Zombies Ruin Everything

Let me help you get to know m’lady Petra. I’ve given you something of an introduction into the world she lives in with my Luther Strode post, but I didn’t get much of a chance to talk about Luther’s motormouth girlfriend.

Though Luther keeps quiet through the majority of his own story, Petra has no problem letting people know what she’s thinking as it’s happening. And not in a panicked and flustered way, but with sharply biting commentary. You can tell the difference with Luther when he’s just not going to speak and when Petra has shut him up.

“Luther, would you shut up so we can talk?”

What Black Cat and Catwoman (both ESTP) are to Spider-Man and Batman, Petra is to Strode. While Luther has his cause to uphold, responsibilities to take care of, and all around get really serious about whatever their goal is, Petra gets to have all the fun.

Writer Justin Jordan mentioned during in the pages of The Legend of Luther Strode arc that while Luther had been in the position of main character in Strange Talent, he’s been playing up to his “monster” role to criminals in Legend with Petra taking on the responsibility of the main character. She goes through all the changes, has the revelations, and ultimately, she’s the one to bring Strode out of his funk.

And what makes her ESTP is her need to be in the action, to go and do whatever creates the most excitement. This is pretty much Se (Extroverted Sensing) simplified. Most action-oriented characters have it because they were created as action-oriented individuals. But Petra’s first clues for us as an ESTP don’t have anything to do with action, but her dialogue with Strode and other characters displays a fast-thinking, fast-talking comeback queen. She’s never at a loss for words and doesn’t mind letting anyone around her know exactly what she thinks.

ESTPs will behave similarly, with their dominant Se taking the reigns on their brain and jumping into whatever seems the most exciting at the time. That could mean physical activity, it could just be cutting you off in the middle of your sentence because what was on their mind was much more fun to them. And though ESFPs have this too, it’s the ESTPs whose mindset will usually seem much more focused. ESTPs have auxiliary Ti (Introverted Thinking) and this can make for some funny comebacks on their end. It’s can be surprising how fast they come up with them too, but that’s Se/Ti for you. Acting fast in the moment, seeing the situation for what it is.

But one of the biggest problems with the ESTP is them getting in over their head from something they jumped into way too quickly. Petra involves herself in Legend without actually needing to be a part of the story. But she wants to know what happened to Strode, so she somehow gets tied up with the mob to track him down. Not very smart, but hey, what’s life if you’re not making the most out of it right?

THIS is how you exit a burning building.

But that’s the not the ESTP’s only problem. No, that’s just the “cool” problem that makes for interesting characters and interesting people. Black Cat and her thieving, Leonidas jumping into war, Petra getting involved with the mob. She also loves herself some guns, as evidenced by the image a few paragraphs above even though her aim sucks.

No their real problem is forcing their inferior Ni (Introverted Intuition). While normally responsible for long range ideas and seeing subtextual patterns, the ESTP’s Ni can be their weak point as well, with the user looking too far into the future and having the weight of it all feels as though it’s too much for them. They start worrying about future repercussions  that have no bearing on their everyday life an may not even matter as a whole. They begin looking into everything that will need to happen and become to worried to make a single move in the present.

Normally, movement in the present in their thing, right? Se and all. But under great duress, the big picture crushes them. So everything Luther went through in the first two arcs has much to do with the way that Petra is. Since it’s not her story (technically), she’s able to move quickly throughout, not having much weigh her down and from this, she’s able to be the pillar that Strode, possibly the strongest man alive, needs. She’s got issues but being the fast thinker she is, she keeps moving forward, becoming a better shot everyday.

Petra’s handiwork, by the way.

This entry was posted on 05/26/2015 at 11:39 am and is filed under MBTI Artisans, MBTI Stuff with tags ESTP, Luther Strode, mbti in fiction, Petra Dobrev. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.