Amnesia ( term ) Amnesia is a recurring plot device in the " Final Fantasy " series . The type of amnesia usually depicted is retrograde amnesia , where the afflicted loses their past memories but is able to function normally and retain new memories . Other than this however , the cause of the memory loss varies , but universally is used to conceal some secret about a character ' s past integral to the plot . How they recover their memories also varies . Appearances . " Final Fantasy III " . In the 3D versions , Luneth , Arc , Refia and Ingus have forgotten they were born on the surface world and were brought to the floating continent and given to foster parents by Cid Haze . Desch lost his memories while being in suspended animation for a 1000 years . He doesn ' t regain his memory until the party reaches the Tower of Owen . " Final Fantasy IV " . While sailing to Baron , Leviathan attacks the party ' s ship and Yang is washed overboard , awakening on the Baron shorelines without his memories and being appointed a captain of the guard due to his Monk training . When Cecil arrives in town Yang and his men attack him , and Cecil and his allies defeat Yang in battle , the blows restoring his memory . " Final Fantasy V " . Galuf suffers a blow to the head prior to meeting Lenna and Bartz , and loses all his memories save for his name . He recovers a bit of his memories but does not remember in full until his granddaughter Krile appears , the sight of her restoring his memory . Due to his injury Galuf feigns head trauma and swoons as a running gag when he acts questionably . " Final Fantasy VI " . Terra begins with no memories save for her name and a few brief recollections of the Gestahlian Empire , due to the Slave Crown used to control her mind distorting her thoughts . Once the magicite Maduin is brought to her , Terra ' s mind clears and she recovers her memories . Gau ' s father has repressed the memories of Gau ' s birth , convincing himself he never had a wife or son in real life , and believes that in a dream he was married and lost his wife giving birth to a " demon child " he abandoned on the Veldt . Another character that suffered from amnesia is Rachel . She went to Mt . Kolts with Locke before she fell off a collapsing bridge , causing her to lose her memories . " Final Fantasy VII " . Cloud suffers from a complex series of memory disorders . After impressing Zack and Tifa ' s memories of him combined with his own ideal image of himself as a SOLDIER , much of Cloud ' s memories distort into a false reality where he joined SOLDIER and became Sephiroth ' s partner , forgetting Zack even existed . Cloud ' s memory remains full of inconsistencies and holes that he is unable to explain , and further toll on his identity is aggravated by Mako poisoning upon him being washed into the Lifestream . It is only after Tifa journeys into Cloud ' s Subconscious that the two of them can reconstruct Cloud ' s true memories and restore his mind . Chocobo Sage is an old sage who knows the secrets of breeding the best chocobo , but his memory is poor and is not able to remember more than one clue at a time . " Final Fantasy VIII " . Prolonged use of Guardian Force s results in memory loss due to the GF ' s presence in the controller ' s brain residing in the same areas that govern long - term memory . The party ' s loss of memory isn ' t revealed until Irvine tells Squall , Quistis , Zell and Selphie that the five of them , along with Seifer and Ellone , were orphaned and raised by Edea Kramer at a seaside orphanage . As the five were sent to Garden s to train as SeeD s , they began to use GFs and forgot about their childhoods , Irvine remembering due to not using GFs until he met up with the party as he has never trained as a SeeD . Garden Faculty is aware of the deleterious effect of the GF , but urge students to ignore any GF criticism they may hear from other forces . Quistis at first refuses to believe that Headmaster Cid Kramer would allow such a dangerous thing , but is forced to acknowledge the truth of the matter . " Final Fantasy IX " . Both Zidane and Garnet have no memories of their early childhoods . Zidane was abandoned on Gaia by Kuja at an early stage of life , and remembers nothing of Terra save for a blue light . Garnet was born in Madain Sari as " Sarah " , and she and her mother fled to the Mist Continent by boat when the village was destroyed . Sarah ' s mother perished before arrival , and the King of Alexandria found Sarah and took her as his own child to replace his recently deceased biological daughter , named Garnet . The " Final Fantasy IX Ultimania " elaborates that the girl had lost her memories in the calamity , and didn ' t question it when her new adoptive parents let her know she had always lived in Alexandria Castle . Sir Fratley was Freya Crescent ' s lover in Burmecia who left to travel the world and never returned . Freya set out to find her lost love , but when she does , she discovers Fratley is suffering from amnesia and does not remember her . It is implied they become a couple again after Kuja ' s threat has been removed , although Fratley never regains his memory . " Final Fantasy X " . In the world of Spira , people may suffer from " Sin ' s toxin " if they go too close to Sin . Tidus plays along with it and initially fakes amnesia to make up for his lack of knowledge of Spiran culture . There is a man who actually got Sin ' s toxin after the destruction of Kilika . He can ' t remember anything including his own name so he just sits at the port , hoping someone will recognize him . " Final Fantasy XIII " . During the War of Transgression , 600 years ago , Fang and Vanille were tasked to become Ragnarok and lay waste to Cocoon . Fang ended up becoming Ragnarok alone and her incomplete Ragnarok cracked Cocoon ' s shell , whereupon the two were placed in crystal stasis by Goddess Etro . 600 years later , Fang and Vanille recover from crystal stasis , but Fang has lost all memories of her previous Focus and her time as Ragnarok . Vanille , wanting to protect Fang , hides the truth . Although Fang never truly recovers her lost memories , she can piece together the true events from the suspicious way Vanille is acting . " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . As a time traveler from 700 years in the future , Noel Kreiss possesses knowledge of the events between Serah Farron ' s time and his . However , his memory is affected by the paradox es and corruption of the timeline , and he is unable to recall some basic historical facts that would help direct him and Serah on their journey . The effect gets worse as the timeline keeps changing due to their actions . Mog , Serah and Noel ' s companion on their quest , also lost most of his memories when he fell into a paradox in the Ocean of Time . By solving the anomalies in Oerba of 300 AF and 400 AF , Serah and Noel can help Mog remember his past . Due to her existence as a paradox effect , Alyssa Zaidelle ' s memory is corrupted , although the events of the true timeline regarding her manifest during her dreams . " Final Fantasy XIV " . Cid nan Garlond suffered amnesia in the aftermath of the Calamity , and was taken in by Father Iliud of the Church of Saint Adama Landama . As " Marques " , he worked as a priest until Alphinaud sought him and the adventurer out to revive the Scions . Cid slowly recovers his memories as they scour Coerthas for his missing airship , the " Enterprise " , and only once it is fully repaired and he is piloting it , does he fully recall his past . " Bravely Default " . Ringabel has amnesia , to the extent that he has forgotten his real name and adopted a moniker supposedly given by the townspeople of Caldisla . He carries a mysterious journal and uses the author ' s written accounts to justify the party ' s next objective . After defeating Alternis Dim aboard the " Grandship " , the dark knight ' s helm breaks to reveal his face is that of Ringabel ' s . Ringabel takes to comparing the journal Alternis dropped with his own , realizing the written accounts are similar . After defeating Alternis a second time Ringabel starts to recall fragments of his memory , and after awakening three crystals in the third version of Luxendarc , he finally remembers his past as the dark knight , along with hailing from a different Luxendarc than his companions , and that Airy is deceiving the party . Airy claims to have amnesia every time the party passes through the Holy Pillar only to awaken in a world where the Great Chasm is still present . This is only a ruse to convince the party to reawaken the crystals in each world they appear in , as they still retain their memories when they pass through the light . " Dissidia Final Fantasy " and " Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy " . Warriors summoned to World B to fight arrive with no memories . As they fight , their memories of their past lives and worlds gradually return , but if they are defeated in battle , Shinryu absorbs their memories of the cycle they were fighting in and revives them in the next cycle . The warriors retain the memories of their home world , but have no recollection of previous cycles . Those who are not defeated retain their memories into the next cycle , but once defeated , all memories of previous cycles are absorbed . The Warrior of Light and the other warriors of Cosmos believe he is suffering from a more severe case of amnesia , but it ' s later explained he has no memories of a life outside the cycles because he was born during the cycles . After Onion Knight saves Terra from the Cloud of Darkness , she has no recollection of her forced battle against the Onion Knight due to her powers going out of control , something Onion Knight attempts to hide from her for her protection . As soon as she learns from Kefka Palazzo about the event , Terra becomes disturbed and nearly relapses until Cloud Strife puts her back to her senses at her request . " World of Final Fantasy " . Upon awakening in Nine Wood Hills , Reynn and Lann have no memory of their past as Mirage Keeper s in which they gathered various Mirages and gained enough power to rule the entire world if they so chose . They have also lost almost all memory of their family and set out on a journey to find their mother .