Amadeus Arkham from Batman; INFP or INFJ?

[bilbotook]

Amadeus Arkham from Batman seems like both an INFP and an INFJ. Here are my explanations for both opinions:

Ni: He took one small idea, and made an entire asylum out of it. Ni tends to grow big things out of small seeds that are planted into their head.

Fi: He attempts to understand the misunderstood. The level of compassion and sympathy he shows people who are hated because they are insane criminals is very Fi like.

So, what do you think?

 

[star tripper]

What a... what a completely random Batman character.

I haven't read A Serious House on Serious Earth in a while, so let me just run all the stuff I can remember by you.
- He became a psychiatrist after watching his mom wrestle with some sort of mental disorder.
- He later assisted his mother in committing suicide.
- His goal was to rehabilitate criminals.
- One of his patients escaped and massacred his family.
- Even after that, Arkham still tried to cure the guy.
- It didn't work, so he killed him.
- He went insane and became a patient himself.

Let me know if any of those were Jeremiah and not Amadeus. I get them mixed up sometimes.

Anyway, based on that, some thoughts: The Arkham Asylum project was a very personal project of his. He watched his mother spiral into insanity, and I think he saw the goodness in her. He assumed that there must be goodness in everyone, that the criminals were just "broken" and could be fixed. He saw everyone as inherently good and having the potential to be productive members of society. He was wrong, and his error in judgment sent him into the very madness he was combatting.

I can see how this could be construed as INFP (Fi + Ne sees moral potential), but I also have seen INFJs talk about doing the same thing. The question becomes... what is the preoccupation here? Is it with the vision of a new world free of madness or with the faith that certain people can be set on the right path? There is a distinction here.

I'll have to reread Morrison's book to issue a final verdict.

 

[bilbotook]

What a... what a completely random Batman character.

I haven't read A Serious House on Serious Earth in a while, so let me just run all the stuff I can remember by you.
- He became a psychiatrist after watching his mom wrestle with some sort of mental disorder.
- He later assisted his mother in committing suicide.
- His goal was to rehabilitate criminals.
- One of his patients escaped and massacred his family.
- Even after that, Arkham still tried to cure the guy.
- It didn't work, so he killed him.
- He went insane and became a patient himself.

Let me know if any of those were Jeremiah and not Amadeus. I get them mixed up sometimes.

Anyway, based on that, some thoughts: The Arkham Asylum project was a very personal project of his. He watched his mother spiral into insanity, and I think he saw the goodness in her. He assumed that there must be goodness in everyone, that the criminals were just "broken" and could be fixed. He saw everyone as inherently good and having the potential to be productive members of society. He was wrong, and his error in judgment sent him into the very madness he was combatting.

I can see how this could be construed as INFP (Fi + Ne sees moral potential), but I also have seen INFJs talk about doing the same thing. The question becomes... what is the preoccupation here? Is it with the vision of a new world free of madness or with the faith that certain people can be set on the right path? There is a distinction here.

I'll have to reread Morrison's book to issue a final verdict.

You've actually helped me. I'm starting to think he's an INFJ. Sure Fi is key on helping the less respected, but where his Fe comes in is where he thought he could cure madness. While Fi believes that people are different and that's just how they are, Fe believes that there is one objective way human human being should be.

 

[star tripper]

You've actually helped me. I'm starting to think he's an INFJ. Sure Fi is key on helping the less respected, but where his Fe comes in is where he thought he could cure madness. While Fi believes that people are different and that's just how they are, Fe believes that there is one objective way human human being should be.

Fe can help the less respected, too.

I reread that book, and INFJ does seem to fit the bill. He really wasn't unlike Ra's al Ghul in the sense that both had visions of a better world and took grand steps to make these visions happen. Even after numerous failures, Arkham knew he could create a distinctly better world.

There are numerous comics in which Jeremiah Arkham reads the journal pages of Amadeus Arkham, and Arkham was always trying to see past the veneer of his patients. He wanted the truth, and unfortunately, he got it.

 

[bilbotook]

Fe can help the less respected, too.

I reread that book, and INFJ does seem to fit the bill. He really wasn't unlike Ra's al Ghul in the sense that both had visions of a better world and took grand steps to make these visions happen. Even after numerous failures, Arkham knew he could create a distinctly better world.

There are numerous comics in which Jeremiah Arkham reads the journal pages of Amadeus Arkham, and Arkham was always trying to see past the veneer of his patients. He wanted the truth, and unfortunately, he got it.

Yeah, Arkham is definitely an INFJ. Someone who had a crazy vision of the world (Ni), thought he could fix crazy people (Fe), and took his ideas too far. Thanks for the help.