History Main / HelpfulHallucination

* ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'': During the Burial at Sea DLC, Elizabeth speaks to Booker, who should be dead at this point in the story. At first, it's implied he could be a ghost, considering the precedent for one previously. However, eventually Booker himself reveals that he's just a hallucination Elizabeth uses as mental support.

* In the Literature/DresdenFiles, Harry occasionally gets visited by his subconscious while he's asleep. It usually chews him out about something then gives him a bit of insight or information Harry himself didn't figure out and moves the plot forward.

''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'': In-between levels, the protagonist (A.K.A. [[FanNickname Jacket]]), dreams of a dark room containing 3 mysterious people wearing animal masks. The leader, a man wearing a Rooster mask identical to Jacket's own speaks very cryptically, but his words eventually help Jacket to realize that [[spoiler:he's currently in a coma in the hospital, and the entire game thus far has been his coma-induced recollection of the last few weeks]].

* In his book ''Hallucinations'', Oliver Sacks reports that many people who experience HearingVoices claim that they are these, with only some of them experiencing the stereotypical malevolent kind.

** Lampshaded on when Homer tried to access information from his coyote spirit guide while conscious:

* The entire plot of ''Series/Perception'' involves Daniel Pierce, a schizophrenic consultant for the FBI, whose hallucinations often help him connect the dots of a case his conscious mind hadn't noticed.

[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment Detective Bob is a detective.]] He's in the middle of an important case when, suddenly, a whole bunch of traumatic stuff happens to him, he hits his head on an orange crate, and he somehow ends up taking a lot of drugs. Now, wherever he goes, he is followed by a talking, pink hippopotamus named Oswald, that only he can see. Bob is hallucinating!

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'', where Remy hallucinates Gusteau advising him about cooking, and life in general. Until Remy finds out Gusteau has a son:

* In ''Series/CSIMiami'' Eric gets shot in the head. When he recovers, he hallucinates Speed, who died several seasons ago. The hallucination points him to evidence he missed, and helps him crack the case.

* [[SixthRanger Misao]] from ''Series/DoubutsuSentaiZyuohger'' hallucinates the three [[BeastMan zyumans]] that were killed in the process of creating his powers. How helpful they are varies, but they usually do push him in the right direction. Initially, they pose themselves as ghosts that came back to haunt him, but admit to being hallucinations created from his guilt not so long after.

* In a grim variant, Gibbs' former marine commander on ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' wound up a fugitive when he was suspected of stealing a cache of Saddam Hussein's money recovered in Iraq. He was goaded on in his quest to find and eliminate the real thieves by a fellow marine, who turned out to be an hallucination of a man who'd died in combat years earlier.

* The Goddess of Clothing in ''Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks'' is Lavali's hallucination created from frustration and dehydration during her time with Sandra, Tatiana and Domenico on a tropical island. So far, she's been quite helpful, for example giving advice to solve Sandra's modesty issue. She's also aware that she's a hallucination.

* In the first season of ''Series/VeronicaMars'', Veronica [[spoiler:and Duncan]] gets vague messages from a hallucination of [[SpiritAdvisor Lilly, who was murdered in the show's BackStory, providing hints towards solving the mystery of Lilly's murder.

Compare DreamingTheTruth, DeadPersonConversation, SpiritAdvisor and ImaginaryFriend.

'''Gusteau:''' I am only a figment of your imagination! You didn't know, how could I?

->'''Rémy''': I pretend you exist so I have someone to talk to! You only tell me stuff I already know! I know who I am! Why do I need you to tell me? Why do I need to pretend?\\

!!Examples

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-->'''Spirit guide:''' I'm only a memory, Homer. I can't provide additional information.

* [[SixthRanger Misao]] from ''Series/DoubutsuSentaiZyuohger'' hallucinates the three [[PettingZooPeople zyumans]] that were killed in the process of creating his powers. How helpful they are varies, but they usually do push him in the right direction. Initially, they pose themselves as ghosts that came back to haunt him, but admit to being hallucinations created from his guilt not so long after.

SPOILERS to follow, as some of these hallucinations aren't identified as such until TheReveal.

* ''WesternAnimation/WeBareBears'': In "Baby Bears Can't Jump", the Bears are losing a basketball game against a gang of {{street urchin}}s, and take a time out to discuss their strategy. When the "discussion" turns into a furious argument, the Bears suddenly imagine that the image of Charles Barkley from a lenticular trading card comes to life and gives them a pep-talk about the importance of teamwork.

* The (unfortunately) [[ShortRunners short-lived]] TV series ''Series/{{Raines}}'' wore this as it's hat. The main character, a police detective played by Creator/JeffGoldblum, had hallucinations of the victims of the crime he was investigating, who followed him around until he solved the case. The hallucinations would actually change slightly in appearance and manner as he learned more about the victim. He was completely aware of them not being real--in fact, the hallucinations would sometimes comment on it.

* [[SixthRanger Misao]] from ''Series/DoubutsuSentaiZyuohger hallucinates the three [[PettingZooPeople zyumans]] that were killed in the process of creating his powers. How helpful they are varies, but they usually do push him in the right direction. Initially, they pose themselves as ghosts that came back to haunt him, but admit being hallucinations created from his guilt not so long after.

Compare DreamingTheTruth, DeadPersonConversation, and SpiritAdvisor.

-->'''Raines:''' What do you want?
-->'''Sandy Boudreau:''' It's your imagination, Detective; I'm just a figment.
-->'''Raines:''' What do you want?
-->'''Sandy Boudreau:''' I want you to find out who killed me.
-->'''Raines:''' Then you'll go, back to whatever dark, twisted, malfunctioning part of my brain that you come from?
-->'''Sandy Boudreau:''' Yeah.
* One episode of ''Series/SirArthurConanDoylesTheLostWorld'' sees Marguerite stepping into a booby trap and falling into a pit with spikes. She gets hurt and suffers a concussion. While Challenger gets help she hallucinates about her best friend Adrienne who keeps her awake so Marguerite doesn't fall asleep. Later it turns out to be a NotSoImaginaryFriend - which freaks Marguerite out.

-->'''Goddess of Clothing:''' Yeah... Look, I'm going to level with you. I'm not so much "goddess" as a "stress-and-dehydration-induced hallucination".

* Goddess of Clothing in Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks is Lavali's hallucination created from frustration and dehydration during her time with Sandra, Tatiana and Domenico in a tropical island. So far, she's been helpful by giving advice to solve Sandra's modesty issue. She's also aware that she's a hallucination.

* In the WesternAnimation/QuackPack episode "Ready, Aim... Duck!", a fictional video game character named Captain Jack keeps appearing in front of Donald and urges him to confess to his SnowballLie.