Sherlock (BBC): Mycroft Holmes (INTJ)

Ni:

“He is the British government. When he’s not too busy being the British Secret Service or the CIA on a freelance basis. Good evening Mycroft. Try not to start a war before I get home, you know what it does for the traffic.” – Sherlock about Mycroft

“My brother has the brain of a scientist or a philosopher yet he elects to be a detective. What might we deduce about his heart?”

“The universe is rarely so lazy.”

Mycroft Holmes (from BBC’s Sherlock) appears to be an Ni dominant. He works for the British Government, manipulating people and whole organizations from the shadows. He plays the role of mastermind, no one ever quite knowing what he’s doing or why he’s doing it. His actions are rarely straightforward or direct, and he’s always withholding an astounding amount of information, many times to a fault. (Sharing information much earlier which was going to inevitably come out anyway in some cases could have saved both time and lives.)

An obvious yet mild example of his Ni can be seen in his initial approach to Watson. Mycroft kidnaps Watson, and in the most roundabout way possible, asks him to keep an eye on Sherlock. He doesn’t share the fact that he’s Sherlock’s brother or that he’s even on his side. He just feeds Watson some melodramatic statements about being Sherlock’s archenemy, and then attempts to intimidate and bribe him.

We can also see cases of Ni tunnel vision, where he gets so honed in on completing a task or accomplishing a goal that he’ll take unnecessary risks and fail to see or account for possible consequences. An example of this can be seen in his desire to utilize Eurus. He gets far too overconfident in his own ability to manage her, and gives in to her demands, which results in the situation that him, Sherlock, and Watson find themselves in at the end of the series. Of course, his Ni dominance also becomes clear in the detached manner in which he approaches the sensory world, but more on that in the inferior Se section. His introversion in general can be seen in his very careful and calculated behavior. He is never impulsive, and generally remains detached from people and the world whenever possible.

Te:

“All hearts are broken. All lives end. Caring is not an advantage, Sherlock.”

“Everybody dies. It’s the one thing human beings can be relied upon to do. How can it still come as a surprise to people?”

“That is entirely beside the point. You had your orders and failed to act on them.”

Mycroft is a clear thinker, but not because he is smart; he has little concept of the emotions of others, which is specifically a Te weakness, and he struggles to relate to people. This weakness of his is made clear over and over again. For instance, he is confused by the idea that Sherlock is still struggling over the death of Mary, because in his logical mind death is inevitable. He also can’t understand or empathize with his parents desire to see their child. Another good example is when he looks at a picture of a Watson’s baby and the only comment that he can muster is that the baby looks “fully functioning.”

Mycroft generally views caring as a disadvantage, although he is capable of caring deeply for those close to him (more in the Fi section). However, in spite of this, he is still able to watch his brother beaten while undercover without feeling the need to intervene, when he easily could have without putting the mission at risk.

Mycroft is very tightly wound, controlling and bossy. He gives out orders and forces events to happen in the way that he wants them to. He is endlessly frustrated by Sherlock because he is unable to truly control him. Mycroft also displays some OCD tendencies which tends to be common for aux Te users. Sherlock, being well aware of this, intentionally leaves items like the door knocker slightly crooked because knows that Mycroft will subconsciously straighten it, leaving Sherlock an indication of his presence. In spite of all of this, For the most part, Mycroft acts polite and proper (in stark contrast to Sherlock) which tends to be a strength of the aux Te users. Aside from the stray arrogant or rude comments, Mycroft knows how to navigate the external world without making unnecessary waves. He keeps his own behavior and mannerisms in check.

Fi:

“If you seem slow to me, Sherlock, can you imagine what real people are like? I’m living in a world of goldfish.”

Mycroft has a strong moral code that he refuses to deviate from. Unlike Sherlock, he has a clear standard on killing, and we see him refuse to cross it or even try to rationalize it. When Eurus is playing a game to get them to commit murder to save a life, Watson tries to do it because one of the victims is begging him to, while Mycroft outright refuses to even consider it.

Mycroft also has a superiority complex as he likes to assert and rub in the fact that he is smarter than Sherlock. You see him stating this all throughout the show. Another evidence of Fi is his irritation when his mother addresses him as ‘Mike’ instead of Mycroft and even chides her for doing so, stating that that is not his name. Mycroft does care deeply about Sherlock and his family, which is made clear in many of the things he does behind the scenes to look out for Sherlock.

Se:

Mycroft’s inferior Se is pretty clear. He prefers to control things from a distance and not get directly involved in whatever is going on. Instead, he sends Sherlock (or someone else) in to investigate or do whatever task that needs to be done. When going undercover to rescue Sherlock, Mycroft plainly states that he hates doing field work, complaining about both the noise and the people, which is a resounding example of inferior Se. In general, he likes to stay where he is comfortable, and it’s usually a big deal when he actually shows up in person. He is usually shown ordering his lackeys to bring a subject directly to him, versus him physically going somewhere to meet someone.