User:RemusSandersRegretsEverything/system-roles

There are many so-called "Roles" in a dissociative identity disorder (DID) or Other Specified Dissociative Disorder (OSDD) system. The most well-known system roles are Host, Protector, Trauma Holder, Caretaker, Little, Persecutor and Gatekeeper. There are quite a few more, which I will be explaining in this article. Whether you have a friend who is a system, or you are a part of a system, you can learn about what your friend does in their system, or what purpose you can serve for your system.

First, we have the host. This is the primary fronter in a system. There are also co-hosts. This just means alters who front most who are willing to be a host. Being a host is more a choice than a category.

Next, there is a protector. Whether this be a romantic, physical, emotional, or a sexual protector, they are alters who try to protect the body, the system, or specific alters from harm. Whether that be in a specific area or generally, is up to the alter. Some protectors can get aggressive defending their system.

Then we have Trauma Holders. These are alters who have memories of the trauma the body or brain has gone through. Typically, Persecutors/Prosecutors/Protectors are Trauma Holders or Memory Holders. Which bring us to what Memory Holders are. Memory Holders are similar to trauma holders, except they may have more memories than simply trauma memories. They often have good memories of bad people/abusers.

Moving on, there's caretakers. They can be a caretaker of the body, of littles, or of specific alters. They are often stereotyped as sweet/calm, which is not entirely true.

Continuing, there are Little Alters. Little's ages may vary depending on the system. Typically, the age range is 2-12 years of age. Some systems instead call 8–12-year-olds in their system Middles. 0–1-year-old alters are called infant alters. 18+ alters can be called Big Alters.

Persecutors and Prosecutors are both alters who try to "help the abusers." The difference is that Persecutors aren't considered to be as much of jerks and may not do it intentionally. They are often given a bad reputation and confused with prosecutors, who do it to kill the body/harm the body. They often do it because they don't know how else to deal with the trauma they have.

Next, we have gatekeepers. Gatekeepers are the alters who try to keep the system and the alters in line. They are able to make alters frontstuck, trigger alters into front, and kick alters out of front.

Aside from Trauma and Memory holders, there are Anxiety holders and Intrusive Thought Holders. These are alters who take the full affect, even amplified, of the anxiety and intrusive thoughts the brain comes up with.

Then there are soothers and absorbers. Soothers try to calm down anxious or angry alters, due to the affects they are having on the rest of the system. Absorbers will absorb the emotions of another alter around them, whether that be negative or positive.

Moving on, we have comrades. There are other names for these alters, but they are the alters who try to befriend everyone and anyone they can.

Casters are the next topic. Casters are alters who are able to perform magic. This does not count if the innerworld is magical. It is typically brought with introjects from their source.

Then there are Logicians. These are alters who block out their emotions because they think that they are too illogical.

Introjects are alters based off of real people or a form of media. These are caused from hyperfixations on the person/media. The common introjects are Fictives (alters based on a fictional character), Factives (alters based of a person in real life) and Songtives. (Alters who are based on a lyric/story from a song.)