Line #43 Main/MentalHandicapMoralDeficiency


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7	The intellectual counterpoint to the EvilCripple and the inversion of EvilGenius, this character's morals are as repugnant as his mentality is limited. He might be diagnosed with a real-life condition (however [[HollywoodAutism inaccurately]]) in-story, or it might be left deliberately vague, but either way, his intellectual impairment and immorality go hand in hand.
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9	There can be a number of reasons for this combination. Perhaps the character is so severely limited in his ability to understand what is and is not acceptable that [[ObliviouslyEvil he simply does not know any better]]. This can go double if he is surrounded by equally or even more malicious abled people who enable or encourage his behavior. Perhaps he is angry at a world that ostracizes or rejects him because of his disability and lashes out because of this. Perhaps his evil and his handicap, at least in theory, have nothing to do with one another; you don't have to be a genius to be dangerous, and evil people come in all forms. Maybe he's an [[AntiIntellectualism anti-intellectual]] with [[ConMan a vested interest in peddling bullshit]]. Or perhaps the writer is simply "othering" people with nonstandard intellectual gifts; needless to say, this trope, like EvilCripple, can be terribly ableist depending on how it's employed. No matter how it's played, potential for UnfortunateImplications runs ''extremely'' high.
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11	The trope can, and often does, overlap with DumbMuscle, especially if the handicapped character is being manipulated or used by a relative, friend, or associate who does the actual planning. If this is the case, there's a decent chance that the smarter character in the BrainsAndBrawn duo is physically disabled in some way; writers enjoy pairing this character with the EvilCripple. It can also easily overlap with PsychopathicManchild, though the two should not be conflated with one another -- PsychopathicManchild is about a character who is emotionally stunted, while this trope concerns villainous characters with intellectual disabilities. It's not unusual for a character like this to also be portrayed as suffering some form of mental illness, and thus overlap with TheMentallyDisturbed, AxCrazy, and InsaneEqualsViolent. However, it's very important to remember that mental disability and mental illness are two different things.
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13	Compare InsaneEqualsViolent, EvilCripple, EunuchsAreEvil, DepravedDwarf, and DisabilityAsAnExcuseForJerkassery. Contrast EvilGenius and DumbIsGood. When this trope is compared to [[TheSoulless being literally devoid of a soul]], check NeurodiversityIsSupernatural. If the handicap is the result of inbreeding, this overlaps with InbredAndEvil. This should go without saying, but Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease.[[noreallife]]
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15	!!Examples:
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18	[[folder:Comic Books]]
19	* ''ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}'': For a brief moment in the early 2000s, longtime Aquaman nemesis and [[WouldHurtAChild child murderer]] Black Manta was {{retcon}}ned into having a crippling case of HollywoodAutism. This resulted in the previously articulate and verbose Manta being reduced to a murderous drone who could only repeat the words "swim swim!" while trying to kill Aquaman. The writers actually went so far as to suggest that Manta's evil was a product of his autism, and that cured of it and his mental handicap, he might prove good. Aquaman proceeded to magically cure Manta, and was swiftly betrayed by the villain who revealed he'd always been evil -- but the fact Aquaman thought it would work demonstrates that the King of the Seas apparently believes autism makes you a psychopath.
20	* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'':
21	** Arkham inmate Amygdala is a gigantic man with the intellectual capacity of a five-year-old and tremendous brute strength, as well as a horrific temper. He's often manipulated into acting as muscle for other members of Batman's RoguesGallery.
22	** Humpty Dumpty (most prominently featured in ''ComicBook/ArkhamAsylumLivingHell'') is a big, cheerful, affable man, Humphrey doesn't intend to be evil. Unfortunately, he is afflicted with a compulsion to fix anything that he perceives as broken and decided that he learns best by taking things apart and then putting them back together, which resulted in him destroying a train, an elevator, a clock tower, and eventually a vast swath of Gotham City's skyline before finally [[spoiler:accidentally killing his [[GruesomeGrandparent abusive grandmother]] by trying to take her apart and put her back together]]. Funnily enough, this makes him one of the few Batman baddies who meets the legal definition for insanity, as [[ObliviouslyEvil he genuinely doesn't understand that what he's doing is wrong]].
23	* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':
24	** Bizarro was originally written as simply having an [[BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad inverted sense of morality]], and despite their broken speech patterns, the Bizarros of the Silver Age were often capable of feats that would require substantial intellect. In the modern era, however, Bizarro is more often than not written as a mentally disabled Superman, [[HeroWithAnFInGood meaning well, but lacking the intellectual capability to follow through]].
25	** Non, General Zod's [[TheBrute giant]], mute henchman, was intellectually disabled by way of a {{lobotomy}} forced on him by Krypton's ruling council when he dared to voice his support for Jor-El's theories about Krypton exploding.
26	* In ''ComicBook/{{Wanted}}'', there is Fuckwit, the "Down Syndrome clone" of the local SupermanSubstitute.
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29	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
30	* ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'': The scripts for the early films present a young Jason Voorhees as a physically disfigured and mentally handicapped boy suffering from encephalitis. As an adult, Jason, [[MaskingTheDeformity masking his condition]] with first a pillowcase and then a hockey mask, goes on to become a prolific {{serial killer}} and mass murderer.
31	* ''Film/TheHillsHaveEyes1977'': Mercury, [[CannibalClan The Clan]]'s lookout, is portrayed as the mentally stunted "pet" of the family, speaking in a slow, thick voice, struggling with language, and generally being accepted as a source of amusement to his older, more competent, and more vicious brothers, Pluto (who, courtesy of [[Creator/MichaelBerryman his actor]]'s real-life hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, is [[EvilCripple physically handicapped]]) and Mars (the only one of Papa Jupiter's sons who isn't disabled in some fashion).
32	* ''Film/HotFuzz'': Lurch is a hulking behemoth but also a simpleton unable to vocalize anything other than a high-pitched affirmative "Yarp", and he still willingly works for the villains without any remorse.
33	* ''Film/MadMaxBeyondThunderdome'' has an {{antivillain}}ous version in Master-Blaster, a tag-team duo comprising the [[EvilGenius smart]] but [[DepravedDwarf dwarfed]] Master and the hulking giant Blaster, who suffers from Down's Syndrome and cannot survive Bartertown's ruthless society without Master's guidance. Blaster acts as Master's enforcer, enabling the two to rule Bartertown as tyrants until Auntie Entity and Max spike their wheel.
34	* ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'': Rictus Erectus, youngest son of Immortan Joe, is a towering seven-foot giant with severe mental deficiencies that render him about intellectually equal to a prepubescent boy. He's also physically disabled, requiring an oxygen tank in order to breathe, though this does not stop him from being an [[HandicappedBadass unstoppable fighter]]. As is often the with this trope, he's contrasted with his [[DarkLordOnLifeSupport ill]] but mentally adept father, and especially his eldest brother, Corpus Colossus, who is highly intelligent but [[DepravedDwarf dwarfed]] due to brittle bone disease.
35	* Implied to be the case with [[spoiler:Robert]] in ''Film/{{Searching}}'', who [[spoiler:catfished, stalked, and eventually thought he had killed Margo. His mother Rosemary repeatedly says he's "different" from other kids, struggles fitting in, and suffers from fits of rage]]. It's left somewhat ambiguous that [[spoiler:Vick]] may just be making excuses for him, but it's at least strongly implied that something is mentally wrong.
36	* ''Film/SlingBlade'' mostly but not entirely averts this trope. Karl is a mentally handicapped man who spent most of his life in a mental institution. While Karl is kind and caring towards people who reciprocate his friendship and has a traditional concept of morality and justice, his only solution to major moral problems in his life (whether it's his adulterous mother or his friend's abusive stepfather) involves murdering the offending individuals.
37	* ''Film/SupermanII'': During the sentencing scene at the beginning of the film, Non, Zod's [[SilentAntagonist mute]], [[TheBrute giant]] [[DumbMuscle henchman]] is described as being as evil and violent as he is intellectually impaired. This is borne out by the rest of the film, where Non is little more than a thug for Zod, doing whatever the General tells him to with the same blank expression on his face.
38	* ''Franchise/TheTexasChainsawMassacre'': The franchise has always portrayed iconic slasher Leatherface as intellectually disabled and submissive to his far more overtly malicious family members. He's mute save for his ability to make animal noises, communicates only by means of whichever mask he is wearing, and on at least one occasion is flat-out described by another family member as "simple".
39	* ''Film/{{Titane}}'': Alexia is heavily implied to have been brain-damaged in a car accident when she was a child, leaving her with little emotion and strange reactions. There's a growing emphasis on the plate in her head as she gains the will to kill.
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42	[[folder:Literature]]
43	* ''Literature/TheElenium'': [[TheBrute Adus]] is a physically disfigured and almost nonverbal killing machine who suffers from berserk rages and enjoys killing and raping anyone he encounters. Despite the best efforts of his employer, Martel, Adus is barely literate, incapable of looking after his own hygiene, and utterly useless for any tasks that don't involve murder or immediate and straightforward violence. Alternately described as "frighteningly stupid", "barely human", and a "walking battleaxe", Adus is pretty clearly disabled in some fashion, even if the characters, living in a medieval Europe analogue, lack the language to describe him as such.
44	* ''Literature/TheSoundAndTheFury'': The intellectually disabled Benjy Compson is castrated for attempting to rape his sister. Many of Creator/WilliamFaulkner's other novels utilize this trope; for instance, the severely impaired Ike Snopes in ''The Hamlet'' (who can't even speak, apart from pained efforts to sound out his own name) is discovered [[BestialityIsDepraved having sexual relations with a neighbor's cow]].
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47	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
48	* ''Series/CriminalMinds'':
49	** Joe (no last name) from Season 3's "[[Recap/CriminalMindsS3E14Damaged Damaged]]" is a mentally disabled killer who murdered the parents of one of his friends in a rage when the father struck him. Years after the murders, he is arrested by the BAU when the carnival he works at returns to town.
50	** Lucas Turner of the Season 4 finale "[[Recap/CriminalMindsS4E25ToHell To Hell...]]"/"[[Recap/CriminalMindsS4E26AndBack ...And Back]]" suffers from both autism and "mild mental retardation" and is entirely under the thumb of his ruthless older brother Mason, whom he'd accidentally [[EvilCripple crippled]] when they were younger. Kidnapping homeless men and women for the quadriplegic Mason, Lucas kills them with a hammer, then [[FedToPigs feeds their bodies to the family's pigs]] while Mason watches.
51	** Benjamin "Cy" Bradstone of Season 7's "[[Recap/CriminalMindsS7E2Proof Proof]]" is a severely intellectually disabled man who is also a psychopath and sexual sadist. Having been rejected by his sister-in-law after molesting her when they were teenagers, he stalks, disfigures, blinds, and murders women who remind him of her. He later graduates to not only blinding his victims but taking away their senses of touch, taste, etc., with sulfuric acid, culminating in [[EvilUncle an assault on his niece]] that leaves her permanently mutilated.
52	* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': In [[ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} the comics]], Melvin "Gladiator" Potter is a mentally ill man who suffers from the delusional belief that he is a Roman gladiator and the Kingpin is his Emperor. In the show, Melvin is instead presented as mentally disabled, admitting to requiring help from his friend Betsy in order to tell right from wrong and living in fear of Kingpin, who has threatened to harm Betsy if Melvin doesn't work for him. When Matt defeats Melvin in a fight and offers to save Betsy from Kingpin, Melvin, depicted as an IdiotSavant when it comes to weapons and armor design, quickly switches sides and begins designing costumes for Matt.
53	* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'': Downplayed with Charlie. He's significantly mentally disabled and is a generally pretty decent person...[[DamnedByFaintPraise compared to the rest of the Gang]]. By normal people's standards, he's a manipulative, violent stalker who's repeatedly kidnaps people, and there's been several moments (most famously "[[Recap/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphiaS08E04CharlieAndDeeFindLove Charlie And Dee Find Love]]") where it's made clear that, despite his disabilities, he's still very much capable of genuine, intentional malice.
54	* ''Series/{{Justified}}'':
55	** Wade Messer, drug dealer, drug addict, petty thief, and accessory to murder is described by Raylan as "a board-certified imbecile" and his behaviour over the course of the show backs this up. His occasional confederate, erstwhile employer, and eventual murderer, alligator poacher, and drug-runner Dewey Crowe, is in a similar boat, being scarcely literate, barely articulate, and unable to tell a good idea from a bad one even if it's explained to him at length. His cousin, Dilly Crowe, is even more impaired, and his brothers, Daryl Jr and Danny regard him as such an impediment to the family smuggling business that they eventually kill him.
56	** Choo-Choo, a contractor with Tigerhawk Securities, suffers from mental disability as a result of being hit by shrapnel while serving in the army.
57	* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'': {{Subverted\|Trope}} for drama in the episode "[[Recap/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnitS3E6Redemption Redemption]]". John Hawkins is convinced that Roger Berry, a man he put away years ago who has just been released, is responsible for a series of murders and rapes despite the fact that Roger is mentally disabled and his mother protests his innocence. However, in this case, Roger has an airtight alibi, and John's team begins to be skeptical of Roger being guilty because of his disability. John insists that Roger is smarter than he looks. Ultimately, John accepts that he got the wrong man and put an innocent person in prison; thankfully, the real killer -- who was framing Roger for his crimes -- is captured by John by the end of the episode.
58	* ''Series/{{Oz}}'': Cyril O'Reily suffered brain damage during a street fight and has the mental faculties of a kindergartner. While normally a placid fellow, he becomes extremely violent when agitated, and his naivete means he has no problem with going along with his brother Ryan's schemes.
59	* In ''Series/{{Psychoville}}'', it's not clear what is wrong with David: he may have an mental disorder or a FictionalDisability, but he's extremely unnerving, creepy, and hyper-focused on serial killers, which leads to him killing several people.
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62	[[folder:Video Games]]
63	* Debilitas from ''VideoGame/HauntingGround'' seems to act like a dog with the mind of a toddler, and he only really wants to play with the pretty dolly. The problem is Fiona is the "pretty dolly" and he'll ''[[AndCallHimGeorge crush her to death with his hug]]'' if he gets his hands on her. [[spoiler:You later find out he's a failed experiment, being a [[OurHomonculiAreDifferent homunculus]] created from a dog's placenta, and that he ''can'' be [[HeelFaceTurn spared and even redeemed]] if you make the right choices]].
64	* {{Defied\|Trope}} with Sigma of ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}''. He's afflicted by [[FictionalDisability a black hole-induced mental condition]] akin to schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder, but the reason why he works for [[NebulousEvilOrganisation Talon]] has nothing to do with said condition making him evil. He's a perfectly noble scientist and [[TokenGoodTeammate easily its nicest member]], but [[ObliviouslyEvil he's led on to believe that Talon is some kind of charitable institution allowing him to advance his work for the betterment of humanity]], with Talon exploiting his inability to fully understand what's happening to him [[PersonOfMassDestruction to weaponize his devastating gravity powers]].
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67	[[folder:Webcomics]]
68	* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', TheBrute Thog is a simpleminded BloodKnight who takes childlike glee in taking a battleaxe to everyone in his path. Unfortunately, this makes him useful DumbMuscle for the {{Card Carrying Villain}}s of the Linear Guild. Fortunately, it means that his murderous rampages can be reined in with fudge ripple ice cream.
69	-->''"[[AllLowercaseLetters t]]hog like breaking stuff."''
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Context Main / MentalHandicapMoralDeficiency