A Disclaimer, an Explanation and References

Look, let's be honest. I'm just a guy behind a computer doing this for fun. I am in no way an expert in psychology. I minored in the stuff while in college, yes, but for God's sake I got C's in all my psych classes. For all that is good and holy, don't take anything I have to say here as advice, or to diagnose yourselves. In fact, don't listen to me at all. Go back to your porn.


Okay, that being done with, let me explain a little how this site works. All of this "Axis I, Axis II, Axis III, Axis IV, Axis V" stuff? That's what psychiatric professionals use when making diagnoses.

"Axis I" deals with mood disorders, anxiety disorders and psychotic disorders.
"Axis" II" is about "permanent" disorders, like personality disorders.
"Axis III" talks about medical and physical disorders.
"Axis IV" describes environmental and psychosocial conditions, like family strife and economic hardship.
"Axis V" is just a number. The Global Assessment of Functioning rates a person on a scale of 0 to 100, which shows how well they function. The higher the number, the better they can manage living in polite society.



Information used on this site comes from:

Andersen, Pauline. "Children With Bipolar Parents at Increased Risk for the Disorder." Medscape Today. 9 Mar. 2009. Web. 27 Aug. 2011.

Bressert, Steve. "The Causes of Bipolar Disorder (Manic Depression) | Psych Central." Psych Central - Trusted Mental Health, Depression, Bipolar, ADHD and Psychology Information . 22 Sept. 2010. Web. 28 Aug. 2011. .

century, the late 20th, and &. " Nihilism [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Aug. 2011. .

Douglas, John., and Mark Olshaker. The Anatomy of Motive. New York, NY: Scribner, 1999. Print.

Dryden-Edwards, Roxanne. "Dissociative Identity Disorder Symptoms, Causes, Treatment - What Causes Dissociative Identity Disorder on MedicineNet." MedicineNet.com. Medicine Net. Web. 27 Aug. 2011. .

"Emotional effects on children of alcohol dependent (alcoholic) parents." Alcohol Answers - Evidence-based Treatment & Support. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Aug. 2011. .

Ghaemi, S. Nassir. "Introduction." A First-rate Madness: Uncovering the Links between Leadership and Mental Illness. New York: Penguin, 2011. 16. Print.

Koltko-Rivera, Mark E. "The Psychology of Worldviews." American Psychological Association. Mar. 2004. Web. 27 Aug. 2011. .

L'Abate, Luciano. Family Psychopathology: the Relational Roots of Dysfunctional Behavior. New York, NY: Guilford, 1998. Print.

"Narcissistic personality disorder: Causes - MayoClinic.com." Mayo Clinic. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Aug. 2011. .

Nelson, Bryce. "THE ADDICTIVE PERSONALITY - COMMON TRAITS ARE FOUND - Series - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 18 Jan. 1983. Web. 28 Aug. 2011. .

Ohio State University (2010, May 14). Changing thoughts key to battling even severe depression. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 25, 2011, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2010/05/100512125257.htm

"Post-traumatic stress disorder - PubMed Health." National Center for Biotechnology Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Aug. 2011. .

Riester, Emilie J. "The Making of a Soviet Spy." Michigan State University. Est. 1855. East Lansing, Michigan USA. Michigan State University. Web. 27 Aug. 2011. .

Rohner, Ronald , Abdul Khaleque, and David Cournoyer. "Introduction to Parental Acceptance-Rejection Theory, Methods, Evidence and Implications." Introduction to Parental Acceptance.pdf. University of Connecticut, 8 May 2007. Web. 27 Aug. 2011.
"Schizophrenia Facts and Statistics." Schizophrenia.com, Indepth Schizophrenia Information and Support. Web. 29 Aug. 2011. .

Sharp, Rob. "Can Loneliness Really Damage Your Health? - Science, News - The Independent." The Independent | News | UK and Worldwide News | Newspaper. The Independent, 23 Aug. 2010. Web. 27 Aug. 2011. .


Staff, Mayo Clinic. "Paranoid Schizophrenia - MayoClinic.com." Mayo Clinic. 16 Dec. 2010. Web. 27 Aug. 2011. .

Wilson, Daniel H., and Anna C. Long. The Mad Scientist Hall of Fame: Muwahahahaha! New York, NY: Citadel, 2008. Print.

Baker, William (aka, "Sandman")

\



















Introduction

William Baker began life with only one parent, as his father, Floyd, was incarcerated. He was raised by his mother, who seemed to be a pleasant woman who cared for her son, but nevertheless had a drinking problem. She often was too drunk to notice if her son was home or not. Mrs. Baker was not a wealthy woman and made a living cleaning houses after Floyd abandoned the family. William was a creative child, excelling in art and sculpting in school.

This made him a target for the school bullies. Baker quickly learned that in order to be safe and be seen as a man, he had to get tough. He soon was "the boss of the kids" in school, earning the fear of the boys and the attention of the girls. Baker became a football star in high school and began throwing games to pay off a friend's gambling debts to the mob. The coach figured it out and Baker assaulted him to keep him quiet.

Baker was taken to jail after committing armed robbery and aggravated assault and battery with the motive of getting enough money to leave town for good. In prison, he earned a reputation as not being afraid to get into fights. He eventually escaped from jail and fled from New York to Georgia, where he stumbled upon a radiation testing site on a beach. A nearby reactor detonated while he was on the beach and the radiation changed William Baker into the Sandman. (Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Annual #1)

As the Sandman, Baker has the ability to change the density of his body, to shape his body as he pleases and to gain size when near sand. A petty thief at heart, Baker has engaged in crimes from bank robberies to murder plots. Oddly, he does at times, show signs of a conscience. In the past, Baker has worked with the Nazi hunters known as the Wild Pack and is able to put his animosity towards Spider-Man aside in order to work towards common goals.



Psychopathology: Portrait of an Alcoholic

A strong indicator of Baker's future trouble with the law stems from his mother's alcoholism. As an adult, William has been shown to have a drinking problem as well. Take a look at Spider-Man's thoughts on the subject. "Tuesday, I'm cutting classes to fight the Sandman after he gets drunk and tries to pick a fight with a busload of college guys. Try to imagine a beach throwing up, try to imagine an abusive sandstorm with an alcohol problem, and you'll begin to get an inkling of what I do when I'm hiding Peter Parker." (Marvel Knights Spider-Man #7) When Baker gets into a fight over a woman with Hydro-Man, its in a bar. (Amazing Spider-Man #217) When Baker and his friend Vic are seen plotting a new heist, its in a bar. (Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Annual #1)

Alcoholism has been found to be a genetic disease. In fact, a child with one biological parent with alcoholism is three times more likely to become alcohol dependent than a child without alcoholic parents. Children with alcoholic parents are more likely to have emotional and behavioral problems. (Think of the beating he gave his football coach.) Depression is reported 20% to 40% of the time when a person suffers from alcoholism. Its unclear if Mrs Baker drank while she was pregnant with her son but if she did, it made William more likely to suffer from memory and learning problems. Combined with a lack of positive role models, lack of control of his anger issues, alcoholism and a desire to prove himself as a man, its clear that Baker was going to explode.

A Desire for Wealth and Family

Baker was never the world domination, evil mastermind type. Money is his real motive. In his very first appearance, he faces off against Spider-Man while on his way to rob a bank. (Amazing Spider-Man #4) Sandman uses violence as a means to an end, not as a goal. Consider how he objected to Doctor Octopus's plan to hold the planet for ransom. The plan was to tamper with a satellite so that it would spray a poisonous chemical over the earth and kill everyone, unless the Sinister Six were made rulers. Baker tells Octavius, "I don't know. I wouldn't want to live with that kind of slaughter on my conscience." (Amazing Spider-Man #337)

Sandman has also shown a tendency towards working in groups. From the Sinister Six, to the Wild Pack to the Outlaws (a group of former criminals turned vigilantes), Baker prefers to work in teams rather than alone. Even outside of his criminal life, Baker has shown some signs that he desires a family. When Octavius was planning to rule the world in "The Return of the Sinister Six" (Amazing Spider-Man #334 to #339), Baker had to be persuaded to join the team, or else the family he was hiding out with would be killed. (The family didn't know he was a fugitive.) Not long ago, he kidnapped a little girl named Keemia, after killing her mother. He told her that she was his long lost daughter and that he would take care of her. He kidnapped the girl after finding out that his powers made it impossible for him to have biological children of his own. (Amazing Spider-Man #616)

Conclusion

All of this may stem from his lack of a family while growing up. Baker has been consistently shown to be at odds with himself: bank robberies and murdering a child's parent one moment, to defending families and the world the next. It could be said that his mother (caring but unreliable) and father (a violent felon) are battling for control of William's soul. The poverty he grew up in may be driving his desire for wealth. He does feel compassion but likely suppresses it during crimes. This all goes back to his childhood desire to prove that he was a man. It also shows a conscious decision to commit violent crime. This is very different from an individual that can't control their impulses.

Diagnosis

Axis I: Alcoholism.
Axis II: Antisocial personality disorder.
Axis III: Infertility.
Axis IV: Economic hardship as a child.
Axis V: 70--Moderate difficulty. Prone to violent outbursts, violent crime. Can be sympathetic to the suffering of others.

Brock, Eddie (aka, "Venom", aka "Anti-Venom")

Introduction

Eddie Brock is a religious fanatic with ample reasons in his deeply troubled mind to believe that he is a servant of God. Raised as a Catholic, Brock was held in contempt by his father, Carl, who silently resented his son for the death of his wife in childbirth. Brock craved his father's affection but only earned a small amount after he became a journalist for a New York newspaper, the Daily Globe. That respect was lost after Brock wrote a story that erroneously named a disturbed man as the serial killer known as the Sin-Eater. The real Sin-Eater, Stan Carter, was soon captured by the vigilante known as Spider-Man.

Brock was immediately fired, lost the respect of his father and was divorced by his wife. Despondent over the turn his life had taken, Brock went to a local church to pray for forgiveness for the suicide he was planning. While in prayer, a black, liquid like creature (identified by lead scientist Reed Richards as an alien creature called a symbiote) appeared from the darkness of the church and attached itself to Brock. The creature had tried to attach itself to Spider-Man and had nearly been killed in battle with him. Sensing that Brock's hatred of Spider-Man matched its own, the parasitic symbiote chose him as its new host. Brock accepted the "gift" of the symbiote and the powers it gave him. (Super human strength, invisibility, creating webbing, evasion of Spider-Man's early warning "spider sense" and knowledge of Spider-Man's identity.)

Calling himself Venom, Brock went on a personal crusade to kill Peter Parker. In his mind, Spider-Man had destroyed Brock's innocence. He clashed with Spider-Man and Peter Parker numerous times, threatening his friends and loved ones at the same time. He and Spider-Man only manage to call a truce (albeit a temporary one) when Brock's ex-wife, Anne Weying, convinced him that killing Spider-Man would harm other innocents. As Brock is obsessed with innocence and guilt, he allowed Spider-Man to live in order to protect the innocent. (Amazing Spider-Man #375)



Years later, Brock revealed that he was dying of cancer. With his time running short, he attempted to atone for his sins by auctioning off the the symbiote to the highest criminal bidder and donating the money to charity. After the auction, Brock again attempted to commit suicide, by slitting his wrists. (Marvel Knights Spider-Man #6) While recuperating in a hospital, Brock learned that Parker's Aunt May was a patient in the same building. He quickly killed a nurse, to see if he was still strong enough (physically and mentally) to take a life. All the while, hallucinations of the symbiote mocked him, asking if he was really serious about killing an old woman. Peter finds Eddie standing over his comatose aunt's hospital bed and Brock jumps out the window. Peter saves him by catching him with his webbing. (Sensational Spider-Man #39)

After being cured of his cancer by Martin Li's powers, Brock was inadvertently transformed into Anti-Venom. Brock had come to hate the symbiote and all of the harm he blamed it for. He now wants to cleanse the world of all symbiotes (the creature spawned several times) while aiding the hopeless and weak. He sees being Anti-Venom as a blessing. (Amazing Spider-Man #573)


Poisoned Thinking: Obsessive Behavior

To Eddie Brock, everything wrong in his life comes from Spider-Man. His desire to see Spider-Man dead is the driving force in Brock's life. His hatred causes him to attack Spider-Man even when he is powerless to truly be a threat. While Brock was separated from the symbiote, he was confronted by Spider-Man, who accused him of threatening his wife. Brock screamed "It's all your fault! Every bad thing that has ever happened to me...it's all because of you!" (Peter Parker: Spider-Man #9 vol. 2) Spider-Man easily held off Brock, who all the while insisted that he wanted his enemy to die. Brock was soon after reunited with the symbiote and they went to go see Brock ex-wife, Anne. After several adventures with Venom and Spider-Man, Anne was suffering from extreme stress and anxiety. She committed suicide by jumping out of her apartment window, as a fight between Venom and Spider-Man raged outside. Venom blamed Spider-Man for her death. (Amazing Spider-Man #19, vol. 2)

A Holy Cause?

Religion is a major factor in Brock's life. While being very religious is not a sign of mental illness, the way that Brock injects religion into his grudge against Spider-Man and his transformation into Venom does show delusional thinking. Brock also has animosity towards the Sin-Eater (and his copy cat), the serial killer that he misreported on, causing him to lose his job. The name "Sin-Eater" may also give Brock reason to believe that religion is a part of his struggles in life. After escaping from The Vault, Brock hid at an abandoned fallout shelter under New York, There, he ranted about he and the symbiote were now "safe to pursue our destiny! A destiny begun when Spider-Man destroyed my life!" (Amazing Spider-Man #316)

Even in their very first meeting, Brock was dressed in a priest's robe and collar, claiming that the clothing was appropriate as they were "about to exorcise a demon!" (Amazing Spider-Man #300) Shortly before admitting to having cancer, Brock has visited a confessional and told the priest "I think the Lord decided to punish me for my terrible sin. I think he put a demon inside me." (Spectacular Spider-Man #1, vol. 2) Before auctioning the symbiote, he claims that he experienced a religious renewal after seeing a recent religious movie, insinuated to be Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ." (Marvel Knights Spider-Man #6)

Psychopathology: Paranoid Schizophrenia


It seems appropriate that schizophrenia means "split mind" as there are two minds that make up Venom: Eddie Brock and the symbiote. While it has been shown that the symbiote goads its host into acts of violence in order to feed off of the human's adrenaline, Brock is capable of violence without the creature's influence. He also shows paranoid, delusional thoughts. He repeatedly blames Spider-Man for problems he had before he even met the vigilante. He has suffered from visual and auditory hallucinations (Sensational Spider-Man #39) and has thought of or attempted suicide on at least three separate occasions.

Schizophrenics often prefer to be left alone and are non-violent. They harm themselves much more often than they hurt others. This seems to be the case with Brock, who went to the church alone to pray for forgiveness for his upcoming suicide. It was only after being bonded to the alien that he showed signs of aggression. As the creature provokes violence, his behavior may have been permanently changed by the alien. The multiple suicide attempts do fit the schizophrenia diagnosis. Schizophrenics are fifty times more likely to die by their own hand than someone from the general population. Within ten years of a schizophrenia diagnosis, 10% of individuals have died by suicide. Its been found that those born in an urban area are 50% more likely to develop the disease. (Brock was born in San Francisco.)

Conclusion

If Brock can be successfully and finally separated from the symbiote and with a strict regimen of anti-psychotics, he may stand a chance of some degree of recovery. While total recovery is rare (25% of patients are cured after ten years of treatment), one quarter of patients are "much improved, relatively independent." With therapy, he may be able to see how distorted his obsession on Spider-Man is. This will be difficult, as the symbiote has shown to be fixated on Brock and is very hard to kill.

Diagnosis

Axis I: Depression.
Axis II: Schizophrenia; antisocial personality disorder.
Axis III: Cancer, non specified; in remission.
Axis IV: Unsafe living conditions (sewers, underground fallout shelter, ruins of old San Francisco under the new city.)
Axis V: 30--very serious impairment: repeated suicide attempts, schizophrenia, hallucinations.

Connors, Dr. Curt (aka, "The Lizard")

Introduction


Little is known about Dr Curt Connors' life as a child. As an army surgeon, herpetologist (a person that studies amphibians and reptiles) and professor, he is obviously a brilliant man. He always pushed himself, from grade school to medical school, graduating at the top of his class. When he was drafted into the military, he performed battlefield surgery on wounded GI's, until a grenade wounded his arm. The arm became gangrenous and was amputated. This ended his career as a surgeon. He turned to studying lizards and their ability to regenerate missing limbs. By stimulating an area of the brain called the "R complex," he hoped to mimic the ability in humans. He created a formula and tested it on himself. (Spectacular Spider-Man #238)

Naturally, things got worse after that. The serum changed him into the Lizard, a creature that hates humanity, Dr Connors and his family. Reports from Florida of a strange, man-like reptile in the swamps made their way to New York City and drew the attention of Spider-Man. He sought out the help of Connors, not knowing that he was the Lizard. Connors' wife, Martha, explained to the vigilante what had happened to her husband and the masked man set about creating a formula cure in Connors' lab. (Amazing Spider-Man #6)

After Connors was returned to normal, everyone hoped that the change was permanent. Eventually the Connors family moved from Florida to New York City and Connors became a professor at Empire State University. The changes began again, after Connors helped Spider-Man create a formula to melt the protective hide off of the Russian agent known as the Rhino. He theorized that the fumes in the formula, which shared certain ingredients with the Lizard formula, had re-triggered the Lizard transformation. (Amazing Spider-Man #45)

Spider-Man and the Lizard battled off and on for years, with Connors usually being changed back to normal. The family suffered during these years but no more than when Martha died of cancer, caused by toxic chemicals from a nearby factory. This left their young son, Billy, with his father, who still risked transformations. Eventually, the inevitable caught up with Billy and he was killed by the Lizard. The murder was an attempt by the creature to kill Curt, who still resided in the animal's mind and could influence its actions. (The same was true of the Lizard. It was always in the back of Curt's mind, whispering to him.) The creature hoped that if Curt's son died, he would give up and fade away. It succeeded. (Amazing Spider-Man #632)

The Lizard's whereabouts are currently unknown, but still seethes with hatred for all mammals.

Emotional Instability Caused by Post Traumatic Stress

Connors' war time experiences, plus the multiple transformations into the Lizard, must have caused him great stress. Post traumatic stress is very common among people that have been to war, seen acts of terrorism, been to prison or suffered other kinds of traumatic events. There are many symptoms of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.) The person often "relives" the event that caused the stress, avoidance (staying away from people or places that remind you of the event) and constant states of emotional arousal. When so aroused, a person may be very irritable and have angry outbursts.

While its never explained why Dr. Connors' moved from Florida to New York (Amazing Spider-Man #32), its possible that he moved as a part of the symptom of avoidance. The swamps may have reminded him too much of being the Lizard and decided that the concrete of N.Y.C. was as far from a swamp as he could get.



Curt also explained in a later transformation that he had some control of being the Lizard and used it as an escape from his emotional pain. "When Martha died, I was secretly satisfied, because her death gave me a great excuse to become the Lizard and take out my frustrations on the world," he explained. (Spectacular Spider-Man #13, vol 2) Some of that pain must have been taken out on his family, such as when he backhanded his son into a pile of trash while taunting Spider-Man. (Spectacular Spider-Man #13, vol 2) He also screamed at the terrified boy during the kidnapping, "Stop screaming, you little brat! Why wont you stop screaming? I cant hear myself think!"

A Negative World View

A "world view" is "a set of assumptions about physical and social reality that may have powerful effects on cognition and behavior." Dr Connors showed many times that he had strong, negative opinions on the state of humanity and the environment. After returning to New York from Florida after a long time away, he looked at the city and didn't like what he saw. "Its a charnel house of filth and decay...a horrifying example of urban influence. It has become a microcosm for the world of the future--of what this planet will become should mankind be allowed to continue its perilous course towards Armageddon." (Spectacular Spider-Man #237)

Connors further expressed his dissatisfaction with humanity when Peter Parker visited him in Miami. After Peter declined a glass of water offered to him by Connors, Curt went on a tirade. "I know what it is, Peter. You're not used to the filtered water down here. Sad, isn't it...that someday everyone's drinking water will have to be filtered due to all the blasted pollution! Just another example of how we're wrecking this planet!" (Spider-Man Unlimited #19)

Martha Connors also saw how her husband's world view was hurting he and the family. After finding the Lizard and some partially transformed lizard assistants at the Miami reservoir, she called him out. "I think I've finally figured it out, Curt. These transformations of yours. This distaste for all of humanity that has escalated so much over the years. It hurt you, didn't it--more than you ever admitted to yourself--losing your arm due to man's inhumanity to man." (Spider-Man Unlimited #19)

Feeding the Beast: Curt's Rage

By Connors' own admission, he was a strongly driven young man. He must have worked very hard in order to graduate in the top of his class in med school, perhaps sacrificing other aspects of his life in the process. He was clearly very eager to be a surgeon, a goal that he strove for and which was taken from him on the battlefield. He must also have been a caring, compassionate man to be a surgeon. As his wife said, it must have hurt him to have lost his arm because of "man's inhumanity to man."

He may have ignored or tried to suppress the anger he felt, which nevertheless was still there. The fact that Curt resents humanity and the Lizard also despises all mammals raises the possibility that the monster is a result of Dr. Connors' psychological pain. Sigmund Freud's ideas about the Id, ego and superego play into this theory. The id represents the lusty, animal part of human thoughts. The superego is the moral, restraining aspect of human actions. These two opposite forces are balanced by the ego, which tries to negotiate the desires of both. When Curt gets upset, he would transform into the Lizard, showing that the id had taken over his mind. When the superego took over, he changed back to loving, caring Dr. Connors.

Conclusion

Dr. Connors' psychological trouble stemmed from his childhood focus on being the best, academically. He drove to be a surgeon, but he lost that ability when he lost his arm while performing medical service to GI's on the battlefield. This anger, post traumatic stress and chemical dependency on the Lizard formula fed into the monster which terrified his family and the community. Had Curt gotten psychological help, he may have prevented the death of his son at the monster's hands and his own demise.

Diagnosis

Axis I: Chemical dependency (Lizard formula, made up of unknown chemicals)
Axis II: Post traumatic stress.
Axis III: Loss of his right arm.
Axis IV: Dangerous living conditions. (The swamps of Florida, New York City's sewers and subway tunnels.)
Axis V: 15--Very serious impairment. Angry outbursts; recurring chemical abuse.

Dillon, Max (aka, "Electro")

Introduction

Max Dillon was born in Endicott, New York, to Anita and Jonathan Dillon. Jonathan had a nasty temper and took it out on his wife and son. It likely also created problems in his job as an accountant, as he was often fired and forced the family to move to a new town. Jonathan left his wife and son when Max was around eight years old and Anita leaned heavily on her son. She was over protective and often reminded him "You're all I have."

Anita felt betrayed when Max decided that he wanted to go to college to study electrical engineering or to be a scientist. She told him that he didn't have the brains or discipline to be an engineer. She suggested that he become an accountant, like his father. Anita died near Max's twenty fifth birthday but his life didn't get any better. He got married six months after her death but the marriage was a short one. She encouraged him to follow his dream as a engineer or to apply for a management job at the electric company. He glumly told her that he didn't have the brains for jobs like those. She eventually left him.

Max kept his job as a lineman and one day his boss ordered him to climb up an electrical pole to save a fellow lineman, who had been shocked at the top of the pole. Max did it when he was guaranteed a bonus check and was struck by lighting when at the top. He found that the strike had given him the ability to generate and control electricity and embarked on a criminal career as a thief. (Amazing Spider-Man #422)

Psychopathology: An Insecure Dynamo

Despite being nearly god-like in power, Dillon has always felt like a little man. Soon after being granted his power, he was approached by Erik Lensherr, a mutant terrorist with abilities similar to Max's. He hoped to recruit Max into his Brotherhood of Mutants but he refused. "Let me tell you something, bullet head: My whole damn life nobody ever missed a chance to make me feel small. But that lightning strike? That was karma, baby. That was somebody upstairs saying I don't have to take other people's garbage anymore!" (Web of Spider-Man #2, vol 2)

Dillon was always sensitive to other people's criticism. After he was released from prison, he was visited by his parole officer, who praised him for saving some co-workers at a TV studio when a electrical cable shorted out. (Being invulnerable to electricity, Dillon was able to walk past the cable and shut off the power with ease.) Despite the parole officer's approval, Dillon still thought of him as a "smug punk." Back in his apartment, Dillon promised himself that "When I'm ready to go back into action--as Electro again--nobody's gonna push me around! Nobody!" (Amazing Spider-Man #82)

His sensitivity was still there after he tried to increase his electrical power by strapping himself into a electric chair. After getting beaten by Spider-Man again, Max was at his wits end. "Y-you're like all the rest...like my own father. You think that I'm a useless nothing! A pathetic loser! A perennial failure! You are so wrong!" After being finally defeated, he tries to commit suicide by falling into New York harbor. Electricity + water = boom.(Amazing Spider-Man #425)

Momma's Boy Gone Bad

After Jonathan Dillon left his family, Anita depended on her son. She didnt allow him to play with other kids, because she was afraid he might hurt himself. She repeatedly told him "You're all I have." This kind of role reversal between parent and child is called parentification. The parent stops looking after the child and the child starts meeting the needs of the parent. Parentified children can look after a parent's physical needs (like always doing all of the cooking and cleaning) or emotional needs (being an emotional confidant.)

Young children are not yet emotionally mature enough to take on the worries and fears that adults have. It seems that Anita parentified Max by leaning on him emotionally and not letting him have a carefree childhood. Parentified children grow up to have emotional problems, can be very angry people and have trouble forming stable romantic relationships. Max never married again after his wife left him but he did form somewhat of a relationship with a shape shifting Ukrainian prostitute. (Marvel Knights Spider-Man #2) Still, not the most stable of love affairs.



Psychopathology: Depression

Max's fixation on his parents and wife's disappointment in him most likely caused him to become depressed. The parental rejection he dealt with from his father likely caused him to become depressed, as well as the emotional stress he dealt with in living with his mother's needs. Always a crook at heart, perhaps he saw money as a way of dealing with his depression. More likely, cognitive therapy would have eased his symptoms. Researchers have found that changing the way a person thinks has a greater effect on improving mood than changing how the depressed person behaves.

Conclusion

Max Dillon suffered emotional abuse at the hands of his parents and rejection by his ex-wife. These traumas led him to think of himself as a loser and he tried to "self medicate" with money and violence. Constant defeat by Spider-Man only increased his negative self image and depression, resulting in a hatred of the wall crawler. Cognitive therapy may help with his anger and depression but his receptiveness to the idea is in question.

Diagnosis

Axis I: Depression caused by parentification and parental rejection.
Axis II: Antisocial personality disorder.
Axis III: No diagnosis.
Axis IV: Dirty living conditions. (Hid out in a warehouse with rats, Amazing Spider-Man #425)
Axis V: 40--very serious impairment: suicide attempt, major depression

Fisk, Wilson (aka, "The Kingpin")

Introduction

Exact details about Wilson Fisk's life are unknown, other than he has been a criminal since at least the age of twelve, when he committed his first murder. A fat, unpopular boy, he was often bullied in school. He eventually learned to use his size to his advantage. Fisk trained in martial arts and changed his flabby body into a mass of pure muscle, intimidating the other thugs in his tough Bronx neighborhood. His pure cruelty caught the attention of Don Rigoletto, a mob boss who hired Wilson into his gang. Later, Fisk killed Rigoletto and took over his portion of the mob.

While not formally educated, Wilson did teach himself political science, which he made use of while running the mob. He also rose to power shortly after Spider-Man removed the mob leaders, Crime Master and Big Man, from the scene. This power vacuum aided the Kingpin's power grabs. "Instead of many rival gangs operating haphazardly throughout the city, instead of countless crooks acting alone...the underworld will now be run like a business. And the chairman of the board will be the Kingpin!" (Amazing Spider-Man #50)

Fisk and Spider-Man clashed numerous times over the years, sometimes physically but more often in a sort of cloak and dagger way. Kingpin's tendency to actually take part in his crimes gave way to having underlings and unwitting dupes do his dirty work. He has used other criminals (from the Hobgoblin to Jack O'Lantern) and vigilantes (Daredevil to Spider-Man) as pawns in his schemes. An intimidating bear of a man, Fisk's physical strength is not to be underestimated. His strength is not superhuman but is more than enough to kill an average human with one punch.

Psychopathology: Narcissism and Cyclothymia

As the Kingpin's criminal empire expanded, so did his ego. Always the audacious type, one of Wilson's first acts as Kingpin was to kidnap newspaper publisher J. Jonah Jameson to silence him and his anti-organized crime campaign. Spider-Man was also captured and sent to drown with the publisher in a sub basement. As Jameson pleaded for his life, Fisk snorted "You fool! The Kingpin can do anything!" (Amazing Spider-Man #52)

Spider-Man knows about Kingpin's narcissism. After Peter unmasked to the public as part of the Superhuman Registration Act, Fisk hired a sniper to kill Peter's beloved Aunt May. Filled with rage as his aunt lay in a coma in a hospital, Peter confronted Fisk in prison and beat him in front of the assembly. As Kingpin lay bleeding on the concrete, Peter let him know how it was going to be. "You see, I've learned something from you, Fisk. Something about cruelty...and timing. I've done something far worse than kill you, Fisk. I've beaten you...And for a man as prideful as you, who needs everyone to believe he cant be beaten...that's the worst pain you can feel." (Amazing Spider-Man #542)



Cyclothymia is characterized by a milder form of mania and depression. Fisk would go between states of high moods and depression, but these episodes would be milder than full blown manic depression. For example, look at the differences of emotion when Kingpin says "At last! With Spider-Man gone, the city is mine!" (Amazing Spider-Man #51) and his dreary outlook when Spider-Man faces him after a gang war. "Spider-Man, I've made several fortunes via the practice of using people like you...Trusting idiots that believe there is happiness to be had on this planet." Even the threat of death doesn't stir him. "My death would serve no purpose, other than to bloody the hands of such God fearing men as yourself." (Amazing Spider-Man #288) It should be noted that Fisk's wife, Vanessa, was forced to flee to Europe during the gang war, possibly explaining Kingpin's depression.

The Kingpin of Crime: Family Man

Despite being willing to kill anyone if it means protecting his empire, Fisk is a devout family man. He fawns over his wife, and was a proud father to Richard. Richard had believed his father to be an importer of Asian spices, but was devastated to learn that he was a mob leader. The news that his lavish lifestyle was paid for with blood money made him hate his father. He faked his death, causing Wilson to fall into a deep depression. Richard later planned to take apart the Kingpin's empire as the Schemer, and his unmasking shocked Wilson into a catatonic state. They eventually reconciled, despite other sabotages by Richard. Rich was eventually killed by Vanessa after a final assassination attempt. This father/son struggle for power and redemption is similar to another New York crime family: John Gotti Senior and John Jr.

Conclusion

Wilson Fisk is hugely full of himself. It may seem to be with good reason, until you dig deeper. While he is an extremely healthy specimen, he throws himself against super humans and expects to win. Kingpin does put up a good fight but his narcissism cost him dearly when faced against an irate Spider-Man. Fisk has gained control of the mob numerous times, but only after losing it to other gangsters and super criminals. He is a force to be reckoned with but is not the force of nature that he thinks himself to be. Kingpin is also not mentally ill. His murders are goal oriented, not committed out of blood lust. This puts him low on the psychopathic scale.

Diagnosis

Axis I: Depression.
Axis II: Cyclothymia; Narcissistic Personality disorder
Axis III: No diagnosis.
Axis IV: Son keeps trying to kill him.
Axis V: 70--Mild symptoms. Murderous tendencies, kept under control by a goal oriented personality.

Kasady, Cletus (aka, "Carnage")

Introduction


Every super villain had a screwed up childhood but Cletus Kasady's was extra crazy. He loves to taunt his doctors with whether or not he was abused or if he is just a bad seed. It may be a bit of both but genetics alone don't make up an individual's personality. What is suspected is that he watched his father beat his mother to death with a hammer. After his father went away to prison, Cletus ended up with his grandmother. She found him torturing her dog and when she tried to stop him, he killed her. The police took her death as an accident and Kasady ended up at St Estes Home for Boys, in Brooklyn. The building was later destroyed in a fire.

Over the years, Kasady became a serial killer and was sentenced to eleven consecutive life terms in Riker's Island prison. While incarcerated, Cletus was cell mate to Eddie Brock, aka Venom. Eddie was without the symbiote at the time, thinking the creature dead. It proved him wrong, helping him break out of prison. At that moment, the asexual creature spawned, leaving a new symbiote with Kasady. The symbiotes have no concept of family and it felt no obligation to the spawn or the need to even tell Brock it had reproduced. Now bonded to a new alien, Kasady escaped and began a murder spree as Carnage.

A Nihilistic Philosophy

When a new therapist was sent to Ravencroft Asylum, Kasady made his philosophy known to him during one of his stints of incarceration. As the symbiote tore into Dr. Kurtz, Kasady raved "I'm chaos, Mistuh Kurtz, chaos--and the rest of the world wont admit that its just like me. And because of that the world is worthless, its dirt on my heel--its a planet full of mannequins filled with blood and they may as well be torn up and burst and stamped on because what else are they good for--apart from making noise and being nice and making more stupid little mannequins that sit still for lies and TV and kissy-kissy garbage." (Carnage: Mind Bomb)

According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Nihilism is the belief that all values are baseless and that nothing can be known or communicated. It is often associated with extreme pessimism and a radical skepticism that condemns existence. A true nihilist would believe in nothing, have no loyalties, and no purpose other than, perhaps, an impulse to destroy." Indeed, Carnage has shown loyalty to no one. He attempted to kill Doppelganger, a member of his "family" that tore apart New York. He also fantasized about murdering Shriek, his lover from the same riot. (Carnage #3)



Mass murderer, Spree killer or Serial Killer?

The FBI divides murderers into three different categories, each with different sets of motivations. According to former FBI agent and criminal profiler John Douglas, this is how various killers are classified:

A serial killer is someone that has murdered on at least one occasion, with an emotional "cooling off" in between kills. A cooling off period can go on for days, weeks, months or years. Rarely, its only for hours but each murder is always a separate emotional experience for the killer.

A mass murderer kills four or more people in one place in one incident. The killings are all part of the same emotional experience and the incident may go on for minutes or hours.

A spree killer is a person that kills at two or more separate locations with no emotional cooling off period. The killings tend to take place over a short period of time.

Cletus Kasady: Mass Murderer

Kasady has never been one to hold back on his rampages, especially the event called "Maximum Carnage" where he and a gang of other murderers wrecked havoc through Manhattan for days. Of course, its unusual for a murder rampage to go on for that long, but the symbiote does increase aggressive tendencies by provoking its host to violence and feeding on adrenaline. (Being given super human strength, stamina, agility and being bullet proof could certainly help extend a rampage as well.) Given Kasady's disregard for planning and thought (he once told Shriek that thinking was a nasty habit that she better stop doing), he likely never put any thought into how it might end. This is a trait more common in spree killers than mass murderers, but again, possibly a side effect of the symbiote's influence.

Psychopathology: Mania and Narcissism

Carnage has very grandiose ideas for a simple mass murderer. He has a vision that his creed of freedom via chaos will take the world by storm. He is also in love with murder, saying that it makes him feel like a "God on Monday morning" or "like a gunship." (Carnage: Mind Bomb) He also considers the world to be "dirt on my heel" because it has so far rejected his philosophy. These traits are commons in manic and narcissistic patients, respectively. Again, the effects of the symbiote on Kasady's psyche is uncertain, but the power and adrenaline could definitely add to the grandiosity.

Conclusion

Kasady's exact background is uncertain but some form of abuse is likely. An aggressive individual in his own right, his condition could only be exacerbated by the alien's influence. A highly emotional person to begin with, the "cooling down time" of a typical mass murderer seems to have been negated by the adrenaline feeding parasite. Separating Kasady from the alien is of greatest importance but has proven to be difficult to accomplish. Even after successful separations, the creature finds a way back to its host.

Diagnosis

Axis I: Manic mood disorder, Severe, recurrent.
Axis II: Narcissism; Antisocial personality disorder.
Axis III: No diagnosis.
Axis IV:No diagnosis.
Axis V: 20--Severe danger to others.