History Main / DeathOfPersonality

* In the ''Franchise/Buffyverse'', vampires in general are portrayed as this. They're essentially a human who's died and had their soul replaced by a demon (who gains their memories and sometimes might even actually believe they're the original person). The exact implications of this aren't clear (vampires have been shown to be able to regain a soul), but this trope has been brought up in regards to it several times. The best being the episode "Lie to Me", where Buffy tries to explain this to a group of {{Vampire Vannabe}}s (and the episode's villain, who it turns out [[spoiler: doesn't care, because he's dying anyway]]).

* Inversion: In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series, the Auditors are the supernatural bureaucrats of the Cosmos. They begin as grey soul-less entities; for them, to develop a recognisable personality and individual self-awareness is death. They forgot this in ''Discworld/ThiefOfTime'' when a group of them decided it would be a good idea to adopt human bodies, so as to tidy creation up from the inside]]...

* In the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "Sons of Mogh" this ends up being Worf's solution for dealing with his suicidal brother Kurn, who had demanded that Worf kill him so he could die with honor. One memory erasure and plastic surgery later, Worf hands Kurn off to a friend of their father's who had promised to treat Kurn as his own son.

* In ''Film/ManOfSteel'', this occurs when all Kryptonians other than Zod and Superman are defeated. In the film, Kryptonians are genetically-engineered for one purpose, and when that purpose ends, so does any meaning in their lives. Zod's purpose was to ensure the survival of the Kryptonian race. In this case, Zod immediately [[VillainousBreakdown loses all sanity he had left]] and declares that his only purpose now is to make Superman and the humans he loves suffer as much as he possibly can before killing every last one and reducing the planet to dust.
* The sequel to ''Film/TheNeverEndingStory'' has The Emptiness slowly do this to Bastien by erasing his memories.

* [[Creator/MCAHogarth M.C.A. Hogarth's]] [[Literature/TalesOfTheJokka Jokka]] are susceptible to the "mind-death" when they experience physical trauma or heatstroke. Females are most vulnerable, especially during childbirth, but even hardy neuters may fall victim.
** At the end of ''A Bloom in the North'' though [[spoiler: they find a Jokka colony on the northern continent where mind death is practically unknown, it's only common on the main continent because of malnutrition in their post-apocalyptic wasteland.]]
* Inversion: In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series, the Auditors are the supernatural bureaucrats of the Cosmos. They begin as grey soul-less entities; for them, to develop a recognisable personality and individual self-awareness is death. They forgot this when a [[Discworld/ThiefOfTime group of them decided it would be a good idea to adopt human bodies, so as to tidy creation up from the inside]]...

* In [[Literature/TheHungerGames Mockingjay]] Katniss feels this way about [[spoiler:the hijacked Peeta. She grieves him as if he had died.]]
* TheDemolishedMan provides the inspiration and perhaps UrExample for [[BabylonFive the trope namer]] with the practice of Demolition: erasing a convict's mind to a BlankSlate and building it up again into a more benevolent personality, thus not removing an intelligence that could possibly be benefitting to mankind just because the personality was bad.

* Vampires in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' and ''Series/{{Angel}}'' are humans who have died and had their soul replaced by a demon. This means that the person themselves is dead, even though the demon in question has all their memories and often believes they are the original.
** However, vampires at least still appear to be the same person, and Angel and Spike show they even still have souls waiting to come back. Fred, on the other hand, had her soul completely destroyed when Illyria possessed her in the final season of Angel. People, including Buffy herself, came BackFromTheDead several times, but it was made very clear that Fred was KilledOffForReal, even though her body was still walking around and could do a very good impersonation of her.

* The Cybermen from ''Series/DoctorWho''. People who are transformed into Cybermen are stripped of all personality and individuality, becoming soulless killers. Once a human is transformed, they're considered dead and all that can be done is to destroy the Cyberman.

* [[Creator/MCAHogarth M.C.A. Hogarth's]] [[Literature/TalesOfTheJokka Jokka]] are susceptible to the "mind-death" when they experience physical trauma or heatstroke. Females are most vulnerable but even hardy neuters may fall victim.

* LossOfIdentity: When someone is afraid of this.

* [[Creator/MCAHogarth M.C.A. Hogarth's]] [[http://mcahogarth.org/?page_id=10463 Jokka]] are susceptible to the "minddeath" when they experience physical trauma or heatstroke. Females are most vulnerable but even hardy neuters may fall victim.

* M.C.A. Hogarth's [[http://mcahogarth.org/?page_id=10463 Jokka]] are susceptible to the "minddeath" when they experience physical trauma or heatstroke. Females are most vulnerable but even hardy neuters may fall victim.

* An episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' ends with Munch's clinically depressed uncle coming off his medication to "kill" himself as penance for murdering a suspect while in a mania caused as a side effect of his medication.

* In ''Film/ManOfSteel'', this occurs when all Kryptonians other than Zod and Superman are defeated. In the film, Kryptonians are genetically-engineered for one purpose, and when that purpose ends, so does any meaning in their lives. In this case, Zod immediately [[VillainousBreakdown loses all sanity he had left]] and declares that his only purpose now is to make Superman and the humans he loves suffer as much as he possibly can before killing every last one and reducing the planet to dust.

** In "Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room", a cowardly criminal is confronted by his better self, on the other side of a mirror. Eventually the other personality takes over. This is a rare example of this trope being a HappyEnding.

** However, vampires at least still appear to be the same person, and Angel and Spike show they even still have souls waiting to come back. Fred, on the other hand, had her soul completely destroyed when Illyria possessed her in the final season. People, including Buffy herself, came BackFromTheDead several times, but it was made very clear that Fred was KilledOffForReal, even though her body was still walking around and could do a very good impersonation of her.

This trope covers situations when a person is treated as [[CharacterDeath effectively dead and gone]] even though their body is still physically alive. This is generally because the "person" has been erased in some way. This can cover mild examples (like [[EasyAmnesia memory loss]]) or more serious examples (like LossOfIdentity or [[AnatomyOfTheSoul damage to the soul]]). It can occur accidentally or through happenstance (e.g. illness or injury), maliciously (e.g. being assimilated by TheVirus) or punitively (A number of SpeculativeFiction settings use mind-wiping and personality overwriting as a form of capital punishment). This trope and its subtropes are often treated as a FateWorseThanDeath or a means of making someone DeaderThanDead. Yet some of the following methods are reversible; an amnesiac could remember everything, a possessing entity could be given the boot, FakeMemories could be recognized as fake. So treat these as "death" only if no such reversal occurs.

Subtropes (examples of which should go on their relevant page) include;

* [[MemoryTropes Amnesia]] - A person loses part of their memories.
* AssimilationPlot - A plan which revolves around doing this to everyone.
* BalefulPolymorph - In cases where the subject [[TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody gets the mind of what they're turned into too]].
* BlankSlate - When the person's lost all their experiences and memories.
* BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood - This trope is generally why it's portrayed as a bad thing.
* CloneByConversion - When someone's "killed" by being turned into a copy of someone else.
* CyberneticsEatYourSoul - When this is caused by have machinery integrated with your body.
* EmptyShell - When the whole personality's gone, essentially leaving a p-zombie.
* FakeMemories - If there are enough of them.
* GrandTheftMe - Something destroys the old personality out and replaces it.
** SplitPersonalityTakeover - When a second personality "kills" or overwhelms them from within the same mind (rather than coming from outside the person).
* LossOfIdentity - When someone is afraid of this.
* TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody - In particularly extreme cases.

* TechnicallyLivingZombie - At least the mindless variety.
* ThatManIsDead - When what's left of the "dead" person spells it out.
* YouWillBeAssimilated - And lose your individuality to the HiveMind in the process.

!Examples:

[[AC: Anime and Manga]]

[[AC:Comic Books]]

* In ''{{ElfQuest}}'', this is effectively the fate of One-Eye's body when he is killed in the prelude to The Palace War. After Leetah tries to heal him and only manages to heal his empty, soulless body, it is kept in Preserver webbing for many years until his lifemate, Clearbrook, accepts that he's not coming back and so cuts the webbing and allows his body to die.

[[AC: Film]]

* Happens in ''WesternAnimation/WallE'' after Eve repairs him from near-fatal damage. He appears to lose all his memory and personality, until she "kisses" him with an electric spark.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'', Merida and Elinor must RaceAgainstTheClock to break the spell that gave Elinor a bear's body or she will lose her humanity and become like any other non-sentient bear.

[[AC: Literature]]

* Inversion: In the ''{{Discworld}}'' series, the Auditors are the supernatural bureaucrats of the Cosmos. They begin as grey soul-less entities; for them, to develop a recognisable personality and individual self-awareness is death. They forgot this when a [[Discworld/ThiefOfTime group of them decided it would be a good idea to adopt human bodies, so as to tidy creation up from the inside]]...
* In the ''Literature/ChroniclesOfChaos'' by JohnCWright, this is referenced by Vanity, upon learning that all of them are Uranians (or Titans) and prisoners of war of the Olympians, who had their memories erased, forced into human bodies, and raised as such she cries that they commited murder by making them forget their true selves.

[[AC: Live Action Television]]

* An episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderSVU'' ends with Munch's clinically depressed uncle coming off his medication to "kill" himself as penance for murdering a suspect while in a mania caused as a side effect of his medication.

** In ''Nervous Man in a Four Dollar Room'', a cowardly criminal is confronted by his better self, on the other side of a mirror. Eventually the other personality takes over. This is a rare example of this trope being a HappyEnding.
** In ''The Lateness of the Hour'', a woman discovers that she is actually a robot. Unable to cope, she goes mad and her "parents" reprogram her as a maid, effectively destroying her personality.

[[AC:TabletopGames]]

[[AC: Video Games]]

* Inverted in ''FinalFantasyVIII'', where [[spoiler: the ''entire cast'']] is victims of some form of dead personality ([[spoiler: the [=SeeD=] are amnesiacs, the sorceresses, Edea and Rinoa, are victims of possession by Ultimecia]]), but at the end of Disc III, everyone gets better.
-----

* Inverted in ''FinalFantasyVIII'', where [[spoiler: the ''entire cast'']] is victims of some form of dead personality ([[spoiler: the SeeD are amnesiacs, the sorceresses, Edea and Rinoa, are victims of possession by Ultimecia]]), but at the end of Disc III, everyone gets better.

* Inverted in ''FinalFantasyVIII'', where [[spoiler: the ''entire cast'']] is victims of some form of dead personality (amnesia or possession), but at the end of Disc III, everyone gets better.

* Inverted in ''FinalFantasyVIII'', where the ''entire cast'' is victims of some form of dead personality (amnesia or possession), but at the end of Disc III, everyone gets better.

This trope covers situations when a person is treated as [[CharacterDeath effectively dead and gone]] even though their body is still physically alive. This is generally because the "person" has been erased in some way. This can cover mild examples (like [[EasyAmnesia memory loss]]) or more serious examples (like LossOfIdentity or [[AnatomyOfTheSoul damage to the soul]]). It can occur accidentally or through happenstance (e.g. illness or injury), maliciously (e.g. being assimilated by TheVirus) or punitively (A number of SpeculativeFiction settings use mind-wiping and personality overwriting as a form of capital punishment). This trope and its subtropes are often treated as a FateWorseThanDeath or a means of making someone DeaderThanDead.

* {{Amnesia}} - A person loses part of their memories.
** LaserGuidedAmnesia - When a specific part of the person's mind is erased.

* An episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderSVU'' ends with Munch's clinically depressed uncle comes off his medication to "kill" himself as penance for murdering a suspect while in a mania caused as a side effect of his medication.