Trauma-Induced Amnesia: Difference between revisions

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Sometimes, when somebody goes through a severe, emotionally traumatic experience or suffers a physical head injury, their brain removes the memory of that event; this causes Trauma Induced Amnesia. These memories can be often recovered over time through therapy, magic, or whatever is appropriate in the setting; but sometimes, another traumatic experience will bring them to the surface in [[Flash Back]] form. Sometimes depicted as appearing only in [[Bad Dreams]], which often results in [[Dreaming the Truth]]. Sometimes, the memories simply come back on their own.

Related to [[Heroic BSOD]]. Subtrope of [[Laser Guided Amnesia]].

Related to [[Heroic BSOD]]. Subtrope of [[Laser-Guided Amnesia]].

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'''Examples:'''

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** Also happens to a boy named Touma Tachihara in the fifteenth movie (''Quarter of Silence''), and the key to solve the mystery relays on him getting his memories back.

* Kai Hiwatari of ''[[Beyblade]]'' lost his memory after trying to use Black Dranzer when he was too young led to the destruction of the Abbey. It's not clear if this is due to emotional trauma, or physical trauma from debris.

* In the manhwa ''[[Totally Captivated]]'', Ewon completely forgets a rather important childhood event because of the beating that immediately preceded it, and the hypothermia that immediately followed it - unfortunately for him the violent [[Hair Trigger Temper]] mafia boss who this was also an important event for ''does'' remember, and gets fairly pissed off that he doesn't. He eventually remembers after a period of [[Poor Communication Kills]] which finally leads to him again almost freezing to death.

* In the manhwa ''[[Totally Captivated]]'', Ewon completely forgets a rather important childhood event because of the beating that immediately preceded it, and the hypothermia that immediately followed it - unfortunately for him the violent [[Hair-Trigger Temper]] mafia boss who this was also an important event for ''does'' remember, and gets fairly pissed off that he doesn't. He eventually remembers after a period of [[Poor Communication Kills]] which finally leads to him again almost freezing to death.

* Tokiko Tsumura of ''[[Busou Renkin]]'' acquired this at the age of ten after watching a homunculus eat ''every single person in her school'' (Quite possibly including her parents, as her family never gets mentioned in the manga) alive, leaving her the only survivor (She managed to hide until she was rescued by Captain Bravo).As a result of this, she blanked out her entire life before waking up in the Alchemic Army's hospital, and never regains those memories.

* This is what happened to [[Deadman Wonderland|Ganta]], where {{spoiler|Hagire (as part of his [[Body Surf|Body Surfing]] plot) hooked him onto a machine and forced him to witness himself as a child watching his child-hood friend Shiro brutally massacre a room full of science staff [http://www.mangareader.net/deadman-wonderland/47/11 when they forced her to use her blood powers on a baby lamb.] She lets the lamb live, an obvious [[Pet the Dog]] Moment... before her transformation into the monstrous Red Man, who went on a rampage and killed Ganta's school friends years later which him sent to the titular sadistic prison in the first place.}}

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* [[The Bourne Series]] (like the novels) is based around this concept. In the movies Jason Bourne {{spoiler|fails to kill his target because there are young children present (and he knows he would have to kill them too). He is then shot and left for dead.}} He awakens with no memory of who he is or that he is an assassin.

* ''[[The Long Kiss Goodnight]]'' is based on this trope: The main charcter lives a normal life as a small town schoolteacher and mother of a young girl. However, she don't have any memories prior to waking up on a beach seven years ago. After a car accident, she discovers that for some unknown reason she's [[Knife Nut|VERY]] good with knifes. And step by step, her old life is starting to [[Amnesiac Dissonance|come back]].

* This is the inciting incident for the domestic drama ''Regarding Henry'', starring [[Harrison Ford]]. In it, the title character [[Tis Only a Bullet In The Brain|survives a gunshot wound to the head]], only for the resulting pinched artery to affect his memory. Cue the rest of the movie depicting him [[Quest for Identity|coming to terms]] with [[Loss of Identity|not remembering anything]] about [[Missing Time|his life before]] the [[Trauma Induced Amnesia|shot]].

* This is the inciting incident for the domestic drama ''Regarding Henry'', starring [[Harrison Ford]]. In it, the title character [['Tis Only a Bullet In The Brain|survives a gunshot wound to the head]], only for the resulting pinched artery to affect his memory. Cue the rest of the movie depicting him [[Quest for Identity|coming to terms]] with [[Loss of Identity|not remembering anything]] about [[Missing Time|his life before]] the [[Trauma Induced Amnesia|shot]].

* Jeanne, the protagonist of ''[[Don't Look Back (Film)|Don't Look Back]]'', is unable to remember anything about her life prior to a traumatic car crash when she was 8 years old.

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* Claire on ''[[Lost]]'' lost her memory of her kidnapping by Ethan and the Others, requiring hypnosis to recall some details.

* The Eighth Doctor of [[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]] suffered from this in his only onscreen appearance and spends a good fourth of the movie recovering from it slowly. Of course, returning from the dead {{spoiler|several hours after one has died}} apparently does that to you, even if it's not unusual for the Doctor.

** And he does it ''[[Why Don't You Marry It|again]]'' in the [[Expanded Universe|spinoff novels]], after he [[Shoot the Dog|destroys Gallifrey]] (the first time, not the time that the Ninth Doctor spends his tenure angsting about). Oddly, he never really gets his memory back. Both fans and a character [[What an Idiot|who has actually been making a concerted effort to prevent him from remembering]] lost their patience eventually.

** And he does it ''[[Why Don't You Marry It|again]]'' in the [[Expanded Universe|spinoff novels]], after he [[Shoot the Dog|destroys Gallifrey]] (the first time, not the time that the Ninth Doctor spends his tenure angsting about). Oddly, he never really gets his memory back. Both fans and a character [[What an Idiot!|who has actually been making a concerted effort to prevent him from remembering]] lost their patience eventually.

*** It [[Retcon|finally gets revealed]] that it's not trauma-induced at all; as he points out, he didn't get it when he was destroying entire ''universes''. In fact, he suffers amnesia because {{spoiler|he's storing the entire Matrix in his mind, ready to [[Reset Button|recreate Gallifrey]]}}.

** Also, in "The Next Doctor," {{spoiler|the guy who thinks he's The Doctor isn't actually a future regeneration: [[Applied Phlebotinum]] gave him some of the Doctor's memories, while personal tragedy made him forget his own.}} The Doctor refers to it as a fugue state.

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* [[Your Mileage May Vary|May be a factor]] in why the [[Player Character|PlayerCharacters]] of [[Knights of the Old Republic]] aren't going to say anything about their pasts. {{spoiler|Malak's attack left Revan ''very'' close to death, and the Exile's been through so much [[War Is Hell]] that the only way to stay halfway sane would be to spend the last decade working on forgetting.}}

* In ''[[Heavenly Sword]]'', Kai is repressing the memory of {{spoiler|her mother's murder at the hands of Flying Fox}}, until she is forced to remember. To elaborate, being forced to remember in this case consists of {{spoiler|Flying Fox actually ''[[Dead Guy On Display|putting Kai's mother's emaciated corpse on display]]'', knowing that Kai will discover it.}}

* Ashley Riot, protaganist of [[Vagrant Story]], begins the game believing that he once had a wife and son who were murdered by thugs at a family picnic, but [[Manipulative Bastard]] Sydney proposes an alternate theory: Ashley murdered an innocent woman and her child during the course of his duties as a soldier, and through a combination of this trope and military brainwashing, convinced himself they were his family to help himself cope with the grief. [[The Un Reveal|The game's writers deliberately left it vague as to which version of his backstory is correct]].

* Ashley Riot, protaganist of [[Vagrant Story]], begins the game believing that he once had a wife and son who were murdered by thugs at a family picnic, but [[Manipulative Bastard]] Sydney proposes an alternate theory: Ashley murdered an innocent woman and her child during the course of his duties as a soldier, and through a combination of this trope and military brainwashing, convinced himself they were his family to help himself cope with the grief. [[The Un-Reveal|The game's writers deliberately left it vague as to which version of his backstory is correct]].

* Some of the events of ''[[Assassin's Creed II (Video Game)|Assassin's Creed II]]'' have been supressed in Ezio's memories, and only become available to Desmond in [[Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (Video Game)|Brotherhood]] when he has achieved a greater level of sync. These memories include giving a [[Viking Funeral]] to his father and brothers after their execution, finding out his girlfriend Christina has left him for another man and delivering an [[If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her]] speech to her new fiance, getting snubbed after trying to reignite his love for Christina during the Venezia carnival, and Christina dying in his arms after being attacked during the bonfire of the vanities.

* In [[Skyrim]], a priestess from a cult of cannibals claims that the Dovahkiin lost a sibling when they were a child, and [[I'm a Humanitarian|took a bite out of the corpse out of curiosity]], making the two of them [[Not So Different]]. If the Dovahkiin denies any knowledge of this event, she claims that most people block out the memories of their first incident of cannibalism out of revulsion. Whether or not she's telling the truth is left up to the player to decide.