God complex

A god complex is an unshakable belief characterized by consistently inflated feelings of personal ability, privilege, or infallibility. A person with a god complex may refuse to admit the possibility of error or failure, even in the face of complex or intractable problems or difficult or impossible tasks, or may regard personal opinions as unquestionably correct.[1][2] The individual may disregard the rules of society and require special consideration or privileges.[1]

God complex is not a clinical term or diagnosable disorder, and does not appear in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

The first person to use the term god-complex was Ernest Jones (1913/51) [3] His description, at least in the contents page of Essays in Applied Psycho-Analysis describe the God Complex as belief that one is a god [4]

In fiction

It is common in various fictitious media for characters-usually villainous in nature-to develop a god complex. Examples of this are as follows:

  • In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Hamlet seems to suffer from a God complex, choosing not to kill Claudius while he prays (lest he go to heaven), and - in rewriting his own death sentence to condemn Rosencrantz and Guildenstern - orders them executed "not shriving time allow'd," thus ensuring their damnation.
  • In the Transformers fiction universe, numerous villains have exhibited this tendency. Particularly noted is the Megatron character featured in the Beast Wars series, who at one point-while quoting from a Transformer religious text obviously based on the Book of Revelation-claims to be "Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End."
  • In the 1993 movie Malice (film), Alec Baldwin playing the role of a playboy, can-do-no-wrong doctor, Jed Hill, feigns a God Complex in a plot reversal (he loses a lawsuit due to his God Complex).
  • In the Sly Cooper video game series, specifically the game Sly 2: Band of Thieves, the villainous character Neyla/Clock-La likewise claims to be "Alpha and Omega", claiming that she will attain victory after being utterly defeated by the protagonists of the game.
  • In the Japanese manga and anime series Death Note, the main character, Light Yagami, attempts to create and rule a world "cleansed of evil" as a "God".
  • Another Japanese manga and anime series Naruto, one of the main antagonist, Orochimaru, also shows similar personality that he wanted to become "the ultimate being". In part II, the series major antagonist Uchiha Madara also even more clearly having this personality, as he attempted to rule the world and slave humanity under his illusion for eternity.
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See also

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References

  1. ^ a b Kaplan, Harold I.; Benjamin J. Sadock (1972). Modern Group Book, volume 4: Sensitivity through encounter and marathon. J. Aronson. 
  2. ^ Tim Harford, TED talk
  3. ^ Deep Blue at the University of Michigan umich.edu Retrieved 2012-01-22
  4. ^ Ernest Jones - Essays in Applied Psycho-Analysis - 472 pages Lightning Source Inc, 15 Mar 2007 Retrieved 2012-01-22 ISBN 1-4067-0338-9
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External links

  • McLemee.com - The Shrink with a God Complex Ronald Hayman Newsday, (April 22, 2001)
  • News-Service.Stanford.edu - Did Caligula have a God complex? Stanford, Oxford archaeologists find evidence that depraved tyrant annexed sacred temple, John Sanford (September 10, 2003)
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Last modified on 17 May 2013, at 18:33