This is a complied list of roles I've found, created, gotten from pluralpedia or reclaimed. I've reworded every role that sounded even slightly endo. If you don't understand a role its likely because I put it in with programmed systems in mind. This resource is strictly anti-endo. Will be updated regularly. if you do not know what programming or ramcoa is, do not search for resources unless you have a professional support system.
QNA
"why do you get roles from pluralpedia?"
While endos are not real systems, they still take from genuine experiences.
"why do some roles have repeated meanings?"
I put roles I find with similar or the same definition so that people have options.
"why are some roles labeled as programming specific?"
Because these roles could only come about from the extreme abuse that is programming.
"how do you know these are programming specific roles?"
Endos have a long history of stealing terms from survivors. I myself am a ramcoa survivor and a programmed system. I use my own experiences and frequently converse with the community for these roles.
"i relate to a programming role, what does that mean?"
it doesn't mean anything, relating to a survivors experience does not mean you are a survivor, if you suspect you are do not research unless you have a therapist who specializes in that.
ROLES
Absorber; a part who “soaks up” either the optimism or pessimism of other system members. They can mirror that optimism or pessimism, but some absorbers may choose to "soak up" both. If they choose to absorb the optimism, they may be seen stuck to the hip of the system optimist, if there is one. In this case, they'd be trying to help the optimist's goals to lift the system up to better, happier places. If they choose to absorb pessimism, they may be stuck to the hip of the system's worrier or cynic, if there are any. They'd be trying to help with their goals to point out bad things that could happen and maybe even help disrupt system life.
Accessory; a part with a full personality, form, and/or being, but is not/does not want to be considered a member of the system for any reason.
Academic Alter; part that fronts to help with school
Accodare; a part role that has two definitions: When a part's role changes to whatever the collective needs most at one point in time. When a part’s role changes based off of whoever the part is talking to.
Accuser; a part that is similar to a Persecutor but is focused almost solely on framing a member of the system (usually a Host) as a terrible person guilty of crimes. This is done by telling their other parts or people outside the system.
This behavior isn't necessarily out of hatred, but may be out of internalized fear or guilt. An accuser may form out of a system's trauma and self-loathing. Like a persecutor, an accuser may be able to learn to overcome this behavior.
Admirer; a part that absorbs other fragments because they like something about them, it may be a role or a style, and then collects those parts for themselves.
Admin; A system admin, also known as a manager, is a system member who performs internal tasks and functions that often benefit the system and its ability to properly function. The role of an admin is often vague, and includes a wide variety of jobs and functions, including controlling front, recording system information, controlling parts of the system and/or innerworld, managing communication, syncing memories, and much more. An admin may have one specific job or multiple, and they may or may not also identify with more specific roles describing their exact role, such as gatekeeper, councilman, memory holder, and census taker.
Adopter; a part for a system member whose job it is to adopt system members in some way, such as acting as the big sibling they need, parenting littles, or performing more adult tasks that would typically be done by a guardian.
Advocate; a type of protector that will front and/or take charge of any and all situations where the system's needs are being overlooked or used against the system. They may use words to stand up for the system and keep off others who may be attempting to bring harm to the system.
Aedile; a system member in a system that performs various tasks in a system’s headspace, such as the upkeep of architecture, festivals, projects, rituals, and routines, as part of an in-system government. They may oversee architects and be one themself.
Aegir; a part that is very protective of their in-system friends, partners, and / or family.
They focus on protecting those they care about inside of the system rather than those outside of the system. They may seem or come off as "over-protecting" to others, but that's just primarily how they show that they care.
Aggressor; a part who seeks to purposefully antagonize or bait others in or outside the system.
Ameliorator; a part who provides support to other headmates during moments of extreme distress by talking to them. These moments may include flashbacks, panic or anxiety attacks, PTSD episodes, and other intense periods of panic. To alleviate the suffering of other parts, ameliorators use a variety of supportive communication techniques, such as offering soothing words, emotional validation, and general reassurance. They may use various verbal grounding techniques to help bring the headmate back to the present moment and away from distressing memories or thoughts.
Akin Host; a part that isn't a host, but is strongly connected to hosthood due to being in a subsystem with a host. The part may even act like a host, but still aren't considered one.
Amnesian Protector; a part who fronts in order to facilitate forgetting bad memories. They may or may not be aware of this role.
Anchor; a part that acts as a stable reference point to ground the system during periods of heavy dissociation and distress. They provide stability and a connection to the external world.
Anesthetic; a part whose role is to coax or force the body to sleep as a coping mechanism of sorts. Often times they will come front when multiple parts that are fronting are experiencing high levels of stress, high levels of negative emotion or someone that works against the system is front or close to front, working to shut them down and "reset" the body and mind in a way.
Angelmate; a part that is either partially or fully an angel/divine being in some way, whether that be through memories, identity, etc. and it affects their experience as a part. They might have angelic features in the innerworld (if any), such as halos and wings. Can be seen as a role or a metaphysical term depending on how it feels for the part.
Anger holder; is a part who holds anger for the system. This can involve lashing out at random times and not handling the anger in a healthy manner. This could have overlap with a persecutor, prosecutor, or protector in some cases. An example of an anger holder could be a part who takes the front to lash out about something making themselves or another part mad.
Animotic; a part that co-fronts or fronts to make the system acknowledge and work through negative emotions instead of repressing or ignoring them. Depending on the intentions of the system member in question, they could be considered a protector or a persecutor, or both simultaneously.
Announcer; or reporter is a part that announces important events to the system. For example: New outerworld relationships, important dates like birthdays or special events, headspace changes, etc.
Anotus; a term for not knowing if someone has a role due to being unable to that access information.
Antidepressant; a role in which a part will try to show people inside and/or outside the system the joys in life, or overall, reasons to live. These parts often try to cheer up other people, inside or outside the system.
Antagoniser; a part whose morals don’t align with most or all other system members. This could be in big or small ways and it doesn’t have to disrupt system life, but could. They could also just be seen as a small annoyance rather than a disturbance, but that doesn’t have to be the case either. It all depends how they interact with the other system members and how those other members handle their differing morals.
Aphantasian; a type of part who doesn't exactly have a role, and are rather an aspect. Aphantasian parts aren't fully formed, and probably never will be. System members can sense their existence, but can't see them. They can only be viewed as frames of a person, blobs of colors, as shadows, or as smoke or light wind. Touching them is like feeling static, and they have no smell. They can either speak clearly or in whispers, almost like they're far away. Aphantasians have fully formed thought processes of their own and are individuals of their own. But, they may have trouble learning, understanding, moving around, and speaking. And, are incapable of fronting. Aphantasians can easily get mixed up with delusions, and it can be hard to decipher the two. But, the best way to tell the two apart is that aphantasians let out an empty feeling, as if their existence is trying to fill the space but it just can't.
Appellisian; is a part who is sexually or romantically adventurous, highly confident in their appeal to strangers' attractions, or otherwise identifies strongly with their drive to satisfy hedonistic desires.
Archivist; a part who is especially knowledgeable about events that happen to the system, both in the headspace and in the shared reality. They may also store and organize this information by using constructs in the headspace such as folders and files.
Architect a part who creates and destroys locations in headspace. They can also edit, change, and take care of locations in headspace.
Artisan; a role involves the building or 'assembling' of new headmates within a system, most often by using already-existing fragments. this role is programming specific.
Artist; a part who has the most artistic talent. They can also be the only one who expresses their artistic talents most as opposed to the one with the most talent. These talents can obviously include drawing, painting, and things like that; but, it can also include writing and just anything creative.
Archaeologist; a part whose role is to collect artifacts left behind by other system members who have walked out (for reclaimed definition look at walkouts), faded, entered a long-term dormancy, or otherwise left the system's ranks to reside elsewhere in the headspace for the sake of their wellbeing. Because artifacts can have a myriad of sources and uses, many subtypes of an archaeologist have the possibility to exist.
While not an exhaustive list, the subtypes include, but are not limited to;
Curator: The Curator Archaeologist's role is to store artifacts left behind from previous parts for the purpose of keeping a historical record. They may run a museum, or just keep artifacts in an otherwise safe place for the purpose of education. Curators can also take on the role of, or work closely with, archivists and cartographers.
Collector: The Collector Archaeologist tends to keep artifacts for safe keeping for personal appreciation, rather than to educate or to learn from their origins. They may or may not hoard these memories and emotions often represented by them.
Exo-Archaeologist: The Exo-Archaeologist tends to comb through environments outside of the system, whether in parts of the brain that dreams are still occurring, or in other universes where the system member was often inhabiting. Because of the nature of this role, they often work in tandem with, or take on the role of dream seekers.
Archival fragment; a fragmented part that is specifically associated with or formed to collect, record, and archive information about their system, its residents, and/or its inner worlds, headspaces, and layers.
Arsonist; a part who burns things, usually for coping reasons. This can range from just repeatedly flicking open a lighter, to lighting candles, to burning bonfires.
Attentionmate; a part in a system with hpd, that forms to gain attention.
Attacker; a part that brings harm to the system, the body or outsiders. Attacker is designed to be a catch-all term for any part that causes the system harm, be it bodily, socially, emotionally, internally, or in any other way. These parts are not considered evil, as no part is evil unless they declare themselves to be such, and therefore, one should not take exclusionary measures against these parts. Attackers, especially when they have multiple different harm-based roles, can be especially dangerous and hard to handle, be it towards the system in question or to anyone else. These parts may or may not be able to be reasoned with about the harm in question, and they may or may not be able to undergo rehabilitation with a rehabilitator in order to stop harming.
Athlete; a part who enjoys working out as their role, either to take care of the body or just for fun
Assidumate; is a part that handles daily life tasks that other part may be unable or unwilling to do. Jobs, self-care, organization, chores, or school may be things an assidumate is designated to do. They can be diligent and value consistency & duty.
Audeomate; a role for a system member whose role is to seek out/partake in thrilling, exciting, or intense activities.
Assistant ; a part that, while not having a role/job themself, assists others in their specific roles/jobs. Can be combined with other roles, such as Assistant Protector, for someone that assists a protector but is not a protector themself.
Avenger; a type of protector part that is angrier in nature than other protectors, normally but not always as a result of trauma.
These protectors tend to hold the anger of the system and/or other system members, and lash out at those outside the system, with the intent to protect the system.
Autpiloteer; a part who either represents the state of being in autopilot, or a system member who is conscious in the body (but not fronting) when the body is on autopilot. This could be a specific role for a member, or it could be a role the member adopts in the moment due to dissociation or something similar. It could also be a form of protection to watch over the body when no one is in front to ensure that the body is safe.
Audeomate; a part whose role is to seek out/partake in thrilling, exciting, or intense activities.
Auxiliary; a part whose role is to service the rest of the system in any way requested of them that is within their capabilities. Various tasks and responsibilities may be assigned or delegated onto them, or they may volunteer to take them. An auxiliary’s objective is to help the system however necessary to allow others to destress, take a break, etc. This role is voluntary, and the system will respect the auxiliary’s own needs and limitations. If an auxiliary is able and willing to perform something that others request of them, they will do so, as they value assisting their headmates.
Babysitter; a type of caretaker who is specifically in charge of taking care of littles. This may include playing with them, comforting them, keeping them away from dangerous situations, and many more responsibilities.
Battery; a parte that recharges the energy (physical, mental, or emotional) of their system, or body, typically while fronting. They are commonly littles.
Beastmaster; a part who can create, remove, as well as control NPCs, animals, plant life and any other living part of a headspace. They do not have any control over parts, fragments or any other sentient/sapient part of the system.
Beauheur ; a part who stores happiness and shares it amongst other parts. They may or may not create happiness as well.
Bell Ringer; a part that can’t help but to share personal information about their system. This is partially due to their excitement of being a system, especially when the system relationship and dynamic is heavily influenced by a sense of love and community. A bell ringer may involuntarily divulge their system's history or important information, possibly without knowing or realising this.
Berserker; a part that demonstrates extreme hostile behavior towards the system or/and external people, or is completely indifferent to the concept of healing. Unlike some interpretations of persecutors, they aren’t trying to help and they aren't ''misguided protectors''. Their nature is destructive or simply careless. Berserkers act based on their feelings, impulses, urges and desires.
BFRB Holder; a part that holds and experiences the symptoms of body-focused repetitive behaviors. BFRB holders may often front to perform repetitive behaviors on the body, such as hair-pulling, skin-picking, nail-biting, and more.
Bitch; a part who is comfortable being a bitch to people inside or outside the system who deserve it. This can count as a type of protector or persecutor depending on the context of the situation, but the main discriminator is that a bitch will not hold back on whoever they are protecting the system from.
Bionaut; is a part who handles external life due to being disconnected from past trauma. Because they are unburdened from past experiences (whether from emotional apathy, amnesia, or other factors), it makes them a good candidate to handle fronting long term.
Black Sheep; a role used for parts who hold the feeling of being outcast by a group of people, typically a family.
Blurnaut ; the blended identity of two or more parts within a system. This role is applied to parts who often or always blend while co-fronting or are co-conscious.
Blurr; a part that always or almost always fronts with others and appears to be a blur of the headmates they are fronting with. When they are fronting with one headmate, they will take on the attributes of that one headmate. When they are not fronting with anyone, they appear to have a neutral or numb personality.
Border; a part, whose role is to intervene during system-wide or individual parts spirals, panic attacks, splits, or other highly risky emotional and cognitive states. They may front frequently as a precaution when a system is prone to breakdowns, or may tend not to front until they are directly needed and called into action.
Brother Figure; a part whose role is to be a brother to another part or to someone outside the system. This can encompass acting as a caretaker or protector to the other person, or being their sysling or syssibling in case of internal relationships.
Buffer; a part whose role is to act as a barrier for other parts from potentially traumatic or stressful situations.
Bunnykid; a role describing syskids and young parts who hold/carry trauma specifically related to abandonment and/or neglect. This was coined to help describe why a bunnykid might be more easily trusting or more easily distrusting. Some bunnykids may be flighty, while other bunnykids may be quick to latch onto someone.
Caesian; a part that is detached from the system's trauma. They may handle external needs, as they are unburdened by the experiences the rest of the system may have to deal with. Presenting as a singlet and masking their system hood may also be a job a caesian has.
Caller; a part who has the ability to summon parts to a central location in headspace by simply calling for them, and the parts do not have the option to resist being summoned.
Cardinal; a term for a syskids or little who's primary role is holding grief or feelings of it. This can range in various forms of grieving to loss of a loved one and or abuser, even grieving a situation or environment the Cardinal used to be in; even if the situation was harmful and traumatic to them. This term relates closely to the role of a Grief holder and can as well be commonly a Trauma holder/doekid, The way a Cardinal can process grief varies as well, they may be very wary to be close to others either those outside the system or other parts or be very quick to try and connect to others who may remind them of what they're grieving over.
Caregater; a part with an intimate sense for the emotional needs of other parts, and the ability to bring those parts to and from the front. This serves the purpose of ensuring that every individual in the system has their needs addressed. The caregater may be driven to ensure that there is fairness and harmony among the system.
Caretaker/Caregiver; a part whose role is taking care of or assisting with the system or other parts. Sometimes they can care for a specific group, such as littles.
Cartographer; a part is used to make maps of the internal world. These maps could be only viewable in-system or only in the outside world. In very large groups, multiple cartographers may be needed to fully map out the headspace.
Cassmate; a part primarily characterised by their lack of emotion or general apathy, they may have a role similar to a protector in that they take front to shield the system from harm.
Catalyst; a system member who has caused a large amount of change in a system, or actively brings immense change.
Catkid; A Catkid, in relation to swankid, doekid, and bunnykid, is a role relating to syskids/young parts who hold/carry trauma specifically related to medical and health. This can be from any kind of trauma. Coined in part to help describe why a catkid may struggle to or front more often during medical related instances, and the complex relationship with personal health that come from having this experience. The cat is meant to offer a pleasant imagery in contrast to what the child holds, as well as a vague reference to the experience of taking a pet to the vet, and to make the experience of holding this trauma less intimidating.
Chameleon; a part who steals another part's role(s) temporarily. This can be done involuntarily, due to mood, to lift the burden off of others/the body, or even with ill intent. This can be a primary or secondary role.
Census Takers; parts whose role is/they enjoy either taking count of new members or taking count of all existing members. This can either be to categorize, for organization, or just for fun!
Charge; a part whose role is to be taken care of. Often this member helps their system by having a greater willingness or capability to ask for help and/or express intense emotions.
Chainbreaker; a part who tends to be able to cut off people when other's in the system are unable to. Chainbreakers can cut off abusers more easily, and they may or may not have less of an attatchment or connection to others in general than the rest of the system. Chainbreakers may also work to help the rest of the system realize that a relationship with someone is abusive, toxic, or otherwise unhealthy.
Channel; a part that acts as a spiritual guide to their system
Chaosnaut; a role and/or descriptor for headmates who are very chaotic in nature, whether in the Innerworld, Outerworld, or both.
Chef; a part that usually cooks for the system or enjoys cooking for the system.
Coach; a part whose role is to make sure the system's body is healthy with a healthy and balanced diet along with good exercise. They will often try to teach other system members about what they know to hopefully get some help and support from them. Their success rate depends on how much effort other system members are willing to put in to keep up the effort. Some coaches may also be helpful to system members in the mental health department as well, making sure everyone is mentally healthy or as mentally healthy as possible.
Co-Host; a part that shares the duties of day to day fronting with other members of the system. They may be secondary to a primary host, or equally share the role between multiple members.
Coltenoir; a part who takes anger from other system members to deal with it themselves, usually in a more healthy manner.
Comforter; a part whose role is comforting others within the system. Sometimes, their role is to comfort the system as a whole, while others may only comfort specific parts or groups.
Comedian; a part that brings comic relief during stressful situations. This may be in the headspace, or while controlling the body. Some examples include making jokes to comfort upset parts or taking control of the body to do something fun as a coping mechanism.
Communicator; a part who communicates with others, most likely better or more efficiently than the rest of the system. This is specifically about boundaries, but can be used as each part sees fit.
Coldjective; a role for alters who are cold and present as emotionless. This role is not meant to be dehumanizing and is meant to be a self-ID.
Coltenoir; a part who takes anger from other system members to deal with it themselves, usually in a more healthy manner.
Companion; is a part who keeps the others in the system company.
Compulsion keeper; a part whose role it is to hold onto the systems compulsions, and may often front to act on certain compulsions, or may try to keep the compulsions away from the rest of the system.
Confidence holder; a part who holds or boosts feelings related to the systems confidence and morale. This role is a type of emotion holder, and could also be a type of protector or soother.
Confronter; a part similar to an exposure therapist, in that they expose themselves or others to trauma or triggering topics, whether to try and help them through it, curiosity about how they or others will react, or for fun. This is not always a bad thing, and these alters usually have the best in mind for their system. A simple definition is "an alter who 'confronts alters with triggers and trauma.
Confusers; a part whose role is to purposely misdirect the system from learning about its trauma. This can come in the form of providing false information to professionals, creating contradicting memories, denying the truth to other parts, and “shutting down” the system, if new memories are accessed in some way. A system may have unique names for different kinds of confusers (invalidators, denial alters, deflectors, disowner, etc.) Not all confusers know about the trauma itself. Some only know that their job is to lie about it.
Consul; a part in a system that holds a "chief executive" position in an in-system government. A consul is expected to hold the responsibilities and powers similar to that of a steward, manager, gatekeeper, and/or internal self helper. They lead and oversee the system and may have the final say.
Consumanaut; a part that fronts for the sole purpose of helping the body to eat or consume things. Some parts, or even the body itself, may struggle with eating, for example in the context of an eating disorder. As such, consumanauts may feed and hydrate the body and keep it running. These parts usually don't have issues with eating, and can be called to front with anything food related.
Contrarival; a persuasive part who motivates/encourages an individual part or system, by talking exclusively in reverse psychology. The goal of a contrarian advisor is to make their target(s) reflect on a specific situation so they can decide to change things on their own, rather than being forced to change things through someone else's decision. Hence, this role is often endorsed by a protector, as long as the persuasion techniques are not condescending, threatening, or malicious. Contrarian advisors often do not have the ability to front (or have extreme difficulties doing so), but they can be co-conscious.
Controller; a part who watches over other parts that might harm themselves and/or others. This is in order to stop those parts from either doing harm or doing more harm if already done so. They can also be assigned to certain parts.
Copimeca-Forge; a parts who develops and manages coping mechanisms for the system. These mechanisms can be created in response to the needs of the system regardless of already existing ways the system copes. These coping mechanisms are usually designed to assist the system in managing stressful or triggering situations that may occur in their day to day life. These challenges may include managing interpersonal conflicts, coping with intense emotions, dealing with triggering encounters, or handling overstimulation.
Councilman; a part who helps in making rules or laws for the system. Many councilmen stay in the background, but not always.
Counterweight; a part whose role is to keep manipulation from wearing down other part's minds, usually by reminding vulnerable parts of the intention of the manipulator. They may do this by interacting with the manipulator in stead of other parts, comforting them after difficult interactions, attempting to stand up to the manipulator, or any number of things.
Creature Carer; a part whose role pertains to taking care of and co-fronting with non-human parts that aren’t able to take care of themselves when fronting. It is a subset of caretaker.
Culture Holder; a part that holds onto the systems connection to the culture they’re from. This could mean participating in cultural festivities, learning more about the systems culture, making cultural food or simply just maintaining the connection that the system has with their culture.
Cupid; a part who works to bring other parts or inter-system groups together. this can be in a platonic way, romantic way, or just in general to better the communication or friendliness of the system members.
Curacormate; a part whose role is to take care of the body
Curamor; a part whose role is to love and care for someone/others outside of the system
Cynic; a part that thinks very negatively, like a worrier, but wants to disrupt life in some way for other system members or the system as a whole. They may do this because they want other system members to understand or relate to their constant negative emotions or because they have some anger issues or because of a number of other reasons. Their disruptiveness can be "small" things or things that are bigger. It all depends on how disruptive to life they want to be and how disruptive they're allowed to be.
Daydream Holder; a type of symptom holder who holds onto maladaptive daydreaming symptoms. This may be to prevent other parts from becoming distracted by daydreams, they may act as a destressor that relieves the system by daydreaming, or they may front when the system is getting the urge to daydream. They may also only be linked to one specific daydream paracosm, rather than all of the system's daydream paracosms, making it likely that several daydream holders may be found in one system.
Dear; a part, perhaps cherished by their system, whose role is to provide love, affection, support, and companionship to their parts. A dear may comfort or relax their system through their presence, demeanor, and actions, and serve as a confidant, as they are entrusted to treat their parts with compassion. They are devoted to their system, always striving to be present and available to help them through life in a caring, amicable way.
Default; a part that normally fulfils a certain role or function within the system. They may be the one to react to a trigger or in another situation when there is no option to actively pick a specific part. They are the knee-jerk response of the system to a certain need, and may be the most available or most powerful candidate. If they are simply the most versatile, they may later switch with a more specialized part of the same role. The term may also refer to them fulfilling this role, or the circumstance that causes this. There may be none, one, or several defaults of the same purpose within a system or layer.
Defensor; a polyrole for parts that take on the responsibilities of a protector or guardian as well as an advocate for their system. They may front in times of duress, defend the system from external threats or even act as an avenger would while also being able to articulate the system's needs. They are able to peacefully advocate to achieve those needs or the required resources, as well as better conditions for the benefit of the system as a whole.
Delight; a part whose role revolves around having fun. They may encourage other members of their system to enjoy themselves, or they may front and participate in those activities themself. They may also entertain their parts through humor or silliness, priding themselves in their ability to make others laugh and smile. They strive for the system’s life to be colorful, amusing, and joyful.
Delusauxi; refers to a caretaker or internal self helper who completely or partially is and/or identifies as a system's delusion (whether they be an introject or just hold that specific delusion). They act out or exhibit traits in line with that delusion (usually in a constructive or non-harmful way, but not always) to help the system cope and/or deal with the delusion. This is normally a voluntary role, but it can be done involuntarily.
Debuggers; protectors that make sure the system does not slip back into old patterns of abuse (or rather, being abused). They work with parts such as Instructed-Persecutors, Double Agents and fawn response holders. Debuggers may have or gain some control over their system in order to overwrite another part's triggered response or script.
Denial Abater; a part whose primary function is to deal with denial. A denial abater can act in different ways, like:
- Pulling the headmate(s) experiencing denial out of front
- Providing "proof" to contrast the denial to the headmate(s) experiencing denial.
- Actively "arguing" with the headmate(s) in denial, offering logical explanations or debates.
- Getting rid of the feelings and thoughts associated with denial altogether.
These strategies are temporary, and often only last as long as the abater in fronting or close to front. But in the long run may help lessen denial symptoms for specific headmates or the whole system.
Denier; a part who holds feelings of denial. These feelings run from denying the system, denying feelings for people, or denying identities, though they are not limited to these. They often act as masks as well to better line up with whatever they're claiming to be rather than what they're denying.
Destressor; a part who helps the system to relax/de-stress by engaging in activities and/or hobbies that the system enjoys doing.
Devotee; a headmate who holds romantic yearning and romantic obsessions. They may easily get attached or obsessed with certain people. This role can be related to disorders such as bpd or dpd.
Diffuser; a part that quells another part's negative reaction to a given situation
Diplomat; is a system member that acts as a representative of the system, whether that be through internal or external communication. They may try to make peace or come to agreements and truces with outside forces for the benefit of the system.
Director; a part who subliminally supplies other parts with goals to pursue. As such, parts who have been so directed may not realize it was not their own idea, but they can still decide to act otherwise. These directions may be given with good or ill intent, or even accidentally.
Disabler; a part that has the ability to disable certain abilities the body has. They could be able to disable multiple things at once (or at different times), or only one. A disabler may or may not have the abilities they disable when fronting or in headspace, and they usually only disable these abilities on other parts, not themself. If they don't normally have this ability, they may receive the ability from a higher up , handler , or internal programmer. An example of this is if the disabler is originally visually impaired when fronting and/or in headspace, but they cause another part to be visually impaired (when they normally are not) and the disabler can now see clearly. this role is programming specific
Disciplinarian; a protector part who disciplines other parts with good intentions to promote better behavior. A Disciplinarian might not front to deal with outside threats. It may be a specialty of theirs instead of having to deal with the world. They may hear from another person in command, like the host or a gatekeeper, to punish parts who may have acted out of line or against system rules. This may allow another protector to focus on external threats, while the disciplinarian punishes inside threats.
Dissociation Manager; a part who manages dissociation, including who experiences it, when they experience it, and to what extent they experience it. They can also keep track of the dissociation experienced by the system and the parts in the system.
Distortionist; a part who distorts memories, whether on purpose or on accident.
Dissonaut; a part that holds or experiences intense dissociation. They may numb the body or cause the body to dissociate upon fronting.
DNI Holder; a part that fronts to prevent parts from fronting, interacting with other parts, engaging in harmful behaviors, or anything else the part in question decides needs to be prevented.
Doberge; a part who primarily uses physical affection to perform their role as a caretaker or a similar role. This can be done both in the outerworld and in innerworld. This term can also extend to caretakers who help others with touch starvation or understimulation.
Doctor; a part whose role is splitting or fusing other headmates. They can also fall into other roles such as persecutor and may be highly dangerous. They can also be a protector and chose to fuse in order to heal. Some might be able to dissipate, but protectors often dislike using this tactic except as a last resort. They can be thought of as doing minor and major surgeries like a doctor. this role is programming specific
Doekid; a role describing littles and young headmates who hold/carry trauma specifically related to family and family dynamics. This can be from any kind of trauma. The term was coined in part to help describe why a doekid may be more attached or repulsed from familial figures, and the complex relationships that come from having this experience. The doe represents a childlike mindset, and is meant to reference the common symbolism found in deer families, such as Bambi. It is meant to shine a soft, gentle light on how a kid might hold something so heavy, and to make the experience less scary.
Dormaler; a part that can travel in and out of dormancy, as well as drag others with them in both directions. They may also be able to interact with dormant parts as with active ones.
Double Agent; a type of Protector who pretends to go along with an abuser and fulfils tasks set by them in order to gain trust or protection. This may include causing harm to the body or other people.
Dream holder; a part that holds the dream of any part or a certain part. This could be the whole dream or just a part of the dream. They could also hold it the memory that could be related to the dream. This is considered a role.
Drowser; a part who has the distinct ability to lull their system into sleep. They may also use their ability to induce sleepiness in their system's brain during periods of insomnia, or when rest is direly needed and not easy to attain otherwise. The ability may be possible due to the browser's own tendency to become sleepy, which they then pass onto other frontiers or the entire front, or it may be a result of their willingness to fall asleep that they focus on to overcome another part's fear of sleeping.
Dutere; a part whose role is to prioritize the system’s collective sense of duty and responsibility. These responsibilities may be academic, occupational, familial, personal, etc. A dutere may front to fulfill these responsibilities themself, but as their focus is on the collective, they will also encourage and promote the rest of the system to perform necessary tasks.
Dvalen; a part who has the ability to make other parts go dormant, as well as pull members from dormancy. This may be part of a bigger role the part has, but it could also just be an ability that some members possess.
Echoer; a part who plays back fragments of memories. This may cause other alters to hear their thoughts played back to them or others to hear another alter's previous thoughts, words or feelings played to them. This can be done intentionally or unintentionally, as an Echoer may play back thoughts or feelings to protectors and others with large roles to help them keep other alters safe.
Emboteer; a part that acts as a persona that members can connect to or talk through.
Embracer; a part that feels positive emotions - such as joy, excitement, relaxation, or euphoria - during experiences that have historically been traumatic or harmful to their system. These experiences may or may not still be harmful. Embracers genuinely enjoy the experiences, and usually front to prevent other parts from feeling distressed. Those who seek to help their system will likely be disconnected from the system's past trauma involving these situations. The most common purpose of this role is to calm their system during stressful events and help their system learn that these situations do not need to be feared anymore, but embracers can act in a persecutory manner, intentionally or not. An example of a protective embracer may be a part finding innocent excitement and joy in watching a thunderstorm, despite their system historically associating the arrival of thunderstorms with abuse. An example of a persecutory embracer may be a part feeling relaxed and comforted when exposed to violence, and they may chase after more exposure.
Emergency Fronter; parts that front during emergency situations to take care of the system and ensure that system is safe. Emergency fronters may or may not have limited/little to no emotional capacity, empathy, or emotional vulnerability. They are usually protectors and/or caretakers of the system, though it is not necessary. Some qualities of an emergency fronter may be (but is not limited to):
- Able to take front, stabilize and keep front during system imbalance
- Crisis managing
- Gatekeeping; keeping triggered and/or panicked headmates away from front
- Able to soothe and ground the body quickly
- Can resist and/or stop the harmful urges or coping mechanisms
- Can implement barriers if needed to buffer the harm
- Resistance to triggers (or lack of triggers)
- Resilience/lack of emotional vulnerability
Emotenoir; a part who takes emotions from other system members to deal with it themselves, usually in a more healthy manner.
Emotional Distresser; a part who causes other parts emotional distress. This can either be done on accident or be purposeful, but it's always done with the intent of helping the system or someone outside the system. Emotional distressers will usually unintentionally harm the part they're targeting in the process. This is always done in hopes of protecting the system, or someone outside the system, from something bad happening. What "bad things" can constitute as can vary heavily - from logical or sound reasoning to things that don't seem to make sense outside of their point of view. Possible examples could range from an emotional distresser believing that going to a specific location would harm the system, to them believing walking in a certain way would lead to something bad happening. An anxiety distresser may cause a fellow part to be anxious because they're scared that the part may harm their friend if the part compliments them. A rage distresser may encourage a fellow part to become enraged out of a belief that the way their partner talked to them could lead to their partner harming the system.
Emotional Enhancer; a part who enhances or intensifies emotions, whether positive or negative.
Emotional Funnel; a part who steals and/or waters down the emotions of other part.
Emotional Guardian; a type of emotional processor, whose job is to manage and either absorb or spread a certain emotion throughout the system.
Emotionalist; a part that feels a lot of emotions, and is good at expressing those emotions to others. They are good at advocating their emotions to others as well as advocating for other system members. They also tend to be good at expressing the feelings of the system as a whole to other people as well, whether this be through actions or words.
Emotional Protector; a type of protector that fronts to protect the system emotionally. This may range from a highly charged emotional situation or some form of abuse.
Emotional Processor; a type of protector, whose job is to guide other system members through dealing with their emotions, or to absorb the negative or overwhelming emotions of other system members to process and water them down to make them easier to deal with.
Emotional Regulator; a part who, in response to stressful or difficult situations, will handle the body’s/affected part’s emotions in order to minimize instability. However, it doesn’t always have to be negative. A part and/or the body could be in a bad mood, and similar to a mood booster, they can take the emotions and manipulate them to make them more positive.
Emotion Experiencer; a part who experiences emotions, whether they are positive or negative emotions. Examples are Sadness, Anger, Happiness, Nervousness, etc. Although usually seen as a protector, this role can be used to harm others' emotions. Parts may purposely manipulate the emotions of other system members in a negative manner.
Emotion Fragment; a function fragment that is specifically associated with or formed to deal with emotions in some way. They may be a Holder Fragment, or something else.
Emotion Holder; a part who holds most of one emotion. It could be happiness, sadness, anger, etc. Emotion holders are similar to symptom holders, and they could co-exist around them. An example would be a sadness holder and a depression holder working together in a system.
Emotion Neutralizer; a part that fronts after an emotional experience to neutralize the body's emotions. This does not stop other headmates from being emotional after this experience, even if they are in co-front. If the emotion neutralizer is able to neutralize all fronter’s emotions on it, those alters may still regain those emotions regarding the event/s after they stop fronting.
Emotion Nullifier; an alter who nullifies specific emotions of surrounding alters while in front. This could either be completely ‘erasing the emotion from existence’ while in front or just finding ways to make alters avoid feeling that specific emotion. This may be because said alter feels as though said emotions aren’t needed, or the alter doesn’t want the surrounding alters to feel anything negative. This can be a type of Soother or Protector.
Emotion Number; a part that numbs specific feelings down in order to keep the system and / or other members safe. These emotions include but are not limited to sadness, grief or love.
Energetic Alter; a part who holds energy, or makes the body and mind energetic. They usually front during times where energy is needed.
Eraser; a part that purposely takes memories away from others, often for their protection. Erasers help to keep trauma memories from spreading between parts by keeping them for themselves or giving them to other parts.
Enforcer; a sub-type of persecutor who enforces the “lessons” learned through abuse against members of their own system. They may punish members of the system or the body with physical or emotional pain for disobeying the desires of abusers. This type of role does not often happen spontaneously; it’s nearly always forcefully created by abusers who tell them that if they don’t do this job, the system will be hurt worse.
Entrancer; a part that causes the system to fall into a hazy, serene trance when they front. They may do this by causing the body to fully relax, they may spread the calm feeling over any other fronters to entrance them, or they may push other sysmates out of front to relax in a haze alone. The strength of this hypnotic effect can vary, from very slight to completely nonresponsive, but these sedative states are always a positive feeling and experience. Some examples of why an entrancer can front may be to help the system relax enough to get to sleep when it feels restless, or to calm the system down during a panic attack or stressful situation.
Escutcheon; a part within a system that is very open with their feelings, but tries to put up a shield of sorts so that external forces or internal forces can't hurt them at all or not as much. They're often parts that are normally described as being tough and don't like the idea of being or being seen as vulnerable. They oftentimes will try to detach themselves from their emotions in some way, especially if any or all parts are feeling the same or in a similar way to them.
Euphorimate; a part who is responsible for the feeling of euphoria. This can be any type of euphoria, whether related to neurodivergency, gender euphoria, species euphoria, ect.
Existential Distractor; a part whose job is to distract the system and/or other parts from feelings of existential dread. This could include distracting from thoughts regarding death, the vastness of the universe, human life, etc. Existential distractors may be affected negatively, neutrally or positively by these thoughts.
Exorelatian; a part who deals exclusively with the relationships that either the system as a whole or other system members have to people outside the system. How they deal with such relationships is up to the part using this term. Can deal with any kind of relationship, and is not inherently exclusive to romance.
Experiencer; a part who experiences positive or negative emotions, trauma or memories, traits, symptoms, or information. These parts usually front or are summoned by the part fronting whenever either of these happens. This allows other parts to take any of these things with a filtered perspective, decreasing the chances of the part in particular to be triggered. This usually requires a part who isn't trigger easily by sensitive topics or situations. To not confuse it with a holder, an Experiencer will experience (for example, anger) either through the body’s emotions or from another persons emotions, but will not hold onto them like a holder would.
External Protector; a form of protector, one that protects specifically from anything external to the system, i.e. not parts within that system.
Exposure therapist; a part who formed to help another part overcome their trauma by repeatedly exposing them to things that trigger them. This can be done by actively putting in the effort to trigger them, such as reminding them of their trauma, mocking them for it, putting them in situations that will trigger them, and more; or, by them simply existing. This goes for when the exposurist is an introject of the abuser (or someone who is directly connected to a part's trauma), or is similar enough to the source to remind the part of the trauma. An exposurist can be both active and passive. The term therapist is used loosely because, by a rule of thumb, an exposurist's methods of helping are highly questionable. The name for the term derives from exposure therapy. Parts with this role do not necessarily have to be a persecutor or be malicious, but considering the nature of the role, that is usually the case. They may have a distorted version of reality and see themselves as a savior, or know that what they are doing potentially harms the headmate, but still continue doing it, or manipulate others into thinking otherwise. They can also be a passive exposurist, which means they just exist, and their existence alone is triggering enough.
Extirpator; a part who takes other members and breaks them down or splits them up into fragments or parts. They can do this with or without the member's consent. They could also not be conscious of their actions in breaking apart members. this role is programming specific.
Falsehood Speaker; a part that lies more often than not. They may do this in order to protect the system.
Faunin; a nonhuman part whose role is to help the system by being an animal. This can be due to multiple things, such as trauma, but may also help the system be more stable, similar to how pet regression may be used.
Fawn; a part that attempts to appeal to abusers (either in or out of the system), in an attempt to lessen the pain or punishment that the system receives. This could be done in a number of ways, like reenacting trauma internally to other parts, internalizing what abuser(s) have taught the system, trying to prevent the system from speaking about their trauma, denying that trauma happened all together, attempting to get in contact with abusers again after the system has left or gone no-contact with them, helping out internal abusers in harming other headmates, sabotaging external relationships, or attempting to isolate the system from external supporters like healthcare providers and friends.
Fear Shifter; a persecutor that takes the form of what another part fears. This could be, for example, characters from a media source, religious figures, or even objects. They often believe that they are said person or thing, and may antagonise the part that is afraid of them.
Factives; parts that are based on a factional or non-fictional source, like another person. Sources can include celebrities, historical figures, friends, abusers, or anyone else. The source can be a singlet or a member of a system (including their own, or someone else's).
Fictives; parts based on a fictional source. Common sources are media like games and books, but almost anything can be a fictive's source, such as original characters or D&D characters created by other system members.
Femininity Holder; a part who holds feelings of femininity. A system member having this role doesn’t automatically indicate their gender, though it often can.
Firekeeper; a part similar to a gatekeeper and symptom holder (specific to ADHD + Autistic symptoms) who manages and keeps track of hyperfixations and special interests and knowledge pertaining to them within the system.
Forgiver; Opposite of Avenger. Instead of seeking revenge, Forgiver wants to make amends and work past everything that’s happened
Fragment; a part that usually does not possess full autonomy, sapience, or identity. Fragments may come and go before fusing or growing in complexity. They may perform very specific roles, have little emotional range, or hold fractures of memory.
Fandom keeper; a type of archivist and a part whose role is specifically to keep track of introjects and other knowledge about them. They may log what sources their introjects have, how many or which introjects lie within that source, how close an introject is to said source, whether a part has/wants to integrate from said source, why a part would want to integrate from their source, etc. Fandom keepers are known to often have hyperfixation keeper traits.
Faudult; a child part that acts older or more mature than they really are because of the trauma they hold. They may be mistaken for ages older than they are because of this, but they are still mentally a child. this can be considered both a role and a modifier.
Ferryman; a part that guides people around headspace and potentially greets new system members.
Frijōn; a part who's very friendly and wants to be friends with everyone inside and outside of the system. They usually love to work on group projects and can be happiest talking to or making friends.
Filterer; a part whose role is to filter other headmates, specifically when those parts can be easily misunderstood, have the tendency to be incredibly blunt, seen by others as rude or if they aren't human talking to humans. They can either be fully front, in shotgun or observing.
Fixkeeper; a part similar to a gatekeeper and symptom holder who manages and keeps track of hyperfixations and special interests and knowledge pertaining to them within the system.
Flowsian; a part that fronts during periods/handles them.
Fogment; a type of fragment that is foggy and not fully fragmented nor fully developed, the fog inbetween both concepts.
Forportian; a protector specifically for that of substances, drugs, and other related things. They may front while the body is under the influence to make sure that the system is safe, doing substances responsibly, or to make sure that nothing detrimental is done.
Frontlocked alter; a part is one that is unable to leave front (or is "locked in front"). This is normally for a long period of time (months to years or even forever). A frontlocked alter can rarely eventually leave front. This is not the same as frontstuck, as these alters usually cannot leave front at all or "frontlocked" when it is not used to refer to a specific system member, as other alters are able to come and go into co-front as needed.
Frostling; a system member that fronts during the colder months or in areas that are cold often.
Functional Role; the relationship a headmate has with their role or assigned tasks, rather than describing the role itself. Examples include having several roles (polyrole) or no role (roleless), not wanting to disclose one's role (quoitin), or how a role is fulfilled in relation to other members (default).
Function Fragment; a fragment who specifically holds a single task or job. They may be very powerful at getting this done, perhaps even overriding the will of other parts. However, function fragments do not have (developed, or at all) identities and are not “full parts”, perhaps not existing outside this task at all.
Gardentender; a system member role or job defined by tending to, protecting, maintaining, and/or keeping/holding information about a given headspace, layer. As a role, gardentenders are inherently linked to the existences of headspaces, and may gardentend any variety of them. They also may protect innerworlds and their residents from external (such as spiritual, like potentially harmful potential introjections), internal (such as persecutors attempting to harm the system or members of it), or natural (such as narrative events, natural disasters, and unwanted changes) threats.
Gatebridger; a part who connects the gates (or gate-like things) of different sub systems within the bodys system.
Gatekeeper; a part who controls switching, access to certain areas inside the headspace, or access to certain system members or memories.
Gear Turner; a part that studies the mechanisms of the fronting room, co-consciousness room, and/or any nearby room.
Gender Dysphoria holder; an alter role similar to Gender Holder, except it specifically holds feelings of dysphoria. A gender dysphoria holder could be someone who fronts during times when the system is feeling gender dysphoric, when the system is in clothes that don’t express their gender identity, or simply when the system is feeling insecure about their AGAB's features.
Gender Euphoria holder; an alter role similar to Gender Holder except it doesn’t hold feeling of gender dysphoria except only gender dysphoria. A gender dysphoria holder could be someone who fronts during times when the system is feeling gender euphoric when the system is in clothes that does express their gender identity or simply when the system is feeling confident in the way they present.
Gender Holder; an alter whose job is to hold onto the systems gender identity. This could mean their gender expression relates to more of the systems collective gender identity, could be more confident in their gender identity or hold feelings of gender dysphoria or euphoria.
Ghost Traveller; a part who can levitate and pass through the walls or floors of headspace, possibly accessing different parts of headspace that other parts cannot. They may be able to pass on their abilities to other parts, either by touching them in headspace or simply allowing them by other means.
Grief Holder; a part who holds grief relating to death and loss. They can front to take grief from another member who has dissociated to the point of being unable to feel grief, or process it healthily. They may also come co-con with another member to allow them to grieve.
Groundskeeper; a part in charge of maintaining and repairing a headspace and making alterations to it when needed.
Guardian; a role similar, but not identical, in function to an external protector or scout. A guardian protects the system from external threats, functions as a gatekeeper to the outside, patrols and secures the outer bounds of the inner world or a section of the inner world, searches for and vets new system members, and may also keep system members away from areas of the inner world that are unsafe for them and/or take away memories that may harm other system members. They might also have the responsibilities of an overseer.
Guide; is a term that describes a part regarding their role. It may be applied to a part who is involved in system-wide tasks. It envelopes all other management roles, but may be specialized per part within a team that works together in-system to influence or benefit system functioning.
Gunslinger; a part who's similar to a swordsperson, however instead of being a protector for those outside of the system, they act more like an avenger. These parts will seek to avenge the people who have hurt anyone within their circle, though they work for people outside of their own system.
Guilt holder; is a system role for system members who hold guilty feelings of the system, regardless of that guilt being rational.
Guzzler; a part whose role is feeding and/or hydrating the body and/or system. They can look for food, learn to cook, scavenge, etc. Some might be assisting other parts with eating disorders, feeding the body so they won't have to personally experience eating or have to engage in it if that's too hard for them, or they might help headmates in headspace to eat, if eating is necessary to keep their forms alive. For some, the guzzler might just be a small helping hand; for others, they may heavily rely on them to stay fed and physically well.
Hallucinations holder; a type of symptom holder who holds the system’s hallucinations or experiences them more often than most of the other alters. This role could be considered a protector, caretaker or an experiencer.
Handler; a part in a programmed system who's role is to watch over and command / control programmed parts. may be interchangeable with Internal Programmer. this is programming specific.
Happiness Holder; a part that holds happiness for the system. They may front in high-euphoria moments, feel excitement over important interests such as hyperfixations/special interests, or act as a mood booster to raise the overall mood of the system.
Harboringer; a protector who is devoted to finding or creating an external safe space for the system. Harboringers are also dedicated to identifying potential dangers, such as triggering items, and will take proactive measures to reduce any risk to the system's safety. To maintain this state of safety, they consistently monitor their designated safe space, and will adapt the space as needed to address and/or remove any threats
Heartbeat; a part that fronts to keep the body moving to complete a task, regardless of how much pain the body is in. They may have a higher pain tolerance, although this is not required. The term was made with chronic pain in mind, but can be used for any reason.
Hell-Bent; a part who fronts to give the rest of the front/the body determination to complete a task.
Heraicen; a part who can function as both a caretaker and/or a persecutor depending on the situation.
Hobbyist; a part who takes part in the hobbies of the system while in the body. They can be a hobbyist of a certain hobby (i.e. "reading hobbyist", "crocheting hobbyist", etc.) or they can be a general hobbyist.
Host; a part who is most active, most responsible for day-to-day activities, or otherwise is fronting most often. Not all systems have hosts, and some may have a rotating team for the role. In addition, some do not like the term "host", and choose to use alternatives; specifically, outernaut.
Hygienist; a part who makes sure that the body is kept clean and well-maintained in the hygiene department. They may do this by taking front when needed, at (a) certain time(s), once a day, and/or by keeping up with what other parts are doing while in front to make sure they do their part as well.
Holders; a part hold certain emotions, traits or memories, this can be done to help with trauma or just to hold them. A holder within the system can hold a wide variety of positive or negative emotions, trauma or other memories, traits, symptoms, or information. A holder role may also present as a system function and be performed by a fragment or nom-sentient headspace feature.
Hunter-Persecutor; a type of persecutor that hunts down things deemed "bad". For example, the system may feel like an emotion is maladaptive, so a hunter-persecutor takes it into their hands and hunts it down. They may either punish parts who hold that feeling, or somehow nullify/take that feeling out. This may not be to the benefit of the system, as some positive and healthy emotions may be misidentified as harmful.
Hunter-Protector; a type of protector that tracks down elusive persecutors, as well as other entities and internal phenomena which are perceived as a threat to the system or to an individual, in order to get them to disengage from harmful behaviors. A hunter-protector may be called on by a part who feels threatened. The influence of the perceived internal threat will be removed, by force if needed.
Hunter-Queller; a part who keeps the system count at a number the brain considers reasonable to avoid stress or conflict within the system. They do this by interrupting the formation of a member before they are fully formed, gain sentience, or form any meaningful relationships with other members. This may present internally as the hunter-queller "killing" the newly forming member. Parts with this role usually have powers / abilities or carry a weapon of their choice in headspace that they can summon at any time. Hunter-quellers may only be able to dispose of members under certain circumstances, such as:
- The forming member has not and does not intend to contribute to the system in any way
- The forming member has not (yet) engaged in meaningful relationships within the system
- The forming member poses a risk or danger to the system, for example as predicted by a prophet
Housekeeper; is a system member who will typically clean or take care of chores either out of comfort, responsibility, or other various reasons. A housekeeper usually will front when a mess upsets them or if there are chores to be completed or other various reasons. They don't typically mind cleaning messes, dishes, whatever it may be and find themselves at the very least a whole lot calmer once it's been finished. If they are stuck in messy environments they can be seen to get uncomfortable, but aren't necessarily perfectionists.
Hyperérosian; a part who is hypersexual, possibly from suppressed sexual desires, abuse, trauma, or for other reasons. The term is inclusive of aspec system members as well.
Hyperfixation Host; is a member who becomes host due to hyperfixation, usually a fictive from a source the system is hyperfixating on. This role is usually temporary and the hyperfixation host will lose host role once the hyperfixation moves on or is replaced by a new one.
Hyperfixation keeper; a part whos role is to hold onto the systems hyperfixations. They usually front when a strong hyperfixation is present to either calm down the situation, or just to more healthily fixate over said thing.
Hyperludusian; a part who is excessively romantic, commonly from romantic trauma. It can be related to suppressed romantic desires as well.
Inner world Architect; may be in charge of designing and changing the innerworld.
Identity holder; a part that holds the identity of the system. This can be an otherkin identity, a gender, a sexuality, or any other identity.
Idle; An idle part is one that does not hold any role or roles relating to tasks within their system, especially those relating to trauma. While they may have experiences like trauma, or even their own personal trauma, they are disconnected from the system's (collective) trauma.
Impersonator; a shapeshifting part who can 'copy' the appearance, mannerisms, system roles, and/or voice of certain parts, people, etc. They are usually aware of who or what they're impersonating. The reason a part could be an impersonator is quite varied. It may be to protect the system, to help mask, to comfort others, to cause drama, for the impersonator's personal gain, to provoke fear, to expose parts to triggers, or to take on a role they don't have.
Impeter; a part that causes bodily harm to the system that they reside within. An impeter may or may not want to intentionally cause this harm to the system, and might cause the harm in an attempt to help the system, if they believe the harm would help the system in the long run, or might accidentally harm the system through various means such as starvation or reckless behavior.
Imprisoner; a sub-type of persecutor that may believe themselves to be a protector. Rather than acting as a barrier between persecutor and other parts, they may instead choose to isolate and imprison those they deem dangerous to the system, potentially with the intent of punishing them or in an attempt to keep order within the system. Imprisoners may even go so far as to force other parts into dormancy or keep them otherwise incapacitated.
InfernoFlame; a part that fronts during the warmer months or warmer areas of the world. They're naturally attracted to the heat and don't usually front in the colder months. Instead of fronting during the colder months or places, they could be hibernating or temporarily dormant.
Innkeeper; a part who is one that encapsulates a number of responsibilities; in effect, innkeepers take on varying tasks that help to keep a system running and as efficient as possible,
Internal Self Helper; a part, whose role is holding knowledge about the system, parts, trauma, and/or internal workings. Some internal self helpers may also be gatekeepers
Informant; a part that gathers information on the rest of the system (i.e. the emotional state of headmates).
Internal Programmer; alternatively referred to as an IP, their role is to reinforce programs within the system, and program fragments to help the reinforcement. these parts are usually introjects of the initial programmers.
Insecurity Holder; a part who hold the feelings related to the systems insecurities
Instigator; a part who enjoys causing conflicts and/or drama. This can be towards other part or towards people outside of the system. Usually they simply find it to be fun, but it can also be unintentional due to how they act in general.
Interpreter; a part with the role of being able to interpret the necessities of non-verbal or semi-verbal parts. They can serve as negotiators in situations where a part may be easily misinterpreted. It’s not uncommon for interpreters to be limited in languages foreign of their own so they’ll either depend on body language or hold a strong enough bond to understand another part.
Intimidator; a part who uses intimidation tactics to protect others in the system. This often takes the form of scaring off an attacker before an attack can occur. Intimidators are a subset of protectors, although they can also be considered a subset of gatekeepers. As such, the term intimidator functions as a system role
Innocence Holder; a part (often a little) whose purpose is to hold and retain the system's sense of innocence, childlike emotions, and wonder. They may also be a memory holder whose job is to retain good memories of the system's childhood, or their purpose may be to create the sense of an innocent and happy childhood the system feels they never had. Innocence holders are very distanced from the system's trauma, and may be accompanied by a protector and/or caretaker whose job is to shield them from said trauma and negativity.
Insomnaut; a part who fronts at night when the body is unable to sleep. Unlike a night guard, an insomnaut cannot make the body rest, and will likely be insomniac themself. They may find that the night passes quicker, the tiredness is easier to cope with, or may not notice any tiredness at all. It's important to note that the body would have stayed awake all night regardless, and the insomnaut's role is only to front through this. This means the role alone is not persecutory, as insomnauts do not choose to keep themselves awake. Insomnauts can perform this role for several reasons. These are a few examples, but insomnauts are not limited to these:
- The body may have insomnia or other sleeping issues that parts can't overcome, and the insomnaut fronts to cope with it and to let the other parts rest in headspace
- The system may stay up all night intentionally for some reason, such as to study for school, in which case, the insomnaut may also be an academic or manager;
- if the body feels too unsettled/scared to sleep, an insomnaut may also be a protector and stay on guard all night.
Intermediary; a part that focuses on external relationships involving their system. The relationships can be of any kind, such as romantic/platonic, the parts involved can be of any number, and it can be with a singlet partner or a partner system. The only defining trait is that the relationship is out-of-system, occurring in shared reality. Intermediaries can either mediate the relationships, making them better, or sabotage them, making them worse.
Internalizer; a part who holds negative internalized feelings. These feelings are often internalized ableism, homophobia, transphobia, or pluralphobia, but they are not limited to just that. These headmates will often be pessimistic because of this role.
Internal Protector; a form of protector whose role is to protect specifically parts internally, be it from other parts, or for any other reason, such as being a DNI Holder. Internal protectors may also take on any other protector role in order to best perform their duties, or they may simply just be able to protect internally.
Internal Socializer; the internal communication version of the role socializer, which is associated with external communication. An internal socializer could improve internal communication/make it easier, could relay messages back and forth between system members(aka proxying), improve internal system relations, or anything else regarding internal communication.
Internet Restrictor; An internet restrictor or grass-toucher is a type of caretaker who tells the system or another part to get off the internet and go outside.
Intrarelatian; a part who deals exclusively with relationships between other system members. How they deal with such relationships is up to the part using this term. Can deal with any kind of relationship, and is not inherently exclusive to romance.
Investigator; a part with the responsibility of assessing threats in headspace. They may investigate incidents to find out the individual responsible, determining the gravity of the threat, and deciding the best course of action to avert the situation.
Irascimate; a part whose role is to piss off bigots and exclusionists.
Isolator; a part whose job is keeping the system away from social interactions. This can manifest in just not talking to others, but also as staying at home and isolating from others.
Janusian; a part who can function as both a protector and/or a persecutor depending on the situation.
Jokester; a part that plays pranks and loves being the center of attention. Depending on their personality, they may be very helpful to a system's optimist. However, they can also tend to make jokes in the wrong situations. Some may even make a lot of dark jokes when they think it fits a situation, even if it may not always be the best time to joke or the best thing to joke about. Their contribution really depends on their other personality traits and how much they yearn to be the center of attention.
Jack of All Trades; a part who performs a wide range of roles or has an ever-fluctuating role.
Jailer; similar to both imprisoner and warden, is a role designated to be used on parts who aren't considered persecutors by themselves or by others and work on keeping the system safe from parts that are deemed necessary to be jailed. This term isn't meant to be used in a negative or dictatorial way. Jailers are viewed as a helpful role, not abusive, and there are often rules that must be followed by jailers. Jailers can be chosen, or they could form with the role. In some systems, jailers may be designated a layer to hold the parts that have been deemed necessary of being jailed, and other parts may or may not be able to enter said layer. When there is a layer designated for jailed parts, the layer's appearance tends for vary depending on what a system needs for its parts.
Jester; a part who makes others happy or cheers them up, often through being witty and playful and making jokes or otherwise being silly, but not exclusively in these ways.
Journal Keeper; a part that fronts to log things or journal about the system and/or bodily. This could be physically, like in a physical journal, or digitally, like in a notes app.
Judge; parts that act as a judge in the system. If one's system has rules and a part breaks one of them, a lawyer will be able appointed to them to determine whether or not the part is actually at fault or not. A lawyer may also negotiate with the judge to reach a suitable punishment. However, if the system does not have a lawyer, this decision becomes the judge's sole responsibility.
Känsla; is the opposite of an emotionalist; a part who does very poorly at expressing their own emotions. Some may even do so poorly as to need another system member or the system emotionalist to help explain for them to other system members or people outside of the system. They may even be afraid or uncomfortable to express their emotions, but don't need to be. This is not a result of a system member being non-verbal or otherwise hard to communicate normally with.
Lambkid; a part role relating to littles/young parts who hold/carry trauma related to religion. inspired by swankid and bunnykid.
Layer Admin; a part who is a admin/manager for a layer. They can work with a layer leader. This is connected to the leader-compartmentalized structure or structures similar to it. This term can be used freely.
Layer Leader; a part that leads a layer as a whole. This part reports to the leading host with anything important happening in that layer.
Leader; a part whose role is to hold executive power. What this means will vary depending on the system. A leader may possess the ability to make important decisions, approve or veto votes, break ties, assign tasks and responsibilities to others, or generally be seen as a voice of guidance and authority. A leader is not a dictator, however: they may be voted into or out of their position depending on their trustworthiness and performance. A leader provides direction and stability, and exhibits positive leadership qualities, such as collaboration, communication, innovation, etc.
Leading Host; a part - who is a host - that leads the system as a whole, that includes the subsystems in that system.
Legacy Holder; a part who holds all knowledge(within reason) that the system has gathered over the years. Legacy holders will support parts by sharing memories that were thought to be lost, they will also attempt to make sure past mistakes are not repeated. They will usually be used as consultants for potentially threatening or intimidating new situations. A legacy holder will be on "stand-still" until they are needed by the system. Due to the nature of the role, legacy holders likely have no other roles that don't directly coincide with being a legacy holder.
Librarian; a part that gathers knowledge in general and holds most of the things the system knows, system-related or not, in a headspace storage they may have.
Library Keep; a part who keeps track of in-system logs, memories, files, etc. They organize these files, and keep them in their correct places.
Lifeline; a part who holds suicidal thoughts, memories, or acts. This part may be either more suicidal than the rest of the system, or significantly less due to desensitization. A lifeline is there to try and prevent attempts or the planning/consideration of attempting but ends up absorbing thoughts and feelings. It is unlikely for this headmate to attempt suicide themself, but it is not impossible and can happen, same as any part.
Lonelet; a part, specifically a host, that is unaware of their system and believe themself to be a singlet. This is meant as a term for pre-syscovery hosts or hosts in denial about their system. A system may have or may have had several lonelets.
Little; a part considered to be a child
Littlex; a non-explicit term for a little, or age-slider, that holds trauma with more adult themes (such as negative sexual, or drug-related experiences). System members who are a littlex are still littles, but the term allows their role to be defined without the use of adult words.
Lone Wolf; a part that sticks to themself. They may or may not be close with only a selected number of system members, or they may be close with almost everyone in the system. However, they don't tend to front much and don't like interacting internally or externally in big groups. When they do front, they often like to do so alone (not co-fronting) and don't engage externally with many people unless necessary. Although they like to be alone, they can still contribute to and help the system.
Lorekeeper; a part that is knowledgeable of most, if not all, of the past actions of their headmates. This can be pertaining to past interactions, altercations, and relationships, specifically between parts, as well as tasks that parts have carried out.
Love Holder; a part who holds love for a system. This is not limited to romantic love, and can be used for any type of love.
Love Manager; a part that comes in the system with a partner(s). They possess knowledge of love and are aware of all relationships inside and outside the system. They may handle outside love relationships as well, whether they are romantic, platonic, or any other kind.
Loyalist; a part that is loyal to or otherwise aligns with the system's abusers. They may be an abuser introject or have internalized or hold up some of the lessons learned during abuse, such as an enforcer. This may refer to a parts actual opinion, or to the stance they take externally, or both. As such, headmates like double agents may or may not be considered loyalists.
Magician; a part that possesses magical qualities or practices magic of some kind. This includes anything from fantasy style magic, to modern everyday witchcraft, and everything in between.
Main; a part who is considered by the rest of the system to be one the main or central influences on the system. This doesn't necessarily mean they front often. There can be more than one main. A Main can be a leader, teacher, or another authoritative figure that has an influence over the system. They may also be someone that others draw energy from.
Maincenter; a type of internal self helper or system keeper which may act as an objective observer, a god-like part, and/or a voice which gives advice or orders to help and guide the system. They and their functions may seem to be deeply connected to the subconscious or claim that they are "the presence of the subconscious itself". This type of part may have various functions in the system, such as handling the system's (or some part's) memories and/or intuitive or subconscious actives, creating new parts or pushing parts to dormancy. The orders that a maincenter gives may be impossible to defy within the system. A maincenter usually seems to be, or may see themselves as, objective, but not always. They may be a persecutor who gives orders that push parts to do something harmful. A maincenter often appears as a non-human part, but not always. this role is programming specific
Maintainer; a part who maintains and nurtures one or a group of other parts, specifically ones who may not be able to function independently. They may be considered a type of Caretaker.
Malicitor; a part who does persecutory actions but does not label themselves as a persecutor because they are not a misguided protector. The harm can be the cause of trauma, programming, unspecified or unknown reasons. This is my own reworded definition as the original demonizes persecutors
Manager; a part who takes on the necessary and vital role of ensuring things get accomplished, generally being a personification of the concept of executive function. They often remember dates, appointments, medication, and other scheduling, and sometimes do more menial but important tasks such as cleaning, or delegate tasks amongst the system They often remember dates, appointments, medication, and other scheduling, and sometimes do more menial but important tasks such as cleaning, or delegate tasks amongst the system. Typically, they will overlap with receptionists, innkeepers or wardens.
Manipulator; a part that is able to manipulate memories in any way and form they want. They may be able to change the memory of an abuser or a place of where trauma happened, or more harmless things.
Masculinity Holder; a part who holds feelings of masculinity. A system member having this role doesn’t automatically indicate their gender, though it often can.
Masker; a part who helps their system or certain members who have may have trouble masking to mask something with a singletsona by fronting or co-fronting / co-conscious. They know what to do, how to act, and an idea of how the situation is going to go.
Maslow; a part whose role is to ensure the system fulfills Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to the best of their ability, so that everyone feels as healthy and happy as possible. A maslow may accomplish their role by fronting themself, or by encouraging their parts to take care of tasks that contribute to the overall system’s well-being. A maslow promotes beneficial behaviors, and discourages ones that defeat their efforts to acheive and maintain a holistic life. This term may also be used by parts who do not focus on the hierarchy itself if the overall concept of furthering the system's welfare resonates with them.
Masochist; a role that describes a part who is masochistic in nature, specifically as part of their role. These tendencies may be on their own, or part of another role. A protector may hold these tendencies so they can better protect the system by enjoying things that they protect the system from. It might also be part of a persecutor's role, as they may carry these tendencies so that harming is easier on them and harder on the rest of the system.
Matchmaker; a part who assists others with romantic relationships. They may help parts who like each other get together, determine which relationships might be compatible and possibly even act as a couples' therapist when needed.
Mediahost; a part that becomes a temporary host when either the entire system or the systems main host interacts with a specific type of media. This part may only be the host for a couple of days or may be the host for months. They may also become a co-host during this time.
Medic; a part who takes care of injuries and illnesses in the system. They can do this for the body, do this in the headspace, or a combination of both.
Medicine Taker; a part who takes medication for the system. This may be because the medication has a better effect or works better when they take it, to take medication the rest of the system may not need, or simply because nobody else wishes to front to take the medication.
Melanchonoir; a part who takes sadness from other system members to deal with it themselves, usually in a more healthy manner.
Melpomic; a part that holds purely negative thoughts or perceives the world as inherently negative, bad, and/or evil. A melpomic member might see everyone but themselves as bad, be distrustful of people, see life as a bad or negative thing, and not be able to see the positive in things. Melpomic members are often the counterparts to thailean members, but not always. Melpomic can be both a role and a descriptor for a member.
Memori; a part whose role is to document the system’s memories and experiences in the outerworld. They may do this by journaling, scrapbooking, photographing, etc. A memori may do this in order to assist in mitigating the system’s amnesia, if applicable, or they may simply value having a record of memories for later recollection or reminiscence.
Memory Holders; parts that hold specific memories, which may not be easily accessible to other members. These memories may be about trauma, specific people, locations, or life stages.
Merchant; part who sells or trades memories or fronting time to parts that are further from the front and can't make many memories themselves. They typically have access to the entire headspace, but not always.
Middle / Teen Alter; a part considered to be a teenager / under 18
Messenger Pigeon; a part who relays messages to people outside the system, usually online. They may also communicate information from one part to another.
Middlex; a non-explicit term for a middle, or age-slider, that holds trauma with more adult themes (such as negative sexual, or drug-related experiences).
Midwife; a healer or medic that specializes in helping pregnancy out of body or in headspace.
Migraine Fronter; a headmate who fronts during migraine to relieve the other fronter of pain.
Mischief Manager; a type of protector who fronts to prevent mischief makers from causing serious harm to both the system and its surroundings. Not every mischief maker will be accompanied by a mischief manager, though each mischief manager has a mischief maker they regulate.
Misguided Protector; a part that tries to take on the role of a protector, but turns into a prosecutor or persecutor out of a misguided attempt to help the system.
Moderator; a part that focuses on intra-system relationship of any kind. They can either mediate them, making them better, or sabotage them, making them worse.
Moldbreaker; a system role/modifier for parts who introduce something new and different to the system. They usually bring new ideas, beliefs, wisdom, points of view, etc. to the system which may be a catalyst for change in the ideals of the system itself.
Muse; a part that specifically works to inspire a creator, either directly or indirectly. Some muses are more proactive than others and work as a creative partner to another, assisting with artwork in ways large and small. Other muses are generally passive and the inspiration they give a creator is through their own existence or actions.
Mood booster; a part who boosts the overall mood of the system. Commonly, they can be very cheerful.
Mortician; a part whose purpose is to hold trauma related to near death experiences and who can process it better than other parts.
Mother Figure; a descriptor for a part whose role is to be a mother to another member or to someone outside the system. This can encompass acting as a caretaker or protector to the other person, or being their sysparent in case of internal relationships.
Motivation Holder; a part who holds or boosts the system's motivation. They will often hold the motivation to prevent other parts from using it in an unproductive way, and/or front to get things that are necessary done.
Mutalion; a role describing a part who changes the innerworld forms of other parts. This can also effect how parts see their surroundings, how they feel or even how they act in some cases.
Mutineer; a part working against a Persecutor-Host or another oppressive system governing structure. Mutineers may be seen as accusers by the institutions they're working against.
Naturalist; part that is extremely connected to nature. They love the outdoors and feel most comfortable surrounded by nature and natural things. They are the most likely to be the best with plants and animals, and most of their interests likely revolve around all of these things. They are often tasked with the care of any plants or animals the system has as a whole, or, at least, the "less appealing" caregiving required.
Neglect Holder; type of (emotion / memory / trauma / etc) holder who holds feelings / memories / trauma / etc of neglect.
Negotiator; a part whose role is to settle disputes or arguments externally with singlets or other systems apart from their own
They find compromises, where other system members may be reluctant to or too stubborn to even consider. They take pride in finding the "middle ground" that everyone can in some way agree on.
Nightmare soother; a part that acts as a soother to a part or the system as a whole after a nightmare.
Nightmare holder; a part that holds the nightmares of any part or a certain part. This could be the whole nightmare or just a part of the nightmare. They could also hold the memory and/or trauma that could be related to the dream. This is considered a role.
Nightwatcher; a part that takes over front at night exclusively. They front when the rest of the system is asleep.
Nostalgia Holder; a system role for members who hold feelings of nostalgia for a system. This could be happy feelings of nostalgia, or negative feelings. parts with this role may front when the system sees, hears, or does something that brings up feelings of nostalgia.
NPD Holder; a type of symptom holder who holds the symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).
Observer; a part who hovers or is co-conscious with other parts frequently. This means that they are almost always observing everything that happens in the outer world. Observer parts may find that they experience little to no memory loss, if compared to parts that may experience that. Some observers may prefer not to front or front rarely, and instead just watch everything from the sidelines.
Obsession Compulsion Holder; a part whose role is to hold onto the system’s obsessions and compulsions, and may often try to keep both away from the rest of the system, or may front to deal with both.
Obsession Keeper; a part whose role it is to hold onto the system's obsessions, and may often try to keep the obsessions away from the rest of the system.
Obsessor; a part whose purpose is to obsess over something or someone.
Obsonātor; a type of soother that surrounds the body's mind with an overwhelming song or thought to block out another part's distressing thought, intrusive thought, or stuck song syndrome. Obsonātors don't sing the music or speak the thought directly. It projects from them at their will, and fills the space around them. They can continue to talk or think their own thoughts while this happens, but it can be difficult to focus on doing both at once.
Obtruder; a part who intentionally mocks, sarcastically encourages, and/or guilts other parts for their intrusive thoughts. This is done with the intent of wanting other parts to feel ashamed for thinking this way (out of a belief that the intrusive thoughts are the secret wants of the part having them). Obtruders may be scared of the thoughts becoming reality and simply try to prevent this from happening using harmful methods.
Officium; a part who is essential to the system’s functions for some reason. The system's way of functioning would be heavily effected if they were to go dormant, fuse, or similar.
Optimists; parts who are always trying to find the good in things for themselves, the system, and others. Whether that be finding more good in an already good thing or the little bit of good in a primarily bad thing, they try to boost other system members up when they're down. They are always looking for any of the potential positives in anything that happens. They also tend to be, but don't have to be, the life of a party. Also known as “Happiness Holder”, “Joy Holder” or “Positivity Holder”
Ordemate; a part who has the 'final word', or last say in decisions.
Order Keeper; a part that overall assists in keeping things running smoothly. They may help to make sure that all fronters remain calm and collected and don't act rashly, and overall help keep things in order. Order keepers may have a variety of tasks helping within the system , and their fronting frequency may vary, though they may be drawn to wherever tensions and chaos are high, assisting where possible.
Ordermate; a part who (typically, not always) presents as an AI integrated into a system to assist in primary system function. Preventing system collapse, dormancy, aiding in getting members unstuck from front, assisting in fragments formation and keeping track of and tabs on every system member.
Organizer; a part who archives and stores information about the system in locations outside of the headspace. They may also predict new headmates and new locations in headspace. Organizers may be considered a subset of archivists.
Ògregulator; is a system role exclusively for age regressor / age slider and little parts whose job is to help the system be more stable by simply being a young kid regardless of body age. This role helps the system relax, destress and regulate emotions better.
Outernaut; an alternative to the term Host. It's a part who is primarily in charge of fronting, external life, and daily matters. A system may have one, two, fluid, or no outernauts.
Overseer; a part who keeps an eye on everything. Not necessarily a gatekeeper, overseers ensure that everyone in headspace is safe. They are able to keep an eye on everyone as needed. An overseer may also be a protector.
Outlaw; a subtype of persecutor in which they have little to no contact with other system members and usually avoid the influence of gatekeepers.
Overlord; a part that takes on several different protector tasks for their system. Their main focus may be to prevent disaster such as bodily harm, with less severe dangers still falling under their responsibility.
Overnaut; a part that holds or experiences intense overthinking. They may cause the other fronters or themselves to overthink upon fronting.
Overwatcher; a part who watches over the whole headspace. They may also be able to transform it and also have the role architect.
Pacific; a part whose role is to promote and engage in relaxing activities, such that the system feels calm and stress-free. They may value self-care and strive to achieve and maintain a healthy mind through meditation, reading, sitting in nature, listening to music, or any other tranquil activities. However, a pacific uses discretion in determining when and how to encourage these actions, so the system does not become complacent or lazy. Rather, they may advocate for the fronters to take breaks or pace themselves through activities so they do not become tired or burned out. They may also research and promote grounding practices and coping strategies to assist the system through periods of distress or anxiety.
Pacifier; a part who fronts to calm down the body and to put it into a relaxed or mellow state. Pacifier parts tend to have a very instant reaction when fronting, and may even make the body fall asleep if needed. Pacifiers usually don't help calm down other parts in the headspace, and specifically focus on the system's body or the part who is fronting at that moment.
Pain Holder; a part who holds onto pain, often to prevent other parts from feeling said pain. A pain holder can front when the body is in some sort of pain. A part can be a pain holder and a pain manager.
Pain Manager; a part n charge of controlling and helping other parts deal with and manage their pain. They can also front to aid the body in managing with their pain in a better way. Unlike a pain holder, they don’t store pain but help cope and deal with it. However, a pain manager will often hold their own pain, and can often be a pain holder as well.
Panic Holder; a part who fronts to deal with panic and/or panic attacks. This may be considered a type of trauma holder if the attacks are linked to traumatic experience, or a type of symptom holder relating to a panic disorder.
Paranocer; a persecutor or janusian who has peculiar ways of functioning. This can be used to describe their peculiar function alone or the peculiar effect they have on the system as a whole. Some ways that a paranocer may function peculiarly are:
- a paranocer acting in ways that would be seen as harmful that typically end up having opposite effects such as their harmfulness being more or completely null or helpful.
- a paranocer whose actions end up doing or feeling more helpful than harmful may cause the system to have more positive views towards them and/or they end up having less effect regardless of personal emotion-based behavior.
- a paranocer whose actions end up doing or feeling more null/fruitless than harmful may cause the system to have more neutral views towards them and/or they end up having even less of an effect regardless of personal emotion-based behavior.
Paichmate; a part, whose primary role is to play games for the system (such as for stress relief, a break from things, etc).
Parental Figure; a part whose role is to be a parent to another part or to someone outside the system. This can encompass acting as a caretaker or protector to the other person, or being their sysparent in case of internal relationships.
Peacemaker; a part whose purpose is to find compromises for internal disputes between system members. They take pride in settling arguments for the better in which everyone is happy with the outcome.
Pendiflux; a part whose role(s) fluctuate(s) from pending to having role(s), like host or protector, etc. They could be pending, then take on or be given a role, then later be pending again and get the same role and/or a completely different one again. This can sometimes even be so rapid it’s hard and/or impossible to keep track of. They could be forever stuck pendiflux until it randomly stops or only be pendiflux for a few days or more until a part finally knows which or receives a role or roles they can settle on and/or are/were supposed to have.
Pending; A part who's role is pending is imminent, still being decided and or feels as though it hasn't quite "loaded" in yet, but feel as if they're supposed to have or going to have role(s) and or need or want one or some for whatever reason that may be.
It could be forever pending in or only be pending for a few days or more until a part finally knows or receives what role(s) they want and or are/were supposed to have.
Perceptionalist; a part capable of feeling the presence of most/all others in the system. Their insight can be used to help perceive member count, whether a specific member is forming, etc. This perception may or may not include dormant members. Not inherently connected with other managerial roles.
Perennial Host; a part whose role as host/outernaut is permanent. A perennial host may have other roles, but they will always be the host until fusion or dormancy. A perennial host will rarely, if ever, be able to leave front, but they will always at the very least be co-conscious. They will likely have trouble accessing headspace, if they're able to at all. This role is intended and made for P-DID systems to describe a role the dominant part may have.
Performer; a part who fronts to do performing arts tasks such as theatre, music, and dance. This could be because they’re more skilled, more passionate, they did these activities in their source, or they simply want to! A performer may take music/dance lessons, front during rehearsals, practice instruments or routines on their own, memorize lines for the system, and/or instruct other headmates on proper technique. A performer who only fronts for a specific activity, such as theatre, could be referred to as the system’s actress; a performer who fronts to dance could be referred to as the system’s dancer, and so on.
Perinaut; an alternative to the term Co-Host. It's a part who is not necessarily in charge of daily life, but still performs an integral external role. They may orbit the front frequently too. A system may have one, two, fluid, or no perinauts.
Perirelatian; a part who deals with relationships, concerning ones outside the system and ones inside of it. How they deal with such relationships is up to the part using this term. Can deal with any kind of relationship, and is not inherently exclusive to romance.
Perpetrators; parts who are mean or angry towards people outside of the system, mostly to keep the system safe. They may reenact trauma the system has endured too.
Persecutor; a part who acts harmfully towards other system members, the body, or to others. This is usually out of a misguided attempt to protect the system. Persecutors often hold internalized trauma and act in reaction to it and the harm they cause may be unintentional. This can include aligning with abusers, engaging in self-harm or suicidal behaviors, abusing drugs, lashing out, etc. All persecutors deserve kindness, patience, and the chance to work through their problems just like any other part.
Persecutorflux; a part that fluctuates between being a persecutor and whatever their usual role is, usually due to high emotional triggers that negatively affected the part, but only until they've calmed down. An example may be a protector becoming a persecutor due to a trigger for an hour until they've calmed down, before resuming back to normalcy.
Persecutor-Gatekeeper; a type of persecutor that's also a gatekeeper who controls switches, and can be harmful toward new people and/or people who want to front.
Persecutor-Middle; a middle (an age generally capping at 17) that also acts as a persecutor to their system. They may act because of a lack of understanding of healthy relationships or the consequences of their actions, but they may also be fully deliberate in their behaviour.
Persecutor-Otherholder; a type of persecutor that operates for a reason that may not always be easy to change. A part could hold an aspect of a personality that a person can't face about themself- for example, they might hold anger, jealousy, assertiveness, pride, etc, and express that in ways other parts may not approve of.
Persecutor-Traumaholder; a type of persecutor that lashes out directly because of trauma. Trauma responses can often be dangerous in and of themselves when taken out of the context that trained them, and many persecutors may lash out mostly or solely because of trauma, or even out of frustration that they cannot share their trauma. It should be noted that while most persecutors are trauma holders, most persecutors are not acting specifically and exclusively out of trauma, though it most certainly plays a large role for a lot of them. Persecutors that seek out dangerous situations or habits in order to cope with trauma fall under this category.
Personal Caretaker; a caretaker that has been specifically assigned to care for one part, sometimes referred to as their charge. Personal caretakers tend to only have one charge, but can have a small collection of them. The major distinction is that they specialize in caring for a specific member(s) of the system.
Perspice; a part who can explain the inner workings of their system, whether it be to those external to the system or new parts.
Pessijective; parts who are pessimistic and put the system into a more negative emotional state.
Pet Loss Processor; a part who processes the death of a pet.
Philician; a part who holds certain paraphilias for the system. This may differ from a symptom holder due to the fact that not all view their paraphilias as symptoms. These parts may or may not be heavily influenced or affected by the paraphilia(s) they hold, and they may or may not have been formed to help deal with said paraphilia(s).
Philosopher; a part who practices philosophy. They have deep thoughts about existence and the purpose of things, and they enjoy making philosophical theories.
Photographer; a part that takes a moment in the innerworld & 'takes a picture' of the moment. This could be used for just remembering a moment or to help map out the system visually.
Pin cushion; a part that fronts to "soak-up" the stress and anxiety from certain situations. Pin cushion headmates also tend to hold onto this anxiety or stress afterwards, usually to keep it away from the rest of the system. However, this doesn't necessarily mean that the part is good at managing stressful situations due to the fact they hold onto it often. This can be a little different than an experience as an anxiety holder, or this may be completely synonymous depending on the part; as not all holders necessarily front to absorb the thing they hold.
Playmate; a part in a system which acts as entertainment for other parts, and works to cheer them up. These parts are typically littles or non-human, (specifically playfull ones), but this is not always the case.
Plurvigil; a part that when in front, or is co-conscious will mainly observe the outerworld, taking in information to sort and then impart out to other members so that they can make use of the collected information that they might not otherwise have.
Pollkeeper; a temporary role where one keeps track of votes for system poll(s).
Polyholder; a holder term for a part who holds a lot of things. can be anything from emotions, symptoms, memories, etc, or a mix of things.
Polyrole; a term for a part who has multiple roles.
Posier; a part who fronts in professional situations, or in general situations where they need to appear as calm and have good behavior. Posiers could also be a form of mask, to appear more as a singlet and/or neurotypical.
PPD Traits Holder; a type of symptom holder for a part who holds PPD traits.
Practitioner; an adjective that refers to parts practicing a specific profession or art.
Praiser; a part that tends to fit in the caretaker archetype. They will prioritize praising parts and rewarding them when they’ve done well. Usually, they form due to a lack of praise/support growing up.
Prankster; a part who is persecutor-aligned. They are mischievous and often found doing things to harm the system in question. Pranksters do not do these things to purposefully harm the system, per-se, but do it for fun or their own enjoyment.
Preventer; a part who spots and prevents new bad habits from developing. For example, a preventer may spotting a possible new compulsion and stopping it from becoming one. This term is intended to be used only by systems with OCD.
Primary Fronter; the part that, more often than not, has general control over the body.
Prime Mover; a part whose role is to direct and develop any specific project the system is working on, be it occupational, academic, recreational, etc. They consider making progress on this project a priority, and may front (or encourage/delegate others) to work on it, practice skills related to it, research information pertaining to it, and so on. The project may also be a goal, such as to improve at art or cooking. It may be any objective that is collectively important to all or most of the system. Once the project has been completed to a degree the prime mover deems satisfactory, they may or may not move on to a different one.
Prioritizer; a part whose role is to help with another part or the system's stress. They might only be designated to help a specific part, a group of parts, or the whole system. A system can also have more than one prioritizer, even if one or more of the prioritizers help the whole system. The term was inspired by prioritization. A prioritizer's role might manifest in many ways;
- Resolving conflicts
- Reducing contact with the source(s) of stress
- Redirecting the part/system's attention elsewhere until they relax
- Fronting until the source of the stress is gone or resolved
However, it is not limited to any of the above. A prioritizer may continuously stop a stressed part from fronting, or take over front when they try to interact with the source(s) of stress. This can be intentional or unintentional. This can sometimes lead to them becoming frontstuck.
Prism; a part who hides the system from other people and itself. A prism member tends to be fronting or co-fronting around 90% to 100% of the time. When another part fronts, the prism member will cover them and most often act like them without it being blending or blurring. The prism member can be considered as a wall between parts and the outer world, and have the sensation of playing a role.
Positive Memory Holder; a part that holds the positive memories of the body/system
Proferians; similar to trauma holders, in that these system members hold traumatic memories. They may even get stuck reliving said trauma from time to time or very often. The degree of which depends on how a system works. While reliving said trauma, they are often unaware of the passage of time and thus are rarely the system member or members who handle daily life for a system.
Pronoun Amasser; a part whose role is to collect pronouns, either for themself, other parts, or the system as a whole.
Prophet; a part who can predict how a forming part will interact with existing parts, the relationships they may form, etc. Prophets may then inform a gatekeeper whether or not the newly forming member can interact with the majority of the system.
Prosecutor; the same concept as a persecutor, although this system member expresses outward aggression towards those not in the system. A Prosecutor can also be a Persecutor, and vice versa.
Prosecutorflux; a part that fluctuates between being a prosecutor and whatever their usual role is, usually due to high emotional triggers that negatively effected the part, but only until they’ve calmed down. An example may be a protector becoming a prosecutor due to a trigger for an hour until they’ve calmed down, before resuming back to normalcy.
Protector; a part whose role is to protect other members of the system from external harm, traumatic memories, harmful members of the system, or other threats.
- Physical Protector ; the Physical Protector fronts when the body is in physical danger
- Emotional Protector; the Emotional Protector fronts when the body is in emotional danger (ie. when emotions are getting high) / helps with emotional regulation
- Verbal Protector; the Verbal Protector that fronts when the body is in verbal danger (ie. Being yelled at)
- Primary Protector; the Primary Protector that fronts in any situation
- Personal Protector; the Personal Protector fronts when a certain person is in a situation
- Relationship Protector; the Relationship Protector fronts and helps when the body is in a relationship / helps with the relationship
- Food Protector; The Food Protector that fronts when the body is in a food related situation / helps with an eating disorder
- Situational Protector; The Situational Protector that fronts when the body is in specific situation
- Spiritual Protector; The Spiritual Protector fronts and helps protect the body spiritually / may do some sort of practice (crystals, deities, etc.)
- General Protector; The Protector that fronts when the primary protector is not able to front
Protescutor; a part who would technically be a prosecutor/persecutor otherwise but they and/or their parts don’t feel it totally fits or don’t like the connotations. Usually, a part who "isn’t as much of a jerk" as prosecutors/persecutors are seen as. Can also be used for parts who are both persecutors and protectors, similar to a janusian.
Pseudogatekeeper; a part that functions similarly to a gatekeeper / elentor / front keeper, but for some reason, is not one.
Pseudonaut; a part whose role is to cope with and / or hold their system's pseudomemories. They may or may not be able to access the memories, and they may or may not know whose memories they are coping with. These parts can choose to take on the role of coping with these memories, as some memories may be upsetting to parts or to the system, while other parts can form with the role already, which may be due to their source, if they have one.
Pseudoprotector; a part that functions similarly to a protector / guard / guardian, but for some reason, is not a one.
Punching Bag; a part that acts as a “stress ball” for other parts, or as a physical “venting grounds” for them. They can be those who do not feel, do not mind, or even enjoy pain. Some punching bags have regenerative abilities or are able to create multiple bodies in headspace. This allows for them to perform their role for multiple parts at a time. This term can only be used as a self-identifier and cannot be assigned or forced on to someone without their explicit and enthusiastic consent.
Quaestor; a part that oversees an area of headspace as part of an in-system government. They may act as a governor of sorts and hold various responsibilities and roles similar to that of a gatekeeper, protector, and architect.
Quoitin; a role replacement term for when a part doesn't want to share their role for whatever reason. This includes, but is not limited to:
- having a role that they're uncomfortable with sharing,
- having a role that they may feel is triggering for others to know, so they prefer to keep it more hidden,
- not feeling like others need to know their role,
- feeling like their role is irrelevant to others, and is not important for others to be aware of it.
Rationalizer; a part who helps their system rationalize. They might front and argue, relativize, or otherwise steer the system into a direction they view as more rational. They might aim to promote critical thinking, or avoid overthinking or irrational decisions of other members.
Realizer; a part whose role is the exact opposite of a confuser's. Acting as someone who helps the system realize and process its traumas. Bringing up things that might have been buried deep and finally processing them. Allowing for what is to hopefully be a healthier life and system. Assisting in the acknowledgement and acceptance of trauma. Often having cross over or working closely with therapists.
Reassurer; a part who supports their fellow parts when they feel they’re not doing their tasks/roles correctly. For example, if another part feels like they’re not properly masking, a reassurer will support them and assure them that they’re doing well.
Rebound; parts who tend to try to return to past abusers or dangerous and/or abusive situations. This is usually out of a form of sympathy or loyalty to the said abuser, but this is not always the case.
Reconciler; a part who is responsible for bridging the divide between parts who have internal trauma (usually between eachother) by promoting understanding and reconciliation. The goal of this is to bring the system closer together, allowing for smoother and more efficient functioning while fostering internal harmony. Reconcilers can serve as a mediator, helping parts to communicate and understand one another's experiences. By doing so, the reconciler enables headmates to recognize and address any underlying issues that may be hindering their growth or causing internal discord.
Reality Escapist; part who helps deal with depersonalization and derealization
Receptionist; a part responsible for greeting either new members of the system or walk-ins (see walk-ins for reclaimed definition).
Recycler; a part who does both the job of taking apart members and putting together fragments or members.
Rehabilitator; a part who 'rehabilitate', or attempt to "restore someone to health or normal life through training and therapy." These parts often work with parts that can be considered dangerous, such as Intentional Harmers, persecutors, Aggressors, Malicitors, or Attackers. In order to rehabilitate the parts, they may act as a therapist for the part in question, or really anything else the part needs in order to heal and become less harmful. In addition, a Rehabilitator may be able to act as a gatekeeper for the part they are rehabilitating or even other parts, be able to control their memories and their fronting abilities. This may be to keep other parts safe, or to help them remember what they did was wrong and way. Rehabilitators often, but not always, front alongside the rehabilitatee, often keeping enough of a distance so that the rehabilitatee feels as though they are not being constantly watched, but staying close enough to jump in if necessary.
Romanticist; a part that frequently handles romantic relationships, feelings and/or attractions, or is simply present for them. They may be an emotional funnel for romantic feelings/attraction or are easily influenced by the romantic feelings of their parts. This role can happen naturally, or be assigned.
Reliux; a part who formed due to religious reasons (traumatic or not), and/or a part who handles matters of religion within the system.
Scout; a part that looks around the headspace for other parts that are lost or hidden, or new locations.
They may be the only one capable of accessing restricted areas. Some may be able to fight back against internal threats as well.
Secret Keeper; a part whos role involves keeping secrets from either the rest of the system or the Host. This is most commonly to keep out information about abuse.
Sexual Alters; parts formed to cope with sexual trauma or that are sexual in nature, mostly due to this sexual trauma. They can also help cope with current sexual situations.
Sexual protectors; parts who either protect the system and try to prevent sexual abuse, or front during situations to protect the system from the memories. Sexual protectors might take sexual abuse or attempt to instigate sexual abuse in an attempt to feel more in control of the situation. These are the ones who took any sexual abuse.
Shepherd; a part whose role is to gather the littles in one place to keep them safe.
Shock absorber; a part who fronts to help the body function in times of exhaustion, pain, and other physical symptoms. They can be unaffected or minorly effected by physical symptoms, but it may vary.
Socializer; a part whose role is socializing. They may be better at socializing, more comfortable doing so, or just generally enjoy socializing more than the rest of the system.
Sleeper; a part whose main role is to make the body sleep. They may be overall sleepy and tired most of the time as a result. They could have formed because the body was sleep deprived, or they can come with a disorder generalized with sleepiness, but neither of those are requirements. Distinct from a drowser because their role is to sleep, not lull others to sleep.
Soother; a part who soothes the body or other parts, whether actively or by their presence.
Solivagant; is a term for a part who has a defined "intense" presence in the system and in headspace overall, but they cannot be seen, touched, smelt, or heard - some may describe solivagant parts as ghostly or off-putting.
Solliciten; a part whose role is related to anxiety, typically through fronting during strong periods of anxiety, but who isn’t the holder of it.
Spiritualist; a part who specifically manages the outerworld spiritual life, and participates in outerworld spiritual practices.
Steward; a part responsible for maintaining the system's health (both mental and physical) and its responsibilities (such as childcare, schoolwork, chores, and hygiene), oftentimes in the absence of other parts. In essence, Stewards keep the lights on. This is a general umbrella term including any parts that are called to the front for specific important work.
Substitute; a part whose role is to act in place of another part(s). This can be temporarily copying the subject’s, acting in place for them, and/or pretending to be them.
Supernova; a part that is very intricately intertwined with most, if not all, parts within a system in one way or another. Should that part experience a very intense emotional breakdown, there is an extremely high chance of at least the feelings of that breakdown bleeding over into the parts they're connected to. The risk of connected parts also having their own breakdowns due to the emotional bleed is also quite high.
Survivalmate/Survivalist; is a role in which a part fronts during survival situations in order to live/exist through the situation. Survival situation can mean a situation that requires emotional survival skills such as masking, recognizing red flags, setting/keeping boundaries and etc., and/or physical survival skills such as fighting, medical knowledge, wilderness survival knowledge, etc. This differs from a protector because they do not generally want to live through a situation to protect the system, but because they have the skills to live through it. Parts with this role may be considered a protector but not always.
Swordsperson; a part that is very protective of their friends, partners, and/or family. They focus on protecting those they care about outside of the system rather than those within. Depending on their overall personality, they may seem or come off as "over-protecting" to others, but that's just primarily how they show that they care.
Symptom Holder; a part who holds symptoms of the body's neurodivergence, mental illness, etc. A symptom holder may hold certain/specific symptoms, multiple symptoms, or all symptoms.
Syllogist; A part who focuses on logic and statistics when it comes to just about anything. They especially use it to determine how system wide or system member decisions might turn out. They can also tend to use it to justify their own feelings about certain things or to try to shut down their emotions if they view them as "wrong" or "illogical". This can either be a part that already feels a lot of emotions or very little or in between.
Symptom manager; similar to a symptom holder, but does not necessarily hold the symptoms in themselves. They manage or otherwise deal with symptoms in a way other parts are unable to. This usually means handling them in a more healthy way than the others, but this is not always the case.
System Stabilizer; - Takes front and stabilizes the host in system emergencies
System keeper; a part within that takes care of various system-related things. This overlaps existing, more specific roles like Architect, Archivist, Beastmaster, Census Taker, and/or Gatekeeper among other similar roles, but does not necessarily denote that part performs all aforementioned or unmentioned roles. A part can take on only a couple or be all of them if they so choose or if that is their function within the system. This is a term to allow for having multiple of these roles bunched together to look less scary on a list of one's system roles.
Technician; a part who is responsible for figuring out the system's functions and handling technical things within the system, such as; Analyzing parts, fragments, the innerworld, etc. and figuring out how those function, Keeping track of splits or merges and figuring out how or why they happen, Keeping track of member count, groups, clusters, subsystems, layers, etc. There is no limit as to how one may want to identify with the term, for as long as it refers to someone who deals with technical things within the system in some way.
Test dummy; a part who works with technicians to help figure out system functions through aiding in experimentation. For example, if a technician wants to know more about how fronting and switching work, they may ask to observe a test dummy.
Therapist; a part who provides therapy and mental health care for other parts. There are several ways they can do this, such as researching coping methods for the system, reminding the system of what was learned in therapy, or being someone that others can vent to and receive advice from. Therapists can be considered a type of caretaker or protector. It is important to mention that just because a part has the therapist role, it does not necessarily mean that they are a licensed therapist and are qualified to provide actual counselling.
Timekeeper; a part that keeps track of time for the system and makes sure the system is where they need to be on time (work, school, meetings, hangouts, parties, etc) as well as keeping track of the time and whether in the innerworld. They tend to get stressed if anyone (inside or outside the system) is running late, but can sometimes also get stressed out if they tend to be places too early and have to wait for things to begin or other people to arrive.
Trauma Breaker; a part who fronts to handle trauma, and handles all types of trauma (trauma, exotrauma, intra trauma, etc.) within the system. The system member is not necessarily to separate the rest of the system from the trauma, but because they can handle it easily if needed.
Trauma Holder; is simply any part that holds significant trauma, often to keep others within the system safe from that knowledge. The kind or perceived severity of trauma is diverse amongst trauma holders, and can manifest as being loyal to abusers, unprompted anger, and anxiety.
Vicarian; a part that acts on the desires of their parts, or seeks out positive, satisfying or rewarding things because other members are unable to. These members may have something stopping them or holding them back, such as trauma or anxiety, but the vicarian is not be affected by these barriers or is not affected as much. As a result, the parts experience the acted-upon desires vicariously.
Warden; a special kind of protector that keeps the system safe from malicitors, trechtors, and persecutors by keeping them 'jailed' within a section of headspace or otherwise dormant/incapacitated. Not all wardens are benign; some are corrupt or active persecutors themselves who jail other parts in a misguided attempt at keeping 'order' in the system.
Worrier; a part that often worries for the worst, even if it's unintentional. They often focus more on the bad than the good, even sometimes finding bad in things that are primarily good. They don't want to disrupt the system, but sometimes their over-worrying can do that.
Worker; a part that performs one or multiple kinds of work for the system, whether it be external (like school or a job) or internal (like managing parts of the inner world). Workers may focus on duties the rest of the system struggles with.