Dragon Ball Series: Android 17 (ISTP)

Ti:

“Why does it matter? …You still haven’t told me why.”

“I don’t understand why you’re so eager to pick a fight you know you can’t win. You showing off or is it.. you have a death wish?”

“In a word, yes. It’s fun. If I want to know where to find Goku, I can beat it out of you, but hunting him down is one of the best parts of the game.”

Android 17 is a fairly obvious STP; it was just a matter of which. After considering the evidence, there are actually quite a few indications that his Se is in service to his Ti, making him ultimately a Ti dominant.

The most prominent indication is that Android 17 needs to understand the reasoning behind a fight rather than just jumping into one. He’s needs to know why he should make the effort, rather than just finding motivation in the Se thrill. This is demonstrated time and time again. For instance, when Piccolo and some others finally catch up to him during the Cell Saga, Piccolo engages Android 17 in an attempt to destroy him. Early in the fight, Android 17 keeps pressing Piccolo for the reason as to why Piccolo is bothering with it. In another instance, during Dragon Ball Super, Goku hunts down Android 17 to recruit him for the tournament. In an effort to see how strong Android 17 is, Goku tries to spar him. Android 17 initially refuses to fight, and asks Goku “why” several times until he’s finally able to get an answer.

During battles/fights, Android 17 prioritizes strategy/tactics over exploring his limits or enjoying the thrill of the moment. A good example of this is shown in Dragon Ball Super when Team Universe 2 is beginning their transformation ritual. 17 takes this as an opportunity to attack, because they’re open. Naturally, the enemy is upset, but even Goku is disappointed, and tries to explain to 17 what he should let them transform to see their full power. Android 17 seems slightly confused, being unable to align with Goku’s dominant Se perspective on this.

Of course, as a Ti dominant, Android 17 tends to be flat and emotionless, beyond an underlying sarcastic tone. He doesn’t appear to consider the emotional implications behind what he’s saying, and just states his thoughts fairly plainly. He prefers to work alone, and in spite of his ability to fly anywhere, him and his sister don’t bother visiting each other, which shows the emotionally detached nature of the both of them.

Se:

“Well, we’re not in any hurry, right? Might as well enjoy the trip.”

“What’s your hurry? We have the time. It’ll be fun.”

Android 17 appears to be an auxiliary Se user. He takes a laid back approach to life, wanting to take things easy and have fun. This is highlighted after him and 18 are first activated. During their quest to find Goku, he takes usually whatever route he deems to be the most interesting, rather than the most efficient or direct. For instance, he opts to take a car for part of the journey, because he wants to try driving. Android 18 is often either criticizing him or questioning these choices, but he just keeps re-emphasizing that it’ll be fun and they’re not in a rush. He treats the hunt for Goku like a game, and not any kind of serious goal.

Of course, at the beginning of the arc, both Androids realize that they technically don’t have to hunt down Goku. However, Android 17 metaphorically shrugs his shoulders and comments that they have nothing better to do. He says, “Well as much as I hate the thought of following Gero’s orders, the idea of us standing around here all day doing nothing is driving me up a wall.” This scene actually indicated two main things. (1) It emphasized the high Se – needing to do something in order to avoid boredom. (2) The fact that his Se is auxiliary, because he literally had complete freedom to do anything he wanted. Dominant Se users tend to be naturally better at just exploring around with no particular goal in mind, since the exploration itself is the goal. Se auxiliary users often need to find some kind of reason to focus their Se on.

Ni:

“Who said I know? I’ve been driving on pure instinct.”

“I wasn’t sure either. It was a gamble. I guess I just got lucky.”

“In retrospect, maybe blasting myself wasn’t such a good idea.”

Android 17’s tertiary Ni comes out in his tendency to take risks, which he occasionally questions in hindsight after evaluating the results. His general tendency to not think out the implications of his actions leads to things like arriving at Goku’s house during the Cell saga, only to realize that they’d arrived too late. Granted, that largely happened because he didn’t care, but he starts operating a bit more efficiently after that point. In addition, during the tournament for the universes in Dragon Ball Super, he takes several risks that nearly get him killed multiple times or cause him to take damage.

Android 17 is fairly direct in his speech, and tends to ultimately be focused on one thing at a time with little interest in deviating from it. His higher than inferior Ni is ultimately playing into the reason why he pursued Goku after being awakened, even though it was technically unnecessary. He needed a focus, or a direction to head even if the goal itself held no meaning for him personally.

Fe:

“Virtue? No, I don’t pretend to have that. I just got tired of hearing you talk.”

“The flyers ruin it for the rest of us, so that’s why I took care of your friend first.”

“Sacrificing myself to help other people. Look at me being all ‘human’.”

Android 17’s inferior Fe surfaces in a couple of different ways. When he first shows up, he essentially uses Fe in a more sarcastic or mocking way. For instance, when Krillin runs up to him and the other two androids after they had defeated Goku and the others, Android 17 says, “Is there something else we can do for you?” If not for the obviously mocking tone to his voice, the statement itself would have been polite, and Fe-approved.

By Dragon Ball Super, Android 17 is out-letting his Fe in a more positive manner, through his job to protect endangered animals on an island. It’s made abundantly clear that the job is more than just a job to him, and he takes protecting the animals on it very seriously. He’s also a family man, by that point. However, he’s still generally unconcerned with people on a large scale, initially not caring in the least that their universe might get wiped out.

His positive Fe tends to come out the most through his actions. In multiple instances, he appears to be falling into using it in a positive manner, rather than having set out to do so. For instance, he ultimately gives up his selfish wish, and saves the universes. In addition, he tries to sacrifices himself several times for the sake of the team. He doesn’t voice any of these intentions, and doesn’t appear compelled to put forward any kind of moral or people-pleasing front, even if he’s ultimately intending to do the right thing. This all points to the Fe specifically being inferior.