“ | Dr. Zola: Schmidt believes he walks in the footsteps of the gods. Only the world itself will satisfy him. Col. Phillips: You do realize that's nuts, don't you? Dr. Zola: The sanity of the plan is of no consequence. Col. Phillips: And why is that? Dr. Zola: Because he can do it! |
„ |
~ Chester Phillips and Arnim Zola discussing the Red Skull. |
These type of Pure Evils are those who are dangerously ill on a psychological level due to suffering from a mental health disorder. These villains have mental disorders that affect their cognitive functions, behaviors and views on reality. Despite having or suffering from a mental illness, these villains have a clear moral agency and therefore a clear understanding of morality and ethics.
Although mentally ill villains can never be psychopaths, the most vile ones can have psychopathic tendencies and closely resemble them, as they are knowledgeable of what is right and wrong and choose to do what is wrong despite their mental illnesses.
Examples are:
- Judge Claude Frollo, who's heavily implied to suffer schizophrenic episodes as he sees hallucinations like smoke in the shape of Esmeralda hugging him and priests chanting to him while he's singing "Hellfire", and also a snarling gargoyle he holds onto just before dying. He also becomes noticeably unhinged in his obsession with Esmeralda.
- Zoom, who suffers from PTSD after watching his mother die in front of him and his father getting arrested, which caused him to be an orphan.
- Jeffrey Dahmer, who was diagnosed with several mental illnesses (i.e. borderline/schizotypal personality disorder as well as a psychotic disorder) in real life.
- Miss Gribben, who has agoraphobia.
- Eobard Thawne (Arrowverse), who suffers from Covert Narcissism, especially after being rejected by the Flash, which caused him to have an Inferiority Complex, which drove him to want to destroy the Flash's life. Plus, the Negative Speed Force's influence on his mind led him to be more hateful and negative.
- Graydon Creed, who suffers from a psychotic disorder due to his extreme racism against mutants, and even has a nervous breakdown through PTSD upon seeing his father's hologram before getting institutionalized for a year.
- Jack, who suffers from OCD, which unreasonably causes him to have paranoid delusions of persecution and drives him to hysterically and repetitively clean all areas of his murder crime scenes (including spots that don’t need it).
- Gary Smith, who displays dark triad personality traits, paranoia, and possibly schizophrenia. Additionally, he is described as "clinically delusional" by Dr. Bambillo who also worries he is out of control. Once he stops taking his medication, he noticeably goes insane and has delusions Jimmy will betray him.
Also make sure to differentiate between this category from psychotic, dissociative and psychopaths/sociopaths as all they all share similarities but are in fact all distinct in nature.
Psychotics are the same but far more sick, twisted and disturbing versions of this category. Psychotics are not just suffering from one mental illness but from combinations of many others (including personality or developmental disorders) therefore break down in character and dissociate from reality far more than often than regular villains as they’re heads are more damaged than the average and therefore are more dangerous and deadly despite their severe psychosis.
Dissociative villains are also the same as dissociative identity disorder is a mental illness but like psychotic is much worse and is far more dangerous as these villains are not fully aware of what they’re doing due to having a split personality that activates during certain periods of time that cause them to black out and sleep during their dissociation. However, these villains can become accustomed to this and can in fact use it as a means to achieve their evil goals.
Psychopath/sociopath is a separate case from this category but many people confuse them for being crazy when in fact psychopaths are not only completely sane and sound of mind but also fully aware of their actions, thoughts, surroundings and know full well the consequences that follow their actions. So, to put it briefly, psychopaths are not crazy, they are simply vile, callous and numb to other people’s feelings.
All items (197)
- Takeshi Asakura
- Taurus Bulba (2017)
- Ted Faro
- The Announcer (Fazbear Frights)
- The Butcher (American Horror Story)
- The Man In The Woods
- The Man Who Can't Breathe
- The Master (Harold Saxon)
- The Master (O)
- The Plutonian
- The Stalker (Penpal)
- The Trickster (The Flash 1990)
- Thornheart
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- Travis Dane
- Tsarmina Greeneyes