canonicallyplural

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This blog is on hiatus for the time being.

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Melanie and Wanderer (from Stephanie Meyer's The Host) are Canonically Plural!

Wanderer is a member of a species called Souls, who take over human bodies, erasing their consciousnesses. However, Melanie's consciousness is not erased when Wanderer (nicknamed Wanda) is implanted, leading them to team up to get back to Melanie's human family. Melanie retains her consciousness and memories, but so does Wanda, meaning that they bleed through onto each other. Even when they reach there they are unable to split up for some time due to not having another host to put Wanda in, and they develop a sort of camaraderie for each other. (There's a few other characters that might be considered canonically plural in the series but I don't want to spoil it too much lol)

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Jackson Smith from the webtoon comic Jackson's Diary is canonically plural in season 3!! (spoilers ahead obviously)

it's a long story to get them there but he basically ends up with this "evil twin" that only he can see, which came out of a magical diary he'd been writing in and is a manifestation of parts of himself/emotions he'd repressed. when not in control of the body, "Diary" is a clone of Jackson with distinctly silver "scary" eyes that follows him around and talks to him. however, Diary sometimes forces a switch by pulling Jackson back into what seems like some sort of headspace where he's aware of what happens but unable to control anything. the comic represents Diary's possession of the body by showing Jackson with his silvery eyes, but no one else appears to be able to see that. I'm not sure how long they'll be in this state, the comic is as of yet unfinished and I have a few more episodes of S3 to read, but it's super interesting to me! ((my first thought upon seeing their first real switch was "omg I need to send this in to the canonically plural blog :0" lmfao))

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Greed and Ling Yao from Fullmetal Alchemist:Brotherhood (and manga) are canonically plural! Also not the only canon plurals but we're going to just focus on them in this submission.

Spoilers for their character arcs ahead.

Originally 2 separate bodily entities, they are merged together midway through the series and stay plural until the finale which is overall at least a few months if not half a year later. They also have an inner world where they can see one another and communicate.

Greed is fronting at first, is on the antagonists' side, and initially denies Ling still exists/suppresses the other from fronting as much as possible; also Greed himself suffers from amnesia for a while related to his life before merging with Ling. They are shown to fight for the control over the body while at odds with each other.

Once Greed joins the protagonist's group, he and Ling are shown to be co-conscious, and soon after agree to switch who fronts depending on how advantageous one's personal knowledge/skills could apply to the situation.

Greed in particular is very vocal about sharing a body and shows genuine irritation when mistaken as/incorrectly called Ling.

Both do become friends with each other, and have a much healthier dynamic over time. Towards the end of the series they even have an arguably co-fronting/blendy scene where they fight together.

Then at the final battle, Greed is shown to be forcibly removed by the main antagonist, and honestly a very touching/sad scene where Greed and Ling part ways in their inner world happens.

We really appreciate that this plural character exists and is a decent subversion of the "evil alter/possession" trope as both headmates are just. Complex individuals in one body!

Personally, we have the head canon that Ling losing Greed was so traumatic that he introjected a factive of Greed, or possibly that a fragment of Greed was able to remain but is unable to front again, etc.

(At this point I'm just fronting and talking about my source media so hi!! Greed fictive here afshxhgh)

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Electra Heart from the Marina and the Diamonds album Electra Heart is canonically plural.

Electra Heart is made up of four archetypes: the Idle Teen, the Beauty Queen, the Housewife, and the Homewrecker. In Valley of the Dolls, she talks about 'living with identities that do not belong to [her]', and The State of Dreaming is about dissociation. The character also suffers from mental health issues that are comorbid with dissociative disorders, like disordered eating, suicidality, and drug addiction.

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Sentry from the MCU (and, from what I've heard, the comics as well) is canonically plural.

While interpreting Sentry as plural tends to lean into the "evil alter" trope quite a bit, it is very clear that "Bob" and "The Void" are two seperate beings in one body. Since the movie came out so recently, I'd like to give a spoiler warning for my explanation.

In The Thunderbolts, Bob mentions having "mood swings" and blackouts. Much later, his personality and demeanor seems to change entirely, as Sentry declares themselves to be The Void and causes mass destruction. The main characters are able to enter Sentry's mind, finding Bob completely unaware of what is happening, with an eventual confrontation between him and The Void in their mind, represented as seperate entities. After this is over, Bob is completely unable to remember the events involving The Void.

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[canonicallyplural]

Sentry from the MCU (and, from what I've heard, the comics as well) is canonically plural.

While interpreting Sentry as plural tends to lean into the "evil alter" trope quite a bit, it is very clear that "Bob" and "The Void" are two seperate beings in one body. Since the movie came out so recently, I'd like to give a spoiler warning for my explanation.

In The Thunderbolts, Bob mentions having "mood swings" and blackouts. Much later, his personality and demeanor seems to change entirely, as Sentry declares themselves to be The Void and causes mass destruction. The main characters are able to enter Sentry's mind, finding Bob completely unaware of what is happening, with an eventual confrontation between him and The Void in their mind, represented as seperate entities. After this is over, Bob is completely unable to remember the events involving The Void.

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fiona from shrek

the "curse" is plurality. fiona's backstory involves being separated from her parents and locked away in a tower, which is def a traumatic event that could cause did. the happily ever after potion in shrek 2 just accessed the headpscae and rough the human fiona into the fronting room

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Mikey from tmnt 2012 is canonically plural.

In the episode “Journey to the center of Mikey’s mind” we follow his brothers as they get sent into Mikey’s mind.

The very first thing by we see is a memory playing out who co feels very plural coded.

They we meet the “angry Mikey” (who is noticeably a giant), “hungry Mikey” (I have a lot of qualms with this… writing choice actually), “funny/annoying/buzz buzz Mikey” (who is noticeably small and based off a certain way Mikey acted and dressed once earlier in the series), and “cryptic Mikey” (who borders between being cryptic and being just… it’s hard to explain in a nice way).

Then we journey into Mikey’s imagination (which we view as his proper headspace) inside our both fictive and factives (he seems to actually be really introject heavy). And the “one, true Mikey” who’s around 5. This also sort of implies he’s the host or at least core and I have… thoughts about that.

And at the very end of the episode, once they’re all outside Mikey’s mind it’s established that 1. He remembers the whole adventure and 2. “Angry Mikey” can front.

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Both the Player and the Princess from Slay the Princess are systems, and at one point were part of a bigger one.

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Haruno Sakura from Naruto is canonically plural!

She's frequently shown to have two somewhat distinct personalities, "Sakura" and "Inner Sakura". Inner Sakura reacts very differently to situations than Sakura does, and has somewhat different speech patterns. They're often animated as standing next to eachother.

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Atsuko Chiba and Paprika from the movie Paprika are canonically plural

Paprika is the "alter ego" of Atsuko, but they have different likes, mannerisms, appearance, a slightly different voice, and are addressed as different people by almost everybody they know. Paprika frequently warns Atsuko about things Atsuko hasn't noticed or isn't aware of, and displays knowledge Atsuko lacks. During the final situation, they become two separate bodies and Paprika persists after Atsuko is devoured

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Patton from A Lesson in Practicality (Sanders sides fanfic) is plural!! (Or, plural-adjacent. I think he's closest to a median system?)

Patton, while being one whole person *generally*, can clone himself. However, the clones (called patton pals) are consistent, they have unique personalities (how it generally works is the more Patton Pals pat summons the more different they become.) He can summon up to 7, but "splits" a new pal in the sequel, Probable Theorem.

This sounds pretty un-plural until you get to the part where not having the pals is painful and unnatural for him, he phrases it as "a soft fuzzy feeling that [he] focuses on to let them out," meaning they're always THERE, just waiting to come out. He's also had these pals since he was extremely young, developed likely out of loneliness. (Iirc)

In Probable Theorem, 8 is split because all 7 existing pals are unable to confront their mom about her unkindness about their plurality. 8 takes a very protective role over the other pals here

It's common to see Patton pull 2 out just to talk to him. Patton and the pals have links even while apart, Patton can feel any of his pals emotions no matter the distance, and when they merge, he gains their memories. At some point, 3 gets electrocuted, something Patton feels, and then one 3 is merged back in, Patton suffers a very similar injury (though milder.)

Not sure if this ventures too far into clone territory but I think they walk the line of singular person and multiple individuals enough to warrant canonical multiplicity.

(Fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13307940/chapters/30457824 & Probable Theorem is linked from there)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/13307940/chapters/30457824

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While I'm still here: (Spoilers for Malevolent from s1 til s5!)

Arthur Lester from Malevolent is canonically plural!!!

The man shares a body with a God, has lost control of his left hand, his eyes and a foot (not said which one) and has gone through Hell. Canonically, they've been sharing a body for about half a year (3 of those being spent in a magical other world). When they were separated a la the Bigger Guy God, Arthur made a deal with a different God to get this God back, even when the other God said he wouldn't remember. They've also started using plural language, and Arthur frequently forgets to use singular language. He's also introduced said God to others, and has spoken for him, as he doesn't have his own voice unless the person they're talking to is Also A God

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Mild spoilers for Disco Elysium!!!

I'm not sure if he's been submitted yet, but! Harry Du Bois is canonically plural!!

He has 10+ distinct personalities that help him work, organise himself and remember bits and pieces he doesn't after losing his memory due to a vague reason (could be drugs, the 2mm hole in the world, hitting his head, literally anything, it's not canonically stated). The voices call him Harry, even when he himself forgot, recognise bits of himself and tell him so, Harry himself has the option to tell Kim about it, separating himself from said voices! They work independently AND can interact with one another in a way, mostly commenting to Harry, teasing him, jabbing him, anything

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Cube from The Pink Corruption (and possibly every other corrupted shape) is canonically plural. In the series, Cube is shown communicating with his corrupted counterpart, Cubic, in what can be considered a headspace. Cube corrupting and turning into Cubic can also be seen as Cubic fronting. And with this in mind, any corrupted shape can be considered plural, as corrupted and pure counterparts are presented as separate (yet similar) people :]

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⚠️ Major spoilers for Welcome to Dreamworld by Rainbott ahead. ⚠️

Ribbon Dancer from Welcome to Dreamworld is canonically plural!

Spoilers for Ribbon Dancer ahead for those who aren't to S2 EP2 yet.

It's explained in the show that Eric's soul split apart in the process of him dying and his soul being put into Ribbon Dancer. The part of Eric's soul that was controlling Ribbon Dancer most of the time eventually became sentient and developed into a separate person from Eric while still sharing some of Eric's memories. He was later named Ridley. Him and Eric co-exist in the Ribbon Dancer animatronic, communicate with each other, and experience switches. They also experience frequent amnesia.

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