Headmate Role & Type Master-list (as re-posted by us to be more thorough and all system inclusive)
Below the cut is a masterlist of common headmate roles and types. We will do our best to keep this updated if we think anything else should be on here. Please let us know if there's anything you think we should add or any info we should update to be more accurate!!
Roles
Boosters
A type of headmate designed to hold or boost a certain emotion or feeling in the system, usually when fronting or co-con.
→ Confidence Booster: a headmate that boosts the confidence of the system or specific headmate(s) in front.
→ Mood Booster: a headmate that boosts the mood of the system, specific headmate(s) in front, or those around the system; emotions affected can range from neutral to overjoyed depending on the booster.
→ Motivator: a headmate that either boosts feelings of motivation in the system or specific headmate(s) in front, or helps motivate the system with encouragement.
Helpers
A type of headmate designed to help the system or individual headmates in a specific way.
→ Caretaker: a headmate who takes care of the system, generally by caring for the body or keeping the living space tidy.
→ Internal Helper: a headmate that helps take care of other headmates in the innerworld; may or may not front.
→ Soother: a headmate that helps soothe the body or other headmates, especially in times of distress or following traumatic events.
→ Supporter: a headmate who was formed to keep other headmates company; often in co-con with other headmates.
Holders
A type of headmate designed to hold certain memories, emotions, symptoms, or otherwise within a system; oftentimes fragments, but not always.
→ Anger Holder: a headmate that holds the system’s anger; might be more likely to lash out than other headmates.
→ Pain Holder: a headmate that helps deal with physical ailments in the body, such as pain or sickness; likely has an easier time handling said ailments than other headmates.
→ Symptom Holder: a headmate that holds or more strongly exhibits symptoms of mental illness or neurodivergent behaviors; may exhibit symptoms of disorders not apparent in the system as a whole.
→ Trauma Holder: a headmate that holds significant trauma; may have more vivid memory of the event(s) or memories not recalled by other headmates; often more affected by said trauma.
Protectors
A type of headmate that helps protect against various types of harm to the system.
→ Aggressor/ Aggressive Protector: a protector that’s more likely to be steadfast and have more aggressive mannerisms or methods than other protectors, but not to such a harmful degree as persecutors.
→ Emotional Protector: a headmate that protects against emotional harm and/or abuse.
→ Mental Protector: a headmate that helps protect against mental harm/abuse.
→ Persecutor: a misguided protector that tends to act harmfully towards others in the system, the body, or those around the system, whether in an outwardly aggressive or self-destructive manner.
→ Physical Protector: a headmate that helps protect against physical harm/abuse.
→ Sexual Protector: a headmate that helps protect against sexual harm/abuse.
Situational
A type of headmate that tends to front and/or is especially good at handling specific situations.
→ Academic Headmate: a headmate that is more inclined to help with academic affairs, such as homework, attending classes, studying, etc.
→ Sexual Headmate: a headmate that is highly sexual in nature; may or may not have formed to cope with sexual trauma; not considered a protector.
→ Social Headmate: a headmate that is more inclined to help with social affairs; may be more social or extroverted than other headmates.
Specialized
Headmate roles that do not fit into the above categories.
→ Host: the headmate that fronts the most and handles most day-to-day situations; may be responsible for many or most decisions.
→ Gatekeeper: a headmate that has a greater degree of control over the front than other headmates; may guard the fronting room and/or have more knowledge of the system as a whole than other headmates.
→ Manager: a headmate that has an easier time making decisions for the system; often more logic-driven than other headmates.
Types
Ages
→ Little: a child headmate aged 10 or under.
→ Middle: a tween/teen headmate aged 11-17.
-> Young Adult: an adult headmate aged 18-25.
-> Adult: an adult headmate aged 26+
-> Centenarian: an adult headmate aged 100 years or older
-> Ageless: a headmate who's age is indeterminate for any reason, including but not limited to being too old to be worth counting, in source time shenanigans, having an age that shifts frequently or varies heavily enough to not have a "true age", or being otherwise literally ageless.
Source Status
→ Introject: a headmate who formed with traits, background, or full identity of an outside source; may be a real-life source such as a person or childhood toy, or a fictional source, such as a character.
→ Sourceless: a headmate who seems to be introjected but does not have a definitive outside source or does not connect to their source at all.
-> Brainmade: a headmate that is not introjected and is instead entirely original to the brain
Types of Introjects
→ Factive: an introject who takes on traits or identity from a real person.
→ Fictive: an introject who takes on traits or identity from a fictional source, often characters in media.
-> Fictish/Factish: a headmate who is partially introjected and does not feel wholly attached to their source, and doesn't feel like just "brainmade" "sourceless" or "introject" describes the entirety of their identity or their relationship with their source.
→ Songtive: an introject who takes on traits or identity based on a song.
→ Playtive: an introject who takes on traits or identity based on a toy, usually one from childhood.
Sentience
→ Headmate: a fully sentient and independent headmate who is able to function on their own.
→ Companion: a complex established NPC, often animals, that are tied to specific headmates and often accompany them; generally can only be understood by their associated headmates.
→ Fragment: a headmate who is at least partially sentient, but not generally independent and able to function on their own; often hold specific feelings, symptoms, or memories.
→ NPC: a being in the innerworld who is not sentient or considered a headmate; named after the term “non-player character.”
Species
→ Human: a headmate who presents as a human.
→ Nonhuman: a headmate who presents as any other species than human; often as an animal, supernatural creature, or humanoid with animalistic features.
