A mindwipe is a fictional memory erasure procedure in which the subject's memories and sometimes personality are erased. Often those are replaced by new memories more useful to those who are carrying out the mindwiping. It is a more thorough form of brainwashing. It is sometimes used as an alternative to capital punishment, or to make the subject more useful to the system. The mindwipe can be performed by a hypnotic or magical ability, or by an electronic device. It is often coupled with stories where the characters have amnesia, although the latter concept includes cases that occur naturally or by accident instead of the result of a deliberate procedure.
Examples
The 1952 short storyPaycheck by Philip K. Dick, in which an engineer, who has been working on a top-secret project after which his memory is wiped, discovers that he has not received any payments, but an assortment of random items, and that the secret police are after him. It was made into a film in 2003.
Alfred Bester's 1953 novel The Demolished Man; in which the technique is labeled "Demolition".
The 1966 short story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick in which a businessman undergoes a procedure where he receives memories of a vacation on Mars, only to discover that the procedure has backfired, and that his mind had already been wiped. It was the basis for the 1990 filmTotal Recall.
The plot of Ralph Blum's 1970 novel The Simultaneous Man revolves around mind erasure and personality transfer
In the TV series Blake's 7, Blake had been mindwiped prior to the events in the series, but begins to recall things.
The 1980 novelThe Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum. Jason Bourne is an amnesiac who discovers that he has had his memories wiped, but not his skills and instincts, of being an expert assassin. This has been adapted into a book and movie series.
In the TV series Babylon 5, the Psi-Corps is an organization whose members have telepathic abilities; they are able to assist doctors in a procedure that erases memories and traits in criminals, called "Death Of Personality" as a punishment.
In the cartoon seriesTotally Spies!, various characters get their memory wiped. This also occurs in its spin-off series The Amazing Spiez
The 2004 comic book seriesIdentity Crisis, where Zatanna mindwipes Doctor Light's memories of having sexually assaulted Ralph Dibny's wife Sue.
The 2009 TV series Dollhouse is about a corporation where certain employees called Actives are mind-wiped and implanted with custom personalities and abilities to service their clients.
The 2009 anime seriesEden of the East, in which the main character discovers that he has had his memory erased and that he is involved in a high-stakes competition.
The 2013 video gameRemember Me, in which the protagonist gets her memories wiped by the megacorporation Memorize. The game also allows the player to manipulate a person's memories using a technique called "remixing".
