The Rainman: Difference between revisions

[[File:rain_man_dirty_harry2rain man dirty harry2.png|link=Xkcd (Webcomic)|rightframe]]

'''The Rainman''' has a [[Disability Superpower]]. Karmic law dictates that every mental birth defect has a compensating benefit. Like [[Min -Maxing|taking flaws on an RPG character]], there is always an intelligence point payback, and usually a special skill, too. Some Rain Men are [[Loners Are Freaks|friendless creepy freaks]], others are [[Genius Ditz|lovable weirdos]]. Rain Men are ''always'' equipped with supernatural skills.

See also [[Science-Related Memetic Disorder]], for a truly exaggerated take on the subject; [[Crazy Awesome]], for utter insanity as opposed to a simple mental disorder; [[Idiot Savant]] when the disability is just plain stupidity, and [[Neurodiversity Is Supernatural]] for if the character's "gift" is a superpower. Can overlap with [[Useful Notes/High Functioning Autism|High Functioning Autism]].

If you are looking for the film called ''Rain Man'', it is [[Rain Man (Film)|here]].

* [[Discworld (Literature)/Unseen Academicals|Mister Nutt]].

* We might as well nickname this trope "Stephen King's Magic People With Mental Conditions."

** The autistic kid in ''The Regulators'' is a telepath.

** The mentally retarded "Duddits" from ''Dreamcatcher'' has a [[Psychic Link|telepathic connection to his friends]] and is {{spoiler|able to help fend off the alien invasion. In the movie he was "off" because he actually was an alien}}... apparently.

** The mentally retarded custodians in ''[[Kingdom Hospital]]'' have a connection to "the Old Kingdom," the spectral otherworld.

* [[The Millennium Trilogy|Lisbeth Salander]] is a combination of [[The Rainman]], [[Badass]] [[Dark Action Girl]], and a healthy serving of [[Broken Bird]]. She's incredibly withdrawn and doesn't get on well with others (to the point where she was legally declared mentally incompetent), but she has a [[Photographic Memory]] and extraordinary talents for hacking and working with machinery and can dig up practically ''any'' information about someone given enough time. In the books she is speculated as being an Asperger, but she doesn't really fit the definition given the calculated ruthlessness, flexible independence, and lack of anal-retentive compulsions. The author himself, in talks with his editor, stated that he saw her more as a borderline sociopath with incredibly bad upbringing circumstances, which would fit better, or how he envisioned that a modern-day [[Pippi Longstocking (Literature)|Pippi Longstocking]] [[Truth in Television|might turn out after growing up (as a mentally disabled orphan) in the Swedish bureaucratic system]].

* It's been speculated that Jeremy Clockson in ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Thief of Time|Thief of Time]]'' is autistic. He's also a brilliant clockmaker who instinctively knows what time it is. In fact, he knows it so deeply that he gets [[Berserk Button|really upset]] if he sees a clock that's wrong.

* In ''My Godawful Life'' by Michael Kelly, a parody of [[Misery Lit]], Euphemia has Asperger's ''and'' [[Tourettes Syndrome|Tourette's]] Syndromes {{spoiler|although it's also implied that she fakes them as an excuse for her lack of empathy}} but also serves as a walking dictionary, thesaurus, A to Z, clock, calendar, episode guide for ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]'' and ''[[Star Trek]]'', and is a prodigy in a variety of disciplines including maths, physics and Latin.

* ''[[Mass Effect]]: [[Mass Effect (Franchise)/Ascension|Ascension]]'' has Gillian Grayson, a high-functioning autistic preteen with extremely high biotic potential (gravity manipulation/telekinesis). Early on while she's doing schoolwork she only occasionally types in an answer, but it's always the right one. However, she does seem to be somewhat realistically portrayed - physical contact is alternately not felt and painful, she doesn't understand other kids, she doesn't always respond to someone speaking. Kahlee Sanders, taking care of her, thinks that going off the Cerberus medication she was taking and being in an environment suit among suited-up quarians contribute significantly to her disability becoming somewhat less severe by the end of the book. She shows some emotion and more curiosity about things happening around her, and with the suit insulating her from the outside world, physical contact doesn't overload her senses.

* One of [[The BabysittersBaby Sitters Club]]'s clients was an Autistic girl who couldn't talk unless she was asked to name a date or if singing was part of the music she heard (she was a piano savant). At one point her sitter discovers that a neighborhood boy was charging other children to see the freaky savant girl.

* Little Pete from [[Gone (novel)]]. He is a five-year-old and severely autistic. In Diana's [[Random Power Ranking]] system, [[Muggles]] are 0, most mutants are 1-3, [[The Hero]] and the [[Big Bad]] are 4, and Little Pete is 10.

* ''[[St. Elsewhere]]'': In the series finale, the entire series is revealed to be the figment of an autistic teenager's imagination; a tiny building set inside a snow globe served as the hospital where the main action was set.

* ''[[Parenthood (TV series)|Parenthood]]'': Max Braverman, the 8-year-old son of Adam and Kristina Braverman, has Asperger's. Several episodes have featured characters on the autism spectrum or issues related to the disorder.

* Detective Goren from ''[[Law and Order: Criminal Intent]]'' is awkward and stutters but has an exceptional attention to detail and problem solving skills.

{{quote| Carter: "What is... November 3rd, 1957?"<br />

Kevin: "Tuesday."<br />

Carter: "Pretty sure it was a Thursday."<br />

Kevin: "Nope. Tuesday."<br />

** Which nobody ever did: November 3rd3, 1957 was a Sunday. Says cal(1) on my Linux machine.

* Many [[Fanon|fans speculate]] that Chloe O'Brian in ''[[Twenty Four|24]]'' has Asperger's, though it's never been confirmed by TPTB.

* ''[[Flash Forward 2009FlashForward]]'' used the 'prattling savant' variety of this trope with Gabriel.

* An episode of ''[[Without a Trace (TV)|Without a Trace]]'' had an autistic boy go missing. The parents were asked if he had any special abilities. They outright say [[Defied Trope|"You mean like Rainman? No!"]] Although, he does do some pretty detailed drawings and can recite all the eras of the geologic time scale.

{{quote| '''Professor Duncan''': It's ''you''! It's your fault!<br />

'''Annie''': But... you told me to bring subjects!<br />

* Jerry Espenson on ''[[Boston Legal]]''; he has Asperger's Syndrome and is also one of the most brilliant lawyers at the firm.

* Gary Bell from ''[[Alphas (TV)|Alphas]]'', an autistic who can read and process wireless signals faster than a computer. In one episode someone refers to him as "Rain Man", a reference he doesn't get because his mother won't allow him to watch that movie.

** Indeed, part of ''[[Alphas (TV)|Alphas]]''' premise is that most Alphas have at least a shade of this, the same altered brain chemistry which provides their unique abilities making them prone to thematically related mental disorders. The Ghost's manipulative powers, which he uses to carry out elaborately planned assassinations using mind-controlled stooges, clearly suffers from considerable OCD, mapping out every aspect of his life with the same precision he plans assassinations--toassassinations—to the point that he considers four minute's tardiness an offense punishable by death.

** There's also Anna, who was diagnosed with Low Functioning Autism but actually has a different atypical brain disorder, whose Alpha ability allows her to understand any language-- evenlanguage—even though she herself can only speak a language of her own devising made up mostly by the sounds made by stroking a brush. Once she has her tablet computer which translates what she's saying, she is revealed to be highly intelligent {{spoiler|and one of the leaders of Red Flag}}

* The upcoming FOX series ''Touch'' seems to be all about this, seeing as it focuses on the father of a severely autistic child (he's even nonverbal) who serves as a conduit for the patterns of the universe.

* [[World Wrestling Entertainment|WWE]] had Eugene Dinsmore, Eric Bischoff's "special" nephew, whose savant skill just happened to be [[Professional Wrestling]]. Later they introduced Jesse and his cousin Festus, the latter of which seems to be heavily autistic, but "wakes up" whenever he hears the ring bell and becomes a superb powerhouse wrestler, only to go back off to his own little world when the bell rings again at the end of the match.

* Throughout professional wrestling history, there have been "missing link" characters -- wrestlerscharacters—wrestlers with limited language skills and apparently little or no independent cognitive ability, but whenever they enter the ring, they unleash a full fury on their hapless opponents. One of the most famous "missing link" types was George "the Animal" Steele, whose neanderthal character's vocabulary consisted of "duh," "uh," and a few other assorted words, never in sentences of more than a couple words. Jim Meyers -- actuallyMeyers—actually, a highly intelligent man who taught high school physical education in Detroit, and wrestled part-time -- perfectedtime—perfected the George Steele character over time, and enjoyed his most popular run (as a sympathetic babyface) from 1985-1988 in the WWF.

** And somehow can kill loads of darkspawn. All he has to say about when the player asks why he's surrounded by darkspawn corpses?

{{quote| '''Sandal''': [[Crowning Moment of Funny|Enchantment!]]}}

{{quote| '''Doctor Archer:''' David might even ''enjoy'' it...}}

{{quote| "I'm imagining kittens... guh... covered with spikes! [...] My name is Michael J. Caboose and '''I hate babies.'''" ''whap whap whap thud''}}

*** The Blue Team never technically calls Caboose's superhuman physical prowess "Retard Strength". Tucker just says that he and Church see it as "God's way of compensating". However, Caboose is ''called'' a retard on many occasions (mostly by Church).

* ''[[Fat Albert]]'': The 1979 episode "The Mainstream," where a young boy named Dennis, with a "mild form of mental retardation" -- the—the depiction is consistent with autism-like characteristics -- showscharacteristics—shows off his talents at his school's art, and teaching the gang and his classmates that he can rise above his apparent disability.

* The Sewer Urchin from ''[[The Tick (animation)]]''. On ground level, he is generally considered ineffectual and unpopular (particularly because of his smell), but in his home territory of the sewers, he's one of The City's most effective superheroes. As an added bonus, he ''actually sounds and acts'' like Dustin Hoffman's Rain Man.

** "Stark Raving Dad" -- Homer—Homer is mistakenly(?) sent to a mental institution, where he meets a man who can figure out complicated mathematical problems in his mind (although the question Homer asks is "what is 5 plus 4").

** "$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)" -- Homer—Homer gets a job as a blackjack dealer at Mr. Burns' casino, and two men resembling Charlie and Raymond Babbit from ''[[Rain Man]]'' are at the blackjack table. Homer is impressed by Raymond's card-counting abilities ... until "Raymond" hears a roulette wheel spinning and starts mimicking the opening spiel of ''[[Wheel of Fortune]]''; Homer tries to restrain "Raymond", who begins to panic and beat the palm of his hand against his head ... after which Homer begins to do the same!

** Tesla's problem was lack of understanding by other people, being too far ahead of his time to be appreciated as the genius he was, and lack of funding, which stopped him from accomplishing more.

{{quote| Interviewer: What's your opinion on the board shorts?<br />

* Neurologist Oliver Sacks met autistic twins who would later become the inspiration for the Rainman character. Instead of just being good at counting, however, they could, as they described, ''see'' primes. The toothpick scene in Rainman was actually taken from a similar incident in real life, but with matches. After seing the matches fall, the twins instantly count to 111, then say 27 three times, which Sacks noted is a prime number, and that 3 * 27 = 111. Sacks recorded another incident where he would communicate with the twins by using primes, as part of a game they developed between the two. Unfortunately, they were both "treated" to operate without each other to fufill a role in society, which Sacks noted took away everything unique and special about them. Sacks's entire documentation of the twins can be found in the book ''[http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_Who_Mistook_His_Wife_for_a_Hat:The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat|The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat]]''.

* Synesthesia has been mentioned a couple times already, but one of the experiments that proved that such people really do see letters and numbers as different colors is a test involving picking out specific letters from a large rectangle of similar-looking letters. People with grapheme-color synesthesia do this much more quickly than people without -- afterwithout—after all, how hard is it to pick out all the ''blue'' letters?

[[Category:TheMagical RainmanMinority Person‎]]

[[Category:TropeCloser to Earth]]