History Main / BattleintheCenteroftheMind

** Also, the final battle of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' [[spoiler:happens inside Cloud's mind. He destroys Sephiroth in one strike]].

* At one point in ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'''s Millennium Falcon arc, [[spoiler:Schierke has to go inside Guts' mind using AstralProjection to snap him out of the influence of his [[EnemyWithin inner beast]] the first time he uses the Berserker Armor]].

* ''Anime/BlackRockShooter'' has the titular "otherselves" as apparently "censor" mechanisms that remove pain and frustration from their human selves. The problem is that the effect "bleeds" out and the titular Black Rock Shooter is removing what she considers to be pain and suffering in other people's heads. The finale is Mato; Black Rock Shooter's human self; taking control of her Black Rock Shooter function, splitting from, and then beating down her KnightTemplar tendencies which takes the form of Insane Black Rock Shooter.

* ''Fanfic/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'': In the chapter "Fear No Evil", [[spoiler:Spider-Man is accidentally dosed with Fear Toxin. He falls unconscious and faces everyone in his life that he feels he's failed, with all of them blaming him for their problems. He nearly gives in to his fear before Uncle Ben's memory appears and gives Peter the pep talk he needs to fight through the toxin]].

*** ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'' #9 features a showdown between Otto Octavius and Peter Parker, [[spoiler:who, after his death in Ock's body in ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManDanSlott'' #700, exists as a 'ghost' in his own body via all his memories given consciousness]]. Otto begins to [[spoiler:purge Peter's memories through one of his devices in order to get rid of him, but Peter fights back, forcing Otto to go in and eliminate Peter himself from his brain. Otto is victorious and wipes Peter from his mind. Or at least he believe this...]]

* The ''Franchise/MegamiTensei'' franchise has several examples:
** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'', you find a young girl ([[spoiler:actually the reincarnation of the Heroine]]) whose mind has been infested by a demon that is devouring her from the inside-out. You have to dive into her mind in order to kill the demon and save her.
** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIF'', exclusive to the Reiko route, after beating [[BigBad Hazama]] in his Demon God Emperor form, you go inside his mind alongside Reiko and learn more about his [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds past and motives]], and ultimately fight the manifestation of his insanity, fittingly named Warped Mind.
** Every boss fight in ''VideoGame/Persona4'' is this until close to the end of the game. Although it's more like "Battle In The Center Of The Collective Unconscious".
** The Palaces of ''VideoGame/Persona5'' are twisted manifestations of a person's corrupt desires. In these cases, the "center of the mind" is a Treasure that the Phantom Thieves set their sights on stealing in order to force someone to have a change of heart.
** Not quite the same, but not quite anything else either: In ''[[Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei Maken X]]'', Kei's consciousness (using Kei's form) spends most of the game standing on a glassy-looking disc in her brain yelling/screeching at her body, now possessed by the Maken.

** Molly fights an epic one against [[spoiler:the Corpsetaker]] in ''Ghost Story''. Apparently, the center of Molly's mind looks like the bridge of the [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries 1960s Enterprise]], complete with a crew of Mollies wearing miniskirt uniforms and mimicking the behavior of the original characters and an epic fighting music soundtrack. There's even one wearing a RedShirt!
*** Not to mention the ''miles'' of incomprehensibly intricate battlefield outside of the bridge. The fact that [[spoiler:Corpsetaker gave up attempting outmaneuvers and just started smashing everything until she overpowered Molly says a lot about how good Molly is at this illusion stuff]].

** I'm sorry, Rachel.** Jean said as she joined the psychic battle.\\
** No, stay out!** Rachel pleaded, practically begged. She erected walls around her mind that kept Jean out for merely a few seconds. The effort Rachel was exerting in the battle was too much to keep a telepath as powerful as Jean out.\\

** ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' played with this one in the 2001 annual, involving [[ComicBook/AntMan Hank Pym]]'s separate personalities (Goliath, the cold unfeeling reason, and Yellowjacket, the impulsive showoff) who hated each other's guts getting dumped into a psychic landscape that was supposed to represent the original's mind after they were [[LiteralSplitPersonality physically separated into two people in the real world]]. Initially, they started fighting for control, even trying to force Janet (who was back together with him at the time) to choose which one would live. Only after they both accepted the previously ignored third aspect (the human combination of both) were they put back together, keeping him from dying.
** ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'': During Paul Jenkins' run, one of Bruce Banner's Hulk personalities, the 'Beast', a near-mindless monster, threatens to take over completely, so Bruce journeys into his mind and recruits the three main Hulks -- Savage Hulk, Joe Fixit, and the Professor -- to defeat it on his/their home turf.

** Issue #9 of ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'' features a showdown between Otto Octavius and Peter Parker, [[spoiler:who, after his death in Ock's body in ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #700, exists as a 'ghost' in his own body via all his memories given consciousness]]. Otto begins to [[spoiler:purge Peter's memories through one of his devices in order to get rid of him, but Peter fights back, forcing Otto to go in and eliminate Peter himself from his brain. Otto is victorious and wipes Peter from his mind. Or at least he believe this...]]
*** {{Averted|Trope}} in their rematch. Peter is ready for round two, but Otto simply gives up instead of fighting.

** In ''ComicBook/XMen'':

* In ''ComicBook/PS238'', the villain of the Las Vegas arc attempts to use her TouchTelepathy to MindControl [[InsufferableGenius Zodon]], leading to this. When [[FlyingBrick Julie]] touches them she gets sucked into the battle too. This turns out to be a turning point for her: her own buried self-confidence shows up and gives her a pep talk, allowing to her to not only help Zodon win the fight, but finally get over her [[YouAreNumberSix issues with her generic power set]] and embrace her heroic destiny.
* The final battle of ''ComicBook/ScottPilgrim'' is like this. [[spoiler:A part of Ramona still wants to be with Gideon. [[BigDamnHeroes All the other parts want to beat the crap out of him, though]].]]

** ''[[WhatIf Star Wars Infinities]]: Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' has Yoda use his powers to make Darth Vader confront his sins -- which means having to fight spectral copies of Qui-Gon Jinn, Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and potentially other Jedi whom he killed during his rise to power. [[spoiler:Vader wins, and kills Yoda.]]

** This happens twice in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' when Batman gets drugged by the Scarecrow, resulting in massive InterfaceScrew and a FissionMailed before entering a twisted world based on his psyche. However, Batman fights it off due to HeroicWillpower, to the horror of Scarecrow.
** It also happens in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'' with [[spoiler:the Mad Hatter and Ra's al-Ghul]].

* ''Anime/KnightHunters'': In ''Weiß Kreuz Glühen'', Berger draws Crawford into his own psychic mindscape to fight him. Crawford, however, manages to turn it around on Berger and pull both of them into the center of ''his'' own mind -- and unlike in Berger's, in Crawford's mind, they aren't alone.

* In the ''Franchise/{{Nasuverse}}'', reality marbles make the landscape in your mind into an actual battlefield to teleport your enemy to.
* ''Manga/AlienNine'': The climax of volume 3. Even after the Sunflower is physically removed from her head, Yuri still has to fight to get it out of her mind.
* ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba'': The sleep demon Enmu's power is to step inside your Mental World through dreams. If your spiritual core in the subconscious part of that world is destroyed, it leaves you mentally crippled and a shell of your former self.
* ''Anime/RebuildOfEvangelion'': In the climax of the final film, Shinji and [[spoiler:Gendo]] have a mental battle in the [[spoiler:Golgotha Object in the Anti-Universe]], represented as two Toku actors on stage, also fighting in familiar settings like the classroom and Misato's apartment.
* ''Literature/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs'': In the ''Marie Route'' AlternateTimeline, there's an attempt at DemonicPossession of Marie by a VengefulGhost in her sleep, portrayed as taking place within a dream. Once Marie is fully alert to the threat, it looks like Marie is turning into a HumanoidAbomination in her dream... [[BaitAndSwitch only for]] Marie to let out a spoiled cry for her KnightTemplarBigBrother to help her, and for him to come in with GlowingEyesOfDoom and kick the intruder out [[BatterUp using a baseball bat]].

* ''Franchise/TheDCU'':
** The Reboot version of the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' had a memorable one, when [[PsychicPowers Saturn Girl]] enters [[IncredibleShrinkingMan Shrinking Violet's]] mind to help her free herself of the control of the cursed Emerald Eye of Ekron, which is using her body to attack the rest of the team.
** ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':
*** In ''ComicBook/DemonSpawn'', ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} and one-time villain Nightflame fight into Supergirl's mind an illusory, hellish psychic landscape called Innerverse that represents Supergirl's dark side.
---->Finally, the drama within her reaches a fever pitch... thoughts are pushed and pulled back and forth within her mind at ever-increasing speed... and, at last, the landscape can take no more and erupts with fantastic fury...
*** In ''ComicBook/SupermanFamily #206: ComicBook/StrangersAtTheHeartsCore'', Kara fights her old nemesis Lesla-Lar, who is trying to take over her mind. The battle takes place in Supergirl's head.
*** During the ''ComicBook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'' storyline, an enemy called Sheko invades Supergirl’s mind to read her memories and judge her, but a memory of Supergirl's mother Alura stops her and forces her out of her daughter's mind.
*** In ''ComicBook/TheThirdKryptonian'', the villain Amalak uses a mind-probe to invade Superman's mind and discover Kandor's location. However, Superman's strong-willed enough to fight back, and he's even able to exploit the mind-link to figure out why Amalak hates Kryptonians.
*** In ''ComicBook/TheJungleLine'', Superman gets infected with Bloodmorel spores which cause, among other things, terrible hallucinations. ComicBook/SwampThing finds Superman lying unconscious, goes into his mind to help him and finds him fighting nightmare monsters. At the beginning, Superman mistakes him for another enemy, but Swamp Thing convinces him that he is a friend, and he must stop fighting if he wants to beat the disease.
*** In ''ComicBook/AdventuresOfSupergirl'', Psi tries to throw Supergirl into a neverending sleep by trapping her in an endless maze of nightmares, dream battles and utopian fantasies. Supergirl fights off and rejects illusion after illusion until she manages to find Psi, and demands to be released.
* ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'': In ''ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck: "[[Recap/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuckTheDreamOfALifetime The Dream of a Lifetime]]"'', Donald has to fight the Beagle Boys in Uncle Scrooge's dreams before the Boys find out the combination to Scrooge's vault.
* Issue 8 of ''ComicBook/FlashGordonZeitgeist'' has this with Hans Zarkov.

* In ''ComicBook/PS238'', the villain of the Las Vegas arc attempts to use her TouchTelepathy to MindControl [[InsufferableGenius Zodon]], leading to this. When [[FlyingBrick Julie]] touches them she gets sucked into the battle too. This turns out to be a turning point for her: her own buried self-confidence shows up and gives her a pep talk, allowing to her to not only help Zodon win the fight, but finally get over her [[YouAreNumberSix issues with her generic power set]] and embrace her heroic destiny.
* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' comic ''Perchance to Dream'', Captain Jean-Luc Picard is forced to infect himself with an alien telepathic weapon known as the Chova that has already infected most of the ''Enterprise'' crew; based on past records of the Chova's use, it can be defeated by those with multiple personality disorder, as multiple personalities would overwhelm the Chova due to it only being able to attack one personality at a time, rendering it inert so that the cure can be passed on to others. Picard is selected due to a detailed mind-meld with Sarek, the probe that gave him the memories of Kamin, and his traumatic experience being assimilated by the Borg. When the Chova infects Picard, the four personalities are able to defeat the Chova, but Locutus attempts to take control of Picard's body for himself, forcing the other three to band together and overwhelm Locutus before he can destroy them.

* Multiple battles occur in the ''Manga/DeathNote'' fanfic ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/9644493/1/Zenith-Darkness-Reverie Zenith, Darkness, Reverie]]'', as the protagonist and [[spoiler:Kira]] attempt to determine which personality should be granted control of the body, the Death Note, and, by extension, [[FridgeHorror the world]].
* ''Kind of'' happens in ''Fanfic/ASparkOfGenius''. [[spoiler:Boston Brand finds Xander meditating at Rama Kushna's temple and has no idea who he is. Instead of appearing before him and, you know, ''asking'', he decides the only way he could figure out who he is is by going into his mind and reading his memories. Boston promptly gets sucked into Xander's mind, wherein [[LiteralSplitPersonality his many personalities]] take turns kicking his ass. The goddess herself has to intervene and take away Boston's memories of Xander, or else Xander would have actually killed him.]]
* An interesting version occurs in ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/119688/1/you-obey/the-interrogation You Obey]]'', where it is the protagonist who initiates the battle.
* A big part of the fight with [[spoiler:Future Cell]] in ''Fanfic/HonorTrip''. Cell tries everything in his power, including TalkingTheMonsterToDeath, and harassing his captor [[ItMakesSenseInContext by beat-boxing a taunt]].
* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' fanfiction ''Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf'', Rose is kidnapped and MindRaped by aliens who want to use the remnant of the Time Vortex in her mind. To prevent them from finding the information they need, she ''rips apart her mind'' from the ''inside out''. The aliens, instead of giving up, sort through the rubble (described as a beach, each grain of sand being a memory) for months. [[OhCrap Too bad]] [[PhysicalGod they forgot to figure out how to control the time energy once they released it]].
* [[http://gekizetsu.net/sn/fic.html Gekizetsu's]] series ''The Month of Open Doors'' begins with ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'''s Dean Winchester locked in a room in his own mind by ''something''. A rather strange battle in the centre of the mind plays out over the first arc, ''As Fools Shine On''.
* The ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' fanfic ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/88640/chapters/120134 Darkness]]'' climaxes in John, who has gone utterly insane, [[spoiler:fighting an EvilTwin]]. On the outside, of course, he's gone into a coma.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}''/''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes2006'' crossover fanfic ''Legion of Lawndale Heroes'', psi-active cadets at the MilitarySchool known as the ''United States Academy of Extranormal Studies'', or '' 'USAES' '', can receive certification in the ''Astral Special Tactical Response Operations (ASTRO)'' course for out-of-body and psionic combat. As part of their training, cadets learn how to create a specific 'mental persona' (much like [[Literature/HarryPotter a Patronus]]) to do mental combat in and manifest their powers during that combat.
* ''Fanfic/ImperfectMetamorphosis'' has (so far in the story) four characters sharing a same body because [[spoiler:[[BlobMonster the jelly monster]] can absorb other characters]]. It doesn't help that one of them came with a SuperpoweredEvilSide. There is one between [[spoiler:the host]] and the villain when the villain is discovered.
* {{Implied|Trope}} in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eSSZZFSs8U this fanvid]] for ''Film/TronLegacy'' (spoilers out the kazoo).

* ''[[Fanfic/ThePartyNeverEnded The Party Never (or Hasn't) Ended]]'' features Twilight Sparkle having to help Pinkie Pie in one of these against Nightmare. Then Pinkie Pie helping Rainbow Dash. [[spoiler:[[{{Determinator}} Then Pinkie Pie by herself]]. And it is awesome.]]
* ''Fanfic/QueenOfAllOni'': Throughout the story, we get [[GhostInTheMachine glimpses inside of]] [[VillainProtagonist Jade's]] mind, where we watch as Hero (the [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Aspect]] representing Jade's heroic nature) gather together as many uncorrupted Aspects as he can into a LaResistance aimed at regaining control of Jade's mind from [[SuperpoweredEvilSide The Queen]]. They eventually launch an attack on the ship representing Jade's consciousness, but before Hero and The Queen can fight each other, the trope ends up being subverted -- in the real world, Jade is captured by the EvilSorcerer Lung, whose attempts to break Jade to his will end up driving her insane, which cause the mindscape to literally fall apart, forcing the Aspects to focus on their own survival. [[spoiler:When Jade's mind is restored, The Queen captures Hero, ensuring her continued dominance of Jade's mind, until the main story's FinalBattle, when Father (the Aspect representing Jackie's influence) leads the remaining uncorrupted Aspects against the Queen and Paranoia (the Aspect representing Jade's SanitySlippage).]]
* This happens a couple of times in the ''FanFic/PonyPOVSeries'':
** First, during Pinkie Pie's reharmonizing chapter, Angry Pie (a SplitPersonality representing all of [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Pinkie's anger]]) attempts to pull a SplitPersonalityTakeover by absorbing all the other pieces of Pinkie's mind. Pinkie is only able to defeat Angry by [[spoiler:performing a SplitPersonalityMerge with her Pinkamina personality and then forcing the merge on Angry as well]].
** This is also the conclusion of the Trixie storyline: [[spoiler:Twilight [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind enters Trixie's mind]] to free her of her discording, and is confronted by Trixie's EnemyWithin, Loneliness, who fights her at every turn. Eventually, Twilight gets through to Trixie, who accepts her help, and together they destroy Loneliness.]]
** This also pops up at the end of Bright Eyes' entry of the ''7 Dreams/Nightmares'' collection: [[spoiler:she's dragged into her MentalWorld by an entity claiming to be her EnemyWithin Cruel Eyes, but is actually the Shadow of Discord's eldest brother [[UnPerson D___t]], who's trying to [[GrandTheftMe absorb her soul and potential concept]] in order to reconstitute himself. With the love of her friends and family, Bright Eyes is able to defeat D___t, being sure to destroy his Shadow even after mortally wounding him in order to make sure he stays gone.]]

* ''Fanfic/VariantStrain'' has Peter doing this against [[spoiler:Hank]].
* ''FanFic/TheWorldOfTheCreatures'' takes place in the mind of the [[SelfInsertFic author/protagonist]]. It acts as the setting for a MassiveMultiplayerCrossover Fic where various characters from different franchises face off against an idea-eating monster.
* In ''Fanfic/YugiohTheThousandYearDoor'', Diana has a small battle in the center of her soul to free herself from the Shadow Queen's Mind control.
* While [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind journeying into Socrates' mind]] to repair a faulty transmitter chip in ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'', the protagonists find it along with his dark side, who then fights Hobbes. It's a somewhat downplayed example, as the emphasis isn't on the battle but rather Calvin and Andy trying to repair the chip.
* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/39587901/ What If... Wanda Cast The No Way Home Spell?]]'', after Wanda helps Peter confront the Green Goblin, she engages in one to enter Norman Osborn's mind, luring out the side of his personality that's truly Norman and then forcing back the Goblin aspect (personified in the mind as an ''actual'' goblin rather than just Norman's usual body or someone in a suit).
* In ''Fanfic/TheSwarmOfWar'', the Overmind has one against Ahzek Ahriman. Turns out, even one of the most powerful psychics in the galaxy cannot match a world spanning HiveMind.

* Happens twice, technically, in ''Fanfic/CatchYourBreath'':
** [[spoiler:When the Three Tails was sealed into her, one of Kei's split personalities was fighting him (to stop him from escaping), Kei herself was fighting the MindControl seal Madara put inside her, while the second split personality was controlling the body and fighting external threats.]]
--->[[spoiler:Kei -- the Dreamer -- says, "Running interference. The compulsion affects the dominant personality -- the kunoichi you both know. She is stalling. As for the Tailed Beast, the Three-Tails activates hindbrain impulses toward destruction and rage in order to weaken the seal, personified and confronted by Id. I am neither, and have been forced to act in their stead until the situation can be resolved."]]
** [[spoiler:OR ''Battle in the Collective Centre of Nine Minds'' as the shared Tailed Beast [[{{Pun}} mind]][[ShoutOut skype]] could be called -- where Shukaku and Isobu have their (mock) [[BehemothBattle fight]].]]
* In ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji'':

* The ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2402970/1/Equal-Romance-02-Obscure-Ways-to-Devotion Equal Romance 02: Obscure Ways to Devotion]]" features Kim forced to use a combination of magic and technology to send herself into Ron's mind after he contracts malaria on a mission and is left in a coma, with his parents planning to pull the plug. Despite having recently been in an intense fight with Ron due to OutOfContextEavesdropping, Kim is able to see enough of Ron's memories to realise what he was really thinking, [[spoiler:and is able to convince him to take a chance on life again, although she then has to apologise to him all over again as he doesn't remember what they experienced in his mind]].
* The FinalBattle in ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfAnElderGod'' happens simultaneously in the mental and physical planes against [[spoiler:the dead [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Outer Gods]]]].
* ''Fanfic/LastChildOfKrypton'': Shinji fights [[EldritchAbomination Leliel]] in an illusory dreamscape to save Asuka's mind.
* In the ''Fanfic/FacingTheFutureSeries'', under the influence of Vlad's MindControlDevice, Danny has a battle in his subconscious with the manifestation of his ghost half. He's able to combat it using his subconscious before managing to get through to him. [[spoiler:This results in him getting control of his [[SuperMode True Ghost Form]].]]
* The FinalBattle of ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' climaxes with one of these when [[EldritchAbomination Chthon]] attempts to possess Harry. [[spoiler:Though calling it a "battle" is [[CurbStompBattle a stretch]], as once Harry's parents (Lily manifesting through the Phoenix) arrive and help him see through Chthon's lies, Harry [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu burns Chthon out of his mind and reality]]]].
** Chapter 2 of ''Ghosts of the Past'' features Harry getting into two of these with Voldemort. The first is merely written as a psychic duel, which Harry has an early edge in due to raw power, until Voldemort counters with much more skill, and his willingness to use Harry's friends as leverage (meaning that Harry has to hold back). Later, Harry enters the MentalWorld Voldemort is controlling his PeoplePuppets from, and [[IAmNotLeftHanded stops holding back]], forcing Voldemort to retreat.
** Harry and [[spoiler:Rachel Grey/Maddie Pryor]] get into another, pretty epic one, in Chapters 9 and 10. Because they're fighting in the Nevernever, a region that amplifies and does funny things to psychic powers and magic, and since they're both Omega-class psychics, it causes a global scale PsychicNosebleed effect, almost kills some elderly psychics, drives others mad, and results in a WorldGoneMad in the part of the [[EldritchLocation Nevernever]] where they're fighting.
* ''Fanfic/TalesOfAResetMind'': ''Part Nine'' is about Nico and his emotions fighting against the creatures that escaped from the Subconscious.
* ''Fanfic/WithThisRing'':
** Through using magical LSD, the Paragon gets into [[spoiler:Black Adam]]'s mind and intervenes in a showdown between [[spoiler:Theodore Adam and Teth Adom]], with the winner to get the gods' blessing and the loser to have their soul eaten.
** The Renegade doesn't intervene immediately, but comes back almost a year later to find the two personalities in constant conflict, the body practically helpless yet not unconscious. [[spoiler:With Circe's help, he enters the mindscape, stabs the avatar of Theodore Adam through the torso, and Circe seals Theodore away.]]

* ''Fanfic/HouseOfSummers'': In the very first scene, Rachel Summers engages in a telepathic battle with Mastermind and Psylocke. Jean Grey joins to protect Rachel, and accidentally has a glimpse at her memories.
-->Jean looked back at Rachel, torn between wanting to help, and respecting her friend's wish to go at it alone. But she could see that Rachel was breaking. She had mere moments left. She could die on the astral plane. She was not going to allow that to happen.\\
** I'm sorry, Rachel.** Jean said as she joined the psychic battle.\\
** No, stay out!** Rachel pleaded, practically begged. She erected walls around her mind that kept Jean out for merely a few seconds. The effort Rachel was exerting in the battle was too much to keep a telepath as powerful as Jean out.\\
The physical world around her disappeared the moment Jean was able to break through into Rachel's mind. A flash of blinding light greeted her and what she saw brought her to her knees.

* In ''Fanfic/LyricsOfSorrow'', Soma fights Dracula to take back his mind while Julius and Chrono battle his body. He then has to take on Chaos once more.
* ''Fanfic/TalesOfTheOtherverse'': When [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]] falls into a coma during the "A World Without Heroes" arc, [[ComicBook/XMen Prof. Xavier]] goes into her mind to try to piece it back together.
-->Softly at first, then with more confidence, Xavier allowed his thoughts to merge with Kara's. When the storm hit, it took him by surprise. Gasping with surprise, he gripped his chair as the storm of Kara's emotions rushed over him, threatening to drag him down.\\
Xavier anchored himself, assuring that, despite the violence of Kara's emotions, he would be able to return to himself. He then took the mental equivalent of a deep breath and plunged in.\\
He was no stranger to Kara's mind. After her initial resurrection, he had spent hours working with her, many times without her knowledge. Attempting to ease the merger between body and soul. Though in his case, he preferred to think of it as a merger of body and mind.\\
Images swirled around him in a kaleidoscope of colors and patterns as he swam through the turmoil, attempting to reach the core of her being. Each mentalist had his or her own method of perceiving thoughts. In his case, he translated those thoughts into images and sounds. From his own perspective, he was physically swimming through a sea of chaos.
* In ''Fanfic/TheWeaverOption'' the intense training and mental conditioning of the Callidus Temple suppresses the original personality of [[spoiler:Sophia Hess]] and replaces her with the loyal Elena Kerrigan. However on hearing that Taylor Hebert is alive and famous, [[spoiler:Sophia]]'s personality is awakened by her pure rage and the two minds end up fighting it out. [[spoiler:Sophia]] loses, badly, but Elena is stopped from killing her as that would kill their ''soul'' as well; instead the two [[SplitPersonalityMerge are fused into one mind]].
* ''Fanfic/TowerOfBabel'': Kainé and Tyrann eventually end up fighting each other over the control of Kainé's body.
* ''Fanfic/MariaCampbellOfTheAstralClocktower'': Sirius, the spirit possessing Rafael, has trouble fighting Maria in the real world with Rafael's weak body, so it draws her into a dream world where it can manifest its full power as a monstrous Dark Spirit of pure rage and vengeance. Except Maria is a reincarnate from ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'', this isn't the first time she's been in a Hunter's Dream, and now she has full access to her remembered power. [[HoistByTheirOwnPetard Whoops]].
-->'''Maria:''' You are my prey... AND I WILL SLAUGHTER YOU LIKE THE BEAST YOU ARE!
* ''Fanfic/MikesNewGhostlyFamily'': To claim his revenge against Mike Schmidt for giving his ghostly victims a happy ending and for giving Nightmare suggestions on how to worsen his tortures, William Afton, who EscapedFromHell and turned himself into [[DemonOfHumanOrigin Nightmare Springtrap]], possessed Mike and entered his dreamscape to attack and mutilate his soul directly. However, since Mike was a lucid dreamer, he was able to fight back against William thanks to having a complete control over his world of dreams. [[spoiler:Enough to make him unbeatable inside his mind and turn tables against the murderer before subjecting him to a ColdBloodedTorture.]]
* In ''Fanfic/SixesAndSevens'', Kenneth Crichton can use his vampiric connection with Emily to enter her mind and manipulate her, but eventually Emily realizes the link goes both ways and she can enter his mind instead. This leads to a confrontation where they both attack each other, and while she's bitten again she also subdues him and scares him off.
* ''Fanfic/TruePotential'': In order to release [[spoiler:Yagura]] from Tobi's control, Naruto has to travel inside his mind and fight an avatar of Tobi, [[spoiler:as well as the Sanbi]].

* In the psychedelic western ''Renegade'' (a.k.a. ''Film/{{Blueberry}}'') based on the graphic novel, the hero takes peyote and gets into a spirit battle with the villain. The forces of good are [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience golden]] [[AnimalStereotypes reptiles]], while the evil side are [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience black]] [[AnimalStereotypes bugs]]. After defeating the villain, the hero watches a recreation of a [[TraumaInducedAmnesia forgotten tragedy]] and comes to terms with it.

* ''Film/SherlockHolmesAGameOfShadows'' features an example similar to ''Hero'': [[spoiler:When Holmes and Moriarty have completed a game of chess and Holmes reveals the full extent of the damage he's done to Moriarty's ambitions, Moriarty walks up to him in full TranquilFury, pausing to give Holmes a last light on his pipe. As this happens, Holmes begins a SherlockScan to analyze the fight that's going to start in a moment and make his plan of attack, only for Moriarty to smile at him and continue the analysis; both play out the complete battle in their heads, and both foresee an inevitable NoHoldsBarredBeatdown that results in Moriarty beating Holmes to death and throwing him off the balcony. With no situation in which he can defeat Moriarty and both of them well aware of it, Holmes goes for the one thing Moriarty didn't predict in their mental battle; a TakingYouWithMe attack.]]
* In ''Film/Revolver2005'', Jake -- who has {{claustrophobia}} -- battles his [[MindScrew ego]] when he gets trapped in an elevator. What follows is a scene that looks straight out of the last episode of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''.

* In ''Film/TheLastWitchHunter'', Chloe invades Ellic's mind to cut off the spell he's chanting and they have a literal knife fight in the middle of his memories. Justified by YourMindMakesItReal.

* In an Australian student film, a supervillain has killed the CaptainSpaceDefenderOfEarth then challenges his DefiantToTheEnd sidekick to this trope; "you versus the overwhelming force of my ego!" as the villain puts it. Their conflict is shown as them playing hero and villain in a series of movie clips -- a DastardlyWhiplash tying the hero to the railroad tracks in a silent film, a {{Swashbuckler}} SwordFight, a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII movie, and a switchblade fight in a '70s [[SaveOurStudents 'blackboard jungle' film]].
* ''Film/{{Dredd}}'' shows why it's ''not'' a bright idea for a random, untrained person to try their luck fighting an actual psychic like this. Anderson enters Kay's mental world to interrogate him, during which he tries to first kill her, then rape her. Both attempts fail, and she has a projection of his boss castrate him with her teeth.
* ''Film/TheCell'', in which Music/JenniferLopez has to unravel the enigma of a serial killer's mind from within.

* How Rob of ''Literature/AnOutcastInAnotherWorld'' interprets his own struggles to keep Leveling High in check. Whenever it attempts to overtly influence him, Rob’s struggles to resist its temptations are imagined as him physically assaulting the mental construct until it’s beaten into submission and quiets down.
* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'', when [[spoiler:Voldemort decides to jump into Harry's mind during his battle with Dumbledore to try and get Dumbledore to kill Harry. Harry's first realization that he's been possessed is described as ''"He was gone from the hall, he was locked in the coils of a creature with red eyes, so tightly bound that Harry did not know where his body ended and the creature's began: they were fused together, bound by pain, and there was no escape."'' the pain of his grief for Sirius' recent death -- or, more specifically, ThePowerOfLove -- eventually drives Voldemort out]].
* In the climax of ''Literature/ISitBehindTheEyes'', Emily and the Entity possessing her clash souls, conjuring up images from Emily's imagination to fight with. The strength of their emotions affects the power of their attacks. [[spoiler:However, as Emily is secretly TheSociopath, she can not summon any genuine emotion, rendering her attacks utterly useless. Her soul is also extremely fragile, allowing the Entity to destroy it with one blow.]]

* In the final book of ''Literature/GreyKnights'' trilogy, Alaric fights a battle for his soul with a daemon while trapped in his mind, which the daemon has already taken over. [[spoiler:He ends it by TakingYouWithMe, but survives.]]

* ''[[Literature/TheRiftwarCycle Magician]]'': Tomas, one of the main characters, finds a suit of cursed armor that fuses him with a godlike being, who wants to repulse the invaders (Tsuranii). Said godlike being was one of a race that created the bloody elves as their personal slaves, to the point that an elf can't disobey any word said in their language, and who are fiercely protective of their world. Now, if Tomas standing in the middle of a storm of pure mental fury from a dragonlord whilst quietly saying, "I am Tomas" isn't an incredibly badass version of this, nothing is.
** That "godlike being" is actually a Dragon Lord, or Valheru as the elves call them. They weren't really godlike, as they all got slaughtered except one[[note]]The one whose armor Tomas finds, Ashen-Shugar[[/note]] when they challenged the Lesser Gods of Midkemia[[note]]Midkemia has Lesser and Greater gods. The Lesser Gods were also fighting the Greater Gods during the Chaos Wars, and the Valheru barely made a dent in either side even with the ArtifactOfDoom Lifestone boosting their power.[[/note]] during the Chaos Wars, but they're still far more powerful than any human or elf except the highest levels of magician.
* The ally-assisted version was used in the book ''Literature/PrinceOfTheSidhe'', when King Aedh of Eiru (Ireland) gets drugged by the book's villain. We see Aedh's mindscape (which is just as confused as he is), and get things from his point of view when the titular character comes to Aedh's assistance in his own unique fashion.
* in the sixth ''Literature/YoungWizards'' book, the autistic wizard-to-be Darryl is subjected to this constantly - his "Ordeal" (a battle with the Lone Power to prove fitness as a wizard) has gone on for ''three months''. The reason for this is that [[spoiler:he's an abdal, a physical embodiment of God's power, and the Lone Power (Satan) fears the amount of power he'd have if he ''did'' make it as a wizard]]. Eventually Nita and Kit get into the kid's head to help him break the cycle.

* Any fight scene in the ''Literature/UnwovenLiteraryUniverse'' due to the [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind premise]].
* In the ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' [[Characters/Warhammer40000ImperialGuard Imperial Guard]] novel ''Cadian Blood'', Seth [[spoiler:in a LastStand against a daemon. When the daemon kills him, he dies laughing and saying the look at the daemon's face made the fight worth it]].
* [[spoiler:Lasciel]] was doing a pretty good job of screwing with [[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Harry Dresden]] until he realized that even [[spoiler:a fallen angel]], or rather the copy of one, is at his mercy when it's in his head. [[CurbStompBattle Pwnage ensued]].
** Also Harry vs. [[spoiler:Leonid Kravos]], slugging it out in Harry's dreamscape at the end of ''Grave Peril''.
** Molly fights an epic one against [[spoiler:the Corpsetaker]] in ''Ghost Story''. Apparently, the center of Molly's mind looks like the bridge of the [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries 1960s Enterprise]], complete with a crew of Mollies wearing miniskirt uniforms and mimicking the behavior of the original characters and an epic fighting music soundtrack. There's even one wearing a RedShirt!
*** Not to mention the ''miles'' of incomprehensibly intricate battlefield outside of the bridge. The fact that [[spoiler:Corpsetaker gave up attempting outmaneuvers and just started smashing everything until she overpowered Molly says a lot about how good Molly is at this illusion stuff]].
** In ''Literature/ColdDays'', we see Harry get into several of these, including one with [[spoiler:Mab's boss]] which, if he lost, would mean his execution. And another when he battles against [[spoiler:Sharkface, an Outsider]].
* Julia spends most of ''Literature/TheRagwitch'' trying to find a way to make some headway FightingFromTheInside the titular monster. Towards the end, this culminates in a real battle when [[spoiler:she, Lyssa, and the personalities of the king and the original witch who was subsumed into the Ragwitch]] fight for continued existence after the Ragwitch finally realizes that Julia hasn't been as helpless as she thought. A dragon and hordes of {{mooks}} are involved.
* Dandra and Tetkashtai get one during the climactic battle of the second book in ''Literature/TheDragonBelow'' trilogy. Though it is less of an invader vs. invaded than two splinters of one personality duking it out to see which will be dominant.
* The ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' Literature/DarthBane novels use one of these to [[spoiler:settle the legacy of the Sith. The inevitable battle between Bane and Zannah takes place when he tries to take over her mind. While Bane was better with the saber than Zannah was, she proved a superior sorceress. There is still a small trace of him left in her, though]].
** Chronologically much later, in the ''Literature/NewJediOrder'' novel ''Reunion'', Jedi Knight [[ActionGirl Tahiri]] gets sucked into one of these by her EnemyWithin, an artificially implanted [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Yuuzhan Vong]] personality who is trying to pull a SplitPersonalityTakeover on her. It turns out that neither of them can win, since they've become so tightly linked that destroying one would destroy the other; to save their sanity, they end up doing a SplitPersonalityMerge instead. The whole thing is represented as a sort of really trippy lightsaber duel with injuries carrying over to both combatants.

* The ending of Creator/RobertSheckley's ''Literature/TheStatusCivilization'' involves one of these. [[spoiler:The Earth civilization brainwashes children to make them responsible members of society -- and this brainwashing includes strong urge to report on oneself in case of committing a crime (or even being in a situation where you can be a suspect) and to commit suicide in case these lessons are ever remembered consciously. Barrent was sent to Omega because he confessed in a crime he never committed, returned to the Earth and had to fight these old urges that took form of the worst memories he got from Omega.]]

* The ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' novel ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoNewAdventuresTimewyrmRevelation Timewyrm: Revelation]]'' by Creator/PaulCornell is largely set inside the Doctor's mind, which is under attack from the Timewyrm. Different parts of the Doctor's mind are looked after by five of the six past Doctors (Sixth isn't there for reasons we learn later), and there's an area where the six "embryonic" personalities of Doctors-to-come wait to be born.
* In Sergei Lukyanenko's ''Literature/NightWatchSeries'', the battle for dominance between Vampires apparently works like this. To an outsider, however, it looks like a glorified staring contest.

* The Novel ''[[VideoGame/GuildWars2 Guild Wars]]: Edge of Destiny'' has an interesting example. After being engaged in a fight with [[spoiler:the EldritchAbomination [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Kralkatorrik]]]], [[InsufferableGenius Snaff]] enters the [[spoiler:dragon's]] mind to prepare it for the FinishingMove and finds himself [[spoiler:in a raging storm (a metaphor for Kralkatorrik's anger)]]. He eventually manages to [[spoiler:[[HijackingCthulhu calm the beast]]]] and leave it behind in a catatonic state making it vulnerable to an attack. [[spoiler:However, they [[DoomedbyCanon failed anyway]].]]
* In ''Up Jim River'' from the ''Literature/SpiralArm'' series, the scarred man suffers a mental breakdown caused by conflict between his ten {{split personalit|y}}ies and ends up fighting a battle in his mind. [[spoiler:Nine of his personalities team up to destroy the tenth, which was suicidal and trying to cause the scarred man to die.]]
* Something like this is a major form of combat in the ''Literature/InheritanceCycle''. Various magic users battle each other by attempting to break into each other's minds, then using this to predict what the opponent will do and countering it.
* The climax of the second book in ''Literature/TheTraitorSonCycle'' has the ghost of [[spoiler:Harmodius]] break into the mind palace of enemy sorcerer. The two duke it out there and eventually [[spoiler:Harmodius kills Aeskepiles' soul and takes over the body]].

* In ''Literature/DaystarAndShadow'', Robin's fight against a MindProbe involves hiding in a cave inside his mind and trying to block it off with bricks, while the probe is represented by fire. Robin and the probe attack each other with various weapons and animals, with Robin receiving psychic assistance from Shadow.
* ''Literature/PilgrennonsChildren'': In ''Pilgrennon's Beacon'', Dana uses her BrainComputerInterface to play a VR game that most people need a headset for. She fights the evil supercomputer Cerberus, which runs the game, drawing on [[ThePowerOfHate her most horrible experiences]] to force two of the heads to kill each other and contaminate the third with her humanity.
* ''Literature/BruceCovillesBookOf Ghosts II'': This occurs in ''Soul Survivor'', where the ghostly narrator and the man who initially allowed him to stay begin fighting for total control of "their" body.

* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'': In the second part of "Don Juan in Hell", Frasier conjures up Lilith, Diane, Nanette and his mother who battle each other for Frasier's affections. Frasier realizes that they're all responsible for his inability to stick with relationships, even with women perfect for him.
* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' made this into an art form with John's confrontations with Harvey-Scorpius. This resulted in one of the best episodes anywhere ever: a Looney Tunes style cartoon showdown, including all the old favorites (painting a wormhole on a wall only for someone to drive through it...).

* Series/{{Angel}} vs [[EnemyWithin Angelus]], with Faith present as well.
* During ''Series/PowerRangersDinoThunder'', Tommy spent several episodes stuck his Ranger suit, then unable to turn his invisibility power off so [[RealLifeWritesThePlot that his actor could visit his family]]. His first episode back involved him becoming visible again, but putting himself into a coma in the process. He then had to fight his [[GotTheCallOnSpeedDial previous Ranger identities]]. After ''barely'' getting past Zeo Ranger 5 and the White Ranger, he had his ass thoroughly kicked by the Green Ranger, but still refused to quit -- at which point they allowed him to wake up and restored his Dino Gem into the bargain.

* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'': Jerry dates a girl who is extremely attractive, but with a terrible personality. He describes the process of deciding whether to break up with her as “my brain playing my penis in a chess game.” Subsequent scenes show two Jerrys in a brain and penis costume playing chess. The episode ends with the brain Jerry checkmating penis Jerry, and Jerry dumps the girl.

* In the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS3E9Warlord Warlord]]", the mind of a ruthless dictator forces itself into [[spoiler:Kes]], but she manages to fight him off mentally.
* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E19FrameOfMind Frame of Mind]]", Riker seems to bounce between being aboard the ''Enterprise'', preparing for a play about a man locked in a mental institution and scenes where he's actually living the character's experience, and his sense of which is real is constantly being challenged. It turns out that [[spoiler:it was ''all'' an illusion, and he was sedated in an alien lab being mind probed the whole time; the illusions were his subconscious mind's way of processing what was happening, and his actions within these illusions were, in essence, his brain fighting back]].
* In season 3 of ''Series/StarTrekPicard'', a new Soong-type android containing the minds of both Data and [[EvilTwin Lore]] inevitably comes to this. It is notably lacking in action, with Data surrendering and even handing over his memories to Lore. [[spoiler: Said memories cause Lore to effectively ''become'' Data, just as Data intended.]]
* Used in the penultimate episode of the Shadow War arc for ''Series/BabylonFive''. As the tide of the battle begins to turn in the younger races' favor, Telepath Lyta Alexander gets used by the both the Shadows and Vorlons to mentally assault Sheridan and Delenn with their racial philosophies.
* In ''Series/{{Blindspot}}'', in episode 4.09 "Check your Ed", to avoid [[AmnesiacDissonance terrorist-old-personality-before-the-mindwipe]] "Remi" from taking over instead of newly-constructed-FBI-agent-personality "Jane", the team resorts to a {{technobabbl|e}}y method which results [[spoiler:in "Remi" fighting with "Jane" inside their shared brain via flashbacks, metaphors, gunfire, explosions, a zombie version of Remi's dead brother Roman and imagined versions of the team members providing support. In the end, [[SplitPersonalityMerge her personalities merge]] and she keeps all her memories in her "good" identity]].
* ''Series/The100'' has this occur after Josephine's mind [[BodySnatcher is implanted in Clarke's body]], the two fighting in a "mindspace" made up of each other's memories and populated by avatars of their own subconscious worries. The twist is that, since Josephine's mind is stored [[BrainUploading on a backup drive]], even if Clarke kills her inside the mindspace, she can just re-upload herself, good as new, whereas if Josephine kills Clarke, [[EvilOnlyHasToWinOnce Clarke's dead for good]]. Though, if the battle continues long enough, it will cause enough brain damage to kill Clarke's body, taking them both down with it.
* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': In "Dream Me a Life", Roger Simpson Leeds is repeatedly forced to [[DreamWalker enter Laurel Kincaid's dream]]. It follows the same pattern each time: they are in a room filled with candles and Laurel begs Roger to help her in keeping something, seemingly a monster, out. On the first few occasions, Roger refuses to help. When he enters her dream again, however, he realizes that he is not supposed to keep it outside but to let it inside the room. It turns out to be the spirit of her husband, who died ten years earlier. He wants Laurel to accept his death and live her life again instead of remaining [[EmptyShell catatonic]]. The next morning, Roger cheerily approaches Laurel and invites her to breakfast. She then speaks her first words in ten years.
* ''Series/{{Diablero}}'': In season two, Lupe engages Keta in one in order to teach her [[spoiler: how to use her full power as the avatar of Coatlicue]].
* ''Series/TruthSeekers'': A humourously off-screen variant: [[spoiler:In the finale, Elton channels Astrid's spirit into the Ellexatron in order to wrest control of it away from its current occupant, Alaura.]] We can only hear them grunt, wince, and insult one another through the machine, but it is clear that they are experiencing their confrontation as a physical fight.
* The finale of ''Series/KikaiSentaiZenkaiger'' features this, as the [[BodySurf body-surfing]] [[spoiler:Creator of Worlds]] has possessed [[TheHero Kaito]] at the time Kaito finally confronts him.
* ''Series/Legion2017'':
** [[TheHero David]] and [[BigBad Farouk]]'s first proper meeting in season 2 eventually results in a playful fight in which the two of them literally wrestle for supremacy inside David's mind. Farouk escalates by drawing a katana out of nowhere, David escalates by transforming into a tank, Farouk escalates again by becoming a tornado, and the two are eventually forced to end it on a draw.
** In the season 2 finale, David and Farouk (back in his own body at last) engage in a full-blown psychic duel that sees their minds clash as giant ghostly figures on the horizon. Initially, they fight with swords, flails, spears, and rocket launchers, but in a matter of seconds, it turns into a ShapeshifterShowdown featuring dinosaurs, fighter planes, sharks, tentacled monsters, cyclopes, and giant spiders.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Deadlands}}'' sees one of these happen if someone becomes Harrowed. Their soul wages war against the manitou in their body, in a setting based on the character's worst nightmare. The winner gets to control the body.

* ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'': Primrose confronts the final boss at the end of her story, who proceeds to ask her what she'll do after she gets her revenge against the men who killed her father and [[VengeanceFeelsEmpty what she'll have left to live for.]] This question shakes Primrose to her core, requiring the player to fight a mental representation of her final boss as well as two marionettes who represent her father Geoffrey Azelheart and Primrose's deceased friend Yusufa.
* ''VideoGame/OctopathTravelerII'':
** With Temenos in your party at night, you can challenge [=NPCs=] to coerce information out of them, fighting them on an endless plane of inch-deep water. The battle ends as soon as the NPC [[BreakMeter runs out of shield points]].
** Hikari has a mental battle against his curse in his mind during the final boss at the end of his story, when it tries to persuade him into needless violence again during his battle against Mugen. The battle takes place in a darkened throne room. Hikari is ultimately able to overcome his curse and use this dedication as his source for his [[LimitBreak Latent Power]].

* In ''VideoGame/Splatoon2 Octo Expansion'', Agent 8 [[spoiler:fights Agent 3 in their head as an OptionalBoss after getting every Mem Cake. After the fight, Agent 8 feels "like the freshest Octoling ever" and gets the Golden Toothpick headgear]].
* Raz in ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' fights (and helps defeat) the {{Freudian Excuse}}s lurking in people's brains -- such as a painter's anger (which manifests as a bull), a former insane asylum warden's split personality (which looks like [[NapoleonDelusion Napoleon]] and against whom he is constantly trapped in a war game), and even [[spoiler:the BigBad's and his own father issues, which manifest as an enormous butcher and a taunting zombie ragdoll, respectively]].
* In ''VideoGame/Drakengard2'', Nowe fights one of the boss battles in Manah's mind after she has her VillainProtagonist [[HeroicBSOD BSOD]].
* If you decide to attack the Mindflayer Elder Brain in ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights: Hordes of the Underdark'', it will suddenly trap you inside an illusion where you are waking up from a dream. If you accept it, you get a NonStandardGameOver. If you reject it, you will be attacked by monsters within the dream and upon defeating them you will return to reality and the Elder Brain will beg for mercy, allowing you to make a deal with it or deal the killing blow.
* In ''[[VideoGame/{{Splatterhouse}} Splatterhouse 3]],'' Rick fights the final boss, [[spoiler:the Terror Mask]], in an AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield that represents his psyche.
* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'', when Riku fights off Ansem.
** And there's another one in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'', [[spoiler:Sora vs. Roxas]].
** Special mention too that [[spoiler:the Awakening seems like a semi-physical place, since Donald and Goofy mention Sora disappearing from the scene]].
** Happens yet again in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' with [[spoiler:Ven vs. Vanitas]] and [[spoiler:Terra vs. Master Xehanort]], and with [[spoiler:Aqua]] pitching in during the TrueFinalBoss fight. [[spoiler:The secret ending suggests that Terra and MX spent years vying for control of the new Xehanort's heart.]]
---> [[spoiler:'''[[GrandTheftMe Terra-Xehanort]]:''' You body submits, your heart succumbs -- ''so why does your mind RESIST?!'']]
** Unfortunately, the next game in the series, ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'' strongly implies that that last battle in the center of the mind from Birth by Sleep only lasted for a year rather than the several years we were led to believe, and we have yet to learn what happened to the loser.
*** Cranked to a new level in the same game, where it turns out [[spoiler:Riku had been fighting off the Nightmares within Sora's dream imaginings of the Sleeping Worlds. His boss fight with Ansem also takes place in the "Darkness within Darkness" of Sora's dream. Then, in the TrueFinalBoss fight, Riku fights off the Armored Ventus Nightmare within Sora's Heart]].
* In ''VideoGame/AmericanMcGeesAlice'', the purpose of Alice's nightmarish return trip through Wonderland is this.
* ''VideoGame/TheIncredibleHulkUltimateDestruction'' has a boss battle in Bruce Banner's subconscious, where the Hulk takes on Banner's underlying hostility and malevolence, officially dubbed "Devil Hulk".
* ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'':
** Happens in ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'', as Ness has to fight his own Nightmare (which is the evil part of his mind) at the end of his [[DreamLand dream world]] known as Magicant. By defeating it, Ness' true potential is released.
** {{Averted|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'', as that Magicant is [[spoiler:Maria]]'s dream instead of Ninten's. Likewise, a fight with Lucas' Nightmare was removed from ''VideoGame/Mother3'', which has no Magicant.
* Happens near the end of ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' when you have to enter a mindtrap and [[spoiler:meet three of your most important previous "incarnations" inside. If you manage to take them over or merge with them, you gain their memories and a lot of XP. If you fail the merger you have to destroy them, which gets you no memories or XP. The success of the merger is determined by stats and conversation options, one can only be taken over if your willpower is above a certain level, while another is much easier to convince to merge if you can gain his trust by convincing him that you and him are the same person.]]
* Late in ''VideoGame/JeanneDArc'', [[spoiler:Jeanne]], Gilles, and Richard are whisked into an abstract representation of [[spoiler:Roger]]'s heart, bound by chains by the [[LegionsOfHell Reaper]] [[SevenDeadlySins Ira]]. The three of them must battle Ira's cronies to destroy his power over [[spoiler:Roger]]; eventually, a manifestation of [[spoiler:[[NotTooDeadToSaveTheDay Liane]]'s]] spirit joins the three heroes to assist them, particularly because [[spoiler:her death]] [[HeroicBSOD is what caused]] [[spoiler:Roger]] [[FaceHeelTurn to submit to the Reaper]].
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', sleeping at Doma Castle with Cyan in the party will cause the party to be taken into Cyan's mind, where they can battle a demon called Wrexsoul that is feeding off his survivor's guilt.

* The ''Franchise/MegamiTensei'' franchise has several examples:
** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiI'', you find a young girl ([[spoiler:actually the reincarnation of the Heroine]]) whose mind has been infested by a demon that is devouring her from the inside-out. You have to dive into her mind in order to kill the demon and save her.
** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIF'', exclusive to the Reiko route, after beating [[BigBad Hazama]] in his Demon God Emperor form, you go inside his mind alongside Reiko and learn more about his [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds past and motives]], and ultimately fight the manifestation of his insanity, fittingly named Warped Mind.
** Every boss fight in ''VideoGame/Persona4'' is this until close to the end of the game. Although it's more like "Battle In The Center Of The Collective Unconscious".
** The Palaces of ''VideoGame/Persona5'' are twisted manifestations of a person's corrupt desires. In these cases, the "center of the mind" is a Treasure that the Phantom Thieves set their sights on stealing in order to force someone to have a change of heart.
** Not quite the same, but not quite anything else either: In ''[[Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei Maken X]]'', Kei's consciousness (using Kei's form) spends most of the game standing on a glassy-looking disc in her brain yelling/screeching at her body, now possessed by the Maken.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld'': [[MultipleEndings If you go for the good ending]], this is the final battle. Given how different Emil's and Ratatosk's personalities were, though, the player was probably [[{{Foreshadowing}} expecting something like this to happen]] (although it's a lot less confrontational than you might expect -- whichever way the fight turns out, the two accept each other).
* The battle against [[spoiler:The Dark Prince]] in ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheTwoThrones'' turns out this way. After some platforming, you end up with him and you, the solution being [[spoiler:to stop attacking and walk away]].
** [[spoiler:Although annoyingly, even if you attack, he can't kill you. All that happens it that you need to walk through an army of Dark Prince clones.]]

* The Kalecgos encounter in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft: Burning Crusade''. The players are supposed to free the good dragon from a [[OurDemonsAreDifferent dreadlord]] that is controlling him.
** An odd example where ''you're the invader'' is in the fight with the monster [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu of dubious quality]], Yogg-Saron. During the fight with him, portals into his mind open up, where you are to disperse projections visions of an important event in Warcraft lore so that you can access his brain. Of course, he knows you're in there, and he will attempt to [[SanityMeter whittle down your sanity]] and put you under ''permanent'' MindControl, so you have to inflict damage on Yogg-Saron's brain as soon as possible and leave quickly.
** In ''Arthas: Rise of the Lich King'', Arthas winds up in a rather one-sided battle when he dons the helm of domination; he's in a room in his mind with Ner'zhul, the orc Shaman that became the Lich King, and a cowering child that represents the last of Arthas' humanity. After all is explained, Arthas runs his humanity through without hesitation... [[ICanRuleAlone and then does the same to Ner'zhul when he approaches to congratulate him.]] It doesn't end here, though, as it's revealed in the game proper that the fragment of Arthas' humanity survived as [[SignificantAnagram Matthias Lehner]], who kept Arthas just human enough in the depths of his heart that he held the VillainBall instead of annihilating all life on Azeroth as easily as he should have been able to.
* Near the end of ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'' "Culture Shock", Sam falls under the hypnotic sway of disgruntled former child star Brady Culture. After snapping himself out of it by a blow to the head from the security system at Bosco's Inconvenience Store, Sam finds himself in his own mind. There, he has to dispose of a host of Brady Culture clones that [[HypnoticHead represent Culture's hypnotic influence]].

* ''VideoGame/BattleMoonWars'' has this in Tohno Shiki's mind while he lies unconscious, fighting internally against [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Nanaya Shiki]]. Unfortunately for him, he also visualizes Akiha and Satsuki in this mindscape and thus is unwilling to fight at first. Insert friendly telepath encouragement as Sion uses Etherlite to join in and help him out.
* ''VideoGame/PsychicForce 2'': The final battle in Emilio's story mode sees him fighting his dark side in his mind. [[spoiler:[[DownerEnding He loses]].]]
* The final battle in ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2'', where Isaac fights [[spoiler: Nicole and the Marker]].

* ''Franchise/BatmanArkhamSeries'':
** This happens twice in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' when Batman gets drugged by the Scarecrow, resulting in massive InterfaceScrew and a FissionMailed before entering a twisted world based on his psyche. However, Batman fights it off due to HeroicWillpower, to the horror of Scarecrow.
** It also happens in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'' with [[spoiler:the Mad Hatter and Ra's al-Ghul]].
** Then one last time in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'', [[spoiler:which involves Batman fighting off the last memories of the Joker and sealing them away]].
* ''VideoGame/Injustice2'':
** Scarecrow is a playable character that appears as a demonic ragdoll monster with magic powers and a huge metallic scythe. However, in cutscenes as well as the start of matches, we see he's really just a spindly scientist with a bag on his head; the one that does the battling is an hallucination born from his Fear Gas, essentially making every fight with Scarecrow this trope.
** In the Story Mode, this takes a more traditional form as, after Harley Quinn beats Scarecrow, he uses a different fear gas to [[spoiler:make her hallucinate that she's in an abandoned amusement park, back with the Joker (who was killed by Superman before the first game), who wants her to go back to being evil and kill Batman. She resists the temptation and beats the Joker hallucination instead]].
* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', [[MadGod Sheogorath]] takes you to his personal vacation spot: the mind of [[TheCaligula Pelagius the Mad]] and will only agree to leave if you humor him and combat Pelagius' various psychoses with the help of his artifact, the Wabbajack.
* In the climax of ''Videogame/Metro2033'', [[spoiler:the protagonist is mentally fighting the Dark Ones, who are trying to stop him from annihilating their home -- all while the protagonist is on the highest point of Moscow's Ostankino tower as it's crumbling. Failing the fight results in the protagonist falling to his doom from the mental blow]].
* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon of ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2: Mask of the Betrayer'' [[spoiler:has you and possibly a companion battling the Spirit-Eater itself for control of your soul]].

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'', one of the annual Mr. Store familiars for 2013, the Angry Jung Man, drops psychoanalytical jars that let you copy and explore the psychoses of various non-player characters, such as the Crackpot Mystic, the Pretentious Artist, and the Suspicious-Looking Guy.
* In ''VideoGame/BladesOfOthersides'', Kona is ''constantly'' fighting one with his SuperPoweredEvilSide. Which side is presently winning affects which form he's in in the physical world.
* If the player presses the B Button during a certain important event in ''VideoGame/TheHalloweenHack'', [[spoiler:Varik enters Dr. Andonuts's mind and discovers the reasoning behind his insanity... and then he winds up fighting Dr. Andonuts' personal demons as well as the doctor himself]].
* ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal Black'' takes place entirely in Needles Kane's head, handily [[HandWave handwaving]] the more extreme-concept characters like Dollface or Charlie Kane.

* The FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/MotherRussiaBleeds'' is a hallucinatory battle against [[spoiler:the mental manifestation of the drug that they're addicted to. In order to get the best ending of the game, you have to beat it ''without'' using Nekro, representing the protagonists overcoming their addiction through sheer force of will.]]
* One of the main gimmicks of ''Gachitora!'' for the Playstation Portable is the ''Soul Nude Battle'' system - basically, while regular enemies are fought with GoodOldFisticuffs, your students' traumas are fought with [[BreakThemByTalking dialogue]] symbolized by literal fights. [[LeaveMeAlone Social outcast]]? He'll make you sure [[BarrierWarrior to not be bothered]]. Suicidical IdolSinger? She'll use [[MusicalAssassin her talent to fight you]]. Family problems caused by [[AbusiveParents monster parents]]? Watch out for his [[MakeMyMonsterGrow literally inflated Ego]]. Young girl working [[BrokeEpisode to pay a massive debt]]? [[MoneyMauling Watch for the giant beam-shooting purse]]. SchoolNewspaperNewsHound accused of faking a story? Beware of [[PhantomZonePicture his new scoop]]. [[HollywoodHacking Hacker]] with NoSocialSkills? Be ready to fight [[DigitizedHacker a bunch of computer screens]]. Pressure of being a not good enough teacher? You'll literally kick [[EmotionalPowers the negative feelings]]' ass. AlwaysSecondBest? Beware of [[AssumedWin the #1's celebration party fireworks]]. BigBrotherBully? [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith Give him a well-deserved beating]]. [[BatterUp Ex-baseball player]] accused of a forced suicide? [[FinalExamBoss Hoo boy]].
* ''VideoGame/OmegaLabyrinthLife'' features special, character-specific dungeons that are made to be taken solo, explicitly created from their subconcsioun thoughts, featuring gimmicks that are related to the character's skill-set, personality, and inner demons. The bosses are even called their Shadow Selves.
* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4'', after Atreus begins tapping into his godly powers, he collapses from his belief that he's a mortal. Freya explains that Kratos' "true nature fights within him" and Mimir tells him that a mental contradiction can express itself as an ailment. despite Kratos going "ToHellAndBack" to get the cure, his son can only be cured by knowing what he really is.
* In the first ''VideoGame/GodOfWarI'' game, during the final battle, Ares invokes this on Kratos, forcing him to see an illusion of his family die. Even if Kratos "wins", he fails to save them since Ares simply rips off the Blades of Chaos and uses them to cut down the illusions of Kratos' wife and daughter.
* The final battle in ''VideoGame/Nioh2'' [[spoiler:consists of Otakemaru trying to take control of your body after you foiled his attempt to possess Tokichiro by intercepting his spirit. Throughout the battle Tokichiro is purifying you, which manifests as his Guardian Spirit Masaru showing up to take swipes at Otakemaru.]]
* The final battle of ''VideoGame/{{OMORI}}'' features one between Sunny and Omori that culminates in a FissionMailed. You can choose to either give up or to continue fighting: [[spoiler:doing the former will result in the [[DownerEnding Bad]] [[DrivenToSuicide Ending]]]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Ghostrunner}}'': The final level happens in a cyberspace area within the Ghostrunner's cyborg mind, as the Ghostrunner battles to take control of his mind from the BigBad.
* Whenever Team Orochi and their Awakened counterparts interact in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXV'', it is framed this way. Interestingly, the pre-battle dialogues indicate that Yashiro's, Shermie's and Chris's two personalities are actually on good terms with each other, and they battle each other only to define which of the two personalities is more fit to carry on their plan to bring Orochi back. Case in point --
--> '''O.Yashiro:''' Mind and body... split to gather the spirit needed to resurrect Orochi... The circumstances differ from before, but the way forward remains clear.\\
'''Yashiro:''' Right. Me, the body; you, the spirit... Whoever wins, we share the same desire. Now let's do this! Let's grant the wish of our clan!
* ''VideoGame/{{GenshinImpact}}'': Raiden Shogun's second story quest features this between the Shogun and [[spoiler: the real archon Ei]] in Makoto's realm of consciousness. The battle seems to last a few moments for the people in the real world but for the fighters it goes on for centuries before [[spoiler: archon Ei]] wins.

* ''WebAnimation/HololiveERROR'', mainly in the animated manga, turns out to [[spoiler:primarily be set ''in'' one of these, albeit downplayed due to there not being any actual fighting. One side of Shino Misora doesn't know that the world she's in is fake, [[LaserGuidedAmnesia generally has some severe amnesia about the events of the past]], and simply wants to live a happy school life with her friends, the other ''does'' know and is rather abrasive about it. Not to mention the mysterious third Shino that appears in Chapter 19, who drags the main Shino back into [[LotusEaterMachine the Perfect World]] once she finds out that she was DeadAllAlong and ''[[InTheDreamingStageOfGrief does not take it well]]''. Ultimately, it ends with Shino coming to peace with her situation, fixing the forest-related issues in Aogami, and living a happy life with almost ''all'' her friends, real or made up.]]

* Liquid's battle against the Ghost of Big Boss for control of his body, in ''Webcomic/TheLastDaysOfFOXHOUND''.

* A variation occurs in ''Webcomic/CharbyTheVampirate'' when Tony has to use his Alp powers to enter Zeno's mind and help him fight the spirit possessing him. Turns out that Zeno has pretty much given up the fight already and is of no help, so Tony changes tactics and get the spirit to not only force him out but to enter his mind instead. A big mistake, as it gave Tony a massive homefield advantage.

* K in ''Webcomic/{{Blip}}'', when she was in rage. First she [[http://blip.rampagenetwork.com/629/ kicked out her friends,]] then for lack of semi-real targets [[http://blip.rampagenetwork.com/639/ imagined and destroyed]] a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Pirate Transvestite Robot]].
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'':
** Haley's "mental constructs" have a habit of bickering amongst themselves, at least until she makes them all sit down and shut up.
** The struggle between Durkon and [[spoiler:Vampire Durkon]] is presented this way, although it's a battle of wits and willpower rather than a direct brawl.
* Happens between Artie and Joel in ''Webcomic/{{Concession}}'', but ultimately spills over into the real world. Doubles as a {{subverted|Trope}} IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight as unfortunately, that part only works for a little bit.
* ''Webcomic/The10Doctors'' features [[spoiler:all ten Doctors versus Dalek Tor (a Dalek version of the Doctor) in a battle for the Tenth Doctor's mind. Features Doctor quotes, Nine with a baseball bat, and a mega-merge Doctor who looks ''awesome'']].
* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Ellen has [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2018-03-19 a short]] [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2018-03-21 battle]] with Sirleck to prevent him from leaving her body at an inopportune moment which is portrayed as her restraining the possessed version of herself.
* ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'': In "Seeker of Thrones", Allison has [[DealWithTheDevil agreed to take help from Incubus]] to unlock the powers of the Key of Kings she's carrying. As the story goes on, she becomes increasingly drunk with power -- until she finds that "she" is trapped inside a symbolical representation of her mind with various aspects of her personality, and the one that's in control is not "her" but a huge, sociopathic [[EnemyWithin representation of her "drunk with power" self]]. Incubus claims he's not doing any of this but it's just her mind, though it sure seems a bit unusual. Finally, Allison gathers all the other aspects of her personality together to form another Allison as large as the one controlling her body. [[spoiler:{{Subverted|Trope}}: she doesn't use this body to fight her dark side but to kiss her, whereupon they presumably become reintegrated... and she regains control but loses her powers.]]

* Part of the GrandFinale of ''Webcomic/{{Archipelago}}'' - while TheCavalry battles a {{Robeast}} and her friends fight the [[OneWingedAngel upgraded villain]] in the physical world, Credenza has to defeat him in the dreaming world.

* The ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' episode "Nevermore" takes place in Raven's head. It's a scary place.

* ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'' was fond of this, and would make elaborate battles in a mindscape shaped by the combatants, making the grandest, most awesome (and trippy) affairs out of scenes that were basically two people glaring at each other in the comics. The most notable instances would be Professor Xavier versus the Shadow King, Jean Grey and Rogue versus Ms. Marvel's [[SharingABody transplanted personality]], and Professor Xavier going toe-to-toe with [[EldritchAbomination Dark Phoenix]] in Jean's mind (a duel only shown through a series of effects-laden panels in the comics).
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibleHulk1996'', Banner was possessed by a demon; Green Hulk and Grey Hulk joined forces to kick him out of their shared body. Several episodes also showed the two Hulks fighting for control when Banner hulked out.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' episode "[[Recap/JusticeLeagueS2E5And6OnlyADream Only a Dream]]", the Leaguers have to engage in a fight with Dr. Destiny in their minds while Batman tracks him down in the real world.

* The last episode of Disney's ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'' to have Mozenrath in it ended with Mozenrath attempting to possess Aladdin's body after his own suffers total organ failure from overuse of dark magic (which turns out to apparently be the source of his interest in Aladdin through most of the series). After he stops being afraid, Aladdin uses the Power of Love to curbstomp Mozenrath's ass. This would have been a fitting end for the series BigBad, but being a Disney cartoon, he gets better at the end to menace Agrabah another day.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', Timmy and imaginary friend brought to life Gary battle in Timmy's mind.
* In ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'', Miss Martian and Psimon have a psychic battle of this sort. M'gann is invisible and Psimon is still psychically protected, making it difficult for the fight to be cut short mundanely.
* The last episode of ''WesternAnimation/MightyOrbots'' has the heroes physically entering the body of their archenemy, the titanic supercomputer Umbra. This results in them finding themselves in his mindscape and having to fight off manifestations of his evil thoughts.
* ''[[WesternAnimation/TotalDrama Total Drama: Revenge of the Island]]'': After [[{{Jerkass}} Scott]] clocks him with a club during "Grand Chef Auto" [[SplitPersonality Mike]] has a showdown in his brain, with his 4 other personalities. He wins.

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' has a variation where the battle takes place in a third party's mind. Gideon summons enigmatic 'dream demon' Bill Cipher to steal the code to Grunkle Stan's safe where he keeps the Mystery Shack's deed in exchange for helping Bill with "Something I've been working on. We'll work out the details later." Using a magic spell found in Journal 3, Dipper, Mabel, and Soos go after Bill in Stan's mind. After their interference causes Gideon to break off the deal, Bill and the three fight. Interestingly enough, neither side wins- Bill becomes impressed with the Pines Twins and Soos' cleverness and decides to let them live, and drops off a vague warning before vanishing.
* The episode of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" features an interesting example. Due to a nightmare-inducing parasite infecting the Mane Six [[spoiler:that Luna created as ThePenance for her actions as Nightmare Moon]], Princess Luna has to go through a series of them to try and catch it. [[spoiler:After failing to do so and it being released into the collective subconscious of Ponyville, Luna has to create a shared dreamscape for the entire town so they can collectively fight it off, and each resident contributes part of their regular dreams to this shared realm. It's basically a city-wide battle taking place simultaneously in every resident's dreams and in Luna's.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'''s Episode "Mean Green Teen Machine" has the Ghostbusters fighting three very destructive reptilian ghosts inside their minds.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}'' has an episode with Lydia entering Beetlejuice's mind and helping the nerdy weak Beetlejuice conscience to fight Beetlejuice's Id Prankenstein.
* In season 4 of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', the episode titled "The Aku Infection", Jack gets infected by a piece of Aku's essence and is slowly changing into a version of Aku. At end of the episode when it seems like Jack is lost, the spirits of his parents appear to him in his heart and remind him of all the good he has done and the people he helped. Each victory and each ally gave jack strength with him finally destroying the dark essence that had entrapped his soul and spirit, allowing him to break free.
* ''WesternAnimation/OKKOLetsBeHeroes'':
** This happens in the episode "T.K.O." When the titular SuperpoweredEvilSide tries to attack K.O.'s (and technically his own) mother, his fist freezes in place because K.O. is FightingFromTheInside. After a moment, K.O. manages to regain control of that arm just long enough to punch his ''own'' lights out instead; he then fights his counterpart inside of his mind while unconscious.
** When K.O. goes inside his mind again in "You're in Control", T.K.O. attacks him, fighting him for a bit [[spoiler:before ultimately agreeing to help him]].
* ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'': Filburt trying to work up the courage to propose to Dr. Hutchison is represented by a DerangedAnimation sequence of him playing whack-a-mole with mental versions of Widow Hutchison, Tiger and Filburt himself, all who repeat his insecurities and worst fears regarding the proposal back to him.

** With Temenos in your party at night, you can challenge [=NPCs=] to coerce information out of them, fighting them on an endless plain of inch-deep water. The battle ends as soon as the NPC [[BreakMeter runs out of shield points]].
** Hikari has a mental battle against his curse in his mind during the final boss at the end of his story, when it tries to persuade him into violence again when he is fighting against Mugen. Hikari is ultimately able to overcome his curse and use the dedication as his source for his [[LimitBreak Latent Power]].

* ''VideoGame/OctopathTravelerII'': With Temenos in your party at night, you can challenge [=NPCs=] to coerce information out of them, fighting them on an endless plane of inch-deep water. The battle ends as soon as the NPC [[BreakMeter runs out of shield points]].

* The FinalBattle in ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfAnElderGod'' happenes simultaneously in the mental and physical planes against [[spoiler:the dead [[Franchise/CthulhuMythos Outer Gods]]]].

* In ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'', Agent 8 [[spoiler:fights Agent 3 in their head as an OptionalBoss after getting every Mem Cake. After the fight, Agent 8 feels "like the freshest Octoling ever" and gets the Golden Toothpick headgear]].