Functional Order: Ni/Te/Fi/Se
Dominant Function: Ni
Palpatine plans for the long haul like no one else. He becomes emperor in a series of plots to gradually enhance his power; as the senator from Naboo, he becomes elected chancellor, then accumulates emergency powers one after the other, and finally becomes emperor, in a process that takes many years. His schemes are generally successful, as he has not only supreme patience, but also the ability to predict the actions and reactions of all the relevant people (and he even fools Yoda and Obi-Wan, two fellow INFJs, on his true intentions until it is too late for anyone to stop him). Palpatine reacts with caution when faced with unexpected aggression; when Queen Amidala returns to Naboo to liberate her occupied home planet, he tells Darth Maul to let his enemies act first. As emperor, Palpatine rarely gets involved in the day-to-day business of running the Empire; he focuses on the most important things, leaving the nuts and bolts to others. Palpatine owes much of his success to emotional manipulation. He orders his lackeys to blockade his own home planet to generate sympathy for himself, plays on Amidala’s sense of urgency to call for the Chancellor Valorum to be replaced, uses the fear of the Separatists to gain emergency powers, and convinces Anakin that he can save the love of his life by turning to the Dark Side.
Auxilliary Function: Te
Palpatine wastes no time in immediately putting himself forward as the supreme ruler of the senate when the previous administration receives a “vote of no confidence.” His intention is ultimately to rule the Empire, and he gives the task of protecting him on the way up to his underlings, taking on an administrative role, recruiting spies and double agents, eliminating his enemies, and logically targeting the weaknesses of his opponents. Control and organization comes so easily to him that Papatine makes an effective ruler, to great success in the senate… and gradually expands his power into a brutal dictatorship. Not only are his own plans long term, Palpatine patiently cultivates others to do his work for him, in assisting him in reaching his ultimate desire to rule the Empire.
Tertiary Function: Fi
His belief that emotion is a weakness he can exploit backfires in his face when he underestimates the incredible bond Vader has with Luke; he fails to see how emotion has any part in decision making, thus bringing about his own eventual end. His ruthlessness enables him to be separate from others, using their pain merely to his greater design, rather than receiving pleasure from it.
Inferior Function: Se
Palpatine hides his Sith identity nearly in plain sight; he even keeps his lightsaber in a secret compartment in his chair. When the moment comes to slaughter the Jedi, it is not enough for Palpatine to know that the Jedi are being killed; he has to FEEL their deaths as they happen. Symbolically, he saves the killing of Yoda for last, allowing him to escape (one of Palpatine’s pivotal mistakes). When something doesn’t happen the way he planned it (Amidala beating the Trade Federation at Naboo, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan arriving to negotiate with the Trade Federation), Palpatine can adapt his plans accordingly – though these scenarios rarely happen (Ni), and Palpatine’s position gives him the opportunity for a heads-up before his plans are rendered irrelevant.
Note: Parts of this arguments have been taken from Funky Mbti in Fiction and The Book Addict’s Guide to Mbti.
Comments