Once Upon A Time: David [Charming] (ESFJ)

Fe:

“At least we’re together.”

“A small price to pay for what I get in return. A chance to save my grandson and to help my family get home.”

“When it comes to family we always find a way.”

Prince David appears to be an Fe dominant, as opposed to an ISFJ like many believe him to be. Generally speaking, David is empathetic, caring, and self-sacrificing. He proves over and over again that he’s willing to do anything for family, and those he loves. It appears to his primary driver or motivation in life. His sensitivity toward others and the depth of which he cares for them enables them to easily sway his decisions and actions. In a positive sense, this shows up in situations like his willingness (albeit it wasn’t without reluctance or hesitation) to give up his simple farm life in order to ensure the well being of his mother. Initially, he is also going to marry someone he doesn’t love for similar reasons, until Snow White comes along, provoking him to fight back.

David is able to understand or recognize the feelings of others, giving him some general insight into them. He’s shown encouraging Snow White to be patient with Emma, once the curse is broken and she’s overeager to talk to her daughter. Emma is struggling to process everything that has happened, and needs space. David recognizes this and tries to counsel Snow White in that direction. In another instance, later on in the series, he advises against killing Cora because he knows that Snow White will regret it, even though he personally admits to having no issue killing her. Similarly, he orchestrates a fake quest for Snow White to find Excalibur (or a sword he claims to be Excalibur) in order to help Snow White get back her courage and willpower to fight against the Evil Queen.

In a more negative sense, David’s sensitivity toward the feelings of others leads him to lie to avoid hurting them. One fairly mundane example is shown when he lies to his fiancee about remembering their dog. A more prominent example can be seen while in Neverland, after he’s been poisoned and is going to die. He hides this fact from Snow White. He eventually explains to Hook that he’d rather die a martyr than say goodbye, which suggests Fe’s desires to have a good reputation and positive external image in addition to generally not wanting to face the painful moment of saying goodbye to his true love.

Si:

“There’s more to life than just looking for the next fight. You’ve got to look for the moments. “

David is loyal and feels a strong sense of obligation to others, as per the Fe evidence mentioned above. However, some of this ties into Si. Fe is concerned with society and others, while Si users tend to pay attention to the rules within the physical world, in order to maintain a degree of security. David has a steady character, and is not impulsive, which is why ultimately why taking the risk to follow his heart to be with Snow White is significant. Prior to this point, he was following the most clear and concrete path available to him to ensure the security of his mother and village.

David tends to make decisions with security in mind. He is willing to execute those who pose too great a risk, such as the Evil Queen and Cora. He also thinks Rumpelstiltskin is too dangerous to talk to (before the curse has been cast), even though Snow White is desperate to find out what the Evil Queen is planning. Similarly, he is adamantly against giving Rumpelstiltskin the name of their first born child. However, his cautious nature is not to an extreme degree, since we see him do things like forgo leaving an offering at a shrine to gain protection because evidence suggests that it hadn’t done the previous visitors any good. Similarly, he’s prone to making small, stupid mistakes like giving Mary Margaret the Valentine’s Day card intended for his fiancee.

After the curse is broken, David wants to return to his old life, wishing for things to be the way they once were. This suggests Si tendency to idealize the past. Snow is looking to stay where they are, having learned to enjoy their new life, especially now with Emma in it. David assumes that they’ll all go back, and recreate the life they once had. Other potential Si evidence is hinted at through his belief that Regina can’t change, his fear that the past is going to repeat itself, and his tendency to state that he won’t make the same mistake twice.

Ne:

“I understand. Believe me I do. To be frightened of an uncertain future…”

“What if Gideon comes back stronger and kills Emma? What if I can’t be with Snow ever again? What if being Prince Charming isn’t enough? And I start losing and it keeps going and I lose everything that matters to me?”

As a whole, David is optimistic, hopeful, and not extremely inflexible, suggesting that he has decently developed Ne. However, as certain situations similar to those in the past begin to surface, David is shown having to deal with insecurities concerning the unknown future. This is especially the case when he’s about to be a father once again. He is shown seeking out a magical way to rid himself of this anxiety, but luckily meets Rapunzel beforehand and learns to deal with his fears instead. Later, he’s shown telling others that “the unknown isn’t always bad” which speaks to his Ne development.

While he is a fairly composed character, he is shown Ne catastrophizing. A good example can be seen in the quote at the top of this section, where he basically throws out ‘what-if’ questions, one after another, assuming the worst, and building each statement off of the previous, until it culminates with an extreme, tragic end: losing everything that matters.

Ti:

David’s inferior Ti leads him to struggle with being true to himself and direct with others, when he knows it might hurt someone else. Ti is an identity function, which should provoke one to introspect and allow them to make decisions in line with their own personal thought system, separate from the external world’s influence. This is where David struggles.

Early on in the show, before the curse has been broken, David has fallen in love with Mary Margaret (who is actually his wife unbeknownst to him), but feels a sense of loyalty or obligation toward his fiancee. He’s trying desperately not to hurt either, and therefore struggles to make any kind of direct decision or choose one over the other. He will promise Mary Margaret one thing, but then find an easy out later that supposedly spares the other one’s feelings. As a result, he eventually hurts both parties involved, because he’s unable to be completely truthful with either one of them. Mary Margaret makes a comment to this affect. It’s like the old adage that the truth will always come out eventually. If David had just “ripped the bandage off” metaphorically speaking, he would have made things easier on everyone. Instead, he hurt those he cared about, and risked his relationship with Snow White, all in a misguided effort to not hurt anyone.