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There is a rather popular theory that Alan was bullied during his 2009 tormentor phase, but that is a rather cop out way to make the "Alan was never evil" narrative works by shifting the blame to someone else.
This version of Alan is never bullied, but he was under a lot of small, relatable stress that really piled up, and his family wasn't doing so well financially. His status as a human means he doesn't have a dramatically traumatized backstory.
The early Internet, the unknown frontier. Violences was all the rage; stickpage, new ground, mini clips, Happy Tree Friends, and animations of stick figures fighting to bloody death with flaming chainsaw. I was in a computer camp when they put The very first AvA on the projector during lunch.
I don't think our generation were traumatized, but rather desensitized. It's not horrific, it is funny, it is cool.
My take is that, he was not quite comprehend what kind of damage he inflicted on something he viewed as "fake", not really alive. They might felt pain, but that was a pain not worth caring for. The empathy thing I mentioned.
One thing I find weird about AvA 4 was that TSC is clearly sentient and can "talk" through window dialogue boxes and Facebook comments. Why did Alan only stop when he talked through his own text?
This version of Alan is aware that they are all sentient. He knew victim and TCO hate his gut. He did not care TSC was sentient, he was willing to kill him to not lose another computer. Only that he realized TSC is "useful" for art that he decided to give the orange guy a chance.
The cure of ignorance is to actually spend time with someone or something you have judged to be lesser. By actually interacting with the gang, he mellows out and cares for them. Him being a mature adult helps too, but he was watching 4 stick figures fighting just before AvA4.
That is my take on "Alan was never evil"
