I don't know when I'll bother to write the thing, as I've already re-written the thing once before. But in a newer version of an ace attorney fanfic, my MC has a 'persona' side of his personality. I don't know how to explain it, but his clan is supernaturally talented they can sense minute changes in the environment (including say, someone's arm tensing right before they reach around to crack a whip, and can react fast enough for it to seem like a psychic ability), they can meditate to predict the future too. But they typically have a 'partner' generally a like minded deceased person with like-minded goals. While the spirit is in control of the host, even people who can't sense these things get the sense that there's 'someone else' talking. I should point out that the relationship is symbiotic most of the time, but not always. The most important factor is that while the spirit is in control, the host sort of goes to 'sleep'. They don't recall anything that occurs while their partner is in control. However both personalities ARE aware that the other exists, and can leave notes for eachother to communicate back and forth etc. I should point out that Ace Attorney is almost explicitly a comedy series. Much of the comedy comes from the absurdity of the circumstances. I should also point out that spirit channeling is a thing and the medium in question literally becomes the person they're channeling, regardless of age or gender. So this is kind of a 'weaker' version of that.
No. More like the Jekyll and Hyde trope. Not that it's actually a real trope but more like a concept people know--two beings sharing a body.
It could also be seen as spiritual possession, but of course that's the superstitious name for something like multiple personality disorder, hyper-activation of a complex or an archetype, or maybe another personality disorder. They do cause changes in the personality, hence the name. Bipolar or avoidant PD can make people change pretty drastically in the right situations. And before modern psychology these were lumped together as things like spirit or demonic or satanic possession. I suppose it could also be DID, since the personality (the mind) that's normally in charge just goes into sleep mode or whatever. So take your pick, it could be any of a whole host of psychological conditions.
Wait... Are we talking about how to describe it to readers or how people see the character in the book/story? In the book, I could definitely see other characters thinking he has DID if they aren't aware of the supernatural.
At the time in the series, the only supernatural thing in the series is the Fey family Channeling technique, in which the channeler (host) literally becomes the person they're channeling (regardless of gender OR age, their body physically transforms to that person) a ten year old girl can become an 80 year old monk if they're channeling him for example. It's not a widely 'used' thing in the legal world but it is a widely 'known' thing, this is kind of an inferior version of that developed by a rival clan. I don't think the fey family technique was widely known yet in that time in the series. (it only becomes important later in the timeline) The question is about how the characters in the story would describe the phenomenon. I'm tempted to use a Jeyklle / Hyde description when the character explains the second personality, but the grown ups in the courtroom I'm not sure how they'd identify it. Judging from the responses here it might be closer to DID.
Hello fellow fanfiction writer! I know of Ace Attorney, so I understand it's a comedy show. (Sorta?) And I can see where readers might think this is Disassotiave Identity Disorder (formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder). But it does seem more like a supernatural thing that just happens to be another persona. It is interesting that you wrote this: Because most of the time, there is a gentle shift in DID when another alter takes over. So, it's kinda pointing in that direction here, and here: This amesia thing happens in DID as well. One alter may go to math class and the other does the dishes. (That is, if they get along. They may not even know they are in the same body.) But one of the main reasons I would say that this isn't DID, is because it's supernatural and there is only 1 alter. From the books, I have, one needs 2 or more. The host (the main persona) doesn't count. I honestly struggled with this in a fanfic I have where someone has supernatrual DID and realized a few days ago I had to add a 2nd alter. I think since it's a fanfic and a comedy piece, it's totally fine to leave it as is. I only added another, because it was plausible and it's more of a drama story. People will call anything with another persona DID, but most don't really get that whole thing. But, that's the reader's problem.
