MBTI: Jaime Lannister- ESTP
Spoilers! You’ve been warned!
A sick twist on Prince Charming, Jaime Lannister goes in and out of being villainous and heroic. We start off hating him but slowly we start to see the more human side of him.
It’s not that far from how an ESTP could be seen in reality. The ultimate jock, for some it takes a bit getting used to before they can actually see this type for more than just the loud-mouthed jock.
Let us continue!
Jaime’s first function is Se. We’ve talked about Se and how it allows the user to be completely in the moment and Jaime certainly uses this heavily as he’s known to be one of (if not the) greatest sword fighter most have ever met.
So smug I just want to kis-I mean PUNCH his lips. Yeah, punch’em.
But another major way to see Jaime’s use of Se is his clothing and status. While the clothing and armor he wears is a part of the Kingsguard, much of his desire for the position seems to be status. Not because of the way others see him as much as it is how he sees himself in the position. Powerful, and free to move around. Not stuck to the iron throne, listening to peasants complain all day.
ESTPs are known for their love of status and material perhaps more than any other type aside from a couple others. You’ll notice that any person with Se in their top two functions will always pay special attention to the way they dress, even if they choose to dress like a hobo. Whatever look they’re going for, they perfect it in private. And Jaime likes looking like a prestigious warrior, which he is.
In A Game of Thrones, Jon Snow’s thoughts on him are exactly how Jaime would want people to see him- Jon found it hard to look away from him. “This is what a king should look like,” he thought to himself.
“Shake my hand as long as you’d like, sir.”
But Jaime’s Se is backed by Ti, which is what allows him and other ESTPs to be such good improvisors and quick with the tongue. ESTPs pride themselves are working in the moment and doing it to the best of their ability. The first two seasons we see a self-assured “scoundrel” that doesn’t seem to shut up but is as good as he says he is.
“There are no men like me. There’s only me.”
Part of what makes Jaime such a unanimous dick is his perceptive ability to take whatever those around him feel insecure about and simply makes jokes about it. Be it Ned Stark, Brienne (of Tarth), or anyone else in his surroundings.
ESTPs are one of the types best at reading people and they’ll use this to their advantage in just about every relationship they have, especially a professional one. And since there isn’t really anybody Jaime needs to deal with professionally other than those under him, you can see how a cocky guy good with his sword and people is going to be a bit much to deal with.
D’you think there’s fan fiction about them? I bet there’s fan fiction about them.
Did we mention ESTPs aren’t very sensitive either? Like the ENTP, ESTP’s auxiliary and Tertiary functions are Ti and Fe. These two functions coexist with the other by deconstructing and analyzing the emotional spectrum of themselves and more importantly with those around them, making them excellent at knowing what people want and while not reading minds (duh), what people are thinking. The problem can then become how the ESTP decides to treat you from that point.
In Jaime’s case, not very well. In season 2, during his imprisonment in the Stark camp, a Lannister messenger sent to negotiate Jaime’s release. Until his family’s enemies, the Starks, are able to give him his own tent, he’s locked into Jaime’s cell. After hearing the messenger’s story that the greatest day of this kid’s life was being the assistant to Jaime, Jaime shares a similar experience with him.
Once Jaime gained the boy’s trust, he’s able to get close enough to kill him so as to help him escape. It’s this moment we’re reminded of how lethal and conniving Jaime is.
Feel the love
And while the ESTP you know may not be a murderer, Jaime is a good example of the type of villainy an ESTP inhibits when choosing to sweep the moral side of life underneath the rug.
Part of the reason for this may involve their “here and now” approach to everything that causes them to misunderstand or be completely unaware of the bigger idea behind events. Jaime’s personality comes more and more into the light as the series has gone on and we’re seeing a more morally ambiguous character as opposed to a completely evil one, making him one of the most entertaining characters the show has to offer, as is the way with many fictional ESTPs.
Zombies Ruin Everything 
10/01/2014 at 6:02 pm
You missed the mark. Jaime is ESFP. Read the books more closely. Jaime is extremely sensitive and always concerned with what people think of him: Tyrion, Cersei, and his father especially. Jaime joined the Kingsguard to be closer to Cersei – not for status.
He does things because he feels like it. He pushed Bran out of the window because he felt like it was the right thing to do given the situation – clearly not thinking it through. He killed the Mad King because he thought he was doing the right thing (and it could be argued he was, but again, obviously not thinking it through cause of his inferior Ni) – he was privy to information nobody had and he was going to save the city. When nobody recognizes him for that, he grows resentful towards the “Kingslayer” moniker (even his father picks up on it) and the people involved; particularly Ned Stark: “By what right does the wolf judge the lion?”
When he leaves Harrenhal, and leaves Brienne behind, he eventually turns around and runs back to get her because even though she was of no consequence to him, it felt like the right thing to do. Then he jumps into a bear pit. He then tasks her with finding the Stark girls with the sword his father made for him. Really blatant use of Fi. He rescues Tyrion without thinking of the consequences and confesses to him about Tysha based on the guilt he felt for so long.
Finally, when last we see Jaime, Cersei beckons him to come save her in King’s Landing aaaaand he refuses, indicating that she is not something that matters to him anymore because of the way she’s time and time again manipulated his feelings. Instead, he opts to go with Brienne on some quest to rescue Sansa from The Hound based simply on some promise he made to a (formerly) dead woman that he feels he must (even if he’s in no way obligated to) keep.
All this use of illogical reasoning and absolute lack of regard for the consequences of his actions point to good use of Fi and a pretty much altogether absent use of Ni – traits very much present in ESFP types.
10/02/2014 at 12:04 am
I appreciate you reading and especially the argument, but everything stated could just as easily be turned around. To say that Jaime is a feeler because he feels implies Thinkers don’t do stupid things or that they don’t act on instinct. It also implies Feelers don’t think logically.
Being vain and worrying about what others think of you is just as soon a trait of ESTPs as it is ESFPs, both of whom are image and status conscious.
Pushing Bran out of the window may make him a terrible person, but he wasn’t acting out of rage; he was found out and he acted to keep his secret, simple as that. There didn’t seem to be any sort of feeling in him, that was the problem. “The things I do for love” is casually stated before shoving the kid through so it could be argued that acting in the name of keeping his own secret, he’d need to get rid of the kid. Se and Ti. Keep in mind that ESTPs also have inferior Ni so planning isn’t the strong point of the ESFP or the ESTP, though acting in the moment is a trait of both.
Jaime’s perceived “lack of logic” is really a lack of empathy for his fellow man. ESTPs are also known to be highly selfish as Jaime is and our tertiary function, his being Fe, matures over time. So being a dick through most of your life and starting to get the picture later on that OTHER people matter too is only natural. Caring for others when you previously didn’t doesn’t mark Fi or Fe, though it sounds much closer to someone whose Feeling function is on the lower end regardless. Brienne and Jaime had grown on each other over time so Jaime saving her shows his maturity from Jerk to Jerk with a Conscience. It wasn’t thoughtless, just unexpectedly selfless.
And there’s nothing specific to note about Jaime killing the Mad King and being resentful that people looked down on him for it. Ned as an ISTJ knew it needed to be done yet looked down on Jaime for it furthers the “Other side of the coin” relation that ISTJ and ESTP have. They focus on the same issues but deal with it differently.
Jaime keeping a promise to someone that isn’t alive anymore just shows principle, not a function. ESTPs can keep promises too.
02/21/2017 at 3:30 am
“Francesco: Jaime is extremely sensitive and always concerned with what people think of him”
Well, this is ESTP trait too. It’s a myth that this type doesn’t care about it. Myth!
ESTP painfully sensitive to Fi negative signals from others. For this type very important percived as “good people” in general. They show “I don’t care about it”, but really they care.
Negative Fi signals – sore spot to ESTP. And it distinguishes ESTP from psychopaths.
This thing very important for ESTP’s successful socialization .
ESTP maybe impulsive too, it’s normal. They are not robots.