...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
Mental Story
- 235 statements
- 45 feature instances
- 26 referencing feature instances
| Mental Story | type |
FeatureClass | |
| Mental Story | label |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story | page |
MentalStory | |
| Mental Story | comment |
A story where what's going on in someone's head — be it their Dream Land, Mental World, imagination, inner struggles, conversations with their Imaginary Friend, or power fantasies — is the main attraction, with not much happening in "reality." Sometimes, the focus will be on mundane events in Real Life represented as all kinds of metaphorical weirdness playing out in the characters' minds. A Mr. Imagination will usually be the protagonist, unless the story revolves around seeing or entering other peoples' dreams, which is a major Sub-Trope, although one we don't have yet. All Just a Dream and Dying Dream are Sub Tropes, but they are not this trope. Do not list examples that belong under those two tropes on this page. They have their own examples sections. |
|
| Mental Story | fetched |
2023-11-16T21:15:47Z | |
| Mental Story | parsed |
2023-11-16T21:15:47Z | |
| Mental Story | processingComment |
Dropped link to Boisvert: Not an Item - UNKNOWN | |
| Mental Story | processingComment |
Dropped link to PoetsOfTheFall: Not an Item - IGNORE | |
| Mental Story | processingUnknown |
Boisvert (Web Animation) | |
| Mental Story | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| Mental Story / int_1099a6ac | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_1099a6ac | comment |
Fight Club is this in large part, but some interesting stuff happens in reality, too. | |
| Mental Story / int_1099a6ac | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_1099a6ac | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Fight Club | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_1099a6ac | |
| Mental Story / int_133e6072 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_133e6072 | comment |
Onani Master Kurosawa is a little more plotty, but it's still mostly Kurosawa's head. | |
| Mental Story / int_133e6072 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_133e6072 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Onani Master Kurosawa (Manga) | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_133e6072 | |
| Mental Story / int_167abcb3 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_167abcb3 | comment |
Dream Eater Merry | |
| Mental Story / int_167abcb3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_167abcb3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Dream Eater Merry (Manga) | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_167abcb3 | |
| Mental Story / int_1ad4d09c | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_1ad4d09c | comment |
A Beautiful Mind | |
| Mental Story / int_1ad4d09c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_1ad4d09c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| A Beautiful Mind | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_1ad4d09c | |
| Mental Story / int_1e2a0fee | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_1e2a0fee | comment |
The Company of Myself | |
| Mental Story / int_1e2a0fee | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_1e2a0fee | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Company of Myself (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_1e2a0fee | |
| Mental Story / int_25f6f1a0 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_25f6f1a0 | comment |
Umineko: When They Cry combines this with Nested Story Reveal in Episode 8 — most of the plot is Toya Hachijo attempting to recreate the events of Rokkenjima 1986 as mystery novels in order to speculate on what happened on the island. | |
| Mental Story / int_25f6f1a0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_25f6f1a0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Umineko: When They Cry (Visual Novel) | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_25f6f1a0 | |
| Mental Story / int_28fe1376 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_28fe1376 | comment |
Fringe: "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide" | |
| Mental Story / int_28fe1376 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_28fe1376 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Fringe | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_28fe1376 | |
| Mental Story / int_32318e9a | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_32318e9a | comment |
Roseanne's final season turned out to be a book that Roseanne was writing. | |
| Mental Story / int_32318e9a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_32318e9a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Roseanne | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_32318e9a | |
| Mental Story / int_3e5de40b | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_3e5de40b | comment |
Nearly all the events of the Scrubs episode "My Life in Four Cameras" take place in JD's head. Only the Bookends are real. | |
| Mental Story / int_3e5de40b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_3e5de40b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Scrubs | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_3e5de40b | |
| Mental Story / int_400469e | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_400469e | comment |
In Calvin and Hobbes, even leaving aside the question of whether or not Hobbes is real, a lot of stories take place in Calvin's imagination. | |
| Mental Story / int_400469e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_400469e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Calvin and Hobbes (Comic Strip) | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_400469e | |
| Mental Story / int_44fe781e | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_44fe781e | comment |
Neon Genesis Evangelion dips into this as the series progresses and everyone's mental stability comes crashing down. The original ending became this due to the budget running out. Finally, about 30% of End of Evangelion is entirely this. | |
| Mental Story / int_44fe781e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_44fe781e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Neon Genesis Evangelion | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_44fe781e | |
| Mental Story / int_4c56381b | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_4c56381b | comment |
The Binding of Isaac is revealed to be this and not a literal or even exaggerated series of events starting about halfway into the progression of a save file. | |
| Mental Story / int_4c56381b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_4c56381b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Binding of Isaac (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_4c56381b | |
| Mental Story / int_4e0ae9f0 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_4e0ae9f0 | comment |
Welcome to the NHK is mostly about the main character's inner strife, and no decisions are reached even in the end. | |
| Mental Story / int_4e0ae9f0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_4e0ae9f0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Welcome to the NHK | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_4e0ae9f0 | |
| Mental Story / int_55e33238 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_55e33238 | comment |
Identity is a spoiler-example, as it's presented as being weird events happening in the real world until the reveal. | |
| Mental Story / int_55e33238 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_55e33238 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Identity | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_55e33238 | |
| Mental Story / int_5d4da367 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_5d4da367 | comment |
Yume Nikki is about a hikikomori lucid dreamer, whose primary interaction with the products of her subconscious is to stab them with knives. | |
| Mental Story / int_5d4da367 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_5d4da367 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Yume Nikki (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_5d4da367 | |
| Mental Story / int_64341267 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_64341267 | comment |
Herman's Head | |
| Mental Story / int_64341267 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_64341267 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Herman's Head | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_64341267 | |
| Mental Story / int_6e1d5f36 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_6e1d5f36 | comment |
Farscape has a few episodes like this. "Revenging Angel" is a Two Lines, No Waiting episode. One plot is about D'Argo, Chiana, and Jool trying to stop D'Argo's ship from self-destructing, while the other plot takes place inside Crichton's head as he's lying in a coma (and is a Looney Tunes pastiche). "John Quixote" takes place in a virtual-reality game based on Crichton's memories. |
|
| Mental Story / int_6e1d5f36 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_6e1d5f36 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Farscape | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_6e1d5f36 | |
| Mental Story / int_6f96cb3d | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_6f96cb3d | comment |
Sucker Punch | |
| Mental Story / int_6f96cb3d | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_6f96cb3d | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Sucker Punch | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_6f96cb3d | |
| Mental Story / int_70814599 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_70814599 | comment |
Stargate SG-1: "Avatar" takes place in a virtual-reality scenario that's effectively going on inside Teal'c's head. | |
| Mental Story / int_70814599 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_70814599 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Stargate SG-1 | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_70814599 | |
| Mental Story / int_7a3dc3b0 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_7a3dc3b0 | comment |
Akira Kurosawa's Dreams, technically. | |
| Mental Story / int_7a3dc3b0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_7a3dc3b0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Akira Kurosawa's Dreams | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_7a3dc3b0 | |
| Mental Story / int_7c802b66 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_7c802b66 | comment |
Brazil, partly. | |
| Mental Story / int_7c802b66 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_7c802b66 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Brazil | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_7c802b66 | |
| Mental Story / int_88094fa2 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_88094fa2 | comment |
Possibly also Source Code. | |
| Mental Story / int_88094fa2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_88094fa2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Source Code | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_88094fa2 | |
| Mental Story / int_8ae673e5 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_8ae673e5 | comment |
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is kind of a subversion, since although we see them from the main character's perspective via Flashbacks and Imagine Spots, most of the events in the story really happened. | |
| Mental Story / int_8ae673e5 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_8ae673e5 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_8ae673e5 | |
| Mental Story / int_8eb78c85 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_8eb78c85 | comment |
Unfaithfully Yours: An orchestra conductor who thinks his wife is unfaithful to him. We see him take revenge on her and her lover — which turns out to be a very long Imagine Spot type sequence he thinks of while conducting. He then tries to execute his plan, which doesn't work nearly so well. | |
| Mental Story / int_8eb78c85 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_8eb78c85 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Unfaithfully Yours | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_8eb78c85 | |
| Mental Story / int_8f794c68 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_8f794c68 | comment |
The fifteenth book of Wings of Fire, The Flames of Hope, mostly centers around the visions protagonist Luna gets from Cottonmouth and Lizard about their backstory and later her use of the two's mind-sharing to show Lizard the empathy and kindness of dragons. | |
| Mental Story / int_8f794c68 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_8f794c68 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Wings of Fire | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_8f794c68 | |
| Mental Story / int_95711b77 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_95711b77 | comment |
"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is about a man who escapes from his humdrum life into a series of daydreams about heroic adventures. | |
| Mental Story / int_95711b77 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_95711b77 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Secret Life of Walter Mitty | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_95711b77 | |
| Mental Story / int_9cafbac | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_9cafbac | comment |
Much of The Singing Detective involves Philip Marlow playing out one of his detective novels in his head with himself as the protagonist, as well as flashbacks to his childhood. | |
| Mental Story / int_9cafbac | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_9cafbac | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Singing Detective | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_9cafbac | |
| Mental Story / int_9e87a012 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_9e87a012 | comment |
The Tick vs Proto-clown | |
| Mental Story / int_9e87a012 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_9e87a012 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Tick (Comic Book) | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_9e87a012 | |
| Mental Story / int_a1354807 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_a1354807 | comment |
Hitman: Contracts, until the final mission. | |
| Mental Story / int_a1354807 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_a1354807 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Hitman: Contracts (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_a1354807 | |
| Mental Story / int_a90d239a | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_a90d239a | comment |
Psychonauts, though it's a case where there are many different minds instead of just one. | |
| Mental Story / int_a90d239a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_a90d239a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Psychonauts (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_a90d239a | |
| Mental Story / int_b2de643f | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_b2de643f | comment |
Paprika | |
| Mental Story / int_b2de643f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_b2de643f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Paprika | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_b2de643f | |
| Mental Story / int_b5117328 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_b5117328 | comment |
Shutter Island | |
| Mental Story / int_b5117328 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_b5117328 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Shutter Island | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_b5117328 | |
| Mental Story / int_b6162ede | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_b6162ede | comment |
K.A.A.N primarily discusses depression and suicidal thoughts in his music, mostly referring to himself. | |
| Mental Story / int_b6162ede | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_b6162ede | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| K.A.A.N (Music) | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_b6162ede | |
| Mental Story / int_beacc602 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_beacc602 | comment |
The Pilgrim's Progress takes place entirely in two dreams (one for each part) by the narrator. | |
| Mental Story / int_beacc602 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_beacc602 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Pilgrim's Progress | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_beacc602 | |
| Mental Story / int_c0aa8ea9 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_c0aa8ea9 | comment |
Stargate Universe: "Seizure" | |
| Mental Story / int_c0aa8ea9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_c0aa8ea9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Stargate Universe | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_c0aa8ea9 | |
| Mental Story / int_c2b99e9a | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_c2b99e9a | comment |
Samurai Gourmet is Mental Story in two senses. There's the obvious gimmick of the Once per Episode Indulgent Fantasy Segue where a samurai shows Kasumi how his social dilemma might be solved, but those are relatively brief. The broader sense is that the show is very much about Kasumi's introspection and reflection. If you took away the samurai sequences, Kasumi's Inner Monologue, and reminiscent flashbacks, the show would be little more than an old guy wandering around wondering where to have lunch. | |
| Mental Story / int_c2b99e9a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_c2b99e9a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Samurai Gourmet | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_c2b99e9a | |
| Mental Story / int_ce15336 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_ce15336 | comment |
Perhaps the most famous book of this sort is The Catcher in the Rye. The plot of the book is a boy taking the train home from prep school and meeting up with his little sister. The book is about the boy's descent into paranoia. His descriptions of places and people become progressively more strange and twisted, showing his deteriorating mental state. He also fantasizes about doing strange things to and with geese. | |
| Mental Story / int_ce15336 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_ce15336 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Catcher in the Rye | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_ce15336 | |
| Mental Story / int_cf3bcedc | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_cf3bcedc | comment |
The philosophical book Sophie's World, with the mains realizing that they are only fictional characters within a book (within another book) and undergoing an existential crisis because of it. | |
| Mental Story / int_cf3bcedc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_cf3bcedc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Sophie's World | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_cf3bcedc | |
| Mental Story / int_cf6917ab | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_cf6917ab | comment |
American McGee's Alice and, to a slightly lesser extent, Alice: Madness Returns both take place largely in Wonderland — in this case, the corrupted Happy Place of a catatonic girl who blames herself for the death of her parents. | |
| Mental Story / int_cf6917ab | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_cf6917ab | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| American McGee's Alice (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_cf6917ab | |
| Mental Story / int_d4c96eb9 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_d4c96eb9 | comment |
Braid | |
| Mental Story / int_d4c96eb9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_d4c96eb9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Braid (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_d4c96eb9 | |
| Mental Story / int_d57e9015 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_d57e9015 | comment |
OMORI has a good chunk of its plot occur in the real world, but an equally sized chunk occurs in the subconscious of a young boy. | |
| Mental Story / int_d57e9015 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_d57e9015 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Omori (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_d57e9015 | |
| Mental Story / int_e0bfc6c4 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_e0bfc6c4 | comment |
A significant chunk of Being John Malkovich takes place in Malkovich's head. | |
| Mental Story / int_e0bfc6c4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_e0bfc6c4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Being John Malkovich | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_e0bfc6c4 | |
| Mental Story / int_e4732abc | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_e4732abc | comment |
Stargate Atlantis: In "Home", the main characters apparently manage to return to Earth, but it's actually an illusion of Earth fabricated from the memories in their heads. "The Real World" combines this trope with Cuckoo Nest for Dr. Weir. |
|
| Mental Story / int_e4732abc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_e4732abc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Stargate Atlantis | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_e4732abc | |
| Mental Story / int_fbf33963 | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_fbf33963 | comment |
Quite a bit of Inception happens in someone's head — not always the same someone. | |
| Mental Story / int_fbf33963 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_fbf33963 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Inception | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_fbf33963 | |
| Mental Story / int_ff53947e | type |
Mental Story | |
| Mental Story / int_ff53947e | comment |
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice: Senua is a Celtic warrior who suffers from sever psychosis on a quest to rescue the soul of her lover from the Norse underworld. | |
| Mental Story / int_ff53947e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Mental Story / int_ff53947e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (Video Game) | hasFeature |
Mental Story / int_ff53947e |
The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
Copyright of DBTropes.org wrapper 2009-2013 DFKI Knowledge Management. Imprint. - Thanks to Bakken&Baeck for hosting. Contact.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.