Misanthropic Outsider Fictional Characters

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I've always had a great fondness for Oscar Levant. In school I tried to imitate his acid sarcasm, and you wouldn't believe the trouble it caused me...

I spent a good chunk of the weekend and yesterday thinking about this topic.

I am not a comic book reader. Just never appealed to me. However, there are a lot of movies that I have enjoyed that I feel would fit this topic.

1) The Terminator. I remember watching the first time and was more interested in the Terminator character than anything else. His (its) methodical movements, always cool, the expressionless face, direct... qualities that a machine would exhibit... but I found it so natural to me. To this day, I still quote his lines at times and move like him. It just feels natural. Heck, even when I wear sunglass, people have started talking like the Terminator to me. I don't look like Schwarzenegger, so it must have something to do with the blank look on my face with the sunglasses. (I love the sound track to this film).

2) Blade Runner. The way Sean Young character acts... I had sympathy for her. Just something about her subdued reactions I found gentle... she so did not fit in with her surroundings in that film. Rutger Hauers character I had pity on. I wanted him to live... to grow... to discover. His character was driven, not so much to live, but to find answers... to understand... to be human.

3) Snake Plissken... Escape From New York. He is one cool bad guy. The scene where he is in the glider and something happens that catches him of guard and he goes, "Been awhile." I love that scene. He shows compassion for some of those that have fallen, but in the end, he is anti-social and out for himself.

4) The Fisher King. Wonderful movie. One of my favorites. Robin Williams character is suffering from severe trauma and is a homeless man, and therefore rejected by society. He is still with honor and on a quest. The way they display his tormented soul in that film is real me to me.

5) Conan the Barbarian. Brutal... savage... cruel... sinister... and of course barbaric... but honest about the shadows that we dance with in our souls. Again Schwarzenegger displays a character that is powerful and independent. When he tries to accept a kinder, easier life.... no he is only lead back to the bloody sword.

There are two scenes that stick out to me in this film:

Mongol General: Hao! Dai ye! We won again! This is good, but what is best in life?
Mongol: The open steppe, fleet horse, falcons at your wrist, and the wind in your hair.
Mongol General: Wrong! Conan! What is best in life?
Conan: To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of the women.
Mongol General: That is good! That is good.

and...

Conan: Crom, I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad. Why we fought, or why we died. All that matters is that two stood against many. That's what's important! Valor pleases you, Crom... so grant me one request. Grant me revenge! And if you do not listen, then to H*LL with you!

The music was awesome in this film as well and I listen to it often.

Finally, I can't forget Darth Vader. When I saw episode 3, I felt sorry for him. I told a friend after the movie that he was betrayed and used as a pawn by the emperor. He was forced into his situation and had to accept it.

Ive always loved Raistlin Majere from the Dragonlance series. He was always an outsider, brilliant if a bit selfish at times. People picked on him and always called him unsensitive and god knows what. But he really wasnt. I just love him.

Ender Wiggin would fall under reconciler, I suppose.


Erik the Phantom is a much more relatable character in the novel than in the andrew lloyd webber adaptation. In the novel, I think he really does love Christine- he's just very child-like, and therefore gets hurt and selfish. But Christine and Roaul are portrayed as much more immature in the novel than in the musical as well, and Christine seems to invite more of Erik's eventual antagonism.

How about Voldemort? I really think he may be an Aspie because he was obsessive about stuff and he was an outsider while at Hogwarts and even after he left the school. He really did not know how to socialize with people, even his Death Eaters (in later years). My point is, I gravitated towards him for awhile because he seemed to have the same issues I do.

I don't know about misanthropes, but I tend to get really attached to the villains in the anime I enjoy. My favorites right now are The Major from Hellsing, The Earl from D. Gray-Man and Cain from Trinity Blood. They all have the same goal: worldwide destruction. I'm not sure if I even really identify with them since I'm the poster child for "good girl" and they're evil. Maybe I just think they're cool characters. *shrugs*

OHHHHH...... Raistlin! Yes, yes, yes! Very good choice there.

And while on the topic of Dragonlance, who can forget Lord Soth? Cold... filed with hate... surrounded by the undead. Very well done in my opinion. I read the Ravenloft novel with him being "pulled" to their. Loved that as well!

I'd like to throw in the character whose perspective The Unforgiven and Unforgiven II is sung from. There's a lot to relate to for an aspie in those lyrics and they tend to sum up a lot of the misanthrope's perspective as I see it.

-Frank

Any robot character. When I was a lad, my favorite comics had robots in them. Another one was Ben Grimm of the Fantastic Four. Of course, that may have been because he resembled Quasimodo ...

So, does Bender count for the purposes of robot characters? He certainly counts for purposes of misanthropes.

-Frank

what about:

coop from megas XLR(mostly goes on missions for selfish reasons, but saves peopple unintentionally in the end, he does not care about good or evil)

reconciler: han solo (in the fourth movie he did not care for anybody except chewbacca, but changes eventually, he is still not like most of his fellow rebels in the rest of the movies, he is more of a space cowboy)

(reconciler)spider man(he is considered anti hero, he is a vigilante and has screwed up at many times)

(not sure)the guy from clockwork orange(one of the first anti heroes )

misanthrope, jack sparrow(does not value human life..much)

Ahh i love Lord Soth as well

Thought of this the other day. A friend showed me this a few years ago, and for a fan film, I felt it was really good.

To those that have never seen this and like it, great!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjp0I_okX0w[/youtube]

Well, certainly a unique take on Batman there. The only thing missing was Superman showing up, insofar as what the comics have given us with superheroes fighting aliens and predators.

The whole wizarding community in Harry Potter deals with the core issue of this thread every day. I just thought of this. Basically, all of them are misanthropic to an extent, in the sense that they operate outside of and largely free of muggle society. It would be like setting up a parallel aspie world right in this one that we could slip in and out of. In that kind of setup, anyone willing to live that way but still curious and respectful of humans is a reconciler, whereas those who view muggles as Voldmort does would be misanthropes.

I think if a world designed by and for NTs was not the only option, things would look much the same for aspies.

-Frank

I find the character Francis Wolcott in Deadwood my favorite misanthrope. One of the most complex character I've seen on tv. The guy holds little to no value for human life. He's an educated and brilliant speaker that struggles everyday with his disorder. He sees the wrong in his actions (murders prostitutes) but yet he cannot feel empathy towards his victims. One of my favorite scenes in the series that shows how much depth his character has is in the episode "childish things" from season 2 when the no.10 bar proprietor rides his bicycle across the thoroughfare amongst a crowd. There in the crowd you see Wolcott observing the scene in an almost child-like state. Shortly after a man approaches him in the crowd and they discuss about a murder. f*****g great show, great cast, fantastic characters.

MTV's Daria. She was a very smart, slightly misanthropic, sarcastic, loner girl in a town full of idiots. She seemed to have Schizoid Personality Disorder; I cant think of a better example of SPD than Daria.