Welcome to Gaia! ::

So I read this children's book called All Cats Have Asperger's Syndrome and it really reminded me of Heero. *sweatdrop*

However, I think that the case could easily be made that all of the similarities are simply due to his intense conditioning. In any case, it certainly doesn't seem to me that he would have it severely, since several of the characteristics are things that he does exhibit but at a low enough level that they are helpful to him or that don't really get in his way (sensitive hearing, lack of social skills, et cetera).

Basically, chances are high that it's all just from his extreme conditioning, but I thought it was interesting enough to share anyway.

Also, Heero doesn't exhibit any physical clumsiness... Sure, he gets hurt, but not because he tripped over his own feet.

I think its more likely that L from Death Note has it than Heero...lol...

Heero is reserved but I don't think he has any real mental "reasons" (shall we say) for doing it...

confused arrow neutral

Absolutely, they're a fad. And the drug companies are relying on panicky people to think, OMG! I have a symptom! It's really sad. It's like how they keep lowering cholesterol numbers and blood sugar numbers so that way more people end up on drugs and insulin. I swear, that's the only reason they do it. My mom was switched over to insulin simply because the recommended blood sugar level dropped... not because hers went up.

Heero is just socially inept. If you look at the Episode Zero manga for each of the pilots, you can see a reason for their personalities. Trowa is like Heero. They don't know how to act around people their own age. They haven't had that kind of interaction.

For instance, Midii challenges Trowa on several levels. In some ways, she's like him... doing a job, surviving by any means necessary. However, unlike him, she knows what a ten-year-old is supposed to be like. She cries, she talks, she tries to be friends with him because he's more like a peer to her than the adult men of the mercenary group. Trowa doesn't return those behaviors because he's only been around adults. He grew up faster than she did, doesn't know how ten-year-olds act, doesn't know how to be a kid. That vexes her.

Relena does the same for Heero. Here's someone who clearly hasn't had social interaction with others of his age. Relena's been in school, she's had parties. Granted, it's all rather formal because of the Dorlan's social standing, but still, it's there. Her mother points out that she's quieter than most her age, but she still talks to her friends. She still wants to spend time with her father and resents him being taken away all the time by his job. I felt the same way when my dad was working three jobs because Mom stayed home with me. I saw Mom all the time, and hardly saw my dad. It's normal to want to spend time with your parents as a child. Heero gets basically dumped into a situation where he suddenly has to be a fifteen-year-old, but he's not anymore. He's a soldier and an independant person. His life experiences have taught him one thing... Death. He does not value his own life, feels that he's expendable, and is practically suicidal in the missions he goes along with. But, that's because of how he grew up... not because of some mental disorder.

I agree: Heero is socially inept for the simple fact that he had no real childhood. He was thrust into a world of muder and intrigue at a very young age--a world that even most adults find hard to handle. He's been a killer since he was seven years old, for chrissakes. It's a small wonder that he tries to repress his feelings, because he'd go crazy if he let it all out. Hell, even with all that repression, we already know that Heero's suicidal: he pointed a gun at his head after inadvertantly leveling that apartment building, and he plants a bomb on his own normal suit to blow himself to smithereens should he ever have to self-destruct his Gundam. With so much blood on his hands, and so many traumatic memories to repress, it's no wonder that he's so socially awkward.

The very same could be said of Trowa Barton.

Duo definitely has to own up to his demons someday. I think he's going to crash the hardest. Trowa and Heero accepted their situations. Wufei and Quatre dealt with their demons mostly during the show. Duo continued to deny his most of the way through. I think that's one of the reasons he never learned to work with the ZERO system. He just didn't want to deal with the death in his life.

Duo thinks very lowly of himself because he's an orphan. He thinks the only thing keeping him alive is some fluke of fate. Until he learns that not everyone close to him is going to die or get hurt, he'll never be able to move on.

See, I still don't think Duo has fully faced his problems. It's amazing that in times of hardship he can crack jokes and try to cheer up those around him. He loves life and people. That's just how Duo is. That's how he wants people to perceive him. He keeps it up because it makes people not take him or life so seriously. If he didn't keep their spirits up, he'd have to conform to their seriousness and risk facing his problems. Because of his cheerfulness no one pressures Duo to examine himself. It's a defense. Kind of like Vash from Trigun, if you want an example. His past is dark and full of pain. But, he covers up his anguish with smiles and humor. It's the same for Duo.