Honest question. What’s the difference between a himbo and an autistically coded character?
Oh, you’re asking about best boy Soren? Okay, I gotchu.
Super short Soren answer: Autistic-coded characters can come in Not-beefy Size.
But there’s more to it than that. Read on!
I’ve been planning to make some posts on the autistic coded characters in TDP but I haven’t actually completed and posted any of them yet. thanks ADD I do see Soren’s autistic coding, and it’s really helped me understand him more fully, as his own character and as a member of the magefam and their history and dynamic.
I get the himbo reference, and I can totally see it. Love a good himbo, me. But if I might get overly picky for a hot second, I’m not super comfy with the “dumb men are safe” mentality hiding in its shadow. It’s not fair to anyone. Traditionally educated guys are fully capable of being kind and empathetic, the same as anyone else. No matter who you are, that’s a matter of awareness, choice, and practice. And “dumb” isn’t fair, either. There are many kinds of intelligence, and being kind and respectful and enthusiastically supporting family, friends, women, and cute little forest animals doesn’t make you dumb - it makes you emotionally intelligent.
Himbos have big hearts because that’s the muscle they flex the most! They choose to be kind because they understand it’s important.
Okay, in the categories of himbo:
Soren is definitely tall/beefy. He’s done like a bajillion pushups, man.
He’s had a great character arc through the first three seasons, which has shown him to have a true and kind heart underneath his armor.
And he’s emotionally intelligent, earnest, and straightforward (formerly: dumb). He knows how he feels, but he often has trouble expressing it eloquently. Possibly because his dad has the emotional range of weetabix. But again, that doesn’t change Soren’s feelings. It just makes him adorkable when he tries to express them.
But he’s also carrying a lot of autistic coding with him. Seems like every time I rewatch his scenes, I find some other little clue.
Here’s a handy list of autistic strengths, several of which apply to Soren:
Learning to read at a very early age (known as hyperlexia).
Memorising and learning information quickly.
Thinking and learning in a visual way.
Logical thinking ability.
May excel (if able) in academic areas such as science, engineering and mathematics as they are technical and logical subjects that do not heavily rely on social interaction.
Having an extraordinarily good memory (being able to remember facts for a long period of time).
Being precise and detail orientated.
Exceptional honesty and reliability.
Being dependable in regards to schedules and routines.
Having an excellent sense of direction.
Strong adherence to rules.
Able to concentrate for long periods of time when motivated.
A drive for perfection and order.
A capability for alternate problem solving.
A rare freshness and sense of wonderment.
I’m not going to go into a full list for Soren’s autistic traits here, but a lot of these show up in Soren becoming the youngest member of the Crownguard. Being a warrior is his special interest. He’s constantly devoted to being in shape and ready to do his duty because he loves it and he takes it very seriously. He went against his father to rescue Ezran because he held his duty as a Crownguard higher than his own father’s schemes.
At the same time, his trust in the rules made it easier for Viren to manipulate him and to direct his actions according to his own will. Soren thought that doing what his father instructed meant being a good son and a loyal Crownguard. If his dad hadn’t been a manipulative creep, then he’d have been right. Rules are static and easy to remember. People’s moods and motives can shift and get hard to read.
He’s also very literal. What you see is what you get, and imagining things outside factual boundaries takes a lot of work, so “sweeping the leg isn’t a thing in swordfighting” is something he believes very firmly, because he hasn’t learned otherwise yet. This also affects his humor: see the “Ka-tallest/Ka-shortest” joke, where he can’t follow Claudia’s adaptation of his wordplay because he hasn’t learned that particular trick yet either. Not being able to recognize sarcasm easily, especially from unfamiliar people, is a fairly common autistic trait: Rayla’s sass goes right over his head until he spends enough time around her to recognize her specific patterns of speech and dialogue.
Autistic folks have a tendency to have either low or high empathy, and sometimes have trouble expressing it. Soren clearly has plenty of empathy, but he struggles to express it well. He tries to engage with his family and friends, and even Bait, because he feels a deep connection to them no matter what his dad says. It’s what gives him his himbotastic emotional intelligence, even if he isn’t always sure what to do about how he feels.
You could hypothetically spot a difference between a himbo and an autistic-coded character if, say, they had low empathy (less himbo), or if they had an impressive skill with metaphoric thinking (less autistic-coded), or if they were not athletically inclined (less himbo), or if they were an incisive judge of social subtlety instead of accepting face value (less autistic-coded). But at the end of the day, I see Soren as a shining example of both!
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