Memory Gambit/Playing With

Basic Trope: A character's memories being erased or altered turns out to be part of the plan.
 * Straight: Bob erases his memories of being the Big Bad to get close to the good guys.
 * Exaggerated: Bob has erased his memories of being a Complete Monster to get close to the good guys.
 * Up to Eleven: Bob has transferred half of his soul along with all his memories to a Soul Jar to get close to the good guys.
 * Downplayed: Bob erases one memory of a crime he committed from his mind to prevent himself from incriminating himself while being questioned.
 * Justified: Charlie, The Smart Guy, is a mind-reader, so if he manages to expose Bob as the Big Bad by reading his mind, then Bob's plan would be ruined.
 * Inverted: Alice implants Fake Memories of evil deeds into her mind to get herself close to the bad guys.
 * Subverted: It appears Bob has erased his memories of being the Big Bad, but it turns out he actually had them relocated to a safe part of his mind, which Charlie can't mind-read.
 * Double Subverted: Those memories actually do get erased.
 * Parodied: Bob accidentally erased ALL his memories and ruined his own plans.
 * Deconstructed: Because Bob erased his memories, he naturally forgets that he's a villain. He becomes less and less like a villain and more and more like a hero until he finally performs an accidental Heel Face Turn.
 * Amnesiac Dissonance, Tomato in the Mirror.
 * Reconstructed: ???
 * Zig Zagged: ???
 * Averted: Bob doesn't alter his memories
 * Enforced: ???
 * Lampshaded: ???
 * Invoked: Usually is.
 * Exploited: David, Bob's right hand man, takes advantage of Bob's inability to remember who he is to take over the corporation.
 * Defied: ???
 * Discussed: ???
 * Conversed: ???

Back to Memory Gambit