History Main / AmbiguousDisorder

For when a character is explicitly '''confirmed''' in story to have a specific disorder but their portrayal isn't necessarily accurate, please check HollywoodAutism, HollywoodTourettes, SuperOCD, LIsForDyslexia, AttentionDeficitOohShiny, FunnySchizophrenia, and TheSchizophreniaConspiracy. When the creators say whether a character has a disorder or not outside of the work, making it no longer ambiguous in most cases, see DiagnosisOfGod. If the characters don't know what it is but the audience does, it's DiseaseByAnyOtherName.

** [[spoiler:Darcy, the entity the Core becomes after [[DemonicPossession it takes over Marcy's body]], remarks that while Marcy herself is trapped in her own mind and the past rulers of Amphibia are in control, it has inherited her quirks. This is hinted at in "Froggy Little Christmas", when it's shown to be stimming, and its mannerisms and clumsiness in "The Core & The King" make this explicit. In essence, while it is clearly ''very'' different from Marcy, her personality still shines through, to the point that if Darcy hadn't made it clear that it is ''not'' Marcy, one could think she pulled a FaceHeelTurn rather than having her body taken over by an evil MindHive.]]

** [[spoiler:Darcy, the entity the Core becomes after [[DemonicPossession it takes over Marcy's body]], remarks that while Marcy herself is trapped in her own mind and the past rulers of Amphibia are in control, it has inherited her quirks. This is hinted at in "Froggy Little Christmas", when it's shown to be stimming, and its mannerisms and clumsiness in "The Core & The King" make this explicit. In essence, while it is clearly ''very'' different from Marcy, her personality still shines through, as if Marcy pulled a FaceHeelTurn rather than having her body taken over by an evil MindHive.]]

** [[spoiler:Darcy, the entity the Core becomes after [[DemonicPossession it takes over Marcy's body]], remarks that while Marcy herself is trapped in her own mind and the past rulers of Amphibia are in control, it has inherited her quirks. This is hinted at in "Froggy Little Christmas", when it's shown to be stimming, and its mannerisms and clumsiness in "The Core & The King" make this explicit.]]

* ''Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk'' and its sequel ''Milk outside a bag of milk outside a bag of milk'' are visual novels about an unnamed BrokenBird with crippling mental illness, with the player taking the role of the ImaginaryFriend she creates to help her navigate everyday life. She deliberately keeps her diagnosis vague to the player but shows clear signs of paranoid schizophrenia as well as obsessive-compulsive disorder, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder from witnessing her father's suicide [[spoiler:as well as severe cyberbullying from someone she considered a friend which her hypersensitivity amplified to the point that she hasn't touched her computer in years]]. As a result, she's constantly plagued by delusions and can't interact with strangers outside of the Internet without extensive mental preparation beforehand.

* Billy Butcher in ''ComicBook/TheBoys'', as he's essentially a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]] of the SociopathicHero (and an {{expy}} of ComicBook/ThePunisher). It's all but stated that he suffers from high-functioning psychosis which he [[ItRunsInTheFamily inherited from his father]], and when [[BerserkButton intensely stressed]], he literally dissociates from his actions and is [[UnstoppableRage incapable of controlling himself]]. He also displays a severe LackOfEmpathy and ControlFreak tendencies.

* Billy Butcher in ''ComicBook/TheBoys'', as he's essentially a {{deconstruction}} of the SociopathicHero (and an {{expy}} of ComicBook/ThePunisher). It's all but stated that he suffers from high-functioning psychosis which he [[ItRunsInTheFamily inherited from his father]], and when [[BerserkButton intensely stressed]], he literally dissociates from his actions and is [[UnstoppableRage incapable of controlling himself]]. He also displays a severe LackOfEmpathy and ControlFreak tendencies.

** Kotomi Ichinose is highly intelligent, but she's had difficulty relating to her peers since childhood. She also shows signs of PTSD [[spoiler:due to her parents dying in a plane crash when she was young]] and social anxiety disorder.

** WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck (carried over somewhat from older cartoons, in which [[MadHatter he is]] clearly [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} insane]], but not debilitatingly so). WesternAnimation/BugsBunny guesses that he's "a [[TheSociopath sociopath]]", "a {{narcissist}}", and "probably a [[AxCrazy psychopath]]". (He also sometimes seems to be unable to tell fantasy apart from reality -- just see the music video for "The Wizard".)

** Sarah from Season Two is ''heavily'' implied to have some developmental disorder (or maybe some form of PTSD).She is [[{{Manchild}} very immature for her age]], has [[TheLoad below-avarage intelligence and is over-dependent on others]], and suffers from occasional panic attacks, such as when [[BigBad Carver]] visits her cabin [[spoiler: and when her father gets killed, but the last one is pretty understandable]]. More than a single character remarks she is not all there.
** Alvin Jr. AKA AJ, from season three and four, is likely the biggest headcase of the series. Not only he had a significant speech delay on early infancy, later he shows a number of odd behaviours, such as "going on patrol" when anxious, punching people if they come towards from behind etc. Futhermore, AJ shows some clear antisocial tendencies, such as openly attempting to steal a toy from Tenn, a kid he considered a friend, and [[spoiler: killing Marlon in cold-blood despite being only 6.]] While its heavily implied this is due to his [[KidsAreCruel age]] and the [[ZombieApocalypse awfulness of the setting]], wheater or not there is something fundamentally wrong with him up for player's interpretation.

** Alvin Jr. AKA AJ, from season three and four, is likely the biggest headcase of the series. Not only he had a significant speech delay on early infancy, later he shows a number of odd behaviours, such as "going on patrol" when anxious, punching people if they come towards from behind tc. Futhermore, AJ shows some clearly antisocial tendencies, such as attempting to steal a toy from Tenn, a kid he considered a friend, and [[spoiler: killing Marlon in cold-blood despite being only 6.]]

* There have been [[http://www.livescience.com/10679-psychology-darth-vader-revealed.html numerous articles]] [[http://archive.wired.com/medtech/health/news/2007/05/anakin_syndrome speculating]] about [[DarthWiki/DarthVader Anakin Skywalker]] and trying to form a diagnosis based on the symptoms he shows in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' prequels. Likewise, in ''Film/TheForceAwakens'', his successor [[spoiler:and grandson]] Kylo Ren shows a similar collection of huge mood swings, extreme outbursts of anger, lack of empathy, difficulties with interpersonal relationships, emotional disturbances, and odd obsessions and anxieties.

** The titular character shows signs of chronic depression, [[http://www1.appstate.edu/~hillrw/Narcissism/stylescompensatory.html compensatory narcissism]], and is a confirmed [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]]. He's also a bit of an AttentionWhore and prone to impulsive and self-destructive behavior.

** The titular character shows signs of chronic depression and is a confirmed [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]]. He's also a bit of an AttentionWhore and prone to impulsive and self-destructive behavior.

** Sarah from Season Two is ''heavily'' implied to have some developmental disorder (or maybe some form of PTSD).She is [[{{Manchild}} very immature for her age]], has [[TheLoad below-avarage intelligence and is over-dependent on others]], and suffers from occasional panic attacks, such as when [[BigBad Carver]] visits her cabin [[spoiler: and when her father gets killed, but the last one is pretty understandable]]. More than one characther remarks she is not all ther.

** Sarah from Season Two is ''heavily'' implied to have some developmental disorder (or maybe some form of PTSD).She is [[{Manchild} very immature for her age]], has [[TheLoad below-avarage intelligence and is over-dependent on others]], and suffers from occasional panic attacks, such as when [[BigBad Carver]] visits her cabin [[spoiler: and when her father gets killed, but the last one is pretty understandable]]. More than one characther remarks she is not all ther.

* Kenny Jr. AKA [[{{Keet}} Duck]] from ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'' video game goes from [[MotorMouth talking his head off]] to suddenly becoming quiet after a brush with danger. He also seems to lack any social cues, from not noticing a distressed Clementine after the end of the episode "[[VideoGame/TheWalkingDeadSeasonOne A New Day]]" to ignoring Lee's warnings that [[spoiler:[[ToServeMan they're eating Mark's legs]]]] in "Starved For Help".

This trope also has a practical usage; most writers are not professional psychologists/psychiatrists with the authority to officially diagnose people with mental illnesses or personality disorders, so writing a character with unusual behaviors while leaving their exact mental state ambiguous becomes the best alternative. Playing "armchair psychologist" runs the risk of [[CriticalResearchFailure inaccurately portraying the disorder]] and angering audiences who know what having said disorder feels like.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'': [ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagged]]. Zane showed almost every possible hint of having UsefulNotes/AspergerSyndrome, including LiteralMinded-ness, difficulty understanding the humor of others, [[DoesNotUnderstandSarcasm no ability to detect sarcasm]], a tendency to get over-focused when training, a general lack of the understanding of social norms, SpockSpeak and SesquipedalianLoquaciousness, among others. [[spoiler:Turns out he's actually a RidiculouslyHumanRobot]].

** Ice Bear [[TheQuietOne rarely speaks]], refers to himself in [[ThirdPersonPerson the third person]], has an axe for a SecurityBlanket[[note]]the axe apparently being a keepsake of sorts, given to him by a father figure who taught him how to chop wood when he was a cub[[/note]], and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking is never referred to by his name by any of the other characters]]. He's also a very skilled cook, knows a few different languages, and likes to tinker with electronics. To top it off, in one episode, he hits his head and develops a "normal" (though exteremely jerky) personality and loses all of his skills and only goes back to normal after hitting his head again.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': Marcy Wu exhibits many autistic traits. She tends to hyperfocus on her interests and tune things around her out when she is "in the zone". She also flaps her hands often, which is a common form of stimming, [[CuteClumsyGirl frequently displays coordination problems]] (to the point that Anne has described her as "maybe the clumsiest person alive"), and has admitted having difficulties making and maintaining eye contact. When asked about this, Creator/MattBraly, the creator of the show, stated while Marcy was not written with that intention in mind, they are still learning about their characters as they write them and he is glad that people identify with her in that way.

*** Under clinical and objective perspective, Trevor embodies the most typical features of [[TheSociopath antisocial personality disorder]]: he has enough charm and charisma to be AffablyEvil, [[ThrillSeeker looks for thrills whenever he can]] (need for stimulation and prone to boredom); he embraces his criminal life and enjoys it, disregards his violent actions (impulsivity), [[HairTriggerTemper is incredibly aggressive and violent]], possesses promiscuous sexual behavior and has an incredibly high criminal versatility. On the other hand, he is also incredibly erratic, emotional, and a habitual substance user, something that could very well be degrading him in terms of judgment and mental stability, and he is known to have had a difficult childhood. He also has many weaknesses and is very emotionally dependent on other people, traits commonly associated with borderline personality disorder. There is no doubt that Trevor has some psychiatric disorder, possibly reinforced by his regular substance use.