A movie can feel a great deal more compelling if the character leading the story is well-written, has interesting motivations, and is likable, but what happens when a character is home to multiple personalities?
If a movie character features a split personality, viewers will likely witness multiple personas come out of them throughout the story. While watching a character's entire being change can feel quite unnerving, it's hard not to get distracted by how the actor manages to make the transition feel so real. Cinema is home to several characters with split personalities, but some are more iconic than others.
5 The Mayor Of Halloween Town - The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
The Nightmare Before Christmas, directed by Henry Selick, follows Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, on his journey to find a new purpose in his afterlife. He has grown weary of celebrating Halloween every year, and he doesn't know what to do. Upon wandering into a magical land known as Christmas Town, however, he comes up with a rather strange idea, which panics the Mayor.
The Mayor of Halloween Town has only two moods: panicked or confident. Though most people can conceal these moods quite well if they wish to, the Mayor literally wears each emotion on his face. Whenever things aren't going to plan, the Mayor's head will spin, revealing a distressed face hidden on the other side; when everything is fine, the face he presents is a happy one. Whenever the Mayor of Halloween Town switches to a different face, he becomes a completely unrecognizable and different person.
4 Gollum - The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
Directed by Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings trilogy tells the story of a young hobbit's quest across the perilous lands of Middle-earth. Upon inheriting his Uncle Bilbo's ring, Frodo is tasked with venturing to Mordor to ensure the ring is destroyed. He makes a variety of friends during his adventure, but some aren't nearly as trustworthy as others.
Though Gollum spends most of The Fellowship of the Ring trailing after Frodo and the One Ring, he doesn't get introduced properly until The Two Towers, where he attempts to murder Frodo and Sam in their sleep. Once the two hobbits overpower Gollum, they force the creature to guide them on the rest of their journey to Mordor. In the beginning, Gollum reluctantly tolerates Frodo and Sam, but Smeagol, Gollum's other personality, is much more accepting. Both Gollum and Smeagol spend much of The Lord of the Rings fighting for ownership of their body until Gollum wins during the climax of The Two Towers.
3 Kevin Crumb - Split (2016)
Split, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, documents Casey Cooke's struggle to free herself from Kevin Crumb's capture. During the opening of the movie, Casey (played by Anya Taylor-Joy) and her friends can be seen waiting patiently to be driven home from a birthday party. Before they can be taken, however, Kevin Crumb (played by James McAvoy) gets into the driver's seat, incapacitates the three young women, and kidnaps them. When Casey awakens, she learns that Kevin took her to his lair, which is later revealed to be located under Philadelphia Zoo.
The first interaction Casey has with her kidnapper doesn't go exactly as she thought it would; Kevin seems like a completely different person. He introduces himself to Casey under the name "Patricia," before explaining to her that Kevin is home to multiple personalities. Throughout Split, Casey makes the acquaintance of several alters, each of whom possesses a completely unique persona. What makes Kevin so noteworthy is that he is actually housing twenty-three different alter-egos inside of him, and while some of them are quite friendly, others are not.
2 Jekyll & Hyde - Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (1920)
Directed by John S. Robertson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde functions as an adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's novel, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The movie follows the life of Jekyll, a renowned doctor living in London. He spends his days using his medical knowledge to help the less fortunate, but he spends his evenings doing something much more sinister.
Jekyll's yet-to-be father-in-law isn't too fond of him; he doesn't believe the young doctor's intentions to be completely pure. One night, he berates Jekyll by explaining how everyone is made up of two different personalities. Intrigued by the hypothesis, Jekyll decides to spend his nights putting his father-in-law's theory to the test, which eventually results in the creation of Mr. Hyde, Jekyll's much more dangerous alter-ego. For the remainder of the story, Jekyll and Hyde battle each other for ownership of their body, a battle that proves to be both of their undoing.
1 Norman Bates - Psycho (1960)
Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, documents the life of Marion Crane and the questionable choices she makes. The movie opens with Marion and her boyfriend, Sam Loomis, discussing if they should get married. Though Marion very much approves of the idea, Sam insists that planning a wedding is unrealistic due to his overwhelming debts. In response to this, Marion decides to return to her workplace and steal the money Sam needs.
On her way home, she decides to spend the night at the Bates Motel, where she makes the acquaintance of Norman Bates. They share a meal together before Marion retires for the night, but before she can, she hears Norman bickering with his mother from behind the wall. It is later revealed that Norman's mother is dead and that Norman was actually arguing with himself. Norman killed his mother years ago and developed an alternate personality to cope with his guilt. Whenever he begins to develop feelings for someone, his alternate personality takes over.