this may turn into a HUUUUUUUGE essay but I kinda don't like people infantilizing the Bard/Kiwi.
Kiwi isn't the best example of nice characters being mischaracterized in fandom, because Wandersong is sorta niche, but it's still something I wanna get off my chest.
fuck you, he's BPD coded and I'm tired of pretending that he's not. (also I may have BPD as well so yeah)
also, pwBPD stands for people with Borderline Personality Disorder, and that's the phrase I'm gonna use for most of this
So basically, he trains himself to be just like Moximous, and I see a lot of impulsiveness in this. also he does this shit:
-Training nonstop
-stopping his plans for the first yo-kai watch
-breaking relationships
there's some other actions that I'm not bothered to remember, but these are the ones I remember vividly. in case you do not know, impulsivity is very common within pwBPD.
while things like consuming drugs and unsafe sexual intercourse arent included in the above list (i mean, ofc, this game is for kids and he's fucking 11), damaging positive relationships is part of this impulsiveness.
as said before, Nathaniel had seen breaking his positive relationships with others, notably with Hovernyan/Fuyunyan due to not being able to protect his weaker friend.
basically, Kin and Gin inspirited a couple of bullies that beat up his friend, causing his friend to lash out at him. and then he discovered moximous mask and broke his positive friendships to cope and also to try to be like that superhero.
also, he lashes out at Hovernyan for using the Wicked Stone to bring his grandson Nate into the past to help him, along with lashing out at his grandson. (he didn't know that nate was his grandson at the time but I don't care) and he also lashes out a lot later, such as their second meeting
these actions can be similar to splitting (a BPD-exclusive term in which pwBPD tend to characterize themselves, other people, and situations in black and white), and it may contribute to relationships not being stable. it is possible for splitting episodes to be triggered from minor events or inconveniences (as said about Hovernyan and Nate above)
like I said before, Nathaniel starts off as being angry and irratable, as he lashes out at Nate for just being there. he can also go from calm to angry in just a second, which is something I noticed while watching let's plays of Yo-Kai Watch 2 instead of playing it myself.
One of the symptoms of BPD is that a person rapidly changes their emotions and even often.
he does not only have intense anger, but as well as intense sadness, fear, and obsession, and because of his stress and obsession, he feels more intensely than others do.
you look at me in the eyes and tell me that Nathaniel isn't a perfectionist. you tell me without shitting yourself.
he feels himself to be bad on the inside, so he tries to prove himself to the world that he can become like the moximous hero Moximous Mask.
in many instances, pwBPD have this kind of perfectionist mindset.
in the past, that one friend seemed to be Nathaniel's favorite person (or fp for short). and after the story of YKW2, it seems to be fuyunyan. as I said before, his friend lashed out at him for not protecting him, but that impacted him a lot since he broke his positive friendships after that, and declared to not have friends.
now you may be asking, "how would this tie to him having an fp?"
in some cases, pwBPD may have their fp abandon them, which causes them to spiral into nothing, which is much like what happened to Nathaniel.
and later on, Hovernyan becomes his new fp. and when Hovernyan gets hurt, well... let's just say that doesn't go well for him.
------------------------------------
conclusion:
because of how his behavior connects to BPD symptoms listed above (there might be more that i might have missed), he is BPD coded, which is fucking hilarious because this is really good BPD representation even though I don't think that was Level-5's intention.
