History Main / AssimilationPlot

* In an unusual heroic - or rather, NominalHero - example, Black Bolt has on multiple occasions tried to do this, forcibly transforming countless non-Inhumans into Inhumans in order to protect his people. The first time he tried it, during ''ComicBook/WarOfKings'', it was presented as a severe case of JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope, with even the AxeCrazy Emperor Vulcan a.k.a. Gabriel Summers, being appalled by it, and Crystal calling him out ''hard''. The second time, during ''{{ComicBook/Infinity}}'', when Black Bolt unleashed the Terrigen Mists on the world, it was portrayed as supposedly being a good thing, despite the fact that the Mists were known to be dangerous and/or downright ''lethal'' to Mutants, from the events of ''Silent War''.

* A Dream Vortex can do this without even being aware of it in ''ComicBook/TheSandman''. At some point, they will start breaking down the walls that divide peoples' dreams, the problem being that this eventually kills everyone on the planet unless Morpheus steps in to ShootTheDog. This is the ''only'' circumstance in which the rules governing his actions allow him to kill someone in cold blood.

** The ''Utopia'' DLC of ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' Biological Ascension allows a Hive Mind to assimilate non-hive populations (without it they [[ToServeMan eat]] non-hive [=POPs=] in their territory), or a conventional empire to "free" hive-minded [=POPs=]. While "Synthetic Dawn" has "Driven Assimilator" type machine empires that start as networked robots who cyborgized their creators, and desire to do the same to the other organic species in the galaxy.

** In the "Utopia" DLC of ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' Biological Ascension allows a Hive Mind to assimilate non-hive populations (without it they [[ToServeMan eat]] non-hive [=POPs=] in their territory), or a conventional empire to "free" hive-minded [=POPs=]. While "Synthetic Dawn" has "Driven Assimilator" type machine empires that start as networked robots who cyborgized their creators, and desire to do the same to the other organic species in the galaxy.

** In the "Utopia" DLC of ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' Biological Ascension allows an empire to transform their population into a HiveMind, or for a natural Hive Mind to assimilate non-hive populations (without it they [[ToServeMan eat]] non-hive [=POPs=] in their territory), or a conventional empire to "free" hive-minded [=POPs=]. While "Synthetic Dawn" has "Driven Assimilator" type machine empires that start as networked robots who cyborgized their creators, and desire to do the same to the other organic species in the galaxy.

* ''The Arbai Trilogy'' by Creator/SheriSTepper brings us the Hobbs Land Gods, which unite those under their influence into a collective hive-mind. [[spoiler: They're actually primarily a psionic communication device, and people retain their individuality.]] In the third novel, Sideshow, the planet Elsewhere has planetary-government mandated diversity as a countermeasure to this.
* In the short story/novel ''Literature/BloodMusic'' by Greg Bear, assimilation is caused by [[spoiler:artificially created sentient bacteria.]]
* The second and third ''[[LightNovel/BoogiepopSeries Boogiepop]]'' novels (''VS Imaginator Parts 1 and 2'') feature a villain calling herself the Imaginator who's half-possessing/half-controlling someone with a psychic ability that may progress towards assimilation as an ultimate goal. However, Boogiepop points out [[spoiler:that basic human nature would make this a temporary condition at best anyhow, and that the effort was doomed to failure. Or at least, that specific attempt. Who knows if Imaginator could pull it off with someone else.]]
* ''Literature/ChildhoodsEnd'': The plot involves [[spoiler: the last generation of humanity [[GoalOrientedEvolution evolving]] into psychic beings and joining an enormous galactic HiveMind]]. It's also mentioned that the Overlords lack the capacity for this.
* The real BigBad in ''Literature/CodexAlera'' by Creator/JimButcher are [[spoiler: The Vord, aka [[VideoGame/{{Starcraft}} the Zerg]]]], who bemoan concepts such as individuality and self-expression and seek to unite all life in one massive ball of green goo.
* Doesn't actually happen in the [[Literature/TheCulture Culture]] novels, but is part of the reason why the Culture is suspicious of entire civilizations subliming all at once. It implies coercion.
* In ''Literature/ForcedPerspectives'' by Creator/TimPowers, the villains are using ancient magic to create a HiveMind; most of the minds that will be used to initiate it will be unwitting patsies roped in using ArtifactDomination, and it's expected that, once established, will proceed to suck in the entire human race. The people involved in the plot (and the earlier failed attempts that preceded it) vary in their motivations; some of them genuinely believe they will be doing everyone a favor, some have more selfish intentions, and some just find themselves hard to live with and welcome the prospect of becoming an unconscious component of something greater.
* Creator/IsaacAsimov:
** ''Literature/FoundationSeries'''s ''Literature/FoundationsEdge'', which contains an already-assimilated world called Gaia, has the main character [[spoiler:decide to construct a galaxy-wide assimilated mentality at the end of the novel called Galaxia]]. The following book is his quest to learn why he made that decision [[spoiler:becasue that's the best way to survive intergalactic war, since any aliens who crossed intergalactic space could easily outclass humans on their current technological curve]].
** "Literature/GreenPatches": The HiveMind of Saybrook's Planet wants to infect every lifeform it comes across. New organisms infected with the "unified life" have a pair of green patches [[BizarreAlienSenses that allows it to communicate to the rest of the lifeforms]].
* Has already occurred in the distant past in ''Literature/TheGiver''. "Sameness" is a concept that is central to the functioning of the {{utopia}}. Everyone is so similar that even the ability to see color is not allowed.
* This is the goal of the TheVirus (literal, in this case) in the Literature/RepairmanJack novel ''Hosts'', though [[spoiler: they're actually being used by the series BigBad to bring about the sort of CrapsackWorld in which his powers will flourish.]]
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': The Spore in ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'' was created partly out of spliced baffor trees, which form {{Hive Mind}}s. The baffors have a desire to spread and multiply. It happens slowly [[WeAreAsMayflies because trees]], and they're pretty benign towards other life forms. Spore inherited the desire, but spread by taking over the minds and bodies of ''people'', and its goal was to spread to everyone, everywhere. It was willing to throw disproportionate resources after one or two people escaping it.
* Literature/{{Starsnatcher}} features the WellIntentionedExtremist variant. The BigBad plans to release [[spoiler:[[SealedEvilInACan an AI-like construct trapped in a tesseract]]]] so that its [[NanoMachines femtobots]] can turn absorb everyone in the Milky Way galaxy into itself, forming a single being [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans that is incapable of suffering]] and [[EvilVersusOblivion will be safe from the Plague]].
* In ''Literature/ThoseThatWake'' and its sequel, this plot is what the villains want in the end, though they do so in different ways. Man in Suit, the villain of the first book, plans to make everyone hopeless and vacant so he can fill them with him. The Old Man, the villain of the second book, uses the neuropleth--a hive mind of mental energy--to assimilate most of New York with plans to do so worldwide.
* In ''Literature/TheTraitorSonCycle'', the main villain of the fourth book is a species of worm-like parasites who all share the same mind and intend to absorb every human - and non-human - of the world to serve as their slaves in their conquest of TheMultiverse.
* ''Literature/AWrinkleInTime:'' The planet Camazotz is governed by [[spoiler: an evil telepathic brain monster called IT]]. All activities are completely synchronized. When the BigBad brags to the heroes that Camazotz has achieved complete equality, the heroine delivers an insightful response, and one that in retrospect should have been obvious: "''Equal'' and ''alike'' are not the same thing!"
* The HiveMind formed by the Green Patches in Creator/IsaacAsimov's short story ''Green Patches''. As you can tell, this is something of a recurring theme in his works.
* Deconstructed in Neal Stephenson's ''Literature/{{Cryptonomicon}}'', in which Andrew Leob's backstory involves a failed attempt to unite all of humanity in a single HiveMind which failed because, apart from wanting to unite all of humanity, none of Leob's followers could agree on anything.
* Creator/AlanDeanFoster's novel ''Design for Great-Day'' features the Solarian Combine, a vision of the potential future of mankind as merely one member of a galaxy-spanning "supermind", capable of enormous mental feats and extremely close to having power over matter/energy itself. This is portrayed as a good thing, as Foster is very consistently on the ideal side of the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism.
* The State in Jack L. Chalker's ''Literature/WellWorld'' series, in an AlternateHistory where the [[FailedFutureForecast Soviet Union never fell]], and [[DirtyCommunists Communism]] became the default human government, tries to make this a reality on many of its more "advanced" planets, engineering humans in [[DesignerBabies Birth Factories]] to be physically flawless but mentally ant-like workers and on some worlds even hermaphrodites, so everyone's equal.
* Effect of [=DemoPol=] used by Humans in ''Literature/ConSentiency'' history resembled this, and some still [[BerserkButton are a bit upset]] when it's considered:
-->'''[=Jorj X. McKie=]:''' We survive by selecting the best decision makers. And a [=DemoPol=] elevates mediocrity.\\
''(The Dosadi Papers, [=BuSab=] reference)''':''''' 'Behavioral engineering in all of its manifestations always degenerates into merciless manipulation. It reduces all (manipulators and manipulated alike) to a deadly "mass effect." The central assumption, that manipulation of individual personalities can achieve uniform behavioral responses, has been exposed as a lie by many species'.\\
'Given any species which reproduces by genetic mingling such that every individual is a unique specimen, all attempts to impose a decision matrix based on assumed uniform behavior will prove lethal.'

* In [[Literature/TheExpanse Leviathan Falls]] [[spoiler: Duarte tries to forcibly turn humanity into a HiveMind to fight off the [[PrecursorKillers Goths/Dark Gods]]. It's ambiguous whether he chose to do this himself, or if it was the Protomolecule he'd modified himself with manipulating him into recreating the Ringbuilder hivemind using humans as its host.]] The main characters have to take antipsychotics to prevent themselves being assimilated while they stop him, and even then they're still connected to it, just not controlled.

** An evil version of this trope was one of the plans of the First Evil in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': to possess mankind en masse once.

** The Cybermen — while their precise motives differ depending on the writer, their usual endgame is to "upgrade" every other life-form they find.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]]: The Master's plan ends up being a fusion of this and SelfDuplication. Agent Smith, eat your heart out!
--->'''The Master:''' The human race was always your favourite, Doctor. But now, there ''is'' no human race. There is only...the Master Race!
* The Nebari leadership in ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' "mind cleanse" nonconformists, and they don't stop with just Nebari, either. They are also implied to be a HigherTechSpecies with military technology capable of matching anything the Peacekeepers or the Scarrans can throw at them.
* ''Series/KamenRiderGhost'': It's eventually that Adel's plan to create a "perfect world" is to use the Demia Project to link his soul to everyone and override their personalities with his own will, turning everyone into copies of himself. Or, as Adel puts it himself, becoming "[[IAmTheNoun the world]]".

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' and ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'' iconic villains The Borg are famous for their drive to assimilate others in the galaxy. Interestingly they are often portrayed as more selfish scavengers of biology and technology than is common with this trope, only assimilating that which would improve the Collective rather than seeking to assimilate all life - the Kazon are said to have been too primitive to bother assimilating. However Locutus, the Borg Queen and Seven of Nine all do refer to the pursuit of perfection through assimilation as one of the defining features of the Borg consciousness:
-->'''Locutus''': Why do you resist? We only wish to raise quality of life for all species.\\
'''Worf''': I like my ''species'' the way it is.\\
'''Locutus''': A narrow vision. You will become one with the Borg. You will... ''all''... become one with the Borg.
** In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' [[spoiler:Eddington]] claims the Federation ethos is "worse than the Borg" by being more insidious and less overtly villainous [[DiscussedTrope than this trope]]. The Klingons of ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' make a similar accusation.
* The title creatures in the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "Lights of Zetar" are a floating energy hivemind comprised of the last members of a doomed civilization. Their goal is to find a compatible human to merge with so they can regain physical sensations and abilities.

--> ''[[AC: We know who it is we want. We have a collective mind. We don't miss a single step. We're always right behind.]]''
--> ''now all my hope is that you're really there, and my mind has almost turned insane.''
* Apparently, Pete Townshend wanted to manage this with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifehouse_(rock_opera) Lifehouse.]] That's right, kiddies - the lead guitarist of The Who wanted you to '''''die of joy''''' at the end of "Won't Get Fooled Again". Luckily for us, the attempt to realize this [[CreatorBreakdown drove him nuts]] before he could pull it off.
* Russian composer Alexander Scriabin spent the last 12 years of his life working on a musical work called [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysterium_(Scriabin) Mysterium.]] He planned only one performance of his work, at the foothills of the Himalayas. It would last seven days, and would lead to the end of the world and the replacement of humanity with purer forms.
* "Verses" by Area 11 seems to be all about a war between gods, using HiveMind groups of people to fight.
* ''Ayreon'' has planet Y inhabitants, Forever. The Source prequel album describes their joyful unification in the song Journey to Forever. As previous parts of the saga have showed hive mind turned out to be a rather boring experience.
* The Music/TheyMightBeGiants song "The Bells Are Ringing", whose lyrics deal with mind controlling bells that organize people into a single mind. A girl tries to resist by putting cotton in her ears, but at the end, "As if by hidden signal/The people turn to face her/One thousand eyes are staring/They pull away her earplugs".
-->The bells are pealing\\

They were disorganized, and that is what was wrong

* There are several concepts of Death being a form of assimilation, since existence generates matter and therefore, identity. One might be the Christian concept of Heaven, "all will be united with God".
** Other interpretations of the Afterlife, like "Universal Reconciliation" (all souls will be reconciled with God) and "Eternal Separation" (good people unite with God, bad people are left to fend for themselves in an existential vacuum) presents Heaven / God more in this manner, to replace the Orwellian WordOfDante ({{Hell}}) that dominated Christian thinking for so long.
* The concept of Nirvana in Buddhism is considered a form of this by some sects; an existence without suffering or desire as the highest happiness. However, in at least some subsets of Buddhism, individual personalities still exist in this state.
* Many NewAge-types who believed that the re-setting of the Mayan calendar on Dec 21st, 2012 would result in an assimilation. It [[TimeMarchesOn didn't]].

* In the White Wolf RPG ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension''[='=]s "canon" ending, the ''good guys'' (that is, the PlayerCharacters) must prevent a thanatophobic, AxCrazy archmage from stopping TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, which is rapidly approaching our reality, before it's too late. If they succeed, the world ends... [[spoiler:in an odd HappilyEverAfter finale where the end of the world is the good ending: Humanity is freed from the shackles of reality and the laws of physics, and everything becomes possible. All humanity is joined together, becomes omnipotent and AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence]].
* In the White Wolf RPG ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade''[='=]s ''Crucible of God'' ending, this is the goal of [[spoiler:the Tzimisce Antediluvian]]. [[spoiler: Just as the player characters help Tremere cast a spell over all of mankind, Tzimisce takes over his body and then subverts the ritual, merging with the bodies of every single person on earth except for the player characters.]] The player characters escape from a bunch of flesh-crafted monsters, [[spoiler: and Saulot appears to offer them the chance to stop Tzimisce.]] If they refuse, [[spoiler: Saulot leaves and tries to stop Tzimisce himself, and loses; the player characters are eventually killed off or eaten, and Tzimisce inherits the earth.]] If they accept, [[spoiler: they perform a brief ritual with Saulot, then project their souls into Tzimisce, and desperately plead to God that the world be saved. They succeed, the taint of vampirism is cleansed from the world, and the player characters become human; unfortunately there are still hordes of raving madmen, giant monsters, and flesh-crafted beasties wandering the world, but at least mankind has survived and can forge a new future.]] \\
In an alternate "good" ending, the player characters still defeat [[spoiler:Tzimisce]], but find that they are [[spoiler:still vampires, except that they no longer suffer their clan weakness or the limits of generation]]... while in the Middle East, [[spoiler:Caine rises from the sand and]] curses at the heavens, horrified the cycle of vampirism is beginning anew, with the player characters as [[spoiler:the new Antediluvians in a dangerous new world waiting to be conquered]].
* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', the culture of the illithids is built around this trope, as each individual anticipates becoming united with its fellows at the end of its life, when its brain is grafted into the huge disembodied elder brain which leads their community. [[spoiler: Actually each illithid's mind is extinguished when its brain is grafted in, as the elder brains wipe them clean in order to use the new grafts for fresh memory storage and processing power. But they're hardly going to tell their faithful caretakers ''that'', are they?]]
* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' touched this.

** For [[EldritchAbomination Eldrazi Titan of desolation]] Emrakul it is the way of existence/feeding. In her wake living creatures mutate into terrible forms, sometimes merge into new... ''things'' and in general become extensions of Her will.
*** "All are Emrakul! We are Emrakul!"

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'', one of the biggest corporations is running for this. Is it Ares? Aztechnology? Renraku? [[spoiler: No, it's Horizon, the beloved media magnates whose image of equal opportunity and a united family provides cover for some sinister brainwashing experiments and heavy memetic warfare.]]
* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'': Somewhat the point of the Genestealer Cults, although {{Downplayed|Trope}} in that they do not necessarily want ''everyone'' in. In the early stages of a Genestealer infiltration, the brood will lurk around the outskirts of society, infecting individuals who will not be missed such as the homeless or people who live in isolated places. As the cult grows in size, generations pass and its members become more human-like. The cult will begin opening seemingly benign fronts, granting them more influence and resources, while also becoming more "selective" about who is infected, targeting powerful or influential citizens. Eventually as a Tyranid Hive Fleet approaches, the cult will become more aggressive and try to stage a coup. Even if the attempted coup fails, it still diverts much-needed resources away from the defences. Sometimes the coup succeeds ''[[NightmareFuel all too well]]''. The Feral World of Lamarno, for instance, was actually completely taken over peacefully by a Genestealer Cult which posed as a religious movement called the "Celebrants of Nihilism". When the bugs arrived, three quarters of the planet's population ''calmly marched into the waiting bio-ships to be consumed by their "living gods"''.

* ''Anime/DragonBallGT'' has Baby, who is able to accomplish the mental equivalent of this by invading people's bodies via open wounds and laying eggs to keep them under his control. Aside from restoring the glorious Tsufruian/Tuffle race, [[FantasticRacism he's only doing it to antagonize and eradicate the Saiyans]]. Those under Baby's influence behave like evil versions of themselves who all agree with Baby's perspective, with the only exception being Baby's direct host, [[DemonicPossession whom he possesses directly]].

* B-movie reviewer Scott Foy's [[http://www.foywonder.com/current_columns/foy_0609.html review]] of the pro-Christian drama ''Film/CMeDance'' -- in which a teenaged girl is graced with the ability to convert people to Christianity via her touch -- points out that the film's ''heroes'' apparently believe in TheEvilsOfFreeWill, leading to most UnfortunateImplications.

* B-movie reviewer Scott Foy's [[http://www.foywonder.com/current_columns/foy_0609.html review]] of the pro-Christian drama ''Film/CMeDance'' -- in which a teenaged girl is graced with the ability to convert people to Christianity via her touch -- points out that the film's ''heroes'' apparently believe in this trope, leading to most UnfortunateImplications.

* This seems to be the goal of the weakness-hating, [[Manga/DeathNote Kira-esque genius]] VillainProtagonist of ''Lost+ Brain'', who has [[spoiler: caught practically all of Japan using hypnotic TV shows in addition to the students he has under his control. What he actually does is erase their memories, although they could also be under his control too]].

* In ''Forced Perspectives'' by Creator/TimPowers, the villains are using ancient magic to create a HiveMind; most of the minds that will be used to initiate it will be unwitting patsies roped in using ArtifactDomination, and it's expected that, once established, will proceed to suck in the entire human race. The people involved in the plot (and the earlier failed attempts that preceded it) vary in their motivations; some of them genuinely believe they will be doing everyone a favor, some have more selfish intentions, and some just find themselves hard to live with and welcome the prospect of becoming an unconscious component of something greater.

* [[DeconstructionFic Darker]] takes on ''Fanfic/TheConversionBureau'' paint up ponification as this. ''Fanfic/TheConversionBureauTheOtherSideOfTheSpectrum'' takes it [[UpToEleven further]] - [[spoiler: according to King Spykoran of the Dragons, the GreaterScopeVillain of the story, Tirek, is trying to [[MultiversalConqueror take over all of the multiverse]] to bring everyone and everything under his dark rule.]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'': Somewhat the point of the Genestealer Cults, although {{Downplayed|Trope}} in that they do not necessarily want ''everyone'' in. In the early stages of a Genestealer infiltration, the brood will lurk around the outskirts of society, infecting individuals who will not be missed such as the homeless or people who live in isolated places. As the cult grows in size, generations pass and its members become more human-like. The cult will begin opening seemingly benign fronts, granting them more influence and resources, while also becoming more "selective" about who is infected, targeting powerful or influential citizens. Eventually as a Tyranid Hive Fleet approaches, the cult will become more aggressive and try to stage a coup. Even if the attempted coup fails, it still diverts much-needed resources away from the defences. Sometimes the coup succeeds ''[[NightmareFuel all too well]]''. The Feral World of Lamarno, for instance, was actually completely taken over peacefully by a Genestealer Cult which posed as a religious movement called the "Celebrants of Nihilism". When the bugs arrived, three quarters of the planet's population ''calmly marched into the waiting bio-ships to be consumed by their "living gods"''. *shudders*

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': Defeating the Angels does not mean humanity would be left in peace: [[spoiler:SEELE and Gendo alike have convergent plots to do more or less exactly the same thing that the Angels were trying to accomplish, except on their own terms. That is, reduce the bodies of all human beings into glowy [[FanNickname Tang]] and unite their souls with Lilith, an EldritchAbomination not unlike the Angels themselves. SEELE thinks this would be an evolutionary leap forward for mankind, while Gendo merely wants to reunite with Yui, whose soul is trapped inside Unit 01.]] The plan's name, "Instrumentality", was the former TropeNamer, but the name was considered spoiling too much.

** In ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'', before their legendary falling out, Drs. Hikari and Wily were working on a project called [=SoulNet=], which would link humanity's thoughts and emotions, allowing better understandings and building better trust among each other. They never got to complete the project, entrusting it to future generations. While the motivations behind the concept were benign, this becomes problematic when the endgame of the BigBad of ''[[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork5TeamColonelAndTeamProtoMan Battle Network 5]]'' is to unleash [=SoulNet=], then taint the world with evil thoughts and negative emotions.

* Sometime between ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' and ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'', somebody got the big idea that the only way to end the fighting between humans and reploids was to make them the same. Aside from the occasional Mavericks or the games' {{Big Bad}}s, it ''works''. The only real difference between a Human and a reploid now is the means of their birth/creation.
** As well as those nice little red triangles on the heads of reploids to differentiate between the two.
** This would be a very mild example. Everyone still has their individuality, it's just that reploids no longer have robot super powers built in.
*** Or, rather, that humans have super powers built in on par with those of reploids (case in point: when Ashe -- a human -- ''jumps off an airship at cruising altitude'' casually and without even the remotest hint that she thinks the maneuver is at all dangerous). Though it seems to be true that the average reploid isn't as powerful as, say, X or Zero, that was true during the X and Zero series as well (which is why X and Zero were the player characters).
*** Specifically, humans were getting augmented with robotic parts, to enhance their capabilities, and reploids started getting programmed with lifespans, which could not be exceeded, so they would die too, with the end result being no practical difference between the two.

** In the ''VideoGame/MassEffect'' series, the asari mate with other races, which results in their children being more asari, with unique traits from the father species, though no DNA. The asari goverment uses propaganda to influence their own people into doing this more often, resulting in more asari, and less of other races. Additionally, they hoard power and knowledge to subtly influence the other races into being more like the asari. It's an AssimilationPlot in a very slow and very subtle form.
** It's the whole deal with the kett from ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda''. The kett species are themselves an amalgamation of thousands of useful genes from other species. They continue to harvest any useful genes from any new species they find and incorporate it into themselves. They also select biologically-adequate members of other species and forcibly morph them into more kett.

* The State in Jack L. Chalker's ''Literature/WellWorld'' series, in an AlternateHistory where the [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp Soviet Union never fell]], and [[DirtyCommunists Communism]] became the default human government, tries to make this a reality on many of its more "advanced" planets, engineering humans in [[DesignerBabies Birth Factories]] to be physically flawless but mentally ant-like workers and on some worlds even hermaphrodites, so everyone's equal.

* A good number of Space Empire games or ''VideoGame/{{Civilization}}''-style games with technology that goes well into the future (including ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'') will feature some blend of this and AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence as their ultimate technology, and the means of achieving the Technological Victory. It's worth pointing out that this is portrayed as AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence, and almost always shown as heroic and that nobody at all minds the thought of leaving their bodies behind, the way that the ragtag band of heroes ''always'' will if it wasn't their idea first. ''Alpha Centauri'' is notable because it expressly involves melding with Planet, which has been sending out creatures to inflict a FateWorseThanDeath for the entire game until then. The faction that pulls this off "wins" by having its values become predominant in the new consciousness.

** In ''VideoGame/CivilizationBeyondEarth'', this is only one of the four non-domination victories. It's limited to factions following the Harmony path. Two of the other tech-based victories involve re-establishing contact with Earth (one to bring in refugees, another to force Earth humans to undergo UnwillingRobotization), while the non-affinity-specific victory involves establishing a FirstContact.

* ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'': This is the ultimate goal of Conductor Kitaniji and his Red Skull pins. "''To right the countless wrongs of our day, we shine this light of true redemption, that this place may become as paradise. What a wonderful world such would be...''" The [[MindScrewdriver Secret Reports]] explain that assimilation is the natural state of [[spoiler:Angels and other higher beings]], but ordinary humans can't handle it.

** Subverted when [[spoiler:he finally succeeds in resurrecting said sister, and she just leaves (that is, goes back to death) because of what he's done. So he decides to destroy the Earth instead.]]
*** That's more "TheEvilsOfFreeWill" than an Assimilation Plot, since those affected all retain their physical forms.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX:'' [[spoiler: The inhabitants of Zanarkand turned themselves into an assimilation by collectively becoming an enormous fayth which spent the next thousand years dreaming an illusory Zanarkand into existence]].
* ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII:'' [[spoiler: [[GodIsEvil Bhunivelze]] wants to bring this about in his New World. He used Lightning to carry out his plan.]]

*** Or, rather, that humans have super powers built in on par with those of reploids (case in point: when Ashe-- a human-- *jumps off an airship at cruising altitude* casually and without even the remotest hint that she thinks the maneuver is at all dangerous). Though it seems to be true that the average reploid isn't as powerful as, say, X or Zero, that was true during the X and Zero series as well (which is why X and Zero were the player characters).

* ''VideoGame/SystemShock2'':
-->'''The Many''': Mistrust is the tyranny of the individual. Your own kind sees you as a threat.
-->'''The Many''': We do not know death... only change. We cannot kill each other without killing ourselves. Is your vision... so small... that you cannot see the value of our way?
-->'''The Many''': The Machine Mother... told us of the planet of her birth. We know how you have harmed this place... with your pollution, your violence, and your discord. But when we arrive there, we will cleanse the surface of that place, and merge it... with the harmony... of the Many.

** [[spoiler: This was actually part of the master plan by Deus. Deus was a heavily damaged superweapon and needed spare parts. He created humanity and waited 10,000 years until it was time to absorb them and continue his intergalactic rampage.]]

* The [[ChurchOfHappyology Unitologist Church]] in ''Franchise/DeadSpace'' seems to have this as its central dogma: Humanity was created by {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s (Or maybe {{God}}? Unclear), and life as we know it is a stepping stone towards "Convergence", when "all will be made as one"... or something. Point is, quite a few of them seem to think the [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Necromorph]] [[TheVirus transformation]] is what leads to Convergence (since Necromorphs seem to be united under a HiveMind), and quite eagerly embrace it for themselves and their fellow man.

** In ''Dead Space 3'', it's revealed what "Convergence" truly is: when enough Necromorphs are created, the Markers will pull them into the sky and merge them all together to form a giant Necromorph Moon that will consume the planet's biosphere to complete itself.
* The Khala in ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' is a ''heroic'' example. Since by the time just before its discovery, the Protoss are fighting a massive civil war, and the discovery of Khala by Khas/[[spoiler:Savassan]] ended the civil war and helped restore the psionic link that was lost in the war. Though to be noted that even when they are linked the protoss still retain individuality.

*** Also the Zerg are hive-mind... sort of. In the buttom line the Overmind and the cerebrates have distinct personalities but "hard-wired" in a way that they cannot rebel thus lacking some of the free-will. Also basically anything beneath them (every other zerg unit) is just a creature with no personality or free-will whatsoever. Kerrigan and some doubtfully-canon zerg are different.

* The fourth game in the ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'' series has a BigBad (in the Order campaign, naturally) with something similar as his goal--he wants to eliminate free will, and so end war.
* ''VideoGame/DeusEx'':
** This is the master plan of Helios from ''Deus Ex'' and its sequel, ''[[VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar Invisible War]]'', made possible through nanotechnology. Oddly enough, helping him do this is the closest thing ''Invisible War'' has to a good ending. This is possibly because he's ''upgrading'' everyone to eliminate inequality, rather than downgrading everyone.

** At the end of ''VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar'', [[MultipleEndings if you side with Helios]], the whole world population is infused with nanoaugmentation so that Helios can act as an enlighted despot. JC Denton/Helios asserts that individuality will remain (ie. it's not a collective mind merge of the populus) but Helios will know the contents of everyone's mind so that he can react to their opinions and needs. It's suggested it will be closer to TheSingularity.
** The Omar, meanwhile, are a traditional HiveMind. All members' minds are linked through nanotechnology. It's averted, however, in that they are [[SocialDarwinism Social Darwinists]] who only force this on those who join them. Leo Jankowski leaves them for this reason.
** ''In VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'', [[spoiler: The Illuminati]] attempt to play this straight using a recall on a faulty biochip to provide their own and use it to control augmented people. This is ultimately averted by [[spoiler: Hugh Darrow]] who uses the same biochip recall to drive augments into madness out of jealousy.

* Conversations with Legion in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' indicate that this is the ultimate goal for both the Geth and [[spoiler: the Reapers]].
** The Geth are a machine race where sapience is achieved by the cooperation and consensus of a multitude of lesser non-sapient programs and sub-routines. Their ultimate goal is [[spoiler: to create a single repository for all of their programs in order to form a single, unified entity]]. Unique in that no member of their race opposes this goal - an 'individual' geth is a piece of software, so they need to be networked to achieve sapience.
** On a grimmer note are [[spoiler: the Reapers, ancient machines that possess thousands of programs in their cores and, as shown by the sequel's climax, are created by transforming millions, if not billions, of sapient organics into a liquid metal for use in their construction, apparently fusing some measure of their being into the resulting Reaper.]]
--->'''Harbinger:''' That which you know as [[spoiler: Reapers]] are your salvation through destruction.
** The "Heretic" Geth differ from the rest since they want to take a shortcut to their goal [[spoiler:by uploading themselves into a Reaper.]]

* In ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'', this is the Flood's ultimate goal, with their Gravemind having a few quotes reflecting this in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}''.
--> '''Gravemind''': Do not be afraid... I am peace, I am salvation.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout|1}}'', the Master seeks to create the "Unity": a single race of super mutants, via (mostly) forced assimilation. Too bad he didn't know about the one critical flaw in his plan: the Forced Evolution Virus renders all it infects sterile.
--> '''The Master''': The Unity will bring above the master race. Master. Master! One able to survive, or even thrive, in the wasteland. As long as there will be differences, we will tear ourselves apart fighting each other. We need one race! Race! Race! One goal! Goal! Goal! One people... to move forward to our destiny. Destiny.
** In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', although they lack a central leader, the Vault 87 Super Mutants also forcibly mutate the humans they capture but don't kill.

* ''VideoGame/{{Prototype 2}}'' eventually reveals that [[spoiler:after years of contemplation and planning, Alex Mercer has decided to solve the woes of the world by turning the human population into a virus-based superorganism]]. This would effectively end conflict, but Heller understandably disagrees with the means.
* Near the end of ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'', Lucas and company find a room in the [[spoiler:Empire Porky Building]] that contains [[spoiler:lots of green capsules with people and animals inside. Each individual capsule is a "Nice Person Hot Spring", where the unsuspecting victim enters and becomes a nice person who loves Porky, the [[BigBad Big Bad]] of the game.]] At that point they discover that [[spoiler:Porky's basically brainwashing people into all being Porky lovers.]]

** In ''Code Veronica'', Alexia Ashford plans to use the T-Veronica virus to accomplish this goal. She styles herself as a Queen Ant destined to rule over humanity, with the world as her colony.
** The Plagas is a mind-controlling parasite that assimilates with a host and connects them to a Hive Mind under the command of a HiveQueen. The Los Illuminados cult is centered around the parasite, with the goal of spreading their "faith" to all of humanity.
** The BigBad of ''7'' is attempting to do this on a much smaller scale, due to being confined to an extremely rural area of Louisiana. [[spoiler: The Mold was designed with the idea of using a HiveQueen to infect a local population and control them via the hive mind. Eveline escapes from custody and then takes over the Bakers, ordering them to kidnap people to assimilate into their "family". At her core, Eveline (E-001) simply wants to be loved....but her nature as a bio-weapon twists that desire into this Trope]].

A step up is the WorldOfSilence; not only has everyone become one, but that 'oneness' is one of complete apathy and nothing.

* This is [[AIIsACrapshoot Leviathan's]] ultimate plan ion ''Anime/DigimonUniverseAppliMonsters''. Turning all humans into data then absorbing them within itself so they can be easily controled in the form of applications.