List of fictional characters with post-traumatic stress disorder  

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Literature

• Frodo Baggins, the protagonist of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings novel, suffers from severe PTSD after his extremely perilous journey to destroy the Ring. His psychological difficulties isolate him from others, and he is very prone to anxiety attacks over small things (usually things which bring back memories of his trauma), as well as unwanted flashbacks and nightmares.
• 1968, by Joe Haldeman (1995)
• Alan and Naomi, by Myron Levoy (1977) Naomi has PTSD because her father was killed by the Nazis in front of her.
• Batman, created by Bob Kane, is most likely a sufferer of PTSD, having flashbacks of his parents' murder on occurrence in many interpretations.
• Ryan Azarcon, in Burndive, by Karin Lowachee (2003)
• Bill Burridge in Burridge Unbound (2000) and in Man of Bone (1998) by Alan Cumyn. Burridge is a diplomat who gets kidnapped by terrorists and, deeply scarred by the ordeal, returns to Canada bent on saving the world.
• Yuri Kirov, in Cagebird, by Karin Lowachee (2005)
• Ceremony, by Leslie Marmon Silko (1977)
• Ramsay Crome in The Famished Lover (2006) by Alan Cumyn. Crome is haunted by memories of his time as a POW in First World War Germany as he tries to settle down and make a living as an artist in Montreal during the Great Depression.
• First Blood, by David Morrell (1972)
• Gateway, by Frederik Pohl (1976)
• Hannibal Lecter, a character appearing in a series of novels by Thomas Harris, shows signs of PTSD, although he is never formally diagnosed with it.
• The Human Stain, by Philip Roth (2000)
• The Punisher created by John Romita, is a sufferer of PTSD, having flashbacks of his dead family as well as growing accustomed to the Vietnam War while he was a Marine after serving three tours of duty.
• The Razor's Edge, by William Somerset Maugham (1944)
• Redliners, by David Drake (1996)
• Regeneration, by Pat Barker (1991)
• The Return of the Soldier, by Rebecca West (1916)
• Dolores Price, in She's Come Undone, by Wally Lamb
• The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien (1990)
• Joslyn Musey, in Warchild, by Karin Lowachee (2002)
• Briar Moss, in The Will of the Empress, by Tamora Pierce (2005), suffers flashbacks and nightmares after being caught in a war-zone.
• Lord Peter Wimsey, the aristocratic detective created by Dorothy Sayers, suffered from shell shock, the World War I term for what is now called PTSD. Under stress, he suffered from flashbacks, nightmares, depression, anxiety, and inability to make even the simplest of decisions.
• Yu Ominae from Spriggan suffers from PTSD due to him being the only lone survivor to an expedition camp where his parents were massacred with the rest of the archaeologists.
• Film
• 12 O'Clock High (1949)
• A film about the air war over Germany during World War II, starring Gregory Peck. This was considered the first film to depict PTSD, and it caused much controversy as a result.
• Apocalypse Now (1979)
• The Beast of War (1988)
• Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
• The Butterfly Effect (2004)
• In some timelines, the character Lenny displayed several PTSD symptoms after a particularly traumatic event. His symptoms include social withdrawal, unprompted bursts of anger, and apparent flashbacks.
• The Deer Hunter (1978)
• Don't Say a Word (2001)
• Jacknife (1989)
• Jacob's Ladder (1990)
• The lead character in this film, a Vietnam vet named Jacob (portrayed by Tim Robbins), suffers nightmarish visions and bizarre hallucinations as a result of his PTSD and discovers that the men who served with him also experience the same disturbing symptoms.
• Fearless (1993)
• First Blood (1982) - Based on the book by David Morrell.
• Gun Shy (2000)
• The Hunted (2003)
• Independence Day (1996)
• The character of Russell Casse (Randy Quaid) is said to suffer from PTSD.
• Man on Fire(2002}
• The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
• The Razor's Edge (1984) - Based on the book by William Somerset Maugham.
• Behind the Lines (1997) - Based on the book "Regeneration", by Pat Barker.
• Saving Private Ryan (1998)
• Several characters in this film exhibit signs and symptoms of PTSD. Most notable is Captain John Miller, played by actor Tom Hanks. He suffers from a noticeable shaking of his right hand which only occurs when he is not in combat conditions. Throughout the film the decisions he makes regarding the actions of his squad become increasingly suicidal and his men start to question his rationale. Cpt. Miller orders an assault on an isolated machine gun nest which (as pointed out by his sergeant and the other soldiers) could be avoided, and had apparently been done previously when the Captain's company had encountered some German 88's. Cpt. Miller's decision to assault the nest indicates that his constant exposure to combat conditions is beginning to override his decision-making skills. The group spends some time debating the assault's necessity, and Miller is the only one in favor of it. When the discussion becomes heated, Miller verbally redresses his Sgt. by telling him to "shut up". Inevitably, one of the soldiers in the squad is killed during the attack.
• The Thin Red Line (1998)
• Television
• On Battlestar Galactica, "Gina", a clone of the gynoid Cylon agent Number Six, exhibited PTSD signs. (Tricia Helfer, the actress who portrays Number Six, researched the disorder to more accurately incorporate it into her character's behavior.)
• Doc Cochran of Deadwood (played by Brad Dourif) displays several PTSD symptoms, including self-medicating with alcohol, avoidance of his "triggers", hyperarousal, and intrusive flashbacks; his symptoms are attributed to his experiences of the American Civil War.
• Emma Nelson of Degrassi: The Next Generation suffers from several symptoms of PTSD after a school shooting. This is later explored after she exhibits one of the symptoms, high risk sexual behavior in a controversial two part episode titled "Secret".
• Mark Greene of ER displayed symptoms of post-traumatic stress following an assault by a former patient.
• In the pilot episode ("Serenity") of Firefly, Malcolm Reynolds (played by Nathan Fillion), the captain of the spaceship Serenity, experiences symptoms of PTSD, as does River Tam (played by Summer Glau) throughout the whole series.
• On Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends (2004-present), the character Wilt has apparently been the victim of some violent trauma in his past and has had his left arm amputated, has a false left eye, and noticeable facial scars, displays many symptoms of PTSD. These have become more noticeable during the latter part of the third season (US and Canada) and during the current, or fourth, season. Wilt does not discuss how his injuries occurred, or talk about his past at all, and quickly changes the subject if someone else seems to get close to even bringing it up (as seen in the 2004 pilot episode, "House of Bloos").
• Roy Mustang of Fullmetal Alchemist had a flashback of his time during the Ishbalan civil war during a sparring match with Edward Elric when he remembered seeing a frightened Ishbalan rebel armed with a rifle when he was about to immolate with his flame alchemy skills and later on, the death of Winry Rockbell's parents since he was the main perpetrator responsible for their executions. Because of these events, the officer had once tried to commit suicide. Aside from Roy, Alex Louis Armstrong also suffered from a nightmare when he held the corpse of an Ishbalan child, though he had tried to suppress the memory to his subconsciousness.
• Flippy of Happy Tree Friends is a war veteran bear who goes into an insane state whenever someone commits an act that reminds him of war and violently kills anyone who is nearby.
• A special episode of the military/crime drama NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) revolves entirely around a realistic exploration of post-traumatic stress disorder. The episode, titled "Call of Silence," opens with an elderly Marine veteran walking into the NCIS headquarters building, turning in his service weapon, and confessing to the murder of his closest buddy six decades ago during the bloody battle for Iwo Jima in World War II. The NCIS team proceeds to investigate what really took place during the hellacious combat, never certain whether or not the veteran — a Medal of Honor winner — had really committed murder. The truth is finally revealed in a stunning conclusion, as the NCIS team uses modern technology to recreate the sights and sounds of combat in order to evoke a cathartic reliving of the events by the guilt-stricken veteran. Actor Charles Durning was nominated for an Emmy Award for his performance. This episode (#207) was originally broadcast November 23, 2004, and was rebroadcast in 2005 and 2006.
• In the final episodes of the anime TV show Neon Genesis Evangelion, the character Asuka experiences flashbacks pertaining to her mother's mental breakdown and suicide, impairing her ability to pilot her Evangelion unit and later driving her to become a social recluse.
• On Roughnecks the Tesca campaign, Johnny Rico is sent into a coma suffering with flashbacks. In the next part in the DVD after he wakes up the nurse believes Johnny is having PTSD.
• Principal Seymour Skinner of The Simpsons often displays signs of PTSD, being a former POW during the Vietnam War. He can occasionally be seen having a flashback or diving to the floor after a loud noise.
• During the last two seasons of Six Feet Under, the character David Fisher (played by Michael C. Hall) experiences PTSD after a car-jacking.
• Adam in Spooks suffers from PTSD after his wife, Fiona, dies in the line of duty while being undercover. Because of this, he has suffered from PTSD while being on the job, nearly compromising himself and his comrades.
• In Tokko, Ranmaru Shindou had nightmares of the Machida massacre, when he tried to escape from a demon and saw the corpses of his parents and his neighbors with the mysterious Sakura Rokujou hauting his dreams before and after attending the police academy.
• Sergeant Pete Twamley from Ultimate Force suffered from some PTSD symptoms after being nearly killed in a gunfight in Bosnia during a snatch operation.
• Warriors (1999) is a BBC TV-series focussing on the experiences of young British soldiers before, during and after their 1992 deployment as United Nations peacekeepers in Bosnia. Most of the main characters end up showing serious symptoms of PTSD.
• In Episode 210 ("Noel") of The West Wing, Josh Lyman (played by Bradley Whitford), the Deputy White House Chief of Staff, experiences symptoms of PTSD, with which he is eventually diagnosed.
• The character of Audrey Raines in the television series 24 develops PTSD in the sixth season, following her torture at the hands of Chinese agents.
• Video games
• Solid Snake, the protagonist of the Metal Gear series, suffered from PTSD when he fought with FOXHOUND during the Outer Heaven and Zanzibar Land missions. Since the end of the missions, he had steadfastly refused to serve further in other FOXHOUND-sanctioned missions unless persuaded.
• Max Payne, the protagonist of the videogame of the same game, suffers from PTSD after his family is murdered by criminals. The first game in the series shows him unable to cope with the situation, as he becomes more isolate and his behaviour more erratic and prone to violence. At several points he experiments flashbacks of the murders in the form of recurring nightmares.
• Shadow, from the Sonic franchise, suffered from PTSD after Maria, his only friend, was shot while trying to escape the Space Colony ARK. Even after fifty years in suspended animation, Shadow remembers Maria vaguely, and her last words are his primary motivation for his actions. Flashbacks of Maria are frequent, especially her last moments. At the end of Shadow the Hedgehog, he seems to have finally gotten over Maria's death, and hasn't mentioned her since.
• Flash Films
• Salad Fingers, a creepy man who often receives flashbacks for violence and hate. Also is relatively nervous, as well as not liking some of his thoughts, as seen in episode 7.