[EPIC MUSIC fades in!]
This video series will REVEAL which SUPERHERO
you REALLY ARE!
Everyone is a combination of one MCU character
and one single digit Arabic numeral.
It's time to find out yours.
Answer These Four Questionnaires and Read
These Three Books and Do a Lot of Introspection
and I’ll Tell You Which Avengers: Endgame
Character Is Your Long-Lost Twin!
[epic music continues to rock out]
The year is 2012. The world is scheduled to
end in seven months, apparently,
and I am about to go to an advanced showing of
Marvel’s The Avengers,
at a midnight because it is 2012.
And somewhere in the second act of the movie, something about the antagonist clicks for me,
and I very nearly say out loud…
“Oh my god, Loki is a two!”
Now, I know what you’re thinking, but have
no fear, I am not talking about the relative
f**kability of legit snack Tom Hiddleston. No,
I am talking about the other thing that I spent
my entire college career drunkenly yelling
at my friends about:
The motherf**king enneagram.
Laura, you might be asking, what in the hell
does that mean?
The Enneagram is a tool for self-reflection
and growth rooted in a combination of modern
psychology with a variety of spiritual traditions.
It defines nine basic personality types, represented
by this star shape along with the numbers 1-9. The
idea is that each of these personalities exist
in all people, but one will always come to
the forefront.
WAIT WAIT WAIT BEFORE YOU LEAVE!
I totally understand that a lot of people
have very justified issues and suspicions
vis-a-vis any type of personality sorter,
or just aren’t super into them, and if that’s
you, I promise, I’m not here to try to convert
you. I have found the enneagram to be super
meaningful and helpful in my own life, and actually, totally immersing myself in it over the past few months
as I’ve been researching for this project
has been really good for my mental
health, so if it does sound like the kind of
thing you’d be interested in, I would be honored
to be your introduction, but even if it’s
not, I do hope that you’ll stick around, because
I have also found the Enneagram to be very
helpful for another reason.
Story structure and character development,
b*tches!
So, I’m going to tell you about the enneagram.
But I’m not just gonna sit here and yell
a buncha earthy crunchy spiritual psychology jargon
at you. Oh no. We’re going to do this
by analyzing the arcs of nine characters
from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
STRAP IN, y’all, it’s gonna be A Time.
So, why is the Enneagram in particular so useful for storytellers? Why not just
do your character’s birth chart or get in a super
method headspace and take the Meyers-Briggs? Let’s
talk about some key terms.
[fun 101 music plays]
Each personality type is
defined, primarily, by a basic desire and
a basic fear. These are incredibly broad, and for most types are essentially
inversions of one another. So for example, type Two’s basic desire is to be loved, and their
basic fear is of feeling alone and unloveable.
If you’ve ever taken an intro to screenwriting
or acting course or, like, watched a video
essay, it’s probably obvious why this is
so useful for character-focused storytelling.
Want. Objective. Motivation.
Since the Enneagram always circles back to this
basic desire, it can be a really useful springboard
or template for fleshing out a character’s
behavior in a way that centralizes what drives
them, or for specifying their moment-to-moment
desires that make up a cohesive arc. On the
flip side, if you’re a writer who tends
toward a more plot-first approach, or if you’re
an actor crafting the inner life of a character
whose actions have been predetermined by the writer,
the Enneagram can help to specify
a character’s personal connection to a utilitarian
plot action. A character running for political
office or fighting for a throne, for example,
might be seeking to be and do good like a
One, to bask in the adoration of a public like
a Two, to gain external validation of their
own worth like a Three,
or to find the sense of security that comes with a role in a political structure, like a Six.
[some more fun music]
Since the Enneagram
as a psychological tool is intended to help
with self-reflection for the purposes of personal
growth, it focuses a lot on
what healthy versus unhealthy behaviors look
like--how the different types respond to immediate
and long-term stress, and what growth and
regression look like for them. This is made
particularly clear in what’s called integration
and disintegration. Each type, at their healthiest
and unhealthiest, will begin to exhibit traits
of another type. Sevens, for example, disintegrate
toward One under stress and integrate toward
Five as we grow and learn to manage our anxieties.
Both integration and disintegration can help
to build different kinds of dynamic character
arcs. Integration is obviously great for characters
who grow over the course of the story, and
disintegration can help to specify
a particular character’s
response to a high-stakes conflict, or to build
a nuanced villain or anti-hero. But of course,
growth and regression aren’t one-way streets,
and given a project with a wider scope, like
a TV series or a cinematic universe, the dynamic
nature of the nine personality types can help
to shape characters who progress
and regress by turns to powerful effect.
[more fun but also intense-ish music]
Each type has a particular flavor
of crisis that they will experience given a significant
shock to their system called the red flag.
This is rooted in an expression of the basic fear,
so Twos, who again, fear being alone and unloved, fear
that their actions are driving their loved
ones away. The red flag represents a potential
turning point: when we recognize this
fear for what it is, addressing the extent
to which it is rooted in reality and moving
past the extent to which it is rooted in internal
fear and anxiety can be the first step toward
growth. But when we resist the truth at the
heart of this fear, it can trigger unhealthy
coping mechanisms and a backslide into disintegration.
This is especially great for particularly
high-stakes stories since it can help to clarify
a character’s moment of crisis in relation
to a major stressor, and it outlines some
ideas of where they might go from there.
In addition to the vocabulary specifically
helpful for story structure, there are a few
more key terms that help to distinguish the
multitudes contained within each personality type.
[drumbeat kicks in]
Along with a main personality type,
each person has a wing, a secondary type that
blends with the main type to create a subtype.
Wings are one of the two adjacent
numbers. So a Seven, for example, could
have a Six wing or an Eight wing. This can be thought of
as somewhat of a spectrum--most people of
a given type have at least a little bit of each wing
to them, but one tends to be more prominent.
For the purposes of this series, I’ll pretty much
be talking about the two wings as distinct
subtypes.
The other subtype
within each main personality type is based on one of  three instinctual variants: self-preservation,
sexual, and social. Those are, some loaded
words, but they mean something very specific
in this context, so take a minute to just clear
out whatever just came into your head. If
a person’s type tells us what motivates
them, their instinctual variant subtype tells
us where they seek it out. Self-Preservation
types look internally to themselves and to their
physical environment. If you’re coming from a Meyers-Briggs
background, or, you know, the internet, it’s easy to equate
that with introversion, but that’s not always
the case. Self-pres types are often 
excellent hosts, who keep warm, welcoming
homes with lots of comfy paces to sit,
perfect mood lighting, a meticulously programmed thermostat,
and a fully stocked tea (or liquor) cabinet  that they would love to share with you.
Sexual types look to intimate one-on-one
relationships with other people, not limited
to lovers, or sometimes with projects, or
with God, if that’s their thing. We are
not necessarily the type most likely to leave
our self-pres friends’ parties arm in arm
with a relative stranger, but you will likely
find us planted on the couch or tucked off
in a corner somewhere having a long, deep conversation with lots of intense eye contact. Social
types look to their role in a group. So, no, they're not necessarily
the biggest party animals! But they are the type
most likely to decide whether or not any given time
is party time based on how the group is feeling
as opposed to their own energy level, and they will
likely be the first to happily make a liquor store run if the party needs it. All three of these instincts,
obviously, do show up in everybody, and can be thought
of as “stacking,” with one that rises
to the forefront, one that takes a secondary
role, and one that tends to fall behind. That
primary instinct is what is generally understood
as defining a subtype, and that’s how I’ll
be talking about it in this series.
And finally, just a quick note on the word
“average,” which you'll hear a lot. In Enneagram speak, this refers specifically to a person's relative level of
mental and spiritual health. So an “average
Two” would be a Two who’s in the average range
of health and self-actualization, as opposed
to an unhealthy Two, or a healthy Two.
OK, so now that we've got the basic vocabulary, I want
to take a step back and give a few disclaimers.
[peppy elevator music]
The point of this series is absolutely not
to assert that the MCU was created with
the Enneagram in mind. I seriously doubt that
it was. But since it has a variety of characters
who have at this point been through a lot,
and since making those characters feel like
people we know and want to spend time with
has been such a crucial part of Marvel's
business model, I think there’s a depth there that
rewards analysis, and the two things
illuminate one another nicely. The MCU can
be read as a fun intro course to the Enneagram,
and the Enneagram can be a fun lens
with which to analyze the characters of the
MCU. But this does mean that we’re working with
a very particular scope. As far as Marvel goes,
I’m really just looking, very specifically,
at character analysis. This isn’t going
to involve a lot of film criticism, per se,
although I'm sure that I do have some opinions too
strong not to seep their way in. And as far
as the Enneagram goes, this is a very basic
introduction looking at nine very specific
characters. Those of you doing the math at
home will have noticed that, between wings
and instinctual variants, there are a total
of fifty-four subtypes, and we do not have
time to get into all of them, even if
they were by some miracle all represented
in the MCU. I’m also breaking somewhat of
a cardinal rule of the enneagram, which is
that it’s for typing yourself, not other people.
While there are recognizable patterns of behavior
associated with each type, what really distinguishes
them is motivation, which is a super internal
thing, and it can be really invalidating to
have someone tell you that you don’t know
yourself as well as they know you.
Part of what I like so much about the Enneagram
is that unlike something like Meyers-Briggs
or the Big Five, there is no definitive test
you can take to externally determine your
type. There are questionnaires that can give
you an idea of where to start, but the good
ones acknowledge that they are just one step
in an introspective process that no person
or test can do for you or tell you that you’ve
done wrong. Fortunately for me, the Avengers
are, in fact, fictional, so I cannot
hurt them by making informed guesses about
their inner lives. But seeing as I did not
write, direct, or act in any of these movies,
I am far from an authority on the single
best way to interpret what’s going on under
the surface with any of these characters.
If you’re a fellow Enneageek with thoughts on the subject, I would love to
hear from you in the comments! As an absolute
f**king Seven very actively carving out my
Social Role as The Energizer, I would love nothing
more than to get some healthy, respectful,
enlightening debate going, and to that end
I’m gonna be making at least one
controversial typing, so get pumped
for that!
But if you're someone who’s not familiar
with the Enneagram and might be interested
in using it for your own life, I would
encourage you to just keep in mind that the
Enneagram is much more expansive than simply identifying patterns of behavior and personality traits.
I do think a lot of why any 
personality typing resonates with people is
the power in feeling seen, and I don’t want
to minimize that. But the heart
of Enneagram work is not simply seeing ourselves,
but learning how to catch ourselves in our habits,
recognize our barriers to growth, and become
the best versions of ourselves. If that sounds
like it might be your jam, please do not stop with my
silly little internet video series. I’ll
put some good resources in the description.
Alright, with my disclaimers out of the way,
class, here’s your syllabus. Our textbook
for this course is The Wisdom of the Enneagram
by Don Richard Riso and Russ Hudson. It’s
a really solid overview of the basic vocabulary of the Enneagram and a good introduction to the nine types.
I am also only going to be focusing on these characters
as they are portrayed in the movies of the
Marvel Cinematic Universe.
I know, I know, I know,
I have to draw the line somewhere.
But I would love to hear
from people who know more about the comics in the comments! I’m sure that
lend a ton more interesting insight.
And now, without further ado, the nine personality
types.
Type One. The Reformer. The rational, idealistic
type. Principled, purposeful, self-controlled,
and perfectionistic.
Type Two. The Helper. The caring, interpersonal
type. Generous, demonstrative, people-pleasing,
and possessive.
Type Three. The Achiever. The success-oriented,
pragmatic type. Adaptable, excelling, driven,
and image-conscious.
Type Four. The Individualist. The sensitive,
withdrawn type. Expressive, dramatic, self-absorbed,
and temperamental.
Type Five. The Investigator. The intense,
cerebral type. Perceptive, innovative, secretive,
and isolated.
Type Six. The Loyalist. The committed, security-oriented
type. Engaging, responsible, anxious, and
suspicious.
Type Seven. The Enthusiast. The busy, fun-loving
type. Spontaneous, versatile, acquisitive,
and scattered.
Type Eight. The Challenger. The powerful,
dominating type. Self-confident, decisive,
willful, and confrontational.
Type Nine. The Peacemaker. The easygoing,
self-effacing type. Receptive, reassuring,
agreeable, and complacent.
Pop your popcorn, fluff your pillows, and
stay tuned. Coming up first, we’re gonna
get angry. And you won’t like me when I’m
angry.
[epic music]
