My evil character is called Lord Fenedor Contemno. He was a happy man, with a wife. Then his wife went missing and a few weeks later she was found dead. He is determined to find out who did it and avenge her death. It was a horrible murder, and when the body was found it drove Fenedor over the edge, and made him become the psycho that he is. Another blow was that the necklace he had given her on their wedding day was missing, and because she left after an argument he never knew if she took it off or if it was stolen. It was a big argument and Fenedor shouted ar her making her leave the house in a stress. He never got the chance to say he was sorry - and that he loved her with all his heart. He believes that if he catches whoever murdered his wife she will come back to life, and they will continue their life as a happy couple. I've been thinking for a long time, and I don't know how to make him appear as psycho as I want him to be. Does anyone have any tips? Thankyou
How 'psycho' do you want him to be? It seems like most people around here equate being 'psychotic' with being sadistic and violent and totally ****ed up, but that's not really true of the real world. Mental illness or instability could mean anything, really. He could be a perfectly normal person, who wets himself and freaks out at the sight of a particular shade of orange. There is no definitive structure for having a psychically deranged character...
He is not a psycho those who are typically 'psychopaths' are those unable to emphasise, or feel remorse for their actions therefore, your character could be perfectly charming and sociable but unconsciously or consciously do hurtful things to others with/without realising they are hurtful get mah driftz? I think your character is suffers more from psychoticism than psychopathy ... I suggest you do alot of research into these two terms before writing
Thankyou, both of you. I couldn't think of the word to describe him, so I asked someone and they said psycho. He's..I don't know how to explain it.. that's why I'm having so much trouble making him appear how I want him to be.
There's your problem. If it's not real in your head, you can never make it real on the page. Define the character for yourself, and making him pop off the page will be easier.
pychopath vs. sociopath What you describe is more of a sociopath then a psychopath per se. Psychosis is the inability to tell truth from fantasy (according to the DSM-IV) which is why people who have extreme bipolar can be psychotic at times when they're manic. A sociopath on the other hand finds nothing wrong with what they do, and they have zero conscience. The sad thing is, this is evident at a young age; my sister is a 2nd grade schoolteacher and she has a girl in her class right now who is a sociopath. And she generally gets one about every other year on average too...
The really chilling anti-heroes are those that seem normal... almost... but what IS the strange look in their eye/the THING in their back shed/attic...
Big difference between sociopaths, socio-maniacs and someone who is suffering from, for example, schizofrenia. The first one is most likely to turn violent. His image of the world is often paired to narsistic thoughts of some sort. They believe others do not deserve to live, or simply doesn't see them as equals. A socio-maniac (not sure if this is the correct english therm) is someone who mixes the real world with a fantasy world, unlike the sociopath, who lives in the real world but thinks he is more important then the rest. He is most likely to see things that don't exist, living in a dream rather then the real world. A schizofrenic person has trouble with other people. It may be linked to a severe case of paranoid. He will believe people are watching him, people are eavesdropping, or that people want to hurt him in some way. Please note that none of these things are specific to the name. Mental instability is a difficult subject, but worth studieing.
A psycho? He could be always carrying something around and fiddling with it, saying it makes him feel relaxed. For example: he walks around with a pencil and a sharpener and sharpens his pencil all the time. Just an idea
It's probably impossible to come up with a believable mentally disturbed character without reading case studies or knowing one. Fortunately, there are some books out there written in a popular style. And if you can't find any, I'll be happy to show you the collection I have deep in my cellar behind the locked steel door.
Here's another approach: Do it from the opposite end. Instead of fixating on making him a sociopath that adheres to the DSM IV, just write a nasty character. Make him internally consistent, and understand his mental landscape in clear terms. Then write him. It might be easier than going and reading case studies and attempting to gain a working understanding of clinical psychosis or whatever. Think of the most violent or otherwise suitably unpleasant person you know IRL, and use bits from him to build your character.
"If you read a book on medicine, you think you have all the symptoms. If you read a book on psychiatry, you think your neighbours have all the symptoms." A good book on psychopathy is "Without Conscience" by Robert D. Hare, PhD, ISBN 1-57230-451-0. It is about how to identify psychopaths in your life and cope with them. Dr. Hare is a leading researching in psychopathy and has developed the definitive test for psychopathy.
The novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest explores the minds of psychotics. That would be a good reference source.
I absolutely love "psychos" lol, i just love the idea of eternal struggles to come to grips with the mind, something that can never truely be harnessed or guessed.Trying to get a grip on the mind would be much like trying to keep air in a jar, the tiniest crack or hole and it's off again, ie hard to keep a lid on. Also, with psychos, the only people that can really help them are themselves, people can guide, but nothing more. I hope you post a bit about yer work, it would be very interesting!
