People usually change over time.
It's slow and not always noticeable.
But one day you wake up and look at yourself in the mirror and are astonished at the fact
that you are now a different person.
Sometimes these changes come on more rapidly.
Often times when rapid change occurs it is due to something more dramatic.
This is often what happens to our heroes and everyday people when they experience a severe
traumatic event.
As such this change often manifests itself through post traumatic stress disorder or
PTSD.
PTSD is a mental disorder in which a person experiences ongoing to emotional and psychological
stress as a result of a severe injury or psychological trauma that often manifests itself in the
form of guilt, blame, aggression, haunting recall of said experiences and distance or
lack of interest in regards to the outside world.
Today we'll be taking a look at some of the heroes in the comics who suffer from this
very real condition, what happened to them and how they reacted as we count down the
top 10 superheroes with PTSD.
Be sure to stick around till the end of the video as well as we have some bonus content
to share with you.
Alright, let's get counting.
10 Rorschach
Rorschach didn't always see the world as being as corrupt as it was.
There was a time that he believed in the good of humanity.
This however all changed when he was investigating a case of a missing girl and discovered that
she had been murdered, chopped up and fed to the killer's dogs.
Rorschach was so traumatized by the event that he snapped and burnt the murderer and
the building to the ground.
This changed entirely his view of the world.
Made him become less trusting and more paranoid.
In a sense he blamed the world for being cruel enough to let innocents die and took it upon
himself to expose corruption wherever he found it.
Even if it meant putting world peace at risk.
9 Wonder Woman
After finding out that she was living in an illusion and that her time spent on Themscyeria
was not real, Wonder Woman becomes catanoic in volume 5 of her series.
She goes into complete shock and becoming removed from the outside world and retreating
further into her mind.
There she experiences hallucinations and is forced to wrestle with her mental state as
she tries to separate reality from fantasy.
She even imagines a snake in her arm that comes out to talk to her.
All of this happens while she is staying in a mental institution.
None of the doctors there are much use to Diana though as she is instead treated for
being delusional and thinking she is Wonder Woman, which the doctors don't believe, as
opposed to her trauma.
In the end she ends up kind of curing herself through self-exploration.
Which is not the way that most therapists would suggest you handle your own PTSD.
8 Damage
Ethan Avery had a passion for heroics.
He grew up admiring and aspiring to be like the best of the best in DC, Superman and the
Flash.
He joined the military and applied to be a part of the Damage Program.
A program that was experimenting on soldiers in an attempt to grant them super powers.
He was approved and was given the Damage serum.
Sort of similar to Marvel's super soldier serum.
Except this serum turned Ethan into a monstrosity of a hero.
The serum granted him the ability to turn into a hulk-like beast for one hour every
day.
The only problem was that he lost control during this time and often could not recall
what had even happened.
He was told he was doing a good job but Ethan became doubtful as he couldn't remember himself
what he had done.
Black out periods are a symptom of PTSD as is aggression.
In other words, one could argue that Damage's existence or the transformation into Damage
itself gives Ethan PTSD.
The character of Damage himself is a symbolic representation for a soldier's PTSD.
7 Flash Thompson
Spiderman's highschool bully turned bestie who later becomes Agent Venom, has served
in more than one war.
So it isn't surprising that he suffers from PTSD.
Many war veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the shocking
violence and death they have witnessed and experienced.
Flash Thompson's experience seems to have been know exception.
He actually served in both the Vietnam war and served in Iraq.
Even though he lost his legs in Iraq, Vietnam also affected the veteren dramatically.
When he returned from Vietnam, his depression and PTSD caused him turn to alcohol and later
when he returned from Iraq, despite knowing he had done the right thing, he still mourned
the loss of his legs and was eager for the chance to, in a sense, grow them back when
he bonded with the symbiote.
His legs had been lost after he suffered from gunshot wounds in his legs but continued on,
risking his own well being to help save the platoon.
6 Batman
Bruce Wayne witnessed the death of his parents at a very young age.
While some have tried to argue that Bruce does not suffer from any mental illness, I
would say that if you experience something like that, you have to have some baggage.
Especially as we never really explore how young Bruce dealt with his trauma.
He isn't often shown visiting a therapist once a week, in any regard.
In essence his becoming Batman seems in a way he feels guilt for losing his parents.
Not necessarily personal guilt--as he was just a child, what could he really have done
to save his parents?--but in regards to his societal guilt.
He becomes Batman in an attempt to make Gotham a better place.
While he doesn't seem to distance himself or experience trauma when surrounded by violence
or guns, he does choose to not use guns.
Abhorring them because of his trauma.
He becomes paranoid and hypervigilant, which can also be a sign of PTSD.
And he basically manifests a split persona in regards to his Batman identity.
He has nightmares of the event and becomes restless, never really sleeping at night as
it is when he keeps watch on the city but also acting in the role of CEO for Wayne Enterprises
during the day, preferring instead to take micronaps.
Which by the way, you should not try at home.
As they don't actually give a human being enough rest IRL.
5 Winter Soldier
Bucky Barnes had to deal with the shock of not a specific moment but a lifetime of them.
He was captured by the Russians and turned into a weapon.
Given a robotic arm and brainwashed into becoming the ultimate assassin.
When the Cosmic Cube was used to give him back his memories he became overwhelmed with
guilt in regards to his actions.
In the film he has literal triggers in the form of activation words.
At one point, he gets a space dog that seems to give Bucky the kind of companionship that
a dog trained to help a traumatized veteran would.
Poor Bucky also seems to always keep getting pulled back into war.
As though his trauma makes him feel that his role as a killer is inescapable.
4 Wolverine
Where to start with Logan?
His entire childhood is basically trauma after trauma.
Wolverine basically has been on a constant journey from one cause of PTSD to the next.
Even in regards to his experiences as an adult.
Almost everyone he has ever loved ends up brutally murdered and he always seems to find
this out through finding their corpses.
In the Old Man Logan storyline, even his two young children are killed.
As a result of all the trauma, Wolverine often retreats from the outside world, often being
presented as a loner.
It is hard for him to open up to people as a result though he does manage to end up getting
close to some, like the members of his X-Men family.
He is also often presented as someone who likes to drink, choosing to numb himself an
endless flow of beer at times.
3 Jessica Jones
Not all PTSD is linked to violence and loss of loved ones.
Jessica Jones' PTSD comes out of her traumatic experience of being raped and manipulated
by Purple Man.
Killgrave used his influence over her to do all kinds of criminal acts between the comics
and her Netflix show.
At first Jessica seems to respond to this after being released from his control by blaming
herself.
She also goes on to explain that she worries as to the blurred lines when looking back
on her actions as to what she did and what she wanted to do.
It's hard for her to discern as to when Killgrave had control over her and moving forward what
actions are still linked to that trauma?
As a result of this traumatic experience we see Jessica take a pretty big step back from
the hero life.
And it takes her awhile before she's ready to join a team again.
Killgrave also continues to remain a trigger for Jessica, often chasing her into hiding
whenever he resurfaces.
2 Punisher
The poster boy for PTSD in Marvel comics.
Frank Castle's disorder extends beyond his experience as a soldier.
When he takes leave from the war, during a visit home, he witnesses his entire family
get murdered.
He is also targeted in the attack where they just happen to be in the wrong place at the
wrong time.
Miraculously he survives.
And much to his dismay.
This combined with his experience in the war turns Castle into a hellhound of a vigilante,
seeking justice for his dead family and others.
He brutally kills anyone that gets in his way, though to be fair he does only target
the bad guys.
But a lot of the issue with Castle for many is that he decides who the bad guys are and
the needless violence he represents.
I personally think there are two sides to this hero.
While the glorification of violence is problematic, he allows us to examine what war and violence
can do to people.
He allows us to see the consequences.
This isn't just happened to the fictional anti-hero Frank Castle, this is what is happening
to soldiers and first responders who are in action every day.
I think he's important because he helps to spark the conversation around violence and
by extension, mental illness.
1 All of Them!!!
While I really wanted to make Frank Castle the number one on this list, I honestly couldn't
because so many heroes actually suffer from PTSD.
In fact, I would say almost every single hero does.
In their line of work, they see all kind of atrocities and are forced to deal with the
loss of life on a daily basis.
Even worse, they are pretty much always survivors, making their guilt often feel even worse.
Every hero has a trigger as well in some sense.
Ultimately are all heroes are that double edged sword.
We explore violence and the consequences of violence through them whether the violence
be physical or mental.
While all heroes stories represent a glorification of fighting, of war, of abuse, they also offer
us a lens through which we can explore why this is an issue.
When is conflict okay?
Is it ever okay?
Are there things worth fighting for?
Where do we draw the line?
They allow us to also explore that it's not alright to be okay.
That people fail sometimes.
That your experiences will change you and that's alright.
Many of us have experienced things in our lives that will change us, traumatic or not,
and these intense experiences allow us to connect with these heroes through own versions
of trauma, our own personal experiences that moved us.
Thank you so much for watching, nerd squad.
I hope you enjoyed this list.
What do you think of the exploration of mental illness in comics?
Are there any heroes that you believed we missed?
I mean, I did say all of them, so I doubt that's possible.
But let me know if there is anyone that you feel deserves a specific shout out.
Maybe they'll appear in a part 2.
As promised I also have some bonus content for you in the form of comments from my video
top 10 Joker Easter Eggs You Missed.
Twisted Teddy said, "Moment of silence for the best damn Joker we ever had, rip Heath
Ledger."
I'm with you.
Ledger and Hamill are my two favourite Joker's.
Moment of silence commencing for Heath.
Cringey AF shouts, "NERD SQUAD!"
Hahahaha, glad to have you part of the squad.
Love that enthusiasm, my fellow nerd.
And that's all the comments we have time for today.
While you are on your way down to comment remember to like, share, subscribe and ring
our bell.
This is top 10 nerd and my name is Amanda McKnight, reminding you as always to stay
nerdy, YouTube.