"I'm trapped in this body and can't... get... out..."
— Radiohead, "Bodysnatchers"
A person's body is taken over by some foreign intelligence. It's not brainwashing, because they still have control of their own mind — but that's all they have. Either they've been reduced to a spectator in their own body, or their soul has been booted out of their body entirely. Either way, the rest of the cast will soon find he's Not Himself.
For information on specific types of hosts, look to Body and Host.
Not to be confused with the people who steal corpses, or the Deathcore band of the same name.
This can come in several flavors:
- Body Surf: The Body Snatcher leaps from host to host over the course of the story.
- Brain Theft: Sometimes involves stealing someone's body or stealing them away from their own body by taking the brain.
- Clone by Conversion: The Body Snatcher not only takes control of the host body, but transforms it into a copy of his original one.
- Demonic Possession: A spirit or energy being who puts the host's mind in a straitjacket.
- Familial Body Snatcher: An entity that takes over the bodies of their own family/descendants.
- "Freaky Friday" Flip: Body swapping for fun and learning. Hilarity Ensues.
- Freaky Friday Sabotage: Body swapping that backfires.
- Grand Theft Me: The Snatcher has a body, but they want a new one. Yours.
- Media Transmigration: The person takes over the body and life of a pre-existing character from the Show Within a Show
- People Puppets: Directly controlling another's body — no mucking about with souls.
- Possessing a Dead Body: An entity takes possession of someone's corpse.
- Puppeteer Parasite: Body Snatchers who are physical parasites. Body Horror ensues.
- Raised as a Host: A person is specifically raised for their possessor.
- Replicant Snatching: A person's skin is stolen by the Body Snatcher to use as a disguise.
- They Look Like Us Now: The creatures discover a way to appear human, without possessing or controlling actual humans in the process.
- Villain-Possessed Bystander: A person is explicitly Snatched in order to antagonize a protagonist.
Examples:
Films
Literature
- Animorphs: The primary antagonists, the Yeerks, slither into the ear canal of a suitable species and wraps itself around the brain, possessing the victim and making them a Controller.
