I have a psychopathic character but I don't want to show she is psychopathic right away. I want to build it and show the "fake mask" and the personality she has first and as the story goes on we learn she is a psychopath. What are the situations where I can make this work?

Quoted from DA_S1lva I have a psychopathic character but I don't want to show she is psychopathic right away. I want to build it and show the "fake mask" and the personality she has first and as the story goes on we learn she is a psychopath. What are the situations where I can make this work?

This is way outside where I do my writing, but I thought I'd offer my two cents at a two-cent discount.

The underlying traits associated with the layman's term "psychopath" are boldness, dis-inhibition, and meanness. Bits of these should peek through even if this particular psychopath can wear a "mask," especially since all of these are seen as positive traits in moderation (yes, the total absence of meanness is bad for you). The peeks would be brief, excessive flashes.

In the original Despicable Me, we find out immediately that Gru is basically a psychopath (hard to keep it a mystery when it's in the freaking title). In Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Judge Doom is never a sympathetic character, but you don't realize he has a screw loose until he kills a cute little creature right in front of detectives.

You're probably shooting for something a bit more subtle than a cartoon, so my recommendation would be to read up on signs of psychopathy and see which ones can be woven in without attracting too much attention. There is some correlation between childhood, adolescent and adulthood psychopathy, but it's not perfect correlation, so this woman hasn't necessarily been dismembering dolls since pre-school. That said, backstory can be part of the slow reveal.

Also remember that under the right circumstances, a neurotypical ("normal") person's slight overreaction can act as a red herring away from the true psychopath. Bonus points if the true psychopath had some hand in manipulating those circumstances.

This is super helpful. Thanks.

I’ve done some research on psychopaths for a feature script I keep on dabbling with. Some of the latest studies are quite revealing. One aspect they’ve discovered is psychotics and sociopaths have this ability to switch their empathy off when it suits them. So this is why in some circumstances they genuinely seem to care and at other times they don’t. Another study found that they heavily favour short term gain over longer term, even when they would gain more if they waited. For example, one experiment they did was to offer them a choice of two rewards, $5 now or $20 in a month’s time. They found psychopaths would choose the instant reward more often than others.

This is a trait we all have and is why we fall for selling techniques like, “Own this car now and pay it off in five years’ time!”  But for a psychopath, this trait is so much more powerful and difficult to resist, which is why they sometimes just kill on the spur of the moment without considering the longer term consequences.

Fascinating stuff. These little traits can help build up your character towards a potential psychopath in the making.

Quoted from MarkRenshaw I’ve done some research on psychopaths for a feature script I keep on dabbling with. Some of the latest studies are quite revealing... One aspect they’ve discovered is psychotics and sociopaths have this ability to switch their empathy off when it suits them.

Mark, perhaps that's an error, or perhaps not. There's a big difference between a psychopath and the word psychotic or psychosis.

Here's the main gist:

* Psychosis is an umbrella term to describe the mental state of losing touch with reality. A number of things can cause psychosis, from schizophrenia to depression to sleep deprivation.

* Psychopathy, is a personality disorder which consists of a lack of empathy, impulsivity, recklessness, scrupulousness, callousness, and lying.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/beautiful-minds/201103/psychotic-is-not-the-same-psychopathic

Quoted from MarkRenshaw I’ve done some research on psychopaths for a feature script I keep on dabbling with. Some of the latest studies are quite revealing. One aspect they’ve discovered is psychotics and sociopaths have this ability to switch their empathy off when it suits them. So this is why in some circumstances they genuinely seem to care and at other times they don’t. Another study found that they heavily favor short-term gain over a longer term, even when they would gain more if they waited. For example, one experiment they did was to offer them a choice of two rewards, $5 now or $20 in a month’s time. They found psychopaths would choose the instant reward more often than others. This is a trait we all have and is why we fall for selling techniques like, “Own this car now and pay it off in five years’ time!”  But for a psychopath, this trait is so much more powerful and difficult to resist, which is why they sometimes just kill on the spur of the moment without considering the long-term consequences. Fascinating stuff. These little traits can help build up your character towards a potential psychopath in the making.

Thanks this is super helpful.

It's always been a fascinating subject for me. I highly recommend reading 'The Sociopath Next Door'. Very enlightening. Also my own little short on Simply Scripts 'Dark Knight: Triad' about Bruce Wayne's own reveal of the dark triad (Google it).

Not so sure about psychopaths and their ability to turn on/off empathy. A sociopath doesn't HAVE empathy or a conscience to turn on/off. They truly have no sense of consequence except to themselves.

Good luck!