History Main / MyBabyDoll

[[quoteright:250:[[Series/{{Psychoville}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/psychoville_6_6447.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:250:They're so cute at that age.]]

This trope is when a mother, in a delusion, thinks that a doll is her child. It can be caused by guilt due to ParentalAbandonment, trauma or artificial means. But no matter the means, the result is that the mother treats a doll as her child. If the real child is still around, she may treat him as an impostor, for added irony and sadness. The best case scenario is that the mother is so wrapped up that she doesn't even realize that her real child is standing in front of her thinks that the child is a stranger. It can involve TheDollEpisode.

Compare EggSitting. Not a case of ArtificialHumans. ReplacementGoldfish are different, as the original child may still live, or may not exist at all. Also, being a LonelyDollGirl or LivingDollCollector is not this. There is some TruthInTelevision here: there are women who purchase lifelike baby dolls and treat them as if they were real babies.
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!! Examples:

[[AC:Anime & Manga]]
* Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu from ''NeonGenesisEvangelion''. The contact experiment with Unit 02 fractured her psyche and led to her belief that a doll was Asuka. Due to her psychotic nature, she decapitated at least one of the dolls and then committed a 'MurderSuicide' with another. A young Asuka discovered it.
* In ''FamiliarOfZero'', [[spoiler:Tabitha's mother [[HeroicSacrifice purposefully drank a spiked drink meant for Tabitha]], who is actually the next in line for the Galian throne. This resulted in her losing her mind and thinking that Tabitha's childhood doll was Tabitha herself, and that her daughter was an impostor sent to replace the doll. This leads to Tabitha leaving and adopting the name of her doll, Tabitha.]]

[[AC:Film]]
* In the Czech film ''LittleOtik'' (aka ''Greedy Guts''), an infertile couple adopt a wooden stump and treat it as though it were their living child.

[[AC:Literature]]
* In ''[[HeraldsOfValdemar Arrow's Flight]]'' by MercedesLackey, Talia encounters a Weather Witch whose child drowned when she wasn't attentive enough. She has gone mad from grief and guilt and is convinced that a rag doll wrapped in a blanket is her son.
* In ''Phantom'' by Susan Kay, Erik hypnotizes his mother into believing a porcelain figurine is an infant. His reasons for doing so are...complicated.
* In ''The [[{{Belgariad}} Malloreon]]'', Ce'Nedra is put into a hallucinatory state by the villain, Zandramas, who had previously abducted her baby. In order to find out where the good guys are headed, Zandramas pretends to be a friend of Ce'Nedra and to return her baby, but what she actually gives is a bundle of rags. Ce'Nedra is left crooning over the bundle and trying to show her compatriots how beautiful it is. In order to save her from undue stress, Polgara erases her memory of the event.
* In "Overheard in an Asylum", a poem by AlfredKreymborg, a doctor is talking to a child, saying calm, reassuring things. Then it's revealed that the child is a doll provided by the doctor to the mother.

[[AC:Live-Action TV]]
* Joy from ''{{Psychoville}}'' has a doll called "Freddie" that she is convinced is her real child. She even steals blood from the hospital where she works to give Freddie transfusions.
* In ''TheHauntingHourTheSeries'' episodes "Really You" and "Really You 2", Lily's mom starts treating Lily D (the doll) more like her daughter than the real Lily. Justified in part 2 because [[spoiler: she just realizes that Lily D and Lily have switched places]].
* In ''LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'':
** They find a women walking around the park with a plastic baby doll, she says that after god took her real baby he gave her one who could never die. They take the baby from her and refuse to give it back until she says whether she kidnapped a real missing baby
** In another episode, a woman who'd suffered brain damage in a bus accident lost the ability to recognize her real daughter's face, treating the girl as if she were an impostor. Instead, the woman became obsessed with an online video game, and fixated on the virtual "child" of her online avatar as her "son". When the police take her and her boyfriend into custody for neglecting her real daughter, she cries and yells because they'd hauled her away from the video screen when her "son" was in in-game danger.
* In the ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' episode "Memoria" Lex is sitting on a high balcony, in the rain, apparently hallucinating that he is rocking his baby brother Julian to sleep. He's singing to the blanket and tells his father to be quiet or he'll wake the baby. He thinks he found the baby inside of his dorm, crying and told Julian that he'd never let anyone hurt him again.
* Crazy Drusilla from ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' spends much of her time mothering dolls, particularly "Miss. Edith". She even punishes them for perceived bad behaviour; eg., excluding them from playing with the rest or denying them meals.
* {{Invoked|Trope}} in the outrageous comedy series ''Series/GimmeGimmeGimme''. Linda de Hughes is given a doll to use for EggSitting, to help her with anger management issues, and some passing strangers leap to the conclusion that's she's deranged and an example of this trope, which enrages her, and causes her to attack them with the doll.
* In ''Series/DesperateHousewives'', when Gaby [[spoiler: found out that her daughter had been exchanged when she gave birth, she started searching and found the other (her biological daughter)girl, and coming to realize that she couldn't keep her near her]] she bought an expensive doll and started to play with her, talk to her as real person, at first this is dismissed by the other characters, but when she and Carlos are about to go out, and arguing about the doll (which was in the back sit) [[spoiler:they get robbed and told to step out of the car, Gaby refuses to let the doll even tough the robber had a loaded gun, and tries to retrieve it, yelling "My daughter!"]]

[[AC:Radio]]
* ''Radio/TheRickyGervaisShow'': Karl Pilktington tells a story about a homeless lady who used to walk around town pushing a baby carriage. It turned out that inside was a bucket with a face painted on it.

[[AC:Theatre]]
* In the play ''Theatre/TheCuriousSavage'' Florence, one of the inmates in the sanitarium, has a doll she thinks is her deceased son.
* Saeda, in Eve Ensler's play ''Necessary Targets'' holds a bundle of blankets as a proxy for her lost daughter, Doona (whom she dropped when escaping from soldiers).

[[AC:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', [[spoiler:Raine's mother Virginia has freaks out due to the guilt of sending her and her brother Genius through the Otherwordly Gate and not being able to go through, too. Also, the loss of her husband (a human) didn't help. This results in her living in a house on Exile talking to a doll as if it were a 5-year-old Raine. The problem is that a now fully grown Raine is trying to get her to realize she [Raine] is her daughter.]]
* In ''Videogame/{{BioShock|1}}'', one of the first female splicers run you across is a mother who is increasingly desperate that her baby isn't moving. After she attacks you in a rage and you kill her, looking into the baby carriage reveals a handgun. Did we mention splicers tend to be insane? For bonus points you can steal it and then shoot her with it.
* In ''VideoGame/TheSims 2'', a Family sim who falls into Aspiration Desperation will draw a face on a sack of flour and start cradling it/talking to it like it's a baby.
* In the WhatIf game ''[[VideoGame/DeadRising2 Dead Rising 2: Off The Record]]'', Frank West finds a broken Chuck Greene who has gone crazy due of the trauma of having his daughter Katey die before the games events. He carries a Katey sized doll on his back and claims that it's his daughter and that he won't ever let anything happen to her. And yes, you have to fight him.

[[AC:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Homer takes a quiz that indicates he's going to die and goes a little crazy. At the plant he's found "nursing" a doll (missing an arm). His theory is that if he's a mother he can't die.
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* In ''Videogame/BioShock'', one of the first female splicers run you across is a mother who is increasingly desperate that her baby isn't moving. After she attacks you in a rage and you kill her, looking into the baby carriage reveals a handgun. Did we mention splicers tend to be insane? For bonus points you can steal it and then shoot her with it.

* Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu from ''NeonGenesisEvangelion''. The contact experiment with Unit 02 fractured her psyche and led to her belief that a doll was Asuka. Due to her psychotic nature, she decapitated at least one of the dolls and then committed a 'murder-suicide' with another. A young Asuka discovered it.

* Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu from ''NeonGenesisEvangelion''. After the contact experiment with Unit 02, this fractured her psyche and led to her belief that the doll was Asuka. However, due to her psychotic nature, she decapitated at least one of the dolls and then committed a 'murder-suicide' with another. A young Asuka was the first to discover such a scene.

Compare EggSitting. Not a case of ArtificialHumans. ReplacementGoldfish are different, as the original child may still alive, or may not exist at all. Also, being a LonelyDollGirl or LivingDollCollector is not this. There is some TruthInTelevision here: there are women who purchase lifelike baby dolls and treat them as if they were real babies.

* The Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu from ''NeonGenesisEvangelion''. After the contact experiment with Unit 02, this fractured her psyche and led to her belief that the doll was Asuka. However, due to her psychotic nature, she decapitated at least one of the dolls and then committed a 'murder-suicide' with another. A young Asuka was the first to discover such a scene.

* In ''Videogame/BioShock'', one of the first female splicers run across is a mother who is increasingly desperate that her baby isn't moving. After she attacks you in a rage and you kill her, looking into the baby carriage reveals a handgun. Did we mention splicer's tend to be insane? For bonus points you can steal it and then shoot her with it.
* In TheSims2, a Family sim who falls into Aspiration Desperation will draw a face on a sack of flour and start cradling it/talking to it like it's a baby.
* In the WhatIf game [[VideoGame/DeadRising2 Dead Rising 2: Off The Record,]] Frank West finds a broken Chuck Greene who has gone crazy due of the trauma of having his daughter Katey die before the games events. He carries a Katey sized doll on his back and claims that it's his daughter and that he won't ever let anything happen to her. And yes, you have to fight him.

* In ''Videogame/BioShock'', one of the first female splicers run across is a mother who is increasingly desperate that her baby isn't moving. After she attacks you in a rage and you kill her, looking into the baby carriage reveals a handgun. Did we mention splicer's tend to be insane?
** For bonus points you can steal it and then shoot her with it.

[[AC:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Homer takes a quiz that indicates he's going to die and goes a little crazy. At the plant he's found "nursing" a doll (missing an arm). His theory is that if he's a mother he can't die.

* In ''FamiliarOfZero'', [[spoiler:Tabitha's mother drank a spiked drink meant for Tabitha, who is actually the next in line for the Galian throne. This resulted in her losing her mind and thinking that Tabitha's childhood doll was Tabitha herself, and that her daughter was an impostor sent to replace the doll. This leads to Tabitha leaving and adopting the name of her doll, Tabitha.]]

This trope is when a mother, in a delusion, thinks that a doll is her child. It can be caused by guilt due to ParentalAbandonment, trauma or artificial means. But no matter the means, the result is that the mother treats a doll as her child. If the real child is still around,
she may treat him as an impostor, for added irony and sadness. The best case scenario is that the mother is so wrapped up that she doesn't even realize that her real child is standing in front of her thinks that the child is a stranger. It can involve TheDollEpisode.

In ''Series/DesperateHousewives'', when Gaby [[spoiler: found out that her daughter had been exchanged when she gave birth, she started searching and found the other (her biological daughter)girl, and coming to realize that she couldn't keep her near her]] she bought an expensive doll and started to play with her, talk to her as real person, at first this is dismissed by the other characters, but when she and Carlos are about to go out, and arguing about the doll (which was in the back sit) [[spoiler:they get robbed and told to step out of the car, Gaby refuses to let the doll even tough the robber had a loaded gun, and tries to retrieve it, yelling "My daughter!"]]

This trope is when a mother, in a delusion, thinks that a doll is her child. It can be caused by guilt due to ParentalAbandonment, trauma or artificial means. But no matter the means, the result is that the mother treats a doll as her child. Whenever the real child interacts with his mother, she treats him as an impostor to take the place of her child, for added irony and sadness. The best case scenario is that the mother is so wrapped up that she doesn't even realize that her real child is standing in front of her and the mother thinks that the child is a stranger. It can involve TheDollEpisode.

ArtificialHumans and ReplacementGoldfish are different, as the original child is still alive. Also, being a LivingDollCollector is not this.

Examples:
* The UrExample is Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu from ''NeonGenesisEvangelion''. After the contact experiment with Unit 02, this fractured her psyche and led to her belief that the doll was Asuka. However, due to her psychotic nature, she decapitated at least one of the dolls and then committed a 'murder-suicide' with another. A young Asuka was the first to discover such a scene.

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', [[spoiler:Raine's mother Virginia has Soryu Syndrome due to the guilt of sending her and her brother Genius through the Otherwordly Gate and not being able to go through, too. Also, the loss of her husband (a human) didn't help. This results in her living in a house on Exile talking to a doll as if it were a 5-year-old Raine. The problem is that a now fully grown Raine is trying to get her to realize she [Raine] is her daughter. Unlike the other examples, Virginia isn't hostile to real Raine and is friendly but still doesn't recognize Raine as her daughter.]]

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', [[spoiler:Raine's mother has Soryu Syndrome due to the guilt of sending her and her brother Genius through the Otherwordly Gate and not being able to go through, too. Also, the loss of her husband (a human) didn't help. This results in her living in a house on Exile talking to a doll as if it were a 5-year-old Raine. The problem is that a now fully grown Raine is trying to get her to realize she [Raine] is her daughter. Unlike the other examples, the mother isn't hostile to real Raine and is friendly but still doesn't recognize Raine as her daughter.]]

* In ''TalesOfSymphonia'', [[spoiler:Raine's mother has Soryu Syndrome due to the guilt of sending her and her brother Genius through the Otherwordly Gate and not being able to go through, too. Also, the loss of her husband (a human) didn't help. This results in her living in a house on Exile talking to a doll as if it were a 5-year-old Raine. The problem is that a now fully grown Raine is trying to get her to realize she [Raine] is her daughter. Unlike the other examples, the mother isn't hostile to real Raine and is friendly but still doesn't recognize Raine as her daughter.]]

Also known as Soryu Syndrome. This trope is when a mother, in a delusion, thinks that a doll is her child. It can be caused by guilt due to ParentalAbandonment, trauma or artificial means. But no matter the means, the result is that the mother treats a doll as her child. Whenever the real child interacts with his mother, she treats him as an impostor to take the place of her child, for added irony and sadness. The best case scenario is that the mother is so wrapped up that she doesn't even realize that her real child is standing in front of her and the mother thinks that the child is a stranger. It can involve TheDollEpisode.

Also known as Soryu Syndrome. This trope is when a mother,in a delusion, thinks that a doll is her child. It can be cause by guilt due to ParentalAbandonment, trauma, or cause by Artificial means. But no matter the means the end result is that mother treats a doll as their child. This usually results in whenever the real child interacts with their mother they treat them as an imposter to take the place of their child for added irony and sadness. The best case scenario is that they are so wrapped up that they don't even realize that their real child is standing in front of them and thinks that they are a stranger. Can involve TheDollEpisode
Example that involve ArtificalHumans and ReplacementGoldfish are different as the original child is still alive. Also being a LivingDollCollector is not this.

Examples included:
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* The UrExample is Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu from NeonGenesisEvangelion After the contact experiment with Unit 02 this fractured her psyche and lead to her believing that dolls was Asuka. However due to her psychotic nature she decapitated at least one of the dolls and then committed a 'murder-suicide' with another. Of which a young Asuka was the first to discover such a scene.
* In FamiliarOfZero [[spoiler: Tabitha's mother drank a spike drink meant for Tabitha, who is actually the next in line for the Galian throne. This resulted in her losing her mind and thinking that Tabitha's childhood doll was Tabitha and that her daughter was imposter sent to replace the doll. This leads to Tabitha leaving and adopting the name of her doll. Tabitha.]]
* In TalesOfSymphonia [[spoiler: Raine's mother has Soryu Syndrome due to the guilt of sending her and her brother Genius through the Otherwordly Gate and not being able to go through too. Also the lost of her husband (a human) didn't help. This results in her living in a house on Exile talking to a doll as if it was a five year old Raine. The problem is that a now fully grown Raine is trying to get her to realize she is her daughter. Unlike the other examples she isn't hostile to real Raine and is friendly but still doesn't recognize her as her daughter.]]
* Joy from {{Psychoville}} has a doll called "Freddie" that she is convinced is her real child. She even steals blood from the hospital where she works to give Freddie transfusions.