Myers-Briggs Types in Attack on Titan: Levi Ackerman (ISTP)

Levi Ackerman from Attack on Titan is a solid example of the ISTP Myers-Briggs personality type (colloquially known as MBTI). Of course, we considered other personality types for Levi Ackerman (such the NTJs), but ISTP made the most sense. Continue reading to find out why!

The Myers-Briggs Personality Type of Levi Ackerman

Dominant Ti:

“The choice is yours. You can trust yourself, or you can trust the people willing to put their lives on the line for you.”

“Take my advice, Eren. Calm down and use your head. The best survival tool is your brain.”

“You made a judgement call. Look, no one expects you to be clairvoyant.”

“Check your emotions, Eren. Learn the meaning of the word ‘restraint’. If you let yourself succumb to blind rage, all hope is lost. We can’t afford another mistake.”

We briefly considered high Te for Levi, but overall, he appears to prioritize subjective reasoning. Factors to keep in mind with this character is that he’s a soldier, ranking fairly high within his branch of the military. He also works directly under an ENTJ, and has for some time. As a result, he can strike somewhat like a Te user, at times, needing to enforce hierarchy and rules. However, what you’ll notice about Levi is that, in the heat of battle, he encourages people to make their own judgement calls so that they can live without regrets. As a result, Levi will refrain from giving a direct order at times, and instead, list out the options available.

For instance, during the Female Titan Arc, Eren is battling over whether to turn into a Titan and go fight the female titan. Levi doesn’t directly tell him no, or tell him to obey his orders. Instead, he reasons with him. He tells Eren that it’s up to him to follow his own personal reasoning so that hopefully, at the end of the day, he wouldn’t have any regrets. He gives him the choice to make his own decision, telling Eren that it’s up to him to decide whether to trust himself or trust the rest of his teammates. Later, Levi doesn’t berate him for the judgement call that he made, even though it turned out badly. This entire scene strongly indicates Ti.

From Levi’s perspective, one’s best survival tool is their brain. He encourages thinking first and keeping one’s emotions in check. Considering that his actions are often intentional and controlled, he appears to adhere to these principles as well. This suggests an introverted dominant, and is generally consistent with dominant Ti. He doesn’t appear to be led by his own emotions, or focused on the emotional environment. He fairly easily turns on (and subsequently kills) his comrades after they’ve turned into Titans right in front of him, during season 4.

Auxiliary Se:

“You have a real kick-able face, you know that?”

“Tell him I’m about to cut Zeke’s limbs off. That should get him moving.”

“You know, personally, I think nothing instills discipline like pain. You don’t need a good talking to. What you’re in need of, boy, is to be taught a lesson, and you happen to be in perfect kicking position.”

While Levi is purposeful in his actions, he’s also very action-oriented. His instinct is to approach situations in a physical way. This can range from the fights he’s shown getting into at a young age, or in the way he threatens people. His way of enforcing discipline is usually be threatening physical violence. The scene where Eren is on trial for being a Titan demonstrates this very well. Levi verbally berates the onlookers, claiming that they have no right to make any kind of decision here because they aren’t physically capable of dealing with Eren themselves. Levi then claims to have that right because he is physically capable. Of course, he says all this while beating Eren up in front of them.

Levi is quick to react within the context of the moment, which occasionally leads to him to disobey direct orders. For instance, he rushes into the battle against the Female Titan within the walls,  to cut Eren out of his Titan body, even though Erwin had directly ordered him to stay out of it. Generally speaking, Levi is not one to stay on the sidelines, preferring to be in the middle of the action.

When confronted with a problem, Levi is usually decisive and takes a straightforward approach. He hacks Zeke’s limbs off to keep him under control. Prior to this point, he also uses the threat of chopping off Zeke’s limbs to put pressure on Pixis. In another instance, Levi is quick to tell everyone to step aside, when the key to the cellar door isn’t working, and then proceeds to kick the door down.

Tertiary Ni:

“Gut feeling.”

“Quit whining and move on from the obvious already. Neither of those is an option anymore.”

Levi enforces the need to be both reactive and quick while being concerned with predicting what might happen. This demonstrates a good balance between his Se and Ni. He doesn’t act overly impulsive, but instead balances his actions with a reasonable concern with where they might lead. However, he’s not always as cautious as he should be. For instance, when they’re heading back from their failed attempt to capture the Female Titan, Erwin tells him to replenish his fuel and blades. Levi tries to argue with him, claiming that he has enough. Erwin flexes his authority, and orders Levi to comply, which ends up working out in his favor due to an unexpected attack.

Levi trust his instincts. He’s shown explaining something away as a “gut feeling” while everyone else looked on at him, incredulously. He doesn’t bother to explain himself beyond those two words. In general, he speaks in a manner that’s straight to the point, without excess of detail, which is common for Ti-Ni.

Inferior Fe:

“Up close and personal, Captain Levi doesn’t seem much like the hero he’s cracked up to be. For one thing, he’s a lot shorter, bit on the temperamental side too, not exactly imbued with what you’d call the social graces.” – Petra Rall

Levi generally lacks any kind of social etiquette. He can be extremely sharp with others, insulting and berating regardless of rank or status. In addition, Levi appears to keep himself detached from others, never appearing to make any real attachments beyond basic loyalty to his comrades. He’s occasionally shown observing people’s interactions from a distance, but keeps himself uninvolved.

Despite all this, Levi is extremely loyal to his comrades, and risks his life for them time and time again. During his debut episode, he says a heartfelt goodbye to a dying comrade, and encourages him that his sacrifice wasn’t meaningless. Other than that moment, Levi doesn’t display much depth of emotion, and his expression is basically the same for the entire show. In addition, he can easily set aside his emotions, to do whatever needs to be done (like when he has to kill all of his former comrades turned Titan, as mentioned earlier).