Griffith
INTJ
Functional order: Ni - Te - Fi - Se
Spoiler warning
Griffith is, along with Guts, one of the main characters of Kentaro Miura’s Berserk. He’s a pivotal element in the story, especially in the ‘golden age arc’ where he leads the ‘Band of the Hawks’. This long flashback is the foundation of Berserk and gives us context about his motivations.
Perceiving Functional Axis
Introverted Intuition (Ni) / Extroverted Sensing (Se)
Griffith pursues a dream, and his actions are all tied to his vision. He possesses a rich symbolism, which he uses to create a concrete association between the tangible and the intangible. The castle and the hawk are the main metaphor to consider. The castle is a symbol of the kingdom he wants to create and the white hawk is a representation of his team, purity, strength and the possibility to fly and stand among other men.
Griffith can foresee the outcome of a battle and counterattack properly. He’s always one step ahead of the enemies - for example, he predicted how to interact with Midland’s aristocracy as a tool to gain status. As a member of the ‘God Hand’, Griffith/Femto had enough power to realize his dream and create Falconia, an utopia where men and monsters live together in a society based on cooperation and advanced technology.
His inferior Se is well developed. He uses it as a tool to balance his dominant Ni by taking action, and he always knows when and how to act. Griffith gained status and power through a series of concrete actions to actualize his vision, like battles and social climbing. He can improvise and he doesn’t ruminate on the future, but acts in the real world and obtains tangible results.
Griffith acted on impulse when he lost against Guts and slept with Charlotte, a sign of impulsive inferior Se.
Judging Functional Axis
Extroverted Thinking (Te) / Introverted Feeling (Fi)
Griffith lives for his vision and the way he implements it into the world is through logical and practical actions. The end of ‘The golden age’ arc is a clear example of his Te. Griffith sacrificed the ‘Band of the Hawk’ to become a member of the ‘God Hand’, and thus gained the power he craved to realize his dream. All the steps he took to fulfill his vision were rational and based on the most efficient and fast way to obtain what he wanted, like the collaboration with the king of Midland and all his schemes at the royal court. Even Guts, the only person he cares about, were a tool for his plan. He used him as a powerful asset in battle and as an assassin when he started his social climbing. Griffith sees people as weapons he can use to shorten his path, be them friends or enemies.
Griffith doesn’t care about social harmony and he always obey his moral code. Even if he accepted all kind of soldiers in his squad and created a merry group of mercenary, he put his own desires above his team. Griffith built the flourishing kingdom of Falconia following his dream and sacrificing everything, first and foremost his teammates, because that’s what he cared most about when he had to take a decision. Griffith Fi can also be seen in his relationship with Guts. When they first met, Griffith asserted dominance winning against him in a duel. Later, when Guts leaves the ‘Band of the Hawk’, Griffith challenges him again in an attempt to control him, losing to him. Guts isn’t only a tool in Griffith’s team but also the only person he cares about, a loyal servant. Griffith couldn’t stand the defeat also because he cares immensely about social hierarchy and, as a leader, defeat is not an option.
Also typed as: ENTJ
Griffith is sometimes typed as ENTJ. As a High Ni and Te user, ENTJ may seem the type that better suits the character. I couldn’t find a tertiary loop (Ni/Fi or Te/Se) or an inferior (Se or Fi) grip. That’s because Griffith is shown either in his optimal and healthy state or tortured and injured. Those kind of traumas can’t be compared to tertiary loops or grip experiences, they’ve got a much deeper impact on human mind and they don’t affect cognition, only the resulting begaviors. In the end I chose INTJ over ENTJ. Griffith doesn’t use Ni to support his logical and practical approach to problems (Te + Ni), he instead uses the most efficient solution to aid his vision, to reach his goals faster (Ni + Te). Griffith is nothing without his dream and his actions are just steps to reach what he desires. He undoubtedly has high Te, but it’s his auxiliary function and he uses it to support is dominant Ni.