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Chariset
Since: Jan, 2001
18th Aug, 2011 11:21:57 AM
G-Rated Mental Illness among the Eccentric Townsfolk
Mad Hatter may qualify depending on the character (some Mad Hatters are violent and dangerous)
geekanddiva
Since: Dec, 1969
19th Aug, 2011 12:11:44 PM
They all three fit some of the characters I was thinking of - thank you!
Where do eccentric harmless mad people fit? The town nutters, as it were. They don't do anything - you notice them in film/TV and the characters notice them, and then they don't do anything - they just appear again a few times for comic effect. And you find them in Dickens too - eccentrics who don't talk at all or who talk nonsense. There's a feel-good factor about them - I'm not talking about scary mad people.