Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Melinda May (ISTP)

Melinda May is typically typed as an ISTP, so this one should come as no surprise. For the record, I did legitimately consider the IXTJs (INTJ and ISTJ) and even ISFP briefly, but ultimately saw a better case for May being an ISTP. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. If you’re interested in reading about other characters from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., check out Phil Coulson, Leopold Fitz, and Grant Ward.

Ti:

“Coulson doesn’t want to tell you the truth. The truth is… you have to decide why you’re here. We have a mission, and it’s not to find your parents. If you can’t put aside your personal attachments, then you shouldn’t be here.” – May to Skye

“I’m trying not to make it personal because May would hate that, but I can’t help it. It is.” – Coulson

“It’s not about sides. It’s about the truth. Coulson left us with a mountain of lies. And the only way to understand his reasoning was inside that box.”

“Why is everyone making this about themselves?”

Melinda May is known for being silent and impersonal. She sets aside her emotions and personal attachments to do her job, regardless of what that means. This makes her particularly good at making cold and calculated decisions quickly, when the moment comes. Of course, there’s the obvious example: the situation in Bahrain. However, in that situation, May is given little choice in the matter. A less extreme, and thus more useful, example, can be seen when May, Coulson, Ward, and Skye go to pick up Hannah Hutchins, a woman who potentially has powers. May sees the situation becoming volatile. (People are threatening to turn on the woman out of fear.) So, May quickly shoots Hannah with a “Night-Night” gun, to resolve the situation, even though the woman had done nothing wrong. Skye looks on in horror, and scolds her later for this.

May often scolds others when they fail to set aside their emotions and their personal attachments. Early on in the show, Skye searches for her parents while working for S.H.I.E.L.D. May reprimands her for doing so, stating that if Skye couldn’t put aside her personal attachments, she shouldn’t be in S.H.I.E.L.D. Similarly, when Ward takes a bullet for May, she accuses him of allowing their personal relationship to influence his actions. (She wasn’t insulted by the prospect of him protecting her. She was just upset that he might have allowed things to get personal.)

May is loyal to her principles above any group or individual. Her reasoning for turning on Coulson during season two demonstrates this well. Up to this point, she has been incredibly loyal to Coulson, albeit not afraid to confront him directly when he makes questionable or logically inconsistent decisions. However, when she learns about all the secrets that Coulson has been keeping, May joins up with Gonzales’ S.H.I.E.L.D., accepting a position on Gonzales’ board. Jemma Simmons finds out and expresses shock that May would join the enemy’s side. May explains that it’s not about sides; it’s about finding the truth.

Se:

“No. It’s the present we need to worry about.”

“Didn’t think. Just did.”

“One mission at a time.”

“Nostalgia’s fine, but I’d rather deal with reality.”

May is present-oriented, focusing on the current problem and the current mission. She’s not one to dwell on the past or the future, which, in spite of how little she speaks, is demonstrated a few different ways. For instance, when Coulson approaches her to explain a couple of problems, she dismisses the least urgent one by saying “One mistake at a time.” Similarly, during the mission in Bahrain, Coulson starts talking about a future plan to assemble a team of the earth’s mightiest heroes. May redirects the focus to their current mission by saying, “One mission at a time.” For one last example, while in the Framework, Ophelia tells May that she needs to forget the past and focus on the future. May expresses disagreement, stating that they needed to worry about the present not the future.

May focuses on the concrete world, which is why she explains to Coulson that she usually believes what she can see. Being a woman of action, she’s quick to respond in the moment on instinct, rather than overthink things. Of course, it’s well known that she rarely expresses herself verbally. However, when she does speak, it’s clear and concise, rather than abstract or theoretical. During Agent Koenig’s Lie Detector test, May gives short, concrete answers. For instance, for the desert island scenario, she states that a machete is in the box (a practical tool, given the scenario), and when asked the difference between an egg and a rock, she says that one’s edible and one’s not.

Ni:

“Look. Most of the time, I believe what I can see. You know that. But…I can’t help but remember what Lumley said. Wherever Skye goes…”

While May typically focuses on the present, she doesn’t ignore patterns as they unfold around her. After receiving a warning from Lady Sif about Skye being incredibly dangerous, Coulson asks if May agrees. May then recalls how what Lumley had said, how wherever Skye goes, death follows. She also lists how various events connected in such a precise way to make it seem as if Skye was fated to fulfill that ominous prophecy. (She points out that their first mission led to Skye, the map to the ancient city was encoded in Coulson’s DNA, and they brought Skye to the city which led to her getting powers.)

May typically only says exactly what people need to know, without sharing any extra or unnecessary context, which is common for tertiary Ni users. For instance, during a mission to confiscate an important device on a train, May gets captured and tortured. However, as far as the others were concerned, she’d merely disappeared. After escaping, May shows back up, only to say, “Wheels up in five.” After they probe for more information, she just adds, “The train didn’t disappear. Russo sold us out. Get the plane ready. I need a shower.”

Fe:

“But you are defending this girl at the expense of the team.”

“I did it for you, to protect you!”

As an inferior feeler, May excels at sectioning off her emotions to the extent that people (like Skye) mistakenly believe that she feels nothing. As a result of her trauma in Bahran, May is almost constantly in this “emotionless” state. For a while, I wondered if May might be an IXTJ, because of how emotionally disconnected she is from her environment. However, at one point, Coulson describes May before her trauma in Bahrain, and he describes her as warm and even playful, in the form of pranks. As the show progress, May gradually becomes more open, and more expressive.

While she keeps herself detached from others on a personal level, May does everything she can to support the team that she’s on. She is willing to call Coulson’s actions and logic into question, whenever she believes that he’s not acting in the team’s best interests. In addition, she often frames her actions or motivations in terms of others. For instance, she spies on Coulson, at Fury’s behest, but claims to do it only out of a desire to protect Coulson.