ID:Invaded: Akihito Narihisago (ISTP)

After talking with someone who speaks Japanese, we learned that this show and Narihisigo’s personality were changed significantly when being translated into English. In the Japanese version, it sounds like he’s an INTP. However, since we don’t know Japanese we can only type the English version of the show; and the evidence there points to him being an ISTP.

Ti:

“Was I broken just so I could put myself back together? Who would do that to me? I’m making too many assumptions. For all I know, I came apart on my own. I can’t even be sure that putting myself back together is the right thing to do. No, this is right. I’m not supposed to be in pieces.”

“I’m in pieces but they’re connected. There’s a thought to cling to.”

“Are you now? Then I won’t bother arguing.”

“Something here is wrong, but I can’t quite grasp it yet.”

Narihisago is a highly analytical detective that demonstrates the Ti mind brilliantly. From the moment the series begins, we see him rationalizing what is going on inside of each id well. He’ll make comments that certain things don’t seem right, but he doesn’t focus in on obvious deviations from reality (like how he can still be alive and in pieces). Rather, he naturally seems to accept the oddities of each world as the rules of his current reality. He’s prone to twisting logic, which we see in the way he deals with serial killers while locked in his cell. He toys with their reasoning, and convinces them that they’re better off dead, effectively weaponizing logic. Another indication of his Ti is the fact that he doesn’t seem to recognize that he holds malice towards his victims, whether that be because he actually doesn’t, or just isn’t in touch with his emotions. Either way, it points to dominant Ti. He explains to Momoki that he does it simply because he can, rather than there being a deep-seated emotional or moral reason. (See quote in Se section).

At a certain point in the show, people do dive into his id well, and what goes on in there perfectly exemplifies Ti. The ground of his id well is covered in numbers reminiscent to a sudoku puzzle. Lightening is striking one numbered tile at random periodically. While the entire thing seems random on first glance, they eventually learn how orderly and intricately connected the entire thing is. The numbers are laid out in a pattern. The lightening is striking right on queue at a precise interval, and never strikes the same place twice. The timing also ties back to a personal event in his life. Of course, there’s possibly a bit of Ni mixed in here, due to the hidden meaning.

Overall, Narihisago acts emotionless, keeping his deeply felt pain hidden from those around him. His eyes look dead and blank. He is someone who doesn’t appear to exist in a orderly fashion in his external world, nor does he try to control others in an outright way. Rather, he orders his mind, and relies on logic of others to manipulate them when he feels so inclined.

Se:

“I acted of my own will and gave in to my urges, but there’s something else you should know. I didn’t particularly want them dead. I had no malice towards any of them, but this overwhelming urge to kill just welled up inside me, and that’s when I realized, I could take this person’s life. So I did. There’s no other reason.”

“How’s this work? You bang a gong?”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m done with the chit chat!”

Narihisago appears to be an Se auxiliary. While deducing is part of his job, he doesn’t do any unnecessary or wild speculating. For the most part, he just zeros in on what’s going on around him, rather than considering all of the options. He gathers data and finds out how it ties in. He’s shown reining himself in during the rare instance that he is shown asking a bunch of questions, but it’s due to following a single train of thought forward (Ni), rather than considering a variety of possibilities (Ne). Overall, Narihisago shows a preference toward learning through physically doing (Se) as opposed to taking in all the information and theorizing a solution to act upon (Si).

Narihisago prefers to act. While he does prioritize deductions as a Ti dominant (which is shown in the desert id well), when there’s nothing left to deduce, he launches quickly into action. In the first id well, he makes his observations and then just starts putting the world back together, for no particular reason as it related to the investigation. He also immediately starts the hunt for serial killers after diving into the id well within an id well. Of course, as shown in the quote above this section, he follows through with his urges to kill. He doesn’t seem to be someone who’s content to allow an idea to live within his mind. He appears to carry everything out in the real world. He’s also unbothered by dying countless times in the id wells, preferring to just continue trying to solve them over and over again. This suggests that he uses Se rather than Si, because he’s not internalizing those sensory experiences and hesitating at the thought of having to relive death over and over again.

We don’t often see a break in Narihisago’s emotionless state, but when it does as result of anger, he tends to react violently. For instance, he’ll throw a table, or attack the subject of his anger. One notable example of this is when he is facing the challenger. Instead of arresting him or just outright shooting him, Narihisago uses the opportunity to outlet his disgust through having a fist fight. The only rationale here was his impulse to physically beat on the challenger as a form of revenge. This physically impulsive display is further punctuated by the fact that he yells “I won!” after checking the challenger’s vitals and verifying he is dead. The level of overkill that went on here is indicative of Se in combination with a low extraverted judging function.

Ni:

“Something tells me that my left arm is still like this for a reason.”

“We were right about everything. All the events were carefully arranged so we would arrive at this point, this conclusion.”

“There I go making assumptions again. Is it ridiculous to think that I’ve been given a role to play in this world?”

Every time Narihisago dives into an id well, he looks for the meaning behind everything. Of course, this is his job. However, we see hints of his Ni in the way that he gets vague instincts as to what’s going on or something not being right. He frequently can’t put his finger on it right away, but he knows something is wrong. This demonstrates Ni in addition to Ti, because he’s recognizing that something doesn’t quite make sense but only has a vague sense as to the what or why. We see him following out trails of thought to their conclusion. Since his Ni is low, he’ll stop himself from following these trails of thought out too far. However, he is rather insightful, and will rely on these insights once he has evidence or logic to support them.

We don’t often see him openly speculating about possible conclusions, rather he tends to come to a realization first and then is able to explain after the fact, effectively working backwards from the conclusion. One time we see him sharing a “speculation”, it is initially linear rather than a bunch of options, and he even chides himself for going to far with it. (See quote at the top of the Ti section.) Once he realizes that he has made an unsubstantiated assumption and that there are other options, Narihisago essentially has himself stop thinking about it until he can gather more data.

Narihisago gets straight to the point and calls out what he realizes to be true. For instance, when Sarina Togo comes to talk to Narihisago, he knows before she tells him that something had happened to Momoki, and he states it point blank. Another example is shown in how he makes some very accurate guesses/deductions about Tamotsu Fukuda in regards to his number disorder and his desire to die.

Fe:

“You won’t make me scream.”

Narihisago presents himself as generally amiable, keeping his true feelings close to his chest. He’s prone toward an unenthusiastic or apathetic attitude, due to the suppression of his emotions. He does hint at being detached from them, as per his statement about holding no malice toward those he’d killed. In addition, in his fight with the Challenger, we see him refuse to give the man a reaction, knowing specifically that he was going for one.

Narihisago is also able to use his Fe with the help of Ni to read into those he intends to “kill” and manipulate them. He doesn’t do it in an overly emotional way, but is able to figure out exactly what buttons to push to get the results that he wants. For instance, he convinces one of the serial killers that he needs to commit suicide in order to prove his world view to everyone.