List of fictional characters on the autistic spectrum
Encyclopedia
Fictional characters identified by the authors as having conditions on the autism spectrum
. This article includes only fictional character
s explicitly described in the work or otherwise by the author as being autistic or having Asperger syndrome
. It is not intended to include speculation.
Autism spectrum
The term "autism spectrum" is often used to describe disorders that are currently classified as pervasive developmental disorders. Pervasive developmental disorders include autism, Asperger syndrome, Childhood disintegrative disorder, Rett syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise...
. This article includes only fictional character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
s explicitly described in the work or otherwise by the author as being autistic or having Asperger syndrome
Asperger syndrome
Asperger's syndrome that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development...
. It is not intended to include speculation.
Literature
- Christopher Boone, the central character of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-TimeThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-timeThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a 2003 novel by British writer Mark Haddon. It won the 2003 Whitbread Book of the Year and the 2004 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book...
.
- Lou Arrendale and his associates from Speed of Dark by Elizabeth MoonElizabeth MoonElizabeth Moon is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Her novel The Speed of Dark won the 2003 Nebula Award.-Biography:...
.
- Seth GarinSeth GarinSeth Garin is a fictional character from the Richard Bachman novel The Regulators.Seth is one of only a very few central characters from The Regulators who doesn't appear in Desperation, a related novel....
in Stephen KingStephen KingStephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's The RegulatorsThe RegulatorsThe Regulators is a novel by Stephen King under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. It was published in 1996 at the same time as its "mirror" novel, Desperation. The two novels represent parallel universes relative to one another, and most of the characters present in one novel's world also exist in the...
is an 8-year-old boy with autism and mental powers that can be used for good or evil.
- Simon Lynch in Ryne Douglas PearsonRyne Douglas PearsonRyne Douglas Pearson is an American novelist and screenwriter who wrote the concept story and helped write the script for the 2009 film, Knowing. He also wrote Capital Punishment in 1996, Top Ten in 1999 and Simple Simon: A Thriller in 1996 which was filmed as Mercury Rising...
's Simple Simon is a 16-year-old autistic boy whose mathematical abilities enable him to break a NSANational Security AgencyThe National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
security code and as a result must be protected from the government.
- Max Parkman in Antoinette van Heugten's Saving MaxSaving MaxSaving Max is the first novel written by American author Antoinette van Heugten. The novel is about attorney Danielle Parkman and her son Max, a teenager with Asperger Syndrome who was accused of murdering another patient at a mental hospital. The book spent two weeks on USA Today's top 150 books,...
is a teenager with Asperger Syndrome who is accused of murdering a patient at a mental hospital.
- Bill Tyree in Nicholas Sparks's Dear JohnDear John (novel)Dear John is a novel by American writer Nicholas Sparks, released in 2006.-Exposition:The story starts by explaining John Tyree's childhood in Wilmington, North Carolina. He was raised by a single dad who suffers with Asperger's syndrome and also an extreme obsession with coins. Sometimes, this is...
is the father of John Tyree. Savannah Curtis, a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel HillUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillThe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
studying special educationSpecial educationSpecial education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...
, suggests to John that his father may have Asperger SyndromeAsperger syndromeAsperger's syndrome that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development...
.
- Alan Wheddon in Nicholas Sparks's Dear JohnDear John (novel)Dear John is a novel by American writer Nicholas Sparks, released in 2006.-Exposition:The story starts by explaining John Tyree's childhood in Wilmington, North Carolina. He was raised by a single dad who suffers with Asperger's syndrome and also an extreme obsession with coins. Sometimes, this is...
is the autistic brother of Savannah Curtis' childhood friend and husband Tim Wheddon.
- In "Evidence Suggesting the Existence of Asperger Syndrome in the Mid-1800s" by Ashley Kern Koegel from the Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, she says that the idiosyncratic behavior exhibited by the titular character in Herman MelvilleHerman MelvilleHerman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
's Bartleby, the Scrivener shows that the character could be classified as having Asperger syndrome, though the story was written nearly a century before ASD was formally recognized.
Film
Key or central characters:- Raymond "Ray" Babbott (played by Dustin HoffmanDustin HoffmanDustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters....
) from the film Rain ManRain ManRain Man is a 1988 drama film written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass and directed by Barry Levinson. It tells the story of an abrasive and selfish yuppie, Charlie Babbitt, who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son,...
.
- Jamie Benjamin (played by Sammy Snyders) from the film The Pit.
- Daniel Connelly (played by Harry Connick, Jr.Harry Connick, Jr.Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...
) from the film P.S. I Love YouP.S. I Love You (film)P.S. I Love You is a 2007 American drama film directed by Richard LaGravenese. The screenplay by LaGravenese and Steven Rogers is based on the 2004 novel of the same name by Cecelia Ahern. The film is dedicated to the memory of producer Molly Smith's sister Windland Smith Rice.-Plot:Holly and Gerry...
.
- Linda Freeman (played by Sigourney WeaverSigourney WeaverSigourney Weaver is an American actress. She is best known for her critically acclaimed role of Ellen Ripley in the four Alien films: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection, for which she has received worldwide recognition .Other notable roles include Dana...
) from the film Snow CakeSnow CakeSnow Cake is a 2006 independent drama film directed by Marc Evans and starring Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, Carrie-Anne Moss, Emily Hampshire, and Callum Keith Rennie...
- Eric Gibb (played by Jay UnderwoodJay UnderwoodJay Underwood is an American actor.In 1983, he attended Moreau Catholic High School for one year in Hayward, California. He is married to Julie Underwood and has three children. His most recognized work includes portraying Ernest Hemingway in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, "Bug" in Uncle...
) from the film The Boy Who Could FlyThe Boy Who Could FlyThe Boy Who Could Fly is a 1986 film written and directed by Nick Castle. It was produced by Lorimar Productions for 20th Century Fox and released to movie theatres on August 14, 1986....
- Kazan (played by Andrew MillerAndrew Miller (actor)Andrew Miller is a Canadian actor, writer, and director.- Career :Miller began his career as an actor at age 16 in Toronto, Canada. Early theater roles include Moritz Stiefel in Frank Wedekind's Spring Awakening and Eugene Morris Jerome in Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs...
) from the film CubeCube (film)Cube is a 1997 Canadian science fiction psychological thriller/horror film directed by Vincenzo Natali. The film was a successful product of the Canadian Film Centre's First Feature Project....
. Kazan is autistic and a mathematical savant.
- Simon Lynch (played by Miko HughesMiko HughesMiko John Hughes is an American actor best known for his film roles as a child actor as Gage Creed in Pet Sematary , as an autistic boy opposite Bruce Willis in Mercury Rising and as Dylan, Heather Langenkamp's son in Wes Craven's New Nightmare .-Career:Hughes started his acting career in a...
) from the film Mercury RisingMercury RisingMercury Rising is a 1998 American action thriller film starring Bruce Willis and Alec Baldwin. Directed by Harold Becker, the movie is based on Ryne Douglas Pearson's 1996 novel originally published as Simple Simon...
.
- Donald Morton (Josh HartnettJosh HartnettJoshua Daniel "Josh" Hartnett is an American actor and aspiring producer. He first came to audiences' attention in 1997 as "Michael Fitzgerald" in the television series Cracker. He made his feature film debut in 1998, co-starring with Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later for Miramax...
) and Isabelle Sorenson (Radha MitchellRadha MitchellRadha Rani Amber Indigo Anunda Mitchell is an Australian actress. Her film roles include Finding Neverland, Phone Booth, Man on Fire, Silent Hill, and the The Crazies-Early life:...
) in the film Mozart and the WhaleMozart and the WhaleMozart and the Whale is a 2005 romantic comedy-drama film starring Josh Hartnett and Radha Mitchell, and directed by Petter Næss.-Plot:...
.
- Cody O'Connor (played by Holliston ColemanHolliston ColemanHolliston Taylor Coleman is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for starring in the Paramount feature film, Bless the Child, and her recurring role in the television series Medium.-Life and career:...
) from the film Bless the ChildBless the ChildBless the Child is a 2000 supernatural thriller film directed by Chuck Russell, starring Kim Basinger, Jimmy Smits, Angela Bettis, Rufus Sewell, Christina Ricci, and Holliston Coleman...
- Adam Raki (played by Hugh DancyHugh Dancy- Early life and career :Dancy was born in Stoke-on-Trent, the son of British philosopher Jonathan Dancy, a professor at the University of Reading and at the University of Texas at Austin. His mother, Sarah, is a publisher. His brother, Jack, is a co-director of the travel company, Trufflepig...
) from the film Adam.
Television
- Laurence Burrell was an autistic teenager who appeared as a one-off character on A Touch of FrostA Touch of Frost (TV series)A Touch of Frost is a television detective series produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV from 1992 until 2010, initially based on the Frost novels by R. D. Wingfield....
.
- Dr. Bob Melnikov, Ukrainian actor Dmitry ChepovetskyDmitry ChepovetskyDmitry Chepovetsky is a Gemini Award nominated Canadian-Ukrainian actor, best known for his role of Bob Melnikov in the TV series ReGenesis.-Personal life:...
's character on ReGenesisReGenesisReGenesis is a Canadian television program produced by The Movie Network and Movie Central in conjunction with Shaftesbury Films. The series, which ran for four seasons, revolves around the scientists of NorBAC , a fictional organization with a lab based in Toronto...
, has Asperger's syndrome, and he discusses it in episodes 1, 11, and 17.
- On Law and Order: Criminal Intent, the episode "ProbabilityProbability (Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode)Probability is a second season episode of the television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent.-Plot summary:In this episode, Detectives Goren and Eames are called in to investigate the mysterious murder of a homeless man....
" features a corrupt insurance fraud expert named Wally Stevens (played by Mark Linn-BakerMark Linn-BakerMark Linn-Baker is an American actor and director famous for his role as Larry Appleton on the television sitcom Perfect Strangers.-Early life and career:...
) who has Asperger syndrome and is eventually betrayed by his own tics and behaviors.
- In the HouseHouse (TV series)House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
episode "Lines in the SandLines in the Sand (House episode)"Lines in the Sand" is the fourth episode of the third season of House and the fiftieth episode overall.-Adam:Adam, who is severely autistic, is learning shapes and words in his backyard. His father, Don, is trying very hard to show Adam words, but Adam seems more interested in drawing lines on his...
", which focuses on an autistic child named Adam, the team suspects that House may have low-level Asperger's syndrome in order to explain his unwavering protests at having the carpet in his office changed. Dr. Wilson, however, asserts that House wishes he did have Asperger's syndrome so that he would have an excuse for his rudeness and dislike of peopleMisanthropyMisanthropy is generalized dislike, distrust, disgust, contempt or hatred of the human species or human nature. A misanthrope, or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings...
.
- Karla Bentham - Waterloo RoadWaterloo Road (TV series)Waterloo Road is an award-winning British television drama series, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 9 March 2006. Set in a troubled comprehensive school in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, the series focuses on the lives of the school's teacher and students, and confronts social...
(Series 3 - Series 5). Troubled teenage girl with Asperger's Syndrome. Karla had been excluded from 3 Secondary Schools previously and Waterloo Road was her last chance.
- On a Season 4 episode of Quincy, M.E.Quincy, M.E.Quincy, M.E., also called Quincy, is a United States television series from Universal Studios that aired from October 3, 1976, to September 5, 1983, on NBC...
, Quincy helps an autistic child named Timmy Carson (played by David HollanderDavid HollanderDavid Hollander is an American TV writer and producer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is most notably known as the creator, screenwriter, and an executive producer of The Guardian, a Pittsburgh-based legal drama which aired on CBS...
) get into a specialist program and convinces Timmy's parents not to institutionalize the child.
- The PuccaPuccaPucca is a media franchise from the South Korean company Vooz Co., Ltd. and currently owned by The Walt Disney Company. The main character, Pucca, is the 10-year old niece of three Chinese noodle house owners. The noodle house, known as the "Goh-Rong", is located in Sooga Village, a small village...
character Ring Ring turns into an autistic opera singer with a very high tessitura.
- The Grey's AnatomyGrey's AnatomyGrey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...
season 5 episode "These Ties That Bind," included a visiting heart surgeon with Asperger's syndrome who was very good at surgery but had difficulties relating to the staff and the patients. She initially chose not to stay after realizing she had been manipulated by other members of the staff, but after a second visit changed her mind.
- According to executive producer Dean DevlinDean DevlinDean Devlin is an American screenwriter, producer, television director and former actor. He is the founder of the production company Electric Entertainment.-Personal life:...
, Parker (played by Beth RiesgrafBeth RiesgrafBeth Jean Riesgraf is an American actress, best known for her portrayal of Parker in the TNT TV series Leverage.Originally from Belle Plaine, Minnesota - Riesgraf is the youngest of six girls...
) from the television show LeverageLeverage (TV series)Leverage is an American television drama series on TNT that premiered in December 2008. The series is produced by director/executive producer Dean Devlin's production company Electric Television...
has a mild case of Asperger's.
- Dr. Spencer ReidSpencer ReidDr. Spencer Reid is a fictional character from the CBS crime drama Criminal Minds, portrayed by Matthew Gray Gubler.He is a genius and autodidact who graduated from a Las Vegas public high school at age 12. His fellow team members almost always introduce him as Dr. Reid. Hotch revealed in the first...
on Criminal MindsCriminal MindsCriminal Minds is an American police procedural drama that premiered September 22, 2005, on CBS. The series follows a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit based in Quantico, Virginia. The BAU is part of the FBI National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime...
. An unsub in "Broken Mirror" (Season 1, Episode 5) noted Dr. Reid's "autistic tendencies" and Matthew Gray GublerMatthew Gray GublerMatthew Gray Gubler is an American actor, film director, sketch artist, and former fashion model. He is best known for his role as the young genius Dr. Spencer Reid in the CBS television show Criminal Minds, of which he has also directed two episodes...
stated in an interview in the show's second season "[Reid]'s an eccentric genius, with hints of schizophrenia and minor autism, Asperger's Syndrome. Reid is 24, 25 years old with three PH.D.s and one can't usually achieve that without some form of autism."
- Tommy Westphall, Dr. Westphall's son on "St. Elsewhere," was autistic and figured into many different storylines throughout the life of the series. Tommy's autism was critical to the season finale, which raised the possibility that the entire show existed only in his imagination while staring at a snow globe.
- It's suggested in the pilot episode of CommunityCommunity (TV series)Community is an American television comedy series created by Dan Harmon that airs on NBC. The series is about a group of students at a community college in the fictional locale of Greendale, Colorado. The series heavily uses meta-humor and pop culture references, often parodying film and television...
that Abed Nadir has an undiagnosed case of Asperger Syndrome.
- The attorney Jerry Espenson in Boston LegalBoston LegalBoston Legal is an American legal dramedy created by David E. Kelley, which was produced in association with 20th Century Fox Television for the ABC...
is diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome in his third appearance. His condition remained a central aspect of many storylines.
- The series AlphasAlphasAlphas is an American science fiction dramatic television series created by Zak Penn and Michael Karnow. The series follows a group of people with superhuman abilities, known as "Alphas", as they work to prevent crimes committed by other Alphas....
includes Gary Bell, a man with an autism diagnosis played by Ryan Cartwright.
- Dr Gabrielle JacobsGabrielle JacobsDr. Gabrielle Jacobs is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street and has been portrayed by Virginie Le Brun throughout two stints, the first from 2009 to 2010 and the second from 2011 to present...
from New Zealand's Shortland StreetShortland StreetShortland Street is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera, first broadcast on Television New Zealand's TV2 on 25 May 1992. It is the country's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously for over 4500 episodes and 19 years, and is one of the most watched television programs in...
is a surgeon with Asperger's Syndrome.
Comics
- Legion (Marvel Comics)Legion (Marvel Comics)Legion is a Marvel Comics character, created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Bill Sienkiewicz.David is the mutant son of Charles Xavier and Israeli Holocaust survivor Gabrielle Haller...
- The boy who would become the DC ComicsDC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
supervillainSupervillainA supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
Black MantaBlack MantaBlack Manta is a supervillain appearing in DC Comics, primarily as the archenemy of Aquaman. The character debuted in Aquaman #35 .-Fictional character biography:...
was autistic. - Jonny Do in Psi-ForcePsi-ForcePsi-Force was a thirty-two-issue comic book series published by Marvel Comics under their New Universe imprint from 1986 to 1989. Along with D.P...
was an autistic individual with pyrokineticPyrokinesisPyrokinesis, derived from the Greek words and , was the name coined by horror novelist Stephen King for the ability to create or to control fire with the mind that he gave to the protagonist Charlie McGee in Firestarter...
abilities.
See also
- List of people on the autism spectrum
- People speculated to have been autisticPeople speculated to have been autisticFamous historical people have been speculated to have had autism or other autism spectrum disorders such as Asperger syndrome by journalists, academics and autism professionals. Such speculation is controversial and little of it is undisputed...