Alter ego

For other uses, see Alter ego (disambiguation).

"Double life" redirects here. For other uses of Double Life, see Double Life (disambiguation).

An alter ego (Latin, "the other I") is a second self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or original personality. A person who has an alter ego is said to lead a double life. The term appeared in common usage in the early 19th century when dissociative identity disorder was first described by psychologists. Cicero was the first to coin the term as part of his philosophical construct in 1st century Rome, but he described it as "a second self, a trusted friend".

A distinct meaning of alter ego can be found in literary analysis, wherein it describes characters in different works who are psychologically similar, or a fictional character whose behavior, speech or thoughts intentionally represent those of the author. It's also used to design the best friend of another character in a story. Similarly, the term alter ego may be applied to the role or persona taken on by an actor or by other types of performers.

The existence of "another self" was first recognized in the 1730s. Anton Mesmer used hypnosis to separate the alter ego. These experiments showed a behavior pattern that was distinct from the personality of the individual when he was in the waking state compared to when he was under hypnosis. Another character had developed in the altered state of consciousness but in the same body.

Alter ego is also used to refer to the different behaviors any person may display in certain situations. Related concepts include avatar, doppelgänger, impersonator, and Dissociative identity disorder (DID).

Real people with alter ego(s)

Formal name	Moniker/mononym/stage name	Alter ego(s)	Meaning or interpretation of alter ego(s)
Beyoncé Knowles	Formal first name Beyoncé	Sasha Fierce
Avril Lavigne	Avril	Abbey Dawn, Sk8er Girl, Punk Princess, Avie
Brian Warner	Marilyn Manson (alter ego)	Marilyn Manson	Manson has stated that he got the name for his alter ego by combining Marilyn Monroe's first name with Charles Manson's last.
Calvin Broadus	Snoop Dogg (or Snoop Doggy Dogg)	Snoop Lion, Nemo Hoes
Clifford Harris	T.I.	T.I.P., T.I.'s album T.I. vs T.I.P. even directly appropriates a Jekyll and Hyde plot.
Dominick Wickliffe	Crooked I	Slaughterhouse
Dwayne Carter	Lil Wayne	Lil Tunechi, Weezy F. Baby
Katheryn Hudson	Katy Perry	Kathy Beth Terry
Keith Thornton	Kool Keith	Dr. Octagon, Dr. Dooom, Black Elvis, Poppa Large
Kesha Sebert	Kesha (stylized Ke$ha)	Warrior
Madonna Ciccone	Formal first name Madonna	Boy Toy, Dita, Veronica Electronica, Esther, M-dolla.
Marshall Mathers	Eminem	Slim Shady, Ken Kaniff	Slim his antagonist, Ken his gay antagonist
Nasir Jones	Nas	Nas Escobar, Nasty Nas, Nastradamus & God’s Son.
Onika Maraj	Nicki Minaj (alter ego)	Cookie, Female Weezy, Lap Dance Nika, Martha Zolanski, Nicki Lewinsky, Nicki Minaj, Nicki Teresa, Nicki the Boss, Nicki the Ninja, Norman, Point Dexter, Roman Zolanski, Rosa, The Harajuku Barbie, and Tyrone.	Multiple alter egos
Robert Diggs	RZA	Known for having multiple aliases, for different lyrical styles and personalities: Prince Rakeem, The Abbot, Bobby Digital, Bobby Steels, the Scientist, Prince Delight, Prince Dynamite, Ruler Zig-Zag-Zig Allah.
Scott Mescudi	Kid Cudi	Mr. Rager
Shakira Mebarak	Formal first name Shakira	She Wolf
Shawn Carter	Jay-Z	J-Hova (pronounced Jay-Hova)	Considers himself "God" of rap, "They call me J-Hova cause tha flow is religious.". Jehovah is another name for God. Also note that Jay-Z, pronounced Jay Cee for JC, is the slang reference of Jesus Christ.
Stefani Germanotta	Lady Gaga	Jo Calderone (male), Yüyi the Mermaid. Alter egos in single roles include Candy Warhol, Gaga Panda, Drunky Gaga, Skeleton Gaga, Mother Monster, Mary Magdalene, Bride, Barn Hooker, Inez Doppelgänger, Nymhn, and Mother.	Jo her gay male, Yüyi the Mermaid for her production team, Mermaid Music LLC
Tila Nguyen	Tila Tequila (and Miss Tila)	Jane Cordovez
Tim Chantarangsu	Traphik	Timothy DeLaGhetto
William Griffin	Rakim	Rakim Allah, Ra, R.A.K.I.M., The Master, The God Emcee (or God MC), The God
Britney Spears	Formal name	Formerly Britannia, Mona Lisa, The Femme Fatale	Spears stated in interviews that Mona Lisa co-directed the video to her 2005 single "Do Somethin'". She later on released a song to the radio called Mona Lisa, without the permission of her label to release it. The song was re-recorded and released on her debut EP "& Kevin: Chaotic.
Christina Aguilera	Formal name and alter egos	Xtina ( Stripped), Baby Jane (Back to Basics), Madame X (Bionic)
Elvis Presley	Formal name, and King of Rock and Roll or the King	Jesse Garon	Elvis stated "Ya know, I can remember when I was just a little guy, couldn’t’ have been more’n four or five years old, I heard a voice talkin’ to me, like it was in my head. I just figured it was my twin brother Jesse Garon. But I never told anyone – not even my mom. It was like a special secret between Jesse and me." At the age of 5 he "meet" two men that represented themselves as light forms, "one of them touched me and I felt Light inside me - floating sort of", he says to Wanda in an interview. Larry Geller, in his book, ‘If I Can Dream’ states: "Elvis believed that he was working under the aegis of these masters (the White Brotherhood), including Jesus. He felt somehow connected to them and thought that they had helped him....In Elvis’ mind, his life was being directed divinely by the brotherhood of masters and illuminated beings, enlightened entities that have existed since time immemorial."
Janet Jackson	Formal name	Miss Jackson, Janet, Strawberry, Damita Jo
Jennifer Lopez	Formal name	J.Lo, Lola
Jimi Hendrix	Formal name		"He used to always talk about some devil or something was in him, you know. He didn’t know what made him act the way he acted and what made him say the things he said, and the songs and different things like that … just came out of him. It seems to me he was so tormented and just torn apart and like he really was obsessed, you know, with something really evil." - Jimi Hendrix's girlfriend, Fayne Pridgon
Jonathon Davis	Jonathon Davis (Korn) JDevil (DJ)	JDevil (also J Devil)	As JDevil, Davis is an Electronic dance music (EDM) producer, DJ, and performer. As he states in an interview, he has combined initials (JD), and 'evil' into 'JDevil'. He has nicknamed his wife, Deven, Devil, which also is a part of JDevil moniker. Jonathan has always been fascinated by the devil and JDevil's persona embraces the idea of being the "antichrist of EDM". An anagram of JDevil is live DJ.
Justin Bieber	Formal name	Kidrauhl/Shawty Mane/Jason Deeps/Jason McCann/Dr. Bieber/Jason McCann
Kylie Minogue	Formal name or simply Kylie	Aphrodite
Larry Ellison		Oracle, Iron Man	Oracle Corporation (Larry Ellisons) technologies are used by Marvel Entertainment to produce super hero movies. Ellison was in a cameo of Iron Man 2.
Lindsay Lohan	Formal name	Diane, Margot
Mariah Carey	Formal name	Bianca, Mimi
Miley Cyrus	Alter ego Hannah Montana	Hannah Montana
Paris Hilton	Formal name	DJ
Sacha Baron Cohen	Alter egos	Ali G, Borat Sagdiyev, Brüno and Admiral General Aladeen
Sean Combs	Formal name	Puff, Puffy, Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Diddy, King Combs
Kim Kardashian	Formal name	Princess Jasmine
Vickie Lynn Marshall	Anna Nicole Smith	Vickie Lynn Marshall (when married to Marshall), Vickie Lynn Smith (consideration moniker), Vickie Smith (early Playboy career)
Ralph Karingombe	Formal name	Pazok, Omviv, Tandeka, Vivian,

Performing arts usage

Alter egos are used by numerous performing artists who use stage or screen personas (which is different from stage names) both to entertain audiences and to explore new identities for themselves. An early example of a musical group to make use of alter egos was The Beatles, who recorded and performed as Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in order "to alter our egos, free ourselves and have a lot of fun". Alter egos would later be used for entertainment value by glam-associated artists such as David Bowie (as Ziggy Stardust and The Thin White Duke) and KISS, and to exploit horror themes by shock rocker Alice Cooper. Often, these artists are known almost exclusively by their alter egos; In 2004, Jay Sean made innovative use of an alter ego in Me Against Myself, where his two personae, one an R&B singer and the other a rapper, clash in a rap battle.

In contemporary hip hop, artists such as, B.o.B, Nicki Minaj, Tech N9ne, and have used the alter egos Bobby Ray, Roman Zolanski, Tecca Nina, respectively, to explore divisions in their personalities. More subtle uses of alter egos can be seen in artists who redefine their image for an album, such as Christina Aguilera as Xtina and the members of My Chemical Romance as members of an outlaw gang known as the Fabulous Killjoys, and artists who describe their stage personalities as different from their private ones, such as Beyoncé Knowles' identity as Sasha Fierce, Katy Perry's identity as Kathy Beth Terry in music video "Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)".

Comic performers also make use of alter egos as a part of their routines. The Marx Brothers performed throughout their careers as their vaudeville characters. For example, Julius Marx would play (and be credited as) Groucho, whether he was cast a professor (as in Horse Feathers), a veterinarian (A Day at the Races), or a president (Duck Soup). Standup comedians such as Don Rickles (Mr. Warmth) and Jackie Mason (Hartounian) can be said to have developed their shtick into distinct alter egos. Performer Andy Kaufman was chiefly known to fans through several characters, including the Foreign Man (later Latka Gravas), Tony Clifton, and Kaufman's impersonation of Elvis Presley. The biopic Man on the Moon depicts Kaufman as a man whose true identity was difficult to isolate, even by his close friends, because of the prevalence of these alter egos.

Professional wrestlers, more often than not, perform under ring names depicting alter egos, such as Terry Bollea (Hulk Hogan), Mark Calaway (The Undertaker), Paul Levesque (Triple H), Mike Mizanin (The Miz) and Phillip Brooks (CM Punk).

Milwaukee Brewers center fielder Nyjer Morgan occasionally goes by the alter ego "Tony Plush", although not usually.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Main article: Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

The title characters in Robert Louis Stevenson's thriller Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde represent an exploration of the concept that good and evil exist within one person, constantly at war. Edward Hyde literally represents the doctor's other self, a psychopath who is unrestrained by the conventions of civilized society, and who shares a body with the doctor.

The names "Jekyll and Hyde" have since become synonymous with a split personality or an alter ego that becomes capable of overpowering the original self.

Comic book usage

Superman and his alter ego, Clark Kent

In Pre-Crisis comic books, superheroes and their secret identities are often considered alter egos. The archetypal comic book hero, Superman, assumes the identity of the "mild-mannered" newspaper reporter Clark Kent in order to live among the citizens of Metropolis without arousing suspicion. Whereas Clark Kent's true self is Superman (or rather the Kryptonian Kal-El), Batman is a character created by Bruce Wayne in order to disguise himself for the purposes of fighting crime. The Batman comics and movies such as Batman Begins have also explored the theme of the true self (Wayne) becoming lost in or giving himself over to the alter ego, much like the plot of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Post-Crisis comics flip this idea around for both superheroes. Superman becomes the persona that Clark Kent adopts in order to freely use his gifts to help the world without jeopardizing his friends, family and personal life. Conversely, carefree playboy billionaire Bruce Wayne becomes the alter ego necessary to hide the true persona of the crime-fighting Batman. The Incredible Hulk comic book series further complicates this theme, as Bruce Banner loses control to the Hyde-like Hulk whenever he becomes angry, yet also depends upon the Hulk's super powers in order to combat villains. Also the Batman villain Two-Face seems to split his alter-ego from Harvey Dent, whose personality changes from being judge-like to changing back to his Two-Face persona and being ruthless using his two-faced coin to determine life and death.

Comic book-inspired alter egos can be seen in other forms of popular fiction, including television and movie adaptations of comic books, parodies of this genre, and unrelated fictions such as Star Wars or Angel.

In film

In the Our Gang short Mama's Little Pirate, after Spanky gets in trouble for touching his dad's flashlight he gets sent to his bedroom and he talks to his alter ego.

In Youth in Revolt, the protagonist Nick Twisp, played by Michael Cera, is a shy, socially inept teenager who is hopelessly in love with Sheeni Saunders. Twisp then creates an alter ego to help him win her love.

In Bleach, main character Ichigo Kurosaki is confronted by his darker alter ego, Hollow Ichigo, and the two fight for control of Ichigo's body.

In Black Swan, the protagonist Nina Sayers, played Natalie Portman, faces her alter ego represented by the character of the Black Swan.

In Breaking Bad, the protagonist Walter White, a high school Chemistry teacher, slowly forfeits himself to his alter ego, Heisenberg, to survive the drug dealing world.

In 400 Blows, main character Antoine Doinel is the alter ego of the director, François Truffaut.

See also

• Ego-state therapy
• Pen name
• Persona
• Pseudonym
• Ring name
• Moniker (nick name)
• Mononymous person
• Stage name
• Subpersonality
• True self and false self