Hi! I am a published author working on my second novel. The first novel focuses on a main female character named Sori, an ENTJ - the commander type. The second book focuses on her best friend/love interest named Pax. The two characters have known each other since they were young kids and have been best friends ever since. The book focuses on these two characters entering a place called the "Inner Sanctum," a realm where dreams are created, in order to find Sori's missing cousin and stop the realm of Nightmares from taking over. In this article, I would appreciate some help in figuring out what Pax's personality type is. I want to round him out better as a character since he is the central character of the second book. To give you an idea of who Pax is, he is a teenager who is flirtatious, witty and a show-off. In the first book he is 15 and is constantly flirting with girls but begins to mature at the end of the first book and takes an interest in Sori. As he matures, he turns out to be deep, caring and romantic, while still keeping his wittiness throughout the series. Another key factor about him is that he is a peacekeeper and tries to act as a mediator between characters who do not like each other. In fact, his name literally means "peace." He doesn't like arguing, though there is one particular chapter where he and Sori get in a heated argument about spirituality (he's an atheist at first and Sori is a Christian). In the second book, when he is 17, he betrays Sori and his team and begins taking an interest in another female character, but later turns back to the good side and ends up saving Sori and proving to her that she is his only true love. So, to sum up his main traits, Pax is: Flirtacious Witty A Peace-Keeper Laid-Back Deep Emotional I originally thought that Pax was an ESFP, considering that he is a show-off, loves to have fun, is a peace keeper and is presumably an extrovert, but from my research, ESFP's aren't extremely deep nor quite as witty as Pax is. I also don't see Pax as being quite as "artistic" as some ESFP's are. He may have the personality of an actor but I honestly can't see him being the next Van Gogh. If you guys think that Pax is an ESFP or any other personality type, please let me know! I would greatly appreciate your help! Thanks
Hi! @Dr3am5tep the thing to remember is that MyersBriggs is 4 simple profiles instead of a complicated one I think your guess of E (outgoing) and F (sensitive) was right on the money, and if the thing about ESFP that doesn’t fit for you is that you’re character is always asking “why?” instead of taking the world at face value, then it sounds like N would be closer than S. Now for the last letter. J (organized) and P (disorganized) are not measures of the strength of your initiative, but of the direction: there are organized Js with high energy (imposing schedules for finishing projects) and disorganized Ps with low energy (go-with-the-flow), but there are also organized Js with low energy (following set routines out of inertia) and disorganized Ps with high energy (impulsively jumping from one thing to the next). Which flavor of low energy would you say fits your character better? ENFP or ENFJ?
Off the top of my head, I would say that he is definitely more low-energy go-with-the-flow than follow a set schedule, thus making him an ENFP. I honestly never really thought of him being an ENFP (which happens to be my own personality type), but the way you've put it into perspective has made me think that very well could be his type. Comparing him to myself, he is more spontaneous than thought-out, and is more comfortable to follow the crowd or tag along and help than take the lead in many scenarios. Another thing is that he ponder life's questions and enjoys talking about deep, personal subjects. He sometimes puts guilt on himself over things that he has done wrong, and though at one point he joins the bad guys, deep down he has a good heart and wants to do the right thing. He isn't necessarily an extremely creative person as far as being artistic (as many ENFP's are), but he is very smart and picks up skills such as engineering, mechanics and weapons.
Sometimes it is just simpler to write the character as you want to be personality wise. It doesn't need to be lab experiment with a battery of tests (unless you are literally making the perfect person). Just give them the traits you want them to have. Achams Razor. Simple and manageable. Still comes to the same outcome that you want. Unless there is some need to complicate things to such a degree?
You have a point, and I actually thought of doing that--just list his traits and stick to them. I honestly was just trying to put him in a particular "category" just to help him be a more well-rounded character. It's bad because at times lean on other people's suggestions instead of being more grounded in my own ideas XD
there are lots online Myers Briggs tests - take one but answer as though you are you're character , simples (Incidentally my MB typ is - Who gives a shit... no one I know)
The core point remains - no one, not your readers, not an agent, not a publisher, gives a toss what MB type your character is ... you know what traits he has what difference does it make if hes an ESFJ or an ESPN (or whatever)... unless they are actually taking the test in the book - in which case you are going to get sued for copyright violation anyway
My first thought was ENFP. I wouldn't let it throw you that that's also your type. I'm an INFJ (except on the days I'm not), and I have a character who I think is INFJ, but she's got an entirely different set of neuroses than I do, so we're not that alike, and also I kind of hate her and think I'd like to kill her. ...where were we, again? Ah yes, anyway, Myers-Briggs isn't much more accurate than astrology, and just as two Aries can be very different, so can two ENFPs.
Haha true that. Unfortunately I think I'm too worried about what people will thank about my works and about flaws that may be in my characters, plot, storyline, etc. At the same time I want to make sure my characters are realistic, well-rounded and believable
Thanks for that. I hadn't really considered ENFP since it was my own type I suppose, and while we in some ways have a different mindset in some ways, we share very similar qualities. I think I'm also starting to see tho that its more important to be original and even make characters that go beyond the boundaries of what "typical" characters are. Still I think the MBTI is really cool in a lot of ways but it doesn't define a person
Be careful with that - remember that as writers we are creating an illusion of reality not real reality . A truly realistic character is mundane and boring.
It definitely helps me And there are a lot of writers who create their best characters by not doing any kind of typology. I'm not one of those writers and you might be, but you might also not be. I can talk for pages about how I've developed my characters beyond the labels Would you like me to send you a PM?
I’m about 96k words into an Urban Fantasy WIP with an ISTJ lead protagonist, an ESFP secondary (my first-person peripheral narrator), and an ESFJ tertiary going up against an INTJ antagonist EDIT: Wait, do you mean a how-to guide for writers looking to use systems like MyersBriggs for creating characters?
