Boards›Story, Art, & Sound

What makes Jhin a Pscyhopath?

Falke01·9/20/2019, 5:45:36 PM·4 votes·4,740 views

Why is Jhin, who shows no evidence of Psychopathy other than being cold enough to take innocent lives (Which is nearly the majority of human champions in league BTW) the only champion explicitly called a Psychopath? He's an interesting character with good aesthetics, but Serial Killers and the disorders such people tend to have (I.E. Narcissism, Antisocial Disorder) are far from interchangeable. Jhin IS a strange and obsessive serial killer, but a very inaccurate depiction of a Psychopath.

There is little to no evidence of grandiosity (His obsession with art does not make him grandiose.), narcissism, spitefulness, pathological contempt, shamelessness, or stress tolerance anywhere in his personality from what I've seen, or heard from his voice lines. He only seems to lack morality; the best argument for his temperament could be that he understands the enormity of his crimes but commits them anyway. For anyone who would say "He hides his personality" or "You can't tell who a Psychopath is and isn't", actually no, they are not enigmas and you can very easily tell in most cases...

Qiyana and Mordekaiser are both literally perfect overt depictions of what Riot claims Jhin is. Qiyana is a self-centered authoritarian and brazenly power/attention-seeking Narcissist who is disgusted by all who she perceives to be inferior to her, including her own family members, whom she clearly feels no love for. Mordekaiser is a grandiose, manipulative, domination-obsessed and violently overzealous warlord with no compassion or in his own words, "No Remorse".

So why all of the weirdness and what appears to be a misdiagnosis specifically with Jhin? Unless you're a Rioter, don't say "Jhin is a Psychopath he just hides it" cause I'm not gonna take bad, lazy ass answer unless It's from the people/person who made him. I really hope he's included in the upcoming Zed comic, but I doubt It'll cover that part of Zed's life. Anyways, this is just some nitpicky thing I've wondered because I have a hard-on for Psychology.

15 Comments

4 Step Cadence9/20/2019, 6:44:21 PM4 votes

First of all, Odin(who wrote Jhin's color story) is the writer of the Zed comic, and he confirmed that, yes, Jhin is in it, as is Shen, Akali, Kayn, and another character(they're on the cover, at least).

Second of all... Hi. I'm the person the SA&S boards call when someone wants to know about Jhin, because, to put it simply, I am Jhin. I dedicate my time to portraying him in the most believable way possible through roleplaying and cosplaying, and developing him through art and writing. Besides the Rioters that made him, I'm probably your best bet in terms of addressing your concerns.

With that being said...

Jhin is an actor. His whole thing is pretending to be someone he isn't. From his name, to his personality, to his face. Its all an act, a lie, the lie. To blend into a crowd of "normal" people, one must pretend to be "normal," and that's just what Jhin does. When Jhin isn't performing, he is a "normal" person in the crowd, a forgettable face of no significance. So, yes, he does hide it, because his whole character revolves around hiding who, hiding what, he truly is.

His ego/narcissism comes from the fact that he thinks he is perfection(and his Dark Cosmic skin takes this to a whole new level), but yet, he's self-conscious at the same time. He does see others as below him, but in a different way than you might expect. His whole thing is wanting to make people beautiful and perfect because he finds them boring and ugly. He is also craving attention and isn't fond of the cabal's control.

He is charming and manipulative, able to convince people to do things for him(like the maid in his color story).

He is extremely grandiose(or at least he thinks he is). I believe the entire point of his outfit and such is to accentuate his peacocking and make him appear to be bold and grand(I think they used colors similar to royalty or something for this, like gold, red, and purple). The scale of his performances, and what he does, is also very elaborate and grand.

And, I have to ask, did you read his bio and color story, or are you just judging him based off of his in-game interactions? Because a lot of this is covered in the lore, and also his champion insights from back when he was released.

I can go into more detail if you'd like. I have to leave soon so this was typed out rather quickly just going based off of my memory. I do hope it helps, though.

Ebonmaw Dragon9/20/2019, 6:53:05 PM4 votes

I'm not a psychologist, but, Jhin is not "cold enough to take innocent lives" because he doesn't even recognize the ones that he kills as "persons"; for him, living beings are tools, the paint and the canvas that he uses for his art.

Now i will take what it says in the a page about Pscyhopaths and what we know about Jhin, and compare:

Boldness. Low fear including stress-tolerance, toleration of unfamiliarity and danger, and high self-confidence and social assertiveness: https://i.imgur.com/67kBv9O.png Check

https://www.healthyplace.com/personality-disorders/psychopath/psychopathic-traits-and-characteristics-of-a-psychopath

Glibness and superficial charm (a lot of people consider him a chaming person) Grandiose sense of self-worth ("I cannot be good. I must be perfection." "My talent justifies all actions.") Being conning and manipulative (He manipulated the maid in "The Man with the steel cane") Callousness and lack of empathy (This one is obvious) Failure to accept responsibility for own acts ("I never hurt anyone. It is the performance that kills." "My critics are... usually short-lived." "They call me mad. All artists are mad.") A lack of realistic, long-term goals (Wants to be the best artist of Runeterra... considering that his art is killing people in gruesome ways "My genius will be understood - eventually.") Impulsivity ("I am a slave to this passion." "It is only when the gun fires that I am alive." "I can't live without the euphoria of performance.") Irresponsibility ("An icon doesn't have to explain himself." "I'm misunderstood. Beauty can't be evil.") Poor behavior controls ("This art is a compulsion. I cannot resist it." "I envy silence... because I must be loud.") Revocation of conditional release (Well, the lore tell us that: "a cabal within the ruling council conspired to secretly free Jhin and turn him into a weapon of terror") Criminal versatility...

Gamma Sector9/20/2019, 8:07:09 PM1 votes

He's a psychopath because he doesn't appreciate the lives he takes. He doesn't see them as PEOPLE, only sacks of red paint for him to burst onto a canvas. He views people as nothing more than a tool for his art. THAT's why he is a psychopath.

tamaya9/20/2019, 11:35:13 PM1 votes

you're such an overthinker. "Beauty" is supreme for Jhin,other things are worthless.

GreenLore9/22/2019, 11:12:44 AM1 votes

Most people don't know the exact definition of "psychopath", but the term is usually associated with people who lack any form of empathy(and especially with murderers who act like this). And to be honest, if we look at the human champs in the game(not counting former humans that were twisted by magic, like Thresh or Aatrox), then Jhin might be the only human to have a total lack of empathy.

Because even though other champs have no problem taking human life, they are usually confirmed to do this for some sort of higher goal(like Swain who wants to make Noxus stronger in order to protect it from Mordekaiser) or are at least known to have empathy for someone else(like Draven who does care about his brother).

There are other champs who might be psychopaths, or might have been psychopaths before they've turned into something inhuman(Morde and Hecarim are strong contenders for that), but its usually not made entirely clear, as we never got to know exactly if they don't feel empathy for anyone, or if its just not mentioned because the lore can't cover every detail of a champ.