History Main / VillainOverride

* In the fanfic ''FanFic/TheImmortalGame'', [[BigBad King Titan]] is capable of doing this with Terra's puppets. While they don't quite have Titan's godlike levels of power and invulnerability, these alicorn puppets are still very, very hard to kill.

* ''FanFic/MirrorsImage'': While not exactly the villain of the story, Queen Chrysalis is capable of talking through her changelings, but she usually just uses this ability to upbraid Princess Celestia.
* ''FanFic/{{Aurora}}'': At one point, [[spoiler: [[BigBad Dawnbringer]]]] does this with his captured minion Midnight Dream in order to speak with and taunt Luna. After the connection is broken, Midnight Dream ([[AxCrazy who wasn't sane to begin with]]) is left catatonic by the process.

* In the first ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngel'' game, the mercenary Hell Hounds, despite being {{evil counterpart}}s of the Moon Angels, fall pretty easily in their last fight. Noah appears on the monitors in their pseudo-Angel Wings, takes control of the ships, and shoots out glowing thread into the backs of their heads to control their minds. The next battle has them significantly stronger.

* Several times during the original ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' game. Just as the party was finishing off a particular boss, Grahf would appear, give a short speech about the nature of power, and brainwash and/or [[OneWingedAngel transform]] said miniboss into a more powerful form.
** '''[[LargeHam "Doth thou]] [[CatchPhrase desire the power?"]]'''
*** The Perfect Words guide explains exactly what he does. Every Gear's slave generator (that absorbs power from the Zohar engine deep in the planet) has a limit on it that controls the amount of power its allowed to absorb. He unlocks this, allowing the generator to absorb unlimited energy from Zohar and push the Gear far beyond its limits.
* Virgil uses this to KickTheDog in ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'', forcing the already mortally wounded [[ArtificialHuman Realians]] to drag themselves into a suicide attack. Somewhat subverted by the fact that they were ''okay with it.''
* In ''VideoGame/SilhouetteMirage'', after winning the final battle with Zohar, Har [[TheUntwist dramatically reveals]] that he's a Guardian Angel and disables his free will, allowing him to access his true power and [[OneWingedAngel transform]] into the gigantic, polygonal Cypher Zohar.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1bXZ0EQN8k Subverted touchingly]] in ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsReversal Super Robot Wars R]]'' where the BigBad is fatally wounded by the heroes, and her ReplacementGoldfish sacrifice their souls to heal her... but their bodies keep going, still determined to carry out their last wish... Even more touchingly, the BigBad asks each of them what they desired, promising to fulfill it when she resurrected them.

* Occurs with a slight twist in ''VideoGame/DarkChronicle''. [[BigBad Emperor Griffon]] takes over Gaspard after Gaspard is defeated [[spoiler:and betrays Griffon, making this also an example of YouHaveFailedMe]].
* In Hollow Bastion in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'', after [[spoiler:Riku loses to Sora]] near the beginning, [[spoiler:he takes advice from the mysterious BlackCloak, who convinces him to give in completely to TheDarkSide and possesses him]], showing up later as the penultimate fight for that world. He proceeds to give Maleficent a Villain Override as well, forcibly [[ScaledUp turning her into a dragon]] for the heroes to fight and kill.
** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'', WordOfGod states that this is how [[spoiler: Young Xehanort is able to ignore the effects of Mickey's [[TimeStandsStill Stopza]] and fight Riku; his older self (who wasn't present to be affected by the time freeze) taking control of him. Without this information, most would simply chalk it up to his nature as a TimeMaster.]]
* Arguably what happens to Manah in ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}}'' towards its first ending. Not obvious in that ending, but later endings seem to suggest that a Villain Override is happening here.
-->"She breaks the seal and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiCl_l2qqnU becomes a giant.]] What monster is this child?!"
* After you beat the BigBad of ''VideoGame/CaveStory,'' he returns and posesses TheDragon (who'd been trying to convince the hero to leave and not to destroy the island's core), the DistressedDamsel, and the "core" of the island, for a three-on-one fight.
* Subverted during Statesman's Task Force in ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes''. Turns out that Lord Recluse's lieutenants were buying time for his powerup machinery to come online. After they fall, he comes out to deal with your team of superheroes himself.

** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', after you defeat [[spoiler:what seems to be the FinalBoss, [[BigBad Sovereign]] takes control of him via his cybernetic implants and [[OneWingedAngel turns him into a fast-moving, rocket-spamming, weapon-overheating husk]].]] This actually proves to be a mistake; [[spoiler:Sovereign invests so much focus on Shepard that, when the possessed Saren is crushed, the Reaper drops its shields from the backlash and becomes vulnerable to a barrage from the massed fleets of the Citadel, who promptly rip its main shell apart and put it down for good]].

*** Inverted with the [[spoiler: Awakened Collectors]], who are playable thanks to [[spoiler: Leviathans overriding Reapers' control over some of the Collectors.]]
* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblem7'' (the [[NoExportForYou first released outside Japan]]), Nergal summons morphs in the form of all the hardest enemies fought previously, but with the best weapons in the game and much higher stats. It's implied that they're actually the originals whenever you kill them.
* One of Falkner's favorite tricks in ''VideoGame/VanguardBandits'' is to give your apparent allies a dose of BrainwashedAndCrazy once you're done with his {{mooks}}. In the bad ending of the main story branch, [[spoiler:he does it to ''you''.]]
* [[spoiler:Ameno-Sagiri]] in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' first reveals itself when [[spoiler:it possesses a defeated Adachi and uses his body to manifest [[OneWingedAngel its true form]].]] Also something of a GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere.

* Happens in ''VideoGame/MegaManAndBass'' with King, who after being defeated once, is ready to stand down until Wily brainwashes him into fighting further.
* In ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' too, with [[spoiler:Magicman.EXE]].

* In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'''s Subspace Emissary, the Ancient Minister eventually realizes that his R.O.B. army setting off all the Subspace Bombs at once on Ganondorf's orders is [[GodzillaThreshold going too far]], and intervenes. Ganondorf ain't having any of it, so he [[CrazyPrepared pushes a remote which brainwashes the R.O.B.s]] and usurps the Minister's control of the army to himself.
* One of the purer examples is in ''VideoGame/DungeonKeeper'' (especially the first game). Using your possession spell to directly control a minion, that minion is faster, stronger, tougher, can ignore bodily needs almost indefinitely, can deliberately dodge attacks, and can fight intelligently for a change. You ''are'' the Villain Override.

* In the Shadowfall War in ''VideoGame/AdventureQuestWorlds'', the evil lich Noxus does this to [[spoiler:the entire undead army of the Shadowscythe Empire under Empress Gravelyn]], which counts as this instead of MassHypnosis due to the fact that [[spoiler:he himself first created this army for Sepulchure, Gravelyn's father]]. The only [[spoiler:undead minion]] to escape Noxus' control? [[spoiler:Gravelyn's own creation, Chuckles]].
* For a given value of "villain", the Engineer in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' can do this to his sentry gun if he has a Wrangler, giving his sentry infinite range, a defensive shield and doubled fire rate. Considering sentries are already quite powerful, a well entrenched Engie with a Wrangler can become an enormous pain if the opposing team doesn't have good spies.
-->'''Engineer:''' "This thing ain't on autopilot, son!"
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'', Malladus pulls this on his minion Chancellor Cole near the end of the game, possessing his form and transforming it into a warthog-type creature.
* In ''[[VideoGame/DotHackR1Games .hack//QUARANTINE]]'', the final boss of the Cursed Wave, Corbenik, is taken over by The World's AI, Morganna Mode Gone.

* [[VideoGame/HalfLife2 'All automonous units, accept mandatory sector assimilation. Co-ordinate constriction underway. Debride and cauterize. Entering Phase nine, enhanced compliance. Deploy advisory control and oversight. Submit and be subsumed.' ]]
* In ''Videogame/{{Stellaris}}'', the [[RobotWar Contingency]] will do this to robotic populations that are part of your empire.
* Happens tragically at the end of ''VideoGame/BoxxyQuestTheGatheringStorm''. [[spoiler: After Arianna is beaten for the last time, she’s finally ready to stand down, listen to reason, and maybe even redeem herself… But then the First Internet Code she empowered herself with takes full control of her systems and forces her to keep fighting until she dies. It’s later revealed that [[HijackedByGanon Boxxyfan]] activated the code as part of his plan to hijack STORM.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', Slade takes control of Terra via the suit she's wearing after her rematch with the Titans went poorly. It's effective at first, but then Terra manages to fight back. It doesn't end very well for him.

** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', after you defeat [[spoiler:what seems to be the FinalBoss, [[BigBad Sovereign]] takes control of him via his cybernetic implants and [[OneWingedAngel turns him into a fast-moving, rocket-spamming, weapon-overheating husk]].]] This actually proves to be a mistake; [[spoiler:Sovereign invests so much focus on Shepard that, when Saren is crushed, the Reaper drops its shields from the backlash and becomes vulnerable to a barrage from the massed fleets of the Citadel, who promptly rip its main shell apart and put it down for good]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', Slade takes control of Terra via the suit she's wearing after her rematch with the Titans went poorly. It didn't work out very well for him.

* Subverted during Statesman's Task Force in ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes''. Turns out that Lord Recluse's lieutenants were buying time for his AGodAmI powerup machinery to come online. After they fall, he comes out to deal with your team of superheroes himself.

->''[[AC:"I am assuming direct control".]]''

->''"[[AC:I am assuming direct control.]]"''

->''[[AC:I am assuming direct control.]]''

->''[[AC:I am [[MemeticMutation assuming direct control]].]]''

->''"[[AC:I am [[MemeticMutation assuming direct control]].]]"''

* ''DivinityDragonCommander'': Just as the half-dragon emperor has finally assassinated his insane siblings, his head engineer screws him over and takes over [[spoiler:ENTIRE CONTINENTS. It's up to the player to hunt down and butcher the mind-controlled puppets of Corvus before his clone-mind selves conquer everything.]] Strangely, he's still on board the same airship as the emperor after attempting this usurp, and doesn't die until the airship is decommissioned.
* ''[[VideoGame/HalfLife2 'All automonous units, accept manatory sector assimilation. Co-ordinate constriction underway. Debride and cauterize. Entering Phase nine, enhanced compliance. Deploy advisory control and oversight. Submit and be subsumed.' ]]

* ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' has Uzuki and Kariya fighting the protagonist over three days. First Uzuki alone, then Kariya alone and both in the same day, and then [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs both of them]], {{Brainwashed}} and empowered by TheDragon's master plan.

* ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' has Uzuki and Kariya fighting the protagonist over three days. First Uzuki alone, then Kariya alone and both in the same day, and then both of them, somehow upgraded by TheDragon's master plan.

* [[BigBad Hawk Moth]] from ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' can do this to [[VillainOfTheWeek the Akumas]] he creates if they start to get distracted from their objective of capturing Ladybug and Chat Noir's [[TransformationTrinket Miraculous]]--he inflicts pain on Pixelator in one episode and starts to take control of Evillustrator's hand in another--though he generally only does so as a last resort; more typically he keeps them on track by [[MoreThanMindControl manipulating their inner desires and negative emotions]].

* In Hollow Bastion in the first ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'', after [[spoiler:Riku loses to Sora]] near the beginning, [[spoiler:he takes advice from the mysterious BlackCloak, who convinces him to give in completely to TheDarkSide and possesses him]], showing up later as the penultimate fight for that world. He proceeds to give Maleficent a Villain Override as well, forcibly [[ScaledUp turning her into a dragon]] for the heroes to fight and kill.
** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3D'', WordOfGod states that this is how [[spoiler: Young Xehanort is able to ignore the effects of Mickey's [[TimeStandsStill Stopza]] and fight Riku; his older self (who wasn't present to be affected by the time freeze) taking control of him. Without this information, most would simply chalk it up to his nature as a TimeMaster.]]

* Used by Brainiac on ComicBook/LexLuthor in ''ComicBook/WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow''.

*** Harbinger, the Collector General, who commonly takes over a Collector drone in the middle of fights. And because he can do this to any active drone, he can pull this trope off more than once in any given battle. In fact, he does this so often as to reach DemonicSpiders status. Don't forget the parts where he'll take over a Collector that you're about to finish off, restoring them to full health in addition to the hefty power boost.

* In ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'' book ''Literature/((Oathbringer}}'', [[BigBad Odium]] does this with [[spoiler:Amaram and the entirety of the Sadeas army via using two of his most powerful Unmade. One afflicts the latter with a berserk battle rage, while another outright possesses the former, altering his entire body and turning him into a monstrous killing machine.]]

* In ''Manga/PokemonSpecial'', the Kanto Elite Four are a villainous group... except for Bruno, who merely desires a [[SpiritedCompetitor fair fight with a strong opponent]]. To get him to go along with their schemes, Agatha is forced to use the Gym Badge Enhancement Device to mind control him. He perceives these overrides as blackouts and has no memory of what happened during them.