We all know how obsessed/crazy Wander can get if he's not able to help people. It's how he acts in "The Sick Day," but also "The Helper," where we see a glimpse of Wander's heroic, black-and-white personality; the person he is without his core self:
For the first time, we see Wander look at Hater as a bad guy he has to "stop" and he can't believe that, behind all his evil deeds, he's a normal guy just trying to pick up his lunch. A similiar moment happens in "The Wanders," where Wander sees Hater as a heartless evil-doer and says: "I am a good guy, and he is a bad guy, and I stop him!" he's like Brad Starlight It's clear tunnel vision
When Sylvia tells Wander how it's good that people don't need his help all the time, he's curious as to why. Wander's so used to being the nice guy that he wonders why it's a bad thing that he's one to such an obsessive degree.
It's not just that he enjoys helping others or that he empathizes deeply with everyone due to his (unexplored) past; Wander also wants to feel worthy/good about himself. Look at this line from "The Big Job":
Wander feels WORTHLESS when he messes up, he feels worthless when he's not doing anything for other people. His desire to help stems not only from past pain but also feelings of not being good enough and he buries them deep deep DEEP down
As humble as Wander is, he enjoys being seen as a legendary hero because it makes him feel important. See how excited he gets here?
Hero Wander is even a part of him, as we see in "The Wanders"; there's no way he doesn't have savior complex/hero syndrome:
Wander never denies being 'the legend.' On the contrary, as soon as Hank starts describing "The Hero," he figures out he's talking about him and says "Oh, really?" like he's reveling in that fact:
He just goes with the kids' portrayals of him even though they aren't accurate. And he knows. He KNOWS that the Yonder galaxy thinks of both himself and Sylvia as heroes:
"The Family Reunion" shows exactly how well-known Syl and Wan are:
There's also this deleted scene from "The Hole... Lotta Nuthin'" where Wander pretty much reveals that he KNOWS he's very well-known and is being just a tiiiiiiny bit arrogant about it:
When Wander doesn't feel worthless, he acknowledges/ doesn't deny/enjoys being seen as a hero, but when he's down in the dumps, he'll straight up say he's not one, which is what he said in "The Big Job"
Then there's this moment in "The Good Deed" where he's being a show-off:
Wander not only has flaws, but he's actually no stranger to negative emotions either.
In "The Good Deed," he gives in to nihilism:
Wander was ready to drown himself in mud because he thought doing good was pointless in the end, that things will turn bad anyway no matter what he does. I never saw anyone talk about what this scene implies, but it's both really dark and really heartbreaking. WoY actually tackled it with care and a good moral about life, though
He's heartbroken when he thinks his good intentions didn't amount to anything ("The Gift 2: The Giftening"):
He feels hopeless after repeated failure and needs Sylvia to lift his spirits ("The Liar"):
In "The Show Stopper," he's so focused on getting Dominator to notice Hater's concert that he completely forgets to rescue the bunny folk (he probably came back for them later, but the thing about Wander is that when he's hyperfocused on a specific thing or goal, he's HYPERFOCUSED).
In "The Battle Royale," he gets so caught up in getting Hater and Dominator together that he accidentally creates an entire warzone, gets McGuffin fried, and becomes (temporarily) discouraged after he thinks he failed to set the two up (and soften Hater's heart):
And yet, no matter what happens, he always bounces back ("The Flower" shows this best), either with Sylvia's help, or on his own. Season three would have challenged him, though:
In "The Void," Wander is selfish and controlling and only thinks about what he wants to do, and what's interesting is how that was metaphorically shown by having him control Sylvia like she's a puppet:
This episode suggests that a part of Wander, at least subconsciously, sometimes wants control over Sylvia (best seen in "The Tourist," where he constantly neglects her need for rest so he could compete with Trudi). This ties in with another thing I want to talk about, and that's how there's a clue in "The Rider" that Wander didn't have a deep one-on-one friendship with anyone before he befriended Sylvia (even if he had other travel partners). He literally had to consult Frederick about how to handle the falling out between them:
Wander always had acquaintances, strangers he helped, and villains he reformed around him; he probably dated many people, too. But he never bonded with someone who genuinely liked being around him, who cared about his safety and well-being and who'd always have his back. He and Syl are found family siblings to me He's so used to either being by himself and doing whatever he wants or only making casual connections; it's understandable why he'd struggle with thinking about others' feelings at times. Yeah, Wander takes care of people in a practical sense, but intimate relationships where he sometimes has to sacrifice his autonomy are still new to him.
Tl;dr Wander looks silly and shallow but he's such a flawed, deep character when you peel back the layers.
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