History Main / NeuroVault

* In ''Literature/CitizenOfTheGalaxy'', Baslim hypnotizes his foster son Thorby into memorizing a coded final report to the SpacePolice, as well as a message to a ship's captain to help Thorby escape off-planet.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* Dolls in ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' can be used for this.
* [[spoiler:Lain herself]] in ''Anime/SerialExperimentsLain''.

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/StarTrekEarlyVoyages'': In "Immortal Wounds", Ambassador Toluk determines after mind melding with Dr. Boyce that three members of a psi-adept species called the Julthans or Jultha Free Men transferred their consciousness or ''sira''s into Boyce many years earlier when he was a young medic. When their shuttle crashed on the remote medical research outpost to which he was assigned, the Julthans made physical contact with Boyce just before they died. It was brief but there was nevertheless sufficient time to make the transfer. The ''sira''s eventually went insane due to the confusion and pain that they experienced. When Dr. Boyce encountered Narten Phayn Drexler, the leader of the Orion raiders that destroyed their colony, the Julthans took control of Dr. Boyce and killed Drexler with a lethal injection of metrazene.
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[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
* ''Film/The39Steps1935''. The top secret information the bad guys are trying to smuggle out of the country is hidden in the mind of the "Memory Man", a showman who has [[PhotographicMemory the ability to take in such information.]]
* Sebastian Rook does this on himself in ''Film/{{Cypher}}''. He overwrote his own personality so he could become [[spoiler:the meekly protagonist Morgan Sullivan and steal a specific data file from the vault of a MegaCorp, then reset himself.]]
* A literal case in ''Film/{{Elysium}}''. After Greg Carlyle uploads [[spoiler: the reboot code to the space station of the same name]] to an implant in his brain, encrypts the program, and smashes the computer it came from, several of the characters are feverishly after that code when the protagonist Max steals it from Carlyle, [[spoiler: so that the people on Earth can be allowed to go to the station]]. But the encryption software kills whoever holds the item after transfer, and once it's modified at the end, Max dies.
* ''Film/FlightOfTheNavigator'' was about a little boy that had all sorts of star charts from aliens temporarily stored in his brain, and was later picked up for retrieval when the alien robot accidentally lost its own copies.
* The entire mission of the ''Film/{{Inception}}'' is to do exactly this, though instead of information, the goal is to implant an idea. As well, Browning suggests that Fischer Sr. may have done this to his son in the first dream layer.
* ''Film/JohnnyMnemonic'', loosely based on Creator/WilliamGibson's short story of the same name. Where the protagonist is a "courier" who carries data securely in a cranial implant.
* Used as the hook to bring Agent K back from being [[LaserGuidedAmnesia neuralyzed]] in ''Film/MenInBlackII''.
* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' alum ''Film/OperationDouble007'' spent its first half chasing after a woman who had been given sensitive information by a deceased operative. The trick was, it had been given to her while she was under a certain kind of deep hypnosis, and could only be retrieved if she was put back under in the exact same way.
* In ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock'' the viewers discover that at the end of the previous movie, Spock placed his soul in Doctor [=McCoy=] just before his HeroicSacrifice.
* In the ''Film/TotalRecall2012'' remake, Quaid learns that he has [[spoiler: the global shutdown codes for the Synth army]] locked away in his head from his time as Hauser, and must get this back to the Resistance. [[spoiler: Though it is actually a tracking signal for Cohaagen to follow back to the resistance base.]]

* In ''Literature/{{Abarat}}'' by Clive Barker, an important key is hidden in Candy's mind, despite its apparently being a physical object.

* In Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/CitizenOfTheGalaxy'', Baslim hypnotizes his foster son Thorby into memorizing a coded final report to the SpacePolice, as well as a message to a ship's captain to help Thorby escape off-planet.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'' [[Franchise/DoctorWhoExpandedUniverse Expanded Universe]]: The Amnesia Arc in the ''Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures'' (and the EDA series itself) ends with the revelation that [[spoiler:the Doctor's amnesia was caused by downloading the ''entire Time Lord matrix'' into his mind, thereby enabling Gallifrey to be restored from backup at a future date]].

* In ''Literature/{{Fahrenheit 451}}'' the secret society of readers [[spoiler: use PhotographicMemory techniques to memorize books so they can be written again once the book-burning government dies in the coming nuclear war.]]

* ''Literature/ForgottenRealms'' has its share of memory transfers, but specifically in ''Return of the Archwizards'' the wizard spy dropped lots of reconnaissance data (for all the audience knows, it could be ''centuries'' worth of examining SealedEvilInACan while hiding inside the same can) to another guy, because he was dying and it was the only way to save priceless knowledge. [[spoiler:Carrier used this memory only as provoked "I just feel it must be so" insights, even after he understood what's going on (which still made him so valuable that dead wizard's boss could neither let him go nor kill him, nor even use outright [[BrainWashed mind control]]).]]

* Haruki Murakami's ''Literature/HardBoiledWonderlandAndTheEndOfTheWorld'' is about a man whose subconscious is used to store classified data in a cyberpunk future.
* In ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'':
** Zaphod buries the [[spoiler: location of the man who rules the universe]] within his brains.
** Because in this universe Earth is [[spoiler: a supercomputer designed to find the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything]], all Earthlings have [[spoiler: the Question]] imprinted in their subconscious.
* In Heinlein's ''Literature/IfThisGoesOn'', Lyle is told he has been given critical information that he has to get to LaResistance. When he gets there he is put under anesthesia to extract the information. He later asks one of the Resistance scientists what was the nature of the "really important" message. He is disappointed when he is told that it was just lots of routine information. The scientist realizes he made a mistake, the man did have very important information. He also had his resistance credentials, "If they hadn't checked out, you would never have woken up."

* In Creator/PiersAnthony's ''Liteerature/{{Macroscope}}'', [[spoiler:Brad Carpenter]] hides [[BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord information]] about Schon inside [[spoiler:Afra Summerfield's]] mind.
* In ''Literature/ManWalksIntoARoom'', a group of scientists attempt to implant a memory from one person into the protagonist's brain. The memory itself, to the scientists, is only important in that it's a strong, easily distinguished, distinctive memory, not in terms of its content: [[spoiler: a nuclear weapons test occurring too close to a group of soldiers]].

* In Creator/BruceCoville's ''Literature/RodAllbrightAlienAdventures'', the climax of book 3 (''The Search For Snout'') reveals that the main character has a secret piece of data in his brain that will allow the villain to literally destroy time.
* In ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'', Richard's adoptive father had him memorise a book, destroying it after he was satisfied that Richard could recite it verbatim. The first book of the series revolves around the BigBad's attempts to extract this information from him.
** There is also another example, when Richard prevents himself from going fully mad due to ColdBloodedTorture by locking away the core of his personality.

* ''Series/BlakesSeven''. The location of Star One (the MasterComputer that runs the Terran Federation) is buried in the mind of the King's Fool on a primitive planet.
* The whole premise of ''Series/{{Chuck}}'' - the Intersect is an incredibly comprehensive espionage database so important it can't be trusted to a computer ([[FridgeLogic or, apparently, spread among many computers]]) so it's uploaded to the mind of a master-spy. Unless it should accidentally be uploaded into that master-spy's college roommate...

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', Matriarch Benezia does this to herself to avoid being completely [[MindControl indoctrinated]]. It works long enough for her to give vital information to the protagonists, before the indoctrination reasserts itself.
** Due to both the Prothean Beacon and the Cipher, Shepard has the experience and collective knowledge of the entire Prothean race implanted within their subconscious mind, which leads them eventually to Ilos. It's also the key to waking Javik in ''3''.

* Jake in the SNES ''VideoGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' game has some sensitive files in his head computer, which starts off locked until an attempt to repair it sets off a [[WhyAmITicking Cortex Bomb]]. This is, of course, perfectly normal within the confines of the Tabletop Game.
** It's implied that Jake did not undergo the procedure willingly, as a character met earlier on notes that the head computer and datajack are new additions[[spoiler: , and as a shaman, he wouldn't be likely to add cyberware in the first place]]. Jake himself has complete amnesia, though.

* ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}} Episode III'' uses this in an interesting way. [[spoiler:The Godwin sisters hold the two parts of the unlock code which opens the Zohar Emulator storage. Both are aware of this, and didn't require any messy mind tricks -- their minds already had uplink ports from their previous "jobs" before the ''Durandal''.]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': The genetic code for the creation of a first guardian is locked away within the minds of one or more players, who end up writing it on their walls and in a book. It winds up being unlocked by some sort of important event. In the kid's session, Rose wrote it in one of her journals, while in the troll's session [[spoiler: it was unlocked via the infamous Team Charge debacle, and authored by Tavros, Aradia, Vriska, Terezi, and a doomed timeline Gamzee, who wrote it in their [=FLARPing=] manuals and Karkat's ~ATH book.]]
* ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': Redcloak appears convinced the paladins of the Sapphire Guard had pulled this, though he seems to have been wrong. Redcloak himself has his own NeuroVault with [[spoiler: the divine part of the ritual to 'control', really 'transfer control' of the Gate's position to his deity, imparted to him by the Red Mantle. It qualifies as it was never commited to paper.]] It's not that far of a stretch for him to expect opposing forces to use the same kind of trick. Torturing O'Chul for information was also [[DragonWithAnAgenda Redcloak]]'s excuse for staying in Azure City.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', Blackarachnia purposely downloads the data on the golden disks, which were stolen by Dinobot, and which contain [[spoiler: the entry code to the Ark]] into her own brain and destroys the computer containing the original copy so that Megatron can't use it.

* ''WesternAnimation/GIJoe'', "There's No Place Like Springfield": Plans for a deadly super-weapon are implanted into Shipwreck's head, and can only be retrieved if a certain code word is spoken to him. Cobra conducts an [[FakedRipVanWinkle elaborate ruse]] to try and figure it out.
** And even then, the code turns out to be a code ''phrase''. [[spoiler:("Frogs In Wintertime")]]

* In Creator/BruceCoville's ''Literature/RodAllBrightAlienAdventures'', the climax of book 3 (''The Search For Snout'') reveals that the main character has a secret piece of data in his brain that will allow the villain to literally destroy time.

** It's implied that Jake did not undergo the procedure willingly, as a character met earlier on notes that the head computer and datajack are new additions. Jake himself has complete amnesia, though.

* In the ''Anime/DragonballZ'' story ''FanFic/HonorTrip'', [[AlmightyJanitor Enma Daiou]] has a surprisingly labyrinthine mind that not even [[spoiler: Future Cell]] could crack to obtain knowledge of Otherworld's various barriers.
* In the LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya fanfic ''Fanfic/KyonBigDamnHero'' Mikuru keeps a collection of recorded memories for reference when she has to return to her own time.
** Technically, Haruhi does this to herself, locking herself out of the knowledge of her own [[RealityWarper powers]], complete with [[TrustPassword key]].

* Index Librorum Prohibitorum from ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' received her name from the fact that she was forced (using her photographic memory) to memorize 103,000 magical grimoires.

%%* The Whispered in ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic''.

* ''Series/{{Severance}}'' centers on a company whose employees elect to have these surgically implanted. While at work, they have no memory of their home lives and vice-versa.

* This is pretty much the entire premise of ''One of Us'' by Creator/MichaelMarshallSmith. The main character makes his living storing memories that others want to get rid of temporarily -- for instance, a businessman about to screw over his partner hands over a memory of a moral lesson from his father. (Permanently destroying a memory screws up TheForce.) Unfortunately for him, someone figures out that this can work as LaserGuidedAmnesia for the giver, and that the BigBad only wants to kill anyone who ''remembers'' a particular secret.

[[folder:Theatre]]
* In ''Theatre/The39Steps'', the top secret information the bad guys are trying to smuggle out of the country is hidden in the mind of the "Memory Man", a showman who has [[PhotographicMemory the ability to take in such information.]]
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