History Main / PhotographicMemory

* The drug from ''Film/{{Limitless}}'' grants this, but it wears off.

Eddie from ''Literature/TheSocietyOfSylphs'' has memorized all his books and can commit any image he sees to memory with a brief effort.

* Zahir Benumar/Zayn Hassan of ''Snare'' is a Recaller, a person genetically engineered to have absolute perfect recall of anything that he sees or hears. Unfortunately, he inherited this gift from a long-dead ancestor, and the culture that he was raised in sees people with talents derived from genetic engineering as demonspawn.
%%* 11-year-old prodigy Lucy [=McGowan=] in ''Thank You For All Things''.%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample

** Lesley and Gordon in ''A Cage of Butterflies'' both possess photographic memories that allow them to play chess without a chessboard. This may be the only nonviolent, memory-based, chess-related case of badassery.
** ''Deucalion'' also featured several main characters with the ability to recall every memory they ever had.

* Deaf heroine Echo, an [[Comicbook/TheAvengers Avenger]] and former lover of Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}, has this ability. Whether it's a mutant power or natural aptitude is never clearly defined.
* Barbara Gordon, the first ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} and ComicBook/{{Oracle}} in Franchise/TheDCU. This notably backfired for her, as she remembers every detail of her getting shot and paralyzed by the Joker.
* Franchise/{{Batman}} also has eidectic memory. This helps immensely with his detective work but it's also one of the reasons he has never moved on from his parents' murder.
** Unlike Barbara's, Bruce Wayne's photographic memory is an artificial one that uses the Mind Palace technique (though he prefers to visualize his memories as a deck of cards rather than as any place) taught to him by Ra's al Ghul, who also uses it. He's also taught this technique to some allies, including Nightwing.
* A minor DC character called Savant, who is mostly associated with the Bat-family, likewise has photographic memory. His character also experiences problems coming with it to downright {{Deconstruction}} levels of the trope. Because his memories do not become more vague with time, he has to rely on contextual information to sort out whether something he remembers happened last week or a year ago. Worse, when he experiences something traumatic, his memory of it is ''always'' as vivid as if it happened yesterday.
* Also from DC is Bart Allen, who was formerly Impulse, a former ''ComicBook/TheFlash'' and the second Kid Flash. He superspeed-read ''the entire San Francisco Public Library''. This makes him an exception to most speedsters, who are able to learn something at an accelerated speed (Wally once learned how to, and then did, construct a fully functioning steel bridge in a matter of minutes) but not capable of ''retaining'' those memories. Bart's ability may be limited to perfectly recalling what he ''reads''.
* Grunge from ''Comicbook/{{Gen13}}''.
* The [[InsectoidAliens blue bug]] Thraxan people (and by extension [[spoiler: Oliver Grayson and Grand Regent Thragg's offspring]]) in ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'' have eidetic memory as a racial trait, due to the fact that they have a life span of less than a year and need to learn everything quickly.
* A relatively minor villain in the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, the Comicbook/{{Taskmaster}}, takes this trope a step further with his "photographic reflexes" - if he sees something done, even on TV, he can easily replicate it regardless of complexity. He can pass as a master chef, use any fighting style, and even catch a bullet. The 2010 Taskmaster miniseries reveals that this comes at a cost. Copying so many moves has made him forget a lot of ''other'' memories - including those about his personal life, like the fact that [[spoiler:he used to be a SHIELD agent, the true origin of his photographic ability and that he has a hot SpicyLatina as a wife]].
* The ComicBook/RedSkull recalls verbatim conversations he had decades earlier. Justified, since his character is roughly based on Hitler, who seems to have had something like this in real life.
* {{Superman}} examples:
** During ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'', {{Superman}} lost his powers. One Year Later, he regained them and picked up a couple of new ones, including true photographic memory and superfast calculative processes (which he immediately uses in battle.) When the photographic memory first hits him, he can suddenly retroactively recall his entire life this way. UsefulNotes/{{The Silver Age|OfComicBooks}} and UsefulNotes/{{the Bronze Age|OfComicBooks}} Superman also had this power (Creator/AlanMoore once described his memory as being "vast enough to have every conceivable shape of snowflake precisely filed"), but the ComicBook/PostCrisis Superman did not, until this point.
** ''ComicBook/FinalCrisis'' included perhaps Superman's most impressive display of this power, when he's able to construct a replica of the fantastically complex Miracle Machine after only glimpsing it (using XRayVision and such to see its insides, of course) for a second.
* Averted in Comicbook/{{Transmetropolitan}} - Spider doesn't need a photographic memory, because this is TheFuture, and a camera is built into ''his glasses''. (Although there are pharmaceuticals that wire your nervous system up like a cellphone or grant you genetic traits like resistance to cancer, so maybe there is an eidetic memory pill...)

** Sage has a photographic memory as well as other powers. Also justified, as this is a mutant ability.
** X-Men founder and former headmaster Professor X has one as well, but an extremely weird one. He can transfer parts of his short term memory to his long term memory, getting a similar effect. At times it's indicated that telepaths have perfect memories because they can ''read their own minds''.[[note]]This is less efficient than Sage's power, because they have to actively ''look'' for any memories that've been forgotten or buried in a mental block (either self-constructed or by another telepath), but sometimes that's a good thing since you don't usually ''want'' to relieve your most traumatic memories.[[/note]]

* Marty Feldman's character in ''Film/TheAdventureOfSherlockHolmesSmarterBrother'' has ''phono''graphic memory -- he can exactly repeat anything he has ever heard.

** In the movie ''Film/TheBourneIdentity'', Jason Bourne glances at a map before wildly taking off through the streets, seemingly knowledgeable of exactly where he's going. Later, in a restaurant, he discusses his instant awareness of all the license plate numbers on cars parked outside (among several other things)--along with how his brain is able to parse the information he automatically retains into usefulness. He mentions that it's really weird that he can compute all those things in an instant, given that he does [[LaserGuidedAmnesia not even know his real name.]]

* Spoofed in ''Film/CarryOnSpying''. Agent Honeybutt has eyelids that actually make a shutter-click sound as she "photographs" things she sees.
* Christie seems to have this in ''Film/DOADeadOrAlive'' TheMovie. She manages to draw Helena's tattoo (the key to a vault) from memory having glimpsed it for less than a second, while in full motion, during a fight.
* The titular character from ''Film/DoctorStrange'' offhandedly claims to have photographic memory, which allows him to learn magic so fast. It also allows him to achieve multiple degrees at once.

-->'''Skyler:''' So what are you saying? You play the piano?
-->'''Will:''' No, not a lick. I mean, I look at a piano, I see a bunch of keys, three pedals, and a box of wood. But Beethoven, Mozart, they saw it, they could just play. I couldn't paint you a picture, I probably can't hit the ball out of Fenway, and I can't play the piano.
-->'''Skyler:''' But you can do my organic chem paper in under an hour.
* "Lord Nikon" from the movie ''Film/{{Hackers}}''.

* In the Soviet sci-fi film ''Film/MoscowCassiopeia'', the government is selecting exceptional teenagers for an interstellar mission on a slower-than-light ship to the a star in the Cassiopeia constellation. One of the teens is a smug kid who was chosen for his eidetic memory. He claims to be able to perfectly recall 10 pages of fine print after reading them once, a ChekhovsSkill that pops up a few times when it is needed.
* Franchise/{{Robocop}}, like Seven of Nine, has a hard drive in his head. As the CorruptCorporateExecutive remarks to TheDragon in ''Film/RoboCop1987'', "his memory is admissible as evidence!"
* Gillian Taylor from ''Film/{{Star Trek IV|The Voyage Home}}'' claimed to have photographic memory, and was able to remember a conversation she overheard between Kirk and Spock, which made her question what they were really up to.
* ''Film/{{Telefon}}'' (1977). Charles Bronson's KGB agent character has this ability, which comes in handy for memorising a top-secret list (only two copies exist) of {{Manchurian Agent}}s. Unfortunately this makes Bronson a ''third'' copy, and so his superiors give orders that he should be killed as soon as his mission is over.
* The {{biopic}} ''Film/TempleGrandin'' is a real life account of the life of Temple Grandin, quoted above. As she has said, her mind works like Google Images, and they have a scene in the film that shows just how that works. One of Temple's teachers remarks after Temple's favorite horse has died that we shouldn't remember him this way, but Temple proceeds to name off '''every single horse that looked like hers she has ever seen.''' Surprised, he asks her if she can bring everything she sees into her mind, even if it's something simple like a shoe (and not specific like horses that looked like hers) and she does the same thing again.
* The male lead in ''Film/{{Thoughtcrimes}}'' has true eidetic memory. At on point, his telepathic partner asks him to visualise a scene so that ''she'' can look through it searching for clues.
* Molly from ''Film/Molly1999'' perfectly remembers everything she reads. Before she didn't understand most of it, but thanks to the [[ThrowingOffTheDisability brain implant]], it all makes sense to her.

* A man in an ''Creator/IsaacAsimov'' short-story gains perfect memory through an experiment. He proceeds to blackmail people at work with the little details from the past that add up to new revelations about cheating spouses, stealing from accounts, etc. He becomes insufferable toward his girlfriend. The boss figures out what is going on and gives him an injection to neutralize the experiment. [[spoiler:Luckily it doesn't take. But it makes him humble again, and with his girlfriend's help he will proceed more cautiously in the future.]]

* ''Literature/{{Fahrenheit 451}}'' ends with [[spoiler: the main character joining a society where everyone is able to memorize an ''entire book''. They have to destroy the books after memorizing them to destroy all evidence. However, it's stated to be a technique that they promise to teach Guy, which implies that it's actually "total recall", since he only skimmed the book they need to him to remember.]]
* FBI investigator Will Graham, hero of Thomas Harris' novel and movie ''Literature/RedDragon'' and the man who first captured Hannibal Lecter, is explicitly identified as having eidetic memory. Lecter also exhibits such abilities.

* Lesley and Gordon in the Brian Caswell novel ''A Cage of Butterflies'' both possess photographic memories that allow them to play chess without a chessboard. This may be the only nonviolent, memory-based, chess-related case of badassery.
** Caswell's ''Deucalion'' series also featured several main characters with the ability to recall every memory they ever had.
* Christopher Boone, the 15-year-old hero of ''[[Literature/TheCuriousIncidentOfTheDogInTheNightTime The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time]]'' by Mark Haddon, possesses eidetic memory. However, this is somewhat justified by his autism spectrum disorder; autism is associated with slightly higher rates of savant syndrome.

* In the Literature/{{Discworld}} novel ''Literature/SmallGods'', the main character Brutha's photographic memory is eventually used to smuggle a large portion of the scrolls of an entire library inside his head. Because he's illiterate, he can't ''understand'' what they say, he just knows what the pages look like. It's implied that this is actually a case of a neurological disorder, justifying it somewhat.

* Girl detective Literature/CamJansen solves every case this way. Her real name is Jennifer; Cam is short for "The Camera".
** When taking a mental snapshot, she ''blinks like a shutter, and says,'' "Click."
* In Creator/PiersAnthony's SF novel ''Literature/Ghost1986'', the captain of a spaceship has this ability. To the level that, in a demonstration for an admiral, he is able to answer the question, "What is the third word of the second sentence in the first paragraph of Volume 128a of the Space Regulatory Code?" Mentally, he opens the book, flips the pages, reads the word, and replies, "Celestial."
* In Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'', security operative (and eventually Chief of Imperial Security) Simon Illyan has an artificial eidetic memory, due to a computer chip implanted in his brain. It should be noted that everyone else given such chips was eventually driven mad by the disconnect between their natural and artificial memories.

** Severian, the protagonist of ''Literature/BookOfTheNewSun'' series. The narrative comprises Severian's journal, but although he claims to remember everything flawlessly, a careful examination of the text reveals that he does not always record those recollections consistently, suggesting that he either ''does'' have flaws in his memory or is lying. Pratchett's Brutha above may be a ShoutOut, as a minor character in ''Small Gods'' is named Severian and both have a CrystalDragonJesus version of the Catholic Church. A precise invokation of the trope, as described in the introduction above, occurs in this passage:
--> I thought of the herd driven through Saltus and counted them from memory: one hundred and thirty-seven. Then there were the soldiers who had come singing up from Gyoll. The innkeeper had asked me how many there were and I had guessed at a figure, but I had never counted them until now. He might, or might not, have been a spy.
** Wolfe's ''[[Literature/SoldierOfTheMist Soldier]]'' novels are an inversion. The narrator, Latro, can only remember events up to one day in the past (a RealLife medical condition), and his journal (which again comprises the narrative) is a flawed substitute for his long-term memory.

** This is also how the Sight and soulgazing work for most wizards, allowing them to perfectly remember when they saw things as they really are. As Harry points out, in his line of work, that means he's got some ''really bad'' memories that will never grow dull with time. [[spoiler: At one point, he sees the true form of [[BrownNote the skinwalker]], and has to spend ''hours'' wrestling with the memory so that he isn't perpetually getting [[MindRape Mind Raped]] by what he saw.]]
* Franchise/StarWarsLegends:
** The characters [[Literature/TheThrawnTrilogy Winter Celchu]] and [[Literature/XWingSeries Kirtan Loor]] both have an ability that approaches this, if not meeting it. This being ''Star Wars'', though, it is referred to as "holographic" memory, which depending on the quality of the hologram is probably more accurate. Coincidentally (or not), both became Intelligence officers, though on different sides of the war. Winter can remember conversations verbatim, and she famously has the drawback of being unable to forget things she's seen ''at all'', so if she witnessed a tragedy she'd remember it as clearly twenty years later as she had the day after. (Winter being an [[DoomedHometown Alderaanian offworld at the time of Episode IV]], it gives her a certain melancholy.) She's also known to memorize the layout of Imperial facilities down to the millimeter, allowing her to provide ridiculously detailed maps for Rebel commandos who would later carry out a raid. Loor, meanwhile, could rattle off so many facts in succession that he would scare suspects into confessing (as they would assume that someone so knowledgeable must already have proof of their guilt anyway), but grew to rely overmuch on his memory, letting knowledge doing the work of actual intelligence and making assumptions. (He tried to overcome it when confronted with this flaw, but never quite managed it.)

* ''Literature/EndersShadow'': Bean has the real deal. It's explicitly stated that Bean can watch an entire video, and rewatch it in his mind to learn new details. [[spoiler:He's the result of his MadScientist uncle's crazy genetic experiments, gifting Bean with a raw intelligence that surpasses even ''Ender''.]] Bean even learns passwords by rewatching the blurred fingertips of the typist over and over again. And to be fair, at no point is this ever just waved off. Everyone aware of Bean's capabilities recognizes that Bean is far, far beyond them. And this takes place in a school designed to churn out [[{{Tykebomb}} tykebombs for command positions.]]

** Memories retrieved through Legilimency act as the above [[PensieveFlashback pensieve]] is described.

** A number of Heinlein's characters have amazing recall: in ''Literature/StrangerInAStrangeLand'', they even made a profession out of it (people with the ability were licensed as "Fair Witnesses" and anything they were willing to say they had heard or seen was assumed to be the truth). [[AuthorAvatar Lazarus Long]] also claimed to have memorized the logarithm tables and said he could learn a new language in one week, although his memory does degrade over time, especially since he's lived many centuries and keeps filling his head with new things.
* From M. A. Foster's ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._A._Foster#.22Ler.22_books The Book of the Ler,]]'' all of the ler (a forced evolution of humans) have this type of memory. They can also 'auto-forget', delete some or all of their memories.
* Creator/DavidWeber's ''Literature/{{Safehold}}'' series:
** Merlin. Justified, as being a RidiculouslyHumanRobot he presumably has a hard drive in his head. At one point on being shown a journal he'd like to read but doesn't have time to he glances at each individual page explicitly so he can recall the saved image and read that later.
** Aivah Pahrsahn also has eidetic memory due to a legacy of genetic engineering. Genetically engineering eidetic memory into children was a fad during the Twenty-First century and while it became less popular the genes remained int he population and eidetic memory is more common on Safehold than in reality.

** ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': Shallan has a version of this. She needs to concentrate on something in order to take it as a Memory (she uses the capital M to distinguish it from ordinary remembering), but once she does, it's there permanently and in perfect detail (though she can choose to forget it if she no longer needs it--usually after making a drawing of the Memory, since she's a sketch artist). Notably, when she takes a Memory and then draws a picture of it, the picture will show the normally invisible Cryptics. ''Literature/WordsOfRadiance'' implies that most, if not all, Lightweavers posses these abilities.

* Zahir Benumar/Zayn Hassan of ''Snare'' is a Recaller, a person genetically engineered to have absolute perfect recall of anything he sees or hears. Unfortunately, he inherited this gift from a long-dead ancestor, and the culture he was raised in sees people with talents derived from genetic engineering as demonspawn.
* 11-year-old prodigy Lucy [=McGowan=] in ''Thank You For All Things''.
* Every Mentat in the Franchise/{{Dune}} series possesses this skill. The Bene Gesserit Reverend Mothers on the other hand have the memories of all their female ancestors going back to prehistory.
** In the prequel novels, it's even mentioned that the Reverend Mother designated with overseeing their breeding program doesn't keep any written or electronic records, instead keeping all the information in her Other Memory.
* Literature/TimeScout's Brian Henrickson remembers everything he's ever read. He's the Time Terminal's librarian.

* The main character in ''Literature/TheOwling'' has an eidetic memory, being able to instantaneously recall anything she’s ever seen, heard, or experienced in her lifetime at will. She [[spoiler: loses this ability later]] in the series’ second book, which sucks for the plot but [[FridgeHorror might be a relief to the character.]]

* [[LadyOfWar Neda Pathkendle]] in ''Literature/TheChathrandVoyages'' has this; she originally only had a very good normal memory, but her witch mother cast a spell on her when she was a teenager to enhance her strongest natural aptitude, granting her this instead- with the caviat that there are times she's basically sucked into her own memory and can't stop her mind from replaying past events, no matter how painful (her younger brother [[GuileHero Pazel]] was affected by the spell too, in a different way- [[CunningLinguist always good with languages]] he became an {{Omniglot}}, with the caviat that every so often he'll have a "mind fit" that renders him incapable of using or understanding language at all for several hours).
* In ''Literature/ThePowderMageTrilogy'', Inspector Adamat has an eidetic memory. In this case, it is an explictitally magical ability, called a Knack in universe, that allows him to recall anything he's ever seen, done or heard. It (unsurprisingly) makes him an extremely effective inspector and detective, as he is able to [[SherlockScan glance at things quickly]] and examine them in perfect detail later, as well as perfectly recall everyone he meets and exactly what they say.

* Ronnie Cleveland in Literature/FlightToTheLonesomePlace has a problem when people think he understands more than he knows due to his memory that they used once before.

* In the ''Literature/TheMysteriousBenedictSociety'' books, both George "Sticky" Washington and the titular Nicholas Benedict have this. Rhonda Kazembie, one of Benedict's assistants, likely has it as well. Also, although it is never directly stated, the BigBad of the series, Ledroptha Curtain, may have it as well, as he is also a genius who just so happens to be Benedict's long lost identical twin.

* Peter Clines's ''Literature/TheFold'' features Mike Erikson who has powers of total recall and analysis due to the "ants" in his head. Mike is short for [[spoiler:his childhood nickname of [[Characters/SherlockHolmes Mycroft]]]]. He's sent to audit the Albuquerque Door: a DARPA research project in teleportation, because the people involved in the project [[ClassifiedInformation refuse to share information]], so Mike is a HiddenInPlainSight method of smuggling the information out.
* Thomas Cromwell in ''Literature/WolfHall'' is a somewhat more realistic case. Cromwell picked up a "system" as a young soldier in Italy wherein one can remember things with precision by associating them with specific sensory experiences, and this plays out in how Cromwell's memories of past events are tied to specific objects and experiences (i.e. a type of fabric). Cromwell has also memorized several texts, including the Bible in Latin and in one scene, inquires about resuming a chess game started several years previously, offering to place the pieces precisely where play left off.[[note]]Although he said that mostly for effect; really he'd be placing pieces from how he remembers the man's ''style'' of play.[[/note]] Maybe that's why he never forgets any insult, ever.

* ''Literature/SherlockHolmesAndDoctorWasNot'': Dr. Amelia Van Helsing possesses this quality in "The Locked Cell Murder". Holmes comments on how useful it is in their of work, and has her memorise the guards' files and recite the facts back to him as he needs them.

* In Literature/TheMillenniumTrilogy, this is one of the unique traits of Lisbeth Salander, the girl with the dragon tattoo.

* Alsion, the main character of Literature/DifferentlyMorphous has an eidetic memory so perfect that it was confused for a magical talent.
* Creator/{{Robert Silverberg}}'s "The Man Who Never Forgot" follows the life of a man who cannot forget anything, and has perfect recall of those memories. It's more or less about his journey from realizing what a great gift it is, to realizing how little use he gets from it, to seeing it as a curse and considering ending his life, to finding out his grandfather had the same gift and deciding that he needs to be sure he passes this on to his own descendants because others will be able to use it better.

* Kat from ''Series/{{Alphas}}''.
** This is when it comes to Muscle Memory, her actual memory resets every month but still retains her Muscle Memory.
* Subverted on ''Series/{{Angel}}'', when Angel is asked if he remembers the code for a door, and replies "Hello? Photographic memory." He then gets the code wrong on the first try. He does demonstrate photographic recall on another occasion. He also says that he doesn't have it all the time, only when he actively tries.

* Gibson Kafka, a bartender on the short-lived ''Series/BirdsOfPrey2002'', has eidetic memory as his metahuman ability.

** Also not limited to visuals. He is shown in ''100'' repeating a recently-heard conversation word-for-word, on fast forward - in which it sounds less as though he has deliberately memorised the conversation, and more as though he is listening to it over again, and repeating the words as he hears them.
* Max Guevara, from ''Series/DarkAngel'', was able to translate the dial tone on speed dial into numbers.

** The Eleventh Doctor has a photographic memory which he uses to find Prisoner Zero in his first episode and stop River from killing him in "Let's Kill Hitler". It is worth noting that the Doctor is in fact an alien, and that his race is perhaps the most technologically advanced in the entire universe. The contents of his mind are more than a human brain can handle.
** Among the Doctor's companions, this was a frequently displayed ability of the Second Doctor's companion Zoe (who was trained to do it), and an InformedAbility of the Sixth & Seventh Doctor's companion Mel.

** Scorpius possesses a phenomenal memory, capable of recalling wormhole equations he saw for less than a second.
** "The Ugly Truth" has the protagonists being captured and questioned by the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Plokavians]]. As this trait is their [[PlanetOfHats Hat]], they assume the vast deviations in their RashomonStyle recollection of events is deliberate falsehood.
* An episode of ''Series/{{Flashpoint}}'' revolved around a man with this ability, but who considered it CursedWithAwesome. Not only did it get him coerced by the villains of the piece into memorizing secret documents for them, but the sheer volume of memories he'd accumulated had become so overwhelming that he'd retreated into total seclusion to avoid building more of them.
* Olivia Dunham from ''Series/{{Fringe}}'', specifically an ability to recall numbers. [[spoiler: Olivia's counterpart from the alternate universe does not have this talent and has to put in serious effort to fake it while undercover as the main Olivia.]]

* Lexie Grey from ''Series/GreysAnatomy'', who has diagnosed at least two patients's incredibly obscure diseases based off reading old and obscure medical journals, and she aced her residency exam. She picks up the well-earned nickname of "Lexipedia".
* Rico on ''Series/HannahMontana'' has a photographic memory, which explains why he skipped several grades.
* Charlie Andrew has this as her superpower on ''Series/{{Heroes}}''. [[spoiler: And since Sylar kills her to steal this power, it can be assumed he has this now.]]
** Except [[spoiler:Hiro changes the past, so Sylar no longer has this power]].
* Most Immortals on the TV series ''Series/{{Highlander}}'' were shown as possessing total recall. Methos was the exception because of MySkullRunnethOver due to his being 5000 years old, and apparently unable to clearly remember anything before then.

* Played with in an episode of ''Series/{{House}}''. The patient has eidetic memory, being able to recall every single memory of hers in perfect detail, right down to a customer she only saw once months ago with another man, crying over something or keeping a terribly strained relationship with her sister, ''because'' she remembers all the mistakes or fights they had growing up. [[spoiler: As it turns out, her great memory is not simply a great memory, but it's a mixture of a disease and [=OCD=] and the treatment will likely result in her memory becoming as hazy as most people's.]]
* Adam Rove, from ''Series/JoanOfArcadia''.
* Hideyuki Kagawa/Alternative Zero in ''Series/KamenRiderRyuki'' had a photographic memory, which he could use to memorise (and therefore counter) attack patterns in rival Riders. However, he sees it as something of an annoyance: after catching an accidental glimpse of Shiro Kanzaki's plans, he is unable to forget about them, which, as he sees Kanzaki's plans as flawed and unethical, practically forces him to do something about it.

* Malcolm from ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' recalls every item stolen from a home robbery after inadvertently abetting the thief. Much to the chagrin of the victims, who were counterfeiters.
** In a different episode he looked at two credit cards for a few seconds, remembered the numbers perfectly, then performed math using the numbers on them.

* An early episode of ''Series/MissionImpossible'' revolves around a "guest spy" with eidetic memory, which he demonstrates by flipping through a phone book, then reciting a random page. Subsequent episodes reveal that Rollin and especially Cinnamon are able to memorize scads of information in a short span of time, but it's not implied that they have eidetic memory.
** "The Mind of Stefan Miklos" featured a KGB operative with an eidetic memory, sent to the U.S. to contact a defecting CIA agent and verify the accuracy of the information he's selling. Phelps and his team had to pull off a ridiculously complex series of con games in order to trick the guy.

* Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell, from ''Series/PrisonBreak'', claims to have photographic memory. Charles "Haywire" Patoshik does, in fact, possess eidetic memory.
* Shawn Spencer from ''Series/{{Psych}}'', another Creator/USANetwork show, has a true photographic memory, being able to recall old memories and see new details in them. He also has an uncanny ability to remember several long serial numbers after nothing but a glance. This is coupled together with HyperAwareness to make him able to notice and remember pretty much everything.

** It's implied that this ability was developed thanks to his father putting him through TrainingFromHell in order to prepare him for a future career as a cop. Too bad Shawn had other ideas.
* Early 00s show ''Push Nevada'' had the protagonist playing chess without a board against two convicts.
* ''Series/QuantumLeap'': Sam has an eidetic memory, which may derive from his Doc Savage-inspired character; this was stated in the episode "Catch A Falling Star". In the episode "Trilogy Part 3", season 5 episode 10, he also says, "I have a photographic memory," approximately two-thirds through the episode.

* Luke Smith from ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' displays the ability to remember incredibly long number sequences - in ''Mona Lisa's Revenge'', he is explicitly stated to have an eidetic memory. A JustifiedTrope due to the fact that he was engineered by the Bane to have SuperIntelligence.
* Sylvester on ''Series/{{Scorpion}}''. In one episode, they're shown playing a game called "Move Sylvester's Stuff" where they slightly change things on his desk while he's blindfolded and he has to determine what's been changed.
* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' is revealed to be able to remember anything, provided he can find it in his “memory palace."
** Charles Augustus Magnussen, the villain of series three, might just have Sherlock beat. He's a professional blackmailer who can recall the "pressure point" of anyone important in a few seconds. [[spoiler: Rather than using hard copies, he simply has all his leverage memorised and tucked away in his own mind palace.]]
** The same trick is used by Patrick Jane in ''Series/TheMentalist''; it is explicitly the result of considerable training and practice, not an innate ability.

* Ichabod of ''Series/SleepyHollow'' specifically claims to have "eidetic memory" -- Abby says he has "photographic memory", but he obviously wouldn't refer to it that way since [[FishOutOfTemporalWater he's from a pre-photography era]]. ([[AnachronismStew Too bad "eidetic" wasn't used in this sense until well into the 20th century...]])
* Seven of Nine from ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. She is, however, a cyborg. The Doctor also suspected that Kes had an eidetic memory as well when she remembered details about her medical studies easily (Justified in that hers is a very short-lived species, and they ''have'' to learn quickly).
* Mike Ross of ''Series/{{Suits}}'' remembers every word of every book he's ever read and every fact he's ever come across. Before he got into the fake lawyering gig he used to memorize tests and sell the answers. It's what got him kicked out of school.
** A few times we're shown him recalling (in black-and-white, for some reason) a scene in order to quickly notice an obscure detail he missed, such as the picture of Louis's nephew that just happened to be hanging in the Harvard admissions office when Mike came in to ask about a tour.
* The terminators in ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'', notably [[RobotGirl Cameron]] who can even go so far as to re-enact a person's tone of voice and [[UncannyValley body language]].
--> '''Cameron:''' You saw it right? You saw it? It's so freaking big and all out there!

** Mozzie. He calls it "perfect recall."

* ''Series/TheXFiles'': Fox Mulder claimed to have an eidetic memory. It was first mentioned in season 1 when he talked with his ex from Oxford.
-->'''Phoebe Green:''' Unless I'm mistaken, ten years seems like sufficient time to have forgiven, if not forgotten, a few youthful indiscretions.
-->'''Mulder:''' I'm cursed with a photographic memory.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''

* In ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' Photographic Memory is flawless and effortless while Eidetic Memory requires an IQ roll (hard thinking) to work properly.
** At least in some editions (e.g. 3rd) it can also verge on being a bit of a GameBreaker because it cuts the cost of "regular" (non-magic or -psi) mental skills simply in half or even down to one-quarter normal. This can be balanced to some extent by starting point totals (Eidetic Memory itself isn't cheap) and by how much emphasis the campaign puts on using ''physical'' skills like just about all combat ones as well.

* In ''TabletopGame/MutantsAndMasterminds'', the Eidetic Memory feat allows one to, in addition to having perfect recall, resist mind-wiping attempts more easily.
* In the ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'', Eidetic Memory (of the remember anything you've ever bothered to variety) is a 2-Dot merit. For reference a starting PC gets a free 7 dots of merits, making this an extremely useful merit that is picked up by nearly EVERY non-physical character, and several physical. Along with this is Encyclopedic Knowledge, where a character is entitled to a roll to know anything through random happenstance. As this is a 4-Dot merit, it's quite common for a person to pick up both of these at character creation to have a character who remembers everything that has happened to him and some things that didn't.
** In ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'', one of the abilities available to advanced members of the Mysterium (collectors of magical lore) is the ability to have an Eidetic Memory for any facts related to the Mysterium (which depending on ST interpretation, can be a fairly broad definition).
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Nobilis}}'', the Aspect score governs memory (as well as general physical and mental ability). At Aspect 2, characters can remember everything they've ever seen or heard, though weaker characters can easily gain this advantage temporarily if necessary. At Aspect 6, characters are capable of memorizing ''everything ever written''.
* Photographic Memory is an Epic Intelligence Knack in ''TabletopGame/{{Scion}}''. The "look at something once and remember it forever" version of this is justified in that, well, the person with the trait is either a god-in-training or some other variety of supernatural being. This gets downright vicious when combined with Scire (the Atlantean Purview) or other "learn something and then forget it" powers - normally you forget what you learn from these powers when they wear off, but the book specifically states you ''don't'' if you have Photographic Memory.
* The ''TabletopGame/UnknownArmies'' sourcebook distinguishes between "photographic memory" and "eidetic memory", defining them for the purposes of the game as (respectively) the ability to consciously look at a scene for a moment and recall everything about it, and the ability to recall the gist of anything they have ever read.

* The [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter Aeslin mice]] in ''Literature/InCryptid'' have this as their [[SpeciesOfHats species hat]]. They also have an AnimalReligion based around worshipping the human Price family (the main characters). Since they never forget anything (often making up new rituals and holy days to commemorate mundane events), they're very useful as a living history of the family, and a single mouse is sent with [[spoiler:Antimony]] when she goes undercover, to serve as a black box and tell the family what happened if she doesn't make it back.

* The title character in the story ''Funes the Memorious'' by Creator/JorgeLuisBorges. This character's more-than-photographic memory(it captures not only images, but sounds, words, smells, temperature sensations, and everything else he experiences) is accompanied by heightened senses, which make it difficult for him to sleep or communicate normally(since he can remember everything precisely as it was, he hardly needs language to make generalizations). It's ambiguous whether he's BlessedWithSuck or better off than the rest of us. Although Funes often brags about his ability and thinks that everyone else lives in a shadowy PlatonicCave dream-world, he also compares his memory to a garbage heap.

* Brother Blood from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', implied to be a side-effect of his PsychicPowers. After looking at Cyborg's blueprints, he was able to months later not only copy the technology, but adapt it to various weapons ({{BFG}}s, robot armies, [[BodyHorror himself]].)

* In ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManTheAnimatedSeries'', Felicia Hardy's father was a notorious cat burglar with a photographic memory. As a youth he was duped by the ComicBook/RedSkull into spying on the SuperSoldier project that created ComicBook/CaptainAmerica and he memorized the SuperSerum formula. When he was later tried for his crimes, ComicBook/NickFury took him into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody to keep the secret safe. Even decades later he remembers the formula perfectly.
* Aquamarine from ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse' claims to have one (which is backed up by the fact that she remembered the six varieties of humans she was tasked with bringing back), but only brings it up to ask a rhetorical question.

* Prince Callum of ''WesternAnimation/TheDragonPrince'' has a perfect ''visual'' memory. Not only does this serve him well as an artist - he's able to accurately sketch a view of a room he hasn't seen in months - it also comes in handy in his endeavors as a self-taught mage, letting him perfectly recreate magic runes after only seeing them once.

-->'''Col. Ivanod Spigot:''' Where were you at 10:00 AM on May 21st...8 years ago?
-->'''Wildcat:''' I was at the bowling alley with Kirby and Dutch. Kirby bowled a 300, I got nothing but gutter balls and Dutch drank a chocolate shake.
-->'''Col. Ivanod Spigot: '''Hmmm... and where were you this morning?
-->'''Wildcat:''' I don't remember.

* ''WesternAnimation/UltimateSpiderMan'': Taskmaster boasted that he could easily navigate a dark room with his Photographic Memory, only to find that Spider-Man and White Tiger moved everything in the room after turning off the lights.

* In Creator/PiersAnthony's SF novel ''Ghost'', the captain of a spaceship has this ability. To the level that, in a demonstration for an admiral, he is able to answer the question, "What is the third word of the second sentence in the first paragraph of Volume 128a of the Space Regulatory Code?" Mentally, he opens the book, flips the pages, reads the word, and replies, "Celestial."

* In Elizabeth Vaughan's ''Chronicles of the Warlands'' series, everyone native to The Plains has this. These people have no need for written language, since they can perfectly recall oral lessons as long as they pay attention. In ''Destiny's Star'', the character Bethral reveals that she has this too because her mother was from The Plains. The elderly character Wild Winds discovers he's losing his perfect memory, possibly indicating he's developing Alzheimer's. The people of The Plains often poke fun at other people for having "poor memories", like when they discover the city-dweller Ezren can't play chess in his head like they can.

* The main character in ''The Owling'' has an eidetic memory, being able to instantaneously recall anything she’s ever seen, heard, or experienced in her lifetime at will. She [[spoiler: loses this ability later]] in the series’ second book, which sucks for the plot but [[FridgeHorror might be a relief to the character.]]

* Hiroshi from ''Anime/OddTaxi'' has this, after seeing a person's face once, he never forgets them and can recognize their appearance even in a mask, from behind, or in a large crowd.

* The [[InsectoidAliens blue bug]] Thraxan people (and by extension [[spoiler: Oliver]]) in ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'' have eidetic memory as a racial trait, due to the fact that they have a life span of less than a year and need to learn everything quickly.

* The blue Bug people (and by extension [[spoiler: Oliver]]) in ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'' have eidetic memory as a racial trait, due to the fact they have a life span of less than a year and need to learn everything quickly.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* Ichikawa from ''Manga/{{Akagi}}'' has trained himself to this as regards to {{TabletopGame/Mahjong}}, and is able to recall perfectly every single draw and play done during any particular round. It allows him to play the game while blind.

** According to the [[LongRunner eighth movie]], not only does Conan remember everything in crystal detail, but he can even rewind the last twenty-or-so minutes of film to let his eidetic memory take over in order to solve the murder. So he's got... what, a ''cinematographic'' memory?

* It's implied that Hiruma from ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}'' has this kind of memory. It's particularly noticeable when he's playing Black Jack in a casino and memorized every single card that was taken from the deck and winning that way, or when Mamori creates review sheets for hand signals. Before she gives it out to the team, Hiruma snatches it away, flips through it, and then burns it. When Mamori says that Hiruma didn't even read it, Hiruma demonstrates that he did memorize it by sending her a message that "the team manager secretly ate all the cream puffs."

* The titular character from ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'' offhandedly claims to have photographic memory, which allows him to learn magic so fast. It also allows him to achieve multiple degrees at once.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'':

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* In the Literature/WhateleyUniverse, Carmilla (Sara Waite) has eidetic memory. This is because she's not human: she's mostly demon, and her cellular structure is closer to a living cancer than anything else modern medicine knows about. She knows how many grains of salt were spilled on the table that morning, etc.

* Ben Tennyson of the ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' franchise has photographic memory as he was able to remember the runes on the Door to Anywhere after seeing them just once. He does not apply his photographic memory to schoolwork though.
* Jimmy Neutron from ''WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutronBoyGenius''.
* ComicBook/LexLuthor on ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Unlimited'', as revealed in the episode "Panic in the Sky".
-->'''Batman:'''...and I suspect you have a photographic memory.

* Brother Blood from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', implied to be a side-effect of his PsychicPowers. After looking at Cyborg's blueprints, he was able to months later not only copy the technology, but adapt it to various weapons ({{BFG}}s, robot armies, [[BodyHorror himself]]...)

* In ''WesternAnimation/SpidermanTheAnimatedSeries'', Felicia Hardy's father was a notorious cat burglar with a photographic memory. As a youth he was duped by the ComicBook/RedSkull into spying on the SuperSoldier project that created ComicBook/CaptainAmerica and he memorized the SuperSerum formula. When he was later tried for his crimes, ComicBook/NickFury took him into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody to keep the secret safe. Even decades later he remembers the formula perfectly.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Outsider}}'', the Loroi's Listel caste is dedicated to data acquisition and analysis, and eidtic memory is a common trait among them. Beryl, the one Loroi from this caste introduced so far in the story, tells Alex that she can recall every word he's said in her presence since being rescued by the Loroi.

* ''Manga/DetectiveConan'':
** According to the [[LongRunner eighth movie]], not only does Conan remember everything in crystal detail, but he can even rewind the last twenty-or-so minutes of film to let his eidetic memory take over in order to solve the murder. So he's got... what, a ''cinematographic'' memory?
** Heiji has shown himself to have an eidetic memory, capable of remembering complex letter and number sequences at only a glance, such as when he was able to solve a code in his head during the "Heiji and Kazuha in Grave Danger" arc, and even reproduce another message using the same code to text to Conan.
** Shuikichi Haneda is extremely skillful at memorizing, as shown when he managed to remember the code written on Sakurako's paper despite having only seen it for a very short amount of time. He also claims to be the best in this field.

* ''Literature/TheExecutioner''. {{Vigilante}} Mack Bolan has an eidetic memory, which proves useful when he's infiltrating a mob family -- he can relate a minor detail about someone's life to convince them they've met before (as the more [[ProfessionalKiller elite mob killers]] use plastic surgery it doesn't seem strange that Bolan's face is unfamiliar).

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]

* {{Seer}}s in ''Fanfic/WarriorsRedux'' need photographic memories (or near photographic memories) in order to recall all the details they do.

* [[https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20171108-the-woman-who-cant-forget Rebecca Sharrock]], a woman from New Jersey, can remember things from when she was [[ExaggeratedTrope a week old.]]

* Chimpansese [[https://youtu.be/ktkjUjcZid0?t=40 are shown]] to have a way better short-term memory than humans. It's been theorized that our common ancestors also had this ability but humans lost it because the development of language took up that space in our brains.

* The terminators in Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles, notably [[RobotGirl Cameron]] who can even go so far as to re-enact a person's tone of voice and [[UncannyValley body language]].

* Peter Clines's ''Literature/TheFold'' features Mike Erikson who has powers of total recall and analysis due to the "ants" in his head. Mike is short for [[spoiler:his childhood nickname of [[Characters/SherlockHolmes Mycroft]]]]. He's sent to audit the Albuquerque Door: a DARPA research project in teleportation, because the people involved in the project [[ClassifiedInformation refuse to share information]], so Mike is a HiddenInPlainsight method of smuggling the information out.