But For Me It Was Tuesday / Anime & Manga

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• Subverted in Attack on Titan. During their first meeting, Bertolt expresses curiosity over what Eren experienced when his Doomed Hometown was attacked by Titans. Five years later, after learning that Bertolt is the Colossal Titan, Eren confronts him and asks how he felt learning about being responsible for Eren's mother dying. Bertolt quietly responds that he felt sorry for Eren, and is later revealed to have genuine remorse over his actions.
• A friendlier version occurs in Azumanga Daioh, after Sakaki defeats Kagura at the sports fest. When the new school year comes around, Kagura joins Sakaki's class, eager to continue her one-sided rivalry. However, when she mentions the sports fest, all she gets is a blank stare, as Sakaki doesn't remember her at all.
• Oga in Beelzebub does this to Miki in the Saint Ishiyama arc, Oga saved Miki from a gang leader when they were kids, and then proceeded to beat the hell out of Miki the day before he moved out of town. After Oga moves schools to Saint Ishiyama Miki, remembering Oga, seeks a fight with him to show how strong he's grown. Oga has no clue who he is. By the end of the arc, however, it is revealed that Oga may in fact remember him. Either that or he just found out Miki's name.
• Berserk:
  • Griffith/Femto's actions during the Eclipse, including sacrificing the entire Band of the Hawk to Apostles and raping Casca to insanity while making Guts watch, set Guts off on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge for two years as the Black Swordsman, but Griffith considers said actions very inconsequential in the long run. Upon being reincarnated into the physical world, he goes to the Hill of Swords, a memorial for the fallen Hawks, and arranges another meeting with Guts all to see whether or not anything could "sway his heart." Guts is absolutely furious to discover that after everything he did and the people he betrayed, Griffith literally feels nothing and only cares about fulfilling his dream of obtaining a kingdom above all else.
  • Rosine doesn't connect the dots between her crimes against the Band of the Hawk and Guts' vendetta against her, and when she asks who he is he doesn't even bother to answer:
    Rosine: What are...Who are you?! Why're you so--?!
    Guts: You wouldn't remember. Every last human you scum snacked on playing your games. You wouldn't remember.
  • Invoked in a much more comical moment when the Holy Iron Chain Knights demand Guts come with them, and he admits he can't remember if he'd encountered them before.
    Guts: I don't recall ever being arrested by priests. 'Course, that don't mean... I ain't been...
    Puck: Zero persuasive power.
• Sort of heroic example in Black Lagoon. In the "El Baile de la Muerte" arc, Revy teams up with Shenhua, Sawyer the Cleaner, and Rotton the Wizard, all mercenaries who were previously enemies in the "Greenback Jane" arc, and all of whom Revy had left for dead. While Revy knows the first two, she has no recollection at all of shooting Rotton, a hapless Joke Character (albeit just about the only character in their Wretched Hive with the sense to wear body armor), nor does she even know who he is. This greatly amuses Sawyer and Shenhua.
  • Played with in the same arc with Roberta, who has gone off the deep end and (among other things) is hallucinating a Japanese businessman she assassinated several years ago. She doesn't seem to recognise him or remember killing him until he reminds her of it, but in order for her brain to have dredged him up as a hallucination in the first place, she must obviously remember him on some level.
  • When Hansel and Gretel first show up, Revy is frustrated that Rock hasn't heard about a string of recent murders. Rock points out that homicide isn't exactly uncommon in Roanapur.
• In Bleach:
  • When Ichigo comes face-to-face with the Hollow that killed his mother, Grand Fisher doesn't remember the incident at all until looking into Ichigo's memories.
  • Hilarious hero example. Ichigo can't remember a punk he beat up four years ago, who had to move town because his dad got transferred and was looking forward to a rematch.
  • The first time they met, Mask de Masculine easily knocked Renji across the city with a single kick. Renji Took a Level in Badass and faces him again. Mask doesn't recognize him at first, claiming he can't bother to remember every villain he defeats (Mask is crazy and thinks he's the hero and the Shinigami are the bad guys).
• Case Closed: When he sees Shinichi Kudo apparently alive when he was presumed dead, Man in Black Vodka asks his partner Gin about it, only to have Gin remark that he makes a point of not remembering the names or faces of those he's killed.
• City Hunter: A magnificent example comes from Rosemary Moon's arc. The villain is a terrorist named David Clive, formerly the chief of a foreign secret service until Ryo and Rosemary exposed him as a traitor, now "The Terrorist From Hell". When Umibozu reveals his identity, Rosemary has an Oh, Crap! moment, while Ryo completely forgot about him. Becomes a Brick Joke when Ryo finally looks at him and declares he still can't remember his face.
• In Claymore, Clare's one mission in life is to kill Priscilla, who killed her mother-figure Teresa. The moment of her death is seared into Clare's memory and drives her to kill, kill, kill when faced with difficult opponents, especially when she finally faces Priscilla for the first time in many years. However, Priscilla doesn't seem to remember her at all, since she only familiarizes herself with Clare because she smells like Teresa, whom Priscilla is obsessed with. Furthermore, on that fateful day, Priscilla totally ignored Clare because she only killed those who weren't young girls.
• Rolo from Code Geass comments at one point that he can't remember how many people he's killed, comparing it to how most people don't remember how many times they've brushed their teeth.
  • In similar fashion, when Lelouch asks the Chinese Federation's leaders the Eunuch Generals how they can treat their own people so poorly, their response is "Do you feel bad for the toilet paper you wipe your ass with?" Which of course leads to an Engineered Public Confession.
• In the "Mushroom Samba" episode of Cowboy Bebop, a minor one-shot character shows up in town while dragging a coffin behind him. He was planning on taking his revenge on a drug seller named Dominoe because his shrooms killed his brother by making him laugh to death. Dominoe doesn't remember who this guy is because his shrooms had already messed his own head up pretty good. Then the coffin gets smashed by a passing bus.
• Daltanious: Kloppen has devastated nearly every planet in the galaxy with his military leadership, and when Kento screams at him for murdering his family and loved ones, Kloppen can only laugh.
• In The Devil is a Part-Timer! when Emi finally brings up her real grudge against Maou, namely that his forces burned her village and killed her father, he gives a half-assed apology along the lines of "Oh, did that happen? Sorry that I suck at controlling my troops sometimes but eh, humans and demons have never really gotten along anyway." Not really evil so he doesn't just shrug it off entirely, but he clearly has no idea what she's talking about, doesn't care and doesn't even consider it to really be his fault.
• Dragon Ball:
  • In Dragon Ball Z: Cooler's Revenge, Cooler is implied to feel this way about blowing up planets. When he sees Goku's escape pod getting away from the destruction of Planet Vegeta, he has this to say:
    Cooler: Frieza's the one in charge of this quadrant. Let him clean up his own mess! I've got seven planets to destroy by the end of the day! Why should I allow myself to get behind schedule just to cover his mistake?
  • Beerus, the God of Destruction. It's his job to destroy entire planets, and doing so is literally everyday business for him. On several occasions he's had to be reminded of specific instances of apocalyptic destruction that someone is blaming him for.
• The Elusive Samurai: Lead by the traitorous Takauji, the destruction and takeover of Kamakura was a massacre that claimed the lives of Tokiyuki's brother, father, and most of the Hojo clan. When he finally gets the chance to ask why he did it, Takauji smiles and replies that he doesn't really know, it just turned out that way. To add insult to injury he doesn't even recognize Tokiyuki as he says this straight to his face.
• The Eminence in Shadow: Anti-heroic example. Cid/Shadow never bothers to remember the various villains he defeats and people he consider unimportant NPCs, and he never pays attention to what they say.
• Averted in FAKE: Leo DOES remember having killed Ryo's parents as well as Ryo himself and claims that it is one of only two things he regrets having done.
• Fist of the North Star:
  • During his confrontation, Kenshiro accused Jagi of killing an innocent child. Jagi does not remember it even though it happened a short while ago. When Jagi finally does, he replies "Who cares if I've wasted a kid or two?".
  • The final enemy of the series, Bolge, was a random mook Kenshiro faced early in his travels. Kenshiro chose to spare him, but cut out his eyes. Bolge never forgave him for it. When Bolge confronts Kenshiro, Kenshiro has no idea who he is.
• Fullmetal Alchemist
  • A heroic example Played for Laughs: the former Corrupt Bureaucrat Yoki lost everything after being defeated by the Elric brothers, but when he encounters them, neither remembers him. There's then a whole Unreliable Voiceover in silent movie style where he complains about his travels, but the Elrics don't pay any attention to him (and neither does anyone else in the room), In this case, the trope is used to compress several episodes worth of Filler into a short scene. Everything Yoki complains about happened in the manga and Fullmetal Alchemist (2003), but was cut from Brotherhood to focus more on the main story arc. Barry the Chopper gets the same treatment.
  • Inverted by Kimblee, who remembers everyone he's ever killed and treats doing otherwise as unprofessional. He even recites the district of the city where he met one of his surviving victims (Scar) when he asks if Kimblee remembers him, notes that one of the Ishvalans he killed bore a familial resemblance to Scar, and even the exact placement and severity of the wound that killed him. The Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) version of him also inverts it though in a more downplayed manner in that, while he doesn't remember Scar per say, he does recognize the scar as his handiwork.
  • Barry The Chopper also inverts this trope the same way Kimblee does. He gets very upset when Falman purposely misdates one of his murders.
    • Also played with when Mustang asks Barry if he murdered Maes Hughes. Barry replies that it's possible, since he doesn't necessarily know the names of all his victims, but asks follow-up questions that make it clear he didn't.
• Galaxy Express 999 has a classic straight example.
  Count Mecha: I don't know you.
  Tetsuro: My name is Tetsuro Hoshino and you killed my mother, you metal bastard!
  Count Mecha: I kill a lot of mothers. Let me guess: you want vengeance, blah blah blah...
  • What makes this even worse, if that were possible, is that Count Mecha has forgotten Tetsuro and his mother despite having her corpse stuffed and mounted on his wall.
• In Ginga Densetsu Weed, Hiro reminds Kamakiri that he (Kamakiri) killed his father and took out one of his eyes. In response, the Irish Wolfhound retorts that he doesn't remember, thus starting a fight.
• Edward King in Green Blood readily admits he has so many enemies he can't possibly remember them all. He does, however, know who the protagonist Brad Burns is and, while he initially fails to recognize Brad's brother Luke when they're face-to-face he quickly picks up on it when told.
• Gundam:
  • At the beginning of Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, Kou Uraki's humiliating attempt to recapture the GP-02 and Anaval Gato leads him to try to become an expert Mobile Suit pilot. When the two finally clash, Gato has absolutely no idea who this guy is. However, when their duel ends with both their Gundams wrecked, he makes it a point to remember Kou.
  • The beginning of Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny shows Shinn Asuka's family dying in what was just one of many clashes between the Freedom Gundam and the Calamity Gundam that happened during the Federation's attack on Orb. Though Kira, being who he is, would likely have been upset that it had happened (he goes to great lengths to defeat his opponents without killing anybody including enemy soldiers, so civilians being caught in the crossfire would have devastated him), he was way too busy to notice.
  • In Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Nena Trinity kills Louise's entire family in a random act of violent envy. When confronted about this years later, Nena's response is utter bewilderment at what Louise is even talking about. And Louise kills her right afterward, so she never gets reminded.
  • In Gundam Breaker Battlogue, the main villain of the series, Kentaro Mahara, was on the verge of becoming the US Gunpla Battle Champion when he was defeated by Takuma Nagitsuji, the protagonist of Gundam Breaker 3. So rattled and angry at his loss, Kentaro concocted a scheme to capture people's Gunpla and hold them hostage to drag him out. Not only does Takuma not show up (at least at first), when he goes on his Motive Rant, the other heroes of the series point out how lame it is.
  • In Gundam Build Fighters Try, it's revealed that Fumina was inspired into taking up Gunpla Battling when she watched Lady Kawaguchi being victorious using the Stargazer Gundam. When she finally meets her idol, she's floored when Lady admits she doesn't remember that battle at all.
    • The same happens to Yuuma when he confronts Adou Saga, the Battler who destroyed his Gundam Airmaster, taunted him over his failure, and sent him into a two-year retirement from Gunpla Battling in total fear. Adou admits that he's been battling since that day and he isn't expected to remember everyone he's faced.
• In Episode 13 of GUN×SWORD, Ray confronts the Claw, an an extremely pleasant old man and tells Ray that he has no problem with Ray killing him, but first politely asks him why. Ray tells him that it's because the Claw murdered his fiancee, Shino, but the Claw cannot remember any of it. When Ray summons Volkain (the mech Shino was working on) a few minutes later, the Claw finally remembers what Ray is talking about and basically replies that Ray's grievance/goal is trifling compared to his own, and so Ray will have to wait.
• Hajime no Ippo: When Alfredo Gonzalez calls the world featherweight champion Ricardo Martinez on the phone, and asks Martinez to give him a rematch on the condition that Gonzales beats Ippo Makunouchi first, Martinez asks who this Ippo is. Martinez once sparred with Ippo when he went to Japan to fight Eiji Date, a fact which Gonzales reminds him of, but Martinez says he’s boxed so many people that he wouldn’t remember someone whom he had merely sparred with.
• In the Hakuouki OVA Sekkaroku, a ronin attacking Okita declares that he intends to avenge his master. Okita doesn't recognize the name or remember the incident at all.
• Another Heroic Comedic Sociopath example: Haruhi Suzumiya is challenged to "a duel" by the Computer Club president in retribution for her cruel Kick the Dog moment against him way back when.....but by this point, Haruhi had honestly forgotten all about that.
• High School Debut has a heroic, non-violent example: Haruna used to be on her middle-school softball team, and had a reputation as an unbeatable pitcher. A batter from an opposing team who lost a game to her deliberately seeks her out later for a rematch, and is appalled to learn that, not only does Haruna not remember her, but Haruna doesn't even play softball anymore.
• Heroic example Played for Laughs in High School D×D: at one point, an enemy mage stands up to Issei, declaring he's going to avenge an earlier defeat. Issei doesn't have a clue who the guy is and it takes a few hints before he figures out it must have been one of the hundreds of rank-and-file enemies he's beaten before.
• Irmgard is introduced to How to Treat a Lady Knight Right proclaiming herself the next in line to become the demon lord and expecting Leo to remember their thrilling battle the year before. Leo has put down so many baddies and threats to her kingdom that she honestly has no idea who Irmgard is.
  Leo: I'm sorry, but it's not ringing any bells, maybe a little more...
  Irmgard: Don't you dare ask for any hints, okay!!!
• Hunter × Hunter:
  • Used in the first OVA... when Kurapika confronts one of the villains, he doesn't remember what he's accused of. You'd think murdering an entire clan in order to steal their eyeballs would stick out in your memory....
  • In the manga, he doesn't remember either, until having a difficult time with Kurapika stirs his memory, and he confesses they were skilled and hard to kill.
  • Also exploited earlier in the series — said villain belongs to a group of highly skilled criminals, and Kurapika finds someone who claims to belong to that group. Kurapika immediately identifies this man as an impostor because he actually keeps count of and recalls whom he killed. For the real criminals, killing has become so routine to them that they don't bother to keep track.
• In Initial D, one of Takumi's hallmarks, particularly early on in the series, is that what he views as his usual mountain driving, everyone else sees as "holy shit, we're no good compared to him!" Best exemplified when Iketani offers to ride in the passenger seat after Takumi's first official win: Iketani is freaked out by how fast Takumi so casually enters the first corner at such a high speed, and by the third corner, the poor sap has fainted. This is because Takumi has been driving the way he does for five years under instructions from his father, who sends him on tofu delivery runs up the mountain every morning and has him drive in a way that keeps the tofu from breaking, training Takumi to become a top-tier road racer without Takumi being aware of it. And that's just the uphill; Takumi's downhill skills are because after every tofu run, he just wants to get home as fast as possible and go back to sleep, so what comes off as incredible downhill talent to others is just another typical morning to him!
• InuYasha:
  • In Episode 97 ("Kirara Come Home"), the group confronts a monkey demon, whom they believe to have killed and eaten the missing Kirara; said monkey simply asks them if they really expect them to remember everything he's eaten. It turns out he didn't eat Kirara: Myoga had taken her to run an errand, and Shippo had been asked to inform the others as such, but failed to do so. He was half asleep when given the order and failed to remember it.
  • Jakken became a loyal follower of Sesshoumaru after the latter single-handedly killed a bad guy from Jakken's tribe and resolved a major conflict the tribe was in the middle of. Why? No reason, he was just passing through, and that bugger was in his way.
• Jojos Bizarre Adventure:
  • Phantom Blood: In one of the more famous uses of this trope, Zeppeli asks Dio how many humans he killed just to undo the injuries Jonathan inflicted in their last battle (Dio is a vampire with a Healing Factor powered by drinking blood). Dio replies "I don't know. How many loaves of bread have you eaten in your lifetime?", which thoroughly pisses both Zeppeli and Jonathan off.
  • Battle Tendency: Caesar declares to the Pillar Men that on his honor as a Ripple Warrior, he will avenge his friend Mark's death at the hands of Whamuu. The Pillar Men promptly start chuckling and explain that they've heard Ripple Warriors make similar claims so many times over their thousands of years of being alive, that at this point, they just find it funny.
  • Diamond Is Unbreakable: Yoshikage Kira, a man who has a fetish for killing women and keeping their hands, also doesn't bother to remember any of their names. And every time his current "girlfriend" starts to rot, he quickly replaces her with another one. After he died, he did not even recognize the ghost of Remi Sugimoto, his first victim, until she spelled it out for him.
• Played with in Kase-san. Kase-san has been a top track star all through junior high and high school. She was very kind to another girl at her middle school and left a very positive impression, to the point where the girl developed a romantic crush on Kase and signed up to the same high school Kase was planning on attending. Kase eventually changed her mind and went to a different high school, leaving her former classmate high and dry. When they meet again at a high school track meet, the former classmate considers herself Kase's biggest rival and is determined to beat her in the race. Kase has no idea who she is and doesn't remember any of the events which precipitated the whole thing in middle school.
• Nui Harime of Kill la Kill remembers every wound inflicted upon her all too well. However she can't be bothered to remember all the brutal beatdowns she has administered to her opponents.
• Kyō Kara Ore Wa!! has many examples, as the protagonists have beaten a lot of people, but the most incredible example is the so-called Fundoshi Mask: right before the start of the series Mitsuhashi gave him the nickname, made him the Butt-Monkey and generally ruined his life (and, in the process, getting the idea of trying and stand out with blond hair and becoming a badass) before moving to Chiba, and when the poor Fundoshi Mask finally tracks him down Mitsuhashi can't even remember him. After a while Mitsuhashi does remember about him... But only as the Fundoshi Mask, and by the time they meet again he forgot about him again, and cannot recall about him at all. Oh, and he made him a Butt-Monkey again...
  • Subverted occasionally, as Mitsuhashi will claim he forgot about some foe while actually remembering them well. And then beating them up with ease anyway.
• Lyrical Nanoha:
  • Cypha of Hückebein from Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force, who had committed genocide enough times that, when Signum questioned her about the massacre of the settlement in Uninhabited World 14 three months ago, she doesn't remember. Cypha does eventually remember once Signum gave more details, though not in a manner that enamoured her to the Belkan Knight.
    Cypha: *while smirking* However, rejoice. I remember now. The one who left no adult or children alive on that day at that place was, without a doubt, myself.
  • Averted with the rest of the Hückebein and Thoma. When he accuses them of being behind the massacre of his hometown, Fortis replies that while they have done plenty of similar massacres, that particular one definitely wasn't them. He double-checked. And besides, if it had been the Hückebein, they would have made sure to leave no survivors, and Thoma survived.
  • A heroic example near the beginning of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS: When Subaru gets emotional upon meeting Nanoha, Fate does not know what's up until she is reminded that she and Nanoha rescued Subaru and her sister from a burning airport a few years ago. Ever since then, Subaru idolized Nanoha and trained to join her rescue force. Averted in that Nanoha remembers, which is why Subaru was crying in the first place.
• In the Mahou Shoujo Isuka OVA, when Isuka confronts the Witch Hunter who raped and killed her sister, he flatly tells her that he doesn't bother to remember all of the Witches he's killed. This turns out to be a lie; he does remember, and said this just to get a rise out of her.
• Exploited in Maria no Danzai: after Maria locks Kowase in a Drowning Pit, she gives him a chance to escape; all he has to do is input the number representing his greatest sin into the cuff holding him in place. Kowase deduces that she's talking about the death of Kiritaka, and triumphantly prepares to input the date of his death... only to quickly realize he can't remember either the date or the month, leaving him to curse the fact that Kiritaka did not die on an easy-to-remember holiday. Suddenly, that chipped cleaver hanging from the ceiling is looking mighty attractive... Ultimately subverted, however, as it turns out Kowase's "greatest sin" was being born: the real password was the date of his birth.
• Monster Rancher: When Tiger of the Wind first confronted Moo, the overlord slaughtered most of his pack and kidnapped his brother Gray Wolf, leaving him with a scar cutting across his face. Much later, Moo comes after the Searchers for Holly and her Magic Stone. Tiger asks if he remembers him, and warns Genki against trying to reason with him. Moo mockingly asks if they've met before.
• My Bride is a Mermaid: In Lunar's debut episode, she recalls her beef with Sun, during which Sun always beat her at singing contests when they were kids. Upon being reminded, Sun sheepishly admits that, with everything that had happened to her since then, she forgot about Lunar, much to the latter's annoyance.
• My Hero Academia:
  • Played for laughs when Midoriya, Uraraka and Iida end up running into Mei Hatsume (or rather, she caused an explosion and landed on Midoriya) when the former was seeking help from the Support Class. Despite meeting all three at the Sports Festival, she has completely and utterly forgotten their names, which incenses Iida as he was used as her own personal advertising billboard during the Festival. Granted, she's more focused on her "Babies" (her inventions). WAY more focused.
  • Subverted when Endeavor mentions pro hero Snatch as one of the people Dabi had murdered. Dabi has no idea who he's talking about. After their battle while Dabi is alone, it's revealed he very much remembered having killed Snatch, because the latter's Last Words had quite an impact on him. Dabi simply didn't know Snatch's name, so it took him a while to realize who Endeavor was talking about.
• Another heroic example, this time from Myriad Colors Phantom World. In Episode 3, Mai is accosted by two Phantoms who are intent on battling her, but who she doesn't recognize at all. It turns out that when they were younger, she had play-fought with them and driven them to tears; the incident had then prompted the Phantoms to spend ten years training for a rematch. Unusually, Mai actually does remember the incident, but not the play-fighting bit; she also doesn't make the connection with the Phantoms until The Reveal at the end of the episode.
• Might Guy and Kisame Hoshigaki from Naruto are an example that seems to play straight but can be argued about. On the base level, Guy encounters Kisame three times, nearly dying to him on the second, but can't remember him on the third while Kisame did remember Guy and was itching for a rematch. On the one hand mitigating the example is that the first time Kisame was together with Itachi and Guy had spent the entire time staring at the ground to try and avoid Itachi's genjutsu, and the second time Kisame was using a special cloning technique, meaning that the "Kisame" that Guy fought was actually an impostor. On the other hand making the example sillier is that Kisame is an incredibly notorious international wanted criminal, even moreso after joining Akatsuki and every other jonin rank ninja recognizes him on sight, helped by the fact that he looks like a shark man (he has gills, razor sharp teeth, and blue skin). The fact that Guy doesn't is always a Bunny-Ears Lawyer and what part in that his misrecognition plays in is vague. Averted after Kisame sacrifices his life to ensure that the information he was sent to retrieve gets to the people he's working for, which makes Might Guy respect him and swear that he will always remember him.
• Another heroic example in Ninja Scroll: The Series. The widow of a samurai has spent years Walking the Earth with her son, trying to find the man who killed her husband so she can avenge him. She confronts Jubei, who says he's killed so many people it's difficult to remember specific ones. He does eventually remember when she gives him some details, and vaguely recalls having killed a samurai over a petty dispute (he'd bumped into the man, who had taken offense). The woman is naturally shocked that her life was destroyed over something so meaningless.
• Yet another Heroic version of this happens in Restaurant to Another World, where Tenshu as a kid along with his grandfather sold to a young man a bag of potatoes just so he could make his favorite dish: potato croquettes, since Potatoes were not a native crop to the fantasy world. In doing so, the "Cobblers' Tubers" as it was known over in that world became a staple crop that managed to end a great famine facing the young mans' nation: whom he turned out to be the Emperor of. After Tenshu took over the restaurant in the present day, he has no idea why Potatoes are seen as popular.
• One Piece:
  • During the Marineford Arc, two of the Newkamas challenge Hawkeyes Mihawk, saying that he may have beaten them before, but they were stronger now. Mihawk takes them out effortlessly, telling them that he doesn't bother to remember every weakling he cuts down.
  • In a heroic example, Luffy has this towards some of his weaker early opponents: while he recognizes Koby during their reunion, he had apparently forgotten who Helmeppo was; when he ran into Buggy again, his reaction (in contrast to Buggy's shocked expression) was merely "Ah, it's just Buggy", and he fails to recall details like Buggy's earlier weapon, the massively explosive Buggy Ball (much to Buggy's dismay).
  • Also, in Clockwork Island Adventure, Pin Joker requests a rematch with Zoro because he gave him a scar across the face in their previous battle. To his surprise, Zoro doesn't remember him at all.
  • When the Straw Hats first encounter Iron-Mask Duval, they think he may be someone Sanji ticked off at Baratie. Sanji admits that during those days he upset a lot of people and couldn't possibly recall all of them. This is actually an aversion though, because none of them had in fact ever met Iron-Mask Duval before. His grudge against Sanji was over the fact that Sanji's poorly drawn wanted poster looked exactly like Duval, which forced him to go on the run after numerous Marines and bounty hunters started coming after him thinking he was Sanji.
• In Outlaw Star, Gene immediately recognizes the MacDougall brothers' ship as the one that fired on and killed his father. He confronts Ron MacDougall, who cannot remember the specific job, although he admits it's probable he did it since he's done so many similar jobs.
• PandoraHearts: A heartwarming one between Jack and Lacie. Lacie only remembers Jack as someone she talked to in order to kill time after she ran away from home, but Jack's meeting with Lacie completely changed his life and gives him a purpose to live for. Unfortunately, Jack's life isn't completely changed for the better.
• Pokémon:
  • In Pokémon Adventures, upon first meeting Team Rocket Admin Koga, Misty saw him forcing a Rhyhorn into evolution, and she realizes that he was the one responsible for doing a similar experiment on her Gyarados.
    Koga: You can't expect us to remember every Pokémon that we experiment on.
  • In Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl, Dawn breaks up Ash and Paul and invites Paul to watch a fight before dueling him again. However, Paul looks at Dawn and bluntly asks who she was. This sets her off as they met once before and he somehow decided one of his rival’s traveling companions wasn’t worth remembering.
  • In Pokémon the Series: XY, Ash doesn't recognize Serena until she gives him back the handkerchief he used to bandage her leg when they met as children. Serena's idolized Ash since then, but Ash has helped a lot of people and Pokémon throughout his life. The event that had Serena fixated on him for years was normal for him.
• Being a Deconstruction of the Fighting Series Played for Laughs, Ramen Fighter Miki deconstructs this trope when Miki doesn't remember Kankuro, the guy she bullied as a kid. Because Miki is not a villain, but a Schoolyard Bully All Grown Up, Fridge Brilliance dictates that The Bully cannot care for those weaker that him.
  Miki: So, who is this guy?
  Akihiko: You really don’t remember? You used to pick on him all the time.
  Miki: I don’t know this guy at all.
  Akihiko: It’s only been four years!
  Kankuro: How awful, Nya!
• The heroic example happens in Ranma ½ during Ryoga's introduction, and is Played for Laughs. Ryoga attacks Ranma, who briefly can't remember him. The reason for the feud is then seemingly revealed: Ranma had been cutting in front of Ryoga in the tuckshop line, and had then left an appointed battle with Ryoga when Ryoga was four days late due to his incredible ability to get lost. This turns out to be a partial red herring when Ryoga reveals he had followed Ranma to Jusenkyo seeking revenge, and received a particularly unpleasant curse due to the actions of Ranma and his father, this being his new main grudge against Ranma. Although at first Ryoga himself didn't know Ranma had actually been the one who knocked him in; he thought the girl who knocked him in was some stranger, but he blamed Ranma regardless.
• The Rising of the Shield Hero: Malty has destroyed so many lives that when one of her victims, Rino, infiltrates her inner circle and then takes her revenge, Rino comments that she didn't even have to disguise herself because Malty did not remember her.
• Rooster Fighter: Elizabeth is another chicken Keiji left after sleeping with, and he doesn't recall meeting her before at all.
• Rosario + Vampire:
  • When her stalker Nagare Kano goes One-Winged Angel, Kurumu asks him just how many other girls he's stalked before. Kano flat-out states he doesn't remember.
  • Ms. Marin's husband was killed by the siren Kanade Kamiya. The confrontation is as follows:
    Ms. Marin: It's you, isn't it? You're the one who killed my husband in our inn four years ago.
    Kanade: Four years ago? Hmm... Oh, yeah. That's about the time I got assigned to this branch office. They used to send me all over the place back then. I hated this little town. Place reeks of fish... So I killed a lot of people... It was just a diversion to take my mind off things. I can't be bothered to remember everyone I kill.
• Saint Seiya: The walls of Cancer Deathmask's house are decorated with the heads of people that he has killed... including little children. When an enraged Shiryu asks "Have you killed little children, even?", Deathmask smirks, shrugs and replies "Who knows? Maybe they were in the wrong place at the wrong time."
• At first Hakkai from Saiyuki doesn't remember Chin Yisou, the last of the thousand youkai he killed and the one who deliberately kick started his Karmic Transformation This is vaguely understandable as Hakkai was at the time consumed with grief over Kanan's suicide and Yisou returns as a shikigami, if you kill someone you don't normally expect them to come back, at least before Hazel arrives in the story.
• A (sort of) heroic example in Mugen in Samurai Champloo. On at least two occasions, when a psycho is shown harming Mugen's True Companions and pulling a No Doubt the Years Have Changed Me, Mugen responds that he has no idea who that person is, and has no recollection of the nasty thing he did to them. It's possible that Mugen actually does remember and acting this way was strategic, as it works effectively to distract the psychos from their Evil Gloating and upset them enough to make mistakes. Or Mugen just likes pissing people off.
• In Samurai Deeper Kyo, Mooks seem to forget that Kyo killed over a thousand people at Sekigahara alone, and tend to confront him as though believing he will remember a specific thing he did that earned their undying hatred. This trope ensues.
  • Specific example: a minor villain who was disgraced by Kyo during the war had an opportunity for vengeance after years of training for the very moment. Cue crowning moment of awesome when Kyo pretends to remember to get the man's hopes up, only to respond with "I didn't remember who you were, I just realized what a dumbass you are."
• Heroic example in Shaman King. In his initial appearance Tokagero possesses Ryu and seeks revenge against Amidamaru for killing him. When he reveals himself he's horrified that Amidamaru doesn't remember him on sight, and further that explaining he was the leader of a bandit gang Amidamaru slaughtered just prompt the revelation that Amidamaru slaughtered hundred of bandit gangs and couldn't be bothered to remember them all.
• Soul Eater plays with this. Excalibur tells stories frequently throughout the series, beginning each with "It all began on a Tuesday... or was it Friday? Monday is also possible. Hmm... Saturday it must be." Each time, he cycles through each day of the week, finally deciding on a day that isn't the one he started with.
• Sword Art Online: A rare heroic example that's also part of the big conflict between Kirito and Death Gun during the Phantom Bullet arc. For Kirito, his defeating XaXa and his cohorts in Laughing Coffin was just another day, to the extent he didn't even bother finding out his name. For XaXa, It's Personal, and he delights in having a chance at revenge on Kirito in GGO.
• Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann does this in the manga, where Viral brushes away a death threat by Kittan by telling him that his destroyed village was only one of hundreds; understandably throwing Kittan into a bloodthirsty rage.
• In Tiger & Bunny, Barnaby Brooks Jr. has spent twenty years trying to track down the man who murdered his parents. When he finally confronts the man responsible, not only does the criminal not remember it, he mocks Barnaby for expecting him to keep track. As it turns out, he cannot remember killing Barnaby's parents because he didn't do it — was in completely different place that day.
• Vinland Saga
  • In the first arc Askeladd claims not to remember the 'blood oath' of vengeance Thorfinn has sworn against him and pretends to not remember killing Thorfinn's father Thors. It's an Invoked Trope on Askeladd's part because Thorfinn gets worse at fighting the angrier he is, and pissing Thorfinn off until the boy makes foolish mistakes makes it much easier for Askeladd to subdue Thorfinn without killing him.
  • In the second arc Thorfinn has a vision of all the people he killed during the ten years or so that he was a viking and a warrior. Now a changed man, Thorfinn tearfully admits to the dead who are haunting him that he cannot remember anything about them; not who they were, where he killed them, or why.
• In Weiß Kreuz, Aya has devoted his life to bringing down Reiji Takatori, the man who killed his parents and left his sister in a seemingly-irreversible coma. When he finally confronts his nemesis atop a burning skyscraper Takatori has no idea who he is, still less what the people Aya's going on about have to do with him.
• Wolfsmund: Siblings Albert and Barbara were children when Wolfram, the villainous enforcer of Austrian rule over the Swiss cantons, hanged their parents. He also had Albert's left eye and Barbara's right eye gouged out, quipping that between the two of them they should still have a complete pair afterwards. In the present when they’re grown up, they come to the St. Gotthard Pass checkpoint disguised as pilgrims in an attempt to assassinate Wolfram when they’re brought before him for questioning. Even when they drop their cover and state their intentions, Wolfram says he’s sorry to disappoint them, but he can’t be expected to remember every person he’s harmed, much less two brats from so many years ago.
• Done in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds. When Jose tells the heroes that Yliaster has killed people in order to keep history on its course, Sherry asks if this means her parents were among them. Jose replies they can't be expected to remember everyone they kill specifically. (This leads to Sherry and Mizoguchi being on the receiving end of a Curb-Stomp Battle — not using cards — done to show just how dangerous Jose is. He was literally able to lift Sherry's D-Wheel—with her on it — with one hand.)

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