I changed my mind about Dr Manhattan being an INTJ. Instead I think he's INTP. Here are some of my reasons why. (WARNING: Advanced psychobabble about to commence):
Alan Moore, the writer of Watchmen is certainly familiar with the work of C. G. Jung - he even includes a quote from "Memories, Dreams and Reflections" at the end of one chapter. In my opinion, he carefully crafted the major characters of Watchmen to represent Jungian Archetypes, or possibly psychological types, whilst at the same time managing to keep them human enough to identify with - even Dr Manhattan (I'll just call him Jon from now on to save time), which is quite an achievement!
I missed this before, but the most important clue to Jon's character is his skin colour. Remember that he reconstructed his body from the sub-atomic level upwards; therefore he consciously chose to be blue - he could just as easily have chosen a normal human skin tone.
The blue he chose is cool sky-blue. I’m looking at the bright New Zealand sky right now, and it is a very similar colour to Jon’s skin. In Jungian terms, blue is the colour of the Thinking functions, associated with the sky and the element of Air. This is my further extension: dark blue/purple is the colour of Te, whilst light blue symbolises Ti.
The Thinking function includes the ability to examine a situation from a great distance, as if viewing it from the sky itself. This is highly conducive to logical analysis, as the remoteness of the viewpoint considerably reduces the emotional connection to the objects under examination. Most religious pantheons have a Sky-God of some type, with this form of detached, yet all-seeing viewpoint. In many religions (Christianity included) the Sky-God has become the dominant (or only) true God.
In Watchmen, Ozymandius represents Extraverted Thinking (one of his costume colours is royal purple), supported by Intuition (the gold parts of his uniform). Yellow-Gold often symbolises Intuition as the element of Fire because it is the colour of the Sun, source of all life and inspiration. Ozymandius is a King-like figure, Te-dom types are often portrayed as Kings, Rulers or Emperors in mythology.
In contrast, Jon is a living embodiment of both the highest form of Introverted Thinking (able to make connections at the quantum level of reality) and of God himself. If he still has a Jungian Type, then it must be INTP, as he is an extremely abstract thinker. His ability to perceive time non-linearly is a result of his super-enhanced Ne function, not Ni (the two functions do cover some of the same terrain, as do the I and E versions of the other functions). His perceptions are truly global in scope, encompassing time and space in all directions.
This makes more sense in the context of the story, as INTP’s Inferior function is Extraverted Feeling. Jon is pretty clueless in the Fe world. For most of his life, he has relied on other people to “carry” this function for him; firstly his father, then his girlfriend Janey and finally Laurie, the second Silk Spectre. He is a lot more emotional than other people realise, he just conceals it well, even from himself.
This is the nature of the Inferior for most people, especially prior to mid-life: we completely project its qualities, both positive and negative, onto other people. Its associated Archetype is the Anima (for males) or Animus (for females). For this reason we usually seek for its embodiment in our romantic partners (regardless of whether or not they are skilled with that function themselves).
This fits nicely into the Watchmen mythology, as The Silk Spectre character (both mother and daughter) is the major Anima figure in the story. The Anima has enormous power over males, she may be worshipped or desired, but is impossible to ignore. Other females may be jealous of her (eg. Janey vs Laurie) as she represents ideal Womanhood.
In Jon’s case, Laurie, as his Anima-figure, provides his primary link to ordinary humanity for twenty years. When Laurie leaves him for good, the link is broken and Jon relocates to Mars (for an even more distant Ti viewpoint). However, his Inferior function is not yet ready to let go of Jon's humanity completely, nor is it finished with the Silk Spectre.
Now that they are no longer romantically involved, Jon can progress to the next stage of Anima development. The Anima in males can be a source of profound internal wisdom, once we cease projecting it outwards. Rather than relying on Laurie to carry his Feeling function, he instead relates to her as an intelligent, caring human woman, for maybe the first time in his life. Their conversation on Mars leads to major revelations for both characters. Laurie convinces Jon of the importance and value of human life, whilst Jon (who represents Laurie’s own Animus - she is a dominant Feeling type - probably ISFP) imparts enough of his own clarity of Thinking to Laurie for her to finally acknowledge what she has always known at some level: the true identity of her biological father. Because of Jon's godlike powers, this conversation is also of Cosmic importance - the fate of the whole human race depended upon its outcome.
After the encounter, both characters have evolved significantly. Jon regains his interest in humanity, he can now begin to access his own Fe function without relying on others. Laurie is freed from the burden of her past, and takes a more active and assertive standpoint because she can now start to draw upon her own Te function.
This is how Anima/Animus dynamics tend to play out in real life; for each participant to evolve, they must withdraw their projection from the other person and reclaim it for themselves. The so-called “mid-life crisis” occurs in most people when the Inferior function is no longer satisfied with its backseat role in our lives and demands to be given a more prominent position.
I am just coming out of the far side of this process myself (I am 47) and it has been an interesting(!) journey, to say the least! As a result of my own experiences, I now have a far healthier relationship with my own Se-Anima than in the past, though there are still a few kinks in our relationship to work out. BTW, one way my Anima presents herself to me is as the comic-book heroine Scarlet Witch, hence my current Avatar.
OK, psychobabble over for now!