Deprogram: Difference between revisions

One especially horrifying bit of [[Nightmare Fuel]] happens when a character is [[Brainwashed]], hypnotized, or thoroughly messed up psychologically the good old fashioned way. While everyone imagines they'll be [[Heroic Willpower|able to resist]] or be [[Cooldown Hug|snapped out of it]] by a friend crying out "[["I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight|I know you're in there somewhere, fight!]]", this isn't always the case. A villain who does their laundry with care and thorougly [[Laser -Guided Amnesia|bleaches]], [[Mind Rape|softens]], [[More Than Mind Control|rinses]] and [[Brainwashed and Crazy|dry-cleans]] the brains they wash will give their victim's brains incredible resistance against [[The Evils of Free Will|free will spills]], [[The Power of Love|love stains]], and [[The Power of Friendship|friendship fudge.]] Meaning that restrained heroes will still be brainwashed and pose a serious danger to them. The solution is [[Deprogramming]].

In real life, deprogrammers resorted to questionable, and often cruel lengths to do their job. What most people think of with deprogramming is more akin to therapy and "exit counseling" in that it attempts to help the person come to terms with what's happened, not forcibly change their mind. While fiction may follow this route, it's also likelier to be complemented with a good old round of [[Epiphany Therapy]], a [[Battle in Thethe Center of Thethe Mind]], "sunbathing" under a [[Care Bear Stare]], and [[Easy Amnesia|a quick blow to the head]] ([[Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!|in one form or another)]].

The net result is that the character is now good as new!... except for the part where they'll [[My God, What Have I Done?|freak out when they realize they (could have) hurt their friends.]] To make things worse, once a victim of [[Mind Control]] is freed there will always be that niggling feeling that [[Brainwash Residue|there remains residual programming]], or the former brainwasher can do it again. Because of this there's the chance of the character being [[Reformed but Rejected]] because of a potential [[Pygmalion Snapback]].

{{examples|Examples:}}

{{quote| ''Ward, the Beaver blew up another Dairy Queen today!''}}

* ''Let Our Children Go'' by Ted Patrick is about the author's practice of old-fashioned deprogramming of young cult members, including kidnapping, imprisonment, and violence. [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Patrick:Ted Patrick|The other Wiki]] declared him as "widely considered to be the `father of deprogramming.'" He was given the moniker "Black Lightning."

* ''[[Star Trek: theThe Next Generation]]'' and ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' both dealt with deprogramming Borg, which surprisingly did not lead to a ''literal'' deprogramming considering their cyborg nature.

* ''[[Vampire: The Requiem]]'' actually provides ''two'' game systems for deprogramming victims of the the Dominate power "Conditioning" and the VII faction of Sleepers who create vampire blood based brainwashing. Some of the brainwashing powers even provide their own cure; one of the side effects of The Forgetful Mind (which covers up another person's memories) is that it allows you to uncover a person's buried memories, even if you weren't the one who buried them in the first place.

* In [[Metal Gear Solid]]'s [[Strategy Guide|official mission handbook]], there is a section at the beginning of the game profiling all the major characters, complete with stats and a biography. For [[Master of Disguise|Decoy Octupus's ]] entry, it notes at the end that "The stress and combination of getting into character lead to Decoy Octopus becoming confused and [[Becoming the Mask|almost completely changing into the person he mimics]] In order to protect himself, every time he disguises himself as someone else, he asks the military for an extensive mental deprogramming afterwards." Based on the tone, it gives the impression that this sort of thing happens on a regular or reoccurring basis.

* ''[[Last Res 0 rtRes0rt]]'' has Gabriel, a doctor who specializes in exit counseling to help people leave the Church of the Endless. He attempts to offer his services to Jigsaw, except {{spoiler|she's not one of the Endless -- she just has [[Go Among Mad People|an emergency "soul shell" that makes her appear to be one]], but actually hides her vampire identity. She didn't put it on, so she doesn't know how to take it off.}} Oh, and did we mention he's also a Celeste...

* ''[[Bastard Operator From Hell]]'' had [http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/09/28/bofh_episode_33/ an episode] where [[Bastard Understudy|PFY]] discovered that one colleague was a Mac User -- andUser—and he seemed like a normal person. For years he'd been living a lie! So, that's the only solution. And then PFY himself turned out to be {{spoiler|an Archimedes user}} -- and—and promptly got zapped and strapped to a wheely chair by caring BOFH.

* Aang and the gang tried this with {{spoiler|Jet}} from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''. Results were mixed.

* Hank had a problem with this in ''[[King of the Hill]]''. His niece AND wife had been tricked into joining a high school sorority that was into [[Brainwashing]] it's members. Hank saved the day with {{spoiler|meat}}.

* ''[[The Simpsons (Animationanimation)|The Simpsons]]'': When Homer & family joined the Movementarians cult, he was rinsed with one drop of beer, and Bart, Lisa & Maggie were converted back to normal by the promise of hoverbikes.

* After {{spoiler|Tim Drake was tortured and brainwashed by the Joker}} in ''[[Return of the Joker]]'', it is mentioned offhand that it took well over a year of intense therapy to make him sane again. Judging by some of his reactions, he still isn't entirely over it some 40-5040–50 years later.

* This is supposed to help victims of [[Stockholm Syndrome]] and indoctrination (such as with [[Child Soldiers]] or members of [[Cult|Cults]]s) become free from the psychological grip of their tormentors. Originally, deprogrammings tended to involve [[Nightmare Fuel|kidnapping, and confinement, as well as violence and other types of psychological abuses (including in the worst cases, rape)]], which is why many detractors of the technique would say that it is really just ''[[He Who Fights Monsters|reverse]]'' brainwashing. However, after the public got wind of those practices through various court cases (one of which involved the attempted deprogramming of a Catholic nun), and got upset, those types of deprogrammings have become less common ([https://web.archive.org/web/20120318233840/http://www.religiousfreedom.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=391&Itemid=399 although still done in some countries]).

[[Category:TropeMind Manipulation Tropes]]