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Writers: what are the types of your characters?

Tamske

Writing...
Joined
Oct 22, 2009
Messages
1,764
MBTI Type
ENTP
Which MBTI types prevail in your stories? Which is the hero, which the sidekick, the villain...?

Story #1: Hero ESTJ, villain ENFJ. No real sidekick, but a "band of adventurers" consisting of the ESTJ, another ENFJ, an INFP, an ENFP and an ESFP.

Story #2: Heroine ESTJ, sidekick ISFJ, archvillain INFP, evil emperor ESFJ (I like that one).

Story #3: Hero INFP, sidekick INFJ, damsel in distress ESTJ, villain INFJ. And a jester ENTP with a far too dominant Ne for comic relief.
 

Tamske

Writing...
Joined
Oct 22, 2009
Messages
1,764
MBTI Type
ENTP
All three of them are finished. Right now, I'm focusing on a short story about a teenage girl being bullied. No idea about type. Probably ENTP like myself, because the story is quite autobiographical. I updated the frills (a mobile phone plays a quite big part, and when I was a teenager mobile phones didn't exist yet) and made things much more explicit.
I've got a long one in the pipeline too: ESFP heroine, ESTJ robot sidekick, villainess who's probably ENFJ. I still need to work out that character. I'm doing the short one first, because I want to send it in for a contest.
 

Elfboy

Certified Sausage Smoker
Joined
Nov 26, 2008
Messages
9,625
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
5w4
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
main character: INFP 8w9 Sx/Sp
main villain: ENTJ 8w7 So/Sx
other characters:
- ENFP 7w8 Sx/Sp (looks like an NTJ more than an NFP)
- ISTJ 1w9 Sp/Sx
- INFP 1w2 So/Sx
- INTJ 8w9 Sx/Sp
- ESFP 7w6 Sx/So
- ISTP 8w7 Sp/Sx
 

Elfboy

Certified Sausage Smoker
Joined
Nov 26, 2008
Messages
9,625
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
5w4
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
Which MBTI types prevail in your stories? Which is the hero, which the sidekick, the villain...?

Story #1: Hero ESTJ, villain ENFJ. No real sidekick, but a "band of adventurers" consisting of the ESTJ, another ENFJ, an INFP, an ENFP and an ESFP.

Story #2: Heroine ESTJ, sidekick ISFJ, archvillain INFP, evil emperor ESFJ (I like that one).

Story #3: Hero INFP, sidekick INFJ, damsel in distress ESTJ, villain INFJ. And a jester ENTP with a far too dominant Ne for comic relief.

these have got to be the most exotic character typings I've ever seen (can ESFJs even be evil emperors lol)
 

Tamske

Writing...
Joined
Oct 22, 2009
Messages
1,764
MBTI Type
ENTP
these have got to be the most exotic character typings I've ever seen (can ESFJs even be evil emperors lol)
Oh yes. He's convinced he's good. Very social person, very helpful, very loyal to the god... only he's convinced the god wants him to kill infidels and conquer the world. He wants to make the world a better place. He's only evil according to the main character, who happens to be an infidel.
Also, he is near immortal. Which makes him much, much older than all the other characters. He sticks to the morals of his time (well he IS a traditionalist SJ, after all), which are a lot more cruel than the more modern morals the "infidels" cling to.
 

Elfboy

Certified Sausage Smoker
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sx/sp
Oh yes. He's convinced he's good. Very social person, very helpful, very loyal to the god... only he's convinced the god wants him to kill infidels and conquer the world. He wants to make the world a better place. He's only evil according to the main character, who happens to be an infidel.
Also, he is near immortal. Which makes him much, much older than all the other characters. He sticks to the morals of his time (well he IS a traditionalist SJ, after all), which are a lot more cruel than the more modern morals the "infidels" cling to.

I suppose it's about as unheard of as an INFP military commander. unusual character are more fun
 

Sunshiney

New member
Joined
Jul 13, 2011
Messages
33
MBTI Type
INFP
I'm drawing out the plot for a story I've had in my head as of now, and the five main characters -three boys, two girls- are as of followed:
The girls,
Sunny - ESFP
Rosie - INFJ (extra emphasis on the I )
The boys,
Norman - INFJ (again, more emphasis on the I )
Nova - ENTP
Rori - ENFP

The plot is still being worked out, but basically these 5 people are simply traveling all across the world with nothing but some bags of clothes, junk food, a Jeep, and a CD collection. I'm thinking about basing the start of it in Canada... But it's still a pathetic rough draft, and I haven't even entirely planned out their designs; the only one I have acquired is Sunny's.

It will probably end up like the rest of my ideas; caged in my brain for eternity...DX
 

Idealatious

New member
Joined
Sep 17, 2011
Messages
116
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
91?
Gonna reawaken this thread for a bit because this is awesome.

I'm not like a normal (AKA, good) writer who has stories. I just have characters. Who occasionally slip into stories. And mostly I just develop, write character analyses, draw them, and imagine interesting scenarios. ...Don't judge me.

My main protagonist-ish is a ISFP, bordering on ISTP. I always like SPs, they're fun to write. Some favorite characters (maybe heros?) are INTP, ISTJ, and ENFJ. Ironically, my only INFJ is kind of a villain. o_o I mean in a most of my characters are varying degrees of morally ambiguous sort of way. But I think I have at least one character of every type. And a ton of ESTPs; they're fun.

Oh that's right! I have an actual story with the typical 5-man band. Main character (kind of an anti-hero) is probably ENFJ, second main character is ISTP. The rest are ENTP, ESTJ, and INFP. Wow, there's no villain in this story; my stories are ridiculous...
 

Tamske

Writing...
Joined
Oct 22, 2009
Messages
1,764
MBTI Type
ENTP
Gonna reawaken this thread for a bit because this is awesome.
Thanks! I'd like to read your "ridiculous" story :)

And "good" writing is not necessarily story first. I've even read more than once that characters make the story, not the other way around. My opinion on this is: it doesn't matter which idea came first; as long as in the end you developed both characters and plot. I come up with very abstract ideas first (like: I want to write a fantasy story in which everything goes wrong.) Plot and characters get created together while I work out a summary. Usually I also get very detailed ideas even at the very first stage (eg. a sentence a character should say, how the magical orb looks like,...) but I don't write them down yet. I've tried once to not write down the details until I had the whole summary, and that worked so well that I accept that as a rule now.

By the way, I've given up (for now) on the robot story. Right now, I'm working on a travel story with an ESTP hero. During some time he has an ENTP companion, but mostly he travels alone and chats up every stranger he meets. After his travels, the ESTP tells his adventures to a friend, who writes them down. The idea is to alternate between the travel stories of the ESTP, and the diary of the writer friend who gets into some problems because of these stories. I don't know the friend well enough yet, but I guess he's either an ISTJ or an ISFJ.
 

CrystalViolet

lab rat extraordinaire
Joined
Oct 24, 2008
Messages
2,152
MBTI Type
XNFP
Enneagram
5w4
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
I don't usually type my characters. I find that for me, if I do that, it takes away from their depth. I have to admit though I have a fondness for INTP/INFP characters. I actually rather tend to base characters on people I know in real life. Although they often barely recognisable.
 

CrystalViolet

lab rat extraordinaire
Joined
Oct 24, 2008
Messages
2,152
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XNFP
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5w4
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
I was trying search on google, but I'm sure there was a famous INFP roman general as well.
Granted it's unlikely Career move, especially in this day and age.
 

EJCC

The Devil of TypoC
Joined
Aug 29, 2008
Messages
19,129
MBTI Type
ESTJ
Enneagram
1w9
Instinctual Variant
sp/so
I've been trying to work on this story for several years, but I keep changing the plot and I have no idea how it's going to end. All I know is the characters, really; my story consists mostly of character-driven anecdotes with no cohesion to speak of. (Looking for inspiration and not finding any :doh:)

The characters and their types:
(Male) Narrator/Moody reluctant antihero: ISTJ 1w9 in constant shadow mode (i.e. very 4w5-ish)
Reluctant hero's girlfriend: possibly ESTP or ISFP 1w2
(Female) Anxious wallflower/reluctant leader (or villain, in a possible twist ending): ISFJ 6w7
Supporting cast:
- (Male) Scatterbrained/silly/brilliant musician: ENTP 7w6
- (Male) Loyal/macho/intense athlete: ESTx 8w9
- (Female) Ruthless social climber: ExxJ 3w4
- (Female) Loyal friend and terrifying enemy (also an athlete): ENFx 1w2
 

Tamske

Writing...
Joined
Oct 22, 2009
Messages
1,764
MBTI Type
ENTP
I've been trying to work on this story for several years, but I keep changing the plot and I have no idea how it's going to end. All I know is the characters, really; my story consists mostly of character-driven anecdotes with no cohesion to speak of. (Looking for inspiration and not finding any :doh:)
Sounds if you need an external Te! (??) :doh:
Really, really try to nail down the end first. That way you'll know where you're heading.
 

Idealatious

New member
Joined
Sep 17, 2011
Messages
116
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
91?
Thanks! I'd like to read your "ridiculous" story :)

And "good" writing is not necessarily story first. I've even read more than once that characters make the story, not the other way around. My opinion on this is: it doesn't matter which idea came first; as long as in the end you developed both characters and plot. I come up with very abstract ideas first (like: I want to write a fantasy story in which everything goes wrong.) Plot and characters get created together while I work out a summary. Usually I also get very detailed ideas even at the very first stage (eg. a sentence a character should say, how the magical orb looks like,...) but I don't write them down yet. I've tried once to not write down the details until I had the whole summary, and that worked so well that I accept that as a rule now.

By the way, I've given up (for now) on the robot story. Right now, I'm working on a travel story with an ESTP hero. During some time he has an ENTP companion, but mostly he travels alone and chats up every stranger he meets. After his travels, the ESTP tells his adventures to a friend, who writes them down. The idea is to alternate between the travel stories of the ESTP, and the diary of the writer friend who gets into some problems because of these stories. I don't know the friend well enough yet, but I guess he's either an ISTJ or an ISFJ.

Argh. so I accidentally deleted what I wrote before; so I'm finally now rewriting it. :/

You're right that characters can come first, but sometimes I can have characters exist for years without ever putting them into a story! And then there are those who I just mess around with and tweek but nothing ever comes from it. :doh: It's fun though, so I won't complain too much. With short stories, I tend to think of ideas first and then create characters as needed. With long stories, I tend to develop characters excessively first.

Your story sounds fun, very adventuresque! If I may claim that as a word. ...I just remembered an even more ridiculous story I actually partially wrote in a fit of insanity, but haven't typed the characters yet. It's about a wealthy CEO, maybe ESFJ, with anger management problems and deep-set psychological issues who hires a ton of secretaries in order to one-up someone, and then eventually hires a bodyguard, who, lo and behold, may or may not be the legendary "serial bodyguard" who eventually kills everyone who he works for. And mad scientists, conspiracies, sitcom-like relationships between the secretaries may be involved. I think I wrote that story just to see how often I could laugh during rereading it. It's fun though, I should continue and work on typing the main secretary character.

(*looks at signature* Aww. Err, maybe if you emphasized the Ne's boobs. No wait, add random bows and pink everywhere! ...excuse me while I go rant about gender norms...)
 

Tamske

Writing...
Joined
Oct 22, 2009
Messages
1,764
MBTI Type
ENTP
Story #4: ESFP adventurer, ENTP companion for a while, ISTJ friend who writes down the adventures of the ESFP. (This one is ready, yay!!)

Story #5: INTP hero, ENTJ dad, ENTP ally/villainess... and lots and lots of SJ villains :)
 

Totenkindly

@.~*virinaĉo*~.@
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
50,191
MBTI Type
BELF
Enneagram
594
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
The one novel series I'm working on with a friend has two triads of main characters

Triad #1
----------
ExFP male
IxTJ female
ENTP male


Triad #2
-----------
INFJ female
ISTJ male
ESTP male


On one of my private projects:
-------------------
INFP female
ISTJ male


I find the ExFP hardest to write, honestly. I want to do a decent job and present the viewpoint/choices fairly. I do find introverts easier to write than extroverts, since I is one.
 
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