SASUKE UCHIHA (INTJ)

Naruto/Naruto Shippuden

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Welcome to Ataraxia's first blog post! Here, I will be typing Sasuke Uchiha using MBTI and Carl Jung's cognitive functions.

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Following the Myers-Briggs personality model, Sasuke Uchiha from Naruto is an INTJ; his cognitive functions follow dominant introverted intuition (Ni), auxiliary extraverted thinking (Te), tertiary extroverted feeling (Fi), and inferior extraverted sensing (Se).

Sasuke’s dominant function is introverted intuition (Ni), orienting his perception towards forming an internal framework on how the world works. Introverted intuition synthesizes abstractions and ideas to identify an essence or purpose to apply to their greater understanding of the world. In the final fight with Naruto, Sasuke tells Naruto “that jutsu of yours symbolizes your weakness. That’s right, it’s a jutsu that covers up your loneliness." Here, Sasuke is talking about Shadow Clone jutsu, where Naruto essentially makes clones of himself. Sasuke looks to find the essence of Naruto’s actions, attributing his external actions to the underlying pressure of loneliness. He uses introverted intuition, synthesizing a deeper purpose to the actions of the people around him.

Sasuke's actions also contribute to internal visions he has created to the information given to him. During his time in Konoha village, he is mostly shown to be isolated and highly contemplative, uninterested in spending time with the kids around him and staying present in reality. He concerns himself solely with figuring out the intentions and actions of his brother. Even when he reaches the personal conclusion that his brother massacred the Uchiha clan for power, he is conflicted by Itachi’s tears at the scene of the massacre, using his introverted intuition to perceive that there was a greater, underlying issue driving the situation.

During the Chunin exams, Sasuke says, “I don’t care about this test, Chunin or whatever. ‘Am I strong?’ That’s the answer I want.” This conveys his need to find an answer or essence, as he is unconcerned with the issues of the moment such as passing the chunin exams and going up in rank. Sasuke’s manner of speaking is also highly metaphorical, demonstrating his perception is directed by introverted intuition.

His auxiliary function is extraverted thinking (Te), making decisions catered towards imposing efficiency and logic to the external word. Extraverted thinkers are concerned with producing results through concrete plans to accomplish goals. Throughout the show, Sasuke’s primary goal is to kill Itachi and he caters all his decisions to achieve this goal. He doesn’t allow feelings such as his friendship with Naruto or connection to his team to detract him from his goal, taking the step to leave the village and cut all ties if it means he can kill Itachi. In the fight between Naruto and Sasuke at the end of Part II, he tells Naruto “to me, you became my closest friend” but abandons the only close relationship in belief that it conflicts with his goal. Sasuke is also very blunt, unconcerned with formalities and protecting the feelings of others, as it inhibits efficiency.

Sasuke’s tertiary function is introverted feeling (Fi), a function that is guided by internal moral codes and connection with personal emotions. Tertiary functions are often underdeveloped and people have less control over them. Sasuke states, “even if I must take the devil’s fruit, I must gain power. I am an avenger.” Here, Sasuke demonstrates that he is aware of the moral conflict in his actions through his usage of the word devil, as devil has connotations associated with evil and immoral behavior. However, he does not allow the moral implications of his actions to affect his decision making, revealing his immature use of Fi.

One’s tertiary function presents itself in stressful situations; Sasuke’s taking place in his drive to destroy the village for its flaws, as he connects the village’s corruption to its affects on his own situation and his brother’s life. In this way, he makes his own emotions the focus of deciding what direction to pursue.

Finally, Sasuke’s inferior function is extraverted sensing (Se), a function that focuses on perceiving the world in its present and realistic form. Inferior functions are often very weak and undeveloped and present themselves in erratic ways. Sasuke is not present or reality oriented; he is constantly thinking about what he can do in the future with each event that happens. In his childhood, he is completely focused on revenge and his goal to kill Itachi. His immature use of Se is demonstrated in his first face-off against Itachi; instead of analyzing his surroundings and coming up with a developed strategy against his brother, Sasuke takes an immature head first approach to attack Itachi with Chidori with his moves.

Some make the argument that Sasuke has auxiliary extraverted sensing, typing him as an ISFP. But, his seemingly developed Se is just a reflection of the expectations and skills of all Shinobi in the Naruto Universe. Shinobis are expected to be able to quickly adapt to their surroundings and have athleticism; therefore, using this reasoning to conclude that Sasuke has dominant or auxiliary Se is unsatisfactory.

The concept of cognitive loops, where an individual immediately goes to their tertiary function after their dominant, bypassing their auxiliary function, applies to Sasuke as well. Sasuke is in an Ni-Fi loop for a large portion of the show, making illogical decisions when Itachi is involved, as he has a personal attachment to him and most of Sasuke’s character arc revolves around Itachi. However, his weak grasp on this function and his difficulty comprehending morality negates the possibility of introverted feeling being his primary function.