One of the most common conflicts in fiction pits heroes against each other. The protagonist and their allies might have everything they need to solve the problem, but they’re useless if they can’t work together. Putting aside one’s differences can be tough, but deciding to literally let an ally into one’s head is much harder. The Mental Fusion trope demands its applicants truly open up to someone.
Psychic phenomena can bethe most engaging aspect of a sci-fi story. Once the idea of a human mind with extrasensory capabilities is introduced, the story is immediately operating on a new scale. Whether through technological innovation or spectacular superhuman powers, the mind is often the greatest weapon in science fiction.
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There are a lot of ways to combine consciousness in science fiction. Consider the hive mind, a mass of beings that share an inherent psychological link like multiple cells in a single organism.Or the assimilation plot, in which a powerful mass of invaders attempts to forcefully induct victims into their combined sentience. Mental Fusion imagines the same type of shared thought, but with the added corollary of mutual consent. Two or more organisms agree to merge their minds to achieve a goal. Perhaps one elevated representative gains the intellect of many allies. A species could have an innate shared link that allows many to operate as one. In more direct cases, two personal allies could simply agree to a mutual partnership that extends all the way to complete internal amalgamation. In any case, the Mental Fusion unlocks incredible new levels of acuity.
Strangely, one of the earliest examples of this trope remains one of the most memorable.Star Trek’s beloved alien Spock introducedthe Vulcan Mind Meldin the ninth episode of the first season. It’s a process that solves a lot of narrative problems for the show, but it’s also an interesting sci-fi concept. Through physical contact, a Vulcan can instantly share psychological data with just about anyone. Certain species seem to be immune from the technique, but its power isn’t in domination. Rather than controlling the mind of the target, the Mind Meld is like a conversation. It allows the transfer of information in a context that enforces honesty. Spock can erase and restore memories, communicate silently, and use perspective to deliver information in a new light.Vulcans also have afunctional understanding of their eternal souls, which can be fused with other beings to live on after death. Either way, the Vulcans are the main progenitors of this trope.
Anime loves willingly combining the mental states of its characters. The most famous example isDragon Ball Z, which frequently sees heroesuse magic to fusetheir physical bodies into a more powerful form. This requires complete psychological commitment, as well as physiological bonding, in order to pursue a unified goal. If an anime features a giant robot or a comparable piece of complicated technology, it’s likely to require some form of neural link.Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphansspends a lot of time on its Alaya-Vijnana system, which allows direct mental feedback from the mech. Director Guillermo del Toro took that idea and ran with it.
Del Toro’s 2013 classicPacific Rimfeels like something of an outlier for the director’s oeuvre. It doesn’t follow his typical “humans are the real monster” format, but it does manage to reach the same place of emotional truth. The film finds the world in a state of near-future cataclysm, racked with consistent attacks by massive monsters. To survive, all of humanity sets their differences aside to build giant robots. Sound logic so far, but the problem is that the robots are simply too big for one pilot to handle. At least two talented pilots must share the burden of piloting a Jaeger, but doing so requires perfect synchronicity in all things. EnterPacific Rim’smost brilliant narrative device, the Drift. The two Jaeger pilots must share their memories, their feelings, and their identities to pilot their machines. This organically enshrines the power of teamwork as the central theme of the film. The message is clear. If the heroes want to beat the monsters, they have to get over their trauma, open up to another person, and experience empathy on an impossibly deep level. Sure, most heroes have to go through a similar crucible to learn to work together, but few artists manage to work it into the instruction manual for a giant robot.
Willingly allowing another person to enter one’s head is extraordinarily difficult. It’s the ultimate place of vulnerability, opening the doorsto all the dark cornersof one’s own head and willingly exploring someone else’s. The lesson behind almost every example of Mental Fusion is a positive one. All of us must be willing to allow others in. With the power of teamwork, humanity can fix its weaknesses, improve its strengths, and band together to solve any problem.
