Data.
Who’s Data?
It’s a character on StarTrek TNG. An android that is trying to understand emotions.
Nice!
Data is great, but personally I’d argue that Spock is probably more strongly autistically coded than Data. Vulcans have more intense emotions than humans (hence why they suppress them) and that parallels well with the intensity of the autistic experience at times. I am also reminded of the scene at the start of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home where Spock (having just finished his re-education post the events of Star Trek II & III) discusses emotions with his human mother, indicating that Vulcans don’t always understand what they are feeling, either.
Another good example would be Spock’s father Sarek - particularly the TNG episode featuring him, where his illness results in a breakdown of his normal self-control. Picard volunteers to take the cognitive load of Sarek’s emotional control so that Sarek can complete some key negotiations, which is the only time we really see the strength of Sarek’s feelings; again one could look at this as a parallel to the internal autistic experience that is difficult or impossible to express to the outside world.
Wash from Firefly
The elcor from mass effect seem a bit autism coded.
The book comes with a pretty heavy content warning, but the main character of The Spirit Bares its Teeth gave me major autistic vibes, maybe just neurodivergent in general, but to me it read as autism. I think the book is very good, and that character has stuck with me for many reasons.
A few others that come to mind are in kids shows, and I realize this could just be because they are very young characters, but idk my radar pings a little.
Bingo, one of the main character of Bluey, has a few episodes that focus particularly on social and communication skills. Again, I want to be careful to not conflate being a little kid and seeming autistic, but Bingo really just gives me the right vibes. I think that’s on purpose on the part of the writers, because she ends up challenging her parents parenting skills and their response is to become better parents rather than think something is wrong with their kid. Even as an almost 30 y/o the show has been reparenting me in a really wonderful way.
Finally, and it’s another kids show character I might be projecting onto a bit, is Hilda in her eponymously named show. This I think is maybe more just general neurodivergence, but she just really reminds me of myself as a kid and recontextualizes some of the stuff I struggled with. She also seems to give me a sense of the childhood I feel I missed out on having not grown up socialized and identifying as my true self.
This is a very good example here.
Sam from Atypical. I find him very validating. Always wondering what the hell is going on, follows a set of rules to navigate life, drops interesting facts, doesn’t like people moving his things around, and knows what it’s like to date a girl that talks too much and makes meaning out of nothing.
Very good example here as well.
Not official but very autistic code, Anya from BTVS, and Hank Hill, from KOTH. Hank reminds me of my dad, a lot. Stuck in his old ways but trying to learn and grow for the good of his kid.
Anya is just good fun.
Hiro Protagonist.
You
Thank you.
