A truly evil character can be a challenge to make interesting. However in the modern era many villains that people define as pure evil have begun finding there way into media such as Muzan from demon slayer, The Litch from adventure time or Sukuna from JJK.
When it comes to writing these characters psychology is particularly important. To remain interesting all these characters must have some kind of philosophy or stance on life that creates the readers interest and drives their ambitions further. Using psychology to build these characters can create an intriguing evil character and can help their ambitions feel like they have depth instead of simply being “I want to kill everyone.” Not that that motivation can’t work but it needs structure from the characters beliefs or psychology. In short the best villains that seem to be true evil are written with structure that gives the characters two key things
- Traits that can generate reader interest that do not involve the motivation of their goals. (Unique appearance, speech, or abilities are among the most common)
- A set of person beliefs, justifications, and/or philosophy that they believe justifies what they are doing to themselves (does not have to do so for others)
Jhin is one of the intreating examples of this that is not well know. He is an interesting example of how to build a character using psychology while also being a good example of how importance of details are in psychology (which is ironic for his character). This post will be sorted into four acts. One a brief background on Jhin. Two Jhin most notable abnormal behaviour. Three Where I will explain the conditions that I believe Jhin could have and why. Finally four where I will analyse why Jhin is a well written character and why his psychology provides the backbone for this
Act 1 – Background of the artist
Very little is known about jihns early life all that is that his father owned a martial art studio. However what is known that anywhere in Ionia fear spreads at his name. Jhin is not a name given to him at birth but the name adapted by the man known by many monikers. What is known however is that Jhin is a merciless killer Who considers himself an artist who considers death his canvas and who delights in creating his “art.” He was at one point put into prison by Kusho and Zed and while Zed tried to kill Jhin Kusho spared his life holding Zed back. Despite this he still holds a grudge against those he feel responsible for his “censorship.”
Act 2 – The Mind of the virtuoso
The backstory for Jhins life may seem blank but it is from how he talks and acts as the man he has chosen to be that show us how he thinks.
Starting off at the basics. 4. This is a number (shockingly) however in this story it is THE MOST IMPORTANT NUMBER. Jhin loves the number four, and this is an active design choice in his psychology. This goes far beyond his obsession with art (read: death). In the story “The Man with the Steel cane” Written by Odin Austian Shafer the Jhin opens the story by admiring his weapon and talks about how generous his patrons are and how he must clean the gun four reading that
“He wiped the gun’s stock a fourth time. He couldn’t be sure it was clean until he wiped it down four times…He couldn’t put it away until he was sure it was clean, and he couldn’t be sure it was clean until he had wiped it down four times. It was getting clean though. Four times makes it clean”.
“The Man with the Steel Cane” Sharfer. O. A
This belief with certain numbers and personal objects being clean matches with a condition that many know as OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). This trait is so obvious in Jhin that many wikis even state that jhin has symptoms that match OCD. However There is a plot twist to this story ladies and gents
Act 3: Another letter
From what we can gather about jhin I would hand him three likely diagnoses all wrapped in one the first is OCPD (obsessive compulsive PERSONALITY DISORDER) not OCD. Now here we get into the lesson that jhin teaches us because while one letter/word might not seem like much I assure you it changes how we can see the character.
To keep it simply OCD and OCPD share a low of similar symptoms they are meant to be similar conditions. However they are still vastly different disorders. If it helps think of it like being hugely different shades of the same colour they have many similarities but are still vastly different. OCPD is built on perfectionism. For example, person with OCPD may not hire other workers because only they can do the job correctly and the job MUST be done correctly. Another symptom is being inflexible in there beliefs and having ridged thinking patterns. This all fits Jhin to a tee and for that reason I believe that he classifies as OCPD.
Next is the condition that I believe is only a moderate possibility but John’s obsession with Beaty and appiaerence does resemble some aspects of narcissistic personality dissorder. This is mostly based on the nature of his obsession and his jealous tendencies. I believe it is worth pointing out but I don’t think that it could be confirmed without more analysis
Examples of lines between Jihn and Sona (Credit to Riot Games and The League of Legends Wikki League of Legends Wiki)
Finally Jhin has OCD….yes you are reading this correctly Jhin has both OCD and OCPD. While this may seem strange the DSM which has the criteria for most mental health conditions on the planet states that if someone suffers from symptoms of both OCD AND OCPD they ca be categorized as both.
ACT 4: Characteristic Curtain Call
So with all of that analysis down why do I believe Jhin is a true evil character written well and why is psychology so important in this. Well Jihn has several traits that stem from his OCD and not just his motivation that make him interesting such as his obsessions with four, “art” and perfection as well as his theatrical behaviour. This means that Jhin does not need to rely on his motivation to make him compelling he is a naturally charming figure that stands out from the background by his nature.
Secondly his motivation is based on his set of beliefs. As discussed, a strict set of beliefs is a symptom of OCPD (and not the only one Jhin displays) it is this strict set of beliefs that Jhin uses to justify his actions. Jhin’s structure is clear and we can see how his mind is set up in writing to make him interesting.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about Jhin is that unlike some characters Jhin does not see himself as evil or good. Many characters that would fall into a true evil alignment understand that there action would be considered immoral by all standards. However, Jhin while he does not consider himself good does not consider himself evil either he simply believes that he is making art even remarking that “I am misunderstood. Beauty cannot be evil.” This is what ties everything together a motivation that we can comprehend 2as it is not overly complex but something that we can never really understand. We comprehend why Jhin does what he does but we can’t possibly understand why he thinks that it is acceptable or even pleasant. And in the end that is what makes a great true evil villain in the modern day a villain that we can comprehend who will tell you why they do what they do word for word and leave you with more horror and questions then real answers.
Perhaps that is the true terrifying nature of a man such as Jhin. That while we can understand why he cleans his gun, or sets his stage. We will never truly understand why the artist paints. Or where his brush may end up next
References
Cleveland Clinic. (2022, December 13). Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD): Symptoms. Cleveland Clinic; Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/24526-obsessive-compulsive-personality-disorder-ocpd
Cleveland Clinic. (2023, August 3). Narcissistic Personality Disorder | Cleveland Clinic. Cleveland Clinic; Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9742-narcissistic-personality-disorder
Jhin – Universe | League of Legends Wiki. (2016). League of Legends Wiki. https://wiki.leagueoflegends.com/en-us/Universe:Jhin
Mayo Clinic. (2023a, April 6). Narcissistic personality disorder. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20366662
Mayo Clinic. (2023b, December 21). Obsessive-Compulsive disorder (OCD). Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/obsessive-compulsive-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20354432
The Man with the Steel Cane – Universe of League of Legends. (2025). Leagueoflegends.com. https://universe.leagueoflegends.com/en_US/story/jhin-color-story/
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