MBTI: C-3PO- ESFJ
Take a look at those random letters of a title, eh?
Though he gets pegged as an ISFJ a lot, Threepio’s main function is to please, and he does this by doing and saying whatever his masters want him to do right then. None of that was meant to be sexual. But for an ISFJ, a lot of characters tell him to shut up quite a bit, don’t they? I’m seeing dominant Fe.
We all know Fe is expressive. Even those that try to pretend something’s not wrong will eventually show it or say it, the higher up their Extroverted Feeling is in their functions, in a sense. For Inferior Fe (INTP/ISTP), they’re more black and white about it; from calm to freaking out. For tertiary(ENTP/ESTP), their feelings are skimming the surface, going from loud and upbeat to detached and quiet. For auxiliary users(INFJ/ISFJ), their Fe guides everything that they do. So even if they’re not telling you what they’re thinking, it’s written on their face.
But dominant Fe(ENFJ/ESFJ), if they think it, they say it. If they feel it, they do it. If compliments are thought of, you verbalize them and if you think somebody needs help, you ask them. What’s awkward again?
You wouldn’t need to do this with ISFJ.
C-3PO displays dominant Fe by his quest to serve and it’s not just the fact that he’s a protocol droid and that it’s what he was literally built to do, but in his attitude as well.
He’s not quiet and studious, offering a helpful word in our heroes’ moments of defeat. He’s constantly trying to say and do something to better the situation even if it’s taken to the point of annoying the people around him. Asking him a simple question could give way for him to give a speech. ISFJ isn’t normally the type to say too much in moments of stress while the ESFJ doesn’t hold back.
Originally imagined by George Lucas as having a gruff car salesman persona, actor Anthony Daniels, who actually wore the Threepio outfit spoke the lines in his normal voice and this was eventually kept as Threepio’s personality as well. Who knows, we may have gotten an ESTP if a different voice actor had taken on the role.*
“Yeah Mac or Luke or whateva, ya gonna wanna take a left at that bantha dung heap and keep goin’ about 75 miles thru that desert.”
Though dominant Fe in ESFJs doesn’t simply make for an individual that just won’t shut up, it will really depend on the user’s upbringing. Their auxiliary Si is how they take in the physical world. And with SJ types specifically, that means over a long period of time. There’s no adapting to each and every environment, they want to know about where they are right now and how to deal with that specifically. Threepio is a peculiar case just cuz like, he’s a robot? Okay? So like, he was programmed the way that he is, okay?
Really though, it’s interesting how similar the programming of a robot in fiction seems to be to the Si function. Don’t get offended at that just yet. It’s not saying that you don’t think for yourself or can’t make an original thought as much as it that Si’s way of taking information in and only accepting certain things at a time is similar to Threepio’s main functions. He’s “fluent in over 6 million forms of communication” as we well know and from this, there’s a lot about the galaxy he’s familiar with. ESFJs can be comfortable with a wide range of people, cultures, environments, etc.- but it’s got to be something they get used to. Other than people themselves, ESFJs don’t tend to just blend right into their surroundings.
Threepio seems to make negative observations about everywhere he and R2-D2 travel but once people begin asking him things in the realm of communication he easily speaks the language and can tell Han, Luke or whoever anything they need to know. Being a droid, he’s going to know more than any human ever could but the personality is there all the same.
Hetero mates for life
ESFJs can also be pretty rude without intending to be. It’s not that they’re trying to be funny and it’s taken the wrong way. And it’s not that they told someone what to do without using the proper tone of voice. It really has more to do with them saying what’s on their mind without recognizing how insensitive it is. Maybe the worst case of this involved Luke being stranded somewhere on Hoth and Threepio bothers giving the survival rate (Not in Luke’s favor). Or when Han is frozen in carbonite, Threepio offers up some pretty unhelpful commentary.
“Oh. They’ve encased him in Carbonite. He should be quite well protected. If he survived the freezing process, that is.”
It comes off more as him misunderstanding the seriousness of the situation rather than him consoling anyone. ESFJs may care about people more than most types but their inferior Ti (Introverted Thinking) can lead to some pretty ditzy moments. Not unlike another ESFJ robot Disney owns…
Zombies Ruin Everything 
Discuss!