MBTI: Cinematic Satans
Who could love Satan? Satanists, sure. But generally he makes for the baddest villain of all time and he’s got no one to love him. And I don’t mean “baddest” as in “cool,” I just mean BAD. Like evil. So it’s no wonder when he’s depicted in film, you know the stakes of the story are high.
Could the biblical Satan be typed? Probably not, seeing as how he’s more of a living force than a person. The Lucifer of Paradise Lost is usually typed as an ENTJ; dominating, leading type. And for some of the most famous on screen devils of all time? The answers probably aren’t too surprising.
End of Days, played by Gabriel Byrne- INTJ
His master plan has been working its way to its end for thousands of years and now Satan is in New York (of course) to make sure things finish properly and he can take over the world. This Satan takes the form of Gabriel Bryne who, we can assume, is some sort of wealthy businessman. We don’t know anything about him before he’s possessed but his all black outfit suggests something akin to modern day royalty. Not like the king and queen, but more like “I work on Wall Street and don’t have a boss” type rich.
Bryne Satan uses manipulation to try and sway Ah-nuld to his side but when it becomes clear that isn’t going to work, “formalities” are tossed aside so he can persuade him by force. INTJs aren’t known for being the most physical (read: nerd) but their brute force will generally come in the form of striking you with the most loaded insult or argument that they could think of, which does a pretty effective job of eating away at most of their targets.
The “master plan” aspect should be clear as INTJs lead with dominant Ni and their auxiliary is the blunt, constructive Te. Their inferior Se helps them to know the right step to take at the time in achieving their goal and while Satan (again) isn’t a human, being in a human body he does show traits in line with the Mastermind variant, achieving his goals by pulling strings behind the scenes, which involves infecting members of the NYPD as a small army to help complete his tasks. Corrupting the NYPD shouldn’t have been too hard though. Zing!
The Devil’s Advocate, played by Al Pacino- ENTJ
Here’s the devil it seems most are familiar with. While the EOD Satan was who-knows-where until he felt the time was right, ENTJ Satan has not only been living on earth, he lives in one of the biggest skyscrapers (again) in New York. Right there with the people, yet slightly better. Sounds a bit ENTJ, doesn’t it?
Pacino is really just playing a more sinister version of his usual characters here; charismatic but blunt, yelling whenever he feels like it, and pretty much being the man anywhere he goes except here he’s backed by forces of darkness. EOD Satan made an impact with whoever he came into contact with but Advocate Satan moves through the streets pretending to be one of us…but better, still. He’s up in his penthouse, barking at subordinates and smiling by the end. He even goes by John Milton, an homage to the author of Paradise Lost. His ultimate goal, as usual, is control of the world but it’s not until the end when his plan begins to fail do we see his true side. Up until then, he always keeps the Pacino allure going.
ENTJs are similar to INTJs in their daily need to plan things out be it years in advance or just for that day. The difference in the two is that ENTJs make people their focus more so than INTJs tend to do. Notice the Pacino’s Satan runs a widely successful law firm and is constantly recruiting the best of the best while nobody would know where the EOD Satan came from. ENTJs are leaders in the clearest sense. While ENFJs make people themselves the goal, ENTJs use people to achieve their goal which can also lead to people being pushed around or forgotten once their job is done.
South Park, played by Trey Parker- ESFJ
This Satan is similar to Harvey Keitel’s version in Little Nicky in that the bad guy thing is more his job, not something he particularly likes. The difference between those two is that South Park’s Satan is a huge baby.
Not all ESFJs are babies but their Extroverted Feeling being first does make for wearing your emotions on your sleeves and South Park Satan’s most notable trait, besides his massive upper body, is his hatred for his own reputation. If you’ve seen the South Park movie, you might remember his song “Up There” where he laments his position on being in Hell and just wishes to be on Earth, climbing mountains and observing the beautiful scenery.
So if Satan were in a Disney movie, this is how he’d be. Many ESFJ acquire the stigma of being too controlling and there’s a reason for it. Fe wants to take care of you and their auxiliary Si is sort of what tells them how to do it. So if their way actually makes you uncomfortable, they don’t mean to be that way, they’re just doing what’s natural to them the only way they know how. Kill’em with kindness, won’tcha? They’re not Satan themselves.
The Prophecy played by Viggo Mortensen- ISTP
While INTJ could be the type for Viggo Satan, his appearance seems to be more for stopping things from rather than making things happen as he normally does. When the angel Gabriel goes rogue, Viggo Satan wants him to cease from creating another war against God because that would be evil and that’s Satan’s territory. So it’s sort of a supernatural pissing contest. Viggo Satan only shows up twice in the film,
How does this relate to ISTP? An evil being telling someone not to do something evil? ISTP aren’t always evil, they do have a habit of fighting fire with fire, arguing with someone they believe to be arrogant while at the same time appearing arrogant themselves. Viggo Satan is subtle and quiet, and doesn’t seem to waste any energy he doesn’t have to as ISTPs are known to do. Slicked back hair, light facial hair and a trench coat, this is a fairly laid back Satan aside from when he, y’know, rips out Gabriel’s heart and sends him to Hell. Dark stuff indeed.
Viggo Satan doesn’t have a master plan here, he’s just putting a stop to what he deems his job. He’s already got a war on God going on, he doesn’t want anyone else getting in his way. ISTPs have a tendency to start arguments for the very sake of arguing itself which can lead nowhere good. But if you’re Satan, isn’t that where you’d want it to lead?
Constantine played by Peter Stormare- ENTP
In what’s possibly the most memorable scene of the movie, director Francis Lawrence and co. had the idea that Lucifer would need to “dirty the ground” wherever he walks because of how impure he is, hence the black viscous fluid covering his feet. It’s just as interesting this Lucifer would be wearing a white suit, almost in a way to mock the purity the shade normally represents. They had fun with this one.
As with Viggo Satan, Constantine’s also only shows up to stop the lead antagonists from creating another problem that isn’t meant to involve God or Satan. Aside from your usual NT weirdness this portrayal gives us (the giggling, the “massaging” of Constantine’s inner leg), this devil again, is only doing what he does to make himself the victor of two battles- taking his son back down to hell because the earth is his, and secondly to personally take John Constantine to Hell, seeing as how he hates him so much.
If ISTPs love to argue, ENTPs love to one-up their competition. When this devil realizes he’s been tricked and Constantine is going to Heaven for sacrificing his soul for another, this Satan decides to keep him alive so Constantine can prove himself worthy of Hell in time. While some might just be ready to rid themselves of their competition altogether, the ENTP doesn’t mind getting beat if they can just get another chance to win.
The Witches of Eastwick played by Jack Nicholson- ESTP
If Clint Eastwood’s acting persona is ISTP nine times out of ten, Nicholson’s is ESTP. In one of the creepier renditions of the Devil despite being a Comedy, Jack Nicholson’s comes to Earth to bed Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle, Pfeiffer, who are of course, witches.
He makes waves throughout the town, and really is all he seems he is and then some. Because, of course, he’s the devil himself. But if Jack Nicholson is playing him, it really means the devil has taken the form of Jack Nicholson who pretty much always plays and ESTP. Nicholson’s portrayal of Daryl van Horne, as he goes by, smoothly corrupts all three main characters one after the other until their witch powers have manifested and they just accept him as their head lion, so to speak. Yes it’s weird.
Though he also turns all three of them against him. The ESTP themselves are known for not only being highly skilled in the art of people pleasing but getting what they want as well. Se dominants are very in tune with what’s going on around them and auxiliary Ti breaks it down so they can properly read most any situation. Nicholson made a career out of this and this movie is no exception.
Zombies Ruin Everything 
04/24/2015 at 9:06 pm
I’d like to suggest to you that the Biblical character of Lucifer/Satan fits quite neatly as ESFP/INTJ. The period in heaven, pre-casting out, fits with ESFP (although imperfectly) and his behaviors post-casting out (I’m thinking primarily of his descriptions in Genesis, Job, and the Gospels) as INTJ.
Considering INTJ is the inversion of ESFP, one might see some value in considering Satan (a fallen and corrupted Lucifer) as simply an ESFP having one long, really bad day.