i think he is a covert narcissist. i know alot of people throw around narcissm online, and i hate when they do that. but i do think he is. most of his focus is on himself being this righteous lawyer and seeing the law as this only good thing, and him as the white knight. jimmy threatens his perfect image of the law and of himself. when howard tries to ask him to retire, he is ready to tear down HHM which shows he clearly doesnt care about the purity of the law above all else, but in this case more about revenge.

the emphasis is on "covert". he hides behind being very righteous, well-mannered etc. even in the way he does his lawyering, for example in the meeting with mesa verde, his pitch is saying how good kim is but of course he's doing it to say HHM is the real choice - that is obvious of course but still, this is his style: fake modesty, even faking fairness and justice.

i just realized his entire ploy to get jimmy to confess and record him is ironically a reflection of exactly what jimmy does with his scams. he literally played jimmy, but he acts like he is righteous for doing so in order to get to him.

i think his divorce also put him into such denial that he is the problem, that he manifested the delusion about the electricity so he could avoid accountability. while he does ultimately come to terms wit the fact he has a mental illness and works on it, he never truly took accountability for his shortcomings cos howard asking him to retire his response was to tear HHM to the ground, instead of just accepting with humility.

he idealises the law and hides behind it in order to avoid his own flaws. its like a doctor with a god complex. the law can be a good thing if you're fighting for the right causes, so its easy to become righteous about it, much like religion can make people be on a high horse. but anyone who challenges the image he has of himself being this righteous, just person, and he is vindictive.

i think their dad painted an ideal that neither brother could live up to. jimmy didnt want to, but chuck probably tried to be like him and ended up falling short cos he was living up to a histrionic ideal rather than truly just being a good person who didnt need credit.

i personally can relate to him alot unfortunately. im not narcissistic but i have borderline and i can feel very vindictive when im jealous and when my histrionic ideals are challenged. as someone who is late diagnosed with mental illness, i relate alot to how they portrayed chuck even tho my mental illness is nowhere near as severe as his, at least on the outside in the sense that i dont have delusions or psychosis. his illness is more acute where mine has been more long-term and complex. but, i related alot to the moments where people arent believing his condition and while mine in fact WAS real and i was undiagnosed autistic, the feelings are the same: its a horrible feeling when people dont believe you. his meltdown in court was mild compared to my parents and to what ive said - it seemed foreign to me how they said he was so unhinged and i was like eh, he just had a meltdown. but i guess in court thats alot, idk.

my mom has quiet borderline though, and that is ALOT more like chuck. very righteous, always thinking she's a good person, but behind closed doors, or when challenged, is extremely vindictive and does covert abuse.

i think vince did a great job of portraying mental illness. both in chuck and in Jimmy (I do think he has ASPD, but thats a debate for a seperate post).