Category: Enneagram

Posts related to the Enneagram Storytelling System and/or the personality typing of the Enneagram.

Mason and Salvation

After Elysion runs away and we kill the zombies, who should be left but Mason. He calls Salvation a “skulk of foxes”. I don’t think he’s playing a double game, but I’m not sure what his agenda is. Investigating evil? Is he the voice of the common man in a medieval world of princelings? He’s portrayed with a sinister edge, and I’m not sure what the developers had in mind with him.

Regardless, he has a captured acolyte and he expects me to deal with it.

(Me? Why me?)

The acolyte has “seen the two of us together”, which is apparently bad. The quest is murky, but basically I must decide to free this fellow or kill him. My Pawns say things like, “It’s your decision, Arisen,” and “We support you whatever you decide.”

Thanks, guys.

Meanwhile, the acolyte is trying to bribe me while saying he was just there for fun with this whole perdition thing. A LARPer, lol. I kill him.

It seems evident that Mason would’ve killed him if I didn’t, and now I’m someone who Mason can trust. I just wish the intention behind this scene had been clearer. I don’t even know what I’m risking!

DARBY O’GILL, TWO

The man who has truck with the wee folk. Don’t be puttin’ the come-hither on me, now. Who doesn’t want to watch this Disney classic and speak in fake Irish?

Darby is no con man. He genuinely can see and negotiate with the King of the Leprechauns. However, Darby is so intrigued by the fairy world that he seems like a flake. He doesn’t do much work, he’s too busy scheming for his three wishes. He procrastinates and socializes. The only time he jumps is when the priest needs someone to retrieve the church bell.

Ah, Darby is such a Two. His collection — an identifying feature of a Man Two — is leprechaun lore. His knowledge and sharing of it are what make him so beloved at the pub.

He has a kind heart but he’s no businessman. He putters, trimming the hedge here, poaching a rabbit there. Service to the Church, though, moves him. The notion that the music of the bell belongs to him makes him tear up. 

A fixture of the community, both human and fairy. Two.

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.

The Catacombs

We wend our way down, fighting skeletons and the undead. Until we arrive at the Gathering Hall this mission is just a straight-up dungeon.

When we’re close, though, we begin to overhear the Elysion. This is the high officiant, presumably, giving his sermon or lecture. It’s an incredibly dense speech, with ten cent words and a ranging philosophy.

Basically, the soul is incomplete in this world of the mortal coil. “Whence, then, is salvation?” Not in pleasure. Equilibrium comes from the dragon. Freedom from pain makes the soul complete. Fear distills the soul to its lofty character. You’re duty bound to cede your souls to it.

You get the idea.

A group of people in creepy robes end up . . . eaten? killed? . . . by the undead who rise from the dirt floor of the catacombs. And Elysion, laughing, escapes.

Is the dragon our main antagonist, or is this fellow?

Magic Archery

Before I can delve into the catacombs for the Salvation quest, I need to start a new vocation. As a Magic Archer I gain the ability to do this:

Hunting in the dark I can magically send arrows into multiple unseen enemies.

Also, when one is facing the undead, Holy Light is an important weapon. Level up once or twice, and the Magic Archer acquires an essential skill.

Magical Flare is light in a dark place, and one that can be shot to a distant corner where the creepiest enemies hide.

And now I’m ready for the catacombs.

BATMAN (2008), NULL

The second movie in Nolan’s trilogy is The Dark Knight, again with Bale. In the first story Batman is very traditional, very canon. Any changes here?

Well, for the first half of the movie Batman is nothing. He either only reacts or is characterless, just a warm body in the story. We have Heath Ledger’s performance as Joker, which steals all the oxygen, and we have Eckhart’s Harvey Dent/Two Face, which is quite good. Even Rachel, now played by Gyllenhaal, is mesmerizing. The limelight has no room for our titular hero. At this point I give him a Null Enneagram.

He has a bit of a run-in with Fox, who’s offended by Wayne’s use of the R&D department to develop an invasive sonic-based spyware. Batman flirts with a moral line in this movie, eventually landing on the side of honor. That’s his quandary, his conflict. Does the Joker — his nihilism and his malevolent genius — warrant breaking the code, taking human life, in order to defeat him? The answer is eventually no.

Any number can confront this problem. We’ve learned nothing new about Batman’s Enneagram here.

Ultimately, the story settles on sacrifice as its moral answer. Batman will take the blame, become the city’s scapegoat, in order to keep the memory of Dent clean and inspiring. It’s a very classical solution, and it’s Batman’s idea. Batman will assume the role of villain so that Dent can be a martyr.

Nope, I can’t get there. I can’t find a character in this version of the Bat. It’s hinted that he wants to be free of his alter ego, free of the responsibility of saving the city, and that he wants a chance with Rachel, but I don’t see him pursuing that desire. He’s not even really thwarted. Rachel is fridged. 

The movie is a mish-mosh and the hero is bland. The supporting work is outstanding and worth the time. And that’s that.

JELLYFISH JAM

ONE

The French narrator shows us Jellyfish Fields. But where is Spongebob?

TWO

He’s in a coral-encrusted ghillie suit shaped like a square. Heh. Safety goggles and his net ready, Spongebob slides closer and catches a jellyfish.

THREE

Tossing on a ten-gallon, fiddle music over, Spongebob “milks” the jellyfish onto a slice of bread.

Continue reading “JELLYFISH JAM”

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.

Death and Salvation

I can’t help myself. I must step into the Bitterblack DLC, just briefly, and experience the high-end fighting. Of course, I’ve cheated and taken two experienced pawns with me, so the danger is minimal. One of the monster-monsters shows himself long enough to intimidate us. Death is the trickiest boss in the game.

That’s us coming through the arch on the far right. At this point the strategy is literally RUN AWAY!

After this thrill, I return to the castle and turn in my completed Wyrm Hunt quest and take on the next. Investigate a cult, it says. Now I will dive into the Salvation mystery.

I’m told it’s a secret society that worships the dragon. They like the “perdition” it brings.

Mason has been asking questions about Salvation but no one will confide in him. As he says, he’s “cursed with a villain’s mien”. 

He’s not. I have his screen grab as evidence.

It’s my job to investigate. After asking around, I learn that the “gathering” will have a “high officiant presiding” and will be held in the catacombs. If that sounds creepy, it’s because it is.

Preparing to leave Gran Soren I hear the town crier: “Can this Arisen slay the dragon as our Lord Grace did?” Duke Edmun continues to reveal his backstory via dropped asides.

Also, no pressure lol.