History YMMV / MyFriendDahmer

* ParanoiaFuel: That shy, awkward but generally harmless kid in your class? The one you might even come to like if you ever spoke to him? He could be a monstrous serial killer in the making.

* RealismInducedHorror: The central ''premise'' of the comic book is that your awkward classmate is suffering genuine psychological problems that make him a dangerous threat to the people around him, with no realizing anything is wrong until it is too late.

** A severely neurologically-messed up young man with a blend of severe loneliness and severe Borderline Personality Disorder who was never purposefully malicious nor a {{Sadist}}. A guy who was simply driven by sexual impulses so insatiable and uncontrollable that he was basically driven to kill...and expressed genuine disgust and remorse over his actions. Even many of the people in ''law enforcement'' (including Det. Patrick Kennedy, who interrogated him) and ''forensic psychiatrists'' have this interpretation of Dahmer. For many, he was truly an anomaly among serial killers... one who seemed sympathetic, humble and expressed regret.
** An absolute sociopath who put on a false front of being pitiful and remorseful and who...while pretty upfront about what he did...may still have lied about details concerning his mindset, motivations or even details about his life concerning what he did with animals.

* TheWoobie: Jeffrey Dahmer, for much of the story, until he takes a turn for the sinister and then murders Stephen Hicks [[note]]It helps that he's played by the sweet, adorable PrettyBoy, Creator/RossLynch in the movie[[/note]]. Oliver along with the awkward, ever-henpecked, Lionel Dahmer and maybe Jeff's kid-brother, David would be straighter examples.

* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: Ross Lynch as the titular Jeffrey Dahmer from the 2017 film.

** Mr. Burlman, during Derf and his friends prank call of him. Derf and his friends are understandably ashamed of this.
* WhenHeSmiles: Subverted in that this ''is'' Jeffrey "Milwaukee Cannibal" Dahmer we're talking about, here...
** Creator/RossLynch has a lovely smile and he uses that smile a few times in TheMovie...but the last time is when he picks up Stephen Hicks, whom he would soon kill.
** Dahmer ''himself'' was this in RealLife. The world saw a morose guy but there are some [[https://i.ibb.co/Ws8zHWt/Annotation-2020-05-21-023605.png rare instances]] where he [[https://i.ibb.co/tMXkGLg/Annotation-2020-05-04-182855.png did smile]] a weirdly {{Adorkable}}, nerdy smile...which would be really cute if it wasn't for the fact that it's one of the most ''horrifying'' RealLife [[SerialKiller Serial Killers]] doing the smile. Even said cute awkward smile takes on a creepy UncannyValley aura. Dahmer had the CuteBookworm potential but he ruined it by being...well...[[TheAlcoholic the alcoholic]], [[BookDumb underachiever]], [[ImAHumanitarian cannibal]]-[[ILoveTheDead necrophile]], [[SerialKiller murderer]], ''Jeffrey Dahmer''.

* MisaimedFandom: Addressed by Derf in the foreword. He wants nothing to do with {{Loony Fan}}s who idolize and are [[MonsterFangirl romantically attracted]] to [[https://youtu.be/gWoEBVogrbs serial killers]], which regrettably exist, so if they're reading the book because of that, he'd prefer they not [[note]]Sadly; It's bound to get worse considering a bona-fide PrettyBoy like Creator/RossLynch plays Dahmer in the movie version[[/note]].

** Mr. Burlman, during Derf and his friends prank call of him. Derf and his friends are understandably ashamed of this.

* FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: Not commented on in-movie or comics but some folks in RealLife have commented on teenage Dahmer's appearance...Compounded [[https://i.ibb.co/FDNDNkP/My-Friend-Dahmer-image0001.jpg by seeing]] Creator/RossLynch playing [[https://i.ibb.co/nQQnWj6/my-friend-dahmer.jpg the guy]][[note]]Lynch on left. Dahmer on right. Scary.[[/note]]. He was a nice-looking youth in an awkwardly hunky yet [[{{Megane}} nerdy]] sort of way.
* RealityIsUnrealistic: TheMovie and GraphicNovel actually downplay the Dahmer parent's fights...making them more like regular arguments. In RealLife; The fights would sometimes be ''so severe'' that they would, at one point, even ''pull knives'' on each other. The divorce lawyers and divorce court would describe their case as "The worst they've ever seen".

* WhenHeSmiles: Subverted in that this ''is'' Jeffrey "Milwaukee Cannibal" Dahmer we're talking about, here...
** Creator/RossLynch has a lovely smile and he uses that smile a few times in TheMovie...but the last time is when he picks up Stephen Hicks, whom he would soon kill.
** Dahmer ''himself'' was this in RealLife. The world saw a morose guy but there are some [[https://i.ibb.co/Ws8zHWt/Annotation-2020-05-21-023605.png rare instances]] where he [[https://i.ibb.co/tMXkGLg/Annotation-2020-05-04-182855.png did smile]] a weirdly {{Adorkable}}, nerdy smile...which would be really cute if it wasn't for the fact that it's one of the most ''horrifying'' RealLife [[SerialKiller Serial Killers]] doing the smile. Even said cute awkward smile takes on a creepy UncannyValley aura. Dahmer had the CuteBookworm potential but he ruined it by being...well...[[TheAlcoholic the alcoholic]], [[BookDumb underachiever]], [[ImAHumanitarian cannibal]]-[[ILoveTheDead necrophile]], [[SerialKiller murderer]], ''Jeffrey Dahmer''.

** Mike's final encounter with Jeff, driving him to his house in the dead of night. Derf notes he was probably only a couple of feet aware from the remains of Steven Hicks at that point, completely unaware.

* TheWoobie: Jeffrey Dahmer, for much of the story, until he takes a turn for the sinister and then murders Stephen Hicks [[note]]It helps that he's played by the sweet, adorable PrettyBoy, Creator/RossLynch in the movie[[/note]]. Oliver along with the awkward, ever-henpecked, Lionel Dahmer and maybe Jeff's kid-brother, David would be straighter examples.

** Mike's final encounter with Jeff, driving him to his house in the dead of night. Derf notes he was probably only a couple of feet aware from the remains of Steven Hicks at that, completely unaware.

** Somewhere in between the two above examples.

** A severely neurologically-messed up young man with a blend of severe loneliness and severe Borderline Personality Disorder who was never purposefully malicious nor a {{Sadist}} who was simply driven by sexual impulses so insatiable and uncontrollable that he was basically driven to kill...and expressed genuine disgust and remorse over his actions. Even many of the people in ''law enforcement'' (including Det. Patrick Kennedy, who interrogated him) and ''forensic psychiatrists'' have this interpretation of Dahmer. For many, he was truly an anomaly among serial killers... one who seemed sympathetic, humble and expressed regret.