This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
From Easy Amnesia Discussion:
Ununnilium: Now that I think of it, the Danger Mouse example could be a whole 'nother trope. I know Chip 'n Dale's Rescue Rangers did it once, and there are other examples on the tip of my brain.
Red Shoe: There's also a Mac Gyver example (Mac gets amnesia like every third episode), and one for Viper at least (with a twist; the hero *was* a criminal mastermind who'd originally become a hero thanks to amnesia)
Ununnilium: Dangit, someone trope-ify this.
Red Shoe: Does the converse fall here too? Where a villain loses his memory and becomes good (or, at least, neutral)? I have a sneaking suspicion there's a bunch of anime examples, and I can think of two from Power Rangers right off.
Ununnilium: Not really - that's more a type of character growth. Hero are usually a lot more upfront about an amnesiac villain's dark past.
Ununnilium: Also, the Power Rangers example reminds me of another trope - where a powerful character with upright morals arrives from out of town. He meets up with the villain first, who manages to convince this strong-yet-naive person that the bad guys are good guys and the good guys are bad guys. Can't think of any examples off the top of my head, though.
Red Shoe: Hm. Feels like a standard kid's-action-show trope, but Power Rangers is the only show I can recall it happening in.
But re the other thing, I see the character growth angle in some of the examples, but the specific Power Rangers examples I was thinking of have the villain get bonked on the head and become some sort of menial for a bit. Divatox becomes a waitress for an episode after losing her memory, and Goldar becomes Bulk and Skull's sidekick for half a season. There's also a Transformers example with Megatron becoming some street gang's enforcer for a bit, but I think that was in the comic book adaptation.
Further thought suggests that maybe my angle is wrong, and... Creating Forgot the Call.
Ununnilium: Hm, this is different than what I was thinking of. Neat.
ralphmerridew: There was an episode of TMNT where the plot device of the week causes Shredder to think he is Michaelangelo.
Red Shoe: I'm not sure the Stargate SG-1 example really belongs here. Seems more like a Forgot the Call setup, though the twist at the end *might* be enough to qualify it.
Croaker: I hadn't seen the Forgot the Call page when I added that, feel free to move it there or duplicate it if you feel it necessary.
Ununnilium: I'd say it's another trope altogether; a memory-wipe on a bad person changing them. Wasn't there a big-budget movie a few years back that had an evil lawyer-type get amnesia and walk around wide-eyed at this mean person's life he'd stumbled into?
Janitor: Pulled out ...
... because series titles aren't examples of tropes. Some text about how the trope was put to use in the series would be a minimum requirement.Sci Vo: This seems to fit better under Characters as Device than under Plots so I moved it.
