Fictive Alters in Dissociative Identity Disorder
There are many different types of alters in dissociative identity disorder (DID), including fictional introjects (Understanding Dissociative Identity Disorder Alters). Fictional introjects, also called fictives, are alters that are based off of fictional people or characters. While not as common as other types of alters, fictives are just as important. So how do these fictive alters in DID form, and what is their purpose?
How Do Fictive Alters in DID Systems Form?
Introjects are alters that are based off outside people or characters. Fictional introjects specifically are based off of fictional characters. These characters can be from television shows, movies, books, fantasy, and other forms of fiction.
Why Do Fictive Alters Form?
Fictive alters in DID form to serve a purpose. While that purpose is not always known, it is possible that the DID system needed the qualities of that fictional character and internalized them to form the fictional introject in response to a trauma. Fictives can also form to disrupt the system. While fictives often form in childhood, people with DID can form new alters at any time, especially in response to recent trauma.
Myths About Fictional Introjects
There are a few assumptions that people have about fictional introjects in DID, but the reality is that there are no concrete characteristics that all fictives possess. Dissociative identity disorder in itself consists of such varying experiences, and DID alters are no different.
One assumption that people make about fictives is that fictives are always positive. Fictives can have positive qualities, but they can also have negative qualities and engage in harmful or risky behaviors. Some fictional introjects can be abusive, and form as a way to continue traumatizing the system.
There is another assumption that fictives are based entirely off of the fictional character. The reality is that fictives can have their own qualities and personalities apart from those of the fictional character. Some fictive alters can be predominantly similar to the character, while others take on just a few of the characteristics. They don't have to think, act, look, or feel in the exact same ways that the fictional character does. This doesn't make them any less valid.
Fictional introjects aren't chosen purposefully. Just like other dissociative identity disorder alters, fictional introjects develop subconsciously for a reason. Fictives are not made up. They are not a part of a game. Fictives are real. They can hold memories and can experience trauma just as any other alter can.
The Controversy Surrounding Fictional Introjects in DID
Unfortunately, there is controversy, even within the DID community, surrounding the legitimacy and validity of fictional introjects in DID systems. Some people believe that fictional introjects are fake, and cannot occur in a real DID system. Others believe that fictives exist, but only within certain limitations.
It's important to validate that fictional introjects, or fictives, are a real part of DID systems. People are quick to judge fictives as real or fake, yet this judgment doesn't exist for other types of alters.
Fictives deserve the same treatment as any other alter or part. They are real. They are valid. Don't forget that.
APA Reference
Matulewicz, C.
(2018, February 28). Fictive Alters in Dissociative Identity Disorder, HealthyPlace. Retrieved
on 2024, November 9 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/dissociativeliving/2018/02/fictional-introjects-in-dissociative-identity-disorder
Author: Crystalie Matulewicz
Yes. It is disrespectful. One of my alters is a Kokichi (danganronpa) fictive but he goes by Koki instead.
Hi! We have a fictive from the same source! (Nene lol) anyways, we just use her source name because
Even though the host isn’t Asian, which inherently means the fictive isn’t, this is the name they have in all of their memories, and if that is how they feel comfortable being referred to, then that how they should be referred to.
hey i was wondering if alters have to be the same age as their source ??
they dont have to be and usually arent, but they can be as well
Nope. Our Kokichi (danganronpa) alter is 15 when he’s estimated to be 17-18 in source.
Is it wrong of me to be offended and a fictive of my friends that is a different ethnicitiy then the owners body and says that they are the ethnicity that I am without doing anything of that ethnicity such as speaking the language learning about the culture or celebrating the holidays?
If your ethnicity is a monolith and literally every single member is involved in the culture to the same degree then yes, it is. Otherwise, there really isn't much difference than someone of the same ethnicity being raised outside of the culture. The important thing here is that nothing about DID is chosen, it all just happens to us and we just have to deal with it. If you choose to have a close relationship with someone a DID then you just have to deal with it too. That's not to say that alters can't do/say/believe offensive things but unless they're actually appropriating the culture (which contrary to popular believe does not mean just using something from another culture) or doing something like throwing slurs and microaggressions you're getting upset over nothing. And if it really offends you that much your only course of action would be to stop hanging around that person because asking someone to just become a different person is not okay.
Reading these comments is sickening. It's clear that many of the people commenting are deeply involved with fandom culture. Scrolling down, it's becoming increasingly obvious many of these people are young and most likely spend a lot of time on social media sites such as Twitter or TikTok. I've noticed a subculture growing on those sites, where people will mistake things such as relating to a character or having memories of being that character in a past life as a sure-fire sign that they have DID, which is such an incredibly rare disorder that even top-tier psychologists are in hot debate of whether it actually exists or not.
It's very sad to see these people all fall within the same category, and are actively making it harder for people with actual issues to seek out information that is unbiased and untainted. Many of these people are stigmatizing a mental disorder that already has a bad reputation (see Trisha Paytas, or 'Split') and simply taking this disorder to be "kinning but stronger".
I surely hope that all of you in this comment section will look back at yourself in a few years, see how much damage you caused to individuals who are actually struggling with this disorder, and severely cringe. All of you are terrible. Just say you kin and go.
I was looking for this comment. I myself do not have DID, but some of my friends basically self-diagnosed and said they had DID out of literally nowhere after having a bad day. Their "system" (using quotations mark here as I am incredibly skeptical of the validity of their system) is entirely made up of fictives and they once told me they had 2 characters purely because they thought they were hot or cute? How does this make sense? I am in no way a professional, but I've done research on DID and to me this type of behavior is extremely unhealthy and is not related to DID at all. They don't even have any of the significant DID symptoms either. I find it incredibly irritating and I don't even have to live with DID.
I'm truly sorry to say this, but I don't think your friend is being genuine with you, and if they simply have fictives because they think they are hot or cute, that absolutely disgusts me. Because alters are living inside you, it's gross to think of someone who has no choice but to live with you in a way like that, because they don't have a say in what they can do, or to get away from it. While fictives do exist, and systems made of pure fictives also exist, this situation it just seems there's no way your friend is telling the truth.
I have a friend like this too (I'll call them A), their system has a headcount of 22 fictives. I don't want to claim that A is faking it but it just doesn't seem right. I have another friend who just told me they think they have DID, all of these people are not online friends btw, and that means there are at least 4 kids at my school who say they have DID, and one of them only said they were a system after hanging out with A consistently for a couple of months. Please inform me, teach me, anything, I want to be very respectful but also want to be well-informed.
This is a disgusting comment filled with misinformation and harmful stereotypes. I won't even debunk this because I can clearly see you have no idea what you are on about because you have called DID systems "individuals". you clearly are not qualified enough to talk on this, so do everyone a favour and shut the hell up
Not everyone has an easy time beliving having headmates is like being a conionined occillionuplet twin
Absolutely. I even question sometimes whether or not I have DID, even though I speak with my alters regularly. It could very well be some other disorder, but it seems to fit this description best. Seeing others pretend they have it, makes me feel sick.
while i agree with you, did/osdd isn't actually rare. Teach Trauma has an article that talks about it a bit, but if you look it up, it's not rare.
This is true,while most people think it's rare,it's only rate to be diagnosed with,because these specific disorders are good at hiding themselves
DID/OSDD/P-DID is not considered particularly rare - on the upper end of estimates, it's prevalent in around 1.5% of the population - seemingly rare at a glance, but roughly on par with the frequency of autism, and that's if it isn't underdiagnosed which, considering surface-level similarities to BPD and Schizoaffective disorders that it's often been historically mistaken for, is quite likely.
As far as the debate around whether it actually exists, much of this is due to the sensationalization of the topic. There have been numerous MRI studies that have shown concrete and consistent differences in the brains of individuals with DID (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S246874992030017X).
I'm part of a traumagenic system, and one of our first alters to form - around when we were 8 - was a fictive. To hear them tell it, they think they imprinted heavily onto the character's ability to ignore their amnesia and unsureness around their own personality to do what was right and protect what they cared about. Because, well, the whole amnesia thing. They've since grown along with all the rest of us, but still hold that sentiment close.
The reason DID has a bad reputation is because people keep portraying us as serial killers or otherwise arbitrarily violent (see: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Incredible Hulk, Danganronpa's Toko & Jill, like half of the villains in Moon Knight and arguably moon knight himself, etc.), not really because people online might have misconceptions of it.
As someone who does actually have DID (though, I don't struggle with it; we actually have things organized quite nicely up here. We all got big into anarchism over the pandemic, so things are pretty much running on consensus rules. Only tricky bit for us is the amnesia.) it really doesn't hurt me if someone winds up saying they have DID and being wrong. There's a difference between deliberately faking something, and stumbling on the wrong term to describe your experience.
What hurts me infinitely more is the endless supply of people that seem to know *exactly* what this under-researched disorder *truly* is, and try to make sure to explain to everybody who's experiencing it why they can't actually have it. People constantly police who's allowed to use it "to protect the real ones", or just because they read some shit online about how it works and want an excuse to feel right on the internet. Don't attack people in my name, please.
What happens when the alters are of killers ? Is that uwu Yoshikage Kira prosecutor alter harmless ? Should I see him as real or part of a person with a trauma based disorder ?
Hi!!! How do you all feel about doubles? Like, you know all about yourself and your life, but then another system also has a fictive of the same character, and they say different things about your life and personality. Do you feel like you are the only real you, or like they are an alternative version of you? Also, do you hate other fictives of the same character, love them, or don't mind them? I'm very curious about systems and I don't wanna ask the system I know too many questions and overwhelm them!
I (a fictive) personally don’t mind them ^^ I see them as different versions of myself since I believe in alternate universes’ existence! But different fictives have different views tho~ it’s better to ask then individually (*´꒳`*)
Doubles can be a little overwhelming... but it's fine as long as you remember that them existing doesn't make you any less real. I don't really hate others of me, but I won't be particularly fond of them.
Hi! My name is Kokichi and I’m in an OSDD system with many alters from popular sources(fanfics, a few animes, and danganronpa) that have many doubles- personally, our system doesn’t mind doubles and actually enjoys sharing stories and remembering positive source memories with the double. Our system does quite enjoy them! We personally see them as just another AU of us(as most of us are used to AU’s of themselves showing up out of nowhere in the inner world, out here isn’t much different) and so it isn’t to weird- pleasure meeting you!
~Kokichi Oma
Hello! Fictive here! (Puss from the Puss In Boots films), personally the fictives in our system are uncomfortable with doubles (Myself included) as we already question whether or not we actually exist, it bothers us to see doubles, because, then, it'll cause us to question more if we're real or not. But of course! Every system is different! That's just us!
Personally, I'm fine with them. I am, or at least started, as a fictive of Shadow the Hedgehog. Seeing other versions of myself brings up a lot of questions, but myself and the double already have a quick and easy way to break that tension - "faker? I think you're the fake hedgehog around here."
Hi,
I just wanted to gain insight on whether peoples fictive alters can speak up on systematic oppression or racism based on the race the fictive alter is (e.g the fictive alter is Japanese - can they ultimately speak on behalf of racism towards Japanese people and whether they agree about things such as cultural appropriation - or does it depend??)
I can only speak for my case, but though I’m a fictional introject with essentially a life’s worth of fake memories of my source, because the body is still white I try to stay within that lane. People aren’t going to see me as of Japanese descent, they’re going to see me as white because that’s that the body looks like. At this point I’ve accepted that because it would be weird to see a pasty white girl saying ‘As someone of Asian descent…’ and I fee like that’s the only real approach you can take.
Hi! I'm a white person and I'm not a system but I'd like to think that I am fairly educated on the experiences of POC,
As you may know, being part of other oppressed groups such as the LGBT+ community (which I am a part of,) or of the disabled/neurodivergent communities out there, (which I am also part of) if you are white, you still won't share the same type of oppression that POC face on a day-to-day basis.
Of course, people within other oppressed groups still face their own troubles, but one thing you cannot hide (other than a physical deformity) is your race. People of colour cannot hide the natural features of their body like queer and neurodivergent people can hide their inner differentiations from the typical Straight White Cis Neurotypical Abled Male person can.
People of colour- Black people, Asian people, Indigenous people, and all the other people of colour who may not easily pass as white, are threatened, hurt, murdered and abused every single day. Many places, especially America, are built on a system that oppresses and uses people of colour at the expense of white people. White people always have the upper hand in situations involving POC, such as law, trials, work, abuse, and the general "public eye".
If you are white, you do not have the same perspective of the cruelness of society that people of colour do. Again, you may have other things going on, but you do not have the same angle as POC.
Now, I still have much to learn about different types of systems, and I've loosely heard of 'false memories' and the debacle of whether they may exist in fictive alters or not.
I'm guessing this will vary from person to person, as everybody can experience mental disorders differently. Although. In the outer world, you do not face the same trials and tribulations as those of colour if you are white.
Therefore, even as an alter of a different race, if your host's body is white, I don't think you should speak on the behalf of POC in the outer world. You may speak up for them, but do not speak on behalf of them. There is a fine line.
I hope this helps! :) if I've gotten anything wrong, I'm open to being educated.
Please do not do this. Even if your system has pesudo memories, they are in the end, pesudo (not real), and are in no way are as true or as real as experiences of PoC in every day life.
You can advocate for PoC and show support but just because your fictive is Japanese and you have pesudo memories of Japan speaking for them is insulting and belittling the experiences they have in day to day life.
We don’t, ultimately because the body is white. It’d be downright weird to see a pale and pasty white body say “as someone of Hispanic decent” or “as someone of Japanese decent” or even German(yes we have alters who are German). We stay in the body’s lane and advocate to boost the voices of people who are biologically of these descents. While we have the room to speak on(in particular Hispanic) culture due to the body being raised in a Hispanic culture, but other than that we stay in our lane
Hi I am very new to all this and I have 1 question & 1 comment (and if I get no answer that is ok). I'm not plural I'm just learning.
1. What's the difference between fictive & factive? I've seen them both in discussion online but no explanation yet
2. Several different systems I've seen while reading blogs & forums like this have a fictive from the dreamsmp I just thought that was interesting
For the first one, a fictive is an introject of a fictional character while a factive is one of a real person. There are also sort of in-between areas like fogtives or fuzztives that are sort of both, and as for MCYT introjects that’s something you see a lot when it comes to ‘this is a real person but also they’re in character’. Also, reminder to not treat those fictives like their source unless it is specifically specified that that’s okay.
Hello! I’m an OSDD system in which I feel like I can speak on this-
1. Fictive is an introject(an alter of) a fictional character, while a factive is a real life person(usually family, friends, or @bu$3r$)
2. Popular media is more likely to have someone out there have fictive of them- in which we are one of those systems! We personally know and understand that we aren’t physically that person and can’t speak on their experiences, but most of us go by our source name(character only, none of us except for Clay/Dream go by our sources real life name, mostly because our sources prefer people don’t call them their real life name) and are similar to our source, but some alters have yet to make that realization. Please be kind and don’t reality check(remind them that they aren’t their source, and try and tell them they aren’t real) as this can cause harm to the system and the alter-
Remember to be kind, and stay smiling, Ranboo(I’m from origins SMP, I use she/her pronouns)
Okay, here's our answer. Sorry it's so long @_@
1a. A fictive is an introject of a fictional character. For example, our system is fictive-heavy due to our being autistic and largely hyperfixating on and having special interests related to fiction. These works of fiction and their characters are a very important and central coping mechanism for us, which means that in times of distress, we turn to stories, and when we split (due to intense stress, negative experiences, or trauma), many alters end up being strongly influenced by those stories and their characters. We're very sensitive to splits, which can again be partially attributed to autism and how it lowers the trauma threshold. Most of our fictives deviate from their sources in some manner, bar about three.
1b. Factives are introjects of real people. These can be friends, family, ab*sers, or sometimes celebrities. We have two factives that we're aware of: one of a close friend (possible F/P but we don't know whether we have borderline or not), and one of Gerard Way. The first, whose name I will not disclose, was split off due to an intense attachment to and longing for that friend that caused our mental health to deteriorate, eventually getting so bad that it resulted in splitting off an introject of him. We have worked to rebuild our relationship with him as something healthier and more balanced since then. Gee, our Gerard Way introject, showed up because of a long-running special interest on MCR, whose music and history became a way for us to cope with the noise and stress of our parents' intense fights, during one of which he split off.
2. Fictives are becoming more common as consumption of fictional works, as well as coping through engagement with fictional works, increases. The Dream SMP has become a very common coping mechanism for teens, which means that there will be more systems with DSMP introjects. Fakeclaimers especially tend to target teenage-bodied systems (I say this because alters' ages can vary) because they are the most visible on social media, claiming that "you're too young to be a system," when DID, OSDD, and other dissociative disorders quite literally form in childhood. Guess what? That means that...oh my god! There can be teenage systems! And hosts most commonly begin to discover alters from the mid teens onward! We are bodily a minor, though we won't disclose our age for personal safety. The only reason we noticed in the first place was that fictives kept fronting while the former host was co-fronting, and he kept attributing it to being fictionkin, but then he was pushed out of co-front and into headspace and finally figured out that these "shifts" were alters. And when we told our friend (the one mentioned in part 1b, who is extremely perceptive and studies psychology), his response was "yeah, I've known for a while," followed by a lot of consolation and a little bit of making fun of our density.
I'll shut up now. Thank you for reading my infodump. Have a nice day.
Thank you so much! I have a lot of systems as friends and I’ve always been curious about the fictives! I’m currently trying to talk to as many alters from the systems as I can so I can come to know them better and maybe learn about DID too! I’m currently married (I know it sounds weird but I mean platonically as in friendship and it’s a poly relationship as in more than 2 people in it. I know it sounds odd but it’s actually very cool!) to 3 different fictive alters all from the same I guess “show”/“series” (if you would call a Minecraft rp a series/show that is) and it’s really nice to be able to understand them better! Sorry if the way i worded things sounded disrespectful in any way, that was never my intention.
I love how respectful you are about this- not a lot of people usually are! Just remember to treat them how they want, respect boundaries, try not to reality check any fictives/factives/introjects, and have fun! Who knows, you may find an introject of a comfort character of yours and get to, in a sense, meet them! Cool, innit?
~Tommy!(he/they/it/disk)
Sometimes, in my case I have memories of essentially my entire life no different from a singlet’s, which has become a struggle for me considering that I have to come to grips with none of that being real. On the other hand, though, some have no memories or attachment to their source at all, and some are in between. There’s no one way to be an introject, in the end.
Hi! I know a system who recently developed a fictive alter of a character I really love from a a show I really love and talk about a lot. Would it be wrong to talk about the events of the show with her? I really don’t want her to feel like I’m taking advantage of her. I’ve honestly been avoiding talking to her out of fear I’ll get over excited. Also they (the system) do follow me on social media where I post about the show and sometimes she (the alter) will comment something along the lines of “oh I remember that!!” which I’m not entirely sure how to respond to. Anyways. This got long. Sorry.
It all depends on your relationship with her. I'd ask her about it. It woupd show you care.
Also, if she goes through any traumatic experience in the show, I'd avoid those topics unless she brings it up.
Sure. The best treatment for DIDis to tell people things are literal and real, and foster that narrative .
Hi, I was wondering, my friend's friend has done and only has fictives, now I do not know anything from the person but it seems kind of weird to me (not trying to ignorant I'm genuinely confused sorry if I offended anyone) that the person ONLY has fictive? is that something that can happen?
Since you don't personally know them, we can't assume that they "only" have fictives. They probably have non-fictive alters but probably have not yet to meet them due to the fictive alters were fronting the most. It's not bad to ask them. There's someone I know who mostly has fictives fronting and one point asked them if they only have fictives and to my surprise, they have non-fictives. There's really nothing bad about asking someone to know better.
hey, as a system we almost always have non-fictives but sometimes the non-fictives don't like fronting because of trauma or any other reason there is also the fact that sometimes there can be more fictives than non-fictives and sometimes they don't front infront of other people or are taking care of the littles :) i myself am a Factive from the dreamsmp im Technoblade and i am the main fronter so i am considered the host so that is another reason
i think that it is possible to have a system of only fictives - though very rare, as the host usually isnt a fictive.
some of the DID systems I know develop fictives from their hyperfixations/special interests. my question is, if a hf/si dies down, what happens to the fictive from that interest? will they merge with another alter? will they keep existing as a fictive? will their personality/identity develop beyond the character they were based on? will they... disappear? I know it's probably not the same among all systems but I'm curious
For us we have a fictive alter from a series we were fixated on in highschool and he's still around, though he did go quiet for a few years between then and now.
It probably does vary based on each system and their needs, but for us he's gone beyond his roots and become more his own person. While still loosely related to the source material he's more a well rounded person with hobbies and such, and also a valued friend :)