There are 14 alters in my system. The Sphinx tends to talk about the body almost as if it's an additional alter. The host, John, likes to list and categorize things in order to gain control over information. Analyzing my alters tends to make them and the dissociative identity disorder less strange to me. Those treating individuals with MPD/DID have found that alters tend to fall into certain categories. This list makes me realize that I'm almost pedestrian as persons with DID go, though it may be a little odd I don't have any persecutors or introjects.
Types are forced. They aren't necessarily real but they may be helpful to consider. If someone has 2 alters, the host and one other, trying to find a type may be pointless. If someone has 20 alters, looking for types similarly found in other systems can be helpful. If someone has 200 alters, assigning a type to each may be necessary to start making sense of everyone. I find it can be helpful, so I've done it. However, making assumptions that there would be ANP/EP distinctions has been confusing, counter-productive, wasteful time-wise, and experienced as hurtful to some alters, who were far deeper as personalities than I imagined. I had also counted on finding some alters who were fragments. So when a new alter didn't appear to have had much time in the body, I identified them as fragmentary. But alters were not created or designed that way in my system. They are created as a person with a handful of key traits and they very quickly begin filling themselves in with thoughts, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors that would be consistent with such a person -- something like that.
Accent/Dialect: Jack (Appalachian), Charles (British English)
Animal: Ashár (wolfdog)
Core (original): Adam
Cross-gender: none
Deceased: Dan (reanimated Sep 2011)
Former Hosts: Adam, Little John
Fragments: none
Gatekeeper: the Sphinx
Helper: Marc-Dominic, Hansel (of Johann)
Host: John
Introject: none
Persecutor: none
Protector: Ashár (of Adam), Jack (of John and children), John (of a sibling)
Self-harming: John (mild)
Sexualized: Quato
Shape-shifter: Marc-Dominic
Trickster: Quato
Twins: Hansel, Johann
Untraumatized: Aaron, Marc-Dominic
AGE GROUPS
* 6 Littles (age 0-6): Adam, Ashár, Little John, Hansel, Johann, Charles
* 1 Middle (age 7-12): Jack
* 2 Teens (13-19): Dan, Quato
* 4 Adults: Aaron, Jonathan, John, Marc-Dominic
* 1 Ageless: Sphinx
* 1 Older than body: Marc-Dominic [~15 years older]
SEXUAL ORIENTATION
The body's natural orientation is straight male.
* Straight: Jack, Jonathan, Dan, Hansel, Johann, Aaron, Little John
* Straight with gay addictions (changing): Quato
* Gay: John (shifting)
* Bisexual: Marc-Dominic
* Asexual: Sphinx
* Too young/Unknown: Adam, Ashár, Charles
GENDER
* MALE: John, Jack, Jonathan, Little John, Hansel, Johann, Quato, Dan, Adam, Ashár, Marc-Dominic, Aaron, Charles
* FEMALE: none
* GENDERLESS: the Sphinx
"SOCIAL STATUS"
* HIGH-BROW: Marc-Dominic (sophisticated blue-blood), Jonathan (cultured), John (academic)
* LOW-BROW: Jack (hillbilly), Dan (blue-collar grammar), Quato (street-talking)
CREATED BY:
* ORIGINAL: Adam
* SPHINX (the gatekeeper): Sphinx, Ashár, Little John, John, Jonathan, Jack, Dan
* JOHN: Johann, Hansel, Quato, Charles, Marc-Dominic, Aaron
The 6 alters created by John were unknown to the gatekeeper until their revelation.
CHARACTERISTICS IN COMMON AMONG ALTERS (as far as we can tell):
* protectiveness towards small children
* monogamy