#gotham five

First and foremost: Insanity is a legal term, not a medical one. For this particular post we will determine based on the M'Naghten rule and the Irrisitible Impulse test.

"The "M'Naghten rule" was a standard to be applied by the jury, after hearing medical testimony from prosecution and defense experts. The rule created a presumption of sanity unless the defense proved "at the time of committing the act, the accused was laboring under such a defect of reason, from disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing or, if he did know it, that he did not know what he was doing was wrong."" "The test is bifurcated into two components, (...). First, a defendant is deemed insane if they were incapable of knowing what they were doing at the time committing the object offense." - "The second component of the test looks to determine if the defendant knew that his or her actions were wrong. Here, even if the defendant knew what he or she was doing, he or she is deemed insane where he or she was incapable of recognizing the wrongfulness of the action committed." "Under the "Irresistible Impulse" test a jury may find a defendant not guilty by reason of insanity where the defendant was laboring under a mental disease or defect that compelled him to commit the object offense." Link

tldr / an easier way to digest: our determining factors will be;

whether or not a character would be "in control" during the time of the crime (if they weren't mentally present, or believed something else entirely was happening because of delusion or psychosis) - ex. Humpty Dumpty (in DC)

whether or not a character would be able to determine the morality of their actions during the time of the crime (ie. they believe they had to/had no other choice because of delusion (believing God is telling them that they have to kill someone) or think that they were "saving" someone(s)/themselves) - ex. (some versions of) Poison Ivy and her belief that the world would be better off without humankind

whether or not they could control a compulsion that would be of cause - ex. Victor Zsasz's compulsion to add more tally marks and thus needing to kill more & having to kill someone if a tally is "incorrectly"/"wrongfully" added (at least in his depictions in both the Arkham games & the Telltale games)

(Please keep in mind that I am not qualified to properly "diagnose" these characters nor am I in any way trained to know anything about actual prosecution laws, I just think the insanity defense & psychology as a whole are interesting.)

Anyways, with all of that in mind:

Bruce Wayne:

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (headcanon)

Autism spectrum disorder (headcanon)

Post-traumatic stress disorder (headcanon)

Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (semi-canon - it was mentioned that he had some sort of ED through most of s1, which, esp with his autism, would have affected his eating habits for a time)

Five (514-A):

Dyscalculia (headcanon - idk why I just think it makes sense (i also didnt even think about this when deciding, but it really makes his name all that much more tragic lmao))

Selina Kyle:

Willis-Ekbom disorder (aka restless legs syndrome) (headcanon - particularly post-paralysis)

Jim Gordon:

Generalized anxiety disorder (headcanon - I just think the constant itch to be chasing something and "stopping the bad guys" could be related to a near-constant anxiety of not doing enough)

Harvey Bullock:

Alcoholism (canon I think?)

Oswald Cobblepot:

Borderline personality disorder (not canon, but iirc Robin has said that he likes the hc)

Realistically would not qualify for an insanity plea - is known for being manipulative and driven by his need for power, and despite being rather impulsive can be relatively predictable and reasoned with - might be able to get an insanity plea anyway seasons 2-4 if not solely because of his power and the corruption in Gotham (but probably on a more real basis in s4 more because he would probably be unshakeable in the insistence that Martin was actually alive despite several witnesses stating that he killed him)

Edward Nygma:

Autistic spectrum disorder (canon)

Otherwise specified dissociative disorder/psychosis (semi-canon - hc osdd type 1)

Substance-induced psychosis (canon - s3 e15)

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (usually canon for all versions of the Riddler, but I'm not sure if it's actually canon for Gotham specifically) (+ ocd and autism tend to be comorbid)

Narcissistic personality disorder (semi-canon?)

Dermatillomania (compulsive picking at your own skin) (headcanon - no real reason outside of the fact that I'm autistic (and might have ocd?) and I have this & I like to project onto Ed)

Realistically could qualify for an insanity plea - if he played his cards right / could prove that he was dissociated when committing the crime - probably less likely to get it in s2, but still could if he tried

Butch Gilzean:

Bipolar disorder (canon - hc BP-II (he experiences hypomania rather than mania))

Dissociative fugue (headcanon - particularly after his death)

Realistically would (probably) not qualify for an insanity plea - the only way he could is if hes charged for something from while he was Grundy (he'd really have to play his cards right & get a good lawyer)

Barbara Kean:

Bipolar disorder I (headcanon - overall I think the way she is isn't because of her bipolar, rather that she acts like that because its more freeing and fun - instead during some plot lines (end of s1 & her death and being revived by Ra's and her entire arc post Ra's's death) could be broken down between depressive episodes and manic episodes quite easily)

Realistically would not qualify for an insanity plea

Ivy Pepper:

Depersonalisation disorder (headcanon - I just think that the rapid aging thing in s2 & all of the shit that happened with her parents)

Autism spectrum disorder (headcanon - her being described as "creepy" or unnerving throughout s1, her special interest in plants, her everything in s3)

Realistically would not qualify for an insanity plea

Victor Zsasz:

Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (headcanon - i think though in this version his tallies exist as less of a compulsive need, and instead as a self-reminder and physical proof that he can fulfill as promised)

Realistically would not qualify for an insanity plea

Jonathan Crane:

Psychosis (canon)

Panic disorder (headcanon? - i mean it just kind of makes sense esp for this version of the character)

Epilepsy (headcanon)

Realistically would (probably) not qualify for an insanity plea

Bridgit Pike:

Pyromania (canon)

Realistically would not qualify for an insanity plea - unless arrested quite quickly post-Indian Hill

Jerome Valeska:

Trichotillomania (compulsive hair-pulling) (headcanon)

Dermatillomania (compulsive skin-picking) (headcanon)

Histrionic personality disorder (headcanon)

Night terrors (headcanon - particularly when he was a kid, then they came back after he was revived)

Realistically would not qualify for an insanity plea - could still get it for plot reasons as a "not" Joker character

Jeremiah Valeska:

Exploding head syndrome (headcanon)

Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (headcanon)

Antisocial personality disorder (semi-canon i think? - im pretty sure in the show he just says that he's "always been insane" or some shit, but that's not really a thing soo)