Not Brainwashed: Difference between revisions

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== Anime and Manga ==
* In ''[[Pretty Sammy (Anime)|Magical Project S]]'', turns out Pixy Misa wasn't a brainwashed persona, but the repressed aspects of Misao's personality.
* In ''[[Dragon Ball (Manga)|Dragon Ball Z]], Vegeta falls under Babidi's Majin control, which brings out the evil of whoever is placed under it and brings them under his control. After Goku tries to get him to snap out of it, Vegeta reveals that he's not truly under Babidi's control; he ''let'' himself be affected because he felt he was going soft, and knew Babidi could bring out his evil side and get him fired up to finally fight Goku.
* In ''[[Bleach]]'', {{spoiler|[[Big Bad|Aizen]]}}'s Zanpaktou can cast illusions that can fool anyone, if they have ever seen the sword using its power. {{spoiler|However, Tousen is blind, thus unable to see the sword. It is then revealed that he joined Aizen of his own will.}}
** Played with in Orihime's case when {{spoiler|she was kidnapped to Hueco Mundo. At first, everyone thinks Aizen mindwashed her, but actually she was convinced to come along as to save her friends. Aizen then says [[Jedi Truth|she came of her own accord]]}}, and the less... brainy Espada try to twist this even more to say [[Blatant Lies|she is one of them]], even trying to convince ''her'' through some really stupid [[Hannibal Lecture]] ([[Idiot Ball|which she almost buys, of course]]), only for the lectures to be [[Shut UP, Hannibal|put down]] by ''Ichigo'' of all people.
* Kaiser in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]''. He's a champion of a game notorious for causing [[Split Personality|Split Personalities]] and [[Super-Powered Evil Side|Superpowered Evil Sides]] in players, and his [[Freak-Out]] and [[Evil Costume Switch]] take place during the [[More Than Mind Control]] arc, but in his case, he really just snapped after a humiliating loss. He tells his [[Mentor Archetype|mentor]], his best friend, and his brother that when they try to "cure" him by dueling him since [[Defeat Means Friendship]]: "There's no darkness inside me. I am not captured by darkness. I just want to know what brings out the power to win!" Originally, he was still a cold, aloof loner, but at least he had a strong sense of respect for his opponent. {{spoiler|He gets better}}
* ''[[G Gundam]]'' had Domon's mentor, Master Asia, turn against him. Domon didn't give this much thought at first, since he had seen many people become [[Brainwashed]] by the Devil Gundam before then, and was mighty displeased to discover that Master Asia was serving the Devil Gundam purely by choice.
* This trope appears in the last story arc of the live-action adaptation ''[[Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon]]''. Queen Beryl, who up until this point has been brainwashing her four lieutenants, resigns herself to certain death and releases Jaedite from her spell, so he can escape. His personality doesn't change at all: he reveals that he's always been her willing servant, and he intends to remain by her side no matter what.
* In ''[[Inuyasha]]'', Sango's brother Kohaku is brought [[Back From the Dead]] with [[Easy Amnesia]] to work for Naraku. He kills women and children while under Naraku's influence, but then regains his faculties. His sister's attempts to "break" his brainwashing at this point convince him that the best way to protect her (and make up for what he's done) is to continue working for Naraku in order to find a way to permanently destroy him.
* ''[[Hellsing]]'', {{spoiler|[[Battle Butler]] Walter}} is seen de-aged and on the side of the Nazi Vampires. When Alucard fights him, everyone assumes that he's been brainwashed. While it's left slightly ambiguous, it's heavily implied that not only was he doing it all of his own free will, but he had also been the cause of various security breaches earlier in the series.
* In ''[[Saint Seiya: theThe Lost Canvas]]'', [[Woobie]] Alone is chosen as the vessel for [[Everybody Hates Hades|Hades]] and subsequently begins to [[Kill'Em All|kill everyone]], planning to end all life on Earth. {{spoiler|Turns out this has nothing to do with the influence of Hades, as he was never possessed; being chosen as the vessel for Hades simply gave him the power to execute a plan that was his own from the very beginning.}}
* In [[Parallel Trouble Adventure Dual (Anime)|Duall]] Kazuki assumes that {{spoiler|Mitsuki Sanada}} has been hypnotized to fight him since the same thing had happened to Mitsuki Rara earlier. Turns out that {{spoiler|she had willingly agreed to help the Rara army so that they would help her and Kazuki return to their own world}}. Once she realizes how close she came to killing Kazuki and how dumb her choice was she keeps the truth to herself.
 
 
== Comic Books ==
* The Teen Titans Judas Contract Arc: Moreso in the comics than the cartoon, Beast Boy/Changeling initially hoped Terra was being Brainwashed or manipulated somehow by Deathstroke/Slade before he could accept that her alliance with Slade was completely voluntary. In the cartoon, while she is manipulated by Slade, she is very voluntary about doing his dirty work for him. Having his own traumatic experience with Slade, Robin shares the hope that Slade's forcing her into it, and Terra has to spell it out for him: "I DON'T NEED SAVING! I'm not some sad little girl who's waiting to be rescued! I wanted to be this way! I wanted to go with Slade! I wanted to annihilate you and your pathetic friends!"
* In the 90s, when Colossus abandoned the [[X Men|X-Men]] for [[Magneto|Magneto's]] Acolytes, his team-mates -- specifically [[Wolverine]]--wanted to believe that he was under mind-control; Colossus immediately denied it and for a while it was the official explanation that he was not being compelled. Eventually Professor X decided that Colossus had committed this [[Face Heel Turn]] because of an undiagnosed brain injury (he had a huge dent in his head at the time and was trapped in his armored form--but even after said injury was treated, Colossus still stayed with the Acolytes. It was kind of refreshing.
 
 
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== Live Action TV ==
* A perfect example is Connor in ''[[Angel (TV)|Angel]]'''s fourth season. The demon Jasmine has the power to enthrall anyone who sees her; only contact with her blood can break the spell, at which point the victim sees her true, horrific face. Fred is accidentally freed this way, and she manages to free the rest of the cast one by one. But when they try to cure Connor, he betrays them -- turns out that due to their blood relation, he's ''never'' been under Jasmine's spell. He's just so tired of fighting and being manipulated that he's willing to go along with her [[Utopia Justifies the Means]] thing.
** Another episode involved a boy who was apparently being possessed by a demon. When the demon is finally exorcised, he reveals that the boy was already more evil than he was: he was so evil, in fact, that he was not so much possessed by the demon as ''imprisoning'' him.
** After Wesley conspired to kidnap the baby Connor (and got his throat cut for his trouble) Angel visited him in hospital. Angel was at pains to stress that he was still Angel (and not the soul-less Angelus) before proceeding to try to smother him with a pillow
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*** This is debatable as at the start of the season before they were capture, one of the rangers notes something is off about the A-squad.
** On a lighter note, ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'' plays with this between Zedd and rita. At first, she used a love potion. Later, Goldar will use a love potion antidote on Zedd. No effect. Goldar concludes to this trope, although it's possible that the antidote worked only on the love potion displayed in this episode, not on the one used 15 episodes earlier.
* In an episode of ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'', Worf and the legendary Klingon warrior Kor find an ancient heirloom which has the power to create a new golden age for the Klingon Empire. As the episode unfolds, they become increasingly at odds with one another over who should be the one to present it to the Empire, and even who gets to ''carry'' it. The ''fans'' were expecting some kind of [[Techno Babble|silly tech explanation]] for this behaviour (i.e. that the artefact was brainwashing them), but no - it was just ordinary jealousy and petty macho posturing. Is this trope therefore [[Truth in Television]], do you think?
* In ''[[Vampire Diaries]]'', Stefan believes this is why he and Damon fell for [[Manipulative Bastard|Katherine]]. Damon disagrees, and tells Stefan he knew she was an evil murderous vampire... {{spoiler|but did not know she was having sex with Stefan as well as him.}}
* Xander from ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. His best friend Willow thought the Second Xander wandering around was an [[Evil Twin]]. It turns out it was just {{spoiler|Xander had been split into Awesome and More Awesome and it was all him}}.
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== Video Games ==
* In ''[[War CraftWarcraft|Warcraft III]]'', Thrall is enraged to learn that Grom Hellscream was not brainwashed by the Burning Legion, but instead knowingly led the entire orc race into accepting the Blood Pact. Grom later redeems himself via [[Heroic Sacrifice]].
** There is also one in ''[[World of Warcraft]]''. The players are sent to assassinate Emperor Dagran Thaurissan, the [[Evil Emperor]] of the Dark Iron and rescue the captive Princess Moira Bronzebeard. It however turned out that {{spoiler|she took a liking to him and [[Happily Married]], much to the player's surprise.}}
** In the Stonecore, there's a rock giant that you're tasked by Therazane to kill named Ozruk. At first, she sent agents to free him from whatever magic binds him to this Twilight's Hammer dungeon. "No such magic was placed upon him."
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* ''[[Kamen Rider Decade]]''; on {{spoiler|1=DiEnd's world}} it turns out that {{spoiler|Junichi}} is working for the villain and is not under his control as everyone has believed.
* In ''[[Suikoden I]]'': {{spoiler|The [[Big Bad]] of the game has most of the empire's soldiers under her [[Mind Control]], and everyone (including her) thinks she has the king under that power, too. At the very end of the game, though, he reveals that he was never really under her control, and was acting the way he did [[Love Martyr|because he genuinely loved her]].}}
* In ''[[Final Fantasy IV the After Years|Final Fantasy IV: The After Years]]'', this trope was used when Kain - who was repeatedly brainwashed in the first game - insists that he is acting under his own volition when he attacks several of his former allies. It is later discovered that he wasn't brainwashed at all... He was an [[Evil Twin|evil twin]].
* In [[MegamanMega Man Battle Network]] 5 a signal that makes people aggresive starts spreading out and the player (immune via [[Plot Coupon]]) must shut the signal in each area down, usually meaning he has to fight his teammates first. One of the fights, however (Charlie in Team Protoman, Dusk in Team Colonel) reveals that the character wasn't affected, he just wanted to fight Lan.
* In ''[[Xenoblade Chronicles]]'', while {{spoiler|Mumkhar}} probably ''was'' brainwashed (since he was {{spoiler|[[Reforged Into a Minion]]}}), anything about attacking his former allies and stealing the Monado was redundant. To prove his point, {{spoiler|he threatens to kill Fiora a second time, despite the fact that she had been turned into a Face like him, just to torment Dunban.}}
 
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{{quote| "He wasn't hypnotised, merely disgruntled."}}
* In ''[[Erfworld]]'', Jillian [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/erf0105.html concludes] that Wanda rejects her [[Last Second Chance|urging to desert Stanley]] because she is bound by a loyalty spell. When an ally with spell-detecting abilities informs her that Wanda is ''not'' under any loyalty spells, she flatly refuses to believe it. But she comes around for the most part when Wanda [[Pillar of Light|tries to kill her]], though.
* In ''[[Order of the Stick]]'' #640, after {{spoiler|Vaarsuvius}} takes great pleasure in killing an opponent (and their entire extended family) it is revealed that the [[Deal Withwith the Devil]] they made had no effect on their alignment or actions-- essentially, the character merely revealed [[What You Are in Thethe Dark|their true self.]]
** In fact, the character was told the spell ''could'' effect their alignment, with the implication that it was possible and up to them to resist any such effect. This example seems to overlap with [[More Than Mind Control]] in that the character was told this in order to facilitate them giving in to their worst impulses (like arrogance, cruelty, and mass-murder).
*** Actually, the ones who said that told their [[The Watson|Watson]] that they had been lying to manipulate Vaarsuvius. It really didn't have an effect on alignment.
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== Western Animation ==
* In the ''[[Justice League]]'' episode "The Brave and the Bold", [[Everything's Better Withwith Monkeys|Gorilla Grodd]] uses a mind control helmet as his main weapon. Once it's broken, it turns out that the scientist who was assisting him was in love with him all along.
{{quote| '''Flash:''' Internet romances huh? Go figure.}}
* In the pilot episode of ''[[Buzz Lightyear of Star Command]]'', our hero is surprised to find his ex-partner Warp Darkmatter is not only alive, but [[The Dragon|working]] for the [[Big Bad]]. Unable to accept that his buddy has pulled a [[Face Heel Turn]], Buzz offers several tried-and-true possible explanations:
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'''Buzz:''' ''[[Evil Twin|Android replica!]]''<br />
'''Warp:''' ''No.'' }}
* In ''[[American Dragon Jake Long]]'', Spud makes a deal with an evil Gorgon who claims that she will make his [[All Guys Want Cheerleaders|cheerleader]] crush Stacy [[Love Potion|fall in love]] with him. And when Stacy does decide she likes Spud, he thinks that it's because of this supposed "love spell," even though she continues to act far more fickle than you'd think someone truly under a love spell would act. In the end, like any other [[Deal Withwith the Devil]], Spud has to break off his alliance with the Gorgon, and prepares himself for Stacy to break up with him now that she's not enchanted anymore. But Spud is relieved to find that there was never a love spell, and Stacy was [[Not Brainwashed]].
* In ''[[Transformers]]: Beast Machines'', Optimus Primal believes that Megatron has brainwashed Rhinox and turned him into the villainous Tankor. Even after awakening his spark, though, Tankor continues to oppose Optimus, as he has grown disillusioned with him after the failure of the Beast Wars.
** Although he ''was'' actually brainwashed at first.
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* Varies between the Spider-Man series, usually involving the character Venom, but special note has to go to ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]'' incarnation, because, Peter and Eddie were very good friends, but Peter's actions caused Eddie to genuinely despise Peter, the Symbiote only worsened this when it revealed Peter's identity to Eddie, Peter even tries to tell Eddie to "Fight it", and then, during the fight, Eddie says he is not Peter's brother, saying that his parents died, but Peter got off good with his Aunt and Uncle, after this, Peter realizes that Eddie is not the same friend he knew.
** From the same series: we are led to believe that the Green Goblin, {{spoiler|Harry Osborn}}, did it because of an [[Super-Powered Evil Side|evil split personality]]. In the final episode, we not only learn that {{spoiler|[[Norman Osborn]] was really the Goblin the whole time}}, but unlike in other versions he managed to control his dosage of [[Psycho Serum]] so that he [[Super Serum|got the powers]] without any mental side effects.
* Played with in ''[[Batman: Under the Red Hood]]''. Given his background, {{spoiler|Jason Todd}} proposes this is what's causing him to cross the line but he himself doesn't seem totally sure, as the Lazarus Pit's influence on his mind could also be to blame (the Pit's side effect is to induce madness in the subject).
** Batman puts forward that he knew {{spoiler|Jason}} was going to be dangerous someday. {{spoiler|That's why Batman made him Robin, to try and keep him on the straight and narrow.}}