History Main / DeathOfPersonality

** The canonical ''Passing of the Techno-mages'' novel trilogy goes into more detail about Anna's death of personality, and it's even worse than we saw on the show. She had almost no memories of her original life left and instead relied on what she'd been told about herself by records and Morden, thought of herself as a Shadow vessel in a human body and the original Anna as a different person, and the speech she gave Sheridan to lure him to Z'ha'dum was something she had to rehearse word-for-word many times.

** Most [[SpaceMarine Marines]] are criminals who have been "neurally re-socialized." This involves mindwiping them and implanting FalseMemories of willingly signing up. [[ExpandedUniverse The novels]] have a reporter being slightly creeped out that a woman he knows was a serial murderer seems like the girl-next-door, and a political dissident being horrified that re-socialization was used on him as a kind of MindControl by swapping the memory of his girlfriend being shot by riot police with one of her being eaten by a hydralisk.

-->-- ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''

* In ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', the protagonist V faces this; after being double-crossed by their fixer, who executes them via [[BoomHeadshot headshot]], a piece of experimental cybernetics in their brain called "Relic" activates, which revives V and heals the damage caused by the fixer's bullet, but at the same time begins uploading and overriding their memories and personality with that of one "Johnny Silverhand," a rockerboy and terrorist who nuked Night City 50 years before the game's setting. As a result, V must find a way to remove the Relic from their head since being overwritten on a neural level to the point that they won't just be dead, but completely ''[[CessationOfExistence gone]]''.

* ''VideoGame/StarCraft'':

'''As a DeathTrope, all spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''

* In ''VideoGame/{{Signalis}}, this is the backstory of Falke: the main character of the game, Elster, is going through a GroundhogDayLoop, of which one step is passing through a gate that causes her to regain her lost memories. At some point, Falke passed through the gate herself, which caused her to gain all of Elster's memories. She leaves behind three records of her degradation. In the first, she's horrified, and treats it as if she's been defiled, referring to the new memories as an external force and a "taint", especially since they include memories of loving Ariane, a woman she's never met. In the second, she begins to refer to events that happened to Elster in the first person, and claims she can no longer tell which parts of her are Falke and which parts are Elster. In the third, she now refers to events that happened to Elster as having happened to her, speaks of Ariane as a lover, and claims the memories as "mine now." By the time her and Elster meet, she refers to the two of them as if they're simply two of the same person, and seeks to fight her to the death, not caring which one wins, as either way, Elster will be the one to leave alone.

* ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'': Angels have an interesting relation to this trope: They have CompleteImmortality, but their physical forms can still be destroyed and require that the angel return to TheVoidBetweenWorlds to regenerate, a process that can take centuries or millennia. While an angel reforms, they lose about 90% of their old memories and identity and re-emerge as a new being carrying vague inklings of who they were before, and anything beyond their last regeneration is essentially lost forever. Because of this, angels think in 'incarnations' and add a number in front of their name to indicate which of their lives they are currently on. The former incarnations of that same angel are essentially treated as gone, as very little of what they once were is left in them. The angel 10 Vigilant Gaze Pierces the Horizon remembers several former incarnations of the younger angel 82 White Chain Returns From Emptiness to Subdue Evil, describing each of them as a distinct person but also as a part of a greater whole.

* ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'': Angels have an interesting relation to this trope: They have CompleteImmortality, but their physical forms can still be destroyed and require that the angel return to the VoidBetweenWorlds to regenerate, a process that can take centuries or millennia. While an angel reforms, they lose about 90% of their old memories and identity and re-emerge as a new being carrying vague inklings of who they were before, and anything beyond their last regeneration is essentially lost forever. Because of this, angels think in 'incarnations' and add a number in front of their name to indicate which of their lives they are currently on. The former incarnations of that same angel are essentially treated as gone, as very little of what they once were is left in them. The angel 10 Vigilant Gaze Pierces the Horizon remembers several former incarnations of the younger angel 82 White Chain Returns From Emptiness to Subdue Evil, describing each of them as a distinct person but also as a part of a greater whole.

** Most [[SpaceMarine Marines]] are criminals who have been "neurally re-sociallized." This involves mindwiping them and implanting FalseMemories of willingly signing up. [[ExpandedUniverse The novels]] have a reporter being slightly creeped out that a woman he knows was a sereal murderer seems like the girl-next-door, and a political dissident being horrified that resocialization was used on him as a kind of MindControl by swapping the memory of his girlfriend being shot by riot police with one of her being eaten by a hydralisk.

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]], the Tenth Doctor describes regeneration as this, though he is particularly unique among the Doctor's regenerations for this view. Generally, regenerations always changes the Time Lord's personality in some way (namely, their quirks and interests), but the fundamental personality remains the same, subverting this trope. However, the Doctor was threatened with this trope on multiple occasions, namely "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E4TheUltimateFoe The Ultimate Foe]]", [[Recap/DoctorWhoTVMTheTVMovie the movie]], and "[[Recap/DoctorWho2022CENThePowerOfTheDoctor The Power of the Doctor]]", where the BigBad sought to steal their body and regenerations, which would kill the Doctor's personality.

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]], the Doctor describes regeneration as this, though he is particularly unique among the Doctor's regenerations for this view. Generally, renegerations always changes the Time Lord's personality in some way (namely, their quirks and interests), but the fundamental personality remains the same, subverting this trope. However, the Doctor was threatened with this trope on multiple occasions, namely "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E4TheUltimateFoe The Ultimate Foe]]", [[Recap/DoctorWhoTVMTheTVMovie the movie]], and "[[Recap/DoctorWho2022CENThePowerOfTheDoctor The Power of the Doctor]]", where the BigBad sought to steal their body and regenerations, which would kill the Doctor's personality.

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E17E18TheEndOfTime "The End of Time"]], the Doctor describes regeneration like this:

** Most [[SpaceMarine Marines]] are criminals who have been "neurally re-sociallized." This involves mindwiping them and implanting FalseMemories of willingly signing up.

* ''VideoGame/StarCraft'': Ghosts of the Terran Dominion under the reign of Arcturus Mengsk are memory-wiped upon graduation, which results in the complete destruction of their original personalities to render them mindlessly loyal super soldiers.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom'', this is the consequence for draconification. Swallowing a Secret Stone will transform a person into an ultra-powerful immortal dragon, but their mind will be destroyed in the process, reducing them to a mindless, largely docile animal, which is the apparent origin of Naydra, Dinraal and Farrosh. [[spoiler:This happens to Zelda, who decides to swallow her Secret Stone in order to take TheSlowPath back to the present and restore the Master Sword in the process. In the present, she flies around the map as the Light Dragon, showing no signs of her old personality. Ganondorf does the same for the final battle, and after his death, Zelda is restored to her Hylian form with no memory of having been the Light Dragon.]]

* In ''Literature/TheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'', Jekyll explains that no matter what happens to him as Hyde, Jekyll will be dead as there's no way for him to return once the formula runs out.

* In the ''Fanfic/StarsAbove'' side-story ''My Sunshine'', this is the fate of [[Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica Mami Tomoe]]. She is fed on repeatedly by a [[EldritchAbomination Demon]] that eats her memories until she is reduced to an infantile state.
* This is what happens to Piedmon in ''Fanfic/Zero2ARevision'' thanks to Umbradevimon's touch of evil leaving Puppetmon as the last of the Dark Masters.
* ''Fanfic/{{Medicated}}'': Since Hop Pop doesn't know if Anne's true form is sapient, he's terrified that she'll revert to some savage state if she stays in human form for too long. Worries of this are eventually subsided as it is proven pretty clearly that the true forms are also sapient.

* In ''Fanfic/WithThisRing'', Martians do this to criminals who commit severe crimes.
* In the RWBY/Hetalia crossover ''FanFic/WeightOfTheWorld'', this is what America fears will happen to him if he accepts the rest of Vale's Aura. After Cinder is killed and all of Vale's soul is released to America, the two fight for control of his body (with Vale [[MindRape Mind Raping]] him in an attempt to delete his soul). America is able to reason with her and they peacefully merge, which causes them to [[LaserGuidedAmnesia lose all of]] [[BlankSlate their memories.]] It seems their memories are not gone forever.
* ''Fanfic/TalesOfSonicTheHedgehog'': After their initial attempts to [[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight get through to Robotnik's better side]] fail, Sonic and Uncle Chuck come to this conclusion, considering Julian Kintobor effectively dead. Sonic in particular declares that when they see Robotnik, they're not looking at Julian, but the monster that killed him, and during the climax of the Westside Island arc, he flat-out tells Robotnik to his face that he's nothing but a "heartless, evil monster" who's wearing Dr. Kintobor's skin.

* At the end of ''Fanfic/KnowsIfYouveBeenNaughty'', [[spoiler: Gaz's brainwashing after her [[KarmicTransformation transformation into an elf]] is specifically shown completely overwriting her old personality and memories.]]

* In Creator/DonHertzfeldt's far-future ''[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Simpsons]]'' [[CouchGag/TheSimpsons couch gag]], the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m78gYyTrG7Y design of the characters]] and the show changes so radically that by the year 10535 the Simpson family has been reduced to a disturbing collection of caricatured mutants that can only sputter broken catchphrases and hock merchandise.

* You'll be hard pressed not to find a transformation in ''VideoGame/{{Changed}}'' that doesn't have this, considering almost all of the transfurs do this to Collin on a regular basis.

* The process of "Tranquility" in the ''Franchise/DragonAge'' series is this, as mages are severed of all of their emotions, leaving them nothing but steadfastly obedient servants (or worse) that speak in a CreepyMonotone. It's ''supposed'' to be used as a [[GodzillaThreshold last resort]] to prevent mages who simply couldn't be trusted with their power from becoming Abominations and wreaking havoc, and its original creators actually feared it being abused due to what it did, but in the time period of the games, [[CorruptChurch the Chantry]] uses it as the standard punishment for mages that prove troublesome or to silence dissent within the Circles of Magic. [[MageKiller Templars]] are also known for [[CorruptCop using it on undeserving mages]] who won't do what they want, with one particularly [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil sickening]] example being Ser Karras.

** In the chapter "The Slow Vanishing of Lady Winterbourne" the protagonist is a senile old woman living in a decrepit manor house, over the course of the chapter she repeatedly takes medicine which causes the manor to turn back to the way it was when she was young, however every time she takes it and every time it wears off she seems to forget her previous actions, inspecting items she used previously to solve puzzles has her make comments as if she never interacted with them in the first place, also, she seems to become more and more transparent as the chapter goes on.
** In "The Nameless Ritual" during the flooded library puzzle the protagonist has to feed books to a leechlike librarian monster to progress, however it becomes apparent that the books symbolise his memories in reverse chronological order and every time he feeds the monster a book he thinks it is the first one.
* In ''VideoGame/InfinityBlade'', damaging the Quantum Identity Pattern of a Deathless can lead to this. Three Deathless suffer this in the games: Siris, Thane, and the Worker of Secrets. In the first and third cases, the memories of their past lives were almost completely erased giving them both a fresh start in life. Siris starts to remember enough of his past life as an EvilOverlord to feel intense remorse for his horrific deeds and fear of becoming that person again. The Worker is reborn as an innocent child though he shows signs of his past life's genius. Thane suffers the worst fate: when he is brought back, he is a grotesque monster that isn't even sentient any more.

* This happens in ''VideoGame/Persona5 [[UpdatedRerelease Royal]]'' as the main focus of the Third Term events. After defeating Yaldabaoth, strange occurrences began to happen to your friends, such as Wakaba reviving, Morgana becoming a human teenager or Okumura now revived and no longer trying to sell his daughter for political gain. It turns out that this is a [[WellIntentionedExtremist salvation plan]] brought forth by one of your allies, Takuto Maruki, who inherited control of the Metaverse and wants to turn the whole world into a LotusEaterMachine. Joker is given two chances to cut a deal with Maruki in order to make all of his illusions a reality, effectively wiping out all of humanity's potential for development or personal growth by making their impossible desires come true. This is particularly true for Sumire, who would permanently become Kasumi alongside her superior performances, effectively murdering off the inferior Sumire for real.
** Speaking of Sumire, should the protagonist advance her confidant past Rank 6, he can completely kill off the Kasumi personality and allow her to come into terms from her trauma of "murdering" the real Kasumi.
** Akechi makes it clear that, after being manipulated by Shido for so long, he would rather go back to being dead in the real world than live under anyone's control. Should Joker choose to accept Maruki's reality anyways, Akechi's personality is severely altered, turning him from a blunt, rude and disturbed young man into a pleasant and friendly puppet with no resemblance to his former self.
* Every single incarnation of The Nameless One (prior to the current one) in ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment''. Because of his condition causing IdentityAmnesia every time he resurrects, hundreds if not thousands of versions of The Nameless One are 'dead' before you wake up in the Mortuary at the beginning of the game. The current version is immune thanks to RuleOfFun, explained in-game by one of your previous incarnations being able to fix the flaw (but not in time to save himself).

* ''Manga/OnePiece'': Bartholomew Kuma slowly lost more and more of his humanity as he was surgically transformed into PX-0, the prototype of the [[HumanWeapon Pacifista]], until only his brain was left unmodified. By the Marineford Arc, Donquixote Donflamingo outright states [[ThatManIsDead that the old Bartholomew Kuma is ''effectively dead'']]. His last act of free will before his final modification was a request to Doctor Vegapunk to program him with the directive to "Protect the ''Thousand Sunny'' until a member of the Straw Hat Pirates arrives to take the ship back".