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'''Stormtrooper:''' You can go about your business.
'''Obi-Wan:''' ''(to Luke)'' Move along.
'''Stormtrooper:''' Move along, move along.
|''[[Star Wars]] Episode IV: [[A New Hope]]''}}
'''Charm Person''' is some kind of magic, [[Jedi Mind Trick|supernatural ability]], [[Applied Phlebotinum]] or [[Charles Atlas Superpower]] (we don't know how that would work, so don't ask) that makes people want to do what you want them to do, especially the [[Weak-Willed]]. May or may not have obvious parallels with hypnosis, which is not really anything like this.
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If the writers want to give [[The Hero]] mind control powers, this is probably what he'll get, because it's both the least powerful and least evil of all the versions of [[Mind Control]].
Named after, of course,
Do not confuse with [[The Charmer]]. The effects of more powerful Charm Person spells or abilities may be compared with [[Love Potion]]s and [[Glamour]]. See also [[Hypnotic Eyes]], for a frequent way this power is implemented. Compare [[Politeness Judo]].
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== [[Anime]]
* Narumi-sensei from ''[[Gakuen Alice]]'' is able to emit pheromones that can make anyone, regardless of age or gender, become infatuated with him. In some cases (such as Natsume), the target may become so enamored that all they can do is faint from the shock.
* Many ''[[Eden of the East]]'' fans have concluded that Akira's [[Unusual Euphemism|Johnny]] has mind control powers. The reason? In the first episode, not only does he (wearing nothing but a girl's coat and scarf) flash a random guy on the street and say something that makes him laugh, then ''hand over his pants with a smile'', but later he ''[[Refuge in Audacity|drops his pants in front of a female police officer]]'' who, instead of arresting him, laughs and sends he and Saki on their way.
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*** Not quite. 'Johnny' is apparently slang for ID as well.
* [[Tomie]] (created by Junji Ito) relies primarily on this to get what she wants - which is ironic as most readers are more likely to remember {{spoiler|her multiple vicious deaths and regenerating [[From a Single Cell]] every [[Incredibly Lame Pun|bloody]] time.}}
* ''[[Ghost in the Shell]]'' has a character use something called hypnovoice to get a crowd to turn against the police. The fact that the cops try to convince them they're being duped suggests it can be beaten.
* In ''[[Rosario + Vampire]]'', Kokoa's pet bat Nazo Koumori transforms himself into a handsome Bishōnen and becomes a student at the school under the alias [[Character Name Alias|Ijuuin Kotaro]] in one episode of the animé. While in his Bishōnen form, he can charm any female by simply saying "Je t'aime", which makes them fall completely in love with him and happily willing to be his slave forever. He manages to charm {{spoiler|Moka and all of Tsukune's other female friends}}, but gets defeated at the end of the episode.
* Queen Sephie Michaela Deviluke from ''[[To LOVE-Ru]]'' hails from an entire ''race'' of these. They're called [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Charmians]]. The [[Power Perversion Potential]] is strong with this one, as her case overlaps with [[So Beautiful It's a Curse]], which makes her glad her daughters Lala, Momo and Nana didn't inherit this trait from her.
==
* [[X-Men|Gambit]] (depending on who's writing at the time) has a degree of "hypnotic charm." However, it ''doesn't'' work if the charmee knows about it.
* Stacy X of the X-Men comics had pheromone powers which could induce bliss and stimulate bodily sensations and functions allowing her a certain amount of control over her enemies.
* [[Batman|Poison Ivy]]'s
▲== Films ==
* From ''[[Star Wars]]'', The Jedi Mind Trick. A few of the examples in [[Jedi Mind Trick]] are also this.
* ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' plays with this using Jafar's magic serpent staff. Usually when Jafar uses it to control people's minds it's 100% effective, but when he tries to make the Sultan order Jasmine to marry him, the spell fails for a second. "But you're so
* [[Hilarity Ensues]] when Dracula uses this in ''[[Dracula: Dead and Loving It]]''.
* Horvath in ''[[The Sorcerer's
== Gamebooks ==▼
* The "Mind Charm" spell in ''[[Lone Wolf]]'', and the "Enchantment" magic in the spinoff ''Grey Star''.▼
== [[Literature]] ==
* One of the powers consistently displayed by the human form of the god Nyarlathotep in [[H.P. Lovecraft]]'s [[Cthulhu Mythos]] (his abilities tend to vary a bit depending on the writer, but this is one of his core abilities). He is unnaturally charismatic, and able to make people listen to him and obey his commands without them knowing why they are doing so.
* China Sorrows has this in ''[[Skulduggery Pleasant]]'', and uses it for her personal gain whenever she can. However, it's effect seems to lessen once you've known her for a while.
* In ''[[Artemis Fowl]]'', fairies have the power to "mesmerize" other beings using direct eye contact, even when low on magic power. Against humans, the power is almost completely effective, with even strong-willed individuals succumbing in under a minute. However, eye contact is required in most cases; it doesn't work on semi-reflective surfaces like mirrored sunglasses.
* ''[[The Thrawn Trilogy]]'' in the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]] shows the difference between this and [[Compelling Voice]] as the corrupted Jedi Joruus C'baoth uses both. In the first instance he simply forces an Imperial officer into delivering a secret message and then forgetting all about it, leaving the Imperial none the worse for wear, except for a few missing memories. In the second case C'baoth uses a sustained version of [[Compelling Voice]] to {{spoiler|break the will of a different officer, ''[[Mind Rape|destroy most of his personality]]'', and turn him into a near mindless puppet who can't survive without C'baoth's constant mental control.}}
** [[Outbound Flight|Jorus C'baoth]], who Joruus was cloned from, really wasn't any better. He was quite domineering and always wanted to control everything - and, given his view that morals are basically optional, he tried it. As he fell to the Dark Side he forced protesting civilians to be silent.
* Lessa from ''[[Dragonriders of Pern]]'' has an ability to subtly influence people's thinking, referred to as "leaning" on them. Used most dramatically when she provokes F'lar into dueling Fax, but overall fails about as often as it succeeds, as those on the receiving end can tell something's not quite right if they're paying attention.
* The [[Our Elves Are Better|Selelvians]] in ''[[Star Trek: New Frontier]]'' have a technique they call "The Knack", which basically lets them manipulate other races. When the Federation found out (after a Selelvian crew member was found murdered), they went to war.
** [http://memory-beta.wikia.com/wiki/Selelvian The Selelvians] were introduced in the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Next Generation]]'' novel ''Strike Zone''.
* Flinx's empathic influence works like this in some of Alan Dean Foster's ''[[Humanx Commonwealth]]'' novels. His control over others' emotions is scarily potent, yet limited because he can't call up what lies outside the target's normal spectrum of feelings (e.g. making a fanatical nihilist afraid of dying won't work). Requires a lot of maintenance to keep the effect going, else the subject starts to catch on that their feelings are out of whack.
* Saruman in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''.
* Lisanne Norman's ''[[Sholan Alliance]]'' series is loaded with these due to the main characters being mostly strong telepaths.
** In the second and third books, Ghezu is
* ''[[Graceling]]'' featured a Graceling who, it seemed, permanently had the Jedi Mind Trick going on. Everyone believed what he said no matter how implausible it was.
* Shannon Hale's ''Bayern'' book series features "people-speakers" with a magical gift that enhances their interpersonal skills, so they can read people accurately and always come up with the right thing to say to get someone to do what they want. They can be unnaturally persuasive, although others with magical gifts have some resistance to this. However, people with this gift are in danger of becoming corrupt and power-hungry, always feeling driven to manipulate others and bend them to their will.
* Asharak/Chamdar from [[The Belgariad]] does this repeatedly to Garion. Garion has been seeing him around the place his whole life, and has never been able to tell anyone about him, although he can dance around it to give people hints, enough so that Silk manages to figure it out. Unusual in that he could have controlled him more thoroughly, but Polgara would have noticed, so he had to keep it light.
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* ''[[The Heroes of Olympus]]'' <ref>the sequel series to ''[[Percy Jackson and The Olympians]]''</ref> reveals that some children of Aphrodite can "charmspeak", and hints that children of Hermes have similar powers.
* Ta'veren (think "[[Chosen One]]s mixed with a touch of [[Reality Warper]]") have a measure of this ability in [[The Wheel of Time]] series, but it works only sporadically and is not under their conscious control.
* In ''[[Star Trek: The Brave and The Bold]]'', the character Aidulac, as well as the females of the Peladons (a race into which she spread her genes), can influence most males into doing their bidding. Originally, anyone and everyone was affected, but over time the ability atrophied to affect only males.
** Lirahn in ''[[Star Trek: Department of Temporal Investigations]]''.
* The Bene Gesserit in ''[[Dune]]'' learn a technique called the Voice, which lets them persuade people to follow their instructions. The technique involves speaking in just the right tone and timbre to make the person most susceptible to your suggestions (though the film and mini-series adaptations have Voice users speak in a creepy, growling voice). It does have limitations, though: for obvious reasons it won't affect deaf people, and it also won't work on mutes, because a Voice user has to hear their target talk in order to figure out what tone to use with them.
* In ''[[Dark Life]]'', {{spoiler|Pretty}} has a form of amped-up hypnosis, using infrasound to alter people's brainwaves, and then implanting suggestions.
* Mesmeric powers are what allows the ''[[Magister Trilogy]]''{{'}}s Souleaters to be the natural predators of humans. Souleater Queens are especially dangerous, since they can charm ''other Souleaters'', providing the only unity and leadership this otherwise insanely competitive and independent
* In Teresa Frohock's ''[[Miserere: An
* In [[Devon Monk]]'s ''[[Allie Beckstrom]]'' series, Allie's father can do this. He managed to get her in enrolled in Harvard and lasting there for two years before she broke loose from one such effect.
* In Dean Koontz's
* In Fredric R. Stewart's ''[[Cerberon]]'', [[Manipulative Bastard|Aladavan]] uses this ability frequently, often accompanied by a "subtle gesture." It doesn't seem to work well when people are actively resisting him. One character knows he's doing this to her, while he's doing it, and later thanks him for it because she wouldn't have listened to him otherwise.
== [[Live
* It has been suggested that the Doctor from ''[[Doctor Who]]'' has this ability. This power may be due to his low level telepathy.
** The Master almost certain has it, to the point that he was able to convince Britain to vote him in as Prime Minister. In fact, the Doctor may have used to this power to allow Harriet Jones ([[Running Gag|Prime Minister]]) to get ousted in the first place.
* Raina in ''[[Cleopatra 2525]]''
* Bo in ''[[Lost Girl]]''
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==▼
▲== Tabletop Games ==
* As mentioned above, Charm Person (and Suggestion) from ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''.
** And by extension, Charm Person in ''[[The Order of the Stick]]''.
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* Mind Control with the Suggestion limitation or high levels of Charisma do this in [[GURPS]].
* The Presence discipline in ''[[Vampire: The Masquerade]]'', and its successor Majesty in ''[[Vampire: The Requiem]]''. Low level powers involve drawing the attention of everyone in the room and causing a person to spill all their secrets; higher level powers involve summoning a person from a great distance away and being untouchable because you are ''so very pretty''. Dominate is more like [[Mind Control]].
* ''[[Changeling: The Lost]]'' has the Contracts of Vainglory, which range from "I bear the mantle of authority, so you're more inclined to listen to me" to "I'm so unnaturally beautiful that you couldn't possibly bring yourself to hurt me" to "I think I'll pull a [[The Lord of the Rings|Galadriel]] and go so horrifically pretty that you run screaming."
* In Steve Jackson Games' ''[[In Nomine]]'', Impudites, a Band (type) of demons,
* ''[[Mutants and Masterminds]]'' has Emotion Control: Love which essentially works like a hyped-up version of Diplomacy, shifting people's attitudes to you, possibly from outright hostility to fanatical obsession.
* Similary, ''[[Villains and Vigilantes]]'' has both Mind Control and Emotion Control powers, which can be used this way.
* ''[[Exalted]]'' has a fair number of abilities like this, of course.
** One [[Demon Lords and Archdevils|demon]] has the power to make anyone who sees [[When She Smiles|her smile]] fall in love with her permanently.
▲=== Gamebooks ===
▲* The "Mind Charm" spell in ''[[Lone Wolf]]'', and the "Enchantment" magic in the spinoff ''Grey Star''.
== [[Toys]] ==▼
▲== Toys ==
* The [[Mask of Power|Mask of Charisma]] in ''[[Bionicle]]'' gradually alters the target's opinion to match that of the person wearing it.
** Or, you know, the [[Mask of Power|mask]] of ''mind control''.
== [[Video Games]] ==▼
▲== Video Games ==
* The Charm and Intimidate skills in ''[[Mass Effect]]'', which work exactly the same way it did in KOTOR, except there's no magical Jedi power to it. Shepard is ''just that persuasive''.
** [[Black Widow|Morinth's]] special ability "Dominate" works much like the traditional "Charm Person" spell.
* If your Charisma stat is high enough, some conversations in ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'' will have a conversation option labeled "Turn on the Charm".
** In both of these games, it will not allow you to flub a charm attempt—either you have enough skill to succeed at it, or you aren't allowed to choose the charm option, instead having to choose a regular dialog choice. Same with Intimidate. ''Planescape'' also has Wisdom and Intelligence reveal these options. The implication is that you have enough Charisma/Intelligence/Wisdom/Charm/Intimidate to be able to understand
* In ''[[Fallout]]'', with a high enough Speech stat, you can convince people to do just about anything. (well, as long as you get a chance to, anyway)
** Similar to the ''Planescape'' examples above, having high (or extremely low) stat scores can also unlock unique dialogue options. ''New Vegas'' changed many non-stat based charm, persuade and intimidation -type options to have a chance to fail, though.
* ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]''
* Gene's special ability in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]: Portable Ops'' works like this, his voice having some special quality that makes those listening do what he says.
* In the ''[[Suikoden]]'' series, Jeane is the only character with a rare and permanently affixed Charm Rune, which she uses to charm people into liking her and monsters into occasionally fighting for her. (Of course, the [[Stripperiffic|type of clothing]] she wears might have ''something'' to do with the way all of the men go ga-ga around her.)
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** Additionally, the Charm and Dominate spells instantly turn an enemy to your side for a while if you can overcome their mental effect resistance. With enough points in Mental Magic and Spellcraft it can work reliably even on end-game enemies.
* ''[[Second Sight]]'' has this as one of [[Player Character|John Vattic's]] powers. He can use it to either calm down allies who are panicked or gain a sort of invisibility (by making everyone passively ignore him, machines aren't fooled.). However trying to charm someone who is trying to kill you [[Heroic RROD|isn't recommended]].
* Notorious in ''[[Romancing SaGa]]'' series (Remake of the first RS Game has the ailment, the original doesn't) and ''[[SaGa Frontier]]'' (Charm Gaze)
* Somewhat subverted in ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'', in that rather than mages getting the ability to inflict the Charm condition through a spell as in most RPGs, ''thieves'' do it. With enough "Job Points", they can learn the ability to steal not only the usual money and weapons but also [[Incredibly Lame Pun|hearts]].
** The thief's version of Charm is temporary; it's essentially an improved form of Confuse, in that the victim will ''only'' attack their allies instead of anyone at random. Just like confusion, all it takes to snap them out of it is a [[Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!|physical attack]]. For the permanent version, which not only lasts the whole battle but allows you to recruit the affected, you'll need an Orator.
** Reis can also do this with her ''bare-handed attacks'' after you complete her subquest. But given that she's {{spoiler|a dragon in human form}}, the enemy has to ''survive'' the hit first.
* In ''[[BioShock (series)|BioShock]]'', Hypnotize Big Daddy (from [[BioShock (series)]] 1) and Hypnotize (from 2) can be used to hypnotize many of the enemies in the game to fight alongside you. Eventually they will break free however.
* [[Deconstructed Trope|Deconstructed]] in the ''Civilization 4'' mod ''[[Fall From Heaven]]''. In the flavor text, the Charm Person spell is basically described as a [[Mind Rape]], warping the genuine feelings of love and protection that the target feels for his friends and family, and mapping it to the caster instead. The victim still hates the person who's doing this to them, but the mental manipulation is so great that [[And I Must Scream|it leaves the victim completely unable to fight back or even defend themselves while the caster's allies cut them to ribbons.]]
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* In ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'', secondary character Thanh, a member of the Sapphire Guard order of paladins, gets put under this by one of the villains. The other characters break him out of it by trying to make him do something that violates his moral code: {{spoiler|killing Lord Shojo, leader of the Guard...or the sociopathic halfling Belkar dressed up as Shojo.}}
** Technically, that was a dominate spell Thanh was under. But earlier, Nale used Charm Person on Belkar and told him to kill his companions and give their magic items to him, which Belkar refuses ([[Heroic Sociopath|though he had no problem killing them and]] ''[[Heroic Sociopath|keeping]]'' [[Heroic Sociopath|their items]], while [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|singing "Meet Me in St. Louis"]]).
* Lord Grater of the Punyverse in ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' ''thinks'' that he has these powers. In practice, they tend to work like this:
{{quote|'''Lord Grater:''' You will lie down and take a nap!
'''Guard:''' Huh?
<Torg hits guard over head with large rock>
'''Semiconscious Guard:''' I will lie down and take a nap. }}
* Faith in ''[[Magick Chicks]]'' has a lot of her schoolmates willing to serve her, including in bed, and never jealous. What she does is best described as extending her narcissism on the others. Eventually, she tried on Layla the same face-touch Tiffany resisted early on. Layla succumbed easily, but as a vampire looking for a snack, she suddenly began to see Faith as outstandingly attractive almost to the point of daydreaming... ''[[Crowning Moment of Funny|as food]]''. Which [[Kiss of the Vampire|won't be too bad either]], but Faith panicked.
== [[Web Original]] ==
* Propaganda, a Chinese hero from the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'', has this sort of mind control. She never commands, but only suggests. She has discovered that while her [[Mind Control]] isn't as directly powerful as that of most [[Psychic Powers|telepaths]], it tends to last longer and is harder to resist.
* Prince Adrian Juste in ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20081227135832/http://www.bettiesharpe.com/reads/Ember/index.htm Ember]'' got [[Cursed with Awesome]] to be found charming by everyone. Everyone drools over him, which for him gets really old after awhile, and he goes for the one chick who (with the help of magic) doesn't want to go for him. Turns out he was cursed with charmingness to {{spoiler|make sure he didn't become the great conqueror he had the potential to become. If he had everything he wanted handed to him on a silver platter, his ambitions would go elsewhere.}}
* In the ''[[Whateley Universe]]'', psychics generally manifest this ability as opposed to straight mind control. Don Sebastiano, Solange, and even ''Jade'' have used this to slowly worm their way into someone's psyche. Jade, however, had a series of VERY special circumstances. Unfortunately, convincing someone like this functions as More than Mind Control, and is rather hard to catch in the act.
** Jade has used the Big Sad Puppy Dog Eyes to get her way, but
* In the [[Reincarnation Fantasy|Isekai]] web novel ''[[Tori Transmigrated]]'' by "Aila Aurie", one of the reasons most of Alessa Hart's "love interests" were so devoted to her (and hostile to Tori), sometimes in the face of all logic and reason, is that very early on Montan Alvere, one of those love interests, gave her a technically illegal charm that made anyone already favorably disposed to her ''very'' inclined to keep favoring her and do things for her. What made it illegal is not the mental influence, by the way, but that instead of eventually running out of power and ending like legal charms, it fed off Alessa's life energy to recharge itself, and theoretically could have killed her.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Zak Saturday of ''[[The Secret Saturdays]]'' can control cryptids, but can't make them do anything that they absolutely don't want to do.
* Freakshow's staff in the ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' episode "Control Freak", can control ghosts. Naturally, [[Half-Human Hybrid|being half-ghost]] made Danny susceptible to it, at least [[Always Save the Girl|until Sam fell off a bridge]], inadvertently leading to the staff getting broken.
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