History Main / AmbiguousDisorder

** Kapura from the is a weird, eccentric Ta-Matoran whose manner of speech sounds like deliberately awkwardly worded philosophizing, and he often repeats himself and sounds as if he's unable to articulate his thoughts in a way that doesn't make them come off as random. While other Ta-Matoran do their work, he's out practicing the art of "walking quick by moving slow" ([[GassHole and farting]]) in a creepy, dead forest. He doesn't stop practicing even when conversing with the player, and casually asks if you're [[BigBad the Makuta]] or not. He's slow (except when performing his technique), deliberate, and unnervingly calm among all the hot-headed, fiery Ta-Matoran.

* Billy Butcher in ''ComicBook/TheBoys'', as he's essentially a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]] of the SociopathicHero. It's all but stated that he suffers from high-functioning psychopathy 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.

* ''Film/TheBigLebowski'' has the two eccentric and dysfunctional leads, Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski ([[OneSteveLimit not to be confused with]] Jeffrey Lebowski the millionaire) and Walter Sobchak. The Dude is an unemployed and unmarried LazyBum who refers to himself in the {{third person|Person}} and centers his life around bowling (though in the movie's insane setting, he may actually be the OnlySaneMan). Meanwhile, Walter is TheVietnamVet, which [[ShellShockedVeteran explains a lot]] (and the original screenplay revealed him as a PhonyVeteran, raising even more questions about his sanity). He also remains obsessed with his ex-wife, continuing to perform random favors for her and [[ConvertingForLove practice her religion]] (namely UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}}, even though Walter was raised Catholic) five years after she left him. And whatever you do, do ''[[BerserkButton not]]'' disrespect Walter's Judaism, car, or the rules of bowling, lest you discover the [[DisproportionateRetribution true meaning]] of SeriousBusiness.

*** [[CreepyChild Maria]] is nine years old but behaves ''[[KiddieKid far]]'' younger, has bizarre reactions (or lack of same) to events around her, and she never seems to be able to avoid hitting her mother's BerserkButton when she really ''should'' know better. There's also her VerbalTic (which unlike most examples tends to annoy other people) and lack of focus towards anything except for her hobby of studying black magic.
*** Maria's mother, Rosa, definitely seems to have a few screws loose. Besides the aforementioned BerserkButton there's her abuse towards Maria, including rapidly alternating between screaming at her, hitting her, and apologizing for her behavior, there's her angry reactions to hearing about Beatrice [[spoiler:since the young Rosa saw "Beatrice" ''fall off a cliff to her death'' and blames herself for it]].

* {{Downplayed}} in ''Film/PanicRoom''. While it's never stated outright that Sarah has Diabetes, there are enough context clues to make it easy to figure out if you know what it is.

'''Wil Wheaton:''' What is ''wrong'' with him?\\
'''Stuart:''' [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall Everyone has a different theory]].

This character's behaviour is bizarrely outside the norm -- it's ''way'' beyond mere [[CloudCuckoolander ordinary quirkiness]]. No reasons are given for the strange behaviour. No specific diagnosis is ever mentioned in the story. In fact, any resemblance to any real disorder is likely accidental; the character's symptoms are exactly those symptoms the writer wants them to have. It is a case of Ambiguous Disorder.

** Apollo Justice himself has NoIndoorVoice, has routines/survival mantras that others find strange (such as waking up at five in the morning to yell [[SurvivalMantra "Apollo Justice is doing Fine!"]]), and is bothered by the loud music at Klavier's concert. He also has a tendency towards being [[BeingPersonalIsntProfessional strictly professional]], even to people he considers his friends, and gets annoyed with anyone who doesn't act in a similar manner (i.e. the more laid-back Klavier). [[spoiler:His sister]] Trucy also shows some signs of this: her sprite shows her bouncing on her heels happily (stimming), and she takes the magician's code very seriously, to the point of not telling Apollo how a trick works (which he needs to know for a trial, meaning that someone's life is on the line) purely because a magician never reveals their secrets.

** Kotomi Ichinose is highly intelligent, but she's had difficulty relating to her peers since childhood. She also has multiple “odd” habits, such as a dislike of wearing shoes and treating the school library as a second home. She also shows signs of PTSD [[spoiler:due to her parents dying in a plane crash when she was young]] and social anxiety disorder.

** The player character's rapid-fire, disorganized, and [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny easily-distracted]] thought processes, combined with her extreme self-consciousness and social awkwardness, point to some disorder.

* Nutty from ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' shows an awful lot of signs of some sort of disorder, such as him not being able to pay attention or stay/stand still and imagining things that aren't real (in his case, candy). However, given his massive SweetTooth, it could also be explained as him just being on a perpetual sugar high. Strangely enough, when Russell inadvertently uses Nutty's severed cornea as a contact lens in "[[Recap/HTFSightForSoreEyes Sight For Sore Eyes]]", he sees the ribbons on a kite turn into candy, implying that the problem is partially ''physical''.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Webcomic/CheeseInTheTrap'':
** In Ha seems for the most part just selfish, shallow, and lazy, but then someone says something to set her off and she shows just how insane she is. This often involves physically attacking the people around her, though sometimes it is just shown in her sudden personality change and her inability to be reasoned with. It's never played for laughs.
** [[spoiler:Professor Baek hints that Jung has some kind of disorder, but never specifies what it is. He certainly has difficulty forming relationships with others or understanding how other people process the world]].
* Ethan from ''Webcomic/CtrlAltDel'' just doesn't seem to be capable of functioning as a normal human being. He's so obsessed with gaming that he suffers actual withdrawal symptoms if deprived of any means of gaming for more than an hour or so, his behaviour to his friends is often deeply insensitive, and his behaviour towards people he doesn't like can be downright sociopathic, to the point where he inflicts potentially murderous levels of violence against his co-worker Rob for the heinous crime of liking ''VideoGame/CounterStrike'' and saying "bro" rather a lot.
* PlayedForDrama with Dina of ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge''. She is obsessed with paleontology but doesn't really seem to understand other humans, by her own admission; at one point she gets depressed because some other girls mistook her for a handicapped child (aside from her behavior, she [[OlderThanTheyLook looks about twelve]]). Her roommate Amber has tried to help her read social cues with mixed results. The creator has gone on record saying that [[ShrugOfGod she's never been diagnosed with anything]], later acknowledging that she probably has Asperger's. For what it's worth, her parents behave similarly (at least, they're very laconic). Later comics had gone into detail about her 'never being diagnosed': her parents ''had'' tried to find out if she was autistic or not, but numerous psychologists dismissed their concerns, believing that Dina was merely an English Second Language child. [[MistakenForForeigner Despite both Dina and her parents being born in America.]] She's absolutely outraged that it took all of thirty minutes for someone to peg Joyce as autistic.
* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive:'' As discussed by Pandora [[https://www.egscomics.com/comic/2017-08-16 here]], the madness that begins to affect immortals as they age works by very different rules from any human mental disorder, and seems to be something closer to an instrinsic aspect of their race.
* ''Webcomic/EnnuiGo'': [[spoiler:Izzy and Adelie]]'s mother suffered from some combination of schizophrenia and DID, as she had three split personalities that often scream in her head (she was also incredibly violent and abusive, though that's implied to be at least partially the result of the narcotics that she used to self-medicate). Whatever she had, it skipped a generation as her grandson [[spoiler:Max]] seems to have a case of the same disorder, although it's thankfully treated with actual legal medication.
* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'': Anthony Carver seems to be completely unable to express himself when in the presence of more than one other person. When alone with only a single other person he can be charming and funny, but as soon as he enters the company of two or more he shuts down, becoming icily stoical.
* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'':
** Mituna has an ambiguous brain injury from [[HeroicRROD overusing his psionics]] that leaves him with strange tics, a tendency to become incomprehensible, and to have dramatic and sudden mood swings. He also lacks coordination and has to wear a helmet to avoid injuring himself.
** Jake was raised in almost complete isolation on a deserted island by his grandmother and shows poor social skills that make him nearly oblivious to the feelings of others to the point where it comes off as this, especially his tendency to ramble on about his issues without regard for the feelings of the person he's talking to, which actually causes Jane to destroy her computer out of frustration after he ''yet again'' [[ObliviousToLove fails to realize that she has feelings for him]] and causes his boyfriend to break up with him. It's also implied that his AlternateUniverse self Grandpa Harley (who seems to have had a normal enough upbringing, even though his stepmother was actually [[spoiler:an alien empress]]) was similarly odd.
** Clubs Deuce/Courtyard Droll is very childish (despite being a grown man who's part of a gang), gets easily excited at the smallest victory, and has difficulty paying attention to people or focusing on a given task. He also seems convinced that his fellow gangsters are just his eccentric and lovable family.
** Caliborn/[[spoiler:Lord English]] is undeniably a [[ItsAllAboutMe sociopath]], but also admits to finding it very hard to think clearly, often overlooks obvious solutions to his problems in favor of unnecessarily complex workarounds, has very poor social skills, lacks impulse control and self-awareness, and admits to "thinking in colours", suggesting that he views the world in a fundamentally different way. At one point he does mention that he has a learning disorder.
* Oswald Blivius Bystander in ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' has an iron-clad WeirdnessCensor and is so out of touch that he believes that Sputnik is still up there and that hippies and punk rockers are the same thing. Ironically for someone so utterly clueless, he reads his newspaper obsessively.
* Rocky in ''Webcomic/{{Lackadaisy}}'' is impulsive to the point of recklessness, has a [[PyroManiac slightly worrying fixation with fire]], is talkative to the point of logorrhea, and regularly sports a SlasherSmile and EvilLaugh. Then he gets hit by a car and [[SanitySlippage gets worse]].
* ''Webcomic/LilCharAndTheGang'': Bulbasaur is excessively childlike even compared to the other children, can only speak in PokemonSpeak (while everyone else speaks normally), and tends to eat game pieces.
* Donovan from ''Webcomic/SilverBulletNights'' is highly intelligent and a bit socially clueless. His directness and lack of tact definitely falls outside social norms. Might be a reflection of the author's experiences as someone diagnosed on the spectrum.
* Lalli of ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'' acts a lot like [[DelusionsOfDoghood he's a cat]]. He sits on his haunches, sleeps in strange places and for extremely long periods of time, scratches doors rather than knocking when he wants someone to open them, and has engaged his teammates in social grooming. However, in spite of all his strangeness, Lalli is a pretty well-adjusted human being (apart from having NoSocialSkills and being somewhat of a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}) and has found a way to turn his quirks into a useful career as a night scout.
* At the beginning of ''Webcomic/TheStupiders'', we are told that everyone has at least one problem or quirk, but what exactly those problems are is left up to the reader to discern.
* Afkinz from ''Webcomic/{{Zoophobia}}'' does come across as rather odd. He has super-long hair that he lets his cat live in and sometimes hisses at random people.

[[folder:Web Original]]

* Creator/{{Amoridere}}:
** Toki is a rather odd case, as she has had a few conditions diagnosed and they are known (along with her being medicated for them). However, she also has the symptoms of several others undiagnosed, the symptoms being some obsessive-compulsive tendencies (as implied in the poem ''Lipstick''), mood swings, fears of being abandoned, impulse control problems, and fits of rage and violence.
** According to her description, Madgie has issues, but it's not said what they so happen to be, besides her being "psychologically backwards", leaning toward destructive impulses, and having alternate personalities. Bunny thinks that she should be institutionalized.
** Wiki/{{Killerbunnies}}:
*** Razelle has some sort of psychosis if her backstory is to go by. Unfortunately, in her fits of delirium, she is prone to committing violent acts if left unrestrained, although that could be part of some underlying impulse problem, worsened by said psychosis. Despite either of the two, be she coherent or not, she can be described as pleasant.
*** Coriander, according to her DeviantArt description, is a rather eccentric sort with bizarre obsessions of counting to nonsensical numbers, plants, beaches, and nature in general, along with suffering a short attention span and being generally unaware of where she is, even in familiar territory, in which case she may remember or she may forget.
*** Gas is described as being "not right in the head". However, considering what she does normally, which is playing with chemicals and making gases from them, this can be seen as a result of brain-damaging side-effects.
*** Frankie, as per her profile, is described as being "ambiguous and erratic", along with the fact that she is friendly, yet tends to disregard others, and that she seems to lack some understanding of her actions.
*** "Nuclear Blast" Nova's page describes her as "not being right in the head" and states that she doesn't have a comprehension of her actions and is "painfully reckless" with a small burst of rationality. It's not said if she was born that way or if her mental state was caused by a brain tumor.
*** Greastain has obsessive tendencies.
%%* ''Podcast/PretendingToBePeople'' has Keith Vigna, the screwed-up [[TheUnFavorite younger brother]] of a BigScrewedUpFamily. (Administrivia/ZeroContextExample)
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* Amir in ''WebVideo/JakeAndAmir'' is [[NoSocialSkills severely socially impaired]], often delusional, occasionally paranoid, anxious and depressed, frequently aggressive and violent, has numerous recurrent [[VerbalTic language quirks]], [[MoodSwinger changes moods rapidly]], lies constantly, engages in stalking behavior, has incredibly poor hygiene, eats a limited diet that causes him to suffer from malnourishment, and struggles with basic spelling and math.
* WebVideo/{{MarioTehPlumber}}, the online persona of an infamous Website/YouTube "reviewer" of ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' and Creator/{{Nintendo}} games, reacts with disproportionate rage to things most people wouldn't even notice, much less care about, and drops [[ClusterFBomb Cluster]]/[[AtomicFBomb Atomic F-Bombs]] [[SirSwearsALot every other word]]. He is also highly [[ItsAllAboutMe narcissistic]], acting ridiculously over-the-top in his "reviews" [[{{Troll}} to get attention]] and thinking his own opinions are superior to everybody else's while simultaneously feeling insecure, to the point where he is enraged by disagreement, let alone criticism.

** The titular character is a PsychopathicManChild that can instinctively count bullets fired, instantly recognizes the model of every gun he sees, [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny gets easily distracted]], and despite all that is an ace when killing/torturing enemies. Several characters have wondered if he is, in fact, autistic or if he has any other number of mental/psychological problems, up to and including brain damage.

''[{{beat}}]''\\

---->'''Louise:''' She's the worst kind of autistic.
---->'''Gene:''' She can't even ''count''.

** Clay Puppington has multiple traits in common with patients with BPD and [[{{Narcissist}} Narcissistic personality disorder]]. He'll swing wildly between emotions on the slightest whim and put up false personalities in an attempt to bait other people, is recklessly impulsive, engages in binge drinking, and is deathly terrified of abandonment by Coach Stopframe. He has a [[LackOfEmpathy general inability to care about others]] beyond being means to an end, has formed a grandiose self-image to make up for his feelings of [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex inferiority]], and [[AttentionWhore desperately craves attention]].

* ''Fanfic/AdventureOfTheMorningStar'': Caitlyn possibly suffers from PTSD and some sort of Dissociative disorder. When asked about her family, she has an attack and needs to pull herself back to reality.

* 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 psychopathy 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.

* The assassin [[ThePhilosopher Sho]] in the ''[[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender Avatar]]'' fan comic ''Webcomic/HowIBecameYours'' in many ways resembles an {{expy}} of Major Solf Kimblee of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. His perfectionism, macabre philosophical speculations, formal and somewhat idiosyncratic speech patterns, and LackOfEmpathy combine to give him an unsettling air. He is obviously high-functioning, competent, intelligent, and even intellectual, but ''something'' is definitely not right about him.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arcane}}'': As a child, Powder shows some signs of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borderline_personality_disorder Borderline Personality Disorder]] in that she's shown to be very impulsive and fears being abandoned, with her emotional stability easily crumbling whenever she thinks [[spoiler:her older sister Vi has left her behind or doesn't have faith in her]]. After the time skip, these symptoms increase tenfold, with the trauma of [[spoiler:accidentally killing most of her adoptive family and being seemingly abandoned by Vi]] also causing her to develop PTSD and signs of psychosis.

** ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Azula is {{manipulative|bastard}} as all get out and such a ConsummateLiar that Toph, the LivingLieDetector, can't tell when she's lying. Yet despite this, in "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheBeach The Beach]]", she proves to be [[NoSocialSkills cringe-inducingly inept]] when it comes to actually interacting with people as opposed to manipulating them. She also demonstrates one instance of rather inappropriate nigh-sexualized behavior towards her brother, though this seems mainly designed to creep him out (and was quite possibly [[RelationshipWritingFumble unintentional on the writers'/director's part]]). Even as a child, her mother wondered just what was wrong with her because she already demonstrated what amounts to AmbiguousInnocence at best and TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior at worst. In Book 3 and ''ComicBook/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheSearch'', she begins to exhibit some pretty unambiguous raging paranoia, to the point of delusions and hallucinations. It's complicated by [[WordOfGod Bryke's]] word in ''Sozin's Comet: The Final Battle'' that she turned crazy because she felt her mother [[TheUnfavorite didn't love her]] as much as Zuko and that while she could turn out better, her nation's TakeOverTheWorld policy only worsened her problems.

'''Stuart:''' Everyone has a different theory.

* WebVideo/{{MarioTehPlumber}}, an infamous Website/YouTube "reviewer" of ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' and Creator/{{Nintendo}} games, reacts with disproportionate rage to things most people wouldn't even notice, much less care about, and drops [[ClusterFBomb Cluster]]/[[AtomicFBomb Atomic F-Bombs]] [[SirSwearsALot every other word]]. He is also highly [[ItsAllAboutMe narcissistic]], acting ridiculously over-the-top in his "reviews" [[{{Troll}} to get attention]] and thinking his own opinions are superior to everybody else's while simultaneously feeling insecure, to the point where he is enraged by disagreement, let alone criticism.

* WebVideo/{{MarioTehPlumber}}, the infamous Website/YouTube "reviewer" of ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' and Creator/{{Nintendo}} games, reacts with disproportionate rage to things most people wouldn't even notice, much less care about, and drops [[ClusterFBomb Cluster]]/[[AtomicFBomb Atomic F-Bombs]] [[SirSwearsALot every other word]]. He is also highly [[ItsAllAboutMe narcissistic]], acting ridiculously over-the-top in his "reviews" [[{{Troll}} to get attention]] and thinking his own opinions are superior to everybody else's while simultaneously feeling insecure, to the point where he is enraged by disagreement, let alone criticism.

* PlayedForDrama with Dina of ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge''. She is obsessed with paleontology but doesn't really seem to understand other humans, by her own admission; at one point she gets depressed because some other girls mistook her for a handicapped child (aside from her behavior, she [[OlderThanTheyLook looks about twelve]]). Her roommate Amber has tried to help her read social cues with mixed results. The creator has gone on record saying that [[ShrugOfGod she's never been diagnosed with anything]], later acknowledging that she probably has Asperger's. For what it's worth, her parents behave similarly (at least, they're very laconic).

* Nox[[spoiler:/Norah]] from ''VideoGame/ChildOfLight'' is a chillingly cunning and manipulative young girl who forms a [[spoiler:sisterly bond]] with the titular protagonist based on nothing but lies, breaks into an unhinged SlasherSmile when showing her true colours and tries to murder the protagonist, has [[LackOfEmpathy zero empathy]] and actively discriminates against people of lower classes. [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior All this coming from a girl who appears to be in her early- to mid-]]''[[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior teens]]''.

*** Margaret the lunch lady is a similar case to Nugget, also having FishEyes and referring to characters by descriptive nicknames. She is also clearly rather [[ScatterbrainedSenior scatterbrained]], treats every task she's given as if the world depends on it, and considers ''murder'' a suitable punishment for [[WouldHurtAChild children who enter the school to early]]. Even her own sister admits she has no idea what's wrong with her.

* Nox[[spoiler:/Norah]] from ''VideoGame/ChildOfLight'' is a chillingly cunning and manipulative young girl who forms a [[spoiler:sisterly bond]] with the titular protagonist based on nothing but lies, breaks into an unhinged SlasherSmile when showing her true colours, has [[LackOfEmpathy zero empathy]] and actively discriminates against people of lower classes. [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior All this coming from a girl who appears to be in her early- to mid-]]''[[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior teens]]''.

** While Smart S. is much more social adept and expressive than the former two, his extreme focus on being popular, fantasies about everyone adoring him, jealousy at anyone who seems more popular than him and him being rather prone to fits of stressed out anger could be interpreted as something more than just a large ego.

** On top of her PTSD/trauma, Athena Cykes has sensitive hearing to the point of being able to read others' emotions, giving her sensory overload in large crowds. Independently of her hyperempathy, she also runs her hands through her RapunzelHair when she's flustered (stimming) and goes nonverbal, as well as catatonic, when she has a flashback/panic attack.

* ''Film/AWedding1978'': Muffin's sister Buffy rarely talks, often puts her hands against her ears, splashes water at her own reflection, has difficulty counting, and strips down in public to stand in front of a nude painting of her sister.

* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' games, due to having LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, tend to have a number of characters exhibit odd mannerisms and quirks: