Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008): Obi-Wan Kenobi (ESFJ)

Because Star Wars is often inconsistent from a character standpoint, we decided to treat The Clone Wars as an independent series, and assess the characters completely separately from the live action movies. Although, with that being said, Obi-Wan seemed consistent with the live action character, based on what we remember.

Fe:

“An army with no loyalty, no spirit, just programming. What have you to show for all your power? What have you to gain?”

“I apologize for my friend’s rather rash behavior.”

“We’ll be fine as long as we stay together.”

Obi-Wan Kenobi values relationships and diplomacy. He’s careful to come across in a polite and acceptable way when dealing with others. In this area, him and Anakin occasionally clash. For example, in one scene, Anakin acts rude to the people they’re dealing with, and Obi-Wa feels the need to keep reframing what Anakin says in a polite way. Of course, he also gives Anakin disapproving looks the entire time, and apologizes for his behavior.

Obi-Wan’s preferred way of handling a situation is via diplomacy. Of course, as a seasoned Jedi Master, he doesn’t struggle to launch into action when necessary. However, if possible, he’d rather avoid violence altogether, and settle things peaceably over negotiations. Anakin actually makes a crack about this when they’re dealing with the hive mind on Geonosis. Anakin says, “Oh no, don’t tell me you want to talk to it?” when Obi-Wan chides him for rushing into the situation with his lightsaber blazing.

Obi-Wan has a group-centric focus. He believes in relying on friends and allies, which is something he encourages others to do as well. Similarly, he questions Dooku about what an all powerful droid army has gained him. Obi-Wan points out that droids are just programming, lacking in both loyalty and spirit. Overall, this demonstrates how he values people in general, and as a support group, which is why he possesses such a strong loyalty to the Jedi Order.

Si:

“But do we have a plan B? Every operation need a backup, Anakin.”

“That’s your plan? Just fly there, land, hope they don’t spot us, and walk in the door? Oh. Brilliant. Let’s get going.”

“We can’t just wander around aimlessly. We need a plan.”

Obi-Wan is definitely more of the planned and cautious type, as illustrated in the quotes above. He has varying levels of frustration when having to cope with Anakin’s improvised and poorly thought out plans. When afforded the opportunity, Obi-Wan will insist that backup plans are absolutely necessary. He often probes for details about them when he isn’t in charge.

Obi-Wan airs on the observant side, which is another stark contrast he has with Anakin. While Anakin thinks with his lightsaber, Obi-Wan likes to observe the situation before rushing in. He is constantly getting on Anakin, telling him to slow down or not rush into things as a result. Knowing detailed information is a key part of the way that he processes information. He has stated such with phrases like “the more we know, the better.”

In addition, Obi-Wan occasionally criticizes the moment, pointing out what they should have done in the past to make their current situation more ideal. For instance, at one point, he says, “If we’d brought a droid, this would go faster.” This shows a lack of Se, because even though he is decently adaptable, Obi-Wan can’t stop his mind from drifting into the past and wishing they’d done something differently.

Ne:

“No, wait, I want to see how it works… I’m curious. The more we know, the better. … Come now. The nose or the ear. Which do you think it’ll enter?”

Obi-Wan’s Ne manifests in a couple different ways throughout the show. One of the biggest examples of it coming through is when they are dealing with a relatively unknown threat caused by mind control worms. Instead of just wanting to destroy the worms, he is curious as to how their mind control works and even hypothesizes about it throughout the episode, much to the dismay of the others. He acts genuinely disappointed when Anakin kills a worm that is about to take over someone else, because it prevented Obi-Wan from observing the process.

Obi-Wan’s Ne also manifests in a more quirky way, as he laces the Ne style of wit into his dialogue. When having to work with Vos, at one point, they end up hanging off the edge of a cliff, which leads him to use this quip: “I never did enjoy hanging out with you.” There are other examples of this, but most are relatively tame. For the most part, the examples are relegated to his personal brand of sarcasm.

Ti:

It’s a struggle to find evidence of an inferior function in Obi-Wan, let alone Ti specifically. Obi-Wan often plays the role of the perfect Jedi, and doesn’t get a strong enough focus in the Clone Wars to really demonstrate negative traits. One could potentially argue that his struggle to go against the rules of the Jedi Order could be seen as a failure to think independently, but that’s a fairly weak argument given the evidence. (For instance, he has feelings for Satine that he never really acknowledges or indulges.)

When it comes to general Ti evidence, Obi-Wan shows Ti in combination with Ne in the way that he’s fascinated by the hive mind on Geonosis. He specifically hones in on wanting to understand how it works, a desire which seems to overrule his usually cautious temperament.