HV-MBTI Remix: Robin/Nightwing, ESFP

Happy Halloween, all you characters! Today, we finish up the Batman: The Animated Series run with the man himself. Also, I’ve done a remix of his best friend and sidekick, Robin.

Originally, I saw Robin as an ESTP, and Batgirl as an ESFP. A note from a faithful reader after Robin’s profile posted got me to thinking, though. I had read the conflict between Batman and Robin as Fi versus Fe, when in fact I think it’s explained much better as Fi vs. Fi. The Dynamic Duo have the some cognitive functions, but in reverse order, so Robin’s Feeling sits higher than Batman’s, and he’s more insistent about it. Batman has Fi, too, but his Thinking comes first, so he’s less inclined to explain himself and more driven to enforce his will.

Aside from that, I think there was some good old-fashioned sexist prejudice involved in my initial typing as well—the male as the Thinker type, and the female as the Feeler type—so I apologize. When I re-watched “Batgirl Returns,” it was pretty obvious that Batgirl was the Fe-user (thus, the ESTP), and Robin was the Fi. She makes Catwoman promise to turn herself in, but lets her go at the end, having grown to understand her. Robin doesn’t understand the change of heart and wants to stick to the rule.

So, there you have it. The Batman villains have been typed, and now, so have the heroes. This is a series I’ve wanted to complete since I started this blog, and now that it’s done, I’m going to sit back and eat some candy.

ESTP: Batgirl, “Batman: The Animated Series”

ESTP – the Adventurer, the Dynamo, the Promoter

(aka: Barbara Gordon)

Batgirl is Batgirl before she even realizes it. Unlike Batman or Robin, or any of their Rogues, she doesn’t have to go through any trauma to decide to take on her new kick-ass persona. Barbara sees a problem and runs to solve it, gaining her superhero status through the merits of her quick wit and good heart.

Dominant Function: (Se) Extraverted Sensing, “The Kitchens”

Barbara’s given to take action immediately in response to situations. She’s a sharp student and a top gymnast, and on top of what she’s learned being the daughter of the police commissioner, she’s highly capable of her own vigilante crime-fighting. She’s a little rough when she first starts out, almost falling off a truck she jumps onto, and coaches herself to get it together.

She follows the robot imposter of her father as soon as she decides there’s someone off about him, and takes it upon herself to use the Batsignal to summon Batman for help. When he shows up, she joins him in fighting robo-Bullock, even though she has no equipment or fancy armor. She takes to using the Batrope like a natural, however, and takes robo-Bullock down.

When Batman tries to leave after the fight, she grabs his cape to hold him back and insists on going with him. Once he leaves, she gathers her own crime-fighting equipment and heads out on her own to rescue her father.

ISTJ: Jim Gordon, “Batman: The Animated Series”

ISTJ – the Inspector, the Sentinel, the Trustee

Without Commissioner Gordon, Batman would just be a crazy person in a costume punching thugs. Jim Gordon imparts legitimacy to the Dark Knight’s crusade by extending the hand of the law for his help, and speaking up for him when others doubt him. He’s a steadfast crime-fighter and a family man—the kind of cop the city needs but doesn’t deserve.

Dominant Function: (Si) Introverted Sensing, “The Study”

When we first meet him on the show, Commissioner Gordon has known and worked with Batman for some time already. They have an established relationship and trust built up. Detective Bullock and other citizens of Gotham try to pin various crimes and disasters on Batman, but Gordon recognizes that the activities of Man-Bat or Scarecrow don’t match Batman’s MO. He sticks to what he knows of the Dark Knight, and trusts that his proven character will win out in the end.

Gordon takes a careful, cautious approach to his work. While Bullock always wants to charge ahead, Gordon holds him back until he’s sure the moment is right—such as the pre-arranged signal he has with Batman. He doesn’t always suspect the outlandish twists and turns he encounters in the supervillain-perpetuated crimes he investigates, but he pursues the crazy ones like any other criminal, and puts them away.

HV-MBTI Re-Mix: Star Trek TOS

Attention all hands: Do you know what today is?

It’s the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek, ya’ll!! Five decades ago today, at 8:30pm Eastern Standard Time, the first captain and crew set out to boldly go where no one has gone before. And we’re still going.

I re-watched The Original Series and movies last year after the death of Leonard Nimoy, and then published a series of MBTI posts about the characters. This year, I’ve tackled The Animated Series (which I’d never seen) and The Next Generation (which I grew up on, and have seen many, glorious times). By the end of the year, I hope to have watched/re-watched all the Star Trek—just in time for a new Star Trek to premiere in 2017!

Until then, get ready for this blog to be super Trekkie for the next few months. Typings of the NextGen characters will start in October, followed by DS9 (my favorite Trek), and Voyager. I may even suck it up and watch and type Enterprise. Who knows—with Star Trek, anything is possible.

In celebration of today’s big milestone, here’s a quick re-mix of a handful of Original Series characters I’ve thought about over the past year, with new and improved typings. Much of my new insight came from listening to the commentary and banter on “Mission Log,” a Star Trek podcast that’s just the best thing ever to happen to my life in a while. After you’ve read the new profiles for the Enterprise crew, give the show a listen—and save yourself some extra spare time, because you might not be able to stop.

James T. Kirk

ENFP -> ESTP

ISFP: Clayface, “Batman: The Animated Series”

ISFP – the Composer, the Seeker, the Virtuoso

(aka: Matt Hagen)

I really dug Clayface as a kid simply because of the fantastic possibilities that being a shape-shifter offered (this was also around the time of Terminator 2 and Deep Space Nine, which both offered similar gooey shape-changers). He’s probably the villain I’d have the most fun being because of those powers, and certainly the one I imagined myself as the most often, but unfortunately, he’s a really sad guy. Maybe one of Batman’s most tragic tales—a man who loses himself and literally goes to pieces.

I have to credit the writer at The Animated Batman for his insight into the psychology of Clayface that informed my thoughts as I wrote this profile.

Dominant Function: (Fi) Introverted Feeling, “The Deep Well”

Anything bad you’ve ever wanted to say about us Fi-doms you can say about Matt Hagen—self-absorbed, vain, selfish, and run by the whim of his damaged emotions.

From the start, he’s lost in own grief and anger over being disfigured in a car accident. Even after he latches on to a miracle cure in order to continue his acting career, he continues to fume bitterly over what he’s lost, unable to get over it. He just wants to be left alone to stew in his own emotional cesspool.

He denies any attempt to comfort or help him, abusing those who care about him while feeding on their patience and generosity—from his buddy Teddy, to his girlfriend Stella, even Batman.

He once had an identity as a handsome movie star, but after he loses that, Clayface doesn’t know who he is. “I’m not an actor anymore! I’m not even a man,” he says. He rages at Stella for watching his old movies because he doesn’t want to reminded of who he used to be.

ESFJ: Baby Doll, “Batman: The Animated Series”

ESFJ – The Provider, The Caretaker, The Harmonizer

(aka: Mary Dahl)

Baby Doll’s another original creation of The Animated Series, and she really shouldn’t work. She feels like a Tiny Toons character dropped into a dark and gritty psychological crime drama. By the time she’s breaking down in bitter tears to Batman at the end of her first episode, though, it’s clear that she’s just as twisted and fascinating as the most classic members of the Rogues’ Gallery.

Dominant Function: (Fe) Extraverted Feeling, “The Garden Fountain”

To say that Baby Doll needs attention would be an understatement. She’s happiest when she’s the star, and knows how to play to her audience for maximum laughs and applause. When a new young kid is added to the cast of her hit TV show, she deliberately upstages him to bring the focus back to her.

Years later, when her fame has faded, she seems to have no purpose in life. She needs the gratification of her adoring fans. She kidnaps her old TV family and brings them back together to try to feel the love again. When they won’t play along, she grows infuriated.

In a sick way, Baby Doll seems to think that she’s doing something kind and wonderful for her hostage family, and feels hurt that they don’t appreciate her efforts.

Baby Doll develops an unlikely infatuation with Killer Croc, a huge hulking mutant that she recognizes as a fellow outcast. They both have physical deformities that exclude them from normal society, and while the Ti-dom Croc is mostly okay with that, Baby Doll needs emotional connection. She tracks Killer Croc down and ropes him into a relationship, creating a whole home and family life for them in the sewers. She plans capers for them to have fun together, committing robberies as a new “Bonnie & Clyde.”

HV-MBTI Remix: Harley Quinn

Typing is hard, and sometimes we MBTI bloggers get characters wrong.

Okay, a lot of times.

Introducing the Heroes & Villains Re-Mix: a feature that will pop up whenever I need to re-type a character. I’ve got a bunch of them on the way—particularly this fall when I revisit Star Trek—but I’m going to start off today with one character I just recently covered.

Harley Quinn, ENFP ESFP

Back at the start of this blog, I created a chart that I’m mostly embarrassed by, typing the Batman villains into the 16 types. I actually got several of them right, including Harley Quinn as an ESFP. However, by the time I started writing the profiles for this series, I had somehow convinced myself she was ENFP.

First off, I felt like she was idealizing the Joker with unhealthy dominant Ne (as an INFP, I do the same with my Ne-aux, so I think I over-diagnose this one). I think it mostly had to do with her inferior function, though. In “Mad Love,” she flashes back and considers her life and the choices she made to land her where she was, and I figured that was an inferior Si grip.

As I’ve studied some other Se-dom characters, though, I understand now that Ni is perfectly capable of doing the same things—both the unhealthy idealizing and the healthy reflection. Si tends to reflect on past choices, and Ni tends to focus on a plan for the future, but both can help an out-of-whack dominant Perceiving function by giving the user a sense of realistic consequences to their actions. And Harley’s about as out-of-whack as they come.

ISTP: Killer Croc, “Batman: The Animated Series”

ISTP – The Operator, The Mechanic, The Crafter

(aka: Morgan/Waylon Jones)

Killer Croc doesn’t at first seem to fit in on B:TAS. He’s on the more sci-fi end of the villain spectrum, being a half-human/half-croc mutant, and those don’t always fare too well on the show. His biggest threat to Batman is mainly physical, and he’s often played for dumb laughs.

Take a look at his small handful of episodes though, and they turn out to be some of the show’s quietly strongest stories. Croc himself turns out to be a smart guy with a lot of pathos simmering inside his scaly heart. The very fact that he’s a loner who doesn’t fit in to the usual crowd of Batman’s Rogues Gallery is exactly what makes him work.

Dominant Function: (Ti) Introverted Thinking, “The Laboratory”

Croc’s wily and cunning, and excels in solitary criminal pursuits. He’s an adaptable problem-solver and devious schemer who pulls off some of the better prisoner escapes on the show. Like he tells Detective Bullock, the guards never think to check the sewers.

In episodes where he’s not the featured villain, Croc usually plays as the comic relief, since his own logic rattling around in his brain doesn’t track with everyone else’s. He’s blunt and single-minded, which can mask his ruthless cleverness. He wards off any warmth and compliments with dry, cutting remarks.

Film Review: Entertainment

I’ve just started contributing to the film site Zekefilm.org, and my first article—a review of the new film Entertainment—is up today!

Zekefilm is a faith-based, non-profit site, so I’m not getting paid yet; but because I’m one of two people they have in L.A., I’ll get to go to press screenings, interviews, and other special events. Plus, I’ll have my writing published elsewhere than my nerdy MBTI blog, so I have more work to show when I’m applying for gigs. I’m fairly excited about this.

But just so we can keep this post vaguely on topic, the main character of Entertainment is definitely a damaged INTP with a wildly unhealthy inferior Fe. Read more about him at the link.

Thanks, Ellen DeGenerous!

You guys will never believe what happened to me this week. First of all, I finally moved into my own place, so I’m at last settling into LA.

Also, I went to see The Ellen Show, and she gave everybody free TVs.

So I have a new TV.

With built-in Roku.

I’ve got my friends’ HBO-GO and Hulu accounts loaded on there, as well as my Netflix, and the free Spotify account I get for working at Starbucks. This will make marathon-watching shows and movies for MBTI character analysis much more accessible…and fun. I’ve actually never owned my own TV before, so I’m kind of freaking out.

LA seems to be working out so far.

And as you can see, my Netflix Recommends really knows me.