PSA: Gou is NOT a psychopath

[OniCornwalis]

I really didn't think I would have to say this, especially since most of the people here are pretty smart, but apparently I was wrong in that assumption. So, just to make things clear, I'd like to make sure that everyone in these forums understands that Gou IS NOT a psychopath. And at this point you may be wondering to yourself; "Why is he not one?" Well, to start, let's look at the qualities that make up a psychopath.

As stated by the 20-item Hare Psychopathy Checklist, a psychopath is a person that has a lack of empathy, is a pathological liar, has no sense of guilt, is impulsive and irresponsible, has reduced emotional responses and fails to accept responsibility for their own actions.

Based on this checklist, Gou only exhibits the quality of being impulsive and irresponsible, a trait that Ash also shares. Gou is a very emotional person, as shown by his respect towards Ash in episode 3 and excitement over catching new Pokemon, which crosses off having reduced emotional responses. Gou is a very empathetic person, as shown when he tries to save Scorbunny from being punished by the cafe owner in episode 4 and checks to see if his Metapod isn't hurt in episode 7 after it falls on the rock. Finally, Gou accepts responsibility for his own actions, as shown when he apologizes to his Scyther in the battle tournament. While Gou does have his issues, such as being socially awkward and being selfish sometimes, those are issues that a lot of people have, and don't automatically make someone psychotic. While it sucks that we don't see a lot of meaningful interactions between Gou and most of his Pokemon, he at least makes sure they're well cared for and doesn't treat them like dirt.

People on these forums believe that having emotional issues equals being a psychopath, which is completely false. As someone who has personally lived with a legitimate psychopath, seeing people misuse that term in order to make Gou look bad infuriates me, as I guarantee that almost all of you don't understand what you're saying when you call Gou psychotic. You can dislike Gou and call him selfish or insensitive at times, but PLEASE don't use a term to describe him that doesn't apply in any way, shape or form.

Edit: I'm not trying to say you can't dislike Gou. I have a couple of problems myself regarding his goals and captures. I just want to clear up misinformation so that people don't base their opinion on Gou based on false claims made by people in this forum.

 

[UxieLover1994]

You're right. He's not a psychopath.

He's a sociopath. He's already displayed a few characteristics of being one.

A sociopath would be an even worse thing to call Gou. Sociopaths are selfish, lack empathy, are sadists, exploits other people while treating them as tools, and are not above killing others. If you've seen Frozen or played Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, you'd know that Gou has nothing in common with Hans and Penelope.

 

[OniCornwalis]

You're right, when you think about it, he's not really a psychopath.

He's a sociopath.

He's already displayed a few characteristics of being one.

He's not a sociopath either, as sociopaths and psychopaths both share traits such as not feeling guilt or not accepting responsibility for their actions, traits that Gou doesn't have as previously discussed. Sociopaths are also more likely to say they don't care about others or their feelings, which doesn't apply to Gou. He is neither a psychopath or a sociopath, and I'd appreciate if you stop using those terms to describe him.

 

[Daenerys]

I agree with that write up. Go is more self-serving and impulsive than anything else and it's ironic that Ash was basically the same way when the anime began yet now we have lots of people calling Go names for being the same way. We need to give him time to mature before we start throwing harmful words at him. As someone who suffers from mental illness, it hurts me personally to see a character being attacked with words that are associated with mental illness as if it's just a big joke.

It's really upsetting that people are going this far over a character that is just doing his job.

 

[Juliko]

How in the world did people come up with that idea? I haven't even seen the new SwSh anime and even I find this baffling.

 

[Karamazov]

To me, "Psychopath" looks like another buzzword that'll fly around the anime community before dying off. It happened in BW, when literally anyone and everyone was a "Mary Sue," (Luke was called one because he owned a rare Pokemon) and how all debates, no matter what was said, were "ad hominid."

 

[Shadowlarvitar]

Yes he is, deal with it.

 

[Rocket Messiah]

I agree with that write up. Go is more self-serving and impulsive than anything else and it's ironic that Ash was basically the same way when the anime began yet now we have lots of people calling Go names for being the same way. We need to give him time to mature before we start throwing harmful words at him. As someone who suffers from mental illness, it hurts me personally to see a character being attacked with words that are associated with mental illness as if it's just a big joke.

And on this subject (and excuse me if this is the wrong place to bring this up), but can we report people who call Go names like 'psychopath' or 'sociopath' or any other really rude word that demonizes him? I have a list of like 5 people who have called him names like that or worse and I was thinking about whether I should report it as character bashing, but I haven't seen anyone be admonished by the staff for calling Go names yet, so I dunno if the moderation team even cares... ? I just feel that it's gone overboard; it was bad enough when one person called him a 'psychopath' just because said person was salty about Go getting a lot of Pokemon, but every day there's at least one more person who calls Go names and it's really upsetting that people are going this far over a character that is just doing his job.

Hey atleast we are not harrasing people like the #bringnationaldex morons

Jokes aside, okay Im one of the persons who called him that but just to make fun cause using that word sounds funny to me to criticize a cartoon character, but people also said about Son Goku that he is a psycho for endangering the universe. It's just and exageration. Come on this is a forum of an anime series let's have some fun while we respect each other. The person who said that probably was just pissed off.

I understand your position I also suffer from Mental Health issues out of respect for you I will not call him that word, I also think that there is a stigma and lack of public knowledge arround this word and another words related to mental health.

But atleast everyone have to recognize that he catches pokémon for his own ego, he sees one he catches and he roots, that's not the thing that this series have been showing us for 20 years right where is the bond, the interaction, the effort of raising one . He only wants it for his ego nothing more, he uses the pokémon for his own good ¿What is the difference between him and Team Rocket? I only see one, the money, he catches all those Pokémon only to catch the most powerfull Pokémon ever cause he fell in love with him when he was a kid, who also wants that Pokémon? Oh yeah GIOVANNI

So maybe not a psycho but a really selfish person, maybe I should start calling him Tony Goprano, fits much better.

 

[Daenerys]

How in the world did people come up with that idea? I haven't even seen the new SwSh anime and even I find this baffling.

Well the first instance that I can remember of someone calling him a psychopath was in last week's episode thread when someone complained that Go caught the wrong Tentacool at the beginning of the episode (because apparently Go being satisfied with the wrong Tentacool was a bad thing...). If there was a previous instance, I simply didn't see it.

And as much as I'd like to I just can't write this off as a phase that the fandom is going through. I don't care how trendy people think that certain buzz words or phrases are; calling any character a psychopath (especially in this case where it isn't even being used in the right context) over something so petty like him getting Pokemon with little effort is just alarming. A term like 'Mary Sue' would be more appropriate than a word that implies that Go is the anime incarnation of Joaquin Phoenix's Joker.

 

[Daren]

So I'll cop to making exp candy jokes about Gou's capture spree in 6 because of the Go mechanics suddenly introduced (I will note that I wasn't on these boards when it aired but I made some rather scathing remarks privately when Ranger was brought into the show so at least I'm consistent), but since episode 7 showed him spending time with them I stopped the jokes (only fair to grant him the same benefit of the doubt I give Ash re: on-screen established visits).

I think what's really feeling off is that the Go promotion has led to a jarring shift from protagonists capturing or befriending a small number of Pokémon they spend lots of time with to this style of mass capturing then tossing them right into the PC box. I don't blame Gou himself for that so much as find it a weird writing choice.

 

[Islander Princess]

I personally wouldn't go so far as to call Gou a "psychopath" but I can see why people are upset with how the writers have chosen to go about having him catch his Pokemon. Truthfully, I'm really not a fan of it either.

I understand they're using the go mechanics, but it just doesn't translate well in the anime. After years and years of watching the main characters of this show catch Pokemon a certain way (battling them, bonding with them before catching, etc) it's honestly jarring to just watch Gou run around and aimlessly catch Pokemon with little to no struggle, especially when it's now happening every single episode. Not only does it make for boring captures, but it doesn't do much for Gou's overall characterization either.

Honestly, I think it'd look/feel so much better if not every single capture was the same, and the writers bothered to throw some different scenarios at us. Also, I agree with everyone who's said he doesn't need to make captures every single episode. I think it'd be a lot better received if they were spaced out a little more.

 

[Yami-no-Game]

It's a case of people just being mad that Go's doing stuff while Ash is slower to become active. And no that doesn't excuse calling Go a psychopath. I think that the people defending that usage of the word should stop but I know that they won't and like someone else said the stigma that Go's getting will probably last for the rest of the series because people can't be mature enough to stop the name calling.

 

[RustyTrubbish]

Seems like most reasonable people know that Go doesn't fit the definition of that word but the Go haters will keep trying to make a point about him being a psycho even if it makes them look bad.

Well whatever, two can play that game. In the future I'll overanalyze Ash's every move and nitpick every single thing he does wrong or that I just don't like and call him hurtful names too and if others complain about Ash bashing, I'll just throw their excuses back at them and cite freedom of speech.

 

[Daren]

Well whatever, two can play that game. In the future I'll overanalyze Ash's every move and nitpick every single thing he does wrong or that I just don't like and call him hurtful names too and if others complain about Ash bashing, I'll just throw their excuses back at them and cite freedom of speech.

I don't see this being especially effective since Ash has been getting this treatment since the first season. His fanbase is pretty much immune to it.

Edit: Seriously, though, is there any chance we can get everyone lay off for a bit to avoid turning this section into a fight between the two protagonist's fanbases for however long this new series lasts?

 

[OniCornwalis]

Yes he is, deal with it.

But he isn't. I've already explained why Gou isn't a psychopath, and you don't seem to have any kind of response besides "He's a psychopath dude, just believe me." You just dislike Gou and want to call him something he's not in order to vilify him and make him appear worse then he actually is. If you have something resembling an argument, please post it so I can explain why you're wrong.

 

[Lightning Flame Blast]

I don’t think people actually mean that. It’s just a hyperbolic term to describe that his approach towards pokemon catching feels insensitive and detatched to reality, like he doesn’t have any empathy.

It’s more of a joke than a clinical diagnosis.

 

[Sakuraa]

As someone who's only see the current 2 Galar episodes, I'm totally confused. Why on earth would people think Go is a psychopath? Has he undergone some strange transformation since episode 6?

 

[OniCornwalis]

I don’t think people actually mean that. It’s just a hyperbolic term to describe that his approach towards pokemon catching feels insensitive and detatched to reality, like he doesn’t have any empathy.

It’s more of a joke than a clinical diagnosis.

Nah, there are some people who actually think he's a legitimate psychopath. I don't want to name them, but I get the impression that they honestly believe he's a terrible person that's worse than someone like Paul. And even if it is a joke, I still don't want people throwing terms like that around, unless it's extremely obvious that someone is a psychopath/sociopath.

 

[Shadowlarvitar]

But he isn't. I've already explained why Gou isn't a psychopath, and you don't seem to have any kind of response besides "He's a psychopath dude, just believe me." You just dislike Gou and want to call him something he's not in order to vilify him and make him appear worse then he actually is. If you have something resembling an argument, please post it so I can explain why you're wrong.

Okay he's not a psychopath, but he sure is a Gary Stu. Catching everything without fail and nothing going wrong, impossible to fight that

 

[Daenerys]

I don’t think people actually mean that. It’s just a hyperbolic term to describe that his approach towards pokemon catching feels insensitive and detatched to reality, like he doesn’t have any empathy.

It’s more of a joke than a clinical diagnosis.

It doesn't seem to be a joke given that all of the people who have called him names on this forum are known to dislike Go and have been very vocal about disliking him in the past. I can take a joke, but this situation clearly isn't about people just using hyperbole in a friendly teasing way.

Also I don't really see Go's catching sprees as insensitive. He made a decision a while back to capture as many Pokemon as he can and he's working on doing that while also leaving them at Sakuragi's lab were the professor can presumably study those Pokemon in his spare time. And we've seen Go interact with some of his captured Pokemon too, so it's not like he's catching them and then never caring about them.