Autistic Characters - Blog Posts
These three pieces of media have a trend
I love these movies and shows so much and I want to talk about just one reason I love them:
Autism.
The three main characters of all these franchises have a similar situation. They are all weird and friendless and they have a dream that no one believes that they can accomplish.
Izuku with his dream to be a hero. PO with his dream to be a Kung Fu warrior and Hiccup with his dream (at first) to kill a dragon (which turned into being friends with dragons).
They are all bullied and ridiculed. What I find really interesting though is there's The reason for them being bullied and then the hidden and (seemingly) more likely reason that they are bullied. Izuku is quirkless, no one thinks he can be a hero because he has no powers. PO is big, no one thinks that he has the body to be a warrior and Hiccup is small. As he says, he's a walking fishbone.
However from what I can tell, those are merely (horrible, might I add) excuses to hate on them. Like what gobber says, 'its what's on the inside that they can't stand.'
What I don't get is that in Mha, 20% of the population is quirkless. In a school of just 300 there would be sixty kids who didn't have a quirk. I know we didn't see much of other quirkless kids but I really do think that the bullying that Izuku received would have been much worse than everyone else. It seems to me that the main reason that they don't like him, (especially Bakugo) is because of his personality. Because he's annoying.
I think that a big reason they hated him was because they noticed autistic traits, didn't understand it was autism (or cared) and didn't like it.
(I can make a separate post about why I think all these characters are autistic)
Now with Kung Fu Panda. (I just want to say really quick that I do not mean to take away from the real situations and ridicule that plus size people receive. I know that it happens and I know it can be really bad and I'm sorry for anyone who experienced bullying. I think that Po does face a lot of discrimination just because of his body, I just want to highlight the underlining albeism that seems to be present)
Po in my opinion is so clearly Audhd. He has an intense interest on Kung fu and everything surrounding it. He knows everything about the five, and he misses a ton of social cues. He just blurts things out and doesn't realize how they can be inappropriate for nuerotypical standards.
When Shifu first speaks with him he is immediately unimpressed. Yes, he does bring up (if I can recall correctly) his 'flabby' body. But it was also because Po was so excited and he was speaking in a way that Shifu or one of the five wouldn't. He was describing all the artifacts and knew exactly what the pinky hold was.
In fact, to me, the movie wouldn't have happened if Shifu didn't accept Po's weirdness. Really, in the end, Pos's body shape wasn't a detriment at all and I think Shifu knew this. He's worked with so many different species before, he has to know that every type of body has their own value. He teaches a prey mantis for crying out loud.
And also, I don't think most of Po's insecurities came from his size. To me, he seemed mostly insecure about himself inwardly. (Though I haven't watched the movie in a few months) Come on though, the whole secret ingredient thing? I think there was a reason that when he looked into the scroll it only showed his face.
Yes, his size did help a lot in the fight and I love that part of the movie so much but his creativity and his differentness helped a ton too. He literally imagined the scroll as a comfort food to get to it first... I mean, are they even trying to hide it? (We know it's his comfort food cause he literally did the splits to get to them when he got upset)
I'll move on to How to Train your Dragon now. Hiccup had ADHD. Hiccup has autism. I think that's a universally accepted, right? I think most of the movie is a metaphor for nuerdivergence. The movies already have amazing physical disability representation but that came later. In the first few minutes, we already knew something was different about Hiccup compared to everyone else. He was impulsive, he didn't listen, once he was set on something he was going to accomplish it, he said things without thinking, he was terrible with socializing. Especially with those his age. Gobber said, and I loosely quote, "it's not what's on the outside, it's what's on the inside that he can't stand."
That boy didn't have any friends until he met the dragon that he shot down. I'm sorry, or is that not the most autistic thing you ever heard. It's like autisitic people and their animals. My dog was and is my best friend. Always will be. And a dragon is basically a giant cat/dog, and reptile.
He didn't get friends until his 'uniqueness' set him apart in a 'good' way. It wasn't until he was useful and cool that he got any human friends which is something I wished they touched on in Race to the Edge. Like, Hiccup has to have some insecurity surrounding that, right?
Anyway, my point is, whenever you see a character get bullied. Just remember that they are most likely nuerodivergent and that's probably why none of the characters like them. Peter Parker is included in this list.
Starscream from Transformers: G1 is autistic!
http://chng.it/864TbGX6V6
Autistic characters should be played by autistic people!
Characters I headcanon as autistic and or ADHD
I am autistic and have ADHD btw
Dr. Temperance Brennan (Bones)- autistic
Zack Addy (Bones)- autistic
Vincent Nigel-Murry (Bones) - AuDHD (autism and ADHD)
Shawn Spencer (Psych) - ADHD
Jake Peralta (Brooklyn 99) -ADHD
Sheldon Cooper (The Big Band Theory) - autistic
Amy Farrah Fowler (The Big Bang Theory) - autistic
Newt Scamander (Fantastic Beasts and where to find them) - autistic
Sherlock Holmes (I will use a picture of the BBC show but in most Sherlock Adaptions that I've seen Sherlock appears autistic to me)-autistic
it makes me kind of sad to see how many people online make fun of autism depictions in media... even the "stereotypical" ones. i often see people make fun of media with autistic characters (either canon described as autistic, or heavy implications and autistic traits) and then say its because its "inaccurate" and "stereotypical" and "overexaggerated" like... are we ignoring the fact that some autistic people do present that way?
my personal example of this is the tv show the good doctor, i watched the first couple seasons when i was like 14ish and first coming to terms with my autism diagnosis (before that point i had done everything i could to ignore it, and my mom had hidden the fact that i was diagnosed from me for a few years because she didnt want me to feel bad... i was diagnosed around age 10 and really would have benefitted from support, but never got any)
i am aware that the show doesnt have the best representation and isnt the most accurate, and i do wish the actor who played the character had been autistic, for better representation as well as promoting autistic actors... but i still loved the show, medical science is a special interest of mine and i have wanted to be a surgeon ever since i was very little, so i really liked to see a show about a topic i love that shows someone like me being successful! i was very happy!
later on i ended up going online and searching the show, all i saw were people making fun of the show and making fun of the character for autism things... all done under the "nobody actually acts like that" argument... it really did hurt me a lot, because i actually act like that. a lot of the struggles the character had are real struggles i face as an autistic person, even if the show doesnt always represent them the best
i struggle with making friends, i struggle with physical touch, i struggle with saying the "wrong" thing and not really knowing how to converse (especially in emotional situations), i am monotone, i need rigid routines, etc etc... so i was very happy to see a show with someone like me!! and it makes me sad how many people make fun of it with the excuse of "nobody is actually like that" because yes! people are! i am!
Dook LaRue from the Rock-Afire Explosion is so autistic.
1. Needs time to comprehend speech and respond. He'll say "what" if he doesn't know what to say or needs more time to respond. 2. Misinterpreted as rude when he doesn't understand what's happening.
3. Needs specific instructions on what to do or say. In Trivia Night, he got confused when Fatz kept saying his name, without telling him that he was supposed to introduce himself. 4. Stimming. Flaps his ears when happy or excited, or when he hears noise.
5. Always smiling. 6. Outer space is his special interest.
7. Wears space suits all the time. He explained that he's been doing it ever since he was a kid, and he made his own space suit. 8. Misinterpreted as stupid at times.
Wednesday Addams is autistic. No I will not be taking questions.
stemmed from a thing I saw on tiktok
fun facts about my as of yet unnamed tmnt iteration! With some art thrown in to entice you to look at it!!!
all four of them are autistic. It’s my version, you can’t stop me.
Casey starts out in the Foot clan, he and Raph have a rivalry (that eventually becomes friendship)
Mikey is mildly colorblind
Leo is a big fan of musicals
When Raph was little, Mikey and Donnie convinced him Smile Dog was real and he was completely terrified
Mikey is big into juggling
Leatherhead plays a central role Because I Like Him
by extension, Bishop is a major character too
Raph has a motorcycle with a sidecar (usually occupied by Mikey)
Donnie makes money by doing cryptocurrency scams online
Vote for Donatello! According to this article that is definitely about him, he not only has Autistic Swag, but Queer Glamour as well! What more could you possibly want!
@autismswagreblogs
Vote for Raz!
Wheel of Doom Round 2
Some of My Favorite Autistic (or ASD coded) Characters : Boys
Lt. Commander Data - Star Trek: the Next Generation (1987)
Sherlock Holmes - Sherlock (2010)
Thrawn - Star Wars (1992)
Subaru Mikazuki - My Roommate is a Cat (2019)
Damian Wayne - Son of Batman (2014)
Newt Scamander - Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
Drax the Destroyer - Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic - Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes (2006)
Donatello “Donnie” Hamato - Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2018)
Tech - Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021)
Dipper Pines - Gravity Falls (2012)
Rei Suwa - Buddy Daddies (2023)
Abed Nadir - Community (2009)
Hunter - Owl House (2020)
Seto Kaiba - YU-GI-OH! (2000)
Some of My Favorite Autistic (or ASD coded) Characters : Girls
Mirabel Madrigal - Encanto (2021)
Parker - Leverage (2008)
Webbigail "Webby" Vanderquack - Ducktales (2017)
Kaywinnet Lee "Kaylee" Frye - Firefly (2002)
Dr. Temperance "Bones" Brennan, Ph.D. - Bones (2005)
Peridot - Steven Universe (2013)
Lilo - Lilo and Stitch (2002)
Entrapta - She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Rosa Díaz - Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013)
Bella Brown - This Beautiful Fantastic (2016)
Princess Luna - My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (2010)
Lunella Lafayette aka Moon Girl - Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2023)
Yor Forger - Spy x Family (2019)
Maomao - The Apothecary Diaries (2011)
Marcy Wu - Amphibia (2019)
Elle Woods - Legally Blonde (2001)
Growing up undiagnosed is realising most characters you related to in childhood are (probably accidentally) autistic coded.
I'm looking at you Hades (the actual one in mythology), Doc McStuffins, Cedric the great/sensational and Sofia the first.
Bonus points if you had or have a hyper fixation on them.
Even more bonus points if you got your older autistic sibling to rewatch the stuff they're in with you (totally not talking from experience here /s).