History Main / ManchurianAgent

* ''Series/MyLifeInMurder'': In "Call of the Wild", a psychiatrist discovers that one of his patients is super-susceptible to hypnotism. He programs her to shoot anyone she sees wearing purple (knowing that his intended victim jogs at the same time every day, wearing the same outfit) on hearing a particular musical TriggerPhrase. He then programs that TriggerPhrase into her phone as the ringtone for the number he will call her from.

* 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.

* ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale'': After Cecil is bought by parties unknown at the secret police's auction he starts blacking out when mayor Dana Cardinal is in danger (fairly often) and saving her with no memory of it happening. And in "Briny Depths" it turns out that [[spoiler:everyone in Night Vale]] is a Manchurian Agent of the World Government with the TriggerPhrase "Briny Depths".

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

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

* In ''Manga/SaintSeiya'', Gemini Saga, BigBad of the first arc, turns Leo Aioria into this with his brainwashing technique, the GenMaerouKen. The sight of Seiya would trigger Aioria, turning him from his noble self into AxCrazy, forcing Seiya to battle him. In the end, the GenMaerouKen's effect on Aioria would be dispelled by [[spoiler: Cassios' death]].

* Played with the Thalmor in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim''. When they're not secretly torturing people to spread fear and gather information, or [[ForTheEvulz to fulfill their amusement]], the Thalmor would also manipulate certain people (through any means possible, including ColdBloodedTorture) for their own benefits. Best exemplified with [[spoiler:Ulfric Stormcloak]], where they tortured him and shaped him [[spoiler:into believing that the rotting Tamrielic Empire is detrimental to Skyrim's future and the independent Skyrim is the only solution to fix many problems that currently plagued Skyrim,]] thus instigating the Civil War. The only reason why this isn't played straight is twofold: One, that Ulfric himself is uncooperative towards them (given what they did) and Thalmor's main purpose isn't removing Empire's presence in Skyrim nor letting Ulfric take Skyrim for himself, but to instigate endless conflict that put both forces in state of stagnant and exhaustion so that they will never be able to actually top off the Thalmor anytime sooner, and two, the Thalmor [[OutsideContextProblem didn't count on the [[PlayerChara]]cter Dragonborn]] showing up and semi-accidentally becoming a key figure in the Civil War, allowing either the Empire or the Stormcloaks themselves to tip the balance in their respective favors and end the war and ostensibly prepare to re-start the war with the Thalmor again.

* Played with the Thalmor in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim''. When they're not secretly torturing people to spread fear and gather information, or [[ForTheEvulz to fulfill their amusement]], the Thalmor would also manipulate certain people (through any means possible, including ColdBloodedTorture) for their own benefits. Best exemplified with [[spoiler:Ulfric Stormcloak]], where they tortured him and shaped him [[spoiler:into believing that the rotting Tamrielic Empire is detrimental to Skyrim's future and the independent Skyrim is the only solution to fix many problems that currently plagued Skyrim,]] thus instigating the Civil War. The only reason why this isn't played straight is that Ulfric himself is uncooperative towards them (given what they did) and Thalmor's main purpose isn't removing Empire's presence in Skyrim nor letting Ulfric take Skyrim for himself, but to instigate endless conflict that put both forces in state of stagnant and exhaustion so that they will never be able to actually top off the Thalmor anytime sooner.

* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', the [[OmnicidalManiac Simurgh]] ''mass produces'' these. As a powerful telepath, she gets into the minds of those she encounters and twists them until they will fulfill her needs. These agents can go undetected for years, acting perfectly normal until they get into position to influence something important, at which point they appear to snap. The Simurgh's impressive precognitive powers only makes this ''more'' effective.

** ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' shows that many of the Nasuverse's top mages are actually Manchurian Agents. In ages past, the Grand Order was institutionalized for every magus family: to live as long as possible and mantain a lineage that would in time inherit the family's Magic Crest, a PowerTattoo that represents their legacy as magi and contains their accumulated power and knowledge; defying the Order and willingly ending a family is considered the absolute taboo for a magus. The thing is, seventy-two of these Crests are imbued with the Literature/ArsGoetia demons, and the Grand Order was put in place to ensure they would survive for the three thousand years they'd need for their plan to come to fruition. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, it turns out Professor Lev Lainur was one of the carriers, and after an unsuccessful suicide attempt when he realized what was going on, the demon Flauros awoke within him and seized control of him just in time to sabotage Chaldea's first Singularity mission to Fuyuki.]]

* 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.

* ''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, pointing out that their target Ahsoka isn't a Jedi, they're unable to comprehend this and simply decide to kill Rex too. The brainwashing is so extensive that the clones refuse to evacuate a crashing ship and ultimately all die rather than let her escape.]]

* Inverted in the Creator/{{Marvel}} ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformers Transformers]]'' comics when Ratchet, forced by Megatron to rebuild [[TheStarscream Starscream]] as a Pretender, hides Starscream's true personality deep in his neural circuits. Megatron then sends the "new" Starscream against the Autobots and Decepticons on Earth. One shot from Hot Rod damages Starscream, and he ''immediately'' reverts to the DirtyCoward we all know and love.

* Spike in Season 7 of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. The trigger is "Early One Morning", a song his mother used to sing when he was a child.

%%* Creator/LordByron was ''almost'' used as one of these in Creator/TimPowers' ''Literature/TheAnubisGates''.

** An earlier ''X-Wing'' book had a version not triggered by a code phrase, caused by long-term torture and reconditioning in the Lusankya prison. These agents would be unaware of what Isard had done until they were triggered, at which point they became [[ApologeticAttacker Apologetic Adversaries]]. The example above was considered more dangerous because it could be engineered by only a day's worth of chemical treatments after kidnapping the target, and it also managed to stir up FantasticRacism by, for example, causing a fleetwide suspension on Twi'lek pilots.

* In the third SeasonFinale of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', Brother Blood brainwashes the members of Titans East as Manchurian Agents after his initial assault fails, or rather, ''appears'' to.
* In ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', the heroes discover that there may be a [[TheMole Mole]] on the Team. One possibility they float is ComicBook/{{Superboy}} -- he's a clone created by Cadmus and "raised" by telepathic mutants, so what if he was working for the villains without even knowing it? Ultimately, we learn that [[spoiler:''Roy'' is actually a clone and the real Manchurian Agent]].

* A major plot point in ''Series/{{Utopia}}'', as [[TheConspiracy The Network]] has these across the world. They live completely unremarkable lives and act like completely normal people, but when they are activated, they will complete their objectives to the letter with terrifying efficiency. Keep in mind the emphasis on "unremarkable lives", as some of these agents had families prior to their eventual activation, and are willing to eradicate them, even ''[[OffingTheOffspring their own children]]''.

* A major plot point in ''Series/{{Utopia}}'', as [[TheConspiracy The Network]] has these across the world. They live completely unremarkable lives and act like completely normal people, but when they are activated, they will complete their objectives to the letter with terrifying efficiency. Keep in mind the emphasis on "unremarkable lives", as some of these agents had families prior to their eventual activation, and are willing to eradicate them, even [[OffingTheOffspring their own ''children'']].

* A major plot point in ''Series/{{Utopia}}'', as [[TheConspiracy The Network]] has these across the world. They live completely unremarkable lives and act like completely normal people, but when they are activated, they will complete their objectives to the letter with terrifying efficiency. Keep in mind the emphasis on "unremarkable lives", as some of these agents had families prior to their eventual activation, and are willing to eradicate them, even [[OffingTheOffspring their own '''children''']].

* Cuddles from ''Series/PuppetsWhoKill'' was brainwashed into becoming an assassin for the government in one episode. The trigger to switch him between normal and brainwashed was to show him a Jack of Diamonds. Naturally, this led to [[HilarityEnsues a whole bunch of stuff happening]] that made the two scientists stop and note that they shouldn't have used something as common as playing cards for the trigger. At the end of the episode, the scientists attempt to remove the brainwashing and are seemingly successful... at least, until the local news introduces their new weatherman, Jack O'Diamond.

* In ''Manga/DetectiveSchoolQ'', [[TheSyndicate Pluto/Meiousei]] does this all the time to its clients and its own agents as a failsafe - on the trigger, they'll kill witnesses, or themselves, or go insane... and it's not pretty.

** In the fourth season of ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', Saiou did something similar, planting a copy of [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Arcana_Force_0 Arcana Force 0 - The Fool]] in Judai's deck; in this case, the "trigger" was Saiou's Spell Card, "Decisive Power of Absolute Destiny" again, not a real card. With the Fool on Judai's side of the field, Saiou was nearly unbeatable, able to control the outcome of any of his cards that depended on coin tosses, but like in the case of Jonouchi, underestimated his foe's resourcefulness (and in ''this'' case, took ''very'' unnecessary risk, proving that when he had to rely on ''actual'' luck, his was pretty bad).
** As far as humans went, Bruno from ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' was a ''willing'' Manchurian agent, at least initially. Like Aporia, he was an android containing the consciousness of one of [[BigBad Z-One's]] allies from the BadFuture that the villain wished to undo [[WellIntentionedExtremist (with no regard for who might die in the process)]] but in Bruno's case, his memory was suppressed, and he was programmed to act as Team 5D's advisor and ally, both as Bruno and as his alter ego of "Dark Glass". Bruno's true programming didn't kick in until the Arc Cradle appeared, threatening to destroy Neo Domino, and he turned against Yusei, combatting him in a lethal duel throughout outer space where a black hole threatened to consume them. [[spoiler:However, he started to have second thoughts and resist his programming, and in the end, [[RedemptionEqualsDeath sacrificed himself to help Yusei escape the pull of the black hole]].]]

* These turn out to be central to the plot of ''Hondo-City Justice'' - a large number of girls with alien DNA are triggered to kill the drokk out of any {{Yakuza}} members they happen to see. Asahara manages to overcome it.

* ''Fanfic/{{Pokeumans}}'': Theoretically, everyone (including ''you'') is one of these - the trigger is seeing a transforming Pokeuman, and afterwards everyone's memory of the incident is erased.

* From the 1983 comedy ''Going Berserk'', John Candy's character is brainwashed by a cult to assassinate his fiancée's congressman father using a playing card as a trigger. Something goes wrong in the hypnotism though, and the trigger doesn't make him a cold-blooded assassin as much as a loud obnoxious asshole - HilarityEnsues.

** One of the [[Literature/XWingSeries X-Wing books]] used this. The trigger phrase, different for each agent, was a nonsensical problem (for example, "Those Wookiees are dancing in the parlor again") that instantly became the sole focus of the brainwashed person's life — and the only way to "solve the problem" was to carry out the preprogrammed mission, usually an assassination.

** In the story "Therefore I Am" from ''Literature/TalesOfTheBountyHunters'' the assassin droid IG-88 plans to use a program to turn every droid in the galaxy into one, inciting a droid rebellion. The most astonishing part is, he ''actually manages to out-gambit Palpatine himself''. The only reason IG-88 fails is because the final part of his plan — which he succeeds at doing — involves downloading his mind into the second Death Star's computer core (and even improves the super laser's accuracy) right before the Battle of Endor. (Which, in case anyone forgot, is where the Death Star II is blown up.)

* [[spoiler:Talia Winters]] in ''Series/BabylonFive'', [[spoiler:and Garibaldi]] in season 4.

* Spike in season seven of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. The trigger is "Early One Morning", a song his mother used to sing when he was a child.

* ''Series/GetSmart'' - Max is abducted and brainwashed to assassinate the Chief over their usual chess game at the club - an employee is the KAOS agent behind the scheme and knows the Chief always wins, so he makes "Checkmate" the trigger. It's ''Get Smart''-- ''of course'' it doesn't work as planned.

* In a first-season episode of ''Series/LoisAndClark'' a magician hypnotizes people into becoming his willing slaves when they hear the phrase "moon and stars", with both Superman and Lois falling victim to this. In another episode, Lois thinks she was taken in a stereotypical AlienAbduction (when Clark expresses doubt, she points out that ''he himself is an alien''). In reality, it was an implanted memory by a criminal, who triggers Lois to do something reckless, such as walk out onto a busy roadway, in order to distract Superman, while he steals something.

* A ''Tekwar'' episode had an agent undergo this to infiltrate a criminal organization, which screens entries using a lie detector. The criminals somehow catch on and interfere with the switch, causing a personality crisis – resolved by the main character preparing to make the coup de grace.

* The TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness allows plenty of this. ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' and ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension'' give players access to Dominate and the Mind sphere, respectively, while World Of Darkness: Sorcerer provides [[PsychicPowers Psychic]] (and Hedge Magic and Technomagic) Hypnosis. All of those can be used to create a Manchurian Agent with deep programming. Project Twilight - a sourcebook for anti-supernatural government agents - even makes "Manchurian Candidate" a flaw that can be taken by players.

** It's also revealed that [[spoiler:Viktor Reznov managed to add onto that programming, sending him after the men responsible for the initial brainwashing.]] This bit comes up again in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'', where [[spoiler:one of Reznov's targets, Kravchenko, is revealed to have survived – when he shows up, one of the plot-changing decisions you get to make is whether to resist the brainwashing and let him talk, or give in and shoot him.]]

* ''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, pointing out that their target Ahsoka isn't a Jedi, they're unable to comprehend this and simply decide to kill Rex too. The brainwashing is so extensive that the clones refuse to evacuate a crashing ship and ultimately all die rather than let her escape.]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Duckman}}'' episode "The Mallardian Candidate", Duckman is brainwashed into becoming compelled to kill his HypercompetentSidekick Cornfed every time he sees a Queen of Hearts playing card, and return to normal after committing the crime when he hears the phrase "Call the police". Fortunately, the phrase "Call the police" keeps coming up in his family's conversation before he can actually kill Cornfed.

* The near-eponymous (technically speaking, the Manchurian Agent isn't the "Manchurian Candidate", but that's nitpicking) ''Film/TheManchurianCandidate'' (TheFilmOfTheBook), and the TropeCodifier as far as cinema is concerned. There are currently two adaptations, the 1962 adaptation and the 2004 adaptation.

%%* Richard Condon's ''Film/TheManchurianCandidate''. The TropeNamer.

* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' novel ''Night's Pawn'', a MegaCorp executive's daughter is programmed to kill her father as soon as they're alone together. Worse, she's programmed to do so with a concealed bone spur that can't be detected on scans ... and that's designed to slit her own arteries as it emerges, causing her to bleed to death and thus be unable to explain what happened to her.