Qui-Gon Jinn: ISFP

Guest post by Andrew, ENTJ

Star Wars

Qui-Gon Jinn ISFP | Star Wars #MBTI #ISFP

Introverted Feeling (Fi): Although he is a respected Jedi Master, Qui-Gon is regarded as somewhat of a rebel, as he tends to follow his own agenda rather than the Jedi Council’s. He has his own morality that he holds as sacrosanct, even above the Jedi Code, and he doesn’t mind violating others’ wishes, secretly or not, to do what he thinks is right. Qui-Gon sees goodness and worth in nearly everyone he meets; this turns out to be a tragic flaw due to his dealings with Anakin, as he lets his feelings toward the boy (as well as the evidence that he may be the prophesied Chosen One) blind him to to the danger that Anakin could pose to the Jedi Order. Although Qui-Gon trusts his emotions, he doesn’t wear his heart on his sleeve.

Qui-Gon Jinn ISFP | Star Wars #MBTI #ISFP

Extroverted Sensing (Se): Qui-Gon lives squarely in the present, and instructs Obi-Wan to do the same, rather than worrying too much about the future. His fighting style is an aggressive one that employs Force-assisted acrobatics. Qui-Gon is an expert at adapting to his environment on the fly, and using it to his advantage. He tells Anakin not to overthink his situation before taking action, and he provides an example of this mode of doing things; Qui-Gon generally acts before thinking, although he will often justify his actions after the fact.

qui-gon_jinn

Introverted Intuition (Ni): Although Qui-Gon lives in the moment, he does think about the future. The entire operation of freeing Anakin from slavery is based on a prophecy of a “Chosen One” who will bring balance to the Force; Qui-Gon believes that Anakin is the Chosen One, and wishes to help the events of the prophecy come to pass. Although Qui-Gon is largely unaware of long-term hazards (the danger of training Anakin), he can anticipate and circumvent pitfalls that lie just ahead of him.

qui_gon_jinn

Extroverted Thinking (Te): To confirm his suspicions that Anakin is the Chosen One, Qui-Gon searches for hard facts about Anakin that back up his hypothesis (the identity of his father, his midi-chlorian count). Although not particularly or intentionally disrespectful to anyone, he speaks in a direct, straightforward manner. Although Qui-Gon isn’t a controlling person, he does expect obedience from those who are in his care or under his protection (Obi-Wan, Jar Jar, Anakin, and even the Queen of Naboo while he is rescuing her).


Author’s Note: It is bafflingly absurd that so many people type Qui-Gon as INFJ. There is simply no way that he can be an Ni-dom; he doesn’t pay enough attention to the future. Furthermore, he has no Fe; he’s too much of a nonconformist as far as ethics and acceptable behaviors are concerned. Compare him to Obi-Wan, who is always thinking ahead (dominant Ni) and who is always willing to go along with what the Jedi Council says (auxiliary Fe). See the difference?

4 thoughts on “Qui-Gon Jinn: ISFP

  1. INFJ here. I can’t help but strongly disagree, not so much because of your typing (ISFP would also make sense, I guess) but because of the reasons why you think he can’t be a INFJ. Do you really think INFJs are conformist, and have that degree of respect for any kind of institution, even one they belong to? For real? Because no offense, but THAT is completely absurd to me. While it is true that they usually have respect for institutions, social norms and commonly accepted morality, it is more a recognition for their values as “the things that effectively hold people together” and out of convenience than real, actual, deep-running respect. Unlike, to take the most obvious example coming to mind, the way ISTJs tend to respect them (tradition for the sake of tradition). An INFJ can be the first to spot the absurdity and inadequacy of those things, recognize the cases when it is better to dismiss them, and might very well surprise everyone around by acting accordingly (I know I have). Fe certainly helps to understand the way society works and to play by the rules, but it would be a terrible mistake to assume that this make them true conformists. INFJs can act like complete hypocrites in that regard, and are often aware of it, too.
    Also, regardless of the personality type, people can be very self-aware to their own sort-comings, so the focus on the present Qui-Gon shows could be the (clumsy?) result of some self-improvement. There are occasions when it is indeed better to postpone deeper reflections about intuitions about the future and he may have deemed the negotiations with the Federation one of them, hence his comment to Obi-Wan. Because of inferior Se, INFJs are somewhat terrible at thinking and acting simultaneously, so that sounds legitimate to me. Taking the time to take Anakin with him because of some old prophecy which has seemingly nothing to do with the urgent mission at hands, on the contrary, was rather intuitive and future-oriented. Pausing to reflect on the kid’s potential and recognizing that he could help them get the parts in the first place was pretty INFJ-like, actually.
    As for the danger Anakin represents, I think he perceived the same things as the others, but choose to interpret it in a completely different way: it was established that Qui-Gon had unorthodox point of views to the point that he isn’t on the Jedi Council, so what if his disagreement with them on this topic was mainly pedagogic? He must have thought that if Anakin’s emotional side is taken into account and not simply repressed, he would pose no threat. And who knows how things would have turned out if he lived to find out… Taking the students personality into account is something INFJs tend to do, too. Although those are purely suppositions on my part, I think we know too little about this character to dismiss the idea completely.
    I think that in order to type Jedis, it is important to take into account the fact that the whole concept of the Force and the Jedi teachings are close to the kind of philosophy everyone would typically associate with the INFJ type (the monk-like master who teach both fighting skills and wisdom to his apprentice, often in some deserted, misty natural place is a total INFJ-archetype). Which I view as a trap, since the Jedi Order works as an institution and not a pure philosophy, at least in those movies. I was honestly startled to re-watch all the movies with the unchallenged belief that Yoda totally is the embodiment of INFJ-ness, and reconsidering in the light of some serious… ESTJ-vibes. Maybe I am wrong, but he certainly appears to rely a lot on Si to me, and I do think that a brilliant, Force-sensitive nine centuries-old ESTJ who devoted his life to be a Jedi can develop some INFJ-qualities, enough to fool people. He appears very wise, sure, but he enforces his wisdom on his students in a way that reminds me of the more pedagogic XSTJ I met (patient, nice and shallowly understanding, but still dogmatic to the core), and simply isn’t visionary and mentally open enough to strike me as a convincing 900 years-old INFJ master (unlike master Oogway in Kung Fu Panda, for example).
    Sorry if I left mistakes, English isn’t my native language.

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  2. I think Qui Gon knows the hazards in teaching Anakin to become a Jedi. But as he believes that Anakin is the chosen one who will bring balance to the force, he is ready to face those dangers. Also we can’t say surely that there may be other one than Anakin to bring balance to the force. Ultimately Darth Vader when he turns to the light side again (Becomes Anakin again) kills Sidious and proves to be the chosen one.

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  3. Oi…finally a correct one for him. I see him as any N type again I’m gonna lose it. You want to know everything you need to know about him? Look no further than than the first 10 minutes of Phantom Menace.

    Obi Wan-“but Master Yoda said I should be mindeful of the future…”
    Qui Gon-“Ah, but not at the expense of the present”.
    Literally all you need to know. Especially to prove he’s an S type of some kind.
    He knows his fellow Jedi are usually so preoccupied with trying to figure out the future via whatever intuition function they have, whatever it may be, that they forget that the very things happenings right here and now in front of them are what’s causing these future events. He’s got Ni but as it’s the third down in his stack, it’s still not something he uses often, but it’s enough for him to make split second decisions and still usually turn ok in the end.

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  4. I agree. I think an INFJ would’ve been much more aware of/concerned about Anakin’s potentially dangerous tendencies. Even after being warned by Yoda, Qui-Gon ignores those warnings and goes ahead with his own plan, because HE can’t see anything problems with it . . not stopping to ask himself, “hey, if Yoda thinks something is wrong, maybe something might really be wrong?”

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