#and show the difference between matt and dex in how matt just changed the dd suit to ketchup and mustard and dex changed it to black & white

[bullseyelover]

FANMADE MCU BULLSEYE HELMET by MiGranStudio

[manicr]

Bullseye: Dissociative Identity Disorder

I’m kinda musing about Bullseye having a type of identity disorder after both the whole history of taking the roles of others and fanon interpretations around him. On one hand I can see how it fits but on the other it’s not quite perfect either which on the other hand is typical of DID in irl. So, I’m gonna look at this a little closer and see what I think.

As a disclaimer, I’m not a psychologist and I know that the entire DID diagnosis is in fact contested in psychology. This will be a long post.

TL;DR: there is evidence to say, more than enough for head canons, that Bullseye does have a from of DID together with comorbidity in other diagnoses. However, nothing on panel makes this absolutely clear due the absence of a clear definable alter contrasting to a core personality. He does however have a poor sense of self and identity.

But let’s start with what DID is and isn’t.

DID symptoms include "the presence of two or more distinct personality states" accompanied by the inability to recall personal information, beyond what is expected through normal forgetfulness. Other DSM-5 symptoms include a loss of identity as related to individual distinct personality states, and loss referring to time, sense of self and consciousness. In each individual, the clinical presentation varies and the level of  functioning can change from severely impaired to adequate.

The symptoms of dissociative amnesia are subsumed under the DID diagnosis but can be diagnosed separately. Individuals with DID may experience distress from both the symptoms of DID (intrusive thoughts or emotions) and the consequences of the accompanying symptoms (dissociation rendering them unable to remember specific information). The majority of patients with DID report childhood sexual or physical abuse, though the accuracy of these reports is controversial.

Furthermore, DID is often comorbid with borderline personality and other diagnoses like substance abuse, anxiety, depression, PTSD, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder; and significant trauma.

In the comorbid category we find traits and actual diagnoses Bullseye has been given in canon.

Netflix Bullseye was canon borderline, as an interpretation of his comic self. While, it has not been state in the 616, it was the attempt to reconcile the mental health disorders that Bullseye obviously has from his violent mood swings with strong emotions, his distorted sense of self, tendency to fixate on people and unstable relationships. The Netflix show wasn’t perfect in it’s handling of it, especially in how BAD Dex’s psychiatrist was at their job, but showed a tragic side of the diagnosis if accompanied by the worst possible circumstances and a comorbid diagnosis of ASPD.

As for comics Bullseye, he was been on panel stated to have bipolar disorder (foolkiller), tumor induced hallucinations and brain damage (DD), ASPD/Psychopathy base on ‘scary frontal lobe’ (DD), and multible depictions of public breakdowns, nightmares and in a future timeline depression that lead to suicide (End of Days). He’s seen to have frequent suicidal ideation in 616, most prominently in Elektra where he begs her to kill him, but he’s self-destructive and suicidal in frequent appearances.

In Dark Avengers he was medicated, taking a anti-psychotic called Clozapine, which is primarily used to treat schizophrenia and Schizoaffective disorder. It’s not clear if this was his usual medication or a situational one.

He does meet the criteria of the latter rather well in verse.

Schizoaffective disorder: (SAD)

The diagnosis is made when the person has symptoms of both schizophrenia (usually psychosis) and a mood disorder—either bipolar disorder or depression—but does not meet the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia or a mood disorder individually.

But to circle back into the issue of DID, we’ve already crossed of that, yes, Bullseye has mental health issues that are co-morbid with DID and shares traits with it. However, going into the actual criteria.

Does he have alters or a loss of identity tied to disassociation?

The former is actually harder to prove, unless you actually postulate that the persona of Bullseye is an alter, in it self, to a core personality that his traumatized and depressed as seen in his multiple more private breakdowns. Alters are usually more aggressive than the core personality, theoretically built to protect the core personality when it disassociates from harm, danger and abuse.

In that sense, Bullseye does fit the bill if you postulate a split between it and Lester/Dex/Benjamin. You do have enough trauma, both early childhood abuse and repeated adult, and other mental disorders to facilitate such a split of identity. This fits the criteria of DID.

As for the other common criteria of memory issues that is associated with the dissassociation aspect of DID.

There is no evidence however that he suffers from dissociative amnesia regarding what he does in his different personas, though he does state that he forgets things that he doesn’t find important and when confronted with information about himself he simply doesn’t recall. He doesn’t find this unusual however or worthy of remarking on. He frequently forgets people’s names too.

However, it is debatable if this is in fact beyond forgetfulness for a professiopnal assassin with a history of head trauma and shallow affect when it comes to empathy, which are key to imprint certain types of memories.

This is though from the perspective of Bullseye, the alter - if we postulate he does have DID -  we normally meet on panel, and since his past life prior to Bullseye is shrouded in mystery it could be that this is no deliberate misdirection and concealment, but actual inability to recall. This could then meet the criteria of “inability to recall personal information” that is central in DID.

It could be that the ‘Bullseye’ alter does not know who the core personality is or any definable personal information, thus he lies to protect that personality. Thus the multiple choice backstory, the many names he uses, and theatrical nature of the Bullseye persona.

Regardless, this will inevitably become fanon as canon doesn’t have enough information to say either way.

However, we do have the on panel reoccurring issue of him dressing up as other heroes and seeming to suffer various gradients of confusion, stress and issues around his own identity.

Most blatantly in Daredevil, when he and Matt switched costumes and ultimately took on each others roles, seemingly both dissociating their identities in the ‘role-play’ they were engaging in.

Bullseye has traits of this in his other roles where he delves deep into some else’s life and tries to relive it (Punisher Max but even early Elektra with his obsession with her), and complains that being put in someone else's costume makes him feel a loss of identity and increasing his stress, resulting in a need to be ‘me’ and incresed violence (Dark Avengers as Hawkeye).

This all point to the weak construction of identity and his distorted sense of self. Bullseye relies on outside marks to know who he is, such as his costume, his role, and the direction of others.

That last part is supported by his need to have a steady employer and sense of purpose that has, he admits as much to the Kingpin and placed a lot of his sense of security in being the Kingpin’s assassin for the short time he was in that role. And he was repeatedly returned to him, looking for goals and order in his life.

In itself, this is a symptom of both BPD and SAD as well as DID. We see that mirrored in Netflix Dex who needs a ‘Northstar’ to find a way to function. Initially using his psychiatrist, then Julie Barnes, then the FBI and finally Wilson Fisk to determine who he was and what he was supposed to do.

Even 616 Bullseye cares what the Kingpin thinks of him and DD uses that to hurt him. And as in both verses, the Kingpin does not care for him but merely uses him, finding him weak-willed, a disapointment and stupid, thus easy to manipulate but prone to messing up jobs.

Now together, this can just point to a mood disorder together with identity issues needing outside order, leadership and framework to function and becoming psychologically distressed and confused when these are absent during times of high stress. Then on top of it being prone to nervous breakdowns and psychotic episodes. This can in itself be BPD, Bipolar with comorbid tendencies, Schizoaffective disorder and a multiple overlapping disorders.

However there are traits that imply that DID is a possible comorbidity with the preexisting diagnoses and disorders he seems to have. There is no singular disorder that fits all of his mental health issues; Bullseye is 100% comorbid. DID is a diagnosis that is one of the most comorbidity carrying in the DSM-5; it averages with 6-7 comorbid mental health disorders.

As a summary, the door is open to interpret him with or without dissociative identity disorder.

TL;DR:

Could Bullseye have Dissociative Identity Disorder?

Yes.

Does Bullseye have Dissociative Identity Disorder?

It’s not possible to tell.

Do writers intend Bullseye to have Dissociative Identity Disorder?

Seemingly, not. As the on panel diagnoses are ASPD + Bipolar Disorder or Borderline Personality.

Can I still headcanon it?

Of course.Especially since DID is notoriously hard to diagnose and considered one of the ‘hidden’ disorders.

[manicr]

DD3-11

“Reunion”

Dex as predicted is in a rough state, though less so than I think he should be by that beating and fall he took. Angry, murderous and out of control - got that Bullseye feel. Nadeem and his confrontation is great. “What have you done!?” Nadeem’s got balls to hold his ground against Dex when Dex is in the state he is. Dex though gets his head back and immediately makes a strategy to fix this. You gotta give it to him, he’s really focused.

I call bullshit on Dex tidying up that well after getting his face smashed in by Matt. Can the make-up department please let Bethel look fucked-up? I know he’s pretty and all, but mess that face up.  It’d be far more hilarious too with him trying to assume command at the church looking like a dog’s breakfast.

“I just gave up my one shot to save you.” DICK MOVE, Matt. Dick fucking move.

“Stay frosty” ahahahahahaha

Poor Maggie, she really thinks that Matt did this.

Nadeem really does the talking better than Dex. I mean, Dex is to the point, accurate and never directly rude, but he forgets the niceties and to read the emotional situation. I know how hard that can be (for different reasons) and frankly if Dex and Nadeem weren’t in the situation they were they make a good match as partners. Dex would probably appreciate having Nadeem do all the emotional stuff. 

Karen and Matt in the grave together is somehow very sweet. Only time I’ve felt that about them. Though what the fuck did they do with Edmund’s bones? That sarcophagus was empty. Their conversation strikes me as so... hollow, though. I don’t know if its the script or the actors, but it breaks the immersion for me. 

The morality aspect of killing, premeditated or not, is very dissonant with the series that really does lean into the grimness. The damn tag line is “Let there be darkness”. Is the series glorified violence? To an extent, yes. It’s violence as entertainment. At the same time it straddles the line of showing how much that violence is destroying lives, the protagonists and antagonists alike. But in these 11 episodes, it fails to offer another solution. I hope that the final episodes decide what they want to do with this morality play aspect of the show and  what it wants to accomplish. Is it redemption or justice? A cautionary tale or a triumph over evil?

Fisk’s speech wasn’t the best. The script for this episode feels a bit shaky all together. I get the whole American fake news, whistleblower and public enemy buzz words, but it feels again just without substance and weight. Yes, that does highlight the actual lies that Fisk is peddling, but it falls flat as anything. I’m surprised they had the crowd quiet down as much as they did. 

Nadeem is barely managing to contain Dex’s mess, and Dex is falling apart again. His zoning out and the buzz in his head is worse. He’s unravelling wit stress and lack of a support system. Fisk is a woefully inadequate one and he doesn’t trust Nadeem enough, or vice versa for very good reasons, to actually be able to emotionally lean on him. He’s feeling his failure, and letting Fisk down, and he’s not hearing Nadeem. Dex’s all just big emotions and the abyss. He really needs help, help he won’t accept.

Maggie’s stare at Dex as she said ‘evil’. Ouch. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings on the concept of good and evil. To make it clear, I’m not a religious person, and I live in a very secular country. Personally, I feel and think that good and evil are not helpful concepts. Right and wrong are. Helpful and harmful are. Kind and unkind are. The use of the word evil and good seem to symbolize static irreversible states of being that are relatively defined by various religious frameworks. 

I see Dex as an unwell person who does harmful things and makes the wrong choices. I do not mean to call him misunderstood or not the villain in the show. But he is fundamentally a person who was abandoned, a person without sufficient help to manage his own life, who doesn’t have the tool set to understand what to do put in the worst possible circumstances where he makes time after time the wrong choices for himself and others. 

Dex should have been given an extensive support system as a child, structure and several people around him to keep him from being harmful to himself and others. His shrink failed him by isolating him. His job failed him by not flagging the sadism and quite likely multiple instances of unstable behavior. The feds 100% have his diagnosis in the personell file. Fisk CHOSE him for this very reason. His life is a cautionary tale, one that is pre-written not to end up well. This regardless of how much I love comics!Bullseye who is a horrible murder goblin. I have feelings OK.

And the scene after we get reminded that Matt DOES have a support structure. His friends that’d over a cliff for him; Maggie, Foggy, Karen. Matt’s darkness and desire to self-isolate is constantly being contested by his friends, Dex has no one and all Fisk does is push him further off the ledge. 

Foggy’s family situation is shitty. I really am sad for him. I know the whole class journey family strife thing intimately. How much your personal success (however humble) is both such a source of pride and resentment for your family. It’s a catch 22.

Good ploy having Karen turn herself in. But daaamn if it’s not having Dex near a meltdown. Nadeem to the rescue once more. Dex will not tolerate Nadeem much longer, this can only end in murder. Poor boys.

The set-design of this show is gorgeous. It’s visually just so satisfying to just look at the spaces. The woman’s livingroom when Fisk comes for the painting is just so harmonious and with great choices of art. The art nerd in me loves DD for that alone. From Fisk’s modernist expressionism and cubism, to the impressionism feelings here, and the general noir 20′s of the show that oscillates between Gothic religious art to Miller era comic art.

The holocaust-nazi connection here ties to the moral theme of the show, but it starts to get more heavy handed.

Dex discovering the blood and Matt’s trickery with the comments of the cops hoe (he) is a sick psycho, have him cracking. Damn that scream. He’s not keeping anything together. His own BPD black and white emotional stances are turning against him and he needs to make it ‘right’, he needs to have a ‘win’ or he’ll implode/explode again. Dex has emotionally gone through a roller-coaster, from suicidal to euphoric, and damn if he’s not swinging again. 

Fisk really likes killing people in cars. Actually very efficient in showing us Fisk’s temper and reactions here. They have avoided him going openly violent for most of the season and then just this brutal yet thought through killing is very strong. Fisk is cracking too, and it’s all tied to Vanessa. His emotional trigger. Just like Wesley triggered his assault on Karen.  

Nadeem and his family. He knows Fisk now. He knows what’ll happen. Great tension. Matt to the rescue and dramatic reveal. 

So, how do I feel about this episode? Well, its obviously a pivot point. The odds and tensions are changing, the ‘heroes’ are finding their footing and everyone is so close to their cracking point.  But still, it also has some of my least favorite script points, it struggles with pacing and has muddled-poorly executed ideas of what its trying to do. It’s also emotional, tense, and visually a damn treat. 

I’m very torn on if I like this episode, I have a lot if thoughts on it. It’s a transition point, and an important episode for Nadeem’s story arc. Viewing him as the pivotal point of the episode strengthens it, but with the vast shifts it still feels somehow not self-contained enough. Very much “to be continued”.