Fictional portrayals of psychopaths and sociopaths

Fictional portrayals of psychopaths and sociopaths are some of the most notorious in film and literature but may only vaguely or partly relate to the concept of psychopathy, which is itself used with varying definitions by mental health professionals, criminologists and others. The character may be identified as a diagnosed/assessed psychopath or sociopath within the fictional work itself, or by its creator when discussing their intentions with the work, which might be distinguished from opinions of audiences or critics based only on a character appearing to show traits or behaviors associated with an undefined popular stereotype of psychopathy.

Source: Wikipedia — Fictional portrayals of psychopaths and sociopaths (CC BY-SA 4.0)