The public has a fascination with psychopathy. Netflix seems to carry several TV series about serial killers at any given point in time. Peruse the shelves of your local bookshop and witness the health of the non-fiction crime genre. The criminal trials of psychopathic killers and fraudsters are guaranteed to fuel months of media scrutiny and speculation. Such individuals are inherently dislikeable, but fictional psychopaths are a little different. Many of them maintain their appeal even as we witness their dirty deeds in excruciating detail. At the very least they are compelling.
Conservatively, there are an estimated thirty million psychopaths in the world – at least one in 200 of us, possibly more. Many function perfectly well – to a degree – in everyday life, even if the people around them soon learn to dislike them. Some psychopaths use their manipulative skills to carve out impressive careers as CEOs, lawyers, police officers, politicians, advertising executives, estate agents, soldiers, surgeons and so forth. It is important to state that psychopathy is not mental illness. More specifically, psychopathy has nothing to do with psychosis – even though the two words share a first syllable and are phonetically quite similar.
In fiction, the psychopath exists in the plot to challenge the hero who, of course, we usually admire. But sometimes it’s the protagonist himself who is psychopathic. Such an antihero needs to be charismatic if we (as readers or viewers) are to remain interested enough to persist with the story. So, with this in mind, and in no particular order, here are the top five fictional psychopaths whom we grudgingly admire, and why.
1. Amy Elliott Dunne
Perhaps the finest example of a female psychopath in fiction is Amy Elliott Dunne, the protagonist in Gillian Flynn’s tense psychological thriller, Gone Girl. Published in June 2012, the novel was nothing short of a sensation, climbing to the top of the New York Times Bestseller List and subsequently adapted for film. The plot centres on the disappearance of the beautiful and accomplished Amy, and her reasons for framing her lacklustre husband for murder. Despite her obvious psychopathy, she is seductively charming, calm in the face of danger, and far more compelling than her victims. Amy has looks, talents and skills we admire; she is a voracious reader, a quick study and a brilliant planner when she sets her mind to it. What’s not to like?
2. Frank Underwood
It is hard to conceive of a more dangerous psychopath than one with absolute power. The obvious case in point is Frank Underwood, played by Kevin Spacey in the Netflix television series House of Cards. His superficially-charming Southern drawl barely masks a ruthless Machiavellianism that ultimately allows him to snake his way up the greasy political pole to the highest office. Underwood lies, cheats, exploits and steals with alacrity. Those who cross his path usually live to regret it. Occasionally, they do not live at all. But he wins us over by taking us into his confidence. By ‘breaking of the Fourth Wall’, as it is termed, Urquhart looks us squarely in the eye, smiles mischievously and outlines his nefarious schemes in full.
3. Hannibal Lecter
No such list would be complete without the psychiatrist Dr Hannibal Lecter, created by Thomas Harris. When he first meets trainee FBI agent Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs, he reminisces on a meeting with a census taker who one tried to test him, recalling that he ‘ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti’. Such a spine-tingling portrayal of ‘Hannibal the Cannibal’ earned Sir Anthony Hopkins an Academy Award in 1991. Lecter appeals to our societal fascination with secrecy. We are wary of him, but he is disarmingly polite, perceptive, articulate, observant and witty. He loves opera, art and literature. And, of course, he is an excellent cook. His victims sometimes add to his allure; those he murders tend to be more heinous in their own right. Moreover, he spends some time assisting the FBI to catch serial killers with even worse moral compasses than Lecter himself. How gallant.
4. Patrick Bateman
An investment banker who leads a double life as a serial killer, Patrick Bateman is the narrator of the novel American Psycho (1991) by Bret Easton Ellis. The film was adapted for the silver screen in 2000 and starred Christian Bale. It might be said that the murders are a figment of Bateman’s cocaine-fuelled imagination, but his psychopathy is otherwise in little doubt. Yet, he is compelling in part because his whole existence is enveloped in secrecy; much as he would like to be noticed, he simply is not. As the narrator, he takes us into his confidence from the outset, reciting his morning beauty regimen and his derivative opinions, seeming emotionally lost and rather pathetic. He is a strangely vulnerable character.
5. Tom Ripley
Finally, we have Tom Ripley. Patricia Highsmith’s charming antihero first appeared in her 1955 crime novel The Talented Mr Ripley. Ensuing film adaptations have included that of Anthony Minghella starring Matt Damon. Ripley is undoubtedly a psychopath, yet his talent for secrecy is fascinating as he manipulates his way through the social circles he so longs to be a part of. And he is not referred to as talented for nothing; an accomplished pianist with an appreciation of music, fine art, architecture and history, he is a brilliant mimic and impersonator, and an expert at forgery. What a pity he puts his talents and skills to such dishonest use. Perhaps he appeals to that part deep within us all that longs to be bad. But there is vulnerability in Ripley, which is why his arrogant, selfish, shallow, bourgeois victims sometimes make him look good enough for us to overlook the occasional murder.
Stephen McWilliams is a consultant psychiatrist and author. His latest book, Psychopath? Why We are Charmed by the Anti-hero, is published by Mercier Press.
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