Hypnotic Leader SCI-FI explores the potential dangers — when Followers are so captivated by an Authoritarian Leader — that they lose their ability to Think or Judge for themselves. Worst case scenario: they give up their Will (similar to hypnosis) and Obey Commands without question, abandoning all principles of Morality.
Real-life Worst case example: Adolf Hitler. During a time of economic hardship and political instability, Hitler tapped into the fears, frustrations, and hopes of the German people, presenting himself as a Savior who could restore Germany to its former glory (“Make It Great Again”). Bound together by a sense of unity and purpose, his followers succumbed to HATE, committing atrocities against Humanity — in the belief they were destined to rule the world.
Charismatic, Hypnotic Leaders (eccentric, misguided or just plain Evil) often appear in Science Fiction, driving the plot with their Manipulative and Magnetic personalities. Like any toxic relationship, the one between an Authoritarian and their submissive Followers is based on Pathology — leading inevitably to Conflict, Chaos, and Self-Destruction.
“And the Children Shall Lead” — Star Trek (TOS) — (1968)
“And the Children Shall Lead” is the fourth episode of the third season of the American SCI-FI TV series Star Trek.
In the story, federation starship Enterprise arrives at the planet Triacus. Captain Kirk, (William Shatner) Dr. McCoy, (DeForest Kelley) and First Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy) beam down in time to witness the death of Professor Starnes, the leader of a scientific expedition team. The other members of the expedition, apart from their five seemingly unconcerned children who play and chant, seem to have died at their own hands, dominated by a mysterious fear.
The crew bring the children back to the Enterprise, where McCoy evaluates them and determines that they are suffering from lacunar amnesia, unaware of what happened to their parents and unable to grieve. However, when left unattended in one of the ship’s rooms, the children chant an evocation (“Hail hail, fire and snow. Call the angel, we will go. Far away, for to see, friendly Angel, come to me“) and summon a glowing humanoid named Gorgan (Melvin Belli). He tells them to take control of the crew in order to get to Marcus XII, where he will dominate millions more followers and conquer the galaxy. The eldest child, Tommy, uses mental powers Gorgan has bestowed on the children to trick the crew into steering the ship while presenting illusions that make them think they are still in orbit above Triacus.
Upon reviewing a troubling expedition film recorded by Starnes, Spock, McCoy, and Kirk return to the bridge to find the children and Gorgan fully in control of the crew through illusion and fear. Unable to break their hold on the crew, Spock observes that the children are actually possessed by Gorgan, who must be the evil embodiment of an ancient group of space-warring marauders released by Starnes’s archaeological survey.
SPOCK : Evil does seek to maintain power by suppressing the truth.
MCCOY : Or by misleading the innocent.
SPOCK : Humans do have an amazing capacity for believing what they
choose, and excluding that which is painful.
KIRK : Spock, they’re not the Alien beings, they’re children being misled.
SPOCK : They are followers. Without followers, evil cannot spread.
Mesmerized by their “Friendly Angel”, the children blindly follow orders. They cannot see the Truth. Believing they can break the hold Gorgan has on the children, Spock plays back footage showing the children happy with their parents, who are then shown to be dead. As the children realize what has happened, they break down emotionally and Gorgan’s appearance begins to deteriorate as he shouts at them but fails to retain their loyalty. The children begin to cry and Dr. McCoy says, “It’s all right. We can help them now.” The crew regains control and Kirk orders a course for Starbase 4.
Richard Keller of TV Squad listed Gorgan as the “tenth scariest” television character. In 2020, Den of Geek ranked “And the Children Shall Lead” as the 11th most scary of all Star Trek TV episodes.
The Empire Strikes Back — Original Star Wars Trilogy — (1980)
Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) first appears in The Empire Strikes Back as Emperor of the Galactic Empire and the master of Darth Vader. Also known as Darth Sidious, Palpatine is a master manipulator who rises to power through deceit and cunning. His charisma and dark influence are pivotal in turning Anakin Skywalker to the dark side.
“There is only one plan
— one great design which shall govern the universe
— mine.”
EMPEROR PALPATINE
Many of Palpatine’s most devious plans stem from him planting an idea or emotion in someone’s head and letting them do the rest of their own volition, watching as they deliver the result he hoped (and planned) for. Another basic strategy: he helps create a crisis, then “generously” offers to end it with a scenario dependent on giving him more political power.
Palpatine’s story — as an ambitious and ruthless politician dismantling a democratic republic to achieve Supreme power — was in part inspired by examples from real-world politics. Star Wars creator George Lucas has said that Nixon’s presidency “got me to thinking historically about how do democracies get turned into dictatorships. Because the democracies aren’t overthrown; they’re given away.” He also said “It’s the same thing with Germany and Hitler … You sort of see these recurring themes, where a democracy turns itself into a dictatorship, and it always seems to happen kind of in the same way.”
In the prequel trilogy, Palpatine becomes a symbol of sinister deception and the subversion of democracy. His career begins as a senator from the planet Naboo who plots to become Supreme Chancellor. He then masterminds the Clone Wars to turn the Republic into the Empire, destroys the Jedi Order, and manipulates Anakin Skywalker into becoming his apprentice, Darth Vader.
In the end, it takes the combined efforts of the second and third most powerful Force users alive — Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader (aka Anakin Skywalker, aka Dad) — to defeat him.
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier — (1989)
In Star Trek V, Sybok (Laurance Luckinbill) is a charismatic Vulcan holy man who possesses the ability to telepathically make others face their greatest pain. He converts them into his followers after he heals them.
SYBOK: Your pain runs deep.
J’ONN: What do you know of my pain?
SYBOK: Let us explore it … together. Each man hides a secret pain.
It must be exposed and reckoned with. It must be dragged from the
darkness and forced into the light. Share your pain … Share your pain
with me and gain strength from it.
J’ONN: Where did you get this power?
SYBOK: The power was within you.
J’ONN: It is as if a weight has been lifted from my heart.
How can I repay you for this miracle?
SYBOK: Join my quest.
J’ONN: What is it you seek?
SYBOK: What you seek. What all men have sought since time began, …
the ultimate knowledge. To find it, we’ll need a starship.
As the film’s director, William Shatner conceived the story and based the character of Sybok on 1980s televangelists like Jim and Tammy Bakker and Jimmy Swaggert, who made their fortunes conning people into believing they were God’s true messenger.
In the story, Sybok is also revealed to be Spock’s long lost half-brother, which creates a powerful connection between them and a quandary — as Sybok challenges Spock to betray Captain Kirk.
Sybok has became a dangerous Vulcan who has rejected logic and embraced emotion. Worse, Sybok is a madman who believes that “God” speaks to him and wants him to steal a starship and find the mythical holy world of Sha-Ka-Ree located beyond the Great Barrier.
Sybok hijacks the USS Enterprise-A and forces the starship to find Sha-Ka-Ree. There, Sybok, Spock, Kirk, and McCoy find “God” — who turns out to be a malevolent ALIEN trapped in the Great Barrier.
Upon realizing his folly, Sybok sacrifices himself and is killed by “God” so that Spock and his friends can escape. Spock finally destroys the Alien imposter and mourns the loss of Sybok … even though he also reaffirms that Kirk, Bones, and the Enterprise crew are his ‘family.’
Star Trek: First Contact — (1996)
Star Trek: First Contact is the eighth movie of the Star Trek franchise, and the second starring the cast of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, directed by Jonathan Frakes in his feature film debut.
The film introduces a controversial new villain to the Star Trek universe: the Borg Queen (Alice Krige) — an ancient being that has existed within and served the Borg Collective for many centuries. As the lone individual within it, the Queen provides direction and purpose for the hive mind.
“I am the beginning, the end,
the one who is many.
I am the Borg.”
— THE BORG QUEEN, 2063
Where her drones showed no emotions, the Queen herself did. She was ruthless, vindictive, petty, and selfish. She would do anything to expand the Borg Collective, employing psychological tactics like extortion, manipulation, plain intimidation or even seduction to further her goals.
STORYLINE : In the 24th century, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) awakens from a nightmare in which he relives his assimilation by the cybernetic Borg six years earlier. He is contacted by Starfleet, who inform him of a new Borg threat against Earth. Picard’s orders are for his ship, USS Enterprise, to patrol the Neutral Zone in case of Romulan aggression; Starfleet is worried that Picard is too emotionally involved with the Borg to join the fight.
Learning the fleet is losing the battle, the Enterprise crew disobeys orders and heads for Earth, where a single Borg Cube ship holds its own against a group of Starfleet vessels. Enterprise arrives in time to assist the crew of USS Defiant and its commander, the Klingon Worf (Michael Dorn). Picard takes control of the fleet and directs the surviving ships to concentrate their firepower on a seemingly unimportant point on the Borg ship. The Cube launches a smaller spherical ship towards Earth before being destroyed. Enterprise pursues the sphere into a temporal vortex. As the sphere disappears, Enterprise discovers Earth has been altered — it is now populated by Borg. Realizing the Borg have used time travel to change the past, Enterprise follows the sphere through the vortex.
Enterprise arrives hundreds of years in the past on April 4, 2063, the day before the historic warp drive flight that leads to humanity’s first encounter with Alien life. The crew realizes the Borg are trying to prevent “first contact” and assimilate humanity while the planet is recovering from a devastating war. After destroying the Borg sphere, an away team transports down to Zefram Cochrane’s warp ship, Phoenix, in Bozeman, Montana. Picard has Cochrane’s assistant Lily Sloane (Alfre Woodard) sent back to Enterprise for medical attention. The captain returns to the ship and leaves Commander William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) on Earth to make sure Phoenix’s flight proceeds as planned. While in the future Cochrane (James Cromwell) is seen as a hero, in reality he built the Phoenix for financial gain and is reluctant to be the historic figure the crew describes.
A group of Borg invade Enterprise’s lower decks, assimilating some of the crew and modifying the ship. Picard and a team attempt to reach engineering to disable the Borg with a corrosive gas, but are forced back; the android Data (Brent Spiner) is captured in the melee. A frightened Lily corners Picard with a weapon, but he gains her trust. The two escape the Borg-infested area of the ship by creating a diversion in the holodeck. Picard, Worf, and the ship’s navigator, Lieutenant Hawk, travel outside the ship in space suits to stop the Borg from using the navigational deflector to call for reinforcements, but Hawk is assimilated in the process. As the Borg assimilate more decks, Worf suggests destroying the ship, but Picard angrily calls him a coward. Lily confronts the captain and makes him realize he is acting irrationally because of his own past with the Borg. Picard apologises to Worf and orders the activation of the ship’s self-destruct and evacuation of the crew to escape pods, while he stays behind to rescue Data.
As Cochrane, Riker, and engineer Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) prepare to activate the warp drive on Phoenix, Picard discovers that the Borg Queen has grafted human skin onto Data, giving him the sensation of touch he has long desired so that she can obtain the android’s encryption codes to the Enterprise computer. Although Picard offers himself to the Borg in exchange for Data’s freedom, Data refuses to leave, deactivates the self-destruct, and fires torpedoes at Phoenix. At the last moment the torpedoes miss, and the Queen realizes Data deceived her. The android ruptures a coolant tank, and the corrosive vapor eats away the biological components of the Borg as well as Data’s new skin.
With the Borg threat neutralized, Cochrane completes his warp flight. Later that night, the crew watches from a distance as an Alien Vulcan ship, attracted by the Phoenix warp test, lands on Earth. Cochrane greets the Aliens. Having ensured the correction of the timeline, Picard bids Lily farewell and the Enterprise crew slip away and return to the 24th century.
In 2002, the Borg Queen was placed second in TV Zone’s list of the top twenty SCI-FI TV villains.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay (Parts 1 & 2) — (2014, 2015)
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is the third installment in The Hunger Games film series. In the story, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) joins President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore), the renegade leader of the underground District 13, in a mass rebellion against the Capitol. In Part 2, the final installment in the original film series, Katniss (Lawrence) leads a team of rebels to Panem to liberate it from the tyrannical leadership of President Snow (Donald Sutherland).
President Coin uses manipulative tactics to take power, while presenting herself as Panem’s salvation. For Katniss, stuck between the manipulation of Panem and her own need to survive, it becomes impossible to tell who is trustworthy. Coin is never someone to whom Katniss devotes her allegiance. She slowly comes to realize that the woman who has taken up the District 13 revolution is more dangerous than she seems.
A significant lesson that Katniss must learn: how dangerous the perspective of “us vs. them” is within a nation. One purpose of the brutal Games is to pit the Districts against one another and therefore keep them from uniting. By keeping the Capitol citizens separate from those of the Districts, they cause isolation there as well. Even though District 13 seeks to deconstruct Panem’s rule, it still falls into this mindset. President Coin’s black-and-white way of thinking (about her allies and enemies) leads her to condemn anyone associated with the Capitol, including Peeta.
When President Coin decides to put Peeta on Katniss’ squad (as District 13 takes the Capitol) it is clear to everyone involved — even those loyal to her — that Coin’s only motivation for this would be to eliminate the Mockingjay entirely. She has determined that the only use Katniss could be at that point is as a martyr.
“Dead or alive, Katniss Everdeen
will remain the face of this rebellion.”
— PRESIDENT COIN
Once President Coin takes the Panem Capitol, she wastes no time further demonstrating her “us vs. them” mentality. Coin calls together all the remaining Hunger Games victors and asks them to vote on her idea to reinstate the Games — this time using Capitol children. It becamc clear then that Coin has the same mentality as Snow. To her, children are a tool to be used against those that love them. They are chess pieces to be maneuvered and sacrificed. If Coin is willing to kill Capitol children in the Hunger Games, she would undoubtedly be willing to in a war.
On the surface, Coin appears to have a calm and collected demeanor, but towards the end of the war, Katniss Everdeen realizes how ruthless she can be in her pursuit of power. She is a Charismatic Leader and a remarkably subtle Manipulator, having positioned Katniss and every powerful player in Panem into the proper place on her chessboard in order to seize political victory, even outmaneuvering President Snow.
Her surname (“Coin”) might be related to the saying “two sides of the same coin”, since she is superficially different from Snow, but the two presidents are fundamentally similar in their ruthless pursuit of power.
Hypnotic Leader SCI-FI often draws inspiration from real-world examples, where captivated Followers, manipulated by a Charismatic, Authoritative Leader, lose their ability to Think or Judge for themselves — succumbing to HATE. Worst case scenario: they Obey Commands without question, abandoning all principles of Morality. That danger is very present in our world today.
Like any toxic relationship, it can lead inevitably to Conflict, Chaos, and Self-Destruction.
Don’t let this happen … to YOU.
***
(click image link to view YouTube video)