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{{trope}}
[[File:
There's something [[Your Mileage May Vary|inherently]] sinister and threatening about a [[Hive Mind]], especially when it forcibly kidnaps people and forces them to join. What happens to those [[
This isn't always the case though. If the characters ''willingly'' create a [[Psychic Link]] in order to do amazing things, then a lot of the [[Squick]] factor goes away (though those involved may blush afterward if they swapped embarrassing memories). This trope can be pulled off many different ways. A common one has mystics and magicians not just cast a cooperative spell, but use [[Super Empowering]] to give one among them their combined powers. [[Telepathy|Telepaths]] may subsume themselves into a group entity for greater psychic power and reach. [[Technopath
This comes in a few flavors: Usually, a single person is "elevated" and made first among equals. The other magicians, telepaths or what not give the first the full benefit of their individual powers, as well as [[Spirit Advisor|telepathic advice]], etc. while they meditate and stay immobile. While in this weakened state, enemies can attack these powerful Mental Fusions by going after the supporters. An equally common variant has the "mob", where the group has no one mouthpiece, but moves with perfect synchronicity and jointly use their powers and combat skills in beyond perfect teamwork to devastating effect. The downside to these is that they usually severely drain everyone once the spell is over.
Compare [[Assimilation Plot]], where a humanity wide, usually involuntary, permanent version of this happens. May coincide with [[Fusion Dance]]. See also [[Mindlink Mates]] and [[Twin Telepathy]]. [[Side Effects Include]] creation of a [[Living Memory]] inside participants' minds.
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* In both the manga and the first movie of ''[[Ghost in
{{quote|
''"There isn't one. Why would you wish to? All things change in a dynamic environment. Your effort to remain what you are is what limits you."'' }}
* Several characters from ''[[Serial Experiments Lain]]'' do this.
* The [[Mons|Enterrans]] in ''[[Shinzo]]'' turn to cards when killed and can be absorbed for power, or can do it voluntarily to give another Enterran [[Super Empowering]], returning to normal afterward. Sago and Kutal would later on do this to give Mushra enough power to enter his [[One-Winged Angel|(near)]] [[Super Mode|final form.]]
* In [[
* Happens in ''[[Soul Eater]]'' with the Soul Resonance, a link between a meister and his or her [[Equippable Ally|weapon]]; and the Chain Resonance, a link between all the individuals (both meisters and [[Voluntary Shapeshifting|weapons]]) of a team. This resonances not only increase the power of the group overall but also increase each individual's power and, in the case of Soul Reasonance, it's a prerrequisite for certain attacks.
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== [[Literature]] ==
* ''The Sailor on the Seas of Fate'', an ''[[Elric of Melnibone]]'' novel by [[Michael Moorcock]]. Erekose, Elric, Corum and Hawkmoon mentally join together to form the "Four Who Are One" to fight Agak and Gagak.
* In [[
** Several Lensmen create temporary "wide-open [insert number here]-way" mental fusions during the series. (The number before "-way" being the number of minds involved.)
* Spider Robinson's ''[[Callahan's Crosstime Saloon]]'' stories:
**
** They do so again in
** In a case of [[When All You Have Is a Hammer]], they broach the idea of doing this ''again'' in ''Callahan's Key'', but decide not to.
* Dairine does something sort of like this in the third ''[[Young Wizards]]'' book and it's a side effect of group spellcasting in general.
* It's also used by starship pilots in the ''[[Vorkosigan Saga]]''.
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* The ''Revelation Space'' trilogy by [[Alastair Reynolds]] features Conjoiners, individual humans with machine-interface implants that allow them to communicate essentially telepathically across their shared wireless network. Some degree of direct mind reading is also possible, limited by social courtesy and the degree of mental firewalling in place. There is also still a hierarchy of individuality in place, with higher ranking individuals having a little autonomy, but to be a Conjoiner means always answering to the collective, and to take action otherwise is treason.
* [[Vernor Vinge]]'s novels include an alien race called Tines. Each one is only as smart as a dog, but when they assemble in packs, they link up into a single larger mind. A pack of four is about as smart as a human. The link is made not with telepathy or magic, but with high-freqency sound, and several plot points hinge on the implications of that.
* ''[[Inheritance Cycle
* In the ''[[
* In [[The Book of the Named|Clan Ground]] Thistle-chaser has the ability to "hear the song" - that is, to join in the hive mind that unites True-of-Voice's clan. Unlike them, she also has the ability to tune the song out. In a later book, her brother is shown to have the same ability.
* In ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' series, channellers (magic users) often do this to multiply their power.
== [[Live
* Seamus Harper in ''[[Andromeda]]''
* The Final Five Cylons attempted to do this in ''[[Battlestar Galactica]]'', however it also let them all see each others' memories which {{spoiler|revealed to Tyrol that Tory killed Cally. Cue the killing.}}
* That blind/albino/whatever chick in the new ''[[
* ''[[
* In ''[[Babylon 5]]'', the renegade telepaths led by [[Meaningful Name|Byron]] {{spoiler|and eventually by Lyta Alexander}} use this extensively to fight off PSI Cops and other authorities. It's also used [[Power Perversion Potential|during sex]].
** It's used earlier by Talia and a group of rogue telepaths (none higher than P12) to overwhelm Bester (a strong P12) and give him [[Fake Memories]] of killing them.
* In ''[[Star Trek:
** In ''[[Star Trek: Voyager]],'' a group of ex-Borg could temporarily become a mini-collective to pool their mental power for various purposes.
* The [[Dollhouse]] episode ''Stop-Loss'' has Rossum using its active technology to create a commando squad in which all the members share each other's thoughts.
== [[Tabletop
* In the 1st Edition of ''[[Dungeons
** In AD&D, psionicists do this via 'convergence' power. The group's power points are pooled together, and if one participant knows a power, everyone can use it. Mental attacks on the group affects ''all'' of them... but only after overcoming ''all'' their defences (so they also can take advantage of the telepathic [[Tactical Rock-Paper-Scissors]]).
** They can do this in 3.5 too through the 'metaconcert' power.
* ''[[Shadowrun]]''. Ritual spell casting allows magicians to mentally join together to cast powerful magic over long distances.
* ''[[
* In ''[[Exalted]]'', the Terrestrial Exalted have the Charm "With One Mind", which allows a group of Dragon-Blooded to coordinate tactics and automatically block attacks aimed at their allies.
== [[Video Game]] ==
* In ''Ar Tonelico 2'', the various modes of the [[Kill Sat|Infel Phira]] amounts to this. Replakia combines dozens of spellcasters to boost the damage of attack spells to an impressive levels, while Metafalica is a more through
* The Transcendence victory in ''Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri'' involves humanity voluntarily forming a planetwide collective consciousness. {{spoiler|And the planetary consciousness then plans a second transcendence: some people volunteer to be reinstated in individual bodies and head off to colonize other worlds, with the hope that between them the planets will devise a way to escape entropy's cruel grip and thus allow life to flourish indefinitely.}}
* On a similar note, this is what apparently happens in the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeboqg4t9vs Helios ending] of the endings of ''[[Deus Ex: Invisible War
* The Advent in ''[[Sins of a Solar Empire]]''. Following the game's emphasis on [[Grey and Gray Morality]], it has both [[Telepathy|good]] and [[Mind Rape|bad]] applications.
* In ''[[
* In [[
* In ''[[Mass Effect]]'', the {{spoiler|geth function similar to this, on two levels: each of the flashlight-headed robot guys is a hardware "platform" for 100 or so programs which work together to control it. Also happens in groups of geth, they combine their programs' computing power to think and strategize, as otherwise a single geth has animal-level intelligence, aside from Legion}}.
** Also, in ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'', one of the colonists from Feros says that they use the remnants of their fusion with the Thorian to fight the Reapers, as they can still feel each others' thoughts and feelings.
* Played straight in [[Golden Sun: Dark Dawn]] at the finale when [[Heroic Mime|Matthew]], after being beaten down [
** Made even better by the fact that Matthew's ethereal silhouette follows her around for the brief period you get to control her.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* ''[[A Miracle of Science]]'' has a single massive
* There's a scene in ''[[Elf Quest]]'' where the Wolfriders' telepathy allows them to think and act as one in order to defeat the monster Madcoil. Curiously that's the only time that particular ability is discussed, although it's probably used in other battle scenes.
** Well, although it's not en masse like that, the ability comes up during the troll war, when each experienced warrior bonds with an inexperienced warrior so that the amateur would instinctively know how to use the unfamiliar weapon (longsword).
* In ''[[Erfworld]]'', a Thinkamancer can form a mental merge with another caster, so the Thinkamancer can boost the other caster's abilities well beyond what they can normally do at that level. In rare (and extremely risky) cases, a Thinkamancer can merge with two other casters, allowing them to wield new magic that no individual caster could dream of using. Breaking such a link without assistance can cause catastrophic damage to the minds of all the casters involved, possibly killing them, although the Thinkamancer can redistribute the harmful effect, protecting the others by accepting the brunt of it, or vice versa.
* The above picture is from ''[[Sequential Art (
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[
* ''[[
** A nastier version is the Slaverlords: they are all psychically linked to the Queen, possibly linked to one another, and in most cases, it takes 3-4 beings to make one.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:One With the Index]]
▲[[Category:Trope]]
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