The Wormtongue Archetype

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Note: Given I am away without much writing time but still wanted to share something with you, I trawled through my drafts and found this - an old sketch of a type of person named after the infamous character created by J.R.R. Tolkien, Grima Wormtongue. If this piece is appreciated, I may develop this archetype more; for instance, how I believe our current society is selecting for such parasites and leeches, and exposing the characters of popular leftist commentators, past and present, from Marx to Hasan. Today, from my personal experience observing people in cucked relationships, to seeing this first-hand in my clinical training, I outline how Wormtongue’s manipulate their intimate partners for dominance and control. If you have seen these people operate in your own lives, let me know below in the comments.

(This piece is less thorough and polished than my normal work as it has remained in its draft stages.)

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The Wormtongue Archetype

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The Wormtongue archetype largely depends on two dark-tetrad personality traits, Narcissism and Machiavellianism.

Instead of being Grandiose Narcissists, and appearing arrogant and vain, often clearly over-estimating their abilities, Wormtongues are likely to be Covert Narcissists, an introverted subtype of the trait, that shrouds their self-interest and desire for attention in a clever deceit of humility.

Combined with Machiavellianism, the skill of manipulation, and the desire for political and social power, Wormtongues are expert in rearranging their interpersonal surroundings in a way that suits them, but importantly, without anyone noticing. They are puppeteers and have hidden the strings.

Given dark-tetrad traits go together, Wormtongues are also relatively high in Psychopathy, a lack of empathy, and Sadism, pleasure from inflicting pain. It is important to note, that while failing to ‘feel’ the suffering of others, they are likely expert in generating others’ ‘cognitive perspective’, which is called Perspective-switching. It is essential to achieving their goals, that they accurately predict the mind-states of the people around them.

Finally, the last important trait, though less a personality trait and more an aspect of intelligence, is Verbal IQ. Wormtongues likely have a great vocabulary and are cunning in their use (or intentional misuse) of language. Combined with the above other traits, Wormtongues are brilliant in creating false narratives, being passive-aggressive, employing ‘sleights of hand’ in arguments, and the most important, making others view them as a victim while being the predator.

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Interpersonal Control

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Given a Wormtongue’s methods are best suited to highly complex interpersonal situations, intimate relationships are where Wormtongues shine. Intimate relationships rely on a high degree of reciprocal dependence. Once embedded in another person’s life, Wormtongue’s use this as a tool to maintain and increase their tyranny over their supposed ‘loved one’. As a general rule, Wormtongue’s will regularly threaten ending the relationship either implicitly (by merely playing the victim) or explicitly. While using similar strategies in general, male and female Wormtongues operate in different ways, often exploiting the biological asymmetries between them.

Sex

Female Wormtongues will weaponise the asymmetry of sexual attraction and use a man’s rudimentary desire against him. She will deny sexual intimacy if he does not behave in the manner she wants. On some level, all women do this, and it is natural and necessary: A man behaving maladaptively especially in the context of the family unit can be ‘disciplined’ in this manner – it is her power to wield when necessary. It becomes pathological, or ‘Wormtongian’, when a man’s behaviours are perfectly reasonable, moral, and adaptive. The central reason she denies intimacy is not to ‘improve him’ objectively, but to ‘control him’ - despite what she says.

A man’s version of this usually has nothing to do with denial. Alas, his manipulation will be achieving the opposite: More sex. The objective is to make his ‘loved one’ insecure to the degree she feels trapped by highlighting her inadequacies and/or emphasizing the ways in which she has hurt him. To ‘cure’ him, she will need to first satisfy his sexual pleasures in which ever way he wants, even if (or especially if) they are degrading. When this becomes boring for the male Wormtongue, he will coerce her into allowing him to venture outside the relationship and achieving sexual gratification with other women.

Size and Strength

Female Wormtongues are highly skilled at making their vulnerability work for them by continually triggering a man’s instinct to protect. In an argument with a man, especially if he becomes angry, the Wormtongue will exaggerate her pain, break down in tears, give him the ‘silent treatment’, all with the goal of making him appear the transgressor. Even if he feels he was correct, the very evidence of his loved one being emotionally broken, combined with his anger, always the precursor for physical violence, is often enough for him to admit his ‘transgressor status’. The result leads to him needing to ‘win her back’ - a position of power for the Wormtongue.

Superficially, male Wormtongues fit into the second mating strategy human men employ: The beta-male. Briefly, most men compete for mates by attempting to rise up male-only hierarchies, in winning physical or intellectual confrontation, accumulating status and/or wealth, being humourous, having a plan, and having admirable traits like courage, humility, and dutifulness. Yet, there are some men who know they will compete poorly in these hierarchies and therefore will cheat the system by cloaking themselves as ‘allies of women’ who are ‘above these mindless and brutish games of most men’. Instead of taking the lead in relationships, they submit. However, a Wormtongue’s expression of submission in this case is a veil - they desire power and dominance. Thus, they should not be considered as beta-males, but alpha-males posing as beta-males.

That was all to say, despite being excruciatingly cowardly, and often weak and diminutive, male Wormtongues are still stronger and more powerful than most women. Despite saying they are against the patriarchy, domestic abuse, ‘male violence’, they will employ their physical advantage when necessary. For all Wormtongues, principles are not to be abided, they are tools of manipulation.

Sickness

Another common method for Wormtongues is to use a mental or physical disorder to extract continued sympathy and attention. It is arguably more effective if the disorder is real rather than imagined, and simply exaggerated or employed when necessary, like as a diversion in an argument, to make it appear like the partner caused a flare up of the illness, and to get out of doing things for the partner the Wormtongue simply does not want to do.

Friends and Family: Challenges to Power

Wormtongues are highly sensitive to anything that might impinge upon, restrict, or challenge their power. This is most often other influences over the Wormtongue’s victim, especially friends and family, as they can identify whether the victim is changing in a way that does not suit them, or worse, being abused. The Wormtongue seeks to turn the victim against friends and family by exposing their ‘immorality’ or ‘immaturity’. The ‘exposure’ can be the manufacturing of the narrative these individuals are harmful to other groups or people in general, but what is more effective is that they are harming the victim, or even worse, harming the Wormtongue.

The harming the victim narrative is employed once the Wormtongue has become more important in the victim’s life than their friends and family. The Wormtongue now ‘knows what’s best’. The Wormtongue can explain how the victim’s weekly activities and events are ‘holding them back’. Of course, these types of arguments are veils for the harming the Wormtongue narrative, as spending time with friends and family are unacceptable risks of outside influence.

Wormtongues usually save more the direct harming the Wormtongue narrative ideally when they are more secure in their dominance, but sometimes if the harming the victim narrative is failing to work. It is difficult for the victim to side with the people they perceive to have harmed the love of their life. If the victim accepts the narrative, repeatedly whispered into their ear by the Wormtongue, the victim will have to engage in the ending of friendships and family relationships.

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Chur, and have a good day and night,

The Delinquent Academic

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