When asked about my favorite anime stereotype last week, I couldn't just go with the flow. This had to come from the heart. True, there are some tropes I have a certain fascination with. The Yamato Nadeshiko, or traditionalist Japanese woman, for example, there to serve the masses while secretly dreaming of a greater cause. The Hikikomori, best associated with my ninth favorite anime of all time, Welcome to the NHK (sandwiched between Monster and Puella Magi Madoka Magica), in which the social reclusive meets otaku-life. The Elegant Gothic Lolita, beautiful in sight and refined in manner, with a touch of Euro-class. The Kawaiiko...
...yeah, no. By the way, congrats if you managed to stomach that.
However, from the get go, I knew there was but one anime stereotype I had to talk about. Nay, celebrate it. Despite the fact it has appeared in all forms of media, there's a certain charm to the anime version. They take no prisoners, expect no payment, and have a ridiculous grin on their face all the live long day. Nothing can touch them, for they are the demigods of the scene, stealing the show at just the right time. They terrify us, entertain us, anger us, and make us jump and down with glee as to how mofo they become in the end. Without further ado, I present:
Ode To The Psychopath: How Anime and Animation Handle the Crazies
Before I continue, I must make very clear I do not intend to belittle the severity of real life mental disorders and issues. They are real issues people suffer with daily, and in no way do I support taking actual pain and making it funny or benefiting from it.
I wish there were more psychopaths in anime. Granted, that doesn't mean you can shove a character who is certifiable and not justify it. What I mean is anime seems to relish in the fact they do psychopaths right.
Unfortunately, this fact for some odd reason doesn't carry over to other forms of media. Live television rarely wants to touch the subject, and when they do, it's often in a generic medical drama or crime drama. While I'm a sucker for a good episode of Criminal Minds, the shock value is lost when what should a genuinely creepy character becomes a schlocky Monster of the Week who holds people hostage, often with sexually deviant causation, because they weren't hugged enough as a child.
Film comes close to the ideal psychopath, but that fact is overshadowed when you begin to realize film doesn't pull repeats. It may be five or six years in between before a truly brilliant yet twisted and deranged killer comes along and shocks us again. Think about it.
While some, including one of the patron saints of modern day analysis, The Nostalgia Critic, laud over the semantics of Anton from No Country for Old Men, the common populace has let him fade into the annals of cinema. Rather, they cling to Heath Ledger's The Joker from The Dark Knight, which arrived a year later. Not to diminish the brilliance and tragedy that was Mr. Ledger, but why is he given the all the credit? Should not Anton and The Joker stand hand in hand, brining chaos to those around them in all its many facets? (That would make such a good movie, by the way)
Since then, Hollywood fails to produce a star or role worthy of challenging this title. Even Tom Hardy's Bane from The Dark Knight Rises disappointed from my perspective because he technically wasn't a psychopath.
This leads me to defining a psychopath in popular media. For this example, I will use Mr. Ledger's The Joker. Note that a good fictional psychopath does not have to have all these requirements, just a large majority:
- Emotional disinterest, which is prominently displayed through a lack of fear, empathy, control over actions, genuine care, responsibility, sociality, and remorse
This is a classic definition of a psychopath, real or not. The Joker fits this description in the way he carries himself throughout the film. Consistently trying to justify himself, he treats the act of murder as a game, willing to sacrifice a life to achieve nirvana, not caring at all for the life he has just snuffed out. His communications with the outside are limited to committing a crime in broad daylight and announcing a crime, leading to classic anti-social behavior controlled by illegal activity. He never sheds a tear throughout the whole film, always focusing on what's around the bend or in his face. Bodies may fly but he'll laugh it off like a common occurrence where a normal person would run in fear due to automatic response. When confronted with these atrocities by other and being demanded an explanation, he laughs and asks why they haven't accepted it yet, seeing how millions die every day, and it was just their time.
- A genuine manifesto, driven towards chaos, sadism, purification, bliss, or other higher calling
Psychopaths in real life often have little time to think of philosophical musings, as they are devoting their energy to healing or descent into madness. Fictional psychopaths work in different ways. Whatever they decide is a just cause will become their only want. All actions taken from the justification origin point will be driven towards the finale of ultimate purpose. The Joker's manifesto is that all humans have a disposition to lean towards the chaotic alignment, and he wishes to show that justice is flawed in that it doesn't save everyone. In his mind, he is the next stage of evolution, humans without morals or restraints.
- A want or need to commit illegal acts
Because psychopathy manifests itself in various ways in real life, not every insane person is deviant or criminal. This is not the case in the fictional realm, as many psychopaths are portrayed committing some act that would be frowned upon by authorities of the judicial system in order to develop or build their character. If you know who The Joker even is, I probably don't have to explain why he fits this case
- An interesting backstory that explains the insanity or events that transpired to allow this insanity, often times allowed to be sorrow filled to develop sympathy for the character
This is perhaps the biggest difference between real life, animation, and anime. In real life, the many schools of psychology give different reasons for mental problems, past or not. The general consensus is that terrible events do cause insanity. Western Animation prefers to give all psychopaths their due process and gives them a believable backstory that led them to this point. This is done to show the humanity behind the mask, or create an amount of sympathy for a converted villain. Anime, at it's best, chooses to leave their villains mysteriously blank. However, this could only be shown at the beginning. Most shows based around these minds will choose to develop them over time. The Joker does this portion brilliantly. Obviously, his life was traumatic as he explains. He either had an abusive father or a tragic love story. However, what if he's trying to justify his actions? It's never confirmed that anything he says is true. He could just be a sad sack who's mind tricked him into believing a false reality.
- A genuine reaction from the audience from actions, mostly on the level of support
Finally, a good fictional psychopath is able to convince the audience that the deviant way is ultimately better. This is done through presentation in which the suspension of disbelief is held. If the audience can believe what is happening on screen could in fact happen and is either completely logical or completely illogical, the psychopath has won and becomes a good character. The Joker worked because some people afterwards legitimately believed that his way was believable. Batman couldn't stop him, the police couldn't stop him, the general population couldn't stop him. He won every time. Even when he was hanging from a precipice by his foot, he planned for everything and escaped with his life. When someone is victorious in their goals, people listen to them because of the authority they now display, won by defeating the old order.
These reasons and more are why psychopaths in fiction are so great. Legendary director Hayao Miyazaki once said, "In order to grow your audience, you must betray their expectations." and what are fictional psychopaths but the embodiment of this quote? You may say you can predict their movements, their limits, their ultimate end. The fact is, you can't. No one truly knows how a psychopath will react because their psyche will be able to change on a dime. That is ultimately their greatest strength as characters.
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Now that we have established what the psychopath is, here are some of my favorite anime psychopaths, in no particular order.
Haruko Haruhara from FLCL
Haruko Haruhara is a intergalactic rebel chick wielding a Rickenbacker bass and a Vespa as weapons, looking for an unknown rogue, wanted for several dozen crimes all over the galaxy. When she finds poor Naota Nandaba as her test subject, she gives him one too many whacks on the head to open the gate which will free him, only to free a service robot instead. She decides Earth will be her motherland for the time being and sets up residence in Naota's home.
Besides being one of my favorite anime of all time, Haruko is one of my favorite characters because of her absolute insanity. Then again, she was created by GAINAX, so I wonder who really are the crazy ones.
Her attitude is poor at best. She refuses to give aid to those needing of it unless it benefits her. She flirts with multiple men with carnal pleasure on the brain. She seduces Naota who, by the way, is only twelve. Finally, she out and out attacks anyone she wants, be it a squad of gun-toting suits from the government or the incarnation of a Pirate King.
Still, Haruko's ideals and motivations are genuine. She teaches Naota not to be a wimp and stand up to people that want to impede his progress. Most importantly, himself, as he continues to live in the past, trying to live up to his older brother, while thinking acting like an adult means being a jerk to everyone.
Why she works comes down to another factor. The show itself. She's not the only nut job and all their interactions drive the frantic plot, as the deadpan snarker Naota eventually gives into the madness. Gleeful fun that I highly recommend.
Ladd Russo from Baccano!
This guy. This guy right here. He's the kind of guy you want to be best friends with and yet at any given time, you'll be tearing down the street, wishing for your mother's soft embrace. Either way you look at him, you can't deny his magnitude.
Ladd Russo is a passionate sadist with no need for a overly complicated backstory. Just throw him in a room of people and you'll get cheap, just-barely-not-a-snuff film entertainment. As he is cast in the Flying Pussyfoot arc of the show, his main motivation is kill as many people as possible just because. He falls in love with a masochist, surrounds himself with like minded individuals and proceeds to terrorize the trans-contienental express, along with the five other parties that decided tonight was the night.
I can't even begin to describe just how awesome he is. The reality is you yourself must make a conscious effort to watch this show. It is the only anime I recommended to my friend (who prefers arc shows like the Big 3) in which he decided to rewatch it which to him is ridiculous. Unless it's a particularly good episode of some long runner, he hasn't decided to rewatch any other anime in existence except Baccano!. This attests to the quality of the show and the quality of the characters. If only one of these main characters was cut, we wouldn't have one of the best shows of all time.
In a series chock full of immortal beings, superpowered brickhouses, tacticians, assassins, and mafia dons, it speaks volumes that he's the one that you want to meet the least in real life. This being that he is your average human, just add hysteria. While some psychopaths kill to find an identity, Ladd has found his and he likes it...a lot.
Tamaki Tsunenaga from Deadman Wonderland
Let me start by saying Tamaki is not what you would call a popular character. I could not find a video of him on YouTube. So, take it from my experience with Deadman Wonderland that Tamaki Tsunenaga has what I would think is one of the most punchable faces in all of anime. This is the type of psychopath that is neither fun or entertaining in the slightest. He just rubs me the wrong way with every vein in my body. In fact, that's what makes him a good character.
Too long have we seen characters that look good while doing bad. Sometimes, we just need a character to hate. Tamaki not only fits this profile, but does it with little to no effort. All while being completely mortal, having no powers, and simply exuding as much influence as possible. If I had to give him a nickname, it would be anti-Ladd. Ladd so enjoys what he does and we get caught up in it. Tamaki has too much fun being a complete monster, slowly carving at the sanity of those he possesses.
As the tyrannical despot of the largest prison structure in Tokyo proper, Tamaki looks for volatile subjects, who contain a power to control their blood flow and force it into a weaponized solid outside the body. When he locates one, he frames them for a brutal crime they did not commit by representing them at trial and imprisons them in Deadman Wonderland, said prison. Against the guise of an actual facility, these "Deadmen" are subject to cagefights, experiments, police brutality, and the looming threat of ever present death.
While it is a major spoiler, this time around, our psychopath does have a backstory, and you know what? If it was revealed he had children, I would punch them too, no matter the age, simply because they are his offspring. This man deserved a sinner's death long ago, but fate smiled on him, and granted him still more time on this earth. His case is a classic psychopath, based on traumatic events and environmental conditioning. Yet, it's the fact he has the most fun in a series with a majorly uncomfortable atmosphere that makes the viewer ask why karma hasn't brought it's sword down on this guy. Where the last two examples had a carefree attitude about themselves within carefree series, Deadman Wonderland never loses the tone of seriousness, which leaves Tamaki the sore thumb sticking out.
Which is why his fate is one I ultimately wish was rewritten. I don't do this to many anime characters, but his final scene in the anime is one to make sure that not only the characters remember him, but the audience remembers him. That just creeps me out in a way the show hadn't done prior. He is completely in control the entire time, even with chaos raining all around him. No one can touch him, no one can stop him. He is, with no doubt in my mind, the anime character I have hated most. There's something to be said for that.
Light Yagami from Death Note
I kicked this essay off with perhaps one of the most famous laughs in anime. That was at the height of psychosis for one Light Yagami, the main character of Death Note. Or was it? When did Light begin a mental downward spiral? According to the criteria I've place for psychopaths, right from the beginning.
According to philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, the root of all evil within this world can be traced back not to a selfish need or mortal sin, but the consequence of boredom and idleness. Light Yagami from the start is not pure evil and has no personal sin to atone for. He is a genius who just so happened upon the most powerful weapon in the universe. The Death Note has the ability to kill anyone Light Yagami knows the name and face, and in the information age, no criminal is safe. This is where Death Note sprung its first trap on unsuspecting viewers. Depending on how they reacted within the first two episodes would decide how they would view the struggles of Light. Some say he was through and through evil, others say he was influenced by the Death Note, making him an anti-hero.
One cannot argue Light's initial views on justice are righteous. His father is a police chief, his law studies are impeccable, and at first he rejects the Death Note. However, mix a white knight with nothing to do and the cutthroat nature of malice and you have a recipe for disaster. In fact, I would go so far as to say Death Note is one of the few honest looks we have into the mind of a "lone wolf killer". With new found glory, he justifies becoming the judge, jury, and executioner of a new world, in which no one can stop him. His megalomania reaches fever pitch when he proclaims himself a god. This is within the first episode.
From then on, he commits to ultimate purification, in which no one will stop him at all. Policemen investigating the crimes, FBI agents working through the Japanese Task Force, close friends, lovers, and relatives are all to him the same. All capable of committing acts of sin and all caught in the crossfire. One slip and you are dead.
Fast and efficient, Light can multitask murders with ease, learning at lightspeed (get it?) the capabilities of his weapon from the shinigami it was entrusted to and using it to its greatest abilities. Compared to the ratty detective L, his justice-trumping foil, he is better in nearly every respect. You always root for the good looker, the dashing prince, even if he has flaws. That is the scariest element Light possesses. Charisma personified. Not only did Light convince his world, he convinced the real world, forcing many fans of the show to side with him, the villain. Towards the end of Death Note, we start to see the master fall and his sanity unwind, truly showing he was after all a psychopath. Though, I think we'd all like to forget the second half of Death Note ever happened. Good luck trying to find a character who could top this charmer. He will forever be solidified in anime history as the devil who took thousands of lives while the world watched and cheered.
Tatsuhiro Satō from Welcome to the N.H.K.
Oh, Satō, Satō, Satō. How could I not include you? Out of all the people on this list, you are the only psychopath who could actually occur in real life, as there is no other worldly element to your predicament. In fact, your specific disorder, hikikomori, was stated earlier as one of my favorite tropes. Day in and day out, thousands of Japanese men and women suffer through your same flaws. You became the face of one of the fastest growing mental disorders of this millennium. So why am I talking to you directly? I really don't know myself. Perhaps it's to dictate your life to the nice people reading. It's almost as if I know you. Like I control you. You might say...it's a conspiracy.
Tatsuhiro Satō is a university dropout, following a mental breakdown which left him incapable of social interaction. At the start of the series, he is entering his fourth year of unemployment and currently is cut off from all human contact. His mental deterioration was brought upon by the thought that he was being watched and mocked by a grand conspiracy of Japan's infrastructure, represented by it's head, the broadcasting service Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai or NHK. His mind has been warped to believe the NHK actually means Nippon Hikikomori Kyōkai, which stands to keep hikikomori from society by means of a small army of secret agents.
His life is suddenly intruded by young high school student Misaki Nakahara as she, through an act of charity, will aid in rehabilitating him to a functioning citizen. Satō begins sessions built around identifying his problems through the schools of Freud and Jung, but find they don't help. When he comes across old friends such as the otaku best friend Kaoru Yamazaki and his old sensei Hitomi Kashiwa, they begin to reach out. He tries desperately to return to a life he once thought not possibly. Of course, this being a psychological comedy, the Schadenfreude arrives in full fashion, making us the audience laugh at his every fall. Can he be rehabilitated or is he really that much a loser? Is he really the only psychopath in this tale? Is the conspiracy real?
I would say this is one of the most honest looks at psychological problems anime has ever created. Satō is the everyday fool who couldn't deal what the world gave him, thanks to a traumatic event. Antisocial personality disorder is a legitimate diagnosis, defined by the American Psychiatric Association as "...a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood or early adolescence and continues into adulthood". He leeches off his parents, steals from his neighbors, and initially takes rehabilitation as a joke. We root for him to succeed and yet the light at the end of the tunnel seems further and further with each passing episode. When he does get a taste of the real life, a problem arises and he slinks right back into his old ways.
It also helps that Satō is voiced by Chris Patton in the dub, a FUNimation regular who absolutely adores playing psychopaths or other messed up people. Included in his resumé are Graham Specter from Baccano!, Creed Diskenth from Black Cat, Greed from Full Metal Alchemist, Fakir from Princess Tutu, Ayato Kamina from RahXephon, and Asura from Soul Eater. The guy almost played Rintaro Okabe from Steins;Gate, for goodness sake. So it does my heart good to say Satō is his defining role.
This show would not be complete without the ensemble cast all messed up in their own little ways; some even worse off than Satō. These interactions are genuinely interesting and while my belief is that they all should have sought professional attention at one point, they make up a genuine screwed up stew of intrigue and drama. This all comes to a head when the show puts on a serious face and sits us down like adults to tell us about these real problems. Lest I begin to spoil any of the crazy antics he gets into, I should stop here. However, if you want a genuine look at how genuine people cope with genuine craziness in an unorthodox way, look no further than Tatsuhiro Satō.
Major Shou Tucker from Full Metal Alchemist
The fact that some of you who read this probably haven't watched Full Metal Alchemist yet ultimately will deny me having to show one of Shou Tucker's scenes, as this man is a walking, talking spoiler. No matter where he goes, no matter what he does, whenever you see him you know something big is about to happen. So, to those who haven't seen Full Metal Alchemist, I say stop dragging your feet and watch it.
There is a very good reason why I think it is the second best anime of all time. Its characters were genuine. Like a Russian novel, FMA had to juggle so many brilliant people, all varied in their own right. There were the Elrics, the Rockbells, the Military Personnel, Homunculi, Chimera, Ishvalans, and other minor characters. The sequel series Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood had even more characters to focus on. Despite all the crazies this series threw at the audience, none reached the level that Shou Tucker did at genuinely forming a balance of sympathy and hatred.
In the original anime, Tucker is know as the Sewing-Life Alchemist, a state employee who specialized in creating chimera, or a cross between two existing species. His greatest accomplishment in his career was producing one capable of human speech, earning him a State License. He is first introduced to the Elric brothers through a recommendation by Colonel Roy Mustang, who immediately forge a friendship with him based around their studies. We find he has fallen on hard times, as his wife left him two years ago and left him raising a daughter, Nina. Just when the anime has convinced he might not be a piece of human trash, they really pull the first whammy of plot twists of the series, exposing the horrid secrets of Shou Tucker. He is promptly arrested for his crimes by the military and that's the last we ever hear of him.
If only. The original anime gives him an amazing amount of depth, as he returns several times after, growing more and more insane by the passing day. Every time he went offscreen, I wanted him gone, out of my mind. When he returned it just reminded why his story was not complete. This ultimately came down an amazing dub portrayal by Mr. Chuck Huber, who voiced other fellows of lesser sanity such as Dr. Stein (Soul Eater) and Kululu (Sgt. Frog). He really sounded on the edge of complete collapse in later episodes and really added to the character.
In the original manga and Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Tucker was a less likable person because he wasn't allowed to mature as a character, getting the shaft far too early. This left fans, actors, and even Hiromu Arakawa, the mangaka herself, hating him violently. In fact, in her "In Memoriam" section, which ends every volume of the FMA manga, Tucker was the only character to be sent to the depths of hell, a fate not even reserved to Envy, Kimblee, or Barry the Chopper.
So may I be one of the first to say he's quite a tragic tale. When compared to the Elric brothers, he represents them in a different light. Instead the taboo of regeneration, he chooses destruction, making his fate all the worse. All he wanted was a better life for his family and ultimately chose his work over them. His final scene shows he has finally lost everything. His family, his mind, his life. All gone because of an innocent wish. This blending of initial hatred which gave way to sympathy made him one of my favorite characters by the end.
The Major from Hellsing Ultimate
I may be cheating here, but I'll have The Major himself explain.
Adolf Hitler, eat your Nazi heart out.
Johan Liebert from Monster
And I saw a beast rising out of the sea having ten horns and seven heads, and one it's heads were ten diadems. And on it's head were blasphemous names...and the dragon gave it his power and his throne and great authority...they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast? And who can fight against it?
Revelations 13:1-4 NRSV
Dr. Kenzo Tenma is one of the most respected neurosurgeons of West Germany in 1986. In order to rise in the ranks, he has had to abandon lesser patients who couldn't pay despite arriving at the hospital first. One day, after being confronted by the angered widow of a recently deceased patient, he vows to make decisions for his own. This leads him to save the life of a boy, the victim of a gunshot, instead of the city mayor. The mayor dies, and Tenma is punished by his executives, saying he can still work as a doctor but will never rise in the ranks. In the days to come, his executives are all found dead. In their wake, Tenma is rewarded, now the head of neurosurgery.
Nine years pass, and from the shadow of the Soviet regime, a serial killer emerges, preying on elderly couples throughout the German countryside. One night, one of Tenma's patients escapes with the doctor taking chase. As he corners the man in an abandoned car lot, a third player arrives, clutching a gun. As the above scene shows, Johan Liebert is, and for a long time, will be, the greatest villain anime has known.
I said earlier you would be hard pressed to find a man to top Light Yagami. Not only would I bet that Johan could easily deduce that Light is Kira in the Death Note universe, he will also either make Light his slave or kill him, taking the Death Note as his own. That, or burning it, making sure he has no equal.
Johan is what mangaka Naoki Urasawa envisioned as the perfect Anti-Christ figure. A man with good looks, perfect manipulation abilities, psychic control, and the ability to leave a trail of bodies wherever he goes. This is all done thanks to some sort of superpower, right? Right? Actually, he does this with no obtuse abilities other than that of a mentally sculpted human psyche and the art of persuasion. From childhood, Johan was developed as a weapon by a Soviet laboratory, disguised as a common orphanage. While the "experiments" led to many psychopathic variations; including bipolar disorder, hallucinations, and head voices; Johan was the perfect experiment. One day, he was sent to a smaller group of fifty similar subjects to test his abilities. Within the day, he forced these fifty different people just as crazy as he to commit mass murder on each other. At the age of ten. With nothing but words.
After he survived the gunshot that should have ended his life, Johan just got better at his work. His ultimate goal is to kill every person he meets or drive these people to kill themselves, because it's just that much more fun in his mind. However, while killing every person is a lofty goal, he decides on a much higher calling. He wants to commit what he calls the perfect suicide. By killing himself, he will have left the world, a complete blank on the fringes of history, save for the lives he ruined and the memories that forever haunt the pure Dr. Tenma, who has made it a duty to capture Johan.
With all that, you'd think he'd keep a low profile. To that I say this is the Anti-Christ we are talking about. Politicians give him honors, women give him their numbers, children shower him with affection, and Neo-Nazis worship him as the second Messiah. All of them die by Johan's cold influence. You see why he is the greatest anime villain of all time?
Johan's mental abilities are simply too powerful in normal circumstances. When placed into the world of Monster, however, it makes perfect sense. Reports came out daily regarding the fascist and communist experiments of the era, so why not have mental super-soldiers? Whatever craziness came before him in anime, he has done better. He will corrupt all surrounding him in a swath of death. He dares you to pull the trigger. He's not afraid of you. You have a conscience. He does not. He is the mighty evil incarnate that anime wishes it could pull off once again, achieving Heath Ledger's Joker status in our community of otaku. So, if you ever find yourself alone of the twisting and meandering streets of Germany late on a cold night, keep wary, as you may find yourself face to face with the devil himself.
Everyone in Neon Genesis Evangelion
I just wanted to say that Evagelion's a good show and the characters are messed up. Okay, let's wrap this thing up...
Really? I have to address the 500lb gorilla in the room? Alright then.
Neon Genesis Evangelion is a two-billion U.S. dollar multimedia franchise which got its start in 1995 with an anime series that ran for twenty-six episodes. It was created by Studio GAINAX and directed by Hedaki Anno. Like all great GAINAX stories, it involved alcohol. Anno agreed to direct the show while having drinks with Toshimichi Otsuki of King Records, who could guarantee a time slot on the Tokyo TV and Animax channels. Just so long as Anno produced "something, anything".
The anime told of the years after an alien attack in 1999 destroyed the entirety of Antarctica, killing half of humanity through natural disasters and upsetting the geopolitical atmosphere considerably. Set in 2015, the aliens, deemed Angels, have returned to end humanity once and for all. Standing in their way is the Japanese organization NERV, lead by the monolithic Gendo Ikari. Over the years, they have led the world in developing mecha called Evangelion (EVA Units). Shinji Ikari, the son of Gendo, has been summoned after years of abandonment to pilot the EVA-01 mech. Joining him are Rei Ayanami, the pilot of EVA-00 and Asuka Langley Soryu, the pilot of EVA-02.
As the show continued from it's pilot, the episode plots were your general mecha anime. Exposition, giant monster appears, good guys have problems, good guys overcome said problems, goods guys kill said monster, see you next week. However, there was a strange feeling of foreboding and mental unrest within the characters. They all had varying levels of issues, from a lack of confidence to a lack of personality. It also appeared that every character had a genuine fear of being forgotten after they passed on.
Then came the infamous last two episodes, regarding the mysterious Human Instrumentality Project. While Anno maintains these episodes were intentional from the start, many otaku agree the only thing concrete from the start was a shoestring budget. The animation throughout the series was varying levels of poor to amazing, with the last two episodes being the worst offenders of the former. Stills were used more often than animation, photos were pasted in, and suddenly Evangelion went from mecha series to arthouse project. This, coupled with a GAINAX Ending (it was so infamous, it became it's own trope), made many viewers resent Anno brutally, including the famous "I'll kill you, Anno" message included in the movie End of Evangelion.
Throughout the show's psychological standpoints, the philosophies of existentialism, dictated by the work of Jean-Paul Satre and Soren Kierkegaard, played into the themes of individuality, consciousness, freedom, choice, and responsibility. Kierkegaard's main philosophy was that humans should learn to live as singular individuals, apart from societal means while highlighting the need for personal growth and commitment. Satre wrote in his most well known work Being and Nothingness that humans trick themselves through confirming to societal wants. Career, race and class are what he defined as a "bad faith", as it forces one to think on that level when if fact one can transcend themselves.
These and other ideas went into the development of the characters. Shinji Ikari, the pilot of EVA-01, is scarred from years of abandonment from his father, and wants nothing more than to please him. However, he was betrayed prior and is hesitant in developing new friends without the guarantee of praise. This is addressed in Episode 4 "The Hedgehog's Dilemma", a legitimate analogy created by transcendental theorist Arthur Schopenhauer. As the series progressed, instead of developing like a normal character, Shinji would fall into the same pratfalls again and again because he was never conditioned to learn from mistakes. Voice actress Megumi Hayashibara commented about the character, saying,
"Why does he continue to fight as an Eva pilot? The story keeps changing. He said it's because everyone tells him to. Because only he can do it. Because it has to be done to save humanity. Selfless and lofty sentiments for sure, and he believed those reasons to be genuine. Wrong; he wanted his father to approve of him. To say he was a good boy. How selfish of him, really, to be a human being."
Asuka Langley Soryu, the Second Child, is a production dream. Her personality is the simplest of them all, being generally overbearing towards her comrades while acting as the sanest of the three pilots. Still, she is not without her problems. As a child, she was taught by her strict German mother to be as perfect as humanly possible. Asuka's want to please her was shattered when as a child she witnessed a gruesome death in the family. Following that day, her mother's words carried so far she refused to cry at the funeral, now a stoic husk of no emotion. She is overbearing because she wants to impress everyone and receive unnecessary praise. Otherwise she will feel worthless.
Rei Ayanami, the First Child, was as Anno described "a living doll". Her indifferent attitude to her experiences with the other pilots and co-workers should in fact prevent her from having any real problems. However, her patterns of learning emotions through interactions got the best of her and she fell into the same trap. She wants to leave an imprint on the face of history, not wanting to die unceremoniously. While her role is not clearly defined in the first anime, she achieves her goals in later incarnations of the series, making her the only real success of the Human Instrumentality Project.
In each of these examples, the subjects wanted justification of their existence. They had clear depressive tendencies and were demanding of unwanted praise. Psychologists would define their issues as the beginnings of a quarter-life crisis, the teenage equivalent to an adult's half-life crisis. When left to their own devices, these three pilots descended slowly into a depression-laden madness, which led to full-blown psychopathy in End of Evangelion.
I could continue with the remainder of the characters, but I've gone on long enough. My only question is why weren't we ever given the results of Gendo Ikari's Human Instrumentality Project sessions, if they were ever conducted? Surely, his megalomaniacal emotions and abandonment of own child is the sign of deep-seeded mental instability, brought on by his murky past. To pick apart the brain of one of the most vile yet well received characters in anime would be a dream. One can only dream as there are no plans at this moment.
In a recent conversation I had, Neon Genesis Evangelion was stated by the other party as "the most influential anime of all time". I'm not going to argue that it's false. In an era flooded with the works of Hayao Miyazaki and the film Akira, the fact that a show made on a request to fill a time slot led to an amazing reception is astounding. It became the first franchise in history to win three Best Loved Series Awards in the Anime Grand Prix and took both favorite character awards in 1996 for Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami; was labeled the #1 English dub of 1998 and the #2 anime of all time by anime site EX.org; was quoted as inspiration for RahXephon, Xenogears, Serial Experiemnts Lain, and the works of Makoto Shinkai; and continues to do well as a film series called Rebuild of Evangelion. All because three angst-ridden teenagers with depressive to psychopathic tendencies were given giant robots.
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At this time, I'd like to add three of my favorite American animation psychos. These three represent a definite disconnect between them and their Eastern cousins. The majority here are pretty cartoonish, but the creators manage to squeeze enough heart into the character, making them all the more complex. Without them, the shows just wouldn't be as perfect as originally planned.
Discord from My Little Pony; Friendship is Magic
Before anyone says it, yes. I just put a character from My Little Pony in the same category as Light Yagami and Ladd Russo. To the haters, love and tolerate. To the bronies, you saw this one coming.
Discord is the embodiment of the element of chaos. A thousand years ago, he ruled the land of Equestria in a state of unrest and unhappiness. He was eventually defeated by the princesses Celestia and Luna, who possessed the Elements of Harmony, several tools of unbelievable power. In the events of Season Two, with the Elements no longer in the possession of the sisters, he is free from his stony tomb, planning to wreak as much havoc as physically possible. Scratch that, as unphysically possible. As the lord of chaos, he can literally do whatever he wants. Force rabbits to grow several feet tall, turn the corn fields in to popcorn, command the clouds to rain chocolate milk, anything with a snap of the finger. In the episode "The Return of Harmony, Part 1", he challenges the main characters to defeat him by finding the Elements. In doing so, he sends them into a labyrinthian puzzle without magic or flight to aid those lucky to possess those powers. This is where Discord became a beast.
Instead of letting them just surrender quietly, he corrupts them one by one, forcing each to confront an unsavory aspect of their persona, which represents the opposite of the element they stand for.
1) Applejack, the elements of honesty, is shown the honest truth of the future and can not accept the grim reality. She is corrupted by accepting a lie.
2) Pinkie Pie, the element of laughter, is tricked into thinking the laughter she hears from her friends is pointed at her. As shown in the clip above, she is corrupted by believing her favorite thing in the world is wrong.
3) Rarity, the element of generosity, is led astray through her magical abilities of finding precious gems. She is corrupted through the illusion of a large diamond, succumbing to greed.
4) Fluttershy, the element of kindness, is the wild card, as she is seen as incorruptible. She accepts her weaknesses for what they are and supports her friends tirelessly. In turn, Discord has to corrupt her through force. While many fans called that cheating on his part, it was meant to represent Fluttershy's overly trusting nature and weak constitution, which wormed it's way into Discord's third episode, "Keep Calm and Flutter On".
5) Rainbow Dash, the element of loyalty, is given a choice to save her friends or hometown. She chooses the town and is corrupted by being the only one to cheat in the game, turning against her friends.
6) With all of her friends corrupt and Discord victorious, Twilight Sparkle, the element of magic, is corrupted by accepting the perceived hopelessness of the situation.
Discord doesn't just win. He completely ruins his adversaries through cruel tricks. By "The Return of Harmony, Part 2", he makes sure he has powered through his competition, ultimately sitting at the top of the throne and gleefully chuckling at those who suffer from his antics. He takes over the local town, proclaims it as the "chaos capital of the world", and effectively is the only victorious villain in the show. He achieves all his goals he sets out to do. Comparatively, the three other major villains didn't come close.
Nightmare Moon, the show's first villain, hadn't even begun her reign as princess before being defeated by the Elements of Harmony. Queen Chrysalis did defeat Celestia, took over Canterlot, and could have won given enough time. Thanks to the ineptitude of her changeling army and her weak foresight, however, she was defeated by the only thing stronger than friendship which was the magic of pure love (just go with it). King Sombra, the fourth villain in the series, may have breeched the defenses of the Crystal Empire but wasn't a particularly strong villain and was ultimately defeated by a giant magic explosion, being the first character unceremoniously killed onscreen in the show.
If that's the case, no wonder fans love Discord. He represents a real challenge for beloved characters that had to develop throughout the episode to ultimately win the day. Now that I think about it, he really is like Ledger's Joker in one major way. His mantra is that people should just learn to accept the chaos, as it is their ultimate destiny. For a little girl's show, that's unusually creepy. Unfortunately, Discord became complacent with his victory and did not forsee a Deus Ex Celestia, which forced Twilight to confront her corrupted friends and rehabilitate them. He was handily defeated by the purified cast, even as he continued to taunt them. Still, you can't argue the fact he was an amazing villain in one of the most popular animated series in recent years.
Also, he's basically Q from Star Trek: The Next Generation
Harvey Dent a.k.a. Two-Face from Batman: The Animated Series
So, Joker fans will probably have a hernia when I say I liked not only Two-Face better as a villain but also Scarecrow in Batman: The Animated Series. This could be due to the fact I didn't really see a lot of Joker episodes when the show was running re-runs. The episodes I do remember were "Dreams in Darkness", the second Scarecrow episode, "Beware the Grey Ghost", and "Two-Face, Parts 1 and 2", the introduction of Two-Face as a villain. That being said, one should note Two-Face and the next psychopath on the list have what I would define are not only great and complex backstories, but ones deserving of the highest form of pity.
Prior to "Two-Face, Parts 1 and 2", he was the well-mannered Harvey Dent, the youngest district attorney in Gotham's history. On the surface, he was a genuinely likable person. He was friends with Bruce Wayne, had a fiancee, and worked with Commissioner Gordon. Unfortunately, in his deep subconscious, he experiences an acute split personality, which he labeled "Big Bad Harv", brought on by childhood trauma. When he runs for re-election as district attorney during the same time period, the personality begins to manifest itself. Crime boss Rupert Thorne sees this as a way to kill two birds with one stone. He kidnaps and blackmails Dent into dropping the investigation surrounding him and the election or he will reveal his condition to the press. In perhaps my favorite scene in the entirety of the show, Big Bad Harv comes to the surface and attacks Thorne in a effort to murder him. Batman bursts on the scene and gun shots ring out in the warehouse. Harvey Dent is knocked to the ground and stray bullets hit a series of electrical wires, igniting chemical tanks. The resulting explosion scars Harvey permanently, creating the monster known as Two-Face.
From there, Two-Face became a mob boss himself, bent on revenge towards Batman who ruined his life. He was mainly an ensemble character who would appear alongside the other villains of Batman, but he did get some episodes to himself and they were actually pretty clever. There's even one episode in which we see Harvey still struggling to keep his humanity, and decides to have an operation to fix the scarring. What follows is a separation of psyches, and a fight for survival between Harvey Dent and Big Bad Harv.
All of this couldn't have happened to a nicer person. Harvey was a pursuer of justice, much like Light Yagami, except he could not be corrupted by outside forces, always straight as an arrow. He did his very best to fight the demons inside. Still, his future was stolen from him in a single freak instant, like in most situations. He turned to the darkness only because he had no other choice.
Maybe that is why the character is so amazingly convincing. Aside from this episode, we were never given any indication that Harvey struggled with these kinds of realistic demons. He would be mercilessly hounded by bad dreams and voices in his head, and not once did he show it. He even went to therapy at one point, being the one person on this entire list to actually fight against his insanity. It was a genuine shock to see a man so put together fall so fast. So much so, it even traumatized Bruce Wayne into a series of night terrors, as he felt responsible for the entire incident. Yes, The Dark Knight, the man who grew up living with the scars of parental death trauma every day, was having night terrors.
Much like The Joker once said in the legendary comic "The Killing Joke", all it takes is just one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. With Harvey's already volatile state, he didn't stand a chance. The childhood trauma, the promise of a the beautiful girl, and the promise of high authority added weight after weight until the whole tower collapsed in a fiery wreck. Just another lost soul in the menagerie of Batman villains.
The Ice King from Adventure Time
I close this essay with what I have decided is one of, if not the greatest fictional psychopath of all time. Mind you, not one of the best villains. The Ice King is terrible at being a villain, as he isn't vicious or overtly evil. However, his unwilling drive towards self destruction, revealing backstory, and terrifyingly small emotional development made him not only redeemed, but forced my hand, officially having to forgive myself for treating the character as I did. I had to, in my mind, apologize for laughing at a fictional character. Let me tell you why.
The Ice King is an old and senile wizard who controls the Ice Kingdom, which is home to several hundred penguins, all name Gunter, and some snow golem minions. He remains for a good part of the show's first half on less than friendly terms with the other kingdoms. Mostly because he attempts to steal any princess within flying distance. He does so through a combination of rigorously refined magic based around ice attacks. Despite his never-give-up attitude, he almost always is defeated by the main heroes, Finn and Jake. Thus he remains trapped in a realm of ice alone with his henchmen.
Throughout the first two seasons, The Ice King would occasionally swap out his villainy for genuine concern for his princess brides, most importantly Princess Bubblegum in the Season 2 finale "Mortal Folly" and "Mortal Recoil". He even shows genuine care for them, not wanting to harm them in any way. Still, the world saw him as a madman bent on winning an unearned prize. That is until Season 3 came around and presented us with the Christmas special "Holly Jolly Secrets".
In thirty minutes, the creators of this show managed to take a man once deemed a sociopath by a demigod and make him a miserable being who's limited moments of reemerging humanity are spent wishing that his centuries old curse be lifted. I dare not spoil his backstory as it is nearly perfect for a show who's history is as grim and foreboding as a single solitary spine-tingle in the night. After this episode, Adventure Time pulls its greatest move. Instead of resurrecting this newly minted man, he drops to a level of genuine insanity. He goes back on his promise to not hurt the ones he loves, as portrayed in "Princess Monster Wife". He laughs maniacally for little to no reason. He continues to retreat from society, preventing anyone from helping him.
Then "I Remember You" happened, and The Ice King was officially the perfect tragedy. Once a caring man who loved those around him, he was corrupted by a magic he could not understand or control. He drove away loved ones, led to the death of thousands, and as a final act of humanity comforted a little girl in the wreckage of the apocalypse before sacrificing his mind. There is no way to not like this guy. Whether you take him for face value, providing a good laugh here and there, or dig deeper, revealing the horrors that years of isolation bring upon the mind, he is an amazing character.
Voice actor Tom Kenny has gone on record that the Ice King is the current character he likes to voice the most. This coming from the man who gave us Spongebob Squarepants. While Spongebob has run a goofy schtick into the ground, the Ice King is genuinely funny with an edge of despair. I hope many want to be creators take note of characters like the Ice King. This is what we want as a consuming culture. Characters to question our beliefs while remaining wholesomely entertaining. I look forward to what the Ice King has to offer in the future and look forward to more Adventure Time. May you someday find your princess.
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That's a wrap, folks. Thank you so much for reading this essay. May I end on two notes.
One, I genuinely feel these characters really do a lot for me. You see, my greatest fear is going insane, known as dementophobia. To understand how insanity works and manifests itself and to realize that I, hopefully solid mind and all, are far away from the results presented here does wonders for my emotions.
That being said, I close with our dear friend The Joker on how one becomes insane. This excerpt comes from "The Killing Joke" by Alan Moore and voice credit goes to Pgirts.
