Classroom of the Elite: Kiyotaka Ayanokoji (ISTP)

Ti:

“I’m kind of like a free agent, a blank slate.”

“Maybe they’re just trying to encourage individual autonomy.”

“That sounds like flawed thinking. Maybe you’re just lying to yourself.”

“The best thing would be to do what you want.”

“Throw away my freedom to protect my freedom?”

“I understand that logic, but on the flip side…”

Ayanokoji appears to be a Ti dominant. He has an individualistic focus which generally suggests that he’s an identity dominant (Ti or Fi). He focuses on ideas such as individual autonomy and freedom. He encourages people to do what they want, and ignore everyone else. This is most clearly stated when he’s dealing with Sakura. He tells her that thinking about everyone else will convolute things and confuse her, and then encourages her to push all other thoughts out of her mind.

He specifically appears to demonstrate Ti identity rather than Fi identity. Ayanokoji refers to himself as being a blank slate, or a free agent, which essentially means that his identity is undefined. This is typical of dominant Ti users, who often don’t bother defining themselves and leave that up to other people. In addition to this, Ayanokoji generally presents as blank and expressionless, only occasionally putting on a more friendly or pleasant demeanor when the situation calls for a bit more sensitivity.

Ayanokoji focuses on his subjective logic and questions the reasoning of others. He reinterprets the deal his teacher offers to him as throwing away his freedom to protect his freedom. The concept then confuses him because it is essentially a contradiction in his mind. (This further supports being an identity dominant.) He tries to refuse either option in the deal as a result, because he only wants to do what he wants to do rather than be controlled by someone else. In addition, Ayanokoji is frequently shown calling out other people’s flawed logic or offering a different interpretation.

Ayanokoji also has a fairly easy time adapting to the school’s way of doing things, even though the authorities don’t lay out a very clear structure or set of rules. Of course, intelligence is a factor here, but he naturally thinks to question what may or may not be allowed, and then looks into the possibility when it might be a viable solution to a current problem.

Se:

“Might as well see what happens.”

“I don’t like expending more energy than I have to.”

Ayanokoji tends to show rather than tell in a lot of situations within the show. He isn’t one to outwardly speculate and run different trails of thought aloud. Rather, he tends to approach others with an actionable activity and goes from there. A good example of this is every phone call he has throughout the show. They are all short and devoid of any kind of small talk. The purpose is usually a plan of action and coordinating dates and times to enact the plan. When the other boys planned to plant cameras in the girls bathroom, rather than try and convince them not to do it, Ayanokoji simply goes along with it, planning instead to sabotage them with the help of Horikita.

Additionally, on that same trip toward the end of the day, Horikita goes on a rant about not needing others and being able to have fun alone. Shortly after that comment, he pushes her into the pool without a moments hesitation, stating that he just had to do it. This suggests the more hands-on and physical nature of a high Se user. This preference for taking action rather than persuading with words is a consistent trait that he displays. Another example is when Horikita freezes up at the mock trial. He says her name one or two times to try and get her attention and then resorts to grabbing her side and squeezing it to snap her out of it. This turns out to be quite effective.

Ayanokoji also tends to be relatively opportunistic. More often than not, he seems to come across things that he can use to his advantage later, rather than constantly following a calcuated, thought out plan. He doesn’t appear to have any long range goal in mind, but instead takes things in stride, adapting as needed. During the week long island test, he’s shown dragging Horikita around the island, essentially looking around for an opportunity. She complains about what they’re doing, and he just counters by saying that sitting around camp would be boring. This further supports the Se desire to just do something, even if there isn’t a specific purpose in mind.

Ni:

“You should trust your instincts and testify for your sake alone.”

Ayanokoji is reasonably adept at seeing a path forward to complete short term goals. He doesn’t seem to spend a ton of time planning things out like a higher Ni user would. Instead, he makes comments like, ‘we will figure it out’ or ‘I’ll handle it’ without much explanation as to how he is going to manage to accomplish these goals. He is relatively brief when explaining, only saying as much as necessary to answer a question and frequently not bothering to explain further even when prompted for more information. He even goes as far as to tell the other person to figure it out themselves when they are attempting to deconstruct how he had accomplished something.

When giving advice to Sakura, Ayanokoji suggests that she should trust her instincts. This suggests a more subconscious processing method as instincts tend to be less thought out and more about trusting that a conclusion you have arrived to is accurate. He doesn’t seem to be all that concerned with specific details which is reflected in the quick excuses that he gives for his physical prowess. He originally claims he is in such good shape due to calligraphy and piano, and later claims it is piano and tea ceremonies. He doesn’t concern himself enough with his quick lie to maintain consistency in his excuse. Granted, the explanation he gives hardly stands up to scrutiny given those activities would not get you in shape regardless, which further supports a lack of concern with giving accurate or detailed excuses.

Fe:

“I’d better muster up the energy to stand up and say something, for the sake of my reputation.”

“It’s official. I have utterly failed at making friends. I’m destined to be a loner.”

Ayanokoji’s inferior Fe is actually quite prominent. Early on in the series, he expresses a desire for friends but struggles to actually obtain them. He views himself as having failed when he initially couldn’t make friends. Along those same lines, he overthinks the class introduction that he’s asked to give, but then fails completely when he gives it. He generally struggles to find the right thing to say in those scenarios, yet feels the need to do so because he has that Fe focus.

Ayanokoji’s approach to deception is by making himself invisible. He prefers to present himself as harmless and generally amiable. However, he’s not very skilled at adapting who he is to avoid or solve a current problem. This points to weak extraverted judging. For the most part, he remains consistent with himself, and is unable to muster anything extra for the sake of flying under the radar. This is why several people end up aware that he’s hiding a lot about himself even though he keeps doing things like passing off the credit for his achievements. While he is extremely strategic, his form of deception when it comes to adjusting his identity to fit external obligations is overall extremely limited.