History Main / MirrorMoralityMachine

Usually, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" is standard... but what if you could make ''them'' join ''you''? This is what a lot of SaturdayMorningCartoon villains have thought, anyway, and use a spell, artifact, or machine that can invert the target's morality like a mirror. The hero subject to the Mirror Morality Machine will suffer an instant FaceHeelTurn and go over to the bad guy's side. The CharacterAlignment of the hero will go from Good to Evil and Lawful to Chaotic. Alternately, it may simply "suppress" his conscience and give his ego free rein to do whatever mischief he wants. Usually this results in [[PokeThePoodle cheeky but harmless]] [[MaddenIntoMisanthropy misanthropic antics]], despite the villain's darker intentions.

Of course, this being a morality-reversing ray, if the hero turns it on the villain, the villain will spend the rest of the episode as a contrite, cheerful, and helpful soul. Sadly, ItOnlyWorksOnce, and the heroes [[BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood can't keep dosing the bad guy]] - something about it being "[[PygmalionSnapback immoral]]" or something. [[HeelFaceMindScrew Most of the time]].

* ''Literature/VillainsByNecessity'': The major unethical act of the main 'good' wizard in this story is to invent a spell which brainwashes the evil out of villains, permanently. (Not a spoiler because it's explained in the first chapter or so.)

* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' two parter "Descent", [[EvilTwin Lore]] manages to convince Data to join his evil plot by deactivating Data' ethical program.

** The Book of Exalted Deeds has a spell called Sanctify the Wicked that traps an evil being in crystal and forces them to undergo evil-eradicating therapy over the course of a whole year. Once the spell ends, the creature is now good, having all their evil (and evil abilities, if any) trimmed away and replaced with goodness. (Plus some level adjustment, even if it lost more stuff than it gained.) This even works on AlwaysChaoticEvil beings like demons.
*** Its sister supplement, The Book of Vile Darkness, has the spell Morality Undone, which turns a character or creature evil. The spell's description specifies that they don't turn against their friends instantly, but it ''does'' make spells like Suggestion or Charm Person much more flexible (those spells only let you suggest actions that are within a person's nature).

* Fan favorite Visored Shinji Hirako's Bankai, Sakashima Yokoshima Happo Fusagari, turns out to be this turned UpToEleven in ''LightNovel/BleachCannotFearYourOwnWorld''. Upon activating, the affiliations ''and'' alignments of everyone around him are reversed. While this makes it useful for OneManArmy situations with Shinji as the one man... that's basically all it's good for, as his allies would just become more enemies.

* A text adventure centered around your attempts to escape from such a machine. The final reveal was that [[spoiler:both sides in a war had built such a machine and nobody can remember what the war was ever about]].

[[folder:Comicbooks]]

[[folder:WebComics]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'', [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2009-01-24 Jesus can zap succubi into goodness.]] [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2009-02-04 Satan can zap one back.]] [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2009-02-07 Which surprises him about the other.]] His powers have changed over the course of the work: [[http://www.sinfest.net/view.php?date=2012-03-14 The Buddha enlightened some drones and he didn't even try to revert them.]]
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* In ''Bleach'', fan favorite Visored Shinji Hirako's Bankai, Sakashima Yokoshima Happo Fusagari, turns out to be this turned UpToEleven in ''LightNovel/BleachCannotFearYourOwnWorld''. Upon activating, the affiliations ''and'' alignments of everyone around him are reversed. While this makes it useful for OneManArmy situations with Shinji as the one man... that's basically all it's good for, as his allies would just become more enemies.

* In ''Manga/Bleach'', fan favorite Visored Shinji Hirako's Bankai, Sakashima Yokoshima Happo Fusagari, turns out to be this turned UpToEleven in ''LightNovel/BleachCannotFearYourOwnWorld''. Upon activating, the affiliations ''and'' alignments of everyone around him are reversed. While this makes it useful for OneManArmy situations with Shinji as the one man... that's basically all it's good for, as his allies would just become more enemies.

** One last one, from ''PhineasAndFerbStarWars:'' "Darthenshmirtz" creates a Sith-inator, which was actually designed to just make himself more evil and powerful. [[OhCrap Instead, it hits Ferb]].

*** Slightly subverted when once the Showdown ends, it is revealed that Wuya had the Reversing Mirror in her possession the entire time, implying that the was faking whenever she supposedly came out good.

** It was hilariously abused in one episode, when Kimiko and Wuya fought in Showdwon using one of yo-yo's each. They were changing alignments so much and so fast it's a miracle they come out with their original personalities at the end.

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' has a magical method of turning [MagicByAnyOtherName channelers]] to the DarkSide against their will using 13 Black sorceresses channeling through 13 Myrddraal. This causes previously good characters to realize that EvilFeelsGood and start serving the Shadow; moreover, in perfect deference to this trope, it makes them exactly as ardently devoted to the Dark One as they previously were to the Light (which means that morally ambiguous characters are less effected). It is not known if this process is reversible, but the implication is that it isn't. Characters who know victims of this process very well note that something is [[NotHimself slightly off]] about the person's mannerisms, as if they'd been replaced with an almost perfect evil doppelganger, and one person who was rescued before the process was completed was mostly the same, but with fewer moral qualms.

The artifact version is InstantAllegianceArtifact. The amnesia-induced versions are CriminalAmnesiac and AmnesiacsAreInnocent (Heel/Face). Compare MoralityDial.

Usually, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" is standard... but what if you could make ''them'' join ''you?'' This is what a lot of SaturdayMorningCartoon villains have thought, anyway, and use a spell, artifact or machine that can invert the target's morality like a mirror. The hero subject to the Mirror Morality Machine will suffer an instant FaceHeelTurn and go over to the bad guy's side. The CharacterAlignment of the hero will go from Good to Evil and Lawful to Chaotic. Alternately, it may simply "suppress" his conscience and give his ego free rein to do whatever mischief he wants. Usually this results in [[PokeThePoodle cheeky but harmless]] [[MaddenIntoMisanthropy misanthropic antics]], despite the villain's darker intentions.

Usually the effects of the machine will have a time limit, after which its effects will wear off and the hero has to [[ClearMyName clear his name]] for all the things he's done. However, his SideKick will usually stop him before he does anything ''really'' bad and reverse the effects... or the bad guy will do it voluntarily because [[PityTheKidnapper the hero is a better villain than he is]]! This applies when the machine is not an InstantAllegianceArtifact, and the hero-turned-villain [[TheStarscream turns on his "boss"]].

Of course, this being a morality-reversing ray, if the hero turns it on the villain, the villain will spend the rest of the episode as a contrite, cheerful and helpful soul. Sadly, ItOnlyWorksOnce and the heroes [[BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood can't keep dosing the bad guy]], something about it being "[[PygmalionSnapback immoral]]" or something. [[HeelFaceMindScrew Most of the time]].

The artifact version is InstantAllegianceArtifact. The amnesia-induced versions are CriminalAmnesiac (Face/Heel) and AmnesiacsAreInnocent (Heel/Face). Compare MoralityDial.

* TheWheelOfTime has a magical method of turning [MagicByAnyOtherName channelers]] to the DarkSide against their will using 13 Black sorceresses channeling through 13 Myrddraal. This causes previously good characters to realize that EvilFeelsGood and start serving the Shadow; moreover, in perfect deference to this trope, it makes them exactly as ardently devoted to the Dark One as they previously were to the Light (which means that morally ambiguous characters are less effected). It is not known if this process is reversible, but the implication is that it isn't. Characters who know victims of this process very well note that something is [[NotHimself slightly off]] about the person's mannerisms, as if they'd been replaced with an almost perfect evil doppelganger, and one person who was rescued before the process was completed was mostly the same, but with fewer moral qualms.

* ''Comicbook/{{Axis}}'' revolves around a force of evil that has inverted the moralities of many heroes and villains alike. [[Comicbook/IronMan Tony Stark]] for example has reverted to the selfish, womanizing, militaristic alcoholic he was before he became Iron Man, Loki became an insufferable SmugSuper, Carnage an {{Anti|Hero}}-{{Hero With An F In Good}} and so forth.

* TheWheelOfTime has a magical method of turning channelers to the Dark against their will using 13 Black sorceresses channeling through 13 Fades. This causes previously good characters to realize that EvilFeelsGood and start serving the Shadow. It is not known if this process is reversible, but the implication is that it isn't.

* ''SpockMustDie'': in this early StarTrek novel, a machine used by the Klingons to suppress the Organians has the side effect of creating a mirror version of Spock, right down to the molecular level. Curiously, this biological mirroring also reverses Spock's allegiance, making him a Klingon agent.

* In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', [[EvilTwin Lore]] manages to convince Data to join his evil plot by deactivating Data' ethical program.

* ''{{Bionicle}}'': The evil scientist Makuta, Mutran, created mutant Shadow Leeches so that they can drain a target's moral light. Takanuva was partially affected, but still retained his moral self and the additional powers over shadow. Fortunately, all those affected were cured by the screech of a bat-like Klakk

** Later Doofenshmirtz builds an "Ultimate-Turn-Everything-Evil-inator" to try to turn Major Monogram evil, but accidentally hits Carl instead.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Twilight Sparkle mentions having access to at least a few "[[BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood Reform Spells]]" in "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E11KeepCalmAndFlutterOn Keep Calm and Flutter On]]". Thankfully, at least [[NightmareFuel when you consider the potential of such a thing]] and ''especially'' what happened [[GoneHorriblyRight the last time Twilight screwed with ponies' minds]], [[RealityWarper Discord]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext eats the pages from her books that contain the spells.]]

* Twilight Sparkle mentions having access to at least a few "[[BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood Reform Spells]]" in ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Keep Calm and Flutter On]]''. Thankfully, at least [[NightmareFuel when you consider the potential of such a thing]] and ''especially'' what happened [[GoneHorriblyRight the last time Twilight screwed with ponies' minds]], [[RealityWarper Discord]] [[ItMakesSenseInContext eats the pages from her books that contain the spells.]]

* ''CareBears Adventures in Care-a-Lot'': Grizzle accidentally created one of these. He sent a robot with an Eraser Ray down to Care-a-Lot to get rid of the Care Bears' belly badges, but instead, the ray flipped the badges, making the bears only care about [[PlanetOfHats their personality trait]], causing them all to fight with each other instead of getting along.