History Main / TraumaInducedAmnesia

* Happens to [[spoiler: Ran Mouri]] in one of the ''Manga/CaseClosed'' {{Non serial movie}}s, ''Captured in her Eyes'', after [[spoiler: she not only catches a clear view of the murderer but is almost shot to death by him and the other local ActionGirl Satou [[TakingTheBullet takes FOUR bullets for her]].]] The victim spends a good part of the movie in an HeroicBSOD, barely able to take care of herself and others, and the trope is lampshaded as her doctor says she might be afraid to recover her memories due to the events that made her go amnesiac. [[spoiler: She doesn't recover until the BigBad tries to kill both her and Conan ''in exactly the same way''; she reacts by [[BadassBoast loudly declaring her martial arts expertise]] and curbstomping her rival.]]

* In ''Fanfic/TheBridge'', Monster X's horrifying experiences prevent him from remembering the life he once had with his wife and parents before he was transformed into a Kaiju. The trauma in question being [[spoiler: fighting Grand King Ghidorah, seeing his wife die in front of him, transforming into Kaizer Ghidorah, and mass psychic whiplash that split his mind into two personalities, X and Kaizer]]. The author even referenced this trope by name while describing him.

* ''Fanfic/WithPearlAndRubyGlowing'': WesternAnimation/{{Daffy|Duck}} has large gaps in his memory due to him blocking out memories of neglect, bullying, and sexual abuse. This is represented in the text with [[PaintingTheMedium blacked-out text only viewable by highlighting.]]

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]

* In ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'', [[spoiler: the protagonist has this caused by his guilt over killing his wife, even though it was a MercyKilling]].

* On the ''WebVideo/DreamSMP'', Ghostbur (the spectral form of Wilbur) has dissociative amnesia (selective memory loss)--he [[GhostAmnesia only recalls positive memories of his life]], and only forms new memories when he's happy. It's heavily implied that this memory loss is likely not (entirely) caused by him being a ghost, but more due to the {{trauma|CongaLine}} he'd endured as "Alivebur", which his brain responded to by blocking out negative or traumatic memories.

* Nina Fortner/[[spoiler: Anna Liebert]] has forgotten most of the memories of her TraumaCongaLine childhood when she is introduced in ''Manga/{{Monster}}''. [[spoiler: And when she remembers, [[BreakTheCutie the effect is devastating enough]] to get her almost DrivenToSuicide.]]

* On the ''LetsPlay/DreamSMP'', Ghostbur (the spectral form of Wilbur) has dissociative amnesia (selective memory loss)--he [[GhostAmnesia only recalls positive memories of his life]], and only forms new memories when he's happy. It's heavily implied that this memory loss is likely not (entirely) caused by him being a ghost, but more due to the {{trauma|CongaLine}} he'd endured as "Alivebur", which his brain responded to by blocking out negative or traumatic memories.

* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'', the protagonist Raiden only finds out near the end of the game that [[spoiler:he's a former child soldier, which he has repressed his memories of.]]

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'';

** Played realistically in ''VideoGame/Persona4'', where the kidnapping victims you rescue from the TV world typically have hazy memories of the ordeal, mostly due to stress and exhaustion[[note]]Shadows aren't the only dangerous thing about the TV world; the fog that constantly hangs over the place can actually make a person ill after a while (at least until they build up a resistance)[[/note]]. In ''[[UpdatedRerelease Golden'' [[spoiler:the good ending reveals that Nanako (the protagonist's younger cousin/surrogate little sister) remembers almost nothing from either her kidnapping or her time in the TV world, only that Big Bro and his friends had saved her from something.]] Naoto voices the opinion that this is probably for the best.

* ''Webcomic/NaruHinaChronicles'': A massive bomb detonation leads everyone to believe Naruto is dead. [[DisneyDeath He shows up on Suna's doorstep nine days later]] with massive holes in his memory - he cannot remember those nine days, plus other little facts like Sai's name or how to get back to Konoha. Some of the details slowly fill in, but [[ChekhovsGun a whole and complete picture of what happened in the Land of Steel raid is yet to be forthcoming]].

* In the NBC series ''Series/{{Awake}}'', Detective Britten cannot remember what happened before the car accident that killed either his wife or son, depending on which reality he's in.

** In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E29NightmareAsAChild Nightmare as a Child]]", Helen Foley [[spoiler: has repressed memories of, as a child, being burned and witnessing a criminal killing her mother - When she gains her memories back, she realizes that her male visitor Peter Selden is the criminal and that he is trying to kill her.]]
** In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E67TheArrival The Arrival]]", Grant Sheckly was so traumatized by his failure to solve the mystery of Flight 107's disappearance that he repressed his memory of it. It eventually returned in the form of an illusion.

** Played realistically in ''VideoGame/Persona4'', where the kidnapping victims you rescue from the TV world typically have hazy memories of the ordeal, mostly due to stress and exhaustion[[note]]Shadows aren't the only dangerous thing about the TV world; the fog that constantly hangs over the place can actually make a person ill after a while (least till they build up a resistance)[[/note]]. In ''P4 Golden'' [[spoiler: the good ending reveals that Nanako (the protagonist's younger cousin/surrogate little sister) remembers almost nothing from either her kidnapping or her time in the TV world, only that Big Bro and his friends had saved her from something.]] Naoto voices the opinion that this is probably for the best.

* Happens to Chris Redfield in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6'' where his entire squad was killed in a horrific bioterrorist attack by [[spoiler:Fake!]]Ada Wong[[spoiler:/Carla Radames]] and he couldn't do anything but watch them get wrapped up in a flesh-like cocoon before one of them hatches and becomes a horrific monster. Chris then spends the next several months [[DrowningMySorrows drinking to forget what happened]] and it isn't until Piers forces Chris to remember what went down months ago while the two of them engage in a mission similar to the one that traumatized him that Chris painfully remembers what happened and vows to get revenge on Ada[[spoiler:'s clone]].

* This happened to Shadow the Hedgehog in the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' series following his apparent death in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', when he fell after teleporting Space Colony A.R.K. back into a stable orbit. Understandable, as there was presumably head trauma involved. [[spoiler: Apparently, the robot Eggman used to stop Shadow's fall was a bit clumsy.]] His quest in the next two games was to regain his lost memories. Poor Shadow, since he had only [[HeelFaceTurn overridden the fake memory intended to make him destroy the world]] a few minutes prior to his apparent death.

* After his sister's death, Toby in the creepypasta "Ticci-Toby". [[http://kastoway.deviantart.com/art/Ticci-Toby-373384541]].

%%* The cult sci-fi movie ''Film/KPax'' contains one of these as part of TheReveal, though like everything else in the film, it's a bit more complicated than just that.

* Jeanne, the protagonist of ''Film/NeTeRetournePas'' ("Don't Look Back"), is unable to remember anything about her life prior to a traumatic car crash when she was 8 years old.

->'''Nathan:''' When the Federal government destroyed your home, Nellie took you to live with your Grandma Eva. After the ''[[WorldWarII/PreludeToWar Anschluss]]'', their building was Aryanised, and you all had to cram into here. But you don't remember anything! ''Kannst du das glauben?''
->'''Rosa:''' Do I believe in suppressed memory? In ''Austria?''
-->-- ''{{Theatre/Leopoldstadt}}''

** Sasuke Uchiha forgot two things after the massacre of his family. One is that he [[spoiler: activated his Sharingan for the first time and chased Itachi]]. The second is that [[spoiler: Itachi was crying before he left Sasuke]]. He doesn't remember either event until Itachi's [[spoiler: death]].
** Same goes for Kakashi Hatake. He didn't know that he unlocked the Mangekyo Sharingan after he killed [[spoiler: Rin]], thinking that he only unlocked it by training during the mid-series TimeSkip. The sheer shock of killing her, along with passing out immediately afterward due to exhaustion, likely caused the amnesia.

* In the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime, there is a gap in Lillie's memory because of an incident that caused her to be afraid to touch Pokémon. The reason why is easily the darkest thing in ''Sun and Moon'' at that point. [[spoiler:When she was younger, Lillie was attacked by a Nihilego and was saved by Silvally. However, her memories got a bit mixed up in that when she runs across Silvally again as Type: Null, she thought that ''it'' was the one that had attacked her (temporarily undoing all the progress she had made until then) until it rescues her similarly in the present day.]]

* In the ''Webcomic/HannaIsNotABoysName'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/DeadOfNight'', it's implied that this trope is the reason the Detective forgot the first thirty or so years of his life. It was confirmed by Vesser that the memory loss wasn't caused by magical blocks, he had been found post-amnesia with a huge gash on his chest ''stapled shut'', and [[spoiler:about a year back, the still-alive Hanna had been trying to find him, telling everyone he'd been kidnapped.]]

* Danny suffers a rather extreme case in the ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' fanfic "[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4005132/1/Lost Lost]]", wherein he doesn't only forget the event, he gets full-blown retrograde amnesia as a combo of head trauma, PTSD, and [[ItMakesSenseInContext creating black holes in his brain]]. He is forced to relive the trauma through real-life psychological flashbacks.
* In the ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic MLPFiM]]'' fanfic ''Fanfic/MotherOfInvention'', Applejack wakes up on a [[IslandOfMystery mysterious island]] with a head wound and no idea what happened.
* In ''Fanfic/AnotherBrother'', Zuko is found on a ship with his throat cut and no memory of anything.
* ''Fanfic/WithPearlAndRubyGlowing'': [[WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck Daffy]] has large gaps in his memory due to him blocking out memories of neglect, bullying, and sexual abuse. This is represented in the text with [[PaintingTheMedium blacked-out text only viewable by highlighting.]]

* Although she survived her ordeal, 13-year-old Alicia Kozakiewicz was left with significant gaps in her memory of her life leading up to her abduction by her facebook stalker.

** Dissociative amnesia, dissociative fugue disorder[[note]]a condition characterized by long-term departure from one's home and the psychological creation of a new identity.[[/note]], and dissociative identity disorder [[note]]a condition characterized by the presence of multiple, independent identities and one that is the subject of a great deal of debate among psychologists.[[/note]] are the most extreme cases. Of course debate rages on as to how many true or planted examples there have been, but theoretically, the brain is malleable enough when young so that if you experience emotional trauma as a very small child, [[RepressssedMemories your mind can protect itself by "pushing away" the memories, believing it didn't happen or it happened to someone else]]. But even if you don't remember it, it's still there. The brain can protect itself from immediate damage by blocking out the harmful memories themselves, but the trauma will always find some other way to manifest itself until it's dealt with.

* This is implied to be why the Herald of Andraste can't remember what happened to them at the start of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition''. They remember just a few tiny details, but nothing that gives any kind of an explanation for why the peace conference they were attending ''exploded'' and left them as the only survivor. [[spoiler:Subverted in that they eventually discover it wasn't trauma-induced amnesia at all - their memories were literally stolen by a malevolent spirit called the Nightmare.]]
* In ''VideoGame/SierraOps'', Freija Tal lost her memories in the same incident that nearly killed protagonist Junius Fahrenheit six years before the start of the game.
* One of Popoi's trivia bits in ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo20thAnniversary'' states that the shock of becoming a ghost caused Rei to forget something important. Popoi also speculates that this may be the reason why Rei is so quiet.

** Dissociative amnesia, dissociative fugue disorder[[note]]a condition characterized by long-term departure from one's home and the psychological creation of a new identity.[[/note]], and dissociative identity disorder [[note]]a condition characterized by the presence of multiple, independent identities and one that is the subject of a great deal of debate among psychologists.[[/note]] are the most extreme cases. Of course debate rages on as to how many true or planted examples there have been, but theoretically, the brain is malleable enough when young so that if you experience emotional trauma as a very small child, your mind can protect itself by "pushing away" the memories, believing it didn't happen or it happened to someone else. But even if you don't remember it, it's still there. The brain can protect itself from immediate damage by blocking out the harmful memories themselves, but the trauma will always find some other way to manifest itself until it's dealt with.

* The novel ''Kat Got Your Tongue'' revolves around this; protagonist Kat(hy) wakes up with amnesia after being hit by a car. However, as the story progresses and she learns more about her previous life, her therapist speculates that the emotional strain of [[spoiler:her rocky relationship with her mother, lingering hurt over the death of her abusive father, and her friendships falling apart due to conflict with a new girl at school]] is the real cause.

* [[spoiler: Yogi]] from ''Manga/{{Karneval}}'' was the only survivor of a nationwide experiment that resulted in complete annihilation of his country and its citizens. The, by then, [[spoiler:10-year-old prince]] had to witness the decapitation of his caretakers at the hands of Varuga, was experimented on for an unknown amount of time and once gaining consciousness was strapped to his surgery table and {{forced to watch}} a video where his [[spoiler: little sister]] was literary torn to shreds, all while pleading for his help. The trauma caused him to not only [[spoiler: develop a SplitPersonality]] but made him forget that the event ever took place. When found and saved he had murdered all of the scientists and was brought to [[spoiler: Circus to ''once again'' be experimented on]]. [[spoiler: He still believes his family is alive but was told that he couldn't meet them due to the danger of them being targeted]]

* ''Manga/MurasakiiroNoQualia'' presents an uncommon variant where said amnesia doesn't happen right after the fact but several years later. [[spoiler: To get over her [[DarkandTroubledPast childhood trauma]] caused by Yukari's [[MagicalEye Magical Eyes]], at least in one of the parallel worlds, Tenjou, sometime in between the last year of middle-school and age 25, chose to re-observe her past and completely forget about those troublesome and traumatic events.]]

* Shirou of ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' has no memory of his life before the Fuyuki City fire. His first memory is of his adoptive father Kiritsugu pulling him out of the flames. This is explicitly a result of extreme trauma; most of his [[ChronicHeroSyndrome personal]] [[AmbiguousDisorder issues]] are about getting over the trauma, and as the story goes on, he remembers more of the event.