Do you have a fictional character you really relate to?

[Holmbo]

If so who, and why?

The reason I'm asking is because I kinda feel like I've never actually seen a fictional character with similar personality like me. It made me wonder if it's because so few characters are aromantic and therefore other aros might have similar problems. But if not I'm also interested about hearing who you relate to.

[AroAcedragon13]

yeah i have a few. Isaac from Heartstopper, his experiences were very relatable and I love how they portrayed things he was feeling throughout the new season. Wille from young royals, I saw a lot of myself in the way his anxiety was portrayed and it was really authentic. I definitely feel its harder to relate to a character who is in a relationship or isn't queer.

[nonmerci]

Not really but I don't think it is linked to my aromanticism. I don't know if there is a cause, but I just... don't experience that I guess ? For a long time I thought it was just a way of presenting things, to say "I recognize I have things in common with these characters", but then I realized it is something more powerful than that. Sometimes I think it is due to my emotional empathy being low but I don't know (emotional empathy = the ability to feel what the other person is feeling, for instance when seeing someone crying makes you cry too).

[Holmbo]

5 minutes ago, nonmerci said:

Not really but I don't think it is linked to my aromanticism. I don't know if there is a cause, but I just... don't experience that I guess ? For a long time I thought it was just a way of presenting things, to say "I recognize I have things in common with these characters", but then I realized it is something more powerful than that.

I see what you mean. I do wonder also if I lack the ability and that's why I don't experience it. But I also think from just a objective standpoint of having things in common I don't see that either. Now that I think of it I've find way more similar people in real life than I ever have in fiction. Do you ever meet people irl that you feel have similar personality to you?

[nonmerci]

Hum... I never reamly think about it honestly. But I think I do. Like, I did tell a coworker she may have adhd as I recognize in her the things that adhd makes me do, so...

[Balfrog]

I feel like I can relate to aspects of a person or events they have experienced, but I wouldn't ever say I relate to them as a person.  For example I don't relate to Captain America from the mcu but I do relate to not knowing cultural references\knowledge "everyone knows".

[alto]

I relate a lot to my best friend.  It's part of why he's my best friend.

[illumi]

i relate to the chara in my pfp a lot. thats kind of it.

[Acearospec]

Elsa in Frozen - not interested in romance & misunderstood. 😉

[Keith]

Hmm, I think I (might) have a couple, but I'm never sure if it's like "oh, I'm just like them!" or "oh, I want to be like them!". But if I had to chose, then I guess the safest (the ones I'm actually pretty sure about) options would be Shigeo Kageyama (because we're both really socially awkward and we generally act kind of similar), Yuu Koito (mostly due to her perception of love, which is also the main reason why I headcanon her as arospec), Asa Mitaka (I just think we share some personality traits) and Gwen Stacy - The "Spiderman: Into The Spider-Verse" & "Spiderman: Across The Spider-Verse" one (mainly because her relationship with her father reminded me of my own).

Edited September 26, 2023 by Keith

[dewy]

Oh man I have a lot. I'll try to limit myself to a few otherwise we'd be here all day.

Firstly Felix from Fire Emblem because he seems to be into romance and such but is so bad at expressing himself and desires. I haven't really thought much about him being aspec but now that I think about it I could totally see it. For some more Fire Emblem characters, definitely Claude and Hilda - I headcanon them both as aspec because they have a very intimate relationship that may or may not be romantic - who knows? I like that ambiguity with them. Also Sylvain with how he uses sex and romance as escapism from his problems.

In general I really like characters who are flirty but use it as a trick to bend people to their will. Looking at the entire Ashen Wolves house but especially Yuri here. I just like ambiguity in characters and their relationships keeping me guessing. Like is he actually interested, or is he just putting on a show to get his way?

Moving on from FE3H I also find a lot of Splatoon characters relatable - there's a huge found family theme going on there. It's hard to just pick one I relate to because them and their dynamics really resonate with me, but if I had to choose, it'd be Agent 8. Hell, the octolings in general are really relatable, trying to figure out love and relationships in a society that's completely different from them.

Finally there's... basically everyone from Disco Elysium. I really like that whole game and how it shows love and I have a soft spot for Kim. I like the homosexual underground side plot where Harry is overthinking sexuality, asks Kim about his, and he just casually goes yup, I'm gay, if that'll help you stop worrying about it. Also, classic partners dynamic where it's like, ok they're partners at work but what if they were partners in other ways too?

I love stories where the characters navigate love in such a way that always keeps you guessing, unsure of their intentions or feelings.

[nonmerci]

15 hours ago, dewy said:

Firstly Felix from Fire Emblem because he seems to be into romance and such but is so bad at expressing himself and desires. I haven't really thought much about him being aspec but now that I think about it I could totally see it. For some more Fire Emblem characters, definitely Claude and Hilda - I headcanon them both as aspec because they have a very intimate relationship that may or may not be romantic - who knows? I like that ambiguity with them. Also Sylvain with how he uses

Also I like to headcanon Felix and Sylvain as either close friends or eventually QPP. A lot of people read them as romantic of course.

Haven't think about Claude or Hilda though. I think Rhea could be seen as aro : lived thousands of years and no indication that she was dating at any point. (If only I could stand Rhea)

[dewy]

6 minutes ago, nonmerci said:

Also I like to headcanon Felix and Sylvain as either close friends or eventually QPP. A lot of people read them as romantic of course.

Haven't think about Claude or Hilda though. I think Rhea could be seen as aro : lived thousands of years and no indication that she was dating at any point. (If only I could stand Rhea)

I like that headcanon for Felix and Sylvain, I'm definitely going to be thinking of them that way now. I've seen them shipped romantically a lot but I think I like the idea of them being very close friends or in a non romantic partnership more.

I haven't thought much about Rhea but I could definitely see her being aro as well.

[Nagito]

I relate to, or much rather kin with, Nagito Komaeda from "Danganronpa", however he's gay, so it's only on the personality level. There's, like, 0 aromantic representation in the works I've ever been interested in and if there were, they'd probably aroace rep and I'm not aroace, so… Yeah. There's nothing for me there. If aro headcanons count, then maybe I'd relate to Kristoph Gavin, what, without any context, is a red flag (who played Ace Attorney 4 knows what I'm talking about).

[Ekaterina]

I relate and have related to a lot of characters for different reasons but I'll try to choose those related to my aromanticism. 

For aromanticism reasons, I recall relating to Snow Maiden as a teen, but also to some characters who are in calm established relationships as opposed to typical romance. I also was quite inclined to relating to characters who were considered odd for being more reserved and quiet (bonus point if they weren't interested in partners that society wanted to set them with, even if they ended up finding a love interest eventually - for my young self my disinterestedness in romance wasn't separated from my other "oddness" aka disliking companies/parties/noises, unpopular interests, this kind of stuff). 

When I was older I got a special liking for the One Sane Man in the Group trope and could relate to it sometimes, and it's when my aromanticism also contributed to it, since I relate especially if the One Sane Man is being trying to talk reason into romance-blinded characters (think Benvolio Montague for example). In many other aspects of life I can only look up to be this trope (love it anyway). 

Edited April 20 by Ekaterina

[Mult]

I can't really think of any either but I also never really looked to characters as reflections of myself.

[NothingForNow]

A character I relate most with is Tori from Solitaire (and Heartstopper), I understand how she finds "normal" social rules strange and relate to her experience being asexual. I also have a darker/unusual sense of humor that a lot of other people don't understand and I share her difficulty in making friends.

[MaxIsCosmic]

I relate a lot to looking glass from the watchmen show, Peter Neurev from Juno steel, and John from the Magnus Archives