Jim Vitale

From DariaWiki

Jim Vitale appears Scissors MacGillicutty's "Where's Mary Sue When You Need Her?" as the senior partner in the law firm of Vitale, Horowitz, Riordan, Schrecter, Schrecter, and Schrecter. In MacGillicutty's story, he is depicted having an affair with Linda Griffin, Sandi's mother. Physically, he resembles the actor James Woods. While he would not qualify as a full-blown psychopath because of:

  • an ability to delay gratification, especially with regard to manipulating others;
  • an awareness of and ongoing efforts to evade the adverse consequences of his acts;
  • a high degree of reliability regarding mundane work and personal obligations; and
  • a well-integrated and executed life plan;

he shares with the full-blown psychopath:

  • an inability to empathize with others;
  • a complete disregard for the pain and difficulties he causes others; and
  • a highly mutable affect.

As a lawyer, his knowledge of the law is vast and detailed, but his knowledge of the letter of law is exceeded by his contempt for its spirit.

In sum, while he does not meet the diagnostic criteria for psychopathy, he is more dangerous than a psychopath for it. Brother Grimace and The Angst Guy think highly of Jim Vitale as a villian in Daria fandom, and Brother Grimace is of the opinion that Vitale is the one, true and original Magnificent Bastard in all of Daria fanfiction, as defined by the TV Tropes.Org web site.