Hi again!
Today I'm going to explain some basic alter roles. Some systems have hyper specific ones to help themselves, and I shall add them if asked! These are very watered down versions, and do not explain EVERYTHING about roles. I suggest you do your own research on it as well if you're truly curious.
Animals - Some alters are animals/animal hybrids. This can come from the person identifying with certain animals .
Caretaker - An alter who cares for everyone else, usually the littles.
Cohost - A group of alters that shares the most fronting time.
Core - Not a commonly used term and mostly offends systems. Cores are referred to as 'the original personality' or 'original child.'
Dead Alters - Although alters cannot die, some alters form believing they're dead- usually stemmed from the idea of someone threatening to kill them repeatedly.
Fragements - Alters that contain a very specific memory, or can only feel certain emotions.
Gatekeeper - Alters that prevent certain people from fronting/overall make sure everything goes smoothly with fronting.
Host - The alter who fronts the most/does the most day-to-day life.
Inhumans - Alters that aren't entirely human. Some may think of themselves as elves, demons, gods, etc.
Internal Self Helpers - Alters who are focused on helping the system from the inside (we like to think of them as therapists XD)
Introjects - An umbrella term for alters based off of something. To be more specific:
Factives - Alters based off of real
people
Fictives - Alters based off of
fictional characters.
Fuzztives - Alters that are a mix of
fictional and real characters.
Littles - Alters who are young children/babies/toddlers.
Memory Holders - Alters who hold memories. Some of the memory holders may have many memories, while some may have very few.
Protectors - An umbrella term for alters who front to protect the system. To be more specific:
Persecutors - Alters who try and
protect the system but may end
up being more destructive
Physical Protectors - Alters who
make sure the body doesn't get
physically harmed
Sexual Protectors - Alters who
make sure nothing sexually-bad
or unhealthy occurs
Soothers - Alters who calm down other alters/soothe situations.
Trauma Holders - Alters who hold trauma. Some may hold lots, some may hold very limited or maybe even one traumatic experience.
FAQ:
Can an alter have more then one role? Yep! I'm a protector and caretaker myself, and I used to be a co-host.
Can an alter change roles? Depends on the situation, you'd have to supply an example.
That's all for now! Goodbye!
- Ryan
(He/They/Xe/It)