Enthrallment

Enthrallment, also known as mind control, possession, or brainwashing, appears in several Final Fantasy series games. Enthrallment means one being, usually antagonistic, controls or enslaves another being's mind. Even player characters can be enthralled, though this is often hidden from the player until a dramatic reveal. Enthrallment differs from both willing service and physical coercion, often using magic, advanced technology, or both.
==Appearances==
===Final Fantasy II===
If the player visits Bafsk before they are sent to destroy the Dreadnought, the Dark Knight will be present and none of the townspeople will respond to Firion's party. When Firion's party is sent to destroy the Dreadnought, Borghen will have been put in charge of overseeing the construction of the Dreadnought and the townspeople will talk to Firion's party, along with several characters mentioning that they cannot recall anything from when the Dark Knight was present.
After the Emperor is slain by Firion's party, the Wild Rose Rebellion learns that the Dark Knight is in fact Leon, Maria's missing brother. Believing him to be under a spell of the Emperor, the party travels to Castle Palamecia to confront Leon. There, the Emperor returns from Hell, mocking Leon's attempt to take the throne. After the party escapes with Leon to Fynn, Maria convinces Leon to join the party, and he aids them in slaying the Emperor once and for all.
===Final Fantasy IV===
thumb|An enthralled Kain attacks Cecil.
Multiple times in the story, Kain betrays the party in order to serve his new master, Golbez, whom after the incident at Mist Village had apparently placed him under a spell to enthrall him.
Golbez is revealed to have been enthralled all along, having been a pawn of Zemus in order to activate the Giant of Babil.
====Final Fantasy IV -Interlude-====
Bahamut is the last eidolon summoned by Rydia? after the first four eidolons are defeated. She tries to finish off the party with Bahamut, but the real Rydia appears and summons the Mist Dragon to knock some sense into Bahamut who dismisses himself from battle.
====Final Fantasy IV: The After Years====
Both Cecil and the eidolons are being controlled by the Mysterious Girls. If the player is not careful, the eidolons can be killed off during battle so the player must make them regain their senses.
===Final Fantasy V===
Exdeath is able to possess people after the crystals sealing him have weakened enough; even if his physical body remains trapped, Exdeath's mind is able to control the King of Tycoon and Queen Karnak. Based on a Walse warrior's comments when a Garula attempted to shatter the Water Crystal about it being controlled, Exdeath was also implied to have possessed the Garula as well.
===Final Fantasy VII===
All Sephiroth-clones, including Cloud Strife, are subject to the will of Sephiroth and Jenova, especially with regard to the Reunion. Cloud is temporarily subjected to servitude to Sephiroth twice—once at the Temple of the Ancients, and again at the North Crater, in both cases being made to hand over the Black Materia.
In the remake project, Cloud comes under Sephiroth's influence more often: Sephiroth takes control of him at the Gongaga Reactor in chapter 9, "The Planet Stirs" to kill numerous Shinra Electric Power Company soldiers, and to push Tifa Lockhart into the pool of mako below the mako reactor. Cloud begins to repeat Sephiroth's thought patterns in the temple, culminating in obeying his every order.
===Final Fantasy VIII===
In Part 2, it becomes evident that Edea's malevolent actions are not willful, nor do they comport with her kindly demeanor back when Squall and his friends were in her care as children. She reveals that as a sorceress, her powers and mind were subjected to the will of Ultimecia, who used Junction Machine Ellone to junction herself with sorceresses from the past. When aboard the Lunar Base, Rinoa comes out of a comatose state, only to be possessed by Ultimecia and free Adel from her tomb.
Later, as part of Laguna Loire's plan to assassinate Ultimecia, Adel and Rinoa are once again possessed by Ultimecia in order to accomplish time compression.
===Final Fantasy X===
Any new high summoner must nominate a guardian to become the new Sin upon defeating the old one. Jecht, having volunteered to be the next Sin upon Braska's completion of the pilgrimage, is shown to be steadily losing touch with his humanity as he becomes Sin, a gargantuan beast who goes around destroying civilization under the command of Yu Yevon.
====Final Fantasy X-2====
Shuyin, a wandering spirit, is able to possess people and take over their minds. This is seen in Den of Woe where Shuyin possesses the Crimson Squad candidates to kill each other, and later tries to do the same to the Gullwings who enter the cave. Shuyin possesses Nooj, a Crimson Squad survivor, to shoot his friends, and later possesses Baralai and uses him as a host to control Vegnagun.
Lenne's spirit is also shown to take possession of Yuna's at times, although much lesser extent to what Shuyin is doing.
===Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII===
The God of Light Bhunivelze possessed Hope Estheim some time prior to the events of the game, literally reducing his body into a puppet, after the latter journeyed into Cocoon after Lightning crystallized herself. His motives for doing so varied between the English and Japanese versions. In the Japanese version, he did so in order to attempt to gain a better understanding for how humans functioned so he could empathize with them better when he recreates the world. In the English version, he instead used Hope as a puppet so he'd literally rule over humanity among them and have them inhabit his collective soul. However, because he could not see, much less understand or create hearts, he was unaware that in the process of possessing Hope, he unintentionally also absorbed Hope's heart. This also resulted in his ultimate downfall largely due to Hope's influence forcing him to start experiencing emotions, which Lightning exploited to free Hope (the English version largely downplays this plot point).
On a similar note, the Japanese version had Hope and Bhunivelze sharing the same voice actor, due to Bhunivelze using Hope as a conduit for his own voice while possessing him to directly communicate with Lightning (as gods lacked the ability to speak in a manner humans understood). This was not made apparent in the English version due to Hope and Bhunivelze having two differing voice actors.
===Final Fantasy XIV===
Primals can enthrall or "temper" sapient beings. This process erodes the will and independent thought of the victim, initially creating fanatical loyalty and eventually erasing the victim's mind entirely. These "tempered" empower and sustain the Primal. The Ascians intentionally included this defect in the summoning process, to create Primals that desire to convert all other beings to their worship, starting with the summoner. 
While "tempering" technically refers to those enthralled by Ifrit, it is also used as a general term for all primal enthrallment. According to the Allagan scientist Owen, under the Allagan term eikonic corruption, the process sets the victim's soul to the same elemental bias as the primal. They gain increased aptitude with magic of that element and potentially other benefits, but their soul's aether stagnates, reducing their sense of self and creating involuntary, single-minded devotion. Intense or prolonged exposure results in physical alterations. Individuals possessing the Echo are immune to enthrallment, in part due to receiving Hydaelyn's Blessing. A primal of sufficient power is able to temper other primals.
Initially, tempering was thought irreversible and incurable. Victims were euthanized to weaken primals and prevent their revival. Some primals, such as Bahamut, also seem to be able to release a victim from tempering. Regardless of the method of being un-tempered, the former servant will have no memory of the period spent tempered, or only limited memory thereof.
*Ifrit: Uses a blue flame for "tempering" prisoners. As Ifrit is particularly prolific with enthrallment, the term "tempering" expanded into a catch-all for primal enthrallment, regardless the source.
*Leviathan: Leviathan's enthralled are known as the "drowned", usually being chiefly the Serpent Reavers. Intense exposure causes victims to manifest traits like sea creatures, such as scales or cephalopod heads.
*Odin: A tentative term for Odin's enthralled is the "sundered", and only one such sundered exists at a given time. As Odin's true form is the sword Zantetsuken, he uses the sundered victim as a "host" to carry him.
*Anima: Utters a blood-curdling scream, translated via radio as Varis zos Galvus's voice, to enthrall those within range of the primal or its spires. As Anima is defeated shortly after its creation, no special term exists for its enthralled.
Some primals are not as prone to enthralling: Titan and Ramuh use it chiefly as a defensive measure, while Ravana and Garuda prefer personally enacting their will.
The elder primal Bahamut had enthralled Nael van Darnus while she used Meteor to call down Dalamud, and Louisoix Leveilleur, whom he made into a protector within the Binding Coils of Bahamut. He relinquished his claim on both after their respective defeats in the Binding Coils.
The Ascians possess their own, distinct method of enthrallment, using a "dark crystal" to suppress the will of a living host. They were also tempered upon summoning Zodiark to avert the Calamity besieging their world. Due to the Ascians having the Echo, the extent of their brainwashing is unknown, as each of the unsundered had his own motives for reviving the elder primal as well as a degree of free will.
Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers demonstrates another type of enthrallment: the sin eaters in the First resemble the tempered, as anyone infected by their excessive Light slowly loses their sense of self before eventually mutating into a new eater. Lightwardens can control sin eaters much like primals can control those they temper. Vauthry, as a hume-sin eater hybrid, is able to enthrall Eulmoran citizens based on how much meol they have eaten. Alisaie Leveilleur, after finding a cure for sin eater corruption, is inspired to find a cure for tempering, aided by Garlond Ironworks, G'raha Tia, and Alphinaud Leveilleur. After testing the cure on Ga Bu, they create a mass-produced version to aid the Eorzean Alliance and its new Tribal allies. Fandaniel further orchestrates a new form of tempering Eorzeans to become devoted to the Garlean Empire through strange spires, linked to Anima, a primal summoned using the Garleans' faith in their Emperor. For reasons unknown, the "lunar" primals produced by these towers cannot temper others--only the tower itself can.
===Final Fantasy XV===
Those who become infected by Starscourge become twisted and bloodthirsty, but also lose their humanity. Ardyn Izunia can turn others into daemons, and after he revives Ravus Nox Fleuret as a daemon, the latter begins to turn into a mindless monster and begs Noctis and his retinue to kill him. Ardyn has also turned Ifrit to serve the forces of the dark, leading to Shiva to ask Noctis to release him. Ardyn brainwashes three rulers of yore to submit to his darkness and pits them as obstacles on Noctis Lucis Caelum's path to the throne room (Windows and Royal Editions only).
===Final Fantasy XVI===
Those who become Akashic are stripped of their humanity and will, becoming a mindless slave to Ultima. Ultima attempted to enthrall Clive to use him as a vessel to raise his kin, but resisted him every time. Barnabas Tharmr, King of Waloed and Dominant of Odin, willingly cast away his humanity to become Ultima's key player in ridding mankind of their free will. In a similar vein, Hugo Kupka became enthralled by the Drake's Fang Mothercrystal, seeing a hallucination of Benedikta Harman being killed by Clive. Olivier Lesage was later revealed to have been enthralled by Ultima at birth.
===Final Fantasy Legend III===
Lara was taken by Dogra to the Southeast Cave, and Granny came to rescue her. Arthur persuades Granny to let them take care of Dogra. Arthur eventually find Lara within the cave, but she's been brainwashed and engages the party into a battle. Once she has been defeated, she returns to normal and joins the party.
Shar's research proves that the Purelanders have been cursed to serve the Masters.
===Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia===
In Act 2, Ch. 9, the Cloud of Darkness persuades Ace to reconstruct a ravaged Orience by restoring his sequestered memories unto him, also invoking the name of his Mother. They then use Ace in an effort to disrupt the balance of light and dark (which was already off-kilter due to the Light World's crystal being shattered) and bring themselves to full power. Though Ace does indeed lead his friends astray to serve the Cloud's purpose, he is pulled from their grasp and joins his allies once more to bring down his tormentor.
In Act 3, Ch. 9, Pt. 1, Lunafreya has her memories stripped by Ultimecia, who then exploits Luna's amnesia-like state to suggest that she turn against the party. Although Ultimecia succeeds in her endeavors to acquire memories as fuel for her destructive magic, her hold on Luna is broken with the efforts of three parties.
==Etymology==
Category:Recurring story elements