Is Zoe a Sociopath?

Talos of Altmora·11/22/2017, 1:22:09 PM·9 votes·1,086 views
Character traits of a sociopath by Dr Robert Hare

Zoe is shaping up to be the most interesting of the Targonians, but I don't think for the reasons the lore team wanted. (see This and this this for examples.) Zoe seems to be disliked, in fact, one thing in both posts that seems prevalent in the comments is that Zoe is a Sociopath of some kind. While diagnosing fiction characters is often disliked, I decided to research it a little bit to see how much truth their is to it. Keep in mind that this is not a completely fool proof diagnosis and that I am biased. If you have evidence to the contrary, please post it in the comments. I will also put up a pool to vote for yourselves.

Factor 1: Personality “Aggressive narcissism” Glibness/superficial charm Now this is just personal, but while I thought she was a cute kid, her interactions, if you think about them for a little bit, are kind of creepy

Grandiose sense of self-worth Zoe's quotes and Bio see to imply she does not think as humans as her equals, and sees them in terms of herself (her reaction to killing Ez is "But now how is he gonna be my first kiss? He's dead!")

Pathological lying Hard to say if she does this.

Cunning/manipulative Her aspect seems to fit this, it is a spirit of Trickery after all. Zoe herself does not seem particularly adept at it though, as she doesn't have that much experience in the ways of socialization.

Lack of remorse or guilt In her short Story She killed town guards. Now, I am tried of hearing the whole "she sees them as ants" argument, but she has killed people, and she knows they are, or were, like her.

Shallow affect (genuine emotion is short-lived and egocentric) When she kills an enemy Sol, who she supposedly cares for: "I'm gonna miss that cosmic dragon... Oh look, butterflies!" and seems to get over any trauma relatively quickly

Callousness; lack of empathy See the Lack of Remorse part, She doesn't seem to have that much in the way of empathy anymore.

Failure to accept responsibility for his or her own actions Same as the above.

Factor 2: Case history “Socially deviant lifestyle.”

Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom Zoe doesn't care for her job as Targon's divine messenger, she just does what she wants, and the message comes from some event that she set in motion.

Parasitic lifestyle Zoe's needs seem to be taken care of by the aspect, and she needs it to do what she wants.

Poor behavioral control Zoe is impulsive, and causally killed the guards. and she has an aforementioned tendency to be hedonistic.

Lack of realistic long-term goals Zoe does not have to seem any goals, at all.

Impulsivity See poor behavioral control

Irresponsibility Zoe, As I have said, doesn't seem to care about the death's of the guardsmen or the tower. Even early in her life, she didn't care for her studies that much either.

Juvenile delinquency Zoe seems to have had problems with her teachers, but she does not commit anything that would be considered a crime until later in her life.

Early behavior problems Zoe was problematic with her teachers, but we know little of her life beyond that.

Zoe seems to hit a lot of the traits on this list. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying she was intended to be one (although that would be interesting). Personally, I think she might have been a better fit for a being from the Glade, as she does remind me of classical farie tales and of Changling: the Lost True Fae. In any case, what do you think?

24 Comments

GreenLore11/22/2017, 6:49:46 PM6 votes

She isn't a sociopath,she is just extremely naive.

When she killed the townsguards,she doesn't even realize what she has done,so its not that she doesn't care about hurting others,its that she doesn't realize it.

Trolosaurus11/22/2017, 8:26:31 PM4 votes

Anyone who commits mass murder on a regular basis is a sociopath

Nik Nikerson11/22/2017, 10:42:23 PM4 votes

[{quoted}](name=Talos of Altmora,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=whf7tcVq,comment-id=,timestamp=2017-11-22T13:22:09.774+0000)

Grandiose sense of self-worth Callousness; lack of empathy Failure to accept responsibility for his or her own actions Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom Parasitic lifestyle Poor behavioral control Lack of realistic long-term goals Impulsivity Irresponsibility

When you look at these characteristics there's only one conclusion that can be drawn: Zoe is a teenager.

Toppien11/23/2017, 1:46:38 AM3 votes

jinx was crazy before it was cool....[slayer-jinx-catface]

HonestJohnTheCon11/22/2017, 5:38:03 PM3 votes

A key trait of a sociopath is not being able to feel empathy for anybody. It's not just feeling a lack of remorse for killing random strangers; they actually have to have no strong feelings about anyone and sociopaths generally only do things for their own benefit. Zoe is sort of like that, but she has empathy for Aurelion Sol, at least, so she can't be a sociopath.

It's more a combination between a short attention span, ADHD, hedonism, and being out of touch with reality.

Whyte Lyon11/22/2017, 8:05:40 PM2 votes

This thread kind of supports my comparison that Zoe and her Aspect are basically both League's own version of Andy Kaufman, one of America's greatest performance artist. The guy was unconventional, intentionally cringy and a living cuckoo bird. Sure sociopath is the kind of label you could throw at Kaufman too, but **unorthodox is far more accurate. **

In fact Kaufman had the qualities of a children's entertainer but performed for adults, which meant things would often get out of hand. Sometimes he would howl gibberish at his audience while pounding conga drums. He's pulled ridiculous and elaborate pranks on national tv designed entirely to cause chaos and controversy. Mostly for his own entertainment and it got him fired from SNL.

Things like this he was more concerned with challenging and confounding his audience than provoking mere laughter. Kaufman was a trickster and a damn good one at that. His stunts were deemed dangerous, harmful and pointless by many square Americans who failed to grasp his act, which worked perfectly in his favor.

**None the less Kaufman had an abnormal personality but only in the sense that he had a certain magic about him that others wouldn't necessarily appreciate. ** Zoe does something on a similar level, the difference is a cunning Kaufman-like cosmic alien is empowering an adolescent girl with ADHD.

Alkis911/22/2017, 1:34:42 PM2 votes

You seem to forget an important fact. She is not a human. She is more of a God or a Deity. She percieves the world in a different way than us and can probably travel through time with 0 effort.

Woodakoodashooda11/22/2017, 1:25:04 PM2 votes

You were expecting a league champion without some severe mental disorder?