History Main / DoubleConsciousness

** Also, morphing causes a natural clash of identities, as the morpher must struggle to maintain their identity against the animal's instincts.

* Brelvis in ''Magellan Justice Academy.''

** In ''BatmanBeyond'', he states that he doesn't call himself Bruce anymore.

* Several characters in ''CodeGeass'' suffer this; notably Kallen (Half Japanese-Britannian, loyal to Japan but living a double life), Suzaku (Japanese but an Honorary Britannian Soldier), and Lelouch (former Britannian prince, now leader of the anti-Britannian terrorists while masquerading as a BrilliantButLazy high school student).

* Several characters in ''CodeGeass'' suffer this; notably Kallen (Half Japanese-Britannian, loyal to Japan but living a double life), Suzaku (Japanese but an Honorary Britannian Soldier), Lelouch (Prince/Vigilante/Student) and Nunnally (Princess/Student).

* The scientists watching the earth being [[{{Reincarnation}} reincarnated]] into japanese students. They all worry at some point about their previous actions or what will become of their now-selves. [[{{Bishonen}} Issei]] is the [[GenderBender reborn Enju]] who was in love with Jinpachi and falls in love with his best friend again, Alice is so afraid that she'll lose herself that she blocks her memories as Mokuren for most of the manga, Daisuke still feels responsible for his actions on the moon and Rin has to fight with the awakened Shion inside of him.

* The scientists watching the earth being [[{{Reincarnation}} reincarnated]] into japanese students. They all worry at some point about their previous actions or what will become of their now-selves. [[Bishonen Issei]] is the [[GenderBender reborn Enju]] who was in love with Jinpachi and falls in love with his best friend, Alice is so afraid that she'll lose herself that she blocks her memories as Mokuren for most of the manga and Rin gets into an internal conflict with his being as Shion.

* The scientists watching the earth being [[Reincarnation reincarnated]] into japanese students. They all worry at some point about their previous actions or what will become of their now-selves. [[Bishonen Issei]] is the [[GenderBender reborn]] Enju who was in love with Jinpachi and falls in love with his best friend, Alice is so afraid that she'll lose herself that she blocks her memories as Mokuren for most of the manga and Rin gets into an internal conflict with his being as Shion.

--> All the furniture that made up the way I'd thought and felt about things all my life started coming loose in my head. Nowadays it slides around and breaks into pieces and I have no idea what parts of it are real and what aren't. It hurts, and a lot of the time I don't know who I am anymore.
-->--- '''[[DeepCoverAgent Lara Notsil]]/[[BecomingTheMask Gara Petothel]]/[[IHaveManyNames Kirney Slane]]''', ''[[XWingSeries Solo Command]]''

Compare SecretIdentityIdentity. In extreme cases this can lead to SplitPersonality. See also DoubleThink.

* Young Garak in [[StarTrekDeepSpaceNineAStitchInTime A Stitch in Time]], caught between two cultures; the mainstream disciplined Cardassia promoted by his mother and Enabran Tain, and the [[GoldOldWays Oralian Way]] represented by Tolan. Garak feels drawn to the latter, but cannot escape entanglement in the former. His attempt to resolve his Double Consciousness will last him the rest of his life. Mila acknowledges the struggle in the quote below, when attempting to keep Garak focused on the realities of modern Cardassia:

People sometimes have trouble defining who they truly are. Factors such as race, gender, culture or country origin, sexuality, occupation and such all play a role in a person's identity. But when 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.

Compare SecretIdentityIdentity. In extreme cases this can lead to SplitPersonality.

* ''ShadeTheChangingMan'' described this after the Angels returned him to Earth unpredictably deranged, claiming they had 'stolen his ballast', and that he no longer knew who he was from moment to moment. The rebirth had integrated multiple facets of his personality, and some that weren't even his. At least his Wangst episodes became briefer and more varied.

* ''ShadeTheChangingMan'' described this after the Angels returned him to Earth unpredictably deranged, claiming they had 'stolen his ballast', and that he no longer knew who he was from moment to moment. At least his Wangst episodes became briefer and more varied.

--> All the furniture that made up the way I'd thought and felt about things all my life started coming loose in my head. Nowadays it slides around and breaks into pieces and I have no idea what parts of it are real and what aren't. It hurts, and a lot of the time I don't know who I am anymore.

* {{Superman}} has two identities. One as the famed hero of Earth, and the other as the mild-mannered news reporter Clark Kent.
** Eh-hem, three. Some works also explore the Kal-El side.

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

* There's a movement among those with multiple personalities to be identified not as one fractured person, but as several SharingABody. (This Troper knows such a person.)
** You mean "such people," then? [[FridgeLogic Come to think of it]], the pronoun thing has to be headache-inducing.

** Grant Morrison has stated that he believes Superman's three identities are The World's Greatest Hero, The Mild Mannered Reporter and the simple farm boy, with the latter being his real personality.
* [[TheIncredibleHulk Bruce Banner]]
** More than two. Bruce, Savage Hulk (the one everyone knows), Professor/Merged Hulk, World Breaker, Joe Fixit. [[TheWoobie Banner is a screwed up guy]].

* Billionaire Playboy Bruce Wayne is a completely different identity than crime fighting BadassNormal Batman. Which one is the real identity and which is the facade, however, depends from writer to writer.

* Dana in Octavia Butler's ''Kindred'' is a 1970's black woman transported back to the antebellum south, where she has to masquerade as a slave, causing a lot of conflict between her 'liberated' self and the demeanor she has to adopt to survive as a slave.

* ''Buffy'' has the superhero split. She says to her date when duty calls (paraphrased) "You know how I said I felt like two different people. Well one of them has to go, but the other is having a wonderful time and will be right back". Later, when a demon plots to split her into seperate human and slayer versions, she asks boyfriend Riley if he wishes he could be rid of Slayer Buffy and just have Buffy Buffy. His reply is comforting but not convincing to her: "I ''have'' Buffy Buffy... There's no part of you I'm not in love with".