Category: Character Enneagrams

FRANK CROSS, THREE

Well, this is a portrayal for the ages. Every miserly instinct is here, and yet our Scrooge is sympathetic, too. It’s not easy to write, direct, and act such an update to a beloved story. Scrooged has become a classic in its own right.

Should we look at younger Frank, working diligently during the office Christmas party? What about Frank in the Frisbee costume? His ambition makes him surly to Claire, and he doesn’t even recognize she’s suggesting a separation. In the present day, he sends his only brother a towel rather than the VHS. He has no life, and never had one. Remember when Christmas Past teases him about the TV shows that Frank mistakes for real life moments?

A hard worker. An Envy person, judging by his reaction to Brice Cummings, the LA sleaze trying to replace him.

We’re looking at a dark Three. He’s always known where his interests and talents lie. He’s let his personal life become small and mean, which reflects into his business life, but no one doubts his competency. This is how, at the climax, he can step into a live broadcast without timidity and dominate an improvisational finale. He’s become the light Three, loved and admired by everyone.

CLAIRE PHILLIPS, TWO

This is the Isabelle, the lost fiancee, of Scrooged, played by the blindingly appealing Karen Allen. In this version, though, Scrooge gets the girl after all.

Claire is absolutely a Heart Type. Her work at the outreach shelter is very giving, very charitable. It’s more than a job for her. These are her core beliefs.

A Two, of course.

Her beauty is part of that. Claire is portrayed as the sweetest woman on the planet. This is a role that could’ve become only a stereotype or a Null. Allen, with her trusting expression, makes Claire a Two. In the Christmas Future nightmare, Claire is cold and cruel, the opposite of her character. When Allen closes off her openness and vulnerability, Claire becomes an anti-Two. It’s a consistent performance.

GRACE COOLEY, THREE

This is the Cratchit of Scrooged. She is a loyal employee; quitting is never suggested, even though her boss treats her terribly. A widow, she is the sole breadwinner of a large family. Her Tiny Tim isn’t physically endangered, but mentally. The trauma of his father’s death has turned him mute. And she is as cheerful and optimistic in the face of all this as the original Bob.

Efficient, uncomplaining, and caring. What Enneagram is Grace?

She’s shown doing nothing physical, so let’s assume she’s not a Body Type. I think we want to go with Heart. Although she performs her duty, she’s sympathetic to the firing of Eliot Loudermilk. She also ribs Cross a bit about his Christmas present list, towel vs. VCR. Her comfort with social skills suggests a Two, Three, or Four.

What about a Three? She’s liked by everyone, even her scrooge-y boss. She’s competent at work and manages a complicated family situation well. She’s indomitable, straightforward, and unintimidated. Yes.

JUDE LAW’S DR. WATSON, NINE

He’s a caretaker of Holmes, a bridge between reality and Sherlock’s head. Of course, a medical doctor would indeed always evaluate the state of their patient (even when he’s a friend). Does Watson go beyond a professional involvement, though? He can’t seem to stop saving Holmes.

Tidy, brave, prepared — Sherlock himself names these traits for Watson. He’s also courteous. When Holmes insults his fiancee, Watson restrains himself in a public restaurant with a lady. He approves of her wine toss in Sherlock’s face, and he later, when alone with him, punches Holmes in the nose. This Watson has a physicality controlled by good manners.

The two of them are like an old married couple, sniping and circling, knowing everything the other is thinking. Holmes is so erratic (these days we would say he’s on-spectrum) that Watson initially seems grounded and normal. 

He’s not, though! His co-dependency with Holmes is possible because they’re both strange men. Watson is just better at socially hiding it. What would he do if he couldn’t roll his eyes at Holmes? He’s able to pretend he’s a regular bloke by showing exasperation with Sherlock. This isn’t the traditional sidekick role. Law’s Watson is an actual character with separate motivations.

He’s a Nine. The competitive spirit between him and RDJ’s Holmes, a Seven, is appropriate for these numbers. And Watson is very much someone who thinks as a Body Type. He enjoys the intellectual pursuit with Sherlock, but he prefers his profession — tending to the physical — and clues that require him to interact with them. He is a Nine who pushes the edges of his Enneagram: a little bit daring and reckless, a little bit angry and injudicious. He hates himself for it, but luckily he can blame it all on Holmes.

ROBERT DOWNEY, JR.’S SHERLOCK HOLMES, SEVEN

One of my first character posts was a generic look at Sherlock Holmes. I’ve come a long way, lol. I assessed an unspecified Holmes as a Seven, and declared that RDJ would portray him well. Let’s dig in, though, and see what and who his Holmes is.

Downey’s Holmes really does dabble in it all. The drugs, the violin-plunking, the pugilism, the chaos — his Holmes tries everything. He even conducts, for research, a satanic ritual. Sometimes he envisions events many steps into the future, like his boxing technique, and sometimes he has to experience something to deduce it.

He’s brave. Indomitable and fearless, really. He’s either supremely confident or a lucky fool. He’s a mediocre friend to Watson. Loyal, yes, but selfish.

Not a One or Six. Rules are meaningless to him. Not a Two. All of that detective gear is too haphazard. Not a Five. He’s an intuitive thinker, not one to organize a problem. Not a Nine. He thrives on conflict.

So, we have Three, Four, Seven, or Eight remaining. Socially, he’s a fiasco. Not a Three or Four.

Seven. His fighting style comes from the head, not from the gut, as an Eight’s would. And I really like that Sherlock Holmes has an Enneagram type. I mean, we all knew he’d end up a Seven. The excessive edges of his personality and his success in that lifestyle are really only manageable by one number.

HENRY CAVILL’S SHERLOCK HOLMES, NINE

Now, I love Cavill. He’s a real-life gamer! But, lol, does he always play his characters as Nines? Geralt the Witcher, Superman, and now Sherlock. All of these heroes have a cool distance from the problems surrounding them.

In the first Enola Holmes movie, Sherlock makes only a few brief appearances. Obviously, he detects. He also involves himself in his sister’s life reluctantly. It’s not his business; Enola is Mycroft’s ward. When he does poke in, though, he meets a mind that thinks like his own.

In the second movie we see more of him. He’s inebriated in one scene, which is what we expect of Sherlock. We’re not shown why, or told of his drug/drink choice. Instead, it’s presented as normal: the dude had a night out. It’s not the debauchery we associate with him. It’s almost like a box is checked. 

Same for a brief moment when he lifts a violin.

Look, it’s not his story. It’s okay that Sherlock is only an outline of a known character. Everything we see, though, is not a Holmes who is a Seven. (That honor goes to Enola.) I mean, it’s a good choice. We don’t want carbon copies in the same show. And, it’s Henry Cavill busting the arm seams of a double-breasted frock coat! He can steal the scene right out from under everyone if they don’t keep him in the background. The judicial detachment of a Nine is a wise Enneagram decision for this Holmes. We believe he’s competent, famous, and not the protagonist.

ENOLA HOLMES, SEVEN

Here’s the question: In Enola’s first movie, how much of her character can I attribute to her own Enneagram? Her mother’s training dominates her young life. She even says something about her purpose — what she was made for — is to fight. Does Enola relish fighting, or does she pursue fighting because her mother relishes it?

Like her brother, Sherlock, she has a mind that solves puzzles. Her mother exposed her to word games, but she is also naturally good at it. This is a trait that genuinely belongs to her.

She is not, however, natural at physical pursuits. She’s willing to try anything, but she wobbles on the bicycle and can’t initially master the jiujitsu takedown maneuver. The tennis she and her mother play is more about luck than skill. Although she’s very active, Enola doesn’t seem a Body Type.

In the second movie she leans into her detective skills. She’s brave, unintimidated, and socially comfortable in awkward situations. Her mother makes a brief appearance (as a small-scale terrorist, actually), but doesn’t drive Enola’s behavior like she did in the first movie.

I’m tempted to say she’s a Seven. It’s very Holmesian to love the world of the mind, yet engage in so much of the physical and dangerous. Also, the showrunners and Cavill have made their Sherlock a not-Seven, which gives Enola breathing room.

At this point, Enola’s rebellions are her mother’s. I hope the series continues and we see Enola embrace her own countercultural instincts. As a Seven she should become more efficient, more focused, and more comfortable with her own beauty. Right now she manipulates her image to be more boy-like. When she matures, that will become less believable. A whole world of disguises awaits her, and the use of prosthetics is very Holmesian. I look forward to it!

BATES, NULL

If we’re going to talk about criminals, which I did with Baxter, then we’d better get to Bates. Actually, he commits no crime, but he does go to prison.

He’s difficult for me because his and Anna’s story is very soap opera. Like Sybil and Tom, some parts of their characters only exist to further plot tension. Finding the Enneagram requires extra digging.

He limps, the result of a war wound. Anyone can have an injury, but I want to say he’s a Body Type simply because he seems defined by it. I feel sure that the writers invented this character trait for dramatic purposes, but it becomes more than that. He spends one season using some newfangled corrective leg brace that tortures him. 

Eight? He can be impetuous and intemperate about his first wife, which leads him into trouble. Also, Anna refuses to confide in him about her rape because she fears he’ll kill the man.

However . . . in the later seasons the limp is only incidental. We forget about it and so do the storylines. Nothing else about Bates is particularly physical. Okay, look. He can’t be a Heart Type; he has no Envy. He’s no Head Type; the life of the mind never influences him. He’s obviously not a One. That only leaves Eight or Nine.

Wow, is Bates a Null? He’s a kind of Eight/Nine amalgam. Sometimes he’s volatile, sometimes he’s easygoing. Sometimes he’s reactive, and sometimes he’s measured. He takes on an awful lot of conflict for a Nine, yet he doesn’t have the vibrancy of an Eight. Holy cow. No wonder his character bugs me, even though I couldn’t put my finger on why. Interesting.

NELLIE LOVETT (1982), TWO

Will the real villain of Sweeney Todd please stand up, lol! He kills because he seeks revenge. What’s Mrs. Lovett’s excuse?

Angela Lansbury, with her expressive, heavily-lined eyes and her childish honeybun hairdo, fools us beautifully. Her humor, her game attitude, and her love for Sweeney distract us from how easily she participates in murdering and baking her customers. She’s such a great character, portrayed with so much exuberance.

So, what number can engage us so thoroughly that we look away from her moral chaos? I immediately go to Heart Type. Her gentleness with Toby, even though she expects Sweeney to kill him, comes naturally. She can’t help herself. Also, she obviously envies Sweeney’s wife and the love he still holds for her.

She’s no Three. The other pie shop woman who’s “popping pussies into pies” is more successful than her, lol. Two or Four? She’s even-keeled. She’s happy before she meets Sweeney, and happy afterward. Two, at least how Lansbury plays her. Depression doesn’t ever settle on her. This does make me curious, however, to see how other actors have portrayed Mrs. Lovett. Perhaps for next Halloween.