pathognomonic | Information

CHARACTER INFORMATION

NAME: Edward Nygma
CANON: Gotham (TV series)
AGE: 28 (He’s described as being in “his late twenties” in the leaked script of the first episode.)

BACKGROUND: Eddie’s history can be found here. A more detailed discussion of his personality and motivations follows below.

If, years later, one took a good long look at the timeline of Eddie's life and attempted to pinpoint when his downward spiral begins, it would be this—when he stabs a police officer eleven times in a fit of rage.

That turning point is the product of years of social difficulty, of abuse, disregard and longing. It’s a dropping of his inhibitions, abrupt enough to surprise himself. In that fatal moment, Eddie briefly stops struggling to connect with others, stops caring about what constitutes normal behavior, and strikes back against the apparent unfairness of his life. He makes a mistake that leaves him hysterical with horror.

Eddie’s spent years chasing dreams of friendship and love, stymied by his own psychology. Intellectually, he’s brilliant, with an enthusiastic passion for science and a knack for puzzles. Cognitively, he’s caught behind the barrier of what is clearly Asperger’s syndrome, unable to pick up on the subtleties of people’s expressions and tones of voice. He fails to realize when his presence is unwanted, often falling prey to the faux pas of rambling incessantly about a topic, invading others’ personal space, and offering advice easy to construe as insults. As much as he loves riddles and wordplay, sarcasm and passive-aggression frequently escape him, and after having missed people’s understated signals, he’ll be taken aback by their frustration with or ridicule of him. He does his best to amend his behavior and plan his interactions, to be kind and helpful and playful, but he encounters the same treatment again and again.

Because of this, Eddie harbors a certain amount of self-loathing, a sense of brokenness. He can’t bear to sink into it and so dons false smiles when his genuine joy over his work fails to sustain him, not wanting to admit that his attempts to befriend may be in vain. He is deeply lonely, acutely aware of the experiences he’s missing—experiences like the reciprocation of romantic love. He aches for appreciation.

He is accustomed to blaming himself, to believing that he’s not performing well enough, not trying hard enough. He is used to that whisper of guilt coloring his dislike of people that mistreat him, rationalizing their actions to an extent. He is well-versed in restraining his own negative feelings, fear and dejection driving him to clam up and retreat from uncomfortable situations.

When he confronts Tom that night, he does so in an effort to defend Kristin, the woman he has feelings for. He is, as usual, trying to help, trying to do the right thing. When Tom punches him, he reflexively defends himself, and for the space of a breath he is paralyzed yet again with fear.

And then the frustration, the pain, and the loathing overwhelm his guilt.

Now, he is still attempting to contend with the gravity of what he’s done. The rush of emotion planted certain doubts in his mind, leading him to question his own role in his mistreatment, wondering whether he truly needed to tolerate the things he did. His anger lingers closer to the surface now, even as he tries to convince himself that nothing about him need have changed, comforting himself with the knowledge that his rash action will be rewritten. It’s an anger destined to become enforced arrogance as he tells himself he is purely a victim, that he is special and superior and capable of rising above those who dared harm him.

For the time being, he is still unsure of what to think. He intends to carry on as before, to conceal the crime and continue as usual, not knowing where that kill is bound to take him.