Chris's best character traits -

[DykesDykesChina]

Yep, you read right. As the Forum rules say, he isn't Hitler, he isn't Genghis Khan, he isn't Anders Breivik. There are aspects of his personality which are not completely bad or maybe even outright sympathetic. Which ones?

(I mean genuinely good characteristics, not stuff like "it's entertaining to watch him fail" etc.)

- He tried to create art, or, if you use the word "art" in a very broad sense, even successfully created art.

- He tried to find love through said "art", which would be a clever, even romantic idea if his artwork was any good.

- He actually understands (on a *VERY* basic level) that in a loving relationship there must be some give and take, e.g. you should take your heartsweet out to McBarf's to a festive dinner of McNuggets to make her happy. (the Loveshies do NOT understand this)

- He likes dogs.

- He has some rudimentary ideas about helping the poor, e.g. through his (of course in reality impractical) concept of Soup Hotels.

- He tries to get in touch with his feminine side (Hey I'm NOT talking about the method...!)

...any other ideas?

 

[Grand Number of Pounds]

He has enough respect for the law that he hasn't committed any really horrible crimes. Or at least his crimes are attributable more to his stupidity rather than malice. Nearly running over Mike Snyder twice is bad, but it seems Snyder really wasn't that injured, and he didn't even want Chris to get into that much trouble.

I doubt Chris would seriously hurt anyone, and if he did, again, it's because he's dumb than because he really wanted to hurt someone.

tl; dr - he's mostly harmless and doesn't have it in him to be a hardened criminal

 

[Bgheff]

He can be very determined and not give up when there is something he wants. (PStriple, girlfriend)

 

[BigAltheGreat921]

Mentally, he's not as fucked up as some other LOLcows.

 

[GFYS]

IMO, none of that which you stated comes from any measure of altruism - rather, his elementary understanding that he has to pretend to be a good guy, in order to manipulate others to do something for him.

Now, hypothetically, the same could be said about all living creatures to some extent. It's suggested that our selflessness and altruism is just a function of our survival drive. I'm kinda on the fence about that... I'm absolutely one such person, but I'm also mentally handicapped. I see such in many other people, but there are times I witness selfless acts that seem to absolutely defy this hypothesis. Be this the case, or not; I think Chris we can all agree represents an extreme degree of selfishness.

There isn't even that much room for speculation, in Chris' case. Most of the seemingly-kind things he has done can be neatly linked to some known moment in Christory where he obviously expects something in return. He did art because he wanted recognition and a freakin' medal. He blows feminist smoke, to impress da ladies, while being a sexist boor. He did volunteer work only to impress others or get Legos. He does seem to like dogs, but I suspect only because they like him back and ask almost nothing of him. I suspect that the instant the dogs become too much stress, or don't give him enough attention, he'd abandon them like the cats or his heartsweets. Even his love for his parents seem to only hinge upon him being entirely dependent on them, and seems quick to complain about his few familial duties (chores, job, not shitting his pants, not getting them evicted, etc.) when he isn't be lavished with praise and presents.

tl;dr - I don't think Chris has any positive character traits. They all seem to be perverted approximations of how he perceives human beings function, which he attempts to use to manipulate others. Any other positive thing he does, is probably by accident or we just haven't figured out what his ulterior motive was.

I also think that a lack of a negative trait (i.e. addiction, abusive tendencies, etc.) should not count as a positive trait. We don't generally put "I have never murdered anyone" on our resumes.

 

[Snorlaxative]

He can make people laugh.

 

[Trombonista]

His magnum opus has resulted in some amazing "fanworks".

 

[Marvin]

He did art because he wanted recognition and a freakin' medal.

Eh, he probably genuinely enjoyed drawing. It was only after the fact that he thought he deserved praise for his artwork.

He blows feminist smoke, to impress da ladies, while being a sexist boor.

This is more that he doesn't understand sexism and feminism and he believes that liking women (or his idea of them, anyway) is the same thing as being against sexism.

He does seem to like dogs, but I suspect only because they like him back and ask almost nothing of him. I suspect that the instant the dogs become too much stress, or don't give him enough attention, he'd abandon them like the cats or his heartsweets.

Eh, he still takes care of the dogs. The dogs became stressful almost immediately.

Even his love for his parents seem to only hinge upon him being entirely dependent on them, and seems quick to complain about his few familial duties (chores, job, not shitting his pants, not getting them evicted, etc.) when he isn't be lavished with praise and presents.

 

[GFYS]

So you can actually see independent thought or altruism in any of Chris' behavior? All I see is something pretending to be human, or a series of conditioned responses.

 

[Marvin]

So you can actually see independent thought or altruism in any of Chris' behavior? All I see is something pretending to be human, or a series of conditioned responses.

Heh, well, a lot of people react with conditioned responses.

But yes, Chris loves his parents.

 

[GFYS]

But yes, Chris loves his parents.

Hmm, I just don't see it. To be fair, it's probably due to my own limited scope of emotions... But, even when I attempt to objectively quantify it, I just see so much more behavior suggesting he sees them as slightly more of a boon than a burden - but not enough that he wouldn't marginalize them (steal from them, lie to them, manipulate them, use their ghosts as his personal slave, etc.) without hesitation.

Again, to be fair, this could be a result of our limited scope of their personal interaction. I'm still gonna respectfully (mostly) disagree, 'till I see more that contradicts this. Come on, even you have to admit that when we assume the worst of Chris, and the reality of each situation reveals itself, it largely tends to skew downward towards those worst-case assumptions.

 

[BillRiley]

So you can actually see independent thought or altruism in any of Chris' behavior? All I see is something pretending to be human, or a series of conditioned responses.

Heh, well, a lot of people react with conditioned responses.

But yes, Chris loves his parents.

Parent.

 

[Marvin]

But yes, Chris loves his parents.

Hmm, I just don't see it. To be fair, it's probably due to my own limited scope of emotions... But, even when I attempt to objectively quantify it, I just see so much more behavior suggesting he sees them as slightly more of a boon than a burden - but not enough that he wouldn't marginalize them (steal from them, lie to them, manipulate them, use their ghosts as his personal slave, etc.) without hesitation.

Again, to be fair, this could be a result of our limited scope of their personal interaction. I'm still gonna respectfully (mostly) disagree, 'till I see more that contradicts this. Come on, even you have to admit that when we assume the worst of Chris, and the reality of each situation reveals itself, it largely tends to skew downward towards those worst-case assumptions.

There's a range of the CWC fans(?), from the worst haters, a-logs, to white knights. But really, Chris isn't Satan and he's not an innocent retard. He's just himself.

He's retarded (not in a clinical sense, of course) and sometimes doesn't understand some of the bad (and good) things he does, but he also has enough intelligence to have intent when it comes to some things. Basically, put a ten year old in Chris' shoes. A ten year is childish and stupid and might dislike their parents sometimes for being meanies and punishing them. But they still love their parents. Same thing with Chris.

When Bob died, Chris was extremely fucked up and mourned just like any other normal person would.

So you can actually see independent thought or altruism in any of Chris' behavior? All I see is something pretending to be human, or a series of conditioned responses.

Heh, well, a lot of people react with conditioned responses.

But yes, Chris loves his parents.

Parent.

Well, yeah, loves his parent and loved his other parent.

 

[BillRiley]

Heh, well, a lot of people react with conditioned responses.

But yes, Chris loves his parents.

Parent.

Well, yeah, loves his parent and loved his other parent.

Assuming, of course, that Bob is really dead.

 

[JULAY]

I also think that a lack of a negative trait (i.e. addiction, abusive tendencies, etc.) should not count as a positive trait. We don't generally put "I have never murdered anyone" on our resumes.

I work in HR, and while I haven't seen that precise phrase, I did once have a resume come across my desk that proudly stated "Only been to prison once. HAVE NOT BEEN BACK SINCE!" This was in addition to the line item under Job Experience that included agricultural work at the state prison farm.

Needless to say, the individual did not advance to the interview phase of the hiring process.

 

[introman]

Persistence and passion for stuff he wants.

 

[José Mourinho]

His comics are so bad it's so good, and he makes me laugh.

And yeah, he's quite persistent throughout his life even after getting trolled so much.

 

[CatParty]

His life failures have put him into an elite performance artist level. So at least to me, his exploits are highly entertaining.

 

[Uzumaki]

Chris is an ambitious artist, and this is something I unironically admire about him.

Chris is obviously not a talented artist, he can barely draw recognizable figures, but this doesn't stop him from including anything in him comic. He'll use perspective poorly, he'll draw abstract concepts, he'll include complex action sequences... Chris's art always reaches far beyond where his talent will take him. Granted this reaching causes it to trip over itself and fall flat on it's face, but the point isn't that he succeeds, the point is he tries. He doesn't let his lack of artistic ability put any kind of limits on his art.

That's not something I can do; I often change what I intend to draw if I feel like my original idea is beyond my skill. I don't think Chris has ever done that.

 

[LoveQuest.exe]

I think his best character trait isn't necessarily a character trait at all...it's more like a secondary result of him existing. Without Chris-chan my(our?) lives would be that much less entertaining, whimsical and confusing. Plus he does have an admirable passion for his own (il)logic and creations.

Thank you CWC for being born and living off of our tugboat; you magnificent bastard.