MBTI: Ed- ENTP
While all the characters n Cowboy Bebop have their humorous moments, intentional or otherwise, none of them embody the weirdness of the series the way the genius thirteen year old Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV (the name she gave herself).
Originally intended to be a boy but made a girl for the purposed of balancing out the cast, Ed’s role in the show is usually intended for humor but her place on the Bebop can’t be denied.
Much like the “wacky neighbor” characters in sitcoms, Ed is a constant throughout the show. It’s not that she doesn’t ever do anything different or she never changes things around her, but her character’s decisions are always in line with the rest of her- eccentric, brilliant, funny, and slightly disconnected from the rest of the cast.
While the show and their 25 “sessions” all fit in line with some sort of Crime/Noir persona- Spike as the former-gangster anti-hero while Jet and Faye fit into their places as well. Yet Ed seems to be the most bizarre, off-the-wall figure in the entire series and like Cosmo Kramer of Seinfeld, Steve Urkel, or even Pee Wee Herman, Ed doesn’t change.
She effects those around her, bringing them into her misadventures (Mushroom Samba, specifically) and she attempts to be a part of the rest of the group, refusing to be left out, yet her character is one of insistent neutrality.
She doesn’t seem to take an special interest in the Bebop crew’s goals (mainly money, but often times their goals are more personal). She helps with her unique “hacker” status but is just as likely to make a few odd noises in the background and make a rhyme before disappearing for the rest of the episode. How does this relate to her being an ENTP? Well, lemme tell ya.
For the ENTP, life is divided into what’s boring and what’s not boring. The goal in life is regularly seen as a struggle to keep things interesting and as long as they can do that, everything else can be put into their peripheral. One of the more adaptable types (more common with Perceivers), ENTPs constantly go from place to place, idea to idea, looking for the next exciting thing. Not with the same idea in mind as the Artisans, who will do what pleases them for the rush (look to Spike or Faye for that), but with the intention of making them see things from a different perspective, and to say that they’ve done it.
Skydiving isn’t for the thrill of skydiving as much as it is to be able to say that they’ve experienced it. A fight may never be a good thing to be in, but an ENTP might talk about getting beat up just so long as they don’t have to go through the “embarrassment” of saying they haven’t a clue as to what it’s like.
Or hacking a rogue satellite! Gotta have that under the belt.
Ed goes from her father’s “care” to an orphanage to an abandoned house, then to the Bebop. Her past is made better known later on in the series, but for the most part, she just is, as mentioned above.
The ENTP you know probably hasn’t changed that much since you’ve known them. It’s not that they can’t grow or mature, but they’re need for what’s different always keeps them on the opposite keel as those around them, giving the appearance of always being argumentative, always ready to talk, and hardly ever changing their style in dress.
To quote Einstein (not an ENTP, but a Rational, still).
“Once you can accept the universe as being something expanding into an infinite nothing which is something, wearing stripes with plaid is easy.”
So while not to compare every ENTP directly to Einstein, to understand why Rationals’ choice in attire is lacking to say the least could be explained by their mind simply being preoccupied by other things. Spike’s suit is always a classic look while Jet’s apparel is functional. Ed? A crappy shirt and spandex shorts, and her techno goggles, whatever they do.
They…they help…hack.
Ed’s attitude compared to the rest of the Bebop’s is also a “devil’s advocate” role in many respects as well, one that the ENTP lives by. While Ed doesn’t argue every point like more annoying ENTPs are known to do, she does hold the unique role of never delving into her own past, never remaining serious for more than a moment at most, and having a bit more cerebral of a role than “find the bounties, shoot your way out, make money.” The other characters carry the action, Ed carries the humor and the more difficult bounties to track. She’s not really shown as trying to be the opposite of the others- she just is.
Examine the ENTP you’re familiar with. However you see them could in many ways be a view of yourself. They’ll play the devil’s advocate in more ways than simply in an argument, much like how Joker’s role to Batman is that of a laughing lunatic- he sees Batman as a stone-faced stoic, so cackling all the time comes natural for him.
A stoic DICK.
While Ed advances the plot lines seldom throughout the show, she bares an important place in the series all the same; if not for her (and Ein of course), the tone of the show may often have woven too thick a melodramatic fabric.
The other member’s humor is usually unintentional on their part while Ed’s excitable, energetic disposition releases it from anything that may be considered pretentious otherwise; something the ENTP is glad to break as well- always striving for the exciting, usually in the most unexpected ways.
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