Xu Wenwu “Mandarin” MBTI Personality Type
Personality
What personality type is Xu Wenwu “Mandarin”? Xu Wenwu “Mandarin” is an ESTJ personality type in MBTI, 8w9 - sp/sx - 835 in Enneagram, RCOEN in Big 5, LSI in Socionics.
I'm leaning towards ESTJ. Te dom because he takes quick action without as much introspection as a usual introvert (both Ni and Si doms would've been more cautious). Also, his way of dealing with problems is through acquiring power, which is very Te based problem solving. "If I had enough power, people wouldn't have gone after my family". Aux Si is him basing his decisions over his past experiences, he doesn't improvise according to the situation, but gets stuck in his initial mindset. For example, when *spoiler* his wife died, he reverted back to his original way of living because what happened proved that his initial mindset (how important power is) was right and he shouldn't have given up on it. Another instance is when Shang Chi and Xia Ling escaped from his captivity, he thought they simply fled, because they had run away from problems in the past as well. In fact they were going to stop his plans. He based his "predictions" on Si. An Ni heavy user would have been more contextual about predicting their intent, rather than basing it off of what happened in the past, they would also have more awareness towards what the enemies would do to their family and take better measures to prevent it. This also applies to Ne inf users as well, where they fear things going wrong and be extra cautious about it. But Wenwu wasn't like that at all, so I think he is not xNTJ or ISTJ. No sign of Ni fixation on future with low Se not being able to live in the present moment/occasional sensory indulgence. It was more about Si fixation of past with low Ne being afraid of letting go past lifestyles/occasionally opening up to possibilities (a new life). Another point is him suspending all logic after thinking that his wife was still alive, which I attribute to inf Fi acting up. He lost what was most important to him, which caused him to be willing to do anything to try to get it back, even though it was unrealistic and not factually objective at all. I think Shang Chi's character is meant to be a contrast to him. The idea that "the world is dangerous, I have to get infinitely strong to preserve myself and everything that's important to me" is a very dom Te-inf Fi way of life. Their heart is not strong, so they have to use external means to feel strong. They have their fists tight because they feel insecure. This contrasts with Ta Lo's Fi dom martial arts spirit, which seeks strength from the heart and the authentic self, the hand opens up and frees itself, and this is what his wife and Shang Chi uses to defeat him. They know who they are, what is ultimately important to them, it becomes their power. This is probably why Wenwu fell for his wife in the first place - he found the missing piece of himself through her, and that was his heart.
Biography
Wenwu (portrayed by Tony Leung), also known as the Mandarin, is the legendary and nearly mythical leader of the criminal/terrorist organization the Ten Rings. He is also the father of Shang-Chi and Xialing. #MagnificentBastard
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