What fictional characters do you suspect of being autistic?

[Aspergers_Aspie]

I recently watched "Kid Cosmic and the Rings of Power" on Netflix. I kind of headcannon Kid as autistic.
Obsessive interests: Stacks of comic books, mostly sci-fi and superhero stories which he knows practically by heart.
Behavioral problems: Getting
extremely frustrated when he can't
get the ring to work, to the point of
throwing things around (meltdown,
or just a mini tantrum?)
He's also seen as a weirdo by the town, causing difficulties without
meaning to.
Difficulty with body language/ Social cues: Jo creates a distraction so Kid can sneak out of the diner after
causing a disruption. She silently
gestures with her head for him to leave, and he just stares at her like
he doesn't get it.
Later on in the show, he's trying to talk to someone, and totally misses the other guy's repeated sarcasm. Strong sense of right and wrong: that's what heroes do, after all.
None of this proves he's autistic, of course. In fact, I think if he were meant to be autistic they would have
made him a little more stereotypical
(he's not a savant, and I didn't notice any sensory issues).

But there's enough here that I
interpret him as being on the
spectrum.

I don't like the word tantrum being
used for autistic people and prefer the terminology panic attack. I don't think autistic people are weirdos.

 

[Soleil]

I don't like the word tantrum being
used for autistic people and prefer the terminology panic attack. I don't think autistic people are weirdos.

Well, in this particular scene Kid was upset and frustrated, and basically acted in a very outward and physical manner, screaming and knocking things about. I can't really compare this to a meltdown, since I've never seen or experienced one, but under the circumstances this wasn't a panic attack because he wasn't panicking about anything.
I am, however, aware that there are differences between meltdowns and tantrums, and I was offering "tantrum" as a non-autistic possibility. As in, if he's not autistic, then it may just be a tantrum.

And I don't think autistic people are any weirder than non-autistic people either

 

[Joshua the Writer]

I don't like the word tantrum being
used for autistic people and prefer the terminology panic attack. I don't think autistic people are weirdos.

TBH anybody can throw a tantrum with or without being a weirdo. Even adults do it.

Although, yeah. I do prefer the term "panic attack" more.

 

[Kalinychta]

Perhaps Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye.

 

[Joshua the Writer]

I think the Handler from Monster Hunter: World and Iceborne is Autistic. She is very obsessed with cooking and food and does not exactly have very good self-control, considering the amount of times you end up saving her from getting nearly eaten by monsters.

 

[Booknerd515]

Well, considering I have an alternate version of this one as a system member and he identifies as a neurodivergent, Ken Kaneki from Tokyo Ghoul (anime).

-Had extreme difficulty making friends from going up.
-Has hyperfixations (mainly books and languages).
-Difficulty understanding social contexts without background.
-Has anxiety attacks among other known disorders.
-When he is in my form as an active personality, my mom has described him talking in a calm monotone voice with barely any emotion which is far different than how I talk.

 

[Trophonius]

Keiko Furukura, from the book Convenience Store Woman, I believe is somewhere high on the spectrum.

 

[gaffaglow]

You might like this Wikipedia list of characters with autism:

List of autistic fictional characters

Also, here's someone's comment on why they think Lisa Simpson is on the spectrum (from Did you know that Lisa Simpson has Asperger's?):

• Huge vocabulary for her age (very common HFA trait)

• Highly logical (see above)

• Kids with Asperger's are often referred to as "little professors" (sound familiar?)

• Has difficulty blending in with neurotypicals and is by herself a lot, never has friends over (aspies tend to be loners)

• Prodigious talent with the saxophone (some aspies are amazing mathematicians and programmers and tend to be very good in certain fields, like Lisa with her sax)

• Already reading "skeptic" books/magazines at the age of 8 (aspies tend to be drawn to skepticism/atheism/"neckbeard" topics in general)

• Stands out as not being "normal" or "like the other kids" (Homer even said, "there's something wrong with that kid... she's so moral.")

I relate so much with Lisa and with this list.

 

[Aspergers_Aspie]

I read that "Neckbeard" is a pejorative term, does this tie-in with jealousy?
I don't think anyone, autistic or not has 'anything wrong with them'.

lolcatal - I know you are not saying this and I find your post informative and friendly.

 

[gaffaglow]

Thank you.
The comments on the thread in that forum also seemed to find that term pejorative. I think jealousy may be the reason too.

 

[gaffaglow]

Yes, Wikipedia confirms it is a pejorative term.
Neckbeard (slang)

"Neckbeard" is a pejorative term and stereotype for men who exhibit characteristics such as social awkwardness, underachievement or pretentiousness.[1] The term is associated with the currently (2010–present) unfashionable facial hair style known as a neck beard, and by extension, to a stereotype of overweight, unkempt internet users.[2][3] The "neckbeard" stereotype is also associated with comic books, Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, Otaku subculture, movies, animated TV series, and video gaming.

 

[Joshua the Writer]

I read that "Neckbeard" is a pejorative term, does this tie-in with jealousy?
I don't think anyone, autistic or not has 'anything wrong with them'.

lolcatal - I know you are not saying this and I find your post informative and friendly.

I often use neckbeard as a term for a mysogynistic man who has bad hygiene (hence neckbeard) and is overweight and generally unattractive both in appearance and personality. The term "nice guy(s)" also applies.

 

[Bana_Boona]

What characters in books, movies, comics, etc. would you suspect of being autistic, even though they aren't directly identified as such?

Mine are:

A) Sherlock Holmes. Even in Doyle's original stories, he's identified as being impatient with others, obsessed with certain topics. He will resort to destructive actions rather than be bored.

B) Christopher, from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon. He is not social, obsessed with certain topics, always has to know what time it is so he doesn't get "lost in time." Can't let go of a question, even though adults tell him to drop it.

C) Steris from Brandon Sanderson's Wax and Wayne books. Tells her fiance a joke about how she obsessively plans everything, then reveals that she planned that joke.

Disclaimers:
1) I know that the writers of the characters probably didn't intend these characters to be autistic. Autism wasn't even known in Doyle's time. I'm not asking what the authors meant. I'm asking what you read into them.

2) I'm sure my own biases will lead me to identify more characters as autistic than NTs will. I can live with that.

3) I'm not a doctor of autismy-ness. This discussion isn't for a formal diagnosis. It's just for fun.

[Edit: I removed my comment about Haddon stating that his character, Christopher, wasn't autistic. I misread his statement, as @catdog55616 pointed out.]

Newt Scamander from Fantastic Beasts, Shigeo Kageyama from Mob Psycho 100, and Brick Heck from The Middle

 

[Nervous Rex]

Newt Scamander from Fantastic Beasts, Shigeo Kageyama from Mob Psycho 100, and Brick Heck from The Middle

Most definitely Newt! I don’t know anything about the other two.

 

[Bana_Boona]

Most definitely Newt! I don’t know anything about the other two.

I recommend checking them out! Brick is a good example of an undiagnosed aspie, and Shigeo shows many metaphorical autistic meltdowns (using 0-100% as a visual indicator of his stress levels) in the form of psychic powers.. it's really interesting! Many fans of MP100 believe Shigeo is on the spectrum.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

B) Christopher, from The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon. He is not social, obsessed with certain topics, always has to know what time it is so he doesn't get "lost in time." Can't let go of a question, even though adults tell him to drop it.

Have you also seen the stage adaptation? The staging was like you imagine a gridwork dileneated space to be like, and it was used to reflect Christopher's inner dialogue. It was extremely powerful and moving.

 

[Gerald Wilgus]

In comics, my vote goes to Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes.

 

[AGXStarseed]

Have you also seen the stage adaptation? The staging was like you imagine a gridwork dileneated space to be like, and it was used to reflect Christopher's inner dialogue. It was extremely powerful and moving.

Yeah, I remember going to the theatre to watch that when it came out over here - although the showing I went to had something of an outtake:

Spoiler: Outtake

Near the end after Christopher's Dad brings him the puppy as a gift to try and win some trust back from him, the actor playing Christopher tried to put the puppy back into the box - only for the puppy to bite onto one of the strings on his hoodie and not let go. It took about three attempts (during which me and some of the audience were chuckling a bit) to put the puppy back in the box.

(Also, slightly off-topic but I like your profile picture of the Trilobite).

 

[Katsuragi]

Lisbeth Salander from the millennium series

 

[Qoyote]

Yugi from Yu-Gi-Oh.

I've only read the early part of the manga (which didn't get adapted to the show), never seen the show. When I read it, I felt like I wasn't maturing as fast in some ways as the other high schoolers, and I'd never identified that way with a main character like Yugi. He's smart, but people confuse him for an elementary kid a lot cause he looks really young, and he has some of the same interests (there's even a part where the little kids think he's really cool cause he's so good at their new favorite game, then they find out he's actually in high school and they make fun of him!). There's a scene where his mom comes in and he's staring at all his socks spread out on the floor, and he says he was playing a new game until she broke his concentration. But his other half is Yami, who gets the girl, almost never loses confidence and always knows what to say. Eventually Yugi gets some of that too.

Jotaro Kujo from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a weird case. I don't think he's autistic, I think other stuff in his life explains his quirks. But JoJo has a really memey fanbase where almost every character is twisted way out of whack with their real selves, and the fan idea of Jotaro is autistic. Canon Jotaro's a marine biologist and never brings it up except wearing a dolphin pin on his hat. Fan Jotaro's absolutely obsessed with dolphins/marine life, and depending on the fan he'll just say weird things in common situations ("What's your favorite color?" "Transparent." on a date) and he won't even notice.

Agree on Brick Heck. Always felt so bad for him even when I was his age.