Charm Person: Difference between revisions

It's distinct from [[Compelling Voice]] because [[Charm Person]] [[Fighting From the Inside|can be resisted]] or broken out of, leading to [["I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight]] and [[Intrinsic Vow]] moments and such. A good way to differentiate between the two is that [[Charm Person]] can never be used to force someone to do anything that would violate the target's moral code (for example, attacking one's king).

Do not confuse with [[The Charmer]]. The effects of more powerful Charm Person spells or abilities may be compared with [[Love Potion|Love Potions]] and [[Glamour]]. See also [[Hypnotic Eyes]], for a frequent way this power is implemented. Compare [[Politeness Judo]].

** [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.

* Lisanne Norman's [[Sholan Alliance]] series is loaded with these due to the main characters being mostly strong telepaths.

* [[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.

* ''[[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|Chosen Ones]] 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.

** 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.

* 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 "Demon Seed" a super-computer can control people in this way, using its artifical voice. At the end the computer has been beaten but continues to try to influence people. {{spoiler|We then find they've cut off the voice and all its messages are being printed out and have no effect}}

== Live Action TV ==

* It has been suggested that the Doctor from ''[[Doctor Who]]'' has this ability. This power may be due to his low level telepathy.

* Raina in ''[[Cleopatra 2525]]''

* Bo in ''[[Lost Girl]]''

* 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 [[Lord of the Rings|Galadriel]] and go so horrifically pretty that you run screaming."

* ''[[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.

** [[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 ''[[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.

* 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.

* In ''[[Bioshock]]'', Hypnotize Big Daddy (from [[Bioshock]] 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.]]

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[[Category:Stock Super Powers]]

[[Category:Charm Person]]