Tropes that deal with identity, be it changes in identity, revelations of a character's identity, identity clash, loss of identity, etc.
Tropes:
Subcategory:
- Actually, I Am Him: A character meets an individual on their quest to meet someone and ends up discovering that this person is the person they're looking for.
- Alternate Identity Amnesia: A character with an alter ego has no memory of their other self when they've changed.
- Amnesiac Costume Identity: A character with amnesia makes assumptions about their previous identity based on the costume they find when they wake up.
- Amnesiac Lover: When a person gets amnesia, the memories lost include who they are in love with.
- ...And That Little Girl Was Me: A character tells another person a story that they reveal to be about themselves.
- Assimilation Plot: A type of ploy where the end goal is the elimination of all individual identity
- Becoming the Mask: What was supposed to be the infiltrator's cover ends up becoming their real personality.
- Beneath the Mask: A character's true self is very different from how they act in public.
- Bluff the Impostor: Weeding out an impersonator by tricking them into saying or doing something the real person would never say or do.
- Collective Identity: An alias is used by more than one person at the same time.
- Confronting Your Imposter: An impersonator is thwarted when they are confronted by the person they are impersonating.
- A Darker Me: The Darker and Edgier version of someone's personality.
- Dead Person Impersonation: Using the name of a dead person as an alias.
- Death by Secret Identity: Someone learns the superhero's secret identity, but dies before they can do anything with the information.
- Deducing the Secret Identity: Someone logically deduces a Secret Identity, using clues, process of elimination, etc.
- Delirious Misidentification: Someone in a state of delirium mistakes one character for another.
- Delusions of Doghood: A human character thinks they're an animal.
- Double Consciousness: A character has two or more social identities that conflict with each other.
- Dramatic Unmask: Someone pulls a character's mask off to reveal their identity.
- Dr. Psych Patient: A patient in a psychiatric ward or mental asylum is mistaken for a doctor.
- Enemy Within: An evil force inside of a character struggles to gain control of them.
- Façade Drop: The moment when the audience learns who a character really is.
- False Innocence Trick: The imprisoned villain tricks a kindhearted character into thinking they're innocent and letting them out.
- "Freaky Friday" Flip: Two or more characters get their minds switched with one another.
- "Freaky Friday" Sabotage: A character switches their mind with another character, intending to cause them negative consequences.
- Friend of Masked Self: Someone claims to be friends with their own Secret Identity.
- Fright Beside Them: A character realizes they're in danger when the friend or loved one who they thought was right next to them is actually revealed to be somewhere else.
- Future Self Reveal: A character is revealed to be another character's future self.
- Genuine Imposter: A character who is supposedly impersonating someone else turns out to be who they were impersonating.
- Go-to Alias: Someone consistently uses the same name as an alias.
- His Quirk Lives On: A character adopts the trait of a deceased character as a way of keeping the dead character alive.
- I Am What I Am: A character learns to accept a part of their identity they previously rejected.
- I Am Who?: Someone is unaware of their status as The Chosen One.
- Identity Absorption: Someone absorbs the personality and memories of someone else.
- Identity Amnesia: Someone ends up thinking they're someone else.
- Identity Breakdown: A character suffers a mental break because of issues or revelations regarding who or what they are.
- Identity Denial: Someone is recognized, but denies that they are that person or alter ego.
- Identity Impersonator: The superhero protects their secret identity by appearing in public with someone pretending to be their alter ego.
- I Just Want to Be You: Somebody doesn't just want to be like another character, they want to be that character.
- Impersonation-Exclusive Character: All or almost all knowledge of a character is gained through their impersonator.
- Impostor All Along: A major character turns out to be an impersonator of said character.
- Imposter Forgot One Detail: Going undercover, but forgetting an essential part of your disguise or cover identity that gets you blown.
- Individuality Is Illegal: A society controlled by a Hive Mind is not compatible with any individualized identities.
- Jekyll & Hyde: A good person has an evil alter-ego.
- The Jekyll Is a Jerk: The alter-ego might be bad, but the original persona isn't much better.
- The Killer in Me: A character that is chasing or is chased by a rampant killer is revealed to the audience (and sometimes to themself) to be the killer in question.
- Legacy Character: An identity is taken on by a new character after the original holder of the identity stops using it for whatever reason.
- Legacy Immortality: Multiple people assume the identity of one person over the years, creating the illusion of immortality.
- Likes Clark Kent, Hates Superman: Someone is friends with a superhero's alter ego, but despises the superhero.
- Loss of Identity: Someone struggles with their sense of identity after a major event or change.
- Lost in Character: A character becomes so immersed in acting as their In-Universe character, they stop acting like themselves or forget who they are.
- Louis Cypher: Satan disguises himself using an alias that fails to be subtle.
- Mistaken from Behind: Someone mistakes a stranger for someone they know because the stranger resembles the person they know when viewed from the back.
- Mistaken Identity: A character is mistaken for someone else.
- Multilayer Façade: A person wears multiple disguises over each other.
- Multiple Identity IDs: Someone has multiple passports, licenses, or other IDs, each with different information.
- My Card: A character hands someone their business card, or a similar card with identifying information.
- Myself, My Avatar: Someone's mind is "implanted" into a physical or virtual body, often while their original body is unconscious or "asleep."
- My Sibling Will Live Through Me: Someone takes on the identity of a deceased relative.
- No Doubt the Years Have Changed Me: A character is virtually unrecognizable after a long absence.
- No Place for a Warrior: A veteran struggles to adapt to daily peacetime life.
- Not Himself: A character's Out of Character behavior is central to the plot.
- Oblivious to His Own Description: Someone hears a description of themselves, but doesn't realize that they are the one being described.
- Old Friend, New Gender: A character discovers that their Childhood Friend is transgender when they meet after many years apart.
- Painful Persona: Someone is forced to adopt a personality that is at odds with their true self.
- Personal Horror: A character's internal conflict, betrayal of their self-image, or personal failure or flaw is Played for Drama.
- Personality Swap: People swap personality traits, but not minds.
- Photo Doodle Recognition: Doodling details on a photograph of a person reveals the identity of said person.
- Preferable Impersonator: The imposter is more liked than the original.
- Quest for Identity: Someone with amnesia tries to rediscover their true self.
- Real Name as an Alias: A character's real name serves as the basis for their alias.
- "Rediscovering Roots" Trip: Someone was raised in another culture, but returns to their family's motherland in a quest for self-identity.
- Second Super-Identity: A superhero who already has an alter-ego creates another alter-ego.
- Secret-Identity Identity: It's called into question on whether the alias or the secret identity is the real person.
- Shared Identity: Without trying to impersonate each other, multiple characters simultaneously use the same identity.
- Self-Inflicted Amnesia: Choosing to forget your own identity.
- Self-Perception Shapeshifting: Shapeshifting to match your self-identity.
- Self-Proclaimed Knight: Someone claims to be a knight when they aren't.
- Shapeshifter Identity Crisis: A character that can shapeshift loses their sense of self, and thus control of their abilities.
- Split Personality: One character is "host" to two or more entirely separate personalities.
- Split-Personality Merge: The conflicting personalities merge into a single stable personality, often with traits from both.
- Split-Personality Takeover: The crazier personality either completely erases or puts into submission the weaker, sane personality to become the dominant personality.
- Spot the Imposter: The character is seen with their impersonator, resulting in their friends having to figure out which is the real person and which is the phony.
- Starting a New Life: A character, unable to return to their previous life, decides to start anew (possibly with a new identity).
- Sweet Polly Oliver: A woman disguises herself as a man.
- That Man Is Dead: Upon taking a new identity, the person regards their original identity as dead.
- Themed Aliases: Someone has multiple aliases, all of which share a similar pattern or theme.
- This Is My Name on Foreign: A character uses a foreign language version of their name as an alias.
- Thoroughly Mistaken Identity: Someone's diminished mental capacity or delusions cause them to believe a character is someone else.
- Tomato in the Mirror: A person's true nature is revealed and it turns out that even they were unaware of the secret.
- Twin Test: A character is tasked with differentiating between identical siblings by at least one of those siblings.
- Two Aliases, One Character: Two characters are revealed to be the same person.
- Un-person: All evidence and records of a person's existence gets eliminated or revised to make it seem as if the person never did exist.
- War Criminal in Victim's Clothing: A fugitive War Criminal adopts the identity of one of their own victims to hide from the authorities.
- You Are Already Checked In: Someone arrives at a secure facility and is told they're already checked in, which must mean someone impersonating them is inside.
