Anime Characters With The INTJ Personality Type
Anime Characters With The INTJ Personality Type
The INTJ personality is among the rarer personality types. However, though these mysterious schemers are elusive in real life, they abound in fiction, where characters function as more heightened or archetypal versions of ourselves.
Often referred to as the “Mastermind” or “Architect,” INTJs are known for their far-seeing vision, their intellect, logic, single-minded purpose, and their intense focus on “big issues.”
It’s easy to see, then, how these would make for excellent traits when coming up with fascinating characters for a story. Stories need conflict, and the best way to create this is by having characters who want or need something and who have purpose and motivation. INTJs have those characteristics in spades.
Read on to discover five anime characters we believe fit the INTJ profile.
Death Note’s Light Yagami
The protagonist of Death Note, Light is a brilliant student whose life is changed by the discovery of the “Death Note,” which he single-mindedly uses to destroy criminals. In his own words: “This world is rotten, and those who are making it rot deserve to die. Someone has to do it, so why not me? Even if it means sacrificing my own mind and soul, it's worth it. Because the world can't go on like this.”
From this quote alone, it’s evident that Light is headstrong, confident, ruthless, and committed to one task, which he’s willing to pursue at all costs. He never loses sight of his vision, and he finds less-focused (read: normal) people frustrating to deal with.
In order to achieve what he does, Light has to be a mastermind planner, plotting out his actions many steps ahead of everyone else in order to avoid detection. This incredible vision and methodical approach make Light one of the greatest INTJs in anime history.
Naruto’s Sasuke Uchiha
Continuing the theme of single-minded focus, Sasuke is possibly one of the most stereotypical and vengeful INTJs that can be found in anime. He's future-oriented, insightful, headstrong, confident, and cares immensely about efficiency and completing goals.
Internal and driven, he's often in his head thinking about the future rather than being distracted by the trivialities of the here and now.
As he says of himself, “My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan and destroy a certain someone.” Need I say more?
Fairy Tail’s Zeref Dragneel
Every story needs its antihero, the character who functions as the foil to the hero. Antiheroes are often driven and focused—complex characters who have a dark side and who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals.
Enter Zeref Dragneel. Considered to be one of the strongest mages of all time, Zeref can be occasionally helpful, but only when it fits in with his overarching plan. Willing to invade the entire nation of Fiore to get what he wants, Zeref has the ruthless, single-mindedness of the INTJ, as well as the intellectual prowess. In the past, Zeref attended university, delving deep into arcane knowledge in order to find a way to cheat death. Later, even when commanding the Spriggan 12, he continued to operate alone while pursuing his own obscure goals.
The single biggest giveaway of Zeref’s INTJ nature is his logistical tendencies; he literally compared running the Empire to playing a strategy game. He made the Curse of Contradictions' symptoms go away while he was at it because the people he commands are, in his eyes, pawns he can use to achieve a larger purpose.
Seven Deadly Sins’ Merlin
As in real life, anime has fewer INTJ women than men. Merlin, however, is about as INTJ as you can get. She keeps a lot of information to herself, so that the other characters (or the viewers) aren’t exactly sure what she’s thinking or planning. However, this doesn’t mean she hasn’t got a plan—she just isn’t willing to let others in on it.
She has a genius-level intellect and an ability to see patterns and meaning where others can’t define her unique skillset. As she put it, “When the details of the stories fail to add up, it often helps to run everything you know in reverse. And as you discover and give meaning to seemingly unnatural action, a different answer will emerge.” This seeking, strategic approach to life clearly brands her as an INTJ.
Code Geass’s Lelouch Lamperouge
The main character in Code Geass, Lelouch, is perhaps one of the most obvious INTJ characters out there. Like our other examples, he has something immense he wants to achieve, i.e., the destruction of an entire empire. And as with our previous examples, Lelouch is indefatigable when in pursuit of his objectives. When planning the resistance movement that he spearheads, he usually remains behind the scenes, masterminding action but rarely showing his hand.
He excels at subterfuge and is frequently occupied with strategy. A perfect example of this is when he plays Schneizel in chess. (Could you get a more INTJ game?) One of Schneizel’s moves appears to create an opportunity for Lelouch to win, but Lelouch realized that something was amiss. Rather than taking a risk and seizing the opportunity to win, he withdrew his own king to safety, playing a long game that ultimately proved the wiser choice.
