Group mind (science fiction)
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A '''group mind''' or '''group ego''' in science fiction is a single consciousness occupying many bodies. Its use in literature goes back at least as far as [[Olaf Stapledon|Olaf Stapledon's]] ''[[Last and First Men]]'', a 1930 science fiction novel[http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=727].
A group mind might be formed by [[telepathy]], by adding brain-to-brain communication to ordinary individuals, or by some unspecified means. This term may be used interchangeably with "hive mind". A '''hive mind''' is a group mind with almost complete loss (or lack) of individual identity; most fictional group minds are hives. The concept of the '''group''' or '''hive mind''' is an intelligent version of real-life [[superorganism]]s such as ants or bees.
{{cquote|''What is a drop of rain, compared to the storm? What is a thought, compared to the mind? Our unity is full of wonder, which your tiny individualism cannot even conceive.''}}
:: - The Many, ''[[System Shock 2]]''
==List of hive minds==
Hive minds are group minds with (almost) complete loss (or lack) of [[individual]]ity, [[Identity (social science)|identity]], and [[person]]hood. The individuals forming the hive may specialize in different functions, similarly to [[social insect]]s.
* The [[Bohrok]] in the [[Bionicle]] [[Lego]] saga.
* The '''[[Star Fox: Assault#Aparoids|Aparoids]]''' in ''[[Star Fox: Assault]]''
* The '''Beast''' in '''[[Homeworld: Cataclysm]]'''
* The '''[[Borg (Star Trek)|Borg]]''' in [[Star Trek]]. The [[Borg (Star Trek)#Borg Queen|Borg Queen]] takes a coordinator role; the drones are indistinguishable, though they have [[Borg (Star Trek)#Borg species identification|species identifications]] and individual designators. Some Borg unconsciously retain their identities in [[Unimatrix Zero (Voyager episode)|Unimatrix Zero]].
* The [[Bringer]]s in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''
* The '''Bugs''' in [[Robert A. Heinlein|Robert A. Heinlein's]] ''[[Starship Troopers]]''. They include workers, warriors, brains, and queens
* The evolving '''children''', part of the '''Over-Mind''' at the end of [[Arthur C. Clarke]]'s ''[[Childhood's End]]''
*The alien children in [[The Midwich Cuckoos]] by [[John Wyndham]] (Also known as Village of the Damned).
* The '''C-Consciousness''' (''О-Сознание'' in Russian) in ''[[S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl]]''.
* The '''Compositions''' (such as the Bellipotent Composition) in [[The Golden Age (John C. Wright novel)|The Golden Age]] and its sequels.
* The '''Comprise''' in [[Michael Swanwick]]'s ''[[Vacuum Flowers]]''
* Groups of '''[[cranium rats]]''' in the [[Planescape]] [[campaign setting]] for the [[Dungeons & Dragons]] [[role-playing game]].
* The [[Conjoiners]] in [[Alastair Reynolds]]'s [[Revelation Space universe]]
* The [Crimborg] in The Kingdom of Loathing
* The '''[[Cyberman|Cybermen]]''' in '''Doctor Who''' are connected via computer link, so that each individual knows what the group knows.
* The [[cyborg]] [[army]] of [[CABAL]] in the [[Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun#Firestorm|Firestorm expansion pack]] to ''Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun''
* The coalescent hives from [[Stephen Baxter]]'s [[Destiny's Children]] series
* The '''[[Rutan Host]]''' in ''[[Doctor Who]]''
* The '''Dark People''' in [[The Longest Journey]] and [[Dreamfall]].
* The '''Destroyers''' in [[Guild Wars: Eye of the North]]
* The '''Drummers''' in [[Neal Stephenson]]'s ''[[The Diamond Age]]''
* The '''[[Flood (Halo)|Flood]]''' parasite in [[Halo (Series)|Halo Series]]. Kills and revives victims, stripping needed information from the brain. Controlled by the [[Gravemind]] "compound mind."
* The [[Formics]] in [[Orson Scott Card]]'s ''[[Ender's Game series]]'' (''[[Ender's Game]]'', ''[[Speaker for the Dead]]'', ''[[Xenocide]]'', and ''[[Children of the Mind]]'')
* '''[[Galactus#Ultimate Marvel|Gah Lak Tus]]''', the [[Ultimate Marvel]] version of [[Galactus]], is depicted as a massive swarm of [[robot]]s forming a collective mind.
* The '''Hive Mind''' in [[Neal Asher]]'s novel ''[[The Skinner]]''
* The '''Hive Mind''' in [[John Cramer (author)|John Cramer]]'s novel ''[[Einstein's Bridge (book)|Einstein's Bridge]]''
* The '''[[Invid (Robotech)|Invid]]''' race in ''[[Robotech]]''
* '''[[Ygramul]]''' in ''[[The Neverending Story]]'' by ''[[Michael Ende]]''
* The '''Kharaa''' (alien species) in ''[[Natural Selection (computer game)|Natural Selection]]''
* The '''Little Green Men''' (LMGs) from [[Buzz Lightyear of Star Command]].
* The '''Majat''' in the novel ''[[Serpent's Reach]]'' by [[C. J. Cherryh]]
* The '''[[Modron (Dungeons & Dragons)]].
* '''Man''' in ''[[The Last Question]]''
* The Machines in the [[The Matrix (series)|Matrix trilogy]] form a seemingly connected mind, especially at the end of the last film, where they coalesce into a face to speak to Neo
* '''[[The Many]]''' in ''[[System Shock 2]]''
* The entity that was once '''Mycroft Ward''' in Stephen Hall's "[[The Raw Shark Texts]]."
* The '''Uni-Mind''' formed by the [[Eternals (comics)|Eternals]] from the [[Marvel Universe]]
* The '''[[Orz (Star Control)|Orz]]''' in [[Star Control 2]]
* The '''Overlords''' in Dante D'Anthony's [["Tales from the Pandoran Age"]].
* '''Palador''' in [[Arthur C. Clarke]]'s story "Rescue Party"
* The '''Partnership Collective''' in [[Howard Tayler]]'s ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]''
* The [[Phalanx (comics)|Phalanx]]
* The '''Phindin''' from the [[Star Wars: Jedi Apprentice]] book series by [[Dave Wolverton]] and [[Jude Watson]].
* The ''Phoners'' from [[Stephen King]]'s novel [[Cell (novel)|Cell]].
* '''Planet''' in [[Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri]]
* The '''Precogs''' in "[[The Minority Report]]", a short story by [[Philip K. Dick]] (and its [[Minority Report (film)|film adaptation]]).
* The Primes in Peter F. Hamilton's "Pandora's Star/Judas Unchained"
* The [[Alien_races_in_Mass_Effect#Rachni|Rachni]] in [[Mass Effect]].
* The [[Replicator (Stargate)|Replicator]]s in ''[[Stargate SG-1]]''
* The '''[[Rat king|Rat King]]''' in ''[[The Ballad of Halo Jones]]'' and in [[Terry Pratchett|Terry Pratchett's]] [[The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents]]
*The [[Sand Beasts]] from [[Deltora Quest]]'s [[The Shifting Sands]]
* The '''[[Creatures of Magic: The Gathering#Slivers|sliver]]s''' in [[Magic: The Gathering]] storyline, they appear first time on [[Rath (Magic plane)|Rath]] but were seen again under the battle of [[Otaria]], and once more during the [[temporal chaos]] of [[Time Spiral]].
**Slivers take the hive mind idea a step further, instead of sharing just a consciousness, they also share physical attributes, such as breathing fire, regenerating, growing wings, or an extra claw. They gain these attributes by being in close proximity to another.
* The '''Shub''' in Simon R. Green's [[Deathstalker (series)]].
* The '''[[Strogg]]''' from [[Quake 2]] and [[Quake 4]].
* The '''Swarm''' in [[Bruce Sterling]]'s short story of the same name in ''[[Schismatrix]]''
* The '''Swarm''' in [[Michael Crichton]]'s novel ''Prey''
* The '''Tachyons''' in [[Godzilla: The Series]]
* The '''Taurans''' and, later, '''Man''' in ''[[The Forever War]]''
* The '''Tines''' in [[A Fire Upon the Deep]] by [[Vernor Vinge]]. These dog-like creatures form group minds of small numbers of bodies; in larger numbers they are overwhelmed.
* The '''Tyr''' in [[C.S. Friedman]]'s ''The Madness Season''
* The '''[[Tyranid]]''' race in ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]''
* The War Wasps from ''[[Metroid Prime]]'' culminate in a gigantic hive mind called the Hive Mecha in an attempt to prevent ''[[Samus Aran]]'' from receiving the Missile Launcher upgrade
* The Xar-Ggothua from '''[[Xombie]]''', which not only share thoughts with each other, but each one can be reborn into a new Xar or even a group of three by the Xin-Jithoth. It is assumed this can also be done to their "cousins", the Xi-Thyndri and the Xth Nthogg.
* The '''[[Xenomorph (Alien)|Xenomorph]]''' race in ''[[Alien (film)|Alien]]'', ''[[Aliens (film)|Aliens]]'', ''[[Alien³]]'', [[Alien: Resurrection]]'', ''[[Alien vs. Predator]]'', and [[Alien vs. Predator 2]]''
* The '''[[Zerg]]''' race in the [[StarCraft (series)|''StarCraft'' series]]
* The '''[[X-7]]''' transgenics in the [[dark angel (series)|''dark angel'' series]]
Unnamed hive minds occur in
*''[[Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull]]''
* ''[[Quatermass and the Pit]]''
* ''[[Star Maker]]''
==List of non-hive group minds==
A group mind that is not a hive either lets individuals retain some individuality, or can itself split back up into functional individuals at need. The dividing line is blurry; some [[Star Trek]] [[Borg (Star Trek)|Borg]], such as [[Seven of Nine]], have been split from the collective.
* The hyper-evolved '''Arisians''' of [[E. E. Smith|"Doc" Smith]]'s [[Lensman]] series can form multi-mind ''fusions'', as can highly-trained Lensmen.
* The '''[[Changeling (Star Trek)|Founders]]''' (Changelings) in [[Star Trek]] are individuals, but form a group mind while connected in the [[Great Link (Star Trek)|Great Link]].
* The [[List of Naruto antagonists#Akatsuki|Akatsuki]] leader '''[[Pain]]''' of [[Naruto]] fame has six bodies that share the same mind.
* '''[[The Omar]]''' in ''[[Deus Ex: Invisible War]]''
* A group of telepathic '''child prodigies''' in [[Theodore Sturgeon|Theodore Sturgeon's]] ''[[More Than Human]]''.
* The '''[[Conjoiners]]''' in [[Alastair Reynolds]]'s ''[[Revelation Space]]'', ''[[Chasm City]]'', ''[[Redemption Ark]]'', ''[[Absolution Gap]]'', and short stories. They retain their identities, but communicate via implants and act as a group.
* The '''[[Edenist]]s''' in [[Peter F. Hamilton]]'s '[[The Night's Dawn Trilogy]]' remain individuals, but rely on telepathic empathy for emotional support, personal stability, and colony-wide referendums on major decisions.
* [[Gaia (Asimov)|'''Gaia''']] and [[Gaia (Foundation universe)|'''Galaxia''']] in [[Isaac Asimov]]'s [[Foundation Series]]
* The '''Little People''' of [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[Methuselah's Children]]''; the individual memories of the original bodies are retained.
* The '''Martians''' of ''[[A Miracle of Science]]'' use brain-to-brain FTL communication; they do not lose their individuality despite being members of the group mind.
* The '''Strangers''' in the film ''[[Dark City (1998 film)|Dark City]]'', a group of aliens who experiment on humans in search for their soul. Although each Stranger seems to be an individual, they can combine their psychokinetic powers to work the city-wide Machine, have a hive memory set and have a library of human memories which their doctor can combine to create a new memory. The goal of the Strangers is to obtain human individuality.
* The '''[[Technological singularity|singularity]]''' in the backstory of ''[[Marooned in Realtime]]'' by [[Vernor Vinge]] seems to have involved a group mind created with the aid of brain-level communication and computer networks.
* Humanity is approaching '''Unity''' with the existing galactic group mind in [[Julian May#Galactic Milieu|Julian May's ''Galactic Milieu'']] series.
* All of '''humanity''' at the end of ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise|Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', after being reduced to LCL.
* All of '''humanity''' in the last episode of ''[[Serial Experiments Lain]]'', after everyone is subconsciously connected to each other through an advanced, global, wireless version of the internet.
* '''[[Evronians]]''' from the [[Walt Disney|Disney]] comic series [[Pk (Comics)|Pk]].
* The '''Franklin Collective''' from [[Accelerando (novel)|Accelerando]] by [[Charles Stross]].
* '''[[Las Plagas]]''', and, by extension, the '''[[Ganados]]''', from [[Resident Evil 4]].
* '''The Unity''' in '''[[Hosts (novel)|Hosts]]''' by [[F. Paul Wilson]]; newly infected members can occasionally break free of the group mind and think for themselves, but are eventually overpowered completely.
* The '''inhabitants of [[Camazotz]]''', from [[Madeleine L'Engle]]'s '[[A Wrinkle In Time]]'
* [to some extent] '''The Human Beings''', according to Nature's Semi-consciousness/on going auto-learning process in ''[[Nature is seeing a shrink]]'' by [[Lucas Monaco Toledo]]
* '''The underground''' (Also referred to as "The Joined") in [[The Light of Other Days]] uses [[Brain-computer interface]]s and wormhole communication.
* The leader of resistance, '''Kuze''', in TV Series ''[[Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG]]'' communicates with war refugees through their cybernetic implants. By constantly transmitting all his thoughts and feelings to the refugees through "the Network", Kuze becomes their friend, comrade and leader in their fight to establish a new state. The only difference from a mastermind is that he lets everyone decide, whether to follow his lead or not.
* The '''Transcendence''' in ''[[Transcendent (novel)|Transcendent]]'' by [[Stephen Baxter]]
* The '''Keymasters''' in ''[[Spectrum (Russian novel)|Spectrum]]'' by [[Sergey Lukyanenko]]
* The '''Fleetmind''', or '''Petey''', in ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]''
* The '''[[Protoss]]''' in the [[StarCraft (series)|''StarCraft'' series]] share a loose collective consciousness through a mental practice called the Khala. However, they still maintain their individuality.
* The '''Virindi''', a race/species in the PC game ''Asheron's Call'', are floating, invisible entities that wear physical hooded shrouds (mostly tattered shrouds, but some forms of Virindi wear what looks like armor), white masks (think Vega from Street Fighter II) that have glowing purple eye holes (some have red pupils) and sometimes have twisted smiles on masks. They fight using magic crop syckles. They are of a singular mind which calls itself "The Singularity". The Virindi speak only in the plural (ie: us, we, our, etc...) when talking about themselves. Some "individuals" have broken free of The Singularity, and are of their own individual consciousness.
* The '''Zilart''' in [[Final Fantasy XI]], an ancient race connected by a kind of mental link they call the Whisper of Souls. Some are born without this link and are fearfully enslaved and forced to wear an amulet that artificially connects them to the Whisper.
* The '''[[Vortigaunts]]''' in the [[Half-Life (series)|''Half-Life'' series]] share a telepathic communal link.
* The '''[[Stepford Cuckoos]]''' from the [[X-Men]] comics share a group mind that can split up into its parts.
* The '''[[Agent (The Matrix)|Agent]]s''' from the [[The Matrix (series)|''The Matrix'' series]].
* The '''[[Asurans]]''' from [[Stargate Atlantis]]: Although their leadership can use the collective to reprogram deviant thoughts, they possess individual personalities beyond this, and can use it to transfer their consciousness to new bodies after their old ones are destroyed.
* The '''Babies''' from [[A Cage of Butterflies]].
* The '''replica soldiers''' from [[F.E.A.R.]] universe are controlled by Telepathic commander.
* The '''Hypotheticals''' in [[Robert Charles Wilson|Robert Charles Wilson's]] novel ''[[Spin (novel)|Spin]]'', a highly advanced, billions years old, galaxy spanning benevolent collective of [[Von Neumann universal constructor|Von Neumann machines]].
* The '''[[Taelons]]''' of the TV series [[Earth: Final Conflict]] are connected to each other through the Commonality.
* The residents of the town of Santaroga in [[Frank Herbert]]'s ''[[The Santaroga Barrier]]''.
==See also==
*[[Mentalic]]
*[[Superorganism]]
*[[Hive mind]]
==External links==
*Entry on [http://www.jessesword.com/sf/view/1044 group mind] at [http://www.jessesword.com/sf/ Science Fiction Citations]
[[Category:Fictional superorganisms]]
[[Category:Public opinion]]
[[ja:集合精神 (サイエンス・フィクション)]]