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Sep 11, 2014

sigh am I the only one who thinks Izaya is an INTROVERT not an extrovert? Several websites say Izaya is extrovert but I’m pretty sure he’s INTJ.

aleatores

hi, i hope it's okay that i reply to this post. i'm definitely gonna have to disagree with anyone typing izaya as an INTJ, and i'll tell you why. i personally think he's either ENTP or INTP. it's okay if you don't agree with my interpretation of him, but the problem here isn't that you don't understand izaya's character - because you actually do; he's a loner by choice - the problem is simply that there are a lot of misconceptions about mbti, what everything means and how to categorize.

anyway, let's talk about this... (long post)

first, i'm extending a big thank you to funkymbtifiction.tumblr.com. most of the stuff on cognitive functions can be found on their blog and is highly recommended.

in order to type appropriately one absolutely MUST look past these shallow type descriptions ("mastermind" etc) and study the COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS, how they are stacked, and what that order means. this is a lot to explain in one post, on top of also typing izaya, so i have tried to divide the information into sections with headers in order to, hopefully, keep it organized.

let me start by clarifying this in very simple terms:

social introversion =/= cognitive introversion as it is defined by the mbti. not the same thing. no. nope.

also see this for introversion.

the I/E does not determine whether a person is outgoing or a loner, please, and when we are discussing mbti we shouldn't make the mistake of conflating the two.

as someone who's been studying mbti for two years it pains me to see people describe it that way. it is much more specific in that it defines the attitude of the function itself. it's a directional tag. so, whether the person uses a cognitive function to focus their attention outwardly on people and things (extraversion) or to focus attention more inwardly towards internal feelings, thoughts and ideas (introversion). in this way, both lead extraverts and introverts can very much be "socially adept" (or very much not), depending on which function they're using.

more importantly:

an extraverted function is used objectively OUTWARD

an introverted function is used subjectively INWARD

the order in which functions are stacked matters because it alters the way people perceive and process the world despite having a shared function. the most developed function is referred to as the "dominant", with the remaining three filling the roles as "auxiliary," "tertiary" and "inferior" functions.

most of an individual's cognitive process define the dominant and auxiliary functions. the skills associated with them are used in a more sophisticated manner, having developed in tandem throughout the individual's life from the earliest age. any information will be processed through dominant-auxiliary before getting to tertiary-inferior and always recontextualized by the leading, dominant function.

the tertiary and inferior functions develop later in life and normally (let's keep in mind that izaya isn't particularly normal, though) the use of them improves as the person grows older, but in their youth might be an Achilles heel of sorts.

now, a brief look at the INTJ's functions.

the intj & izaya's character

INTJ: Ni-Te-Fi-Se (Introverted Intuiting, Extraverted Thinking, Introverted Feeling, Extraverted Sensing)

1st. Introverted iNtuiting sucking in information like a black hole but rejecting any ideas that don’t fit in; filling in the blanks; has a "complete" picture; connecting past experiences together with the current situation to assemble a vision of the future; sees patterns and zeroes in on one desired objective; isolates potential problems and figures out how to make it workable; pragmatic; wants things to happen the way it anticipated; comes up with each step necessary to reach goals; hates being in a situation where there is no time to foresee the outcome; takes long-term goal seriously; dots connecting into a line.

it's possible that namie has Ni somewhere in her function stack in the form of her narrowed in focus on her goals. though for a better example of Ni in drrr, i'll be talking about mikado's intuition later in this post.

2nd. Extraverted Thinking all about taking action; focuses on systematizing and organizing ideas into workable plans in the external world; decides what it wants and moves forward with it; more likely to trust external sources of information (like factual books); more CONCRETE than ABSTRACT; simplification and determining if something is working or not; accomplishing their goals; use information and rationality in order to accomplish something; structured logic; yes/no questions; proven facts.

once more, let's compare namie's view vs izaya's when it comes to the mythology revolving the dullahan: namie, likely a Te user, had been running scientific tests on the head and dismissed the mythology as pointless because it was of no concrete use to her in reality. izaya called her a pure rationalist for this.

3rd. Introverted Feeling intrapersonal: in tune with their own emotions; internalized ethics are based on personal values; strong sense of what is good or bad; compares decisions against own beliefs of right and wrong; might have a hard time talking/sharing their very personal feelings, but they stay true to them; concentrates its gaze on the self or the "subject” (this is why it is often described as a "subjective" function)

shizuo is an Fi user. Fi is true to itself, but not always practical or reasonable. it's trusting that gut feeling.

"My inner values and feelings (Fi) are like a building, a structure of affections that inform my worldview. This involves an inner love for certain things, and an inner repulsion for other things. My values and feelings form “blocks” of varying hardness, depending on how strongly I feel about them; the stronger ones are more resilient…I constantly discover more about the structure as I go, and what I should change to make it better. For example, I didn’t have to factually discern a respect for human dignity; I simply found myself in situations where people did not respect human dignity, and it made me angry — I found out that I hate bullying." - Introverted Feeling (Fi) by Dr. A.J. Drenth

there's often a well-established sense of right/wrong in fictional characters with Fi. they can be quite righteous and may be inclined to act on their moral sensibilities. since they're following highly personalized principles for right/wrong, a warped moral compass can lead to the character doing terrible things for causes they consider just (Mikado is a good example of this).

4th. Extraverted Sensing takes immediate action; lives in the present; enjoys sensory pleasures; for higher up Se users it often manifests itself as an interest in sports/athletics; hyper-awareness of ones surroundings;"becoming one with the environment";can be sensitive to over-stimulation.

again, a very brief run-down of the INTJ to help you get familiar. there is more to say on the above functions and how they manifest in this type's unique stack because all types are very complex, but expanding on them would make this post wordier than it already is. you can just google the different functions to find out more about them!

when you look at it like this, it is just not how izaya operates. Ni? Te? no, no.

He was no extraordinary criminal mastermind, but was merely overly engrossed in his interests.

it is trying to say that even ordinary people can slip that far or rise that high, depending on how you choose to see it. izaya has information about people, which gives him the power to influence things. he can pull strings here and there because he's chosen a profession which, on top of being a convenient way for him to make money, also complements his personal interest in people. when you get into typology you will realize all of that is very Ne-Fe with a side of Ti. (xNTP)

yes he can orchestrate a respectable plan, he has done that, but the whole chessmaster thing is almost an ironic joke, you know? with mbti, and especially with drrr, you really have to look past the surface of things. it's not about the actions, but rather the thought process behind them.

what izaya is good at is exploiting loopholes and seizing opportunities. he is careful, sometimes plain lucky, and good at feeding people the right kind of information to influence them because he sees the potential in a situation, in a person. izaya is one of the first people to not only consider the reality of celty being not-human despite not having seen her without a helmet, but also monopolizes her head to try and make use of it in a rather... unique way. and that plan ultimately went nowhere (unless you count destroying the lives of teenagers) because he risked it for the sake of his own curiosity - just to see what would happen - by letting mamiya into his circle, which honestly speaks for itself.

of course, he has to prioritize self-control when he is operating in a world where it's a matter of literal life and death, but he actually isn't always the best at controlling himself and doesn't want to control others. not really. he has admitted to not having the ability to lead nor organize people before, as well. his actions aren't motivated by an Ni/Te's desire for efficiency, productivity or structure in the outside world.

izaya is very flexible in the net of people who provide potential all around him, which is an Ne tip-off. look at how he stays afloat with so-called "pawns" who are all going in different directions. on his weird chessboard he keeps track of hyper-transitional situations that could turn on their heads at any given time, because people are fickle and unreliable and ultimately do as they please with the information he gives them. Ni-doms would quite frankly hate working in this sort of environment and Te would look at the mess and grow appalled (think of the face namie makes when she sees his chessboard), while izaya revels in it. this is because introverted intuition, while brilliant, tends to be slow and needs time. Ni has one vision for the future and Te does not take kindly to things getting in the way of it.

izaya is a complex character. this can make him difficult to type, but i simply can't see him as an INTJ, or Ni-dom, with their specific, precise, single-target intuition and thirst for predetermined conclusions. sorry.

the truth is that all types can plan when given the right incentive. that doesn't make them Ni/Te-dom. izaya has objectives, but gets there by throwing people's lives into chaos and taking advantage of opportunities where he can. the intention is personal enjoyment and validation, as well as end goals. which functions is he using to achieve that? i think i can make a strong case for Ne, Ti, Fe and Si.

introversion vs extravesion & izaya's character

but before i talk about the other two types i'd like to delve into the issue of his supposed introversion and get that out of the way. i feel like this is easier to do if we look to the past and simpler times.

After homeroom was dismissed, students who graduated from the same elementary school flocked together to talk about their hopes and anxieties about the new life in middle school. In such an atmosphere, Shinra and Izaya were the only ones that somehow did not fit in.

There were several graduates from Raijin Elementary School in the class, but no one looked inclined to come to Orihara Izaya to strike up a conversation.

It didn’t make Izaya feel left out, however. He just thought it was natural.

His classmates in elementary school were to later describe him as “Kind of like an alien. But he was a nice fellow.” with a chuckle.

“Why did you ask me to found the biology club with you when you didn’t even know my name?”

“Because that’s what the teacher just said. At this school you can found any club as long as you have at least two people.”

“No, that’s not what I…I mean, why me?”

In fact he loved to observe people when they hurt others for love, but he concealed that part of his nature and answered Shinra’s question like a normal human being would.

we see that as a child izaya had resigned to the fact that he didn't -- couldn't -- fit in. he was already twisted enough to think that it's only natural for someone of his nature to repel others, to be left out, and he can't think of a reason why shinra would speak to him other than pity. perhaps his aversion towards letting others in close was also somewhat entrenched in a negative self-image:

It didn’t make Izaya feel left out, however. He just thought it was natural.

Sure, he was a top student.

But that was all to it: he was not a model student in any way.

“Watch out for the guillotine. To me you feel like the type who would be easily captured by the populace if you don’t watch out, Izaya.”

“How mean of you.”

His intuition about people is sharp even though he takes no interest in them. Because I would agree with him on that myself.

As Izaya continued his negative self-analysis, Shinra left the room in quick steps.

deciding he enjoyed being a loner was not only better than wallowing in the fact that he didn't belong, but also "safer" than opening up to people. he chose to avoid getting close to anyone.

since he was fresh out of elementary and only a kid, it's kind of sad.

Little did he expect that his stance in elementary school to keep others “neither too close nor too distant” would have collapsed this easily.

Are students from other elementary schools all like this? His heart sank at the thought

But I have to watch out. Getting too close to him might be dangerous.

what this looks like is a fear of opening up and growing close to other people ("his heart sank" when he imagined meeting more kids that could jeopardize his defenses like shinra did), which has nothing to do with cognitive introversion.

"When everyone else chatted in the classroom or went out for a game of kickball during lunch breaks, Izaya would always remain in the library room. For that reason he even came off as aloof and kind of a lone wolf to some." - Novel 9

that paragraph, specifically, are the aspects of his behavior we associate with social introversion. however as i explained in the beginning of this post, those are not the principles with which cognitive introversion should be measured. if the system did such a thing it would literally be saying all Ti, Si, Fi and Ni-leads are social outcasts who have trouble integrating with society and are afraid of making human bonds. absolutely not.

izaya was a loner, but not necessarily an introvert. in mbti, it’s much more about where the individual puts their focus and how they process information.

Data and Details, for example, are always introverted and Observing the Character and Motivations of others is always extraverted. x

we know he kept his distance from people and never gave anyone anything of himself, but is he an introvert by the definition above?

"He liked observing people. Although he had realized that it had become an obsession, he thought it would be less than tactful to say “My hobby is human observation” in a self-introduction. But he had no real hobbies other than that, either."

"The more he had to do with them, however, the less there was to see."

"When he had to choose in the cinema between sitting at the back to enjoy the view of the entire screen and even the other moviegoers, and sitting in the front row to immerse himself in movie scenes too oppressively close to his nose for his own comfort, Izaya the elementary school kid would choose the former without hesitation. Being left out like this, therefore, was actually right up Izaya’s alley.

Cheerfully, he watched the groups form themselves inside the classroom, wondering how they were going to evolve, until..."

clearly not.

verdict: izaya the loner leads with an extraverted function.

now, enter shinra. he was the first person who pushed past izaya's wall without seeming to mind that izaya was kind of abnormal and rude. in fact, shinra was abnormal and rude himself. shinra was also first person to see through him, to his true nature, and that i deem to be one of the most important aspects of their friendship.

Shinra continued calmly, “But that friend is going to a different school, so either way I ended up with no friends at this school.”

“I don’t think you’re going to succeed in making any, either. My condolences. But you kind of deserve it, no?”

Izaya was slightly taken aback by his own words as they escaped his mouth.

Little did he expect that his stance in elementary school to keep others “neither too close nor too distant” would have collapsed this easily.

it's tragic/funny how easily his defense collapses. he's shocked by his own candidness here, too, like he's having a sincere conversation with someone for the first time and it's all new to him. it might as well be:

It was something a person wouldn’t usually say to someone they’d only met for the first time, but for Izaya, such dialogues themselves were rare in the first place.

perhaps no one had tried to do what shinra did. or, if they had, they just weren’t perceptive/relentless/strange enough. shinra was a combination of all those things. at that point izaya would still try to cover up his “real self” to avoid getting close to people yet here was some random kid sizing him up based on just a simple one sentence self-introduction they did in class. within ten or fifteen lines of dialogue, izaya is already reaching back for shinra when the other retreats:

“I’m sorry, but I still don’t think I’d be interested in a biology club.”

“I see. Guess that can’t be helped.”

The other boy announced retreat so fast that Izaya couldn’t help but feel a little let down.

he sure folded quickly for someone who is apparently so happy being alone, and all shinra had to do was to push and pull at him a little. and like izaya himself, shinra was different. he said creepy vague shit all the time, cared nothing for humans (this confounded izaya enough to seek him out despite declining shinra's offer to start a biology club the first time around) yet had an unfiltered acceptance for the worst kind of people, even ones like izaya--well, all of this not only piqued izaya's curiosity, but inevitably also allowed him to establish a connection with another person.

on some level it is sorta sad yet appropriate, too. if he was truly an introvert and merely too removed, too absorbed in his own thoughts to notice other people and how they're living their lives, perhaps he wouldn't feel as lonely as he does. then again, that would be a little too easy, wouldn't it? narita didn't put this conflict there without purpose.

after the stabbing incident, where shinra saves his life and izaya takes the blame, he also develops an obsession with seeing people in specifically unexpected, character-altering situations and gauging their responses. to top it off he's jealous of shinra who, in izaya's mind, can "detach" from humanity and live in his own little bubble... something izaya isn't capable of.

But unlike him, Kishitani Shinra was living in a different world in the real sense of the word.

[...]

Shinra’s standards were far departed from any other human’s, even including Izaya’s.

Unlike Izaya, Shinra did not harbor fond feelings for humans.

But Izaya still envied him.

He envied his classmate who resided in a different world than him and the rest of humankind

i believe this is also when he becomes aware of how weak he is, perhaps, compared to shinra who is living "confidently above this world," and later shizuo who is strong in nearly all the areas izaya is not.

Namely, Nakura stabbing Shinra—what you could call the ultimate cause behind what had happened this time.

Now that I think of it... It might be the only thing that ever did affect the formation of my personality in a significant way.

Different from Heiwajima Shizuo, whom he hated, Shinra was probably something he should have aspired to be.

In retrospect Shinra, who lived confidently above this world, did invoke some jealousy in him.

izaya begins to more actively employ his traits and interests (or rather, interest) to terrible ends, which helps him develop a reputation. he relies on negative emotional feedback to feel connected to people and keeps pushing his "love" to shinra-like extremes. i'm not sure if this part is making any particular sense, but the logic behind it is sort of sinuous to begin with.

"This is just my personal opinion. I think he feels lonely, but at the same time satisfied.

His love has been, is, and always will be unilateral. It is not that he has never been loved; however, he always denies such love access to him. As long as he loves others, he feels connected to them and satisfied." - Tsukumoya

"But if you were to ask me, "Does Orihara Izaya love himself, then?" - I would have no answer for you but silence.

That's something only Izaya himself knows. Whatever he chooses to tell you, there is nothing you can do about it. Because even if people try to persuade him to change himself, he would probably never let their words sink into his heart." - Tsukumoya

"He might seem cold-blooded, but he’s more human and his heart more brittle than anyone else. So much so that if you filled it with human love or betrayal, It’d break easily. which is why, I think, he chose from the start to avoid it all, to love humanity. You understand? Not to accept, not to face it. To avoid it." - Shinra

my point is that the reasons he isolates to this extent aren’t as clear cut and simple as “he’s an introvert,” really. it's saying as long as he's found his own way to feel connected, he is satisfied. he’s not doing this simply because he enjoys being forever alone, but because he is afraid of giving access to reciprocal connections - to love, betrayal, humanity - amplified after what was likely, on some ambiguous level, a traumatic experience (referring to what happened with shinra, by the way). at least enough for izaya to deem it "The only thing that ever did affect the formation of [his] personality in a significant way."

it's also questioning whether or not izaya loves himself, and if he'll ever be able to let others into his heart without accepting himself (his own humanity) first. introversion/extroversion seems almost irrelevant in this case. it isn’t an I/E thing at all, and it's quite frankly ridiculous to say only introverts would experience such anxieties when the point is that izaya's fears are fundamentally human.

well, it's ultimately up to each person to decide how to interpret that, but from a strictly cognitive standpoint (which is what this post is really about - i want to determine his cognitive process, not so much delve into analysis of his narrative... although there will be an inevitable overlap) he is extraverting with his lead function.

knowing what i know, i can't think of him as an introvert in MBTI terms. in his first step of processing the world, he lives externally (a little too much, actually) and looks outside of himself, which is the definition of an extraverted function. this is not about how good you are at finding and keeping friends.

the entp/intp & izaya's character

let's get back to the ENTP and INTP. these two types actually share the exact same functions! however, the order in which these functions are stacked is different, and that means they process information differently.

ENTP: Ne-Ti-Fe-Si (Extraverted Intuiting, Introverted Thinking, Extraverted Feeling, Introverted Sensing)

INTP: Ti-Ne-Si-Fe (Introverted Thinking, Extraverted Intuiting, Introverted Sensing, Extraverted Feeling)

Extraverted iNtuiting (ENTPs 1st function, INTPs 2nd function)

like a supernova; an explosion of ideas; brain-map of ever-expanding situational concepts; acquiring a constant stream of information from the outside world; quickly interprets situations and relationships; drawn to endless possibilities; excited by new ideas; takes one idea and from there branches out into many different possibilities; can have trouble settling on just one idea for too long; good at seeing what is happening under the surface; focused externally and looks at what is objective reality and spots the potential; goes on hunches that later prove accurate; relies on their overall intuition; bored by routine; novelty-seeking; how things can be reshaped, altered, or improved; motivated by feelings of interest or boredom.

this is arguably his greatest asset in the lifestyle he's chosen to lead. he is good at seeing interconnected situations, meanings, ideas, relations, patterns and concepts between people, and taking advantage of the information he's acquired:

"He would connect all of those ‘part-time’ brokers, and sometimes even control them himself, and turn all of the information of that city into network almost like a spider’s web. He would manipulate that web, and all of the information within it, in order to stir the atmosphere of the city." -Vol, 7 Chapter 1

"First off, are humans self-centered creatures or do they put others first? …I think I’m going to answer that with your average ‘It depends.’ Things are interesting precisely because they differ from case to case. Are humans good or evil at heart? Which one will prevail, reason or desires? Which one will be the last to remain, hope or despair? Humans cannot answer these questions for sure - and that’s why they’re interesting." - Volume 5

“I'm so excited. I'm so excited! I'm so excited! Even though I'm an informant, there are so many things I don't know about in this city and things keep on keep on keep on emerging, appearing and disappearing. This is precisely why I can't leave a city where humans gather! HUMAN LOVE! I love humans! I love you all! And that’s why you should all come to love me.” - Vol 1, Chapter 5

Izaya: “If…right here in Tokyo… a ‘war’ that has nothing to do with the army or the government were to start…I have confidence that I’ll be able to survive to the end. Goodness, I’m so lucky! I don’t believe in heaven, and I chose a life where I could never get into heaven…and it’s because of all that that someone like me was able to meet a fallen angel!” [...] Namie: “That’s…just your own speculation.” Izaya: “Those who believe will never perish. And I’ve said it before, this is just insurance. That’s why…I’m doing my best to insure myself, to make sure I’ll be to get to the ‘afterlife’. Even if I go to hell after I do…even if there’s only pain after death…it’s fine as long as ‘I’ continue existing in the afterlife. But, if it’s possible, I’d much rather go to heaven.” - Vol 1, Last Chapter

In front of Namie, who was glaring at the screen in surprise, Izaya smiled most happily for the day. "Really, life won’t let me feel bored. So……I really, really enjoy living." x

i think Ne and Ni can easily get muddled up because of how abstract they are. both are processes that intuitively gather information and sense patterns, after all. everybody has a subconscious, meaning that moments of sudden clarity and realization aren't always exclusive to Ni, just as seeing the hidden potential in a situation or person isn't always exclusive to Ne. "that's just your own speculation" implies intuition but not necessarily what kind. to really determine the functions we need to zoom in and out and look at how izaya is using them across a greater context and if his everyday tendencies line up.

an effective way of telling Ne part from Ni is by looking at the focus. is it making a single laser-focused intuitive leap into the future, or working with many external current possibilities? Ni, somewhat like Ti, converges on subjective and inner truth for a sense of clarity. it wants closure. Ni is also a far more subconscious process compared to Ne. it refers entirely to the inner self and is in no need of constant external input (although it would certainly be advised to expose yourself to the outside world in order to live a rich and meaningful life, you know; Ni doesn't do well without a co-pilot secondary process directed towards the objective world). Ni works sort of like a film reel, always recording the information the person's own life feeds to it over time (this is why i said Ni sometimes needs more time to reach conclusions - it needs to be fed personal context) to make any intuitive leaps based on their subjectively gathered perception of reality through facts, feelings and so on.

What happens is this. You feed your mind with information and data. You let your unconscious mind process the data. Then, perhaps when you are in the shower, or jogging, the answer just pops into your mind. It's not magical nor mystical. It's simply that, of the 4 ways to get information (the 4 perceiving functions), Ni is the only one that easily taps into the unconscious. In fact, Ni is the only perceiving function that is not under conscious control.

Introverted Intuition is focused inwards, on the internal world of thoughts, ideas, and concepts as opposed to an extraverted function which is focused on the world that is external to the mind. i.e. the real physical world.

[...] Ni turns these concrete observations (Se) into barely-acknowledged factoids which pile up subconsciously. My intuition works when enough of those factoids pile up for me to suddenly realize "hey, there's a pattern here", and bam, Ni kicks in, drawing connections between things and recognizing the underlying pattern. Key word, the underlying pattern. Ni doesn't entertain a lot of possibilities. It tries to compact things, lots of things, into a single conclusion or understanding. - an INFJ on their Ni

think of that scene where mikado is in his apartment with celty and izaya. the one where he first reveals himself to them as the leader of the dollars, that is. he has this moment where he goes quiet and starts thinking about various people he's met and things he's seen or heard as several images flash inside his mind... then he has this "a ha!" moment where he "realizes" what he needs to do. bam, and he has the answer. that was absolutely an Ni leap. it's quite amazing to watch such a clear example of introverted intuition play out.

"Ni manipulates the puzzle pieces inside its head, and Ne manipulates the puzzle pieces in the world around them." - compare this with how Ti abstracts and structures with logic inside its head, while Te systematizes and structures with logic in the world around it.

when iNtuition is externalized it is quicker and more easily seen, because it relies heavily on constant external input for its brilliance. this is rewarding for Ne users and so there is a tendency to sort of mess with the world around them in order to keep the creative process going. while Ni looks for closure in a single solution, Ne seeks the potential in many things around it and prefers to keep its options open.

this right here, for example, is an incredibly Ne thing to say:

If they're assertive because they have some sort of faith or principle, they can still be excused. But those who jump to conclusions like "Of course you cannot buy human love!" or "Of course you can buy human love!" without thinking are doomed to fail because they've rendered themselves blind to all other possibilities. Staunch belief in one single answer does make your world look brighter all of a sudden - but it also narrows your world to the extreme. The trade-off is self-explanatory. - Izaya, Novel 5 Prologue

izaya has Ne in SPADES. he creates a galaxy of what-ifs and maybes and makes a gamble (a self-preserving gamble, mind you) on that, just like he only half-believed mikado to be the leader of the dollars. just like he is willing to take a chance on celty's head despite relying mostly on his own speculations. when namie questions his idea he is aware it's a mere chance ("Those who believe will never perish." / "[...] this is just insurance"), but it's one he is willing to bet on.

This process is primarily obsessed with Possibility. Ne perceives the environment wanting to find stimulation, energy, and most importantly: Innovation. It thrives on finding alternatives, and is a catalyst for Change. x

he doesn't seek to create foolproof and finalized ~masterplans~ from the get-go, but keeps an open mind to whatever interesting thing might come up--he wants to see the novel, the unpredictable--that's what makes him unpredictable. his goals change depending on the situation even if they stay anchored in hito love.

Ni believes in absolutes and Ne doesn’t, in terms of ideas and how they fit into the larger picture. Ne will not shut down an idea, but instead pursue it; Ni will consider it and then, if it does not match Ni’s worldview, reject it.

note that i'm not saying Ni can't be adaptable, but that izaya uses his intuition differently.

Ni collects its data primarily from the inner being, the subconscious mind, although it incorporates data from the external world. Ne collects its data primarily from the external world.

Ni causes the person to withdraw from the active sensual environment in order to work effectively.

i don't recall him circling inwards quietly to make intuitive leaps the way i described with mikado earlier. every person is going to have a moment of "sudden realization" from time to time, but izaya's intuition actually doesn't give him the deeply perceptive "complete picture" Ni synthesizes of events in advance. he's not a prophet, but rather opportunistic and convincing, even though he is guessing:

He'll appear like a ghost every time something happens, and act as if everything's happening in the exact way he has expected - but he is actually as clueless as everyone else beforehand. Just like those self-proclaimed prophets, all he does is talk about things that have already happened as if he had expected them long in advance. What's unusual about Orihara Izaya is that he can make such talks very convincing. x

you see Ne in izaya's exploratory nature, in the part of him that does things because he claims he simply "wants to see." if izaya isn't stimulated by the external world, specifically its people, he is unhappy and finds someone to whine at about being bored. that person is usually namie, whom he pays to stand around and listen to him.

what's even more likely is that he'll start shit by pulling citywide strings to get his fix, scouring for high potential situations to satisfy his (unhealthy) Ne-Fe based validation system:

As with all extroverted functions, Ne needs to be validated by external/objective information to have meaning. So Ne users will often have many ideas very quickly but not know if they're good until they hear other people's reactions to them, or have a chance to experiment and see what happens. x

"I honestly can’t even read my next move. In the end, what I want to see is humans other than myself. How they react in the situation that cannot be expected, to observe that is the biggest motive of my life. In order to achieve that, I will both cause trouble and help as much as I can."

no xNTJ would even dream of saying something like that.

and regarding his obsession with observing people, we know it became a thing early on:

"He liked this placed called “school” where lives were spent in groups. Some of his classmates would chat and laugh in a friendly way, some would fight, some would talk in secret about being bullied, and still others would weep when they were the targets of such bullying—he liked to observe all of the above." - Novel 9 (Ne-Fe)

ENPs' first step and primary focus is directing their iNtuition (N) outside themselves (extraverted) to Observe people's Motivations and character, Conceptually. They use their Sonar "Pings" to map out conceptually the way an individual functions and the way people function in general. Shorthand: Observation via Ne (extraverted iNtuition).

EPs watch reactions to understand motivations. x

Everything an EP says or does is a ping; even just sitting back and watching others ping off each other is pinging for an EP. EPs watch for the way the people-terrain reacts to their pings to get a complete picture of individuals and the way they function. Most of all, EPs are constantly pinging themselves in order to understand their own motivations and character and to explore how people in general work. x

For EPs, the process starts with Observing individuals in order to understand Motivations, watching what reactions demonstrate about a person's character.

[...]

Because of their cognitive emphasis on Observing Motivation and understanding what makes people tick, EPs care most about exploring individuals and the way people work in general. And, like the other three kinds of types, whether that People exploration is good or bad depends on whether the EP is healthy or unhealthy. x

all of that, especially what's bolded, rings true for him.

the nature of his "people exploration" has certainly changed over the years, too. not only after meeting shinra, but also as he kept sinking further and further into the underworld ("He was no extraordinary criminal mastermind, but was merely overly engrossed in his interests.").

What makes something interesting? A new situation, a new set of people, a new way of looking at old things, or novel or unusual information. There has to be some special quality in the information, situation, or people that creates an open-ended, high-potential situation that engages and energizes the mind. - Extraverted Intuition as Leading Function

Dominant Ne's can see trends and patterns. They are especially good as seeing how things, events and people are connected. They can see the meaning behind people's actions.

you see the Ne/Ti/Fe-curiosity in how he wants to dig further into the overall impression his Ne quickly picked up on of Shinra, how he wants to know the why (Ti) behind another person's behavior (Fe). shinra is a human being in the external world and not an abstract system or idea, so the preference is still Ne to Ti. i believe it’s safe to say that he’s Ne-dom, but that doesn’t mean he is in any way lacking in Ti-related skills.

Introverted Thinking (ENTPs 2nd function, INTPs 1st function)

adheres to INDEPENDENT logic in the same way Fi works with feelings; "yes, i know that is the objective fact, but what do i think?"; investigative in its nature; wants to look for the meaning; i know what it is, but why is it that way?; incredibly curious; wants to analyze until understanding is reached or it won't be satisfied with the answers; looks to perfect all their logical clarifications, but not necessarily with the need to apply them in a concrete fashion like Te; Ti is more philosophical than Te; doesn't look at the bare facts and move on because there's a lack of individual thought behind that; stimulated and rewarded by very act of thinking; systematizing and organizing ideas to fit into their internal world.

he’s well-read, has an extensive library in his apartment, and obviously does a lot of research into abstract topics he’s interested in (usually motivated by hito love) like mythology and psychology and so forth. Ti suits him just fine as an auxiliary function.

"What were they thinking when they decided to die? Was there really no other way? Or perhaps, who did they want to die for? When people decided to die, just what kind of deep despair did they have in their hearts? Orihara Izaya loved humans more than anything else, and thus wanted rather badly to know the answers." - Vol 1, Chapter 5

he doesn't get shinra and needs to know what's making him tick:

"Izaya felt an even stronger impulse to press the question further. (Ti) He refrained from popping the question directly, however, since he still believed in keeping others “neither too close nor too distant. (Fe)" - Novel 9

when drawing comparisons between two seemingly unrelated things -- "the past is like a type of God!" -- he is utilizing Ne (open-ended exploration of the external world) / Ti (subjective methods of internal, rational judging) / Fe (attentiveness to others people's values and their emotional responses) and Si (fact storing, contrast, personal associations) observation/internalizing to rationalize:

"In a world where there isn’t even proof of the future, the past exists. Even if it’s tainted with misunderstandings and delusions, if the people themselves believe in it, the past is the truth to them. And, if you base your actions or your life around it, in a way, it’s a type of god itself." - Izaya to Kida

this sort of abstract, hypothetical and philosophical meandering is also the essence of introverted thinking. Te mainly wants to know what works, Ti is more concerned with the contemplation process itself, wants to know how or why something is a certain way. it seeks to understand without necessarily applying that information to anything concrete. when a Ti user is done thinking, they can spit out monologues like that.

Ti digs very deep, easily spots logical discrepancies and loves correlations as much as it does pure, non-pragmatic logic. izaya observes and intuitively snaps up the events in his surroundings with Ne, and then uses his Ti to narrow down his focus on what he's picked up on in order to make sense of the world.

like many xNTPs he would like it if emotions were below him (because Fe is a pesky thing, which i'll get to later) and has a preference for using logic to organize his internal world. conversely, Te is about organizing your external world. izaya wants to draw conclusions based on what he's made sense of with a level of personal certainty. it has to make sense to him even when it is the most oddball idea he's invested in. the valkyrie afterlife gang war absurdity comes to mind here, but EPs are more likely to invest in off-the-wall theories as long as they have some external jumping-off point (celty's head, in this case) because they lead with the external possibilities of Ne and rationalize with subjective logic of Ti.

but why not make him a Ti-dom? well, other than my earlier explanation of his extraversion, izaya also doesn't reach deep enough with his Ti. it's not the bread and butter of his life, but rather assists his Ne.

you see, introverted thinking is a very detached, inward-looking process that strips a concept of its human elements (even better if there are sparse human elements in there to begin with; mathematics, computer systems, languages) in order to build an internal system, a framework for how it works down at the deepest level. Ti abstracts. in fact, this process takes place so deep within the neocortex that it can make the person lose track of the outside world.

from the neuroscience of personality by dario nardi, regarding Ti and brain activity:

but that's normal for Ti-doms, because they usually find more joy in getting lost in their own thoughts than attending to whatever is going on out there. INTPs are satisfied meticulously deliberating an idea by themselves to the point where all loopholes are exhausted, and they do this merely for the sake of the thing. they don't need to actualize their theories because the very act of thinking is rewarding enough.

izaya leans too much on paying close, close to his external world - other people, specifically - for me to pin him as Ti-dom. that's the main distinction i want to make here and why i think izaya leads with Ne and has auxiliary Ti. another Ne tip-off is how he explores vague possibilities through various means in reality; experiments by having celty meet him while the head is in the vicinity, by starting trouble between the gangs, by seeking out suicidal people, etc. Ne wants to see and he is pushing buttons to see what will happen. for him, Ti-exploration, while certainly a great tool, is still not as preferred as Ne.

The product of intuition is merely an icon of process; ENTPs are in the business of change, improvement, experimentation.

The attraction Extraverted iNtuition has toward the real and physical amounts to a cosmic non sequitur: theory is drawn to practice. Such encounters are clearly puzzling. Both parties—the intuitor and the realist—are aware of a xenic quality in their meeting, with reactions ranging from recoil to reverie.

there are also times he elects to take action in the external world due to some emotion he is feeling like jealousy or anger (hotpot, anyone?) which brings me to the next function...

Extraverted Feeling (ENTPs 3rd, INTPs 4th function)

interpersonal; "listens in" to the feelings of others; higher-up Fe users are usually aware of their own influence on the emotions of others; anywhere in the function stack Fe is looking for external validation; social graces; emotional/impulsive outbursts are shocking because Fe is good at meeting the expectations of others; focuses on the group; understanding others not on a personal level, but a theoretical level; has a harder time connecting to and understanding their own emotions.

"Even for a criminal like him, he wasn’t especially violent, nor was he particularly callous and was not even to close to being someone who killed without batting an eyelid. All the mortal desires normal people had, he had them too. Unsavoury things people did on impulse, he’d done it all. It was just like that." - Novel 1, Chapter 5

feelings are difficult for izaya, to say the least. seeing as he is an unhealthy individual, his tertiary function is twisted and used for terrible things. he "reads" people and influences them by appealing to their emotional needs (Fe's specialty). when i say "appeal," i do not mean that he is a natural mood-maker like healthier Fe users can be (Kida) or extremely charismatic. reading novel nine flashbacks, where izaya is still a teen (and even when he's older) - which coincidentally is the tertiary function's developing stage - you'll definitely notice these things in his thoughts and how he interacts with shinra/others:

The process of extraverted Feeling often involves a desire to connect with (or disconnect from) others and is often evidenced by expressions of warmth (or displeasure) and self-disclosure. x

[...] a tendency to pay attention to the emotional environment and the vibes of “correctness” within the room or group or bunch of people they are with. Often mirrors the others in the sense that they behave similarly or mimic mannerisms.

After all, I just want to stay connected to other people. I want to make more people act, stir the world up like a bowl of fermented beans, and entangle as many threads that connect people to one another as I can. And voila, this is the human being that such ambitions have made me into. - Izaya, DRRR!! SHx3

As Shinra patted him on the shoulder with a smile, Izaya smiled back hollowly and replied, “So basically, you’re planning on doing nothing yourself…right?”

”But he’s good at sensing other people’s moods. He usually won’t let you hate him. All he does is estimate your mood with precision and speak the words that waver you the most at the exact time you cannot bring yourself to hate him for saying them.” - Shinra, Novel 5

again, he would never have gotten this far if he didn't know how to pay attention to the vibes of correctness when talking to criminals. and if you look at his obsession with humanity (humans are interesting because they are so unpredictable and exceed his expectations, etc) it's almost like he's captivated by the feelings shinra evoked in him first:

Apart from curiosity, he was driven by a feeling that something was “not right.”

Izaya asked the question in order to find out what was making him feel this way. At that time, however, he failed to realize exactly what the feeling was.

Curious about what kind of answer he was going to get, Izaya, already knowing the answer, popped the question anyway—

But the answer Izaya did get exceeded his wildest imaginations.

“I don’t think you’re going to succeed in making any, either. My condolences. But you kind of deserve it, no?”

Izaya was slightly taken aback by his own words as they escaped his mouth.

However, intrigued by the feeling that something was not right about the human being named Kishitani Shinra, he began to concentrate his ‘observation’ efforts on him from the next day on.

It was the first time he found something “different” in a human being in all these times he had observed them.

shinra really got that ball rolling.

as an adult izaya's Fe mostly manifests negatively, sometimes quite bluntly (his scary slasher smile and use of shock tactics to throw people off), but it is there.

others are subjected to his Ne-Fe observations all the time, and he uses the skills associated with those functions to gain an awareness and even feed off of people's emotional states. he can make or break people in this way.

Fe used negatively may use its awareness of the cultural standards of others to intentionally offend or upset them, in order to service Ne’s curiosity about the patterns in their responses. x

the tertiary function also has a variety of balancing effects on a type's total cognition. as i mentioned, it develops during a person's formative teen years. it's how each type has fun, gets relief, or is a way to energize and recharge... at times, irresponsibly so, or even childishly. it's not ignored like the function at the bottom of our stack, yet still not in a position where it's something we're overly proficient with.

In its most negative expression, this is how we become childish. Then it has an unsettling quality, and we can use this process to distract ourselves and others, getting us off target. x

Yet it was harsh but true: a desire to vent his anger was part of what prompted his actions. It was like kicking bicycles out of his way because he felt like no one wanted to play with him……at least, that was the sort of pettiness in his heart when he start to carry out his plan. x

the tertiary is at its best when the top two functions have developed well in a healthy individual. in the opposite case, results are often very negative. this is called a Dominant-Tertiary function loop.

e.g. a healthy INTP uses Si as an introspection function, as a metaphorical inward eye to help them structure and process their life experiences and how that relates to them. it's the ability to recall past memories of something which allows them to compare and contrast. it makes them a little nostalgic at times, but also helps them stay grounded.

an unbalanced INTP will forgo their auxiliary Ne entirely and slip into a Ti-Si loop. with two introverted functions screaming for their attention they would shrink even further away from the external world (because they're not using Ne anymore, remember?) to the point where they're mostly living in their own heads, repeating menial tasks and becoming largely oblivious to what goes on around them.

for ENTPs, this imbalance is more likely to manifest in Fe.

The emergence of tertiary Fe occurs at a pretty young age for most ENTPs; however, without the balancing influence of Ti (which may come much later for many), it tends to result in mostly negative applications. The NeFe loop ENTP exudes tremendous false confidence, but in reality has very few internal principles by which to check the opinions and perceptions of others against his own value system. He does lip service to a philosophy of integrity of independent thought, but in reality is a slave to the perceptions and expectations of others. He appears confident because he recognizes that confidence tends to favorably color the perceptions of others--or at the very least, provoke some sort of reaction, which will provide some form of feedback. (ENTP: A Jungian Cognitive Function Analysis)

i bolded that feedback part because it is important. it's common for all T types to overestimate their own ability to avoid emotional influence, or their need for emotional feedback, but i ultimately think people in fandom overstate just how emotionally detached izaya is - way more than the canon has ever implied. reading the novels you'll notice he acts out "when [his] mood is high" (direct quote), when he's not invited to a party hosted by someone he considers his friend, etc. Fi is more stable and self-contained, often more satisfied with drawing emotional energy from within itself. Fe seeks validation from the external world.

if you stop and analyze izaya’s often scorning monologues at people like kida or mikado or mamiya or whoever, you will also notice how easily you can turn his words around and apply them to himself. this is because he’s trying to validate or confirm his personal world view (Ti) - his internal image - by projecting onto others through Ne-Fe.

to explain this further i'll quote myself from a conversation i had with a friend about his Ne-Fe loop:

instead of reworking his Ti principles izaya’s frustration bleeds into Fe validation-seeking behaviors (“humans should love me back” - i guess they’re not doing it properly if they’re disappointing him by not being shinra fulfilling their potential. mikado exceeds the expectations for his potential; mikado is ‘loving him back’ properly, yay mikado is great) or just plain acting out and trying to prove things about the way people work. these are egocentric Ne-Fe loops that validate/confirm him and his Ti. but he can’t prove to anyone (even himself) that shizuo is a monster and gets hung up on it. in his meltdown he wants celty to feel personally responsible for shinra not caring about “humanity” (we all know izaya is talking about himself) and wants her to confirm that it’s all her influence because then it can be less about him having failed to keep shinra’s attention or shinra electing to not give a damn about him because he deems him unworthy or whatever, since admitting that, like you said, would make the rejection harder to deal with and threaten his idea that he is supposed to be important to shinra. it’s just celty poisoning him, clearly.

and as i mentioned earlier, he took mamiya in despite knowing her purpose in life (in some twisted manner it's almost as if she is dedicated to him) was to fuck with his plans in any way she could, or rather because he knew she would. after all, the moment she turned up to kill him at the hospital was when he got all of his incentive back. "Thanks to you…… Thanks to you, I remembered! I’ve remembered what I once knew!" [...] "Like a child who had found his beloved toy, Izaya smiled innocently." it's certainly very interesting, but not the actions of an xNTJ/"mastermind" who skillfully puts the succession of his plan above all else.

his wish to detach from anything that could externally influence his emotions suggests he’s aware he’s susceptible, as well. one of his biggest gripes with himself is that he cannot stay detached enough, that his Fe still bugs him even after Ne has had its fun and Ti has processed it logically. notice how izaya focuses on other people’s emotions (for his own entertainment, sure) while pretending he himself doesn’t have any? they’re there, but he can’t process them the way a well-developed person would.

i also see him as an Fe user because when the most acidic emotions surface, they're always brought on by some external factor--the possibility of losing shinra's friendship, not being invited to hotpot by the others (well, shinra) and feeling left out, being jealous of shizuo who is more accepted by the general consensus of humans, etc. smells like unhealthy tertiary Fe to me.

Extraverted Feeling is also found in ESTPs and ENTPs as a tertiary function. These two types can develop this function to become more aware of how their actions affect others. This function is not a natural strength of the ENTP or ESTP, but developed over time from observation and understanding, these two types can become very adept at understanding others emotions and influencing others. x

for those who wish to delve deeper into this in particular, i think it's interesting to note that socionics (heavily based on mbti, with some differences) lists Fe (extroverted ethics) as the Mobilizing function for ENTPs and Fi (introverted ethics) as their Vulnerable function. i stick to mbti myself, but consider it food for thought.

Introverted Sensing (ENTPs 4th function, INTPs 3rd function)

lives in the present and the past simultaneously; former personal information reinforces their actions in the present; sentimental; focused on internal things and personal associations; nostalgic; reliving the experiences; reviewing the past to draw on the lessons of history, hindsight, and experience; catalogs sensory information and informs about what’s constant and reliable.

introverted sensing is a self-reflective function. it internalizes external data and catalogs it according to what "feels right" for the person now and what felt right in the past, linking personal experiences together into something meaningful. Si provides access to our most basic sense of “being,” apart from thought or outward stimuli. this is the big scary lurking thing izaya shies away from. himself. izaya has trouble gauging himself, trouble internalizing his emotions and experiences, and relies on Ne-Fe and at times Ti to analyze and explore his own feelings, mistakes and flaws by picking them apart in other people. he's not on good terms with his Si. i'm of the opinion that it's the function he has the hardest time with.

the fourth and inferior function is the one we are prone to engaging in only when we are under high stress. it emerges without conscious intention and tries to overpower the dominant and auxiliary in what we call a "grip" experience. in the grip of inferior introverted sensing, this appears as an obsessive focus on one or two facts or details, marked in contrast to the ENTP's typical perspective, which includes the broadest range of possibilities in the world. (x)

when mamiya shows up at the hospital and makes a personal connection through a past experience they had together, it shocks izaya out of his disillusionment. he realizes he had been single-mindedly obsessed with celty's head and forgotten what he truly lives for. that was very much like an Si-grip, as kindly pointed out to me by a friend. izaya also holds a pretty intense grudge against nakura for what he did to shinra when they were in school and continues to punish him for it to this day. he holds on to the idea that shizuo is a monster no matter how much the guy proves otherwise. indeed, the inferior function manifests in less than favorable ways.

In a world where there isn’t even proof of the future, the past exists.

izaya understands and acknowledges the importance of past experiences. he knows all there is to know about human traditions and customs, but certainly doesn't value them too much. when he does value something from the past it's usually a point of extreme contention for him. his friendship with (and debt to) shinra is a good example.

but he gathers data with Ti-Si and stores multiple facts and points of views while keeping the overall context in mind. he imparts his accumulated knowledge upon you when it suits him, rattling off information like no tomorrow, yet he can also misplace anything that is no longer interesting to him when he sees it has lost its potential--

"He’d only walked about ten metres, but he’d already completely forgotten the names of the two people who had wanted to commit suicide. He was an informant, and unnecessary information would only get in his way."

--such as the girls he met in the karaoke bar, who were genuinely out of his mind a few minutes later. in fact, he didn't at all remember mamiya's face, the girl he'd met that night, when she came to the hospital at a later point. rather, after prompted, he vaguely came to remember her only by recalling what kind of person she'd been.

When Introverted Sensing is lower in the stack, as in the case of NP types, it fails to provide the same degree of immediate and enduring certainty in their beliefs that we see in SJ types. This is due, at least in part, to the fact that NPs prefer to actively assemble their own theories about the world, relying less on tradition and conventions. Therefore, for NP types, the Si information utilized to aid and hone their Ne is often more personal in nature. NP types place a vast amount of trust in their personal experiences, making their perspectives among the most idiosyncratic and individualistic of all types. x

now note the contrast to how he still remembered something vague shinra, the subject of izaya's near obsessive interest at the time, said in his self-introduction even months later:

“At dinner…? No wonder your mother no longer loved him and left him.”

“I’m actually more impressed that you still remember such details from my self-introduction.”

he's not as impressively organized and efficient as namie is, which is another sign of weak Si. but his Si is definitely there. to give you an example, in this particular conversation izaya rattles off instructions to namie for a bunch of tasks that need to be completed off the top of his head:

"Send that to the Awakusu-kai office as usual. Ah, then... There's a blue envelope right at the top of the shelf on the right, send that to Yamada-san in Hagane with the delivery verification service; take the fourth document on the top two shelves down and put it with the yellow envelope in the middle shelf on the right, there's a receipt in the green envelope on top of it, send both over to the client living in Sakurashin* on the PC's address book. When you're done with that photocopy the namelist of debtors on my desk and send it to President Sagawara from Fundle Feld Sand Riverside Finance in one envelope. Then send a message to the Awakusu-kai's Shiki-san to tell him, 'The chocolate cannot be found,' and erase the history right after; and on the fourth page of the crossword magazine next to the computer fill in 'Broken Windows Theory', 'Shark', 'Transylvania' and 'Nattoumaki'; even I don't know the last one so fill it up for me."

that's his Ti-Si, right there. he's already systematized everything inside his head. izaya even thanks namie for neatly packing stuff in a way that helps him with his internal organization:

When he was done and turned around, Namie was steadily and surely continuing her work. She worked silently, even reordering her tasks to be more efficient and completing every one to perfection.

[...]

Izaya: Well done.

Namie: ...Well done to you too, telling me where everything was without looking.

Izaya: It's all thanks to you packing everything neatly for me.

when a Te user like namie takes action she even reorders the tasks to be more efficient, because she is all about organizing her external world. i keep bringing namie up because the contrast between these two characters is the perfect way of illustrating the differences in how functions manifest in a person's natural tendencies and thought process.

Actions and Consequences are the hardest for EPs because their primary focus is Observing, a focus that continues on with them throughout deriving Data and Principles from those Observations; it's all about information-gathering, up until the last second, when formed scenarios finally become literal action... but often what an EP pictures in their mind doesn't pan out when actually put into motion.

[...]

ENPs' fourth step and weakest function is applying the Principles they learned in Step Three, to finding patterns inside their heads (introverted) from the things they've Experienced with their five Senses (S), to decide on courses of Action based on Linear scenarios and general Consequences. Shorthand: Action via Si (introverted Sensing). x

he feels a sense of fear at the thought of betraying shinra as a result of his own actions in the present and has a minor breakdown when the realization of the consequences dawn upon him.

he does his best to be careful, yes, but it doesn't always work when he sets about to do things, as evidenced by his arc (1, 2, 3, 4; just a few examples, and note that in the last one he's so curious about mikado that he doesn't even notice shizuo throwing a trash can at him - something he’s normally able to dodge). his primary fighting method is running away, and the more advanced parkour you see in the anime is mostly there to make the shizuo/izaya fights look entertaining. he suffers substantially when his plans don't pan out, ending up hospitalized at one point and nearly dead at another.

izaya can ultimately be quite impulsive and reckless when it gets to the point where he himself takes action. i think this is often overlooked in favor of the ~*unfailing mastermind*~ interpretation.

"I understand that if I take action when my mood is high, it won’t work out well for me in the end. Although there are many times I cannot stop myself and lead myself into terrible situations." - Novel 11

the wrap-up

haha, well. i certainly commend you if you somehow read everything up to this point.

what all of this amounts to: splitting hairs or not, i do think he's an ENTP.

you could go with INTP, i suppose, especially since there is at times a fine line between the types. remember, they have the same functions and many times what you read in a generic INTP profile very well applies to ENTPs and vice versa, but keep in mind that what sets them apart is the fact that the INTP has Introverted Thinking as their STRONGEST function, which is more about analyzing scientific concepts and data. Ti pushes for closure, while Ne's overarching purpose is acquiring information from the outside world. a lead Ne type is more likely to develop an interest in people exploration than a lead Ti type.

when the INTP receives a piece of information they will retreat for a good while and follow that line of thought until it's reached a satisfying end. along with their higher-up Si, it makes them considerably more precise, meticulous, concerned with logical correctness, definitional precision, and universal truth. they are the hardcore truth seekers of the mbti, with a grounding sense of ordered meaning. i really cannot emphasize that enough. ENTPs are like this to a certain degree, yes, but INTPs exceedingly more so.

now for something that's not as important as everything else i've brought up, but i think still worthy of note. ENTPs are said to have a knack for making money:

The benefit of being an ENTP is sensing where the money is coming from and where it will go next; Ne is all about pattern recognition and trends; seeing potential in what something is and what it could be, which makes ENTPs natural money-earners, particularly in the short term. It comes, it goes, and they are never all that worried about it, because there’s always another idea just waiting around the corner for them to leap on. x

This man could never create anything himself.

But, he could make money.

Izaya understood.

He understood that what he did – passing around rumours and then demanding money for them – was a vile line of work.

He also knew that this world was teeming with people even more despicable, who would rejoice in handing over money to somebody like him, just to hear the weaknesses.

He had his own purpose when he volunteered to take care of the plants over summer as the Vice President of the Biology Club.

He used this Biology Room, to which he would come routinely, as the meeting spot for a group of baseball gamblers.

INTPs are not at all as prone to getting bored out of their minds when there's a lack of external stimuli (things to see/observe around them). izaya needs to observe other people to provide him with possibilities/potential, with feedback, with meaning. he's made the choice to be alone, yes, but he is arguably one of the loneliest characters in the series despite electing to isolate, and still can't entertain himself on his own. he does put distance between himself and others but this distance is, in very simple terms, created by himself in order to give him a detached and thus "better" (or should i say "safer"?) view of the external world. what he wants is to see more of the others. he loves humans for the potential he sees them produce/generate in the world (Ne), and thus badly wants to know everything about why they are the way they are as well (Ti-Fe).

as for your fear of typing him as an extrovert--ENTPs are one of the most introverted extroverts, they say. this is due to their Ne in combination with their Ti. with Ne they are quick to take in all the information in their objective reality, but then they are also incredibly invested in scrutinizing these different impressions and looking for logical fallacies. they enjoy taking the things they've seen apart, but drop them when they've lost potential for novelty.

bottom line here? mbti's definition of an extraverted person is simply one that focuses their eye on the world outside of themselves for stimulation. it's not related to being social or good at making friends, so izaya could very well be an ENTP.

lastly, i have to stress that being a loner does not necessarily mean you are an introvert. izaya has forced this lifestyle on himself and his deviation from society is clearly unhealthy. it shouldn't be conflated with the functional, cognitive type of introversion prescribed by mbti.

sources & recommended reading

The Cognition Process in Stick Figures

MBTI: Functional Descriptions by J. H. van der Hoop

Individuation and Differentiation of Functions

MBTI: Cognitive Functions

Dominant-Tertiary Loops

Personalityjunkie's Overview of the Eight Functions

Understanding the 8 Jungian Cognitive Processes

Cognitive Functions by Funky MBTI Fiction

Questions on the Role and Attitude of the Third Function

Simulatedworld's Profiles for Introverted Types

Simulatedworld's Profiles for Extroverted Types

SolitaryWalker's NT Profiles

Descriptions of the 16 Myers Briggs Personality Types

Lenore Thomson's Descriptions of Cognitive Functions

Experiencing Different Function-Attitudes

Neuroscience of Personality (which i own and don't think you can find online for free)

any sources not listed i've tried to link to directly in the text. of course, this is only a start if you want to get into personality typing, but it's better than relying on those horoscope-like profiles that most people on here cite when discussing mbti.

it should go without saying, but i'll say it anyway: mbti isn't based on empirical, observable evidence and as such can't be considered a science. the cognitive functions theory is just that; a set of abstract theories and ideas. it is however possible to work within that hypothetical framework to type correctly, i think, and when done right it can be a helpful tool for analyzing and understanding yourself, others, as well as fictional characters.

thanks for reading!

#mbti #meta #i edit this post at least once every two weeks #turned out to be a huge topic #no semblance of organization but hey lmao

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