Persona 5: Yusuke Kitagawa (INFP)

Persona 5 has a massive story that spans many hours of game play. It is an enjoyable experience that I would highly recommend it to those of you who have yet to play it. You can purchase the game here if interested: Persona 5 Royal. (We may receive a small commission for any purchases made through this link.)

Fi:

“Worldly desires are all that spur my brush to move… and the resulting work reflects such impurity of mind.”

“But I cannot hide forever. Impurity of the heart will undoubtedly seep onto an artist’s canvas eventually.”

“My work is… empty? But… why? I put my heart and soul into this piece, captured the very essence of desire… It was supposed to lay bare the reality of the world!”

“These colors, these brush strokes… They do not convey the true meaning of desire, only my conception of it! I haven’t captured desire… Desire has captured me! How could I have fooled myself into believing otherwise!?”

“What is going to happen to me now? Without art, what will remain of my being!?”

Yusuke is a very evident Fi dominant, which is prominently displayed in the traits and concepts that he deems most important and that he focuses most heavily on. Yusuke’s primary objective in his art is that it has meaning, purpose, and accurately portrays the raw emotions that he desires to lay bare on the canvas. He gets very hung up when his slump leads his work to be devoid of meaning and passion. He views the very thought of painting for the sake of worldly desires (such as food and shelter) as impurity and sin, which shows a very strong focus in him for what he deems to be acceptable. This high self standard is common amongst those with dominant Fi. When they have an ideal that they have set for themselves, any failure to meet it is viewed as a great sin on the part of the Fi dom.

Yusuke’s Fi is further displayed in the language he chooses to use to portray his thoughts. He frames his internal struggle and conflict very often in terms of impurity and purity, showing a strong focus on both his sense of right and wrong and also the black and white nature of that particular thought process.

He has a strong focus on living up to the personal responsibilities that he has set up for himself. When he feels that he owes a debt, Yusuke becomes fixated on repaying it. This is his main struggle with Madarame and what causes Yusuke to turn a blind eye to the things the man is doing. Yusuke feels that the fact that he has been taken in by Madarame requires him to remain loyal and defend him. It isn’t even so much that Yusuke condones the things that Madarame is doing as much as he forces himself not to pay attention. This is displayed in the quick 180 degree turn in judgement he has when the phantom thieves lay bare all of the evil Madarame has done. At that point, Yusuke hardly even recognizes Madarame as the same person any longer.

Ne:

“That is why I am so upset with my own indecision. Such vague ambition is, in essence, a sin of sorts…”

“This may be difficult to explain… but doesn’t it seem we’re thinking a little too inside the box?”

Yusuke: “We must also consider what we do in case she fails to respond entirely”
Ann: “Hey, don’t jinx this!”
Yusuke: “I am merely discussing all the possible outcomes.”

A large portion of the evidence for Yusuke’s Ne comes from the many different possibilities that he ponders when trying to figure out what is causing his artistic slump. He jumps from one possibility to another in an attempt to pin down what exactly is keeping him from the inspiration that he is chasing. It even gets to the point that he starts wondering if his own tendency to be indecisive and vague is the thing causing his problem in the first place. His inability to just grab on to one answer and run with it leaves him spinning his wheels, in a sense.

Many believe Yusuke to be an ISFP, but the previously described tendency is in direction opposition to the typical issues that auxiliary Se users would find themselves struggling with in Yusuke’s situation. While Yusuke finds himself drowning in potential reasons for his problems, an aux. Se user typically finds themselves coming up blank. They usually struggle to produce any possible reason for the issue, which ultimately leads them to the same end result of inaction, but for essentially the opposite reason. Once the Se user pegs down a possible reason for their issue, they tend to grab onto and run with it. Yusuke, however, does not do this. He continues to produce more and more possible reasons instead of choosing one and trying to remedy it. He fixates on finding the reason before acting on any of the possibilities, which is what ultimately leads to the first quote at the top of this section.

In a more healthy setting, Yusuke tends to be one of the members of the group that produces alternative scenarios that the team may encounter. As described in an above quote, he prefers to discuss “all the possible outcomes.” He excels at coming up with alternatives for the current train of thought, allowing for a different perspective and fresh point of view when the current one is reaching a dead end. In this way, we see Yusuke’s Ne being used in a more healthy way.

Si:

“You know every detail of my past at this point. It’s only fair you tell me every detail of yours.”

“To be more precise, it’s ten days.”

“But… is that truly all you have to say about it? I would like something more concrete. A four hundred word review should serve that purpose nicely.”

Yusuke’s Si comes up pretty clearly in the language he chooses when speaking. He likes to hone in on specifics. He frequently further clarifies or explains statements that other members of the team say. One specific instance is quoted above. Ryuji proclaims that they only have two weeks to complete a task, to which Yusuke clarifies that, more precisely, “it’s ten days.” While being a bit distracted as a whole, Yusuke is pretty detailed when explaining things or when he generally is speaking. His speech is full of details and is summed up nicely in one of the other quotes above where he says that he has relayed every detail of his past to the others. Not only does he do that, he then desires for the others to return the favor by relaying a detailed account of their pasts to him as well.

Yusuke’s style of abstraction doesn’t resort to wordless meanings. He desires abstract concepts to be explained and put into words. While he does not shy away from the abstract, he does not prefer to leave the abstract in the realm of the unspoken. A perfect example of this is given in the third quote at the top of this section. When the main character gives a vague and abstract answer to what he thinks of Yusuke’s art, Yusuke seems a bit disappointed that he doesn’t have more to say about the art. He desires not only a more definite answer, but more specifically, a four hundred word review. This demonstrates his Si’s detail-focused nature, since he is hoping for a far more detailed and concrete opinion from his peer.

Te:

“Nervousness will not help us solve anything at this point. Were that the solution to our problem, I would be much quicker to turn to panic.”

“ I will start by painting. After that I will paint, beyond which I shall paint even more. That is the only way I will learn to capture the essence of emotion. After all, you can only accomplish so much in using logic to analyze the contents of the heart.”

“I will simply keep on drawing. I’m going to have ten pieces finished up by the end of today! Hah! If anything, I should be doing more. I’ll do anything to escape this slump!”

“You are correct. Surrendering myself to fate after only one failure would be very much unlike me. Still, being criticized by someone with such a keen eye is truly painful. But that is all the more reason I must break out of my slump. I must prove my ability to him….!”

While Yusuke’s use of Te is relatively weak and unrefined, he is actually an example of using inferior Te in a healthy way. He wields the matter-of-fact nature of Te in a relatively balanced way. When Ryuji asks him, in somewhat disbelief, if he is nervous about the bind that they find themselves in, Yusuke simply responds that being nervous won’t help solve anything. This defines both his rational nature and also the more results-oriented nature of Te.

When he comes to an epiphany of sorts in regard to his slump, it is actually an inferior Te solution. He essentially realizes that he needs to stop neglecting his Te and utilize it in a healthy way by cranking out paintings. His overall conclusion is a bit unreasonable and extreme, but that is a common for weak functions. While the self-imposed mandate to complete ten paintings by the end of the day when the day is already half over is extreme, it does display a renewed spark of passion due to the goal he has imposed upon himself. This shows the yin and yang nature that Te and Fi have with each other. The Fi passion fizzles out if not focused by a Te goal, and the Te goal will have no motivation without an Fi passion.

Another display of his Te can be seen when he receives criticism of his art from an experienced art critic. He has an initial indignant outburst, becoming very angry with the critic, but then quickly shifts to self-loathing and despair. He then settles into acknowledging that it stings to get criticism from someone with “such a keen eye”. However, this ultimately turns into a resolve to prove himself to the critic, which is centered around his Te desiring external approval from a recognized authority.