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9[[quoteright:310:[[Webcomic/LastPlaceComics https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sleeper_agent_dave_comic.png]]]]
10
11->''"He shook his head, which only intensified the ringing in his ears. When had that started? With the shockwaves? During the fight with Chevalier?\
12Or before all that? Before the Yàngbǎn?\
13Had it ever ''stopped?''\
14He thought of the Simurgh, thought of all of this in the context of him being just one of her pawns.\
15His head hung.\
16Always a pawn. Always the expendable one."''
17-->-- '''Perdition''', ''Literature/{{Worm}}''
18
19A person is {{Brainwashed}} so that, on a certain trigger (either a situation, or else a [[TriggerPhrase phrase]] only someone in the know would ever say), they will go from their normal self to TheMole; they will most often remember nothing afterward. Occasionally, they can be programmed to do even more serious crimes, such as attacking their teammates outright, but their true value lies in the fact that their cover is so deep that not even ''they themselves'' realise it.
20
21If they or their teammates discover the truth, expect a lot of angst. Whether or not they are are able to break free of their programming (or at least, soon enough for it to matter) will vary from story to story.
22
23In spy and technothriller fiction, such agents are an extreme form of what's commonly known as "sleeper agents", or just "sleepers".
24
25See also MindControl, {{Brainwashed}}, BerserkButton, MoralityDial, TomatoInTheMirror, ConvenientlyUnverifiableCoverStory, AlternateIdentityAmnesia, and LotusEaterMachine. Compare MemoryGambit, which is when you do this to yourself. May require {{Deprogram}}ming to cure and, if not cured sufficiently thoroughly, is one of the causes of BrainwashResidue.
26
27In Troper Addition, this trope is MemoryGambit and NeuroVault meet DeepCoverAgent.
28
29----
30!!Examples:
31[[foldercontrol]]
32
33[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
34* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': [[Characters/CodeGeassLelouchLamperouge Lelouch Lamperouge's]] mind-controlling HypnoticEyes lets him give people orders that cannot be refused, and in addition to the immediate {{Brainwashed}} victims, he can also create a Manchurian Agent by applying special conditions to the command. For example, he made [[spoiler:Gilbert G.P. Guilford]] into a Manchurian Agent who would see him as [[spoiler:Princess Cornelia (under whose command he was)]] when he grabbed his collar.
35* This is how Yoh Hinomura effectively becomes ''Manga/CryingFreeman'': With the assassin doctrines of the 108 Dragons implanted in his subconscious, all it takes for him to start a mission is the same trigger phrase he heard when he was indoctrinated.
36* ''Manga/DanceInTheVampireBund'' provides the nanotechnology known as the "Pied Piper" which when applied to vampires forces their mind to register any orders they receive as coming directly from their [[VampireMonarch overlord]] ("Release the insane werewolf and lock down your HQ so you are trapped with it? Of course My Liege").
37* In ''Manga/DeathNote'', [[spoiler: [[Characters/DeathNoteLightYagami Light Yagami]]]] acts as a Manchurian Agent on behalf of [[spoiler:himself]]. One of the most ingenious plot twists in a series full of plot twists.
38* In ''Manga/DetectiveSchoolQ'', [[TheSyndicate Pluto/Meiousei]] does this all the time to its clients and its own agents as a failsafe -- on the trigger, they'll kill witnesses, or themselves, or go insane... and it's not pretty.
39%%* [[spoiler:Mitsuki, and probably the other Wolves]] in ''Manga/{{Doubt}}''
40* In the ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngel'' manga, Chitose appears when the Elsior finds her capsule drifting in space, she's completely amnesiac at first. As she slowly regains her memory, it's eventually revealed that she was brainwashed by Noa to kidnap Prince Shiva, but the "programming" goes haywire and she ends up kidnapping Tact instead.
41%%* ''Manga/LostBrain'' pulls this one.
42* This is the power of one of Sinbad's Djinns in ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic''. Zepar uses sound waves to interfere with people's minds and force Sinbad's Rukh into their bodies. [[spoiler:Princess Kougyoku is the only known one, and we witness how it happened. Sinbad confessed she is not the only one; there are two others, one in Sindria and another one somewhere else.]]
43* [[spoiler:Anew Returner]] in ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00''. In this case, the trigger is the presence of a particular person: [[spoiler:her twin brother, Revive Revival, who gets captured midway through the series and "resets" her.]]
44%%* Happens in ''Manga/{{Naruto}} Shippuden'' with Sasori's spies ([[spoiler:Yuura]] and [[spoiler:Kabuto]]).
45* Occurs in ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' with [[spoiler:Shiori]]. In this case, it seems to simply be a decoy to keep Ala Alba from noticing something particular, but Mana notes that they can't rule out the possibility of a TriggerPhrase.
46%%* [[spoiler:Kirika]] from ''Anime/{{Noir}}''. She was an incredibly awesome assassin ''before.'' Fear what she became.
47* In ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'', "Justice zombies" are infected by being cut with a [[MindControlDevice cursed dagger]] that leaves them under the complete control of [[spoiler:Malty and her co-conspirators]]. In the early stages of their spread, the zombies acted completely normal so they could perform sabotage and infect others. When their sabotage or infection is revealed, they become openly hostile to anyone not aligned with them and attack while shouting propaganda.
48* In ''Manga/SaintSeiya'', Gemini Saga, BigBad of the first arc, turns Leo Aioria into this with his brainwashing technique, the Genmaerouken. The sight of Seiya would trigger Aioria, turning him from his noble self into AxCrazy, forcing Seiya to battle him. In the end, the Genmaerouken's effect on Aioria would be dispelled by [[spoiler: Cassios' death]].
49%%* ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' has [[spoiler:Nia becoming the agent of the Anti-Spirals when the population reaches 1 million]].
50%%* Covered by the one-off character of Twyla in ''Anime/{{Voltron}}''.
51* ''Franchise/YuGiOh'':
52** In [[Anime/YuGiOh the original anime]], Haga did something similar to this to Jonouchi by having a kid plant a [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Parasite_Paracide Parasite Paracide]] card in Jonouchi's deck; in this case, the "trigger" was Haga's "Reckless Parasite" card. (Not a real card.) Unfortunately for Haga, he underestimated Jonouchi's resourcefulness; he was actually able to use the Parasite Paraside to destroy Haga's Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth.
53** In the fourth season of ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', Saiou did something similar, planting a copy of [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Arcana_Force_0 Arcana Force 0 -- The Fool]] in Judai's deck; in this case, the "trigger" was Saiou's Spell Card, "Decisive Power of Absolute Destiny" again, not a real card. With the Fool on Judai's side of the field, Saiou was nearly unbeatable, able to control the outcome of any of his cards that depended on coin tosses, but like in the case of Jonouchi, underestimated his foe's resourcefulness (and in ''this'' case, took ''very'' unnecessary risk, proving that when he had to rely on ''actual'' luck, his was pretty bad).
54** As far as humans went, Bruno from ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' was a ''willing'' Manchurian agent, at least initially. Like Aporia, he was an android containing the consciousness of one of [[BigBad Z-One's]] allies from the BadFuture that the villain wished to undo [[WellIntentionedExtremist (with no regard for who might die in the process)]] but in Bruno's case, his memory was suppressed, and he was programmed to act as Team 5D's advisor and ally, both as Bruno and as his alter ego of "Dark Glass". Bruno's true programming didn't kick in until the Arc Cradle appeared, threatening to destroy Neo Domino, and he turned against Yusei, combating him in a lethal duel throughout outer space where a black hole threatened to consume them. [[spoiler:However, he started to have second thoughts and resist his programming, and in the end, [[RedemptionEqualsDeath sacrificed himself to help Yusei escape the pull of the black hole]].]]
55[[/folder]]
56
57[[folder:Comic Books]]
58* In the comic book ''ComicBook/OneHundredBullets'', the phrase (used to cause old memories to re-emerge rather than force them to do something against their will) is "Croatoa".
59* In ''ComicBook/AssassinsCreedTheFall'', [[spoiler:Daniel Cross]] serves this role in [[spoiler:Warren Vidic]]'s EvilPlan to weed out the Assassin Order.
60* One of the many loathed parts of ''ComicBook/TheCrossing'' was attempting to retcon that ComicBook/IronMan had been this for Kang since ComicBook/TheAvengers first fought him, having brainwashed him into being a mole for him, and that [[ComicBook/AntMan Giant-Man]]'s various psychological issues were the issue of an earlier attempt by Kang to turn him into one before moving onto Iron Man. As part of ''ComicBook/AvengersForever''[='=]s damage control, it was retconned that it was really Immortus (at the time Kang's older self), the manipulations of Tony only went back to ''ComicBook/OperationGalacticStorm'' (and Tony leading half of the Avengers to kill the Supreme Intelligence was an attempt to drive the Avengers back to Earth that backfired), and Kang being the cause of Hank's instability was a lie.
61%%* In the conclusion of the ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'' "ComicBook/{{Shadowland}}" event, [[spoiler:Typhoid Mary]] was revealed to be Kingpin's Manchurian Agent.
62* These turn out to be central to the plot of ''Hondo-City Justice'' -- a large number of girls with alien DNA are triggered to kill the drokk out of any {{Yakuza}} members they happen to see. Asahara manages to overcome it.
63* Subverted in the eighth issue of the ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' tie-in, where this is attempted against the subject's will, but whoever it was (i.e. [[spoiler:Brain Storm]]) made the mistake of choosing ''ComicBook/TheQuestion'' as their mole. He's so paranoid, he actually ''found himself out'' before he could do any damage.
64* Blue Beetle, in a memorable and bloody couple of issues of ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueInternational''; they ultimately had to resort to a JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind to get him deprogrammed.
65* In ''ComicBook/MindMgmt'' both the title organization and their opponents seem to utilize a number of these. One family man codenamed "The Bear" receives a piece of paper reading "[[TriggerPhrase mulligan duck]]", kills his wife (and dog), and sets off on an anti-MM mission.
66* ''ComicBook/PathfinderWorldscape'' had elf thief [[TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}} Merisiel]], who had been transported to the Worldscape 20 years prior to the storyline' beginning by [[EvilSorcerer Kulan Gath]] and [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Empress Camilla]] to help them acquire important artifacts of immense power. After succeeding on this task, she is returned to her home with her memories of the past events wiped out. Many years afterward, she is brought back to the Worldscape, this time bringing with her the adventuring party she had joined. Her memories are restored and [[TheStarscream Gath]] conspires to rob Camilla's artifact so he can gain ultimate power and has the thief infiltrate her court to steal it and kill the empress. [[spoiler:After helping Gath in his plans, its revealed the entity that returned Merisiel to her home world and wiped her memories guarded the artifacts she stole and Merisiel was the Manchurian Agent ''against'' Gath all along, making this a rare heroic variant of this trope]].
67* [[ComicBook/TeenTitans Titans]][=/=]ComicBook/TheFlash supporting character Frances Kane was originally programmed this way by her ''therapist'', probably contributing to her [[SuperpoweredEvilSide later mental problems]].
68* Inverted in the Creator/{{Marvel}} ''[[ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel Transformers]]'' comics when Ratchet, forced by Megatron to rebuild [[TheStarscream Starscream]] as a Pretender, hides Starscream's true personality deep in his neural circuits. Megatron then sends the "new" Starscream against the Autobots and Decepticons on Earth. One shot from Hot Rod damages Starscream, and he ''immediately'' reverts to the DirtyCoward we all know and love.
69* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersIDW'':
70** ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMegaseries'' has Nightbeat, who was reprogrammed by the inhabitants of the Dead Universe to kill Optimus Prime when the time was right. Nightbeat being [[SpottingTheThread Nightbeat]], he realises somthing's up, and has Hardhead accompany him when he goes investigating the planet he was captured on, so that if he turns Hardhead can kill him. He does, and Hardhead does as well. [[ComicBookDeath He gets better]], but the programming lingers until ''ComicBook/TheTransformersDarkCybertron'', when Rodimus finally breaks him out of it.
71** There's also Beachcomber, who was implanted with a cerebro-shell and sent to assassinate Blaster when the time was right. He almost succeeded. Blaster eventually recovers and finds out, and encourages Beachcomber to fight what's been done to him. It nearly kills the poor guy.
72%%* ''ComicBook/UltimateWolverine'': "Project: Mothervine" turns normal people into this.
73* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: Hypnota snuck in to where Serva was being kept and brainwashed Serva right after her (first) rescue from Hypnota to report back to her former master without raising suspicion as soon as she can after hearing anything about Wonder Woman's plans or location. Hypnota is unaware of this trigger until it's been activated and can do nothing to fight it or alert the others to it.
74* ''ComicBook/XFactor2006'': [[spoiler: Guido was hypnotized by Singularity into serving as their sleeper agent with a code word spoken over the phone as the trigger. They used him to murder a scientist who was planning to betray them to help X-Factor]].
75[[/folder]]
76
77[[folder:Comic Strips]]
78* ''ComicStrip/ModestyBlaise'': In "Our Friend Maude", Maude Tiller is brainwashed to assassinate Rene Valois, the head of French intelligence, while believing she is acting on orders from Sir Gerald.
79[[/folder]]
80
81[[folder:Fan Works]]
82* [[http://askresearchertwilight.tumblr.com/post/23330054525 Ask Researcher Twilight]]: In this ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' Tumblr fanfic blog, Twilight has turned Rarity into one of these.
83* ''Fanfic/Digimon02TheStoryWeNeverTold'' reveals during [[WhamEpisode Chapter 64]] that [[spoiler:the Armor Digivolutions]] were designed as this; when [[spoiler:[[TheChessmaster Oikawa]]]] says a key phrase while [[spoiler:the Digimon are in them]], they're brainwashed into serving him.
84* ''Webcomic/OfMiceAndMayhem'': [[spoiler:Gadget]] has become one. She has a chip inside her head that automatically makes her kill a leader at 9 a.m. unless she is sedated. To make matters even worse for her, she has already poisoned a [[{{Qurac}} Middle East]] dictator to death in a test run which means that a human has been assassinated by [[spoiler:a Rescue Ranger]].
85* ''Fanfic/{{Pokeumans}}'': Theoretically, everyone (including ''you'') is one of these -- the trigger is seeing a transforming Pokeuman, and afterwards everyone's memory of the incident is erased.
86* ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5971984/1/The-River The River]]'': This Season 3 ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' fic where Faith turned out to be a Manchurian Agent placed by Wes to infiltrate the Mayor’s organization and with a simple phrase, wake up and come back to fight with the white hats. But then there’s the big reveal in the finale, [[spoiler:the real Faith was the evil one from the start, Wes having made up the alternate Faith to give her a chance at redemption]].
87* ''Fanfic/RWBYDark'': Ruby Rose enslaved, conditioned, mistreated and heavily abused her older half-sister Yang Xiao Long. The result of such abuse? As soon as Ruby says "sic 'em", Yang, driven by rage and a will to fight back against everything, is on the warpath.
88* ''Fanfic/ThisBites'': When the New World Masons are entrusted with all of Cross's future knowledge to stop the Marineford War, or at least save Ace, one of their strategies is to have Jango establish thousands of these throughout the gathered soldiers. It's implied to be something of a GodzillaThreshold, but the Marineford War does cross that threshold, and [[spoiler:in the end, it helps camouflage the real turncoats]].
89[[/folder]]
90
91[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
92* ''Film/AmericanUltra'' has the lead character under ''heavy'' psychological programming to forget he was ever a field operative[[note]]It actually takes several attempts to use his verbal activation phrase, and even then it's slow to fully unlock[[/note]]. Apparently because a side-effect of the program's techniques was giving the test subjects mental instability. Later sub-programs made use of test subjects that were already unhinged.
93* ''Film/{{Argylle}}'': When [[spoiler:Rachel Kylle/Elly Conway]] was amnesiac and brainwashed by Ruth/Dr. Vogler and Ritter, Vogler also programmed [[spoiler:her]] to be controlled via trigger words and a music box tune, and uses that to try having Aiden killed in the climax on the deck of the oil tanker.
94* In ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'' we learn that, although Bucky is no longer being put through the full HYDRA brainwashing process, he can still be controlled by anyone who can recite a certain sequence of code words. And he remembers what is occurring and what he is ordered to do while under the influence of his handlers, but is powerless to stop it from happening. Tony Stark namedrops the TropeCodifier [[TheNicknamer as a nickname for him]].
95* More or less the entire point of the movie ''Film/TheCurseOfTheJadeScorpion''. One of the key words was "Madagascar". Bonus points in that one of the people thus hypnotized was the detective in charge of his own investigation, and doesn't realize it.
96%%* [[spoiler:Morgan Sullivan]] was his own Manchurian Agent in the movie ''Film/{{Cypher}}''.
97* In ''Film/DemolitionMan'', Dr. Raymond Cocteau intends to use [[AxCrazy Simon Phoenix]] in this way to assassinate the leader of the underground resistance. Cocteau is GenreSavvy enough to add a programme that prevents Phoenix from killing him, [[spoiler: but neglects to do so for the other cryocons Phoenix has released as backup.]]
98* From the 1983 comedy ''Going Berserk'', John Candy's character is brainwashed by a cult to assassinate his fiancée's congressman father using a playing card as a trigger. Something goes wrong in the hypnotism though, and the trigger doesn't make him a cold-blooded assassin as much as a loud obnoxious asshole -- HilarityEnsues. Candy is also one in one of the very few funny moments in ''Volunteers'' (1985). Captured by the Red Army, he laughs at their plans to brainwash him. One jump cut later he's quoting Mao at every opportunity to the point where he's annoying the hell out of his new commander.
99%%* ''Film/TheIpcressFile''.
100* ''Film/JohnnyEnglishReborn'' has the bad guys use a compound to turn anyone into a hidden assassin before dying from a heart attack.
101* The entire population of ''Film/TheMatrix'', being as how anyone who hasn't been freed from the Matrix can become an Agent at any time.
102* ''Film/TheNakedGun''. [[spoiler:Reggie Jackson]] is programmed to assassinate the Queen of England. There's even a ShoutOut to ''Film/{{Telefon}}'' when the technique is first demonstrated.
103* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
104** The clone troopers from the prequels are an ''army'' of Manchurian Agents, which Palpatine activates via the infamous Order 66, resulting in [[ThePurge the massacre of nearly every Jedi throughout the galaxy]]. However, the manner of how this was done differs between canon and ''[[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Legends]]''.
105** ''[[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Legends]]'': Palpatine had a series of genetic "orders" implanted in them that he could activate them when ready. Until then, the clone troopers simply acted as normal, friendly soldiers. The only order we see is Order 66, which, when issued, caused every single clone who hears it to instantly consider any Jedi a traitor to the Republic and attack them. He also had plenty of failsafes to keep them loyal to him and him only. The Expanded Universe showed that some of the clone troopers were strong enough to resist Order 66 and that those who simply didn't hear it remained good (one clone trooper who was stuck on an uncharted world during the end of the Clone Wars later joined up with the Rebellion), but the vast majority of them succumbed to it, and those who didn't were either forced into hiding or killed.
106** Canon: See ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' in the Western Animation folder.
107* ''Film/{{Telefon}}'' (1977). The KGB plant 51 such agents with fake identities in the United States, programmed to commit acts of sabotage on receiving a TriggerPhrase. Unfortunately a fanatical Stalinist opposed to détente steals the list of agents, and the Soviets have to send Charles Bronson to stop him.
108-->"[[Creator/RobertFrost 'The woods are lovely, dark and deep,]]\
109[[Creator/RobertFrost But I have promises to keep,]]\
110[[Creator/RobertFrost And miles to go before I sleep.']]\
111Remember, [Agent's real name], miles to go before you sleep."
112* ''Film/TerminatorGenisys'' lampshades it, with Kyle Reese trying to convince Sarah Connor to not trust the "Guardian" T-800, on the grounds that it might have hidden programming that it's not even aware of.
113* ''Film/UniversalSoldierDayOfReckoning'': The [[CloneArmy UniSol clones]] can be programmed with false memories.
114* This is what Max becomes in ''Film/{{Videodrome}}'', by both Barry Convex and Bianca O'Blivion. Both are able to "program" him to assassinate anyone they want to. Bianca has the decency to note that Max is an innocent victim.
115* Ann is used this way by Korvo (through hypnosis) in ''Film/{{Whirlpool}}''.
116* ''Film/X2XMenUnited''. Stryker utilizes several mutants this way, in conjunction with BrainwashedAndCrazy. Cyclops is one of them, and then we find out that Stryker's Dragon Lady Deathstrike is another one.
117* In the movie ''Film/{{Zoolander}}'', the title character is hypnotized into becoming a berserk assassin when he hears the song "Relax" by Music/FrankieGoesToHollywood. As is ''every'' [[TheConspiracy major assassin in US history]]. Maybe not to that particular song, but the brainwashing thing.
118[[/folder]]
119
120[[folder:Literature]]
121* The trope namer is ''Literature/TheManchurianCandidate'', in which [[spoiler: the protagonist and his war buddies were brainwashed in order to play politics and get a sleeper agent to be president]].
122* In ''Literature/Babel17'', one saboteur turns out to have been programmed by [[spoiler:Babel-17 itself, which is crafted to make people hate the Alliance]].
123* Programming people is routine for the protagonist's agency in Creator/OlegDivov's ''Brothers in Reason''. [[spoiler:The main character himself]] as well as [[spoiler:his half-brother]] are programmed to shoot [[spoiler:their father]] on sight, one with a gun and the other with a laser implanted in the forearm. The first one is revealed when he begins to suspect something and asks his half-brother to hypnotize him. When he becomes aware of the programming, he is now free to disobey it.
124** It is standard policy for all agency employees to undergo brainwashing whenever a [[TheMole mole]] is suspected.
125** This is the same agency that psychically zombifies the entire population of Earth into loving everything Russian, the ultimate psychotronic weapon.
126* In the ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants'' books, Mr. Krupp turns into Captain Underpants when he hears fingers snapping, and returns to normal when water is poured on his head.
127%%* In David Wingrove's ''Literature/ChungKuo'', a servant is made to attack General Tolonen.
128* As revealed in ''[[https://thecrewofthecoppercoloredcupids.wordpress.com/2022/08/13/family-business/ Family Business]]'', Jimmy Anytime was a variant of this in ''Literature/TheCrewOfTheCopperColoredCupids'', a clone of the original Jimmy Wherever hypnotised to believe he was the real deal until Jenny Nowhere switched that part of his conditioning off at a crucial moment. However, he turned out to have developed real feelings for Jenny Everywhere and killed Nowhere instead.
129* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': In ''Literature/TurnCoat'', there are abounding fears within the White Council of Wizards that there are traitors running amok after one of the Senior Council is murdered. It turns out that someone has been mucking with the heads of [[spoiler:the entire younger generation of wizards, turning them into sleeping assassins/suicide bombers, including Captain Luccio, the head of the Wardens]]. On top of that, [[spoiler:all of the other wizards have been quietly influenced by subtle mind-control enchantments over the course of the war]].
130* In Frank Herbert's ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'', the Bene Gesserit can use psychosexual conditioning techniques (called hypno-ligation) to control people. They can trigger their victims by using code words.
131** The [[Literature/DuneMessiah ghola Hayt]] has a trigger word that is intended to [[spoiler:trigger an assassination. His ability to resist it becomes something of a plot point.]]
132** The [[spoiler:Idaho ghola]] in ''Literature/HereticsOfDune'' also has a trigger, [[spoiler:but it doesn't get used on its intended recipient]].
133* Alias, the main heroine from the ''Franchise/ForgottenRealms'' novels ''The FindersStone'' trilogy, is an amnesiac artificial human created by the sorceress Cassana, who put an enchantment on her that triggers a murderous rage when she sees the king of Cormyr with the purpose of killing him.
134* ''Literature/{{The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters}}'' features a trigger phrase known only to the highest echelon of the Cabal, used on those who have undergone the Process, that makes them [[spoiler:follow the instructions given by the person who uses the phrase to the letter.]] It varies based on several factors; it includes a colour ("blue" for those who underwent the Process at the Institute, "orange" for those who underwent it at Harschmort,) a Biblical reference ("Magdalene" for the recruited followers, "Caesar" for the officers, etc.,) the place they were recruited ("Royale" for the Hotel Royale, "Regiment" for the army,) and the words "ice consumption." So, for example, the Countess uses "orange Magdalene orange Royale ice consumption" on [[spoiler:Miss Temple, when trying to determine whether or not she underwent the Process at Harschmort.]]
135* The ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' verse has several methods for doing that. One is called "psych adjustment", which implants a series of compulsions into the unwitting subject that causes him or her to do something when certain conditions are met. However, this requires a lengthy period of programming, which can be problematic if the "agent" has a rigid schedule or urgent responsibilities. A new technique is pioneered by [[spoiler:the [[AncientConspiracy Mesan Alignment]],]] involving nanites that, at a specific time, take over the person's nervous system and force the body to act the way the programmer desires. This method also involves AndIMustScream, since the agent in question is aware that he or she is not in control of the body but can't do anything about it. After the agent is dead, the nanites self-destruct, leaving no trace for anyone not specifically looking for them.
136* Creator/DeanKoontz's ''Literature/NightChills'' has an entire town of sleepers triggered by the phrase "[[TriggerPhrase I am the key]]".
137** In ''Literature/FalseMemory'', victims are programmed with two-step triggers: the name of a novel character, followed by a haiku. If the haiku is not recited for several seconds, the victim will become conscious again, with no memory of hearing the trigger or what they were doing immediately before. They will only respond to commands or statements; if asked a question (unless it is phrased as a command, i.e. "Tell me if you understand"), they will merely repeat it back.
138* Imriel in ''[[Literature/KushielsLegacy Kushiel's Mercy]]'': the trigger is kissing his beloved.
139* In ''Literature/ALandFitForHeroes'', one of the Imperial marines accompanying Archeth on her mission is actually a dwenda who erased his own memory and brainwashed himself into believing he was a loyal soldier order to infiltrate the military. If certain conditions are met, he will regain his memory of his true identity and assassinate her. [[spoiler:Warhelm Ansharal figures this out and modifies the agent's trigger, both protecting Archeth and arranging for the elimination of a different target of Ansharal's choice]].
140* Inverted in the Literature/LordDarcy story ''A Case Of Identity'', where [[spoiler:Lord Seiger]] is a homicidal maniac when in his ''natural'' state, but has been constrained by mental healers' geas effects to be entirely harmless and trustworthy. [[spoiler:At least, until he's fed the correct trigger phrase by his superior in the Angevin royal spy organization, which unleashes his full AxeCrazy lethality on enemies of the Crown.]]
141* The near-eponymous (technically speaking, the Manchurian Agent isn't the "Manchurian Candidate", but that's nitpicking) ''Literature/TheManchurianCandidate'', and the TropeCodifier. There are currently two [[TheFilmOfTheBook adaptations]], the 1962 adaptation and the 2004 adaptation.
142* Inverted in ''Literature/{{MARZENA}}'', they're not Manchurian! They're Anti-Manchurian, evil people turned into good people thanks to [[LaserGuidedAmnesia laser-guided brain surgeries]] and then who turns evil again when their brain heals and they recover their memories (It's just artificially induced DID really).
143* Raul Diaz in ''Literature/MrBlank'' is referred to as a Manchurian Candidate. Brainwashed by so many different conspiracies, traded as a pawn, he even [[spoiler:gets activated to kill by accident.]]
144* ''Literature/ReignOfTheSevenSpellblades'': Unbeknownst even to himself, [[spoiler:Yuri Leik]], introduced in volume 6, is an ArtificialHuman created with a fragment of Professor Demetrio Aristides's own soul to spy on the student body after Professor Enrico Forghieri is assassinated. His compulsion to explore the labyrinth provides a cover justification for Aristides to periodically download his memories.
145* In the fourth ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' book, [[spoiler:Klaus is repeatedly taken in and out of a brainwashed state, which is triggered by the word "lucky" and ended by the word "inordinate"]].
146* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' novel ''Night's Pawn'', a MegaCorp executive's daughter is programmed to kill her father as soon as they're alone together. Worse, she's programmed to do so with a concealed bone spur that can't be detected on scans... and that's designed to slit her own arteries as it emerges, causing her to bleed to death and thus be unable to explain what happened to her.
147* In ''Literature/TheStand'', Tom Cullen is hypnotized and programmed to be a spy for the Boulder faction. The full moon is his trigger for returning to report his observations. M-O-O-N, that spells moon.
148* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'':
149** One of the [[Literature/XWingSeries X-Wing books]] used this. The trigger phrase, different for each agent, was a nonsensical problem (for example, "Those Wookiees are dancing in the parlor again") that instantly became the sole focus of the brainwashed person's life -- and the only way to "solve the problem" was to carry out the preprogrammed mission, usually an assassination.
150** An earlier ''X-Wing'' book had a version not triggered by a code phrase, caused by long-term torture and reconditioning in the Lusankya prison. These agents would be unaware of what Isard had done until they were triggered, at which point they became [[ApologeticAttacker Apologetic Adversaries]]. This was ultimately considered less dangerous than the prior example because the prior example could be engineered by only a day's worth of chemical treatments after kidnapping the target, and it also managed to stir up FantasticRacism by, for example, causing a fleetwide suspension on Twi'lek pilots.
151** In the story "Therefore I Am" from ''Literature/TalesOfTheBountyHunters'' the assassin droid IG-88 plans to use a program to turn every droid in the galaxy into one, inciting a droid rebellion. The most astonishing part is, he ''actually manages to out-gambit Palpatine himself''. The only reason IG-88 fails is because the final part of his plan -- which he succeeds at doing -- involves downloading his mind into the second Death Star's computer core (and even improves the super laser's accuracy) right before the Battle of Endor. (Which, in case anyone forgot, is where the Death Star II is blown up.)
152* In the ''Literature/ThousandSons'' novel ''Ahriman: Sorcerer'', Sanakht telepathically brainwashes his slave Hemellion into becoming a sleeper agent in a plot to overthrow his master Ahriman. When Sanakht is ready to spring his coup, Hemellion will activate and assassinate his target, [[spoiler:Carmenta]]. [[spoiler:He succeeds, dying in the process.]]
153* In the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'', Team Kimba have worked out that Solange has created a Manchurian Agent among their friends. They ''still'' don't know who it is, but they're sure the agent has planted a blackmail note for Solange, and put a tracker in Fey's luggage.
154* In ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', the [[OmnicidalManiac Simurgh]] ''mass produces'' these. As a powerful precog, she can map out the potential futures of her victims and then modify their thought processes with telekinesis-induced hallucinations. These agents can go undetected for years, acting perfectly normal until they get into position to influence something important, sometimes snapping violently and other times simply interfering seemingly of their own accord.
155* In the third ''Literature/RowanOfRin'' book, ''Rowan and the Keeper of the Crystal'', Rowan has the task of choosing the next leader of the Maris people, the Keeper of the Crystal. However, it turns out that one of the three candidates, [[spoiler:Doss of Pandellis]], was brainwashed by the [[TheEmpire Zebak]] and sent as a sleeper agent to help them conquer the Maris. [[spoiler:In the end he's chosen and Rowan can't take back his choice, but the Crystal itself is powerful enough to override the neural programming, so it all works out.]]
156[[/folder]]
157
158[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
159!!!'''Creators:'''
160* Creator/DerrenBrown's special "The Heist" was a real-life attempt at creating four of these.
161** In case you're wondering... [[spoiler:[[ParanoiaFuel 75% success rate]].]]
162** In his ''The Events'' special, he picks a susceptible person in a cafe and then programs the guy to steal a TV when he sees a girl wearing red and holding a balloon. The guy does and then tries to come up with a lame excuse for his behavior when caught.
163** He goes even ''further'' in the special "The Assassin". He picks a susceptible person from his audience and then spends some time programming him to respond to the polka dot pattern (which puts him into a susceptible trance after which he doesn't remember anything) and a specific ringtone (that causes him to think he's still at the shooting range firing at a target). The only other thing that is required is someone to tell him who the target is. In this case, it's Creator/StephenFry. [[spoiler:The guy successfully "assassinates" the actor in the middle of a crowded theater; luckily, Derren is there to clear things up and remove the conditioning]]. Derren keeps referring back to the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, whose killer Sirhan Sirhan has been claiming for decades that he's been programmed by the CIA.
164
165!!!'''Series:'''
166* ''Series/{{Alias}}'': Martin Shepard, who is brainwashed to be a killer for [=SD6=]. In a clear {{homage}} to ''Literature/TheManchurianCandidate'', he's triggered by someone reciting a poem ("No Man Is an Island" by Creator/JohnDonne), then does whatever they said. He then forgets everything if it's recited again. After he begins to break free of the conditioning, Shepard checks into a mental institution, and eventually breaks free entirely, but not before helping Sidney. It's revealed that he's the one who killed her boyfriend Danny under the command of [=SD6=].
167* [[spoiler:Talia Winters]] in ''Series/BabylonFive'', [[spoiler:and Garibaldi]] in Season 4.
168* [[spoiler:Sharon "Boomer" Valerii]] from ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'', although this is something of a [[FirstEpisodeSpoiler Second Episode Spoiler]]. [[spoiler:At the end of Season 3, four of the Final Five are activated by a faint, warped cover of Bob Dylan's ''All Along the Watchtower'' that only they can hear. Namely: Col. Tigh, Chief Tyrol, Sam Anders, and the President's Chief of Staff, Tory.]]
169* In ''Series/BigWolfOnCampus'', the Evil Werewolf Syndicate try to increase their numbers by doing this to Tommy; whenever he hears the code phrase he's supposed to bite the nearest person.
170* Spike in Season 7 of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. The trigger is "Early One Morning", a song his mother used to sing when he was a child (and when he was [[MommasBoy an adult]]).
171* The episode "Attack Angels" of ''Series/CharliesAngels'' features a villain who runs a business creating examples of this trope and selling their services to other villains.
172* Played with in the mini-series ''Confessional'' (based on the thriller by Jack Higgins). Cuchulain is conditioned to be both a god-fearing Catholic (his cover identity) and a ruthless KGB assassin, with each aspect reinforcing the other (the TriggerPhrase for his conditioning is the Lord's Prayer). However in this case he's fully aware that he's an assassin.
173* An episode of ''Series/{{CSI}}'' dealt with people that were brainwashed by a magician to steal stuff for him, using the TriggerPhrase "it's time for your vacation". The police finds out about this scheme when they start to investigate the apparent (and pretty weird) suicide of a woman, and then it turned out that the woman heard these words on a TV advertisement, started to hallucinate that she was on a pool, [[CarCushion and did a swan-dive out of her window straight onto the roof of a passing bus.]]
174* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
175** The Auton Romans in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E12ThePandoricaOpens "The Pandorica Opens"]], [[spoiler:including Rory]]. They don't even know they're not human until they're activated, being so perfect a disguise that River's hallucinogenic lipstick even works on them.
176** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E2DayOfTheMoon "Day of the Moon"]], the ''entire human race'' becomes this. The Silence's ability to control humanity via post-hypnotic suggestion ends up [[HoistByTheirOwnPetard backfiring]] in the most spectacular way possible when one of them is recorded uttering the following words (intended as a boast rather than a command), which is then broadcast to the whole planet during the Apollo 11 Moon landing.
177--->'''Silence:''' You should ''kill us all on sight''.
178** The [[Characters/DoctorWhoDaleks Dalek Puppets]] introduced in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E1AsylumOfTheDaleks Asylum of the Daleks]]". They're created by hollowing out a human and replacing their insides with Dalek technology, and they will act like their original selves but with memory of their death suppressed, until they're activated.
179* [[spoiler:Mellie and Perrin]] in ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}''.
180-->'''Adelle [=DeWitt=]:''' There are three flowers in a vase. The third flower is green.
181** It's not perfect, though. If someone realizes they're being triggered, they may resist, to an extent. Specifically, [[spoiler:Mellie resists when ordered to kill Paul, and opts to shoot herself instead]].
182* In the ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' episode "A Prefect Murder", Aeryn is turned into one via a mind-controlling bug. There's also a subversion: after being bitten. John pieces together what's happening just in time to hand over his weapon and leave the area.
183* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'''s River Tam, although it's only really seen in TheMovie, ''Film/Serenity2005''. Her trigger was a subliminal message buried in a Fruity Oaty Bars commercial, which caused her to go into [[WaifFu martial-arts-killing-machine]] mode.
184* ''Series/GetSmart'' - Max is abducted and brainwashed to assassinate the Chief over their usual chess game at the club -- an employee is the KAOS agent behind the scheme and knows the Chief always wins, so he makes "Checkmate" the trigger. It's ''Get Smart''-- ''of course'' it doesn't work as planned.
185** And the funny part at the end after the villain is defeated, Max is ''still'' reflexively shooting at anyone saying "Checkmate" and sheepishly explaining that a bad habit is hard to break.
186* In one episode of ''Series/InSecurity'', N'udu is brainwashed and assigned to kill his best friend.
187* In a first season episode of ''Series/LoisAndClark'' a magician hypnotizes people into becoming his willing slaves when they hear the phrase "moon and stars", with both Superman and Lois falling victim to this. In another episode, Lois thinks she was taken in a stereotypical AlienAbduction (when Clark expresses doubt, she points out that ''he himself is an alien''). In reality, it was an implanted memory by a criminal, who triggers Lois to do something reckless, such as walk out onto a busy roadway, in order to distract Superman, while he steals something.
188* Done twice in the ''Series/MacGyver1985'' episode "Brainwashed". Jack Dalton and Pete Thornton are both programmed with different code phrases buried in the speech to be given by the president of a fictional African country they're programmed to assassinate. The simultaneous missing weekend over which they were programmed is covered by FakeMemories.
189* ''Series/MagnumPI'': During their service in Vietnam, Magnum and T.C. were captured by the Viet Cong. One episode revealed that a KGB officer had turned [[spoiler:T.C.]] into one of these. [[spoiler:They activated him in order to assassinate some Japanese dignitaries, but Magnum was able to stop the plot and T.C. was sent to a hospital for deprogramming.]]
190* The ''Series/MissionImpossible'' episode "Mindbend", where brainwashing is used. They have a drug prepared to counter it...
191** The second series episode "The Assassin", with hypnosis and biochips behind the ear.
192* ''Series/MyLifeIsMurder'': In "Call of the Wild", a psychiatrist discovers that one of his patients is super-susceptible to hypnotism. He programs her to shoot anyone she sees wearing purple (knowing that his intended victim jogs at the same time every day, wearing the same outfit) on hearing a particular musical TriggerPhrase. He then programs that TriggerPhrase into her phone as the ringtone for the number he will call her from.
193* The setup for ''Series/MyOwnWorstEnemy'' is an inversion as Edward Albright, the spy, is the original personality, and Henry Spivey, a quiet middle-management office employee with a wife and two kids, is the implanted cover. The whole premise of the show is the breakdown of the chip that separates the two lives and Henry becoming aware of his alter-ego. Cue the inexperienced Henry going on missions, and Edward sleeping with Henry's wife.
194* ''Series/TheNewAdventuresOfRobinHood'': In "The Hanged Man", the Sheriff uses a MadScientist to brainwash either Marion, Little John, or Tuck to kill Robin.
195* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': The episode "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S2E8StraightAndNarrow Straight and Narrow]]" deals with a prep school which is a front for an agency training these. It is revealed at the end that their "recruits" have infiltrated many agencies, including law enforcement. Programming is done with an implanted computer chip, although it fails with someone who has ulcers due to a treatment formerly prescribed for it.
196* In ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'', while [[spoiler:Dillon]] is the most obvious, [[spoiler:a ''significant percentage'' of the population of Corinth have been turned into cyborgs without their knowledge, to turn on the rest of the population when Venjix triggers the command.]]
197* Cuddles the Comfort Doll from ''Series/PuppetsWhoKill'' was brainwashed into becoming an assassin for the government in one episode. The trigger to switch him between normal and brainwashed was to show him a Jack of Diamonds. Naturally, this led to [[HilarityEnsues a whole bunch of stuff happening]] that made the two scientists stop and note that they shouldn't have used something as common as playing cards for the trigger. At the end of the episode, the scientists attempt to remove the brainwashing and are seemingly successful... at least, until the local news introduces their new weatherman, Jack O'Diamond.
198* A couple episodes of ''Series/StargateSG1'' use this. [[spoiler:The agents trigger to a particular event or time after being brainwashed to do so, kill the target(s) and then themselves.]]
199* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E24TheMindsEye The Mind's Eye]]", Geordi was on his way to Risa when he was abducted by Romulans and brainwashed into being an operative in a plot aimed at undermining the Klingon/Federation alliance. He carries out orders fed to him via transmissions his VISOR can pick up. He has no memory of doing these things, [[DetectiveMole and in fact capably investigates himself]], forcing his handlers to accelerate their plans.
200* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'':
201** In the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS06E18Inquisition Inquisition]]", Bashir is accused of being a ''willing'' one of these (as in, he agreed to become an enemy agent and then suppressed any knowledge of it in order to maintain his cover perfectly) [[spoiler:by Section 31. He's not, it's all just a test by the SecretPolice to screen him for initiation into their organization whether he likes it or not]].
202** In the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS02E14Whispers Whispers]]", [[spoiler:an alien rebel faction has come up with a twist; rather than try and brainwash O'Brien to sabotage peace talks, they replace him with a programmable clone who otherwise believes himself to be the original]].
203* In ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'', it's revealed that Starfleet has a Manchurian Protocol specifically designed to detect any such mind manipulation. [[spoiler:It fails to expose Ash Tyler as the Klingon Voq, as the real Ash Tyler's memories were actually overlayed on top of Voq's suppressed consciousness, avoiding the protocol (presumably, the Klingons knew about it). It's only when Dr. Culber digs deeper, at Tyler's request, that he discovers the ruse. Unfortunately for him, he tells it to Tyler while they're alone in sickbay, so Tyler/Voq [[NeckSnap snaps his neck]]]].
204* ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'': In the MirrorUniverse episode "[[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS04E18InAMirrorDarkly In a Mirror Darkly]]", Mirror Tucker is tortured for hours after a suspicious overload shuts off the ship's cloaking device and internal sensors. Afterwards, he accuses Mirror T'Pol of doing the deed and framing him for it.
205-->'''T'Pol:''' You're mistaken.\
206'''Tucker:''' The hell I am! I think I'd remember if I had sabotaged the ship!\
207'''T'Pol:''' Not necessarily.\
208'''Tucker:''' ''[{{beat}}]'' What did you do to me?\
209'''T'Pol:''' I lured you away from Engineering with the promise of a sexual encounter. Once we were alone in my quarters, I implanted a telepathic suggestion. I compelled you to sabotage the power grid. After you completed the assignment, we melded again. I altered your memory of what had happened.
210%%* The Romulans do this to [=LaForge=] in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS4E24TheMindsEye The Mind's Eye]]".
211* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Castiel spends most of Season 8 being controlled by Naomi, the head of Heaven's black ops division, only remembering this fact when called back to Heaven to report to her. [[spoiler:When Naomi orders him to kill Dean however, he can't bring himself to do it and this frees him long enough to pick up the Angel Tablet, breaking her control.]]
212* One ''Series/TekWar'' episode has an agent undergo this to infiltrate a criminal organization which screens entries using a lie detector. The criminals somehow catch on and interfere with the switch, causing a personality crisis –- resolved by the main character preparing to make the coup de grace.
213* ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'':
214** "Sleeper" has the titular alien sleeper agents.
215** Also in the episode "They Keep Killing Suzie", where a certain someone [[spoiler:(Suzie)]] encodes multiple triggers into a hapless man she met at a philosophical group [[spoiler:in order to get herself brought back from the dead and take over Torchwood]].
216* In ''Series/{{Treadstone}}'' this is used to carry on the amnesia theme from Film/TheBourneSeries. Both the CIA (in an extension of the Treadstone program) and the KGB had brainwashed sleeper assassins, who are now being activated by FormerRegimePersonnel. Even after activation the assassins have memory blocks as to their past and why they have their deadly skills. However SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome occurs because the longer the sleeper agents remain inactive and exposed to outside influences, the more likely their conditioning will break down, with the agents either going insane or just failing to carry out their instructions properly.
217* A major plot point in ''Series/{{Utopia}}'', as [[TheConspiracy The Network]] has these across the world. They live completely unremarkable lives and act like completely normal people, but when they are activated, they will complete their objectives to the letter with terrifying efficiency. Keep in mind the emphasis on "unremarkable lives", as some of these agents had families prior to their eventual activation, and are willing to eradicate them, even ''[[OffingTheOffspring their own children]]''.
218* This was a favourite tactic of the aliens in ''Series/UFO1970''.
219** In "Kill Straker!" The aliens give Paul Foster a subliminal command to kill Commander Straker.
220** In "The Man Who Came Back", Commander Straker's friend Collins turns out to have been brainwashed by the aliens into an assassin. His orders: kill Straker.
221* In the (original) TV series of ''Series/{{V 1983}}'', Ham Tyler is brainwashed to kill resistance leader Michael Donovan.
222* The ''Series/Vegas1978'' episode "Lost Monday" has Binzer being hypnotized into constructing and detonating a bomb. The hypnotist instructs him to respond to the trigger word "superstar".
223%%* Several episodes of ''Series/TheWildWildWest''.
224* ''Series/TheWitcher2019'': We see that in the Battle of Sodden Hill Nilfgaard's mages have compelled Sabrina Glevissig and two {{muggle}} boys to act as unwitting agents by placing worms in their ears which presumably control them (perhaps by affecting the brain somehow). They use the former to attack Yenn, as the latter destroy the potion supply with a vial she gave them, which causes a huge explosion as well.
225[[/folder]]
226
227[[folder:Podcasts]]
228* In ''Podcast/MissionToZyxx'' all Federated Alliance droids are programmed with a Quontaran Override that kicks if they have the opportunity to launch an attack on a priority Rebel target.
229* ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale'': After Cecil is bought by parties unknown at the secret police's auction he starts blacking out when mayor Dana Cardinal is in danger (fairly often) and saving her with no memory of it happening. And in "Briny Depths" it turns out that [[spoiler:everyone in Night Vale]] is a Manchurian Agent of the World Government with the TriggerPhrase "Briny Depths". Cecil, however, [[SkewedPriorities is more concerned that the World Government is using the same]] TriggerPhrase, [[DoWrongRight which he considers sloppy]].
230[[/folder]]
231
232[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
233* One of various character options that be taken on ''TabletopGame/DarkHeresy'' is that of an Agent of the Inquisition that has some of his knowledge locked away (meaning that the player must take some of his character creation points and use them to buy skills and abilities that will be locked) up until the moment he hears a TriggerPhrase. This is one of various measures the Inquisition takes with agents that will be constantly exposed to Chaos or doing dirty (well, dirt''ier'') jobs for it.
234* A number of social Charms in ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' do this. The standout would be the Subsidiary Personality Implant expansion of Mind-Ripping Probe, which explicitly mentions setting a trigger condition for the hidden self to come out to play.
235* The TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness allows plenty of this. ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' and ''TabletopGame/MageTheAscension'' give players access to Dominate and the Mind sphere, respectively, while World Of Darkness: Sorcerer provides [[PsychicPowers Psychic]] (and Hedge Magic and Technomagic) Hypnosis. All of those can be used to create a Manchurian Agent with deep programming. Project Twilight -- a sourcebook for anti-supernatural government agents -- even makes "Manchurian Candidate" a flaw that can be taken by players.
236[[/folder]]
237
238[[folder:Video Games]]
239* In ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'', [[spoiler:the main character]] would obey any command he heard that was accompanied by the phrase [[spoiler:"would you kindly."]] Slightly different than most, in that it didn't put him into any kind of trance; the details on how exactly it works are somewhat lost, as [[spoiler:the main character is a silent protagonist. And since the commands are mission objectives, you have to do them.]] According to Dr. Yi Suchong's "Mind Control Antidote" audio diary, they did use some Plasmids in order for the agent to susceptible to the code phrase, as shown in the "Mind Control Test" audio diary.
240* Kilrathi defector "[[ShoutOut Hobbes]]" was revealed as one of these in ''VideoGame/WingCommander 3: Heart of the Tiger'', with the trigger phrase... "[[TitleDrop Heart of the Tiger]]".
241* [[spoiler:Luke]] in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'', who was programmed to [[spoiler:unleash a [[WeaponOfMassDestruction hyperresonnance]]]] when he heard the trigger phrase.
242* [[spoiler:Boyd, aka "The Milkman"]] in ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' apparently had some sort of subliminal trigger implanted in his already fragmented mind by the BigBad. When [[spoiler:Raz accidentally]] released that trigger while exploring his mind, he followed those implanted orders to destroy the asylum and cover up anything that went on there. [[spoiler:However, it takes him quite a long time to finally do it, because the final passcode hadn't been given. Fred says it completely by coincidence as he leaves the asylum]].
243** Notably, [[spoiler:Boyd]]'s mind was aware of the implanted personality but not ''what'' exactly it was. He became obsessed with finding out what [[spoiler:the Milkman]] was, which led to his brain creating [[TheMenInBlack government-inspired]] mental constructs called G-Men, whose entire purpose was investigating and eliminating the aforementioned implanted personality, [[spoiler:the Milkman]].
244* [[spoiler:Alex Mason]] in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'' is programmed to [[spoiler:[[WhoShotJFK kill President Kennedy]].]] It's not outright stated whether this succeeded or not, but it's heavily implied.
245-->[[spoiler:'''Mason:''' You tried to make me kill my own President!]]\
246[[spoiler:'''Dragovitch:''' ''(laughs) Tried?'']]
247** It's also revealed that [[spoiler:Viktor Reznov managed to add onto that programming, sending him after the men responsible for the initial brainwashing.]] This bit comes up again in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'', where [[spoiler:one of Reznov's targets, Kravchenko, is revealed to have survived -- when he shows up, one of the plot-changing decisions you get to make is whether to resist the brainwashing and let him talk, or give in and shoot him.]]
248* In an overheard conversation in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations'', the [[UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar Templars]] have in the past used brainwashed spies against the Assassins. Shaun Hastings suspects that [[spoiler:Desmond may be one after he killed Lucy while under the control of a Piece of Eden]], but there are hints that [[spoiler:Lucy herself could have been one.]]
249** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' reveals that [[spoiler:Lucy was a willing traitor]] while [[spoiler:Daniel Cross was turned into this trope by the Animus]].
250* A variation is featured in Chapter 2 of the Imperial Agent storyline in ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic''. [[spoiler:The Agent is programmed to carry out certain orders given after the command word is used and, while they still control their own thoughts and remember their actions, they are unable to disobey. The Agent doesn't realise they have undergone the procedure until the leader of the SIS cell they're infiltrating [[OhCrap forces them to obey him]]. The Agent also starts [[DisneyAcidSequence going insane]] as a side-effect.]]
251** The other use of this in-game is the Children of the Emperor, crossing both the Consular and Knight arcs. Force-Sensitive infants and children throughout the galaxy are found by the Emperor's agents and brought to him. The Emperor then uses a Sith ritual to establish a PsychicLink with them, seeding them across the galaxy. At any time, he can activate that link and use them as vessels for his will and consciousness. The "children" are not usually aware of their status until the emperor has need of them, so they live ordinary lives, many as loyal Republic citizens, until the trigger causes them to betray their former friends and allies while exhibiting the usual [[DrunkOnTheDarkSide Sith degree of sanity]]. With the Knight, [[spoiler:Kira Carsen's parents surrendered her willingly,]] and the Emperor possesses her to try and kill the [[TheChosenOne Knight]] in Act One, when they're still too weak to face him directly. Consulars will have their hands full with the rest of the "siblings," who range from diplomats and low-ranking Sith, to common Republic soldiers and even [[spoiler:Master Syo Bakarn, a senior member of the Jedi Council]]!
252* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky'', the [[spoiler:Male protagonist, Joshua Bright]] is revealed to be a Manchurian agent for [[spoiler: Ouroboros]], giving [[spoiler:Cassius Bright's]] information to them while everyone else are asleep. In the second game, the aforementioned character gets a rare ''heroic'' version of this to counter the original "programming". [[spoiler: Before leaving for the final battle, Joshua has Kevin Graham implant a Stigma in him that will counteract Weissman's brainwashing, and the trigger turns out to be Weissman ordering Joshua to kill Estelle. Because [[BatmanGambit Joshua knew Weissman wouldn't be able to resist such an act of dog-kicking.]]]]
253* The villain in ''VideoGame/DanseMacabre 5: Lethal Letters'' uses hypnosis to turn people into these, the usual trigger being a special red envelope.
254* In ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' this happened to Amélie Lacroix, who was kidnapped by the Talon terrorist organization, reprogrammed into an assassin and then "found" by Overwatch agents and returned to her husband Gerard apparently none the worse for the wear. Two weeks later her programming was activated and she killed Gerard [[SlainInTheirSleep in his sleep]] before returning to Talon and becoming the assassin Widowmaker.
255* In ''VideoGame/FarCry5'', Jacob Seed uses brainwashing and drugs to condition people into going under his control when they hear the song "Only You". He puts it to especially useful effect when he triggers the [[PlayerCharacter Junior Deputy]] to kill [[spoiler: Eli, the leader of the resistance against him]].
256* ''Franchise/MassEffect:'' A favoured tactic of the Reapers is to use Indoctrination to turn people into their puppets, and send them somewhere they can do damage. When they get to the "Kill everything everywhere" part of their plan, indoctrinated sleeper agents are sent to find any refugees so the Reapers can get them.
257* In ''VideoGame/PhantomDoctrine'', after you have researched MKULTRA and built its facility, you can do this to captured enemy agents, with several flavors: making enemy agent reveal their base when they returned, or even destroy it, or setting up trigger phrases that you can activate to turn them to your side if you meet them again, or even automatically comes to your side when you get into fight with them. Of course, beware that some agent you hired might be one for the enemy...
258* Played with the Thalmor in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim''. When they're not secretly torturing people to spread fear and gather information, or [[ForTheEvulz to fulfill their amusement]], the Thalmor would also manipulate certain people (through any means possible, including ColdBloodedTorture) for their own benefits. Best exemplified with [[spoiler:Ulfric Stormcloak]], where they tortured him and shaped him [[spoiler:into believing that the rotting Tamrielic Empire is detrimental to Skyrim's future and the independent Skyrim is the only solution to fix many problems that currently plagued Skyrim,]] thus instigating the Civil War. The only reason why this isn't played straight is twofold: One, that Ulfric himself is uncooperative towards them (given what they did) and Thalmor's main purpose isn't removing Empire's presence in Skyrim nor letting Ulfric take Skyrim for himself, but to instigate endless conflict that put both forces in state of stagnant and exhaustion so that they will never be able to actually top off the Thalmor anytime sooner, and two, the Thalmor [[OutsideContextProblem didn't count on]] the [[PlayerCharacter Dragonborn]] showing up and semi-accidentally becoming a key figure in the Civil War, allowing either the Empire or the Stormcloaks themselves to tip the balance in their respective favors and end the war and ostensibly prepare to re-start the war with the Thalmor again.
259* An early mission in ''VideoGame/XWingAlliance'' has the player participate in the rescue of a number of Rebels captured during the Battle of Hoth. One of the prisoners, [[spoiler:Commander Kupalo]], is later revealed to have been brainwashed by the Empire into one of these. His actions when triggered result in the (temporary) arrest of an Imperial defector, the ambush of an Alliance task force, and ultimately his attempted escape into Imperial custody. The final incident alone led to the deaths of a number of Rebel pilots and techs and significant damage to the player's home base warship.
260* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'':
261** The first part reveals that many of the Nasuverse's top mages are actually Manchurian Agents. In ages past, the Grand Order was institutionalized for every magus family: to live as long as possible and mantain a lineage that would in time inherit the family's Magic Crest, a PowerTattoo that represents their legacy as magi and contains their accumulated power and knowledge; defying the Order and willingly ending a family is considered the absolute taboo for a magus. The thing is, seventy-two of these Crests are imbued with the Literature/ArsGoetia demons, and the Grand Order was put in place to ensure they would survive for the three thousand years they'd need for their plan to come to fruition. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, it turns out Professor Lev Lainur was one of the carriers, and after an unsuccessful suicide attempt when he realized what was going on, the demon Flauros awoke within him and seized control of him just in time to sabotage Chaldea's first Singularity mission to Fuyuki.]]
262** In the Atlantis Lostbelt, [[spoiler: Assassin Charlotte Corday]] was an unknowing agent for Lostbelt Odysseus, who summoned them while dismantling a Ley Line and injected them with Zeus Klironomia before erasing their memories. [[spoiler:The Klironomia in Corday activate when she and Chaldea Perse Island, forcing her to fight her friends while her body was being destroyed. Thankfully, Chaldea was able to subdue the Zeus Klironomia with other types of Klironomia. In the end, Corday was able to get revenge against Odysseus in a mutual kill]].
263** During the Traum Singularity, it's revealed that [[spoiler:Sherlock Holmes]] was initially summoned as an Apostle of the [[BigBad Foreign God]] during the events of Part 1, then erased his memories to better infiltrate Chaldea. [[spoiler:This backfired as Holmes grew to care for the members of Chaldea, and even helped them in their fight against the Crypters. When Ruler Moriarty, an apostle of the Foreign World, try to restore Holmes's memories and make him serve the Foreign God again, Holmes choose to let himself be killed by Moriarty so he wouldn't harm Chaldea. This ended up screwing both the Foreign God's ''and'' Moriarty's plans.]]
264[[/folder]]
265
266[[folder:Visual Novels]]
267* In ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'', asking [[spoiler:Issei too much about Caster will trigger a bad end.]]
268* In ''[[VisualNovel/{{Sunrider}} Sunrider Liberation Day]],'' [[spoiler:Chigara]] is revealed to be a Prototype spy sent to keep tabs on (and in one case, [[HoneyTrap seduce]]) certain members of the Sunrider’s crew. Unlike most examples, she doesn’t require a code phrase since the other Prototypes can take control of her at any time through their shared HiveMind. [[spoiler:She’s able to break free of their control, but not before the villains use her to massacre the delegates attending a peace conference.]]
269[[/folder]]
270
271[[folder:Webcomics]]
272%%* [[spoiler:Mace Windu]] in ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids''.
273* Unlike the common zombie-like revenants in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', the revenants from Sturmhalten appear exactly like normal people (well, as normal as anyone in a Creator/PhilFoglio comic) until their controller issues them orders, which they carry out against their will. Interestingly, some are capable of freedom within those constraints. (Such as killing a friend so he won't suffer a Fate Worse than Death.)
274** Recently, [[DefectorFromDecadence Tarvek]] stated that the zombie revenants are actually only "a statistical extreme", and that the sleeper agent revenants are actually far more common. It's just that, since the zombie revenants are far more obvious, they managed to divert attention from the real things.
275* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': The Monster in the Darkness has [[spoiler:"eat Redcloak (and spit out his [[SoulJar holy symbol]])" linked to the trigger "Redcloak betrays Xykon".]]
276* Emily the SixthRangerTraitor from ''Webcomic/OurLittleAdventure'' [[spoiler:shed her [[MeatPuppet human shell]] and turned into a HumanoidAbomination under Angelo's command when she touched the first Magicant Piece.]]
277* Gabriel (of ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' fame) is responsible for the murder of the president of the U.S.A in one comic after presumably having the instruction planted in him after going to a psychotherapist (or something).
278* Oasis from ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'', when she sees Hereti-Corp's logo "Override B-1" is activated and she murders every H-C employee in sight.
279[[/folder]]
280
281[[folder:Web Original]]
282* Deconstructed [[PlayedForLaughs For Laughs]] in [[https://regimental-standard.com/2020/07/01/find-the-assassin/ this]] ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' news article. An assassin was called in to assist a regiment, disguised as a soldier and given false memories for maximum concealment. Not even their allies know the identity of the assassin... so once the officers realize that the assassin wasn't triggered, they have to go on a regiment-wide search for them by triggering all 80,000 soldiers under their command. The deconstruction comes with the 'rumor' that the assassin was killed by the Commissar (morale officer, infamous for killing their own soldiers); no memories means no legal protection.
283[[/folder]]
284
285[[folder:Web Videos]]
286* Travis Crabtree of ''WebVideo/EightiesDan'' was revealed to be one in WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob's review of ''The Legend Of Boggy Creek'': the song which his name comes from sends him into a hypnotic state which causes him to kill the Cinema Bum with a golf club.
287-->'''Snob:''' Now ''there's'' something you don't see every day.
288[[/folder]]
289
290[[folder:Western Animation]]
291* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' in "My Big Fat Spy Wedding", where Jet Fusion is hypnotized by Beautiful Gorgeous to kill anyone who says "I have the Ring", with Jimmy being her target and the Best Man in their wedding. [[spoiler:Sheen and Carl discover the trick and crash into the wedding to tell Jimmy; Jimmy convinces everybody in the church to say "I have the Ring" and Libby makes up a gospel song with the trigger phase as the lyrics, leading to a whole musical number which includes the show's creator Keith Alcorn and John A. Davis dancing in the church with everyone else, thereby confusing Jet's brainwashing enough to let him regain his senses, call off the wedding, and arrest Gorgeous.]]
292* ''WesternAnimation/AllHailKingJulien'' episode "The Panchurian Candidate" reveals that the previous king had trained a team of sleeper agents that he can deploy to take care of various threats to his crown, and that Pancho is the only one of those left.
293* Haley in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', due to "Project Daycare" by the CIA to create sleeper agents from children, but the project was shelved for an unclear reason. To prevent accidental activation, the trigger phrase was purposely chosen to be something nobody would ever say normally: "I'm getting fed up with this orgasm!". If the phrase is uttered again the agent's last order is treated as part of their own free will, but failing to do so before a deadline will render their hypnotised state permanent. [[spoiler:Stan later learns that Daycare was shelved because too many handlers were killed by their own agents due to a side-effect where going past the deadline would [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters make them turn on their handlers]] until they're dead.]]
294** Another episode had Steve react to a trigger that compelled him to assassinate a certain government official, as a throwaway gag.
295* The brainwashing done by the [[SecretPolice Dai Li]] of Ba Sing Se in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' is [[TriggerPhrase activated]] by saying "(name), the Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai," to which they respond by gaining MindControlEyes and saying "I am honored to accept his invitation."
296* ''WesternAnimation/CloneHigh'': In the episode "Anxious Times at Clone High," anyone who got caught by the Heebie Jeebie and sent to the spa is turned into a sleeper agent Candide can activate with a flute.
297* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Duckman}}'' episode "The Mallardian Candidate", Duckman is brainwashed into becoming compelled to kill his HypercompetentSidekick Cornfed every time he sees a Queen of Hearts playing card, and return to normal after committing the crime when he hears the phrase "Call the police". Fortunately, the phrase "Call the police" keeps coming up in his family's conversation before he can actually kill Cornfed.
298* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'': After watching a bad movie, Launchpad becomes convinced that evil molemen are infiltrating the surface, and then that ''he'' is an evil moleman, and that [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch he needs to redeem his race]].
299-->'''Mrs Beakley:''' ''[flatly]'' Launchpad, you're not a moleman.\
300'''Launchpad:''' Oh. Yeah, yeah that makes sense.
301* Mayor Adam West of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''. Like in ''American Dad'', the trigger phrase was purposely chosen to be something that has no chance of ever being said in normal conversation: "Gosh, that Italian family at the next table sure is quiet." Also, [[spoiler:Meg is revealed to be a deep-cover agent as well, luckily she is ignored as even the Russians treat her as a ButtMonkey.]]
302** Bonus points for doing this to a character whose [[spoiler:[[Creator/MilaKunis voice actress]] is fluent in Russian]].
303* ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget'': In "Quiz Master", a game show was a front for MAD to hypnotize the contestants (including Gadget) into comitting crimes after hearng the TriggerPhrase "Going my way?" Turns out it did make him go their way...
304* ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'': The episode ''"Our Man in Grrfurjiclestan"'' plays with this trope. While on a WildGooseChase to track down the Red Squirrel [[CallBack after previous events]], Buck Rockgut tells the penguins that Red has inexplicitly turned one of them into a sleeper agent, but is unable to tell them which one is the suspect, leading the penguins (minus Skipper) into letting their ParanoiaFuel take control and turn on each other. [[spoiler:It isn't until the penguins confront Buck themselves that they deduce that none of them was a sleeper agent, and that Buck only set them onto each other as payback for tricking him into searching for the Red Squirrel in a place that doesn't exist. [[PlotTwist However, this leads to Buck attacking the penguins himself, with the Red Squirrel appearing to confirm that the ''real'' sleeper agent was Buck Rockgut himself, who only used his lie as part of an elaborate plan to lure the penguins to their location so Buck can kill them instead]], with Red controlling him by snapping his fingers]].
305* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': During "Mer-Mysteries," the heroes have finally figured out that there's a spy in the Rebellion. Poor Bow becomes convinced that he is an unwitting double-agent and has multiple panic attacks. He insists that he needs to be locked up for everyone's safety.
306* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Using this, Sideshow Bob turns Bart Simpson into a LaserGuidedTykebomb in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS12E13DayOfTheJackanapes Day of the Jackanapes]]".
307-->'''Bart:''' [[CreepyMonotone Time to blow up the clown]].\
308'''Homer:''' Go. Blow.
309%%* Luna Fatale in the animated series of ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio''.
310* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': In the Lost Missions, the clone troopers are revealed to be this. [[spoiler:Seeing how we've discovered that their obedience conditioning doesn't make them mindless and have spent the entire series with them arguing that ClonesArePeopleToo, the chip in their head that enforces total obedience is probably the only way to explain how they all turned on the Jedi in Order 66.]] In Season 7, we see it in action in "Shattered", and while [[spoiler:Rex]] is able to resist for a few moments because he had previous warning, it takes over. [[spoiler:Even when Rex tries to reason with his brothers after Ahsoka manages to knock him out and remove the chip from his head, even providing them a potential excuse to spare Ashoka by pointing out that she isn't a Jedi anymore, they ignore it as a meaningless distinction and resolve to kill him too for interfering with their orders. The brainwashing is so extensive that the clones refuse to evacuate a crashing ship and ultimately all die rather than let her escape.]]
311* In the third SeasonFinale of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'', Brother Blood brainwashes the members of Titans East as Manchurian Agents after his initial assault fails, or rather, ''appears'' to.
312* In ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'', the heroes discover that there may be a [[TheMole Mole]] on the Team. One possibility they float is Superboy -- he's a clone created by Cadmus and "raised" by telepathic mutants, so what if he was working for the villains without even knowing it? Ultimately, we learn that [[spoiler:''Roy'' is actually a clone and the real Manchurian Agent]].
313[[/folder]]
314
315[[folder:Real Life]]
316* This was one of many forms of mind control researched by the CIA's Project MKULTRA and, out of all the things they tried, seems to have been the ''least'' workable (and for one of America's many insane UsefulNotes/ColdWar super-science pipe dreams that is ''really'' saying something). [[ParanoiaFuel At least that's the official story]]...
317[[/folder]]
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