The Psychopathist

Blog to analyse and diagnosed fictional characters. I'm not a professional, only an autistic person with an interest in psychology. Most interested in psychopathy and similar condition. Bigots (yes, you too terfs) you are NOT welcome here. They/Him|LGBTQ|Autistic|GAD

[the-psychopathist]

Misty Analysis: is she a "sociopath"?

I’ve been meaning to write an analysis on Misty Quigley ever since I started Yellowjackets, over one year ago. My primary reason for wanting to do so is because of a very specific label that is often attributed to Misty. Given the title of this post (and the name of my blog), it should come as no surprise what said label is: "sociopath" (or psychopath). Now, in both cases, the correct label would be “anti-social personality disorder” (aka ASPD), so I’ll refer to it as such. So, for this analysis, I’ll go through Misty’s history and background in the show, analyze her personality, actions and choices, as well as her relationships with others, and see if she would qualify for a diagnosis of ASPD. Or if she perhaps would actually fit another diagnosis, or multiples.

That being said, I will be analyzing teen Misty and adult Misty separately at some point, given that a diagnosis of ASPD can only be given to someone above the age of 18. Also, a lot can change in 25 years, especially when one is 16-17 compared to in their forties. So without further ado, let’s start analyzing Misty.

(cw: SA, animal cruelty, substance abuse, and overall just the regular dark topics present within the show)

ps: this analysis is over 14k words (over 20 pages)

Edit: this analysis is now available on AO3 here !

Let’s begin with teen Misty before the crash and what we know about her. She is the equipment manager for the Yellowjackets, a task she takes quite seriously and is shown to be very enthusiastic about the team. Not much is known about her family situation, but it is possible her parents were emotionally neglectful, given that the few times Misty did cry out of genuine sadness, she quickly scolded or punished herself for doing so and even said, “only babies cry”. It might be something her parents told her when she cried as a child, which could suggest some form of emotional abuse.

According to the Yellowjackets' original pitch, Misty was the only child of a neurologist and a shrink, and her medical knowledge she displayed was thanks to being raised by two doctors. Of course, this isn’t canon to the actual series, but it’s not necessarily “not-canon” either. Given that nothing is known about her parents in the show, this could still be her (non-mentioned) backstory. Misty does display medical knowledge far beyond what a girl of her age would know, giving credence to her being raised by doctors. The show does explain her knowledge by her taking the babysitter test (twice), but I still think that it is not impossible for her to have also learned from her parents. It may explain one of the reasons why she ended up working as a nurse, given that hospitals would be an environment familiar to her. Ultimately, this isn’t that important for this analysis, but if her parents were both doctors, that could explain why she might have been neglected as a child. Both parents working as doctors would most likely be really busy with their jobs, leading to them not giving as much attention as they should to Misty. But that is mostly just speculation based on outdated information, but I still strongly believe there was some emotional neglect and/or abuse going on in Misty’s childhood.

Another thing we know about Misty’s life prior to the crash is that she was bullied. She didn’t seem to have any friends either, even among the Yellowjackets. She remains, however, dedicated to her duty as the equipment manager, despite not always being appreciated for her enthusiasm. In season 3, Ben revealed that Misty actually wanted to join the team, but he put her as equipment manager because he knew she would get bullied, suspecting that she would not perform well as a soccer player. For the assistant coach himself to fear this outcome, Misty’s bullying must have been something known. Something that happened enough that even Ben would have noticed, and decided to try to spare her further bullying. At least, it allowed Misty to feel useful to the team, and in a way, be part of a group, something she clearly does crave. Of course, the team didn’t seem very close to her, or even like her, but she was still part of the “group”. Being associated with the Yellowjackets, a beloved team, might have helped Misty get less bullied. Not necessarily respect, but at least left alone. So it would make sense for Misty to feel this kind of devotion and loyalty to the team, because in her mind, she is part of the group too, and her experience with them, albeit not great, is far better than the bullying she went through.

Now, before delving into the possibility of Misty having ASPD, there is another condition that I believe she has and should be discussed first, since it applies to both teen and adult Misty. A condition that isn’t developed but born with. I am talking about autism spectrum disorder. It is a common headcanon or theory among the fandom that Misty might be neurodivergent, autistic, more specifically, and I do believe this is very likely, even if it might have been unintentional. At the very least, this is my opinion as an autistic person who also did my own research. Also, I found an incredible, in-depth thread on why Misty might be autistic, so feel free to check that out since I may use some points from it going forward.

In summary, Misty being essentially “different” could be the reason why she was bullied growing up. Even if you are not diagnosed as autistic yet, you still are, and other kids can sense that you are different and, therefore, a target for bullying. For a while, girls were rarely ever diagnosed with autism; it was considered to be only affecting boys, so even if Misty is actually autistic, it is unlikely she’d be diagnosed, especially back in the 90s. Even nowadays, it is still harder for girls to get a diagnosis compared to boys. So all people could tell from Misty was that she was “different”, she was “odd”, and that can attract bullies. 

Misty also struggles with recognizing people’s emotions, or which emotional response is appropriate in specific situations. We saw her make research about how to comfort a friend in grief after Travis seemingly committed suicide, possibly because she did not know what would be the appropriate way to comfort Natalie. She also tends to observe people’s reactions and what emotion they show before doing the same, if everyone starts laughing at a joke, she will too, even if she possibly didn’t get it. That’s also called “masking”, something a lot of autistic people (especially girls) do, in order to fit in. 

Misty also has the tendency to overshare, or not have a filter, and not know what is appropriate to say. It is common among autistic people, as we often struggle with social cues and socializing in general. Similarly, Misty tends to infodump, talking excessively about her interests, often unprompted. This is often our way as autistics to “socialize”. And it is often about our special interests or sometimes, hyperfixations. Which Misty does seem to have. That can cause trouble maintaining relationships, which we also see with Misty.

There is also pattern recognition, something common among autistic people, that is the ability to notice little details most people might disregard. That makes sense why she’d decide to become a citizen detective, given that she has the skills to notice patterns and details others might not. It happens multiple times in the show that she is the one to notice something the other characters did not. Another trait she might have is “stimming”, something a lot of autistic people with sensory issues will do, often to calm themselves. Misty seems to do that with her glasses, often readjusting them when she is nervous. 

I do think, even if unlikely that it was intended to be written that way, Misty does display a lot of autistic traits. From her social awkwardness, her very specific interests, lack of understanding of people’s emotions sometimes, not being able to read social cues and from, unfortunately, getting bullied for being seen as “different”. Those are all traits we see both within teen and adult Misty, since autism is something you are born with.

But now, the real question is: is autism the only condition Misty has that may explain her behaviors in the show? And my reply would be… no. Autism wouldn’t typically cause someone to commit all the crimes Misty had done. So, even if I do think it is highly possible she might be on the spectrum, I also believe she might have something else.

Could it be ASPD? Well, if you had asked me that question after I finished season 1, I might have said yes, without hesitation. Though at that time, I hadn’t thought of the possibility she might be autistic, so take that with a grain of salt. Once I’m done with this analysis, we should have a more definitive answer.

First, let’s start with teen Misty. Once again, someone cannot be diagnosed with ASPD under the age of 18, and we know Misty, at least in season 1, was not 18 yet. But, one of the requirements for an ASPD diagnosis is showing signs of conduct disorder before the age of 15. Now, even if we aren’t sure how old teen Misty is, she is possibly older than 15. But, she is also below 18, so it could still be pertinent to look if she does meet the requirement for conduct disorder by going through the criteria.

Aggression towards people or animals: There are instances of teen Misty acting aggressively toward people. One of the notable examples is Crystal, when she threatened her, and it unfortunately caused her death (which technically was an accident).

I wouldn’t necessarily count how she cut Ben’s leg since it was to save his life, but this does show her being quick to resort to a violent act without feeling fazed. There are also other instances of Misty intentionally hurting Ben, when she tripped him while he was walking with his crutches so she could “help” him, and when she poisoned him after he rejected her. As for animals, we don’t directly see teen Misty mistreat animals, but the pilot did take the time to show Misty watching a rat drown, without trying to help it, nor did she seem fazed by its distress. We don’t know if she simply left it to die or if she actually put it there, but usually, showing a character being unempathetic to an animal in distress is intentional.

Aggression can also involve sexual aggression, which teen Misty is guilty of. She purposefully drugged Ben with the intention of being intimate with him, which does qualify for attempted SA. This criteria does include threatening and the use of weapons to cause serious harm, which could more or less apply to Misty.

Destruction of property: This one is tricky, because Misty did destroy the black box, which in itself constitutes destruction of property. And in this case, a property that could have been vital to get rescued. I don’t think we have seen her destroy anything else, but it’s not like there are many options in the wilderness. Given how quickly she was to destroy the black box, it might indicate that this is a common thing for her to do. Destroy something that she considers inconvenient to her, or simply impulsively.

Deceitfulness: This one is possibly the trait we see the most. Misty is portrayed as extremely manipulative, even as a teen. From destroying the black box to ensure they wouldn’t get rescued for her own benefit and hiding it from the others, to how she acted towards Ben. When she invited him to Doomcoming, and she could tell he was going to refuse, she guilt-tripped him into feeling bad for her so he would accept. As mentioned before, she also regularly hurt Ben in discreet ways so she could “help” him, making herself seem like a helpful person for the sake of getting what she wanted from him.

There is also how she tried to direct negative attention from herself to Jackie after the Doomscoming fiasco, where she snitched on her for not “thanking” the Wilderness for the food. There’s also after she accidentally caused Crystal’s death, she managed to deceive everyone about Crystal supposedly going missing, faking being worried and distressed about her friend being missing, while she knew that she was already dead, and made the others look for her to avoid suspicion. Misty even brought up Crystal as a potential suspect for burning down the cabin during Ben’s trial, despite knowing damn well she is dead. She also lied to the others about Lottie saying the Wilderness was “pleased” with Javi’s sacrifice, while in reality, Lottie felt guilty over this. There’s also how she seems to play “both sides”, when she told Shauna that she thought Nat was hiding that Ben was alive, or how she tried to spy on “Team Rescue” on behalf of Shauna, trying to make them believe there was a plan, but then later switching side and helping Van fix the communication device and Nat escape with it to call for help. In most cases, her deceitfulness is self-serving, but it can be used to benefit the group as a whole, like my last example, where she deceived Shauna. Although part of her reason to do so was because Nat found out about the black box, so it’s possible she only helped to avoid Nat telling the others and to gain back her trust.

Serious violation of rules: This one is hard to answer because we don’t see much of Misty prior to the crash as a teen, and there are technically no rules in the wilderness to be broken. Examples of rule violations given in the diagnosis would be: staying out at night despite parental prohibitions, running away from home, and being truant from school. We have no way of knowing if any of those applies to Misty since we haven’t properly seen her at home or at school.

Among those four main criteria, Misty fits at least three of them. Other criteria for conduct disorder can include lack of empathy and remorse, as well as impulsivity and recklessness. I would say that it also fits, to a certain degree. Misty, as a teenager, does seem to have lower empathy. Not a complete lack, but still low. The scene with her watching the rat drowning and not helping is there to show that. Lack of remorse is a tricky one. Misty does show regret for her actions. But regrets aren’t necessarily the same as remorse. Regret is feeling bad about the negative consequences on oneself, while remorse is feeling bad for how our actions affected others. Misty does regret causing Crystal’s death, she does regret not being able to save Shauna’s baby, she does regret how telling Shauna she thought Nat was hiding Ben did her a disservice during the trial, and she does regret breaking the black box. But does she feel remorse for those actions, or is it only regret for how negatively it affected her? Let’s find out.

Firstly, Crystal’s death. It is undeniable that her death did cause a lot of distress for Misty, and possibly even traumatized her. But I’d argue it’s possible Misty does not feel bad for Crystal herself, but rather feel bad for what she lost. At this point in the show, Misty is rather unpopular, and Crystal was essentially the only person who would be her friend. Losing Crystal meant losing her only friend and being once again isolated. After the initial shock of Crystal’s death, Misty was mostly worried about getting caught, and had no issue lying to others and manipulating them in order to avoid suspicion, even faking concerns for Crystal’s well-being while knowing she was already dead. I do think Misty cared for Crystal and viewed her as a friend, but I also think she mostly cared about what Crystal brought her rather than Crystal herself as a person. The way Misty threatened Crystal once Crystal rejected her friendship does show that outside as being her friend, Misty could easily switch up on her if she no longer was “useful” to her. So yeah, I’d say rather than genuine remorse, Misty feels regret because of how Crystal’s death personally affected her rather than feeling bad for Crystal herself.

Then there is the baby. I do think Misty has regret for not being able to save him. Shauna’s labor happened shortly after Crystal’s death, and we saw that Misty was unable at first to help Shauna because she was still traumatized by her death. The sight of blood kept reminding her of Crystal. A big part of Misty’s personality is how she wants to be seen as useful by others, she wants people to rely on her and feel important. So not being able to help Shauna at first, and later even when she did everything she could to deliver the baby, he still died, does make her feel like it’s her fault. Perhaps Misty thought that if she was able to help from the start, he could have survived. It doesn’t help that Shauna specifically asked Misty to keep her baby alive. This might feel more like a personal failure to her. But, I do think it’s possible she felt bad for Shauna, hence why I don’t think (teen) Misty has a complete lack of empathy, just low empathy.

Regarding Ben, Misty has always been deeply infatuated with him to an obsessive and unhealthy level. Telling Shauna that she thought he was still alive and Nat knew ended up being a mistake for her, since it was used in the trial and didn’t help her cause. I’m sure she regretted saying that, especially given how things ended for Ben. She was clearly devastated at the idea of him getting executed. She was also visibly distraught when he got his ankle maimed, his cries of pain making her cover her ears because she couldn’t bear to hear. It’s one of the rare times where someone’s pain actually affects Misty. Again, I’m going back to her having low empathy and not a lack of empathy. It appears she can have some empathy for a selected few people whom she shares a deep bond with (or, with whom she believes she shares a bond, more on that later). However, it did not prevent her from being in favor of force-feeding Ben, despite how painful and cruel it was for him. If it meant keeping him alive, she had no issue with that, despite being told by Nat that Ben was suffering. So her empathy towards him stops when it’s no longer convenient for her. She was genuinely sad when he died, and showed she was still infatuated with him by kissing his corpse.

There is also the incident that Misty caused that had awful consequences, which she does not seem to feel bad about. When Misty intended to drug Ben with shrooms in order to “make a move” on him, (basically, SA him), even if he explicitly told her they needed to have some boundaries. That was already bad on its own, but when she saw that her mushrooms had been put in the soup by mistake, instead of warning people, she did nothing. She let everyone get high simply to get what she wanted, with no concern of how it would affect the others. She did what felt convenient to her with a complete disregard for the safety of others. And it ended up having disastrous consequences, where Travis was SA’d by the group while they were high, and later hunted down and nearly killed. Her actions could have caused the death of Travis, and this isn’t something she showed remorse for, or even acknowledged her part in this. Instead, she shifted the blame on others for putting her mushrooms in the soup, ignoring the fact that they couldn’t have possibly known those were magic mushrooms, and that her intention had always been to drug Ben against his consent. It’s not just a lack of remorse, it’s also a lack of accountability for her actions and how it affected others.

Another case worth mentioning is how Misty is the one who chose to let Javi die to save Nat. In all fairness, everyone let him drown, but this was still initially her decision to actually prevent Nat from saving him, so I would say she had a more direct role in Javi’s death than the others. And when Lottie learns about Javi’s death and does feel bad about it and express remorse since she would have rather be the one dying instead of Javi, Misty is quick to shut her down, putting the blame on Lottie instead and accusing her of wanting to make people feel bad for something she considers Lottie caused, despite the fact Misty knew Lottie was willing to be the sacrifice. Not only do I not think Misty feels remorse for Javi’s death, but I don’t even think she feels regret. I think to her, it was a necessary thing, both because it allowed Nat to survive, and because they were starving and were going to die if they didn’t eat someone. Everyone recognized the necessity of sacrificing someone in order to survive, but it did take a toll on their conscience. It’s even what led to Natalie dying at the end of Misty, because she felt bad someone died because of her. Even Van, who claims she doesn’t feel bad, is most likely putting on a front to avoid dealing with her guilt, because we do see that as an adult, she doesn’t want people to die in order for her to survive. Misty however, nothing indicates she ever felt bad about Javi dying, or reflect on the decision she made to let him die.

Something else I don’t see discussed often is how Misty actually caused the unfortunate argument between Shauna and Jackie that tragically ended up with Jackie’s death. What started it is when Misty snitched on Jackie for not thanking the Wilderness for the food. I would argue it was something particularly callous for her to do, given Jackie was never mean to her. On the contrary, she had been kind to her, even giving her advice about love when Jackie herself was having love issues (regarding the Shauna and Jeff situation) and was at her lowest. Jackie’s previous kindness to her did not prevent her from taking advantage of the situation to divert the negative attention she was receiving onto Jackie. And it indirectly led to Jackie’s death. This is yet another situation that Misty doesn’t have remorse for, or possibly even acknowledge her role in Jackie’s death, so I don’t think she feels regret either. Other than perhaps no longer having a scapegoat for the group’s negative attention, which was now back on her.

Then finally, we have destroying the black box. Arguably, the most infamous action committed by Misty on the show. The black box incident is interesting because it wasn’t done out of malice. She didn’t destroy the black box to hurt her fellow survivors. It was truly an impulsive act done out of desperation. Possibly for the first time since she was part of the team, Misty felt useful and appreciated. She felt like people finally needed her. She even heard Van and Laura Lee praising her. So when she found the black box and knew it could mean she would back to being unappreciated, Misty impulsively broke it.

I don’t think she knew they would get struck for almost 2 years in the wilderness (nor do we know if it’s actually her fault), but I’d say she didn’t even think about the consequences. She saw the black box as an inconvenience for her, something getting between her and the appreciation she so desperately craved, therefore destroyed it. I would say she regrets doing it, but I don’t think she feels genuine remorse for potentially being the reason they couldn’t get rescued earlier. She does experience negative consequences from doing that (notably, Crystal’s death), but I don’t have the feeling she feels personally guilty for any of what happened in the wilderness that might be a direct result of her destroying the black box. I don’t think there are any moments in the series that show her feeling remorse for that. Yes, she does regret it, because of the consequences. But also, because she is afraid of how the others would react. She knows they would blame her for everything and hate her, something she deeply wants to avoid. When Nat found out, one of Misty’s main concerns was that Nat would tell the others. So I’d say it’s not remorse, just regrets because of how it affected her and because she fears what would happen to her if the others find out.

And last but not least, impulsivity and recklessness. I think this one is a given. Despite being someone who can be extremely calculating and meticulous, a lot of Misty’s actions and decisions, both as a teen and adult, are impulsive and reckless. Cutting Ben’s leg, even if it was the right thing to do in order to save his life, was still an impulsive and reckless thing to do, especially for a teenager. Then, an even better example, destroying the black box. I’d say the way she decided to save Natalie by preventing her from helping Javi (who was drowning) was impulsive too, given Misty was hunting down Nat too until she saw an opportunity to save her at the expense of someone else’s life. Then, it’s not just her actions that are impulsive. She also impulsively says stuff, like when she snitched on Jackie as soon as she saw she didn’t “thank” the wilderness for the food, or when she told Shauna about how she thought Nat was hiding the fact Ben was still alive. Also, telling Crystal about how she destroyed the black box was not only impulsive but a reckless thing to say. Misty is undeniably smart and can methodically plan stuff, but she can also be quite impulsive and reckless and not think things through. And that’s something she carried on even as an adult.

One might argue that all of those traits have been displayed by the other characters too, and I wouldn’t disagree. But, the difference is, for the most part they displayed those traits as a response to their current predicament. Either they were on the influence of drugs, or when they were all starving, under peer pressure, or after spending more than a year in the wilderness. For most of the characters, their more violent behaviors are a direct result of the trauma they experienced during their time in the wilderness (Shauna being a prime example). But for Misty, she displayed some of those traits even before the crash, and are all displayed during season 1 as soon as the first few episodes. Her antisocial behaviors were not the result of the crash or the time spent in the wilderness, they were already present. The wilderness might have exacerbated them, or even encouraged them by giving her the opportunity to enact them, but she did not become that way because of it. Those were something already present within her. If anything, the wilderness ended up being a place where someone like Misty could thrive, for the better or worse.

My conclusion regarding (teen) Misty having conduct disorder: From my (unprofessional) opinion, I think it’s a very likely possibility. I don’t think the writers did it on purpose, as in, they were aware of what conduct disorder was and applied the criteria to Misty, but I’d argue that when they wrote her character, they intended for her to fit the “sociopath” label. And this would, unintentionally, make her character fit those said criteria. Although, conduct disorder is not the same as having anti-social personality disorder, and not everyone who had conduct disorder as a youth will develop into having ASPD. So now, the question is: Does adult Misty fit the criteria for an ASPD diagnosis? Let’s find out.

But first, just like with teen Misty, let’s start what we know of adult Misty’s background. Not much is known about the 25 years gap between the teen and adult timelines, especially for Misty. She now works as a geriatric nurse, and she seems relatively friendless. It doesn’t seem like she is close to her coworkers, who don’t seem like they appreciate her, something Misty seems unaware of. She is shown to commit elderly abuse towards her patients, most notably an old woman who, to punish her, withhold morphine from her. She is shown going on a date with a man who she was particularly verbally sexual with. When he showed a lack of interest in going home with her, she guilt-tripped him into accepting. She does mention later going out with other men, who all seemed to be peculiar towards her (one of them asking for her socks). She was particularly happy to be in contact with the Yellowjackets again, especially Natalie, whom she seems particularly fixated on.

I would like to theorize a bit about adult Misty’s life before going forward with the diagnosis part. Mostly, about the one aspect of her life we know about: her choice of career. In the 25 years gap, Misty most likely went to college (or university) and got a degree to become a nurse. And she is now working more specifically as a geriatric nurse. I think it’s interesting that Misty chose that field. If we choose to believe her parents were both doctors like in the original concept, her wanting to work in a hospital could make sense. It’s a familiar environment for her where Misty might feel more comfortable. Also, it ties back to her role in the wilderness as the "medic" of the group, who took care of some of the injured (notably, Ben and Lottie). But then, it begs the question: why a nurse and not a doctor? Even if we decide her parents being doctors is completely non-canon, Misty does seem to have the skill set, knowledge, intelligence and even some experience to become a doctor. I do think she could have become one, if she wanted to. But it seems like that’s not what she chose. It is possible she did try to study medicine and couldn’t succeed for various reasons, such as lack of interest or even patience in pursuing such a long course. Perhaps becoming a nurse was her second choice after not being able to go through with the studies required in order to become a doctor. But there is also the possibility that being a nurse was actually her first choice and what she wanted to be from the start.

But then the question remains: why a nurse and not a doctor? I think it’s most likely so she could prey more easily on vulnerable people. Nurses are usually the ones who deal with the direct care for the patients, unlike doctors. Misty’s choice of career needs to satisfy what has always been her biggest desire, which is to have people rely on her, being someone who is needed. Which, sure, that could work as a doctor, but it wouldn’t have given her the instant gratification and personal satisfaction, it would have been a lot more work with not as much direct contact with her patients that make her feel useful and needed by them. To her, it isn’t about actually helping the patients, it’s about them needing her help, and feeling useful. As a doctor, she’d be required to actually help them even if she doesn’t get anything out of it, but as a nurse, she has more control over this. It’s easier to commit malpractice as a nurse than a doctor, she was more easily abused of her power to get what she wants from her patients without getting caught. This is probably why she chose to work with the elderly. They are more vulnerable and less likely to be able to defend themselves if she mistreats them. She can more easily make sure that they actually need to rely on her, otherwise she has no scruples abusing them, like she did when she denied morphine to an old lady after she upsetted her. That’s definitely something she’d have a harder time doing as a doctor and getting away with. That’s also probably why she is working in a nursing home rather than a hospital, once again, easier to get away with mistreating her patients.

So, I think the most likely scenario is that she became a nurse first and foremost to satisfy her desire of being needed and having people rely on her, and she most likely preferred becoming a nurse over becoming a doctor simply because it’d give her more access to patients for her own personal gratification, as well as more control over them, hence why she probably decided to be a geriatric nurse more specifically where her patients are even more vulnerable and dependent on her.

Right off the bat, all the criteria she fitted for conduct disorder still applies to her as an adult, and in some cases worse. She still committed aggressions, most notably towards her patients, and even went as far as to commit murder. She is still shown causing material damage, notably to Nat’s car, in order to make Nat come with her in her car. She is still extremely deceitful, regularly lying and manipulating people in order to get her way. And as for breaking rules, now she is straight-up breaking the law. There is an escalation in her antisocial behaviors, showing that it persisted in adulthood. Given it’s likely she would have fit the diagnosis of conduct disorder as a teen, that’s one criteria fulfilled.  So, let’s see if Misty would qualify for a diagnosis of anti-social personality disorder.

Failure to obey laws and norms by engaging in behavior which results in criminal arrest, or would warrant criminal arrest: The list of crimes Misty has engaged with is ridiculously large. There is elderly abuse, vandalism, spying, breaking and entering, drugging, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, covering for murder, helping to dispose of a body, and first-degree murder. And that’s for season 1 only. I don’t think I need to elaborate more on Misty’s criminal activities. She most certainly fits this criteria.

Lying, deception, and manipulation for profit or self-amusement: This one is a given. While Misty is usually, to some extent, honest with those she considers her friends (like her fellow survivors), she does not extend the same courtesy to others who aren’t. Just like with Ben, she is manipulative with the men she is interested in, using the same guilt-tripping tactics in order to get her way. She lied to the police when she was in custody, pretending to be Natalie so she could get Kevyn (who is a cop) to bail them out. She also continued to impersonate Nat with Kevyn, whom she knew was interested in Nat. When she helped Shauna dispose of Adam’s body, she used one of her deceased patients to get rid of some part of his body, taking advantage of the cremation to burn those. She had no issue lying to the patient’s family with such ease, it is clear that this level of deception is a normal occurrence for Misty. At some point, while there were children visiting her nursing home for Halloween, she made it look like a patient had flatlined in order to make the kids believe the patient had died. So her deceitful behaviors are both for profit but also self-amusement. Even with Natalie, she sabotaged her car so Nat would have to accept going on a road trip with Misty to go find Travis. She also hid a camera in a gift for Nat without her knowing so she could spy on her. Misty will lie, deceive and manipulate to get her way like it’s a second nature for her.

Impulsive behavior: Another trait that she exhibited that persisted in adulthood. Just like I said for teen Misty, yes she is smart and can plan ahead, she is calculating and meticulous, but she’s also very impulsive. Her impulsivity and recklessness is probably one of her biggest flaws that led her to commit the most egregious mistakes in her life. Nat’s death is probably the best example. She impulsively decided to try to inject Lisa with a lethal dose, and it resulted in her accidentally killing Nat. This is something even the actress, Christina Ricci, described as an impulsive act. I’d say another impulsive trait of hers is how she seems to have no filter when she talks, often saying whatever she has on her mind without thinking. Another example is when she decided to snort Nat’s cocaine, which I would qualify as a very impulsive thing to do. She did not think that through. The way she interrogated Randy (through Walter) was also impulsive, she did not even know Randy was the one who’d show up and had to improvise by making Walter interrogate him instead. 

Irritability and aggression, manifested as frequently assaults others, or engages in fighting: Even if she does not necessarily engage in actual fights, Misty does commit a lot of aggressions and assault, often when she is irritated towards someone. Case in point, the way she treats some of her patients, committing elderly abuse on those who irritated her. How she drugged and kidnapped Jessica Roberts, even threatened to poison her father, and later killed her, and how quick she was to try killing Lisa. It is possible that Jessica wasn't the first person Misty killed, given how familiar she was with disposing of a body without getting caught when she helped dispose of Adam's body. Her aggressions towards others are often calculated, but she still displays violent tendencies in her own way and how quick she is to resort to violence when something doesn’t go her way. Another indirect instance would be when she pressured Walter to hit Randy when they were interrogating him. We also saw that she has violent fantasies when she is irritated when she imagined herself stabbing Shauna when she was upset at her. 

Blatantly disregards the safety of self and others: There are instances of Misty disregarding her own safety, notably when Nat threatened her with a gun, or when the police did so too. She was calm despite the danger, and even took some enjoyment in the situation. Also, snorting all of Nat’s coke was definitely unsafe for her and reckless (especially since she had never done that before). Same for going on a road trip with Walter, who she barely knew, and later joining Lottie’s cult. As for disregarding the safety of others, the way she treats her patients is a good example. There’s also when she admitted to locking Shauna in a freezer because she was mad at her, which could have ended badly if Randy wasn’t there to let her out. There are exceptions, notably those she views as friends, like Natalie to whom she was very concerned about her well-being when she went missing. But for most people, Misty does not seem to care about their safety and well-being, unless she has a reason to, which usually benefits her.

A pattern of irresponsibility: I would say she is very irresponsible at her job. As a nurse, especially a geriatric nurse, it’s her responsibility to take the utmost care of her (very vulnerable and dependent on her) patients. And we know she has no issue abusing her patients if she sees fit. The way she interrogated Randy, by making Walter do it for her, is also irresponsible. That and just agreeing to go on a road trip with Walter, a man she barely knew, and later telling him off, leaving herself stranded without a ride near a cult. Oh, joining said cult too could be considered irresponsible. Also, I’d argue carrying with her a syringe filled with a lethal dose is pretty irresponsible, and it did end badly when she accidentally killed Natalie. 

Lack of remorse for actions: Misty does not seem to express remorse for the people she has hurt. She does not feel bad when she abuses her patients, she does not express remorse for killing Jessica, and there is no indication that she carries any guilt for what she has done as a teenager back in the wilderness, despite being potentially responsible for breaking the black box. She does, however, feel bad for killing Natalie. But again, we have to establish if she felt remorse for that or regrets. Does she feel bad for Natalie, or does she feel bad because she lost Nat? She undeniably feels sadness at the loss of her friend, and she does recognize it is her fault. That would be hard to deny given, even if it was an accident, she is the one who injected Nat with a lethal dose. I do think she feels bad, because of the consequences. She lost Nat, someone she cared about, and she misses her, but I’d argue it could simply be regrets rather than remorse. It happened because she was trying to kill Lisa, whom she does not express remorse for nearly killing her. So Misty does not have remorse for the attempted murder, but does regret that she killed Nat instead.

Another trait that is often common for people with ASPD is a lack of or low empathy. This is something we saw with teen Misty, but also adult Misty. I think even if it may not be a complete lack of empathy, she does have low empathy. She certainly doesn’t seem to empathize with her patients, whom she has no issue abusing. Or with Jessica, whom she had no issue killing. Then there is Adam, who she did not know but didn't seem to mind at all that Shauna killed him and was more than eager to help dispose the body of. She does have trouble empathizing even with her friends, when Travis died Misty is seen researching how to comfort a friend who lost someone to suicide, indicating that this does not come naturally for her. She does attempt to comfort Natalie and later Taissa when she learns about Van’s cancer, but it felt more like she knew it was what was expected of her in those circumstances rather than empathizing with them.

I would say, once again from my (unprofessional) opinion, that Misty does meet the requirement for a diagnosis of ASPD. I do think, however, that it was once again unintentional on the writers' part. As mentioned earlier, I do think they wrote Misty to fit the idea of a “sociopath”, resulting in her fitting most criteria for ASPD. I doubt the writers were using the official ASPD diagnosis while writing Misty or took them into consideration in the show, which would explain any discrepancy between that disorder and how Misty behaves sometimes in the show that might contradict her having ASPD. But, I think overall, it is fair to think she might have ASPD, she does fit most criteria. I do think it was more apparent in season 1, while from season 2 onward, her character seemed to have softened a bit, especially in season 3. But that might be because her plot in season 3 revolved around solving Lottie’s murder while still grieving Natalie’s death. It is possible that Nat’s death did “mellow” down Misty, but at the core, she is still the same person. ASPD does have a lot of stigma around it, as well as misinformation. Not everyone with that condition is dangerous or a criminal, and unlike popular belief, people with ASPD still have emotions and can feel love, care about certain people, and even if very limited, some empathy. Just like any disorder, it exists on a spectrum, so not everyone with ASPD will experience the symptoms at the same degree.

I think if she does indeed have both autism and ASPD, that would explain why she doesn’t always fit all the criteria for both conditions. Autism could affect how her ASPD traits present, and vice versa, making both conditions within Misty quite unique and outside the norm, and different from the average autistic/ASPD individual who do not have both conditions comorbid. It is common for people with ASPD to appear very sociable, and be charismatic and even charming. Which isn’t really the case with Misty and that might be because she is also autistic, so she has less social skills than the average person with ASPD normally would. Also, the more analytical mind common for autistic people might help manage some of her ASPD traits better, making it easier for her to plan ahead and be calculating despite her impulsiveness. Also, while she is irresponsible in some aspects of her life, Misty is still capable of holding a job and (I assume) pay for her house. Those can be an issue for people with ASPD, but a lot of autistic people are used to having a routine, so it could make it easier for Misty to manage having a job and taking care of her house if both are part of her routine. And inversely, it can be hard for autistic people to understand other people’s emotions, especially through body language, making it harder sometimes to empathize with others. Not because of a lack of empathy, but simply not recognizing how others feel. And if on top of that someone has ASPD, when it’s often associated with low or lack of empathy, that can make it even harder for the person with both conditions to understand how others feel. Misty is often clueless about how others feel, and often misunderstand their emotions. She doesn’t seem to notice when people dislike her, or misinterpret how people act towards her for love and/or affection when they are simply being polite. But that last trait may be related to yet again another condition she might have, which I’ll elaborate in a moment.

Autism and ASPD are commonly ascribed to Misty within the fandom, but I’d argue there is another condition she does show signs of other than these two. But before I go further with this, let’s discuss one of Misty’s fundamental traits first: her desire to be loved. This is something we see throughout both teen and adult timelines. Misty desperately wants to be loved by those around her, she wants to be useful to them and to be relied on. This is the main reason that drives a lot of her decisions. She destroyed the black box specifically because she finally felt appreciated by the team and useful to them. This is at the core of Misty’s character, the need of being seen as useful, and having the approval of others. Even at the expense of others or need to manufacture situations where she can “help” others. And that’s why I believe it is possible that, on top of autism and ASPD, Misty might have histrionic personality disorder (HPD). Let’s take a look at the definition of HPD first:

I do think, to some extent, it fits Misty. HPD belongs to the same cluster as ASPD, so there is the possibility of both conditions being comorbid within her. I would say that a lot of Misty’s behaviors are attention-seeking, where she does crave the approval and validation of others, and desperately needs to be seen as useful and reliable. As for the inappropriate seduction, this one might be more subtle, but we do see that she does have inappropriate and sexually provocative behavior when it comes to men she is interested in (notably, Ben, and that one guy she went on a date with). Misty also does tend to express her emotions in a very exaggerated way and does crave stimulation. In a way, she does get easily influenced by others, as in, their opinions on her are extremely important to her. As for egocentrism and self-indulgence, that does describe Misty. Even when she is helping others, it is to satisfy her own ego and needs to be appreciated. And I don’t think I need to elaborate on the manipulative behavior, we know by now Misty is extremely manipulative when it comes to getting what she wants. 

But, before I can say for certain that I do believe Misty may have HPD, let’s go through each criteria one by one. Given HPD can start at adolescence, I will be including both teen and adult Misty into my examples for each trait.

Is uncomfortable in situations in which he or she is not the center of attention: Misty does seem like she enjoys being the center of attention, she craves the validation of others and gets really distressed when she’s being ignored. She wants to feel important and needed by those around her and will go to great lengths to achieve that goal. The length she is willing to go in order to get that attention from others speaks for itself.

Interaction with others is often characterized by inappropriate sexually seductive or provocative behavior: With the men she was interested in, Misty did display some inappropriate sexual and seductive behavior, and with others at large, some provocative behaviors. 

Displays rapidly shifting and shallow expression of emotions: There are instances of Misty showing insincere emotions, usually for the sake of manipulating others and getting what she wanted. Once she gets the reaction she wanted, she will quickly shift back to her initial emotion, showing that the outburst was shallow.

Consistently uses physical appearance to draw attention to self: This one, I’m not sure it applies. Unless her using the tactic of calling herself ugly to gain sympathy counts, since that's still using her physical appearance, just in a negative way. But, I'm not sure it's enough to fit that criteria, especially since it's the only instance I can think of.

Has a style of speech that is excessively impressionistic and lacking in detail: Basically, this means that instead of stating specifically what is going on or what happened, they use expressions, subjectivity, and hyperbole to mask the events and paint them in a biased light. I can think of a few examples, like referring to killing Jessica as "taking care of a problem". Or how she considered attempting to SA Ben as "making a move" on him.

Shows self-dramatization, theatricality, and exaggerated expression of emotion: I would say the way Misty expresses her emotions and feelings are often very intense and possibly exaggerated. There is something dramatic and sometimes theatrical in the way she expresses herself, as well as her mannerisms.

Is suggestible, i.e., easily influenced by others or circumstances: Given Misty desperately wants the validation and appreciation of others, she lets herself be influenced by those she seeks the approval of. She also tends to “mimic” those she views as her “best friend”, notably Crystal as a teen, who made Misty develop an interest in theatre and musical, and later Natalie as an adult where Misty started to adopt her aesthetic and personality after her death.

Considers relationships to be more intimate than they actually are: That is, by far, the most notable histrionic trait that Misty displays. This is something we see in almost all her relationships, both romantic and platonic. From how she was convinced she and Ben had this forbidden romance and that he was in love with her, and how she genuinely seems to believe her fellow survivors consider her a friend when most of them try to avoid her if they can. She seems oblivious to how most people do not like her, and is convinced that they share a deep friendship that is, for the most part, one-sided.

In conclusion, do I think Misty fits the diagnosis of HPD? My answer… maybe? It’s hard to tell. She does fit certain criteria while others, not really, or not enough to qualify for the criteria. So I’d say it is possible, but it could also be autistic and ASPD traits that resemble those of HPD. i’m definitely more confident about Misty being in the autism spectrum and having ASPD than her having HPD. Either way, I still think it’s an interesting possibility that was worth exploring. I do think the last trait more specifically really does apply to her. Which is the perfect opportunity to move to the next part of this analysis: Misty’s relationships.

As stated before, Misty does mistake some of her relationships as deeper than they actually are. But also, her low empathy and lack of remorse for her actions also make her relationship with others add to this lack of actual depth. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t care about those she views as friends, or is incapable of loving them. So let’s analyse each of her most meaningful relationships, and what it says about Misty as an individual.

Ben: Misty’s self-proclaimed “first boyfriend” (and first amputation). Misty had an intense crush on Ben throughout the series that bordered on obsession. She was unable to see that he had no interest in her, nor did she consider the fact it was highly inappropriate for her as a teenage girl to make advances to a grown man. This crush turned quite unhealthy when she started to purposefully harm Ben when he kept rejecting her, or simply to make him need her. She even went as far as to try to SA him twice, once when she tried to touch his genitals when he was sleeping, the second when she drugged him with the intention of “making a move” on him. One could blame Ben too for allowing Misty to believe he was in love with her, since he was the adult and should not have encouraged this. But, Ben had no actual intention of actually giving in to Misty’s advances, and he acted to protect himself. After all, Misty had poisoned him once when he rejected her, and with a missing leg, he was in a vulnerable position. Probably not in the best headspace to actually have a talk with Misty about how inappropriate the situation is. Something I found interesting though is that, after Ben came out as gay to her as a final way to reject her, although Misty was upset and felt like she had been led on, she never outed Ben. She never expressed any hatred for him being gay either. It did make her stop going after him, which makes sense. Misty wants to be loved and appreciated, as well as desired, and she now knows it’s impossible for Ben to be in love with her. The only time she actually used Ben’s sexuality was when he was about to commit suicide, when she threatened to out him if he jumped. Despite stopping to try getting with him, Misty’s crush towards Ben never truly faded away. She was adamant in keeping him alive when he was kept prisoner by the group and one of the most distressed when he was about to get executed. She was willing to do anything to keep him alive, even at his own expenses and against his wish of dying. And when he died, outside of Nat, she was the most devastated. She kissed his corpse, showing she still loved him, and took advantage of the situation to finally kiss him. I do think Misty genuinely believed she had feelings for Ben, and did care for him in her own way. But he did not reciprocate and was, for the most part, uncomfortable with her. For a short period it is possible he softened a bit around her, especially when she was his lawyer. Perhaps he was one of the rare men in her life who showed her basic kindness (pre-crash) and she mistook it for affection, and after the crash where she could take care of him, it only further her feelings for him. But overall, this was a very one-sided relationship where Misty had an unhealthy crush on him that was obsessive.

Natalie: Misty’s self-proclaimed “best friend”. Misty’s attachment to Nat started as teens. She decided to save Misty during the hunt and let Javi die instead. She chose Nat over Javi. And when Nat was chosen as their new leader by Lottie, Misty bowed to her in a way that felt more sincere, like she now considered Nat to be their queen. Nat was among those who were rarely rude to Misty, so it makes sense Misty would try to befriend her, and even interpret their relationship as a deep friendship. Nat was someone Misty could admire, and strive to be noticed by her and seek her approval. Their relationship took a temporary dark turn when Nat killed Ben, something that led Misty to even demand Nat to be punished. But the resentment didn’t last long. Once Nat discovered that Misty destroyed the black box, Misty was afraid Nat might tell the others. But Nat kept it a secret and Misty continued to help her find a way to get rescued. Nat did express contempt for Misty afterward, for what she did. But, as far as we are aware, she did not tell the others about the black box. This might be another reason why, even as an adult, Misty is so devoted to Natalie. Nat would have kept her darkest secret for over 25 years and in this, did protect Misty from facing repercussions from the others who would most likely blame her for everything and possibly want retribution. Given that Crystal rejected her as soon as she learned about the black box, it makes sense why it would make Misty view Nat as her best friend for keeping it a secret for that long. Of course, this is once again one-sided. Even if Nat does seem to have develop a certain fondness for Misty, I think it’s just in her nature to want to keep everyone safe. Even if she despised Misty for breaking the black box, she knows the others might hurt her if they knew the truth, so I do think she kept it a secret in order to protect Misty. As adults, Nat does seem to find Misty annoying and try to avoid her, but ended up teaming up with her once with was convenient for her. She does seem to have a love/hate relationship to Misty, whom she doesn’t seem to be able to get rid of, and did defend her from the others. When Natalie went missing, Misty was at first devastated, thinking Nat abandoned her, only to find out she had been kidnapped instead. Misty made it her mission to find and save Natalie, showing how devoted she was to her “best friend”. Ultimately, though, Misty ended up being the one killing Nat, even if it was by accident. This is possibly Misty’s biggest regret, and throughout season 3 she was mourning Nat, even starting to wear her leather jacket and try to mimic her. I would say, her relationship with Nat was probably one of her most sincere and deep, and even if the best friend part was one-sided, the whole relationship wasn’t, as Nat did, to some extent, care for Misty.

Crystal: Misty’s short-lived best friend in the wilderness. They became friends during winter, bonding over their shared isolation. Misty was being ostracized due to the shroom incident while Crystal was unpopular due to her tendencies to sing, which annoyed some people. They both became friends at a time where they felt alone and could benefit from having a friend. Especially for someone like Misty, who desperately needs to feel loved and appreciated. Despite how short-lived their relationship was, they did seem to have developed a sincere friendship where they ended up having some aspects in common. Crystal is the reason why Misty started to be interested in theatre and musicals. But unfortunately, it didn’t last long. Feeling too confident in the depth of their friendship, and after Crystal started confessing what she considered her “darkest secret”, Misty felt emboldened to confess hers (which was, destroying the black box). I think Misty really overestimated how much she meant to Crystal, because as soon as the truth dropped, Crystal didn’t want anything to do with her. She quickly shifted from seeing Misty as her best friend and called her a “psycho”. When Misty begged her to keep it a secret, Crystal asked Misty if she’ll poison her if she doesn’t. Judging by Crystal’s reaction, it might be possible that she did have negative feelings towards Misty prior to befriending her, and that part of why she became friends with Misty was because she had no other friend. Learning about the black box was a reminder of what kind of person Misty was, in a way, since Crystal was aware about the poisoning. Once she saw that begging wasn’t working, Misty switched to threat, telling Crystal she will kill her if she tells anyone. Unfortunately, the threat worked too well, and a panicked Crystal accidentally fell down the ravine. Misty was shaken by what had happened and to her credit, she did attempt to do CPR on Crystal, to no avail. She was legitimately saddened by her death, but lost no time trying to cover it up with extremely manipulative tactics, like pretending that Crystal went missing and feigning being worried, even faking tears. She was, however, worried the others might eat her body, but that might just be how Misty rationalized her actions. Instead of hiding evidence, she was “protecting” Crystal’s body. Misty seemed to have moved on from the initial shock of Crystal’s death fairly quickly, the trauma did prevented her from helping Shauna gave birth at first (because of the sight of the blood), but after that the only time she ever mentioned Crystal was to bring her up as a potential suspect for burning down the cabin, knowing damn well that she is dead. So overall, for the time it lasted, I do think they did share a genuine friendship, but it was perhaps one born out of convenience between two outcasts. They liked each other on a superficial level, and once Crystal knew what Misty was truly capable of, she wanted nothing to do with her. One of her relationships that was technically not one-sided, but not for a long time.

Walter: Misty’s (ex) boyfriend. Introduced in season 2, Walter’s role was essentially to be Misty’s own “Misty”. In a lot of ways, his behaviors towards her mirror the way Misty behaves towards others. He is her peer among the Citizen Detectives and shares many traits with her, potentially being on the spectrum like her (or perhaps have ASPD, but that’s not his analysis). He is deeply in love with Misty to an obsessive level, and devoted to her. He was willing to kill to help her without a second thought, and is completely unfazed by the idea she might be a killer. While Walter’s feelings for Misty are undeniable, the same cannot be said for Misty. She did seem to warm up to him during season 2, enough to consider him her boyfriend. She did try to reject him at first, due to her past experience with friendships who ended badly (notably, Crystal) and was struggling with her friendship with Natalie, who refused to leave Lottie’s cult. When Walter admitted to Misty that he suspected her to be a killer, and accepted her, this is when she told him to leave. I think the idea of someone knowing her true nature frightened her, especially someone who was essentially a stranger to her. It’s possible it was related to Crystal and the trauma her death caused her. But, in the end, she finally accepted Walter’s presence and officially started a relationship with him. However, it wouldn’t last long. After Natalie’s death, Misty was mourning, and desperate to cling to the “friendship” she had with the other survivors. Walter could tell that they did not reciprocate that friendship and tried to make Misty realize that, to no avail. Walter constantly questioning their friendship is what made Misty break up with him and kick him out of her life. So it does seem to suggest she never cared that much for Walter, or at least, not as much as she cared for her fellow survivors. I think part of why is that Walter is too similar to her. He wants to take care of her to a very invading degree, while Misty wants to be the one who takes care of others and be needed. She doesn’t get that with someone like Walter. He doesn’t need her that way, and I think that’s why she never actually reciprocated his feelings. She does crave attention and validation, but she doesn’t want to be taken care of. Watler doesn’t seem to respect that she is no longer interested in her and keeps trying to get back into her life, once again doing to Misty what she does to others, mirroring her behavior. I think the fact Walter is a mirror to herself added to that dislike, because she finds Walter annoying and has grown to despise him, and she doesn’t want to view herself that way. He is a constant reminder of how others perceive her and of her own wrongdoings, and Misty refuses to see herself as a bad person or as wrong, or acknowledge people might dislike her too. At this point, in Misty’s eyes, Walter is nothing more than a tool she can use to further her own goal, with no intention of getting back with him. She used him in her investigation for Lottie’s death and quickly dismissed him once she found out who the culprit was. She is seemingly done with him, but it doesn’t seem like he is done with her as he is seen stalking her in the finale.

Shauna: Misty’s attempted new “best friend”, after Natalie’s death. There isn’t anything unique to their relationship in season 1 and 2, until Natalie’s death. In season 3, it does appear Misty intended to make Shauna her new best friend, accepting to do her favors in the name of their friendship… until she finally realized Shauna doesn’t feel the same way. Then their relationship quickly turned antagonistic, on both sides. Things turn particularly sour when Shauna suspects Misty of being the one who is supposedly trying to kill her, accusing her of cutting her brakes. After being treated poorly by Shauna, Misty decided to retaliate by locking her in a freezer. Something that contributed to Shauna’s growing paranoia that someone was out to kill her. Misty fully renounced trying to be friends with Shauna after the latter attacked Melissa, no longer wanting to help her. Misty do not care about helping Shauna anymore, because she realized that Shauna will never be grateful to her, and that she can’t get the validation and appreciation she needs from her. Her newfound dislike for Shauna went as far as Misty threatening to call the cops if Shauna doesn’t leave her house. It is safe to say that Misty do not care about Shauna anymore, enough so that she agreed to team up with Taissa to take her down in the finale. We will have to wait until season 4 to see if that new alliance sticks.

Caligula: Misty’s bird pet. Yes, I’m including Caligula, because I do think a lot can be said about Misty from her choice of pet. First of all, Caligula is an African grey parrot, hence Misty’s online pseudonym. It does appear that Misty genuinely cares for Caligula. And I do think she does. She is very caring of his needs, and was very distressed when Jessica threatened to hurt him. She did pretend she didn’t care, but as soon as she managed to get her bird free, Misty immediately apologized to him. Given we know adult Misty doesn’t have any close friends, Caligula is probably the only “friend” she got. For her to choose a bird as a pet is interesting in itself. Especially a parrot, who has the capacity to mimic human speech. So it gives Misty the illusion that she has “someone” to speak to, and she can have the feeling she can have discussions with Caligula. Also, unlike a dog or a cat, birds are way more high-maintenance and reliant on their owner to take care of them. So I do think it’s another appeal for Misty, to have a pet who is completely dependent on her. This is how she is with people too, she loves when she has someone being dependent on her and who she can take care of. A bird, especially a parrot, seems perfect for that kind of need. A living being who has no choice but to rely on Misty, and can also provide her with her need to have a friend she can talk to. A pet that can be kept in a cage if needed. I would say that Misty’s love and care for Caligula are genuine. I do think it is very telling that the being Misty seems to care the most for is an animal, whom she might have an easier time bonding with than people. A pet might be more high-maintenant in general, but when it comes to the social aspect, it can be easier to deal with than a person.

Jessica: Misty’s hostage. Jessica is an interesting case because she could have been someone Misty befriended. Their ‘relationship’ started when Misty suspected her of being the blackmailer, so she kidnapped her and held her captive in her basement. Since this wasn’t the first time Jessica had been in a similar situation due to her work, she did try to manipulate Misty and take advantage of her desire of being appreciated, promising her that they could co-write a book together about what happened in the wilderness. Throughout the season, it did seem like Misty might actually trust Jessica and even warmed up to her, until it was revealed she intended to kill Jessica. I think Misty did see through Jessica’s manipulation and knew she wasn’t sincere. And ultimately, Misty’s true loyalty would always be towards her fellow survivors. If anything, Misty’s relationship with Jessica highlights how her bond with the Yellowjackets truly was special, where she is more naive with them and willing to believe them even if they aren’t truthful to her or using her, while with Jessica she knew all along that she was trying to manipulate her. Not even the close proximity she had with Jessica for days was enough to make Misty care for that woman. In the end, Jessica was nothing more than a mean to an end, and as soon as she stopped being useful and was a potential treat to her and those she considered as friends, Misty methodically disposed of Jessica. The way she killed her was extremely calculated and even callous, showing she never had any sympathy for her and possibly, always intended to kill her. And she had no remorse or guilt for doing this, since killing Jessica was nothing more than taking care of a “problem” in her eyes.

The Yellowjackets: Misty’s “friend group”. I already went through certain of the Yellowjackets with whom Misty had a closer relationship and I won’t go through every single individual, but I think it’s worth exploring Misty’s bond with the team as a whole. She does genuinely view the team as her friends, in both timelines, but not necessarily for the same reason. As a teen, she views them as friends the way a high schooler would, she wants to be part of the group and be seen as a member of the team. I think teen Misty has such an attachment to the Yellowjackets because it’s the first time she feels like she is part of a group in a meaningful way. We know she used to be bullied and didn’t really have any friends, so I think part of her feels “grateful” to the team. Even if they don’t necessarily view her as a friend, being part of the team (even as just equipment manager), given the popularity of the Yellowjackets soccer team, might have provided her with some protection. That could explain why she seems so loyal and devoted to them, and wants their approval so badly. That would explain why she bonded with them in a way she doesn’t seem to with other people and grew to care for them. And that bond persisted in adulthood, even 25 years later. And possibly stronger. Because it’s no longer just a bond with high school friends whom she shared a team, but a bond between fellow survivors (which Misty wrongly referred to as “trauma bond”). Her devotion but also obsession with her fellow survivors is undeniable. She might not have interacted with them for years, she still kept tabs on them and never stopped viewing them as friends, or assumed they didn’t feel the same way towards her. She might have incorrectly used the terms “trauma bond” (this is specifically about how a victim bonds with their abuser), but what she probably means was that they shared a bond over a common trauma, and I do think it is true and that it contributes to Misty’s persisting fixation on the remaining Yellowjackets.

The Nursing Home: We don’t know much about Misty’s relationship with her coworkers. She doesn’t seem to be friends with them, but does act friendly towards them, or at the very least, courteous. They however do not seem fond of her and only seem to keep things civil, probably the sake of their workplace environment. I think it’s very likely Misty is indifferent to them and possibly putting up a facade when interacting with them, probably because Misty wouldn’t want to be openly hated by those around her, especially not at her workplace. Her relationship to her patients though, that’s another story. There isn’t just indifferent, there is outright animosity towards some of her patients. I do think Misty became a nurse in part to “relive” the thrill she had in the wilderness, when she was the designated medic of the group and could take care of others and have them need her. As a nurse, she gets to be needed and have people rely on her, mostly for medical help. But, unlike with the Yellowjackets, Misty doesn’t have that special bond with her patients. She can tolerate a lot coming from her fellow survivors, she still views them as friends even when they are rude to her, because of that deep bond they form through their shared trauma. She doesn’t have such a bond with her patients, so she isn’t as tolerant with them if they have the misfortune of upsetting her. I think part of Misty had higher expectations when she became a nurse, that she would be able to feel needed the way she felt she was back in the wilderness. But her patients couldn’t be a replacement for the Yellowjackets, for her “friends”. So I think part of her resents them, in a way. For not giving her the satisfaction and gratification she wanted from that job. So when some of her patients are rude to her, after she considers she was “taking care of them”, then she views them as ungrateful and that came her act callous to them in retaliation. For not giving her the satisfaction and appreciation she craves so much and thinks she’s entitled to. This is similar to how she treated Ben, when he didn’t reciprocate her feelings or appreciate what she was doing for him, she poisoned him. She hurts her patients out of frustration and to “punish” them, perhaps with the hope they will be more “grateful” next time, and to assert control over them.

There is a pattern with Misty’s relationships, where she desperately seeks the approval and appreciation of others, to any means possible. She wants to take care of others, and be seen as helpful and valuable. That is something we see both as a teen and as an adult. She will go as far as engineer problems herself in order to “fix” them so she can appear as helpful, for example when she harmed Ben so he’d have to rely on her more, or when she sabotaged Nat’s car so she could drive her. Even her choice of career, a geriatric nurse, put her in a position where her patients have no other choice but to rely on her. She enjoys when people are dependent on her, especially if they are in a vulnerable state and do need her help. If someone refuses her help, she will make sure that they do, even if she needs to hurt them to do so. She has no interest in people who she can’t take care of, like Walter, hence why their relationship couldn’t last. She will also lose interest in people who clearly express that they won’t give her the appreciation she desires, no matter how much she helps them, like with Shauna. And possibly some of her patients whom she deemed ungrateful and therefore, she has no issue mistreating. Misty’s relationships with others are very self-serving, what she looks for are people who need her and will make her feel appreciated and useful. Anyone else is essentially irrelevant to her, at worst they are nuisances and at best, they are tools she can use whenever she needs, or dispose of if they becomea threat to her. The only people she values are those she views as friends, and even those “friendships” are conditional. 

Outside of friendships, Misty is someone who desperately wants to “belong”. She wants to be part of a group and be accepted, and seen as useful and valuable by her peers, as well as appreciated. That is probably why she wanted to join the Yellowjackets, to belong somewhere and have people who need her. Even if she was put in the equipment management, she does value the Yellowjackets and her role within the group. She wants to please and be liked, even if she is oblivious to people disliking her. That is something she carries as an adult, where she joined the Citizens Detective, a group that gives her a sense of purpose by solving crimes. She doesn’t seem to view any of them as friends though, but when she needs a favor, she will use them, often taking advantage of the men in the group who seem to be interested in her. She, however, doesn’t seem to share their interest, but will use their skills whenever she needs them.

We do see some differences between teen Misty and adult Misty, as well as the natural progression of some personality traits as a teen into adulthood. Teen Misty’s actions, even the most reprehensible ones, feel more “naive”. There is a certain innocence in what she does, because of her young age and how she doesn’t fully understand that what she is doing is often wrong. There doesn’t seem to be actual malice, and most of her more callous actions feel like she’d view them as a “necessary evil” (for example, letting Javi die to save Natalie). Teen Misty seems more ruled by her emotions, more impulsive in her decisions, and more likely to panic when she commits a mistake. She is also more sensitive to others, or at least, more sympathetic to those she views as friends. She does seem to suffer more from being ostracized, more aware that she is seen as odd by others. She even considers that there might be something wrong with her, even referring to herself as a “freak” once. She does seem more aware of the negative impacts her actions have.

Adult Misty however, does not seem to even entertain the thought she might be wrong, or consider herself a bad person. She even accused other people of being bad, such as Jessica Roberts, while being completely oblivious that what she is doing is also bad. She doesn’t view her actions as a “necessary evil”, she just views her actions as “right”. She didn’t see an issue with killing Jessica, and when confronted about this. She never saw an issue with how she tried to kill Lisa too, she only regretted it because she accidentally killed Nat instead. But no acknowledgement of wrongdoing regarding her initial intent. If adult Misty still thinks there is something wrong with her, or views herself as a freak, it doesn’t seem to affect her anymore, because she thinks what she does is right anyway. She does seem less affected by being ostracized, or perhaps she notices it less now. She views the surviving Yellowjackets as close friends, possibly even more than when she was a teen, so she possibly doesn’t even consider the possibility they might not like her. While she is still impulsive as an adult and prone to emotional outbursts, she has better control over her impulses and emotions, something she probably had to learn as she grew older. She is more calculating and has become better at manipulating people, and a bit colder than she used to be as a teen.

So, we have a fairly negative profile of Misty as an individual. She is a dangerous person who causes non-negligible harm to those around her, without much concern for others unless it benefits her. Her actions, harmful or otherwise, are guided by a deep need of being appreciated by others, instead of genuine malicious intentions. But, in her quest of getting that validation and being “helpful”, she ends up causing more harm than good in the long run, and sometimes she can get cruel towards others if she doesn’t get what she wants.

But why is Misty the way she is? What led her to this path? Well, we’d have to go back to her childhood. People are, for the most part, the product of their environment. If I am right that Misty is on the autism spectrum, then this is something she is born with, it’s innate. But, if I’m right about her having ASPD (and possibly HPD too), this is not innate. Personality disorders, even if they can have genetic disposition, are usually caused by the environment and trauma. As discussed before, we don’t know much about Misty’s childhood, but I do believe she might have been raised by parents who were either neglectful or emotionally abusive. It would explain a lot about how Misty turned out this way. She might have felt unappreciated at home, which resulted in her desperately seeking appreciation from others to compensate for something she lacked growing up. If she is autistic and is undiagnosed, then she probably had specific needs that went unanswered and ignored, contributing to this craving for attention and validation from others. Also, we do know she was bullied, and it makes sense if, as an undiagnosed autistic child, she was considered odd by other kids and therefore an easy target. This would further her feeling of being unappreciated by others, and reinforcing her need to find people who would appreciate her. Conduct disorder and later ASPD can be a way to cope with that kind of trauma, where we feel constantly under attack, as a way to protect oneself. It’s hard to feel empathy for others when you yourself weren’t shown empathy from others. And those traits were exacerbated by the time she spent in the wilderness. Misty is someone who grew up being different, and being bullied for it, so in turn she began to compensate by trying to be useful to those around her, and be part of a group. Because if people appreciate her and value her, then they won’t bully her or ostracize her anymore. And this kind of thinking led to her becoming the person she is as an adult, who is willing to do anything to feel needed and loved, even at the expense of others.

In conclusion, I do believe it is very likely that Misty has both autism and ASPD, with perhaps HPD. A lot of her behaviors are explained through those conditions. I do need, however, to clarify that this isn't entirely because of those conditions that someone would end up being that way, and that most people with those conditions do not become dangerous and/or criminals. If Misty hadn’t experienced the trauma she went through in the wilderness and if she had received the support and psychological help she clearly needed as a teen, she could have turned out differently. But, with Misty being undiagnosed and never receiving the help she needed, those traits went unchecked and became worse over time, resulting in the adult she is now. A dangerous person who causes more harm than good to those around her. It is true that Misty started up as a victim, and we can sympathize with her and understand why she ended up the way she is. But she is now the victimizer towards people who are innocent, including her patients, and that is not justifiable.

But as viewers, she is an entertaining character. So this isn’t me having a moral judgement on her or trying to “hold her accountable” (she is fictional, we can’t do that), this is simply my observation of her character within the fictional universe she belongs in. 

This analysis was written after season 3 finished airing and before season 4, so I might do an update whenever season 4 finishes airing. Perhaps we will learn more about Misty in the final season, especially regarding her past. Until then, stay tuned, and thank you for reading until the end. Please don’t hesitate to comment, regardless of whether you agree or disagree with me. 

Bonus: Melanie Lynskey referring to Misty as a "sociopath or psychopath, or something" in an interview with Christina Ricci, and Sammi Hanratty saying she thinks Misty is "on the spectrum".

[the-psychopathist]

Is Agatha Harkness a sociopath?

I wanted to make this post ever since I finished Agatha All Along, specifically after Agatha was referred to as a “sociopath” in the series. Now, “sociopath” is not an actual diagnosis and most of the time, what people refer to when it comes to sociopathy and psychopathy is actually anti-social personality disorder (ASPD). In this post, I’ll attempt to “diagnose” Agatha with ASPD and see if she fits the criteria for a diagnosis.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional, I’m only “diagnosing” Agatha because she’s a fictional character. Do not attempt to do the same for any real person. This post isn’t meant to stigmatize any real person with that condition, this is simply a character study. None of what I’m writing should be used in a real-life context. 

1) Failure to obey laws and norms by engaging in behavior which results in criminal arrest, or would warrant criminal arrest

Agatha is quite literally a serial killer. She has been luring witches to their early graves for centuries. We don't know exactly how many people she has killed, but her body count is definitely quite large. I don't think she was ever arrested for her crimes but it definitely warrants a criminal arrest. If it wasn't for Wanda trapping her in the Agnes persona at the end of WandaVision, she would have most likely been arrested, especially since she attempted to kill multiple S.W.O.R.D. soldiers. 

2) Deceitfulness, indicated by continuously lying, using aliases, or conning others for personal gain and pleasure.

This one is a given. Her primary means to steal magic was through a con. She deceived and manipulated unsuspecting witches who trusted her with the intent of stealing their magic and killing them. And even before that, she used her own son to lure witches and do the same. She does it primarily for profit, to get more magic, but she does seem to genuinely enjoy deceiving others and gaining pleasure out of it.

In both WV and AAA she was lying, deceiving and manipulating the rest of the cast from the very beginning for her own benefit. She infiltrated Wanda’s hex and posed as her nosy neighbour “Agnes”, graining Wanda's trust with the intent of stealing her magic from the start. She did it primarily for profit but there was also some enjoyment for her when she revealed the truth to Wanda, so much so that she created her own intro song. She was enjoying putting up a show almost as much as getting Wanda's magic.

This pattern of behaviors is seen throughout AAA too, especially upon rewatch. On your first watch, you might not notice but after rewatching a second time fully knowing the end, you can notice how much Agatha has been lying the entire time. Not only did she lie about the road and always intended to murder the cover in her basement, but when the hex road appeared she kept the lie that she went to the road before going. One could say that she had to keep the lie going because she never intended for the road to appear, so those weren’t lies she intended to tell, but at the same time, we can see how easily she can lie and deceive others. She knew all along that Billy created the road and that said road was deadly, yet made no attempt at stopping him. She knew people would die but she kept the lie going because she hoped that she could get back her powers at the end. So she lied, deceived and manipulated the group the entire time for her own gain.

3) Exhibiting impulsivity or failing to plan ahead.

Agatha is someone who likes to be in control, and does give off the illusion of being in control. But the truth is, she isn’t as much in control as she thinks she is, and is quite impulsive. Lots of her shortcomings are a direct consequence of an impulsive decision (fuck around and find out). Being impulsive doesn’t mean she can’t make elaborate schemes, because she sure does. But a lot of those are made impulsively. She sensed Wanda’s magic and decided to join her hex without knowing exactly how Wanda’s magic worked. She even started messing with her without knowing how Wanda’s magic would respond. Then in AAA we see more of her impulsive nature. She doesn’t think through whenever she makes a decision and ends up needing to improvise in order to compensate for her reckless decisions. She told Lilia about how her ability to steal magic worked, she picked a bound witch to be part of her coven, as well as a non-magical woman. The only one in the group that seemed to have the ability to blast was Alice. Not the greatest group if she needed to steal as much magic as possible. On the road, she made a lot of impulsive decisions that were quite reckless, like attempting to break the window and throwing her wine glass during the first trial, suggesting to summon another green witch, pretending to be possessed by Sharon, or messing with the tarot cards. There’s also the way she provoked Billy right after he nearly killed her. Those were all decisions she took without thinking about the consequences, out of impulsivity. But she’s not only impulsive when it comes to being reckless with others’ safety. She was also shown to be impulsive when it comes to helping some of her coven members. When Rio first emerged from Sharon’s grave, Agatha’s first instinct was to get in front of the coven as if she wanted to protect them. When Billy got thrown into the window, Agatha rushed to go check on him, or when Lilia was about to get impaled she jumped to push her out of the sword’s trajectory. 

4) Irritability and aggressiveness, indicated by repeatedly getting into fights or physically assaulting others.

Once again, this one is a given. Agatha is easily irritated and very aggressive, she’s quick to anger, losing her patience and snapping at people. She had no issue hurting Wanda when she had her captive in her basement, slamming her against the wall when she got irritated with her. I’d argue that the mass murdering she did over centuries also count as frequent assaults. She’s also quick to engage in physical fights with Rio (although those are mutual on both sides), and there was a moment at the end of episode 3 where Agatha randomly kicked Jen when she was already down after they all went through the water slide. 

5) Reckless behaviors that disregard the safety of others.

Agatha did not care how her actions affected the resident of Westview when she was purposefully messing around with the hex. She did not care either on the road. She knew from the beginning that it was a hex and even after seeing they could actually die in the trials, she made no attempt to try telling the others the road was fake. She could have tried to let Billy know he made the road but she didn’t. Because she didn’t care if some of them might die. She had no concern for their safety. She endangered the coven in the first trial by trying to break the window and by refusing to drink the wine. She did so too in the third trial by pretending to be possessed, making the group lose precious time. Same with the fourth trial by messing with the tarot cards and not stopping even when the swords were dangerous dropping on both her and Billy. 

6) A pattern of irresponsibility

This is probably the only criteria I’m not sure would apply. There are instances of Agatha being irresponsible, but I don’t think we have seen enough of her personal life to establish a pattern. So until further notice, I’ll consider this criteria doesn’t particularly fit. 

7) Lack of remorse after hurting or mistreating another person.

Agatha does not seem to have any remorse for all the people she murdered. She may have some remorse regarding her original coven, including her mother, but that was a much younger Agatha. The Agatha we know now does not seem to feel bad for the people she had killed for centuries. It’s even something she will be really flippant about whenever she talks about how many people she has killed.

She didn’t feel remorse when Sharon died either. Agatha might not have directly killed her, she is still responsible for her death by recruiting her into the coven. And it’s not like Agatha didn’t intend from the start to put Sharon in harm’s way. If her initial intention was to kill the coven, it’s very likely she would have killed Sharon too, or Sharon would have been killed by the Salem Seven. Billy may be indirectly responsible for Sharon’s death because he created the road, he was not aware of that nor did he intend for this to happen. Agatha on the other hand always intended for Sharon to die and did not feel bad when she actually did die. She acted extremely callous after Sharon’s death and never bothered to learn her name, even forgetting who she was later on.

And it’s not just about murder. She didn’t feel bad when she got Alice fired, nor did she feel bad when she learned she was the person who got Jen bound for a hundred years. She didn’t feel bad either about attempting to kill the coven from the beginning and had no qualms about using them to get to the end of the road even if it meant sacrificing them.

The coven’s members aren’t the only people who suffer because of Agatha’s actions. If we go back to WandaVision, Agatha orchestrated Sparky’s death. And she seemed pretty proud about causing a dog to die. It may have been revealed in AAA that Ralph poisoned the dog, but it was under Agatha’s order. He was under her magical control, so the blame is entirely on her. She did not feel bad at all for killing a dog. Speaking of Ralph, as much as his character is played for laughs, what she did to him was also pretty atrocious. She took control of his life, stole his house, and forced him to commit awful acts, causing psychological damage to him to the point he is completely paranoid now. It’s unlikely Agatha knows how Ralph ended up after what she did to him, I highly doubt she’d feel an ounce of remorse for that. 

Now, lack of remorse does not mean lack of regrets. Agatha does not feel bad for hurting others and how her actions affected them, but she does have regrets. She does feel bad if her actions negatively affect her, like personal loss or missed opportunity. She did seem to feel regret about killing Alice, but I don’t think she felt remorse. She did not feel bad for Alice, she felt bad because of the consequences she had to face after. She did not intend to kill Alice at that time, and now she has lost any potential trust she could gain from the coven. Not only that, we know Agatha became a ghost because she couldn’t face Nicky in the afterlife, so the regret might also be that she thought her son had seen her kill Alice. I don’t think she felt remorse for what she did to Jen either. When Jen did the unbinding ritual, getting told over and over that she “holds nothing” worked on Agatha possibly because deep down, Agatha knew it was true. She no longer has her son, she has no magic, and she has driven away Rio. She did hold nothing anymore. 

Having ASPD does not mean Agatha is incapable of love, or caring about others. She undoubtedly loved and cared about her son. So much so that she developed a soft spot for Billy because he reminded her of Nicky. She loved Rio too. Same for her pet rabbit. Unlike popular belief, lack of empathy is not a criteria for ASPD. It does usually result in low empathy, and that can vary from person to person. Agatha probably has little to no empathy for most people except the rare people she does manage to bond with. You can see it as a selective empathy for those she did love and care about, which included Nicky, Rio, Señor Scratchy and later possibly Billy.

If Agatha does have ASPD, how did it start? Even if sometimes genetics can play a role in developing that personality disorder, you aren’t born with it. Most of the time, it’s caused by the environment, mostly trauma experienced as a child. We know Agatha’s mother hated her. She thought she was born evil. She, with her coven, attempted to have her executed when Agatha was only 18. I do believe the accusations made at her were mostly true. She probably did steal knowledge and practiced dark magic. But Agatha did beg her coven to teach her, so I think it’s very likely that since her mother thought she was born evil, she didn’t allow Agatha to properly learn magic. If Agatha wasn’t taught magic and had this power she couldn’t control (siphoning), it’s not surprising that she would have to steal knowledge in order to learn. Agatha learned from a young age to break the rules in order to get what she wants or needs. And without proper guidance, it’s reasonable to think she might have practiced dark magic.

So yes, even if the accusations were true, her coven and mother are not blameless. Agatha is the way she is because of how she was raised, how she was treated as a child and growing up, and what she had to do in order to learn magic. She never had a healthy support system growing up, there was no possibility for therapy at that time, she was a witch living in the worst era for her kind, and she couldn’t even rely on her fellow witches to protect herself. After accidentally killing her original coven (including her own mother), which was definitely a traumatic event for her regardless if it was self-defence, she kept doing what she did so far to survive; steal, lie, deceive, kill. All the antisocial traits she exhibits as an adult are learned behaviours. Of course, it does not justify her crimes and horrific actions she later committed, but it does explain why she is that way. She wasn’t born evil, she became evil. She’s the product of her environment, experiences, circumstances and era.

[cabinetofquriosities]

Definitely something I wish more writers would remember when they write her. I love how the show didn’t soften this. The whole sequence of her killing witches with Nicholas was extremely disturbing and they didn’t shy away from the fact that she was a serial killer. (I wish there were gifs of these scenes) They also still had her not feeling much remorse for any of the witches who died on the road. Love this analysis. It really shows why her character is so compelling.

I also love how they show the “antisocial” bit of the condition. Her lack of meaningful empathy and trauma of being rejected by her community at a young age led her to fear covens, thereby leading her to target them. It was a foregone conclusion to her that they would eventually betray her anyway, which was a sentiment she shared with her son. She loved him fiercely, but also had no qualms with turning him into a lure for her victims. She essentially destroyed any sense of right and wrong in him. He was so used to it that he would just chill outside playing with animals while listening to women begging his mother to stop. There is no doubt that he would have grown up to be a similar type of sociopath barring any other interference in his life. Given that Rio was his other parent, he wouldn’t get much of a humanizing influence from her either. In fact, he is a pretty terrible person in the comics who betrays her and acts as brutally as her.

The lack of social influence on Agatha is also shown whenever she starts to feel accepted by others. She seems genuinely uncomfortable with it and fearful since her closest people literally tried to execute her as a child. So, she either tries to push them away beforehand or turn on them the moment they seem to confirm her fears of rejection. It’s most apparent when she is by the fire with the coven. They are laughing and bonding, even including her while sharing stories. She looks awkward, nervous, but also grateful at the fleeting feeling of acceptance.

Beyond that, she was cared for by the town of Westview while she was debilitated by Wanda’s spell. They made sure she was fed and kept busy by playing along with her delusions. It was an incredibly sweet gesture done by the community. Instead of feeling grateful for the selfless kindness shown to her, Agatha was hostile toward everyone the moment she regained her senses. Anyone who has known a sociopath has felt the sting of not receiving any gratitude no matter how much they did for them.

One of those people who helped was Sharon Davis. She was a sweet woman who cared about her. Agatha not only fails to thank her, but then goes on to use her by bringing her to a summoning under false circumstances, knowing she would die. During the trial, Agatha all but ignored the trauma that Sharon reacted to when she was hallucinating Wanda. She then trued to leave her behind in the flood, but only came back for her when she knew they needed her later. Once she does die, Agatha doesn’t even care enough to remember her name. This woman who cared for her and trusted her is dead essentially by her hand and she shrugs it off.

She also seems to get off on using other people’s pain as a joke. From mocking Jenn during the unbinding ritual, to being extremely callous to Wanda when watching her memories, to full on scaring the life out of Billy as a ghost, she loves making people upset. It’s entertaining to her.

As far as Rio goes, she is deeply in love with her. However, it is a selfish love (much like Villanelle in Killing Eve) where she doesn’t care about how she affects her. She rejects her the moment she feels betrayed. Why does she feel betrayed? Because Rio was unable to keep the universe at bay for longer than six years. Rio broke every rule she stood for knowing she would lose Agatha either way. Agatha weaponized her love the moment it was advantageous to her by promising that she would hate her forever if she did something that she couldn’t stop. It was also clear that Rio was the parent of their son as well. So, she disregarded Rio’s grief and laid the blame on the very person who gifted her with his existence. She only took Rio back when she came to her own conclusions about his death that it wasn’t anyone’s fault. We also saw the effect of her anger at Rio with how Rio essentially lost her mind over the centuries. Also, you cannot convince me the two didn’t see each other during the years between Nicky’s death and her obtaining the Darkhold. She references the Daughters of Liberty as a story Rio was there for. This would have been at least twenty five years later. She would have seen Rio’s decline (if not actively contribute to it with emotional abuse).

Now, I’m not saying Rio wasn’t toxic as well. She reveled in Agatha’s murderous tendencies and loved her in an intensely obsessive manner, having a sense of ownership over her (i.e. if I can’t have you, no one will). That is why the two are a perfect match in most ways.

All in all, Agatha is a textbook sociopath and I hope future movies and shows with her don’t try to redeem her or change that fact in any way.

[the-psychopathist]

Is Agatha Harkness a sociopath?

I wanted to make this post ever since I finished Agatha All Along, specifically after Agatha was referred to as a “sociopath” in the series. Now, “sociopath” is not an actual diagnosis and most of the time, what people refer to when it comes to sociopathy and psychopathy is actually anti-social personality disorder (ASPD). In this post, I’ll attempt to “diagnose” Agatha with ASPD and see if she fits the criteria for a diagnosis.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional, I’m only “diagnosing” Agatha because she’s a fictional character. Do not attempt to do the same for any real person. This post isn’t meant to stigmatize any real person with that condition, this is simply a character study. None of what I’m writing should be used in a real-life context. 

1) Failure to obey laws and norms by engaging in behavior which results in criminal arrest, or would warrant criminal arrest

Agatha is quite literally a serial killer. She has been luring witches to their early graves for centuries. We don't know exactly how many people she has killed, but her body count is definitely quite large. I don't think she was ever arrested for her crimes but it definitely warrants a criminal arrest. If it wasn't for Wanda trapping her in the Agnes persona at the end of WandaVision, she would have most likely been arrested, especially since she attempted to kill multiple S.W.O.R.D. soldiers. 

2) Deceitfulness, indicated by continuously lying, using aliases, or conning others for personal gain and pleasure.

This one is a given. Her primary means to steal magic was through a con. She deceived and manipulated unsuspecting witches who trusted her with the intent of stealing their magic and killing them. And even before that, she used her own son to lure witches and do the same. She does it primarily for profit, to get more magic, but she does seem to genuinely enjoy deceiving others and gaining pleasure out of it.

In both WV and AAA she was lying, deceiving and manipulating the rest of the cast from the very beginning for her own benefit. She infiltrated Wanda’s hex and posed as her nosy neighbour “Agnes”, graining Wanda's trust with the intent of stealing her magic from the start. She did it primarily for profit but there was also some enjoyment for her when she revealed the truth to Wanda, so much so that she created her own intro song. She was enjoying putting up a show almost as much as getting Wanda's magic.

This pattern of behaviors is seen throughout AAA too, especially upon rewatch. On your first watch, you might not notice but after rewatching a second time fully knowing the end, you can notice how much Agatha has been lying the entire time. Not only did she lie about the road and always intended to murder the cover in her basement, but when the hex road appeared she kept the lie that she went to the road before going. One could say that she had to keep the lie going because she never intended for the road to appear, so those weren’t lies she intended to tell, but at the same time, we can see how easily she can lie and deceive others. She knew all along that Billy created the road and that said road was deadly, yet made no attempt at stopping him. She knew people would die but she kept the lie going because she hoped that she could get back her powers at the end. So she lied, deceived and manipulated the group the entire time for her own gain.

3) Exhibiting impulsivity or failing to plan ahead.

Agatha is someone who likes to be in control, and does give off the illusion of being in control. But the truth is, she isn’t as much in control as she thinks she is, and is quite impulsive. Lots of her shortcomings are a direct consequence of an impulsive decision (fuck around and find out). Being impulsive doesn’t mean she can’t make elaborate schemes, because she sure does. But a lot of those are made impulsively. She sensed Wanda’s magic and decided to join her hex without knowing exactly how Wanda’s magic worked. She even started messing with her without knowing how Wanda’s magic would respond. Then in AAA we see more of her impulsive nature. She doesn’t think through whenever she makes a decision and ends up needing to improvise in order to compensate for her reckless decisions. She told Lilia about how her ability to steal magic worked, she picked a bound witch to be part of her coven, as well as a non-magical woman. The only one in the group that seemed to have the ability to blast was Alice. Not the greatest group if she needed to steal as much magic as possible. On the road, she made a lot of impulsive decisions that were quite reckless, like attempting to break the window and throwing her wine glass during the first trial, suggesting to summon another green witch, pretending to be possessed by Sharon, or messing with the tarot cards. There’s also the way she provoked Billy right after he nearly killed her. Those were all decisions she took without thinking about the consequences, out of impulsivity. But she’s not only impulsive when it comes to being reckless with others’ safety. She was also shown to be impulsive when it comes to helping some of her coven members. When Rio first emerged from Sharon’s grave, Agatha’s first instinct was to get in front of the coven as if she wanted to protect them. When Billy got thrown into the window, Agatha rushed to go check on him, or when Lilia was about to get impaled she jumped to push her out of the sword’s trajectory. 

4) Irritability and aggressiveness, indicated by repeatedly getting into fights or physically assaulting others.

Once again, this one is a given. Agatha is easily irritated and very aggressive, she’s quick to anger, losing her patience and snapping at people. She had no issue hurting Wanda when she had her captive in her basement, slamming her against the wall when she got irritated with her. I’d argue that the mass murdering she did over centuries also count as frequent assaults. She’s also quick to engage in physical fights with Rio (although those are mutual on both sides), and there was a moment at the end of episode 3 where Agatha randomly kicked Jen when she was already down after they all went through the water slide. 

5) Reckless behaviors that disregard the safety of others.

Agatha did not care how her actions affected the resident of Westview when she was purposefully messing around with the hex. She did not care either on the road. She knew from the beginning that it was a hex and even after seeing they could actually die in the trials, she made no attempt to try telling the others the road was fake. She could have tried to let Billy know he made the road but she didn’t. Because she didn’t care if some of them might die. She had no concern for their safety. She endangered the coven in the first trial by trying to break the window and by refusing to drink the wine. She did so too in the third trial by pretending to be possessed, making the group lose precious time. Same with the fourth trial by messing with the tarot cards and not stopping even when the swords were dangerous dropping on both her and Billy. 

6) A pattern of irresponsibility

This is probably the only criteria I’m not sure would apply. There are instances of Agatha being irresponsible, but I don’t think we have seen enough of her personal life to establish a pattern. So until further notice, I’ll consider this criteria doesn’t particularly fit. 

7) Lack of remorse after hurting or mistreating another person.

Agatha does not seem to have any remorse for all the people she murdered. She may have some remorse regarding her original coven, including her mother, but that was a much younger Agatha. The Agatha we know now does not seem to feel bad for the people she had killed for centuries. It’s even something she will be really flippant about whenever she talks about how many people she has killed.

She didn’t feel remorse when Sharon died either. Agatha might not have directly killed her, she is still responsible for her death by recruiting her into the coven. And it’s not like Agatha didn’t intend from the start to put Sharon in harm’s way. If her initial intention was to kill the coven, it’s very likely she would have killed Sharon too, or Sharon would have been killed by the Salem Seven. Billy may be indirectly responsible for Sharon’s death because he created the road, he was not aware of that nor did he intend for this to happen. Agatha on the other hand always intended for Sharon to die and did not feel bad when she actually did die. She acted extremely callous after Sharon’s death and never bothered to learn her name, even forgetting who she was later on.

And it’s not just about murder. She didn’t feel bad when she got Alice fired, nor did she feel bad when she learned she was the person who got Jen bound for a hundred years. She didn’t feel bad either about attempting to kill the coven from the beginning and had no qualms about using them to get to the end of the road even if it meant sacrificing them.

The coven’s members aren’t the only people who suffer because of Agatha’s actions. If we go back to WandaVision, Agatha orchestrated Sparky’s death. And she seemed pretty proud about causing a dog to die. It may have been revealed in AAA that Ralph poisoned the dog, but it was under Agatha’s order. He was under her magical control, so the blame is entirely on her. She did not feel bad at all for killing a dog. Speaking of Ralph, as much as his character is played for laughs, what she did to him was also pretty atrocious. She took control of his life, stole his house, and forced him to commit awful acts, causing psychological damage to him to the point he is completely paranoid now. It’s unlikely Agatha knows how Ralph ended up after what she did to him, I highly doubt she’d feel an ounce of remorse for that. 

Now, lack of remorse does not mean lack of regrets. Agatha does not feel bad for hurting others and how her actions affected them, but she does have regrets. She does feel bad if her actions negatively affect her, like personal loss or missed opportunity. She did seem to feel regret about killing Alice, but I don’t think she felt remorse. She did not feel bad for Alice, she felt bad because of the consequences she had to face after. She did not intend to kill Alice at that time, and now she has lost any potential trust she could gain from the coven. Not only that, we know Agatha became a ghost because she couldn’t face Nicky in the afterlife, so the regret might also be that she thought her son had seen her kill Alice. I don’t think she felt remorse for what she did to Jen either. When Jen did the unbinding ritual, getting told over and over that she “holds nothing” worked on Agatha possibly because deep down, Agatha knew it was true. She no longer has her son, she has no magic, and she has driven away Rio. She did hold nothing anymore. 

Having ASPD does not mean Agatha is incapable of love, or caring about others. She undoubtedly loved and cared about her son. So much so that she developed a soft spot for Billy because he reminded her of Nicky. She loved Rio too. Same for her pet rabbit. Unlike popular belief, lack of empathy is not a criteria for ASPD. It does usually result in low empathy, and that can vary from person to person. Agatha probably has little to no empathy for most people except the rare people she does manage to bond with. You can see it as a selective empathy for those she did love and care about, which included Nicky, Rio, Señor Scratchy and later possibly Billy.

If Agatha does have ASPD, how did it start? Even if sometimes genetics can play a role in developing that personality disorder, you aren’t born with it. Most of the time, it’s caused by the environment, mostly trauma experienced as a child. We know Agatha’s mother hated her. She thought she was born evil. She, with her coven, attempted to have her executed when Agatha was only 18. I do believe the accusations made at her were mostly true. She probably did steal knowledge and practiced dark magic. But Agatha did beg her coven to teach her, so I think it’s very likely that since her mother thought she was born evil, she didn’t allow Agatha to properly learn magic. If Agatha wasn’t taught magic and had this power she couldn’t control (siphoning), it’s not surprising that she would have to steal knowledge in order to learn. Agatha learned from a young age to break the rules in order to get what she wants or needs. And without proper guidance, it’s reasonable to think she might have practiced dark magic.

So yes, even if the accusations were true, her coven and mother are not blameless. Agatha is the way she is because of how she was raised, how she was treated as a child and growing up, and what she had to do in order to learn magic. She never had a healthy support system growing up, there was no possibility for therapy at that time, she was a witch living in the worst era for her kind, and she couldn’t even rely on her fellow witches to protect herself. After accidentally killing her original coven (including her own mother), which was definitely a traumatic event for her regardless if it was self-defence, she kept doing what she did so far to survive; steal, lie, deceive, kill. All the antisocial traits she exhibits as an adult are learned behaviours. Of course, it does not justify her crimes and horrific actions she later committed, but it does explain why she is that way. She wasn’t born evil, she became evil. She’s the product of her environment, experiences, circumstances and era.

[the-psychopathist]

Kilgrave Analysis

I finally finished season 1 of Jessica Jones and I had to make an analysis of this version of the Marvel villain Kilgrave (known as The Purple Man in the comics), real name Kevin Thompson in the tv series, played by David Tennant. Without further ado let’s deep in!

Kilgrave, born Kevin Thompson, developed a severe brain malfunction at a young age and was fated to become brain dead. His parents, both scientists, tried to save him with experimental treatments. But those treatments were extremely painful and even inhumane. We are first introduced to Kilgrave’s backstory through a video of him as a child, seemingly getting abused for the sake of some cruel experiments only by his parents, which are portrayed as “mad scientists”. This revelation may have brought some sympathy to Kilgrave, thinking that he was an abused child brutalized by cruel parents, but we learned later that Kilgrave lied. His parents were actually trying to save him and didn’t abandon him right after. After the experiments cured Kilgrave and gave him his mind control power, they stayed with their child and took responsibility for their actions. Young Kilgrave abused his power on them, mind controlling his parents to satisfy every of his whims, regularly throwing tantrums at them and hurting them. He forced his mother to burn her own face with a stream iron. At some point it was too much for his parents who feared for their safety and they ran away, leaving their son to survive on his own.

But, even if Kilgrave lied about certain parts of his past, it doesn’t mean his grudge against his parents was unjustified. From his perspective as a young child, his parents were torturing him. The fact they were trying to save his life doesn’t change how painful, frightening and traumatizing the experiments done on him were. We even see him panicking when he sees the video of himself getting abused. It’s normal that he grew resentful of his parents and felt like they didn’t love him and only cared about their work. With his new power, it’s not that surprising that a grudgeful and traumatized kid would have used it to get revenge on his parents, who he viewed as his abusers. And after being actually abandoned by them (although it’s understandable from their perspective), Kilgrave’s grudge only grew stronger, as well as his feeling of not being loved. He was left to survive on his own, using his power to force people to give him shelter and feed him. Honestly, it’s not that surprising that he ended up as a remorseless and unempathetic monster growing up, given his pasts and his power to literally bend anyone to his will. No wonder he ended up as a selfish prick who thinks the world revolves around him, as it literally is from his perspective.

Kilgrave confessed that he never knows when people are just acting upon his words of if their actions are from their own free will. His power most likely isolated him from others and prevented him from creating genuine bonds with others. People are basically just tools for him to satisfy his needs so he stopped seeing them as human beings. He doesn’t care about their feelings, their needs, their pains. Only his needs and feelings matter. This made him callous and remorseless, as well as causing him a serious lack of empathy and complete disregard for human lives.

When Jessica asked him if he does have a conscience or regrets his actions, he said that he does have a conscience, but that his was “selective”. Throughout the series he never showed any consideration for anyone other than himself and at a certain degree, Jessica. So it’s not that Kilgrave is unable to feel empathy, more that he became so desensitized to others’ feelings that he can’t empathize with them anymore. But it’s not impossible for him to feel a certain amount of empathy as shown with Jessica. Though this empathy has limits and he doesn’t seem to have any issues with trying to harm or kill her if it benefits him or on a whim if she enraged him. He did seem intrigued by the idea of becoming a hero, but that was just a way for him to be closer to Jessica and for his own self-satisfaction to have people be genuinely grateful to him, which he never experienced before. It just feeds his narcissistic nature.

Another characteristic of Kilgrave is his complete inability to accept any responsibilities for his actions. He forced people to kill themselves numerous times yet refused to be called a murderer. Even if they had no other choice to obey him and end their lives, he doesn’t accept the blame. He’ll blame them for being an inconvenience to him or say that he just removed nuisances from society. He also forced Hope to kill her parents as a way to get revenge on Jessica, blaming her for their death. He was apparently totally unaware that he was a rapist. When Jessica rightfully confronted him about raping her, he was genuinely shocked. He really didn’t even consider that what he was doing was rape. He denied the accusation, saying that he brought her to nice restaurants and hotels. He refuses the label of murderer and rapist because it would be like admitting his wrongdoings and he can’t. He wants to be seen as a victim and blame others for his actions.

Kilgrave is also a big egomaniac and narcissist. He’s a selfish man who doesn’t take insults against him lightly. The first time we actually saw him, he forced a rather wealthy family to shelter him, not only ordering them to let him in and feed him, but also added that they are “delighted” to have him as a guest. When Trish insulted him on radio he sent someone to kill her and after she apologized live, he was pleased enough to let her live. As mentioned earlier, he was shocked and upset when Jessica called him a rapist, thinking that she should be grateful that he brought her to nice restaurants and hotels. To him, it’s an honour to be with him. He doesn’t accept the slightless disrespect towards him and will make sure the person who dared insulting him will pay. Upon learning about Jessica’s relationship with Luke, Kilgrave felt deeply offended that she chose Luke over him, even accusing Luke of sabotaging his relationship with Jessica.

He also seemed to have abandonment issues. He resents his parents for abandoning him and, according to him, not loving him. This feeling seems to have worsened after meeting Jessica. After Jessica broke from his control and left him to die after being hit by a bus, Kilgrave felt abandoned by her. He grew to resent her and be obsessed with her. He meticulously planned his revenge against her, using Hope to do so and forcing her to kill her own parents to hurt Jessica. When he managed to convince Jessica to live with him in her old house, he grew extremely worried that she might leave him again. 

That brings us to Kilgrave and Jessica’s relationship. When he first met her, Kilgrave was attracted to her beauty, but also mainly intrigued by her power. Just like him, she was special. “But underneath it all the power, just like me. Though not quite as good, of course” was what Kilgrave told her. It seemed that for the first time, Kilgrave might have found someone he can relate to, someone similar to him… but, he felt the need to say “not quite as good”, showing his narcissistic side and his incapacity to see someone as a genuine equal. Despite that, we can see that Kilgrave valued Jessica differently than his other victims. He kept her for months as his “lover” (sex slave) and genuinely believed himself to be the perfect gentleman with her. At some point he even didn’t give her any orders for twelve hours, to test her loyalty and if she truly loved him. For him to even consider that, he must be delusional or desperate for Jessica’s love. For someone to actually love him. And given that Jessica is similar to him, he feels like maybe she can accept him. Kilgrave remembered this event in his own twisted reality, thinking that for the 18 seconds Jessica wasn’t under his control, she was acting true to herself, therefore actually loved him. In reality, Jessica actually tried to escape but was too slow. As a punishment, Kilgrave ordered her to cut her own ears: “You never appreciate anything I do for you. If you can’t listen to me you don’t need ears… Cut them off”.

Right when Jessica started to cut her ear, he changed his mind and told her to stop, gently hugging her. Kilgrave never seemed to have changed his mind when he decided to mutilate someone. I wouldn’t say he had guilt, but that he does care a little bit about Jessica. In his mind, he rewrote this memory and convinced himself that Jessica stayed with him and that she loved him. Obviously, it’s important for him to feel that someone loves and stays with him willingly, as he was never able to experience that in his life due to his power.

After Jessica broke from his control he became obsessed to get her back. He felt once again abandoned and unloved. When he finally managed to meet with Jessica again, he confessed her love to her and promised he wouldn’t use his ability on her anymore. He bought back Jessica’s childhood house without forcing the current owner to leave as a sign of good faith. He then made sure that everything is the same as when Jessica was still living there, showing his deep obsession about her. Jessica agreed to go live with him in her old house, but simply to get a confession out of him for the murder of Hope’s parents. Kilgrave is completely delusionned, convinced that he can make Jessica fall in love with him and stay with him willingly with such overconfidence. He still used brainwashed people to make sure Jessica doesn’t try to leave or hurt him and became really worried when Jessica went on a walk, showing again his fear of abandonment.

But we learned later that he didn’t promise to not use his power on Jessica out of sympathy and concern for her, but because he knew his power didn’t work on her anymore. Well, maybe he wasn’t sure, but he had a doubt, and trying to use his power on her and failing would have revealed to Jessica her advantage over him. He had to keep control, so telling her he won’t use his power anymore preserves the illusion of power he has over her and makes him look more sympathetic and in good faith. Obviously, if he was sure he could use his power on her, he would have done it without a second thought.

When Jessica deceived him and kidnapped him, interrogated him, tortured him in order to get a confession, he grew resentful against her. When confronted by his parents, he snapped, telling them how much he felt abandoned. After his mother tried to kill him to stop his rampage, he ordered her to stab herself as many years she had abandoned him, killing her.

He tried to manipulate Jessica, convincing her that she loves him and stayed with him on her own free will when he didn’t use his power for twelve hours, until she revealed to him that she just didn’t have the time to escape. This broke Kilgrave’s delusion that Jessica loved him all along. Feeling unloved and abandoned once again as well as having his massive ego hurt, Kilgrave became angry at Jessica and started trying to kill her. He forced her to watch her crush Luke blow himself up and mind control him to attack her, as well as using his father’s knowledge to make his power stronger in hope he can control Jessica again. He seems to keep changing his mind between killing Jessica or getting her back, showing how impulsive and unstable he can be. He did say his conscience (empathy) is selective, and Jessica seems to be the only one he cared about, and here we can see how easy it is for him to not care anymore if it benefits him. He even said that he would enjoy killing her but still hesitate if he truly wants to kill her, control her, or break her heart.

He eventually tried to use his power once again against Jessica and seemed to have succeeded. Kilgrave thought that Jessica was playing him so he controlled Trish, forced her to kiss him and claim he will make her her slave and rape her everyday to make Jessica react. Much to his surprise, Jessica didn’t move, making him believe that his power worked again on her. He is rejoiced, ordering Jessica to smile for him, which she does. He then told her to not worry and that she’ll come to love him as he loves her, somewhat trying to comfort her and again craving Jessica’s love. But turns out, Jessica wasn’t under his control, she grabbed her neck and out of irony told him to “smile” before she breaks his neck, killing him. His obsession for Jessica and desperate need for her to love him caused his undoing.

Throughout the series, Kilgrave has been referred to as a “psychopath”, a “sociopath” and “psychotic”. Do any of those terms adequately describe him? Well, medias tends to misuse mental illnesses and disorders and throw those terms for any “crazy” murderous villains. Do any of those diagnoses actually fit Kilgrave’s mental state? Quick summary, psychopaths usually refer to someone who is born that way and has a lack of empathy, fear, stress and anxiety due to a thinner amygdala. Psychopathy is considered as a neurodevelopmental disorder, a disorder that affects the development of the nervous system and leads to abnormal brain function. Nowaday it’s often referred to as “primary psychopathy”. “Sociopath” is an outdated term that doesn’t have any medical meaning anymore. It’s more of a pop culture term used for psychopaths, antisocial personality disorders, or just evil characters in general. So let’s forget about that one. I mentioned primary psychopathy, there’s also secondary psychopathy (who is also referred to as sociopathy sometimes). Secondary psychopaths aren’t born that way, they are mold and shaped by their environment, upbringing and possible trauma. While primary psychopathy is characterized by callousness, shallow affect, manipulation, and superficial charm, while secondary psychopathy is associated with impulsivity and lack of long-term goals, and is related to hostile behaviors. They don’t totally lack empathy, their empathy is more “selective” and unstable. Antisocial Personality Disorder is a personality disorder, something that is developed, not innate. ASPD doesn’t equate a violent criminal either but is characterized by a lack of remorse and disregard for others and the law. Not all primary psychopaths have ASPD but all secondary psychopaths do and is often comorbid with borderline personality disorder, which is characterized by abandonment issues and emotional impulsivity and unstability. Both primary and secondary psychopathies are in the spectrum of narcissistic personalities (without necessary being NPD), but not everyone with ASPD is also narcissistic.

Phew. Ok now that I’m done let’s go back to Kilgrave. Let’s cross out primary psychopathy. It’s obvious Kilgrave isn’t born that way and he showed multiple times fear, stress and emotional instability. He was made that way by his environment, upbringing and trauma. I talked before about how narcissistic he was and I do believe he could have NPD. He has a grandiose sense of himself, he viewed himself as special and unique and thus above others, great sense of entitlement, exploitative, lack of empathy and arrogant. He also seems to show signs of ASPD, he fails to obey laws and norms, he’s a lying, deceptive and manipulative person and do so for his own profit or self-amusement, he’s quite impulsive, irritable and aggressive and has a blatant disregard for the safety of others, he can’t take responsibility and lack remorse for his actions. I also mentioned his abandonment issues, how he fears that Jessica will abandon him and how he craves for her love. Those might be related to borderline personality disorder, which is described as: “disturbed sense of identity, frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment and extreme reactions to such, black and white thinking, impulsivity, intense or uncontrollable emotional reactions that are disproportionate to the event or situation, unstable and chaotic interpersonal relationships, distorted self-image, self-damaging behaviors, dissociation and is often accompanied by depression, anxiety, anger, substance abuse, or rage”.

I do think some of those criteria fits Kilgrave. I think he might have those three personality disorders or partially have them, all in the cluster B and comorbid. That would put him in the category of secondary psychopath. The fact his empathy can be selective and unstable regarding Jessica seems to also point to that conclusion.

I think Kilgrave is a well-written villain, his psychology and psyche is accurately portrayed in the series, even if his behaviours are explained they aren’t justified. He’s not just evil for the sake of being evil, we actually see how he became that way and can understand him. After all, evil is made, not born.

[this-charming-primevalmusic]

“He really didn’t even consider that what he was doing was rape. He denied the accusation, saying that he brought her to nice restaurants and hotels.” - I think it is important to say that he doesn’t “get” it. He is not able to guess how it was for her, how terrible it was. There is a big misunderstanding, very often if he talks with Jessica. He doesn’t get how normal people feel, and normal people (like Jessica) don’t get how cruel someone like him can get without feeling much empathy. It is a complex character, not easy to fully hate, because there are glimpses of empathy. And it is important that there are manipulative, dangerous characters who are attractive. Just like in reality. Really often you just can see in media if a character is designed to be mean. In reality you can’t. And that can be really dangerous.

Also regarding why he brought that house: He remembered that Jessica said, that she was the happiest when she was living in that house. So he bought it and made it like it was in her childhood.

[the-psychopathist]

Kilgrave Analysis

I finally finished season 1 of Jessica Jones and I had to make an analysis of this version of the Marvel villain Kilgrave (known as The Purple Man in the comics), real name Kevin Thompson in the tv series, played by David Tennant. Without further ado let’s deep in!

Kilgrave, born Kevin Thompson, developed a severe brain malfunction at a young age and was fated to become brain dead. His parents, both scientists, tried to save him with experimental treatments. But those treatments were extremely painful and even inhumane. We are first introduced to Kilgrave’s backstory through a video of him as a child, seemingly getting abused for the sake of some cruel experiments only by his parents, which are portrayed as “mad scientists”. This revelation may have brought some sympathy to Kilgrave, thinking that he was an abused child brutalized by cruel parents, but we learned later that Kilgrave lied. His parents were actually trying to save him and didn’t abandon him right after. After the experiments cured Kilgrave and gave him his mind control power, they stayed with their child and took responsibility for their actions. Young Kilgrave abused his power on them, mind controlling his parents to satisfy every of his whims, regularly throwing tantrums at them and hurting them. He forced his mother to burn her own face with a stream iron. At some point it was too much for his parents who feared for their safety and they ran away, leaving their son to survive on his own.

But, even if Kilgrave lied about certain parts of his past, it doesn’t mean his grudge against his parents was unjustified. From his perspective as a young child, his parents were torturing him. The fact they were trying to save his life doesn’t change how painful, frightening and traumatizing the experiments done on him were. We even see him panicking when he sees the video of himself getting abused. It’s normal that he grew resentful of his parents and felt like they didn’t love him and only cared about their work. With his new power, it’s not that surprising that a grudgeful and traumatized kid would have used it to get revenge on his parents, who he viewed as his abusers. And after being actually abandoned by them (although it’s understandable from their perspective), Kilgrave’s grudge only grew stronger, as well as his feeling of not being loved. He was left to survive on his own, using his power to force people to give him shelter and feed him. Honestly, it’s not that surprising that he ended up as a remorseless and unempathetic monster growing up, given his pasts and his power to literally bend anyone to his will. No wonder he ended up as a selfish prick who thinks the world revolves around him, as it literally is from his perspective.

Kilgrave confessed that he never knows when people are just acting upon his words of if their actions are from their own free will. His power most likely isolated him from others and prevented him from creating genuine bonds with others. People are basically just tools for him to satisfy his needs so he stopped seeing them as human beings. He doesn’t care about their feelings, their needs, their pains. Only his needs and feelings matter. This made him callous and remorseless, as well as causing him a serious lack of empathy and complete disregard for human lives.

When Jessica asked him if he does have a conscience or regrets his actions, he said that he does have a conscience, but that his was “selective”. Throughout the series he never showed any consideration for anyone other than himself and at a certain degree, Jessica. So it’s not that Kilgrave is unable to feel empathy, more that he became so desensitized to others’ feelings that he can’t empathize with them anymore. But it’s not impossible for him to feel a certain amount of empathy as shown with Jessica. Though this empathy has limits and he doesn’t seem to have any issues with trying to harm or kill her if it benefits him or on a whim if she enraged him. He did seem intrigued by the idea of becoming a hero, but that was just a way for him to be closer to Jessica and for his own self-satisfaction to have people be genuinely grateful to him, which he never experienced before. It just feeds his narcissistic nature.

Another characteristic of Kilgrave is his complete inability to accept any responsibilities for his actions. He forced people to kill themselves numerous times yet refused to be called a murderer. Even if they had no other choice to obey him and end their lives, he doesn’t accept the blame. He’ll blame them for being an inconvenience to him or say that he just removed nuisances from society. He also forced Hope to kill her parents as a way to get revenge on Jessica, blaming her for their death. He was apparently totally unaware that he was a rapist. When Jessica rightfully confronted him about raping her, he was genuinely shocked. He really didn’t even consider that what he was doing was rape. He denied the accusation, saying that he brought her to nice restaurants and hotels. He refuses the label of murderer and rapist because it would be like admitting his wrongdoings and he can’t. He wants to be seen as a victim and blame others for his actions.

Kilgrave is also a big egomaniac and narcissist. He’s a selfish man who doesn’t take insults against him lightly. The first time we actually saw him, he forced a rather wealthy family to shelter him, not only ordering them to let him in and feed him, but also added that they are “delighted” to have him as a guest. When Trish insulted him on radio he sent someone to kill her and after she apologized live, he was pleased enough to let her live. As mentioned earlier, he was shocked and upset when Jessica called him a rapist, thinking that she should be grateful that he brought her to nice restaurants and hotels. To him, it’s an honour to be with him. He doesn’t accept the slightless disrespect towards him and will make sure the person who dared insulting him will pay. Upon learning about Jessica’s relationship with Luke, Kilgrave felt deeply offended that she chose Luke over him, even accusing Luke of sabotaging his relationship with Jessica.

He also seemed to have abandonment issues. He resents his parents for abandoning him and, according to him, not loving him. This feeling seems to have worsened after meeting Jessica. After Jessica broke from his control and left him to die after being hit by a bus, Kilgrave felt abandoned by her. He grew to resent her and be obsessed with her. He meticulously planned his revenge against her, using Hope to do so and forcing her to kill her own parents to hurt Jessica. When he managed to convince Jessica to live with him in her old house, he grew extremely worried that she might leave him again. 

That brings us to Kilgrave and Jessica's relationship. When he first met her, Kilgrave was attracted to her beauty, but also mainly intrigued by her power. Just like him, she was special. “But underneath it all the power, just like me. Though not quite as good, of course” was what Kilgrave told her. It seemed that for the first time, Kilgrave might have found someone he can relate to, someone similar to him… but, he felt the need to say “not quite as good”, showing his narcissistic side and his incapacity to see someone as a genuine equal. Despite that, we can see that Kilgrave valued Jessica differently than his other victims. He kept her for months as his “lover” (sex slave) and genuinely believed himself to be the perfect gentleman with her. At some point he even didn’t give her any orders for twelve hours, to test her loyalty and if she truly loved him. For him to even consider that, he must be delusional or desperate for Jessica’s love. For someone to actually love him. And given that Jessica is similar to him, he feels like maybe she can accept him. Kilgrave remembered this event in his own twisted reality, thinking that for the 18 seconds Jessica wasn’t under his control, she was acting true to herself, therefore actually loved him. In reality, Jessica actually tried to escape but was too slow. As a punishment, Kilgrave ordered her to cut her own ears: "You never appreciate anything I do for you. If you can't listen to me you don't need ears... Cut them off”.

Right when Jessica started to cut her ear, he changed his mind and told her to stop, gently hugging her. Kilgrave never seemed to have changed his mind when he decided to mutilate someone. I wouldn’t say he had guilt, but that he does care a little bit about Jessica. In his mind, he rewrote this memory and convinced himself that Jessica stayed with him and that she loved him. Obviously, it’s important for him to feel that someone loves and stays with him willingly, as he was never able to experience that in his life due to his power.

After Jessica broke from his control he became obsessed to get her back. He felt once again abandoned and unloved. When he finally managed to meet with Jessica again, he confessed her love to her and promised he wouldn’t use his ability on her anymore. He bought back Jessica’s childhood house without forcing the current owner to leave as a sign of good faith. He then made sure that everything is the same as when Jessica was still living there, showing his deep obsession about her. Jessica agreed to go live with him in her old house, but simply to get a confession out of him for the murder of Hope’s parents. Kilgrave is completely delusionned, convinced that he can make Jessica fall in love with him and stay with him willingly with such overconfidence. He still used brainwashed people to make sure Jessica doesn’t try to leave or hurt him and became really worried when Jessica went on a walk, showing again his fear of abandonment.

But we learned later that he didn’t promise to not use his power on Jessica out of sympathy and concern for her, but because he knew his power didn’t work on her anymore. Well, maybe he wasn’t sure, but he had a doubt, and trying to use his power on her and failing would have revealed to Jessica her advantage over him. He had to keep control, so telling her he won’t use his power anymore preserves the illusion of power he has over her and makes him look more sympathetic and in good faith. Obviously, if he was sure he could use his power on her, he would have done it without a second thought.

When Jessica deceived him and kidnapped him, interrogated him, tortured him in order to get a confession, he grew resentful against her. When confronted by his parents, he snapped, telling them how much he felt abandoned. After his mother tried to kill him to stop his rampage, he ordered her to stab herself as many years she had abandoned him, killing her.

He tried to manipulate Jessica, convincing her that she loves him and stayed with him on her own free will when he didn’t use his power for twelve hours, until she revealed to him that she just didn’t have the time to escape. This broke Kilgrave's delusion that Jessica loved him all along. Feeling unloved and abandoned once again as well as having his massive ego hurt, Kilgrave became angry at Jessica and started trying to kill her. He forced her to watch her crush Luke blow himself up and mind control him to attack her, as well as using his father’s knowledge to make his power stronger in hope he can control Jessica again. He seems to keep changing his mind between killing Jessica or getting her back, showing how impulsive and unstable he can be. He did say his conscience (empathy) is selective, and Jessica seems to be the only one he cared about, and here we can see how easy it is for him to not care anymore if it benefits him. He even said that he would enjoy killing her but still hesitate if he truly wants to kill her, control her, or break her heart.

He eventually tried to use his power once again against Jessica and seemed to have succeeded. Kilgrave thought that Jessica was playing him so he controlled Trish, forced her to kiss him and claim he will make her her slave and rape her everyday to make Jessica react. Much to his surprise, Jessica didn’t move, making him believe that his power worked again on her. He is rejoiced, ordering Jessica to smile for him, which she does. He then told her to not worry and that she’ll come to love him as he loves her, somewhat trying to comfort her and again craving Jessica’s love. But turns out, Jessica wasn’t under his control, she grabbed her neck and out of irony told him to “smile” before she breaks his neck, killing him. His obsession for Jessica and desperate need for her to love him caused his undoing.

Throughout the series, Kilgrave has been referred to as a “psychopath”, a “sociopath” and “psychotic”. Do any of those terms adequately describe him? Well, medias tends to misuse mental illnesses and disorders and throw those terms for any “crazy” murderous villains. Do any of those diagnoses actually fit Kilgrave’s mental state? Quick summary, psychopaths usually refer to someone who is born that way and has a lack of empathy, fear, stress and anxiety due to a thinner amygdala. Psychopathy is considered as a neurodevelopmental disorder, a disorder that affects the development of the nervous system and leads to abnormal brain function. Nowaday it’s often referred to as “primary psychopathy”. “Sociopath” is an outdated term that doesn’t have any medical meaning anymore. It’s more of a pop culture term used for psychopaths, antisocial personality disorders, or just evil characters in general. So let’s forget about that one. I mentioned primary psychopathy, there’s also secondary psychopathy (who is also referred to as sociopathy sometimes). Secondary psychopaths aren’t born that way, they are mold and shaped by their environment, upbringing and possible trauma. While primary psychopathy is characterized by callousness, shallow affect, manipulation, and superficial charm, while secondary psychopathy is associated with impulsivity and lack of long-term goals, and is related to hostile behaviors. They don’t totally lack empathy, their empathy is more “selective” and unstable. Antisocial Personality Disorder is a personality disorder, something that is developed, not innate. ASPD doesn’t equate a violent criminal either but is characterized by a lack of remorse and disregard for others and the law. Not all primary psychopaths have ASPD but all secondary psychopaths do and is often comorbid with borderline personality disorder, which is characterized by abandonment issues and emotional impulsivity and unstability. Both primary and secondary psychopathies are in the spectrum of narcissistic personalities (without necessary being NPD), but not everyone with ASPD is also narcissistic.

Phew. Ok now that I’m done let’s go back to Kilgrave. Let’s cross out primary psychopathy. It’s obvious Kilgrave isn’t born that way and he showed multiple times fear, stress and emotional instability. He was made that way by his environment, upbringing and trauma. I talked before about how narcissistic he was and I do believe he could have NPD. He has a grandiose sense of himself, he viewed himself as special and unique and thus above others, great sense of entitlement, exploitative, lack of empathy and arrogant. He also seems to show signs of ASPD, he fails to obey laws and norms, he’s a lying, deceptive and manipulative person and do so for his own profit or self-amusement, he’s quite impulsive, irritable and aggressive and has a blatant disregard for the safety of others, he can’t take responsibility and lack remorse for his actions. I also mentioned his abandonment issues, how he fears that Jessica will abandon him and how he craves for her love. Those might be related to borderline personality disorder, which is described as: “disturbed sense of identity, frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment and extreme reactions to such, black and white thinking, impulsivity, intense or uncontrollable emotional reactions that are disproportionate to the event or situation, unstable and chaotic interpersonal relationships, distorted self-image, self-damaging behaviors, dissociation and is often accompanied by depression, anxiety, anger, substance abuse, or rage”.

I do think some of those criteria fits Kilgrave. I think he might have those three personality disorders or partially have them, all in the cluster B and comorbid. That would put him in the category of secondary psychopath. The fact his empathy can be selective and unstable regarding Jessica seems to also point to that conclusion.

I think Kilgrave is a well-written villain, his psychology and psyche is accurately portrayed in the series, even if his behaviours are explained they aren’t justified. He’s not just evil for the sake of being evil, we actually see how he became that way and can understand him. After all, evil is made, not born.

[the-psychopathist]

Akemi Homura is NOT a psychopath

I actually didn’t thought I had to ever say that, but, Akemi Homura (Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica) isn’t a psychopath. She doesn’t have antisocial personality disorder either. Some people love to say she doesn’t care about anyone other than Madoka and is a selfish, callous and abusive person (which aren’t even ASPD traits to begin with). It easy to judge her entire character from the anime only (and the rebellion movie) and completely ignoring the fact that the anime is basically her 100th time loops trying to save her friend (after seeing said friend dying in a horrible way in all previous timelines). So it means she went through a whole 12 years of total misery failing constantly to save her friend. And even in the anime, approximately her 100th time loop, it’s not even true that she only cared about Madoka. She seemed genuinely upset when Mami died and did try to save Sayaka. Of course, her priority will always be Madoka, but when you fell to save everyone after 100 times, who could blame her to focus on the most important person to her? If anything, the girl has serious trauma (or even PTSD). 

Damn I could make an entire essay on the matter but I’m tired and sick and honestly, the claim is just too dumb to even bother with it. I’m not saying Homura did nothing wrong and is a great person, she did fucked up thing, but that does not mean she’s a psychopath.

[the-psychopathist]

So a terf reblogged one of my post. I just want to make it clear that this blog do NOT welcome any time of bigots, either racists, homophobic, sexist, transphobic, etc. If you are a bigot, get the fuck out of my blog.

[rickyriddle]

AnR: a study of psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder

Hey there! So here’s another analysis, not about a specific character, but AnR characters that would fit the psychopath/sociopath/antisocial personality disorder/conduct disorder. Those who are familiar with my other analysis would probably guess that I’ll be talking about Otoya. But I also referred to Nio and Hitsugi as sociopaths in previous analysis. I want to correct certain things I may have said that was incorrect as well as used more recent discovery I made about those disorders. I also want to include another character I didn’t really talk about regarding psychopathy/ASPD: Yuri Meichi. Without further ado, let’s take a look at those four characters and if weather or not they fit the diagnosis.

First I’ll explain the different distinction between the different conditions based on my understanding of those:

Primary Psychopathy: Most commonly referred as psychopathy. When specialists talk about psychopaths, most of the time they mean those who have primary psychopathy. Primary psychopathy is innate, meaning that primary psychopaths are born that way. Primary psychopathy is characterized by callousness, shallow affect, manipulation, and superficial charm. Not all primary psychopaths have antisocial personality disorder. They all have certain narcissistic traits (such as grandiose) but again, not all primary psychopaths could be diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder either. Primary psychopaths have a defecting empathy, meaning that they can’t and will never feel empathy. They are usually viewed as high-functioning.

Secondary psychopathy: Usually referred to as sociopathy, even tho the term sociopath is outdated. Secondary psychopaths are made, they have been mold that way by their environment and possible trauma. Secondary psychopathy is associated with impulsivity and lack of long-term goals, and is related to hostile behaviors. Unlike primary psychopaths, secondary psychopaths are often emotionally unstable and can experience guilt and empathy. Their empathy isn’t defective but instead dysfunctional. All secondary psychopaths meet the criteria for antisocial personality disorder and they are more likely to also have borderline personality disorder. They are also more likely to be low-functioning.

Antisocial Personality Disorder: Also often used as a synonyme of sociopathy. The criteria are failure to obey laws and norms, lying, deception, and manipulation for profit or self-amusement, impulsive behavior, irritability and aggression, blatantly disregards the safety of self and others, a pattern of irresponsibility and lack of remorse. The person needs to be at least 18, have conduct behavior before 15 and the antisocial behaviors aren’t related to schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. People with ASPD can feel empathy and love towards those they bond with and their level of functioning depends of their IQ, education and environment.

Conduct Disorder: Considered the precursor of ASPD. Conduct disorder is characterized by antisocial behaviors in children and teenagers. The causes can be diverse, such as genetic, environment or even a low IQ. The signs of conduct disorder are bullying, aggressiveness, use of weapons, cruelty (towards humans or animals), stealing, forced sexual activities, vandalism, deceptiveness and serious rule violation. Whether those issues are treated or not can determine if those antisocial behaviors will continue in adulthood (and become ASPD) or not.

In this analysis, I’ll refer to primary psychopathy as PP, secondary psychopathy as SP, antisocial personality disorder as ASPD, conduct disorder as CD and narcissistic personality disorder as NPD.

In two of my recent posts I mentioned something Minakata said in KnR Room 4: “Recognizing that Otoya is an intrinsic psychopath and that Hitsugi is an acquired psychopath due to the environment and breeding.”

To me, there was no doubt that Otoya is a psychopath (PP). Minakata confirmed that Otoya is born that way therefore, she’s a primary psychopath. Then for Hitsugi, in her analysis I interpret the acquired psychopath as secondary psychopathy. And when I made the analysis, I thought that SP = ASPD and refer to Hitsugi as a sociopath, but given what I learned recently it might have been incorrect.

So, Minakata wrote psychopath “サイコパス” (saikopasu), which is based on the English word, therefore an anglicism. It sounds more like the pop-culture term instead of the medical term, which is 精神病質 (seishinbyō-shitsu). Therefore, I can be 100% that Minakata used the term psychopath in the medical sense and instead may just be a catch-all term for PP/PS/ASPD/CD. So, “acquired psychopath” doesn’t necessarily mean “secondary psychopath” but rather that Hitsugi acquire traits that are often associated with the whole psychopathy/ASPD spectrum. But, I firmly believe that “intrinsic psychopath” means “primary psychopath” since it’s the only condition among the spectrum who is innate.

So now that I correct that, let’s analyse the said characters and see if they fit any of those diagnosis.

Otoya, Hitsugi and Nio would all technically fit the CD diagnosis. They tend to be bullies, aggressive, use weapons (granted they are assassins but still), cruel, forced sexual activities (for Otoya, may or may not be applicable to Hitsugi), they are extremely deceptive and do violate rules. All of those behaviors are way more serious than a regular teenager rebellion and does harm others. But, even if they could all be diagnosed with CD (given that they are all underage) those three are all different and will probably have different diagnosis as they grow older. So let’s analyse them separately.

I’ll start with the easiest, Otoya. As I said, we know Otoya is born that way, therefore a PP. But just to be sure, let check if she does fit the criteria:

Callousness: I think it’s pretty obvious that Otoya has no sympathy or empathy for anyone and a total disregard for others. She’s insensitive and has no issues with abusing, torturing and killing people.

Shallow affect: This one mean shallow emotions. It doesn’t mean a lack of emotions, just that the emotional responses are low. I’m gonna base it on the manga version and say that despite Otoya’s cheerful attitude, she’s pretty emotionally shallow. Her cheerfulness is just an act. We can see after she failed and during KnR 5 that she’s actually quite cold.

Manipulation: Manipulation is basically Otoya’s middle name. All she does in the series is deceive, lie and manipulate to achieve her goals and simply for her personal pleasure. It’s as natural as breathing to her.

Superficial charm: I’d say Otoya is rather charismatic, she can easily charm people and gain their trust, but we know it’s not sincere. She’s smooth, engaging, charming, slick and voluble.

Otoya also have a defective empathy. You can’t possibly have empathy and commit all the atrocities she did, and she also show no remorse for her actions. She’s incapable of feeling those emotions. PP are born with a thinner amygdala, which is responsible for empathy, stress and fear. Her brain is incapable to feel empathy and remorse and never will.

But, Otoya’s actions show that she might not only be a PP. Otoya is a sadist who feel sexual pleasure from torturing and killing women. I don’t think we will argue if I say that she probably have sadistic personality disorder and sexual sadism disorder, as well as erotophonophilia (paraphilia of sexual arousal and gratification from the death of a human being, also known as lust murder). Those are not always linked to PP. In fact, unlike what people think, PP are rarely killers or even sadist, most of them are high-functioning and have normal jobs and aren’t committing any crimes. But, it’s true that most serial killers were either psychopaths or have ASPD, or both.

As I said earlier, Otoya would probably be diagnosed with CD. CD isn’t necessary to be a PP but it is for the ASPD diagnosis, meaning that in addition of being a PP, Otoya also have ASPD (well, technically she’s 16 so she couldn’t be officially diagnosis, but it’s safe to assume her behaviors won’t change at this point). At the very least, we can say that Otoya is antisocial, and PP and ASPD are often comorbid. Let’s see if she fits the criteria of ASPD:

Failure to obey laws and norms: I mean… she’s a goddamn serial killer who kills for sexual pleasure. 

Lying, deception, and manipulation for profit or self-amusement: This is a trait that overlap with PP. I already explained her manipulative nature.

Impulsive behavior: This one may seems to contradict the shallow emotions. Impulsive means making reckless decision or spontaneous decision. It means that if she has a sudden desire, she may not resist it. Impulsive isn’t a synonym of hot-headed (being easily or constantly mad). You can have low emotions and still be impulsive. So yes, Otoya is rather impulsive, she tends to make decision on a whim without thinking of consequences. 

Irritability and aggression: Again, even if someone is emotionally shallow doesn’t mean they have zero emotions. With the right trigger, even someone cold can get irritated and aggressive. In Otoya’s case, she can be quite aggressive if someone interrupt her when she’s having “fun” (aka torturing and killing) as we saw when Tokaku saved Haru from her.

Blatantly disregards the safety of self and others: In the manga Otoya was getting her ass kicked by Tokaku yet she continued to laugh and enjoy herself despite her injuries. The girl doesn’t care about her own safety and given her occupation, she doesn’t care about others’ safety either.

A pattern of irresponsibility: Otoya went overboard with killing and ended up attractive the attention of a detective, reason why she joined Class Black. Instead of recognizing that what she’s doing is wrong, she blames the detective for ruining her fun and literally want a serial killer insurance so she’ll never have to get into trouble for killing. I think it’s a form of irresponsibility, instead of fixing her behaviors or at least be more careful, she prefers to just have someone to clean up her mess forever. 

Lack of remorse: Another trait that overlap with PP. I don’t think I need to explain this one again.

So in conclusion, Otoya is born a psychopath, but acquired antisocial behaviours due to her environment as well as sadism. Her natural lack of empathy probably make those easier to acquire. Otoya will never genuinely change as a person, she may change her behaviour to get what she wants but she will always the same. Right now, she would be diagnosed with PP and CD, but it makes no doubt that when she’ll be 18 she would be diagnosed with ASPD. So my final diagnosis: Antisocial Primary Psychopath.

Then, we have Hitsugi. So let’s throw the PP out of the possibility since we know she isn’t born that way and was mold by her environment. I would also discard SP given that Hitsugi seems pretty high-functioning as a person. SP tend to be anxious, fearful, hostile and emotionally unstable and it doesn’t seem to be the case with Hitsugi. On the contrary, Hitsugi said that she doesn’t feel much, showing that she does have shallow emotions (not a lack of emotions, mind you). As I said earlier, Hitsugi would most likely be diagnosed with CD. Hitsugi has no problem with hurting and killing people if it suits her or even just for curiosity and she didn’t feel any remorse for that. She’s deceptive, manipulative and a pathological liar. Regarding the forced sexual activities I mentioned earlier, I’m not saying that Hitsugi is a rapist or a sexual predator like Otoya seems to be. I meant it in a way that Hitsugi seems somewhat forceful and assertive when it comes to intimacy, kissing Chitaru even if the latter may not fully consent or be comfortable with it (I’m mainly referencing their second kiss after Chitaru learned the truth and was distressed, it was, in my opinion, inappropriate for Hitsugi to kiss her and seemed like she was taking advantage of Chitaru’s vulnerability).

It’s true, however, that Hitsugi loves and feel regrets for hurting Chitaru, but that’s because she bond with her. Hitsugi doesn’t feel remorse for any other people than Chitaru. Also, it’s true that Hitsugi shows signs of low-self esteem, which is not mutually exclusive with CD. In fact, from what I read, it’s common. I suppose that those with CD who grow up to have ASPD eventually lose their low self-esteem, but Hitsugi is still young.

We don’t know exactly Hitsugi’s past but we can assume that she was brought into the assassination business at a young age and that she eventually lost her capacity to have empathy and started to feel empty. But, thanks to Chitaru, in a way, Hitsugi was able to reconnect with her lost feelings and there may be some hope for her to outgrow her CD and not develop ASPD. But, if Hitsugi never met Chitaru or met her as an adult, there’s no doubt in my mind that she would have ASPD (but not be a SP).

So in conclusion, Hitsugi isn’t born like that, she was mold by her environment, and she does exhibit a lot of antisocial behaviours. So my final diagnosis: Conduct Disorder with chances of antisocial tendencies in adulthood.

Now let’s analyse Nio. In my analysis of her I did say she may have ASPD, but I clarified that given her age she would rather be diagnosed with CD. Nio is unlikely to have PP given that she’s capable of bonding and feeling genuine love. So, when she’ll be 18, would she still be more likely to have regular ASPD or SP?

First, let’s see if she does fit the ASPD criteria:

 Failure to obey laws and norms: Even if Nio is following Yuri’s orders, she doesn’t seem to be someone who follow rules in general or the law. She doesn’t listen to her teacher and did broke the Clack Rules (she tried to kill Haru without sending a notice). I don’t have much example for this one.

Lying, deception, and manipulation for profit or self-amusement: Nio’s whole character is about deception. She acts all cheerful, enthusiastic and friendly while truly she doesn’t care about others, she even said she hate them, and enjoy seeing them fail and suffer. She did lied several time and manipulated Haru, all of this mainly for profit or just for fun.

Impulsive behavior: I wouldn’t say Nio is particularly impulsive nor do I really have example, except maybe her decision to kill Haru.

Irritability and aggression: Even if Nio acts friendly, she clearly stated hating all her classmates and got pretty angry with Haru at the end, probably because she was tired of pretending.

Blatantly disregards the safety of self and others: Nio did choose to fight Tokaku one on one even tho Tokaku is a much better fighter. Nio is ready to take risks. She doesn’t care about others’ safety as she gladly accepted to let Haruki try to commit suicide to win (with a huge grin on her face). 

A pattern of irresponsibility: Not much instance in the series except in her flashbacks where we see she was a really undisciplined child. We can assume that even if she used to be irresponsible, with Yuri’s strict education it wouldn’t weird if Nio lost this trait over time.

Lack of remorse: Nio never showed genuine sympathy or empathy towards anyone (except Yuri) and doesn’t seem to have any remorse for any of her actions.

She fits most of them but not perfectly. But as I said, ASPD can only be diagnosed as an adult and Nio is only 15. So it’s possible that she might not have developed fully all the ASPD traits. To me, given that she’ll remain with Yuri, who basically abused her as a kid and groomed her, it’s unlikely that she will change. She’ll most likely have ASPD in adulthood. And, given that her relationship with Yuri is unhealthy, there’s a chance that she might end up more emotionally unstable. Abusive relationship on long-term have terrible effect on one psyche. So to me, Nio eventually turning to a secondary psychopath would be a high possibility.

The differences between Nio and Hitsugi regarding their respective relationship is that even if ChitaHitsu is also toxic, the abusive one is Hitsugi, not her partner. So there’s a chance that thanks to Chitaru’s influence she might change and outgrow her CD. Nio on the other end is the victim, Yuri being the abusive one. If Nio grows while still being affected by Yuri’s abuse she’s unlikely to get better.

In conclusion, Nio currently has CD and will most likely have ASPD as an adult as well as SP. She’s not born that way and was mold by her environment and Yuri’s abuse. My final diagnosis: Conduct Disorder with future Antisocial Personality Disorder and possible Secondary Psychopathy.

And now, last but not least, Yuri Meichi. Now you might remember that in my last psychopaths/sociopaths anime characters list I said that Yuri was either a psychopath or a high-functioning sociopath. Well, let’s break it down.

Yuri being an adult I won’t mention CD for her. So let see if she’s born that way or mold by comparing PP and SP criterial.  Callousness? Yuri doesn’t seem to care about anyone and is pretty insensitive to others pain. Shallow affect? Well, Yuri is pretty emotionally shallow. She barely show any emotion except what appears to be mild-interest. Throughout the entire series she almost only smile calmly, even while beating up a kid. She’s a calm and cold person. Manipulation? There isn’t much instances that show if Yuri is manipulative, but we did see that she manipulate Nio as a kid and basically groomed her. Superficial charm? Yuri is quite charismatic. She can be smooth, engaging, charming, slick and voluble and we know it isn’t sincere.

What about the SP traits? Impulsivity and lack of long-term goals? Yuri pretty much succeeded in life and is one of the most powerful person in the world who is always calm and rational. Hostile behaviors? Yuri can be intimidating as a person, but she isn’t acting in a hostile and aggressive way.

So it doesn’t seem that Yuri have SP and is more likely to have PP, therefore be born that way. But could she also have ASPD? Let’s see.

 Failure to obey laws and norms: Yuri makes me think she’s lawful evil. She makes the law.

Lying, deception, and manipulation for profit or self-amusement: She does that, but it’s also a trait that overlap with PP.

Impulsive behavior: Nope.

Irritability and aggression: Nope.

Blatantly disregards the safety of self and others: Disregards for others perhaps, even thought she didn’t let the injured assassins dies (yet let countless people die for the clan).

A pattern of irresponsibility: Not really

Lack of remorse: Yes, but again, it overlap with PP.

So it seems that all the ASPD traits Yuri has are also PP traits. So therefore, I don’t think she would qualify as having ASPD. And given that she’s 30 now, she’s unlikely to change.

So in conclusion, Yuri is most likely born that way. My final diagnosis: Primary Psychopathy

Phew, that was long. So, among the four characters I analysed, they are all at different places on the spectrum. Here’s a good diagram to illustrate it. I’ll show on it where the characters are or will be in a couple of years:

Thanks for reading, if you have any comments or questions feel free to ask me and see you next time!

[just-a-simple-otaku]

Alina Gray analysis

Well then, Alina Gray sure is a piece of work. The problematic fav of the MagiReco fandom, fondly referred to as psycho artist or JoJo reference. But Alina is more than a reference and more than just a psycho. In fact, is she even a psycho? In that case, psycho meaning either psychotic or psychopath (or I guess here psycho as in crazy murderous bitch). So let’s have a meaningful analysis of this character and undercover what might be a tragic tale of objectification.

We are introduced to Alina in the game in chapter 5 and in the anime in episode 9. In both media she arrives to stop the protagonists from destroying Ai, an uwasa. In the game, Madoka and Homura (Moemura) were there but not in the anime version. In the game, in her first appearance Alina appeared at first as serious, cold and irritable, before she revealed her mad and sadistic antics. In the anime, she showed up laughing maniacally, acting all eccentric and borderline insane, even strangling herself. It seems that the anime went overboard with the Alina acting crazy part. Not that I disliked it, but given that the game is the original source, I’ll keep this analysis mainly game-only.

We should start by the beginning, which is Alina’s backstory as shown in her magical girl story. It’s implied that Alina’s fascination with life and death in her art started when her grandparents and dog died when she was a child. Given that this event was what drove Alina’s art, I’d say their death must have left a pretty big impact on her (especially since she was 8 years old and might not have been fully able to grasp the concept of death). Alina mentioned how her parents often got mad at her for spending too much time painting, which led her to make her wish to have a space when she can be alone and nobody can disturb her there. Alina was treated as an artist genius from a young age and gathered a lot of attention and big expectations and ended up having no privacy and being used for her talents by people around her, including her parents and teachers. Alina wasn’t valued as a person but only for her art and adults didn’t respect her privacy or free-will as they often shared personal information about her to the public or submit her arts without her authorization.

Despite being a famous artist, Alina shows no interest in popularity, admiration or love from people and simply wants to create more art. She doesn’t seem to enjoy attention or even the company of others and prefer to be left alone. No ones seem interested in how she feels, only in her art and how they can use it for their own benefit (like her teacher who submitted her art against her will and tried to force her to participate in other contests for the sake of the school’s reputation), and when she refuses she’s been called selfish. The only person who genuinely cares for Alina as a person is her kouhai Karin, but I’ll get back to their relationship later.

Her magical girl story shows Alina as someone pretty antisocial with mood swings and impulsivity issues where she can snap and result in material destruction. She seems relatively unhappy with her life and on the verge of depression. The breaking point was when she refused an award for a contest she didn’t agree to participate in in the first place, she received a letter from one of the judges: “It seems you are capable of creating a work that is so beautiful and arcane that viewers will think about it until their deaths. However, your work, which has no external theme, is a powerful drug that might drive people insane. That’s why I want to tell you this. If you don’t want to change the world, stop creating. You are only fifteen years old; if you haven’t realized this, your brilliance will probably run out.”

I just want to mention first that the English translation doesn’t mention she’s 15 years old at that time (she’s 16 in the main story). At first, this letter may seem insignificant and harmless, until you realize how fucked up it is for an adult to say that to a teen. This judge said that Alina’s art is hollow and hurt people and that if she doesn’t intend to change the world with it, she should stop creating, and that her light will burn out. It basically implied that Alina creating art for herself is wrong and harmful and that if she isn’t creating for others, then her art is just worthless and so is her life. Again, implying Alina is a selfish person who is basically useless because she doesn’t want to meet people’s expectations and shaming her for that. Can we talk about how inappropriate, irresponsible and cruel it is for an adult to say that to a child? To crush their passion and treat its worth only by how others appreciate it? And the fact Alina was already feeling depressive before sure didn’t help.

Some people might think Alina is selfish, but let me tell you this: Alina doesn’t owe the world anything. Her art is hers and only hers, yet people kept trying to appropriate her art for their own goal, with no concern for how Alina felt, her desires, and basically treated her as a tool and used her. Now remembers, Alina started to show interest in art at 8 and in her magical story she was 15, meaning she went through 7 years of being used, guilt-tripped, having her privacy violated and having no free-will over her own creations. No wonder why she’s tired of people and just wants to be left alone, and is overall hostile to others.

After she received this letter, Alina became full of doubt and questioned the meaning of her art and life as well as her own worth, and came to the conclusion that just like her art, she’s worthless and is basically a poison and toxic to everyone. After leaving on a vacation to find some inspiration and a meaning to her art, in vain, Alina then decided that she would be better off ending all her art, as well as herself. She went on a rampage to destroy all her art before planning to commit suicide by jumping from a rooftop. She wanted her death to be her final work, concluding her art of life and death, so people can witness her last moment before her light fade away (she put a camera to record her suicide). A last desperate attempt to give some meaning to her life through death.

Kyubey did try to convince her to make a wish, twice, and the second time, Alina agreed, and wished for a space where she cannot be bothered by others. But she had no intent to play her role as a magical girl, she just wanted to add her wish in her life so it can be lost as well in her death.

Of course, as a magical girl, Alina survived the fall and encountered a witch, and, amazed by its beauty, found what the theme of her art was, what she wanted to convert to the world: Alina’s Beauty. She found a reason to live through that and a meaning to her art. She wants people to witness what she considers to be beautiful. And this is how she started to breed witches together and create even more powerful witches (again, let’s talk about that later). Interesting thing, Alina’s doppel is highly based on virus and poison that can drive people insane, which is a clear reference to her thinking her art is poison that drive people insane because of the judge.

So, what I got from her backstory is a subtle tragedy. Alina was basically objectified in a way since she’s a child, used for her talent and treated as a mere tool. Almost no one has any consideration for her feelings, desires and privacy and is, yeah, treated more like an object than a human, and put an insane amount of pressure by all the expectation and guilt-tripping people kept putting on her shoulders. Alina ended up with a disturbed sense of her own identity and what was the purpose of her life, splitting tendencies (incapacity how seeing both positive and negative, lack of nuance), impulsivity and recklessness, unstable and chaotic relationships, self-damaging behaviors, detachment from reality, as well as depression, anger and rage.

I might have sounded really precise here, right? Well, those descriptors I used for Alina are almost all the criteria for a specific disorder: Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).

Yep, I’m basically saying that I think Alina might suffer from BPD. At first I thought she might be bipolar because of her mood swing between depression and almost manic behaviors, but bipolarity is mainly genetic and the mood switch is usually not that fast, unlike BPD. BPD is also a personality disorder, it’s not genetic and is caused by the environment, which makes more sense for Alina.

People with BPD also tend to be extremely sensitive to any form of criticism and alternating between idealization and devalorization and emotionally unstable and erratic. That sounds pretty much like what happened to Alina in her magical girl story if you think about it. BPD can also lead to psychotic episodes in more serious cases.

Now, I wouldn’t say that Alina perfectly fit the diagnosis or that it was the creator’s intention, but I feel like she’s a pretty good example of someone who suffers from untreated BPD and to me, it helps me understand the character on a more psychological basis and empathize with her.

There’s also more input on Alina’s psyche in the Holy Alina magical girl story. Again, after one critic that might look trivial from Karin (implying that Alina’s work isn’t art but breeding), Alina became overwhelmed with doubt regarding her art and extremely moody. Having her art compared to breeding and raising a pet deeply upset Alina, who’s forced to admit it’s true. She is indeed breeding witches, and she came to doubt that it’s real art.

Alina feels conflicted feelings. She’s mad that her art may not be art, but at the same time, feels excited at the idea of breeding witches, which only frustrated her even more. Surprisigly, it’s Karin who managed to make her feel better by making her read her favorite manga, bing worried that Alina might attempt suicide again. Alina understood through the manga that even if the plot is redundant, there’s a recurring theme that draws people to it. As a thanks, Alina bought a strawberry milk to Karin (while she usually stole it from her whenever she’s disappointed by her). Alina knows her art is more than just breeding and that she just need to find the core of her theme beyond life and death.

Alina decides to seek advice from her fellow Magius, Touka and Nemu. Nemu did notice how irritable Alina was these days. They make Alina realize that people tend to share a collective unconsciousness, like different civilizations worshipping the sun even though they had no contact with one another. So Alina needs to find something all humanity shares collectively, something she also shares with them. Touka suggested destruction: a death drive, a self-destructive urge. So the core of Alina’s art would be a craving towards death. After reading more about it, Alina became obsessed with the idea of self-destruction and, unable to fully grasp it, threw a tantrum and destroyed her atelier and aggressively asked Touka and Nemu for more explanation. Both explain how humans is one of the only species who kill one another even if it’s unnecessary, especially through wars. Mifuyu then arrives and complained that by destroying stuff, Alina is damaging the environment. This comment brought Touka and Nemu to find the perfect example of humans’ self-destruction: them destroying the environment. Not only are humans killing one another, they are also destroying their own planet.

Alina concluded that humans unconsciously crave death and destruction, leading them to their own destruction. She thinks this is why everyone is so fascinated by her art, because humans do seek their own death. Alina decides that she’ll indeed change the world with her art and that the core of her theme is “changing the world for the good of humanity”. Even if it sounds good, there’s something sinister behind this. For her, the “good of humanity” is granting what she thinks humans want: Their own destruction.

This is how she decided to become Holy Alina by wearing an Uwasa supposed to grant people their desires. And this is how Alina came to the conclusion she has to cause destruction, for the “sake” of humanity.

We might think that Alina’s actions actually came from a misguided good intention, but let’s not forget Alina is far from being a good person. She enjoys making people suffer and causing misery all around her, she doesn’t show any empathy for others and is remorseless. She’s sadistic, cruel and callous. And that lead to another diagnosis:

Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD).

In case you don’t know, ASPD is often referred to as sociopathy or psychopathy, even if both are technically incorrect, but let’s not dwell on that. Alina does exhibit a lot of antisocial behaviors, even before she became a magical girl, such as: Failure to obey laws and norms by engaging in behavior which results in criminal arrest, or would warrant criminal arrest, impulsive behaviors, irritability and aggression, disregard for her own safety and irresponsibility. She laters shows a blatant lack of remorse for her actions and a lack of empathy. The only traits she doesn’t seem to have is lying, deceiving and manipulating for her own profit or amusement. Alina is someone who is brutally honest and has no issue with speaking her mind and herself said that she doesn’t lie. I don’t recall any incident where Alina lies, but she can be deceiving and manipulative, like when she purposefully misled Madoka and Homura about Mami’s fate to hurt them, making it look like Mami met a gruesome death simply to make them suffer. But, ASPD can only be diagnosed when you’re 18 and alas, Alina is 16. But, there exists a precursor to ASPD for kids and teens, which is required to be diagnosed with ASPD: Conduct Disorder.

Alina almost fit the textbook criteria of conduct disorder. She’s a bully, aggressive, cruel towards others (and potentially animals), vandalism, deceptiveness and serious rules violation. And most of those were even before she became a magical girl. She often mistreats Karin and shows no respect for authority, she’s cruel towards others and I feel like it’s implied that Alina might have killed animals (and there’s also her reaction to Kyubey, who she thought was an animal and ended up kicking) and causes a lot of vandalism. Those were rather mild thoughts before she became a magical girl, where she’s downright dangerous and craving destruction.

BPD and ASPD both belong to the same cluster of personality disorder, cluster b, and are often comorbid. ASPD is often referred to as sociopathy, and given her borderline behaviors, Alina is pretty low-functioning. She’s impulsive, erratic and doesn’t bother to hide her true nature.

So, am I saying Alina is an irredeemable evil person who only seeks death and destruction? Yes, but no. There’s more to her. I won’t deny Alina’s cruelty and sadism and lack of concern for others well-being. After all, she doesn’t shy away from tormenting people, torture and attempted murder. But Alina isn’t born that way, she was driven to become a monster by the people around her. Alina wasn’t allowed to be a human, her feelings, desires and freedom were always disregarded, everything that makes someone human. Instead, she was treated like an object, an an object doesn’t have feelings and only serves a purpose. And the big tragedy in that is that Alina herself ended up objectifying herself. She decided to accomplish what she thinks humanity wants by causing destruction, but she’s also projecting her own self-destruction craving unto humanity as a whole. In the end, she tried to become the tool who will change the world for the good of humanity.

Being treated like an object made Alina unable to relate to others or understand their feelings, treating others just like she was treated: as objects. Alina seems to care for Mifuyu, but not as a person. Alina only values Mifuyu for her body, which she considers to be a work of art. Let’s not forget that magical girls’ true bodies are their soul gems and their human’s body is pretty much an empty shell, so Alina only caring for Mifuyu’s human body and not her as a person does show that she views Mifuyu as an object, not a person.

She also doesn’t understand humans’ bonds. When she proposed to spare their lives in exchange for Felicia (who she was angry at for destroying her witch), she didn’t understand why Tsuruno was so upset. Tsuruno even said “people aren’t objects!” which confused Alina even more. For Alina, everyone, including herself, are objects, and she herself can’t understand why others value people’s lives.

There’s also the way she’s treating witches. At first she seems to care about the witches she raised, considering like like pets and art and throwing a tantrum when Felicia destroyed one of them. But later in the story she shows no remorse to sacrifice the witches she raised, which shows that Alina doesn’t actually care for them, but given that they are hers, she can’t bear people other than her destroying them (or destroying them against her will). Alina did say that only an artist can destroy their own art. Given that she views the witches she raised and breed as her art, she doesn’t actually view them as actual pets but again, as objects. Alina’s objectification extend to witches too.

In one of the Christmas Events where she turned into Holy Alina, she ended up causing a lot of good actions while trying to do bad actions, which made people love her. But it didn’t please Alina at all. She doesn’t care about being loved or hated, she doesn’t care about what people think of her, good or bad actions. At some point, she noticed someone about to blow off a bomb and didn’t care nor show any interest in stopping him until she realized the bomb could damage Mifuyu’s body (again, she wasn’t worried for Mifuyu’s well-being, just her body). Alina seems to not feel shame for her behaviors, neither find it rewarding to be loved and praised.

Another thing regarding Mifuyu. At some point, the Magius (so Alina too) decided to sacrifice Mifuyu and feed her soul gem to Eve. I found it strange that Alina seemed to agree, until I realized something: A magical true body is their soul gem and they only need to feed that to Eve. There’s no need to feed Eve with their empty shell of an organic body. So I came to the conclusion that Alina didn’t mind sacrificing Mifuyu’s soul gem as long as she can keep her body. It just shows how much Alina doesn’t care about Mifuyu as a person and only valued her as a piece of art. An object. (And God knows what she would have done with her corpse).

Well, I’m not making a case about Alina not being an unredeemable piece of shit huh? Well, I decided to keep the best for the end: Her relationship with Karin.

It’s undeniable that Karin holds a special place in Alina’s heart (or whatever Alina has instead of a heart). Alina is cruel and mean towards Karin, true, but unlike other people, Alina never hurts Karin for her own pleasure or by sadism. Most of the time, she ended up mistreating Karin out of anger, mostly when she deemed that Karin made her lose her time or disappointed her, or when Karin is being dishonest with herself and doesn’t improve. Alina insults her and belittles her, as well as stealing her strawberry milk, not with the intention of hurting her, but as a form of punishment. Like a parent disciplining their child. But Alina does sincerely want Karin to improve and the fact that she takes the time to teach her, spend time with her and even rewards her proves that, in a way, Alina does care about Karin. In a really shitty and abusive way. But I don’t recall any instances where Alina physically harm Karin or show to enjoy hurting her. Still shitty and abusive, don’t get me wrong. But I feel like Alina is being abusive towards Karin because she’s unconsciously repeating how her parents may have treated her as a child. We know her parents often got angry at her and perhaps they acted in a way that is similar to how Alina treats Karin. The cycle of abuse sure is a tragic thing.

But why Karin? Well, I got a couple of theories. First, Karin is the only one who seems to care about Alina as a person and not an object. Karin greatly values Alina and is concerned about her feelings, something Alina isn’t used to, being only values for her talents. Karin often notices Alina’s change of mood and shows rejoice whenever Alina is in a good mood. She also worries greatly about Alina when she’s in a bad mood and even fear that she might try to commit suicide again. Karin is also someone who respects art and thrives to improve even if she seems to lack the talent. But she is still optimistic and never gives up, and she knows why she’s doing art. She wants to make people happy with her stories. Almost the opposite of Alina, who’s rather pessimistic, she oftens despaired regarding her art, she has the talent but lacks substance and doesn’t exactly know why she does art. Alina even admitted that Karin might be a bigger genius than her because of her passion, which Alina feels like she lacks, feeling empty inside. Even if Karin has expectations towards Alina, it doesn’t seem to put pressure on Alina, as Karin shows interest in how to make her own art and not Alina’s art itself. In a way, perhaps Alina can relate to Karin in a certain way, with her desire to make art, as well as being envious of how Karin can just be carefree about her art and be able to enjoy it without having people trying to use her. Perhaps this is why Alina is able to care about her, because in a way, she can relate to Karin. Still, Alina is abusive towards Karin and her intention doesn’t change how poorly she treats Karin.

Funny thing, Alina herself doesn’t seem to know exactly why she makes art, and ends up needing others’ opinions to figure it out. She ended up deducing that her core theme is self-destruction because of Touka and Nemu, which seems to make sense with Alina’s fascination with life and death. People focus on the death aspect, but Karin thinks that Alina’s works are actually full of life. Perhaps Karin is the one who’s right, maybe Alina’s actual core is more towards life, but given how twisted Alina became, she doesn’t even realize it herself. Maybe Karin is the only one who can see the good Alina might have deep down inside of her, or may even bring the good inside of her. Who knows, Karin might be the key for Alina potential redemption.

Also, it may not look like it, but I think Alina is constantly hurting inside, due to depression, but she’s so disconnected from her own feelings that she doesn’t realize it and unconsciously hurts others because she’s hurting. Alina is full of unhealthy coping. Her own fascination for life and death started by the death of her grandparents and dog when she was a kid, and might actually have traumatized her and her way to cope is her art. That would explain why Alina herself is uncertain about her theme, because often, understanding our own trauma can be quite hard, or even realize that we experience trauma in the first place. Perhaps death traumatized Alina and her art is her way to understand death better and accept it as a part of life itself. Maybe she actually wants to value life by understand death, because without death, life loses its core value.

So, did I answer the question? Is Alina a psycho crazy jojo villain? Yes, but no. Alina isn’t a psychopath and not downright psychotic either (even though she might experience psychotic episodes). Crazy? Well, I do think she suffers from personality disorders, but it doesn’t make her insane. A sociopath? Maaaybbeee. But to be honest, I mainly think Alina is someone broken who is the result of her environment, someone constantly hurting inside with deep self-destructive urges. The objectification made her feel disconnected from her feelings and humanity and turned her into a monster. But it doesn’t excuse her villainous actions, it only made them understandable and Alina more sympathetic.

Well that was longer than I expected. Let me know what you think and thanks for reading!

[the-psychopathist]

Sherlock Holmes is NOT a sociopath

So I guess this one would also go in my “is NOT a psychopath” series, although in this case the misconception is Sherlock being a sociopath (antisocial personality disorder) rather than a psychopath. Let me just start by saying Sherlock is none of those, he doesn’t have ASPD, and let me tell you why.

Some might tell me “but Sherlock himself said he was a high-functioning sociopath, isn’t it canon?” and to that I’d reply: Since when a character saying something is necessarily canon? Characters can be wrong.

We saw it with Dexter Morgan, who is called a psychopath in the series but clearly isn’t one. Either the character is wrong, or the creator doesn’t know jack shit about what they are talking about. In Sherlock’s case, maybe it’s both but I won’t theorize on the matter and focus on why Sherlock doesn’t have ASPD.

The first criteria for ASPD is “ailure to obey laws and norms by engaging in behavior which results in criminal arrest, or would warrant criminal arrest”. Now, Sherlock defintely fail to obey norms and sometimes break the law, but most of the time, he cooperate with the police. He does consume drugs so yet, criminal behaviours, althought most addicts aren’t sociopaths.

The second criteria is lying, deception, and manipulation for profit or self-amusement. Most of the time, Sherlock is brutally honest. It happens that he lies for profit but rarely for amusement. This behaviour isn’t a big part of Sherlock’s personality and only do it when it’s necessary.

Then there’s impulsive behaviors. I wouldn’t say Sherlock is particularily impulsive, most of the time he’s calm and calculating, but yes, just like most people, it happens that he’s impulsive. But it doesn’t seem to be to the point it would be a problem.

Irritability and aggression, manifested as frequently assaults others, or engages in fighting: Frequent assault, not really. Sherlock do defend himself when needed however, as well as those he cares about. At some point he was yes excessively violent with someone, but it was because this person hurt his landlord. It’s not frequent and most of the time, justified by self-defense.

Blatantly disregards the safety of self and others: Okay, Sherlock does seem to have a certain disregards for his own safety, but not for others. Despite acting cold he does care for others safety and don’t tend to risk others life. On the contrary, most of the time he do all he can to save people.

Then there’s a pattern of irresponsibility. Sherlock is prideful and doesn’t like to admit when he’s wrong, but he does take his responsibilities and admit when he’s wrong. So there isn’t a pattern of irresponsibility.

Lack of remorse for actions: No. Not at all. We saw multiple time that Sherlock does have empathy and remorse. And not only for people close to him. He felt bad whenever he failed to save someone or someone died because of him.

So, even if Sherlock may slightly fit certain criteria, it’s not enough to qualify it a personality disorder. Antisocial behaviours? Yet. But not a personality disorder.

So why Sherlock claim to be a high-functioning sociopath? Well, either the creators are doing that for edgy points and don’t know what ASPD actually is, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. My theory would be that Sherlock was allienated since he was a kid because he was different. We know that he does feel different when he got mad at Magnussen for “blackmailing people who are differents”. He feels abnormal and people make it look like he’s a cold monster, even referring to him as a “psychopath”. Perhaps Sherlock came to believe he truly is a sociopath because he view himself as uncaring and callous, or he says that as a way to excuse his behaviours or make sure people don’t come close to him. To me, it looks more like a defense mechanism.

To me, it’s more likely that Sherlock has Autistic Spectrum Disorder (either regular autism or Asperger Syndrome), but I’ll keep that for another analysis. This one was just to prove that he isn’t a sociopath. 

[your-aspd-dad-jokes]

not my usual post but

this post - i agree with it! there are still a few things here i have issue with but not in such a way that i feel like i’m being demonised or misrepresented. this is a blog that, as near as i can tell, was criticised by people with aspd for inaccuracy and, in response, turned around and informed themself.

there are still some glaring issues in recent posts like the use and legitimisation of “psychopathy” but other than that? good post op. moffat wrote a shitty, terrible, inaccurate depiction of aspd and this post gets to the root of why that depiction is inaccurate.

[skeleton-monarch]

same as above as well as asperger’s syndrome is no longer a diagnoses. it’s only asd!

[the-psychopathist]

As someone with ASD I do know, I was initially diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome before the diagnosis was changed. I did mention the right terminology and mention the old one because a lot of people aren’t aware of it.

[skeleton-monarch]

id assumed youd know but i wanted to put it out there for those who didn’t know, sorry for coming off wrong!

[the-psychopathist]

No worries! ^^

[the-psychopathist]

Sherlock Holmes is NOT a sociopath

So I guess this one would also go in my “is NOT a psychopath” series, although in this case the misconception is Sherlock being a sociopath (antisocial personality disorder) rather than a psychopath. Let me just start by saying Sherlock is none of those, he doesn’t have ASPD, and let me tell you why.

Some might tell me “but Sherlock himself said he was a high-functioning sociopath, isn’t it canon?” and to that I’d reply: Since when a character saying something is necessarily canon? Characters can be wrong.

We saw it with Dexter Morgan, who is called a psychopath in the series but clearly isn’t one. Either the character is wrong, or the creator doesn’t know jack shit about what they are talking about. In Sherlock’s case, maybe it’s both but I won’t theorize on the matter and focus on why Sherlock doesn’t have ASPD.

The first criteria for ASPD is “ailure to obey laws and norms by engaging in behavior which results in criminal arrest, or would warrant criminal arrest”. Now, Sherlock defintely fail to obey norms and sometimes break the law, but most of the time, he cooperate with the police. He does consume drugs so yet, criminal behaviours, althought most addicts aren’t sociopaths.

The second criteria is lying, deception, and manipulation for profit or self-amusement. Most of the time, Sherlock is brutally honest. It happens that he lies for profit but rarely for amusement. This behaviour isn’t a big part of Sherlock’s personality and only do it when it’s necessary.

Then there’s impulsive behaviors. I wouldn’t say Sherlock is particularily impulsive, most of the time he’s calm and calculating, but yes, just like most people, it happens that he’s impulsive. But it doesn’t seem to be to the point it would be a problem.

Irritability and aggression, manifested as frequently assaults others, or engages in fighting: Frequent assault, not really. Sherlock do defend himself when needed however, as well as those he cares about. At some point he was yes excessively violent with someone, but it was because this person hurt his landlord. It’s not frequent and most of the time, justified by self-defense.

Blatantly disregards the safety of self and others: Okay, Sherlock does seem to have a certain disregards for his own safety, but not for others. Despite acting cold he does care for others safety and don’t tend to risk others life. On the contrary, most of the time he do all he can to save people.

Then there’s a pattern of irresponsibility. Sherlock is prideful and doesn’t like to admit when he’s wrong, but he does take his responsibilities and admit when he’s wrong. So there isn’t a pattern of irresponsibility.

Lack of remorse for actions: No. Not at all. We saw multiple time that Sherlock does have empathy and remorse. And not only for people close to him. He felt bad whenever he failed to save someone or someone died because of him.

So, even if Sherlock may slightly fit certain criteria, it’s not enough to qualify it a personality disorder. Antisocial behaviours? Yet. But not a personality disorder.

So why Sherlock claim to be a high-functioning sociopath? Well, either the creators are doing that for edgy points and don’t know what ASPD actually is, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. My theory would be that Sherlock was allienated since he was a kid because he was different. We know that he does feel different when he got mad at Magnussen for “blackmailing people who are differents”. He feels abnormal and people make it look like he’s a cold monster, even referring to him as a “psychopath”. Perhaps Sherlock came to believe he truly is a sociopath because he view himself as uncaring and callous, or he says that as a way to excuse his behaviours or make sure people don’t come close to him. To me, it looks more like a defense mechanism.

To me, it’s more likely that Sherlock has Autistic Spectrum Disorder (either regular autism or Asperger Syndrome), but I’ll keep that for another analysis. This one was just to prove that he isn’t a sociopath. 

[your-aspd-dad-jokes]

not my usual post but

this post - i agree with it! there are still a few things here i have issue with but not in such a way that i feel like i’m being demonised or misrepresented. this is a blog that, as near as i can tell, was criticised by people with aspd for inaccuracy and, in response, turned around and informed themself.

there are still some glaring issues in recent posts like the use and legitimisation of “psychopathy” but other than that? good post op. moffat wrote a shitty, terrible, inaccurate depiction of aspd and this post gets to the root of why that depiction is inaccurate.

[skeleton-monarch]

same as above as well as asperger’s syndrome is no longer a diagnoses. it’s only asd!

[the-psychopathist]

As someone with ASD I do know, I was initially diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome before the diagnosis was changed. I did mention the right terminology and mention the old one because a lot of people aren’t aware of it.

[the-psychopathist]

Sherlock Holmes is NOT a sociopath

So I guess this one would also go in my “is NOT a psychopath” series, although in this case the misconception is Sherlock being a sociopath (antisocial personality disorder) rather than a psychopath. Let me just start by saying Sherlock is none of those, he doesn’t have ASPD, and let me tell you why.

Some might tell me “but Sherlock himself said he was a high-functioning sociopath, isn’t it canon?” and to that I’d reply: Since when a character saying something is necessarily canon? Characters can be wrong.

We saw it with Dexter Morgan, who is called a psychopath in the series but clearly isn’t one. Either the character is wrong, or the creator doesn’t know jack shit about what they are talking about. In Sherlock’s case, maybe it’s both but I won’t theorize on the matter and focus on why Sherlock doesn’t have ASPD.

The first criteria for ASPD is “ailure to obey laws and norms by engaging in behavior which results in criminal arrest, or would warrant criminal arrest”. Now, Sherlock defintely fail to obey norms and sometimes break the law, but most of the time, he cooperate with the police. He does consume drugs so yet, criminal behaviours, althought most addicts aren’t sociopaths.

The second criteria is lying, deception, and manipulation for profit or self-amusement. Most of the time, Sherlock is brutally honest. It happens that he lies for profit but rarely for amusement. This behaviour isn’t a big part of Sherlock’s personality and only do it when it’s necessary.

Then there’s impulsive behaviors. I wouldn’t say Sherlock is particularily impulsive, most of the time he’s calm and calculating, but yes, just like most people, it happens that he’s impulsive. But it doesn’t seem to be to the point it would be a problem.

Irritability and aggression, manifested as frequently assaults others, or engages in fighting: Frequent assault, not really. Sherlock do defend himself when needed however, as well as those he cares about. At some point he was yes excessively violent with someone, but it was because this person hurt his landlord. It’s not frequent and most of the time, justified by self-defense.

Blatantly disregards the safety of self and others: Okay, Sherlock does seem to have a certain disregards for his own safety, but not for others. Despite acting cold he does care for others safety and don’t tend to risk others life. On the contrary, most of the time he do all he can to save people.

Then there’s a pattern of irresponsibility. Sherlock is prideful and doesn’t like to admit when he’s wrong, but he does take his responsibilities and admit when he’s wrong. So there isn’t a pattern of irresponsibility.

Lack of remorse for actions: No. Not at all. We saw multiple time that Sherlock does have empathy and remorse. And not only for people close to him. He felt bad whenever he failed to save someone or someone died because of him.

So, even if Sherlock may slightly fit certain criteria, it’s not enough to qualify it a personality disorder. Antisocial behaviours? Yet. But not a personality disorder.

So why Sherlock claim to be a high-functioning sociopath? Well, either the creators are doing that for edgy points and don’t know what ASPD actually is, but I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. My theory would be that Sherlock was allienated since he was a kid because he was different. We know that he does feel different when he got mad at Magnussen for “blackmailing people who are differents”. He feels abnormal and people make it look like he’s a cold monster, even referring to him as a “psychopath”. Perhaps Sherlock came to believe he truly is a sociopath because he view himself as uncaring and callous, or he says that as a way to excuse his behaviours or make sure people don’t come close to him. To me, it looks more like a defense mechanism.

To me, it’s more likely that Sherlock has Autistic Spectrum Disorder (either regular autism or Asperger Syndrome), but I’ll keep that for another analysis. This one was just to prove that he isn’t a sociopath. 

[ohcurtains]

i just read an amazing analysis of Villanelle’s character this season that was left as a reply on this sneak peek for 3x05 and i want to show it to you guys

the original comment was this:

and then some angel typed out this banger of a response

whoever u are, thank you

[the-psychopathist]

^

[the-psychopathist]

Psychopathy vs Antisocial Personality Disorder

Given the title of this post it’s obvious what I’m going to be discussing: The differences between psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). A lot of people tend to confuse those two or think they are synonymous, as well as sociopath. I’ll start by given the definition for each of those as well as other similar condition.

Primary Psychopathy: Most commonly referred as psychopathy. When specialists talk about psychopaths, most of the time they mean those who have primary psychopathy. Primary psychopathy is innate, meaning that primary psychopaths are born that way. Primary psychopathy is characterized by callousness, shallow affect, manipulation, and superficial charm. Not all primary psychopaths have antisocial personality disorder. They all have certain narcissistic traits (such as grandiose) but again, not all primary psychopaths could be diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder either. Primary psychopaths have a defecting empathy, meaning that they can’t and will never feel empathy. They are usually viewed as high-functioning.

Secondary Psychopathy: Usually referred to as sociopathy, even tho the term sociopath is outdated. Secondary psychopaths are made, they have been mold that way by their environment and possible trauma. Secondary psychopathy is associated with impulsivity and lack of long-term goals, and is related to hostile behaviors. Unlike primary psychopaths, secondary psychopaths are often emotionally unstable and can experience guilt and empathy. Their empathy isn’t defective but instead dysfunctional. All secondary psychopaths meet the criteria for antisocial personality disorder and they are more likely to also have borderline personality disorder. They are also more likely to be low-functioning.

Antisocial Personality Disorder: Also often used as a synonyme of sociopathy. The criteria are failure to obey laws and norms, lying, deception, and manipulation for profit or self-amusement, impulsive behavior, irritability and aggression, blatantly disregards the safety of self and others, a pattern of irresponsibility and lack of remorse. The person needs to be at least 18, have conduct behavior before 15 and the antisocial behaviors aren’t related to schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. People with ASPD can feel empathy and love towards those they bond with and their level of functioning depends of their IQ, education and environment.

Conduct Disorder: Considered the precursor of ASPD. Conduct disorder is characterized by antisocial behaviors in children and teenagers. The causes can be diverse, such as genetic, environment or even a low IQ. The signs of conduct disorder are bullying, aggressiveness, use of weapons, cruelty (towards humans or animals), stealing, forced sexual activities, vandalism, deceptiveness and serious rule violation. Whether those issues are treated or not can determine if those antisocial behaviors will continue in adulthood (and become ASPD) or not.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder: NPD is a personality disorder from Cluster B like ASPD. To be diagnosed with NPD you need to have at least 5 of the 9 following criteria: grandiose sense of self-importance, fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love, think they are "special" and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people, requires excessive admiration, has a sense of entitlement,  is interpersonally exploitative, lack of empathy,  is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of them and shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes. The exact cause of NPD is uncertain but specialist are led to believe it might be a combinaison of genetics and environments.

Bordeline Personality Disorder: BPD is another personality disorder from the Cluster B. Its characterized by markedly disturbed sense of identity, frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment and extreme reactions to such, black and white thinking, impulsivity, intense or uncontrollable emotional reactions that are disproportionate to the event or situation, unstable and chaotic interpersonal relationships, distorded self-image, self-damaging behaviors, dissociation and is often accompanied by depression, anxiety, anger, substance abuse, or rage.

Histrionic Personality Disorder: The last personality disorder from Cluster B. HPD is a personality disorder characterized by a pattern of excessive attention-seeking behaviors, usually beginning in early adulthood, including inappropriate seduction and an excessive need for approval. People diagnosed with the disorder are said to be lively, dramatic, vivacious, enthusiastic, and flirtatious.  People with HPD are usually high-functioning, both socially and professionally. They usually have good social skills, despite tending to use them to manipulate others into making them the center of attention. HPD may also affect a person's social and romantic relationships, as well as their ability to cope with losses or failures.

Phew. Now that we got over all the definition, let’s see what differienciate them. Most of those conditions are mainly related to the environment with maybe some genetics component, except primary psychopathy which is 100% genetics. Primary psychopathy and HPD are largely high-functioning, secondary psychoapthy and BPD are often low-functioning while ASPD and NPD it varies. Most of those conditions share similar traits such as a lack of empathy and manipulative tendencis. But they are also largely different on many aspects.

You may wonder why I didn’t mention sociopathy. Well, sociopaths is considered as an outdated term that was previously used as synonymous of either secondary psychopathy or ASPD. So to avoid confusing those two I’ll void using sociopathy.

You may have seen videos of “psychopaths vs sociopaths” and most of them are actually comparing primary psychopathy and secondary psychopathy. They do share similarity such as a lack of remorse, pathological liar, manipulative, irresponsability, disregard for others and a failure to learn from mistakes. But, primary psychopaths tend to be more emotionally shallow, calculating and calm while secondary psychopaths are neurotics, anxious, impulsivity and can actually feel love, guilt and empathy. Primary psychopaths are often known as corporate psychopaths or successful psychopaths and tend to have higher jobs such as CEO, lawyer, salesperson, surgeon, journalist, police officer, clergy, chef and civil servant. Secondary psychopaths on the contrary tend to struggle with keeping jobs and often have low education. Primary psychopaths are part of the narcissistic personalities but not all of them would qualify as an actual narcissist. Even if primary psychopathy and ASPD shares some traits, not all primary psychopaths have ASPD. Secondary psychopaths also have narcissitic traits and antisocial traits and are more likely to have BPD. 

Here’s an interesting diagram to illustrate this:

This diagram, however, is really male-centric. ASPD is more common in male psychopaths, while HPD is more common among female psychopaths. Even for non-psychopathic people, ASPD is more common among men and HPD among women. I don’t think it’s due to biological differences, more because of how men and women are raised in society (aggresivity is encouraged for boys while girls are encouraged to be more passive). So personally, I’d add HPD to this diagram.

You may have heard the saying “all psychopaths are sociopaths but not all sociopaths are psychopaths” or that psychopathy is a more severe for of sociopathy. Even if there’s some sense in that, it’s factually wrong. Primary psychopathy and secondary psychopathy are mutually exclusive, but if in this sentence sociopathy means ASPD, then I understand where it came from. For a long time psychopathy was viewed as a form of ASPD, therefore, if ASPD is sociopathy and all psychopaths have ASPD, then by logic, all psychopaths would be sociopaths too. But we know now that not all primary psychopaths have ASPD so therefore, the statement is incorrect. But, psychopathy and ASPD are often comorbid and do shares a lot of similarities.

Important thing to note, to be diagnosed with ASPD you need to be over 18 and have previously show signs of conduct disorder before the age of 15. Such requirements don’t exist for primary psychopathy, given that CD is a precursor for ASPD and not all primary psychopaths have ASPD. 

I want to precise that even if there’s a large percentage of criminals with ASPD. In a study it showed that around 35.3% (either men or women) prisoners met the criteria for ASPD and around 15% to 25% of men in prisons who are psychopaths. Psychopaths make up 1% of the population while around 3% to 4% of the population are diagnosed with ASPD. Despite that, most psychopaths or people with ASPD aren’t criminals.

I want to finish that saying I’m no professional, I did studied psychology on my own for years but I wouldn’t pretend to be an expert. All I said are based on medical sources I read, which I’ll link bellow. Thanks for reading and don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts.

Psychopaths in prison

Prisoners with ASPD

Primary Psychopathy vs Secondary Psychopathy

Female psychopaths and HPD 

Secondary Psychopathy and BPD

[the-psychopathist]

Villanelle (TV Show) is NOT a psychopath

I know what you’re thinking. “But Villanelle is refered as a psychopath in both the show and the synopsis”. Well, either the characters withing the show were wrongs, or the show itself did a poor job at writing an actual psychopath, because Villanelle really isn’t one. I just want to precise that I’m talking about Villanelle in Killing Eve the TV Show, not Villanelle in the book Codename Villanelle, who I believe is a more accurate psychopath.

So, when I was watching the first season I initially thought that perhaps yes, she was an actual psychopath. But then later we met her ex-crush (who if I remember correctly Villanelle eventually kill) and seems to express genuine sadness and regret over that, which is pointed out by Konstatine’s daughter. Her whole interaction with the daughter also show her as really impulsive and emotional and that’s when I started to have doubt. Then in season 2, Villanelle expressed fear over ghosts and even got startled when she thought she met one. Villanelle isn’t immune to stress and fear, which should be impossible for a psychopath. But at that point, I was more “maybe she’s still a psychopath and the show just didn’t know about those details”.

Then season 3 arrived. Villanelle meet back with her biological family and we learned that her mother was abusive towards her as a child. Upon meeting with her half-brother, Villanelle realized that her mother is being abusive towards him now and she seems genuinly upset. She confronted her mother, who deny it by pretending that Villanelle was born like that, while actually, her mother made her that way. Villanelle eventually deal with her past trauma in the only way she knows: by killing her mother. But, surprisignly, she decides to spare her younger brother and even give him money to realize his dream. It seemed that Villanelle did feel bad for him and perhaps even genuine empathy for the first time in her life.

This experience left a deep mark in her and she even wanted to stop being an assassin. My guess is that her need to kill was a way to cope with her anger towards her mom, but now that she killed her, she knows it would be pointless to continue. I don’t think she regrets her actions per se, more that she realized how pointless they were and that in the end, it didn’t help her.

I believe that this experience of feeling sympathy for someone is what helped Villanelle understand her feelings towards Eve and actually care for her instead of just using her. This is why during the bridge scene, she was ready to leave Eve for her own good, because she knew she was bad for Eve. I also believe that the reason why Villanelle was upset when Eve called her a psychopath is because it would mean her mother was right and that she was born that way.

So no, Villanelle isn’t a psychopath. She wasn’t born that way, she was made that way. I do think however that she qualify as a sociopath, but that will be for another post.

[the-psychopathist]

Oh Sangwoo is NOT a psychopath

I guess I’ll turn the “_is NOT a psychopath” into a series. After Joe Goldberg and Dexter Morgan, times to explain why Sangwoo (Killing Stalking) isn’t a psychopath.

First, as I have said many times, psychopaths are born that way. Judging by the flashbacks, Sangwoo wasn’t always a remorsless and sadistic killer. He was a pretty normal kid who was stuck with pretty abusive parents (especially his mother). His mother even tried to murder him as a child because of how possessive she was of her husband. This started her husband to be abusive towards her and become alcoholic, eventually abusive both his wife and child. Sangwoo’s mom was also regularily humiliating his son. She eventually murdered her husband and put the blame on Sangwoo, who believed that he indeed killed his father. After this, his mother started to treat him like her husband, flirting with him and poisoning him. And one day, she attempted to rape him, before killing herself on the knife Sangwoo was holding, giving him the feeling he murdered her. All of this is what broke Sangwoo’s mind.

Sangwoo isn’t born that way, he was made by his environment, upbringing and trauma. Therefore, instead of being a psychopath, he would be a sociopath. But, usually, sociopaths are considered to be more impulsive and less organized, while Sangwoo can have a lot of self-control and thoroughly plan his murders. Sangwoo would be what we call a “high-functioning sociopath” who have control over his impulse and can blend into society. But, the trauma seems to also cause him psychotic tendencies and, the more he is with Bum (who reminds him of his mother), the more unstable and insane he became, thus less and less functioning throughout the series. So he started as a high-functioning sociopath and ended up a psychotic low/mid-functioning sociopath. I may do an actual analysis of him eventually.

[the-psychopathist]

Dexter Morgan is NOT a psychopath

After my post Joe Goldberg is NOT a psychopath, I guess I’ll make another one debunking one of the most known “psychopath” in TV history: Dexter Morgan. Some of you may think that I’m wrong because in last season he was describe as one, therefore he’s a “canon psychopath”. I could argue that the creators had no idea what true psychopathy is, but it could also be the characters in the show that showed some biases. But before talking about that, let’s just debunk the misconception that Dexter is a psychopath.

Dexter is introduced in the show as someone who can’t feel emotion, asocial, a little bit socially awkward and with murderous pulsion. He’s a vigilante serial killer who only kills murderer to satisfy his thirst for blood, following his code given by his adoptive father. Yet, even through season one, we can see that Dexter isn’t devoid of empathy. He genuinly cares for his adoptive sister and does feel bad when he kills his biological brother. 

Psychopaths are born that way. They are incapable of empathy or remorse and never will. Those facts alone completely discriditate Dexter as a psychopath. The whole series is about a suposedly cold and emotionless man who through the seasons, become more and more human as he bonds with others and experience emotions. He genuinly loved his wife Rita, his childrens, his sister, his family. He showed empathy and remorse countless time throughout the series. Dexter wasn’t born like that, he became like that due to trauma to see his mother getting brutally killed. His murderous desire are his way to cope with trauma. 

If I had to give a diagnosis, I would say Dexter suffers from PTSD, schizoid personality disorder and maybe have autism.

Now the big part. Dexter was called a psychopath in last season. We learned that Dexter’s adoptive father saw a doctor when Dexter was a teen because of Dexter’s disturbing behaviours. The doctor suspected Dexter to be a psychopath and is basically the one who convinced his father to condition him to become a vigilanty serial killer. An interesting scene that happened between Dexter, Debra and the doctor was when the siblings mention how much they care for each other, which the doctor seemed confused and said “psychopath can’t love”. It makes me think that it’s not the creators of the show who made a mistake, it’s the doctor herself who misdiagnosed Dexter as a psychopath. 

If you want a good example of a psychopath in Dexter, Oliver Saxon is probably the best example. Dexter? Not so much, In the book however, he could be considered a sociopath.