I must appear horribly standoffish

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I didn't think I did, but now I learnt I do. This is why:-

There's a ''village idiot'' in our town, a single man who lives on his own, and nearly every local person that my relatives know, all know of this man, knows his name and knows where he lives, and they all laugh about him, as in taking the mickey. They've even got a funny nickname for him what he doesn't even know about. He acts like a loner, sculks about with his hands in his pockets, doesn't work (don't know what money he lives on), dresses oddly, does strange things like stand on a corner of the street for hours pointing at traffic like he thinks he's some sort of traffic wardon which he isn't, and follows women about, and comes across as very creepy and weird (as what everyone says). He is just a weird person, you can even see just by looking at him that he's ''not all the ticket'', and he's the type that draws negative attention and does things what even I would never do. People gossip about him all the time, in a mickey-taking way.

But he still seems to talk to more people than I do. People don't avoid him, even though he comes across as weird and creepy, and I thought ''weird'' people lost social respect. If he's weirder than me, then how come he gets more people chatting to him than I do? Even if I did try to start a friendly conversation with people in places like bus stops or shop queues, there'd be something I'm not doing right and it'd just creep them out and make them back away from me. I must just appear more standoffish than noticeably weird people. Very hurtful.

Aw - I'm sorry to hear that you feel that way - although chances are that they talk to him because he makes eye contact... people can't help but talk to people who make eye contact with them... I mean, I can't make eye contact to save my life unless I am either forced or am pretending (hello masking!) and even then it is usually looking at their forehead, ear or past them into empty space. How are you on the eye contact front?

As for weird people being shunned - I thought so too, but apparently not

Well I am all right with eye contact with people who I know, or who I will get to know, or people like cashiers, bus-drivers, et cetera. But with random strangers I do find it hard to make eye contact because of the fear of them staring back and judging me. Or I don't like looking at them either because they might think I'm judging them and I don't like making others feel self-conscious, although a lot (not all) NTs like being looked at and aren't all paranoid and self-conscious.

But I have smiled at people passing me before, making ''light'' eye contact (not staring hard), but I just got unfriendly glares back, not just from one grumpy person, but from a few. Then I passed a couple who were walking in single file because the path wasn't big enough, and I smiled at both of them but they took turns in giving me such awful glares that it made me feel a bit intimidated, so I've now lost all hope in even trying to make friendly gestures to strangers. God knows how this strange bloke makes people talk to him, when all most people do is laugh at him.

Perhaps saraip is right about eye contact. Have you ever asked someone to 'evaluate' how you come across?
I only say this because I have practiced eye contact and conversation. I have improved quite a bit in my ability to converse with strangers. (Perhaps people chat with this nutter just to hear him say something odd.)

Well my counsellor has said that I do look shy (nice to be honest so that I know what to work on), but I can't do much to work on that because I already stand up straight, keep my arms by my sides, and I never bite my nails or do other things that make me seem nervous. Maybe my hair gives off a bad impression, being so it's long and straight and just hangs, with the front tucked behind my ears in that ''stark'' way. Maybe that makes me look unapproachable, I don't know. Maybe if I changed my hairstyle I might appear more confident. I do believe that it is sometimes hairstyles that show your personality.

Again, hairstyles don't always work on men, this man is going bald and has thin dark-ish hair at the back, but I don't think hairstyles of a man define his personality like it can with women. His body language strongly gives off weird impressions of him though.

Sometimes it can be down to age too. I'm assuming that this bloke you're talking about is a lot older than you and probably a lot of local people might have grown up with him and just know him from then. I am young myself and strangers dont really come up to me and chat, even people who know my mum just say hello and walk by, unless I know them extremely well they might have a chat. And other young people dont talk to me if I don't know them. Maybe when you're older, more middle age, you might find yourself talking to more people.

Trust me on this, a woman's hairstyle makes a LOT of difference to men. Yours sounds nice enough. (Of course a pic would be helpful.)
Difficult to say why people don't want to chat with you. You certainly don't sound like you look ASpie.