Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Daisy “Skye” Johnson (ESFP)

Daisy Johnson from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is usually typed as an ENFP. However, while watching the show, I struggled to come up with evidence for Ne, beyond the “hacker” stereotype. So, as you can see, I ultimately landed on ESFP for Daisy Johnson. Hopefully this makes sense. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. If you’d like to read about other characters from this series, check out Phil Coulson, Grant Ward, Leopold Fitz, and Melinda May.

Se:

“I don’t exactly overanalyze. I just act impulsively, and then I freak out after the fact.”

“They had no other options. Whereas, I like to keep mine open.”

“This is what I do. My friend’s life is on the line, so I’ll figure something out.”

“Okay, well, don’t say it out loud, because that made it sound way worse. Let’s just keep it one thing at a time, okay?”

Daisy Johnson is single-minded and action-oriented. Rather than over-analyze a situation, she follows her every whim, resulting in impulsive action. For instance, when Raina finally gives them the address where her father is supposed to be, Daisy immediately heads there, without saying a word. For another example, later in the series when they’re stuck in the future, Deke berates her for rushing in “totally blind” to save Simmons, emphasizing that she needs to play the long game. Daisy argues back, saying, “This is what I do. My friend’s life is on the line, so I’ll figure something out.” She emphasizes that she needs to save Simmons now. As a general rule, she takes things one step at a time, and focuses on finding immediate solutions to problems (such as staying in the future, to avoid quaking the earth apart).

Immediate action is standard for Daisy. It’s not unusual for her to break away from the plan, and do whatever she thinks is best in the heat of the moment. Similarly, she focuses on what’s actionable, and gets frustrated when people block her from taking action. For instance, she finds a connection between an 0-8-4, and some symbols that he’d had her researching. Rather than tell her to pursue it, he just says “Good work”, which frustrates Daisy considerably. Later on, during season 5, when Fitz is explaining the situation with the anomalies, she focuses on finding the next actionable step (rather than speculating) by simply saying, “Ok, so what do we do?”

As mentioned, Daisy typically doesn’t speculate much about a situation, beyond what would be normal for anyone. When Coulson explains to Daisy that they’d both been injected with the alien drug, Daisy shrugs it off, not bothered by the idea of unknown ramifications (like Coulson was). She also doesn’t appear to consider what those might be. She just appreciates the fact that they were both alive, saying that they lived in the dark, so this was no different. Similarly, when Coulson suggests at a later point that Daisy might already have alien DNA, she refuses to consider it, shutting down the idea immediately.

Fi:

“This isn’t about them. This is about me. You asked me to be decent, give Cal one dinner. I did that. And I empathize.”

“Terrigenesis made me who I was supposed to be. I was given a gift and I use it to stop bad people from doing bad things.”

“Ruby. I have been right where you are. And I know that it seems impossible right now, but you will overcome this. Believe me.”

“You can catch a lot more flies with honey than with napalm.”

Daisy follows her heart and her values. At the beginning of the series, she’s part of an activist group, demanding that the government reveal the truth to the public. She struggles a lot when Coulson asks her to do things that are against everything she stands for, such as create a diversion to put the public on the wrong scent. She’s typically very opinionated about her values, willing to argue with anything she disagrees with.

Daisy draws on her passion and her emotions for everything that she does. She has a hard time committing to Ward’s training until he shares a personal moment with her, his defining moment. Once he does that, Daisy feels as if she can understand him better, and has an easier time dedicating herself to her training. Later on in the series, she breaks away from the team for a time, after tragically losing Lincoln. She’s never been a great team player, but this is further emphasized during this time, especially when she tells Fitz that “I’m doing what I need to do.” Daisy blames herself, wallows in her emotions, and essentially becomes a lone vigilante as penance.

Daisy is naturally very empathetic, and struggles with people who are robotic or impersonal. She regularly mocks both Ward and May, at one point sarcastically referring to them as “warm and fuzzy.” She judges May for icing Hannah Hutchins, and tries to “repair that damage”, by empathizing with the woman and consoling her. Similarly, she begrudgingly has dinner with her father (at the behest of her mother), and then ultimately ends up empathizing with her father, shifting her view on him entirely.

Te:

“I’m pretty sure there’s a much simpler reason. He’s evil.”

“You know what? My bad. I slipped. Talked to you like a normal person. Let’s stay on task.”

Daisy often relies on brute force methods, and demonstrations of power to complete tasks. This is a manifestation of her Se-Te. Initially, she’s very linear in how she goes about things, single-mindedly pursing every goal. However, after her powers activate, she takes full advantage of their destructive ability to take control of her environment. For instance, when Simmons and Daisy are looking for Fitz in space, Daisy leaves destruction in their wake, as they jump from place to place, feeling compelled to demonstrate their strength to prove a point. Other members of the crew criticize her acting this way.

Whenever Daisy has any kind of authority, her opinionated nature turns into bossy and demanding very quickly. Various other characters comment about this. She’ll demand that they follow her directive, and dismiss any attempts to argue with her. Similarly, regardless of her status, Daisy is always very direct, which Mack claims to rely on after becoming director.

Ni:

“Sorry, I don’t buy into the whole “This is your destiny” thing.”

“Just to be clear, I’m the Corvette in this story, right?”

“We have to warn Coulson now. Something bad is about to happen.”

In her haste to act, Daisy often injures herself or puts in herself into dangerous situations. She doesn’t learn from these quickly, making her prone to repeating the same mistakes over and over again. In addition, Daisy dislikes locking herself into things like fate or destiny, which is why she dismisses these concepts initially in the series. Eventually, however, she adopts them as part of her Fi identity, which also demonstrates her Fi-Ni singular mentality.

At the beginning of the series, Daisy constantly moves around, struggling to settle into anything long term. She explains that her mom that “Something bad happens every time I feel settled somewhere.” Oftentimes, when referring to ramifications such as this, Daisy keeps it fairly vague or unspecific. She does something similar while talking to Raina, after realizing that Coulson is in danger. She doesn’t express what that danger might be, but just says that “Something bad is about to happen.”

Otherwise, Daisy is typically not one to use abstract language. For instance, Daisy is shown feeling the need to clarify a metaphor that Coulson uses, while on their way to the safe house. She follows what he’s saying, but can’t help verifying, to ensure she understands him.