History ButForMeItWasTuesday / Literature

* In the Russian sci-fi novel ''The Amphibian Man'' (as well as the film based on the novel) Dr Salvetore is rescued from jail by a guard whose child he once healed. Salvetore has no recollection of this act not merely because he saved a lot of people over the course of his life, but also because he's an extreme KnightInSourArmor who helps humanity out of a sense of obligation \ self-aggrandizement rather than any actual empathy for the specific lives he saves.

* ''S: A Novel About The Balkans'' by Slavenka Drakulic. The protagonist has a recurring nightmare where she sees one of the men who raped her in a Bosnian prison camp. She stabs him, and as he dies she sees the look of incomprehension in his face and realises her revenge is meaningless because he has no idea why she's killed him.

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' had the [[HopelessWar Aiel War]]. When King Laman of Cairhien Cut down the ''Avendoraldera'', the tree that the mysterious desertdwelling Aiel-people had given his people as an sign of friendship hundreds of year earlier in order to carve himself a throne, four of the twelve Aiel Clans crossed the Dragonwall and invaded the "Wetlands", as the Aiel called it. For the Wetlands it was the greatest war they had seen in centuries, uniting almost every country under one banner, but it was still unable to stop the Aiel horde. To the Aiel it was simply the execution of the Oathbreaker King Laman, and once they succeeded in that they turned around, returning to their desert without giving any of the lands they had conquered a second glance.

* In ''Literature/SixOfCrows'' by Creator/LeighBardugo, protagonist Kaz's entire life has been shaped by [[spoiler: the con gang boss Pekka Rollins pulled on him and his brother that resulted in his brother dying.]] A flashback reveals that less than a month after it happened, Rollins didn't even recognize Kaz when he tried to confront him. After this, Kaz is motivated not only by his desire for {{revenge}}, but to make sure that when he teaches Rollins a lesson, it's one Rollins ''never'' forgets.
** What makes this example interesting is how it is ultimately used against Rollins. When Kaz [[spoiler:finally gets his revenge, Rollins is shaken in large part because he still doesn't remember that particular con. Which leaves him wondering just how many more forgotten victims could be lying in wait for a chance to avenge themselves?]]

* ''Literature/TheMartian'': An direct reference, without an antagonist. By the time astronaut Mark Watney re-establishes contact with Earth, he's inured due to having to deal single-handed with life-threatening problems.

*** Monetary example. Harry buys Ron and Hermione expensive gifts, and Ron pays him back, unintentionally using fake money that disappeared later. Ron realizes this towards the end and he tells Harry he shouldn't have bought him something for Christmas, but Harry, who's quite wealthy due inheritance from his parents, has a hard time explaining to Ron that he didn't even notice the money going missing. Harry also gives Fred and George his Triwizard Tournament winnings of 1000 galleons as a business loan, both because he just wants to distance himself from the events of the tournament and because he doesn't really need the money. Of course in both cases it's awkward to explain that the money genuinely doesn't matter to him while he still doesn't want to offend anyone. He does tell Ron and Hermione about it the following when they start wondering what the twins must have done to get that much money and Ron isn't upset at all, mostly because it means there's no way for his mother to blame him for his brothers running away from school to start a joke shop since it's Harry's fault.

* 'Literature/IveGotYouUnderMySkin'' features a [[InvertedTrope rare heroic example]]. [[spoiler:Leo Farley]] arrested [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname Blue Eyes]] decades ago for drink driving when he was a beat cop and Blue Eyes, or rather Rusty Tillman, was a young man trying to get into the army. [[spoiler:Leo]] never even thought of Rusty again and had no idea he was the man who [[spoiler:killed his son-in-law and threatened his family]], while Rusty attributes this as being the moment that set the rest of his life on a downward spiral.

'''Vaun:''' For the most part, yes. Let me see if I can guess. A father? Or a brother, perhaps?

* In ''[[Literature/AlexRider Stormbreaker]]'', the death of Alex's uncle and last living relative sets in motion the events that lead [=MI6=] to recruit him as a secret agent. When Alex meets Yassen Gregorovich, the assassin who carried out the murder, Gregorovich merely shrugs and says 'I kill a lot of people.' However, he probably wasn't denying it so much as invoking AMillionIsAStatistic, and knew exactly who Alex was talking about, both because it happened fairly recently and because [[spoiler: in later books, its established he knew Alex's father personally and considered him a friend, and recognized Alex on sight. It's unlikely he didn't know who Alex's uncle was.]]
* In the Russian sci-fi novel The Amphibian Man (as well as the film based on the novel) Dr Salvetore is rescued from jail by a guard whose child he once healed. Salvetore has no recollection of this act not merely because he saved a lot of people over the course of his life, but also because he's an extreme KnightInSourArmor who helps humanity out of a sense of obligation \ self-aggrandizement rather than any actual empathy for the specific lives he saves.

--> Brajet shook her head. “Not even lunchtime and you’ve already got some of the local cops mad at you. Why do I have the bad feeling that this will be one of your more interesting visits?”
--> Neal grinned. “I have no idea what you’re talking about; it’s just another day in the life for me.”
--> Looking at his young ‘crew’, Brajet muttered, “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

* In the [[Creator/IainBanks Iain M. Banks]] novel ''[[Literature/TheCulture Inversions]]'', the Lady Perrund becomes courtesan to the King after a rival warlord's soldiers killed her family and raped her. [[spoiler: It is only at the end of the book after she has murdered the King that we discover it was actually him and his men that committed the atrocity. The King had never recognised her and had most likely forgotten the incident, allowing her to get her revenge.]]

* In Literature/{{the Demon Princes}} cycle by Creator/JackVance, the hero's targets tend to not remember the outrage that set the hero on his journey. He exploits the trope to get close to his marks.

* The Literature/DuneEncyclopedia names House Washington (AKA the US) as the first user of atomics in a "provincial war" (AKA World War II), thus giving some idea of how far in the future the story is set, how the twentieth century has faded from memory and how big wars in the future have become.

** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' there's a somewhat uncommon Heroic example. Harry forgets that in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets The Chamber of Secrets]]'' (three books prior), Ginny spent parts of the year being possessed by Voldemort. For Ginny it's probably the most significant event of her life thus far, but Harry had an encounter with Voldemort three out of his four years at Hogwarts thus far, so he didn't really consider how that particular one had affected someone else. When he says he forgot about it, her reply is [[WhatTheHellHero "lucky you"]], but Harry feels sincerely sorry and apologizes.
** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'', Harry is woken up in his dorm by a surprise visit from Dobby and screams. His roommates slowly wake up and Seamus just casually asks Harry if he's being attacked again.
** ''Goblet of Fire '' also has a monetary example. Harry buys Ron and Hermione expensive gifts, and Ron pays him back, unintentionally using fake money that disappeared later. Ron realizes this towards the end and he tells Harry he shouldn’t have bought him something for Christmas, but Harry, who’s quite wealthy due inheritance from his parents, has a hard time explaining to Ron that he didn’t even notice the money going missing. Harry also gives Fred and George his Triwizard Tournament winnings of 1000 galleons as a business loan, both because he just wants to distance himself from the events of the tournament and because he doesn't really need the money. Of course in both cases it’s awkward to explain that the money genuinely doesn't matter to him while he still doesn't want to offend anyone. He does tell Ron and Hermione about it the following when they start wondering what the twins must have done to get that much money and Ron isn't upset at all, mostly because it means there's no way for his Mother to blame him for his brothers running away from school to start a joke shop since it's Harry's fault.

* In ''Literature/InterestingTimes'', near the end of the book, Twoflower is quite aware that Lord Hong has no idea he was the cause of his wife's death, but he insists on fighting him anyway. Twoflower says that the fact that Hong didn't know makes it worse. (Some slight {{foreshadowing}} into the mindset is pointed out by Cohen, in comparing Hong to the King in Chess: sits in back, sends others to do the dirty work... Even if he did remember anything it would, indeed, be just another Tuesday to him.)

* In ''Literature/LifeTheUniverseAndEverything'', Agrajag is ''convinced'' that Arthur Dent has this attitude towards him, since Arthur is always the one who kills him in his various {{reincarnation}}s; he even has a citadel dedicated to his hatred for Arthur, centered on a statue depicting him as a multi-limbed ogre killing innocent creatures (all former lives of Agrajag) carelessly. For his part, Arthur just thinks the universe is playing silly buggers with them. Which it probably is.

* ''Literature/MonsterHunterInternational''

-->'''Earl:''' YOU KILLED HER!
-->'''Franks:''' Who? Narrow it down for me.
* During the climax of ''Literature/TheNarrows''. [[spoiler: Subverted in that Backus actually didn’t kill [=McCaleb=], [=McCaleb=] committed suicide when he found out that his transplanted heart was failing and he would die without another surgery, which he could not afford. ]]

'''[[BigBad Backus]]:''' I’m sorry, but I’ve been kind of busy. Who might your friend be?

* Used in Creator/JamesSwallow's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novel ''Faith & Fire''.

** He does remember eventually, after some jogging of his memory.
--->'''Verity:''' My sister, Lethe Catena [...] You ended her like some common animal!\\

* Literature/TheWheelOfTime had the [[HopelessWar Aiel War]]. When King Laman of Cairhien Cut down the ''Avendoraldera'', the tree that the mysterious desertdwelling Aiel-people had given his people as an sign of friendship hundreds of year earlier in order to carve himself a throne, four of the twelve Aiel Clans crossed the Dragonwall and invaded the "Wetlands", as the Aiel called it. For the Wetlands it was the greatest war they had seen in centuries, uniting almost every country under one banner, but it was still unable to stop the Aiel horde. To the Aiel it was simply the execution of the Oathbreaker King Laman, and once they succeeded in that they turned around, returning to their desert without giving any of the lands they had conquered a second glance.

** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' there's a somewhat uncommon Heroic example. Harry forgets that in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets The Chamber of Secrets]]'' (three books prior), Ginny spent parts of the year being possessed by Voldemort. For Ginny it's probably the most significant event of her life thus far, but Harry had an encounter with Voldemort three out of his four years at Hogwarts thus far, so he didn't really consider how that particular one had affected someone else. When he says he forgot about it, and her reply is [[WhatTheHellHero "lucky you"]], but Harry feels sincerely sorry and apologizes.

** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' there's a somewhat uncommon Heroic example. Harry forgets that in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets The Chamber of Secrets]]'' (three books prior), Ginny spent parts of the year possessed by Voldemort. For Ginny it's probably the most significant event of her life thus far, but Harry had an encounter with Voldemort three out of his four years at Hogwarts thus far, so he didn't really consider how that particular one had affected someone else. When he says he forgot about it, and her reply is [[WhatTheHellHero "lucky you"]], but Harry feels sincerely sorry and apologizes.

** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' there's a somewhat uncommon Heroic example. Harry forgets that in ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets The Chamber of Secrets]]'' (three books prior), Ginny spent most of the year possessed by Voldemort. For Ginny it's probably the most significant event of her life thus far, but Harry had an encounter with Voldemort three out of his four years at Hogwarts thus far, so he didn't really consider how that particular one had affected someone else. When he says he forgot about it, and her reply is [[WhatTheHellHero "lucky you"]], but Harry feels sincerely sorry and apologizes.