Haikyuu!!: Shōyō Hinata (ESFP)

Se:

“The wall just fades away and then the view of the other side is totally clear! And once I reach the top of my jump, the ball hits my hands, and when the weight of it sorta leaves a sting in my palm, I love that.”

“I’m grateful for any set that comes my way! I just want the ball. I’ll jump anywhere. I’ll hit any ball. Believe me! Give me a set and I’ll hit it!”

“He makes up for his bad technique with raw athleticism.” A teammate about Hinata

Hinata from Haikyuu is a clear extraverted perceiving dominant. Hinata doesn’t hesitate or struggle when interacting with others, and this is demonstrated immediately in the show when he inserts himself into a conversation with some members of the opposing team. He’s focused purely on playing volleyball and seemingly nothing else, which suggests an Se lead rather than an Ne lead. He doesn’t know any other information surrounding volleyball, like certain technique types or famous players, with the only exception being the Tiny Giant, whom he desires to emulate. This also suggests that he falls on the Se/Ni axis, rather than Ne/Si, because he only knows information immediately relevant to him.

Hinata is also highly competitive, energetic, enthusiastic, quick to physically fight, and quick to act. He leaps for any ball that comes his way, whether or not he can make it, which ultimately results in the quick attack that him and Kageyama form together. In addition, he has his eye on the position of spiker because he considers it to be the flashiest position (Se). He also initially hated the idea of just being a decoy. As a kid, Hinata practices constantly, in spite of there being no volleyball club. This tendency holds up through to high school, where he’s shown using all his spare time to train. Up until that point, he had focused primarily on being a spiker, rather than dabbling in or developing other skills/techniques, which is also suggestive of Se over Ne. While trying to convince their ace to return to the team, Hinata specifically calls out all of the physical sensations that he enjoys when going to make a spike, which also supports him being a sensing dominant.

Fi:

“Would you just shutup about the stupid king? I’m here too! You have no idea what I’m capable of!”

“I just wish we got along better. Don’t you?”

“But really incredible part of it is that Number 5 trusts Kageyama’s sets one hundred percent. He simply believes the ball will come.” – Manager of another team about Hinata

Hinata is very emotional and idealistic. He has dreamed about playing volleyball since he was a kid, and at the last minute manages to pull a team together for a big middle school game. Upon showing up for it, he thanks everyone who joined the team several times, embarasses them, and even cries a little. He also truly believes his team can win, in spite of their lack of preparedness or training, which is very demonstrative of Fi idealism. Hinata is also very dedicated and determined, and unafraid to spout what he thinks or believes. He has very team oriented values, and is generally nice and encouraging to others. In spite of all of his early conflict with Kageyama at Karasuna, Hinata actually steps in to defend him when he’s being mocked, but he does so by drawing the attention to himself, which was very Fi-like in nature. Hinata is good at befriending anyone, including enemy team members. He’s also prone to yelling things like “it’s not fair” which is an Fi/Te tendency. Lastly, as many Fi users, he has a specific idol whom he is looking up to and trying to emulate: the Tiny Giant.

Te:

“Hold it! You might the king who rules the court for now, but I’m gonna win! One day I’m gonna stay in the court for longer than you!”

As usually, tertiary Te couples with auxiliary Fi, making the two seem indistinguishable at times. His Te is partially what provokes all of the fights with Kageyama, as they are basically fighting for control. His Se-Te combination also provokes a lot of the competitive conflict between him and his teammates or opposing team members. He feels the need to declare that he will win, and that they will lose. His Te also contributes toward his intense attitude when it comes to volleyball, since he’s determined to win no matter what. He’s also very straightforward in nature, which is typical of ESFP’s due to the dom Se and tert Te combo.

Ni:

“And you’re really tall but you ran fast like zoom! and then kaboom! … So were you! It was like sha-ping! It wasn’t like flop it was more like a…”

As many inferior Ni users, Hinata is impulsive, frequently doing things or walking into situations without thinking. He also has no problem jumping for the ball and closing his eyes, claiming that he could just feel it. In addition, similar to Kageyama, he likes to use hand motions, sound effects, and demonstrations when he goes to explain something, which suggests that he’s internalizing information via Ni, rather than Si. In one instance, he communicates likes this with a fellow volleyball player to such a degree that a couple of other players just watch the two of them in confusion.