Line #58 Main/WeakWilled


1	[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/beastboy-montage.jpg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Maybe there's a reason Beast Boy gets [[MindControlEyes hypnotized]] so often.]]
3
4	->'''Lisa:''' Watch yourself, Dad -- you're the highly suggestible type.\
5	'''Homer:''' Yes, I am the highly suggestible type.
6	-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''
7
8	%% One quote. Extras go on the quotes tab.
9
10	Heroes and willpower go together like bread and butter. They may be a {{Determinator}} with HeroicResolve or HeroicWillpower, even perhaps capable of FightingFromTheInside to shake off MindControl.
11
12	Then there's characters who just need an amateur hypnotist with a bit of twine and a bottle cap to be [[HypnoFool hopelessly under their control.]] These characters are Weak-Willed. They may be just as confident and resolute as anyone else, but they have absolutely no defense (or maybe a ''negative'' defense, if such a thing is possible) to mind control.
13
14	It's not just against mundane party game hypnotism, but also brainwashing or PsychicPowers. The JediMindTrick can leave them in a day long haze, and CharmPerson will make them [[{{Glamour}} lifelong love slaves]]. At times, [[MilesGloriosus they may boast]] they [[MoreHypnotizableThanHeThinks have an iron resolve that can't be broken]], before being comically "switched on" to [[EvilMinions Minion]] or TheRenfield just by glancing at the goofy [[HypnoticEyes swirly eyes]]. Their new master may even be unsettled by [[BlackShirt how readily]] they [[ProfessionalButtKisser took to the conditioning.]] This type of character also faces the PowerPerversionPotential of having sex without giving conscious consent -- which, for those of you following along at home, is [[QuestionableConsent a form of rape]].
15
16	This character may also be SuperGullible, totally vulnerable to ordinary deception or manipulation. They are helpless against a [[HonestJohnsDealership fast-talking salesman]], PhonyPsychic, or two-bit ConMan. Surely they cannot put up any resistance to HypnoticEyes.
17
18	TruthInTelevision to a certain extent, since some people are more susceptible to hypnosis than others. But in RealLife, "highly suggestible" means about as susceptible to hypnosis as the average TV character is, since hypnosis is a lot less powerful than it's made out to be. [[RealityIsUnrealistic Counter to this trope's stereotypes]], real life hypnotizability is actually [[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3818040 positively correlated with higher intelligence.]] (Many of the mental characteristics that allow hypnosis to work, such as attention span, imagination, mental flexibility, and understanding of language and concepts, are more prevalent in the more intelligent. People with [=IQs=] below 80 are often considered effectively [[TooDumbToFool "unhypnotizable".]])
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20	If it's a friend rather than an enemy doing the hypnosis, expect it to devolve in PygmalionSnapback or TeachHimAnger. Compare ExtremeDoormat and EmptyShell. Not to be confused with WillfullyWeak, which is a strong character who holds back their full strength.
21
22	----
23	!!Examples:
24
25	[[foldercontrol]]
26
27	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
28	* This is implied to be the reason Sango in ''Franchise/{{Inuyasha}}'' wasn't able to resist the Salamander demon's egg inside of her belly despite both it not hatching yet and her being a powerful fighter on her own right. Said demon justified it as women are weak willed and easy to control in general, something Kagome visibly objected to.
29	* Wolfram from ''Literature/KyoKaraMaoh'' is subjected to this. Justified though because [[spoiler: the key to unlocking the greatest evil in the demon world is his heart and as the series goes on and the seal to the great evil weakens, he starts zoning out more often than not.]]
30	* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Monkey D. Luffy is '''so''' suggestible that the hypnotism doesn't even have to be '''aimed''' at him. He is hypnotized by a chakram on a string from over a hundred feet away, when the guy doing the hypnotizing is trying to hypnotize his underlings, not Luffy, and is surrounded by so many people that Luffy should barely be able to see the chakram, let alone concentrate on it hard enough to be hypnotized. This is especially interesting when you realize that Luffy's a {{Determinator}} with one of the strongest wills and most stubborn mindsets in the series. He's just ''really'' easily hypnotized. Of course, he's also the quintessential IdiotHero, and the RuleOfFunny always applies. Of course that hypnosis made him much, much stronger. So maybe he wanted to [[ObfuscatingStupidity take advantage]] of the enemies' techniques. Or, he really is that suggestible, considering earlier he fell asleep just by looking at the chakram. Also notable is that the first hypnotist we see in the series is almost as susceptible to his own hypnotism powers as Luffy is. Later ''subverted'', when his stolen shadow resists the villain's control for quite a long time, while normal people succumb instantly and all of his comrades only resist on some very strict principles they have, being submissive otherwise.
31	* Gilbert from ''Manga/PandoraHearts'' has been brainwashed multiple times as a kid, as a grown up [[spoiler:and in his past life.]] It's a wonder how he's able to keep Oz alive.
32	* There's Jun Yamamoto from ''Manga/SpecialA'', who is ''so'' weak-willed that when he was younger, [[spoiler:he got hypnotized by a TV program, of all things, resulting in his DepravedBisexual SplitPersonality.]] No, really.
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:Comic Books]]
36	* WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck in the comics is prone to boasting he's immune to hypnosis and subsequently being extremely easily hypnotized. In one story by Creator/CarlBarks he is even hypnotized by a children's toy he only imagines to have the power to do so. In another by Creator/DonRosa, he falls asleep immediately as soon as the hypnotist starts speaking about sleepiness, something which astonishes the hypnotist.
37	* Actually used as an advantage in an issue of ''[[Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League]] Europe'' in which Franchise/TheFlash (Wally West) is the weakest-willed member of the team, and therefore he's the only one who's able to pick up an extremely weak telepathic distress call from another dimension.
38	* Despite wearing a helmet that by all rights ought to protect his from this, the ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica member Magog was ridiculously easy to hypnotize. He was only around as an active hero for a couple of years, but in that time pretty much every DC villain with a mind control shtick made him dance to their tune -- Gorilla Grodd, Maxwell Lord, and even those creepy psychic twins from ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'' to name a few.
39	* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}''
40	** Superman has a rather undeserved reputation as this, due to the frequency with which people brainwash him. It's not as though he's exactly weak-willed, and in fact often breaks out or at least partially resists their control himself. It's just that he's such an attractive target for brainwashing that it happens a lot. And it's also one of the few ''holes'' in his otherwise-invulnerable powers. While he's not weak-willed, his lack of any special protection against mind-control or magic makes it seem like a glaring weakness compared to his other capabilities (and, well, relatively speaking, it is).
41	** Despite her very strong personality, ComicBook/LoisLane is surprisingly vulnerable to hypnosis, at least in the GoldenAge, with a tendency to fall very quickly and very easily into a trance. In 1940/41 alone she was hypnotized in five different stories.
42	* The ''ComicBook/SquadronSupreme'', a CaptainErsatz of the Franchise/{{Justice League\|OfAmerica}} who existed to [[{{Jobber}} job]] to Marvel heroes, were retconned to be Weak Willed due to their universe's absence of mind-controllers, in order to [[JustifiedTrope justify]] the way they were mind-controlled in ''every single one'' of their encounters with the mainstream Marvel heroes.
43	* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: This is intentionally one of the side effects of being [[ReforgedIntoAMinion forced through Queen Atomia's Nutron chamber]], in addition to being left as a BlankSlate the chamber makes its victims more susceptible to mind control and {{Jedi Mind Trick}}s so that Atomia can dominate her new SlaveMooks' minds.
44	* ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen'': Most members of the team have been mind-controlled at one point or another (especially under Creator/ChrisClaremont's [[AuthorAppeal tenure]]), but Havok is the only member of the team to date whose brainwashings have been so frequent and recurring that they've become a '''plot point'''. After years of being mind-whammied from everyone to Sauron to Erik the Red to the Siege Perilous itself, Havok finally snapped and went over to the Brotherhood, claiming that he was done with letting himself be controlled -- except, whoops, he was actually acting on the orders of Dark Beast, who had his operative Random capture Havok over in ''ComicBook/XFactor''. Even when this guy ''thinks'' he's not brainwashed, he's brainwashed!
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Fan Works]]
48	* Implied in the ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1474579/1/NonNeglecting-Week NonNeglecting Week]]", when Asuka hypnotizes Fuyutsuki and expresses surprise at how easy it was.
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
52	* ''Film/AbbottAndCostelloMeetTheInvisibleMan'': A psychologist tries to hypnotize Lou Costello. Lou proves to be completely immune, but the psychologist accidentally hypnotizes himself. Then Lou wakes him up, and managed to accidentally hypnotizes him again mere seconds later.
53	* Mina Harker in Francis Ford Coppola's ''[[Film/BramStokersDracula Dracula]]''. It seems all you have to do is wave your hand in front of her face and she's in a trance.
54	* ''Franchise/StarWars'': The original JediMindTrick only works on "the weak-minded". This means [[NoSell sometimes it works and sometimes you're going to hear "mind tricks don't work on me — only money."]]
55	[[/folder]]
56
57	[[folder:Gamebooks]]
58	* ''Literature/FightingFantasy'': In ''Literature/CreatureOfHavoc'', the few occasions that the titular HorrifyingHero is targeted with a MindControl or CharmPerson effect make for an immediate NonStandardGameOver. Since the Creature was [[spoiler:created by the BigBad via ForcedTransformation as a SuperSoldier prototype, the susceptibility to mind-control might be a deliberate feature]].
59	* In the ''Literature/LoneWolf'' world, it concerns not individual but whole species. Although creatures with a resistance to PsychicPowers are much more common, some other like the Kwaraz giant lizards or the Akataz warhounds are very susceptible. This makes psychic attacks twice as efficient on them, or animal control powers work more easily.
60	[[/folder]]
61
62	[[folder:Literature]]
63	* ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'' is mesmerized more easily and more frequently than any other character in the series. It is not completely clear whether this is really a case of this trope; the only human known to have even partially resisted the mesmer is [[spoiler:Butler]], who is ''extremely'' strong-willed by anyone's standards. Also, while Artemis usually outmaneuvers enemies rather than beating them through sheer force of personality, he does show great self-control and strength of character on other occasions. Also, he never ''tries'' to resist. It isn't physically good for your brain to, so he either plans to eliminate the possibility of being mesmerized or accepts that he will be and plans around it.
64	* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'': Ce'Nedra is far from weak-''minded'', but is unusually susceptible to magical MindControl, so Belgarath notes that she would be the weak link in a confrontation with an EvilSorcerer and leaves her in the TopGod's custody instead. In the ''Malloreon'' sequel series, the BigBad enchants her into [[spoiler:sharing the CosmicKeystone's secret location through an illusion of her dead friend and kidnapped child]].
65	* The entire Cavewight race has this problem in the ''Literature/ChroniclesOfThomasCovenant''. Combined with the fact that they're physically large and powerful, this got them warped by the BigBad from a race of peaceful miners into his AxCrazy shock troops.
66	* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
67	** The Imperius Curse works this way; it will enslave the weak-willed to do the caster's bidding. In this case, however, it also depends on the intention behind the caster, because if ''they'' don't mean it, it will be easier to break the curse. It's probably more accurate to say that it affects anyone who's not ''strong''-willed; Harry was the only one out of his entire class able to throw it off (with difficulty).
68	** Ron falls under this trope -- he seems to fall under [[InhumanlyBeautifulRace Veela]] magic more easily than the average guy (even a quarter-Veela is enough to affect him), was the easiest for [[HatePlague Voldemort's locket]] to manipulate (granted, he had the most insecurities that could be exploited), and when Imperiused by Moody was actually still partially affected at the end of class (he couldn't stop skipping for a while). A [[GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul Cheering Charm]] is known to cause the victim to break into a laughing fit when overdone, but it should be taken into consideration that the said victim was him.
69	* ''Literature/IveBeenKillingSlimesFor300YearsAndMaxedOutMyLevel'': Halkara is so vulnerable to [[DemonicPossession ghostly possession]] that the ghost actually has trouble leaving her body afterwards. Beelzebub explains that people with great personal power or high self-confidence have no mental "gaps" for ghosts to enter, [[StealthInsult implying that Halkara is the opposite]].
70	* ''Literature/TheLunarChronicles'': Lunar guards are chosen for their weak Lunar gift and wills, enabling thaumaturges to use groups of them as PeoplePuppets. This also means that if there isn't a thaumaturge around, any random group of Lunar citizens can overpower a squad of guards if they can work up the nerve to try.
71	* In ''Literature/TheTraitorSonCycle'', the boglins and the Rukh both have weak will as a species, which the Powers of the Wild often utilize when they want to raise an army.
72	* PlayedWith in ''Literature/{{Mistborn}}''. The BigBad [[spoiler:Ruin]] can influence anyone with a [[BloodMagic Hemalurgic spike]], and his favorite trick is appearing as the ghost of someone they trust. In most cases, the people who resist him best aren't the ones with an iron will, but the ones with strong impulse control. However, enough spikes enable him to take control of their minds, which means that the rational Determinator [[spoiler:Marsh]] is helpless because of the [[BodyHorror twenty-plus]] spikes all over his body.
73	* ''Literature/TheSunneInSplendour'': George, the Duke of Clarence, is petty, jealous and easily led to do and think things he shouldn't. It doesn't end well for him.
74	[[/folder]]
75
76	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
77	* Hicks from ''Series/{{Alphas}}'' has a terrible track record when it comes to mind manipulation, starting in the first episode. In one episode he uses this to his advantage by having Nina brainwash him into believing he had switched sides. This gets progressively worse through the episode as he has his mind read (painfully), he gets talked into suicide by another Alpha, and then Nina talks him out of suicide by brainwashing him ''again'' into forgetting it.
78	* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
79	** Played for laughs when Xander meets {{Dracula}}. Yes, ''that'' Dracula.
80	--->'''Xander:''' Okay. Let's do this. ''[assumes boxing stance]'' No poofing. Come on puffy shirt, pucker on up 'cause you can kiss your a--\
81	'''Dracula:''' ''Silence.''\
82	'''Xander:''' Yes, master.
83	** Kendra is effortlessly hypnotized by Drusilla while they are actually fighting; it's implied that her training and upbringing has left her with little ability to resist orders.
84	* In a ''Series/{{Chespirito}}'' skit, there is a PhonyPsychic that is trying to hypnotize a person, but he completely fails. Turns out, he's actually not phony at all; instead, he hypnotizes a completely different person the psychic wasn't even aware was in the same room as him! This skit was eventually retooled for ''Series/ElChapulinColorado'', with the titular hero being the unintended target.
85	* In ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow'' Rob was hypnotized into acting drunk when he heard a bell; but the subject of the hypnosis was Buddy, not Rob, and he wasn't even in the room when the hypnosis happened.
86	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
87	** Ben succumbs to hypnosis that has no effect on other characters in both "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E10TheWarMachines The War Machines]]" and "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E7TheMacraTerror The Macra Terror]]". In the latter story, the Doctor doesn't even seem to care that much, and repeatedly informs the other characters that Ben "can't help it." This may be because of his military background, since he's often shown to become irritated if he's not getting authoritative orders.
88	** Jo, in her [[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E1TerrorOfTheAutons first appearance]], is hopelessly mesmerised by the Master. Growing out of it is a major part of her CharacterDevelopment, and in the final appearance of that Master incarnation she shows she's learned to break his control, and resist the effects of the Master's hallucinogenic sound weapon.
89	** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E5TheGreenDeath The Green Death]]", the Doctor hypnotises Yates and, while doing so, accidentally mesmerises {{the Brigadier}} as well, who he wasn't targeting and who shouldn't have been looking.
90	** Sarah Jane Smith may be one of the Doctor's most independent companions, but she's also been hypnotised, brainwashed or possessed more often than any of them, starting from her [[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E1TheTimeWarrior very first appearance]] (in which she's mesmerised by Linx) and [[BookEnds ending in her very last]] ([[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E2TheHandOfFear in which]] she is possessed by Eldrad). Repeatedly lampshaded by both her and the Doctor, particularly in her leaving scene in "The Hand of Fear" when she complains about "being hypnotised left, right and centre" as if [[StrictlyFormula bored by it]]. In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS13E1TerrorOfTheZygons Terror the Zygons]]", the Doctor even uses hypnosis to save her life.
91	** Leela, justified as she was selectively bred to have no psychic ability. When the Doctor uses his CompellingVoice on a guard in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS15E4TheSunMakers The Sun Makers]]", Leela gets mesmerised just by standing near him. She's also shown to be very powerfully affected by Minyan pacifier guns compared to the other characters we see get hit, getting completely loved-up and playing with strangers' hair (until the Doctor forces her to look into his eyes and tells her that she's an indomitable fearsome savage).
92	** Practically the gimmick of android companion Kamelion, who was controlled by the Master in both major appearances, eventually begging the Doctor for death after his possession in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E5PlanetOfFire Planet of Fire]]".
93	** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS28E6TheAgeOfSteel The Age of Steel]]", the Doctor suggests that the human race in general has a tendency towards this.
94	--->'''The Doctor:''' For such an intelligent species, you lot aren't half susceptible. Sometimes I think you ''like'' it.
95	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': As a young man in a highly dysfunctional family without a strong father figure, Tommen is easily manipulated by the High Sparrow into his puppet.
96	* Morgana in ''Series/{{Merlin\|2008}}'' is easily hypnotized or entranced.
97	* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' ("Spirit Folk"). The Doctor is being held prisoner by the inhabitants of a holodeck program left on too long, who were weirded out by the crew coming and going like ghosts. To get some answers, someone suggests they try hypnosis on him. Being an A.I. {{Hologram}} himself, he dismisses it as childish... [[MoreHypnotizableThanHeThinks and he promptly gets completely hypnotized]]. Not to mention how he's reprogrammed into becoming evil at the push of a button in "Equinox".
98	[[/folder]]
99
100	[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]
101	* ''Literature/TheBible'': Due to the original sin of Adam and Eve eating the ForbiddenFruit, all humans are genetically predisposed to sin and thus easily manipulated by Satan and the rest of demon kind. This was ultimately the reason for Jesus' sacrifice: [[EasyRoadToHell we are so hopelessly incapable of living up to the standards needed to go to Heaven that we needed someone who doesn't have all of that baggage to pay the penalty in our place]].
102	[[/folder]]
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104	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
105	* The Will Save of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 3[[superscript:rd]] Edition (and to a lesser extent, its descendant, Will Defense, in 4[[superscript:th]] Edition) dictates whether or not a character is Weak-Willed. It's based on the Wisdom stat and a class may or may not get a bonus to it. This lead to classes that prioritized Wisdom and with a good bonus (Monk, Cleric, Druid, etc.) to being very strong-willed, while classes that prioritizes other stats and gave no class bonus (Fighter and Rogue, especially) being almost legendarily prone to this trope. A very real possibility is for the party's Min-Maxed warrior to turn on the party's SquishyWizard the moment an enemy cast ''dominate person''. Barbarians actually get a bonus to Will Save while [[TheBerserker raging]] to try and prevent just such a scenario.
106	** 5th Edition did away with Will Saves to give every stat potential Saves instead... and so, the trope still applies to those who use a mental stat as a DumpStat. Wisdom Saves take the spot most of the time, but if the aforementioned Min-Maxed warrior decided to dump Intelligence instead of Wisdom to avoid the "Dominate Person" scenario you can expect them to get {{Mind Rape}}d by psychic spells until he can't even talk if your DM wants to prey on that. Play it safe and dump Charisma? Tests of raw will like avoiding DemonicPossession and not getting Banished out of reality are still there to abuse that.
107	* The ''TabletopGame/StarWarsD20 Roleplaying Game'' uses an identical mechanic -- a character with a low Wisdom score is vulnerable to a Jedi Mind Trick. Notably the rules state outright that Twi'lek's tend to be weaker-willed on average than humans (in game terms they have a Wisdom penalty). Hutts on the other hand have a Wisdom bonus reflecting their strong willpower.
108	* In ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'', willpower is usually directly correlated to intelligence -- so, to be "naturally" weak-willed would at first seem to require a low IQ. However, the Strong Will advantage and corresponding Weak Will ''dis''advantage (both of which come in attribute-scale levels) then allow modifying this default further; it's thus entirely possible to have a character who's dumb (or just average) but stubborn or alternatively brilliant but a flake and mental pushover.
109	* [[OurGargoylesRock Gargoyles]] in ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'', in addition to having taken a severe beating from the [[NightmareFace ugly stick]], are more susceptible to mind control, from any source. It's a result of centuries of systematic will-breaking from their [[EvilSorcerer Tremere creators]].
110	* Zigzagged in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', where it seems to depend as much on the strength of the victim as of the psyker. Ogryns are extremely stupid and often they're not so much hypnotized as told that their handlers have abandoned the Emperor, orks have high warp resistance, favored Khornate berserkers have collars that give them magic immunity, etc.
111	[[/folder]]
112
113	[[folder:Toys]]
114	* ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'':
115	** Lewa is not explicitly stated to be Weak-Willed, but he often finds himself the victim of things like {{Evil Mask}}s and {{Puppeteer Parasite}}s as part of a RunningGag. On at least one occasion, he has eventually managed to free himself through willpower ([[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight with a bit of help from his friends]]), so he could be considered a {{downplayed}} example.
116	** Carapar was once far smarter than he was when introduced, but suffered from a weak will that allowed Takadox to erode his mind over centuries and turn him into DumbMuscle.
117	[[/folder]]
118
119	[[folder:Video Games]]
120	* Inverted in ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'', DK is too dumb to fall victim to the Tiki Tribe’s hypnosis.
121	* ''VideoGame/EldenRing'': Diallos Hoslow proves to be this if you follow his sidequest. He initially seeks out the [[MurderInc Volcano Manor]] for revenge after they murdered his servant, pretends to join them so he can take them down from the inside... and then immediately joins them for real once they stroke his ego a bit and appeal to his desperate need to prove himself a strong warrior like the rest of his family. [[spoiler:After you finish the Volcano Manor quests and/or defeat Rykard, he realizes that he's been played for a sucker and moves to Jarburg to take care of the Living Jars there. He is eventually mortally wounded while fighting off a jar poacher, and if you tell him that he successfully protected the jars (which is technically true as there was one survivor), he [[GoOutWithASmile dies satisfied that he finally managed to do something of worth in his lifetime]].]]
122	* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
123	** Kain from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' has built up a bad reputation due to the apparent ease his enemies have in brainwashing him to do evil. It actually only happened ''once'' -- with a gap in the middle of the story where the signal was bad. Subverted in the end of the game, as evidenced by the "Read the lead member's mind" thing you can do in the DS version, where Zemus, the guy who [[spoiler:controlled Golbez into mind-controlling Kain in the first place, so therefore better at mind control]] tries to control him again, this time by making him hate Rosa for choosing Cecil. [[ThePowerOfLove He fights it off with ease.]]
124	** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears'', it's [[spoiler:Cecil]], not Kain, who gets brainwashed by the Mysterious Girl. You do end up fighting Kain as an enemy a lot in the base chapters, all the time claiming he's not being controlled this time. [[spoiler:He isn't. It's actually his [[EnemyWithout dark side]], given form and teaming up with the Mysterious Girl, just so that he can [[MurderTheHypotenuse kill Cecil]].]]
125	** Cloud in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' explains that the reason he was affected by Sephiroth's control of him through his Jenova cells is because he has a 'weak will' and thus 'got lost in the whole thing'. Strong-willed individuals, like Zack, can be injected with Jenova cells without any effect except boosted physical and magical abilities, and thus are selected to join SOLDIER. Weak-willed individuals, like Cloud and the rest of the Sephiroth Clones, go mad and lose their identities. On Cloud, helped along by pre-existing mental complexes, the effect was so bad that he cobbled together a complete and functional fake identity and set of memories for himself and ended up being lucid, if compared to the shambling, mumbling Clones (although TheMentallyDisturbed by comparison to everyone else). Getting over his issues gives him the strength to shake off Sephiroth's mind control.
126	* ''VideoGame/{{Kirby}}'':
127	** Whispy Woods. Whatever evil force is corrupting Dream Land this time, Whispy pretty much always ends up under its sway and is fought as the first boss.
128	** King Dedede is an odd example, as he's nominally the series' BigBad, but developed into more of a bullying-but-lovable FriendlyEnemy to Kirby. Therefore most Kirby games have you fight him when he's been possessed, mind-controlled, or transformed by the game's true villain. The number of times he's been fought as a boss when he's being controlled may outnumber the boss battles where he's acting of his own will.
129	* Ryu from ''Franchise/StreetFighter''. Because of his drive to win at all costs and his hatred of losing, he is easily influenced by the Satsui No Hadou, in which it is only triggered by a burning desire to destroy the enemy and win no matter what.
130	* ''VideoGame/XCom'':
131	** Willpower is an important solider stat in ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown''. Soldiers with low Will are more likely to panic in battle, have lower resistance to psychic attacks, and are less likely to develop psychic abilities of their own. On the alien side, Mutons and Floaters have such poor Will that almost any psychic attack is guaranteed to work on them.
132	** ''VideoGame/XCOM2'' adds the Andromedon to the list of weak-willed enemies, giving an important AchillesHeel to the game's HeavilyArmoredMook. The ''War of the Chosen'' expansion also expands upon the importance of Will for soldiers, by tying it to a new fatigue mechanic. Will acts as a sort of health bar that decreases as your soldiers encounter enemies, and not only determines whether they resist psionic attacks, but also whether they panic from being set on fire or watching a squadmate get killed. Soldiers recover Will by resting between missions, and while you can send them out even if they're tired, this runs the risk of your troops becoming Shaken and going out of action for days, while perhaps developing a negative trait like a phobia of certain enemies.
133	** This is eventually weaponized in [=GuavaMoment=]'s LetsPlay of the original ''VideoGame/XCOMUFODefense'', in which one X-COM soldier is discovered to have a psionic strength of a whopping ''zero''. This "psionic black hole" is brought along on missions with an empty gun under the expectation that enemy Ethereals wouldn't be able to resist mind-controlling him, leaving the more capable soldiers free to fight. The poor schmuck is never told this.
134	* In general, Souma of ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'' is an extremely hard-working, undyingly loyal, and highly principled kid. However, he's also quite gullible and prone to leaping to emotional conclusions, and has a rather childishly single-minded drive. Because of this, there are two separate occasions in which he is successfully [[HypnoFool hypnotised]] by another character - by Wataru in ''Quarrel Fes'' and Natsume in ''Meikyoushisui''. Both times, the characters note that it's probably his fundamentally honest nature that makes him so suggestible.
135	* ''VideoGame/CastleForestIslandSea'' discusses weakness of will from a philosophical point of view.
136	* Gargouille from ''VisualNovel/MarcoAndTheGalaxyDragon'' may be a brave and strong-willed warrior woman, but she is not good at resisting the Love’s BackstoryInvader powers. She gets tricked by the creatures twice in the span of a few minutes, whereas Marco and Haqua are unaffected.
137	* ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'': The Gadgetron vendors are this, being the only people in the franchise known to be vulnerable to the Persuader, a black market device made to control minds that otherwise proves completely ineffective. Even they are only somewhat effected though, as they can only be hypnotized to give varying discounts on weapons instead of charging you full price. It also cannot get them to give you a discount on ammo.
138	[[/folder]]
139
140	[[folder:Webcomics]]
141	* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Belkar has a habit of succumbing to almost any enemy that tries to mind-control him. This ties into the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' example above, as Belkar is a ranger/barbarian and both classes have poor Will saves. Additionally, Belkar has such a poor Wisdom score he can't even use the spells he should get as a ranger, making his Will saves even worse. Later in the comic, he plans against this by acquiring a ''protection from evil'' trinket that can ward off mind-control. However, Belkar is [[ChaoticEvil Evil-aligned]], so it causes him immense pain every time he uses it.
142	* ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': Lalli says this of Emil after having to pull him out of the control of a troll-spirit's CompellingVoice.
143	[[/folder]]
144
145	[[folder:Web Videos]]
146	* Gordon Freeman in ''WebVideo/FreemansMind'' can get hypnotized by ''spinning dials''. He usually snaps out of it fairly quick, though.
147	* In the 6th ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'' special, Custodisi is defeated in the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay game the main cast were playing ([[MakesSenseInContext ... long story]]) because, despite being a SuperSoldier with physical abilities far beyond the [=PCs=], his willpower score is 10. '''Out of 100'''. This means that the party wizard (played by the Emperor) is able to easily subdue him with a basic ''Sleep'' spell.
148	* PlayedForLaughs in ''WebVideo/SuburbanKnights'' after [[spoiler:[[WebVideo/BadMovieBeatdown Film Brain]]]] gets controlled by [[spoiler:The Cloaks.]] And then they break the control just by shaking him a bit and saying "Snap out of it!"
149	-->'''WebVideo/{{Todd\|InTheShadows}}:''' Apparently they have power over the ''phenomenally'' weak-minded.
150	* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic has a rather worrying tendency to get manipulated and controlled ''really'' easily. For example, he would have done anything '''Sage as the Devil''' told him to do if it meant getting his mind erased of Sequel Month.
151	* ProductPlacement once made vegetarian [[WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick Nostalgia Chick]] crave a burger. She can also be hypnotized pretty easily, as long as you don't mention WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows. Doesn't work then.
152	[[/folder]]
153
154	[[folder:Western Animation]]
155	%%* WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck in the ''WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales\|1987}}'' series' episode "Spies on Their Eyes".
156	%%* Gutsman from the ''WesternAnimation/MegaManRubySpears'' Animated Series.
157	* In ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'', there's no proof that [[{{Deuteragonist}} Adrien/Cat Noir]] is ''more'' susceptible to mind control than anyone else, but it happens to him several times during the course of one season; combined with his tendency to get [[TheWorfEffect Worfed]], this seems to be just so that [[MagicalGirl Marinette/Ladybug]] has to defeat the VillainOfTheWeek alone.
158	* ''WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle'': Bullwinkle is generally TooDumbToFool, but he is once put under the control of "The World's Greatest Hypnotist" by a snap of the fingers. The best part? Said hypnotist is the villain in disguise, [[ButIPlayOneOnTV who has no hypnotic powers or skills of any kind]].
159	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretShow'': Wanting to be called back into active duty, retired U.Z.Z. Agent Zach Meadows impersonated [[MeaningfulName Dr. Hypno]], a criminal from his days who hypnotized his ([[spoiler:actually ''her'']]) victims and he was the only one who managed to defeat her. Once he was exposed, he explained he could only affect people with low intelligence, which explains only Victor being affected. Unfortunately, the real Dr. Hypno didn't like being impersonated and came back from retirement to settle a score with the imposter.
160	* [[Characters/TheSimpsonsHomerSimpson Homer Simpson]] on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. One episode has him er... [[TooDumbToFool "resist"]] the most powerful mind control techniques of a commune, until they change the lyrics to the 1960's ''Series/{{Batman\|1966}}'' score from "Batman" to "Leader".
161	* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'':
162	** Beast Boy, as shown in the page pic. He isn't a total pushover, but for some reason is ''really'' suggestible to Mad Mod's swirly TV screens. Although given how much he likes watching TV, it could be connected to that. Alternately, given his animal-based powers, perhaps it's less will and more of a vulnerability from that.
163	** His one-time girlfriend Terra has to a lesser extent. Her anxiety and past means she is prone to surrendering her control to anyone who offers security (such as Slade). BB gets her to fight against the control to save her.
164	* [[TheSmartGuy Sam]] from ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'' is mind-controlled inordinately often, even though she's supposed to be the most intelligent of the three (not to TeenGenius levels, but she is); in at least one episode, it's hinted she actually gets off on the whole idea. In comparison, vain Clover ends up dealing with some sort of BodyHorror.
165	* The ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' version of Wreck-Gar doesn't even need to be hypnotized first. If you tell him something, he ''will'' do it. If you tell him he ''is'' something, he will believe it whole-heartedly, until somebody else tells him he is something else. This is mitigated -- somewhat -- at the end of his first appearance... when it is suggested to him that he be less suggestible.
166	* ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'' was once hypnotized by staring at a ''motionless'' watch for ten seconds. Suzie didn't even say anything other than the ''instruction manual''.
167	-->'''Johnny''': zzz... I am completely within your power... zzz...
168	* The ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short Mexican Boarders has Speedy Gonzales' cousin, Slowpoke Rodriguez, easily hypnotize Sylvester mid sentence. The short ends with Slowpoke telling his cousin, "I like your pussycat friend. He's nice and stupid."
169	[[/folder]]

Context Main / WeakWilled