History Main / ControlFreak

%% Trope was declared Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease via crowner by the Real Life Maintenance thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php?crowner_id=s71xtv1b

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-->-- '''Michael''', ''Series/BurnNotice'' ("Scatter Point")

With a bit more power, they're the ObstructiveBureaucrat. Ten steps beyond that is TheChessmaster. Often closely related to {{Pride}} and DespotismJustifiesTheMeans -- it is common for dictators, whether an EvilOverlord, enforcer of TheEmpire, or some other incarnation of OrderIsNotGood, to have this trait. TheNeidermeyer and the SadistTeacher are usually this.

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': Calvin once asked his father what the term meant. The very ''favorable'' definition he received ("That's what lazy, slipshod, careless, cut-corner workers call anyone who cares enough to do something right.") led Calvin to wonder aloud, "Am I in the presence of their king? Should I kneel?" Note that Calvin's dad is a patent attorney.

[[folder:Music]]
* Dennis [=DeYoung=], former keyboardist of the American rock band Music/{{Styx}}, because musicals aren't for rock stars.
** Styx broke up over it in 1983 following the ''Music/KilroyWasHere'' debacle. The classic lineup finally reconciled and reunited in 1995, but Dennis's Control Freak tendencies started rearing their head again by 1999. This time, rather than breaking up the whole band, the others just kicked him out.
* [[Music/GunsNRoses Axl Rose]]. Offend him in the slightest and you'll end up without a job.
* [[Music/PinkFloyd Roger Waters]]. If Music/DavidGilmour is to be believed, his control-freak mode kicked in around 1977's ''Animals''. It got worse with ''Music/TheWall'', which was almost entirely his writing, and culminated in ''The Final Cut'', which infamously had the words [[IAmTheBand "Written by Roger Waters; performed by Pink Floyd"]] printed on the back cover. Then he left the band and a series of lawsuits ensued involving who had the right to use the ''Animals'' pig and whether the rest of the band had the right to use the name "Pink Floyd."
* Music/PaulMcCartney, during the final years of Music/TheBeatles. Semi-justified though, in that Music/JohnLennon was preoccupied with his side projects/relationship with Music/YokoOno and generally pissing off Music/GeorgeHarrison and Music/RingoStarr, to such a degree that [=McCartney=] had to literally take over the recording sessions with an iron hand just to keep things going.
** Even after the Beatles broke up. When Music/TheBeatles version of ''Twist and Shout'' became a hit again after being in the movie ''Film/FerrisBuellersDayOff'', [=McCartney=] was upset because a marching band in the movie was playing horns on it. Never mind the original Isley Brothers version actually did have horns on it!
*** Exhibit A: "''Music/LetItBe'', '''Naked'''"
** Every so often, [=McCartney=] will vocally gripe about the familiar "Lennon/[=McCartney=]" credit for Beatles songs, and how it unfairly implies that Lennon was the main creative force of the group. While this isn't an entirely unreasonable point of contention on [=McCartney=]'s part, he has also tried on several occasions to convince or force the rest of the world to start using "[=McCartney=]/Lennon" instead, at least regarding songs he was primarily responsible for writing. Given how culturally embedded "Lennon/[=McCartney=]" is by this point, this quest is quixotic at best, and he appears more or less resigned to defeat in this case.
* Noel Gallagher joined Music/{{Oasis}} on the condition of taking creative control of the group and becoming its sole songwriter. The rest of the band didn't object, though, since their own songwriting skills were limited. Noel eventually let the others write songs for the band as well.
* [[Music/CreedenceClearwaterRevival John Fogerty]], by most accounts. Tom Fogerty once said he felt he was "hip-checked" out of his role as lead singer when John joined the band.
* [[Music/{{Eagles}} Don Henley]] was one; this was a major force in the Eagles' 1980 breakup.
* So was [[Music/TalkingHeads David Byrne]]. Talking Heads finally broke up when the other members had had enough.
* Lawrence Hayward of Music/{{Felt}}. (Actually, [[IAmTheBand he was Felt]].) Among other things, he once fired a drummer for having curly hair.
* [[Music/DeepPurple Ritchie Blackmore]]. It was bad enough while he was in Deep Purple, but singer Ian Gillan and organist Jon Lord had enough clout to hold their own. There was no one to keep him in line in Music/{{Rainbow}}, however, and it showed.
* Good lord, Jered Threatin. [[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/16/style/threatin-fake-band-tour.html During his band's ill-fated European tour]], he scolded his tour bandmates ''for getting breakfast at the hotel's buffet'' without his permission, and told them that they needed to stay with him at all times. Since Threatin's a [[TheTeetotaler teetotaler who doesn't do nightlife]], this severely restricted where his bandmates could go during their European tour.
* A managerial example was Colonel Tom Parker. He generally let Music/ElvisPresley call most of the shots musically, but Parker locked him into a series of bad music and film contracts that prioritized MoneyDearBoy over quality, strictly forced Elvis to fulfill them, and came down hard on anyone who questioned him about it. Valuable contributors to Elvis' music career like Music/LeiberAndStoller and ''Music/FromElvisInMemphis'' producer Chips Moman got blackballed for daring to go against Parker's wishes. Parker even meddled in Elvis' personal life if he thought it was affecting their financial bottom line (though he was conspicuously silent about the drug abuse that ultimately killed Elvis).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Of course, this is also TruthInTelevision. There are people at school or work who either demand that [[KnowNothingKnowItAll they tell the rest of the group what to do since they know best]] or [[GeneralRipper forcibly push their own ideas onto the others without listening to the opinions of the other people]], especially when they [[InsufferableGenius think]] that they are [[NeverMyFault faultless]].
** Certain co-workers tend to freak out if cleaning is done wrong or not exactly how they want it.
** Whether it's school, college, or business, no matter how "well-intended" the Control Freak's contributions and/or help may be, [[LampshadeHanging it never ends well for anyone involved... the controllers themselves]] ''[[YouHaveFailedMe included]]''.
** Then again, it is sometimes useful to have someone take charge of the situation, such as in an emergency, if [[ApatheticCitizens no one else is doing so]] -- assuming that they are prepared to give up control should someone more qualified show up.
* Control freaks can also pop up in cooperative video games. In games where massive teamwork is necessary, there will sometimes be a player who will constantly tell other players what to do and treat them like they never played the game before.
** And more often than not, the people who constantly bark orders are usually the players with the least amount of skill in the team. Bonus points if said "commander" gets into trouble on his own accord and [[NeverMyFault blames the rest of the team for the mishap.]]
* StopHavingFunGuys and {{Scrub}}s fall under this. The former will criticize you for playing the game "wrong" while the latter will yell at you for not playing by their house rules.
* Totalitarian dictators and authoritarian rulers, in general, are control freaks by nature. Nothing angers them worse than people who won't go along with whatever they want them to do, which is why SecretPolice and other systems are frequently put in place.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsessive_compulsive_personality_disorder Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder]] ([[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant no, NOT Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder]]) can definitely turn a person into this, in a mentally crippling way.
* Creator/DougWalker admits he's this in products he has a say in but mixes it with his usual GuiltComplex. He only wants to do all the work by himself so he can freely say ItsAllMyFault if people don't like it.
* We've all had that friend, either abusive or not, who does this.
* People with narcissistic personality disorder tend to become this with friends and family members because they see others as just extensions of themselves.
* The greatest flaw of the historical [[UsefulNotes/ThreeKingdomsShuWeiWu Zhuge Liang]] was his tendency to try to do everything himself. Notably, unlike rival states Wei and Wu (and most other empires before or after), Shu did not have a specific branch of government dedicated to archiving the state's history due to Zhuge personally overseeing Shu's records (instead of assigning someone else to head the archives). Crucially, even as Prime Minister of Shu, he would accompany the army on their invasions of Wei to the north in order to personally issue commands at the front, despite Shu having several talented and capable generals who would be able to do the job. He was also prone to assigning his [[{{Nepotism}} close friends and confidants]] to high positions because he knew they'd follow his instructions to the letter, as opposed to more independent officials or generals who'd argue against him. This contributed to his death: very few people can stay up almost all night every night trying to control both military and political spheres before their health simply cannot keep up with it.
* Less kind descriptions of famed voice acting director Wally Burr (who worked on, among other things, [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers the original Transformers cartoon]]) paint him as being one of these. Creator/MichaelBell once joked that Burr's perfectionism was partially responsible for the death of Creator/OrsonWelles (who passed away shortly after completing his lines for the role of [[WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie Unicron]]), and the famous 30-year [[HostilityOnTheSet bad blood]] between Burr and Creator/MauriceLaMarche was caused by the latter expressing his opinion the former's "directing style" basically involved voice actors repeating lines over and over until Burr was satisfied they delivered the line the way he himself would do it.
[[/folder]]

* Gilbert Huph, Bob Parr's boss in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' is certainly a cut from this mold. Granted, Bob isn't a great employee for an insurance firm (given his conscience won't let him deny any claims), but Huph's pure bullying nature and reactions of offended dignity point to Bob not quite being the problem here. He even gives Bob a pre-planned disciplinary speech much like the "monologues" given by the supervillains Bob used to fight as Mr. Incredible. While cartoonish, his comeuppance is way too satisfying to watch. Too bad it costs Bob his job. The commentary on the DVD reveals that director Brad Bird, who had been fired from his first two jobs, had middle-management bosses like Huph.

* Rabbit of ''Franchise/WinnieThePooh'' whose over-attention to detail and zero tolerance for his friends' nonsense often leads to him acting like this. A nightmarish dream sequence in ''[[WesternAnimation/WinnieThePoohSpringtimeForRoo Springtime For Roo]]'' portrays his overbearing demeanor as becoming so intolerable that everyone in the Hundred Acre Wood leaves home just to get away from it all.

* [[BigBad President/Lord Business]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie''; everything in his city runs on conformity and following the rules, and his EvilPlan is to glue everything down so that no one can mess with his things. [[spoiler: The Man Upstairs, whom Lord Business is partially based off, is just as much of a control freak, but he changes his ways when he sees just how creative his son is and that [[HeelRealization his son made him the villain of the story]]]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', Mei's mother Ming has a lot of controlling tendencies that Mei has internalized, such as demanding perfect grades, suppressing her interests, and demanding that she use all of her recreational time contributing to the family temple. This is less out of [[AbusiveParents malice or selfishness]] and [[ParentsAsPeople more out of concern for her daughter's wellbeing]], Mei's inability to be honest with her mother only enabling her actions. This is also a generational habit, Ming's relationship with her mother mirroring her daughter's relationship with her.

* In ''Film/TheTrumanShow'', producer Christoff is so determined that he alone knows what’s best for Truman that he forced out a random extra simply because she wasn’t Truman’s ‘scripted’ love interest. This extra’s absence gave Truman something to focus on in his dream to leave his contained world, but Christoff was certain he had the right to control every aspect of Truman’s life and wouldn’t accept contradiction. Christoff’s commitment to controlling everything means that his actors have trouble when forced to improvise rather than being able to follow his script, even though Christoff himself (for example) can’t even write a healthy relationship for Truman because he has no such relationships himself.

* ''TabletopGame/BlackbirdsRPG'': The Allmother holds the iron-clad belief that she is the only one who is fit to make decisions, and that the world can only be perfect with herself in complete control. She even views [[KillAndReplace murdering and replacing people]] as actually doing them a service, making their lives better by forcing them to let her make decisions in their stead.

* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': In the prologue, Ulrika Västerström acts like this. She berates her husband for taking too long to pick up the newspaper in an abandoned gas station and doesn't let her husband's parents or daughter leave the car during the stop despite at least one of them needing to use the bathroom. Later, when her husband's parents and daughter start rioting against basic demands not being met, she dangerously swerves the car to calm everyone down. Since she happens to be driving everyone to the family private cabin to escape ThePlague, it's hard to tell if it's her usual attitude or just her being on the edge about what's going on.

** Certain co-workers tend to freak out if cleaning is done wrong not exactly how they want it

** And more often than not, the people who constantly bark orders are usually the players with the least amount of skill in the team. Bonus points if said "commander" gets into trouble by his own accord and [[NeverMyFault blames the rest of the team for the mishap.]]

Not to be confused with the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' villain named Control Freak.

* Terence Fletcher of ''{{Film/Whiplash}}'', an unforgiving psychopathic perfectionist who will try to find a great musician by any means necessary. A turning point is when protagonist Andrew arrives late without his drumsticks. Doesn't matter if Andrew is the core drummer, or if the replacements could borrow their sticks, Fletcher won't let him play. So Andrew drives back to get the sticks [[spoiler: and his car is hit by a truck. No wonder Andrew tackles Fletcher later, he nearly died simply because the SadistTeacher was an overtly methodical asshole.]]

Not all Control Freaks are self-serving {{Glory Hound}}s per se; some may have perfectly kind intentions, but their egos drive them to think said kind intentions can only be set out through ''their'' way of doing things and if they are forceful enough in their ideals, people will naturally see [[HolierThanThou they are for the best of everyone]]. Several realistic mental disorders, such as [[SuperOCD Obsessive Compulsive Disorder]], can also drive otherwise pleasant people to demand things just so almost subconsciously. Most RightlySelfRighteous characters become insufferable to others due to acting like this.

* Good lord, Jered Threatin. [[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/16/style/threatin-fake-band-tour.html During his band's ill-fated European tour]], he scolded his tour bandmates ''for getting breakfast at the hotel's buffet'' without his permission, and told them that they needed to say with him at all times. Since Threatin's a [[TheTeetotaler teetotaler who doesn't do nightlife]], this severely restricted where his bandmates could go during their European tour.

* Will happen in any IAmTheBand situation.

* Gilbert Huph, Bob Parr's boss in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' is certainly a cut from this mold. Granted, Bob isn't a great employee for an insurance firm (given his conscience won't let him deny any claims), but Huph's pure bullying nature and reactions of offended dignity point to Bob not quite being the problem here. He even gives Bob a pre-planned disciplinary speech much like the "monologues" given by the supervillains Bob used to fight as Mr. Incredible. While cartoonish, his comeuppance is way too satisfying to watch. The commentary on the DVD reveals that director Brad Bird, who had been fired from his first two jobs, had middle-management bosses like Huph.

* Mr. Huph, Bob's boss in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' is certainly a cut from this mold. Granted, Bob isn't a great employee for an insurance firm (given his conscience won't let him deny any claims), but Huph's pure bullying nature and reactions of offended dignity point to Bob not quite being the problem here. He even gives Bob a pre-planned disciplinary speech much like the "monologues" given by the supervillains Bob used to fight as Mr. Incredible. While cartoonish, his comeuppance is way too satisfying to watch. The commentary on the DVD reveals that director Brad Bird, who had been fired from his first two jobs, had middle-management bosses like Huph.

Not all Control Freaks are self-serving {{Glory Hound}}s per se; some may have perfectly kind intentions, but their egos drive them to think said kind intentions can only be set out through ''their'' way of doing things and if they are forceful enough in their ideals people will naturally see [[HolierThanThou they are for the best of everyone]]. Several realistic mental disorders, such as [[SuperOCD Obsessive Compulsive Disorder]], can also drive otherwise pleasant people to demand things just so almost subconsciously. Most RightlySelfRighteous characters become insufferable to others due to acting like this.

* Mr. Huph, Bob's boss in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' is certainly a cut from this mold. Granted, Bob isn't a great employee for an insurance firm (given his conscience won't let him deny any claims), but Huph's pure bullying nature and reactions of offended dignity point to Bob not quite being the problem here. He even gives Bob a pre-planned disciplinary speech much like the "monologues" given by the super-villains Bob used to fight as Mr. Incredible. While cartoonish, his comeuppance is way too satisfying to watch. The commentary on the DVD reveals that director Brad Bird, who had been fired from his first two jobs, had middle-management bosses like Huph.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Sing}}'', this is one of Buster's main character flaws. While he means well, his micromanaging of the acts in the show leads to many things that make the performers uncomfortable, such as making Rosita and Gunther a team act (despite having just met), making Johnny play a piano (despite being years out of practice), and making Ash dress and sing like a pop princess (even though she's a tomboy who prefers rock). [[spoiler: In the end, though, this all works out for the best -- Rosita and Gunther make an excellent team, Johnny turns out to have a natural talent for the piano, and Ash combines the dress she's given with her normal outfit to create a glam rock look (and switches out her initial song with one of her own writing, again at Buster's insistence).]]

** Even after the Beatles broke up. When Music/TheBeatles version of ''Twist and Shout'' became a hit again after being in the movie ''Film/FerrisBuellersDayOff'' [=McCartney=] was upset because a marching band in the movie was playing horns on it. Never mind the original Isley Brothers version actually did have horns on it!

* A managerial example was Colonel Tom Parker. He generally let Music/ElvisPresley call most of the shots musically, but Parker locked him into a series of bad music and film contracts that prioritized MoneyDearBoy over quality, strictly forced Elvis to fulfill them, and came down hard on anyone who questioned him about it. Valuable contributors to Elvis' music career like Music/LeiberAndStoller and ''Music/FromElvisInMemphis'' producer Chips Moman got blackballed for daring to go against Parker's wishes. Parker even meddled in Elvis' personal life if he thought it was affecting their financial bottom line (though he was conspicuously silent about the drug abuse that ultimate killed Elvis).

* Alyssa describes her mother as one in ''Theatre/TheProm'', and she's completely right. Mrs. Greene forces her daughter to dress a certain way, tracks her weight, makes her sign up for extracurriculars she hates, expects perfect grades, and all in all wants Alyssa to be the flawless TrophyChild she can use as a prop in her "perfect" life. This, combined with her mother's conservative political views, is why Alyssa has remained deeply in the closet, despite having known she's a lesbian and been in a loving relationship with Emma for over a year. Mrs. Greene also uses her position as the head of the PTA to push her political agenda, and is ''very'' unhappy when Principal Hawkins and Emma attempt to stand up to her.

* ''WebVideo/{{Dad}}'': Cheryl likes to keep things in control, has high-standards, and gets upset when things aren't going her way. She is mentioned in the "Dad Loves Mom" song to be very strict and dominating, she punished Dad for owning a magazine she didn't like, and she even had one of her employees taken away for disagreeing with her. There are only a few cases where she's shown relenting.

* The greatest flaw of the historical [[UsefulNotes/ThreeKingdomsShuWeiWu Zhuge Liang]] was his tendency to try to do everything himself. Notably, unlike rival states Wei and Wu (and most other empires before or after), Shu did not have a specific branch of government dedicated to archiving the state's history due to Zhuge personally overseeing Shu's records (instead of assigning someone else to head the archives). Crucially, even as Prime Minster of Shu he would accompany the army on their invasions of Wei to the north in order to personally issue commands at the front, despite Shu having several talented and capable generals who would be able to do the job. He was also prone to assigning his [[{{Nepotism}} close friends and confidants]] to high positions because he knew they'd follow his instructions to the letter, as opposed to more independent officials or generals who'd argue against him. This contributed to his death: very few people can stay up almost all night every night trying to control both military and political spheres before their health simply cannot keep up with it.
* Less kind descriptions of famed voice acting director Wally Burr (who worked on, among other things, [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers the original Transformers cartoon]]) paint him as being one of these. Creator/MichaelBell once joked that Burr's perfectionism was partially responsible for the death of Creator/OrsonWelles (who passed away shortly after completing his lines for the role of [[WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie Unicron]]), and the famous 30 year [[HostilityOnTheSet bad blood]] between Burr and Creator/MauriceLaMarche was caused by the latter expressing his opinion the former's "directing style" basically involved voice actors repeating lines over and over until Burr was satisfied they delivered the line the way he himself would do it.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Nagisa's mother Hiromi in ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'' wants to control her son's life so she can live vicariously through him and experience all the things she never got to. Invoking RaisedAsTheOppositeGender on him and trying to force him down the path she had set for herself.
* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': Griffith obviously believes that he can use his comrades whenever and however he feels like. But when Guts and Casca have plans outside of his control? [[{{Yandere}} NO]] -- [[IfICantHaveYou that will NOT be permitted!]]
-->'''Griffith''': You will fight for my cause because you belong to me. I will decide the place where you die.

* ''Manga/FruitsBasket'':
** As their God, Akito Sohma firmly believes she can use the Zodiac whenever and however she feels like; this was instilled in her by her father and the Sohma retainers, who outright told her that she was "born to be loved" and that the Zodiac members exist solely to live and die for her. If they even ''think'' of having plans or lives outside of her total control, she'll use any means necessary, from intimidation to physical violence, to ensure they don't follow through with it.
** Yuki's [[MyBelovedSmother mother]] expects him to follow her orders without question and has no interest in his personal desires, only caring about how she can use him to further her own social standing. During the parent/teacher conference, she reveals she's planned out Yuki's entire future without consulting him, and when Ayame intervenes and tells her off for her controlling nature, she loses her temper and snaps that she never should have given birth to either of her sons simply because they're not doing what ''she'' wants.
* In ''Manga/FutureDiary'' [[spoiler:Yuno]] had a [[AbusiveParents control-freak mother]] who measured everything she did from how many hours she got to sleep to how many calories she had a day. She also kept her in a cage and starved her in an effort to raise her to be a model person. If you ever wondered why [[spoiler:Yuno]] is so [[{{Yandere}} utterly messed up]], look no further.
* [[TheAce Kageyama]] in ''Manga/{{Haikyuu}}'' was one prior to his CharacterDevelopment. He had an aggressive, domineering personality that caused him to [[IntelligenceEqualsIsolation scream at his teammates for being unable to keep up with him]], and his [[ItsAllAboutMe selfish, bossy attitude]] led to them calling him the [[IronicNickname "King of the Court"]]. Eventually, they got sick of him and refused to cooperate with his plays, leading him to be benched for the rest of junior high and all the top volleyball high schools rejected his application as a result.
* Bright Noa is one of these early on in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' trying to control the lives of everyone in the crew. Given the stress he's under [[note]] He the highest ranking officer on the Federation's most advanced warship after the Zeon attack in the first episode kills just about everyone else, and he's just an '''Ensign''' [[/note]], it's not surprising and he loosens up as the show goes on.
* ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'''s BigBad Gilbert Durandal is one, and it becomes his FatalFlaw. His inability to abide unpredictability causes him to antagonize a number of very powerful people long before he needed to (notably trying to assassinate Kira Yamato and Lacus Clyne, thus ensuring they would be his mortal enemies for the unprovoked attack), eventually bringing his plans crashing down.
* ''Manga/MyBrideIsAMermaid'': Mawari Zenigata is this to the extent that others refer to her as the "demonic" head of the disciplinary committee.
* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', befitting for his "puppet master" theme, Doflamingo has a huge obsession of being in control. His Devil Fruit is a string Fruit that lets him manipulate people like puppets. He fully expected his crew to act as sacrificial pawns if required and he was furious when Law escaped from his control. For ''thirteen years'', he continued to refer to Law as his subordinate and even went as far as to say he "owns" Law.
* Chiri of ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei'', who, like everyone else in the show, is [[RefugeInAudacity an extreme exaggeration]]. Even her CrossPoppingVeins appear neatly and symmetrically.
* ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'':
** Asuna's mother, Kyouko, wants to ensure a good future for Asuna, but her methods of doing so are by trying to control every aspect of her daughter's life, from her education institution to her future spouse. She mellows out over time.
** Quinella is a corrupt, narcissistic, and callous psycho [[spoiler:who is not above killing, torturing, and brainwashing anyone to keep the Underworld for herself, and refuses to tolerate the existences of fighting forces she is unable to control]], though her methods of doing so are different from the standard. [[spoiler:She spends most of her time asleep in order to preserve precious memory space, but the laws she placed over the land and its people might as well be God-given edicts to follow consciously or subconsciously [[RealityWarper given her Authority]] and are enforced by her Integrity Knights. In the backstory, while she fused with the Cardinal System to regulate Underworld, her original intention was to outright steal its powers and authority for herself.]]
* ''LightNovel/AWildLastBossAppeared'': Alovenus, the Goddess of the world, dislikes anything that goes off-script. The flugel who could create Golden Apples were punished and eventually phased out because power-leveling disrupts the balance of her world, for example, and also the main reason why Ruphas is her {{Archenemy}}: Ruphas can make Golden Apples and distribute them so others grow beyond the constraints of her "script", and eventually made it her mission to be a thorn in her side, making herself the biggest rebel in existence in Alovenus eyes, and thus someone she has to get rid of.
* In Sherry Belmont's [[DarkAndTroubledPast backstory]] from ''Manga/ZatchBell'', her mother is shown to be one of these, dictating pretty much how she lived her life, putting her through TrainingFromHell, and coming inches from sending her over the DespairEventHorizon.

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':
** Batman might be the poster boy for this trope. He meticulously plans out everything and is unable to deal if any little thing goes not according to plan. In the ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmericaTowerOfBabel'' storyline, [[Characters/BatmanRasAlGhul Ra's al Ghul]] is able to use his plans to take down the Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica (you know, his friends). He unconditionally trusts probably three people: Alfred, [[ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} Dick Grayson]], and Leslie Thompkins. He also micromanages his kids' every move, inside and outside the context of being superheroes. This is somewhat TruthInTelevision as research shows that people who had some sort of childhood trauma grow up to be controlling adults. When something bad happens to you when you're a kid, there's nothing you can do because you're just a kid, however, once you're an adult you can control things better to not have it happen again.
** [[Characters/BatmanDeathstroke Deathstroke]] has a warped sense of familial responsibility but also enjoys using drugs to keep control over younger heroes he's "taken" on as proteges. This includes his daughter Rose Wilson, even after her drug-induced psychosis made her gouge out an eye, [[ComicBook/Batgirl2000 Cassandra Cain]] in an effort to take revenge on the Bat Family taking Rose from him, one of the explanations as to why the first Terra had a manic breakdown, and later with Roy Harper after his daughter died via getting Roy unknowingly addicted to Bliss.
* In ''ComicBook/TheBoys'', TheLeader [[EvilBrit Billy Butcher]] shows shades of this throughout the story. When he first gave Hughie the SuperSerum, he says that it's for his own good and makes his lack of permission seem like a minor oversight. [[spoiler:Near the end it's revealed that he's been paying Hughie's landlord to masturbate onto his front door ever since Hughie ignored his recommendation to find a nicer apartment. When he acts like a PapaWolf to Janine, one would assume it's because he's a JerkWithAHeartOfGold. Then he murders her mother in front of her with the implication that she'll be next if she keeps distracting M.M. from their crusade.]] And then there's the incident with DaChief Rayner, where he threatens to murder her and her entire family if she ever contacts a Supe behind his back again. When she tries to run away by putting [[TyrantTakesTheHelm Monkey in charge]], [[BlackComedyRape he doesn't take it well]] to say the least.
* The leaders of the Pro-Registration side during ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' (mainly ComicBook/IronMan and [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Mr. Fantastic]]) come off as this, insisting that their calculations show that instituting the [[SuperRegistrationAct Superhuman Registration Act]] is the ''only'' way to go and having no qualms resorting to [[ExplosiveLeash controlling supervillains]], imprisoning people in a hellish other dimension and cloning the thought-dead Thor in order to get their way.
** In one notable ''ComicBook/WhatIf'', the Watcher shows Tony alternative ways the event could have gone: in one universe Iron Man is killed early on and Henry Gyrich, who is [[UpToEleven even more of a control freak]], takes over, ending with just about '''all''' the superhumans dead. When Tony claims that this proves that he was right, the Watcher shows him another universe where instead of trying to '''control''' Captain America and the Anti-Registration Side, he genuinely reaches out to them to explain his thoughts, leading to a unified front that leads to a more utopian outcome (superhumans still need to register, but clauses like forcing them to work for the government when called upon are removed).
* Leetah in ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'' considers herself one of these: she wants to have complete control over her healing powers, going so far as to ''stab herself in the stomach'' to force her powers to surge. Granted, she was reacting to severe emotional trauma at the time, but she's admitted that the attitude extends to her daily life and her family. Often, her first reaction to panic is to take charge, heal ''everything'' in sight, fix what can be immediately fixed (even if it's a terrible idea to do so) and have a proper emotional breakdown later.
* ''ComicBook/NewGods'': [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]] is a highly extreme example. He wishes to impose not just his rule, but his will, upon every single sentient being in the universe. He considers [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill free will a threat to him]], so he seeks the Anti-Life Equation to eliminate free will and impose only his own will upon the universe. [[spoiler:He actually gets to use the Anti-Life Equation in ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'', taking over TheMultiverse in doing so.]]
* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'':
** Sally Acorn had shades of this in the earlier, more comical issues, usually butting heads with the reckless and free-spirited Sonic as a result. This was diluted as the stories matured, the rare occasions she delves back in this trope are more PlayedForDrama.
** This trope is the entire reason Dr. Eggman comes into conflict with Sonic and the Freedom Fighters during the [[VideoGame/SonicUnleashed Shattered World Crisis]]. In a nutshell, ''he'' wants to be the one in charge of when and how the world is put back together.
* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
** ComicBook/{{Brainiac}} is another extreme example. He travels world to world, stealing technology and culture and then destroying the worlds, keeping one city bottled up for him to remember it by. He hates any situation in which he is not in control, despises developments that are not supervised by him, and would sooner see the universe remain in stasis or be reduced to nothingness than let it change.
** [[Characters/SupermanLexLuthor Lex Luthor]] is definitely one. A CorruptCorporateExecutive, MadScientist, and DiabolicalMastermind all in one, he slowly built his control over Metropolis to the point he controls the media, politics, and even the criminal element of the city. One of the main reasons he hates Supes so much is that he ''can't'' exert his control over him in any way, thus he pours millions of dollars into giving himself comparable power just to prove he's superior.
* [[spoiler:Getaway]] from ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' proves to be this. On the surface, he's a friendly guy willing to do anything for the crew, but scratch that surface and you'll find a possessive and controlling narcissist who's [[TheChosenWannabe deluded himself into thinking he's destined to be Prime]]. He basically expects everyone to unhesitatingly do what he says, believing that everything would be perfect if people would just shut up and listen to him. Getting contradicted, disrespected, or disobeyed in any way sends him on childish temper tantrums; at one point he goes into a psychotic fit of rage because somebody ''[[FelonyMisdemeanor refused to answer his phone call]]''. Eventually, [[spoiler:everybody catches on to the fact that he's a lying nutcase and refuse to follow his orders anymore. Getaway responds by using his nudge gun to brainwash them before they can leave the ship so that they ''have'' to do what he says.]]
* ''ComicBook/XMen'':
** {{Deconstructed|Trope}} with [[Characters/MarvelComicsCyclops Cyclops]]; while being a control freak makes him an effective leader and strategist, it's also the main reason he doesn't get along with his teammates outside of a combat setting (especially ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}). It's been made clear that because [[PowerIncontinence his powers are uncontrollable]], Cyclops compensates by attempting to have total control over every other aspect of his life.
** Cyclops' son, Nate Grey a.k.a. [[Characters/MarvelComicsXMan X-Man]], is prone to this as well, for similar reasons -- his powers are vast and for a long time, next to impossible to completely control, and he had legitimate reason to be afraid that he would rewrite reality in his sleep. Plus, he grew up as part of a band of wandering guerrilla fighters in the dystopian ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse reality (and just plain homeless when he ended up in the main Marvel Universe, until he eventually wound up living on Utopia, then in San Francisco with the New Mutants). Like his father, this makes him an excellent strategist, but not very good with people, and this, combined with his obsession with preventing Earth-616 from becoming like his homeworld, ultimately led to him creating the [[CrapsaccharineWorld terrifyingly upbeat alternative]] in the form of ComicBook/AgeOfXMan, enforced with memory wipes, mind-control, and secret police. His entire CharacterDevelopment in the latter was about letting go.

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': Calvin once asked his father what the term meant. The very ''favorable'' definition he received ("That's what lazy, slipshod, careless, cut-corner workers call anyone who cares enough to do something right.") led Calvin to wonder aloud, "Am I in the presence of their king? Should I kneel?" Note that Calvin's dad is a patent attorney.

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* Leviathan from ''FanFic/AvatarOfVictory'' ''really'' doesn't like people touching his things and screwing up his plans. When Shepard frees the Prothean he's using to spawn Collectors, he throws what amounts to a child's temper tantrum and ups his efforts to kill them.
* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has this as one of Doctor Strange's defining traits, to the point where he almost literally falls apart when things go off his pre-determined rails, though there were a number of reasons for that, including the literally inhuman strain required to force them back ''on'' to the rails before utter disaster struck which caused SanitySlippage. However, he doesn't meddle with everything. Sometimes he doesn't need to, and in general, he prefers to guide things and people so that they'll follow his preferred course anyway, and it is justified by the fact that he's got the road-map to defeating Thanos in his head. He has been monomaniacally focused on this literally universally important goal for such a long time that pretty much everything he does is directly or indirectly focused on making sure that particular battle is won. He even outright tells Dumbledore that he didn't kill Voldemort yet because he is waiting for the time when it is the least harmful and most beneficial point in the cause of the war against Thanos for him to die. This is part of why the Avengers, the governments across the universe and pretty much everyone with a moral compass aware of him continue to tolerate him after all the shenanigans he pulls - though it's also why he has a very strained relationship with Wanda Maximoff, his former Apprentice and foster-daughter, and Thor has to restrain the occasional homicidal impulse around him (and is implied to be far from the only one).
* Spectrem in ''Fanfic/TheKeysStandAlone: The Soft World''. At least, he attempts to be one. George and Paul won't let him.
** Probably Simon too.
* ''Fanfic/TheOneToMakeItStay'' depicts Alya as one, especially when it comes to her ShipperOnDeck tendencies:
** Despite Marinette's clear discomfort with her {{Zany Scheme}}s to help her get closer to Adrien, Alya continuously strong-arms her into participating. When this continues after she's already given up on him and started dating Luka, Marinette puts her foot down and outright ''refuses''... only for Alya to stage an 'emergency meeting', inviting all the other girls to the bakery and attempting to force her into ''another'' scheme. Followed by trying to override Marinette's attempts to send the others away so they can talk privately, with Marinette having to point out that they're currently in ''her'' room, in ''her'' house, which ''she'' invited herself and the rest of them to without permission.
** Alya also sees nothing wrong with [[ManipulativeEditing heavily editing footage]] she secretly took of one of Chat Noir's {{Love Confession}}s to make it seem as though Ladybug returned his feelings, then posting it on her Ladyblog as an '[[TabloidMelodrama exclusive scoop]]'. When Ladybug confronts her about this, she's completely dismissive of her feelings, even suggesting that ''Ladybug'' is somehow being unreasonable for wanting control over her own image or who she dates.
** Side story ''The Hour Glass is Drifting Away'' touches on Nino's discomfort with her efforts, revealing that she forced her way into the trip to the wax museum when he originally just wanted to have some 'bro time' with his pal. He was also uncomfortable with her plans to post that footage on her blog, but didn't speak up... and when Ladybug gently confronts him on this, recognizes that he made a mistake and accepts being benched for the summer with grace.
* Harry is an interesting variation of this in ''Fanfic/ThePowerOfSeven'', where circumstances have led to him forming a 'harem' of seven witches. While Harry isn't a 'control freak' in the sense that he 'needs' to control everything, characters note that he has lived his entire life with other people making decisions for him and causing him various degrees of pain. As a result, his relationships with Katie Bell and Demelza Robbins in particular help him cope with his lack of control; Katie is a more experienced lover who is able to 'domme' Harry in a subtle, nurturing manner that encourages him to accept her authority without forcing him to obey her, while Demelza's absolute surrender of control to him helps Harry feel like he can cope with the burdens placed on him.
* Jacques was already this in canon, but his ''Fanfic/RubyAndNora'' counterpart is this to such an extent he [[spoiler:willingly signed up with Salem to control Atlas]].
* ''Fanfic/SoulEaterTroubledSouls'' turns Medusa Gorgon into one of these. In one part of the Cobra Island Arc, she is noticeably frustrated and fidgety during the [[DeadlyGame maze level]]. She expected Maka and everyone else to struggle hopelessly as they encounter death trap after death trap while being [[TimedMission on the clock]]. What instead happens is they put their heads together and rally through the maze with ease. When the game inevitably goes awry, Medusa is ''ecstatic'' that she is back in control. Furthermore, there is the haughty and superior attitude she displays toward Shaula. Finally, Crona’s [[EnemyWithout shadow]], who is pretty much Medusa’s mouthpiece, tells Crona how he/she is nothing without her. All in all, Medusa can’t stand not being in control of people she deems lesser.
* ''Fanfic/WishCarefully'': [[Literature/HarryPotter Lord Voldemort]] is this upon gaining control of Wizarding England, to the extent that Lucius Malfoy states that the very term doesn't even begin to describe him. Once in power, he instated a series of draconian laws that control every aspect of everyone's day. One example is making it mandatory to take the Dark Mark when one comes of age.
* Notably, while [[Music/PaulMcCartney Paul]] is a RealLife Control Freak, he doesn't exhibit much of that in ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached'', probably because he's not got a lot of control over his own ''body'', let alone the circumstances the four have been thrust into.
* As in ''Power of Seven'', control in a sexual environment is a key aspect of the relationship in the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' fanfic series "[[https://web.archive.org/web/20150124011035/http://papa-bear.com/fanfic/WuffaraChronicles.html Wuffara Chronicles]]", as Buffy is dominated by Tara while Willow is Buffy's sub; Buffy reflects that she is tired of having to be in charge all the time, which allows her to revel in the opportunities to submit to Tara, while controlling Willow helps her feel as though she has taken charge of something in her life (Willow and Tara's roles in the dynamic are fundamentally more straightforward, with Tara appreciating a sense of power after so long being abused by her family while Willow has always been driven to excel to gain attention).
* In ''Fanfic/ALittleDinnerScandal'', Mirabel surmises that the reason why Alma hasn't just kicked her out despite [[FeelingOppressedByTheirExistence treating her very presence as an ugly blemish]] is because she wants to keep total control over her grandchildren. This leads to her going through a logical rabbit-hole where she realizes just how calculated the family's dynamics really are.
--> '''Mirabel''': I think she wants me miserable and under her total control. Like everyone else in our generation...

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Barbie}}:''
** ''WesternAnimation/BarbieInTheTwelveDancingPrincesses'': Duchess Rowena goes out of her way to crush the sisters' free spirits and confidence, forcing them all to dress alike and engage only in "ladylike" tasks.
** ''WesternAnimation/BarbieInThePinkShoes'': Kristyn does not much care for the stern Madame Natasha and her insistence that Kristyn's unique style makes for improper ballet dancing. Her counterpart in the Ballet Realm is the Snow Queen, a tyrant who viciously enforces "perfection".
* Count Dracula from ''WesternAnimation/HotelTransylvania'' goes to extreme lengths to keep his daughter safe. He even built an entire village and dressed all his zombie employees up as townsfolk in order to convince her that humans were evil. He also insists on taking an active role in every aspect of running the hotel. He even corrects his friends when they call him "Captain Control Freak" by telling them that it's "COUNT Control Freak".
* Mr. Huph, Bob's boss in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' is certainly a cut from this mold. Granted, Bob isn't a great employee for an insurance firm (given his conscience won't let him deny any claims), but Huph's pure bullying nature and reactions of offended dignity point to Bob not quite being the problem here. He even gives Bob a pre-planned disciplinary speech much like the "monologues" given by the super-villains Bob used to fight as Mr. Incredible. While cartoonish, his comeuppance is way too satisfying to watch. The commentary on the DVD reveals that director Brad Bird, who had been fired from his first two jobs, had middle-management bosses like Huph.
* Joy from ''WesternAnimation/InsideOut'' is decidedly more upbeat and wacky than most examples of this trope, but she's still an example; she's the leader among Riley's emotions and the others happily take orders from her, but her determination to [[KnightTemplarParent keep Riley from ever experiencing anything short of perfect happiness]] is such that she prevents Sadness from doing her job, even drawing a chalk circle and ordering her not to step outside of it.
* [[BigBad President/Lord Business]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOMovie''; everything in his city runs on conformity and following the rules, and his EvilPlan is to glue everything down so that no one can mess with his things. [[spoiler: The Man Upstairs, whom Lord Business is partially based off, is just as much of a control freak, but he changes his ways when he sees just how creative his son is and that [[HeelRealization his son made him the villain of the story]]]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Sing}}'', this is one of Buster's main character flaws. While he means well, his micromanaging of the acts in the show leads to many things that make the performers uncomfortable, such as making Rosita and Gunther a team act (despite having just met), making Johnny play a piano (despite being years out of practice), and making Ash dress and sing like a pop princess (even though she's a tomboy who prefers rock). [[spoiler: In the end, though, this all works out for the best -- Rosita and Gunther make an excellent team, Johnny turns out to have a natural talent for the piano, and Ash combines the dress she's given with her normal outfit to create a glam rock look (and switches out her initial song with one of her own writing, again at Buster's insistence).]]
* Rabbit of ''Franchise/WinnieThePooh'' whose over-attention to detail and zero tolerance for his friends' nonsense often leads to him acting like this. A nightmarish dream sequence in ''[[WesternAnimation/WinnieThePoohSpringtimeForRoo Springtime For Roo]]'' portrays his overbearing demeanor as becoming so intolerable that everyone in the Hundred Acre Wood leaves home just to get away from it all.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Control Freakery (to the point of [[IRejectYourReality rejecting the world as it is]], in [[CrapsackWorld all of its unmitigated suck]]) is a major flaw of most of the characters in ''Film/{{Brazil}}'' who are not heroes, love interests, or ninja plumbers. If there is something wrong going on, they just assume that it's not their department or that it's "terrorist sabotage" and either ignore it or [[DisproportionateRetribution arrest and torture whoever they suspect is the "terrorist" in question]].
* "Ace" Rothstein in ''Film/{{Casino}}''. Such a perfectionist that he insists on an equal number of blueberries in every muffin. While it's not a FatalFlaw in the sense that it gets Ace killed, the exact moment [[ForWantOfANail things definitely started to go to hell for the entire cast]] is when Ace fired an employee he considered incompetent (and absolutely refused to hire him again in any other capacity when asked to reconsider by the employee's brother-in-law) without caring that the Clark County Commission chairman (the aforementioned employee's brother-in-law) [[ItsPersonal would develop a vendetta over it]].
* ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'': Sally is stated to have ended two of her friendships because the friends in question either didn't let her be the head chef while they were baking or because they talked back to her. The Cat's "phunometer" even explicitly labels her a control freak.
* Francis Whitman from ''Film/TheDarjeelingLimited'' starts out like this. He acts incredibly controlling towards his two brothers (Even ordering their meals for them at first) and has their entire journey through India already planned out. We meet his mother at the end of the movie where it turns out [[SharedFamilyQuirks she has similar qualities]].
* First Officer Lieutenant Martin Pascal in ''Film/DownPeriscope'' is TheNeidermeyer and has a constant need to get in people's faces and [[NoIndoorVoice yell at them when they are doing something wrong]] (although in his defense in at least one case, Buckman (the ship's cook) is ''[[LethalChef definitely]]'' doing things wrong). It ends up backfiring on him hard when he tries to pull (what he believes is) an AntiMutiny and [[ZeroPercentApprovalRating he's instantly mobbed by the rest of the crew]].
* Wade Gustafson from ''Film/{{Fargo}}'' is a controlling jerk who can’t trust his son-in-law with even the most basic of tasks. Even when his daughter is kidnapped and the kidnappers give specific instructions to have Jerry handle the money, Wade insists on doing it himself because [[SmallNameBigEgo he thinks he’s the only one smart enough to do it]]. He seems to think he can browbeat the whole world into bowing to his whims, which [[spoiler:gets him killed when [[BullyingADragon he tries it on Showalter, who simply whips out a pistol and shoots Wade dead]].]]
* In ''Film/InsideDaisyClover'', producer Raymond Swan (Creator/ChristopherPlummer) basically wants total control over the life and career of Daisy Clover (Creator/NatalieWood), which she deeply resents. It includes drastic [[invoked]]ContractualPurity, faking her past to sell her as "America's Little Valentine" instead of the near-hobo she was, and he even wants to prevent her from seeing her mother again (which he later recedes on). He also doesn't want his actor Wade Lewis to ruin it via his romance with Daisy.
* Harlan, the murdered victim, in ''Film/KnivesOut''. His mug "My House, My Rules, My Coffee", seen in the opening scene, even before the audience sees Harlan himself, says a lot. He also keeps his family on a tight leash, either intentionally or unintentionally, putting them in charge of aspects of his business or keeping them dependent on him for loans or college tuition, under his exact stipulations. What he says, goes, and those that don't fall in line [[spoiler: will get cut out of his will]].
* Clarence Day Sr. of ''Film/LifeWithFather'' tries to be this in his attempts to run his household on "a business basis," the same way he manages his business as a stockbroker. It very rarely goes as he wants it thanks to his wife being perfectly willing to do things her own way and his sons creating all sorts of minor chaos... leading to his frequent outbursts of "oh, ''gad!''"
* ''Film/MarvinsRoom'': Lee towards her two sons. Hank rebels against her, and she even admits to his psychiatrist that she can't control him. On the other hand, Charlie is more obedient.
* J. Daniel Atlas (Creator/JesseEisenberg) in ''Film/NowYouSeeMe''. This proves to be a plot point, as the FBI finds out he likes to keep track of his entire crew by making them wear GPS bracelets. The FBI try to use them to spy on the Horsemen, except [[spoiler:they manage to slip one of the trackers into a lead agent's pocket, causing him to run around New Orleans chasing himself]]. However, given TheReveal, it's possible [[spoiler:he knew about the tracker in his pocket and was deliberately making a fool of himself to keep the other agents following him and not the Horsemen]].
* ''Film/OneNightOfLove'': Giulio the voice coach, to his student, would-be opera singer Mary. He demands and gets full control of her life while training her to be an opera star, right down to who she sees and what she eats. One scene has Mary getting annoyed when Giulio orders a sumptuous steak dinner at a fancy restaurant but only lets Mary have the peach Melba.
* Terence Fletcher of ''{{Film/Whiplash}}'', an unforgiving psychopathic perfectionist who will try to find a great musician by any means necessary. A turning point is when protagonist Andrew arrives late without his drumsticks. Doesn't matter if Andrew is the core drummer, or if the replacements could borrow their sticks, Fletcher won't let him play. So Andrew drives back to get the sticks [[spoiler: and his car is hit by a truck. No wonder Andrew tackles Fletcher later, he nearly died simply because the SadistTeacher was an overtly methodical asshole.]]
* Abby in ''Film/WineCountry''. She put together a very detailed itinerary and tries to follow it to the letter, which eventually gets on the others' nerves. It is later revealed that this is because she just lost her job and is trying to find something that she's in control of.
* ''Film/YvesSaintLaurent'': Pierre Bergé, the lover and business partner of BrokenAce fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, must control every aspect of their business and personal lives to keep Yves sane enough to work. He's sometimes tyrannical, sometimes loving and, in the end, protects Yves from destroying himself. It's dysfunctional but it works for both men.

[[folder:Literature]]
* In ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', the Party are extreme control freaks, and nowhere is this more evident than in the concept of {{Thoughtcrime}} -- they have made even ''thinking'' against the government a crime.
* Warlord Leon Abbott, BigBad of ''Literature/ArtemisFowl: The Lost Colony'' and supreme leader of the demons following their exile. He expects all other demons to share his ideals, controls their lives to the point of choosing names for them when they reach adulthood, and inflict humiliating punishments on anyone who he thinks is a dissenter.
* Brother Jerome in the ''Literature/BrotherCadfael'' novels and [[Series/{{Cadfael}} television series]].
* In the ''VideoGame/{{Descent}}'' novelization, this is St. John's largest character flaw. To his credit, he does recognize this after the first book and [[CharacterDevelopment begins taking steps to tone it down]].
* Dolores Umbridge from the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series. This gets even better/worse when she quite obviously doesn't practice what she preaches. She intends on using the torturing spell, the Cruciatus Curse, on Harry to get information on Sirius' location, but Hermione says that it's illegal to use it on another human being (It is.) Umbridge decides to use it anyway since "what Fudge (the Minister of Magic) doesn't know won't hurt him!"
** Vernon and Petunia Dursley are more comedic examples of this. They're quite proud of the totally mundane middle-class life they live and go to great lengths to keep it up. While they and their son have little trouble with this, this trope comes into play in regards to the strange things that happen because Harry's a wizard. Even seemingly harmless things, like Ron thinking he had to yell through a phone or Mrs. Weasley covering an envelope in stamps because she wasn't sure how many were meant to go on for Muggle post, get the Dursleys angry simply because they hate any magical-related things interfering with their lives.
* Charlie, a middle-manager in the tooth-fairy operation in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novel ''Literature/{{Hogfather}}'', and the subject of the above quote. Takes severe pride in his work (making sure the cart-driver signs his paperwork), is quick to make it clear that any problems are someone else's fault, would be on a tropical island if the organisation didn't need him; and has ''never wondered'' what happens to the teeth, because that's not his job.
** Also, in ''Literature/Pyramids'', Djelibeybi's high priest Dios has everything running the exact way he likes it, and won't allow for even the most insignificant change. Dead kings will be entombed regardless of their preference [[note]]Teppic's father wanted to be buried at sea[[/note]]. The king will have chicken for dinner even when he expressly said he didn't want it, and so on.
* Curran from ''Literature/KateDaniels'' fits this in the extreme. He cares about his people, but it turns out that due to childhood trauma his main motivator is that he is hellbent on keeping his future family safe. Forcing the various shapeshifter Clans to make peace and work together, shaping them into the Pack single-handedly? All so his future mate would never be caught in the crossfire between Clans. Building the Keep, which is a huge sprawling castle designed to be easily defended, and can protect about 1500 shapeshifters? All so his mate and children would have a safe place to live. Unfortunately, he didn't count on falling for Kate, who rebels against all authority by nature. Naturally, this causes tension.
* In Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/TheShining'' Ullman the hotel manager is like this. Jack Torrance thinks he is an "officious little prick" and this opinion is shared by more than one member of the Overlook's staff.
** Even though most of the staff consider Ullman an officious little prick, they admit that he's good at his job. Watson, the maintenance man, who HATES Ullman admits that Ullman is good at what he does and definitely earns his salary. Ullman is the first manager of the Overlook who's ever turned a profit for the place.
** From the same author, ''Literature/{{It}}'' gives us [[DomesticAbuse Tom Rogan]], who micromanages every single aspect of his wife Beverly's life and beats her when she doesn't do ''exactly'' what he wants. It's not made entirely clear whether he carries this attitude to work with him, or if his wife is the sole victim of it.
* ''Literature/MaledictionTrilogy'': Troll prince Tristan. He is so single-mindedly devoted to his one cause (overthrowing his father and improving the lives of his subjects) that he wants to control everything: those around him (and he has [[IKnowYourTrueName magical means]] to do it), his speech and facial expressions, even his feelings for his wife. He gets called upon it. Several times.
* [[BigBad Nurse Ratched]] in ''Literature/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest'' [[Film/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest and its film adaptation]]. A sociopathic BattleaxeNurse who runs the [[BedlamHouse mental hospital]] [[IronLady with an iron fist]] while using her position to bully, intimidate, torture, and lobotomize the patients in her care and accepting no challenges to her authority.
* Arin in ''Literature/TheOutcasts'' is obsessed with order in his personal life. [[spoiler:He uses the eagles to drive away the nearby villages so that their relative disorder does not upset his life]].
* In ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'', there is only one correct way to do things, and that is Lady Catherine de Burgh's way... at least, in ''her'' head it is, and she's very fond of loudly and at length explaining to people what they ''should'' be doing. And as she's one of the landed gentry, people are very reluctant to disagree with her. This leads to a certain amount of tension when she eventually meets Elizabeth Bennet, who is not the sort of person to let other people push her around and bully her. [[spoiler: Especially when one of the things that Lady Catherine believes is the "wrong" way of doing things is Elizabeth getting married to Mr. Darcy...]]
* ''Literature/TheSagaOfSevenSuns'' has [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Chairman]] [[SmugSnake Basil Wenceslas]], whose pretensions to {{Magnificent Bastard}}ry fail because he wastes too much time and effort trying to dominate the teenage king Peter. Even though Peter is TheGoodKing, and would be quite happy to work with Basil for the good of the people, Basil's refusal to accept anything less than subservience from the "intractable" king greatly undermines his own position, and leads him into acts of petty [[KickTheDog dog-kicking]] out of simple spite. These tendencies eventually take him past the MoralEventHorizon and into his prolonged VillainousBreakdown, during which he becomes even more controlling, and alienates previously loyal subordinates.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' has a lot of nobles who are accustomed to total obedience and so come across as this. [[ThePatriarch Tywin]] [[AbusiveParents Lannister]] takes the cake, however, as he dictates every little detail of his family's lives, and goes well past the MoralEventHorizon to prevent [[TheUnfavourite Tyrion]] "dishonouring" the family in any way. Even the family members he actually likes get disowned if they defy him, even if they were still loyal to the family.
* Alice Cullen of ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' often comes across as this. She dictates what clothes her family wears and apparently rarely allows them to wear the same things twice. Throughout the series, she also forces Bella to act as a living Franchise/{{Barbie}}, making her put on make-up and dresses Alice approves of and forcing her to go to dances Bella has no interest in attending. When she finds out that Bella simply wants a shotgun wedding without any fancy ceremonies, she promptly guilt-trips Bella into letting her arrange a massive wedding, even though the Cullens periodically re-marry for public appearances and thus there's no shortage of weddings to plan. In one of the outtakes, Alice is so determined to make Bella wear an outfit she approves of that she forces Bella to wear stiletto heels while Bella's in a foot cast and on crutches, has her broken foot be given a pedicure, and gives serious thought to removing the cast early just so Bella can wear matching shoes.
* In the seventh ''Literature/WarriorCats'' arc, the impostor [[GrandTheftMe possessing Bramblestar's body]]. He becomes extremely strict on enforcing the rules, not only within [=ThunderClan=] but the other Clans as well, and begins to exile any cat who speaks against his behavior. He even starts checking on what his Clanmates are doing at all times and butting in on private conversations just to make sure they're not doing anything he doesn't want.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Any competitive reality game show that forces people to work together will always have at least one person being the control freak of the group that pisses everyone else off to no end.
* ''Series/TheAffair'': In Season 3, Noah's sister Nina accuses Helen of having control freak tendencies, and that she was mostly attracted to Noah because she wanted to nurture someone who was in emotional pain (Noah's mother had recently died when they met in college). She seems to be mostly oblivious to this, coming across as much more emotionally manipulative in Noah's POV than her own.
* Cindy from Season 19 of ''Series/TheAmazingRace'' admitted to being one of these, and pretty much confirmed it by controlling her fiance throughout the season. Before the race she made him prepare with her for any possible situation, including studying geography, intensive language courses, and rock climbing.
* Sheldon Cooper from ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' is really bad with this. He made his roommate sign an agreement dictating at what time he could go to the bathroom and that's on the more REASONABLE side of things he's done.
* ''Series/BreakingBad'': Both Walter and Skyler, though in vastly different ways. Walt has both a massive chip on his shoulder and the ability to rationalize almost anything he does to people. Skyler, though far more well-intentioned, likes to plan things out ahead of time and doesn't appreciate people veering off "script".
* Detective Rosa Diaz in ''Series/BrooklynNineNine''. It's subtle, and she keeps it well hidden underneath a tough, intimidating and no-nonsense exterior, but a closer examination reveals that practically everything about her is designed to rigidly maintain control over every aspect of her life and relationships with others. This includes her job (being a police officer puts her in authority over others), her personality (her intimidating stoicism enables her to control people through fear of her), her personal life (she refuses to divulge any information about herself, no matter how harmless, so that no one has anything they can use against her), her relationships (she only dates certain types of men to ensure that she's always the one to end the relationship) and so on. As with Jeff Winger above, the reason she's able to maintain an unflappable exterior is that she's usually in control; whenever something does go wrong, she tends to melt down quick (she's almost reduced to tears when kids make fun of her instead of being intimidated by her, technology failing on her sends her into a violent tantrum, etc.).
* This is explored with one of the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Villains of the Week]] in ''Series/BurnNotice''. Timo is an extremely skilled thief specializing in banks, armored cars and other places with a vault, and he's so secretive with his plans that Michael finds it impossible to disrupt them ahead of time, and winds up with Timo holding a gun to his face more than once during the episode for asking basic questions. According to Sam, the approach has worked since Timo's suspected of being behind numerous high-end and unsolved heists yet he's only been arrested once (and the only witness to said crime was "mysteriously" murdered). On the other hand, when Michael makes the job go bad, all he has to do to make the gang turn on Timo is cause Timo to be late to the gang's rendezvous (thanks to a simple flat tire) and plant an explosive nearby. The explosive could come from anywhere, but the idea that Timo's meticulous plans would somehow go wrong ''and'' that Timo would be late is so unfathomable that the entire crew jumps to the conclusion that Timo must have decided to kill them to keep all the money for himself.
* ''Series/{{Castle}}'': Beckett is this for some time, especially at the beginning of the series (with Esposito calling her exactly that), but being with Castle almost every day mellows her out a lot.
* ''Series/{{Columbo}}'': Kay Freestone from "Make Me a Perfect Murder" has shades of this. As a network assistant executive with high goals, she dictates and practically directs a film called The Professional that the network wants and guarantees it will be a success. When she is asked to temporarily take the position of her deceased superior Mark [[=McAndrews=]], she's shown to be prone to going out to a production to personally direct things or handle problems that crop up, exemplified when a TV special that she pushed for (starring an old friend of her's) runs into problems and on at least two occasions she leaves her office to handle them. The creatives resent her for this, but begrudgingly admit she's pretty good at what she does.
* Ben Chang from ''Series/{{Community}}'' is this when he's not being a PsychopathicManchild.
** Jeff Winger likes to present himself as the cool guy who's permanently in control and laid-back and uncaring about everything. But whenever it starts to look like his position as leader of the group or his command over things is slipping, he gets very uptight and very tense very, very quickly. He later admits that he's one of these, and it's only because he usually is in control that he's able to act so relaxed about things.
* Clara Oswald in ''Series/DoctorWho'' can be like this. She once forced the Doctor to pose as her boyfriend to her family at Christmas. He had little choice but to obey. Later, there was this gem of a conversation:
-->'''Doctor:''' Never try to control a control freak.\\
'''Clara:''' I am ''not'' a ''control freak!''\\
'''Doctor:''' Yes, ma'am.
* Kim Kaswell on ''Series/DropDeadDiva'': According to Fred, she's more of a control freak than his last boss. Take note: Fred is an angel; his last boss was ''God''.
* ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'': Debra and Marie are both this trope. Marie has been pulling this on the whole family for decades, using guilt to get everyone to go along with her wishes. Debra is also this trope, wanting Ray to be completely under her control, telling him when he's "allowed" to relax or spend time with his friends, beating him and emotionally tormenting him when she doesn't get her way. Arguably, a large amount of the conflict between Marie and Debra could be chalked up to the fact that they're both control freaks with competing agendas: each wants complete, uncontested control of Ray for herself, and since they can't both have this, they end up fighting, while poor Ray ends up living a miserable existence between the two of them.
* ''Series/FawltyTowers'': Sybil regularly micromanages Basil, especially when she is away in hospital in "The Germans", constantly checking up on him by telephone. Basil is a control freak as well, screaming and ranting that he is needed at the hotel when he himself is in hospital.
--> '''Basil:''' (On the phone) Yes, I picked it up. No I haven't, I've been at it solidly ever since I got back. Yes I will, yes. No I haven't yet, but I will, yes. I know it is, yes. Anything else, I mean, would you like the hotel moved a bit to the left? Enjoy the operation, dear, let's hope nothing goes wrong. (Slams phone down) I wish it was an ingrowing tongue.
* Monica Geller, ''Series/{{Friends}}''. She often "accepts" the job of organising things, and is just as often annoyed or stressed out when things don't go according to plan. This is also one of the things that causes friction with [[DeadpanSnarker Chandler]] even after they get together, as he is much more laidback and willing to take things as they come and isn't shy about making fun of her.
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Tywin Lannister, of the highest, most unhealthy order, in that he wants to control everything and everyone. Justified in that his father being the complete polar opposite and too laid back (Laughing Lion for a reason) caused House Lannister to be in the mess it was until Tywin restored them to power during his times as Hand of the King at least.
* Joy from ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'' developed this trait in the second season. Whenever she was given some sort of authority, be it being in charge of setting up the school dance, being the main editor of the school blog, or being in charge of the Senet game, she had a tendency to get very pushy and stubborn, keeping everyone working and making sure they were doing things her way. Fabian eventually calls her out on this.
* [[spoiler:[[BigBad Manasume Dan/Kamen Rider Cronus]]]] of ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'' makes a big deal of stating how he controls everyone's fates and seems to take pleasure in doing so. In fact, his intended goal for "[[TheMostDangerousVideoGame Kamen Rider Chronicle]]" is basically to get as many human lives under his control as possible. Notably, the only thing that seems to anger him is that control slipping.
* Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced "Bouquet") of ''Series/KeepingUpAppearances'' controls, intimidates, and terrifies everyone around her in her endless quest to appear to be a higher social class than she actually is.
* Casey [=McDonald=] of ''Series/LifeWithDerek'' has these tendencies, exemplified when she was making a documentary about her family for a school project. She actually fired family members from the cast when they wouldn't behave the way she wanted to portray them.
* Lois on ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' has been called this but doesn't fit it to a T. She did get called out on it by a construction worker in the second season premiere.
* Major Frank Burns, ''Series/{{MASH}}''. There's a reason for why Hawkeye absolutely ''hates'' whenever Frank is left in charge of the camp.
* Susan Harper of ''Series/MyFamily'' insists on personal intervention in every aspect of her husband's and children's lives. As a result of which many of them go to extreme lengths to keep her away. Fortunately, Janey is very good at it; having kept the identity of her own child's father a secret from her for years and secretly planned her entire wedding ceremony behind her back.
* Gareth Keenan, ''Series/{{The Office|UK}}'' (and his counterpart on the [[Series/TheOfficeUS American version]] of same, Dwight Schrute).
** So is Angela Martin as the head of the party planning committee.
* Mr. Conklin, the principal of Madison High School on ''Series/OurMissBrooks''. Miss Brooks once even refers to him as Madison's "beloved dictator". In "Project X", he goes so far as to bug every room in the entire school, so he can listen in from his office. The audio system works both ways, Mr. Conklin can issue orders through it as well!
* Carlton Lassiter from ''Series/{{Psych}}''.
** And also Henry Spencer, [[FollowInMyFootsteps who once informed his son Shawn that Shawn wanted to be a cop]]. Shawn did not agree.
** It's implied several times that had Henry not spent so much time pushing Shawn to be a cop, "training" an 8-year-old in police techniques and such, Shawn might have decided to become one after all. [[CommanderContrarian But all that pressure caused Shawn to rebel]] for a different life. In one episode, Henry and Lassiter go fishing and Henry spends the entire time criticizing Lassiter on his technique and what he should be doing instead. When he sees Shawn again, Lassiter admits [[ThisExplainsSoMuch he now understands Shawn a bit better]].
* Arnold Rimmer from ''Series/RedDwarf''. For example, he insists on meticulously inventorying the ship's massive food stocks, even though there are only two living creatures left on board and he isn't actually one of them.
* ''Series/TheShield'': Vic Mackey of the Strike Team, who believes that he, and only he, knows best. Not just for himself and his [[DirtyCop crooked buddies]], but ''everyone''. This tendency also ends up coming back to bite him at several points throughout the series, as he arrogantly presumes that he can control anybody that he allies with or does business with, regardless of who they are or how their specific interests might diverge from his own. This makes his IronicHell in the final episode that much more ironic [[note]] He seems to be a KarmaHoudini in that he gets a cushy desk job... except everyone else in the department knows what a backstabbing snake he is and want nothing to do with him, meaning he has absolutely not control over ''anything'' [[/note]].
* Chloe in ''Series/{{Smallville}}''. She starts believing in Orwellian methods to "protect" Metropolis and the world after [[spoiler: her fiance is killed]]. This could possibly be seen as a manifestation of PTSD as a result of the aforementioned tragedy.
** Lana also could be described this way, in terms of how she treats Clark. She wants Clark to divulge all his secrets to her, whether he likes it or not, and be completely under her thumb. Whenever any of the characters doesn't initially go along with what she wants them to do, Lana typically chews them out and then stomps out of the room; by the end of most episodes, the other characters have usually capitulated and apologized to her.
** Which is nothing compared to ComicBook/LexLuthor and the lengths ''he'' goes to. Lex gradually seemed to come to the conclusion that the only way he could secure a happy existence for himself is if the people in his life are completely under his control (he himself would probably view it as "guidance", but that's a case of BelievingTheirOwnLies). Lex, like Lana, wants to know Clark's secret and is willing to go to life-threatening lengths to obtain it: sending superpowered murderers to hold Clark's family hostage in an attempt to force him to reveal any superpowers he may have (this ends up being what breaks his and Clarks' friendship). He's willing to let his dad stick around, but only as long as he's subordinate to Lex. He also misses his deceased brother and clones him so that he can have him back... but gets insanely angry when the clone no longer wants to follow the script that Lex wants him to live by. Terrifyingly, it is implied that Lex [[spoiler: has the clone killed, viewing him as a failed experiment.]] And, of course, there's the horrifying twist of late Season 6 where we learn that Lex [[spoiler: chemically-manipulated Lana's body with hormones to simulate a pregnancy, in order to help push her into marrying him, and then letting her believe that she had miscarried afterwards]], causing her to fall into a deep depression. Through it all, Lex maintains that this is all okay because he views it as simply carving out his world and the people in it to be the way he wants them to be, and he [[{{BelievingTheirOwnLies}} tells himself that it's for their own good anyway]].
** Lex's beliefs that influence his behavior this way are possibly best summed up at the end of Season 5's Christmas episode "Lexmas", where -- after considering it all episode -- he decides to use dirty tricks to try and win the election he's in, saying "What I want more than anything is to live HappilyEverAfter. And do you know what the secret to living happily ever after is? *pause* ''Power.'' Money and power. See, once you have those two things, you can secure everything else. And ''keep'' it that way. I want to be Senator. ''I want it all.''"
* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': In the Mirror Universe, Mirror!Odo is a sadistic slave overseer who imposes his "Rules of Obedience" on the Terran slaves, so he's got some serious power and control issues.
** The entire changeling race as personified by the Female Changeling. They are absolutely obsessed with controlling every other race because they see it as the best way to protect themselves.

[[folder:Music]]
* Will happen in any IAmTheBand situation.
* Dennis [=DeYoung=], former keyboardist of the American rock band Music/{{Styx}}, because musicals aren't for rock stars.
** Styx broke up over it in 1983 following the ''Music/KilroyWasHere'' debacle. The classic lineup finally reconciled and reunited in 1995, but Dennis's Control Freak tendencies started rearing their head again by 1999. This time, rather than breaking up the whole band, the others just kicked him out.
* [[Music/GunsNRoses Axl Rose]]. Offend him in the slightest and you'll end up without a job.
* [[Music/PinkFloyd Roger Waters]]. If Music/DavidGilmour is to be believed, his control-freak mode kicked in around 1977's ''Animals''. It got worse with ''Music/TheWall'', which was almost entirely his writing, and culminated in ''The Final Cut'', which infamously had the words [[IAmTheBand "Written by Roger Waters; performed by Pink Floyd"]] printed on the back cover. Then he left the band and a series of lawsuits ensued involving who had the right to use the ''Animals'' pig and whether the rest of the band had the right to use the name "Pink Floyd."
* Music/PaulMcCartney, during the final years of Music/TheBeatles. Semi-justified though, in that Music/JohnLennon was preoccupied with his side projects/relationship with Music/YokoOno and generally pissing off Music/GeorgeHarrison and Music/RingoStarr, to such a degree that [=McCartney=] had to literally take over the recording sessions with an iron hand just to keep things going.
** Even after the Beatles broke up. When Music/TheBeatles version of ''Twist and Shout'' became a hit again after being in the movie ''Film/FerrisBuellersDayOff'' [=McCartney=] was upset because a marching band in the movie was playing horns on it. Never mind the original Isley Brothers version actually did have horns on it!
*** Exhibit A: "''Music/LetItBe'', '''Naked'''"
** Every so often, [=McCartney=] will vocally gripe about the familiar "Lennon/[=McCartney=]" credit for Beatles songs, and how it unfairly implies that Lennon was the main creative force of the group. While this isn't an entirely unreasonable point of contention on [=McCartney=]'s part, he has also tried on several occasions to convince or force the rest of the world to start using "[=McCartney=]/Lennon" instead, at least regarding songs he was primarily responsible for writing. Given how culturally embedded "Lennon/[=McCartney=]" is by this point, this quest is quixotic at best, and he appears more or less resigned to defeat in this case.
* Noel Gallagher joined Music/{{Oasis}} on the condition of taking creative control of the group and becoming its sole songwriter. The rest of the band didn't object, though, since their own songwriting skills were limited. Noel eventually let the others write songs for the band as well.
* [[Music/CreedenceClearwaterRevival John Fogerty]], by most accounts. Tom Fogerty once said he felt he was "hip-checked" out of his role as lead singer when John joined the band.
* [[Music/{{Eagles}} Don Henley]] was one; this was a major force in the Eagles' 1980 breakup.
* So was [[Music/TalkingHeads David Byrne]]. Talking Heads finally broke up when the other members had had enough.
* Lawrence Hayward of Music/{{Felt}}. (Actually, [[IAmTheBand he was Felt]].) Among other things, he once fired a drummer for having curly hair.
* [[Music/DeepPurple Ritchie Blackmore]]. It was bad enough while he was in Deep Purple, but singer Ian Gillan and organist Jon Lord had enough clout to hold their own. There was no one to keep him in line in Music/{{Rainbow}}, however, and it showed.
* Good lord, Jered Threatin. [[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/16/style/threatin-fake-band-tour.html During his band's ill-fated European tour]], he scolded his tour bandmates ''for getting breakfast at the hotel's buffet'' without his permission, and told them that they needed to say with him at all times. Since Threatin's a [[TheTeetotaler teetotaler who doesn't do nightlife]], this severely restricted where his bandmates could go during their European tour.
* A managerial example was Colonel Tom Parker. He generally let Music/ElvisPresley call most of the shots musically, but Parker locked him into a series of bad music and film contracts that prioritized MoneyDearBoy over quality, strictly forced Elvis to fulfill them, and came down hard on anyone who questioned him about it. Valuable contributors to Elvis' music career like Music/LeiberAndStoller and ''Music/FromElvisInMemphis'' producer Chips Moman got blackballed for daring to go against Parker's wishes. Parker even meddled in Elvis' personal life if he thought it was affecting their financial bottom line (though he was conspicuously silent about the drug abuse that ultimate killed Elvis).

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
* Wrestling/VinceMcMahon has a notorious reputation as one. It's been said that he has no life outside of WWE, and expects everyone to be as dedicated to the company as he is. Wrestling/JamesJDillon quit his position as a WWE executive because he couldn't put up with how demanding Vince was, and Wrestling/PaulHeyman has said that Vince will get utterly annoyed if he sneezes -- because he can't control it.

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* Jacob from ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues''. He has a schedule he follows strictly and always tries to abide by the rules. If chaos is brought into his life, then anxiety quickly sets in and he seeks out any semblance of order. This usually manifests itself as him [[CommanderContrarian loudly complaining]] to the people who brought chaos into his life in the hopes that they'll follow a more logical plan. This is all a result of his [[AbusiveParents mother]], who's forced all her expectations on him and made him adhere to a strict routine.

[[folder:Sports]]
* Former Indiana University basketball coach Bobby Knight, also known for his GeneralRipper tendencies off the court. Of course, when he was actually winning titles, nobody cared about his behavior...

[[folder:Theatre]]
* Lucy from ''Theatre/{{Thirteen}}'' is [[ClingyJealousGirl going to get her way]]. '''[[TheChessmaster Or else]]'''.
* [[Theatre/StarlightExpress ENGINES MUST OBEY CONTROL!!]] ''[[BreakTheCutie ENGINES MUST OBEY CONTROL!!]]'' '''[[PunctuatedForEmphasis DO!! WHAT!! YOU'RE!! TOLD!!!]]'''
** [[BrickJoke Subverted]] once everyone shouts: "Shut it, control!!"
* Hermia's father Egeus in ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' is all over this. Even after his daughter refused to marry Demetrius, the man ''[[ArrangedMarriage he chose for her]]'', he had Theseus ''[[{{Blackmail}} threaten to execute her if she doesn't]]''.
* Alyssa describes her mother as one in ''Theatre/TheProm'', and she's completely right. Mrs. Greene forces her daughter to dress a certain way, tracks her weight, makes her sign up for extracurriculars she hates, expects perfect grades, and all in all wants Alyssa to be the flawless TrophyChild she can use as a prop in her "perfect" life. This, combined with her mother's conservative political views, is why Alyssa has remained deeply in the closet, despite having known she's a lesbian and been in a loving relationship with Emma for over a year. Mrs. Greene also uses her position as the head of the PTA to push her political agenda, and is ''very'' unhappy when Principal Hawkins and Emma attempt to stand up to her.
-->I don't like when strangers get in my way\\
or anyone who messes with the PTA.\\
Well, maybe that's just me.\\
But trust me,\\
fixing little problems is what I do.

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'': She Who Lives In Her Name is the literal embodiment of control freakishness. Her Charmset has large chunks devoted to stripping those annoying little hairless apes of their [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill free will]] so they ''have'' to do what they're told. There's a reason she's known as the Principle of Hierarchy.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}''
** The Great Dragon Lofwyr is infamous for his micromanaging tendencies and wanting total control over everything that is his domain. Despite being the CEO of a {{Megacorp}} that stretches the globe, almost every operation needs his direct approval, and approximately 80% of Saeder-Krupp's workforce has had a performance review done directly by Lofwyr himself (usually via the Matrix) -- though rumour has it that 100% of [[YouHaveFailedMe those who displease Lofwyr]] will have their last performance review with him in person directly before their severance, [[EatenAlive with emphasis very much on the 'sever' part]].
** The MegaCorp Mitsuhama Computer Technologies is known in the shadows to be extremely inflexible when hiring shadowrunners (possibly because, [[{{Yakuza}} due to their mob ties]], they don't do it very often), and often demand to micromanage the operations complete with planned-down-to-the-minute time schedules that must be kept. Between this and their [[YouHaveFailedMe poor reaction to runners abandoning the plan]], few runners knowingly take Mitsuhama jobs if they can be avoided.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Pretty much everything the [[UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar Templars]] have been doing since they have existed in ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' is to control everyone in the world. The Assassins believe in free will and fight to stop them.
* Andrew Ryan became this by the time of ''Videogame/{{BioShock|1}}'' as he started implementing more extreme measures to stay in control of Rapture, eventually turning Rapture into an elitist dictatorship, the kind of thing he despised.
** Sophia Lamb also, when she took over Rapture she turned most of the splicers into obedient cogs of her so-called perfect society, anyone who doesn't fit in or listen to her gets eliminated.
** Zachariah Comstock imprisoned his own daughter for over twenty years with only a psycho giant bird for company, and treats the minorities like animals; if they won't sit and stay, he'll order his men to hunt them down.
* If you're a villain with ComicBook/TheJoker as your mentor in ''VideoGame/DCUniverseOnline'', he'll comment that Brainiac is a Control Freak that "makes Batman look slightly neurotic".
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
** Jyggalag, the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Prince]] of Order, is essentially the divine ''embodiment'' of this trope. [[KnightTemplar It is his driving mission to put the universe in perfect order]]. In an age before recorded history, the other Daedric Princes, who feared Jyggalag's growing power, came together and [[IronicHell cursed]] him into [[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis his own antithesis]], Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of [[MadGod Madness]]. The plot of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'''s ''Shivering Isles'' expansion is [[spoiler:Jyggalag finding a way to escape this]].
** Astrid, the leader of the [[MurderInc Dark Brotherhood]] in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]''. She forced the Brotherhood to abandon the tenets that guided them for centuries in favor of her own leadership style and claimed to have authority over the Night Mother, who the Brotherhood believes to be ''the wife of their god''. When the [[PlayerCharacter Last Dragonborn]] is named Listener by the Night Mother, Astrid sees this as a threat to her authority and tries to have them killed (which backfires horribly).
* Every major ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' faction has one of these at the helm:
** Caesar is a sadistic totalitarian who believes [[SocialDarwinist everyone below him is worthless unless they provide utility to his state]], and if the player tries to leave he becomes [[TranquilFury quietly incensed and threatens to feed them to his hounds if they ever disobey him again]].
** GeneralRipper [[IronLady Cassandra Moore]] is a TokenEvilTeammate to the NCR, with a haughty "my way or the highway" attitude and a "shoot first ask questions never" tactical mindset, especially when dealing with the Brotherhood of Steel, the Great Khans, or the Kings.
** Mr. House is a WellIntentionedExtremist and InsufferableGenius with this as the dark side to his calculating and pragmatic nature. He desires to have absolute control and oversight over all aspects of New Vegas in the name of ensuring efficiency, and anyone whom he views as a threat to his authority or the Mojave, he will either demand assurance of their loyalty, or have them removed from the region by force, even if it means their extermination. He has a passionate hatred of the Brotherhood of Steel in particular due to their dogmatic nature making it impossible for him to control them, and demands their extermination no matter what. Initially there would have been the option to convince him to leave them alone with the promise that you'd handle it if they ever became a problem, but this was DummiedOut presumably to keep his uncompromising characterization consistent.
** Elder Elijah, the BigBad of the DLC ''Dead Money'', par excellence. He is a brutally pragmatic man, who thinks [[MisanthropeSupreme people should be basically machines and tools to achieve his ends]]; he tells them what to do and they go do it, and he gets incredibly angry if they disobey or question him, or merely do things he did not expect them to do. He was once a bit more stable, but a disastrous tenure as Elder of a Brotherhood of Steel chapter cracked the shell off the nut. Now he aims to plunder the treasures of the lost Sierra Madre Casino: Noxious lingering gas cloud to wipe the Mojave clean, immaterial death ray-shooting hologram soldiers to kill anyone that tries to intervene, and bomb collars to ensure compliance of whoever survives.
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'':
** Edelgard has "losing control" listed in her bio as one of her dislikes[[note]]Though it must be noted the original Japanese has a meaning closer to "losing [her] [[IronLady composure]]"[[/note]], and mentions "forcing things to go her way" in an offhand comment during monastery exploration. This turns out to be a major issue once the TimeSkip hits, as [[spoiler: Edelgard's need to achieve her goals for changing the world by her way and her way alone leads to her becoming the enemy of every other faction during the war. Even Claude, who has similar goals and admits he might have been willing to work with her if she had been more open to co-operating, though Edelgard for her part considers him far too shifty/secretive to work with in confidence (a reputation he cultivated himself).]]
** Ingrid is ''incredibly'' bossy and is known for being a responsible, dependable knight, so she spends much of her supports lecturing people for not behaving how ''she'' thinks they should (even kicking the door down in her Support with [[NervousWreck Bernadetta]] when the former tries to skip out on training, terrifying her), which usually leads to the other person telling her to stop acting like their mother. She even does it with her childhood friends (Sylvain, Dimitri and Felix) or people who technically outrank her (Dimitri, who is expected to take the throne of Faerghus when he comes of age and Claude, who is next in line to lead the Leicester Alliance).
** Rhea, continuing the parallels with Edelgard, has a problem with needing to be the one in control as well. [[spoiler:Her need for control over Fodlan's understanding of its past and influence over its people to accept Sothis as their goddess is part of what contributes to the quagmire of societal issues plaguing the continent, and she has ''very'' exact expectations of how Byleth as Sothis' vessel to the point of becoming annoyed when Byleth doesn't show knowledge of things that Sothis should have. And if Byleth decides to side with Edelgard over her? [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope She goes crazy unable to accept that her mother's vessel would think she's in the wrong and running against her script]].]]
* By the time of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', The Illusive Man has gone full Control Freak. He regularly "[[BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord terminates employment]]" of scientists [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness whose work has been completed]] so there's no chance that anyone else can acquire the science, and [[spoiler:has [[BodyHorror partially huskified]] huge hordes of people to make an obedient private army in short order.]] In fact, his espoused method of dealing with the Reapers [[spoiler:is to attempt to gain control of them]].
** From the same series, Miranda Lawson's father not only genetically engineered his children to be perfect, but he uses mercenaries to try to recapture them by force when they defy him. ''Lair Of The Shadow Broker'' DLC reveals that [[spoiler: Miranda has a neoplasm in her uterus which renders her incapable of getting pregnant. The most likely explanations are that her father deliberately engineered it so that his "dynasty" would only develop along the lines he desired, or that it was the "imperfection" that prompted him to attempt to discard Miranda like he had her older sisters and create an even more perfect child in Oriana.]]
** Miranda herself also has this as an issue. It's heavily implied that she keeps a constant eye on Shepard's private messages and is overly concerned about her sister's private life. This is in addition to originally wanting to implant a control chip in Shepard's brain when she brought him/her back to life. [[NotSoSimilar What separates her from her father]] is that her over-concern for her sister is motivated by genuine love and protectiveness. And as for the control chip, she eventually reveals to Shepard how much guilt she feels about it and practically begs him/her for forgiveness and her serving under Shepard's command really shows that she is truly concerned over the safety of the galaxy.
* The Allies in ''VideoGame/RedAlert3Paradox'' control freak tendencies end up isolating the United States when they take over the government to prevent infiltration.
* In ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'', this is one of Dutch's many flaws. His controlling tendencies can already be seen early in the story but it gets worse by the end. Dutch wants to control all aspects of the gang and doesn't like it when others question his plans or appear loyal to someone else other than him. His relationship with Arthur begins to sour as Arthur is forced to go behind Dutch's back to mitigate the worst of Dutch's plans to protect the rest of the gang, but he sees Arthur as being disloyal to him. Dutch soon comes to believe that [[AxCrazy Micah]] is the most loyal because Micah never questions him, [[spoiler: never realizing that Micah is TheMole for the Pinkertons]].
* One of the female bullies, Meg, from ''VideoGame/RuleOfRose''. Highly intelligent, but inflexible, she holds the third highest spot under the Princess of the Rose.
* YHVH, the MadGod of Order, in the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' series. He's the ultimate KnightTemplar, seeking to erase TheEvilsOfFreeWill from the heart of humanity, so he may reign for all time, unchanging, unending. It's not quite clear if he was always like this, [[ParanoiaFuel and signs point to "no".]]
* Staya from ''VideoGame/TinkerQuarry'' is ''determined'' to make sure everyone stays in the Dollhouse. He has written signs all over the place commanding its residents to stay where they are, and he angrily confronts anyone who he believes is trying to escape.
* In ''VideoGame/TwistedWonderland'', the dorm leader of Heartslabyul, Riddle Rosehearts has every single one of the dorm's 810 rules memorised and follows them obsessively, quickly losing his temper and punishing his dorm residents if they break even the most obscure, inconsequential rule, often by using his unque magic [[PowerNullifier Off With Your Head]] on them. He eventually loosens up a little after [[spoiler:recovering from his Overblot]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters'': Kanata, the leader of the school disciplinary committee, is ''very'' strict when it comes to rules, [[AllWorkVsAllPlay in complete contrast to unashamed troublemaker Haruka]].
* Captain Antares Fairchild in ''VisualNovel/StarshipPromise'' demonstrates a nigh-obsessive need for control over himself and his surroundings, probably rooted at least in part in his childhood [[spoiler:growing up in poverty in a colony slum]]. His attitude is illustrated in his response when the player character asks him why he keeps fish as pets -- one of the reasons he gives is that he has total control over their environment, and can thus protect them. He takes a similar though less immediately obvious attitude toward the protagonist and the crew under his command, and the constant attitude of confidence and control he puts forth inspires a great deal of faith and loyalty from them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* ''WebAnimation/LooneyTunesIntroBloopers'': Microsoft Sam is this.
* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'':
** Jacques Schnee expects his children to follow his orders without question and to lead lives and careers that further his agenda. He has no interest in their personal desires, only in what they can do to further the business interests of the Schnee Dust Company. When his daughter, Weiss, disobeys him one too many times, he detains her until they reach an "agreement" about how her future will unfold. When Weiss realizes that Whitley has been waiting for Jacques to disinherit both daughters so that he will inherit everything, he reasons that the only way to handle Jacques is to follow the latter's expectations.
** As a result of his paranoia, General Ironwood believes the first step to any problem is to put ''him'' in charge of it; When he comes to Vale in Volume 2, he and Ozpin clash over the appropriateness of the massive fleet he brought along "just in case". Ironwood persuades the council to remove Ozpin and be put in charge of the Vytal Festival's security. After Volume 3, Ironwood begins amassing more and more control over Atlas through his two seats on the council and locks the kingdom up to keep the villains out. By Volume 7, he has turned the city of Mantle into a police state, disturbing the main heroes, and as the situation deteriorates, bans public assembly and considers invoking martial law to get things done without having to negotiate with anyone. [[spoiler: Once he learns that Cinder, who orchestrated his defeat in Vale is in Atlas and Salem is coming personally, he snaps, and arrests the heroes when they refuse to follow his extreme methods.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'': As can be expected from someone who embodies the sin of {{Pride}}, the Demiurge Solomon David is both this trope and ThePerfectionist. He is obsessed with complete control of everything, whether it concerns self-control, control of his daily life, the goings-on in his realm, the nature of his family, and everything else he regards as 'his' in any way. His chosen fighting style, Ki Rata, embodies this -- it is a martial art that will [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique literally kill its wielder if they lose control of their concentration]].
* In ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}'', Ash's father Edward used to be this, to the point that Ash's mother abandoned them both when Ash was three. Edward has since learned from his mistakes and subscribes to a HandsOffParenting approach with Ash.
* Miwa in ''Webcomic/NeverMindTheGap'' has tendencies of this kind, especially when aggressively playing matchmaker.
* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', this (combined with ItsAllAboutMe) turns out to be General Tarquin's main weakness. He's so GenreSavvy that he treats everyone as elements in a narrative he's planned out and leaps at the chance to be his heroic son's ArchnemesisDad. He can't even believe that he's not the main villain of the story, and doesn't comprehend that the comic likes to subvert and deconstruct established narrative lines. When Elan refuses to take the bait and insists he's a supporting character rather than the real hero, Tarquin tries to force him into the protagonist seat by attacking his friends.
-->'''Tarquin:''' I'm sorry, Elan, [[WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou but you brought this all on yourself.]] I tried to give you a dramatically significant death scene to swear vengeance over, but you seem to prefer this... this disjointed anarchy. There's no unity of theme here at all!
-->'''Elan:''' [[ThisIsThePartWhere Didn't we... already do the scene...]]where you try to convince me to do things your way?
-->'''Tarquin:''' (grabbing Elan, face twisted with rage) Yes, and it didn't go right, so we are [[VillainousBreakdown DOING IT AGAIN]]. And we will CONTINUE to do it until you understand that it is in your best interest to...
* There are a few in ''Webcomic/{{Pacificators}}'', but by far the biggest one is [[StubbornMule Muneca]]. Hoo, boy.
* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': In the prologue, Ulrika Västerström acts like this. She berates her husband for taking too long to pick up the newspaper in an abandoned gas station and doesn't let her husband's parents or daughter leave the car during the stop despite at least one of them needing to use the bathroom. Later, when her husband's parents and daughter start rioting against basic demands not being met, she dangerously swerves the car to calm everyone down. Since she happens to be driving everyone to the family private cabin to escape ThePlague, it's hard to tell if it's her usual attitude or just her being on the edge about what's going on.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Video]]
* ''WebVideo/{{Dad}}'': Cheryl likes to keep things in control, has high-standards, and gets upset when things aren't going her way. She is mentioned in the "Dad Loves Mom" song to be very strict and dominating, she punished Dad for owning a magazine she didn't like, and she even had one of her employees taken away for disagreeing with her. There are only a few cases where she's shown relenting.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Earl of Lemongrab of ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime.'' He's a failed science experiment, how well would you EXPECT someone like that to rule a kingdom?! Also Goliad, as an evil (and scary) example.
** Princess Bubblegum is a low-key example. Granted her kingdom is full of people who can barely take care of themselves. But she can be rather short-sighted in a few decisions and often go to questionable methods that border on this trope.
* Mechanicles in ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'', though he was more of an obsessive-compulsive flavour, with dashes of scheduling mania.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', Stan Smith is such a Control Freak that [[{{God}} the Almighty Himself]] called him out on it:
--> '''God:''' Stop trying to control everything!
--> '''Stan:''' I don't do that!
--> '''God:''' Stan, you're holding a gun to God's head. I mean, I can't even think of a metaphor that's better than this, and I'm a published poet.
** Though this can also be considered an aversion as Stan actually has very little control over his life. He doesn’t want Haley to date Jeff, he moves in. He doesn't want another baby, Francine tries to rape him. And while Hayley’s actions are usually given the excuse of his harsh rules, they’re usually things like don't come in past curfew, don’t drink while underage, [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers don’t steal monkeys and keep them in the house]]. It's reached the point where the family does the complete opposite of what he says the moment he says it.
*** This is perfectly exemplified in “Wiener of Our Discontent” where [[SpoofAesop the Aesop]] was that Stan doesn't have the right to deny Roger control over all human life just because he felt he didn't have any control over his.
*** A later episode implies that his control freakiness is a direct result of his lack of control, as a close brush with death resulted in him going on a miniatures craze that causes him to use a ShrinkRay to shrink down and live in the mini town he built.
* In the 2019 reboot of ''WesternAnimation/AnimalMechanicals'', Komodo is noticeably [[AdaptationalJerkass more bossy than he was in the original series]] and often tells the others what to do.
* Frylock from ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' is usually the straight man and voice of reason, but some of his more pathetic moments approach a Control Freak (especially when he's trying to entertain anyone).
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' has [[BigBad Ozai]] and [[TheDragon Azula]]. They both demand total obedience and subservience from their underlings, and the former permanently scarred and banished his son simply for speaking out of turn. The latter is an extreme perfectionist whose "friends" only follow her because they're terrified of disobeying her.
** [[TyrantTakestheHelm Councilman]] [[TheChessmaster Tarrlok]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra''
*** It's also Kuvira's core character trait in the final season. [[WellIntentionedExtremist She genuinely wants to do what's best for her people]], but her obsession with controlling everything causes her to turn into a villain.
*** Lin and Suyin both show shades of this as well.
* One showed up in the last ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'' episode. Courage defeats her when his imperfectness proves to be too much for her to handle.
* Mr. Herriman from ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' is very strict and proper when it comes to enforcing the rules in Foster's home. The one time he ''does'' become laid back, the house eventually turns into chaos.
* Hermes Conrad, ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' is a parody in two ways; first, he knows what he is and revels in it; second, he also has elements of the stereotypical laid-back Jamaican interspersed with his ObstructiveBureaucrat persona.
--> '''Hermes:''' ''Labor'' Day? That phony-baloney holiday crammed down our throats by fat cat union gansters?!
--> '''Fry:''' That's the one.
--> '''Hermes:''' Hot damn, a day off! [''takes off his shirt and sits down to watch TV'']
* Brendon in ''WesternAnimation/HomeMovies'' when it comes to having to direct someone else's film. As explored when his musician, Dwanye, asked that he help make a rock opera based on Franz Kafka. You'd think he be honored by this. But nope, Brendon is just a sourpuss throughout the whole procedure because it wasn't ''his'' script.
* WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}} can sometimes be one of these to her friends.
-->'''Kaeloo (during a game she suggested that the others play)''': This is my game, and I'll do whatever I want!
* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'':
** [[AbusiveParents Gabriel Agreste]] obsessively micromanages his son Adrien's life, keeping him busy with lessons and [[FashionModel photo shoots]], while at the same time [[ParentalNeglect almost never spending any time with him]]. [[FreudianExcuse This goes a long way towards explaining]] Adrien's ExtremeDoormat tendencies.
** Tomoe Tsurugi, Kagami's mother, is even more controlling, at one point calling '''''Gabriel''''' overly permissive.
** Marinette has a tendency to try to control all aspects of a situation, especially when stressed or afraid of uncertainty. In "Glaciator 2", she admits that when things are really important to her, she get so scared that it won't work out that she can't help trying to control every possible outcome.
* Twilight Sparkle from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' though a low key one at best. Princess Celestia had sent her to Ponyville in the hopes of easing her off of this as well as learning the meaning of friendship. Though it was mostly successful, the other ponies still sometimes have to deal with Twilight's SuperOCD tendencies and occasionally pious attitude.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': [[Characters/TheOwlHouseEmperorBelos Emperor Belos]] in general is obsessed with controlling every and anything within his field of view.
** Put a bounty on Eda's head because she refused to fall in line, and is having covenless witches abducted for the "Day of Unity".
** His relation with his brother is implicitly this as well. Caleb spent his life being loving and kind to Philip/Belos, his younger brother, yet when Caleb fell in love with a witch after arriving at the Demon Realm, Philip gained a burning hatred of his brother's choice and murdered him for it. Then he procceeded to create "Grimwalkers", clones of his brother, in hopes of creating one that would hate witches as much as he does and on top of that would be entirely and blindly loyal to him, killing each and every single one that betrayed, doubted or hesitated to work for him and sometimes just because he felt they would not follow him anymore, Hunter only avoids this fate with help from Luz and even in "King's Tide" Belos tries to gaslight Hunter to control him so he won't help his friends against him, despite Hunter not moving a finger during their battle.
** He extends a particular focus on forcing the free-spirited Luz into compliance with him whenever they interact, implied to be because, similar to the Grimwalkers above, he sees similarities between Luz and Caleb, as a human who willingly embraced the Boiling Isles, and sees her as [[MyGreatestSecondChance another chance]] to save a 'pure' human from the Realm's 'evils' by following his plans. When they first meet, he bargains with her to trade the portal door for Eda's life, but despite having the power to forcibly take it at any point, he ''forces'' her to 'willingly' hand it over, even casually taunting her that Eda's time is running out the longer she [[SadisticChoice agonises over her decision]]. When they meet in "Hollow Mind", he explains the extent of their connection and the [[TheWitchHunter true nature]] of his presence in the Demon realm in a twisted attempt to gain her trust with his honesty, only to causally dismiss her as 'crazy' when she refutes him and calls him evil, trying to kill her the second she won't listen to him like he's done with Caleb, the Grimwalkers and attempted to do so to Hunter. His desire to control her and make her accept his ways is correct is so strong that he actually delays leaving the Demon realm when the Draining Spell is activated and he has nothing holding him back from using the portal door to return to Earth, something he's downright ''eager'' to do otherwise. When she calls him out on his hypocritical nature, he starts petrifying her in response, framing it as a MercyKill, showing that he won't tolerate leaving a human alive in the Demon realm even if she wants to stay of her own free will. He only relents and accepts her last-minute bargain to spare her and her friends in exchange for knowledge about the modern world when she additionally calls him his preferred name of 'Philip' -- something she was adverse to doing so before because it reminded Luz of how [[NiceJobBreakingItHero she'd unwittingly aided him with his plans]] before -- and his satisfied expression at her doing so shows he cared more about breaking her defiant will than actually 'helping' her. Even when he's mid-VillainousBreakdown and losing his mind against Luz in rage, he still screams at her that humans don't belong on the Isles, showing he's equally motivated by her absolute refusal to admit he's correct as he is by her upsetting his victory at the last step.
* Principal Skinner on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has shades of this, though his war stories are never to impress anyone, more to traumatise them. This is the main reason he'll never impress his boss, the more laid-back Superintendent Chalmers, since he gets on Chalmers's nerves.
* Jen from ''WesternAnimation/{{Sixteen}}'', being pretty obviously the Monica of the ''Series/{{Friends}}''-based group, gets accused of being this fairly often.
* Lapis Lazuli from ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' is afraid of being powerless, having been branded a traitor and trapped within a mirror for thousands of years. In the present, this manifests in a lot of controlling behavior, be it with regards to Jasper and trapping her in a fusion or even in regards to Peridot who admits that she often lets Lapis have her way for fear of upsetting her.
* One could interpret the Warden from ''WesternAnimation/{{Superjail}}'' as being this. Despite his PsychopathicManchild personality and propensity for ridiculous schemes, one should remember that he is still a totalitarian dictator who runs every nook and cranny of his domain with complete disregard for its imprisoned inhabitants. Anyone who disobeys his orders or even question his ideas (I'm looking at you Jared) is either completely ignored, bullied until they comply, or even outright killed if they hinder his "controlled chaos".
** Also happens when he replaces his faithful robot, Jailbot, with a more advanced model named Jailbot 2.0. Said robot was completely dedicated to organizing the prison as much as possible, sterilizing its rowdy and chaotic environment and even disobeying its own creator for the sake of cold-hard efficiency.
* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/TaleSpin'' with Rebecca Cunningham, the boss of Higher for Hire. While she has a rather shrill attitude and frequently manipulates or bullies Baloo and the others into following her schemes, she fails to have much intimidation over them or take much action against their own incompetent or obnoxious habits, leading her to come off more as a bossy friend than a domineering boss.
* Third season BigBad of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' Brother Blood has this, big time. Put bluntly, Blood has mind-control powers, and doesn't like it when his targets break free or resist. This is what leads to his obsession with Cyborg, as noted by the creators on the DVD commentary; Brother Blood has finally met someone who can't be controlled, and it gets under his skin so much that Blood goes to extremes to find out what's causing that.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Of course, this is also TruthInTelevision. There are people at school or work who either demand that [[KnowNothingKnowItAll they tell the rest of the group what to do since they know best]] or [[GeneralRipper forcibly push their own ideas onto the others without listening to the opinions of the other people]], especially when they [[InsufferableGenius think]] that they are [[NeverMyFault faultless]].
** Certain co-workers tend to freak out if cleaning is done wrong not exactly how they want it
** Whether it's school, college, or business, no matter how "well-intended" the Control Freak's contributions and/or help may be, [[LampshadeHanging it never ends well for anyone involved... the controllers themselves]] ''[[YouHaveFailedMe included]]''.
** Then again, it is sometimes useful to have someone take charge of the situation, such as in an emergency, if [[ApatheticCitizens no one else is doing so]] -- assuming that they are prepared to give up control should someone more qualified show up.
* Control freaks can also pop up in cooperative video games. In games where massive teamwork is necessary, there will sometimes be a player who will constantly tell other players what to do and treat them like they never played the game before.
** And more often than not, the people who constantly bark orders are usually the players with the least amount of skill in the team. Bonus points if said "commander" gets into trouble by his own accord and [[NeverMyFault blames the rest of the team for the mishap.]]
* StopHavingFunGuys and {{Scrub}}s fall under this. The former will criticize you for playing the game "wrong" while the latter will yell at you for not playing by their house rules.
* Totalitarian dictators and authoritarian rulers, in general, are control freaks by nature. Nothing angers them worse than people who won't go along with whatever they want them to do, which is why SecretPolice and other systems are frequently put in place.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsessive_compulsive_personality_disorder Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder]] ([[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant no, NOT Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder]]) can definitely turn a person into this, in a mentally crippling way.
* Creator/DougWalker admits he's this in products he has a say in but mixes it with his usual GuiltComplex. He only wants to do all the work by himself so he can freely say ItsAllMyFault if people don't like it.
* We've all had that friend, either abusive or not, who does this.
* People with narcissistic personality disorder tend to become this with friends and family members because they see others as just extensions of themselves.
* The greatest flaw of the historical [[UsefulNotes/ThreeKingdomsShuWeiWu Zhuge Liang]] was his tendency to try to do everything himself. Notably, unlike rival states Wei and Wu (and most other empires before or after), Shu did not have a specific branch of government dedicated to archiving the state's history due to Zhuge personally overseeing Shu's records (instead of assigning someone else to head the archives). Crucially, even as Prime Minster of Shu he would accompany the army on their invasions of Wei to the north in order to personally issue commands at the front, despite Shu having several talented and capable generals who would be able to do the job. He was also prone to assigning his [[{{Nepotism}} close friends and confidants]] to high positions because he knew they'd follow his instructions to the letter, as opposed to more independent officials or generals who'd argue against him. This contributed to his death: very few people can stay up almost all night every night trying to control both military and political spheres before their health simply cannot keep up with it.
* Less kind descriptions of famed voice acting director Wally Burr (who worked on, among other things, [[WesternAnimation/TheTransformers the original Transformers cartoon]]) paint him as being one of these. Creator/MichaelBell once joked that Burr's perfectionism was partially responsible for the death of Creator/OrsonWelles (who passed away shortly after completing his lines for the role of [[WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie Unicron]]), and the famous 30 year [[HostilityOnTheSet bad blood]] between Burr and Creator/MauriceLaMarche was caused by the latter expressing his opinion the former's "directing style" basically involved voice actors repeating lines over and over until Burr was satisfied they delivered the line the way he himself would do it.
[[/folder]]

** He extends a particular focus on forcing the free-spirited Luz into compliance with him whenever they interact, implied to be because, similar to the Grimwalkers above, he sees similarities between Luz and Caleb, as a human who willingly embraced the Boiling Isles, and sees her as [[MyGreatestSecondChance another chance]] to save a 'pure' human from the Realm's 'evils' by following his plans. When they first meet, he bargains with her to trade the portal door for Eda's life, but despite having the power to forcibly take it at any point, he ''forces'' her to 'willingly' hand it over, even casually taunting her that Eda's time is running out the longer she [[SadisticChoice agonises over her decision]]. When they meet in "Hollow Mind", he explains the extent of their connection and the [[TheWitchHunter true nature]] of his presence in the Demon realm in a twisted attempt to gain her trust with his honesty, only to causally dismiss her as 'crazy' when she refutes him and calls him evil, trying to kill her the second she won't listen to him like he's done with Caleb, the Grimwalkers and attempted to do so to Hunter. His desire to control her and make her accept his ways is correct is so strong that he actually delays leaving the Demon realm when the Draining Spell is activated and he has nothing holding him back from using the portal door to return to earth, something he's downright ''eager'' to do otherwise. When she calls him out on his hypocritical nature, he starts petrifying her in response, framing it as a MercyKill, showing that he won't tolerate leaving a human alive in the Demon realm even if she wants to stay of her own free will. He only relents and accepts her last-minute bargain to spare her and her friends in exchange for knowledge about the modern world when she additionally calls him his preferred name of 'Philip' -- something she was adverse to doing so before because it reminded Luz of how [[NiceJobBreakingItHero she'd unwittingly aided him with his plans]] before -- and his satisfied expression at her doing so shows he cared more about breaking her defiant will than actually 'helping' her. Even when he's mid-VillainousBreakdown and losing his mind against Luz in rage, he still screams at her that humans don't belong on the isles, showing he's equally motivated by her absolute refusal to admit he's correct as he is by her upsetting his victory at the last step.

** He extends a particular focus on forcing the free-spirited Luz into compliance with him whenever they interact, implied to be because, similar to the Grimwalkers above, he sees similarities between Luz and Caleb, as a human who willingly embraced the Boiling Isles, and sees her as [[MyGreatestSecondChance another chance]] to save a 'pure' human from the Realm's 'evils' by following his plans. When they first meet, he bargains with her to trade the portal door for Eda's life, but despite having the power to forcibly take it at any point, he ''forces'' her to 'willingly' hand it over, even casually taunting her that Eda's time is running out the longer she [[SadisticChoice agonises over her decision]]. When they meet in "Hollow Mind", he explains the extent of their connection and the [[TheWitchHunter true nature]] of his presence in the Demon realm in a twisted attempt to gain her trust with his honesty, only to causally dismiss her as 'crazy' when she refutes him and calls him evil, trying to kill her the second she won't listen to him like he's done with Caleb, the Grimwalkers and attempted to do so to Hunter. His desire to control her and make her accept his ways is correct is so strong that he actually delays leaving the Demon realm when the Draining Spell is activated and he has nothing holding him back from using the portal door to return to earth, something he's downright ''eager'' to do otherwise. When she calls him out on his hypocritical nature, he starts petrifying her in response, framing it as a MercyKill, showing that he won't tolerate leaving a human alive in the Demon realm even if she wants to stay of her own free will. He only relents and accepts her last-minute bargain to spare her and her friends in exchange for knowledge about the modern world when she additionally calls him his preferred name of 'Philip' -- something she was adverse to doing so before because it reminded Luz of how [[NieJobBreakingItHero she'd unwittingly aided him with his plans]] before -- and his satisfied expression at her doing so shows he cared more about breaking her defiant will than actually 'helping' her. Even when he's mid-VillainousBreakdown and losing his mind against Luz in rage, he still screams at her that humans don't belong on the isles, showing he's equally motivated by her absolute refusal to admit he's correct as he is by her upsetting his victory at the last step.

** Miranda herself also has this as an issue. It's heavily implied that she keeps a constant eye on Shepard's private messages and is overly concerned about her sister's private life. This is in addition to originally wanting to implant a control chip in Shepard's brain when she brought him/her back to life. What separates her from her father is that her over-concern for her sister is motivated by genuine love and protectiveness, and as for the control chip, she eventually reveals to Shepard how much guilt she feels about it and practically begs him/her for forgiveness.