I found some of the Silmarillion characters MBTI

[Hisoka Morrow]

And I'm ENTP. lol

So similiar to me, I'm ENTJ. XD

 

[Server Room Gremlin]

I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss the ENTJ Feanor. After all, most of his actions in the story are taken after things have gone horribly wrong.

It's very curious, but I sometimes write stories, and one of my characters types as ENTJ (when I answer the questions thinking about how they would respond). And they are oddly similar to Feanor, which was surprising to me when I first read the Silmarillion. My character is normally very outgoing and decisive, but has a very 'one-track-mind' (less so as he eventually matures). He's very inventive and determined in pursuit of his goals, but this means he can overlook the finer details, which may result in unintended consequences, or wound people close to him. After an event in his life which caused him a lot of grief, he went a bit off the rails, like a vigilante almost, since clearly what used to work doesn't work anymore, and he's got to defend what's 'right' by himself. He is clearly acting emotional, but he can't recognise or see that himself, so he won't be at peace with himself and grieve 'properly'. He just pushes himself further into reckless action, thinking he's the only one who really sees what has to be done.

Here are the cognitive functions of the ENTJ:
Te (Extraverted Thinking)
Ni (Introverted Intuition)
Se (Extraverted Sensing)
Fi (Introverted Feeling)

These are the same as an INTJ, but the order is swapped so that the 'extraverted' functions are higher up. Introverted feeling (Fi) is related to your sense of self, your own values and personal 'code of conduct'. It is not the empathetic 'extraverted feeling' (Fe) that INFJs and ENFJs have.
So you may be primarily concerned with your own feelings, and they are tied to your identity as a person, and perhaps to the things you make, and the people who you love. However, with this 'feeling' function in such a low position, it doesn't come naturally to you, and you can mistake your feelings for facts, especially if you are under stress. (I am an INTJ, so it is similar for me).

Ni (introverted intuition) is extremely useful for inventing or thinking of new things, since it is always looking to 'connect the dots' and find similarities between things that may not normally be compared. It likes looking for a 'theory of everything', and pondering the deeper things in life. INFJs also have Ni. However, it can be turned to a 'conspiracy theorist' frame of mind if you are feeling suspicious about events in the wider world, or have been hurt by people.

Anyway, that's just my thoughts. In reality, it is a bit hard to type fictional characters if you didn't create them yourself. What do you think of this?

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

Yay, happy to see someone else who knows about cognitive functions! I do like your points about Fëanor possibly having out of whack Ni and Fi. Perhaps the stress of the events in The Silmarillion are causing him to "loop" or get stuck on his internal functions, and his Te and Se are not getting used so much. It does make me think that maybe we need to be looking at this in terms of his weak cognitive functions rather than his strong ones, and it does make sense that the stress and grief of the events caused him to get stuck on his weaker functions.

However, I still personally see him as ENTP because I think the dominant function of Ne, with its generation of creative ideas, and secondary Ti, describes him well. But you're right, without us having created the character ourselves it's all subjective.

 

[Server Room Gremlin]

Yeah, ENTPs are pretty similar. But I guess to me, ENTPs don't seem to have the same kind of intensity, and they welcome debate and discussion. Feanor is quite an unyielding individual, it seems.

 

[Hisoka Morrow]

Ni (introverted intuition) is extremely useful for inventing or thinking of new things, since it is always looking to 'connect the dots' and find similarities between things that may not normally be compared. It likes looking for a 'theory of everything', and pondering the deeper things in life.

But Feanor obviously...sucked horribly in such function, especially according to his ruthless military operation chasing Melkor, leading to his death. Just check the link of the voting for the worst military commander in ME, you can find Feanor really was isolated from NI function.
This is the link of voting for worst military commander in lotr

 

[Server Room Gremlin]

But Feanor obviously...sucked horribly in such function, especially according to his ruthless military operation chasing Melkor, leading to his death. Just check the link of the voting for the worst military commander in ME, you can find Feanor really was isolated from NI function.
This is the link of voting for worst military commander in lotr

To me that seems like the result of extreme impatience. Instead of 'how can I use what resources/abilities I currently have to [work towards] my goal', he went straight to 'how can I use what resources/abilities I currently have to [immediately achieve] my goal'. It looks like Te used recklessly, by itself, without any time taken to think things through at all. Or a Te/Se loop: this would be useful for action in the moment (especially in physical activity and the coordination and reflexes of your own body), but not for planning ahead. Feanor only realises the enormous difference between the elves' capabilities and Morgoth's capabilities after his injuries forcibly put a stop to him.

He is still thinking things through somewhat while in Aman, since he's able to make persuasive and impassioned speeches, and he still reasons that they have to take the ships by force if they want to get anywhere quickly, before people start changing their minds and arguing with him. He was afraid of delay. By the time they get to Beleriand, though, even that amount of forethought is gone, and he burns the ships. They also get taken by surprise, and win the Battle under Stars despite that. Clearly whatever they're doing is working, and nothing's going to stop him. He is now 'fey, consumed by the flame of his own wrath' and continues chasing the fleeing orcs, so I don't think much battle planning would get done by anyone in that state of mind.

 

[Deimos]

I can be very social with those I am close with, but when it comes to being around tons of people, I’m definitely introverted. I can only handle so much before I need to withdraw and recharge in a quiet environment.

Ditto squared and cubed. New acquaintances are always surprised to find out I'm introverted.

Only introverts will find this hilariously funny:

 

[Glorfindel Goldtress]

Only introverts will find this hilariously funny:

I'm an Extrovert, and I found it funny. 😜

 

[Deimos]

I'm an Extrovert, and I found it funny. 😜

Ahhh, but did you find it hilariously funny?😉😄

I knew folks who were not introverts would find it funny... but I have met quite a few extroverts (of the more extreme variety) who, after reading it, said "I don't get it".
I found out later that they knew no introverts at all. Their entire circle of friends and acquaintances was made up of [more or less] extroverted folks.

 

[Ugluk]

Labelling Eru Iluvatar seems presumptuous to me....

 

[Deimos]

Labelling Eru Iluvatar seems presumptuous to me....

Huh ????
Eru and Ilúvatar are one and the same.

Per Robert Foster in The Complete Guide to Middle Earth:
Ilúvatar (Quenya = all father) God... he is also called Eru, Eru Ilúvatar, the One and (once) God [and there follows a boatload of citations].

In Tolkien's Letters the entry in the Index for Eru says see Ilúvatar.

 

[Fingon_Findekáno]

Huh ????
Eru and Ilúvatar are one and the same.

Per Robert Foster in The Complete Guide to Middle Earth:
Ilúvatar (Quenya = all father) God... he is also called Eru, Eru Ilúvatar, the One and (once) God [and there follows a boatload of citations].

In Tolkien's Letters the entry in the Index for Eru says see Ilúvatar.

I think he meant, it’s rather presumptuous to assign an MBTI type to Eru, not in that He’s also called Ilúvatar… 🤔

 

[Ugluk]

Huh ????
Eru and Ilúvatar are one and the same.

Per Robert Foster in The Complete Guide to Middle Earth:
Ilúvatar (Quenya = all father) God... he is also called Eru, Eru Ilúvatar, the One and (once) God [and there follows a boatload of citations].

In Tolkien's Letters the entry in the Index for Eru says see Ilúvatar.

I know that, I am just quoting the OP

 

[Deimos]

I know that, I am just quoting the OP

I kind of thought you did...hence the "huh"?
Soooooo...

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

I forgot I made this meme a few years ago! It sums up the INFJ experience pretty well, I think!

 

[Server Room Gremlin]

I found this not too dissimilar from my experience.

I also made this. A bit exaggerated of course, but the sentiment is pretty real. 😆

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

I found this not too dissimilar from my experience.

I can relate to some of that too, since INFJs are also Ni dominant types and somewhat similar to INTJs. (I have the huge Planning Region and tiny Spontaneous Region too!)

I also made this. A bit exaggerated of course, but the sentiment is pretty real. 😆

Interesting, I'm pretty comfortable with my tertiary function of Ti (as seen in the meme I made- sometimes I'd rather use Ti than Fe because Fe is so dang exhausting!)

This is pretty accurate, and kind of illustrates how Ti is more comfortable than Fe for a lot of INFJs:

 

[Server Room Gremlin]

Interesting, I'm pretty comfortable with my tertiary function of Ti (as seen in the meme I made- sometimes I'd rather use Ti than Fe because Fe is so dang exhausting!)

I think the exhaustion comes from 'feeling' in general, because it's so complicated and nuanced and takes up a lot of brain power to sort out.

With Fi, I only have my own feelings and deep convictions (which are stubborn), rather than everyone else's to pay attention to. Fi gives great inspiration when it's in the background, but paying full attention to it is like staring yourself down in a mirror. Or staring down a clone of yourself who knows you better than you do. And you're alone, with nothing else between you and yourself.

If Ni starts getting into a loop with it (and making all its connections and coming up with ideas based on Fi only), your view of reality can end up very skewed, as you have no rules of logic, and no input from the outside world. You may even get suspicious of the outside world and actively prevent it from getting a word in. It's not an ideal situation.

Thinking functions are more straightforward. It's where I'm confident (and thus comfortable), and I overthink way less.
Te is a tool I use to put my ideas out there in the world. It's entirely practical; it takes into account the time and resources I have right now, and helps me modify my initial idea so it's actually workable in my current situation. When using it, I'm also far less reserved, but my interactions with others will be 'business-like', and focused on our shared goal rather than forming or deepening a social relationship.

As for me personally, while I can get overwhelmed by Se input, at some point I realised how useful it was as another tool.
I have a great appreciation for art, and this extends to ordinary things in the outside world. So when I'm at the shops, while I'm on my way to getting my stuff, I'm ignoring the people (they're just background noise) but taking note of all the colourful and interesting sights and smells. When I'm actively using Se to learn about my surroundings and observe other people and how they move and act, it doesn't bother me at all in the moment (though I'll probably be tired later, when I'm not actively using it anymore).
I think Te and Se also helped me be surprisingly good at wrestling as a kid, even though I mostly sat around reading books.

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

I think the exhaustion comes from 'feeling' in general, because it's so complicated and nuanced and takes up a lot of brain power to sort out.

Yeah, even though I'm a Feeling type, I agree with this. Thinking is just principles of logic, which are straightforward and make sense. But when using Feeling, especially Fe, you have actual human beings on the line and it can be easy to hurt someone by mistake.

Also, INFJs are known for being ambiguous between using Thinking and Feeling and for being an honorary Thinking type. 😂

If Ni starts getting into a loop with it (and making all its connections and coming up with ideas based on Fi only), your view of reality can end up very skewed, as you have no rules of logic, and no input from the outside world. You may even get suspicious of the outside world and actively prevent it from getting a word in. It's not an ideal situation.

Hmm, that sounds like Fëanor! 😂

For INFJs, since looping means getting stuck on Ni and Ti, I think when we're looping we can get very isolated and cold, detaching ourselves from people, and certainly overthinking everything. And for me personally, sometimes I find the Ni-Ti loop to be a much safer and more comfortable place than exposing myself to Fe, because I suck up other peoples' emotions like a sponge and that's just exhausting.

As for me personally, while I can get overwhelmed by Se input, at some point I realised how useful it was as another tool.
I have a great appreciation for art, and this extends to ordinary things in the outside world. So when I'm at the shops, while I'm on my way to getting my stuff, I'm ignoring the people (they're just background noise) but taking note of all the colourful and interesting sights and smells. When I'm actively using Se to learn about my surroundings and observe other people and how they move and act, it doesn't bother me at all in the moment (though I'll probably be tired later, when I'm not actively using it anymore).

Yeah, I'm the exact same way! I think my Se manifests as my deep love for music especially. But also anything aesthetic and sensory, like art, costume design, gardening, baking and so forth. Like maybe this is because I've been a classically trained violinist since age 7, but I actually don't care very much about song lyrics. In music, I care about one thing and one thing only, and that is whether or not it has a beautiful sound. This is why I don't care much for pop or contemporary music, because to me it just doesn't sound anywhere near as beautiful as a Romantic era symphony. The best classical music out there has profound emotion to it, certainly, and I do connect with it like that. But I don't relate to a lot of people who like a song because the lyrics are meaningful. If it doesn't sound beautiful to the ear, I won't connect with the song, no matter how meaningful the lyrics are. And I think that's my Se detaching itself from Ni for whatever reason.

 

[Tyelkormo the Fair]

I have to either keep my braincells for reading this or writing RP posts. You decide.