#fi inf

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Goro Akechi

ENTJ

Functional Order: Te- Ni - Se - Fi

Spoiler warning This article will cover Akechi’s typing with precise references to both P5 plot and P5R new confidant and added scenes. An additional premise before progressing further: we don’t think Akechi suffers from any form of mental illness, functions loop or even lasting grips. All his problems revolve around a heavy imbalanced stack, consisting of two developed extroverted functions (with the dominant being unhealthy) paired with underdeveloped introverted ones.

Judging Functional Axis

Extroverted Thinking (Te) / Introverted Feeling (Fi)  

Akechi is an absolute pragmatist, always opting for the most efficient, reliable and profitable approach - in right and wrong. His Te is the most developed function in the stack, but during most of the game it doesn’t show in a healthy way. Akechi has a clear goal in mind and knows the steps he needs to take to accomplish it, it doesn’t matter the cost or what he has to sacrifice to achieve Shido’s downfall. He uses logic to solve problems and confront various situations, and can easily come off (reasonably) as cold or over assertive - for example, when he blackmails the Thieves into siding with him to push through Sae’s Palace. And despite being the newest member of the party (and, in theory, the most inexperienced one), Akechi has no problems slipping into lowkey leading roles and bossy attitude, as both Futaba and Ryuji repeatedly point out. This is because, actually, he has a lot more experience in the Metaverse: he’s one of the strongest Persona user in the game and the oldest one, and thus he puts this competence at use, even if he has to lie about his true powers. At the same time, Akechi enjoys being in charge, being efficient and being recognised as competent, at the point that this becomes one of the crucial flaw in his plan against Shido: he never doubted being in complete control of the situation, so he failed to acknowledge Shido’s true intentions and manipulation until his shadow-self revealed them in the engine room. His Te shows even in the feelings of hate and jealousy towards protagonist: Akechi is brilliant, he’s a hard-worker and a celebrity, from a logical standpoint he’s the definition of success in life, and yet why does protagonist have everything Akechi never had? Royal does an additional job of showing how much Akechi cares for competence and competition based on strength and personal abilities, as these themes are carried out over the whole of his confidant. His powerful Te is badly counterbalanced by an underdeveloped inferior Fi. His Introverted Feeling is not only weaker or misused, it is straight absent for a good portion of the game. Looking at inferior Fi on a more superficial and less personal level, we can see how Akechi despises the Thieves’ “justice”, as he doesn’t believe in a justice carried out outside of the law, and this trait doesn’t get lost in the new semester, as he often places sardonic comments on the group’s ideals. Moreover, everything regarding the emotional sphere is deemed as worthless and a sign of weakness - and this, too, stays the same during January. Though, the real problem with his Fi is that it’s so poorly developed that it has no part in his decision making process - even less than what’s the norm for a Te dom, at least. His plan to get revenge on Shido stems from a deep, personal hate and is fueled by the unjust society he lives in, but that is as far as it goes. Akechi never stops for a moment to reflect upon himself, his believes, what he truly wants or feels and, in the end, this leads him pursuing a hollow goal that costs his life in P5 vanilla and almost kills him in Royal. The engine room scene is where events come to a head: with his back against a wall, Akechi must finally acknowledge his own feelings regarding the whole situation, his life decisions and his supposed hate for Joker. In P5 vanilla, this ends with him sacrificing his life in order to let the Thieves escape the ship, since he came to terms with his mistakes and found a way to redeem himself and still fight for a cause by entrusting his mission against Shido to the group/ to protagonist. In Royal, however, we can see a further development of his Fi: it doesn’t properly bloom, but it’s a start. Akechi still remains highly pragmatic and very dismissive of anything regarding feelings, but at the same time he’s more self-aware. We see him finally fighting for something aligned with his moral (rather than for ensuring a “mere” revenge) and with a strong sense of self, rooted in his will to make decisions by his own and follow his own path in life, even if this means he will have to die again once Maruki’s reality will come to an end.

Perceiving Functional Axis

Introverted Intuition (Ni) / Extroverted Sensing (Se) 

Akechi’s Te is paired with a not-so-strong auxiliary Ni. Not that Akechi doesn’t use his Ni - he simply doesn’t use it at even half potential. His Ni is what makes him so focused on a single, long-term goal: getting his revenge against Shido, even if this means working for him for years and committing murders (TeNi). The problem with this lays in the nature of Ni: since it’s an introverted, perceiving function, it needs to abstract outside data to find meaning and patterns to use in decision making. But Akechi, from what the game tells us (because his awakening is never shown) seems to have skipped this process of finding a meaningful and personal outcome to one’s life in the long run - maybe partially because he was angry, and partially because he was young. And thus, he works for something that in the end reveals hollow and meaningless. Ni is paired with Se in the stack, thus it should be supported by the ability to consider more options during the process of data collection. A healthy, high Ni user has a certain amount of flexibility, even as a J. They will never be open to new possibilities like a high Se user, but they should still be able to take reality into consideration while deciphering future scenarios, knowing that life is complex and one can’t rely on a single vision about how things must play out. And Akechi not only overlooked establishing a meaningful goal for himself, he also became obsessed over a single mission without considering a broader spectrum of options through his tertiary Se. We don’t believe he suffers from a TeSe loop, though, because that would mean a person becomes reckless, focused on short-term results and incapable of properly seeing the consequences of his actions. This is probably not Akechi’s case, as he is a very meticulous person who doesn’t act hastily, even under stress (with the sole exception of the engine room scene). For the whole game, he can stay steps ahead of the others, always trying to figure future implications of his actions, and the mistakes he makes (the pancake scene and protagonist's failed murder) are due to a lack of data and information to process, more than recklessness. All those events happen while Akechi is outnumbered: he’s alone against a whole team of Persona user. And even with the Thieves’ plan, a completely unrelated call from Shido is sufficient to raise doubt about the outcome, so much that he personally goes inside Shido’s Palace to check. His tertiary Se is still present though and, as an extroverted function, it shows in more visible manners than his Ni and Fi. Akechi is a TJ, and thus needs plans, structure and closure. This doesn’t mean he’s rigid or slow to act, on contrary, he can adapt pretty quickly as long as the situation is under control. This is due to his tertiary Se, which allows him to live in the world without getting too lost in his mind - a trait that he uses to shape and wear his public persona, the ace detective mask. Moreover, even if he isn’t a P, Akechi learned the basics of the Metaverse alone with hand-to-hand experiences. We can assume that Shido gave him information about the Metaverse, but at the same time Akechi never had a group of peers to consult. During his collaboration with the Phantom Thieves, Akechi not only shows a developed Te -always being ahead of Sae’s schemes to hinder the group- he also takes a more leading role with proactiveness, taking important decisions quickly. Akechi finds a logical and efficient way to solve problems not only as a Te dom, but also due to his Se which aids him with its adaptability and openness, obviously limited since Akechi needs structure first, but still effectively as a tertiary function.

Also typed as: ENTP, ENFJ

ENTP Surprisingly, since it’s a completely different stack. So, why he’s so commonly mistyped as ENTP? The main argument we could find is that he’s an ace detective/ devil’s advocate, but this is quite an oversimplification due to stereotypes. Firstly, because his public persona is different from his actual personality: in front of the cameras, he’s a rookie detective who loves to debate things, but in real life, this practically shows exclusively in his confidant - so, with protagonist. In every other situation, Akechi tends to stay down to earth, with matter-of-factly statements and a tendency to go straight to the point and solve a problem. Moreover, Akechi never shows signs of Ne - the love for debating isn’t a trait exclusive to Ne and Ti users. On contrary, he’s clearly focused on a single goal due to his auxiliary Ni. Also, Ne shouldn’t be confused with Te. Akechi has an admirable ability to understand the underlying patterns of a problem, but not as a way to evaluate a broad set of abstract options, rather as a Te dom tendency to solve a question quickly and efficiently. ENTP also implies Fe, but cognition must be separated from behaviors. Not all Fe users strive for validation, and every human has a need to belong to a certain extent. Akechi seeks Shido’s attention and acceptance because he’s his father, it’s an unhealthy and human reaction to a deep trauma that defined his life. But if we go to the root of his behaviors we can see how Akechi doesn’t care about social harmony or general wellbeing. He’s never influenced by the emotional environment, and he lacks self-awareness because he doesn’t use his inferior Fi, not because he has a poorly developed Fe.

ENFJ ENFJ and ENTJ shares the NiSe perceiving axis, so we can see why ENFJ is a common mistype. At the same time, ENFJ implies dominant Fe. As we stated above, Akechi’s underdeveloped inferior Fi and his traumas may mimic an unhealthy Fe. However, Fe implies a deep will to create the most positive emotional environment for everyone, a tendency to care for the wellbeing of everyone and, if unhealthy, Fe might mask selfish needs with what is best for other people, or shift the blame onto others for personal mistakes and flaws. Akechi does the exact opposite, and it’s very clear during third semester how much he holds dear the concept of free will and the idea of being his own person, with all the bad choices he’s made. He doesn’t care if the world Maruki has created is ideal and peaceful: it’s fake, thus is a manipulation, and he’s done being manipulated, therefore he wants to shatter it because, to him, it’s worthless living a life that isn’t determined by one’s own actions. Additionally, an ENFJ will use dominant Fe paired with his auxiliary Ni to envision the most plausible and realistic process to reach a goal, which generally is something related to the global wellbeing of other people. Akechi, on contrary, is very rational and logical. The best solution is the one involving the most easy route to solve a problem, he never takes social harmony into consideration and never stops considering what others might think: if they’re with him, that’s good, if they don’t agree, he either crush them if they directly oppose him, ignores them, or forces them working with him.

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Morgana

ESTJ

Functional Order: Te- Si - Ne - Fi

Spoiler warning This article will cover Morgana’s analysis with precise references to Persona 5, so take this into consideration before further reading.

Judging Functional Axis

Extroverted Thinking (Te) / Introverted Feeling (Fi)  

Morgana is the first ally the Hero finds and quickly becomes the Thieves’ mentor. He’s a natural when it comes to leading roles, as he generally expects people to follow his indications (because he has the knowledge to be a proper guide) and takes no effort in strategising and organising the earlier infiltrations. Morgana obviously enjoys this and takes pride in his expertise about how the Metaverse works and how to navigate the hellish labyrinths that are Palaces and Mementos. He feels fulfilled when he can be useful and can put his knowledge to good use: this is why, the bigger the group grows, the more he feels out of place and replaced by someone who is more skilled than him. It’s not a problem of being accepted by the others - it’s rather a question of him not feeling useful anymore. Morgana is in general a highly pragmatic type, often putting profit (in term of the Thieves succeeding their missions) before everything else and suggesting to the Hero every good opportunity to gain something from someone or from a situation. Furthermore, his first reason for entering the group and helping the Hero and Ryuji exit the Castle was a pure utilitaristic one: Morgana was locked in a prison cell, from which they could set him free, so the most practical thing to do was striking a deal useful to both parts. But when he realises that the Hero and Ryuji can be of great help for his mission in general, he tracks them down in the real world and insists on working with them, taking advantage of the escalation with Kamoshida. Morgana can be also considered quite the tsundere, always descarding feelings and sentimentality in favor of practical thinking - his inferior Fi. This trait explodes at the beginning of Okumura arc, when he argues with the group because they are hesitant about their next move and don’t trust his guidance anymore, because he can’t do anything and there are in fact many things that are beyond his capabilities. The situation only works out well when both the Thieves apologise and Morgana can face his feelings and be honest about his affection towards the group. He connects with Fi and understands that there’s something else he’s fighting for besides gaining his memories back, and that there’s someone he’s more than glad to fight with. This culminates in his speech to Yaldabaoth in the final battle of Persona 5.

Perceiving Functional Axis

Introverted Sensing (Si) / Extroverted Intuition (Ne) 

Morgana values a highly methodical approach, based on detailed knowledge and precise steps to follow. He not only instructs the group, but often breaks explanations into pieces, giving them bites of information to absorb before getting to the next topic. He’s not very patient when people don’t grasp the concepts and dislikes repeating himself, but he do tries to make things more understandable when circumstances allow it. His auxiliary Si picks up (but in most cases instinctively remembers from his forgotten past) information, storages them and uses them to interpret situations and problems, as Morgana usually relies on what he already knows or on what he can deduce based on what he already knows. This is when his tert Ne comes into aiding, providing him with hunches and other ways to interpret the information he has, pushing him to look for alternative outcomes. But because his Ne is only tertiary, Morgana is overall not a versatile cat person, it takes him time to change his opinion about something (and he always needs proves). He, too, can get reckless under stress, because his Te wants to charge forward while his Si has a hard time in unpredicted situations that forces him to switch his vision of the world. In any case, it’s clear how Morgana strives for schedules and how he has a strict approach to goals. Even if it’s a gameplay mechanic, Morgana always knows which activities are available for the protagonist and what he can do in his free time. He remembers what he eavesdropped from students, rumors and what other people tell the Hero. Every bit of information is stored (Si) and then made available to the protagonist (Ne).

Also typed as: ENTJ

We know that one of the major points of Morgana’s character is his research for his assumed previous human form, and that the meaning of his own identity is a key topic when talking about him. Nonetheless, we believe that this could be tied more to his inferior Fi (he has a very strong desire of ‘being unique’) than to an auxiliary Ni. Morgana tends to focus more on what he already knows or assumes to know, rather than speculating or looking for patterns and abstract meanings. Ni is a subjective, introverted function that frames the world based on what it means to it. A common misconception about Ni is that it’s a function based on future forecasting. But searching for answers after an amnesia is just a natural process. The need to recover lost memories and to find stability and certainty in life is what led Morgana to seek the truth as a survival instinct, not as a cognitive process. This shouldn’t be confused with a healthy, preferential ways to perceive and to gather information. So, let’s separate the cause (Morgana wants his memories back), the method (how he proceeds in the mission) and the action itself (exploring the Metaverse). Ni would put together the pieces provided by tertiary Se and thus help dominant Te envisioning a realistic future scenario (which is sadly a downgraded version of future forecasting, something even high Ni users can’t achieve).  Morgana isn’t like that and, on contrary, his goal in methods is more tied to Si - restoring a status quo that supposedly existed once through little steps and constant progress - than it is tied to Ni - interpreting gained data in a personal and abstract research for meaning. As for tertiary Se, Morgana isn’t a doer even for a low Se user. Being an extrovert and especially a Te dominant may lead one to mistake his desire to lead with an inclination toward action, but we think there are more evidences in favour of a tertiary, well developed Ne.