scully and mulder

[mippus]

I bought season one of the X-files and started watching it yesterday. When I watched it on the telly, Sully and Mulder struck me as opposites, but with MBTI in mind, I am confused. They both seem so INT to me (Scully: P, Mulder: J). A nice add to the complexity
Any thoughts or observations?

 

[Mort Belfry]

Really? The first thought that went through my mind is that Scully would be a J and Mulder would be a P.

I would have said, Mulder INTP, Scully ISTJ. But then I haven't seen it in years.

 

[mippus]

It is Mulder's stubborn, near obsessive persistence that made me think J. Scully has strong opinions and a wish for truth, but still shows great flexibility in preparedness to think along in a line that isn't her's. Thus P. I can see the S-interpretation with her, but being factual as in scientific does not have to be S...

 

[Totenkindly]

I would have said, Mulder INTP, Scully ISTJ. But then I haven't seen it in years.

That was always my read on them. (And Scully's Te because it is extroverted comes across as "harder" than Mulder's Ti, but this doesn't make him an F. An F Mulder would come across as far softer than he does.)

Mip, look at what function they extrovert. Mulder extroverts Ne. Scully extroverts Te. Sp he's a P, she's a J.

Although Mulder sure has a nice taste for style for an INTP.

 

[FemMecha]

Really? The first thought that went through my mind is that Scully would be a J and Mulder would be a P.

I would have said, Mulder INTP, Scully ISTJ. But then I haven't seen it in years.

That is what I've often heard as well. It seems close. In the later seasons though, Scully's poetry seems rather iNtuitive. Her original character was designed as an ISTJ - "the thought police".

The only thing i wonder about Mulder is that he is much more mystical than logical. He is driven to find his sister and the "Truth". His journey is markedly personal and subjective. The INTP descriptions of digging in to correct logical fallacies and detailed linguistic errors doesn't fit with him. He has an idealism that smacks of NFery to me. I think he is an INFP - or possibly an INFJ.

 

[anii]

In the later seasons though, Scully's poetry seems rather iNtuitive. Her original character was designed as an ISTJ - "the thought police".

I think Scully was hired by the FBI to debunk the X Files. But the character's openness to Mulder and his point of view, coupled with her spirituality in later seasons, leads me to think she's an N.

I agree with the others who think Mulder's INTP.

 

[Mort Belfry]

I think he is an INFP - or possibly an INFJ.

I wanted to say he was INFP, just for the things he is interested in. There's no way in merry hell I would search for aliens my entire life. But in the reality of the show where aliens do actually exist he can be excused with logical Ti.

 

[ZiL]

I just started watching X-Files for the first time in January, and just started season 5 last night. Awesome show .

To me, Scully is somewhere between INTJ and ISTJ. Her wanting to settle down and have some semblance of a "normal" life make me think more SJ, but her willingness to work with Mulder for as long as she did, and her acceptance (though not immediate) of his ideas seem more N in nature. I can't see my ISTJ friends buying into Mulder...ever. Plus, she seems like a creative problem solver herself, she just does everything through the lense of science. So I'm leaning a bit towards INTJ.

For Mulder I'm stuck between INTP, INFP, and INFJ. He does seem very Ne to me, and compared to Scully, who seems very Fi, he could be more Fe, but I'm really not sure. INTP seems to fit the best on the whole, though nothing fits entirely. His search for his sister does seem more feeling-oriented, but at the same time, if someone had their sibling stolen from their living room right in front of them, without any decent explanation, I figure that would effect them pretty strongly regardless of type. His idealism could indeed be read as NF, but I woud call myself very idealistic, and I'm xNTP (though prone to bouts of cynicism, I remain an idealistic person at heart).

Oh my, typing fabricated characters can be difficult...

 

[Valiant]

I think Mulder is INXP and Scully is definitely ISTJ. She's got a total absence of abstract thinking, ALWAYS sticks to fact. She's like the most unbalanced Sensor ever.

 

[mippus]

... I just saw the eposide "ghost in the machine" (?) in season one which showed Mulder's horribly messy desk. Convincing enough to agree on the INTP theory

 

[Valiant]

That episode is the shit I recently saw all seasons, the X-files is one of my top-10 tv-series But then again, might he be INFP or INTP ?

 

[mippus]

I guess both Mulder and Scully are strong T's. The whole series has this strong T-ish atmosphere.
They show no sign's of the NF's "please, love me"-attitude but keep their cool and stay detatched and both are obsessed with truth ("the truth is out there" ). What are your arguments to see him as an F?

 

[Valiant]

It's definitely true. But maybe Mulders personality isn't consistent? Maybe the author himself is an idealist NF and it sometimes creeps into the characters? Mulder is more than possible an INTP, according to behaviouristic MBTI the INTP's look for the truth behind things a whole lot. My argument that Mulder is possibly an F sometimes is the fact that he's such an idealist all the time. Nevertheless he's very rational at times. But INTP would be a good description I think... A goofy, nerdy, truthseeker One of my favourite characters of all time. Another argument for a feeler is that he's so VASTLY abstract most of the time, very much like an INFP I know.

 

[Valiant]

I sometimes get the vibe of unhealthy INFP from Mulder... You know, feelers trying to be Thinkers just to fit in/not be soft.

 

[nightwatcher]

Mulder and Scully types

I agree with Lenore Thompson (Personality Type) who types Mulder INTJ (dominant function IN) and Scully ENTJ (dominant function skeptical ET), using her auxiliary IN more toward the end of the series when she “replaces” Mulder and ends up with an STJ partner even more skeptical than she was. “Spooky” Mulder is a dominant IN (“weird” theories and imagination). IT logic (INTP's dominant function) just doesn’t fit as Mulder’s primary viewpoint. Plus he’s very single-minded in pursuit of his vision of “The Truth”, totally within INJ character. INJs can get very immersed in IN and lose touch with their secondary ET organzing function, which explains Mulder’s messy office.

 

[Domino]

I took Mulder to be an IxFJ and Scully to be an INFP. *shrugs* Freaky weird people!

 

[simulatedworld]

Mulder and Scully: ENFP and INTJ?

Discuss.

 

[Jack Flak]

I watched the recent X-Files movie, and Mulder seemed INFP to me. I hardly ever watched the series.

 

[Tallulah]

Scully reminds me more of an ISTJ doctor friend of mine, FWIW. Mulder, I could see as NF or balanced NT, perhaps.

 

[mippus]

ISTJ (Scully) & INTP (Mulder)