Forget You!

Nina Williams is a deadly woman who was trained from a young age to be a world class assassin. Robbed of her childhood and unable to express her feelings, Nina is detached and seldom shows emotion. After being forced to become a test subject for research, Nina unknowingly gave birth to a son via in-vitro fertilization while she was in cryogenic sleep. Despite being a cold-hearted bitch with no emotional connection to her son, Nina’s maternal instinct eventually kicked in and she allowed him to live despite being contracted to assassinate him. Nina had lost her memories during the cryo experiment, but her sister Anna went to great lengths to help her regain them. In an ironic twist, when Nina’s memories returned, the hatred she previously had for her sister did as well and their long-standing rivalry picked up from where it had left off.

Snatcher takes place in a post-apocalyptic future where robotic “snatchers” are killing humans and taking their place in society. Gillian Seed is a seasoned detective assigned to investigate the artificial life-forms, but he has no recollection of who he is. Gillian’s mission is to find out more about the snatchers, but every conversation he has also reveals more about himself. His personal and working relationships play heavily into the game’s story, and Gillian’s connection to the snatchers becomes more pronounced as the plot advances. It’s eventually revealed that Gillian and his wife Jaimie were both Soviet scientists who helped create the first snatchers. He was technically operating as a CIA mole during this time and his wife was working under duress, so the pair probably shouldn’t feel too guilty.

When Cammy made her first appearance in Super Street Fighter II, there was only one other female character in the series. Even with the addition of Cammy, the ratio of guys to girls was still 7:1! This all but guaranteed that she would get a lot of attention, and her braided hair, trademark facial scar, and thong leotard all contributed to her popularity. Cammy’s physical appearance and gratuitous ass shots made her stand out, but her past was shrouded in mystery. She was given information suggesting that she was brainwashed to be an assassin for M. Bison, but she eventually learned that she was part of a sinister experiment and a clone of Bison! Cammy memories are repeatedly wiped by Bison’s organization, but she continues to grow both physically and mentally and eventually joins up with British special forces.

Cave Story stars an amnesiac scouting robot who awakens in a cave on a floating island with no memory of how he got there. Quote has no idea who he is or why he’s in the cave, so he begins to explore out of necessity. Quote finds lots of treasure chests and valuable artifacts during his adventure, but he’s really in search of the truth. Through further exploration, he learns of a doctor who intends to force the inhabitants of the cave to fight for him in a bid to take over the world. Our hero is led to believe that he was a killer robot who had been sent to slaughter the inhabitants of the cave, but it’s later revealed that he was actually sent to save the island. Quote isn’t given a lot of information about his past (his name is spoken only once in the normal game), but he still chooses to fight on the side of righteousness.

Kaim is an immortal being who ends up losing a thousand years of memories. As an immortal being who has been alive for a millennium, Kaim has a lot of information to process as he struggles to recall his past. Amnesia is frequently used as a plot device to further character development, but even the gameplay in Lost Odyssey is driven by Kaim’s quest for identity. Kaim’s past is buried deep within his subconscious, and his memories come back to him in the form of dreams. The dream sequences play out like visual novels and help break up the game’s action while advancing the story at the same time. As Kaim begins to learn more about his past, he becomes more sympathetic to human struggles. Kaim’s memories were filled with tragedy and loss, which ultimately allows him to better understand the world around him.

While studying a solar eclipse in the year 2035, Soma was transported to Dracula’s castle. Hoping to save himself from the castle’s demonic influence, Soma discovered that Dracula had been dead for a while and the castle sought a new master. During his attempt to prevent Dracula’s next incarnation from emerging, Soma demonstrated a previously unknown ability to control the souls of defeated monsters. This ability ultimately turned out to be a derivation of Dracula’s ability to command monsters. Incidentally, Soma had actually been the reincarnation of Dracula all along, and the castle had merely awoken his dormant powers. Soma struggles to resist his legacy, but Dracula’s dark powers still reside within. Soma doesn’t necessarily forget who he is, but it did take nearly two decades before the memories of his true self were awakened.

After awakening near a dead body who he assumed belongs to him, the spirit Sissel decided to investigate the events that led to his death. He had no recollection of his life, but he used an ability known as “Ghost Trick” to travel back in time and occupy various objects. He eventually learned that the dead body did not belong to him after all. Sissel was merely a cat who lived with a man name Yomiel. Yomiel had been granted Ghost Trick abilities after being struck by a meteorite and planned to use his powers to stage his own murder and frame someone for it. Yomiel intended to use the cat as a vessel to escape, but the plan went awry and Sissel took a stray bullet. Since he was near the meteor fragment stuck inside Yomiel’s body, Sissel was bestowed with the Ghost Trick abilities. When his spirit awoke, Sissel mistook Yomiel’s body for his own.

After being sealed in a coffin at the bottom of a river for 500 years, Bayonetta awoke with guns ‘a blazing and took out an onslaught of antagonistic angels. She then set out to discover the truth about her past and what she had forgotten. She rubbed shoulders with a black market information broker and was hounded by an investigative journalist, but it took a while for the pieces of the puzzle to come together. Bayonetta even met a younger version of herself and spent a considerable amount of time with her without even realizing who she was. After getting into several skirmishes with one of her coven sisters, Bayonetta’s past was revealed. Her parents were from rival clans, and Bayonetta’s birth had created a spiral of chaos that eventually led to the extinction of both. Bayonetta was sealed into the coffin as a means of keeping her safe.

Cloud fancies himself as a carefree rebel that lives by his own rules, but he really hides his failures by lying about his past. He is completely detached from reality, and seems entirely oblivious to what is going on around him. With the world on the verge of destruction, Cloud wrestles with his own insecurities and displays a cold and uncaring demeanor despite being surrounded by supportive friends. The guy is so into himself that he doesn’t even realize that he is hanging out with two hot chicks that totally want to bang him. Due to the influence of alien cells in his body, Cloud unknowingly developed a fake persona created from the memories of his friend, Zack. Cloud’s cocky attitude might be expected from an elite soldier, but it was completely out of place for a low-rate mercenary. After discovering his memories were false, Cloud stopped acting like a loser.

There was no indication that Zero was an amnesiac until several games into the Mega Man X series. Zero works as a Maverick Hunter and is charged with defeating enemy robots bent on destroying humanity. His primary target is Commander Sigma, who once headed the Maverick Hunters before switching sides. In Mega Man X 4 it’s finally revealed that Zero was originally built by Dr. Wily and considered his greatest masterpiece. It’s further revealed that Zero once led the very Mavericks that he now hunted. Zero was an overwhelmingly destructive force, but Sigma selflessly stepped in to fight him and managed to smash the energy crystal in Zero’s helmet during their battle. In the process of doing so, Sigma was infected by the Maverick virus while Zero was given a new lease on life and taken in by the Maverick Hunters.