Clue MBTI: The Sensing Functions

Miss Scarlet: Extraverted Sensing (Se)

Miss Scarlet’s the least panicky and frightened of any in the group (at least at first), unintimidated by her eerie surroundings and seemingly eager to see what plays out. She uses her sultry good looks to her advantage—when her car breaks down on the way up to the mansion, she shows a little leg to an oncoming car and hitches a ride. She isn’t shy at all about her line of work, and when everyone else is protesting their innocence, she proudly owns up to running an escort service. She sees nothing wrong in profiting from the world’s oldest profession, catering to the very natural needs all men have. She’s smart and capable, but sometimes misses the point of the absurd wordplay in conversation (“Why would he want to kill you in public?”).

Best Suggestion: ESFP

Yvette: Introverted Sensing (Si)

I hate to use the servant as the example of Si, but bear with me here. Yvette is a stand-in for the many trusty stewards in old-fashioned murder mysteries, knowledgeable and competent and attentive to detail. They’re studied experts at various handy skills. They’re the ones who have been around forever and know every nook and cranny of their home. They know its history, too, and all the good, juicy stories about the locals. Yvette gathers information for her employers (both Mr. Boddy and Miss Scarlet), and she’s trusted to execute the careful steps of Wadsworth’s plot. She tends to the order of the house, and has a great deal of seasoned experience in her, um, profession. She’s afraid of the dark, and grows more anxious and terrified as the evening spirals beyond the expected plan.

Best Suggestion: ISFJ

ENFJ: Dukat, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”

ENFJ – the Giver, the Mentor, the Believer

I’ve no idea if it says anything about the franchise that the biggest nemeses in two different Star Treks are ENFJs. Even TNG had Lore, the ENFJ cult leader. Seems like Star Trek may have a running theme about the dangers of following crazed, charismatic leaders with big but empty promises.

(P.S. I feel really gross using my cheesy terms like “Believer” and “The Garden Fountain” for someone like Dukat, but that’s the format.)

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

Gul Dukat needs to be loved. We all do, of course. Dukat, however, lives and breathes off the adoration, honor, praise, and hero-worship of others—which he never gets.

Back when he was made Prefect of Bajor during the Occupation, Dukat believed a gentler approach was needed. He enacted policies to ease the burden on labor camp workers, but strangely, the Bajorans failed to show appreciation for his compassion. They seemed to dislike being occupied by an invading force no matter how nice he was about it. They continued to resist him, and Dukat felt compelled to strike back and punish their ingratitude.

This cycle describes much of Dukat’s life and career. He wants to lead, but when his subjects or fellow leaders don’t like him, he struggles. He either overcompensates and looks desperate, or lashes out and becomes the angry tyrant he claims not to be.

INFJ: Weyoun, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”

INFJ – the Counselor, the Seer, the Defender

Wait, haven’t we seen this guy before? No, it’s not because Weyoun is a clone, it’s because Jeffrey Combs played another DS9 villain, Brunt. They even appeared in the same episode once, though sadly, not in the same scene.

Two Weyouns once appeared in the same episode, too, because the character we know as Weyoun is actually a series of clones (Weyouns 4-8 during the run of DS9, to be specific). However, because he’s genetically engineered to do his job perfectly, he always has the same personality, even when he turns out “defective.” In MBTI, your type is generally a function of nature rather than nurture—you are wired the way you’re wired no matter what, though personal experience will influence how your functions manifest. In Weyoun’s case, his “nature” is embedded in his DNA by those who “nurture” him, the Founders he reveres as gods.

Dominant Function: (Ni) Introverted Intuition, “The Labyrinth”

Weyoun believes in the mythos of the Dominion—that the Founders are gods who bring order to the galaxy. He believes that the Dominion will endure for thousands of years after the Federation is gone, and works to advance their holdings and influence with every move he makes. He believes that his goals are divinely inspired by the Founders, perfect and not to be questioned.

Even the defective Weyoun 6 still holds the Founders in awe and reverence, even though he awakens from the cloning process with the inexplicable idea that the Dominion’s war efforts are wrong.

ENTJ: Kasidy Yates, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”

ENTJ – the Commander, the Field-Marshall, the Trailblazer

With the introduction of Kasidy Yates, yet another Extraverted Judger type entered Ben Sisko’s Fi-dom life, challenging his comfort zone. Kasidy and Ben are my favorite couple in all of Star Trek, and it’s frankly impressive and encouraging that these two disparate personality types make such a great pair. They confound each other at every turn, and yet every scene they play together strikes sparks. They seem to enjoy the mystery that is the person they love.

Dominant Function: (Te) Extraverted Thinking, “The Workshop”

Kasidy is captain of her own ship, the Xhosa, which she runs under the company she founded—Kasidy Yates Interstellar Freights, the rhymingest name for a business in all of Star Trek. Since humans live without money in this future, one must assume she’s doing the job for the joy of the work, or that she turns a profit on the side for use outside the Federation’s moneyless economy. Either way, she gets up at 5am every day, and often works till 1am.

She lives by her father’s motto: “If you’re going to do something, do it right.” This even applies to jobs she’s not that interested in, but feels a duty to complete, like her work as convoy liaison officer for one of the Defiant’s escort missions. She gets the job due to her work record and her high standing among the other freighter captains.

Kasidy is willing to take charge in critical situations. She smuggles supplies to the impoverished Maquis, and when she’s caught, she takes responsibility and lets her crew go, facing the consequences on her own. When Ben gets too worked up over the Niners’ baseball game, she pulls the team together and gets them into fighting shape.

ENTJ: Zek, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”

ENTJ – the Commander, the Field-Marshall, the Trailblazer

Zek almost starts out as a villain, a caricature of big business and greed run amuck. Eventually, he develops a bent toward social justice (which kind of makes him even more of a villain from Quark’s perspective). This new conscience isn’t simply the development of his Feeling function, though. As long as he’s convinced that the emancipation of women and the establishment of social welfare and environmental protections increase the prosperity of the Ferengi people, then in Zek’s judgment, it’s the smart—and profitable—thing to do.

Dominant Function: (Te) Extraverted Thinking, “The Workshop”

Grand Nagus Zek stands at the top of the Ferengi food chain. No one matches his business acumen, and much of his job is to set an aspirational standard of greed and success to live by. Zek doesn’t see a difference between business and pleasure, and in fact the first time he announces his retirement (which turns out to be a dodge), it’s after 85 years of never taking a vacation.

Zek always works to make the best deal for himself. Nothing comes without a measurable cost. Kira and Sisko are able to convince him to make a charitable donation to Bajor in return for Bajor’s good favor in the future, but when he acquires a lost Bajoran orb, Zek intends to make the Bajoran people pay through the nose to get it back.

By law, he should have Ishka thrown in prison for daring to make profit as a female, but she’s so good at it that Zek must admit to her worthiness as a Ferengi.

ENTJ: Ishka, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”

ENTJ – the Commander, the Field-Marshall, the Trailblazer

Successful businesspeople nearly always get typed as ENTJs. So how about a successful businessperson who’s also a crusading societal reformer? And a big-eared, really old lady who’s one of the best moms in the Star Trek universe (or any universe)?

Dominant Function: (Te) Extraverted Thinking, “The Workshop”

Ishka wants to acquire profit like any Ferengi, but she’s forbidden as a female by law. So she does it anyway. She’s better at it than her husband and sons, and eventually, better at it than the Grand Nagus.

She’s straightforward and no-nonsense, and speaks her mind, especially to her squabbling, meddling sons. This gets her in trouble, as she’s not allowed in Ferengi society to speak unless spoken to, or even to leave the house. But she does it anyway.

Ishka likes to offer profitable advice to anyone who will listen. She helped her husband, who was not the Ferengi ideal of a businessman, stay financially afloat. She began her relationship with Zek by offering him tips at a Tongo tournament (after she won the female division), and then secretly assisted him in running then Alliance when his mental state deteriorated. Even when she’s being held prisoner by the Dominion, she instructs her Vorta captive on how to invest wisely.

ENFJ: Julian Bashir, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”

ENFJ – the Giver, the Mentor, the Believer

It’s encouraging finally to see an Fe-dom character in Star Trek who’s a good guy. As a nerdy sci-fi show, I think Trek prefers Thinkers over Feelers, and most of our heroic Fe-users have also been Introverts (McCoy, Worf, Troi). Till now, all we had in the Extravert category were Janice Rand and Edith Keeler, and they weren’t around long; and Quark’s kind of an anti-hero. We have two ENFJ Trek villains, with more to come on DS9. Bashir himself started out extremely unlikeable, a brash, arrogant Extraverted Feeler on a crew run by moody Fi-users. Some fans never got over that. Some, like O’Brien, found a lot to love and respect about our young doctor.

(Some of us just thought he was cute, but that’s beside the point.)

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

Doctor Julian Bashir wants to save the world. Or, worlds. He wants to help every sick or injured person he meets, whether they want his help or not.

Charismatic and charming in ways that infuriate his crewmates when he first arrives on DS9, Bashir eagerly talks up his own intelligence and accomplishments as if waiting for applause. He lets the unimpressed Kira know what a sacrifice he made by taking this assignment “in the wilderness.” He often mentions the one question he got wrong on his final medical exam, which made him second in his class instead of first—it’s later revealed that he missed the question out of fear of appearing too perfect, and to hide his genetically engineered nature.

Even after all his embarrassing behavior in the first episode, Bashir shows he’s ready for the job by jumping in to treat the injured during an attack, and commanding Odo’s assistance.

After that, even as he’s growing out of his youthful arrogance, Bashir continues to throw himself at situations where a gallant healer is needed.

ESTP: Jadzia Dax, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”

ESTP – the Adventurer, the Dynamo, the Promoter

Jadzia Dax doesn’t suffer as much from the inner angst of her moody friends on DS9. She’s a generally upbeat, adventurous young woman who just happens to carry the wisdom of the ages inside her. Even being over 300 years old, she still has room to grow, in all the ways you’d expect a happy yet impulsive ESTP to grow. Our time with her was too short, but a hell of a lot of fun.

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

Jadzia starts her mornings with a wrestling match and an alcoholic drink called a black hole. She plays Tongo with Ferengi and fights bat’leth duels with Klingons. She drags her mopey friend Kira into costumed adventures and spa getaways in the holosuites.

She pilots the Defiant, briefly becomes its captain, and goes on any away mission that needs someone smart, alert, and brave. When she’s thrown back in time to 21st-century Earth, she sizes up her situation immediately upon waking and bluffs her way into a comfortable home and resources to find her friends.

She throws a legendary bachelorette party, and won’t let her stuffy fiance or in-laws kill the vibe.

ISFP: Kira Nerys, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”

ISFP – the Composer, the Seeker, the Virtuoso

The leaders of Trek’s two previous incarnations were mostly Thinkers. Both shows could be campy and fun, but also intensely cerebral. So it figures that for the “dark, moody” version of Star Trek, we’d get a pair of commanding officers who are driven by Introverted Feeling.

Sisko and Kira don’t start off as best friends. Their Fi needs time to check the other out and make sure they measure up to their deeply held values and goals. In time, they see the same thing in each other—a very passionate, individualistic, sometimes emotionally broken leader with fierce inner moral codes fighting against a universe that wants to control them.

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

To say that Major Kira Nerys is uncompromising in her values would be like saying Superman is kinda good at lifting heavy stuff. Kira leads with a strong inner moral compass, forged from her years fighting for the Resistance against the Cardassian Occupation of her homeworld. Everything she does, every choice, every step, is to fight for the cause of her people. She acts only on what she believes is right.

While Sisko goes through his emotional healing in the first episode, Kira’s takes the entire series. She’s broken and raw after a childhood spent fighting as a terrorist to free her people, and her only reaction to most situations is anger. She’s quite certain that the Bajoran government only assigned her to DS9 to get her off the planet and out of their hair.

INTJ: Batman, “Batman: The Animated Series”

INTJ – the Mastermind, the Strategist, the Futurist

(aka: Bruce Wayne)

Stephen King has a quote about the purpose of horror stories, that sometimes our brains need to let the crocodiles out of the sewer for a while before putting them back in their place. Batman’s villains act out the worst of us, our fears and damage and impulsive ids dancing through the streets, doing all the things we want to do because we want to do them. Then a shadow falls over the city, blotting out the wild colors and breaking up the party, and the chaos stops.

Batman is my hero not because he’s a bad-ass who wins every fight, or because he’s always the smartest guy in the room (which he is), but because he tames the crazy every night. He ties up the monsters and tucks them away, and when they break out, he does it again. Villains are fun to watch, but terrible to be, and Batman faithfully patrols the Gotham City of our brains to keep them from taking over.

(I must give great credit to AV Club writer and Bat-expert Oliver Sava for all the insights into Batman and the villains of Gotham I gleaned for this series while reading his reviews of B:TAS.)

Dominant Function: (Ni) Introverted Intuition, “The Labryinth”

Batman’s identity is based on a solitary, personal symbol of fear. Bats scared Bruce as a child, so he imagines it will scare others, particularly the criminals he fights. The bat encompasses every idea he needs to convey as his crimefighting alter ego—darkness, swiftness, terror, and deadliness (even though he’s sworn to never kill).

In one sense, Batman was born the day Bruce’s parents died. Even though it took many years for the costume to appear, he was already on the path. Bruce swore to avenge his parents’ death as a boy, and regularly visits both their graves and the site of their deaths to focus himself on his vow. He sees his future early on, not just of becoming Batman, but of one day eradicating crime from Gotham.