Utena Tenjou MBTI Personality Type
Personality
What personality type is Utena Tenjou? Utena Tenjou is an ESFP personality type in MBTI, 8w7 - so/sx - 847 in Enneagram, SCUAN in Big 5, SEE in Socionics.
Has anyone considered social 8 Utena? "They are helpful eights-people who are nurturing, protective, and concerned with the injustices that happen to people-yet they also display an antisocial aspect with regard to the rules of society." Utena's protective nature is one of the most obvious things about her, and while a lot of her protectiveness comes from her own personal gain (unconsciously) she strives to have power over situations to protect others properly. The antisocial aspect about the rules of society is obvious about her since the beginning, when we first see her in a boy's uniform arguing with authority condemning it. That's only one example of her rebelling against societal norms. "These eights are sensitive to detecting situations in which people are being persecuted or exploited by others that hold more power. When they detect this kind of thing, they tend to act to protect those who are less powerful." Another obvious aspect about Utena. This is shown for the first time when she experiences Saionji, who she believes is Himemiya's boyfriend, hitting Himemiya; she immediately steps in and argues with him and agreed to the duel. Even after she won and realized what she had gotten herself into, she continued to fight in these duels to bring Himemiya back to her, as she didn't want Himemiya to be taken advantage of for her soft-spoken nature by someone powerful. This goes back to Utena being protective by having power over others — she doesn't tolerate exploitation and abuse and feels that she must protect Himemiya, who she sees as helpless at the beginning, from it. "Overall, this Eight appears more mellow and outgoing and less quick to anger than the other Eights... They are very active, and they may lose themselves through constantly being in action." Utena may not seem like an 8 because of how social and outgoing she is, as she doesn't get angry as easily as you'd expect 8s to, as social 8s do. I think one of the reasons shes typed as social 7 is because of her constant striving to support Himemiya actively. However, this is also a social 8 trait, and she tends to lose herself and her previous goals because of her need to protect Himemiya. Think back to when she briefly changed her uniform to a woman's uniform; this happened because of her brief failure to protect Himemiya, so she lost not just herself, but one of her most important values and a part of her identity. "... Like the power a group offers, and they may have difficulty engaging in more "individualized" relationships... In close relationships, they may display a lack of commitment to the partner that hides an unconscious fear of abandonment." Think back to when Utena and Himemiya were first engaged; Utena rejected it at first, asking Himemiya to stop treating ber like they were in a relationship. Even in individual relationships, she rarely commits or develops a deep understanding or closeness to the other person. Her and Wakaba are close friends, but in the anime, they rarely show vulnerable or intimate moments between them. It makes sense since Wakaba isn't one of the main characters, but Wakaba's brief intimacy with Saionji further proves how Utena struggles to bond with others. Utena's bond with Himemiya from the beginning was purely based on her savior complex and craving power over the situation to 'save' Himemiya. It wasn't until around the last arc of the anime that she developed a true bond with her. "In becoming a protector at too young an age, these Eights typically lose consciousness of their own needs for love and care. While people with this Eight subtype develop a strong ability to care for and protect others, they unconsciously give up their own need for love and replace it with a compensatory movement toward power and pleasure." I feel like this one is a given. Utena learned to protect herself from a young age when her parents died and she met the prince (or at least her memory of him). The prince 'protected' her, so she strived to protect others as well. Despite that, she can forget that she should be loved as well, as her main goal is having the power to protect Himemiya. This action in itself brings pleasure to Utena, so she tends to forget that she can be loved as well. "This individual’s main drive is for something like loyalty ... the Social Eight goes up against the power of authority out of a desire to protect the oppressed and, unconsciously, a personal need for the nurturance associated with maternal care." I explained these points above, but the last sentence applies to Utena as well; she wants to meet the prince not just to thank him, but for him to care for her again. She met him directly after her parents, who nurtured her, died. When he showed her kindness, it was what she needed at the time, so she quickly grew attached to him. This attachment carried on into her teen years (or, at least until she was 14). Maybe 8 is just in her tritype though, tell me what you think :)
Biography
The heroine of our story, a headstrong tomboy whose encounter with a prince in her childhood inspires her self-blueprint. Utena's attempt to seek justice for a friend throws her into a secretive dueling game played by the Student Council. Though skeptical of the game, disapproving of its design, and uninterested in the vaguely described reward for winning it, her efforts to protect the prize of the duels, The Rose Bride, nevertheless keep her fighting. The dueling game and the circumstances surrounding it become the means through which Utena develops her identity over the course of the story, and ultimately, how her success in this endeavor is tested.
Related Personalities
Anthy Himemiya
Nanami Kiryuu
Juri Arisugawa
Akio Ohtori
Kyouichi Saionji
Souji Mikage
Wakaba Shinohara
Shiori Takatsuki
