History Main / FightingFromTheInside

* ''Webcomic/DiveQuest'': In Chapter 26, Pendel is revealed to be subject to demonic possession. As soon as the demon is tricked into touching a fragment of the Orb of Infinite Psyche, the possessee manages to transmit vital information on how to save the victim he poisoned and how to subdue the demon without killing him.

* Infinitor's villain fights in ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'' both feature him struggling to resist his [=OblivAeon=]-driven madness. In his base form, if he has too many Manifestations out, he flips and starts ''destroying''them; his art shows him having straitjacketed himself. His second, Heroic Infinitor, even starts with him on the edge of sort-of winning...although that will, of course, depend on how the fight goes.
** Canonically, he wins the fight. He then proceeds to die saving Captain Cosmic, his nemesis and brother, in a pretty epic HeroicSacrifice.
* The ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' special character Galrauch was once a noble dragon serving a high elven prince, until [[DemonicPossession he was possessed by a Greater Daemon of Tzeentch]] and [[BodyHorror mutated into a horrifying two-headed monster]], the first of the Chaos Dragons. But even after so many centuries of captivity, the dragon's spirit struggles against the daemon, so that each round Galrauch must take a Leadership test. On a failure, Galrauch will either do nothing but fight himself in close combat, or fall under the opposing player's control for a turn and wreak some revenge on the Chaos forces.

* The musical adaptation of ''Theatre/JekyllAndHyde'' has the title character doing lots of this, most notably with the song "Confrontation".
* In Noah Smith's stage version of ''Theatre/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'', Hyde apparently takes over completely during the climactic confrontation with Jekyll's friends, but then Jekyll starts fighting back when Hyde threatens Utterson, wrestling back control of one arm and using it to [[spoiler:inject himself/Hyde with the formula Hyde was going to use on Utterson]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' story ''Fanfic/UnmaskerUnleased'', there are plenty of signs that Marinette still maintains quite a bit of herself while akumatized. She acts playfully towards Cat Noir, tries to keep the fighting away from civilians, doesn't want to hurt Luka, mouths off to Monarch and is apologetic to Cat for hurting him. Marinette in the end breaks herself free from Monarch's control over her.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyondReturnOfTheJoker'': We find out that [[spoiler:Robin was kidnapped and brainwashed into Joker Junior.]] During the fight he helps Joker and Harley, but in the climax, instead of [[spoiler:shooting a defeated Batman behind held up for the slaughter, he instead turns the gun on Joker and kills him. It took him a good long moment to finally turn the gun, too.]] His maniacal Joker-style laugh quickly degenerates into a stream of broken sobbing.

[[folder:Films — Animation]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'', the struggle to seperate from the red panda spirit is viewed as this from the perspective of Mei's female relatives during her red moon ritual in the temple.

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]

[[folder:Web Original]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'': The episode "Flippy" involved Jimmy enhancing his dad Hugh's puppet Flippy with tech to improve his comedy act. Flippy soon develops sentience and begins draining Hugh's brainpower in order to use to automate his body. Once Jimmy and friends figured it out, Flippy bemoans that the only reason he hadn't achieved his goal yet was because Hugh had been fighting him the entire time over the course of at least a day.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'':
** We find out that [[spoiler:Robin was kidnapped and brainwashed into Joker Junior.]] During the fight he helps Joker and Harley, but in the climax, instead of [[spoiler:shooting a defeated Batman behind held up for the slaughter, he instead turns the gun on Joker and kills him. It took him a good long moment to finally turn the gun, too.]] His maniacal Joker-style laugh quickly degenerates into a stream of broken sobbing.
** In the episode "The Call", WordOfGod says this trope is why [[spoiler:Superman brought Terry in to investigate someone sabotaging the WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague, even though ''he was the traitor'' -– under the influence of StarfishAlien [[PuppeteerParasite Starro]]]]. (In the episode itself, this can be inferred by [[spoiler:how surprised he is when the rest of the League turns on him]].)
* ''WesternAnimation/CyberSix'' had one episode where Lucas was turned into a werewolf under the control of the MonsterOfTheWeek. In an amazing use of HeroicWillpower, Lucas-Werewolf switches sides and fights the Monster Of The Week off before she kills Cyber Six, never actually regaining his human mental faculties until after the [[NoOntologicalInertia transformation reverted]]. Bonus points for his eyes going from yellow to white when he switches.
* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom''
** Danny himself in "Kindred Spirits". [[spoiler: After Vlad kidnaps him, he reveals that he needs a sample of Danny's morph DNA to complete his clone. Because Danny clearly isn't just going to morph because he asked nicely, Vlad has one of the imperfect clones possess him to force the transformation. This [[HeroicWillpower clearly doesn't work]], because the next time we see them Danny is hooked up to a machine that [[ElectricTorture channels increasing levels of electricity through his body]]. Only ''then'' does he begin to transform, and even then he manages to force the transformation rings back down through sheer willpower. Then he overloads the machine and it blows up, freeing him and allowing him to fight off the clone completely. Not only does he (temporarily) escape, but the clone ''melts from the strain''.]]

%%* ''[[WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow "C-C-C-CAN'T...LOSE...CONTROL!!!]]'' ''[[VoiceOfTheLegion WILL STRONG!!!]]'' '''''[[HeliumSpeech BODY WEAK!!!"]]'''''
* In the Season 1 finale of ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfVoxMachina'', "The Darkness Within", Percy fights long and hard to stop himself from succumbing to the control of a demon he unwittingly made a pact with. Even while it's tormenting him with visions and flashbacks of his family and the people who slaughtered them, a combination of his own will and ThePowerOfFriendship lead him to finally force Orthax out of him by shooting his own hand.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': In season three, the other members of the Hexsquad are heavily implied to be fighting against [[spoiler: The Collector's puppeting]] in an effort to help Luz out of her nightmare.
** Happens twice during [[DemonicPossession possessions by Belos]]: [[spoiler: Hunter]] can't manage it until [[spoiler: Belos badly injures [[{{Familiar}} Flapjack]]]]. [[spoiler: Raine]] manages it alone, and seems to throw off [[spoiler: both The Collector's puppeting ''and'' Belos' possession]].
* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack''

** Happens again in Season 5, this time with [[spoiler:Ashi, who has been hijacked by [[TheCorruption Aku's essence]]. While Ashi is having a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind, Jack can't bring himself to harm Ashi and it seems that [[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight he cannot talk her out of it]], which leads into him being on the receiving end of the {{Curb Stomp Battle}}s until he makes an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove to her, causing Ashi to expel Aku's essence and use her own to turn the tables against Aku.]]

* Randy Marsh, during the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Sarcastaball", gradually succumbs to a disease that makes him unable to not be sarcastic. At one point in a conversation with his wife where everything he says is in SarcasmMode, he briefly, after a [[{{Beat}} short pause]], says "Help me, Sharon" with [[TearsOfFear tears in his eyes]].

** In [[Recap/StarWarsTheCloneWarsS2E8BrainInvaders "Brain Invaders"]], {{Puppeteer Parasite}}s take over the crew of a ship returning from a battle. In the climax, Barriss gets infected when she gets cornered by infected clones, leading to her and Ahsoka fighting. Ahsoka tries to [[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight snap her out of it]] while defending herself and trying to freeze over the ship to kill the parasites. As the temperature starts to freeze the both of them, an incapacitated Barriss briefly returns to normal to beg Ahsoka to MercyKill her, though the parasite takes over again and tries to attack Ahsoka, who we see from Barriss's perspective doing a SecondPersonAttack, followed by characters discovering [[DiedInYourArmsTonight a frozen Ahsoka holding a frozen Barriss]]. It later turns out that the two of them are fine and Ahsoka is glad she didn't have to MercyKill Barriss and the others.
** In the GrandFinale, [[spoiler:Rex [[DownplayedTrope isn't able to completely resist the activation of Order 66]], but is able to hold it back just long enough to warn Ahsoka of what's happening, give her a vital clue, and stop himself from shooting her dead right away. The ManlyTears he sheds while doing so make it clear that it's agonizing for him to do. Fortunately, Ahsoka is able to break the mind control by knocking him out and using a medical chamber to surgically remove the control chip in his head.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'': The jailed Parasite makes a deal with the authorities, offering to get into a terrorist's mind to find where a bomb is planted in exchange for cable TV in his cell; unfortunately, the terrorist's superior willpower is too much for him, and the guy takes over. At first, the Parasite is reluctantly willing to cooperate with the guy, ''until'' he realizes that the guy is more than willing to let his body die in order to complete his mad scheme, at which point, with Superman's urging, he fights the guy for control, and eventually wins.

* In "The Phony Phone Booths" episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Underdog}}'', Underdog comes under Simon bar Sinister's mind control after entering one of his phone booths. Underdog is ordered to destroy [[ActionGirlfriend Sweet Poly Purebred]] (who is axing one of the phony booths), but [[spoiler:internal rebellion literally blasts off the mind control.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'':[[spoiler:''The scarab'' fights back against the Reach once it's put on-mode, by purposefully stalling and making poor tactical decisions.]]

* ''WebVideo/NewLifeSMP'': As the Copper Golem computer starts to take over him more and more, Sparrow shows in his 6th episode that his human mind and emotional core still exists; he decides to construct an "irrigation" machine at the end of the episode to [[spoiler:pour saltwater on himself and fry his own circuitry]], not wanting to be a Copper Golem anymore. Throughout the construction process, he deliberately uses vague terminology so that the robotic computer in him [[spoiler:can't detect [[DrivenToSuicide what he's actually doing]] in order to physically stop him from doing it, [[DyingAsYourself until it's too late]]]].

-->-- '''Music/{{Radiohead}}''', [[Music/HailToTheThief "A Wolf at the Door"]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'', [[spoiler:King Candy/Turbo is eaten by a Cy-Bug and assimilated into it, taking control of it, and becoming huge and more powerful than the others. When the Cy-Bugs are led to their destruction by their programming, he is able to resist for a limited time, but is ultimately destroyed]].

** In ''The Brave and the Bold"'' Kira is shown struggling against an ancient dictator's near-complete control of her (she can't even blink or swallow). Eventually, she breaks out of it, which confirms the dictator's control is weakening. Spock is also controlled by this dictator, but fights it off and mind-melds with Worf to stave off the effects.
** In ''Before Dishonor'', Admiral Janeway is completely dominated by the Borg, and her body is made into their new queen. When Seven of Nine reaches out to her in her aid to destroy the Borg, [[spoiler: The Borg-miral mocks her...but the "real" Janeway lets down her guard long enough for Seven to implement the "Hugh" virus, destroying the Borg (well...most of it) and sending Janeway to the Q Continuum.]]
* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': Tahiri of the ''Literature/NewJediOrder'' has two personalities, one human, one [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Yuuzhan Vong]]. Whenever one personality (usually the human one) is dominant, the other one is forced to do this. Eventually it gets to the point that it's going on near-constantly, driving both of them to the brink of madness -- finally, both get sucked into a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind that leads to a SplitPersonalityMerge.
* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': ''Literature/WordsOfRadiance'': When [[spoiler:Eshonai]] gets possessed by a [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Voidspren]], the resulting Voidbringer works hard to get the rest of her people possessed and bring destruction to the world. However, she occasionally does counterproductive things that imply the real [[spoiler:Eshonai]] is influencing her actions. At one point, there is a large group of civilians who refuse to take part in the transformation that will unknowingly turn them into Voidbringers. [[spoiler:Eshonai]] puts one of her best friends in charge, and her Voidbringer self thinks that this will make them all easier to eliminate later. Instead, her friend immediately leads the civilians to escape, and [[spoiler:Eshonai]] refuses to "waste resources" hunting them down.