John Locke (Lost): INFJ

Dominant Introverted Intuition [Ni]: Faith is very important to Locke. He can easily believe in that which he cannot see. He believes that he has a purpose, a destiny. While other people ridicule him, he is steadfast in his beliefs. The island is special. It isn’t just an island. Why can’t anybody else see that? Even though Locke doesn’t actually know what it is he’s supposed to do, he is certain that he’s meant for something. Locke is always on a quest that he pursues with relentless determination. Open the hatch. Push the button. Keep the people on the freighter from coming to the island. Get everyone to come back to the island. He pursues each and every goal with unwavering dedication. Locke can be very stubborn and when he has a goal, he won’t rest until he achieves it. He can easily speak in metaphor, and sometimes tells others stories that serve as allegories for what they’re actually experiencing.

Auxiliary Extroverted Feeling [Fe]: Locke is extremely in tune with the feelings of other people. When he wants to, he can harness this to be persuasive and diplomatic. Other times, his emotions get the better of him. Sometimes, when Locke feels that he needs someone to further his own goals, he can play on their emotions and manipulate them. Locke can motivate and inspire others when he wishes. When he addresses others in speeches, he speaks in terms of the larger group. “We” will do this and “we” will do that. Locke cares about other people’s opinions of him. He wants them to think that he knows what he’s doing. When he leads half of the group back to the barracks, he interrogates Sawyer about whether the others are saying about him. Are people regretting their decision to come along? Are they worried about what they should do next? One of his constant struggles is trying to get other people to believe him. His final words to Jack before his death were,“I wish you had believed me.” Locke wants to help people realize their full potential. He encourages Boone to break away from Shannon, as Locke believes that his preoccupation with her is holding him back. He tries to help Charlie with his drug addiction. He wants to teach Walt about how to survive in the jungle. When his Ni vision seemingly leads him nowhere, his Fe reacts strongly. After he fails to open the hatch and he loses Boone, his anger and frustration take over. Locke has a meltdown and begins screaming, crying, and banging on the hatch door. “I’ve done everything you wanted me to! So, why did you do this?! Why!” (Ni-Fe)

Tertiary Introverted Thinking [Ti]: Even though Locke takes a lot on faith, he can be quite rational. He doesn’t think out loud. When Locke decides to do something, he just does it, and doesn’t really care to explain what it is he’s actually doing. Locke doesn’t care about organizing his external world. He wants to understand it. He needs answers about the island. What is it? To everyone else, it’s just an island. Albeit, a very strange island, but not to Locke. He knows that it’s something much more than that. Locke looks beyond facts, data, and probability. He’s open-minded and has a very personalized system of logic, which can cause conflict with many of the other survivors, particularly Jack. Locke doesn’t just dive right into situations. He allows himself to mull things over until he can come up with the best approach.

Inferior Extroverted Sensing [Se]: Locke has made a point of being consciously alert in his surroundings. He has a very good grasp on his environment and knows how to engage with it. The outdoors stimulates him. He enjoys hunting, tracking animals, feeling the ground beneath his feet, feeling the rain on his skin, traipsing around the jungle… he loves it. He’s quick on his feet, coordinated, and has incredible aim. Though there are brief moments where Locke allows himself to live in the moment, it definitely isn’t the norm for him. Every action he takes is in service of a long-term goal. His mind is always on the future.

Enneagram: Okay, so I’m going to get out all of my thoughts here, because when it comes to Locke and enneagram, I have quite a few.If you go by the core fears of each type, he can appear like a 4 or a 5. Locke wants to be special and important, which aligns with 4. He also wants to be seen as competent and capable, but he doesn’t put as much emphasis on knowledge and learning as a typical 5. However, after careful consideration, I do not believe that he’s a 4 or a 5. I think he’s an 8w9. He’s decisive, willful, and determined, and while he does possess traits that are representative of other types, I’m trying to focus on which of those traits are most dominant in him. So, 8w9 4w5 5w4 So/Sp.

Locke: Hey, hey, don’t you walk away from me! You don’t know who you’re dealing with! Don’t ever tell me what I can’t do, ever! This is destiny. This is destiny. This is… This is my destiny. This… I’m supposed to do this, dammit! Don’t tell me what I can’t do! Don’t tell me what I can’t…

Jack: Don’t. It’s not real. Look, you want to push the button, you do it yourself.
Locke: If it’s not real, then what are you doing here, Jack? Why did you come back? Why do you find it so hard to believe?
Jack: Why do you find it so easy?
Locke: It’s never been easy!

Locke: You know, Jack. You know that you’re here for a reason. You know it. And if you leave this place, that knowledge is gonna eat you alive from the inside out… until you decide to come back.

Locke: I’m going to find our friends. I don’t know how yet, but I will. We’re gonna find them, all of them. And then we’re gonna bring them home.

Locke:Jack, I’m not a cold man. I feel for the loss of one of our own, but nothing fundamental’s changed. Wherever he is, wherever he comes from, we’re on Ethan’s turf. He has the advantage. To him we’re nothing more than a bunch of scared idiots with sharp sticks.

Locke: I’ve looked into the eye of this island, and what I saw… was beautiful.

Locke: It was a dream, but… it was the most real thing I’ve ever experienced.

Locke: Everyone gets a new life on this island, Shannon. Maybe it’s time you start yours.

Boone: It’s about fifteen minutes since we’ve seen any sign. What are we following?
Locke: My gut.

Locke: We were all brought here for a reason.
Jack: Who brought us here, John?
John: The Island.

Locke: Ludovico Buonarrati, Michelangelo’s father. He was a wealthy man. He had no understanding of the divinity in his son, so he beat him. No child of his was going to use his hands for a living. So, Michelangelo learned not to use his hands. Years later a visiting prince came into Michelangelo’s studio and found the master staring at a single 18 foot block of marble. Then he knew that the rumors were true — that Michelangelo had come in everyday for the last four months, stared at the marble, and gone home for his supper. So the prince asked the obvious — what are you doing? And Michelangelo turned around and looked at him, and whispered, sto lavorando, I’m working. Three years later that block of marble was the statue of David.

John Locke (Lost): INFJ was originally published on MBTI Zone