Care Bear Stare: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

 

Compare [[Mental Affair]] (the "adult" version of this), [[Getting Smilies Painted on Your Soul]] (no less forceful, but not as overt).

 

[[Trope Namer|Named]] for the "attack" used by the ''[[Care Bears]]'', naturally. The [[Fantastic Aesop|moral]] here being: "Never mess with a humanoid bear with a laser cannon in its chest."

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* In ''[[Zeta Gundam]]'', Kamille Bidan gave a Mind Hug to Haman Khan, but all it did was tick her off.

* Fans joke about ''[[Lyrical Nanoha|Nanoha's]]'' attacks being this, to the point that "[[Defeat Means Friendship|befriend]]" has become a synonym for "utterly defeat". ''Multiverse Crisis [[MUSH]]'' has turned it into an [http://multiverse-crisis.wikidot.com/nanoha actual ability:]

{{quote|'''Friendship Beamspam''': Despite her total obliviousness to it, Nanoha has the strange and unexplainable ability to befriend anyone she causes physical harm to, ever since an incident wherein she slapped someone in first grade and they became her best friend. Studies and tests have confirmed this ability, though even Multiversal technology is at a loss to explain how or why it works. Is it radiation from the lasers? Some sort of Aura? No one knows, but it can generally be assumed that physical harm dealt by Nanoha will result in her making a new friend, with the degree of physical damage directly proportional to the level of friendship. How this translates to Aurics in the Multiverse has yet to be tested. (Consent Required where applicable.)}}

* The "Love Beam" was the specialty of Getalong in [[Flint the Time Detective]]. It helped calm down berserk Time Shifters, and occasionally prevent other fights/arguments from happening.

* The title character's [[Magic Dance|dancing]] seems to do something like this in ''[[Princess Tutu]]''.

* The various Forte/Fortissimo attacks from ''[[Heartcatch Precure]]'' are like this, as the attacks end up purifying the Heart Flowers of an affected human, freeing them from their problems. Erika Kurumi/Cure Marine has the dubious honor of being hit with it twice, the second time showing that it does bring about a calming effect on them and when a Giant Snackie is hit with one, he just turns his suit white, but he still works for the bad guys.

** It affects Knives, too. {{spoiler|He apologizes, and apparently dies. But later-apparently he had just enough energy left to pull together a human form, and get a [[Nice Hat]] to spend his final years wearing. He doesn't tell Vash.}}

 

** It must be said he killed said Bliss-bringer by {{spoiler|'''KICKING CAPTAIN AMERICA IN THE BALLS'''}}

*** Well, that's certainly... an [[Crowning Moment of Funny|effective method]] [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|for Deadpool.]]

* Zatanna once used the [[Mind Hug]] in order to ''[[Mind Rape]]'' someone. She "reprogrammed" Doctor Light, a vicious rapist, trying to pull out a good side that wasn't really there. What she succeeded in doing was creating an inept villain, but the idea was there.

** Depending on your interpretation she either had slightly more success or ''much'' greater failure when she attempted the same thing in the pages of [[The Flash]]. Barry Allen asked her to try to make The Top, a recurring villain of his, an actual ''hero''. It worked, at first. But Top now had a conscience and couldn't deal with the horrible things he had done. He went nuts and started trying to do the same to other Flash villains. It didn't end well.

* In ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' Professor X has used his psychic powers to deliver a super mind hug, built of all the positive thoughts he could find to drive off [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens]].

** He did it again in The [[Ultimate Marvel|Ultimate Universe]] to stun Gah Lak Tus.

** This differs from his [[Boldly Coming|usual approach to First Contact]], how?

* Noora in ''[[The 99]]'' has the power to shine light at people, making them see their own inner darkness and feel guilt. [[Meaningful Name|Not coincidentally, "noor" means "light" in Arabic.]]

* ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (novel)|How the Grinch Stole Christmas]]''. Not intentionally done by the citizens of Whoville, but probably the definitive example of this trope.

* Something like this happens to {{spoiler|Wendy Nogard}} in ''[[Wayside School]] Gets A Little Stranger'' when she tries to use her evil telepathic powers on Mrs. Jewls' baby: {{spoiler|"Babies don't think in words. Miss Nogard heard pure love. And trust. And faith. With no words to get in the way. It was a love so strong that it dissolved away all the bitterness that had been caked around her heart."}}

* Something similar is used in ''[[The Wish List]]'', also by Eoin Colfer. Apparently, whenever an act of perfect good is performed, it sets off an explosion in the spiritual plane that leaves ghosts unaffected, but has the same effect as a nuclear bomb on demons, not to mention that it leaves a nice scent around them when they end up splattered back in Hell.

* The title character in ''Lord Valentine's Castle'' does this. Actually, [[Robert Silverberg]] is fond of this trope in general.

* Dameon in ''The [[Obernewtyn Chronicles]]'' and other Empaths are able to bathe people in feelings of calm, love, comfort etc. This just as well for the emotionally repressed protagonist.

* In ''[[Sword of Truth]]'', magical healing works by sharing the pain of the healed. When someone is affected by an ailment of the soul, the healer has to link his own soul with theirs. This is described as being much more intimate than sex, though not erotic in any way.

** According to the game's sequel, he got better. {{spoiler|So much better, in fact, he ended up [[Heel Face Turn|rebelling against The Great Masters]] and became responsible for a ''[[Strange Bedfellows|liir-zuul alliance]]''.}}

* In the ''[[Animorphs]]'' series, Jake morphs into a Howler, a member of the foottrooper race of the [[Big Bad|Crayak]] built to do nothing but have fun destroying and murdering. When Jake learns that all Howlers ever created share a hivemind, he begins pushing all of his memories of love and kindness into it. The end result is that the next time the Howlers are sent to destroy a planet, they try kissing everyone instead.

 

== Live Action TV ==

* The ''[[Power Rangers in Space]]'' finale "[[Crisis Crossover|Countdown to Destruction]]" had the Red Ranger destroy Zordon's chamber, unleashing his goodness on all the bad guys currently battling. Monsters were turned to dust, humanoid villains were all turned good.

** Although later developments suggest it might have been something a little more sinister. After all, it's not like Connor's demeanor towards anyone else improved as a result.

* The cult variant (see ''[[Real Life]]'' below) featured in the ''[[Strangers with Candy]]'' two-parter "Blank Stare". It works on Jerri - and when they try it on Chuck, who has supposedly come to rescue her, all it takes is the words "Do you need someone to love you?" before he breaks down crying and gives in.

* The Doctor pulls this one with a deranged Elizabethan mental patient in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "The Shakespeare Code".

** The Doctor also frequently uses positive emotions (or ''any'' emotions) against the Cybermen.

* Stark from ''[[Farscape]]'' can psychically transmit memories, making him ideal for calming down those in pain or distress. {{spoiler|He's also very good at helping the dying to cross over.}}

** The Eidolons are legendary for their Care Bare Stare: quite simply, it's a calming aura used to make individuals "see reason," powerful enough to have [[Magnificent Bastard|Scorpius]], [[The Hero|Crichton]], and [[Big Bad|Emperor Staleek]] cheerfully sitting around a table discussing the terms of a Peace Treaty.

{{quote|'''Jeff:''' This won't work. The last time you did this, I saved a vial of your tears and I've been slowly building up an immunity.}}

 

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* Compel Emotion in ''[[GURPS]]: Magic'' can be used to compel happiness or peace. Ecstasy is a more malicious variant used to incapacitate the target.

* The ''[[Magic: The Gathering]]'' card "[http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=129667 Pacifism]" essentially disables opponent creatures by making them too peaceful to attack or block.

 

 

== Video Games ==

* James did this to Dolores in ''[[Zone of the Enders]] Dolores i'' when she had a [[Heroic BSOD]] via [[Journey to the Center of the Mind]]. Appropriate, considering she's a [[Robot Girl]].

* Lenneth Valkyrie, of ''[[Valkyrie Profile]]'', can use the experience gained by her Einherjar to increase their virtues and reduce their vices to increase their individual [[Karma Meter|"Hero" rating]].

* [[Disgaea|Laharl]] is subjected to one of these in the form of sexually attractive women spouting optimistic phrases. Given his aversion and (literal) allergy to the aforementioned, his stats are cut in half for the next fight. Flonne spouting "eternal love!" didn't help at all.

*** Or an intentional parody? Given that it comes from the Virtue Bear's butts in the form of [[Fartillery|a fart]], probably the latter.

* Subverted in an ''[[Xkcd]]'' [http://xkcd.com/146/ strip]; this "Care Bear Stare" is an energy blast that knocks the target down, and the black hat is a long-established identifier of the strip's "[[Jerkass]]" character. [[Word of God]] says that he got this power from ''[[Made From Real Girl Scouts|eating Care Bears]]''.

* In the Superhero arc of ''[[Dragon Tails]]'', Lemuel becomes a villain named Sparkles with the superpower of "Happiness Sparkles", in an attempt to pacify his enemies. It doesn't work particularly well - all it does is make them feel rather happy about beating the snot out of him.

* [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2003-01-28 This] ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'' strip subverts it to the point of [[Nightmare Fuel]] (continued two comics later).

** Later an Immortal used a heavy assault Care Bear Stare called a [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2010-07-09 Serenity Spell] as an emergency [[Instant Sedation]] for a magic-user going bananas.

* Subverted in ''[[8-Bit Theater|Eight-Bit Theatre]]''. [[Omnicidal Maniac|Black Mage]]'s [[Kamehame Hadoken|Hadoken]] is ''powered'' by love, in the sense that a minivan is powered by petroleum: every usage depletes the universe of some of a finite resource.

 

== Western Animation ==

** ''[[The Care Bears Movie]]'' has it used to stop an evil spell, but it's not enough to stop the villain. That takes [[The Power of Friendship]].

* Maguro from ''[[Sushi Pack]]'' frequently uses her telepathic powers to share zen thoughts when an antagonist needs to calm down. In one instance, she used this on her own team mates to make them follow a course of action that they did not agree with.

** {{spoiler|Until they learn they taste like manure, said aliens' most loved delicacy, at which point they proceed to eat them.}}

** A greater example is shown in "Wishology" as {{spoiler|the Darkness is defeated by blasting it with a celestial smile, turning it into the Kindness}}.

[[Category:Love Tropes]]

[[Category:Sublime Rhyme]]