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[MBTI General] Two Detectives- Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes

Sourav

New member
Joined
Mar 14, 2013
Messages
7
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
???
What are the MBTI types of Holmes and Poirot? I know, this topic is very much discussed. Most of you will say that Holmes is an INTP or ISTP and Poirot is an INTJ or an INFJ. I have read those stories very carefully and what I found the characters are just full of contradiction.

When it comes to Sherlock Holmes He is too messy to be a 'J'. He is highly disorganized and indisciplined. His external behaviour is just like a 'P'.
But in most of the stories his methods are quite different from an INTP. Generally, he gives too much attention to the facts and details and his intuition is an introverted one and convergent that is he seems to be conclusive or judging. Though there are many stories where he performed like an INTP. The best example will be Silver Blaze.

Now when it comes to Hercule Poirot Mrs Christie potrays him as a judging type. Externally, Poirot has an extreme fascination for symmetry, structure, orders and methods but when it comes to his inner nature we just see the opposite.
His main power is his "little grey cells". He is not interested in facts and details rather his main strength lies in his introverted imaginative thinking. He thinks first, makes theories and then compare them with the facts and possibilities. His intuition is extraverted and thinking is introverted. So, he seems to be an INTP.

Again contradiction!!! Certainly Holmes' inferior quality is extroverted feeling and Poirot's Extroverted sensing! So, again they seem to be INTP and INTJ respectievely! (Assuming both of them N type)

From the dominant function I think Holmes is an INTJ and Poirot is an INTP. What do you think ? Are their character too much contradictory to understand?
 
R

Riva

Guest
One of most discussed type theories along with that of House's. You made some great point especially when you pointed out the thinking pattern is convergent - Holmes.

There is a lengthy thread discussing Holmes type here if you are interested. I fist always assumed him as an Ni dom and I expressed my ideas here -

There were many threads trying to nail Holmes' type. Didn't exactly come to a conclusion. I could clearly see Se. Facts, Facts and Facts. And he has extremely good observational skills, Is that not Se?

And,
He is quite physical. He is a boxer and a good one too. I could very clearly see Se in Sherlock.

He does not solve puzzles in his head. He wants to se the facts. He does not come up with theories like L would in Deathnote. He wants to see the crime scene. He simply uses his tremendously developed observational skills (Se) to connects the dots (Ni) after seeing logical inconsistencies in the stories he hears from the witnesses and the suspects (Ti).

But then I changed my stance a bit -

Could Sherlock be an INTJ written by an INTP?

Surely the character in the novels was an ITP but his methods of solving were Ni hunches but he explains his hunches through Ti methods adding to the confusion.

Or atleast the author does.

Hmm..

He was probably an ITP with well developed Ni. Infact his personal life is painfully ITP (< INTP).

However a good counter argument was made here by [MENTION=15291]Mane[/MENTION] and again I am not sure what to think, which is rare. However we can come to the conclusion that since he is a fictional character he has the best of both worlds and the author (though brilliant) probably made some contradictions to his traits.

--

Now when it comes to Hercule Poirot Mrs Christie potrays him as a judging type. Externally, Poirot has an extreme fascination for symmetry, structure, orders and methods but when it comes to his inner nature we just see the opposite.
His main power is his "little grey cells". He is not interested in facts and details rather his main strength lies in his introverted imaginative thinking. He thinks first, makes theories and then compare them with the facts and possibilities. His intuition is extraverted and thinking is introverted. So, he seems to be an INTP.

Poirot probably is an INTP. He is systematic, methodical etc but Ti doms could be exactly that. The way he theorizes, I have also seen in Holmes and House.

House's theorizing is convergent (aha moments), less possibility explorations/Ne (though we might see it that way) and radically changes his conclusions (not theories) when more data arrives which is what is seen in Ni.

Holmes seems like a classic Ne theorizer and his famous quote given below screams INTP to me.

Eliminate all other factors, and the one which remains must be the truth

However the way he immediately comes to conclusions about people (especially the way he guessed that Watson was serving in Afghanistan) is a good example of classic Ni.
 

Sourav

New member
Joined
Mar 14, 2013
Messages
7
MBTI Type
INTP
Enneagram
???
Riva, You are right, Holmes has a well-developed extroverted sensing quality but still I think he is an INTX. Though he used facts, he invented his own logic how to use them. For me, that makes him an 'N' and his passion for knowledge is outstanding.

And I wrote Holmes' intuition(If N) is convergent not thinking :(...
 
R

Riva

Guest
Riva, You are right, Holmes has a well-developed extroverted sensing quality but still I think he is an INTX. Though he used facts, he invented his own logic how to use them. For me, that makes him an 'N' and his passion for knowledge is outstanding.

And I wrote Holmes' intuition(If N) is convergent not thinking :(...

Yes my mistake. I wrote thinking instead of intuition.
 

INTP

Active member
Joined
Jul 31, 2009
Messages
7,803
MBTI Type
intp
Enneagram
5w4
Instinctual Variant
sx
lol at people saying that holmes is INTP, its pretty clear that he is an NTJ
 
R

Riva

Guest
lol at people saying that holmes is INTP, its pretty clear that he is an NTJ

Well in the books there are so many contradictions it is hard to correctly guess and so many points have been made supporting Ti dom as opposed to your valuable Lol.

In the new series Sherlock - which I believe is the best Sherlock Holmes ever brought in to screen - he is clearly an INTJ 5w6 Sx/Sp. In the horrible Rober Downey Jr version he is an ENTP. And it goes on..

However we are discussing the book and not the screen adaptations.
 
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