History Main / MindProbe

** ''Film/RogueOneAStarWarsStory'': Bor Gullet serves as an organic and excruciatingly painful mind probe.

* The Psychic Probe in the ''Literature/FoundationSeries'' is very complicated. Because the series were originally independent from one another, there are multiple descriptions of what, ''exactly'' the probe does; in some cases it directly reads the subjects mind, whereas in others it provides information in the abstract that has to be interpreted by a psychologist. Universal across its portrayals, however, is the warning that it causes severe memory loss and brain damage if used improperly, although in skilled hands it does no worse than cause a few days of weakness. The one time a Psychic Probe does appear in actual usage (''Literature/TheCurrentsOfSpace''), it is used to remove a surface emotion, except that, by mistake, it removed a similar, much deeper feeling -- and everything in between, reducing the subject to an infantile state that could neither read, write, speak or even feed or clean himself. One of the main characters (a rich noble) has a secretary who has been probed into complete loyalty, while another is rumored to use such people for certain other purposes. "Literature/TheGeneralFoundation" showed that a probe could be blocked by technological interference, although the (technologically illiterate) users thought that the lack of results was because the subject had been isolated for so long that his brainwaves were too alien for the probe to understand. After the failure to probe Lathan Devers, the Emperor's Privy Secretary used his own "psychic probe" to get information from Devers: [[EveryManHasHisPrice He offered him $100,000]].

* ''Literature/TheNorbyChronicles'', by Creator/IsaacAsimov and Creator/JanetAsimov:

* The ''Literature/SkylarkSeries'' by E.E. "Doc" Smith features a mind-reading machine which ranges in effectiveness from the consensual, mutual sharing of knowledge (the Educator) right up to ripping information out of the most unwilling subject. It even works on the dead, if the brain is fresh enough and undamaged. When Dick Seaton is done scouring the mind of a hostile and uncooperative alien for vital information concerning an impending attack on Earth, Seaton finds to his dismay that he's killed it.
* In ''Literature/TheStarKings'' duology by Creator/EdmondHamilton, the protagonist is captured by a villain, who tries to extract a valuable secret from him with a Mind Probe. According to the villain, a few hours would have left him a mindless husk, but since the first minute showed the subject is not the man they're looking for, he got away with just a ''very'' severe headache.

* Variation on ''Series/{{Angel}}'', where the mind probe was a burrowing demon that Wolfram and Hart let into Lorne's head to steal the information he had from reading Cordy.
* Done without technology in ''Series/BabylonFive'' - telepaths simply rip the information from their captive's minds, evidently causing a great deal of pain and a high probability of permanent damage.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E7TheSpaceMuseum "The Space Museum"]] and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E3FrontierInSpace "Frontier in Space"]] both feature mind probes, and the Doctor doesn't seem too worried about them: in the latter serial he even claims to have once blown one up because he simply told it the truth (he was going to meet a pink elephant, a giant rabbit, and a purple horse with yellow spots), and the [[LogicBomb device had been unable to accept it]]. This is NotHyperbole when the Doctor is then interrogated and--sure enough--blows up the mind probe because it refuses to believe he's telling the truth. Later they capture one of the notoriously simple-minded Ogrons, and the Doctor says it's a waste of time as he has the best defense of all--stupidity. "He doesn't have a mind to probe."
** This is contradicted by the [[MemeticMutation "No! Not the mind probe!"]] reaction of Castellan in "[[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors The Five Doctors]]". However it's likely the Time Lords have more sophisticated probes for their more advanced minds. When the Gallifreyan Mind Probe is used on Cinder in ''[[Recap/NewSeriesAdventuresEnginesOfWar Engines of War]]'' it proves incredibly painful--apparently it could kill a human.
** Poor Adric in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E1Castrovalva "Castrovalva"]]. So many companions before him have been captured and tortured by {{Big Bad}}s, but he may be the only one to spend ''an entire story'' strung up while the Master probes his brain. Even if the kid's ramblings in other stories [[TheScrappy break your ears,]] his desperate pleadings of "NO! PLEASE! DON'T MAKE ME DO IT!" when the Master uses the forcibly extracted computations to try and kill the Doctor will [[TheWoobie break your heart.]]
** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E13Doomsday "Doomsday"]], the Daleks reveal their own form of the "mind probe": their suckers can extract brainwaves from other species. [[OmnicidalManiac Daleks being Daleks]], this cooks the subject's entire head to a crisp.

* On ''Series/{{Heroes}}'', Parkman's mind-reading powers eventually evolve to this degree. He uses the Mind Probe in the Dark Future, whereas Present-Day Parkman finds it simpler to just command people to tell him the truth, seeing as how he's also developed mind control powers.

** ''Film/StarWarsEpisodeIVANewHope'': Darth Vader, totally unaware that he's presiding over the torture of his own daughter, waves a [[RoboticTortureDevice floating black orb covered in syringes and vicious-looking doo-dads]] into Leia's cell aboard the Death Star. Interestingly, the {{novelization}} and radio drama adaptation have him dismiss the machine once they are alone and [[MindRape attack her mentally]] with TheDarkSide.
** ''Film/StarWarsEpisodeVIITheForceAwakens'':

** ''Film/StarWarsEpisodeVIIITheLastJedi'': Unlike the above, Rey's mind is easily probed by Snoke, who discovers Luke Skywalker's intentions with the desire to do it himself. He also claims to know every move of Kylo Ren and knows that Ren will kill his true enemy. Snoke, however [[spoiler:did not foresee ''who Ren's true enemy was'']]

* Creator/HBeamPiper's future history usually used the polyencephalographic veridicator, an apparently unbeatable LieDetector, but in ''The Cosmic Computer'' it turns out TheFederation also had a mind probe (restricted to military/intelligence use):

* Creator/IsaacAsimov:
** "Literature/TheDyingNight": Dr Asimov's Psychic Probe is a technology that can extract information from people's unconscious memories. It's used as a threat because people who are subjected to the Probe often suffer permanent damage. The detective who fingers the culprit points out that this damage is due to mishandling or from resisting it.
** ''Literature/LuckyStarrAndTheOceansOfVenus'': In their efforts to figure out why people are blacking out, some of the victims are subjected to a psychic probe, but to no avail.
** The Psychic Probe in Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Robots-Empire-Foundation'' novels is very complicated. Because the series were originally independent from one another, there are multiple descriptions of what, ''exactly'' the probe does; in some cases it directly reads the subjects mind, whereas in others it provides information in the abstract that has to be interpreted by a psychologist. Universal across its portrayals, however, is the warning that it causes severe memory loss and brain damage if used improperly, although in skilled hands it does no worse than cause a few days of weakness. The one time a Psychic Probe does appear in actual usage (''Literature/TheCurrentsOfSpace''), it is used to remove a surface emotion, except that, by mistake, it removed a similar, much deeper feeling -- and everything in between, reducing the subject to an infantile state that could neither read, write, speak or even feed or clean himself. One of the main characters (a rich noble) has a secretary who has been probed into complete loyalty, while another is rumored to use such people for certain other purposes. "Literature/TheGeneralFoundation" showed that a probe could be blocked by technological interference, although the (technologically illiterate) users thought that the lack of results was because the subject had been isolated for so long that his brainwaves were too alien for the probe to understand. After the failure to probe Lathan Devers, the Emperor's Privy Secretary used his own "psychic probe" to get information from Devers: [[EveryManHasHisPrice He offered him $100,000]].
* ''LiteratureCatseye1961'': Zul argues that killing the animals will be a mercy, since they will be subjected to this and then killed if the Patrol gets them.
* ''Literature/CityOfBones1995'' by Creator/MarthaWells: [[spoiler:[[OurDemonsAreDifferent The Inhabitants]]]] can torturously invade human minds for information, to generally incapacitating effect. [[spoiler:Krismen like Khat were bio-engineered with an innate PsychicBlockDefense.]]
* In TheEighties pulp series ''Doomsday Warrior'', the [[LaResistance Freefighters]] in the InvadedStatesOfAmerica have hypnotic blocks that prevent them revealing their bases under torture, but the KGB develops a 'mindbreaker' that can overcome this conditioning. When the hero uses a captured mindbreaker to interrogate a Soviet officer, he's so horrified at the result he forbids its use for any future interrogations.
* ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' has Ixian Probes in the old Imperium and the more intense T-Probe from the scattering as a major concern for the protagonists in ''[[Literature/HereticsOfDune Heretics]]'' and ''Literature/ChapterhouseDune''

* ''Film/TheChroniclesOfRiddick'': When the Greater Order of the Quasi-Dead probe Riddick's mind to learn more about him.

* ''Film/EarthVsTheFlyingSaucers''. The aliens demonstrate their power on a captured general, using a beam that [[{{squick}} exposes his brain]] as they make him reveal various military secrets.

** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'': Homaged in "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS5E9ThirtyDays Thirty Days]]" when the Twin Mistresses of Evil (played by the Delaney sisters) have Buster Kincaid (played by Ensign Harry Kim) chained up so they can use the terrible Brain Probe, which they promise will turn him into their groveling slave ("By the time we've finished, you'll be ''begging'' to tell us everything you know!"). [[CasualKink Harry does not seem particularly averse to the idea]].