Is Zero...special?

[Necrotica]

Zero had no idea what a friend was.

But we clearly see voidsent have relationships with each other. Friendships, families, etc.

Only Zero seems to lack the most basic of social skills and understanding of sentient being interactions.

Is Zero autistic? I do not mean this in an insulting way. I mean is it possible Zero is not able to process social interactions because of a medical condition?

[RukoBoshi]

I believe she is simply lying to herself. She claim that names don't matter to her, but she could can remember voidsents living in her domain by name.

Concepts like friendship seems strange to her because she must have forgotten things that aren't beneficial to her survival.

10 000 years in a dark world full of starving beasts, who's only relationship is using the others to survive.
Some ideas are just useless there. Friendship, hope or selflessness. All things that haven't existed in that world during these long years.

[Cleretic]

As someone with autism: No. Very no. I almost see where you're coming from, but it's actually borderline offensive to assume that autistic people don't know what friends are. That's clearly an extremely different situation.

Zero's lived in a literal hell for ten thousand years, willingly isolating herself from a lot of what the Thirteenth has ever since considered basically 'social norms'; voidsent aren't exactly friendly even towards their 'friends' either, and... well, I'm pretty sure we haven't yet seen anything resembling a healthy family there yet either. They probably don't use the word 'friend'. And then her only window into what we'd call a healthier world was Zenos, who is DEFINITELY not a bastion of mental health and neurotypicality himself.

Zero is poorly socialized through no fault of her own; that isn't autism, although it does occasionally have some similar traits.

[Necrotica]

I believe she is simply lying to herself. She claim that names don't matter to her, but she could can remember voidsents living in her domain by name.

Concepts like friendship seems strange to her because she must have forgotten things that aren't beneficial to her survival.

10 000 years in a dark world full of starving beasts, who's only relationship is using the others to survive.
Some ideas are just useless there. Friendship, hope or selflessness. All things that haven't existed in that world during these long years.

What we are told the 13th is like and how we see voidsent act does not match up though. The Gruff family, the ability of Succubus to manipulate mortals, etc. All these things show a much more complex society than 'we all eat each other to survive'.

Ultros and Typhon show a great deal of loyalty to each other.

Now the argument could be made they work together for mutual benefit and survival, but that could apply to all beings that work together.

[kaynide]

Just to add, the concept of being friends is (in part)to be around and enjoy each other’s company for no real tangible benefit, even to one’s own detriment at times.

Even the two voidsent we met in Zero’s domain that might be considered friends are really “friends” because they can snack on each other’s aether.

It’s probably not so much that being “friends” is foreign so much as the general feeling(s) of altruism in general…perhaps even a lack or dampening of emotions.

Granted Zero’s domain is a bit of a contradiction to this. Why would she be helping the ragtag mob unless they are her food source…

To;dr, most certainly not a disorder of Zero’s mental capacity and more a quirk of the overall “robotic/logical” nature of voidsent.

[SentioftheHoukai]

Well, shit. Quite the leap you made there, friend. Short answer: No.

Long answer: No, and please read up on autism and never make this insinuation ever again. Thanks so very much~ ;3

[Doozer]

Zero had no idea what a friend was.

But we clearly see voidsent have relationships with each other. Friendships, families, etc.

Only Zero seems to lack the most basic of social skills and understanding of sentient being interactions.

Is Zero autistic? I do not mean this in an insulting way. I mean is it possible Zero is not able to process social interactions because of a medical condition?

If you wanted to ask if Zero was autistic, why not lead with that and not "special"? That's so outdated and generally a not very well-received way to refer to neurodivergent people.

I'm not even going to agree or disagree with your theory because your way of going about it is just so stupid and insensitive.

[kaynide]

Something else to ponder, especially given the Gruff family, Ultros/Typhon and even the mysterious pumpkin-headed figure we meet every Saint’s Wake:

Typhon and Ultros are seen working with the Gold Saucer/Blue Mage circus-arena, doing shows…essentially.

The Gruffs are working together to feed, and the mysterious figure actually protects people, while allowing for a good scare before putting a stop to shenanigans.


This suggests Voidsent might be able to feed on emotion (fear/excitement, etc) itself (aka Dynamis). Importantly, positive emotions might just as easily feed them, meaning we might find a peaceful solution to exist with the 13th.

Essentially, Monsters Inc.

All that said, this is wild speculation.

[Iscah]

...and even the mysterious pumpkin-headed figure we meet every Saint’s Wake

From talking to her in her garden, I get the impression that she's not a voidsent at all, but a descendant of the Mhachi.

[Kaliesto]

Something bugs me about Zero if she can revert back to her normal self through Aether then why has this not happened with past voidsent? I don't think there was any lore eluding to that.