History Main / PerversePuppet

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' has Calca/Calco, Brina/Brena and their "[[FusionDance fused]]" form Calcabrina/Calcobrena. Controlled by Golbez, the dolls attacked Cecil and Co. when they tried to retrieve the [[MacGuffin Earth Crystal]]. They even have their own musical theme called "Dancing Calcabrina".
** For Rydia's chapter of sequel, Calca and Brina are part of Rydia's party, and they're far less demonic-looking and scary, and they're pretty helpful, to boot. Makes you ''want'' to find the way to avert their FinalDeath.
* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys2'': Taking Foxy's torch as SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer is a creepy, black and white puppet thing that hands out prizes to the children, called simply the Marionette or the Puppet. It leaves you alone so long as its music box is playing; should it run down, brace for a scare. And just to make things worse, [[spoiler:several death screen minigames imply it's the true BigBad of the series]]. [[spoiler:However, the [[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys3 third game]] shows that he's actually the closest thing the series has to a ''BigGood''.]]

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'': Chachamaru Zero, a.k.a. Chachazero, who at least has a decently strong sense of free will above mere "puppet". That scale of free will just happens to be on the line between grimly humorous and psychotic. Fortunately, she's not able to move under her own power unless there's a great deal of magic in the air or she's getting supplied by Eva. Interestingly enough, there are real toy versions of her in the magic world, as seen during Setsuna and Konoka's most definitely not a date.

* ''FanFic/DungeonKeeperAmi'': Zarekos compares Ami's use of golems and golem-derivative constructs to playing with dolls. What's worse: Alphel is attempting to reverse-engineer the SuperPrototype stolen from Ami by the Dark God Azzaratha. Alphel intends to power said armor with hundreds of tortured ghosts.

* ''Videogame/DragonQuest'' has a monster known (at least in one translation) as Puppetor. It serves as a boss monster (and potential party member) in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonsters 2.'' There's also puppet rope, a puppet made of rope.
* The Smilin' Sam and Handsome Tom enemies from ''Videogame/{{Earthbound}}'' are hostile marionettes.

* ''Videogame/SecretOfEvermore'' had two marionettes, Mephista and Old Nick, who at first were merely corruptive influences on the King of Ebon Keep by keeping him hypnotized and watching their show endlessly while the [[spoiler:false]] Queen ran the show. Later, they become possessed by a monster named Mungola and proceed to become a boss fight. Extra points because "Mephisto" (Mephista is a female doll) and "Old Nick" are both pseudonyms for {{Satan}}.

* The "Puppit" enemies in the Subspace Emissary mode of ''Videogame/SuperSmashBros Brawl''. Their description [[NightmareFuel just makes them creepier.]]

* Killer doll enemies in ''Videogame/ZombiesAteMyNeighbors'' that throw hatchets at you. Sometimes when you kill them you have to fight their [[IncendiaryExponent burning remains]], which are faster.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Mime Jr. and its evolution, Mr. Mime in ''{{Franchise/Pokemon}}''. Mime Jr. is a fairly harmless hand-puppet-like clown and Mr. Mime is a more dummy-like puppet.

* The cast of Videogame/ShowdownBandit are living marionettes who try to survive both their own world and the cancellation of their show.

* [[MeaningfulName Medicine Melancholy]] from ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' is basically this. She is a sentient doll fueled with ''poison''. Note that [[MarionetteMaster Alice]]'s doll are technically not sentient.
* In ''Witch Spring 3'', living dolls replace the pets of previous games as party members. Most start out as lifeless dolls owned by Eirudy, the Marionette Witch, and are in storage at the Marionette House. By defeating enemies, Eirudy collects vitality to awaken her dolls with. She also can acquire ones not yet in her collection.

* Marionette is among the common cards of Kingdom Corps. It's a female puppet dressed fancily and held up by wires.

* "Voice of Vengeance", published in ''Ghosts'' #13, features the Giovanni Family. They are a beloved group of marionette performers not only because they are entertaining but because they also somehow always know what's going on wherever they visit. With this noted seer aspect, one day they accuse a banker of theft and to avenge himself he damages Signor Giovanni's vocal cords. Yet the next day, his marionette talks and tells the audience what the banker did. The banker destroys the marionettes in rage before his arrest, but is left bewildered just who was speaking for Signor Giovanni's marionette.

* "My name is Talky Tina, and [[Series/TheTwilightZone1959 "and you'd better be nice to me!]]."

* The hero quartet of ''VideoGame/TheNinjaKids'' and everyone else encountered are puppets, specifically marionettes. This is only truly clear during the character selection screen, where the threads of the hero marionettes are visible.

* ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh''

* The first boss of SRPG ''VideoGame/ShiningForce'' is a Marionette left by WickedWitch Mishaela in the [[CircusOfFear Circus]] at Rindo. Not only that, but the other monsters you face in said big top also include mannequins, spell-casting puppets and [[MonsterClown knife-wielding clowns]].

* Drocell Cainz, in the anime of ''[[Manga/BlackButler Kuroshitsuji]]''. Complete with strings, MarionetteMotion, and a good helping of CreepyCircusMusic.

* The Marionettes from the first ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry1''. They are string puppets controlled by lesser demons that wield scythes, knives, darts, and sometimes even shotguns.
** Later in the game, you encounter the Fetishes, which are basically fire-breathing voodoo dolls on steroids.

* The Smilin' Sam and Handsome Tom enemies from ''Videogame/{{Earthbound}}''.

* One of the urban legends in Japan is about Mary-san, a French doll.[[note]]The Japanese term "French doll" refers to European bisque dolls and dolls with a similar aesthetic.[[/note]] She's loved by her owner, but said owner loses her at some point. Then one night, when the owner is home alone, she gets a call from Mary-san, who notifies her she's at the city dump. This call is followed by more, with Mary-san each time announcing she's at a location closer to her owner than the last, until she tells her owner to turn around. Her owner is found dead the next morning.

* The first boss of Stage 2 in ''VideoGame/NightSlashers'' is a duo consisting of an old man with a bell and a marionette who prevent the heroes from following the carriage. The marionette walks-or-dances around as if on strings, even though there are none. He sometimes throws his head to attack, laughs maniacally, and may temporarily fall apart if hit with a special move. He burns up upon defeat.
* The first boss in ''VideoGame/PuLiRuLa'' is a ventriloquist with a living dummy. He and the dummy look silly enough, but as soon as the ventriloquist is beaten (and becomes a parrot again) the dummy shows a demonic face and runs off with the time key the ventriloquist was in the process of stealing. He's confronted as the second-to-last boss and goes all out on his demonic look with wild eyes, unkempt hair, and claws on both hands and feet. Upon defeat, he turns out to have been a monkey all along.
* The Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Banette is apparently a toy brought to life by its grudge of being thrown away. It actively seeks out its old owner.

* The first boss of SRPG ''VideoGame/ShiningForce'' is a Marionette left by WickedWitch Mishaela in the [[CircusOfFear Circus]] at Rindo. Not only that, but the other monsters you face in said big top also include mannequins, spell-casting puppets and [[MonsterClown knife-wielding clowns]].

* Elsie and Frances in ''VideoGame/MetalGearAcid'' are a pair of bantering puppets who manage to hijack a plane. [[spoiler: They're being controlled by Lena]].
** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearGhostBabel'' (known as Metal Gear Solid for the GBC), Snake has to fight an enemy called [[PsychopathicManchild Marionette]] [[SerialKiller Owl]], who uses two life-sized marionettes... [[{{Squick}} made out from the body parts of people that Owl killed]]!
* The Smilin' Sam and Handsome Tom enemies from ''Videogame/{{Earthbound}}''.

* There are nine flavors of marionettes of ''VideoGame/AsheronsCall'': the default Marionette, the Dark Marionette, the Mad Star Marionette, the Cursed Marionette, the Damned Marionette, the Fallen Marionette, the Malignant Marionette, and the special mobs the Puppeteer and Yaja the Shepherd. Marionettes are magic-using constructs that appeared in Dereth in Portal Year 12. They are suggested to be linked to the Virindi.
* ''VideoGame/ArcanaHeart'' has Elfriede, Lieselotte's dead sister who possesses a legless marionette that Lieselotte carries around, giving it [[GlowingEyesOfDoom glowing eyes]] and an appearance that evokes the image of a StringyHairedGhostGirl as it crawls around on the floor with its long-read hair splayed all over its face, trying to claw at Liese's opponent while shrieking and cackling.
* ''Videogame/SecretOfEvermore'' had two marionettes, Mephista and Old Nick, who at first were merely corruptive influences on the King of Ebon Keep by keeping him hypnotized and watching their show endlessly while the [[spoiler:false]] Queen ran the show. Later, they become possessed by a monster named Mungola and proceed to become a boss fight. Extra points because "Mephisto" (Mephista is a female doll) and "Old Nick" are both pseudonyms for {{Satan}}.
* ''Videogame/DragonQuest'' has a monster known (at least in one translation) as Puppetor. It serves as a boss monster (and potential party member) in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonsters 2.'' There's also puppet rope, a puppet made of rope.
* Demon lord Nebiros of the ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' series carries one. Pulling its strings is how he activates his magic, either damaging spells or summoning undead.
* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys2'': Taking Foxy's torch as SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer is a creepy, black and white puppet thing that hands out prizes to the children, called simply the Marionette or the Puppet. It leaves you alone so long as its music box is playing; should it run down, brace for a scare. And just to make things worse, [[spoiler:several death screen minigames imply it's the true BigBad of the series]]. [[spoiler:However, the [[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys3 third game]] shows that he's actually the closest thing the series has to a ''BigGood''.]]
** And of course there's also the other nine or ten [[AIIsACrapshoot murderous animatronics]].
* ''VideoGame/SpookysJumpScareMansion'': Specimen 6, the toymaker. As long as he's being watched, he can't move aside from turning his head to look at you, but like the [[Series/DoctorWho Weeping Angels]] he moves very quickly while your back is turned. If he catches you and depletes your health, he'll make you one of his puppets in the game over.

Though to be clear, not all puppets are perverse. Some are nice or just try to go about their day.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' features two perverse puppets as regular enemies: Remo Con in Booster's Tower and Puppox in Smithy's Factory. But it also averts the trope by having Geno, a celestial being animating the body of a child's toy, as one of the heroes in your party.

* Killer doll enemies in ''Videogame/ZombiesAteMyNeighbors'' that throw hatchets at you. Sometimes when you kill them you have to fight their [[IncendiaryExponent burning remains]], which are faster.

* The Magic Dolls in ''Tecmo's VideoGame/{{Deception}}'', which can fire laser-like beams at you from a distance.

* ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh''
** The game has one of these, surprisingly enough: Malice Doll of Demise] (Used to combo with Ectoplasmer, which was released in the same set.)
** There is now a whole archetype of these called the Shadolls.

* The first boss of Stage 2 in ''VideoGame/NightSlashers'' is a duo consisting of an old man with a bell and a marionette who prevent the heroes from following the carriage. The marionette walks-or-dances around as if on strings, even though there are none. He sometimes throws his head to attack, laughs maniacally, and may temporarily fall apart if hit with a special move. He burns up upon defeat.
* A few are floating around during stage 6-2 of the X68000 ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania}}''.

** And of course there's also the other nine or ten [[AIIsACrapshoot murderous animatronics]]...

* Mr. Hat, Mr./Miss/Mr. Garrison's constant companion from ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', is often hinted to be this. Though he is never shown to actually move by himself, he [[spoiler: breaks Garrison and Chef out of Jail, and even disappears, ostensibly to attend a meeting of the Ku Klux Klan, when Garrison turns his back]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/KimPossibleMovieSoTheDrama'', Drakken's world conquest plot involves mass marketing tiny toy puppets called Diablos, who turn into gigantic killing robots. There's a hilariously bizarre scene at the end when they are stopped and revert to their (arguably) cute puppet selves where a young girl who had just been menaced by one grabs the puppet joyfully [[YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe as her mother looks on with disbelief]].
* Yokie on ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'', after Jimmy accidentally reprograms it to be evil.
* ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'' did a parody of the ''[[Series/TheTwilightZone1959 Twilight Zone]]'' episode listed above with "Talky Tabitha".
* The Puppet King in the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' episode "Switched" is the worst. His origins are unknown, but he harnessed ''incredibly'' potent sorcery, and planned to commit GrandTheftMe on ''all five'' of the heroes by sucking their souls out and trapping them in matching puppet figures, then [[DeaderThanDead obliterating said puppets]] to keep their bodies permanently. Why? They never actually figured that out. He [[NearVillainVictory nearly got away with it, too]], as he managed to possess Robin, Beast Boy, and Cyborg; the only reason he failed was Raven's desperately casting a spell just before the soul-sucking machine hit her and Starfire, which allowed the two girls to escape and save the others. Even better, while the Puppet King was one of the army of villains recruited into the Brotherhood of Evil in the penultimate storyline and was defeated along with the rest, he was not among the ones who was frozen, suggesting he might have escaped.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "The Talented Mr. Dingleberry", Roger poses as a ventriloquist dummy to help Steve win the school talent show. Of course, Roger lets his persona go wild that he ends up killing most of Steve's expendable opponents until Steve manages to save Snot from drowning in his water cage trick that Roger shut its door of escape with a broom. Roger later says the mascara cream was what drove him crazy.

* One monster appearing in the {{Troperiffic}} ''Game/GraveRobbersFromOuterSpace'' is "Killer Toys."

* ''Literature/{{Fablehaven}}''[='=]s first book has Mendigo, a human sized lumberjack animated by the power of a demon working for the villain. However during the second book when he is released again some faeries change his loyalty to the heroes.]

* Ridley Sheldon in the Toei ''[[Anime/YuGiOhFirstAnimeSeries Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' anime is a puppet master. He has life-size dolls set up outside his house to resemble a large party, and impersonates the (female) school nurse with a puppet. Of course, his deck is also based on dolls.

* Marianne from ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'', servant of [[StarterVillain Friagne]] and Shana's first major opponent.

* In ''Manga/VampirePrincessMiyu'', Ranka utilizes her RazorFloss to move around the mannequins she collects ([[BalefulPolymorph which once were human students]]), using them as shields. Larva hits one of them accidentally and it bleeds and screams silently, to Miyu's horror.
* ''Manga/RozenMaiden'': Suigintou does this early in the story with a Doll (A Pooh Bear doll in the Manga) and Kirakishou probably fits this too.
* Lord Kuruku from ''Manga/{{Unico}} in the Island of Magic'' was originally an ordinary puppet that was mistreated and discarded by his owners, and was transformed by his hatred and desire for revenge. When Unico defeats him with ThePowerOfLove, he turns back into an ordinary puppet.
** Even worse than that was the fact that the ''only'' reason [[ThePowerOfHate he was alive was because of his hatred]] - he "died" once his hatred was taken away from him.

* The Dollies of Manga/DollyKillKill
* Pucchan from ''Anime/BestStudentCouncil'' is not actually evil, but he is a possessed puppet with supernatural powers.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Thunder Soldier is a toy soldier who attacks with lethal force. Played with, however, in that he's one of the good guys, targeting only the ones who had conquered his homeland of Dressrosa as the country's VigilanteMan. Inside of Thunder Soldier is the soul of [[spoiler:Kyros, a former street thug the king personally raised and trained and thus feels incredible gratitute for the king and his country.]]

* Played with in the Season 8 ''ComicBook/{{Buffy|the Vampire Slayer}}'' comics. In one issue, [[spoiler:Dawn]] is turned into a porcelain doll. She's surrounded by other, living dolls, but they were made that way rather than being possessed. And none of them are particularly evil, just a bit unhinged.
* In the story "The Sun" from ''The Wretch'', the titular evil art object convinces a little girl to mount it on a Series/PowerRangersZeo action figure, turning it into a killer doll. [[NightmareFuel This is utterly terrifying.]]

** This trope is in no way related to the [[AccidentalPervert unfortunate]] [[MaliciousSlander rumors]] that follow [[ExtremeOmnisexual Ami]] [[OnceDoneNeverForgotten wherever she goes]], though we have yet to see them [[TemptingFate actually take that turn...]]

* The "Little Me" doll in ''WesternAnimation/{{Coraline}}'' is [[spoiler:[[ParanoiaFuel a spy controlled by the Other Mother, who can see through its button eyes. Also, it can move around the house offscreen and lures Coraline to to the door to the Other World.]]]] Sweet dreams.
** For that matter, pretty much everything in the Other Mother's world has a doll-like aesthetic, what with the button eyes and all, and [[spoiler:almost none of it is friendly.]]

* "Billy", in the ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' films, whose image is used to relay to rules of Jigsaw's latest trap.

* Mashenka, a OneSceneWonder from ''Film/NightWatch'' and a WickedWitch's familiar. Normally disguised as a mildly eerie-looking but harmless doll, Mashenka can [[http://img-cdn.jg.jugem.jp/5e6/1864267/20101008_621116.jpg sprout a set of sharp metallic spider legs on the witch's command]].

* ''Literature/{{Fablehaven}}''[='=]s first book has Mendigo, a human sized lumberjack animated by the power of a demon working for the villain. [[spoiler: However during the second book when he is released again some faeries change his loyalty to the heroes.]]

* "The Talons of Weng-Chiang," a classic ''Series/DoctorWho'' story, had an awesomely evil puppet controlled by Magnus Greel.

* "My name is Talky Tina, and [[Series/TheTwilightZone1959 I'm going to kill you]]."

* One good character in the miniseries version of ''Literature/TheTommyknockers'' is killed when her doll collection animates and attacks her.

* Subverted in the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS1E9ThePuppetShow The Puppet Show]]", where the puppet we are led to believe is a PerversePuppet actually turns out to be a (still rather creepy) good guy.
* Referenced in ''Series/CrazyExGirlfriend'' when Rebecca [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_dSwkjbXqA&list=RDr1GwEkQ5Sro&index=6 sings a song]] about hating her mother less, and apparently this trope is an upgrade for her:

* PlayedForLaughs in an episode of ''Series/TheNanny'' which featured special guest stars [[Series/LambChopsPlayAlong Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop]]. The episode depicted Lamb Chop as an entirely separate entity from Shari who bossed her around, apparently controlled their company ("Don't forget who owns fifty-two percent!"), and had a [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior less-than-age-appropriate crush on Maxwell]]. It's taken UpToEleven when, at the end of the episode, Maxwell offers to have a private meeting with the pair. Fran and C.C. are promptly kicked out of the office...and a few seconds later, ''Shari'' is, too.

[[folder:Podcasts]]
* The ''Website/WrestleCrap Radio'' podcast has had a literal example (i.e. not evil, but actually perverse) since 2008 in Stubby, the ventriloquist dummy who really enjoys his drugs and has few qualms about what he's willing to do to obtain them.
[[/folder]]

** The game has one of these, surprisingly enough: [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Malice_Doll_of_Demise Malice Doll of Demise]] (Used to combo with [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Ectoplasmer Ectoplasmer]], which was released in the same set.)
** There is now a whole archetype of these called the [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Shadoll Shadolls]].

* A few--Make that a great many--Floating around during stage 6-2 of the X68000 ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania}}''.
* Mime Jr. and its evolution, Mr. Mime in ''{{Franchise/Pokemon}}'' count. Mime Jr. is a fairly harmless hand-puppet-like clown, but Mr. Mime is a more dummy-like puppet straight out of the UncannyValley who can manifest ''invisible walls out of thin air''. It doesn't help that both are [[PsychicPowers Psychic]]/[[TheFairFolk Fairy]], a type combination that hints at an unnatural darker side.
** The Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Banette is apparently a toy brought to life by its grudge of being thrown away.
*** [[NightmareFuel That actively seeks out its old owner.]]

* ''Videogame/DragonQuest'' has a monster known (at least in one translation) as Puppetor. It serves as a boss monster (and potential party member) in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonsters 2.''
* [[MeaningfulName Medicine Melancholy]] from ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' is basically this. She is a sentient doll fueled with ''poison''. Note that [[MarionetteMaster Alice]]'s doll are technically not sentient.
* ''VideoGame/BatenKaitosOrigins'' has a heroic example in Guillo.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck'' called "The Haunting of Mr. Banana Brain", the evil spirit Paddywhack possesses Quackerjack's doll, Mr. Banana Brain. As he causes trouble alongside the demented toymaker, he grows, feeding from the negative emotions around himself.
** Note that [[MonsterClown Quacker]][[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} jack]] failed to realize that Mr. Banana Brain was possessed.

* The Puppet King in the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' episode "Switched" was [[NightmareFuel one of the worst.]] His origins were unknown, but he harnessed ''incredibly'' potent sorcery, and planned to commit GrandTheftMe on ''all five'' of the heroes by sucking their souls out and trapping them in matching puppet figures, then [[DeaderThanDead obliterating said puppets]] to keep their bodies permanently. Why? They never actually figured that out. He [[NearVillainVictory nearly got away with it, too]], as he managed to possess Robin, Beast Boy, and Cyborg; the only reason he failed was Raven's desperately casting a spell just before the soul-sucking machine hit her and Starfire, which allowed the two girls to escape (but not unharmed, as it left them in a FreakyFridayFlip situation where each had to figure out how to use the other's powers, which was ''much'' harder than it seemed.)
** Worst of all, while the Puppet King was one of the army of villains recruited into the Brotherhood of Evil in the penultimate storyline and was defeated along with the rest, he was not among the ones who was frozen, suggesting he might have escaped.

** In VideoGame/MetalGearGhostBabel (known as Metal Gear Solid for the GBC), Snake has to fight an enemy called [[PsychopathicManchild Marionette]] [[SerialKiller Owl]], who uses two life-sized marionettes... [[{{Squick}} made out from the body parts of people that Owl killed]]!

* ''VideoGame/WarioWorld'': Brawl Doll is an unsettling doll that is fought in a haunted mansion. Its putto-like appearance with big blue eyes and star-shaped halo underscore by contrast its mechanical mouth, eerie laugh, and of course hostile nature.

* Marianne from ''Manga/ShakuganNoShana'', servant of Friagne, Shana's first major opponent.

* ''VideoGame/Wario World'': Brawl Doll is an unsettling doll that is fought in a haunted mansion. Its putto-like appearance with big blue eyes and star-shaped halo underscore by contrast its mechanical mouth, eerie laugh, and of course hostile nature.

* ''VideoGame/WarioWorld'': Brawl Doll is an unsettling doll that is fought in a haunted mansion. Its {{putto}}-like appearance with big blue eyes and star-shaped halo underscore by contrast its mechanical mouth, eerie laugh, and of course hostile nature.

* One of the modern monsters in ''WesternAnimation/MonsterMash2000'' is an evil wind-up doll named Chicky.