Discussion MBTI in Pirates of the Caribbean

Captain Jack Truesilver

Captain Jack Truesilver

Notorious Pirate
For those of you familiar with the Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator, I'd like to know if you've ever tried typing the characters of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. I'll share my own speculations, and others can share theirs, and then hopefully we can engage in a thoughtful discussion about each of the characters.

And as a bonus, you can also disclose your own pirate's MBTI personality, if they have one.

  • Elizabeth Swann: ENFP
  • Will Turner: ISFJ
  • Captain Jack Sparrow: ENTP
  • Captain Hector Barbossa: ESTJ
  • Commodore James Norrington: ISTJ
  • Governor Weatherby Swann: ESTJ
  • Joshamee Gibbs: ????

  • Lord Cutler Beckett: ENTJ
  • Tia Dalma: INFJ/ENFJ
    • (Hard to say, especially given that they share the same cognitive functions.)
  • Davy Jones: INFP
  • Bootstrap Bill: ISFP

  • Sao Feng: ????

  • Angelica: ENFP
  • Blackbeard: INTJ
  • Philip: INFJ
  • Syrena: INFP

  • Henry Turner: ISFJ
    • (Carbon copy of his dad, really. OR maybe he's INFJ/ENFJ. Can't tell.)
  • Carina Smyth: ENTJ
  • Captain Salazar: ????

'Captain Jack Truesilver' is an INFJ, as he shares the same personality as I do.
 
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Ah, I've been meaning to get to this.

  • Elizabeth Swann: ESTJ - See how she ridicules people for inefficiency or refusing to keep up good standards.
  • Will Turner: ISFJ/TP - Either works.
  • Captain Jack Sparrow: ENTP - Eeyup, though I've pondered ESTP.
  • Captain Hector Barbossa: He's a bit of a mystery. I could see him as anything from an INTP to an ESTJ.
  • Commodore James Norrington: xSTJ
  • Governor Weatherby Swann: ISFJ - See how he cares so dearly for Elizabeth and his giving in to her.
  • Joshamee Gibbs: ISTJ - Resourceful, loyal, and adheres to the traditions of pirating.

  • Lord Cutler Beckett: xNTJ - Te and Ni are certain.
  • Tia Dalma: ENFJ - Her focus is mainly on people, even though Ni is pretty evident.
  • Davy Jones: INFP - Good one.
  • Bootstrap Bill: ISFP - I've debated him, and I can't quite figure him out.

  • Sao Feng: Probably an ISTP

  • Angelica: ENFP - Sure? I just watched the first 3 movies in a row just this weekend, but I didn't get to the 4th.
  • Blackbeard: I suspect an ExTx, and probably not an ENTP.
  • Philip: IxFx
  • Syrena: INFP - No idea

Don't know a thing about the others.

Soult is, as far as I've planned him, definitely an Se-user and a T-type, a probable introvert.
 
Marshal Soult said:
Ah, I've been meaning to get to this.

  • Elizabeth Swann: ESTJ - See how she ridicules people for inefficiency or refusing to keep up good standards.
  • Will Turner: ISFJ/TP - Either works.
  • Captain Jack Sparrow: ENTP - Eeyup, though I've pondered ESTP.
  • Captain Hector Barbossa: He's a bit of a mystery. I could see him as anything from an INTP to an ESTJ.
  • Commodore James Norrington: xSTJ
  • Governor Weatherby Swann: ISFJ - See how he cares so dearly for Elizabeth and his giving in to her.
  • Joshamee Gibbs: ISTJ - Resourceful, loyal, and adheres to the traditions of pirating.

  • Lord Cutler Beckett: xNTJ - Te and Ni are certain.
  • Tia Dalma: ENFJ - Her focus is mainly on people, even though Ni is pretty evident.
  • Davy Jones: INFP - Good one.
  • Bootstrap Bill: ISFP - I've debated him, and I can't quite figure him out.

  • Sao Feng: Probably an ISTP

  • Angelica: ENFP - Sure? I just watched the first 3 movies in a row just this weekend, but I didn't get to the 4th.
  • Blackbeard: I suspect an ExTx, and probably not an ENTP.
  • Philip: IxFx
  • Syrena: INFP - No idea

Don't know a thing about the others.

Soult is, as far as I've planned him, definitely an Se-user and a T-type, a probable introvert.
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Hmm, I can see why you'd perceive Elizabeth as an ESTJ. She's definitely critical. Of course, ENFPs have Te as a tertiary function, and they're also known to be intolerant of people they don't agree with (classic Fi behavior), so it would still be possible for her to be an ENFP. She doesn't exactly come across as a thinker, though. At least not to me. She's critical, but she's also a bit of a dreamy-romantic type. And she's also heavily compelled by guilt at the end of Dead Man's Chest and beginning of At World's End. xNFPs tend to do things out of guilt. I'd almost type her as an INFP, simply because I once knew an INFP who acted just like her.

Barbossa's a natural leader, and a bit of a gritty one at that. I don't see him being much of an intuitive, personally. I'll stick with ESTJ.

I'll agree with you on Gibbs and Weatherby. That sounds about right.

Pretty much any Fi dominants in fiction are motivated by their own feelings. Elizabeth does everything for the sake of being with Will or relieving her feelings of guilt, for example. As villains, they tend to exact revenge on people (or the world) for being personally wronged at some capacity. Davy Jones is angry at the world because he was betrayed by Calypso. Likewise, Angelica's entire motive revolves around exacting revenge on Jack for "pretending to love her before leaving her and breaking her heart." She's very manipulative and creative in doing this, in many ways acting as Jack's equal, which is why I'd reckon she's also an Ne user. Thus, ENFP. And if you've ever met any xNFPs, they kind of act either like Elizabeth or Angelica. I've never met anyone as resentful as Davy Jones, though. Kinda hope not to.

Which type are you, by the way?
 
Captain Jack Truesilver said:
Hmm, I can see why you'd perceive Elizabeth as an ESTJ. She's definitely critical. Of course, ENFPs have Te as a tertiary function, and they're also known to be intolerant of people they don't agree with (classic Fi behavior), so it would still be possible for her to be an ENFP. She doesn't exactly come across as a thinker, though. At least not to me. She's critical, but she's also a bit of a dreamy-romantic type. And she's also heavily compelled by guilt at the end of Dead Man's Chest and beginning of At World's End. xNFPs tend to do things out of guilt. I'd almost type her as an INFP, simply because I once knew an INFP who acted just like her.

Barbossa's a natural leader, and a bit of a gritty one at that. I don't see him being much of an intuitive, personally. I'll stick with ESTJ.

I'll agree with you on Gibbs and Weatherby. That sounds about right.

Pretty much any Fi dominants in fiction are motivated by their own feelings. Elizabeth does everything for the sake of being with Will or relieving her feelings of guilt, for example. As villains, they tend to exact revenge on people (or the world) for being personally wronged at some capacity. Davy Jones is angry at the world because he was betrayed by Calypso. Likewise, Angelica's entire motive revolves around exacting revenge on Jack for "pretending to love her before leaving her and breaking her heart." She's very manipulative and creative in doing this, in many ways acting as Jack's equal, which is why I'd reckon she's also an Ne user. Thus, ENFP. And if you've ever met any xNFPs, they kind of act either like Elizabeth or Angelica. I've never met anyone as resentful as Davy Jones, though. Kinda hope not to.

Which type are you, by the way?
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Just being motivated by your feelings doesn’t make you an Fi-user, especially in the case of love, and ENFPs’ tertiary Te pops up occasionally, but with Elizabeth we see it from day one. “Rum is a vile drink that turns even the most...” There’s a constant “Oh? Then why are you doing that?” Always targeting the inefficiencies of others and reprimanding them for it. When she rebels against people, I almost always see it as "I can do this better than you" not because "I refuse to be controlled" necessarily. I don't really see her dreamy side ever.

Also an odd note, ExxJs have a tendency to be the "moaners and groaners" which I see in Elizabeth.

I’d go as far as to argue ESTP for Barbossa, and I even might. But memories from the 4th movie of him planning escape routes as opposed to Jack’s spontaneous “make it up as we go” makes me think he’s an ExTJ. Barbossa was asked by Jack what he was doing when he was looking around near a tree and he said, “Planning an escape route. That’s how you do it, isn’t it?” Jack simply gave a facial expression that implied “Not really.”

I’d like you to guess my type for the fun of it, among other things.
 
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Marshal Soult said:
Just being motivated by your feelings doesn’t make you an Fi-user, especially in the case of love, and ENFPs’ tertiary Te pops up occasionally, but with Elizabeth we see it from day one. “Rum is a vile drink that turns even the most...” There’s a constant “Oh? Then why are you doing that?” Always targeting the inefficiencies of others and reprimanding them for it. When she rebels against people, I almost always see it as "I can do this better than you" not because "I refuse to be controlled" necessarily. I don't really see her dreamy side ever.

Also an odd note, ExxJs have a tendency to be the "moaners and groaners" which I see in Elizabeth.

I’d go as far as to argue ESTP for Barbossa, and I even might. But memories from the 4th movie of him planning escape routes as opposed to Jack’s spontaneous “make it up as we go” makes me think he’s an ExTJ. Barbossa was asked by Jack what he was doing when he was looking around near a tree and he said, “Planning an escape route. That’s how you do it, isn’t it?” Jack simply gave a facial expression that implied “Not really.”

I’d like you to guess my type for the fun of it, among other things.
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Yeah, that scene with Barbossa and Jack in "On Stranger Tides" pretty much solidified my hunches of Barbossa being an ExTJ. I'll stick with ESTJ.

Fair point with Fi-users, with people not necessarily having to be one to be motivated by emotions. However, I'd argue that fictional characters aren't quite as multifaceted as real people; most characters, if written properly, drive the plot through their motives. So, as a general rule, the characters in fiction who are motivated by their own emotional experiences tend to be Fi-users (Angelica, Davy Jones, Sweeney Todd, Anakin Skywalker in the PT, Elsa from Frozen).

Even so, I'll go rewatch the first three "Pirates" movies and analyze Elizabeth again. I'm starting to agree with you on the ESTJ thing. Of course, ISTJ, ESTJ, INFP, and ENFP all have the same cognitive functions, so really she could be a variant of any one of those.
 
Marshal Soult said:
That's one that's stuck with me from the 4th movie.

As for this?
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xNxx. If you were a sensor, you wouldn't be wasting your time engaging in this pointless (but fun) discussion. You'd be out running, as per @YungAdolf 's suggestion. Probably INxx, since introverts tend to occupy the internet far more often. Not likely an INFP, because they tend to be indifferent about everything that they don't have some sort of personal emotional connection to. So either INTJ, INTP, or INFJ. If not, then ENTJ or ENTP.

This also popped in my mind while I was thinking about Elizabeth. Her entire arc revolves around dreaming and fantasizing about being a pirate, only for those dreams to be crushed by reality when she realizes that the pirate life is riddled with deception, moral compromises, and even tragedy in the end (her happy ending isn't all that happy). Personally, that strikes me as a rather tragic arc for an Idealist type; dreams crushed by reality.


It's not that I'm dismissing the idea of her being ESTJ. I just think this needs to be taken into account as well.
 
Captain Jack Truesilver said:
xNxx. If you were a sensor, you wouldn't be wasting your time engaging in this pointless (but fun) discussion. You'd be out running, as per @YungAdolf 's suggestion. Probably INxx, since introverts tend to occupy the internet far more often. Not likely an INFP, because they tend to be indifferent about everything that they don't have some sort of personal emotional connection to. So either INTJ, INTP, or INFJ. If not, then ENTJ or ENTP.

This also popped in my mind while I was thinking about Elizabeth. Her entire arc revolves around dreaming and fantasizing about being a pirate, only for those dreams to be crushed by reality when she realizes that the pirate life is riddled with deception, moral compromises, and even tragedy in the end (her happy ending isn't all that happy). Personally, that strikes me as a rather tragic arc for an Idealist type; dreams crushed by reality.


It's not that I'm dismissing the idea of her being ESTJ. I just think this needs to be taken into account as well.
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Ah, the old dichotomy method. A bit messy, but useful.

By Jung’s definitions I’d be a Ti-Ni type.
By common definitions, I’d be an xNTJ,
favoring ENTJ.

1w9 5w6 3w4

Don't recall that, but I'll trust your ability to assess her in the first couple of movies as you re-watch them. As for me, I'm waiting for my subwoofer to be fixed so I can watch the 5th movie in BlueRay.
 
Marshal Soult said:
Ah, the old dichotomy method. A bit messy, but useful.

By Jung’s definitions I’d be a Ti-Ni type.
By common definitions, I’d be an xNTJ,
favoring ENTJ.

1w9 5w6 3w4

Don't recall that, but I'll trust your ability to assess her in the first couple of movies as you re-watch them. As for me, I'm waiting for my subwoofer to be fixed so I can watch the 5th movie in BlueRay.
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It's been a while since I've attempted Jung's Cognitive Functions test. I believe I'm something of an Ni-Ti type as well, though.

The Enneagram test frustrates me, because I relate to a lot of the traits in near all of the nine types. I believe I'm a 1 with wings 9 & 2 (if you agree with the two-wing theory, that is.).

But for the sake of simplification, I would be an INFJ. And not a very stereotypical one, either, I don't think.

What's your take on the fifth movie, anyways? Heck, while I'm asking, how would you rank all of the movies with 1 being your favorite and 5 being you least favorite?
 
Captain Jack Truesilver said:
It's been a while since I've attempted Jung's Cognitive Functions test. I believe I'm something of an Ni-Ti type as well, though.

The Enneagram test frustrates me, because I relate to a lot of the traits in near all of the nine types. I believe I'm a 1 with wings 9 & 2 (if you agree with the two-wing theory, that is.).

But for the sake of simplification, I would be an INFJ. And not a very stereotypical one, either, I don't think.

What's your take on the fifth movie, anyways? Heck, while I'm asking, how would you rank all of the movies with 1 being your favorite and 5 being you least favorite?
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Yeah it’s messy.

Never heard of the two-wing theory, but I have heard of the “1 and only type 1” theory.

1 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 5

But I don’t recall much of 5. After re-watching 1-4 recently, I was surprised how much I liked movie 4.

5 was a little hastily written up and somewhat cheesy.
 
Wot in the bloody el are ye all goin on aboot?

All this high brow diskcusion wit all them big words... and no clue wot ta el you be sayin.

Aye...me eye hurts. But carrieon mates. It be entertainin even when i can unnerstan Davey Jones bettern'.
 
Marshal Soult said:
Yeah it’s messy.

Never heard of the two-wing theory, but I have heard of the “1 and only type 1” theory.

1 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 5

But I don’t recall much of 5. After re-watching 1-4 recently, I was surprised how much I liked movie 4.

5 was a little hastily written up and somewhat cheesy.
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Finally, I've met someone who likes the fourth movie as much as I do.

It was a refreshing change from the dynamics of the first three. There were certainly things I would have written differently, but it was refreshing nevertheless.
And yeah, the fifth one was the worst for me as well. They really screwed up Jack's character. Henry and Carina weren't too bad, and Salazar was...well, he wasn't really any better or worse than Blackbeard. Both were underwhelming villains. And Will and Elizabeth deserved more than just small cameos. They were the main characters of the original three. Not to mention that it created continuity errors...

1. Curse of the Black Pearl
2. On Stranger Tides
3. Dead Man's Chest
4. At World's End
5. Dead Men Tell No Tales

Nothing beats the original though.
 
Captain Jack Truesilver said:
Finally, I've met someone who likes the fourth movie as much as I do.

It was a refreshing change from the dynamics of the first three. There were certainly things I would have written differently, but it was refreshing nevertheless.
And yeah, the fifth one was the worst for me as well. They really screwed up Jack's character. Henry and Carina weren't too bad, and Salazar was...well, he wasn't really any better or worse than Blackbeard. Both were underwhelming villains. And Will and Elizabeth deserved more than just small cameos. They were the main characters of the original three. Not to mention that it created continuity errors...

1. Curse of the Black Pearl
2. On Stranger Tides
3. Dead Man's Chest
4. At World's End
5. Dead Men Tell No Tales

Nothing beats the original though.
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I was absolutely fascinated by how much I loved the setting change for #4, so much so that it took 2nd on my place list.

Having seen movie 5 almost immediately after it came out in one of the nicer theatres with recliners, it was comfortable but not a terribly awe-inducing movie.

Salazar's earnestness when he first meets Henry, saying, "Could you do that for me? Please?" shocked me in how...well...amusing it was.

Yeah, the 1st movie especially, I believe, has the best instrument choices.
I couldn't describe them as I'm not a band-person, but there's two instruments that don't appear in the other movies:

One is a light one that you hear fairly often that softly goes: "Tick tick tick tick tick tick tick..."
Another is a sort of wind-based instrument that you hear during the opening cutscene while Elizabeth is looking out at the wreckage.

I honestly miss Beckett as a character.
 
Marshal Soult said:
I was absolutely fascinated by how much I loved the setting change for #4, so much so that it took 2nd on my place list.

Having seen movie 5 almost immediately after it came out in one of the nicer theatres with recliners, it was comfortable but not a terribly awe-inducing movie.

Salazar's earnestness when he first meets Henry, saying, "Could you do that for me? Please?" shocked me in how...well...amusing it was.

Yeah, the 1st movie especially, I believe, has the best instrument choices.
I couldn't describe them as I'm not a band-person, but there's two instruments that don't appear in the other movies:

One is a light one that you hear fairly often that softly goes: "Tick tick tick tick tick tick tick..."
Another is a sort of wind-based instrument that you hear during the opening cutscene while Elizabeth is looking out at the wreckage.

I honestly miss Beckett as a character.
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Do you mean the ticking heard in these parts of the score?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfugOLV0VFE&list=PLDmdF1ma6cZqsxAkv4ALWWl2xG94D5Lrd&index=8

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuKM0epWb5U


Yeah, they don't really bring that sound back for any of the other movies. I like that sound as well. Part of it, I believe, is due to the fact that Klaus Badelt worked with Hans Zimmer for the first movie's score, whereas Zimmer worked alone for the succeeding two.

I enjoyed On Stranger Tides' score, though it recycled much of the music heard in the other movies. I really appreciated the addition of the Spanish guitars from Rodrigo y Gabriela. "South of Heaven's Chanting Mermaids" is one mesmerizing piece of music.

The fifth movie had a slightly more original score than the fourth's, although not by much, and Hans Zimmer didn't compose the music for that movie, either, so that's also perhaps why it sounds slightly different from the previous three.
 
Captain Jack Truesilver said:
Do you mean the ticking heard in these parts of the score?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfugOLV0VFE&list=PLDmdF1ma6cZqsxAkv4ALWWl2xG94D5Lrd&index=8

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuKM0epWb5U


Yeah, they don't really bring that sound back for any of the other movies. I like that sound as well. Part of it, I believe, is due to the fact that Klaus Badelt worked with Hans Zimmer for the first movie's score, whereas Zimmer worked alone for the succeeding two.

I enjoyed On Stranger Tides' score, though it recycled much of the music heard in the other movies. I really appreciated the addition of the Spanish guitars from Rodrigo y Gabriela. "South of Heaven's Chanting Mermaids" is one mesmerizing piece of music.

The fifth movie had a slightly more original score than the fourth's, although not by much, and Hans Zimmer didn't compose the music for that movie, either, so that's also perhaps why it sounds slightly different from the previous three.
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Yes! Yes! You got it! At 0:22 on the first video!

I can't tell you how overjoyed that makes me.

And the other instrument is the one you hear literally 2 seconds into this one:

DMC and AWE seem to have much more "Epic" styled music as opposed to CTBP's more generally light-hearted soundtrack.
 
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