History Main / NightmareOfNormality

* ''Anime/BigO'': The second season begins with Roger going up against the forgien bots that come to attack Paradigm City. The fight ends up going badly and Roger... is somehow transported into a world where he's nothing but a homeless bum as opposed to the suave negotiator and wanders the street running into other characters who don't regconize him and have different roles then he knows. The implication being this was apparently everyone's former lives before whatever event caused the mass amnesia that swept over the world, though of course this show never clearly answers this. Regardless he eventually regains his resolve and awakes back in his world with renew vigor to battle against the bots.

** As it turns out, this is the hidden twist behind "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho014TheHolyTerror The Holy Terror]]": here, [[spoiler: Eugene Tacitus]] is discovered to have complete control over the void-like PocketDimension, having created the Castle and all of its inhabitants as a manifestation of his perfect fantasy world; however, he's also been imprisoned within the Castle as punishment for [[spoiler: murdering his son]], and has lost all memory of both his powers and his life before incarceration. By the time the Doctor meets him, he's employed as a lowly bureaucrat and truly believes himself to be "worthless" - up until his perfect world suddenly turns BlackBugRoom. [[spoiler: It's never made clear if some alien entity is punishing Eugene for his crimes, or if his own subconscious is torturing him.]]
** Combined with HeelFaceBrainwashing in "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho049Master Master]]". Here, the Doctor has made a deal with [[HumanoidAbomination Death]] to erase the Master's memories and give him a new life in the human colony of Perfugium, where he can be at peace away from Death's influence. Now unaware of the Time Lord powers he still possesses, the Master assumes he's just an ordinary human being with [[NightmareFace a disfigured face]] and takes on the name of [[MrSmith John Smith]], and even becomes a well-respected doctor in the town. Unfortunately, the fact that he's still a Time Lord causes problems: the Master's personality is still active and ''not happy'' about being pushed out of the limelight, and though he's not able to control John directly, he's able to use John's telepathic powers to [[TheCorruptor encourage people around him to succumb to their darker natures]]. [[spoiler: Add to that the fact that Death is actively manipulating the setting to her advantage and the Doctor's hopes of redeeming the Master permanently are dead in the water by the story's end.]]
** The final story of "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho091CircularTime Circular Time]]" begins with Nyssa (years after leaving the TARDIS for good) meeting the fifth Doctor in a dream: believing himself an ordinary human being, he is now married and has retired to an isolated farm with his wife and children. However, he's snowed in by a blizzard and continuously haunted by a strange white figure circling the building... along with a disembodied EvilLaugh. [[spoiler: It's eventually revealed that the story is set during "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E6TheCavesOfAndrozani The Caves of Androzani]]", and the Doctor is just about to regenerate. However, the Master is psychically interfering with the process in an attempt to trap him in a DyingDream and keep him from regenerating. Fortunately, the Doctor has been psychically reaching out for help from his former companions, thus Nyssa's presence in his dreamworld: once she destroys the illusory farmhouse and reminds the Doctor of who he really is, the psychic energies of her, Adric, Tegan, Turlough and Kamelion all combine to overwhelm the Master's psychic interference and usher the Doctor into his next regeneration -- finally explaining the visions he experienced in "The Caves of Androzani".]]

* In the final confrontation of the ''ComicBook/CaptainBritain'' plot arc "ComicBook/ACrookedWorld," the eponymous hero faces off against reality-warping prime minister [[ChaoticEvil Mad Jim Jaspers]]. Though at first Captain Britain seems confident in his ability to go on fighting, Jaspers unleashes his powers on him - and next thing he knows, Brian Braddock is waking up from a coma with no sign of his powers and the indication that his adventures were just delusions. This lasts only for a page before Jaspers wakes him up again; apparently he did this just to demonstrate how meaningless the good Captain's powers are in the face of a RealityWarper.

* In ''Series/{{The Umbrella Academy|2019}}'', it's eventually revealed that Alison Hargreeves was once ordered to use her CompellingVoice to delude [[spoiler: Vanya Hargreeves AKA Number Seven]] into becoming a {{Muggle}} for all intents and purposes. For good measure, the victim was regularly supplied with superpower-neutralizing drugs, disguised as medication for a non-existent anxiety disorder. [[spoiler: Disaster strikes when one of the villains of the series discovers Vanya's powers and steals her prescription with the intention of using her against the rest of the Academy -- turning the shy TokenMuggle into an ApocalypseMaiden.]]

** [[ManChild Alistair]] has been convinced that he abandoned the life of a heroic Grey Warden and is living happily with his sister and her many, many kids, having finally achieved his dream of having a family of his own. You break him out by drawing his attention to the the blanks in his "memories" within the fantasy.

* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'': Ironiclly this is how Batman [[spoiler: beats the Joker, who's imprint was left in him via the blood transfer in ''Arkham City'' and surfaces when Batman is exposed to Scarecrow's upgraded fear toxin. Throughout the the game, due to being forced into situations that cause him to inhale the gas, Joker grows stronger to the point he can take over Batman's body. At the end, when Batman is captured and his identity exposed. Scarecrow injects him with more of the toxin, but overdoes it that it eventually infects the Joker side in Batman's mind, showing him being forgotten as Gotham goes on without him and leaving no lasting legacy. Batman finishes this by locking the Joker in the darkest recesses of his mind, never to return.]]

Compare and contrast EpiphanicPrison, KarmicTransformation, AllJustADream, and IJustWantToBeNormal.

May also overlap with LotusEaterMachine if the experience is treated as calming and seductive, PsychologicalTormentZone if it's treated as a hell, or LaserGuidedAmnesia if their memories of their life before the illusion are erased.

* Appears in the climax of ''VideoGame/{{Control}}'': [[spoiler: the game [[FissionMailed seemingly ends]] - complete with credits - when Jesse is infected by [[EldritchAbomination the Hiss]], sending her mind into a nightmarish illusion where she never became the superpowered director of the Federal Bureau of Control, but instead lives out her days as an office temp at the FBC. In sharp contrast to her stoic, confident former self, she's shy, demure, and constantly bullied by just about everyone in the building, forcing the player into an endless MiniGame of collecting coffee cups and delivering mail. However, with a little encouragement from [[AlmigtyJanitor Ahti]], Jesse gradually begins to notice that something's wrong; after figuring out what's going on, she finally breaks free by rediscovering the power of Polaris within her, backdooring into the [[InnBetweenTheWorlds Oceanview Motel]] thanks to [[BunnyEarsLawyer Dr Darling]], and unleashing her renewed powers on the Hiss.]]

One way or another, regardless of whether this has been inflicted through an illusion, a delusion or through good old-fashioned mind control, a breakout will be attempted sooner or later - often allowing the victim to turn the tables with the powers they were forced to deny.

[[folder: Audio Plays]]

[[folder:Audio Plays]]

[[/folder]]

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** Harry's cruel MuggleFosterParents, Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, never told him about his powers. They ''knew'', mind you, because the late Lily Evans Potter -- Harry's mother, Petunia's sister -- was a witch. But they withheld that knowledge from little Harry, flipping their lids whenever he unconsciously performed magic but never explaining why they were pissed off. When [[WizardingSchool Hogwarts]] starts sending invitation letters to Harry, Vernon and Petunia intercept them and eventually leave their house in a vain attempt to avoid the deluge of mail. Eventually, when they're camped out on a shack on an island, Hogwarts resorts to sending their groundskeeper Rubeus Hagrid to break down the door and deliver the news: "Harry -- [[BrokenMasquerade yer a wizard]]."
** [[spoiler:Gilderoy Lockhart]] accidentally does this to ''himself'' when his [[LaserGuidedAmnesia Memory Charm]] backfires.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE30PerchanceToDream Perchance to Dream]]" begins with Bruce waking up one day to find himself living a life where he ''isn't'' Batman; his parents are alive, he's engaged to [[ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} Selina Kyle]], and is otherwise living the happy life he's always dreamed of. He almost writes off his life as Batman as delusion until he notices he can't read anything and realizes he's trapped in a dream world. He spends the rest of the episode being hunted down by the dream Batman, all the while desperately trying to convince ''himself'' that he isn't going insane, before finally waking himself up by committing suicide in the dream world (he was betting on YourMindMakesItReal not being in play, and figured death was the more merciful fate if it was). [[spoiler: It turns out he was the victim of a LotusEaterMachine set up by the Mad Hatter.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'': In "Emperor Joker!", ComicBook/TheJoker gains Bat-Mite's powers and uses them to torment Batman by repeatedly killing and resurrecting him. Batman defeats him by [[BriarPatching begging him not to destroy his sanity]]; when the Joker tries to do just that, he finds himself outmatched by Batman's highly disciplined mind. The Joker finds himself in a dreary version of Gotham City where he is nothing but a perfectly normal average person, a prospect that dismays him so badly that he agrees to give up the powers to escape it.
* ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': In the context of the series, this is invoked on agents that turn 13 so as to keep them from turning against the agency, specifically so they can leave without the knowledge of the ins and outs of the organization which can make them a threat if they go evil (Chad and Cree being examples of this). The movie, ''WesternAnimation/OperationZERO'', uses this as a plot point as Grandfather was defeated back in the past by wiping his memories, turning him into a docile old man. Father uses a gadget that re-commissions KND agents to restore his memories, bringing his terror back into the world. Sector V beat him by launching their moon base in such a way that it crashes on Grandfather and puts him right into the decommissioning chamber, wiping his memories once again.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE30PerchanceToDream Perchance to Dream]]" begins with Bruce waking up one day to find himself living a life where he ''isn't'' Batman; his parents are alive, he's engaged to Selina Kyle, and is otherwise living the happy life he's always dreamed of. He almost writes off his life as Batman as delusion until he notices he can't read anything and realizes he's trapped in a dream world. He spends the rest of the episode being hunted down by the dream Batman, all the while desperately trying to convince ''himself'' that he isn't going insane, before finally waking himself up by committing suicide in the dream world (he was betting on YourMindMakesItReal not being in play, and figured death was the more merciful fate if it was). [[spoiler: It turns out he was the victim of a LotusEaterMachine set up by the Mad Hatter.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'': In "Emperor Joker!", the Joker gains Bat-Mite's powers and uses them to torment Batman by repeatedly killing and resurrecting him. Batman defeats him by [[BriarPatching begging him not to destroy his sanity]]; when the Joker tries to do just that, he finds himself outmatched by Batman's highly disciplined mind. The Joker finds himself in a dreary version of Gotham City where he is nothing but a perfectly normal average person, a prospect that dismays him so badly that he agrees to give up the powers to escape it.
* ''WesternAnimtion/CodenameKidsNextDoor'': In the context of the series, this is invoked on agents that turn 13 so as to keep them from turning against the agency, specifically so they can leave without the knowledge of the ins and outs of the organization which can make them a threat if they go evil (Chad and Cree being examples of this). The movie, ''WesternAnimation/OperationZERO'', uses this as a plot point as Grandfather was defeated back in the past by wiping his memories, turning him into a docile old man. Father uses a gadget that re-commissions KND agents to restore his memories, bringing his terror back into the world. Sector V beat him by launching their moon base in such a way that it crashes on Grandfather and puts him right into the decommissioning chamber, wiping his memories once again.

->''I heard a rumour you think you're just ordinary...''
-->--'''Alison Hargreeves,''' ''Series/TheUmbrellaAcademy2019''

When pitted against an opponent who can't be BroughtDownToNormal, sometimes the next best thing to do is to trick them into ''thinking'' that they're normal - and that they always have been, more often than not.

A very specific form of {{brainwashing}} - or [[SanitySlippage delusion]] - suffered by characters who are important, special, superhuman or supernatural in some way, this trope can be deployed in a variety of ways.

[[folder: Audio Play]]

** Combined with HeelFaceBrainwashing in "[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho049Master Master]]." Here, the Doctor has made a deal with [[HumanoidAbomination Death]] to erase the Master's memories and give him a new life in the human colony of Perfugium, where he can be at peace away from Death's influence. Now unaware of the Time Lord powers he still possesses, the Master assumes he's just an ordinary human being with [[NightmareFace a disfigured face]] and takes on the name of [[MrSmith John Smith]], and even becomes a well-respected doctor in the town. Unfortunately, the fact that he's still a Time Lord causes problems: the Master's personality is still active and ''not happy'' about being pushed out of the limelight, and though he's not able to control John directly, he's able to use John's telepathic powers to [[TheCorruptor encourage people around him to succumb to their darker natures]]. [[spoiler: Add to that the fact that Death is actively manipulating the setting to her advantage and the Doctor's hopes of redeeming the Master permanently are dead in the water by the story's end.]]
** The final story of [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho091CircularTime "Circular Time"]] begins with Nyssa (years after leaving the TARDIS for good) meeting the fifth Doctor in a dream: believing himself an ordinary human being, he is now married and has retired to an isolated farm with his wife and children. However, he's snowed in by a blizzard and continuously haunted by a strange white figure circling the building... along with a disembodied EvilLaugh. [[spoiler: It's eventually revealed that the story is set during "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E6TheCavesOfAndrozani The Caves of Androzani]]," and the Doctor is just about to regenerate. However, the Master is psychically interfering with the process in an attempt to trap him in a DyingDream and keep him from regenerating. Fortunately, the Doctor has been psychically reaching out for help from his former companions, thus Nyssa's presence in his dreamworld: once she destroys the illusory farmhouse and reminds the Doctor of who he really is, the psychic energies of her, Adric, Tegan, Turlough and Kamelion all combine to overwhelm the Master's psychic interference and usher the Doctor into his next regeneration - finally explaining the visions he experienced in "The Caves Of Androzani."]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]

[[folder: Film - Live Action]]
* In ''[[Film/CaptainMarvel2019 Captain Marvel]]'' (2019), the Kree make Vers believe that she has no powers. They tell her that her abilities come from a Kree implant. In the end, she discovers that she is imbued with superhuman strength, energy projection, and flight, and that the implant was actually suppressing her powers.

[[folder: Literature]]

* The big twist in the first of ''Literature/TheCurseWorkers'' novels is that [[spoiler: Cassel]] isn't [[MuggleBornOfMages the token muggle of the family]] after all: [[spoiler: he's actually a [[BalefulPolymorph transformation]] worker, and has been brainwashed by his brothers into forgetting his powers - except on occasions when they need an assassin who can effectively kill people [[PerfectCrime without leaving any kind of evidence]]. As such, reclaiming his powers and saving one of his past victims forms a major part of the story from then on.]]

[[folder: Live Action TV]]

* In the final episode of ''Series/TheHauntingOfHillHouse,'' the surviving Crain siblings are lured into the Red Room and trapped in their personal LotusEaterMachine: Theo finds herself in bed with Trish and without her powers, fully assimilated by the illusion. Though she enjoys the fact that she can be touched without [[HatesBeingTouched experiencing disturbing stimuli]] for a change, she eventually asks for it to stop - whereupon the illusion turns ''nasty.'' [[spoiler: In the end, she has to be rescued by Nell's ghost.]]
* Overlaps with CuckooNest in ''Series/{{Legion}}.'' During the apparent final confrontation with the Devil With The Yellow Eyes in "[[Recap/LegionS1E5Chapter5 Chapter 5]]", David and his allies are plunged into a mental recreation of the asylum from the beginning of the series and convinced that they are mundane, powerless human beings. Completely assimilated by the illusion, they remember nothing of their real-life experiences and regard any idea of their powers as facets of mental illness; amusingly enough, David actually seems quite content with his new life, believing himself to be well on the way to recovery. [[spoiler: Oliver Byrd ends up having to awaken most of the group from the brainwashing so they can attempt a breakout, while David rediscovers himself after the Devil tries to pull a GrandTheftMe on him and - with a little help from his subconscious - breaks free with a massive telekinetic blast.]]

* In ''Series/TheUmbrellaAcademy2019'', it's eventually revealed that Alison Hargreeves was once ordered to use her CompellingVoice to delude [[spoiler: Vanya Hargreeves AKA Number Seven]] into becoming a {{Muggle}} for all intents and purposes. For good measure, the victim was regularly supplied with superpower-neutralizing drugs, disguised as medication for a non-existent anxiety disorder. [[spoiler: Disaster strikes when one of the villains of the series discovers Vanya's powers and steals her prescription with the intention of using her against the rest of the Academy - turning the shy TokenMuggle into an ApocalypseMaiden.]]

[[folder: Video Games]]

* During the mission to save the Circle of Magi in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins,'' you and your companions are lulled into an enchanted sleep by a Sloth Demon. Emerging in [[DreamLand the Fade]], all of your companions end up being trapped in their own respective dreams and nightmares - some of which are essentially this trope:

[[folder: Web Original]]
* ''Website/SCPFoundation:'' Downplayed in the case of [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-239 SCP-239]]. An eight-year-old girl with reality-warping powers, she's been convinced that she's actually a witch and can only cast "spells" from a pre-approved list, all as part of an effort to limit her powers to manageable levels. Not ''quite'' down to completely normal levels, but definitely a drastic power loss given that she's actually GooGooGodlike - and while uncontrolled, has managed to do things like ''summon Santa Claus.'' [[spoiler: Unfortunately, this approach no longer works, and 239 is now being kept in a medically-induced coma in order to avoid a potentially apocalyptic incident.]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': [[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE30PerchanceToDream Perchance To Dream]] begins with Bruce waking up one day to find himself living a life where he ''isn't'' Batman; his parents are alive, he's engaged to Selina Kyle, and is otherwise living the happy life he's always dreamed of. He almost writes off his life as Batman as delusion until he notices he can't read anything and realizes he's trapped in a dream world. He spends the rest of the episode being hunted down by the dream Batman, all the while desperately trying to convince ''himself'' that he isn't going insane, before finally waking himself up by committing suicide in the dream world (he was betting on YourMindMakesItReal not being in play, and figured death was the more merciful fate if it was). [[spoiler: It turns out he was the victim of a LotusEaterMachine set up by the Mad Hatter.]]

[[/folder]]

* In the final confrontation of the ''ComicBook/CaptainBritain'' plot arc "ComicBook/ACrookedWorld," the eponymous hero faces off against reality-warping prime minister [[ChaoticEvil Mad Jim Jaspers]]. Though at first Captain Britain seems confident in his ability to go on fighting, Jaspers unleashes his powers on him - and next thing he knows, Brian Braddock is waking up from a coma with his parents still alive and no sign of his powers. This lasts only for a page before Jaspers wakes him up again; apparently he did this just to demonstrate how meaningless the good Captain's powers are in the face of a RealityWarper.

* In ''[[Film/CaptainMarvel2019 Captain Marvel]]'' (2019), the Kree make Vers believe that she has no powers. They tell her that her abilities come from a Kree implant. In the end, she discovers that she is imbued with superhuman strength, energy projection, and flight, and that the implant actually was suppressing her powers.

* In ''Film/CaptainMarvel2019'', the Kree make Vers believe that she has no powers. They tell her that her abilities come from a Kree implant. In the end, she discovers that she is imbued with superhuman strength, energy projection, and flight, and that the implant actually was suppressing her powers.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'': In "Emperor Joker!", the Joker gains Bat-Mite's powers and uses them to torment Batman by repeatedly killing and resurrect him. Batman defeats him by [[BriarPatching begging him not to destroy his sanity]]; when the Joker tries to do just that, he finds himself outmatched by Batman's highly disciplined mind. The Joker finds himself in a dreary version of Gotham City where he is nothing but a perfectly normal average person, a prospect that dismays him so badly that he agrees to give up the powers to escape it.

* The ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "Back To Reality," the boys from the dwarf end up getting a dose of hallucinogenic venom from the Despair Squid, sending them into a illusory scenario in which the events of the series were just a virtual reality game they were playing over the course of the last four years. Most of the four are even more pathetic than ever before as a result: Rimmer is no longer a hologram, but is a homeless man and lacks what little achievements he possessed on Red Dwarf [[spoiler: and he's also Lister's half-brother]]; Kryten is a cyborg traffic cop with zero authority [[spoiler: and eventually, a death on his conscience]]; Cat's arguably been hit the hardest up front, having gone from an effortlessly-cool evolved cat to a hopeless dork by the name of Dwayne Dibbley. Lister's the odd one out, being rich and successful... but only because [[spoiler; he's actually a mass-murdering official in the totalitarian government that runs the world.]] Essentially, the illusion is meant to force the crew to the DespairEventHorizon, and it's up to [[BenevolentAI Holly]] to snap them out of it before all four of them commit suicide.

The other, less dreamlike variant involves more straightforward mental manipulation, and features all knowledge of the victim's true nature being either suppressed or completely expunged: they can be allowed to roam free from then on, as they will have lost all knowledge of any special abilities they possessed and remain completely unaware of any great quests or vendettas that once defined their lives. In this case, the nightmare is of the purely metaphorical kind... though it does run into problems if the victims accidentally rediscover their abilities - for of course, their powers themselves haven't been destroyed, only the ''knowledge'' of them.

** The final story of [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWho091CircularTime "Circular Time"]] begins with Nyssa (years after leaving the TARDIS for good) meeting the fifth Doctor in a dream: believing himself an ordinary human being, he is now married and has retired to an isolated farm with his wife and children. However, he's snowed in by a blizzard and continuously haunted by a strange white figure circling the building... along with a disembodied EvilLaugh. [[spoiler: It's eventually revealed that the story is set during "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E6TheCavesOfAndrozani The Caves of Androzani]]," and the Doctor is just about to regenerate. However, the Master is psychically interfering with the process in an attempt to trap him in a DyingDream and keep him from regenerating. However, the Doctor has been psychically reaching out for help from his former companions, thus Nyssa's presence in his dreamworld: once she destroys the illusory farmhouse and reminds the Doctor of who he really is, the psychic energies of her, Adric, Tegan, Turlough and Kamelion all combine to overwhelm the Master's psychic interference and usher the Doctor into his next regeneration - finally explaining the visions he experienced in "The Caves Of Androzani."]]