so here, it's argued that Michael is either ISTP or INTJ, now please hear me out.
I think it's fair to say there had been a fair amount of debate, there are some N types who are only convincing themselves that Michael is an N because they subconsciously want to believe that he is.
It's clear to see that Michael has good Se & Ni based on what I've observed and what people have mentioned. His job would demand that develop both. Although I think his Se overtakes his Ni mainly because in the end most of his plans are won by improvisation despite some level of planning. In terms of battlefield and warfare, the ISTP is often a frontline commander, a tactician, whilst the INTJ is slightly above in position more likely to be deciding which battles should be fought and how and with which resources, the ISTP usually makes sure the soldiers use those resources in the list efficient way; this is how the ISTP and INTJ can work together.
Well I'm an ISTP and when I first watched the show. I had two guessed for him, INTJ or ISTP. OKAY, I'm not going to approach this from the usual method of matching functions and I'm not going to tell you witch type he is, BUT I'll tell you which type he is supposed to be based on fictional stereotypes and trends. First I'll list some traditionally established ISTP's and INTJ's from fiction:
INTJ's
Grant Ward (Agents of Shield)
Bruce Wayne (most Batman movies)
Matt Murdock (Daredevil)
Dr Octopus (Spiderman)
Mr Burns (Simpsons)
Cyclops (X-Men)
Magneto (X-Men)
Thomas (Maze Runner)
The Governor (walking dead)
Severus Snape (Harry Potter)
Palpatine (Star Wars)
Gandalf (LOTR)
Ellen Ripley (Alien)
Riddler (Batman)
ISTP's
James Bond (Daniel Craig & some others)
Ethan Hunt (Mission Impossible)
John Luther (Luther)
Agent 47 (Hitman)
Mad Max (all of them)
Hawk Eye (Avengers)
John Mcclane (Die Hard)
Ezio Auditore (Assassins Creed)
Katniss (Hunger Games)
Tris (Divergent)
Daryl & Micchone (the walking dead)
Catwoman (Batman)
Trinity (Matrix)
Blade (Wesley Snipes version)
Rey (Star Wars)
Jason Bourne (Bourne Series)
(Its quite obvious I'm a marvel fan lol)
It's not by any means an exhaustive list, wolverine is also an ISTP but I didn't include him as he doesn't act like a typical ISTP mainly because of his past experiences. And it should be noted that some people type daredevil & cyclops as ISTJ's instead of INTJ's. After each paragraph I would advise you to scroll up to my list of characters and see if what I'm saying fits most of the people in the respective group.
You should be able to instantly see from the two lists first of all, the ISTP's more often have a more wacky sense of humour, yes our humour may be weird and is sometimes unappreciated by the INTJ's, but because of our inferior Fe we may try to make fun and then realise we made a stupid joke. The INTJ's have a much more serious demeanour about them. They're often some sort of anti-hero. My personal opinion is that all fictional NT's can't help but make themselves seem evil, even when they're the good guy (Snape, mr burns). Because of this a lot of writers would rather place them as villains, people like batman and magneto would be pricks in real life if you met them lol, let's be honest.
Every single stereotypical fictional ISTP has either gone rogue or had to work
'against their employer's rules', often it's because they happen to be working with people who were bad guys but they never realised they were bad, even when under their noses. These evil accomplices are often within the same organisation they work for but sometimes they're outside. Sometimes it's simply because the organisation they work for has compromised security. Sometimes the bad guy is actually their (usually ex-)boss. Part of the issue is the ISTP's generally being quite trusting and assuming good, even of their enemies (James Bond Spectre anyone?) when an ISTP is out of options, they'll attempt the riskiest thing they can to try and suppress the situation. They're not always going to follow protocol, they're more likely to act on what they see, and quite quickly too. Michael would have learnt to plan for missions as would be a requirement, but he doesn't get everything he needs from planning. On the other hand, the INTJ's are actually more likely to initially start in a leading or solo position INSTEAD of working for someone else, many are leaders of their own 'splinter group' (magneto & Cyclops) or multimillionaire organisation (Mr Burns & Batman). They're always very untrusting. Everyone is a suspect in their eyes, they usually have very very few people that they actually count as a close friend (rarely more than 3), everyone needs to be checked out, an INTJ can go for a decade with the same plan, an ISTP can barely last two weeks without reminding themselves regularly what they need to be doing, ISTP's prefer micro tasks. INTJ's are master planners, they will make sure the odds are on their side before going into something, it's when they improvise that it usually bites them in the ass (remember I'm talking about stereotypical fictional characters mentioned in the list above).
There is the idea of apathy. It is said that ISTP's are the most apathetic of all the 16 types, meaning we are very forgiving of mistakes people make (after lashing out for 15 seconds lol), we generally don't care about the weird things other people do as long as they don't make us partake in weird things without our consent. Like our lives could go to shit and we won't stress about it as long as we can still breathe peacefully lol. INTJ's on the other hand always seem to have some sort of vendetta that needs to be dealt with. They never tire with dealing with the same thing over and over again and may want to employ an over the top solution, like Dr Octopus & Magneto, and for batman this sometimes makes him appear evil to the general public of Gotham. It almost seems like they have a grudge against life itself. Both types care very deeply about family and vulnerable people BUT it the passion of this type of care is more apparent from the INTJ's. I think one interesting thing about ISTP's is that they will feel sorry for people they've hurt physically or financially (except the ones that deserved it), but they wouldn't feel any remorse about the people they've killed because that's usually a decision they were confident about, whilst INTJ's will hurt people, sometimes so extremely it's just unfair and not mind too much but feel crazy guilt about the people they've killed. think this is Fe vs Fi, relations vs internal values. INTJ's are generally much harsher on themselves that ISTP's too. Te can easily be learned from a military lifestyle, majority of people in the military are ISTP's & ISTJ's with less INTP's & INTJ's and even much less of all the other types, you find the ENTJ's & ESTJ's naturally easily rising to and keeping higher positions. Not the the other types can't do the same, INTJ's are probably next best at that.
But yeah, that's all I'll say for now. And I tried to write this without thinking of Michael himself, and with that, looking back over my paragraphs and thinking about it, I'm like 150% sure the screenwriters want him to be an ISTP and I believe he is an ISTP. He's doesn't make everything his concern like the INTJ does. He's not a strategic leader like the INTJ he's a tactical leader, his delegation skills can easily be explained by training, he likes to make jokes, mainly to us the audience, I like to imagine that when he's talking to us that's clearly Ti telling us about the reasoning behind his actions instead of simply telling us what he's doing. He's not a very fussy guy, like he lets life hit him and carries on. He keep having to be someone that's running away from something, he's not in total control like the INTJ strategists with their amazing backup plans.
Some of Michaels stamens that are typical of or suggest an ISTP:
"You rely on anyone who you're still talking to"
"You do whatever work comes your way"
Lol literally the whole opening credits in season 1.
When running away from adversaries and doors in the building were all locked he jokingly complained to himself about that being a fire hazard whilst running (suggesting Ti).
Clear Fe from him sometimes speaking in the wrong tone, and then changing his tone as he observes the people getting agitated, although this is not highly trained.
As an ISTP I watch ISTP and INTJ behaviour as in my opinion the INTJ are extremely similar to ISTP's at first, in real life, especially at work. Both are dedicated hard workers.
Michael Westen is ISTP
Fiona is undoubtedly an ESxP with her happy go lucky attitude to things. I think think Fiona is an ESTP (my next guess is ESFP for various reasons). I'm an ISTP with an ESTP wife lol, I'm still figuring her out, with their psychopathically childish demeanour - and smile (something common in ExTP's). But she's actually a sweetheart, sometimes apologising for the wrong things and not apologising where they're supposed to. They're always so jumpy, ready to grab life by the balls every day, and may not fully think things through. I guess they can tap into people's feelings a bit better with the Se as primary and Fe as tertiary. I noticed that for every Extrovert type with functions A, B, C & D the Introvert version has functions in order: B, A, D, C (or vice versa). So me and my ESTP wife see how we have the same functions but with different strengths and weaknesses. Lol sometimes an ESTP won't stop even though you beg them to. But they're so loyal to a person they love, they'll instantly read you and get what you're trying to do and follow suit until the coast is clear. They're very much in touch with their own bodies and their surroundings but they can be a little reckless. They're extremely blunt, like they'll ask questions out the blue and you'll be surprised they noticed or you'll be thinking "you shouldn't be asking that without easing up to the question" but that's a trademark of ESTP's and you can't really stop that, it's refreshing to know that they respect honesty, but they are a bit more emotional than the ISTP's.
Tbh, i was sceptical of the people calling Sam an ENTP. Personally I see that he has Ne & Ti, not sure which order though, actually, lol in that order would make him an ENTP, lol I'm just gonna run with it and say ENTP because there's no way he's an INTP but I may be wrong.
Okay Michaels mum deffo has Si. She just wishes her relationship with her son could be perfect, there's a way it should be (Si) and sees how it could be that based on what she observes from other people (Ne). Although here in very unsure. INFP's are most known for the stereotype of seeing how what other people are doing is affecting them, the "why is this happening to me" attitude, it's not selfish, they're actually very good at reading people's feelings. Her seeing her son's fight and assuming that it's for reasons that they aren't or the situation is comparable to a past one tells me that Si is not leading. So INFP.
Nate is probably an ESTP, obviously not trained line Fiona, but his ways of getting around his brother are similar.
Loll that's all.