Memory Gambit: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

A scheme involving allowing your own memories to be [[Laser-Guided Amnesia|erased]] or [[Fake Memories|altered]] in order to fool others or even yourself, with a trigger set up to [[Easy Amnesia|restore them]]. This can be used to trick the enemy into believing you're on their side, because [[Manchurian Agent|even YOU think you are]]. Also an effective technique against overconfident mind-readers. If a [[Magnificent Bastard]] or [[The Chessmaster|Chessmaster]] has the power to manipulate memories, he will almost certainly attempt one of these. This can very easily turn into a [[Xanatos Roulette]], especially if the trigger is set to restore the memories at exactly the right moment (see [[Neuro Vault]]).

 

{{examples}}

* In ''[[Devilman]]'', it turns out that {{spoiler|Ryo Asuka}} is in fact the avatar of {{spoiler|Satan}}, who had his memories suppressed and turned into a human in order to infiltrate mankind and learn their weaknesses. This goes to plan, except that {{spoiler|Ryo/Satan}} falls in love with {{spoiler|Akira/Devilman}}, who until then were allies against the demons.

* Light Yagami in ''[[Death Note]]'' exploits the rule that anyone who relinquishes the ownership of a Death Note also loses all memory of owning it unless the person later touches the same Death Note to allay suspicion, even counting on his amnesiac self to genuinely join the side of good in tracking down the new owner of the Death Note as part of a massive [[Xanatos Roulette]]. This leads to [[Memetic Mutation|the popular phrase]] "Just as planned," '''eight episodes''' after putting his plan in motion.

* The [[Magnificent Bastard]] Lelouch Lamperouge in ''[[Code Geass]]'' uses his mind-controlling power on himself to forget his real plan in order to {{spoiler|save his kidnapped sister Nunnally from the [[Psychic Powers|mind-reading]] Mao}}. He goes as far as allowing himself and the audience to think {{spoiler|his sister is dead}} (mainly to satisfy his [[Chewing the Scenery|scenery-chewing]] impulses) before his forgotten plan springs into action.

* In ''[[Naruto]]'', it turns out that {{spoiler|[[The Dragon]] Kabuto was originally a servant of the late Akatsuki member Sasori, and had a memory block placed on him in order to spy on his former partner Orochimaru}}. Subverted in that it was found out earlier, and the block was removed, and {{spoiler|Kabuto decided to switch loyalties to Orochimaru}}.

* Law enforcement in ''[[Kaiba]]'' is [[Genre Savvy]] enough to realize this trope ''can'' be used, though it never actually is. An officer is suspicious of Vanilla because he's stopped [[Tanks for The Memories|backing up his memories]], noting that people have a tendency of doing this after they've experienced a life event that may cause them to seriously consider committing crimes.

* Takizawa Akira from the anime Eden of East does this twice in the beginning of the anime and in the end (which is continued with the movie, in which the memory loss is one of the principal topics).

 

 

* {{spoiler|Haruhi}} pulls this off on themselves in ''[[Kyon: Big Damn Hero]]''. {{spoiler|She also altered her thought processes slightly, changed how her powers work and still left room to give herself [[Mind Over Matter|some power to play freely]].}}

* Little-Pip uses one against the Goddess in [[Fallout Equestria]]

 

"If I ever meet myself," said Zaphod, "I'll hit myself so hard I won't know what's hit me." }}

* ''Glasshouse'' by [[Charles Stross]] begins with the protagonist waking up after having wiped his own memory, {{spoiler|so that he would be allowed to infiltrate the titular experiment}}.

* The {{spoiler|second}} book of the ''The Stars Are Cold Toys'' [[Space Opera]] duology by Sergei Lukyanenko {{spoiler|seemingly opens with a new protagonist, until about half-way through the reader learns that it is actually the protagonist from the first book who has been brainwashed to think he is a alien pilot and [[The Infiltration|infiltrate the enemy planet. His memories return when triggered by TheSymbiote hiding within his body]]. And the story is narrated from first person perspective.}}

* In ''Chasm City'' by [[Alastair Reynolds]], the main character believes he is bounty hunter Tanner Mirabel, when in fact he's not. He suffers from severe [[Amnesiac Dissonance]].

* In ''[[Foundation|Second Foundation]]'' by Isaac Asimov, the telepathic villain known as the Mule is hunting the Second Foundation. As several of his mentally dominated servants have lost their minds the Mule chooses Bail Channis, someone he knows is a Second Foundation spy, to help him find them. He doesn't dominate Channis because he's afraid Channis will lose his mind. Channis is tricked into leading the Mule to the Second Foundation, and everything falls apart. This is one of the most complicated memory gambits ever.

** Indeed - the climactic scene consists almost entirely of repeated "but I ''[[Gambit Pileup|planned]]'' that" banter. Asimov was fond of Xanatos Gambits.

* Used in E.E. Smith's ''[[Lensman|Gray Lensman]]''. Kimball Kinnison has his friend Worsel impose false memories when Kinnison infiltrates Boskone headquarters Jarnevon toward the end of the story. It becomes crucial to remove a thought screen to let Worsel restore Kinnison to himself (Neuro Vault).

** And used again in homage in Randall Garrett's ''Lord Darcy'' stories, in the form of The King's Messengers, who receive their messages orally, then have the memory of the message locked away by magic so that even they themselves are not aware of what the message is. Only the proper triggering situation restores the memory. Trying to extract the message in any other way results in the messenger's immediate death.

* In the [[Uglies]] series, Tally decides to become a "pretty" so she can test Maddy and Az's cure. IIRC, she writes a note before she does it and has Maddy and Az mail it to her after she becomes a pretty.

* ''Pandora's Star'' has a character who wipes his memory in an attempt to get away with murder. It doesn't work.

* In ''[[The Dresden Files|Ghost Story]]'', {{spoiler|it is revealed that Harry's murder in the end of the previous book was this mixed with [[Thanatos Gambit]]: before accepting a [[Faustian Bargain]] with the Winter Queen Mab, he contacted Kincaid to kill him a few hours later, then persuaded Molly to erase his memories of the arrangement to fool Mab.}}

* In the [[Doctor Who Expanded Universe]] [[Virgin New Adventures]] novel ''Set Piece'', the Doctor wipes his mind of his plan to stop the [[Big Bad]], so that the [[Big Bad]] can't work it out. Unfortunately, he also has to wipe his mind of the trigger to restore his memory.

* In ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' Mr Bennet forces the Haitian to wipe his memories of sending Claire away for her safety so that no matter what the company does to torture him he'll never be able to reveal her whereabouts.

* The first half of season 3 of ''[[Alias (TV series)|Alias]]'' centers around the show's main character, Sydney Bristow, having lost two years' worth of memory (the season 2 cliffhanger had her wake up in Hong Kong two years after the events shown prior to that, with no memory to what had happened in the intervening time). Turns out she {{spoiler|had her own memory erased after engaging in some super-complicated undercover operation to make sure the bad guys don't find out where she hid some important artifact. Too bad the bad guys find the artifact anyway, and eventually she is informed about the events of those two years, just so she knows what the bad guys are actually up to.}}

* An episode of ''[[Buck Rogers]]'' had Buck put on trial for causing [[World War III]]. In fact, he had allowed himself to be brainwashed in order to infiltrate a conspiracy in an unsuccessful attempt to ''prevent'' World War III.

* A variant occurs in an episode of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' titled "Clues". The crew discover that their memories have been altered and that Data, whose memories are intact, has been lying to them. {{spoiler|They eventually discover that they ''consented'' to the memory erasure, because the inhabitants of a newly explored planet don't want anyone to know of their existence. They weren't supposed to have figured it out, but they do anyway; at the end of the episode, they decide to try again, and it works.}}

* An episode of ''[[Legend of the Seeker]]'' had a spy of the [[Big Bad]] kill a bunch of rebels and use a magical orb to plant false memories of the murders into the minds of others, including the hero. This was mostly done to fool the suspects into falsely admitting their guilt during Confession. One even ends up being executed for a murder.

 

 

== Tabletop Games ==

** One of main uses for [[Transferable Memory|Thought Bottle]] item, including at least once in a novel (see above).

** In 3.5, pulling this off is entirely possible using the Autohypnosis skill.

* Very possible in ''[[Shadowrun]]''. There's specialized equipment to program individuals through simsense, and some of the fiction in the 20th anniversary book even goes into a Shadowrunner using this as a way to gather information inside a nightclub by impersonating one of the staff right down to their personality. You can even take an advantage that makes you already programmed before the game starts, and as such you [[Manchurian Agent|can switch into and out of your "deep cover" persona with a code word]] - handy if your character's been captured.

* In ''[[Exalted]]'' there is a Sidereal of the Maiden of Secrets known as The Green Lady. In various guises, genders and names she serves Heaven, both Sidereal factions and 4 Deathlords. The reason she has not been found out is because she has hidden her true allegiance from even herself. For the curious, her true allegiance is to {{spoiler|Heaven, according to the Underworld book. Her ultimate goal is to learn some singular weakness that will lead to the defeat of the Deathlords once and for all. Making any attempt to pull this off intentionally, though, is going to tip somebody off who will in turn tip everyone else off and completely screw the plan. Making herself mostly crazy and hoping to stumble onto it more or less by accident is the best she can do. However, there's a chance she may unintentionally help the Deathlords destroy Creation before she succeeds.}}

* In ''Mage: the Awakening'' there is a rote which allows you to set up one of these by literally removing the memory from your mind until a later time. There is a Legacy which can grant this same benefit as a magical ability with the addition that when it expires, you can use it again to suppress the same memory without actually remembering the memory you want to hide.

* In ''[[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team|Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red/Blue Rescue Team]]'', {{spoiler|the main character agreed to both become a Pokémon and have his memory erased so that he can find out if he is worthy to save the world.}}

* The entire population of Lostime in ''[[Chocobo's Dungeon]]'' has their memories sealed {{spoiler|to prevent the [[Big Bad]] from returning}}.

* In ''[[Knights of the Old Republic|Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic]]'' one mission features your party to be caught and your ship confiscated and searched. One escape plan (there are several options, one for each party member except Carth, Bastila and the main PC) features [[Do-Anything Robot|T3M4]] getting a backup chip, so after the regular memory wipe, it can restore its memory and rescue the party. In the sequel, it is suggested that {{spoiler|Revan might have been running one of these [[Guile Hero|all]] [[Magnificent Bastard|along]], with the Jedi Council unwittingly playing directly into the plan.}}

* The protagonist loses his memory often in ''[[Planescape: Torment]]''. Because he has to ''die'' in order to do so (and the present incarnation is immune to it), neither he or any of his previous lives appear to have done so intentionally. One character does tell this story, though:

** A man suddenly finds himself sitting on a bench with no idea where he is or how he got there - in fact, he has no memory at all. There is an old crone sitting next to him. She says, "Well?" The man looks confused, and the old woman explains, "I gave you three wishes. Your second wish was to undo your first wish, and you still have one more. What will it be?" The man says, "I wish I knew who I was!" The crone laughs and says, "That's funny! That was your ''first'' wish!"

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

** Which sounds like a homage to the Michael Douglas movie ''The Game'', which did not involve amnesia at all.

* An entire episode of the ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (TV series)|Legion of Super Heroes]]'' uses this, with people pretending to be people when they don't know they're that person.

[[Category:Probability Tropes]]

[[Category:Evil Tropes]]

[[Category:Memory Tropes]]

[[Category:Truth and Lies]]

[[Category:The Plan]]