Sephiroth and the Enneagram Type 1 Personality [INTJ-T]
I’ve decided to finally conduct this research and write a paper on the Enneagram Type 1 personality and how it correlates to Sephiroth. @masterkyoko3000 this is for you. :)
Please note, this is a long post!
Individual traits percentages for Sephiroth (Hypothesis)*
*These percentages may fluctuate before and after epiphany.
Basic Fear: Being Corrupt or defective.
Basic Desire: Being good, having integrity.
Key Motivations: Wanting to be right and striving higher to improve everything. Being consistent with their ideals, justifying themselves, and going beyond criticism to avoid condemnation from others.
How these Details relate to Sephiroth
Basic Fear: There is belief this fear has played a large part in Sephiroth's mental instability upon discovering his origins. Before that, he’s made to commit some heinous crimes on behalf of the Shinra company who raised him. However, despite being told that anyone against Shinra is deemed an enemy and is to be eliminated, Sephiroth still dealt with the turmoil within his mind involving if what he was doing is in fact the right thing. Before epiphany, on a subconscious level, Sephiroth knows what he’s doing isn’t entirely right; however, it’s justified because he’s ‘saving’ the people in Midgar, Shinra, etc. from dangerous enemies such as Avalanche and the nonconformists in Wutai. People see him as ‘perfect’ and a ‘hero.’ Yet, does Sephiroth feel that way about himself? Thus, when he does discover that he is in fact corrupted, created solely to perform evil deeds, his mind shatters as that primal fear seeps in.
Basic Desire: Regarding Sephiroth, this desire has a dark twist to it. Due to the fact he’s been made corrupt by humanity, Sephiroth strives to right what is wrong, by bringing the world to its knees, and attempting to eradicate all human life. To him, humans are the epitome of evil. On the surface, Sephiroth doesn’t seem to have morals; however, he does have his own personal set of morals that does not correlate with the morals most humans are taught. Some of his moral beliefs include believing humans ought to know their place in the world; feeling that humans need to learn to be fearful and obeisant to God (himself in this case); believing justice must be serviced to humanity for their corruptness and feeling that Gaia, a planet that belongs to him, needs to be cleansed of all humans. Sephiroth hasn’t lost his integrity. Everything he does has a meaning to it, unlike what he did prior to epiphany. He is honest in what he does and feels that what he is doing is not the wrong thing.
Key Motivations: Outside of Sephiroth wanting to right what is wrong, he also strives to raise above and beyond. He spent five years traveling through the spirit realm acquiring additional knowledge and power so he can return and begin his reign of justice upon the world. Sephiroth went from being a puppet of Shinra, to Gaia’s ultimate nightmare with a mind strong enough it can withstand being dissolved into the Lifestream; project images of himself around the planet with the help of extraterrestrial cells; get inside the minds of various individuals, mainly Cloud, and puppeteer them to his advantage; use telepathy, and restructure his physical body all while accomplishing his tasks. These are only just some of the things he’s able to do. Thus, two years later, he returns with these same abilities, but this time he’s ascended to a higher level of existence. Sephiroth is even less human in Advent Children than he was in the original game. His mind is still insanely strong as he creates three remnants of himself, manipulates them to do his bidding and has them locate the extraterrestrial cells so he can manifest himself on the physical plane of existence. In Dissidia, Sephiroth did whatever it took to regain his lost memories. He would not settle for lies, for he's too honest for that. He even went as far as to commit suicide not once, but twice to be certain he is in fact Sephiroth and not some mirage named Sephiroth.
Imaginative and Strategic mind
Hard-working and determined
Examples of these Strengths seen in Sephiroth
In any game Sephiroth is in, he uses his mind to place his chess pieces where he wants on the board. Some examples include manipulating Cloud in such a way to turn over the Black Materia to Sephiroth not just once, but twice; meticulously planning his goal of world domination step by step in the original game; strategically finding a way to regain his lost memories in Dissidia, and working through Zack to attempt to bring his friends back without upsetting the loyalties of both Shinra and his friends.
Sephiroth is confident-too confident. Examples include the Junon incident in Before Crisis when Sephiroth attacked Elfe only to be surprised she was still standing, for he was confident that one strike of his blade would end her life immediately; the battle between Angeal and Genesis in Crisis Core; executing his plan in the original game while manipulating his pawns to his liking, and the overconfidence that caused his downfalls when fighting against Cloud.
Sephiroth is independent and makes decisions quickly. Even though he followed orders in Crisis Core, he did not require any assistance in his missions and usually was sent off alone to handle extremely dangerous situations such as the Ifrit incident that nearly rendered Zack useless. When it comes to the line of work Sephiroth does, being decisive is essential. He wastes no time deciding whether or not to eliminate a foe, i.e. taking out Genesis Copies without hesitation.
Without a doubt Sephiroth is a hard worker. There’s several examples of it in a lot of the games he’s in. He’s no slouch when it comes to getting things done. The determination is evident in his unwillingness to dissolve into the Lifestream, attempting to make the planet his, and forcing others to do his bidding.
At first glance, Sephiroth doesn’t seem like an open-minded person-rather he’s rigid in his ways. While that’s true in some respects, in others, that’s not the case. Being open-minded allows Sephiroth to become resourceful and utilize people and things to his advantage. Some examples in the original game include using the black-cloaked numbered clones instead of merely ignoring them; manipulating Cloud and his party in a game of metaphysical chess instead of straight out annihilating them, and making an appearance in places not under complete oppression by Shrina (such as the Gold Saucer) and not killing everyone in sight.
Cloud Strife is known as a Jack-of-all-Trades, which is true, but Sephiroth is also worthy of this title. With his superior intellect, thirst for knowledge, and undying determination, there are very few things Sephiroth is incapable of achieving.
Loathe highly structured environments
Examples of these Weaknesses seen in Sephiroth
As mentioned above, Sephiroth is too confident, which comes off as arrogance. Though there’s a valid reason behind this arrogance, it’s probably the only obstacle that gets in the way when he fights Cloud.
Before epiphany, Sephiroth isn’t seen as judgmental, at least not without taking the time to analyze his behaviors and interactions with others. He wouldn’t blatantly judge others, yet he’d internalize it by avoiding/ignoring those he has no desire to be associated with. Also, since he’s dealing with the evil side of humanity often, especially during the Wutai Era, one can’t help but to wonder if judgmental thoughts have crossed his mind. After epiphany is when his judgmental thoughts became more prominent. Sephiroth believes all humans are traitors who deserve to be annihilated and that he’s superior to these inferior dullards who walk on the planet that is rightfully his.
Over-analyzing is a weakness that’s not as prominent as the others; however, there are a few instances where his mind goes in circles trying to comprehend the reasoning behind things. He didn’t understand why he wasn’t allowed to be Genesis’s blood donor and this fact has caused mental turmoil, which has more than likely been over-analyzed in his mind. Additional examples include understanding the reasoning behind why Professor Gast died without telling Sephiroth anything, trying to comprehend what it is like to have a hometown, wondering why the Nibelheim environment seems so familiar to him, what his mother was like before epiphany and questioning his existence and if he’s truly human.
One wouldn’t think loathing highly structured environments to be a weakness for Sephiroth since he undoubtedly followed every rule (for the must part) and accomplished every mission given to him. Notice in pictures, however. He isn’t happy. Before epiphany, Sephiroth merely did what he was told, yet there were questions as to why he’s doing this, and what is the purpose of it. He took out his enemies quickly, not wanting his mind to wonder into the realm of trying to understand the reasoning behind said missions. He didn’t care that he was this ‘hero’ and that everyone admired him. He desired for his freedom, to spar with his friends when he felt like it, and engage in other private actives. After epiphany, Sephiroth did what Sephiroth wanted. He no longer followed anyone’s rules but his own.
Being in involved in any romance is one of those things Sephiroth could care less about. Thus, he would be rather clumsy when it comes to this subject matter. Not only that, his calculating mind is always observing, and scheming when it comes to people and situations. Before epiphany, the time and desire wasn’t there. After epiphany, he’d merely use people as pawns on a chessboard to accomplish his plans. If he ever attempted to engage in romance, it would only be to manipulate the other person to his advantage.
Type 1 personalities are not interested in superficial friendships, or getting lost in the throes of small talk. These individuals strive for intellectual soul-mates. Anything lesser than that is boring to them. They also only have a small number of friends so they can remain independent and self-sufficient. If it gets out hand, they will gladly cut off ties to ensure their freedom. These individuals are not known to be comfort buddies and when emotional situations arise, it throws them for a loop. They scale back on their emotions through the shield of rationalism and logic and expect their friends to do the same. Type 1 personalities who have found the right individuals to feed their intellectual mind will share their dark sense of humor and sarcasm which, isn’t for the faint of heart, though they make great story-tellers. These individuals are special and desire have those who share their intellectual prowess, uncompromising honesty and ambitions to want to grow as better people be in their realm.
How this relates to Sephiroth
Sephiroth only had two friends; Angeal and Genesis and had things went better, a third may have been possible. That being said, Sephiroth doesn't have the time for small useless talk when he's out on missions all the time or barricading himself somewhere away from people, or reading during all hours of the night. It's hard to relate to others, thus the lacking in friends. He found two individuals who are closest to his strength and possibly intellectual levels compared to the rest of SOLDIER, Shinra, and much of humanity on Gaia it seems. Genesis was into poetry and Angeal was all about dreams, pride and honor. All these things one would assume Sephiroth values. Yet, with Genesis reading the same poem over and over, it's gotten intellectually boring to Sephiroth as you can hear in these words; “Loveless again? You never change.” It is known Angeal lectures and it seems fair to say that Sephiroth listens; however, like Genesis, it's always the same-dreams, pride, and honor. Wouldn't that bore Sephiroth as well? He does have a dark sense of humor. Example being of him throwing his sword at an apple placed on top of his friends' heads for fun. After Zack and Sephiroth speak over the phone briefly and meet up in the Mako Reactor after dealing with the Angeal copies, Sephiroth begins to tell Zack the story of what he and his friends would do for fun when the second class soldiers were out. He makes an excellent story-teller, and he's a good educator as witnessed when he explains to Zack and Tifa where Mako energy comes from and how its condensed into Materia.
Unfortunately, Type 1 personalities believe emotion is synonymous with weakness, yet under all that rationalism is a raging ocean of emotion. Individuals in this group are detached and shield themselves from others with their coldness. They confront everything with pure logic and rationalism-cold hard facts with no emotion attached to them. Mature Type 1 personalities who understand their emotions will not display them outwardly in the public; however, since these individuals are goal-oriented, they will use their emotions to propel their plans forward. Since Type 1 personalities are highly intuitive, if something doesn't feel right, they'll try a logical approach and ask, “Why am I feeling this way? What caused this?” Or, “Why is this upsetting? What can be done to fix this problem?”
How this relates to Sephiroth
Sephiroth was taught very early on that emotion is synonymous with weakness. He is not seen expressing much emotion before epiphany. If he does 'react' to someone or something, it's subtle. He's known to be detached from his surroundings as seen in pictures. He follows his orders and does what he's told with no emotion attached to it-outwardly anyway. Sephiroth is like an ocean, he's calm on the surface, but down below there's a war raging within. Subconsciously, Sephiroth is suffering before and after epiphany. Since he wasn't taught how to effectively deal with emotions, he internalizes everything until at epiphany these emotions burst from within him, consuming him and anyone who approaches him. That is the byproduct of poor emotional management. However, since Sephiroth is even more honest with himself after epiphany, he no longer hides the fact that he is angry at the world and that “There is sorrow in those wintry eyes.” That being said, he weaponizes these emotions to propel his plan forward to reign justice on the traitors and take back what is rightfully his.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. :)
https://www.16personalities.com/intj-personality
https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/type-1/
