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Quora: Is the characteristic of a narcissist that a narcissist mimic others related indirectly? Oth
I’m not 100% sure I understand your question, but let me try to give an answer that makes some sense.
The narcissist is a toddler emotional set inside an adult body. Either due to brain damage, abuse, or some kind of missing step in their development, they are not complete human beings. At some level, they know they are missing some qualities they see in the people around them, and they want those qualities. They also feel shame for what they are missing, and since they are emotionally about 2 years old, their shame manifests as anger, acting out, and rage against those they should admire and love.
As the narcissist’s mind and intellect grow, they get better at hiding their deficiencies and better at imitating the qualities of normal people that they see other people being rewarded for. For example, if they had a sibling who was well-liked for being in band, they might also join band and imitate their sibling. Or they might try and do something else to gain popularity, while imitating the sibling’s personality traits that seem to get them attention from others. Meanwhile, knowing in their hearts that they don’t have the positive qualities of their sibling, and feeling shame and wanting to hide it, they start badmouthing and undermining their siblings, calling them a ‘band nerd’ or saying “I’m the one with the actual talent in the family, my sibling is just imitating me,” “My brother/sister does not deserve the attention s/he gets for being in band,”
If the sibling dares to object to being called names and having their achievements diminished by the narcissist, the narcissist spins that as “they are just jealous because *I* am the popular and talented one,” The more the victim reacts with arguments, proof, anger, or the truth, the more credence the narcissist’s words have with the narcissist’s audience. It is absolutely not fair, but it is true. The narcissist is able to stay calm while making offensive and outrageous claims, and their air of calm certainty while their victim melts down at the unfair and hurtful statements somehow makes the offender look like the victim and vice versa.
When, as you see, the exact opposite is true: the narcissist is jealous, and their sibling is popular and talented. Unfortunately, the narcisisst is very skilled at manipulating people, so the sibling may begin to doubt his or her talent and popularity, and may even begin to believe the lies the narcissist tells other people about them. They may even lose their enthusiasm for hobbies and interests that they once enjoyed simply because the narcissist has belittled and humiliated them for enjoying something.
Basically, the narcissist has to pretend that he or she has no negative qualities, and that her targets whom s/he envies are the negative ones. The narcissist will try very hard to push the image of him/her self as special, gifted, the best, and an expert, while the people s/he has imitated to appear special, gifted, and expert, are portrayed as incompetent idiots and jealous imitators.
Watch what narcissists say about others; in almost 100% of the cases, whatever negative things he or she says about other people are actually true of the narcissist him/her self. Disregard their words. Watch their actions, observe their behavior, always be ready to peek behind the curtain of “The Great and Wonderful ME! Show”
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