Jack Kirby would have turned 100 this year. Given that the Fourth World / New Gods books were considered to be his magnum opus, I'm presenting the second and final part of my Fourth World MBTI series to mark his centennial; the first part you can find here. If you want some insight into the methods I use to type comic book superheroes, see here.
Typing Kirby's creations has for me proven to be a straightforward job, as he - and his partners Joe Simon and Stan Lee - possessed the talent of quick and easy characterisation. Kirby and his collaborators had the ability to convey a character's personality type through a few lines of dialogue and pencil, and this feat was aided by Kirby's art style, which - unlike, say, Neal Adams' - rejected realism and relied upon caricature. Looking at it today, we associate it with cartoons of the animated variety, not only in its kinetic story-telling, but in its exaggerated, often grotesque face and figure drawing. No wonder, then, that Kirby went on to work for the Hanna-Barbera and Ruby Spears animation studios after leaving comics in the late seventies: he and Alex Toth were the two artists who, in effect, invented the superhero TV cartoon.
Kirby's Fourth World went on to influence George Lucas' Star Wars, and its characters still are being used by DC today, turning up again and again (Steppenwolf has appeared in the new Justice League movie). But the Fourth World was marked by a chequered publication history. Within a few years of Kirby's joining DC, Mister Miracle, Forever People, and The New Gods were all cancelled, allegedly because of falling sales, and Kirby was taken off Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen. DC brought back New Gods in the late seventies, but the series failed to catch on (despite artwork by the great Don Newton).
Kirby returned to DC to do some work in the mid-eighties. He revived the Fourth World in the much-maligned Super Powers limited series (a Superfriends derivative used to promote a line of action figures), and pencilled the Fourth World character profiles of Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe. In 1985, Kirby attempted to wrap up the saga in his Hunger Dogs graphic novel, a poorly written and edited affair. Kirby's biographer, Mark Evanier, makes clear that Kirby had by then lost interest in the Fourth World, and Hunger Dogs lacks the excitement of his seventies work. Subsequent iterations of the Fourth World - some of them drawn by star artists such as Walt Simonson, John Byrne and Frank Miller - have delivered mixed results. Few have managed to capture the spirit and essence of Kirby.
Here I will be typing all the Fourth World characters left over from the first part. These have been selected using this criterion: the character must appear in the New Gods entry or elsewhere in the Who's Who. (One exception does exist, however, and I will leave it up to you to work out who it is). That means I will not be typing lesser villains such as Steel Hand, Victor Volcanum, and Professor Egg, or supporting characters such as Sonny Sumo, Shiloh Norman and Terrible Turpin.
DOCTOR BEDLAM - INTJ
Bedlam exists in disembodied form, and inhabits the bodies of his blank-faced androids, called 'animates'. 'Bedlam is a scientist whose specialty is the manipulation of terror', reads his Who's Who entry; 'One of his most infamous methods is use of the "paranoid pill" , which releases a gas that can drive everyone within a large office building temporarily insane with hatred'. This makes him sound like the archetypal INTJ villain who, more often than not, takes a sadistic delight in controlling, and inducing fear, in his victims. See Taylor's profile of Smaug from The Hobbit here, and his profile of Scarecrow from Batman here.
BLACK RACER - ISTJ
A cosmic character who flies through space on a set of skis (just as the Silver Surfer flies on his cosmic surfboard) and wears a knight's helmet, only Kirby could have made this idea work. The Black Racer serves as a kind of a Valkyrie who takes the souls of dead New Gods to the afterlife. Definitely an Introvert, one would - at first sight - type him as an Intuitive as well, given that most spooky cosmic characters tend to be Intuitives. But I argue that the Black Racer, like that other undead DC cosmic character, the Spectre, is an ISTJ.
Darth Vader from Star Wars, Cyclops from the X-Men and Judge Dredd from 2000 AD are all
ISTJs and all wear helmets or visors, just like the Black Racer, and like him, they tend to be bland functionaries who do their duty and have no qualms - moral, practical, or otherwise - about it; they take the attitude, 'I'm just doing my job, ma'am'.
DESAAD - ENTP
The Who's Who entry reads:
Desaad was an inventor who specialised in the creation of weapons and devices for torturing and killing, usually in a protracted, painful manner. In fact, Desaad took a perverse, perhaps addictive pleasure in using Apokolips technology to experience the emotions of his victims as he made them suffer. Desaad designed weapons for the young Darkseid, who came to appreciate Desaad's macabre sense of humour at the expense of their victims.
Desaad is a Thinker, not a Feeler, an Intuitive, not a Sensor, and he enjoys inflicting pain and causing fear - should he be typed as an INTJ villain? The answer is no: INTJ characters tend to be brooding types who live in darkness - this description does not match Desaad, who is an extravagant, manic and talkative character (much like the Riddler and the Joker) and who is, like them, a skilled inventor. Taylor types the Riddler and the Joker from Batman as ENTPs.
ENTP villains enjoy violating taboos. They do not believe in absolutes and universal laws, which are perceived by Introverted Intuition Ni. In Socionics' Model A, Ni sits in the Ignoring function slot in the ENTP's function stack, which means that Ni is a function that the ENTP disdains and that he believes he can do without.
A typical ENTP villain, Desaad likes inverting the normal order of things. The Who's Who entry notes, 'Perhaps his most spectacular achievement was "Happyland", an amusement park that, behind the scenes, actually served as a prison for his victims. The prisoners were anguished over the seeming indifference of the park's customers to their plight, unaware the Desaad's technology caused the visitors to see them as something other than what they were'.
Only an ENTP could have created Happyland...
DUBBILEX - INFJ
Dubbilex is a clone created by super-scientists at the DNA Project - a secret genetic-engineering facility near Superman's home town of Metropolis - and was designed by them to look like an alien; they call him a 'DNAlien'.
He wields telepathic and telekinetic powers, and is a sensitive, quiet, empathic and caring individual; in other words, he is very much like Professor X of the X-Men, another INFJ - an Intuitive, an Introvert and a Feeler.
But why INFJ? Why not INFP? INFJs are extraverted Feelers, and Extraverted Feeling Fe always takes the emotions of one's environment into consideration; Introverted Feelers, on the other hand, are removed from that environment, and so can come across (at their worst) as selfish and somewhat infantile. That does not sound like Dubbilex, who, like Yoda from Star Wars, the Vision from The Avengers and Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, is selfless and a counsellor to others.
MORGAN EDGE - ESTJ
Ruthless capitalist and president of Galaxy Communications - which owns the WGBS TV station and the Daily Planet - Morgan Edge accords with Jung's description of the Extraverted Thinker type. He secretly works for Darkseid, but this was retconned by DC after Kirby left: the real Edge was kidnapped by an evil clone who impersonated him throughout the Fourth World arc.
Why ESTJ? Why not ENTJ? Edge is shown as being subordinate to Darkseid, an ENTJ, and in the hierarchy comic book characters, ESTJs occupy the rung below ENTJs: they lack the ENTJ's visionary, Intuitive qualities. Often they make good drill sergeant types who like to whip other characters into line. That describes Edge.
ESAK - ENTP
Esak first appears as a child and in the company of Metron, and is either Metron's son or his student or both. In Hunger Dogs, we learn that after Metron disappears, Esak grows up, and, not having the benefit of Metron's guidance, conducts dangerous experiments - one of which literally blows up in his face. Badly disfigured by the explosion, Esak becomes bitter and twisted, and ends up working for Darkseid, designing the 'Micro-Mark' technology which revolutionises Apokolips and gives it the edge in the war against New Genesis.
ENTP villains often display a Luciferian aspect - like Lucifer, they challenge God and are cast out from the heavens. The Esak before the explosion and disfigurement does look angelic, and in the Fourth World saga he plays the part of a fallen angel.
FASTBAK - ESFP
A juvenile delinquent on New Genesis, Fastbak flies at breathtaking speed, breaking the speed limit on New Genesis traffic and getting himself into trouble. He recalls, to me, the Human Torch from the Fantastic Four, who is an ESFP and who likes racing.
Fastbak sings excellently. ESFP characters often show artistic ability; Keirsey calls the ESFP type 'The Performer'.
FEMALE FURIES - various
Darkseid's elite female fighting troops, they are sent to Earth to capture Big Barda, but end up defecting, and they join Mister Miracle and Big Barda's act.
I covered Lashina (an ISTP) in part one. What of the remainder of the Furies? The dour and scowling Bernadeth (who is the sister of Desaad) I type as an ISTJ. The placid, inexpressive and bovine Stompa - is another Introverted Sensor: an ISFJ. Finally, we have Mad Harriet, an agile character whose fist-mounted power spikes can, in the words of Who's Who, 'cut through anything'. Shades of Wolverine's adamantium claws there, but I type her as an ESFP. I consider her to be the Harley Quinn of the Fourth World (Harley Quinn, from Batman, is an ESFP).
FUNKY FLASHMAN AND HOUSEROY - ENTP AND ISFJ
Funky Flashman, a fast-talking show business promoter (and conman) lives in a decaying Southern mansion with his loyal and humble manservant, Houseroy, and supports himself through money doled out of a statue of the mansion's deceased owner, Colonel Mockingbird. When the funds from the ATM made of stone are exhausted, Flashman latches on to Mr Miracle and offers to work as his tour manager.
Kirby modelled the toupee-wearing and bearded Flashman on Stan Lee, the tousled and bespectacled Houseroy on Lee's acolyte Roy Thomas.
Flashman, a garrulous and self-aggrandising hustler, recalls Breaking Bad's Saul Goodman, an ENTP. Flashman shows all the characteristics of a dominant Extraverted Intuition type whose maniacal Ne primary function is combined with a calculating Ti secondary function. The long-suffering, put down-upon Houseroy seems a typical ISFJ.
The peculiar thing about the pair is that their two personality types - ENTP and ISFJ - relate to one another as (what Socionics calls) Duals.
GOLDEN GUARDIAN - ISFJ
Simon and Kirby conceived the original Guardian (Jim Harper) in 1942 with the aim of replicating their most popular creation, Captain America; the Guardian wears a similar costume to Cap and like Cap, carries a shield.
An ESFJ 'Father Knows Best' type, Harper served as a mentor to the Newsboy Legion, a gang of youths who lived in Suicide Slum (which Kirby later made part of Superman's city, Metropolis). After his return to DC, Kirby did some retconning: we learn that the Guardian been shot dead by a criminal a few years before. The new Guardian is a clone created by the DNA Project, and goes by the name of the Golden Guardian. He seems more quiet and introverted than the original, and is less of a take-charge type and more docile. He bears a resemblance to that other super-strong ISFJ, the X-Men's Colossus.
HIMON - ENTP
Himon, one of the New Gods who lives on New Genesis, is a super-scientist (he invented the Mother Box) and master escape-artist. He leads a resistance cell on Apokolips, and helps Scott Free (Mr Miracle) escape Granny Goodness' orphanage by opening up a boom tube to Earth.
Why ENTP? Why not INTP? Taylor explains the differences between the two types here. The difference to me is illustrated by the contrast between Himon and his friend Metron.
The latter, whose dominant function is introverted, always appears to be dour, reserved, sullen, solitary; Himon, whose dominant function is extraverted, is always outgoing, sociable. (On top of that, Metron wears dark clothing; Himon, bright colours).
Like Doc Brown in Back to the Future (1985), Himon doubles as both mentor and crazy scientist. Taylor types Doc Brown as an ENTP, and also types that other outgoing scientist, Tony Stark / Iron Man, as an ENTP. Himon should be seen as the Tony Stark of New Genesis.
INFINITY MAN - INFJ
The Infinity Man, a cosmic being of great power, lives in another dimension; he is summoned to this one by the Forever People, who, when in danger, touch their Mother Box and recite the magic word 'Taaruu'; they then vanish into Infinity Man's dimension and have their place taken by the Infinity Man.
Again, we can detect the Infinity Man's introversion in his choice of clothing: the helmet, goggles, and dark colours are worn, more often than not, by introverted characters.
Strange, brooding, cosmic characters nearly always have Introverted Intuition as a dominant or secondary function: given that Infinity Man is an Introvert, he must be Ni-dominant - either an INTJ or INFJ.
I type him as an INFJ, just like that other cosmic INFJ Kirby creation, the Silver Surfer, displays an Fe concern for the well-being of others. Were he an Extraverted Thinker, and an INTJ, he would probably behave in a more ruthless and calculated manner.
IZAYA THE HIGHFATHER - INFJ
Another cosmic character, and another Ni type, Izaya rules New Genesis and performs priestly rites. He also acts as a counsellor and teacher, and in his first appearance he sits down and has a heart to heart chat with Superman.
An Ni dominant character experiences inner visions which are perceptions of the future and insights into the absolute essences of things. What does he do with that knowledge? The job of the secondary function in an INTJ or INFJ is to act as a bridge, bringing the cognitions of Ni to the external world. If the character is an INFJ, his secondary function is Extraverted Feeling, meaning he will want to share his revelations; Extraverted Feeling is founded upon shared values, shared ethics, shared judgements. This explains why the INFJ will often play the part of counsellor, mentor and teacher: he needs to impart his wisdom to others.
Other INFJs-as-mentors: Yoda, Professor X and Gandalf (who, like Izaya, is bearded and carries a staff).
KALIBAK - ESTP
Kalibak is the son of Darkseid and the half-brother of Orion. I type Kalibak as an Extraverted Sensing dominant. Se as a dominant function in a character will make him - especially if he's a villain - forceful, aggressive, territorial and hierarchical. It also encourages aestheticism and a care for one's appearance, which tallies with what we know of Kalibak, who is vain regarding his looks.
The secondary function of Introverted Thinking in an ESTP works as a conduit, or funnel, for the main function, Se, and is always subordinated and put to work by Se.
Introverted Thinking enables one to perceive the inner workings of things and people. In a aggressive ESTP character such as Kalibak, Se as a dominant function will use Ti as a means of perceiving the weaknesses of his opponents and getting the upper hand. After being imprisoned and bound in heavy chains in the Metropolis police station, Kalibak displays the rat-like cunning and con-man capability of the stock ESTP villain: he tricks the gullible Metropolis PD into letting him go.
The combination of the brute force of Se and the cunning of Ti can make an ESTP character a deadly foe. See Taylor's profile of ESTP Marv from Sin City here.
KANTO - ESFP
A flamboyant denizen of Apokolips who styles himself after the men of the Renaissance, Kanto is a theatrical character who, on capturing Mister Miracle, attempts to kill him in an extravagant and melodramatic fashion.
As noted in the previous profile, Extraverted Sensing can give a type an appreciation of fine food, wine, clothes, art, music; it can make him an Epicurean. Se forms Kanto's main function, but what of his second? I believe it is Feeling, not Thinking. Why?
Kanto, unlike a Thinking type, does not seem to be very rational and calculating, despite his professed love of strategy and intrigue. ESFPs aspire to be efficient, organised Extraverted Thinking types; they are lacking in strong Te and want to make up for it. This is because Te occupies what Socionics calls the 'Hidden Agenda' slot in the ESFP's function stack. In Socionics, all types harbour a secret wish to develop the Hidden Agenda function, which is neglected.
One could object to my typing of Kanto as an ESFP on the grounds that Kanto, unlike typical ESFPs the Hulk, the Human Torch and Breaking Bad's Jesse Pinkman, is not emotionally volatile. But not all ESFPs are hotheads, and the secondary function of Introverted Feeling can in fact work to stabilise an ESFP's moods. Kanto should be seen as what Socionics calls an Fi-dominant subtype.
Here is some of the Socionics profile of the Fi-dominant ESFP subtype. The description sounds a lot like Kanto:
The active, mobile person. Willingly moves to establish useful social connections. Able to give compliments by speaking to others, in detail, about the opportunities and/or abilities that they’ve perceive; value their ability to make impressions. Intimate intonations in their voice, coupled with the confidential manner of dialogue, charmingly allow them to win the favour of the interlocutor quickly. Often have convex eyes; gestures are smooth and confident. They’re inclined to dress unusually, brightly and extravagantly, however, their tendency to corpulence may limit their liberty to dress as they please. Gait is elastic and proud.
LONAR - ISFJ
A long-haired New God who wears a Viking helmet, Lonar spends his time exploring the ruins of the Old Gods' civilisation on the surface of New Genesis; there he finds, with the aid of his Mother Box, a magical horse called Thunderer.
His solitariness (his name is a give away) and his vocation point to his being an introverted type: but which is it? Is Introverted Sensing, Thinking, Feeling or Intuition his dominant function? I say he's a Si dominant. This type concerns himself primarily with comfort, homeliness, stability, domesticity, physical well-being, and he reveres the past and does not want to move on from it. In a word, Si can be summed up as: stasis.
Extraverted Feeling as a secondary function in a type means that he prizes shared values, shared ethics and shared emotions. When we put together the main function, nostalgic Si, with the secondary function, generous Fe, we capture the essence of Lonar's character: Lonar lives in the past and finds a meaning in it that he wants to share.
THE NEWSBOY LEGION - various
Simon and Kirby created their first team, the Newsboy Legion, in April 1942. After the first Newsboy series came to an end in 1947, the Legion went on hiatus until Kirby's return to DC.
The seventies version of the Legion are the sons of the Legion of the forties. But, while they fly around in a new Kirby vehicle (the Whiz Wagon), and boast a new member -
an Afro-American boy (called Flipper) who wears a diving suit at all times - the personality types of the new Gabby, Big Words, Scrapper and Tommy match those of their fathers.
I type Big Words - a bespectacled, Bruce Banner-lookalike - as an INTP, the feisty brawler Scrapper as an ESTP. Gabby, a loquacious, zany, unpredictable and friendly character, is an ENFP. Tommy, who is the straight man of the group, and who is sullen and withdrawn, and somewhat bland, strikes me as an ISTJ, as the ISTJ personality type tends to live a quiet life and lurk in the background; he often goes about his business without being noticed.
And Flipper? I'm unable to type him.
OBERON - ISFJ
The assistant of the original Mister Miracle, Thaddeus Brown (who seems to me to be an ENFJ type), Oberon goes on to work for the new Mister Miracle, Scott Free, after Brown is murdered. He lives with Scott and Barda and serves them as faithfully as he did Thaddeus.
The devoted and loyal Oberon gives us another instance of the ISFJ assistant / butler character: think of Alfred Pennyworth in Batman and Sherlock Holmes' friend Watson. As stated before, Introverted Sensing means comfort, and being Extraverted Feelers, ISFJs like to share that comfort around.
JIMMY OLSEN - ENFP
It's hard to believe, but Superman's pal, Jimmy Olsen, who has been around since at least 1938 and who has appeared in hundreds of stories, has never been typed.
I initially found it difficult to work out Jimmy's personality type. Then the answer - which had been staring me in the face all along - came to me in a flash.
Jimmy goes through multiple transformations in his career, so much so that DC published an anthology, Superman: The Amazing Transformations of Jimmy Olsen (2007), which collects them. During Kirby's brief run, Jimmy, as usual, takes up new identities: first as a leader of motor cycle gang, then a member of the youth counter-culture, then as a de facto government agent working for the DNA project, then as a two-fisted action hero. Simyan and Makkari, agents of Darkseid, use the science of Apokolips to change him temporarily into a Neanderthal. Jimmy clones appear (one of them a giant with kryptonite skin) as well; these are altered Jimmys.
Generally speaking, Extraverted Intuition occupies the primary or secondary function slot in a character who possesses shape-shifting abilities, or the ability to transmute or teleport matter: think of Nightcrawler and the Scarlet Witch, both of whom are INFPs.
So we can deduce that Jimmy is an Extraverted Intuitive. But how do we know he is an ENFP?
The dominant function of the ENFP, Extraverted Intuition, is devoted to the exploration of new possibilities and opportunities; the secondary function, Introverted Feeling, allows the ENFP to sympathise with others, and build rapport, to a strong degree. Being the secondary function, Introverted Feeling is subordinated to the first, Extraverted Intuition, and the result of the combination is that the ENFP character will attempt to explore relationships and connect with as many different people as possible. He will adapt himself to his environment and take on its colouring, which explains why chameleonic and shape-shifting characters tend to be ENFPs. (Significantly, the title of the story in the first issue of Jimmy's own series, Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen, is 'The Boy of a 100 Faces'; the cover shows Jimmy trying out multiple disguises).
All in all, Jimmy as shape-shifter and chameleon recalls the Fantastic Four's Impossible Man, who is, I argue, another ENFP (but one who is far more annoying than Jimmy).
ORION - ISTJ
The son of Darkseid and Tigra, he is raised by the Highfather as part of a peace deal between Apokolips and New Genesis. Orion becomes the main hero of the New Gods title, but the apple does not fall far from the tree: when under great stress, Orion will explode into rage and his handsome face will become disfigured and Darkseid-like, and only Orion's Mother Box can return it to normal.
Like the ISTJs Darth Vader and Judge Dredd, Orion wears a bucket-helmet, and like the Punisher, another ISTJ, Orion is vengeful. Why do ISTJ characters tend to gravitate towards the pursuit of revenge? As noted before, Introverted Sensing, the ISTJ's primary function, aims at stasis, comfort, sameness and continuity with the past, and the ISTJ's secondary function, Extraverted Thinking, works to ensure that Introverted Sensing flows on uninterrupted and that the outer world is organised in a efficient, orderly and regulated manner. Bad consequences follow if anyone disturbs this equilibrium. The ISTJ does not want to be pulled out of his state of inner harmony, as he likes the world as it is, thank you very much; he does not want it changed. To him, the world as it is embodies justice; any alterations of it are unjust and will merit a response. The ISTJ attempts to correct any breaks in the natural order and right any wrongs, and if he is a superhero, he will wreak vengeance upon the malefactors who disturbed his peace.
GOODY RICKLES - ENFP
Goody Rickles, a virtual clone (or astral twin) of one of Kirby's favourite comedians, Don Rickles, works in the research department of the Daily Planet. The owner of the Planet, the villainous Morgan Edge, is so annoyed by the irritating and overbearing Goody that he wants to murder him - literally ('The solution is obvious! This man must be killed!'). Hilarity ensues as Edge's and Darkseid's thugs try to do just that (and not to worry, Superman, Jimmy Olsen and the Golden Guardian save Goody's bacon). In this arc, we are blessed with the appearance of the real Don Rickles, who turns up at the Planet's offices.
Most Kirby fans regard Goody as an embarrassment; they think he mars a good story. Kirby should never have included him, they say, but I disagree. When it comes to Kirby, one must take the bitter with the sweet. Besides which, the present-day versions of the Fourth World lack the Kirby spirit. Is this because the writers and artists on these books do not, like Kirby, make idiosyncratic mistakes?
Goody shows a great deal of Extraverted Intuition, and it becomes clear early on that this is his dominant function. I type him as an ENFP and not an ENTP because an
ENTP character tends to be more focused than the ENFP, who is scatty at the best of times.
An interesting question is: why is Goody Rickles, like so many ENFP characters, tiresome? Extraverted Intuition in an Ne-dominant type can throw others off-balance, and it can seem quirky, zany and discontinuous. Extraverted Intuition sees the underlying connections between all things and forms them into a harmony whereas others may only see discord and chaos. When x transforms itself into y, apparently at random, the Ne-dominant type can understand the logic behind it, as mentally he lives in a web of phenomena which are interrelated. But other types may not be able perceive any underlying interconnectedness, and so find the leaps, stops and starts of the Ne-dominant jarring - as harsh on the nerves as the sound of fingernails scratching a blackboard.
Taylor here gives an excellent description of the John Candy character, the ENFP
Del Griffith, from Trains, Planes and Automobiles (1987). Griffith is perhaps the archetypal annoying ENFP.
STEPPENWOLF - ESTP
Steppenwolf, the uncle of Darkseid, lands on New Genesis covertly for a hunting trip; he and his party (which includes Darkseid) come across Izaya and his wife Avia in a forest clearing. Steppenwolf is tricked by Darkseid into killing Avia, and as Darkseid anticipates, the incident ignites a war between Apokolips and New Genesis.
During the war, Izaya confronts Steppenwolf on the battlefield and kills him. That should have been the end of Steppenwolf, but the character turns up alive in Kirby's Super Powers, something which is never explained. (It could be that the revived Steppenwolf is the clone created by Darkseid in the Hunger Dogs arc, but the writer of Super Powers, Paul Kupperberg, ignores this point of continuity). Steppenwolf has put in multiple appearances in the DC Universe since, and writers and editors seem to love the character.
An Extravert and an Se dominant, Steppenwolf dresses and eats well, possesses a droll sense of humour, is cunning, and is skilled at using melee weapons (that is, weapons such as swords, staves, axes, and whips). I associate him with what I call the 'Evil Prince' archetype. Game of Thrones' Jaime Lannister, who Taylor types as an ESTP, provides us with the most famous example of the Evil Prince. This archetype is dashing, well-dressed and a fine swordsman. He usually sports neatly-trimmed facial hair (in Steppenwolf's case, a goatee), a trait which signifies wickedness.
TIGRA - ESTP
No, not Marvel's Tigra: this one is the mother of Orion and the estranged second wife of Darkseid. He keeps her imprisoned, and when she is allowed out of her cell for exercise, she must conceal her identity beneath a burka; others are forbidden to speak or even look at her.
The fiery, tenacious, spirited Tigra - who can be quite cat-like - recalls to my mind the vivacious heroines Catwoman of Batman and Lois Lane of Superman. Taylor types these two as ESTPs.
In the ESTP, Extraverted Sensing, the primary function, subordinates Introverted Thinking, the secondary function: Ti serves the purposes of Se. What does Introverted Thinking do for the ESTP? It lends the type a certain obstinacy and rigidity, a persistence and endurance. Ti has him cling, obdurately, to certain fixed ideas and theories, which he will not relinquish; it matters not if these are unpopular, out of touch and generally regarded as eccentric. He holds, steadfast, to his convictions.
The combination of the two, Se and Ti, explains in large part why Tigra remains so stubborn and unruly even after years of imprisonment and isolation.
VIRMIN VUNDERBAR - ISTJ
Another villain from Apokolips, Virmin Vundarbar emulates the Prussians of the late 19th century: he practices a German version of Steampunk. Like Kanto, he admires a certain period of Earth's history and reconstructs it at his hideout on Apokolips, and like Kanto, he uses technologically advanced weapons and traps. Being short, and non-superpowered, his minions do most of the fighting for him.
The ISTJ's main function, Si, accounts for Virmin's love of the past, and the ISTJ's secondary function, Te, Virmin's love of order and efficiency. A quiet man who, like many an ISTJ character, prefers to lurk in the background, he has no ambitions to rule, and he reveres Granny Goodness, who raised him in her orphanage.
Mark Hootsen, Signing Off.
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