History Main / BeatTheCurseOutOfHim

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

* In ''VideoGame/EarthBound'', most humans and animals that you fight are "turned back to normal" after you defeat them. This is because they're being influenced by Giygas, and thus a solid beating makes him let go.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'': Justified. [[spoiler: Ganondorf possesses Zelda's corpse and uses her magic against you, which includes holy light. When you [[TennisBoss send it back at him]], Zelda is dead and a holy being, but Ganondorf is demonic, so only he gets hurt.]]

* ''Manga/MobPsycho100'' has one of Reigen's [[RunningGag "special moves"]], the "Anti-Possession Jumping Knee Strike".

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Dragamonz}}'', Dax's best friend [[spoiler: Boaragon is forcibly [[BrainwashedAndCrazy brainwashed]] by the BidBad Grimserver]]. Dax tries not to fight with him at first, which ends with him being badly beaten. When the pair meet again, Drax realizes that since all Dragamon's are a ProudWarriorRace. Grimserver's hold on [[spoiler: Boaragon]] does break after Dax wins the rematch.

* In ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', anything affected by dark magic, up to and including Princess Zelda herself, can be fixed with a good butt-whupping.
** There's only one subversion in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames Oracle Of Ages]]'', where Link can't attack Veran when she's possessing someone because doing so would [[GameplayAndStorySegregation supposedly]] only hurt her host. Defeating Veran when she's possessing Nayru [[spoiler:and later, Queen Ambi]] requires shooting [[AchillesHeel Mystery Seeds]] at her and to remove Veran's spirit from her body, and then switching places with Veran to attack her before she can repossess her host.
** The equivalent boss fight in ''Oracle of Seasons'' has Din trapped in a crystal and slowly move towards you, causing damage if she hits. Whacking at her with your sword will actually damage you, so instead you need to use the Rod of Seasons to push her back.
** Justified in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]''. [[spoiler: Ganondorf possesses Zelda's corpse and uses her magic against you. Which includes holy light. When you [[TennisBoss send it back at him]], Zelda is dead and a holy being, but Ganondorf is demonic, so only he gets hurt.]]
* ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'':
** In ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards'', Kirby needs to do this to free Waddle Dee, Adeleine, and King Dedede from Dark Matter.
** Same thing in ''VideoGame/KirbySqueakSquad'' with Daroach being possessed by Dark Nebula, and ''Epic Yarn'', where Yin-Yarn takes control of Dedede and Meta Knight.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 4|APromiseUnforgotten}}'', [[spoiler: the repentant former BigBad Nemo gets corrupted by the power of [[DoomsdayDevice Fear The Great]], which he had (unintentionally) tapped into for the final episode]], forcing Valvatorez and company to beat some sense into him for the very final battle... Well, [[MultipleEndings the final battle for the normal/best ending, anyway.]]

* Cynder from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyro'' series was a dragoness the same age as the titular hero, only for the series BigBad to corrupt her with his dark powers, causing her to unnaturally grow to her adult size. Fortunately, upon being defeated by Spyro, her mind was released from the dark spell and she returned to her normal age, upon afterwards, she spent the remainder of the series becoming friends with Spyro [[spoiler:and eventually falling in love with him]].

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'' has Dexter's mother, father and sister [[PuppeteerParasite all become infected by alien parasites]] that turn their skin green, [[RedEyesTakeWarning their eyes red]] and 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 of them 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.

* ''[[VideoGame/TrailsSeries The Legend of Heroes - Trails]]'':
** In ''VideoGame/TrailsInTheSky - Second Chapter'', while Estelle and the others travel through an Ouroboros base, they encounter Bracers who have been put under Weissman's control, leaving Kevin to use his abilities to free them from the effect.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel IV'' has New Class VII doing this to [[spoiler:Rean Schwarzer]] to snap him out of his SuperPoweredEvilSide to give one of his allies a chance to free him from its influence.

** ''VideoGame/TrailsOfColdSteel IV'' has New Class VII doing this to [[spoiler:Rean Schwarzer]] to snap him out of his SuperPoweredEvilSide to give one of his allies a chance to free him from its influence.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', Him turned the entire town evil and all attempts to resolve the matter peacefully failed... until the girl beat the tar out of the Townsville citizens. The girls convinced themselves the BrainwashedAndCrazy Townsvillians actually were ''not'' their loved ones (Since, as the heroes of Townsville, everyone adored the girls). The curse only breaks after the girls beat the tar out of Him and force him to retreat.

'''Uncle Ruckus:''' Sometimes there is very little difference.

* A [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] example in ''VideoGame/SecretOfMana'' when a possessed Dyluck suckers his love interest Primm in then drains her life energy and sends her to [[BigBad Thanatos]] to be used as a sacrifice, driving Randi into [[ThisIsUnforgivable a fit of rage]] and causing him to attack Dyluck, breaking Thantos' control over him. It's not much of a beating in the original (Randi just attacks him with whatever weapon he has equipped, Dyluck's sprite didn't have any animations to reflect being attacked, and due to the game's script having to be compressed Dyluck just says [[{{Narm}} "Phew, I'm alright now"]]) but the [[VideoGameRemake 2018 remake]] gives it a full cutscene where Randi furiously cuts Dyluck down with one blow from the [[LegendaryWeapon Sword of Mana]], visibly wounding him as he slowly shakes off the possession.

* In ''Manga/AnatoliaStory'', 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 [[{{RPG}} RPGs]], attacking one's own teammate is usually the quickest way to cure Charm or Confuse status.

** There's only one subversion in ''VideoGame/OracleOfAges'', where Link can't attack Veran when she's possessing someone because doing so would [[GameplayAndStorySegregation supposedly]] only hurt her host. Defeating Veran when she's possessing Nayru [[spoiler:and later, Queen Ambi]] requires shooting [[AchillesHeel Mystery Seeds]] at her and to remove Veran's spirit from her body, and then switching places with Veran to attack her before she can repossess her host.

** Justified in ''VideoGame/TwilightPrincess''. [[spoiler: Ganondorf possesses Zelda's corpse and uses her magic against you. Which includes holy light. When you [[TennisBoss send it back at him]], Zelda is dead and a holy being, but Ganondorf is demonic, so only he gets hurt.]]

* ''VideoGame/MegaManX''

* ''VideoGame/TalesOf'':

* 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 it and just knocks Jeanne out, finding no honor in killing a woman.

* In ''Film/{{Ghostbusters|2016}}'', Patty manages to free Abby from being possessed by ''bitch-slapping'' her. "''The power of Patty compels you!''"

* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun2001'' has Tret the Holy Tree, who's been driven to mad UnstoppableRage due to Psynergy Stones falling from the sky. Only when Isaac and his friends hand him his ass does he return to his senses.

* Done in the Turkish Exorcist knockoff ''Seytan'' - yeah, it's real - when Turkish Father Damien finally rids Turkish Reagan of her possession by Turkish Pazuzu simply by beating the crap out of her Turkish face.

** There's only one subversion in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames Oracle of Ages]]'', where you can't attack Veran when she's possessing someone because doing so would [[GameplayAndStorySegregation supposedly]] only hurt her host. Defeating Veran when she's possessing Nayru [[spoiler:and later, Queen Ambi]] requires shooting [[AchillesHeel Mystery Seeds]] at her and to remove Veran's spirit from her body, and then switching places with Veran to attack her before she can repossess her host.

* In ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards'', Kirby needs to do this to free Waddle Dee, Adeleine, and King Dedede from Dark Matter.

** In ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga]]'' before you meet Prince Peasley you fight him as a dragon who was previously trapped in an egg that Blablanadon was incubating.

* Interesting variation: in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl'', the villains use "shadow bugs" mined from Mr. Game & Watch to create evil, purple-tinted versions of some of the heroes, like Peach and Diddy Kong. Most of the time, the ''real'' hero is trapped in trophy form and can't be brought back to life until the cursed version is defeated. However, it ''is'' possible for Diddy to fight his own EvilTwin, and at one point, Bowser does this to ''himself'' so he can be in two places at once.

* ''Mega Man X''

* In ''{{VideoGame/Rayman}} [[VideoGame/RaymanOrigins Origins]]'', four kings [[spoiler: (As well as the last nymph, Fée de la Mort)]] have been turned into huge monstrosities, and it is Rayman's job to beat the crap out of them in order to return them to normal.
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'', [[spoiler: Estelle]] is BrainwashedAndCrazy by [[spoiler: [[BigBad Alexei]]]], so it's up to Yuri to free [[spoiler: her]] by beating [[spoiler: her]] senseless.
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfRebirth'', Veigue's heart is troubled and thus his [[AnIcePerson Force]] starts going out of control. His friends beat him up to drive him out of his frenzy, then not even a day later Tytree beats the crap out of him to [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan break him out of his angsting and finish the job]].

* ''Fanfic/SonOfTheSannin'': The only known method to remove the mind control effects of Kotoamatsukami is to inflict potentially life threatening injuries on the victim. [[spoiler:Sasuke ends up having to do this to Naruto in the climax of the Senju Twins Retrival arc by stabbing him through the gut and shocking him from the inside out. It ends up being deconstructed when Obito briefly tricks him into thinking that the wounds were fatal so that [[TramaticSuperpowerAwakening he'd awaken his Mangekyo Sharingan]] and the guilt of nearly killing one of his friends is still haunting him after the TimeSkip.]]

* Inverted in ''Manga/SaintSeiya''. During the Sanctuary arc, Leo Aioria is BrainwashedAndCrazy by the Pope [[spoiler:who is actually Gemini Saga]] with a curse that will only lift after he kills someone. When he's about to kill Seiya, Cassios gets in the way and ends up [[TakeTheBullet taking the attack for him]].