do you ever feel like going into a deep dive on neil? hes my fave character and I love to hear othes opinions on him :3 #autism more like awesometism
Day 600! :D Sorry this took me literally forever to answer. I got this ask like last year and had no ideas but I have some now! So I decided to save it for day 600! :D Okay so first thing, Nikki is obviously the brawn of the main trio, most would agree. However I'm here to argue that Neil is *not* the brains of the main trio but rather the heart! Neil is very smart, he invents things, uses big words, and his intelligence is often a helpful tool, however what he does lack is experience and street smarts. Neil is shown to be a bit naive and easily manipulated, like when he joins the coolest camper contest even though it was a ploy from max to embarrass everyone. Another great example of this is when Max manipulates him by using his need to be recognized as intelligent into getting him to get more firework fuses. He's completely oblivious to being Max's "lap dog".
Neil is also shown to be very emotional, Nikki is the nicest for sure but she doesn't seem to be as in tune with others and sensitive as Neil is. His heart his greatest strength for their trio but that doesn't mean he always uses it. He cries a lot, gets angry easily, he's scared often, he *feels* a lot! His heart guides his head. In Candy Kingpin he sticks up for Dolph being used by max, and is actually quite harsh on him for the way he treats Dolph.
He's also the only one who gives Jermy a chance in his debut episode. Neil has empathy for Jermy as he probably sees himself in him. A kid who's different, hard to be understood, not many friends, and picked on.
In Foreign exchange campers he's the one to prevent the kids from committing suicide. i bring this one up a lot but come on!! He literally stopped 3 people from killing themselves! And this is after they beat the shit out of him!!! good for you Neil!
He... offers a comforting touch to Jasper, and promises to honor his wishes.
Even though Neil freaks out for a selfish reason when Nikki gets sick, he organizes her last day.
He chooses Nikki over his own comfort. He values friendship and cries when max brushes him and Nikki off in Camp Corp
Hes also (overbearingly) nurturing to his egg. I think it's also important to state Neils passion and love for science. As much as it requires him to use his head, what truly matters to him is how excited it makes him feel, and that he can make others lives better. To be so innocently in awe at the world. It is to be envied. Max is the brains! He's the one making the plans, ordering people around. He has the street smarts, the experience, the knowledge! This brings me into another topic and why I think Neil does have so much empathy for others. Neil mentions a lot that he was always bullied and picked on, he unfortunately doesn't escape this fate at camp. The butt monkey of the group, Neil honestly doesn't have as much backstory or emotion to his character as the other two, Nikki only slightly more, Max really takes the spotlight. They really could've explored more with him. A child of divorce and possibly helicopter parents, he's implied to be the richest of the three. Social anxiety, GAD, ASD. There's so much to do with him.
I think Neil hides his sensitive caring side because he's been bullied so much. There's a lot of love and passion inside of his little heart but he's too scared to share it because mean people bigger than him put him down so often. He's protecting that little egg inside of him.
I have a little head canon that whenever Neil opens up about his struggles, which is rare, it's always abruptly and he switches the topic quick, which leaves his friends a little dumbfounded. I also think Neil likes baking and is talented at it, he takes the time to measure all his ingredients like the little chemist he is. Ive kind of already done a little think piece on Neil in the past so I don't wanna recycle too many ideas I've already shared (like how he uses 4chan and likes Akira) so i think ill wrap it up here. We don't know much about Neils home life so there's not much more I could add I don't think. Neil is just such a sweet little guy. He has a big heart, and even when he's scared he's very brave and tries to do the right things. I love him very much and hes also canonically my friend cuz he (yuri lowenthal) said so himself :) Have a great day! and thanks for the awesome question! Sorry it took me ages to answer :)
I'm just gonna add the episodes in the tags instead of writing them all out
Edit: You know what one last thing actually. Neil is driven very much by his need to be recognized as intelligent. This is what makes him so easy for max to manipulate. I think he has some self worth issues maybe from home or school. He needs to prove himself. If he isn't smart, he's just some lame loser kid. He needs something for people to look at and feel amazed by. He'll prove them all wrong, by being something more or better. He does have a bit of an ego to him. I also think this is defensive. He really does seem like he has some trauma from being bullied. This is another headcanon I have. Neil is a do-er. He needs to keep his hands busy, his mind busy, or he spirals. I had an idea for an episode a while back to explore Neil's issues. Neil is working on a science project and gets Max involved, maybe testing it on him or max wanted something in particular. It fails, at first it seems like its done nothing, however max begins to hear a faint voice in his head. "ugh! I'm such a failure! What went wrong! i need to get this..." It gets louder, more intense, it overlaps, and spirals. He can hear Neils thoughts. At first he doesn't say anything because he cant be quite sure he's not going crazy. It begins to get unbearable. He cant believe Neil goes through this everyday, nothing's even happening and yet his mind is going a million miles. So much anxiety, worry, anger, doubt, fear, my little pony songs! Max just can't take it anymore. They fix the issue eventually but max starts to be a bit kinder to Neil after :) I think there's room for an emotional story and a good bit of comedy in that idea :)