History Main / ManchurianAgent

* As revealed in ''[[https://thecrewofthecoppercoloredcupids.wordpress.com/2022/08/13/family-business/ Family Business]]'', Jimmy Anytime was a variant of this in ''Literature/TheCrewOfTheCopperColoredCupids'', a [[CloningBlues clone]] of the original Jimmy Wherever hypnotised to believe he was the real deal until Jenny Nowhere switched that part of his conditioning off at a crucial moment. However, he turned out to have developed real feelings for Jenny Everywhere and killed Nowhere instead.

* The trope namer is The Manchurian Candidate, in which [[spoiler: the protagonist and his war buddies were brainwashed in order to play politics and get a sleeper agent to be president]].

* ''Fanfic/Digimon02TheStoryWeNeverTold'' reveals during [[WhamEpisode Chapter 64]] that [[spoiler:the Armor Digivolutions]] were designed as this; when [[spoilerL[[TheChessmaster Oikawa]]]] says a key phrase while [[spoiler:the Digimon are in them]], they're brainwashed into serving him.

* [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5971984/1/The-River This]] Season 3 ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' fic where Faith turned out to be a Manchurian Agent placed by Wes to infiltrate the Mayor’s organization and with a simple phrase, wake up and come back to fight with the white hats. But then there’s the big reveal in the finale, [[spoiler:the real Faith was the evil one from the start, Wes having made up the alternate Faith to give her a chance at redemption]].

* [[spoiler:Gadget]] has become one in ''Webcomic/OfMiceAndMayhem''. She has a chip inside her head that automatically makes her kill a leader at 9 a.m. unless she is sedated. To make matters even worse for her, she has already poisoned a [[{{Qurac}} Middle East]] dictator to death in a test run which means that a human has been assassinated by [[spoiler:a Rescue Ranger]].
* [[http://askresearchertwilight.tumblr.com/post/23330054525 In the Ask Researcher Twilight]] Tumblr fanfic blog on ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Twilight has turned Rarity into one of these.
* ''Fanfic/Digimon02TheStoryWeNeverTold'' reveals during [[WhamEpisode Chapter 64]] that [[spoiler:the Armor Digivolutions were designed as this; when [[TheChessmaster Oikawa]] says a key phrase while the Digimon are in them, they're brainwashed into serving him.]]

* Subverted in an issue of ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague Adventures'', where this is attempted against the subject's will, but whoever it was made the mistake of choosing ''ComicBook/TheQuestion'' as their mole. He's so paranoid, he actually ''found himself out'' before he could do any damage.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': In the Lost Missions, the clone troopers are revealed to be this. [[spoiler:Seeing how we've discovered that their obedience conditioning doesn't make them mindless and have spent the entire series with them arguing that ClonesArePeopleToo, the chip in their head that enforces total obedience is probably the only way to explain how they all turned on the Jedi in Order 66.]] In Season 7, we see it in action in "Shattered", and while [[spoiler:Rex]] is able to resist for a few moments because he had previous warning, it takes over. [[spoiler:Even when Rex tries to reason with his brothers, even providing them a potential excuse to spare Ashoka by pointing out that their target Ahsoka isn't a Jedi anymore, they ignore it as a meaningless distinction and resolve to kill him to for interfering with their orders. The brainwashing is so extensive that the clones refuse to evacuate a crashing ship and ultimately all die rather than let her escape.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Using this, Sideshow Bob turned Bart Simpson into a LaserGuidedTykeBomb in one episode.

* ''Film/TerminatorGenisys'' lampshades it,Lampshaded with Kyle Reese trying to convince Sarah Connor to not trust the "Guardian" T-800, on the grounds that it might have hidden programming that it's not even aware of.

* In ''Literature/TheStand'', Tom Cullen is hypnotized and programmed to be a spy for the Boulder faction. The full moon is his trigger for returning to report his observations. [[{{Catchphrase}} M-O-O-N, that spells moon]].

* Creator/DeanKoontz's ''Night Chills'' has an entire town of sleepers triggered by the phrase "[[TriggerPhrase I am the key]]".

* In ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'', "Justice zombies" are infected by being cut with a [[MindControlDevice cursed dagger]] that leaves them under the complete control of [[spoiler:Malty and her co-conspirators]]. In the early stages of their spread, the zombies acted completely normal so they could perform sabotage and infect others. When their sabotage or infection is revealed, they become openly hostile to anyone not aligned with them and attack while shouting propaganda.

* ''Series/{{Alias}}'': Martin Shepard, who was brainwashed to be a killer for [=SD6=]. In a clear {{homage}} to ''Film/TheManchurianCandidate'' he was triggered by someone reciting a poem ("No Man Is an Island" by Creator/JohnDonne) then do whatever they said. He then would forget everything if it was recited again. After he began to break free of the conditioning, Shepard checked into a mental institution, and eventually broke free entirely, but not before helping Sidney. It's revealed he's the one who killed her boyfriend Danny under the command of [=SD6=].

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E24TheMindsEye The Mind's Eye]]", Geordi was on his way to Risa when he was abducted by Romulans and brainwashed into being an operative in a plot to undermine the Klingon/Federation alliance: First, transporting Starfleet-issued weapons to rebels, and later attempting an assassination against a Klingon governor. [[spoiler:The Klingon ambassador, Kell, was Geordi's handler during this plot.]]

* Haley in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''. To prevent accidental activation, the trigger phrase was purposely chosen to be something nobody would ever say normally: "I'm getting fed up with this orgasm!"

* Mayor Adam West of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''. Like the ''American Dad'' example above, the trigger phrase was purposely chosen to be something that has no chance of ever being said in normal conversation: "Gosh, that Italian family at the next table sure is quiet." Also, [[spoiler:Meg is revealed to be a deep-cover agent as well, luckily she is ignored as even the Russians treat her as a ButtMonkey.]]

* The ''Series/{{Vegas}}'' episode "Lost Monday" has Binzer being hypnotized into constructing and detonating a bomb. The hypnotist instructs him to respond to the trigger word "superstar".

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': The clone troopers from the prequels are an ''army'' of Manchurian Agents. However, the manner of how this was done differs between canon and ''[[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Legends]]''.
** ''[[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Legends]]'': Palpatine had a series of genetic "orders" implanted in them that he could activate them when ready. Until then, the clone troopers simply acted as normal, friendly soldiers. The only order we see is [[ThePurge Order 66]], which, when said, caused every single clone who hears it to instantly consider any Jedi a traitor to the Republic and attack them. He also had plenty of failsafes to keep them loyal to him and him only.

* Alias, the main heroine from the Forgotten Realms novels ''The FindersStone'' trilogy, is an amnesiac artificial human created by the sorceress Cassana, who put an enchantment on her that triggers a murderous rage when she sees the king of Cormyr with the purpose of killing him.

%%* The Romulans do this to [=LaForge=] in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "The Mind's Eye".

* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': Lelouch's mind-controlling HypnoticEyes lets him give people orders that cannot be refused, and in addition to the immediate {{Brainwashed}} victims, he can also create a Manchurian Agent by applying special conditions to the command. For example, he made a Britannian officer into a Manchurian agent that would see him as [[spoiler:Princess Cornelia (under whose command he was)]] when he grabbed his collar.

* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': The episode "[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S2E8StraightAndNarrow Straight and Narrow]]" deals with a prep school which is a front for an agency training these. It is revealed at the end that their "recruits" have infiltrated many agencies, including law enforcement. Programming is done with an implanted computer chip, although it fails with someone who has ulcers due to a treatment formerly prescribed for it.

* [[spoiler:Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]] from the 2000s ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'', although this is something of a [[FirstEpisodeSpoiler Second Episode Spoiler]]. [[spoiler: At the end of Season 3, four of the Final Five are activated by a faint, warped cover of Bob Dylan's ''All Along the Watchtower'' that only they can hear. Namely: Col. Tigh, Chief Tyrol, Sam Anders, and the President's Chief of Staff, Tory.]]

* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': The episode "Straight and Narrow" deals with a prep school which is a front for an agency training these. It is revealed at the end that their "recruits" have infiltrated many agencies, including law enforcement. Programming is done with an implanted computer chip, although it fails with someone who has ulcers due to a treatment formerly prescribed for it.

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''
** In the episode "Inquisition", Bashir is accused of being a ''willing'' one of these (as in, he agreed to become an enemy agent and then suppressed any knowledge of it in order to maintain his cover perfectly) [[spoiler:by Section 31. He's not, it's all just a test by the SecretPolice to screen him for initiation into their organization whether he likes it or not.]]
** In the episode "Whispers" [[spoiler:an alien rebel faction has come up with a twist; rather than try and brainwash O'Brien to sabotage peace talks, they replace him with a programmable clone who otherwise believes himself to be the original.]]

* ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise''. In the MirrorUniverse, Mirror Tucker is tortured for hours after a suspicious overload shuts off the ship's cloaking device and internal sensors. Afterwards he accuses Mirror T'Pol of doing the deed and framing him for it.

'''Tucker:''' [{{beat}}] What did you do to me?\\

* This was a favourite tactic of the aliens in the 1970s British sci-fi series ''Series/{{UFO}}''.

* Alias, the main heroine from the Forgotten Realms novels ''The Finder's Stone'' trilogy, is an amnesiac artificial human created by the sorceress Cassana, who put an enchantment on her that triggers a murderous rage when she sees the king of Cormyr with the purpose of killing him.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' in "My Big Fat Spy Wedding", where Jet Fusion is hypnotized by Beautiful Gorgeous to kill anyone who says "I have the Ring", with Jimmy being her target and the Best Man in the wedding their wedding. [[spoiler:Sheen and Carl discover the trick and crash into the wedding to tell Jimmy, Jimmy then orders everybody in the church to say "I have the Ring" and Libby makes up a gospel song with the trigger phase as the lyrics, leading to a whole musical number which includes the show's creator Keith Alcorn and John A. Davis dancing in the church with everyone else.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'', [[spoiler:the main character]] would obey any command he heard that was accompanied by the phrase [[spoiler:"would you kindly."]] Slightly different than most, in that it didn't put him into any kind of trance, it just made him decide that's what must be done. The details on how exactly it works are somewhat lost, as [[spoiler:the main character is a silent protagonist. And since the commands are mission objectives, you have to do them.]] According to Dr. Yi Suchong's "Mind Control Antidote" audio diary, they did use some Plasmids in order for the agent to susceptible to the code phrase, as shown in the "Mind Control Test" audio diary.