- “Look at me, Dearie. Be in my eyes. Be in me.”
- ―Drusilla[src]
Hypnosis was a psychic ability to mesmerize and influence the minds of other beings, allowing the hypnotist to exert certain control over the victim's actions as well as altering their perceptions. Certain vampires, such as The Master, Drusilla and Dracula were particularly adept at hypnosis, and employed it to gain advantage over their enemies.
Cases
- “Save the hypnosis crap for the tourists”
- ―Buffy Summers to the Master[src]
The Master
The Master paralyzes Buffy Summers.
- “Come here.”
- ―The Master[src]
The Master, one of the oldest and most powerful vampires ever recorded, was capable of exerting hypnotic influence over his victims, as demonstrated during his fight with Buffy Summers, the Slayer. The Master paralyzed her body with a simple wave of his arm and hand, not requiring to speak to her or see into her eyes. After mesmerizing her, the Master bit her and left her to drown. The second time they fought, however, Buffy was capable of breaking free of the Master's influence and killed him.
Drusilla
Drusilla hypnotizes Rupert Giles.
- “Look at me... be in me... See with your heart.”
- ―Drusilla[src]
Though a capable fighter with strenght far above that of the average vampire, Drusilla also employed hypnosis to gain the upper hand against certain foes, always staring into their eyes and softly ordering them to "look at her" and to "be in her". During her fight with Kendra Young at the Sunnydale High library, Drusilla traded punches with the Slayer briefly. After a few seconds, Drusilla grabbed the Slayer by the neck and mesmerized her by staring into her eyes and speaking to her. This allowed Drusilla to place Kendra in a trance-like state and slit her throat with a single fingernail.
Hours later, Drusilla employed her hypnotic powers once again. In order to extract information from Rupert Giles and learn how Angelus would be able to awaken the demon Acathla, Drusilla, after reading Giles' mind, looked into the eyes of the Watcher and softly spoke to him. After covering his eyes with her fingers, Drusilla altered Giles' visual and auditory perceptions, making him believe he was speaking to Jenny Calendar.
Dracula
- “Pull your hair back.”
- ―Dracula[src]
Dracula employed his mind control powers in two ways. One was to influence the minds of certain humans to turn them into his servants, as he did with Xander Harris. He also employed his powers on his female victims in order to influence their actions, to lure them and make them desire him.