Help Me Type This Character!

[Engineer]

Oh zounds! Engineer making a non-relationship thread?! What has happened?

Okay, so there's this character that I've been trying to figure out for awhile. I figured I'd take it here since there are people here that are much better at type analysis than myself. Here's a brief summary, without context to color or taint the analysis:

They're very good at what they do, but they don't realize it fully inside.
They're kind of rigid and awkward socially-- they understand how to act inside systems, and around their closest friends, but outside of that it's difficult for them to actually socialize. They end up clamming up and avoiding sparking conversations with others, which unwittingly gives them a sort of unapproachable vibe to others. This doesn't mean they long for interaction, however: they enjoy observing and understand the benefits of hanging back and being a wallflower.
To others, they seem like they've got their life together, but inside they're scared to death that they're going to make a big mistake at some point and mess it all up.
They are unaware of their need for a close confidant, or if they are aware, they just refuse to acknowledge needing another person that much. They bottle up feelings and set them aside
They live in the moment, and are great at making snap decisions about things, usually based on what they think of as instinct or gut. Generally this gut feeling is right.
They don't really seek romantic relationships, though they do have deeply-set sexual/romantic desires that they keep restrained with a considerable amount of will. A relationship is something they want, but only on their own terms, and not if it gets in the way of them being their best.
People have to chase them in order to make their intentions clear, and they're so elusive that it's rare that that happens.
They have no real close friends-- their job prevents them from really having the time, and they neglect their needs quite a bit in that regard. Deep down, maybe they're scared to form attachments.
Their father died at a young age, and their mother made several selfish decisions which led to them not having a good childhood and being forced to grow up early. They supported themselves and their younger sibling through the educational system and a bit beyond. Their sibling is their best friend, and despite the distances between them, they try to keep in touch as often as they can.

They are, on the outside, quiet, confident-seeming, composed, peaceful, mysterious, and a bit innocent. Inside however, they are shy and uncertain, made up of inner turmoil and barely-contained and -compartmentalized chaos, with passionate opinions and a great deal of fear and vulnerability which they mask from outsiders quite well.

They are quite focused on "doing their job" and doing it well, and are very, very loath to admit their flaws to anybody, constantly obsessed with improvement and self-betterment. They're a bit uptight because of this, but they can occasionally relax if given the opportunity and motivation to do so.


So, can you help me type that character? I'm sure I've forgotten some things, so please ask any questions if that would help your analysis.

 

[Kalach]

Oh zounds! Engineer making a non-relationship thread?! What has happened?

He's channeling it into writing a novel about relationships?

If all of the description is natural for the character, then "they" (pffft, she) sounds at least IJ, possibly ITJ (but it presumably depends a bit on background culture).

However, I suspect the character is also a superhero of some sort, since they have an alter ego significantly at odds with all other aspects of their personae, to wit:

They live in the moment, and are great at making snap decisions about things, usually based on what they think of as instinct or gut. Generally this gut feeling is right.

 

[Engineer]

He's channeling it into writing a novel about relationships?

If all of the description is natural for the character, then "they" (pffft, she) sounds at least IJ, possibly ITJ (but it presumably depends a bit on background culture).

Geez, I got rid of all of my context and then you go and add it all back in! Am I really that easy to read? And more curiously, what made you think it was a girl...?

It's not about relationships, actually. It's something almost diametrically opposite to that. As it is, I'm all about deep backstory that doesn't ever show up in a major part of the narrative. It's like an iceberg, under the surface, subtly defining characters as they do their... character things.

The I was definitely a given, but I'm not seeing the J part all that much. T, maybe. But J... not really? Damn if it is, I was hoping to avoid writing characters that resemble myself. I'd need to rewrite it if it is. Not a superhero, just part of the job. Requires snap decisions.

 

[Coriolis]

Seems ISTP to me.

 

[Ism]

IxxJ?

 

[Kalach]

And more curiously, what made you think it was a girl...?

I may just be showing my age, but "they" as a personal pronoun usually seems to me an awkward bowlderization. Aside from that nothing in the actual description seem particularly to suggest any given gender.

It's not about relationships, actually. It's something almost diametrically opposite to that. As it is, I'm all about deep backstory that doesn't ever show up in a major part of the narrative. It's like an iceberg, under the surface, subtly defining characters as they do their... character things.

Ah, the character biography. Are they easier to do in terms of general tendancies or actual made up past events plus character reactions and actions?

The I was definitely a given, but I'm not seeing the J part all that much. T, maybe. But J... not really? Damn if it is, I was hoping to avoid writing characters that resemble myself. I'd need to rewrite it if it is. Not a superhero, just part of the job. Requires snap decisions.

To be honest, I don't know what the P lifestyle is really, and perhaps a P could be like your character, but some of it suggests to me a tendency in the character to organise externally. Viz:

They're very good at what they do, but they don't realize it fully inside.
They're kind of rigid and awkward socially-- they understand how to act inside systems, and around their closest friends, but outside of that it's difficult for them to actually socialize. They end up clamming up and avoiding sparking conversations with others, which unwittingly gives them a sort of unapproachable vibe to others. This doesn't mean they long for interaction, however: they enjoy observing and understand the benefits of hanging back and being a wallflower.
To others, they seem like they've got their life together, but inside they're scared to death that they're going to make a big mistake at some point and mess it all up.
They are unaware of their need for a close confidant, or if they are aware, they just refuse to acknowledge needing another person that much. They bottle up feelings and set them aside
They live in the moment, and are great at making snap decisions about things, usually based on what they think of as instinct or gut. Generally this gut feeling is right.
They don't really seek romantic relationships, though they do have deeply-set sexual/romantic desires that they keep restrained with a considerable amount of will. A relationship is something they want, but only on their own terms, and not if it gets in the way of them being their best.
People have to chase them in order to make their intentions clear, and they're so elusive that it's rare that that happens.
They have no real close friends-- their job prevents them from really having the time, and they neglect their needs quite a bit in that regard. Deep down, maybe they're scared to form attachments.
Their father died at a young age, and their mother made several selfish decisions which led to them not having a good childhood and being forced to grow up early. They supported themselves and their younger sibling through the educational system and a bit beyond. Their sibling is their best friend, and despite the distances between them, they try to keep in touch as often as they can.

They are, on the outside, quiet, confident-seeming, composed, peaceful, mysterious, and a bit innocent. Inside however, they are shy and uncertain, made up of inner turmoil and barely-contained and -compartmentalized chaos, with passionate opinions and a great deal of fear and vulnerability which they mask from outsiders quite well.

They are quite focused on "doing their job" and doing it well, and are very, very loath to admit their flaws to anybody, constantly obsessed with improvement and self-betterment. They're a bit uptight because of this, but they can occasionally relax if given the opportunity and motivation to do so.

The bolded bits are not unqiuely J, nor defining of it, but it seems to me they could be associated with it.

I did once decide that in an environment, the IPs act in some respects like fixed points. They may flex and go with the flow, but they also carry around with them some stubbornly immovable parts that are separate from the environment and have to be dealt with if you want to deal with the person.

 

[Engineer]

IxxJ?

Hm. So, definitely I, but sort of a strong J-vibe to some. Thanks for your input, I appreciate it.

I may just be showing my age, but "they" as a personal pronoun usually seems to me an awkward bowlderization. Aside from that nothing in the actual description seem particularly to suggest any given gender.

You're darn good at guessing, have to admit.

Ah, the character biography. Are they easier to do in terms of general tendancies or actual made up past events plus character reactions and actions?

I like to do the second, because in my opinion, a character's tendencies generally stem from their past, and their reactions to those events in their past. That's just my style though, no right or wrong.

To be honest, I don't know what the P lifestyle is really, and perhaps a P could be like your character, but some of it suggests to me a tendency in the character to organise externally.

The bolded bits are not unqiuely J, nor defining of it, but it seems to me they could be associated with it.

I did once decide that in an environment, the IPs act in some respects like fixed points. They may flex and go with the flow, but they also carry around with them some stubbornly immovable parts that are separate from the environment and have to be dealt with if you want to deal with the person.

I can't fathom a P lifestyle either, I'm so far J. It's hard to understand living in a world where, from what I can gather, everything is fluid. It was sort of a mental exercise to write a character who saw things that way.

Your assessment makes sense, though, and is quite cogent. Maybe some J tendencies, or what you described with with the IPs. In my limited interactions with IPs, I've noticed some of the same characteristics-- some small rocks in the stream of possibilities, some small things that can't be shifted.