Hypnosis has long been the domain of bad guys, but after ruminating on my interest in it, I thought I'd flip the script and make it the domain of a superhero. But, I can't think of a way to make the concept work as practical powers or interest. I get why hypnosis works with bad guys. Taking away someone's will is a inherently evil act and for villains like the Ringmaster, hypnosis fits easily into one note villains. But for a hero, I keep thinking the concept is boring because hypnosis can't lead to much excitement or interest when it comes to powers. Characters like Spider Man and Iron Man are interesting and practical because their individual abilities are varied and practical when it comes to fighting villains, but a hypnosis-themed hero runs the risk of being boring if they can just end a fight in one minute. That's including if I give the hero other abilities like telekinesis which are acquired through the hypnosis. At the same time, I'm fascinated by the potential such a hero could present if I just crack how to make it work. I've got the secret identity of the hero somewhat worked out, centered around a form of split personality disorder afflicting a psychiatrist. I have an idea on how to make the secret identity work, but I keep hitting a brick wall when it comes to making the actual hero work aside from a basic idea of the character being a Ronin-type character, that being someone who doesn't have a fixed location and just roams around while treating her powers as a spiritually-acquired gift (since I know some groups like adherents Rosicrucianism use hypnosis in their meditative rituals), but I don't know how to make a practice associated with mind control practical for a heroic character. Above I said, I might give her telekinesis, but I feel like those powers would be secondary for someone who can use mind control to get whatever they want. So, can someone give me some advice on how to make this idea work? Also, can someone point me in the direction of other heroes who use hypnosis or mind control as part of their powers?
I vaguely remembered something like a pulp character who used hypnosis, and a little searching turned up Mandrake the Magician. Not actually from the pulps, but a newspaper comic strip from 1934. He was a stage magician who used his abilities to fight crime, and among them was hypnosis.
I can't see using actual hypnosis, the kind where you have to relax people and put them in a trance. I'm assuming it's something more like telepathic mind control. Maybe he has to feel his way into somebody's mind little by little—it takes a while, and he has to get past their natural mental defenses. This way he's in danger of physical attack for some time, but even if they're fighting he could still be working his way into their mind and trying to gain control. If he manages to do it, then he can make the person stop fighting him, or do what he wants. I think I'd put limits on that too. Not anyting he wants them to do, that's too easy. Maybe he needs to sort of reason with them mentally, convince them that it's in their own best interest to do something. They don't know it's him of course, to them it just seems like their own thoughts. It could be like he's able to exert some control, but as soon as the other guy gets wary he loses it again. He needs to try a different way, more subtle, or he needs to find the kind of reasoning that will convince the guy. You know how they say every villain actually believes they're the hero, doing the right thing? It could be like that in reverse. He needs to convince them that doing what he wants them to do is actually their best course of action, even though it goes against their own goals. With a little assist from semi-weak telepathic mind control, or maybe it works much better on some people than others. Weak-minded henches are easy, but diabolical mastermind types are a serious challenge. Maybe not a hero exactly, but not a villain—there's an Andre Norton story called The Zero Stone featuring a telepathic cat-alien hybrid named Eet who hangs around with the main character. They're on sort of the same quest already, or very close anyway, and at times the cat helps him out with things he couldn't accomplish alone, but at times it takes control of his mind and makes him do its bidding. Which isn't evil, it just is the cats goal, not his own. The idea was kind of a role reversal—Andre Norton (a woman) loved cats, and wrote about them sometimes. Well, this time she decided to let the cat be the smarter one and the human be of lesser intelligence and under its control at times. The cat is very smug and arrogant, but it isn't evil, that's just its personality (and aren't all cats like that much of the time?).
Hypnosis is nothing like Hollywood or fiction tries to use it. It cannot violate a subjects morals/ethics. If someone doesn't want to lose weight or stop smoking then using hypnosis for that would fail. A suggestion like Don't remember me might work on the Average person, but not a dedicated guard, etc.
How rooted in reality do you want this to be? I can do hyposis - stage hyposis, but I have to go through a pre-selection stage, a series of tests to see who in the audience is going to be susceptible to it in the first place. I don't have time to work on an unreceptive audience member. I can even do that remotely. Try this. Open the below spoiler. Try not to look at it. Clasp your hands together fingers intertwined (like you're praying). Extend your forefingers so you're pointing upwards. Now look at the image. Spoiler: You are feeling very sleepy... As you watch the image, your fingers will start to move togther. Slowly, slowly inexorably, move together... Closer and closer... Spoiler: Explanation If this works, then you are a candidate to take part. There are a couple of other tests I would do to whittle down the candidates. It is, of course, easy to stop your fingers from moving apart - just press the bottom of your palms together and tense your fingers. But if you do that, you're someone who will actively resist my suggestions, so you aren't a good candidate. Imagine a Jewish hypnotist in 1939. How is he going to use his (possibly unreliable) powers to help his fellow Jews escape the clutches of the Nazis? His powers might work for a while, but they won't last. He can convince the Gestapo that they're really Aryans but it's only going to last so long, and then they'll be back.
Well, I don't know about hypnotist, but there is a mind control hero (technically, he's a student but he's working to be a superhero) in Boku No Hero Academia. In combat, the thing about him is you have to respond to him to get him to hypnotize you, so obviously anyone who knows about his power doesn't talk while he's around. But also he can't mind control over telephone, the people under his mind control can't perform complex tasks. (Like he can order someone to attack another person but if he asked them to do any complex reasoning beyond 2+2, they can't), and if the people are shoved, they'll snap out of it. Because his mind control is kind of easy to subvert if you know the right conditions, he also just trained a lot, got a mentor, got buff, uses assistive superhero gear (a voice changer and a capture rope setup) and basically just became a stealth person so he can mind control from after. In his character arc, because Boku No Hero Academia as a world has everyone's powers (quirks in the show/manga), registered when they're around four years old, everyone knew he could mind control people and he faced prejudice because of it. His entire thing is that despite having such an "evil" power, he wanted to be a hero. "You can't help the things you long for," is a favorite quote of mine. He only shows up briefly in two arcs of a 20+ arc show but he's a fan-favorite. Ways both in-show and in-fanon he uses his mind control as a hero would be: stopping a fight between two people before it gets bloody, helping another superhero-ed individual calm down after their powers went beserk, stopping a crowd from panicking/crowd crushing by controling them to evacuate in an orderly manner, calms people down (sort of) so people can give accurate police reports, etc. I think if it weren't for the complex reasoning thing, he could probably be a good interrogator with mind control. Hope that helps? Mind control can definitely work for a hero but to make it not as Overpowered, they'd have to be really moral or, like, have some kind of drawback to it that either makes it painful/impossible for the user to use on a regular basis (time requirement? headaches? taking in people's personalities as part of their own?)--or else really easy to snap out of, or else has some sort of activation requirement (call and response) that people can avoid if they were smart.
