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.

ESTJ: The Founder, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”

ESTJ – the Director, the Achiever, the Optimizer

When we type a villain, we usually expect their inferior function to be their fatal weakness. For Te-doms, the stereotype is that they have no moral oversight to their actions. By contrast, the intimidating Founder has a very clear moral vision–she believes she is absolutely entitled to wield control over other, lesser species.

Another of DS9’s ESTJ villains, the meddling Brunt, acts the same way. He enforces the laws of Ferengi society with an aggressive sense of justice. Just like a weak inferior-Te user might use faulty logic to defend their subjective beliefs, inferior-Fi can provide the comfort of self-righteousness to an over-controlling ExTJ.

(This character was never given a name on the show. Instead, she was referred to in dialogue and in the credits as simply, “Female Changeling.” That’s super clunky and annoying to type over and over, so for simplicity’s sake, I’m just calling her “The Founder.”)

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

The Founder’s major directive is to bring every civilization she meets under the control of the Dominion. She sees it as her calling to bring order to a galaxy racked with chaos. Solids, she believes, don’t know enough to govern themselves, and so the Founders must lead.

The Founders exert control over their realm through their minions, the loyal Vorta and Jem’Hadar. Both races are genetically engineered to be obedient without question, and to view the Founders as gods. For further control, the Jem’Hadar are engineered to be addicted to a drug called Ketracel-white, which only their “gods” provide.

ISTJ: Michael Eddington, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”

ISTJ – the Inspector, the Sentinel, the Expert

Eddington undergoes a major character switch when he becomes a villain. After a couple of years serving quietly in the background, he jumps ship (or station, as it were), and goes rogue. He’s more aggressive and dramatic as a crusading Maquis than he was as a law-abiding Starfleet officer, leading me to believe he’s operating out of his lower functions when he makes the change. Eddington sees himself as the hero of his own story, but to Starfleet and Sisko, he’s a terrorist.

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

At first, Eddington seems like a good old-fashioned, reliable Starfleet officer. He joined with the ambition of being a captain, like everyone else, but ended up in security. That department doesn’t typically lead to command, but he still stuck to his job and did it well. Sisko asks him why he doesn’t just transfer over to the command division, but Eddington doesn’t seem interested in a big change at this point.

Of course, that could just be because he has other things brewing.

Eddington eventually reveals himself as a leader in the Maquis, a terrorist group dedicated to protecting Federation colonists left behind in Cardassian territory after new borders are drawn. The Maquis, and Eddington, don’t believe they should have to leave their homes for any reason. Though they’re offered many alternatives, they hold their ground and refuse to leave no matter how poor their living conditions grow.

Eddington appreciates the real, hand-grown, fresh food he raises and eats as a Maquis. He doesn’t like the taste of replicated food, and recognizes the exact menu selection he’s given as a prisoner. His whole existence as a Maquis feels more natural to him than his outward presentation as a Starfleet officer.

ESFJ: Winn Adami, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”

ESFJ – the Provider, the Facilitator, the Caretaker

A smiling, self-righteous old lady enters the place our family of misfit characters calls home and immediately sets everyone on edge with her overbearing rules and conspiratorial grabs for power.

Nope, we’re not profiling Dolores Umbridge today. It’s Star Trek’s own Space Pope, the chillingly wicked Kai Winn. DS9 has some truly lovely Fe-doms on board, but Winn brings the Mean Girl-ness to a religious level.

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

When Winn Adami first saw the wormhole—or the Gates of the Celestial Temple, as her people believe them to be—she felt nothing. All her fellow Bajorans around her, however, reacted in awe, and Winn felt she had to display the proper response. She never has a personal experience with the Prophets her entire life, but rather loops through her Fe-Ne, playing along with the Bajoran faith to pretend that she believes what everyone else believes.

Her rise to power is driven by her need to be seen as more righteous than others despite her insecurities. She finds it deeply distasteful that the Prophets chose an outsider like Sisko as their Emissary. She can’t even get out of his shadow after she ascends to Bajor’s highest religious position. Winn speaks sweetly even to her enemies—perhaps more so—and passive-aggressively insults those she dislikes, always acting shocked when someone (usually Kira) calls out her true motives.

DS9 MBTI: Villains Week

And now, the wicked week we’ve all been waiting for. Star Trek’s never been short on good villains, but DS9 truly presents an embarrassment of riches. What makes these villains great is how much time we get to spend with them as characters, learning their flaws and their strengths, and sometimes seeing shimmers of grace within their personalities that might have led to redemption if things had gone differently.

In the Original Series, Kirk’s nemesis was an Ni-user with an ego as big as his own. The Next Generation found the stern, commanding Picard squaring off against an unpredictable, trickster Perceiver type. On Deep Space Nine, our Fi-dom–led crew fights for their freedom against a series of Judgers who wield their power over others for nefarious means.

It’s a big, scary galaxy out there, especially with these guys in it.

DS9 MBTI VIPs

DS9’s just bursting at the seams with memorable characters—the family, friends, and enemies that populate the corridors and make the station feel like a live, busy place. Not all of them spend enough time on board to provide material for a full profile, and most of them leave us just as they get interesting. So here’s a quick round up of some of the VIPs who have visited DS9, with my best guess as to their types.

(Note: I realized just I finished this post that all but two of these characters are dead by the end of the series. Well, two-and-a-half, depending on your perception of Opaka’s situation. DS9’s a nice place to live, but a dangerous place to visit.)

Tora Ziyal

It’s my theory that Ziyal actually changes type, because she was recast twice and reinvented just before her final arc.

Ziyal-A (Cyia Batten) is a young but tough girl who’s survived growing up in a prisoner-of-war camp, and finds herself in a weird limbo even after being rescued, thanks to her mixed heritage and the fact that her father is a monster. She’s guarded and naïve in equal measure, ready to fight but not quite steady on her feet. Kira sort of adopts her like a little sister, and I very much think she sees her younger self in Ziyal.

Ziyal-B (Tracy Middendorf) is roughly the same, observing Garak quietly from a distance before making the first move. She tells him she grew up alone and doesn’t need the company of another Cardassian, but he’s welcome to join her nonetheless.

Best guess for original Ziyal: ISFP

INFP: Keiko Ishikawa-O’Brien, “Star Trek: TNG/Deep Space Nine”

INFP – the Healer, the Dreamer, the Clarifier

Keiko O’Brien put up with a lot, and never really got her due. She joined the crew way back in TNG, then left her career to cross over with her husband Miles to DS9, highlighting the show’s themes of family life and diversity. Once the focus shifted to the O’Brien-Bashir bromance (which, to be clear, I think is wonderful), our intrepid botanist went neglected.

Most of her episodes catch Keiko on her bad days, bickering with her husband or worrying what to do with her life. It was tough deciding whether she was always in the grip, or just aggressively using her higher functions. When we see her on good days, she’s obviously smart, sweet, and crazy in love with an Irish engineer who’s as stubborn as she is.

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

Keiko and Miles love each other deeply in a way that’s obvious to everyone, but also a little inexplicable given how often they seem to be at odds. They clash in the hard-headed way of two Fi-users exasperated with constant compromise. His Fi is lower, so he has trouble working out how to emotionally respond, while her higher Fi wants to be understood without having to explain itself (as an INFP who has dated two ISTJs, I can assure you this never happens in real life…ahem).

ISTJ: Martok, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”

ISTJ – the Inspector, the Sentinel, the Expert

When typing the Vulcans of The Original Series, I observed that most of them are ISTJs. The orderliness, logic, and composure commonly associated with the type just suits them. Turns out our two favorite Klingons are also Si-doms, and Worf and Martok find ways to tear apart their types’ expectations with a fury.

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

Martok has worked long and hard to get where he is. He comes from a lower-class, “commoner” background, and never forgets it. He was the first in his family to apply for officer training, but he was rejected thanks to a negative vote from the legendary Kor, who believed that those without noble blood should not be allowed in the ranks of officers. Martok holds this against Kor for the rest of his life, and refuses to speak to the man when he joins his crew for one last mission.

Martok had to work as a common day laborer due to his rejection, but he never gave up his original plan to become an officer. He served as an orderly on a Klingon warship and finally earned a field commission from his General when they fought invading Romulans. Sadly, Martok’s father had died by the time he accomplished this, and Martok carried that sore spot with him as well, nursing his grudge against Kor.

ESFJ: Leeta, “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”

ESFJ – the Provider, the Facilitator, the Caretaker

Like Kira, Leeta’s a young Bajoran woman who survived the Occupation. While one of them picked up a gun, the other picked up some Dabo skills. Kira’s Fi-dom makes her edgy and angry, while Leeta moves through the world with an Fe-dom’s openness and generosity, making her living as the life of the party in the hub of DS9’s communal bazaar.

They both fall for some pretty weird Introverted dudes, though.

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

Like her ESFJ boss, Leeta’s gift is hospitality. She entertains guests every day at Quark’s Bar, coaxing their energy up to keep the room lively. Her job is to make sure everyone is happy, enthusiastic, and spending money. She’s something of an amateur sociologist, which comes in handy considering all the diverse people she meets in her line of work.

Leeta’s a very skilled people-person, and quick to make friends. She’s barely known Jadzia for more than a few weeks (like, one episode) before Dax invites her to participate in the very intimate ceremony of sharing a consciousness with one of her past hosts. She coyly flirts with Julian, feigning illness to get his attention; and when it’s time to break up, she finds an amicable way to do it that ensures no hard feelings.