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INFP Villains?

Ambrosia

New member
Joined
Apr 5, 2009
Messages
26
MBTI Type
INFP
Has anyone played the game Tales of Symphonia? I definitely think Mithos/Yggdrasill is an INFP. And, of course, his status as a villain is subject to debate.
 

Tamske

Writing...
Joined
Oct 22, 2009
Messages
1,764
MBTI Type
ENTP
Yes, I know the typology in question. Passionate is ESFJ or ENFJ: Active, Emotive and Secundary.

Amorphous is INTP or ISTP: The exact opposite of Passionate: Non-Active, Non-Emotive and Primary. As you can see, I am Amorphous. I morph not. I am devoid of a form.
I structure not. Do I want to be Amorphous? Yes. Do I want to waste my life in endless Passion? No.

You are Active, Non-Emotive and Primary. In the other words, you are a Sanguine. Your exact opposite is Non-Active, Emotive and Secundary: The Sentimental: INFJ or ISFJ.

Then there is the Phlegmatic. She is Active, Non-Emotive and Secundary: The ESTJ or the ENTJ. Very common in the army. In the high echelons of course. Unfortunately, also common type among the university professors. Her exact opposite is Non-Active, Emotive and Primary: the Nervous: The INFP or the ISFP. The Poet or the Artist. Edgar Allan, Vincent Van.

Exercise makes perfect. Your religion teacher in vain despised the Amorphous. Because he was the Passionate, the opposite. A typical priest. The evil character of the type makes bombs. Because the Passion is there, although ill directed.

One variable: Two types. Two variables: Four types. Three variables: Eight types. Four variables: Sixteen types.

Oh. I forgot The Choleric and her opposite, the Apathetic.
Choleric: Active, Emotive, Primary. ENFP or ESFP.
Apathetic: Non-Active, Non-Emotive, Secundary. ISTJ or INTJ.

Wow. I didn't realise it was this simple!
I thought the (non)-Emotional and (non)-Active traits were a mixture of E/I and J/P.
But you're absolutely right.
We didn't see the amorphous (and apathetic,...) as bad, we rather saw them as boring. The Passionates were the main actors in the world stage (both good and evil), the Cholerics were the sidekicks and the others were fillers. I knew even then that this was not true, but I couldn't think of examples.
I scored Choleric, by the way. As we all biased our results to score Emotional and Active, I'm quite happy to get at least my Perceiving/Primary trait right :)
Teacher being a Passionate himself... So true! Based on my memories, I would type him an ENFJ. The gist of his lessons: "Praying and meditation is bullshit. You've got to help people, protest against nuclear weapons,... in order to find God." I still adhere to this creed :D

Okay, back to the topic now... INFP villains!
Maybe we should look also at the more "local" villains. I mean: the world-dominating (E), plotting (J) fantasy villain is most likely not an INFP. But you can call a character a villain even if he doesn't seek world domination or destruction. If he wrecks the life of the main character, causes misery,... he's a villain.

I found an ENFP villainess: Carmen from the Bizet opera.
Carmen causes murder due to her flightiness. So she is not just a villainess who is also an ENFP; her ENFP traits are the cause of the misery!

I'm going to attack the question from another angle, now.
Is extraversion necessary? I don't think so. I wouldn't call Voldemort an extravert. Voldy is not a Perceiver, though... He's constantly plotting and has difficulties believing and adjusting if the universe doesn't follow his plans.
Intuitive... I can't even think of Sensing villains right now.
Feeling... No problems there. Thinking villains could be nice, but evil Feelers are gold! (I'm talking from the perspective of an amateur writer now).
Perceiving... why not? You at least abolish the mad schemes of the classic fantasy villain!

If you combine everything, you get the INFP... The problem with "combining" is that INFP is not equal to I+N+F+P. The different traits interact with each other. If you want to write an INFP villain, you've got to take care he doesn't become depressed or commit suicide instead of causing misery to other characters.
My INFP villain just wants to get out of his black hole and the side effects of his trying are disastrous.
 

nolla

Senor Membrane
Joined
May 22, 2008
Messages
3,166
MBTI Type
INFP
school shooters tend to come to mind.

Yes! I have actually compared myself to school shooters. When I was younger I was a bit of a loser like they, and in different circumstances I might have done some stupid moves.. I think it would not be too far fetched idea. You could even take it further, if the INFP had the resources he might become kind of a Hitler. The problem with that theory is that INFPs don't usually get near the resources in any organisation.
 

William K

Uniqueorn
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
986
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4w5
Hmmm, I could see a scientist type that tries to do good but because of an accident winds up being a sympathetic but tragic villain. Like Dr Jekyll, or the doctor in The Fly.
 

Tamske

Writing...
Joined
Oct 22, 2009
Messages
1,764
MBTI Type
ENTP
An INFP scientist? :shock:

Moreover, the scientist in your scenario is not evil. If the accident changes him into an evil person, you have to re-type him, too. You've got to look at the corrupted scientist. He's different than the one before the experiment. Though Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are one and the same person, they act so differently it's better to assign each one a type, separately, without looking at their connection.

Wouldn't it be nice to have a twisted INFP character cause pain and suffering? And not doing this by acting something else, but just because of his INFP characteristics?
After all, it IS possible to have a shallow, whimsical ENFP-gone-awry cause suffering - something I never thought possible before I tried to type Carmen from Bizet.
 

Little Linguist

Striving for balance
Joined
Jun 23, 2008
Messages
6,880
MBTI Type
xNFP
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
For the last time : Skywalker is an ENFP. If you've seen one under stress it's very easy to imagine his Te taking over and consuming him.



I could see an NFP going nihilist after some sort of trauma and acquiring that new set of principles/beliefs as he/she tried to make sense out of the situation.

Yup.

I think INFPs are probably the type most prone to genuine nihilism (as distinct from mere selfishness), since we're probably the type least constrained by mores and the opinions of those around us. Thus when we lose our way with our core values we can really lose our way. I think this probably leads more often to serious addictions and suicide than villainy though.

Yeah, INFP = inward focused; ENFP = outward focus.

So would that make ENFPs better villains? :huh: :shock: :cry:
 

William K

Uniqueorn
Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
986
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
4w5
Wouldn't it be nice to have a twisted INFP character cause pain and suffering? And not doing this by acting something else, but just because of his INFP characteristics?

That will be painful for the villain I think... The picture I get is an INFP stabbing another person with a long knife, but while wrapping the palm around the sharp blade itself instead of the hilt :p
 

Tamske

Writing...
Joined
Oct 22, 2009
Messages
1,764
MBTI Type
ENTP
That will be painful for the villain I think... The picture I get is an INFP stabbing another person with a long knife, but while wrapping the palm around the sharp blade itself instead of the hilt :p

:doh: Those INFPs!:hug:
 

Valuable_Money

New member
Joined
Jun 19, 2009
Messages
679
MBTI Type
ENTP
Enneagram
5w6
This is why I think the Joker (TDK) is a dark-side NFP. Not sure about INFP or ENFP. The "you complete me" line suggests extrovert, but I think INFPs can be prone to electing an Enemy who symbolizes (or is idealized into) all they hate. Take Ahab and Moby Dick, for instance.

People keep saying he's an ENTP, but I think that's just because he's smart, funny and nasty. Values are what drives him though. Precisely how he came to be how he is we're not told.

The only real problem I have with this typing is the quite spectacular use of Ni he apparently shows. He's always at least one step ahead of everyone. This tension between his obvious foresight/planning and his self-description ("Do I really look like a guy with a plan? I'm like a dog chasing cars -- I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it.") and avowed aim to show everyone how futile their attempts to control their lives are makes him a difficult character to type. But if people are fine with a planning joker being an ENTP then I don't see why they should have a problem with him being an XNFP.

The Joker is hardcore Ne,
He lives for entertainment "I wont kill you because your too much fun" hes trying to plunge the world into anarchy because he thinks its fun.
He may have plans but his plans are mostly Ne + Ti and occasionally Fe(He predicts peoples actions "You didnt disappoint you let 5 innocent people die")

Havent there already been like 50 threads about this? The argument allways comes down to wether or not ENTPs possess the capacity for even the most basic planning.
 

Tamske

Writing...
Joined
Oct 22, 2009
Messages
1,764
MBTI Type
ENTP
wether or not ENTPs possess the capacity for even the most basic planning.

Why wouldn't they? The ENTP wouldn't like to do it, he would postpone it, but if he knows things go better with a plan, he would do it.
I do prepare my lessons - usually - and the prepared ones are much better than the unprepared ones.
 

gigi_xo

New member
Joined
Mar 4, 2010
Messages
376
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
4w3
honestly i could see Bellatrix lestrange as a very broken infp or enfp

remember she spent a lot of time forced to relieve her worst pain in azkaban

but its not logic that drivers her, its feelings and ideals, and her inexplicable obession with voldemort (almost adoration which could lead intuitive feelers against previously held values which is common for easily influenced enfps, and lead these idealists to idealize the wrong things.

SJ makes no sense, she ran away the wizarding world trying to CHANGE all of the current standards based on her own illogical emotionally driven ideals.

though in the movies she's portrayed vert entp, like the joker, colder than an xnfp.

so i could be persuaded entp, like the joker.
 

ChildoftheProphets

New member
Joined
Feb 25, 2010
Messages
121
MBTI Type
INFP
Yeah that's where the villain part breaks down. Being a villain is obviously forcing your anger outside of yourself.

Also, INFP's tend to get all nihilistic/existential when they're down or dysfunctional which leads to "burn the world" which seems to be far more dangerous than your average power hungry villain.

Yes yes: take an INFP's sense of morality, break it, replace it with a dash of madness, then combine with existentialism or downright nihilism, and you've got yourself one dangerous world destroyer!

[E]veryone knows it's impossible to be truly evil when one is in the company of a baby animal :yes:

:devil: It depends on the villain:

Right Hand Cat - Television Tropes & Idioms

Kick The Dog - Television Tropes & Idioms

Anyway, I've really been enjoying all the Vader and Joker thoughts.

Also, does anyone remember the villain in Watchmen who wanted to blow up several major cities so he could unite the world against himself to bring about world peace? I could totally see an NF doing that.

A "good of the many" system of values would make for a very complex form of villainy, and one perfectly suited to an NF or NT.

Oh, and that purple dinosaur, Barney--like school shooters and emos--he definitely gives INFPs a bad name. :emot-emo::banned::hug::BangHead:
 

BlueFlame

New member
Joined
Feb 8, 2010
Messages
181
MBTI Type
ENFJ
Enneagram
3w2
Doofenshmirtz%204.jpg


Dr. Doofenshmirtz :heart:

I stopped trying to actually analyse his type because, well, spending tine debating the type of a Disney cartoon made me question my sanity. But I don't think I'm too far off!
 

fusetah

New member
Joined
Aug 20, 2009
Messages
92
MBTI Type
CAGE
Dexter ofcourse...!

Not the Dexter from Dexters lab. Dexter, the bloodspattern analysist
 
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