Character Sixes – Enneagram and Encaustic

WILLOW, SIX

Is it fair to call Willow (1988) a St. Patrick’s Day film? There’s nothing particularly Irish about it at first glance. However . . . The brownies are small and puckish, like leprechauns. Fairies flit about. The baby who plays Elora Danan wears a red wig. (Heh.) Something about the tone of the movie feels appropriate for the holiday. Well, that’s what I proclaim, and let us proceed accordingly.

Who is our eponymous hero, the young and earnest Willow?

He’s a family man, a farmer, with a dream to become a wizard’s apprentice. His children and his wife rescue a mysterious baby from the river. Although he’s worried, he accepts the change in his fate Elora brings. He’ll need to make a trip to protect her, leaving his family behind.

In the village, Willow doesn’t envy his fellows. He wants to be picked to study with the wizard, but he doesn’t begrudge the other contestants. He’s not a Heart Type.

He’s also not a Body Type. He will never be one of his village’s warriors. He goes on the mission to return Elora because of responsibility and compassion, not for any pursuit of adventure or activity.

He’s a Six. That commitment to right and wrong drives him forward. It’s how he can hector Madmartigan, a large foreigner in a cage, without thinking of his own safety. He disrupts the evil plans of Bavmorda, despite his fear, because he loves Elora. He strives to transmorph Fin Raziel not because he will learn magic from her, but because she will help the baby.

Willow is a man who does his duty, quietly tilling the land, while dreaming of a different career (which is likely to never materialize). Sixes hold a longing that breaks my heart.

Maybe that’s the reason it feels so Irish to me.

FRODO BAGGINS, SIX

As I was reviewing the second part of the “Adar” episode of The Rings of Power I inadvertently referenced Enneagram numbers for some beloved Tolkien characters. I was comparing Frodo and Sam to Nori and Poppy, a juxtaposition I believe the showrunners want us to make. Nori, especially, has the wide-eyed, trustful face that Frodo has before he’s given the Ring. They’re very different, though, and the comparison muddies Nori’s character. Nori is possibly a Three, or any of the other take-charge Enneagram numbers.

Frodo, on the other hand, is not your typical hero. He’s quiet and unathletic. He prefers a simple hobbit life and isn’t looking for adventures. Unlike Bilbo, who unexpectedly thrives after Gandalf knocks at his door, Frodo never changes. Who we see at the beginning of “Fellowship” is who we have at the end, with layers of suffering added on. Merry and Pippin step into the roles of soldiers; when they return to the Shire, those abilities and the desire to wield them continue. They’ve changed and arced. Frodo hasn’t. Frodo has diminished.

This is why I immediately jumped to Six in my “Adar” breakdown. Only the Trooper, a non-hero number, can take the torture Frodo sustains and continue onward. He will do his duty, even with the Wheel of Fire spinning in his mind and the Ring dragging him to the ground. He doesn’t just persevere because he’s a hobbit; it’s his Enneagram.

SWEENEY TODD (1982), SIX

He’s bloodthirsty and ruthless, but his desire for vengeance dominates any other characteristic. Judge Turpin and The Beadle must pay for the scheme they perpetrated: stealing his wife and falsely sending him off to prison. All the other deaths are incidental, people who cross his path while he waits for his two foes to come for a shave. He’s singularly focused, to the point where he can take human life without blinking, but once his mission is complete, he’s done. He’s not a good man, but his need for justice helps us tolerate his story.

He’s an excellent barber, lol. Does that say anything about his Enneagram? We see his meticulous preparation, sharpening the razor and smoothing the lather, and then — whisk! — the close shave is done. It’s very similar to his killing spree. This is someone who likes order.

A Six? (He’s too morose to be a One.) I could consider him a Two. A gentle soul when mistreated so badly could turn to darkness. However, he takes no pleasure in his razors as objects. “At last, my arm is complete again.” They’re not a Two’s collection; the shaving tools are part of his body, part of his identity.

The ability to justify evil actions is Six-ish. Once black has been determined to be white by a Six, they can move forward with a clear conscience. When his enemies are dead, Sweeney could, in theory, revert to a normal life. The story, however, delivers its own justice. Sweeney’s moral decisions lead him to kill someone precious to him, and, after one last act of vengeance, he ends up broken by it. It falls outside of his black-and-white universe, and he can’t resolve what he’s done. When he’s killed at the end of the play, everybody’s code is satisfied, even Sweeney’s.

MOLESLEY, SIX

If ever a character was pitiable and heroic at the same time! At first he’s a man in service looking to better his position. It seems like he’s good at it, too, but his personality is always awkward at putting himself forward.

Isn’t Molesley a Six? Need we delve further, lol?

He’s a worrier. He’s a forelock-puller (if he’d lived in an earlier era). He’s never going to be head butler. It isn’t until Baxter joins the household that we see the depth of his character. Before that, he seems more like a comedic foil for the downstairs plots. With Baxter, though, he shows the black-and-white moral code that Sixes do so well. He likes her romantically, but he also just stands by what is right, and his influence helps Baxter take back her life.

Can we say that The Fool is often a Six? Isn’t that interesting! Character tropes that may match up with the Enneagram! Molesley is most definitely a Fool archetype. And then, like every great Fool, he tells the truth when no one else will take the risk. After all, the Fool is one of the most heroic types in fiction. No one else is willing to annoy a king day in and out.

TOBEY MAGUIRE’S PETER PARKER, SIX

Maguire’s Spiderman is like a retriever who always brings the slimy tennis ball to drop in your lap. The dog is so cheerful, so proud, and so annoying. And if you shoo the dog away you’ll feel terrible because you broke its heart.

Maguire is the Pity Peter. He’s nice and he’s trying really hard to take down the villain. However, he went petty and nasty once and got his Uncle Ben killed. No amount of smiles will change that fact. Even Aunt May, after he confesses, has to leave the room and reorient her mind before she can look at him again. He’s so busy bringing the rancid dog toy back that MJ gives up on him and becomes engaged to someone else.

Lol, wow. Time has moved on and Peter, to me, has aged very poorly. I didn’t know I had such a harsh verdict within me!

You know what it is? I might hate the moment when Peter lets the robber leave. I mean, from a writing perspective. It’s not him. He’s so ingenuous at every other scene, so open and trusting and fair. The writers did him wrong here. He’s otherwise so vulnerable I want to say he’s a Two. That’s a mistake, though. Look at his brainy introversion! Peter is a Head Type; that’s why his spidey swings are so joyous. It’s nothing he’s ever experienced before or even knew he wanted. That’s also why — lol — he looks like he’s going to miss the next grab while he flails about.

He’s a Six. Rules, even rules about his own fear, are important. That’s another reason the robber scene is wrong. A Six wouldn’t break the rules, but he would cower. Overcoming his timidity would be a crucial step. Uncle Ben still dies, but it’s not because Peter was callous. A Six, someone stuck in his head, would never do that. The situation catches him by surprise and he fails. He chooses inaction and a default position of fear. It’s early in his career and he hasn’t embraced all that Spiderman can do. When we see this Peter again in No Way Home he’s mature, calm, and assured. It’s a great arc. However, it’s grounded in a man who lived in fear and overcame that weakness. It’s not based on a moment of petty revenge.

AGNES VAN RHIJN, SIX

The Gilded Age has become one of my delights. The series is engaging, the characters are true to themselves, and the costumes are jaw-dropping. Please try it if you haven’t yet.

On the Old Money side of the street we have Agnes. She is so firm, so determined, so confident in her ideas. Her snobbery towards New Money is unmovable.

Her compassion is very strict, too. She can spot “an adventurer” from a mile, and she’s always correct. For care of her family, she will cut the rogue to the bone. That her sister or her niece might prefer their illusions is something Agnes would disdain and ignore. Right is right, and the truth must be honored.

This is not a Heart Type, lol. This is a One or a Six. Rules are an iron bound box to her. We never see her step out for a stroll or a turn about the park, so probably not a Body Type. Also, she married a horrible man when she was younger in order to protect and support her family. This is a Trooper.

ROCKET, SIX

He loves practical jokes. An elaborate plan to break the team out of prison includes a request, straight-faced, for an artificial leg that has no purpose beyond being funny. What commitment!

He’s deeply insecure. Is that a trait intrinsic to his Enneagram, or is it a product of the abuse he’s suffered as a lab experiment? He’s a Head Type; an ingenious wizard in the body of a raccoon. Anybody would feel less-than under those circumstances.

Five, Six, or Seven? Well, hilariously, I immediately discount him as a Five because he’s so short. It’s not his fault! He’s a small animal!

He’s so dour he must be a Six. A Six can be very glass-half-empty, and that’s Rocket. Disaster is always around the corner for him. His love of Groot — a Nine if ever there was one — is also very Six. A Six moves to Nine in strength, and what raccoon wouldn’t dream of being a powerful tree, lol? Their partnership, I would suggest, is based in this Enneagram relationship.

Rocket is the darkest version of a Six possible, which is rooted in his lab-animal history, but we still get his cutting humor, his crafty intelligence, and his tender heart. Well done.

LADY JESSICA (2021), SIX

This movie doesn’t explain why Jessica chooses to birth a son rather than daughters as the Bene Gesserit expects. I remember the book, though. (I think, lol.) She loves Duke Leto and wants him to have a son (the patri-lineal monarchy), someone like him, and someone special (if he is indeed the Kwisatz Haderach). Family and love, mothering, are everything to her. This Jessica is very much played with this intention. Ferguson kills it, bringing so much depth to these emotions.

Like Paul, this Jessica is more emotional than the Lynchian counterpart. We see one brief fight moment where she rocks it, but otherwise she doesn’t seem enamoured of the physical realm. The Voice is her specialty, a kind of mind control. She’s going to be either Heart or Head.

I want to say Heart, partly because this Paul is a Four. They really feel like two people against the world, against any of the worlds. Beyond her depth of feeling, though, Jessica doesn’t give us much to work with. Any number can be a devoted mother. When she suggests that Paul needs to go off-world rather than finish the Atreides mission on Arrakis, however, she shows that the personal is more important to her than the political. This would also explain why she births a son, going against the Bene Gesserit plan.

And now I want to say a Six. It’s her sense of duty, of putting Paul in danger with the gom jabbar, even though it’s the last thing she wants to do. Her thinking is black and white: she’ll break the rules for a son, and then follow the rules for the Reverend Mother. Worry, more than any other emotion, consumes her. It’s the fear that Ferguson plays (despite the litany!) that leads me to Six.

ALINA STARKOV, SIX

If you are unfamiliar with the “Grishaverse”, I sympathize. Until I watched the Netflix show, and then deep-dived into the novels, I had never heard of this IP. The Crows, the underworld gang characters, are much easier to scan and appreciate. How they’re written in the books is basically how they’re played in the show. They’re clear and extremely enjoyable.

However, Alina, the protagonist of the Netflix series and of the Grisha plotline, is portrayed very differently in each work. Because we only have one season, talking about the show is difficult. The novel, though, is complete. We can look at this particular Alina and make some choices.

Throughout the Shadow and Bone trilogy, is Alina a consistent character? Can the changes to her be explained by her summoning power? I don’t particularly like Alina, and I’m curious why that is.

EDDARD STARK (TV), SIX

He’s honest and doomed. He gets all the best scenes: with Baratheon he mysteriously reflects on his dead sister and his own past, with Jon he mysteriously hints at the truth about Jon’s mother, with Cat he parts from her in King’s Landing in a sincere way that breaks your heart if you know what’s coming.

Of course he’s lovable. He brings Arya the dancing master. He takes responsibility with honor when trouble comes, executing Sansa’s direwolf himself as a creature of the North, of his people. And his insistence, regardless of the obvious danger, in pursuing the truth, in investigating Arryn’s death, is admirable. He’s so honest he doesn’t stand a chance.

He’s such a Six, the ultimate trooper. He takes honor and rides it into the ground. In prison Varys visits, trying to persuade him to bend the knee. What about the realm? What about your children? He says he must stick to what’s right. Joffrey is not the blood heir. The one thing Ned’s good at, being Robert’s friend, is ruined when he changes the king’s last official declaration.

Ned’s final moment is an awkward confession. I don’t believe his character would do this and we aren’t shown his decision moment that would explain this. It seems a manipulation, a heart pull on the audience, to trick us into thinking that Ned could eke out survival. Clumsy writing, though.

I’ll have more complete thoughts about Book Ned. During this re-watch/re-read I’ve grown to despise a character I used to admire. It’s been quite interesting.