History Main / TheKillerInMe

* James Patterson's ''Beach Road''. This trope was so skillfully done that if you aren't paying close attention, the end will throw you for a massive loop.
* ''Cat and Mouse'' by James Patterson. This case combines parts 1 and a bit of part 2 as well.
* James Patterson's novel ''The Lake House'' does this; the beginning of the book says that the events are being told by the characters and may be inaccurate, but you're likely to ignore it until TheReveal.

** In "Hall Monitor", [=SpongeBob=] begins hunting down a maniac that has been terrorizing the town, unaware that the "maniac" is actually ''him''. This leads to a bizarre scene where Patrick is using a walky-talky to report on the maniac's location and somehow, [=SpongeBob=] just ''can't'' run away from him!

* Music/TheLivingTombstone's "September" ends on a WhamLine this way, after the protagonist suddenly recalls a memory that tells him exactly why he woke up After the end.

* Music/TheLivingTombstone's ''September'' ends on a WhamLine this way, after the protagonist suddenly recalls a memory that tells him exactly why he woke up After the end.

-> ''I just remembered\\

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'':
** Patrick Star parodies this trope. He was trying to find who made a clam cry, and finally found it was...himself. Complete with, "It's the perfect crime!" Spongebob did it, though. Except he didn't. ItMakesSenseInContext.
** Parodied in the episode where Spongebob becomes a hall monitor: he begins hunting down a maniac that has been terrorizing the town, unaware that the "maniac" actually refers to ''him'' engaging in his antics of the episode. This leads to a bizarre scene where Patrick is using a walky-talky to report on the maniac's location and somehow, Spongebob just ''can't'' run away from him!
-->"The maniac's IN THE MAILBOX!"

* ''VideoGame/HeavyRain'' sets this up fairly early on with Ethan Mars, who has periods where he blacks out then wakes up with an origami figure in his hand. It's a blatant RedHerring. However, the ''real'' Origami Killer, Scott Shelby, still is an example of this trope but is a Secretive Killer UnreliableNarrator instead. This unfortunately leaves the piece of origami in Ethan's hand after a blackout that [[ContrivedCoincidence happened to occur]] when he son was kidnapped [[PlotHole completely inexplicable]]. According to WordOfGod, this was supposed to be due to a [[VoodooShark psychic connection between Scott and Ethan]] that was DummiedOut of the game.

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!

* '''Secretive Killer''': The "hero" [[VillainProtagonist is a willing killer or monster who has been trying to shift blame or tie up loose ends]].
* '''Amnesiac Killer''': The "hero" [[AmnesiacDissonance somehow blacked out the murder(s) and is as surprised and horrified as the audience to discover the truth]].

'''''Note:''''' This is a SpoileredRotten trope, that means that '''EVERY SINGLE EXAMPLE''' on this list is a spoiler by default and will be unmarked. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned This is your last warning]], only proceed if you really believe you can handle this list.

* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'': [[spoiler:Fresh Cut Grass has a hidden SanityMeter that decreases when they end up in stressful situations. When it runs out, [[RedEyesTakeWarning their eyes turn red and they go violently berserk]]. The first time this happened they attempted to gore Chetney with a buzzsaw, and started hurling the party's deepest insecurities right back into their faces after being restrained by Ashton. They had no memory of what had just happened afterwards, and seemed extremely shaken at the idea that they harmed their friends.]]

* In ''Comicbook/TheBoys'', the Homelander believed he was suffering from this after receiving photos of himself performing heinous acts like baby eating. It's really his clone Black Noir trying to drive him insane so Noir can receive the order to kill him.]

* In ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed Carbon: Own The City'', the handheld version of ''NFS Carbon'', the player character has amnesia after a car crash that also killed their brother Mick Rogers, and makes his way through the city in an attempt to find the man responsible. It turns out ''they'' were the one who caused the crash, due to how much of an overbearing and toxic person Mick was both towards the player and Sara, Mick's former girlfriend; not only that, but their closest friends knew the whole time, and were only helping them to try and stop them from finding out.

* In ''Anime/{{Monster}}'', [[SympatheticInspectorAntagonist Inspector Lunge]] assumes this is Tenma's problem for pretty much the entire story because all the evidence he can find says Tenma is the killer.

* The ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode "[[Recap/AngelS01E11Somnabulist Somnambulist]]" at first appears to be an example of this trope, but it turns out that Angel is having dreams as a result of his connection to one of his vampire progeny, who is the actual murderer. This does make Angel indirectly responsible.
* In the ''Series/BeyondBeliefFactOrFiction?'' segment "Malibu Cop," the titular detective discovers that he himself is the murderer he is searching for. He committed the crime while sleepwalking. Supposedly this story was "Fact."

* The ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode ''Repression'' follows Tuvok as he tries to find out who has been secretly assaulting crewmembers and rendering them comatose. It turns out to be Tuvok himself, having recently been brainwashed by a transmission hidden within a message from his son. None of the victims die, fortunately, but instead end up brainwashed themselves as part of a conspiracy by a disgruntled former Maquis to take over Voyager.

* ''Series/TheWheelOfTime'': Mat has serious doubts whether the farmers were killed by him or a Fade. Rand assures him it was the Fade, but Mat isn't convinced and asks Rand to MercyKill him if he goes insane. He promises to do the same to Rand.

'''''Note:''''' This is a SpoileredRotten trope, that means that '''EVERY SINGLE EXAMPLE''' on this list is a spoiler by default and will be unmarked. [[Laconic/YouHaveBeenWarned This is your last warning]], only proceed if you really believe you can handle this list.

** In the episode "Chimera", Ellen Adderly was horrified as anybody by the murders of her friend and later her rival in their community. At one point, she believed she was about to be attacked by the stringy-haired creature [[TheMirrorShowsYourTrueSelf she saw in the mirror]]. It was found out that she suffers from SplitPersonality and her aggression was how she dealt with her husband's cheating on her.
** The copycat killer in "Grotesque" was a leading investigator of the original case. As a part of the team, he was chasing himself. Did he know? Maybe, as he specifically requested Mulder, who he believed is the only one who could crack the case. However, he seems genuinely appalled and distrustful when Mulder reveals to him that it is him who they are chasing. In addition, as the original SerialKiller, he claims that he was possessed by a demonic force. A classic MaybeMagicMaybeMundane of ''The X-Files''.