Category: Character Nulls

ALIEN COMPANIONS, NULL

Like the Wizard of Oz companions, the characters in the first Alien movie are more archetypes than individuals with Enneagrams. 

Dallas is the Diplomat, Lambert is the Nervous One, Brett is the Working Man, Parker is the Tough One, and Kane is the Sacrifice. Ripley, the Survivor, only becomes something more because James Cameron writes her into a sequel. He brilliantly takes her archetype and fleshes it into a true character.

This kind of storytelling — driven by atmosphere and feelings, plot and reveal — appeals to some people. Other people prefer that a protagonist’s arc provide the backbone. However, if you like the movie with archetypes, this one is a great one. The setting, the mise en scène, has become part of our cultural language.

Except for Ash, whom I will talk about in another post, this lovely film mostly bypasses the Enneagram personalities.

OZ COMPANIONS, NULL

Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion aren’t really individuals with Enneagram numbers, they’re archetypes. Head Type, respectively, Heart, and Body.

If I were trying to describe the general idea of the personality Enneagram to children, what better reference to use than the Oz books?

Scarecrow is torn apart by the flying monkeys. His body is destroyed. A Head Type will value reason and ideas over physical capability. He’s not heartless — he loves Dorothy — but the heart for a Head Type is more a biological part rather than an emotional center.

TIn Man is strong and probably the best fighter (until Lion finds his peace), yet he hardly credits it. Emotion, love, feelings are what matters most to a Heart Type. When he can’t feel, because his heart is missing, he is incomplete and in turmoil.

Cowardly Lion is hyper-emotional. Fear drives him. He’s unbelievably strong, yet feelings keep him from remembering that. It’s only when no other companion has the capability — in the book Lion must jump them across a ravine, iirc — that he taps into his power. A Body Type is disoriented if they can’t (or don’t) use their physicality.

Each one believes he can’t do the one thing he’s good at.

The joke is that Scarecrow, who says he’s brainless, is actually smart. Tin Man is emotional and Lion is physical, despite their objections. It’s not as clear in the movie as it is in the book, but each does something that refutes their claim to failure. And the Wizard, knowing that each possesses his desired trait already, gives them some bogus gift that acts as a placebo.

It’s a good little lesson about having faith and trust in yourself.