  This paper considers generic scalar fields models in one space dimension,the
potentials of which have several vacuum states. It is shown that the partial
breaking of the vacuum degeneracy provides a mechanism for the appearance of
static multi-kinks, whenever some false vacuum states appear between two true
vacuum states. A multi-kink is a stable field configuration with an internal
structure, consisting of various localized energy packages with well-defined
separations between them. General results for multi-kinks properties are
presented. We introduce the commensurable and non degenerate double sine-Gordon
model as a specific realization of this mechanism, supporting the existence of
multi-kinks with an arbitrary $n$-number of subkinks. The multi-kinks
properties are thoroughly analyzed including the novel phenomenology displayed
when two of them collide.
