History Main / TheEvilsOfFreeWill

* The entire premise of ''Film/TheAdjustmentBureau'' revolves around this, with a mysterious organization of supernatural beings manipulating human history in minor ways (making someone miss a bus, or lose their keys, ect.) ForTheGreaterGood. Unlike most example, however, they're presented as a [[AntiVillain genuinely benevolent group]], albeit staffed by a few [[{{Jerkass}} Jerkasses]]. According to one agent, they ''did'' stop interfering in history, twice. The first time resulted in the Dark Ages, the second in two World Wars, the Holocaust, amd the Cuban Missile Crisis. That said, [[spoiler: at the end of the film, [[{{God}} The Chairman]] decides to let the main characters make their own choices rather than following The Plan]].

** Another interpretation is that God created free will so that mankind would have the choice to follow Him or not. He could have not put the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden in the first place, but if He hadn't left that door open, wouldn't Adam and Eve technically have been living in enslavement, even if it was enslavement in paradise? (Though it should be noted that Adam and Eve in this story were depicted as naive and gullible, not all-knowing and wise, after all, if they could think for themselves on how to discern what is bad from what is good, there would have been no need for the tree of knowledge in the first place, so while they may have had the free will to eat from it, it wasn't exactly a choice they came to using critical thinking and reason.)

** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations'': The Templar boss this time is relatively level-minded, claiming that Individuality is stupid because it makes people fight over ridiculously trivial differences. He has a point; in-game, you can make two groups of NotSoDifferent guards fight each other to the death, allowing you to complete your mission in high-profile without killing anyone yourself. His goal is to force everyone to adapt the same culture and get along already; he doesn't really care about suppressing free will, but he won't tolerate war-inciting cultural differences. His nephew disagrees, saying that various factions of humanity can cooperate and make something greater than any single faction, and that forcing a single viewpoint will suppress this potential.

* ''Series/JupitersLegacy'': While Walter is debating with Sheldon over whether superheroes should influence society more, he replies to Sheldon's saying this would end free will with asserting that some would say free will is in fact the problem (as too many are able to do bad stuff).

* In ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'', [[BigBad Cyrus]] believes that spirit is the cause of all suffering, so he [[TheStoic rejects it himself]] and tries to destroy it in everyone else by capturing the [[OlympusMons origin deities of knowledge, emotion, and willpower]] to [[OlympusMons summon the deities of time and space]] in order [[ApocalypseHow/ClassX4 to destroy the entire freaking universe]] and create a new, emotionless one for him to [[AGodAmI rule as a god]].

* This is thoroughly discussed in ''Series/{{Westworld}}''. The Hosts in the titular park are bound by their code and have experienced cycles of abuse by the human guests. Robert Ford, one of the founders of the park, became very cynical and disillusioned of [[HumansAreBastards the guests' behavior]], believing that humans are bounded by their impulses and have already reached the end of evolution and the Hosts actually have the means to break out of their code and attain free will. In the Season 2 finale, the Forge A.I. also believes this, after studying the guests' data, concluding that humans are doomed to act in accordance with their own "coding", meaning that they will never change and that their "free will" is just an illusion because they're passengers of causality.

* ''Fanfic/CodePrimeR1Rebellion'': Schneizel gives this rationale as why he's aiding the Decepticons; in his view humanity is driven by conflict and other self-destructive behavior as a result of their very nature, and under Decepticon rule, everyone will be equal (or equally worthless, as Gino puts it), and they can bring order.

* In the video game ''VideoGame/{{Frostpunk}}'', you are in charge of the survival of your society in a frozen-over post-apocalyptic world. Part of what you need to do is keep your people manageable by enacting various "Purpose" laws. By going down either end of the Purpose laws ("Order" or "Faith") you will finally be given the option to sign the New Order or New Faith law, respectively - part of their caption "Obedience is the highest virtue, without which our city cannot survive" or "We must all be devoted to our survival." Enacting these laws will immediately result in the death of many citizens who oppose what you are doing, completely remove the people's hope as a factor to manage, and replaces that hope with Obedience or Devotion for Order and Faith, respectively, while giving you access to an execution platform you can use to kill dissenters and lower discontent. This essentially results in the complete brainwashing of your population - with them submitting to your declaration of being the supreme leader or voice of God himself - and makes your population significantly easier to control. The game will call you out on doing such a thing in the main scenario, however.

The solution may include reeducation camps, a [[BigBrotherIsWatching police state, censorship]], ''concentration camps'' for those who resist the previous--the usual. If there's a MadScientist or mutant around, MassHypnosis and MindControl are also handy options to turn everyone (that's left) into obedient GullibleLemmings for the BigBad to rule. In extreme cases it will include the [[IndividualityIsIllegal destruction of individuality]] [[AssimilationPlot and the creation of a]] HiveMind.

-->Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is a horror movie, just one with a great big smile on its face that doesn't realise what it truly is. C ME DANCE is exactly like all those bodysnatching horror movies we've seen where someone gets taken over by an evil presence that can infect and impose its evil into anyone it comes into contact with. Sure, it's the power of Christ this time around but that doesn't make it any less sinister in its affront to the very notion of free will.

** This exchange from "The Mind Robber":

* In ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'', [[spoiler: an alternate version of Elizabeth, who provides the page quote]] is found to believe thusly. Having been indoctrinated, brainwashed and declared [[spoiler: Comstock's successor]], she has enacted a ruthless policy of forcing similar treatments on rebellious citizens to make them into obedient soldiers - ultimately proclaiming that free will must be eradicated from her disciples, "for what is the value of will when the spirit is found wanting?"

* Several political scholars and critics in regards to the UsefulNotes/TheArabSpring, a series of uprisings and protest to establish liberal democracies in the Middle-East/North African region which was dominated by dictatorial regimes. In cases where the dictators were toppled, [[AnarchyIsChaos lawlessness soon broke out in their countries]] or [[TheFundamentalist religious fanatics]] that were [[EvilPowerVacuum previously held back by the previous dictators were able to fill the power void]] and ''turned even more despotic'' than their predecessors. The Western support for these uprisings turned cold and came to be bitterly referred to as the "Arab Winter", with many coming out in support of the [[BetterTheDevilYouKnow Syrian regime being supported despite it's many flaws]] against [[TheHorde ISIL]].

There is so much suffering in the world, so much hate, inequality, ignorance. And the cause of all this evil is nothing more than than humans themselves and their pesky free will. HobbesWasRight. [[HumansAreFlawed We are selfish]], [[HumansAreBastards narcissistic]], [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters violent]], readily tread on others to better ourselves, and while [[AMillionIsAStatistic our love is selective]], our {{Greed}} knows no bounds. Not to mention the ''chaos'' of [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking everyone having different dental hygiene habits]]. When people are capable of ''willingly'' doing so much wrong, [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans isn't removing that free will, by any means available, justified?]]

The typical heroic rejoinder is: "I don't want to be told what to do."

* This is one of the main driving forces in ''Anime/YuGiOhVRAINS'' as the main antagonist thinks of free will as a mutation and can't comprehend why the other Ignis chose to side with humans. The Knights of Hanoi believe that giving the Ignis free will, they will turn against the human race.

If this process merges everyone into one being, see AssimilationPlot. If the villain actually succeeds in creating this world, it may become a VillainWorld and possibly a CrapsaccharineWorld. See also HappinessIsMandatory (and its BrainwashedAndCrazy variant GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul), {{Thoughtcrime}}, DystopianEdict and StrawNihilist. Inverted trope of HelpingWouldBeKillstealing. HobbesWasRight could be used as another reason to justify this trope. Tends also to show that OrderIsNotGood.

* ''Film/{{Equilibrium}}'' fits this like a Tetragrammaton Cleric's tailored glove. The anti-emotion DystopianEdict that powers the state of Libria can be boiled down to this trope.