- “Now if you'll just look right here...”
- —Something you might hear before being neuralyzed.
Neuralization is a process of memory erasure by isolating and manipulating the mnemonic impulses of the brain. Being Neuralyzed is the result of seeing the flash from the Neuralyzer. When someone is neuralyzed, they lose their entire memory of an event up to a certain point, set through the use of dials on the Neuralyzer itself.
With neuralyzers, they can make witnesses forget the aliens that they may have seen or came in contact with. The MiB do not use this sparingly, neuralyzing almost everybody they talk to. Once a subject has been neuralyzed, an agent would usually plant false recollections which fill the mnemonic gap they just created, typically regarding the "non-existence of the MiB or extraterrestrial life". The results of the neuralyzer are meant to be permanent, but can be reversed with a De-Neuralyzer, which is not as simple of a process. In addition, neuralyzed people can still regain memories that were wiped via neuralyzation, as can be shown with Agent K eventually regaining his memories for the bungled Light of Zartha operation, though it required triggers and travel beforehand.
Whenever a MIB seeks to retire or otherwise screws up badly enough that they are fired from the organization, they also end up neuralyzed, with the official goodbye being the retiring agent telling his partner that he'll see him around or that he'll miss being an agent, only for the agent about to neuralyze his former partner declining and telling the agent that he won't. Because their identity as an MIB agent is erased, the agent is technically considered dead, which is implied by Zed's reply to Agent J's inquiry as to why he can't find the agent responsible for bungling a prior operation.[1]
People who have been neuralyzed[]
- Agent D
- Agent H
- Agent J
- Agent K
- Agent L
- Agent T
- Beatrice
- Edmund Clark Moffat
- Janus
- Molly Wright's parents
- People of Manhattan
- Rejected trainees
Appearances[]
- The Men in Black
- Men in Black (film)
- Men in Black: The Series
- Men in Black II
- Men in Black 3
- Men in Black: International
Notes and references[]
- ↑ Men in Black (2002)
Agent J: Ask the agent [responsible for the Light of Zartha operation from years prior]. // Agent Zed: Can't. // Agent J: Dead? // Agent Zed: Sort of. He [Agent K] works at the post office.