Dissociative

Dissociatives, Villains with Dual Personalities or Villains with Multiple Personalities are characters who have been diagnosed with or display signs of dissociative identity disorder (also known as multiple personality disorder) - these individuals have a fractured psyche that makes it appear like they have more than just one personality; one or more of these personalities are seen as obvious Sadists or otherwise dangerous (at least in fiction). In fiction Dissociative Identities can occur from different circumstances: Mental Illness since birth (e.g. Norman Bates), Mutations (e.g. Green Goblin) or a Tragedy (e.g. Fliqpy).

Do not add those controlled by Demons, Cosmic Entities, Aliens or other beings (for those cases use Possessed/Brainwashed, Scapegoats or Pawns) - also do not confuse them with Alter-Egos (as they are simply alternate personas made by the villains to disguise themselves and perfectly sane individuals may have Alter-Egos for a variety of reasons such as keeping their identities secret, much like how traditional heroes wear disguises: dissociative characters literally see themselves as two or more distinct individuals and are not in control of any changes). They can even be similar to but still not the same as Fragmentals given that the evil part of the individual's mind as a whole is just a splintered fraction of who the character really is. However, if a Dissociative is forcibly split from at least one of their "other selves" they may overlap with Fragmentals and can overlap with Alter-Egos if a different personality is an entirely separate individual within the same person.

Be aware that Dissociation has many different stages (just like psychosis) - but dissociative identity disorder is simply the most extreme example; there are numerous other dissociative subtypes ranging from memory loss, post-traumatic stress or detachment from reality: they all share a common theme in the mind creating alternate personas and/or realities to try and shield itself from extreme traumas; in the case of PTSD a sufferer will instead be haunted with varying degrees of flashbacks that can be severe enough to cause a Villainous Breakdown during which they act out these events as if they were still occuring.

Dissociative Identity Disorder is one of the most controversial psychological conditions due to numerous false claims of this both by sufferers of similar conditions such as schizophrenia, misdiagnosis by professionals and even some attempts by Psychopaths to have themselves diagnosed with such conditions to avoid punishment for severe crimes.

Other dissociative states (especially PTSD and the like) are much more known and accepted by both psychology and the public, mostly not inducing violent behavior towards others but like all psychoses it can still lead to violence depending on the individual(s) and the environment in which they manifest their symptoms and if they are Addicts (since these can accelerate aggressive psychosis).

Prior to Dissociation being recognized in psychology as an active spectrum of conditions the symptoms associated with it was blamed on Demonic Possession or supernatural evils such as Night Hags, Kitsune or similar wicked creatures - many of which are still very prominent in the culture and mythology of people across the world.

This kind of Villain generally doesn't count as Pure Evil given they have no control over their actions due to their illnesses. However, some qualify if:

• A) The Alter-Ego of the character meets all criteria and every heinous crime is traced back to said Alter-Ego (e.g. Yami Marik).
• B) The Original and Split-Personalities are all heinous and show no regret towards their crimes, even being capable of knowing what they each did (e.g. Norman Osborn as both his original self and Green Goblin persona).

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