Zombies Ruin Everything

If there’s a trend to be noticed in ESFJ figures of fiction, specifically with male characters, is that they’re just as much likely to give you a semi-painful hug as they are knock your head off with a well-placed punch…that is, if you threaten a loved one.

From The Thing to Baymax, Allen the Alien to Superman, Hagrid seems to fit right into the functions of dominant Fe/auxiliary Si in a way that has him living day-to-day, taking care of those around him. You’d think a half-giant living in a world of magic would be doing more with himself (whatever that might be) but when you’ve got everything you need, why get greedy?

Prone to violent, defensive outbursts and unexpected crying, ESFJ’s dominant function of Extraverted Feeling doesn’t necessarily make for a user who can’t control their emotions but someone who wears their emotions on their sleeves. Sounds like the same thing, but not quite. It’s not that the ESFJ can’t hold back, but their expressiveness will always show itself through no matter how much they try and hide it.

While secrets aren’t the same as emotions (WOW!), Hagrid gives away almost as many secrets as he has due to his inability to keep his face from saying everything he knows. Or him actually just saying it. And the kids weren’t even pressing him hard for the information. Plus, they’re kids. Come on, man.

And if we’re keeping in line with Hagrid’s emotions and his loyalty, we can look no further than the function of Si, Introverted Sensing. It’s been a while since I’ve written on MBTI so if I seem a bit repetitive, I’m still aiming for new comers to the theory. Si doesn’t mean the same thing as loyalty, nor should anyone be considered loyal simply because they use Si in their functions. Rather, if the user was brought up in a way that places emphasis on loyalty, the Si user will live their life according to it.

Why? Same reason an Si user will make any type of upbringing their way of life- Si is nearly synonymous with routine and more specifically, how a user processes experiences. So whatever associations the user makes with that person, place, thing, event, etc., is how they’ll always think of that thing.

For ESFJs, this can be especially important and we see it come through with Hagrid anytime someone speaks ill of Dumbledore. The guy that’s normally a giant teddy bear suddenly becomes irrationally enraged. Against a wizard or the fat little Dursley kid, it doesn’t matter.

One thing you might notice about ESFJ guys is their willingness to spend as much time with their significant other as they do their friends, giving them a “mama’s boy” persona…and a persona they’re quick to shed once they’re in the company of their male friends. They’ll do as best they can anyway, but the ‘nice guy’ feel always seeps through.

“Jeez, Hagrid, it was ONE drink, man…”

So while Hagrid’s job as groundskeeper and several other types of work that seem unfitting for an extravert, an ESFJ loves to be of service and what better way than by taking care of kids, creatures, and teachers? The only thing they love almost as much as everybody getting along is the status quo. Not necessarily for reasons of pomp but for the sake of order itself and everyone knowing what needs to be done. You might think a half-giant wouldn’t be satisfied unless he were in charge but Hagrid generally seems to love what he does and only shows dissatisfaction when nasty outsiders threaten his livelihood or those around him.

Someone in Hagrid’s position that wasn’t leading with Fe might have killed anyone of the little jerks who screwed him over and tried to have his pets killed. He’ll freak out, sure, but he never gives the impression he wants to do any permanent damage.

I’ve seen Hagrid typed as ENFJ as well. Personally, these two, while being very different, seem to have more in common with each other than any other two types, both being dominant Fe.

But while the ENFJ is more concerned with the overall scheme of things, the ESFJ will take any major task or something many others might find tedious and thankless, and do it as best they can; preferably for a long period of time so as to get comfortable and really get the hang of it. They need to make sure everything is in its place. An ENFJ might be all to ready to move on once they realize the job won’t require more of them than taking care of the basic tasks, preferring more of a leadership role. While the ESFJ just needs a list of what to do and the occasional “Thank you” and “You’re appreciated” for what they do.

“It’s not that I ever would, but just remember I could break your neck.”

This entry was posted on 06/20/2016 at 4:13 am and is filed under MBTI Stuff with tags Chamber of Secrets, Deathly Hallows, esfj, Goblet of Fire, Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, mbti in fiction, Prisoner of Azkaban, Rubeus Hagrid. 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.