Neurodivergent Character Recs

Neurodivergent Character Recs
Works I've read & enjoyed with major characters which I interpret/headcanon as being neurodivergent (autistic, ADHD or CPTSD primarily, since I know more about them) based how they're portrayed in the text. I'll include notes on the characters I'm referring to within each rec. I'm not a professional, just a neurodivergent myself doing this for fun, so take anything I say with a grain of salt.
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nubialsheep
Created: Jul 4th, 2022, Updated: Mar 5th, 2024
Created Jul 4th, 2022
Updated Mar 5th, 2024
KR (4.5)
136 Chapters Every 13.9 Day(s) 5965 Readers 17 Reviews 02-27-2024
I'll preface I've only read the manhua/webtoon adaptation so far, but godDAMN is Sangwoo (the protag) autistic. Other characters may canonically call him "OCD" rather than autistic, but it's so on point for autism that's what I'm going with. He's called robotic, likes routine to the point that Jaeyoung (the male lead) is super easily able to figure out ways to annoy him, he's a loner, bad with people and communication, and simultaneously very intelligent and incredibly oblivious. The more I read this story the more evidence it provides me on Sangwoo's autism, it's baffling to me how anyone could read this and not see it.  ... more>>
CN (4.7)
15 Chapters Every 175.8 Day(s) 24860 Readers 540 Reviews 02-06-2024
The main couple are both hands-down an Autistic/ADHD love match. Wei WuXian has every hallmark of a textbook case of male ADHD, and Lan Wangji is very very autistic.... more>>
CN (4.4)
65 Chapters Every 45.9 Day(s) 15621 Readers 383 Reviews 04-27-2023
Chu Wanning is so astonishingly autistic it's not even funny. Also, protagonist Mo Ran has a lot of trauma and ends the story with more... more>>
KR (4.4)
54 Chapters Every 38.3 Day(s) 1854 Readers 6 Reviews 01-04-2024
Sigrid, the protagonist, is absolutely absolutely very autistic. Rigid thinking? Struggles with socialization? Sigrid mu*ders innocent people and drives away any would-be friends or allies... more>>
JP (4.6)
40 Chapters Every 48.9 Day(s) 6284 Readers 20 Reviews 08-24-2023
The female lead of this cute manga/anime series strikes me as very ADHD - she's the funny, unpredictable, spontaneous, rule-breaking & genius inventor type like... more>>
KR (4.5)
969 Chapters Every 3.5 Day(s) 37530 Readers 582 Reviews 03-26-2024
Cale, the protagonist... He's not a character like Sigrid who stood out to me right away as maybe being autistic, but after getting through 500+ chapters of his story it's dawned on me that a lot of his traits can be interpreted that way.... more>>
CN (4.4)
0 Chapters Every 1859 Day(s) 23469 Readers 459 Reviews 05-01-2017
Liu Qingge... Fighting? Simple, satisfying, real good at it. Socializing? Frustrating, complicated, terrible. Would rather flee into the woods and fight monsters, tyvm. Bit of... more>>
JP (4.2)
115 Chapters Every 122.3 Day(s) 13181 Readers 160 Reviews 08-15-2023
You can't tell me Myne and Ferdinand aren't neurodivergent. They're both oddballs with very strong special interests and little to no other ambitions beyond pursuing... more>>
JP (3.8)
100 Chapters Every 45.9 Day(s) 10522 Readers 68 Reviews 03-13-2024
The main character is really autistic coded: she has a flat effect, social difficulties, a special interest in fighting and leveling up, and her story... more>>
CN (4.4)
456 Chapters Every 20.8 Day(s) 9968 Readers 114 Reviews 06-14-2023
The MC reads as incredibly neurodivergent to me, in a slightly similar way to Myne from Ascendance of a Bookworm. The man did a sketchy ritual and dropped earth like a hot potato all so he could live his oddball dream life of owning all the books in the world and benevolently manipulating people for fun. He doesn't truly connect to anyone around him and has no close relationships in the usual sense (romantic or friendly), and yet he's content with the therapist/salesman role he plays and his life in general. The MC also ignores the hierarchies and power structures around him, treating anyone who comes into his shop as a customer. He's also such... more>>
KR (3.9)
185 Chapters Every 36.1 Day(s) 3786 Readers 20 Reviews 11-26-2022
(Just to preface - I've read the manhua adaptation rather than the novel) The main character in this struck me as autistic in a similar vein as Sigrid - someone who lived her life once by the book, following all the rules and not understanding that doing so would get her taken advantage of and screwed over. So now, she's got a new chance at life and has to learn how to make friends, find things to enjoy, navigate complex social and political relationships, and stand up for herself. She also has to work on communicating better to clear up misunderstandings where people have assumed malicious intent when she was just ignorant, awkward or even... more>>
KR (4.1)
28 Chapters Every 44.3 Day(s) 1228 Readers 3 Reviews 08-07-2022
I've only read the manhua adaptation of this so far, fair warning, but already it strikes me as a story that's very VERY easy to read through a neurodivergent  lens. The most obvious character is the male lead/romantic interest, the classic tall, dark, handsome & dangerous but caring & straightforward type. He's got germaphobia and a LOT of PTSD canonically, but he also very obviously has some classic autistic traits - he doesn't emote much, he doesn't understand his own emotions, he's incredibly blunt and upfront about himself, and he struggles to read others' faces and emotions. Classic autistic coding.... more>>
Comments (2)
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  1. Eueu
    Eueu· Jan 7, 2023 04:25 AM
    Love this! Esp the discussion on Sigrid and I very much agree!
    Reply · 1 Like · ·
    • nubialsheep
      nubialsheep· Author · Jan 7, 2023 06:20 PM
      Thank you!!! clear.pngI'm really happy to hear someone else enjoyed my list & character interpretations. And yeah, Sigrid is one of the most obvious examples I came across haha, at least in the original light novel (the manga loses some of the nuance & details but is still very good)!
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