Marvel Comics

Marvel Comics is one of the most influential media franchises in the world, and is famous for its superhero comics in particular. Throughout the various comic runs published by Marvel, there are a number of notable plural characters, even among some of the most famous characters in its roster.

Note that this is not an exhaustive list of plural characters in Marvel! This is a small selection, and we're on the lookout for more.

Green Goblin

Once an influential chemical scientist, Norman Osborn created a serum designed to give himself super strength, but due to tampering by his son Harry, it instead drove him insane. Becoming the Green Goblin, he turned into one of Spider-Man's most famous enemies, and it was later revealed that both Osborn and the Goblin were separate entities, with the Goblin serving as a powerful influence on Osborn's mind.

Hulk

After an accident in a gamma radiation experiment caused scientist Bruce Banner to turn into the green monstrosity known as the Hulk any time he becomes enraged, he went on the run, alternately joining and leaving various hero teams including being a founding member of the Avengers. It was later revealed that Banner had DID but had never been diagnosed, and the Hulk was an alter that had existed prior to the accident but was changed and enhanced by it.

Magik

This character is fictive-approved!

Our system has a fictive of this character! See our roster for info.

The sister of the X-Men's Colossus, Illyana Rasputin was kidnapped by the demonic sorcerer Belasco and taken to Limbo at the age of 6, where she was trained as his apprentice. When the Beyonder later detected the demonic tainting of her soul, he drew it out of her, causing her to transform into the demonic Darkchylde. While it's never been completely clear how separate her two sides are, they have often had conflicting goals, pushing back against each other in various ways.

Moon Knight

This character is fictive-approved!

Our system has fictives of this character! See our roster for info.

Possibly Marvel's most famously plural character, Moon Knight is the superhero identity of a diagnosed DID system, with alters including Marc Spector, Steven Grant, Jake Lockley, and others. After being killed for standing up to their employer's brutality while raiding an archaelogical dig in Egypt, they were revived by the Egyptian god of the moon, Khonshu, and pledged themselves to become his Fist, fighting crime under the silver cowl of the Moon Knight.

Moon Knight's comics frequently grapple with questions of how real the system's experiences are, with various writers from different eras taking different stances on the source or reality of their condition, as well as other pyschological elements such as also experiencing schizophrenia, being unable to tell the difference between Khonshu and an apparent introject or hallucination of him, and more.

Moon Knight is most well known to the wider public through the MCU miniseries adapting the character.

Superior Spider-Man

After realizing he was nearing his death, Otto Octavius (Doctor Octopus) developed a machine that allowed him to transplant his mind into the body of his nemesis, Peter Parker (Spider-Man), leaving Peter to die in Otto's failing body. However, Peter's consciousness was still linked to Otto's and did not die, using the link to force Otto to experience all of the painful memories of his time as Spider-Man and realize the responsibility Spider-Man holds. Reformed by the experience, Otto swore to Peter he would carry on the legacy of Spider-Man, and even surpass Peter himself.

Peter seemingly disappeared after this, but was later discovered to have simply gone dormant, at which point Otto unsuccessfully attempted to fully erase him; however, Peter survived and later pushed Otto to save a young child who he had considered abandoning, leading Otto to realize he had failed to surpass Peter, as he had not truly understood what it meant to be Spider-Man. With this revelation, he chose to erase himself and return Peter's body to its rightful owner.

Venom

Venom is an alien symbiote from the planet Klyntar, which first bonded with Spider-Man (Peter Parker) before being driven off due to its negative influence on him, and bonding with its most famous host, Eddie Brock. In various depictions, Eddie and Venom interact with each other to varying extents, and their relationship is very much akin to headmates in a system. Venom has also had a number of other hosts, including Flash Thompson and Eddie's son Dylan, and in this list also serves as a stand-in for other famous symbiotes such as Carnage and Anti-Venom.

Major Characters We Don't Know Well

The following characters are major enough to deserve a place on the above list, but we're not familiar enough with their comic appearances to be confident in accurately rating them in detail.

• Ghost Rider — RC 4/5
  Each incarnation of the Ghost Rider is possessed by a supernatural entity, which grants them the character's iconic powers. Notable incarnations include Johnny Blaze (possessed by the demon Zarathos), Daniel Ketch (possessed by one of the Spirits of Vengeance), and Robbie Reyes (possessed by the ghost of his serial killer uncle Eli).
• Legion — RC 5/5
  The son of the X-Men's Professor Charles Xavier, David Haller developed DID due to the trauma of a terrorist attack in which his stepfather was killed. Various stories involving Legion revolve around conflicts between his alters and his ability to absorb others' consciousnesses as new alters.
• Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) — RC *5/5
  When ex-Air Force pilot Carol Danvers' latent half-Kree DNA was unlocked during a kidnapping incident, she developed the second personality of Ms. Marvel, whose powers and superheroics she was initially unaware of. The two would eventually fuse, however her memories were later accidentally absorbed by Rogue, who would develop an introject of the Ms. Marvel persona as a result.
• Typhoid Mary — RC 5/5
  After being repeatedly attacked by her father from infancy, Mary Walker developed DID, with her most well-known alter, Typhoid Mary, gaining powers as a mutant. They went on to become Kingpin's deadliest enforcer and eventually his wife, as well as occasionally becoming romantically involved with Daredevil.

Minor Characters / Alternate Realities

The following characters are very minor presences in the comics, or are only notably plural in specific alternate realities. As above, we have only rated their representation quality if we're confident in our familiarity with their stories.

• Arachknight — RC 5/5
  During the Warp World incident in which the world was folded in half and its inhabitants fused with each other, Spider-Man and Moon Knight were fused into Arachknight, a version of Peter Parker with DID and four known alters: the light-hearted Arachnid, the darker and more aggressive Knight, as well as C.E.O. Peter and Science Peter.
• Aurora — RC 5/5
  Jeanne-Marie Beaubier grew up orphaned in a Catholic school, and developed DID due to being abused by the nuns for talking about her mutant powers, with her alter Aurora holding their powers. The two strongly disliked each other, and repeatedly merged and re-split due to various plotlines while serving as members of Alpha Flight.
• Captain America (Earth-23291) — RC 4/5
  Granted superpowers when her husband forcibly subjected her to the super-soldier serum, Roberta Mendez became the Captain America of 2099 and a member of Alchemax's Avengers, but is unaware of her superhero identity, transforming into Captain America or vice versa when given a specific trigger phrase.
• Cloak & Dagger (Earth-TRN1444) — RQ ★★★☆☆, RC 4/5
  In the universe of the hero shooter game Marvel Rivals, Tyrone Johnson (Cloak) and Tandy Bowen (Dagger) were fused by timestream entanglement and now exist in the same space, with only one able to corporeally exist at a time but retaining the ability to communicate and switch places at will.
• Gabriel Stacy — RC 3/5
  Created as a clone son of Norman Osborn and Gwen Stacy in a plot by Norman's son Harry, Gabriel and his twin sister Sarah died and were cloned or resurrected numerous times due to their accelerated lifespans. One incarnation of Gabriel stole Harry's American Son armor, and committed various crimes as Gabriel while cleaning up after them as American Son, with both being unaware they were one and the same.
• Mister Negative — RQ ★★★☆☆, RC *5/5
  After being subjected to an experimental drug alongside the future heroes Cloak and Dagger, Martin Li developed the second personality of Mister Negative, who attempted to become the de facto ruler of New York's Chinatown, often coming to blows with Spider-Man, Kingpin, and others.
• Outlaw Kid — RC 4/5
  Lance Temple created the Outlaw Kid persona in order to fight crime in the Wild West without his father's knowledge. However, when his father discovered his deception and died of shock, Lance blamed himself and swore revenge on Outlaw Kid due to his memories being obscured by trauma, and the two began to operate independently until recognizing each other just before their death.
• Punisher (Earth-928) — RQ ★★☆☆☆, RC *5/5
  After his lover was turned to glass and shattered in his arms, Jake Gallows, the Punisher of 2099, became increasingly unstable as the Punisher took on a will of his own, and the two later struggled against each other over whether to kill their sidekick Matt Axel for sheltering one of their enemies.
• Scarlet Spider — RQ ★★☆☆☆, RC 3/5
  In the Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider comic run, repeated deaths and resurrections have caused Peter Parker's clone Ben to converse and interact with various past incarnations of himself, though it is unclear whether they are alters or hallucinations.