Star Wars: Rey (ISFP)

In our opinion, Rey is kind of one-dimensional. They don’t explore her in much depth. Considering all of the evidence, this is the best case that we were able to come up with…

Fi:

“People keep telling me they know me. I’m afraid no one does.”

“You’re gonna pay for what you did!”

“Murderous snake!”

Rey’s journey is one of self-discovery, which by itself is very Fi in nature. It would be bad form to use her literal lack of knowledge of who her parents were to prove Fi, so I’m not going to use that as a primary source of evidence. However, her arc within the story does focus heavily on trying to discover who she is, and not just literally, but her role within the galaxy and the resistance. She makes the claim at one point that no one truly knows her, which is a common statement for an Fi user to make.

While appearing to be relatively placid, Rey has emotions that run very deeply. She initially struggles to leave Jakku, because of a deeply held belief that her parents would return for her one day. This is initially a major source of turmoil for the character. (We considered that this might be Si, failure to move forward, but all things considered, attributing it to her Fi seems to make more sense.) Additionally, she takes an instant liking to BB-8 once she meets him, humanizing the droid without a second thought. She helps him as if he’s a real person, and doesn’t sell him off in spite of how much money it would bring her. As a whole, she is actually remarkably quick to attach herself to others from an emotional standpoint. Her and Finn connect extremely quickly, exemplified by the fact that the two of them suddenly end up on hugging terms. Similarly, she forms a bond with Kylo Ren, despite him being the enemy. She then gains another deeply held and perhaps idealistic belief: that she can save him.

Rey’s Fi values show themselves in her initial dealing with Kylo Ren. When they’re first connected through the force, her second reaction is to accuse him and call him names, such as saying that he’ll pay and calling him a murderous snake. (Note: her first reaction is discussed in the Se section.) Her instinct to jump to these types of statements expresses her Fi disapproval and judgements of him. You also see her Fi surface around other characters, like when she realizes Fin is trying to run and gets angry with him.

Se:

Rey: I feel something!
Luke: You feel it?
Rey: Yes, I feel it!
Luke: That’s the Force!
Rey: Really?
Luke: Wow, it must be really strong with you!
Rey: I’ve never felt any… [Luke smacks her with the leaf] Ow! You meant, reach out, like– I’ll try again.

“It’s a power that Jedi have that lets them control people and… make things float.”

Rey appears to be a sensor. Some people fall into the trap of assuming that all Jedi or Force users are intuitives, but this is flawed thinking. Learning to use the Force would simply develop one’s intuition function faster, making them appear more intuitive. Rey displays a very obvious sensor tendency when training with Luke. When Luke is trying to teach her to access the Force, he tells her to reach out. (Bear in mind, while she is overall ignorant of the Force, she is, at the very least, aware that it is a mystical, invisible power.) When told to reach out, Rey instantly reaches out physically, which prompts Luke to mock her by tickling her hand with some foliage. She also describes the Force to Luke in a very physical way, relaying only what she can see, with no attempts to explain any deeper.

In spite of the chaos happening around her, Rey is actually extremely adaptable. She never seems to stress out about the constant action or the lack of any sort of preparation or plan, which is significant considering this was a new lifestyle for her, having never left the planet Jakku before this point. She just rolls with everything that happens, and finds her way out of every situation. She joins up with Finn almost immediately, and jumps headlong into a war against the First Order. Of course, nearly the moment they end up on the Millenium Falcon, Rey is tinkering with the ship. Once she and Han Solo meet, they appear to link up in a very Se fashion, in the way that they operate the ship together. Rey also feels the need to physically scream in battle, as a way to pump herself up, which can be an Se tendency.

Lastly, the reactionary nature of Se is shown when Kylo Ren and her are first linked in the Force. Her first impulse is to shoot at him, rather than to question what is happening or take in any observations. (Compared to Kylo Ren who does question what’s happening). Of course, this impulse is followed up by accusations, as mentioned earlier, which perfectly demonstrates her top two functions: Se and Fi. Similarly, when BB-8 informs her that Finn is a thief, she instantly chases him down and attacks him with her staff/stick, not bothering to ask questions or seek more information.

Ni:

“I can’t explain it. And you wouldn’t believe it.”

“You will remove these restraints and leave this cell with the door open.”

“I see through the cracks in your mask. You’re haunted.”

Although Rey’s Ni is not extremely prominent, there are certainly examples of her using it. Her speech patterns can be occasionally vague and nonspecific, which points away from her having any kind of Si. Examples of this can be seen when she’s on the Millennium Falcon with Finn, trying to repair the ship. She points to something that she needs so that Finn will hand it to her. After Fin hands her the wrong thing, she just keeps pointing (Se), never bothering to clarify what exactly she meant beyond statements like “the one I’m pointing too.” This failure and refusal to produce a specific word or term when needed is fairly typical of people with Ni in their function stack. Additionally, she makes a rather vague statement to Luke shortly after arriving on the planet, when he forces her to explain why she was really there. (She initially gives a more surface level explanation regarding her mission.)

Otherwise, her Ni is demonstrated in the ways in which she tries to read more deeply into Kylo Ren. Of course, this is a combination of her Fi-Ni, since she’s also empathizing with him to some degree. In addition, Rey intuitively figures out how to persuade a storm trooper with the Force, after an initial failed attempt.

Te:

“Master Skywalker, we need you to bring the Jedi back because Kylo Ren is strong with the dark side of the force. Without the jedi, we won’t stand a chance against him.”

“Stop taking my hand!”

Rey’s inferior Te comes out primarily in her sudden displays of rigidity, like when she yells at Finn for constantly taking her hand, or when she berates Kylo Ren for his immorality. She also feels the need to yell to Luke to be “careful” when he’s catapulting across a ravine, in spite of the fact that he is a Jedi Master.

A good example of her Te can be seen when she’s trying to repair the Millennium Falcon, and Finn can’t figure out what she’s pointing to. She just keeps yelling “No!” at him, and finally, in an incredibly frustrated and impatient manner, she starts yelling that if they fail to patch the ship up in time, it’ll be flooded with poisonous gas.

Rey can be incredibly stubborn, refusing to yield when something matters to her. She can also be extremely matter-of-fact and mission oriented. This is especially shown when she initially deals with Luke. She gives him very straightforward and impersonal answers about what’s going in the galaxy, and why the Resistance had sent her.