What fictional characters do you suspect of being autistic?

[Nervous Rex]

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.]

 

[catdog55616]

I think you'd be glad to know that Christopher from that book is said to be autistic by the author! A character I see as autistic is Cadel from the book series "Evil Genius". While the parents do say offhandedly that they had him tested for autism and came back negative, I can't help but think that he is. From having special interests, trouble with social situations, and being a bit formal with everyone he meets, it's pretty obvious to me at least.

 

[LadyBird84]

Dexter!
& agreed on Sherlock.

 

[Mr Allen]

Bart Simpson possibly has ADHD or ADD, and it's been touched upon in certain Simpsons episodes.

And Lisa Simpson possibly has Asperger's, remember the 10th season episode, Lisa the Simpson? That kind of touched on the issue apparently, if you check Wikipedia there's an article on there somewhere about it.

 

[AGXStarseed]

Dr. Arthur Cavor from the BBC's 2010 TV movie version of "H.G.Wells The First Men in the Moon" (I've not read the book so I can't say how accurate his character is in comparison).
In the film, he had a specific routine which involved him going down a particular road outside a house (later resided in by Julius Bedford) and walking back and forth - watching the sunset while his mind was brimming with ideas; with a side effect of this been that he make a variety of humming/buzzing noises (similar to a stim).
This is best shown when Julius Bedford brings the noises Cavor makes to his attention (with Cavor not even realizing he was doing it) and telling him to stop it, with Cavor agreeing but later confronting Bedford as the disruption in his routine has affected him and made it near-impossible for him to work.
On top of this, he's a very clever man - coming up with a material that can resist the effects of gravity that he later names "Cavorite" - and when set on an idea remains very focused on it, yet he is socially withdrawn to the point where Bedford points out that if aliens landed on Earth he would be the last to hear about it.

I'd recommend you give it a watch if you get chance:

 

[Nervous Rex]

I think you'd be glad to know that Christopher from that book is said to be autistic by the author!

OhMyCow, you're right! I read this line on the Wikipedia page:

Haddon wrote on his blog that "Curious Incident is not a book about Asperger's..."

...and I assumed "Okay, so the character isn't ASD." But then a blurb on the book mentions autism, and so does the Wikipedia plot summary. I guess what Haddon meant was that the boy has autism, but the book isn't about autism.

I wish I'd read all that more carefully the first time.

 

[Nervous Rex]

Dexter!
& agreed on Sherlock.

Pretty much every "extraordinary detective" in movies and TV is based on Sherlock Holmes. The formula is:
This guy can solve the problems no one else can, but he's really hard to deal with because [reasons].

Off the top of my head, House, Monk, Psych, Poirot, Limitless, and Colombo definitely follow this pattern. I never watched Dexter or Numbers, but they seem to fit, too.

Poirot is another one I could armchair psychoanalyze as autistic.

 

[Iamnotarabot]

I have no direct example but I think that many authors could be on the autism spectrum because art and litterature are interest they can have.

And as an author is prone to put his own experience in his art I guess its logical that the characters they create have asd traits

 

[MrSpock]

Sheldon Cooper is an obvious one. I watched an interview with Mayim Bialik, the actress who is a real-life neurologist and plays Amy Farrah Fowler on TBBT. While Sheldon does not officially have any neurological diagnosis he is based on several real-life people, some of which have Asperger's and OCD.

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...

As with Sheldon, it seems to me that this does not mean that the character does not have autism, or is not intended to have autism. Someone who is extremely ignorant of cars might still include a car in a novel, and be unaware that the car needs a battery. The author may not include a battery in his concept of a car, however this does not mean that he has written about an advanced car which somehow obviates the need for a battery, those of us who do know this much about cars may assume that the battery is indeed there, whether directly intended by the author or not.

If Doyle knew a person who would today be recognized as having Asperger's and used those aspie traits that would be beneficial to an investigator to build his character with, it follows that he did intentionally make Holmes an aspie whether he was aware of the label or not. His personality is no accident.

I've been reading Moorcock lately, recently read the three Corum books and am just starting the second of the Elric series (having read the first one first, of course). I've not looked into it at all, but am wondering if Moorcock himself was an aspie, or if Corum and Elric are. They're certainly different from those around them, and Elric in particular follows his own philosophy while knowing that it causes social problems, and he tends to do what he thinks he must rather than what he feels like doing. Even when dealing with gods they are not afraid to apply logic as an even higher authority to negotiate with them, where others would simply bow to their superior powers.

I've not read much fiction since finding out myself what it is to be an aspie, I was unaware of what it meant two years ago. It's possible that I'm now ascribing aspieness inappropriately with the enthusiasm of a recent convert. I'd appreciate comments from anyone familiar with Moorcock's eternal warrior.

 

[Pats]

I never liked to read and I only watch the same repeated tv shows all the time so I don't know most of the characters so far mentioned. Should I be embarrassed for that?
I do know Sheldon and Dexter. And, of course, Rainman. I actually think these 2 characters are what the majority of people expect from any aspergers or autistic person. I've been told I wasn't smart enough to have aspergers or that I have no exceptional counting ability. But on the other hand, they are getting the term out there, so it's a start.

 

[Bolletje]

I’m a fan of Dr Patricia Tannis from the Borderlands series of computer games. She’s a confirmed Aspie though.

 

[Judge]

Always wondered about Quentin Coldwater of "The Magicians".

 

[Pats]

But I do think my dog was an aspie. She was not a cuddler. She did not like any kind of vegetables. She preferred red based colors. Surprisingly, being a pit/husky, she was usually very quiet.

 

[Lithi]

Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter! She's very non-conformist, she's described as having a calm, dreamy expression, and Harry said something about her having a tendency to calmly and bluntly state uncomfortable truths that other people wouldn't say. She doesn't have a lot of friends, but she's fiercely loyal to the ones she does have.

If anyone likes anime, I've always suspected Levi from Attack on Titan. He's blunt, doesn't express emotions much even though he cares deeply, he's often depicted as standing a bit away from groups or looking away from the speaker while everyone else is looking, and he has fixations/OCD traits.

 

[Gritches]

I don't watch much TV (anymore) but when I did, I suspected Sterling Archer from "Archer" was even before it was hinted at (though never confirmed).

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you, I was too busy stacking rocks in order of descending size!"

 

[BraidedPony]

I would say Snow White because she was so naive. She trusted the huntsman, following him into the woods, and she took a bite of the poison apple that her ecil step mother gave her.
She made friends with the 7 dwarves without judging them on their looks.
And it seems like Aspies are always attracting evil, manipulative, and jealous people.

 

[Ezra]

The mysterious prisoner in the new show called Castle Rock. At least so far. I've only seen 3 episodes.

 

[Thinx]

Janet Evanovitch and Phoebe Suttons Knight and Moon series : Emerson Knight is introverted and eccentric He's also brilliant rich and handsome, says the blurb, and from the two books so far he does seem Aspy. She's a fun author I read all of hers and she writes a lot, also with co authors as here.

 

[pamelaperejil]

Boo Radley, To Kill a Mockingbird?
Ricky Fitz, American Beauty.
Napolean Dynamite in Napolean Dynamite.

 

[Tom]

I always suspected Ghidorah's 3rd head was on the spectrum. I thought he had more difficulty then the others with social interactions and generally would be the one to have a meltdown and initiate the destruction of a earth city.