History Main / DoubleConsciousness

* Billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne is a completely different identity than crime fighting BadassNormal Franchise/{{Batman}}. Which one is the real identity and which is the facade, however, depends from writer to writer. Then there's the suggestion that, like Superman, Batman has three identities: the Playboy, the Dark Knight, and the "real" Bruce.

** Since the main villains of the series are {{Puppeteer Parasite}}s, this also comes up with [[MagnificentBitch Visser One]] and [[TortureTechnician Taylor]]. The former was the first long-term Human-Controller, along with an assistant, and discovered that HumanityIsInfectious, especially when [[spoiler:the two had twins through their human hosts]]. Meanwhile, Taylor the Yeerk cannot differentiate between herself and her human host as easily as most Controllers, causing (or caused by?) her and possibly both of them becoming insane.

People sometimes have trouble defining who they truly are. Sometimes this is a result of social labels, whether those categories are national, cultural, professional, ethnic, sexual, or any other frame of reference. When [[ChildOfTwoWorlds these things come into conflict with one another]], a person may feel divided, as if containing two or even more separate identities. This can also easily happen on a more personal level, as someone may present radically different faces and attitudes to friends, family, coworkers, and any other acquaintances in life.

In the realm of fantasy and sci-fi, there can be even more types of conflicting identities. The superhero for example that must live double lives: one as a hero and the other as a normal citizen. Often leads into an IdentityBreakdown when maintaining the delicate balance between these identities becomes too difficult to bear.

Compare SecretIdentityIdentity, LivingADoubleLife, TheWhitestBlackGuy, ConflictingLoyalty. In extreme cases this can lead to SplitPersonality. See also DoubleThink.

People sometimes have trouble defining who they truly are. Factors such as race, gender, culture, country origin, sexuality, class, and occupation can all play a role in a person's identity. But when [[ChildOfTwoWorlds these things come into conflict with one another]], a person may feel as if they are torn inside. They may feel as if they have two separate identities, or that their identity is divided into multiple facets.

Characters in fiction are no different. They too can sometimes suffer from a clash of identities. The superhero for example that must live double lives; one as a hero and the other as a normal citizen. Often leads into an IdentityBreakdown when maintaining the delicate balance between these identities becomes too difficult to bear.

This term was coined by W.E.B. Du Bois in ''The Souls of Black Folk'' (1903). He used it in reference to African-Americans who struggle between the identities of being both American and Black in a country built off of their enslavement and dehumanization.

!!!'''In General:'''
* Characters of [[HalfHumanHybrid mixed species]] often feel this way. [[Franchise/StarTrek Spock]], for example.
!!!'''Series:'''

* ''ComicBook/TheTransformers'' had a few examples of this. Early on in the series, the Autobot Skids is injured and goes MIA. He's tempted to ''stay'' missing so that he won't have to keep on fighting as a warrior and can go back to his true love, anthropology. In a later issue ("The Monstercon From Mars"), the Decepticon Pretender Skullgrin somehow winds up a genuine movie star thanks to using his monstrous appearance to play the role of a monster in an upcoming blockbuster. Despite the average Decepticon's opinion of humans tending to either be "target practice" or "totally irrelevant", Skullgrin actually quite enjoys the attention.
** The best example is likely Lord Zarak during the Headmasters limited series. He initially allied with the Decepticons in order to drive the Autobots off his homeworld of Nebulous, going so far as to become the Headmaster partner of Decepticon commander Scorponok. However, by the end of the limited series he is horrified that he's starting to lose his sense of where Zarak ends and Scorponok begins. In fact, by the time of his death in battle against Unicron, Zarak actually refers to ''himself'' as "Scorponok".

Characters in fiction are no different. They too can sometimes suffer from a clash of identities. The superhero for example that must live double lives; one as a hero and the other as a normal citizen.

This term was coined by W.E.B. Du Bois in ''The Souls of Black Folk'' (1903). He used it in reference to African-Americans who struggle between the identities of being both American and Black.

* African-Americans and other minorities, immigrants, transgender people and many others often feel a double consciousness.

--> ''The important thing is that [[WrittenByTheWinners the glory of the winners’ ascendant fortune]] gives everything of theirs -- [[YouAreTheNewTrend even their dress]], [[StiffUpperLip their gait]], [[QuintessentialBritishGentleman their conversation]] -- [[MightyWhitey a radiance that makes them desirable]]. And people do not merely adopt them, [[YouWillBeAssimilated but are proud to adopt them]]. Then they bring forth, [[IntellectuallySupportedTyranny by means of intellectual arguments, many benefits of this]].''

* Niko Bellic, protagonist of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'', is a veteran of UsefulNotes/TheYugoslavWars who immigrated to America, and is thus possessed of conflicting worldviews. On the one hand, he [[PapaWolf cares]] about his family and friends from Serbia, but is too [[ShellShockedVeteran traumatized]] by [[SociopathicSoldier war]] to live a normal life. On the other, he wants to build a [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream new life]] in America, but is also [[PunchClockVillain hungry]] for wealth and believes he can only achieve it through [[BecauseImGoodAtIt crime]]. This can explain the {{Moral Dilemma}}s the game presents and even some instances of GameplayAndStorySegregation.