MBTI: Mufasa- ENFJ
Oh those ENFJs coming back from the dead.
Fitting right in with the other Teacher personalities, Mufasa had only twenty minutes of screen time but his presence rings through the rest of the great Kimba rip-off. If you want the voice of a great leader, human or animal, one with humility and strength; go with James Earl Jones.
If you want a character that embodies those traits, you’ll get an ENFJ.
I refuse to put a clip of Mufasa up because people seem intent to put emphasis on any scene meant to make you cry and we’re not getting into that.
We all know the real life supposed ENFJs; Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and Bono. But who cares about that last one other than those who listen to music for people who don’t really care about music? In any case, Mufasa’s advice to his son are things made up of what really does make the world go ’round.
“A king’s time as ruler rises and falls like the sun. One day, Simba, the sun will set on my time here, and will rise with you as the new king.”
This quote alone doesn’t define ENFJ though we get a good idea of Mufasa’s personality through it. When teaching their children or anyone else who cares to listen, ENFJs may make time for the basics but are more focused on the values they teach and pass on. There’s a reason Keirsey calls them “the Teacher.” There’s a lesson in everything for them and they make it their life mission to translate them.
ENFJ’s first function is Fe and it’s what allows them to so heavily relate to those around them. When you relate to others, you’re more likely to care about what they do and don’t do, what they need and what will hurt them. Strong extroverted feeling doesn’t guarantee a great leader, but it does mean you’re dealing with a person that actually cares about the people around them.
“…Even the antelope, who go great with mustard.”
What makes the leader care and a man (or specifically, a lion) with a plan is the Ni, or ability to envision a pattern out of one thing. Say for example, the advice Mufasa gives to Simba about what is theirs and what isn’t. And while he could have simply stated the rules and regulations of telling everybody what to do, he speaks steadily and fluently to let Simba give the words to sink in.
“Everything the light touches is our kingdom.”
ENFJs are concerned with the bigger scope of how people fit into the world and with each other that it’s often all they’ll talk about. Mufasa’s weaker side isn’t fully explored in the film because he’s meant to act as the mentor to our main character Simba, but we do see his problematic relationship with his dominant thinking brother, Scar. Even before we’re aware Scar is going to kill him, that is…
ENFJs don’t do too well with cold, hard logic. Those who love to stereotype may even callously write them off as illogical on the whole, being that their inferior function is Ti. The ENFJ(s) you know may struggle in times that impersonal measure need to be taken, due to their love of people and how everything could work in harmony. Put simply, Mufasa should’ve probably just killed Scar at some point growing up. It’s how a real Mufasa would’ve taken care of business.
Even still, ENFJs are highly loyal and it could very well be a reason that no matter how evil Scar was (I mean, just look at him), Mufasa still had some small hope he would come around.
He didn’t, but he sure was a great villain. Oh those INTJs…
But in true Disney fashion, the prodigal NF son returns, looking just like his daddy to eventually claim everything that his father wanted him to rule. Took you long enough, loser!
Zombies Ruin Everything 
09/09/2014 at 12:58 pm
So what type is Simba, then?
09/09/2014 at 7:32 pm
ENFP comes to mind for Simba. Ready for the role of king because it seems fun, but never understanding what it means to be one. Then he disappears and refuses to go back for several reasons, one of them being he’d rather be free of responsibility. But this is just a first educated guess, I’m open to something different.