Basic Trope: A member of a Hive Mind that has separated from their kin and developed an independent outlook.
- Straight: Zathryxis, a creature from a Horde of Alien Locusts, begins to think for itself.
- Exaggerated:
- Not only does Zathryxis begin to think for itself, it starts plotting to annihilate the rest of the hive and any other being it encounters without individual thought.
- The entire hive loses its Hive Mind status all at once, every member becoming a free thinker.
- Downplayed: Zathryxis is able to think for itself but still shares a Psychic Link with the rest of the hive. The two parties get along with each other, Zathryxis sharing information with the others.
- Justified:
- Zathryxis had become cut off from the rest of its hive and lost contact with them. Its survival insticts kicked in, gaining it independent thought.
- Space Captain Trope Zoomer comes across Zathryxis. Loathing Hive Mind thinking, he conditions Zathryxis to gain independent thought.
- Inverted: A race of Rubber-Forehead Aliens mentally links up with each other and becomes a Hive Mind—except for Zathryxis, who was excluded for one reason or another.
- Subverted: Zathryxis begins to act like other members of its species.
- Double Subverted: It is infiltrating the hive so that it can kill the queen and force it to relinquish control of the rest.
- Parodied:
- Zathryxis visits Earth to meet humans, renowned for their individuality—and witnesses a voting bloc in action.
- Zathryxis never intended to become an independent thinker—it's just so bad at its job that the other drones kick it out.
- Zig Zagged: Zathryxis repeatedly breaks off from and reattaches itself to its hive.
- Averted: Zathryxis never gains independent thought.
- Enforced: As Most Writers Are Human, and humans are creatures who take great pride in independent thought, it becomes necessary for Zathryxis to detach from the hive in order to flesh it out as a character.
- Lampshaded: As Zathryxis leaves the hive, one of the drones laments to another that it keeps happening.
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: The hive is functioning like a crime syndicate. Zathryxis, who has defected, becomes a valuable ally to the Space Police as it knows what the other drones are up to.
- Defied: The alien locusts instinctively kill any member separated from the controlling intelligence.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed: Zathryxis is physiologically dependent on associating with its hive. It becomes stressed and slowly slips into despair.
- Reconstructed: However, it later joins up with a Ragtag Bunch of Misfits, whom it becomes True Companions with and bonds with them like it would have with the drones back at its hive.
- Played For Laughs: As the drones fly around in space looking for space flowers to create space honey, Zathryxis has become a rich and famous celebrity, adored by fans throughout the galaxy. The other drones watch it fly into the distance and shake their heads in disappointment that it's not gathering space honey like the rest of them.
- Played For Drama: The hive comes under attack, but without Zathryxis around to help, the enemy forces destroy it and kill all of the drones, making Zathryxis into a Last of His Kind.
- Implied: The heroes attempt to sabotage the hive mind, and it's unclear whether it worked. However, Zathryxis walks out of step with the rest of the drones, implying he may have left its control.
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