Character Eights – Page 2 – Enneagram and Encaustic

CERSEI LANNISTER (BOOK), EIGHT

She’s insightful, but is it a natural diplomacy or is it keen self-preservation? She sends Joffrey to a frightened Sansa (on the trip south), which is exactly the right thing to do at that moment. It’s a kind and attentive act. It also stops a potential scene. It stills the waters. Impressive, but what underlies it?

When Arya is held to account for her attack on Joffrey, Cersei is determined. She knows all the angles to get some kind of justice, or revenge, for the sake of her son. It’s as if she’s followed all the branchings in her mind, all the permutations of reactions, and decided what to do in response. Either that, or she’s incredibly quick-witted. She has an iron discipline.

Ned confronts her in the godswood. She’s so calm, so straightforward! She doesn’t flinch or dissemble. Whoa! She had an abortion rather than bear Robert’s child. That’s different from the story TV Cersei tells Catelyn. She hates Baratheon. Quite a choice by the showrunners to make Cersei . . . more likable? Weird. Robert called her Lyanna on their wedding night. Another moment when the ghost changed his life and he didn’t even know it.

And Cersei makes a pass at Ned! An orgasm for a favor, for forgetting who fathered the children. When he tells her to flee, that Robert will chase her with his wrath, she asks, “And what of my wrath?” To underestimate Cersei, to not see her as a power broker, is a fatal mistake.

Only Tyrion can annoy her enough to make stupid mistakes. Or is Tyrion the only one who looks closely enough to see them? What is she?

She acts from her gut. Her heart and her head don’t hold sway. She’s too manipulative to be a Nine and too dull to be a One. An Eight, then. Hmm. It would explain why she and Tyrion rub each other wrong: they are each other’s strength and weakness number. As much as I love Lena Headey I wouldn’t have cast her as this Cersei. She’s playing (and is written to be), probably, a Four. A true Eight portrayal would’ve been magnificent.

AMALIA TRUE, EIGHT

She’s an absolutely marvelous character with a lot of mysteries to her. Who was she before? Why was she drowning herself? Is she really a widow? How did she learn to fight so well?

That’s our first clue to her Enneagram. She’s very physical. Although she obviously has a sharp mind, Amalia really likes to hit things. She’s also very quick to react. The immediate assumption is she’s an Eight.

Her blunt speaking — truths about herself and others don’t intimidate her — suggests an Eight. She only tells secrets that are hers to tell, and only if she wants to, but embarrassment won’t hold her back.

Her detective work is excellent and she is a loyal friend. Her impulse to action, though, is what defines her. In episode four we learn a little more about why she is this way (no spoilers). A lot more unravelling lies ahead for Mrs. True. If I call her Enneagram now there’s a high possibility it will change with more information. However, Laura Donnelly is killing it in this role, and I must speak about her now. This show deserves eyeballs.

UPDATE: Episode five, sadly, shows that the writers have no idea of the marvel they’ve created. No shade to Donnelly, who is masterful, but Amalia has lost her core. I am done watching and am hesitant to recommend any of it.

KHAL DROGO (BOOK), EIGHT

He’s even less defined here than in the show. He’s powerful, he’s barbaric, and he has affection for Dany. He’s learning the Common Tongue. In a way he’s like Baratheon: we’re all waiting for him to die so that the true leader can come forth. He doesn’t seem vulnerable as Robert does, but he also has less character development. You don’t give so little time to someone who has meaning to the story.

However, we explicitly get the detail multiple times that his long hair has never been cut because he has never known defeat in battle. A naturally gifted warrior is probably an Eight or Nine.

Drogo also gives the speech about conquering the Iron Throne after the poison attempt on Dany. The written words have none of the energy Momoa brings, with his fusion of character and Maori Haka. It’s one of the few times the show is better than the book.

Unlike the TV series, where Drogo is wounded in an argument, here he is cut in battle. He has sent the healers to help the other injured men, as a good leader would. Dany intervenes when she sees his pain and calls the healers back. Instead, though, Mirri the Maegi offers her services. Whatever is in her poultice, he rips it off after six days. It itched and burned. Is that good? Now he has a soothing mud plaster and poppy wine that he drinks heavily. Flies are following him.

After he falls from his horse, Mirri is called. It seems that the poultice was true. Why would someone so very strong, someone who must have been injured before, shy from healing? Ah, because it was delivered by someone he didn’t trust. Eight. His paranoia and aversion to mysterious healing is the tell. Eights, the strongest of the strong, are vulnerable when it comes to understanding sickness.

ROBERT BARATHEON (BOOK), EIGHT

Robert carries all his grief over Lyanna, all his sense of hurt and injustice, as an excuse to do as he pleases. If she had lived, he could have been a better man, or at least so he tells himself. But because he’s been harmed he has license to live freely.

The Sellsword King. That’s his dream. He loves the fight and hates the crown he won with it. Only the thought of Joffrey as king stops him from haring off.

“Defiance was not a dish he tasted often.” Why is Robert so insistent on killing Daenerys, even against the counsel of his friend and Hand? He hates being king, yet he’ll fight to stay. He hates the Targaryens even more. What a tragic figure. Lyanna’s death, and his understanding of their relationship, drives him in unconscious ways. Ned, sworn to secrecy, never feels responsible for letting his friend continue on like this. However, Ned also knows that Lyanna never seriously considered Robert as a true prospective husband. She says that love “can never change a man’s nature”, and Robert’s nature is to sleep around. Denial, if not defiance, was something he rarely experienced even before he was king.

As in the show, Robert backhands Cersei and regrets it after. He uses the oldest excuse — “you see what she does to me” — of blaming the struck for getting hit. It’s funny, I always liked Robert but he’s quite despicable. If he can’t beat on something he has no idea what to do. Fighting, winning the kingdom, were his destiny. He’s a terrible king, though, and a rotten husband. Sometimes he’s Ned’s good friend and sometimes he’s confused by his role as king and leaves Ned to twist. This is a character written to die. His conflict can’t be resolved.

Before becoming king Robert was like a warrior god: tall, muscled, wielding the warhammer and wearing an antlered helm that made him tower over others. Robert’s last act, his stand against the boar, is described as another physical feat. His custom is to plant himself and curse at the boar, thrusting for the kill at the last moment. These are the actions of a Body Type. He’s too imposing to be a One, so we’re looking at an Eight or Nine.

He loves the fight too much to be a Nine. As an Eight, he would impress people that he could be their leader, that he would make a good king. They would be wrong.

BATMAN (2012), EIGHT

The Dark Knight Rises is the third part of the Nolan trilogy. This Batman character has an arc, so we will find an Enneagram here (as opposed to part two).

At the beginning of the movie Batman is retired, hobbled, and reclusive. He’s just Bruce Wayne. The plot draws him out. He seeks prosthetic support for his knee and returns to training. He is initially defeated by Bane and must triumphantly overcome.

It’s fairly cliche.

Is Batman still an Eight?

Physically, he’s dogged. He takes a beating and comes back for more. His sense of justice is also unflagging. Batman’s one consistency in the Nolan years is his insistence on saving Gotham. The city is his child and he is its protector.

His anger and how it fuels him is Eight-ish. I’m concerned, though, that he never shows that irreverent humor an Eight has. He never shows any humor. Eights have a sardonic wit and a brutal honesty that I’m just not seeing.

I think they’ve kept Batman an Eight, but only half an Eight. He’s physical and indestructible, a gamer’s tank. However, Batman’s cynicism, melancholy, and loneliness, and how they manifest in his dark humor, are also canon. The Nolan years have lost this side of him. My rewatch of these three movies has surprised me. I’m not a fan anymore. Half a Batman makes for a stodgy, ponderous slog.

BATMAN (2005), EIGHT

Batman Begins is an origin story that I remember really liking when it was released. Christian Bale brings a great physical presence to the character. Director Nolan treats the comic-book world with gritty realism.

What does this interpretation bring to a Batman Enneagram, and what are the constant characteristics for Batman across all iterations?

Here are the basic facts: a rich man devotes his time and resources on training as an uber-martial artist. This speaks to a level of obsession. He’s loyal to his family, including the butler. He’s not particularly romantic or social. No dogs! He’s mostly honest, and he’s not a killer.

So, our generic Batman is no Heart Type. He’s charitable, but he doesn’t really need people in an emotional sense. The odds are he’s a Body Type. Anyone can combat train, but his dedication speaks of a larger connection to the physical. He seeks conflict and doesn’t shy from aggression. I think we’re looking at an Eight.

Does Bale’s Batman deviate from that pattern?

Wayne’s anger leads him to the edge of society. At the start of the movie he’s in prison somewhere in the cold parts of Asia. He has no interest in or connection to socializing. Alfred has to drag him to a party. He has his loyal core team — Fox, Rachel, Gordon — and that’s it. The job of being Batman is everything.

He really sticks to the traditional Batman build.

He likes living in the middle of the heat. No flinching from the dirty work. Eight.

LYDIA BENNET, EIGHT

Is she an Eight? That’s what immediately pops in my head.

She’s so outspoken. Social embarrassment and decorum are not part of her character. In Austen’s world this makes Lydia clownish and prone to ruin. In our world she might be hailed as a confident woman, even an iconoclast. I can see an Eight fitting into either description, depending on the context.

Obviously she’s physical. She loves to dance. Austen presents this as part of Lydia’s boychasing, shallow temperament, but what if she’s just a Body Type who enjoys movement? I can imagine that an Eight, especially the baby of the family who’s been spoiled, would have a hard time meshing with the strictures of Austen’s Regency society.

Lydia’s the hero of her own story. To her delight she moves into society at a young age, finds many dances and beaux, travels away from home with a dear friend, and meets her future husband after much adventure. It’s very Eight-ish to be oblivious to the worries of rules-oriented people (such as her sister Elizabeth, the Six).

She loves her dear Wickham. He’s charming, witty, and handsome. For someone as cognizant of social rules as Wickham, though, Lydia must be a painful companion. Her vivacity will only go so far. When Austen linked them together, I believe she was punishing Wickham in devious ways. He grew up on Pemberley, associating with lordly people. For him, to be forever tied to Lydia — whose freshness would not be welcome in that era — is a come-down.

YUKON CORNELIUS, EIGHT

The tongue, right? Tasting his thrown axe for that sweet gold ore.

He’s so jolly! (Hey, Skinny Santa, this is how you do it.) His little doggos and his cheer, his adventurous spirit and his easygoing acceptance — who doesn’t love Yukon? He’s a little bit of a mentor, a wise man, for Rudolph and Hermey. He’s a loner, after all, and he knows how to find peace and contentment in the wild.

Who is this bearded Mountain Man?

He has gadgets and friends, a sled loaded with paraphernalia, and an open and welcoming personality. Society is an odd match for him — square peg, round hole — and his heart, when given, is 100% yours. Two?

No, wait! He’s an Eight (who moves to Two in strength). Look at that robust torso! He’s so aggressive and confident around the Abominable. And who else would tame the beast? Too funny. Only an Eight would create a very Humble Bumble.

Didn’t you just love him when you were a child? He’s brash and comfortable. But that tongue thing — and somehow tasting weird things is an Eight quality, who knew? — was always a little too far.

JACK SKELLINGTON, EIGHT

Pure energy. He’s exhausting! Restless, he loves new ideas and new stimulus. When he finds the holiday doors and goes to Christmas Town he becomes obsessed with enacting his plan.

And he’s a little dense about what the holiday means. It’s all observed through his Halloween lens. He’s willing to learn and try new things, but he’s also entrenched in his own experiences. It takes the whole movie to break him out of his mindset. Which number powers forward, and reassesses afterward?

Completely lanky, his physique is probably not an indicator of his Enneagram number. He’s a skeleton. His design dictates his look. He’s very robust and active, though. That’s a true clue about him. His physical expressiveness is extreme.

I want to say a Seven because of his curiosity, but we must consider a Body Type, too. He seems too cavalier about the financial details involved in hosting Halloween, so I’ll rule out a One. I’ll also say he’s not a Nine, who would appreciate the 364 days that aren’t Halloween. Changing the holiday is too much conflict.

An Eight? His gusto for playing Santa could go either Seven or Eight. Also his scientific exploration of Christmas, his formulas and experiments, could indicate either number. The same for that confident bullheaded quality.

It’s his confrontation with Oogie Boogie that makes him an Eight. He goes right in, relying on physicality and bossiness to defeat the villain. A Seven would’ve created a plan.

ANNA VALERIOUS, EIGHT

She’s so brave and beautiful. And she can run like a boss in high-heeled boots! My favorite thing about Anna? She has a clear goal that she pursues relentlessly and achieves at the end. Who has that kind of perseverance?

Like Van Helsing, Anna has huge stunts and big action pieces. Body Type? I really can’t see a Nine being so driven. Probably an Eight. When the vampire wives corner her Anna is afraid but she’s still going to fight rather than wilt. Her first instinct is always to go aggressive when in doubt.

She is a kind of superhero, and Hollywood stories tend to make women the Eight in these cases. That willingness to fight when the physical odds are always against you is the key trait. In Anna’s case they’ve married her strength with a determined will. Her Eight-ness suffuses her character, which is wonderful. “I want to kill Dracula in order to save my family from eternal damnation” is one of the great action phrases an actor can play. Simple, clean, moving.

She might be my top Woman Eight. I’ll have to check!