Not Himself: Difference between revisions

* Cosmic Boy of DC's post-Zero Hour ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (comics)|Legion of Super-Heroes]]'' spent a whole [[Arc]] being Not Himself and alienating his teammates at every opportunity {{spoiler|in order to set up an elaborate [[Engineered Public Confession]] which revealed the President's corruption and caused her removal from office}}. Some Legion fans never forgave him for it. (It didn't help that this particular arc occurred in the first couple years after a total reboot of the Legion, so it wasn't as clear as it might have been that this wasn't just Cos's new personality.)

* Apparently, hacking into Superman's mind is like evil hypnotists' [[Wiki Vandal|wikivandalism]]. Some bratty six-year-old in Minneapolis trips over a ouija board, next thing you know our Man of Steel is giving the Batman a wedgie. Supes has probably been brainwashed, hypnotized, or possessed more than any character in fiction. And if you count the times he's [[Super Dickery|pretended]] to be Not Himself, more than all fictional characters combined. Read any random five Superman or Superman-associated comics from the 50s through the 70s, and see if you can't find one of these stories.

** There's also the arc in 2000 where Lois and Clark's marriage appeared to start falling apart, with Lois accusing Clark of not caring about her because she was just a human, and of cheating on her with Wonder Woman, effectively turning the poor guy into a miserable wreck and culminating in her walking out on him. Turns out it was actually Parasite masquerading as Lois in order to simultaneously feed off of Superman's powers and destroy his spirit in a plot to kill him. The arc wound up with what looked like [[Crowning Moment of Funny|a superpowered-Lois Lane beating the snot out of Superman right in front of a flabbergasted Perry White and Jimmy Olsen]], and apparently required loads of explanations from the real Lois after everything was cleared up, especially as Parasite had been running around using Lois's know-how to steal millions of dollars.

* In the ''[[Justice League of America|Justice League International]]'' comic, Guy Gardner spends a rather extended period like this after minor head trauma, courtesy of [[Batman|one punch]]. The abrasive, chauvinistic, arrogant Guy turns into a sweet, Sensitive Guy—who really exists deep down, as exhibited when Guy falls in love. This trope is partially subverted, though, because the League ''likes him better as Sensitive Guy'' and therefore makes no effort to return him to his previous state.

* In ''[[Newshounds]]'', Rochelle being ''afraid'' of danger instead of craving it was the first sign of {{spoiler|her pregnancy}}.

* In ''[[Alien Dice]]'', Lexx has one of these events later in the comic. It's rather obvious and jarring, considering his usual "nice but distant" personality.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==