History Main / EmotionalRegression

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In the episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E87APianoIntheHouse A Piano in the House]]", a piano player with mind-control abilities causes a woman's personality to revert to that of a little girl.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In the episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS3E87APianoIntheHouse A Piano in the House]]", a player piano with mind-control abilities causes a woman's personality to revert to that of a little girl.

** After revealing his true identity as [[spoiler:Toya Todoroki, Dabi]] acts increasingly immature and erratic, culminating in his final fight with his father, where he repeatedly screams childish phrases like "Look at me, Dad!" and "Wanna play, [[spoiler:Natsu]]?!", seemingly unable to comprehend language or think about anything beyond his father's attention. He also attacks his father by jumping into his arms and clinging to him, while [[[spoiler:Enji]] imagines him as a little boy.

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* A particularly disturbing example from ''AudioPlay/AlienAbductionRolePlay''. As Ackt descends into her second feral episode, not only does she start thirsting for the blood of her crewmates and the surviving human on board, she also screams out some childish things like demanding to know where her mother is, and complaining about having a bad dream.

* Happen in one episode of ''Manga/SketDance''. In the episode, Bossun got his body [[FountainOfYouth reverted back to a five year old's]] after drinking [[MadScientist Chuuma-sensei's]] potion. At the end of the episode, Chuuma-sensei made another potion that returned his body to normal... but now it's his mind that reverted to a five year old's.
* In ''Anime/{{Hamatora}}'', Honey has the power to see ten minutes into the future after biting down on a lollipop. For much of the series she can use this power without repercussion but later her ability develops a side effect that causes her to mentally regress to childhood for a time after her power runs its course.
* In ''{{Anime/Noir}}'', Mireille is walking down the street when she hears someone call out her name. She reflexively tenses up and turns around with her typical IceQueen expression, being a professional assassin by trade and clearly expecting the worst, but as soon as she sees it's her Uncle Claude her face lights up and her body language becomes much more relaxed and open as she talks to him. Since he took care of her ever since the death of her parents she's likely reverting to her childhood persona.
* Leone Cass from ''{{Manga/SHWD}}'' has a bright personality but secretly suffers from infantile regression [[spoiler: (due to losing her young daughter to a Dynamis attack)]] that can only be staved off by carrying a handgun. The one time it's suddenly taken from her, she has a meltdown, starts bawling like a child, [[spoiler: and, upon being given her gun back, attempts to turn it on herself.]]
* ''Anime/MyHeroAcademia'': [[spoiler: The villain Overhaul, formerly a stoic, calculating, collected man, is reduced to a pathetic, sobbing wreck begging for his father after losing his arms, rendering him unable to wake his adoptive father from the coma he put him in.]]
** [[spoiler: Dabi, after revealing his true identity as Toya Todoroki, acts increasingly immature and erratic, culminating in his final fight with his father, where he repeatedly screams childish phrases like "Look at me, Dad!" and "Wanna play, Natsu?!", seemingly unable to comprehend language or think about anything beyond his father's attention. He also attacks his father by jumping into his arms and clinging to him, while Enji imagines him as a little boy.]]

* PlayedForLaughs in ''Film/BlackWidow2021'' when the fake family the protagonists had as sleeper agents in the United States reunites in the present day, and the four of them find themselves falling back into their family dynamic, with Melina turning into a nagging mother, Alexei a bumbling father who backs his wife up, Natasha a focused older child, and Yelena a younger child who really doesn't want to be dragged into all this.

* In ''Literature/ArtemisFowl: The Time Paradox'', during a TimeTravel trip, Holly is turned into her younger self. Her emotions are affected too, such as getting jitters on a mission that her older, more experienced self wouldn't have.

* ''Series/{{Angel}}''
** In "[[Recap/AngelS04E06SpinTheBottle Spin the Bottle]]", an attempt to fix Cordelia's amnesia results in the entire group sans Lorne thinking that they're 17. Thus, Cordelia reverts to her AlphaBitch personality from early seasons of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Fred starts craving pot, and so on. Angel was 17 years old some 200 years ago, and it's a serious culture shock.
** Wesley has TookALevelInBadass over the course of the series, but when his father turns up for a visit, he reverts to TheKlutz we knew from Season One.
* An extreme example in the ''Series/UnitedStatesOfTara'', one of Tara's "alter egos" is called Gimme ("give me")--an animalistic, greedy, flighty child-like version of Tara that comes out any time she feels emotionally cornered/blackmailed. It does such immature things as scream like a baby, or pee on her sleeping parents. There's also "T", the teenager alter ego, who does things like [[{{Squick}} make out with her (gay) son's date.]]
* By and large Sheldon from ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' is already a ManChild, who refuses to drive or shop for his own food (which is really best for all concerned, he is easily distracted and insufferable when it comes to getting his way). But in particular moments he very much ''becomes'' a kid including when he is playing with trains or regressing when Leonard and Penny fight because it reminds him of his parents fighting all the time.
* While Mac from ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' displays a lot of ManChild traits, he becomes very pathetic whenever his parents are involved and starts talking about things like having a catch with his dad and wanting his parents to get back together so that he could be a happy boy.
* ''Series/MakoMermaidsAnH2OAdventure'': Mimmi and Sirena try to make a moisturizer that prevents their skin from drying out on land and doesn't force them into mermaid form. Instead, it makes those who use it mentally regress to childhood, which causes problems when Rita goes from "straight-laced principal" to "reckless mermaid hatchling" in public. Mimmi and Ondina are affected as well, and end the episode childishly arguing over who gets to play princess.

* ''VideoGame/SpiritsOfAnglerwoodForest'': Implied to have happened to [[spoiler: [[BigBad Ezra]] before his spirit is corrupted]]. His memory is set back to when he first went to [[spoiler: Angler's Maw]] and he starts acting much younger. The next time we see him, he looks like he did when he was a child.

* A particularly disturbing example from AudioPlay/AlienAbductionRolePlay. As Ackt descends into her second feral episode, not only does she start thirsting for the blood of her crewmates and the surviving human on board, she also screams out some childish things like demanding where her mother is, and complaining about having a bad dream.

* In the ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Recess}} Recess]]'' episode "Bonky Fever", Mikey gradually regresses into infantile behavior, fueled by [[GrowingUpSucks anxiety over growing up]] and losing his close bond with his mother as his tenth birthday approaches. It starts as him playing with toys of Bonky, a character parodying ''Series/BarneyAndFriends'', and devolves into throwing a tantrum in public when denied a second serving of pudding for his Bonky doll and having a Bonky-themed birthday party to which kindergarteners have been invited. His mom has to stop the madness and reassure Mikey that just because he's growing up doesn't mean he's going to lose the connection they shared.

** The episode "Regarding Stuie" has Stu getting hit on the head by mechanical duck and reverting to infanthood. The babies enjoy having "Stuie" around, until Tommy realizes that he misses all the things his dad could do for him with an adult's mind.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' episode "Regarding Stuie" has Stu getting hit on the head by mechanical duck and reverting to infanthood. The babies enjoy having "Stuie" around, until Tommy realizes that he misses all the things his dad could do for him with an adult's mind.

* The second-to-last episode of ''Series/ThePrisoner1967'' features this when, as a last resort to wring out the reason for Number Six's resignation, Number Two makes Number Six undergo regressive therapy, forcibly reverting him first to infancy, then progressing through his childhood and adulthood, with limited communication.

* ''Series/{{The Twilight Zone|1959}}'' episode "A Piano in the House": A player piano with MindControl abilities causes a woman's personality to revert to that of a little girl.

** In "Spin the Bottle," an attempt to fix Cordelia's amnesia resulted in the entire group sans Lorne thinking they were 17. Thus Cordelia reverted to her AlphaBitch personality on early seasons of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Fred started craving pot. Angel was 17 years old some 200 years ago, and it was a serious culture shock.

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** Elena's cousin, Chancellor Esteban, can act rather immature for a fifty to sixty year-old politician, such as being willing to mess up Elena's negotiations with a visiting kingdom to be petty or dismissing Naomi as an uneducated and untalented commoner. In the pilot movie ([[OutOfOrder released after the show premiered]]), we're shown that he wasn't always like this. Given that the pilot ends with [[ParentalSubstitute his grandparents]] and cousins essentially returning from a magical coma without having aged for the past four decades (not to mention a possible InferioritySuperiorityComplex), it makes sense.

* In the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "Spin the Bottle," an attempt to fix Cordelia's amnesia resulted in the entire group sans Lorne thinking they were 17. Thus Cordelia reverted to her AlphaBitch personality on early seasons of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Fred started craving pot. Angel was 17 years old some 200 years ago, and it was a serious culture shock.

* Casca from ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' emotionally, and mentally, regresses to the stage of a very young child after [[GoMadFromTheRevelation the events]] of [[TotalEclipseOfThePlot The Eclipse]]. She went from a headstrong and stubborn LadyOfWar to TheOphelia, incapable of speech and only communicates with sounds and pointing. [[spoiler:She returns to her LadyOfWar personality upon her sanity being restored.]]

* The main premise of ''Anime/NanakaSixSeventeen'' involves the title character hitting her head and then waking up with the mental age of a six-year old.