Red Is Autistic - Tumblr Posts

red from pokemon is autistic

this isnt a new thing i js like psychoanalyzing him ok.

Red, in both the games and manga, show traits of ASD, or Autism spectrum disorder, or just Autism. In the games, it is much easier to spot, however.

1; Speech

In the games, he is completely nonverbal, with the exception of a few times where Red is shown to speak. (Copycat, Masters EX, etc) Masters EX timeline is… Confusing, though in the games, he only speaks once. (Copycat) In the manga, he is shown to speak a lot, though it is harder to see it as autism, it is a spectrum disorder, and one side of the spectrum is never being quiet/having trouble being quiet.

2; Special interests

In the games AND manga, Red very obviously has a special interest in pokemon, given he has caught every type in Kanto and completed the pokedex, he is very intent and interested in pokemon battles, and overall, that's just his major special interest.

3; Sensory issues

Though we don't see much explicit proof of this, I believe that Red has fabric related sensory issues. The reason being, he doesn't change his clothing at all until Masters EX and generation 7, excluding the original red and blue games. In fire red/leaf green, he is 11, in gold/silver/crystal, he is 14. In the pokemon world tournament, he is 19. Why do I mention this? Well, that's because Red wears the exact same outfit for 8 whole years, as opposed to Blue, who changes his outfit throughout the series. A lot, if not all autistic people struggle with fabric related sensory issues, and struggle to find clothing they like the texture of, which causes them to wear the same clothes over and over again.

4; repetition/patterns

Pokemon battles, in my opinion, especially pokemon type advantages and disadvantages, deal with pattern recognition. This is a trait of autism, which leads me to believe, with Red's special interest in pokemon and battling, he has some form of pattern recognition when it comes to typing of pokemon.

In the manga, he is also shown to repeat movements, pick up on phrases a few times, etc, which can count for repetition. The phrases can also count for echolalia in a sense, a common thing with autism. This can also apply to the copycat thing.

5; Stimming/Stimulation

For Red, this is a difficult thing to see. Since in most of his appearances, the sprites don't move, or do not move much, it's hard to decide if he is shown to stim. It's also hard, given he cannot vocal stim, since he is non-verbal. (Games) This is where the manga comes into play, since the manga is more expressive, since that is the point of the manga. To show scenes in more detail. In the manga, he is shown to flail his arms when he's frustrated, (entering saffron city, etc) repeat phrases, which ties into echolalia, etc. Also, in the games, he is shown to have little/no facial expressions.

I feel like him disappearing on Mt. Silver was because he was so overwhelmed and overstimulated all the time with being champion- And thus, ran away with little/no explanation.

6; Over or under empathetic?

Red is shown to be very empathetic towards pokemon, a few people, and that's it. In the manga, however, he is shown to be both overly empathetic and under-empathetic. While he is not super emotional, he still is a bit emotional in the manga. Tying into this, autistic people have a very strong sense of justice. This is shown in both the games and the manga, given team rocket.

7; high or low functioning?

Red is obviously a very high functioning character. He is intelligent, and strategic, given he enjoys pokemon battles.

8; Social

I feel like he was isolated for displaying autistic traits as a kid, hence why Blue(m) was (presumably) his only friend. Also, the scene in the manga where he calls Misty an idiot and gets confused on why she's upset- Peak bluntness, chat. (A trait of autism) He's very blunt and straightforward throughout the manga, as well.

9; overall overview– Is this character autistic?

Very obviously, yes! Red is autistic. He checks out a lot of the boxes, and definitely shows signs of ASD, the most prominent ones being him being non-verbal, his pokemon special interest, and the whole sensory issue thing.

EDIT: also the fact satoshi (THE CREATOR OF POKEMON) is autistic and i believe has stated that red and i believe ash were based off him. quirks brow