Rocky: Rocky Balboa (ESFP)

The Rocky series is a classic boxing series that consists of six movies, not including the more recent Creed series. Popular opinion on Rocky Balboa appears to be ISFP, but after watching the movies, we think there is a stronger case for ESFP. Rocky Balboa’s personality type was fairly straightforward, so we had no other major contenders besides ESFP and ISFP. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments! If you’re interested in hearing our take on the other major characters in this series, make sure to check out The MBTI Personality Types in Rocky.

Se:

“One step at a time. One punch at a time. One round at a time.”

“…let’s face it, we gotta change sometime.”

“I am not the richest, smartest or most talented person in the world. But I succeed because I keep going and going and going.”

“Well, hey, that don’t matter. I say we get the house now.”

Rocky Balboa appears to live day-by-day, without a long term plan. In the first movie, he clearly wants to be a boxer, because that’s what he loves, but he doesn’t form a backup plan in case that fails. Instead, he keeps on boxing on the side as long as he can, and takes up a job as a money collector for a loan shark to accommodate this. He goes on like this for years, without reassessing. However, later in life after a successful boxing career, he expresses a willingness to change and move on from the past to something new (in stark contrast to Apollo).

In the second movie, after earning a large chunk of cash from beating Apollo, Rocky demonstrates his indulgent and reckless side. He spends the money frivolously, without considering that it might run out. (This is in spite of the many concerns that Adrian voices.) He buys a brand new, fancy sports car, new clothes, watches, jewelry, a house, and basically anything else that catches his eye. He doesn’t even tour the entire house before deciding he’s going to purchase it. When Adrian points out that they haven’t seen the upstairs yet, he shrugs her off by saying, “That don’t matter. That’s just details. I’m sure it’s nice.”

Rocky draws inspiration and stimulation from his environment, in real time. This is demonstrated pretty clearly when he’s trying to win over Adrian in the first movie. When trying to strike up a conversation with her, he’ll start talking about something in their immediate surroundings, and then instantly switch to something else within sight when Adrian fails to respond. He’s generally very talkative, and stereotypically extraverted. During one of the movies, he does the majority of his training for an upcoming match in a fancy, commercialized gym, in which he allows fans and media personnel to watch him all day long.

Fi:

“Nothing is real if you don’t believe in who you are. I don’t believe in myself no more. Don’t you understand?”

“You know, I am a fighter. Not too good, but that’s what I do.”

“I believe there’s an inner power that makes winners or losers. And the winners are the ones who really listen to the truth of their hearts.”

Rocky follows his heart, remains true to himself, and draws strength from his feelings. From the beginning, Rocky is shown following his dream no matter what anyone says, which is why he sticks with boxing for so long before becoming successful. Mickey tries to get him to give up, but he refuses.

In multiple movies, Rocky’s greatest struggle revolves around his inability to separate himself from his feelings. He needs to be completely in sync with them in order to succeed. For instance, in the second movie, until Adrian is fully supporting him, Rocky can’t train effectively for his rematch with Apollo. In the third movie, when Rocky has lost faith in himself, he can’t focus on his training either. If he’s unable to get his heart into, he can’t do it.

Rocky values honesty and authenticity, which is why it angers him so much in the third movie to learn that Mickey was selectively choosing his opponents to ensure wins. He essentially starts to view himself as a fraud, since Mickey had never allowed him to fight any legitimate challengers. With others, Rocky is honest about who he is, rather than overly idealistic, which fits well with auxiliary Fi. While he’s not always okay with other people’s insults, he’s willing to insult himself and admit to his flaws.

Te:

“This is coming straight from the heart, Paulie. And I mean this. You ain’t down, and you ain’t a loser. You’re just a jealous, lazy bum.”

Rocky can be extremely disciplined and goal-oriented when his heart is fully set on something. When preparing for each major match, he followed a strict regimen daily, in order to ensure he’d be ready to compete. For instance, in the first movie, he would get up every day at 4am, drink raw eggs, and then go running in the cold, winter weather. In addition, when Mickey offers to train him in the first movie, Rocky is able to set aside his personal feelings aside for the sake of the goal. Initially, he wants to reject Mickey because of their history, but he ultimately recognizes his need for a trainer and accepts the offer after a brief rant.

Rocky is not afraid to be blunt, and straightforward with those that matter to him. Generally speaking, he’s both kind and compassionate, rarely getting caught up in pointless bashing. This is in spite of all the insults thrown at him by characters like Apollo Creed in front of the media. There are certain insults that trigger him to respond, but for the most part, he doesn’t play that game. However, when he sees a value in it, Rocky will tell people exactly what he thinks, without mincing words.

Ni:

“I said, ‘Something special’s gonna happen today.’ I wasn’t sure what, but I knew it was gonna be different.”

“You know, these numbers almost add up to nine. I like. That’s good omen.”

Rocky struggles to see the potential long term implications of his actions, which is mentioned in the Se section. He doesn’t wait to ensure that the advertising job works out, but instead spends a lot of his money right away. Later, he struggles to find a job to maintain his lifestyles, and ultimately starts having money problems. He ends up selling his car, his wife gets a part-time job, and he eventually returns to boxing (in spite of Adrian’s wishes).

Rocky occasionally reads into things, and derives meaning that has little real world or logical support. For instance, he adds up the house number for the home he’s about to purchase and declares that it’s a good omen. In addition, when finding out that Adrian is pregnant, he claims to have known something good was going to happen that day based on minor visual clues, such as her smile that morning.