Category: Character Sevens

Written sketches of movie and story characters, tracing their Enneagram personality numbers.

CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW, SEVEN

I’m almost afraid to take a look at him! What Enneagram number could this odd creature possibly be?

Well, he’s cool under pressure. He’s constantly thinking chess moves ahead in order to get himself out of trouble, but he’s also calm and unhurried while he’s doing so. The Brethren Court, Davy Jones’ heart — Jack has a finger in all of the pies.

Head Type?

Although Jack is competent at swordplay, he doesn’t really seem like a Body Type. He’s learned and practiced enough to get through pirate world alive. Nothing more.

Heart? Not really. Feelings are secondary to the objective with Jack. Also, he’s not particularly envious. Whatever he feels, he knocks it back with rum and rolls on.

Not a Five. Too lively. Not a Six. Too laid back.

Seven it is.  Would take the Black Pearl over the Flying Dutchman every time.

SHERLOCK HOLMES, SEVEN

I haven’t read much of the original stories. My knowledge of Sherlock comes from movies and TV. Doesn’t he seem like an Enneagram Seven, though?

He really must be a Head Type. I just can’t see any way that the world’s most famous case-solver isn’t.

That means Holmes is a Five, Six, or Seven.

A Five is deeply observational. That’s very Holmesian. And a Six is so focused on right and wrong. That’s also very Holmesian. If we look only at Sherlock’s detective work, we may never identify his Enneagram number.

However, what about the cocaine and morphine? A Six would worry too much about side effects, and a Five wouldn’t be interested in clouding the brain to that degree. A Seven, though? For a Man Seven, this is his wheelhouse. Multi-tasking, dabbling in the arcane, fiddling and dosing, Seven Men want it all, and they’re one of the only numbers who can survive and almost thrive through the process.

If Holmes is a Seven, then the best actor to portray him is Robert Downey, Jr. He’s medium height, power in the legs, and convincingly plays that joie de vivre. Whatever his real life number, he’s well-suited to play a Seven.