One thing I appreciate about the Korean hit children’s franchise Pororo is the character of Crong, a baby dinosaur named such because it was the only sound he could make at first. He’s slowly started picking up words, much to his friends’ delight and support, but he’s still not very verbal.

What I really like about him is that he’s shown to have the same range of feelings and intelligence as his friends. He joins in all the activities, laughs and has fun with everyone, and has arguments especially with his roommate Pororo.* He’s no different from his friends, he just doesn’t talk much.

Another way Crong differs from a stereotypical neurodiverse character is that he is not a scientific or mathematical whiz. The fox Eddie is the scientist of the group, and interestingly is also the most self-aggrandizing character who creates things to show off his brilliance and get the others to admire him.**

Crong never shows a particular aptitude for science but does have a vivid imagination, including what we might call a special interest when he really gets into a flashing and beeping bracelet toy and dresses up in a costume to match. His friends, after being annoyed at how noisy he was being, then showed their support by dressing up the same way. It’s just really nice to see a potentially autistic-coded character shown as inspiring other characters with his quirky imagination rather than as a dehumanized savant type useful for his ability to build things.

* I firmly believe that the two are meant to portray a sibling relationship. Pororo literally watched Crong being born, thought at first Crong was a scary rampaging monster while Crong just wanted to follow him and play, and the two fight all the time over household duties and messes with an emotional intensity not seen between other members of their friend group. What could be more brotherly?

** In this context it’s interesting that Eddie is also the teacher of the group in the educational videos. It suits him, since he’s easily the smartest character, but we also know that he’s a venal know-it-all in other contexts. It’s an entertaining choice for a teacher character to have those character flaws, especially since he retains his strutting mannerisms in teacher mode.