History Main / PeoplePuppets

* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': This happens all the time with Alpha having access to the control unit of Akira’s PoweredArmor. It’s at first used to correct his aiming, but as Akira gets into more dangerous situations, it becomes clear that this is CastFromHitPoints, with how it damages his muscles and bones, in part from Alpha disabling the PowerLimiter safeties to get the most performance out of his suit. The same principles behind Alpha manipulating Akira’s suit get used for a few NightOfTheLivingMooks situations where headshots do nothing; Akira has to shoot the control units of the dead’s suits. And when fighting the Lion Steel Corp, they build redundancies into the remote control functions for their armors that allow even severed limbs to fight on.

* ''Series/InterviewWithTheVampire2022'': With his vampire powers, Louis de Pointe du Lac causes Daniel Molloy's right arm to shake uncontrollably in a painful manner (presumably made worse by the latter's Parkinson's disease).

** Robbie invents a pair of [[TrickedOutShoes remote-controlled boots]] in the episode "Defeeted" that allows him to take control of the movements of his feet, leaving the rest of his body unable to stop himself as he makes a fool of himself on stage instead of performing his advertised stunt. After they're removed from his feet, [[HoistByHisOwnPetard Robbie's tricked into wearing them]] with [[GadgeteerGenius Pixel]] at the controls instead.

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', "Ill-Suited"

* ''Comicbook/{{Amulet}}'' has the [[spoiler:Elf King]], who it's revealed has actually been [[spoiler:DeadAllAlong, with his corpse being puppeted by the spirit of the Amulet who is using him and his influence to wage war against Windsor.]]

* Doctor Doom had an arc in ''Super-Villain Team-Up'' and ''ComicBook/Champions1975'' in which a mind-controlling gas turns the entire world into his puppet slaves, and none the wiser.

* The Puppet Master from ''ComicBook/FantasticFour''. His greatest strength was his ability to create extremely lifelike marionette puppets with extreme speed that he modeled after real people. Through intense concentration, he is able to control the physical actions of anyone after whom he models one of his puppets. How he did this was never adequately explained, except that he used some type of special radioactive clay to make his puppets. He may have some type of psionic ability which complemented this process, enabling him to control his victims.
* Copycat of ''ComicBook/{{DV8}}'' and ''ComicBook/Gen13''. As her name suggests, her powers usually involved forcing people to copy her motions.

''ComicBook/MsMarvel2014'': A Kree suit Kamala starts wearing briefly takes control of her body and makes her become more violent towards criminals beyond what is necessary. However, when she rejects it fully, it separates and becomes its own being.

** Bunnie's {{Artificial Limbs}} have been taken over twice in this fashion -- once by A.D.A.M.'s nanites (briefly), and later by Iron Queen using her power to control technology.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': The White Magician sells an unsuspecting Brian Elliot a bit of supercomputer that starts merging with the teen's body which he then uses to control said body and frame the terrified teen as an up and coming supervillain and then leave Brian covered with debilitating fatal burns after their "fight" before he has a chance to defend himself where anyone not allied with the White Magician can hear him.

** Worm, of the Savage Land Mutates (great name for a band) can control the body of anyone he [[CoveredInGunge coats with slime]] that he secretes from the suckers on his hands. Let the fanfic begin!
* So can Professor X, though it is rather harder for him and he only uses it as an absolute last resort (except in ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'', in which he's a bit freer with his mojo).
** Bastion used the transmode virus he'd resurrected a gallery of X-villains with to do this, but only for the ones who weren't onboard with his genocidal plans (or if they started getting cold feet). At one point during ''ComicBook/XMenSecondComing'', he's seen using Bolivar Trask as an unwilling sock puppet, and Trask has difficulty using Bastion's SpockSpeak. [[spoiler:Then, when the telepathic Monet temporarily breaks the link, Trask takes a gun to his head to stop Bastion re-assuming control.]]

** Mary Hughes has has this ability in the form of Command Magic.

** The Laughing Man never shows his face to anyone. If he has to talk with someone, he usually hijacks a persons brain by hacking into its neural implants.
** In ''Solid State Society'' a hacker who's actually ''called'' The Puppeteer [[spoiler: takes control over Togusa, forces him to kidnap his own daughter, and then gives him back control of his right arm, giving him the option of suicide. Togusa picks that option, only to be interrupted.]] The Puppeteer's entire MO was to force people in situations where they kill themselves of their free will, since they consider the alternative worse.
** There's also several cases of the Major possessing people -- including surprisingly often her own teammates -- throughout the series (not to mention the comics), including a case where she forces Batou to hit himself, and Togusa to give a very different speech from what he intended at a trial.

* ''Manga/InuYasha'':

* Slade during [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Batman and Robin]] uses Damian's body by means of an implant inserted in Damian's spine to attack Dick and try to get revenge on him. Dick figures out what's going on, and it ends rather badly for Slade.
* Doctor Doom had an arc in Super-Villain Teamup / Champions where a mindcontrolling gas turns the entire world into his puppety slaves, and none the wiser.

* ''Comicbook/{{Empowered}}'' has Mindf**k, who along with her brother uses the "hijack motor control and leave them conscious" version. [[spoiler: Mindf**k was forced by her brother to remove her eyes and tongue when she was younger, and used it herself to [[HeroicSacrifice force Emp out of a single use portal]] when they were both trapped on a [[ColonyDrop space station undergoing reentry]].]]
* ''ComicBook/TheEternals'' has Ghaur, priest-lord of the Deviants. He combines this with some level of mind control, and can target any other Deviant whose genetic code he knows. He’s the sort of villain who’ll force someone to shoot themselves in the head while leaving their mind and voice free to plead for mercy. Just to make a point. He’s also fond of seizing control of other Deviants' powers and mutations with this ability, them using that against them.
* The Puppet Master, of the ''ComicBook/FantasticFour''. His greatest strength was his ability to create extremely lifelike marionette puppets with extreme speed that he modeled after real people. Through intense concentration, he is able to control the physical actions of anyone after whom he models one of his puppets. How he did this was never adequately explained, except that he used some type of special radioactive clay to make his puppets. He may have some type of psionic ability which complemented this process, enabling him to control his victims.
* Copycat of ''Dv 8'' and ''ComicBook/Gen13''. As her name suggests, her powers usually involved forcing people to copy her motions.
* An arc of the post-ComicBook/ZeroHourCrisisInTime ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' revealed that [[spoiler:Saturn Girl had been accidentally doing this to ComicBook/CosmicBoy's comatose body for the past ten-or-so issues. Cosmic Boy was surprisingly non-freaked out about it when he woke up.]]
* Karma of the ''ComicBook/NewMutants'' has the ability to take possession of the minds of other people or animals. She projects a psionic energy surge that overwhelms the consciousness of another; this renders the victim unconscious while placing her own mind in command. It allows her to alter the victim's perceptions and memories, command people to fall asleep or divulge information, and operate their bodies as if they were an extension of her own.
* The exact concept of the 2000s ComicBook/{{OMAC}}s in the current DCU: an army of veritable {{Cape Busters}} composed by unwilling human hosts possessed by a [[TheVirus cybernetic nanovirus]] granting them several physical enhancements, but submerging their conscious mind, replaced by a permanent uplink to a [[AIIsACrapshoot Rampant A.I.]].

* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'': After being captured by Eggman, the mad doctor uses a device that's able to control him and force him into battling the Freedom Fighters. [[CasualDangerDialogue However, he seems to take this pretty well judging by how casually he talks during it.]] Then again, this ''is'' [[DeadpanSnarker Sonic]] we're talking about, so perhaps it's not too surprising.
** Bunnie's {{Artificial Limbs}} have been taken over twice in this fashion. Once by A.D.A.M.'s nanites briefly and later, by Iron Queen using her power to control technology.
* The final arc of the ''ComicBook/SpiderGirl'' comics centers around [[ComicBook/SpiderMan Peter Parker]] being mentally enslaved by [[BigBad the Green Goblin]], and Spider-Girl's [[JourneytotheCenteroftheMind trip into her dad's subconscious]] in an attempt to free him from the Goblin's possession.

* Worm, of the Savage Land Mutates (great name for a band) can control the body of anyone he [[CoveredInGunge coats with slime]] that he secretes from the suckers on his hands. Let the fanfic begin!
* So can Professor X from ''ComicBook/XMen'', though it is rather harder for him and he only uses it as an absolute last resort (except in the UltimateUniverse, where he's a bit freer with his mojo).

''ComicBook/MsMarvel2014'': A Kree suit Kamala starts wearing briefly takes control of her body and makes her become more violent towards criminals beyond what is necessary. However, when she rejects it fully, it separates and becomes it's own being.

--->'''Framkin:''' Please, let me...
--->'''Polo:''' Someone say you could join in?
--->'''Framkin:''' Let me die...
--->'''Polo:''' Are you sayin' you wanna talk to the hand? Oh, I think he does. Come on, fat boy. Why don't you [[PunctuatedForEmphasis talk-to-THE HAND!]]
--->''(Polo shoves his hand into a puppet hole in Framkin's lower back; he screams and sits bolt upright)''
--->'''Groofus:''' Heh heh! Make him swallow his tongue again!

* The Puppet Master in ''{{Series/Bones}}'' turns the bodies of his victims into puppets on strings. Everyone is terrified it’s their former colleague Zack but it isn’t. Zack can’t even kill the guy to save his own life.

* ''Series/MoonKnight'': When Steven attempts to give his scarab to Arthur Harrow, Khonshu demonstrates this by taking control of his body and forcing him to keep it away from him. Marc, another resident of his body, is apparently able to do this too. [[spoiler: However it's [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] when it's revealed he was actually a {{Split Personality}} birthed from trauma the whole time.]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* ''Series/MoonKnight'': When Steven attempts to give his scarab to Arthur Harrow, Khonshu demonstrates this by taking control of his body and forcing him to keep it away from him. Marc, another inhibitor of his body, is apparently able to do this too. [[spoiler: However it's [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] when it's revealed he was actually a {{Split Personality}} birthed from trauma the whole time.]]

* Church does this a couple of times after becoming a ghost in Machinima/RedVsBlue, but not maliciously, just when he really needs a body. The people he possesses typically don't remember anything that happened, though. [[spoiler:Epsilon inherited this ability.]] (In contrast, O'Malley's victims tend to retain some elements of free will.) Arguably [[spoiler:the Meta]] is like this by the end, either because of [[spoiler:Sigma having control over him, or simply having so many AIs shouting in his head at once]].

[[folder: Web Original]]

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': The White Magician sells an ususpecting Brian Elliot a bit of supercomputer that starts merging with the teen's body which he then uses to control said body and frame the terrified teen as an up and coming supervillain and then leave Brian covered with debilitating fatal burns after their "fight" before he has a chance to defend himself where anyone not allied with the White Magician can hear him.

** Bastion used the transmode virus he'd resurrected a gallery of X-villains with to do this, but only for the ones who weren't onboard with his genocidal plans (or if they started getting cold feet). At one point during ''ComicBook/XMenSecondComing'', he's seen using Bolivar Trask as an unwilling sock puppet, and Trask has difficulty using Bastion's SpockSpeak. [[spoiler:Then, when the telepathic Monet temporarily breaks the link, Trask takes a gun to his head to stop Bastion reassuming control.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': In the episode, [[FantasticVoyagePlot "Journey To The Center Of Candace"]], when stuck inside Candace's body thanks to a misunderstanding and a miniaturizing submarine, Phineas gets the idea to make her nauseous by hanging her from monkey bars, taking control of her arms and legs to do so, much to her dismay. [[PreemptiveApology He does let out an apology before it happens though]].

* ''Anime/LittleWitchAcademia'': After being beaten in a duel by Amanda, Louis finds himself trapped inside a corrupted suit of armor, possessed by [[spoiler: Croix's]] Pixels, forcing him to fight her once again, only this time, involuntarily.

** In "[[Recap/AngelS05E14SmileTime Smile Time]]", the showrunner of a kids puppet TV show is turned by demon puppets into a a living people puppet. Complete with the hole in the back. When not controlled by one of the demons, he's barely capable of speaking.
--> "Make him swallow his tongue again!"
** In "[[Recap/AngelS05E04HellBound Hell Bound]]", a necromancer is able to do this to Angel and Spike both because they're both dead.

* ''Film/{{Thunderbirds}}''. Used for a MythologyGag when The Hood uses his PsychicPowers to force Brain to walk like a UsefulNotes/{{Supermarionation}} parody.
-->'''The Hood:''' Like a puppet on a string...