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3%%
4[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/RegularShow https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rigbysbody.png]]]]
5[[caption-width-right:350:Get out of my body!]]
6%%
7->''"No, I Robotboy! Protoboy take body, pretend be me!"''
8-->-- '''WesternAnimation/{{Robotboy}},''' "The Old Switcharobot"
9
10When one character forcibly and deliberately hijacks another's body, or swaps bodies with the latter against their will.
11
12There are two main versions of this:
13
14* In the first case, the goal is to "upgrade" one's body; an ailing character (dying, elderly or disabled) possesses or swaps bodies with someone who is young and healthy, or a {{Muggle|s}} swaps bodies with a super-powered person, or both. If the switch has the side effect of causing PossessionBurnout, then the thief may be doing this to [[ImmortalityImmorality become immortal]].
15* In the second case, the goal is to deceive the rest of the world; a character who is imprisoned or wanted for heinous crimes possesses or swaps bodies with an upstanding member of the community, or at least someone without a rap sheet. This version does not ''necessarily'' require swapping bodies -- all they really need to do is find a way to look like the person, research that person, then [[KillAndReplace kill them and take their place in society]] (and if you manage to do this in a place where the person is new, you can even skip the first "look like" part) -- but a body swap just makes that last step easier (and with fewer messy consequences).
16
17Except when stealing a body for its super-powers, the perpetrator seldom cares much about the victim, choosing whoever seems young, strong, attractive, and convenient. Often this is TheHero, and it sets up an episode plot. Sometimes, the perpetrator holds a [[NotJustATournament competition]] to find the strongest in the land, with this as its hidden grand-prize. Other times, the target is the perpetrator's own offspring, who may or may not willingly volunteer; this is especially heinous if the offspring was a sympathetic character.
18
19Grand Theft Me almost always involves stealing the victim's identity as well; with the second type, in fact, that's the whole point. A common strategy is to name the patsy as one's heir, then do the swap and kill the old body off. If done this way you often have overlap with FamilialBodySnatcher and RaisedAsAHost. Alternatively, the old body can be committed to a mental hospital, since no one will believe the ranting of an old man who thinks he's a twenty-year-old. If the replaced person is a main character, this often sets off a SpotTheImposter plot.
20
21Oftentimes, this is conducted in secret, and the villain reveals his true identity after a whole story spent as someone else. Especially disconcerting if his new body is the GirlOfTheWeek. (See ShowingOffTheNewBody.)
22
23A more modern version is the idea of raising a clone for the purpose of brain transplant (or, more realistically, replacement parts); whatever happens to the original body after the swap is irrelevant.
24
25A subtrope of BodySnatcher, and the dark cousin of FreakyFridayFlip. Sometimes, a villain attempting this type of swap can start a FreakyFridayFlip plot, or both could occur in parallel, as the required {{phlebotinum}} is the same. If it's not a human doing the possessing, it's DemonicPossession. If it's done by multiple beings at the same time, it's ManySpiritsInsideOfOne. If a character is capable of doing this several times in a row, it's BodySurf. Compare HeartDrive. Contrast FusionDance, where it's usually done willingly and/or having them have equal control of the one body they're in. Although FusionDance can turn into GrandTheftMe if one of the entities emotionally manipulates the other.
26
27Certain characters can [[FightingFromTheInside break this]], partially or [[HeroicWillpower completely]], if the thief tries to go against an IntrinsicVow.
28
29It was first featured in modern fiction in the Creator/HGWells story "[[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Story_of_the_Late_Mr._Elvesham The Story of the Late Mr. Elvesham]]".
30
31'''Major spoilers ahead!'''
32
33----
34!!Example subpages:
35[[index]]
36* GrandTheftMe/AnimeAndManga
37* GrandTheftMe/{{Literature}}
38* GrandTheftMe/LiveActionTV
39* GrandTheftMe/VideoGames
40[[/index]]
41
42[[foldercontrol]]
43!!Other examples
44
45[[folder:Ballads]]
46* In ''Literature/TheLordOfLornAndTheFalseSteward'', the steward skips the "looks like" part by the simple expedient of trying it in a foreign country where he's unknown.
47[[/folder]]
48
49[[folder:Comic Books]]
50* ''Franchise/TheDCU'':
51** [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] supervillain known as the Ultra-Humanite had this as a constant modus operandi, swapping with, among others, a young fashion model and a white gorilla.
52*** In the {{Elseworld}}s miniseries ''ComicBook/TheGoldenAge'', the Ultra-Humanite is revealed to have [[spoiler:joined the Nazis, transferred his brain into the body of a captured American hero, and returned to the US as America's favourite returning son. He runs for Congress and then holds a search for a truly exceptional young hero to become America's Greatest Ever Hero, Dynaman. Unbeknownst to the people, and especially to the new young hero, he's also [[StupidJetpackHitler saved Hitler's brain...]]]]
53*** In ''ComicBook/SupermanAndBatmanGenerations'', another {{Elseworld}}, it's revealed that Ultra transferred his brain into the body of Lex Luthor after the pair were nearly killed in the very first story. This may well be a LampshadeHanging on the fact that, in the very beginning, Ultra and Luthor were extremely similar (bald evil genius scientists who battled Superman).
54*** Another character hires them later in the series to do the same for him, because he was born with so many crippling deformities that he's spent his entire life in a fluid-filled jar -- even the air is poison to him. A bit closer to the original trope in that they clone someone else for him to transfer his mind into, but also a bit more different in that when the process is done, the clone kills the original, with his full consent.
55** ComicBook/GreenArrow is targeted for this in the "Quiver" storyline--but it actually works out in his favor; the villain had planned ahead and transferred his vast fortune to Green Arrow's ownership. When he winds up dying instead, GA gets to keep the money.
56** During ''[[ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman Reign of the Supermen]]'', the Eradicator tries to take over Superman's dead body, but something, most likely Superman's slowly reviving body, prevented him from doing so.
57** In ''ComicBook/SupermanTheDoomsdayWars'', ComicBook/{{Brainiac}} hijacks Doomsday's body when his frail body fails him. He notes that Doomsday's animalistic nature is fighting him, thus opting to steal the frail body of Lana Lang and Pete Ross' son, genetically modify him with Doomsday's DNA and use that as his new body. Pete comes to his son's rescue and Superman forces Brainiac out of Doomsday's body, forcing the psychic-powered maniac to hide in a new robotic body, his permanent home.
58** In the ''Comicbook/RedDaughterOfKrypton'' storyline, ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'' fought a body-snatcher enemy called Worldkiller-1. He stole the body of the leader of the Diasporan alien race and manipulated the Diasporans to wipe other races out. Then he met Supergirl, decided that a Kryptonian would be a much better host, and he tried to take over her body.
59** In ''ComicBook/Supergirl1972'' issue #8, the mythical Medusa curses [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} the titular heroine]] and attempts to get her killed to take over her body.
60** Super-villain Insect Queen takes over ComicBook/LanaLang's body in ''[[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 2010]]'' storyline ''ComicBook/DeathAndTheFamily''.
61** In ''ComicBook/TwoForTheDeathOfOne'', [[EvilSorcerer Satanis]] takes Superman's body in order to fight his rival Syrene.
62** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'':
63*** In ''ComicBook/WonderWoman2006'' Doctor Psycho uses his abilities to body swap with Sarge Steel, thereby taking over the D.M.A. while preserving a version of Steel's mind imprisoned in his own incarcerated form, mostly to gloat at him.
64*** ''ComicBook/WonderWomanRebirth'': Urzkartaga turns out to be trapped in the jungle, but he plans to take over a human body in order to escape. That body just happens to belong to Steve Trevor.
65* ''Franchise/MarvelUniverse'':
66** ComicBook/CaptainAmerica villain the ComicBook/RedSkull uses this as his form of immortality. At first he used a clone of Cap, pointing out that it was doubly suitable not only to tweak his nemesis but also because Cap is a "perfect Aryan". Since then, he's had to find other "hosts". In ''Captain America: Reborn'', the Skull even attempts to do to this to a resurrected Cap, [[spoiler: who had just been pulled out of time. It didn't stick.]]
67** In ''ComicBook/ClanDestine'', Jasmine (now better known as Cuckoo), is the oldest of the LongLived Destine siblings. However, she lost her original body centuries ago and is now using her psychic powers to take a new human body (typically one that's dead or dying, but repairable) whenever her current one dies. Lacking some of the RequiredSecondaryPowers, though, she‘s also dependent on her younger brother Albert's healing powers to stabilise her in the new body.
68** ''ComicBook/ImmortalHulk'': A recurring theme.
69*** Starting off, Brian Banner possesses the body of Sasquatch in order to get into the Hulk.
70*** Much later on down the line, it turns out [[spoiler:The Leader has been possessing Rick Jones' corpse since his apparent resurrection. A few issues later, he takes over the body of Del Frye, a teenager in Shadow Base's care. And then it turns out he's managed to take over the Green Scar Hulk personality. Exactly where Rick and the Green Scar's minds are during all this is unclear, but Frye's possession shows he's stuck reliving his own death over and over while the Leader steals his body.]]
71*** [[spoiler:When the Leader kills Doc Samson in such a way he can't restore his body, Samson ends up taking over the deceased body of Sasquach, becoming Doc Sasquach.]]
72** ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'':
73*** Loki does this at one point using [[spoiler:Sif]]'s body, while she is stuck in the body of a dying, elderly Midgardian.
74*** Loki also does it to Thor himself for a couple issues, though the writers apparently forgot that this should have meant that Loki as Thor shouldn't have been able to wield Mjolnir while this was happening but he was able to.
75** This is the basis of the ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan2013'' comic series. Which narrates the story of [[spoiler:Dr. Octopus after he had swapped bodies with Spider-Man, leaving the hero to die trapped in Ock's broken body and leaving the villain in a healthy, heroic body with no one realizing anything. A remnant of Peter remains in Otto's body and in the end, after realizing that he had failed to live up to Spider-Man's legacy, Ock erases his own memories and hands control back to Peter]].
76** ''ComicBook/XMen'':
77*** In one '80s story (''ComicBook/UncannyXMen'' #151-#152), the Hellfire Club attempts to take the X-Men down by having the White Queen switch bodies with Storm. Turns out that controlling the weather without causing a disaster is much, much harder than Storm makes it look.
78*** On the other hand, years later when she inadvertently takes over Iceman's body after having spent a long time in a coma, she proceeded to use his powers in ways he never even imagined before, which gave him some self-esteem problems for awhile.
79*** In ''ComicBook/NewXMen'', Xavier is revealed to have been born with an EldritchAbomination twin sister, who he tried to kill in the womb right before his birth. The fight in the womb led to Xavier's mom going into premature labor and his sister Cassandra (who was born with adult intelligence and communication skills Ă  la Stewie from ''Family Guy'') being mortally wounded and declared stillborn. Xavier's parents then kept him from ever knowing about his sister until she came back into his life and swapped bodies with him decades later.
80*** Betsy Braddock a.k.a. Psylocke was a British superheroine who -- after a very convoluted series of events even by 1990s ''X-Men'' storyline standards -- thought she'd been changed to appear Asian, only to find out she'd actually had her mind swapped with a Japanese assassin named Kwannon (who happened to have identical powers to Betsy's ... and to have purple hair like Betsy). Eventually, Kwannon died while still in Betsy's original body, and Betsy stayed Asian (physically, at least) for 20 years before the swap was eventually undone.
81*** ComicBook/{{X 23}} is the target of an attempt by Miss Sinister, Claudine Renko. She wants Laura's HealingFactor due to a wound she received from ComicBook/{{Daken}} allowing [[spoiler: Mr. Sinister to exert control over her as part of his attempt to return from a previous death. Unfortunately, the attempt by Claudine's personality fails when ''Sinister'' transfers his consciousness into Laura's body instead. Until she tells him to get out of her head and kicks him out again.]]
82** ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} villain Cyber did this to come back to life. He chose a powerful and dimwitted young mutant named Milo to be his new body and later had adamantium laced into his skin. This bit him in the ass because his new body also had a heart condition that caused Cyber to go into cardiac arrest. So Cyber needed heart surgery; something that was pretty much impossible thanks to his adamantium skin.
83* ''ComicBook/AndersonPsiDivision'': When the minds of Vernan D'Argue and Anderson both end up inside the body of a gorilla by accident, D'Arque (having lost both his original body and his intended clone-body) tries to absorb the gorilla's mind into himself and steal Anderson's body.
84* In ''ComicBook/HackSlash'', the [[spoiler: horribly-burned Laura]] does a FreakyFridayFlip with Vlad for this purpose.
85* An excellent story, "King's Crown", from the anthology ''Magazine/HeavyMetal'': in a certain land, [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership a tournament is held every so often to choose the strongest man to be the new king]]. Entrants must be vital and free of diseases. Every winner becomes a cruel tyrant, but the hero of the story (called weak and frail all his life) wants to become ruler and end the reign of evil. He wins, and at his "coronation", he's drugged, bound, his skull is cut open by robot surgeons (after he wakes up), his brain is crudely removed over his screaming protests, and the brain of the previous king is transplanted from his freshly-dead, used up, obese corpse. In death, however, the hero is victorious. The stress of the surgery sets off his congenital heart defect, and the tyrant is slain. In the TV adaptation, however, the hero is perfectly healthy and the brain transplant is successful, the evil king is reborn in the hero’s strong muscular body and will use it to continue his reign of evil.
86* In ''ComicBook/LockeAndKey'', using the Ghost Door will cause your spirit to leave your body, giving you a quite literal out-of-body experience. Unfortunately, this is a perfect opportunity for someone else to use the door, then reenter your body instead of their own. Eventually, [[spoiler:Dodge possesses Bode's body in this way, then impersonates him to the rest of the family.]]
87* in ''ComicBook/LoriLovecraft: The Dark Lady'', a demon steals Sir Andrew's physical form. However, because Sir Andrew died at the moment of possession, the demon is in control of his body but trapped inside Voodoo Mansion. It lures Lori into the mansion in an attempt to steal her body.
88* In ''ComicBook/TheMetabarons'', [[spoiler: Honorata transfers her consciousness into the body of Oda, her son Aghnar's wife. Aghnar isn't aware of this until after Oda-Honorata already bears him a son. Things get worse from there.]]
89* ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyGenerations'': The revived Smooze is capable of this, as demonstrated in issue #3 when it possesses Twilight Sparkle. Zecora and Pinkie Pie work together to drive it out, and Twilight is able to recall its thoughts while it was controlling her. In issue 5, it possesses [[spoiler:Violet Shiver]].
90* In the sequel of ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'', ''Pk 2'', Cormack Trentor switches his body with Paperinik's and plans to use it to get revenge on Anymore Boring, Everett Ducklair's right hand man, since he caused him to lose his job and be arrested.
91* In ''Vertigo Pop: London'', an aging British rock star, an amalgam of Mick Jagger and some others, picks up a young indie-rock protege, and attempts to use a magic hookah he picked up from a guru in the sixties to switch bodies with him. To set it up, he builds a career for the kid, while faking an increased dementia that he ''is'' the kid, so when the swap happens, they'll lock him up. He relents, and takes himself to find the guru. At this point, the guru is now a young woman.
92* Near the end of ''ComicBook/{{Revival}}'' Jordan Borchardt is able to invert this by imprisoning a [[BodySurf body surfing]] Passenger inside herself by force of will.
93* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
94** In the issues before the reboot in ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'', Ixis Naugus' body is failing him, thus he tries to convince others to aid him so he can take over their bodies. After being rejected numerous times, [[spoiler:he ends up taking over his apprentice Geoffery St. John, effectively RewardedAsATraitorDeserves]].
95** In the ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogIDW'' mini-series ''Scrapnik Island'', Mecha Sonic Mk-II prepares to do this with Sonic in order to get revenge on Dr. Eggman for abandoning him after his defeat in ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles''. Thankfully, the other Scrapniks save Sonic and stop the swap.
96* A witch body-swaps with a much younger housewife in "Judy, You're Not Yourself Today!", in ''Tales from the Crypt'' #25.
97* In the fourth arc of ''ComicBook/{{WITCH}}'' this is how [[spoiler:Phobos escaped from his cell, by swapping body with the custodian of the Tower of Mists in which he had been imprisoned]]. This also ends up saving his life, as when he tries to MindRape Will into submission she comes ''this'' close to [[BewareTheNiceOnes torture him to death]] before remembering she's supposed to reverse the exchange...
98[[/folder]]
99
100[[folder:Fairy Tales]]
101* In ''Literature/TheGooseGirl'', the maidservant manages this by taking the heroine's identity en route to her wedding in a foreign country.
102[[/folder]]
103
104[[folder:Fan Works]]
105* Brainstorm (dressing as Frankenstein) pretends to do this to Socrates in ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries''.
106* This is [[DreamWalker Feather Duster's]] final gambit in ''[[Fanfic/TheDearSweetieBelleContinuity Cutie Mark Crusaders Dream Warriors]]'', specifically [[spoiler:taking Scootaloo's body and using it to murder Rainbow Dash]].
107* ''Fanfic/ADiplomaticVisit'': Towards the end of chapter 6 of the sequel ''A Diplomat at Large'', Pinkie unwittingly channels another Power. Unlike most cases, they cooperate and speak together, delivering the same message that Pinkie was about to give: "Just cheer up and never ever give up hope!"
108* In ''[[Fanfic/ATroublesomeCharge Ghost Roads]]'', this is Xue Yang's spirit's M.O., going between victims so that he can stay around. [[spoiler: Horrifyingly, he gets to Lan Sizhui like this]].
109* In the ''Series/ICarly'' fanfic ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8532906/1/iFightCrimeWithVictorious iFight Crime With Victorious]]'', Missy Robinson does this to [[spoiler:Sam]] and actually gets away with it because, as in the normal show, Missy was as much Carly's best friend as [[spoiler:Sam]] is and knows enough about their group to interact with Carly daily.
110* In the ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9809359/1/The-Karma-Circle-Sister-Dearest The Karma Circle: Sister Dearest]]'', [[spoiler:a ghost steals Gaz's body, leaving Gaz's own spirit trapped in the ghost's former resting place. Dib figures this out, but since the ghost is a better sister than [[BigBrotherBully Gaz ever was]], he leaves things as they are.]]
111* In the ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' fanfiction ''[[http://m.fanfiction.net/s/7881431/1/ Parasite]]'', [[spoiler:it's revealed that Nations that die in accidents are reborn by stealing a body from one of their citizens, with said body morphing to look like the Nation and the body's former inhabitant being erased from existence. They don't like this, but there's no choice in the matter.]]
112* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' fan works:
113** Ever since ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'', a lot of fanfics involving the premise of Sora being possessed by Xehanort have been written, to the point of FandomSpecificPlot.
114** The AU fic ''Fanfic/HurricaneHeartbeat'' diverges from ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' when Ventus accidentally takes over four-year-old Sora's body, with no way of knowing what happened to Sora's Heart.
115** Similarly, ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/15332802/ Two Hearts, One Beat]]'', has Sora dying as a four-year-old from [[SoapOperaDisease what can only be described as]] Heart failure, around the moment Ventus calls out to him. Sora gives Ventus his body, which immediately starts recovering from whatever was killing him, as well as his memories. Consequently, Ventus grows up in Sora's body and loses all of his own memories, and it's not until some time after ''Dream Drop Distance'' that anyone finds out what happened to Ventus, and that Vanitas was in there as well.
116* ''Fanfic/ThePiecesLieWhereTheyFell'': When Page first meets Fluttershy, the spirit of Balance has temporarily taken over the pegasi’s body to speak to her, in part because Fluttershy herself is too shy to speak on her own behalf. Later on, during Wind Breaker's chat with Applejack's spirit, Balance suddenly takes control of her body before she can give away too much information, and says as much to Wind Breaker. [[spoiler:When Night Blade and Rainbow Dash are talking, Balance ''tries'' to hijack Rainbow Dash's body so it can apologize to Night Blade for some of its earlier actions, but she {{No Sell}}s the hijacking and tells Balance to come in and speak as itself, which it does.]]
117* ''Fanfic/ThePowersOfHarmony'': [[BigBad Cetus]] was already guilty of [[DemonicPossession possessing]] [[spoiler: Rarity]], but she upgrades to this when she steals [[spoiler:Celestia]]'s body and sealing away her Lifeforce [[spoiler:in the Sun]].
118* In ''Fanfic/RobbReturns'', various characters have been possessed by the Old Gods or their ancestors, though with benevolent intentions.
119** [[spoiler:One of the Stark's ancestors possesses Eddard in order to reestablish a pact with the Old Gods that secures the return of direwolves. He is also subsequently briefly possessed on several occasions by the Old Gods to give messages to people (and in one case enact a healing). Jon becomes similarly possessed so that Tyrion knows he must ride to the Nightfort.]]
120** [[spoiler:Willas Tyrell, too, is possessed by the spirit of Mern IX, the last Gardener King who was killed by Aegon and his sisters at the Field of Fire.]]
121** [[spoiler:Shireen is possessed by the Old Gods momentarily when she and Gendry find the hidden Godswood at Dragonstone.]]
122* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''/''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' crossover ''Fanfic/TheVampireOfSteel'' Supergirl is getting beaten by a Kryptonian vampire. In order to fight him Buffy takes over Kara's body via Willow casting a spell.
123-->'''Buffy:''' <Kara?>\
124'''Supergirl:''' <Yes, Buffy?>\
125'''Buffy:''' <We’re finished.>\
126'''Supergirl:''' <Good. I want my body back.>\
127'''Buffy:''' <With pleasure. But I gotta tell you, you’ve got a really great setup here. Do you think, maybe, sometime...>\
128'''Supergirl:''' <BUFFY.>\
129'''Buffy:''' <All right, all right.>
130* ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries''. [[spoiler:Tea is mind-controlled by Crump, which doesn't happen in the original series. It is corrected when Marik Ishtar forcibly evicts Crump a few episodes later, especially since Crump was trying, and failing, at impersonating Tea.]]
131* ''Fanfic/ThereAndBackAgain'': In this PeggySue, it's revealed early on that [[spoiler:Brynden Rivers hijacked Bran Stark's body when [[Recap/GameOfThronesS6E5TheDoor the White Walkers attacked his cave]] so that he could return to Westeros in another's body and set in motion events from the Long Night to [[Recap/GameOfThronesS8E5TheBells the destruction of King's Landing]] so that the Targaryens would be destroyed and he would rule for all time.]]
132* ''Fanfic/BecomingATrueInvader'':
133** [[spoiler:The [[AlternateSelf alternate Keef]] temporarily took over Gaz's body in order to covertly search for [[BigBad the Employer/Minimoose]] in the main universe. When the connection eventually failed, Gaz was left with no memory of what happened.]]
134** [[spoiler:Minimoose pulls this on Zim during the FinalBattle after his robot body is destroyed, latching his core onto Zim's PAK to control his body.]]
135* ''Fanfic/ReMyHostageNotYours'': Subverted, as the damage to Larb's PAK manages to keep it from overwriting Gaz's mind with his the way that [=PAKs=] are supposed to when they attach to non-Irken bodies. [[spoiler: Double subverted in Chapter 7 when it finally overwhelms her, until Zim manages to overpower Larb and enable Gaz's mind to retake control.]]
136* In ''Fanfic/ManehattansLoneGuardian'', [[spoiler:First Quarter steals control of her granddaughter Hazelnut's body after her previous identity, Cocoa Mocha, dies of old age.]]
137[[/folder]]
138
139[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
140* BigBad Lord John Whorfin of ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBuckarooBanzaiAcrossThe8thDimension'' crosses into our dimension by possessing the body of Dr. Emilio Lizardo. Since no hints are given that he's still in there somewhere and the possibility of saving him never comes up, we're left to assume the good doctor's consciousness was unfortunately wiped out in the process. The novelization does reveal that Dr. Lizardo's consciousness is still trapped in there, but he's only able to exert a small amount of control when John Whorfin is starved of electricity, and he desperately wants to commit suicide to stop Whorfin. Presumably, he can only see Buckaroo's ultimate explosive defeat of the Red Lectroids as a MercyKill.
141* ''Film/AllOfMe'': Edwina, an heiress who has been sick all her life, wishes to migrate into a younger, healthy body -- that of a volunteer -- upon her imminent death. The volunteer, Terry, believes all of this to be superstitious nonsense, and only wants to be named as the heir. Of course, it all goes to hell, and Edwina ends up sharing brain-space with her lawyer Roger.
142* In ''Film/ArtOfTheDead'', the spirit of MadArtist Dorian Wilde can possess the body of anyone who been completely corrupted by one of his evil paintings. He possesses Gina after she has been completely corrupted by Lust.
143* This is the basic plot of ''Film/TheAtomicBrain''; a bitter old, rich woman hires a MadScientist to develop the technology to move her brain into one of three beautiful, disposable housekeepers.
144* This is the villain's plot in ''Film/BeingJohnMalkovich''; all of the major characters, including Malkovich himself, are more or less tricked into doing the work for him.
145* This is the central plot of ''Film/TheBrainThatWouldntDie'', although it involves a woman's head being transplanted onto a new body.
146* In ''Franchise/ChildsPlay'', SerialKiller Charles Lee Ray transfers his soul into [[PerversePuppet a doll named Chucky]] and then spends much of the rest of the series trying to transfer into a human body... until he suddenly has the epiphany that he actually [[RevelingInTheNewForm digs]] being a killer doll and that humanity is overrated.
147* ''Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness'': While Strange and America Chavez are in the 838-universe version of the New York Sanctum, that universe's Mordo tells them of a [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique dangerous spell]] in the Darkhold called Dreamwalking, which allows the wielder to take over the body of an alternate version of themselves in another universe. [[spoiler:Sacred Timeline Wanda uses the spell to possess her 838 counterpart to both see her sons and to attack the Illuminati in order to get to America. Strange later uses the same spell while in Sinister Strange's universe to possess the corpse of Defender Strange buried in the Sacred Timeline so that he can rescue America from Wanda.]]
148%%* The central theme of the film ''Film/FaceOff''.
149* In ''Film/{{Fallen}}'', this is Edgar Reese's major ability. Specifically, his spirit can transfer to any person and take them over as long as they're within range. At the end of the movie, after [[spoiler:Hobbes lures him out to a secluded cabin and poisons himself so that Reese won't be able to transfer to a new body, Reese reveals that he's able to possess animals as well. It's actually revealed earlier in the movie when he possesses a cat (otherwise, having him possess one at the end would have been the worst kind of AssPull). It's possible that Reese can only possess humans and cats, which would make more sense as to why he thought he'd be unable to find anything to possess in the woods]].
150* This is the plot of ''Film/{{Freejack}}'', with the added bit of TimeTravel; the host is kidnapped from the timestream moments before his historical death in a horrific car crash so that no one will miss him.
151* TheReveal of ''Film/GetOut2017'' shows that [[spoiler:[[BigBadDuumvirate the Armitage family]]]] has created and perfected the Coagula, a procedure that consists of putting the victim, [[spoiler:a young black person, into [[AndIMustScream "the Sunken Place"]]]] via hypnosis, surgically removing everything but the brain stem, and attaching the parts that contain the thoughts and emotions of [[spoiler:an old white person's]] brain, so that said [[spoiler:old white person]] can control his/her new [[spoiler:young black]] body.
152* ''Film/TheHauntedPalace'' ditches the {{subver|tedTrope}}sion in [[Literature/TheCaseOfCharlesDexterWard the source material]] and plays this trope straight.
153* ''Film/TheHazing'': After Doug stupidly performs the ritual to open the door to the afterlife for Professor Kapps, Kapps' spirit takes over his body and starts using it as a host to kill everyone else in the house. After Doug's body is killed, Kapps does a BodySurf into Marsha.
154* In ''Film/TheHidden'', an alien slug takes over the bodies of humans as unsuspecting prey and treats it like a joyride. It just wants to listen to death metal, drive expensive cars, rob banks, and blow things up for fun.
155* In ''Film/TheLastLeprechaun'', the banshee steals Laura's body in order to have a body and be rich.
156* ''Franchise/TheMatrix'':
157** Agents are able to do this to muggles any time they wish, which makes them nigh-impossible to escape and forces the Heroes into the ethical grey area of having to murder people before they are possessed.
158** In ''Film/TheMatrixRevolutions'', Bane's mind gets [[YourMindMakesItReal overwritten]] by Agent Smith, who in the previous movie developed the ability to [[CloneByConversion turn anyone into a clone of himself]]. Bane's body then becomes Smith's gateway to the real world, leading to a terrifying scene.
159%%* ''Film/Millennium1989'' has the same premise.
160* ''Film/NothingButTheNight'': The ultimate secret of Iver House is that [[spoiler:Mrs Van Traylen]] has worked out how to transfer her personality into a new body and has placed herself into the body of [[spoiler:Mary Valley]]. She has done the same to the other [[spoiler:dead trustees]], placing them in the bodies of [[spoiler:other orphans]].
161* As it turns out, this is the villain's plan in ''Film/PokemonDetectivePikachu''. Using a specially created helmet rig, he wants to hijack the body of [[spoiler:[[PhysicalGod Mewtwo]]]] and TakeOverTheWorld. [[spoiler:He actually pulls off the first one, too.]]
162* ''Film/{{Possessor}}'' is about a woman who is paid to use technology to possess the bodies of targets and commit murder/suicides so that the deaths cannot be traced back to their real source by using a MindControlDevice.
163* In both the film and play ''Film/PreludeToAKiss'', a dying old man switches bodies with a bride on her wedding day.
164* ''Film/ScannerCop'': While Zena is dying, Staziak scans her to find out where Karl Glock is hiding, following her into a mental world which is heavily implied to be {{Hell}}. She then tries to pull this trope on Staziak by taking over his body and letting him die in hers. He prevents it by scanning her mental projection.
165* ''Film/{{Scanners}}'' ends with [[spoiler:Revok and Vale in a psychic duel, and Revok completely destroying Vale's body, but there's a hint that Vale may have psychically switched bodies at the last second. Either that, or Revok ate Vale's consciousness, just as he said he would -- "Everything you are is gonna become me."]]
166* This is the twist midway through ''Film/{{Selfless}}''. A rich, dying old man's mind is moved into a young body that was artificially grown for that purpose -- except that it wasn't, so he commits Grand Theft Me unknowingly and has to deal with the consequences when he finds out the truth.
167%%* The TwistEnding of ''Film/TheSkeletonKey''.
168* In ''Film/{{Soulkeeper}}'', an entire cult is made up of formerly damned souls now inhabiting the bodies of the living in order to experience earthly pleasures. Eventually one of the main characters is threatened with having his body stolen by the demonic leader, Simon Magus, who shoots himself in the head in order to die and allow his soul to possess another.
169* Ra in ''Film/{{Stargate}}'' was an elderly, decrepit alien before taking over the body of a teenage Egyptian boy.
170* A unique variant appears in ''Film/{{Surrogates}}''; the remote-controlled body of [[spoiler:Greer's partner Jennifer Peters]] is hijacked by not one, but two different characters. [[spoiler:Lionel Canter kills and impersonates her via her Surrogate to use her as TheMole, and then Greer himself hijacks the surrogate, from the dead Canter's chair no less, to stop the surrogate-shutdown from killing billions.]]
171* A MaybeMagicMaybeMundane case in ''Film/TheTestamentOfDrMabuse'', in which it is left deliberately unclear whether the imprisoned and dying DiabolicalMastermind Dr. Mabuse managed to use evil psionic powers to take over the body of his psychiatrist Dr. Baum, or whether Baum went insane and developed [[NapoleonDelusion the delusion of being his former patient]].
172* The villain does this in ''Film/XChange''. The protagonist also goes through several bodies and even steals one.
173* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'':
174** At the very end of the credits for ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'', there is an EasterEgg scene in which [[spoiler:Professor Xavier, who was killed during the movie, is revealed to have implanted his mind into the body of a man who had been earlier revealed to have a functioning body, but no working mind. It is ironic because Xavier had lectured to a class earlier in the movie about the ethical dilemmas involved in such a transfusion of soul, so to speak]].
175** In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', Logan essentially steals the body of his counterpart from the new timeline when he snaps back after changing the future.
176** In ''Film/XMenApocalypse'', the titular villain has kept himself alive for millennia by transferring his consciousness into host mutant bodies, accumulating powers from each mutant he transfers himself into; for example, the most recent host had a HealingFactor. In the present day, his plan is to transfer his consciousness into [[spoiler:Professor Xavier]] so that he can "Be everywhere. Be everyone."
177[[/folder]]
178
179[[folder:Gamebooks]]
180* The Literature/FightingFantasy gamebook ''Literature/{{Magehunter}}'' has this happening several times, after you and your ally, Reinhardt, gets cursed by your arch-nemesis, Mencius the Wizard. In your quest to hunt down Mencius and reverse the curse, the book will randomly force you to swap bodies with Reinhardt until you found a way to control the spell, and while in Reinhardt's body you'll find out he's a rather mediocre fighter.
181[[/folder]]
182
183[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]
184* OlderThanFeudalism: Yayati, after the curse of his father-in-law that he should become old and infirm, asked his sons to exchange their youthful body with his. All refused except the youngest son, Puru, who was crowned after his reign. Puru was the ancestor of the Kauravas and the Pandavas in the ''Literature/{{Mahabharata}}''. His brother Yadu was the ancestor of the Yadavas - thus the ancestor of Krishna.
185* In UsefulNotes/{{Buddhism}}, it's theoretically possible to use your spiritual power to hijack mindstream (the process that leads you through rebirth) to move your mind to a body that doesn't have one. The great master Kamalasila once gets out of his body to animate a rotting elephant corpse and make it walk away from the road. However, while he is busy doing it, another master, Dampa Sangye, appropriates his inert human body believing it to be a fresh corpse, as it was more beautiful than Sangye's own body. Kamalasila finds himself having to inhabit Sangye's body from that point.
186[[/folder]]
187
188[[folder:Podcasts]]
189* In ''Podcast/TheAdventureZoneBalance,'' [[spoiler: the Animus Bell]] has this power, by forcibly removing a body's soul and allowing another to possess it. [[spoiler: The liches who run Wonderland take advantage of this to send out their victims with claims of finding great treasure, thus luring in more adventurers for them to torment.]]
190[[/folder]]
191
192[[folder:Stand-Up Comedy]]
193* Creator/FrankieBoyle leverages implied pop culture knowledge of this trope in a riotous bit wherein he postulates, without prior set-up, that Prince Phillip may be trying to use dark magic to eject Princess Charlotte's soul from her body and take it for his own.
194[[/folder]]
195
196[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
197* ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'':
198** This is how immortality works for Body Thieves from ''Immortals''.
199** The spell "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Steal Body]]" (from the ''[[TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening Free Council]]'' sourcebook) causes this, with a caveat: ''"The mage rips soul from body and possesses the target’s now-vacant form, leaving the victim and the mage’s former body dead."'' Any mage who is a Master of Death and a Disciple of Life is capable of casting the spell, including the protagonists. Out of all other spells that extend life, this is the only one that allows a mage to actually live forever without becoming a soul-eating Tremere Lich, and it neatly avoids the logistical problems of UndeadTaxExemption. The mage still has to commit murder every several decades, but that's still preferable to eating a soul every month.
200* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
201** In Second Edition, a couple of spells from the ''Complete Book of Necromancers'' allow body switching, and are favored by elderly necromancers wanting a younger body.
202** A high-level psionic power for telepaths in edition 3.5 known as [[http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:True_Mind_Switch True Mind Switch]] can be used for this.
203* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'':
204** Lucius the Eternal, a Slaaneshi champion has this as his shtick (besides the usual Slaaneshi depravity, and excellent swordsmanship). Anyone who kills him finds a copy of his armour forming from them, then their body starts warping into a copy of his, and eventually he's back while they are reduced to one more screaming face on his armour. It only happens if whoever was lucky enough to kill him takes "any amount of satisfaction" from it. If they don't, fine. If they have even the smallest feeling of relief at killing him then hey, you're fucked! Unless he gets killed by a daemon from another god, [[RobotWar Necrons]], [[BugWar Tyranids]], or stray shots in battle. One short story had him killed by stepping on a mine. He ended up possessing the body of ''the worker who armed the mine at the factory'' when the worker felt satisfaction at a job well done.
205** [[MagnificentBastard Trazyn the Infinite]], a Necron Overlord obsessed with obtaining relics, uses a form of this for his safety on the battlefield. Rather than risk destruction, he has implanted coding into many of his underling's coding that allow him to possess them. This means that it if his current host body is destroyed, there's a very good chance he'll immediately possess another one of his Royal Court.
206* ''TabletopGame/TheDarkEye'' has a (rare) body swap spell that can be used for both cases. Without further interference it's temporary, but in case one of the bodies is killed, the swapped soul stays in the other one permanently.
207* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'': The runelords of Thassilon habitually used occult rituals to enter the bodies of their rune giant servants, allowing them to fully control the giant's body and cast spells through it, in order to make use of their prodigious strength and ability to magically enslave other giants.
208* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'': Cognitive Fragmentation Disorder is the clinical term for infection by a nanovirus that overwrites the host's personality with its own. 100% infectious on contact and completely incurable.
209* ''TabletopGame/TheSplinter'': When players enter the Splinter, they think that they're taking on a computer-simulated form in a virtual reality game. They're actually doing this to some poor denizen of the Realm.
210* ''Exchange of two minds'' from ''TabletopGame/ArsMagica'' switches the mind of the caster and the mind of the target. It has a relatively short default duration, but can be extended to "permanent" with the expenditure of raw vis. The book tries to forestall players seeking to make themselves immortal via bodyjacking by noting mages who take over younger bodies find themselves heavily distracted by the sheer passion of having a younger, stronger body again.
211* ''TabletopGame/InNomine'': The angelic Kyriotates can possess animals and humans (and have to, since they can't have their own vessels like other angels), and can even possess multiple hosts simultaneously. The host's consciousness is subsumed during the act so the angels have little compunction about getting them involved in serious affairs, but they are specifically prohibited from leaving the host in worse condition than they found them (wounded/dead, lost possessions, in prison, etc) and must fix up any such damage first or suffer Dissonance. Their demonic counterparts, the Shedim, have a nearly identical ability (minus the multiple hosts thing, which they envy), but no requirement to take care of a host; rather, they *must* corrupt their victims and leave them in horrible circumstances. In early editions, the host was also semi-aware of what was going on but manipulated into doing things rather than being taken over completely.
212[[/folder]]
213
214[[folder:Theatre]]
215* In ''Theatre/IlReCervo'', King Deramo knows a spell for enforcing the trope. He shares it with his chief minister, who, being an EvilChancellor [[VillainousCrush in love with the queen]], quickly tricks Deramo into taking over the body of a stag and performs the spell himself to inhabit Deramo's body. It takes a DeusExMachina magician to rectify the resulting mess.
216[[/folder]]
217
218[[folder:Toys]]
219* In ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'', Makuta Teridax [[spoiler: steals Mata Nui's HumongousMecha body which contains the entire Matoran Universe.]] On a smaller scale, he also briefly possessed Matoro's body when the Toa had used his MaskOfPower to send his spirit away for a time and then moved to the jailer robot Maxilos for most of the Mahri Nui arc after he was forced to leave Matoro's body, and Lewa once had his body stolen by an EldritchAbomination.
220[[/folder]]
221
222[[folder:Web Animation]]
223* ''WebAnimation/{{Ducktalez}}'': In episode 3, Vegeta switches bodies with Scrooge to get a taste of his power. This winds up [[StealthPun backfiring]] when he discovers [[{{Gasshole}} Scrooge's flatulence problem]] and can't bring himself to control it.
224* In ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'', this happens near the conclusion of the Mega Man Battle Royale. Specifically, [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/MegaManStarForce Star Force Mega Man]] turns the Mother Elf against VideoGame/MegaManX and possesses his body, using it to attack [[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork MegaMan.EXE]] with Red Gaia Eraser. It doesn't stick, as EXE enters Hub Style and fires back, obliterating both X and Geo at the same time.]]
225* In the third episode of Death Race, Battle Cars!, K.I.T.T. [[spoiler: escapes death by taking over [[{{Cyborg}} Wiz's body]] through unploading himself into Wiz's cynbernetically-enhanced brain.]]
226* ''WebAnimation/{{Hololive}}'': A rather meta example from a Takamori watch-along stream. When Calliope "leaves" for a moment, leaving her avatar's body unattended to, she tells Kiara not to say anything weird. Naturally, she obliges, not ''saying'' anything weird per-say, but rather, hijacking Mori's body briefly to move her around and such. [[MetaphoricallyTrue Technicalities]].
227* This is the big plan of [[spoiler:the Curious Cat]] in ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' Volume 9. [[spoiler: believing that they need a body to be able to leave the Ever After and enter Remnant, the Curious Cat takes notice of and emotionally manipulates Ruby, who is suffering from the events of Volume 7 and 8, into crossing the DespairEventHorizon so they can possess her body. However, [[SpannerInTheWorks Neo's own plan against Ruby ruins that]] when she seemingly makes her DrivenToSuicide and she ends up Ascending. However, they end up taking over Neo's body as she ends up falling past that horizon once she realizes VengeanceFeelsEmpty]].
228[[/folder]]
229
230[[folder:Webcomics]]
231* In ''Webcomic/AwfulHospital'', Fern's infant son comes down with a sickness severe enough to affect the stability of reality itself. [[spoiler: We eventually learn that the multiverse was originally a single living being until it died and broke into innumerable pieces. Later on, Fern befriends a sapient colony of maggots named Magdolene, who hypothesizes that this being is trying to bring itself back into existence by replacing Fern's baby's [[OurSoulsAreDifferent concept core]] with its own.]]
232* ''The Makeshift Miracle'' may have one of these, or it may be DemonicPossession.
233* In the "Old Money" arc in ''Webcomic/BrunoTheBandit'', Bruno marries rich old Lady Decrepta, only to later find out she's [[spoiler:Maledict's sister and through a certain spell, she and her original husband's souls could be transferred to new, younger bodies again and again.]]
234* ''Webcomic/BreakpointCity'': Ben's rival Mizkit switches times and places with Ben in an attempt to tarnish Ben's reputation [[http://www.breakpointcity.com/archives/2002/11/20/out-of-the-vault/ in one arc]].
235* '' Webcomic/GirlGenius'':
236** The main purpose of the Geisterdamen seems to be finding a new body for their Goddess, "The Other" [[spoiler:aka Lucrezia Mongfish, former wife of Bill Heterodyne and Agatha's mother]], and when they get their hands on [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20060123 Agatha]]... After a subsequent encounter:
237--->'''Agatha:''' [She] just visits.
238*** [[spoiler:There are clues that The Other may be far older than Lucrezia and that she may have been merely another host body. For example, the Geisters mention having worshiped their deity for far longer than any human's lifespan. After a period of absence she appears to them as Lucrezia.]]
239** The Other appears to be making a habit of this. Concerned about her inability to maintain control over Agatha, she plans to hijack [[spoiler:Zola's body]] instead. The twist this time: [[spoiler:Zola's perfectly willing to share. [[SubvertedTrope Except]] [[MagnificentBastard not.]]]]
240** A rather unique twist on this form of possession is that The Other can possess multiple people at once, each being, essentially, a carbon copy of The Other. However, these copies do not share a consciousness or have a hive mind. Thus, they need to converse with each other in order to share information, for example, [[spoiler:that one of them has been tricked and is no longer in control of her host, Zola's, body. Zola plans to use this weakness to convince the other Others that she is one of them.]]
241*** [[spoiler:Some dialogue suggest there may be a "main repository" for The Other outside of space and/or time (from which its copies are drawn) which its copies can "upload" to, thereby updating the memories/knowledge of future "downloads".]]
242* In ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'', Queen Diva'ratrika uses this idea to transplant her aura inside a slave's body as part of an escape plan to get out of the trap built by her [[TheEvilPrince 3 traitor daughters.]] It's unclear if the goal was to take over another body entirely, in which case it would be a partial failure, but her knowledge and influence remains - that is until Liriel gets herself drunk to shut down the [[HearingVoices voices in her head]]. (The whole story starts [[http://www.drowtales.com/longestwait.php?cid=1 here]]). Eventually in the main story Diva does manage to completely take over the body, in the process changing Liriel's hair color to Diva's own purple and darkening her skin.
243* ''Webcomic/{{Fans}}''' evil mad scientist Professor Fitz has made a career out of doing (or trying to do) just [[http://http://www.faans.com/index.php?p=1722 this]].
244* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Sirleck is a serial body-snatching [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]] who does this to many people in order to maintain his own parasitic existence, up to and including [[spoiler:[[OppositeSexClone Ellen]].]]
245* ''Webcomic/TheGreenhouse'': One of the big dangers of Mica's DemonicPossession, alongside PossessionBurnout. Mica and Liv worry that if Mica's possession progresses much further, the demon 'Red' will be able to hijack her body. [[spoiler:And then these fears come true and Red seizes control of Mica's body... to save her from an out of control car. Turns out Red has zero interest in running the show, because she'd still be trapped in Mica's body and Mica's life (not to mention their situation is weird enough that even Red doesn't know if she'd survive Mica's death). Red doesn't want to be warden of the prison, she wants ''out'', but [[TrappedInTheHost that can't happen]] until Mica finishes the summoning or an expert in BloodMagic severs their bond]].
246* In ''Webcomic/AModestDestiny'', this benefits the heroes when [[spoiler:Maxim's soul]] possesses the just-vacated body of one of the villains. While treated as a happy ending at first, this is eventually {{Deconstructed}} when his wife eventually reveals how uncomfortable she is with the arrangement. Sure, it's her husband's soul inside, but it's ''still'' the villain's body, and she's worried that the evil will corrupt him.
247* The title character of ''Webcomic/{{Mulberry}}'' once tried to perform this on UsefulNotes/SarahPalin, but she ended up switching bodies with UsefulNotes/HillaryClinton instead.
248* In ''Webcomic/{{Erstwhile}}'', [[http://www.erstwhiletales.com/brothersister-24/#.UI84NGdHGuI the stepsister in "Brother and Sister" is disguised as the queen they had murdered,]] though [[WickedWitch her mother]] can't [[GlamourFailure hide that she's missing an eye.]]
249* ''Webcomic/KarinDou4koma'': [[LovableSexManiac Elza]] [[SleepsWithEveryoneButYou refuses]] to have sex with her maid Mifi due to Mifi's VirginPower. One of Mifi's ''many'' attempts to change this is to use one of Seren's potions to swap bodies with Elza, with the intent of ''raping Elza with her own body.''
250* In the chapter 4 finale of ''[[{{Webcomic/Morphe}} morphE]]'' features Asia Ellis having her [[http://morphe.thewebcomic.com/comics/2075482/47-w-gh/ body hijacked by a disembodied mage named Hizrim.]]
251* ''{{Webcomic/Sarilho}}'': what the Foreigner does to [[spoiler: Mikhail's body]] in chapter five, and to a lesser extent, to [[spoiler:Fausta]].
252* [[BigBad Metheos]] from ''Webcomic/{{Sidekicks}}'' is actually [[spoiler:[[AlwaysSomeoneBetter Dunkelheit]] inhabiting [[WorldsStrongestMan Guardian's]] body]]. Then, at the end of season 1, he jumps into [[spoiler:Theo's body]] both to [[spoiler:gain control over the Second Prana]] and because Guardian's body is [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice perforated]] by [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Darkslug]].
253* In ''[[Webcomic/OldSchoolMelonpool Melonpool]]'' body-swapping is a fairly regular occurance, but one Grand Theft Me that ''stuck'' was Ralph Zinobopp swapping bodies with his [[EvilTwin evil clone]] Lord Fauntleroy. Doubled as LaserGuidedKarma for Fauntleroy as he had previously dropped Ralph in an ''active volcano'', horribly scarring the body he wound up being stuck with.
254* One ''Webcomic/NameRemoved'' variation depicts Rabid getting trapped inside Rabish’s body after "a nasty ping-pong incident". Either the ping-pong ball ends up housing his soul, ''she'' ends up inside the ping-pong ball (which becomes a Magic8Ball), or he begins to act like how he perceives ladies on television.
255* ''{{Webcomic/Wychwood}}'': Thanks to the restraining collar the titular organization put on him, the only way Felix's powers can be activated is when someone else is piloting his body. Technically Felix agreed to it, or at any rate he was raised to believe it's for the best.
256[[/folder]]
257
258[[folder:Web Original]]
259* In [[https://sixchances.com/ Six Chances]], resident {{Cloudcuckoolander}} pirate captain Maria accidentally does this to stone-cold militaristic First Lieutenant Werner Waltz due to their PsychicLink. Needless to say, Werner's prisoners of war and the men underneath him are left very baffled.
260* A ''heroic'' version of this occurs in the end of ''The Winds of Change'' where [[spoiler:TheProfessor, who'd spent the entirety of the story as an [[BrainUploading uploaded brain]], takes over the BigBad's body after trapping his mind]].
261* In ''Literature/TheQuestportChronicles'', [[OurElvesAreDifferent Ato]] submits to demonic possession so that the heroes can have a guide to lead them through an alternate dimension filled with demons.
262* The boys from ''Podcast/PlumbingTheDeathStar'' hypothesize that if every disagreement in the ''Literature/FreakyFriday'' universe resulted in people switching bodies, people would come to abuse this by having children and raising them in anticipation of switching bodies with them. This would essentially allow for anyone to achieve immortality, so long as they can reliably have children and reliably be okay with letting them die.
263* [[spoiler:The Collective]] of ''WebVideo/TribeTwelve'' fame [[spoiler: are eventually revealed to do this. Well, outside of [[BigBad the]] [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos Administrator.]] In order of original person's appearance: [[FallenHero Noah Maxwell]] [[FaceHeelRevolvingDoor is Firebrand, who seems to have broken free of the Collective,]] [[AndIMustScream Milo Asher]] [[BloodyHorror is Mr. Scars, named such for having]] ''[[BloodyHorror carved his throat open and slit his wrists with a boxcutter]]'' [[NoSell in a failed attempt to escape being possessed,]] and [[UnexpectedCharacter Kevin]] [[TheDogWasTheMastermind Haas is]] [[MindScrew the]] [[FourEyesZeroSoul Observer,]] whose symbol (the Severance Sign, which is used to pull this trope off) is the series's logo.]]
264* The ''WebVideo/MandelaCatalogue'' has the alternates, who do this to human bodies [[spoiler:after the victims commit suicide.]]
265[[/folder]]
266
267[[folder:Western Animation]]
268* In the ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'' episode "Two to Tangle", young sorcerer [[{{Necromancer}} Mozenrath]] is slowly dying from the effects of his magical gauntlet, and attempts to drain Aladdin's life force; the plan goes wrong when Mozenrath's soul ends up trapped inside our street rat hero's body.
269* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': The Core uploads itself into Marcy Wu to have a living host in order to progress its plans, though it was apparently created in the first place precisely to avoid its individual minds' natural death.
270* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'':
271** "[[Recap/BatmanBeyondS2E4LostSoul Lost Soul]]" features the digital copy of the mind of a now-dead computer industrialist being brought back online and trying to do this to the grandson of his original body. In the process, he pulls a variation on Batman himself, taking over the cybernetic suit and forcing Terry to beat him on his own, without the aid of the super-suit.
272** In "[[Recap/BatmanBeyondS3E4OutOfThePast Out of the Past]]", former RoguesGallery member Ra's al Ghul's [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter daughter]], Talia, offers old Bruce Wayne access to the Lazarus Pit, and a shot at eternal youth, saying her father wished to pass on his secrets. Of course, Talia is later revealed to ''be'' Ra's, and plans to swap again to the newly-youthified Bruce. Talia, apparently, gave up her life willingly for her father. The setup's very reminiscent of Creator/HPLovecraft's ''The Thing on the Doorstep'' (see).
273* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' world tour arc, the World Tourists meet up with a friend, Halcyon Renard, who has an advanced stage of multiple sclerosis bad enough that he is taking desperate measures to save his life. His solution is to transfer his consciousness into a magically-powered {{golem}}. However, Goliath convinces Renard that this is no way to live and he is eventually returned to his original body.
274* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'':
275** Spoofed in the episode "Pip", which hijacks a retelling of ''Literature/GreatExpectations'' by having Miss Havisham plot to transfer her soul into Estella's body.
276** Done more seriously when, halfway through a mystic Carib blood ritual to separate Kenny's soul from Cartman, Chef's parents suddenly realize he hasn't brought a "victim child" to transfer the soul into.
277* The Mickey Mouse [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts short]] "WesternAnimation/RunawayBrain" features him being a volunteer in a scientific experiment to earn some money. But it involves exchanging his brain with a FrankensteinsMonster... after it's done, the MadScientist dies, and the monster in Mickey's body decides to go after Minnie.
278* In ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'', Mary Jane was kidnapped by Miranda Wilson, an actress-turned-cyborg, so the latter could replace Mary Jane's mind with hers. In a twist, her plan failed because she was tricked by Mysterio into believing that mind-transferring technology even existed.
279* In ''[[WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan2012 Ultimate Spider-Man]]'', Arnim Zola attempts to cement his takeover of S.H.I.E.L.D. by stealing Spider-Man's body and leaving him imprisoned in Zola's computer body as a result. Spider-Man was able to stop the process with help from Agent Venom and Rhino.
280* In ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuestTheRealAdventures'' episode "Cyberswitch", Jeremiah Surd, Lawnmower Man-strength power in cyberspace and mostly immobile in the real world, switches bodies with good guy Race Bannon. The switch is quickly discovered and reversed. Jeremiah's follow-up plan was to switch bodies with ''Jonny'', leading to Surd creepily telling his DarkActionGirl assistant that he hoped she'd "wait for [him]". Fortunately, Jonny is able to stop that plan before it actually happens.
281* ''WesternAnimation/ThePiratesOfDarkWater'' features an episode in which Ren switches places with Bloth and Konk switches places with Niddler; Bloth orchestrated this with the assistance of his soothsayer Morpho as a way to get Ren's shipmates to trust him and get his hands on the treasures.
282* In ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'', Dr. Blight switches bodies with Gaia, but doesn't let MAL in on the secret, so he follows Gaia's orders when she convinces him it's part of her (Dr. Blight's) secret plan.
283* Queen La does this to Jane Porter in her final appearance in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfTarzan''.
284* ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', in which an overachieving bodybuilder('s consciousness) steals Rigby's body after it forces Rigby's consciousness out in protest of him eating only (and too much) junk food.
285* ''WesternAnimation/ThundarrTheBarbarian'': The witch Circe does this to Ariel in the episode "Island of the Body Snatchers".
286* Katrina Moldoff does this to Batman in the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' episode "The Criss-Cross Conspiracy!".
287* The page quote comes from when WesternAnimation/{{Robotboy}}'s [[SuperPrototype Super]]/PsychoPrototype brother Protoboy switched their [=CPUs=] in an effort to get close to and kill their creator Professor Moshimo in retaliation for him abandoning the latter. Near the end, Protoboy in Robotboy's body was destroyed in an attack from another villain and Robotboy was returned to normal via SnapBack.
288* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has an episode where Sideshow Bob escapes from prison by switching his face and hair with his near-identical cellmate Walt Warren, who was scheduled for early release.
289* ([[AntiHero Anti-]])heroic example in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' where [[Characters/FuturamaBenderBendingRodriguez Bender]] gets killed and haunts every machine Fry comes across eventually driving him to live on an Amish planet to cut himself off from all technology. When Fry is in danger of being crushed by a runaway spherical structure Bender jumps into the Robot Devil (the only living robot there) to push Fry out of the way. At the end he gets sent to Robot Heaven, where he jumps into Robot God and makes him beat himself up until he sends him back to Earth.
290** In another episode the Professor invents a mind-swapping machine and while the first two mind-swaps are simply Farnsworth swapping with Amy, when they find out each other's bodies aren't as great as they thought, Farnsworth trades Amy's body to Bender and runs off to join the robot circus to become a daredevil, to the horror of Bender, who needs his body to trade it with the Robo-Hungarian Emperor, and Amy trades Farnsworth's body with Leela to binge and for Leela to get a seniors discount, and ultimately all the characters end up trading minds and bodies like baseball cards, and not always on honest terms.
291* In ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBeavers'', a mass of living pond scum was able to control Nobert by going inside his ear.
292* Hector does this to Santa in the ''WesternAnimation/EvilConCarne'' Christmas special, as a plan to insert mind-control devices to all the toys as his new take over the world plot. He was, fortunately, stopped by the [[Literature/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer Rudolph]] [[{{Expy}} parody]] Rupert, who [[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight convinces Santa]] to break free from the mind control.
293* In the ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' episode "Da Flippity Flop", Klaus is given the chance to get his human body back but [[Characters/AmericanDadStanSmith Stan Smith]] hesitates. When Stan finally takes Klaus to the CIA a week later they find his body decayed because it wasn't kept frozen, so Klaus angrily bludgeons Stan with a margarita pitcher and switches bodies with him while he's knocked out. Stan chases down Klaus in the latter's decaying old body while Klaus is trying to perform the titular skiing stunt and in the end they go back to normal, but now Stan has more respect for him.
294* In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueAction'' episode "The Goddess Must Be Crazy", Felix Faust takes over ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'s body to get around the spell which keeps males from setting foot in Themyscira.
295* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited'':
296** [[Characters/DCAUTheFlash The Flash]] and [[Characters/DCAULexLuthor Lex Luthor]] in "The Great Brain Robbery."
297** Deadman does this in "Dead Reckoning."
298* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'' entitled "Tick vs. Science," Chairface Chippendale uses the mind transfer device created by J.J. Vatos to hijack The Tick's body.
299* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': In "Sock Opera", Dipper Pines agrees to let Bill Cipher take a puppet, thinking that Bill meant one of the sock puppets nearby and that Bill would give Dipper the password for the laptop he'd found in a previous episode (or at the very least help him figure it out, since he'd promised "a hint"). This does not go particularly well - when Dipper agrees out of desperation, Bill reveals that ''Dipper'' [[ExactWords was the puppet in question]], and [[DemonicPossession promptly possesses him]]. On top of that, the "hint" wasn't even for the laptop's password.
300* The ''WesternAnimation/BountyHamster'' episode "Trading Spaces" has a criminal stealing a [[FreakyFridayFlip body-swapping]] device and using it to do this.
301* In ''Toys/NexoKnights'''s second season, [[BigBad Monstrox]] performs a ritual to attempt to transfer his spirit from his book to Clay's body but is fortunately stopped.
302[[/folder]]
303
304[[folder:Real Life]]
305* Ophiocordyceps unilateralis is a parasitic fungus which grows on ants, and eventually forces the ant to head to the forest floor (where it's a more hospitable place for fungi to grow), then makes the zombie ant latch onto the underside of a leaf and stay there until it dies, while the fungus bursts out of the ant's head and releases its spores.
306[[/folder]]

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