So, this is the exact place on the vast sea of the internet that we can all just come right out and say that everyone loves a well written, psychopathic Villain. Go ahead. None of us can or really will judge, we all do love those characters and they hold a special place called the throne of fear in our hearts.
Of course, you know what that means...let's learn how to write characters just like 'em!
The first place to start would be learning the differences between Sociopaths and Psychopaths, which I have taken the effort of doing a ton of research in, so please, enjoy the list below.
Top Five Differences Between Psychos and Socios:
- Psychos run on generally wants while Socios run on emotions and triggers
- Psychos generally have a plan while Socios generally have a moment of pure 'spontaneousness'
- Psychos cannot have emotional connections to people while Socios can
- Psychos always calculate while Socios are just random
(this means psychos probably going to get away with anything and socios have more of a chance of being caught due to lack of planning in whatever act they committed)
- Nothing can get to a psychopath, like stress, anxiety, and anything along those lines. Meanwhile, Sociopaths are actually particularly vulnerable to these emotions.
Psychopaths can be, as stated, highly manipulative people with huge egos. These people can't really feel emotion as a 'normal' person does, but they have the potential to understand them and mimic them as to appear 'normal'. An example of this would be they can't feel empathetic for you, but they can certainly act like they can. By committing acts of empathy towards you, you could trust them more which puts them in a position of influence over you.
These people tend to be people who always have a plan for the outcome they've predicted to occur due to whatever actions they've planned for. They will put themselves in positions of influence, especially career and relationship wise, just to feel powerful or commit some act that they want.
The act they may plan to commit has the potential to be good or bad, they really don't limit themselves usually to a side but their own, so it's whatever is in their best interest or entertainment.
Psychopaths can be quite charming and know how to work their way into your heart. They can, without fail, make you obsess over them, should that benefit and/or entertain them. These are the types of people who can manipulate someone to die for them.
Now that we have that covered, we may now move to the mind of a Sociopath...
The first thing to really understand about these types of people is that they have tendencies to, in a way of terminology, self-destruct. This is due to mostly lack of future planning and intelligent decisions on their side. Since they have tendencies to 'self-destruct', it adds to whatever emotions they can't really handle, which are along the lines of stress, anxiety, and depression, as stated before.
These people tend to make hasty decisions or tend to be indecisive, due to not looking at it from every angle. They really act based on instinctual concepts, so whatever comes to mind first when they're in a corner, they'll do. In a sense, their minds are like people who are constantly in the fight-or-flight mode. Always in desperation, and always ready to fight.
Well, this has been the breakdown of people with these issues! Remember! Psychos are going to charming and cunning! Socios are going to be reckless and random! GOOD LUCK!!!
~Rey Brooks
