Brainwashing is the concept that the human mind can be altered or controlled by certain psychological techniques. Brainwashing is said to reduce its subject's ability to think critically or independently, to allow the introduction of new, unwanted thoughts and ideas into their minds, as well as to change their attitudes, values, and beliefs.
Geordi La Forge is a fictional character who appeared in all seven seasons of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and its four feature films as well as the third season of Star Trek: Picard. Portrayed by LeVar Burton, he served as helmsman of the USS Enterprise-D in the first season of The Next Generation, then occupied the role of the chief engineer for the rest of the series and in the films before appearing as a commodore in Picard. La Forge has been blind since his birth and uses technological devices that allow him to see – a VISOR in the series and the first film, replaced by ocular prosthetic implants in the last three films and in Picard.
A brain transplant or whole-body transplant is a procedure in which the brain of one organism is transplanted into the body of another organism. It is a procedure distinct from head transplantation, which involves transferring the entire head to a new body, as opposed to the brain only. Theoretically, a person with complete organ failure could be given a new and functional body while keeping their own personality, memories, and consciousness through such a procedure. Neurosurgeon Robert J. White has grafted the head of a monkey onto the headless body of another monkey. EEG readings showed the brain was later functioning normally. Initially, it was thought to prove that the brain was an immunologically privileged organ, as the host's immune system did not attack it at first, but immunorejection caused the monkey to die after nine days. Brain transplants and similar concepts have also been explored in various forms of science fiction.
In fiction, a false protagonist is a literary technique, often used to make the plot more jarring or more memorable by fooling the audience's preconceptions, that constructs a character who the audience assumes is the protagonist but is later revealed not to be.
M. Bison, also known as Vega, is a fictional character created by Capcom. First introduced in Street Fighter II: The World Warrior as the final boss of the game, he is a recurring character in the Street Fighter series of fighting games, acting as one of the series' main antagonists.
The Mad Hatter is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. He is modeled after the Hatter from Lewis Carroll's novel Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, a character often called the "Mad Hatter" in adaptations of Carroll. A scientist who invents and uses technological mind control devices to influence and manipulate the minds of his victims, the Mad Hatter is one of Batman's most enduring enemies and belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up Batman's rogues gallery.
Major Motoko Kusanagi, or just "Major", is the main protagonist in Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell manga and anime series. She is a synthetic "full-body prosthesis" augmented-cybernetic human employed as the field commander of Public Security Section 9, a fictional anti-cybercrime law-enforcement division of the Japanese National Public Safety Commission. A strong-willed, physically powerful, and highly intelligent cyberhero, she is well known for her skills in deduction, hacking and military tactics.
Brain implants, often referred to as neural implants, are technological devices that connect directly to a biological subject's brain – usually placed on the surface of the brain, or attached to the brain's cortex. A common purpose of modern brain implants and the focus of much current research is establishing a biomedical prosthesis circumventing areas in the brain that have become dysfunctional after a stroke or other head injuries. This includes sensory substitution, e.g., in vision. Other brain implants are used in animal experiments simply to record brain activity for scientific reasons. Some brain implants involve creating interfaces between neural systems and computer chips. This work is part of a wider research field called brain–computer interfaces.
Prosthetics, the artificial replacement of organic limbs or organs, often play a role in fiction, particularly science fiction, as either plot points or to give a character a beyond normal appearance. Numerous works of literature, television, and films feature characters who have prosthetics attached.
The use of nanotechnology in fiction has attracted scholarly attention. The first use of the distinguishing concepts of nanotechnology was "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom", a talk given by physicist Richard Feynman in 1959. K. Eric Drexler's 1986 book Engines of Creation introduced the general public to the concept of nanotechnology. Since then, nanotechnology has been used frequently in a diverse range of fiction, often as a justification for unusual or far-fetched occurrences featured in speculative fiction.
Psycho-Man is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Joseph "JoJo" Joestar is a fictional character in the Japanese manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. Joseph is the main protagonist of the series' second story arc, Battle Tendency, and the grandson of the first arc's protagonist, Jonathan Joestar. Having been brought up by his grandmother Erina and family friend Speedwagon, he developed a coarser and more rebellious attitude than that of his gentlemanly grandfather, but the character still has a noble heart. While able to use the supernatural power Hamon like his grandfather, Joseph is not initially as skilled in its use until he trains under Lisa Lisa. He initially uses a pair of Hamon-empowered clackers in battle, but relies more on mind games rather than brute strength in fights, employing his uncanny ability to predict his opponent's actions down to what they say.
Dream worlds are a commonly used plot device in fictional works, most notably in science fiction and fantasy fiction. The use of a dream world creates a situation whereby a character is placed in a marvellous and unpredictable environment and must overcome several personal problems to leave it. The dream world also commonly serves to teach some moral or religious lessons to the character experiencing it – a lesson that the other characters will be unaware of, but one that will influence decisions made regarding them. When the character is reintroduced into the real world, the question arises as to what exactly constitutes reality due to the vivid recollection and experiences of the dream world.
Synesthesia is a neurologically based phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. There are many occurrences of synesthesia in books, television and film.
For over a century, hypnosis has been a popular theme in fiction – literature, film, and television. It features in movies almost from their inception and more recently has been depicted in television and online media. As Harvard hypnotherapist Deirdre Barrett points out in 'Hypnosis in Popular Media', the vast majority of these depictions are negative stereotypes of either control for criminal profit and murder or as a method of seduction. Others depict hypnosis as all-powerful or even a path to supernatural powers.
An isolated brain is a brain kept alive in vitro, either by perfusion or by a blood substitute, often an oxygenated solution of various salts, or by submerging the brain in oxygenated artificial cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). It is the biological counterpart of brain in a vat. A related concept, attaching the brain or head to the circulatory system of another organism, is called a head transplant. An isolated brain, however, is more typically attached to an artificial perfusion device rather than a biological body.
Dio Brando, later known mononymously only as Dio, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the Japanese manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. He is featured initially as the main antagonist of the series' first part, Phantom Blood, and later returns as the main antagonist of the series' third part, Stardust Crusaders, now solely referred to as Dio. In the alternate universe of the series' seventh part, Steel Ball Run, a character named Diego Brando bears resemblance to Dio and appears as a major antagonist.
Kuvira, also known as The Great Uniter, is a fictional major character in the 2014 third and fourth seasons of the Nickelodeon animated television series The Legend of Korra, created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. Introduced in a minor capacity in the third season of the series, she becomes the main antagonist of the fourth season, and a supporting protagonist of the 2019–2020 Ruins of the Empire comics. Kuvira was created with similar characteristics to the portrayal of protagonist Korra in prior seasons to highlight the changes she had made over the course of the series. Kuvira's character has been mostly met with positive reception. Critics note her motives as being understandable, while her actions are given political analogues.
Junko Enoshima is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Spike Chunsoft's Danganronpa series. Featured as the mastermind in the first two games of the series as the true identity of Monokuma, in the spin-off Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls in the guises of Shirokuma and Kurokuma, and in the prequel light novel Danganronpa Zero and anime series Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School: Despair Arc, serving as the protagonist of the former as Ryōko Otonashi, Junko is a student of Hope's Peak Academy and the Ultimate Fashionista, a charismatic and hyperintelligent gyaru fashion model who along with her fraternal twin sister and body double Mukuro Ikusaba into forms the Ultimate Despair, ultimately bringing about the end of civilization through a movement known as "The Tragedy". In Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Junko arranges a killing game between her former classmates to test their metrics for hope and despair, counting herself and Mukuro as participants, before having her consciousness converted into an artificial intelligence known as Alter Ego Junko upon her death, left to Izuru Kamukura to continue her plans along with his own.
