History Main / BeatTheCurseOutOfHim

* In the ''[[VideoGame/ArTonelicoMelodyOfElemia Ar Tonelico]]'' series , how do we confine I.P.Ds? Blast them apart! This is strange when you use 100 Replekia amplification and the ultimate song magic, that's Overkill.

* In ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom'', Indy gets mind-controlled by the Thuggee, and is brought out of it when Short Round burns him with a torch.

* A less violent but no less traumatic variation in ''{{Literature/Animorphs}}'', where the PuppeteerParasite Yeerks can be starved out of their host's brain by preventing them from returning to a Yeerk pool every three days.

* In GirlsLove VisualNovel ''VisualNovel/AoiShiro'', the fastest way to free someone from the [[ArtifactOfDoom <<Sword>>]]'s influence is by beating the crap out of her [[spoiler:--lethally, even, in case of Kaya at the end of Migiwa Route]].

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' has Dexter's mother, father and big sister [[PuppeteerParasite all become infected by alien parasites]] that turn their skin green, [[RedEyesTakeWarning their eyes red]], and [[VoiceOfTheLegion distort their voices]]. Dexter is forced to equip his PoweredArmor to beat up his family (who, under the aliens' control, are [[HumanLadder all sitting on each other's shoulders]] so that all three can attack him together as a group) until the parasites abandon ship, after which Dexter immediately stomps the aliens flat, killing them. Afterwards, his parents and sister don't recall any of what happened, though they don't feel particularly well after the beating they received as they all lie in bed together.

* In the ''Manga/SoulEater'' anime's penultimate battle, Maka uses her scythe's Genie Hunter to [[spoiler:reap Medusa right out of the body she's possessing without harming the little girl]].
* In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'', when Kakyoin suddenly exhibits off-behavior to random people and acts uncharacteristically violent, Jotaro responds by punching him to "beat up his possessed ass". Subverted when it was actually the VillainOfTheWeek shapeshifting as Kakyoin.
* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'':
** Maomolin (the [[MegaNeko giant ghost cat]] also called [[{{Obake}} Bakeneko]]) possesses Ranma's father Genma to avoid getting beat up. However, while Ranma has a paralyzing [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes fear of cats]], he has ''no problems whatsoever'' beating the crap out of his father. The ghost cat [[WhatTheHellHero screams at him about what kind of son he is to do that to his own father]] and flees to possess someone else.
** This also is a plot point in the "Evil Oni" storyline in the manga and OVA. An Oni gets released, possessing a number of characters. The Oni will vacate the body when the body is punched in the head. Ranma has no problem popping his dad, Kunō, the Priest and Ryōga in the head, but Kasumi...?
* In all ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' series, the standard cure for MindControl is "beat them in a duel." (Success may vary based on controller's power and controllee's vulnerability.)

* In ''Anime/KillLaKill'', when Ryuko goes berserk and turns into a monster, Mako punches her until she goes back to normal... then keeps punching her.

* In ''Manga/{{Drifters}}'', Shimazu Toyohisa gets into a brutal fistfight with Jeanne d'Arc, until both fall into a well. Being submerged in water kills Jeanne's [[PlayingWithFire pyrokinesis]] and makes her bloodlust fade for a bit, allowing her to think critically for a few moments. Toyohisa ruins by knocking Jeanne out, finding no honor in killing a woman.
* ''Literature/WhenSupernaturalBattlesBecameCommonplace'' [[spoiler:had Mirei (a PowerParasite) getting possessed and stealing super-powers, including one that burns up your own body and never stops.]] The pain was enough that the mysterious possessor released her, which meant ''she'' was suddenly dealing with the problem.
* In ''Manga/RedRiver1995'', the only way to cure someone possessed by [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Queen Nakia's]] magic waters is to hit them in the stomach hard enough that they puke it up. Just about everyone who undergoes this does react in pain when they wake up. [[spoiler:The ends up being very unfortunate for poor Prince Juda, who is fed so much of his mother's mind-controlling water that he has to undergo a particularly brutal beatdown from Ilbani before he coughs it all up.]]
* It occasionally shows up in ''Manga/SailorMoon'':

** In the anime, Sailor Moon had a special attack just for purifying the victims of the MonsterOfTheWeek. While the attack was not meant to be harmful, the monster would usually scream and writhe before turning back to normal.
** Horribly, ''horribly'' subverted in the final manga arc. [[spoiler:Sailor Moon finds all of her dead friends resurrected under the power of Galaxia, causing them to happily try to kill her. While she initially is unable to face the idea of fighting them (watching them die already did a number on her sanity), she finally accepts that it's the only way and attacks. They all turn to dust and have their star seeds re-stolen by Galaxia before they can turn back to normal.]] Although if one argues that [[spoiler:their subsequent appearance in the Cauldron, where they're back to normal]] counts as a part of it, it's played straight after all.
** In the manga Sailor Venus eventually starts exorcising possessed people by hitting them with her chain. She also enacts this trope by accident during the Exam Battle: while she exorcised Rei with her own Shinto exorcism technique consisting in applying an ''[[PaperTalisman ofuda]]'' (also Rei's), she was so surprised by the possessed Rei trying to kiss her she [[PunchedAcrossTheRoom slapped the talisman on her face with enough strength to send her flying]].
* ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'' has two separate instances of this (the second one had an IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight mixed in for good measure). First, Subaru used a point-blank [[WaveMotionGun Divine Buster]] to remove her sister's brainwashing. Then, Nanoha used [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill five Starlight Breakers]] to free her daughter from the Saint's Cradle's control. This is explained in-universe by the specific means that the MindControl works in both cases: namely, both Ginga and Vivio are infused with Ancient Belkan Relics. These effectively give the bad guys remote control over them but can be overloaded with magical energy from a concentrated bombardment attack (like the aforementioned Divine Buster and Starlight Breaker), destroying the Relic and freeing the victim without lasting harm.
* In ''Anime/DigimonFrontier,'' dealing a 'mon enough damage causes their data to be revealed in the form of a glowing ring of barcode-lines, which can be taken away, costing the loser power-ups, but also purifying victims of TheCorruption.[[note]]Your core is protected from this; even after ''fatal'' damage you revert to a digi-egg and can hatch again like in the original series. This series is LighterAndSofter than its predecessor, which introduced the idea of taking your opponent's data - in ''Tamers,'' AllDeathsFinal applied whether data was taken by the winner or not![[/note]] A lot of villains, all the way up to [[spoiler: the BigBad for the first half of the series, once he regenerates]], are much friendlier after a sound thrashing made them able to be purified.

'''Uncle Ruckus:''' There is very little difference.

* ''LightNovel/WhenSupernaturalBattlesBecameCommonplace'' [[spoiler:had Mirei (a PowerParasite) getting possessed and stealing super-powers, including one that burns up your own body and never stops.]] The pain was enough that the mysterious possessor released her, which meant ''she'' was suddenly dealing with the problem.

* Wrexsoul in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' brings this to a different level. To start, the boss will "possess" one of your party members at random. There is no way to tell which party member is possessed (because the party member in question will continue to attack and behave normally), and there is no way to damage the boss until the party member who is possessed by Wrexsoul dies, when the boss then rematerializes and becomes available to attack. Expect to repeat this process multiple times...[[spoiler: unless you decide to take the easy route and [[TakeAThirdOption just X-Zone/Banish the Soul Savers.]]]] But going this route costs you a fairly useful item drop.
* This is one of the ways you can save [[spoiler:Adelle]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2''. The other is to keep talking until she returns to normal.

** In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'' before the duo meet Prince Peasley, they fight him as a dragon who was previously trapped in an egg that Blablanadon was incubating.

* In ''VideoGame/KeroBlaster'', the frog salaryman protagonist ends up having to do this to [[spoiler: his boss.]]

* One of the side quests in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' has the BigBad possess Rikku and Paine, forcing Yuna to fight them in two separate DuelBoss battles and beat them senseless so they can return to normal.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'': Link does this by accident in the Spirit Temple. After defeating the red Iron Knuckle, its armor breaks and it is revealed to be a brainwashed Nabooru, who starts coming to her senses. She is sent away by Twinrova shortly after, and Link then has to fight them in order to properly save her.

[[quoteright:350:[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/anti_possession_jumping_knee_strike.png]]]]

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* In ''[[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 2010 story arc]]'' ''ComicBook/DeathAndTheFamily'', super-villain Insect Queen has possessed ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'s surrogate aunt ComicBook/LanaLang. In order to free Lana and force Insect Queen to get out of her body, Supergirl lays an impressive beatdown on her.

[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/MobPsycho100 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/beatingposession.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Works ''better'' than a charm!]]

* ''Manga/FushigiYuugi''. Tamahome is mind-controlled and the spell is CastFromHitPoints. Thus it fails when he is beaten within a literal inch of his life.

'''"HIM":''' Tsk, tsk. I never give repeat performances, but I assure you, ''I'll be b-a-a-ack''! (EvilLaugh)

* During the climax of ''VideoGame/TheCrookedMan'', the player character David [[spoiler: is finally consumed with the sadness and despair of The Crooked Man's spirit, which exacerbates his preexisting feelings of misery over the unfortunate events in his life. You're suddenly given control of [[AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent David's best friend Paul;]] he and his fiance Marion travel to the abandoned hospital where David is and come across Sissy, D, and Fluffy while traveling through, but when Marion tells him to stop messing with her by talking out loud to no one, Paul realizes that all three of them were spirits/non-corporeal memory fragments, and his [[ISeeDeadPeople ability to perceive ghosts]] means that Marion just sees him talking to the air; he insists that she turn back and wait in the car where it's safe. Eventually he makes it to the roof only to find David [[DrivenToSuicide with a gun to his temple]] and The Crooked Man over his shoulder. Since every crucial dialogue point up until now has had the seemingly incorrect responses actually being the right ones, it makes sense that the only choice that [[DrivenToSuicide doesn't end]] [[MurderSuicide in tragedy]] is to actually [[GetAHoldOfYourSelfMan pummel David]]; David is so surprised and angry with Paul for clocking him that it snaps him out of his trance.]]

* During the climax of ''VideoGame/TheCrookedMan'', the player character David [[spoiler: is finally consumed with the sadness and despair of The Crooked Man's spirit, which exacerbates his preexisting feelings of misery over the unfortunate events in his life. You're suddenly given control of [[AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent David's best friend Paul;]] he and his fiance Marion travel to the abandoned hospital where David is and come across Sissy, D, and Fluffy while traveling through, but when Marion tells him to stop messing with her by talking out loud to no one, Paul realizes that all three of them were spirits/non-corporeal memory fragments, and his [[ISeeDeadPeople ability to perceive ghosts]] means that Marion just sees him talking to the air; he insists that she turn back and wait in the car where it's safe. Eventually he makes it to the roof only to find David [[DrivenToSuicide with a gun to his temple]] and The Crooked Man over his shoulder. Since every crucial dialogue point up until now throughout the game has had the seemingly incorrect responses actually being the right ones, it makes sense that the only choice that [[DrivenToSuicide doesn't end]] [[MurderSuicide in tragedy]] is to actually [[GetAHoldOfYourSelfMan pummel David]]; David is so surprised and angry with Paul for clocking him that it snaps him out of his trance.]]