Demonic Possession: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

{{quote|''As the humble spirit you now see before you, I am free to cross over and possess any human I wish, enabling me to undo the sacred spells that keep you here. If you so deem it.''|'''Shendu''', '''''[[Jackie Chan Adventures]]'''''}}

 

 

[[I Have You Now, My Pretty|You see]], [[Terms of Endangerment|my pretty]], Kelvek the Seducer has taken Demonic Possession of [[Showing Off the New Body|this fragile and beautiful body]] from its [[Split Personality Takeover|rightful owner.]] How did she do this? Oh, there are so many [[Evil Tastes Good|delectable ways!]]

 

# First, by taking over an [[Empty Shell]] or once a mortal's [[Deal with the Devil]] is up and his [[Soul]] is yours. Once you own the "landlord," so to speak, the house is yours.

# The third way is popular among [[Mummy|mummies]] and [[Sealed Evil in a Can]]; any [[Artifact of Doom]] that is a [[Soul Jar]], when held, lets the sealed spirit take over the possessed.

# A fourth way is to let the victim think he is possessing ''you!'' First, you let them think that by summoning and then "[[Bondage Is Bad|binding]]" you <small>*[[Noblewoman's Laugh|Ohohoho]]*</small> they will get [[Powers Via Possession]], but they never [[Read the Fine Print]] in this [[Deal with the Devil]]. The more they use our powers the more [[The Corruption]] takes root and lets us take over. Delectably ironic, isn't it?

 

Hmm, you aren't bad looking yourself. Would you mind terribly if I "[[Trouble Entendre|change clothes]]"...?

 

== Anime and Manga ==

* This is what is implied to be the relationship between [[Creepy Child|Ai Enma]] and Yuzuki Mikage, a new character in ''[[Hell Girl|Hell Girl: The Cauldron of Three]]'', where Ai uses Yuzuki whenever she goes on her [[Grim Reaper|job]].

* This is how [[Devilman]] works. In the manga, it's very pronounced, since anyone can be possessed the instant they succumb to acting on instinct. Naturally, bars and nightclubs prove great places for demons to go to possess people since there are so few inhibitions in them.

** Also, {{spoiler|Pride}} does something possession-like to {{spoiler|Al at one point, [[People Puppets|operating the armor with his shadows]] while Al is out of it.}}

* Played for laughs early in ''[[Hayate the Combat Butler]]'' with Katsura Yukiji when a demon tricks her using money. {{spoiler|Not played for laughs later at ''all'' with Athena and the ''Honored Spirit'' that possesses her when she's very upset. The first time she almost killed Hayate, Sakuya and Isumi. A curbstomp battle, in fact.}}

** {{spoiler|When Athena first threw Hayate out of her castle, it seems to have been mostly her; the Spirit didn't take dominance till later.}}

*** {{spoiler|Alternately, we could have never seen Athena un-possessed, it's just only become visible during these times.}}

* [[Doctor Strange]] allowed a tiny fragment of the demonic entity Zom to possess him in ''[[World War Hulk]]''. He quickly discovered that [[Evil Is Not a Toy|this was probably not the wisest choice]].

* During a story arc of ''[[Sturmtruppen]]'', Private Fritz is possessed by the demon infesting the outpost 666 and starts behaving like the one from ''[[The Exorcist]]''. He's eventually defeated and cured when he's slammed on the head with a giant wooden cross.

* [[Deadman (Comic Book)|Deadman]] is a heroic ghost that uses this as his main power. It was granted to him by the Hindu goddess Rama Kushna.

* Both [[Ghost Rider]] characters have this situation.

 

== Film ==

* Annabelle in ''St. Trinian's: The Legend Of Fritton's Gold'' gets possessed by her ancestor Captain Fritton. There is no real point to this scene, other then having the other girls scream, making the Emo do an exorcism, damaging Annabelle's self-esteem, and getting the second half of the clue.

* Dan Aykroyd LOVES this trope. ''[[Ghostbusters]]'' I and II feature possession, with Dana and Louis getting it in GBI; and Oscar (sort of), Janohz and Ray in GB II by the ''same'' entity. It also forms a prevalent part of the game. {{spoiler|1=There are even specific mooks who quite happily invade the bodies of NPCs, including the Busters. The most obvious example of this is, of course, Ray, who gets possessed after playing the hero -- "they'll have to go through me first!" Nice going, Doc. The Xbox version of the game has him get possessed again later on his way to the security office at the museum, with him babbling incoherently over the walkie-talkies. Then, of course, there's Illysa and Peck, both of whom get possessed at the museum. And the Mayor, who gets possessed by Ivo Shandor.}} So yes, this Troper thinks it's fairly safe to say that Mr. Aykroyd appears to be fond of this trope.

* ''[[Happy Hell Night]]'': A mock satanic ritual turns out to be real when a body of a priest is possessed by a demon and starts killing people.

* "The Shrine"takes place in a small Polish village that is cursed with a demonic statue standing in constant fog. Those who approach the statue in the fog, eventually become possessed by the demon.

 

== Literature ==

** {{spoiler|It's questionable just how good that turn out is, too. Despite everything Qilue does, she also ultimately ends up getting her goddess killed and leaving Lloth the sole deity of the Drow.}}

* In [[Robert Bloch]]'s [[Cthulhu Mythos]] story "The Shadow From the Steeple", one of Nyarlathotep's many forms can apparently possess people. The possessed individuals look mostly the same other than their skin turning darker. Oh, and they also glow in dark.

* Greg Bear's ''[[The Way Series|Eon]]'' has something somewhere between Demonic Possession and [[Puppeteer Parasite]]. The Jarts are a species (really a conglomeration of assimilated species and whatever you'd call "original" Jarts) that exist primarily as virtual personality fragments as a sort of hive mind, where bits can be combined, split off and downloaded into an artificial body to perform any given task. The book's protagonist, Olmy, discovers an "individual" Jart who had been captured by humanity centuries earlier and downloads it into his mental implants to study. The Jart, because of the "species'" inherent flexibility to modify itself to fit into any environment capable of holding a conscious entity is easily able to reverse engineer the implants interface and downloads itself directly into Olmy's mind, reversing their roles. (He gets better.)

** There seem to be three kinds of relationship between a full Denarian and his/her Fallen. The first kind is demonstrated by particularly brutish Fallen such as Ursiel or Magog, who simply [[Mind Rape]] their host into submission at first opportunity and outright take over. The second shows up with more cunning Fallen, who let the hosts stay in the driver's seat but use cunning and manipulation to make them do what they want (this is what Lasciel was trying to do to Harry, and allows more options, since with the mortal still technically in control, the Denarian isn't subject to as many restrictions as a Fallen by itself would be). Finally, the Fallen and Denarian can work as equal partners- the only known case of this is the relationship between [[Complete Monster|Nicodemus]] [[The Chessmaster|Archleone]] and his Fallen [[Demon Lords and Archdevils|Anduriel]].

* Tak in [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[The Regulators]]'' and ''[[Desperation]]'' (not the same character, the novels are a short of [[Alternate Continuity]] versions of each other).

* Played with in ''[[Good Omens]]'', which features a case of ''angelic'' posession after {{spoiler|Aziraphale's body gets destroyed.}}

** Serial, actually; he jumps around the world, including into an on-air televangelist, before settling on a crazy medium.

* In ''[[The Drowning City]]'' by [[Amanda Downum]], there's an interesting twist: a demon (jinn, to be precise) is bound inside a human shell by trickery and restrained and controlled by powerful magical bindings.

* The [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Rivers of London]]'' is the Spirit of Riot and Rebellion {{spoiler|[[Punch and Judy|Mister Punch]]}} who is possessing innocent souls forcing them to commit random acts of murder and violence. At one point manages to possess and entire theatre crowd all at once.

* In the last book of ''[[The Bartimaeus Trilogy]]'' {{spoiler|an ill-advised magical experiment leads to a number of powerful demons inhabiting most of the higher members of the government. The demons have no ability to possess people, but the magicians summoned them into their own bodies, believing they could control them. Instead they obliterated their minds and set up shop.}}

* '''Things''' in ''[[Septimus Heap]]'' have this as one of their standard abilities. In ''Queste'', this first happens to Hildegarde Pigeon and then to the Toll-Man.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* ''[[Angel]]''

** [[Inverted Trope|Inverted]] when the gang goes to try and exorcise a demon possessed boy...only for it to turn out the boy is soulless, and has ''trapped'' the now terrified demon inside his body.

* ''[[Double the Fist]]'': Mephisto gets possessed by a Demi God Fear Factory, causing him to shoot lasers, murder people at random (well, more than before) and steal Steve's car. He shows up again two episodes later leading an army of lumberjack pandas.

* This happens a lot on ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]''. It's actually the only way demons operate in the world, their default form being thick, black smoke. It's even been [[Lampshaded]] in "Jus in Bello".

'''Sam''': "Not long enough." }}

** There's the young girl whom Lilith possesses and proceeds to terrorize, and kill half of, her family; Meg Masters, who has to spend over a year watching a demon use her body to kill people; the season 2 episode where a demon possesses Sam and proceeds to shoot and torture Dean...

== Multiple Media ==

* The Makuta in ''[[Bionicle]]'' are [[Energy Beings]] who can possess living bodies or robots. The only catch is that the body must be empty of a soul (but still alive, unless it's a robot, of course) before they can enter it.

 

 

== Religion ==

* Frequently occurs in [[The Bible]], to the point where it's lumped together with all the other diseases and mental disorders Jesus cures. One notable example: the truly unfortunate man possessed by ''one thousand'' demons that called themselves "Legion". Jesus, being well, [[The Messiah|Jesus]], cured the man but spared the demons by casting them into a herd of pigs instead of outright destroying them.

* This trope is sometimes played straight and inverted in East Asian religion, where humans can be possessed by benevolent or evil spirits. Usually, shamans and the like are called in to exorcise the person under possession.

== Tabletop Games ==

* In the ''[[Old World of Darkness]]'' game ''[[Demon: The Fallen]]'' demons can only possess people with either terribly damaged souls or whose souls have been removed. In the new setting, Spirits (and presumably ghosts) have a much easier time possessing bodies whose souls have been removed from their still living bodies.

** Don't forget the starships possessed by daemons.

* In ''[[In Nomine]]'', a particular 'band' of demons, the Shedim do this, unlike other demons who are given specially created bodies to inhabit while on earth, they enter the bodies of humans and manipulate the unlucky individual into doing evil things, which the host believes were his own idea. They can only stay in a certain host for so long at one time, the host's resistance increases over time and the demon MUST force their host to preform acts of escalating evilness each day or suffer. Their angelic counterparts, the Kyriotates, act similarly, only they can possess multiple entities (which do not have to be human),can totally take over the host's body (the host's mind is kept in a dreamlike state and will remember nothing about the possession) and may stay within a host as long as they like, as long as their host is not in worse condition than it was originally found. Needless to say, they don't force their hosts into depravity.

** There's actually a Song (which are the spells of the game) that allows any Celestial to possess any living thing.

** ''[[Eberron]]'' This setting provides rules for creating demons (and devils) that possess people. The Quori from Eberron, creatures from the plane of dream, use this as their main MO. They are unable to planeshift to the material plane, so can only rely on possession of people as they sleep. Ironically, the Church of the Silver flame has developed many tools and powers to deal with demonic possession (as they focus on hunting down demons). Those very same power can also be used to end quori possession just as effectively. It's a shame that most of the people working of the Silver Flame are unaware of the Quori and the Dreaming Dark's plans for Eberron.

** Ghosts in some editions could do this, and it's the signature trick of the odem, a type of disembodied evil spirit from the [[Ravenloft]] setting.

** The ''magic jar'' spell, which has been part of the game since the first edition and allows even humans to play the part of demonic-possessor-from-the-soul-jar.

* ''[[GURPS]]: Creatures of the Night'' has a... thing that uses some sort of cosmic power to possess entire buildings.

* ''[[Shadowrun]]'': Certain extraplanar spirits are unable to remain in Earth's astral space without weakening unless they can anchor themselves to a human host. Bugs Spirits and Shedim, for example.

** Nomads as well: Astral beings that possess their hosts and make them murder other people.

 

== Video Games ==

* In ''[[Xenogears]]'', Miang, a servant of Deus, can possess any woman with her genetic material. Since she's [[Adam and Eve Plot|her planet's "Eve"]], that means effectively any woman. Ironically, the two main characters are using the very same MO to reincarnate themselves over and over: The Irony being that, Elly now has the genetic material of her first incarnation and Miang's genetic material.

* ''[[Soul Nomad and The World Eaters]]''

** The [[New Game+]] has {{spoiler|the demon path, where you willingly give in to Gig's influence, much to his delight; until you ''out-evil'' him}}.

** {{spoiler|[[Complete Monster|Raksha]] bought two slave children then [[Break the Cutie|broke them]] so he could inhabit their soulless bodies...and then he starts to really be a jerk.}}

* Nicholai Conrad in ''[[Shadow Hearts]] Covenant'' gets a nice power boost by making a certain [[Deal with the Devil]]. At first, he has a great control over his demon (due to his massive ego), but when he gets captured and experimented on by the Japanese army, he is weakened enough that he is overtaken by Astaroth, the fallen angel of vanity and sloth.

* Two characters are possessed by a demon in ''Phantasmagoria''. The original host, magician Zoltan Carnovash, murders his wives under its influence, and is finally killed by the final victim's lover during a rigged stage performance. The forcibly exorcised demon returns to the spellbook from where it was summoned, which another character places inside the small chapel and weighted under a large Bible. Much later, protagonist Adrienne Delaney stumbles upon the chapel and curiously looks inside the spellbook, unknowingly releasing the demon which proceeds to possess her husband Donald Gordon, who starts exhibiting increasingly violent tendencies until the final chapter has him trying very hard to kill Adrienne.

** {{spoiler|Just in time to be forced to beat up his [[Implied Love Interest]], that's it}}.

* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'':

** There is a Boss in the Serpentshrine Cavern instance. His name is Leotheras the Blind, and while he's an incredible danger all on his own, There exists an unnamed demon within him that occasionally transforms his body into a Chernabog-like creature and throws spells that can decimate any party member not specifically geared to survive his attacks. When Leo is nearly defeated, the Demon leaves the host, and the raid group has to fight them both simultaneously.

** This is [[The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages|Veran's]] trademark. First is the Oracle Nayru and then {{spoiler|Queen Ambi.}}

*** And Impa, briefly before possessing Nayru.

* This is one of the more frustrating strange moods in ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]''. Not because the dwarf does something unpleasant (that's fell moods), but because ''they don't get experience for whatever it is they make''.

* In one of the endings of ''[[Ogre Battle]]'', {{spoiler|the demon Galf possesses your victorious character, ruling the now united continent in your name.}}

* Early on in ''Muramasa: The Demon Blade'', Momohime gets possessed by a demon named Jinkuro, forcing her original soul out of her body. An evil monk then steals the soul to give to a giant demon, and Momohime-Jinkuro has to rush to get it back, because if the original soul is destroyed, then Momohime's body will wither and die, leaving him once again without a vessel.

* [[Tear Jerker|Tragically done]] AND [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|gloriously inverted]] in ''[[Arc the Lad]] II'': {{spoiler|the [[Big Bad]] manage to take control of Kukuru and "absorb" her, only to discover that Arc's Girlfriend's soul is stronger than his own: she promptly inverts the demonic possession and gives Arc the time to seal him again}}

** The final fight of the first game has {{spoiler|[[Big Bad|Sovereign]] ''melt'' the flesh off [[The Dragon|Saren's]] corpse to fight Commander Shepard with Saren's cybernetic implants}}.

** '''''"[[Boss in Mooks Clothing|ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL!!!]]"''''' [[Memetic Mutation|Sound familiar?]] [[BioWare/Memes|It should]].

** And Nemissa did it before either in ''[[Soul Hackers]]''. Kinda subverted in that she leaves when she realizes it's necessary. And the possessee still has pretty much control over herself, limiting how much damage Nemissa can do. Later, {{spoiler|Spooky}} is taken over by Satanael, who later decides to take on the party... by ''blowing his way out of the victim's body''. '''''And he doesn't make it all the way out.'''''

** Before [[Devil Survivor]] but after Nocturne, the [[Light Is Not Good|Four Seraphs]] and [[Knight Templar|Metatron]] joined in, converting five poor saps into their physical bodies through the Demon Virus and obliterating their memories and personalities, making it a horrific combo between Type 1 and 2.

* [[Sonic Unleashed]]: you can converse with the townsfolk in the hub worlds, and some of them at night become possessed by Dark Gaia monsters, who make them either depressed, apathetic, or weirdly for some normally serious characters, laid-back and happy. As side missions, you can perform 'exorcisms' on them by flashing them with a camera and then defeating their "demons."

* In ''[[Super Robot Wars NEO]]'', Amane Inaba gets possessed by {{spoiler|Larva}}

* ''[[Shadow of the Colossus]]'' has {{spoiler|Wander}} gradually possessed by Dormin.

* Wonderfully [[Inverted Trope|inverted]] in ''[[Summon Night]] Sword Craft Story 2'' where a ''demon'' girl is possessed by an ''angel'' girl. The later only comes out when the former goes too far on the [[Tsundere|tsun side]] however.

* Several characters from ''[[Shining the Holy Ark]]'' are possessed by evil spirits. Notably the King and one of your former allies. The spirits are mostly invisible but a certain spell can bring them into corporeal form; enabling you to sever their connection to the host and their life expectancy.

 

== Webcomics ==

** [http://mag-isa.thecomicseries.com/comics/pl/119127 American soldier] in prologue gets possessed.

** [http://mag-isa.thecomicseries.com/comics/pl/119534 Priest exorcises a demon who attacks him].

* There are a few of these floating around the ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' universe, most notably K'Z'K the Vowelless.

* This is the major plot point in [[Garanos]].

* [[The Dragon Doctors]]: While initially believed to be an alien, {{spoiler|the Crax}} is later revealed to be {{spoiler|the manifestation of a [[Complete Monster|sociopathic]] man who learned how to become [[Immortality Immorality|immortal]] by taking over other people's bodies. Did we mention he's become what is basically [[Body Horror|sapient cancer]]?}}

* [[Drowtales]]: There's basically two levels of demonic possession. First, there's tainting. This is generally done in a controlled manner, so that the demon will not progress to the next level. It leaves the host in full control, while making sure that she can't be possessed accidentally in a more dangerous manner. Very weak taints can sometimes be reversed. Tainting also is generally used to dull fear and pain. In the full form of possession, the demon has full control, and the host's body commonly [[Body Horror|deforms]]. Both forms leave the host with [[Red Eyes, Take Warning|red eyes]].

 

== Web Original ==

* In the ''[[League of Intergalactic Cosmic Champions]]'', Mr. Obvious had been possessed by Asmodeus Beelzebub.

* ''[[Tech Infantry]]'' has the Caal, a long-extinct alien race whose souls somehow stuck around, and tend to possess other life forms. Humans possessed by the Caal are granted supernatural strength and other powers, to the extent that they are described as being able to ''walk through tanks'', but are of course also completely mind-controlled by the Caal.

* [[The Reveal]] in ''[[The Princess 99]]'' shows that the assassin, {{spoiler|Axel}}, had been possessed by a demon {{spoiler|she gets better via forcibly removal of said demon}}.

* [[Shiny Objects Videos]]: A toaster gets possessed in the aptly-titled "Possessed Toaster".

* ''[[Tasakeru]]'': {{spoiler|[[Innocent Flower Girl|Hanami]] is possessed by the spirit of the [[Big Bad]] in Book IV. Said [[Big Bad]] possesses [[Church Militant|the head of the]] [[The Order|Silver Order]] two books later.}}

* [[The Nostalgia Critic]] gets possessed by the devil in one of his fights with the Nerd, and only Super Mecha Death Christ is able to defeat him.

* The original ''[[Transformers]]'' series has Starscream become a ghost after he dies, and over the span of two series possesses other transformers (Cyclonis, Scourge in G1 and Waspinator in ''[[Beast Wars]]'').

** Poked fun at wonderfully [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKCREMr7WV0 here].

* A heroic example is Raven from ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' who is [[Half-Human Hybrid|half-demon]]. She usually [[Mind Over Manners|limits her use of this power]], on one occasion possessing Robin to help him when he was having a [[Your Mind Makes It Real|very bad trip]], and [[Blob Monster|Plasmus]] twice, in both cases instantly making him [[Your Head Asplode|asplode]].

* In ''[[Wakfu]]'' there exist Shushus, which are demons [[Sealed Evil in a Can|trapped inside of objects]]. However, they can possess people through their weakness or even their own volition, and [[Idiot Hero|Shushu guardian Sadlygrove]] has this happen more than once.

 

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{{reflist}}

[[Category:Infernal Tropes]]

[[Category:Paranormal Tropes]]

[[Category:Face Monster Turn]]

[[Category:Split Personality Tropes]]

[[Category:Demonic Possession]]