Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2025 June 23

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June 23

Same mind, multiple bodies

Is there any fiction about a single mind controlling multiple bodies? I don't mean some sort of collective brainwashing, I mean that it's natural for a single entity to host multiple bodies. Exactly as life on Earth, except instead of a one-to-one relationship, it's a one-to-many relationship. JIP | Talk 23:05, 23 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The idea has been fairly common in Science Fiction since its early 20th-century burgeoning: see Group mind (science fiction). A prominent recent(ish) example are the aliens called Tines in Vernor Vinge's Novel A Fire Upon the Deep.

See also the entry for Hive minds in the online Science Fiction Encyclopedia. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.6.41.216 (talk) 23:15, 23 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The article says "multiple minds are linked into a single collective consciousness". This is not actually what I am asking about. My question was about a situation where there are not multiple minds, only multiple bodies. The same individual mind somehow controls all of these bodies. JIP | Talk 06:57, 24 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The articles linked are not as comprehensive and detailed as they might be: the concept is treated differently by different writers, and various science fictional examples correspond more closely to your specification, as Vinge's does. See also the character Miss Level in Terry Pratchett's fantasy novel A Hat Full of Sky. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.6.41.216 (talk) 14:57, 24 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

[Edited to add, JIP] More spectacular examples, though not biologically natural ones, are the artificial intelligences of the starships in the Imperial Radsch series by Ann Leckie, beginning with Ancillary Justice, which can each control simultaneously up to thousands of 'ancilliaries' – human bodies whose minds have been erased. The series (SPOILER ALERT!) is narrated by one of these artificial intelligences who has had her ship and other ancillaries destroyed, and is initially confined to a single surviving human body. As the novel and series progress, we learn much about the ramifications of such multiple body control. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 94.6.41.216 (talk) 15:57, 26 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The Tines example fits your requirement: one human-level intelligence (or better) mind in usually 4-8 bodies. There is a twist, however. If some of the bodies are separated by a great enough distance or killed, they degenerate into individual minds in 1-3 bodies that are much less intelligent.

The hive queens in the Ender's Game (novel series) can control thousands of bodies. Clarityfiend (talk) 07:35, 26 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

One example is is Daniel O'Malley's The Rook, where the character Gestalt is one individual with four separate bodies. 80.63.58.28 (talk) 08:03, 24 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The Paratwa in Christopher Hinz's Paratwa Saga are twin assassins sharing one consciousness. We have an article on one of the books, Liege-Killer. According to an interview with Hinz, therapy sessions sparked the idea [1]. ---Sluzzelin talk 10:56, 24 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

We have an article on Trumpism, a science fiction dystopia where a single mind controls multiple undead sycophantic zombies. --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 15:16, 24 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

PS: Oops, you were talking about fiction... --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 15:19, 24 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Truth is often stranger—and often dumber, way, way dumber—than fiction. Clarityfiend (talk) 08:11, 27 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Ancillary Justice has AI entities that control multiple bodies at the same time, including the POV character. Ivey (talk - contribs) 14:45, 26 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Luornu Durgo —Tamfang (talk) 19:12, 28 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

What about the Agent from Matrix? Cambalachero (talk) 18:31, 24 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Miss Level from A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett. 213.143.143.69 (talk) 12:08, 25 June 2025 (UTC)[reply]