History Main / Blankslate

* Anyone who has been nixed in ''WebOriginal/WormtoothNation'' becomes one of these.

* Prometheans in ''[=~Promethean: The Created~=]'' refer to the process of coming to life as "waking up on the slab" - waking up in an adult body with no knowledge of ''anything'', except for basic physical coordination and one language spoken by the person (or people) whose corpse the Promethean now occupies. The odds of their creators being there to teach them anything are pretty low, as well, so they have to learn fast.

* [[OurHomunculiAreDifferent Ennis]] in ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'' starts as one of these and gradually develops more of a personality. [[spoiler: It's revealed that this has happened many times before, and every time the homunculus turns on Szilard in the end, before he destroys it and makes a new one]].

* OlderThanRadio: In ThePictureOfDorianGray, the title character is little more than a pretty boy posing for portraits until Lord Henry Wotton gives him his hedonistic life path.

* In ThePictureOfDorianGray, the title character is little more than a pretty boy posing for portraits until Lord Henry Wotton gives him his hedonistic life path, making this OlderThanRadio.

Compare the SeeminglyProfoundFool, who is similarly uninformed and thrust into a "new" world, but who changes others in a reversal of this trope.
LaserGuidedAmnesia might turn you into this. CriminalAmnesiac is what happens if such a person is taken advantage of by the bad guys. Contrast with the EmptyShell, who usually goes the other way and ends up like this.

->''"What's interesting to me....is that you don't call out to God. It isn't a question of faith, it's just vernacular. [[ColdBloodedTorture Anyone in this much pain prays]], or at least curses, but.... we take God from you too. You really ''are'' a shell."''

* [[OurHomunculiAreDifferent Ennis]] in ''{{Baccano}}'' starts as one of these and gradually develops more of a personality. [[spoiler: It's revealed that this has happened many times before, and every time the homunculus turns on Szilard in the end, before he destroys it and makes a new one]].

* The 1920 silent movie ''TheGolem'' hinges on the premise that the eponymous character is completely clueless about how the world works.

* In ''{{Chobits}}'', Chi is a Blank Slate when she is first turned on, having to learn everything anew including language, how to buy things from a shop, and how to take a bath. She also latches emotionally onto the first person she meets, the protagonist Hideki.

* ''{{Transformers}}: BeastWars'': Quickstrike and Silverbolt's stasis pods were damaged by the surge at the end of season 1/start of season 2, which led to them awakening with no idea of who they are. Megatron uses this to his advantages by convincing them that they are Predacons. It works out with Quickstrike, but not so much with Silverbolt because he at least retained his honorable personality.

Compare ChanceTheGardener, who is similarly uninformed and thrust into a "new" world, but who changes others in a reversal of this trope.

* This happens to KimPossible when she has her memory erased. She becomes incredibly passive and docile while waiting to be told who she is. Combined with the fact that she wears a stepford smile for most of the time it seriously freaked this troper out.

* [[SayanoUta Saya no Uta]] has [[spoiler:Saya]] start this way, minus her instinct to [[spoiler:reproduce]]. Everything else, including her gender, reasoning, morality and emotions were obtained from contacts with humans. Seeing [[CompleteMonster all things she does]] during the course of the story doesn't paint a good image of humanity.
** She was shown to be naturally super-intelligent though.

* In a bit of a {{Wallbanger}} this happens to KimPossible when she has her memory erased. She becomes incredibly passive and docile while waiting to be told who she is. Combined with the fact that she wears a stepford smile for most of the time it seriously freaked this troper out.

* The classic science fiction novel ''AdamLink Robot'' is essentially an answer to the question, "What if Victor Frankenstein had been a responsible father to his monster?" Adam is a metal robot, and his builder does his best to raise him wisely and with kindness. Unfortunately, the builder dies, and Adam is falsely accused of killing him; but by then, thanks to his dad, Adam has already developed a personality as an intelligent, honest, and honorable guy?he just has to prove it to the rest of the world.

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LaserGuidedAmnesia might turn you into this. CriminalAmnesiac is what happens if such a person is taken advantage of by the bad guys. Contrast with the EmptyShell, who will not be shape by the outside world and was usually shaped into one.

LaserGuidedAmnesia might turn you into this. CriminalAmnesiac is what happens if such a person is taken advantage of by the bad guys.