History Main / GhostMemory

* In the ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'' {{novelization}}, [[Characters/MonsterVerseRenSerizawa Ren Serizawa]] appears to experience this through his psionic connection to Mechagodzilla when it malfunctions, [[spoiler:and the consciousness in Ghidorah's skull which fuels the system takes over]]. The novel says that Ren can feel "a million years of rage rising in him, hatred that transcended time and space", [[spoiler:which is presumably Ghidorah's memories and feelings]].

* [[Webcomic/Aurora2019]]: Kendal is a [[SemiDivine demigod]] who was born when the unexpectedly vacated vessel of the god Vash developed its own soul. Kendal has access to Vash's knowledge and memories, but they feel more abstract and distant than his own experiences, "like a story [he'd] been told".

* ''Literature/ReignOfTheSevenSpellblades'': [[spoiler:Oliver Horn]] has his deceased mother's soul within him and can access some of her memories, which lets him [[spoiler:use the Fourth Spellblade, Angustavia, which his mother had mastered]].

-->-- ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'', "Home, part 2"

A character gets others' memories or abilities through some external means, like magic or... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin ghosts]]. Compare with GeneticMemory, which uses genetics, reincarnation, and whatnot. Or FakeMemories, in which the implanted memory is totally made up. Contrast DeathAmnesia. Not to be confused with GhostAmnesia, which is when a ghost can not remember their own memories. Can intersect with TransferableMemory. Also compare SharedDream, when both characters get the memory/dream at the same time. May explain becoming an InstantExpert.

* Immortals in ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'' [[YouKillItYouBoughtIt inherit the memories]] of any and every immortal that they kill by "devouring" them. How much they affect you depends on the person -- [[IdiotHero Firo]] copes with having the memories of a three hundred-year-old MadScientist and eighteen of his victims by simply insisting [[DumbIsGood he's too dumb to remember or make sense of any of it]], [[spoiler:although he admits to Maiza several years later that he's terrified of the possibility that Szilard's sadistic tendancies might surface in his own personality]]. Czeslaw, on the other hand, [[BreakTheCutie doesn't handle]] [[CreepyChild it quite]] [[CrazySurvivalist so well...]]
** While Firo has the memories of a bunch of strangers running through him, Czes picked up the ghost memory of his beloved guardian, who spent upwards of 200 years gleefully torturing the kid under [[ForTheEvulz the completely false premise]] of "ForScience". It's basically AmnesiacDissonance leading to a(n even more) BrokenPedestal, only the memories he recovered weren't his own.
* The central premise of ''Anime/DeathParade'' relies on this trope. [[{{Psychopomp}} Arbiters]] receive various memories of the dead through some sort of {{Telepathy}} in order to judge them properly. [[TransferableMemory The memories are set up]] to be periodically forgotten so as to [[MySkullRunnethOver not overwhelm them]].
** An ordinary human asks to receive the memories at some point, leading to a minor FreakOut and [[{{Deconstruction}} a big upheaval to the series’ own premise]].
* A rather creepy part of ''Anime/GhostInTheShell1995''. No, you have no ex-wife, or daughter. A hacker put them in your brain so you would do his bidding. Perhaps even more disturbing is the moment in which he is asked to look at the photo he kept trying to show his coworker of his daughter and it turns out to be a photo of him and ''his dog''.

* In the Franchise/DCUniverse, this is how the legacy of the ComicBook/GreatTen's Accomplished Perfect Physician works. Each new holder of the title inherits the collective memories of their predecessors; the current one is the seventeenth, giving him sixteen lifetimes of experience to draw on.
* Franchise/MarvelUniverse limited series ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitty_Pryde_and_Wolverine Kitty Pryde and Wolverine]]''. The evil {{Ninja}} Ogun tries to take over ComicBook/KittyPryde by impressing his mind on hers. Among other things, this gives her knowledge such as the ability to perfectly prepare a Japanese rock garden.

* In ''Comicbook/{{Starman}}'', [[spoiler:Will Payton and Prince Gavyn are merged into the same person and can switch between forms. While in the form of one, they have the Ghost Memory of the other.]]
* In ''ComicBook/SuperiorSpiderMan'', [[spoiler:Peter Parker's memories]] continue to haunt the Superior Spider-Man.
* This trope affects Chromedome in ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' as a ''severe'' side effect of his [[MentalFusion mnemosurgery abilities]]. The thing is, he can [[InterrogatingTheDead read the memories of the dead]], but the side effect of that is that by reading their memories, he also ends up experiencing them, which is in turn [[TransferableMemory recorded in his memory from his perspective]]. The big problem with that is that ''he now knows how it feels to die,'' repeatedly, innumerable times, and in innumerable ways. They have become literal NightmareFuel for him, in that [[PastExperienceNightmare these memories torment him irregularly and unexpectedly]] while he recharges until he [[CatapultNightmare flings himself awake in a terror]]. It's little wonder he was DrivenToSuicide (though fortunately [[HappilyFailedSuicide he never went through with it]]). To make it even worse, it's revealed that mnemosurgery is addictive and eventually kills its practitioners.
* In ''ComicBook/TheVision2015'', [[RobotGirl Virginia]]'s personality is based on a brain scan of [[spoiler: the Scarlet Witch]], and thus shares some of her memories (such as [[spoiler: the magical formula for seeing into the future]]) despite being otherwise distinct from her.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: The version of ComicBook/SteveTrevor that was brought to Earth-One after the local Steve seemingly died a second time eventually gains the memories of the Earth-One Steve, who had not actually passed on but was trapped in Eros' mind until what was left of him merged with his multi-verse counterpart. Multi-Verse Steve's mind was already a mess, due to injuries sustained in his home dimension and false memories crafted by the Amazons without his or Diana's knowledge, so the merger actually made him feel like a more complete person.
* In ''ComicBook/XForce'', [[Characters/MarvelComicsSunspot Sunspot]] is telepathically possessed by the villain Reignfire. Team leader ComicBook/{{Cable}} uses his own telepathy to sever the connection, but in the process leaves some of his memories in Sunspot's head. This teaches Sunspot how to speak Askani, and sometimes he subconsciously acts on the memories that aren't his (such as humming a melody that Cable learned in his youth).
* Absorbing people's memories is one side effect of ComicBook/{{Rogue}}'s powers in most ''Comicbook/XMen'' continuities, as well.

* In the VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII fanfic, ''FanFic/CissneisPath'', Aerith [[spoiler:gains the memories of all the previous Cetra that visited the Temple of Ancients through the Well of Knowledge. The net result leaves her with centuries worth of her people's heritage and the ability to use magic without materia.]]

* In the ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'' AU ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11491965/1/Memories-Of-Others Memories Of Others]]'', Naruto discovers that by shadow-cloning someone, he can get their experiences once the clones dispel. This lets him overcome his previous ignorance since the person he clones most is the one helping him to learn everything he missed out on.
* In the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' fic ''Fanfic/ProjectDelta'', Jane is implanted with some augments on which the past cycles worked like on the Crucible. She somehow gets the pain and vague memories of all the past augmented.
* In the ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' fic, ''Fanfic/SomethingAlwaysRemains'', this is how Vanna [[spoiler: learns what happened to her sister]] and how Mike [[spoiler: realizes Freddy Wickes was BuriedAlive]].

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/TotalRecall1990'', people of TheFuture typically take vacations by having the memory of an exciting trip implanted in their brains, rather than by going on an actual trip somewhere.
* In the Creator/RayLiotta film ''Film/{{Unforgettable|1996}}'', a doctor, accused of the murder of his wife, injects himself with her memories.

** In one book, they visit the [[ProudMerchantRace Iskoort]], who have a booming trade where people have their memories copied and then sold to others for entertainment. They use the money from selling their own memories to fund everything they need (helped by the fact that Erek, who has [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld several millennia]] worth, is with them). This technology also proves valuable in finally defeating the Howlers and striking a major blow against [[EldritchAbomination Crayak]].

* Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':

* In Creator/FrankHerbert's later ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' [[Literature/HereticsOfDune series novels]], the Bene Gesserit have the ability to share memories by using their mental disciplines. Some of them have the combined [[Literature/ChapterhouseDune memories of a]] ''[[Literature/ChapterhouseDune planet's]]'' [[Literature/ChapterhouseDune worth of their fellow Bene Gesserit]].
* ''Literature/TheEchoriumSequence'''s ''Dark Quetzal'': All quetzal have access to the "Memoryplace", a sort of telepathic/magical ancestral memory. By ingesting a certain flower, humans are able to tap in.
* In ''The Glass Flower'' by G. Martin, [[spoiler: it's revealed by the end of the book that the memories that the protagonist received were so overwhelming for him that he lost his identity in them and shifted more towards that of the original owner of those memories.]]
* ''[[http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/lee_01_11/ Ghostweight]]'', a short sci-fi story by Yoon Ha Lee. A woman plans her RoaringRampageOfRevenge against the mercenary fleet that destroyed her people with the help of one of their 'ghosts' -- it turns out the ghost is not all he appears to be.

* In the novel ''Literature/GreenRider'', Karigan is briefly possessed by a dead swordsmaster and fights another swordsmaster to save her own life. Later, the moves and skill he used is available to her, making her a better fighter than before.

* ''Literature/KilnPeople'' by Creator/DavidBrin has clay golems that you can copy your soul into. They only last 24 hours, but if your 'ditto' makes it home before it expires you can copy its memories back into your organic head.

* In Creator/EEDocSmith's ''[[Literature/SkylarkSeries The Skylark of Space]]'', the heroes befriend an alien race that builds mind-reading machines. They use one of these machines to learn each others' languages. Later, they use one on the brain of a ''dead'' enemy to learn his secrets, effectively gaining the memories of the dead person.
* ''Literature/TheSwordOfTruth'': Richard channels the skills of the titular sword's previous users in order to defeat a large group of master swordsmen.
* In Creator/RobertWestall's ''Literature/UrnBurial'', the Fefethil war-leader Prepoc's tomb included a 'memory-helmet' which gives it's human discoverer, Ralph Edwards, insights into Prepoc's past life by showing him 'snapshots' of things that had happened in it's owners life.

* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'': [[spoiler:Mat blurted out]] a wish [[spoiler:to have the holes in his memory filled]], and the wishgivers responded by filling his head with spare memories of other people who had visited them. [[spoiler:This turns him into a brilliant general, and his already [[BornLucky obscene luck]] doesn't hurt either]]. He also demonstrates cases of GeneticMemory early in the series.

* Sharon "Athena" Valerii still had all of the memories of Sharon "Boomer" Valerii up to a certain point in ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003''. This goes true for other Cylon models as well, but the Eights are the only model who we have seen sharing memories. Another Eight does it again in 'The Hub'.

** Potential Slayers have a subconscious memory of the actions of past Slayers. While this usually only manifests through bizarre, monster-filled dreams, in the case of Dana (in the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "Damage") the memories combined with her already fragile psyche send her on a killing spree.
** Another example comes from the ''Series/{{Buffy|the Vampire Slayer}}'' episode "Halloween"; Xander is magically transformed into a soldier, giving him memories of various military tactics and operational rules that come in useful in "Innocence" and "Graduation Day".

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E14TheNextDoctor "The Next Doctor"]], a man named Jackson Lake became [[TitleDrop the next Doctor]] [[spoiler:when a gadget called an "infostamp" backfired and disgorged its contents into his mind. He also watched the Cybermen kill his wife and kidnap his son. His already-broken mind readily accepted the information.]]
* ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'' Actives usually have FakeMemories, but sometimes get the memories of other people. Some of their fake personas are constructed from bits of actual people (anyone scanned by a Rossum medical brainscan), such as "Ellie Penn" in "Ghost".
* In ''Series/{{Fringe}}'', this is done to [[spoiler:Olivia to convince her that she is her alternate universe counterpart.]]

** The Trill are small slug like creatures that can bond to a host body, and when the body dies it is implanted in a new one, giving it all the memories and experiences of the previous hosts

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': some of the more ancient wargear available to humans and Eldar can retain a "ghost" of previous users' experiences. This tends to go badly when the equipment is wired directly into the user's brain, such as Titans, or a previous user turned to Chaos.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''

** The ancient Yokudans, [[{{Precursors}} ancestors]] of the Redguards, had memory-stones which enabled those who used them to [[InstantExpert master complex sword techniques overnight]], although the user needed to have some knowledge already to understand what was being taught and many of the maneuvers required extensive physical training to actually ''use'' them in battle.
*** Such a memory stone shows up in an ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsOnline'' quest which allows one to witness the final days of the legendary Redguard hero, Gaiden Shinji, prior to his death via CavalryBetrayal during the siege of Orsinium.

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect'', if Shepard does a certain quest early in the game, they receive a small and apparently useless Prothean device as a reward. Much later while exploring an alien planet, they can find a Prothean artifact that will react with the device, uploading several years worth of memory from an ancient human that the Protheans had been studying into Shepard's brain. The Beacon encountered on Eden Prime also worked in this way, but due to its damaged state the images it uploaded were indistinct and required Shepard to find several other parts before they made sense.
* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', The Sorrow was a telepath who would channel the spirits of dead soldiers to imbue himself with combat prowess.
* ''VideoGame/{{Moonrise}}'': Played with throughout the [[UsefulNotes/{{Sapphism}} sapphic]] werewolf interactive novel. Since the player is inhabiting the body of their character, the character's past is separate from the player, and the memories "haunt" them. The player can choose to continue their body's past and relationships, or abandon them altogether.
* ''VideoGame/SystemShock2'' has these as a result of the game's AppliedPhlebotinum. While walking along, your character will occasionally see ghosts acting out what usually turn out to be their last moments alive.

** In the Unlimited Blade Works route Shirou gets glimpses of Archer's life and death due to [[spoiler:their souls being in sync as Archer is an alternate version of Shirou]].

* When the nameless protagonist of ''Webcomic/{{Chitra}}'' is [[{{Isekai}} hit by a truck]], she's offered the chance to take over the duties of a priest-princess who serves the God of Beauty in another world. As the protagonist awakens in the original Chitra's body, she gains all of Chitra's memories in a painful, sudden burst.
* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': Ellen is an OppositeSexClone of another character, with all of his memories up until her creation. Then later Nioi showed up. Nioi claimed that since Ellen's [[OurSoulsAreDifferent soul]] was barely a couple months old, while she has the body and mind of a 17-year-old, she'll end up going insane. So Nioi "offers"[[note]]she doesn't actually wait for Ellen to agree, or explain it in enough detail for Ellen to fully consent, or mention her ulterior motive for wanting to do this to Ellen[[/note]] to "fix" the problem. For the next few weeks, when she slept, Ellen dreamt of life in another world, where she was born a girl (not a clone of a guy) and grew up normally. She retained all the memories of this other life, down to her own [[{{Squick}} birth]]. It's so far caused her as much angst as relief.
* In the webcomic ''Webcomic/{{Inverloch}}'', Neirran absorbs the mind of another mage who was dying. This gives her all his memories and access to all the spells he knew.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', future Dream Rose "survives" her time line ceasing to exist by fusing with her present dream self, giving her memories of the alternate timeline.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Agent Washington from ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'' received the memories of the Alpha [=AI=] and its creator/[[BrainUploading template]], [[spoiler:the Director]] via its LivingMemory component, Epsilon.
** The AIs in general, particularly Alpha, are examples of this, with their memories being based on their creator's. [[spoiler:Epsilon!Tex is arguably also an example, with her memories being based on Epsilon's memories of what she should be like... which are in turn based on Church's memories, which are based on the Director's. It gets confusing.]]
[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Steven occasionally has dreams that turn out to be the memories of [[spoiler:Pink Diamond]], allowing him to simultaneously learn more about her while also giving him more questions. [[spoiler:It turns out he can see her memories due to her actually being the true identity of his mother, Rose Quartz, leading this to fuel his identity crisis.]]

** The very first [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI Final Fantasy]] game had a race called the Lufenians who pass down the memories of their ancestors in some type of ceremony, which seems to be why they're the only ones who know much about what happened 400 years ago.

* ''VideoGame/{{Moonrise}}'': Played with throughout the sapphic werewolf interactive novel. Since the player is inhabiting the body of their character, the character's past is separate from the player, and the memories "haunt" them. The player can choose to continue their body's past and relationships, or abandon them altogether.

* In the ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'' {{novelization}}, [[Characters/MonsterVerseHumans Ren Serizawa]] appears to experience this through his psionic connection to Mechagodzilla when it malfunctions, [[spoiler:and the consciousness in Ghidorah's skull which fuels the system takes over]]. The novel says that Ren can feel "a million years of rage rising in him, hatred that transcended time and space", [[spoiler:which is presumably Ghidorah's memories and feelings]].

** An ordinary human asks to receive the memories at some point, leading to a minor FreakOut and [[{{Deconstruction a big upheaval to the series’ own premise]].

* In the ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "Thanks for the Memory", Lister gives Rimmer 12 months of his memory as a birthday present. He really should have bought him a tie...

-->-- ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'', "Home, part 2"

* Immortals in ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'' [[YouKillItYouBoughtIt inherit the memories]] of any and every immortal that they kill by "devouring" them. How much they affect you depends on the person -- [[IdiotHero Firo]] copes with having the memories of a three hundred-year-old MadScientist and eighteen of his victims by simply insisting [[DumbIsGood he's too dumb to remember or make sense of any of it]], [[spoiler:although he admits to Maiza several years later that he's terrified of the possibility that Szilard's sadistic tendancies might surface in his own personality]]. Czeslaw, on the other hand, [[BreakTheCutie doesn't handle]] [[CreepyChild it quite]] [[CrazySurvivalist so well...]]

* Sharon "Athena" Valerii still had all of the memories of Sharon "Boomer" Valerii up to a certain point in ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}''. This goes true for other Cylon models as well, but the Eights are the only model who we have seen sharing memories. Another Eight does it again in 'The Hub'.

* In the ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode Thanks For The Memory, Lister gives Rimmer 12 months of his memory as a birthday present. He really should have bought him a tie...
* The Trill in ''Franchise/StarTrek'' are small slug like creatures that can bond to a host body, and when the body dies it is implanted in a new one, giving it all the memories and experiences of the previous hosts
** Also in the ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration The Next Generation]]'' episode, "The Inner Light," Captain Picard receives a lifetime of memories belonging to a man named Kamin on a dying world through Alien [[AppliedPhlebotinum Phlebotinum.]]
*** Actually, he was convinced that he was Kamin and reacted as such. The memories of the planet were a combination of the environment and his own pesonality. Whether the real Kamin's life, if there had actually been one, was the same is never addressed.

* In ''Webcomic/MSPaintAdventures'', future Dream Rose "survives" her time line ceasing to exist by fusing with her present dream self, giving her memories of the alternate timeline.

* In the eminently forgettable Creator/RayLiotta film ''Film/{{Unforgettable|1996}}'', a doctor, accused of the murder of his wife, injects himself with her memories.

A character gets others' memories or abilities through some external means, like magic or... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin ghosts]]. Compare with GeneticMemory, which uses genetics, reincarnation, and whatnot. Or FakeMemories, in which the implanted memory is totally made up. Contrast DeathAmnesia. Not to be confused with GhostAmnesia, which is when a ghost can not remember their own memories. Can intersect with TransferableMemory. Also compare SharedDream, when both characters get the memory/dream at the same time.

* ''Fanfic/VowOfNudity'': When Haara tackles Fiora to free her from the amnesid's grasp, she receives a dump of memories from Fiora's time in university revealing she used to be romantically involved with one of her professors.

* ''VowOfNudity'': When Haara tackles Fiora to free her from the amnesid's grasp, she receives a dump of memories from Fiora's time in university revealing she used to be romantically involved with one of her professors.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

** In one book, they visit the [[ProudMerchantRaceGuy Iskoort]], who have a booming trade where people have their memories copied and then sold to others for entertainment. They use the money from selling their own memories to fund everything they need (helped by the fact that Erek, who has [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld several millennia]] worth, is with them). This technology also proves valuable in finally defeating the Howlers and striking a major blow against [[EldritchAbomination Crayak]].

** An ordinary human asks to receive the GhostMemories at some point, leading to a minor FreakOut and [[{{Deconstruction a big upheaval to the series’ own premise]].