depression in characters

FlowensSoulX · Posted: Sun May 09, 2004 7:21 pm Post subject: depression in characters

I am just wondering if there are any anime,comic book characters that have a case of depression.

acedrake12 · Moderator Joined: Dec 16, 2003 Posts: 23

Well, first off, welcome to the forum Flowen, I hope you mean figuratively

. I am sure there tons of depressed heroes, heroines and anime chars. To me Batman comes across as a very disturbed man

I mean what grown man runs around wearing a bat custume AND his underwear in the outside?

And how bout Shinji from Evangelion? He is a classic Psych 101 case study as well as his girlfriend Asuka.

FlowensSoulX · Posted: Sun May 09, 2004 7:29 pm Post subject:

hehe yeah batman wearing underwear in the outside
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OrcaDesignStudios · Posted: Sun May 09, 2004 8:07 pm Post subject: Re: depression in characters

Tony Stark (Iron Man) was an alcoholic at one time. Not sure if he still is -- I haven't read an Iron Man comic since the early 1990's.
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Navel · Moderator Joined: Mar 28, 2003 Posts: 34

The Silver Surfer was very tragic and lonely, because he sacrificed his humanity to save his one true love and his homeworld from the planet-devouring Galactus.

And Ben Grimm was miserable over his transformation into the ugly Thing.

Many of Stan Lee's characters had some kind of serious personal problem, making them somewhat revolutionary in comics. Marvel's been cranking them out ever since.

And Howard the Duck even attempted suicide (a Steve Gerber creation).

I've heard depression described as a form of anger. Comicbook heroes engage in their vigilante activities to express their incredible anger, which common folk usually must suppress. Batman's / Bruce Wayne's parents were ruthlessly murdered right in front of him as a child, so he has alot to be angry & depressed about.

I tried to explore depression in my CYNOSURE comicbook with a teen who discovers he was the result of an alien abduction experiment.

bubba_funk · Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 3:25 am Post subject: Re: depression in characters

What about Johnny the Homicidal Maniac? He's got a whole host of issues and mental problems. I'm pretty sure you could see aspects of depression in him but it's all too hard to nail down as he's so messed up. You'd have to read it to see what I mean

BillyBob · Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 6:23 am Post subject: Re: depression in characters

To chime in with the others, I think you have to define what kind of depression you're looking for. Clinical depression is often characterized by lethargy and a sense of hopelessness; by their nature, superheroes don't possess either. (I'm not talking about the angst-ridden sense of hopelessness. I'm talking about the "I'm not fighting because it's hopeless" type.) You have every other form of mental instability, but true depression? I'm not so sure.

BillyBob

sandmarine · Posted: Mon May 10, 2004 12:34 pm Post subject:

Shinji Ikari is the most pathetic loser character I've ever seen in an anime ever! I mean, I almost stopped watching Evangelion because I was really fed up with his whims, but oh well, the series is one of my favorites so I'll let that go

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Navel · Moderator Joined: Mar 28, 2003 Posts: 34

I read there are different degrees of depression
like mild to moderate depression;
major or clinical depression;
and suicidal depression. A hopeless case like billybob describes might last for a one-shot or a mini-series until your generic super-villian mops up the floor with him/her.

FlowensSoulX · Posted: Sat May 15, 2004 7:28 pm Post subject: Re: depression in characters

well thanx everyone for replying to my post

Hasdrubal · Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2004 4:12 pm Post subject: Re: depression in characters

I'm only laughing on the outside,
My smile is just skin-deep,
If you could see inside, I'm really crying,
You might join me for a weep