History Main / VisionsOfAnotherSelf

* In the awful movie of BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy has dreams of her and her watcher as previous slayers and watchers.[[/folder]]

** The orginal also has flashbacks to this time though only when key to the plot.[[/folder]]

* In the [[{{Discontinuity}} awful]] movie of BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy has dreams of her and her watcher as previous slayers and watchers.[[/folder]]

* [[AvatarTheLastAirbender Zuko's]] VisionQuest includes a segment with an alternate-him who was never scarred sitting as Fire Lord, with the cold, still Squint Of Evil his father always uses. This is what Zuko thinks he wishes, but it's associated with abandoning his mother and the self-he-is. Ultimately it disturbs him, though not as much as the version who's got Air Nomad tattoos. He is shown feeling his face to make sure the scar is still there and he's awake.

[[StarTrekDeepSpaceNine http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/180px-BennyRussell.jpg]]
[[caption-width:180: Am I a Starfleet captain dreaming I'm a writer or a sci-fi writer dreaming of a Starfleet captain?]]

* Done fairly often on ''NorthernExposure''. One episode featured an early 20th century flashback in which Rob Morrow/Joel Fleischman played {{Franz Kafka}}(!)

* One episode of ''NorthernExposure'' had an old man tell Joel the story of Cicely's founding in 1909. All the regulars appear as counterpart characters, often with very similar names (Maggie O'Connell, for example, becomes Mary O'Keefe).

** The BigBad of the story is the Inner Celydonn version of an historical figure who went mad from experiencing this.[[/folder]]
* The third book in [[{{LegendsOfLaconia}} Legends of Laconia]] has this as its main story. {{Reincarnation}} is involved.

* The final episode of ''NeoneGenesisEvangelion'' has a short section in which Shinji dreams about how his life could have been if the show he was in ''wasn't'' a {{deconstruction}}. It almost reaches UncannyValley levels.

In ''ElGoonishShive'' Tedd dreams about one of his alternate universe counterpart's life.

[[caption-width:180: Am I a [[{{DS9}} Starfleet]] captain dreaming I'm a writer or a sci-fi writer dreaming of a Starfleet captain?]]

* [[AvatarTheLastAirbender Zuko's]] VisionQuest includes a segment with an alternate-him who was never scarred sitting as Fire Lord, with the cold, still Squint Of Evil his father always uses. This is what Zuko thinks he wishes, but it's associated with abandoning his mother and the self-he-is. Ultimately it disturbs him, though not as much as the version who's got Air Nomad tattoos.

** And there was also an episode set in the Middle Ages where SpongeBob and Patrick had to free Bikini Bottomshire from the EvilSorceror Planktonimor.

* In the ''{{SpongeBob SquarePants}}'' episode "Pest Of The West", [=SpongeBob=] learns of his great ancestor [=SpongeBuck SquarePants=] and how he saved the town of Bikini Gulch from Dead-Eye Plankton.[[/folder]]

* ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles III'' did this somewhat ridiculously and for no good reason by having an ancestor of Casey Jones (and played by the same actor) be a British neer-do-well stuck in Ancient Japan for some reason (presumably so that April O'Neil would have someone to relate to).[[/folder]]

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[[folder:{{Manga}} & {{Anime}}]]
* AncientEgypt in ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}!''; the characters there are said to be reincarnations or parallels to modern-day characters, which is another plot point in itself.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

* ''StarTrek: DeepSpaceNine'' had an episode in which Captain Sisko was a science fiction writer in the 1950s, and the other regular characters were his fellow writers, friends, or (as appropriate) enemies.

Sort-of-but-not-really related to FlashBack. Superficially resembles an ad hoc [[CommediadellArteTroupe Commedia dell'Arte Troupe]]. If the character having these dreams starts to think that they are the true reality and the rest of the show is the dream, it's a CuckooNest.

!!Examples

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* Ancient Egypt in ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}!''; the characters there are said to be reincarnations or parallels to modern-day characters, which is another plot point in itself.

*One episode of ''KimPossible'', "Rewriting History", shows Kim and Ron investigating accusations that Kim's [[IdenticalGrandson lookalike ancestor]], Miriam "Mim" Possible, stole a scientific device about a hundred years ago. As it turns out, Drakken and Shego's turn-of-the-last-century analogs framed her for the deal. It ultimately turns out to be AllJustADream however. And then they see Ron and Drakken carved on to some poles: apparently, they had gladiators as ancestors waaaaay back in Roman times.