Taskmaster: The Aspie Coded mercenary
There is little autism representation in media, the representation that does exist generally is the form of the young pre-teen white boy who is (selective-)mute which has been the image people think of when they hear the word autism.
However like many things autism isn’t that clear cut, it exists on a spectrum, it has no age where it disappears, it exists in people of all genders and all races. Many typical autistic behavioral characteristics are considered interesting character traits for stories, it’s when a character ticks a lot of the boxes that you can really say a character is autism coded. Now often when people headcanon characters they recognized themselves in as autistic it gets backlash.
So if you refuse to see Taskmaster as anything other than a gifted neurotypical this is your right of course, but if you are open to look a little deeper keep on reading.
Anyone who has seen anything Taskmaster related knows he copies moves, the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon appropriately dubbed him a combat chameleon. However few media shows he copies much more than that, the smallest details of mannerisms, the voice, and indeed the techniques.
Whenever Taskmaster gets introduced he is mostly seen observing from a distance; often through a sniper rifle scope, sometimes observing (live or stock) footage, watching from the sidelines. In short he mostly doesn’t engage a character he has no info on.
The data he gathered from observing then gets analyzed, broken down in formal rules, guidelines for patterns to be used to predict certain course of actions or to teach them.
Sure, it is in part about his powers, but canon states Tony does it for more than just that, when we look at the behavior in Autistic spectrum people who try to stay off the radar they put much effort in “being normal”, playing a part they studied in through observing people, watching fiction and nonfiction on TV, and reading books about the subject so they can link words to the feelings and such they are trying to understand. Many people with Asperger syndrome (aspies) end up studying psychology, religion and/or philosophy as a hobby or career because they want to understand how people work, trying to find logic in human behavior.
Aspies (most commonly the female ones) who want to stay under the radar tend to stay on the sidelines at first observing and analyzing, learning body language and what is “popular” what will make them friends and they will often link certain gestures to what they want to convey, but when observed for a while it can stand out that the gesture often stays identically the same no matter the setting, it lacks the organic feel it would have with a neurotypical person.
Tony does this as well for social interactions. For example he states he watched a ton of Romcoms to try and understand relationships.
Some Aspies are extremely successful in mimicking the social interactions and setting guidelines and rules to follow in situations, that it makes their social issues go unnoticed unless there are severe conflicts due to unpredictability.
Coming into contact with an illogical or completely different or unexpected scenario can for some Aspies lead to an overload, which can be recognized by turning inside or lashing out. In one instance it is trying to withdraw from the unpredictable impulses the lashing out is due to anger being a secondary emotion, meaning it’s a mask for fear, confusion or even other emotions.
It is also worth noting that Tony’s masks canon have lenses that not only help him by analyzing and recording stuff, but that all his masks offer him a filter between sound, light and smells (his stylized mask canon has a gas mask built in), on top of this Tony always tends to wear a hood that throws a shadow over his face, again limiting the sensory input.
Of course analysing and observing on their own means nothing if not used in practise as well. Everything Taskmaster sees done he can do. Above that he can even improve on it due to analysing and combining things he has learned. This applies to languages, voices, movements, mannerisms, speech patterns, etc…
Something that happens for a lot of Aspies is that for example no matter where in the world they are from will speak english with an American accent because they learn by hearing english through television/games/radio. A lot of Aspies also are very talented at doing voices and imitating people.
Tony is canon able to not only copy voices so well that they fool voice recognition software, he’s also known to speak most commonly used languages and dialects, being able to fake his accents and voice tones to a point where he can pass as a native.
Identity, emotions and attitude
Tony himself is seen often as cocky, yet careful. He is extremely aware of the many uses of his powers and his intellect and prides himself and being able to do pretty much anything short of super powers, showing in the smug claim “Anything you can do, I can do better.” Thus he clearly thinks himself superior to many others. He radiates confidence and power in most his appearances, he tends to lead and only follow when the act is a means to his personal ends; be it money, intelligence, or simply getting his record cleared.
Tony is also seen adjusting his identity based on what he believes others want, be it losing his Bronx accent that was him holding onto his roots, disguised appearances that are considered professional, or the masks he refuses to take of (exclude Siren and the Taskmaster vol 2 retcon comics for this).
A lot of Aspies create an ego around other people, for Tony this ego is Taskmaster, often they will hate who they really are (due to considering themselves broken for example) and will try and function as the ego until they can’t handle it anymore and they crack. Or they will simply lose sight of their own identity and feel lost.
Tony is canon rather paranoid, shows in his refusal to unmask for pretty much anything and anyone (Wade Wilson canon the only one confirmed to have knowingly seen his real face and lived). He doesn’t trust anyone or anything, he always has at least one or two back-up plans or get-aways.
He refuses to walk in a job he doesn’t have all the details about, a job where he can’t be properly prepared. It is rare for him to take a job from someone he hasn’t worked with before or hasn’t been sent to him by a client he trusts, because he wants to make sure he doesn’t get set-up.
Disclaimer around the unmasking: The only canon shows of Tony’s face was Siren from the attempt to unite Malibu comics with Marvel when Marvel bought them up and The Taskmaster Volume 2 retcon from 2010, but since only the amnesia part of the retcon seems to have made it in the 616 canon and the Siren series ends with Taskmaster getting stuck in an inter-dimensional portal before magically reappearing without any info on how he got back home only to state later that he was in the DC verse for the crossover that happens seven years later. Every other time we see Tony “unmasked” like in the Udon collaboration comics Taskmaster Volume 1 and Agent X, every unmasked view of him was a hologram mask while genuinely unmasked Tony always appears seen from the back without his head in the frame or only a dark shadowed outline.
Emotional and mental health
If we look at emotional health we often also need to consider the support network, what is common with Aspies as that they put all their focus on a limited group of people, usually family, younger or older people, but rarely peers.
Due to their problems with social interaction they often don’t make friends easily, keeping made friends proves to be extremely challenging as well. A very common consequence of this is the following; “Most persons with AS want to be social, but fail to socialize successfully, which can lead to later withdrawal and asocial behavior, especially in adolescence.” - Attwood, Tony (2007). The Complete Guide to Asperger’s Syndrome.
Taskmaster canon has one recurring “friend”, this being Deadpool, their friendship seems to exist of them hiring each other for jobs, occasionally offering to help the other out for free, and trusting each other with some secrets (Wade went to Tony for help in working without his healing factor, Tony has unmasked around Wade). Outside of this Outlaw, Constrictor, Agent X, and Sandi have referred to Tony as a friend in some way or another, but these contacts are usually brief, and they tend to fall out of view. Tony has also been seen with Bullseye in bar cameos and such in several occasions. One thing all these have in common is that all these friendships are work related.
Tony finds being a mercenary trilling, fulfilling and more rewarding than family or friends. He sees relationships as a liability a weakness they can use against him.
Tony does have short contacts of romantic nature with people from time to time and he often seems to befriend outcasts and weaker people. Even though he is a mercenary, a killer, and thus a criminal he does display a strong sense of justice. His only canon free jobs (or offers) were; taking out an abusive boyfriend, offering to help Wade with dealing with Black Swan to give him a shot to survive. On Top of that he purposely let a young hero reject beat him to give him a confidence boost after he noticed how depressed the kid got due to his rejection and he made sure Wade didn’t plan to get rid of a woman and her kids when he approached the bound people with a knife after having used them as a distraction to spring Tony from captivity.
Outside of lacking a decent support network Tony has been seen to struggle with emotions, usually not really showing much to any emotion, but when he does show emotion it was extreme burst, one example there is for example the first meeting with Wade and the breakdown that followed after the unpredictable defeat, an other example is his anger outbursts towards Agent X due to not knowing how to deal with the amnesiac new comer and the anger outbursts whenever he saw Sandi who was a love interest with other men.
These short but intense outbursts of emotions are often referred to as Catastrophizing emotions, these emotional reactions are often of a short duration due to it burning out quickly.
Tony is paranoid, pretty much constantly worrying and calculating for everything that might possibly go wrong, trying to anticipate and avoid surprises, trying to avoid breaking away from the routine they have set for themselves, the rituals they keep. This once again is a pretty common thing among Aspies, anxiety and depression are very often seen here, the anxiety due to constantly trying to think of every possible outcome and usually ending up with often rather impossible worst case scenarios and the depression due to the feeling broken and outcast-ed due to the issues with social interaction.
A big support and hold on that people with ASD tend to have is their special interest, some special interests are from short duration but can be very obsessive, for example getting into a certain band and getting all their stuff.
Others can be for a very long duration, being a support or a life long obsession that might fade in the background and resurface later. One of Tony’s mentioned briefly, but clearly specified as surprisingly thorough was the Spice Girls.
However, Taskmaster’s very first appearance already pointed out a Special interest Tony had from a very young age, starting with watching documentaries and shows on TV of the inspiration to pretty much any hero in the marvel verse: Captain America. This had quickly broadened to all heroes and anti-heroes.
This obviously shows in how he fights in the issues, many displaying it by overlaying the appearances of the heroes he is copying at that point for example, but it also shows in the fact that Tony has shirts for a lot of heroes and anti-heroes to wear when he’s teaching or using their style against someone.
TL:DR Taskmaster ticks of a butt load of Asperger Syndrome traits, pretty much all of the obvious ones that most specialists look for. Worrying, obsessions, mimicking, people watching, troubles with social contact and a high level of intellect.
Wikipedia: Sociological and cultural aspects of autism
Wikipedia: Asperger Syndrome
Doctor Tony Attwood
and others I am too lazy to look back up
