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Char MSG Ep1 (11)

Char Aznable has declared Psychopath is to be renamed to
Category:Psychopaths

for the following reason(s): Plural
Please discuss it on the talk page for this article.
"I told you I am not Casval, I am Char Aznable."

Stop hand

Psychopaths are not crazy. They're fully aware of what they do and of the consequences of their actions.
~ Hannibal Lecter to Will Graham.
Everything about your attitude is so immature and shallow, it's completely superficial. When you laugh or even when you're mad, your whole frame of mind is... Echidna, you're incapable of understanding how anybody else feels. This is one of those times when you could get angry...
~ Subaru berating Echidna for her sociopathic personality.

Psychopaths and Sociopaths are villains associated with antisocial personality disorder, otherwise known as psychopathy. They lack and/or have an absence of empathy, guilt and/or emotional connections; as a result, they tend to be violent, twisted and with some exceptions, they generally are not able to feel remorse. They are rarely in love, because they are mostly incapable of true love, although some of them are protective towards a select few while still being ruthless and uncaring toward everyone else. More often than not, purely evil villains tend to be psychopaths. Because of their inability to feel remorse, they are unlikely to redeem themselves, unless they are high functioning and softening toward others to an extent they leave their villainous career despite themselves (e.g. Beverly Hofstadter, Alie Peters, Tony Stonem, and Jordan Belfort). For obvious reasons, it is very unlikely for anti-villains, extremists, morally ambiguous villains, villains by proxy, redeemed villains, affable villains and/or incompetent villains to be psychopaths, though exceptions exist (e.g. Hisoka Morow, Solf J. Kimblee, Black Suit, Echidna, Tom Ripley, King Koopa, Sakyo, Henry Stickmin, Judge Wargrave, King Bunny, Sho Minamimoto, and Alice Morgan).

As stated by Lecter's quote above, psychopaths are NOT crazy or psychotic and are often mistaken for being so. However they are dangerously unstable and highly capable of hurting others without hesitation and compunction due to their lack of restraint and empathy, regardless they are still completely aware of reality while psychotic people are the polar opposites; they hear voices, hallucinate, suffer from violent and/or delusional episodes or breaks from reality and often do not fully understand or are aware about what they are doing.

In fiction, it is common for psychopaths to come in two different forms:

  • High-functioning: The cold-hearted and, in theory, more dangerous kind of social predator. If a villain is consistently apathetic towards other people's feelings, but is capable of using a façade to blend in with society, they will usually fall here. These kinds of psychopaths maintain high impulse control and are able to recognize the consequences of their actions, but are generally more cunning, calculating and manipulative. They exercise superficial charm to adapt to society and tend to be expert liars. When committing wrongdoings, they may plan them in advance to avoid getting caught easily or at least carry them out when in a situation where they are guaranteed to not get caught. Though they try to make themselves look normal to the public, they are often emotionally hollow, callous, possess a grandiose sense of entitlement and care little for anyone but themselves, seeing people as tools to use for their own benefit. Dimentio, Emperor Palpatine, Iago, Light Yagami, Johan Liebert, Anton Chigurh, Masayuki Kaneki, Louis Bloom, Frank Underwood, Emperor Belos, Amy Elliot-Dunne, and Roose Bolton are examples. In the uncommon cases where a psychopath redeems themselves, they are almost always from the high functioning type.
  • Low-functioning: Usually, low-functioning psychopaths, also known as "sociopaths", do not conform to basic social standards. They are eager to flaunt their pride, act on destructive impulse and have very little regard for the consequences of their actions. As such, these variants are hot-headed villains who seemingly live without shame and may or may not bring harm to others or themselves depending on the circumstances of their situation through careless misdeeds. While minor symptoms of a high-functioning psychopath may be present in a low-functioning one, such as a constant need for stimulation; displaying some intelligence; emulating emotions and innocence when necessary; grandiose self-importance; or habitual lying, these kinds of psychopaths are quick to lose their whole façade and become openly hostile (or even violent) when things do not go their way. If caught or confronted for committing villainous deeds, it is very easy for them to show no genuine remorse and outright refuse to accept responsibility for their actions (e.g. Ramsay Bolton, Joffrey Baratheon, Eric Cartman, Kilgrave, Dandy Mott, Muscular, Kurt Kunkle, Big Jack Horner, Jang Deok-su, Nicky Cavella, Evelyn Claythorne, and Monty de la Cruz).

NOTE: It isn't necessary for a psychopath to specifically conform to the high-functioning or low-functioning categories. Sometimes a psychopath can have traits of both types (e.g. Dio Brando, Opal Koboi, Micah Bell, Syndrome, Lord Voldemort, Baekmorae, The Invisible Man, Diablo, Hoyt Volker, Dark Danny, William Afton, Dick Hardly, Makima, and Doma).

Antisocial personality disorder is usually a persistent condition from birth, but it can be induced by a succession of horrific events that twisted the moral center of said characters (e.g. Prince Hans, Mr. Skinner, Herrscher of the Sexual Desire, Red Skull (Ultimate Marvel), Ellen, Makima, Zurg, Prince, Evil Morty, Scaramouche, Terry Silver and Petyr Baelish). Furthermore, psychopaths may have redeeming qualities (even if it doesn't lead them to redemption), as long as the aforementioned qualities don't contradict their lack of empathy.

Also, just because a villain is vengeful or wrathful and therefore adapts violent tendencies does not necessarily make them psychopaths unless they are that particularly antisocial in nature.

NOTE: Do not add this category to organizations or species. It is an individual affliction only and thus only individuals can be diagnosed with it.

Also, NEVER, under any circumstances, add villains who are mentally ill, dissociative, or psychotic or vice versa under this category because, as mentioned above, those types of villains are not completely aware of reality or their identity and suffer severely from various other mental health issues while psychopaths though they have a twisted moral center are completely aware of their reality at all times and don't present the crippling effects of mental illness associated with the other neurotype categories.

Supernatural beings, aliens, monsters, demons, plants or artificial Intelligence (e.g. It, Audrey II, Nyarlathotep, Skynet, The Mimic, Bill Cipher, Aku, Demise, Valak, Overlord, Demon King, Pazuzu, Ao Oni, Red Death, The End, and King Ghidorah) normally do not count because their psychological mindset may often differ from humans. They could count if it is explicitly made clear that their minds function and behave in a similar manner to humans (e.g. Isshiki Ōtsutsuki, Zhan Tiri, General Lunaris, Dr. Roosevelt, Evolt, Ghirahim, Randall Boggs, Mephiles the Dark, The Lich, TIO, Cursa, Thrax, Ego, Judge Holden, Cell, Ke-Pa, Brimscythe, Thragg, Brainiac, Darkseid, Protoboy, the Dark Lord and AM). Anthropomorphic characters can also count if they display all the requirements (e.g. Scar, Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear, Dawn Bellwether, Hopper, Chameleon, Bardford Buzzard, Professor Marmalade, Katz, Dag, and Steele).

Psychopathy can only apply to villains with defined personalities and characterization. Insufficiently characterized villains (e.g. MegaBug, Dharkon, Zalgo, Clammadon, Wither Storm, Drip and Ooze, Big Brother, Evil Alien Jellien Overlord and Tabuu) do not count.

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