Chrono Compendium
Enhasa Halls - Chrono Series Analysis => Characters, Plot, and Themes => Topic started by: Hadriel on November 26, 2004, 09:26:33 pm
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I'm not too much of an expert in psychology, my field of knowledge being largely limited to the disorder I have. However, I've always wondered whether there was a genetic reason for Janus being so contemptuous even as a child. It's a trait that clearly extends into his adulthood -- he rarely opens up to anyone. And yet, his surroundings as a child were quite conducive to producing the violent, conquering sociopath that he became as Magus, what with his bitch of a mother practically sucking off Satan.
This is not merely a question of nature versus nurture -- I'm asking whether anyone with expertise in psychology can find similarities between Janus' behavioral patterns in both known periods of his life and those of any known and studied psychological disorder.
I have found a few similarities between Janus' disorder and mine, Asperger's Syndrome. As Zeal was not focused on healing those they considered to be "beneath" them, it is hardly surprising that no professional treatment existed for Janus. Case in point: the Earthbound Ones. However, considering Zeal's fascination with dreams as a society that finds "truth in the bliss of sleep", hypnotherapy should have been very advanced, and given that magic is indisputable fact in the Chrono universe, it should have been acknowledged as a reputable way of diagnosing problems. Whether one takes into account actual history or not, it should have been such in T1, T2, and Ideal's 2400 A.D. Unfortunately for Janus, that's rather a moot point. But, as Radical Dreamers suggests, he may have eventually perfected a time travel spell. However, I personally find it unlikely that he would seek treatment even if he knew for a fact that he had some type of disorder. One symptom of Asperger's Syndrome in particular, and one I personally know quite well, is the ability to single-mindedly focus on an objective or an interest, to the exclusion of nearly everything else. Maybe that explains why I'm posting this, but in all seriousness. Unless I'm mistaken, I own one of the largest private collections of Star Wars novels, comics, games, movies, and other material in my area of Texas, if not the largest. As for me and seeking treatment, I'd do everything Janus did in the Mystic War if it meant curing the syndrome. He had one objective, which he focused on above all else -- the destruction of Lavos. One could say it was simple revenge, but most people who simply want revenge can still interact with others, at least to an extent. Hamlet, for example, was still capable of feeling and thinking about the issues outside of his, as he often did in his quest to murder Claudius. Anakin Skywalker could talk to people without choking them once upon a time. Of course, after we see ROTS that will be an extremely difficult statement to believe, but I digress. Janus actually to some extent reminds me of the infamous Columbine killers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. After the shooting, a journal of Harris' was recovered by police, in which he outlines his hatred for the idiots around him, coincidentally including Star Wars fans and Christians.
*shows disrespect for the dead*
Anyway, as Magus he often refers to his fellow party members as "idiots" or other such things. He treats his allies against Lavos with open contempt because he believes them to be beings of lesser intelligence and worthiness. There can be a substantial argument made that this particular tendency was mostly the result of Janus' upbringing -- he was derided by nearly all of Zeal for apparently lacking Schala's magical prowess, when in fact it simply bloomed later in life, much like that of Crono, Marle and Lucca or most popular protagonists in modern epics. Samuel L. Jackson wasn't born being a bad-ass. Luke Skywalker didn't come out of Padme's womb swinging a lightsaber...fortunately for her. But Zeal's people don't seem to have a shred of common sense. When I was a kid, I couldn't write to save my life. Now I can write like a mofo, or I like to think I can. Compound that with the fact that Zeal trained its citizens to look down on "lesser beings" such as the Earthbound, and that would leave Janus feeling lonely and disconnected from the world, prompting his psychotic, Harris-esque murderous tendencies later on.
Thoughts?
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I Dont know if this is a anomaly, but the Zeal family(Schala,Zeal & Janus) have a strong nihilism sentiment. They want turn everything to nothing. And this came from the power of vidence (the Black Wind).
If you know what will happen in all the possible ways (and all then are tragic) you became to desire a new universe where could apear new possibilitys.
The Time devourer is result of Schala nihilism.
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That reply wasn't extremely coherent, but the Zealian royal family certain isn't nihilistic. Queen Zeal actually wants to gather everything (as far as power goes, in which case it's considered that everything can be a valuable resource, and therefore a foothold to power) under her, not eliminate all of it.
As for the main topic, I haven't read it all yet. Seems interesting so far. I can't say anything about accuracy though, nor can I provide any psychological expertise.
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Ach! Here's what Nihilism means: Nihilism is a political philosophy used to justify any action on the basis that there's no heaven or hell (or equivalent), so anything goes.
I really doubt that Magus was designed with the intention of him having a specific psychological disorder. If you really wanted to, you could justify him having one of many disorders. For instance: schizophrenia (not to be confused with MPD).
Janus always talks about "the black wind blows..." It's possible this means he's hearing voices telling him someone is going to die, or even to kill someone. This could easily justify his crazed obsessions with whatever as someone's telling him to do it.
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Is there a difference between MPD and DID? If so, what is it?
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I'd classify nihilism as much more of a behavioral philosophy than a political one.
What Swordmaster is referring to is not a nihilistic tendency but a mass homicidal desire on the part of Lavos. We also know that beings exist beyond death in some form in the Chrono universe, so nihilism as a viable philosophy is null and void.
It's unlikely that the Black Wind is merely a delusion, as Schala can feel it as well, and it did precede a rather unfavorable occurrence that resulted in many deaths. However, beings in the Chrono universe can be mentally controlled, as the Dragon God is by Lavos. It's possible that his delusions are inflicted by Lavos, but this seems unlikely as a direct possibility, given Janus' extreme and well-deserved hatred of Mr. Spiky Pants. However, it seems likely that Janus had quite a few nightmares and dreams about Lavos, and these could have influenced his thought processes, especially in a world where magic is proven fact.
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Why wouldn't he have a disorder is the real question. I mean, look at all the evidence. First he's without a father (lost to death or who-knows-what), then without a mother (lost in insanity), then he loses both his sister and his kitty (lost in time due to Lavos)! Then he's thrown into some weird future where he's adopted by two monsters and a tranny witch/wizard. Thereafter he learns majic and participates in a war between the monsters against other humans...Whereupon he's hunted down by two Knights errent; he kills one, transforms the other...and then he's got to deal with the transformed one again and his spikey-headed & his carnival freakshow (ie Crono & Co.) right when he's about to obtain his revenge upon Lavos (little does he know they pretty much saved him), then he's thrown back in time to when his mother was crazy and his younger self was about to be lost...then all the crap in the Ocean Palace happens...
At the very least, if I were Magus, I'd be fuggin' CONFUSED!
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There's a difference between psychological disorders and stress. If anyone goes through that, you can expect a little degradation of sanity.
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I have found a few similarities between Janus' disorder and mine, Asperger's Syndrome.
I have AS also :!: :!: :!: Wow I can't believe you have AS, too!
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I've been fortunate enough to work clinically with elementary-school age children who have this disorder, and you'd be surprised how many people exhibit the traits of AS, if not the number that possess it outright. Both my mother and father exhibit some of the signal traits, but they aren't numerous enough to qualify as full AS.
As far as the diagnosis goes, it is my belief that the recent surge in the numbers of people who possess the disorder is likely due to better methods of diagnosis -- as recently as ten years ago, my school district had absolutely no idea what the disorder was, let alone how to treat it, even though Hans Asperger classified it around half a century ago.
I think it's rather interesting to see these diagnoses evolve -- I've classified AS as a sort of "changeling disorder" that mimics different sets of symptoms for different people, depending on interests. The social symptoms are somewhat the same -- I know a student in my high school band, two years younger than I am, who mimics some of the behaviors I possessed before treatment that have now been lessened because of it. What's funny is that he has had roughly the same treatment I have -- I've even worked with him before, as C-3PO would say. Fortunately, he's fairly well-liked by his section, who are also some of my good friends.
But, we're not talking about me here...at least not unless I can somehow tie it together with Janus. I think I have two ways with which to do that.
1) I wish I was half as bad-ass and sexy as he is. As for the sexy bit, I'm going by popular female consensus. Who am I to argue with hundreds of thousands of fangirls?
2) If one takes real history and ties it into the Chrono Earth's history, which actually is fairly easy to do, Crono and his crew are responsible for these diagnoses. Not directly, but they enabled them. I was not diagnosed with AS until 2000, and Lavos destroyed the nations of the Earth in 1999. On a personal level, if Lavos did exist in real life, I would have done a combination of the following:
Died in his mass attacks while kissing the girl I love but can never admit it to, lived and not been diagnosed with AS, or attempted unsuccessfully to kill him and gone out screaming "remember the f**kin' Alamo, ya spiny bitch."
For reference, AS does not cause excessive cursing. I just have a potty mouth.
In the new timeline, however, our society would assumedly grow, including medical science. Therefore, in the year 2300, it's likely that a cure exists for AS, or whatever disorder Janus possesses, and we know from Radical Dreamers that he can travel through time eventually. Whether he does in T1, T2 or Ideal is debatable, but it's clearly possible, because the dimensions operate on the same laws of physics and magic. At the end of CT, he seems to have mellowed a bit, but he isn't all flowers and sunshine, obviously. I don't really think he holds any kind of hatred or grudge against Glenn -- he quite clearly says that Glenn is his equal in terms of intellect in one of the CT endings. Glenn clearly hates Janus -- I wonder if that rift will ever be healed, though I don't think it's terribly likely given Janus' anti-social tendencies. But, something obviously happens to lift the curse on Glenn. I'm not entirely sure what it is, since I let Janus live and Glenn was still human in the ending, whereas I would've thought that killing Janus would lift the curse. Glenn is still a frog in the in-game ending cutscene before he goes back to 600 AD -- the nearest thing I can think of is that Janus lifts the curse on him. Lucca also gives an inside to him in CC, as if they became close friends or perhaps even lovers. (Yeah, that last bit's a stretch, but dammit, she deserves some action.)
Considering all of these events, how likely do you guys think it is that Janus would seek treatment for a particular disorder, regardless of whether or not it qualifies as AS?
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Returning in the nihilism case:
Even existing the afterlife element in the series, the unaproval of the conditions of the universe could bring a person to a nihilism tendency in a will to "reset" to new begin.
In other words, this mean that the lack of hope, defeatism & fatalism done by the knowledge of the future and would bring someone to destroy everything and begin again.
In a interview Masato kato say that Kid is nihilist. Schala is it to but in passive way.
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That sounds more like negative utilitarianism than nihilism.
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Does the series provide enough information to warrant claims that Janus suffers from some mental illness? I certainly think so. As Translanka pointed out quite well, look at all he's endured. I bet I'd be pretty messed up too if all that happened to me. I don't think, however, that the series gives enough information to point out a single disorder that he suffers from. I doubt Kato had any one malady in mind when forming the character of Janus.
As for Janus seeking help, I doubt it. It doesn't seem consistent with the rest of his actions and his personality - especially if you want to believe that he finds Schala at some point. I think reuniting with his sister would provide solace that no drug or treatment ever could.
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The following state of affairs has been bugging me for quite some time. If Guardian ever comes on anymore, he'll know what I'm talking about. I'm just going to ask this and see if anyone knows what I'm referring to -- feel free not to answer if you don't.
That Janus has some kind of mental disorder beyond simple circumstance is one of the points I seek to resolve, but we all possess a certain measure of sympathy for him -- fans tend to do that. R. Kelly's fans didn't believe that he molested children and said that the videotape of him doing so was faked. But there's one fictional character that doesn't seem to receive any sympathy, despite the inarguable hell he's been through. That character is Carth Onasi, hailing from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic as a Navy hero during the Mandalorian Wars, slightly less than 4000 years before Episode IV.
Game Informer magazine has described Carth as an "infamous patsy" and one of the top 10 dorks of last year's gaming industry. I normally like that publication, but I take a great measure of offense to that statement. First of all, he's apparently the only one in your party who knows how to fly a starship, so you'd be nowhere without him. He shoots a mean blaster, as well. But, anyway...
Carth defended his homeworld, Telos, as it was bombed half to death by the Sith, killing millions of people, including many of his friends and family and his wife. He also believed that his son died in the attack, but he in fact joined the Sith, which in a sense is even worse. To top the grisly history off, it was his former mentor in the Republic Navy, Admiral Saul Karath, that carried out the orbital bombardment. In short, he lost everything and everyone that ever meant anything to him on a personal level. And these people have the nerve to call him a patsy...
If you elect to follow the light side, Carth says of the player character that he has no trouble picturing you differently -- as a ravaging, conquering warlord, the reason for which is apparent to anyone who's played the game all the way through. The funny thing is, I don't have any trouble picturing him differently, either -- considering his exceptional military and leadership skill, he could have been turned so dark by his wife's death that he might have amassed a war fleet and wrecked the galaxy as badly or worse than the Sith. Darth Malak and Darth Revan were talented leaders of men, but after Revan's "death," only Malak was left, and he probably couldn't tell a destroyer from a battleship. And Malak has no skill at Battle Meditation -- Carth could have rallied some disillusioned Jedi to his cause, killed Malak in a fleet battle, and ruled the galaxy. Yet he chooses to continue serving with the Republic, in the hopes of protecting the free worlds of the galaxy from the wrath of the Sith. As far as circumstances go, Carth is the same as Janus. And yet people revere Janus because of the unkind, arguably evil mannerisms he's acquired as a result of his history, while Carth is derided as overly emotional when he had the same things happen to him.
WHAT. THE. F**K.
Whoever decided that real men don't cry is the biggest bullshitter I've ever heard of.
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That was quite the tangent...
:?
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I know, I know. I was trying to make a question out of the information, the question being: Why do some people pity and try to help one being, but denigrate another with the same set of circumstances? It happens with depressing frequency in real life.
Perhaps it's because Janus likely has some kind of disorder, whereas Carth doesn't seem to. He certainly doesn't match any catalogued symptoms of AS. And yet in real life, oftentimes people just look at you and say "deal with it" no matter how horrible the circumstances are. To me, such an attitude is a clear indicator of a lack of empathy and sensitivity to others. Crying over spilt milk is one thing -- being depressed because your former mentor murdered your world, your wife, and most of your friends is something else. Some might say that Janus dealt with the fall of Zeal, but he didn't. Becoming an evil warrior magus and trying to destroy the western half of the planet is not dealing with it. To do as Carth did, to just "keep on keepin' on" isn't exactly dealing with it, either, but it's not antisocial.
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People are, by and large, stupid (not to mention greedy, shallow, shortsighted...). If someone's been through hell and turns evil, they're cool (unless of course this is reality :roll: ). If someone's been through hell and gets a little depressed, they're a pansy. The world's general view is that if you've been through hell, "I'm glad it's not me, now shut up about it."
Times like this I'm glad I'm not human...
<_<
>_>
What?
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I can think of a few notable people in history who fit that same "go through hell, turn evil" pattern. Adolf Hitler comes to mind. I could list many more examples, but it's hard to top Hitler.
I think it's also possible that Hitler suffered from some sort of mental disorder, though nothing I know of fits his behavioral patterns and war tactics other than the charisma and oratory skill he used to take over Germany. But he was irrational in terms of his tactics -- he was a brilliant politician, but he couldn't conduct a war if he tried, except by sheer force of numbers and delegation of tasks to generals. This is quite similar to Janus' apparent tactics -- he mostly foists military tasks on Ozzie. Of course, he doesn't really care about the war, which is remarkable considering how well he manages to execute it. As much as Janus wanted revenge on Lavos, however, I think even he would cringe or be angered at Hitler's atrocities. I don't know anyone that honestly thinks Hitler is anyone to look up to, and if I do, they aren't stupid enough to say it around massive me.
It seems like the dividing line between Janus and Hitler is that Janus is driven by an entirely different goal than that which he sets forth to the public -- the recovery of his sister and revenge against the patently evil Lavos. On the other hand, Hitler apparently believed he was doing God's work in eradicating the Jews. The history between him and his church, the Catholic Church, is rather interesting. Hitler actually conspired with the Church against German Jews in the 1930s to gain a majority vote in the Reichstag, the German parliamentary body. But later on, Hitler went on record stating that religion had to be removed for humanity to make progress. Perhaps he thought he was God. Perhaps not. Either way, Janus isn't that downright stupid. But Janus did believe in what he was doing, and yet he met failure at the end as well -- he was humiliated by Lavos in the Ocean Palace. They met roughly the same end to their quest, with the exception of Janus not quite dying. But it's interesting to see the slight differences in one's path that arise from motive, and it is in turn fascinating to trace that motive to its origins. Whatever disorder Janus had may have saved his life, and the history of the world with it, when he adopted new methods after the Ocean Palace debacle.
But, as far as public perception goes, barely anyone likes Hitler, while Janus is the most popular character in CT. I suppose that's the "glad it's not me, now shut up" complex kicking in.
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Well, that goes back to my comment about "unless of course this is reality." An evil character in a video game may be cool (Sephiroth and Magus are prime examples), but an evil person in reality is just evil. Go figure.
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I'd argue that Magus isn't evil at all. Machavellian, but not evil. He has a noble goal, but isn't concerned about how it gets accomplished. For the most part, he doesn't seem to seek out evil to cause, just vengance against Lavos, which is a fine goal.
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That sounds more like negative utilitarianism than nihilism.
This is another interpretation.
If the being think that the current universal order does more quantitative harm than good, the destruction of the current order could be good act because it will prevent more harm and evil acts. But for this it need a calculus to measure the good and evil of acts.
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Actually, that's simple, extreme utilitarianism. Here's a comparison:
Utilitarianism: If there's more harm (unpleasantness) in the universe than good (pleasantness), get rid of it.
Negative Utilitarianism: If there's harm in the universe, get rid of it.
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For all we know, Lavos could have wanted to destroy the universe and start over from scratch with a paradise in which none of the fear or hate he was plagued with existed.
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Hm...That's an interesting point. Worth considering...
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Actually, that's simple, extreme utilitarianism. Here's a comparison:
Utilitarianism: If there's more harm (unpleasantness) in the universe than good (pleasantness), get rid of it.
Negative Utilitarianism: If there's harm in the universe, get rid of it.
on my little knoledge this is:
Utilitarianism: Doing the greater Good prevent the harm. In this case still some hope for the universe.
Negative Utilitarianism: Preventing the harm or doing the lesser harm make the Good. Theres no hope: annihilate all.
In both case the being would need to know if the result of the destruction of the universe will result in some thing of utility, welfare or pleasant than the original.
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Well, I've studied philosophy a lot, here's my brief explanations on the two:
Utilitarianism: The best action is that which does the most good and the least harm (taking both into account).
Negative Utilitarianism: The best action is that which does the least harm (not taking good into account).
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Nihilism is consistently misused -- if Kato used it to describe Kid, then he's somewhat correct, but it would be more Lavos' hatred, sorrow, and insanity than that.
Nihilism is best illustrated by someone taking actions based solely on their effect on that person, not taking any welfare of any other being into account. It's best described in terms everybody can understand...
"WhatEVAH! Ah do what ah want!" -- Eric Cartman
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The negative and positive Utilitarianism have this idea of pleasantness, harm and no harm.
So how could the destruction of the universe, and many lives or non-existence of life be considered as doing less harm ?
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I've just finished taking several courses on psychology and sociology. I hope any of this is helpful. All of this is verbatim from "Summary"s at the end of my textbooks chapters. I'm aiming for things that "suit his personality" more than picking the answer myself. You be the judge.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder: marked by an exagerrated sense of self importance, self centeredness, an exploitive attitude, and lack of empathy.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: persistant, recurring, involuntary thoughts (obsessions) or behaviors (compulsions), or both.
Major Depressive Disorder: refers to overwhelming feelings of sadness, despair, worthlessness, and hopelessness, and in extreme cases, suicide.
Dystymia: a milder form of depression than Major Depressive Disorder; none the less is chronic.
Disorganized Schizophrenia: is marked by extreme social withdrawel, hallucinations, delusions, and bizarre behavior.
My personal beleif: Janus decided when he was a kid that Lavos could not live. He became hellbent on revenge, like any child would have given those set of circumstances. I beleive if he had any of the above, it would be Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. He is so single minded on the slaying of Lavos, it fits the bill nicely. The other disorder spoken about in other posts sounds like a variation of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (no offense meant to those whom have it)
-War
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The negative and positive Utilitarianism have this idea of pleasantness, harm and no harm.
So how could the destruction of the universe, and many lives or non-existence of life be considered as doing less harm ?
Painless destruction of life isn't considered harm (in the NU sense). Harm is seen as any pain or displeasure one experiences during life. Therefore, if all life were removed, all harm would be removed.
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This idea of pleasure and unpleasure seens only applicable for live beings.
Withou life theres no pleasure nor unpleasure, so how the negative utilitarist would compare who is better: before or after.
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Simple: No displeasure > Some displeasure
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Withou life theres no pleasure and theres no unpleasure.
Do not have pleasure is acceptable for the Negative Utilitarist(Uilitarian?), or have no pleasure whatsover could not be considered unpleasantness ?.
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NU advocates don't take pleasure into account at all. To them No Pleasure = Some Pleasure.
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But the NU and PU ideas of goodness and evilness seens based in hedonism to measure the result of each action(utility of the action).
So what is the utility of the vacuum ?
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Hedonism may be applicable to normal Utilitarianism, but it has no bearing on NU. In NU, the greatest goal is avoidance of pain. In a "vacuum" there's absolutely zero pain, so it's the ultimate goal.
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Has anyone ever considered that those who have felt displeasure, who finally achieve no feeling of displeasure or pleasure, may consider this pleasure since they aren't feeling the displeasure that they once felt? Obviously if your feeling displeasure, and you achieve the state of feeling nothing (not feeling pleasure or displeasure), that this to them may be considered pleasure. And like Hadriel said, Nihilism seems more of a behavior philosophy than a political one. That's just my thought about all of that.
As for the topic. I do believe that Janus has some sort of disorder. Whatever that disorder is, I leave that up to you all. However, it would appear that Janus would have AS because I've looked up on it. Janus does carry symptoms of AS. For instance, I read something about people who have AS who tend to have a repeating hand motion or something. I forget but if that's true, notice how Janus, as Magus, flexes his hand every time he risks casting a spell or is about to cast Dark Matter. Repeating hand motion right there. And he does seem to have some of the disorders that War mentioned. As for Janus seeking help; I highly doubt that he would.
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Well, nihilism has its roots as a political philosophy. It was essentially used as an excuse for barbarism.
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Well, nihilism has its roots as a political philosophy. It was essentially used as an excuse for barbarism.
Hmm, well in that case, I stand corrected. I never even knew about Nihilism until I read this thread to be truthful.
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The NU base the actions in the consequences of actions, so to a being wish the annihilation of life it need know the consequencesof the action and if theres no more chances of right the things in current order.
After this it need destroy the values of things, the "common sense": a being can think the Life as the higher value of the Universe, even with all displesure (some can think that the existence of life in a universe so violent and full of displesure is a proof that theres more pleasure in the universe or balance , than displesure and harm).
So what we use to destroy the idea of life?
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Speaking from the NU standpoint: Who cares about righting things? At most, that'll get rid of some displeasure. Just get rid of everything, that'll get rid of all displeasure.
On nihilism...
As a Russian political philosophy marked by the questioning of the validity of all forms of authority and a penchant for destruction as the primary tool for political change, nihilism finds its roots in 1817 with the foundation of the first Russian secret political society under Pavel Pestel. Partly as a reaction against the coronation of Tsar Nicholas I who was seen as an absolutist, especially after the comparatively open reign of Tsar Alexander I, it culminated in the Decembrist Revolt of 1825. Later, anarchist and freemason Mikhail Bakunin developed nihilist thought in opposition to Karl Marx's political philosophy, which Bakunin saw as inevitably leading to a totalitarian state.
Nihilist political philosophy rejected all religious and political authority, social traditions, and traditional morality as standing in opposition to freedom, the ultimate ideal. In this sense, it can be seen as an extreme form of anarchism. The state thus became the enemy, and the enemy was ferociously attacked. After gaining much momentum in Russia, the movement degenerated into what were essentially terrorist cells, barren of any real unifying philosophy beyond the call for destruction.
Nihilism greatly resembled anarchism, though there are three main points of difference:
Nihilism advocated violence as the best method to affect political change. This is not necessarily the case with anarchism (see Emma Goldman).
Nihilism was characterized by a rejection of all systems of authority and all social conventions. This is not necessarily the case with anarchism. In fact, many forms of anarchism rely on the existence or creation of a strong community.
As a political movement, nihilism was primarily a Russian phenomenon.
It also has a pure philosophical side, but this came after the political side. The philosophical sense comes mostly from Nietzche's work (he opposed it, but was the first to analyze it), which was during the late 19th century.
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It need something do "nihilate" the values we give to things. If life mean nothing...
Nihilsm is too, some force that affect the humankind at some point of History were old values are gone and new ones appear or grow strong.
Some manics try speed up the things and we got the Political Nihilism.
End with all displesure seens like very Utopic for the NU ideas, just like the normal Utilitarianism.
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Here's how NU and U differ. Say both are offered the chance to erase the universe with no pain to anyone. Here are their responses:
NU: Why the hell not? Go for it!
U: That depends. Is there more pleasure or displeasure in the universe? If there's more displeasure, is it possible to change this?
<humor>NU: What is this "pleasure" of which you speak?
U: It's the whole reason we live! It's the only way one's life can have value!
NU: Wait, we live for a reason? I thought it was just some evil deity torturing us for his amusement.
PC: That should be "his or her amusement."
NU: See, that's annoying, so it's displeasurable, so it's bad.
U: It may be annoying to you, but it makes feminists less annoyed.
NU: Well, yeah, I can see that. Other people having less displeasure is good, too.
U: It also makes pricks happy. They love correcting people.
NU: You've lost me.
U: If it makes others happy, it's good.
NU: "Happy"?
U: Pleasurable.
NU: (blank stare)
U: Good.
NU: Oh! You mean less displeasure!
U: No! Not displeasure, pleasure.
NU: That's a lack of displeasure, right?
U: No, it's a different, good thing. It's what you get when you drop the "dis-" prefix from displeasure. You get the opposite.
NU: Right: no displeasure. None is the opposite of some.
U: (sputters out of control)</humor>
EDIT: Ach! Grammar, she be a fickle lass!
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NU: Wait, we live for a reason? I thought it was just some evil deity torturing us for his amusement.
This is a nihilist sentiment. next he wil want do a Deicide.
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Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Marked by an exagerrated sense of self importance, self centeredness, an exploitive attitude, and lack of empathy.
Janus does show some sense of self importance and self centeredness with his arrogant ways as a prince, does he not? He does have a lack of empathy which has gone on throughout his entire life, and that's telling us something too.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Persistant, recurring, involuntary thoughts (obsessions) or behaviors (compulsions), or both.
Janus' vengeance against Lavos plays a key factor role in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Janus is obviously peristant in avenging his sister and wanting to kill Lavos. This leads me to also believe that he may have persistant, recurring, and involuntary thoughts that lead to involuntary behaviors that play a role in his desire for revenge. All his life he's wanted this, do you think Janus is going to stop after losing everything but the clothes on his back and his own life? I think not.
Major Depressive Disorder: Refers to overwhelming feelings of sadness, despair, worthlessness, and hopelessness, and in extreme cases, suicide.
I'm sure that Janus has had this happen. I'm sure that he didn't start out all gung-ho on killing Lavos and shit. I bet when he started out surviving that he was having overwhelming feelings of sadness and despair over the loss of his sister and everything that he had. He may have felt overwhelming feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness in allowing such an event to happen and such a thing to happen to his sister, and might have thought things such as, "If only I had done this.." But I'm not sure, but it would make sense in my opinion. I doubt Janus was suicidal though since he was obviously hellbent on revenge and finding his sister. But, I'm sure there may have been times that he thought of ending it all...you never know.
Dystymia: A milder form of depression than Major Depressive Disorder; none the less is chronic.
If the above disorder does not fit Janus as severe, this would, in my opinion.
Disorganized Schizophrenia: Is marked by extreme social withdrawel, hallucinations, delusions, and bizarre behavior.
I don't know if Janus had hallucinations or delusions but it would seem obvious that he was extremely socially withdrawn and I doubt that some of his behavior was seen as "normal" and may have been considered bizarre, but I do not truly know.
My opinion; if Janus doesn't privately and publicly express all the symptoms of these disorders, he at least expresses one or more symptoms of each said disorders including Asperger's Syndrome. And as I have stated before, whether he has knowledge of his disorders or not, I would highly doubt that he would ever seek help or even pay the disorders a second thought.
This is all just in my opinion and from my inferences on the matter.