History Main / IdentityAmnesia

* The recent Taskmaster mini reveals that Tasky suffers from this because of his photographic reflex ability. When he finally does remember who he was(A SHIELD agent named Tony Masters, oddly enough a named he used as an alias in the Agent X days) he feels guilty for all the bad he's done, thoug he eventually forgets again when he needs to copy a fighters moves to survive.

See also {{Brainwashed}}, WistfulAmnesia, FakeMemories, WeWantOurJerkBack, AmnesiacLover, AmnesiacDissonance and ConcussionsGetYouHigh.

See also {{Brainwashed}}, WistfulAmnesia, FakeMemories, WeWantOurJerkBack and AmnesiacLover, ConcussionsGetYouHigh.

See also {{Brainwashed}}, WistfulAmnesia, FakeMemories, WeWantOurJerkBack and AmnesiacLover.

* ''MagicalProjectS'' Misao Amano's alter ego the evil magical girl pixy misa likes to torture the main cast with her magical powers When Musai us back to normal she doesn't remeber anything of what she did while transformed.

** In an anime {{Filler}} episode, Ranma Saotome gets struck with something that's one part this, one part LossOfIdentity after Akane knocks him into the koi pond with a frying pan, causing him to smack his head hard against one of the rocks on the edges. When Ranma regains consciousness, "she" remembers that she is Ranma Saotome and who everyone is... but "her" personality has done a complete 180, turning the gender-bending boy into an almost insultingly girly girl.

* ''ElfenLied'' uses this as its central plot device: ruthless killer Lucy is hit in the head with a .50 caliber bullet and becomes a very clingy girl instead. A girl that can only say "Nyu." However, another blow to the head reverts her back to Lucy, often resulting in at least one person getting themselves killed before the effect returns.

* Elie, one of the main characters in ''RaveMaster'' is actually [[spoiler: Resha Valentine, who faked her death and put herself into a deep magic induced sleep to defeat an enemy predicted to appear 50 years in the future]]. Not that she remembers this thanks to either [[spoiler: possibly erasing her own memories as a side effect of her deep sleep]] or Sieg Hart blowing up the building she was in. When she's introduced she tells Haru that she's actually looking for someone who knows her.

* Averted in ''MahouSenseiNegima''. Although [[spoiler: Asuna]] is shown to have a drastic shift in personality between her self-induced amnesia at the conclusion of the backstory and the kicking off of the plot (she went from EmotionlessGirl to a bit HotBlooded), it is shown to have happened over the course of several years, implied to be the consequence of frequent interactions with a RichBitch {{oujo}}.

Once their JekyllAndHyde nature has been demonstrated, it's a foregone conclusion that should the character in question get tapped in the head at a later date, the alternate persona will be right back in the saddle again.

See also {{Brainwashed}}, WistfulAmnesia, FakeMemories, WeWantOurJerkBack.

In most cases, the character has simply lost his memories, no longer remembering his name or where he came from. This is often the cause for a QuestForIdentity.

* This is pretty much the premise of ''SamanthaWho''. Uh, OrSoIHeard.

* In the ''DoctorWho'' episode "The Next Doctor", [[spoiler: the man thought to be a future reincarnation of the Doctor actually turns out to be an example of this. His family was killed by the Cybermen, and his mind blocked out memory of them, at the same time being fed information on the Doctor by a piece of technology holding all information on said Time Lord. He ended up adopting the identity of the Doctor to kill the pain, until the true Doctor explained exactly what had happened to him.]]

* In ''Primal Fear'', Richard Gere plays a detective investigating Edward Norton and the Father at his church, Norton has killed someone in response to the Father at his church taping Norton being forced to rape some girl he knew. At Norton's criminal hearing, Gere calls out Norton's psychotic side with belittling taunts, to prove that Norton had no memory of the attack.

* In an old DonaldDuck, Donald is hit on the head by a flowerpot knocked off a high windowsill, instantly becomes a crooner, and goes on to become famous. But he forgets about and ignores poor Daisy, who eventually goes to a psychologist and explains the whole thing in flashback. He tells her to choose between the two Donalds, and she chooses to drop another flowerpot - complete with the flower from the original blow - on his head while he's onstage singing to cure him.
* Related to the above: An episode of ''DuckTales'' involved Uncle Scrooge coming down with IdentityAmnesia and believing himself to be an unemployed commoner (even going so far as to lose his [[JustAStupidAccent fake accent]]); he goes on to get a low-paying job at his own factory and begins a crusade to improve working conditions.

* The whole plot of "The Bourne Identity" revolves around Jason Bourne who lost all memory of his previous life (although he has some flashbacks)

* ''{{Ever17}}'' (The Kid. [[spoiler:In an interesting use of this trope, the amnesia is used to hide the fact that there are two Kids. The first Kid, Kaburaki, lost his memory due to stress and being briefly possessed by a fourth-dimensional being, but in a subversion, never regains his memories. The second Kid, Hokuto, is actually the son of two other characters and the brother of one other, and was also possessed by said fourth-dimensional being, but he recovers his memories by the end.]])

* This was used in a skit on ''InLivingColor,'' with one of the [[CampGay]] "Men on Film" taking a blow to the head, and becoming outrageously heterosexual.

* In the episode [[DoctorWho "The Next Doctor"]], [[spoiler: the man thought to be a future reincarnation of the Doctor actually turns out to be an example of this. His family was killed by the Cybermen, and his mind blocked out memory of them, at the same time being fed information on the Doctor by a piece of technology holding all information on said Time Lord. He ended up adopting the identity of the Doctor to kill the pain, until the true Doctor explained exactly what had happened to him.]]

* This was used in a skit on ''In Living Color,'' with one of the overtly gay Men on Film taking a blow to the head, and becoming outrageously heterosexual.
* In one episode of PowerRangersTurbo, alien SpacePirate Divatox got hit on the head, and completely forgot that she wasn't from Earth, as well as forgetting all of her criminal tendencies.

* Averted in MahouSenseiNegima. Although [[spoiler: Asuna]] is shown to have a drastic shift in personality between her self-induced amnesia at the conclusion of the backstory and the kicking off of the plot (she went from EmotionlessGirl to a bit HotBlooded), it is shown to have happened over the course of several years, implied to be the consequence of frequent interactions with a RichBitch {{oujo}}.

* In the EurekaSeven movie ending, it is widely believed that when Eureka offered up her memories to Image, she lost all her memories and even basic fundamental knowledge like language (she became unable to speak any language, only making noises). Thus for her case, it is 100% memory wipe, and poor Renton has to live with this fact.

** The FridgeLogic kicks in when you realize Stan was a student there to begin with, and that the "snob" persona is his REAL old self, whereas his regular foolish self is a product of amnesia. And Ollie knowingly keeps him in this state, with no recollection of his friends, family and old life, simply because Stan is easier to deal with that way. SoYeah. (Of course, NegativeContinuity is in effect.)

* In an old [[ClassicDisneyShorts Donald Duck short]], Donald is hit on the head by a flowerpot knocked off a high windowsill, instantly becomes a crooner, and goes on to become famous. But he forgets about and ignores poor Daisy, who eventually goes to a psychologist and explains the whole thing in flashback. He tells her to choose between the two Donalds, and she chooses to drop another flowerpot - complete with the flower from the original blow - on his head while he's onstage singing to cure him.