Aura:
The person may feel a sense of strong déjà vu, lightheadedness and/or dizziness, unusual (and possibly inappropriate) emotions, intense feelings of discomfort or foreboding, altered vision and hearing (which may or may not include hallucinations), and sometimes other symptoms. This is actually a simple partial seizure. Sometimes, the person will lose complete awareness and start making odd or pointless repetitive movements (such as picking at clothes or lip smacking) towards the end of the aura, at which point the seizure has progressed to become a complex partial seizure.

Tonic phase:
The person will quickly lose consciousness, and the skeletal muscles will suddenly tense, often causing the extremities to be pulled towards the body or rigidly pushed away from it, which will cause the person to fall if standing. The tonic phase is usually the shortest part of the seizure, usually lasting only a few seconds. The person may also express vocalizations like a loud moan during the tonic stage, due to air forcefully expelled from the lungs.

Clonic phase:
The person's muscles will start to contract and relax rapidly, causing convulsions. These may range from exaggerated twitches of the limbs to violent shaking or vibrating of the stiffened extremities. The person may roll and stretch as the seizure spreads. The eyes typically roll back or close and the tongue often suffers bruising sustained by strong jaw contractions. Incontinence is seen in some cases. Due to physical and nervous exhaustion, Post-ictal sleep invariably follows a tonic–clonic seizure. Confusion and complete amnesia upon regaining consciousness is usually experienced and slowly wears off as the person becomes gradually aware that a seizure occurred.