Elliot Alderson

Elliot Alderson is a male television character that features in Mr. Robot.

Biography

Although not much is known about his childhood, Elliot describes his relationship with his father to be a very positive one. He tells Mr. Robot that his father was the only one he could talk to. His father died of leukemia, leaving him in the care of his mother. He did not have a good relationship with his mother, who was somewhat abusive towards Elliot as a child. Darlene is Elliot's sister, although he does not always remember that she is.

Elliot gets a job at Allsafe Cybersecurity thanks to his childhood friend, Angela Moss. He has proven himself to be knowledgeable and proficient, and has gained the trust of his superiors. Though he likes most of the people he works with, he must protect large corporations like Evil Corp, which he deeply resents. Much of Elliot's anger is focused on E Corp, to the degree that whenever he hears or sees the name of the corporation's name he mentally translates it to "Evil Corp", which is the derogatory name he has assigned to it.

When he is not working, much of Elliot's time devoted to white-hat hacking. He stays up to date on forums and boards, and maintains contacts through the internet. He is skilled in information gathering and observation, and demonstrates skills in social engineering, which allow him to learn as much as possible about the people around him. He uses his skills to bring what he sees as justice to people who might otherwise escape the notice of law enforcement, as demonstrated by his confrontation with Ron, a prosperous coffee house owner who also runs a child-pornography website. He also uses his skills to help ordinary people who may have been wronged, such as when he hacked his therapist's boyfriend to protect her from his more violent tendencies.

Overview

Personality and attributes

Though he does enjoy some friendships, Elliot is an introverted, socially awkward person. He suffers from anxiety, which makes it difficult for him to participate in social situations. Because of this anxiety, he is unable to bring himself to attend Angela's birthday party, much to her frustration. Despite this, he will at times try to overcome his fear.

Elliot's Diagnosis

Elliot's therapy sessions and his own voice-over provide insights into his diagnosis. Elliot acknowledges his own social anxiety disorder, and later, his extreme sadness, indicative of his clinical depression. Krista notes his delusions in one session, checking to be sure he has taken his medication. His actions, such as his hyper-vigilant awareness of those around him, suggest paranoia as well, a syndrome that frequently accompanies or causes delusions.

• Social anxiety disorder: intense fear of social situations. This may affect an individual's ability to function in one or more aspects of their lives. In Elliot's case, his job demands minimal social interaction, and allows him to work in a cubicle, reducing social contact, but he is unable to join largely social activities, such as Angela's birthday. His anxiety lightens during the short period he is with Shayla, making it possible for him to attend the dinner at Gideon's loft.
• Depression: Pervasive low mood, sadness, and/or loss of interest in or enjoyment of normal activities, often accompanied by low self-esteem. Depression can be treated by medication and therapy, such as with Elliot.
• Paranoia: Thoughts influenced by fear or anxiety. Paranoia may accompany or trigger delusions.
• Delusions: Delusions are strongly held systems of beliefs or interpretations of reality that differs from reality, despite evidence to counter them. Elliot's belief system includes the feeling he is being followed, and the need to rescue individuals from people he feels are hurting others, such as in the case of Krista's boyfriend or Ron, the coffee shop owner. Unlike hallucinations, where the individual sees what is not there, delusions are about how the individual interprets reality. Through much of the series, we see reality through Elliot's filter, and thereby his delusions. In “eps1.7_wh1ter0se.m4v”, the audience sees the reality that Elliot is interpreting for the first time.

Notes

• Elliot Alderson was created by Sam Esmail with the character portrayed by actor Rami Malek with Aidan Liebman playing the younger Elliot.
• In September 2014, it was announced that Rami Malek was cast in the lead role in the series.

Appearances

• Mr. Robot:

This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.