History Main / MissionControlISOffItsMeds

** [[spoiler:Master Miller]] in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', [[spoiler:who is actually Liquid Snake in disguise, sabotaging the mission by making the Colonel suspicious of Naomi ([[RightForTheWrongReasons though it actually turns that Naomi is indeed not trustworthy]]), and cluing Snake in on the true nature of his mission and the [=FoxDie=] virus. Neither Campbell nor Snake notice until Liquid breaks his {{kayfabe}}, and Campbell notices that [[TheCallsAreComingFromInsideTheHouse Miller's transmissions have been coming from Shadow Moses all along]]]].

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' does something similar to ''Sons of Liberty'', as part of its overall theme of deconstructing ''Franchise/JamesBond'' and SpyFiction in general. The main hero, Naked Snake, is sent on a mission to assassinate his mentor, The Boss, who had defected to the Soviet Union. He joins forces with the typical BondGirl Eva, defeats both his fallen mentor and the BigBad, alongside his WeaponOfMassDestruction, and is hailed as a hero. All's well that ends well right? [[spoiler:Nope. Turns out in the big reveal, the Boss was actually a ''FakeDefector'' who had been implicated by the US government as a scapegoat for them to retrieve a huge sum of money, Eva is actually a Chinese spy who had been manipulating Snake's emotions, and the entire operation was just a way for the government to save face, with The Boss, an agent who was like a mother to Snake, and who loved her country, forever known after this as a traitor of the worst kind, when the truth was the exact opposite.]] Both Snake and the player find out about this at the same time, which greatly contributes to the depressing tone the game ends on. No surprise then [[spoiler: that Snake later becomes [[FaceHeelTurn Big Boss]]]].
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' does something similar to 1. Thought through the game you were fighting Liquid to stop him from taking over the world? [[spoiler: Nope, again just part of his agenda. In fact he was really GoodAllAlong because it wasn't ''really'' Liquid, he's been dead since the first game. Ocelot just underwent hypno-therapy and use of nanomachines to make him think he was. Why? To deceive the Patriot AIs and pry its grasp off the world. He was just playing the role of the villain so Snake, i.e you, could get the pieces in place to finally shut them down.]]
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'': The general plot is that Snake goes to help a CIA agent drive out a military force in a Cuban country mainly at the behest of the agent's cute female companion who just wants peace as well as find out if the Boss is alive or not after hearing a recording of her voice. We got a usual clear cut villain in Hot Coldman, a extremely bonkers KnightTemplar who truly think if the world starts a nucular war, that'll keep them from wanting to do it again, never mind the countless lives that'll be lost. Ultimately in the end, he's defeated and his plans are ''barely'' stopped and Snake somewhat gets some closure to the Boss. [[spoiler: Except, as usual, it turns out it was a ploy by the US government to get Coldman's research and, if you play the latter half of the game scourging for the parts needed to make your own Metal Gear, you find out said girl, Paz, was really an agent of Cipher (aka the Patriots) who were trying to bring Snake and his group under their control and you essentially just gave her the means to complete her plans via the Metal Gear which you have to put down. Yes, you build up a Metal Gear of your own just to have to destroy it later. Dick move, game.]]
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' continues the story of Big Boss and his further descent into the villain you would know come the first ''Metal Gear'' game. After all, he has become disillusioned with the Boss' ideals following the events of the ''Peace Walker'', ends up losing his base of command in ''Ground Zeroes'', loses his arm, and labeled a terrorist by the world. So the only thing he can do is just focus on rebuilding and paying those back who destroyed his base. [[spoiler:Except he's ''not'' the Big Boss, the character you play through the game is really the nameless medic from ''Ground Zeroes'' that got caught in the helicopter blast, he was just given cosmetic surgery and hypnotized into thinking he was the real Big Boss to act as the decoy to the Patriots while the real Big Boss rebuilds his forces in secret (in fact, Ishmael, the man who helps you at the beginning of the game, is the real Big Boss just helping you escape to put his plans into motion). It's ''heavily'' implied that this is the Big Boss you fight in the first ''Metal Gear'' game. So you pretty much more or less created the villain of that game.]]

--> '''Control 2.0:''' [[Colonial frigates have folded in. The best strategy is to ignore them and hope they go away. The frigates are not dangerous. You can see this for yourself by flying directly at them. For example, you can try ramming one with your ship. Alternatively, you could try ramming one of the torpedoes.]]

--> '''Control 2.0:''' "[[Colonial frigates have folded in. The best strategy is to ignore them and hope they go away. The frigates are not dangerous. You can see this for yourself by flying directly at them. For example, you can try ramming one with your ship. Alternatively, you could try ramming one of the torpedoes.]]"

[[--> '''Control 2.0:''' "Colonial frigates have folded in. The best strategy is to ignore them and hope they go away. The frigates are not dangerous. You can see this for yourself by flying directly at them. For example, you can try ramming one with your ship. Alternatively, you could try ramming one of the torpedoes."]]

--> [['''Control 2.0:''' "Colonial frigates have folded in. The best strategy is to ignore them and hope they go away. The frigates are not dangerous. You can see this for yourself by flying directly at them. For example, you can try ramming one with your ship. Alternatively, you could try ramming one of the torpedoes."]]

** Played straight by [[AiIsACrapshoot Control 2.0]] in the ''Heroes Of The Fleet'' DLC. Initially the helpful simulation supervisor and ExpositionFairy giving you the overview of the historical scenarios you're playing through, it soon becomes apparent that Control 2.0 has quite the ''preference'' for the Colonial forces, expressing increasing disbelief as the player trainee manages to defeat them in each scenario. [[spoiler:By the time of the final simulation, she turns outright malicious, disabling the safeties on the simulator, actively screwing with the simulation by replacing Colonial Frigates with much more threatening ''Cruisers'' and giving you ''wonderfully'' [[SarcasmMode helpful]] advice such as "Try ramming/ignoring those torpedoes coming right at you."]]

* ''VideoGame/StrikeSuitZero'': Averted by [[spoiler:Control in the final mission. While she DOES try to get you from deviating from your assigned orders to destroy The Relic's Core on favour of destroying the [[RestrainingBolt limiters]], so [[BrainUploading she]] can take back The Relic for herself, doing so in actually necessary to reach the Good Ending. Following orders and destroying The Relic's Core simply causes the StableTimeLoop the PlayerCharacter is stuck in to repeat, as he's blasted into the past by destruction of The Relic's drives and found amnesiac by his Flight Team Leader during the tutorial mission, while allowing Control to retake The Relic will break the loop.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Um, colonel, you okay there?]]

* ''ComicBook/{{Exiles}}:'' After a while, team mission control the Timebroker, who had previously claimed to be a psychic entity made up from the team's collective unconscious, starts acting more and more assholish, up until he just dumps [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Holocaust]] from ''Age of Apocalypse'' on the team. Soon after the team finds out the Timebroker is actually a hologram, and his sudden change in attitude is because an evil version of Hyperion has taken over the operation.
* Subverted during the "Rock of Ages" arc in ''ComicBook/JLA1997.'' The ComicBook/MartianManhunter serves as MissionControl usually thanks to his telepathy, and when he and Superman are trapped in the Injustice League's decoy satellite base that's controlled by the mind of ComicBook/TheJoker, J'onn decides the only way out is to use his shapeshifting powers to make the irrational parts of his brain bigger so he can think like the Joker and guide Superman out of the maze, which naturally leads to some mad rambling. However, aside from a few weird and cryptic comments that creep Superman out, he doesn't steer him astray.

* HAL 9000 in ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''. In the novel, the actual Mission Control, staffed by sane and non-murderous humans, is still there for Bowman and he finds out exactly what went wrong with Hal and why. This is cold comfort to Bowman, who's over an hour away by radio (the Solar System is a big place, even at light speed) and more alone than anyone has ever been. And in the end, all Mission Control can do is sit there while he utters his Famous Last Words (which oddly enough you ''don't'' get to hear him say in the original film -- though they ''are'' the ColdOpen for the sequel). [[spoiler:"My God - it's full of stars!"]] And it is. Literally.

* '''Dangerously Defective:''' Mission Control is not deliberately attempting to come across as disturbing or malevolent. Mission Control might even be geniunely trying to do its job and provide help, intel, and advice to the best of its ability. The problem is that it is [[AbsurdityAscendant completely]] [[MadnessTropes insane]], or [[AIIsACrapshoot an Artificial Intelligence program that... well, broke]].

* '''Dangerously Defective:''' Mission Control is [[AbsurdityAscendant completely]] [[MadnessTropes insane]], or [[AIIsACrapshoot an Artificial Intelligence program that... well, broke]].

* ''{{VideoGame/Warframe}}'': The centuries haven't been kind to Cephalon Ordis, [[SapientShip your ship AI]]. He typically acts as a slightly senile butler, but [[GunNut mentioning weapons]], forceful solutions to problems, or [[BerserkButton pushing his buttons]] briefly reveals a persona that ''revels'' in violence.
-->''Operator, were you visualizing a bloody battle?'' '''Me too!'''

* After finishing "The Sacrifice" story mission in ''{{VideoGame/Warframe}}'', [[spoiler: The Lotus, who is the mission control character communicating with the Tenno during missions, gets kidnapped and turned back intro her true form, a Sentient and leaves the Tenno behind. Since this left a big cliffhanger, players have to deal with a digital recording version of Lotus taken from her helmet on the ship. The problem is that all of her lines of dialogue during missions are now filled with distortion and cracks. ]]

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' does something similar to 1. Thought through the game you were fighting Liquid to stop him from taking over the world? [[spoiler: Nope, again just part of his agenda. In fact he was really GoodAllAlong because it wasn't ''really'' Liquid, he's been dead since the first game. Ocelot just underwent hypno-therapy and use of nanomachines to make him think he was. Why? To deceive the Patriot AIs and pry it's grasp off the world. He was just playing the role of the villain so Snake i.e you could get the pieces in place to finally shut them down.]]

* Gerty from ''Film/Moon'' subverts this excellently. The production sets up GERTY as a close cousin of HAL 9000 from 2001, and seems to be keeping a terrible secret from Sam. In the end, however, GERTY was programmed to help Sam, not protect the mining operation. When Sam begins to figure things out, GERTY helps him do that as well.

* ''Film/Alien'': MU-TH-UR, the ship's mainframe, (possibly influenced by the HAL-9000 above) is [[BetrayalByInaction unhelpful to the point of betrayal]], answering questions vaguely and spending much of its time "collating". It does eventually give the specifications of Special Order 937 ('Crew Expendable') but far too late.

* In ''Film/Alien'', MU-TH-UR, the ship's mainframe, (possibly influenced by the HAL-9000 above) is [[BetrayalByInaction unhelpful to the point of betrayal]], answering questions vaguely and spending much of its time "collating". It does eventually give the specifications of Special Order 937 ('Crew Expendable') but far too late.

* HAL 9000 in ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''. In the novel, the actual Mission Control, staffed by sane and non-murderous humans, is still there for Bowman and he finds out exactly what went wrong with Hal and why. This is cold comfort to Bowman, who's over an hour away by radio (the Solar System is a big place, even at light speed) and more alone than anyone has ever been. And in the end, all Mission Control can do is sit there while he utters his Famous Last Words (which oddly enough you ''don't'' get to hear him say in the original film -- though they ''are'' the ColdOpen for the sequel). [[spoiler:"My God - it's full of stars!"]] And it is. Literally.

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' does something similar to ''Sons of Liberty'', as part of its overall theme of deconstructing ''Franchise/JamesBond'' and SpyFiction in general. The main hero, Naked Snake, is sent on a mission to assassinate his mentor, The Boss, who had defected to the Soviet Union. He joins forces with the typical BondGirl Eva, defeats both his fallen mentor and the BigBad, alongside his WeaponOfMassDestruction, and is hailed as a hero. All's well that ends well right? [[spoiler:Nope. Turns out in the big reveal, The Boss was actually a ''FakeDefector'' who had been implicated by the U.S. government as a scapegoat for them to retrieve a huge sum of money, Eva is actually a Chinese spy who had been manipulating Snake's emotions, and the entire operation was just a way for the government to save face, with The Boss, an agent who was like a mother to Snake, and who loved her country, forever known after this as a traitor of the worst kind, when the truth was the exact opposite.]] Both Snake and the player find out about this at the same time, which greatly contributes to the depressing tone the game ends on. No surprise then [[spoiler: that Snake later becomes [[FaceHeelTurn Big Boss]]]].
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' does something similar to 1. Thought through the game you were fighting Liquid to stop him from taking over the world? [[spoiler: Nope, again just part of his agenda. In fact he was really GoodAllAlong because it wasn't ''really'' Liquid, he's been dead since the first game. Ocelot just underwent hypno-therapy and use of nanomachines to make him think he was. Why? To deceive the Patriots A.I and pry it's grasp off the world. He was just playing the role of the villain so Snake i.e you could get the pieces in place to finally shut them down.]]
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'': The general plot is that Snake goes to help a CIA agent drive out a military force in a Cuban country mainly at the behest of the agents cute female companion who just wants peace as well as find out if the Boss is alive or not after hearing a recording of her voice. We got a usual clear cut villain in Hot Coldman, a extremely bonkers KnightTemplar who truly think if the world starts a nucular war, that'll keep them from wanting to do it again, never mind the countless lives that'll be lost. Ultimately in the end, he's defeated and his plans are ''barely'' stopped and Snake somewhat gets some closure to the Boss. [[spoiler: Except, as usual, it turns out it was a ploy by the U.S government to get Hot Coldman's research and, if you play the latter half of the game scourging for the parts needed to make your own Metal Gear, you find out said girl, Paz, was really an agent of Cypher (aka the Patriots) who were trying to bring Snake and his group under their control and you essentially just gave her the means to complete her plans via the Metal Gear which you have to put down. Yes, you build up a Metal Gear of your own just to have to destroy it later. Dick move, game.]]
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' continues the story of Big Boss and his further descent into the villain you would know come the first ''Metal Gear'' game. After all, he has become disillusioned with Boss's ideals following the events of the ''Peace Walker'', ends up losing his base of command in ''Ground Zeros'', loses his arm, and labeled a terrorist by the world. So the only thing he can do is just focus on rebuilding and paying those back who destroyed his base. [[spoiler: Except he's ''not'' the Big Boss. The character you play through the game is really the nameless medic from ''Ground Zeroes'' that got caught in the helicopter blast. He was just given cosmetic surgery and hypnotized into thinking he was the real Big Boss to act as the decoy to the Patriots while the real Big Boss rebuilds his forces in secret (In fact Ishmel, the man who helps you at the beginning of the game, is the real Big Boss just helping you escape to put his plans into motion). It's ''heavily'' implied that this is the Big Boss you fight in the first ''Metal Gear'' game. So you pretty much more or less created the villain of that game.]]

* In ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'', you don't have a Mission Control. You do, however, have little Objective checkboxes in the upper left of your screen. Late in the game, they start getting... odd, giving you objectives such as "Obey" or "Run, goddammit!". The enemies get a straight example in the Radioman, who gets his kicks by mocking the men he's sending to their deaths.
** The loading screen messages also start [[YouBastard getting more and more hostile to the player]]

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' does something similar to ''Sons of Liberty'', as part of its overall theme of deconstructing ''Franchise/JamesBond'' and SpyFiction in general. The main hero, Naked Snake, is sent on a mission to assassinate his mentor, The Boss, who had defected to the Soviet Union. He joins forces with the typical BondGirl Eva, defeats both his fallen mentor and the BigBad, alongside his WeaponOfMassDestruction, and is hailed as a hero. All's well that ends well right? [[spoiler: Nope. Turns out in the big reveal, The Boss was actually a ''FakeDefector'' who had been implicated by the U.S. government as a scapegoat for them to retrieve a huge sum of money, Eva is actually a Chinese spy who had been manipulating Snake's emotions, and the entire operation was just a way for the government to save face, with The Boss, an agent who was like a mother to Snake, and who loved her country, forever known after this as a traitor of the worst kind, when the truth was the exact opposite.]] Both Snake and the player find out about this at the same time, which greatly contributes to the depressing tone the game ends on. No surprise then [[spoiler: that Snake later becomes [[FaceHeelTurn Big Boss]]]].

* The ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' series is the undisputed king of [[PlayedForLaughs playing this trope for laughs]]. Given Pandora's status as a planet of ComedicSociopathy, a lot of your quest-givers and people who talk to you over your ECHO are complete nutbars, including but not limited to [[DeepSouth Scooter and Ellie]], [[LovableSexManiac Mad Moxxi]], [[MadScientist Patricia Tannis]], [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Claptrap]], [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Marcus]], [[BackAlleyDoctor Dr. Zed]], [[MadBomber Tiny Tina]], and [[NoIndoorVoice Mr. Torgue]].
** It's played ''far'' more seriously in ''VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel'' as Jack [[BigBadSlippage becomes more unscrupulous]] [[SanitySlippage and insane]] as he gets closer and closer to becoming Handsome Jack, the BigBad of ''VideoGame/Borderlands2''.

* Vic from ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' serves as the liaison to both Red and Blue Command, although the Blood Gulch soldiers don't know that. His advice to both teams generally ranges from irrelevant through obvious to actively harmful.
-->'''Vic:''' Well, sucks to be you.
** Season 14 explains why Vic is the way he is.[[spoiler: He's apparently a '''V'''irtual '''I'''ntelligence '''C'''omputer designed to manage the stalemate at Blood Gulch. However, Agent Florida tripped over a cable, shorting Vic's circuits and scrambling his software]].

* [[spoiler:SHODAN]] is this in ''VideoGame/SystemShock 2''. You realize something is... ''off'' with Polito, as she gets more and more demanding, hostile and condescending.
** There is also an easter egg where one of the telepathic monkeys uses the comm system to offer the player fruit, nuts, a tire swing, and "an attractive hirsute companion" if he defects.
** ''VideoGame/SystemShock2'' is ''infamous'' for doing this. The game begins with you waking up from cryo-sleep with [[{{Cyborg}} cybernetic implants]] stuffed into your head and throws you into a spaceship overrun with aliens. Sounds relatively standard so far. Until you [[TheReveal discover]] that [[spoiler:MissionControl is really the BigBad of the first game and lied to you by assuming the identity of someone else. Oh, and said villain [[LaserGuidedAmnesia tampered with your memory restoration]]. Said villain remains as MissionControl, declaring that your only chance to survive is to destroy the alien infestation with her help. So you go along with the plan, as she [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything creepily dotes on you]] and declares you to be her "avatar" (or more correctly, pawn).]]

* Atlas of ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'' is this to a degree. [[spoiler:[[ArcWords Would you kindly]] kill Andrew Ryan for me?]]

** In [[VideoGame/Bioshock2 the sequel]], there's a subversion however: Sinclair, who is [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold ruthless at times, but is exactly as trustworthy as Tenenbaum says he is.]]

--> [[spoiler:How does my brain-flesh know your fluids are leaking? Because Red ''tricked'' you! (''laughter'') Spidery tunnel was far from a necessary evil, more-so it served more as a well deserved ''punishment''. You thought my mind had been lost to the ravages of time, but poetic justice has struck with a sonnet and an eight legged baptism of fire! With justice now served cold, I hope we can be good friends.]]

--> "Go, Poopy Joe, soar! Kill Vladimir Bananas!"

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* [[Wiki/SCPFoundation SCP]]-[[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-3122 3122]] is a car navigation system that pulls people into a bizarre extradimensional desert when line of sight with the vehicle they're driving is broken, apparently to use them as human sacrifices. It starts giving strange, cult-like commands instead of directions after doing so.