Category: Character Stories

HERMIONE GRANGER, SIX

A stickler for the rules and the boundaries of right and wrong. Organized and prepared. Willing to champion a cause and brave enough to lead others in it.

Is Hermione a Six, or is she a One?

These two numbers are very similar. Build-wise, women are slight, possibly wiry, and not tall. Both numbers have quick wits and sharp tongues. Hermione’s bookishness could point more clearly toward Six, a Head Type, but Ones also enjoy sharing knowledge and insight.

However, a One is a Body Type, and that leads us to the definitive answer.

If Hermione were a One, she’d play quidditch. 

Her disinterest in the game (or lack of physical prowess in it) makes her a Six.

HARRY POTTER, NINE

It quickly becomes clear when studying character Enneagrams that a disproportionate number of protagonists, especially male ones, are Nines. It starts to get a little tedious, actually, to always say, “Oh, look, a Nine again.”

Harry’s a Nine.

Man Nines come in two shapes: extremely heroic, muscular, tall, athletic (you can see why writers would favor a Nine protagonist); and lean, medium-height, and quite prone to wear a beard.

Yeah, that seems strangely specific, but it is a consistent observation.

Harry is the latter. (Minus the beard, of course. If he were to ever be portrayed as a man, the characterization wouldn’t be quite accurate if they left off the beard.)

His ability as a Seeker suggests Body Type. His diplomatic friendship with everyone except his most hated enemies is Nine-ish. His passive nature through his younger years at the Dursleys is classic Nine-avoidance of conflict. And his heroism — he doesn’t particularly agonize or fret, he just steps up — have that placid Nine confidence.

Nines are very likable, which makes them so suitable as a main character. They can veer off into boring, though, so keep a tight leash on your writing. Don’t get them started on an anecdote; they’ll talk forever.

MARILLA CUTHBERT, EIGHT

Family usually have some kind of relationship between their Enneagram numbers. Because Matthew is a Five, Marilla’s Enneagram will either be in the strength-weakness number relationship, or in a Head Type adjacent number.

A Five in strength moves to Eight, and an Eight in weakness moves to Five. These siblings have a great dynamic, a great partnership even, because Marilla is an Eight.

No matter how genteel Marilla plays it, you know she wants to take Rachel Lynde’s head off sometimes. Very Eight. Her firmness in disciplining Anne is Eight-ish. Pleas for mercy are not effective on an Eight, and they don’t move Marilla. She’s a hard nut to crack, and when I read the novel as a child her character was very unsympathetic to me. Only later did I appreciate her no-nonsense pragmatism.

Marilla enters very reluctantly into a relationship with Anne, but once she’s in she will defend Anne to the death.

MATTHEW CUTHBERT, FIVE

Matthew is a drop-dead classic Man Five.

His gentleness, his shyness, his observational attention to Anne, and his abhorrence of socializing, are all Five traits. He is steady, quiet, and loyal. Five.

He’s also awkward, boring, and invisible. Five.

In one version of Anne of Green Gables Richard Farnsworth plays Matthew’s Five-ness perfectly. He is the exact lovable mix of qualities. However, the actor is built nothing like Men Fives, who are tall and sometimes gangly, lean, or rangy. Physically, a Man Five is quite similar to a Man Four. The personalities are diametrically opposed, of course, but on first glance they are hard to differentiate.

It just goes to show that an actor’s Enneagram number will not restrict their ability to convincingly play a character’s Enneagram number. I like that.

ANNE SHIRLEY, FOUR

Maybe I’m being too hasty, but doesn’t Anne of Green Gables seem like she must be an Enneagram Four?

She feels everything so very deeply. Drama, glory, beauty, vengeance — they’re all peak emotions for her. Gilbert teases her, and she’ll never forgive him. Diana is her friend, but they must be inseparable bosom buddies. If Marilla and Matthew don’t keep her, she’ll absolutely die. The color of her hair is a lifelong sorrow.

Also, she has the resigned Four way of dealing with pain. Her prior foster family is abusive and cruel. Anne knows this, yet when she talks about them she speaks matter-of-factly. While most of us cherish the highs and disdain the lows, Fours know life is a 50/50 prospect. Tragedy happens. Don’t make more of it than it deserves.

Anne is actually a great Four. Her envy-driven competitiveness at school leads her to outstanding accomplishments. Her stubborn attachment to feelings leads to Matthew’s loyalty and Marilla’s agreement to keep Anne, even though it goes against everything she’d planned. And Anne’s mishaps, which make for engaging storytelling, arise from weaknesses that can become her strengths.

Makes me want to re-read something I haven’t visited in decades.

OZ COMPANIONS, NULL

Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion aren’t really individuals with Enneagram numbers, they’re archetypes. Head Type, respectively, Heart, and Body.

If I were trying to describe the general idea of the personality Enneagram to children, what better reference to use than the Oz books?

Scarecrow is torn apart by the flying monkeys. His body is destroyed. A Head Type will value reason and ideas over physical capability. He’s not heartless — he loves Dorothy — but the heart for a Head Type is more a biological part rather than an emotional center.

TIn Man is strong and probably the best fighter (until Lion finds his peace), yet he hardly credits it. Emotion, love, feelings are what matters most to a Heart Type. When he can’t feel, because his heart is missing, he is incomplete and in turmoil.

Cowardly Lion is hyper-emotional. Fear drives him. He’s unbelievably strong, yet feelings keep him from remembering that. It’s only when no other companion has the capability — in the book Lion must jump them across a ravine, iirc — that he taps into his power. A Body Type is disoriented if they can’t (or don’t) use their physicality.

Each one believes he can’t do the one thing he’s good at.

The joke is that Scarecrow, who says he’s brainless, is actually smart. Tin Man is emotional and Lion is physical, despite their objections. It’s not as clear in the movie as it is in the book, but each does something that refutes their claim to failure. And the Wizard, knowing that each possesses his desired trait already, gives them some bogus gift that acts as a placebo.

It’s a good little lesson about having faith and trust in yourself.

DOROTHY GALE, THREE

I’m thinking specifically of the Judy Garland version. In the books Dorothy is too young for me to discern an Enneagram number for her. Judy was also technically a child, but I think she’s old enough for us to make some decisions about her.

My own book opened with a storytelling Enneagram breakdown of The Wizard of Oz. I remember being particularly struck by Toto’s trespassing as an action that started everything. And Toto, the dog, is going to do whatever Dorothy, the master, allows. Why would Dorothy allow Toto to go into Miss Gulch’s flowers?

Not a rule follower. Not particularly impressed with authority. Or, simply careless. Distracted.

Which means Dorothy is not a Six. Not a One.

Even though Oz is an unknown place, Dorothy confronts it bravely and immediately opens herself to the kind people who live there. Not a Five.

Possibly a Seven. Possibly an Eight. Heart Type possible.

When told to retrieve the Witch’s broom, she sets off. Not a Nine. (Professor Marvel is the Nine!)

A lot of choices left. Is there something from the movie that can pinpoint Dorothy’s number? When Dorothy is denied entrance to see the Wizard, she cries. An Eight would’ve confronted the door; a Seven would’ve devised a way around. So, Heart Type.

Let’s go back to the beginning. Toto. When Miss Gulch demands restitution for Toto’s trespassing, Dorothy takes no blame. Instead, she cries, “You wicked old witch!”

Ah. Three. Beloved by everybody, able to solve problems and save the day, refuses to admit when they’re wrong.

T2’S JOHN CONNOR, SIX

A child, even a teenaged one, can be difficult to pinpoint on the Enneagram scale, partly because they are physically undeveloped. What does this character tell us?

He’s a rebel. He doesn’t function well in foster care.

Regardless of that, he cares deeply about people in his life, including the foster parents. He wants no harm to come to them.

He wants no harm to come to anyone. He stops the Terminator from killing random strangers. John’s ethic of life is very strong, even though he can’t fully explain why.

He rescues his mom, even though logic says this is a dangerous choice.

This deeply ingrained sense of right and wrong, and the determination to follow it no matter what, says Six. If you think of John Connor, leader of humanity’s survival, in the future, Six-ness suits him. The level of belief, conviction, and authority a Six carries are what people will need when life hangs by a thread.

Also, the Six paranoia is probably what will lead him to keep dogs as cyborg sniffers.

T2’S SARAH CONNOR, FIVE

She’s the same number as she was in the first Terminator, but Sarah Connor now exhibits different traits of the Enneagram Five.

The workout. You might think she’s a Body Type because of her exercise regimen in the psych hospital, but she’s not. Fives appreciate the order and control of a physical program. Dance, martial arts, cross country running — these are all activities a Five loves without ever necessarily excelling at them. Sarah has that same physical dedication. It keeps her sane. But she’s not a great athlete.

The lack of sentimentality. Her beloved son rescues her and she’s angry. He can’t put himself in danger, not even for her. He thinks she’s hugging him but she’s only checking his body for wounds. Fives are in a constant battle of hating public displays of affection while wanting to connect and be close with others. It comes off as coldness and austerity.

Her ruthlessness. In order for a Five to be as badass as Sarah Connor parts of her personality must shut down. Fives can slide to Eight in strength, but they can’t live in the superhero realm comfortably the way a true Eight could. Sarah almost kills Miles Dyson because she’s closed off feelings that would’ve crushed her Mother of the Future Hero plan. She can be vulnerable or she can be iron; she just can’t be both simultaneously.

T1’S SARAH CONNOR, FIVE

Five Women are physically average in every way. Medium height, medium weight, medium pretty. With nothing to distinguish them they fade into the background.

For Sarah Connor, that’s the point.

You make Sarah an Enneagram Five because you want the audience and the characters to see no reason this person should be targeted for termination. It’s brilliant. Why her?

A Five is also someone who would believe a wildly improbable tale. A cyborg from the future? Pff. Because of their observational skills, Fives would put the clues together and accept the preposterous, and even change their life to suit the new reality.

In real life Five Women are often the teachers and church volunteers and PTA mothers. They quietly run society. When Sarah accepts the mantle of Mother of the Future Hero, she’s only fulfilling this Five-ish role.