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"Mature Content Warning!" |
Patrick Bateman is the titular main protagonist of Bret Easton Ellis' 1991 novel American Psycho and its 2000 film adaptation of the same name.
He was voiced by Pablo Schreiber in the audiobook. In the film, he was portrayed by Christian Bale.
Actions and Characteristics[]
- Given that he is the only villain in his universe, he is therefore the most heinous.
- He stands as one of the worst serial killers in literary fiction given that he is a rapist, cannibal, necrophiliac and potential pedophile.
- He possesses no redeeming qualities, treating everyone close to him horribly and possessing nothing but enormous disdain towards them.
- The closest thing he has to be a PE prevention, it's that he lives in a soulless environment that makes him gradually go insane. However, this in no way excuses all of his brutal murders, especially since he himself chose to remain in such a harmful environment.
- Although he has several comedic moments in both the book and the film, they are not detracting and are mostly present to show how crazy he is.
- He has enormous resources given that he is the son of a bank owner. His wealth in addition to his social status allows him to go under the radar and never be arrested for all his atrocities.
- He also owns various weapons such as a gun, a nail gun, various knives, an ax and even a chainsaw which he manages to use perfectly.
- Although not very charismatic, he shows certain moments of intelligence such as when he pretends to be Paul Allen towards two prostitutes. He also proves himself to be a true master orator making big speeches on popular music or politics.
- He has some influence given that these actions will lead in a fictional Ellis to kill him by making him die in a burning boat in the meta novel Luna Park.
- He also has an influence in the non-cannon sequel American Psycho 2, where when Rachel Newman will kill him in self-defense, she will be inspired to become a serial killer herself.
- He's the clear representation of Yuppie Culture and the denunciation of the extent to which a consumerist and capitalist society can dehumanize people. From this, we can conclude that he has a certain level of symbolism.
- Although it is possible that some of his murders were a fragment of his imagination, they have some proof that these murders happens like his notebook of graphic drawings detailing all the people he's presumably brutalized during and possibly even before the film's events, the fact that Evelyn notice that her neighbor, that Patrick Bateman decapitated, is gone or the keys to Paul Owen's apartment that Patrick could not have possessed if he had not killed him.
- Even if these murders had never happened, Patrick could still count in his own narrative.
Stats[]
| Intelligence | 3 / 5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Skills | 4 / 5 | |
| Speed | 3 / 5 | |
| Stamina | 3 / 5 | |
| Strength | 3 / 5 |
For information on stats, review the stats page.