Telepathy: Difference between revisions

At its most basic level, it functions as a short range radio, allowing the character to pick up the thoughts of those around him. Sometimes, it has limitations such as touch or proximity, or only being able to 'hear' rather than 'see' thoughts. A common hurdle comes from being unable to probe deeper into the minds of those around them, as well as being something of a [[Fainting Seer]] whenever an especially strong willed or horrifying character is around. Psychic overload is also common in crowds, represented by a [[Psychic Nosebleed]]. Being a passive receptor and [[Hearing Voices|not being able to shut]] [[A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Read|other people's thoughts]] out can easily drive a psychic insane, making this potentially [[Blessed with Suck]].

 

 

At its strongest, a telepath will be able to [[Mind Control]] others, sometimes even to the point of [[Demonic Possession|possessing their bodies]], create [[Fake Memories]] after applying [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]], create a [[Split Personality]] and let it [[Split Personality Takeover|take over]], or in general be a terrifying god who can [[Mind Rape]] their opponents.

* A group of telepaths may create a [[Mental Fusion]].

* A telepath or empath is frequently also a [[Living Lie Detector]].

* Some telepaths can [[The Beast Master|control]] and [[Speaks Fluent Animal|communicate]] with animals, and even [[Animal Eye Spy|see through them]].

* Many telepaths are portrayed as being able to sense the presence of each other or other people and animals, simply by being able to sense the presence of another mind. This may have a very limited range, or it may have a planetary scale; if suitably amplified. This tends to turn them into [[Psychic Radar]].

 

{{examples}}

* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' has a number of examples; Negi displays very limited mind reading ability in the first chapter (he puts his hand on the target's head and gets maybe 2 words out of it). Later on, the Pactio cards are introduced, which allows Negi and his partners to [[Psychic Link|communicate telepathically]]. In addition, Nodoka gets a book that allows her to read people's thoughts as her artifact; after an upgrade she can essentially listen to the thoughts of anyone whose name she knows...while another upgrade lets her find out anybody's name.

** Nodoka can also use her artifact on herself, which sometimes [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v18/c165/8.html has hilarious results].

** Actually, one ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' episode featuring Jynx had a Lapras who spoke to Ash through telepathy.

* Some of the Espers of ''[[A Certain Magical Index]]'' have forms of telepathy. There are only two note worthy cases though; Harune in ''[[A Certain Scientific Railgun]]'', and The Queen, who hasn't been introduced properly yet in the anime. All we know of the Queen is that her powers (Mental Out) allow her to control others, mess with their memories and read their minds, etc.

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

** Retooled after [[Flashpoint]]. Taking a page from some '90s stories and the early origins of the character, Aquaman's telepathy is now greatly toned down, as he can't truly commune with fish or fish-derived life, but just implant compulsions and desires: such as the will to help him.

 

* In ''[[With Strings Attached]]'', the Kansael gives John the ability to communicate telepathically through water. Mostly this means he has to touch the others to “connect their water-strings,” but he can also connect them via a puddle, and he has much longer range in a body of water like the ocean, though just how long is not known. Nor is it known whether he can do more than just talk. He can, however, tap into Ringo's mindsight.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* [[Hell's Gate|Sharona]]'s Voices have perfect recall and can send and receieve telepathic messages to each other, including sensory information - sight, sound, smell, and touch, but can't read minds. On the other hand, Sifters can't send messages, but they can tell when other people are lying or telling the truth.

* [[The Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries|Sookie Stackhouse]] views her telepathy as a [[Blessed with Suck|curse]] and usually tries hard to block out other people's thoughts.

* Kris/Deliann's "flashes" in ''[[The Acts of Caine|Blade of Tyshalle]]''.

* Many people in the [[Mercedes Lackey]] series, [[Heralds of Valdemar]], have this ability; it's called "Mindspeech".

* [[Jakub Wedrowycz]] has this ability. He refers to it as a "frequency" to which one must tune himself, much like a radio.

* In the [[Firebird Trilogy]], both the Sentinels and the Shuhr have telepathic powers. The Sentinels are the "good guys", with strict and strictly enforced limits on how they are allowed to use their powers. The Shuhr are much less pleasant, as they do not put any limits on their use of power, leading to rather frequent [[Mind Manipulation]] among those they come in contact with (including the less powerful among their own race).

* Anyone in morph in ''[[Animorphs]]'' has this ability. And Andalites and a few other races have it as part of their natural abilities.

* All the Martian races in [[John Carter of Mars]] are mildly telepathic- mostly this is used to control domestic animals, but can also be used to determine if someone is telling the truth during conversation. The First Born (aka Black Martians) largely do ''not'' have this ability, but their leader [[God Save Us From the Queen|Issus]] does, which helps her cement her position as a living goddess. Certain groups have more advanced telepathic powers, such as the Lotharians (an isolated sect of White Martians who have developed tremendous powers of illusion, but become detached from reality as a result) and the kaldanes (crab-like creatures that are almost all brain and can seize control of anyone who makes eye contact with them). Earth humans, for whatever reason, can [[Won't Work On Me]] telepathic probing, something that comes in handy for Earth-born hero Carter during his adventures.

* One of the [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy|Hitchhiker's Guide]] entries references an entire planet of beings who were [[Blessed with Suck|cursed]] with telepathy. Everyone on there entire planet could hear every thought in every other mind on the planet, whether they wanted to or not—which quickly threatened to drive them bonkers from information overload and/or sheer boredom. They solved this by adopting the habit of constantly talking loud enough to drown out the constant, unwanted incoming mental transmissions.

 

== [[Live-Action TV]] ==

** This is actually present in ALL Time Lords. It's a trait of the species, as witnessed by the Master all the way back to the Third Doctor, and mentioned specifically by the Fourth Doctor in the Deadly Assassin.

** The [[Sapient Ship|TARDIS]] is also telepathic; she most notably uses the power to translate for the Doctor and companions. However, she can directly communicate with them, although a human may need to look into her heart.

* In ''[[Farscape]]'', members of the Scarran's ruling caste all have a certain degree of telepathic power; most of them use it for forcing their captives to tell the truth while under their influence of their [[Kill It with Fire|heat projection]], though a few have used it to read the surface thoughts of others.

** The Skreeth assassin, who can telepathically speak through anyone wearing its bio-organic reciever (even over thousands of light years away) and read minds by touch.

** Don't forget Zhaan's traditional Delvian mysticism, which lends itself to the occasional [[Mind Meld]].

** And of course, there's Maldis, the vampiric [[Evil Sorcerer]], who knew all the details of John Crichton's life without being told. As he said once "Your mind is an open book. Big print and lots of pictures!"

 

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* ''[[Nethack]]'' has this as one of many obtainable abilities: when blinded in any manner, you can see the exact location of any monster on the current floor that can think.

* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'', Link often receives telepathic messages from the quest [[Mentors|mentor]] or the princess.

** Although it's usually through the use of a magic artifact or an item, such as the Ocarina or a magical pendant.

* Appears as a technique in ''[[Golden Sun]]''.

* Similar to ''Psi Ops,'' ''[[Second Sight]]'' has this as one of the two powers John doesn't unlock- the other being [[Deflector Shields]]. Oddly, the only psychic in the entire game that uses direct telepathy at any point is the remarkably ambiguous Jayne Wilde.

* ''[[Super Mario RPG]]'': Hitting the [[Action Command]] when using Mallow's "Psychopath" spell reveals a sentence of the affected enemy's thoughts.

** A lot of Pokémon (usually Psychic types, though sometimes Ghost or legendary or just special) can communicate telepathically, and some can read thoughts and [[The Empath|emotions]].

* The Komeiji sisters of ''[[Touhou]]'', being satori, can do this. Though Koishi blocked it by closing her third eye, which somehow gives her control of the subconscious.

 

* In the [[Murder Mystery]] [[Visual Novel]] ''[[Jisei]]'', a voice that only the protagonist can hear tries to help the main character with his investigation. She is able to transmit her thoughts into his mind and read his thoughts.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* In ''[[Project 0]]'' Ciro uses telepathy to broadcast a [[Badass Boast]] to an [https://web.archive.org/web/20111211193910/http://www.centralcitytower.com/2010/12/project-0-page-208-whistling.html entire] [https://web.archive.org/web/20111211122016/http://www.centralcitytower.com/2010/12/page-209-fair-warning.html enemy battleship] just before it explodes.

* In ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' all the Lysinda circle vampires have this ability, though Sam rarely seems to use it.

* The [[Freak Angels]] make heavy use of their telepathic abilities, both to communicate quickly and easily, and to [[Instant Expert|absorb knowledge]] on their areas of specialty.

* The [[Space Elves|Loroi]] of [[Outsider]] have a variety of psychic abilities, mind talking being among them.

* In ''[[Think Before You Think]]'', Brian has the ability to read minds.

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* Though [[Psychic Powers]] in general are the rarest of all superpowers in the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'', Telepathy is definitely the most common [[Psychic Powers|mental power]]. The most powerful telepath in the setting is Oracle, a former member of the Global Guardians, though the supervillain Cerebellum contests this point. Other notable telepaths are Headcase, Iron Angel, A Espada, Halazgo, and Mikula.

** The Scions are a group of four telepathic siblings. They've been pursuing a private war against their father, Cerebellum, in addition to their normal super-villainy.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* Aqualad of the ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' animated series claims to have telepathy, but he has yet to use it on anyone who isn't a <s>fish</s> [[You Fail Biology Forever|sea creature]].

* Ribbon from the original ''[[My Little Pony]]'' was telepathic, and also capable of sending [[Talking in Your Dreams|dream messages]].

 

== [[Real Life]] ==

 

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