Zombies Ruin Everything

Oh man. Here he is. The INFJ wizard to end all INFJ wizards. Okay, maybe not but still.

When an INFJ sage-like character is written and/or performed well, they can often walk the line of appearing like an ENFJ or even an INTP. Their wise, thoughtful attitudes and friendly disposition can often invoke the better qualities of several other types that seem to go beyond one personality. But nope, there can be only one.

“Y’see Harry, Gandalf’s staff is just kind of like…I dunno. Lame? The Elder Wand is where the real power is. Just know that.”

But really- this doesn’t mean an INFJ is just oh so perfect they carry the best traits of others’ types but that they imbue enough positivity that “They seem to be friendly, how they can be ‘E’?” or “They seem really smart, are you sure they’re ‘F’?” Breakin’ boundaries, they are.

I came to a similar question with Dumbledore. In the original two films, the answer of INFJ seemed pretty standard; wise, old wizard man, maybe a bit of a weirdo. But with the introduction of Michael Gambon in the role, the weirdness and even friendliness were shown through much more to the point I’d wondered if the character had changed as well as the performance.

Alas! No. Dumbledore is definitely the INFJ and an archetype at that. He gives the hero his quest, he makes sure to keep the authorities just confused enough to allow the rules to be bent in just such a way that the hero survives, saves the day, and the powers that be either don’t know anything has happened or at the very least, can’t do anything about it.

Their dominant Ni works with their inferior Se (Extroverted Sensing) for reacting in the moment for a long-range result. But this can create for some confusion in the INFJ mind because Ni could almost be considered the opposite of Se since the former is long-range theoretical and the latter is immediate and physical. So their auxiliary Fe balances with their tertiary Ti to make for a person who will ultimately just say “Fine” when you ask how they’re doing if they even react at all. There’s so much going on in their head for even the simplest thing it’s no wonder SPs write them off and why they write off a world that will quickly shun them.

What picking your brain really looks like.

This is one thing to understand about the INFJ, if we’re to look at them like Steve Irwin watched an animal in the wild. The Ni (Introverted Intuition) of an INFJ is what they lead with and with their Fe (Extroverted Feeling) being the driving force behind it, this can make for a pretty conflicted individual. JK Rowling’s backstory for Dumbledore even includes him being involved with another man but ultimately turning to a life of celibacy since he thinks it was his own feelings that ultimately caused him to lose his moral compass for a time.

Interesting stuff, since the INFJ’s inner workings often involve dropping things to relieve stress; specifically things other types might not see as a big deal. But to the INFJ, anything can be seen as a big deal. Really digging into the dirt to get to the roots can cause one to feel constant turmoil but also see the best in anything.

Dumbledore is also known to not only use humor to bring ease to a situation (Aux Fe may use humor for this reason, versus a lower cognitive feeler who does so for entertainment) but his philosophies have been known to confuse those who listen and aggravate those who don’t have the patience to understand them.

The INFJ will also be led down trails of thought out loud at times that cause listeners to wonder where this train is leading. And sometimes the INFJ themselves don’t even know, making their image to others seem all the more strange considering they generally aren’t known as the most talkative to begin with.

But lastly, we can’t forget Dumbledore’s last mission for Snape to kill him when the time is right so as not to allow Draco to become entirely corrupt. This is a good example of Ni/Fe in action, extreme as it is. While one character’s plan is to kill him, he not only doesn’t stop it but makes it easier on them so they don’t have to bear the weight on their conscience. Not all INFJs would be so selfless but it’s an interesting example of what can be.

As many good things as I’ve said about INFJ here in this post, whatever you do, stay away from ‘INFJ’ Bing searches. I shudder.

This entry was posted on 06/24/2016 at 12:48 am and is filed under MBTI Idealists, MBTI Stuff with tags Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter, infj, mbti in fiction. 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.