Heel Face Brainwashing: Difference between revisions

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Someone who breaks the brainwashing that put him in a Heel Face [[Mind Screw]], if he doesn't decide on his own to stay good (the [[Power of Friendship]] [[Department of Redundancy Department|is powerful]]) similar to [[Amnesiac Dissonance]], will likely be [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge|a more formidable enemy than before]] out of [[Pygmalion Snapback|righteous indignation]]. If they have some special powers, [[Bad Powers, Bad People|it's much more likely that they'll break the brainwashing after exhibiting said powers]].

On occasion, happens as part of a [[Memory Gambit]]. May be induced with a [[Mirror Morality Machine]]. The brainwashing can sometimes involve [[Mind Rape]] or (oddly) a [[Care Bear Stare]], though not always. However, if it ''does'' involve [[Mind Rape]], expect even more [[Black and Grey Morality]]. Compare [[Brainwashing for ~~The~~ Greater Good]] and [[Deprogram]]ming and contrast [[Face Monster Turn]].

On occasion, happens as part of a [[Memory Gambit]]. May be induced with a [[Mirror Morality Machine]]. The brainwashing can sometimes involve [[Mind Rape]] or (oddly) a [[Care Bear Stare]], though not always. However, if it ''does'' involve [[Mind Rape]], expect even more [[Black and Grey Morality]]. Compare [[Brainwashing for the Greater Good]] and [[Deprogram]]ming and contrast [[Face Monster Turn]].

It should be noted that if any kind of brainwashing is successful in turning a person from one side to the opposing side, the brainwashee will automatically consider the change (by virtue of the brainwashing itself) to be a [[Heel Face Turn]], no matter what the real case is.

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== Anime and Manga ==

* In ''[[~~Death Note (Manga)|~~Death Note]]'', {{spoiler|Light did this to himself in a [[Memory Gambit]], although he merely intended to "prove" his innocence by helping to catch the "real" Kira. He planned to provide himself with a way to reverse his [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]] after he had earned the good guys' trust}}

* In ''[[Death Note]]'', {{spoiler|Light did this to himself in a [[Memory Gambit]], although he merely intended to "prove" his innocence by helping to catch the "real" Kira. He planned to provide himself with a way to reverse his [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]] after he had earned the good guys' trust}}

* In ''[[Code Geass]] R2'', Lelouch Geasses a ''lot'' of people into {{spoiler|accepting him as Emperor}}. Since by this point in the story the [[Black and Gray Morality]] has turned into a soupy mess, whether this is a [[Heel Face Turn]], a [[Face Heel Turn]], a [[Mook Face Turn]], or [[Heel Face Index|what]] is up for a lot of interpretation. Before that point, the most he'd done was [[Mind Control]] people into doing specific tasks for him, not actually compel them to switch sides against their will.

** Less morally ambiguously, this happens to {{spoiler|Viletta Nu}} who develops [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]] and is taken in by a nice guy (who happens to be a rebel) who does his best to take care of her.

* In ''[[~~Dragonball~~]] Z'' this happens... sort of... when Goku has Buu resurrected as a good person, though technically he's not actually being controlled. He's simply been reincarnated with all of the power retained, but all the evil cleansed from his soul between lives.

* In ''[[Dragon Ball]] Z'' this happens... sort of... when Goku has Buu resurrected as a good person, though technically he's not actually being controlled. He's simply been reincarnated with all of the power retained, but all the evil cleansed from his soul between lives.

* If I recall correctly, [[Sailor Moon|Neo Queen Serenity]] wanted to cleanse the evil out of her subjects. Those who didn't like the idea of being [[Mind Rape|Mind]] <s>Raped</s> [[Unusual Euphemism|Gently Massaged]] left the Moon and became the Black Moon Clan.

** Made a bit clearer in the books, where it's less this, and more the fact that she sent away a guy who was a serial killer, and said villain happened to have kids somehow.

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* ''[[Fairy Tail]]'' has the superweapon Nirvana, which can deal these out en masse (as well as [[Brainwashed and Crazy|making good guys evil]]). While it's used by the villlains (and a bunch of people spontaneously changing their alignment is recognized as a bad thing), one of the villains is hit by accident, and no one sees the brainwashing as wrong. It helps that it was an accident, the heroes weren't actually involved, and the villain was revealed to be a [[Fallen Hero]] anyway.

* The titular protagonist of ''[[Kajika]]'' has the ability to literally punch the evil out of people, which he does to a few villains who offend him. A couple of secondary characters who get caught up in the events see him do this, and he politely asks if they want him to help them get rid of their evil, too, but they nervously turn down the offer.

* This is how [[Knight Templar|Dartz]] actually recruits new members of Doma during the fourth season of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh]]''.

* This is how [[Knight Templar|Dartz]] actually recruits new members of Doma during the fourth season of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]''.

* In ''[[Naruto]]'', {{spoiler|Itachi}} does this to ''himself''. That was an accident, though. {{spoiler|He meant for it to happen to Sasuke. Itachi didn't count on being revived as a mind-controlled zombie.}} And since [[It Only Works Once]], his plan was ruined.

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* One of the key revelations of ''[[Identity Crisis]]'' was that the Justice League had been doing this to its villains. Doctor Light, in particular, made something akin to a Heel Mook Turn before having his memory restored and becoming a legitimate threat again. Who likes to rape.

** Not ''exactly'' true. Certain members of the Justice League had been secretly erasing villain's ''memories'' when they learned heroes' identities, and it was only after Dr. Light raped Sue Dibny (and swore to do it again to anyone within reach) that they tried to [[Heel Face Mind Screw]] him. Then Batman showed up and, when he protested, [[Moral Event Horizon|they mind wiped him]]. They notably don't do that anymore, especially after all of that came into the light.

* At the end of [[Chris Claremont]]'s run on ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'', Magneto finds out that Moira MacTaggert had a procedure like this to him after he was turned into a child during one of his many zany schemes for world conquest. Thinking that this was the reason for his [[Heel Face Turn]], he uses the procedure on one of the X-Men teams for a [[Face Heel Turn]], but finds out that the use of mutant powers quickly reverse the effects of the procedure. (A matter of minutes.) Then he [[Disney Death|dies]] but he got better, and becomes a one-dimensional cliched villain again who later uses drugs because being bad wasn't bad enough then [[Off ~~With~~ His Head|dies again]] (but it wasn't ''really'' him this time) until Claremont finally got a hold of him for some [[Character Rerailment]] in the relaunch of Excalibur. {{spoiler|Don't worry, after Claremont's Excalibur he becomes a one-dimensional cliched villain again.}}

* At the end of [[Chris Claremont]]'s run on ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'', Magneto finds out that Moira MacTaggert had a procedure like this to him after he was turned into a child during one of his many zany schemes for world conquest. Thinking that this was the reason for his [[Heel Face Turn]], he uses the procedure on one of the X-Men teams for a [[Face Heel Turn]], but finds out that the use of mutant powers quickly reverse the effects of the procedure. (A matter of minutes.) Then he [[Disney Death|dies]] but he got better, and becomes a one-dimensional cliched villain again who later uses drugs because being bad wasn't bad enough then [[Off with His Head|dies again]] (but it wasn't ''really'' him this time) until Claremont finally got a hold of him for some [[Character Rerailment]] in the relaunch of Excalibur. {{spoiler|Don't worry, after Claremont's Excalibur he becomes a one-dimensional cliched villain again.}}

** Another X-Men example. Magneto kidnapped Xavier. Sadly, the X-Men were disassembled at the time. Jean Grey had to find a new team, and quickly. So she goes around asking for help to former allies and recruiting unknown, unexperienced mutants. Also, she acknowledges that one of Magneto's lieutenants, Frenzy, has been captured by the US Army. Not only does Jean enter her mind to get the info she needs on Genosha (Magneto's island) and its defenses, but she thinks that having a superpowered guide in that hellhole would be a good idea, so she just rewrites Frenzy's mind and makes her an X-Men enthusiast (so fanatically devoted to the X-Men cause, all of a sudden, that it was creepy).

*** Guess what was the [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge|reaction]] of a character named Frenzy, after she found out that the ''"good guys"'' brainwashed her...

* ''[[Ghost Rider ~~(Comic Book)~~|Ghost Rider's]]'' [[Mind Rape|Penance Stare]] occasionally has this effect, although forcing people to feel all the pain they have inflicted on the innocent is more a [[Thou Shalt Not Kill|punishment]] than anything else.

* ''[[Ghost Rider|Ghost Rider's]]'' [[Mind Rape|Penance Stare]] occasionally has this effect, although forcing people to feel all the pain they have inflicted on the innocent is more a [[Thou Shalt Not Kill|punishment]] than anything else.

* This, and all of its myriad [[Unfortunate Implications]], was a huge part of Mark Gruenwald's ''[[Squadron Supreme]]'' series. The Squadron (an [[Expy]] of the [[Justice League]]) institute brainwashing as the all-purpose punishment for crimes. The [[Black and Grey Morality]] of the series shows the brainwashing being a good thing for one character (who was just misguided to begin with and stays a good guy after the brainwashing is undone), and tragic for two others (one of whom becomes irreversibly catatonic after running into a contradiction in her programming).

* In Volume 5 of ''[[Empowered (Comic Book)|Empowered]]'', {{spoiler|we find out that Mind**** <s>did</s> habitually does this... to herself.}}

* In an issue of Swedish children's comic [[Bamse]], notorious villain Krösus Sork is given a drink that makes him temporarily kind and generous.

* In the [[X Men]] [[Spin-Off]] ''[[Exiles (Comic Book)|Exiles]]'', the reality-altering, body-swapping villain Proteus {{spoiler|takes over [[Shapeshifting|Morph's]] body, which doesn't degrade like other bodies Proteus inhabits do. The team manage to use some [[Applied Phlebotinum]] (from the world of the [[Squadron Supreme]] mentioned above, in fact) in order to brainwash Proteus into [[Becoming the Mask|thinking he IS Morph]]. However, the ramifications of this action are explored in future issues.}} It does help that Proteus WAS planning on making the entire universe his plaything.

* In the [[X-Men]] [[Spin-Off]] ''[[Exiles (Comic Book)|Exiles]]'', the reality-altering, body-swapping villain Proteus {{spoiler|takes over [[Shapeshifting|Morph's]] body, which doesn't degrade like other bodies Proteus inhabits do. The team manage to use some [[Applied Phlebotinum]] (from the world of the [[Squadron Supreme]] mentioned above, in fact) in order to brainwash Proteus into [[Becoming the Mask|thinking he IS Morph]]. However, the ramifications of this action are explored in future issues.}} It does help that Proteus WAS planning on making the entire universe his plaything.

* When [[Martian Manhunter|J'onn J'onzz]] undoes a mental block that makes him afraid of fire and unconsciously sends himself into a [[Face Heel Turn]], one of his first "evil" acts is to use his mental powers to perform this on various criminals. Inmates in high class prisons begin watching Sesame Street, the patients in Arkham are suddenly overcome with grief over their crimes and have to be restrained from committing suicide, KKK members begin lynching ''themselves,'' and [[Lex Luthor]] (at the time president) is put into a coma.

* The entire Indigo Lantern Corps. Their rings specifically seek out people who lack compassion for others such as Black Hand and ''force'' them to feel it. The rings also use their ability to manipulate other emotions on the emotion spectrum to control the feelings of the Indigo Lanterns (the Indigo entity itself, however, averts this and seeks out hosts who are already compassionate).

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== Fan Works ==

* Done in ''[[Kyon: ~~Big Damn Hero (Fanfic)|Kyon~~ Big Damn Hero]]'' to {{spoiler|Asakura Ryouko}}. It was considered a better option than {{spoiler|killing her or waiting for her to come back and try to kill Kyon yet again.}}

* Done in ''[[Kyon: Big Damn Hero]]'' to {{spoiler|Asakura Ryouko}}. It was considered a better option than {{spoiler|killing her or waiting for her to come back and try to kill Kyon yet again.}}

** Technically, she wasn't brainwashed. Haruhi thought that brainwashing was not cool.

* The [[Villain Protagonist]] of the ''[[Mass Effect]]'' fanfic "The Council Era" is growing an army of dezba from the DNA of one of his Mooks. He intends to surgically alter their genetic thought process in order to "civilize" them, so that they will serve the Citadel against the krogan during the war. They were an almost [[Always Chaotic Evil]] race beforehand, so he's somewhat justified.

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== Film ==

* In ''[[101 Dalmatians ~~(Disney)~~|102 Dalmatians]]'', this is tried on Cruella de Vil. This being a [[Disney]] film, it works until [[Status Quo Is God|it's broken]], and then...

* In ''[[101 Dalmatians|102 Dalmatians]]'', this is tried on Cruella de Vil. This being a [[Disney]] film, it works until [[Status Quo Is God|it's broken]], and then...

* This is done to Foxy Loxy at the end of ''[[~~Chicken Little (Disney)|~~Chicken Little]]'', for extra [[Broken Aesop]]-ness.

* This is done to Foxy Loxy at the end of ''[[Chicken Little]]'', for extra [[Broken Aesop]]-ness.

* ''[[Star Wars]] - [[Attack of the Clones]]'': [[Jedi Mind Trick|"You don't want to sell me deathsticks". "I don't want to sell you deathsticks". "You want to go home and rethink your life". "I want to go home and rethink my life"]]. Granted, all he was made to do was go home and have a good think, it was perfectly within the dude's power afterwards to decide for himself that selling deathsticks is a pretty good gig after all, if that's what he really wanted out of life.

** He turns up in one of the later Boba Fett books, and guess what? {{spoiler|He stills sells deathsticks. And weapons.}}

* At the end of ''[[The Neverending Story (~~Film~~)|The Neverending Story]] II'', Bastian uses his final magic wish to ask that the nearly omnipotent [[Big Bad]] gain "a heart". She's so struck with grief at what she's done that she proceeds to fix all the evils carried out in the rest of the film.

* At the end of ''[[The Neverending Story (film)|The Neverending Story]] II'', Bastian uses his final magic wish to ask that the nearly omnipotent [[Big Bad]] gain "a heart". She's so struck with grief at what she's done that she proceeds to fix all the evils carried out in the rest of the film.

** This troper got the impression that Xayide's new heart caused her to have a lethal [[My God, What Have I Done?]] moment, and the undoing of everything she'd done to Fantasia was a case of [[No Ontological Inertia]].

* ''Stargate: [[The Ark of Truth]]''. The Ark is a brainwashing device that's the only way to stop the [[Scary Dogmatic Aliens|Ori worshippers]] from taking over the galaxy. The moral objections are raised, but in the end ignored.

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** Pumping the [[Family-Unfriendly Aesop|Family Unfriendliness]] up a notch is a double subversion of [[Beauty Equals Goodness]]: What originally caused Jim to stay his hand upon meeting Angelina was her striking beauty. However, {{spoiler|a locket he found strongly implies that her good looks are ALSO entirely the result of surgery. He smashes the locket right in front of her}}.

* In ''[[The Riftwar Cycle]]'', the dark and light elves are the same people, separated by culture and morality. The dark elves live in the frozen north, the light elves in Elvandar, a magical forest created by their Spellweavers. It's possible for a dark elf to hear the "Call of Elvandar" and over a span of years, culminating in a single, sudden switch, convert to the other side. The conversion involves a full-scale [[Loss of Identity]], complete with taking on a different name. Their previous self is explicitly said to be considered dead by all involved. Due to the [[Protagonist-Centered Morality]], however, this more questionable side of the light elves is never explored.

* ''[[A Clockwork Orange (~~Literature~~)|A Clockwork Orange]]'' is a possible [[Ur Example]] and also an [[Unbuilt Trope]] - [[Villain Protagonist]] Alex is conditioned to have strongly adverse reactions to the mere thought of sex or violence, and it pretty clearly ruins his life.

* ''[[A Clockwork Orange (novel)|A Clockwork Orange]]'' is a possible [[Ur Example]] and also an [[Unbuilt Trope]] - [[Villain Protagonist]] Alex is conditioned to have strongly adverse reactions to the mere thought of sex or violence, and it pretty clearly ruins his life.

** Unusual in that Alex seems to remain the same [[Complete Monster]] he was before the treatment: his brainwashing just prevents him from acting on it. In effect, it's more of a [[Restraining Bolt]].

** Which was the [[An Aesop|entire point of the story]]: if you ''force'' someone to be good against their will, then they aren't really a good person.

** And when Alex does become a [[Retired Monster]] (depending on what version of the story you're reading) in the end, it's not because of the conditioning but because he just doesn't find wanton violence fun anymore. Which was the reason the rest of his droogs eventually gave up the life and something that was already starting to happen with Alex even before the brainwashing.

* In Craig Shaw Gardner's ''Cineverse Cycle'', Captain Crusader (known by various names in the Cineverse's many B-movie worlds) has a habit of spouting vaguely relevant [[An Aesop|Aesops]] when encountered. It's eventually discovered by the main cast that hearing these has profound psychological effects on anybody native to the Cineverse, sometimes including the power to instantly convert mooks and minor villains. As all villains in the Cineverse are the [[Card-Carrying Villain|card-carrying]] variety, who get their mooks from Central Casting, the [[Heel Face Mind Screw]] is here played as straight as possible.

* In an instance where the title itself is a spoiler, Alfred Bester's ''[[~~The Demolished Man (Literature)|~~The Demolished Man]]'' refers to a future America's use of a punishment along these lines. It involves utterly breaking someone mentally and then rebuilding them into a model citizen. {{spoiler|this ends up happening to the [[Villain Protagonist]]}} It's commented that the old punishment of execution is barbaric and pointless when a person could contribute to society if the bad was drained from them.

* In an instance where the title itself is a spoiler, Alfred Bester's ''[[The Demolished Man]]'' refers to a future America's use of a punishment along these lines. It involves utterly breaking someone mentally and then rebuilding them into a model citizen. {{spoiler|this ends up happening to the [[Villain Protagonist]]}} It's commented that the old punishment of execution is barbaric and pointless when a person could contribute to society if the bad was drained from them.

* This is pretty much the effect of a Confessor's power in the ''[[Sword of Truth]]'' series. Said power being to make whoever is Touched [[The Power of Love|love the Confessor]] so much that they'll do ''anything'' for her. So someone could be fanatically devoted to gutting the Confessor one second, then fanatically devoted to saving her the next. This is typically only used in self defense.

** During the series proper; in the setting prior a Confessor's duties normally included being on call to do this to convicted criminals, prisoners of unknown guilt to be interrogated, and accused people who request this as the only way to conclusively prove their ''innocence'' (lie-detector magic doesn't seem to exist). Differing regions had different stances on the practice, but there was evidently steady work for a considerable number of Confessors.

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* In the ''[[Foundation]]'' novels, the Mule is a terrifying, unpredicted mutant who has the power to conquer worlds by brainwashing their leaders into liking him. He effortlessly topples the First Foundation with nothing but this ability. The Second Foundation eventually beats him by, uh, brainwashing him. Into being a nice guy. Really, though, the Foundation is never exactly portrayed as morally good. Its survival is simply considered necessary.

* In a supreme irony, a [[Knight Templar]] who engages in this behavior in ''[[Charles Stross|Glasshouse]]'' is forced to reprogram herself so she believes it's wrong to change people like this. Decide for yourself whether that's hypocrisy or [[Karma]].

* In ''[[Villains By Necessity]]'', this is the force driving the plot. The [[Anti-Villain]] / [[Anti-Hero]] main character doesn't want to have his free will stripped away by a do-good [[Knight Templar]] priest who has nearly driven all evil from the world using a magic brainwashing staff. However, this is in a [[Dungeons and Dragons]] type setting where the [[Balance Between Good and Evil]] is imperative, and the world will end when the last evil is wiped away. (The last evil is implied to be within the main party.)

* In ''[[Villains by Necessity]]'', this is the force driving the plot. The [[Anti-Villain]] / [[Anti-Hero]] main character doesn't want to have his free will stripped away by a do-good [[Knight Templar]] priest who has nearly driven all evil from the world using a magic brainwashing staff. However, this is in a [[Dungeons and Dragons]] type setting where the [[Balance Between Good and Evil]] is imperative, and the world will end when the last evil is wiped away. (The last evil is implied to be within the main party.)

** Considering that the world ending would be evil (and appears to be viewed as evil [[In Universe]]), it appears that the last evil would never be wiped away. Consequently, problem solved.

** Considering that the world ending would be evil (and appears to be viewed as evil [[In-Universe]]), it appears that the last evil would never be wiped away. Consequently, problem solved.

* In a noncanon ''[[Percy Jackson and The Olympians]]'' side story, Percy battles the Titan Iapetus near Lethe, the River of Forgetfulness. Percy dunks himself and Iapetus in the river. Percy, a son of Poseidon, stayed dry, and Iapetus is soaked so he forgets everything. He gets renamed Bob and even helps cure some nasty wounds.

** It ''is'' canon, or close enough. The stories have already influenced the canon books. Percy mentions in 5th book that he's seen Persephone in winter (which happened in the same story with Iapetus/Bob), and in ''[[The Heroes of Olympus]]'', the kids use the bronze dragon from one of the other stories as transportation for their quest.

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* In ''[[Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows]]'', Harry casts the Imperius Curse on a Death Eater. Granted, he only made the Death Eater play along with the Hermione-is-Bellatrix facade, but still! It could be seen that he had no other option, however--it was either use the Imperius curse or be revealed as imposters. The Order (and later Harry) also give Kreacher orders that are supposed to keep him from betraying them, knowing that he's really on the Death Eaters' side - as a House Elf, he can't help but obey.

** He's certainly a gray character at best, but Barty Crouch Sr. breaking his son out of Azkaban and then using the Imperius curse to control him could qualify, since his purpose was mainly to keep him from revealing himself and killing people/trying to resurrect Voldemort.

* ''[[~~Artemis Fowl (Literature)|~~Artemis Fowl]]''.

* ''[[Artemis Fowl]]''.

** Not really. Artemis turned good [[The Power of Friendship|because of his experiences with]] [[The Fair Folk|the People.]] After they mind wiped him, he turned evil again.

* Some of Heinlein's early works feature The Covenant (No, not [[Halo|that Covenant]]), a sort of updated super US Constitution. Either you're a peaceful member of society or you're cast into the wilderness with the other reprobates. If you don't want option B, you can get your mind psychologically reconditioned. This is a society in which psychology is like magic and they really can iron out the kinks and turn you into a different person. But they would never do that against your will, hence the wilderness option.

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== Live Action TV ==

* The entire first season of ''[[~~Viper (TV)|~~Viper]]''.

* The entire first season of ''[[Viper]]''.

* In the final episode of volume 4 of ''[[Heroes (TV)|Heroes]]'', {{spoiler|Matt Parkman brainwashes Sylar, turning him into Nathan Petrelli... post-[[Face Heel Turn|Face-He]][[Heel Face Turn|el-Face]] [[Heel Face Revolving Door|Reversion]], that is.}}

* In the final episode of volume 4 of ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'', {{spoiler|Matt Parkman brainwashes Sylar, turning him into Nathan Petrelli... post-[[Face Heel Turn|Face-He]][[Heel Face Turn|el-Face]] [[Heel Face Revolving Door|Reversion]], that is.}}

** And before that in volume 3, Ma Petrelli [[Mind Screw|Mind Screws]] Sylar into trying to be a hero by tricking him into believing she's his real mother.

** And in the last three episodes of volume 5, {{spoiler|Matt traps Sylar inside a hallucination of [[Your Worst Nightmare|an empty world]]. Sylar spends [[Year Inside, Hour Outside|two years]] alone in there until [[Idiot Hero|Peter]] goes in after him (because apparently, he's [[The Only One]] who can save Peter's [[Shipping|friend]] Emma). It takes them another [[Year Inside, Hour Outside|three years]] to find a way out, by which time Sylar has been thoroughly [[Heel Face Mind Screw|Heel Face Mind Screwed]].}}

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** Though at least the plan there was that the Wraiths-turned-human would promptly be killed by other Wraith (who would thus leave the existing humans alone for a while).

** Refreshingly, this particular case is treated as a monumentally stupid decision on the part of the Atlantis expedition, and recurring villain Micheal (the original test subject) repeatedly [[What the Hell, Hero?|calls them out]] on the immorality of the action.

* ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' gives us one episode where a recently widowed Daniel Jackson falls in love with the the brilliant young medical researcher and provisional leader of a [[Mind Wipe]]d and partly depopulated world as they investigate the cause of its people's current state. As it turns out? She's actually {{spoiler|Linnea, a seemingly kindly old woman who the heroes broke out from an alien jail with before learning she's a galactically infamous genocidal [[Mad Scientist]] in a previous episode. The whole situation is the result of an experiment she was conducting recently which de-aged and Mind Wiped the entire population}}. The kicker? After she [[Shmuck Bait|inevitably ends up succumbing to curiosity about her past]] and uses the memory-restoring plague cure she and Jackson were working on, they manage to get her to re-Mind Wipe herself before she [[Amnesiac Dissonance|succumbs to her rapidly returning memories]]. What do they do with this [[Sealed Evil in A Can|Sealed Evil In A Person]]? They send her BACK to the one planet in the galaxy where huge numbers of people now secretly knows who she is, to help produce and administer the very plague medicine that could turn her into a homicidal maniac at any moment.

* ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' gives us one episode where a recently widowed Daniel Jackson falls in love with the the brilliant young medical researcher and provisional leader of a [[Mind Wipe]]d and partly depopulated world as they investigate the cause of its people's current state. As it turns out? She's actually {{spoiler|Linnea, a seemingly kindly old woman who the heroes broke out from an alien jail with before learning she's a galactically infamous genocidal [[Mad Scientist]] in a previous episode. The whole situation is the result of an experiment she was conducting recently which de-aged and Mind Wiped the entire population}}. The kicker? After she [[Shmuck Bait|inevitably ends up succumbing to curiosity about her past]] and uses the memory-restoring plague cure she and Jackson were working on, they manage to get her to re-Mind Wipe herself before she [[Amnesiac Dissonance|succumbs to her rapidly returning memories]]. What do they do with this [[Sealed Evil in a Can|Sealed Evil In A Person]]? They send her BACK to the one planet in the galaxy where huge numbers of people now secretly knows who she is, to help produce and administer the very plague medicine that could turn her into a homicidal maniac at any moment.

** Actually, if I remember correctly, only the two people with her know who she really is, and they tell her she had a bad reaction to the cure, so she won't try it again.

* ''[[~~Farscape (TV)|~~Farscape]]'' has Durka, who established himself as a villain by torturing Rygel and turns up in a later episode having been brainwashed by aliens into a friendly, helpful person incapable of violence. {{spoiler|Rygel didn't believe he was really reformed, so he tried to kill Durka, which [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|ironically ended up breaking the mental conditioning and turning him evil again]].}}

* ''[[Farscape]]'' has Durka, who established himself as a villain by torturing Rygel and turns up in a later episode having been brainwashed by aliens into a friendly, helpful person incapable of violence. {{spoiler|Rygel didn't believe he was really reformed, so he tried to kill Durka, which [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|ironically ended up breaking the mental conditioning and turning him evil again]].}}

* ''[[Star Trek Voyager]]'' had an episode where the EMH accidentally corrected an anatomical defect in the brain of a serial killer on death row, giving the inmate the ability to feel guilt. However, this was more like a cure for sociopathy rather than straight-out brainwashing, and thus not really in the same negative sense as most other examples on this page.

* ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]]'' had an episode where the EMH accidentally corrected an anatomical defect in the brain of a serial killer on death row, giving the inmate the ability to feel guilt. However, this was more like a cure for sociopathy rather than straight-out brainwashing, and thus not really in the same negative sense as most other examples on this page.

** There is also an entire planet of telepaths where violent thought is punished by having said thoughts removed. The problem is that the person they want to do it to is B'Ellana Torres, a [[Half-Human Hybrid|half-Klingon]] whose violent thoughts make up a large chunk of her personality.

* Angel, from ''[[~~Angel (TV)|~~Angel]]'', would seem to qualify for this: the most evil vampire in history, he was given a soul by Gypsies against his will, and spent the rest of his life atoning for the horrible deeds he'd done. Except when he went evil again, and then, you guessed it, [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] ([[Omnicidal Maniac]], even). The difference, of course, being that the Gypsies weren't the good guys - they did it as the worst ''punishment'' they could think of, after he killed one of them.

* Angel, from ''[[Angel]]'', would seem to qualify for this: the most evil vampire in history, he was given a soul by Gypsies against his will, and spent the rest of his life atoning for the horrible deeds he'd done. Except when he went evil again, and then, you guessed it, [[Roaring Rampage of Revenge]] ([[Omnicidal Maniac]], even). The difference, of course, being that the Gypsies weren't the good guys - they did it as the worst ''punishment'' they could think of, after he killed one of them.

** Wait. Punishing "the most evil vampire in history" for murder means they aren't good guys?

*** They did include the clause "If you ever experience happiness again, you'll lose your soul again". They not only neutered his evil side, but also wanted his morally responsible side to suffer forever. Even going so far as to allow the whole thing to come undone, just so he himself would have to deny himself happiness because he wouldn't want to turn evil again (([[Sarcasm Mode|There's no way that could ever go wrong]]). I'd call that a tad bit too sadistic for "good guys".

** ''[[~~Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)|~~Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'''s Season 4 gives us {{spoiler|Spike's chip}} which is very much like ''[[A Clockwork Orange (~~Literature~~)|A Clockwork Orange]]'' in that it doesn't change the personality, just makes it impossible to hurt humans. {{spoiler|And then later in series, he actually does get his soul back. This does not necessarily make him a nice guy, though.}}

** ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'''s Season 4 gives us {{spoiler|Spike's chip}} which is very much like ''[[A Clockwork Orange (novel)|A Clockwork Orange]]'' in that it doesn't change the personality, just makes it impossible to hurt humans. {{spoiler|And then later in series, he actually does get his soul back. This does not necessarily make him a nice guy, though.}}

* At the end of ''[[Dollhouse]]'', the good guys {{spoiler|brainwash the [[Big Bad]]}}, which is revealed to be {{spoiler|Boyd(!!!)}}, into {{spoiler|blowing himself up with his own company.}} {{spoiler|They meant to just shoot him, it's just that the only gun they had was a mind-wiper, and, well, they were going to blow up the building anyway, so they might as well use him to do it...}}

* Zordon's purification of the villains in the ''[[Power Rangers in Space]]'' finale "Countdown to Destruction". Most of the villains are reduced to dust, but Zedd, Rita and Divatox become ordinary people (Karone survives too, but by that point brainwashing was the only thing keeping her ''evil'').

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== Video Games ==

* In ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'', it is eventually revealed that the [[Big Bad]] is actually {{spoiler|the player, who ends up on the good side after [[Laser-Guided Amnesia|losing his memories]]. [[It's Up to You]] whether [[The Power of Friendship]] prevails or not}}. This is a case where the questionable moral implications ''are'' pointed out, and it can be the motivation {{spoiler|if you decide to fall back to the Dark Side.}}

* Similar to the B5 example above, this is apparently the replacement for capital punishment in ''[[~~Xenosaga (Video Game)|~~Xenosaga]]''. Unfortunately, it doesn't always take & in at least one case wound up making the guy even crazier.

* Similar to the B5 example above, this is apparently the replacement for capital punishment in ''[[Xenosaga]]''. Unfortunately, it doesn't always take & in at least one case wound up making the guy even crazier.

** Partially because the guy was a {{spoiler|[[What Measure Is a Non-Human?|Artificial]] [[Super Soldier|War Realian-type construct]] left loose in normal society and had no outlet for the soldier-instincts}}, and that his lawyer/wife was just using him.

* In ''[[Starcraft]]'', Terran criminals that commit particularly brutal crimes undergo "neural resocialization" where their memories are essentially frosted over, and afterwards are usually drafted into the military as now-loyal Marines with a combat life expectancy of under 90 seconds. In the novels one marine regains his memories while aboard a ship. Bad things happen.

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* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|Zelenin]] from [[Strange Journey]] ''[[Invoked Trope|tries]]'' to save the [[Chaotic Evil]] [[Complete Monster|members of Jack's crew]] by transforming herself [[One-Winged Angel|into an angel]] whose song could make them all [[Lawful Good]]. [[Gone Horribly Right|It worked]]! Problem? {{spoiler|[[Deconstruction|The song is revealed to be a form]] of [[Mind Rape]], and the men were left as [[Empty Shell|Empty Shells]] only capable of mindlessly praising Zelenin and the Lord; this is also a [[Foreshadowing]] of the Law Faction's plans for [[World of Silence|the Schwarzwelt]]. The few men who retained a semblance of free will ended up more like [[Lawful Evil]] [[Knight Templar|Knight Templars]] - and it's possible Zelenin's act only led them to an even ''worse'' death.}}

** It becomes a point of contention with the crew at an earlier point {{spoiler|when it's revealed the MK Guns the ''Red Sprite'' carries are essentially brainwashing equipment. These are used as extremely effective weapons against [[Demonic Possession]], but that doesn't mean nobody imagines the implications of a gun designed to induce altered states of consciousness.}}

* In ''[[~~Age of Empires II (Video Game)|~~Age of Empires II]]'', priests can do this to enemy troops.

* In ''[[Age of Empires II]]'', priests can do this to enemy troops.

== Web Original ==

* In ''[[~~Fine Structure (Literature)|~~Fine Structure]]'', it is implied that {{spoiler|[[Big Good|Mitch Calrus]] transferred John Zhang's [[More Than Mind Control]]-induced loyalty to the [[Big Bad]] to himself, using the same power.}}

* In ''[[Fine Structure]]'', it is implied that {{spoiler|[[Big Good|Mitch Calrus]] transferred John Zhang's [[More Than Mind Control]]-induced loyalty to the [[Big Bad]] to himself, using the same power.}}

* The Legion in the [[MSF High]] setting, which has only come up in the RP, are naturally capable of doing this. They actually consider it very immoral, allowing it only in clear cases of self-defense, since they kinda went overboard with doing it beforehand. To the point where they weren't the 'Face'.

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* This happened in an episode of ''C.O.P.S.'', where one of the bad guys was forced by a judge to wear a headset that prevented her from thinking negative thoughts. Unlike most examples on this page, the good guys were very much against it and quite vocal about how immoral it was, citing free will and the fact it would not be true reform but rather something forced on her by a piece of technology (which of course fails at a critical plot point).

** ?by making the one sentenced to wear the headset so [[Lawful Stupid]] they let the episode's [[Villain of the Week]] go so they can chase a litterbug.

* In the 90s animated version of ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987 ~~(Animation)~~|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'', this once happens to Shredder. By accident. Except the trigger to turn the brainwashing on and off is the word "Shredder." So, of course, they go into a factory, which just happens to have a cheese shredder in it...

* In the 90s animated version of ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'', this once happens to Shredder. By accident. Except the trigger to turn the brainwashing on and off is the word "Shredder." So, of course, they go into a factory, which just happens to have a cheese shredder in it...

* In the original ''[[Transformers]]'' episode "The Core," Optimus and the Autobots suffer a ''major'' [[Out-of-Character Moment]] when they authorize Chip to use [[Mind Control]] Phlebotinum on the Constructicons. In fairness, another episode had revealed that the Constructicons were victims of a Decepticon [[Mirror Morality Machine]] and had originally been ''nice,'' but Chip's gizmo didn't reverse that, it appeared to be just enslaving them (although it really isn't clear; they don't get many lines during the brief time they're working for the 'Bots). Particularly glaring in light of the fact that the Constructicons' obvious camaraderie in this episode makes them seem downright [[Anti-Villain|sympathetic.]] [[Moral Dissonance|"Freedom is the right of all sentient beings" indeed!]]

** Also, about that episode that says the Constructicons were good once? Two other episodes give ''[[Multiple Choice Past|two other histories]]'' for the Constructicons, each backstory incompatible with the other two. [[They Just Didn't Care]] about continuity, so The Core being a followup to the earlier episode - which it didn't reference at all - would be ''entirely'' [[Out of Character]] for the writers. Odds are, The Core's writer had never even heard of the earlier story. In the episode itself, the decision was presented ''purely'' as Chip and the Autobots saying "Ooh, the Constructicons turn into a really strong [[Combining Mecha]]! What if it was ours?" and then going and whipping up some "dominator discs."

*** Interestingly Chip is disappointed that the Constructicons remain loyal to Megatron after escaping control, hoping they would learn something from their experience as an Autobot, laying some ambiguity as to whether the device was designed to enslave their mind or merely give them good will.

* [[The Venture Brothers]] does it with Sargent Hatred, when the OSI deletes pedophilia from his brain. Although it doesn't seem to have been 100% effective.

* [[Punch Clock Villain]] and/or [[Hero ~~With~~ an F In Good]] Shego from [[Kim Possible]] [[Heel Face Mind Screw|turns]] into the [[Tastes Like Diabetes|painfully sweet and kind]] Ms. Go after getting zapped by the [[Mirror Morality Machine|attitudinator]].

* [[Punch Clock Villain]] and/or [[Hero with an F In Good]] Shego from [[Kim Possible]] [[Heel Face Mind Screw|turns]] into the [[Tastes Like Diabetes|painfully sweet and kind]] Ms. Go after getting zapped by the [[Mirror Morality Machine|attitudinator]].

** This was, in fact, the second episode to feature the Attitudinator. The first had Drakken get temporarily turned to good.

* In one episode of ''[[The Dreamstone]]'', [[Big Bad|Zordrak]] takes a shortcut through [[Negative Space Wedgie|some kind of dimensional rift]] so that he can return to his body before it crumbles to dust. [[The Narrator]] is happy to inform the viewers that if he strays off course, his worst fears will come true, [[Tempting Fate|and sure enough,]] [[The Starscream|Urpgor]] comes through the vortex at the exact same time, knocking Zordrak off course and causing his worst fear to come true: he comes out the other end as "a very nice person", and stays that way long enough to admonish [[Terrible Trio|Blob, Frizz and Nug]] for stealing [[MacGuffin|the Dreamstone]] and send Urpgor back to return it (with "an apology and flowers"), along with suggesting a few other changes including a dancefloor and a more colorful reburbishment to his lair. He returns to normal after a piece of rubble lands on his head, and he's not happy when Urpgor triumphantly tells him what he's done...

** Also done in "Too Hot To Handle" when the Urpneys accidentally get a good dream flashed into their minds by the Dreamstone's magic beams, causing them to becoming extremely kindly and prissy, willingly handing back the stone to the Dream Maker and happily informing Zordrak of their actions...with the expected results.

** Done more directly in the first season finale, with the protagonists using magic to turn the Urpneys docile and nice. They seem to change back immediately after Blob and Urpgor evacuate them back to Viltheed the following episode.

* In ''[[~~Beast Machines (Animation)|~~Beast Machines]]'', the Maximals remove Megaton's mental conditioning on {{spoiler|Rhinox/Tankor}}, they are shocked to find that he actually agrees [[The Evils of Free Will|with him]]. [[The Lancer|Cheetor]] orders Rattap to reprogram him back to their side, but is overruled but by [[Honour Before Reason|Optimus]].

* In ''[[Beast Machines]]'', the Maximals remove Megaton's mental conditioning on {{spoiler|Rhinox/Tankor}}, they are shocked to find that he actually agrees [[The Evils of Free Will|with him]]. [[The Lancer|Cheetor]] orders Rattap to reprogram him back to their side, but is overruled but by [[Honour Before Reason|Optimus]].

* In a [[Darker and Edgier]] alternate universe of ''[[Justice League]]'', the villains of Arkham Asylum have become [[Empty Shell|model patients]] thanks to lobotomies ''from Superman's laser-eyes''.

* Pulled off both accidentally and in a very [[Mind Screw|mind-screwy]] manner in ''[[Legion of Super Heroes (TV)|Legion of Super Heroes]]'' with the added elements of shapeshifting and infiltration.

* Pulled off both accidentally and in a very [[Mind Screw|mind-screwy]] manner in ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (TV series)|Legion of Super Heroes]]'' with the added elements of shapeshifting and infiltration.

* A prison in ''[[Buzz Lightyear of Star Command]]'' uses technology to affect this change. It's [[Played for Laughs]] when the Galactic President muses about its potential in upcoming elections. Unfortunately, the makers of the brainwashing caps apparently decided to include a setting that had the ''reverse'' effect.

* In ''[[X Men Evolution]]'', [[Big Bad|Magneto]] did this to his daughter, Wanda, AKA the Scarlet Witch. Subverted, though, in that she was still a bad guy, she just didn't try to destroy Magneto any more.

* In ''[[X-Men: Evolution]]'', [[Big Bad|Magneto]] did this to his daughter, Wanda, AKA the Scarlet Witch. Subverted, though, in that she was still a bad guy, she just didn't try to destroy Magneto any more.

* ''[[Wizards]]'' - an assassin working for the villain is reprogrammed to fight for the good protagonists, later changing his name to "Peace" and proving instrumental in befalling the bad guy.

* In ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic ~~(Animation)~~|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'', the [[Fan Nickname|mane six]] use the Elements Of Harmony on Nightmare Moon to turn her good. Justified somewhat, as it was turning her back into her original, sane, Princess Luna persona. When the Elements Of Harmony are used on Discord, who was not originally good, it had a [[Taken for Granite|different effect]]. Also, according to [[Word of God|Lauren Faust]], there was an external entity involved in Nightmare Moon. [[God Does Not Own This World|As she's not making the show anymore]], it's uncertain if that's canon.

* In ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'', the [[Fan Nickname|mane six]] use the Elements Of Harmony on Nightmare Moon to turn her good. Justified somewhat, as it was turning her back into her original, sane, Princess Luna persona. When the Elements Of Harmony are used on Discord, who was not originally good, it had a [[Taken for Granite|different effect]]. Also, according to [[Word of God|Lauren Faust]], there was an external entity involved in Nightmare Moon. [[God Does Not Own This World|As she's not making the show anymore]], it's uncertain if that's canon.

** [[Brainwashed and Crazy|Inverted]] by Discord himself, as he flipped the qualities that let five of the Mane Six utilize the Elements of Harmony, rendering them both unable to use their elements and forcing them into a [[Face Heel Turn]] in the process. Of course, this allowed Twilight Sparkle to play this trope completely straight by forcing good memories of their friendships into her corrupted friends to break them of Discord's hold.

* In episode 11 of the cartoon version of ''[[Space Ace]]'', after Kimberly was turned into a baby, Dexter becomes brainwashed by Borf into grabbing Kimberly, so every time Ace turns back into Dexter, the brainwashing process is in effect. However, after turning back into her adult form, Kimberly uses the brainwashing machine to snap Dexter out of his brainwashing state, and destroies the machine using Dexter's gun.

* Happens to the Hacker at the end of the ''[[~~Cyberchase (Animation)|~~Cyberchase]]'' episode "Harriet Hippo and the Mean Green."

* Happens to the Hacker at the end of the ''[[Cyberchase]]'' episode "Harriet Hippo and the Mean Green."

{{quote| '''Wicked''': Puppied and clowns, trick or treat<br />

From now on, you are nice and sweet!!! }}