First Question: Why are there no Autistic superheros

Hi. this is my first time here so whish me luck. I want to ask you why are there no people with autism that are superheros. I mean is autism still new or is autism not main stream. The reason I say it is because I'm Autistic and I want just want to know.

@creedleaderdp: Well it depends of the severity of the autism , I have some family member with very very severe autism and without sounding offensive they just wouldn't be able to function with a superpower , they are in there 20s but need round the clock care and have the minds of a 2year old , its very sad , but there are people like your self that have mild autism (I'm presuming as I don't know you)and have a disorder called Asperger syndrome where for the most part they can function in society but the draw back is they can be emotionally unstable and not understand social situations or emotions very well , whereas a superhero needs to have a very strong moral compass and be emotionally strong , not saying it couldn't happen but the writers tends to stay away so they don't cause offence if its not portrayed properly,

Welcome to the vine man ?

What do you mean? Every hero Scott Lobdell has written has had autism.

But seriously, it's just too controversial.

This is my guess:

Superheroes are supposed to be likable, and autistic people are unfortunately not seen as likable.

Batman is arguably on the autistic spectrum.

Some writers, modern of course, trying to mess around with the idea that Reed Richards is autistic, I personally think that's a crock of sh*t, but then again, I actually understand Reed character and have read a lot of FF.

Robot from the Invincible comics have shown some signs.

Gilliam Grayson from the Mass Effect novels is autistic, but I don't know if she counts as a superhero.

According to Wikipedia, Black Manta is autistic... I have seen nothing to indicate this. It also says that Legion is autistic, which I think is an insult to autistic people, given that Legion is insane and has multiple personalities.

@jedixman: Black Manta does show signs. For example he doesn't care about anything other than destroying Aquaman, He does literally nothing else. Remember is forever evil when he though Aquaman was dead and didn't know what to do with himself.

@bobthened: Seems more obsessive than autistic.

I think that'd be taboo and many people would laugh at such an idea. Autistic people or people with Aspergers aren't exactly seen as ideal or "normal" in society. Or even people with other mental disabilities or illnesses or whatever. Most people won't show it, but deep down....they're like ewww get away from me, freak. Such is life.

In the case of Batman, while the Savant Syndrome doesn't fit EXACTLY, it come very close to explaining why Batman excels to almost super human levels at so many things. Savant Syndrome is often considered to be related to autism. Again, SS does NOT fit exactly with Batman's abilities, but it pretty much the closest real world thing that could explain how he is able to do a lot of what he does. So, in the DCU at least, some form of SS and/or Autism could be pseudo scienced to explain Batman's "knack" for his cognitive abilities.

The main thing they'd have to 'alter" would be the "typical" (I hate using that word because SS is so rare and unusual and I'm NO mental health professional...I'm just trying to maybe help with the "Autistic Super Hero" possibility) IQ deficit commonly associated with SS. In most comic universes, science is altered to fit the story so I don't see why Batman having a unique form of SS would be a problem.

@heroup2112: that's true, but that is not actually what I was referring to. I was talking about the way batman acts and interacts with people.

True, I meant that too actually, but I thought my post was getting a little long. How Batman interacts and deals with people could also (again, no mental health expert here) fall into the category of Aspergers, or other high functioning Autism. This coupled with some of the symptoms of Savant Syndrome (minus the IQ deficit), would make Batman an interesting candidate for a super hero with autism, in my opinion.

I think it would be a great story/character direction personally. Even if it was only something that used as background information.

Shape from Squadron Supreme

What would autism add to a character in any meaningful way? It's like asking "why are there no super heroes with the blood type o-?". All that is left is a gimmick.

I can not remember his name but there was a member of one of the young X-men groups, like the new version of new mutants or so that was autistic, he was completely invulnerable to physical harm but was mentally challenged.

There have also been a few more villains who could be autistic in the uncaring and socially unaware savant type.

Sentry is the unsung hero of Bendis' mediocrity gone awry

Well, to be fair, Legion is probably more like that because of a combination of mental trauma and the advanced nature of his powers

Sentry is sort of the same

@jedixman: his autism was healed by Aquaman's magic water hand years ago

@removekebab: Well for me at least in my opinion I just want people who have autism to shine in a positive light. For (well not good examples) people like Charles Xavier. yes (if memory servers me right) Magneto did cripple him but he was a good example to the mutants that do have gifts. You can probely count mutants as a symbol/representation of people with disabilities if you want.

When people hear autism there's a strong preconceived opinion that leans heavily towards the high end of the spectrum but that things massive. Two members of my family are autistic and one of them you'd never have a clue unless you where paying close attention to his actions in vey specific situations. The other is more severe, but looking at a few superheroes they'd definitely identify.

Well, I thin there's one mainstream superhero who has Asperger's, a form of autism; Batman. He's antisocial, does not show emotions, sticks to very routine rules he set himself (ie his no killing rule), and his obsession with bats (people with Asperger's usually become obsessed with something). Link below explaining Batman's Asperger's from a psychologists view point.

http://www.kasaifilms.com/news/2015/9/21/batman-has-aspergers-syndrome

But, for the sake of this thread, I'll stick with superheroes we know for sure have autism, to which there are none. I think the biggest problem is that the average person, and subsequently, the average comic book writer, doesn't understand autism. I think it's just too difficult a hurdle for most comic book writers to tackle.

I too have Asperger's, and I'd love to see more autistic superheroes besides Batman.

@jedixman: yes, Manta is autistic. It was shown one time when Aquaman used his magic hand to look into his memories. It was pre-52 though.

Because it just doesn't make sense people with autism or a severe mental disability can't or need assistance to function in society so why would there be a hero who helped people when he can't really help himself doesn't make sense..... the only thing I could think of that does is a form of I believe Aspergers that makes someone off the charts intelligent but makes them severely antisocial and stuff like that but fine physically, and Batman could qualify for that

@creedleaderdp:

Because we can`t have cool things, dammit.

@marvelanddcfan24:

If they get support for years, strongly autistic people get better with their day-to-day life.
A strongly autistic person may be able to do things others aren`t able to.

As for the lack of realism there would be in having an autistic superhero:
A: Our world is more surprising than is claimed. (Nature is full of insanely imaginative animal species, like the so called zombi-worms.)
B: It wouldn`t have to be a realistic superhero-story.

Why not have the autistic one have someone to look after them? Maybe a robot assistant?

I would love to see that kind of comic.

"Sanne Aaij is a dutch autistic capable of fitting inside a cookie jar, shooting electricity out of their brain and other kinda normal stuff. With her robot assistant, she fights against her greatest foes: Social interactions, daily routines and the last hybrid-dragons."

Because it's a sensitive issue and writers like to dance around with it. I mean Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory obviously has some form of Asperger's but the writers have to deny it.

Plus, comics writers generally have a bad reputation for handling mental illnesses.

There's no demand for it so why would writers risk their already risky careers for no reason.

@xwraith: We're unlikable?

I suspect a lot of heroes and villains would be on the spectrum if they were tested. As someone who is diagnosed at being on the mild end of the spectrum I get away with not being recognised by the majority of people, although people who recognise that autism has many degrees of variance do tend to suss it out when they look hard enough.

That's not an opinion I share, of course.

Because Autism is a boring super power to read

If you have autism then you shouldn't be a superhero in the first place.

Autistic disorders aren`t illnesses.

@kfhrfdu_89_76k: Sorry mental condition/disorder, the terms are often used interchangeably so I wasn't thinking.

@ldm: WHOA!!! OK, that's taking it way too far! ?

There is some... but why would there be it's a little controversial and someone with autism wouldn't really make any sense because they cant be heroes at least not in terms of being a super hero I'm sure some autistic peoples siblings may looks at them as heros because it's hard living with the disorder

But in terms of being a super hero it makes absolutely no sense

Comic book writers dont have the skill to portray one correctly anyway

It would be hard to explain and make sense superhero wise.

Isn't Hulk in his green form autistic? hitting random things not being able to distinguish who is on his side at times?

Honestly there isn't really a reason why there isn't. I mean as for superheroes I can only think of a few. Legion, Robot(Invincible), The Blue Ranger in the Power Rangers movie, and while not outright stated DCEU Flash seems to appear to be on the spectrum.

Kyle Rainer is very artistic

Autistic people need to be helped, not to help other people.

as a person with autism i believe the reason is not many people actually know much about autism and they're not gonna write about a disorder they know nothing about

Because nothing about autism is heroic in any way. I'm not criticising autism, but nothing associated with autism goes hand-in-hand with heroism