#as someone who also has a 'people special interest' this aspect of Kabru's character really resonates with me

[mirror-to-the-past]

Oh, hey! A post that also thinks what I was thinking about... awesome!

There's absolutely something to be said about the distinction between charisma versus those who view people as an almost compulsive puzzle to be solved. Kabru is clearly charismatic, but that charisma is evidently a result of an awkward medley of analyzing sorting people into traits and backgrounds.

The way he boils Mithrun's real-life backstory down to a streamlined version as to make it more understandable 'to others' is very telling to me. There are no 'others,' really, when it comes to the very sensitive situation of literally pouring out your sad backstory to someone... that's just evident of how Kabru has learned to handle other people's personalities and their emotions. He doesn't simply nod his head and go "wow, that's tough, I understand/I'm sorry that happened to you," he goes "okay, so this is clearly a relevant childhood event that shaped [A] aspect of your personality, so I'll mentally lock that in as a trait of yours to focus on." Every person is a sort of narrative to him- falling into archetypes that both give them their individualism and purpose in Kabru's eyes, and Kabru views them through his 'hero's journey' distinctions by which to further understand them. People joke about his "main character energy," but I truly think it a deliberate self-modelling of his personality. He *wants* to be the main character in his hero's journey, able to best emulate what he thinks are good morals and behaviors that allow him to achieve his lofty goals. So, he appeals to others based off of that, trying to be a mirror to what best bounces off of them- his fellow characters in their collective stories.

As a semi-side note, this way of processing the feelings and stories around him is why I tentatively disagree, at least in my own personal reading (everyone is entitled to their own understanding of these characters), that Kabru is necessarily an empathetic individual. I think that he is indeed someone who cares about others, and has goals that are very humanitarian and advocate for the well-being of as many people as possible. He actively aids others in personalized ways to help them better themselves, as seen through your example with Kuro and the common language lessons. Does that mean that Kabru necessarily internalizes the emotions of others in a personalized sense- as in allowing their reactions and feelings to bleed into his own? No, I don't think so. He considers other people's reactions and emotions like something to be anticipated- an aspect of an equation- and he reacts accordingly. You can absolutely care about others without having to personally understand where they're coming from. You can also understand how a machine works without feeling the cogs whirring and pistons pumping. Similarly, someone who dedicates themselves immensely to how people tick can see the cause-and-effect relationship between someone's external stimuli, their personality, their background, etc. and why they might feel or react a certain way about something. It's a certain flavor of understanding that certainly gets the job done, often even to an extent that others truly feel like they are being considered and understood, but is largely a deliberate concoction of mirroring.

I believe this is why I've seen people saying that Kabru is manipulative, and I won't even say that they're wrong, but rather, I'd ask them to reconsider the often-demonized idea of "manipulation" when looking at context. I truly do think that this kind of "manipulation," especially when used by neurodivergent people who may be very low-empathy, allows them to better help the people they care for in their lives. By acting in a way that allows them to feel like they have a safe space or are understood when others talk to them, individuals like Kabru are able to utilize their internal dismantling of other's personalities to best meld their own responses to their unique troubles in a way that suits the people in their lives to their benefit. It's an altruistic masking, is how I've always seen it. Is is disconcerting to many neurotypical people when neurodivergent people explain this way of thinking to them? Yes! I've personally encountered it, and have had people tell me that I'm off-kilter or a bit robotic. Is it uncaring/cruel, or trying to take advantage of others? No, not really. Think about it this way: when we tell a joke in a tense room, are we not knowingly manipulating people to feel happier? Anywho, I'll cease the philosophizing and return to the character analysis...

So, revisiting the 'hero's journey' outlook he tries to apply to other's (and his own) personalities, I also find it funny how Kabru's clearly developed a general social script for himself he considers successful enough to follow. He doesn't "read the room" to try to instinctually realize if he can charm someone or not with his signature "Kabru smile," he just does it anyway, because that's what he's devised as a habit for himself, and then immediately tries to adjust and furiously figure out what went wrong when he sees it isn't successful (see Laios and Mithrun).

In line with his storybook-like thinking, Kabru can be very black-and-white, as seen through his internal judgment of characters like Laios who are on the "bad side" in his agenda, his difficulties with the elves' behavior, and situations such as when he fully vouches for the man who controlled the underbelly of the Dungeon (because y'know, he's on *their* side, the side of the common man! he couldn't fall to corruption!). He often refrains from expressing this outwardly, although he becomes notably more vocal about his honest qualms and thoughts near the end of the series, and instead acts as a passive wallflower when interacting with those he is displeased with, giving the impression he's more accepting than he really is with those he hasn't yet fit into his social schemata.

It's so true that the "people special interest" gets passed off as nonexistent due to its acceptability as opposed to other special interests, and that's because it can manifest exactly like how Kabru comes across to multiple characters throughout the manga (played off as a joke, often, but still poignant nevertheless): a social chameleon, accepting, unremarkable and unmemorable. A perfect mirror to whoever happens to be looking at him- they are seeing and hearing someone echoing their traits back to them in such an everyman way, that they don't really realize that this person is inwardly taking note of each and every one of their otherwise insignificant and overlooked moves as though it's the key to an ancient riddle. And people like to have attention; people like to feel understood and have others echo their sentiments and the things they like- that's why these kinds of neurodivergent people may be spared in many ways (at first glance) from the social ostracization many other autistic people would otherwise receive.

So yeah, Kabru cool. TL;DR, I pretty much agree. Pretty spiffy, OP.

I firmly believe that Kabru is autistic but masks so hard that he’s convinced himself and (almost) everyone around him that he’s neurotypical.

That man’s special interest is people and how they work, but he just thinks it’s him Being So Good At Socializing — like he doesn’t spend 95% of his time people watching and adjusting his personality in response to the traits he witnesses and obsessing over the intricacies of human interaction while mapping an ever growing relationship chart in his head. For fun. He even admits it in the manga!

Like, look at him!!!

It’s such a shame that — because he’s the narrative foil to Laios and his interest is generally considered more “socially acceptable” in both their world and our own — more people don’t realize this about him. He’s constantly misinterpreted as a horribly manipulative person who only acts the way he does to use the people around him, when that’s explicitly shown to not be the case at all. Kabru is naturally empathetic and is almost always thinking about other people, regardless of whether or not they’re right there with him or a thousand miles away.

I mean, his most defining motivation is his desire to do everything he can to avoid another tragedy like the one at Utaya. Someone who doesn’t care wouldn’t have a goal like that, and they most certainly wouldn’t go about it the way he does. He’s constantly working to help people who can help everyone else and tries so hard to make sure that anyone who seems like a threat is actually someone he needs to worry about before doing anything about it. His supposed aversion to Laios is only because of the ridiculous trolley problem he’s set up in his own head.

Outside of that, he (rather justifiably) hates monsters but is desperate to understand Laios’ love for them and his apparently most selfish goal in getting close to the guy was literally just to become friends with him.

When he’s interacting with the canaries and they imply that they’re going to take him and all of his friends to the West, his first thought is of Rin and how much she’d hate to be stuck in the place that gave her so many bad memories.

He helps Kuro learn Common when Mickbell is asleep and firmly looks forward to the day that the half-foot and Kuro can communicate properly so that their relationship can get properly started without any miscommunication.

And he understands Mithrun with only a handful of weeks AT BEST interacting with him, getting enraged when the elf seems to give up and immediately trying to help him find a new motivation for life.

I’m excited just thinking about the day that Kabru starts unmasking more and more around his friends — both new and old — because if being with my current friend group has taught me anything, it’s that hanging out with anyone so unabashedly themselves is bound to make you more comfortable with yourself too. It’s part of the reason why I like Labru so much! There’s something nice about imagining them hanging out in the throne room or laying in the grass outside and talking for hours on end about their special interests. They might not strictly understand what the other finds so fascinating about monsters or people, but they can grasp that shared feeling of love.

They probably influence each other in really good ways too, with Kabru helping Laios figure out what people are thinking even when it doesn’t make sense or Laios helping Kabru understand that not everyone and everything needs to be analyzed a thousand times over. They both get to learn that there are people like them and people who will love them without them ever having to change a thing about themselves. They deserve to know that they’re fine the way they are.