Dominant Fi: Neil Gaiman is well known for encouraging people to always be true tho themselves, but he rarely mentions being true to others (“Do the things that only you can do,” etc.). Neil Gaiman’s principles and ethical views are internally based, and not based off of anything he has learned from his external world (“I think hell is something you carry with you, not somewhere you go.”). In his 2012 commencement speech, he admitted that as a new writer, he lied about publications on his job applications, but afterward made a point to have written for each of those publications. This goes to show that he makes decisions according to how he as an individual feels about them. He designs his own moral code, but lives by it strictly, and when asked if he had ever considered a career in erotic fiction, his immediate answer was, “Nope.” Neil Gaiman believes that it is important to prioritize his focuses, an he specifically mentions that in charting his path in life, he views himself as walking toward a mountain. With every decision, he rejects the ones that will carry him away from the top of the mountain, and focuses intently on the ones that carry him towards it.

Auxiliary Ne: Neil Gaiman clearly has a huge imagination and enjoys telling stories of all types. He is full of possibilities and  loves to explore a wide range of genres (from comic books to novels to episodes of Dr. Who etc.), rather than sticking to one thing. Neil Gaiman is open to all possibilities in his writing and gladly accepts fan-theories about his work because he wants other people to be branching out into the realm of possibility as well. He sees potential in everyone and when a kid on social media asked him, “I want to be an author when I grow up. Am I crazy?” Neil Gaiman responded by saying, “Yes. Growing up is highly overrated. Just be an author.” He has a strong desire to encourage people to follow their passions and never ceases to give advice to those who ask for it.

Tertiary Si: It’s obvious that Neil Gaiman loves to revisit joyful parts of his past. He is practically dressed the same way in every single picture that we see of him, and his hairstyle doesn’t really change too much either. Although Neil Gaiman is very much his own person, he certainly values tradition and fitting in with society (he’s not one to decline the ice-bucket challenge). He likes routine and keeps to a specific set of rules when writing –plus, he’s one of those writers who likes to work in the same place each time. “No, my people. We stay indoors. We have keyboards. We have darkness.”

Inferior Te: Neil Gaiman’s responses on social media are short and to the point. He doesn’t particularly care for schedules, although he is clearly capable of sticking to deadlines. His earlier comment about keyboards and darkness highly suggests that he’d rather be doing his own thing than being out socializing, but at the same time, it’s evident that he is a man of action in the sense that he want to accomplish something with his work. “I keep making mistakes. I hope I’ll keep making them until I die. They mean I’m out there doing something.”

Note: This analysis is based off of listening to him speak, reading his blog, works and social media interactions.