Dissociative Identity Disorder in Popular Culture - Manga, Anime, Comics, and Video Games

Manga, Anime, Comics, and Video Games

Manga, anime, comics, and video games are forms of media that frequently use the idea of dual or multiple personalities to emphasize the struggle between good and evil, but these depictions are not truly examples of Dissociative Identity Disorder. Often the characters who develop alternate selves have done so through supernatural, magical, or chemical means, while real DID is a serious psychiatric disorder which results from extreme trauma, usually in childhood.

• Two of the most prominent example of DID in a fictional character are Yu Yu Hakusho's Shinobu Sensui, who developed seven personalities after a traumatic event in his youth, and Shigofumi: Letters from the Departed's Fumika, who developed two personalities (Fumi & Mika) after shooting her dad.

• A third example is in the manga Change 123 where the protagonist develops three alternative personalities. Another known example is the character Launch from the anime and manga Dragon Ball, who changes from a sweet and caring person to an angry criminal (and viceversa) every time she sneezes.

• Marvel Comics's Hulk is a prominent example inspired by the concept of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, with the three most prominently displayed Hulk personalities representing stages of Bruce Banner's life; the 'Savage Hulk' is a childish but strong figure representing the child-Banner's desire to be strong enough to protect his mother, the Gray 'Joe Fixit' Hulk represents the surly teenager Banner never was, and the 'Professor Hulk' is the combination of the first two Hulks and Banner to reflect his adult experience.

• Another well-known example is the Batman villain Harvey Dent, who developed the criminal personality known as Two-Face after having acid thrown in his face during a trial.

One of the more famous examples in video games is Final Fantasy VII, where the protagonist Cloud Strife, due to traumatic experiences, creates an alternate persona based on that of his dead best friend Zack Fair. Another example of a video game featuring a supernatural character with genuine traumatic DID is the 2004 game Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines, in which twins, Therese and Jeanette Voerman, inhabit the same body. After being sexually abused by her father, Therese, the original personality, murdered him. The trauma created the alternate, Jeanette, as a coping mechanism. *Soulcalibur III introduced Tira, a deranged girl who develops two distinct personalities which alternate randomly, affecting her fighting style.

• And in Call of Duty: Black Ops, the main character Alex Mason develops DID after being brainwashed in Vorkuta Gulag, a Russian prison camp. Mason begins mentally projecting Viktor Reznov, a Russian soldier he befriended in Vorkuta, it is revealed that Reznov brainwashed Mason, and that Reznov died in Vorkuta.

• In the anime Serial Experiments Lain, the protagonist Iwakura Lain dissociates (experiencing amnesia as well as out-of-body feelings) and develops two other personalities besides her usual, timid self: one that is more bold/assertive, and one that tries to harm Lain and her friends.

• In the comic book King of RPGs, the main character Shesh Maccabee develops a split personality in which he reanacts as the character he was playing in an RPG. This is trigger when someone says "My character".

• In the anime series Elfen Lied protagonist Lucy develops an alternative personality after being shot in the head with a .50 BMG round during her escape from a government facility. Her alter, Nyuu, has a childlike personality and infantile knowledge of the world, and lacks spoken language skills, being able to say only "Nyū" and "Kouta" most of the time.

• In the machinima Red vs Blue, the fragmentation of the Alpha A.I. is similar to Dissociative identity disorder, It is even compared to DiD by the series' creator Burnie Burns in reply to a comment in a journal entry discussing Theta's debut, when questioned as to why the A.I. fragment, Theta, was so childlike.

• In the webcomic Headspace, Oren Otter chronicles his adventures with his alternate personalities as they interact in a surreal internal environment. The comic also includes other characters with multiple personalities, such as the Mouse Brothers. Two of Oren's alters also have split personalities of their own.

• In the Shadowline comic Cowboy Ninja Viking, patients who have been diagnosed with DID are recruited to a government program which modifies some personalities into assassins.