The Owl House and Growing Up Neurodivergent | A Character Analysis 

A little disclaimer since there's a few comments with people wondering if they're neurodivergent after watching this video! Please don't use this video to self-diagnose! It by no means has enough information in order to properly decide something like that. If you do relate to it a lot and are wondering if you may be on the spectrum or have ADHD, then yes, do more research on it! It never hurts to be more knowledgeable on this subject, especially if it may help you realize something about yourself. (If researching autism please do not use autism speaks as a resource, they support eugenics/a cure. I'd recommend the Autistic Self Advocacy Network to start). Relating to this video doesn't necessarily mean you are neurodivergent. Many neurotypical people can most definitely relate to these experiences, they're not exclusive. Having only a few traits doesn't mean you might be either. It's the severity of the symptoms, the amount of them, and the impact it has on your day-to-day life that's the big diagnosis factor. There's also plenty of overlap with other disorders, such as depression and anxiety. Please, please, please make sure you do extensive research. I understand (especially in America) the inaccessibility of healthcare regarding these things and self-diagnosis is, in many cases, the only option people have. However, you should evaluate yourself extensively if you are doing so, just as any proper evaluation would. Also I'm only 18, and while I know quite a bit about these disorders from researching them (and with personal experience when it comes to autism), I am not a psychiatrist.

i also think it's notable how Luz has to reverse engineer magic through glyphs, while for everyone else on the Boiling Isles it comes naturally. idk how to word it better, but i see it as a metaphor for neurodivergency, when you have to consciously learn basic skills that everyone else just knows

i think what i find most interesting about luz's neurodivergence is from season 3, where we learn about how camila was always just as "weird" as luz, but she was forced to mask that to make it through adulthood. hiding her comics in the basement, her willingness to "play" luz's game as if it were something she enjoyed... a lot of it reads a lot like a neurodivergent who is decent at masking, but has become accustomed to it to the point where she tries to hide her nd traits even in the presence of those who would understand. while a lot of comments have pointed out that luz was genuinely becoming a danger to people and that's why she was sent to camp, it can also be easily interpreted as camila imposing that onto her daughter out of some sort of fear. not wanting luz to go through the bullying she faced? some sort of weird internalized ableism that i find a lot of undiagnosed nd adults tend to have? the aforementioned safety hazard luz presented? a mix of all three? whatever it is, we can see that luz gets her neurodivergent traits from her mom, but for one reason or another, camila doesn't want that mirror reflected back at her. this is not to say camila is a bad person! i think we're seeing a trajectory of her becoming more understanding of her daughter and more accepting of her own "weirdness". i just think it's really interesting to look at camila and luz's relationship through that lens.

The whole thing about ‘us weirdos have to stick together’ makes SO much sense as it’s proven that neurodivergent people have an easier time interacting and working together than a neurotypical and a neurodivergent person would. Frequently neurodivergent people end up friends with others who are also neurodivergent. Also, do I hear music from hollow knight, lol? Anyways love your content.

Oho, this was such a good breakdown of all the prominently neurodiverse characters. I understand why you didn't go into Hunter's autism since you already went into Gus', but Hunter's arc specifically, especially when combined with the what Caleb and the grimwalkers likely represent, can be seen as an overarching allegory for what happens when you try to abuse the someone's autism away through conditioning and "therapy" and make them into someone they are not, as Belos wants the grimwalkers to be Caleb, actually, not even Caleb, but an idealized version of Caleb he made up in his head. So both Caleb and the grimwalkers were killed for not being some kind of idealized version that Belos made up in his head, and the sentiment of "autism taking them away from me" is unfortunately a common narrative that abusive ableist parents traumatize their children with.

Also: It is a very common experience for neurodivergent people to relate to non-human characters, Luz leaning super hard into the "becoming a witch" thing is something I can totally relate to

There is a little detail for Gus in any sport in a storm where Gus is unable to fly like everyone else but found his own way in doing it which is a fun little detail to add in reflecting on how he isn't like everybody else.

As an autistic person, seeing these characters stim makes me so happy, and even more so, the fact that the stimming is not the focal point and does not become the focal point. The characters around them understand that it's completely normal and that it's a _good thing_ and don't point it out. They let each other act naturally and it's _beautiful._ Come to think of it, I think the only character that I've actively seen masking is Hunter, which is a whole other can of worms.

I was diagnosed with aspergers since before I even attended kindergarten, but not once did anybody actually take the time to explain to me what the hell that was. They didn't explain the symptoms, nor provide any sort of insight into my condition. They just told me I was special needs, and kept me on various pills until I got to highschool. In hindsight, the situation was absolutely infuriating, because I felt like a damn alien on my own planet. My childhood could have been so much easier, if I had actually known what my condition was. At least then, I could have recognized the symptoms and learned to handle them better!

btw yes i did record the second half of the video in my car at the very edge of a parking lot of a grocery store because that's somehow better than my sister overhearing me making a video essay thank you for asking

Not about being non-neurotypical, moreso about a side effect of such (oh yeah also really well-made video by the way). I really like that Luz is actually shown doing atypical things rather than just being a "lol I'm a kid who likes books and drawing I'm so quirky" protagonist. Luz isn't some kid who does things other than makeup and football and calls herself quirky for it, she's someone who doesn't understand and/or care about invisible societal rules and wants to escape. That is the experience a lot of people who grew up with the weird kid label, me included, can relate to. I saw the invisible rules by the age of five or so after years of not understanding them, subconsciously found them stupid, did my own thing, and didn't stop even when people tried to manipulate me out of friend groups for being someone who seemed easy to kick out. Luz is a very, very well-written protagonist, one who has some top-quality weird kid with ADHD rep, and I think it adds to the story really well. Only problem with her is that no way someone with ADHD can memorize those glyphs that fast smh/j

I’ve never felt more connected to a fictional character than Luz. My ADHD has been acting up lately and I just seem to constantly fail academically. I am terrified of just sitting in front of my laptop and immediately start crying cause I will start to feel hopeless. I wish there was a place like the boiling isles.

The alternative (albeit much darker) explanation for why Hunter freezes when they say they will put him out of his misery is that he’s suffered so much and at the moment that he heard it he was in so much pain that he may have wondered if he might be better off dead.

9:50 It's worth noting that in this situation Luz was more willing to approach TALKING RATS than her pears.

it’s nice to have a character that’s “authentically neurodivergent” as opposed to a walking stereotype, the same way bluey is “authentically australian”. this newer batch of ‘toons are giving the sort of representation i would’ve eaten up as a kid, and i’m so happy kids have them now. like, i relate to luz so much skdhdkdjk,,,, especially in the school setting, not “acting correctly” was a big issue for me before i was diagnosed. i loved this video, and i’m looking forward to seeing more cool content from you moving forward ^_^

OMG, I literally screamed when I heard that Luz is canonically nerodiverse, as an autistic person myself that means a lot to me. I definitely relate to Luz, especially when I was younger, from elementary to middle school I had a hard time making- yet alone keeping friends, high school was much better and I only have one friend who I have been with since elementary school (For context I'm in my early 20's). I have my own fixations just like Luz ever since I can remember and I am known for being extremely random and quirky, this was something I was taught to be ashamed of by society and teachers at schools and it's only now, that I'm learning to accept myself. Sure I had shows like Steven Universe as an adolescent but I do whish that TOH would've came out earlier, but hey better late than never. I hope that there are kids, neurotypical or nerodiverse watching this show and being inspired to be themselves :D Side Note: Autism and ADHD do have some similarities, I'm not trying to say that Luz is autistic, she's just a character I can relate to.

I love how many neurodivergent characters there are in this show

Does that mean Luz is undiagnosed? Because I don't think Camila would have said what she said the way she worded it, if she did know.

This is such a great analysis, with great attention to detail. You explained everything really well, and as a neurotypical person it is really good to get some insight in what neurodivergent experiences are like

As someone who suffers from ptsd, schizoaffective disorder and all sorts of other things, I found Hunter's character the most relatable. I had hallucinations since I was around 8 or 9, and grew up thinking my life was something different. When I was 11 I went into a hospital and found out it was all lies. I didn't even come to terms with it until I was 17. I'm 19 now. What Hunter said to gus was so relatable I broke into tears watching it.

I honestly can’t come up with the words to explain how amazing this was!

I did notice Flap Jack who as an emotional support animal went to Amity while she was talking about something difficult. I just bring this up for another case for the point that Flap Jack is an awesome emotional support animal not only with Hunter.

As someone with CPTSD myself, I really identify with Hunter and everything you talked about regarding him. PTSD can warp your worldview and make you feel like you only exist as a service or a tool. It feels amazing when you start to find people that don't treat you like that. You're a person with inherent value. You don't have to justify existing.

While these were pretty obvious for Luz and Hunter, I hadn't ever considered Gus this way before. But it totally tracks. My only disagreement is with what you say about the summer camp at 7:49. Luz's actions in school had been getting out of hand and her behavior ranged from highly disruptive to physically harmful to other students, she had no friends, and her hyperfixation on the Azura books wasn't helping. While I agree the exact things she did were probably just exaggerations by the show for effect, I'd argue the same about the bleak "think inside the box" pamphlet. As Camila says, the camp is a place to make some friends and, judging by other hints about the camp we get in the show, for her to learn boundaries. While a lot of neurodivergent tendencies are wrongly considered unacceptable, not respecting others' boundaries and doing the things that Luz was shown to be doing are not among them. It's framed as a horrible thing Camila is doing to Luz in the first episode, but s2e10 Yesterday's Lie tells a different story. Camila shows a lot of concern for how toned down Vee acts compared to Luz, and when Vee puts the box of things out on the curb Camila goes and brings it back inside. She also says she's glad Luz is still being creative, and is very happy to play along with the "game" Luz is playing with her. She didn't want to change Luz or "fix" her. Vee's friends that she made at the camp are all framed as being just as much of quirky "weirdos" as Luz is, but they all came back with friends and even said "come on, camp wasn't *that* bad." The point of Yesterday's Lie was to show Luz what her life could've been if she'd stayed, and that going to the camp and having a mom who made the hard decision to send her there really wasn't that bad.

I love that you covered Gus as I have always thought that he was neuro divergent but because he is a side character he didn't get videos so it is nice to see this :D.

Oh I absolutely love this analysis! I am Neurodivergent myself (Autistic/ADHD and definitely has C-PTSD) and this entire video made me emotional to watch! It was the same for me with The Owl House around how TOH makes me feel so seen as a Neurodivergent person. I immediately fell in love with Luz as a character due to her being obviously Neurodivergent when I started watching the first few minutes of the pilot! I heavily relate to all of the characters discussed in this video. I do think that there are many examples of Hunter being Autistic besides having obvious C-PTSD like how he has a clear special interest in wild magic and how he immediately loves talking about his special interests with people like how he immediately started opening up to Luz about wild magic in Hunting Palismen. He tends to immediately want to correct or talk to people about the facts that he knows about and he is seen as a "prodigy" while clearly not getting the accommodations or support he actually needs. He also does the raptor hands that many Autistic people do, he tends to stim especially with his hands (fingers), he tends to take things literally, and he is shown to shutdown/ go non-verbal too! He also wears a literal mask to hide how he clearly struggles within society without it. When he is unmasked, his true self becomes a lot more clear too! Like when us Autistic people try to mask and fit into society. Anyways, I absolutely adore this analysis! It made me feel seen especially around the Autistic stuff! I heavily related to your own experiences as an Autistic person.

I relate to Hunter's trauma so much. Learning that the only person you loved has been lying to you. I have an emotional support dog and he is absolutely keeping me alive

Hey, I'm neurodivergent, 27 years old, and a high school math teacher (yet to be employed). I love this video, and I love to see that neurodivirgent people younger than me are doing amazing things in building a dialogue. I had nowhere near this level of self awareness at 18. However I am planning on bringing this awareness into my classroom, to help and guide my students and this video is helping me find the best words for doing that. Thank you so much

I'm aut!stic and I hadn't put 2 and 2 together on this one yet, but yeah while watching the owl house I did really appreciate how they are constantly pro-diversity and weird-ness and anti-conformity. Obviously that speaks to me. I clocked Gus as aut!stic though. Especially when he trusted those bullies to be his friends when they just wanted to use him for his academic skills. Been there done that. Gosh you remind me of a younger version of myself with that whole life story thing. I was also academically gifted and socially hopeless. The 'there's something inherently unfixably wrong with me' feeling and social anxiety, yeah, I feel that. I got diagnosed last year at 26 after years of asking therapists to consider if maybe I was aut!stic and them dismissing that.

On the flipside, I was diagnosed with ADHD/autism (and depression!) at a very young age. And while this had great benefits of people at least trying to give me the help and accommodations I needed to succeed in school and whatnot, it also came at the cost that I was signaled out. I was different. And I knew that, was hyperaware of it, maybe even more so then those who unfortunately were diagnosed much later in life because I had a name for it and was labeled it. Again, not the actual diagnosis was the issue, but the way society accommodates neurodivergent people, specifically socially. Honestly I think just having more stories with neurodivergent characters represented WELL and accurately would be a great way going forward to solving that, as well as maybe teaching about it in schools. It's important to know, and it should be common knowledge people have different types of brains!

12:30 - Dang. The "no ties to the human world but your family" is WAY too relatable! Because yeah - finding a world where no one is weird because EVERYONE is weird was absolutely a childhood fantasy of mine!

Okay but the reflection of Hunter's face in the window when he's talking about how he had to earn every chance he got is really interesting because your eyes are drawn to it. And in it, you see his scar, like that's the consequence for not doing well enough.

This was so good! I’m so glad to see other people talking about Gus’ neurodivergence! As a gifted and autistic person, I feel like being smart is my only objective quality and yet I struggle a lot in school due to my inability to do normal evaluations (thanks a lot anxiety). So his scene about being smart yet acting so dumb? That hit home

I identity with Luz with a similar kinda mindset. I had a hard time making friends and normal summer camp was traumatic for me At 14 My mom sent me to DnD day camp and I got to Roleplay as a cleric and I lost my mind because Camp was Fun? People play pretend as adults??? Changed my life.

This perfectly explains why I feel so attached to this show

Another banger video. Glad to see people are still putting out high quality content during Owl House's hiatus, let alone 40 minute videos.

Astounding analysis! My only question: Wouldn't Hunter's social awkwardness be more from his isolated upbringing, and only his disassociations, flinching, and panic attacks be from the c-ptsd said upbringing caused him?

Luz's alimentation is one topic that I hope they address, even in a offhand comment, in one of the specials. There is unaddressed trauma from Luz's past in the Human Realm. Yesterday's Lie and A Lying Witch and A Warden has shown that.

I just got diagnosed with ADHD this year as a full ass adult and this video is making me realize why I’m so in love with this show

well fuck I'm autistic too (diagnosed at 13, currently 19), and while I think I kinda knew all these things unconsciously, your video really helped me realize why I almost immediately got sucked into this show. Usually when it comes to new hyperfixations, I get a little bit of info, do some more research into the thing, have something I like to call 'introduction butterflies', where I have a moment where I realize I'm starting to like this thing and I get butterflies because of it, and then it's kinda cemented as a hyperfixation. My experience with this show was a little different. My sister (who is my main 'safe' person at home, even after she moved out 2 years ago) came to visit, and we binged the entire show in like 3 days. Hunter really fit the type of character that I usually like, so I was drawn to him almost immediately. However, The Owl House is currently one of two pieces of media where I'm having a very hard time picking a singular favorite character (I'm not counting Hunter in this since he just fits the exact type of fictional guys that I'm usually drawn to, while there's no such character in the other thing), the other one being the movie Wolfwalkers, which also happens to be my favorite movie. The main overlapping theme between those two? Someone who lives in a place where they feel ostracized find a place where they fit in better, and decide to stay there. There's also the fact that the majority of the main cast in The Owl House is in some way neurodivergent, while the main focus in Wolfwalkers is primarily on two little kids. Seeing as it's sometimes hard to diagnose neurodivergency in young children because some of the symptoms can just as easily be explained as 'being a child' (issues with social skills, (over-) active imaginations, poor volume control, etc), I feel like the fact that these two stories specifically speak to me so much without me ending up focusing on a single character really shows just how much I relate to them. There's also the fact that 'being different' isn't seen as a bad thing in either story, in fact it's seen as good in both. I honestly just really love both of these stories, in part because I can relate to them. The main overlapping aspect of the two, the 'happy runaways' trope (where someone runs away and ends up happier in the place they end up in after running away), is also one I find myself writing into the backstories of pretty much all of my main oc's. I think I realized this pattern a little over a year ago, and it didn't take me long to figure out the reason either. I want to essentially be another Luz. I want to be taken to a place where I can just live and express myself freely without worrying about what people think of me. Well, this turned into a rant when I didn't mean to make it one, whoops ^^' Either way, thank you for making this video. I really feel like The Owl House is probably one of the best examples of respectful neurodivergent representation, probably ever. I genuinely think that watching shows like this should be a school activity, not just to help students relax but also to give them a good example of how the world should be. It'll be a subconsciously learned thing, sure, but a learned thing nonetheless.

It's interesting that luz's appreciation of witches is an adhd parallel. I remember being and still am in many ways obsessed with anything and everything fantasy

I'm autistic too. I've had Autistic meltdowns before. I would run out of class and break things. It was really bad. I relate a lot to Luz, Gus and Hunter a lot!

Also Luz in S3 E2 finds out that her biggest wish was just to be understood, which probably ties in with her neurodivergence

As someone who wasn't diagnosed as ADHD until after watching this show, I see so much of it in a different light now. I empathise with Gus so much as I also struggle with social queues a lot, which sucks as you get older and people rely on them more heavily.

I spotted the disability allegory from a mile a way with Luz's use of glyphs. As a person with fibromyalgia, some days, certain things are difficult to do and I need to use aids that are (admittedly) a bit of a hassle to carry around and prepare for myself. Not having sleeping problems and being able to so much as walk without at least my leg brace doesn't come naturally to me just like how magic doesn't come naturally to Luz. I felt really seen by that. Now, due to living conditions, I can't get an official diagnosis for anything about my mental health just yet so I can't speak on anything relating to that. But I will say that I wasn't too surprised to see this video popped up. Saw the title and went "yeah, I'm pretty sure about that."

12:50 they recommended her going to that camp because she was being disruptive to everyone else, specifically by bringing life snakes that bit people to class and fireworks that are a fire hazard; that is to say it’s to teacher her not to be a danger to other people around her because she doesn’t think it through so she does end up accidentally hurting people

This show truly means a lot to me. I’m also neurodivergent and I was so excited to video like this came out! I had the premier scheduled and everything. I was diagnosed with dyslexia when I was six. Thankfully I was homeschooled after that due to how behind I was in math and reading. School is extremely difficult for me and I wasn’t able to read more than a Dr. Seuss book till six grade. last year I also got diagnosed with ADHD I mainly wanted to know because school had been so difficult lately And my procrastination had been so high it was causing major anxiety. I wanted to find medicine that would work. I did eventually get medicine and unfortunately it didn’t do anything for me. But I very much relate to Luz! Honestly she might be one of the characters I relate to most ever. On the other hand I fully believe Gus is autistic. I have 2 cousins who are at completely different ends of the spectrum. But I see so much of them in Gus. I also relate to Hunter. I’m also 16 and have trauma/PTSD from a church I practically grew up in. Casing me to rapidly start shaking uncontrollably when people simply talk about church. I can’t even describe how much hunters story felt like a direct reference to that. It means so much to me to see Characters like this!

(I know I already commented, but-) What you said about analyzing characters and HCs is absolutely true. There is nothing wrong with seeing a character a certain way based on their behaviors. There are actually some cases where old characters have actually been diagnosed by doctors (like Anne Shirley or Scarlett O’Hara have been with adhd) because neurodivergency isn’t something that has to be intended, it’s just there.

i have adhd and ive always related a lot to Luz because of her disconnect to reality. there has almost never been a moment in my life where i havent been thinking about a fictional story wether created by myself of someone else. this often causes me to not listen to people or become distracted from my responibilities. im working on listening to people and trying to read emotions better, or not info dumping on my favorite stories, but its incredibly difficult and something ive been working on my entire life

30:19 I don't know if it's even because animals are simpler. I think it may be because animals aren't socially conditioned to reject us or instinctively reject us. It's easier to develop a relationship with someone whose first response to your existence isn't rejection.

Got an adhd and autism diagnosis yesterday at 20 years old and it’s been really interesting to reflect on all of the ways it’s been present in my childhood and how hard it was to fit in despite trying. I’m really glad younger children and adults alike have this show to watch and experience as characters who are neurodivergent are a saving grace for nd people. Great analysis!

Having characters who actively display divergence without it being their defining trait is important, and seeing it done so well is deeply encouraging.

There's also discussion to be had about how Camila doesn't explain Luz's mistakes, just tells her she's wrong and expects her to understand how/why. I think that's the biggest issue with her parenting shown and something that a lot of ND people can relate to but no one seems to acknowledge it? (As well as the normal camp sounding a LOT like ABA oof) Edit: Coding has to be intentional for it to be considered coding!

this all really resonated with me somehow and im really glad this video exists; i dont know if im autistic or not but im 98% sure i have ADHD and i found myself relating to a lot of what was said--especially about luz--to the point where it started to hurt. it's just an important topic and i really enjoyed hearing you talk about it in-depth with so much care, so thank you!

also hunter wears a blue ribbon on his bag which commonly symbolises support for child protection and fights child abuse... my poor little boy has gone through too much :(

Ow My God, this nearly made me cry. Gus was literally me growing up and even into college. I went to an art school where people were a lot more accepting and understanding but even then, learning how to talk to people and navigating social circles, identifying social cues, I still struggle with that today, but I am better at it at least. Add in the experience of being constantly hit or asked "what's wrong with me" and constantly being asked to explain myself, mostly by my own family, as well as just growing up as a black kid in america, It just was not and still isn't easy. I don't make friends easily and my friends i do have are just as weird as me and I'd take them over anyone else anyday.

Im a high functioning Asperger on the spectrum. Social cues and making friends was really hard for me. I think i understand why i love this show so much now. If i could chose this World over the human one. I would have tried it.

I have both ADHD and Autism. I love this. Thank you for doing it.

As a austic teenager, I needed this today. Thank you.

I cried while listening to this...because all this time the reason I relate to all of the characters in the owl house is because I feel them...I felt them, because I experience it...people sometimes blame me for my foolishness when i cant even control it or I didnt even mean it..

My autistic self feels so happy seeing this and I can't believe I never noticed those signs in Gus!!

I have autism. I was diagnosed with it. My dad knows I am, and he uses it as a way to excuse my dumb actions to people. My grandma says I'm lucky and I NEED to be a doctor so I don't waste the gift. And then my biological dad just denies it and says I'm not, as well as the rest of my family I am autistic I know because I exlierence all the person inner symptoms. And I was literally diagnosed with it. But half my family denies it then wonder why/ gets mad when I struggle to do some simple things

I feel seen by this show. I’m disabled (visually impaired) and ND. I feel seen by these characters especially Principle Bump, Hunter, Luz etc. Love this show so much!

when I was a kid, my school sent me to a psychologist because I couldn't communicate well with others. My parents told me it was because the teacher said I was more developed mentally but not emotionally. I felt really "close" in a word of saying to Luz's theory. I relate quite a lot

It's sweet how a common theme with not just Hunter, Luz and Gus, is the fact that they all don't fit in. I can't say if Willow and Amity are neurodivergent, but Amity is a textbook definition of a gifted kid. A title which clearly made her very isolated from her peers and led to all sorts of self-worth issues. As for Willow, definitely the self-worth issues as well, but Willow definitely strikes me as someone's who's more on the introverted and sensitive side. Both things which can also unfortunately make you feel pretty alienated from your peers.

I cannot believe I never noticed that Luz stimmed. That genuinely brings a tear to my eye. I’ve spun my entire life and thought I was so weird. Dana showcasing it as normal is so so beautiful

My possible favorite part of the rep in TOH would be how Flapjack doesn't seem to leave Hunter's side when he's asleep, I have pretty bad anxiety and my dog is a constant ease to it besides my meds. I can't sleep without him, and 99% of the time if he gets up, I'm awake immediately. It feels nice for things like that to be implied!

9:18 me and my ex-partner watched the owl house together, and once they drew a screenshot of a lumity moment with me as luz and them as amity, and this just kind of resonated in this moment (i am only realizing the parallels literally right now) but i have ADHD and i wasn't diagnosed until 2020 when i learned more about neurodivergence and advocated for a diagnosis myself. It makes a lot of sense looking back at my behavior throughout the years, not all of it was just anxiety, there was another aspect all along. Anyways, I was diagnosed by the time we were dating, and immediately we had some communication issues. They had some bad relationships in the past so they were a bit insecure about my actions and would often ask if they did anything wrong, and I would have no idea what I did to make them think that. I would say things that were just throwaway comments to sound funny or charming, and I wouldn't know that I actually hurt them until they asked what they did later that night. after we broke up (i broke up with them because i realized the feelings i had for them were platonic and not romantic, but that's a whole other can of worms,) i did some more things that ended up in them standing up to me and asking me to leave them alone for the foreseeable future. Now one of the things that I did was show a funny (embarrassing) picture of them to a group of friends. I did this because they were showing funny pictures on their camera roll too and I just wanted to be included, i didnt think about the implications of the photo and our ex-relationship status at all. Now when Luz is tearing down hooty’s decorations in an effort to get amity to think she's cool, she's not doing that with any ill intent, she's just so used to getting socially outcast by things like that so she has a kind of tunnel-vision and isn't aware of how her actions are affecting others and didn’t realize that what she was doing was hurting Amity until she ran off crying. This was a big theme in our relationship and the main reason I currently don't have a lot of friends is because I struggle with that vein of communication. I focus so much on perfecting one part of the social interaction/relationship that I neglect another part of it and don't realize until it's much too late. It’s nice that there’s an explanation for my behavior, that I’m just neurodivergent and this doesn’t automatically make me a bad person despite what many of my peers think.

I can relate to this. I’m incredibly harsh on myself, hate loud noises, don’t have many friends, and in general sort of stand out from the world around me, and often retreat off into my own world when reality becomes way too much

Wow! Reading Gus not realizing Willow was a fake as an autistic trait is perfect. I didn’t notice that or his coded autism in general, but your points were spot on. I am also autistic. I felt like everything was normal and then I got to middle school and missed the day they handed out the This is How Everything Works Now book. I still haven’t managed to snag a copy. I’m extremely insecure in my friendships. I’m often gullible or taken advantage of. However, I have been able to make some friends that I really trust. I’ve been able to protect myself by looking for angles people might be playing or just being kind of cynical about people in general. I wouldn’t say it’s a perfect system but it has helped a little. It would be way better if everyone could just be nicer and honest. Not sure why it’s typical not to be.

"Flapjack was his first real friend, someone he deeply cared for" I'm swear, I'm trying not to cry

I have never actually seen this show, and mostly clicked on this video because I was curious about how the experiences of these characters relate to my own growing up with autism and ADHD. It is amazing to see accurate depictions of this experience in media, and you did a very good job of analyzing them conveying them. I've also had some trouble putting what I went through into words, but I think this actually has helped me with that a little.

I kinda almost cried during this vid. I’m autistic and relate to all three of these character and The Owl House is a comfort show to me. TOH shows that it’s ok to deviate from society’s norm. After living in isolation, confusion, and disconnection from my peers and even family members at times it’s so comforting to see characters that act like me and struggle with my same issues and experiences. Thank you for this.

Interesting! I'm also autistic and as frustrating as it is at times, I always find it charming that I love and relate to autistic-coded characters because they're cool. In fact, I pick my favorite character(s) and wait for others to tell me how they see them as autistic or otherwise neurodivergent. I actually relate better to autistic-coded characters than canonical autistic characters.

I feel like a lot of The Owl House characters are a bit neurodivegent, if I spelled that right, and it makes a bit of sense. A weird world filled with weird people/beings such as “weird” misunderstood NEURODIVERGENT people in their own world. A lot of them show signs like blaming themselves, getting distracted, tons of hyper fixations, doing whatever it takes to achieve goals ( as I’m sure some neurodivergent people do as I am a neurodivergent person myself) and many other things. It honestly would just make tons of sense that a lot of characters we see on screen like Lilith, alador, king, willow, Luz as said, also Gus and hunter, the twins (Emira and Edric), amity, eda, and many others seem neurodivergent. It would also explain why Luz seems to fit in so well, makes tons of friends, family, and finds a gf. And might also explain why so many people that are neurodivergent kin so many of these characters and just honestly seem to like The Owl House. Portraying neurodivergents very well without making neurodivergents just seem like not a big deal when it can be a big deal when it affects many peoples lives and minds-cape.

As an Aspie I originally thought my condition was just something that was in my way, I thought I was inferior to everyone else, and I thought that I was a stupid person in general. But thanks to Amphibia and Owl House (particularly the characters Marcy, Luz, and Gus). That made me realize my true potential as well as loving myself much more. Since then I’m proud of who I’am as a person. Thank you Matt and Dana

I have ADD and this was a fantastic breakdown. I could see myself in all three of those characters due to their social problems caused by their different mental functioning but couldn't really put my finger on what exactly each of them deals with except for Luz whose ADHD I could guess from the start. Wanted to say something of substance but I got distracted and forgot. Oh well, could've seen that coming. Thank you for this video and broadening my perspective Edit: Now I remember what I was trying to say. I didn't notice how disassociated Luz was from the real world due to how the people in it treated her. I can relate to that very much. I was a quiet and socially awkward "gifted kid" who did anything they can to lay others' attention off of me but it didn't really work because of my status as the class prodigy and I was noticed and bullied for being different. Unlike Luz all I wanted was to learn and to impress my teachers, but I lost my last shreds of motivation when the same teachers I was trying to make an impression on were ignoring my pleas for help because I couldn't get my peers to leave me alone. All I dreamed about was to become a ghost that could change shapes, sizes and travel anywhere so I could explore the world freely and never have to live as a human again and I thought that as a very empathetic child. That or at least meet someone even remotely like me. I could never find anybody who'd understand or even care Even though what I went through is so different I could see strong parallels which became clearer now and I've found yet another layer of appreciation for her character. Thank you for this video and keep on making them. You're excellent at this!

I found myself crying numerous times while you were discussing luz, since I have such a connection and hyperfixation on this show, and I relate to luz on a personal level, and I'm going on my journey discovering my neurodivergency. I was already diagnosed with severe anxiety, and I'm going to a psychiatrist tomorrow to be looked at for autism and adhd, and I've been panicking, but the way you explained luz's character made me realize how much it makes sense for me to be neuro divergent. I feel like I finally have an explanation and a reason as to why I was/am so alienated by society because of the way I think, feel and act. You make me feel safe, and I dont know you! I've currently started crying while writing this comment because of how much everything makes sense now! I know you probably won't see this, but thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You make me feel valid, and I've been feeling as if I've been lying to myself and invalidating myself. I finally feel okay!

Honestly, I started crying during Gus' segment in this. This video I'd beautiful

I like the gentle music and detailed, to the point narration. This brought back loads of painful memories, but also a sense of ...I'm not sure what. Is this what being understood feels like? I'm autistic with ptsd.

This feels like a great place to go ahead and vent a little, so I’m going to go ahead and do so. I have ADHD and am on the spectrum, and it’s been really difficult for me. I feel like I’m hated by everyone I’m around with, and that I’m that annoying person. It lead to me having depression at the age of 9, which I feel is crazy. Thank you so much for making this video, it helps me so much to be able to feel comfortable. ❤️

I remember when I realized my neurodivergence was affecting my life negatively. Not because of focus itself. But the fact that I was such a lonely kid. I BEGGED to be put on medications to be "normal." I was 10 the first time I thought that. And that feeling only grew for a long time.

The first time I heard a summary of The Owl House I related to Luz in the sense of a "This person is so alike to my experiences as a non-neurotypical person" way. I still haven't delved in nor watched The Owl House but I want to in the sense of there being neuro-diverse coded characters that aren't barged out of the way or are made completely irrelevant from the plot. One thing that this franchise manages to do differently from most mainstream programs is serve an allegory for Neuro-diversity in an easy-to-digest way; most likely since the audience ranges from the ages of around 11 and upwards.

I’m not self diagnosing as autistic but Ik I have adhd, and my mom, (through no fault of her own) says it’s a super power, it can be but at it’s core it isn’t. And this, something that I have not realized has effected me this much. Has helped me more than most therapy sessions, by no fault of my therapist I adore her, just the way all these things come back to adhd in ways I couldn’t explain, thank you for making this video truly I mean that💛

I feel like this video just gave me a massive punch to the gut. In a good way, I mean. I myself am neurodivergent with autism, ADHD, depression, anxiety, and PTSD. I've had to live and cope with all these things ever since I was basically a toddler. Yes, even the PTSD, which has led me to greatly fearing to fail anyone after I had failed to protect someone I loved and was yelled at for it even though I was still only a young child and not the only one responsible for the event. There was a lot of things people tried to do to help me "overcome" my situation, but their methods of help often just hurt me more. Some thought I should try to hide my neurodivergence, others tried to coddle me, many tried to force me into situations they thought would improve my life, and some decided that to only treat me with tough love even though they know I don't respond well to it. There are many times when my family will do or say things that I am personally uncomfortable with or find offensive and they think I'm being a killjoy, and then there are times we I force myself to step out of my comfort zone to try and partake in those same activities only for them to respond badly to it. Bit of a double edged sword situation where I just can't win no matter how hard I try. Luckily, not all of my experiences have been bad. Like Gus, I have a talent for a certain skillset that I'm not only good at and may even excel at over others but also helps me through my frustrations or acts as a self-defense mechanism. I've also had the fortune of growing up around others who are neurodivergent, so I don't feel completely isolated. Many of my friends are somewhere on the autism spectrum, my mom helped co-found and teach a dance and theater company for children with disabilities like me, and I even attended a middle school and charter school that better helped me learn with methods that were actually understandable to me. Back in elementary school, I was made to constantly feel like I was nothing but a failure because I couldn't learn like the other kids, was bullied for things I didn't understand, and had even been given up on by teachers who were supposed to help children with disabilities. My parents and I actually left a parent-teacher conference with anger and tears because my special needs teacher was so certain that I'd never be able to improve in school. When my family moved to a new school district in time for me to begin middle school, I was so scared of repeating the same process of being treated like a failure with the added disadvantage of being the new kid who didn't know anyone. Luckily, the middle school I attended was actually willing to help me learn and took the time to understand me. My new special needs teacher ended up having such an impact on my life that she's still a close family friend even after I've graduated from a college program! Like Luz, I do struggle to cope with reality and have to rely on fantasy to get by most of the time. There are many who struggle to understand this need I have to indulge in fantasies, including my sister who believes that my fantasies are doing me more harm than good. However, it is thanks to my fantasies that I have the will to live. As I mentioned before, I suffer from depression and have suffered from it pretty much ever since I was a toddler. If I let go of my fantasies too much and live in the moments of reality for too long, I unfortunately suffer great existential crisis that leads my mind into some very dark places. They can lead me to just shutting down and wanting to harm myself if I fall too deeply into them. That's why I need my fantasies so much. They protect me from having such attacks and allowing me live. Without my fantasies, I'd surely be gone by now. I struggle to get this across to others as they may see it as an excuse to being "lazy", unwilling to deal with reality, refusing to grow up, etc. My sister actually believes that my fantasies make me ill prepared for life and will only cause me further harm. Ironically, however, this couldn't be further from the truth for me. I'm motivated by my fantasies, they have helped me many times to better understand a situation, allowed me to grow and mature in ways that are healthy for me, and more. Just because I live more with a fantastical mindset that one grounded in reality does not make any less prepared for life. If anything, it's the reason I am able to live and survive reality at all.

im... going to search up things about autism cuz the part about gus REALLY called me out

Finally I understand why I relate so much to hunter!! I have anxiety and ocd that i picked up on due to traumatic events in my childhood and they cause frequent disassociation, panic attacks, and even meltdowns or outbursts of rudeness. So many people just over-generalize his character and don’t see the PTSD, and how important it is to see this kind of experience in a character ;-; great video btw!! so well spoken !!

one thing my friend pointed out to me that i really like is that whenever hunter is on a tipping point of sides (staying with belos or joining up with eda luz willow gus and everyone else) flapjack is always on the side of the hexide squad and/or the side that is against belos, either flying above them or sitting on one of their shoulders. for example in eclipse lake when aminty was talking to hunter about not needing to justify existing flapjack was sitting on amities shoulder trying to guide hunter to the side of good but willing to support him no matter which side he choses.

I've never been diagnosed as a neurodivergent but I did relate and saw bits of myself through Hunter and Luz. Everything you said was voiced beautifully, and rather in such an amazing breakthrough of the characters mentioned, and I couldn't have worded it any better. I literally found myself crying from different parts of this video, especially in the last. I understood and related to Luz's struggle to fit in and make friends in the human realm. I'd totally ditch this place for a world where you aren't discriminated or weirdly looked at by people for thinking and acting differently than them. Seriously, homophobia doesn't even exist there! Although, I'd probably wait until the genocidal tyrant and crazy god-like kid is away, lol. So, I just wanted to say thank you for this video. The analysis was great and you made me feel understood why I was so attached to Hunter and Luz as characters. Thank you!

This video got recommended to me at the perfect time- my autism diagnosis was just sent out yesterday! I'd known that Luz and Hunter were neurodiverse, but I somehow didn't pick up on Gus's behaviors. No wonder I relate to him so much. Yet another reason why TOH is my favorite show ever. (Also, I related to your personal anecdote way too much. I spent so many years masking that it feels wrong to do anything else, even though it made me uncomfortable. It's frustrating knowing that I spent so many years being perceived as "quirky" and "sensitive", just because I had the ability to talk to people and did well in school.) so uh yeah, thanks for this video! It's cool! Edit: have you seen Dead End: Paranormal Park? It's also got a ton of diversity, and one of the protagonists is canonically autistic. In the third episode especially, this is handled really well; it focuses on that character's emotions and anxiety, but doesn't use it to define her. She's also way too relatable

As someone with professionally diagnosed ADHD and PTSD (and have been wondering if I am on the autistic spectrum for quite a few months now) this video made me legit tear up. It also explains why I’m literally obsessed with these three 😭 you just gained a subscriber 😌

I have adhd and autism and can also relate to these characters. My childhood wasn’t super traumatic, but it did still have its moments. However I was never really taught to be ashamed of my neurodivergence. It still made life harder for me but that was never an issue. What was an issue and what made school and life in general so hard for me was PDA. Because of that I had a really hard getting in the car and going to school and also listening to my body causing me to often ignore the need to go to the toilet which I got teased a lot for. This I was ashamed of and often tried to hide. So yeah it wasn’t neurodivergence it’s self that I was ashamed of but a product of it

“For the future” added a lot to this.

This was such a great analysis! I have loved how toh handles neurodivergency in so many characters (besides the ones you included i also see eda, amity, alador and many others as very nd-coded too, though your examples are very good ones to focus on) and I'm never tired of seeing other nd people analyze it as well! I relate a lot to the three in this particular topic as someone both autistic and with ADHD, especially Luz and her RSD episodes, which hurt like hell, it hits soooo close to home (edit: though with Hunter it's not about C-PTSD, but more as how he also can be read as very autistic coded alongside having C-PTSD) Amazing video!

As someone with ADHD, I highly relate to Luz as well! This is just my personal interpretation but I also see myself in Lilith with her relationship with Eda. As an older sibling myself, I built up resentment for my younger sister who was always ahead of me, especially in academics while I struggled because of my neurodivergence. Granted, this isn't the same situation as I don't think Eda surpassed Lilith bc of any learning disability but I relate to Lilith acting out impulsively on her emotions because of the resentment and envy she had built up (dw, me and my sister are good and it never got too serious).

The Owl House is my comfort show especially with having autism

The only reason growing neurodivergent is terrifying and traumatic is because people often treat disorders like autism and ADHD like they _are_ horrible disease to be treated, even though they're not. The people who have them just work a little differently and need to be given the tools to live a happy life. They're still people. They shouldn't be ostracized because of their 'strange' mannerisms. They should be met with acceptance, guidance, and the tools and objects that can help them thrive as they are. They don't need to be changed.

I'm POC and Autistic, gee when i watched labrynth runners (pretty sure that's the name) I got really happy but in like the way in how I could relate to Gus so much it took me some time maybe a few months to stop talking about it to my friends haha!!

Fantastic video!! Love how in depth you went into each character, and that you included Hunter - I feel like a lot of people don't know that C-PTSD is a form of neurodivergence so I appreciate that you explained that here. Thank you for making this :)

........I don't even know what to say that hasn't been said by the other amazing people in this comment section. Just wow, amazing work. I'm also neurodivergent and I was only diagnosed a couple months ago and it's been a bit hard to come to terms with. I've known that I was different but this was a bombshell. I've been struggling to figure out which tendencies of mine fall under autism what don't. I've been told by my friends that I'm using it as an excuse for things, when I'm having a meltdown, and I told them that it's hard finding this out,and that I'm worried about how people will treat me after they know. They were understanding but recently my friend (who's also autistic) said that I was becoming obnoxious since I found out about it. (Since I found out I've been looking at lot's of autism memes like how we're picky eaters etc. But I've also been watching people explain they're stories and lives with it and I love every minute of them.) Thanks again for this video as it sheds light on things I didn't notice about these characters but also helps me relate more to my favourites (luz and hunter)