Agents of S.H.I.E.LD.: Leopold Fitz (ISFJ)

Most people assume that Leopold Fitz from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is an INTP, which I believe is probably because of his role as a scientist. Initially, I did struggle to latch solidly onto a particular personality type. However, as the show progressed, it became abundantly clear (in my opinion), that Fitz is a feeler, and a Si/Ne user. So, while I definitely considered INTP, I think there is a much stronger case for Fitz being an ISFJ. If you’re interested in reading about other characters from this series, be sure to check Grant Ward. There’ll be more to come very soon!

Si:

“I said there would come a moment when we would regret the decision to go in the field. I didn’t think that would happen in week one.”

“Why are you not nervous? …Are you mad? … This is… This is a huge risk.”

“We should consider all variables as we move forward, because things are bound to get complicated.”

“You know how I can be. I hate change.”

“And what exactly defines needing help?”

“No, the only thing I’m afraid of is putrid decaying flesh corrupting my pristine workspace. Do you remember the last time you brought a dead thing into the lab?”

Fitz appears to be a Si dominant, for multiple reasons. First, Fitz hates change, which he openly admits to at one point when talking to Simmons. For the most part, Fitz prefers to stick with what he knows, which is why he’s one of the few to not ask a lot of questions once S.H.I.E.L.D. is labelled as a terrorist organization. He just continues working under Coulson as he had become accustomed to. However, before that point, when he is first recruited to Coulson’s team, Fitz does not adjust to it easily, which further demonstrates his struggle with change.

When he and Simmons are initially recruited to Coulson’s team, Fitz is against going. Simmons has to talk him into it. He tells Simmons that there’d come a moment that they would regret the decision to go in the field. After about a week, he essentially says, ‘I told you so,’ by reminding her of that moment. This tendency towards predicting that specific changes will have a negative outcome, and then pointing back to it later, is common for Si dominants (ISFJs and ISTJs).

Fitz is cautious, which is shown often throughout the show. For instance, when he and Simmons finally start a romantic relationship, he’s the one that says that they need to “consider all variables” as they move forward. He also shuts down Simmons’ enthusiasm at one point over a dead body’s unusual temperature, by saying: “No, not fascinating. Quarantine.” For one final example, Fitz is extremely wary about the android Radcliffe builds, warning that: “This could be very dangerous. So much could go wrong.” In addition, he gets extremely upset when Radcliffe starts passing Aida off as human. He questions Radcliffe’s sanity and claims it’s a huge risk.

Fe:

“Because she’s turned her back on us, Mack. Because something terrible happened, and she didn’t want our help getting through it. Well, we’ve all been through terrible things. All of us! And we’ve never turned our back.”

“Why would Skye do this to us for him? I thought she was our friend.”

“It’s times like these you just stick with the guy you believe in.”

“We have to stick together. Keep the people we trust close by.”

“We should be protecting her.”

“Yeah, and we were a team, and a family, and you betrayed us.”

Fitz appears to be primarily driven by Fe values rather than Ti values. Fitz is a deeply loyal individual, who views the team like his family. He often makes value statements to that affect, such as everyone needing to stick together and protect each other. As a result, Fitz deeply struggles with betrayal and anyone who turns their back on the group. Granted, anyone would struggle with betrayal, but Fitz, for instance, doesn’t seem to understand Daisy’s need to get away from S.H.I.E.L.D. after Lincoln’s death. He accuses her of not wanting their help to get through it. Typically, Ti dominants (like the INTP) strongly value autonomy, so the need to separate for a while shouldn’t have been that hard for him to fathom.

To provide further examples, Fitz also struggles to accept Daisy’s betrayal at the beginning of the show, even though he barely knew her. Furthermore, when Ward betrays them, Fitz is the only one who refuses to believe it. On the other hand, Fitz’s loyalty to his team is why he protects Daisy from everyone when her DNA tests first show that she’s an inhuman. He checks on her often, looks after her, and tries to be supportive. Unlike Simmons, Fitz is ultimately loyal to people first, rather than an agency or a structure, which is another reason why he continues to follow Coulson without question once S.H.I.E.L.D. is officially labelled as a terrorist organization.

In addition to expecting his team to rely on each other, Fitz often relies on others as well. At one point in the show, Simmons states that Fitz hates being alone, which is an accurate observation on her part. Fitz appears to be the type of person who wants to be working alongside someone else, and leaning on them for support. For most of the series, he relies on Simmons, and the two work closely together. However, when she leaves him, he ends up working closely with Mack. In other situations, Fitz opens up to Coulson. Unlike an inferior Fe user (such as the INTP), Fitz doesn’t appear to struggle with being too impersonal or detached. This is why, when asked, he’s able to connect easily with a student from the academy and empathize with him. It’s also why he doesn’t struggle having conversations of a more personal nature, like when Coulson asks him what he thinks of Lincoln and Fitz finds a way to divert the conversation to his current emotional dilemma.

Ti:

“What if Garret put an exploding eye into him to control him? Maybe that’s why he betrayed us.”

“I don’t believe that people are born evil. Something must have happened.”

Fitz’s refusal to believe that Ward had betrayed them is actually, in part, a manifestation of his low Ti. Fitz is unable to see the situation objectively. He can’t personally understand or fathom Ward betraying them, so he refuses to accept the evidence right in front of him. Essentially, he prioritizes what makes sense in his head (Ti), over the objective evidence (Te). However, his Ti is in service to his Fe, so since he struggles to fathom betrayal, he won’t accept it. He claims that he needs to see Ward for himself. (This is in stark contrast to Simmons and Daisy, who recognize what the evidence for what it is and judge Ward to be evil.) Meanwhile, Fitz tries to rationalize a way that Ward’s betrayal, might not actually be real. For instance, he suggests that Ward is being controlled by Garrett via certain methods that they’d seen used on other people prior to that point.

Ne:

“You know, I’d run a dozen scenarios in my head wondering what it’d be like when we finally met. There’s a lot more blood, and I never considered the smell.”

“How big is the box?”

Fit runs scenarios in his head outside of work situations, which he expresses to Will shortly after meeting him on the other planet. He claims to have considered a dozen different ways the situation might play out. However, Fitz can’t always see possibilities, which is why he assumes that Mack is dead when Mack gets co-opted by the ancient, underground city. Simmons is the one to suggest otherwise.

Fitz’s inferior Ne manifests relatively clearly in his need for specificity. Like Ward, when presented with the desert island scenario by Agent Koenig, Fitz feels the need to clarify details about the island and the box, before deciding what’s in it. Essentially, he has to narrow down the possibilities to something more realistic and manageable. He can’t just be open to any and all possibilities.