On Your Soul|paint smiles on everyone's soul]]? Eventually, the heroes will be dumped at the bottom of the [[Slowly Slipping Into Evil|slippery slope]]: a world of [[Grey and Gray Morality]] where [[Gone Horribly Wrong|the horrific after-effects manifest]].

If Duke Diabolico doesn't spontaneously relapse and kill willy nilly in reprisal for being demeaned into planting posies in the park, his minions or allies will come by and [[Deprogram|break the brainwashing]]. When this happens, it might even turn out that he [[Becoming the Mask|likes good]] [[Good Feels Good|more than evil]]. If so, it will cause a [[Heroic BSOD]] as he [[Amnesiac Dissonance|grapples with]] a hidden [[Heel Face ~~Mind Screw~~|lifetime of evil]]. Of course, it might be that the brainwashing had the side effect of turning him [[Brainwashed and Crazy]].

If Duke Diabolico doesn't spontaneously relapse and kill willy nilly in reprisal for being demeaned into planting posies in the park, his minions or allies will come by and [[Deprogram|break the brainwashing]]. When this happens, it might even turn out that he [[Becoming the Mask|likes good]] [[Good Feels Good|more than evil]]. If so, it will cause a [[Heroic BSOD]] as he [[Amnesiac Dissonance|grapples with]] a hidden [[Heel Face Brainwashing|lifetime of evil]]. Of course, it might be that the brainwashing had the side effect of turning him [[Brainwashed and Crazy]].

[[What the Hell Hero|What the hell, hero?]]

[[What the Hell, Hero?|What the hell, hero?]]

Compare [[Heel Face Brainwashing]], and also see [[No Medication for Me]] for a trope that touches on the same ethical questions.

Line 33:

== [[Film]] ==

* The use of the eponymous ark in the [[Stargate SG 1]] movie '''The Ark of Truth''' to convince the Ori's followers of the error of their ways could be viewed this way. While it is justified in that A) the Ori are dead anyway, B) the Ark can only make people believe what is true, and C) the Ori's followers are on the verge of overrunning the Milky Way, it's still brainwashing. Even Daniel, who found the ark and figure out how to activate it in the first place, isn't happy that they had to use it since it does mess with free will in a disturbing way.

* The use of the eponymous ark in the ''[[Stargate SG-1 (TV)|Stargate SG-1]]'' movie ''The Ark of Truth'' to convince the Ori's followers of the error of their ways could be viewed this way. While it is justified in that A) the Ori are dead anyway, B) the Ark can only make people believe what is true, and C) the Ori's followers are on the verge of overrunning the Milky Way, it's still brainwashing. Even Daniel, who found the ark and figure out how to activate it in the first place, isn't happy that they had to use it since it does mess with free will in a disturbing way.

** It's only ''programmed'' to brainwash the truth. While the Ark itself is hardwired to never be used for anything else, the technology could be adapted to make anyone believe anything. There's a reason the Ancients didn't use it in the first place.

* ''[[Doc Savage]]: The Man of Bronze''. At the end Doc performs one of his personality-altering operations on Captain Seas, who ends up as a member of the Salvation Army.

Line 45:

* In ''The Emerald City of Oz'', Ozma decides this is a morally acceptable way to subdue invaders.

* The wizard Mizzamir invented a spell to do this in ''[[Villains By Necessity]]''. The villains are utterly horrified at the implications.

* In a ~~noncanon~~ ''[[Percy Jackson and The Olympians]]'' side story, Percy battles the Titan Iapetus near Lethe, the River of Forgetfulness. Percy dunks himself and Iapetus in the river. Percy, being a son of Poseidon stayed dry, and Iapetus is soaked so he forgets everything. He gets renamed Bob and even helps cure some nasty wounds.

* In a non-[[Canon]] ''[[Percy Jackson and The Olympians]]'' side story, Percy battles the Titan Iapetus near Lethe, the River of Forgetfulness. Percy dunks himself and Iapetus in the river. Percy, being a son of Poseidon stayed dry, and Iapetus is soaked so he forgets everything. He gets renamed Bob and even helps cure some nasty wounds.

** It ''is'' canon, or close enough. The storis have already influenced the canon books. Percy mentions in 5th book that he's seen Persephone in winter (which happened in the same story with Iapetus/Bob), and in ''[[The Heroes of Olympus]]'', the kids use the bronze dragon from one of the other stories as transportation for their quest.

* The heroes of ''[[Captain Underpants]]'' do this to {{spoiler|Ms. Ribble/Wedgie Woman}}.

Line 51:

** This is a prime example of [[Values Dissonance]]. Back in the 1930s, it was believed that ongoing criminal behaviour was a result of malformation of the brain, essentially a medical problem.

* The "demolishing" process in ''[[The Demolished Man (Literature)|The Demolished Man]]'' might well qualify. {{spoiler|The [[Villain Protagonist]]'s personality is broken down to a primal level with the idea of building him back up so that he retains his intelligence and ambition without the self-serving and criminal aspects.}}

* {{spoiler|Molly Carpenter}} in ~~The~~ [[Dresden Files]] does this in an attempt to stop her friends from using drugs while one of them pregnant (without consent from either of them.) It does not end well, and she is nearly executed for practicing textbook black magic.

* {{spoiler|Molly Carpenter}} in the ''[[Dresden Files]]'' does this in an attempt to stop her friends from using drugs while one of them pregnant (without consent from either of them.) It does not end well, and she is nearly executed for practicing textbook black magic.

** {{spoiler|Molly continues to do this after Dresden's death, using subtle mind control to put down corrupt police officers and gang members (usually by making them kill each other.) The scary thing is that it works (at the cost of her sanity and faith in humanity.) Her reputation keeps all but the scariest and strongest baddies from moving into Chicago after Dresden's death.}}

* Confessors from the [[Sword of Truth]] work like this. Unfortunately, the recharge time is anywhere from hours to weeks, and there's usually a lot of angry soldiers between a Confessor and a big bad. This is part of why they usually had a wizard bodyguard. The Confessors were mostly used to get the confession of condemned criminals who were part of conspiracies, but refused to cooperate.

* Confessors from the ''[[Sword of Truth]]'' series work like this. Unfortunately, the recharge time is anywhere from hours to weeks, and there's usually a lot of angry soldiers between a Confessor and a big bad. This is part of why they usually had a wizard bodyguard. The Confessors were mostly used to get the confession of condemned criminals who were part of conspiracies, but refused to cooperate.

* Resoundingly averted in [[Robert Heinlein]]'s "If This Goes On". The [[The Revolution Will Not Be Villified|revolutionaries]], after overthrowing the [[Corrupt Church]], vote to reject their psych experts' proprosal to use [[Subliminal Seduction]] to "condition" the people to accept the restoration of democracy (after an old man who "looked like Mark Twain" made an impassioned speech on how "free men aren't 'conditioned'.")

* Resoundingly averted in [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s "If This Goes On". The [[The Revolution Will Not Be Villified|revolutionaries]], after overthrowing the [[Corrupt Church]], vote to reject their psych experts' proprosal to use [[Subliminal Seduction]] to "condition" the people to accept the restoration of democracy (after an old man who "looked like Mark Twain" made an impassioned speech on how "free men aren't 'conditioned'.")

Line 62:

* ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures (TV)|The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'', when Mr. Smith is rebooted.

* Sylar in ''[[Heroes (TV)|Heroes]]'' had his mind replaced by that of Nathan Petrelli, the man he had just killed. Because he had a shapeshifting ability, Sylar actually became Nathan. It lasted about six episodes.

* On ''[[Babylon Five|Babylon 5]]'', a machine is used to wipe away the memories from serial killers and other major criminals and give them a new personality that will encourage them to help the community they harmed. Telepaths do not carry out the process, but do scans before and after to confirm success.

* On ''[[Babylon Five|Babylon 5]]'', a machine is used to wipe away the memories from serial killers and other major criminals and give them a new personality that will encourage them to help the community they harmed -- a sentence/punishment which is called "Death of Personality". Telepaths do not carry out the process, but do scans before and after to confirm success.

* In ''[[Farscape (TV)|Farscape]]'', the Nebari ruling body "The Establishment" could subtlety modify a person's mind until they no longer had any negative impulses. Unfortunately, along with things like sadism, they considered having any individual desires to be negative qualities, and would happily modify anyone they deemed necessary (aka. most of the known galaxy).

** It also backfires horribly with Durka in "A Clockwork Nebari." And, of course, the Nebari themselves are unwilling to consider the possibility that the "mind cleansing" could be overcome and cause even greater problems.