History Main / ObsessivelyOrganized

* Yui Hirasawa from ''Manga/KOn'' has been this her entire life, though her obsessions were pretty weird even at a young age and she usually changed to something else after she was finished going overboard. It's a wonder she actually managed to become a good guitarist.

** Becomes something of a FunnyAneurysmMoment when it turns out that he's like this because he's having a very drawn-out breakdown where he [[AllCrimesAreEqual enforces all the rules with equal vigor]], even the minor and stupid ones. He loosens up a fair bit once he has a chance to work through it.

[[folder:Roleplay]]
* In ''Roleplay/DeptHeavenApocrypha'', we have Ledah, who is eventually revealed to have OCD after implications of such throughout most of the early story. However, [[spoiler:as the OCD is one of the many facets of his rape-induced PTSD (and as Ledah is TheWoobie)]], this is played seriously and for sympathy.
[[/folder]]

* ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'' applies this to Mr.Perfect Cell, who makes ''three'' different combat rings all because they weren't perfect like he was - the first one had a green tile, the second one was in the shape of a circle (and it had a green tile) and the last one, before he gave up, had half a tile. The following episode revealed that he finally got it right with the fourth.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has Twilight Sparkle and Rarity. They have Super OCD in different areas and both of which are justified by their backgrounds and exacerbated by the fact that they can use magic to straighten things out as much as they want.

** Twilight Sparkle's history of being a model student (of Equestria's PhysicalGod ruler no less) makes her an extreme by-the-book perfectionist. In "Look Before You Sleep", she's too busy looking up whether or not a tree crashing through the window fits into a slumber party to help shift the tree. Her obsession with order also causes a lot of trouble in "Lesson Zero", like when she makes a huge mess trying to even out the frosting on the cupcakes she ordered for a picnic... which is peanuts compared to [[SanitySlippage going crazy]] because she thinks she's going to be late with her weekly friendship report. This is a more accurate portrayal of OCD than the others. She can't stop herself from having unwanted and extremely unrealistic thoughts and so she tries with increasing anxiety to stop them. It doesn't work. At the start of "It's About Time", she's up at three in the morning worrying that she hasn't made time in this month's schedule to prepare ''next month's'' schedule. In "Spike at Your Service", Twilight is so intent on a reading assignment that [[NotListeningToMeAreYou she gives stock responses to Spike's questions]] and only breaks out of her total focus when Applejack moves one of her ink jars slightly out of place. She then made sure to move the ink well back while speaking to Applejack. She's also [[ObsessedAreTheListMakers extremely devoted to plans and timesheets]], which is a personality trait often associated with this trope. All in all, she probably has OC'''P'''D. By that, she does have some uncontrollable urges and impulses, but she is "preoccupied with rules, orderliness, and control." To make a better distinction, someone with OCD is aware of their condition, while someone with OCPD either thinks their behavior is normal or isn't aware of '''how''' abnormal their behavior may be.
** Applejack's NEED to ensure that Applebloom remains safe and by her side throughout the whole appropriately named fourth season episode "Somepony to Watch Over Me".
** Starlight Glimmer, Twilight's EvilCounterpart and the ArcVillain of the fifth season premiere, also has traits of this, such as stopping mid-song to make sure somepony's mane is identical to the rest, ensuring the entire town she controls is ''completely'' identical in every way, and having a ''massive'' obsession with keeping things orderly and equal. However, unlike Twilight who's OCD tendencies are much more benign, Starlight Glimmer applies hers to ''other ponies'' and has the magic to enforce it.

** Light shows signs of this as well; he seems to be a NeatFreak with routines he HAS to go through i.e. he has to place his shoes ''just'' so, doesn't leave the house much, ''always'' [[ProperlyParanoid locks the door and sets it up so he'll know if someone was in his room and messed with his stuff]] (it's implied he did this even ''before'' he needed to) etc. (Insert joke about how just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you.)

** More than half-way through an exam, Kid was still trying to write ''his name'', and had a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AkarXuw0Og complete psychological breakdown]] when he erased too hard and tore the paper.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fanfic [[http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/10/story-turning-of-screwball-strange-case.html The Turning of the Screwball]], the character of Button Stitch is so obsessively organized than even Rarity thinks she's a bit high-strung. Her self-repressive levels of OCD are what lead to [[spoiler: a build-up of magical energy that causes her to turn back into "Screwball" (the weird floating background pony from "Return of Harmony, Part 2") and pull bizarre pranks around Ponyville.]]

* David Cusk in ''Literature/ThePaleKing''. Thanks to his fear of being noticed for his sweating, he eventually develops the ability to keep track of a room's temperature, the locations and distances of the exits, sight lines and proximity of every person in the room, and quickly strategize ways to avoid detection.

* The Godspoken on the planet of Path in Orson Scott Card's ''Literature/{{Xenocide}}'' were believed to commune with God with their strange rituals. Turns out that [[spoiler:they were all inflicted with OCD by the Starways Congress to balance out their significantly above average intellect and keep them in line]]. Qing-jao's ritual is tracing woodlines until her anxiety and panic goes away. She and the other Godspoken of Path also exhibit other behaviors usually believed to be typical of OCD, such as excessive hand washing. This condition does have the bonus effect of making them very methodical workers; Qing-jao slowly and methodically looks at every possible piece of evidence and becomes the only person to realize [[spoiler:the true identity of Demosthenes and the existence of a creature like Jane. A cure for the OCD is eventually created and spread through Path, letting them retain their brilliance without being subjected to the humiliation caused by their rituals. Ultimately Qing-jao becomes TheOnlyBeliever]].

-->'''Howard:''' Who cares where you sit? ''You are not crazy!''

-->'''Sheldon:''' These shrimp are all the same size, there's no logical order to eat them in. [chucks them into the garbage can]

* Emma Pillsbury on ''Series/{{Glee}}'', a severe mysophobe with an irrational fear of germs. This has naturally made her one of the biggest NeatFreak ever, to the point that she cleans every grape individually before eating it and spends an hour cleaning a pencil sharpener. The depiction of OCD on the show did get better as it went on, although still not perfect. Emma was also shown ritualistically rubbing hand lotion into her hands while counting, and was also shown to have anxiety and panic attacks. She eventually seeks help.

* On ''Series/{{Being Human|UK}}'' vampires who stop drinking blood try to develop daily patterns and routines so they can stop themselves from constantly thinking about blood and killing. Mitchell tried to build a 'normal' routine life for himself but kept failing. Hal managed to created complex daily rituals for himself and managed to suppress his vampire urges by religiously following them for over 50 years. However, this caused him to cut all contact with the outside world and when his routines are disrupted he becomes violent and unstable.

* ''Series/TheLastEnemy'' has the protagonist, a brilliant mathematician, who has an advanced form of OCD. When we first see him, he's on a plane wrapped in a blanket and wearing a heavy-duty mask and sitting stock upright to avoid physical contact. Then, because the guy next to him is coughing, he runs to the bathroom and proceeds to thoroughly wash his hands... which turns out to be a habit he does throughout the series. Surprisingly, it's mostly related to cleanliness, so we never see him watch where he steps or repeat certain actions just because. When his ex meets him, she gives him a disinfectant wipe after they come out of a church.
* Season 2 of ''Series/TheHour'' introduces [[Creator/PeterCapaldi Randall Brown]], who shows many symptoms of this trope, though his disorder is never actually named (justified for the 1950s setting, when psychology was less advanced,) thus averting the common media mistake of confusing OCD with Obsessive Compulsive ''Personality'' Disorder, whose symptoms he more accurately reflects. However, this trope is employed unconventionally; his disorder does not stop Randall from being an authoritative and effective manager, did not prevent him from having a relationship in the past (though it might have played a part in the relationship's failure) and it is generally not played for laughs. For most of the series it is not played for drama, either (it doesn't cause enough grief for that), until he discovers that [[spoiler: his daughter from the aforementioned relationship, (who he has never seen and has spent years trying to find,) died in an air raid]], and his way of trying to cope with it is absolutely heartbreaking. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=L70ZGiEj_9Q#t=71 Watch it here.]]

* Sion from ''VideoGame/MeltyBlood''. One point early in their meeting, Shiki calls her a "bastard." She gets ''very'' upset and informs him, that [[DoWrongRight no, the acceptable word for insulting a woman is "bitch."]] Note, she's not insulted by the actual name calling, just that it's ''wrong.''

* The Neurotic trait in ''VideoGame/TheSims 3''. Sims who have it will worry about random objects, obsess about their hygiene, and check and re-check things like the stove and the fireplace. It doesn't make them a NeatFreak, though, so for a proper case of Super OCD the player would have to combine it with the Neat trait.

* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'', Jyggalag is the Daedric Prince of Order, and his fundamental nature is to order and catalogue ''everything''. He once created the Library of Jyggalag, a massive repository that predicted the actions of every being in the universe which Jyggalag compiled [[AwesomenessByAnalysis by simple study and deduction.]] Jyggalag's extreme obsession with ordering things lead him to becoming the most powerful of the Daedric Princes until the others joined forces and [[IronicHell cursed him to become his antithesis:]] the insane and unpredictable MadGod Sheogorath, who would then be locked into an endless cycle where he would shift between these two beings and destroy all he had built. Sotha Sil and his priesthood, who argue that the Daedric Princes are "flaws" in the structure of the universe, presented a theory that Jyggalag is a MadGod driven insane by the contradiction of being a Prince of pure Order while being a cosmic "error" at the same time.

* Averted in {{Creator/Don Hertzfeldt}}'s ''Temporary Anaesthetics''. Though PlayedForLaughs, "Bobby Neurotic's" OCD is shown as being a crippling and irrational series of anxieties that only time-consuming, meaningless rituals can abate. Even if it's taken to comical extremes that only Don Hertzfeldt could pull off, it is ultimately portrayed a life-destroying, soul-draining and frightening mental illness, [[TruthInTelevision just like in reality.]]

[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/{{Broodhollow}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/broodhollow_re_stacks.png]]]]

* Creator/RachelBloom's ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug19JBIIycs OCDance!]'' is a realistic portrayal of OCD – Rachel speaks from experience.

Can be {{justified|Trope}} if the character has a career in chemistry or engineering etc, where it really ''is'' crucial to have measurements just right, or a job such as bomb technician or infectious disease handler, where doing even ''one'' thing even a little bit wrong could mean death for you and others.

* In ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', Dr. Kevin Casey has extreme OCD. It gives him [[TheAce the benefit]] of [[LevelGrinding practicing things over and over until he does them perfectly]], but the drawback of [[ForcedLevelGrinding practicing things over and OVER until he does them perfectly]]. In a hospital full of quirky characters, the fact that he starts out every day by literally touching EVERYTHING in his first patient's room while saying "bink" is [[BunnyEarsLawyer initially played for laughs]]. But he can't even enter the room without timing his last step to his breath. The effects of this are shown [[RealityEnsues very deliberately]] at the [[DownerEnding end of the episode, when the stress from his first day in a new environment (and from trying to hide how much it affects him) has left him unable to stop washing his hands over and over again for hours despite being exhausted and desperately wanting to just go home.]]

* While Danny Tanner in ''Series/FullHouse'' is generally just a NeatFreak, he reaches Super OCD levels when his personal Christmas of Spring Cleaning time comes around. Another episode has the girls moving ''every single item'' on Danny's wall a few inches to the side because he'd otherwise notice the one thing they had to move to cover a hole in the wall. There's finally a HeelRealization mixed with RealityEnsues and a FreudianExcuse--when Danny goes overboard during the aforementioned Spring Cleaning, DJ drags the family into her room where they all spend several minutes complaining about him. After they leave, Danny emerges from the closet (he was installing shelf paper) and is clearly devastated at the realization of how out-of-control his behavior has gotten and that it's genuinely making everyone hate him. When he goes out for a drive to clear his head, he muses that he's always loved to clean, ever since his mother gave him cleaning supplies as a present--and instantly realizes that (a) that's probably the root of his problem and (b) that he's doing the same thing to Michelle and that one day she might drive ''her'' family crazy.

!Examples:

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* Re-l Meyer from ''Anime/ErgoProxy'' is a straight-forward OCD example. She's obsessed with both cleanliness and punctuality, and while investigating crime scenes has a habit of symmetrically rearranging some of the evidence. [[SuperOCD Then comes Episode 16.]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' movie "Bender's Game", [[WesternAnimation/TheJetsons Rosie]] makes a cameo in a [[BedlamHouse mental institute]] saying "[[MadnessMantra Must clean up! Everything must be clean!]] [[TheLoonie That's why the dog had to die!]] He was a dirty dog! Dirty! Dirty! And that [[WouldHurtAChild boy Elroy!]] Dirty! Dirty!" Not only does she have SuperOCD but she's a murderer!

* ''Series/{{Whitechapel}}'' has Joseph Chandler, a homicide detective, who is incredibly obsessed with neatness, as well as things being clean. His OCD is bad enough that he often stays at the Homicide Department overnight, making everything neat for the next day...only for him to end up spending the entire night doing this. He also has counting rituals that can become so debilitating that he is stuck in place for hours going through them even as he becomes more distraught at not being able to stop. It should be noted, however, that while most of the examples of SuperOCD are PlayedForLaughs, Chandler's OCD is shown as an illness and a serious issue, rather than something used for comedy.

* While Danny Tanner in ''Series/FullHouse'' is generally just a NeatFreak, he reaches SuperOCD levels when his personal Christmas of Spring Cleaning time comes around. Another episode has the girls moving ''every single item'' on Danny's wall a few inches to the side because he'd otherwise notice the one thing they had to move to cover a hole in the wall. There's finally a HeelRealization mixed with RealityEnsues and a FreudianExcuse--when Danny goes overboard during the aforementioned Spring Cleaning, DJ drags the family into her room where they all spend several minutes complaining about him. After they leave, Danny emerges from the closet (he was installing shelf paper) and is clearly devastated at the realization of how out-of-control his behavior has gotten and that it's genuinely making everyone hate him. When he goes out for a drive to clear his head, he muses that he's always loved to clean, ever since his mother gave him cleaning supplies as a present--and instantly realizes that (a) that's probably the root of his problem and (b) that he's doing the same thing to Michelle and that one day she might drive ''her'' family crazy.

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' has Twilight Sparkle and Rarity. They have SuperOCD in different areas and both of which are justified by their backgrounds and exacerbated by the fact that they can use magic to straighten things out as much as they want.

* The previous ''Franchise/MyLittlePony'' generation had Minty, who is not only SuperOCD but a Derpyësque [[TheKlutz klutz]]. Disaster ensues, especially in ''A Very Minty Christmas''.

* Quarians in ''VideoGame/MassEffect'' have a completely justified case of [=Super OCD=] when it comes to germs. You see, they underwent HomeworldEvacuation after the Geth they created TurnedAgainstTheirMasters. So they've been wandering through space for generations in sterile spaceships. Basically, they have little to no immune systems to speak of, so contamination is rather a ''big'' thing for them. That's why Quarians seen outside their spaceships are always in environmental suits.

* In ''Videogame/{[Dishonored}}'', the [[EvilChancellor Lord Regent Hiram Burrows]] is affected by this, though it isn't stated outright. The Heart will mention that he has to count every flagstone he steps on and that he has to obsessively record all of his thoughts in order to keep everything organized (which allows Corvo to [[EngineeredPublicConfession find his secret confession of his crimes]]) and if Corvo confronts him in his safe room he will ask if he's being punished for his imperfections.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBhjDgmGrXg This]] Japanese short.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Howard Hughes was so Obsessive Compulsive about contamination, he peed in jars for years. And kept them in order, too. This was heavily detailed in ''Film/TheAviator'', giving the FreudianExcuse that a community-wide disease scare when he was little caused [[MyBelovedSmother His Beloved Smother]] to vigorously hand wash him and intone "you are not safe."
** Creator/LeonardoDiCaprio has it as well. He steadfastly fights it at every turn, claiming that he refuses to step through doorways multiple times or step on every patch of chewing gum on the pavement that he sees to stop it taking over his life. [[DudeNotFunny Must be an absolute]] [[SarcasmMode killer when he's]] [[YouBastard learning his lines]]... Leo also played the above-mentioned Howard Hughes in ''Film/TheAviator'', and the Stunt-coordinator for ''Film/{{Inception}}'' mentioned in the making-of how he loved to work with Leonardo since he could create the most death-defying stunts with only a square-foot of safe area on the set, trusting with 100% certainty that Leonardo would hit that foot on cue every time.

* British footballer David Beckham has OCD. He says he ''has'' to put all the leaflets you get in hotels in order in a drawer, which is probably hell as (being a footballer) he must travel a lot.

* Howie Mandel is also a sufferer. Watch him on ''Series/DealOrNoDeal'' -- he doesn't shake hands, he bumps fists. Presumably, this is also part of why he shaves his head. [[WordOfGod He wrote a book about it.]]

* Marc Summers, the host of ''Series/{{Double Dare|1986}}'' and ''What Would You Do?'' has OCD. These were two of the messiest and most disorganized games ever to hit TV. He mentions that going to work every day was a battle and he was actually happy when both shows went off the air. This has the effect of making him a major badass amongst fans. You can now see him as the host of ''Unwrapped'' on the Creator/FoodNetwork. Pay attention to the table where the various foods he's talking about are laid out. Everything is ordered and laid out very specifically.

* Jesse Eisenberg has OCD, although he has never elaborated on the specifics on his compulsions.

* Creator/JoanCrawford was a sufferer too. She said that she'd never accept cigarettes from another person's packet and would clean the door handles in her house after visitors left. Allegedly, when a plumber worked in her bathroom and used her toilet, she had the pipes re-replaced. The thing with the wire clothes hangers that her daughter recollected may years later was probably a part of this too.

* [[http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?QuantumBogoSort Quantum bogosort.]] Makes you wonder if the universe is made of this.

* Joey Ramone of Music/TheRamones struggled with OCD for most of his life and committed himself to a mental hospital when he was eighteen years old. His younger brother details Ramone's OCD in his family memoir ''I Slept With Joey Ramone'' and also in a number of interviews. Joey Ramone's compulsions included leaving the tap on and flipping lights on and off, which his brother said he had to learn to deal with. Former Ramones manager Danny Fields gets frustrated in a documentary discussing Joey's compulsive behavior while touring, which included touching every other picket on a staircase and would frustrate the rest of the band and road personnel because he would often cause delays with his compulsive actions. ("C'mon, Joey, we have to get to Buffalo tonight...")

* Ray Allen has this, he always takes the exact same seat on a plane and follows several pre-game routines.

* Robert Sapolsky, Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences at Stanford theorizes that OCD may have inspired religious ceremony and ritual in the first place.

* Saint Alphonsus Liguori suffered from a religious version of OCD, known as scrupulosity. It's also theorized that Martin Luther may have been afflicted with it as well, but as these theories also move into trying to explain the Catholic-Protestant split, [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment let's leave it at that.]]

* Sometimes the superstitions that sports stars have can seriously border on this but a special mention has to go to Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics who [[http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/04/20/routine_excellence_is_allens_secret/?page=1 cannot seem to pass a piece of paper on the floor without picking it up and gets mad at teammates if they mess up his rituals]] as well.
[[/folder]]

* Odo in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' gets this a lot, along with a very deep sense of justice. It makes him an excellent chief of security, as he will follow a case doggedly, running down options and suspects very swiftly. It also means he won't indulge in such little things as police brutality, meaning his cells tend to be the safest place for a criminal to stay. Dax got a lot of fun out of sneaking into his quarters and moving things around just a couple centimeters. When he later discovered his people, the Founders, it turned out "establishing order" is kind of their [[PlanetOfHats hat]]. On the other hand, their idea of order and his idea of justice were completely incompatible.
** Probably related to their biology. ShapeShifting must require [[RequiredSecondaryPowers superhuman attention to detail]].