Sociopaths are essentially the human version of Always Chaotic Evil in most media. Since we consider morality to be good, they are naturally depicted as selfish and immoral. However, reality is quite a bit more complicated, and some works reflect this. While it is somewhat Truth in Television, sociopaths are still human, and it's not unnatural that sociopaths have a sense of right and wrong, even though it is highly likely to be completely different from what other people consider that to be. Many diagnosed sociopaths are known to have moral codes, often unique to them, but occasionally based on preexisting social codes (such as The Golden Rule) as filtered through their very particular perspectives. Naturally, since these types of morality focus more on abstract concepts and rigid adherence to their chosen code rather than on the feelings or reactions of people themselves, expect some rather interesting and/or nasty extremism to crop up: either occasional or a lot. The upshot is, they can easily like individuals and work towards the welfare of people as groups without actually caring for or about them and what they feel all that much. Emotional toes are likely to be trodden on and then shrugged off with an easy smile, and not even out of any deliberate calculation on their part, because they might very well not even be fully aware that they have trodden. By definition, sociopaths are largely or totally incapable of normal levels of guilt, empathy, or remorse — thus, whenever they subscribe to a moral code, said code will either be reinterpreted into something rather more amoral than usual or simply be amoral from the outset. They might well feel "bad" or uncomfortable about doing something they think is wrong, or that goes against their code, but they won't necessarily be able to feel guilty about that and will shrug it off as just one of those things, or justify to themselves what they did as meeting The Needs of the Many, or what have you, no matter how much Insane Troll Logic they have to employ to reach their conclusion. This guilt-free confidence of theirs in their own beliefs, abilities, and logic chains can come across as highly charismatic to a lot of the people around them, so expect The Charmer or The Social Expert to come with the package, even if they openly display their blind spots. The psychologist Andrzej M. Łobaczewski described something somewhat similar to this as a "schizoidal psychopath"note — someone who may have a conscience, but it's so heavily distorted that their moral codes end up demented, and whose attitude toward society thus becomes that of a Knight Templar. See also Principles Zealot, when one is completely obsessed with their moral code above everything; some moral sociopaths are twisted versions of these as well since they care about their empathy-restricted moral code almost as much as they do about themselves. This twist can be bad to be around, without necessarily being Evil or even conventionally Good for that matter (it's going to hit Lawful, though). However, moral sociopaths need not be always overwhelmed by extremism. Many can simply hit Nominal Hero, who, while lacking empathy, still have their moral codes to restrict them from dangerous, socially damaging behaviors in many ways. Also compare/contrast Black-and-White Insanity, Byronic Hero, and Sociopathic Hero. Also, at a bit more of a stretch, Comedic Sociopathy.note See also Evil Hero, in which the person in question truly is evil through and through but is merely doing a traditionally heroic job like police officer or firefighter. Compare Pragmatic Villainy. Moral sociopaths are both born and raised, so you can't just make one without most of the ingredients being there. The more socially acceptable types are likely to have had strong role models of the Mentor Archetype school who helped them develop their codes around a solid, workable framework to hang their unconventional outlooks from, or just some really decent parental figures they wish to live up to. By contrast, the rather more extreme versions will have a rotten background with terrible mentors and/or role models giving them a valid Freudian Excuse or two (or six) handy that will go quite some way to explain the somewhat questionable nature of the moral code they have cobbled together out of sheer spite, the will to completely confound the bad examples and/or the wish to survive. This is not to be confused with Übermensch, though they can overlap. Moral sociopaths can have their own unique moral codes, but they are just as likely to adhere to already-established belief systems like Christianity or Communism, or to subscribe to My Country, Right or Wrong or My Master, Right or Wrong.
Moral Sociopathy has been suggested to play 1 roles. Click below to see other actors suggested for each role, and vote for who you think would play the role best.
Moral Sociopathy has been suggested to play 1 roles. Click below to see other actors suggested for each role, and vote for who you think would play the role best.
