I don't think that Akio is really heartless.

Of course, the fact, that he have become the Ends of The World may shock Akio, but still... When we see him with Anthy, Akio looks depressed. The Rose Bride really can control her brother. Even Anthy quites being a witch, she won't lose her influence on Akio.  I think, there is an eternal bound, I'm sorry, I meant "bond" (or "connection") between them.

Last edited by Mellow Morte (11-25-2009 02:45:04 PM)

Feelings?  Technically, I would have to say he does.  I see no reason why not to think he has feelings.

However, as Sharnii said, his feelings do not include empathy.  He has feelings which are wholly self-centered, but his ability, in my book, to empathize for another human being is wholly non existent.  If he loves anyone, it would be Anthy, and even the one he is closest to by both blood and bond is one towards whom he would do absolutely nothing even remotely self-sacrificing or demonstrative for her.  The one closest to him is the one he uses, like he uses anything and anyone for his own gain.  He encourages her in no wise to grow as an individual.  He could care less that she eternally suffers the pain inflicted by the world.  No, he has feelings, but not in the way you or I would (hopefully) have feelings for not only ourselves but for other human beings as well...to be able to love them and do something for them in some way instead of just throwing them at anyone's mercy.

Last edited by spoon-san (11-25-2009 09:50:54 AM)

Akio can experience a sort of empathy, but nothing like the empathy you or I experience. When he sees someone in pain, he recognizes it as pain. He understands the feeling without sharing it, if that makes sense.

A complete lack of empathy would require much less emotional intelligence than he possesses. It would also mean he probably wouldn't take pleasure in other people's pain, because he wouldn't know that they feel pain. Many sociopaths can't feel emotions. In consequence, they can't understand what pain feels like. It's like trying to get someone who's blind from birth to understand the differences between colors they've never seen. In the post I've linked to, the father (whose son is a psychopath) says that "Lucas is not callous just to be mean, he truly doesn’t know the difference."

I like sharnii's description of Akio's fleeting moments of empathy as "the ghost of Dios." That seems accurate.

I would say that Akio is, if not attached to Utena, he at least has some kind of connection with her. It's not simply contempt on his part. The superficial reason is, since she reminds him of himself, he's not connected to her so much as the reflection of his younger self.

Last edited by minervana (11-25-2009 08:58:10 PM)

He seems to feel - but only himself. Or is that just another way of saying sociopath?

OnlyInThisLight wrote:

Err.  I don't know what article you are reading, but sociopath's are defined by a lack of conscience, not emotions.  They can tell the difference between right and wrong on an intellectual level, but don't care.   They can feel pain, sorrow, and anger, but only for wrongs against themselves.  Hell, it can be argued that they can even love, though it is most likely a selfish kind of love.  Like Sharnii said, they have no true sense of empathy.

The category of sociopath is somewhat old-fashioned in the modern psychology - it's only used at all because of its strong popular culture status. But many studies to indicate that the people who cannot emphatize with others also have problems with other emotions. The reason why some people become serial killers is that they can't feel almost anything, but doing things that are strongly against the human behaviour norms, such as killing others give them exhilarating rush of raw emotion that can easily become addictive to one who doesn't normally feel almost anything.

Giovanna wrote:

He has a true egoist's range of emotions, as he simply bypasses emotions dominated by feelings of his own toward others. For example, he doesn't internally care about Anthy's feelings. But he cares deeply externally since her feelings dictate her willingness to do what he wants. He gets distraught in the car when he says the world's causing her pain, but it's not sympathy, it's fear for his own position.

Actually, I think he does sympathize with Anthy. He just masks it by saying her pain isn't his fault. Akio's face is contorted between frustration and feeling completely helpless during that scene because he remembers what it's like to be a prince as sharnii said.

I think he wants Dios's power and purity in a way. For instance, even Utena notices that he seemed to be looking for something he lost when he looked at the stars, and I think he feels guilty becuase Anthy has to endure the Million Swords.  He loves her as well as Akio can love a human being, and maybe he even convinced himself that she "loved being a witch." He feels slightly guilty at the very least.

Giovanna wrote:

He's perfectly capable of performing tasks of daily living and interacting to accomplish goals with others. Most of the individuals we label as psychopaths are labeled so based on their fundamental inability to do these things. This is the guy that walks naked on the highway with the severed head of their grandmother. As a sociopath, we give Hannibal the credit to know to keep the head in his fridge.

Actually, most psycho/sociopaths aren't that dysfunctional. Unfortunately, pop psychology being what it is, lots of otherwise well-informed people confuse psychosis (a complete break from reality) with psychopathy (not having a conscience). Yeah, it's possible for a psychopath to also be psychotic--but the two are different.

Chances are high that we all have met a psychopath at some point in our lives. Maybe we only talked to that person for 20 minutes, or bought a donut from them, but if that's the case, they wouldn't stand out in your memory as being crazy. You might even think they were a pretty nice person. Between 1 and 4% of the population is psychopathic or has strong psychopathic tendencies. Most of them are not serial killers, or even violent; many psychopaths just lust for power or desire to "win" the game.

minervana wrote:

Giovanna wrote:

He's perfectly capable of performing tasks of daily living and interacting to accomplish goals with others. Most of the individuals we label as psychopaths are labeled so based on their fundamental inability to do these things. This is the guy that walks naked on the highway with the severed head of their grandmother. As a sociopath, we give Hannibal the credit to know to keep the head in his fridge.

Actually, most psycho/sociopaths aren't that dysfunctional. Unfortunately, pop psychology being what it is, lots of otherwise well-informed people confuse psychosis (a complete break from reality) with psychopathy (not having a conscience). Yeah, it's possible for a psychopath to also be psychotic--but the two are different.

Chances are high that we all have met a psychopath at some point in our lives. Maybe we only talked to that person for 20 minutes, or bought a donut from them, but if that's the case, they wouldn't stand out in your memory as being crazy. You might even think they were a pretty nice person. Between 1 and 4% of the population is psychopathic or has strong psychopathic tendencies. Most of them are not serial killers, or even violent; many psychopaths just lust for power or desire to "win" the game.

Yeah, I've known someone who stood out to me as a psychopath but could be very charming, but oh man, with your sixth sense, you can just tell.  But I had a whole semester of classes with this person.  Made my skin crawl.  But very 'functional' otherwise.  Sometimes it's the nicest ones who are the worse, not unlike Akio who could be considered the nicest, most charming fellow on Ohtori.  Problem he's so damn smart and knows how to put on the act.  Hell, if it was me, I would have fallen for it.

According to Dr. Robert Hare, who literally wrote the book (well, a book) on psychopathy, there is a difference between a sociopath and a psychopath, but they both exist. A psychopath is someone who cannot feel empathy and has no conscience. They are literally blind to that part of human interaction, and they learn to fake it through practice. A sociopath is someone who, when put in a situation where psychopathic behavior is encouraged or lauded, will have no or little trouble behaving like a psychopath. They can repress their normal human impulses towards empathy and act in a completely self-serving, or company-serving, manner. In normal circumstances, a sociopath will not exhibit these behaviours, even if they have a weak sense of empathy or conscience.

As an example, I would consider Light Yagami (protagonist from Death Note) a sociopath. If he'd never found the Death Note, he would still have a big ego and some problems with relating to other people, but I doubt he would have become a serial killer. Once he gets his hand on the note, though, he starts behaving like a textbook psychopath. The same could be said for guards at Nazi concentration camps, who, under other circumstances, would not have killed people or let people die, even if they were racist or cowardly or something like that.