History Main / HelpfulHallucination

* 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.

** When Booth was about to have ADateWithRosiePalms to donate sperm for Brennan to artificially inseminate with, Stewie from ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' appeared on the TV and gave him relationship advice. ''This'' one prompts some medical investigation and he ends up discovering (in time) a serious brain tumor which may or may not explain some or all of the previous hallucinations he experienced that season.

* In ''Film/{{Gravity}}'' when [[spoiler:Stone has quietly accepted that she is stuck in a shuttle without fuel and is probably going to die, Kowalski, who she believed to be dead, suddenly appears outside the shuttle, lets himself in, and tells her that all hope is not lost, as there is a trick to get the shuttle moving, urging her to not give up. Kowalski then disappears into thin air when Stone looks the other way for a second, revealing him to be a hallucination, but she realizes that his method to get the shuttle moving actually works.]]

* ''VideoGame/The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct'': During the train yard mission, Daryl Dixon hears his brother Merle over the radio, giving him directions to get through the yard and escape the zombie herd. Having escaped, however, Merle is no where to be found, and another survivor points out the radio is broken, and doesn't even have batteries.

* [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane One interpretation]] of a chapter of ''Literature/WorldWarZ'' in which a downed pilot comes into radio contact with an extremely helpful VoiceOnTheRadio, who does things like reiterate her survival training, help her navigate through semi-familiar terrain, motivate her, and even alert her to danger that she had not yet heard. After her rescue, no trace of the helpful woman on the radio could be found.

* ''Series/StargateAtlantis'': When [=McKay=] gets trapped at the bottom of the ocean in a broken puddle jumper, he has a hallucination of Carter that's his subconscious trying to keep him from doing something that will get him killed. He tries to get her to strip down, only for the hallucination to tell him that the real Carter would never do that, so she won't either. [=McKay=] is, understandably, annoyed.

'''Gusteau:''' [chuckles] But you don't, Remy. You never did. [disappears]

* Cloud's visions in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' - variously shown as a voice in his head, a spectral version of himself or a child version of himself - spends a lot of time giving him hints. It reminds him of who Reno is even though he's forgotten, admonishes him if he decides to get sidetracked from his goals to go and mess about with prostitutes, and drops heavy hints about Tifa's [[CanNotSpitItOut evasiveness]] and where the cracks in his [[FakeMemories story]] lie. In one scene, when Cloud is possessed and trying to give Sephiroth the Black Materia, the player briefly controls one of the hallucinations running around trying to stop Cloud, but it doesn't work.
* ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'': At the beginning of episode two of the ''BioshockInfinite/BurialAtSea'' DLC, Elizabeth sees Booker, who's been dead for a while, and he gives her advice on how to get Atlas to trust her and release her to go find "the ace in the hole." From then on Elizabeth speaks to him over the radio, but once realizes that he's not actually Booker, he tells her that he's just an auditory hallucination she unconsciously created as a source of comfort, as well as a link to her forgotten memories of what the "ace in the hole" is and why she came back to Rapture.

** Your player character's Inland Empire stat gives him the ability to make unconscious, MaybeMagicMaybeMundane connections with the world around him. These include hallucinatory visions - apocalyptic visions, conversations with the murder victim - and these are usually right on the money, though cryptic enough that it's unlikely the player will understand what it is Inland Empire was trying to tell them until after it happens.

* ''Film/{{Adrift 2018}}'': Tami's vision of [[spoiler: Richard]] helps her keep her focus and drive long enough to reach help.

* In the ''Series{{Arrow}}'' episode "Three Ghosts", Oliver hallucinates three dead (or supposedly-dead) people from his past. The first two, Shado and Slade, [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech verbally tear him apart]] and nearly have him giving up, the third hallucination is one of Tommy, who [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre encourages him to get up and keep fighting]].

[[folder:Web Comics]]

** Subverted in "Repo Man". Sam accepts the help of [[FanNickname Hallucifer]] to solve the mystery of the week, instead of ignoring or banishing him as usual. At the end of the episode, Sam tries to banish Lucifer again but it doesn't work. [[MustBeInvited Turns out willingly accepting Lucifer's help has increased his control of Sam's mind.]]

* ''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]].

** A high Inland Empire stat will also allow the player to talk to the Horrific Necktie, although the Inland Empire skill itself ''dreads'' it talking and advises you not to listen to it (implicitly for its role in nearly killing you, though it's up to interpretation whether by [[BungledSuicide purpose]] or [[EroticAsphyxiation accident]]). The Necktie will give advice to the player character at various points which is largely along the player character's worst instincts, encouraging him to abuse his authority to arrest inconvenient people, and ditch his responsibilities in favour of partying, substance abuse, and autoerotic asphysixation sessions. However, at one point in the game, the Necktie demands that the player buy a bottle of medicinal grade spirits and is evasive about the reason - [[spoiler: the player may be fooled into thinking the Necktie is planning to use it to kill the player, but it is instead planning for its own HeroicSacrifice in the form of becoming the wick for a Molotov cocktail against a powerful enemy]].

* Throughout ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrangeBeforetheStorm'', Chloe Price has conversations with [[spoiler: a vision of her deceased father William]]. It could be seen as a form of self-reflection, imagining the responses and coming to her own conclusions herself.

* In the last couple of episodes of the fifth season of ''Series/{{House}}'', House gets advice on a case from a hallucination of [[spoiler: Amber]], who had died in the season four finale. Unfortunately, [[spoiler: as he continues hallucinating, it's not limited to Amber and the hallucinations become... less helpful...]]

* ''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.