Thank you guys for everything you do! aLBoP is made worthwhile by you guys, and we seriously couldn’t ask for better friends than the ones we’ve found through this amazing journey

See the original video here.

Music credits:
Locally Sourced – Jason Farnham
Sunny – Bensound.com
Dance – Bensound.com
Pop Danthology 2012 – Daniel Kim
Funny Song – Bensound.com
Ukelele – Bensound.com
Clap and Yell – Bensound.com

The post Bloopers Video to Celebrate 4 Years of aLBoP! appeared first on A Little Bit of Personality.

All the typings and observations in this post are based on definitions and information presented in the aLBoP Guided Tour So if any of it bugs you, please go read that before leaving me a grumpy comment… Or, you know what?  Let’s just skip the grumpy comments!  Have a nice day! <3

INTJ
The Dragon

“I seek the means to fight injustice;
to turn fear against those who prey upon the fearful.”
Bruce Wayne, Batman Begins

The INTJ Dragon is the dynamic facilitator of the world as it might be.  Backed by the unyielding efficacy of universal principles and the useful plans of action which proceed from them, the Dragon knows just how to shape large-scale trends with penetrating accuracy.  Majestic and surprising, these titans excel at unleashing the world’s untapped potential.

With big, wide eyes for Principles and the use of what could be, young INTJs immediately see a special world, not immediately visible to most; a world of complete, interworking elegance, where anything you imagine *can* be accomplished, the only limit being on how much you know and understand the world and its trends.  So, from a very young age, little INTJs will be bursting to know about how things always work, trying to extend the borders of their capacity to do and change.

Complex little things, with a depth of desires and goals that usually extends beyond what their years and size might let on, young INTJs are usually quite varied, and often the same little INTJ will be vastly different depending on their surroundings, with the same INTJ alternating from silly and effusive in a situation where they feel comfortable, to withdrawn and closed down in a situation where they feel like their hidden depths are undesired or unsafe.

With their feelings and motives late in their cognitive process giving ITJs a natural inclination to cloak and protect their feelings, and with very little patience for shallow interactions and associations, it might be hard to tell what’s going on inside a mini INTJ (or a full-sized one).  And with INTJ’s Type Specialization of discovering and accomplishing the unused potential of what the world can be, little INTJs can often be accused of not caring about the needs or social desires of others, with extreme examples of young INTJs being called “heartless” or “monsters” for not wearing their vaulted hearts on their sleeves.

In a culture where status-quo is god, where the ability to keep one’s life from changing unexpectedly is lauded as the pinnacle of safety and responsibility, INTJ’s natural desire and ability to bloom change on an epic scale is often deemed immensely frightening… which leads to the ever-present portrayal of INTJs as villains in media (and regurgitated stereotypes >:C ).

When society treats INTJs like villains for a desire to shape and change the world into the beautiful thing they can imagine, a little INTJ can quickly become disheartened as their experiences with individuals (their last and most vulnerable cognitive step) teach them that their desires are too forceful, to ambitious, too idealistic, and too isolated.

For all cognitions, our last steps are our greatest struggle, leading to our Type Angsts.  For INTJs, this means that all their frustration and self-disappointment with feeling like their motives aren’t stable and reliable enough, as well as feeling lost about what motivates others, gets interpreted within INTJs as a deep, core fear that everything is their fault.

Used to being able to line up their plans as the natural continuation of Principles, and follow through to make things happen, INTJs naturally end up fearing that if something went wrong on the way to the ideal of what could be, that it could have been avoided had they personally done something different.  If only they had been faster, stronger, better, cared more, not trusted individuals so much… been in control of themselves and everything they touched, then things would have just gone right, and safe and like they were supposed to.  We call this deeply embedded fear and the ways INTJs cope with it, Anakin Angst.

These fears and interactions give an INTJ three choices.

The first is to react to Anakin Angst by insisting that they truly *can* be in control of everything, that they can make the world they imagine… if they just go around everyone who is getting in their way.  Often with resentment of those who do not grasp their vision, these first choice INTJs will be undeniably driven to accomplish the feats they know are within their reach, if they just push the limits a little farther.

But these INTJs are also likely to pull inward, shutting down to people, who just start looking like a liability in the way of what needs to be accomplished.  And since other people have wills of their own, this clenching INTJ is likely not to be able to just go around everyone.  In the pursuit of their own visions, this INTJ can easily end up stepping on the visions and Type Specializations of others, adopting an attitude, perhaps without even meaning to, that others’ ambitions, desires and wills must be of less use, if they can’t see what needs to be done to achieve the giant end goal.  When INTJs consider others’ desires to be subservient to the big picture, they can end up trying to force others’ wills, often even becoming an example of the very thing they wanted to fight in the first place.

But INTJs who insist on pursuing their visions without regard to the people around them will find their destination cold, lifeless and alone, lacking the brightness of other points of view and wills going in their very own directions.  A world without perspective from every direction, and every Type of Information and Objective represented, won’t have either the use or meaning it needs, and that’s hardly the smooth-running utopia that an INTJ may picture.

The second option INTJs have, is to defer to those who insist their ambitious hopes for the world are just too drastic, dramatic and long-sighted, and so they temper their own goals to fit the expectations of those around them.  Surely, they think, their vision of the future is as dangerous and inconsiderate as it is portrayed.  Surely they should let others, with safer intentions, protect individuals from their damaging objectives.  And so the INTJ tries to put away the planetarium of their minds in favor of following the path that is already set, or risk the possibility of breaking the world the ones they love, love.

The ironic thing is that these second-option INTJs often end up afraid and withdrawn from the very people they hoped to protect and care for, assured that their intentions are something that they need to keep away from others, or end up hurting them in the process.  And in addition, as they grow deflated about others’ opinions of their motives and intents, this INTJ is likely to feel unwanted and close off their secret heart from others.

But an INTJ who has halted the pursuit of the potential they envision will inevitably end up discovering that trying to quarantine their true desires doesn’t actually end up keeping the ones they love from harm.  Meanwhile, their ability to make good in the world is tragically minimized as they refuse to stand and live up to their own personal power.

However, the INTJ story need not have a dark ending.  Despite what INTJs may fear when the path seems lone to carry out ideals that some would never think to expect, their designs and ambitions are wanted and desired by individuals who love the inspiring might that healthy INTJs bring with them.

If this third INTJ turns to those who can ground them in the meaning and worth of individuals, including themselves, they will be able to gather the strength to reject the negative image that many would give them of their own character.  And as INTJs learn to love the person they are, by listening to those who truly see them and know their hidden depths, then their visions are given the perspective of hope.  And an INTJ with true hope is completely unstoppable.

Because the world needs those who can wield universal principles like cleansing fire, people who are ready to stand and do the hard things in order to protect those who cannot protect themselves, those who can use sweeping trends like wings to further grand plans; in short, the world needs INTJ Dragons.

The INTJ Dragon is found often and memorably throughout fiction.  Whether it’s as the fearless mentor and leader who isn’t afraid to push their protégés to their limits, the child with power and secrets that even they themselves do not understand, the scholar who has more adventure in them than might first meet the eye, or yes, even the villain who is always one step ahead of the heroes—the Dragon is always there with their gears turning.

And in fact, even though I usually reserve an examination of the “Dark side” of each Type Hero for the end, it seems with the Dragon I can’t wait that long.  INTJs are so very often cast as villains, to the point that it’s joke worthy, that we really can’t go on longer without addressing the fictional fascination with Dark Dragons.

But I think the major reason that INTJs are so often cast as villains in stories, besides fear of the change that INTJ’s Type Specialization brings, is that they really are pretty bad-A at it.  I was nervous to include so many villainous examples in this post, as part of my intent in writing The Dragon is to overcome the stereotypes associated with this wonderful cognition… but the thing is, it’s hard *not* to love Dark Dragons.

In a world that often treats power itself like a villainous trait, our sense of archetype finds it refreshing seeing characters who both have and use the power necessary to take the world by storm, shaping it and changing it, letting nothing stand in their way.  How can we not feel a thrill of excitement when these titans come on the screen or page, their thunderous theme music filling us.

But the lie, I believe, that our culture buys into in this case, is that power itself is the treacherous slope that has brought these leviathans down their dark paths.  As our true heroic Dragons show us, power used to protect, nourish and empower the individual wills of others, as opposed to subverting them, is something we desperately need more of.

I found it fascinating to realize how often within the same piece of fiction, both the teaching mentor and the villain would be written as INTJ.  Dumbledore versus Voldemort, Professor Charles Xavier versus Magneto, Nick Fury versus Loki, Elrond versus Sauron; over and over again, the author gives both the student-protagonists and ourselves the prospect of two potential worlds, given voice by two powerful INTJs who can imagine very different scenarios of how the world could be.

But our mentor INTJ has been to the edge, they’ve seen the slippery slope of power, and realized that the rise and fall of every civilization has one thing in common: its people.  A Dragon who has been to the other side of Anakin angst and is ready to lead others to the magnificent world they can imagine, realizes that they’ll never get there without individuals to back them up, fuel their way, and show them that what brings their world color, is the people in it.

Like all IJs, INTJs feel like “if I don’t do it, no one will,” and as the most future-oriented of the most zoomed-out types (NT, IJ), the Dragon is enduring, patient, and calculatingly meticulous, toward the larger end goals they’re trying to achieve.  But when not left alone, the Dragon can be an immense friend.

While they might have to go out of their way to show just how much they care, Dragons love people quite deeply, especially those who have shown integrity and a lasting appreciation of the principles they hold the dearest.  And though they might not expect to find those who will truly love, respect and see them for who they really are, the Dragon is likely to latch onto such people like the ray of brightest hope they could imagine.  Always paradoxically both complicated and straightforward, with a deep-seated seriousness, and yet with a childlike understanding of people, the Dragon is likely to catch you off guard with unexpected humor that’s remarkably true and yet not what others would be thinking about.

Dragon or Dark Dragon, INTJs are sure to be able to take the world by storm, but with people who can anchor them in hope and perspective, nothing can get in the way of a healthy Dragon on their way to make the world better.

Examples:
Male: Sherlock, BBC’s Sherlock
Female: Eleven, Stranger Things
Villain: Loki, Thor and The Avengers

Who are the Type Heroes?  Read the intro here, and stay tuned to meet them all!

Want more information on INTJ, the Dragon?  Read their Cognitive Orientation Guidebook here.

Author’s note – 2/17/17: This post is the 9th in the Type Heroes series, but the first in several years.  Part of the reason it took me so long to come back to this series, even though it is by far the most requested, is because I’ve learned so much in the nearly four years of creating aLBoP (and I learn new things all the time) and I want to do justice to all the beautiful complexity that I’ve learned about each of the cognitive types over the years!  I wish I could just go back immediately and update the previous 8 Type Heroes to the level of detail and nuance that I’ve been able to pour into this one, but that would really clog up my ability to produce new content, especially since 7 types are still desperately waiting for any version of their Type Hero!

But my hope and plan is to finish out the last of the Type Heroes (cue The Last of the Mohicans music in my head) with this degree of balance and depth, and *then* return to update and improve the previous 8 Type Heroes to my new standards, collages included most likely.  So if you’re thinking “Hey!!  Why does INTJ get the oh-so-special treatment??!?!” it’s just because it’s the first in the New and Improved Type Heroes!  Super excited for all to come, and hoping it’ll show everyone all the better that anyone can be a hero. <3

The post Type Heroes: INTJ – The Dragon appeared first on A Little Bit of Personality.

All the typings and observations in this post are based on definitions and information presented in the aLBoP Guided Tour So if any of it bugs you, please go read that before leaving me a grumpy comment… Or, you know what?  Let’s just skip the grumpy comments!  Have a nice day! <3

ESFJ
The Cavalry

“No one dressed by me ever looks like an idiot.”
Alice Cullen, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn novel

The ESFJ Cavalry is the paragon of group experience, intent on ensuring that all involved have the best experience, and that they personally get to experience the group.  They shine as the bright beacon of action-example, a lighthouse of what to be and do.  Open, warm, in-the-moment and upfront, the Cavalry is a perfect blend of party and poise; an ongoing paradox of sensible bounce, colorful pragmatism, and gentle snark.  To any group they choose to share their love with, the ESFJ Cavalry brings a fantastic *pop!*

Young ESFJs, centered on their family, teachers, etc. as their “culture” and group, love to be obedient, very happy to experience life with the people they love.  Happy to do what makes others happy, an ESFJ may even look EP from the outside; bubbly and happily going-with-the-flow with those they care about.  But even young ESFJs are very aware of how their actions affect consequences in the form of what others think of them, and the pull to follow friends, fads and culture comes young for a little ESFJ.  So the ESFJ has three choices, the most commonly chosen being a combination of the first two choices (the same is true of most types), since the third choice is in opposition to the other two.

ESFJs love to be and set the example for their group.  Though that desire isn’t intrinsically a bad thing, it’s that desire to set the standard of what is the *most normal* that provides all three of their choices.

ESFJs’ first option is to focus on being the *most* normal  An ESFJ taking this first path will desire to be *more* normal than others, to the point of finding themselves of more *worth* than others.  An ESFJ who gets more intent on having the crowd follow them, than on the people in the crowd, can end up self-centered and entitled, and yet constantly in need of the approval of others.  In the end, people following the lead of this first-path ESFJ will be short-lived, either because they’ll end up disliking the ESFJs’ self-centered attitude, or because they’ll want followers of their own and tear the ESFJ down at the first sign of weakness.  In either case, this ESFJ will end up without real friends or real meaning in their lives.

ESFJs’ second option is to focus on being the most *normal* (emphasis important).  An ESFJ who gets caught up in pleasing their group or culture, be it friends, family or faction, will find it all too easy to start sacrificing who they really are in the name of being liked.  Especially in a culture that wants nothing more than looking on the surface at the expense of anything real, an ESFJ can quickly fall into a pattern of trying to look like their culture’s picture of perfect, while neglecting anything real or genuine, encouraging others to do the same.

Both these first options leave the ESFJ feeling fake, shallow and in constant need of approval to feel valid, becoming just an insincere shell who has to suppress their real, magnificent self in order to look like what others want them to be.

But when an ESFJ instead redefines “normal”–when they defy the crappy parts of culture, even defying their friends if need be, stand up and say, “Being real is the new cool!”–an ESFJ becomes a powerful example and influence for good in the world, showing others how to be heroic, meaningful and happy, leading the charge and making life matter, making their own culture instead of following someone else’s.  This is the ESFJ Cavalry.

Though their interests may vary, the ESFJ Cavalry, always aware of the desires and needs of others, is often found in fiction as the perfect host or hostess, super-mom, or as an ahead-of-the-crowd trendsetter.  They combine the parentalness of the ENFJ Veteran, the force of will of the ESTJ Cannon and the bouncy color of the ESFP Morale Officer into a bright, warm, headstrong package.  They’re excellent at bringing together fun, savoir-faire and precision to help everyone have a great experience. With an Extraverted people-awareness to help them understand the needs and desires of others, a Sensor strength of being aware of the moment as they’re in it, an EFJ focus on the meaning behind actions, and a Judger talent for plans to put it all into motion, the ESFJ Cavalry is fantastic at making things memorable, seeing that everyone is taken care of, and that nobody is left out.

With the tendency to bowl ahead and a main weakness in data and conclusions, and yet with an earnest desire to be taken seriously, all EJs have different fears centered around, “No one will listen to me because I’m too ______.”  For the ENFJ Veteran (because I failed to mention it in their post), it’s a fear that, “My good intentions and trying to change people’s lives will never matter because I’m too nice, soft, etc.”  They inaccurately fear that they’re too weak to effect change… and so they feel like bad choices won’t matter either, so Faramir Dilemma seems to them to be about friends rather than consequences.

Similarly, the ESFJ Cavalry fears that, “I’ll never be truly smart, or anything above mediocre, so normal is the best I can hope for.”  They inaccurately fear that there is no reason to try to be anything more than the best at being average, not realizing that they bring special things to the table of heroism, and that they don’t have to think like other types in order to be a unique type of brilliant.

While the Cavalry is great at planning, they tend to prefer the day-to-day and in-the-moment plans as they relate to people, rather than worrying about the world as a whole, like an IJ does.  They’re happy to help shepherd their group to wherever they’re going, but they tend to care more about the progress and methods used to meet goals rather than the long-term goals themselves.  Whether it’s help looking **fabulous**, following protocol, making spinach puffs or sharing a “cuppa,” a healthy ESFJ is usually there at the ready with their own special way of helping their friends to shine at their best.

An ESFJ turns villainous when they no longer care about how their actions hurt people or when they don’t care that the group or culture they uphold is damaging people right in front of them.  The Dark Cavalry can demonstrate as a self-centered d-bag with cronies or fans, or some variation of a Stepford Smiler–be it a creepy housewife variety, an evil celebrity, or a cheerfully humming robot you’d be willing waste your precious shotgun ammo on, even when you’ve been using it on zombie-like aberrations (no, of course I’m not referring to anyone in particular…).  All just twisted versions of the Cavalry’s innate strengths of warm sociality.

How can an ESFJ be sure they’re doing it right, being the example of what to do and not what *not* to do?  By being real.  By not pretending everything is okay when it’s not, by caring about people even when they’re not following the plan, by being genuine, even when things aren’t perfect.  That’s how the ESFJ Cavalry can be sure to be the shining star of experience, rather than a hollow shell of vanity.

Cavalry or Dark Cavalry, a strong ESFJ is sure to be a powerful influence in the lives of others, compellingly and charismatically setting the standard of culture.

Examples:
Male:  Link Larkin, Hairspray
Female:  Rarity, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Villain:  Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter

Who are the Type Heroes?  Read the intro here, and stay tuned to meet them all!

Want more information on ESFJ, the Cavalry?  Read their Cognitive Orientation Guidebook here.

The post Type Heroes: ESFJ – The Cavalry appeared first on A Little Bit of Personality.

I hope you really wanted that reply you asked for, Match

Intro and Principles of Typing 

Okay, important things first: Match is a really cool name!  Can I just say that?

Also, I’m *so* happy you’re enjoying the blog!  The things you said about Hercules Syndrome and the stick figure post make me feel giddy  This is exactly why I write and it thrills me to know it’s working and that I’m touching individual people.  That’s really my purpose as an ENTP, helping people see their own individual potential and know how to reach for it; helping people be awesome in their own unique ways

You brought up really excellent points about those individual characters.  I also *loved* what you said about people making personality typing about cut-and-paste horoscopes!  I couldn’t agree more.  I think the one principle I’d like to bring up before going into specific character typings is that, while you’re obviously looking past the surface of types and I can tell you don’t type shallowly at all, it’s important to remember that personality types are a measure of the way a person *thinks* which ends up resulting in their actions, but *isn’t* their actions.  I know you know that principle, but it’s easy to forget that when other people are judging by the surface.  It’s easy to forget that two people may make the *exact same* decision for *entirely* different reasons.  Make sense?

So when I type a person, I look at the way a person talks *in conjunction* with the way they act, making sure to include the way they’re *trying* to come off.  Often the way a person talks is a better barometer of their personality type than their actions, in a way even they don’t usually realize.  One of the main ways in which people oversimplify characters and personality types is by only taking into account a person’s actions or the way they act on the surface, and not taking their reasoning behind it into account.

{Side-note: This is the way I type, as an ENTP, with my primary focus being Character Observation, but my INFJ is excellent at typing people too, he just uses his primary focus of Principles to see *in principle* what a person is.  Hard to explain, but it works.  It’s addressing the same problem from opposite angles, but it works.}

But it’s amazing as you listen to a person talk, the subtle things that come out about the way they think.  For example, a lot of people tell me they’re INFJs who I’m pretty sure are not, but with you, from your one comment (albeit a long comment ) I can tell you are.  You talk in principles leading to actions in the form of concepts (N) rather than experiences (S) according to their meaning (F) rather than their usefulness (T), though by the time you get to the details stage, you focus on use (T).  There are other indicators too, but anyway

With characters it can sometimes be easier than real people because you more often get to see them as a whole.

Captain America and Peter Burke — The Dependable Side of INFJ and What Makes Characters *POP*

Okay, let’s start with Captain America/Steve Rogers and Peter Burke of White Collar, because they’re similarly dutiful, generally rule-following and with an old-fashioned sense of right, wrong and justice.  So they look pretty ISJ, right?  We’d expect the characters in these types of roles—that of Patriotic Poster-Boy and successful FBI agent—to be very sensing oriented, focusing on the value of things already experienced rather than on the conceptual of what could be.

And yet it’s how *unexpected* these characters are, that makes us love them.  It’s the choices they make and the way they react to things in a way that other people might not that really makes them *POP*.  This is an archetype found all throughout fiction (and I think in the real world too); take a role, a position, etc. that you would usually expect to be filled by a certain type of character, and throw in just a little surprise in personality that totally makes the character stand out from what we’re used to and expect.  I mentioned this briefly in the Paradoxitype post (which I’m so glad you liked ), the idea of a person being consistent… until they surprise you and *that* is when they really shine.

In the movie of Captain America, the reason Steve Rogers is chosen for the experiment is because he’s different from the other soldiers.  From the beginning, when he’s a scrawny little guy that won’t give up, Dr. Erskine, the scientist, can see that Steve is special because he has different reasons for wanting to go fight in the same war.  Steve understands what the war *means* and the principles behind it.  He thinks and serves in a very IFJ way, constantly making decisions basing his Step Two of Actions on his auxiliary, Fe, cognition.  Now, thus far, that could totally be a dedicated “Keep Calm and Be There” ISFJ, but Steve keeps taking his reasons back to concepts and is always talking in a sweeping “Keep Calm and I’ll Show You How to Fly” INFJ type way.  His unexpected jokes, everything that makes Steve the lovable unexpected character he is, comes from how much we *don’t* expect an Ni dom to be in a role like that.  Because we’re expecting a dependable, linear ISJ in a role like that, Captain America *POPS*.

Peter Burke too, we’d expect to be the stereotypical hard-lining ISTJ, and we can tell that the FBI makes him feel like he *should* be an ST, but it’s the way he reacts to Neal that really makes his NF shine.  Over and over again, when we expect him to take the tried-and-true method with Neal… he just doesn’t.  He believes in Neal and trusts him for what Neal *means*, what he sees in principle that Neal can be, if he’ll only let himself.  For an ENTP suffering from severe Megamind Complex, the one thing Neal needs most of all is for someone to believe in him, to trust that he could be a good person and to see past his cavalier facade.  The only reason Peter agrees to Neal’s release-scheme in the first place was because Neal had impressed him as a good person and because he saw potential in Neal in a very NF way.  If Peter was instead the expected, rule abiding hard-liner, with the show consisting of Neal trying something against the rules repeatedly and Peter saying “No, no, no!” over and over again, that would get old fast.  It’s the way that Peter constantly adapts with Neal that gets Peter in trouble with other, more rigid agents, and yet makes he and Neal into such a great team.  With Neal, with Elizabeth, with Mozzi and in all his own plans, it’s Peter’s NF that makes him *POP*.

Now, I’m certainly *not* saying, for anyone wondering by this point, that INFJs are the only ones that *POP*.  On the contrary, the main reason beloved characters are beloved is because they’re at least in some way unexpected.  Match, you said you loved my ISFJ examples because people stereotype them as only being good at being housewives or butlers.    In that vein, one of my *favorite* ISFJ characters *ever* is Master Chief from the Halo video game series.  He has that unexpected *POP* because they treat him like he should be such a machine, either following an ISTJ protocol or being some kind of extreme-sports ESTP having fun bashing in alien heads (maybe like quite a bit of the player-base?) but he brings such down-to-earth worldwide *meaning* to everything he does, even if even Cortana can’t see it sometimes.  Any personality type can *POP*, it’s the way that they surprise you that makes you see what they truly are.

Harry Potter and Frodo Baggins — Hercules Syndrome and What Makes a Hero

With both Harry Potter and Frodo, you brought up the question of being Fi doms, and they are very similar characters.  The young, inexperienced pupil charged with the task of saving the world against impossible odds, chosen by darkness (either the dark lord or the dark ring) to be the figurehead of the side of good… kind of against their will.  While that description could cover a lot of protagonists, of several different personality types, to me it’s Harry and Frodo’s Hercules Syndrome that makes them so perfect for the tasks.

Hercules Syndrome is a funny thing.  INFJs are one of the only types where their main weakness is also one of their main strengths… and that’s why everyone hates them!  jk… but seriously… Not thinking they’re very special and feeling guilty for their strengths is one of the main reasons INFJs are so often resented.  They’re just so obviously good naturally (though obviously that’s still a choice), and yet they’re usually the only ones that don’t realize it.  People think of it like skinny girls who say they’re so fat  And yet, that’s not the way INFJs think.  They’re not *trying* to say “Oh look at me, I’m so good, you should acknowledge it!”  They’re just being themselves and where their brains naturally go makes them constantly go, “Oh, crap!  I was shining too much again, wasn’t I?”

In fact, if you come across a person whose attitude is “I’m so great because I’m a mighty and wise INFJ,” they *aren’t*.  INFJs never function that way, even the villains.  I get very sick of the all too common stereotypes that INFJs are either wimpy philosophizing daisies or *the* best type whom everyone claims to be.  INFJs have the most zoomed-out focus which is specialized in its own sweeping way.  Each type has their special, equal place and that is INFJs’.  It would be stupid if an ESTP for example (because it’s opposite) gave up their unique specialization of individuality because they thought it was better/more widely accepted/wiser/cleverer to be an INFJ and focus on how meaning applies to the world as a whole.  Be your own type, people, because you *suck!* at the others, and it’s not *YOU!*

Ahem.  That was a soapbox and not directed at you, Match, so excuse me.  I’ve seen a lot of people lately who are all too excited to claim INFJ because they think it makes them better.  They are therefore not INFJs, end of story.

While some days we facepalm and say “Oh Harry, don’t do that!” Harry Potter’s constant desire to just be normal like everybody else is just one of the special things about him that makes him perfect for the task of taking down He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named  He shrugs off the things that make him special, not wanting the attention and as Dumbledore says (more on him later), Harry just doesn’t realize how unique he is.  Harry has a conceptual principles focus (INJ) with a major weakness in character judgment, leading to trouble separating bad actions of people like Snape and even his ESTP father, from their much better intentions.  He focuses so much on the meaning and principles at stake that he has difficulty seeing how people could cause that much damage without being badly intentioned.  My INFJ facepalms over Harry’s treatment of Draco Malfoy because a more grown-up INFJ would be able to gain Draco’s respect rather than making an instant enemy.  But all Harry sees early on is that he’s standing up against what Draco stands for, and standing up for his friends in principle.

Harry is always standing up for somebody, always feeling the need to save somebody, even when people make fun of him for it.  He exemplifies the IJ, “If I don’t do it, no one else will,” whether it’s destroying Voldemort, saving people from the bottom of a lake or teaching everyone defense against the dark arts.  I’ve seen Harry typed several places as an ISFP, but I think this may come from a misunderstanding of S/N.  Harry talks very conceptually, abstractly and pays massive attention to overarching principles at work in the world.  I’m curious why they thought of him as an S?

[source]

I love this drawing by Tealin, parodying the last scene of Fellowship of the ring with Harry, Ron and Hermione.  It brings out a similarity between Harry and Frodo that to me is just so INFJ: that of INFJs’ learned understanding that they have to complete their quests alone, lest they bring their friends down with them and submit them to the pain and anguish that Hercules Syndrome tells the INFJ is their fault.  I mentioned this in The Personalities of Marble Hornets with Jay, and you find it all throughout fiction with INFJs.  INFJs embracing being the Paladin need a strong support-structure of other types, willing to stand up, give them a gentle slap on the face and say, “Heck no, I’m not letting you go to Mordor alone!  I’m choosing to come along so let me carry the lembas already.”

As far as Frodo goes, in both the books and the films (granted, this is coming from an obsession with the extended films, only reading half of Fellowship, playing LotRO, and being married to a big Tolkien nerd INFJ who likes to go off about the meaning in LoTR ) it seems to me that what sets him apart so often from the other hobbits, including Sam, Merry and Pippin whom I love, is that the other hobbits seem so much more in the moment in an either S (Sam and Pippin) or EJ (Merry) way.  But Frodo is always thinking of the bigger picture, the bigger task; focusing near the beginning on Gandalf and what the quest means to him, and gradually getting a greater understanding of the grave mission he’s been sent on.

I’m bothered by the way many people react to the difference in Frodo and Sam’s roles in LoTR.  I’ve often read people say straight out that Sam was the “real hero” of LoTR.  There’s a statement I think Tolkien would take issue with.  To look at Frodo, the ring-bearer, carrying a burden that ripped him apart from the inside and almost destroyed everything he was, who had the vision, bravery and resolve of character to get the ring all the way to Mordor and not let the carrying of Sauron’s horcrux take him over, and not recognize him as one of the noblest of heroes shows a great lack of understanding of the power of evil and forgets that though Frodo makes it look easy, it wasn’t.  Which isn’t to say that Sam was any less heroic or essential to the quest.  There are so many times that Frodo wouldn’t have made it if not for Sam.  But I think too many people forget that Sam *wouldn’t* have gotten there without Frodo.  I don’t understand the need to make it a competition, when Frodo and Sam obviously understood their need for each other.  They have a fantastically healthy masculine relationship and one that I think is found often with INFJs and ISFJs.  INFJs are focused on the meaning of the overall quest as a whole, functioning like admirals or generals behind the scenes, and ISFJs are focused on meaning applied on the ground and function like captains dedicated to the protection and welfare of their troops.  With Frodo and Sam it’s no different; Frodo’s job is to get the ring to Mordor; Sam’s job is to get him there.  Sam doesn’t resent that, why should anyone else?

Here is a quote from the end of The Return of the King (novel) that demonstrates how INFJ Frodo talks, in sweeping conceptual, focusing on the meaning that is the cause of events, and demonstrates his character:

“I tried to save the Shire, and it has been saved, but not for me. It must often be so, Sam, when things are in danger: some one has to give them up, lose them, so that others may keep them…and you will read things out of the Red Book, and keep alive the memory of the age that is gone, so that people will remember the Great Danger, and so love their beloved land all the more. And that will keep you as busy and as happy as anyone can be, as long as your part in the Story goes on.”

Even before we really began studying personality typing in-depth, my INFJ would love to talk about how Frodo, Aragorn and Gandalf were all the same character at different stages of their development.  I think that’s brilliant.  Aragorn is obviously so much more developed as an INFJ than Frodo, and Gandalf so much more than he is, but they all have that same focus of world meaning.

Aragorn is much farther along in his internal development in the novels than in the movies; his internal struggle with overcoming his Hercules Syndrome and growing ready to take his place and return as the king has already taken place by the time of the books.  I understand Tolkien’s reasoning for this and I think he did it phenomenally, but I also understand and love the reasoning behind Peter Jackson (and Co)’s decision to make Aragorn a hero still in progress.  To quote my own novel with an INFJ protagonist, “’So often, as people we see princes and we see kings and we forget that there is anything in between.  We forget that princes become kings, boys become men, and that men can become even more than that…  They tell you that you could never [be great] because you’re not already there.’”  Too often we see Gandalf as this towering mentor and hero, out of the potential reach of mere mortals, and yet if we come to understand that he’s just a grown-up Aragorn, who in turn is just a grown-up Frodo, we can see that we too have the potential to become heroes, held back only by our own willingness to sacrifice and shine in our own unique ways.

Ra’s al Ghul and Palpatine, Bruce Wayne and Albus Dumbledore — INFJ Villains and INTJ Heroes…plus Luke Skywalker

You said that your Batman/Ra’s al Ghul argument for typing Bruce as an INFJ and Ra’s as an INTJ was your best, and it was a very well-written argument!  You made a lot of really great points, but I want to bring up several principles in relation to the misunderstanding most people have about how INFJs can be villains and how INTJs can be heroes.

In the Type Heroes series, I always have a section on what each type is like as a villain because I believe each person understanding what kind of villain they could be is an essential part of learning how they can be a hero.  Until you can realize how strong and scary your type can be as a villain, you *will not* realize how powerful you can be as a hero.  And even a villain still cognates the same as his non-dark type brothers and shares the same predominant focus and weaknesses of psyche.  Just like every type brings something special to the heroic table, each type of villain is just as unique and telling.

I think understanding true evil is absolutely necessary for an INFJ, both in trying to overcome their Hercules Syndrome by seeing how evil they could be if they chose to, and in order to truly understand the principles behind evil as they contrast it with the principles of why good *works*.

INFJs focus *above all* on Meaning as it is Applied to the World as a whole, with their conceptual Ni of Principles leading to Actions chosen according to Fe, which tells them the *meaning* of actions outside themselves, rather than the *use* of applied action, the way INTJs do.  Translation in practice?  INFJ villains will see that the world reflects their principles of meaning… no matter who gets in their way.  Where INTJ villains care about putting the world to *use*, desiring ultimate control the way Loki, Darth Vader or Sauron do, an INFJ villain would rather shape the world based on meaning, using the decisions and agency of others to their own gain, rather than trying to literally dominate them.

My INFJ is pretty obsessed with INFJ villains, absolutely loving how unexpected INFJs make villainy *POP* because no one anticipates a mild-mannered INFJ being able to smoothly and calmly rip apart nations… and yet with their understanding of the meaning behind all action, INFJs are perfectly situated to tug on a single thread to unravel the whole thing.  Where an INTJ villain would be happy to glass a community that refused to follow him, an INFJ villain would prefer to sew seeds of rebellion behind the scenes, letting the people and community rip themselves apart from the inside using their own discretion.  Subtle manipulation of a person’s own choices is much more satisfying to a villainous INFJ than simple mind or action control.  I think that sums up Ra’s al Ghul intentions pretty well; he’d rather rip apart either Gotham or Rome through principles like fear, economics and the worthiness or evil of what people mean than he would just take over the city or the world by brute force like, say, Loki wants to.

As a real life example, Adolf Hitler exemplified the traits and motivation of an INFJ villain.  He’s legendary for using the emotions of his people to stir them up and make them believe that his plans were necessary.  In this day and age, too many people imagine Hitler as some sort of dictatorial leader who just made Germany do what he wanted.  While he was able to be more and more obvious about his plans as the war went on, if you watch footage of him, he was incredibly well-spoken and inspirational, causing people who heard his speeches to weep at the picture of Germany and the world that he painted.  He understood how to use people’s sense of nationality and preexisting biases; he understood how to incite youth.  He wouldn’t have been the effective and moving blot on the history of our world if he hadn’t understood how to get others to rip the world apart for him.

Emperor Palpatine is the same, even in the abominable prequels and definitely in CGI The Clone Wars where he shines; he’d prefer to rise to power through the slow manipulation of the system and people’s emotions than to just begin an outright rebellion of the Republic… he has pawns to do that, ones he manipulates just as smoothly as the senate.  And in the originals, he takes a sick and twisted pleasure at using Luke’s emotion against him and triumphs when he’s pitted Luke and Vader against each other.  Just a messed-up way of enjoying the meaning and principles behind the world

On the other side of things, INFJs and INTJs (like all types) can both be heroes and choose good actions, but obviously they have different reasoning and motivations behind those decisions.  Like INFJ villains, what defines and exemplifies an INTJ hero?  Well, of course, because the cognition is the same, it’s similar to what defines an INTJ villain.  Like INFJ heroes and villains focus on the *meaning* behind people and actions and how to apply that meaning into action, INTJ heroes and villains share the trait of focusing on the *use* of people and actions and make plans based on their usefulness rather than their meaning.  This means that INTJs have a tendency to go around people rather than using them, if they aren’t willing to cooperate.  That can mean a villain killing someone in their way, rather than choosing to use that person, or it can mean a hero choosing to be a vigilante if the system isn’t working.

Which brings us to Bruce Wayne.  Yes, he relies on friends, though I don’t think there’s any type that can afford not to.  Yes he’s self-sacrificing, though I think that’s also a trait of any good human being and I make sad faces when anyone tries to imply that Ts can’t be just as willing to give of themselves for the greater good.  We all use all four functions, iNtuition, Sensing, Feeling and Thinking, just in different orders and with different emphases.

Yes, the picture has a typo. -_-

In fact INTJs’ Anakin Angst is their equivalent to Hercules Syndrome, Megamind Complex, Moriarty Fear, etc. because INTJs are *terrified* that everything that goes wrong is their fault.  Somehow, their beautiful and impressive strength of applying Ni principles to the use of Te action makes them feel like if something went wrong or something was out of their control, it was their fault.  If INTJs don’t get a hold of their Anakin Angst, by *letting go* of control, then they are sure to eventually become the very thing they’re trying to keep from hurting the world in the first place.  Though Ra’s al Ghul becomes the thing he at first fought, it’s out of a need to make the world reflect certain meaning rather than trying to make sure that no element of it is out of his control, the way an INTJ would be tempted to.  Anakin Angst is like Indiana Jones (also INTJ) having the hardest time letting the Holy Grail fall into oblivion in Last Crusade because he can *almost* reach it and he knows just what good could be done with it; he almost loses himself the way Elsa does because it’s just so hard to let go of control, knowing the cup will be gone and it’ll be his fault.

In that same way, Bruce being an INTJ puts into perspective how difficult it is for him not to misuse the cell network in Dark Knight and how hard it is for him not to let the Joker manipulate his fear that Gordon “dying” and Rachel being taken were his fault.  He gets all too close to breaking his “don’t kill” policy on Joker because he’s so desperate to have things back in control so he can fix things growing more and more wrong around him.

In some ways Bruce Wayne and Ra’s al Ghuls’ war represents the opposite of the typical INFJ hero/INTJ villain battles.  Usually stories focus on the meaning of people being more valuable than their use; Batman Begins instead focuses on a world that Ra’s wants to discard because it is no longer meaningful, trying to set it on a course toward destruction ripped apart by its own rife meaninglessness, but Bruce debates that it is still of use—though it isn’t yet meaningful, Gotham has the potential to be, if used correctly.

The Dark Knight makes a similar case from a different angle.  Nolan’s Joker, who functions slightly differently than his ENTP cartoon and comic predecessors, sets out to prove, regardless of the reactions he receives from others (which suggests introverted) to Gotham his worldview of how puny and pathetic they are, pretending to be so great and propping up their “stupid” J plans (while he’s so P adaptive) while the world is really entirely chaotic and its only meaning is in realizing how meaningless and pointless it all is.  Man, it’s like being on an internet forum or something  As an unhealthy conceptual, adaptive, self-deciding introvert who primarily focuses on the use of people and things (unhealthy N,P,I,T…INTP) his greatest weakness is the meaning of principles (principles via Fe), and he sets out to prove the area in which he feels the most angry and defensive—his worldview.

As an INTP/INTJ throwdown, the Joker decides to show the world and Batman that principles are all well and good in childrens’ games, but in the real world, the whole thing is pointless and all Bruce’s best efforts for control will never be enough to combat the Joker’s pessimistic, self-justifying worldview that in the end everyone is just a villain (ITs focus on people on the whole being bad).  Now Bruce (also IT, so same pessimistic focus) understands just how bad people can be too and at times fears the Joker is right about Gotham, but he is able to prove the Joker wrong by showing that even when the whole is rotten and festering, it is individuals like him who will take the hit and show that people can rise above a culture of enmity and self-preservation to show what humanity, in principle, can be.  Reminded me of Picard’s constant mantra of the nobility of mankind—INTJ too ;).  Though there are casualties of this humanity war, like Dent, there are still enough good people for humanity to save itself, and Batman is just a symbol of the use humanity still has left.

All-in-all, I think Bruce Wayne’s focus on use over meaning and the pessimism being an IT gives him naturally is what gives Batman its “dark and edgy” feel and makes him *POP* among superheroes in an unique way.

Albus Dumbledore is another interesting example because on the surface he seems so typical-mentor-ish, like an INFJ or an ENFJ.  He’s patient and caring and he likes conceptual principles a lot.  He’s also quirky and goofy in a way that most people would consider F.  However, as we come to learn more about his backstory, we see over and over again that he’s struggled desperately to overcome a need to control and a tendency to go around people rather than to change the way they think.  With all the characters in the story, he focuses on how to best put them to use rather than meaning.  Starting with himself and with everyone including Cornelius Fudge, Snape and even Harry, Dumbledore focuses on their use before their meaning, even as much as it kills him inside to do so with Harry.

Dumbledore is an insanely healthy version of an INTJ, and so therefore has overcome many of its weaknesses, but as we look at the way he was when he was younger, a lot of which we don’t get to see until Deathly Hallows, we can see that his relationship with Grindelwald and Aberforth was one of trying to shape the world into his vision, believing that people would just need to get out of the way to see that accomplished.  The death of his sister woke him up to the damage his excited version of Anakin Angst had caused, making him look at just what he was damaging, trying to shape the world to be of use.

Looking at younger versions of heroes is a good way to type them since they’re more likely to display more of the weaknesses of their type that they may have overcome as they developed.  If we watch Bruce Wayne in the flashbacks in Batman Begins, he doesn’t seem like an undeveloped INFJ with Hercules Syndrome, he’s a d-bag little T (we all have our days ;)) seeking revenge and talking about how Rachel’s system is no longer of use.  This is an amusing trend to me with some young, especially male, INTJs being arrogant little things that grow up to be noble heroes and great mentors.  The quote from my writing, in the Frodo/Harry section is actually by the protagonist’s father and mentor who I used to think was an INFJ too, but then I looked at his already written background which went totally in line with the character and he was an arrogant little d-bag who grew up to be one of my favorite characters and in retrospect is obviously T.

I feel bad throwing Luke Skywalker in at the end of this section, when he probably could have gone with Harry/Frodo or Cap’n/Peter Burke, but he applies to this principle too.  Luke Skywalker is a great example of an *undeveloped* INFJ.  He does focus on the meaning of the world and he’s usually Judging action-oriented to a fault, running ahead to go stand up for somebody, even when it would be better to slow down and consider other options.  If you are looking for what untrained, inexperienced INFJs are like, look no further than Luke Skywalker who can be even more immature than Harry about “But if I don’t save my friends, no one will!”

Superman—Same Character, Different Cognition

I don’t plan on this being a long section, because we’ve covered a lot of principles about INFJs and typing characters in general.  But the tricky thing about me typing Superman is, he’s not always written as the same type.  This happens with lots of characters, especially ones that have lots of different media based on them over the years.  I gave the example of the Joker earlier.  Sherlock Holmes is another great one, with BBC’s Benedict Cumberbatch rendition being INTJ and Robert Downy Jr.’s being ENTP (pretty much everything RDJ touches is ENTP) and their Watsons are ENFP and ISFJ respectively.  Like I said earlier, different cognition patterns may come to the exact same conclusion or action via entirely different cognitive routes.

As far as Superman specifically goes, there are a ton of different versions.  When I got your comment, my INFJ and I were discussing this and he said, “No INFJ would be caught dead saying ‘Truth, justice and the American way.'”  He also added that they wouldn’t limit themselves to something as simple as “the American way” but he’s not sure if he wants me to add that or not and started Hercules Syndroming about how I should add how he does love America so no one would get the wrong impression…  Anyway, that sounds like a more ISFJ thing to say, and we love them for their straightforward nobility… even if it is still a little bit silly as a motto. 

But then why did I put him under INFJ?  Well, I was working under the premise of what Superman means to us as an icon and which versions of him *POP* the most.  What makes Superman work as a character and not as a cardboard cut-out is his humanity in spite of his alienness.  His weaknesses are of an emotional nature, otherwise he’s just a building-leaping, laser vision, strength knows no bounds, flying dude with not a lot of dimension.  Many renditions of Superman are that boring, and it’s been hard for him to gain traction in recent years without having enough conflict to contrast his strength.  A relatable Superman, to me, is the literal personification of Hercules Syndrome, riddled with pain and insecurity about how different he is than the humanity he so desires to fit in with, consumed with guilt over his strength, saving the world even when he’s hated for it.  It’s when Superman hates himself for his powers and has to overcome that anguish that he really shines.

That being said, I can’t give you an example of that kind of Superman.  I don’t know that there isn’t one… I just haven’t seen or read many actual examples of Superman, and in the ones I’ve seen he didn’t seem to be.  Ironically enough, I still haven’t seen the Man of Steel which the picture in the collage was from because after it came out I heard it sucked, but I had written and posted The Paladin and the trailers had gotten me *sooo* excited for an INFJ Superman.  The trailers for Man of Steel portrayed a conflicted Clark Kent who had to hide what he was from the world, even if it meant letting people suffer, because his father believed, probably rightly so, the world wasn’t ready for him yet, that they would despise him for his gifts and how different he was.  That Superman seemed to encapsulate so much of what INFJ means… but since I still haven’t seen the movie, I’m not sure they did that… and from what I’ve heard… they haven’t

Some versions of Superman could very well be ENFJ (though I’ll bet a lot of especially old ones are ISFJ instead), but I’m still pouting that I didn’t get the INFJ Superman that would have brought out the real hero in his super-ness.

When Actors are Different Types than Their Characters

My final thought this time is that, as you probably realize, actors don’t have to be the same type as their characters and so they may put a slightly different character spin on a character than how they’re written, which can make typing a little harder.  Most often characters are played by one-offs or Paradoxitypes, which makes them close, but not exactly of the same cognition as their character…but that’s not a rule or anything.  For example, I tentatively type Chris Evans (Captain America) as an ISFJ, Elijah Wood (Frodo) as an INFP (Robert Pattinson who plays Edward Cullen, too), Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) as ISFP (which is ironic considering), and I’m pretty sure Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) is actually INFJ  Those are based on observation as well as facial typing theorems I’m working on that aren’t even in Beta yet…

I guess my point here is that people have a complex range of emotion and being able to understand others, so just because a person isn’t of the same cognition as a character, doesn’t mean they can’t portray them excellently.  It’s also important to realize that just because we’re a different type than a character, doesn’t mean we can’t apply and relate their experience to ourselves for benefit and learning in our lives

{Update 5-29-14: Though I was absolutely right about actors playing characters who are different types from themselves, facial typing was *veeeery* young when I wrote this post.  Therefore several of these actor’s types are incorrect and should be disregarded until Facial Typing is released and the “Canon” aLBoP typings for these actors comes out  … Although they’re not all wrong.  The INFPs were correct… but Mark Hamill is definitely *not* INFJ, etc. <3 Calise}

Well, as long and insanely drawn out as this was as a response to your comment, Match, I hope it answers your questions as to why I typed these characters the way I did and gave you some insight into my typing process in general.  I’m epically glad you’re enjoying the blog and I’d love to get to know you better and I hope you stick around!!  Thanks so much for commenting; well-thought out comments make my day and make all of this worth it!

<3, Calise Sellers

The post Comment Response: Of INFJs, Principles of Typing and Characters that *POP* appeared first on A Little Bit of Personality.

It’s that time of year again; the time of year when stores put out Halloween decorations ridiculously early and you know their Christmas decorations are just around the corner.  I swear they start marketing this stuff earlier every year.  All the same, if you want an attractive and complex costume for Halloween (or wherever else you might wear a costume) you need time to prepare.  Too many Halloweens I ended up trying to pick something to wear on the 31st and was bummed out when it didn’t come out as planned or no one knew what I was.  While I think it’s worth it to go for the 1% who know what you’re dressed as, you want enough time so that *you* are happy and feel good about yourself.

In that vein, I love the idea of wearing a costume that matches your personality type or Paradoxitype!  For Dragoncon this year, I dressed up as a steampunked version of Meg from Disney’s Hercules, with my INFJ dressed as a hydraulically powered Herc.  We put the cosplays together last minute and had some armor issues.  We didn’t end up getting *any* pictures together, which really bummed me out (though a bunch of strangers have pictures of us, wherever they are ).  imho, they looked better in person, but with our little budget, they came out pretty great.  Rocket-pack Pegasus is my favorite feature, along with Herc’s working arm pumps that pushed air into tubes every time he moved without limiting his range of motion very much.  I’m also insanely proud of my guns, Pain and Panic, which started out as dollar store neon plastic and ended up with a torched steel effect.  It’s the little details that make it special, even if other people never see it.

So, in order to aid you in your own costuming adventures of self-discovery and second-degree glue gun burns, I thought I’d provide you with a list of costume possibilities by personality type.  These will hopefully span a wide variety of fandoms and complexities so that you may be decked out in possibilities and have the ability to tailor one to your own needs!  I am also not above giving personal recommendations if you want to leave me a comment and ask for a suggestion to fit your personal situation and personality, y’know, within reason.  Most of all, I advise you to have fun, be yourself and *own it*, whatever you wear.  Take it from an ENTP, you look a lot less stupid when you roll with it.

INTJ Costume Ideas

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Comic Book Characters:
Batman
Loki, The Avengers
Nick Fury, The Avengers
Charles Xavier, X-Men*
Magneto, X-Men
Phoney Bone, Bone*

Fantasy, Harry Potter and LoTR:
Sauron, Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion
The Witch King of Angmar, LoTR
Elrond, LoTR
Thorin Oakenshield, The Hobbit
Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter
Lord Voldemort, Harry Potter
Jane of the Volturi, Twilight

Sci-Fi and Space Opera:
Dr. Simon Tam, Firefly
Darth Vader, Star Wars
Anakin Skywalker, Star Wars (especially in The Clone Wars cgi series; actually one of the major problems with the prequels is that Anakin doesn’t act INTJ most of the time… but that’s a topic for another day.)
Captain Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation
GLADoS, Portal

TV Shows:
Sherlock, BBC’s Sherlock
Detective Carlton Lassiter, Psych

Disney and Animated:
King Triton, The Little Mermaid
The Beast, Beauty and the Beast
Jane, Return to Neverland*
Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Princess Luna, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Princess Azula, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Lin Bei Fong, Avatar: The Legend of Korra*
Maleficent, Sleeping Beauty
Scar, The Lion King
Captain Hook, Peter Pan
Shifu, Kung Fu Panda
Tigress, Kung Fu Panda

Other Iconic Characters:
Indiana Jones
Mr. Darcy, Pride and Prejudice
Elphaba, Wicked
The Phantom, Phantom of the Opera*

ISTJ Costume Ideas

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Comic Book Characters:
Agent Hill, The Avengers

Fantasy, Harry Potter and LoTR:
Lady Galadriel, LoTR
Professor Minerva McGonagall, Harry Potter
Rosalie Hale, Twilight

Sci-Fi and Space Opera:
Spock, Star Trek
HAL 9000, 2001: A Space Odyssey (Could be very iconic with a black sheet and a red lightbulb :D)
Zoe Washburne, Firefly
Charles Gunn, Angel

TV Shows:
Monica Geller, Friends

Disney and Animated:
Tiana, The Princess and The Frog
Queen Elinor, Pixar’s Brave
Mother Gothel, Tangled
Zazu, The Lion King
Sebastian the crab, The Little Mermaid
Cogsworth, Beauty and the Beast
Frollo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Tenzin, Avatar: The Legend of Korra
Zecora, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Other Iconic Characters:
The Operator, Marble Hornets
Bert, Sesame Street
Sam the Eagle, The Muppets

INFJ Costume Ideas

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Comic Book Characters:
Captain America, The Avengers
Spiderman
Ra’s al Ghul, Batman
Thorn, Bone
Susie Derkins, Calvin and Hobbes

Fantasy, Harry Potter and LoTR:
Harry Potter
Frodo, LoTR
Strider/Aragorn, LoTR
Gandalf, LoTR
Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel
Edward Cullen, Twilight
Aro, Twilight
Wesley, The Princess Bride

Sci-Fi and Space Opera:
Luke Skywalker, Star Wars
Emperor Palpatine, Star Wars
Master Yoda, Star Wars
Revan, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
River Tam, Firefly
Inara Serra, Firefly
Peeta Mellark, The Hunger Games
Wanderer/Wanda, The Host
Sonny, iRobot

TV Shows:
Molly Hooper, BBC’s Sherlock
Pam Beesly, The Office

Disney and Animated:
Cinderella
Rapunzel, Tangled
Hercules
Tarzan
Esmeralda, The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Mufasa, The Lion King
Aang, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Prince Zuko, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Princess Celestia, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Hiccup, How to Train Your Dragon
Nemo, Pixar’s Finding Nemo

ISFJ Costume Ideas

Source

Comic Book Characters:
Hawkeye, The Avengers
Jean Grey, X-Men
Jarvis, Iron Man

Fantasy, Harry Potter and LoTR:
Samwise Gamgee, LoTR
Jasper Hale, Twilight
Victoria, Twilight

Sci-Fi and Space Opera:
Jim Raynor, Starcraft
Master Chief, Halo
The Arbiter, Halo
Optimus Prime, Transformers

TV Shows:
Michael Westen, Burn Notice*
Jack Bauer, 24
Burton Guster, Psych
Detective Inspector Lestrade, BBC’s Sherlock

Disney and Animated:
Nala, The Lion King
Jim Hawkins, Treasure Planet
Woody, Toy Story
The Iron Giant
Jack Skellington, Nightmare Before Christmas
Kim Possible
Prince Eric, The Little Mermaid
Prince Phillip, Sleeping Beauty
The Prince, Snow White
Captain Li Shang, Mulan
Goliath, Gargoyles
Shrek
Suki, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Mako, Avatar: The Legend of Korra
Shining Armor, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Other Iconic Characters:
Kermit the Frog, The Muppets
Will Turner, Pirates of the Caribbean
Christine, The Phantom of the Opera

ENTJ Costume Ideas

Source

Comic Book Characters:
Cyclops, X-Men
Rachel Dawes, The Dark Knight Trilogy

Fantasy, Harry Potter and LoTR:
Eowyn, LoTR
Boromir, LoTR
Hermione Granger, Harry Potter
Buffy Summers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Princess Buttercup, The Princess Bride

Sci-Fi and Space Opera:
Obi Wan Kenobi, Star Wars
Princess Leia Organa, Star Wars
Commander Will Riker, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Bastila Shan, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

TV Shows:
Jessie Spano, Saved By the Bell
Ryan Howard, The Office*

Disney and Animated:
Pocahontas
Tinkerbell, Peter Pan
The Great and Powerful Trixie, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Demona, Gargoyles
Katara, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Anastasia
EVE, Wall-E
Chip, Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers
Blossom, The Powerpuff Girls*

Other Iconic Characters:
Elizabeth Swann, Pirates of the Caribbean

ESTJ Costume Ideas

Source

Comic Book Characters:
Grandma Ben, Bone

Fantasy, Harry Potter and LoTR:
Eomer, LoTR
Dolores Umbridge, Harry Potter

Sci-Fi and Space Opera:
Lieutenant Commander Worf, Star Trek: The Next Generation
HK-47, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Jubal Early, Firefly*

TV Shows:
Topanga Lawrence, Boy Meets World*
Dwight Schrute, The Office*
Mr. Richard Belding, Saved by the Bell

Disney and Animated:
Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story
Helen Parr/Elastigirl, The incredibles
Edna Mode, The Incredibles
Captain Amelia, Treasure Planet
Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Nani Pelekai, Lilo and Stitch*
Yzma, The Emperor’s New Groove
Maximus the Horse, Tangled

ENFJ Costume Ideas

Source

Comic Book Characters:
Storm, X-Men
Pepper Potts, Iron Man
Alfred Pennyworth, The Dark Knight Trilogy
Harvey Dent/Two-Face, The Dark Knight Trilogy*
Hobbes, Calvin and Hobbes

Fantasy, Harry Potter and LoTR:
Legolas, LoTR
Captain Faramir, LoTR
Arwen, LoTR
Carlisle Cullen, Twilight
Remus Lupin, Harry Potter

Sci-Fi and Space Opera:
Martha Jones, Doctor Who
Penny, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

TV Shows:
Kelly Kapowski, Saved By the Bell (90’s ftw!)

Disney and Animated:
Belle, Beauty and the Beast
Princess Aurora, Sleeping Beauty
Kida Nedakh, Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Miss Bianca, The Rescuers
Wendy Darling, Peter Pan
The Blue Fairy, Pinocchio
Princess Odette, The Swan Princess
Anita Radcliffe, 101 Dalmatians
Quasimodo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Rafiki, The Lion King
Mirage, The Incredibles
James P. Sullivan, Monsters Inc.
Uncle Iroh, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Hudson, Gargoyles
Minion, Megamind
Princess Cadance, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Lady Tremaine, the Wicked Stepmother, Cinderella

Other Iconic Characters:
Sister Encarnacion, Nacho Libre

ESFJ Costume Ideas

Source

Fantasy, Harry Potter and LoTR:
Molly Weasley, Harry Potter
Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter
Gilderoy Lockhart, Harry Potter
Nearly-Headless Nick, Harry Potter
Rita Skeeter, Harry Potter*
Lavender Brown, Harry Potter
Cornelius Fudge, Harry Potter*
Alice Cullen, Twilight

Sci-Fi and Space Opera:
C-3PO, Star Wars
343 Guilty Spark, Halo
Effie Trinket, The Hunger Games

TV Shows:
Mrs. Hudson, BBC’s Sherlock
Rachel Green, Friends
Janice, Friends
Lisa Turtle, Saved by the Bell

Disney and Animated:
Princess Jasmine, Aladdin
Mrs. Potts, Beauty and the Beast
Minnie Mouse
Charlotte La Bouff, The Princess and the Frog
Metro Man, Megamind
Flo, Pixar’s Cars
Celia, Pixar’s Monsters Inc.
Bomb Voyage, Pixar’s The Incredibles
Kronk, The Emperor’s New Groove
Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchio
Prince Charming, Shrek
Rarity, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Other Iconic Characters:
Barbie
Miss Piggy, The Muppets
Glinda, Wicked
Link Larkin, Hairspray
Edna Turnblad, Hairspray
Raoul, The Phantom of the Opera

INTP Costume Ideas

Source

Comic Book Characters:
The Joker, The Dark Knight

Fantasy, Harry Potter and LoTR:
Vizzini, The Princess Bride
Arthur Weasley, Harry Potter

Sci-Fi and Space Opera:
Dr. Leonard McCoy, Star Trek
Willow Rosenberg, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

TV Shows:
Jim Moriarty, BBC’s Sherlock
Toby Ziegler, The West Wing
Mozzi, White Collar
Dr. Ross Geller, Friends

Disney and Animated:
Jane Porter, Tarzan
Milo Thatcher, Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Roger Radcliffe, 101 Dalmatians
Maurice, Beauty and the Beast
Marlin, Pixar’s Finding Nemo
Syndrome, The Incredibles
Megavolt, Darkwing Duck
Bernard, The Rescuers
Gadget Hackwrench, Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers
Ferb Fletcher, Phineas and Ferb*
John Darling, Peter Pan*

Other Iconic Characters:
Dr. Henry Jones Sr., Indiana Jones
Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, The Muppets
Telly Monster, Sesame Street

ISTP Costume Ideas

Source

Comic Book Characters:
Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, The Avengers
Wolverine, X-Men

Fantasy, Harry Potter and LoTR:
Smeagol/Gollum, LoTR
Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter
Severus Snape, Harry Potter
Bella Swan, Twilight
Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride

Sci-Fi and Space Opera:
Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games
Shepherd Book, Firefly
The Ninth Doctor, Doctor Who
Asoka Tano, Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Asajj Ventress, Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Sarah Kerrigan, Starcraft
Marvin, the Paranoid Android, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

TV Shows:
Dr. Gregory House, House M.D.

Disney and Animated:
Princess Merida, Pixar’s Brave
Violet Parr, The Incredibles
Shego, Kim Possible
Buttercup, The Powerpuff Girls
Scootaloo, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Astrid, How to Train Your Dragon
Eeyore, Winnie the Pooh
Pascal the Chameleon, Tangled
Mai, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Joon, Avatar: the Last Airbender
Korra, Avatar: The Legend of Korra

Other Iconic Characters:
James Bond
Agent Ethan Hunt, Mission:Impossible

Police Chief John Anderton, Minority Report
Oscar the Grouch, Sesame Street

INFP Costume Ideas

Source

Sci-Fi and Space Opera:
George McFly, Back to the Future*

Fantasy, Harry Potter and LoTR:
Luna Lovegood, Harry Potter
Sybil Trelawney, Harry Potter
Alice, Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland

TV Shows:
Samuel “Screech” Powers, Saved By the Bell

Disney and Animated:
Sally, The Nightmare Before Christmas
Fluttershy, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Wall-E
Lewis, Meet the Robinsons*
Linus van Pelt, Peanuts*

ISFP Costume Ideas
Comic Book Characters:
Bruce Banner/The Hulk, The Avengers

Fantasy, Harry Potter and LoTR:
Treebeard, LoTR
Fezzik, The Princess Bride

Source

Sci-Fi and Space Opera:
Chewbacca, Star Wars
Data, Star Trek: The Next Generation

Disney and Animated:
Princess Ariel, The Little Mermaid
Snow White*
Alice, Disney’s Alice in Wonderland
Pinocchio
Piglet, Winnie the Pooh*
Guido, Pixar’s Cars
Red, Pixar’s Cars
Big Macintosh, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Strong Sad, Homestar Runner*

Other Iconic Characters:
Snuffleupagus, Sesame Street

ENTP Costume Ideas

Source

Comic Book Characters:
Tony Stark/Iron Man, Iron Man and The Avengers
Calvin, Calvin and Hobbes

Fantasy, Harry Potter and LoTR:
Sirius Black, Harry Potter
Fred and George Weasley, Harry Potter
Xander Harris, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Sci-Fi and Space Opera:
Han Solo, Star Wars
R2-D2, Star Wars
Captain Malcolm Reynolds, Firefly (Do the “Pretty floral bonnet” version if you want to make my day )
The Tenth Doctor, Doctor Who
Dr. Emmett Brown, Back to the Future
Billy/Dr. Horrible, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
Haymitch, The Hunger Games
Cortana, Halo
Q, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Dark Helmet, Space Balls

TV Shows:
Neal Caffrey, White Collar
Shawn Spencer, Psych
Barney Stinson, How I Met Your Mother
Chandler Bing, Friends
Jim Halpert, The Office
Sam Axe, Burn Notice
Irene Adler, BBC’s Sherlock
Zack Morris, Saved By the Bell
Shawn Hunter, Boy Meets World

Disney and Animated:
Mulan
Megara, Hercules
Hades, Hercules
Flynn Rider/ Eugene Fitzherbert, Tangled
Simba, The Lion King
Captain Phoebus, The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Ursula, The Little Mermaid
Long John Silver, Treasure Planet
Mike Wazowski, Pixar’s Monsters Inc.
Frozone, Pixar’s The Incredibles
Megamind
Dimitri, Anastasia
Miss Frizzle, The Magic School Bus
Phineas Flynn, Phineas and Ferb
Discord, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Applebloom, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Dash Parr, Pixar’s The Incredibles*
David Xanatos, Gargoyles
Darkwing Duck/ Drake Mallard
Negaduck, Darkwing Duck
Toph Bei Fong, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Toothless, How to Train Your Dragon*
Lilo Pelekai, Lilo and Stitch*

Other Iconic Characters:
Captain Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Carribean
Chris Knight, Real Genius
Ferris Bueller, Ferris Bueller‘s Day Off
Alex Hitchens, Hitch
Gonzo the Great, The Muppets

ESTP Costume Ideas

Source

Comic Book Characters:
Thor, Thor and The Avengers

Fantasy, Harry Potter and LoTR:
Gimli, LoTR
Ron Weasley, Harry Potter
Cordelia Chase, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel
Spike, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel
Jacob Black, Twilight

Sci-Fi and Space Opera:
James T. Kirk, Star Trek
Jayne Cobb, Firefly
Badger, Firefly
Captain Hammer, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
Biff Tannen, Back to the Future
Captain Jack Harkness, Doctor Who (and I’m guessing Torchwood, though I haven’t watched it)
Cato, The Hunger Games

TV Shows:
Fiona Glenanne, Burn Notice
Joey Tribbiani, Friends
Abby Sciuto, NCIS*

Disney and Animated:
Aladdin
Peter Pan
John Smith, Pocahontas
Lightning McQueen, Pixar’s Cars
Mushu, Mulan
Iago, Aladdin
Lumiere, Beauty and the Beast
Gaston, Beauty and the Beast
Timon, The Lion King
Cruella De Vil, 101 Dalmatians
Rainbow Dash, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Strong Bad, Homestar Runner
Bender, Futurama
Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible, Pixar’s The Incredibles
King Fergus, Pixar’s Brave
Princess Fiona, Shrek
Sokka, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Stitch, Lilo and Stitch*
Gosalyn Mallard, Darkwing Duck
Monterey Jack, Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers
Tigger, Winnie the Pooh*
Wilbur, The Rescuers Down Under
McLeach, The Rescuers Down Under

Other Iconic Characters:
Animal, The Muppets
Rizzo the Rat, The Muppets
Cookie Monster, Sesame Street*
Marian Ravenwood, Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark

ENFP Costume Ideas

Source

Comic Book Characters:
Agent Phil Coulson, The Avengers
Fone Bone, Bone*

Fantasy, Harry Potter and LoTR:
Bilbo Baggins, The Hobbit and LoTR
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel
Rene, Twilight

Sci-Fi and Space Opera:
Hoban “Wash” Washburne, Firefly
The Eleventh Doctor, Doctor Who
Marty McFly, Back to the Future
Johnny Five, Short Circuit
Wheatley, Portal 2

TV Shows:
John Watson, BBC’s Sherlock
Cory Matthews, Boy Meets World
Michael Scott, The Office

Disney and Animated:
Genie, Aladdin
Flounder, The Little Mermaid
Jessie, Toy Story
Dr. Delbert Doppler, Treasure Planet*
LeFou, Beauty and the Beast
Spike, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Po, Kung Fu Panda
Mickey Mouse
Winnie the Pooh
Prince Charming, Cinderella
Michael Darling, Peter Pan
Tinkerbell, Disney’s Fairies*
Bowler Hat Guy, Meet the Robinsons*
Charlie Brown, Peanuts*

Other Iconic Characters:
Elmo, Sesame Street
Nacho Libre*

ESFP Costume Ideas

Source

Comic Book Characters:
Harley Quinn, Batman
Smiley Bone, Bone

Fantasy, Harry Potter and LoTR:
Peregrin “Pippin” Took, LoTR
Nymphadora Tonks, Harry Potter*
Wormtail, Harry Potter*

Sci-Fi and Space Opera:
Kaylee Frye, Firefly

TV Shows:
Phoebe Buffay, Friends

Disney and Animated:
Prince Naveen, The Princess and The Frog
Dory, Pixar’s Finding Nemo
Crush the Turtle, Pixar’s Finding Nemo
Mater, Pixar’s Cars
Pinkie Pie, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Donkey, Shrek
Hal Stewart/Tighten, Megamind
Ron Stoppable, Kim Possible
Scuttle, The Little Mermaid
Smee, Peter Pan
Pumba, The Lion King
Launchpad, Darkwing Duck
The Fairy Godmother, Cinderella*
B.E.N., Treasure Planet
Fender, Robots
Dale, Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers
Ty Lee, Avatar: The Last Airbender
King Bumi, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Bolin, Avatar: The Legend of Korra

Other Iconic Characters:
Big Bird, Sesame Street
Fozzie Bear, Sesame Street

*Added later

My personal apologies to the types that are grossly underrepresented in our media, but I wasn’t about to do what most sites do and say characters were the types *I* wanted them to be just for a pinnable infographic or to feel better about myself.  I tried desperately to find more examples for the less common fictional types, especially INFP, before posting this, even submitting myself to the agony that was Googling for fictional character typings.  It’s an eye-bleeding last resort that didn’t turn up anything anyway because everything I found was not only grossly mistyped, but I could start my own game show and showcase each week, “What Your Mistyping Says About You!” where I could tell you what each person was trying to prove through suggesting the characters were the types they wanted them to be.  Unfortunately, there would be far too many to showcase and each one would rip out my soul and stomp on it a bit, so I suggest we move along instead.

Jilted Bride ~ Halloween 2006 ~ My skirt was a white trash bag, but I think it looked pretty good

INFP, even though you are badly represented, I <3 each of your examples!  You can’t *not* love Fluttershy, Luna Lovegood or Waaaaaall-E.  Seriously.  And you can always go with your Paradoxitype, ENTJ, because they tend to be a Hollywood darling.  Not that I really have anything to complain about personally; can’t say I mind that ENTP list.

As you pick what you want to be for Halloween… or a Tuesday… don’t forget your options of changing genres, like going steampunk or modern with a character, or gender-swapping a character.  A girl version of Flynn Rider is *so* in my costuming future.

And if that’s not enough options for you, feel free to be a character of a different personality type or something else entirely, like jilted bride or a giant box of french fries.  Whatever you choose, strut well my friend.  And send me pictures!

Box of French Fries ~ Halloween 2005 ~ Sixteen was probably too old to Trick or Treat, but nobody seemed to mind

The post Costuming with Personality appeared first on A Little Bit of Personality.

All the typings and observations in this post are based on definitions and information presented in the aLBoP Guided Tour So if any of it bugs you, please go read that before leaving me a grumpy comment… Or, you know what?  Let’s just skip the grumpy comments!  Have a nice day! <3

ENTP
The Swashbuckler

“Never tell me the odds!”
Han Solo, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

The ENTP Swashbuckler does what works.  Adapting their plan, disregarding the rules and following their gut.  They may seem unpredictable because they’ll start fights sometimes, run from them others; be brutally honest one moment and charmingly secretive the next.  This is because they observe first and act later (as all EP’s do) and so they themselves might not know until the moment they decide (after they’ve observed as much information as possible) what they are going to do.  Often, while they figure it out, they’ll be making clever quips and banter.  This is a way to stall for time while they decide what to do, learn more about their opponent and surroundings from the reactions they receive… and enjoy just how clever they are.  And though rules aren’t always their cup of tea, you can be sure they follow their own code, which is usually doing whatever it takes to become the larger-than-life person they *want* to be.

Young ENTP’s start out with an insatiable desire to explore and quickly develop big, flashy dreams about what they’re going to be someday (pretty sure fairy was one of my earliest career goals).  They’re similar to INTJ’s in this way (well… and all the types in different ways), but ENTP’s focus on the way they want to be as a person instead of the things they want to get done.  ENTP’s favorite thing is people-potential so they care a lot more about how awesome they’re going to be and what they choose to do is an after-thought.  But this means since the ENTP loves to explore *all* the options and whatever works, they quickly feel and are often branded “bad” by the world and the people around them.  Often to this an ENTP will reply, “Well, if I’m bad, I’ll be the *best* at being bad!!”  In practice, the ENTP has three choices, much akin to their ESTP… brethren (? cousins, aunts, uncles?).

The first choice an ENTP has is to willfully rebel against other people, turning their cynicism over others’ unreasonability into an enmity of their own, resulting in disobeying rules and belittling others in order to justify their own wounded emotions and ego rather than out of any thought-out reason for doing so.  An ENTP choosing this spiteful path quickly loses their charm, only “beloved” by those trying to justify themselves in the same emotional areas.  Also, an ENTP who feels the need to lick their own wounds in this way is really requiring affirmation from the very people they hate, and ends up feeling even less confident, validated or good, the more that they fight.  This is the kind of mush-mouthed insecurity that ENTP’s roll their eyes at in other people.  Though they might be appalled to recognize they are taking that same kind of wimpy tack, sometimes wallowing is too comforting to give up without kicking and screaming.

Alternatively, it’s quite tempting for an ENTP to just fit in, label themselves bad before anyone else can, and spend the rest of their lives paying penance for everything they like, are and enjoy.  They may or may not be good at looking normal, but it’s likely they won’t be.  Whatever an ENTP might try, there will always be that desire to be just a little more flashy, have just a little more fun with the things that they love.  ENTP’s who suppress their desire to explore the world and to understand anything and everything it has to offer, may feel like it’s the right thing to try and please everyone, but, you see (and this was a recent eye-opener to me, believe me) the ENTP cannot care *about* others, as long as they care *what others think* of them.

Be it through cultural, family or peer pressure, if an ENTP is constantly trying to prove who they are, they won’t *be* it; end of story.  An ENTP that is worried about others’ opinions, even for good intentions, will be too afraid to let down the shield that protects their hidden vulnerable feelings.  If they need validation of who they are from others, they won’t feel free to be the royal-rainbow they truly are and will constantly be resenting others for not seeing them well enough, causing them to be cynical and close people out more.

But as they own themselves, even when others don’t appreciate their larger-than-life childlike bombasticism (Is bombasticism a word?  It is now!), then they are able to truly care about what is going on with others and help them shine in their own unique way.  When they choose to explore the world with all the spontaneity and confidence they already possess and yet feel guilty of, an ENTP can become a lighthouse of color, blasting out joy and self-assurance to everyone around them, unafraid of those who refuse to see the bright light they are.  As the very ENTP Tony Stark (Iron Man), puts it in The Avengers, “You’re tiptoeing, big guy.  You’ve gotta strut.”  This is the ENTP Swashbuckler.

The league of ENTP Swashbucklers is a who’s-who of charming and well-intentioned con-artists, thieves, smugglers, troublemakers, trolls, and seriously big hams.  How can all those things go with well-intentioned?  When a Swashbuckler breaks rules right and left, why do we still find them charming?  ENTP’s are cheaters whose out-of the-box thinking is based on whatever will reach their end goal; they excel at applying and adapting the tools in their observed arsenal to whatever new and unusual situation they might come up against.  Why can the Swashbuckler work outside the rules and establishment and yet still be so obviously good-hearted when other types doing the same action might come off creepy and self-justifying?  Because, in line with their greatest strength of character judgement, the Swashbuckler is excellent at seeing, understanding, and changing their own intentions.

Even if society shuns them or makes them feel like a bad person, deep down a Swashbuckler knows their intentions are good, that they are worthwhile, even if no one else can see it.  This helps instill in them a confidence that can’t be taken away, an intrinsic sort of thing that’s needed when others look down on them for not coloring in the lines.

All EP’s get told from birth by society that actions are a moral thing; make the wrong choice and you’re a bad person.  EP’s who naturally suck at choosing what action to take based on their intentions, often make choices that don’t reflect who they are at all and though they’ll probably notice quickly that it was the wrong choice and hopefully learn from their mistake, the guilt they’re given means the lesson their likely to learn is “you didn’t do it right; that makes you bad.”

In addition, ENTP’s have to work hard to be good at physical action, especially when they think too hard about specifics, rather than *being* what they want to look like.  A plan of action may make complete sense in an ENTP’s head, but when carried out, physics and their own bodies just aren’t on their side.  (Cue memories of trying to ride down the stairs in a laundry basket because I “thought it’d be cute.”  For the record, it was… it just hurt more than I anticipated.)  Like ENTP Socrates talking about the philosopher falling in the well, when an ENTP gets thinking about something, physical awareness may go out the window.  Thankfully, the Swashbuckler learns quickly to adapt to the mistakes they’re sure to make and can almost always fix a ploy gone awry.

ENTP’s are obsessed with understanding people and the way they tick, starting with themselves.  They intuitively feel and understand just how gorgeously complex and multifaceted people are and (whether they realize it or not) spend their entire lives trying to enjoy that complexity.  This is done in various ways, the most notable of which is poking it with a stick.  And by that I mean trying to shock and awe it out of its safe little cocoon by making it feel uncomfortable so that it does stuff.  Why do ENTP’s (ETP’s in their different ways) like to say things that are shocking?  What’s one reason (of several) for ENTP’s huge enjoyment of their own sex-appeal?  Well, in addition to enjoying their own complicated selves, which they are very keen on doing, ENTP’s love to make others squirm in order to observe and enjoy them.  People are funny, have so much more going on than they’re aware of and often take themselves much more seriously than they should.  ENTP’s love to poke at those kinds of insecurities to see what comes crawling out from under the rocks.  This isn’t malicious, it’s merely an attempt to understand, enjoy and utilize people to their fullest.

The Swashbuckler doesn’t do things halfway; they either don’t do something at all, or they make an ENTP-shaped hole in the wall.  This means that individuals often either love them or hate them, and either camp is likely to find them strange.  There is a wide range of “cool” versus “awkward” with an ENTP, both of which might demonstrate in the same person depending on the audience.  (Why, yes, I fall into both categories.  I’ve gotten fairly used to having very little filter system between my brain and my mouth.  Now I know how to own it.)  Though even a beloved Swashbuckler is likely to wish more people truly *knew* them.

In a group, though an ENTP has decent vision and can lead in a pinch, they’d much rather just be in charge of their own actions.  Naturally skeptical and needing to be won over, they’re unlikely to follow someone in a plan or mission if they don’t see the merit of the pursuit or the leader hasn’t won their respect as a source.  But when someone with vision, like a healthy IJ, earns their trust, they’re happy to concede the big-picture reins so that they can be free to focus on the parts they love; loophole exploiting, verbal sparring and self-aggrandizing… for the good of everyone, of course.

Though Swashbucklers that exemplify what it means to be a “lovable rogue” (seriously, most the examples on that page are ENTP’s) are more common than rule-abiding ones, an ENTP only becomes a Dark Swashbuckler when they have bad motivations and don’t care.  Villainous ENTP’s may be just as charming, adaptive, personable and witty, but just like bad actions shouldn’t define a good ENTP, good actions can’t define one with bad intent.  Dark Swashbucklers don’t care what kind of person they are in reality anymore, so long as they achieve their goals toward *looking* great on the outside.

The constant struggle with worrying that they’re bad may make a well-meaning ENTP worry that the path to Hell is paved with good intentions.  But if a Swashbuckler constantly returns to the *why* behind their actions, they can realize that the path to true heroism (and awesomeness) lies in who you are deep down and that if an EP focuses on who they really want to *be,* they’ll figure the action stuff out eventually.

As Swashbuckler Miss Frizzle says, “Take chances, make mistakes, get messy.”  It’s the only way ENTP’s can really explore the world, people and themselves.

Swashbuckler or Dark Swashbuckler, a strong ENTP is likely to go big or go home and will do whatever it takes to reach their dreams of greatness.

Examples:
Male:  Malcolm Reynolds, Firefly
Female:  Disney’s Mulan
Villain:  Dark Helmet, Space Balls

Who are the Type Heroes?  Read the intro here, and stay tuned to meet them all!

Want more information on ENTP, the Swashbuckler?  Read their Cognitive Orientation Guidebook here.

The post Type Heroes: ENTP – The Swashbuckler appeared first on A Little Bit of Personality.

All the typings and observations in this post are based on definitions and information presented in the aLBoP Guided Tour So if any of it bugs you, please go read that before leaving me a grumpy comment… Or, you know what?  Let’s just skip the grumpy comments!  Have a nice day! <3

ISTP
The Weapons Specialist

[Calmly tied up in a chair being interrogated by Russians, getting a call offering an extraction]
“Are you kidding?   I’m working.”
Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, The Avengers

The ISTP Weapons Specialist is the master of… mastery; the specialist of specialism.  They excel at falling in love with something and immersing themselves totally and completely in it, using their bodies and minds together as a precision instrument at whatever speaks to them.  Their body is their world-discovering device and nothing will get between them and that adventure.

Young ISTPs explore from birth with lots of touching, running, biting and questions of “What will happen if I do this?” to help them discover the enormous, thrilling world around them.  They’re likely to be curious and excited about seemingly menial things that pique their interest and some details may be extremely important to them, while details that types around them feel are important aren’t such a big deal.  As they grow older, their specialized excitement and journey-enjoying adventure seeking may wear on the patience of adults who want them to aim their talents at more “serious” pursuits.  Also, young ISTPs, who at first may have been chattery, goofy and even boisterous in childhood, may be treated by other children like the things they like and care about are uncool or unimportant, driving a young ISTP who would rather be alone in their discovery than lose it, to be more quiet, withdrawn and snarky in their humor.  In their pursuit of experiencing the world, those experiences become their friends when they feel they have none.  This gives the ISTP three options.

The first is to give in to their cynicism of the world and cling to themselves as the smartest SOB on two legs.  At times, the ISTP will feel like they’re the only one who really understands what’s going on in the world.  They’re great at applying their past experiences to their current ones and seeing what others miss; things that to them seem obvious.  Plus their natural ease at drawing character judgments from the things they’ve seen is likely to give them jade-colored glasses.  It’s easy for an ISTP to go the way of Dr. House and take a sort of sadistic joy in rolling their eyes at humanity.  Even if it’s not to that degree, it’s easy for an ISTP to become self-righteous about their cynical point of view and not even want solutions to the stupidity they see around them, finding safety in the idea that the reason they don’t have friends isn’t their fault, it’s just because everyone’s a moron… which as an ENTP, I have to admit, is truer than I’m happy about.  But an ISTP who takes this course ends up not only further estranged from others (which is what they tell themselves they want), but both hating themselves and losing any joy they had in exploration, both of which were what they were fighting for in the first place.  The entire world is left meaningless to them, not exactly in an ennui way (don’t worry; art film INTPs, you’ll have your turn), but more in a “bite me” sort of way.  Appreciation of the world and the way they used to touch it, feel it and taste it, is just gone and they’re left a shallow, hateful shell.

Just because an ISTP doesn’t feel like part of the group doesn’t mean they don’t desperately long to be.  When they’re willing to give up the breathtaking and thrilling things they’ve found in their adventures because they’d rather have friends than be themselves, the ISTP takes choice number two.  ISTPs are terribly charming, when they want to be, and when they settle for the life they’re “supposed” to want instead of the life of calculated risk-taking and discovery at which they so excel, they can appear like that’s what they wanted all along.  But these ISTPs end up regretting giving up what turned out to be not only opportunities for experiencing the world, leaving them clinging desperately to memories of experiences they once had, but also end up feeling like they gave up the very essence of who they were.

Finally, though it may be the hardest thing they’ve ever done, an ISTP can defy both their cynicism and the way they feel others expect them to be and choose to find joy in the world again.  They can choose to hope that others will see them and appreciate their skills and gifts if they’re just them, even if “them” isn’t a popular notion.  ISTPs who choose this third road end up excelling at whatever they pick to love.  Brilliant and dauntless, this is the ISTP Weapons Specialist.

The ISTP Weapons Specialist is often found in fiction as the dark and snarky hero who may cling to the social sidelines until their sure-to-be-impressive skills have a chance to be spotlighted.  Or they may be the dry-humored, skeptic team member, ready to tell the others when their plan is bone-shatteringly stupid or the aloof bounty-hunter or expert at a rare and ancient art that you call when no one else will do.  They’re excellently cast as the relatable bad-a and when writers need a kick-butt girl, the Weapons Specialist is one of the most common choices (along with ENTJ, interestingly enough) because they’re able to be hard-core, while still having a hidden quirky, soft side.  Their Introverted Perception combined with their Sensing makes them masters of the moment, the details of what’s going on right in front of them which they’re able to make use of in a laid-out Thinking way.  But, like all TPs, they have an unconventional eccentricity to the way they do things and a love of flying in their own direction.  The Weapons Specialist is happy to stay out of your way, provided you stay out of theirs.

Like all IPs, ISTPs may fear being second-rate.  IPs introversion and solo world-exploration may make them feel out of touch with others, not “cool” enough etc., and their perception rather than judging may make them feel like they’re not pushing forward and having the effect they’d like to in the world.  ISTPs especially, in their concrete, ST way, may feel the need to defend how experienced they are.  Since their natural specializing means they favor depth over breadth of topics, they can’t possibly be experienced in every area; there just isn’t enough time or energy (or enough giving-a-crap).  The Weapons Specialist shouldn’t hold themselves to the same standard of competence in other areas as they do in their sphere of interest and they can end up demeaning their own amazing know-how as well as others’ talents and skills, if they do.

The Weapons Specialist likes to do their own thing, have their own interests and explore them in their own way.  They like to go on their own adventures and they can usually take-or-leave anyone coming with them on that adventure.  Whether alone or in a group, they’re going to do the exact same thing, in the exact same method.  As long as you don’t get between them and the adventure, they’re cool with you.  Of course ISTPs can still form deep attachments; in fact, because of their loner quality, the Weapons Specialist will usually take their close relationships *very* seriously, whether or not they want to show it.  A Weapons Specialist who struggles with sharing their emotions with their friends or loved ones may even grow colder to the person they care about, afraid of acting “stupid and emotional” (which they tend to have a *very* low tolerance of, in themselves especially) or opening up and getting hurt.  But the Weapons Specialist is sure to be an essential and treasured member of a group who comes to know them for who they really are and appreciates their tireless resolve and unexpected wry humor.

Dark Weapons Specialists are misunderstood creatures who grew cynical as the world betrayed them.  Though those characteristics are common in a lot of non-evil ISTPs, a Weapons Specialist goes Dark when they choose to disregard their specific experiences and what they know through those experiences in favor of gratifying their own feelings of hurt.  They were screwed by the world so they want to screw it right back.  For a wronged Weapons Specialist, there is a conscious choice of either choosing to fight injustice for the good of everyone, or choosing to fight everyone for the safety of themselves.  But even a Dark Weapons Specialist who is harboring sinister intentions will be excellent at what they do; harming their foes with a thin-bladed finesse in whatever manner they choose to specialize.

Weapons Specialist or Dark Weapons Specialist, a strong ISTP is sure to excel at whatever they choose to care about in a powerful, persistent, utterly determined way.

Examples:
Male:  Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride
Female:  Princess Merida, Pixar’s Brave
Villain:  Gollum, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Who are the Type Heroes?  Read the intro here, and stay tuned to meet them all!

Want more information on ISTP, the Weapons Specialist?  Read their Cognitive Orientation Guidebook here.

The post Type Heroes: ISTP – The Weapons Specialist appeared first on A Little Bit of Personality.

All the typings and observations in this post are based on definitions and information presented in the aLBoP Guided Tour So if any of it bugs you, please go read that before leaving me a grumpy comment… Or, you know what?  Let’s just skip the grumpy comments!  Have a nice day! <3

ESTP
The Spartan

“Time for some thrilling heroics.”
Jayne Cobb, Firefly

The ESTP Spartan is a champion of individualism and loyal to the core if you’ve won their favor, which is based on your respect and acceptance of them.  The Spartan loves themselves… as well they should.  They’re funny, charming and observant with an unperturbed hunger for life and adventure.  They also love other people and champion others’ individuality as much as their own… almost  Where ISTPs love to use their selves to experience the world; ESTPs love to use the world and others to experience the exciting thing that is their *self!*

But from a young age the combination of loving to experience life, being and planning in the moment and the desire to keep the parts of themselves they love, makes the ESTP easy to call dumb and shallow.  Young ESTPs are often not fond of sitting for long periods of time, abstract concepts or being asked to change… all of which are huge factors in the Western school system as well as most places of religion.  The ESTP isn’t shallow, nor are they stupid; instead they care deeply about people and groups who they feel can see the best parts of them and do not want those parts to change.  As the ESTP goes through life, they have three options.

The first option, which in our society is taken more often by female ESTPs, is to change and become a part of the sea of mundanity they see around them.  ESTPs who choose this path can be quite good at being unassuming, normal, non-threatening and just charming enough to make friends… but the ESTP who rejects their true self soon discovers the excitement, adventure and self-confidence they could have had is slipping away from them, leaving them feeling unsatisfied and lonely as no one sees them for who only they know they truly are.

The second option, which in our culture is taken more often by male ESTPs, is for the ESTP to resent those asking them to change and therefore insist that *every* part of them is good, even the parts they themselves don’t like.  A resentful ESTP ends up bitter against people (who as EPs they naturally love observing and interacting with) and in a constant struggle to prove their self worth, even defending their mistakes as “just the way life works” or “just the way they are.”  This ESTP will end up hating themselves and feeling like everything they saw and loved in themselves maybe wasn’t so great after all.

The ESTPs final option is to reject others’ poor images of them, embrace fully how much they love themselves and try to become the best version of all their favorite parts.  An ESTP who has taken this final path becomes even *more* themselves because the ESTP has been honed into just what they wanted to be all along.  For lack of better words… a creature of pure awesome!  This is the ESTP Spartan.

The Spartan is one of my favorite types to write and watch in fiction.  The confidence, vivacity and intense passion for life that Spartans exude is contagious.  They can certainly be protagonists, but are often cast as side-characters because their memorable personalities and sensible wise-cracking can lighten a heavy epic’s mood.  Often authors (myself included) will create an ESTP character as comic relief, only to discover their usually unnoticed inner world demands to be written and our little ESTPs overcome feelings of being unwanted, second-rate and struggling with the difference between growing up and becoming someone else.  The Spartan will tell their own story… they will not be quieted.

EPs are people explorers, obsessed with people, their motivations and how they act and interact.  With a T “bite” to their humor and an SP ability to notice what’s going on right in front of them with intense perception, Spartan humor is most incisive in its literalness.  Get an ESTP Spartan and an ENTP Swashbuckler together in a room and their banter is likely to jump from literal to abstract and then back again, each flipping their observation of the other on its head.

Like all EPs, the Spartan will have the most difficulty knowing the right action to take based on their good intentions and observed data.  ESTPs in particular will be quite comfortable with their physical action, but have a more difficult time understanding the abstract, long-term effects their actions will cause.

The Spartan is usually happy not to lead the pack.  They despise being told what to do unless they deeply respect their leader (as masters of understanding intentions, they hate not doing things of their own free will and choice) and would rather not be responsible for others’ actions (their own actions are hard enough to decide on).  If pushed into leading, usually by a circumstance calling their loyalty into action, the Spartan will usually say, “Hey I’m going to be out in the front doing this, follow me if you dare.  It’s your life.”

A Spartan is turned to evil not when they make a wrong action; EPs are notorious for mistakes that end in “Oops!”  But a Spartan goes from mistaken to villainous when they don’t care anymore what their intentions are and take action based on self-centered motives that ignore others’ good intentions in favor of their own, which they know intrinsically are wrong.  This could last for five seconds or a person could choose to be a Dark Spartan the rest of their existence, it all depends on how much the ESTP lies to themselves about their own intentions.  But a Spartan who is honest at heart should, with practice, revelling in the good parts of themselves and rejecting the unhealthy, have all the tools they need to choose the action that will best help them be happy.

And in fact, the Spartan’s self-confidence is not a villainous trait, as so often the culture tells them it is.  Enmity is a Dark Spartan’s weapon that, although it may not look like it at first glance, is in direct conflict with a Spartan’s self-confidence.  Confident Spartans don’t feel the need to pit themselves against others or ignore the intentions of others because they don’t feel the need to prove their own self-worth.  The more truly self-pleased a Spartan is, the more they’ll be able to enjoy others for who they are as well.

Spartan or Dark Spartan, a strong ESTP is sure to determined, individualist and memorable.

Examples:
Male:  Captain James T. Kirk, Star Trek
Female:  Rainbow Dash, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Villain:  Gaston, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

Who are the Type Heroes?  Read the intro here, and stay tuned to meet them all!

Want more information on ESTP, the Spartan?  Read their Cognitive Orientation Guidebook here.

The post Type Heroes: ESTP – The Spartan appeared first on A Little Bit of Personality.

All the typings and observations in this post are based on definitions and information presented in the aLBoP Guided Tour So if any of it bugs you, please go read that before leaving me a grumpy comment… Or, you know what?  Let’s just skip the grumpy comments!  Have a nice day! <3

INFJ
The Paladin

“A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship…but it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!!”
Aragorn, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Film

The INFJ Paladin is heroic to the core.  They have an incredible sense of scope and justice and desire above all to show others through example how to be heroic themselves (as quite aptly put here).  They go on their own unique quests through life, hoping to inspire others to do the same.  They long to be heroic, but usually don’t believe that they’re anything special, so they believe and preach that anyone can be heroic.

Ever since INFJ children play in the backyard or hear stories at night, they love archetype, meaning and the potential they see all around them.  It’s not until they’re a little older that Hercules Syndrome strikes and suddenly adults and peers around them say “who do you think you are?”  Our society doesn’t like meaning, but would rather run to anything else; from celebrity romances to keeping so busy we can’t hear ourselves think.  It’s all the grown-ups’ equivalent of putting their fingers in their ears and singing.  So the little INFJ has a choice… they can keep seeing and enjoying meaning, patterns and finding higher purposes in the world and be ostracized for it, or they can cloak themselves from the world (as INFJ’s are the best at doing) and put on a mild-mannered face that doesn’t bother anyone.  When they choose to keep their head down they can be perfectly good at looking like everybody else.  When they choose to own who they are even if they think no one will ever truly know them and accept them, they become the quintessential “unlikely hero” protagonist.  This is the INFJ Paladin.

It would seem that the unlikely hero is perhaps not so unlikely considering how many epics have these creatures at their core.  Farm boy swept away on a world or galaxy-spanning adventure?  INFJ.  The young man accidentally chosen by the evil lord himself?  INFJ.  Disney princess who just wants to go out and see the world, but needs to learn to stand up for herself?  INFJ.  (Yes, I mock my INFJ about this brutally.)  Something about the combination of traits–the collectively focused and lonely introversion; the intuition to have enormous scope of view; a capacity to understand others’ feelings and the judgement to do something about it–makes the INFJ perfectly cast as the misunderstood young man or woman who still has a pure enough heart to do something about the sorry state of their world.

INFJ’s have a tendency to try and swoop in and save the day, even when the save-ees don’t want them to.  This isn’t out of a self-supposed superiority, as often suggested, but because the Paladin is afraid that if they don’t save the day no one else will care enough to do so.  This probably comes from their IJ tendency to make blanket character judgements, their introverted loneliness and their Hercules Syndrome suggesting to them that saving the day is strange so no one else would want to do it.  All the IJ’s have their own variation on “I have to do this because no one else will.”

The Paladin may feel like next to no one wants or understands them, but when they keep at their mission, which they’ll do whether or not anyone is following them, eventually people will see that the INFJ is good and their goals necessary; the other types like to rally around the Paladin as a figurehead of their cause…even though this usually makes an INFJ who hasn’t mastered their Hercules Syndrome feel terribly guilty.  They never wanted anyone to get hurt for them, they were just doing what they *knew* was right.  But as their friends have to remind them (often ENFJ’s, ENTP’s or ENFP’s), it’s not the INFJ they’re fighting for, it’s the good of all of them.

When turned to villainy, the INFJ is *creepy*!  There isn’t really any other word for it.  Dark Paladins are the best of manipulators because they are incredibly intuitive about people and can apply their mild-manneredness to going under the radar as long as they need to, manipulating others who would never suspect them.  Because they are so good at this and *know* it, pure-hearted INFJ’s often wonder if they are secretly evil and manipulative at heart, like one day they’ll wake up and realize they were bad all along.

But INFJ’s are masters of principle and can tell when their deeply-held values are incorrect.  Though they may make individual mistakes of especially character judgments, the INFJ Paladin wants to understand and course-correct to achieve their overwhelming goals more efficiently.  Even the Dark Paladin will want to hold to principles of good and right because INFJ’s know that applying correct principles *works*, even if the Dark Paladin wants to use it to their own selfish ends.

Paladin or Dark Paladin, a strong INFJ knows to trust their principles and rely on inner strength to achieve their world encompassing goals, whatever they may be.

Examples:
Male:  Harry Potter
Female:  Rapunzel, Disney’s Tangled
Villain:  Emperor Palpatine, Star Wars

Who are the Type Heroes?  Read the intro here, and stay tuned to meet them all!

Want more information on INFJ, the Paladin?  Read their Cognitive Orientation Guidebook here.

The post Type Heroes: INFJ – The Paladin appeared first on A Little Bit of Personality.

Let me introduce to you the most archetypal tale that has been played throughout the ages; a sweeping epic with sixteen protagonists; sixteen larger-than-life heroes that are each unique in purpose, style, thought and action and, like old friends, we would feel incomplete without any one.  Each has their own treacherous journey to travail as they endeavor to stay true to themselves and not be overcome by the choices and obstacles that get in their way.

Why in fiction, which is ultimately a pursuit of truth quantified, do teams of specialized individuals crop up everywhere?  In fantasy novels, superhero films, heist plots and fairy dolls; from color-coded Power Rangers to quirky sitcom characters; we love to see how different people interact and move in their own unique ways.

If you look at the Geekery board on Pinterest it becomes quickly apparent that the number one thing people like to geek about is Characters.  Fanfiction is a genre based almost entirely around “what would my favorite character do if placed in this circumstance we never got to see.”  We love to quantify people, it’s humanity’s way of enjoying each other.  And while an over-simplistic analysis of others can quickly lead to labeling and limiting what others are *allowed* to do or be; if we instead are able to view the sixteen personality types as our favorite characters in a story we’ve heard since we were young, we can see the potential we and all around us truly have.

These sixteen heroes are the potential in all of us; the warriors of nobility, truth, courage and adventure which lie so often dormant within us.  Which one is deep inside you, just waiting to be called upon?

INFJ – The Paladin
ISFJ – The Knight
INTJ – The Dragon
ISTJ – The Sentinel

ENFJ – The Veteran
ESFJ – The Cavalry
ENTJ – The Crusader
ESTJ – The Cannon

ENFP – The Standard-Bearer
ESFP – The Morale-Officer
ENTP – The Swashbuckler
ESTP – The Spartan

INFP – The Ranger
ISFP – The Explorer
INTP – The Alchemist
ISTP – The Weapons Specialist

These are grouped by purpose.  IJs, with their innate understanding of sweeping principle go forward whether or not anyone is following them, elegant weapons of a higher purpose.  EJs, with their determination and understanding of actions through the ages, lead the charge into battle… just don’t get in their way!  EPs are all about the motivations of individuals; they know just how great people are or can be and so they love to hold up the torch and say, “Hey I’m awesome!  You can be too!”  IPs are the great question askers; they listen to their detail-whispering to understand what information they’re lacking and are able to plot the course to victory or say, “Hey guys… there was a turn back there…”

Actually, in the course of writing this series, I’ve really had to come to a new understanding of each type.  That’s been awesome for the types I didn’t understand as thoroughly… but it’s also taking me longer to write those ones.  In return for your patience, I shall offer you an in-depth look on the unique drive, context and mission of each type.

The future of your story is up to you; don’t you think it’s time you knew the characters?

Want a deeper look at all the Type Heroes?  Check out our Cognitive Orientation Guidebooks (COGs) for detailed looks at every type’s cognition, greatest strengths and innate fears.

On the aLBoP Guided Tour?  When you’re done learning about how anyone can be a hero (or a villain), the next stop is Type Angsts!

The post Type Heroes: Which Hero of Legend Will You Be? appeared first on A Little Bit of Personality.