History Main / PensieveFlashback

* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'': One episode has Azimuth use a hologram projector to show Ben, Gwen, and Kevin his past, particularly as it pertains to Old George and the Forever Knights. Gwen make the obvious connection to ''A Christmas Carol'', [[PopCulturalOsmosisFailure only for Azimuth to state that he's never heard of it]].

* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'': One episode has Azimuth use a hologram projector to show Ben, Gwen, and Kevin his past, particularly as it pertains to Old George and the Forever Knights. Gwen make the obvious connection to ''A Christmas Carol'', [[PopCultureOsmosisFailure only for Azimuth to state that he's never heard of it]].

* ''WesternAnimation/BenTenUltimateAlien'': One episode has Azimuth use a hologram projector to show Ben, Gwen, and Kevin his past, particularly as it pertains to Old George and the Forever Knights. Gwen make the obvious connection to ''A Christmas Carol'', [[PopCultureOsmosisFailure only for Azimuth to state that he's never heard of it]].

** ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'': In season 3, as Fisk reads through files on Dex to get his backstory, the events play out like a stage play going on in the penthouse, with Fisk acting as a silent observer.

There are a few ways that this can be achieved within the narrative, but the end result is that the character is now walking around in a representation of their or someone else's memories. This leads to moments of them echoing the audience by asking questions like "[[IHatePastMe Was I really like that?]]" or "[[UsedToBeASweetKid How did such a sweet kid become so cruel?]]" If it's their own memories and another person is in there with them, this fellow observer may berate them for their pathetic life choices or show them what they have to live for. In some cases the character may be dealing with FalseMemories, and so must use the details they're seeing to reconstruct the truth of their past.

The TropeNamer is the Pensieve, a magical object in the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' universe that allows characters to do just this.

** The Pensieve from which [[TropeNamer this trope gets its name]] allows people to relive or share memories in this manner.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'': When Ego takes a bite of ratatouille, he instantly thinks back to his mother making him ratatouille years ago. It's safe to assume that she's the reason why he became a food critic. And all of this is done without a line of dialogue.

%%Commented out examples are zero-context examples. Please do not re-add without adding context.

** Negi and Asuna use a spell to get an OutOfClothesExperience inside Negi's memories of the destruction of his DoomedHometown. "It's a lot quicker than talking", you see.
** Later in the [[MagicLand Magic world]], Rakan reveals a kind of [[{{Magitek}} technology]] that can read memories and turn them into a film reel, since Raken hates talking. This helped the drama considerably.

[[folder:Film — Animated]]

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]

* The title character in ''Film/Spider2002'', a mentally ill man, has Pensieve Flashbacks to his childhood in which he follows himself as a young boy play out a key drama in his life. We see alternately through the boy's point of view and the man's.

* The premiere of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' feature the team using videotape footage and a holographic computer simulation to recreate a laboratory explosion.

* In an episode from ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'', "[[Recap/BattlestarGalactica2003S03E17Maelstrom Maelstrom]]", a figure who looks like her enemy Leoben guides Kara "Starbuck" Thrace through flashbacks of her troubled relationship with her mother, in order to help her achieve closure and embrace her destiny.
* ''Series/Charmed1998'':

* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': In season 3, as Fisk reads through files on Dex to get his backstory, the events play out like a stage play going on in the penthouse, with Fisk acting as a silent observer.

* The ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' episode "Daphne Returns" had a couple of flashbacks of past Niles and Daphne moments, with present day Frasier and Niles observing.
** The best one is a memorable scene from older episode that Frasier finds ''so preposterous'' (largely due to a lack of context) that he ''denies it could have possibly happened.''

* Part of Ptonomy's mutant power in ''Series/Legion2017'' allows him to help others see their past from a different POV. Needless to say, when he helps David do this, things get weird.

* ''Series/LukeCage2016'': Misty Knight's reconstruction of crime scenes plays out in this way, with Misty seemingly standing at the scene like an invisible observer as the events enact themselves around her. More often than not, the scene then transitions to show that this is what Misty is seeing in her head as she studies crime scene pictures on the wall behind her desk.

* ''Series/TheSandman2022'': In "[[Recap/TheSandman2022S01E03DreamALittleDreamOfMe Dream a Little Dream of Me]]", Morpheus enters Johanna's dreams to find her current location. She's having a FlashbackNightmare, and Morpheus is shown as a bystander in the remembered scene, watching it unfold.

* ''Series/WandaVision'': In episode 8, Agatha casts a spell that allows her to view a few of Wanda's memories as a third-party observer. Wanda herself flips between being a third-party observer and a participant.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Psychics in ''Roleplay/WeAreAllPokemonTrainers'' can use their powers to allow people and Pokémon within a certain radius to see the memories of themselves and others as observers. Aura can be kneaded into the projection to get around the difficulties most Dark types have with this.
[[/folder]]

** In the episode [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E2TheReturnOfHarmonyPart2 "The Return of Harmony, Part 2"]], Discord shows Twilight one of these (using his RealityWarper abilities) to show her the [[RiddleMeThis riddle he gave her]] near the beginning of her quest, in order to reveal that [[spoiler:she was taking it the wrong way the whole time and he was JustToyingWithThem.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'', the Utroms show the Turtles and Splinter why and how they landed on Earth via virtual simulation pods. Then, Stockman hacks into the system and [[spoiler:Past-Shredder]] stops ignoring the Turtles.

* In ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', Negi and Asuna use a spell to get an OutOfClothesExperience inside Negi's memories of the destruction of his DoomedHometown. "It's a lot quicker than talking", you see. [[spoiler:Later in the [[MagicLand Magic world]], Rakan reveals a kind of [[{{Magitek}} technology]] that can read memories and turn them into a film reel, since Raken hates talking. This helped the drama considerably]].
* Caro's flashback in ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikers'' had her observing her past self. Also, the [[AllThereInTheManual sound stages]] had Hayate and Reinforce Zwei accessing the memories of the Book of Darkness on two separate occasions, allowing them to observe the past of the [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld Book of Darkness and the Wolkenritter]] with the first Reinforce to guide them.
* In ''Anime/FateStayNightHeavensFeel'', Ilya shares the memories of the creation of the Greater Grail to Shirou this way in order for him to project the Jeweled Blade of Zelretch needed to fight [[spoiler:Sakura]].

* In ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'', Syaoran picks up a magic book that shows him Kurogane's past. He is unable to close the book until he finishes watching Kurogane's youth, though he can't interfere.
%% Needs Context * This happens a few times in ''Manga/TwinSpica''.
* In ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'' a three-dimensional flashback is invoked during the climax of the story.
* Most of ''Anime/MillenniumActress'' is a variation of this. As the eponymous character tells her life story to a documentarian and his cameraman, the events are shown, with the two men as observers--and later, participants. Lampshaded when it cuts back to the present day interview-- and they're ''acting the flashback out''.
* Played with in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}''. [[spoiler:Itachi]] puts Sasuke in a Pensieve Flashback via [[MasterOfIllusion genjutsu]] to show him [[spoiler:the history of Madara Uchiha and the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan]] explaining what he wants out of Sasuke, but it later appears that his account [[UnreliableExpositor may not have been completely accurate]].
* ''Anime/{{Noein}}'''s Haruka does this all the time. Also, future badasses Karasu and Fukurou. And Yuu's mother, Miyuki Gotou, also did it once.

* ''Manga/TwentiethCenturyBoys'': The [[{{Cyberspace}} Bonus Stage]] in Friend Land is effectively a Pensieve Flashback to [[spoiler:the area and time period Kenji and his classmates grew up in]], albeit one where you can interact with the virtual people [[spoiler:and certain details are missing.]] This is played with in at least one scene where what appeared to be a genuine flashback only the audience sees [[TomatoSurprise is really just another visit to Bonus Stage]].
* Noah puts the Kaiba brothers through these during the Virtual Nightmare arc of ''Anime/YuGiOh''.
* In ''Anime/SandsOfDestruction'', while trapped in the Cave of Memories, Morte dreams of when [[spoiler:her brother told her he was leaving to join the Golden Lions]] and screams at her younger self to not let him go because he'll be killed; naturally, the memory doesn't hear her and simply plays out the way it originally happened. A later dream averts this, as she actually becomes her (even younger) self and is able to interact with the other characters in her dream.
* ''Anime/WhenMarnieWasThere'': When Hisako fills Anna in on Marnie's life story, we see Anna being present in the flashbacks.

* ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'': In one version of Hal Jordan's origin story, his ring does this so he can experience the final battle of his predecessor, Abin Sur.

* ''Fanfic/CindersAndAshesTheChroniclesOfKamenRiderDante'': Jorougumo's ability is bringing someone to their past and reliving it to realize a truth about themselves. We see this happen with Hoshi, where the trope gets played with. He recounts the events through his own eyes and not as a third party like other examples.

* The title character in ''Film/Spider2002'', a mentally ill man, has Pensieve Flashbacks to his childhood in which he follows himself as a young boy play out a key drama in his life. We see alternately through the boy's point of view and the man's.

%%* ''Film/TheBoondockSaints''.
%%* Used in ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove''.
%%* A few deleted scenes in ''Film/SecondhandLions''.

* Played with in ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar''. The audience is shown a flashback to Tony Stark's last conversation with his parents before their deaths, at the end of which the adult Tony is visible watching from a doorway -- then there's a ProsceniumReveal and it turns out that Tony is physically present in a holodeck simulation based on his memories.

* ''Film/{{Click}}'' features a UniversalRemoteControl which, among other features, allows Michael to rewind back to any point in his life. It's played for everything from comedy (when he checks out the "Making Of" bonus feature) to tear-jerker (replaying his last conversation with his father). Bonus points: it has a commentary track by Creator/JamesEarlJones.

* OlderThanRadio: Scrooge has these kind of flashbacks given to him by the Ghosts of Christmas in ''Literature/AChristmasCarol''.

* The title character of the ''Literature/AgentPendergast'' novels, [[EnlightenmentSuperpowers due to his studies in esoteric mental disciplines]], is able to mentally reconstruct and experience the past in his own mind.
* ''Literature/TheCurseOfM'', telepaths are capable of doing this, with varying levels of success. Done right, they can witness the memories of another as though they were actually there, but messing around with them usually drives the person they're reading insane.

* ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'':
** In "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS1E7ExPostFacto Ex Post Facto]]", it is normal on Badea to force murderers to relive the dying memory of their victims. [[spoiler:Subverted in the individual case of Tom Paris, where the memory was intentionally tampered as a method of a spy getting data to an enemy and frame a person who would leave the planet.]]
** The appropriately named episode "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS3E2Flashback Flashback]]" has a telepathy-induced flashback. The person whose memories they are has to act his role in them all along. Unique in that one of the characters observing the events wasn't there when they actually happened (In fact, she wasn't even born yet). It gets even weirder when the flashback somehow malfunctions (!?) and the characters in the flashback suddenly stop ignoring the observers and the flashbackee's asides to them. It's finally subverted, as the exact memory that's troubling the flashbackee isn't even his own, but planted there by a virus.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'':
** In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E14Tapestry Tapestry]]", Q offers Picard, hovering near death thanks to an old heart wound, the chance to relive the events surrounding his original heart injury and SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong. Q inserts himself into the flashback as a deliveryman at one point.
** ''TNG'' often uses the holodeck to recreate events or memories as an investigative aid. Troi has all the victims of subspace alien abduction in "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E5Schisms Schisms]]" relate their experiences and recreate the scenario on the holodeck.

* There was a short-lived ABC TGIF sitcom where two brothers had a {{Flashback}} to their childhood. It starts out played straight, but then the adult brothers enter the scene to argue "that's not how it happened" or some such. At the very end, the adults leave, but on the way out one decides to screw with the kids' heads by telling them "[[ItWasHisSled Darth Vader? Luke's father.]]"
* The sensory deprivation tank in ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' coupled with LSD and electrodes allowed Olivia to experience John Scott's memories as an observer in this manner.

* Series/{{House}} gets these in "Baggage" and, technically, in "Three Stories"
* ''Series/TheDeadZone'': In the TV series, some of Johnny Smith's visions work in this manner and he can even rewind or replay the vision in BulletTime to get a better perspective of the events he's seeing.
* ''Series/Charmed1998'':
** Pops up a few times, firstly in "A Paige from the Past" where Paige is sent back in time to her teenage years to relive her parents' last day. She becomes herself but Leo sits on the sidelines to guide her. A similar version happens later on when Paige takes Kyle Brody back to his childhood but he doesn't assume his younger self.
** Leo's vision quest in "Someone To Witch Over You" where he is shown flashbacks of his life with Chris as his guide.
** Phoebe takes another one in the episode "Generation Hex" where she sees all her past loves.

* ''Series/TheVampireDiaries''' Season 4 premiere has Elena experience a buried memory as though she's seeing it from outside her body.

* The premiere of ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' feature the team using videotape footage and a holographic computer simulation to recreate a laboratory explosion.

* In an episode of ''Series/HannahMontana'', after Miley and Jackson explain [[RashomonStyle their different interpretations]] of what's got Robbie Ray so worked up about them, they enter the flashback to see what happened. In the flashback, they find a bunch of birthday cards on the tape, making them realize that they forgot his 40th birthday.

* Part of Ptonomy's mutant power in ''Series/Legion2017'' allows him to help others see their past from a different POV. Needless to say, when he helps David do this, things get weird.
* ''Series/LukeCage2016'': Misty Knight's reconstruction of crime scenes plays out in this way, with Misty seemingly standing at the scene like an invisible observer as the events enact themselves around her. More often than not, the scene then transitions to show that this is what Misty is seeing in her head as she studies crime scene pictures on the wall behind her desk.
* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': In season 3, as Fisk reads through files on Dex to get his backstory, the events play out like a stage play going on in the penthouse, with Fisk acting as a silent observer.
* ''Series/TheSandman2022'': In "[[Recap/TheSandman2022S01E03DreamALittleDreamOfMe Dream a Little Dream of Me]]", Morpheus enters Johanna's dreams to find her current location. She's having a FlashbackNightmare, and Morpheus is shown as a bystander in the remembered scene, watching it unfold.
* ''Series/WandaVision'': In episode 8, Agatha casts a spell that allows her to view a few of Wanda's memories as a third-party observer. Wanda herself flips between being a third-party observer and a participant.
* ''Series/Warehouse13'' has Horace Westlake Frink's Bronze Baby Shoes, which "will 'walk' you through memories you seek if you concentrate on a question while holding them", but they carry the risk of trapping the user in their own memories. Best to bring someone else along as an anchor, preferably someone who didn't share the experience you're trying to remember.

* The Memory Maze in ''VideoGame/WildArms2'', which had [[spoiler:the Sword Magess, Anastasia]] guiding Ashley through her memories.

%% Needs Context * ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheSecondStory'' did this while going through the four fields on Disk 2.

* One of ''VideoGame/{{Fe}}'''s collectible item categories is the Silent Helmets, whose [[CrystalBall crystal orbs]] provide insight into the Silent Ones' backstory from a first-person view.
* In ''VideoGame/ReturnOfTheObraDinn'', the player character solves the mystery of what happened to the ''Obra Dinn'' by finding corpses and using the Memento Mortem to look into their last memories.

* The title character in ''Film/{{Spider}}'', a mentally ill man, has Pensieve Flashbacks to his childhood in which he follows himself as a young boy play out a key drama in his life. We see alternately through the boy's point of view and the man's.

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/{{Spider}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spider_pensieve_flashback.jpg]]]]

* ''LightNovel/{{Maoyu}}'': The Demon King is able to use memory-projecting lamps to great effect. Of course, they're a bit too easy to use, so sometimes HilarityEnsues... [[spoiler:Cue the Hero finding out she keeps a body pillow version of him for KissingWarmUp, incidentally revealing she's known what he looks like for a long time before they first met.]] More on point, the Demon King is able to use the Hero's memories to [[spoiler: point out some economic implications he'd never considered about how the different nations handle war time]] as well as share scenes from a dream [[spoiler: of peace that she holds close to her heart.]]

* In an episode from the 2000s ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'', "Maelstrom", a figure who looks like her enemy Leoben guides Kara "Starbuck" Thrace through flashbacks of her troubled relationship with her mother, in order to help her achieve closure and embrace her destiny.

* The appropriately named ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "Flashback" has a telepathy-induced flashback. Unique in that one of the characters observing the events wasn't there when they actually happened (In fact, she wasn't even born yet). It gets even weirder when the flashback somehow malfunctions (!?) and the characters in the flashback can suddenly see and react to the observers.
** The person whose memories they were had to act his role in them all along. The remembered people just stopped ignoring his asides and his "guest."
*** And it was subverted when the exact memory that was troubling the flashbackee isn't even his own, but planted there by a virus.
** Also on Voyager, in "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS1E7ExPostFacto Ex Post Facto]]", it is normal on Badea to force murderers to relive the dying memory of their victims. [[spoiler:Subverted in the individual case of Tom Paris, where the memory was intentionally tampered as a method of a spy getting data to an enemy and frame a person who would leave the planet.]]
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' did it in "Tapestry", when Q offers Picard, hovering near death thanks to an old heart wound, the chance to relive the events surrounding his original heart injury and SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong. Q inserts himself into the flashback as a deliveryman at one point.
** Also, TNG often used the holodeck to recreate events or memories as an investigative aid. Troi has all the victims of subspace alien abduction in "Schisms" relate their experiences and recreate the scenario on the holodeck.

* Pops up a few times in ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'', firstly in "A Paige From The Past" where Paige is sent back in time to her teenage years to relive her parents' last day. She becomes herself but Leo sits on the sidelines to guide her. A similar version happens later on when Paige takes Kyle Brody back to his childhood but he doesn't assume his younger self.

* In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode [[Recap/SupernaturalS02E21AllHellBreaksLoosePartOne "All Hell Breaks Loose, Part One" (S02, Ep21)]], the Yellow-Eyed Demon shows Sam how his mother died in a dream where they were both present, but unable to interact.

* Part of Ptonomy's mutant power in ''Series/Legion2017'' allows him to help others see their past from a different POV. Needless to say when he helps David do this things get weird.
* ''Series/{{Luke Cage|2016}}'': Misty Knight's reconstruction of crime scenes plays out in this way, with Misty seemingly standing at the scene like an invisible observer as the events enact themselves around her. More often than not, the scene then transitions to show that this is what Misty is seeing in her head as she studies crime scene pictures on the wall behind her desk.
* ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'': In season 3, as Fisk reads through files on Dex to get his backstory, the events play out like a stage play going on in the penthouse, with Fisk acting as a silent observer.
* ''Series/{{The Sandman|2022}}'', "[[Recap/TheSandman2022S01E03DreamALittleDreamOfMe Dream a Little Dream of Me]]": Morpheus enters Johanna's dreams to find her current location. She's having a FlashbackNightmare, and Morpheus is shown as a bystander in the remembered scene, watching it unfold.

[[folder:Web Comics]]