Trip codes are used to preserve identity on the otherwise anonymous chan boards. I was scrolling through qmap to get to the "original" q drops and was very surprised to learn that the trip codes change semi frequently - i.e., there's no guarantee that this Q is the same Q from the beginning. . So I wondered how continuity is preserved to verify that someone is really Q.
Turns out, divination: https://qmap.pub/read/3641
I imagine that every once in a while, Q gets bored, and opportunists try to take the crown. And the variation in style over the years makes me think many people have succeeded 
Oh, I see. Yeah I heard of the codes too but wouldn't know how and why they update... But there's been talk recently that Jim Watkins himself (current owner of 8 Chan) is Q, because he could easily (I assume) fudge all that trip code shit.
The Sanctity, Indivisibility of Q is another one of those effects of trying to tidy up a coherent canon out of the chaos magma Qanon is. At one point you had someone claiming to be "R" (IIRC), a cohort of Q, trying to ingratiate himself, it didn't take, but could have. We don't even know who Q was originally, it's pretty certain there's been several people at the helm (so to speak).
In a way it's a fascinating Grow Your Own Christianity Extra Fast experiment, imminent second coming delayed for years included.
