Psychological Disorders and Janus

[Hadriel]

I'm not too much of an expert in psychology, my field of knowledge being largely limited to the disorder I have.  However, I've always wondered whether there was a genetic reason for Janus being so contemptuous even as a child.  It's a trait that clearly extends into his adulthood -- he rarely opens up to anyone.  And yet, his surroundings as a child were quite conducive to producing the violent, conquering sociopath that he became as Magus, what with his bitch of a mother practically sucking off Satan.

This is not merely a question of nature versus nurture -- I'm asking whether anyone with expertise in psychology can find similarities between Janus' behavioral patterns in both known periods of his life and those of any known and studied psychological disorder.

I have found a few similarities between Janus' disorder and mine, Asperger's Syndrome.  As Zeal was not focused on healing those they considered to be "beneath" them, it is hardly surprising that no professional treatment existed for Janus.  Case in point: the Earthbound Ones.  However, considering Zeal's fascination with dreams as a society that finds "truth in the bliss of sleep", hypnotherapy should have been very advanced, and given that magic is indisputable fact in the Chrono universe, it should have been acknowledged as a reputable way of diagnosing problems.  Whether one takes into account actual history or not, it should have been such in T1, T2, and Ideal's 2400 A.D.  Unfortunately for Janus, that's rather a moot point.  But, as Radical Dreamers suggests, he may have eventually perfected a time travel spell.  However, I personally find it unlikely that he would seek treatment even if he knew for a fact that he had some type of disorder.  One symptom of Asperger's Syndrome in particular, and one I personally know quite well, is the ability to single-mindedly focus on an objective or an interest, to the exclusion of nearly everything else.  Maybe that explains why I'm posting this, but in all seriousness.  Unless I'm mistaken, I own one of the largest private collections of Star Wars novels, comics, games, movies, and other material in my area of Texas, if not the largest.  As for me and seeking treatment, I'd do everything Janus did in the Mystic War if it meant curing the syndrome.  He had one objective, which he focused on above all else -- the destruction of Lavos.  One could say it was simple revenge, but most people who simply want revenge can still interact with others, at least to an extent.  Hamlet, for example, was still capable of feeling and thinking about the issues outside of his, as he often did in his quest to murder Claudius.  Anakin Skywalker could talk to people without choking them once upon a time.  Of course, after we see ROTS that will be an extremely difficult statement to believe, but I digress.  Janus actually to some extent reminds me of the infamous Columbine killers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.  After the shooting, a journal of Harris' was recovered by police, in which he outlines his hatred for the idiots around him, coincidentally including Star Wars fans and Christians.

*shows disrespect for the dead*

Anyway, as Magus he often refers to his fellow party members as "idiots" or other such things.  He treats his allies against Lavos with open contempt because he believes them to be beings of lesser intelligence and worthiness.  There can be a substantial argument made that this particular tendency was mostly the result of Janus' upbringing -- he was derided by nearly all of Zeal for apparently lacking Schala's magical prowess, when in fact it simply bloomed later in life, much like that of Crono, Marle and Lucca or most popular protagonists in modern epics.  Samuel L. Jackson wasn't born being a bad-ass.  Luke Skywalker didn't come out of Padme's womb swinging a lightsaber...fortunately for her.  But Zeal's people don't seem to have a shred of common sense.  When I was a kid, I couldn't write to save my life.  Now I can write like a mofo, or I like to think I can.  Compound that with the fact that Zeal trained its citizens to look down on "lesser beings" such as the Earthbound, and that would leave Janus feeling lonely and disconnected from the world, prompting his psychotic, Harris-esque murderous tendencies later on.

Thoughts?

[Swordmaster]

I Dont know if this is a anomaly, but the Zeal family(Schala,Zeal & Janus) have a strong nihilism sentiment. They want turn everything to nothing. And this came from the power of vidence (the Black Wind).
If you know what will happen in all the possible ways (and all then are tragic) you became to desire a new universe where could apear new possibilitys.
The Time devourer is result of Schala nihilism.

[chronotriggerfreak]

That reply wasn't extremely coherent, but the Zealian royal family certain isn't nihilistic. Queen Zeal actually wants to gather everything (as far as power goes, in which case it's considered that everything can be a valuable resource, and therefore a foothold to power) under her, not eliminate all of it.

As for the main topic, I haven't read it all yet. Seems interesting so far. I can't say anything about accuracy though, nor can I provide any psychological expertise.

[Leebot]

Ach! Here's what Nihilism means: Nihilism is a political philosophy used to justify any action on the basis that there's no heaven or hell (or equivalent), so anything goes.

I really doubt that Magus was designed with the intention of him having a specific psychological disorder. If you really wanted to, you could justify him having one of many disorders. For instance: schizophrenia (not to be confused with MPD).

Janus always talks about "the black wind blows..." It's possible this means he's hearing voices telling him someone is going to die, or even to kill someone. This could easily justify his crazed obsessions with whatever as someone's telling him to do it.

[Radical_Dreamer]

Is there a difference between MPD and DID? If so, what is it?

[Hadriel]

I'd classify nihilism as much more of a behavioral philosophy than a political one.

What Swordmaster is referring to is not a nihilistic tendency but a mass homicidal desire on the part of Lavos.  We also know that beings exist beyond death in some form in the Chrono universe, so nihilism as a viable philosophy is null and void.

It's unlikely that the Black Wind is merely a delusion, as Schala can feel it as well, and it did precede a rather unfavorable occurrence that resulted in many deaths.  However, beings in the Chrono universe can be mentally controlled, as the Dragon God is by Lavos.  It's possible that his delusions are inflicted by Lavos, but this seems unlikely as a direct possibility, given Janus' extreme and well-deserved hatred of Mr. Spiky Pants.  However, it seems likely that Janus had quite a few nightmares and dreams about Lavos, and these could have influenced his thought processes, especially in a world where magic is proven fact.

[V_Translanka]

Why wouldn't he have a disorder is the real question. I mean, look at all the evidence. First he's without a father (lost to death or who-knows-what), then without a mother (lost in insanity), then he loses both his sister and his kitty (lost in time due to Lavos)! Then he's thrown into some weird future where he's adopted by two monsters and a tranny witch/wizard. Thereafter he learns majic and participates in a war between the monsters against other humans...Whereupon he's hunted down by two Knights errent; he kills one, transforms the other...and then he's got to deal with the transformed one again and his spikey-headed & his carnival freakshow (ie Crono & Co.) right when he's about to obtain his revenge upon Lavos (little does he know they pretty much saved him), then he's thrown back in time to when his mother was crazy and his younger self was about to be lost...then all the crap in the Ocean Palace happens...

At the very least, if I were Magus, I'd be fuggin' CONFUSED!

[Leebot]

There's a difference between psychological disorders and stress. If anyone goes through that, you can expect a little degradation of sanity.

[Dunsparce]

I have found a few similarities between Janus' disorder and mine, Asperger's Syndrome.

I have AS also      Wow I can't believe you have AS, too!

[Hadriel]

I've been fortunate enough to work clinically with elementary-school age children who have this disorder, and you'd be surprised how many people exhibit the traits of AS, if not the number that possess it outright.  Both my mother and father exhibit some of the signal traits, but they aren't numerous enough to qualify as full AS.

As far as the diagnosis goes, it is my belief that the recent surge in the numbers of people who possess the disorder is likely due to better methods of diagnosis -- as recently as ten years ago, my school district had absolutely no idea what the disorder was, let alone how to treat it, even though Hans Asperger classified it around half a century ago.

I think it's rather interesting to see these diagnoses evolve -- I've classified AS as a sort of "changeling disorder" that mimics different sets of symptoms for different people, depending on interests.  The social symptoms are somewhat the same -- I know a student in my high school band, two years younger than I am, who mimics some of the behaviors I possessed before treatment that have now been lessened because of it.  What's funny is that he has had roughly the same treatment I have -- I've even worked with him before, as C-3PO would say.  Fortunately, he's fairly well-liked by his section, who are also some of my good friends.

But, we're not talking about me here...at least not unless I can somehow tie it together with Janus.  I think I have two ways with which to do that. 

1) I wish I was half as bad-ass and sexy as he is.  As for the sexy bit, I'm going by popular female consensus.  Who am I to argue with hundreds of thousands of fangirls?

2) If one takes real history and ties it into the Chrono Earth's history, which actually is fairly easy to do, Crono and his crew are responsible for these diagnoses.  Not directly, but they enabled them.  I was not diagnosed with AS until 2000, and Lavos destroyed the nations of the Earth in 1999.  On a personal level, if Lavos did exist in real life, I would have done a combination of the following:

Died in his mass attacks while kissing the girl I love but can never admit it to, lived and not been diagnosed with AS, or attempted unsuccessfully to kill him and gone out screaming "remember the f**kin' Alamo, ya spiny bitch." 

For reference, AS does not cause excessive cursing.  I just have a potty mouth.

In the new timeline, however, our society would assumedly grow, including medical science.  Therefore, in the year 2300, it's likely that a cure exists for AS, or whatever disorder Janus possesses, and we know from Radical Dreamers that he can travel through time eventually.  Whether he does in T1, T2 or Ideal is debatable, but it's clearly possible, because the dimensions operate on the same laws of physics and magic.  At the end of CT, he seems to have mellowed a bit, but he isn't all flowers and sunshine, obviously.  I don't really think he holds any kind of hatred or grudge against Glenn -- he quite clearly says that Glenn is his equal in terms of intellect in one of the CT endings.  Glenn clearly hates Janus -- I wonder if that rift will ever be healed, though I don't think it's terribly likely given Janus' anti-social tendencies.  But, something obviously happens to lift the curse on Glenn.  I'm not entirely sure what it is, since I let Janus live and Glenn was still human in the ending, whereas I would've thought that killing Janus would lift the curse.  Glenn is still a frog in the in-game ending cutscene before he goes back to 600 AD -- the nearest thing I can think of is that Janus lifts the curse on him.  Lucca also gives an inside to him in CC, as if they became close friends or perhaps even lovers.  (Yeah, that last bit's a stretch, but dammit, she deserves some action.)

Considering all of these events, how likely do you guys think it is that Janus would seek treatment for a particular disorder, regardless of whether or not it qualifies as AS?

[Swordmaster]

Returning in the nihilism case:
Even existing the afterlife element in the series, the unaproval of the conditions of the universe could bring a person to a nihilism tendency in a will to "reset" to new begin.
In other words, this mean that the lack of hope, defeatism & fatalism done by the knowledge of the future and would bring someone to destroy everything and begin again.
In a interview Masato kato say that Kid is nihilist. Schala is it to but in passive way.

[Leebot]

That sounds more like negative utilitarianism than nihilism.

[Symmetry]

Does the series provide enough information to warrant claims that Janus suffers from some mental illness? I certainly think so. As Translanka pointed out quite well, look at all he's endured. I bet I'd be pretty messed up too if all that happened to me. I don't think, however, that the series gives enough information to point out a single disorder that he suffers from. I doubt Kato had any one malady in mind when forming the character of Janus.

As for Janus seeking help, I doubt it. It doesn't seem consistent with the rest of his actions and his personality - especially if you want to believe that he finds Schala at some point. I think reuniting with his sister would provide solace that no drug or treatment ever could.

[Hadriel]

The following state of affairs has been bugging me for quite some time.  If Guardian ever comes on anymore, he'll know what I'm talking about.  I'm just going to ask this and see if anyone knows what I'm referring to -- feel free not to answer if you don't.

That Janus has some kind of mental disorder beyond simple circumstance is one of the points I seek to resolve, but we all possess a certain measure of sympathy for him -- fans tend to do that.  R. Kelly's fans didn't believe that he molested children and said that the videotape of him doing so was faked.  But there's one fictional character that doesn't seem to receive any sympathy, despite the inarguable hell he's been through.  That character is Carth Onasi, hailing from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic as a Navy hero during the Mandalorian Wars, slightly less than 4000 years before Episode IV. 

Game Informer magazine has described Carth as an "infamous patsy" and one of the top 10 dorks of last year's gaming industry.  I normally like that publication, but I take a great measure of offense to that statement.  First of all, he's apparently the only one in your party who knows how to fly a starship, so you'd be nowhere without him.  He shoots a mean blaster, as well.  But, anyway...

Carth defended his homeworld, Telos, as it was bombed half to death by the Sith, killing millions of people, including many of his friends and family and his wife.  He also believed that his son died in the attack, but he in fact joined the Sith, which in a sense is even worse.  To top the grisly history off, it was his former mentor in the Republic Navy, Admiral Saul Karath, that carried out the orbital bombardment.  In short, he lost everything and everyone that ever meant anything to him on a personal level.  And these people have the nerve to call him a patsy...

If you elect to follow the light side, Carth says of the player character that he has no trouble picturing you differently -- as a ravaging, conquering warlord, the reason for which is apparent to anyone who's played the game all the way through.  The funny thing is, I don't have any trouble picturing him differently, either -- considering his exceptional military and leadership skill, he could have been turned so dark by his wife's death that he might have amassed a war fleet and wrecked the galaxy as badly or worse than the Sith.  Darth Malak and Darth Revan were talented leaders of men, but after Revan's "death," only Malak was left, and he probably couldn't tell a destroyer from a battleship.  And Malak has no skill at Battle Meditation -- Carth could have rallied some disillusioned Jedi to his cause, killed Malak in a fleet battle, and ruled the galaxy.  Yet he chooses to continue serving with the Republic, in the hopes of protecting the free worlds of the galaxy from the wrath of the Sith.  As far as circumstances go, Carth is the same as Janus.  And yet people revere Janus because of the unkind, arguably evil mannerisms he's acquired as a result of his history, while Carth is derided as overly emotional when he had the same things happen to him.

WHAT.  THE.  F**K.

Whoever decided that real men don't cry is the biggest bullshitter I've ever heard of.

[V_Translanka]

That was quite the tangent...