History Main / GhostAmnesia

* In ''Manga/SaikinImoutoNoYousuGaChottoOkashiindaGa'', the ghost Hiyori Kotobuki cannot remember anything about her life except she was athletic and she was in love with Yuya Kanzaki. She had wanted to confess to him, but got run over by a truck while walking to his house. [[spoiler:In fact, Hiyori Kotobuki is not even her name. She couldn't remember it, so she [[LineOfSightName took the names of two characters from a children's storybook in Mitsuki Kanzaki's room]].]]

* All of the shinigami in ''Manga/FullMoonOSagashite'' forget about their past lives. Curiously, it seems that ghosts do not. For example, [[spoiler:Eichi Sakurai]].

* Only ''very'' GenreSavvy people in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' notice their deaths -- the majority get up and dust themselves off, wonder [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat how anyone could have survived that]], and have a nice chat with [[TheGrimReaper the tall skinny man in the cloak]] until realisation dawns.
** Zombies often remember their pasts ''better'' than when they were alive, but in ''Discworld/SoulMusic'', the skull Quoth the raven hangs out on in the wizard's place is pretty sure he used to be a philosopher or a teacher or ''someone'' fairly intelligent, but can't remember any of the actual details.

* Jibanyan from ''Anime/YokaiWatch'' doesn't clearly remember his death. He has facts mixed up. [[spoiler:He had forgotten the fact that he committed a HeroicSacrifice for his owner. He misheard her mourning and thought she said she hated him, when in fact they were best friends and she was crying for him]].

* ''Fanfic/NotCompletelyAltogetherHere'' revolves around Galinda trying to find out how she died and coming to terms with her early demise. She can't remember anything after a certain date.

* [[spoiler: Jack Frost]] from ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians'' -- although he's the [[spoiler:spirit of winter, not a ghost]]. He eventually does get his memories back, which gives him his HeroicSecondWind needed to beat the bad guy.

[[folder: Anime & Manga]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]
* In ''Comicbook/{{PS238}},'' [[UnhappyMedium Satori]] says that a lot of ghosts have problems like this. Most notably, there's a Native American ghost who haunts the school's lawn--in his case, he was actually cursed for his {{Pride}}, stuck in that spot until he saves a life and unable to remember anything that he was arrogant about in life (which was apparently just about ''everything,'' including his name). The experience does seem to have humbled him, at least.

[[folder: Fan Works]]

[[folder: Films -- Animated]]
* [[spoiler: Jack Frost]] from ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians'' - although he's the [[spoiler: spirit of winter, not a ghost]]. He eventually does get his memories back, which gives him his HeroicSecondWind needed to beat the bad guy.

[[folder: Films -- Live-Action]]

[[folder: Folklore and Mythology]]
* Common in Myth/GreekMythology and in Asian mythology. In fact, one of the main rivers of the underworld was the Lethe, whose water would explicitly cause amnesia. Drinking fresh blood (animal would do) would break the spell at least temporarily, as seen when Odysseus visited the underworld looking for advice from the by-then dead seer Teiresias in the ''Odyssey''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature]]

[[folder: Live-Action TV]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games]]

[[folder: Video Games]]

* Säid the {{Mummy}} of ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'' has almost completely forgotten the events of his life prior to his death and resurrection; he can recall the broad strokes of the period like the reign of Akhenaten and the Red Nights, and he can remember a few events - such as his involvement in the Cult of Osiris, dalliances with girls in Abydos, and serving as a prince at some point - but other than that, his life prior to undeath is a blank. He doesn't even remember his real name, having adopted the name "Säid" out of convenience. At present, it's not known if the other members of [[TheNecrocracy the Kingdom]] suffer from the same condition.

[[folder: Web Comics]]

* At first Dell from ''WebComic/PumpkinFlower'' can't remember his own name, let alone how he died, but [[spoiler: [[HazardousWater the cause is hinted at frequently.]]]]

-->'''PJ:''' JULIP...POBIN?\\

[[folder: Web Original]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]

* In ''Series/{{Life On Mars|2006}}'' and ''Series/AshesToAshes'' all the characters are [[spoiler: dead and living in a kind of afterlife/purgatory]] and only the main protagonists Sam and Alex can remember their [[spoiler: former]] lives as, confusingly, they are alive [[spoiler: whilst in this purgatory (at first)]]. The series finale has the BigBad forcing the characters to [[spoiler: watch their own deaths on TV,]] only then do they remember.

* Leigh Perry's ''A Skeleton in the Family" is Sid, a walking, talking skeleton who remembers what it's like to be human and has no problems functioning like one among those who know of his existence, but suffers LossOfIdentity up until a chance encounter with someone he knew while alive causes him to recall just a little bit. The driving plot of the book is his quest, aided by his best (human) friend Georgia Thackery, to discover his original identity.

* In ''Manga/YuragiSouNoYuunaSan'', Yuuna Yunohana doesn't remember anything about her life, so she has no idea what UnfinishedBusiness she needs to do to move on to the afterlife. She doesn't even know her real name, "Yuuna Yunohana" was a name given to her by Chitose.

* Säid the {{Mummy}} of ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'' has almost completely forgotten the events of his life prior to his death and resurrection; he can recall the broad strokes of the period like the reign of Akhenaten and the Red Nights, and he can remember a few events - such as his involvement in the Cult of Osiris, dalliances with girls in Abydos, and serving as a prince at some point. He doesn' even remember his real name, having adopted the name "Säid" out of convenience. At present, it's not known if the other members of [[TheNecrocracy the Kingdom]] suffer from the same condition.

* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' drops this on at least some of its undead characters. Hecarim has apparently forgotten his mortal existence, and one of the spirits on the Twisted Treeline map tells him to "remember who he once was"; this is something of TheArtifact, given that we've ''learned'' who Hecarim once was and he was an asshole even then. Kalista is losing her memory and identity, although part of it is that she's absorbing bits and pieces of souls. Thresh, on the other hand, kept his identity just fine; the memory problems he has are more of a ButForMeItWasTuesday nature. Physical or semi-physical undead like Sion, Yorick, Karthus, Pyke, and Mordekaiser, however, seem to keep their memories pretty well.

* In Dante's ''[[Literature/TheDivineComedy Inferno]]'', the damned "remember" the future, but not the past (except, apparently, their own sins, since they speak of those). This is part of the IronicHell punishment, since once time ends they will remember nothing at all.

* In ''WarmBodies'' the average zombies remember nothing of their past but little of their humanity and spend time trying to guess their former lives from their clothes.

[[folder: Fan Works]]
* In ''Manga/DeathNote'' fanfic Fanfic/ApplesEqualsCyanideEqualsLight, Shinigami Kira either doesn't remember or only has dormant memories of his human life.

* Jibanyan from ''Anime/YokaiWatch'' doesn't clearly remember his death. He has facts mixed up. [[spoiler:He had forgotten the fact that he committed a HeroicSacrifice for his owner. He misheard her mourning and thought she said she hated him, when in fact they were best friends and she was crying for him.]]

* [[spoiler: Jack Frost]] from ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians'' - although he's the [[spoiler: spirit of winter, not a ghost.]] He eventually does get his memories back, which gives him his HeroicSecondWind needed to beat the bad guy.

* In ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfMordor'', the main character Talion is possessed by the wraith of a long dead elf lord that has no recollection of his past or even his own name. As the story progresses with Talion recovering the wraith's relics and artifacts he remembers his past bit by bit and his power increases each time. His identity is revealed to be none other than [[spoiler:Celebrimbor, the One Ring's very creator]].