Hypno Pendulum

Oftentimes, a pocket watch (or another round object of that sort) is swung back and forth in front of a victim repeatedly to hypnotize them. This is almost always accompanied with the hypnotist saying "You are getting very sleepy..."

Since these kind of motions are rather hypnotic in Real Life, this trope somewhat makes sense.

See also More Hypnotizable Than He Thinks, Hypno Fool, Hypnotic Eyes, Trigger Phrase. Not to be confused with Hypno Trinket, Charm Person, Brainwashed, Hypnotize the Princess, or Mass Hypnosis.

Examples of Hypno Pendulum include:

Anime and Manga

• A brief bit in Nichijou features Mio trying this on Yuuko with a yen coin. Yuuko ends up trying to eat it.
• A scene in Strawberry Marshmallow also features the girls trying hypnosis with a yen coin.
• How Jango the hypnotist from One Piece hypnotizes his victims to make them sleep, or his allies to make them stronger. Problem is, he often hypnotizes himself as well as his targets.

Fan Fic

• Calvin is hypnotized in this manner by the school psychiatrist in Calvin and Hobbes The Series.

Film

• In Like Flint. Flint hypnotizes Lloyd Cramden by using his watch, but not by swinging it: it generates a small light moving around on its face, and Cramden becomes hypnotized watching it.

Live Action TV

• Patrick from The Mentalist has used various objects to hypnotize people: a pen, a watch, a necklace...
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer: When Xander gets a Literal Split Personality, his meeker side thinks that his more confident side is an evil shapeshifter using a shiny coin to hypntoize people. Turns out Confident!Xander just found the coin at a construction site he was working at and thought it was cool.
  • Also in "Helpless", Giles uses a crystal pendulum to hypnotise Buffy
• In Vega$, a lady police hypnotist tries this, but Dan Tanna's assistant is already somewhat mesmerized by her breasts.

Literature

• In Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger, Dr. Pickle uses a pickle-shaped pendulum to hypnotize his patients. Incidentally, his real name is Pickell.

Video Games

• The Psychic-type Pokémon Hypno wields a watch, swinging it back and forth to perform its psychic attacks.

Webcomics

• Becky's fantasy in Think Before You Think involves Brian swinging a pocket watch.

Western Animation

• In Arthur, one Imagine Spot of the titular character has a new friend of Buster's hypnotizing him in this manner.
• One Scooby Doo villain used a golden coin on a string like this.
• Jonny Quest TOS episode "Pirates from Below". Hadji hypnotizes a guard with a flashing ruby.
• The Simpsons: To inspire the company softball team, Mr. Burns brings in a hypnotist who uses a swinging watch for his Mass Hypnosis.

Hypnotist: You are all very good players.
Team: (speaking in unison) We are all very good players.
Hypnotist: You will beat Shelbyville.
Team: We will beat Shelbyville.
Hypnotist: You will give 110 percent.
Team: That's impossible. No one can give more than 100 percent. By definition that's the most anyone can give.

• There was an episode of Taz-Mania featuring that in an attempt by Bull to hypnotize Axle. When it backfires, Axle attempts to snap Bull out of it using the same watch hanging from a fishing rod.
• The US Acres episode "Wade, You're Afraid" had Orson hypnotize Wade into not being afraid, by using a turnip on a string.
• There was a Donald Duck cartoon where Donald goes to Ludwig Von Drake for anger issues. Ludwig tries a watch, saying "Vatch de vatch!". It doesn't work, so he simply hits Donald over the head with a mallet.
• In the Wacky Races episode "Real Gone Ape", Dick Dastardly does this to a circus ape.
• Johnny Bravo: In the episode "Bearly Enough Time", Johnny tries this to hypnotize a bear into sleeping, only to end up following the swinging pendulum with his own eyes and falling asleep himself.