Trope Talk: Amnesia

[@bittipasuta]

Have your cake and eat it too: your character is lying about their amnesia, thus the symptoms can be whatever you want

[@Rainbowthewindsage]

I can only think of one example of this, an NCIS criminal was trying to get away with everything by pretending not remember. It was more about whether the main characters should trust this person though.

[@Tmanowns]

That's called Changnesia, as seen in Community.

[@gearandalthefirst7027]

Film Theory has entered the chat

[@ZenoDLC]

Hachiyo of the false memory loss did that

[@matthewmuir8884]

@@Tmanowns Don't remind people of Changnesia, since it was one of the major plot points of the much-reviled fourth season.

[@parkermccarthy4265]

"Getting stabbed in the stomach is not something you're supposed to walk off" Every action anime "I have no idea what you're talking about"

[@NathanCassidy721]

Dante watching the video: *laughs with Pizza in his mouth*

[@anthonyniemiec9409]

D&D: I need to go to bed for 8hrs. See you tomorrow.

[@dragonslair951167]

"I'm okay, that bullet only hit me in the head" -JoJo characters

[@ninjiinc.8883]

beowulf: massive blood loss? who cares!

[@FedoraKirb]

@@dragonslair951167 JJBA is why I don’t trust any character deaths to stick.

[@catherinetebbel3124]

My mom is a registered nurse, and she once had an amnesiac patient who forgot about everyone he knew except for one person. Was it his wife? One of his kids, perhaps? Nope! It was a repairman who fixed their air conditioning one time!

[@coolgreenbug7551]

well I would assume that you wouldn't store repair man in the same directory as loved ones

[@freetoplayking7362]

The milkman: phew

[@rainofstars00]

@@freetoplayking7362 ominous

[@bendystrawz2832]

Make it a story!

[@alejandrasofia5937]

LOL

[@basementdwellercosplay]

My favorite amnesia trope: Character got so blackout drunk that they don't know what they did last night and because of it they believe they did a crime.

[@talesofacrookedmouth]

hangover be like

[@solgerWhyIsThereAnAtItLooksBad]

Like the simpsons episode

[@Ninjagoninjafangirl5]

“And I had that thought, that most black out drunks, and Steve Irkel can have”

[@Nikoxin319]

I'm reminded of the john mulaney bit about waking up from a blackout with more money than he left home with

[@rockybalboa5055]

the pineapple...where does this pineapple come from...

[@ajacevedo3]

**Screen slowly fades to white** **Eyes open** **Person is in a rickety old wagon** Ralof: Hey, you’re finally awake

[@scoutymcscoutface2957]

Todd you've done it again

[@YeahAlright1983]

It just works

[@lorekeeper2611]

Fuck

[@amixofletters]

You were trying to cross the border, right?

[@alexbrown1930]

Oh gods...that opening is bad for SOOOO many reasons! And they don't even make Amnesia part of it! They just fill in a bit here, a bit there..and and then, a dragon attacks!

[@GrimGoblinLives]

A man woke up with no memories. A spirit appeared in front of him. "What is your third wish?", She said. "My third wish?", asked the man. "Yes, I owe you three wishes. You asked me the first and then for the second you asked me to undo it." "Well, then, I want to get my memories back. I want to know who I am." "Funny." Spirit chuckled. "That was your first wish."

[@tiggerbane4325]

Then the genie has fucked up. They gave back the memories then were asked to undo it however they proceeded to go far further then the wish actually asked for.

[@afkasdfFEWFHLGF]

is it ok if i put this on r/ writing prompts?

[@SW-81]

@@afkasdfFEWFHLGF This is from Planescape: Torment btw. Just warning you people are going to think you took it from there.

[@thesleepydot]

Grim Goblin holy shit this kinda messed me up not gonna lie

[@lahlybird895]

What were his memories

[@ValeVin]

I think the worst part about the amnesia/memory loss trope is the way it affects your friends and loved ones when you have memory loss. They'll talk at you again and again, convinced that if they say the right words, you'll suddenly remember everything. In fact, it's strangely traumatic to have someone describe something to you, especially when they're describing you. The brain really, really hates that. Even if it's your spouse or best friend, it feels like they're lying because there's no memory to back it up. And while everyone's case is a little difference, the whole randomly knowing Kung Fu thing is the opposite from what I've seen. Instead, it's more like... a filing cabinet of boxes with labels and you don't know which ones are empty. You remember yourself as someone who can speak Spanish or program in C++. You know that you know those languages. Then you sit down to do a C++ project for work and you realize you don't actually know any C++ anymore. The box is empty. You remember knowing it, but you don't remember any of it anymore. I could go on for awhile. While memory loss is traumatic, the way people will treat you afterwards because of things they saw in movies or novels is pretty terrible, too.

[@acedragon1456]

Learning Kung Fu may actually be more likely to be remembered if the person did it enough for it to become muscle memory. Motor memories are different to long and short term memory so someone can learn how to flip pancakes, forget about it and then years later get told to make pancakes and do it near perfectly. And I agree, having friends and family describe things you've done but can't remember just feels weird.

[@akaviri5]

@@acedragon1456 "Muscle memory" is stored in the brain, and can be lost to brain damage.

[@marzipancutter8144]

This doesn't seem to be as much the case for memories you naturally forget (like early childhood memories or completely lost details). On the contrary, I find it easy to believe I did "x" thing as a kid even if I have no recollection of it. For minor details, integrating them into memory from being told about in retrospect is a natural thing to do, even if the detail is completely made up.

[@marzipancutter8144]

@@akaviri5 True, but Acedragon may still have a point. I'm a layman, but assuming that muscle memory may be stored elsewhere in the brain than other long term memory, and knowing that long- and short term memory can be lost seperately, it's likely to be possible for procedural memory to persist after explicit long term memory loss. What's more interesting is that it could also happen the other way around.

[@chicnuggs8238]

I feel like another "sin" in the Amnesia/Memory Loss trope is that the characters will remember everything almost 100 % of the time. Yet, it`s not like that IRL. Amnesiac`s, most of the time, won`t regain their memories. Sure that can grasp at some, but not all. Therapy in multiple ways, or experiencing similar / exact feelings or motions can bring back certain things, but that's not for _everything_ . Some memories will be 100 % gone. No head boink, curing the problem by a voice lead flashback, or a true love's kiss will fix a permanent memory wipe. They`re gone, end of story. We need more stories in which the character doesn't regain their memories, but forms new ones. For example, a married couple went through a traumatic accident. One spouse gained Amnesia, and lost everything permanently; While the other came out ok, minus some physical and mental scarring. We can watch as this once deeply in love couple struggles through not only the pain of the accident, both mental and physical, but the forever scar of the Amnesia. The second spouse might go through physical therapy, while the first will go to certain therapies to cope with the loss of certain abilities (as Amnesia can make one forget cognitive functions). They learn to deal with what they went through, and over time learn to live and thrive with it. They can grow to fall in love all over again, this time deeper and way mushier than before This way we can walk away knowing that despite going through hell, and literally forgetting who the other person was, this couple's love ascends the expectations of others and it`s eternal; No matter what`s thrown their way. That sounds like a better story than Person A forgets Person B, but Person B kisses Person A after a tragic scene, and suddenly Person A remembers everything.

[@WikiSorcerer]

Not going to lie: the picture of a guy getting hit in the head with a frying pan and remarking "welp, there goes March" would make a great joke in an official work of media.

[@lunnihyre4215]

*hit again* "April." *Again* "May." *Another hit* "January?"

[@elizabethshaw7472]

There was a Phineas and Ferb gag like this. I can't find the exact clip, but a character (Doofenshmirtz) was hit in the head repeatedly and he says roughly, "**hit** Great, I forgot all of my math. **hit** There goes science class. **hit** Oh great! They're back!"

[@dorktriogamer2865]

I think Deadpool made that specific joke before?

[@gulogulo999]

Can we all appreciate the fact Red managed to make the abbreviation for the themes of fictional amnesia C.O.N.T.R.I.V.E.D.? I thought it was brilliant.

[@cruye9633]

BRB making a D&D magic weapon that's a frying pan that casts Modify Memory on anyone you crit with it

[@MadSwedishGamer]

And a baseball bat that casts Greater Restoration, so you can restore the memories as well.

[@zambekiller]

Daniel is that you if it is then what the fuck man you convinced my orc that he was a frightened little schoolgirl with that weapon

[@im_tired1439]

Cruye, I think being able to make a memory-modifying frying pan is the most hilarious thing you could do in a D&D campaign.

[@xxweirdofromspacexx1119]

YES

[@I_Stole_Your_Toast]

"Oh dang there goes March"

[@voivodadracula1936]

I want a "Childhood friend romance" trope talk

[@SerafRhayn]

Not gonna lie, I freaking LOVE this trope! Only once has it really let me down so far.

[@dohickey7184]

In a harem anime the NEVER EVER win

[@matthewmuir8884]

That would be interesting. I was a bit surprised that she didn't cover it when she did the video on romantic subplots. It would also be interesting to see a "Battle Couples" trope talk.

[@thebeansaregone]

Ah yes, childhood friend romance, battle couples, and hate to love are my favorites. (Although hate to love can be tricky since you don't want to go overboard, and you have to make it believable)

[@Scalesthelizardwizard]

agreed

[@randompatchofgrass5034]

Percy and Jason: Going about their normal life, leading their camps. Hera: I’m about to end this man’s whole career

[@andysmith5806]

That’s just Hera’s natural state.

[@afonsotrigueiros6947]

Aaahh shit

[@rougue_captainkris-more3190]

But that's basically what happened

[@marshmallowallen5677]

I misread that as Percy and Jackson and I had a mini-seizure

[@e.v.mahouho2956]

Hera seriously just decided to waste (I won't say waste tho) 8 months out of their life, being that they were amnesiac. I think Uncle Rick did a great job with the amnesia trope though

[@JudgeAlan501]

Amnesia being fixed by hitting that person again in the head is only exceptable if the scenario is comedic

[@darwinxavier3516]

Or possibly shounen anime.

[@gnarthdarkanen7464]

@@darwinxavier3516 Is there a difference? ;o)

[@JMSginoclave]

*Acceptable* , right?

[@elibeth8399]

Wasn’t there an Addams Family episode like this?

[@catsandclassics]

What if a character who previously had amnesia gets hit in the head with a brick?

[@zionnemakoma1398]

Personally, I like how BOTW deals with it. certain things bring back related memories, and Link never gets *all* his memories back, just enough to understand who he was, and why things are how they are

[@anna-flora999]

Unless you're a speedrunner. Then he's just the incarnation of "I don't know who I am, I don't know why I'm here. I just know that I must kill"

[@mariustan9275]

@@anna-flora999 Yeah

[@ericajackson6662]

@@anna-flora999 And this is why I like how they ended the game story wise. No matter what you do, the ending will not feel out of place.

[@daviddaugherty2816]

I might be the only person on Earth that doesn't have a Switch, but that sounds a lot like Planescape: Torment, which has got to be the most well-done amnesia plot I've ever seen. Then again, "Why am I immortal?" doesn't come up in most amnesia plots.

[@ewanstewart2001]

@@ericajackson6662 I'd amend that to "No matter what you do, the ending will always feel equally out of place" because it never feels narratively satisfying.

[@Technodreamer]

Amnesia: eh. Building your plot entirely about the concept of memory and identity and how devastating it can be for your brain to fail you: YEAH

[@ingonyama70]

^this

[@nolitimeremessorem]

What movies/series/ect are like this?

[@purpleghost106]

@@nolitimeremessorem Not many that I know of, but, "The Good Place" has elements of this. Discovering/Rediscovering identity and memories is probably the most central theme of the show, and even though the reasons for forgetting are semi-magical, the impact is always felt by the characters. That said, I'd like to see more shows where it's also about your brain failing/betraying you, I relate to that statement already. I can only think of one show that has that atm, but it's not a fictional story although it does have good narrative tension after a fashion, and that's "My Beautiful Broken Brain" which is a doc on Netflix.

[@alisaurus4224]

A Beautiful Mind deals with the opposite of amnesia-realizing that your memories aren’t real, just your brain interacting with itself. (Though to some extent that’s true of all memories, even those based on external events...what is reality anyhow...existential crisis intensifies)

[@alisaurus4224]

Hans Hanzo “Orphan Black”, but yeah. God, that show rocked

[@sullivanlaramie2901]

Had a heatstroke back in 2012, which fried - among other things - my ability to form memories for about 45 minutes between walking down up a road and laying in an ice bath naked, though I was apparently never unconscious. From the moment I was lucid again, I could remember where I was and what I'd been doing but knew nothing about anything else. Hell, I was in the hospital crying that I wanted to go home and I didn't even know what 'home' meant. By the end of the day, however, I'd remembered just about everything - the exception being the 45 minutes that didn't get memories in the first place. The strangest thing about it now is the memory of not being able to remember, which comes back vividly in flashes every once in a while.

[@haikall5479]

Damn

[@violetrose415]

Reminds me of damned DPDR

[@Mazurana1000]

I'd say Hermione wiping herself from her parents' memory was an effective, interesting, go-for-the-feels case of fictional amnesia.

[@emeraldemperor2601]

was that even in the movies? They didn't include ANYTHING ELSE about Hermione's backstory

[@Mazurana1000]

@@emeraldemperor2601 In the seventh movie, I think (the one before the last one).

[@zoesequeira5388]

@@emeraldemperor2601 In the moves she erases all pictures of herself, and wipes her folks memories. In the books, she basically replaces their memories with fake ones, and fixes it immediately after Voldemort's defeat

[@bibbobella]

"remove aspect" amnesia or "alter the real memories" amnesia is so much more interesting if you ask me. Not knowing who you are? Seen it a million times! Deleting something from someone and see the effect that does is so bloody interesting though since it really shows how they could have actually turned out had they not met this person. One of my favorit examples of this (Though it is time travel more so than memory change) is from Shrek 4. Seeing just how different Fiona became after her savior never came to get her and just what a huge impact Shrek really had on the world is such a cool aspect. It not only shows how different the world and characters would have been without a specific character but also shows a very interesting alternative universe.

[@timothymclean]

It helps that: 1. The method and rules of memory-altering magic had been previously established. 2. The plot effect is basically just to explain why Hermione's Muggle parents weren't involved in or targeted by anything, meaning that it didn't feel contrived. Of course Hermione wanted to protect them, and making them not know about Hermione or want to be in England is an easy way to do that. And the resulting drama makes sense, because it was both necessary and emotionally-charged, because _they're her parents._

[@kitkatmuffin]

What people think amnesia is like: Oh woe is me I can’t remember my family- What amnesia really is like: OH MY GOD PIZZAS HAVE CRUST! -My friend who actually has amnesia

[@slithra227]

Also re-having your first experience of being in a car as a confused and hapless adult is a terrifying experience that I'm sure is funny as hell to watch from the outside. Like people don't think of all the things we were just socialized to as kids. Also FUCK cars, why do they vibrate like that. Bad and wrong.

[@heinoustentacles5719]

@@slithra227 road combined with engine

[@coltonbates629]

Yea ive always kinda felt like a person with amnesia wouldnt really miss their family. After all, they cant remember them.

[@madeleine7419]

I have taken my parents to my favourite burger shop for the first time about 5 times. “Mum check it out you order fries and they put the order cup in the bottom of the paper bag, and then just _dump a million fries on top, like twice as many as would fill the cup, like so many fries,_ and then you just yoink out the cup and you can dump in vinegar or seasonings and just shake shake the bag and then roll the top down like a waistband and then you’re good to go-how great is that?!” I can always tell by their faces we’ve had this conversation before, but man- *i just don’t remember* (sometimes I’m surprised I know I have a favourite burger dive)

[@madeleine7419]

Anime/Rock&Metalfan we all have amnesia-couldn’t tell ya😂 Jk. Who are you asking?

[@Kntrytnt]

A stylized version of "Oh dang, there goes March." is a t-shirt I *NEED*

[@otamatoneperson7733]

Kntrytnt HECK YES.

[@IrvingIV]

8:00

[@IrvingIV]

Took me like 60 seconds. www.customink.com/designs/theregoes/ywy0-00bz-trrx/share?pc=EMAIL-40778&

[@amnongravenmur9024]

I want an amnesia story where someone hits the person with amnesia in the head and that person responds: “Wait, it’s all coming back! I remember now!” And the person who hit them says “What do you remember” and then the person who got hit says “I remember that you are an idiot.”

[@dianehallmeyer8901]

YES PLEASE

[@lunnihyre4215]

I swear I've heard something just like that before.

[@carolyn8740]

Generator Rex?

[@tami7992]

That's amazing 😂

[@AdamArBast99]

Can I use this for a script I'm writing?

[@thforres]

I've had a few head injuries, and the inability to form new memories is terrifying. It's frequent to see brief bouts of Anterograde Amnesia after a severe concussion. It's also not uncommon to see relapses. I've had entire conversations, in which I was totally coherent, and then been unable to recall that the conversation ever took place. It's frustrating, for me, and the people around me. Just to add an element of realism to the discussion. It all depends on the severity of the head injury.

[@あなたがすごいだよ]

Idk, I've had similar things happen to me except with actions instead of conversations (and as far as I know, I haven't had any serious head energies). Like I'll lock the door to my house, go back to my room to watch something on my phone, then literally only 5-10 minutes later the though of my front door will cross my mind again and I can't remember if I locked it or not. I always find it irritating that 95% of the time, it is

[@alanp741]

@@あなたがすごいだよ I have that thing as well but that's because of me having ADHD. Not sure if that's the same case for you but I'm not a psychologist

[@ped3752]

@@あなたがすごいだよ That's just poor memory recalling i assume, you can practice that by making notes, placing them in spots you're bound to see and always carry a small notebook where you can write down anything that you may need to recall, with time you may not even need it anymore.

[@politebadger5049]

I've only had one incident where I can't remember anything but it was terrifying and I still don't know what happened. I know that I left for work (janitor in a soap factory) on my bicycle. I don't know if I was in the building or not but began to feel very queasy and dizzy my head hurt and couldn't see very well. Someone noticed something was off and said something and then called me a cab home. I think they had me lay down somewhere while we waited. The next thing I remember was being at home and going to bed. When I went back the next day to collect my bicycle I went to look at the previous day's bathroom sign sheet and saw that I hadn't cleaned them at all (they were supposed to be cleaned at 4 and again at 10) but I was pretty sure that I'd gotten home around seven-thirty (based on what my aunt said). So I have no idea what happened between 3:30 and 7:30. I was dizzy and had a headache for the next few days and mostly just stayed in bed. Then I felt fine, except there was small indent in the back of my head (which disappeared after a about a week). I think I may have hit my head but I have no idea on what.

[@sexysolaire1203]

ive had similar issues with narcolepsy. since im always so exhausted when i first wake up that ill be half asleep and hold conversations but have no memory of even waking up at all. people ive talked to when im like that didnt even notice anything off about me. ive even gotten up went downstairs made breakfast and coffee ate and drank it all and went back upstairs and fell back asleep with no memory of it. i saw some empty plates and a cup in my room and asked my mom who told me that she saw me do all that. also very confusing because i get dreams and reality confused sometimes like hmmm did i have that conversation in a dream or real life?

[@brandonchain1721]

“Bad shrimp dinner causes them to forget beloved spouse and think they’re an undercover mafioso” sounds like a plot from Gintama

[@justas423]

Well that's a comedy so nothing should be taken seriously.

[@cheesecakelasagna]

you're making me want to watch it now.

[@NeostormXLMAX]

Wow some one knows gintama exists, man this made my day

[@catbatrat1760]

To me, it just sounded weird, bordering on surreal, and something I would want to watch just because I think it would be funny.

[@dizzydoom4230]

A villain who loses their memory of villainy, finds out about their legacy through outside sources, but rejects it without getting thise memories back. I want THAT.

[@Sorain1]

Huh. Almost KOTOR actually. Depending on your alignment.

[@RacingSnails64]

Dizzy Doom THAT'S INFINITY BLADE

[@_CNT_]

(Spoilers) That kind of happens in Danganronpa 2

[@dizzydoom4230]

@Mrimchaelson You right. Gimme more of that.

[@politebadger5049]

There is a book called Restart where that kind of happens but on a very small scale.

[@amabitsapiens]

The 2 weirdest things about retrograde amnesia, imo, are: 1) the way your memories trickle back unevenly (you never really know when they're all back, and when combined with black outs, it gets really spooky, because you can't form new memories and feel like your mind is totally slipping away from you, like you're losing more than you gain in terms of control over your life, every day) 2) the way it forces you to reexamine your life and the people in it. You get fresh eyes to examine where you're at and wonder why you are this person, in this life. And it's hard on your friends and relatives, especially, because they are all a little hurt that you don't recognize them no matter how they try to logically cope. They want to hug you? If you're averse to strangers, you're probably going to be averse to that. Relationships get really strange, because you look the same, but without your memories, you might as well be someone else entirely. As an aside, the doctor told me that memory recovery is the norm for most cases, although I suppose that likely depends on the degree & type of brain trauma. However, neuroscience is still the frontier of medicine and articles come out all the time, prematurely published in pop sci journals touting a better understanding of the mechanics than we really reliably have. The bottom line is, memory is still very poorly understood. In terms of case studies, however, that doctor seemed convinced that most memories would eventually return and that this is the norm. Then again, maybe he was just being dishonestly reassuring.

[@slithra227]

No, that's been my experience too. I'm also three years out so I probably have everything I'll ever get episodic wise, although sometimes I remember new facts about myself if something is jarring enough. Some of the friends I kept around have told me that while I'm not drastically different, there are parts of my personality that are different as well. And your social group really does change once you lose the nostalgia attachments and see people with fresh eyes for sure. I know that I'm a lot less scared of my parents than I used to be.

[@JBBell]

I'm 51 and just yesterday checked in with a friend (who has a remarkably _good_ memory) about memories around traumas that have been jumbled up my whole life, and it turns out I had misremembered some stuff on the order of a couple of years. Now in my case it was from emotional trauma, not a traumatic brain injury, so the mechanisms are, I assume, pretty different. In this instance I've been assured by a couple of professionals that while episodic recovery can and does happen (and I have found that to be true), it's not at all guaranteed. Worse is how our brains are narrative-making engines, and will do their absolute damnedest to make a coherent-seeming story out of our own past, stitching together stuff as best as they're able. I found I had knit stuff together that was years or months apart to cover over the gaps. Mostly I did not have what seems to be your experience of a really hardcore, total amnesia, though I did get the unfortunate experience of greeting a school friend as a complete stranger, and being really weirded out that she insisted we knew each other well. As you say, the workings of it all are still obnoxiously mysterious. I'm just happy Red put her finger so neatly on the particular lack of any reliable rules to this trope; it really made me feel understood.

[@howltertrash6143]

With retrograde amnesia, memory loss usually involves facts rather than skills. For example, someone might forget whether or not they own a car, what type it is, and when they bought it - but they will still know how to drive.

[@Alicia-ix5tv]

I’m not well researched into this subject... but I think that would still depend on what part of the brain you damaged

[@adrianroed2178]

@@Alicia-ix5tv It holds true assuming its only amnesia. but it is rare to only have a single part of your brain damaged outside magical/chemical means

[@Alicia-ix5tv]

adrian roed makes sense

[@slithra227]

Yeah, but brain damage isn't usually so localized. Most of what I lost was episodic and factual, sure, but I lost some skills too. And my trauma was caused by an internal issue, I image if you get a good crack on the head your experience will be different from mine.

[@madeleine7419]

Like the part where I forget the fact that I’ve ever taken my parents to my fave burger joint (which I’ve apparently done like five times since it opened, and walked them through all the fun quirks) but I remember having said favourite burger joint 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@pridelander06]

I had a Snorlax who knew Amnesia. Then he forgot it.

[@josephdavis9234]

Give yourself a Rare Candy because that is next level.

[@auxiliaryc-nt]

*Ba dum tssss*

[@cassidyflame2885]

Here’s my dumbass trying to figure out what a Snorlax was totally forgetting Pokémon was a thing

[@otamatoneperson7733]

Niiiiiiiiice

[@MagicBiber]

I think the "repressed memories" trope offers similar possibilities to the amnesia one, but with way more options to play around with. Even the suggestion of repressed memories adds depth to a character, because the underlying implication is, that the character has gone through development in the past, will have to confront it in the future and we get to explore their very psyche, often through very dramatic metaphors (like "mind battles"). It's pretty cool, because it kinda acts like a promise of the author: We, as the audience, get introduced to a character and then explore how they ended up in their status quo as they confront the trauma, but this inherently means, that the previous status quo will end permanently. We begin with the present, explore the past and have lasting consequences for the character to deal with in the future. By it's very nature, repressed memories are an inner conflict that can change a character completely, I thinks that's way more compelling than amnesia. ...Come to think of it, Dragonball did amnesia medically correct? Goku never recovers his memories and no one can argue that he doesn't have permanent brain damage!

[@arthurpprado]

I consider Abridged to be the actual canon, so to me, all Goku has is brain damage

[@henrypaleveda7760]

I was thinking of having a form of antigrade amnesia that comes on in moments of particularly high stress as a defense mechanism for an android (purpose built to be as human as possible and the "bot" doesn't know who made him- learns that he isn't human early on and figures out he's an android later) where they are used to losing bits of time or retrograde where information is just dumped but I'm not sure which to use. What do you think?

[@jorenbosmans8065]

Somehow it seems that repressed memories and emotional Amnesia are Often used interchangeable. Not sure how the difference is (did not like memory studies). But you are correct that they make more sense as it would explain why your character has all their skills but no memory. Dissociative fugue is Also great in this regard.

[@jorenbosmans8065]

@@henrypaleveda7760 is your bot supposed to be protected from learning that they aren't human? In that case it would be retrograde. The moment they realize it, all info that led them to this conclusion is removed. Anterograde would Mean that they can't learn anything new which would lead to them never learning, but basically be stuck to factory setting.

[@henrypaleveda7760]

@@jorenbosmans8065 well they would have the ability to learn and would have a sub conscious understanding of not being human or maybe being a machine, it's more for if they see something that messes them up- rather than a repressed memory, they loose a few hours.

[@azimnazlen8564]

i Honestly think Wall-E just needed time to boot all of his memory and in turn his personality. The first few minutes of being active are him following his core program of cleanup duty.

[@elkwolf2888]

Oh my gosh thank you. Like he just had a less fast acting backup in there or the disc was tougher then it looked. That helps me be more ok with thar scene.

[@misssan6361]

I never really realized how many shows and pieces of media I've seen with the Amnesia trope until watching this.

[@MrEdit-ic7th]

@Sightless_Seeker as much as I love the Witcher games, the whole amnesia thing was just an easy way to start from scratch and not have to immediately follow up on the books' ending.

[@Hyperversum3]

@Sightless_Seeker I mean, he seems to have forgot his life but not the rest of his personality and things like that. It's a classic "amnesiac but the same" trope. It can work.

[@scifikoala]

I just counted and at least 7 pieces of media I've consumed in the past year have used it, to varying degrees of success

[@ArlanKels]

If it's a sci-fi or fantasy series it is guaranteed to have amnesia appear at least once, if not multiple times.

[@emmae2520]

I've liked amnesia plots way less since I had a seizure so bad that I kind of sort of couldn't remember any of my friends or where I was for about an hour. I dont like it as much anymore, because not only was it scary for me, but I really did put my friends through so much pain and panic. That said, liking it less doesnt mean I dont like it. If anything, it made my favorite variation of the trope the one where the character doesnt remember anything, but still feels like something is missing, still feels a connection they cant describe to their loved ones even though they dont know them. Kind of like a fix-it hurt/comfort fic for that incident, y'know? But also it's just really sad and sweet instead of just plain sad.

[@BradyPostma]

Seems like you'd be great at writing an amnesia story.

[@あなたがすごいだよ]

Honestly, that's my favorite kind as well. Infact, I'm planning on using it for my MC in the second book of a trilogy I'm writing

[@RogueT-Rex8468]

I’m glad you got over it. That sounds absolutely horrifying.

[@juliamay8580]

Once, one character from a kid's show lost his memory because he was hit in the head. They restored his memory by hitting him again. But then he was hit a third time and he lost his memory again. So they hit him again. They spend like 5 minutes like that until the memories don't come back no matter how many times they hit him. So they kinda give up and leave him like that. But at the end of the episode somebody has a brilliant idea: he drops an anvil on him, but misses the hit on purpose. His logic: if a hit can't fix the problem, then it must be solved by a not-hit. And then the character magically gets back his memories. It was hilarious. The show is called "31 Minutos" if you're curious, but it's in spanish.

[@justnoob8141]

Totally Tom&Jerry level

[@erict.miyahira6241]

Tu tu ru tuuu tu tu ru tuuuuuu tu tu ru tu tuuuu. I'm sorry, just trying to do the intro. Jaja.

[@badbloodc8058]

Omg I can't believe I'll ever see 31 Minutos referenced ... anywhere, really. That show is a real pleasure and anyone who is not able to see due to language barrier misses out on so much.

[@Kero-Kero]

HOLY SHIT...PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT LATINO OR SPANISH...KNOW ABOUT 31 MINUTOS?! WHAAAAAAAAAT

[@kallistiravenhurst5232]

that logic makes my brain hurt in a fun way, kudos

[@decameter]

The Study of Amnesia has come a long way. They did a study with people who couldn't form new memories, and thus wouldn't remember playing a game, but even though the participants couldn't remember having played the game or what the goal was, when being set up, they would sort of automatically put their hands in the correct position to play. It's really fascinating how the brain works, how our working memory, and physical memory differs from our visual and conceptual memory.

[@lizardirl9488]

I honestly really loved what Death Note did with its amnesia thing. It was an absurdly over the top plan and seeing it conclude was one of the most satisfying things I've probably ever seen in fiction.

[@fluffyphoenix8082]

Right? It had a perfectly consistent in-universe explanation, and seeing Light go right back to being evil was somehow incredibly satisfying.

[@juliarose3826]

Hell yes, Death Note did amnesia RIGHT

[@emilycaballero6052]

It was so good! It’s super exhilarating whether you like Light or not

[@eyesofthecervino3366]

It was the perfect gut punch. It's been over a year since I first saw that, and it still makes my stomach cramp up watching it. :'(

[@gilgamesh310]

I agree. Him getting his memories back was one of the best parts of the series.

[@purplehaze2358]

Amnesia, the literary swiss army knife.

[@morganpriest7726]

So... we meet again!

[@purplehaze2358]

morgan priest So it would seem.

[@shosty575]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣👍

[@devlinmcguire7543]

Dr. Bright, who do think would win in an arm-wrestling contest, Cleff, you, 3 or 4 of you, King, or Gears? I think Dr. Gears would win. He seems more disciplined. You know, 'take the heat' better, sort to speak.

[@devlinmcguire7543]

Oh god.. Now I really really want a tail where that happens.. xD

[@Nova-op1ob]

I had something to say but forgot what it was...

[@ploofthesheep2887]

ba dum tsss

[@mariapazgonzalezlesme]

😎 Eyyyyy.

[@killerpekka]

I was going to reply but I forgot what I was going to say...

[@merrittanimation7721]

Huh? Was I watching something?

[@Healermain15]

This comment feels strangely familiar somehow...

[@cosmicdust2668]

The Good Place does amnesia really well. they're systematically taking out the memories over and over again, and it was really really sweet to see Chidi and Eleanor fall in love over and over again imo.

[@kuro02kuro]

omg i love the good place!!!! i’m so happy to see it mentioned somewhere. i also 100% agree tbh

[@xplitegaming8295]

Usogui also does it really well with the character hal/kiruma souichi.

[@phoebe.adeline]

In Tennant-era Dr Who, Donna losing her memory cut me deeper than if she had died because she lost all the healing and self-actualizing she'd achieved along the way 💔

[@luisacruz8684]

Yeah, bc nothing more is more tragic that losing the person you used to be.

[@MariaVosa]

I hated that "resolution" so damn much! Have amnesiad it away from my head canon

[@justas423]

Also you could time machine her back so it would make people angry instead of sad.

[@akatoshslayer7599]

@@luisacruz8684 Even worse is her going back to be the person she once was. She started her adventures with the conviction she was a nobody and because of that she took the first man who offered himself to her because her self esteem was so low she felt she couldn't do better. She changed the fate of the universe twice, saved more lives then she even knew existed, and is a hero who will never know her own worth. The only benefit she has is that she does get her original version of a happily ever after. Many of the Doctors companions can not claim anything similar as they tend to end up broken, nihilistic, or with two screws missing.

[@Ramkoff]

Donna is the most tragic character in the series and I will never forgive the Doctor for not letting her die a hero.

[@SennaHawx]

Red...You already covered this trope once :p

[@kanha2237]

when?

[@SennaHawx]

@@kanha2237 I don't remember :D

[@just_xanny2777]

AMNESIA!

[@v.sandrone4268]

@@just_xanny2777 What is amnesia?

[@killerpekka]

@V. Sandrone I was going to reply but I forgot what I was going to say

[@RodeyMcG]

7:55 *BONK* "Oh Dang, there goes March" That needs to be on a t-shirt. Hilarious! 😂😂😂

[@Godvvinslaw]

there was a Simpsons joke where Bart learns Spanish on a flight to brazil but finds out that they speak portuges hi hits himself in the head to unlearn it.

[@lemax6865]

@@Godvvinslaw Yes, because Homer ordered him to. He hits himself like three or four times with the plane's on board telephone, I think.

[@Offtask2]

“As all villainous schemes this rarely works forever” SCP foundation: nervously scoots out of the room

[@damianthorne2532]

The SCP Foundation, villainous as they are in my opinion, are protagonists and thus have plot armor. Also, I think that falls more under the Masquerade trope?

[@Orokorra-Flantxo]

@@damianthorne2532 Explain how you think they’re villainous

[@damianthorne2532]

@@Orokorra-Flantxo They hide the anomalous from humanity, even when the presence of the anomalous would benefit humanity, and even though humanity deserves to know the truth. They may be well-intentioned, but they stick too closely to their principles instead of reevaluating whether those principles serve their purpose.

[@drscavv2661]

@@damianthorne2532 are you a serpent's hand?

[@damianthorne2532]

@@drscavv2661 I'm more of a Gamer Against Weed.

[@MalloonTarka]

I'm going to go write a story where a stab wound is healed by a stabbing.

[@mythandmayhem1134]

MalloonTarka May I suggest a magic dagger? One that looks completely evil, all dark and jagged and wicked? And if you stab someone, they’re healed?

[@phoenixtracy9875]

I wanna read this. Maybe the main crew all have their own skills/weapons but the healer of the group is confused cuz they somehow have a dagger

[@tanyanikolaevagizdova6571]

Pwyll video ?

[@adrianroed2178]

I've once considered a character with the ability to turn back time, but not in the sense that everything that has happened is undone, but that things happen opposite than normal. so inside the area where time is running in reverse everything would be undone, (if a person stabbed you they would stab you in the same spot and the wound would go away as the knife leaves the wound) but if a person stabbed you and left the area of time running in reverse your stab wound wouldn't magically remember that it was made 5 minutes ago, but worsen(as a wound normally heals) while drawing blood back into the wound. just a kindof imperfect time rewind, that doesn't put things back to how they where, but how they need to be if they should progress to how they are now without outside influence

[@me_myselfand_i2099]

@@phoenixtracy9875 can I make this a webtoon? It seems like a really cool Idea.

[@mareb324]

Guess we forgot how to use the Amnesia troupe...

[@juliuskingsley4434]

Jaja

[@MyVanir]

I'll be magnanimous and forget to react to this awful joke.

[@twosix2052]

Mare B underrated comment

[@Christi-B]

I legit groaned at the pun well done

[@Celemimphar]

bad pun I love it

[@justas423]

Suggestion: Missing limbs! How characters cope, how it's usually ignored and gets healed because magic, robot prosthetics and characters person thoughts about that... It's one of my favorite minor tropes.

[@YataTheFifteenth]

Or just characters getting permanently crippled after a certain event, doesn't have to be missing any limbs. Fuckin' c'mon. Not everyone's Stroheim or a fuckin' lizard.

[@Specter_1125]

Why are we still here? Just to suffer?

[@teaartist6455]

Yea, I have one character who'll be permanently disabled after the first comic and won't be dealing well with it (the other character that gets disabled...more disabled? Is far less negatively affected) and I honestly don't know how to write that yet without falling into dangerous or damaging narratives, something I really, really want to avoid.

[@wooyeah1738]

Just general disabilities would be nice. In fantasy, everyone just magicks themself back to normal.

[@annandres8483]

Bucky Barnes-

[@andrewjohnson6716]

I worked for a short time in clinic for occupational retraining for those with head injuries. Many of the clients had retrograde amnesia. More than one client told me that one of the most frustrating things about dealing with amnesia is that everyone is sure that they know what amnesia is because of tv and movies and thinks that the client is experiencing what they were shown by some bad writer.

[@nidohime6233]

What about a video talking about mental health and the most common, famous and with the worst reputation of all: Multiple personalities?

[@jellybean1528]

or psycopathy, not all psycopath are serial killers, i want a story of a psycopath who is not a serial killer

[@paysonschacherbauer4592]

Which one? Dissociative Identity Disorder, or Multiple Personality Disorder?

[@nidohime6233]

@@paysonschacherbauer4592The later I guess, but I wouldn't be surprise if people confuse both terms.

[@LaureateLauriat]

@@nidohime6233 MPD was renamed DID, wasn't it?

[@noorazraq2245]

Payson Schacherbauer I thought Multiple Personality Disorder was the former name for Dissociative Identity Disorder?

[@charleshills1408]

This came out when I was rereading Heroes of Olympus The entire beginning of the plot is that Jason and Percy have both forgotten their lives except a few things-Jason remembers Rome, and his sister Thalia, and Percy remembers Annabeth. So fun.

[@sureikashore1626]

Yeah, that was cool! Have you gotten to TOA yet?

[@HyacinthTheArtist]

@@sureikashore1626 Sorry, but is TOA Trials of Apollo? Sorry if it seems obvious.

[@haydenmize3149]

@@HyacinthTheArtist yes

[@veronicaholme803]

I feel like “50 First Dates” And “Memento” are probably the two best examples of effective amnesia

[@cheesecakelasagna]

Thank you, will check em out.

[@amabitsapiens]

Momento is a very accurate depiction of anterograde amnesia. In terms of medical properties, it's pretty much exactly what my friend lives with.

[@marisafernandes9259]

I also liked the Vow in that the main character lost memory of the last 5yrs including a career change and instead of remembering continued with what felt right to them. Plus it's based on a true story

[@BradyPostma]

Unknown (starring Liam Nissen) was pretty good, too. [edit] Oh, wait, you meant anterograde amnesia. Then never mind.

[@tonytehsnipper5468]

Planescape Torment also had a really good example

[@sinclairethomas8197]

There's also the "Amnesia Episode" where the episode starts with everything in a sh*t state and none of the characters remembering what happened. They then have to retrace their steps to figure out what went wrong or even who they are.

[@airplanes_aren.t_real]

It's a great way to invest the audience into a store because they are now on the same page as the protagonist

[@elkwolf2888]

I love those, when they're done right.

[@elianaslivia4405]

Believe it or not Miraculous Ladybug did an episode like that, there was a reveal and everything. It was called Oblivio

[@DisneyFanatic2364]

Surprised there were no references to "Once Upon a Time." Pretty much every season there's some amnesia plot that in most cases lasts a whole season. But I'm glad I watched this because the story I'm writing has an amnesia plot. There the cause was magic.

[@GyroZeppel]

Or Grimm when one of the most annoying characters in tv got more annoying when she lost her memory of Nick, aka Juliette.

[@walkingarmageddon5479]

Funny I found this comment, I’ve started rewatching Once upon a time with my mum :>

[@autisticdancer]

I typed a whole comment about this. These people get amnesia all the time its literally insane-

[@eliyahmcneill9302]

They really do, its like an annual thing

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

*Neuralizer:* [F L A S H E S] *My Memories:* _Aw crap, I don't feel so go... ... .. ._ _YOU DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING..._

[@kabob0077]

Me: I have made an AI with my memories and I have left him somewhere I forcefully forgot.

[@joelsasmad]

@@kabob0077 Congradulations, Now that you've lost your memories the Ai now believes that he/she is the true version of you and will attempt to kill you before you can magically get those memories back and don't see it coming.

[@kabob0077]

@@joelsasmad Who said I plan to live? The AI is SUPPOSED to be my replacement.

[@DerAnanasKing]

what I really hate is when stories treat amnesia as something nicer, like "oh, I am just gonna delete their memories" dude. thats horrible. if thats irreversible, you are basically killing them. stop treating wiping someones memories as a nicer alternative to death. they are just so villn nilly about this stuff.

[@marisafernandes9259]

As much as I agree. There was one book I read where they played with the idea of The Furies (mythology) were given water from the river lythe (underworld river of forgetfulness) which released them of their fury and allowed them to find peace. Admittedly there was a hidden agenda in stopping them from causing a killing rage amongst the main characters but it came across as mutually beneficial.

[@DerAnanasKing]

​@@marisafernandes9259 yes, that is kinda what I mean. this book you read, just nods it off, without answering the deep philosophical questions about it. like, did the water "cure" them of only this one aspect? was it something form outside, a curse, or something that is inherit of their identity. also we would need to analyse the theme. for example (find peace) could also bee used in the context of death. I simply do not know the book, to talk about these questions, but if this is the way you think it is, it only supports my point. that they use mind loss as a child friendly way of saying someone does, without assessing the gravity of it. and if you think about it, it becomes pretty desturbing. like, how much of your being defines you. what even is a being. what oart of your mind are morevaluable. do the bad things define you and are just as valuable as your good ones? if you could SHOULD you get rid of your bad attributes? wouldn´t it make you a completely different person? those and a lot more questions, that I never saw answered or even dicussed in most, such stories.

[@danielhale1]

I remember liking an American Dad episode where the main character does this to his wife, but he's not doing it to be nice, it's an entirely selfish act. And then he spends the episode responding to the fallout of his wife not remembering him, and later has to do it again. At least at the time, American Dad did a good job of making us laugh and cheer for this flawed toxic character while pointing out just how toxic his behavior was, and how horrible it would be to have someone with that mix of power and self-righteousness in your life. Rick & Morty has the same theme going, amped up to 11: Rick is a total bastard to everyone in his life, basically walking poison that continually harms all he touches, and we're not supposed to revere him or want to be like him (which fans sometimes forget). Their memory loss episode was literally Rick wielding terrible power over Morty by removing any memories he found inconvenient. You're absolutely right about it not being a kindness except in incredibly rare circumstances. The best stories are the ones that subvert this and show how evil and self-serving it actually is in most cases.

[@bobjones2959]

You aren't basically killing them though, depriving someone of their memories is a lot better than depriving someone of their entire future. At least imo.

[@DerAnanasKing]

@@bobjones2959 out of curiosity. have you played SOMA?

[@kitkatmuffin]

9:56 That actually worked for me once. I woke up one morning after having a really good dream and I could feel it leaving my subconscious but I really didn’t want to forget it all so I clung onto a single emotion and little detail I remembered (aka dramatic and a robot) and bashed my head into a pillow several times while shouting “REMEMBER!” It actually worked. I remembered the rest of the dream and wrote it down, and I still remember it. The robot was evil btw.

[@itzelramirez4801]

Do you still remember the dream?? I hate when I forget dreams too :/ but I don’t want my parents finding a dream journal of mine and thinking I’m insane

[@ButWhyMe...]

@@itzelramirez4801 Solution: Don't have parents

[@she7061]

I need you to give us the dream plot this is crucial

[@autisticdancer]

I'm going to do this next time I have a good dream lol

[@pandalover5292]

You can't just say that and not tell us the plot of the dream.

[@oshawottmain7608]

I thought of a good Trope Talk you could do: "Switching Bodies/Powers"

[@longliveplanetawesome3223]

I've notice that, whenever two people switch bodies, it's always a boy and a girl. That kind of makes me uncomfortable, especially when they are in each other's body for a day or longer. I always think, "it would be weird if they needed to use the bathroom, take a shower, or change their clothes."

[@oshawottmain7608]

@@longliveplanetawesome3223 Oh definitely. Nobody ever addresses it, but I can only imagine how awkward it must be.

[@gustavowadaslopes2479]

@@oshawottmain7608 It is addressed every now and than for comedy. It kinda happened in Jumanji (although it was just gender change than swap)

[@CalliopePony]

I love a good Freaky Friday swap.

[@FIRING_BLIND]

Long Live Planet Awesome Have you never seen Freaky Friday?

[@LunarRaevyn]

Danganronpa: YOU GET AMNESIA, YOU GET AMNESIA, EVERYONE GETS AMNESIA!!!!

[@krzysztofdabrowski9399]

At least first Danganronpa did it rather well. ;) Unlike the "what if" Danganronpa universe.

[@jeremytewari3346]

Well the amnesia is actively justified in all 3 games 1: Junko’s apparently impossibly smart and had all the time in the world, her plan doesn’t work without amnesia 2: Future Foundation using advanced technology, saving the Remnants is impossible without amnesia V3: Team Danganronpa has been doing this for at least 40 years, the TV show is dependent on amnesia

[@LunarRaevyn]

@@jeremytewari3346 never said it wasn't? Im just joking about it's prominence

[@jeremytewari3346]

Lunar Raevyn I know, just saying it’s one of the more justified examples

[@ismailaldienrazi1236]

@@isaacgraff8288 Dude i think youre replied to the wrong comment

[@Just_Some_Guy_with_a_Mustache]

Ah yes. Amnesia. How could I ever forget this trope? No, seriously. What is it? I forgot. Also, who am I?

[@bloodfiredrake7259]

Damn Jelal

[@melancholygirl7793]

I always confuse you with @just some guy without a mustache, are you friends or something?

[@Just_Some_Guy_with_a_Mustache]

@@melancholygirl7793 Yeah. We're friends.

[@melancholygirl7793]

@@Just_Some_Guy_with_a_Mustache Cool.

[@marekwygnany924]

You've did it. All.

[@HeavyMetalMouse]

My favorite use of Amnesia in a plot has to be the sci-fi series Dark Matter. Without spoiling anything that isn't mentioned in the first episode or two we have: A crew of six people wake from cryosleep on a spaceship that is so badly damaged that it can't maintain their cryopods. All six of them have full-on retrograde amnesia, which they attribute to a side-effect of being emergency-thawed from cryo. The amnesia leaves them primarily with the kinds of skills and capabilities that they, in their old lives, would have practiced so thoroughly as to be instinctive rather than a matter of deliberate recall - the techie isn't sure how she knows how to fix a thing, but her hands just seem to know what to do, like she's done it a thousand times before, for example. The entirety of the first season has them focused on unfolding the ever-deepening mystery of who they were, what they're doing in a derelict spaceship, and, perhaps most importantly, what to do now. Themes of the nature of identity, how much choice and self-determination we really have, and more, intertwine with a multi-layered plot of grungy sci-fi-dystopian crime, politics, and deception. Are these new people trustworthy? Are *WE* trustworthy? Even when a 'magic sci-fi solution' inevitably comes up much later in the plot to allow some of the characters to restore their memories, there is a very real problem that, by doing so, they would fundamentally be changing who they have become now; the original lifetime of memories informed an identity that they don't recognize anymore, and they aren't sure whether having that information is worth the cost of being those people again.

[@RacingSnails64]

I like that. Thank you!

[@archivist_13]

This reminds me of one of my favorite plotlines in 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, where can I watch this?

[@elkwolf2888]

It's so good!

[@daviddaugherty2816]

It ended way too soon.

[@xplitegaming8295]

For me it has to be usogui by Toshio Sako. The story itself is really good and the hal is a really good portrayal of amnesia and multiple personality disorder. Usogui id a gambling manga which can best be described as "squid game on crack". Overall amazing and the best piece if fiction I've ever read in my opinion. (Better than blood meridian, Kafka on the shore, dune, berserk, I have no mouth and I must scream in my opinion.)

[@KorianBossMonster]

Amnesia? I don't recall.

[@kabob0077]

Hillary Clinton: I don't recall. Bill Clinton: I did not have sexual relations with that woman.

[@Gruntvc]

The plots of most JRPGs in a nutshell lol.

[@heighbeut99]

I don’t know her

[@fetchinglydear]

5:15, Once Upon A Time could do nothing else but reuse the amnesia trope with every season.

[@justas423]

Jesus Christ that show didn't just jump the shark it did a triple backflip over fifteen sharks.

[@ztslovebird]

Kelley Jones I feel like after Season 3, everyone in Storybrooke had one of those “X Days Without Incident” boards for tracking how long it had been since the citizens were last struck with an amnesia curse. Which made them even more annoying when the story would’ve been more interesting without the amnesia BS. Like the Dark Swan arc in Season 5 - we could’ve had the Heroes doing their stuff in Camelot while cutting back to Storybrooke every once in a while to see how the town was doing without everyone who was supposed to be in charge. Maybe King George tried to stage a coup, or Lily decided to go from blaming everyone else for her crappy life to taking charge & helping others, or the Blue Fairy got off her sparkly ass & actually DID something instead of marching around with her “holier than thou” attitude while doing jack shit to help.

[@freemovies411]

Whenever I watch a Trope Talk, I just think to myself "How am I ever going to write something goooood?"

[@FirebladesSong]

I know this is a few months late, but... first step to writing something good is just to write it. Don't worry about good, worry about written!

[@juicebox9465]

Don't worry too much about tropes. Nothing ever created by humans has been 100% original, even the first art like cave paintings were copied from nature. Your first draft will always have issues, and as long as you go back and change/remove things you are not satisfied with, your story will be fine.

[@freemovies411]

@@FirebladesSong Wow, I never replied to this. Thanks, I appreciate it! That's always pretty tough, starting something that you're not quite sure will turn out great, but it's better than nothing. ^^

[@freemovies411]

@@juicebox9465 Thanks, that's wise advice! I just, you know, hope no one looks at my stuff and they're like "Ugh she's doing that one trope I hate, thank you, next" but that's impossible to ask for. XD

[@arthur1428]

I usually love watching these because the breakdown of tropes give me so much inspiration. And it’s nice to think of it as constructive criticism before the writing process has begun so that you can effectively revise your own story or even write a well written cliche that can go against red’s criticisms of other works.

[@markchapman6800]

12:57 "in the case of the amnesia plot, most people these days just expect to be disappointed". Now *there's* an expectation worthy of being subverted :-)

[@Tortferngatr]

This is one thing I like about how Magic: the Gathering handled Jace’s amnesia arc on Ixalan. We know that things between him and prior nemesis Vraska are likely to fall apart when he gets his memories of Ravnica back (and we know he will), but thanks to Jace having a power meltdown during his recollection that involuntarily plays his own tragic childhood backstory for Vraska, they end up managing to reconcile, and it actually feels great. Honestly, I think Jace’s Ixalan arc in general does this trope very well. Not only did Jace barely manage to avoid getting his mind crushed by Nicol Bolas during his team’s hilariously imbalanced clash with said big bad, he’s also a mind mage with amnesia as part of his backstory-so it isn’t exactly unexpected. Said amnesia ends up getting resolved as part of the plot, giving Jace legitimate character development as he comes to terms with who he is and that he likes being emotionally connected and not brooding and isolated. And then Forsaken happened and fucked EVERYTHING up, to the point I’m only just deciding to try reading the story again, but let’s not get into that.

[@ashtonpeterson4618]

You should cover "scars" as your next trope. Constantly used in fiction. Case and point, my favorite Avatar character, Zuko!

[@ariannablueangel6340]

Ashton Peterson YES please!

[@Gala-yp8nx]

Or a certain Elven character in a popular MMO-RPG...

[@ashtonpeterson4618]

@@Gala-yp8nx Or Harry Potter for goodness sake.

[@ahniandfriends123]

Or The Joker. (Of the live action Batman variety)

[@MsDaydream3r]

Or Mortal Engines. 😁

[@treynevs4888]

"There goes March" may be my favorite joke that I've heard all week.

[@sprooch1043]

Trey Nevard Remember this comment?

[@misssan6361]

I think the only way to subvert expectation of this trope would to semi treat it like real life Amnesia. I think maybe my favorite example of Amnesia subversion is the one where the main character never got their memory back. Because the implications are fascinating, example: Total Recall.

[@tomkerruish2982]

Movie "The Vow", based on a true story.

[@shelbypowell9919]

Or just to have the character be faking the memory loss. But I’ve also seen that a few times too...

[@wingedmirage4226]

Tales of the Abyss has a nice sun version of the trope (Spoilers!) Luke doesn’t remember anything from his past because he’s actually a clone, and therefore never experienced said past.

[@nidohime6233]

@@shelbypowell9919 I only saw it in a filler episode of Naruto, it was about a teen who used to be part of a thug band who aterrorize a village and by an accident he ended being found by Naruto and faked his amnesia.

[@Bacopa68]

SHATTERED by Wolfgang Petersen is a good example. Our amnesiac recovered only a few memories with the help of a private eye. By the end of the movie he wishes he hadn't.

[@penofwildfire]

The ninjago fandom complains about Zane's repeated memory loss but like... he's a robot. It's justified.

[@danmakuexpress8229]

Case and point: Danganronpa Like the entire series of Danganronpa.

[@Jaden-lv7kx]

Screen flashes white. Again. and again. and again.

[@Krasnikgavsharik]

Not being able to remember your past is truly despairful

[@cocoroach_ok]

@@Krasnikgavsharik well, not Mikan at least

[@MyralinaBradford]

It really says something when they had to pull off complete amnesia just for the plot to actually happen.

[@theinfantmetroid]

Oh my god I kinda forgot about the amnesia in danganronpa Ironic

[@fragmentedghost5391]

Speaking of medical tropes disconnected from their real world version, COMA

[@natesmodelsdoodles5403]

you do NOT just wake up from that like it's a good night's sleep. it's actually months of going from twitching eyeballs to being able to sort-of move, since there is a crap-ton of nerve damage to work through, not to mention unused muscles being atrophied and stiff as hell.. although, this is surprisingly one of the things that SAO got right. the Player's NERVGEAR's never actually shut down anything in the brain (unless it killed them), it just interrupted the signal. there wasn't enough nerve damage to prevent the survivors from moving around. just fucktons of muscle damage.

[@Ziotsu-YT]

@@natesmodelsdoodles5403 Never thought I would hear "things that SAO got right" followed by SAO doing something right. That being said, Ya Comas are just completely divorced from reality but at least it is relatively consistent in media.

[@Thatdumbgremlin]

I'm surprised you didn't mention The Good Place, which handles the amnesia trope very nicely. It drives the plot forward and it's used in a way that is emotionally satisfying.

[@andressotil4671]

Or its antithesis, Once Upon a Time. The show that used mass amnesia at least once a season and made the show progressively worse each time

[@kevinsullivan3448]

@@andressotil4671 At least Amnesia was only used once (so far) in The I-Land.

[@jackielinde7568]

R3aganLouise - Thanks for spoiling it for everyone else! (Just kidding. Although, I saw the first three seasons and have been biting my tongue around my daughter until we can see it together, only to find out that one of her boyfriend's family members spoiled it for her already.) But, yes, I'm surprised she didn't include The Good Place for how it handles Amnesia. That part it is doing really well. There are other things where I don't know if it were deliberate parts to the show or that the show jumped the shark early (by writing itself into a corner). But the Amnesia isn't one of those.

[@scifikoala]

Technically we're still in the middle of the tropey-ist iteration of it the show has done so far, and I'm interested to see how that pans out in season 4

[@matthewmuir8884]

I'm surprised that she didn't mention the episode of Castle where the witness to the crime had amnesia as a result of said crime. It is easily one of the best-handled examples of the amnesia trope: it portrays the amnesia realistically, his memories don't come back, and the show even pokes fun at unrealistic uses of the trope. For example, in one scene, they take him to the scene of the crime in the hopes it might jog his memory. It comedically doesn't work: Witness: Is this the part where get a headache and images start flashing until they form a clear picture? Detective Ryan: You've seen too many movies. Witness: Yeah; movies that I can't remember. Detective Ryan: Wow; that is a real chicken-and-egg.

[@leshyaedawnfire]

This video actually solved a writing problem I had. I made a character who suffered a major head injury resulting in such severe brain damage that she lost roughly a years worth of memories and had to relearn how to do things like walk, talk, and cast magic. After watching this video, I've decided that while she will successfully relearn those things and become fully functional again, the memories are gone for good and part of her early character ark is realizing and coming to terms with that. FYI: The story starts after she's already regained motion and speech capabilities, and is returning to her old teachers to relearn magic under the watchful eyes of her two younger sisters.

[@ag-13studios51]

Ooh, what's the title? I'd like to read it online if I can; sounds good

[@provider-of-guardians7964]

"Getting stabbed in the stomach is not something you're supposed to walk off" Me: *glares at svtfoe*

[@umbramaticnyx3593]

Oh boy one of my current D&D characters has an amnesia-based backstory? So this is super useful thanks

[@blue_caduceus592]

Same! I'm currently playing a Warforged Fighter who lost his memory when a spell backfired in a warzone. Pretty fun so far: he works with the Rogue in the party in a kind of "Han and Chewie" friendship.

[@halestar2967]

Funny...so is mine. My DM needed to obscure key plot elements so he gave me what I dubbed “HSPA” or “Hyper-Selective Plot Amnesia”

[@CatOnACell]

I too am playing an amnesiac. However it's because I am helping my DM setup a false hydra. He's a Noble that thinks he grew up in the forest since there is no memory of his village. We started at level 3 and this explains my strange nonsensical multiclass 2 wizard 1 barbarian. Wizard from pre hydra, barbarian from after.

[@Tmanowns]

Having lost a friend to amnesia, I've always hated how amnesia is used in stories.

[@blueteller]

I'm so sorry, man

[@Ajehy]

*hugs*

[@mrobligatory.5234]

“Roses are red, violets are blue, I have amnesia, and WHO THE HECK ARE YOU GET AWAY FROM ME! “ - link Neal

[@jaxofspades549]

This made me laugh, thank you :]

[@TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

I thought this was going to be about Amnesia, the horror game at first.

[@Juneberryknight]

Just Some Guy without a Mustache same here

[@killerpekka]

@Just Some Guy without a Mustache That’s exactly what I thought

[@richmcgee434]

I don't remember that one.

[@Percival917]

The plot device is PARTICULARLY overused in video games. Why video games in particular? WHY!?!?!?!

[@thefreshestslice4105]

I mean, looking at the thumbnail, I don't think Link was in that game.

[@dragmaapatre2348]

Can you do Evil Siblings its such a trope in anime !!

[@NimhLabs]

She would... but her good twin keeps thwarting her plans.

[@matthewmuir8884]

That is such an overused trope. It's gotten to the point where I immediately get annoyed by it when I see it, and I'm immediately relieved when I see a story where the two siblings are both good and their bond is strong (ex: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has what is easily one of my favourite depictions of two brothers as main characters).

[@MsDaydream3r]

YAAAS!

[@fairycat23]

If she does, I want Blue to pretend to be her evil sibling. Or good sibling. Idk which is which.

[@micakim-shapiro6035]

Well also Cain

[@danieltscharner1967]

I would absolutely love to see a story where a guy gets so drunk he joins the mob for a night, and they just go with it cause he probably will remember nothing in the morning as long as they dump him in an alley or at his house when he passes out.

[@wrenbeck3370]

I like how Disco Elysium handled the Detective's amnesia, since he essentially uses it as an excuse to completely re-invent himself.

[@polaryu]

Rest Of Comment section: talks about sophisticated books, and movies Me: *furiously scrolling looking for Heroes Of Olympus reference

[@sopand2489]

Amnesiac percy is my favorite!

[@demigodgamer8517]

That use was really good imo because it wasn't actual amnesia. Percy and Jason weren't bonked on the head or anything, their memories were magically STOLEN, which makes the recovery and reason behind the loss more understandable.

[@penofwildfire]

Hera is a bi-- *not on my christian minecraft HoO roleplay server*

[@anarnarqelion4403]

@@sopand2489 I love the scene where Percy pieces the history of the missing Eagle together, purely by observation and Hazel is like: "f*** note to self: never underestimate his intelligence based on his goofy demeanor again." It's nice to see that Percy (while he can be slow on the uptake) is not as stupid as he appears because he can't concentrate, is always compared to Annabeth and we met him when he was twelve.

[@Wriley_Katcoff]

This is only the second reference I've found so far! Just keep scrolling...

[@Erik-pu4mj]

One of the best, more realistic examples came from Six in Generator Rex. Retrograde amnesia that sent him back years, and it was never fixed. It worked narratively to add weight and perspective to Rex's current situation - why Six was so crucial, and how much he had changed since. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the suddenly-altered relationships because it condensed his former development (though now a bit abridged) into the current story as opposed to flashbacks and whatnot.

[@Neo232100]

Rex himself is also a good example of Retrograde amnesia since he also never recovers those memories and decides he doesn’t want to since by all inclinations he wasn’t a good guy.

[@daedalusspacegames]

Appropriately enough, I was thinking "you know, OSP should do a Trope Talk on amnesia" at work today. According to YT I've watched this video, but somehow I forgot it existed.

[@elliojellio]

I read a fanfiction where Jekyll messes up his transformation drug thingy and it left him as Hyde with no memory of being Jekyll and everyone else having to figure out where the heck Jekyll went and why he left his rude assistant at his house claiming he doesn't know any doctor

[@mediatorraptor3349]

Where can I read this?

[@elliojellio]

For some reason I can't send the link but it's on archiveofourown called Show me the real you and its written by Quilna

[@elliojellio]

Also its based on a webcomic called The Glass Scientists and there will be a couple of characters and plot lines you might not understand if you haven't read it. If you haven't seen it you can just google "the glass scientists" (I really recommend it)

[@merrittanimation7721]

"This is okay because we're ONLY adopted siblings" Harem anime in a nutshell.

[@eacalvert]

Omg truth!!!

[@octochan]

I felt like this was calling out The Umbrella Academy

[@sanfransiscon]

Right? Like, just own up to it. Make it meaningful. Don't shove fanservice in our face, don't make it angsty and depressing as hell. Make a good sibling romance. Maybe then I'll actually have some competition when mine is finished.

[@kevinsullivan3448]

We all know what was really going on in the Brady Bunch household...

[@MHChrono]

Domestic Girlfriend doesn't count as a Harem anime though, right? Your two sisters does not a harem make.

[@shylock7989]

"His mind brain is permanently rejecting his real identity!" "Mind brain?" "That's a thing, shut up!"

[@peppermillers8361]

I love that dumb shit

[@isadoracostahamsi163]

“Stab in the stomach can do anything”. InuYasha flash backs xD

[@IrvingIV]

_"Blades of blood!"_

[@frauleinzuckerguss1906]

I once watched Detective Conan and a mofo straight up got stabbed in the shoulder and basically said "Tis but a scratch"

[@lunareclipse0823]

“Stab them again to cure them” Pwyll had to defeat a guy that had that rule.

[@deltaphant_]

Another use, from one of my D&D players: Don't want to write a backstory OR personality? Both anterograde _and_ retrograde amnesia! I only just realized he basically just made Dory. I don't think he's realized it either. Update: he didn't realize but agrees wholeheartedly, and when he starts to regain his memory it'll just be Finding Dory

[@yargolocus4853]

Anterograde amnesia is really bad thing for a dnd character. It would be as if every time you made a decision, someone else had to do it since your character knows as much as anyone else but you.

[@averywhitaker3513]

@@yargolocus4853 a wizard with anterograde amnesia can pull it off because diary, and the way magic works. Well that's *my* plan anyways

[@incognitoburrito6020]

@@averywhitaker3513 I misread that as dairy, thought you were saying the wizard manages to retain his memories through the sheer power of milk and nothing else

[@justnoob8141]

You could just use “Some dude from XXX land” and nobody gonna complain about it

[@Halinspark]

Not gonna lie, I made a character with magically induced amnesia, so I only have to come up with specific info. But I'm also playing a Barbarian who got it by punching a wizard in a bar brawl she probably started, so it's not gonna bother her much.

[@TheNinjaDC]

One of my favorite uses of amnesia was in the book the Winner's Kiss. To not go into much detail, one of our main characters gets sent to basically a Siberian work camp that drugs their workers food daily to keep them docile and working (given an upper to work, and a downer at night). This does a number on the workers mind and body. One of the main characters is stuck there for around a month, and while being noted for having a strong will & mind, was still mentally broken by this. When rescued, their mind is reduced to a child like state with no memories. When detoxed from the drugs, their mental capabilities return, but memories don't. In fact, the memories sort of scare them. While they do start to regain their memories with the right locational stimulants, the memories regained are flawed with holes. Essentially, they do regain their sense of self, but they never fully get over their mental scars from the drug and trama induced amnesia. We also get to see the reaction of the close person who sent them to that Siberian work camp after being betrayed, and have them recognize they're responsible for this shattered reconstruction of the person they once/still love.

[@okkoheinio5139]

Comments: 90% amnesia jokes 10% ac wait what was I talking about again?

[@bulldowozer5858]

Ah, yes the fucking AC broke again!

[@fantasyshadows3207]

Oh so that’s where my microwave went, Um sorry about damaging your AC

[@rickpgriffin]

I just realized that "stabbing them again to reverse the damage" sounds exactly like how JoJo might resolve such a plot point

[@philipcollier4883]

Stay with me on this one... 50 first dates Yes its a rom-com with Adam Sandler and his style of humor but It does a decent job of showing a person with realistic antero grade amnesia. Drew Berrymore is the romantic interest and can't create anymore new memories and with the help of her family just keeps reliving the same day over and over again. Adam meets her, falls in love with her in typical rom-com fashion, and proceeds to "cure" her by seeing her every day until she remembers him. This doesn't work of course, but Drew's father finally confesses something to Adam. For the past several years Drew(i forgot the characters name) was locked in to the EXACT same routine every day except the day after having a date with Adam she would be heard humming Adams favorite song. This movie really got me in the feels.

[@agletdontforgetit]

I hated that movie because at the end she’s like “hey I don’t want to have sex with you, to me, I just met you today-“ and he goes “well, it’s my 100th date with you, so...” and then they go have sex. It’s actually disgusting because he’s implies that she owes him.

[@banjobill8420]

Last time I was this early.... I- I don't remember? Where am I?

[@gecttakhla4249]

Spain

[@thegamingsentinel9238]

Portugal

[@pinecone9619]

boo

[@spaceman_acevods8188]

I think almost every time I watch one of the Trope Talks I think about this really awesome book series called Wings of Fire. Technically its a "kids series" but includes really well-done versions of nearly every trope in this playlist including amnesia, dystopia, mind-control, almost everything. I would definitely recommend it for some quality literature

[@HyacinthTheArtist]

Hello, fellow FanWing! Who's your favorite character?

[@HyacinthTheArtist]

Also, when did WoF do amnesia? I don't remember that one.

[@spaceman_acevods8188]

@@HyacinthTheArtist Qibli is my favorite :)

[@spaceman_acevods8188]

@@HyacinthTheArtist I consider Chameleon's enchantment on Peril to be a form of amnesia, as well as his enchantments on Ruby and Hailstorm (although those are more of an identity thing than pure amnesia)

[@spaceman_acevods8188]

@@HyacinthTheArtist I consider Chameleon's enchantment on Peril to be a form of amnesia, as well as his enchantments on Ruby and Hailstorm (although those are more of an identity thing than pure amnesia)

[@scrubbybubbles2351]

One of my favorite examples of the amnesia trope I’ve come across was when a character came across this wizard guy who said they would swap something that the character needed for one of their memories, the character agreed and chose one of their most traumatic memories (of the time they killed someone and committed arson) to swap out. Now this would have been a non issue if that wasn’t a hugely important backstory moment and the fact that they don’t remember it at all now will probably end up being a problem.

[@valdisxp1]

13:19 ".. and sometimes it feels like the author is standing behind the curtain throwing rude notes at you and congratulating themselves when you get upset." Thank you for this vivid and accurate description. It made me laugh.

[@nateds7326]

Red: its very rare for a writer to get into the extremely depressing parts of amnesia Christopher Nolan: allow me to introduce myself

[@bigrealm8156]

What movie?

[@bflbflbfl]

@@bigrealm8156 i forgot the title

[@bigrealm8156]

@@bflbflbfl same

[@ButWhyMe...]

@@bflbflbfl Did you remember yet?

[@BLZ231]

Memento

[@justas423]

My favorite amnesia subtrope is the character remembering their past life and all of their powers and either: A) Getting back their old powers. B) Realizing the powers they had were only a part of some greater power.

[@chadnorris8257]

I remember an episode of Kim Possible, where Ron turns evil, and they have to stop him because he's actually really competent. Although I think his big evil plan was stealing all the world's nacos, which is a food in that universe.

[@coltonwilliams4153]

Yeah, that was a good episode. He was terrifyingly competent with that. It happened again later. He immediately steamrolled a team of more experienced heroes, and the first thing he tried to do was hit Kim with the beam to make her evil. His goals were laughable, but his methods were brilliant.

[@chadnorris8257]

@@coltonwilliams4153 He's the opposite of Drakken. Drakken has evil schemes of world domination, but is held back by incompetence. Ron is super confident, and able to get what he wants, but what he wants is rather small in the grand scheme of things.

[@MagicBiber]

How would you rate the Silence from Doctor Who in terms of amnesia? It's a bit of a strange case, but I like how it plays with some of the more horrifying implications of the trope.

[@tuckinatorinator787]

I remember the plot of one game was an Alice in Wonderland game by American Mcgee. A Hypnotist claims to be trying to cure Alice of her schizophrenic insanity, but is actually trying to basically make her go Brain Dead so he can sell her as a Sex Slave. Alice travels through Her Wonderland in between moments of being lucid and she is having a mental battle over what the Hypnotist is trying to do. Part of this is trying to make her naturally forget all of her life and the Red Queen tells her that whether she realizes it or not she is letting this happen the entire conversation about forgetting and letting your past trauma go at the risk of losing control of your life completely or choosing to remember your trauma and accept that pain as a part of you is interesting. "You don't know your own mind! You once resisted my attempts to control our lives forcefully and now you've allowed another to succeed in my role! Would you prefer the hoy stinking breath of a potent, unyielding, unfeeling hell raiser? I don't think so! What you claim not to know is simply what you denied, you've recaptured your vagrant memories. What are you doing with them? Your view conseals a tragedy, the whole truth escapes you because you won't look at what's around you! Their is no method in this madness. Authority must be obeyed... or it must be overthrown!"

[@justas423]

How long did the hypnosis itself take because it seems it would be easier to just kidnap or fake her death.

[@tuckinatorinator787]

@@justas423 it was gradual mostly because she wandered off from the orphanage as you travel you pick up bits and pieces of your memory as a Train of Thought tears Wonderland to pieces. The whole plot is very interesting. The whole idea was that taking kids that were broken or had no home would be easier than kidnapping them but he wanted them to be more complacent so hypnosis was involved in an attempt to future proof his business.

[@tuckinatorinator787]

@@justas423 it was such an interesting plot because the state of Wonderland was representative of her mind. She translated some people in her life as creatures of Wonderland like her nurse when she was at the asylum was the Jabberwoky, twins that worked at the asylum were Tweedle Dee and Dum, then their were other that were facets of herself, the White Rabbit was Her childish side which was horribly murdered by the Queen after a fire took her home and family. The Queen is her rage and desire for Control which after the fire the Queen turned from a figurative monster to a literal one. After the Fire Wonderland got a lot darker in general. Also the game is so quotable. Everything has an interesting string if logic for such a twisted insane world. Like when the Chesire Cat warns Alice about going to the Hatter because things have changed quite a lot since last time she came to visit when Alice said her psychologist (the Hypnotist) told her change can be considered good The Cat responds unphased "Change denotes neither good nor bad, it simply means 'not the same'" all the inhabitants of Wonderland get more erratic as they try to deal with the Train that's tearing down Wonderland. Some simply ignore it like the Carpenter and Walrus, some laugh at the Chaos like Hatter, while other like Chesire Cat and the Catapiller try to help Alice. In the end they realize the only one to stop the destruction of her Wonderland and Her Mind is the Queen who tried to take over Wonderland. Also The Queen is so closely tied to Alice and who she is that when Alice tries to get the Queen to help by saying if she doesn't help then they're all doomed The Queen responded "Not doomed, forgotten. I may survive here but you're finished."

[@ronaldmackillop1561]

My favorite version is where a character wants to be a hero for their whole life, finally getting the chance to be a hero only to then lose the memories of finally fulfilling their dream. Hits surprisingly hard every time.

[@arsonvamp]

actual real life retrograde amnesiac here, i can’t think of a movie/tv show/book/etc. with an accurate and/or serious depiction of retrograde amnesia. mine comes from childhood physical and emotional trauma and it caused me to completely lose the first ten years of my life. the emotional trauma actually continued after that point and so a lot of my memories from the three years after that point range from fuzzy to completely gone. the knowledge that even with the intensive therapy i’ve been going through over the last 7 years, my memories likely aren’t ever coming back is painful and difficult to live with and i’d like to see that depicted in media. i didn’t even know that there were memories that i had lost until my mum told me about the incident that caused everything when i was 13, three years later. i didn’t even notice that anything was wrong. on another note, a prominent form of “amnesia” that i see regularly is the “i’m a robot and oh no my memory was wiped for whatever reason but luckily it was backed up somewhere but i didn’t realise until the end of the movie/episode”. yes i’m talking about the rise of skywalker

[@ButWhyMe...]

That's so sad! Could you explain more how it was like? During the three years though, fuzzy and gone is pretty self-explanatory.