Why Sherlock isn’t an INTP

Arvid Walton 138 Comments

Why Sherlock isn't an INTP | #MBTI #INTJ #INTP

There are several reasons that people often type Sherlock as an xNTP. #1 They don’t fully understand the Jungian functions and are basing their argument in stereotypes… or #2 they don’t fully understand Sherlock as a character, or have rationalised his persona to fit their reality.

Just for you, I’m going to discuss each Jungian function in depth, and explain to you why Sherlock cannot possibly be an INTP…

Fi vs Fe:

Sherlock understands his own feelings a lot better than he understands anyone else’s. When he freaks out about feeling fear in The Hound of Baskerville, it’s not because he doesn’t understand what he’s feeling –it’s  #1 because he doesn’t like the idea of being controlled by his emotions, and #2 because he wants to understand the logical reason for why he is feeling those emotions. Usually he’s able to control his emotions to an extent and when he suddenly he finds that he can’t, he knows that there has to be some external cause.

Sure, he doesn’t always know how to handle his emotions, but then, most immature INTJs don’t. My view is that although he understands his feelings, he views them as a weakness and thus, tries to detach from them.

So maybe he wants to be a sociopath, but he certainly isn’t one. (I’m not a sociopath either, but I’ve been called one, and I pass most sociopath tests floating around the internet).

I think too many people confuse tertiary Fe with the NiSe combination. People think that Sherlock naturally understands people’s emotions simply because he’s able to figure them out, but I really don’t think he does.

Here’s why.

When he observes people closely (Se), his conclusions about them (Ni) are always more accurate than when he doesn’t pay close attention to them (thus, his slowness in recognizing Molly’s infatuation). I think an Fe would have noticed a lot quicker and more naturally, whereas, Sherlock has to use the scientific method to figure out people’s emotions.

When he decides to reveal that he’s “not dead” to John, he doesn’t really think about the emotional implications that this will have in John’s life. He fakes his death because he doesn’t want his loved ones to die, but doesn’t consider the fact that it might hurt them more to have him dead than if they died.

A lot of people think that what Sherlock did was incredibly selfless, and in a way it was, but at the same time, his primary reason for doing it was because he was emotionally attached to those people and didn’t want them to die, not because he didn’t want them to hurt. If he didn’t want them to hurt, he would have considered their feelings in his decision, not just their lives.

Ti vs Te:

He’s such an NiTe user that it’s actually funny.

SHERLOCK: Look, it doesn’t matter to me who’s Prime Minister, or who’s sleeping with who…

JOHN: Whether the Earth goes round the Sun…

SHERLOCK: Oh, not that again.

Sherlock cares far more about the use of knowledge, things and people than he does about the idea of them. Have you ever noticed his references to “deleting things?” Sherlock forgets everything that isn’t directly important to his goals. The solar system is irrelevant, so he forgets it. He forgets that we don’t have a current King of England etc.

My roommates recently rented a puppy. Since puppies have no relevance to my life goals, I naturally forgot about it, but my roommates kept bringing it up over and over again as if they could think of nothing else. When I was seventeen, my sister had to explain who Angelina Jolie was to me. Obviously… because Angelina Jolie has no relevance to my life goals.

Anyroad, back to Sherlock.

INTPs tend to be a little bit more indecisive than Sherlock is. Unlike an INTP, Sherlock focuses on one thing at a time. Even when considering all the possibilities, he doesn’t get distracted by anything that doesn’t have a direct correlation to his goals.

INTPs jump from idea to idea, without really caring whether they accomplish something as a result of those ideas. I have a friend who’s an INTP and he’s one of the most indecisive people I know (beaten only by my Dad, also an INTP). My friend constantly talks about ideas, but never implements any of them. Two weeks before both he and I were about to head off to university, he decided out of the blue that he wanted to be a missionary for two years. I haven’t seen him since.

Sherlock is always decisive and typically very predictable in his habits. He knows exactly what he wants, figures out how to get it (Ni) and then goes after it with passion (Te). The most blatantly tell-tale sign that Sherlock is an Te user is how task-oriented he is.

SHERLOCK: Seriously? I just told you that the entire world is run from this house and you want to talk about dinner?

Furthermore, Sherlock needs closure to feel satisfied. Whereas an NeTi user would be satisfied just to analyse information, Sherlock has to see a problem all the way to the end or else  he continues to think about it for the rest of eternity (at John’s wedding, he was still thinking about the Mayfly Man, because he never solved it).

Lastly, Sherlock’s thought process rarely stays inside his head. His Ni plans and ideas do, but his thought process happens majorly out loud.

Se vs Si:

The existing arguments for Sherlock being an Si user mostly concern a fundamental misunderstanding of Sherlock’s mind palace.

However, I have the fortunate vantage point of having used the Method of Loci since I was 13. That being said, I understand that while it is a system for memorising information, it is certainly not something an Si user would normally employ (not to say they couldn’t). The reason for this is that the memory palace system operates primarily based off of vivid, visual imagery –not internal facts.

The mind palace is essentially a visual tool that only an Se user would truthfully be able to use in great depth. INTJs tend to think in very concrete terms, which often translates to thinking in images. Sherlock is a visual learner, not an auditory or kinesthetic one. Sherlock very clearly thinks in concrete images. Ever notice how we always see the words that he’s thinking?

The reason for this is that in order to know that a word is the correct one, Sherlock must have a visual image of it in his head. He can’t remember them just by sound –it has to be by sight. And…the very fact that Sherlock needs a system to help him remember things suggests that he isn’t an Si user.

Remember that you can’t assume that just because someone has a really fabulous memory that they are automatically an Si user. That’s an unfortunate stereotype that Tumblr has infused into the minds of millions of the world idiots.

Secondly, Sherlock hates tradition. His approach to everything is unconventional and often socially inappropriate. He doesn’t care about rules (other than the rules of logic) and doesn’t value social conventions (he will leave a wedding early, or walk around in a bed sheet at Buckingham Palace).

Se users are prone to noticing things about their environment that other people miss –Sherlock, obviously. His deductions are typically based off of careful external observations (Se) that then feed his Ni, giving him intuitions about possibilities and liklihoods.  The more visual/physical observations he can make about a person, the more accurate his deductions are.

I do this myself –though certainly not to the extent and prowess of Sherlock Holmes.

A few months ago, I covered as a temporary dental assistant and I distinctly recall an older gentleman coming into the office to have his teeth worked on (it wasn’t very busy that day). Based on the type of pants he wore, I figured out that he worked in some form manual labor. His farmer’s tan was also quite noticeable, suggesting that he worked outside.

He had a jacket with a memorialised name and dates of birth-death embroidered on it. The dates suggested that the person had been 35 years old when they’d died and the name was male. Because of corresponding last names I assumed that the name belonged to this man’s son, because the gentleman was roughly 6o years old and the death had occurred about a decade prior.

He had a wedding ring on, so I guessed that he was married and based on the styling of the embroidered jacket I presumed that he most likely rode and loved a motorcycle, but because the jacket was a relatively normal jacket, (not “out there,” or “over the top,”), I determined that he probably rode with his wife, or a single friend, rather than with a large group or gang.

As I worked on his teeth, I talked to him. As it turned out, he was an engineer, but he had a garden that he worked in every day. He had one son that was still alive and another that had died from cancer. He and his wife liked to ride motorcycles together on weekends.

Not too difficult, but it proves the point. Sherlock sees physical evidence, then they logically computes it into a deduction.

Ni vs Ne:

I don’t really think I should need to clarify why Sherlock is an Ni user…but I will.

I’ve heard people claim that Sherlock is an Ne user just because he always wants to be doing something new. Well, guess what, all of those new things involve solving problems (which is basically a necessity for Ni doms).

Sherlock has got to be solving problems otherwise he gets moody and stir crazy. I know exactly how this feels, because when I’m not intellectually stimulated, I start to get depressed and angry at life. In school, I do much better in the hardest classes than I do in easy ones, because I get my energy primarily from problem solving.

Easy isn’t something that INTJs flock to.

Sherlock’s Se observations (which we’ve gone over) feed his Ni, but there are also times where Sherlock knows the answer long before he can logically or empirically prove why it’s true. This is something that’s relatively unique to Ni users –especially Ni dominants.

I, for instance, have been able to pin people down as suicidal upon a first meeting, only later to have to deal with the fallout of a real suicide attempt (this has made me more kind, I think). I’ve also known intuitively that various people that my siblings hung out with were gay years before they came out of the closet. I know which of my co-workers are silently on the verge of a breakup, which are secretly dating each other etc.

The point is, Ni dominants are notorious for knowing things that they’re not supposed to know.

Does this sound like Sherlock? Maybe a little?

It’s a piece of cake for me to intuitively pin down the outcomes of the plots in movies. The first time I watched Broadchurch, I knew who the murderer was within the first twenty or so minutes. Eight episodes later, it turns out I was right.

Sherlock makes intuitive leaps to get the answers (Ni), then rationalises them into logical explanations (Te), going off of his visual memory to provide empirical evidence (Se).

Next, Sherlock makes detailed plans. He improvises only where he has to, but otherwise, his acts only appear to be improvisation because he doesn’t specifically tell others what his plan is. Take a look at His Last Vow if you want a perfect example of Sherlock making long-term plans and carrying them out To. The. Letter.

Then, you see his inferior Se act up when his plan doesn’t work out. Magnussen is actually ahead of him –to the point where Sherlock can’t see any way out and ends up acting in the moment by shooting him. That’s INTJ stress.

Lastly, where INTPs are primarily possibility-focused, INTJs are more focused on probability. Sherlock’s whole theory of deduction (which is actually a theory of induction btw), is completely in line with theories of causation, probability and Ockham’s Razor.

SHERLOCK: If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable must be true.

Sherlock doesn’t try to think up all the possible ways an event could develop. He tries to narrow it down to the one way that events did develop. He’s not interested in possibility where probability is an option.

Think whatever you wish. This is my analysis –educated comments welcome.

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138 thoughts on “Why Sherlock isn’t an INTP”

  1. Bloody hell. why does every person think they are Sherlock Holmes because they notice a persons tan and clothes?
    A farmers tan is titled such as it is such an obvious observation that it gets it’s own definition. Everyone notices a farmers tan, everyone, and infant does.

    And looking at a persons clothes is a big reason why the clothing industry is a trillion dollar business. Nearly everyone in society looks at clothing details and feels compelled to vary their attire for risk of everyone else noticing all the little details about their clothing which affects impressions.

    Let me guess, you can tell someone has a dog or a cat because you spotted hair on them?

    Sherlock TV series dies fill in those obvious observations but they dont mean he is limited by them.

    And there is no way Sherlock would write a blog like this. He would collect his thoughts to post scientific factual data, never for the purpose to convince another person. On the other hand Watson has a blog, but not even Watson would try to convince readers one way or another.

    It appears as if the author took the shortened version of the exam and he doesnt know his real results. Pony up the 50 bucks and take the long version. Not only is Sherlock definitely not anything like you, is not an intj either, but you may not be either! You have an f in there. You are probably possessive of your gf or bf , care a lot about what everyone around you thinks (even strangers on the internet) and taken the exam with you want to be perceived as. This entire article was written by an antisocial f element.

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    • Fun facts about Arvid: does not have a significant other (is asexual), doesn’t like Sherlock because he’s a jerk, and is very amused that you have made so may assumptions about a stranger :D

      Liked by 1 person

    • Hello stranger
      your post is very old so sadly my words may never ring in your ears
      if you don’t believe that sherlock is an intj then why are you reading articles about why he is
      more importantly, the writer used evidence to explain their POV
      and I would like to see what evidence you have
      attacking the writer does not count as evidence as to why the article is invalid
      i will not tell you my opinions on the subject because i understand how personal biases affect our conclusions
      if you are too much of a baby to explore different points of view, shut your stupid mouth and don’t be such a troll

      to the writer
      i love your website and i think it is really interesting how you explain and add in clips and direct pieces of evidence to support your ideas
      have a nice day and keep writing

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  3. I know this was written years ago, but your knowledge of cognitive functions at this point in time was not good enough to type Sherlock. I hope you’ve changed your mind since then.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Oh come on… Sherlock is a fictional character, he can be a mix of INTJ and INTP. You people are crazy! I also think there is a really thin line between J and P. Just stop and let hom be a mastermind. Anyone can, in fact, be a mastermind. Just get some murders to solve. And stop butching about psychology tests with 60% accuracy. God.

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  5. Fi user is def obvious.

    I agree about him being a Ni because he tend to focus on one thing and solve it before moving on to the next thing.

    And and Se i could also see why a lot of people said that he is and Si. But he is aslo an Se for me. The reason is simple, magnussen is the perfect example of si. And sherlock mind palace is all over the place, we could even say messy. He brought up things he wanted to see. While magnussen stacks his information in order. He is highly addicted to the rush the feeling of excitement when he come across something interesting. And he’ll do anything to finds it.

    But the the last one te? Really? Te is a highly productive personality. Sherlock, on the other hand is far from thinking about being productive. He is highly driven by his Se towards the Ti. As i say on the Se part. He is highly addicted towards case solving. Not because he likes being productive but because he loves the feeling.

    And my final conclusion is that sherlock is an ESTP.
    You might think i’m crazy. But im an xNTP and logic is part of my personality. No hard feeling. You hate intp so much its seem.

    And you are clearly and intj. Which is why you find excuses for yourself to see the world the way you wanted it to be. Your te works pretty fine.

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  6. ISTP can does the same complex observations. He is the tactician. The operator. (the nickname of SOG CIA agents…)

    Imao…

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  7. Sherlock is an ISTP. I agree with what you were saying about him being an Se user, except that his abilities with Se are too good for it to be an inferior function.

    Se is the primary way in which Sherlock takes in information.

    He does not make intuitive leaps in the manner of an iNtuitive. He arrives at conclusions very quickly, but in a methodical manner. Sherlock can always recite how he got there, if asked.

    For example, Sherlock assumes Watson has been in a war before being told. “Afghanistan or Iraq?” It seems like an intuitive leap to others, but as Sherlock explains, it is a matter of observation and deduction. Sherlock is skilled so makes his Se observations quickly.

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  8. I’m not arguing with the assessment itself, just a simple fact. As an INTP myself, I’ve, granted, never used the method of Loci, however, every since I was a really little girl, think five or so years old, that’s how I thought. I think in webs and feelings, concepts and pictures, rarely ever words. INTP’s are fluid, we’re subject to change and move and shift at any singular time. I, personally, don’t like the easy path. I spend my time doing the impossible and striving for such. So while, granted, I find your assessment to be accurate, I think you misjudge INTP’s in many different ways. You don’t realise that I’ve spent my life watching people and watching things change, that I work in patterns and logic, but also in the ever changing flow of the universe. INTP’s aren’t static.

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    • Also? Pardon me, but I hate tradition as well, and find myself to be an INTP. I’m known for fucking up the social norms and doing things no one would ever expect of anyone.

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  9. Very clever deduction, Watson. I have not watched the television Holmes, so I will refer to Doyle’s. I like the Fe Ni/Se “intuition,” but you overlook that Fe is the Inferior trait in INTPs, and the Inferior trait is always in a tug-of-war with the Dominant, thereby being the “issue trait,” a sore spot, and for an INTP weakness in social empathy makes it high on the radar, as well, a high value of rationality, involves control of internal feelings, and INTP have Fi as a shadow function, ready for all life’s little stresses; what I give Holmes unusual credit for is his excessive discipline, not only for training his examining his feeling as an instrument, but for discipline of his sense perception. That’s what makes him so extraordinary and evasive of type. The difference between Si/Se is that Si works much like Ne, as I’m sure you know, in that external details do not stand out on their own, they arrive colored with impression, and paired with Ne inferrence, an INTP can make those same brilliant inferences you have about his coworkers; the difference is that the Ni of INTJs can often fail to see the personal prejudices that distort their models, which is why they rely on Te to rebuild the models when they fail. As, well because of the INTJ’s constant need for working models, they need constant experimentation to validate them. Holmes only experiments when the facts demand it, or to entertain others; he relies first on the balance of intuition and thought in his problem solving. But that’s where we get to the tricky part; Holmes works as clinically determined with an INTP brain as an INTJ, but with all creative magic and novel resources that make him memorable. But unlike an INTJ, Holmes, will let his external world fall apart for his thinking episodes, leaving Watson to find a mound of cigarette butts on the floor and Holmes with shaky hands, or the detective will go through cocaine hazes without a case. One thing overlooked is an INTP can be hyper-focused with a problem, just as easily is bored without. So we come to the real dilemma. Is Holmes ambitious, and does Holmes require a product to be satisfied? Yes and no. For purposes of humanity, Holmes wishes a good outcome, for satisfaction Holmes is lending his talent to the world for solving puzzles, and when he fails to solve a puzzle, it is a great blow, as the Achilles heel of an INTP is to be wrong. Signed, INTP.

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  11. Sherlock is OBVIOUSLY an INTJ. Sorry, but I have to say: him being an ISTP is the one of the most stupid things I’ve ever heard… I’m an INFJ and I know a Ni-dom user when I see one from miles away.

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    • …which is what some people below are claiming. I can understand why some people who aren’t very familiar with MBTI see him as an INTP, though.

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  12. Let’s be real about this. Everyone loves Sherlock and wants to claim him as their MBTI kin but let’s examine the facts of his existence and decide whether he sounds like a calculating and focused INTJ or the more scattered and intellectually obsessed INTP:

    This is a guy who:
    -is entirely focused on satisfying his curiosity for the sake of his personal intellectual amusement (as I recall, he turns down multiple opportunities to help people solve serious crimes simply because they are too boring) and supplying his self-esteem.
    -lives in a rented flat. In his 30s. With a flatmate. And a mother-figure landlady to tend to his physical needs.
    -has a child-ish sense of entitlement, impatience, and narcissism.
    -a disdain and disregard for basic legal norms.
    – possesses a vast well of arcane or obscure knowledge (perfume, anyone?) while lacking information commonly possessed by third graders (heliocentrism)
    -drug user.

    He has no:
    -life goals beyond self-enjoyment
    -formal education
    -social skills
    -fashion sense
    -sense of propriety or social norms
    -stable source of income
    -deep romantic relationships
    -self-actualization: Sherlock is mainly a reactionary protagonist acting only once someone else–usually Moriaty or some other villain–has taken the initiative.

    These are not the hallmarks of an INTJ. The only difference between Sherlock and the stereotype of a World of Warcraft addict is his focus on mysteries instead of slaying internet dragons. INTP’s rule their respective obsession’s domain but it is usually an obscure and impractical kingdom.

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  13. blatantly a INTJ… If he was even relatively Intp he wouldnt be able to predict a thing a Mastermind would do. Which is normally the villain that has layed out the plot to be figured out. A Intp would at best be attempting to help a INTJ with hard facts and observations of simple things the Intj has overlooked. Aka Watson.

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  14. 1. Sherlock is an introvert as can be seen easily on screen
    2. He is an N/S hybrid with both an incredible sense of his surroundings as well as its patterns, he can not be fully integrated into one side.
    3. He is clearly a T
    4. He acts as a J in his work life and often sticks to his plans however he has no remorse over abandoning or failing them and often merely pretends to have had a plan, he also acts as a P in his personal life. Once again I believe he is a hybrid of both sides however he leans toward P more than J which unfortunately for the INTP I am does not make him an INTP.

    Note: I use hybrid to mean messy mix as he is a fiction super genius this sort af messy crossing should be expected, He is not strictly MBTI Definable.
    I would also like to point out that most of your arguments were nearly as circumstantial as the arguments you described but I certainly no longer belive Sherlock is an INTP for equaly terrable reasons.

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    • There is no black and white with you. These personalities are a spectrum not a specific point so there are always dominant traits. He’s dominantly an INTP, INTJ consistently screen and plan to implement their ideas which is definitely not the case with sherlock. He ultimately has no plans, but obviously when solving a case he has to plan like anybody i guess. But he doesn’t know what he will do once the case is solved hence predominantly a P and less of a J.

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    • I’m actually an INTJ, and I can relate to most of the points you’ve made.
      1. I’m an introvert.
      2. I’ve got an incredible sense of patterns (and only surroundings if I want to. I don’t take notice unless it’s important to me – as I am with most things).
      3. I’m obviously a T.
      4. I’m an absolute Judging type with all my work life and I have been apt to abandon or fail a plan. However, I’ll convince others around me that I expected it to be that way, which often I actually do. In my personal life, I’m a terrible procrastinator and I actually have a number of INTP habits (I love puns just a bit too much – especially DC superhero puns :P).

      We shouldn’t really be trying to type a fictional character the way that we do it to a real person. However, I’m sure many of us would just like to say how similar we are to the Consulting Detective (although I am quite similar in many ways…).

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      • INTJs are dominant perceivers and that explains the 4th point. (Ni is a perceiving function although it’s focused towards convergence)

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  15. HA! I knew Sherlock was an INTJ! He just has too many INTJ traits to not be one. The ni was very obvious but equally as obvious was his fi. As an fi dominant I know an fi user when I see one. Like this person basically said in the article, the very fact that he doesn’t really consider other’s emotions in things and doesn’t care about social norms should tell you something. That’s the mark of a fi user. We don’t care so hard it’s not even funny sometimes lol.

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  16. This entire analysis can be boiled down to this:

    Author: I believe I’m an INTJ. I want Sherlock to be just like me. Let me rationalize everything to talk about myself in relation to Sherlock Holmes to show we are both INTJ’s, and that INTP’s are lazy and indecisive.

    There are many things here that you claim INTP’s can’t do, and it shows your obvious bias against it. INTJ’s and INTP’s are very similar. There is no better

    Liked by 2 people

    • Nah, I don’t think that is the case :) Arvid (the lovely author of this blog) seems very careful to avoid both bias and stereotypes surrounding all types, not even just their own. Any type can be lazy and/or indecisive of course!

      What sets types apart, are there cognitive functions which is what they (Arvid) is trying to look at.
      INTJs and INTPs happen to have completely different cognitive functions! :P
      And again, all different cognitive functions lead to a certain ability/skill/thing (such as noticing patterns-Ni, recognising your own feelings-Fi). As you said, there is no superior type or function of course! But perhaps that is why you thought the author was claiming INTJs can do things INTPs can’t do?

      I hope I cleared some things up for you and was not a completely inarticulate rambly mess :P Have a nice day!

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    • The comments are embarrassing, some of them almost suspiciously satirical. Sounds like a bus stop conversation school children would after after class is over, you know, the kids that take the bus home when the school bus is free and safer and faster. And there’s mute homeless people right next to them not realizing the cosmic joke that the universe gives birth to with new human life, happening right next to them and all around them. If Sherlock is definable by MBTI, he might be an INTJ, but he’s not anyone that would leave grammatically and pitifully inarticulate comments at basing their self worth on something that isn’t them.

      “A Intp would at best be attempting to help a INTJ with hard facts and observations of simple things the Intj has overlooked. Aka Watson.”

      You’re so right … as I said, almost satirical.

      pretentious, as a very de;deliberately mature INTP, I am INSTANTLY seeing how many subtle differences are being completely missed.

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    • Looks like the winning post. I’m an intj, can totally agree intjs have no problem skewing data to bend things their way and would care enough emotionally to write a long winded article as the one above.

      Take this breakdown for instance, where every difference between the two ,intp and intj, when applied to Sherlock shows us he is clearly a intp.

      However, this article is valuable to show the lengths an intj would go to in order to cheat the system and the emotional element we have to even care to do so. Look us up and it’s the most dangerous liars of all the types. I tell the truth 95% of the time but that 5% is convincing.

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  18. I agree that Sherlock may not be INTP. But Sherlock is not INTJ. Sherlock is most likely ISTP. Both INTP and INTJ are knowledge hogs. INTP wants mostly to just understand (Fe) , and INTJ to implement them and achieve a goal in reality (Se).

    There is no doubt that Sherlock employs Ti above all. Ti isn’t just about data collecting for the sake of data collecting; it is logic. A=B. B=C; therefore, A=C. Couple that with Se auxillary, which would give Sherlock that well-developed awareness of everything around him which he uses consciously to observe and search for clues, then arrive at conclusion via tertiary Ni, based on the evidence collected. He’s not arriving at a conclusion (Ni), then employing logic to determine how he’ll make the story fit (Te) in line with his moral beliefs (Fi).

    You have to think about how Sherlock is using his knowledge. He’s using it to solve his cases; not to implement a new policy, not to influence another’s opinion, or change a world view. The outcome does not matter in the sense that he has no vested interest in what the outcome should be (Te-Fi not in play), merely that the outcome be correct (Ti-Fe).

    Also, Fi vs Fe isn’t about emotions necessarily; it’s a value system one employs to make a judgment/conclusion; those two should not be taken as synonyms. Also, what INTJ explodes in anger that regularly? Ni-Fi loop would occur in unhealthy INTJ, which would seem very different than as seen in Sherlock’s regular explosive anger (which is more indicative of lower Fe awareness and control… say, inferior Fe). It goes against every definition of Fi being an introverted function. Fi explosion would always be expressed through Te, Ne or Se as they’re the extroverted functions.

    Sherlock’s anger tantrums are very in your face, very Fe. It’s easy to tell when someone is angry via Fe more than Fi because it shows. Sherlock not having much of any control over Fe makes sense if Sherlock employs ISTP functions.

    But I do think his brother Mycroft, could definitely be in the running for INTJ. “He’s the British Government”? That’s a classic INTJ right there.

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    • Sherlock is attacked several times by insight’s. Simply put, it seems more common in N than S. All ISTPs I know have a calm and practical mind. Think fast but do not like to be formulating theories for a long time, although they may like to solve problems, they are not to be totally taking insight’s.

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    • THANK YOU! I am tired of people insisting that Sherlock is an INTx when he is obviously ISTP. I kind of put it down to intuitive bias where intuitives, who seem to dominate the internet, type any intelligent character as NT because God forbid sensors ever get any credit for anything. I’m intuitive myself (INTP, actually, and based on my knowledge of my own type I can say that this article got that much right – Sherlock is NOT one) but this still irks me. One of my best friends in real life is ISTP and I can say Sherlock reminds me a lot more of her than of myself. I also know an INTJ and she is far more obsessed with moral principles (Fi) than Sherlock ever is.

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      • I agree with you because Sherlock (the real one) focused on analysis alone in his youth(very Ti) and definitely is an Se user due to his amazing observation skills. If you read the books, you will see that Sherlock’s judgement is very ‘linear’ which I associate with Ti and I don’t really see any influence of Ni on him. No, focusing on one thing at a time is not just an Ni thing. What you are forgetting here is that Ti seeks convergence because it is a judging fuction(check out the posts of Personality Junkie) – when an ITP finds his one thing, he devotes all his time and energy to it (I am going through it myself). Read “The ‘Gloria Scott'” from Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. And I have seen the influence of Fe in his character. SeFe can be the reason why Sherlock was such a good actor and TiFe might have made him interested in psychology.

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      • The last season had an entire episode dedicated to Sherlock’s use of intuition. It is his dominant function.

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      • The fact you care so much , idolize him, and you want him to be like you: eliminates that possibility. I’m an intj. Sherlock 100% is an intp. Anyone who says otherwise just wants him to have same type as themselves

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        • I totally agree- thankyou! So many people on here are just desperately trying to be like Sherlock and brag about it! This whole post is bs

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    • I agree with your assessment. Being INTJ, the thought of Holmes being so too was exciting, because I’m a huge fan of the Doyle stories, but in researching the ISTP type, I think you’re as spot on as anyone yet. The anger outbursts are especially bolstering to the theory, add the fact that Holmes is action oriented as well. INTJs are conversely happy theorizing from the comfort of a familiar place, and then calling someone to act for them rather than being so materially invested. Also, I can’t see an INTJ (who puts so much value into longevity and the future), being so vulnerable to addiction–though, no doubt, there are exceptions. Holmes has the lit-fuse volatility of an ISTP.

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  19. I feel like the major problem with typing characters like this (characters based on observances of stereotypical INTJs) is that they are 1: written by an author that is not skilled enough to fully form an INTJ or 2: played by an actor with heavy Ne or Si. (or worse, a combination of the two.)

    Ni can be felt like a 10,000lb magnet. Ne/Si actors have to be genius to disappear into an Ni dom role. Otherwise I often feel like I’m getting some sort of ISTJ/INTJ/INTP hybrid which is always disorienting & disappointing. Cumberbatch has waaayy too much Si to be a convincing Ni dom.

    I feel the same when I watch Mr. Robot. That is NOT an INTJ…it’s an INTP dreaming what it would be like to be an INTJ. :(

    I need more good, convincing & fully formed INTJ heroes/heroines in my life…like Helena from Orphan Black, good. Which reminds me, if anyone cares, I would wager that ISFP actors/actresses most easily portray convincing INTJ character on screen.

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  20. Personally I find Sherlock very ENTP, the use of the Ne is pretty noticeable in my opinion; he can stay alone thinking theories and tracks, but in the end he needs to “go out”, be on the field to get energized, work on a case.

    He needs to share his thoughts with someone immediately (even if most of the times the others don’t even have a clue what he is trying to say) without that much introspection (more common in INTP using Ti as dominant).

    Jumping from an idea to another very fast, and only after he needs a bit of time alone to elaborate what he deducted; seems very Ne -> Ti in my opinion (ENTP).

    Almost a stereotype of an ENTP.

    This is just my personal opinion.
    I don’t consider myself a mbti expert so…

    Thanks for your attention.

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    • ENTP…I think you might be right. As an INTP, I am content to talk to and argue with myself…come to think about it…if I met a Watson that called me “brilliant”…I’d run. In some ways, it’s even worse than negative feedback. Positive feedback is a bit like a “threat” of extended interaction…or worse – FUTURE interaction and expected interaction upon subsequent meetings.

      It also makes me wonder if the lack of “eye contact” could be why an INTP might be diagnosed as “autistic”. “Eye contact” is an invitation to interaction. I avoid it – consciously…always have…SH both does and doesn’t…interesting…

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      • I think that would really depend on the level of introversion in the INTP though, as well as how self-confident they are.
        I’m a INTP, while my younger sister is a “Watson” as you put it, and while she calls me idiot more than brilliant (much like Watson does as he gets to know Sherlock), I’ll take as much praise as I can get from her, or from anybody for that matter. The only problem I have with receiving praise is when they’re complimenting the wrong thing or they’re doing for the wrong reason, and simply clearly do not have a clue about how I did what I did but are making assumptions anyway. Then I hate it because they’re ignorant and probably wouldn’t listen to a correction as they’d get offended at the idea that they were wrong.
        And there’s the real difference, while often INTP’s have no filters, they can tell when they should shut up to avoid prolonged interactions and arguments with people they perceive as less intelligent. It’s not worth spending a hour in a heated debate with an idiot just to prove their point. Especially since it’s unlikely the idiot will admit to being wrong.
        Sherlock has no such apparent idiot-filter and instead pretty much goes straight to name calling when faced with someone like this as he simply doesn’t care to prove his point to the idiot, but rather than avoid conflict like a INTP might, he just jumps to the end of it.
        If anyone got anything from the muddled mess of thoughts up there, I congratulate you! And there’s a bonus piece of evidence that Sherlock might not be a INTP, he doesn’t ramble nearly as much as we do.

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        • I think he does “ramble” but, outwardly which is simply slower than inward rambling which isn’t really rambling at all, but many connections being made, one after another, very quickly. Something that, when expressed outwardly, at the inward speed, would contain gaps due to the simple fact that speech patterns wouldn’t be able to keep up with thought patterns making it appear “jumpy” when, in fact, there are clear paths from one statement to the next that went by so fast they were never expressed, creating an illusion of non-linear thinking. Or not – who knows? I know that I think faster than I type which creates the same result and leads to a seemingly endless rash of edits which I will try to forego, here.

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        • nah, every intp feels comfortable rambling to their girlfriend or boyfriend which watson essentially is.

          Sherlock prefers small groups or one on one, so do introverts, and all can learn to adapt. Cant be an E.

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