Character who could be on the spectrum

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I'm thinking about characters who were created without ASD in mind but who exhibit signs of ASD and might have been inspired in some part by people with ASD. Please note that I'm talking about characters whose creators never explicitly stated are autistic. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Brown from Back to the Future come to mind.

I'm thinking of Peter Parker/Spider-Man, but specifically during the Stan Lee/Steve Ditko era. Peter exhibited social awkwardness and social anxiety, some level of a lack of self-awareness, self-absorption and a fixation on science to the detriment of his social life, and lacked age-appropriate friendships and relationships. At first his only relationships seem to be with his aunt and uncle. He is never shown having any friends at school, and he is completely oblivious to a girl with crush on him who tries to talk to him several times. When he does form a friendship and romance with someone it a slightly older secretary he meets through work. Even as Spider-Man he makes some odd goofs, like busting crooks before they actually commit a crime so there's nothing for the police to charge them with or interrupting a movie shoot when he mistakes it for an actually crime taking place.

Though I never met him, based of what I've heard of Steve Ditko I suspect he may have been on the spectrum. He was often described as being a recluse who didn't get along well with his co-workers. Legend has it that he just walked in the Marvel office one day, turned in the art for the latest Spider-Man issue, and left a message for Stan saying that he quit. He was known for having a fixation with Ayn Rand that bordered on obsession and influenced much of his work, like the creations of the Question and Mr. A; both of whom collectively inspired the character of Rorschach from the Watchmen. It is well known that the character of the Thing from Fantastic Four was based on the personality and life of artist/co-creator Jack Kirby. Is it possible that Peter's character was similarly based on Ditko?

Also interesting to note, all the more autistic traits of Peter's character completely disappeared after Ditko departed the book and was replaced by John Romita. Peter soon became better dressed and more socially active, formed many new friendships, and even had two attractive and highly-perused young ladies competing for his attention. Coincidence, perhaps? What do you think?

Please include characters who you think might have autism.

Last edited by dorkseid on 20 Mar 2021, 6:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Sheldon Cooper seems to me to be a caricature of someone with Asperger’s.

I'm not sure if he's intended as a caricature or if neurotypical creators weren't sure how to actualize a realistic autistic person. Jim Parsons is gay, but not neurodivergent. I think he understands the experience of being different, but not autistic.

I know people like him....but Sheldon exhibits many of the negative stereotypes of people with Asperger’s....but only a few of the positive stereotypes.

That's the media. Hopefully it will improve.

Bones from the show Bones. My mom said from the first time she watched it her character reminded her of me. I remember my reaction being confused and I asked my mom "I dont really act like that do I?" She stared at me for a while and then replied "so you're not aware of it". My mom said when I talked about my studies(microbiology) especially I was like her.

Didn't know I was on the spectrum at the time, this was while I was in college. But thinking back, she seems like she is.

My favorite probably Autism Spectrum character: Newt Scamander.

People say Lisbeth Salander from The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Amelie from the French movie. Lisbeth was traumatised from sexual abuse and to me that explains the way she behaves better than ASD would - some things about the way she is played, lack of eye contact etc, might suggest it I suppose.

Also I thought the way Mark Zuckerberg was played in The Social Network strongly suggested ASD, although I'm not sure whether he has it. His character in the movie would have fit the stereotype - the IT genius who's a nerd and and has no idea how to relate to people. Are these kind of archetypes a good or bad thing? Hard to tell.