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1[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/supergirl_volume05_issue050_page032.jpg]]]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:[[BeatTheCurseOutOfHim Pummelling]] the PuppeteerParasite also helps.]]
3
4->''"I know there is good in you. The Emperor hasn't driven it from you fully. That was why you couldn't destroy me. That's why you won't bring me to your Emperor now."''
5-->-- '''Luke Skywalker''' to '''Darth Vader''', ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''
6
7Egad! Your best friend, loyal [[TrueCompanions comrade]], or long standing love interest has been [[SplitPersonalityTakeover taken over]] by TheVirus, {{Brainwashed|AndCrazy}}, [[CharmPerson mind]] [[PuppeteerParasite controlled]], [[DemonicPossession possessed]] or subjected to [[KryptoniteFactor Red Kryptonite]], GreenRocks, some sort of MacGuffin or mind-bending AppliedPhlebotinum or [[FaceHeelTurn turned to the dark side]] willingly! This often follows TheReveal that the mysterious foe whose paths have crossed your own time and again is actually a former close friend...or [[LukeIAmYourFather that certain relative]] who [[LongLostRelative unaccountably disappeared many years ago]].
8
9You're the hero and your friend is now evil--a fight has to happen. But the obviously weaker opponent is winning! The hero can't bring himself to fight at full power against someone they love--they know that the loved one is still there somewhere. The hero will win this fight by talking the friend out of the evil influence, usually because of ThePowerOfFriendship or ThePowerOfLove.
10
11Often accompanied by the phrase "I know you are in there somewhere." The hero stalls the fight, holding back to avoid inflicting any serious injury, focusing on trying to snap the friend out of it. Sometimes the effect is less than total salvation, only giving the friend the willpower [[DrivenToSuicide to off themself]] or [[ICannotSelfTerminate let]] [[MercyKill the hero off them]]. This can be especially [[{{Tragedy}} tragic]] if they've been FightingFromTheInside just to give them the opportunity.
12
13Only the IdealHero can pull this baby off. It's usually saved as a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome for them, to show just how amazingly, totally, completely ''awesome'' they are. It's also a pretty big deal for whoever manages to snap them out of it.
14
15Heroes beware, for it does not always work. They could discover, to their horror, that the friend was NotBrainwashed or they could be WrongGenreSavvy, use the line, and then discover that it really ''is'' too late to save them. In some of the more tragic cases, something remains of their friend, but it is only a faint echo, who can barely muster to come through long enough to beg the hero to either run away and save themselves, [[ICannotSelfTerminate or kill them and put them out of their misery]]. Can also accidentally cause their friend to have a IdentityBreakdown if the struggle to reassert their identity is too mentally taxing. An inversion of this trope is HeroicWillpower, reversing the hero and sidekick's roles.
16
17See also BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind, CooldownHug, FightingYourFriend, BeatTheCurseOutOfHim, and DefusingTheTykebomb. Contrast SheatheYourSword, where the hero wins without fighting, but usually there isn't a relationship between the protagonist and antagonist. See TheyStillBelongToUsLecture for the villain version. Compare {{Deprogram}}ming, a far more drawn out process. See also ResistTheBeast.
18
19----
20!!Examples:
21[[index]]
22* IKnowYoureInThere/AnimeAndManga
23* IKnowYoureInThere/ComicBooks
24* {{IKnowYoureInThere/Film}}
25* IKnowYoureInThere/LiveActionTV
26* IKnowYoureInThere/VideoGames
27* IKnowYoureInThere/WesternAnimation
28[[/index]]
29
30[[foldercontrol]]
31
32[[folder:Audio Plays]]
33* ''AudioPlay/BigFinishDoctorWho'';
34** In "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoFDAS3E6DestroyTheInfinite Destroy the Infinite]]", the Fourth Doctor tries this on Davent after he is converted to an Infinite Warrior, and he pauses when his family is mentioned.
35** In "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho158WirrnIsle Wirrn Isle]]", a brief example of this occurs when Veronica is talking to a Wirrn that has been merged with her son Iron in a transmat accident. When the Iron-Wirrn talks to Veronica over the radio claiming that it could be possible to separate him from the Wirrn, the Doctor begs 'Iron' to stop tormenting his mother that way if there is any part of his original self still in whatever he has become, but admits after the radio falls silent that he wasn't seriously expecting that to work.
36** In "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho139ProjectDestiny Project Destiny]]", when the Doctor's old friend Cassie Schofield is brought back to "life" as a near-mindless vampire corpse, the Seventh Doctor is able to get through to Cassie by revealing that her current "target" is her long-lost son Tommy (now the Doctor's companion Hex).
37** In "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoNEDAS2E4TheSkullOfSobek The Skull of Sobek]]", Lucie and the Eighth Doctor are chosen as the champions of the two big bads, who have been feuding for centuries. The Doctor won't have anything to do with it, but Lucie falls prey to her big bad's mind control and becomes hell-bent on killing him. During the ensuing fight (though it's probably more accurately described as a chase because the Doctor won't hurt Lucie and in the end she didn't land any blows anyway), he never actually uses the phrase "I know you're in there somewhere", but he says just about everything else you might expect.
38[[/folder]]
39
40[[folder:Fan Works]]
41* ''Fanfic/AdviceAndTrust'': In chapter 8 Rei gets doped to the gills due to Ritsuko's "medication" and is completely emotionless, unresponsive and unfeeling. Shinji and Asuka spend a good while trying to draw her out. When Rei finally -and laboriously- shows some emotion, Asuka asks her if she is still in there. When she says "yes", both teenagers feel relieved.
42-->'''Asuka:''' Wondergirl, are you still in there?
43* ''Fanfic/AllAssortedAnimorphsAUs'': At the start of "What if Jake was stuck in morph?", Cassie stares down Jake and shouts at him to snap him out of his [[TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody tiger instincts]].
44* In ''Fanfic/AtTheFoodCourt'', Rhys tries to break Ash out of his madness by [[spoiler:challenging him to a Pokemon battle, using stuffed toys instead of real Pokemon because Ash thinks they're real]]. Both Tracy and Delia tell him it won't work, because Ash suffered irreversible brain damage from what Team Rocket did to him. [[spoiler:It doesn't]].
45* In ''Fanfic/TheBridge'' has two.
46** Monster X gets taken over by his Kaizer Ghidorah side and goes berserk. Gigan tries to calm him down by recounting the happy memories they shared with their teammates. It almost works, but then King Ghidorah, the target of Kaizer Ghidorah UnstoppableRage, attacks them, undoing all of Gigan's efforts.
47** When Godzilla III a.k.a Junior gets possessed by the Nightmare, a fragment of Nightmare Moon, his inner trauma and rage overpowers even it and results in a berserk ''Film/ShinGodzilla''-esque nightmare monster. Xenilla engages his headon to hold him off while trying to get through to him, as Rarity and the others work on a counterspell. Eventually, appealing to his inner good nature with his student is what allows him to calm down enough to be purified.
48* [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos In the Slender Man fic]] ''Fanfic/ByTheFiresLight'', Mira Grolinsky tries to get Jared Holloway to turn on the Slender Man and join her and Detective Carl Rourke in their quest against it. [[spoiler:Jared ends up [[DrivenToSuicide killing himself instead.]]]]
49* In chapter 19 of ''Fanfic/ChildrenOfAnElderGod'', [[spoiler:Rei]] involuntairly possesses Hikari, and Asuka and Touji try talk to her to free her.
50-->Touji approached Hikari slowly. "Um... Hikari?"\
51Rei's voice replied to him, "I am not Hikari."\
52The Children felt a chill run through them. "Let go of her!" screamed Asuka. "Get out!"\
53Touji grabbed Hikari's shoulder. "Whadaya mean you ain't Hikari!" he said desperately. "Of course you're Hikari! Stop playin' around!"
54* In ''Fanfic/TheConversionBureauTheOtherSideOfTheSpectrum'', Marcus tried this on Stalwart Heart to bring his pre-ponified human self, Jacob (Marcus' little brother) back. [[spoiler:Sadly, it doesn't work.]]
55* ''Manga/Evangelion303'': After [[spoiler:a plane crash]] Asuka spends [[spoiler:a long time in coma]] and when she wakes up she is completely changed, behaves like a different person and goes through a severe break-down as Shinji tries to help her. At one point she [[spoiler:attempts to commit suicide]] but is unable to go through with it, and Shinji tells her that is because her old self is still somewhere in there, fighting.
56* In the ''FanFic/FacingTheFutureSeries'', Sam does this whenever Danny goes berserk in his dangerous SuperMode.
57* In ''Fanfic/FrozenTurtles'', when Karai loses control of her snake self, Anna attempts to inspire one, but Splinter takes over as Anna doesn’t know Karai well enough to get through to her.
58* In ''Fanfic/HuntersOfJustice'', Hal Jordan pulls one when Penny Polendina falls under the control of Brainiac's virus. [[spoiler:She ultimately has to do to herself what Pyrrha did to her in canon, but she does overcome this.]]
59* In ''[[Fanfic/TheLamentSeriesChaoticNeutral Gabriel's Lament]]'', Gabriel attempts to pull this off against Adrien after he's akumatized into Chat Blanc. Unfortunately for him, this only succeeds in pissing Chat Blanc off enough that he sends his father flying into one of his own advertising billboards.
60* ''FanFic/InnerDemons'': Several characters try this on [[BigBad Twilight Sparkle]] after she's consumed by her [[EnemyWithin Queen of Darkness persona]], with the biggest TearJerker of them all being Spike's attempt during the Battle of Fillydelphia. None of them work.
61* ''Fanfic/JonathanJoestarTheFirstJoJo'': Jonathan himself ends up falling under Dio's control during the fight in chapter 16, his family ends up snapping him out of it by reminding him of what he's done for them.
62** [[spoiler:Jotaro deliberately lets himself be controlled as part of their plan to defeat Dio in chapter 18.]]
63* In ''Fanfic/MaimDeMaim'':
64** Satsuki does this with [[spoiler:Nui]] and it works.
65---> "The [[spoiler:Nui Harime]] me, my dad, your partner Tsumugu Kinagase and nearly everybody else knew was that girl that talked to my father that day. The [[spoiler:Nui Harime]] I'm staring at is just a tool that does everyone Ragyo Kiryuin tells her to. That...is not the [[spoiler:Nui Harime]]. Please, [[spoiler: Nui]]...please find a way to snap yourself out of this and be the person I played with as a child. Whatever it takes to get rid of that monster me and Ryuko's mother has brought out of hibernation, [[spoiler:Nui]], whatever it takes."
66** Earlier, in chapter 17, she and [[spoiler: Senketsu]] does this with [[spoiler:BrainwashedAndCrazy]] Ryuuko:
67--->"Just... please listen to us, Ryuko. You must snap out of it."\
68"Yes, Ryuko. Snap out of this state of delusion you're in for your own good. You can do it, Ryuko Kiryuin! I trust you!"
69* ''Fanfic/{{Medicated}}'': The first time Anne transforms into a human, Sprig pleads with her to remember who she is because he thinks she's become a mindless beast. She then reveals that her intelligence is intact.
70* ''Fanfic/MCURewrites'': In ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/11652534 Captain America: Ghosts of HYDRA]]'', [[spoiler:Steve Rogers/Captain America gets into one with James "Bucky" Barnes/The Winter Soldier after the latter is brainwashed by Brock Rumlow/Crossbones. Steve manages to snap Bucky out of it by reminding him of his life before becoming the Winter Soldier.]]
71* In ''Fanfic/{{Moonlight|JasonTheHuman}}'', Scootaloo (and later the other two Crusaders) must do this for those stuck in their worst nightmares, either by making them face their fears or realize their true selves aren't who they're portrayed as in the nightmare.
72* Attempted and failed in ''Naruto:Asunder''. Hinata makes it clear that unless she and Naruto talk about '''WHY''' he kissed her and what's up with their relationship... HEADS. WILL. ROLL.
73* ''Fanfic/TheOneILoveIs'': In chapter 11 Shinji tried to help a brainwashed Rei to remember him. It didn't work.
74* ''Fanfic/PokemonMysteryDungeonLostTracksOfTime'': [[spoiler: CoolBigSis Sneasler]] falls under the control of the Red Chain, and it's up to Ingo and Emmet to free her before she kills them. They employ this trope to distract her enough for Ingo to destory the chain controlling her. [[spoiler: [[ThePowerOfFamily It works]].]]
75* ''Fanfic/APossibleEncounterForAPhantom'':
76** Danny tries this when Kim is possessed by Spectra. It works.
77** She later returns the favor when he's under the Rage Pearl but ends up having to kiss him because of how the pearl works.
78* In ''Fanfic/PowerRangersMythos'', when five Rangers from the past are pulled into the year 2600 to face the alien alchemist Avanth, the last surviving Ranger of the 2600-team is able to retrieve Tommy Oliver, Z Delgado and Flynn [=McAllister=], but Avanth captures and brainwashes Shelby Watkins and Adam Park to fight on his behalf. Z attempts to invoke this when she first faces Adam in a fight, and Tommy makes a similar effort when he has his first one-on-one confrontation with Adam, but Avanth’s control is too entrenched for her either of them to help Adam shake him off that easily.
79* In ''Fanfic/ThePrayerWarriors The Threat Of Satanic Commonism'', Jerry is forced to fight against a "[[DemonicPossession demon]] [[RougeAnglesOfSatin processed]]" [[Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians Grover]]. Unlike most cases of this, Jerry is entirely willing to kill Grover if necessary, and ends up doing so ([[DeathIsCheap not that this is the first or last time Grover dies]]).
80* In the ''Series/PowerRangersZeo'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2333407/1/Queen-Of-Harts Queen of Harts]]", when the other Rangers demorphing fails to break Tommy out of his brainwashing ("King for a Day"), Zordon and Alpha are able to send Kimberly in to try and break the conditioning herself. Although her restored Pink Ninja powers are only temporary, they prove enough to let Kim hold her own until Tommy's snapped out of Gasket's conditioning and returned to normal.
81* In ''Fanfic/RabbitOfTheMoon'', Bell uses the Tiny Music Box to try to restore Gascoigne's sanity so he could return to his daughter's side. [[SubvertedTrope But his efforts are ultimately in vain]], as Gascoigne only regains enough clarity to beg for forgiveness from his wife before completely turning. As if to punctuate the point, Bell is in such emotional and physical pain that he leaves the box behind as he goes to kill Gascoigne. He tries it again with Henryk, trying to appeal to Henryk's relation to his granddaughter, but Eileen is forced to do Henryk in despite Bell's insistence that he could have been saved.
82* Basically goes without saying in the ''Series/StargateSG1'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3649888/1/Remnant Remnant]]" when the Goa'uld Zipacna takes Daniel as a host and falls back on his usual rant about how nothing of the host survives. Sam immediately realises that's a lie as Zipacna tried to trick her into revealing SG-1's IDC, something he should have known immediately if he had full control of Daniel, and Daniel is even able to take enough control to stop Zipacna raping Sam in his body, even if he can't stop Zipacna committing 'lesser' tortures.
83* In ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/2750444/chapters/6166226 The Rise of Starborn]]'' Thor convinces Loki to fight the Goa'uld's mind control.
84* ''Fanfic/SpiderX'':
85** Rogue says this word-for-word when the symbiote starts to take Peter over.
86** Peter gets a chance to return the favour in ''Return of Spider-X'' when [[spoiler:Rogue suffers a breakdown after her powers go haywire after absorbing Mystique, causing her to randomly shift between the past psyches she's absorbed]].
87* In ''Fanfic/TorqueJakAndDaxter'', there is no fighting, but Keira does attempt to reach out to the Dark Warrior when they come face to face with one another and some part of him recognizes her, with mentions of Daxter, hinting that some part of Jak is still there under the surface of the Dark Warrior.
88* Unfortunately, the brainwashing spell in ''Fanfic/TowerOfBabel'' is too powerful to break with the power of friendship. [[spoiler:Weiss]] will not stop until he either fulfills his orders or the spell itself falls apart.
89* Zig-Zagged in Ridyr's ''Film/TronLegacy'' fanfic ''Survivor's Tale''. Yori was captured and Clu decided to have [[TheDragon Rinzler]] execute her, as much for dramatic irony as to get her out of the way. Yori figured out who was under that mask and started trying to talk him out of it, more for his sake than hers. With Clu shouting orders from one end and Yori arguing from the other, he becomes paralyzed by confusion. Later, after Yori's been rectified, Rinzler was still too confused by her presence to dismiss her as just another drone, and inverts the trope by freeing her, despite being unable to either free himself or completely understand his reasons for doing so.
90* ''Fanfic/UltimateVideoRumble'': Thanks to Morrigan's [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashing]], we have Yuri Sakazaki vs. Mai Shiranui in the second Rumble, and Athena Asamiya vs. Sie Kensou in the third.
91* In the ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' story ''Fanfic/UnmaskerUnleased'', while he avoids actually fighting her, Cat Noir continuously tries to get through to Marinette. He eventually leads her to the spot that he took her to in "[[Recap/MiraculousLadybugS02E09Glaciator Glaciator]]", a night that was special for both of them. This helps in getting Marinette to break herself free from Monarch’s hold on her.
92* ''Fanfic/WinterWar'': When it is revealed that Ichigo has lost control of his Hollow side, Ikkaku envisages pulling off something like this, during/followed by a massive fight which would end in Ichigo regaining control and running off to kill Aizen. Much later on, Ikkaku's [[WhatTheHellHero angry speech]] has no effect on Hollow!Ichigo.
93* ''Fanfic/WithThisRingGreenLantern'': As dueling Star Sapphire, Katma Tui uses her Power Ring to help the real Carol fight the split personality possessing her.
94-->Both women were panting as if they'd run a marathon. Their costumes were sweat-stained, and their muscles trembled with effort. They alternated closing their eyes in concentration and trying to stare the other one down.\
95Katma could see what Hal meant about the Predator in Carol's visage. It had twisted her face into one of the most cruel and arrogant aspects she had ever seen on a woman, on Korugar or elsewhere.\
96But in the depths of her eyes, Katma seemed to sense something more. Something a bit trapped, a bit different.\
97Encouraged, she tried pouring on more will. It had to be enough. It had to reclaim Carol from the Star Sapphire.
98* Happens towards the end of the ''Film/StarTrek2009'' fic ''Fanfic/WritteninTheStars''; Spock, suffering from the effects of Pon Farr, becomes crazed and violent, and can't even remember the rest of the crew...except for Fem!Kirk. She takes it upon herself to try and pull this trope on him. [[spoiler: It doesn't work, so she brings him back to himself by...[[MateOrDie relieving him]] of his pain.]]
99[[/folder]]
100
101[[folder:Literature]]
102* ''Literature/TheLegendOfDrizzt'':
103** Drizzt has one in R.A. Salvatore's ''Literature/TheDarkElfTrilogy'' against [[spoiler:a zombified Zaknafein, his father. The zombie has all his father's amazing sword skills but is impervious to wounds. Finally, Drizzt attacks him with a maneuver that triggers his memory of one of their fondest moments, which allows Zaknafein's spirit to break his controller's hold just long enough to leap into the pool of acid they are fighting over, thus saving Drizzt and his own soul.]]
104** In ''Literature/TheNeverwinterSaga'' Drizzt tries this with [[spoiler:Entreri]] during the Fight against Herzgo Alegni during wich [[spoiler: Entreri]] is under the control of the a magical sword. He succeeds, but only after almost being killed, because he had to stop fighting break the enchantment.
105* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'':
106** In the series, controllers often experience this. It is possible for hosts to briefly regain control at a crucial moment, although usually not long enough to do anything lasting.
107** Also in the second ''Megamorphs'' book, Rachel talks Tobias into regaining control of his dinosaur morph by first telling him about all the human stuff from his life; this promptly fails and she resorts to bird things, which ''does'' work. He ''is'' after all, trapped with a red-tailed hawk as his "normal" form, and therefore spends a lot of time flying around. A bit strange though, because hawks are basically just weird-looking dinosaurs. Not to mention that the dinosaur morph Tobias is in is a raptor, which does a lot of things birds do anyway. They hunt prey with their talons, have flight feathers and wings, and a few species can even fly somewhat.
108* In the GrandFinale of Rick Riordan's ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' series, [[spoiler:Annabeth pep-talks Luke into fighting Kronos, and Luke eventually establishes enough control of the shared body to reveal his 'AchillesHeel' and sacrifice himself with Annabeth's knife]].
109* Zigzagged in Gav Thorpe's ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' ''Literature/TheLastChancers'' novel ''Annihilation Squad''. When Kage is [[DemonicPossession possessed by a daemon]] who goes to taunt Colonel Schaeffer, Schaeffer does not appeal to Kage but bitterly attacks the daemon, "He is one of mine! I want him back!"
110* Subverted in ''Literature/WorldWarZ'', where ''millions'' die after trying this on their zombified relatives. Later [[spoiler:it works on orphaned, feral, non-zombified children during the fight to reclaim America, children the army was planning to shoot on sight as lost causes.]]
111* In ''Literature/AWrinkleInTime'', Charles Wallace has been taken over by the evil IT; Meg saves him with [[spoiler: ThePowerOfLove]], quite literally.
112* Subverted in Creator/TadWilliams' ''Literature/MemorySorrowAndThorn'' -- RebelliousPrincess Miriamele travels all the way back to the [[WhereItAllBegan Hayholt]] in an attempt to use ThePowerOfLove to pull her father, King Elias, back from the brink of the war he's started at EvilSorcerer Pryrates' urging. Of course, she's far, far too late to prevent the evil plan from being completed, but in an ironic twist, [[spoiler:Elias ''does'' repent for a split second after being temporarily released from the Storm King's power, just long enough for Miriamele to kill him]].
113* Near the end of ''[[Literature/SkulduggeryPleasant Skulduggery Pleasant: Death Bringer]]'', the end of the [[spoiler:Skulduggery/Lord Vile and Valkyrie/Darquesse]] battle is something of one of these.
114* Creel has one of these with [[spoiler: Velika]] in ''Dragon Slippers'' when the slippers take over [[spoiler: her]] mind.
115* Said word-for-word in ''Literature/{{Divergent}}'' when Tris [[spoiler:confronts Tobias while he's under the effects of a mind-controlling serum]].
116* In ''Literature/TheShining'', [[spoiler:Danny uses his "shining" to reawaken his father's spirit long enough for him to say how much he loves him before the Overlook Hotel obliterate what's left of his soul]].
117* In the ''Literature/NewJediOrder'' novel ''Conquest'', Anakin Solo does one of these for his friend (later girlfriend) Tahiri, who is under the control of her implanted [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Yuuzhan Vong]] personality. It's very successful, thanks to their link through the Force [[spoiler: at first. Turns out that Riina, aforementioned Yuuzhan Vong personality, wasn't subsumed but merely banished into Tahiri's subconsciousness -- she ends up forced to go through a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind and SplitPersonalityMerge to finally end the problem]].
118** In ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear: Spore'', Tash Arranda faces her [[TheAssimilator Spore-controlled]] [[spoiler: brother and uncle]] and appeals to them while calling on the Force and the bonds between them and her. It works for a moment, but Spore is too strong. [[spoiler: Fortunately, she was doing this as a distraction so she could [[TheParalyzer knock them out.]]]]
119* ''[[Literature/TheHungerGames Mockingjay]]'' features a version of this [[spoiler:after Peeta has been hijacked and tries to kill Katniss.]]
120-->'''Katniss:''' Don't let him take you from me.
121* Lorelei and Malachi engage in one in [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/Eludoran Eludoran]]
122* Zigzagged in ''Literature/ThePowerOfFive'' - [[spoiler:Scott was brainwashed into working for Nightrise during the book of the same name, but his brother Jamie was able to snap him out of it at the last minute before he could kill Senator Trelawney. However, he never fully regained his old personality, and the Old Ones were able to use this to their advantage to turn him against the Five in ''Oblivion''. He then managed to snap himself out of it after Matt died, sacrificing himself so that the Five could be reunited once more.]]
123* The villain in ''Literature/EdenGreen'' sometimes falls into a psychotic, murderous fugue state, and blames it on the needle virus keeping him alive. The title character repeatedly tries to reason him back to sanity, with mixed results.
124* ''Literature/AncillaryJustice''. Strigan doesn't understand why Breq wants to kill [[TheEmperor Anaander Mianaai]], so assumes the original personality of her MeatPuppet is re-surfacing, and offers to help restore it. Breq is not impressed, saying Strigan just wants to replace her personality with one more to the doctor's taste.
125* In the last book of Creator/RobinJarvis' ''Literature/DeptfordMice'' trilogy, ''The Final Reckoning'', Audrey finds herself fighting for her life against the ghost of [[spoiler:her love interest, Piccadilly]], who is being controlled by the evil magic of BigBad Jupiter. Audrey begs him to remember who he was in life, and after an inner struggle, he does. They have a tearful farewell as he finds peace and crosses over to the other side.
126* A classic example in ''Literature/MyBestFriendsExorcism'' occurs when the power of Christ fails during the exorcism. Abby falls back on ThePowerOfLove and [[spoiler:brings Gretchen back, driving out the demon]] with both an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove for best friend Gretchen and recalls all of the things they love doing together.
127* In the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' book ''The Place of No Stars'', [[spoiler:Ashfur mind-controls Squirrelflight's mate Bramblestar into attacking her. She calls to him to remember who he is, and her plea is enough to help loosen Ashfur's grip, until Shadowsight arrives and distracts Ashfur enough for the two of them to get away.]]
128* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' tie-in novels: Kamahl somehow manages to get into these fights regularly. First, in ''Literature/ChainersTorment'', he has one with Chainer. He's briefly on the receiving end in ''Literature/{{Judgment}}'' when his sister Jeska tries to snap him out of his Mirari obsession, and then later has one against his newly-zombified friend Balthor. Then in ''Literature/{{Onslaught}}'', he is once again pitted against Jeska after she's [[ReforgedIntoAMinion transformed]] into Phage the Untouchable.
129* In ''Literature/KnightsOfTheBorrowedDark'' Denizen tries this on a BrainwashedAndCrazy [[spoiler:Grey]] - it doesn't break the [[MindRape enthrallment]] but he manages to fight it just long enough to let Denizen escape.
130** Neatly averted later on when [[TheUnfettered Vivian]] comes up against [[spoiler:Grey]]. She's well aware that he's in there somewhere and equally aware that there's nothing she can do about it, so she delivers a ruthless CurbStompBattle and leaves him lying in the mud in order to confront the Clockwork Three, who are behind it all.
131* In ''Literature/TheUnorthodoxChronicles'', one way to free a [[MindControl thrall]] is to remind them who they actually are. Unfortunately for Grimsby, the thrall he's facing is his long-time bully, and the only way to free him is to let him beat Grimsby up, just like old times.
132[[/folder]]
133
134[[folder:Manhwa]]
135* ''Manhwa/{{Yureka}}'': ManipulativeBastard Lotto pretends to invoke this trope to confuse the heck out of an [[ArtificialIntelligence AI]] he suspects has real-world memories, half-convincing the [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere penultimate boss monster]] in question that his name is [[TriggerPhrase America]] and that he was Lotto's best friend before being lost in a [[{{Foreshadowing}} car crash]]. It's convincing enough that the demon follows Lotto around in a daze instead of attacking him until they reach the event's [[FinalBoss Final Boss]].
136[[/folder]]
137
138[[folder:Music]]
139* Mega Man tries to pull this off with his brother in ''Music/TheProtomen'''s ''Act I''. To say it doesn't work is putting it lightly.
140* Music/HatsuneMiku pulls this off with '''her fandom''' in the song ''Innocence'', tying to stop a FlameWar by reminding them why they loved Vocaloid in the first place.
141[[/folder]]
142
143[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
144* On ''Series/OneLifeToLive'', having finally realized that ex-wife Viki isn't Viki at all, but one of her many personalities (she suffers from DID), Clint proceeds to do and say everything he can to get Viki to come back. And when she finally does, he says and does everything he can to prevent the other personalities from taking over again--when she mentions that her vision is going blurry and that she can't focus, he realizes that Jean (who needs glasses to see) is trying to resurface and basically shakes her to keep her from passing out.
145* In the TabletopGame/YuGiOh TCG, "Marauding Captain", recalling his and the past cooperation of "Gogiga Gagagigo", appears to be trying to reason with "Gogiga Gagagigo" in Memory of an Adversary. The circumstances could have been the cause of the transformation of "Gogiga Gagagigo" into "Gagagigo the Risen", through the purification of his soul.
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147
148[[folder:Theatre]]
149* In Noah Smith's stage version of ''Theatre/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'', during the final confrontation between Utterson and Hyde, Jekyll is able to take partial control of his body to prevent Hyde harming Utterson, following Helen appealing to him by name. It's only temporary, but it's enough to shift the balance and bring about Hyde's defeat.
150* In ''Theatre/{{Zanshin}}'' and ''Urazanshin'', Zessekyo takes over the minds of one of the focus teams, and the other has to have this kind of fight with them.
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152
153[[folder:Toys]]
154* Happened not once, but TWICE with Lewa in ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}''. First his mask got replaced with an infected, mind-controlling one. Onua had to knock it off his face. Later, a Bohrok (which are machines controlled by an organic face-brain) places its Krana (face-brain) at Lewa, making him more than willing to join "the swarm" and "cleanse the island". Onua showed up again, but this time it was this trope, as he refused to hit his friend. (Never mind that he gave Lewa a pretty good beating last time...) Lewa ripped the Krana of his face himself this time.
155** Also appears in ''Web of Shadows'' when Matau fights a [[FaceHeelTurn face heel turned]] Vakama.
156[[/folder]]
157
158[[folder:Visual Novels]]
159* ''[[VisualNovel/{{DracuRiot}} Dracu-Riot!]]'' plays with this in a hilarious manner:
160** In one chapter, [[spoiler:[[MonsterOfTheWeek Kouya]]]] hypnotizes [[TokenMiniMoe Azusa]] and [[BestFriend Naoto]] before Yuuto could arrest him. Yuuto counters this by telling Azusa that he's actually a lolicon and Naoto that he's also gay for him, the most outrageous things he could think of at the moment in order to break them free of the control. After he was successfully arrested, Azusa was convinced that Yuuto was indeed a lolicon, while Naoto [[IfItsYouItsOkay actually serious considered about it]].
161*** [[spoiler:It didn't help either that a few scenes prior to what has happened above, Yuuto was actually working undercover as a lolicon while being paired with a partner who has [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld the appearance of a child]]. His acting was so convincing that even his colleagues started to doubt whether he secretly might be a lolicon.]]
162* Subverted in the Ciel Story Arc in ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' where the protagonist [[spoiler: is the reincarnation of the BigBad and is only a matter of time before he would be completely possessed]]. Ciel his friend, sempai and current LoveInterest who is [[spoiler: secretly an immortal exorcist sent by the Church]] asks him to get to the school by night to help him. [[spoiler: But her true intention is to fight him and kill him because she knows there is no cure and [[IHateYouVampireDad bears personal hatred]] against the BigBad. It is only because the protagonist refuses to fight her to the death and to hate her for being deceived that she realizes she cannot do it.]]
163* In ''[[VisualNovel/{{Sunrider}} Sunrider Liberation Day]]'', [[spoiler:Chigara]] is suddenly [[VillainOverride taken over]] by the BigBad [[spoiler: and begins massacring the delegates attending the Liberation Day ceremony]]. Kayto tries to talk her down, reminding her of who she really is and how she isn’t the type of person who would do these things. [[spoiler:Thanks to the PowerOfLove, [[HopeSpot Chigara is able to regain control and kick the BigBad out of her body]]… [[DiedInYourArmsTonight only to be shot by a third party and die in Kayto’s arms]].]]
164[[/folder]]
165
166[[folder:Web Animation]]
167* ''WebAnimation/DCSuperHeroGirls'': In "Out of the Bottle", Art Teacher Miss Moone has been taken over by her evil split personality, and Harley Quinn tries to reach her out:
168-->'''Harley Quinn:''' Ms. Moone, I know you're in there. So listen up!\
169'''Enchantress:''' (wheezing) June Moone is no more. I consumed her!\
170'''Harley Quinn:''' Yeah, right! That's exactly what someone who '''didn't''' actually consume Ms. Moone, but was scared that my maneuvers might work, would say!
171* ''WebAnimation/MonsterHigh'': In "Why Do Ghouls Fall In Love", [[spoiler:Clawd gives Draculaura a box before Valentine pins him against the wall, Clawd tells her to look in it and she realizes how much he truly loves her, which causes her to snap out of Valentine's spell.]]
172* ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': [[spoiler:Dylan pulls this off on Melissa when she gets brainwashed by the Overlord of Evil in "The Mystery of Melinda".]]
173[[/folder]]
174
175[[folder:Webcomics]]
176%%* Hilariously averted [[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/11p38/ here,]] when [[Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja Dark Smoke Puncher]] is possessed.
177* Subverted in ''Webcomic/LegioArcana''. Just as [[spoiler:Thalia]] gets the upper hand on the demonically possessed [[spoiler:Nolan]] and is prepared to stab him with a sword, [[spoiler:Nolan]] regains his normal appearance and calls out to her to stop. The demon takes advantage of her hesitance to attack and nearly kills her.
178* Inverted in an early arc of ''Webcomic/ItsWalky'': Sal shoots and kills her mind-controlled lover (and boss's son) without hesitation. Within a few minutes, somebody figures out how to break the control.
179* A character in ''Webcomic/ParadigmShift'' actually [[http://www.moderntales.com//comics/PS2.php?view=archive&chapter=14795&name=PS2 says]] "I know you're still in there" when his partner changes into a werewolf and attacks him.
180* In the "Dangerous Days Ahead" StoryArc from ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'', Torg tries this a little bit on Aylee. [[spoiler:Turns out it wasn't the real Aylee.]]
181* Ivitho and Emojueel in ''Webcomic/{{Juathuur}}''.
182* In ''Webcomic/FakeNewsRumble'' Jon [[http://www.star-crossedcomic.com/fnr/fnr_7_8.html says this almost verbatim to]] [[spoiler: Stephen.]]
183* In ''Webcomic/{{Endstone}}'', [[http://endstone.net/comic/issue-1-page-35/ Lord Quandal makes the appeal to Cole, but it doesn't work.]]
184* Used successfully by Valjean on Javert (who was under a CharacterRerailment spell) in [[http://asherhyder.deviantart.com/#/d3isg8b this]] page of ''Webcomic/{{Roommates}}''. Also used by Shadow!Erik on Mortal!Jareth (whose magic and memory got taken) with some mixed results.
185* WebGame ''WebComic/DemonThesis'' has a bout where one of the four main characters is the victim of a ForcedTransformation which turns her into one of the more powerful recurring enemies. The other heroes attempt to talk to her, but unfortunately only knocking her senseless works in undoing the polymorph.
186* ''Webcomic/ZebraGirl'': Crystal attempts one with Sandra, trying to talk to her out of her evilness. [[spoiler:Sandra is fully aware of what Crystal is trying to do, and [[AvertedTrope it fails miserably]]]].
187* ''Webcomic/{{Snarlbear}}'' has this twice. Once when Prince Narcissico must confront his possessed and corrupted sister, and then Daisy has one with [[spoiler: Flint after he turns into a dragon]]
188* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': Subverted with Lucrezia [[spoiler:(in Agatha's body)]] calling forth a copy of her own mind to take over [[spoiler:Zola]] — because the expected possession isn't working.
189* ''WebComic/TheOrderOfTheStick''
190** Tsukiko tries to persuade some undead wights that she made but that are under another's magical control that they don't have to obey him. It doesn't remotely work, but then, she's always had an unrealistic idea of how much the undead are people or care about her.
191** {{Parodied}} and {{Inverted}} when a number of the members of the Order are under a Domination[[note]]more extreme then CharmPerson, makes you do whatever mentally commanded[[/note]] effect, and [[TheDitz Elan]] tries to talk Roy into joining them -- first as if Roy is the one who's turned traitor, and then by talking about how great it's to be Dominated.
192--> '''Elan''': Join us, Roy. We have free massages, and pizza every Thursday.
193--> '''Roy''': That can't possibly be true, you've been dominated less than a minute!
194--> '''Elan''': Also, we can lie as much as we want.
195* In ''Webcomic/PeterParkerForeignExchangeStudent,'' one series of strips has Izuku take on a Venom-controlled Peter while Mina and Ochako run off to get help. Even as they trade blows, Izuku continues to plead with Peter to get him to snap to his senses. Despite Izuku's best efforts, he gets the crap kicked out of him and Peter only manages to resist when Venom is about to murder Izuku.
196* During Episode 53 of ''Webcomic/{{Wonderlab}}'', Taii, using their awakened E.G.O, proceeds to engage in one with Catt, who had [[spoiler:become a Distortion]].
197[[/folder]]
198
199[[folder:Web Original]]
200* In ''WebVideo/StupidMarioBrothers'', Mario tries this out [[spoiler: on a brainwashed Luigi (as Mr. L) before they fight. By the end of the fight it works.]]
201* In ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'', [[Creator/AllisonPregler Lupa]] tries this on [[spoiler: a roboticized]] WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows to get him to break his brainwashing. It works. Sure, she had to agree to a date, but it worked. [[spoiler: When Todd tried this on WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick, though, he failed and had to resort to making her GoMadFromTheRevelation by showing her his face]].
202* In ''WebVideo/MarbleHornets'' Entry #62, it is implied that this was Jay's plan when he rushed to confront Masky aka the BrainwashedAndCrazy [[spoiler:Tim]] in Rosswood Park. However, he gets his ass kicked and dragged deep into the woods before he has the chance to try this.
203* During the final battle of ''[[WebVideo/TheCartoonMan Journey of the Cartoon Man]]'', Roy manages to snap [[spoiler:Valerie]] out of Oswald Sherzikien's mind control by means of [[spoiler: [[RunningGag salsa dancing.]]]]
204* In ''WebAnimation/XRayAndVav'', this is successfully pulled off when Hilda is able to bring back her RobotBuddy O.R.F. from being BrainwashedAndCrazy. The Mad King promptly lampshades this by asked "What is this Disney ''bullshit''?"
205* The final battle of Campaign 2 of ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' involves the Mighty Nein trying to reach out to [[spoiler: the fragment of Lucien that is Molly]], with the former visibly reacting to each attempt the Nein make while the latter desperately tries to take control. [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration Matt even built this into the fight as a mechanic]]: the players can use an action or bonus action to call out to [[spoiler: Molly]], and upon making a successful persuasion check, [[spoiler: Lucien]] loses one of his legendary actions.
206[[/folder]]
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