#chtype:infj

[mbtiofwhys]

Takuto Maruki

INFJ

Functional Order: Ni - Fe - Ti - Se

Spoiler warning

This article will contain spoilers about the main plot of the game and Maruki’s confidant, as a way to provide the most comprehensive analysis.

Perceiving Functional Axis

Introverted Intuition (Ni) / Extroverted Sensing (Se) 

Maruki is a pivotal character in Persona 5 Royal, with a complex and well-written personality. As an INFJ, Maruki lives following a clear goal envisioned by his dominant Ni. Even if it may seem unbalanced at first, Maruki’s perceiving axis is a developed one, since a common problem regarding immature Ni revolves around the inability to give purpose to one’s life with a concrete project in mind. Maruki, however, knows precisely what he wants and how to gain it, thus he’s able to take advantage of the vacant spot left after Jaldaboath’s defeat as a tool to realize his vision. Dominant Ni discards data provided by Se in order to build a sound visualization of a feasible future scenario. Maruki, in fact, isn’t a daydreamer stuck in a loop of unattainable results, he’s rather aware of how his vision will affect both him and the world, as well as other people. Letting Rumi behind and sacrificing a peaceful reality where he’ll be satisfied with his life is just a step to shape a better reality for everyone. 

Rumi needs further attention because, as always, cognition must be separated from behaviours and past traumas. So, regarding Maruki, it’s clear how his relationship with Rumi influenced his vision of the the world and how it affected him emotionally. At the same time, Maruki isn’t trapped in a loop where he disconnects from reality following a distorted dream. Rumi isn’t part of the equation, Maruki surely holds her memory dear but he goes beyond his grief to build a better world. He experienced directly the pain he sees in other people which is, ultimately, what really moves him forward.

Maruki’s Ni is balanced by a solid inferior Se. Usually, young or immature Ni dom users suffer of inaction or passiveness, they set unrealistic goals, they don’t plan a realistic and step-by-step plan to realize their dreams. Maruki is the opposite: he is well aware of his potential, and knowing what he can achieve he envisions a feasible reality. Maruki doesn’t aim to rebuild society from its very foundations, he rather tries to create a new scenario through a series of concrete actions. In short, he doesn’t start from zero, he corrects what (in his opinion) needs to be adjusted - a much more realistic approach to fixing problems compared to what is generally the ‘ultimate plan’ of other villain masterminds.

During the game Maruki is always focused on the future, not in a cliché way but with a practical approach to problems: he has a power he doesn’t clearly understand yet and he knows how this source may lead him to a future scenario similar to the one he dreams about, thus he follows little steps to reach it. Maruki does it by interacting with the Phantom Thieves, in this way he’s able to gain knowledge about the Metaverse and, at the same time, receives feedbacks through counseling sessions, thus constantly reshaping his utopia. 

Judging Functional Axis

Extroverted Feeling (Fe) / Introverted Thinking (Ti)  

Maruki is so focused on other’s needs he falls in a savior complex. He doesn’t limit to mourning Rumi or helping others through normal counselling, rather he constantly harbors a deep desire to help others, no matter who they are. This is a clear sign of high Fe: Maruki doesn’t fight for a single cause, a specific belief, he instead does what he considers the best for everyone. Maruki sees the world as a place full of people where everyone should be happy. He hasn’t a deep bond with Sumire when he starts to help her, he simply cares for her since she’s a human being undergoing a tremendous trauma. This is an approach based on objective feelings, on shared wellness, on preserving social harmony and thus allowing people to be happy together.

Maruki is Shujin’s counselor, however he still overthinks his actions and words because he fears to break the emotional environment. Even while talking with students his focus is clearly centered on other people and their well-being, he puts his needs aside and do his best to soothe their pain.

Maruki’s Fe is what aids his vision. As we stated above he has the power to shape reality almost as he wants, this is where the auxiliary function comes into play: the reality envisioned by Maruki is a summary of his philosophy, a world where no one suffers, where people experience joy and happiness. As a human being with high Fe Maruki cares for the emotional atmosphere of his surrounding. As a counselor he extended this to a whole school and as a persona user he went even further, trying to nurture society as a whole. 

His Fe is thus balanced with tertiary Ti. This function can be seen in his methodical approach to problems: he has a vision (Ni) related to people’s wellness (Fe) and he implements it through a logical and rational approach. Maruki’s Palace isn’t a mere cognitive expression of his personality and inner self, it’s also an organized clinic with specialized staff, rules, routines, areas dedicated to specific tasks, all of this with a focus on people: rooms have an aseptic white appearance, they are spacious and designed to be comfortable - in sharp contrast with the storage and monitoring areas, which aren’t meant to be seen by visitors. Since a Palace is by definition the manifestation of their ruler’s deside it’s safe to assume that it simply reflects Maruki’s methodical and rational approach to tasks, even considering smaller details. Ti is a function based on building a subjective (since it’s introverted), rational system as a tool to solve problems. Maruki applies this tool to solve intangible problems tied to the realization of a future where everyone can experience only positive feelings (Ni and Fe).

Ti manifests itself more clearly during the Phantom Thieves’ infiltration in the Palace. Here they discover how Maruki planned a system based on happiness recognition: people must take choices and if one fails it has to be rehabilitated. So, Maruki organises reality with a people-based approach followed by a more rational one, a single algorithm used to decode every possible scenario (in this case, every person) through a specific process.

[mbtiofwhys]

Haru Okumura

INFJ

Functional Order: Ni - Fe - Ti - Se

Trigger warning

This article will contain spoilers about the main plot of the game and Haru’s confidant, as a way to provide the most comprehensive analysis.

On a side note, since Haru has a well-balanced stack, we didn’t focus our article on splitting her mourning from her cognition, due to how well she reacted.

Perceiving Functional Axis

Introverted Intuition (Ni) / Extroverted Sensing (Se) 

Haru isn’t a textbook INFJ, but her stack is well balanced. This is especially true considering how well she reacted to her father’s death, never falling into loops or grips. Even if she isn’t the stereotypical INFJ, her dominant Ni is sound and only improves during her confidant. When we first meet Haru, she doesn’t even take into account the option to use Ni as a tool to assess her future: since her father owns a big company in the food market, he planned an arranged marriage for her, thus preserving the wellness of his business. 

After her father’s death, though, Haru finds herself in a tough position. Talking about cognition, her Ni shows during her confidant, in which Haru understands how she can’t live her life following blindly her father’s will or, even worse, being under the influence of shareholders who only want to take advantage of her for the sake of mere profit. Therefore, Haru begins to question herself about what she really wants to do and her answer is to develop her passion for coffee beans and vegetables into a business, similarly to her grandfather’s café.

This is also a clear indicator of her well-developed inferior Se. Haru defines a concrete, plausible plan using Se as a tool to realize her wish. She doesn’t think about an abstract and intangible idea, she neither ruminates on future possibilities. On contrary, she listens to the protagonist’s advices, she clears her mind, and then she speaks to Okumura’s Food shareholders about her future in the company. So, in the end, she can follow her dream by taking concrete steps.

Haru’s inferior Se is initially less balanced though, she blindly follows Morgana without thinking about the consequences of her actions, and thus she finds herself questioning her behaviours. But as a healthy Se user, when the team tells her the truth she no longer lies to herself and accepts reality as it is. 

Haru further nurtures her inferior Se growing vegetables on Shujin Academy’s rooftop. This may seem a little detail, especially compared to how her Se plays a role in her search for a meaningful activity to do as a living. But practical hobbies that require to use one’s senses are in general a great way to nurture inferior Se and Haru does it in a surprisingly healthy way.

Judging Functional Axis

Extroverted Feeling (Fe) / Introverted Thinking (Ti)  

Haru is deeply concerned with the environment’s emotional state and her main focus is on the well-being of her teammates. When the phantom thieves help her to defeat Okumura’s shadow, she invites them to spend a night at Tokyo Destinyland, making a reservation for the entire park. Even in more trivial situations, Haru is always focused on people: she’s extremely polite, be it in face-to-face interactions or on the group chat, never stepping on someone’s toes, because breaking social harmony scares her and she really wants to get along with everyone. 

Haru also has a surprisingly balanced Fe, especially considering how she reacted to her father’s death. She initially suspected the phantom thieves but, to be honest, this is a human reaction to a tragic event that left her in sorrow and without a stable emotional support system. Yet, after few days, Haru apologizes with the group, thus she starts again to use her Fe in an healthy way. 

During her confidant, Haru’s Fe aids her dominant Ni when she tries to define a suitable and meaningful future for herself. Her wish to open a coffee chain like her grandfather did isn’t only a choice driven by Ni, as she also cares about how this activity will positively impact the life of her customers. Haru then uses her Fe to influence the emotional environment of Okumura’s Food shareholders. She takes action (Se) with a clear goal in mind (Ni), aware of her role in the company (Ti), to find a common ground for everyone (Fe).

Haru’s Fe is paired with tertiary Ti, although finding clues about her Ti isn’t simple. During her confidant, Haru takes her time to dissect Okumura’s Food, so she can understand “the rules of the game” and create an internal logical system to apply in her decision-making process. She then figures out the hierarchy in the company and the dynamics underlying it (this is also due to her Fe). So, even if the game focuses more on her tendency to ease the emotional environment and her research of a meaningful activity to do as a living, her Ti shows a little in her confidant. At the same time, Haru never makes choices based on the most efficient way to solve a problem and her approach is always people-oriented, which excludes Te from the equation. And given how we think it’s undeniable that Haru has Fe in a high position in the stack and that she’s an introvert, this implies tertiary Ti by a process of elimination. Finally, as a teenager, it’s common to have a tertiary function not so evident.

Also typed as: INFP, ISFJ

Another consideration about Haru revolves around how Ni and Fe may mimic Fi when placed in high positions in the stack. Haru’s auxiliary Fe is clearly visible in all her behaviours, but for the sake of discussion we would like to distinguish it from dominant Fi. 

Ni and Fi are both introverted function, thus they are subjective. The biggest difference between them resides in how Ni searches for a meaningful future, opposed to how Fi prioritizes activities which enhance and express one’s sense of self. Dominant Ni, even if subjective, operates as a perceiving function, thus the judgement stems from the auxiliary one: Te or Fe. As we stated above, it is clear how Haru aids her choices not with a logical and efficient approach (Te), but rather with one based on people’s well-being (Fe). Dominant Fi may lead an IxFP to pursue a people-based cause, but Haru does it as a way to create and maintain social harmony, not because she thinks it’s right or her duty. 

So, even if one doesn’t clearly see how Fe is Haru’s judging function, Fi can also be excluded since it implies Te and because there’s a difference between what is subjectively perceived as meaningful through Ni and what is subjectively felt as meaningful through Fi.

Another take on Haru’s type is ISFJ. We don’t think Haru is a Si-dom because her methods and motivations doesn’t remind of Si. As always, understanding the difference between two function is a process based on cognition rather than behaviours. Sure she is quiet and maybe one could say she’s traditionalist, but dominant Si means using the past and the information one gained as a constant comparison to find patterns that worked well and that can be applied to the present. Haru doesn’t do that, as her focus lays way more in the future and in how she envisions a meaningful outcome in her life.Haru doesn’t look at the future in a stereotyped Ni-dom way, something people may misinterpret as future forecasting or mind-reading. Haru, on the other hand, tries to unravel abstract patterns, thus finding what she really want to do as a lifelong activity. So, in a less stereotyped and more realistic process, Haru relies on her dominant Ni to delve into possibilities. Ni doesn’t only refer to the actualization of a single vision, since it’s tied to Se: a healthy Ni must consider more than one option and need to be flexible enough to adapt its vision to reality and its limits. What Haru does may seem simple: to open a business creating a pleasant environment for her customers. However, since society is complex and subject to constant change, this is a more tangled puzzle to solve. 

So, especially seeing how many people unfortunately mistake Ni and Si motives with stereotypes based on the future and the past, it’s easy to mistype an INFJ as an ISFJ or vice-versa. The real difference is between how and why Haru consider the past and the future, not the mere focus on one or both of them. 

Let’s look at both Makoto (ISTJ) and Haru’s confidant themes. 

Makoto lived her life in a box with a narrow-minded attitude. At first she asks protagonist for help because she feels she reached a limit and wants to broaden her horizons and be more open (inferior Ne), and in the process she finds the true meaning of her studies and learns to be less judgy (healthy tertiary Fi).

Haru, on the other hand, perfectly knows that marrying Sugimura isn’t what will make her happy, but she needs to build the confidence to speak about it to the company because she doesn’t want to damage other people with a choice perceived as selfish (a problem tied to auxiliary Fe). Haru also knows that she want to create a meaningful business which can be both expression of her ideals and a place where people can find comfort. She spends some time reflecting upon it, but the association with her grandfather’s café doesn’t come because it was a thing that worked well in the past and that can be replied (on contrary, the shop wasn’t profitable), but rather because it’s something that’s close to her personal idea of a nice place built around people.

[mbtiofwhys]

Reg

INFJ

Functional order: Ni - Fe - Ti - Se

Spoiler warning

This article will cover Reg analysis with spoilers and references from the first anime season. We’ll avoid talking about the manga, so if you haven’t read that yet, this article is safe for you!

Perceiving Functional Axis 

Introverted Intuition (Ni) / Extroverted Sensing (Se)

Even if Reg’s true nature is still unknown, no one is willing to discover what lies behind it (besides Riko, but the topic is a little more complicated than that.) Reg, however, deeply cares about his identity. This needs a clarification first: talking about identity doesn’t always imply high Fi. Why? Because Reg isn’t trying to unravel what he truly is as a way to pinpoint his sense of self, he’s rather searching for meaning. This is a perceiving, abstract method aimed to gather information and patterns, merging them together in a subjective interpretation of reality. Then, Ni looks at it as a guideline, strategizing a realistic course of action to take in order to reach a meaningful goal. 

Reg is surely young (if we can talk about age referring to what seems a robotic being), affected by amnesia and unsure about who or what he really is, so it’s reasonable to see only the first stages of Ni development: Reg is still trying to figure out his true nature and, even if he’s a J, he seems open to new possibilities and interpretations, since he knows little about the Abyss, its treasures and secrets, but is willing to learn more and more. 

Reg, as a young Ni dom, shows some of its negative traits: he possesses a daydreamer attitude, not in a stereotypical way, but rather as a general approach to his and Riko’s journey: Reg is constantly quiet, silent and he clearly needs Riko’s proactiveness (which is often recklessness, too) to proceed.

Those elements are all tied to his inferior Se: Reg is unable to react quickly to problems, issues and dangerous beings that he and Riko face traversing the Abyss - Ozen clearly points this out, and the story shows it in more than one situation. When Reg takes action he either acts too late, causing troubles, or he makes mistakes far worse than mere inaction (for example in the brawl with Ozen, or against the Orb Piercer). We don’t know yet how Reg’s Se works with his Ni in an abstract evaluation of a pattern, but it’s clear how this function is still underdeveloped. This is also one of the reasons behind Reg and Riko’s chemistry: Reg’s inferior Se balances Riko’s dominant one by being more cautious and taking time to plan, and vice-versa. 

Judging Functional Axis

Extroverted Feeling (Fe) / Introverted Thinking (Ti) 

Reg has a well developed auxiliary Fe: when he meets Riko and her friends he quickly becomes part of the group and it’s appreciated by all of its members. Reg understands the rules behind social interaction and, even if he still can’t bind them as he wants (something even more mature high Fe users can’t do properly), he’s still able to respect them. So, despite not even being a human, Reg instinctively learns social norms and how they apply in different contexts. This is also true for the emotional environment: Reg easily blends in groups, he respects the status quo and knows well what’s going on. 

Auxiliary Fe implies an external focus on people’s emotions and this, in younger INFJs, may lead to a lack of sense of self. This is a treacherous topic since Reg’s identity issues are more complicated than that: his true nature is unknown and this goes far behind the discovery of one’s true self. However, Reg shows signs of high Fe: he never takes action going against the group or his friends/allies, he prefers to respect social rules rather than breaking them and he adapts to the emotional environment.

Reg’s Fe is balanced by its tertiary Ti. Even if he may not be human, Reg appears and acts like a child, so it’s reasonable to see a Ti less obvious than Riko’s one, who’s an ESTP.

Reg shows signs of Ti regarding his attitude towards patterns and ideas: he always tries to put them together in a way he finds logical and coherent but, as a young INFJ with an underdeveloped Ti, he’s more prone to overthinking and losing contact with reality while trying to match all of those elements in the abstract perception of his dominant Ni.

On a final note, we want to reaffirm how Reg’s analysis must take into account his hidden and probably not human nature at first, and then how he still is, function-wise, an INFJ if we consider him as a being with the cognition of a child/pre-teen.