History Main / BeatTheCurseOutOfHim

** Same thing in ''VideoGame/KirbySqueakSquad'' with Daroach being possessed by Dark Nebula ([[AllThereInTheManual which is in fact a Dark Matter being itself]]), and ''Epic Yarn'', where Yin-Yarn takes control of Dedede and Meta Knight.

This is especially common in VideoGames where [[ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption combat is the standard reaction to anything anyway,]] and can result in [[DefeatMeansFriendship making a new friend]] or [[DefeatMeansPlayable getting a new player character.]] This comes up a lot in stories with a villain with a DarkAndTroubledPast or a FreudianExcuse -- it turns out their mothers, grandmothers, aunts, or somebody thought they were evil/cursed/possessed and tried to beat the evil out of them, or to prevent them from becoming evil ([[NiceJobBreakingItHero which is precisely what made them evil]]).

Oh, no! Your best friend has been entranced by [[Film/TheExorcist Pazuzu!]] Bummer! No need to call any specialists, though; just pull up your sleeves and you can deal with this yourself. In many works of fiction, the best way to free a possessed or {{curse}}d person is to simply [[ViolenceReallyIsTheAnswer beat the crap out of them.]] You won't need to worry about hurting your friend, either; it's just the curse/demon you're punching, not them. Once you punch them into unconsciousness, they should wake up perfectly fine (albeit probably with a massive headache).

This is especially common in VideoGames where [[ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption combat is the standard reaction to anything anyway,]] and can result in [[DefeatMeansFriendship making a new friend]] or [[DefeatMeansPlayable getting a new player character.]] This comes up a lot in stories with a villain with a DarkAndTroubledPast or a FreudianExcuse--it turns out their mothers, grandmothers, aunts, or somebody thought they were evil/cursed/possessed and tried to beat the evil out of them, or to prevent them from becoming evil ([[NiceJobBreakingItHero which is precisely what made them evil]]).

* One of the (many, many) plots from ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'s'' prequel series ''The Literature/HorusHeresy'' involves the life of [[FallenHero Fulgrim]] and his army after Fulgrim drives a species called the Laer extinct, and he takes a holy artifact of theirs (a sword) as his trophy. The sword was possessed by a daemon, and it's influence lead Fulgrim and his followers into madness and depravity, ultimately possessing Fulgrim's body and leaving his soul trapped in a painting. Fulgrim's Legionaires eventually notice something is wrong, capture Fulgrim's body, and try to force the daemon out by torturing it into submission. They knew this worked on some assumptions since it was a daemon of pleasure ''and'' pain, but they were short on options and what little sanity and decency they had left compelled them to try and rescue Fulgrim. [[spoiler: By this time, Fulgrim had forced the daemon out and reclaimed his body through an act of [[HeroicWillpower sheer willpower]], though with his shattered sanity he just preferred this new life. He was enacting a WoundedGazelleGambit to manipulate his soldiers into torturing him for the fun of it.]]

* ''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.

* ''Film/ScaryMovie2'': Parodied in the ''Exorcist'' spoof segment. The priests end up manhandling and spitting vomit (hey, [[ZombiePukeAttack she started it]]) on the possessed girl before just deciding to shoot her when they get fed up with her insults.

* [[spoiler:''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' has Sora facing off with Aqua, who had been corrupted by darkness thanks to Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, giving her eyes and hair color similar to Xehanort, and being forced into fighting her one-on-one to purge the darkness from her, where when the darkness is purged, she's returned to her normal appearance before Sora brings her home to the Destiny Islands.]]

* See, elves weren't always ''nice'' creatures -- actually for most of history [[TheFairFolk they were downright evil]]. ChangelingFantasy was ''not'' about being super-awesome because you were ''really'' the fairy king's daughter when people actually believed in it. Kids with birth defects or mentally challenged or autistic children were thought to be elf children, and the elves had taken your normal, beautiful child away from you and replaced it with their ugly, stupid one. Beating these supposed elf children -- sometimes to the point that they died -- was standard practice, because this was thought to be the only way to convince the elves to give you your normal child back.

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

* In ''Discworld/UnseenAcademicals'' [[TokenEvilTeammate Dr. Hix]] is the only one who dares to try this when Ridcully is under the control of a whistle possessed by Evans the Striped, former sports-master of Unseen University.

In some cases, the curse breaks upon death such as ThisWasHisTrueForm. If OnlyMostlyDead is available, sometimes a RevivalLoophole is possible. Kill the cursed, the curse dies with the victim, bring the cursed BackFromTheDead and hopefully the curse stays away.

Compare: GetAHoldOfYourselfMan, DyingAsYourself (If the curse dies, but so does the cursee), and IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight for when the battle is with words. See also DefeatMeansFriendship for when the enemy isn't cursed or possessed, just opposed to the hero for personal reasons. Mostly unrelated to HollywoodExorcism.

In some cases, the curse breaks upon death such as ThisWasHisTrueForm. If OnlyMostlyDead is available, sometimes a RevivalLoophole is possible. Kill the cursed, the curse dies with the victim, bring the cursed back and hopefully the curse stays away.

In some cases, the curse breaks upon death such as ThatWasHisTrueForm. If OnlyMostlyDead is available, sometimes a RevivalLoophole is possible. Kill the cursed, the curse dies with the victim, bring the cursed back and hopefully the curse stays away.

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', full stop. 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 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.

* Ufortunately TruthInTelevision today. Some preachers such as Michael Pearl still advise parents to beat the crap out of their kids on the excuse that insubordinate or bratty behavior is caused by demons. Unfortunately, children have died from these practices, even [[http://dish.hellomamas.com/index.php/tragic-death-of-13-year-old-triggers-child-discipline-debate-where-do-we-draw-the-line/ as recently as 2011]].

* In the fourth game in the Morgash Chronicles series (... yes, it's real), the final boss is a hypnotized George H. W. Bush. The Dragon and Ronian the Druid decide to just shoot lightning and/or fire at him until he recovers, while he fights back with attacks based on soundbites from his speeches ("Thousand points of light", "no new axes", and "the Pledge of Allegiance"). It works, though the un-hypnotized Bush decides it "wouldn't be prudent" to reward them. (Yes, this game is real! [[http://www.planetemu.net/rom/commodore-c64-games-t64/morgash-chronicles-the-part-four-crisis-in-washington-19xx-dod Really!]])

* In ''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, Kuno, the Priest and Ryoga in the head, but Kasumi...?

* ''Manga/{{InuYasha}}'': Miroku does this in episode 132 to the [[DemonicPossession possessed village women and Sango]]. It's less extreme than most examples; it only amounts to him attaching {{Paper Talisman}}s to either the women or his fist and then punching them in the gut, forcing them to cough up the [[FetusTerrible baby salamander demons]] that were controlling them.

* UndergroundComics author Frank Stack did a series of comics starring Jesus. One strip has a man approach him with his demon-possessed brother (who just looks like a babbling fool) - Jesus tells him the only way to get them out is to make it uncomfortable for them, giving the poor guy a good whopping. Finally with one good kick the tiny demons jump out of the guy's mouth, crying "every man for himself!" Jesus grabs one and tries to get him to talk, and then tosses him to a hungry dog.

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

* Many exorcism rituals involve physical abuse.

* This happened once, indirectly, in ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko''. XANA had possessed Aelita, but [[IWantThemAlive needed her alive]] as much as the children did. To coerce XANA into releasing her, Odd shot at her repeatedly until she was an inch away from dying, at which point he surrendered.
** Note that XANA's process of extracting what he wanted from her would kill her, so the kids had nothing to lose by threatening to kill her themselves.

* TruthInTelevision, at one point in history. See, elves weren't always ''nice'' creatures - actually for most of history [[TheFairFolk they were downright evil]]. ChangelingFantasy was ''not'' about being super-awesome because you were ''really'' the fairy king's daughter when people actually believed in it. Kids with birth defects or mentally challenged or autistic children were thought to be elf children, and the elves had taken your normal, beautiful child away from you and replaced it with their ugly, stupid one. Beating these supposed elf children -- sometimes to the point that they died -- was standard practice, because this was thought to be the only way to convince the elves to give you your normal child back.
** And unfortunately TruthInTelevision today. Some preachers such as Michael Pearl still advise parents to beat the crap out of their kids on the excuse that insubordinate or bratty behavior is caused by demons. Unfortunately, children have died from these practices, even [[http://dish.hellomamas.com/index.php/tragic-death-of-13-year-old-triggers-child-discipline-debate-where-do-we-draw-the-line/ as recently as 2011]].

-->'''Black Widow:''' Cognitive recalibration. I hit your head really hard.