#sure he is Yuhon's son and shares a lot with him

[soo-won]

do you think soowon is sociopath? i saw some fans saying he lacks empathy and i don't think he does.

Hey Anon! Thank you for the ask :) I didn't expect to receive that kind of question that was the heart of debates years ago, but I'm more than happy to reply!

Very long answer below the cut. Sorry for being unable to be brief, there's nothing that I love more than talking about Suwon and his emotions!

Short answer is no I don't think Suwon is a sociopath, at all.

I've read people say that many times, especially in response to chapter 196, I don't know if that's what you have in mind. From personal experience, I've never seen anyone call him a sociopath know what that word really means or not being a Suwon-anti and I think most of the time people say this in the pejorative "cold and emotionless" way. The manga has shown countless times the range of Suwon's emotions, and to imply he doesn't feel anything is just, wrong (Kusanagi stated it explicitely too). I guess it's understandable for series going on for years like akayona, but I feel like it's a common mistake to read a chapter as a standalone and not something that adds to what was established before. Like, it's not because the diary and castle arc showed new sides of Suwon (through the eyes of other characters on top of that) and in specific circumstances that it invalidates everything shown to us about him before. It's one piece of the puzzle for sure, but nothing less nothing more. I'm no psychiatrist and I'm not qualified to give anyone any kind of diagnostic, but Suwon feels very much, and he feels guilt, is even paralyzed by it at times and it is sometimes an obstacle to him. Suwon is all about discarding feelings, and for that to be a thing, feelings have to be there to begin with. From what I know about sociopathy, this isn't it. And even if he was, that wouldn't make him any less lovable and deserving of compassion to me.

Now on empathy specifically, it's more arguable, but I don't see lacking empathy as something inherently wrong that makes someone broken or cold. What you feel or not doesn't matter in my opinion, it's what you do to care for others. So like, yeah, if you compare with Yona I guess you could say Yona is more empathic than Suwon, but in no way that alone would make her a better person than him(I don't want to make this about Suwon vs Yona, she was just the first character to come to mind).

Lack of empathy is also not exclusively a sociopath thing. Like, everyone feels it to a different degree and there is a lot factors that can be at play.

Suwon feels and thinks differently, his differences with characters like Meinyan, Yona and Hak being the most obvious examples of that, and it's one of the many things that make me see him as neurodivergent in some way. But in the end, whether he feels empathy or not is not important. Or like, yeah, it can be interesting to explore, but it isn't relevant to define him in the slightest.

That being said, let's talk about what we know. First, what we know for sure, is that he cares! And even if you admit he doesn't have the same level of empathy as others, he tries to help when he can and if it's not in the way of his goals. Whether it's when he was a child comforting Yona and his mother, or reassuring an insecure Lili, or again, trying to comfort a trembling Yona in the way he knows best. It's something that comes naturally to him, something that very much makes him, him. Suwon is someone who wants to help, and who finds joy in making others happy.

He is also intelligent, can understand how people think and feel, and why people act the way they do. He is able to sense very young that Il doesn't like him. He was able to give Yona exactly what she needed when she was mourning her mother. In the present, Suwon understands why Yona or Hak would want to kill him, or how his words would only upset them because he is able to put himself in their shoes. (This, is different than empathy imo. Putting yourself in someone else' shoes is an effort you make to understand others, whether you feel what they feel) It's because he understands how people feels that he was able to come this far and unite the country like he did. He is able to play with how people perceive him to get the upper hand over them too. And he is very aware of the consequences of his colder decisions. Everytime he discards someone, he very much expects their hostility towards him and doesn't ask anything of them again. In my opinion Suwon just doesn't think in term of good vs bad. He can tell between the two in like how it matters to others, but it's not relevant to him, and he rather thinks in term of "is that thing on my way or not". (I think he does struggle to understand the extent of how people feel about him, though. He thinks logically, so it's hard for him to understand things that go against all logic, like Hak and Yona helping him after everything.)

Then I think it's important to mention the part of Suwon that shows a discardment of emotions and empathy, and Yuhon.

Actually, how much of that comes from how Yuhon raised him, the environment he grew up in, or from how he is inherently as a person is interesting sure, but not that relevant either. Whatever the roots of it, he is able to put his feelings on the side and stay composed in dire situations. But again, it doesn't mean he doesn't feel anything. And what the war against Kai shows is that his ability to not be affected by the deaths of his people is the reverse of the determination-turned-desperation to not lose against Kai. "Even death is acceptable"(his own included) he says to himself. The fact this is a thing he had to tell himself to begin with says a lot in my opinion. He was struggling, and had to remind himself repeatedly to not look back, to think about nothing but the war. Suwon has limits, even if he is more composed and determined than most, and when he reaches these limits he needs to cling onto his father's words, because otherwise he would falter and stop being able to think clearly.

Thanksfully this desperation turned back into his usual determination(still kinda fueled by the urgency of his situation) after the events of this battle. But like, Suwon is not at all a character that is a complete facade when he acts as a King and whose cold decisions go completely against his heart all the time. He really is the King not hesitating to take harsh decisions and make sacrifices to achieve his goals. He really is the King not unfazed in the slightest about losing his own castle and capital, and people dying in war for his cause. That's also what makes him, him, and something more than helpful in war where you have to deal with losses and unpredictable events all the time.

Going back to chapter 196, when Yonhi thinks to herself "How can he be so detached?" or when Yuhon's faction is impressed by how unfazed he was about investigating his own father's corpse, in no way it is that Suwon doesn't feel anything about his father or Yona. He so does. He is shown burning with anger, and he is shown not looking the least enthousiastic about killing Il. The situations and ways in which he expresses these emotions are simply not what you would usually expect from a child, but why should there be any rule about how someone is supposed to react and feel? There's nothing scary about that. When you stop to think about 2 seconds, is it that fearsome for someone to cope by taking the lead and prioritizing dealing with the problems at hand first, and being unable to process things emotionally? Like, isn't that pretty common? I can relate a lot to that personally. I guess what is surprising in this case is how Suwon is able to do it so young and to this extent, but it's nothing more than that. When Suwon asks Yonhi if she wants Il to die, and she gets scared of that, Suwon is genuinely asking too. Is that this far-fetched for him to assume Yonhi would want that when everyone else around him does? When revenge seems to be the very reason Il, supposed to be peace-loving, killed his father?

People might say that Suwon lacks empathy and maybe they wouldn't be wrong, but he constantly tries to understand what people want and answer to their expectations anyway. And I think that's what matters the most, even if he fails at it sometimes. He couldn't understand how Yonhi felt about Il in chapter 196, but he still tried hard to be what he thought she wanted from him: a replacement of Yuhon (Again, logical conclusion when that's what everyone else around him encourage). He still did all he could to comfort her, and he gave her strength.

He became the ideal King most of the generals and Yuhon faction wanted, and a lot of the issues in his relationship with Yona and Hak come from the fact he behaved in front of them as the Suwon they (used to think they) wanted. He cared for them genuinely, but he couldn't show the rest of him because it would go against the idealized image they had of him. Just like he can't show all of himself in front of his supporters either, because what they want is for him is a perfect, never faltering King, following Yuhon's footsteps. When it became impossible to be these two ideals at the same time, he discarded one. Suwon cares and loves, and this has nothing to do with empathy. He is both the caring friend and the pragmatic king and can't discard either.

Suwon might have less empathy than others, yet he is the one who acted to better the lives of his country's citizens, in contrast to Il, that sure, might be more empathic (except when it comes to Suwon visibly) yet barely acted on it.

I'm gonna stop here but I could go on forever. I hope it's not too much all over the place. Sorry I can't help it.

TDLR : no I don't think he is a sociopath, mainly because he feels guilt and regards what people think a lot, and all he does is never for his own personal benefit. But empathy or not, he cares and does his best. There is so much to explore about him, and basing the morality of a character on empathy is just not it. I think the fact he has such a different way of thinking compared to the rest of the main cast is what makes him so fresh and interesting and I wouldn't want him any other way. He doesn't give a fuck and idk it's funny and so cathartic sometimes. We should embrace that.

[ultra-violet-heart]

Akatsuki no Yona Predictions and Theories (after Ch 175)

- Now that Hak and Yona, those two horny teenagers have made out lol and all that tension about loving one another is out in the open, I guess they can focus more on protecting themselves and the DDHHB.

- Jaeha did see that kiss. Trust me.

- Also now that everyone's reunited and are going back to Kouka, they might consult some people about how better to protect themselves. And then we'll get back to the prophecy.

- Not sure of this but I think the gang might visit Jaeha's clan at some point.

- Lili is still spying on Suwon on Hiryuu Castle, and might discover something she is not supposed to discover. Whether it might be about Suwon's motives or about Il's secrets, I dunno.

- Tae-jun's mom might tell Yona more about Kashi. I kinda have something about this later.

- Speaking about the king who has been absent on the manga for almost a year now, Suwon might appear in the next chapter, or the next after that.

- If he's in the next one, it will pan to Keishuk reporting to him about Hak and the others, as well as how Yona and co is now an intact threat. Because no matter what they/you/anyone might say, the DDHHB's existence are. Judo is kind of right in this one, no matter how much it pains me to agree with Judo of all characters.

- Also with Kuelbo and co surrendering to Kouka, we might get into the center of why the heck is North and South Kai truly divided. I had a theory that Titia's death might be related to it, as Kuelbo's Turi tribe is a respected one and Titia being a hero, I don't think their tribes and allies will let her death go smoothly like that.

- I know my theory might be stupid but Titia's silhouette looks like Suwon here A LOT. AM I JUST OVERREACTING???? *Titia is Yonghi theory intensifies*

- I think we now might tackle the threat of South Kai. As you people might remember, they were the number one suppliers of nadai in the Water Tribe. Also they were about to supply them to the Earth Tribe, or to Awa at least. They were stopped by Yona and co, but just like all greedy capitalists (call me an effin commie if you wanna, but this is just the simple truth) I don't think these drug traders will stop that easily.

- And that's when our favorite badass grandma captain Gigan comes back! I dunno, Kusa-sensei has a tendency to kind of 'recycle' characters so I don't think she'll just have this one time appearance in the Awa arc.

- I also keep thinking Gigan will help Yona and co retrieve the sword.

- Also, what if some of Xing's priest faction is made up of priests driven away by Yuhon? I find Gobi's fascination about Yona and the dragon warriors too uncanny. Maybe information about the so-called sword (which may or may not be that dragon-hilted sword Yona was holding while having the king's headdress and royal kingly robes on chapter 1)

- Speaking about the sword, I think it's also time for Iksu to make an appearance. And my guess for it is that Keishuk might order the Kouka royal family shadow guards might kidnap him for more information. I'm really pretty afraid of that.

- I've always found the same color scheme for Yona and Ik-su's eyes too uncanny, too. Maybe I might be not remembering things properly This is why I suspect Yona's mother Kashi, who she resembles a lot and was said share the same eye color, is not only the descendant of Hiryuu, but is part of the clan where Kouka's priests came from. Yun did say before that priests were known to have overthrown some of Kouka's kings. Who's to say they haven't intermarried with some of the royal family scions as well? Remember, Hiryuu's successor (which I assume was his son) was named Yakushi. But this detail might be irrelevant, lol.

[Image credits to Impatient Scans, Titania Scans, Hana to Yume, Hakusensha and Mizuho Kusanagi.]