Identity Issues — Tag Meaning
Covers struggles with the question 'who am I?' — characters dealing with double lives, lost memories, inherited legacies, or selves that no longer fit. Fanfic gravitates to this tag for spies, shapeshifters, amnesiacs, and anyone whose canon identity is more costume than certainty.
What to Expect From "Identity Issues" Fics
An inward-facing story about self-definition, often with the support of someone who sees the character clearly when they can't.
How to find Identity Issues fics on AO3
On AO3, click any tag to see every work that uses it, then refine with the "Filters" sidebar — combine it with your fandom or ship, set a rating, or exclude tags you don't want. See our AO3 filtering guide for the full walkthrough.
Browse "Identity Issues" works on AO3Popular Fics Tagged "Identity Issues"
Real examples from AO3's most-kudosed works:
None So Blind
by prettybirdy979
The Roundabout Way
by stilitana
Body of Memory
by glorious_spoon
Inherited a Death
by Alexleetx
These Days
by galateas
Here/There
by Trivalys
Related Tags
Existential Crisis
Tags fic where a character confronts the big questions — purpose, mortality, free will, what they even are. It is a workhorse tag in fandoms full of immortals, clones, androids, and resurrected heroes, whose canons raise these questions and then cut to the action.
Tag guide →
Amnesia
One of fiction's great engines, thriving in fanfic: a character loses their memory, and everything — identity, loyalty, love — must be rediscovered or re-earned. Writers use it to replay first meetings, test whether love survives forgetting, or let a hardened character meet the world fresh.
Tag guide →
Character Study
A fic whose project is understanding one character deeply — their psychology, history, contradictions — rather than telling an eventful story. Often written about complex or underexplored characters, these pieces function as essays in narrative form and are prized in fandoms with rich casts.
Tag guide →
Coming Out
The tag for stories about disclosing one's sexuality or gender identity — to friends, family, teammates, or the world. Fanfic has written this arc for decades, often giving queer-coded characters the explicit self-acceptance their canons withheld, with tones ranging from terrifying to triumphantly anticlimactic.
Tag guide →
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