Identity Issues in Space

[lynnenne]

Hello, and welcome to your weekly Sunday discussion post! I finally saw Captain Marvel, and this week's topic is related to that movie.



There were many things I loved about this movie, and one of them was the exploration of Carol's identity. She literally does not know who she is at the beginning of the story, and she finds herself through friendship, affection, exploration, and the discovery of her own power. Finding one's identity is one of my favorite storytelling tropes, and it seems to be one of the common threads among my favorite characters:

• Carol, as described above
• Loki, who thought he knew himself, only to find that his entire life (even his species!) was a lie
• Thor, who thought himself the first-born, only to learn in Ragnarok that Hela had preceded him (and that their father had hidden her existence)
• Valkyrie, who used to have a purpose but ran from it after she lost the person who meant the most to her
• Bruce, who is literally two people

What other characters have identity issues in the MCU cosmic universe? Peter Quill? Gamora? Rocket? What identity issues to you see them suffering from? And is it a story you relate to?
 

Comments

[snickfic]

LOL, my takeaway from this list is that I love characters with identity issues EVEN MORE than I realized I did. What a great list. <3 In particular I am super into the unrealized narrative potential stemming from Carol's backstory and her experiences with the Kree, and how that might shape her going forward, especially if she only recovers some of her memories of her former life on Earth. Like, how does she integrate her remembered Earth-self with the Kree-self she thought she was AND the person she actually lived as for six years? I want to read so much fic about this. Please, fandom. 🙏

I would also be interested to see fic exploring Thor going through a similar though lesser crisis to what Loki experienced years prior. I don't think it's going to have near the effect on Thor, both because "you're not the oldest" is a lot less foundational a discovery than "you're adopted and a different species" and because Thor is just a different person than Loki, but still, it's interesting to think about!

[ayebydan]

I think with Thor it was more the realisation that everything he thought he knew turned out to be a lie too. His father was not the good man he has spent hundreds of years thinking he is. His mother, who he adored, was complicit in all the lies. Asgard is not rich on noble victories but on the horrors of a sister he never knew. He then continued that path thinking he was doing good. At least Hela knew she was wrong but didn't care. His brother is adopted and has gone off on one. How does he lead a people he can't even relate to anymore? Who else knew? Can he trust anyone at all? So it is a bit more woe me than others but there is still a lot for him to break down and at the worst time too.

[lynnenne]

His father was not the good man he has spent hundreds of years thinking he is. His mother, who he adored, was complicit in all the lies. Asgard is not rich on noble victories but on the horrors of a sister he never knew.

Yes, that would be a lot to absorb. I think Thor did have some inkling of how power corrupts when he turned down the throne at the end of TDW ("I'd rather be a good man than a great king") but there's a difference between suspecting and knowing.

[snickfic]

Very true. I would love to read some fic about that, but I don't know that I've seen any. I'm always interested in fic about Thor and his relationship to the throne.

[lynnenne]

LOL, my takeaway from this list is that I love characters with identity issues EVEN MORE than I realized I did.

THEY ARE MY FAVORITES. I love Bucky and Nat for the same reasons.

[kore]

In particular I am super into the unrealized narrative potential stemming from Carol's backstory and her experiences with the Kree, and how that might shape her going forward, especially if she only recovers some of her memories of her former life on Earth. Like, how does she integrate her remembered Earth-self with the Kree-self she thought she was AND the person she actually lived as for six years? I want to read so much fic about this

YES PLEASE

[snickfic]

I NEED IT. Realistically, I need to sit down and start thinking about how to write it, but I want it so much and it's such a big topic that I haven't found an in yet.