History Main / HumanHardDrive

* In ''{{Eureka}}'', an InstantAIJustAddWater creates a human body nearly from scratch and backups all information into the person's cells.

* In ''Manga/FullMetalAlchemist'', after the central library burns down, we learn that a former librarian names Sheska has memorized the entire contents of all of the books in the library. She is then paid by the Elric brothers to recreate books from the library.

* Mr Memory, in the Creator/AlfredHitchcock film ''Film/The39Steps'', is a man with perfect memory who travels around the world answering trivia questions from the audience. He is also the "39 Steps" organization's human database and file cabinet. He knows every last detail reported to him and is able to recite it instantly at will. He's used to smuggle stolen governmental and military information between international borders, as no amount of searching by security can find the stolen documents.

* Mr Memory, in the AlfredHitchcock film ''Film/The39Steps'', is a man with perfect memory who travels around the world answering trivia questions from the audience. He is also the "39 Steps" organization's human database and file cabinet. He knows every last detail reported to him and is able to recite it instantly at will. He's used to smuggle stolen governmental and military information between international borders, as no amount of searching by security can find the stolen documents.

* In ''{{Fahrenheit 451}}'', all of the rebels become these, each committing one entire book to memory so they can recite it if all copies of it are destroyed.

* The Mnemonic Service in IsaacAsimov's ''Sucker Bait''.
* H.G. Wells' "The First Men on the Moon" has some moon-aliens with ridiculously large heads, whose sole purpose is to remember things. They are brought in so they can learn English vocabulary from the humans.

* In the CordwainerSmith story "Golden the Ship Was - Oh, Oh, Oh!", one member of a four-man crew recorded the actions of the ship's Captain.

* The titular ''JohnnyMnemonic'' is a cyborg (or perhaps a very slightly altered human) created for this purpose.

* Archive from ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''.

* The organization of Keepers in the ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy'' are this.

* The organization of Keepers in the ''Literature/Mistborn The Original Trilogy'' are this.

* The organization of Keepers in the ''Literature/Mistborn The Original Trilogy''are this.

* The organization of Keepers in the ''Literature: Mistborn The Original Trilogy''are this.

* The organization of Keepers in the MistBorn are this.

* The organization of Keepers in Mistborn are this.

* The organization of Keepers in ''MistBorn' are this.

* Layla Miller in ''{{ComicBook/X-Factor}}''. [[CatchPhrase She knows stuff]]. At first it seems that "knowing stuff" is her mutant power, but in fact [[spoiler: Future!Layla downloaded all the knowledge into Past!Layla's brain]].

* Mr Memory, in the AlfredHitchcock film ''{{The 39 Steps}}'', is a man with perfect memory who travels around the world answering trivia questions from the audience. He is also the "39 Steps" organization's human database and file cabinet. He knows every last detail reported to him and is able to recite it instantly at will. He's used to smuggle stolen governmental and military information between international borders, as no amount of searching by security can find the stolen documents.

When TheLibraryOfBabel is just too large and a GreatBigBookOfEverything is too impersonal, these characters are trained or [[NeuralImplanting modified (by science or magic)]] to retain (nigh-)superhuman quantities of knowledge, and then wait around until their memories are called on.

* In Creator/MichaelKurland's novel ''The Unicorn Girl'', the protagonists encounter a travelling band of hippies, which include a young woman who read an entire encyclopedia while under the influence of powerful drugs. She is able to answer an astounding array of technical or historical questions, but nothing about herself or her own feelings.

* Index from ''LightNovel/ToAruMajutsuNoIndex''.

* ''Series/{{Babylon 5}}'' featured a "Vicker", as in "VCR", in one episode. This is someone whose brain has been re-purposed as a recording device, which can preserve information without contaminating it with personal opinions. If scanned by a telepath, they have no detectable thoughts of their own.

* The plot of the novel ''{{Hammerjack}}'' begins when a courier of this type dies and the message he was carrying preserves itself by turning the next closest human -- who happens to be the main character -- into its new carrier.

* In an episode of ''Series/{{Stargate SG-1}}'', SG-1 encounters a world where specialist children called "Urrone" learn a subject for ten years, and then "graduate", sharing their knowledge with the rest of their people. That's pretty much their whole purpose in society [[spoiler:because they have nanites in their brains that are removed and distributed upon "graduation", leaving the children in an infant-like state for the rest of their lives]]. (At the end, we discover that [[spoiler:the Urrone can, in fact, learn the old-fashioned way, maybe even have a normal life but for those ten years lost]].)
** Played with in another episode. The library computer in [[StargateAtlantis Atlantis]] has a holographic person as an interface. When SG-1 visits looking for information, [[spoiler:they find that the "hologram" is actually an Ancient (or perhaps was replaced by one just on that occasion) who was trying to get the information to them]].

* ''ProfessorMmaasLecture'': In the termite hive, whose technology is based almost completely on (mostly genetically engineered) living termites, libraries are simply assemblies of termites whose purpose in life is to remember specific texts and recite them verbatim when requested.

* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': Wolfram and Hart have a worker in "Files and Records" who appears to have memorised the entire of their resources. Who does she know about the demon hunter who appeared and is fulfilling the ancient prophecy? "I'm Files and Records. It's my job"

* ''Serise/{{Angel}}'': Wolfram and Hart have a worker in "Files and Records" who appears to have memorised the entire of their resources. Who does she know about the demon hunter who appeared and is fulfilling the ancient prophecy? "I'm Files and Records. It's my job"

* Index from ToAruMajutsuNoIndex.
* Disk from {{Needless}}.
* Dantallian from BibliothecaMysticaDeDantalian is technically a gateway to an actual library, but the net result is still this trope.
* Yuki Nagato from HaruhiSuzumiya, a "data entity" who remembers every irrelevant detail of [[spoiler:[[GroundhogDayLoop 595 years of summer vacation]]]], and presumably everything else.
* In ''SeireiNoMoribito'', one of the ''Mikado's'' elite memorizes a book of delivery tickets by flipping through it.
* All the Persocoms in ''{{Chobits}}'', although it's implied that the Chobits series of androids can do much more.
* In ''FullMetalAlchemist'', after the central library burns down, we learn that a former librarian names Sheska has memorized the entire contents of all of the books in the library. She is then paid by the Elric brothers to recreate books from the library.

* Layla Miller in {{ComicBook/X-Factor}}. [[CatchPhrase She knows stuff]]. At first it seems that "knowing stuff" is her mutant power, but in fact [[spoiler: Future!Layla downloaded all the knowledge into Past!Layla's brain]].
* {{X-Men}}: in the "Age of X" alternate timeline, Rogue's code name was Reaper and it was her job to save all the memories of fallen mutants.
* In DoomPatrol, a doomsday cult is looking for something called the Book of the Fifth Window. It turns out to be a young man with writing all over his skin.

* The titular JohnnyMnemonic is a cyborg (or perhaps a very slightly altered human) created for this purpose.

* In ''FlightOfTheNavigator'', the boy was abducted by an alien spacecraft and had a bunch of star charts stuffed into the other NinetyPercentOfYourBrain. When he was returned, he was taken in by government scientists first to figure out why he hadn't aged in several years, and they discovered all the maps/charts stored inside his brain.

* Archive from the DresdenFiles.
* Captain Phantastic in ''[[ThursdayNext One of Our Thursdays Is Missing]]''. Granted, he's an elephant and not a human being, but he's a CivilizedAnimal working as the filing system for Jurisfiction and JAID in the [=BookWorld=].

* Savants/Sages serve as these to inquisitors in the {{Warhammer40K}} universe. They're cybernetically enhanced to allow them to better store data and live long enough to gather it.
** In the ''CiaphasCain'' novels, Amberley's savant, Caractacus Mott, is portrayed as a GibberingGenius and has a habit of giving more exposition than Amberley would like Cain to recieve.
** Some servitors (crude, single-purpose cyborgs) are made for this. Some people also have databanks attached to their brains for this purpose.

* In ''SmallGods'', Brutha has a PhotographicMemory, so when a library is burning down, people make him read the books so they can still have the information. Unfortunately, he's also illiterate. [[spoiler: But it works out okay]].

* ''{{Babylon 5}}'' featured a "Vicker", as in "VCR", in one episode. This is someone whose brain has been re-purposed as a recording device, which can preserve information without contaminating it with personal opinions. If scanned by a telepath, they have no detectable thoughts of their own.

* In an episode of ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'', SG-1 encounters a world where specialist children called "Urrone" learn a subject for ten years, and then "graduate", sharing their knowledge with the rest of their people. That's pretty much their whole purpose in society [[spoiler:because they have nanites in their brains that are removed and distributed upon "graduation", leaving the children in an infant-like state for the rest of their lives]]. (At the end, we discover that [[spoiler:the Urrone can, in fact, learn the old-fashioned way, maybe even have a normal life but for those ten years lost]].)

* ''AngelTheSeries'': "I'm Files and Records".

* Hieda no Akyuu from {{Touhou}} holds memories of the human village from before she was born.
* Isabella in [[AdvanceWars Advance Wars: Days of Ruin]].
* Maha Ganeshariff from MegamanZero was designed as a data server... who also works as an armored {{Lightning Bruiser}}. He was sent to Zero's original resting place to gather information, and after you defeat him, you gain access to two new weapons for Zero (or, if [[AllThereInTheManual you go with the manual's explanation]], [[SwissArmyWeapon more variations of the Z-Saber]]).

** In ancient Greece, musicians and storytellers, and sometimes the educated elite, were supposed to be able to recite the most famous epics (usually the ''{{Iliad}}'' or the ''{{Odyssey}}'') by heart. As reported by his disciple {{Creator/Plato}}, {{Creator/Socrates}} was against writing itself: "It destroys memory and weakens the mind, relieving it of work that makes it strong. It is an inhuman thing."

* As an Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH), the Doctor from ''StarTrekVoyager'' was made specifically to contain all the knowledge of Starfleet medical officers. The EMH also appears in ''StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' and ''StarTrekFirstContact'', but on Voyager he becomes a necessary part of the crew and comes to be treated as a person. An interesting reversal of the usual process: "hard drive" first, "human" later.